#platonic buckingham

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

From Hell to Home to Back Again

Summary: At the talent show, Chrissy Cunningham is so hungry that she nearly collapses. When she's found by Hopper, her parents ended up losing custody of her. She ends up being placed in the care of the Hendersons, and she finally finds the family she so desperately needed. She also ends up falling in love. What other changes are made in this alternate universe?

@emen-98 @1lostsoul0fishbowl @vulpixsworld

Prologue. . .Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chrissy Cunningham was hungry. Her mom didn't let her finish her meal this morning. It was starting to happen a lot more lately. It was her first day of cheer practice, and she wanted it all to go well. She didn't want to disappoint her mother again. She was always disappointing her mother. Chrissy walked into the gym and towards the group of girls who were chattering away nervously. Not everyone was there yet. Chrissy set her bag on the floor just as her stomach growled. She cursed her mother.

"Are you hungry?" A girl behind her asked.

Chrissy turned around to find a pretty girl about her age with brown curly hair and dark brown eyes. She smiled kindly at Chrissy.

"A little, my mom was in a rush today, so I didn't get a chance to finish eating breakfast," Chrissy admitted.

"Well, that's not right," the girl frowned frowned and then she smiled. "I have a sandwich in my bag. We can split it and the chips!"

"I couldn't - " Chrissy said.

"Nonsense," she said. "You can't work out on an empty stomach."

She handed Chrissy half her sandwich and her chips.

"Thank you. . ." Chrissy trailed off.

"Heather Holloway," she said.

"Chrissy Cunningham," she said and bit gratefully into the sandwich, her stomach thanking her.

Chrissy was floating. . .no, she was being carried. She kept her eyes closed tightly. It wasn't real. No, Heather couldn't be dead. She sobbed into someone's back. Oh. Someone was giving her a piggyback ride. She knew that hair that was tickling her nose.

"Chrissy?" Eddie asked. "Sweetheart?"

Eddie was moving off to the side and setting her on the ground. They were in the mall again, and everyone was moving around them. Steve, Robin, Ronnie, Erica, and Dustin looked at her in concern. She could feel the blood drying around her nose. Eddie's eyes were clear.

"You're back," Chrissy said.

"Yeah, that was one hell of a trip," Eddie said.

"Heather. . ."

"Yeah, Ronnie caught us up," Eddie said. "Did you really feel it?"

"Yes," she sobbed.

"Fuck, I'm so sorry, baby. . .I know you probably don't want to, but we're going to have to run. There are Russians after us. Do you think you can run for us? For Heather?" Eddie asked, trying to hold back his own sob.

"Yeah. For Heather," Chrissy whispered.

She took Eddie's bandaged hand. She could feel Eddie in her head now, and she felt stronger, knowing that the voice couldn't get to her when Eddie was there. She walked with Dustin, Eddie, and Erica. At her back were Steve, Robin, and Ronnie. They all blended in with the crowd of people.

"Well, shit, that worked," Erica said.

"Of course it worked," Dustin said. "We just have to get on the bus with the rest of these plebes, and home sweet home, here we come."

"Uh, Dustin, Chrissy," Steve said nervously.

"What?" Dustin asked.

"Yeah, we might not wanna go to your house," Steve said.

"Why?"

"Well, I might have given them your full names. Both of yours," Steve said.

"What is wrong with you?" Dustin asked. "You didn't tell them about Chrissy, did you?"

"No! Dude, I was drugged," Steve said.

"So?"

"So?"

"You resist. You tough it out. You tough it out like a man," Dustin said.

"Oh, yeah, it's easy for you to say," Steve said.

"Dustin!" Chrissy hissed at her brother. "You're sounding a lot like your father right now. "Tough it out like a man?" Wasn't that the kind of bullshit he used to spew to you?"

Walt Henderson was before her time before Dustin and Claudia came back to Hawkins. She knew enough about him from her mother and brother, though. He was a cheater, and he never liked that Dustin wasn't the kind of son he had envisioned. So, he was also a huge asshole.

"Hey, that's not fair," Dustin frowned.

"Neither is you making Steve feel bad about getting tortured and drugged," Chrissy said.

"You're right," Dustin sighed. "Sorry, Steve."

"I know you're scared," Steve said, squeezing his shoulder. "We all are."

Chrissy squeezed Eddie's hand gently and looked at him. She couldn't imagine what those assholes put them through.

"Guys?" Robin asked nervously.

They looked forward. Up ahead was a big, scary-looking man with a dark ponytail asking people questions. Chrissy was pretty sure he was a Russian and that he was looking for them. They quickly turned on their heels and started running in the opposite direction when the Russians spotted them. They tried to get down the escalators, but they were sectioned off with rope, which meant they weren't working. They had no choice but to slide down in between them to get to the bottom. They quickly found a spot to hide behind the food counter, and pretty soon, they were left alone with the Russians. Chrissy looked at Eddie and looked back at her. Did she look just as scared as he did? Chrissy pressed her forehead against his.

"I love you."

"I love you."

She wanted to say anything else, but she found her mind to be as blank as his was. She just needed to feel him inside of her mind, and he clearly needed it, too. She could hear the echoes of their footsteps. She couldn't see them but she could hear them. She could probably guess that they were probably getting ready to kill them. They were probably raising their guns right now. Wait. . .what was stopping her from using her powers right now? Nothing. Just as Chrissy was about to stand up, she felt it. . .someone else with powers. . .who needed her help. She recognized it. . .El. Chrissy closed her eyes, and together, she helped El lift the car. It rolled over the Russians like they were bowling pins. Chrissy stood up, her nose bleeding as she looked up at the second floor. El stood there with the others behind her: Argyle, Jonathan, Nancy, Mike, Lucas, and Will. They all moved at once, racing towards each other.

"You flung that thing like a hot wheel," Dustin said as he hugged El and Mike before pulling back to hug Will.

"Are you okay?" Will asked his boyfriend.

"I'm fine, dear," Dustin asked, and Will snorted.

"Lucas?" Erica asked as she ran towards him.

"What are you doing here?" Lucas asked.

"Ask them. It's their fault," Erica replied.

"True, yeah, totally true. It's absolutely our fault," Steve said.

"I don't understand what happened to that car," Ronnie said.

"El has superpowers," Dustin explained.

"Steve, what happened to your face?!" Nancy asked, touching it gently.

"Our boyfriends got tortured by Russians," Chrissy said.

"And drugged by them, too," Ronnie said, wrapping an arm around her girlfriend.

"Russians?"

"Oh my god!" Nancy exclaimed and began fussing over him.

"I'm fine, baby," Steve said. "I'm here."

"You are not fine!" Nancy yelled furiously. "You got tortured - oh, I'm going to kill them!"

She softened and kissed the corner of his mouth that wasn't swollen, her eyes filled with tears.

"I don't doubt that you would totally kill them all," Steve said. "We kind of need that firepower here, though."

"Noted," Nancy said, smiled and tucked herself gently into his arms.

"What Russians?" Jonathan asked.

"The ones who just got flattened into pancakes by that car," Eddie said.

Just like that, everyone began arguing over the Russians. No one was focused on El anymore, except that Chrissy noticed that she had wondered off. She pulled herself away from Eddie and followed after the girl. Chrissy caught her just as she collapsed.

"GUYS!" Chrissy yelled.

Everyone stopped and rushed to their side.

"El!" Mike screamed.

"Oh, man, it's her leg!" Eddie yelled and unraveled the bandage. "Oh, FUCK!"

Chrissy, still holding El, looked down at her leg and gasped. There was a nasty looking wound and. . .something alive. El screamed.

"What is that?" Erica asked.

"There's something in there," Mike said.

"Jesus Christ!" Dustin exclaimed.

"Oh, I'm going to be sick," Ronnie said. "What the fuck?!"

"Keep her talking, keep her awake!" Jonathan yelled as he ran off.

"Hey, hey, sweetheart, look at me, it's Eddie. Can you focus on my voice?" Eddie asked.

El looked up at Chrissy, still writhing in pain. . .still screaming. She looked at Eddie.

"Yes," El said, but she closed her eyes.

"Hey, hey, stay awake," Mike said and then looked at Chrissy. "Let's get her on this side, on this side."

Mike took El from Chrissy and turned her around, laying her head in his lap. Jonathan came back with gloves and a hot knife.

"Okay, alright, El?" Jonathan asked. "This is going to hurt like El, okay?"

"Okay," El sobbed.

"Need you stay real still. Hey, you're going to bite down on this, okay?" Jonathan asked, handing her a wooden spoon.

Just as Jonathan had sliced open her leg, Chrissy got the idea. He was going to end up rooting around in there, and she knew the thing would only move away. There was another way. Chrissy grabbed his hand.

"I can use my powers. It's better this way," Chrissy said. "El?"

"Yes, yes, do it," El said.

Chrissy held out her arm and focused on the creature. It felt like she was pulling it out with her very own hand, but she was grabbing it and yanking it out with her powers. She screamed with El, and as the windows shattered around them, the thing was pulled from El's leg and tossed away. Someone's boot slamming down on it. Chrissy collapsed against El and Mike, breathing heavily. They all looked up to see Hopper and Joyce standing with a balding man with glasses.

