#she hates the upside down for taking barb and making her feel like this; she wants to finish what they started - she wants to kill it.

[brionysea]

if stranger things 5 comes out and they're like 'omg! the upside down has been a product of someone's dark and twisted mind this whole time! it's... WILL!' I'll immediately lose interest

[artiststarme]

Swimming Ground

Warning: mentions of su!cide

Steve hated his pool. Not swimming or lounging near water but the pool in his backyard in particular. He hated the reminders it held. The pool in the Harrington backyard held too much power over him.

He remembers when he was in the eighth grade and his parents decided to get the pool. He remembers how happy they were to be one of the only families in Hawkins with a new in ground pool that Steve could practice for the swim team in. They never could have imagined that just two weeks later, they’d find Steve floating in it. His mom looked out of the kitchen window to find her beautiful boy fully clothed, face down in the water. They didn’t love the pool so much after that.

They didn’t love their son too much after that either. To his parents, Steve had tried to take their precious boy away from them and they could never truly forgive him for being so selfish. They started taking more business trips and longer vacations away from home to forget about the son that wanted to die.

And Steve was left at home with the constant reminder that he failed.

He used the pool to make friends and to throw rambunctious parties but he never stepped foot in it. The first time he did since the eighth grade was with Nancy when he pushed her in. That was the night his pool took Barb. After that night, the kids thought his hesitation around his pool was because of guilt over losing Nancy’s best friend which he went with because it was so much easier to explain.

He’d throw them pool parties and play lifeguard but he would not touch the water.

Some nights, Robin would swing by to the Harrington house just to find Steve sitting at the pool’s edge. Close but never touching the water. She’d lure him inside to complain about girls or any other topic that helped distract her from the uneasy feeling she got when she saw him sitting there.

After their final bout with the Upside Down, Loch Nora was destroyed. Steve’s house was barely standing and his backyard was a chasm. The pool that had haunted him for years was gone but the thoughts that gave the pool such power remained. Steve didn’t know why he deserved to live more than Eddie and he wasn’t even sure he wanted to. As he thought about his fallen friend that could’ve been more, he yearned to feel the floating like he had in eighth grade. He wanted to feel his lungs burn for air and the fire in his chest when he finally breathed in.

But the pool was gone, he couldn’t do what he’d wanted to since he first tried and even though it was gone, the temptation remained. Instead of sinking into the chilly water, he slouched down next to the blazing chasm where his pool used to be. He felt the heat envelop his body and knew that it was the right decision. He was supposed to perish in the Upside Down as a martyr fighting for his friends. That didn’t work out though so now he had to pull the role of a coward and die a fiery, reasonless, self-imposed death alone.

He didn’t leave a note, didn’t think he needed to. His friends would care or they wouldn’t but nothing he said would make the situation better.

So, he closed his eyes and stepped into the void just as he’d done so long ago. There wasn’t peace or panic like there was the last time, just nothingness as he stepped into the crack in the earth.

Strangely, the afterlife wasn’t dark as he’d expected (but to be fair, he hadn’t thought about it much). Instead, it looked exactly like the Upside Down almost as if the chasm wasn’t a portal to hell but a gate to the alternate Hawkins.

When Steve sat up, still alive despite his efforts, it was face to face with Eddie. A bloody and scarred Eddie that looked a little pissed off but Eddie nonetheless.

“Well hello Harrington, what the fuck are you doing here?”

Goddammit, the swimming excuse wasn’t going to work this time.

[wroteclassicaly]

Nancy decided she didn’t want Steve. And now that she’s been away from Jonathan, has seen the growth Steve had to go through from everything he experienced (trauma, torture, being cheated on, thrown into the upside down shit, not to mention what he was going through before all of that, etc), he’s suddenly worthy of still being in love with? Don’t mess me with that shit, sis. Steve was never a bad boyfriend, nor was he a bad person. Before I started the show I expected some MAJOR douchebag that fucked his gf and then left her when he got what he wanted. Man’s only downfall was calling Jonathan names and being an asshole to other people (not counting him breaking Jonathan’s camera. He deserved it for taking those pics of Nancy and y’all know it).

He approached Nancy the very next day after he took her virginity to check on her. He constantly apologized when it wasn’t his fault. He only lashed out when he was hurt (rightfully so), and when he realized what nasty people Carol and Tommy were — he ditched them. Could he have handled Barb’s death better — sure. But he was also dealing with it, probably confused and pushing it down, and he tried to make things seem normal for Nancy’s sake, and for his own.

This shit of Nancy being jealous of Robin was so ignorant that I almost puked. And this was before I even finished the series. I knew I didn’t like Stancy when I watched the first two episodes (4x09 and 1x01). Nancy has to claim over Steve. Their individual growths should NOT be entwined. If you look at the inconsistency in trying to resurrect that ship, it almost seems like the D bros hate Nancy and Steve.

Their reunion will undo so much shit, and in my opinion, will destroy them. Not to mention that Steve will probably sacrifice himself in the name of Nancy and her future (avoiding the white picket fence garbage she didn’t want, whilst still getting their Stancy resurrection). They stripped Steve of his goals, his aspirations, they made him seem like he couldn’t date anyone, degraded him, swept his trauma under the rug, made him the butt of everyone joke, made it seem as if he’s uneducated and ignorant. It breaks my heart how mistreated Steve is, and by trying to force him and Nancy back together — that is the biggest injustice that can be done towards them both, but mainly to him.

Steve deserves to find himself, to find his interests, to process his trauma, to find someone that he loves beyond nostalgia, that won’t come back to him after she’s already grown and realizes that this changed version is good enough.

Nancy deserves more than that.

But Steve Harrington deserves it all.

Joe Keery is the reason Steve was kept around, and I feel like this is just awful to do to the work he’s put in at making Steve the heart of this group of characters. ❤️🥺

[imfinereallyy]

Shared Kisses

for @steddie-week I’m behind on it but I couldn’t resist day 3, and it’s a little late because I fell asleep while writing it, that's how sleep deprived I am haha. prompt: first kiss

“Okay, okay! It's my turn now. Sir Steven, Lady Birdie, tell me, who was your first kiss?” Eddie giggles from his spot on the carpet. He smells like stale menthols and pine; Steve can’t get enough of it. He has to resist from leaning his head into Eddie and taking a breath of him.

Steve is starting to believe he needs his head checked. Again. Wanting to smell one of his friend's necks isn't normal.

Steve is also starting to realize that maybe that is because he wants to be more than friends. God, he is such a loser sometimes.

“Oh, this is unfair! You know the rules state that we can’t ask it back now. Boooo.” Robin chants from her place on the couch, where she hangs upside down. Steve is for once glad they aren’t playing a drinking game; he is sure Robin would have vomited by now otherwise.

“I still think this a weird game to be playing.” Steve dodges the question and nudges Eddie with his knee.

“C’mon Harrington, questions is an absolute solid getting-to-know-you game.” Eddie nudged his knee back.

“Dude we’ve been friends for six months.”

“Yes but there are so many layers I have yet to peel.”

Robin grunts from her upside-down position, Steve can tell all the blood has finally rushed to her head, and she tumbles onto the ground next to them. “Gotta agree with Metal Man here, Steve-o. I’ve known you even longer, and I still don’t know everything. And we are practically connected.

Steve blows air from his lips, “So this is just a ploy to expose all my secrets.”

Steve can tell that Robin, who might as well share a soul with him at this point, can sense how uncomfortable he is beginning to feel. Her teasing softens for a moment. “What if I went first, yeah?”

Steve pauses, “Yeah okay.”

“You got to promise not to make fun of me.”

“Of course, Robs.”

“I make no such promises.” Eddie interrupts but ultimately cuts the tension in the room. Steve kind of feels like it is on purpose, by the way his eyes skim Steve carefully, and the way Robin lets out a loud snort.

“Wasn’t talking to you doofus. I don’t actually respect your opinion of me.”

“Hey!” Eddie protests, but they all know he isn’t really offended.

Robin chuckles lightly, but continues. “It was in middle school, at one of my first girl-boy parties; gross, right? I hate that we called it those. Anyway. They decide to play spin the bottle, and I feel pressure because my only friend at the time is Barb, and she didn’t come and Colleen Walsh is doing it, and she—well, she’s the prettiest, most popular girl in school at the time and I’d be an idiot not to follow along. So we’re playing Spin the Bottle, right? And rounds go by, and it doesn’t land on me, and I’m grateful but Colleen notices. She goads me on to do it, take a spin since it isn’t fair I haven’t kissed anyone. So, wanting to get over being the center of attention, I reach over and spin it, and it lands on—“

“Wait.” Steve stops Robin, realizing she is about to out herself to Eddie on Steve’s behalf. He doesn’t want her to do that but on anything but her own terms. “Are you sure about this, Robs?”

Robin throws her head back and laughs, “Yea, I’m sure dingus. No need to worry. Anyway, you’ll never believe who it lands on.”

Eddie wiggles his eyebrows, “C’mon buck don’t leave us hanging.”

“Tommy Hagan.”

Eddie and Steve both start choking on air while Steve screams, “What!?!”

Eddie collapses on the ground with a dramatic groan, covering his face with his hands and mumbling, “why cruel world?” Robin giggles at his antics.

“You’re telling me it wasn’t….?” Steve trails off, hoping Robin gets the hint.

“That it wasn’t a girl? No dingus, just because I’m a lesbian doesn’t mean all my experiences are with women. Besides, I was 12; I didn’t realize staring at Colleen’s boobs wasn’t jealousy.”

“Oh, thank god, you know; I thought I was going to have to break the news to you that your gayer than the men’s locker room after a winning game,” Eddie mumbles behind his hands still on the ground.

“Only you would make a sports reference in relation to gayness, Eds. Also, wait, you knew she was lesbian? How did you know? Why are you freaking out then?” Steve rapid fires questions.

Still covered with his hands, “Like seeks like, Harrington. It’s like a sixth sense.”

Steve’s mouth goes dry, “You’re gay?” He says hopefully.

Eddie finally removes his hands from his face but doesn’t sit up. “Yea, Stevie, thought you knew, honestly. Not like it’s a secret, all of Hawkins talks about it.”

“I try not to listen to the rumor mill.”

A soft smile graces Eddie’s face, “One of the many things I love about you sweetheart.”

Steve tries not to blush, but ultimately fails. “Still doesn’t explain why you’re freaking out about Tommy. Sure, he sucks, but like I reacted that way cause I was friends with him at some point. What’s you’re excuse?”

Finally Eddie sits up with a groan. “Okay, promise not to laugh or freak out?”

Robin and Steve both nod and mumble a little “yea of course”.

Eddie rubs a hand down his face, “Okay, I freaked out because even though it’s not my turn to answer and I don’t have to, well—it’s because. Okay, I’m stalling; it’s because Tommy Hagan was also my first kiss. When I was 15, under the bleachers.”

Robin and Steve are both silent, Eddie looks at them expectantly. “Are you guys going to say anything?”

Robin speaks up first, “I think this is the closest we can get to not freaking out.”

“I think I would prefer that over the freaky twin silence.”

Steve still stays quiet while Robin proceeds to react, “Oh my god Munson! This is the funniest and freakiest thing ever. And not in a freak way you like! This is magnificent, oh my god….” Robin continues to cackle and make fun of Eddie, but Steve tunes it out. He can feel all the blood rush to his ears, blocking out all the sound from the room. Tommy. Tommy. He has kissed both of his best friends, one of which he wants to kiss himself. That just seems unfair to Steve. It hurts Steve, and he doesn’t know why. Actually, he knows precisely why.

“My first kiss was when I was 13,” Steve says abruptly, not making eye contact. The both of them stop their bickering and turn to Steve. They stay silent, as if they know Steve needs it to get through it. He is thankful for them both.

“I was 13, and my parents weren’t home. It had become the usual at this point, but I was sad because it was my birthday, and this was the first birthday they didn’t even send a card. And Tommy decided to come over to cheer me up; this was back, I guess, when he still cared too. And we didn’t do much; I didn’t like to make a big fuss about my birthday even then, but it was a nice night out just before the break of summer. So we decided to stargaze on the roof. And I don’t know how it happened, but one second we’re trying to find the Little Dipper, and the next, Tommy is kissing me. It was nice, honestly. To have someone you care about show you affection. And when he pulled away, I smiled at him, but he just stared. And then—“ Steve swallows thickly before looking up at Eddie and Robin, who both look at him with rapt attention.

“Then his face turns angry, and he punches me. He punches me so hard that I almost fall off the roof. He tells me not to be a queer, and if I told anyone, who would tell everyone what I was. And it seemed unfair, right? Because he kissed me, I only smiled. I haven’t kissed a boy since.”

Suddenly there is an arm around his shoulder, “Stevie….” Eddie tucks Steve’s head into the crook of his neck, and Steve begins to sob.

Robin quietly gets up, “I’m going to make us some tea.” Steve knows she can sense that he needs a moment with Eddie. Steve loves her more than life.

“I’m sorry this is stupid. I don’t even know why I’m crying.”

Eddie rubs soft circles on his back, “It’s not stupid, honey. He hurt you in more ways than one, and traumatized you from exploring yourself. You have every right to be upset. Thank you for telling us. You didn’t—you didn’t have to. You could have lied, or told us your first kiss with a girl.—“

“Colleen Walsh.” Steve interrupts into Eddie’s neck.

Eddie barks out a laugh, “Of course it was. Anyway, Steve, thank you for sharing. I’m glad you feel safe with us.”

Steve’s tears are no longer. “I always feel safe with you, Eds.” And the Steve finally does the thing he’s been wanting to do all night. He takes a big sniff of Eddie. Steve doesn’t care if it’s weird because he settles a sort of calm in him.

Eddie grips his waist tight, and puts a finger under Steve’s chin, pulling his face close to his own. “Yea, I do? Does that mean you also trust me?”

Steve can feel Eddie’s breath on his lips. He knows it’s probably not good how quickly his mood has changed, but he can’t find it in himself to care. The air between them is electric, and intense. Steve can feel it make his whole body come alive. “Of course I do.”

Eddie leans even closer, “Good. Because I think it’s a damn shame a pretty boy like you hasn’t kissed another boy since.” Then Eddie presses their lips together.

Steve isn’t sure if someone were to ask what his first kiss with Eddie was like if he would be able to answer. It’s indescribable; it’s perfect. But if he is to try, it would be this, soft, slow, deep, and oh so very good. Steve can feel the heat from Eddie’s lips pulsing into his own. Eddie’s hands' grip Steve’s face, angling him deeper as he slides his tongue into his mouth. Steve pulls him closer by his t-shirt. Going crazy off the taste of salt and chocolate that now swipes his tongue.

They both pull back a little breathlessly, hands still gripping each other. They lean their foreheads together, and Steve smiles. He smiles so big his face hurts. And Eddie does the most thing in return,

He smiles back.

The moment is broken, though, when Robin enters the room again with a bowl of popcorn and a loud “Oh thank god, I was sick of the pining. From both of you.”

Eddie sputters while Steve just laughs at her. “I thought you were making tea Birdie?”

Robin sits down next to them again, “Too much work and I was snacky.”

Steve throws popcorn at her head but isn’t upset at all. He leans his head on Eddie’s shoulder, and Eddie kisses the top of Steve’s head.

Robin smiles fondly at them. Then her face scrunches up in pain, “Wait, all of our first kisses was Tommy Hagan?”

“Yep.”

“Unfortunately so.”

“God I do not want to give that twerp any more credit in life than I have to. Why are we all like this?”

Steve giggles while Eddie shrugs.

Robin can’t keep a straight face anymore and falls into laughter. “Wait, does this mean we are all bounded by this? I completely unrelated, non-upside down experience?”

Eddie speaks up before Steve, “I believe so, Lady Buckley. A trauma outside of other worlds binds us. We have been bound since before the slain of Vecna.”

Robin shrieks, “Awee, guys! We were always meant to meet then.”

Then Robin tackles the both of them to the ground in a bear hug. Steve’s not even mad that she’s in the middle of Eddie and him.

Because this, right here, is all the love he’ll ever need.

