#ronance sick fic

[morganski-19]

The One with the Banishment

This is a continuation of the previous post, because the tags from @puppy-steve inspired me to continue it.

A few hours later, Robin is awoken from her own nap with a knock on the door. Steve asleep on the couch, head flopped on his shoulder. Snoring. She unwraps herself from her blanket, heading for the door.

“Oh god,” she says when it opens to Eddie wrapped in a blanket, pale as a ghost.

“Nancy said you have soup,” he whispers, voice hoarse.

Robin groans, knowing that Nancy had more cans of soup. Or could just make something. There’s an ulterior motive here.

“Get in here.” Robin steps out of the way to let him through.

Eddie waddles through the door to the living room. Looking confused when he gets there.

“Sit next to Steve.” Robin nudges Steve.

Steve jolts awake, sucking in so much air is sends him into a coughing fit. Robin makes a disgusted face as it continues into a sniffling mess. He turns to grab some tissues but sees Eddie next to him. Making the most delirious confused face ever. “I’m not hallucinating him here, right?”

Eddie laughs, which also sends him into a coughing fit. “In your dream, Harrington,” he gets out between coughs.

Robin stares at the ceiling, taking a deep breath. “I’m going to kill her. I swear, I’ll do it.”

“Who are we killing,” Steve slurs out after making way too much noise blowing his nose.

“Nancy.”

He pulls the blanket back up to his chin with a shiver. “Why, Nancy’s so nice.”

“Not that nice,” Eddie rasps. “She sent me over here just so she doesn’t have to deal with me.”

Steve makes a half angry face, eyes fighting to stay awake. “That’s not nice.”

Eddie tries to make a dramatic gesture, but his arms fall when they get halfway through the air. “I know.”

“What a bitch,” Steve concludes, looking like he’s going to fall asleep again.

“Right now, I’d have to agree.” Robin nudges Steve awake again. “Don’t fall asleep, you need more cold medicine. And to eat something.”

Steve rolls his eyes but sits up straighter anyway.

“Eddie, when’s the last time you had cold medicine?”

Eddie shrugs under his blanket, somehow shivering.

Robin nods, annoyed. “Great. Please hold.” She walks across the hall and bangs on the door. Nancy opens it with a sorry smile.

“Hey, Robbie. Soup not good? Need more tea?”

“You sacked Eddie with me so you don’t get sick, didn’t you.” She crosses her arms.

Nancy looks guilty. “Sort of. If you don’t mind.”

“Like he’ll have enough energy to make it to the bathroom let along across the hall again. And if he’s fine bunking with Steve, I don’t really have a problem with it. I just need all the cold medicine you have since I’m playing nurse.”

“That’s fair.” Nancy heads to the bathroom and comes back with a few things of cold medicine and a bag of cough drops. “Here’s all I have. I gave Eddie this about four hours ago, so he should get more soon.”

Robin takes it. “Thank you. I expect a few more cans of soup and another box of tea in my apartment by dinner tonight.”

“Don’t you think that’s pushing it a little bit?”

Robin glares at Nancy. “I’m already regretting leaving them unsupervised for this long.”

Nancy winces. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll go get some for you.”

“Thank you.”

When Robin gets back to her apartment, Steve and Eddie are having some kind of conversation. Or it at least seems like one. They’re grunting one after another, if that’s what it is. Honestly, they sound a bit like birds.

She silently closes the door behind her and places the medicine on the counter. Takes out her phone to take a video of them, evidence for later. Also, because Argyle would love to see this.

And he does, sends a message back saying that they sound like penguins. It makes Robin burst out laughing, Steve and Eddie trying to look back to see what’s wrong. She waves them off, starting to warm up the soup on the stove while trying to stop laughing.

“Yay, drugs,” Eddie whispers when Robin hands him more cold medicine. Making Steve go into a cough-laughing fit again. Robin should get paid for this shit.

She brings them the soup when it’s done. In their fancy bowls with handles on the side so they can drink it better. It’s interesting to watch them eat, but the steam clears up their noses enough so they can breathe.

Nancy knocks on the door later that afternoon, a bag full of soup and tea standing outside the door when Robin gets it.

Robin: You could have waited for me to answer the door

Nancy: Not going to risk it

Robin: Jesus Christ

Steve and Eddie had fallen asleep on top of each other. Each halfway leaning towards the middle of the couch, the only thing holding them up being each other. Robin takes a few pictures, debating to wake them up for more medicine.

But she doesn’t have to this time. A few minutes later, Eddie is pushing off the blanket and accidently hits Steve in the face. Making him hit Eddie in the head with his own when his reflexes kick in. They both wake up with a groan.

Robin laughs again. “You two are the most helpless idiots I will ever know.”

“You’re mean.” Eddie sits up, rubbing the spot where Steve’s head hit him. Steve sits up too, holding the cheek that was elbowed. Robin gets them both an ice pack. Then more medicine.

Later that night, Robin makes them stand up so she can rearrange the living room to pull out the bed from the couch. It’s their rule whenever one of them is sick. Much easier to sleep in the living room so there’s less obstacles to run into when going to the bathroom. She makes up the bed and lets them fall into it.

They fall asleep almost instantly, with weird sick snores because they can’t breathe that well right now. She heads to the bathroom, takes an extra long shower to scrub off as many germs as she can. Even if she knows that’s not exactly how it works. Takes her temperature and refills her little pocket hand sanitizer. She’s good for now.

The next morning, Steve and Eddie are a sick pretzel. Eddie’s blanket thrown across the room at some point, so he stole Steve’s. Pulling both Steve and the blanket on top of him since he was completely rolled in it. Half of their limbs hanging off of the bed, with one wrong move the rest of their body would follow.

Robin laughs and takes out her phone, taking a picture and sending it to Nancy.

Robin: Look at our boys

Nancy: Omg, they did that in their sleep?

Robin: Yep

Nancy: How are they?

Robin: Don’t know, haven’t woken them up yet

Robin: Needed evidence of this

Nancy: Let me know when you do

Nancy: I can’t keep Eddie away from his things for too long, just until he’s not contagious anymore

Robin: Thanks for sacrificing me again

Robin: Makes me feel so appreciated

Nancy: I already apologized and bought you food, what else could you possibly want

Robin: I’ll think of something

A message from Argyle pop up of Robin’s phone, making her burst out laughing again.

Argyle: Maybe we could convince Eddie to give Steve a rock and then they’ll be penguin married

Robin: I just laughed so hard I woke them up

Argyle: Oops, sorry dude

Robin: Don’t be, that was hilarious

Robin: It also would stop their dumbassery

Argyle: That it would indeed

Eddie wakes up with a coughing fit, the extra weight of Steve definitely not helping. After the initial confusion, Steve manages to role himself off of Eddie and lays on his back, struggling to breathe. Robin takes a deep breath, grabbing the cold meds and doing it all over again.

Tag list (let me know if you want to be added or taken off) @slowandsteddie, @annieofhearts, @cacdyke, @ubpd, @captain--low, @thespaceantwhowrites, @goodolefashionedloverboi, @anne-bennett-cosplayer, @lunaticparisianlady, @apomaro-mellow, @dolphincliffs, @dragonmama76, @maggiebug417, @stevesbipanic, @fearieshadow, @eightpackdiaz, @au79burger @bookworm0690 , @practicallybegging, @potato-of-the-lord, @autumncrocusandladybug, @estrellami-1

[disastercomingfaster]

I would like to mention this is not my gif, this is the work of @yellenabelova and it was perfect to go with the story!

Summary: The Fruity Four have plans to travel to a metal show for the weekend. However, plans change once the group realizes that Robin is too sick to go. Nancy stays behind with their dog, Scoops, to help nurse her girlfriend back to health.

If you are looking for a story with more Steddie than Ronance, sorry! This is a Ronance driven story but it does have some Steddie.

Please let me know what you think! I haven't done a Stranger Things fanfiction before, but I'm a huge fan of the Fruity Four and I wanted to see what I could do.

[pitrechore]

why has ronance smut fics dried up?! I have SO MANY IDEAS. if anyone wants some inspiration and wants to write THEN I WILL GIVE YOU THESE IDEAS I NEED THEM PLS. sick of seeing the tag as new fics but its just steddie 😫

[fluffansmut]

Masterlist

Eddie Munson x reader

I’ve got you sweetheart - smut, aftercare, fluff

I can tell - sick fic, hurt/comfort

Use your words - smut, Dom!Eddie, Sub!Reader

12 fics of Christmas - Christmas themed stories, fluff, smut, hurt/comfort

Clear your head sweetheart - smut, Softdom!Eddie, Subby! Reader

Are you leaving? - angst, hurt/comfort, fluff.

I can never be her - angst, hurt/comfort, fluff.

Clementine - hurt/comfort, fluff

You’re the one I want - angst, fluff

Hellfire fuck -smut

Like you haven’t done that - three parts, smut, established Jancy and Jopper.

part1

part2

part3

Eddie x fairy!reader , part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5 - fluff, fairy & crybaby!reader, blurb

Fairy’s first Christmas - advent calendar, fluff, fairy!crybaby!reader

Steddie

Lean on me - hurt/comfort, friends-to-lovers

Ronance

Use your words - light smut, Dom!Nancy, Sub!Robin

We’ll be down for dessert -smut, insecure!Robin

Ronance x reader

Take it like a good girl - smut, Dom!Nancy, Softdom!Robin, Sub!reader.

Jancy

How was the pullout?- smut

The fruity four

They seem a bit…queer? - teaser, steddie, Ronance

What if-ing - steddie, ronance, slight smut, fluff

Jim Hopper & Wayne Munson

Hawkins unofficial support group for unofficial fathers - hurt/comfort, fluff, slight angst

[shares-a-vest]

Lily. 32. she/they. Aus. Aquarius.

Currently Working On: Trying to get back into writing and my wips.

I am also obsessing over 9-1-1. My unhinged thoughts and reblogs can be found under the tag lily watches the weewoo show (I'm contemplating making a sideblog, so watch this space)

writing wip | talking | answering | fic recs tag

Joanie Munson AU: A fluffy ongoing AU focusing on Steve, Eddie, their bio daughter, Joanie, and their many cats. Eddie is trans. Most fics can be read stand-alone. No set schedule or tag list.

Platonic Stobin | Platonic Edancy | Ronance | Clarkson | Stargyle Rockie

Family Video Shenanigans: Shenanigans set at Family Video. Featuring Platonic Stobin, Steddie, and other ST characters.

Sick Fics | Post-s4 Healing Steddie | Steve Has Bad Parents™ | Vampire Eddie

Sportsball Eddie: Wherein Eddie suffers through (or enjoys) having a jock for a boyfriend. Mostly me projecting as I work through my complicated feelings about Australian sportsball.

👕🧥: Writing focused on clothes, hair etc. Typically inspired by the ST actor's other roles. Aka, I treat Steve and Eddie like they are my favourite Barbie Dolls.

STWG Daily Drabbles: Varying degrees of 'drabble' based on daily prompts from the Stranger Things Writer's Guild discord server.

Headcanons: Mostly Steddie. Plus appearances from other ST characters and the relationships listed above.

He's Gonna Save Me, Call Me Baby (wc: 1.1k | Rated: T | cw: Alcohol Consumption, Open-Ended - Happy) | Steve waits for Eddie at The Hideout and thinks over his failed relationship with Nancy. Written for the STWG Hozier Project.

I don't like sand. it's coarse, and rough, and irritating, and it gets everywhere (wc: 2.1k | Rated: T | cw: Alcohol Consumption) | Steve just wants to take Eddie on a romantic date to Lover’s Lake. But they quickly find themselves battling a new enemy: sand. Written for Lex's Spicy Six Fanworks Challenge (Summer 2023).

Eds, I'm Hungry (wc: 3.2k | Rated T) | Steve and Eddie being sickly lovebirds as they talk over a post-coital midnight snack. Written as part of Steddie Week, May 2023.

Joanie's First Word (wc: 1.4k | Rated: G) | Wayne Munson is spending the holidays with the boys and his granddaughter. But he doesn't expect to become an integral part of a key milestone.

you should come live with me and we can be pirates, then you won't have to cry (wc: 5.8k | Rated: G) | Steve and his mother have been packing up the house and in the process, he tells her about the Upside Down and his relationship with Eddie. Written for Lex's Spicy Six Fanworks Challenge (Spring 2023).

(Individual posts contain links to the original event blogs and event creators)

Steddie Microfics (Ongoing) | Flufftober Spring Edition 2024 | Steddie Love Month 2024 | Steddiemas 2023 | Eddie Month | Steddie Week 2023 | Platonic Stobin Month | Fruity Four Advent Calendar

[puppy-steve]

✨ stranger things fic rec pt 3 ✨

the last installment! see you at the end of the year!

mostly steddie with some ronance/fruity four/platonic stobin sprinkled in. heed the ratings, there's a healthy amount of smut.

fics in this installment: 66 fics in total: 196

as per usual:

-all fics are in alphabetical order -please tell me if the links are broken/linked wrong

more fic recs my own works

and, as always, please leave kudos and comments, and reblog this post!

quels beaux minets ont adopté un chat - T, 1.5k, 1/1 orangebandit

In all my rage, I am still just a tiny black kitten in a cage. Or Eddie brings home a stray.

Right Locker, Wrong Time - E, 10/10 FeatherForARose (@steddiealltheway)

Way before Hawkins goes to Hell, Eddie gets a note from Steve Harrington to meet him in the bathroom. Of course, the note isn't meant for Eddie, but both boys are surprised when they wish it was. This leads to a series of secret hookups and the inkling of a secret relationship.

Safe Space - G, 2/2 wayfarers0

He doesn’t respond. A tape falls from the shelf, and he doesn’t try to pick it up. He feels the world spinning around him, patterns forming in his vision all of a sudden. He hadn’t eaten breakfast, and he wonders for a second if he’s just feeling woozy from hunger, but as he blinks over in Robin’s direction, it’s taking him more time than usual to form words. To be able to interpret the scene he sees before him. He closes his eyes and sees the characteristic blur of light making his field of vision resemble broken glass which signals that pain is on the horizon. ________________________ When Eddie is out of town over New Year's, Steve gets hit with the migraine from hell whilst at work and his options for a ride home are limited.

Shotgun My Love - G, , 2.1k, 1/1 mctav1sh

Jonathan's first time smoking pot, romance ensues.

Six Kids and a Winnebago - E, series Oddree13

The story of how Steve Harrington gets his six kids and Winnebago...in the way he least expects to.

smoke in my throat, your hands in my hair - T, 1k, 1/1 perseuswrites

Eddie tilts his head up, Steve can't seem to make his blush go away. Eddie lifts the joint to his mouth, breathing in the smoke. Eddie leans down, using his thumb to nudge Steve's mouth open. He blows the warm smoke into Steve's mouth, "Breathe in and hold it until I tell you otherwise but let it out if you feel like you can't do it okay?" Eddie's voice is dripping with love and gentle warmth and Steve is drowning in it.