"Oh, hey, it's Murray!" Argyle exclaimed, pointing to the balding man. "Oh, right, we don't like you."

Hopper moved to pick up his daughter, glancing around the place.

"What the hell happened?" He asked.

"Oh, man, I think we all have different stories to tell. I think Ronnie might know now," Argyle said.

"Yeah, I do," Ronnie said, her face pale.

They all gathered together in the middle of the mall, right by the fountain. Together, Joyce and Hopper patched up El, letting her lay between them. She was basically their daughter, Chrissy thought. Which would make El, Jonathan, and Will her cousins. . .right? Chrissy leaned against Eddie as Mike spoke.

"The Mind Flayer, it built this monster in Hawkins to stop El, to kill her and pave a way into our world," Mike said.

"And it almost did," Nancy said. "That was just one tiny piece of it."

"How big is this thing?" Hopper asked.

"It's big," Jonathan said. "Thirty feet at least."

"Yeah, it sorta destroyed your cabin," Lucas said.

"Okay, just to be clear, this big fleshy spider thing that hurt El, it's some kind of gigantic. . .weapon?" Steve asked.

"Yes," Nancy said.

"But instead of, like, screws and metal, the Mind Flayer made its weapon. . .with melted people," Steve said.

"Yes, exactly," Nancy said.

Melted people. The words floated around in Chrissy's mind. She didn't know how Heather died. . .only that she did. She was a part of that thing. . .it broke her down. . .squashed her like a bug. . .and used what was left of her to make itself stronger. Chrissy stomach rolled, and she rushed to the nearest trashcan. She didn't make it. She slipped and fell, releasing the contents of her stomach all over the floor. Her body shook with sobs.

"Chrissy, honey?" Joyce asked, and Chrissy felt her come up behind her. "Are you okay?"

"Of course, I'm not okay!" Chrissy shrieked, slapping her hand and moving away from her. "None of this is fucking okay! Heather. . .Heather, she died, and I felt it. I felt her die. She's - She's a part of that thing. She's gone. Gone!"

She collapsed backward, her entire body shaking with sobs. It wasn't the right time for this but she couldn't help it. She had failed. She had failed to save Heather. What would she tell Tina? Oh, God, Tina.

"Heather," she heard Nancy sob. "I wanted to believe she somehow made it. I'm sorry, Chrissy."

"GODDAMNIT!" Argyle screamed.

She had never heard Argyle scream like that, and it was almost chilling. She felt a pair of familiar arms wrap around her, and she looked up to see Eddie. He was cradling her, tears of his own on his face. She hated seeing him cry. She managed to sit up slightly. Nancy was sobbing into Steve’s arms, while Jonathan was doing the same with Argyle. Ronnie was letting Robin cling to her. They had all lost a friend.

"Sorry, Chrissy," Steve said, tears of his own in his eyes.

Chrissy clung to Eddie, the both of them crying. Eddie pressed kisses into her hair, and she could feel his salty tears.

"I'm so sorry, baby," Eddie said.

"It's my fault," Chrissy sobbed.

"No, sweetheart, it's not your fault. It's the Mind Flayer, he did this," Eddie said.

"I should have been able to save her. . .why do I have these powers if I couldn't use them to save her?" Chrissy asked.

"Even your powers have limits," Eddie whispered. "You can't do everything, okay? It's just not possible. You are not responsible for Heather's death, okay?"

"I don't know if I'll ever believe that," she whispered.

It was her fault. She was killed because Heather was her friend because that's what the Mind Flayer needed. . .he was controlling her every action, and she couldn't even say anything.

"Look, I know how hard this is for you, for all of you, but right now we can't afford to waste any time mourning, if we want to get justice for your friend the best thing that we can do is fight this thing," Hopper said.

Chrissy sniffled and nodded before pulling herself out of Eddie's arms. Hopper was right. With Eddie and Joyce's help, she got up off the ground.

"Are we sure this thing is still out there, still alive?" Joyce asked as she made her way back to El and Hopper.

"El beat the shit out of it, but yeah, it's still alive," Max said.

"I can feel it," Chrissy whispered.

"Me too," El replied.

"But if we close the gate again - ," Will said.

"We cut the brain off from the body," Max said.

"And kill it," Lucas said. "Theoretically."

Chrissy sat in Eddie's lap as they gathered around the table to go over how they were going to break into the Russian base. She couldn't find it in her to be amused by Erica's antics, but she appreciated it none the less. She never met Murray, but he gave her a not so good feeling. Something told her that he had crossed a line last year with Argyle, Jonathan, and Nancy. She tried not to let herself drown over the fact that Heather was gone, that she was never going to see her again, and tried to hold on to the people who were still there. She focused on her brother's voice as he helped show Hopper the best way to make it to the gate room.

"Okay, see this room here? This is a storage facility," Dustin said. "There's a hatch in here that feeds into their underground ventilation system. That will lead you to the base of the weapon. It's a bit of a maze down there, but between me and Erica, we can show you the way."

"You can show us the way?" Hopper asked in disbelief.

"Don't worry, you can do all the fighting and the dangerous hero shit, and we'll just be your. . .navigators."

"No way in hell!" Chrissy snapped at her brother.

"Chrissy!" Dustin exclaimed.

"No, you are not going back down there. I won't have my little brother getting killed or captured by Russians!" Chrissy yelled.

"How else will they be able to get there?" Dustin asked. "The walkies don't - "

"Cerebro, dumbass," Chrissy rolled her eyes.

"Oh, yeah," Dustin said.

Once Dustin explained to Hopper about Cerebro, Hopper began to prepare for his descent into the base. Dustin wondered over to his boyfriend and their friends. Meanwhile, Argyle, Jonathan, Steve, and Nancy all took their place at the table in front of Chrissy. Nancy grabbed Chrissy's hand.

"You and Steve were there for me after Barb died, we're going to be here for you, too," Nancy said.

"Will you be there when I tell Tina?" Chrissy asked, tears in her eyes.

"Of course," Nancy whispered.

"Oh, man, if you want all of us there, we'll be there, too," Argyle said.

"Thanks," Chrissy said.

Argyle reached for Chrissy's hand and placed it on top of Nancy's. It wasn't long before the rest of them followed suit. Eddie was the last one, and he placed a kiss in Chrissy's hair as he did so. Suddenly, Steve got up, motioning for Ronnie and Robin to help him. They came back with small cups filled with soda. They all raised their cups.

"To Heather," they all said and paused before toasting to her memory.

"I love you, guys," Chrissy whispered. "I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you."

"We love you, too," Eddie whispered.

Chrissy leaned her forehead against Eddie's, brushing away his own tears with her thumb. She hated seeing his face so bruised and beaten. She hated the fact that they ripped two of his fingernails off, and she hated the fact that they were all going through this. Were they ever going to have a normal life, or were they all destined to die young?

After a brief rest, Steve, Robin, Dustin, Ronnie, and Erica took the car that Hopper stole to Mount Weathertop to bring Dustin to Cerebro. That would be where he would navigate Hopper through the Russian underground base. Meanwhile, the others would be going to Murray's house in Indianapolis to wait it out there. Chrissy hated not being involved, but she also knew that El needed protection in her weakened state. Hopper nodded at Chrissy, and she pulled away from Eddie to wonder over to him.

"I know, I probably don't need to say this," Hopper started to say.

"I'll look after El," Chrissy promised.

"I know you will, but don't forget to look after yourself," Hopper said. "You're important, too, and not just what you can do for all of us. Okay?"

"Okay," Chrissy nodded.

"And kid? I'm so sorry about your friend. I would have given anything to protect you from that, you know that, right?" Hopper asked.

"I know," she whispered. "It hurts."

"I know it does, kiddo," Hopper whispered and pulled her to his chest. "You've got heart, don't lose that."

"I won't," she said and hugged him tightly.

"Benny - your father would be proud of you," Hopper said.

"He'd be proud of you, too," Chrissy said.

Hopper sat down next to El, pulling Chrissy next to him.

"My battery is low, but it will recharge," El said.

"I know it will, kid," Hopper said.

"I can fight," El said.

"Better than any of us," he said. "But right now, I need you safe. I need both of you safe. This thing is after you. It's not after me. Do you understand? Hey, I need you to understand. Okay?"

"Hey," Mike said, and Chrissy rolled his eyes at his timing. "We should probably go."

El smiled at Hopper and hugged him tightly. With Mike and Max's help, she stood up.

"Mike?" Hopper asked. "Be careful."

They walked off ahead of them, and Chrissy stood up, facing him.

"You be careful, too," she whispered and hugged him again before running to catch up with her boyfriend.

Chrissy held Eddie's hand tightly as they walked outside.

"I fucking hate being split up like this," Eddie said.

"I know," Chrissy whispered. "Me too."

Mike and Max got El into the back of Nancy's car. Jonathan went with Argyle to his van along with Eddie and Chrissy while the kids piled into Nancy's car. Both Argyle and Nancy tried to start their vehicles only for them both to sputter.

"Argyle? What's wrong?" Chrissy asked.

"I don't know, I just fixed this baby up and put gas in her!" Argyle exclaimed.

"Did you leave the lights on?" Eddie asked. "Wayne is always getting onto me for doing that shit."

