#nancy is committed to her cause

[infinite-orangepeel]

welcome to the fruity four apartment, where every day eddie puts this exact sign on the front door and nancy promptly replaces it with one that says “doorbell broken! please knock :)” they are informally at war because of this (don’t worry they are still besties)

[munsonsreputation]

I SHOULD HATE YOU

steve harrington x fem!reader

word count: [22.3k]

warnings: warnings: no use of y/n, enemies to lovers, reader and steve use foul language towards each other (bitch, asshole, ect). blood (one of them gets hurt...but not bcs of each other), eventual smut (oral: both m and f receiving, fingering, piv, multiple o's,) minors gtfo before i superkick you!!!

summary: You and Steve Harrington hate each other’s guts…or at least you should, that is until a camp outing reveals everything that you both have been trying to hide.

You desperately wanted to see what everyone else saw in Steve Harrington that you didn’t. All those words of how he changed so much and had this entire redemption arc when he decided to finally stop giving shit about stupid high school social orders and commit his life to be the esteemed and reliable babysitter.

Hell, even Robin Buckley, the one girl who really couldn’t stand him a few years ago, was now his best friend, and Nancy Wheeler, his ex-girlfriend, could actually stand to be in his presence without wanting to cringe and vomit because she actually dated him. 

You just couldn’t see it in him no matter how hard you tried, not even the kids could convince you that Steve wasn’t all that bad anymore. If anything they gushed about how much they admired him. How he was the cool older brother figure that they all wanted and had wrapped around their fingers ready at their beck and call.

Everyone loved Steve, but to you it was just bullshit.

“Why the sad face, doll?”

Steve pouted feignedly, causing you to roll your eyes, slapping the flies away from your skin as you watched him pitch his stupid tent.

“I’m not sad. I’m more so annoyed.” You grunted out with a glare. 

“I told you to bring bug spray.” He reminded shaking his head, clearly amused seeing you get angry at the innocent flies.

“I did, but it doesn’t fucking work and for your information, I’m annoyed because you’re here.” You said through gritted teeth, slapping your neck as another one landed but flew away before you could kill it.

Steve snapped the poles into place, engrossed with his task.

“Well if it makes you feel any better,” he chimed in, standing with a straight smirk across his face, “I’m not particularly happy with your presence either seeing as though you’re not doing shit besides standing there being a bitch.”

Your eyes widened, arms crossing over your chest as you stared at him in disbelief. But by this point it shouldn’t have been so surprising granted that you and Steve never stopped bickering, even when you both should have known to ignore each other. 

“Oh, go fuck yourself, Harrington!” You shouted, turning on your heel and flipping him the bird as you walked away.

“Tell that to my right hand, sweet cheeks!” He called out with a whistle, reveling in the art of getting under your skin.

Nance and Jonathan exchanged amused glances, painfully familiar with how much you and Steve despised each other yet somehow got here alive without slitting each other's throats. But that didn’t seem like it was going to be lasting long seeing as though this was now the beginning to a very long night.

You plopped down onto the foldable chair, still wearing a scowl that didn’t seem to want to cease even with the distance you created between you and him.

“We barely got here and you’re already at each other's throats.”

Nancy shook her head not understanding why you both couldn’t be adults about this whole thing.

“He started it!” You insisted, pointing your finger in his direction.

Jonathan couldn’t help but jump in with a chuckle, feeling as if this was payback for all those times he and his brother Will gave his mom a hard time. Seriously, dealing with you both was identical to watching two toddlers tattle tale on each other for every little thing before toys and fists were thrown. 

“So now you’re playing the blame game?” He suspected.

You clicked your tongue, sitting up straighter, shoulders pulled back as you crossed your legs and placed your hands on top of your knees, ready to mock Steve and his privileged life that he just had to leave behind for the day. 

“Why couldn’t he just have stayed home in his stupid mansion, driving around in his stupid Beemer, where he could be stupid all by himself and leave us out of his stupid stupidity.” 

You seriously looked like you could end him with your bare hands — and if they didn’t know better they’d let you have a go at it just to see how far you would get. Surely Steve would put up a good fight too, probably make it quick and easy so he didn’t have to hear your voice anymore, but you would definitely be taking your time with him. 

“He’s the only one who’s ever been camping and if something happens then he’ll know what to do.”

Nancy attempted to reason with you, hoping you could see it through just this once, for just a couple hours.

You shrugged your shoulders, watching him in your peripheral vision.

“Whatever, as long as he stays away from me then I can make it through the next 24 hours.” You waved off. 

But Jonathan lugged up a box, plopping it before your feet with a loud clatter coming from inside of it, staring at you with a smile. 

“If you want to make it to at least tonight, I’d suggest you start getting to work.”

Cursing under your breath, you were beginning to rethink your choices of saying ‘yes’ to trip when you had not one outdoorsy bone in your body and surely no bone, not even a cell that could stand Steve Harrington.

But getting it pitched up yourself wasn’t all that bad considering the fact that the instructions were self explanatory and had images to make it easy to follow. It was that nagging, infuriating voice that belonged to Steve that was getting on your last nerve. Like a mosquito in your ear, he kept buzzing and buzzing and—

“Try again, you’re holding the pole backwards, smarty pants!” He called out, smirking to himself when you tried to ignore him by shutting him out and doing it at your own pace.

But ignoring him only fueled his determination to keep going, poking and prodding at your patience that was withering away by the second. Every snarky smartass remark was like nails on a chalkboard, causing your eye to twitch, teeth to grind, and self-restraint to grow weaker. 

“Your tent is gonna fly away in the middle of the night if you don’t make use of those stakes!”

“You shoulda listened to me, I told you that pole was in the wrong slot!”

“How about you put a little elbow grease into it and stop trying to put it together like you’re the goddamn princess of the camp ground!”

Your blood was damn nearly boiling, knuckles going white as you shoved the stupid pole into the other side, trying to get the frame to stay together. But your anger and rushing only made it worse, the wobbling frame threatening to give out on itself if you tried to force it in anymore than you already had. His whiny voice and every taunt that came with it just made you want to take the pole and use it for something else — silencing him.

Nancy and Robin had scolded Steve multiple times, knowing that your fuse with him was ridiculously short. Eddie and Jonathan, well-acquainted with your dynamic, kept their distance, observing from the sidelines not wanting to be caught in the impending storm between you two.

Eddie watched you carefully,  your jaw clenching, air pushing out of your nostrils and he was sure that if it was humanly possible there would be a hot steam coming from the top of your head. 

“Knock it off, man, she’s getting pissed.” He warned his friend, taking a swig of his beer, while he darted between you both.

Steve however, wasn’t threatened in the slightest, continuing to provoke you with another snide comment. 

“She won’t be pissed for long if a bear comes and mauls her in the middle of the night because she doesn’t know how to pitch a damn—”

That was the last straw.

“I’m gonna fucking kill you!” You screamed, ripping off the pole and storming towards Steve not caring how insane you looked.

Eddie quickly got on his feet, dropping his beverage and intervening just in time. 

“Not so fast!” He lifted you off the ground holding you back as Jonathan managed to wrangle the pole out of your hands.

Steve was having a fit of laughter, hunching over himself and grabbing at his midsection.

“You’re so easy to piss off.” He cackled, shaking his head at you and giving himself an imaginary point for already getting under your skin in the first hour of being there.

“You’re such an asshole!” You fumed, continuing to struggle in Eddie's grasp.

He kept his hold tight knowing if there was any room left for you to get away, it would most likely end with warfare. And while he and your friends never liked to come in between your tumultuous relationship, they knew letting you both rip each other apart wouldn't do anyone good – even if it gave them some peace.  

Nancy had had enough — the trip was supposed to be peaceful, getting to be one with nature and finally getting away from the kids for once, but of course, that wouldn’t happen seeing as though you and Steve acted like children possessed.

“Enough!” She shouted, bringing temporary silence as you both could feel the seriousness in her voice.

“You’re right, Steve is an asshole and because he feels so sorry, what he’s gonna do is finish pitching up your tent while we go to the lake to cool off. Got it?”

She turned towards him, her eyes widening, signaling Steve to comply for the sake of peace just this once.

But instead, he protested, standing up defiantly, “Hell no! I wouldn’t even pitch her tent if—”

“I’m not asking you, I’m telling you.” Nancy interrupted, not leaving any room for negotiation because at this point it was futile.

Robin gestured to the partially completed frame with a small shrug.

“It’s the least you can do, half of it is already done.” She said, hoping to lighten his mood about it. 

Reluctantly Steve huffed, glaring as he made his way over to you, faces only inches apart as everyone began to sigh, seeing as though you’d both be starting again. Eddie gripped you tight, not even giving you any wiggle room to try anything.

“You’re lucky Robin’s staying in your tent because if she wasn’t, I wouldn’t even think about finishing it.” Steve rasped begrudgingly smirking because you were a prisoner in shackles.

But you jutted your neck forward as if you were about to headbutt him which caused him to flinch back, holding his arm out front of his body. That alone made you cackle, just a taste of what you could have done to get him to shut up.

“Get to work, boy scout.” You sneered. 

Throwing Eddie’s arms off your midsection, you brushed right past him going towards your bag to get out a bikini to change into while the rest of them whispered their scoldings, particularly punctuating the importance of Steve not messing with you anymore because they couldn’t stand it.

Jonathan nudged Steve’s shoulder, a pleading expression on his face.

“Would it kill you to not be such a dickhead to her for one whole day?”

Steve dramatically gasped, wrapping his arms around his own neck pretending to suffocate, “Y-yes… I-I can’t breathe, no oxygen!”

His best friend rolled her eyes, unimpressed with his childish behavior “You’re such a dweeb, I swear.” she said, smacking the top of his head as she walked past him and followed you to the bathrooms.

“You heard her, get to work.”

Nance snapped her fingers, pointing sharply at the tent hoping that for once he’d listen.

Jonathan and Eddie decided to serve as watch guards knowing that if no one was here to watch him and make sure he did what he was told, he would probably let you sleep with a half assed tent while Robin stayed with him and Eddie. 

Maybe all you needed was to get as far away as possible from him… for as long as you could.

Stepping into the lake, the water felt nice against your skin, cooling down the sizzling blood still rushing in your veins and easing your body to a state of relaxation. If you closed your eyes hard enough and let the sun bask down on your face, you could pretend as if he wasn’t just a few feet away from you, grumbling like a whiny child forced into time out to write a hundred sentences.

You honestly should’ve known better than to agree to come along the trip knowing Steve was going to infect it with his existence, but your friends had convinced you otherwise, selling it as an opportunity to get out of Hawkins for a weekend and just enjoy each other’s company.

If you had known that Steve was going to be even more of a pain in the ass than usual, you would have never even thought about getting into Eddie van and driving all the way here with no other means to leave.

“I just don’t understand how he’s nice to everyone but you.” Robin pondered aloud, trying to understand the mystery between your relationship.

“It’s because he wants me dead, Robin, simple as that.” You deadpanned, seeing no other explanation to it other than pure hatred.

“Don’t be ridiculous, he doesn’t want you dead.” Nancy laughed, brushing off your comment knowing that Steve didn’t hate you that much.

“Oh my bad, I meant that he wants me to suffer a long excruciating death by letting his ego take up all the space in the room.”

Your voice leaked of sarcasm, eliciting laughs from the girls who found humor in what you saw as the truth.

Robin and Nancy knew there was no way the both of you could really hate each other as much as you both liked to think you did. If you really did hate each other for real, then you wouldn’t even dare to tolerate each other's presence but you both did — and while sure most times it was for the sake of your friends, by now one of you should’ve been fed up enough to leave.

Their laughter faded, Robin staring at you with a mischievous smirk as you waded in the water, enjoying the temporary peace. Perhaps she could be out of line with the thoughts brewing up in her head, but it was just a theory — a possible reasoning for you and Steve’s differences.

“Did you ever stop and think that maybe you two might get along better if you liked each other in a different way?” She wiggled her brows before biting her lip. 

And like that, the peace was gone.

“Absolutely fucking not!” You shouted, rejecting it with clear disgust as you began splashing her in retaliation.

She giggled some more, trying to shield herself from the large splashes as Nancy swam off to the side, happy that at least you were having some fun now, even if the conversation still revolved around Steve. Robin swam through the splashes, wrapping her hands around yours to make them stop before you both began laughing, letting her hug you as an apology for her words.

“You’re so lucky I love you.” You grumbled, leaning closer to her to rest your cheek against her shoulder.

“Opposites attract, you know.” She continued to tease and you poked at her side, glaring half jokingly.

“Not him and I.” You declared sternly, gaze moving back up to the shore where the men still gathered near your tent.

It was nice not having to watch you stick your nose up and complain about the flies as if it was the end of the world. Without you in his ear and sights, he could finally enjoy just a smidge of the day, even if it was pitching his mortal enemy’s tent. If he didn’t think about it too much, he’d forget that it would be keeping you safe and you’d wake up the next morning, living another day to make his life miserable.

Tugging the tarp into place, he zipped it up and down making sure it slid smoothly before dusting off his hands and taking a step back to examine your his work. He tilted his head, shrugging his shoulders not in the mood to fix the lousy frame.

“Besides the crooked roof, it’s not that bad.” He announced, more so glad that his punishment was over.

Jonathan grinned, patting him on the back with a hopeful look as if this was the turning point.

“Well you should tell her she didn’t do a bad job then! Say something nice to her for once.”

Steive chortled looking over to him in disbelief before wagging his finger mockingly.

“Over my dead body.”

Jonathan sighed, sliding away from him and going to grab another beer for himself. Slowly but surely he was giving up on the idea of trying to get you and Steve to get along for the weekend. At this point, he and Nance’s plan was failing terribly, seeing as though neither of you said one good thing to each other all day and it probably would never happen.

Eddie rolled his eyes, resting his back against the tree as he watched you and the girls spinning in the water enjoying yourselves.

“Why can’t you both just put your differences aside and get along?” He wondered, seeing as though you were both capable of being happy, just why not with each other.

Steve darted his eyes up to his obviously, “She’s had it out for me since day one. Never liked me and never even tried to.”

Walking over to your bags, he picked them up along with Robin’s placing them in the tent, but he more so threw yours in, not giving a damn if the tent shook with it.

Eddie sighed, going over to fix it nicely into a corner when Steve turned away.

“To be fair, you haven’t tried to like her either so the odds were never going to be in your favor to begin with.” Jonathan pointed out truthfully.

How were the both of you ever going to get along if you held so much against each other without trying to see it through?

“You sure you don’t have a thing for her deep down? They always say that people who hate each other really just have to settle their differences in bed so they can see eye to eye.” Eddie snickered, patting his back stiffly. 

The thought alone made Steve sick. Kissing you? Hugging you? Actually enjoying your existence? That sounded like a nightmare from hell if he’d ever dreamt one. Eddie and Jonathan found it a bit comical, even taking notice of their friends silence, his mind thinking up all the dirty and—

A hard smack landed on Eddie’s arm.

“I don’t know where the hell you heard that from, but I wouldn’t even sleep with her if we were the last two people on Earth.” Steve sneered, nose sticking up with disgust.

Edide rubbed at the skin, he and Jonathan watched as Steve walked away, tugging his shirt off and beginning to make his way into the lake without another word. They knew it was inevitable, the hatred that was brewing in his bones for you, was just a ploy for something else — something you and him didn’t see quite but everyone else did.

“Twenty they finally kiss?” Jonathan challenged, turning to him with an open hand.

Eddie cackled, smirking smugly.

“Twenty-five they end up hooking up tonight,” he added to the wager and to the lines that you and him would cross.

“Deal.”

You rolled your eyes, detaching yourself from Robin catching the sight of Steve inching his way into the lake. Soon after Jonathan and Eddie followed suit, running in like chickens with their heads cut off and splashing all of you with their boy-ness.

It frustrated you more than the way it should have made you angry — the way all your friends could seamlessly get along with him as if he wasn't the worst person you ever met. He even embraced Jonathan in a bromance hug as if at one point in their lives they didn’t despise each other for the girl they both liked.

It was so… confusing?

You let them bask in the presence of Steve, knowing that while you didn’t enjoy time with him, you would never try to rob the rest of your friends from it. Instead you went off on your own, going in just a bit deeper for some privacy as they lingered a few feet behind you.

“Don’t go too far out!” Nancy called out to you knowing you weren’t the best swimmer.

“I know, mom!” You singsonged, looking up at the sky and taking it all in — random cloud shapes and the birds that flocked above.

The camp ground was two hours out from Hawkins, tucked away in a nicer part of town, of course, Steve was the one who suggested the place. Nevertheless it was actually breathtaking, a nice contrast to the small town that you all came from which didn’t have a lake that compared to this, just good ole’ Lover’s Lake and Sattler Quarry.

This would probably be your first and last time camping, so you were trying to make the most of it, not letting the little scuffle totally ruin your experience. You had wished you brought your polaroid along, wanting to snap photos of the view to remember it by but in hindsight it was better to live in the moment.

“Let’s play sharks and minnows!” Robin announced cheerfully, wanting to seize the moment and do something fun she remembered from childhood.

You didn’t pay them any mind, your silence serving as an answer that you’d be sitting that game out and enjoying watching them instead.

Steve cupped his hands around his mouth, shouting loudly, “I call shark!”

They erupted in shrieks, splashing their way farthest from Steve, getting a head start since he was a skilled swimmer. 

Eddie, who was a distance away yelled out, “Ready, set, go!”

Steve didn’t even bother mapping out everyone else, they weren’t his prey, you were.

“Better get moving, princess!”

Steve wore an irritatingly smug look, catching your eyes before he dove under the water and made his way towards you.

Your eyes widened, flaring your arms back as you attempted to doggy paddle away from him but it was obvious that he had the upper hand with his skill set. The tips of your toes started to slip from the ground, water pushed up to your collarbones as you still tried to get away from him without drowning.

It was futile trying to lose him, you didn’t even dare to inch further back knowing by then the water would submerge you fully. Instead you opted to sweep the water against him the closer he got to you, though he was unaffected by it still swimming with ease.

“Steve, stop! Go away!” You shouted, kicking your legs trying to get him back.

“Gotcha!” He grinned, popping his head out of the water to stand up straight and wrap his arms around your midsection

You pushed at his chest, trying to get away. “You dickwad! I wasn’t even playing!”

“Too bad!” He stuck his tongue out at you, gripping your skin just a tad tighter and hoisting your legs around his hips.

“Steve put me down, I swear to fucking…oh my god!” You exclaimed, quickly moving your arms around his neck when you felt the woosh of water against your back when he moved you both deeper into the water.

You watched your friends over his shoulder become smaller and smaller, until they were little specks on the shore waving with shit eating grins on their faces knowing that Steve wouldn’t actually do anything to hurt you.

Despite how disgusted you were being so close to him, you had no choice but to hang on for dear life. Steve gave you a bit of height with you over his hips, and had it not been for that, you’d be drowning by now.

“S-Steve, please I can’t swim!” You begged, eyes finally daring to meet him and for once you weren’t looking at him with such disgust but with desperation.

His face contorted with surprise, eyebrows raised and mouth held wide open before tugging up into a lopsided smirk.

“Never thought I’d ever hear that word come out of your mouth… let me hear it one more time?”

His grip barely went slack as you whimpered, using your legs to jerk him back to you before you slapped his chest, fingers gripping his biceps under the water and letting your nails dig painfully into his skin.

“Get me back to the shallow! Right now!” You growled, watching as he winced a bit hissing in a sharp breath feeling the sting.

Seriously, if you were a better swimmer, you’d be out of his grasp by now and holding his head underwater until he floated like dead weight. He had the advantage over you, but you’d be damned if you didn’t at least put up a fight.

“What’s the magic word?” He teased, exhaling as your nails eased out of his skin yet somehow you still held on to him not wanting to take a risk no matter how revolting he was.

“I. hate. you!” You screamed, starting to thrash around in his arms hoping that your struggle would annoy him so much that he’d bring you back to the shallow just so he wouldn’t have to deal with you.

But instead, he loosened his grip again, using it against you because just as he suspected, you seized your movements immediately, looped your hands around his neck, clinging to him like a koala.

“Still waiting on that magic word.” He singsoned, not being too cruel this time around, wrapping his arms securely around your frame, not actually thinking he’d ever let you go.

You hoped your friends couldn’t read your lips from there or else you wouldn’t hear the end of it.

“Please.” You gave in, whispering it against his neck.

The hair on the back of his neck stood tall, shivers creeping up his spine feeling a twinge of sympathy for you, but not too much to spare, when you cursed his name right after the fact. Satisfied, he spun around, guiding the two of you back to the bank where you were more comfortable.

Letting out a breath of relief, you relaxed your arms and slightly loosened your legs from around his waist, a little surprised at yourself for being able to stand his skin sticking to yours for so long. This was the most contact you and Steve had ever endured with each other. All of the previous encounters consisted of you smacking him and him chasing you with something gross like a dead roach.

“You didn’t think I’d actually let you drown, did you?” Steve asked, looking down at you.

You rolled your eyes, staring up at him past your lashes. “I don’t know, you’re quite the asshole so I thought so.”

He ran his tongue over the inside of his cheek, tsking disapprovingly.

“Such a shame you think so lowly of me,” he said acting hurt as rolled your eyes yet again, “here’s payback for earlier.”

His arms abruptly left your body, letting you actually slip out of his hold watching as you went down with a screech that quickly died. You shut your eyes tightly, arms pushing yourself up to the surface where you coughed roughly, his stupid laughter filling your ears when you came to.

“I still hate you!”

You huffed, splashing him once more before trudging towards your friends who watched with glee, thankful for the five minutes of free entertainment that didn’t involve them.

Steve stood where he was, arms crossed, face dripping with lake water, but still wearing a wide smile, more than happy with his little stunt and the fact that he got your blood pressure rising. Something about riling you up, filled him up with a sort of satisfaction, yet he wouldn’t ever admit that you were the only person who could get under his skin the same way he did you.

Surprisingly enough, he stayed away from you during the rest of the time in the lake. Instead, he bothered Eddie and Robin with his stupid ideas to race across the lake and find the biggest pebble to see who could skip it the farthest.

Thankfully for you, you got the bathe in the sunlight, enjoying conversation with Jonathan and Nancy who at first bothered you about the whole you in his arms thing, but eventually gave up when you gave them the death stare. You obviously were holding back something considering you never missed a beat to berate Steve, but this time around, you didn’t even want to get into it — they wondered why?

As the sun slowly began to tumble, casting oranges and pinks in the sky, you felt your fingertips becoming overly pruney, cueing your desire to get out and get freshened up for the evening.

“I’m gonna go wash up.” You announced raising a hand over your forehead to block the light as you stared out at them in the water.

“We’ll be out in a bit!” Robin called through her laughter, continuing her fun in chasing Eddie and Jonathan around in the water with a stick she had found.

You carefully tiptoed through the rocks, making your way up to the camp ground. The tent wasn’t half bad, and to your surprise Steve had actually followed through on his task of finishing it. You’d guess that if he wasn’t so intimidated by Nancy and her threats, he wouldn’t even think about doing it, nevertheless at least now you could say Steve did something useful for you for once, even if it was against his will.

Your bag was already conveniently placed in your tent, so you grabbed your toiletries, a clean towel, and your change of clothes before you walked over to the communal bathrooms where the showers were also located. Thankfully it was just you and your friends on the grounds, so it was fairly clean and had more privacy than usual which was always nice.

You pulled the curtains to one of the stalls back, assessing the area before putting your things down on the shelf and hanging your towel on the railing, stepping in and pulling the curtains closed. Stripping off your swimwear, you wringed out the excess water and hung them on the adjacent wall letting them air dry for the time being.

Cranking the lever, the shower head spritzed alive, letting semi-warm water sprinkle across your skin, rinsing you free of the lake water. You hummed to yourself, raking your fingers through the knots and tangles of your hair, doing your best to get them out before rubbing the skin over your neck and chest.

“You really should have picked the stall away from the sunlight.”

Steve’s voice echoed, halting his footsteps in the doorway as he stared at the figure behind the curtain, the only other person in here was you and he could definitely tell by your pedicured toes peeking under the gap of the shower.

Clenching your jaw, your hands stopped its movements over your body, turning your head over your shoulder as you were met with Steve’s shadow staring right on the other side. If you squinted hard enough you could make out the smirking features on his face, but to your obvious surprise all you could do was shriek.

“Oh my god!” You shielded yourself with your arms as if that would help, seeing as though the curtain alone wasn’t doing its job of saving you your dignity.

He held his hands up, gesturing his arm up and down at the curtain.

“Relax, I can only see your shadow because of the sun.” He explained nonchalantly, walking into the stall beside yours and switching the water on.

You swallowed, still not trusting him completely as you stepped forward, peeling back the curtain a bit to see if anyone else was coming that way.

“Are the rest of them coming? I need to save myself the embarrassment and move to another stall if they are.” You asked rapidly, really hoping that neither of your friends or any visitors would be greeted with your naked silhouette the second they stepped in there.

“They’re playing chicken in the lake so no, they won’t be coming any time soon.” He responded, sounding actually sincere for once, because while he enjoyed messing with you, he still respected your privacy enough to know setting you up like that wasn’t cool.

See… there were boundaries between your hatred, probably ones so low the bar was on the floor...but they were boundaries.

“Thank god.” You sighed, tugging the portion of the curtain closed and walking back into the stream of the water, squeezing some shampoo into your hands as you began lathering it through your scalp.

“By the way, are your tits pierced or were you just excited to see me?”

Your eyes widened, a gasp leaving your mouth while your fingers stopped. His incessant laughter bounced off the walls and rang in your ears like the worst kind of pain, wishing you had taken your chances earlier and at least tried to drown him.

“You’re such a pig!” You said, banging your hands on his side of the wall until his laughter died down scoffing.

He grunted, tapping your wall back harder. “Learn how to take a joke and stop getting your panties in a twist.”

“What’s a joke is that rumor about you being so largely endowed.” You began pretending to gag.

“I heard Stacy Burnham asked you if it was even in and when you said yes she was so disappointed.” You sassed sharply, hoping it would embarrass him enough to shut up.

“I didn’t even hook up with Stacy Burnham!” He retorted ridiculously, knowing that rumor was so absurd and untrue.

You rolled your eyes and wished he could see you, “Not surprised, it probably didn’t feel like much for you either when you’re packing less than three inches.”

Steve scoffed loudly, knowing that was definitely not true and it wasn’t just his ego talking. 

“Oh trust me, you wouldn’t even be able to take half of what I’m packing.”

“A half inch? Yeah, cause I’d be too busy crying with disappointment.” You faked sobbed, flipping him off though he couldn’t even see you. 

He didn’t have a comeback, clearly not in the mood to argue about what he was packing because truly you’d only believe him if you saw it for yourself. And trust him, he’d burn himself alive before ever thinking about seeing you naked or letting you see him naked.

That was just totally out of the question… and like he told Eddie, it would never happen even if you both were the last people on Earth.

“Let me borrow some soap.” Steve muttered knocking on your wall, hand dangling above your stall waiting for you to pass it over.

“No.” You chuckled, smacking his hand before you grabbed your body wash and rubbed it against your palms to create bubbles.

“Why not?” He coaxed, not putting his hand back down into his stall as you sighed and went on about washing your body.

“You tried to kill me earlier and let me drown.” You reminded him.

“And what would you call that little stunt back there when you tried to stab me to death?” He retorted.

You were quiet, rolling your eyes knowing that he wouldn’t let this go any time soon, so in order to save both of your energies, you simply picked up the bottle of shampoo, thrusting it up into his hand as he chuckled to himself and grabbed it.

“See! Sharing is caring, now, if you need to borrow some brains you know where to find me.”

“Shut the fuck up.” You snapped, trying to enjoy the rest of your shower despite knowing that the only thing that separated you both was a wall.

You showered in complete silence, only Steve knocking on your wall to give you back the products, fingers tapping against his palm to silently ask you for the next. After a few minutes you had finished, finally shutting the water off as you dried down.

You slipped your legs through a fresh pair of underwear, letting it snap against your skin as you worked the fitted cami over your torso and then slipped on the shorts that you rolled over your hips to stop them from falling.

Whipping the curtain back, you didn’t wait for Steve to finish, simply leaving him as you went back towards the tents to hang your still wet swimsuit over a tree branch and stuffing your things back into your bag.

After a few minutes he came out, walking over with his towel around his neck, sporting a loose t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. 

“Well you’re definitely getting eaten alive by mosquitoes tonight.” He shook his head at your rookie mistake, laughing along with it. 

You looked down at yourself, much of your skin left exposed for the same flies that badgered you earlier to feast upon.

“Give me a break, I didn’t know there would be so many flies.”

He walked over to his stuff, plucking out the aerosol can and tossing it over to you, “Here.” 

You caught it, looking over the bottle label as he spoke, “It’s the only brand of bug spray that actually works.” 

“Thanks.” You mumbled, twisting the bottle open and misting it over your arms and legs, letting the product coat every inch with a light sheen.

You tossed it back, working it into your skin as Steve took his turn to spray it on his exposed arms and neck knowing from experience that waking up to a hundred fly bites was the most uncomfortable itchy pain to be in.

“How were the showers?” Eddie huffed, water dripped off his body as he made his way up to you both, the rest of them following behind.

“Fine, just don’t pick the stall directly at the entrance. Wouldn’t want anyone getting an eye full.”

Steve smirked as you turned beet red, tucking your face into your chest and walking to your bag to pretend to search for something.

Nancy wrapped her arms around herself, biting back the cool air that was coming in from the day winding down.

“Why don’t you guys get started on the fire so that way we can have dinner soon.”