***

I'm behind on steddie week, but I want to throw my hat in the ring. Have a written a first kiss thing before? Yes I have. But I can’t resist. Thank for the read, love this community so much.

[pinkeoni]

Bruh. The episode name is "the vanishing of holly wheeler". Not only did they copy Will's episode name and gave it to Holly but they also are intending to give the kidnapping plotline to her character. And we know that should follow up by the other wheelers trying to save her. It is basically making the wheelers byers.

First of all, that list of episode titles come from an unofficial source. Could be real, could be fake. And the name of the title was "The Vanishing of *BLANK* Wheeler with no real confirmation as to the number of letters in the first name since the leak was given verbally, which was then relayed over the internet with "*****" making people believe that it could be Holly.

Second of all, rehashing season one with Holly instead of Will doesn't make any sense and likely improbable and here's why:

I don't see the narrative reason to have Holly go missing. Sure, it could still happen, but I wouldn't see the necessity for it.

The purpose of Will going missing in season 1 was to act as an inciting incident to get all of the other characters involved. The story was driven by Will's disappearance, thus why it was one of the first things we saw happen in the show and why it was deserving of the first episode title.

What would be the purpose of Holly going missing in season 5? Everything has already been set up at the end of season 4. The Upside Down is coming into Hawkins and Vecna has plans to basically take over the world. Max is in a coma and Will can still feel Vecna's left nut. That's reason enough to get the characters involved. We don't need Holly to go missing for the characters to want to take action. Also, if you wanted to get Karen and Ted involved, they already have their two other children involved with the supernatural, so they can get into it that way tangentially.

I think that people are overestimating the reasoning for wanting to replace Holly with an older and more experienced actress, I don't necessarily believe that this recast means that something terrible will happen to her, I just think she was replaced because there is a time skip and Holly is going to need to say more lines than "Mommy, it's snowing!" The original twins cast to play Holly were cast as toddlers, and Nell has more experience actually performing and saying lines. But I don't think that the Duffers are going to end their final season with giving irreparable trauma to a young girl without the chance for that to be resolved in later seasons.

What purpose would Vecna have with taking Holly? What would he even want with her? Vecna targeted specific characters for a specific purpose last season, he doesn't just kidnap little girls for the hell of it. That would be a waste of his time.

He doesn't need to kidnap Holly to get to Will, and personally I hate hate HATE the idea of Will going into the Upside Down in order to get to Holly. Will already has ties to Vecna. Why would he need to kidnap someone to get to him? Also, why would it be Holly? Why not Joyce or Jonathan? What significant relationship does Will have with this little girl who I'm pretty sure he doesn't have any screen time with?

I think people outside of fandom forget that the show has not given the audience a reason to really care about Holly other than the fact that she is a little girl. She has had no significant lines, no significant screen presence, and no significant story line. And all of a sudden the final season of the show hinges on finding this girl that the audience doesn't give a shit about. Okay.

And before someone tries to straw man me and say "Oh, so you're saying that the Wheeler's doesn't have ANY connection to the supernatural and isn't important?" Of course I think they are important. They are as important any character is, they all have their own roles in the story. But the Wheeler's involvement with the supernatural has always been tangential. Barb was taken so Nancy got involved. Will was taken and Mike found El so Mike got involved. Karen is likely to now get involved since her children are now involved. I am making my assertion based on what I am seeing in the show. They are involved with the supernatural because they make themselves involved. Both Will and El are tied to the supernatural in a more direct way, and based on what the show has told me as well as what official sources (The Duffer's themselves), they are more integral to the supernatural plot than any Wheeler. Point blank.

[skyfallslayer]

Should We Stay or Should We Go? || Chapter Three

-A ST Rewrite Feat. Steve Harrington x Henderson!OFC-

Main Masterlist || Series Masterlist

🎲Summary: An Increasingly concerned Nancy looks for Barb and finds out what Jonathan’s been up to. The boys pair up with El for an investigation. Joyce is convinced that Will and Steph are trying to talk to her. Meanwhile, Steve feels like someone’s watching his every move.

🎲Pairings: Will x Platonic!OFC; Dustin x Sister!OC; Slow burn! Steve x Henderson!OFC (Ex-bestfriends to Lovers); Slow burn! Byler

🎲Rating: Teen-Mature

🎲Word Count: 15,209 (Oh, lord)

🎲Date: 05/27/24

🎲Warnings: Angst; Heavy Language & Dialogue; References To Broken Friendship; Talks of Kidnapping; Mental Strain/Breaking Down; Talks of Mental Health Issues; Bullying of All Kinds; Physical Fighting; Lying; "Death"; Crying (Lots of it); Brief Mention of Corpses; Gun Use; Implied Unloving Parents; Will & Steph's Mental Strain - Joyce's Too; Hopper Being a Great Cop & A Total Mess; Dustin Being a Gangster & A Total Mess; Steve's 'Asshole Era'; Steve's Emotional Damage. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

-This also contains me not knowing how the fuck the Upside Down works despite so much research.-

(And let me know if I missed anything)

🎲A/N:  So… this is a very long, very intense one. Very emotional too. Hopefully y'all are ready for this. I notice a lot of you readers are spitting out theories and I can't help but love them. But unfortunately I have to stay silent and let you guess wait 🤭. While rewatching this episode, I totally forgot how fucking good of an actress Winona Ryder is. Seriously, rewatch the scenes with her and the lights again and you'll see. Any who, Happy Memorial Day everyone! Enjoy!

Steve practically had to “bully” Tommy into taking his girlfriend home last night. It was hard for him to make eye contact with her after their argument – A real argument, not just some mindless bickering they’ve done in the past that doesn’t pack much heat, but a real, real argument – and when she came back to his room only a few minutes later telling him that Barb must have left already and needed a ride, he couldn’t bring himself to do so.

Was this making him feel and look like a coward? Probably. But it’s not like he didn’t want to risk having another eye opening conversation with her again.

Eye opening, my ass. There was no “eye opening”. I’m just being paranoid. But was he though?

Nancy, oh, sweet Nancy, always talked about how she was aiming for journalism as her major. For a while, to be honest, he couldn’t really see it. Sure, curiosity was practically tattooed on her heart, but the months they’ve been dating he hasn’t seen anything else that screams “I’m a Journalist”. 

That was until last night.

He’s not sure why he never put that box away after their friendship ended, he doesn’t know why he didn’t just stuff it into his closet or under his bed, but the fact that someone had found it in his spot he called “out of sight, out of mind” shocked him. The little box that could fit under his dresser, completely oblivious to anyone who stands next to it. Of course out of all the days for someone to finally have spotted it was the day he brought his girlfriend to his home (Still, it might have been better for her to find it rather than his parents. They sure were… nosy).

And of course she would be the one to break him down when he was trying to forget, forget because it was the best option here.

And his girlfriend was smart, one of the traits he most admired, and she could read through his lies most of the time, a trait he hates. Loathe. But… did he really think he could have avoided all this? That once he put a lid on their friendship she would suddenly vanish? Every single thing about Stephanie Henderson would be forgotten? That was the plan, the “dream” so to speak. I guess dreams don’t always stay dreams unless you put work into them.

.

“So who is she to you?” Nancy asked, standing up and flashing the memorabilia at him.

.

She was just… just some kid he knew since they were five. Nothing more than that, It shouldn’t be more than that. She was just some girl that had confidence radiating out of her as they lock pinkies and swore–

.

“I’m not jealous. I’m just curious.” Nancy replies, honestly. She takes another look at the photos in her hand before looking back at him. “I mean, if she isn’t your friend anymore, then why do you hang on to all this stuff? Or better question–”

“Nancy, stop, it’s just–”

“Why did you break it off?”

His brain short circuits again. “What?”

“I said, ‘Why did you break it off?’ I mean…” She flips through some of the photos he has, memorized. “From what I see, you two remind me of Barb and I. You two look like you were tied at the hip. So why break it off?”

.

Because he had to. He needed to. God knows if he didn’t, her and her family would be… Jeez. He could barely remember it, not wanting to remember it.

The memory was blurry. So blurry. Maybe it was the many hits in the head for his shitty memory, or maybe he was really, really trying not to remember it. 

What was his parents planning on doing again that made him so… scared?

.

“Look, I just want to understand you. I mean, every time I think I have you figured out you throw me through a loop.” She gives him a reassuring look as she picks up the box, shuffling whatever was remaining around. “I mean, from what I see, you seem like a completely different person then. I just wonder if it’s a good thing or a bad–” 

.

No… no. He still doesn’t understand what she meant. He hasn’t “changed”. He’s still the same person since the day he was born. What was she even getting that from? A couple glances at some photos gave her a new impression of him? There’s no way. It’s laughable. It’s totally laughable. Everything that’s happened between him and Henderson was totally laughab–

.

“‘CAUSE IT WAS MY FAULT!! OKAY?!” Steve snaps, startling them both (He can’t believe he just lost his cool like that). He swallows again, head spinning at the memories (Why did he fucking leave the box right there?). “I just… there was an incident and… it… shaped my decision, okay? But it didn’t involve me or her with a gun, it was… s-someone else. Someone I know. I don’t know why I’m holding onto it, I…” 

.

That certainly wasn’t laughable.

Sometimes that memory is hazy, which he preferred, but the other times it was crystal clear. Too clear. Just a heated exchange between him and someone else just before it went to shit. He still remembers the pain in his bicep, the wind feeling like it was getting knocked out of him with someone’s loud scream. Then came the sinking realization that Henderson wasn’t bouncing up to her feet like he did. 

It still… fucks with him sometimes. Taunting. Haunting. Torturing. 

.

Nancy breaks eye contact, and only reverses it when she gathers the right words. “Look, Steve, I’m sorry I intruded, I probably shouldn’t have but… I’m just trying to understand you.”

Steve shakes his head, still confused. “I-I…” He shrugs, and crosses his arms defensibly. “What’s there to understand?”

.

Exactly. There’s nothing. N-O-T-H-I-N-G. Nothing. She doesn’t need to go digging around Pandora’s box.

.

But Nancy looked at him with eyes full of pity and took another step closer. “I don’t know what the reason was for you two to stop being friends, but all I know, from what I gathered, she wasn’t the one to end it.” She places Steph’s flier on his chest that he subconsciously grabbed, and said one last thing before leaving his room. And that was,

“Maybe there was a good reason for you to end it, but that’s not an excuse for you to stop being who you really are.”

.

But I haven’t changed. I’ve been the same person since I was born. Even his own gut coiled at his denial. The heaven’s beyond were probably busting a lung. Hell was shaking its head. He just keeps telling himself that lie and maybe it’ll come true one day.

Yeah, right.

This boy’s been telling himself that for almost two years now and hasn’t even sunk in yet.

Steve sighs, rolling in his bed to face his alarm clock; The red numbers glaring at him. It hadn’t even gone off yet, he still has about an hour but… 

Another sigh. School. Right.

He didn’t even feel like going, too mentally exhausted from staying up pretty much all night, completely alone with his thoughts – His very dangerous, troubling thoughts. He didn’t want to go, but his parents were going to be home any minute now from their trip and were not going to be happy if they saw him just lying around. They were surely going to berate him for missing a day of learning. Except...

Fuck. Going wasn’t an option, his brain hurts and his body was dragging and he really, really didn’t want to see Nancy’s pitiful eyes, or listen to Tommy’s mocking, or Carol’s sexified comments. Fuck, no. Fuck.

Where can he hide out for the next eight hours? He started putting what was left of brain together as he threw something on, not even trying to dress to impress today, and snagged his precious car keys. He is about a foot outside his bedroom when something tells him to stop. His chocolate eyes stare at the box on the end of his bed, something deep inside tells him not to leave it unoccupied.

He swallows, wanting to tell his subconscious to fuck off and leave him be, but… 

“Fuck it.” He races back over, making sure the lid was on before taking it with him. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

It’s been… how many days since then? They don’t know. They stopped counting every time they ran into trouble. Like… right now. Traumatized by the beast pulling an innocent woman into the Harringtons’ pool and violating her before coming after them. They were lucky to have some kind of head start or otherwise they might have been goners. But–

Jesus. It was getting hard to breathe in this place, the cold weather was getting to them too. 

Eventually, miraculously, they had escaped from their predator when their bodies finally gave out.

“Fuck.” Stephanie gasped as the two of them collapsed in someone’s backyard. They both sat on their hands and knees, a line of sweat dripping off their icy noses. She sniffles and pants, her breath being seen in the air. “This is getting ridiculous.”

It really, really was. They can’t even take a break without worrying if that thing would come after them. 

How am I supposed to figure out how to get out of here if I can’t even stop to think? She sits back on her news, frowning. “Why does it keep coming after us?”

Will sneezes, and sniffles before resting his body against the side of the random house. He starts fiddling with his frigiding fingers, worried if he was going to say something wrong. “I don’t think this time it was. It looks like it was attacking someone else.”

“That’s true.” She sighs, taking her cap off for a second to rest. “However, we either were at the wrong place at the wrong time, or that thing was following us and grabbed the first prey it saw.”

He nods. “Yeah. But that doesn’t explain where the person came from. Does… that mean we aren’t the only people here?”

“I don’t know.” Are there actually more people here? “I mean, I guess on the bright side, if more people are going missing someone’s gotta know what’s going on, right?”

That honestly didn’t cross her mind at all while being here. She was so worried about keeping herself and especially Will alive that she didn’t think about what was going on on the other side. How was her family reacting? His family too? And what about the town? Did the police actually give a fuck this time?

I really hope it’s Hopper. He seems like the only one who gave shit last time. Stephanie prays he’s on her case as she subconsciously tries to grab the chain around her neck, only to find nothing. Her heart sinks as she looks down and feels around the front of her shirt.

“Shit.” She says, dreadfully. Did she really lose her–

“What?” Will replies, concerned. 

“Uh, I just…” Fuck. “I just uh, lost my necklace.” She frowns again. “I didn’t even realize it.”

Now it was his turn to look sad (I guess you could say he was just copying her expression). “We can go look for it if you like.”

She’s already shaking his head. “No. It’s okay. I could have lost it on the first day here without realizing it.”

“Can you replace it?”

“It’s… I don’t know. It was a gift.” She looks over at him, his expression seems so broken over her confession. “It’s okay, Will. It’s not a big deal.”

“I know, but still.”

Stephanie couldn’t help but crack a small smile on her peach lips, and ruffle the boy’s hair. “Don’t ever change, kid. You’ve got a good little heart.” That seemed to do the trick because the boy blushed and seemed all proud of himself.

“Do you think it’s safe to rest here for a bit?” Will asked, as she looked around.

“Yeah.” She nods. “I think we’ll be fine. How about you pull out the blanket?”

They both shrug their backpacks off, and keep their guns by their sides pointed safely away; Will unrolls the blanket they took from her house and scoots closer. Steph tucks the fabric under their feet before the boy snuggles up to her side. Dying from the cold was off the menu for the both of them. For most of the time they stayed quiet, controlling their breathing and rubbing their cold hands in their laps.

“There’s something I don’t understand though.” Will blurted out. I guess this was the thought that came to mind in the moment of silence.

“And what’s that?” The older girl asked, sparing him a glance.

“If that thing is supposed to… you know, kill people, then why bring them here?” He stares up at her nervously. “Why not just kill us in our world? Why the extra hassle to bring us here?”

Her eyes widened slightly, those words hitting her like a truck. “That’s… a good question.” A really good question. It was something else she hasn’t thought about either. If the beast could go between worlds, why bring them here for the kill? 

Will must have noticed the wheels turning in the girls head and looks down hopelessly. “It’s going to be hard for people to find us then, right?”

Stephanie says nothing, and gnaws on her bottom lip because he’s right. If they’re stuck in another world then…

.

.

.

How are their loved ones going to know?

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

When Jonathan woke up the next day he wasn’t expecting his mother to be leaving before he did. “Mom? Where are you going?” He asked, as she stopped upon hearing him speak.

“Oh, I’m going to town. I’m going to pick up a few things.” She replies, putting her belongings into her purse. “I was… you know, thinking about maybe getting some stuff Will likes to eat so he can have it when he gets home. Or, you know–”

“Mom?”