"No, that's the first thing that I make sure is off," Argyle replied.

"Do we have gas?" Chrissy asked.

"Wait. . .did I fill up? No, I definitely did," Argyle replied.

"Okay, stop, man. Pop the hood!" Eddie exclaimed.

Argyle jumped out along with the rest of them after opening the hood. Jonathan grabbed a flash light from the floorboard and shined it over Argyle's shoulder.

"What the hell?" Jonathan asked.

"Shit! The ignition cable's gone," Eddie cursed.

"Oh, did someone rip it out?" Chrissy asked.

They looked to find Nancy checking out her car, too.

"Damn, look like's Nance is having the same problem," Jonathan said.

"Fuck, what are we going to do?" Argyle asked.

That's when they heard it. . .the sound of the engine, and Chrissy felt it on the back of her neck. The group whirled around to find a flayed Billy Hargrove revving his engine at them.

[wrayofmoonshine]

*grips your shoulders tightly* listen to me. you HAVE to make stobin weirder, okay? you have to make them the embodiment of that Secret Third Thing™️. they’re those cats at a shelter that you can’t separate for anything. make them do examinations of each others bodies cause they’re worried about a health issue. make them share a single piece of gum. make them swap pronouns and names and clothes on a regular basis. make them shower together. i need one of the kids to call for steve in a different room and have robin come to help instead because they’re one person. i need steve to show up to work wearing robins tag cause she’s too sick to come in. they have to get weirder, do you understand? it’s for their health.

[arelliann]

@astrangersummer Week 8: Pool

Hey, hey guys, hey guys watch this, watch, hey, hey guys, hey, you weren’t watching :(

See their Roadtrip of ‘86 Series so far here

[every-aj-needs-an-angel]

Okay this one's been stuck in my head all day but I have absolutely time to write it so please share this vision with me

Try as they might, Steve and Robin couldn't get tickets to Chrissy Cunningham's arena tour, but they could get tickets to a festival she was playing.

The last thing Steve ever wanted to do was go and stand in a muddy field for sixteen hours while they waited for the headline act. But he was pretty sure Robin was in love with her favourite musician, and he wasn't about to deny his best friend a chance at love.

So he helped her make personalised t-shirts because honestly all the other bands in the line-up kinda sounded like they sucked.

His read, "Only Here for Chrissy" on the front and "I'm Steve" on the back and Robin's read "Chrissy, Will You Be My Girlfriend?" on the front and "If Lost, Please Return To Steve" on the back.

And it turned out, as they stood against the barrier in a not so muddy field, on a lovely, warm, but overcast, May day, that even bands that sucked could be fun. Even if it was only because they spent their day with earplugs in, so their eardrums wouldn't combust, bitching about each artist's lack of ability to put notes or an outfit together.

During the lunchtime intermission, the pair made friends with the lesbian couple next to them, Kayla and Jess, who were also eagerly awaiting Chrissy's set and similarly liked to mock those who committed crimes against sound and fashion. Steve was glad to have met them, they were really nice, and he felt better about leaving her to use the bathroom or to fetch food, knowing Robin was in safe hands.

He also felt better about letting her wander off, not that it stopped him from stressing out when she and Kayla had been missing for over fifteen minutes. He spread himself out to keep their places against the railing with his back to the stage, watching the crowd intently. Jess wasn't quite as chatty once they were alone, but she seemed content enough, bobbing along to the band that'd appeared on the stage.

Steve didn't turn back around to face the stage until he spotted the girls heading back towards them, he gave them a wave and turned around to look at the guys who hadn't been attempting to destroy anyone's hearing and was met with the face of the most gorgeous man he'd ever seen. Pretty face, long curly hair tied up in a bun, muscle tee showing off his many tattoos, piercings and chains and glittery Docs; Steve felt himself owl blink and blush.

God's gift to mankind was kneeling centre stage, guitar in hand making the most beautiful sounds Steve had ever heard as his fingers flew over the strings, and it was only when the rest of the band kicked back in that the man looked up, winked directly at Steve, and then jumped back to his feet, spending the rest of the song bouncing around the stage.

Steve only realised his mouth was agape when Robin finally arrived next to him and elbowed him hard in the ribs, giving him the same look she did whenever he was embarrassing in the club. He watched the rest of the Corroded Coffin, according to the backdrop, set in awe. Screaming and clapping along when they wished everyone a great day, throwing picks and drumsticks into the crowd and taking a bow; patting each other on the back as they wandered offstage.

As soon as it was quiet again, Robin wanted to know what the hell was wrong with his face and honestly, he couldn't answer her. He didn't even believe in love, not for himself at least, and he certainly didn't believe in love at first sight. It didn't stop him from spending the next couple of hours watching the faces at the sides of the stage, hoping to catch a glimpse of his new favourite guitarist, though.

As soon as Chrissy hit the stage, Steve got lost, between filming the set and watching Robin trying not to hyperventilate when Chrissy spotted her t-shirt, pointed to her, and giving her a coy little wink, blew her a kiss.

"An old school friend is here with me tonight, and I'd like him to help me out with this next track. Especially for the beauty in the front row, this is Girlfriend!"

The crowd went wild as the beat kicked in, but Steve was still watching Robin because it looked like she'd stopped breathing altogether. That was until she gasped loudly and started smacking Steve in the way she always did whenever she got overly excited; pointing wildly at the stage, and it was only when he looked over he saw Corroded Coffins guitarist bouncing up and down next to Chrissy.

Instead of the black muscle vest and skinny jeans he'd been sporting earlier in the day, he had changed into pale blue board shorts and a baggy white t-shirt that read "Hey Steve!" written in black sharpie with a giant winking smiley face underneath that could only really be seen when he swung his guitar around his back to copy Chrissy's dance moves.

The song ended, and the friends hugged, Chrissy waving him off the stage and calling out, "Eddie Munson everybody!" letting the crowd go wild for her friend before launching into the rest of her set.

By the time Chrissy had actually left the stage, Robin looked exhausted, having screamed and sung and danced herself out. They hung around a bit, said goodbye to Kayla and Jess, wishing them a safe journey home, and they were just taking one last look at the now empty stage when he heard someone yell his name...

[stevieschrodinger]

Part One Two Three Four

Steve sits with his head pressed against the steering wheel.

In the passenger seat, Robin’s doing her make up.

“What are we doing here, Rob?”

“You mean like, in the cosmic soul searching sense, or here specifically?”

“Here. Specifically.”

“Well, your beautiful brunette boyfriend-”

“You don’t score points for alliteration. And he’s not my boyfriend.”

“All right then, the man who is under the distinct impression that he’s your boyfriend, suggested we all hang out together. So we are here. At the place I suggested.”

“Because you know I hate it here.”

Robin makes a non committal noise, Steve looks, she’s pulling the horrendous mascara face. He goes back to resting his forehead on the steering wheel.

Steve does hate it here. Reminds him of...fucking work brunches with his father and Sunday lunches with his mother and he just. Hates it.

Steve sighs like a Victorian maid who’s betrothed has not yet returned from sea. He’s certain he’ll die from consumption at any minute.

“Shut up you big baby,” Robin tells him as she fluffs her hair, “all I want is to finger bang this chick in the bathroom and then rub my cunt on her face, is that too much to ask?”

And Robin has been wholly supportive of Steve so far, so, “no, I suppose-what the fuck Robin? Did you choose this place because-”

“I like the bathrooms-”

“-the bathrooms are nice-”

“What?-”

“Oh you fucking-”

“They’re romantic kinda’.”

“They’re bathrooms, Robin!”

“The lighting is good. I like the vibe.”

“Oh my god.”

Steve’s stares mournfully after his best friend. She’s at the bar with Chrissy, because Chrissy wanted to watch the guy make their cocktails, look he does tricks with the thing, like in that old movie with Tom Cruise.

Steve could physically feel himself ageing as she spoke.

“It’s so cool they’re dating.” Steve does not point out that whatever Robin's about to do to Chrissy, it will be a four letter word, but that four letter word is not ‘date’.

“You think?”

Eddie smiles big. The dimples come out. Huge happy brown fucking cow eyes. He’s not attractive Steve reminds himself viciously. He’s playing with his cutlery because he can’t sit still and...his chins too pointy. Or something. “Well yeah. It’d be so cool if they get married.”

Steve nearly chokes on his drink.

“Hey man, you okay?”

“Fine, fine,” Steve’s nose is burning from the bubbles going up there, “what makes you think they’ll get married?”

“Well...why would you date someone if you can’t see it going somewhere?” Steve hopes this is going somewhere; like to a bed, specifically, “so there’s a chance, right? I can tell Chris really likes her. I hope it’s like, a long term thing.”

Steve feels himself slow blink. He doesn’t explain to Eddie that you date someone because you want to stick your penis in them. Eddie turns to watch the girls again, they laugh, and Eddie grins at them, all happy and fond.

Steve sighs.

“You okay?”

“Sorry?”

“You just...you don’t seem so happy to be here man. Kind of tense.”

Steve has no idea how Eddie even noticed, usually people don’t notice. Or usually people don’t care, but it amounts to the same thing because coming to somewhere like this is just the step you take before you step into a bedroom.