Sonnet 47 - E, 1.9k, 1/1 ZachwyBuwnzie

Eddie reads Steve some poetry, too bad Steve has a voice kink.

soothe your soul, just take his hand - T, 6.3k, 1/1 releaseideas

“Where did you go, Steve? Backstage to blow him real quick?” Robin teased, elbowing Steve’s side. “No you freak, he was showing me the back room so if my migraine starts acting up I can lay down.” Steve kept blinking, but his vision wasn’t getting any better. “Steve, if you’re expecting a migraine are you sure you should be here?” Nancy asked with such sincerity. “I mean, probably not? But I really wanted to come and only after Eddie asked did it start acting up.” “Doesn’t mean you should be here. Dude, you gotta take care of yourself before coming to watch your hot boyfriend play guitar,” Argyle supplied, which he was absolutely right, even though he wants to listen to his boyfriend’s band and watch his curly hair bounce from the head banging, he shouldn’t be here. “Thanks, dude. You’re right, but we’re already here. I’ll just stay for the first hour and I will leave right after. You guys stay if you want, alright?” - aka: steve goes to a corroded coffin concert but doesn’t realize how much live music will trigger his migraines.

soothing like honey - G, 5.2k, 1/1 RejectsCanon

Eddie hates being sick. The one thing he hates more than being sick is being sick alone. He absolutely hates it. He does everything in his power to avoid getting sick. He avoids sick people like the plague (ha). If someone he sits by in class is sick, then he’s skipping that class for the week. If one of the Hellfire members is sick, Hellfire gets canceled that week and he eats lunch outside. If Wayne gets sick Eddie plies him with chicken noodle soup and vitamins and medicine until he’s better again. But then, after being in the Upside Down, after the world has almost ended, after it’s all over, Eddie gets sick.

Steddie Amnesia Verse - E, series purpleweekend (@blushweddinggowns)

“How are you feeling?” Steve asked, all wide-eyed and caring. Eddie gaped at him, fully aware that his entire face must be red. He was trying to form words, he really was, but Steve single handedly put the brakes on that. Why was Steve Harrington holding his hand? Why was Steve Harrington calling him baby ? Why did he kiss him, like it was the most natural thing in the world?

Steve Harrington Needs A Hug - T, series Babybuckleydiaz

“My old man was an asshole, and my whole life I thought I would be glad of the day he was finally gone.” Steve finally started, and this time Eddie does feel startled by the sudden confession being made, but of course that was no secret to either of the Munson men. John Harrington was in fact an asshole and Steve has been so much better off without the man in his life, both him and his wife who never lifted a single finger to keep her only son safe. - - - “You still loved him, Stevie. And that’s okay, you’re allowed to mourn the father that you could have had. You’re allowed to.” - - - “It doesn’t make you a bad person, Steve. For that part of you to be glad he’s gone because he can’t hurt you.” Steve snorts. “Doesn’t it? He was a father, Max.” - - - aka: Steve's father dies and he has no idea how to feel about it

Steve's House Becomes A Home - G, series cat1beth

Steve and Robin have a bunch of sleepovers after the events of season 3 (and eventually 4) to fight the nightmares and loneliness what happens when it starts affecting things his parents will actually notice, like the grocery list?

stuck between your tongue and teeth - E, 3k, 1/1 Adure (@toburnup)

Steve notices it from the very first time he and Eddie have sex. Eddie is - quiet.

subtext (something i can't quote put my fingers on) - T, 3.4k, 1/1 Adure (@toburnup)

"What's that?" Robin points directly. The mark is red and dark, sitting low on the back of Steve's neck. Steve slaps his hand over it and turns away, his magazine abandoned on his lap. Robin continues, "Is that a bug bite? It's tick season, Steve. Seriously. Ticks can you give you lyme disease, are you feverish? If you feel lethargic-" "No! Jesus, Robin." He's blushing now, tips of his ears bright red and averting his gaze. "It's nothing, leave it alone. It's fine." But he's keeping his hand covering it and she can't help but eye him suspiciously. "Is that a-" "Please stop." "- love bite?" (Five times Robin suspects something between Steve and Eddie, and one time she figures out she's right.)

talkin' sweet and lookin' fine (i get kinda hectic in side) - T, 4.5k, 1/1 coupe_de_foundre

Sinking back against his pillow, Eddie kisses back with fervour, fisting his hands in Steve’s hair and tugging until he draws an intoxicating whine out of Steve, swallowing the sound eagerly. They’re so lost in one another that they don’t hear the door to Eddie’s bedroom opening, don’t realise that they’re no longer alone until there’s a very much disgusted groan from the other side of the room. “My eyes!” Max squeals, throwing her hands over her face. But not before launching a random shirt their way. It lands on Steve’s bare back. “Gross! Guys, it’s seven-thirty!” “Exactly!” Steve cries back, dropping his head onto Eddie’s chest with a frustrated groan. “It’s seven-thirty, what the hell are you doing here?” * or, 5 times they can't get any privacy, and one time that they do (well, sort of)

temptations of trouble - G, 2.8k, 1/1 MacksDramaticShenanigans (@stevethehairington)

Eddie ignores the flip flopping in his stomach as he meets Steve’s gaze and fits his palms to either side of Steve’s jaw. Cradles his face like he’s something special now. (Because he is.) And then he leans in to kiss him. Right on those pretty pink lips of his. It’s short and sweet like it always is, but when Eddie pulls back and opens his eyes, he’s met with Steve’s, wide as fucking saucers, goggling unblinkingly back at him. He can feel Robin’s stare boring into the side of his face, can feel the tiny pinpricks of Nancy’s and Jonathan’s and Argyle’s on his back too. The whole room is quiet enough to hear a god damn pin drop. Eddie is about to open his mouth and ask what the hell that’s all about when it finally catches up with him. He just fucking kissed Steve fucking Harrington. On the mouth.

Ten Long Years - N/A, 3/3 Blink23

It’s addressed to Edward Munson, but the preprinted Hawkins High address makes Steve flip it over and break the seal with his finger, knowing Eddie won’t care. It’s probably some sort of fundraising thing; they need a new gym, last he heard from Joyce, and had been annoyingly trying to get money from everyone in the town. That's not what it is at all, and Steve has to read it twice to make sure he hasn't lost his mind. Hawkins High Class of ‘86 Reunion! Steve snorts. Please join your fellow Tigers for a day of fun and reminiscing after ten long years. It’s the last thing he wants.

Thanks for the Memories - M, 10/10 oceanwaves23

Robin Buckley thought nothing could be more confusing than waking up with a pounding headache, in a room she didn't recognize, next to Steve 'The Hair' Harrington. But that was before Steve informed her that it was 1986 - not 1984 as she previously believed - and that apparently they were best friends. Or: After a bike accident, Robin loses 2 years worth of memories and has a lot of questions about how her life turned out. Much to her surprise, Steve and Nancy are there to help.

the aftermath (as documented by eddie munson) - T, 20k, 1/1 ikawritesthings

A look into the effects of the Upside Down on Steve Harrington, through the eyes of his boyfriend, Eddie Munson. (And the one time it has effects on Eddie, too.) 5 + 1

the backseat lovers - T, 1.9k, 1/1 froggieyama

maple syrup and purple sweaters. or: steve harrington really loves eddie munson

The Best Thing - N/A, 1.1k, 1/1 Katie_Armstrong

Eddie and Steve spend one morning together before school, loving each other and longing for a better future, one where they don’t have to hide inside a small trailer.

The DMs - G, 1k, 1/1 Lullabyebye

Will talks with Eddie about Dungeons and Dragons, and homosexuality. Kind of.

The Hellfire Shirt Incident - T, 4.9k, 1/1 god_hates_tyler (@bisexual-cryptid)

Steve wears Eddie's Hellfire shirt to work after spending the night at his place. When the kids come in to ask him for a favor, they come to the logical conclusion that Steve must have joined Hellfire Club. Steve, at a loss for what to do, confirms their suspicions so he doesn't have to explain that he didn't actually join Hellfire, he and Eddie are just dating.

The Monster Mash - E, 4.3k, 1/1 kazookakaka

Steve and Eddie throw a Halloween party, but get distracted getting ready. Steve ends up helping Eddie make his costume look a little more authentic.

The Most Popular Make-Out Spot - M, 5.2k, 1/1 Sociopathic_Otter

After watching season 4, I had to make a fic for the love between Hawkins' mother and Hawkins' hero. It's inspired by Steve's little conversation to Dustin about Skull Rock. Steve and Eddie have been in my brain non stop - and as a fellow D&D metalhead/punk freak, Munson owns my heart. Right on the kin list, and right in the special interest box he goes.

The Parentification of Steve Harrington - E, 8.3k, 1/1 IAmTheUnsub

“I didn’t know you had a sister, Harrington”. Steve laughs, but it’s a shaky imitation of the laughter Eddie had heard plenty of in the year since they’d walked through hell together and come out the other side. “Neither did I, until last night. My mom just turned up and dropped her off. She hasn’t been home in like a year, man. I didn’t even know she was pregnant”. Dustin, as per usual, has no tact when he asks, “So she just left her here? She just gave you a baby? Are you a dad now?!” *** Steve and Eddie have been pining for a year and all it takes for them to get their shit together is Steve becoming a dad.

the songs on the radio are okay, but my taste in music is your face - G, 1.7k, 1/1 Lullabyebye

Steve likes roadtrips and Eddie agrees to go on one with him.

the steve situation - T, 2/5 shrack

Eddie and his friends go to Scoops Ahoy, but Eddie's not expecting Steve to be standing behind the counter.

Third Wheel - T, 1.1k, 1/1 ticklishraspberries

When Dustin finds out that Steve and Eddie are dating, it’s like nothing changed.

Three years in Three Days - M, 2.9k, 1/1 dragonfruiit

Steve needs a cry

thunder only happens when it's raining - T, 936, 1/1 fragilethings

In the spring of 1987, a year after the world ends but doesn’t, Steve buys a little two bed house on the outskirts of Hawkins.

Thunder Road - T, 2/2 stellarpoint

Steve’s right hand leaves his hip and curls around Eddie’s arm, pulling it closer to study the black bats swooping down his forearm. He traces the swarm, and then slides his hand up to Eddie’s bicep, running over the wyvern curled on the underside of his arm. His touch moves up to brush Eddie’s hair away from the spider tattooed just under his clavicle. He glances up and sees Eddie staring down at him, biting the inside of his cheek. “Can you try something for me?” Steve asks. “Yeah.” “Close your eyes,” Steve instructs. “Please. Just focus on how it feels. Don’t think about how it looks.” Or: Steve has nightmares; Eddie has scars. They work through that together.

Tiny Geniuses - T, 3.9k, 1/1 crow_of_crimes

Robin’s ears are tiny geniuses. She is five years old, and already they hear and repeat English, French, and Italian fluently. Her favorite songs are in Italian, her favorite books in French, her favorite jokes in English. Her parents adore their little genius and fill her up with as much as love and art as her tiny self can take. And she’s always, always looking for more. She’s going to be a genius one day, they think. A famous actress, a singer, a brilliant writer. Whatever she wants to be. Robin’s ears are tiny geniuses, and they hear love. - Steve’s ears are tiny geniuses. He is five years old, and he knows a language of growls, glares, and heavy footfalls. He’s going to grow up to run their business, they tell him when they’re sleepy enough not to be angry. And he can’t do that if he’s stupid or a pussy, you understand? He understands. Steve’s ears are tiny geniuses, and they hear anger.

to live my own way - E, 21k, 1/1 Macellarius

Under a much different circumstance, Eddie would have loved to have Steve’s eyes looking over him like that, would love to have that determination focused on him, but Eddie is very much dying, he knows it, so he smiles at Steve’s misplaced confidence instead, “High expectations, Stevie. Where’d you learn to swing like that anyway?” “I’ll tell you,” Steve’s voice is a bit shaky, his tone wavering, even as he puts on a brave face, “but you have to stay alive, Munson.” If he had more strength, he’d consider testing his luck one last time, tease Steve by asking if he swings for Eddie’s team, but- he’s tired. Dying young. What a fucking nightmare. Or, what if the Party defeats Vecna in time, and Eddie lives?

Turn To Hate - T ,3k, 1/1 dontshift2me

Setting aside the awkward nature of 'I used to date your sister and it's still kind of weird', aside, Steve Harrington is pretty sure he’d kill a guy to keep Mike Wheeler safe if he had to. Fighting off demonic monsters from the hell dimension resting below your hometown tended to craft a bond that not even the moody temperament of a teenage boy could break. Which is why Steve wasn’t exactly shocked to receive a phone call at 11am on a Tuesday to “Please come pick up Michael from school and sign his suspension slip.” AKA Mike Wheeler punches a guy at school, which makes Steve both proud and absolutely terrified.

Twistin' Like a Flame - G, 885, 1/1 BoudicaMuse

It's 2am, the night after they just moved into their new apartment. After a long and tiring day, Eddie should be passed out, but the heat's keeping Steve up. And if Steve can't sleep, then neither can Eddie.

Under Pressure - M, 28k, 1/1 ForgottenFrog

When he finally did present, Steve was pretty sure he was cursed. He believed this for two reasons; one was that his parents were home, something that happened a few times a month at the most these days. The second was that he was an omega. - Steve tries to hide away all the sharp-edged pieces of himself until he can't anymore.

Unsafe Bet - E, series LexiRoseWrites (@lexirosewrites)

This is the A/B/O teen drama movie you’ve always wanted to read. You know your favorite cheesy/angsty/emotional flick that you still put on regularly, knowing exactly how it will end? Yeah, it’s that. There’s hormones, hijinks, and Harrington. What more can I offer you?

vampire murder boyfriends <; 3 - E, series PettyMermaidsGf

And Eddie can’t fucking take it anymore, can’t hold back any longer, a growl tearing from his throat before he bites Steve all the harder, sinks his teeth and tongue into the wound and *drinks*. The hunger still burns at the back of his throat but the worst of it’s abated as he laps and sucks at the blood there. Steve lets out a deep, shuddering breath at the insistent press of his mouth, his sleek, sharp fangs, and murmurs, “Please…don’t stop, keep going” as Eddie mouths at his neck and gives a mindless, sharp thrust into the delicious heat of Steve’s body.

Wait By The Phone - M, 6.4k, 1/1 thefatedthoughtofyou

Steve's aunt comes to town while his parents are away. Steve may or may not tell her about Eddie. She obviously can't wait to meet him.

We Are Not Bullshit - G, 1k, 1/1 sakinneadua_x

Robin convinces Nancy, Steve, and Eddie to go to a party. Steve has to make sure Eddie knows that he loves him. ---- or Steve tells Eddie that he isn't bullshit.

We're Words Without a Rhyme - E, 4.5k, 1/1 emchant3d

Eddie's always restless, always fiddling, and Steve can't help how his eyes drop down to how he's twisting a ring around his pointer finger. The things should look gaudy, all bulky and bright silver, but somehow on Eddie they just look right. Like they belong on his hands, specially picked just for him. Steve's got a thing for Eddie's rings. They escalate from there.