“And maybe a new phone? Our old one’s obviously not fine, so–”

“Mom?” Jonathan tries again, getting a hum. “You sure you’re okay going by yourself? I can miss school again if you don’t feel comfortable yet.”

“No, no, don’t do that. Go… I just need to get out of the house. I’ve been stuck in here for a few days.” Joyce replies, reassuring her oldest. “I’ll be okay.”

“Okay.” He nods. “But if something happens just… call the school and I’ll be there.”

“Okay.” She says, giving her a quick hug. “Thank you, sweetie. I’ll see you later.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

In the early morning at the Wheeler’s house, the boys were planning a mission to finally figure out what happened to their friends.

“We just tell our parents we have AV Club after school. That’ll give us at least a few hours for Operation Mirkwood.” Mike explains, the three of them gathered around the upside down D&D board.

“You seriously think that the weirdo knows where Will and Steph are?” Lucas said, making the other boy eye roll.

“Just trust me on this, okay? Did you get the supplies?”

“Yeah.” He nods, and shows off what he’s got. “Binoculars... from ‘Nam. Army knife... also from ‘Nam. Hammer, camouflage bandana…” He grins. “And the wrist rocket.”

Dustin looks at him strangely, almost laughing. “You’re gonna take out the Demogorgon with a slingshot?”

“First of all, it’s a wrist rocket. And second of all, the Demogorgon’s not real. It’s made up. But if there is something out there, I’m gonna shoot it in the eye–” Lucas snaps the rubber and startles his friend. “And blind it.”

“Dustin, what did you get?” Mike asked, trying to get straight to the point.

“Well, alrighty.” Dustin starts pouring stuff out of his bag, also proud of what he grabbed (Which is totally not what Mike told him to bring). “So, we’ve got... Nutty Bars, Bazooka, Pez, Smarties, Pringles, Nilla Wafers, apple, banana, and trail mix.”

“Seriously?” Lucas said, disappointed.

“We need energy for our travels. For stamina. And besides, why do we even need weapons anyway?” He points to the girl on the couch. “We have her.”

“She shut one door!”

“With her mind! Are you kidding me? That’s insane!” Dustin could almost laugh with all the stuff he could think of about her powers. “Imagine all the other cool stuff she could do. Like…” He quickly looks around and grabs a giant toy version of the Millennium Falcon. “I bet that she could make this fly!” He stands in front of El and holds it out. “Hey. Hey. Okay, concentrate. Okay?” He lets go of the toy that quickly drops to the floor. “Okay, one more time. Okay. Use your powers, okay?”

“Idiot.” Lucas mumbles once the toy drops to the floor again.

Mike sighs. “She’s not a dog!” He says, taking it away from him.

“Boys!” Karen calls out from above. “Time for school!”

He crouches down in front of Eleven as the rest of his friends make their way up stairs. “Just stay down here. Don’t make any noise, and don’t leave. If you get hungry, eat Dustin’s snacks, okay?” 

“Michael!”

“Coming!” Why must he be rushed? “You know those power lines?”

“Power lines?” El asked, confused.

“Yeah. The ones behind my house?”

“Yes.”

“Meet us there, after school.”

“After school?”

“Yeah, 3:15.” It took a second for Mike to realize that she didn’t understand. “Ah. Hang on.” He unstraps his watch and ties around her own wrist. “When the numbers read three-one-five, meet us there.”

“‘Three-one-five’.” She repeats.

He nods. “Yeah. Three-one-five.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

“Did you get any rest?”

Her tired blue eyes looked back at him, his face scrunched up in concern for the girl that almost tripped two seconds ago. And to answer his question, it was ‘no’. Their little rest had turned into sleep, but once again she couldn’t dare close her eyes with the beast lurking somewhere (She’s honestly surprised she’s still standing at this point).

“Yeah, I got a little.” She said, hoping that sounded convincing. 

Will narrows his eyes and steps in front of her, stopping them from walking any further. “No you didn’t.”

“Will–”

“Why aren’t you getting any sleep?”

She sucks in a breath. Guess there was no point in arguing with a twelve year old. “Because I’m keeping an eye out.” She tries taking a step around him but he follows.

“That’s bullshit.” He replies, shocking her (She’s honestly heard him cuss before. Which is ironic since he hangs out with three boys that act like cussing is their first language).

“Will, it’s true. I’m keeping an eye out.”

“Yeah, I understand. But you can’t keep missing sleep because of that.”

“Someone’s got to protect you. Just like I promise.”

“Well how are you supposed to do that when you can barely stand?” That seemed to strike a nerve. “Can you just… next time we sleep, I’ll watch and you actually sleep.”

“Will–”

“And, if I hear something, I’ll wake you up immediately. How’s that?”

Well… she can’t say no to that face. She sighs. “Okay. I’ll sleep.” She replies, getting him to smile. “But you wake me up if you hear anything, okay? Don’t you even think about doing the opposite and handling it yourself. I don’t want you to wound up hurt or dead. Got it?”

“Got it.” 

The two of them continued their unwanted detour that ended up being Hawkins’ little downtown. This place looked more like the apocalypse than their neighbourhoods. Dark, abandoned, quiet and completely trashed. It seemed a little scarier to walk around than the previous routes they took. 

“Maybe we can hide out somewhere here?” Will asked, as they stopped at an intersection to look around.

“Possibly. If anything’s open we can. I want to avoid making too much ruckus in case that’s what attracts the monster.” Steph said, thinking. 

They walked slowly and carefully by each store, peeking inside to see if anything got their attention. Stephanie blissfully sighs upon seeing a familiar sign and points.

“Dude, I kill for some chicken parmesan right now.” She says, smiling at the thought of eating Italian at ‘Enzo’s’. 

“Hmm, meatball’s sounds good. But I think I really want my mom’s Sloppy Joes.” Will admits, and can already picture it in front of him.

“Sloppy Joes are awesome too. I wouldn’t mind eating that when I get back either. Then Enzo’s.”

“Totally Enzo’s.” He chuckles. “Uh, so when we do get out of here, how do we explain this to someone?”

“What? This?” She gestures to the open air. “You mean that telling the authorities that we were abducted by an eight foot tall creature with just a mouth and brought to a creepier version of Hawkins doesn’t sound truthful?”

He makes a face. “I… I don’t know. They might think we’re crazy.”

“Crazy, but it’s true.” She shrugs. “I really do wonder how we’re going to explain this.”

“I hope my mom contacted Chief Hopper. I know they were good friends growing up, I’m sure he believes her.”

“I hope it’s him, I don’t really like some of the people he works with.”

Will tilts his head, confused. “You don’t like cops?”

“No, I don’t certain cops here. I don’t trust them as far as I can throw them.”

“How come?”

“Well–” She cuts herself off and stops, eyes trailing to something inside one of the shops. She takes a second to make sure she’s seeing that right before pointing and saying, “November 6th.”

Will perks up at that. “That’s the day when we had our D&D campaign. The night we disappeared.”

“Yeah.” Steph looks around her hand following up to another object, a clock. “Nine Twenty-Three. That’s probably around the time we disappeared too.”

“But why is everything stuck this way?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, didn’t this place exist beforehand?” Will asked, head spinning. “How come everything is stuck on the night we disappeared?”

She purses her lips. “It… exist because of us? Or does time run differently here?”

“This is making my head hurt.”

She chuckles. “You and me both, kid.”

They continued their walk, popping into a few shops when they saw something useful, like another set of matches or even a sleeping bag they could share. They eventually ended up at a hunting store and scavenged there. Steph started grabbing a couple boxes of shotgun shells and ones that could fit inside Mr. Harrington’s pistol. It felt strange to have something like this in her possession, especially given the history of it. A very… bittersweet history of it. 

Stupid, Harring– The small box tv on the counter startled her when it made a noise. When her gaze locks onto it, she realizes it’s not even on. She sighs, shaking her head. Now I’m imagining shit? This is getting fucking ridiculous.

She starts making room inside her bag for the ammunition when–

.

|| –Those Poor Children. ||

.

Stephanie nearly drops everything and grips the gun and starts frantically searching for the voice. What in the fucking–

.

|| Jesus, I know. I can only imagine what their families are going through. ||

|| It’s such a shame– ||

.

“What the…?”

“Did you hear that too?” Will asked, eyes full of hope as she looked between him and empty space behind the counter.

“Huh? Um… Y-Yeah. I-I did.” She swallows and then realizes something. “Wait… is that what you– Is that what you were talking about?”

“Yeah!” He shakes his head eagerly. “I told you, I swear I could hear my mom and Jonathan talking that night. I told you I wasn’t crazy.”

Stephanie takes a deep breath, still in a bit of disbelief I mean– This changes everything she’s thought about this place. “If we can hear somebody, then…” She couldn’t even finish the sentence. It was so shocking.

“Maybe we can talk to them. I know for a fact my mom heard me when I called the phone. She even responded when I talked back.”

“So it’s totally possible.” She goes silent to think, an idea coming to mind in a matter of seconds. She grins. “Follow me.”

Will of course does, a little intrigued by the fact that they found themselves climbing to the top of an old bell tower that overlooks most of Hawkins. “What is this place?”

“Somewhere I probably shouldn’t have been hanging out at when I was young.” Steph admits. “Don’t worry, the tower hasn’t been used in decades ‘cause the bell’s broken. Alright.” She smacks her hands together. “We have to figure out a way to get someone’s attention. Whether it’s your family, my family, friends, or hell, even some random stranger. We just need to get someone’s attention.”

“But how? I’m not even sure how any of this works.” Will asked, truthfully. He’s still not even really sure how he was able to contact his mom that night. 

She hums, scratching her head. “Where’s your house at?” He gets close to the edge, looks around and points to it in the distance. She nods and starts doing the same as she speaks, “Alright, well there’s mine, Lucas’, and Mike’s. So we got options. We just need to figure out how you were able to speak to your mom that night. If we can figure that out, maybe we can do it again.”

“All I really did was just dial my house’s number and she picked up.”

“Okay. Maybe it’s just that simple after all.”

“Well… I know whatever happened that night, it fired the house’s phone. We’re going to need a new phone.”

“We can get one. And if that doesn’t work, we’ll move on to another house. Hopefully, one of our friends will pick up.”

And they have to. This is our only plan right now. She waves for him to go first. “Careful going down, it’s more tricky than going up.”

“Okay.” He says, doing what he was told.

She starts to follow closely behind when another voice appears.

.

|| I am such an idiot. || 

.

She froze, her heart sinking again. She looks back at one of the corners of the tower, and an aching feeling in her gut.

“Steve?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Steve had a cigarette in one hand, and his other tangled up his own locks; One leg was dangling off the tower, while the rest of his body laid against the arch of the opening. Today was stupidly sunny, barely any clouds and no smell of precipitation in the air for a chance of rain – the aesthetic was the complete opposite of his mood right now.

He took a puff of nicotine and blew it out like a long, heavy sigh. The shit from last night keeps replaying in his head, provoking him to do or say something he’s probably not supposed to (or is supposed to, his subconscious yells at him) – He still doesn’t understand why he suddenly ended up here out of place. He could have gone to skull rock, or even the quarry, or maybe even just running around the mall hoping no one realizes he’s a teenager and asks why he’s not in school.

He groans, closing his eyes, listening to the traffic below and people bickering, praying nobody looks up and finds him here. Again, why did I pick this place?

“I am such an idiot.” He mutters, then the insecurities he had slowly started to fade away when he felt a presence nearby. Worried that maybe a cop finally found him, he changes his sadden look for something cooler before opening his eyes and looking. 

But strangely enough, no one was even there.

“Huh.” Steve blinks, swearing that he could feel someone was watching him. Maybe though? I mean, this was an old church that may or may not be haunted.

He shakes his head. “Fuck this.” He puts his bud out on the ground and stands up to leave.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“Hey, Where’s Steve? I didn’t see his car in the parking lot.” Nancy asks, butting into Carol and Tommy’s conversation. She honestly wanted to see him to give him another apology, she still felt bad for prying so much about something she probably shouldn’t have seen. And I want to see if he’s in a good mental state today.

She watches the couple spare a look and gets worried, “What?”

“You haven’t seen him yet?” Carol said, as she shakes her head. “That’s weird.”

“Steve never skips school.” Tommy adds.

“What did you guys argue about last night?”

“Us?” Nancy said, pointing to herself. “You think he’s not here because we fought?”

“It’s a possibility. He finally has a girlfriend who’s charm finally made the King skip class.” Carol said, arms cross. “I’d say that’s an achievement.”

She scoffs. “First of all, It was just a disagreement, nothing more. A second, there’s no way that’s the reason he’s not here.”

“Maybe you hit one of his insecurities you were yelling about last night.”

Nancy holds her tongue and ends up just leaving in a huff. Every time she thinks she’s finally on their level, she’s pushed back down. She sighs and enters her first class of the day. Her gaze follows over to where her friend would be at, but atlas, her desk was empty.

She reaches out and taps the girl in front of her shoulder. “Hey, Ally. Where’s Barb?”

The girl raised an eyebrow. “Um, shouldn’t you know?”

Nancy’s stomach dropped. “You haven’t seen her anywhere... at all?” 

Ally shakes her head just as the bell rings and everyone’s ordered to sit down, leaving the Wheeler to wonder if she stayed home too because of their bickering.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“There she is. Emerald City.” Powell announced as they pulled up to the one and only laboratory in Hawkins. They were going off really their only lead at this point, and hoping it plays out.

“I heard they make space weapons in there.” Callahan replies, getting a look. 

“Space weapons?”

“Yeah. You know, like, Reagan’s Star Wars. I guess we’re gonna blow the Ruskies to smithereens.”

“Hey, can I help you?” The guard asked once the police car rolled to a stop just in front of the gate.

“Uh, yeah. We’re here for a tour.” Hopper lied.

“Oh, we don’t give tours.”

“Okay... A quick look around.”

“You have to get clearance for that. You can contact, uh... Rick Schaeffer at the Department of Energy.”

“Maybe you seen it on TV.” Hopper pushes, not backing down from this. “We got two local kids missing. We have reason to believe they might have snuck in here.”

“Like I said, you have to speak to Mr. Schaeffer.”

Hopper exhaled through his nose, and turned the car and placed his hat on the dashboard; His partners beside him grew quiet, and let him have at it. “What’s your name?”

“Patrick.” 

“Patrick, I got a panicked mayor, and I got reporters breathing down my neck and I got two very upset mothers.” He said, his face growing softer, more wounded like. “Now, I know the kid’s not in there, but I gotta check off this box. Patrick, would you do me a favor? Would you speak to your boss and see what you can swing for us? I’d really appreciate it. I’m talking ten minutes, tops.”

Just ten minutes to see if they were in there. That’s all that the police chief needs…

And wants.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Steve heads inside the shop nearby, his stomach growling for food. It completely slipped his mind this morning – or afternoon now – he’s completely lost track of time. 

Now what kind of junk sounds appetizing today? He starts wandering around, not at all familiar with this layout or the shop for that matter (Why didn’t he just go to the sandwich shop next door again?). As he slips through one of the aisles, he notices the person in front of him struggling to reach for something off the high shelf. 

Deciding to be a nice boy, he reaches up and grabs it down for her. “Here you go, Ma’am.”

“Oh, thank you.” She said, surprised and grateful. “How kind of you.”

“Early Christmas shopping?” 

“Oh, I wish. No, I just need a new phone in case my son calls the house.”

He nods. “Your son lives far then?”

“Um, no, h-he’s missing.”

Oh?

Oh…

Oh!

Steve’s eyes widened at the realization. “Oh, oh my god, I’m so sorry. You’re that kid’s mother.”

“I am.” Joyce says, shifting her weight around. 

“Am… so sorry, I-I didn’t know, I–”

“Like you said, you didn’t know.” She puts the phone into the shopping cart. “It’s okay.”

“Okay, um…” This was awkward, right? Steve shifted on his feet too, not really sure how to wrap this up. “Uh, do you have… uh… heard any updates?”