Sunset was just nearly finishing up, only about a half hour of sunlight left before darkness would set in. Steve knew from experience that keeping the fire overnight would be the best bet at having means to some light and warmth.

He nodded, looking around for the items to get it going, “Yeah, sure, where’s the charcoal?”

“Charcoal?” Jonthan asked, confused, scratching the temple of his head, not remembering seeing it when you were all loading Eddie’s van that morning.

Steve nodded his head obviously, looking around at the group. “For the fire? I told you guys to pick it up.”

You sighed, standing up to face them with your hands on your hips. “Don’t tell me you guys forgot it.” 

“Are we doomed if we say we did?” Eddie spoke, a guilty inflection in his voice, because he was totally in charge of that but it had slipped his mind.

Steve shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest. “Just means that now we have to find some sticks and leaves. Do it the old fashioned way.”

Robin the ever so considerate one, starting snapping her fingers, pointing between you and Steve biting back her sneaky smile.

“So stop standing around and start searching! We don’t want to lose daylight before then.”

Taking a deep breath in you held back your comments of how you didn’t want to go anywhere alone with Steve since he obviously had a death wish for you. However it was obvious that this was going to be a group effort, and if you wanted to make it out of here alive, you would just have to suck it up and follow Steve’s lead.

He stared down at your bare feet, pointing at your tent.

“Put some shoes on and let’s go.” He said, before the others smiled contently, running off to the showers and leaving you both alone again.

“This is the last time I’m ever camping.” You grumbled sliding on a fresh pair of socks and slipping your shoes on, bending to tie them up.

Steve tapped his foot against the grass, shaking his head at you and your ability to nit-pick every little thing.

“You know, it would be more enjoyable if you’d stop making every minor inconvenience a big deal.”

You finished off the ties with a tug, walking over to him and glaring at his hypocrisy with an instance you were all too familiar with.

“Are you really one to be talking Mr. I got mad at Dustin Henderson for using up all my hairspray even when my date flaked on me?”

He hated that you remembered that even when it had been months ago since it happened. Neither you nor Dustin let him live it down because it was the first time he let a girl get in between his extraordinary ability to be the charming babysitter he made himself out to be. Dustin, so annoyed with his attitude, didn’t ask Steve for any rides to the arcade nor did he visit him at Scoops for a whole two weeks.

Instead, you took on the babysitting role, driving him to the arcade, dropping him off to school, and even picking the kid up at Star Court when all his friends caught a ride with Steve to be dropped off back at their place. Steve thought Dustin was being ridiculous about the whole thing until you pulled up in your car, wearing the biggest smile as you rolled down your window and sent him a cold smirk.

“Not such a great babysitter anymore, huh?” You laughed, watching as his face fell and Dustin got into the passenger of your car, waving goodbye to his friends while you sped off.

Safe to say, Steve apologized to the kid, terribly sorry and embarrassed by his behavior and even throwing in a bottle of hairspray and a free banana split every time he came into Scoops as an apology gift.

The two of you followed the trail a few feet out from the campground, trucking through an uneven rocky path and outgrown bushes. He was clearly more familiar with the area given his experience, knowing exactly where to go, taking a shortcut that passed cut through the bumpy trail and led you to a small area of dirt and trees.

“We’re looking for sticks about this size, but really any twig or stick will do.” He spoke, reaching down to pick up a large stick and show it to you.

You looked around, eyes peeled out for the sticks that were scattered in the area.

“And what about leaves?” you asked.

“Those too, but they’ve gotta be dry, almost crumbly.” He specified, walking off to start the collection process.

“Got it.”

You and Steve worked the best when there was no talking involved, perhaps that's why your friends always suggested going out to see a movie at the theaters instead of at each other's homes where you both would clearly not give a damn about causing a disturbance. But despite that, right then you both were going a whole ten minutes without insulting one another or making threats to see the other dead.

When you picked up the wrong stick of a leaf that wasn’t crumbly enough, he just grunted, shaking his head until you dropped it and found another that would suffice. That system was working well so far, so maybe that was the key: limited talking.

“Go drop that pile off and come back for more, we’re gonna need a whole bunch to last until morning.” Steve instructed, noticing that you had already gathered quite a bit in your arms.

You peered into his arms, his pile about the same size as yours, maybe a little smaller.

“Want me to take some of yours?” You suggested, wanting to save you both a few more trips up there.

He nodded, carefully stacking them on top of what you already had, steadying the pile and removing the bigger ones to ensure it didn’t tumble over while you were walking down. When you got all that you could carry, Steve gave you a cautious look.

“Be careful and walk slowly, the path gets rocky when you get closer to the camp. If you fall, just scream and I’ll hear you.” He was so serious about it, like a true camp counselor, or as you liked to call him...

“Heard you loud and clear, boy scout.” You hummed, turning around and making your way carefully down the trail.

For once you actually listened to what he said, taking your time and not rushing your way down knowing it wouldn’t do you or him any good if you ended up taking a spill and losing all the fire starter then scratching yourself up in the process. You remembered the shortcut he took, a right turn that he conveniently marked with a X in the dirt. Just a little more walking before the campsite came back into view and still no signs of your friends being done yet.

You dumped the sticks and leaves near the outside of the fire pit that was in the center of the camp. Dusting your hands off and taking a deep breath, you looked back up the hilly trail where Steve was somewhere up there waiting for you to come back.

“C’mon, princess.” You muttered to yourself, feet taking you back there with fast steps trying to beat the sunlight.

Clearly the outdoors just wasn’t your thing, easily becoming winded despite the fact that the trail wasn’t that steep. But you were trying to cut yourself some slack because for a rookie, you kinda got the hang of keeping your balance and not getting lost through the unknown woods.

“H-how many more piles do we need? I can’t do this five more times.” You huffed, hands on your hips as you caught your breath watching Steve dump a few more sticks in a pile on the ground.

He peered over at you, wiping the sweat that beaded on his forehead with the back of his hand.

“Probably one more, will do.” He answered, strolling further up, just to grab a bit more in case.

You honestly didn’t know how a small town city boy like him was so good at things like this — usually he was only good at picking up girls and making a doofus out of himself when he didn’t know how to talk about anything else beside him. 

Maybe it was those annual Harrington trips he took when he was a little boy or maybe he really was secretly a boy scout and been hiding it all along, either way, thank god it was him doing most of the dirty work and not you.

“Should I bring these down or do you want me to wait?” You shouted loud enough for him to hear glancing over at the piles he made while you picked a few more sticks up.

“You can— fuck!” He winced, clutching his palm in his other hand, starting to feel a sharp pain shoot in around the area. 

Hastily you dropped the sticks, abandoning the pile and racing to where he was while trying not to fall so that you could see what exactly was going on. There was a pained look on his face, teeth biting into his bottom lip as he turned away and tried to shake it off. But alas you reached for his wrist, bringing his hand towards you to access.

“Shit, you’re bleeding.” You whispered, bringing the injured hand closer to see if the gash was deep or not, but you couldn’t quite tell with the small pooling of blood in the way.

Steve jutted his chin downwards, showing you the jagged stone responsible.

“I didn’t see it when I went for the stick.” He explained. 

You nodded, releasing his wrist gently. “C’mon, we need to get it cleaned and bandaged before it gets infected.”

“I gotta grab the—”

“No!” You yelped, pulling him up by the collar of his shirt when he attempted to bend down for more sticks despite his injury.

He stopped, visibly stunned at your sudden attentiveness that was usually never present when it came to him.

“I’ll carry those, but you don’t pick up or hold anything else. If a splinter gets in there I’ll be the one needing to dig it out and it'll only hurt more.” You said sternly, shaking your head at him like he should have known better. 

“I thought you liked seeing me in pain.” Steve smirked somehow still able to be a little shit even with a fucked up hand. 

“I do,” You tilted your head, but sighed, “But I really don’t need the one person who actually knows what they’re doing to be the first one dead.”

“Fine by me.” Steve shrugged, forced to watch you pick up all the sticks and leaves by yourself, he followed behind you as you occasionally looked behind your shoulder to see if he was okay.

When you both finally made it back to the tents, you dropped the pile, pointing at the foldable chairs a few feet from the pit.

“Go over there.” You instructed, brushing past him with vigor as you went to your tent to retrieve the first aid kit you packed for emergencies like this, though you were really hoping you didn’t have to use it.

You flipped the case open, taking a look at all the materials it contained while you walked over to him, kneeling in front of him and deciding what you were going to do. Grabbing an alcohol wipe, you disinfected your hands before you tapped his knee.

“Show me.” You demanded, holding your hand out, until he reluctantly placed it in yours giving you a closer look at the gash.

The blood had stopped so you knew it wasn’t that deep of a cut that would require stitches or staples, but it most definitely needed to be wrapped up to prevent an infection and trip to the emergency room.

You reached into the kit for a fresh alcohol pad, ripping it open with your teeth as you steadied his hand in yours.

“Just get it over with already.” He muttered, head turning away anticipating the sting that was going to be worse than your nails digging into him.

“Don’t be a wimp.” You joked, swiping it gently over the area to get it clear from the drying blood and any outside contaminants. He didn’t pull back, only sucking in a deep breath from the mild burn but after a few seconds the worst part was done.

“See, not so bad, right, big boy?” You laughed, patting his knee again before throwing aside the bloodied napkin as he swallowed thickly, waiting for your next steps.

He watched you carefully, grabbing some sort of ointment, squeezing a small dollop onto your finger before you dabbed it over the cut making sure to coat it evenly. Then you placed two pieces of gauze over the top to keep it extra clean and enclosed. 

You repositioned his arm, letting his elbow rest upright on his knee.

“I’m gonna tape you up now, so try not to get it wet, but if you do I can always rewrap it.” You told him, getting the tape ready.

Steve was surprised by your skill, expertly maneuvering the tape through his fingers, across his palm and over his wrist, repeating it a few times to ensure that the gauze wouldn’t budge and would keep the cut sealed tight.

“Where’d you learn how to do this?” He asked curiously, watching as you smoothed out the creases as you went.

You shrugged, doing one last wrap around for good measure, “I had a phase where I thought I wanted to be a nurse.” You grinned, teeth wrapping around the excess tape to rip it off before you flattened the remainder over his wrist.

He nodded slowly, stammering out,“T-thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” You brushed it off, cleaning up the bloody wipes and putting the first aid kit back in your bag after disinfecting your hands once more. 

The sun was nearly covered by the clouds, painting the sky a darker orange shade as nightfall threatened to spill over soon. At this point, the fire needed to be started, now — no more distractions and no more arguing.

“So?” You shot Steve a look, then back down at the fire pit, “Wanna tell me what I need to do to get this thing started or what?”

Steve was more than capable of getting it done himself with one good hand, but seeing as though you were pretty stern in his efforts to not carry a single stick, not even a paper light leaf, he knew this would be no different. Instead he moved to stay beside you, acting as supervisor just so he could make sure you were doing the right thing.

“You’re gonna wanna start by making a bed with the leaves.” He instructed, watching as you dropped down on your hands and knees to get low enough into the pit as you threw them in, trying your best to make it as leveled as possible.

“It looks good,” He praised, giving you a tight smile when you looked up at him waiting for the next steps.

“You want to do it the old fashioned way or do you want to use Eddie’s lighter?” He chuckled, knowing he’d pick the easy way just like you were going to.

“Fuck that, I’m not a cave woman, where the hell is the lighter?” You strided towards his and Eddie’s tent, rummaging through the metal heads duffle bag until you felt the familiar body of the lighter.

You went back into place, flicked it on and looked at Steve cautiously until he nodded, granting you permission to set the bed of leaves on fire. Blindlessly you passed the lighter up to him, watching as the flames slowly engulfed the leaves and began to crackle.

“Now start adding a few sticks. We’re gonna need to add more throughout the night to feed the fire.” He said watching as you carefully threw some in, doing your best to cover the bed beneath it until only a little of the fire was exposed.

“Alright, that’s good enough.” He bent down patting your shoulder and feeling the warmth of the fire starting to get hotter.

“Well that wasn’t so hard.” You grinned to yourself dusting off your hands and knees, happy with your outdoor accomplishments thus far.

“Technically the lighter made the fire.” He shot back, flicking it between you both as you rolled your eyes and blew the flame out.

“Oh shut it.” You muttered, going to busy yourself with something else while Steve put the lighter back where it came from.

You propped open the rest of the chairs, randomly placing them around everyones tents and two extra ones right in front of the fire pit. Steve was watching the fire, making sure it didn’t get too big or burned too slowly — so far the bed of leaves you built were holding up and it didn’t seem like it’d be going out until morning tomorrow.

After a few minutes the voices of your friends came tumbling out of the bathrooms, seeing them all dressed in their PJ’s that somehow showed they were more prepared than you. All of them decked out in long sleeves, hoodies, and sweatpants — god, you wished you got the memo.

“Damn this is cool! I’ve only ever seen a campfire in movies!” Eddie enthusiastically ran closer, peering into the bright orange pit.

You looked over at all of them, dramatically holding your arms wide open.

“Were you guys having a foursome or something?! Steve and I did all the work and he even got banged up in the process.” You said, walking over to him to lift and show them his injured hand.

Robin gasped, running up to his side to check up on him, obviously worried for her best friend, “What the heck happened.”

Steve shrugged looking over at you with a somewhat grateful look, “Grazed a sharp rock, but it’s fine. She wrapped it up and we’re all good to go now.”

“Well shit, sorry we took so long,” Jonathan apologized half-heartedly, while his mind was celebrating that you both actually seemed to work well together when it was needed. 

“Eddie and Robin thought they saw a spider in the showers so we all had to take turns using one stall.” Nancy rolled her eyes, giving you an apologetic look, the both of you knowing Robin and Eddie were a tad bit dramatic at times.

“It’s fine, but you can make it up to us by cooking.” You grinned, you and Steve giving each other a sly look before you pointed at the icebox of food waiting to be cooked.

So you and Steve finally got to kick back… in silence of course.

You both sat in the foldable chairs, watching as the four worked diligently over the fire — Nancy holding skewers of hot dogs over the flame, Robin prodding at the potatoes wrapped in foil with a pair of tongs, Jonathan toasting the hot dog buns one by one, and Eddie feeding the fire with a few more smaller sticks.

He peered over at your silent figure, watching the way you zoned off into your own world, somehow right beside him yet a world away. You were probably thinking about something else, either all the remarks you wanted to snap his way yet were held back or maybe you were making a list of new ones to call him tomorrow. 

But he cleared his throat, attempting to get you back here with him, “Do you uhh, want a drink?” Steve asked, breaking the silence.

You blinked, turning to watch him flip open the cooler to grab himself a beer while he looked back at you waiting for your request. 

“Water, please.” You said, watching as he dug his non injured hand into the ice box to pull you out an ice cold water bottle, shutting the box closed.

“Thank you.” You said softly twisting it open to take a sip.

While doing so, you furrowed your brows, noticing the way that Steve struggled with the twist off since he was using his non-dominant hand. He almost went to put the bottle in his mouth to use his pearly whites as an opener before you quickly capped off your drink and stepped in.

“Give it here.” You said, taking the glass from his hand, and tucking the lid under your shirt to stop it from pinching your skin as you effortlessly twisted it open.

“Thank you.” Steve nodded with a small smile, taking it from you as you shook your head with a grin and went back to watching your friends.

Steve couldn’t wrap his head around how you could be so selfless but at the same time so selfish. You’d do anything your friends asked of you at the drop of a hat, maybe even without them asking to begin with — you’d just jump in and do it. But when it came to him, half the time you didn’t give a damn, ignoring every warning or piece of unwarranted advice he’d thrown your way.

It was utterly confusing, considering that you were the most selfless person to him today than you’d ever been before. You could’ve left him to deal with the cut by himself seeing as though he still had one good hand left, and honestly you could’ve left him to do the stick and leaf collecting all by himself… but you didn’t.

On a regular day if he even dared to ask for your help, the answer would be “no,” with no explanation other than the fact that you just didn’t want to have anything to do with him. So it struck a chord in his mind, wondering why now? It couldn’t just be because you both were in the middle of nowhere, he knew that much. 

Why all of a sudden was there this shift, the one where you helped him without receiving anything back?

“How is the food coming along?” You whistled towards your friends.

Nancy smiled widely, holding one of the skewers up, “It’s almost done! Maybe two more minutes!”

Robin pouted, snapping the metal tongs to get your attention, “The potatoes need a bit more time, they’re still hard as rocks.” she huffed, resting her chin on her knees.

“Did you poke them with holes?” You wondered as she frowned and shook her head.

“Was I supposed to? I didn’t know, I’m sorry.” She apologized ridiculously for something that wasn’t a big deal.

You shook your head shooting her a reassuring smile.

“S’okay! They’re gonna cook through, but sometimes poking holes just speeds it up a bit… It's okay! If anything, we can have them for breakfast.”

“Okie dokie!” She smiled, happy that she didn’t entirely sit there for nothing. 

He hated himself for watching you so carefully, taking notice of the bright smile you flashed against the moonlight and how your voice was so syrupy sweet. He never took notice of it before, but you had a radiance about you, something that everyone seemed to catch except him.

Maybe it was because half the time you were shooting daggers through him and screaming your lungs off, but now, for the first time, he felt like he was seeing a different side of you — the one he tried to fight off knowing for so long.

“Are you okay?” You furrowed your brows, waving your hand in front of Steve’s face.

He shook his head, snapping out of it and nodding awkwardly, “Y-yeah, I’m fine… you?”

“I’m okay.” You told him,  turning your attention back to your friends. 

Maybe it was your tiredness that was preventing you from being the bitch that you usually were to him or maybe you felt a little bad for him because of his injuries, but whatever it was filled the air with some sort of calmness that usually wasn’t around when he was in your vicinity.

Really, on most days, if you’d caught Steve staring at you, which most times he wasn’t unless it was full of revulsion, you would have snapped and told him to take a lap, but it was almost as if you could feel what his eyes were doing.

His gaze drinking you in slowly like the beer in his hands and trying to understand your craft. He didn’t stare through you, nor at you, but to you… trying to get under your skin in a way he hadn’t done before.

It felt…weird, so awkwardly weird. On a regular day the both of you could barely go two minutes without cursing each other out the second either of you spoke a word to each other. Now all of a sudden you both had your P’s and Q’s ready for each other along with genuine concerns about the other’s wellbeing?

God, you both couldn’t wait for it to go back to normal.

“Food’s ready!” Eddie called out, slicing through the unspoken tension.

You and Steve stood up, heading towards the food knowing you were both dying to have something in your systems after a long day. Beating him to it, you plated him a hot dog swiftly moving on as if the little gesture meant nothing.

“Condiments?” You asked, picking up the ketchup bottle, giving it a good shake before squeezing a dollop on your plate.

“Huh?” He asked confused, too wound up about your niceness.

“Do you want any condiments on your hot dog?” You clarified once more, raising your brow up at him.

He needed to stop reading into things so much.

“Oh, y-yeah” He nodded, watching as you squeezed some for him, “and mustard please,” he said, and you nodded, reaching for the yellow bottle and doing the same before you capped it off and left him in the dust when you went to sit with the girls.

Eddie snuck up from behind him, just nearly whispering into his ear lowly, “Aren’t you two being friendly for once?”

He smirked, wiggling his eyebrows when Steve looked back at him a bit startled. He rolled his eyes, walking over to the chairs near their tent and plopping down.

“She’s pitying me because of my hand.”

“Or she just genuinely wants to help you out?” Jonathan chimed in taking a seat beside him.

Steve shook his head, picking up his food, “I doubt that. She’s probably gonna use this against me for the rest of eternity.” He replied before taking a bite.

“I don’t think so man, I think she actually cares, and I think you like that she cares.” Eddie waved his finger in the air before poking at his cheek.

Steve snapped his teeth, pretending to bite the finger that Eddie quickly pulled away. Jonathan laughed at the banter because of course Eddie had to be the one to stir the pot when things were staring to cool and settle.

“She doesn’t give a damn about me….”

Steve started, trailing his eyes to where you were, watching you share whispers to the girls before you met his eyes for a split second.

“She still hates my guts.” He said as you snapped your eyes back to Nancy and Robin.

“Did we miss something while you guys were gone?” Nancy raised her brows, glancing back at Steve and the boys who were engrossed in their own conversations whilst they ate.

You shook your head towards her, swallowing your food before speaking.

“Nope, why do you say that?” You buzzed, wondering why all of a sudden she thought something had happened.

Robin chimed in swiftly, nudging your arm with a weak punch, shooting you a more than obvious look.

“Cause you guys haven’t tried to kill each other for the past hour and a half and you actually could stand to sit beside him without arguing.”

You tilted your head at her incredulously.

“I thought you guys wanted us to get along?”

“Oh, we do…” Nancy nodded enthusiastically, “we’re just wondering what made it happen considering you both tried to kill each other a few hours ago.”

Letting out a deep breath, you tried to give your best irritated look under your tiredness.

“We’re just tired that’s all. We’ve run out of insults and to be quite honest, I need to recharge my battery with some sleep before attempting to murder him tomorrow. Before you know it we’ll be at each other’s throats again.” You explained hoping they would drop it.

But of course they didn’t.

“Would it kill you to, I don’t know, be a little more positive on the outlook of you and Steve’s relationship.” Robin beamed hopefully.

You rolled your eyes, shaking your head as you glanced over at Steve’s figure.

“He still hates me,” you said, meeting his orbs split, “I know it,” you muttered, tearing your eyes away.

Neither Nancy, nor Eddie, or Jonathan, and Robin didn’t believe a goddamn word that came out of your mouths when it came to each other. Clearly things were starting to unfold and whatever it was that happened when they weren’t around to see it was obviously just the catalyst.

So many things that went unspoken for way too long were lingering in the air and they all knew you needed the space to confront it.After a while of eating, Nancy dramatically yawned, gesturing her boyfriend over to her with wide eyes silently telling him to go along with what she was doing, without you or Steve taking notice.

“We’re gonna head to bed now.” She announced, tiredly clinging to her boyfriend's side.

Jonathan nodded, wrapping his arms over her shoulders.

“Yeah, we’ll see you guys in the morning.” He said, the two of them beginning to get into their tents while calling out their goodnights to you all.

“Wake us up if you need anything.” You called out as they both hummed and zipped up their tarp for the night.

You were going to turn in too, really you were more than tired, just needing a good night's rest so that you’d be ready to go in the morning. Throwing out your plate, you walked over to your tent to grab your toothbrush and other nighttime necessities.

“I’m gonna go brush my teeth.” You said, walking towards the bathrooms.

“Wait up,” Steve called out, grabbing his own brush and jogging towards where you waited so you guys could go together.

Robin tilted her head towards your tent, as Eddie nodded, swiftly grabbing his lighter and pre rolls from his duffle bag and joining Robin inside the structure. That honestly wasn’t a part of the plan, seeing as though he was going to keep the blunt to himself, but now it was just convenient and would make the perfect excuse.

Steve didn’t bother to settle to the empty sink beside yours, instead he switched the water on letting you run your brush under the faucet first before he did his. You squeezed a strip of toothpaste over your bristles before doing the same to his guessing he forgot to pack his own which he totally did.

The both of you stood in front of the mirror, brushing in silence with the water trickling weakly. Your eyes drifted from his face to his hand that rested at his side stiffly. You knew it was probably still a little sore, but by tomorrow morning the pain should subside enough for him to move it a little more freely. 

“Do you want me to rewrap your hand?” You offered, mouth still full of toothpaste as you spoke mumbly. 

He met your eyes in the mirror, lifting his hand towards you, trusting your opinion rather than his own. 

“What do you think?”

You stopped your brushing for just a second, leaving the brush between your cheek and teeth as you picked up his hand and gave it a good look to see if there was any oozing blood or loose tape — which there was neither.

Putting his arm down gently, you shook your head. “Looks fine, I’ll just clean it and change the gauze in the morning.”

“Okay.” He mumbled, smiling softly.

Steve let you rinse first, leaning up against the wall as he watched you spit out the residue and wipe your mouth clean. You stepped away, letting him have his go while you reached into your small toiletry bag, placing your brush back inside and twisting open your lip balm to smooth over your lips.

“Want some?” You raised your brow, seeing him watch you while he swigged some water in his mouth.

He spat, turning off the water and looking at the tube, “Birthday cake?” He questioned the flavor on the label.

“Tastes like vanilla and strawberries.” You said as he shrugged, puckering his lips towards you as you applied a thin layer before capping it off and throwing it back into your bag.

He smacked his lips together, a bit of his tongue coming out to lick at it, “I can’t taste it?”

“You’re not actually supposed to eat it, Steve.” You chided, shaking your head as you both walked to the tents.

“Then why would they advertise it as birthday cake if I can’t taste the cake?” He retorted, still trying to lick at his slimy lips to taste it.

You didn’t want to get into with him over some stupid lip balm flavor so instead you held back, listening to his lips smacking, persistent on getting to try the artificial taste while you tried not to laugh. As you got closer to the tents, a different smell lingered in the air along with the smokey aroma of the fire.

“Do you smell that?” You sniffed the air, turning to Steve seeing him do the same.

He sniffled in a few times, deciphering the smell and after a few seconds, he knew exactly what it was, an unmistakable likeness to the back of Eddie’s van.

“It’s weed.”

You looked around, realizing the absence of Eddie and Robin who were just sitting near the campfire before you went to the bathroom. Now, you noticed your tent that was half unzipped was completely sealed and if you listened close enough you could hear the whispers being spoken from inside.

You stomped over to them, unzipping the tarp, pulling it roughly.

“Are you guys insane?” You hissed, tossing in your toiletry bag while staring at them in annoyance.

“Insanely hiiiigh.” Robin hiccuped with a giggle joined by Eddie’s snorts while he took another hit.

Steve peered in from behind you, his expression stern. 

“You’re not even supposed to bring that stuff onto the camp ground, you’re gonna get us kicked out, dumbass.” Steve scolded, ripping the joint from Eddie and putting it out against the ground.

“Hey! That was a special strain!” Eddie argued, attempting to reach for it but Steve pulled it behind his back, not letting up.

“I don’t care.” You said dryly, “you need to get out and go to your tent so I can sleep.”

You attempted to pull him out by the arm but he didn’t budge as easily as you thought he would.

“No, wait! Ten more minutes!” Robin whined, smacking your arm away from her friend, “You guys are letting all the good stuff out!” 

Zipping up the tent, you and Steve backed away defeatedly. You ran your hands through your hair, closing your eyes briefly trying not to let their little antics tick you off despite your exhaustion. 

“Ten minutes and I’m counting!” You warned, thumping the top of the tent before you flopped down onto the chairs hoping time would fly faster.

Steve looked at you apologetically, holding back his joking comment about how it didn’t matter that he built your tent, seeing as though you were locked out, but he didn’t want to make you more irritated than you already were… surprising right?

“Night?” He said, shooting you a remorseful smile when he stopped in front of your chair. 

“Goodnight, Steve.” You yawned, waving him off as you hugged yourself to bear the cold clad in nothing but your tank and shorts.

He nodded walking to his tent a few feet away, toeing off his shoes before giving you one last look until he zipped his tent closed. He reached for the small flashlight he packed, putting it on its lowest setting so that Eddie could see when he came in. Giving his pillow a pat, he laid back pulling his blanket over himself and attempting to close his eyes and rest.

Sleep should have come easy seeing as though he had been up since seven in the morning, yet he still couldn’t fall into slumber no matter how hard he tried. He knew it wasn’t the fact that he wasn’t in his bedroom because he’d been camping times before and sleep naturally came easy but tonight it just wasn’t budging.

He shifted uncomfortably, aware of the passing minutes that stretched beyond ten, and Eddie still hadn't joined him. He was totally sure he didn’t even hear you give them another warning from the outside, meaning that you were definitely asleep on that chair.

Sitting up to peek through the small gap he left open, there you were — head tilted back, eyes closed, arms hugging your body, seemingly oblivious to the bitter cold that was going to leave you with hypothermia. If he was really feeling like being an asshole to you, he would’ve left you out there to suffer the consequences of your actions, but he couldn’t.

Quietly stepping outside, Steve approached, bending down to gently nudge you awake.

“Psttt, wake up," he whispered, cautious not to disturb Nancy and Jonathan nearby who were dead asleep by now.

You responded with a sleepy mumble, lips curling up as you somehow shifted deeper into the chair that was not designed to sleep in like that no matter how tired someone could be.

He tried again, this time more rigid in his efforts by grabbing your hand and squeezing it, “Wake up.”

Feeling his toasty hand in yours, you groggily opened your eyes, dazed orbs looking into his.

“What?” You grumbled, eyes opening to be met with Steve’s filled with confusion.

Without much explaining, he squeezed your hand again, pulling you up, “You’re crashing in my tent tonight.” 

You had no choice but to let him pull you along, stumbling behind him as sleep still clouded your senses. 

“Why?” You groaned, rubbing at your eyes while he guided you to his tent where he widened the tarp, gesturing for you to enter.

“Because that special strain Eddie was talking about was for sleep. Neither of them are gonna budge till morning.” He informed you, resting a gentle hand on the small of your back to keep you up right as you lazily toed your shoes off.

“Well fuck me.” You muttered under your breath crouching when you stepped into the small space.

He snorted behind you, “In your dreams.” He said before zipping it up.

“Shut up,” you groaned, crawling towards the empty space beside him.

Now it was starting to feel like things were going back to normal.

You settled into what would have been Eddie’s side, a half fluffed pillow under your head and nothing else. Though their overall set up was way more comfortable than what you and Robin had going on in yours. Steve had layered a sleeping mat beneath the comforter, making the surface a little more plush that way no rocks or gravel could be felt under the tarp — plus it added an extra layer of warmth, something you desperately needed right now.