What Your Best Friend Knows - T, 1.2k, 1/1 Fitzgi

“Why do you look so nervous all of a sudden?” Robin asked, almost sounding a little hurt. “Why are you sweating so much? Why do you look so tired? And why do-” Robin cut herself off and at first Steve was confused. He out if everybody knew just how long Robin could go once she got started. He looked at her, confused, until he noticed that she was staring directly over his shoulder. Steve whipped his head around and let out a sigh. Eddie was shuffling his way down the stairs. Completely shirtless but wearing what looked to be an old pair of Steve’s gym shorts. OR Robin shows up unexpectedly and learns more than she wanted to.

when it rains, it pours - G, 2.2k, 1/1 winterbxar

To Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson is home. OR Eddie reads The Hobbit to Steve while it's storming out, and they're so, so in love.

when no one's there (please take my hand) - G, 1.5k, 1/1 coupe_de_foundre

Steve chooses that very moment to speak up and Dustin jolts, worried for a second there that Steve had spotted him. But, he soon realises, Steve’s eyes still haven’t strayed from Eddie. “You should tie your hair up more often.” he says in a gravelly voice, lips quirking up into a half-smirk. Eddie swivels, spatula in hand that he points Steve’s way, and he lets out a light-hearted laugh that sounds foreign coming from him. “And why is that, Stevie?” Steve shrugs, taking a slow sip of his coffee. “You look good. Do I need a reason?”

where the flowers bloom - T, 1.5k, 1/1 hydrangea_bush

It's the opening night of Hawkins High's fall production, but the lead actor and the head of stage crew are nowhere to be found. Or // Eddie and Steve make out in a prop closet and it's cute

who are you? (the right one) - T, 3/? percylicious39

"Now, Wayne obviously knows about his nephew's preferences in partners, that one time a glaringly indisputable proof, but he couldn't quite frankly give a single damn about it, love is love and all that crap. Not that he'd understand anything about that crap. Anyway, he has seen Eddie shove enough boys out of his tiny bedroom window to know that they never get to spend the night, and they never get to prepare Eddie's favorite tea at four in the morning on a Wednesday without Eddie even being present in the room. So what the actual hell is this one doing here? And where is Eddie?" - Or five times Wayne meets Eddie's boyfriend and that time he finally learns his name.

wingman - T, 3.2k, 1/1 vampireboyluvrr

Gareth needs Eddie's help finding the perfect present for Jeff's birthday. Eddie ends up convincing Gareth to confess his feelings instead.

With a Capital P - G, 1.2k, 1/1 FallingUpTheStairz

Steve's love language is physical touch and Robin learns to work with that.

won't somebody help me chase the shadows away? - T, 1.7k, 1/1 vivahate

“I just got you.” Eddie rasps out, pressing their foreheads together. “I’m not losing you to this. You hear me?” And it’s a threat as much as it is a promise. I’ll live for you if you live for me. (or; desperate kisses are shared while uncertainty and danger loom ahead)

You and Me, Forevermore - N/A, 1.2k, 1/1 slayorswift23

Steve unpacks his sadness about Robin going away to college, and Eddie is there to support him.

You are the reason I stay alive - E, 3.5k, 1/1 makesometime

“How’s uh. Human rank on that scale?” Eddie smiles. “I don’t know, Steve. I haven’t exactly had a chance to try.” He thinks he’s gotten away with it when Eddie turns back to his mug and drains it, putting it down on the coffee table and picking up the remote. “Why? Are you offering?”

you got a lot on your mind (and your heart it looks just like mine) - E, 3.7k, 1/1 picklebaby

Steve was having a day. He hadn’t quite decided if it was a bad day, but it definitely wasn’t turning out to be a good one. or Steve wakes up with a migraine and Eddie knows just how to take care of him.

you have been bruised and broken - T, 2.3k, 1/1 likes_koolaid

Steve and Eddie are just watching a movie at Steve's house, nothing more. Then his parents come home.

You Make Me Live Now, Honey - E, 15k, 1/1 GrasshopperKatie

Eddie loves the little idiots, but he’s thankful that it’s just Robin, Steve and himself on this trip. Steve is stressed enough about a cross country road trip without adding that he would have to take care of seven children on top of that. Nancy has provided them the perfect opportunity for an escape. She’s been attending classes at Emerson for two months now and invited them out to spend Halloween weekend at her place. They all jumped on the idea of getting out of Hawkins for a few days.

You Rule, You Suck - G, 1.6k, 1/1 lodiononhaunantidoto

The last thing Robin expected was for her to enjoy working with Steve Harrington the whole summer, but life really never stopped surprising her

you told me to call (said you'd be there) - T, 1.4k, 1/1 Mighty_Huntress

They pull up outside Dustin’s front door. Steve is immediately proven right—he doesn’t even wait for the wheels to fully stop rolling before flinging the back doors open and full on tackling Steve. Which, hey, dangerous, and also hey, ow. Eddie looks over his shoulder at the sound of him wheezing after the direct hit to the solar plexus he just got, and raises an eyebrow. “Are we visiting rather than kidnapping you, then?” Dustin starts bawling.

you wanna kiss me soooo bad - G, 1.3k, 1/1 KaeyasManBoobies

Steve and Eddie have a recurring date night- but what's also recurring is their lack of ability not to be smitten idiots in love. Their refusal to focus on the task of cooking a goddamn meal leads to a kitchen make out session.

you're just like a dream - T, 3.4k, 1/1 joehardys

Eddie still finds it all hard to believe. If someone had told him at the beginning of the year that he’d be in a relationship with Steve Harrington come summertime, he would’ve laughed in their face. Like, yeah right. Or, Steve, from Eddie’s point of view.

You're Kind of Incredible - M, 10k, 1/1 god_hates_tyler (@bisexual-cryptid)

A re-write of the last two episodes of season 3 where Eddie finds Robin and Steve after they are drugged by Russian soldiers. Steve confesses he has feelings for Eddie in the bathroom scene, but they are interrupted by Dustin before Eddie can reply. Eddie is there for the shit show that is the battle of starcourt, he and Steve working out their feelings within the chaos.

You're Not Bullshit (The Steve & Eddie Love Story) - E, series Melody_Dimas

After the party where Nancy calls Steve, his love for her and their relationship bullshit. Where Nancy tells him how they pretended that they didn't get Barb killed and everything was just fine was bullshit, Steve storms out and finds someone unlikely to tell him that he's not bullshit.

your eyes look like coming home - E, 1.4k, 1/1 writerbri

Steve doesn’t wake gracefully these days. Hasn’t in years, since the first time he took a hold of a bat full of nails and swung it with purpose at an impossible thing. His morning routine nearly always begins with choked gasps and lingering flashes of what haunts his dreams. So it’s odd and confusing and entirely welcome when, for once, the shift from sleeping to wakefulness comes slowly and gently, with contentment woven deep into every inch of him. It’s warm and it’s quiet and it’s callused fingers from endless days of plucking at guitar strings tracing nonsense patterns along the length of his spine.

Your Hands Around My Throat - E, 1.9k, 1/1 asarcasticwitch

Eddie’s hands are criminal—the rings, the calluses from playing his guitar, and the way he always crooks them just right, hitting all those spots that make Steve’s body sing—and Steve has long since given up pretending they don't turn him on like crazy.

your love is a turning page (where only the sweetest words remain) - G, 924, 1/1 writerbri

“Your daddy thinks he’s sneaky, y’know,” Eddie murmurs quietly. Steve blinks, his own cheeks warming as he realizes that he’s caught. Eddie glances up from where he’s been gazing at Charlie, a soft smile lingering as he meets Steve’s eyes like he’s been aware of him this whole time. “You look really good like that,” Steve says, unable to keep quiet about it for a second longer now that he’s been called out. Eddie predictably blushes as Charlie stirs at the sound of his voice.

[bug-fics]

I need posh boy old money king steve turned hero to fall in love with the (and i mean this affectionately) the most grubby slob of a girl ever. Like imagine clean, put together Steve “the hair” Harrington with the type of girl who sleeps in her makeup, has acne, lives in a trailer park, is like missing a front tooth from fucking around with her friends or like from eating shit on a skateboard, just a greasy, grungy, stoner, dude bro type girl.

The switch from being in love with princess Nancy wheeler, to flirting with these cute preppy girls at work, to befriending and falling for this walking garbage pile who is super sarcastic and bitchy, burps in ppls faces as a joke, never has her shoes tied, wears dirty wife beaters and flannels with ripped up patchy jeans that have grass stains on them.

I’m TIRED of soft clean small preppy characters who get emotional and are so shy and quiet. I just feel like the dynamic would be so fun and Steve would have like a moral dilemma like he did when Dustin convinced him he had a crush on Robin.

They would meet through Eddie or Robin and she’s just like the walking loser and at first Steve is like off-put bby her behavior bc like gross but like finds himself falling for her or something idk I didn’t think that far ahead but I need more diverse readers bc all of them are pink frilly preppy shy girls or soft bookworms which are great but like… JUST THINK ABOUT NEW DYNAMICS!!

as a writer (I rlly can’t call myself a writer) I try to make reader loud and confident and outgoing bc every other reader fits in the soft girl aesthetic. I need bitchy, messy, dirty, adventurous, loud, just grubby girls! Dirty bed sheets, trashed rooms, scuffed shoes, ketchup stains idk it doesn’t even have to be a Steve fic literally any fic in this fandom could have this type of dynamic bc reader personalities are lacking in diversity lowkey and I love grubby

OMG LIKE IMAGINE NANCY X GRUBBY READER!! Fuck Steve this, this right here would be such a hilarious dynamic and I NEED it. Nancy is like the opposite of what I described she’s pretty, and clean, and headstrong, and focused. With like a dirty adhd tomboy gf (ronance but grubbier) like it’s so perfect.

Even Robin with a gf who like has no concern for her own safety and Robin is spitting facts about how the mold growing on the cups on R’s bedside table could result in life or death sickness or something idk it would be so perfect

I LOVE GRUBBY DIRTY GIRLS I’m tired of unrealistic cleanliness in fics girls are gross and it’s ok

[thefourchimes]

Talking more about The Four Chimes AU because yes

so there’s been an interesting surge of apocalypse four (though most people call them vecna four) content recently, which i am very much thrilled to see

in line with that, i’m gonna share a bit more on the au that has been built from the ground up ever since last year, having definite arcs and various aus and sub aus of it already

the four chimes au

this universe has been mine and @lumaxramblings 's blood, sweat, and tears for the past year, ever since July 14

i've made a few posts about it, and shared some snippets on it in some wip weds and weekends, but i never fully explained the universe beyond the little bubble of the discord thread in the discord server im in

so let me explain now. we know this already but the apocalypse four are vecna's four sacrifices to make the four gates, but in this au, they're not just the four sacrifices. they're the four chimes too.

you see, vecna had a vision. he had remembered the story of the four horsemen of the apocalypse from a time victor creel had brought him and alice to the Church to listen

the four horsemen of the apocalypse, he had mused...and inspiration struck him.

he had a vision, and he saw it through.

and he got them all. he won.

and now he has his four horsemen of the apocalypse, or in this universe rather...his four chimes of catastrophe.

you all know who they are, but the question is, who is who? well, as @lumaxramblings has said in that fateful ask that started this whole universe in the first place, it would be:

chrissy = famine

fred = death

patrick = war

max = pestilence

as for the reason, canon itself gives some details and evidence to point out who would be who. (tw ed mention on chrissy's part)

chrissy is famine because of her eating disorder and her "hunger" to be free in a sense. fred is death because of his survivor's guilt and all the constant grave and death visuals. patrick is war because of his home life and how he's always in constant conflict. and finally, max is pestilence because of her thought process on being something that plagues others...and vecna!lucas' "you are sick."

there's quite a few more points that can be brought up, along with how some of the canon scenes actually fuel this universe, but i'll talk about that another time

so now, vecna's sacrifices are no longer who they were before everything.

now, they are his soldiers, his little experiments, his four chimes of catastrophe.

and just as they had been broken, they will now be the ones to break the world.

...

(but then...you remember, the apocalypse 4 weren't the only ones who got caught in vecna's curse and vision.

you know who else did?

nancy wheeler.

and in the four horsemen of the apocalypse lore, wasn't there something going on with the white rider of the horsemen? the fact that...there's a bit of confusion on whether the white rider is pestilence...or conquest?

...in another universe, nancy is conquest, the fifth chime of catastrophe.

an incomplete chime.

...but maybe that's a story for another day...)

—————————————————————————————————

i actually had started the fic of this already, but it's been a few months since i've updated it, oof :")

anyway, that's a bit of an explanation on the four chimes au.

it kind of becomes a s5 alternate universe in a sense? finnthony and i already have an idea on what happens all throughout the main story, complete with arcs already lmao (and that's not even talking about the sub-aus, like the conquest au...)

its lots of angst though, lemme tell you

i dont want to reveal too much but there is a lot of platonic and romantic dynamics here

platonic being the party's friendship (heh), the teens' friendship, best friend soulmates stobin ofc, and all other platonic relationships that can be connected with each member of this ragtag, traumatized group

for romance, we got lumax (with future elumax), byler, duzie, ronance, stongyle (aka steve x jonathan x argyle), jopper, and...well. a few others too, but i'll be keeping those quiet for now.

i’ll likely post more stuff at some point, to get it out here lmao and because this au is just <3

tagging the people who’ve been here all through out:

@laurienotteddy @mitski-slope @itsanotheridiot @hellsfireclub @history-of-stories @she-wont-miss

[juless27]

I see you do Ronance fanfiction? I’m low key obsessed with sick fics and I haven’t been able to find a lot for Ronance. Do you know of any/would you want to maybe write one? I prefer one-shots, fluffy, and please have it be like any sickness besides covid. If you can’t, that’s perfectly okay but I thought I’d ask.

ok it's been freaking forever and im very sorry for the delay but here it is i hope you like it! (feel free to request fics in my asks if you want but keep in mind it will most likely take me a few weeks to finish)

read on AO3

Robin Buckley did not have the flu. Anyone who said otherwise was lying. Robin Buckley did not have the flu because she needed to keep going to work and she needed to keep going to school. She was so close to graduation and maybe, finally, getting the hell out of Hawkins if she could save up enough money. 

“Robin.”

“Yeah?” Robin’s voice was muffled by her stuffy nose. 

“Go. Home,” Steve told her, for probably the millionth time. 

“I can’t.”

“You look like you’re about to drop dead.”

“Aw thanks for noticing, Harrington,” Robin replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. 

Steve did his classic I’m-not-your-dad-but-I’m-about-to-act-like-it-because-it’s-my-love-language pose. Head tilted, hands on hips, eyebrows raised, legs shoulder width apart. Robin liked it better than his I’m-Steve-Harrington-and-all-the-ladies-want-me pose, but not by much. 

“Robin, you need to go home.”

“First of all,” Robin said, jumping off her usual perch on the counter and then groaning and clutching her head because that hurt, “you,” she pointed at Steve, “are not my mother or my boss. I don’t have to do what you say. Second of all, I need the money.”

Steve considered her for a second. A worrying light entered his eyes, as if he’s just had a really good idea. Robin braced herself. Then, “Okay.” And he turned back to the pile of returns he was sorting. 

That… was suspiciously easy. But Robin’s brain was too foggy to figure out why. “I’m taking my fifteen,” she said, heading for the back room. 

Steve waved a hand, “If you’re not back in twenty, I’m going to assume you died back there and I am not going to be the one to find your body.”

Robin bit back an insult involving the words “dick” and “wad” and the vivid image of her wailing her heart out over finding Steve’s dead body, should he happen to go before her. Which was incredibly likely. 

The couch in the break room was lumpy and covered in stains that should be studied by the goddamn government, but once Robin got Steve’s extra sweater from the cubby and laid it down to cover the petri dish that was the couch cushions, it was actually pretty comfortable. 

She slowly drifted off to sleep, the cadence of Steve’s voice talking to their first customer of the day lulling her like a lullaby. 

Hours or days or seconds later, Robin blinked awake to a hand on her shoulder. 

“Robin,” a soft voice said, and Robin’s eyes tried to focus on the source. There was a bright light and a shadow in front of it, creating a halo around the person’s head. 

“Oh my god. Steve was right. I’m dead.”

The voice laughed, “You’re not dead, babe. Not yet, anyway.”

Robin knew that laugh. Knew it because she chased after it every single day. Because every joke that passed her lips was for the sole purpose of hearing it, of seeing the radiant smile that came with it. 

“Can you repeat that part where you said I was right? I want to get it on tape,” said a voice that was unmistakably Steve’s. Robin ignored him. 

“Nancy?” Robin squinted as her eyes adjusted to the light, revealing two brunettes staring down at her, one with concern and one with a smug smirk that begged to be punched. 