“I...I actually don’t really like it here much.”

Eddie looks at him, leans close. He’s ready to really listen. He...cares. About Steve. Steve wonders if he’s going to come up in a rash; it feels like the sort of thing he should be allergic too. He wonders vaguely if there’s antihistamines in the glove box.

“Why?”

“Well...I.” Steve pulls a face. He doesn’t talk about...meaningful things, but he figures it can’t hurt this once, he can be vague. Especially if it increases the chance of doing the no pants dance with Eddie, “I don’t have the best relationship with my parents. I mean, they’re good parents, I had really good nannies growing up, had a great education, the best boarding school, they funded my degree, gave me a solid start at work, so they are great...we just don’t exactly get on all the time. We used to come here for pretty much every family meal.”

Eddie’s frown deepens the more Steve talks, “how often were the...family meals?”

“I don’t know,” Steve hums, “holidays I guess, when I was away, and then...maybe fortnightly? We don’t do it now, obviously.”

“Oh. Me and uncle Wayne had one meal a day together, at least, when I lived there. It was like, a house rule.”

“Oh that’s...you’re close?” To Steve that already sounds like something out of the fucking Brady Bunch.

“Yeah. Speaking of which, he’s invited you to dinner.”

“Dinner?” Steve asks weakly.

“Yeah, since you’re courting that boy, he said.” Eddie puts his hands up to do the air quotes. And then he grins. That big stupid grin. He looks so happy. So genuinely happy to see Steve. So happy about the prospect of just...seeing him again.

Steve does not point out that a blow job at a garden party, humping each other in a public bathroom, and one co ed BBQ does not courting make.

“Right.”

“Awesome, I’ll let you know when,” Eddie drums two forks on the edge of the table. Steve stares at his bony wrists. His mind suggests phrases like, ‘slender’ and ‘delicate’ and Steve ignores those and thinks about how he could very easily hold both of those wrists in one hand. “listen, do you want to get out of here?”

“Sorry?”

“Well, the girls won’t care,” and he’s probably right there, “and you don’t like it here, and I don’t care where I am as long as it’s with you.”

Steve riffles through his internal Rolodex and comes up blank; no one has ever said anything that sincere to him in his life. And Eddie means it too; he means everything he says in a completely unguarded way Steve has literally never encountered before. It’s like meeting an alien. Steve wants to put him under a microscope.

“I just want you to have a nice time, you know. I want you to be happy.”

Eddie reaches out and takes Steve’s hand.

Steve lets him.

Part Six

[fantasticallyfruity4]

After months of bullying Steve that Eddie’s gay, he has to be, and has to be into him. Because he’s flagging Steve! Go for it! He’s totally into you! Robin finally makes Steve hang out with Eddie away from the kids. Dinner plans, but Steve insists it has to be casual and cool just in case, just pizza with them, her, and Eddie’s friend Chrissy.

Anyway after these months, Robin finally meets Eddie’s friend chrissy.

Chrissy Cunningham, finally outside of Hawkins high, is a different sight, outside her usually cheer uniform or substitute preppy outfits.

No. Be still her gay heart. Here’s chrissy in her mom jeans and her bandana and her combat boots and her flannel (Eddie’s flannel)

and

and

and

There’s a fucking carabiner on her left belt loop.

And Steve has a sadistic grin in his eyes.

Oh my god. Did Steve out play her?

“Oh right, you’ve never met chrissy properly. I thought you two would get along” he smiles.

And Robin knows he’s bluffing. He’s being a douche canoe on purpose right now.

She’s giving him the “Are you serious” eyes and her whole face is red. Her whole body’s probably red.

“If I’m having a gay crisis you’re gonna have one too” he whispers before they sit down, respectively next to their gay crisis incarnate’s.

[lavenderstobins]

have we considered robin wearing steve's letterman jacket and chrissy is inexplicably upset whenever she sees her in it. she can't quite pinpoint why until she sees steve and robin laughing together when he picks her up and realises with a jolt that she's jealous... of steve

[frankenstein-ate-my-left-shoe]

omfg the hawkins family video is open 365 days a year

it is very damn well likely stobin have had christmas, thanksgiving, new years eve shifts!! why haven't i realized this???

AND they are open till midnight on fridays and saturdays which means that new years eve in 1988 is prime midnight kiss territory

source:

[wheneverfeasible]

link to prompt

~

Jim rubbed at his eyes which were pained in exhaustion, a headache blooming behind them. He released a heavy sigh before dropping his hand to stare at the nervous and embarrassed adventurer before him. He’d been advised against using the disgraced knight for the job, but Jim hadn’t been able to look past the man’s success rate.

Or the fact that he’d been the only volunteer to go up against the infamous demon lord who had been snatching up their virginal young women for whatever nefarious hell he was submitting them to in his lair.

“I sent you to slay the demon, not—”

“I brought Miss Buckley back!” Steve protested, hooking a thumb over his shoulder to indicate the most recent victim who looked just as put out as Jim did. Though she snorted when Steve hastily covered the gold on his hand with his other palm, while Jim just let out an aggravated sigh.

“To be fair, dingus, he was getting ready to toss me out anyways,” the young Buckley maiden pointed out. “Apparently he was getting tired of my ‘prattling,’” she scoffed at Jim, lifting her fingers in air quotes.

Steve shot her a dirty look. “Well I did convince him to let Lady Chrissy go, but she didn’t want to leave,” he huffed, as though offended at having his talents besmirched. As though the ring on his finger wasn’t mocking enough.

Jim let out another heavy sigh.

Steve turned back towards the warden of the realm with a small grimace. “Turns out Miss Holloway was taken by someone else too, Eddie said he didn’t tou—”

“Eddie?!”

Steve’s smile turned dopily fond, and Jim’s annoyance turned sharper when he heard three sets of giggles come from behind a nearby grate. He’d had to have another talk with the triplets (they weren’t really triplets, one being biologically his, one being from his wife’s first marriage, and one being adopted, but they certainly acted like it enough times) about eavesdropping on important business matters again.

“Yeah, Eddie,” Steve sighed like the lovesick. “He said he didn’t touch Miss Holloway, but he said he’d find her for you if you call off any more manhunts against him.”

“And I’m supposed to trust the word of a demon?” Jim scoffed.

“Hey! That’s my husband you’re talking about! I mean…oops,” Steve said with another embarrassed little smile.

Right. Jim had too much of a headache to continue these talks. He needed a stiff drink. Hopefully Benny didn’t mind opening the tavern’s bar a little earlier than normal today. He waved a dismissive hand, causing the man before him to grin.

“So I can go back to my honeymoon now?”

Jesus Christ. “Return with Lady Chrissy to collaborate your story, and your whatever has a deal,” Jim grumbled.

“Chrissy isn’t going to be too happy about that,” Robin muttered, but she walked up to Steve and gave him a grin. “Let’s go.”

“Robin, you can’t come with me,” Steve rolled his eyes.

“Yeah? Well who’s gonna keep Chrissy company while you let that drowned rat of a demon lord ravish your body?”

Steve’s face pinked up as the giggles in the grating turned to full fledged snickers. Yup. Jim was done and needed that drink immediately.

“OUT!” he bellowed, which his somehow successful hired hero and the demon’s latest victim seemed happy to do.

He was going to make Benny make that drink a double.

~

Hostage Hotties (open):

@derythcorvinus @katyawriteswhump @honeii-puff @scoops-aboy86 @dotdot-wierdlife @everywherenothere @bumblebeecuttlefishes

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

From Hell to Home to Back Again

Summary: At the talent show, Chrissy Cunningham is so hungry that she nearly collapses. When she's found by Hopper, her parents ended up losing custody of her. She ends up being placed in the care of the Hendersons, and she finally finds the family she so desperately needed. She also ends up falling in love. What other changes are made in this alternate universe?

@emen-98 @1lostsoul0fishbowl @vulpixsworld

Prologue . . . Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"The week is long. The silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west," Chrissy, Robin, Ronnie, Dustin, Steve and Eddie read together.

They had finally gotten the message translated. It was long after closing, and all the customers had left. They were the only ones left in Scoops Ahoy and in the mall. Chrissy still felt that sense of fear that something was wrong with Heather. It lingered in the back of her mind no matter how many times she reassured herself. She promised herself to call the Holloways when she got home. Hopefully it was nothing.

"It just can't be right," Steve said as he closed Scoops Ahoy.

"It's right," Robin replied.

"I think it's great news," Dustin said.

"How is this great news? So much for being American heroes?" Steve asked. "It's nonsense."

"You guys want to be American heroes?" Chrissy asked in amusement.

"It certainly would change people's perspectives of us," Eddie said and sighed. "As much as I try not to care about that. . ."

Chrissy and Eddie's hands swung together as they walked through the empty mall. Since no one else was here, Robin and Ronnie were doing the same. It was strange being in the mall alone at night. It made the hairs on Chrissy's neck stand up.

"It's not nonsense. It's very specific. It's obviously a code," Dustin said.

"What do you mean a code?" Steve asked.

"Like a super secret spy code," Dustin exclaimed.

"That's a total stretch," Steve said.