Laying on your back, you left a good distance between you both, wrapping your arms around yourself once again hoping that now you’d be able to sleep comfortably even if it was beside Steve. Closing your eyes, you focused on breathing trying to not think so hard about the shivers in your bones knowing you wouldn’t be able to feel them once you fell asleep.

“I can hear your teeth clattering.” Steve sighed, casting a glance towards you where you laid beside him, starting to rub your hands up and down your arms in an attempt to generate warmth.

“I obviously wasn’t prepared for this, and my blanket is in my tent.” You muttered, eyes still closed and tucking your knees into yourself to find some semblance of comfort.

He made a thoughtful noise, lifting up his blanket and turning his body towards you. You could feel the space tighten, the fuzzy material of his blanket skimming your bare skin.

“Get under here.” He whispered, nodding his head when you finally opened your eyes looking at him with uncertainty and confusion.

You didn’t know what to make of it, if this was some kind of cruel joke he was playing on you, where he was actually going to hog it for himself and let you spend the rest of the night with your teeth clattering. 

But deep down he wasn’t all that bad, sure he poked fun at you and made your blood boil like no other, but when it came down to morals, he had some saved for you… at least for now it seemed like. 

Steve raised his brow at your hesitance, lifting the blanket up higher.

“What’re you waiting for? Do you want to freeze to death because by all means let me know.” He challenged pretending as if he wouldn’t care. 

You swallowed thickly, turning your back towards him as you cautiously scooted under the blanket, feeling its comforting weight draped over your body. His fingers funneled you over more of the material, letting you have most of it as you quietly thanked him, tucking the throw under your neck where your fingers held it tight.

This was totally out of character coming from Steve knowing it would’ve hurt his ego a lot less if he’d just given you the blanket for yourself and spent the night with no covering. But for some reason you couldn’t place the gesture, not knowing why he would go out of his way for you or if this was some ulterior motive to hold against you in the future.

“I thought you wouldn’t mind me dead.” You said, trying to find a way to ease the awkwardness that you felt in your mind when he was just inches behind you. 

“I don’t,” he laughed, his breath grazing the back of your neck. “But I don’t want to haul your frozen body in the back of Eddie’s van.” He added with a playful glint.

There was your old Steve, back.

“C-can we just go to bed?” You stuttered, clearing your throat as you rested your head deeper into the pillow just wanting to dream off somewhere, anywhere but right there in reality. 

“Sure.” He agreed, shifting slightly before settling down and closing his eyes.

Silence enveloped you both, just the sounds of crickets from the outside and gentle crackling of the fire that burned slow in the air.

Part of you wished he maybe would have left you out there to fend for yourself or maybe just threw his blanket over you for good measure, but somehow, being in here with him, tucked away from the rest of the world made you feel even more awake than before. It was obvious, neither of you were going to be falling asleep so easily, the tension so thick you could barely breathe through it.

Steve at least tried to fall asleep, focusing on something to dream about but you were overwhelming his senses making his nerves go into overdrive. Sure he already reeked of all of your products that he had borrowed in the shower, but now it was a combination of their scents attached to your skin and hair that was filling his nostrils. It didn’t help that you unconsciously let out those soft noises, as your body shook, not fully taking in the warmth just yet.

Shifting slightly, your back unintentionally met his forearms that rested behind you. His eyes snapped open, feeling the coolness against his skin, shifting up slightly just enough to see your face.

“How are you still freezing?” Steve yelped, pulling his arm back from your frosty skin. 

You sighed heavily, repositioning your body to face him with a grunt, throwing all caution to the wind and not caring about how intimate this was. Both of you had already crossed so many lines that defined your hate fueled relationship… one more thing couldn’t hurt.

“I’m a-always cold.” You whispered, jaw wobbling through the shivers taking deep breaths to try to relax yourself. 

Steve raised his eyebrows and stared at you worriedly, “So you dying is just inevitable tonight, that’s what you’re saying?”

It came out a bit too sarcastic than he meant it to be since he was just genuinely curious to know if you were going to make it out alive tonight or if you needed to get into Eddie’s van and crank up the heater. 

You rolled your eyes, whispering in frustration.

“I can’t help it alright! Had I been in my tent, I’d be fine!”

Steve brushed your irritation off, instead moving his arms under the blanket, hovering his hands over your waist.

“Well you’re not, so I’m gonna swallow my pride and do something about it alright?” He said slowly letting his hands slide over your cold skin, watching as your face twisted with confusion. 

“What are you… oh god.” You groaned realizing exactly where this was going – a mirror to earlier in the lake, but this time you weren’t so disgusted. 

He was practically a human furnace, pulling you closer into him barely leaving inches while the warmth from his body cascaded onto yours. You tried not to tense or move abruptly, aware that his bad hand was weakly grasping your back and the last thing you wanted was to make it worse.

Instead you froze, breathing stopped for a second as you searched his face trying to see how he was feeling about this whole thing. He didn’t look displeased or annoyed that he was doing this for you, instead he was calm, cool, and collected as if he wasn’t holding the girl who tried to stab him a few hours ago.

“Do you have a better idea?” Steve suggested, looking down at you awaiting to see your next moves: either telling him to fuck off or staying silent for the rest of the night.

To his surprise, you eased into his hold, hooking your own arms under his and closing the rest of the space between you. Your chest was pressed up against his, one of your legs fastened over his hip, while the other knocked against his thigh. It was a definite contrast to the hours earlier where he practically lugged you through the lake, if only you knew things would be so different now.

“We are not to speak about this after tonight. Not even a peep.” You warned, squirming impossibly closer to him before shooting him a  serious look.

He nodded, eyes shutting tightly like he was trying to dream it away.

“I’m erasing this from my memory as we speak.”

“Goodnight.” You whispered, closing your eyes, hoping that would be the end of it.

“Night.” He muttered back.

Third times a charm… or maybe not.

In this position you could feel everything and there was no way to escape it.

His warm breath fanning over your face, his chest rising and falling against yours, the soft thumpthump of his heart echoing beneath your ear, and the hair on his arms delicately brushing against your exposed skin — everything was him wrapped up in your arms. Literally.

Steve could feel it, the way you tried to control your breathing by taking a breath in when he breathed out. But you were trying too hard to time it perfectly, overthinking and making sure he didn’t notice when it’s all he could really do, your back heaving against his hands was all it took for him to speak up.

“Relax,” Steve murmured gingerly digging his fingertips into your skin with his eyes still closed

“H-huh?” You opened your eyes watching his serene features that showed he wasn’t as edgy as you.

“I can feel you…” He started, voice low and silky as he spoke, “you’re nervous.”

You shook your head as if he could see you, swallowing the lump in your throat.

“I…I’m not nervous, it’s just—this is different, we don’t do this.” You explained only partially truthfully considering you were more than just nervous.

“It’s just for tonight.” He said trying to iron out your worries the best that he could.

“No, I know, it’s just that—”

“I can feel your eyes on me, you know?”

Steve chuckled, peeking one of his eyes open, catching you in the act of trying to pinch them closed before he noticed.

You crumbled, letting out a weak laugh as you just opened them, finding him doing the same. The two of you staring at each other, the only sliver of light from the small beam in the corner of the tent, accompanied with the moonlight seeping weakly past the tarp.

Steve lifted his head just a bit, gesturing back to his bag just a few feet away from where you both were in the middle of the area. 

“Do you just want to take the blanket? I have a hoodie I can use in my—” His arms ever so slightly loosed and you stopped him.

Your fingertips squeezed tenderly into back, your leg pushing down on his hip to stop him from moving any further.

“No, its fine, this is fine. I don’t mind sharing.”

“You sure?” He laughed quietly, resting his head back down on the pillow.

“Cause you don’t have to pretend you want to share? We hate each other so I’m very familiar with our dislike when we’re forced to be around one another.” He reminded you, his tone light hearted not exuding any malice this time around.

You swallowed, nodding your head reassuringly as you let up your tense hold on him.

“I know…I-I still hate you, but I can deal with this for one night.”

“And you’re okay with this? Us… cuddling?” He asked, just wanting to be extra sure because cuddling didn’t have to be a part of it if you didn’t want it. 

“Positive.” You hummed, giving him one last look before you fluttered your eyes closed.

“Okay… good, good.” He hushed, nodding more so to himself content that you seemed to relax a bit more.

He should’ve closed eyes and went off to sleep, but now it seemed like all he wanted to do was watch you. Make sure that you were comfortable enough in his arms and warm enough to brave the night until morning and then you’d never have to be this close to him again.

He never took his eyes off your face, taking all of you in at once — long lashes kissing the skin under your eyes, cheek cozily pressed into the fluff of the pillow, lips relaxing in a straight smile and under his touch your breathing was stable, synchronized with his. He couldn’t believe he was holding you right now, getting the chance to see you like this — it was his biggest privilege.

You could feel his eyes, he obviously sucked at taking his own advice and he was clearly proving your point that he was a hypocrite… but you already knew that. 

You knew a lot of things about Steve, mostly all of the bad and annoying parts about him, but you also knew the good parts. The ones you blocked off and stored way back in your head because you never wanted to associate them with him. 

The fact that he wasn’t all that bad under those preppy button ups and head of hair.

He loved your friends, just as much as you did, treated them with kindness and savored every moment he spent with them. He knew how to take care of six rascals all by himself while also being the one they ran to when it came to all their teenage problems. He never showed up empty handed to any hangouts, always doing his best to bring anything whether it was a plain bag of chips or the camping equipment he had hidden in his garage.

Steve knew how to push your buttons, and perhaps that was the very thing that frustrated you the most — the realization that he had an undeniable effect on you. And at the same time, it was the very thing you were terrified of knowing — that if things would have been different, maybe the irritation you both had felt for each other could have just been affection from the get go.

The thick and imposing walls of animosity you’d built up for each other, was just a defensive mechanism. A weak hollow barrier that tried to disguise what you really felt, something so strong that only now broke through the bounds and unleashed a flood of emotions.

What was one more line crossed, when you both already jumped bridges?

“Steve?” You called out to him, hoping he wasn’t pretending to be asleep.

“Yeah?” His reply came swiftly, and his eyes flickered to watch your lips form the next set of words.

“You still hate me right?” You suspected, running your tongue over the bottom of your lip as you waited.

He nodded his head obviously though you couldn’t see him.

“Y-yeah. Why?” He furrowed his brows puzzled by the sudden question.

“What do you hate about me?” You pressed on.

A deep breath fanned across your face, followed by the tsking of his tongue, “I don’t think we should—”

“Tell me, Steve… please?” Your hands pressed firmly against his back, a silent plea echoing through the touch, not because you wanted to hear the words coming from him, but because you needed them.

He swallowed thickly, watching as you waited with your brows raised up yet eyes still closed. He didn’t understand why you wanted this from him all of the sudden. Why now when all his mind could do was fill up with the parts of you that he wanted to forget? The parts of you he silently spent hyperfixating on because you thought more about the people around you rather than yourself and he wished he could be half the person you were.

He liked to joke that you were his competition, his rival of sorts, but in actuality, he could never measure up to your level of compassion and he was more than fine with that. Settling for watching on the sidelines with a convincing snarkiness on his face, while on the inside his bones weakened and his brain went haywire wondering how you could ever exist in the same lifetime as him.

There was nothing he truly hated about you, he didn’t think there ever could be.

Mindlessly his fingers moved along your back, rubbing small circles and sweeping across your soft skin before he cleared his throat from the roughness and finally spoke into the millimeters between you.

“I umm, I hate the way you never forget about something I did.” He started, mind wandering to the afternoon where you reminded him of such instances with Dustin. 

“Hmmm.” You hummed, nodding your head along and relaxing your features now that he was working with you.

“I hate the way you always remind me to slow down when I’m driving around with the kids.” He admitted, guiltily confessing to his occasional speeding when they were running late and so was he.

You grunted, snickering weakly, “I need them all in one piece.” 

He agreed, a faint smile tugging at his lips, acknowledging your concern.

His fingers stalled against your back, taking a sharp breath in, letting the words rest on the tip of his tongue whilst he gave himself a moment. A moment to take you in, to see you as such, to give himself a little longer with the mystery hanging in the air wondering if you could feel what he felt and understand what he was about to say.

“And I hate the way you look at everyone except me.” He said it so quietly that if you weren’t listening close enough you would have missed it.

But how could you ever let something like that float away so easily?

You flickered your eyes open, looking up at him past your lashes, staring into his orbs for all he was worth. Like he was the only thing to ever exist before your eyes and all you wanted to do was memorize him. 

“Like what?” You whispered, never breaking eye contact.

“Like this…” He proclaimed, pulling his injured hand away from your back and bringing it forward to cradle your face ever so gently.

His thumb traced your cheek, your breath catching in your throat, letting him gaze at you in a way he never had before. It was concerning how quickly you established that from this moment on, Steve was the only person who would ever have the privilege of seeing like this. Stripped down in the confines of a stupid tent, that somehow felt like its own little oasis away from the rest of the scary world right outside.

It was just you and him and your own world.

“You look at everyone with these eyes, so eager and happy.” He said, trailing down to the corner of your lips, brushing his thumb across delicate skin.

“You smile at them like they’re everything to you.” he said, nearly letting his hand slip away as if he was unworthy of such a feeling.

But before he could, you brought your hands up, wrapping gently around his wrists to keep him there like your life depended on it. Wanting nothing more than to show him that he could — he was willing and able, and had all the permission from you to stay here, as long as you could get him to.

“I hate that you don’t look at me like that.” He swallowed, shaking his head more so himself, because all he ever wanted was this and for so long he pushed it away.

“I am right now.” You finally spoke, almost breathlessly, trying to reassure his anxieties about the past, the same ones you were feeling. 

“Hate that it took this long.” He confessed with a weak laugh.

You smiled half apologetically. “Me too.”

It was all the confirmation you both needed.

No more lines.

No more bridges burnt.

Nothing keeping you both from the truth.

He had bit the bullet and you had jumped into the deep end and there was no going back from here. Time wasn’t stopping for either of you despite the intensity of the moment. There was clearly a beginning, you and him having a rough one, but that didn’t mean that your ending had to be so treacherous. 

The gentle gesture of him pushing the strands of hair that fell over your face, sent shivers down your spine, a sort of electric touch that should have had you running away but all you felt was the need for more. He didn’t miss the way your eyes shot down to his lips, staring at them wondering his next moves before you met his again. 

“I’m gonna kiss you now, if that’s okay.” He whispered the words ever so quietly, leaving them to linger in the space as a delicate invitation hoping it was one you’d accept. 

“More than okay.” You nodded, closing your eyes, feeling his face inch closer to yours.

The first touch of his lips upon yours felt like sparks flying, holy ground beneath you both as you took your time, exploring everything in between — what you imagined it would be like and the unexpected that had you both going down the twists and turns just trying to familiarize yourself with each other.  

His lips moved against yours unhurried, gentle but deliberate, not daring to miss even an inch of you. You felt as if he was taking your breath away, leaving you to succumb to a sort of poise that usually never came this easily. With every press and swipe across your lips, you were jumping and falling into somewhere you never wanted to leave. 

You nearly wanted to cry when he pulled away, leaving you only to catch your breath, his chest moving up and down deeply, while you were ready to go again and again and–

“W-was that okay?” He asked, fighting the urge to kiss you again and make you go dizzy. 

You smiled like an idiot, lips blushing with a pink as bright as your cheeks.

“Perfect. Can we do it again.”

“Yeah.” He beamed, moving to hover up on his elbows with his face above yours, giving you the access to wrap your arms around his neck and pull him into you. 

The second kiss was filled with hunger, the both of you trying to make up for the lost time you had spent at each other's throats when you could've been glued to each other's mouths. But you were positive you would both be able to make up for it eventually, and tonight felt like it was going to be the first of many. 

His teeth barely grazed over your bottom lip, prompting a moan to rip through your throat before you pulled away breathlessly. 

“I—I want you.” You spoke, voice full teetering between desperation and confidence. 

Steve wasn’t expecting it at all despite the circumstances that just took place with the kiss. He’d be fine if all you wanted to do was spend the rest of the night making out like depraved teenagers or if you wanted to cuddle until you fell asleep. 

He swallowed, looking into your eyes searching for any hesitancy on your features but you were positive that there wasn’t anything you wanted more than Steve.

“Are you sure?” He implored, desperately wanting to hear the words fall from your lips. 

“With everything inside of me.” You nodded with a smile bringing your lips back to his once more, not being able to help yourself. 

You could feel his grin against yours, a self indulgent one that still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that he was kissing you with every fiber of his being hoping that with each press and slide it would compensate for how much of an asshole he’d been to you. 

He moved his lips, creating a trail of kisses over your jaw and down your neck, gently sucking the skin to pepper you in love bites. 

“P-please, Steve,” You moaned, moving your head to give him more access to the sweet spot on your neck, “Need more.” 

He licked over the hickey, pressing a quick kiss to the developing bruise before he unwrapped your arms from his neck, placing them on your sides. Nudging your shoulder a bit, you laid fully on your back while he moved onto his knees, staring at you with a look so promising and true.  

“You don’t have to beg, at least not for tonight. I swear.”

His fingers smoothed over your sides feeling the warmth coming to you quicker now. 

“I want you…so so bad.” You pouted, reaching for his hands to intertwine in yours. 

“You have me.”

He brought yours up, placing a chaste kiss on the back of your hand before he let go and hovered above the waistband of your shorts.

“Can I?”

You nodded, lifting your hips slightly as he glided them off your legs, stripping away one layer of clothing yet revealing another — a black, lacy, number that definitely wasn’t planned for tonight, but he wasn’t complaining, in fact he found it a little humorous taking into the account the occasion. 

“You packed a thong for camping?”

Steve snorted lightly, kissing the inside of your thigh as you blushed, tucking your cheek into your shoulder.

“I…I was rushing and packed it accidentally.” You told him, silently thanking the universe and your horrible planning that somehow got this perfectly. 

“Lucky me.” He rasped, toying with the lace around your hip bone, peppering kisses across your thighs, not making any move to strip you free of them yet as he wanted to worship all of you first. 

You sat up slightly, running your hand over his covered shoulder blade.

“C-could you take your shirt off?”

 “Course I can.” He nodded quickly, sitting up just enough to work his arms through the shirt.

The garment was quickly pulled off his body, thrown off the side wherever he had flung your shorts. 

“I can take mine off, too—” You started, moving up a bit more as you pulled at the bottom of your cami but before you could get any farther, he stopped you, squeezing your wrist gently.

“Only if you want to, s’okay if you don’t.” He assured you, wanting to know this was all about you being comfortable.

You smiled warmly and shook your head at his politeness, still trying to take all of him in, not just for the body before you, but for how attentive he had been towards you. 

“No, I do… I just—just wanted to feel more of you, that’s why I asked.” You explained with a light laugh. 

“You’re cute.” He chuckled, rubbing his hands up and down your thighs as you pulled the material over your head discarding it.

Absentmindedly your arms wrapped around yourself, bashfully trying to hide away as if that would make Steve forget that you were topless in front of him. Finally he got to see what the slivers of skin that was hidden away beneath clothing or in this case, made an appearance just hours ago.

“Don’t hide. You’re so beautiful.” Steve spoke softly, reassuring you of whatever nervousness you were feeling, slowly lowering your arms down letting him see you completely. 

You could see and hear it in the way his breath hitched in his throat, eyes stuck on your chest before a smirk played on his features and he finally trailed them back up to your eyes. 

“So you’re always excited to see me, then?” He teased, reaching up to run his hands along your ribcage, feeling your laughter rumble beneath his skin.

“Shut up.” You chided, pushing playfully at his shoulder. 

“You got just the thing for me to do just that.” He tilted his head down and you nodded, giving him the green light to do what he pleased.

His lips wrapped around your sensitive skin, peak hardening in this mouth while the other was met with the flick and roll of his fingers. You were sure by the end of it, your chest would be littered with love bites of all shapes and sizes. Steve made the extra effort to glide across your chest, showing both breasts the attention they so rightfully deserved with his mark left behind. 

“Mmm, S-steve.” You moaned, arching up into him and nails grazing at the nape of his neck. 

“Gotta make up for lost time.” He mumbled against your, sucking another hickey but this time right above your sternum, completing the other half to make a lopsided heart that you’d see in the morning. 

“I want more.” You begged, finally getting the courage to pull him away, eyes peering down at him. 

He smacked his lips, nodding as he leaned up and pecked your lips, murmuring against them.

“I got you, princess.”

His kisses trailed down your body, taking his sweet time leaving your skin with a plethora of hickies, some small and subtle, and others that would settle darker by morning. Something about it, the possessiveness of it all added to the longing, knowing he was marking you as his — and he was the only person you wanted to belong to right now… forever even. 

Placing a final kiss above the waistband of your intimates, he looked up at you, toying with the fabric. 

“Let me get these off you, yeah?”

You hummed, letting your feet sit flat on the comforter, slightly lifting your hips up to help him. His fingers slipped under the lace, tugging them away from your core and off your legs, putting them off to the side. 

“So fucking pretty.” He murmured, gently pulling your knees wider apart enough for him to slot himself between them and lay on his stomach. 

His eyes were fixated on your core, taking you in with such hunger but at the same time awe, as if he was admiring the most beautiful work of art just before he would dig his claws into it. No ones had ever looked at you like that, taking their time and drinking you in, it almost made you want to shoo him away with all the attention he was giving you. 

“Steveeee.” You whined, laughing behind your hands that covered your face. 

“Why’re you hiding?” He puffed out a short laugh, splaying his hands over your stomach rubbing gently. 

You pulled fingers apart, staring at him timidly. “I—I don’t know, I just never thought that we’d… you know.”

Stop pretending like we hated each other and confessed our feeling then deciding to fuck in a dingy tent in the middle of nowhere? Yeah he totally knew what you meant. 

“I know what you mean,” He placed a reassuring kiss on the inside of your knee.

“We can stop whenever you want okay? No questions asked, you say the word and I’ll stop and we’ll put our clothes back on and—”

“I don’t want to stop. Promise, just a little nervous.” You assured him, sitting up slightly to bring your hand to his cheek, thumbing the freckles peppering his skin. 

“Don’t be, I’m gonna make you feel so good. I promise.” He smiled, leaning into your touch and kissing the pulse point on your wrist. 

Steve nodded, silently telling you to lie back and let him fulfill his promise which you were sure he was going to over deliver on. And god were you right. 

His tongue swiped between your folds, shuddering beneath him you couldn’t help pinch your eyes closed trying to bottle up the feeling and keep it in your memory forever. 

“F-fuck,” You moaned, relished in the feeling of each pass and kiss, “Feels so good, Steve.”

His thumb swiped over your clit, breath fanning over your skin as he watched your back arch with a smirk on his face.

“Told you so, princess.”

He dove back in, tongue flicking over your sensitive button while he worked two fingers into you slowly. The stretch of his thick digits and the mixture of his warm tongue sent your hands flying, in search of something to grab and immediately you went for Steve’s hand. 

Somehow through the pleasure you didn’t feel the tape on his hand, that is until you squeezed and felt the layer blocking the contact of skin on his. The tape slightly crumpled in your hold causing your eyes to fly open, staring down at him. 

“S-shit, I’m so sorry!” You whispered, quickly letting go of his hand nearly backing away from Steve thinking that you hurt him.

His fingers abruptly left your core, quickly slinging his arm over your hips stopping you from moving away from him. The bad hand immediately reached out for yours, intertwining your fingers together despite your uncertainty that didn’t want to immediately hook between his. 

“S’okay, I’m okay, promise.” He assured you, kissing your mound before shooting you a wink as he squeezed yours.

“You can grab my hand, squeeze as tight as you want. The nurse who wrapped it up did a hell of a job, thing isn’t gonna hurt me.”

It made you giggle, kissing his knuckles, murmuring against them,  “Hmm, still, I’m sorry.”

He shook his head, lips brushing against your center as he got back to work.

“Shhh it’s okay.”

Steve was always more of a giver, something he usually bragged about and you thought was absolute bullshit, but now you understood seeing as though he was definitely giving you something to come back for, in more ways than one. 

His tongue dipped lower, dragged up from your aching hole to your sensitive clit.

“You like that?” his voice vibrated across your sensitive skin, sending your body into squirms. 

“Yes…p-please, right there,” You moaned, gripping his hand tightly as he repeated the action. “Just like that, baby.”

“Say it again.” He demanded though it more so came out as a desperate plea. 

“Baby?” 

He let out a groan, nipping at the inside of your thigh, “I love hearing it from you…c’mon, let me get you there, baby.”

It was the end of the beginning from then on out with one goal in his head. Feasting on you like you were his last meal trying to savor your sweetness and all at once engrain the image of your blissful face in his mind and those addicting moans that dared to get louder with every second that passed. 

“I’m so close.” You whispered, trying to keep your voice down,  “I—I, Steve, baby, please.” 

Your thighs began shaking around his head, stomach heaving in deeper and twisting tightly, teeth digging into your lip trying to muffle the sounds of pleasure that wanted to escape, and your hand clutching onto his for dear life – the only thing grounding you while his mouth sent you into ecstasy. 

“Cum for me.” He vibrated against you, lips wrapped around your bud as he sucked and watched you explode. 

“Baby, f-fuck.” You gasped, looking down to meet his eyes before it was too much for you to handle. 

Euphoria washed over you, similarly to the colors of the sunset. Bright oranges and pinks flashed across your vision, painting your skin with the feverish warmth before it fizzled out into darkness, specks of white making their appearance as your body buzzed.

Steve didn’t pull away until you stopped moving your hips into and away from him, trying to chase and escape the pleasure all at once until you came down. Even then he didn’t dare to leave you just yet, taking his time to wait until you came down from your high. He pressed gentle kisses over your inner thighs, making his way up to your midsection, resting his chin there, your chest moving beneath him as you caught your breath. 

“Hey pretty.” He murmured, your eyes peeking open to see him — lips and chin coated with a sheen of you in the best way possible. 

You swallowed, giving his hand three squeezes and you cleared your throat from the hoarseness, “H-hi Stevie.”

Stevie. It was a stupid nickname you used against him all the time because he hated it, but right now it seemed to have the same effect on him as you calling him baby just a little while ago. 

Using his elbows as leverage, he scooted up to you chuckling as you pulled him down bringing his lips to yours as you tasted your essences on him. Your legs hiked up around his hips, bringing his clothed crotch down to your core, just a piece of fabric separating you both, but even then the tent in his pants wasn’t hard to pick up on. 

“Lay down for me, please.” You mumbled against his lips, poorly attempting to roll him on his back despite his sheer strength. 

He pulled away only slightly, furrowing his brows at you. “Baby, baby, we don’t have to if you—”

“I want to, so bad,” You pressed your hips up into him, inducing a moan to rip from his mouth, though still he didn’t roll over just yet. 

You frowned, loosening your legs, hoping you didn’t cross the line,  “Do you not want to?”

Quickly he shook his head, moving to hold your face in his hands. “I do, sweetheart, you don’t know how badly I want to have you. But I kinda feel horrible here,” He grimaced, face twisting with embarrassment. 

“W-was hoping to have our first time together in a bed, preferably mine but yours could work too, but–”

“Wait!” You cut him off with surprise, lips curling up.

“You thought about this?” You suspected with a grin, teasing him with a poke on the cheek.

He tried to play it off with an unconvincing scoff that didn’t cover the croak in his voice, “M-maybe?” 

You beamed, running your thumb along his bottom lip, batting your eyes up at him. “Well if you’re okay with it, we can totally use your bed the next time, and the next, and then the—”

“Of course.” He agreed quickly, making you laugh as you pushed his chest away

“Lay down for me, baby.”

He did as you said, taking your spot as you sat up on your knees pulling at the waistband of his sweats, working them off his ankles. His cock sprung up, the tip blushing with a bright read, aching and throbbing to be inside of you. 

“Commando? And you want to call me naughty?” You teased, licking the palm of your hand and wrapping it around his length, pumping slowly. 

He let out a shaky laugh, cursing at himself, “Kinda was regretting it earlier.” 

“Why’s that?” You began shifting to lay flat on your stomach. 

“Was worried you’d notice.” He mumbled. 

His hands reach out to run up and down your back, soothing your skin desperately wanting to touch you despite the closeness already. 

“Notice what?” You hummed gazing up at him. 

“How hard I got when y-you wrapped me up.” He admitted, shuddering when you licked a stripe from the base to his glistening tip. 

“Me serving you do it for you?” You half-joked, pepping kisses back down. 

“Fuck no, that wasn’t it…” He shook his head, sitting up slightly to watch you. 

“You just—f-fuck, you knew what you were doing and you took control and you…you fucking called me big boy and t-the way you bit the tape off.”

Clearly you wounded him up so much, something you never thought was capable, but alas the hate you both supposedly shared for each other had no bounds when it came to this sort of tension. 

“Make a mess for me big boy, and I’ll clean it up, yeah?” You winked, finally giving him what he wanted, wrapping your mouth around him. 

“S-shit, baby.” He hissed moving your hair towards one side to see you clearly. 

“Making me feel so good, princess.” His hips resisted the want to thrust up into your mouth, controlling himself knowing that good things always took time and you were already making him feel great. 

“So big.” You murmured, messily kissing the tip of his cock, giggling at the way his hips stuttered up knocking closer to your lips. 

“Just right for you though right? Only yours baby.” He groaned, throwing his head back onto the pillows. 

“Mhmm,” you hummed, wrapping your lips around the tip, sending vibrations up his sensitive length.

“Pretty too.” You whispered, pulling away teasingly. 