Joyce shakes her head, sadly. “Not yet. I know the Police Chief has put many of his guys and volunteers to work. But I think at this point they covered all of Hawkins.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. I just, uh–” He trails off, struggling to make a sentence. “Sorry, I was just being nosy. I don’t really hear much news, I…” He swallows. “I went to school with the Henderson girl, so...”

Is he making any sense? Hopefully she’s understanding what he means– Fuck, his heart’s racing so fast.

“Oh, yeah?” Joyce said, looking bittersweet – Looking like she was a mother staring at her hurt child (How come his own mother never looked at him like that?). “Must be hard knowing someone you knew is missing.”

Damn, right on the money. “Yeah.” He says, his throat feeling tight.

She hums, and then gives him a stern expression. “Shouldn’t you be in school though?”

Annnnddddd… Fuck. 

Nice Going, Harrington. He scolded himself as he racked his brain for a believable lie. “Oh, uh, I-I graduated already. I was a grade ahead.”

“Oh.” She says, apologetically. “My mistake.”

“No worries, seriously. It happens all the time.” At least he didn’t say something stupid, and needs to get out of this conversation before he does but… damn his little heart sometimes. “Uh–” He gestures to her cart full of different items. “Do you want me to pay for some of that? For bothering you? Or uh, I… I know you’re probably–”

“Oh, no!” She shakes her head. “No. Thanks, but I can get it. Money’s a little tight, I’ll admit, but there’s nothing I can do about it. You know?”

“You sure?”

“Yes. I appreciate the offer.” Joyce smiles, and subconsciously pats the young man on his shoulder. “You’re very sweet. Take care.”

“You too.” He says, seeing this as he exits and walks past her.

Joyce watches as he turns to another aisle, growing a bit sad by the interaction. 

Alright, do I have everything? She has a new phone, some groceries– things she knows Will would like– 

The display of string lights flickered for a second.

Confused, thinking most likely it was probably a short circuit, she doesn’t understand why she ended up muttering her youngest name, “Will.”

Coincidentally, the light flickers shortly afterwards. “Will!” She says, again, hope blooming in her chest. Then, all the lights on the display shined for a few seconds. 

God, call her crazy, but maybe this was a sign that her son is still close by.

Before anyone could blink, the checkout counter was filled up with so many boxes of Christmas lights, some just the basic color, and some of the tri-colors. She can only imagine how much this is going to cost her, but who cares! If this is strangely how she can talk to her son, then this is what she shall do.

Her Boss, who was the clerk for the day, looks at her worriedly. “Joyce–”

“Just ring me up, Donald.” Is all she said, patiently waiting until he was all finished. Without sparing another word, she gathers all the bags into her hands and races to her car.

Donald sighs while watching her leave. “That poor woman.” He says, just as Steve comes up to the counter with his snacks and drinks. He raises an eyebrow. “Aren’t you supposed to be in school?” 

“Aren’t you supposed to be minding your own business?” Steve said, becoming bitter again.

“Mmm, hmm.” He scans everything and a price pops up on his screen. “That’ll be Five-Fifty.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

“Found a phone.” Will said, almost immediately as they entered. It shouldn’t be a shock since this is the place his mother works at.

“That should work.” Steph said, smiling. “Let’s get a move on.”

Will gets up on his tippy toes to grab it, slowly pulling it off the shelf when something presses his hand. Startled, he falls back and the older girl grabs the box before it falls. 

“What happened?” She asked, worriedly.

“S-Something touched me.” He says, taking a step back.

“What?” She hands him the box and peeks over the shelf herself (She’s not exactly tall either). There was nothing odd out of the ordinary, just the normal dust and native plants that grew in this world. She frowns. “I don’t really see anything.”

Suddenly the display of lights flickered. Out of instinct her hand reaches for the pistol at her side. Then her heart sinks at the next thing.

.

|| Uh, do you want me to pay for some of that? I know you’re probably– || 

.

“Steve?” Stephanie says, surprised. 

So she wasn’t crazy after all. She did hear him. 

Will looked up at her, stunned too. “Steve Harrington?” He asked, but before she could speak another voice could be heard.

.

|| –I can get it. Money’s a little tight, I’ll admit, but there’s nothing I can do about it. You know? ||

|| You sure? ||

|| Yes. I appreciate the offer. You’re very sweet. Take care. || 

.

“Mrs. Byers?/Mom?!” They both erupted, then went quiet to see if they could hear anything else.

Nothing.

“Shit.” The oldest said, and now gnawing on her lip again, nervously (And completely forgetting about Steve for the time being). “That might have been our chance.” She hears the boy drop the phone somewhere next to her. “Will?”

The boy seemed fascinated with an idea swirling around in his head. Stephanie finds herself just watching, waiting to see what he had in mind. Will reaches up and lets his fingers brush the display of some string lights, the lights getting a little bit hazy – It was almost like his touch was giving them electricity. 

.

|| Will. || 

.

Joyce’s voice broke through very faintly, but they both heard it and nearly cried.

“Touch the light again.” Steph said, urgently. Will does what he’s told and they both stay quiet again.

.

|| Will! ||

.

“She hears us.” He says, happily. 

“Holy shit…” She chuckles. “I have an idea. Touch all the lights.”

Frantically, they rush to touch all the lights they saw on display, not even questioning how this was even possible, they just hoped Joyce got the message. Once the hue died down they both held their breaths, and crossed their fingers. And then…

.

|| Just ring me up, Donald. ||

.

Stephanie threw her hands up. “Yes!” She says, with Will laughing beside her. “Thank you, Ms. Byers.”

“My mom’s the best.” He said, with a warm look.

“Hell, yeah she is. And forget the phone–” She locks eyes with him, determined. “I think we figured out a better way to communicate.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“And you think these missing kids may have crawled through there?” 

Hopper spares the man a glance before looking back at the drain. Somehow, he convinced the security guard to let him and his guys in, but so far their theories are turning out pretty sour. “Well, that was the idea.”

Their “Tour Guide”, I guess you can call him that, made a fact that was all smug and prideful. “Yeah, I just don’t see how that’d be possible. We’ve got over 100 cameras. Every square inch covered, plus all my guys. No one breaks in here. Certainly not some kids.”

Hopper perked up at the news, eyes trailing to a few cameras in view. Now it was his turn to be the smug one as he asked, “Those cameras, you keep the tapes?”

Well… I don’t think the guide was expecting that reaction.

Now, the three of them were following the man inside, the hallways swarmed with men in lab coats, and a security team blocking a room that was marked “hazardous”. 

The police Chief found this a bit suspicious and asked, “If you don’t mind me asking, what do you guys do in here?”

The guide chuckles. “You’re asking the wrong guy.”

“Staying one step ahead of the Russians?”

“I expect. Something like that.”

“Who’s in charge here?”

“That’d be Dr. Brenner.”

“And he builds the space lasers?” Callahan asked, eagerly. 

“Space lasers?”

“Ignore him.” Hopper replies, sighing. They eventually entered the surveillance room, the three of them watching the screen closely. “This is the night of the 6th and 7th we’re seeing here?”

“That’s correct.”

Hopper narrows his eyes, waiting to see if he sees anything unusual. However, to his surprise, the tape only lasted less than a minute. “Is that it?” He asked, in disbelief. 

“Like I said, we would have seen them.”

And then the cops were practically shoved out of there, and the guide gives them their condolences for the tired search (Yeah, what an asshole, right?).

“The night of the 7th, we had a search party out for Will and Stephanie. You remember anything about that night?” Hopper asked, seeing if he wasn’t the only suspicious one. 

“Mmm, not much to remember. Called it off.” Callahan replies, thinking.

 “‘Cause of the storm.” Powell adds.

“Yeah, a lot of rain that night.” Hopper says, arriving at their car. “You see any rain on that tape?”

“What are you thinking?”

“I don’t know.” He spares a look at the building, a sinking feeling in his gut. “But they’re lying.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, the boys were outside shifting through the playground for some rocks. Mike picks one up and shows it off. “How about this one?”

Dustin looks and shakes his head. “Too big for the sling.” He says, getting on his knees to do some digging. “So, do you think Eleven was born with her powers, like the X-Men, or do you think she acquired them, like... like Green Lantern?

“She’s not a superhero. She’s a weirdo.” Lucas replies, rolling his eyes.

“Why does that matter?” Mike snaps, offended. “The X-Men are weirdos.” 

“If you love her so much, why don’t you marry her?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Mike, seriously?”

“What?”

“You look at her all, like…” Lucas makes a giggly face, and softens his body language, followed by a higher pitched voice, “‘Hi, El! El! El! El! I love you so much! Would you marry me’?” 

“Shut up, Lucas.”

“Yeah, shut up, Lucas.” Their bully, Troy, announced as he stomped towards the group. “What are you losers doing back here?”

“Probably looking for their missing friends.” James said, smirking.

“That’s not funny. It’s serious. They’re in danger.” Dustin hisses, annoyed.

“I hate to break it to you, Toothless, but they’re not in danger.” Troy bites back. “They’re dead. That’s what my dad says. He said that Byers was probably killed by some other queer. And maybe your sister’s been killed by some crazy stalker who is into weirdos like her.”

The two bullies laugh as Dustin looks like he’s about to strangle someone. No one says anything about Will like that. And nobody especially says something like that about his big sister.

Mike sees this, and puts his arm in front of his friend to soothe him. “Come on. Just ignore them.” He says, and starts to leave, only to be tripped – and face planted into the ground.

“Watch where you’re going, Frogface.” Troy spats, but he instantly gets a taste of his own medicine. 

To everyone’s surprise, Dustin was the one to deliver the karma, which was forcibly shoving him to the ground. 

Everyone stared, and before someone could speak he shoved James too and scrambled to pick up Mike.

“Lucas! Let’s go!” Dustin yells, and silently tells Mike to go. As they were leaving, he flips the bullies the bird and snaps, “You shitheads need to keep Will and Phanie’s name out of your mouths! Got it?!”

And then they broke off into a Usain Bolt type sprint.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

They finally ended up back on Mirkwood, guns loaded, backpacks full, and hope in their chest. If this works, if Joyce does this right, then maybe they can finally communicate to the other side. All they needed to do was tell her where they are, and maybe they could figure out a way to get back. 

It sounded easy, and they just hoped it was.

The two of them were silent for most of the walk, and when they got to this specific road, the boy grabbed her hand, shaking. She says nothing, ‘cause nothing needs to be said about it. If that’s what made him feel safe then so be it.

“Do you think it’s negative emotions?” Will eventually said, breaking the ice.

Stephanie tilts her head, confused. “Hmm?”

“Do you think that’s how we can hear some people? Through negative emotions?” He looks up at her. “Like my mom, she must be worried about me, maybe that’s why we can hear her?”

Her eyebrows shoot up, shocked. It’s definitely a plausible theory (But would that apply to Steve as well? And if so, why is he so worried?). “Maybe.”

“But would that go with us too?” He adds, the wheels in his head really were turning today. “I mean, is that how the beast picks their victims? Because they’re in a bad mental state?”

Well, now that makes sense if you put it that way. “It’s possible.” She said, nodding. Yeah, that’s completely possible. 

It explains a lot of things. More or so she wanted to admit. She knows these last two years were… interesting to say the least. Definitely could qualify as a ‘Bad Mental State’. And… she also has felt a bit stressed about school and talks about her future. But if she knew herself was in a bad state, then that means–

“Then… are you okay?” Steph asked, realizing something. The boy froze, like actually froze when she said that. It was a trippy sight to see. “Will?”

“What?”

“Are you okay?” She tries again, a bit gentler this time. “Mentally?” Nothing. “Will–

“I… I’m fine.” 

And then he lets go of her hand and starts walking a bit quicker– not even realizing he was doing so. She stops, concern on her face. She wasn’t expecting that kind of reaction from a simple yes or no question. She makes a note for herself that when they do get out of here she’s going to have a talk with him (Or at least tell Joyce about her concerns).

She sighs. Always got to be the therapist, Henderson.

She takes a step to move but stops, her eyes trailing off the road to her right, right into the void of the trees. It was weird. She felt like someone was standing right there – The same kind of presence back at the clock tower. 

“Huh.” She turns her attention back in front of her, then proceeds to freak out a bit when she notices how far Will was. She cusses and breaks into a sprint to catch up quickly.

Completely unaware of who that presence really was. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Steve steps over the barricades, his feet sinking into the leaves. Curiosity got the best of him you could say, or maybe the conversation last night really was getting under his skin (Like he’ll ever admit that), but he found himself here. Standing at a… crime scene, I guess. 

Her car went off road with herself and the Byers boy in it. Not long afterwards, they ditched it. 

His brown orbs trailed from the tree the vehicle hit and down the long road. He also knows, from what he’s heard, they both ran back to the boy’s house and then the trail went cold after that. But that’s the part that tickled his brain a bit. 

Why run all the way back home, a place you’re probably the safest at, and then leave it? It didn’t make sense in his book. Hell, it shouldn’t make sense in anybody’s book. What was the urge for them to run away from home and into the thick woods that surrounds Hawkins? 

He rubbed his chin and started thinking like he was going to solve this or whatever. Like…

He then scoffs at himself. 

What the fuck am I even doing? What is he doing? Why did he drive himself here? It’s not like he should care anymore. I mean, he shouldn’t care anymore. His parents would have his head if they knew–

Then there it is again.

That strange feeling that someone’s watching him. 

He turns around, half expecting a cop to be there to scold him, the other half expecting nothing and– Oh! What do you know? It was nothing. 

But even if it was nothing, he swears someone is standing there, watching his every move. Almost like this presence was here to judge him and see what other stupid things he can do today.

It was definitely giving him the heebie-jeebies.

He frowns, and looks away. “What the fuck…?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

It took her an hour, but Joyce got all the lights up. She strung them all through the house, up along the wall and hanging gently off the ceiling. She hopes that she’s not losing her mind – She knows how silly this looks; Putting up Christmas lights in November (I mean, the holiday’s not that far off but still). She was expecting some reaction to happen, some or maybe all of them would immediately start blinking; Instead, her doorbell rings and she’s met with Karen Wheeler.  

Not wanting to be rude, Joyce invited her and her youngest in. Karen pops in a casserole she made into the oven, sitting next to the worried mother and tries to see what state she was in.

Joyce chuckles nervously when her guest notices the festive decoration. “Will always loved Christmas, you know. So I thought if I... I put the lights up... I don’t know, he... I’d feel like he was home somehow.” She covers part of her face with her hand. “I-It’s silly, I-I know…”

Karen shakes her head. “No. No, it’s not silly.” She takes the other woman’s hand in hers, giving her a gentle squeeze. “How is Jonathan holding up?”

Joyce takes a deep breath. “You know, he’s good at taking care of himself. He always has been, you know? I…” She scoffs. “I mean, he thinks I’m losing my mind, but…”

“Joyce.” Karen says, softly. “I want you to know something. If you need anything, anything at all... Ted and I are here for you.”

This sentimental moment caused them both to become oblivious to the lights flickering on in the hallway, a walkway pointing towards Will’s room. The only one who didn’t miss it was Holly, who was now sliding off her chair to follow.

“Thank you.” Joyce said, sincerely. 

Karen smiles. “Okay.”

The two women continued to talk, Joyce even bringing up Mike’s feelings about the whole thing – and even wondered if Claudia and Dustin were okay too. Meanwhile, little Holly Wheeler watched the lights flickered on and off, guiding her to the bedroom. Her eyes watched in awe as the many, many lamps that were lingered around Will’s room turned off and on one-by-one in a symphony-like way.

She giggles and claps, excited to watch this “show”. Then…

They all stopped and the nightmare began. 

Her happiness starts to pool away as she hears a scary sound. She then turns white as a ghost when she notices one of the walls was moving and stretching out towards her.

Who knows what would have happened if Joyce hadn’t come in and grabbed Holly, handing her back to her mother. 

“She shouldn’t be here.” Joyce said, scared in both tone and facial expression. 

Karen didn’t notice the seriousness of her look as she apologizes, “Oh, I’m sorry. She’s quite the explorer these days.”

“Wait, did you see something?” The worried Byers brushes her off, and the little girl nods quickly. “What did... what did you see? Tell me. What did you see?”