“Yeah, hon. Now c’mon, let’s get you home,” Nancy helped her sit up and Robin’s eyes finally decided to work and she could see Nancy’s face somewhat clearly. Gorgeous brown curls, impossibly wide eyes filled with worry. That had Robin sitting up faster than she probably should have. The room spun but Robin ignored it. 

“What’s going on? What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong is that you have the flu. And since you refused to go home when I told you to, I had to call in the cavalry,” Steve crossed his arms over his chest. 

“The cavalry…” Robin repeated, “Meaning Nancy?”

“Yep.”

“Okay, I just woke up so help me out here. Why did you call Nancy?”

“Because you listen to her. And you don’t listen to me,” Steve said, “And you need to go home and rest so I called Nancy to come pick you up and make sure you do.” 

“Uh-huh…” It might be time to admit she was sick. Her brain was impossibly foggy. A cool hand pressed to her forehead. 

“Jeez, Robin, you’re burning up,” Nancy said, leaning closer to peer into Robin’s eyes, which refused to focus on her. 

“Ugh, stop that. You’re making me dizzy. My eyes won’t focus.”

“But you’re fine, right?” Steve said smugly. 

“Okay, okay. I might be just a little bit… sick.”

Steve raised his hands victoriously. Robin would have rolled her eyes but she wasn’t sure she could do so without passing out. 

“I can’t leave, though. You’ll be alone out there.”

“Robin. Three people have come through that door today and they are all standing in this room. I’ll be fine,” Steve replied, reaching out and squeezing her shoulder, “Seriously. Go home and rest. I’ll bring you some soup later.” 

Nancy and Steve helped Robin up and then Nancy walked her to the door like an extremely awkward three legged race, considering Robin had a full head of height on her and was not doing a very good job of holding her own weight. 

“I’m holding you to that soup promise, Harrington!” Robin called over her shoulder as Nancy attempted to open the door and get them both through. 

Robin stumbled over the curb and nearly sent them both tumbling onto the cracked pavement. She squinted at the ground, “Someone needs to re-pave this.”

“I’ll alert the mayor,” Nancy said, leaving Robin leaning against the car as she unlocked the passenger door. “Alright, in you go.”  

She put a hand on the top of Robin’s head as Robin ducked into the car, “Aren’t you supposed to tell me my rights?”

“What?” Nancy said, baffled. Then, an eye roll. “You are not being arrested, Rob.”

“Well, you should arrest me.”

“Is that so?” Nancy asked, shoving Robin’s legs inside so she could close the door. 

“Yeah, because I’ve captured your heart.”

Nancy groaned and Robin laughed, then closed her eyes and leaned back against the chair because laughing hurt and thinking hurt and everything hurt. 

“Glad to see your dumbass sense of humor is still intact,” Nancy said, pretending to be annoyed but Robin opened her eyes just in time to catch the adorable blush that bloomed on Nancy’s cheeks as she shut the door. 

Nancy drove as smoothly and safely as she always did. As in, not at all. Looking at her, you’d think Nancy was the safest teenage driver in Hawkins. But looking at her you’d never know that Nancy Wheeler keeps guns in her shoeboxes and hunts interdimensional monsters and drives like it’s the Indy 500 (300?). Robin herself had fallen into that trap, and she feels endlessly lucky to be one of the few who get to know the real Nancy. Except for her driving, which made Robin fear for her life. 

Nancy takes Robin to the Wheelers’ place and Robin’s desire to lay down overpowers her hesitation and she lets Nancy haul her out of the car and into the house. 

“Nancy?” Karen called from the kitchen as they came in, “Is that you?”

“Yeah, mom, it’s me,” Nancy called back and, under her breath, “Who else would it be?”

Robin grinned. She always enjoyed her girlfriend’s snarky remarks when they were aimed at someone else. The trek up the stairs is one of great difficulty, involving many tangled limbs and bumps against the walls. 

“Nancy, what the hell are you doing?” Mike demanded, coming out of his room down the hall. 

“Hey, lil’ Wheeler,” Robin greeted. 

“Robin,” Mike looked her up and down, “You look awful.”

“Why thank you.”

“Go back in your room, asshole,” Nancy said, scowling, coming to Robin’s defense even against Mike’s very true comment. 

They finally made it through the door and into Nancy’s incredibly pink bedroom. At first sight, Robin had thought Nancy’s room was pink because duh, the princess of priss would have a pink room. Then, after getting to know Nancy, she thought maybe it was something her mom forced her into. One day she finally just outright asked: “Why is your room pink?” 

Nancy had looked up from her book, “Because I like pink.”

Over the months, first as friends and then as more, Robin had spent a lot of time in Nancy’s bedroom. Snoop that she was, she had touched nearly every trinket and item Nancy had, sometimes asking Nancy where they came from or why she had them. Seeing someone’s bedroom was Robin’s favorite way to get to know someone and Nancy was her favorite person to get to know. 

Nancy deposited Robin on her bed and bent down to untie Robin’s converse. Robin stared at the ceiling, which was beginning to spin in a truly nauseating way. She groaned and closed her eyes. 

“You okay, babe?” Nancy asked, slipping Robin’s second shoe off. 

“Spinning,” Robin mumbled, “Everything’s spinning.”

“Okay, sit up, c’mon,” Nancy grabbed Robin’s wrists and pulled her back into a sitting position. Nancy shucked off her Family Video vest, folded it neatly, and placed it on her desk chair, a stark contrast from the way Robin tossed it on her floor after every shift. 

Finally, Nancy tucked Robin into her bed and Robin immediately relaxed into the mattress, snuggled under the comforter and resting her head on a pillow that smelled like Nancy. And she promptly fell asleep. 

Nancy let herself watch for a moment. Reminded herself that she was Robin’s girlfriend now, that watching her girlfriend sleep when she’s sick is not weird. She’s allowed to do these kinds of things now. Robin lets her do these kinds of things. Robin likes when she does these things. She looked absolutely adorable asleep in Nancy’s bed, her face squished against the pillow and the comforter pulled up to her chin. She leaned forward and placed her hand against Robin’s forehead. She was burning up. Nancy wished she had managed to get a fever reducer in her before she fell asleep. 

Nancy set the half finished glass of water on her nightstand next to two Advil pills. She fished a post it note out of her desk drawer and wrote Robin a note: downstairs, making you soup. Don’t move. And take the medicine. - N

Maybe it was some sort of placebo effect, but chicken noodle soup always made Nancy feel better when she was sick. Who didn’t feel better after some warm soup? Besides, this was Nancy’s thing. Chicken noodle soup, simple as it was, was the one thing Karen had never mastered. Nancy was always the one who made soup for her younger siblings when they got sick. As much as she tried to fight it, her nuclear family upbringing had drilled into her that cooking was how a woman showed her love. Or maybe just generally taking care of people. Nancy had spent many many hours psychoanalyzing this tendency in herself, but eventually she concluded that she just liked taking care of people and left it at that. 

And Robin was her favorite person to take care of. It was so easy to make her happy. She would beam at her if Nancy so much as tied her shoelace. Every little thing was big to her and Nancy loved it. She finally felt appreciated. But that was a psychoanalysis for another day. 

She was just adding the noodles to the simmering pot when she heard footsteps on the stairs. She turned, expecting her mom or her brother, but only saw Robin. 

“Robin!” She rushed over to help her girlfriend sit at the counter, “Didn’t you read the note? I told you to stay in bed.”

“Yes, I did. And then I immediately decided to disobey it.”

Nancy tried to look at her disappointedly, but she knew Robin could see the twist of her lips hiding a smile. 

“Did you at least take the medicine?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Robin offered a two finger salute, reminiscent of an old haunted house, a grandfather clock, a brick through a glass window. 

Nancy ladled the soup into a bowl and set it down in front of Robin, “Let it cool down for a second.”

Robin put down the spoon that was already halfway to her mouth. Nancy smirked, turning to lean back against the sink. 

“Aren’t you going to have any?”

Nancy shook her head, “I made it for you.”

Robin frowned, “You should eat. Taking care of me is hard work, you know. I’m a handful.” Sick as hell and still worrying about Nancy. 

Nancy smiled and filled a second bowl, “Oh, I know.”

They sat at the counter and sipped at their soup silently, both mutually looking over to make sure the other was eating. They took care of each other like that, Nancy supposed. When they were done Nancy placed their bowls in the sink and stepped behind Robin, wrapping her arms around Robin and resting her chin on her shoulder. 

“Wanna go back to bed?”

Robin shook her head. 

“You should get some sleep,” Nancy murmured. 

“And you shouldn’t be this close to me,” Robin countered, “I’m gonna get you sick.”

Nancy shrugged, “Don’t care. Cuddles are the best treatment for the flu, you know.”

Robin leaned back into her, “Oh, is that right?”

Nancy tucked her head into Robin’s shoulder, breathing in the honey sweet smell of her hair, “Mm hmm.”

��Well, I’ve heard the best treatment is having a movie marathon.”

Nancy pulled back to squint at her, assessing. Robin turned to look at her. 

“How about one movie, and then bed?”

Robin pretended to consider, “You drive a hard bargain, but I accept.”

They made their way into the living room and Robin flopped unceremoniously onto the couch. Nancy tucked a blanket around her before crossing the room to slide a tape into the VHS player, not needing to ask what Robin wanted to watch. The Princess Bride flashed across the screen in light blue and Robin clapped, as delighted as ever for the movie she had seen a thousand times. Nancy climbed over Robin and tucked herself between the back of the couch and her girlfriend, wrapping one arm around her like a seatbelt and stroking her hair with the other hand. Robin hummed contentedly. 

She fell asleep sometime between the shrieking eels and the cliffs of insanity, entirely missing her favorite moment (when the boat smacked against the rocks and bounced, clearly showing it was fake) and Nancy’s (the classic ‘as you wish!’ falling down the hill scene). After that she drifted in and out, dreaming of ROUSes and the Dread Pirate Roberts, feeling entirely secure with Nancy’s arm around her. 

When she woke up, it was dusk outside and Nancy was no longer behind her. She blinked awake blearily. The living room was softly illuminated by a single lamp and Nancy was sitting on the ground, back against the couch, surrounded by a circle of papers and photographs, working on a piece she refused to let Robin read until it was perfect. 

“Morning, sleepy head,” she said, affectionately, without turning around. 

“Mmph,” Robin responded. 

Nancy reached a hand up and Robin leaned forward without thinking, making her forehead more accessible. Nancy pressed a hand against it and nodded. 

“You feel a little cooler. How are you doing?”

Robin took a moment to assess. The room was certainly less spinny and her head wasn’t throbbing anymore. “A bit better, I think.”

“Good,” Nancy said, standing, “We should probably get you home.”

“Noooo!” Robin moaned dramatically, throwing a hand over her forehead like a damsel in distress.

Nancy laughed, “Yes. You’ll sleep better in your own bed.”

Robin reached up and took both of Nancy’s hands in hers. She stuck her bottom lip out and gave Nancy that look she could never refuse, “Pwease? Can I stay with you? Just for tonight?” 

Nancy pressed her lips together, but something in her eyes told Robin she had already won. “Fine. But just for tonight.”

Robin beamed. 

“Dinner and then bed,” Nancy said. 

“What? C’mon, Nance, it’s only like five o’clock.”

Nancy put on her I’m-in-charge-look that seriously rivaled Steve’s, “Alright, I’ll just get my keys then.” She pretended to look around, patting her pockets. 

“Okay, okay!” Robin gave in, “Dinner and bed sounds perfect.”

Dinner consisted of Mrs. Wheeler’s fantastic lasagna, followed by Nancy ushering her upstairs for bed. Robin brushed her teeth with the green toothbrush she left at the Wheelers’ and then changed into the sweats and tee Nancy had found in the drawer she had designated for Robin (which had been the cutest thing, Nancy blushing pink as she presented the empty drawer for Robin to keep some clothes in). Nancy made her drink more water and take more medicine and then tucked her into bed on Nancy’s usual side, with the better pillow. 

“Will you stay?” Robin asked, “You can keep the light on and read or whatever, if you want.”

Nancy smiled, “Of course.”

She left her lamp on, turning out the rest of the lights. Then she leaned over and kissed Robin’s temple, “Get some sleep, love.”

Robin hummed in response, eyes falling closed, “Read to me?”

“Sure, baby.”

“Love you.”

“I love you, too,” And then she began to read, “ ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife…’”

[panickinganakin]

stepping stones to hell ch.1 (ronance fic)

a ronance fic in which robin buckley is the drummer for famous band corroded coffin

rating: mature for language word count: 2,010

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

“Good morning,” Steve said, taking the seat across the table from Robin. She was focusing on the nail brush in her hand, trying very hard not to get the black polish on her fingers. 

“Eddie always makes this look so easy,” she grumbled. 

“Here, let me help,” he offered. Steve reached across the table and took the nail lacquer. He moved his hand steadily, being careful to not get paint on her skin. 

“How’d you sleep?” Robin asked. She glanced out the window and watched as the trees passed in a blur. Last night Corroded Coffin had a show in Atlanta and now they were traveling toward Chicago. She knew they were almost there but traveling on the tour bus always made her feel uneasy. She never slept great on the bus, not even when she had a two hour performance on the drums each night. 

“Okay enough, I suppose. I would ask you but I heard you leaving your bunk at six this morning. Have you had coffee?” he dipped the brush back into the bottle before moving on to the next nail. 

Typical question. Even though Steve had been her best friend since the summer of her junior year of high school, he was the band's manager now. He was always asking them about their caffeine intake, their water drinking habits and somehow always finding food to shove in everyone’s face. She was grateful to have him on the road, that she couldn’t deny. 

“I have. I also ate some toast and I’ve already started drinking water.”

“Nice,” he grinned proudly. “Okay, I don’t want to spring this on you but we do have interviews today.”

Robin shrugged, being careful to keep her hands flat on the table. They did interviews frequently on tour and at this point she was used to it. It didn’t make her anxious the way it did at first. She was good at letting the guys take the lead so she normally got away with minimal talking.

Steve sucked in a breath, “Okay don’t be mad.” She raised an eyebrow and he continued, “It’s an article on just you.”

Robin looked up at him quickly, “What? Why?”

“Well, the magazine wants to do an article on women in the industry. They have a few questions for you. They want to do a feature specifically on you and how successful you are. The band of course, but how you rose to fame and how you’re making a place in the industry.”

Different thoughts ran through Robin’s brain. The music scene was known for being misogynistic, especially to females who weren’t fronting the band. Not to mention feminism was lacking seriously everywhere, not just in music. She felt honored and wanted to speak up but doing an interview alone made her feel sick. She was so used to letting everyone else do the talking. She was content with being partially silent. 

“Come on, Robs. It’ll be great,” she knew Steve was just trying to be encouraging but she felt nauseous. 

“What if the interviewer twists my words? What if I say something and he takes it the wrong way? What if this is a trap to try and make the guys look bad,” she started spilling out her worries. 

Steve wrapped his hand around Robin, rubbing the palm of her hand. “Hey, listen. That’s the point of this isn’t it? Your first concern is making the men in the band look bad? That’s not going to happen because they aren’t bad. And I doubt they’ll be asking about them, this going to be about you and what being a woman in this scene is like. Also, the interviewer isn’t a man. This is a fully female run magazine.”

Weight seemed to lift off her shoulders learning that information changed things. “It is?” 

“Yes. I think it’s a great opportunity and I already agreed to you doing it. I’m sorry I didn’t ask first. If you decide it’s not for you, we will cancel.”