He let out a hoarse laugh, shaking his head ridiculously. “Can’t be when I’ve got the prettiest sight right here.”

The compliment went straight to your core, the need to make him feel good was the motivation in your movements. Your wrist moved over the part that you couldn’t quite fit in your mouth. 

“That's it baby, taking me so well,” He praised lowly trying to keep his voice quiet enough for just you to hear. 

His fingers threaded through the roots of your hair, neither pulling or pushing, just holding you there and letting you go at your own pace. 

“Shit, babe, y’gotta stop.” He hissed, tugging you off his length as you moaned, pouting up at him.

“Want to taste you…please Stevie?” You begged, mouth trailing down to his heavy sack, taking one of them in your mouth, before popping off only to mumble against them, “Let me taste you, please baby.” 

How was he going to deny you, then?

“F-fucking shit, yeah, okay doll, I’ll give it to you.” He moaned, nodding more so at himself, trying to starve off the orgasm as long as he could knowing he was going to burst any second now. 

You grinned, releasing his balls with a pop, quickly taking him into your mouth again. 

“I’m c-cumming, fuck—” 

He let the rest die in his throat, knowing that if he went any longer he’d wake up your friends and cause an even bigger mess that he nor you wanted to clean up right now. 

“How was that?” You grinned, swiping your thumbs over the inner corners of your mouth, sucking off the remnants of him. 

The act alone made his cock twitch, somehow springing back up ready for you. 

“C’mere, you minx.” He whispered with a smirk, threading his hands towards the back of your head to gently tug you up to his face. 

“Hmmm, Steve.” You giggled, letting it get cut short with his lips pressing deeply onto yours.

“You’re making it very hard for me to hate you.” He accused, pulling away from you with a playful smirk. 

“You or your dick?” You wiggled your brows, eyes lowering between the both of you where his hardness rested against his thigh. 

“I’m kidding… about the me hating you thing, not you making me hard.” He clarified, holding your chin between his forefingers. 

It was clear that the both of you couldn’t really hate each other. 

“You wanna be on top? I think it’ll be easier for you to control it at your pace.” He suggested, giving your hips a squeeze before letting his hands roam across your bottom. 

“Okay.” You whispered, forehead resting against his as he snuck a hand between you both, pumping his length one, two, three times before slowly lowering yourself on him. 

Taking in a deep breath, your eyes pinched closed, a gasp leaving your mouth feeling his breach your walls. 

“S’okay, baby, take your time.” He murmured, kissing the tip of your noses while his hands rubbed comforting circles over your hip. 

“Y-you’re so deep already.” You whined, chest heaving as you tried to catch your breath, overwhelmed by the stretch. 

His bottom lip jutted out, pouting at you with his eyes so soft, though his mouth spoke a tune so condescending and downright filthy.

“Aww baby, I know, but you’re taking it so well right?” He went a step further, resting his palm over your cheek, prompting you to look him in the eyes as you nodded quickly, wanting nothing more than to feel all of him.

Your fingers wrapped around his wrist, pulling it away from your cheek, “Touch me, please? I-I just need a little—” 

He understood immediately, dropping the cocky facade for just a moment to make you feel the most comfortable knowing the first time was always the most intense. 

“Shhh, I got you, I’m right here.” He swiped his tongue over two digits, working them between your bodies until he found your clit, rubbing gentle circles over the bud, just enough to help distract you from the initial stretch. 

“O-oh, fuck, Steve.” You keened, focusing on the pleasure and stretch jumbled all in one. 

“That’s a good girl.” He praised lowly. 

You tightened around his girth, eyes shutting blissfully at the overwhelming feeling and the praise that spilled past his lips. He noticed it right away, chuckling more so at himself because all of the times he had called you pet names for fun, perhaps you liked it more than you let on. 

“You like being called a good girl?” He challenged, his free hand tightening around your hips to stop you from rocking against him. 

You whined through a nod, opening your eyes and pleading for him to let you keep up the movements. 

“Words.” He urged, still not giving into you until he heard what he needed to hear. 

You swallowed thickly, lips parting as you whispered softly. “Y–yeah, like when you call me that.” 

He smirked, leaning up just enough to peck your lips, mumbling against them as his arm loosened from your hips and he settled comfortably on his back. Slowly but surely your hips proceeded where they left off, moving experimentally taking the time to adjust to his sheer size. 

“Atta girl, gotta tell me what you like so I can make you feel good baby.” 

“L-like it when you talk to me.” 

“You do?’ 

You hummed quickly, nodding your head, “So much.” 

Growing needier you lifted your hips up slightly before fucking yourself back down onto him. Your lips parted with a pleasurable moan while he growled, throwing his head back against the pillows. 

“Oh, there you go sweet girl. Fuck, already taking me so good.” He said, digging his fingertips into your hip bone. 

“F-full, m’so full of you.” You sighed, slowly repeating your movements trying to make it last as long as you could. 

“But you love it right?” He murmured, words soothing and arousing at the same time. 

You nodded admittingly, “Please don’t stop…S-steve please,” 

The shake of your thighs and the uneven grinding told him all he needed to know, and he was more than happy to let you sit back and give you your second fix of the night. 

He pressed himself off his back, arms wrapping around your body and hugging you close. Your limbs enveloping his neck while you rested your forehead against his, breathy moans leaving your lips as the new position pushed him deeper within you if that was even possible. 

Steve’s lips brushed yours, an oath tumbling past them, “I won’t baby, promise. Just wanna make you feel good okay? Be a good girl.” 

It was all you needed to hear before the waves of pleasure came crashing down with no breaks. You were practically putty in his hands, your hips moving against him the way he wanted you to. He set the pace and found the rhythm that had you nearly slumping against him. 

“So fucking tight, your pussy’s squeezing me baby,” He muttered, lifting your hips higher as his own thrusted deeper from below.

“Making me feel so good, princess. Does it feel good for you too? Just what you need right?” 

If you weren’t so blissed out with pleasure, perhaps you would have the ability to actually give him the words he wanted to hear, but you felt an entire universe away, so caught up in Steve and everything he was making you feel. His words were only taking you higher, adding to pleasure and bringing you closer to the end. 

You managed to take a sharp breath in, jaw shaking as your teary eyes blinked at him, “J-just need you now…only want you.” 

He moaned darkly, his bottom lip caught between his teeth as he tried to starve off his own orgasm that was teetering the edge. The only thing keeping him from letting go was making sure that you got there first, just so he could watch you unravel and hear the sweet sounds that could never be erased from his memory. 

“C’mere, sweetheart,” 

His thrusts slowed just enough for one of his hands to snake up towards the back of your neck, pulling you in for a kiss before guiding your head into the juncture of his neck. 

“It’ll go deeper this way,” He murmured, placing a quick peck to your cheek before continuing the onslaught of ecstasy. 

“Oh God…Steve….” You whimpered, nails digging into his skin. 

“You’re mine now.” He said through gritted teeth, fingertips practically bruising your back, “no one’s gonna get you like this except me, got that?” 

All you could do was nod against him, humming out an agreement as you tried to keep your voice down, finally aware that your friends would be able to hear you both if you didn’t try to get a semblance of control. 

“Fuck, shit babe, so perfect, just taking all of me inside you huh? You’re the only one who ever made me feel this— shit, so good.” 

He was just making it harder for you to keep quiet at that point. 

“O–only want you…I–I only want you like this.” You murmured, pulling your face away from his neck just enough for his eyes to catch yours. 

Steve couldn’t help himself, thrusting up into you with a slow yet deep vigor, bringing his lips to yours and stealing your breath away. He never quite imagined that this was the way you both would be confessing your feelings and begging to finally be each others’ but he wasn’t complaining — he just wanted to seal the deal and show you how real it was to him. 

“Cum for me, baby. Be a good girl and do it for me…just me.” He mumbled against you, feeling the tightening around his shaft, the convulsing of your walls signaling your release. 

“F-fuck! Oh my god, Steve.” 

Your body shook, eyes shutting tightly as your hips rutted against his stilled ones letting you ride out your orgasm as he held your tight and shushed your moans soothingly. 

You slowly opened your eyes, staring at him dazingly, “Wanna feel you cum, give it to me, please.” 

He nodded, letting your face untuck itself from his neck and instead grabbing his cheeks to keep his eyes on yours. Eyes silently begging for his release while your lips parted with shallow moans still feeling the aftershocks of your orgasm followed by a small ripple of pleasure that came again. 

His thrusts became frantic, nose flaring with a deep breath taken, pushing his hips as far as they could go forcing you to collapse against him as he filled you.

“That’s it, baby…hmm, so deep.” You smiled lazily into his chest, nails raking down gently across his shoulders and down his arms as he came down. 

His heartbeat rang through your ears along with the uneven breathing the both of you were sharing, letting the 

“Well,” He huffed, staring down at you, smoothing your tousled hair down, “That’s one way to warm up.” 

You rolled your eyes playfully, smacking his cheek with a soft pat, “Hypothermia wasn’t gonna kill me. You almost did.” 

“Did I really fuck you that good?” He smirked smugly. 

“Don’t make me start hating you, again.” You threatened with a yawn, eyes fluttering shut and relaxing into him. 

“Kidding babe,” He said, kissing the top of your head before patting the small of your back, “Let me get some clothes on you.” 

He pulled out of you, quietly apologizing for the emptiness before cleaning you and himself up. His t-shirt covered your body and he managed to slip your underwear back over your legs. Steve settled for his sweatpants, no shirt, just letting the blanket and your body heat keep him warm throughout the night. 

“We’ll talk about this more…in the morning? O–or when we get back home?” You proposed sleepily, snuggling deeper into his body, weakly throwing one of your legs over his hips. 

His big hands came down under the blanket, caressing your skin with soft passes as he hummed pulling you closer, “Yeah baby, we’ll talk about it, then.” 

There you and Steve Harrington were, spending your first night together but not as mortal enemies — you guys had practically fucked the hatred out of each other, but really... it never existed in the first place. 

BONUS SCENE: 

You did a one over at the trunk of the van, mentally ticking off every item and looking back at the campsite to make sure you all didn’t leave anything behind. Steve was busy checking the tires making sure they all had enough air for the drive back that way there would be no issues. You shut the trunk closed, making your way over to the passenger door that was kicked open with Eddie smoking a cigarette. 

“You’re in my seat.” You cross your arms over your chest, foot tapping against the asphalt as Eddie stared at you confused.  

“You’re mistaken…this is my seat.” He retorted with a chuckle, gesturing to himself before blowing out a puff of smoke into the air.

“Not anymore.” 

“It’s literally my van.” 

You rolled your eyes, lamely gesturing back to the site where the tents were once set up, “And you literally kicked me out of my tent to almost freeze to death, therefore you owe me. Now get out of my seat.” 

“I’m not moving.” He said, standing his ground. 

“Move.” You commanded, reaching to tug him by the arm though he didn’t budge. 

“Nope.” 

“Fine,” You huffed, dropping his arm before calling out, “Steve!” 

He came around the front of the van, dusting his hands off and jutting his chin towards the both of you.

“What’s going on?”

You pouted deeply, eyes sulking towards your friend who tsked and rolled his eyes at your feigned innocence. “Eddie won’t let me sit in the passenger seat.” 

“My van, my rules.” Eddie smirked, tapping the hood of the car. 

Steve stared at you both, shaking his head in amusement before turning to his friend, “Dude, c’mon, just let her sit up front this once.” 

Eddie’s face twisted in betrayal, obviously Steve was already wrapped around your pinky and he just couldn’t believe he was this easy. “You’re shitting me right? I thought I was your right hand man Harrington?” 

You snorted, eyes glancing up at Steve with a blush coating your cheeks, “Oh trust me he doesn’t need a right hand anything when he has me—” 

Eddie faked a gag, finally relenting and stepping out of the seat. He stubbed out his cigarette on the gravel and waved his hands in surrender. 

“Take it for all I care! Just keep your goddamn hands to yourself, and I mean it Steve, both hands on the wheel!” He shouted, whipping the back door open and cramming himself between the rest of your friends who laughed at him for thinking that Steve was going to save his ass. 

“You must be proud of yourself, huh?” Steve chuckled, giving you a hand as you stepped up the siding and slid into the seat comfortably. 

“Very.” You responded, bending out an inch to peck his lips not caring that your friends saw the act.

Steve smiled against your lips, hands coming to rest over your waist, practically lurching himself across your body as you whispered quietly for only him to hear. 

“Now come on… you promised we would use your bed the next right, remember.” 

His eyes widened, cheeks turning red as he swallowed and finally pulled himself away from you, “Oh I remember.” He smiled, tapping your knee before he shut your door, “Buckle up, princess.”

💌 reblogs, tags, comments, + likes are greatly appreciated! leave a comment and let me know if want to be added to my taglist!! 💌

a/n: so this is my very first enemies to lover fics...(at least i think it is????), this was actutally supposed to be very short and brief, almost a one shot/blurb kinda thing but it turned into a feature length fic...is anyone surprised hahaha. anyways, i hope you guys like this!!! i don't usually write smut because I feel like i suck at writing it and describing it but i hope i was able to do this fic justice -- let me know what you guys think and thank you so much for sticking around <;3

taglist: @translatemunson @kennedy-brooke @manda-panda-monium @tvserie-s-world @givemeth @steveharringtonswife @the-alchemys @loving-and-dreaming @awkotaco24 @engenelxver @elfiaaaa @pbs-theundeadmaggot @johnricharddeacy @gaysludge @keerysfolklore @micheledawn1975 @ihatepeanutss @bakugouswh0r3

[pinkerthings]

the significance of mileven simply not understanding each other (pt 1):

(others have brought this up before but I think it’s a bit overlooked imo)

There are numerous times throughout Stranger Things where Mileven is shown to not be on the same wavelength, and the Duffers like to make it quite apparent to the general audience.

Starting with the obvious scenes:

“BLANK makes you crazy”

El is literally staring at Mike like she has NO idea what he’s trying to say.

Shes STILL confused even after he tells her it’s something old people tell each other:

Like girl…. i KNOW you were watching them soap operas and old timey romances during that year in Hopper’s cabin. You really expect us to believe you have no clue what he’s trying to say?

This scene was written like this on purpose for two reasons: comedic effect and diving deeper into mileven.

Back to not ever being on the same wavelength:

I talked in this post here about Mike being okay with El standing up to bullies in the past when it came to Mike or Will, but Mike suddenly not understanding when it comes down to El defending herself against Angela, showcasing the idea that they are definitely not in agreeance over what happened at Rink-O-Mania.

The Duffers like to purposefully write Mileven out of step with one another.

It seems as though every season has something negative in store for the couple, and not in a fun, slow-burn agonizing romance type of way, but in the frustrating “why can’t they just work it out” kind of way.

Season 1 obviously has El “dying” and leaving Mike for a year, but on a smaller note also has Mike trying to explain to her that if she moved into his house, Nancy would be like her sister, but he would not be like her brother. She does not understand this, and has her classic confused face on.

Season 2 has her being gone and coming back to see Mike with Max, and even though nothing happened between the two of them, El was still cold to Max when they first met, showing even if El is incapable of knowing what the word “love” is, she still somehow knows what jealousy is.

Season 2 also brings us an interesting scene with Erica and Lucas, where the dialogue just seems….really off and random.

Lucas catches Erica playing with his He-Man action figure and gets mad, taking it from her. To which she says, “Hey! They’re in love!”

Lucas responds with:

The scene is extremely random and the dialogue is just weird to me, the only explanation it being a metaphor for something in the show, and the only viable explanation is Mileven.

Season 3 has the entire “boyfriends lie” side plot, resulting in El dumping Mike for lying to him about his grandmother after Hopper’s talk with him. Their relationship the entirety of season 3 is the epitome of immature pettiness caused by jealous and hormonal teenagers who don’t understand what being in a real relationship entails--

We get El and Max spying on the boys:

Eleven is a mystery to Mike, he pretty much says it himself.

Their whole relationship is based on immaturity, and the audience knows that. The audience can see that the two of are clearly immature and don’t have what it takes to be in a real, committed relationship. That’s the point. Their relationship in season three is almost entirely to move the plot around in whatever way the Duffer’s want, and to showcase the idea that their relationship in screen is nearly always shown in either a comedic, pre-teen immature light, or a jealous, misunderstood, and petty light. There is almost no stable relationship between the two of them in season 3. It’s either too clingy or too toxic or full of lies or immature, blah blah blah. The only scenes of them either not making out or fighting is the last scene of them together right before the Byers move, and that’s a whole scene in itself to unpack!

Season 4 is where things get a little chaotic, as if things weren’t chaotic enough.

There are so many miscommunications and misunderstandings with Mileven this season, but the big ones include:

El feeling like Mike thinks of her as a monster-

and Mike looking at her like she just spoke badly about his favorite Star Wars movie-

Directly after that we have Mike saying El is being "ridiculous" because she's upset that he won't tell her he loves her, and him calling her a superhero, the complete opposite of what she wants to hear in that moment, but Mike doesn't understand that, because who wouldn't want to be called a superhero? (his way of thinking)

Later on we get Mike recounting this to Will, saying, "and if I would have said that thing..." etc.

Mike can't even say that he loves El to other people, and we're expected to believe it's still true?

We also get this:

another misunderstanding on Mileven's part. El thinks Mike doesn't love her (at this point, does he?) so she finishes her letter the same way he has: From, El.

Next we have Will and Mike's conversation on top of the car:

"I think it's just scary to open up like that, to say how you really feel, especially to people you care about the most, because...what if they don't like the truth?"

I've said it before and I'll say it again,

why would El NOT like the truth if the truth is that Mike loves her?

Mike nods at Will's words and looks away, seemingly lost in thought. Why would he agree with Will---that it's hard for him to open up to El because she might not like the truth---if the truth is exactly what she wants to hear?

It literally makes no sense.

We also get the Byler van scene, where Mike compares her to a superhero yet again, something she clearly does not like (I don't have a vid but here's the official script, where he says the same thing):

Also El being Superman and him being Lois Lane in the analogy....okay.

Next we have him calling her a superhero YET AGAIN ! during his monologue:

Like girl if I was El I would just give up at this point. This is the last thing she wants to hear. She doesn't want to be a superhero all the time, she just wants to be a person ! a girlfriend ! a friend ! a daughter ! yet Mike is making it seem like the main reason he loves her is because she's a superhero, which she hates.

And lastly we have:

"Did she...talk to you at all?"

"Not much, I mean...a little bit."

Let me get this straight......you finally confess your love to your longtime girlfriend in the midst of her fighting a literal monster & monster from her past while she is being strangled and held captive all while she's also trying to save her friend from death, and she doesn't say anything to you for TWO days after?

Ladies...the Mileven break up is writing itself, really.

And that is a thread on how the Duffers intentionally write Mileven to be on different wavelengths with each other every single season without fail to showcase how incompatible they really are.

They are setting this relationship up to where you want more for both parties; El deserves to be loved the way she wants to be loved, and Mike deserves to be loved the way he needs to be loved (if u know what i mean)

In part 2 I will discuss the importance of byler understanding each other, juxtaposed to mileven hehe bye !

part 2 analyzing Mike & Will here !

[xoxoavenger]

Steve’s Problem

pairing: Steve Harrington x SingleMom!Reader

summary: Everyone knows Steve loves kids. It’s not a problem until he meets Eddie’s hot neighbor who has the cutest kid Steve’s ever seen.

word count: 3838

warnings: single mom reader

series masterlist        next part

masterlist 

The first time Steve noticed her, it was dark. She was outside of the trailer neighboring Eddie's, her lighter illuminating her face as she lit the cigarette in between her lips. Steve couldn't help but try and see her features, the dark outline of her body on the trailer steps. The light was gone all too soon, not that it mattered, since Robin had shoved him slightly.

"You're holding up the group, Dingus!" She yelled, and Steve watched the girl look up at them, smoke blowing out of her mouth. Steve quickly looked away, walking a bit faster to Eddie's now open trailer. Robin and Nancy followed him in, putting the snacks and the frozen pizza down on the small counter surface.

"Steve staring at the hot neighbor?" Eddie asked as he sorted through the bags, trying to find the VHS that was buried somewhere.

"Oh definitely." Robin answered as Steve said, "She could have been, like, forty, for all I know. I didn't see her face."

"She's not forty." Eddie let out a chuckle, giving Steve a look. Ever since Nancy had undoubtedly shut him down forever and fully committed to Jonathan, Eddie had tried to give Steve advice, trying to get him a wife and not just a date. Steve took his advice with a grain of salt, because Eddie was the one who told him Nancy was still in love with him while she was dating Jonathan.

"Again, didn't see her face. I was just curious." Steve shrugged, watching Nancy and Robin raise their eyebrows at each other. Steve wanted to groan and stomp his feet like a child, because he was so sick of everyone being so involved in his love life.

"Just wait till the morning. She's a real looker." Eddie threw him a wink as he grabbed the VHS, running to the small TV shoved in the corner. Steve's parents had been home since the 'earthquakes' that shook Hawkins, so his house was out of the selection for their movie night. Steve had been spending all his time in between everyone else's houses, because he couldn't stand his parents constant nagging and talks about leaving. He had told them before going to Eddie's that he would rather live in the shed out back than move anywhere with them, to which they both rolled their eyes. His father had told him that he hoped that 'stupid video store you just had to work at' wasn't destroyed, because Steve was on his way to being completely cut out. Steve had just walked out to his car, wishing he could afford to never come back to his lonely house.

"Are you sure your TV works?" Nancy asked, watching Eddie smack the side of it. No picture showed up, so Eddie hit it a couple more times while Robin groaned.

"We should have just endured my stupid house. It's not like it smells much worse than Eddie's." She complained. Her house always reeked of weed, her parents major suppliers in Hawkins. Robin had already began to look for apartments with Steve, knowing her parents were ready to leave the scene as well.

"Even the kids would have been worth it at mine." Nancy commented, causing Eddie to take a deep breath.

"Shut up!" He yelled, silencing them. He gave a final knock on the TV, and miraculously the movie was suddenly playing on the screen. The group cheered, grabbing their snacks and sitting squished on the couch as they intently watched the movie. They had only made it half an hour when there was a knock on the door.

"I got it." Eddie groaned, as if this wasn't his trailer. The rest just continued watching the movie.

"Eddie," The girl on the side said when the man opened the door. That made the trio on the couch immediately snap their heads to the open door, which was blocking their view of Eddie and his visitor. What girl was at the trailer this late? Steve checked his watch, and okay, it was only eleven, but still, he was sure that Eddie didn't have a girlfriend. He was actually pretty sure Eddie wasn't completely into girls, but Robin had told him that no matter how much they both got that vibe, they were not to ask Eddie.

"Y/N," Eddie greeted. The three on the couch looked at each other, but none of them seemed to recognize the name. "What can I do for ya?" Steve wanted to groan, because why couldn't they just watch the movie?

"Do you have any milk?" The girl - Y/N - asked, sounding tired and embarrassed. Eddie sighed, walking back into the trailer.

"I take it James isn't happy?" Eddie questioned, going to his fridge. Y/N stepped in, looking a bit nervous.

"Nope." Y/N shook her head, and Steve made an educated guess that this was Eddie's hot neighbor. She was definitely a looker, as Eddie said, but she looked dissolved. Her hair was piled on her head, her shirt loose and stained. She was wearing sweatpants and no shoes, and Steve wondered who the hell James was and why he wasn't happy. "Fucker even tried to hit me-" Y/N didn't get the rest out before Steve was standing.

"Woah!" He yelled, startling Y/N, who he assumed hadn't realized him and the girls on the couch. "Who the hell is hitting you?" Steve didn't even know this girl, but he knew that abuse was a serious problem, even if no one ever did anything about it.

"My child," She deadpanned, looking at him with wide eyes. He blinked, because of all the people he thought James could be - her brother, dad, stepdad, uncle, boyfriend - child had never crossed his mind. She couldn't be much older than Steve, and so far none of his friends had even had a pregnancy scare. Except Carol, right before his fall from grace, but it was more a joke than an actual problem she had to deal with.

Steve suddenly felt like a normal adult. His past experiences with the Upside Down, having to be the protector while being friends with children had made him feel pulled apart, like a kid who had gotten his youth stolen. But Y/N's casual mention of having a child, of needing milk to feed a human being that she was responsible for not because she had accidentally gotten caught up in a super natural disaster, it made his head spin.

He sat, his cheeks burning. His ears rang as he watched Y/N grab the milk from Eddie and quickly run out the door, back to her trailer.

"A looker, right?" Eddie teased as he sat back down.

"She has a kid," Steve numbly whispered, and Eddie just shrugged.

"I thought you wanted a bunch of kids." Robin elbowed him, and he elbowed her back.

"She's probably taken, dumbass. She can't make a baby on her own." Steve tried to focus back in on the movie, but he had missed too much and now had no clue what was going on.

"Deadbeat dads are all the rage, nowadays." Eddie muttered, and Steve just rolled his eyes.

"There's no way her baby daddy left her." He scoffed, and Nancy just sighed.

"A lot of guys aren't ready for that commitment." She licked her lips as she debated saying something else. "Of course the man gets a choice."

"Her son is the cutest." Eddie sat back on the couch, grabbing a handful of chips and shoving them in his mouth. "If I were his dad, I would never be able to leave him." Why did that make Steve want to see him more?

"Does she come over often?" Steve asked, trying to be nonchalant.

"Steve just wants a head start on that Harrington brood." Robin teased, which made Steve's cheeks heat up.

"I just met her!" Steve cried out, tired of the relentless teasing.

"I'll invite her over soon. Sometime when the three of you can get to know each other." Eddie winked, and Steve just rolled his eyes.

"I hate you all." Steve sat back, arms crossed and pouting like a child.

"I bet you do." Eddie said simply.

~

It was only a week before Steve saw Y/N again.

He heard a scream, one that definitely belonged to a child. He turned to see Y/N, baby James in one arm, wet clothes in the other. Steve had gone to Eddie's to pick up Dustin and any of the other kids who needed a ride from the club that had continued in Eddie's backyard.

"No, we can't hold those," He heard Y/N patiently say, trying to wrestle the fabric out of his small hands. He let out another scream, flailing his arms. "If you would just let go, this could be done much quicker." She explained in a soft voice, using her hand to try and pry his fingers from what he now realized was a bra.

"Hey," Steve was calling out, running over to her before he could even think. "Do you need help?" He asked, looking anywhere but the bra that Y/N and James were fighting over.

"Yes," He had meant that he was going to help hang her bra, and the rest of her clothes in the basket laying on the grass, but she simply handed him the baby without a second thought.

"Oh," He said under his breath as he took the small child in his arms. James was probably about a year old, give or take a few months. Once Y/N had both her hands free, she quickly rid James' hand of the bra strap and hung it up. She went back to the basket, grabbing another article of clothing and hanging it.

"I know you meant the clothes," She said, not even looking at Steve as she worked. He looked at James, the two of them staring at each other. "But honestly I needed a break from holding him and I don't want you touching my panties." She smirked as he finally snapped his head to her.

"How did you know I wouldn't," He couldn't finish the sentence, because really, what else would he have done if he had been given a baby.

"I've seen you at Eddie's picking up his weird little kids plenty of times." She confided, going back to the laundry basket and moving further down the line. "I didn't know you'd be that good with a baby, though." She paused to smile at Steve holding James, who was just staring at the older man with lips parted and wide eyes.

"I'm just holding him." Steve muttered, but he flushed at the fact that Y/N thought he was good with her baby.

"And he hasn't made a peep since you've had him." She returned to her work with a satisfied smile on her face. He looked down at James, watching him hit Steve'schest and let out a small scream. Steve furrowed his brows.

"That's nice." Steve muttered, shifting to hold James more comfortably. James began to babble, hand grabbing Steve's shirt and shaking his small fist, pulling Steve's shirt away. "Oh really?" He asked, acting like James was saying the most interesting thing. James opened his mouth in a scream, making Steve raise his eyebrows. James threw his head back and then went forward, his mouth landing on Steve's shoulder, a couple small teeth digging into Steve's shoulder.

"James!" Y/N had just finished hanging the laundry when she looked over to see James holding tight to Steve's shirt, gnawing on his shoulder. She went to grab the baby, who screamed as she tried to grab him.

"It's okay," Steve said, thumb rubbing the back of James' onesie. He was enjoying holding James, enjoying the feel of the small baby in his arms. "It's fine, honestly. I need to do laundry anyways."

"He's teething, so it's been difficult." Y/N said, sighing as she went over to grab the laundry basket. "Do you wanna come in? I made some cornbread, and I need someone to taste test it." She's inviting him in. The most beautiful girl he'd ever laid eyes on was inviting him in. He was holding her baby, who was drooling all over the shoulder of his shirt.

"I have to pick up my," His words drifted off, and not only because he wasn't sure what to call Dustin. His best friend? His brother? He wasn't sure. He was also thinking about all the times that Dustin was annoying, all the things he could say to excuse the fact that he was going to be so late to pick him up. Dustin wiping his shoes on the inside of his car, arguing with him for no reason, calling him dumb and making fun of everything Steve chose to do, jumping over the counter and knocking down all the tapes Steve had just stacked.

Of fucking course he was going to taste test her cornbread. Dustin could wait for a couple minutes.

"Actually, I love cornbread." He said, walking forward to open the door to her trailer for her. He held James tightly in his other arm, but the kid was koala gripping him.

"Steve!" He heard as Y/N walked through the door. He turned, James still in his arms, and saw Dustin walking from around the back of Eddie's trailer. They must have finished.

That little shit.

Steve gave him a look, one that said fuck off, and then walked all the way into the trailer.