"I don't know, is it?" Robin asked. "I mean, after all that we have been through? With, you know, Higgins selling drugs to kids, Billy putting Chrissy in the hospital. . .Eddie's house blowing up because his father got him involved in a drug heist. . .and other things. . .okay, so let's say this is a secret Russian transmission, what do you think they're going to say? Blow the warheads at noon?"

"Yeah, okay, so you have a point," Steve frowned.

"She usually does," Ronnie said and then frowned. "I'm just going to ignore the other things that you won't tell me about. I trust you, I guess."

Robin looked guiltily at her and then shared a look with Chrissy. She looked back with sympathy, knowing how much you wanted to talk with your partner about these things but also knowing you couldn't. Robin quickly changed the subject back to the secret message, discussing with Dustin what it might mean. Meanwhile, Ronnie stared at her suspiciously. Chrissy had been watching them so closely that she didn't even notice that Steve had fallen behind. They found him putting quarters into a little horsey ride for kids. He fumbled with his change and cursed as it spilled all over the floor.

"Hey! I need a quarter," Steve said.

"Are you sure you're tall enough for that ride?" Robin asked and Eddie snorted with laughter.

"QUARTER!" Steve yelled urgently and Robin tossed him one.

They all watched him as he put the quarter in to start the machine.

"Need help getting up, little Stevie?" Robin asked, and Dustin laughed.

"Would you two just shut up and listen?" Steve asked as he pointed at the Indiana Flyer.

"Holy shit," Dustin realized. "The music. . .the music!"

"It was on the tape!" Chrissy gasped.

"Shit, nice catch, Stevie," Eddie said and clapped him on the shoulders.

"I don't understand," Robin said.

"It's the exact same song on the recording," Dustin told her.

"Maybe they have these in Russia," Robin said.

"An Indiana Flyer? I don't think so," Steve said.

"This code. It didn't come from Russia. It came from here," Steve said.

They all stared at the rocking horse in shock. Russians in Hawkins? No fucking way. Chrissy shared a look with Eddie. Well, there was another world under Hawkins. . .why not Russians, too?

"No way, that's insane. Russians in Hawkins, you've got to be shitting me," Ronnie said. "What would they be doing here? This is a joke, right?"

"Oh, yeah. Total joke. Got you!" Robin chuckled weakly.

"Okay, babe, you're a terrible liar," Ronnie said. "What the fuck is going on? What aren't you telling me?"

"What? I'm not - I am telling you the truth!" Robin exclaimed.

"I don't think any of you have been telling me the truth since Chrissy was put into the hospital," Ronnie sighed. "But whatever, if you don't want to tell me what's going on. Fine."

Ronnie walked off, far ahead of them. Robin watched her, looking sadly at her retreating form.

"She's not going to let this one go, is she?" Robin asked.

"She's Ronnie Ecker. Of course she isn't," Eddie said. "I hate lying to her, too."

Eddie put his arm around Robin and hugged her tightly. Steve moved to her side.

"Hey, if Nancy and I can get through this, then so can you and Ronnie," Steve said. "She's just mad because she cares about you, about all of us."

That night, they all went home with their thoughts running wild. Chrissy went to the phone and immediately called the Holloways.

"Hi, Mrs. Holloway," Chrissy greeted cheerfully.

She never really had a problem with her, but her husband, on the other hand. . .he was a real meathead. She knew Heather hated how much her mother drank, though, because of him.

"Oh, hello, Chrissy, how are you?" She greeted politely.

"Oh, I'm good, Mrs. Holloway," Chrissy said. "How are you?"

"Well, some days are better than others but I'm getting by," she said.

"That's good. . .well, I was calling to check on Heather to see how working at the pool went," Chrissy said.

"Oh, she absolutely loved it until that awful Billy fellow started working there. I know how much he bothers her. You're such a good friend for checking on her," Mrs. Holloway said. "Heather isn't here right now. She's spending the night at Tina's, I think. Hopefully, my baby will be a good influence on that girl."

Chrissy rolled her eyes. If only she knew. . .which she didn't. Heather's mother was usually too deep in her own problems to notice what was going on with her daughter. She didn't even know Heather was a lesbian or that she and Chrissy used to date. After talking with her for a while, Chrissy was finally released from the conversation and hung up the phone. She went to her room and plopped on her bed, feeling a sense of relief. Heather was with Tina. So. . .why did she still feel so worried? Chrissy rolled over and hugged Peggy to her chest, letting Eddie inside her head. She drifted off to sleep with Eddie's presence washing over her.

The next day, Chrissy was dragged to Scoops Ahoy by her very annoying brother. Robin was leaning against the counter with headphones over her ears as she looked over the translation again. Meanwhile, Steve was busy trying to cover for her. The last customer walked away, and the Hendersons took their place at the counter.

"Ready to scout the area for any. . .enemies?" Dustin asked cheerfully.

"Yeah, just hold on," Steve said as he took off his hat and apron.

"Oh, hey, I didn't ask. . .how's Nancy doing at the Newspaper?" Dustin asked.

"Oh, well, she actually has an investigation of her own going on. Something about the rats going crazy and eating fertilizer. . .I don't know what that's about, but Nancy's determined to crack the case even if those stupid misogynistic assholes at the paper try to stop her," Steve replied.

"Well, I'm sure Nancy will show them," Dustin said.

"Yeah, she's great like that," Steve said smiling fondly.

"STEVIE! DUSTY!" they heard a voice yell.

Eddie skidded into the ice cream parlor with a pair of binoculars around his neck. Breathing heavily, he stood in front of Dustin and Steve. He was wearing his cutoff shorts again and a stolen polo of Steve’s. He had torn off the sleeves as well. Eddie was wearing a bright pink scrunchy of Chrissy's in his hair. It wasn't that strange. They had all stolen each other's clothes from everyone amongst their friend group. Gareth had stolen a couple of pieces from Jeff and Eddie. One of them was a red flannel that he cut the sleeves off. Robin either stole from Tina or from Ronnie or Steve. Nancy, Chrissy, and Heather usually swap amongst each other. Robin always joked that no one would be able to tell if anyone was cheating. It was just something that they did.

"Jesus, I don't think the entire mall heard you, Eds," Steve said sarcastically. "Might want to yell a little louder."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. . .Reporting for duty, captain," Eddie said, and Chrissy cleared her throat. "Oh, hey, Chrissy. . .what are my orders?"

"And he greeted me like I wasn't his fucking girlfriend," Chrissy pouted.

"Oh, shit, no! Hi, my love!" Eddie exclaimed. "I swear I'm just excited about the quest."

"I'm really worried that you really are going to leave me for Steve," Chrissy said.

"What?! No, I love you!" Eddie yelped. "Baby, listen. . ."

Eddie pressed his forehead against hers, and she smiled as she felt his love for her pour through their connection. Chrissy sighed happily.

"I love you, too," She said and paused. "Okay, I've decided. You can go play your little spy game with Dustin and Steve."

"Yes!" Eddie exclaimed and kissed her deeply, pouring everything he had into the kiss.

Chrissy watched him fondly as he took off with her brother and Steve as they went to look for evil Russians. Ronnie had entered just as they had exited.

"Do I want to know?" Ronnie asked.

"No," Ronnie and Chrissy said.

"I came here with him, but the asshole took off when we came through the door," Ronnie said. "I figured he was excited to see you, Chrissy."

"At the end of the day, he'll come running to me when he tires himself out," Chrissy giggled and stepped aside to let Ronnie approach the counter.

"Are we okay?" Robin asked Ronnie.

"I thought a lot about it last night, and I can't force you to tell me if you're not ready to. It's just frustrating not knowing what's going on with the people I love," she said.

"I'm sorry, I wish I could tell you," Robin said softly.

"Well, that makes me feel a little better," Ronnie said. "I love you."

"I love you too," she said. "Does it make you feel even better to know that I wish I could kiss you?"

"It does. . .you still working on that message?" Ronnie asked.

"Yeah."

"Let me help."

" . . . A trip to China sounds nice if you tread lightly," Robin read the other part of the message to her.

Ronnie leaned against the counter, frowning thoughtfully. Yeah, Chrissy couldn't figure it out either. Before Ronnie could open her mouth, Erica Sinclair marched her and her friends into the parlor to take advantage of their company policy. Ronnie and Chrissy moved back to let Robin deal with her. Once that was done, they went back to it until a delivery guy dropped off a package for Scoops Ahoy, and that's when Robin connected the dots. The message was talking about the stores in the mall. It was a time and place for them to meet or to drop something off. Chrissy and Ronnie had stared at her like she was crazy as she stood up tall in the middle of the mall. Although, Ronnie looked at her more appreciatively. They had run into the guys on the way out, and they had followed after them.

"I cracked it," Robin said. "I cracked the code."

It was how they later ended up looking down at the back end of Starcourt wearing raincoats late at night as the rain came pouring down on them.

"The things I do for you," Ronnie muttered, and Chrissy giggled.

"There's your Russians," Robin said.

"What do you think in there?" Steve asked, talking about the boxes they were moving.

"Guns? Bombs?" Dustin asked.

"Chemical weapons," Robin said.

"Dragons," Eddie said, and they all looked at him. "What? Like that idea is totally out of the realm of possibility?"

"Well, whatever it is, they're armed to the teeth," Dustin said as he looked through Eddie's binoculars.