Robin bit the inside of her cheek in thought. How many shows had they played when young girls and women came up to her after the show asking for her signature on posters or drumsticks? How many times had she heard a variation of ‘You inspired me to start playing music.’ 

Even if this was out of her comfort zone she knew she needed to do it. She could picture women reading the magazine and feeling hopeful. Not just her article but knowing that a magazine fully operated by women was possible. Robin nodded slowly, “I’ll do it. Of course I’ll do it.”

Steve smiled big, then continued with painting her nails. “I think this is a great idea. They’re going to meet us at the venue. We are set to meet at three.”

“Good morning,” Eddie joined them in the front of the bus. He walked over to the fridge, pulling out a bottle of water. He joined them at the table, leaning down to kiss the top of Steve’s head before sitting next to Robin.

“Did you say yes?” Eddie asked her. 

Robin jerked her head toward Steve, “You told Eddie already?”

Steve shrugged quickly, “He may have been around when I took the call.”

Robin rolled her eyes before elbowing Eddie in the side, “Yeah whatever. You two are insufferable.”

Robin didn’t mean that, of course. She was so glad Steve was happy. He and Eddie had come out almost three years ago as a couple and not only did it make Robin feel over the moon for her friend; it also made her feel safe. 

She had come out years ago to Steve but had been nervous to tell anyone else. However, now the whole band knew. Everyone had been so loving and accepting of Eddie and Steve and her as well when she told them. She had truly been blessed in finding the group.

Life was funny in the way it led you to people you needed. She remembered the day she had started drumming. 

“I still don’t know why we are going to see them practice,” Robin took large steps to stay caught up with Steve. They had parked a few houses down the road from whoever’s house the practice was at.  

“Because Eddie asked us to.” He stated matter of factly. 

“When have you ever done something because Munson asked you too?”

Steve’s cheeks turned pink and Robin had almost confused it as a blush but decided it must have been because they were practically running down the sidewalk. “This is their first practice since Jason broke Gareth’s arm.”

Robin flinched at the memory. She hadn’t been there when it happened but she remembered how scary Jason was in those weeks after Chrissy Cunningham died. It was too easy to picture the scene in her head. “That doesn’t explain why we are here.”

“We are here to support our friends.” 

Robin tilted her head, slowing her stride. Is that what they all were? I mean, it was true they had been through a lot of shit together. After saving Eddie and helping clear his name of course they were more than acquaintances. But, it wasn’t like they were always together. She knew then she was missing something. Something she knew all too well about herself. She knew it wasn’t her place to push any further and knew when the time was right she would understand everything after Steve had that talk with her. 

They had finally reached their destination except no one was playing music. They were standing around, the mood was obviously dull. “What’s going on?” Steve asked Eddie as he and Robin approached the practice space. 

“Gareth’s doctor said he can’t play anymore.” Eddie said flatly. 

“This is so fucked up,” Gareth said. He walked past a metal garbage can and threw it down before using the garage entrance to the house to leave the group. 

“Like, ever?” Robin asked, confused. 

“Yeah. They said his bones grew back funky, I can’t remember what they called it. They told him if he played he risked losing all use of his arm in the future. I told him we would figure it out. We could find something for him to do. He’s a part of the band,” Eddie choked up and paused. He let out a sigh and shook his head. 

“Robin can play,” Steve said quickly. 

The group looked at Robin and Robin laughed, “What? No. I can’t.”

“Oh whatever you play the- that thing,” Steve shrugged. “Which means you can probably play the drums.”

Robin rolled her eyes and shook her head, “No, I can’t.”

Gareth walked back into the garage. His eyes were puffy but there was no sign of tears. “Why not? What if I taught you? You already know notes and rhythm, the rest can come with time.”

“How can you train me if you can’t play?”

“I don’t need to play if you can follow directions. Come on, Robin, at least try. We have a gig next month and if you can just learn a few things. Please? If there’s still a chance of us making it… I can help write songs and help manage merchandise or something.. Please?” he asked again. 

Everyone was staring at her now. She wasn’t sure if she could learn enough to play in a month. She wasn’t sure if she even wanted to be in a band. And, on the off chance that they did start to actually go somewhere she sure as hell didn’t know if she wanted to tour or be famous.

She looked at Steve, the only person she had ever really cared about or trusted. He gave a small nod and she took a breath, “Fine. I’ll try but.. I don’t know. It feels wrong? I don’t want to take your place?”

“You could never do that. I’ll still be a part of the band just in a different way.”

It was history after that. Gareth taught her how to play the drums and Robin was surprisingly good at it. It took her awhile but she did play the gig. The gig also got them signed. Everything happened so quickly after that but she practiced all the time. She even taught Gareth how to play the keys which they incorporated into the tour so he could still play with them. 

She had been so scared at first he would resent her and her time in the group would be short lived. However, he had been a good sport the whole time. He had been her biggest hype guy other than Steve. And, the two of them had grown pretty close. They were a big family and Robin couldn’t imagine what she would be doing now had she not agreed to playing that day. 

“Can we swap out? I gotta piss,” the driver called from the front of the bus. Steve looked up and passed Eddie the bottle of nail polish. 

Steve had gotten his license to drive buses shortly after they signed just in case it was the only job he could manage getting. It was still a wonder how Eddie was able to work it in the contract with the label that Steve could be the band manager. 

“Sure man,” she could hear Steve say as he walked to the front. 

“At least the interview won’t be awkward. Familiar faces and all,” Eddie said reassuringly. 

Robin raised an eyebrow. Did Eddie think that all women just knew each other? “Right,” she said, not questioning him any further. 

He finished up on her nails then clapped his hands together, “Come on. We have to pick out your outfit,” he stood, holding his hand out for her to take. She hesitated then took his hand. 

“It’s just an interview, right? No photos?”

“That I can’t say. I don’t think they talked about pictures but most times you have a two page feature there are photos involved.”

“Two pages?” Robin’s mouth widened in shock. 

Eddie rolled his eyes, “Come on. Clothes.”

ch 2

[im-not-batman]

Since Ao3 is down, I thought I'd post an old fic on here in the interest of keeping us all sane. Enjoy <3

Bloomed into Blue | Ronance | Rated G | 8,399 words

Nancy wanted to scream, tear out her hair, throw a tantrum and yell about how unfair it all was. Being in a professional work environment made that difficult though.

Instead, she smiled and clapped as she watched yet another of her colleagues collect on the rewards of her hard work. She sat in her seat for as long as she could stomach, and then broke away to hide in the bathroom until she felt like she could be in the office without feeling the urge to break something.

This marked the fifth time that one of her coworkers had gotten recognition for her research, her writing, or her investigating, and she was sick of it. After her stint at the paper in Hawkins, she had expected some disadvantages in her working life, but this was ridiculous. She had put more hours of work into that last story than anyone on the team, it had even become a running joke in the office that she spent more time here than at home! How could she have gone unrecognised again?

If only it was socially appropriate to send your boss into the hell dimension underneath your hometown, she thought fancifully. He certainly wouldn't underestimate her or her mettle ever again, but it would likely raise other issues.

So instead of doing what she wanted to do, what she felt like doing, she muscled it all down, dusted off her skirt, straightened her already perfectly laid blouse and looked at herself in the mirror.

"You deserve better," she told herself, firm and assured, "go out there and demand better."

She gritted her teeth, took a deep breath, and left the bathroom, beelining for her manager's office across the floor. She caught a few comments from the piggish men in their cubicles about how 'it must be that time of the month' or about 'how sensitive women are these days'. These were the sorts of comments that had become commonplace, really. Ordinarily, she'd have a quip or scathing remark to throw their way, but right now, she was on a mission.

Seeing that Jerry was free, she walked straight in without knocking. By way of greeting, she planted her hands firmly on her hips. Robin would call it a power pose and point out how odd it was that polite and demure Nancy Wheeler had grown into who she had.

"Miss Wheeler, what can I do for you?" Jerry started, but it wasn't a genuine question. He wasn't even paying the courtesy of looking at her and was instead polishing a tacky golf ornament that he kept on his desk.

"I want it on the record that I should have received a share in that raise," that was generous really, she should have received the entire raise. Frank had spent the last three weeks making unhelpful comments and sleeping through group meetings, instead of organising them like he should have been. Nancy decided, though, that if she made that observation known to her boss, she'd be on the entire company's shit-list.

"Wheeler, Frank was head writer on that project, it was his story, he got the raise," he already had the glazed-over look in his eye that she recognised all too well. She'd seen it enough times when she'd tried to engage her father in any kind of conversation that involved her passions.

"That's just it, sir, I did more work than anybody on this one. Ask around. I've worked more hours than anybody else in the department, I spent all my free time researching and I wrote almost the entire article–"

Jerry put up a condescending hand to stop her, "you chose to do those things, no one asked you to, darlin'." He said deliberately.

Nancy ground her teeth and lifted her chin – Lord knows she's put up with worse than a little misogyny. She poured all the false respect she had into her voice as she replied.

"All due respect, sir, but it never would have made it to print if it weren't for me."

"Fortunately, we'll never know," he said with a smugly patronising smile.

Nancy seethed. She opened her mouth to argue again, but he raised that damned hand again. This time he made a shooing motion. Like she was little better than a misbehaving child. Worse than that; like she was a creature he didn't care to even feign his respect for.

Without hesitation, and with all the surety she could muster, Nancy stood her ground and with a deep breath announced: "Jerry, I quit."

The moment the words were out of her mouth an overwhelming sense of relief washed over her. A heavy burden was lifted off of her shoulders and she felt like she could straighten her spine for the first time since she'd taken this god-forsaken job.

"Don't be stupid, Wheeler," Jerry warned, still with the tone of condescension, like it was his default when he spoke to her.

"Oh this is the smartest thing I could possibly do, right now, I deserve better than this." A smirk was fast-developing across her face, the apathy she had now that she wasn't worried about her job caused a little of her ruthlessness to slip through her crafted 'girl-next-door' veneer, "this paper will drown without me."

"Hah!" Her boss chortled, "you won't last a week out there in this business."

"I've faced down serial killers and won, Jerry. I'll be just fine."

Taking more than a little satisfaction in the astounded look on her ex-boss's face, she turned on her heel and walked out. Without slowing, she hooked her bag over her shoulder as she passed her desk and then walked out the front door. Not so much as a glance back before she stepped out into the crisp Chicago air.

Walking away from the building, Nancy felt like she could finally breathe properly. She'd spent her entire tenure there shaping herself into the boxes they wanted her in, squeezing herself into categories that made the men around her comfortable. When she thought about it, she'd done that her whole life.

She always made herself smaller to be more acceptable to those around her. People struggled to handle her competence and drive – it tended to make them feel inadequate – and so they found ways to limit her to make her more palatable. And when she'd gotten used to people reacting to her that way, to them wrestling down those parts of her personality, she'd started doing it preemptively.

Walking out of that no-name paper had been a wake up call. An opportunity to reset. Remove the mask.

She felt powerful.

So when she got home, jobless and pretty much penniless, she was smiling.

"What are you doing here so early?" Eddie asked from his spot on the sofa, guitar in hand, when she walked through the door.

"I just quit my job," Nancy replied. She was a little breathless, likely owed to the four flights of stairs up to their place, but it was also partly because she felt a bit giddy saying it outloud.

"Alright, Wheeler," he praised, setting down his prized guitar and holding up an appreciative fist for her to bump. She grinned and did so proudly. If she could count on anyone to be delighted about her joblessness, she could count on him. He'd been encouraging her to quit for almost as long as she'd worked there. Eddie wasn't one to suffer fools and so the very first time Nancy had come home seething about the blatant unfairness she was experiencing, that had been his immediate suggestion.

To begin with, she had found it infuriating. The fact that Eddie thought she could be content in giving up so easily and letting them win was insulting. She was too good for that; she was too smart, too stubborn.

Nancy refused to give in so easily. She was determined that once she proved herself useful, if she did what they asked, went above and beyond, they'd have to take her seriously. She thought she'd finally be given the lead on the important stories. She was a talented, hard-hitting, investigative journalist. She was wasted on boring puff pieces that only existed to fill in the gaps on the pages. She was naïve enough to think that her boss would see that in time. Clearly she had been wrong.

As she flopped down onto the sofa beside her best friend, she resented him a little. Things were so much easier for him – since they'd left Hawkins and the people who called him 'murderer' and 'Satanist' behind, at least. While he'd certainly understand some prejudices and unreasonable roadblocks in his day to day, his life would never be complicated by sexism. When he was good at things, that was taken at face value; he was allowed to be good at them. When he felt something, he didn't have to reign himself in or risk accusations of 'hysteria'. He didn't have to worry about saying or doing the wrong thing, and having that mistake reflect on every woman in the field.

She loved Eddie dearly, but he would never truly understand. So when he gave his advice, it was sometimes a bit too flippant, a bit too blasé.

But even when he couldn't help, he'd always be there with Nance to celebrate her wins. So she leaned against his side and smiled when he squeezed her tight and told her (not for the first time) that she was the baddest badass in the history of badassery.

"Alright, alright," Nancy grinned, pushing him away playfully. Eddie had a very physical way of showing his support and affection. Sometimes, it was a little stifling. She gave him a warm smile anyway, "Do you know what their shifts are today?" She asked, gesturing towards the ceiling. Robin and Steve lived in the flat above them, which conveniently concentrated all of Nancy's favourite people (bar a few) into one apartment block.

Eddie smirked and leaned back, picking up his guitar in one fluid motion, "Robin has today off if that's what you're asking," he said, playing a guitar riff that was vaguely familiar.

She rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue at him as she stood to head upstairs. She ignored it when he affectionately flipped the bird in her direction.

When she knocked on their door, it took a second for there to be a response. Nancy understood why when Robin came to the door dressed in coveralls that were more paint than fabric.

"Hey Robin-a-Roo, busy day?" She chuckled, a little sarcastically.

"You don't even know the half of it, Nance," Robin sighed with false weariness as she turned to walk back into the apartment with a broad grin.  She left the door open for Nancy to follow her.

Nancy smiled with amused shock when she reached Robin's room.

Every surface was covered in sheets of tarp, save for one wall which was smattered with splats vibrant colour.

There were open cans of paint in every colour you could imagine lined up on the floor (also protected with plastic), and there were various paint brushes and tools strewn about. When she looked at Robin again though, she saw that clearly she had leaned in favour of using her bare hands for this endeavour.

"Voilà!" Robin announced, waving her arms dramatically at the wall. Her face was adorned with a broad and bright grin that reached her eyes. Nancy's chest flowered with warmth.

"Cool," she said with a smile of her own, "there's almost as much paint on the wall as there is on you."

"Oh, excuse me for getting excited at the prospect of flinging colours around," Robin rolled her eyes good-naturedly and turned to admire her messy work.

Nancy laughed again and looked at the set up Robin had going.

She grinned, "looks like fun."

Robin beamed and turned to face Nancy again, "it's a great stress reliever. Wanna join?" She wiggled her eyebrows in challenge.

"Oh I wouldn't want to ruin it," she replied, suddenly feeling sheepish and vulnerable.

Robin's voice dropped a little, and she smirked, teasing, "ruin my completely random, zero skill required, messy, impulsive, paint splashing?"

Nancy frowned, "Impulsive? Didn't you get the landlord's permission?" She asked.

"There wasn't time! I had to go to the hardware store to get the tarps and paint and then I was deciding which wall to do it on and covering everything else with plastic and tape!" She spoke while waving her arms around dramatically, clearly just trying to make Nancy laugh. It worked.

"Don't worry I'll paint over it when I move out," she promised and wiggled her fingers ominously as she asked, "so are you getting your hands dirty or what?"