~

"Does Steve have a kid?" Dustin asked. He was half joking, because he was pretty sure he would know if Steve had a kid. But Steve was holding that baby, who was gripping his shirt like his life depended on it, and then walked into the trailer after a girl. He had even given Dustin the special fuck off look that he only used when he was flirting with girls.

"Not that I'm aware of." Eddie smirked, cleaning up the table. Nancy had picked Will and Mike up as soon as they were done, Lucas went across the street to Max's, and the older members of the Hellfire Club had gone inside Eddie's trailer to get a beer. Erica and Dustin were supposed to go home with Steve.

"He just walked into that trailer holding a baby." Dustin pointed at the trailer next to Eddie's, and other two looked over.

"Oh, that's Y/N's." Eddie said, going back to cleaning. "It was probably her baby." As if that would explain everything.

"Why was Steve holding it then?" Erica asked, arms crossed in her sassy way.

"Do I look like a mind reader?" Eddie sighed, stuffing everything into his bag and then looking at the kids. "Look, she's a nice girl. Really hot. Let Steve get to know her a bit while you go to Max's." He didn't want them at his trailer, because the second he was inside he would be lighting a blunt.

"And watch her and Lucas suck face?" Dustin complained. He was sure he'd rather barge in on Steve and Y/N.

"Yes." Eddie glared at Dustin, somehow knowing where his train of thought was going. "If I see you walk into Y/N's trailer, you're going to sit a watch through the entirely of the next campaign." He threatened. Steve was his friend, and he knew that Y/N and him would get along. He just needed to make sure the two's selfless attitudes didn't get in the way. Steve would do anything for these kids, and Eddie knew that even if he grumbled about it Steve would let Dustin crash his date. Eddie also knew that Y/N would never even think about going on a date without her baby.

Shit. Eddie was going to have to babysit sometime.

"Okay, okay," Dustin raised his hands, clearly getting the memo.

"You don't go into that trailer!" Eddie yelled at them, walking into his trailer. "Don't even look at it!" Dustin flipped him off as him and Erica walked to Max's trailer.

"He looked so at home with that baby," Erica muttered as they crossed the road.

"He's gonna fall in love." Dustin sighed.

~

"It's my mom's recipe." Y/N muttered as she put on oven mitts and opened the oven, grabbing the tin out of the oven. "She made it the night I found out I was pregnant." Y/N smiled slightly, a sad kind of smile. As Steve looked around the small trailer, he realized it was filled with mostly baby stuff. There were no pictures hanging, no decorations. There was a pile of baby clothes on the couch, a small stack of baby books and a half full bucket of toys.

"It smells amazing." Steve said, letting the sweet bread fill his senses. He watched Y/N cut the bread out of the tin and put it on a plate, and then cut two pieces. She began to butter the bread, and then James pulled on his shirt, screaming.

"James loves cornbread." Y/N said, grabbing the plate with the cornbread pieces and putting it on the counter. "You can put him in the high chair right there." She pointed at the high chair that was next to the counter, and Steve gently put the baby in. Knowing he was going to get fed, James let go of Steve and gave an excited noise, one that made Steve's heart melt even if he hadn't known the kid for that long.

"Your mom makes the best cornbread." Steve said as he took a bite. It crumbled around his lips, and there was a little too much butter, but the bread was amazing. It could have been burnt and he would have said that it was the best thing that's ever touched his tastebuds.

"Oh, I think he knows." Y/N laughed, breaking off some of her cornbread and putting it on James' tray. So many thoughts were going through Steve's head.

Where is James' father? What kind of idiot leaves not only the most beautiful girl but also the cutest child? Where are her parents? Did they leave her? What kind of parent leaves their child?

He asked none of this, because that would be wrong. But as he realized he had to leave, telling Y/N he had to pick up the kids, one question stuck with him.

Was he ready to date a girl with a kid?

~

"Dustin thought James was your kid." Eddie told Steve a couple days later.

"You're joking." Steve said, taking a sip of his beer. He seriously couldn't believe Dustin actually thought that.

"No," Eddie smirked, taking a hit. He checked the clock, because his master plan had to come into action.

"That kid." Steve shook his head.

"Speaking of kids," Eddie said slyly, knowing that Y/N and Nancy and Robin would be at his trailer soon. "I invited Y/N tonight." Steve almost spit his beer out.

"Nice," Steve said through his coughs. "And she's bringing James?" Steve wanted her to bring James, because his heart melted every time she looked at her baby with so much love.

Shit, he's only met this girl two times and he has feelings already.

"No, no, Max is supposed to babysit." Eddie smirked, because he had come up with this master plan. Steve just nodded, which made Eddie confused because he had done this so that Y/N and Steve could have alone time.

"That's nice of Max." Steve said. Before he could say anything else, Robin was rushing into Eddie's trailer, filling the space with her happiness and her excited nature.

"I've got us the best movie!" She yelled, Nancy following with a smile. "It's new, so new I'm surprised they had it!" She was shoving the movie into Steve's face, and he just smiled and shook his head.

"Wow," He told her, letting her fall partially on top of him and begin babbling about it.

"Remember when we were drugged and we went-"

"You were drugged?" Nancy questions, her and Eddie giving each other a look of shock.

"-movie theater and watched that one movie about that guy who went back in time and fell in love with his mom but that meant he would never exist-"

"Hold on," Nancy tries to stop Robin's rant, but it seems she's not listening.

"-had to make sure his parents fell in love and then he came back to the present - oh! It was called Back to the Future! That was it! Yeah, so this movie is the second one." Robin held up the VHS case, and they all just stared at her.

"Based on that alone, I don't think I want to watch the second movie." Eddie finally let out a chuckle, taking a sip of his beer.

"Can we back up a minute?" Nancy asked, blinking rapidly as a sign of her head churning. "You two were drugged? And then you went to the movies and watched this movie?"

"They seriously made a second part to that shit?" Steve swears he told Nancy about this, so he doesn't answer her.

"Is there anyway we can back the fuck up?" Eddie asks, but before Robin or Steve can explain the door slams open and a baby is crying.

"Max is sick and James won't stop crying so I was wondering if you have ice? We go through ours so quickly and I think he's teething." Y/N rushes out. They all stare, except for Steve who gets up and goes to Eddie's freezer, grabbing ice.

"Don't they make toys for this?" He asks the tired mother, who's eyes look ready to droop at any moment.

"I live in a trailer park, city boy. Ice works fine, as long as we hold it against his gums so he doesn't choke." Y/N says, taking the ice from Steve and holding it to her baby's mouth. He stops screaming and looks at the group with wide eyes.

"You look tired." Eddie raises his beer to her, and she rolls her eyes.

"I think teething is worse than newborn stage." She tells the group, sighing as James puts a tiny hand to her wrist and sucks on the ice.

"You should rest." Steve takes James from Y/N's arms, holding the ice to his gums. She smiled gratefully and kissed James' head.

"Thank you so much, Steve." She way she whispered his name made his heart race. She leaned up and kissed his cheek before walking to the bedroom, not caring about the fact that it was Eddie's.

"Oh, Steve's a goner." Robin said softly so that Y/N couldn't hear when she shut the door.

"He's been a goner ever since he set eyes on her." Eddie smirked, but Steve was staring at James, who was sucking on Steve's fingers that held the ice and looking up at him with the biggest eyes Steve has ever seen. He cannot imagine a world where someone would give this kid up. This sweet, cute baby who Steve already loved.

"Head over heels." Nancy smirked, and Steve finally looked up at them.

"I have a problem." He muttered, eyes wide.

"Ya think?" Robin smirked.

//

tags: @avada-kedavra-bitch-187 @roxaya @sadbitchfangirl @gloryekaterina @oblivion-void @alexshaff2002 @m-rae23 @freezaz123 @mads-weasley 

[michaellangdonswhore]

Hi, I just saw you poste so here I am? maybe an ethan landry x reader who is smiliar to stu (Personality wise?) you can choos reader gender. like the act 3 there it reaveld that ethan is one of the ghostface and reader is quite sad/grumpy cause they like him and know he is a killer. "Man, I really wanna date you ):, but i cant cause rules of friendship, like you wanna kill my friends.... " I am sorry if this is not very specific but do what you wanna with it :)

warnings: like none this is just a blurb. prob bad I wrote this so quick and I don't feel like proofreading because I want to write something else. xoxo

word count: 1.6k

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

There's three of them and there's three of you. You stand with your friends, Tara and Sam, severally injured. Detective Bailey was standing with a gun pointed towards you with two masked killers standing next to him.

"You?" Tara scoffs.

"Yeah, of course me," Bailey shrugs. "Frankly I expected more from you after what you did to us."

"Us?" You repeat.

The person next to him begins to take off his mask, revealing a smily familiar figure beneath.

You scoff, because out of all of your friends, you genuinely didn't believe it was him. Sure, everyone joked about it, but he was... he just seemed to innocent. Ethan seemed so vanilla.

Also, you liked him, so you were a firm Ethan defender. No matter how many times you were told to trust no one; especially Ethan after Anika was murdered, you did.

You just couldn't believe it. Ethan- who you had confided in, cried to, almost made out with had pretty much, quite literally, stabbed you in the back.

"Mindy was right. It was easy to juke the roommate lottery," He spoke, so confidently, which was so unlike him.

This really hurt- in many different ways. You actually thought you knew him and understood him. You had never seen this person before.

"I mean all I had to do to meet you was room with a conceited, condensing alpha literally named Chad. Fuck, it felt good to kill him!"

He presents his mask.

"This was your grandmothers, Sam. Nancy Loomis? Really runs in your fucking family, doesn't it? Speaking of family..."

"Wait for it..."

"My name's not Ethan Landry!" He says excitedly. "Is it, dad?"

Well, isn't he just full of surprises.

"Dad?" Tara scoffs.

"Well then that just leaves..." Sam looks at the only one unmasked. "Mindy?"

Luckily, it's not.

"Hey, roomie," Quinn says. "You didn't see that one coming, did you?"

"Well, yeah, we all thought you were dead," You scoff. You turn to Tara and Sam. "That's one way to get off the suspect list. Creative, I must say."

"Yeah, you'd be amazed what a grieving father could get away with." Bailey says.

Ethan's staring you down with a hungry look in his eyes. It was all a game to him.

You can't help but actually roll your eyes in the situation. The audacity you have. This ends with all out hell breaking loose-

Quinn slices deep into your arm with her knife and Bailey starts laughing.

"You stay the fuck away from her!" Tara yells as you stumble back, beginning to look for an exit plan.

This was not how it was supposed to go.

Why couldn't it have been someone else? Anyone but him? You just felt so stupid.

"What is this?" You ask them all, specifically Ethan. "You did this as a family?"

"She should know better than anyone," Ethan shoots a dagger at Sam.

"I don't know what you believe, but I didn't commit the murders at Woodsboro!" Sam groans, sick of explaining the same thing over and over again.

"We know that. What do you think this is? You think this is based on some bullshit conspiracy theory? Bailey scoffs. He gives Sam a pitiful look. "Come on. Who do you think started those rumors in the first place?"

Quinn raises her hand and laughs, "Do you know how easy it was to turn Sam from the hero of Woodsboro into the villain? How easy it was to convince the world to believe the worst in people rather than the best?"

"It's not enough to just kill someone these days," Ethan adds, "You have to assassinate their character first. So when dad here discovers your horribly mutilated bodies, posed with Sam wearing her father's mask, he'll say some poor dumb bastard read on the internet that you're the real ghost face and took matters into their own deluded hands."

"It's the perfect alibi!" Bailey chuckles. "And all the best lies are based on truth."

He points to Sam, "You're a killer. Just like your father."

"No, I'm not!" She yells back.

"Yes you are, motherfucker, you killed our brother!" Quinn screams.

"What are you talking about?"

Great. Another surprise.

So, Ethan's a killer. Quinn's not dead. And their brother was the last ghost face. Great.

"You told us your brother died in a car accident," You shoot daggers at Ethan.

"No, you sweet dumb thing. He died at Woodsboro."

He's pointing his knife up, using it to make a point.

"You're Richie's family?" Sam looks distraught.

"Yeah," Bailey nods.

There's an awkward moment of silence, interrupted by Ethan stabbing Sam in the chest and filling the room with laughter.

"She's finally starting to get it!" He exclaims.

"Have I been a perfect dad? No. Have I maybe over indulged in Richie's interests in these movies? Yeah. He even made a few of his own. There's a very special bond between a father and his first son."

"Ouch." You look over at Ethan, impulsively. "That's gotta sting."

You take another small cut to the shoulder from Quinn. You couldn't tell why she wouldn't just kill you right then and there; it would certainly get the point across.

"What?" You look offended- almost as if you weren't meaning to be offensive. You look back up at Bailey. "And just because you sucked at raising your kid doesn't mean you get to take it out on... literally children."

"Yeah, well I think we're a little past that point now," Bailey sighs.

You open up your mouth, gaining your voice back before Quinn nips at you again, causing nothing but a wince to escape your throat. She's warning you for interrupting.

"I built a tribute to my son," Bailey continues. "This is where you have to die, Sam. Because everyone dies, Sam!"

He's beginning to rile up, pointing his gun at her now.

"Everyone that had to do with the death of my son has to die." He says. "Put on the mask."

"He was a man baby." Sam smirks. "He made his girlfriend do all the killing for him."

Quinn begins to charge at her, but Tara manages to knock her away, and that's when Kirby decides to wake up and shoot Bailey to the ground. Ethan then tackles her, stabbing her harshly in the abdomen in the process.

You act swiftly, taking a nearby brick on the floor at charge at him, slamming the brick into his head and knocking him off of Kirby.

The knife is still in her stomach, you and Ethan fighting each other on the floor in the corner while everyone else does their thing. You notice Sam and Tara climbing somewhere out of the corner of your eye. You want to get to them, but this might be the last time you can ever have your hands on him again.

It's almost if he's not fighting back, though; and it's like you're not fighting hard enough. It's like you're scolding him, like a wife hitting her husband with a dish towel for not liking the food. Except it's with a brick in your hands.

And he's laughing at you while you're doing this, knows that you couldn't possibly hurt him.

"Stop."

"Stop what?" He smirks. "You're the one hitting me with a brick."

"Stop laughing!" You groan. "This isn't funny."

You hit him a little harder.

"Ow!" He grabs his arm. He rolls his eyes and walks back to Kirby. "Where's my knife?"

As he retrieves it, you hear a gunshot and then see Tara swinging off the balcony, being held up by Sam. Ethan has his knife now, and he's swinging at Tara.

This is your moment to act again; you charge at him once more, bringing him to the ground. Not to your surprise, he overpowers you and is now holding you tight, knife pointed at your neck to ensure that you don't move. Bailey's gun is aimed at Tara, but now switching between the both of you.

"Take care of her, Ethan," Bailey says, aggravated that this is taking so long.

He nods, dragging you into the corner of the room; and then into a separate room. You're trying to fight back, kicking and digging your nails into his skin.

You know he won't kill you. He would've already.

Once you're alone, completely alone, he loses his grips. However, he's still holding tight enough to prevent you from moving anywhere.

It's silent for a moment. Neither one of you are talking.

"If I wasn't like this..." He begins. "If I didn't do this-"

"What?" You ask. "Would I have considered being with you?"

He awkwardly blushes. What a time to blush.

"You always did read me so well."

"Clearly not well enough." You groan and roll you eyes, escaping his grasp and pushing him off of you. You're not fighting him, and he's not trying to fight you, but you are keeping your guard up in case he decides to attack.

But he won't.

"So?"

"How can you expect me to answer that?" You question. "Like yeah, I would've loved to date you, but you're kind of trying to kill my friends and me. So, I don't really think the whole relationship thing would work out."

He sighs.

"I should've asked you out sooner," He says after a moment of silence.

"Yeah, you really should've." You snap back.

It's weird. This is the Ethan you knew. It's like he's back. Ghostface or not, your dynamic hasn't changed.

Your brief moment of peace was interrupted quickly though with another gunshot. This freed you of your delusion- that he was this normal guy.

Freed from his grasp, you ran back to the main room to find your friends perfectly fine. Both Quinn and Bailey basically looked dead, and Sam was in the Ghostface robes. You figured some sort of poetic justice had occurred.

But now it's three against one, and there's nothing you could do to save him.

[xmalfoyweasleyx]

The more that you say, the less I know

Steve x (Henderson!)Reader, based on the song Willow -Taylor Swift --> my Taylor songs masterlist

Summary: Y/N is Dustin's older sister, she comes to town and meets Steve. But it seems the boy has some commitment issues...

Angsty but fluff ending <3 , between 1.5-2k words

I'm like the water when your ship rolled in that night.

Rough on the surface but you cut through like a knife

“My sister is coming to town! I’m gonna meet her here” Dustin said excitedly, hanging on the Family Video counter while Steve was focussing on organizing some tapes. “Wow, wow, wait. I didn’t know you had a sister?” he questioned, looking up from his work for a split second. “Duh, didn’t I mention that?” Dustin answered confused. “No? why didn't you mention such an important family thing but litterally tell me all kinds of other annoying and boring stuff?” the boy complained. “Well, she’s my half-sister and lived with her dad for 4 years now. So I haven’t seen her in ages. But she’s really great and smart.” Dustin talked admiringly with a big smile on his face. “Actually, she would be a pretty great match for you, weren’t you like.. searching for the one or something like that” Dustin suggested. Steve chuckled. “Dude, I appreciate the matchmaking but I don’t think your sister is going to be something for me, no offense” he waved off uninterested while walking away from the counter to stack some shelves.

“Hey dude! She’s kind and like... pretty funny actually, but okay” Dustin said disappointed, following Steve through the store like a puppy. “And by the way, I’ve given up on finding the one, it’s bullshit” Steve sighed. 

That’s when the bell rang, a beautiful girl that looked around 20 years old entered the shop. “Y/N!!” Dustin screamed running to the girl. “My god Dusty you’re all grown up I can’t believe this” she giggled while hugging him tight. Steve looked at her with wide eyes when they approached hem. Never in his life did he expect that Dustin Herderson’s sister would look like that, sound so sweet and cause a weird tingling feeling in his stomach. He was shocked, to say the least. 

“You never told me your sister was going to be so goddamn hot” he whispered in Dustin’s ear. “Ew dude, calm down with those words” he answered. “You must be the guy who’s been babysitting my little brother,” Y/N smiled. “Um - I-well… you could call it babysitting.. but..” Steve stuttered, making Dustin giggle. “I’m Y/N” you interrupted, reaching out your hand. “I’m Steve, nice to meet you” he smiled back.

***

The more that you say, the less I know.

Wherever you stray, I follow

It became a habit, visiting Steve when he had his break. It almost felt like a dream. The autumn sunshine in the afternoon. You and him picnicking under the tree in the beautiful field hidden behind Family Video. Laughing, touching, teasing. In the last 3 weeks, you two became closer and closer. Other people might say it was easy, Steve liked you and you liked him. Why wouldn’t you start dating? At first sight it all seemed obvious. You saw each other almost every day and it had been a while, since Nancy actually, that Steve had been showing interest in a girl for that long. But it wasn’t that easy. And you didn’t understand it at all. It was like you knew two different boys. Every time you got closer, Steve shut down.

It was a wednesday afternoon when you leaned on the counter, nibbling on some sandwich, staring at the boy you developed the biggest crush on. You both sat in silence. “Steve” you sighed. He didn’t look up. “We need to talk about our conversation from yesterday”. You had asked him on a date the other day, finally finding the courage. You didn’t even need that much confidence since you two already acted like a couple sometimes. He changed the subject immediately after you asked. As if you didn’t already go on some kind of dates when you picnick or pick up Dustin together after school. It left you confused and sad.

“What is there to talk about” he snapped. Your heart sank, surprised by the angry tone in his voice. His eyes filled with guilt immediately after he saw the hurt in his eyes. “If I’m that horrible or just some toy to fix your boredom with, you could just tell me” you responded, turning around to leave and go home to be alone. “No, I’m sorry Y/N, I…” he sighed from behind you. “You what? Tell me” you turned around angrily. Steve didn’t seem to know what to say. A doubtful look plastered his silent face. “That’s what I thought” you said disappointed and he watched you walk away.

***

Wait for the signal and I'll meet you after dark

Show me the places where the others gave you scars

Your bedroom was silent, you laying there in your bed, thinking, crying, an ache in your heart. It seemed all very dramatic, you laying there in the dark, not able to fall asleep while the rain splattered on your window. It was almost midnight when you got startled by a silent knock on the glass. Steve stood there. Drenched. You rushed out of your bed to open the window before the boy could fall off the roof or something.

“Steve what are you doing here?! You’re soaked” you were worried, but still angry. “I’m so sorry, it’s just… it’s just so confusing” he said shivering. He looked sad, almost like he’d been crying too but it was hard to see with all the rain on his face. You didn’t answer and grabbed a warm towel from your closet first. “Here” you whispered, putting the soft towel around him, feeling his broad shoulders underneath the material. His features softened when you touched him and he looked comfortable. It was silent, your bodies close. “Why are you here?” You asked softly, trying not to drown in the hazel eyes staring lovingly into yours. You didn’t understand, one moment he snaps at you and acts like there’s nothing between you two. The other moment he looks at you like he’s never been more in love.

“I’m sorry for playing with your feelings.”  He sighed. “I really am”. 

“Then explain it to me, why?” you whispered while he was toying softly with a lock of hair on your shoulder. Your foreheads almost touched. “I’m scared,” he said with a crack in his voice.

He seemed so vulnerable, you had never seen him like this. Little shivers from the cold, his eyes teary and filled with guilt. You stroked his wet brown locks softly and he leaned into your touch, closing his eyes. “Come sit on the bed with me” you suggested.

“The thing is.. I-I’m acting so weird because it’s the first time in a long time I felt this way” Steve confessed. “What do you mean?  Why is that bad?” You asked. “It makes me scared, I have this terrible feeling, that this will fail, that you will get bored of me eventually and.. it’s not going great at home, I know that’s not an excuse but, I’m.. I..” he stuttered, nervously toying with his fingers. You touched his hands delicately, trying to give him some comfort. “I won’t hurt your feelings like others might have done, if that’s your concern, I promise.” You whispered, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. “This is what scares me too, the goddamn tingles I get when you do that” he chuckles, being a little more comfortable. “That’s not a bad thing Stevie. I don’t know the details of what happened with you before, but I can tell you, love is not a bad thing” you said. “Love?” he asked. You nod. “Can I kiss you?” he said, moving closer. “Please”

Wreck my plans

That's my man

Kissing Steve Harrington was one of the best things ever. He was tender, yet passionate. You were laying on your bed now, making out with your legs tangled and your hands in his soft hair.  “I could kiss you forever” he sighed while placing soft kisses on your cheek and neck. “So, don’t stop then” you teased. Steve giggled, grabbing your hips and pulling you even closer to him with a soft groan of satisfaction. “Don’t challenge me, baby”.

You fell asleep in his arms that night. Your head on his chest, his chin resting in your hair. His arms were wrapped tightly around you and your one leg was placed on top of his. His warmth and smell made you fall in a deep sleep. Listening to his soft breath. In the arms of your man.

[hypocriticalspicewrites]

*walks into the frame* PSST! cherryyyyyyyy *whispers* could you write an NSFW alphabet of ace and Nancy? *only if u feel comfortable* *walks away slowly bye cher 👋🏻🩷*

🩷🎀𝑪𝒐𝒃𝒓𝒂𝑩𝒂𝒃𝒚'𝒔 𝑵𝑺𝑭𝑾 𝑨𝒍𝒑𝒉𝒂𝒃𝒆𝒕🎀🩷

I FOUND THE OG!! Hi Anon! Thank you so much for the ask~ 👀 I've never done and NSFW alphabet but these seem fun! Yall should let me know if you'd want more of these!

Note most of these headcanons are around the time Ace and Nancy are in a more committed relationship/married, so it ranges from like 19-22!

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex?)

Ace isn't the best in the cleaning up department, and he'll probably just go hop in the shower and ask if Nancy wants to join. But he's real good on checking on his girl and asking if she's feeling good or if she needs anything.

God Ace loves Nancy's post-sex cooking/baking. It's like the best thing he's ever had. When he wakes up in the morning, or even some days it's like she makes dinner a certain type of way that he just has to throw her over his shoulder whilst she's in the middle of dishes and take her upstairs to thank her the way he does best~ 🤭

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Ace loves Nancy's thighs and tits. I just think he's overall a legs kind of guy and his girl's got LEGS. He's an absolute horndog for her. There isn't a second he doesn't have a hand on her thigh while driving or sitting talking with the Cobras. And the way she squeezes them around his hips when she's close is enough to have him cumming right there.

If it counts, his eyes. Nancy loves this look Ace gives her that she knows means once they get home she's in trouble. And he makes sure she sees it cause it's like he's burning two holes into the back of her head from across the room.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum?)

If it's not going inside her, it's going in her mouth. Ace is making sure she swallows all of it or is taking it all so it doesn't get on his cars seats/paint. And I think he's got himself a liitttlle bit of a breeding kink.

D = Dirty secret ( a dirty secret of theirs?)

Some days when he'd have a long day at work or he's feeling a little lonely he has a picture of Nancy kept in one of the center dashes of his car he jacks-off to. It's her in some skimpy swimsuit [at least as skimpy as they could get back in the 50s-60s] posing on a beach that just seems to get his gears turning. 🤷‍♀️

Nancys is rather tame, she just likes ready some spicy smut books and daydreams about them being her and Ace.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

I think it's said Ace has some experience under his belt with his multiple relationships in his past, so he's probably the one to take charge of most things for a good while, considering poor Nance had little to know understanding considering she waited for him.

F = Favorite position?

If it's in bed, it's usually missionary or mating press, but Ace loves car sex, and he likes cowgirl position while he's laid back in his front seat.

G=Goofy: (Are they serious or goofy in the mood?)

Its pretty serious on both halves, nothing gets too silly or goofy when they're going at it and it stays relatively tame. Rarely, Ace will crack some comment after they finish up to make her giggle, but that's really it.

H=Hair: (How well groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes?)

Im not sure how well groomed you had to be down there to meet the late 50s/60s etiquette, so I'm just going of my personal thoughts. Ace keeps himself trimmed and neat, at least when he cares to/remembers. He also has a faint blonde happy trail whenever his shirt rides up.

And I'm assuming it was kinda expected of woman back then, so Nancy is usually completely shaven all around down there. [Even though I think Ace could care less about body hair. She's like me and self conscious 😔]

I=Intimacy: (How are they during the moment?)

At first, to Ace it was just... Fucking. But after a while when he found himself unable to feel that good with anyone but her, or whenever he was getting way into it and he found himself muttering about how he was gonna marry her so he could do this to her everyday anytime he wanted, he realized that maybe his girlfriend should be more than some nice peice of ass. And so it grew more intimate and more meaningful as they're relationship grew.

J=Jack-off: (Masturbation Headcanons?)

See the dirty secret above...☝️

K=Kink: (Anything they are into)

Like I said, I could see Ace getting a little baby fever and having a breeding kink. I mean, this man is always trynna win, he pumped THREE babies into this girl and he's very smug about it for a good... Rest of his life.

L=Location: ( Favorite places to do it)

Anywhere and everywhere. Especially in his car. Car sex is something Ace almost makes tradition anytime he has this girl alone I'm his car. It's either in his car, or out by the riverside, which usually starts as wholesome picnicking, mind you. With Nancy making flower crowns while he's fishing, and it slowly turns into full blown love-making on the blanket LMAO.

Nancy doesn't mind and seems to enjoy just as much, but she finds he's a lot more intimate and softer if it's behind closer doors and in the bedroom.

M=Motivation: (What turns them on, gets em going?)

Nancy just has to breath on him and he's on her like a wildcat LMAO. I mean, the way she walks away all huffy and her hips sway in those tight waist skirts, or when she has to hold her skirt down when he's cruising down the road wayy over the legal limit to him the face breeze from blowing her skirt up. Anything this girl does is leaving him hopeless.

Anytime Ace is out working or comes back from work... Oh this girl is fanning herself and struggling to keep her hands to herself. Especially if he's out working on his car, all sweaty and muscles bulging while he's carrying his tools or a tire under his arm, or he's all covered in dirt and hunched over panting from working in the garden... Hunny PRAY FOR HER.

N=No: (Whats something they won't do?)

Ace, as surprising as it is, isn't too find if really hurting Nancy. He'll give her a little slap on the ass or thigh here and there, or bite her and suck on her neck, sure! But I don't think he'd hit her or slap her face, or spit on her. Or begging. He likes it rough, but he knows Nance is a sensitive little thing and he doesn't want her to feel uncomfortable or God forbid not enjoy there intimate moments.

O=Oral: (Giving or receiving? How good are they at it?)

Ace loves receiving- but doesn't give it. Nancy doesn't mind cause he can pleasure her in many different ways, and she also doesn't kind giving him head either. He usually only let's her give him a Blow-job usually in- you guessed it, his car. As well as hand-jobs while he's at the wheel.

P=Pace: (Are they slow or fast?)

Ace starts off slow, getting use to it and getting into the rhythm, but then they start to pick things up, and it gets quick and rough after a minute or two. Rarely is he super soft and slow, the times he was was when they ran away to elope and a few weeks after the triplets were born.

Q=Quickie: (How often are they willing for quickies?)

More than you'd think. Ace is super into quickies and that's usually what's going on in his car behind the wheel LMAO. Sometimes Nance has initiated them, but it's mostly just a quick necking session behind a farm or away from prying eyes.

R=Risks

I don't think these two are up for much from there usually sex life. Maybe they'll shake things up a bit and try something new, but Ace likes to keep things easy and simple with his girl, it always feels better and amazing each and every time anyway so he isn't complaining.