“Joyce!” The blonde scolds, but she’s already being shooed away.

“Karen, thank you for the casserole, but I need you to leave.” 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Nancy tapped her foot repeatedly, impatiently waiting for the person to pick up the phone. “Come on, come on, come on…” She mumbled, gripping the payphone tight. “Come on–”

[ ‘Hello?’ ]

Oh, thank god. “Hi!” She says, eagerly. “Hi, uh, Ms. Holland, it’s Nancy.”

[ ‘Oh, Nancy, how are you?’ ]

“Good. I’m good. Um, I was just wondering, uh, is Barb there?”

[ ‘Mmm... No, she hasn’t come home yet.’ ]

“But she did come home, right? After the vigil?”

[ ‘No, she said she was staying with you last night.’ ] 

Shit. Nancy mentally scolds herself. “Right, yes. She did, sorry. I meant, did she come home this morning? I think she left some textbooks and she was gonna go pick them up.”

[ ‘Oh, um, no, I haven’t seen her.’ ]

“Do– do you know what? I just remembered... she’s at the library.”

[ ‘Nancy, will you please have her call me as soon as you find her?’ ]

“Yeah.” She shakes her head, frowning at how worried Barb’s mother was sounding. “Yeah, I will. Sorry to bother you.”

She hangs up the phone, frustrated. This wasn’t like Barb at all. In the past when they’ve had some disagreements, she’s never once disappeared like this. The only thing Barb’s ever done that was “extreme” was she did the silent treatment for most of the school day. 

This is so weird. This whole day’s been weird. She sighs and digs out some more change for the machine, and dials another number she knows by heart. The whole time as it rang she was nipping at the tip of her thumb. To her surprise, a voice she’s never heard before answered the phone.

[ ‘Hello?’ ]

The voice was a bit husky, but sweet with a pinch of sass. 

Nancy’s confused, and twirls the phone cord around her finger. “Oh, I’m sorry, who’s this?” She asked, wondering if she dialed the number wrong. “Is this the–”

[ ‘This is Jessica. How can I help you?’ ]

Jessica?

Jessica?

Jessica? Who’s…

Her eyes widened. 

Oh.

Now she recognizes the name. 

It was Steve’s mother – The woman she hasn’t met yet – The woman she’s “meeting” for the first time over the phone.

She swallows, nervously. “Oh, I-I’m… sorry. I was trying to get a hold of Steve.” She replies, feeling a bit awkward (and nervous?).

[ ‘Steven? And who are you to him?’ ]

Well she sounds lovely. She can hear the snobbishness in her tone, almost offended that someone was calling for her son. That’s a little weird.

“Um, I’m his girlfriend.” Nancy replies, trying to sound confident. “I was just wondering if he’s home? I haven’t seen him at school day and I’m a little worried.”

Then came the very long, very uncomfortable pause. For a second there she thought the mom hung up, it was so quiet.

[ ‘Girlfriend? That’s new. ]

“Did Steve not tell you about us?” Nancy asked, a bit hurt and a bit confused. He seemed so proud to show the whole school that they were dating, how come he never told his mother?

[ ‘What’s your name?’ ]

Skipping my question. I love it. “Um, Nancy. Nancy Wheeler, Ma’am.”

[ ‘Wheeler, you said?’ ]

“Um, yes.” Now she was puzzled even more. Was this a bad thing–

[ ‘That’s wonderful!’ ] 

Nancy blinks. “It… is?”

[ ‘My son’s dating a Wheeler! I almost can’t believe it.’ ]

And the woman was laughing with joy(?), which Nancy puts to the side. She just needs to get an answer to her own simple question. “That’s… wonderful, um… is Steve there?”

[ ‘No, he’s not. *Sigh* I swear if that boy’s skipping school, we’re going to have a problem.’ ]

And I think I just made everything worse. She straightens herself up, ready to end this. “Okay, Well… thanks, Mrs. Harrington, I’ll see if he’s maybe hiding out somewhere in the school.”

[ ‘Okay. Well, you have a good rest of your day, sweetheart.’ ]

Sweetheart? Nancy shakes her head again. “Thanks. You too.” She hangs up the phone. Well that was even weirder than the last one.

She crosses her arms, turning to head inside only her eyes to beeline to Carol and Tommy following someone closely – Tommy looking pissed off, especially. 

“What the heck?” She says, and hurries towards them.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Hopper and his partner entered the library with an idea – an idea hanging on a very thin thread that is. So, he puts on his best smile and takes off his hat, strolling up to the woman at the desk. “Hey, Marissa. How you doin’?”

The librarian pursed her lips. “You have a lot of nerve showing up here.”

He blinks. “What?”

“You could have at least called, said, ‘Marissa! Hey, it’s not gonna work out. Sorry I wasted your time. I’m a dіck’.”

Oh, now he remembers. “Yep.” He said, agreeing immediately. “I’m sorry. Uh... Maybe we could go out again next week?” She, and even Powell, made a face at him that gave him his answer. He smacks his lips and looks around. “Newspapers? You guys got newspapers around here?”

Marissa nods and shows them where they all are. “We have the New York Times, the Post, all the big ones. Organized by year and topic. You can find the corresponding microfiche in the reading room.”

“Okay, we’re looking for anything on the Hawkins National Laboratory.”

“Well, shouldn’t you be looking for that missing kid?”

“Yeah. We are.” Hopper pushes, and adds, “So, why don’t you start with the Times, and we’ll check out the Post.”

She scoffs in disbelief and walks off, Powell stepping up with a look on his face. “The librarian?” He said, getting a shrug.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Nancy sped up when she saw who they were stalking in the parking lot. Why would two people like Tommy and Carol go after a kid like Jonathan Byers? Nothing that went through her mind would give her that answer. When she got closer is when it got more intense. 

Tommy was practically manhandling Jonathan, yelling and trying to take his bag away from him. The eldest Wheeler sped up even more, full on running now.

She manages to step between the two of them, arms out in defense. “Hey! What’s going on?”

“This creep was spying on us last night!” Tommy said, pointing furiously. “Nicole says he was taking pictures of us by the pool.”

“I was looking for my brother.” Jonathan replies, holding his bag close.

“Bullshit. Now let me see.”

“Back off!”

Nancy steps in between them again. “Tommy, stop!” She yells, making him scoff.

“You’re defending this creep, Wheeler?” Carol asked, in disgust.

“First of all, you really going to believe what Nicole said? The girl’s like the boy who cried wolf.”

“Nancy–”

“Lastly, so what if he has photos of us at the pool? It wasn’t like we’re naked.”

“Naked or not, he still took pictures of us!” Tommy snaps, taking a step closer as she takes a step back.

“Pictures or not, he was looking for his brother–”

“How do you know, huh? How?”

“Because he’s been hanging out missing poster signs of him and missing school because he’s the big brother.” Nancy looks over her shoulder, locking eyes with Jonathan. “Go.” He hesitates. “Go, man!”

Not wasting another opportunity, he hustles off towards his car. Tommy tries to lunge towards him, but Nancy isn’t letting up.

“What the fuck, Nancy?!” Tommy shouted, and she chose to ignore him by walking away once she knew Jonathan wasn’t around. “Nancy!”

“Nancy, get back here!” Carol yelled.

“Nancy, you such a fucking princess! Wait until your boyfriend hears about this!”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“Dude, I can’t believe you did that!” Lucas said, as they bike away from the school. “You know Troy and James are not going to let that slide.”

“I don’t care!” Dustin says, bitterly (and if he could cross his arms right now he would). “I don’t like when people bad mouth my friends, bad mouth my sister! I mean, for Christ’s sake, she was giving Will a ride home. What’s so bad about that?”

He doesn’t care if James’s waiting tomorrow to give him a wedgie, or Troy’s fist plummeting into his face, he doesn’t care. Both Will and Phanie had their fair share of bullying themselves, or whispers of derogatory names and speeches – All because Will was the “quiet kid” and wears “colorful” clothing; All because his sister wasn’t a “girly-girl” and a total nerd. He’s heard that all throughout his life, and sometimes he said something, sometimes he stays silent when told too – He probably should have done that today.

But those… fucking bullies just had to poke him when he was the most stress. Stressed out with each day that none of them had come home.

Jeez, he’s either going to get scolded or praised by his mother if she finds out about that interaction. 

“And don’t even try to convince me to beg them for forgiveness. They don’t deserve it and I’m standing my ground.” Dustin adds, shutting his friend up. As they rode closer and closer to their houses, he frowned, worriedly.

I just hope El knows what she’s talking about. He just wants to find them both soon (Safe and sound would be a plus).

The boys continued to ride until they arrived at the power lines behind the Wheelers’ house. Mike shouted and told the girl to hope on, warning all of them they only had a few hours to pull this off.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Joyce was standing in her kitchen with a cigarette when Chester started barking. She looks up to see the lights in the living room start flickering, and hurries in there. As soon as she entered they died down. Then, slowly the light directly above her activated, and then made a pathway to the other side of the room. Her fingers laced around them, and followed, ending up being directed at a bundle of them lying on the floor.

She rushes to take them in her hands, sitting down and taking a deep breath. It was now or never to find out if she was really losing her mind or not. She closes her eyes, and whispers,

“Will... are you here?”

There was a brief pause followed by the ball lighting up and fading. She chuckles in excitement, completely over the moon with fresh tears in her eyes. 

“Okay, good, good, good, good. Are you…” How should she do this? “Um, blink once for yes, twice for no. C-Can y-you do that for me, sweetie? Can you do–” The ball lights up again just once as she feels a tear run down her cheek and hugs the object.

She can feel it in her bones, in her heart now. She knows this is her baby boy. She knows that her son is still with her.

Joyce smiles and sniffles. “Oh, good boy. Good boy. Okay, Will, um–” Another deep breath. “Is… Is Stephanie with you too?” 

One blink. The girl who was kind enough to pick up her son is still with him despite all this time. She can finally put some of that guilt away now.

“That’s wonderful news.” She said, her expression growing bigger. However, this was going to be the hardest question yet to ask. “Baby, I need to know…” She swallows. “Are you guys alive?”

One blink and her heart skips a beat. She thanks any God who’s listening for this.

Her lip quivers as she follows up with, “Are you guys safe?”

Two blinks.

Her son and Stephanie were not okay.

Now, Joyce was shaking like a leaf as she clenched the lights tighter, her mind running a mile a minute on what she can do. What could she say that wouldn’t revert to playing twenty questions four times over?

“I need to know where to find you two, honey. Where... where are you? Can you... can you tell me where you are? Can you…” She chokes, her cheeks completely stained. “Please, baby. I need to find you. Tell me what to do. Please just... Will…”

She didn’t know how long she sat there and cried, wondering what she could do for her baby, for Steph; But at some point a light bulb idea appeared. She suddenly found herself stringing some lights on the wall over her couch, a row of three, before popping open a can of black paint and began brushing letters on.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

“How do we get my mom’s attention when we can’t see what she’s done?” Will asked after hours of walking back to his home, he was disappointed to find that his house still looks the same. I guess their theory about earlier was right–

This world was stuck on the day he and Steph got kidnapped by the beast.

The oldest walked around a bit, thinking. Unfortunately, despite all the lights Joyce bought, they can’t see any of them. “Did she put it in your room, maybe?” Stephanie thought, and wandered inside.

Nothing. Of course. The only thing she saw that was possibly different was some scratch marks on the wall, ones that would be too high for a dog to do.

She swallows and leaves, meeting the boy in the hallway. “Did you have scratches on your wall before?” Will gives her a weird look and shakes his head. She hums. “We got to find those lights quickly. I think that monster’s been lurking around here.”

They found themselves back in the living room, and started moving their arms around, squinting too to see if something would appear. All hope was starting to seem lost until her hand hits an object above, a glowing hue appears for a split second.

“Whoa…” Will said, in awe, and suddenly, they both swore they heard a dog barking. “Chester?”

Steph took this as a sign to keep going, hitting the same spot again before gently moving her hand along the imaginary line. She trails to the little cabinet against the wall, feeling around until she hits something that makes light.

Come on, Ms. Byers. Please tell me you’re home. The two of them waited anxiously, waiting for the woman to speak, waiting for–

.

|| Will... are you here? ||

.

Joyce’s voice broke through, breaking them.

“Mom.” Will breaths, coming down to sit on his knees. “What do I–”

“Start feeling around. Just like I did.” Steph said, coming to sit next to him. He nods again, keeping calm and feels around – His fingers touching something that made the hue appear again. “Perfect. Just like that.”

.

|| Okay, good, good, good, good. ||

.

“See?” Steph says, happily. “It’s working.”

“Mom.” Will says again, smiling. Now, they just have to stay silent and listen.

.

|| Are you… Um, blink once for yes, twice for no. C-Can y-you do that for me, sweetie? Can you do– || 

.

Of course they can. So Will reaches out and touches it once.

.

|| Oh, good boy. Good boy. Okay, Will, um– Is… Is Stephanie with you too? ||

.

One touch. Will is eternally grateful that he’s not alone in this scary place. 

.

|| That’s wonderful news – Baby, I need to know… ||

.

There’s a pause, and they hold their breaths.

.

|| Are you guys alive? ||

.

Their hearts clenched at how painful she sounded. 

His poor mother. I can only imagine what she must feel like. Steph thought, and touched his shoulder, trying to give him some comfort.

He touches the air with a shaky hand, trying not to beat himself up over how much his mother was suffering.

.

|| Are you guys safe? ||

.

They frown, and he touches the air twice.

I’m sorry, Mom. Will says, trying not to picture the state she was in after that answer.

.

|| I need to know where to find you two, honey. Where... where are you? Can you... can you tell me where you are? Can you… Please, baby. I need to find you. Tell me what to do. Please just... Will… ||

.

“Mom?” He croaked, after she went silent. “Mom?”

“Ms. Byers?” She said, worriedly.

“Mom, please… where did you–”

Then they heard the couch scrap across the floor, hitting the wall, followed by the sounds of hammering. 

“What is she doing now?” He asks, both of them standing and hearing the string lights she must have in her hands clink together, and move along the wall. “Why is she hanging up more lights?”

Although he was puzzled, Stephanie was not. She walks over to the couch, getting onto the cushions and feeling around, the hues returning when she hits a certain spot. She laughs blissfully.

“Oh, your mom’s a genius.” Steph said, with a huge smile on her face.

Will gives her a look. “I don’t get it.”

“Watch closely. See–” She touches a line of lights near the ceiling. “Eight.” Then the middle. “Nine.” Then the bottom. “Nine. It makes twenty-six. Your mom’s a freaking genius.”

“Still not getting it.”

“Don’t you see? She didn’t just hang up more lights–” Her smile grows, and soon will his. “It’s an alphabet wall.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Nancy wasn’t sure what she was going to do. First Steve doesn’t come into school, and now no one knows where Barb is. She decides to kill two birds with one stone after school, and takes a drive over to the Harrington house. A quick driveby shows that her boyfriend’s car wasn’t there, so she figures he must have just skipped school because of last night’s disagreement. As for her best friend though, she couldn’t have said the same thing.

She slows down and parks directly behind Barb’s car, jogging over and taking a peek inside. Everything was the same, Barb’s purse was on the floor board, and the sweater she changed out of was laid in the seat. 

No. No way. She couldn’t believe this. If Barb didn’t drive home last night then where was she? She tried to come up with excuses, tried to make up ideas that would lead to her coming home without her car but…

Nothing made sense. 

She about cried on the way home, on the verge of a breakdown as she thinks only but the worst of the worst. 

“Hey!” Her mother calls out as she enters the house. “You’re home early! How was the game?” When her mother notices how quiet she was, it is when she meets her daughter halfway. “Nancy? What’s the matter?”

“I-It’s Barb.” Nancy croaks, shaking. “I think... something happened. Something terrible.” She hopes she’s just over exaggerating, but she doesn’t know about that.

She can’t shake off this dreadful feeling in the pit of her stomach.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“I don’t know, Chief.” Powell begins, really on the fence about all that they read.

“What don’t you know?” Hopper asked, confused.