This time it was Nancy who rolled her eyes, "Fine, but I don't really have any clothes I'd be okay with getting paint on."

"Just borrow mine," Robin offered without hesitation, already dipping a hand into a truly alarming shade of bright green and admiring the way it dripped from her long fingers.

She grinned at Robin's ease at offering up her clothes for her to essentially ruin. The trust that Nancy would know the right clothes to pick, the inherent intimacy of sharing clothes, shocked her a little.

An indescribable warmth spread through her chest as she rifled through the drawers. She grabbed a grubby old work shirt that she knew Robin only kept for messy projects like this, since it was embroidered with a company logo. And she recognised a pair of dungarees she'd seen Robin wear before – she had a habit of drawing on the knees and wiping dirt and dyes and all sorts all over them, so she assumed a little paint would be fine – and took them to the bathroom to change.

When she came back into Robin's room, Nancy lingered at the door. Robin had put on some music (apparently not minding her tape deck getting a little colourful) and was jumping around dancing to David Bowie. With her eyes closed, she didn't see Nancy return and so was unencumbered by embarrassment or shyness.

Robin smiled bright, she occasionally flicked out her arms towards the paint wall, leaving a splatter of neon green from the arc of her hands as she danced. It was pure joy. Nancy couldn't keep herself from joining.

As the chorus hit, she jumped into Robin's room, dancing like no one was watching and she started singing along. Well, shouting would be more accurate.

At first her friend looked caught. Like she didn't mean for anyone to see her goofing around dancing to one of her favourite songs, so Nancy made sure to act even goofier. Even out the playing field.

Robin's face then transformed into something akin to awe. Like she couldn't believe that Nancy was there. Finally, her expression turned into one of sheer happiness as she started dancing again and joining Nancy in her shout-singing of the chorus.

As the song faded out, they found themselves theatrically falling to the ground out of breath, the plastic rustled beneath them. Any of Nancy's lingering annoyance for the people at her old job had been drowned out by the utter joy that coursed through her now.

She sighed as she finally regained her wind, "I needed that," she smiled as she sat up to look at the wall again, "so what do you want me to do?"

Robin mumbled something as she sat up herself, but it was garbled by the sound of the effort she took. When Nancy turned to look at her, Robin looked confused. "What do you mean? Just do what you want, man. Go with your feels, let the music move you."

The last words were said in a floaty sing-song that made Nancy giggle, as she watched Robin rock back and forth, out of time to the new song that had started playing, "sometimes I forget your parents were hippies, and then you go and say something like that."

Robin chuckled as she got to her feet, offering Nancy a hand, "seriously, Nance, just do what feels right, there's not a pattern to follow or a quota to meet, just–" She bent over abruptly, dunking her hands in a paint can and threw her arms out at the wall again, "dip and fling."

Nancy's smile felt like it'd rip her face in half. "Dip and fling," she tried to say seriously and failed.

She did exactly that, though: dipped her hands into a lovely shade of bright sky blue, and swung her arms out, watching the paint drops flick from her fingers in an arc and hit the plaster with a satisfying splat. She threw her arms about in every direction she could think of until the paint on her hands ran out and then she stood back, admiring her handiwork. It was messy and dripping down towards the ground already. It was perfect. Nancy looked over to Robin for her approval but she was already looking right at her with a huge grin, bouncing in place.

"Atta girl, Nance," she said, quieter than Nancy had expected her to speak. There was a strain behind it, like she was holding back. Nancy didn't really know how to respond, so she flicked the tiniest bit of remaining paint at Robin's chest playfully and then bent to get the next colour to decorate the wall.

For the next few hours they remained there, in a bubble, goofing around, listening to music, making a mess. The world may as well have disappeared for all they knew. In their little room, with Robin's ratty old speakers blasting Blondie and Bowie and Bonnie Tyler, Nancy felt freer than she had in months.

Only when they started to get hungry did they realise how much time had passed and by then, Robin's bedroom wall looked positively psychedelic.

"Wow," Nancy chuckled when she stood back and took a proper look at the project. She hadn't really expected it to look as beautiful as it did, a little worried that the paints would congeal and dull into brown. Instead it made up a maelstrom of brightly coloured nonsense. Something like glee bubbled in the pit of her stomach.

"Right?!" Robin exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of her feet and wriggling her fingers in that cute way she did when something excited her. Nancy found herself hiding a private smile behind her curls before Robin could see her blush. Get a grip, Nancy.

They went off to clean themselves up in the bathroom, rinsing off what they could from their hands and arms. Robin hand shrugged off the top half of her coveralls and tied it around her waist. It was unbearably attractive. Nancy endeavoured not to stare by staring diligently at her own hands as she scrubbed them.

"So," Robin said, breaking the silence, "how are you now?" Robin asked and Nancy snapped her head back up in surprise at the question.

"What do you mean?" Nancy asked, acting as casual as she could manage.

Now Robin seemed to shrink a little, like she was embarrassed, "I mean – um – well, about the paper, I guess."

"Oh," she sighed, biting her lip, and Robin looked abruptly away. Nancy tried to lighten her tone "did Eddie somehow tell you when I wasn't looking?" 

"No, no, he didn't," Robin assured her quickly, "I just assumed. Since you're here… in the middle of the day. And I know you've been really unhappy there and you've been thinking about talking to your boss which I can't imagine going well since he's, like, a rich, old, white man. Not that I think you'd have said anything to get fired! It's just that that is what men are like, you know?"

Nancy found herself laughing at her companion's rambling and put a hand on her shoulder to keep her from rambling herself in circles, "I know. But I feel great, Robin."

She seemed to release the tension from her shoulders then, and relaxed under Nancy's hand. Robin was smiling but wouldn't look her in the eye, a sort of bashfulness overtaking her. It was painfully cute.

All Nancy could think about at that moment was how effortlessly Robin had re-routed her day to include her and help her forget the terrible day she'd had up until then. How easily she had brightened her mood, lifted her out of her anger and upset, by knowing exactly what would cheer her up.

"Thank you," Nancy said, and without her brain's permission her throat knotted which doused the words in emotion. She felt her lip quiver and took a breath to contain herself.

Before she could process what was happening, Robin had engulfed her in a hug. Her arms wrapped tightly around her shoulders, face buried somewhere near Nancy's collarbone. One hand brushed up and down her back while the other held her close, and both movements were immensely soothing. She felt safe, cared for. Tears began to fall.

"I'm sorry," Nancy apologised, looping an arm around Robin's waist while the other was trapped against her chest.

"You don't need to apologise."

"I'm just so angry, you know?" She gasped in a soggy breath, "I work so hard and do so much and it's never even noticed."

"I know," Robin whispered.

"It's not fair."

"It's not, you deserve better."

Nancy pulled away, not even enough to break their hold on each other, to look at Robin when she admitted, "That's what I said when I quit."

Robin's eyes lit up, "you quit?" She surged forwards again and held Nancy so tightly, her ribs complained.

"Nance, I'm so proud of you," she was whispering into Nancy's hair again but this time, it was cheerful.

Nancy's smile was watery but genuine when she tightened her arms around the person that always made her feel so much better.

She avoided visiting home as much as she could these days. She'd left Hawkins for a reason, so of course coming back was always slightly sour.

She'd outgrown this town years ago and being back was suffocating. There were a few moments of reprieve; when she got a moment alone with her mum and she gushed about how proud she was of all Nancy had accomplished, when she could get away to see Robin or the Byers-Hoppers (Steve and Eddie had stayed back in Chicago for the holidays, Wayne insisted he come up to them). Mostly though, it was horrible.

She only had to get through two more days. Two days and then she'll be free – she'll hightail it over to the Buckleys', grab Robin and haul ass straight back home.

Until then though, she had to sit through conversations with her family members. The questions she could handle, the small talk was mind-numbing but bearable, but when they started proffering their opinions on things? She hated it. Not so much from the more distant family members, random cousins and uncles that felt the need to put in their two cents – that much was expected and easily ignored. When it came from her dad though, the man she was supposed to look up to, the man whose thoughts had meant so much to her once upon a time (and still did if she was honest with herself), it was a much harsher blow.

She'd just finished recounting the story of how she'd left her job a few months ago and gotten a much better one for another paper. She had thought that her dad would be proud of her, would praise her for knowing her own value and succeeding because of it. Instead he'd hardly looked away from the television, and when he did, he regarded her with derision.

"What's the matter?" Nancy asked, her excited smile from recounting the tale beginning to drop.

"I don't understand why you bother working at all, Nancy. You ought to get married and settle down. You need to be tamed."

She felt like he'd slapped her across the face. He may as well have. She didn't think there was anything he could say that would have hurt worse than that. Ted turned towards the TV again without a second thought, probably already forgetting what he'd said to his daughter. Nancy felt the threat of tears prick her sinuses so she stood and made for her old bedroom before anyone could see her cry.

Despite her fury, she tried hard not to slam the door behind her, instead taking out her frustrations on the drawers. She gripped the wood until her knuckles turned white, her breathing turned erratic as she wrestled her instinct to shout and fight and make him understand.

She wished she was home again. Not for the first time that day, and likely not for the last.

She wanted to be back in Chicago with Eddie and Steve and Robin. The people who understood her, supported her, bolstered even her most outlandish ideas. She missed Eddie's look of awe at everything she did – it was disastrously nourishing to her ego, but she loved that he thought she was "the coolest cat since sliced bread". His words.

Nancy missed talking things through with Steve, she loved his level-headedness and balance. It usually meant that whatever scheme she had cooked up somehow ended up much more effective. He'd occasionally try and talk her down, but he knew her well by now. Knew her stubborn nature.

And she missed Robin. Just Robin. The way she'd always be there. Always cheering her on, always holding her hand when she needed it.

Right now she just wanted her friends.

Unfortunately, whatever higher power was up there felt differently and instead sent Mike.

He lightly knocked and then let himself into the room, seemingly completely unaware of how upset she was.

"Nancy, can you drive me to Will's later?" It was clear that he didn't expect any answer other than a happy 'yes'. He had barely stepped into the room and was already turning to go, knowing he'd not need to fight his case.

Nancy gritted her teeth against the instinct to snap at her brother. After all, he hadn't done anything wrong; she was angry at Ted, not at him.

"Sure," she answered through gritted teeth, giving him a false smile that would fool no one.

Mike looked to take it at face value for a moment, considering whether he should ask her or not. He wavered on the threshold  and eventually decided. He looked at her again, this time actually paying attention.

"What's got you all bent out of shape?" He asked. It wasn't unkind, just sort of… thoughtless. It annoyed her all over again.

"Nothing," her voice came out tight and strained, "dad's just– god, he thinks I need to be 'tamed'!" She didn't mean to say it, it wasn't Mike's problem, she knew he wouldn't understand, but she felt like she was going to explode if she didn't let some of her rage free. Like letting steam out of an over-boiling pot.

Mike looked nonplussed and simply stood there as she recounted her father's words and ranted a little. She gestured wildly in her fury and paced the floor. When she was done, she looked to her brother, hoping for sympathy, maybe even understanding.

She was disappointed.

"I mean, he's not wrong. When you have a house and a family, you won't have time to work. That's what girls do, right?" Mike looked like that was the most sensible thing in the world. Like it was fair. Expected. Nancy wanted to throw him out of her window.

"No, Mike, we don't," she spat, "we tend to be living, breathing creatures with brains and ambitions of our own."

Mike looked shocked, he didn't expect her to react so bitterly. He must have noticed his error because he quickly added, "well, that's just what mom did, I guess you can do whatever you want though."

It should have been enough to placate her, really. Mike was young, a product of his sheltered, privileged upbringing. He didn't know better unless someone taught him better. But Nancy was so tired of teaching people things. Sometimes she wished they'd just know.

So she turned away, silently fuming. She gazed out the window, briefly fantasising about an escape plan.

"Can you still give me a ride?" Mike asked, voice small and cautious. This time unsure of what the answer would be.

She put effort into making her voice softer this time, "Yes, Mike, be ready in thirty."

"It can be later if you want, I don't mind," he didn't sound sure, he was clearly still tiptoeing.

"Don't be silly," Nancy rolled her eyes with a sigh, "you'd rather be at Will's than listening to Aunt Carol sing White Christmas badly."

That managed to share a smile between them, tension dropped as they complained together about their very annoying relatives.

When her brother left to pack his overnight bag, Nancy was left to her own devices. A dangerous thing for a woman of her brains, capability and desperation to escape.

In the end she didn't need a grand plan. She was an adult. With her own home and her own car. She could just leave. So she gathered together her things haphazardly and while no one was looking, snuck outside to sling her bags into the back seat.

As she looked back at the house, hoping that Mike would be ready to go, she caught sight of her mum gliding across the window with Holly on her hip. Suddenly she couldn't allow herself to just leave without saying goodbye to them.

Ducking back inside, she managed to dodge beckons for her attention by pretending to need something in the kitchen, but she knew that would hardly work for long. So when she found her rearranging a couple of decorations absently, Holly had since gone off to do her own thing, she grabbed her mum by her wrists and dragged her along.

"Nancy, sweetie," Karen chuckled, trusting her daughter and going along without a fuss. Safely tucked away, she turned to her but clearly hadn't schooled her features well enough.

"You look… thunderous, Nance, are you okay?" She swept a hand down the side of Nancy's face, taming a stray curl and then moving to hold her chin gently.

"I can't be here after what dad said. I can't." Nancy admitted, "I'm leaving, but I needed to say goodbye."

Her mum's face softened in sympathy and she pulled her into a comforting, motherly hug, "it's okay, I understand."

There was no heat in her mother's voice. No strain of upset, no anger, no disappointment. Just love and compassion.

It made sense, really; if anyone was going to understand how it felt to be on the receiving end of her father's soul-crushing remarks and almost neglectful disinterest, it'd be Karen Wheeler.

Nancy squeezed her a little tighter.

"Okay, Wonder Woman," Karen huffed out a small laugh, "best get going before the crowd thins and they notice you leaving, eh?"

Nancy nodded with a sad smile, "thank you," she said. The words were small and broken, her heart broke a little bit too.

Her mother rubbed her back soothingly, "can I see you again before you head home? Or are you leaving tonight?"

"I'm just going to Robin's for now," she assured her. She pulled out of the hug but kept their hands gripped together, "I'll come see you before we go home."

"No no, I'll come see you, we can go for coffee or something." Something in the way her mum said it made Nancy want to cry. Like she was just as desperate to get out, even if only for a few hours.

"Sounds perfect," Nancy smiled knowingly, and before she lost her resolve she took a deep breath, "you know, you and Holly are always welcome in Chicago. Eddie can stay at Robin and Steve's and we'll have the apartment to ourselves."

Tears welled in her mother's eyes, and her lip quivered but she was smiling and nodding gently, "that would be lovely, Nance." She surged forward and wrapped her daughter in a bear hug, "I'm so proud of you. You are a wonderful, wonderful woman."

Nancy pulled back and beamed at her mother, "I got it from my mom," her voice was warm and thick with affection. She hoped it came across in those simple words, just how much she meant it.

Karen's eyes were still welled up but she was stoically fighting them back, determined not to cry. Nancy had seen that look in the mirror.

"I love you, mom," Nancy said, with one last squeeze of her mother's hand.

"Love you more, honey," she smiled through glistening eyes, "now go go go!"

Nancy did just so. She found Holly over by the unsupervised plate of cookies, kissed her goodbye and slipped out in the middle of a loud argument about who sang 'White Christmas' originally. Mike was waiting by the car with a bag slung on his shoulders.