S=Stamina: (How long can they go for? How long can they last)

Id say Ace can go about two or three rounds before he's tired out, and even then he can last a good while before he bottoms out. Nancy can go about two before she's a mess- which just makes Ace push her for another one. 💀

T=Toys?

Nah. I don't know if toys were popular a lot in the late 50s-60s, but Ace or Nancy aren't really ones into it- maybe he'd tie her up/blindfold her with a tie or belt, but that's really it!

U=Unfair: (Do they tease?)

Ace teases, I think he makes comments or playful names during intimacy, but anything like begging I don't think he'd be into. He'd probably tease her for being needy ro begging, but he would withhold anything fromm her. Nancy on the other hand surprisingly, likes to tease lead him on allll day before he can't take it anymore. Some days she just likes torturing him with cat and mouse till he's finally had enough and is dragging her up to there bedroom.

V=Volume: (How loud are they?)

Ace leaves it all to Nancy to let everyone know how good she's getting it. She can be pretty loud, mostly whining and whimpering, but she moans and gasp a little when she's close or he's getting super rough. The most you'll get out of Ace is grunts and sighs, maybe a groan or two, but rarely.

W=Wild card: (Random headcanon?)

Rambles when he gets pussy-drunk. 🙌 And it's the sweetest thing to ever come out of his mouth. It's so funny that it's then and only then he's actually saying something so sweet and intimate.

"God I can't wait to marry you. Then I can do this to you all day every fuckin' day.. You'd like that, yeah?"

"Look at you, all pretty and worked up just for me... Lookin' just like a princess Nance..."

X=X-ray (WHATS GOING UNDER THE PANTS?)

I'd say a good 6.5 inches, more girth than length but even then, nice and average. He has a blonde happy trail that isn't super noticeable with how pale it is. He has a couple veins trailing the sides, and an extremely sensitive one that runs over the underside of his dick.

Y=Yearning: (How big is there sex drive?)

Ace is more than willing to get it on whenever. He's doing it as long as Nance is willing to do it. This man his hornee for his lady and isn't about to turn down any and all requests to head back to their room for some sex after a hard day of working. He's got sex-drive that's pretty constant, but also flexible to fit whenever his girl is in the mood.

Z=Zzz: (How quick are they to fall asleep after?)

Ace is awake for a minute or two before dozing off eventually, Nancy stays awake for a couple. He's usually really quiet after, and the only way she knows he's still awake as him drawing lazy circles in her back or rubbing her arm before the motion slows and his hand goes limp. Sometimes he stays awake enough to indulge in some pillow talk. 🩷

[sharpth1ng]

What do you think is mentally wrong with billy and stu other then being “insane”

I don't actually think they're insane, tbh. I'm going to give a long explanation of this but I just want to say I'm not judging you or the question. Terms like this get miss-used a lot in pop media (including in Scream) so it's easy to get the wrong idea.

"Insane" is a legal category, not a medical diagnosis. Legally, insanity refers to someone being in a state where they are so out of touch with reality that they can't be considered responsible for their actions. The way this works is complicated, but simply put if the crime was violent then it needs to be proven that the accused person didn't actually know what they were doing.

Successful insanity pleas are very very rare, both because the burden of proof is super high and because people with disorders that involve a break from reality don't commit violent crime that often at all. It's actually pretty rare.

So yeah, by that definition these two are not insane at all. They know exactly what they are doing and they intend to do it. They call themselves "psychotic" but that's also a miss-use of the term. They very clearly don't have psychosis, and aside from that people with psychosis are less likely to act violently than people who don't have it (this is a statistical fact).

On that note I just want to point out that the way media connects violence with psychotic disorders is a real problem. It stigmatizes and isolates the real people who struggle with this stuff. It causes others to judge and fear them, it makes them fear themselves, and it makes it harder for them to access treatment and care. So yeah the psychotic line in Scream is a real pet-peeve of mine, that's why I changed it in my writing.

Getting back to Billy and Stu I really don't think their issues and behaviours can be boiled down to any mental health issues. To be clear I don't think anyones bad behaviour can be boiled down to mental health issues. In some cases mental health issues can help us understand where behaviour is coming from, but they're never the only cause. So I'll talk about the way I write them in terms of the issues they deal with, but just keep in mind that these things not the cause of their actions.

I write Billy autistic partly because I am (but also because of the canonical horror movie special interest and third act meltdown) and I'd say my portrayal of Stu also indicates some type of neurodivergence- probably something like ADHD but I don't have any specific diagnosis in mind. Billy also has some attachment and trust issues- these aren't diagnosis or disorders but they are definitely things he struggles with. For his part Stu is dealing with parental neglect and struggles with loneliness as well as under-stimulation.

All of this stuff informs the way they behave with each other, the walls they put up, and the types of relationships they have with other people. For example Billy isn't emotionally open to Sidney at any point. Even if he wasn't gay there was never a possibility for their relationship to work out because he's completely closed off to her. He doesn't trust her.

In terms of what I think is truly wrong with these two it's the misogyny, the slut shaming and the self-centeredness. That's the kind of stuff that I think explains their behaviour for real, and none of it is related to their mental health issues or insecurities.

Stu is a rich white boy living in suburban California and the way I write him, so is Billy. They have shitty values and the kind of privileged upbringing that teaches men to see themselves as the main character. Billy literally has one of those scary tiktok boy moms, like when we see Nancy in Scream 2 she fully excuses all of his behaviour. He's been brought up not having to take accountability or consider the real effects of his actions. Neither of them have.

So yeah tldr: They aren't insane, they do have some legit mental health issues the way I write them, but none of that stuff causes their actions in the movie. Their actions are caused by a toxic combination of sexism and main character syndrome, which are not mental health issues.

I hope all that makes sense!

[renegade-diamonds]

Ronance ABO AU where Nancy and Robin fall in love, but Nancy can't commit due to her fears about long-distance relationships after what happened with Jonathan, so Robin starts casually dating someone while Nancy's away at college.

Nancy finds out when she comes back for winter break, decides she can't let someone else take her omega and goes full home-wrecker.

Bonus points cause at first Nancy doesn't want to, since she just wants Robin to be happy and she knows she messed up by not committing, but Karen's like "they're not mated, go for it."

[archivist-crow]

The Haunted Atlas

Barnstable House - Barnstable, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, United States

41° 39' 19.79" N / -70° 21' 6.59" W

Haunted house in Barnstable, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, known as the "House of Eleven Ghosts." The Barnstable House is occupied by several ghosts, though 11 different ones have not been distinguished. The house is located on Old Kings Highway, which runs through Cape Cod. A stretch of the highway that passes through Barnstable is renowned for being the most haunted area on the Cape. The house sits atop an underground stream.

History

Barnstable House has passed through numerous owners in its nearly 300-year history It was framed in Scituate, Massachusetts, shipped to Barnstable, and constructed by James Paine in 1716. Paine's grandson, Robert Treat Paine, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

By the time of the American Revolutionary War, the house was owned by Edmund Hawes. On October 1, 1776, Hawes sold it to Elisha Doane, who paid for it in worthless continental currency. Distraught, Hawes committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree on the property.

in 1799, the house was bought by Samuel Savage, a doctor who owned it until his death. It passed to his daughter, Hope Savage Shaw, the second wife of Supreme Court Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw. In 1832, the house was sold to Abner Davis. Upon his death, it passed to Davis's wife, Nancy, and then to her son, Adolphus, a Boston shipowner. During the time the house was owned by the Davises, it was believed to be occupied by a sea captain named John Grey, known as an unfriendly man.

Barnstable House became an inn and restaurant during the 1900s. There was a revolving door of owners and names, among them the 1716 House, Old Jail House, The Sign of the Blue Lantern, Andrea Doria Inn, Captain Grey's, and, ultimately, the Barnstable House, its present name. In the 1980s, the house was turned into a commercial office building, its present use.

Haunting Activity

Barnstable House has long been reputed to be haunted, and seances have been held at different times on the premises. The name "House of Eleven Ghosts" was bestowed by a psychic, who said that 11 different entities were on the premises. There is no record of their specific identities.

The most famous incident took place in 1973 when a fire broke out in the house in the middle of the night. The Barnstable Fire Department responded to the call at about 3 A.M. and sent two fire trucks to the scene. Several firefighters saw a woman standing in one of the upstairs windows. They raced inside to rescue her, but no woman could be found. Within moments, she was seen floating about the fire trucks about two feet off the snow-covered ground. She was wearing a long white dress and had long blonde hair. The witnesses attested that she had a sad expression and asked, "Where is the dalmatian?" There was no dog on the property or in the house. The woman then vanished. Mediums who said they contacted the ghost said her name was Martha. There are no historical records to validate the name. One possibility is that a guest named Martha stayed there during the house's days as an inn.

The ghost of Captain Grey is said to lurk about the basement. He is known as "the door slammer" after his favorite activity—slamming open doors shut without apparent cause.

Another ghost is said to be that of Lucy, a young girl who died in the underground stream. Her ghostly mother rocks a rocking chair, waiting for her daughter to return. There is no known historical record of such a girl or a drowning.

Once a spontaneous fire burst out in a downstairs fireplace and extinguished itself just as suddenly. At the time, a group of students was upstairs making noise; the fire went out when they quieted down. Candle chandeliers also have suddenly flamed.

Text from The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits, Third Edition by Rosemary Ellen Guiley (Checkmark Books - 2007)

[snowangeldotmp3]

Robin can't find her jacket.

She felt naked without it. It was her armor. And one of the few pieces of clothing that didn’t yell “English Professor!” at the world. But most importantly, it was hers.

And she can’t find it.

She’s looked everywhere for it. Closet. Drawers. Eddie’s place. Steve’s place. Max’s room. Joyce’s diner. The Outback. It’s like it’s vanished in thin air.

The room is a mess, like a tornado came through and left all of her clothes in its wake. Robin knows she probably looks like a maniac searching for the thing, she can’t help it.

It’s at that exact moment when Nancy walks by, head craning to watch Robin’s manic state. “Robin? Is…everything okay?” Nancy asks, leaning against the doorframe.

Robin sits on her knees, running a hand through her hair. “Yeah, it’s just,” she pauses, the ridiculousness of it all now crashing down on her, “I can’t find my jacket,” she deflates.

Nancy’s face doesn’t change. She simply asks, “The blue one?”

Robin nods.

“Oh,” Nancy says, pushing off from the frame, “I have it.”

Relief washes like a wave over Robin. “You do?” She asks, before her brows knit together, “why?”

“Mhm, come with me.”

Robin gets up, letting Nancy lead her to what Robin can only assume is Nancy’s bedroom.

This is the first time she’s seeing it. She’s been living with Nancy and Max for the last month now, and it’s the first time she’s seeing Nancy’s room. Nancy’s seen her room dozens of times, (mostly because Robin’s door is always open) but Nancy’s more reserved than Robin is. This feels…more intimate somehow. A room is often a reflection of one’s mind, of their personality, so for Nancy to be showing her this…it feels like they might finally be friends.

(At least, Nancy might finally consider them friends. Robin has considered them friends since they got stuck in the Enchanted Forest, because who rips out a heart like that for someone you were supposed to hate? They shared stories around a campfire like they were fucking Girl Scouts desperate for a new merit badge. Nancy saved Robin in the Enchanted Forest. She considers that to be pretty high on the friendship ladder.)

Nancy walks through the door, Robin close behind, and straight to her closet. Robin takes a moment to observe the room. It’s so quintessentially Nancy that Robin has to flex her fingers, fighting the itch to reach out and touch things, committing them to memory and filing them away to the ‘Nancy’ folder in her brain.

Nancy pushes past her clothes, pulling the dry cleaning bag from her closet. Robin can see the familiar blue before Nancy’s got the bag fully out of the closet. Robin stares at her, dumbfounded. Nancy smiles sheepishly at her.

“After that last battle I noticed it got pretty banged up, so I had Max snatch it when you weren’t looking so I could get it cleaned properly. I know it means a lot to you and I didn’t mean to cause a panic like that it was just the least I could do…” She trails off, handing the jacket back to Robin.

Robin can’t wrap her head around it. One, Max is a traitor who snatches her jackets when she’s not looking. Two, does Nancy…care about her? Consider her a friend? This is a woman who, not even six months ago, was actively trying to make Robin’s life a living hell.

Robin pulls her in a tight hug, eliciting a small, “oof!” from the brunette. Nancy relaxes into the hug, and Robin tries not to think about how perfectly hug-sized Nancy is. “Thank you,” she whispers, squeezing one last time before letting go.

When Robin lets go, she ignores the way Nancy’s face glows a brighter shade of red, and stammers, “Oh—it’s…it’s nothing, you know. I just—“

It’s adorable.

Warmth blooms through her chest, waves of it washing over her. She smiles.

Nancy was a queen. An evil queen. And now she’s caring for Robin’s things and fumbling over her words and blushing and Robin wants nothing more than to just—

No. No, not here, not now. She will not ruin this, whatever it is they have going, because of her stupid feelings.

[leejenowrld]

eeeeeek plz elaborate on someone getting between jeno & yn (or the ex in the og ideas!!!) have a safe flight!!

listen, jeno is a very popular and well known guy around. on campus he’s by far the most wanted and notorious, all for good reasons :) everyone wants him but he’s truly settled down with one person, we all know who that is.

that doesn’t go well with a lot of the girls on campus. as they’re all so attracted to him and it’s caused problems!! for example, a lot of girls try and get it on with him at parties, in class, just around and it’s just… wow

he can tell when people are being friendly and then when ppl are flirting and it’s just a lot. he can’t believe the audacity of some of these girls. they try to kiss him or just try to tell him they he’d have so much fun with them rather than being in a committed relationship, it’s disgusting.

some of these girls who have caused trouble are mia, seoyeon, nagyung, chaeyoung, arin, nancy, eunbin, YEEUN… they’re not girls girls at all listen, jeno is a very popular and well known guy around. on campus he’s by far the most wanted and notorious, all for good reasons

in the og jeno was gonna have an ex who he is still not lowkey over. idk who i was gonna make it be, either mia, karina, yeeun or heejin… just really pretty girls who all make yn feel jealous 😭😭 they were just gonna be troublemakers, in the og the ex would try and get back with jeno whilst jeno got into a relationship with yn and would try and make her feel jealous and insecure and she successfully gaslighted her until she believed that jeno was only with her to get back at the ex :( it sucks

but in this og jeno wasn’t perfect either… subconsciously he still had unresolved feelings for his ex and a part of him only got with yn to get over her… eeek

[munsonsreputation]

HITS DIFFERENT ('CAUSE IT'S YOU)

steve harrington x fem!reader

word count: [7.6K]

warnings: warnings: no use of y/n, exes to lovers, cursing (plenty), angsty, mentions of alcohol and reader throwing up, reader and steve arguing (just a bit), angst mixed in with humor (my personal fave), reader crying (she does a lot), mis communication, uses of a home phone and answering machine, stupid idiots confessing their love &lt;3

summary: you never would have thought that steve harrington could ever break your heart...after all, he was all that you wanted. however, after a sudden breakup you find yourself struggling to move on from him. moving on was always easy for you to do, but you just don't understand why you can't get over steve. after a night out with nancy and robin you question if love really is a thing or if it's just a complete lie.

Two weeks.

Fourteen days.

The most grueling three hundred and sixty-six hours of your life, and here you were sat at the bar with your best friends on either side of you. The two of them buying you drinks and talking shit about your ex-boyfriend to try to make you feel a little better.

But in all fairness, it’s the best you felt in those two weeks, so you’d take a night full of shots and half-drunk euphoria over one full of tears and sadness in bed.

“Another round?” The bartender glided over with a smile on his unshaven face as he compiled the shot glasses on a plate.

You swung your head, cringing as you bit down on the lime slice to chase the vodka burning your throat. The three of you were on a roll, drinking ever since you entered the club without a care for stopping.

Nancy hiccuped in, looking between you and Robin, knowing you should cool it on the drinking, “M-maybe some water?” she requested as the two of you nodded in agreement.

He laughed freely at all three of you girls’ halt on shots. “Coming right up,” he spun around, grabbing a few waters and clean glasses.

Robin turned her eyes towards you, her fist lazily reinforcing her head as she could feel the alcohol slowing hitting her, “Are ya having fun?”

“Hmmm…” You pretended to think for a moment before putting on your best smile, “’course I am, you know I always have fun with you two.”

Robin and Nancy shot a concerning look at each other while you were distracted by the water pushed towards you, downing the glass.

They knew things weren’t easy for you, at least right now. They had spent the last few days trying to convince you to go out and try to have fun in hopes of helping you get over the untimely breakup. After spending the first week locked up in your apartment, wallowing, they had tried to get you to come out and get some much needed girl’s time.

And for a minute they thought that they had cracked you, getting you to tag along at the beach, but unfortunately the experience just made you feel worse about yourself. Seeing too many happy couples splashing in the water or writing each other’s initials in the sand around a big heart—you were totally broken hearted.

Nancy and Robin had to practically drag you back to your apartment, a sobbing mess. What they didn’t know was that the last date that you and Steve went on was to that exact beach. Memories of you and him running barefoot across the sand and splashing each other with the salty ocean water.

Thankfully, you had gotten your shit together, or at least tried to for tonight. You were grateful to have friends who were so committed to making sure you were ok in times like these. But they could also see through the facade. You hadn’t mentioned his name all night. The first in the last couple of days where all you could think and talk about was him.

“I know, but you can also talk to us about anything you’re feeling,” Nancy started, her hands coming up to warmly caress your shoulder, “We’re always gonna be here for you.”

You inhaled, eyes glittering with a sheen of salty liquid and a genuine smile creeping onto your face as you threw your arms around her neck and pulled her into a hug. You could hear the muffled laughter of Robin’s voice behind you through the music, feeling her wrap her arms around the two of you and join in on the hug.

“I love you guys.” You murmured, feeling their smile and giggle on your skin, reciting it back to you before they stretched away.

Again, the bartender stood behind the bar, arms crisscrossed over his rib cage as he rose his brows towards you, “So what did he do? Cheat or ghost you?”

Your eyes squinted at him, evidently taken aback by his intrusion as you set your glass down, “W-what?”

He snickered inwardly, leaning closer to the bar, nearly face to face with you before you scooched back, “No group of girls just comes to a club on a Friday night crying for no reason, y’know?”

The bartender tried to be silly, laughing at himself and towards you and your friends like you’d even give him a giggle. Instead, you wanted to reach over the table and give him a piece of your mind. That yeah, maybe you were here sitting at a bar crying over Steve Harrington, but Steve would never cheat or ghost you.

Never.

But before you could even begin explaining that to him, Nancy cut in. Both of her palms resting on the surface as she pushed herself forward, face to face with the man, staring him down and watching him cower.

“Look it’s none of your business. We’re here to have a good time, not to explain ourselves to an eavesdropper.” Her voice spiked with firmness, standing her ground while the bartender smirked, holding his hands up in defense, and backed away.

You felt a squeeze on your shoulder coming from Robin who gave you an encouraging smile, but you could tell that beneath that she was worried for you. Most times you wouldn’t hesitate to put someone like him in his place for being so invasive, but these days it just felt like you didn’t have the energy for anything, let alone picking fights with strangers.

Nancy settled back comfortably into her chair and you mouthed a “thank you” towards her, and all she did was shake her head and give you those comforting eyes that let you know that she would’ve done it either way for you.

You didn’t want to feel like you needed to defend yourself, but part of you wished that you didn’t have to be here in the first place. That if Steve didn’t break your heart, you’d just be with him and the rest of your friends back at your apartment watching a shit-load of movies until you fell asleep.

But instead you were here, moping and trying to numb away your pain with drinks, like a goddamn rom-com. Except your prince charming wasn’t going to waltz in any minute and beg for your forgiveness.

You wished you could’ve just spent your night forgetting this interaction with that stupid bartender even happened, but as swiftly as the privacy came, it died once again with him invading your personal bubble.

A tray of freshly poured shots slid its way towards you, along with the cough of the man who gained your attention. “The shots are on the house and it’s my bad…I didn’t mean to make you girls angry.”

You took a deep breath, shoulders dropping heavily, only reaching for a glass and toasting it up to him, “It’s whatever…no hard feelings, dude.”

With that you chugged the alcohol, not bothering to even chase it with lime or salt, like you had been doing all night. Nancy and Robin did the same, mumbling a “thank you” to the man and taking their own shot.

He should’ve left it at that, but of course just like any other man, they always had to go and ruin it.

“Buuut…” his tone condescending with just that one word alone, “love is a complete and utter lie anyway so try not to think so hard about it.”

His lips twisted up in a smirk as if he had just played you, but you were really just not having any of it anymore. You weren’t sure if it was the alcohol beginning to really kick in and give you an edge or if you were really just ticked off, but you didn’t think twice before reaching for Nancy’s half-full cup of water and chucking the rest of it at the man.

“You’re such an asshole!” You slurred noisily followed by the gasps of the other bystanders who watched it unfold.

“Oh, my god!” Robin shrieked, clamping a hand over her mouth as she watched the man completely lose his shit over some water.

It all happened so fast, and you really were about to go across the bar and throw every single drink at this man just so you could release all this pent up sadness and frustration, but something stopped you. That familiar tune beginning to play over the speakers. That song that was Steve’s favorite blaring in your ears and it just made you want to cry.

You never would have thought you’d ever throw a drink into any person’s face. Never ever. Sure, you’d fantasize about it, and wish you could to ever rude person you met.

But you never did…not until tonight.

You don’t know what overcame you, but it all just felt so wrong.

Nancy quickly helped you up out of the barstool, while Robin exhanged a few curse words and thrown middle fingers at the man before following you two outside of the club before you would have been escorted out by security.

You couldn’t control the sobs that were leaving your mouth and tears slipping down your cheeks. This isn’t what you wanted at all, and this wasn’t how the night was supposed to play out.

You had it all planned out in your head.

You three would just spend the night drinking your worries away and dancing to overplayed club music until your feet hurt and you would have to hail a cab barefoot down the street.

But of course, nothing was ever how it was supposed to be.

“Here, let’s sit,” Nancy suggested, wandering a few blocks away from the place and helping you sit down on the curb.

“Oh honey,” Robin murmured, coming to the other side of you and wrapping her arms across your shoulders, “Don’t listen to that prick. He has no idea what he’s talking about!”

Nancy ran her palms up and down your arms, trying to warm you up from the chilly night air, “Mhm! He’s probably just angry because he’s never been in love before.”

With your breath uneasy, you lifted your face from your hands, revealing the mascara smeared cheeks where the salty tears continued to pour.

“Love isn’t a lie! It can’t be…”

You looked at them in disbelief like this breakup was so catastrophic…because it was and it was painting you blue. The kind of messy and discolored shades of every blue fusing together and turning your soul into grey goop.

You were a mess.

Nance gulped, not really sure of what to say because your emotions had never got this bad. Back in the first week of the breakup, she and Robin would hold you while you cried and told them how lonely you were, but this was something different.

“A—and no one is saying it’s a lie! Love isn’t a lie, hun.” She told you, stroking your hair back from where it was sticking to your wet cheeks.

You couldn’t help collapsing into Nancy’s lap, hiding your face and hands on top of her where you wept violently. She felt the strings tugging on her heart, watching you break down, rubbing circles on your back to try to get you to calm down.

Her eyes narrowing towards Robin and mouthing, “say something to make her feel better!”

Robin wasn’t so good with these emotions, either. Smacking her hand on top of her forehead and opening her mouth to try to form words, but she struggled a bit, but not before Nancy smacked her leg lightly, begging her to say something quick.

“Y-you know…ummm love isn’t a complete lie…it’s just that ummm, you know sometimes things just don’t work out, but when you meet someone and it feels right, you just know…you know that it’s love.”

You rocked your head in your hands, your heart being pulled in a million different directions, yet still falling apart because you knew that you only ever had that feeling with Steve. He was the person who felt right. And you feared that it was always going to be him.

Nancy and Robin continued rubbing reassuring circles on your back, and you even felt the warmth of a Robin’s jacket being draped across body. There was no good reason as to why your two best friends should be doing this right now. And you probably wouldn’t have blamed them if they had just left you here to fend for yourself because you were a total mess and you really felt like your sadness was contagious—infecting them and ruining their night.

They had their own significant others, Jonathan and Vicky, who probably would have given them a better night than tonight. At least, they had people coming home to them, probably thinking about what they were up to, maybe something fun and looking forward to receiving one of those drunk calls asking them to come and pick them up. But no, they were here, already sobered up and comforting their heartbroken wreck of a friend.

“B-but what if it’s really a lie?” You hiccuped quietly, withdrawing your head from Nancy’s lap, and struggling to swipe away at the never ending puddle of tears.

Robin adjusted her jacket over your shoulders, hugging you firmly and Nance doing the same on the opposite side.

“Don’t think like that, babe…you know you’re a total romantic.” Robin replied

You sniffled, glancing over at her with a crushed presence, “I don’t know a-anymore, maybe love just isn’t meant for me,”

“No, no, no, don’t say that.” Nancy scolds gently, moving to hold on to your hand where you take a shaky breath and look up at the sky.

You wished that there was a shooting star, just so you could make a wish and rewind time. You were so pathetically drunk yet sober off your ass and feelings right now.

“It’s true! Maybe Steve will find a new girlfriend who will give him the world and take my place and love him the way that I—”

You swallowed thickly, not even wanting to finish that sentence because it made you so sick. Your senses were just filled with all things Steve and even when you closed your eyes to try to forget about it, all you could visualize was Steve laughing and kissing another girl who wasn’t you.

It was your deepest fears coming true in the bounds of your imagination, yet maybe it was true. Maybe Steve already found someone else who was better than you, the girl who you could never be. Maybe he was already moved on, meanwhile you were letting him make a mess and a fool out of you.

It made you sick.

The lump in your larynx rose despite your attempts to swallow it, and out of nowhere your hands forced outwards, shoving Robin and Nancy away, while you jerked forward and threw up on the street.

“Oh, Jesus.” Nancy sighed, hastily rising up and backing away to give you a minute.

Meanwhile, Robin clenched one hand over her mouth, while the other gathered your hair and held it back for you.

“Yup, just let it all out.” She mumbled, grimacing as you continued to do so.

Nance searched around, catching a payphone a short walk away, “I’m gonna call her a ride and try to find her some water.”

“Be quick, please.” Robin hailed out before she jogged off to the payphone.

She really didn’t know who to call, and for a second she contemplated Steve, but after everything that had happened tonight, she didn’t want to put you in a situation that you quite literally weren’t ready for.

Jonathan would have been an option, but she knew her boyfriend and at this hour he was probably dead asleep and would not wake up.

Then there was Vicky, which would have been a great option, however she still didn’t have her license and the last thing they needed was for her to get pulled over for not having one.

So she dialed the numbers, hoping that the person would be up and willing to come into town to pick you up.

“C’mon, c’mon, please, pick up.” She tapped her foot impatiently and the phone continued to ring, for a moment she was about to lose all her hope and hang up.

But thankfully, he picked up, “Munson residence, what can I do for you at this hour?”

Nance could practically feel the smirk on his face once he answer, “Eddie, you need to get your ass down here before she quiet literally drops down drunk on the side of the road.”

There was a heavy sigh before she heard some shuffling in the background, “I’ll be right there.”

How Nancy got a bottle of water from the same bartender that you threw a glass of water at was kinda funny, but nevertheless you were thankful. You were half drunk, drowsy, propping your head on Robin’s shoulder while Nance occasionally prompted you to drink some more water, trying to get you to sober up quickly. But what you really needed was an aspirin and your bed.

Thankfully, after what felt like the longest twenty minutes of your life, you could hear the sighs of reliefs coming from Robin and Nancy as they followed the white van coming closer down the street.

“C’mon, hun, time to get up,” Robin declared, wrapping one of your arms across her shoulder and Nancy did the same, trying to get you up on your feet without you flopping down.

“What the fuck!” Eddie hollered out the passenger window, hitting the brakes and placing the van in park before getting out.

You heard him, more than saw him, due to the fact that you were still buzzed, but could barely raise your head to meet his eyes. Instead, just seeing a distorted view of his converse that he always wore.

“Now’s not the time for a tangent, Edward—fuck!” Nancy winced, struggling to keep you up.

“Jesus Christ, just give her to me,” Eddie sputtered, drawing your full weight and essentially lugging you to the passenger side of the van where Robin opened the door wide.

He turned to the two girls, looking at them seriously, “Before she goes in, did she already throw up?”

Nancy nodded, pointing to the side of the road where your barf still stayed in a pile that made everyone want to gag, “Like everything in her system.”

“Okay, I’ll get her home safe and make sure she calls you before she heads to bed,” He told them and they nodded, watching Eddie gingerly place you in the passenger seat and buckle you in.

“Feel better, babe, we’ll talk to you in a bit.” Nancy exhaled, giving your thigh a pat while Robin opted for a kiss on the forehead before shutting your door quietly.

You could only barely hear the conversation that the two girls and Eddie were having outside. Their voices a subdued murmur, not wanting to disturb your journey to sleep, but also not wanting you to hear them explain the situation that had happened that lead up to this. But you really paid them no mind, just resting your head back against the cushion and listening to the low music that played.

It was only a few more minutes before Eddie finally got into the driver’s seat, glancing over at you. “Ready to go?”

“Hmmm.” You uttered, keeping your eyes tight and feeling the van begin to move.

You weren’t really sure where things stood between you and Eddie, considering the fact that he was closer to Steve and even let him crash at his trailer after you two had broken up and you kept the apartment. You weren’t even sure if Eddie liked you all that much. After all this time dating Steve, he was one of the friends that was hard to read.