"Great, that's great," Steve said.

They watched as the Russians down below opened a set of double doors to put boxes inside a room.

"It's just more boxes," Dustin said.

Of course, Steve and Dustin had to fight over the binoculars. Their tussle ended up causing a ruckus and alerted the armed guards. They all quickly ducked for cover, and Chrissy squeezed Eddie's hand with hers. She noticed Robin, Ronnie, and Steve doing the same. They managed to make their way safely back inside and out of the rain.

"Well, I think we found your Russians," Robin told Steve.

"Holy shit! Russians really have invaded Hawkins. . .what the fuck?!" Ronnie exclaimed. "I mean, why would they come here of all places? What's so special about Hawkins?"

Chrissy shared an uneasy look with her brother, Eddie, Robin, and Steve. Ronnie definitely didn't miss the way the way they all tensed up, and she let out a frustrated yell.

"Still excited about your quest?" Chrissy asked Eddie.

"Not so much," Eddie said. "The minute I saw the guns. . ."

They all waited inside the ice cream parlor for the rain to let up, and then they all escaped the mall. Eddie offered to drive Dustin and Chrissy home, squeezing in the back of his van with their bikes. He dropped a quiet Ronnie off at her house, wincing as she slammed the door. Chrissy crawled into her spot.

"I hate when she's mad at me," Eddie nodded.

"She'll understand," Chrissy said softly.

"Is it really that much safer if she's left I'm the dark?" Eddie asked.

"We have no choice, Eddie, we all signed NDAs," Dustin spoke up.

"Yeah, I know," Eddie replied. "I just put her through hell before with lying to her and everything about what happened with my dad."

"Yeah, you put Chrissy through hell, too," Dustin said, narrowing his eyes at him. "Don't think that I forgot about that. Any, you can NOT tell because they'll cart all of us off to jail or juvie or foster care. Hell, maybe they'll kill all of us and cover it up. Whatever they do, I'd rather we keep our family together."

"Dustin!" Chrissy exclaimed.

"What? It's the truth!" He yelled.

"You could be a little more sensitive about it," Chrissy said.

"I don't know how anyone can soften the blow for that," he replied.

"By the way, I think you're being a little hypocritical for someone who ended up being the one that let it slip about all of this," Eddie said.

"That's exactly why I'm saying this, Eddie! I did all that to impress a girl! I brought something dangerous into the house! It killed Mews, but it could have killed Chrissy or our mom or you! Bringing you into all of this, it's my fault. I can't stop you from following me and making sure I'm safe and we have no other choice but to stop these bastards from coming into our home! We have to cause as little damage as possible, and we can't worry about NDAs or worry about more people getting involved when they shouldn't!" Dustin yelled.

It got quiet in the van, and a moment later, they heard Dustin sniffling. Eddie stopped the van and turned around.

"I'm sorry, shrimp," Eddie said.

"I'm just tired," Dustin said softly as he rubbed his eyes. "I just don't want anything to happen to anyone, but I also want all the shit that we've been through to mean something."

Eddie leaned over to wrap his arms around Dustin, hugging him tightly.

"You've got the biggest heart of anyone that I have ever met," Eddie said. "Never change, Dustin Henderson."

"I won't," he said and sobbed into Eddie's shoulder.

"You don't have to carry this crap alone either," he said. "Okay?"

"Okay."

"We're going to get through this together," he said.

Chrissy watched them fondly and let them have their moment before wrapping her arms around both of them. After all the tears were shed, Eddie pulled away and started the van back up. When they pulled up in front of their house, Chrissy turned to her brother.

"Why don't you go in? I'll be there in a few minutes," Chrissy asked.

"Why? What are you going to do to Eddie?" Dustin asked.

"Do you really want to know?" Chrissy asked and Eddie snorted.

Dustin huffed, pulled the door open, and slammed it before storming into the house.

"I love you," Chrissy said softly to Eddie.

"I love you, too," he replied and paused. "You know that I don't want anything to happen to Ronnie either."

"I know that," Chrissy said. "And Dustin does too."

"Do you think the reason that the Russians are here is because of the Upside Down?" Eddie asked.

"I can't think of any other reason they'd be here," Chrissy said.

"Yeah," Eddie said. "Fuck!"

"I'm tired of this shit, too, Eddie," Chrissy sighed.

The wall that they had put up earlier was still there, and Chrissy could feel it now more than ever. She hugged him but they didn't kiss goodbye and as she walked to the front door, she couldn't help but wonder why she didn't kiss him. Maybe she was just too tired. When Chrissy entered the house, she found their mother fussing over Dustin and his wet clothes. Claudia had immediately turned on her as well. After drinking hot chocolate and watching some TV with their mother, they went off to bed. Dustin had nodded off on the couch and nearly spilled his hot chocolate. Chrissy crawled into bed and curled up with Peggy Munson. Thoughts of Russians, Eddie, and Heather filled her head. It was too late to call Nancy and talk about it all with her, Chrissy thought as she drifted off to sleep. Shit! Steve said something about Nancy investigating rats, and she had been dreaming about rats. Chrissy fell asleep before she could question it further.

Chrissy was falling, and she was falling fast. She was in the void, and she could hear someone calling her name.

"Chrissy?!"

"Heather?!"

She appeared before Chrissy, looking gaunt and scared, tears running down her face.

"I just wanted to help. I know he hurt you, and even though he did that, I couldn't help but reach out to him. . .but there's something wrong with him, Chrissy. There's something wrong with Billy, and I don't know where he brought me. I don't know where I am," Heather sobbed.

"Heather, what happened?" Chrissy asked.

"He attacked me, and there was this monster. . . ," she cried.

"What monster?" Chrissy asked.

Suddenly, the void and Heather disappeared. Chrissy was standing in an old abandoned house.

"Chrissy. . .she does NOT matter to you," a voice in the darkness called out to her. "She's unimportant, unlike me. . .you shall soon discover. . .where your heart truly belongs. . ."

A dark figure came rushing out at her, and vines wrapped around her body. Chrissy screamed. Darkness overcame her.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

[formosusiniquis]

twins of the heart

Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington; Robin Buckley/Carol Perkins wc: 2141 | T | tags & themes: Meeting the SO; No-longer Secret Relationships; Humor & the Tiniest Hint of Angst For @stobinmonth Day 11: matching | AO3

“I'm not changing.”

“We are not meeting my girlfriend for the first time matching, Steven.” Robin crosses her arms, ironically -- probably he's never really understood that -- matching his stance as she stands across from him.

Standing beside their selected arm chairs -- Robin's plaid with low arms and a springy cushion and Steve’s sunken and leather with the tall back -- he feels like Clint Eastwood. In a standoff with Robin, who's a second cowboy he doesn't know the name of even after weeks of watching spaghetti westerns with Wayne. She's got a smirk on her face. 

She thinks he's going to give in.

“We're in agreement then,” he says, “you've got a closet full of other shirts go find one.”

Robin looks seconds from ripping his button up off his shoulders, like it's his fault she's finally realized how much fun the bright colors are instead of the neutral pattern clashing she used to do.

“Your closet is bigger, she's my girlfriend you go change.”

“No, I've got my whole outfit planned.”

“I don't care that you matched your shoes to your shirt.”

It’s true that he has done that. It's also true that he has a backup outfit that he could use instead. But something about the frazzled way she’s looking at him, the way she’s tugging at the ends of her hair is tapping into his inner need to be a problem.

So instead of going back to his room. Instead of continuing what could, without a doubt, be an hours long argument until she either gave up and went to change or they went to the restaurant matching. He takes a step forward, settles down into the embrace of his chair and crosses his leg over his knee.

“Let’s talk about why it’s so important this ‘first’ meeting goes well.” He puts the air quotes around first because he knows how much it annoys her. Clasping his fingers on his knee when he’s done. “Are you worried that this sincerity of matching with your soulmate will scare her away?”

“You’ve taken one psych class, and it was developmental psych. For children.”

“Is this hostility real, or is it an easier emotion to express than fear?”

“I hate you. I hate you. I don’t know why we’re doing this.”

It wouldn’t be hard to keep this bit going, but Robin’s stress is quickly moving from funny joke to actually concerning. “It’s Carol, babe. I probably know your girlfriend better than you do.”

“Great,” Robin claps her hands, spins in a circle like she’s about to go back to her room but thinks better of it. “You can stay home then and I can make that table for three a table for two instead.”

“Robs.”

“You have to change.”

“We’re meeting,” he says slowly repeating her question from earlier in the same cadence he uses with his daycare students, “because you want your two favorite people to get along and because you feel bad that you were secretly dating my old best friend for a whole month.”

“She’s changed.” Robin says.

“I’m sure she has,” he agrees. It would be stranger if she hadn’t. Of the three of them Carol had always been the smartest, the quickest to point out what they had missed. Picking at a stray cat hair his lint roller had missed, he wonders how long after he’d left that Carol realized he’d been right about them being dicks. Wondered how long before she stopped being so stubborn and did something about it too.

“You’ve changed.” She says slowly like she’s repeating the answer to a question he’s asked three times already.