“This lady, Terry Ives, sounds like a real nut to me. Her kid was taken for LSD mind control experiments? She’s been discredited. Claim was thrown out–”

Hopper sighs. “Okay, forget about her. Take a look at this.” He slides over a newspaper clipping he printed out. The headline said: ‘MK ULTRA EXPOSED’. He points to a familiar face in the picture. “Dr. Martin Brenner.”

“Who?”

“Brenner. He runs Hawkins Lab.”

“Okay…”

Hopper sits back in his chair with disbelief and scoffs. “You don’t find that interesting?”

“Not really.” Powell said, with a shrug. “He was involved in some hippie crap back in the day, so what?” 

“No, this isn’t hippie crap. This is CIA-sanctioned research.”

“Doesn’t mean he had anything to do with our kids.”

“Come on. Look at that.” Hopper points to the other people in the picture. “Hospital gowns. All of ‘em. Now, that piece of fabric that the teacher found by the pipe. That sure looked like a hospital gown to me, huh? Am I wrong?”

“I don’t know, Chief.”

“Come on, man. Work with me here. I’m not saying that there’s some grand conspiracy–” (You sure about that?) “I’m just…” He sighs, exhausted. “I’m saying maybe something happened. Maybe Will and Stephanie were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and they saw something that they shouldn’t have.”

Powell makes a face. “It’s a reach.”

“It’s a start.” 

Before more could be said, Powell’s radio goes off, and Callahan starts speaking.

[ ‘Hey, Powell, is the chief with you?’ ] 

Hopper wastes no time to reach over and take the radio off his partner’s shoulder, answering it, “Hopper here. What do you got?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

The boys follow Eleven through the woods, the sun finally setting, slowly engulfing them in darkness if it wasn’t for the lights on their bikes. To everyone’s shock and confusion, she had brought them to a familiar place.

She turns around and faces them, replying, “Here.”

Mike gives her a look. “Yeah, this is where Will lives.”

“Hiding.”

He shakes his head. “No, no, this is where he lives. He’s missing from here. Understand?”

“What are we doing here?” Lucas asked, dropping his bike in annoyance. 

“She said he’s hiding here.”

“Um…” He looks around. “No!”

Now it was Dustin’s turn to look annoyed. “I swear, if we walked all the way out here for nothing–”

“That’s exactly what we did. I told you she didn’t know what the hell she was talking about!”

Mike sighs and looks at her. “Why did you bring us here?”

“Mike, don’t waste your time with her.” Lucas replies, fed up and tired.

“What do you want to do then?”

“Call the cops, like we should have done yesterday.”

“We are not calling the cops!” 

“Hey, guys?” Dustin says, something catching his attention. 

“What other choice do we have?” Lucas yells again. 

“Guys!” He snaps, drawing their attention to the police cars rushing by, followed by an ambulance. Their sirens were blaring loudly, and were heading in a direction they all knew where it led to.

A dreadful feeling came to all of them instantly. 

“Oh no…” Mike whispers.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE OTHER SIDE ||

Stephanie wrote on the wall with a marker the best she could, drawing the alphabet in each row. They couldn’t see the lights or the letters Joyce probably scribbled on too, but they could make do with what they had.

“This should probably help, right?” 

“Definitely.” Will agrees with a nod.

“Good.” She smacks her hands together. “Alright, come on Mrs. Byers, talk to us. Ask us some questions.”

“Come on, Mom.”

They waited and waited, until they finally heard her speak.

.

|| Okay. Okay, baby, talk to me. Talk to me. Where are you guys? ||

.

“What should we say?” Will asked, as he climbed onto the couch.

“Uh…” What could they say? “Here! Right Here. Tell her that.”

“Okay.”

Will Reached up and started touching right above each letter, listening – His mother repeating back whatever he touched.

.

|| ‘R’. Good, good, good, good. That’s good. Come on, come on. ‘I..  G... H... T... H... E... R... E…’.‘Right here’. ||

.

Stephanie frowns, worriedly. Yeah, I know it doesn’t make any sense but it’s true.

“Come on, Mom. Understand. Please.” Will begged, quietly.

.

|| ‘Right here’? I… I-I don’t know what that means. I need you to tell me what to do. What should I do? How do I get to you guys? How do I find you? What should I do? ||

.

“Um…” Will looks over at the teenager. “What should we tell her?”

Steph’s mouth opens and closes quickly. What do they tell her if they’re not even sure what this place is? “Fuck… um…” She scratches her head. “How about–”

. “I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING.” .

The vicious voice seemed to spread itself around the house like a disease making the hair on their necks stand, and a chill ran up their spines. And then all the supposed “dead” electricity started going off, turning the whole house into a light show; Radios and TVs started going frantic; Fans turning on and spinning around too.

Will starts looking around all disoriented. “Steph, what’s going on?” 

“I–” She gasps as she hears the infamous growl in the distance, then the sound of the beast trying to bust through the wall behind her. “Will!!”

The boy frantically writes something out of his mother, just as the monster’s claw broke through the house. Steph takes a quick shot to stun it enough for them to run out the back door – From there, they were off running into the forest.

Again. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Joyce set the brush down, her alphabet wall was done and ready to use. She takes a few steps back so she can see the whole thing, and rubs her hands impatiently.

“Okay.” She breathes, mentally preparing herself. “Okay, baby, talk to me. Talk to me. Where are you guys?” It takes only a second for a letter to appear. “‘R’. Good, good, good, good. That’s good. Come on, come on. ‘I..  G... H... T... H... E... R... E…’.‘Right here’.”

What? 

That doesn’t make sense. What do they mean they’re right here?

“‘Right here’?” She says again, puzzled. “I… I-I don’t know what that means. I need you to tell me what to do. What should I do? How do I get to you guys? How do I find you? What should I do?”

She sees the light flicker again, and waits to see what they spell. Slight spoiler…

It was not what she expected them to say.

They were letters that were going to take her breath away.

R

U 

N 

And then all the lights in the house turned on and flickers rapidly, a sound of growling coming from behind. Scarcely, she turns to find something trying to crawl out of her wall. Terrified to even scream or speak, she starts to back away towards the door as a beast breaks through the wallpaper and hisses. 

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

The boys biked faster and faster, trying to catch up to the emergency vehicles, fearing the worst was yet to come. Just like they suspected, they ended up right at Sattler Quarry.

Meanwhile, Hopper was shaking, praying that what Callahan told him was not true. He arrives at the scene to find paramedics going deep into the water, two stretchers trailing behind. He doesn’t even know if he parked the car or not as he rushes out; A terrible, terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. He runs and blends into the crowd of firemen, waiting (im)patiently for their findings. 

“Oh, Jesus.” He mutters, trying so hard to keep his composure. “Oh, God. Please tell me it’s not the kids.”

The boys and El hid behind a truck, hearts in their throats as they watched as a waterlogged body of a boy was being loaded on the stretcher – soon followed by a larger female.

As soon as he saw the clothes, as soon as he saw the color of their hair, Hopper knew he was too late. Not wanting to break down right there and scream, he turns away and heads to his car. How in the world was he going to be able to tell Joyce and Claudia about this? How was he going to tell them that he failed to save their children after they begged him to? What could he have done differently to change this atrocious outcome?

The boys were shaking their heads from afar, not wanting to believe what they’re seeing. It was a nightmare. Just a nightmare. It has to be! They can’t really be–

“It can’t be them.” Mike choked, shaking his head. “It can’t be.”

“It’s Will and Steph.” Lucas says, lips quivering. Both boys were a mess, almost coming undone, but Dustin…

Oh, Dustin.

He felt like he was about to faint.

“Phanie…?” He whispers, taking a step back while holding his head. No. No. No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No– No! This can’t be real! This can’t be! She can’t be–

“It’s really them.” Lucas said, after getting another look once the bodies were brought back to shore. Tears were in his eyes, and they were ones he wasn’t even going to try to hide like he normally would.

Same thing goes with Mike, who was hugging himself, and sobbed. His best friend was gone. A girl that was like a sister to him was gone. He just couldn’t… wait. “Dustin?” He begins, looking over his friend who seemed so far away from this world.

It was a scary look, enough for even El to get scared and worried. She reached out to him, to comfort him; She even muttered his name for the first time.

To everyone’s surprise, he slaps her hand away.

“‘Dustin’? ‘Dustin’, what?!” He snaps, hatefully. “You were supposed to help us find them alive. You said my sister was alive?! Why did you lie to us?” He points at her, scaring her again. “What’s wrong with you? What is wrong with you?!” 

Eleven stays quiet, not even sure what to say from his outburst.

“Say something! Give me an answer, damn it!” He yells, as Lucas and Mike take a step closer.

“Dustin–” Mike tries, but the boy shakes his head and backs away.

“Screw this! Fuck everything!” Dustin turns around and grabs his bike, his friends ushering him to calm down before taking off. But whatever they say wasn’t going to be enough. The Henderson was practically up the hill when they finished their speech, and wasn’t planning on slowing down no matter what happens.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Meanwhile, not too far down the road, Joyce was running for her life – running whatever that thing was that crawled out of her wall. She was so scared that she didn’t even realize a car was coming towards her. Luckily, it stopped mere inches away, causing her to scream.

“Mom?” Jonathan says as he gets out. “Mom, what happened?” His mother couldn’t speak, only reaching out to grab her son and hold on to dear life. “It’s okay. It’s okay. I got you.” 

But everything is not okay. Far from it. 

Because in the distance, police were coming to inform them of the unfortunate news of their son and brother.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Steve slips through the sliding door in the back of his house since it was much quieter. He really didn’t feel like facing his parents just yet, and he knows this is around the time at night where they sit around with a glass of wine/beer and watch their shows. He’ll just see and deal with them in the morning, and hopefully they don’t notice any signs that there was a party last night.

He walks lightly across the floors, his mind set to go for the stairs which was going to be a bit tricky since they do tend to creak in some spots. A quick look into the living room he finds his dad on the couch, and his mother standing up but facing the opposite way. 

Perfect. He thought and made his move just as his mother’s voice broke through.

The black, wavy haired and brown eyed woman was pacing around a bit, clearly upset about something – or someone to be exact. 

“The boy was skipping school today, Richard. Can’t you believe that? How is suppose to keep up his grades?” 

Steve had to hold back from groaning as he eye rolled. Here she goes again. He chooses to ignore it, and is about to when he hears the next thing.

“If it wasn’t for his girlfriend calling we would have never known.”

He froze as soon as his foot touched one of the steps. Nancy called? 

His girlfriend actually called the house? She was actually calling because she was wondering where he was at? Even after their fight? He could smile because it warms his heart that she cares, but he was also devastated that his mother was the one to pick up the phone. He hasn’t even told–

“On the bright side, he’s dating a Wheeler. A Wheeler! You know what her father does for a living, right?” She chuckles with excitement. “It’s perfect. I can almost cry.”

And here comes another eyeroll. See this is why he didn’t bother mentioning this girlfriend this time around to his mother. He knew once she found out who her family was it was going to be a game changer. 

Jesus, Christ. He can’t wait to see what’s in store for him in the morning.

“Well, it beats the other choices he’s had in the past.” His father said, pouring salt into old wounds and making him shake his head.

These freaking people, man. I swear. Steve starts to go up the stairs when he hears another voice; This time it was on the TV.

. < In Other words– breaking news. The bodies of some local children, William Byers and Stephanie Henderson have been found. > .

He froze again, this time more rigid and cold.

No.

No, he didn’t just hear that right.

No, his mind’s just playing tricks on him because of last night…

Right?

. < The children have been missing since the 6th, and local authorities and it’s volunteers worked many hours to bring them home, only for it to end in a tragedy. >  .

“About fucking time.” Charles said, raising his beer with joy. “Damn weirdo. I guess our worries about her hanging out with our son again are put to rest.”

Jessica sighs with relief. “Thank God for that. I was tired of seeing her face everywhere.”

“Amen to that.”

He listened to his parents laugh, and clink their drinks together as the world started to spin around him.

No.

No.

This isn’t right. This isn’t right. This isn’t right. This isn’t right. This isn’t–

He’s not sure how much noise he made, or if he made any, but Steve was out the door again in a split second – running straight for his car where he’ll speed off to the unknown parts of Hawkins.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Dustin stumbles inside his house, slamming the door with more force than necessary. Maybe it was necessary ‘cause it got his mother’s attention. She came from the other room, asking what’s going on as he stares at her with a red face and puffy eyes, cheeks stained with tears that wouldn’t stop falling.

“Dustin? What’s wrong?” 

He felt like something was wrapped around his vocal cords, and there was a knife sticking into his chest, and there was something hot poking at his lungs. He has to speak. He has to tell her. It’s better if she knows from his lips rather than a man in blue. 

“Dustin?” She tries again, getting closer.”

“M-Mom…” He begins, his whole body starting to tremble. “St-Stephanie… sh-she’s… she’s…” Oh, god. Why can’t he freaking say it?

“She’s what?” Claudia asked, worriedness creeping up onto her features.

“Sh-She’s… she’s gone.” He whispers into a sob. “Th-They found them both in… I-In the quarry.” Another sob. “Th-They’re b-both gone. M-Mom. St-Stephanie’s gone…”

And then his mother started to shake her head and said ‘No’, followed by Dustin’s reassurance. This went back and forth for who knows how long, but it ended with Claudia being in the same state as her son – a hobbling mess.

“I-It’s true…” He gasps. “I-I saw it my-myself. They’re r-really b-both gone.” And then he broke down again, this time in her arms. She holds him tight, trying to be the strong one here. 

“Shh, baby, we’ll get through this.” She soothes, rubbing the curls on the back of his neck. Her son grips onto her clothes, burying his head into her chest and lets out never ending gasps for air.

“Mommy…” He choked, as his ears picked up on the sirens in front of his house.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Steve’s surprised the gas pedal hasn’t gone through the floorboard yet with how much force he’s applying. He doesn’t even know where he’s going, doesn’t even know if he’s hit something, or runs a red light, but he does know that he’s not anywhere near the speed limit. 

The news story was still playing around in his head and it was certainly not helping the situation. 

. < From the looks of it, the poor children had plummeted into the quarry and ended up drowning with possible hypothermia. But the mystery still remains on why these two disappeared in the first place. Hopefully, the police can find the answer to that, and bring some closure to the grieving families. > < Hopefully so, Liz. I can only imagine what they’re going through right now. > < Everyone here at WCPK would like to give our condolences. And we advise everyone watching to give a moment of silence for the children. > .

Steve slams on the breaks, the wheels spinning and making an awful sound as he stops along one of the abandoned roads in the town. He starts breathing heavily, which slowly turns into panting. His heartbeat was in his ears, his throat tight and dry, his brown eyes starting to gloss over.

“Fuck…” He whispers, in disbelief. No matter how many times he thinks this is a dream, thinks that maybe they were wrong and it was two other kids they found, his guts tells him ‘No’ and ‘This is real’. 

“Fuck…” He says again, the pain was slowly turning into anger which eventually led to him banging on every surface in his car. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck!”

Stephanie Henderson was dead. The girl he knew since five was dead. The girl he made promises with was dead. The girl who was there for him at his every low was dead. The girl who was the only one to make him really laugh and smile was dead.

The girl he had to give up to protect was dead.

Stephanie Henderson… The girl that was his friend.

No.

Screw that! 

He didn’t want to make that choice but he had to.

The girl that is, and will always be, his friend is dead.

She was just supposed to keep moving on in her life, she was just supposed to keep hating him until she completes her dreams. She was supposed to stay in Hawkins and pretend not to know him until her dream life opens up and whisks her away. 

She was supposed to be alive and safe. 

She wasn’t supposed to be dead at the bottom of a quarry with a boy she offered to protect.

Everything he did to make sure she lived was now pointless.

Now, tears rolled down his face, his hands trembling and his lower lip quivered. Every emotion he kept locked up from their old friendship had returned and it was eating him away, tearing him bit by bit, suffocating him till he turned blue.

He still couldn’t believe it. He wishes he could blink and reality would reveal it was just another dream. 

He knows it won’t be like that. It never will be. So instead…

.