Sometimes he’d be super friendly and other times he’d be a little closed off. It just depended on the day, but you had a feeling that you were the last person that Eddie wanted to see tonight.

“I’m sorry for making you drive all the way down here for me…I-I should’ve just told them to call me a cab—”

He grunted, swaying his head and peeping over at you shortly, “And what if that cab driver was a creep? Just—just consider it a favor and let it be done.”

“D-do you hate me or something?” You opened your eyes, looking at him blankly.

“Don’t be ridiculous, you dated my best friend since like forever…I can’t hate you.” He chuckled to himself, but still you didn’t seem convinced.

“But we’re broken up now, so technically you can hate me.” You responded, pushing yourself to sit up rather than slouch.

He looked over at you, perhaps thinking you were about to yack again, but you just looked at him, waiting for a response.

“Look,” He sighed heavily, “You made Steve really happy, the happiest I’ve ever fuckin’ seen him in our whole friendship. There isn’t a goddamn reason for me to hate you for doing that. If anything, I owe you because him being that happy made him a better friend, alright. So stop thinking that I hate you, because I don’t.”

You were a little shocked to be honest, because Eddie never really got deep when it came to you. So maybe Eddie really didn’t hate you. That at least made you feel a little better.

When you didn’t respond, Eddie spoke again, hoping that you would at least say something for the rest of the drive.

“You know, Steve isn’t doing so well, either. He’s still crashing at my place and when I got the call from Nance tonight, I contemplated telling him it was about you, but…I don’t think right now either of you are ready to talk at three in the morning.” He snickered, smiling a bit when he saw you scorn jokingly and brush back your hair.

“And so, what did you tell him?” You marveled out loud, turning your eyes to the road, “That you had to deliver some weed?”

“Maybe, something like that.” He shrugged feeling so predicable.

Eddie honestly didn’t know what to make of this whole situation. A part of him feeling a little bad for not telling his best friend that his ex-girlfriend was totally wasted and needed a way home. But he also understood that you were really vulnerable right now and to tell Steve would blow the whole situation out of proportion and probably would’ve made everything between the two of you even worse.

If there was any hope for reconsolidation, it would be best for the two of you two meet when you weren’t wasted and the other worried out of their mind about your wellbeing.

The drive to your apartment wasn’t long or as awkward as you thought it was going to be. It was actually quite comfortable. Eddie made jokes every once in a while when you got too quiet, wondering if you were about to throw up and that he would never forgive you if you threw up in his van.

“Home sweet home.” Eddie announced, guiding you into your place and shutting the door behind you.

You flickered the lights on, cursing at the sudden brightness that only made your head hurt even more than it already was. Eddie looked around that the space and a lot of the areas were bare after Steve had packed up his things with him. It wasn’t a complete mess, but there were boxes of tissues scattered around the coffee table and kitchen area. And there seemed to be more wine bottles behind the kitchen—your way of coping.

“I’m gonna get out of these clothes. Just grab anything you want to eat or drink if you’re hungry.” You waved off, stumbling towards your bedroom to grab a fresh pair of clothes to change into.

Again, with your energy so depleted you just didn’t have it in you to take the time to shower, so instead you opted for a makeup wipe, brushing your teeth, and changing into sweats.

“Here she is.” Eddie spoke with a half full mouth of cereal, passing the phone to you once you came back out to the living room.

You rubbed at your eyes, yawning loudly, as you placed the phone beside your ear, “H-hello?”

“Hey hun, you feeling a little better?” It was Robin on the other line.

“Just a little, gonna take an aspirin and head to bed…and look, I’m sorry for—”

“Nope!” She cut you off quickly, “don’t apologize, sometimes it happens, but I’m just glad that we were there to make sure you got home safe.”

You nodded, drawing a deep breath, “Yeah, thanks for that too.”

Robin could sense the tiredness in your voice and knew it was time you head to bed.

“Get some rest and I’ll call you tomorrow ok? I love you, sugar!”

You laughed faintly at the kissy noises she made, “Love you too, Robs.”

When you hung up the phone, your eyes followed the ruckus taking place in the storage closet beside the kitchen. You got up, seeing as though Eddie has pulled from the bottom layer of your paper towel tower and caused a few to come plummeting down.

“Sorry, you were all out of some in the kitchen.” Eddie apologized while you bent down, helping him pick up a few rolls and stack them back up.

But something peeking out behind the stack caught your eyes, a dark blue piece of fabric that had been wedged behind it. You rose your brows, tugging at the garment until it came out into view and just like that you wanted to cry all over again.

It was the stupid blue bucket hat that Steve had been wearing on your last date at the beach.

You couldn’t remember why it was there to begin with, but it was just like another memory of him seeping back into your life. You had thought that he packed away everything, all his clothes, his little trinkets—leaving no trace of himself behind, yet this stupid hat was still here.

“A-are you ok?” Eddie asked slowly, watching your eyes being to water, and you went stoic.

You sniffled, shaking your head, and rolling your eyes at yourself for being so dramatic. “It’s the hat that Steve wore on our last date.”

“Oh…umm, I’m sorry.” He said, cursing at himself for being so clumsy and causing you to find it.

You shook your head, lips sealed closely as you tried to breathe through your tears, “No, it’s fine, I just thought he took everything with him and now it’s just like, right in my face and it sucks.”

“I-I can give it back to him if you want?” Eddie offered, holding his hands out ready for you to want it as far away as possible, but you didn’t hand it over.

Instead, you wiped away your tears, shaking your head again while you examined it, “I’ll keep it…you know, for memory and whatnot.”

He didn’t question for how weird that must sound, but instead reached forward and wrapped his arms around you, giving you a hug. One that he knew you probably needed. The one that he rarely gave you when you two were friends. If this breakup was hard for Steve, it was even harder for you, and just by the looks of it, he could tell that was true.

“You rest up and feel better tomorrow, alright?” He said, pulling away from the hug and looking at you through your teary eyes.

Your lip quivered, trying to control the sobbing from happening because you knew Eddie couldn’t be of comfort like Nancy and Robin. He told you goodnight, before giving you one last hug and letting himself out. It felt lonelier than usual, locking up the place and heading to your bedroom where you couldn’t even find it in yourself to sleep on Steve’s side of the bed.

You always stayed on your side, wishing that he was there to fill that empty space. To just hold you tight and tell you that everything was going to be fine.

And so maybe his side of the bed was still empty, but you still had a small piece of him there with you. With that, you clutched that stupid hat close to your chest while you faced towards his side of the bed. Tears still slipping and being soaked up by your blankets as you cried yourself to sleep.

Sleep seemed to be the only place where you’d find an ounce of peace, but only for a little, because as soon as a dream would begin, it would only end in a nightmare that woke you up. It was no different, except for the fact that this time you dreamed of that beach, the one where you and Steve walked hand in hand, telling each other anything.

It felt so real, seeing him there and feeling his hand against yours. His laughter was still contagious, just as much as his smile was. Then, like that…he just disappeared, like he had been swept away in the current.

You were left on that beach all alone, feeling the warmth of the sun piercing through your skin like a death by a thousand cuts and the sand beneath your feet burning you with each lonely step you took.

“Fuck,”

Groaning, you looked at yourself in the mirror. Hair disheveled, eyes swollen with bags under them, and you totally looking like you just had the life sucked out of you from the night before. You knew that it wasn’t acceptable even if you were so heartbroken. You spat out the mouthwash and immediately got into the hot shower, trying to scrub off any memories of last night and let it go down the drain.

You pulled on some fresh clothes, hoping that a little bit of self-care would make you feel better and tackle on the rest of the day, despite you waking up at nearly noon, but the effort was what mattered.

Walking into the living room, you passed the home phone, noticing the alarming amount of red numbers flashing, indicating you had some messages that Robin and Nancy probably left after calling you all morning. And you were right, more than half were from Robin and Nancy, calling and checking in, telling you to call them as soon as you got the message, and if you didn’t that they’d be stopping by to check on you.

You pressed play on the next message, already assuming it was one of them, but it wasn’t.

“Hey, sorry, I know you’re probably still asleep and you have a massive hangover, but I might have accidentally told Steve about what happened last night and now he’s—”

“Fuck!”

Your eyes enlarged at Eddie’s message and you immediately picked up the phone, dialing his number and hoping you could get him to retract that statement he passed on to Steve because you really didn’t want him to know you were crying over him last night.

One. Two. Thee. Four. Five rings and still he didn’t pick up.

He was probably telling Steve everything about last night and how reckless you were. Throwing a drink in a stranger’s face? Throwing up on the side of the road? Being so wasted you couldn’t even lift yourself off the ground? And for godsake, sobbing over that stupid hat?

You were totally done for.

Sitting on the couch with your face in your hands, you were in disbelief.

How could Eddie just go and spill about what had happened?

You thought he was your friend?

Maybe that was just all a part of his plan?

What if Eddie only accepted giving you a ride home so he could tell Steve about how you were handling the breakup, only for him to make fun of you for how stupid you’ve been acting?

“God, I am such an idiot!” You shouted at yourself, shaking your head in your hands, before hearing the familiar key turn in the door.

It was obvious Nancy or Robin with their spare key you gave them. It had been hours since they left the message and they were here to check on you. Thank god they were because you felt like you were going insane and you didn’t know if you could do it alone.

The high-pitched squeak that came from the knob turning prepared you for your friends who would probably bombard you with questions before you got to tell them anything. You were ready for it, hearing their shouts of, “why didn’t you call?” or “we were worried sick!” but you didn’t hear that.

Instead, you heard the familiar footsteps of the person you could never mistake. He always had a way of walking, especially when he tried to tiptoe because he didn’t want to wake you up. The floorboards creaked a little, and you heard a hiss and then you turned your head.

It was Steve.

You stood up, hands glued to your side where you stared at him, not knowing what to say or how to feel. He looked like he felt the same, standing there and looking around in order to avoid the prolonged eye contact you knew he couldn’t hold.

“What are you doing here?”

You tightened your lips, staying still with your arms crossing behind your back. You pinched and pulled at your fingers trying to get yourself to stabilize your heartbeat that felt like it was pounding out your chest.

Steve stuttered for a bit, really contemplating if he should have knocked instead of using his key, but he was worried out of his mind and thought that you were passed out in the bathroom choking on your own vomit. But obviously he was wrong and now he looked like a total creep, breaking into his ex-girlfriend’s apartment.

You rocked your head at him somewhat, prompting a response that came faster than he could formulate the words in his head.

“I, uhh, I didn’t mean to break in but, Eddie told me what happened—” He paused, squinting his eyes at himself, as he backtracked, “well, actually he didn’t really tell me, I forced him to tell me or else I would have flushed the rest of his stash because I knew he was lying.”

This son of a bitch.

Steve shook his head, cursing at himself for getting carried away, “Anyway…he told me, and I just wanted to come here and check on you because you never really get wasted like that, and I wanted to make sure you were alright.”

Your jaw clenched in a way to try to block the tears from sliding, because if you didn’t have the strength it in you, you would’ve sunk down onto the floor, breaking down and telling him that you were in fact not fine at all.

“I’m fine…can we just pretend like this didn’t happen?” You spoke under your breath, stepping away and trying to pick up random things lying around in order to avoid looking at him any longer.

He sighed, kicking off his shoes, and faltered behind you. “Why are you being like this?”

You rolled your eyes, brushing past him and throwing away the stray wrappers into the trash bin, “Like what?” you countered, still not meeting his views.

“Avoidant and stuff. You just keep acting like you want nothing to do with me.” He huffed, bending down to meet your stance.

Now that ticked you off and made you snap your head back towards him, eyes shooting daggers at his boldness.

“If I remember correctly, you’re the one who wanted nothing to do with me and packed up your things and left.” Your voice dripping with a mix of resentment and hurt as you brushed past him harshly and made your way back into the living room.

His mouth opened in an “o” not knowing how to respond to that, because he really did do what you said, but it wasn’t what he meant.

“J-just let me explain myself alright, I swear that was the last thing I wanted to do—”

You let out a sarcastic laugh, biting your tongue. “Yeah, sure, I guess everyone just breaks up with their significant other for no reason.”

He threw himself down onto the couch, tugging at his hair, “There was a reason, alright! I was scared…terrified that you wanted more in life but didn’t know how to tell me and I was just holding you back.”

That was the first time you had ever heard this explanation. For the past two weeks, the only thing that kept replaying in your mind was Steve sitting you down in this very living room and telling you he wasn’t sure if it was working out anymore and wanted you to venture out into the world. That was it. No other deeper explanation or closure, just those words, and the scene of you frozen on the couch with tears in your eyes as you watched him pack and leave.

Right now, you were frozen in front of him, standing with your arms crossed and tapping your foot against the wooden floors, not knowing what to say.

He was the one who spoke, letting up on his hair and resting his hands on his knees instead, “And, you know, I’m not doing too well either, I still think of you and worry about what you’re doing and if you’re—”

You turned your nose up, voicing cracking as you cut him off, “And all I do is cry every day and I don’t understand why…why I can’t just pick up the pieces that you left here and move on.”

Steve knew you like the back of his hand, and that familiar croak in your throat let him know that you were only seconds away from crying, but still he didn’t stop you. He knew that there was so much that you needed to say and after the way that he had left, it was only right he sat here and listen to you.

“It’s…it’s like I’m just waiting for a bus that never comes—”

He furrowed his brows, “Are you using metaphors right now?”

You looked at him in disbelief, sighing as you threw your hands out in the air and nodded, “Jesus Steve, yes, I am, ok! I’m using fucking metaphors because I’m trying to tell you that I’m still in love with you and I don’t know if I’ll ever stop.”

He followed you, pacing the space in front of him, back and forth, with your fingers running through your hair as you spilled your guts out to him.

“I don’t get why I’m like this and I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Why can’t I just accept the fact that you broke up with me and move on with my life? And the funny thing is, I should be able to! I should be able to just rip the bandaid off and act like an asshole and pretend you and I never existed!” You turned to him, swallowing thickly as you laughed to yourself, hating the situation you were in right now, but you never stopped talking.

Then you looked up at the ceiling, tugging at your own roots as you continued.

“I mean, for fuck’s sake, in the 8th grade Ben Pritchett broke up with me right before winter formal and I thought that it was going to be the end of the world because I thought he was the love of my life. I thought that I was going to spend the rest of 8th grade miserable and crying my eyes out over him, but I didn’t!”

You looked at him with a hopeless smile and you could see a glint of his own, wanting to laugh at how ridiculous you sounded for comparing him to your 8th grade boyfriend.

“I moved on with my life! Just like that!” You snapped your fingers and watched him blink a bit, “But with you,” your fingers pointed and you stared at him unsure, you shrugged your shoulders, “with you I just can’t…”

The waterworks began, and you finally didn’t care about staring at him for so long. If you could, you would jump into the ocean of his eyes because of how they made you feel. That even if you were standing here ranting to him about unnecessary shit, his eyes still brought you that sense of relief that you had been dying to feel for the last two weeks.

Steve moved forward gradually, taking your hands and holding them, rubbing circles on the tops of your skin, while you closed your eyes and bit back a sob. You let him keep his hands on yours, not daring to back away or drop him because you didn’t know if this was going to be the last time, and if it was you wanted to make the moment last as long as possible.

“I—I see you everywhere…every corner of this apartment, in all the faces I see—I see you. Everything leads back to you for some reason. All of these fucking questions that I’ve been asking myself. Why can’t I get over Steve? Why is this heartbreak hitting me differently than the one I experienced when I was thirteen?”

You squeezed on his hands, opening your teary eyes to see him through the film of salt, “Because it’s you, Steve…I’m still in love with you and I can’t get over you.”

That four letter word: Love. That’s all that he needed to hear, and it’s the word that had been dying to come off your tongue again. You loved Steve with every single ounce of your being. As if he was a drug running through your veins and you needed him to survive. You needed the one person who believed in you when no one else did.

You needed Steve, but you were terrified that he didn’t need you anymore.

“You didn’t listen to my message did you?” Steve asked quietly, letting go of one of your hands and bringing them up to wipe away at the tears on your cheek.

“W-what?” You ordered dumb-founded, feeling as though Steve didn’t hear that whole monologue that you just made up out of nowhere.

He grinned lightly, withdrawing his hand from your cheek and blindlessly, reaching over to the phone and clicking the play button on the leftover messages you had left.

You felt your breathing stop when you heard his voice echoing through the staticky speakers. There was no way that Steve called you last night. You had played the messages on your machine, and all you got were messages from Nancy, Robin, and Eddie. But you also forgot that your outdated machine sorted your messages from new to old, meaning Steve must have called while you were out last night.

“Hey, it’s me….I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to pick up the phone and call, maybe it’s because I’m a little scared that you’re going to delete it once you hear my voice, but I just really have a bunch of things to say and I guess it’s better now than never right?”

You fastened a hand over your mouth, whimpering quietly into it, while you shook your head, not believing that you could have missed this. If only you had stayed home last night, you would have been there to pick up the phone and talk to him. Steve clutched your other hand still, pushing up his glasses that fell down the bridge of his nose while he watched your reaction to the rest of his message.

“I’m an idiot for the way things went down and I should have explained myself better, but you know…I suck at communication—but that’s still not the point! I made the biggest mistake of letting you go like that and just assuming that’s what you wanted because I know deep down it’s not….it’s probably the last thing you ever wanted, and it’s all my fault.”

There was a pause, him clearing his throat and sniffling as he was crying softly.

“But I’m going to make an even bigger mistake if I don’t tell you that I’m still in love with you. That yeah, I might be the dumbest guy out there for letting go of the most amazing girl, but I’m not about to lose her if there’s still a slight chance that she might still feel the same. I love you and I don’t think I’ll ever stop.”

Then he hung up the phone with a loud clank.

And as quickly as Steve had broken your heart, he soon patched it back together. There was a softness to your eyes now, like you had accepted everything. And Steve looked like he was awaiting for any sort of reaction good or bad, due to your silence.

“I-I don’t expect you to take me back that easily. I mean after all I’m an idiot but I just hope that—mph!”

You clutched his face, pressing your lips against one another, feeling like a wave of happiness washing over you the second you got to be this close to a feeling that you thought that was almost gone forever. Steve didn’t hesitate to move his lips against yours, pulling you closer to him until you were toppling on top of him, and lost in everything that was you and Steve.

“You’re an idiot..but mine.” You muttered against him, feeling his smile creeping against your skin before you laughed, kissing him again.

And again. And more times than you can count.

Relishing him and forgetting about the sadness. And sure, maybe you were equally the idiot who took him back too easily, but if there was one thing that the two of you were sure of, it was that this kiss and this love hit a little different because it would always be you two.

A/N: My first full length fic since i've been back!!! im super proud of this one and want to thank @translatemunson for giving me the idea <;3 i love you effie!!!! hits different is also one of my favorite songs and i wonder if taylor really did scrap it off the face of the internet because it's going to be in the Barbie movie--what do you guys think??? anyways, again thank you all for the outpour of support and reblogs, comments, and likes would be greatly appreciated!!! 🌃🕯💘

leave a comment and let me know if want to be added to my taglist!!

taglist: @translatemunson @kennedy-brooke @manda-panda-monium @tvserie-s-world @givemeth @steveharringtonswife @astolenkiss @loving-and-dreaming @awkotaco24

[blackwolfstabs]

The Wolves of Woodsboro - Chapter I

summary:

Tara and Sam have been going to therapy together since the end of Richie’s family. For Tara, things have been difficult, but she’s surprisingly been able to talk about her trauma with their therapist without too much resistance. Sam, on the other hand, has found it very difficult to talk about everything and relive the life she’s been running from for so long, causing her to relapse into the bad habits of her late-teenage years. She holds a dark secret that’s sparked from the murders she’s committed, and it makes the line between her and Billy Loomis blurrier than ever. And when visions of her father and his voice in her head warn of another Ghostface-storm on the horizon, she begins to tie the identifying ribbon of her secret and bloodline into one. She’ll need to work with him to protect her family and uncover the last member of the Kirsch family as the Wolves of Woodsboro.

fandom: Scream

characters: Sam Carpenter, Billy Loomis, Tara Carpenter, Chad Meeks-Martin, Mindy Meeks-Martin, Danny Brackett, Ethan Landry, Richie Kirsch, Quinn Bailey, Wayne Bailey, Kirby Reed, Gale Weathers, Nancy Loomis

SPEED

characters: Sam Carpenter, Tara Carpenter, Mindy Meeks-Martin, & Danny Brackett

Samantha Carpenter had always been hung up on speed.

Always on the run. Running towards something, running away from something. She had always been unpredictable. She was mysterious to many and a misunderstood criminal to most. A stray dog, a wild horse, a feral cat, a savage wolf. 

Like a wolf, she was strong and loyal. Like a wolf, she was judged and territorial. Like a wolf, she was reserved and distant. Very distant, and in more ways than just being the daughter of the legendary wolf that had started the endless franchise of killings in a Ghostface mask: Billy Loomis.

She was different. Her father promised her that title. And he given her something more. Something that hadn’t awoken inside of her until she held his murder weapon in her hands and wore his mask over her face.

“Murder’s in your blood.” Wayne Bailey, Richie Kirsch’s father, told had her.

“Your birthright.” He had said.

And he was right.

She was Samantha Loomis. 

She was a wolf . 

It had been 6 months since the Kirsch family had been sent to their graves, and a lot had happened. Moving on and holding on. It was different for all of the survivors. Sam, Tara, Chad, Mindy, and Danny abandoned their split apartments to come together under one roof in the suburbs. It was a small, one-story house, surrounded mostly by larger, newly built homes, but it was good enough for them. Furthermore, the three younger survivors had continued going to college, and like they had promised each other, the Carpenter sisters had been attending weekly therapy sessions together. The therapist they had been going to was the best they had met so far. She was understanding, low-key, and didn’t project herself as a know-it-all, just-there-to-get-paid counselor. This made it fair to talk to her.

Well… for Tara at least. 

For someone who wasn’t used to opening-up to a stranger about her past, trauma, and scars, the younger sister was able to communicate herself fairly well a few sessions in. She was skeptical, but she had made a promise and she intended to keep it. Not to mention, her well-being needed to be secured in order for her to live the rest of her life. 

After all, survivors didn’t run from their past, they outran it towards something better.

On the contrary, Sam was the opposite, which was surprising, since she had been the one consistent with trying to receive help before the 2023 Ghostface attacks had happened. Ever since she killed Richie’s father and sister, she hadn’t been the same. She hadn’t felt the same. Her aggression had grown along with her temper. She had become very territorial and instinctive. And she had been fighting in a tailspin with her Loomis-bloodline. It had taken her a while to figure out what these differences were from, but when her guttural feelings betrayed her insides to reveal themselves, she had learned quickly.

She was a wolf. Not symbolically, like anyone would assume, but a shapeshifter. Triggered by emotions, her form would change from a human to a wild animal, and no one knew. The visions of her father occurred more frequently, and she heard his voice often. He was a shifter, too, but he couldn’t tell if he had passed down that gene to her until it happened.

He explained that it was a mutation in her Loomis DNA, an awakening that bloomed when a trauma so severe affects the host to the point where murder feels right, and the killer instincts surge. Wolves were raised to hunt, defend, and kill, and that’s what she was good at. 

Together, they were the Wolves of Woodsboro.

But she had kept it a secret from everyone. She was still trying to get a handle on it, hence why she shut down during therapy. She was indifferent, easily angered, and extremely defensive when she would be accused of trying to protect herself from vulnerability. Tara would even jump her from time-to-time, saying how they promised to do this together, but now she seemed to want no part of it. She didn’t understand it, and if she were honest, Sam couldn’t either. She was afraid of hurting Tara. She had hurt her too many times before. And she didn’t trust herself to let her sister and the rest of their household know. 

These new, unruly instincts and behaviors were messing with her mind, hormones, and personality. It was like she was going through puberty again. She couldn’t seem to control certain things, and as a result, would run off at night and get into any trouble it brought her to.

That was when the wolf inside of her ran wild. All of the emotions she held back would rush to the surface, and her father’s voice would yell at her the whole way. She would run until her chest hurt so bad, she thought she was going to have a heart attack. She would chase prey until her eyes burned from being so fixated. She would kill again and again, until her muzzle and paws were soaked and matted with blood. And when she tore the meat and broke the bones, she’d eat until she was so full, she’d throw it all up. Just to get the energy out. Just to feel something more than anger, paranoia, and the distressing loss of control.

And then, she’d go to the lake and wash herself off, drink away the metallic taste of blood and vomit, and then go home. By that time, it’d typically be between 2:30 and 3:00 in the morning. 

Danny waited for her every time she left. He never pushed her to tell him where she went or what she did, just asked if she was okay. She’d nod and say she was fine, but she knew that he knew better. She was exhausted, and he could see it in her eyes. She was queasy, and he could see it in her complexion. She was lost, and he could feel it in her kiss.

But he never pushed, and she never told. That was the way it was. 

At least until a week ago… when it got worse.

There was a new darkness on the horizon. Nothing unpredictable, nonetheless, but just as haunting as the last two times it had occurred. 

Ethan Kirsch was still alive and out for revenge against the two that ended his siblings and father. Billy had warned his daughter the moment the surviving murderer began his hunt. Every time she saw her reflection, he was there. Every time she was alone, he was there. As much as she knew he was trying to help her, she didn’t care. She didn’t want or need his help. Not when he was constantly whispering in her ear and grooming her into another version of himself. She was born a mess, so there wasn’t anything she could do to change her DNA. Sure, he had helped her with killing those who endangered her family previously, but he had quite the insulting way doing it. 

It was bold and upfront. Frustrating and intoxicating. Making her feed into the side she never wanted to be. She hated being told that deep-down, killing excited her, because she didn’t want to believe that was true. But it was…

She didn’t ask for any of this. However, no one would ever see it that way, other than the four people that she lived with.

Now, they were in danger again. This was where their progress with moving on got caught up in ropes. This was where their “ happy ending ” ended. This was where she relapsed into a hellhound with a relentless drive for speed. To hunt, to chase, to maul. She hadn’t told the rest that Ethan was alive, because her father had told her that he was taking a different approach. He wouldn’t go public with murders or attack those who were connected. That would just end up in another game of strategy. He would simply attack. 

He only had two targets. And those were the ones he would strike.

For this, Samantha planned to beat him at his own game. He couldn’t win if she found him first. And that was exactly what she planned to do.

“ Sam ,” Tara let herself into the garage to meet her sister, who was busy putting laundry in the washer. 

Her voice snapped the older sibling out of her daze that she always got in whenever she was alone. She glanced over.

“We’re putting dinner up,” she informed, “Are you gonna eat or not?”

Sam shook her head. “No, I’m good.” She shut the lid to the washer and slid the detergent cap back on the bottle. She could feel the tension between them rise instantly as she moved to put it back where it belonged, dreading to turn around and face that same frustrated glare that she had grown used to for weeks.

“This is the third night in a row that you haven’t eaten dinner,” Tara spat as she faced her. She moved all the way inside to have the screen door shut, blocking the exit to make sure she didn’t just walk out on her. But when her sister just gave a small shrug, she pleaded. “Sam, what’s wrong? I mean, I get that you’ve been having a hard time with this whole therapy thing and trying to move on, whatever, but it’s more than that. I know it is.” 

The she-wolf stared at her, her jaw tightening as she shifted her weight. Nightfall was when her anxiety, paranoia, duality, and psychotic symptoms triggered, so her appetite eluded her. Of course, she could force herself to eat, but making herself sick wouldn’t do any good when around the others.

“You’re not you anymore.”

This cut her like a knife, making her indifference vanish into a wave of emotion that took her by surprise as it threatened tears to flood her eyes. She wanted to tell her. Tell her everything that had happened since. Tell her why she was different, because she knew waiting on it would only turn out bad, like it did when she revealed the truth about their family. But every time she was tempted like this, a rugged voice hissed into her ear.

‘ “Don’t say a word.” ’

So she was forced to push it aside and excuse herself from the idea. “Not now, Tara,” she replied, refusing to meet the younger’s eyes as she tried to walk around her to exit. But her sibling’s hand clutched the door handle to hold it shut.

“Then, when? ” she demanded. “Huh? When are you going to tell me?” Tara’s eyes became darker than the shadows of the night, harder than the stone wall she was trying to break, and clearer than the indigo sky. “That’s been your answer every single time, one of us has tried to talk to you. You remember the last time you held a secret from me? How that worked out for you?” Her tone deepened into a growl as she found the older’s eyes, “Don’t make that mistake again.”

The more she talked, the worst Samantha felt. Because she knew it was true. Because she knew it was toxic. Because she knew she was repeating everything she had promised not to. As much as the Ghostface killings had taught her, she could never overcome the fear she had of herself. It was so twisted and confusing, relentless and exhausting. Yet, she couldn’t stop. She didn’t know how to. Her voice came out almost hoarse, quiet with the emotion and hatred she had towards this situation. “I’m sorry… I’m fine,” she lied.

This made Tara hot. “Don’t you fucking lie to me,” she growled. “You can pull that crap with everyone else in the house, but you can’t fool me, Sam.” She didn’t bother to hold back anymore as she let her anger raise her tone. “At the beginning of all this, you begged me over and over to go see a therapist and now, all of the sudden, you act like you’re not into it! I said we’d get through all of this shit together, and I meant it! But lately, I think I’ve been on my own… Because you’re never around anymore.” She knew her words were harsh, but nothing was changing. Someone had to confront her at some point. “You said you were never going to leave me again. Did your word mean nothing to you?”