That doesn’t feel fair to either of them, and he’s ready to say that, when Robin’s hand flapping distracts him. “Except you haven’t, you’re just Steve and you’ve always been Steve but what if she has changed and you all can’t stand each other.”

“Well you’ll have to break up with her then.” He uncrosses his legs, braces his arms on his knees, a mockery of that ‘I mean business’ pose that Hopper would take at the end of a lecture,

Only Robin doesn’t laugh. Her eyes drop down to her clasped, nervous hands instead.

“No.”

“I mean,” she starts to say the expression on her face almost as guilty as it was when he answered the phone just to be shot back in time at the sound of Carol’s complaining the second she hears the line open.

The snap of her gum and the, “Babe, you are not going to believe this.” Had been so jarring he’d had to check that he was in the shitty, smoke-stained kitchen in their apartment and not the white walls of his parent’s house. When he’d caught Robin’s eyes hers had been wide enough he could see the pink in the corners. Panic like he hadn’t even seen in the Upside Down.

“I’m sure I wouldn’t,” he had said, hearing the soft sound of Carol’s surprise through what’s passing for a connection. “I’ll pass you over to Robin now, Babe.”

That night she’d done what passes for grovelling: take out from the place he likes but she can’t stand, Some Like it Hot already playing on the TV.

They didn't like arguing and like apologies even less. Robin was sorry he was sure, even if he was less sure why she hadn't told him about Carol in the first place. She hadn't had any problem complaining about her when she realized they were sharing the same campus.

And now they were wearing matching shirts in their living room, minutes from being late to a dinner with a girlfriend she’s thinking about breaking up with. Maybe that's why she hadn't said anything last month or last week or any time in between when her “study sessions” at “the library” went late enough that they missed getting to see each other before work and bed.

Steve is fine being the voice of reason, even if hes not sure why he has to be. “You’re not going to break up with your girlfriend if we don’t get along.”

“I will break up with whoever I want to.”

“Robin.”

“Steve.” Her arms are crossed, pulled tight against her chest. 

He thinks they’re going to have to actually talk about this. Not just bicker and tease and ignore the places where the hurt feelings come from. Because hurt feelings aren’t them, they aren’t something they do. They’re Steve and Robin. They don’t fight, disagree, or really argue -- because not wanting to get pizza from the place twenty minutes away that doesn’t deliver for the second time that week is none of those things.

“Were you ever going to tell me you were even seeing someone? Or should I just be glad I didn’t walk in on you eating out in the kitchen.”

“There wasn’t anything to tell.” Robin snaps like a rubber band pulled too far: sudden and it’s break more surprising than painful.

“At some point there was, and since we aren’t actually attached at the brain I really don’t know what you’re thinking.” He keeps his voice level but now that the words are leaving his mouth it’s like the slow peel of a scab coming up. Fresh blood following the sting of an unhappy, unhealed wound.

He wishes he were, wishes he could know everything about her, and she him, instantly. Wishes thoughts and extensions and meaning could just be there immediately and obvious. 

But it isn't, they aren’t. Steve just has to deal with knowing there are things that will always be secret, meaning he may never even be aware he missed.

“You liked her and I didn't,” Robin says carefully, the first stuttering chugs of a train starting forward. It has to start before it can barrel on. “That’s how it started.”

Steve is still sitting, legs spread, and Robin’s hands are flicking back and forth, swaying in a miserable vogue as thoughts arrange themselves in her mind, she steps forward.  Stepping and putting herself in that open space, ending the argument they still weren't really having through her proximity.

“Then we both hated her and that was good,” Robin continues. “What if now that I like her, you still don’t?

“If you never meet again it’s never a problem,” she continues. “I won’t have to end things. Cause that’s what I’ll do, Steve, there isn’t a choice between you and someone else. It’s always gonna be you. You’re my person.”

“It’s always gonna be you too, Rob.” He settles his hands on her waist in an almost hug, contact so he can keep looking her in the face when he asks. “But why are all you nerds so black and white?”

She scoffs, a total not-answer he knows means she doesn’t know what to say because he’s right.

“I didn’t hate Care, I still don’t. I was mad at her and Tommy. Mostly Tommy. But it wasn’t like she was dead to me. We talked in class and at games. She moved here for school, we were busy with fighting evil. We lost touch.”

“You don’t hate her?”

“I hate like three people and two of them are dead already. Everyone else is just annoying.”

“So you’ll change?”

She asks it gently, like it should be accompanied by an upset child’s sniffle. He almost feels bad about the way he knows he’s going to answer. Turning the hold on her waist into an actual hug, Steve rests his chin on the soft muscle of her stomach, looking up into her chin, and says, “No. We’re already late.”

He’s laughing too hard to keep his feet under him as Robin pulls him out of the chair. When he stumbles up to standing, she squeezes his hand, hard, a punishment for being mean to her.

“I hate you. I hate you. I hate you,” she chants.

She’s still muttering it down their apartment hall, in the car, and up to the restaurant where her mildly pissy face melts into something soft and gooey.

Carol is already waiting looking polished and pressed as she always has. The mid-length skirt and the chin length hair suit her. If the fashion is any indication, the 90’s seem like they’ll be kinder than the last few years have been.

Steve drops Robin’s hand as Carol walks up, gives them the space to greet one another. A warm hug: hands drifting. A kiss to the cheek: lip gloss sticky and possessive. Kind doesn’t mean they don’t still need to be careful, their greeting never slips beyond what could be friends meeting up. 

And when they let go Carrie’s eyes, still soft, take on that sly pinch at the corner. She hugs him too: one arm, from the side, hands firmly in the zone of public decency. “This twin thing is cute.”

Robin groans so they can both hear all the ways that Steve has victimized her.

“I mean it, Birdie, “ she says. And Steve can hear the way age has sanded down some of her sharper edges. “Makes me hungry.”

Robin flushes, a deep red Steve can feel the heat of in his own face. “Really?

Some of her edges, not all. The look in her eyes revealing that sharp gleam he knows meant, at one point, that she and Tommy were going to disappear into a spare bedroom and leave him to fend for himself.

“I had meant literally.” If they disappear to fuck in the bathroom he’s leaving them with the bill.

But Carol shakes her head and puts the obviously dirty thoughts behind her. “I haven’t seen you two look this cute since the summer we graduated.”

Wait. 

“You didn’t ever come into Scoops.” Steve accuses. 

Carol’s complexion betrays her. “No, but Orange Julius was right across the food court.”

Robin is looking back and forth between them. And she was worried they wouldn’t get along. He’s about to give Rob the food to get Care riled up for weeks.

“You spend a lot of time in the food court that summer?”

“Freshman fifteen doesn’t count if it happens before the school year starts.”

“And the seats across from Scoops were the best in the room?”

“It had the best view, and I can remember more than a few freaks and geeks who would say the exact same thing.”

“Wait,” Robin says, “you were looking at…”

“Blue looks good on you,” Carol sways into Robin’s space, a leer on her face that suggests that Steve will have the apartment to himself tonight. Carol’s eyes cut up to him, a reminder that she hasn’t forgotten him or the purpose of tonight, “It looks alright on you, Stevie.”

“Yeah, big surprise who you think wore it better. You’ve always been easy.”

“We have that in common, looks like you match with both of us.”

[arelliann]

For @astrangersummer Week 1: short shorts & nail polish

I'm hoping to do a polaroid for every week of the event, mostly Steddie, a lil Stobin and Buckingham on the side, following them all on a summer road-trip

I'll be adding them all here

[anthotneystark]

A stobin headcanon that won’t leave me alone

Growing up with his parents being Like That, Steve sees things a certain way. Things are either practical and aesthetic or practical and not aesthetic. And things that are not practical do not belong. He learned this when he realized Tommy’s mom kept every school picture but his own mom didn’t. Keeping those pictures wasn’t practical, just like keeping old clothes wasn’t practical. The moment it stopped being up to date, it was gone.

As such, specifically with clothes because that was what he had the option to choose for himself, he only kept things that looked good, that made sense to buy because he wanted to look good, or that were practical, comfortable. The latter he refused to be seen in and was just a few things in his closet.

Enter Robin

Robin, who almost exclusively got second hand from older cousins and thrift stores, who learned early on that yes, practicality matters, but that doesn’t mean she can’t have fun with it. It’s all about finding that hidden treasure, the big score. And Steve’s closet? It’s expensive, it’s tasteful, it’s boring

She tries, in vain, to convince him to liven it up a little, but he can’t get over the mental hurdle of picking something because he likes it. He’s too stuck on appearances for a long time, because if he won’t look good, why have it?

This, outside of saving the world, is her life’s mission (his love life is a whole other issue that they’re working on jointly) so she tries to ease him into the idea. She takes him thrifting, shows him the process, the excitement of finding something great. They go window shopping in stores and she watches like a hawk to see what his eyes catch on, where he lingers before moving on because it’s “not practical”. She starts putting together a list of things he likes but won’t get for himself, trying to figure out something easy to convince him on because if she can convince him on something little, that’s progress.

And then it happens. His eyes catch and he runs his fingers over it, and then lets it go. It’s perfect. It’s a pair of socks, and it’s definitely not anything he’s already got. It’s a fun little pattern, dogs wearing hats, and she knows he needs to have them. It takes fifteen minutes of back and forth, sometimes just looks, before he hesitantly agrees to get them.