.

.

.

Steve found himself screaming until his throat ran raw.

(TBC)

A/N: Did I emotionally destroy all of you enough? I apologize a bit if so...

~~~

-Taglist is Open-

@ladygrey03 @poppet05 @tooearlyforthis @lovesfics @lordzzz

@mirkwoodshewolf @sadbitchfangirl @olivewisp

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[afewproblems]

and there you go hurtin' me so good again with the continuation of your cheating!Eddie steddie fic.. thank you! <3

Based on Part One, and this Ask here,

I was chatting with @samcoxramblings yesterday about this and I think maybe there should be some Steve POV, as a treat.

If Steve thought about the last few weeks of his life alongside every other instant of sorrow and pain he'd experienced, his relationship with Nancy, the Upside Down, the death of Barb, his parents, he'd say he should be used to this sort of thing by now.

But perhaps he'd been spoiled.

He'd had more than twenty years of happiness, contentedness, with Eddie and their life together. He'd relaxed too much, and here was the other shoe crashing down.

The home phone line in their apartment has been ringing off the hook, reporters have been trying to get ahold of him to see his side of things, leaving messages and one bold enough to come to their apartment leaves a letter taped to their door.

Steve disconnectes the phone and installs another lock after that.

And speaking of letters, there have been a mix delivered to their shared PO Box, some in support of Steve, sympathetic to the situation, others are ecstatic --seeing it as their chance to wedge their way into his marriage just like the last person, that they've always hated Steve and can't wait to see him gone.

He only reads a few letters before letting them pile up on the side table by the door.

All because of that stupid photo.

There was no discernable face in the photo, or photos, that ended up online.

Just Eddie talking animatedly to someone facing away from the camera view. It pieces together the evening, a meet cute, a conversation, walking out of the bar together, and a passionate kiss before getting into a taxi.

Eddie confirms it, and it's like his heart breaks in two.

There are a million questions rattling around in his head.

How many times has this happened? How long has Eddie been lying to him, was this a one time thing or have they been secretly meeting one another for multiple tours? Does the band know? Have they been lying to his face as well?

Steve feels as though he's been on autopilot, walking around in a fog while at home, and mechanically moving through his lesson plans while at school.

To make matters worse, his principal calls him at home after the news breaks.

"Steve, how are you doing? I'm so sorry to hear," she tells him solemnly over the line, "if there is anything we can do please let us know".

"Thank you Liz, I, I really appreciate it," Steve hums, his voice much more level than it has been in awhile, "I'll take Spring break to finish up my marking and get my head on straight before we're back--"

"Steve, I'm sorry, I think," she hesitates, Steve can hear her pace around her office, her signature kitten heels click against the tiled floor, "I think it would be best if you take a little longer than Spring Break".

He feels his stomach drop into his shoes, no, no, they can't...

"What, what are you talking about, are you--"

"No, no, of course not," her voice shrill, panicked and tinny, over the line as she backpeddles, "no, we just think it would be better for you and the kids if you took some time away. We have a sub lined up and this wouldn't be permanent, just until it dies down".

"You can't be serious Liz, come on, their finals are coming up at the end of the month and I've never let my personal life affect my job before and I'm not about to start now, I don't need a leave of absence, I'm fine," he lies.

It has been difficult to get through class, to ignore the whispers from the kids during break or while they work in groups. He can feel curious eyes follow him in between the desks as he walks around for questions.

Liz sighs into the line and all at once knows the conversation is over, that it was never a conversation to begin with.

"Look, you're the best department head we've had in a long time Steve, and I want you back, fresh, for the kids. I can't imagine how you're feeling right now and I know this isn't what you wanted but I think it will be for the best".

"How long?" Steve manages to say, so softly that Liz asks him to repeat himself.

"Excluding the break, I'll say three weeks, so you can be back to see them through their exams," she sighs again, "the school year isn't over yet Steve, you'll still have lots of time with them".

Steve raises a shaking hand to his hair, running his fingers through it from root to tip. It could be good to take that time, Robin had asked him if he would when they initially spoke. It could give him a chance to think about what to do.

But, at this point, he worries if he stops moving, if he slows down, he won't be able to stop the grief he can feel, knocking at his window.

"Okay, okay, Liz, I'll take some time".

***

Steve finishes his marking in record time, but perhaps it's easy when one doesn't sleep.

He reorganizes the pantry twice, deep cleans all the storage closets, he throws every piece of clothing in the house into the laundry, including Eddie's, drops off the dry cleaning, and washes the walls.

He moves the furniture around and finds himself looking at rentable scaffolding to see about finally starting that painting project he's been thinking about.

It's only Wednesday.

One by one his family begin to reach out as the news begins to circulate more prominently in the regular entertainment news outlets. Hopper and Joyce call, Joyce asks Steve if he wants to come back to Hawkins for a bit, that their door is always open for him, just as it was when he was in his twenties. Hopper tells him all Steve needs to do is give him the word and he'll be in Chicago with a shovel, no questions asked.

Steve thanks Joyce and gives Hopper an emphatic, 'NO,' but he appreciates them all the same.

Dustin innocently brings up that he'll be in Chicago for a few days the following week, that Robin offered Steve's guest room to him, and Steve finds himself smiling while shaking his head at the co-conspirators.

All of the kids call at least once, but they are busy themselves, none of them are on a leave of absence after all, he thinks bitterly to himself.

Thursday afternoon there's a knock at his door, Steve is in the middle of changing out the old washer from the kitchen sink -finally getting around to fixing the small leak, he freezes at the sound.

He's not expecting anyone and even though he and Robin are nearly joined at the hip she still has the decency to call before showing up at his door.

Steve climbs out from under the sink and wipes his hands on the nearest towel before slowly walking towards the door. All the locks are still bolted from the night before, so he feels safer leaning in to peer through the peephole.

It's Wayne?

Steve feels his heart begin to race, what on earth was Wayne doing here? Was Eddie with him? Corroded Coffin was still on tour, he couldn't be.

He hazards another glance through the peephole but he can't tell if there is anyone else in the hall.

Wayne knocks again making Steve jump at the sudden noise.

Steve breathes in deeply through his nose and out through his mouth once, twice, before he unlocks both bolts and the chain with shaking hands, he opens the door a fraction.

"Wayne? What are you doing here?" Steve says softly, he steps aside to let the man through.

"I came to check on you," Wayne says after a beat, he wipes his feet on the second mat inside and shrugs off his red windbreaker. Steve tries to take the jacket to hang it up but raises his hands in surrender as Wayne waves him off and opens the closet to hang it up himself.

Steve takes him into the kitchen and puts on a pot of coffee, they never did invest in one of those single serve coffee machines, Eddie drank so much coffee when he was home that it made no sense and, 'brewed coffee just tates better Stevie'.

Steve shakes the memory away and grabs two mugs from the cupboard, "Just sugar right?"

He reaches for the empty sugar bowl as Wayne nods, he hovers awkwardly as Steve flits around the kitchen.

Steve grabs the sugar from their pantry and fills up the bowl before placing it on the table with a spoon.

"So," Steve sighs as he leans against the counter next to the coffee maker, it hisses and bubbles filling the air with the smell of brewing coffee, "Eddie put you up to this, huh?"

Wayne frowns but nods, "Call it the first good decision that dumb-ass has made in the last few weeks," he scratches the graying scruff on his cheeks and steps closer, "how are you doing son?

Steve wants to tell him about how he hasn't let himself even think about the future. How he told Eddie he couldn't come home yet, how he's so achingly lonely despite the number of people that have reached out. How he doesn't want to think about a life without Eddie, but that he also can't imagine being in the same room as him for more that a minute without wanting to just scream at him.

How, Steve firmly believed that he would lose the man standing in his doorway, how his friendship with Gareth and Chrissy would inevitably fracture over Eddie, and once again Steve would be alone, picking up the pieces of his life to start again.

Instead, he manages to say, "I'm so glad you're here," before stepping into Wayne's arms, and allowing himself to be held as he finally, finally cries.

Wayne's arms come around him firmly, he reaches one hand up to cradle Steve's head while the other rubs his back, "its okay son, I gotcha," he whispers as Steves shoulders shake and his chest stutters.

"I gotcha".

[flowercrowngods]

Steve is staring at the letter in his hand, the words blurry and trembling, but he knows them by heart. They’ve burnt themselves into his eyelids and wandered into his brain, leaving behind traces like bark beetles, eating into him until he’s forever marked.

August 23rd 1987

To: Mr. Steven Harrington

Bearing in mind that there is a promise to never reach out to any of you again, I cannot bear the thought of keeping this from you. There is a way for you to forget. To start over. A new identity we could help you create, a new chance at a life without nightmares and memories of the “Upside Down”.

An offer, if you will. A final peace offering, a showing of gratitude and the least we can do. There have been tests run for over two years. No damages to the rest of the brain, no future memory impairments; a selective memory loss, as we call it.

If you want to forget, you know where to find me.

Dr. Samuel Owens

Steve takes a look around, his hands still trembling around the letter, and he finds only good things. Pictures of himself and Eddie, of Wayne, of Robin and the kids. Sticky notes they left for each other and decided to keep as decoration in the kitchen, Eddie’s van out on the driveway he can see through the window.

Only good things. His. His life.

So why is he crying? Why has he been obsessing over this for two weeks when everyone else just dismissed their letter? Nancy considered it, he knows. But she told him that she refuses to forget about Barb, that she can’t lose her like this, too, and Steve gets it. Eddie sat down hard and frowned at the letter before loudly declaring bullshit. He has this thing about identity that’s linked too closely to memories, and Steve saw that coming, too.

But he can’t. He can’t just drop it, he can’t…

He can’t keep living like this.

Which is why he’s been talking with Dr. Owens. Which is why is hands are shaking so bad. Which is why, when he hears the front door falling shut, the sob finally breaks free from his chest. He’s nauseous, he’s scared, he’s so fucking terrified.

“Hey, Stevie,” Eddie is by his side in a second, crouching beside the chair and taking a hold of his wrists in a comforting manner. Eddie’s hands are always warm. Steve wonders if they will stay that way when he’s…

Eddie freezes, and Steve squeezes his eyes shut. The silence is never ending, and Steve’s going to throw up any second now.

But then Eddie speaks again, and his voice is so small, so kind, so gentle, it makes Steve want to tear himself out of this universe and far away from everyone who dares to love him. He doesn’t deserve it, not when he’s made his decision.

“You’ve made your decision, haven’t you?” Underneath all that kind understanding, Eddie sounds as terrified as Steve feels, and they’re both shaking now, both trembling, both fighting their tears.

Both, when soon it’s gonna be each.

Because Steve won’t remember there’s ever been a both. A they.

He won’t remember and it’s making him nauseous — but not as nauseous as his nightmares, not as nauseous as the guilt, the memories, the constant fear and obsession.

“Yeah,” he whispers, falling from his chair as Eddie pulls him into his arms, rocking him back and forth. “I’m so sorry, Eds, I’m so sorry.”

“Shh, shh, it’s fine, Stevie. You’ve… You’ve been there from the start. You’ve been there longer than me, I won’t understand the shit you’ve been through. You deserve to— to start over. To live your life, Stevie, because you deserve the best one, okay?”

Steve’s shaking his head against Eddie’s neck, holding on, breathing him in, and he doesn’t want to do this anymore. He wants to stay here for the rest of his life and make it count, make it be worth something even though he isn’t.

“How long do we have left?” Eddie asks then, hoarse, and Steve hates himself for stealing Eddie’s voice like that.

“One month, I think.”

God, he feels so hollow. Hollow is all he ever feels anymore when there’s not guilt or fear eating away at him. Eddie knows. Maybe he’s known all along.

“Let’s make it count, then, hm?”

And they do. But all of time runs out eventually.

[findafight]

I love your opinions on r0nance so much. If you ever bring Steve up to the shippers they always start talking about how you can't insert a man into a wlw ship/relationship. As if he isn't integral to both their stories in the show. He's Nancy's ex and they dated for a year and he's Robin's best friend. If he was only one of those things it wouldn't matter, but he is both. And you can't separate them. If it wasn't for Steve, Nancy would have never acknowledged Robin. She didn't know who Robin was in S3 and it's heavily implied that she didn't care and wasn't interested in anything about Robin until she was useful. If Robin wasn't friends with Steve she wouldn't have become involved with the Upside Down, and Nancy never would have noticed her.

thank you! yeah I was writing that answer and thinking "literally so many of my issues with this ship and how it's approached have nothing to do with Steve. woah" though obviously i really hate how poorly robin and her relationship with steve is treated/written within the ship. why make her mean, or purposefully deceitful in a way she knows will be hurtful to her best friend? :( if you have to butcher a character/their relationship with another character for a ship...is that worth it? seems kinda vindictive too like what did power QPR duo stobin do to make ppl want to break them up? they hate to see bad bitches winning XD

I think taking criticism of how the robin and steve dynamic is treated in r0nance fic and saying that people saying those things are just making a wlw relationship about a man is sort of...idk. not insulting but. insincere? about how they care about characters, because like. this is a man whose relationships with these women is deeply influential to who they are and how they met. Robin is Steve's best friend. She wants to combine into an ultimate being with him. She made a crush she had about Steve, she's just going to insert him into her romo relationships and her partners are gonna have to deal with her weird obsession with her bestie! Nancy is his ex! Who cheated on him!! Both of them have history with steve, and that history influences dynamics! If we use rebel robin, she longs to find her people, real friends she can trust and talk to and click with without worrying about being too much. Steve is Robin's person. She puts a great deal of weight on her platonic relationships, and we see that with steve! Her thinking about how her actions would affect him is not centring a wlw relationship on a man it's being a good and loving friend!!

totally agree, Robin and Nancy's relationship with each other is pivoted on steve, because he's their point of commonality! He's the reason they know each other, (and also are alive), and has/had intense and deeply meaningful relationships with both of them, that have helped to informed who all three of them are!

Nancy's relationship with steve is tied to her grief and guilt surrounding Barb, and their involvement with the upside down. Treating it like it didn't mean anything to either of them is a disservice to that year they spent dating. yeah, maybe it wasn't a relationship meant to last, maybe it wasn't good for them or was cliche adolescent first love but it was important to steve, and important enough to Nancy that she stayed in it. tbh disregarding the s4ncy history and how steve loved her happens in a lot of fics, so it's not only a rnce problem, but it's a particularly annoying thorn when combined with steve's bff not caring about it or how he feels about it? doesn't feel like robin to me.

[inairbinad]

Heaven, Indiana (2/3)

7k | T | also on ao3 | Part One | Part Three

A re-imagining of season 3, where Eddie and Robin are already looped in on the Upside Down madness, and Eddie joins Scoops Troop. Part of my Barb Lives AU from the Petals Verse, where everyone lives and the timeline gets wonky as a result. @steddie-week day 5 prompts: Together / Hold the Line cw: typical trapped in the bunker blood and stuff

Eddie regretted ever agreeing to anything Dustin Henderson suggested. 

“I’m never going along with another one of your harebrained schemes again, Henderson!” Eddie screeched as they found themselves rapidly descending in a secret elevator towards the bunker from hell. He wished he’d learned his lesson the last time.

He hated everything about this. He hated Robin for being genius enough to crack that goddamn code, he hated Dustin for hearing it in the first place, he hated himself for not listening to his intuition several red flags ago, and pulling the plug on this idiotic vendetta the minute Erica crawled into a fucking air vent.

The only thing he didn’t hate, in the end, was how Steve latched on to his hand in a vice grip as they plummeted towards their inevitable death. 

Even though the elevator didn’t end up killing them, being trapped in it probably would. Following Erica’s suggestion to drink the green stuff almost definitely would. And if all else failed, Dustin repeatedly suggesting that Steve ask Robin out would certainly do Eddie in.