And just like that, her older sister went from feeling guilty to defensive. Her blood boiled at that accusation. She glared at her. “Don’t you dare throw that in my face!” It was like a switch. “That shit isn’t the only thing I’ve been dealing with! Forgive me for wanting to keep you out of my drama that seems to get in your way so much—”

“You haven’t dealt with anything, that’s the problem!” Tara shouted at her. “I-I mean, we go to therapy and— and you just shut down. You don’t even try at all. I get that you have your own issues, okay, I got that, but I didn’t do this just for me… I’m doing it for you too.” 

A deep growl stirred in the other’s throat. Her spine pricked, and her muscles contracted with the onset of needing to phase. She saw red, tired of everything and everyone, and it didn’t make it any better when her father’s voice purred again.

‘ “Time to go, Sam. You’ve gotta let it out.” ’

“Just drop it,” she warned and pushed her way past and out into the open air. She heard the screen door slam shut and footsteps follow her down the driveway.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Her younger sister had one hell of a mouth on her that she had no reins on, especially when it came to her. “So, that’s the way it is, you’re just gonna run off like you always do?!”

“I don’t expect you to understand!” Sam replied, without looking back.

“I don’t have to! I just want to know what’s going on!”

‘ “Hold it in.” ’

“It’s none of your business!” It was so fucking hard. Her voice was already changing.

“Bullshit! I have a right to know as your family! Your sister! ”

“Tara, please!”

“Is it your father? Is he the one doing this to you?!”

Sam’s whole body was tense as she made it to the double-gate that guarded the front yard from the backyard.

‘ “If you don’t want her to know, get the fuck out of there right now.” ’

She turned around to face her sibling, who stopped a few yards away. “I learned to trust you, Tara,” her voice was dangerously low, corrupted with a venomous streak that made the other go silent. “I got off of your back, so get the fuck off mine .”

Tara didn’t say anything, at a loss for words at the aggression of that warning that was easily a threat. She was offended, for sure, but she had never spoken to her that way before. 

The evening breeze filled the brief moment of silence, before the wolf-shifter jumped the gate and disappeared into the night, leaving her sister alone in the half-light.

Her jaw shifted in disbelief as she stood there. “Wow,” she sarcastically nodded. If Sam thought keeping her in the dark, after everything they had been through together, was fair, she was wrong. Very wrong. She wasn’t asking for much, just for an answer. It didn’t have to be the ins-and-outs, it didn’t have to be deep, just something other than lies and deflections. Something that she could piece together. But she got nothing. Her sister was on thin ice, and her patience was getting there with this too. 

She scoffed, rolling her eyes as she stepped back to retreat to the back door, “Okay.” 

Her temper was still sharp when she ducked into the warm lighting of the living room, her hard gaze scanning the area for a single being.

“Everything okay?” From the couch, Mindy blinked at her. She had overheard the indistinct argument from inside the house—over the television—and she could tell by the look of the youngest’s face that it hadn’t ended well. “You two sounded like you were going to kill each other out there.”

“Where’s Danny?” the teen demanded, ignoring any questions and only focused on answers she was still looking for. She would find something , even if she had to wait all night until Sam returned to get it. Not that she expected her boyfriend to know, because she, as her blood, couldn’t even be trusted enough.

Mindy, while normally very inquisitive, had sensed something in her that told her to refrain from prying. So, she pointed to the room beside the fireplace that the two oldest household members shared, “In there.”

Tara slammed the back door shut and stormed in the direction she was pointed in, hearing the female twin call out behind her.

“Danny! Tara’s comin’ in hot!”

She entered the bedroom, immediately finding the male’s gaze as he looked over from the right side of the bed. As angry as she was, she knew it wasn’t his fault, so she would have to bite her tongue to avoid putting blame on those who didn’t deserve it. But Mindy couldn’t have said it better… She was hot . “Can I talk to you?” She couldn’t promise she wouldn’t lose it.

While this was a question, it came out like a demand, but Danny knew it was only a matter of time before she came to him directly, due to his relationship with her sister. He knew exactly what this was about. So, he wasn’t surprised or phased, just nodded, “Sure.” He set the towel he was folding down, muted the small TV mounted on the wall, and moved away from the bedside to listen to what she had to say.

Tara gently kicked the door closed to give some privacy, before stepping up to close the distance between them. “Does Sam talk to you at all? About… anything that’s been going on with her, since what happened 6 months ago?” She struggled to hold back her frustration, throwing her arm out and letting it fall against her thigh as she emphasized ‘ anything ’.

The other was as composed as ever as he shook his head. “Not lately. She talked to me once, but she didn’t say much, and I didn’t push her.” He could see her jaw shift behind tight lips, which led him to try to explain further, “Our relationship is different than the one she has with you—”

“ You’re a pushover ,” the younger cut him off aggressively, earning surprised silence that made her continue. “Sam is someone that needs to be pushed to open-up, because she can’t willingly do it herself. I’m younger than her, so she’s been hard-wired to keep shit from me, but, as an equal, you have the right to know what’s going on with her; especially if this relationship between you two is going to last.” She wasn’t even thinking about what she was saying before she said it, the words rolling off her tongue like second-nature. “She’s damaging every single relationship she has with the people in this house, the ones who care about her the most, and she’s having help doing it.” At this point, she had stopped blinking, staring at him like she had only stared at one other person: her sister. It was anger that masked desperation, because what she wanted was something that couldn’t be achieved by her hand.

Brackett stayed silent for a long time. As little respect as she had just shown for him, not only as a superior, but as a member of the household, he didn’t shout at her or show his offense. He simply stayed calm and listened to her… Because that’s what he had learned to do from knowing Samantha. Tara thought he didn’t know enough about her sister, but he knew more than she thought he knew. From the day they met, he had studied her. Her likes, her dislikes, her mannerisms, her habits… There were countless nights that he had listened to her talk or vent. There were other nights he helped her take her mind off of her pain, fears, and inescapable toxicity. He had felt every scar that stained her body for himself, because she allowed him to. She didn’t sleep with him for no reason, other than to be reckless with her sexual availability. 

Yes, she was reserved, and too much for her own good, at that. 

Yes, he had the ability to break her down, if he chose to do so. 

Yes, he technically was helping her sabotage herself, because she’s terrified of the dark potential inside of her that she can’t decide is an advantage or not. 

But he trusted her. 

He trusted her, because he knew where she had been and how she had handled it. He trusted her to trust him when she was ready, because he knew trust needed to be earned. He trusted her to make the decisions she believed was right for herself and the family she had vowed to protect. 

And for these reasons, he respected her privacy. He knew there was something bothering her. He knew it was driving her crazy and that’s why she wouldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, and stayed out late at night. And so, that’s what he needed to tell Tara.

“I get what you’re saying,” he finally began, his gaze having fallen to the carpet while processing everything she had thrown at him. He raised his eyes again to meet her, “But, Tara, you have to understand that, mentally, your sister doesn’t know what the right decision is to make. She never has. Her father is a murderer that is so well-known, her connection to him has forced her to live in a world of a thousand enemies. When she runs from it, it debilitates her. When she faces it, it haunts her. It doesn’t matter how much myself, or you, or anyone else tries to get it through her head. It is up to her on what she wants to share and when she wants to share it.”

“Okay, I understand that, but why can’t she trust us?! I figure after everything we’ve been through, she could. Like, why… Why is it so hard for her to just be honest?” Carpenter’s anger had run its course for the night. She’d blame it on her homework and the late nights, but the truth was she just wanted her only sister to confide in her so badly. It hurt her to not feel like she was capable of helping her in a critical period. She had willingly let Sam be a part of her life—she wanted her to be—she literally told her that…

Why couldn’t she be a part of hers?

And Danny had an answer to that. “Because she’s scared to be honest with herself,” he told her. “She still hasn’t accepted herself. She’s gotten close, but she can’t give in to what she might become. Not yet. And if she can’t be honest with herself, then how is she supposed to be honest with anyone else?”

Tara just blinked at him, her expression almost blank as she couldn’t seem to evoke enough understanding to outrule what she believed was more imperative to her sibling’s well-being. “She needs the ability to see herself as herself and not Billy Loomis. And right now, she doesn’t have that. But we sure-as-hell do. She’s not a psycho, she’s my sister. She’s not a criminal, she’s your girlfriend. She’s not a murderer, she’s our family. ” Her brow hardened, and her tone deepened a little as her words became imperative and emphatic. “If it’s help she needs, we’ve got it.”

He agreed with her, knowing good and well they had just made it to the same page. However, he also knew that with how fast Samantha seemed to be progressing through this phase she was experiencing, chances were that ‘ help ’ went into the wrong hands. 

There was only one other person that was around her as much as they were, if not more. 

Only one other person could call themselves her family . 

Only one other person she feared more than herself…

Her biological father.

“I think someone else beat us to it.”

TAGLIST: (gonna start one for this story bc i know a few people who are interested)

@alphawolfstabs @fantasylandbitch @bowergirlwitch let me know if you'd like to be tagged for updates on this fic!

All my best! 🩶

- parker (BWS)

[ashwhowrites]

Could you write a dom nancy x bratty reader, please? only if you’re comfortable with it!

Oh God yes

I'm so gay for her

She's definitely a brat tamer.....and a mean one

Not proofread

Nancy Wheeler was done with men. She was tired of boys and their need to know how she feels every second. She wanted to have fun and not be in anything committed.

Then she turned to a friend. A friend she knew was into girls and boys. Who knew how to please both genders easily. Nancy wanted to try new things and do crazy shit with no strings attached.

Y/N agreed, helping her friend learn more about her sexuality and kinks.

Nancy likes control and she likes Y/N panting underneath her. Begging to be touched as she squirmed. And she learned her friend Y/N, was a brat. She liked to be controlled and told exactly what she was worth. That's how they worked so well.

~~

But Y/N liked Nancy and that's where problems started. Her jealousy was out of control and she tried to keep it under wraps.

But the burning in her ears as Steve flirted with her was not easy to ignore.

The group was helping Eddie Munson as he hid from the cops. A boy she's never met but found herself helping because of Nancy.

Soaked head to toe as she walked behind Steve and Nancy. She watched as Nancy jumped in after Steve, leaving her no choice to dive in after. Now she wishes she didn't because Nancy hasn't looked at her once.

She'd get her to look

~~

The group sat in Nancy's basement, hanging out as they hid Eddie. Nancy and Steve are still side by side on the couch. Giggling and smiling.

Y/N rolled her eyes as she huffed.

"well I would love to officially meet you. I'm Eddie Munson"

She smiled as Eddie sat next to her on the floor. She shook his awaiting hand

"Y/N"

" so a little about me I'm just a falsely accused murderer"

She laughed at his joke, "you are way too pretty and innocent looking for that" smirking as she felt another pair of eyes land on them. Laying her hand on top of Eddie's.

"ouch. A guy does not want to hear he's pretty and innocent looking from a hot girls mouth " Eddie faked hurt, holding his chest as they laughed.

The commotion caused Nancy to look up. Glaring fast as she saw their hands briefly touching and flirty smiles.

"I like the ones who look innocent," glancing in Nancy's direction. Shocked to see Nancy already staring at her. Well, more like tearing her clothes off with a look.

For the next hour Nancy watched as Y/N threw herself at Eddie. And Eddie was soaking it all in. Laughing, smiling and touching. So close to being in each other's laps. Nancy felt like a bomb. Just ticking seconds away from blowing up. But once Eddie moved his hand to Y/N's thigh she went off.

"we need food for Eddie. He can't eat our stuff because my mom will notice. Everyone goes to the store. Y/N and I will stay here to get the basement ready for Eddie to hide in" Nancy demanded. Forcing everyone out of the house, not listening to any protests.

Once they found themselves alone, Nancy let her anger take over her body. Marching up to the girl and yanking her to her feet

"what the fuck do you think you're doing?" Nancy snarled.

"nothing. Just talking" Y/N shrugged. Yanking her hand free from Nancy's grip

"talking? That sure as hell doesn't look like talking to me. Looks like you are pathetically throwing yourself at him" Nancy scoffed.

"like Steve was with you?" Y/N fired back. There was a good chance her jealousy would begin to show but at this point she couldn't hide it

"that what this is sweet girl? Jealous over Steve getting my attention so you want to act like a little brat to get what you want?"

"I think Steve is embarrassing himself. Trying to chase after you but you haven't told anyone how you don't like the little boys anymore. You tasted pussy and now you don't want to go back. He has nothing on me" Y/N spat out with as much confidence as she could. Ignoring the doubt in her mind about how much easier it is for Steve to win her over.

"you don't know anything about me" Nancy growled

"I know you want to fuck me and that you will fuck me" smirking as Nancy's eyes darkened, her hand gripping Y/N's neck tight

"shut up" Nancy growled, shoving Y/N against the couch

Y/N watched as Nancy stepped out of her underwear, her long dress covering the parts of her body Y/N was aching to see

"I'm gonna use your mouth the way I want to and you are going to take it" Nancy demanded, crawling up Y/N's body. Yanking her ankles so she laid flat. Nancy smiled down as Y/N laid underneath her. Waiting for the next direction

Nancy moved her cunt to hover over Y/N's mouth. Teasing her as she slowly lowered herself, not yet letting her mouth touch her

Y/N was tired of waiting, grabbing Nancy's waist and forcing her hips down on top of her tongue. Nancy moaned as she rode her face. Fingers digging harshly into Y/N's hair as she rocked her hips harder against her tongue.

"so good bratty girl. Love that mouth" Nancy moaned. Locking her thighs around Y/N' s head

Y/N moaned in appreciation. Her hands working up Nancy's body, dipping her fingers into Nancy's cunt roughly. Loving the way Nancy screamed and rode her face harder.

Nancy took a deep breath and removed her pussy from her mouth, watching as Y/N whined

"am I not doing good?" Y/N pouted with a small frown

"no. You are doing amazing baby. But I want to eat you out too" Nancy smiled, pecking her wet lips. Yanking off Y/N's pants and underwear

Moving her pussy back on Y/N's face and lowering her own face towards Y/N's cunt

Licking a slow stripe and messily sucking on Y/N's clit

Y/N was moaning as she sucked on Nancy's clit harder

Desperate to make Nancy's cum

"so you think Nancy really likes me?"

Both girls froze as Steve's voice traveled through the vents.

Nancy removed her mouth from Y/N completely but Y/N refused to stop. The annoying sound of Steve's voice made her more determined. Fingering Nancy harder, desperate to get her to scream

Nancy threw her hand over her mouth, panting harshly

"no stop. They'll see" Nancy stuttered out, moving her hips up but Y/N locked them in place

"yeah totally. Question do you think Y/N likes me? I got a vibe" Nancy growled as she heard Eddie's voice, riding her hips against Y/N's face harder

"totally. You are so in" Steve agreed

Nancy thrashed on Y/N's mouth, closer to cumming as the boys crept closer to the basement

Y/N flicked her tongue and Nancy was cumming in seconds. Gasping as she covered her mouth, thighs shaking and clenching. She rode it out, but still fast.

Quickly climbing off and fixing her dress, shoving her panties under the couch as she yanked Y/N's panties and underwear back up. Kissing her lips fast as the boys began to walk down the stairs

"Nancy, can I talk to you?" Steve asked

Nancy gave a look to Y/N who looked away, picking at the fingers that were just inside her pussy

"um yeah" feeling guilt in her stomach as she watched Y/N avoid looking at them

Jealous in her veins as Eddie sat next to Y/N throwing an arm around her shoulder

Nancy sighed and followed Steve

Nancy's head was a mess and she didn't know what or who she wanted

[bornonthesavage]

Detective Steve x Serial Killer Eddie 

CW: Discussions of dead bodies and methods of murder 

The hot tip of the cigarette smoldered red, burning up the end as smoke swirled away into the damp afternoon sky. It had been a wet October, the air already thick with the smells of dead leaves and petrichor. Steve liked the rain, he did, but shit. Sometimes it would be nice to stand out in the sun. At least it wasn’t raining now, something his hair was grateful for. He tilted his head back and blew out a cloud of smoke, the tip of his tongue pressing into his bottom lip.

Behind him he heard movement, the steady sound of familiar footsteps, followed as always by Nancy’s no-nonsense voice. “Steve, hurry up with your smoke break. We have work to do.”

He nodded once, taking a last drag before stubbing it out on the nearby wall. “Yeah, yeah, I know. Don’t get your holster in a twist.”

When he turned, she was already giving him a stern look. “This is no time to mess around.”

“Why not? It’s not like the body’s going anywhere.”

It was the third one in a month. Which, for a city like Indianapolis, wasn’t a ton. The problem was that they knew all the murders had been committed by the same person. They had a serial killer on their hands. It was Steve’s first, since he’d joined the force three years prior. Sure, he’d dealt with plenty of homicide cases, but a serial killer was something else entirely. It set the force on edge, as they knew they were on a time crunch before someone else ended up dead. Nancy most of all, it seemed.

“Stop joking. Henderson says he has some more info for us.”

Steve nodded. “Alright. Lead the way.”

They marched through the first level of the empty building, a construction sight that had been put on hold, until they reached the stairs. The victim had been found on the second level early that morning by the owner of the property, as he’d been doing his weekly inspection. As soon as they’d been called in, Steve knew what they’d find. It was a gruesome sight.

They stepped into the room together, the space already full with others as they moved around and collected evidence. Jonathon was crouched near the head of the victim, taking photos, while Henderson stood nearby taking notes.

“What information do you have for us?” Nancy asked at they approached.

Henderson glanced up and gave Steve a head nod. “The body is in pretty much the same state as the others. All the bones in each limb are broken, as is the jaw. We’ll need to do an autopsy, obviously, but I’m willing to bet all breaks happened premortem. As did the removal of the eyes.”

“So, they were tortured,” Steve summarized. “Just like the others.”

“Yep.” Henderson nodded. “As you can see, the body was also strung upside down using cable wire. Again, we’ll need an autopsy, but the cause of death was almost certainly blood loss from the cut throat.”

Yeah, Steve sort of gathered that. The kiddie pool filled with blood, placed just below the strung-up body, sort of made it obvious. He took a step closer and leaned down to get a better look at the gash along the throat. It was deep, done with a sure hand.

Nancy looked back at Henderson. “So, you’re absolutely positive that it’s—”

“The Upside-Down Killer? Yeah, positive.”

Steve snorted as he straightened up. “I can’t believe you’re all calling him that.”

“Them,” Nancy corrected. “We don’t know it’s a man.”

“Statistically, it’s the most likely outcome though.”

Nancy pursed her lips, unable to argue that point. “Alright, well, were you able to find anything else? Anything that might help us catch the son of a bitch?”

At that, Henderson’s face lit up. “Actually, yes. Maybe. Come over here.”

They followed behind him to the far corner of the room, Steve keeping a pace behind. Henderson crouched down and pointed to what looked like a partial boot print. It was just the back half, imprinted in some dirt that must have blown in during the last rain storm. A small smile tugged at Nancy’s lips.

“This is good. This is the first bit of evidence we’ve been able to gather on this guy.”

Steve quirked an eyebrow. “Oh, so it is a guy now?”

“Obviously. Look at how big that boot print is. So unless the killer is a woman with oddly large feet, it’s a man.”

Steve hummed, his eyes trailing back to the print. It was extremely clear, easily picked up to add to evidence. The killer was getting sloppy. This was good for the department, evident by Nancy’s bolstered mood. She straightened up and turned to Jonathan.

“Make sure you get plenty of shots of the boot, with measurements. Then get the rest of the team in here to collect the body and get it back to the lab. If our killer already messed up with this boot print, who knows what other ways he could have slipped.”

Jonathan nodded, already making his way over. Nancy turned and marched out of the room, but Steve lingered behind. He stopped beside the body, taking in the gaunt and twisted face of the man. It never really got easier, to see bodies twisted and mutilated in this way. It was a part of the job, sure, but there was a reason Steve hadn’t gone into pathology. He would rather be on the puzzle solving side. Henderson came to stand beside him.

“We’ve got to catch this monster, Steve. He’s getting bolder. This murder happened only a week after the last. A whole week sooner than between the first and second. He’ll kill again, and soon.”

Steve let out a deep sigh and nodded. He knew that was true, of course. More people were going to die. He clapped his hand onto Henderson’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

“Don’t worry. We always catch them eventually, especially nowadays. He’d have to be a mastermind to get away with this for long.”

Henderson gave him a smile. “There’s the cocky Steve we all know. You always get your man, huh?”

Steve tossed him a wink. “Always.”

By the time he made it outside, Nancy was finishing up her call beside the car. He caught the tail end of what she was saying as he approached.

“Yeah, will do. We’re headed back to the station now, and once we have the full autopsy we should have a better grasp on this thing. Yeah. Okay. Bye.”

She hung up and turned to Steve. “Hopper says to get back to the station now so we can write up our full reports. We need to figure out if this guy has any relation to the other victims.”

Steve nodded as he climbed into the car. “He might be the missing link we’ve been looking for. I still haven’t been able to find any common thread between the other two, but maybe we’ll find something here.”

“Hopefully. We need a break in this case.”

Indianapolis had never been where Steve wanted to end up. It was never more obvious than on days like this, with the sky overcast in grey and the littered streets flitting past outside the car window. No, Steve had always wanted to move some place with more sun. Maybe California or Arizona. Someplace warm. But for now, he was needed here.

Steve had always had a thing, ever since childhood, that made him need to be useful. Perhaps it was because his parents never even looked at him unless he was doing something they deemed good, something they could show off to all their friends. Daddy issues, how original. It was the whole reason he’d gotten into this line of work to begin with. As a detective, he could help someone in a way that really mattered. In a way that was important.

His therapist would tell him it was unhealthy to get off on the idea of only holding value so long as he could provide a service. That was precisely why he didn’t have a therapist. There was no way he needed another person inside his head, picking apart all the reasons he did what he did.

When they reached the precinct, Steve lingered in the car for another second while Nancy jumped out almost as soon as it was in park. She was always like this when there was a case she deemed important. At first, some of the other guys had called her Nany Drew. Both she and Steve had shut that down pretty damn fast. Steve watched as she marched up the steps and threw open the door, not even waiting to see if Steve was following. Which was fine. He usually needed to take a moment before walking into the chaos. Steve leaned against the headrest and took a few measured breaths, then pushed open his door and climbed out.

Almost as soon as he was through the door, the new recruit, Will, approached him. “Hey, Hopper’s waiting for you in his office. I think Nancy’s already there.”

Steve gave him a brief nod. “Thanks for letting me know.”

By the time he got to Hopper’s office, Nancy was already pacing back and forth as she recounted the new information they’d learned. Steve leaned against the wall beside the door and listened.

“This means he’s getting sloppy. And that’s only what we have on a first inspection. Once forensics gets in there, who knows what else they’ll find? I think we’re getting close. I can feel it.”

Hopper leaned back in his chair. “Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. This guy is a sick son of a bitch and we don’t know what he’s capable of. I want you two to revisit what we have so far and this new evidence. Get an ID for this victim, see if there are any connections.”

“Already on it,” Nancy said. “I have Max looking through the missing people who’ve been reported in the last week. If this victim has anyone who cares about him, he’ll be there.”

“Good. Steve, what have you found about the previous two victims?”

Steve straightened up and pulled out his phone, where he’d made a file. “The first body we found belonged to Andy Phillips. He was a local tax broker, no history or record in our systems. As far as I can tell, he was pretty straightlaced. The second victim was Martin Brenner. He was a surgeon, one of the tops in his field in fact. There were some rumors about him being sued for malpractice, but nothing ever came of it. So far, I haven’t found a connection.”

Hopper drummed his fingers on his desk. “Alright. Get to work on adding this new evidence to the case. I want the report on my desk by tomorrow morning.”

“Yes sir,” Nancy said, already storming out the door. Sometimes it surprised Steve, just how much of a force of nature she was.

It was hours later, when Steve was bent over his computer and writing up his report, that Nancy burst into the room with a wide smile on her face. It was a little unnerving, considering the case they were working on. She slapped a file down on his desk.

“Fred Benson.”

Steve blinked, looking at the papers. “What?”

Nancy slid a few sheets around until it revealed a picture of a bespeeched man in a white pressed shirt. “Fred Benson. That’s the name of our newest victim.”

“Jesus, how did you find that so fast?” he asked, picking up the file to flip through.

“Oh please, you know I’m just that good. Max also helped. This guy was reported missing two days ago when he didn’t come home from his job. Apparently, he worked for Indianapolis Times as a journalist.”

Steve hummed as he read the missing person report. “Any connections to the other two bodies?”

She shrugged and moved around the desk to sit in the chair opposite him. “I haven’t got that far yet. But I do think we’re starting to see a pattern in this guy’s victims.”

Steve snorted. “What, that they were all really fucking boring?”

“No,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “They’re all middle to upper class white men.”

“Eh, that’s not really an MO.”

“How can you say that? If they were all women with red hair, you’d see it.”

He tossed the file back onto the desk and leaned back, kicking his feet up. “Yeah, because that would be specific. These guys look nothing like each other. Hell, that Brenner guy was at least forty years older than the other.”

Nancy pursed her lips. “Still. It’s something that we should consider.”

“And we will. We’ll consider everything, just like we always do.”

Nancy opened her mouth to say something more, but just then the door opened and Chrissy walked in carrying two cups of what smelled like coffee.

“Hey guys!” she said with a bright smile. “I heard you were working hard on that new serial killer case and thought you might both need a pick me up.”

“Oh my god, you’re a life saver,” Nancy said, reaching out for the mug offered to her.

“It’s no problem,” she said, turning to hand the other mug to Steve. “Have you made any headway?”

Steve motioned to the file. “Yeah, actually. Nancy thinks we finally have an MO for who the killer goes after.”

Chrissy’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? Well, that’s good, isn’t it?”

“Eh,” Steve waved a hand. “Sort of. Considering so far all we have is ‘White guys’, I’d say that’s not too helpful.”

Nancy shot him a look. “Hey, it’s something! We can start building a character analysis, at least.”

Chrissy took the file from Nancy’s hand and flipped it open, her big eyes scanning through the papers. “Let me take this down to evidence so it can be documented. I’ll let you guys get back to it.”

Steve raised his mug and gave her a smile. “Thanks, Chris.”

She slipped out the door with one more wave. In her wake, Nancy got a thoughtful look. Steve knew that could only mean trouble.

“I think this guy, this serial killer, has some issues.”

Steve almost choked on his coffee. He set the mug down and dabbed at the drops that had fallen on his tie. “Gee, Nance, you don’t say? What could possible have given it away? Was it the torture? Or was it the kiddie pool filled with blood?”

“Cut the sarcasm, Harrington,” she said, pointing one manicured nail at him. “And I mean, yes, it’s all of it. But more so, it’s the painstaking details this guy goes through to make every kill the same. Usually, it’s something pretty simple, like strangulation with electrical cord or cutting off a persons head. But not this guy. He always makes sure to break all the bones in the exact same place, saving the jaw for last. Then it’s the eyes, which he takes. After that, he strings them up in the exact same manner with the same pink kiddie pool beneath them. It’s so specific. Like, there has to be something there.”

Steve turned his eyes away, back to the blinking cursor on his computer. Nancy had always been good at this, at seeing the patterns he couldn’t. It was amazing she hadn’t been promoted yet. Surely within the next five years, she’d be his boss rather than his partner. Puzzles really weren’t his thing. Which was ironic considering his job. But when everyone else gave him the pieces and showed him where they went… yeah, he could do that.

“You’re probably right. And if that’s true, there’s a good chance he sticks to other patterns in his life. And patterns mean leaving clues. Don’t worry, Nance. We’re going to catch him. It’s just a matter of time.”

By the time Steve left the precinct that night, it was pushing ten o’clock. He didn’t love working long hours, but it was better than sitting in his empty apartment, letting the worry and stress take over until he spiraled. At least if he was working, he was getting things done.

He trudged up the stairs to his second floor apartment and shoved the key into the lock with a little more force than was necessary. But his feet were killing him, and he could already feel the migraine coming on. All he wanted now was to drop into bed and close his eyes until morning.

Once inside, Steve kicked off his shoes and shrugged his jacket from his shoulders, hanging it on the rack beside the door. He left the lights off as he walked down the hall to the living room, where he dropped his carrying bag. The room was a little colder than he’d expected, which he realized a moment later was due to the window he’d left open beside the sofa. Well, there went his heating bill.

Steve began to walk toward it when a sudden pressure at his throat made him stop. His whole body froze up at the cold press of metal and the contrasting hand that wrapped around the base of his throat. A spike of adrenaline rushed through his system, making his heart pound harder and his breath catch. The feeling of a body pressing to his back stopped him from shaking too bad.

A voice spoke directly into his ear, the touch of wet lips and hot breath making him shiver. “Guess who.”

Yeah, he could take a pretty good guess based on context clues. Steve licked his lips. “What are you doing here?”

A deep laugh rolled across his neck, making Steve’s hair stand on end. “Oh, I just couldn’t stay away. I saw you today, outside the site of my latest work.”

Steve turned his head slightly, feeling the soft scrape of the blade. “You were there?”

“Mhmm. And I have to say, you looked fucking delicious. All brooding, with your long coat and cigarette. Can you really blame me for not staying away?”

The hand tightened slightly before relaxing again. Slowly, Steve turned around. The blade never left his throat, just shifted to sit along the underside of his jaw. He took in the dark eyes and wild curls of the other man, the wicked tilt of his lips as he drank in the sight of Steve. He wore a nondescript black long sleeve, with just the hint of tattoos peeking out. Steve met his eye, barely able to make out the depths of them in the shadows of the room. Then, slowly, a smile grew across Steve’s face.

“Hey baby.”

Eddie’s own smile softened. “Hey Sweetheart.”