As she pulled up to the Buckleys' house that evening, having dropped Mike off, she'd had plenty of time to consider what she was doing and work herself into knots.

It was unfair of her to spring this on Robin, for her to invite herself over until they decided to go home. It was the holidays, the Buckleys were probably busy with family things. Family that didn't include her.

Nancy was seconds away from driving off without even knocking the door when she caught movement from the corner of her eye.

"What are you doing here, Nance?" Robin asked, running up to the car and flinging the door open a broad smile lighting up her beautifully freckled features. She yanked Nancy out of the driver's seat to pull her into a bone crunching hug.

When she could breathe again, Nancy answered without answering, "I'm so sorry to just turn up like this."

Robin waved her off dramatically with a scoff, "you're always welcome, Nance, my parents love you." The thought made Nancy grin.

"So are you staying the night? Or is this a flying visit? Because if you're staying that'd be super helpful because we've got an odd number so games are a little harder. You can be on my team? I bet my dad will try to steal you though. For your brain." She said the last part with a strange seriousness that was rarely found on her face. Nancy laughed.

"I was hoping to stay the night?" She admitted, "I promise I'll be on your team," she added to sweeten the deal. Robin made a not-so-subtle fist pump and then leaned into the car to grab Nancy's bags. She headed into the house without another word, so Nancy assumed that it was okay. That she was welcome. She trailed up the path behind her friend.

When she stepped inside, she was sweetly assaulted by the smell of gingerbread and wintery herbs. The warmth that spread from the hearth in the living room bled into her bones and warmed her soul. There were carols playing delicately from the radio in the kitchen. Robin had disappeared into her bedroom down the hall, deposited Nancy's bags and returned, stopping through said kitchen, to pick up a bounty of cookies that she offered up.

Nancy took one with a smile. It was such a stark contrast to the chaos of Christmas at her parents'. No overbearing relatives telling her that she looked tired and hadn't done her hair right. No screaming cousins trying to hang off of her arms the moment she appeared. It was peaceful.

Only now, in the lull, did Nancy realise that Robin was wearing the sweater she'd given her for Christmas. It was mostly blue, slightly faded in places, with grey sleeves that frayed at the cuffs and in embroidered lettering across the chest, it read 'I'm a bottomless sea'. She'd found it in a thrift store back in Chicago and immediately imagined Robin wearing it.

Nancy was suddenly overwhelmed by how happy she was to be there.

"Are you sure it's okay with your parents that I'm here?" She asked, worried that she'd disrupt the atmosphere like a hostile species introduced to a thriving ecosystem.

"Let's go ask, Nancy-pants," Robin said through a cheekful of gingerbread. Nancy rolled her eyes at the moniker but followed her as she made off towards the living room.

Robin placed the cookies onto the coffee table and spoke along as she signed to her mother on the couch, "Nancy's here, can she stay the night?"

Mrs Buckley seemed to bolt upright at that and Nancy flinched, preparing to be kicked out. But as she turned and their eyes met, it was clear her worry was for nothing. Mrs Buckley beamed at her with a familiar smile that she'd obviously passed onto her daughter.

Nancy had only been learning sign language for a few months but she had a grasp on the basics. So when Mrs Buckley signed enthusiastically – "Of course! Have you had dinner already?" – Nancy was already bringing up her hands to respond when Robin started to translate.

Nancy felt something flutter in her chest at Robin's surprised, perhaps even impressed, expression.

It was senseless, really; she was sure that she signed like a five-year-old. Robin had no reason to be impressed. Still, though, she felt a blush begin to burn her cheeks.

To Nancy's horror, Mrs Buckley was looking directly at her. A knowing, sly smile encroached on her usually soft, amiable features; she looked downright devious.

This time when Nancy's stomach flipped, she knew it was a concoction made up of embarrassment, nerves and general inner turmoil. She shot a (hopefully subtle) panicked glance at Robin's mother who responded in kind with a subtle wink.

Dear God, I'm screwed, she thought, disastrously aware of her own inability to mask her fast-growing crush. And now said crush's mother was also aware. Fantastic.

She signed an incoherent excuse and all but sprinted to the bathroom to escape the scrutiny of Mrs Buckley's gaze. She pointlessly hoped that the reaction wasn't too transparent. But Robin wasn't a fool. For all the nonsense she rattled out in a day, there was twice as much going on in her mind that was useful. Nancy hoped in vain that the revelation of her feelings were shrouded in the layers of nonsense.

She splashed some cold water on her face and laughed a little hysterically.

She came here to escape the crushing weight of being misunderstood, of being a disappointment, and the claustrophobic press of expectation from her family. Now, here with the Buckleys, she was having a hard time being seen. Ironic, really.

There was a light tap on the door, loud enough to be heard, quiet enough not to startle. Robin's voice came through the door.

"Nance, are you okay?" She sounded worried. Nancy didn't want that.

"I'm fine, Robin-a-Roo," she said with wavering cheer as she unlocked the door, giving Robin a reassuring smile as she came in and closed the door behind her, "it's just weird being home."

Robin just nodded, looking down at her fingers where they fidgeted with the rings there. Nancy fought the urge to take those restless hands into hers.

She was nervous, fidgeting in that way she did when she had pent up feelings that needed to be let out. Robin shifted foot to foot, rhythmically swaying in time with a heartbeat. Nancy grinned and started moving along with her, the monotony peaceful and calming.

After a moment, Robin's eyes lifted up to Nancy's, determined and she spoke a little hurriedly – like she didn't want to not say it – "Why'd you come here, Nance?"

A little taken aback, it took Nancy a moment to realise what she'd been asked. She just blinked, calibrating and considering.

The truth was, the only time she felt relaxed was around Robin. The only time she felt completely herself was existing in the warm glow of Robin's presence. There was nothing she needed to do, nothing she had to explain or justify, she could just be. Any time spent in Robin's company was soothing, she came out of it feeling better, not worse.

That was more than she could say for anyone else in her life.

Mostly, her mother was kind, supportive. But there were times she'd make a needless comment about how skinny she was, or she'd sideways glance at something Nancy had said.

Then there was Steve. Sure, she and Steve were close. She trusted him with her life. But he knew her before. There was still a part of him that thought she might be happy living the small-town life. A part of him that still saw delicate and dainty little Nancy, whether he knew it consciously or not. She could see it, though.

And of course, Eddie was her best friend, her confidant, but he couldn't get it. They were fundamentally different: he followed his heart while she followed her head; he was happy to say a firm "fuck you" to society and live on the outside forever, she was determined to force society into submission until it accepted her, moulded around her. She sometimes felt like he was telling her to give up. Not outright, but it felt that way.

The kids still had a lot to learn. There was a lot they didn't understand just by virtue of their youth. And Nancy would never want to burden them with her own worries.

Robin never let her feel like a burden. She always understood her goals and ambitions. She always reminded her of exactly how much she was capable of. Never put her down or questioned her expertise.

"You get me," Nancy over-simplified, "and I'm happier with you than I am with anyone else."

That seemed to cause some sort of a crisis. Robin suddenly stopped rocking, her fingers stopped fidgeting. Nancy ducked to look her in the eyes, trying to decipher the reaction, and was surprised to find a glint of pride, and a whole lot of happiness bundled into the blue of her eyes.

"I don't have to be 'Nancy', you know?" She tried to explain, but she knew it was an asinine attempt, "I can stop being 'me' for a bit…"

Robin's mouth hung open slightly, toying with a sentence that Nancy could already tell would be rushed and chaotic and jumbled. It made her smile.

Just as Nancy was about to break the silence herself, Robin took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Her voice still sounded strained when she spoke, though. Like she was fighting something back.

"I feel the same about you," the rasp in her voice was more pronounced than usual.

"Really?"

Robin nodded gently, starting to rock again, "you never tell me to slow down when I talk too fast. You let me go off on pointless tangents and talk about random things I find cool. You've never told me to stop moving around – actually you copy me sometimes, and I love it." Her smile was back, but she couldn't look Nancy in her eyes still. Instead, her gaze darted around the small room, settling on anything but Nancy's face.

"You've never made me feel like I'm too much or too loud or too annoying," Robin admitted, Nancy felt her own breath catch and her ribs constrict, "I can be myself when you're here. I kind of want you around all the time."

"You do?" Nancy asked, sounding a little broken.

Robin nodded again with a private smile. It was unsure and quiet. At that, Nancy knew that she needed to be honest.

With a sudden rush of clarity, bravery and affection, she couldn't hold it in anymore.

"I want to be around you all the time," Nancy confessed breathlessly – even to her own ears it sounded more like a plea than a statement.

Only then did Robin's eyes meet hers. There was a hint of something like hope or nerves or excitement in them. Perhaps all three were swimming around in the glassy blue at once; Robin always had kept her feelings in shallow waters. The smallest ripple or break in the surface tension and all came spilling out of her in a crashing cascade of consciousness.

Right now, she was keeping an awful lot at bay – Nancy could see the strain of it in the curve of her raised shoulders, the way that she was curled in on herself.

Nancy took a step forward, something bold taking her over. She reached out to rest her hands on Robin's, hoping that the tremble in them wasn't too noticeable.

She didn't think too much about how automatically she had pulled their clasped hands up to her lips, kissing Robin's knuckles gently. Nancy's entire being thrummed with anticipation at the shiver Robin was unable to suppress at the contact.

The bathroom suddenly felt very, very small. Too small to contain the unspoken words, the inescapable tension, the feelings that were building up to a fever pitch. Nancy felt the pressure of it all squeezing the air from her lungs until she could only draw ragged breaths.

She'd been circling her feelings for Robin for months, only able to keep her distance this long with conscious and continuous effort. The moment her concentration had slipped, her brain had been sucked into the whirlpool that was her obsession with Robin Buckley. Now that she'd gotten this far, she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to pull away again.

They drifted closer still. Nancy's hands had found their way to Robin's waist now, holding on to her belt loops and pulling her ever closer. She struggled to keep her eyes from honing in on Robin's full lips. Their height difference made that hard; they were directly at eye level, and so she got a front row seat to her tongue darting quickly across her bottom lip.

Nancy was hopelessly staring now.

Just barely registering that Robin's hands were shaking, Nancy could feel them slide up her shoulders and settle at the base of her skull. Leaving trails of goosebumps behind with the touch. She fought a shiver. Her entire body pulsed with energy.

She slowly, deliberately pulled herself to her full height and rolled up onto her tiptoes. The distance between them was negligible now, but Nancy kept it there for the moment. Instead of pulling them together completely, she moved her grip, balling her fists into Robin's sweater. The sweater Nancy had gotten for her.

It matched Robin's eyes almost perfectly.

In a broken whisper, Nancy confessed, "I would really like to kiss you."

The words tore a half panicked laugh out of Robin's throat. Nancy almost laughed too, at the look of irritation on her companion's face, like she was inwardly cursing herself.

"Sorry about that," Robin said once she'd gathered herself, and then made an over-serious, sobered face, "I think you deserve to have everything you want, Nancy Wheeler."

A grin broke across her face as she watched Robin's head bob up and down, like that was an absolute. Like it was obvious and unquestionable. Something joyous bubbled in her gut.

Finally – finally – she used her grip on Robin's clothes to pull her down to swallow up the last little bit of distance between them.

When their lips met, Nancy's mind exploded with light and colour and vibrance. Robin's mouth was warm and soft and inviting and so Nancy pushed further up into the kiss, all but begging for more.

Robin seemed happy to oblige, and while keeping one hand curling into Nancy's hair, she wound one arm around her waist, hoisting her up a little more. Nancy thanked her with a whimper that escaped without her permission.

A whimper that descended into an all-out moan when Robin's tongue grazed her top lip. Nancy couldn't be more enthusiastic in opening her mouth to deepen the kiss. The hands that were holding tightly at Robin's chest loosened and found their way up to her shoulders instead, wrapping around them to pull her closer.

Nancy was very aware that she'd need to come up for air soon but by-and-by thought that this would not be a bad way to go: suffocating with Robin's lips on hers, arms strong and desperate and needy wrapped around her.

All good things, though…

When they parted, they were both breathless and hazy, foreheads pressed together still. Neither wanted to separate from the other completely. So they panted and grinned and blinked away the daze, sharing their space, their air and their stability.

Robin managed to speak first, of course, "I'm so glad that that's what you wanted."

Nancy giggled airily, her brain was still a little mushy, "'want'," she corrected, "present continuous."

"Ugh, you nerd," Robin chastised before swooping down to catch their lips into another blistering kiss.

Nancy tightened her arms, still slung around the taller girl's neck to pull them closer but moved to part them again. They remained in each other's space, breathing the same air.

"We should go back out before your parents notice we've been gone," Nancy reasoned.

Robin whined in a way that Nancy shouldn't have found attractive, "but they'll be all annoying until we tell them what's going on."

It made her smile. The fear from earlier forgotten, "let's just go tell them then, your mom already knows about my embarrassingly huge crush on you."

"She does?" Robin seemed genuinely shocked. And then her features softened into something teasing, "I can't believe you have a crush on me, that's so weird."

"I know, right?" She laughed, placing one last chaste peck on Robin's lips and pulling away.

"Wait, just so I'm clear: you have a crush on me?" Robin's voice was a little shrill.

"That's probably understating things," Nancy said while she fixed her hair in the mirror and then spun to face Robin again, "I'm pretty sure you're my favourite person on the planet."

The little "oh," sound that Robin choked out was unbearably cute, and so Nancy felt the need to hold her face in her hands.

"Are you okay?" She asked delicately.

Robin's eyes were watery, moments from spilling over, but she kept her eyes on Nancy's. Gentle and loving and awed.

"Hell yeah, Hot Wheels," she replied softly and Nancy's answering giggle was a bit watery too.

[steviewashere]

Here's some Ronance from my current wip chapter (keep in mind that this fic—"We Share This Life"—is Steve-centric, but I couldn't resist my girls).

— — A warm hand settles itself between Robin's shoulder blades. She turns, nose to forehead with Nancy's crestfallen face. She slouches down enough to make eye contact.

"You're going to make yourself sick, Robbie," Nancy whispers. Her hand comes back up and tucks away a few wild strands of Robin's hair. "Come sit with me on the edge of the bed before you have a panic attack, alright?" She leads them to the edge of their mattress. Forces them both to sit down, bodies touching all the way down to the outsides of their feet.

Robin puts her face in her hands, elbows digging into the tops of her thighs.

Nancy pets down her back. "Maybe," she begins, "this is his way of telling you he's finally ready to leave Hawkins? Maybe this is him realizing something, y'know? It doesn't always have to be a bad thing."

"But why would he tell me now?"

For a few long moments, Nancy says nothing. Then, she takes a deep breath. "Steve's intentions are always set in the right. He—Sometimes he's not very articulate on how to portray them, though.

"When I lost Barb, he took me to a party and tried to just get me to act like a normal teenager. Which—" She chuckles, briefly. "I didn't feel like a normal teenager, not anymore. I mean, it's not everyday that you lose your best friend to some other thing and have to keep it a secret from everybody you know, even your best friend's family. But—" Nancy runs her palm up and down Robin's back in long strokes, hooking her chin on Robin's bony shoulder. "Steve barely knew what the fuck was going on at the time. And he was trying to help me, albeit poorly. And you've probably heard how the rest of that night went." She takes a deep breath.

Continues, "My point is, Steve's trying to tell you something. But he's not doing it well. Maybe...Maybe tell me more about what you guys talked about? I can help you, but you've got to take a breather and let me in." — —

If you want to read the rest of the fic while I finish up my Ronance section, you can find the link here!