And so it begins.

Socks are the thing she focuses on first, fun ones and silly patterns and it’s a perfect compromise. It’s a practical item and he can have that little pop of fun without compromising his aesthetic. She’s prepared to go slow, and doesn’t push too much as life goes on. Out of Hawkins, out of college, out into the world where she knows her calling is language but doesn’t know where to go with it, where he finds his calling in working with kids and they both become teachers (she teaches Spanish and French and tutors other languages in the side if any of her kids are interested, he teaches phys. ed and health and makes sure all the kids have fun even if they aren’t good at sports).

She keeps working on it, with gradual success. By the time they’re discussing if they’re going to get a divorce to marry their actual partners, with Eddie and Chrissy watching in amusement as they both look sad at the thought (because this is my story and I say they lived) before telling them that actually, they’ve decided to get married too - “I want to have an affair with you, Stevie, you wouldn’t deny me of that fun would you?” - she’s been pretty successful. His closet still has some boring nice clothes in it, but it’s got his fun sock collection, band shirts from the concerts they’ve seen over the years, sweaters that are objectively ugly but that he enjoys so much it makes them beautiful, and so much more. He doesn’t think so definitively about if he’s going to like how he looks in things, but picks things with more weight on if he likes something for itself.

(She refuses to admit Eddie helped, but one time Steve had pulled on one of Eddie’s flannels and ripped jeans to go get the mail because he didn’t feel like getting his own clothes out and Eddie had been very quick to show Steve how much he liked that look on him. And, well, the flannel was soft, so it made sense to add some of those shirts to his wardrobe. And if he picked those because of their colors too, that was still practical)

I don’t know where else I’m going with this (other than Steve takes Robin’s last name and Eddie and Chrissy have a long, drawn out debate on what name to keep before deciding that they’re keeping Munson because Wayne is the deciding factor)

(Wayne also figures out one day that he’s suddenly got four kids who call him uncle Wayne and eventually some who call him grandpa and well, that’s everything he could ever want)

Oh and Steve’s students? They have running bets about which socks Steve will be wearing every day and every spirit week has a fun sock day that is unofficially known as Mr. Buckley day (some kids do the whole gym teacher style looks he has too, and he gets a kick out of it every time)

[artbean]

REBEL GIRL

by @annanevermore (nevertheless_5 on ao3)

“I cut my hair and it’s…not good. I know you can fix it. I should have gone to you first. I was just feeling annoyed and frustrated and suddenly tired of my hair, of all the expectations of looking like this…”

He could almost see her waving her hands at herself, even over the phone. She would make it look cute. He smiled at the mental image.

“Eddie, I need you.”

on to the second @strangerthingsreversebigbang! this one was an absolute blast and i’m thrilled to have put more platonic hellcheer content out in the world. make sure to check out the fic!<3

[fuctacles]

No escape

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

@genderthings Stobin at Work: Radio Hosts 413 | T | platonic Hellcheer and Stobin, pre Steddie and Buckingham | smoking weed, pining, wanted to give Steve another song to play but apparently metal wasn't a popular thing to air in the 80s huh, stobin is larry from gumball btw

Chrissy has dismissed every single tape from his glove box, determined to fiddle with the radio instead. Eddie doesn't mind because he gets to hog the joint for the time being, sprawled on the front seat.

"Told you you won't catch a station here," he says, puffing out a plume of smoke. "It's probably the trees."

They are parked as far as the van could go, opting for a lazy afternoon out. They have weed, snacks, swimsuits if the mood hits to take the short trip to lover's lake, and Eddie's guitar if the boys take their open invitation and want to jam.

"There's the local radio though, we should at least catch that," she protests, moving through static, stopping when she hears a song and then moving on again when she can't make it sound clear. 

"Hawkins has a radio?" Eddie raises his eyebrows. 

Chrissy throws him a look like he's stupid.

"What?! They probably play the most basic shit anyway," he waves his hand dismissively. "And small stations have even weaker signal, don't they?"

"Maybe." Chrissy shrugs, but focuses on her task again when a clearer sound comes from the speakers again. She adjusts the dials until Kate Bush can be heard in all her glory. She motions for the joint since her task is now done and Eddie passes it to her with an approving nod. At least it's not Duran Duran.

They sit and smoke until the end of the song and then look expectantly at the radio, awaiting the next track. 

"And that was "Running up that Hill" by Kate Bush for our dear friend Max. Hope you're having a great day!" the voice of the host comes on instead and Eddie inhales the smoke too abruptly. He starts to cough violently, his eyes watering. Chrissy grabs the joint away and pats him on the back.

"You're listening to Robin and Steve's lunch hour, where we air whatever we want!"

"Because it's our show!"

"And not yours!"

"What the fuck," Eddie wheezes out as they both stare at the radio in horror, the truth dawning on them. Their crushes are following them even through the radio waves.

"This song was super hard to get my hands on, so you better appreciate it. This is "Master of Puppets" by Metallica, for a good friend of mine," Steve announces.

As the song starts playing, Chrissy hands him the joint, but he raises his hand. 

"Keep it, I'm gonna light another."

tags: @blasvemous @wheneverfeasible @phantomcat94 @eyehartart

[stevieschrodinger]

Part One Five

“Robs!” Steve shouts through the apartment, toeing his shoes off at the door.

“Kitchen!”

Steve heads through, and he can’t help but notice something looks kind of off. It looks different in here but he can’t quite put his finger on it, “Robs, did you do something to your apartment?”

“Yeah, I cleaned it.”

“Oooh. Yeah,” Steve looks back through the kitchen doorway, “yeah, that’s what’s different.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Nice to see you too, bitch.”

“Fuckface.”

Steve frowns, there’s a cookbook propped open and actual like, fresh ingredients on the chopping board, “what are you doing?”

“Is that a rhetorical question because-”

“Robs, I have literally never seen you cook anything more complicated than eggs and toaster waffles, what is this,” Steve goes over to be nosy, “chicken satay skewers and bang bang cauliflower- what the actual fuck. I didn’t even know you knew what recipe books were.”

“Fuck off. And it’s for Chrissy, she said it’s her favorite-”

“Oh my god. I’m dead. I’m dead aren’t I. I got into a crash on the way-”

“Steve.”

“Alternate dimension-”

“Jesus Christ-”

“Abducted by aliens?”

“Steve, I can cook a nice meal for my girlfriend, alright, it’s not, like, illegal-”

“Your what?!”

She stops and actually turns to look at him, she’s wearing her absolute dead serious face, “Steve. I like her. A lot.”

“So now you’re what, fucking pregnant and barefoot in the kitchen-”

“Steve! Look. She’s clever. She’s funny. She’s kind. She calls me out on my bullshit and she is extremely hot doing it. She plays volleyball Steve. Volleyball. Have you ever seen girls play volleyball? Not only is it insanely aggressive but the shorts are so tiny they’re on the verge of disappearing up her crack and it’s socially acceptable for me to go out and watch that Steve.”

“Yeah but- you don’t have to like, date her to get all of that-”

“I do. I do Steve. Because I want to. We can’t just do,” she gestures vaguely, “this for our entire lives.”

“But whyyyyy?” Steve whines.

“Because we have to grow up at some point.”

“Yeah but...now?” Steve knows he’s pouting.

“Good a time as any, anyway, aren’t you literally about to go to dinner at Eddie’s uncles place? Literally the only notable family member that he has? His only parental figure and therefore the most important person in his life-”

“You can stop now.”

“I’m just saying that sounds kind of serious-”

“I will throw myself off the roof to get out of this dinner. Don’t test me.”

Robin completely ignores him, “I’ve seen how Eddie looks at you,” Steve scoffs, rolling his eyes, “Steve, that boy looks at you like he’d crawl a mile over broken glass to sniff your farts. Could you just like, appreciate that about him for thirty god damn seconds.”

Steve has a range of acceptable beer. He has picked up a six pack of something from uncomfortably near the bottom of that range. He takes a deep breath as he grabs it off the passenger seat.

Steve’s pretty sure he’s never been inside a trailer once in his damned life, and he has absolutely no idea what to expect. From the outside it looks...cramped. Steve’s certain his entire bedroom is bigger than this whole place.

Steve prepares himself to be polite about whatever he’s about to walk into.

Eddie fucking lights up when he opens the door, it makes Steve skin itchy while simultaneously something flaps about in his stomach, “oh wow, you bought the good beer!” Eddie looks thrilled as he takes it to put in the fridge.

Which he makes it to in about four steps because the kitchen is like, right there. And Steve’s taken one step in through the door and he’s already in the middle of the lounge, which is, efficient, he guesses.

“Here, come sit at the table, Wayne’s about done with dinner.”

“Errr...thanks.” Eddie indicates a place at a cramped little built in breakfast nook type thing, and Steve slides in just as Wayne appears from down the hall.

It was fucking awkward getting in, it’s even more awkward getting straight back out again so he can shake Wayne’s hand, “good to see you again Sir.”

Steve gets a firm handshake, and then not two minutes later he’s eating the first bite of what might be the best thing he’s ever put in his mouth. Wayne Muson makes a pot roast that should win a Michelin Star. Who could have fucking predicted that.