The fic is rated mature for some of the material. Also, it's extremely Steve-centric, Ronance is not the main focus of my story, neither is Steddie, to be honest. More of their connection with Steve. It's slow going, but I promise more is on the way!

[xenon-demon]

After my original musings on the Streamers!Stobin & Deranged Fic Author!Eddie AU (post linked here), here are some more thoughts, Ronance Edition:

In this universe Nancy is also a streamer who uses Nancy Keene as her professional name (in reference to the pseudonym used by the authors of the Nancy Drew books, Carolyn Keene), except her content revolves around political commentary and reporting on whatever major news is breaking on the internet. She focuses on correcting misinformation and providing reputable sources for things, since we all love purposefully spreading misinformation on the internet (surely we all know the meme I’m referencing), mainly so that when she issues or accepts a challenge to publicly debate someone she knows she’ll aboslutely wipe the floor with them. Her political commentary is pretty iron-clad as well, to the point where it just makes the conservatives look bad when they say she doesn’t know what she’s talking about because not only is it obvious she does, but she probably wrote the book that everyone else learns about it from.

So Nancy Wheeler is usually very no-nonsense in her content. The most casual her streams ever get is when she’s doing a Q&A stream and might deign to answer a couple of questions about her personal life, as opposed to her political leanings or thoughts on journalism-related topics.

This is why no one really knows how to handle it when she pops up as a special guest on BirdBox_’s twitch stream. What’s more, they’re playing Minecraft together, and Robin is busy building their base and making it look all pretty while Nancy goes charging into the mines for resources.

Neither of them address it for the entire two hour stream, just acting like it’s totally normal and common for them to collaborate together like this - and from the way they’re interacting, they’re clearly close. There’s a few moments that come across as awkward, where Nancy makes a joke that Robin laughs just a bit too hard at, or Robin rambles on about something the way she does and Nancy’s response comes in too late, her webcam showing she’d just zoned out and stared at her screen. These moments are outnumbered by the number of times they genuinely thrive in conversation, such as bouncing off each other and one-upping a joke until they both get killed by a creeper because they got distracted laughing. (Nancy was so mad about that one, she had 10 diamonds in her inventory that just got lost forever.)

Seeing how well they get on, and how much they’re both clearly enjoying it, both Nancy and Robin’s fans decide to just roll with it. There’s a healthy subset of Nancy’s fans who have wanted to get to know her a bit beyond her professional persona and hope she doesn’t feel pressured to only make that kind of content, and Robin’s fans are enjoying seeing a different side of her to the one that comes out with Steve. It’s a win-win-win; the fans get some great content, and Nancy and Robin get to spend some quality time together and get paid to do so. Fantastic.

Afterwards, Robin is an absolute mess, obsessively watching and rewatching the VOD and bemoaning how obviously smitten she looks. She won’t stop on her own, so Steve has to hide her laptop in the one place she’ll never look for it - the drawer in his bedroom containing his sex paraphernalia. (Which is really not as exciting as that makes it sound; Steve wishes he was having sex even a fraction as wild as some of the stuff his fans imagined him doing, but then just getting laid at all would be a good place to start. It’s hard out here for the hopeless romantics who want to get laid but are sick of it not meaning anything.)

Meanwhile Nancy, nearly a thousand miles away in Boston, has her sights set on a brand new mystery to solve; is Robin Buckley an appreciator of women? Does she by any chance kiss girls? How does she feel about the colors orange and pink, especially when there’s a white stripe in between them? Or the colors pink purple and blue for that matter, but Nancy’s already bringing those ones to the table. She’s absolutely not letting herself entertain any thoughts of what might happen if Robin is gay, since that would just be setting herself up for disappointment if she’s not. The internet seems convinced she’s dating her roommate-and-best-friend-and-business-partner, but Nancy’s never trusted the internet’s popular opinion before and she’s not about to start now.

Robin and Nancy keep streaming together. The ones on Robin’s channel are them playing games like Overcooked, Animal Crossing, a tonne of Minecraft (which Steve joins in on eventually and keeps building the ugliest houses ever), and on a few notable occasions It Takes Two. The streams on Nancy’s channel are less frequent, and usually consist of Robin popping in for a Q&A stream, but there’s been a few times where they’ll bounce back and forth off of each other in one of Nancy’s political commentary streams.

Before long people start shipping them. It’s mainly Robin’s fans, since Nancy’s fans are not the fandom type of people, but with all these new streams Nancy’s been doing with Robin she’s starting to build that sort of audience for herself as well. Robin is equal parts thrilled and mortified, because oh my god they think I should date my crush and are writing stories about me doing just that this is the best day of my life, but also oh my GOD poor Nancy must hate this and is never going to stream with me again. She doesn’t calm down about it until Nancy is asked about it on stream a couple of weeks after the shipping started to get really out of control - and that was all thanks to someone deciding to @ Robin and Nancy on twitter under a thread where someone had written an absolutely deranged fanfiction about them through the medium of fake social media screenshots.

(Nancy takes a long sip from her cup of tea before reading out the next question from her chat window. “Dear Nancy, how do you feel about being shipped with BirdBox_? Or people writing about you? Because BirdBox_ gets that sort of thing a lot but you haven’t had to state any boundaries about it before.”

Nancy hums to herself. “That’s a good question. You’re right, I haven’t had this kind of audience before - not that I mind, I love Robin’s fans and I’m so thrilled you’ve all seemed to welcome me in to your space.” Nancy leans back in her chair and looks off into the middle distance, her foot absentmindedly spinning her chair a little as she thinks. “I would say... it’s ultimately up to Robin. As you said, she has experience with this, and I trust her. Whatever she says her boundaries are, I have the same ones.”

Nancy looks back at the camera and smiles, pleased with her answer. After a moment, however, her eyes widen and she rushes to add, “And don’t make sexually explicit or inflammatory content about me, but I would hope that’s obvious enough that you wouldn’t do it anyway. And I would hope Robin’s told you not to do that too.”)

If Nancy’s quietly thrilled that people think she should date Robin, and is using this as a way to put the ball in Robin’s court about how she feels about dating another woman (maybe even dating Nancy specifically?), then that’s Nancy’s business and Nancy’s business alone.

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

I am not from the US, I know nothing about the country except what I learned from having a hyperfixation on Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance, all I know is according to google Emerson has a Boston campus so badda bing badda boom that’s where Nancy is. Stobin meanwhile live in Chicago, and I haven’t decided where Eddie is yet but my gut says Indianapolis. Actually yeah after thinking about this for five seconds I’ve decided, Eddie & the CC boys are from Indianapolis and grew up there.

Also for context, the gang (Steve, Robin, Nancy, the Party, basically everyone but Eddie and the CC boys) did still go to high school together in Hawkins only for the older teens to move away for college/to live their lives away from the shackles of rural midwest America. Upon finding out they all became streamers/internet content creators, Nancy reached out to Robin and Steve to say “hey, I don’t know if you remember me from high school, but I remember you!” and things snowballed from there until they became friends. (I haven’t decided if Steve and Nancy just never dated in this AU, or if they did and it was significantly less of a big deal due to the lack of Upside Down trauma. Plus I’m imagining them in their early-to-mid twenties here so even if they did date they’ve had longer to get over it.)

[mikesmelodrama]

steddies/hellcheers look away pls 🤗 (a rant)

i genuinely don't get why steddies act like not shipping steddie automatically means shipping eddie and chrissy.

NEITHER SHIP HAS CHEMISTRY.

first of all: eddie is dealing chrissy drugs. there's nothing even REMOTELY romantic about that. drug dealer/person isn't a romantic dynamic... it's a sale. money and [item] switch owners.

him and chrissy weren't flirting.

now, steddie? what two words describe them the best? hmm... could it be-

NO CHEMISTRY

yeah. the stans are constantly fighting with each other, some steddies went as far as to harass grace van dien for saying she ships eddie and chrissy. (which is fucking stupid? get a life.)

the 'fandom war' between hellcheers and steddies is a mid-off. both of the ships are mid. lukewarm. mediocre.

just call it middie atp.

and i'm sick and tired of steddies taking over the stranger things tag on tumblr AND the byler, ronance and elmax tags on Ao3.

ronance and elmax especially don't have a lot of works on them anyways, so it's annoying having half of the fics be steddie. stop drowning out the sapphic ships with your gay-content-meant-for-straight-girls bs.

TLDR: CAN YOU PLEASE LEARN TO TAG YOUR BAD SMUT ???

another thing: a large chunk of the content in the steddie fandom is nsfw and probably most viewed by straight white women in their 20's! which is fucking weird!!!

i'm a broken record but just use the 'minor/background relationship(s)' tag if your fic is abt steddie.

now, was there "romantic tension" between steve and eddie? not in the slightest. steve is the straightest straight guy on the fucking show and considering he's a 'popular jock guy' i'd say he didn't even like eddie that much.

they were fighting monsters together. the 'don't ya big boy' line was improvised and imo most of the shit yall consider romantic fall on joe quinns acting style and the whole eddie character himself. (i sound mlvn-y saying that I KNOW but eddie is just a confident guy it's not that deep).

point being: hellcheers and steddies, i don't hate you but stop acting like you're better than each other when in all seriousness your ships are equally mediocre. and tag your fics correctly.

also eddie is cringe and annoying and i hope he stays dead

if you like steddie then my blog isn't the place for you! just don't look at it!

[blankinsidecards]

ok im sorry but im sick of reading ronance fics where the authors don’t know robin. creative liberties are great but there’s literally books about robin and her backstory. her parents are hippies- used to travel around with their friends in a van, and “historically haven’t been too uptight”. she was barb holland’s best friend in gradeschool, before nancy. she worked at the movie theater downtown, yeah the one that gets vandalized in s1. she learned how to speak italian so she could read dante’s inferno in his native language. she learned russian to read anna karenina. she loved the book frankenstein, really identified with the monster. she went as annie lennox from eurythmics for halloween of ‘83. she doesn’t like madonna but she’ll listen to her because her friend kate likes her- btw she has a friend named kate, and another friend named milton, too, both from band (so they’d know vickie too!). all that’s from just the podcast! like i get that the show gives us nothing for a robin backstory but compared to how every screenshot and bts look at eddie’s room or battlevest has been analyzed within an inch of its life?? i don’t want to feel like I need to ask for someone’s credentials before reading any wlw stranger things fic

[likecastle]

Ronance Femslash February

OK, so . . . this is the first prompt I’ve gotten for Ronance Femslash February where I’ve significantly deviated from the prompt. The prompt was this: “nancy gets pregnant and robin steps in and helps nancy w her pregnancy and theyre great mothers.” Anon, I genuinely appreciate you sending this prompt, but as I turned over how I would fill it, I came to the conclusion that this scenario just isn’t how I see these characters. I’ve read and enjoyed fic where Robin and Nancy have kids in some way or another, but it’s just not my read on Nancy especially as a character. Maybe I should have just passed on this one, but it did get my gears turning to think about how I would take this subject matter on. I wound up writing something that was almost entirely the opposite of the prompt, and I’ll completely understand, anon, if it’s very much not your jam. I’m still grateful to you for giving me the chance to explore my understanding of these characters through this lens.

I’m accepting Ronance prompts all month for Femslash February. You can find previous prompts I’ve filled here.

Putting this one behind a cut, mostly for length. Content warning for non-graphic discussion of pregnancy and abortion.

Nancy shows up at Robin’s door soaking wet, with a bottle of vodka in a soggy paper bag. Robin thinks she’s been crying, but it’s impossible to tell with all the water streaming from her hair.

“I was in the neighborhood,” Nancy says, and her voice cracks in a way that instantly turns Robin’s insides to ice.

Robin was supposed to go out with some friends from work, but she immediately hustles Nancy into her room and calls to cancel while Nancy changes into dry clothes. Once they’re nestled under a blanket on the couch, with a glass of vodka in front of each of them, Robin begins the elaborate conversational ritual of finding out what’s bothering Nancy. The problem is, a direct line of questioning usually only succeeds in getting Nancy’s hackles up, and someone who tried to wait for Nancy to volunteer that information herself could easily wait forever. Robin’s gotten better, over the years, at restraining her own panicked instincts and slowly leading the conversation around to whatever it is that’s bothering Nancy, gradually drawing her out until she’s ready to talk about what’s on her mind.

Which is how it happens that Robin’s solidly tipsy by the time Nancy finally says, “There’s actually something I wanted to ask you.”

“Whatever you need, Nance,” Robin says, bumping their shoulders together. She can smell the product in Nancy’s damp hair, something sharp and sandalwood-y. “You know that. Anything, always.”

Nancy gives her a thin smile. “I’ve got a doctor’s appointment on Friday, and I was hoping, um, that you’d come with me?”

This isn’t exactly what Robin was expecting, but it’s hardly the most onerous thing Nancy’s ever asked of her. She and Steve helped Nancy and Jonathan move into their third-floor walkup in a 100-degree weather last year, so sitting in a doctor’s waiting room is no big deal compared to actual heat exhaustion.

“I know you don’t like doctors,” Nancy says in an apologetic rush, evidently taking Robin’s surprise for dismay, “but I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather have with me. But it’s OK if you don’t want to, I can find someone else.”

Something about the way she says it gets Robin’s brain spinning off into paranoid scenarios. “Of course I’ll come, Nance, don’t even worry about it. But if you think you’re really sick, or something, you’re legally obligated to tell me. You’re entitled to your privacy and everything, but I will literally implode if I have to worry that you’re dying or something for the next week.”

“I’m pregnant,” Nancy says dully.

Later, Robin will blame the three glasses of vodka she’s had for what she says next. “Oh, shit. Or,” she adds too late, her brain catching up with her mouth, “sorry—uh—congrats?”

Nancy shakes her head, and sniffs. “I think you got it right the first time.”

“Does—” Robin realizes even as she starts saying it that she may be making a mistake, but she can’t stop now. “Does Jonathan know?”

Nancy shakes her head again. “No, and he’s not going to. That’s . . . how I knew I couldn’t go through with it. The thought of telling him, of—of having to have a serious conversation with him about what we were going to do, I just—I couldn’t.” She stares out across Robin’s living room, as if pretending Robin isn’t sitting right next to her will make any of this easier to say. “And I don’t just mean I couldn’t talk to him about it, I mean I don’t want to. I don’t want to make that decision with him, and I don’t want that life with him. Maybe not with anyone, but definitely not with him.” Finally, she picks up her untouched glass and takes a swallow, grimacing. “I told him I couldn’t see him anymore.”

Robin stares at her. This is classic Nancy Wheeler, burying the lede twice over. “You broke up?”

“Suddenly it just seemed so obvious,” Nancy says simply, and she seems almost relieved to be saying it. “It was like confronting the possibility of having a child with him—getting married and buying a house—just made it unbelievably clear how much I don’t want any of that. For such a long time, I’ve been telling myself—maybe when the time’s right, I’ll want those things, but having that life with him is never going to feel right for me. And once I realized that, I just . . . I couldn’t even sleep in the same bed with him.” She takes another swallow of her drink, and then her glass is empty. “I guess I’ll need to start looking for a new place.”

“You can stay here,” Robin says, without hesitation. “If you want.”

“You’re sure?” Nancy asks, turning to look at her for the first time with such a tentative expression that Robin wonders if Nancy was expecting Robin to hate her—if Nancy doesn’t know that nothing she could do could ever make Robin turn her back on her.

“Of course.” Robin bumps their shoulders together again, and this time neither of them quite pulls away. Nancy is warm against her, and all Robin wants to do is draw her into her arms and never let go, so that’s what she does.

On Friday, she holds Nancy’s hand in the cool white quiet of the clinic, and she keeps holding her hand for as long as Nancy needs.