“How about we let the man make his own romantic choices, hm?” Eddie grumbled, already weirded out by the triple-piss break the three of them were embarking upon together on top of the elevator. 

“Ohhhhhh,” Dustin exclaimed like he was doing his best Velma impression and solving a mystery. “Do you like Robin, Eddie?” 

Steve let out a hysterical shriek of a laugh, and Eddie sent daggers flinging in his direction by way of his glare alone. 

“Sorry,” Steve coughed. Dustin looked between the two of them like he realized he was out of the loop on something, now.

Despite feeling completely unspooled in that instant, Eddie was damn sure about one thing; this would not be how he came out to Dustin, if he ever got the chance at all. 

“What did I miss while I was at camp?” Dustin asked.

Eddie never thought he’d be so happy to be interrupted by Soviet henchmen.

———

By the time Robin was trying to use stilted Russian to confuse some communications officer into not shooting them, and Eddie and Steve had to take turns trying to knock him out until Steve proved he would use anything as a weapon (a phone, this time), Eddie was ready to go home. He was desperately wishing for another sexually confusing bout of wrestling on the floor with one of his best friends, whom he also happened to be in love with, a joint, about sixteen beers, and as many bags of Wayne’s chips as he could stomach. 

Instead, Robin had to wander off and find the big fucking super gun that was actively working on opening up a portal to hell.

“The gate,” Steve and Dustin said in unison, immediately recognizing it for what it was. Eddie had flashbacks to slimy, tooth-riddled monsters getting tossed around by El in her bitchin’ outfit, and was instantly ready to nope right the fuck out of there. 

“Jesus tap-dancing Christ,” Eddie breathed, peeking over Steve’s shoulder at the monstrous contraption hidden underneath a mall, of all places. He thought there was a metaphor for the seedy underbelly of American consumerism in there, somewhere, but he was too wired to examine it. He had to clench his fists just to stay present, to not find himself back in the tunnels with the slippery skin of a thousand monsters rushing past him. He sucked in a breath and asked, “Why would you want to reopen that shit?” 

“Call it the new space race,” Robin said, her face white as a sheet as she also looked on in terror. 

Steve leaned back into Eddie’s chest, ever so slightly, and Eddie was happy to give him the added support. He wasn’t sure how long his own legs would hold either one of them up, though.

Erica was just staring at the lot of them like they were insane. “You all know what that is?”

“I’ll explain later,” Dustin offered, then started shooing everyone back down the stairs to the comms room. 

“Uh, Steve?” Erica asked in a skeptical tone that Eddie thought she should probably have patented, at this point. “Where’s your Russian friend?”

Apparently knocking someone out with a phone didn’t have the best staying power. The officer was gone.

Alarms started blaring all around them, and before Eddie had a chance to blink, Steve was grabbing his hand and pulling, dragging him and the rest of their ragtag group along for a chase through a goddamn secret Soviet bunker. Eddie didn’t know how long they ran for, only that he clung to Steve with one hand and Dustin with the other, a train of slick palms grappling onto each other as they dodged and weaved through the corridors for any way to escape.

“I’ve fucking failed Phys. Ed before, Harrington!” Eddie shouted at the back of Steve’s head as he trailed behind him, his legs already feeling like jello from his poorly treated lungs failing to properly oxygenate the rest of his body.

Somehow that was the revelation that made Steve laugh, a contradictory and beautiful sound in that it was both gleeful and utterly dripping with stress. Before Eddie knew it Steve was flinging the kids, Eddie, and Robin behind a door, and leaning up against it with the strength of ten men. Eddie thrust his shoulder into it, too, doing his best to plant his feet and stave off the brigade of soldiers with guns pounding on the other side.

Dustin and Erica quickly found an escape hatch of sorts, and were urging the older three to follow. Eddie took in the distance between them and the kids, then the storm of hostiles ready to pounce the second he and Steve let go, and already knew there was no way they could make it. Not without getting caught. 

Robin could, though. She stood there, obviously torn and on the verge of tears, staring Steve and Eddie down like she couldn’t bear to leave them.

“Go,” Steve urged her. “Get them out of here and find help.”

“Steve,” Robin’s voice creaked with strain, her eyes never leaving Steve’s face as the door jostled behind him and Eddie. Robin’s feet, at least, seemed to know better than her heart. They were already carrying her back towards where Dustin was waiting for her, despite the obvious hesitation on her face.

“Go, Birdie,” Eddie assured her, heart wrenching in his chest as Robin’s eyes cut to his next. “I’ve got him.” 

Robin bit her lip, and something solidified in her gaze before she turned tail and ran. 

It didn’t take long after that for the door to give.

———

They left Eddie alone in a locked room and made him listen over an intercom as they tried to beat the truth out of Steve. 

It was unknowably excruciating, the love and rage and desperation to fix this that were all warring in Eddie’s chest, and he was helpless to do anything about it. Listening to Steve whimper in pain, begging them to stop, hurt more than any beating they could have given Eddie. He’d been punched and kicked and elbowed plenty in his relatively short life, but this was the worst torture he’d ever been made to endure.

They hadn’t left Eddie completely unscathed, of course. As the soldiers wrestled him into submission, he’d taken a hell of a backhand across the cheek that left him seeing spots—one even his dear old dad would have been proud of. Then when they’d tossed him in this hellish entrapment of a room, he’d landed on his left elbow, and still couldn’t quite feel the bottom half of his arm beyond the stinging of pins and needles, and the throbbing that came if he moved it too much.

But that was nothing compared to what they were doing to Steve. 

Over and over, they screamed, “Who do you work for?” 

Over and over, Steve would tell the truth and get punished for it.

With each blow he heard land, and every subsequent cry out of Steve, Eddie’s very skin prickled with the desire to crawl outside of himself, to scale the walls, to burn the world to make it stop. He wanted to beg them to beat him instead, knock him senseless until he forgot who he was. 

If only they’d let Steve go. 

But he knew that’s what these assholes were gunning for. They apparently had calculated that Eddie was the one more likely to cave, if they forced him to listen to his friend get battered half to hell. They thought if they left him in here long enough, stewing in the abject terror of his powerlessness, Eddie would offer up whatever intel he and Steve were supposed to have.

As if they weren’t just a couple of teenagers who worked in a mall. 

They think you’re the soft one, Eddie’s father’s voice rang through his ears, completely unwelcome. It’s no wonder, in that thing you call a uniform.

“Shut up,” Eddie groaned a loud, desperate to think up a miracle solution out of this. He hoped Robin and the kids had gotten out, were already on their way back with help, but Eddie knew that was unlikely. They’d walked through that goddamn tunnel for miles just to get here. It would take hours for anyone to find them again. 

He needed to come up with something on his own, he knew. He needed to make them leave Steve alone. 

Desperately wracking his brain for a solution that would get them out of this—from wrestling a gun off of somebody, to pledging himself to the Soviet Union in perpetuity, to managing to make a run for it and jumping through that goddamn gate and into the Upside Down itself—Eddie wasn’t coming up with anything concrete.

He had pulled his hair half to hell, though, by the time he heard the unmistakable sound of laughter coming from the room next door. 

Eddie wasn’t sure if Steve was delirious from taking so many blows to the head, or if he actually thought that bribing Russian spies with ice cream would work, but Eddie heard that hilarity for what it was—dangerous.

“No, no, no, no, no, no—” Steve cried next, and Eddie’s whole body flinched as he heard the sickening crunch of another punch landing. 

Eddie didn’t have a plan, exactly, but he couldn’t sit there any longer.

Eddie pounded on the door until his fists ached, and his left arm went completely numb. 

He’d make up a story if he had to.

———

Eddie wasn’t sure if he’d been begging for their captors’ attention for a hour or a minute, when the door finally opened and they tossed Steve’s limp, unconscious body on the floor. 

At least Eddie hoped he was only unconscious. 

He dropped to his knees in an instant, his desperate and shaking hands fumbling for Steve’s neck, looking for a pulse. For years, after, Eddie wouldn’t be able to properly express the relief that coursed through him in that moment, when he felt the steady thud of Steve’s heart against his fingertips. 

He didn’t get to relish it for long, though, before the goons (who Eddie thought might deserve to be the lunch of a demogorgon) grabbed him under the armpits and hauled him up into a steel chair. Eddie managed to get a good kick in on one of their kneecaps, but it didn’t do much to deter anybody. Then they did the same to Steve, and roughly tied them together, back to back. 

Eddie felt Steve’s head loll backwards onto his shoulder and turn ever so slightly, until he could feel each little puff of breath that Steve expelled against the back of his neck. 

It was strange, finding anything to feel grateful for in this predicament. But Eddie was thankful for every confirmation that Steve was still breathing. 

It meant there was still something to fight for. 

So caught up in the fact that Steve was back within his reach, even if from an awkward angle, Eddie almost forgot about the fact that a few soldiers were still in the room. That was until they started to leave, at least.

“Hey, where the fuck are you going?” Eddie demanded, as if he was in any position of power. The soldiers ignored him completely, slamming the door shut behind them. “Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.”

“Eds?” Steve’s voice was so tiny and weak that Eddie didn’t think he would have heard it if he hadn’t literally felt it tickle his neck.

“Stevie?” Eddie responded, instantly snapped out of his mini-meltdown. He twisted as much as he could, until the ropes around him burned from how tightly they were lashed together. “You okay back there?”

“Been--” Steve paused, wheezed and coughed a little, then whimpered again before finishing, “—better.”

“Don’t talk,” Eddie said in a middling imitation of a soothing voice, since nothing about him felt soothed in the least. “Sounds like you might have a broken rib or two.”

“I’d be surprised if any weren’t broken,” Steve said, somehow managing to laugh. Eddie heard Steve’s sharp intake of breath follow quickly, though, and fondly shook his head at Steve’s inability to listen. 

“Can you reach my hand?” Eddie asked as he flailed his right hand around, trapped halfway behind him. He hoped Steve’s left was close. Sure enough, Eddie felt Steve’s fingers wrap around his own. Eddie gave them a little wriggle, then smiled, hoping Steve would be able to hear it in his voice. “We’re gonna get out of here. Promise.”

“I know,” Steve said, and Eddie wished he felt as confident as Steve sounded. “Are you hurt?”

“Not much,” Eddie replied, and felt a little huff of relief from Steve against his neck. “Nothing like you, my guy.”

“Good—” Steve started to say, but he was interrupted by the return of two hulking soldiers and some other important looking asshole. Eddie assumed he was in charge here, because he had a little hat and some extra insignia to complete his outfit. 

“Gentleman,” the man said with an eerie smile. He had a stereotypically villainous accent that Eddie thought was unfair to all of the Russians in the world who weren’t trying to kill him in that moment. “Are we ready to talk?”

Eddie still hadn’t really come up with a story he thought would get them out of this mess, but he did have an idea about something that might buy them some time. It might have been a shot in the dark, and a long one at that, but it was a shot. 

“You seem convinced we’re spies of some kind, yeah? Undercover in our funny little sailor outfits?” Eddie asked the interrogator man with his special hat. He only tilted his head at Eddie in response. “So what makes you think we’ll talk just because you beat the shit out of us? You think we’re not trained for this? That we don’t have backup on its way to us right now because we haven’t checked in as expected? Is that how you run things around here?”

A flicker of annoyance crossed the man’s face, and Eddie knew he’d hit a nerve. So he dug in.

“I didn’t think you’d be such amateurs, comrade.”

Eddie wished he could say the next blow to his face was surprising, but he’d been expecting that reaction, if not searching for it. He just hoped the assertion that maybe they were backed up by some authority, other than that of Scoops Ahoy, was enough to put some fear in these dipshits. It seemed only fair.

And if not that, maybe they’d at least see Eddie as a better punching bag moving forward. 

The expense was getting thwacked in the mouth to the point where Eddie felt his lip split in an instant. Then, again, when the force of the next blow sliced the inside of his cheek against his tooth, and his mouth filled with blood. 

The pain was a stark relief, Eddie realized, just from knowing he was the one who had to take that blow instead of Steve. He tasted the iron in his teeth as he smiled up at his interrogator. 

Of course Steve had to go and ruin it, though. 

“Woah, woah, woah,” he interrupted, thrashing and half-screaming, before anyone else could move. “Don’t listen to him. He’s—new, and just trying to prove himself, and is full of shit, okay? I’ll talk.”

“Steve—” Eddie jerked in the chair, trying to squeeze his fingers in a silent plea to shut up. But he felt Steve stubbornly shake his head against the back of his own. A cold dread pooled in Eddie’s stomach as the interrogator slowly crept around their chairs to look Steve in the face. Maybe Steve had his own ideas of how to talk them out of this, but Eddie was desperate for him to stay quiet and not get any more attention from Russian fists.

“Brenner sent us,” Steve said over Eddie’s protests. Eddie froze in place, trying to gauge the way the guy in charge was reacting to that information with his neck craned halfway around like a goddamn owl. His face seemed impassive, and Steve kept talking. “Okay? They got some weird readings on their science-y shit that I don’t understand, so don’t ask me to explain it, and sent us looking for a gate. Long story short, you find two dudes in dumb outfits wandering around, pretending to be teenagers from the mall who got lost.”

Eddie thought it was pretty shitty, as far as lies went, but he hadn’t been able to come up with anything better. And at least Steve had a real name to drop, even if Brenner was dead. Eddie actually thought that much was pretty clever, considering it saved them from having to use the name of a living person for leverage.

Except for when Eddie realized it wasn’t clever at all. 

His whole body froze in fear as the interrogator unholstered his gun. He knew they were done for, and that he was about to watch the only boy he’d ever loved—the only one he had a chance to—die, with Eddie unable to do anything to stop it. Steve’s fingers twitched in Eddie’s grasp, just the tiniest expression of fear, and Eddie felt it viscerally.

He’d never bought into that whole ‘life-flashing-before-your-eyes’ business, but time did seem to slow in that instant. But instead of his whole life, Eddie’s mind was flooded with images of Steve. Steve with Dustin, showing him how to style his hair; Steve’s soft smile sent in Eddie’s direction when he pretended to be a pirate with spoons for hands; Steve hovering over Eddie on the floor of the trailer and licking his lips. Every moment that Eddie had looked at Steve Harrington and known, without a doubt, that he was in love with his best friend ran rampant in Eddie’s mind. 

And he’d never said it. Eddie felt so incredibly stupid for never saying it.

I love you, Stevie, hovered on Eddie’s tongue like a prayer. He could hardly think of any better last words.

But he wasn’t quick enough.

Eddie couldn’t see it straight on, but he heard the crack of the butt of the pistol as it met the side of Steve’s face. The blow came down so hard that reverberated through Steve and Eddie both, sending Steve’s head knocking into Eddie’s. Steve barely made a sound, just a low, garbled grunt around what sounded like more blood in his mouth. Then Eddie felt the absence of Steve’s head resting against his own, twisting around again to see that Steve had lolled forward from the force of it.

“Dr. Brenner is dead,” the interrogator said without an ounce of emotion in his voice. “Try again.”

Eddie began to jerk within the restraints in earnest then, his growing rage burning through his veins like wildfire. No one even paid him any mind, though, as another man entered the room, dressed up in a lab coat and apron like some kind of mad scientist. The look of him sent a bone-deep chill through Eddie. 

Their interrogator went over to talk to the new guy in hushed tones, but it wouldn’t have mattered if they were screaming. They were speaking Russian, and Eddie wasn’t a good enough fake spy to know what the hell they were saying. 

He could only guess it was nothing good.

“Hey, fuckface,” Eddie shouted, drawing the attention back to himself. He was entirely giving in to impulse now, but at least it stopped the two of them plotting whatever was coming next, even if only for a moment. Slowly, the interrogator came back to hover over him, then leaned down into Eddie’s space like he owned it.

“You’ll tell me the truth,” he smiled thinly, pressing his nose entirely too close to Eddie’s. “I can see it in your eyes.”

Eddie waited for another punch to the face, for them to threaten him with ripping out his fingernails or his teeth, whatever his next punishment might be. He didn’t care anymore. The anger was seething through him to the point where he wanted to burn this place right there in the ground it was tunneled into. Eddie wanted to watch each and every one of them suffer, and he wished his hands were free enough to let him act on the desire. 

So the damage he could cause with his mouth would have to do.

“If you say so,” Eddie said, before spitting blood in the face of the asshole who had just dared to pistol-whip Steve Harrington in Eddie’s presence. Eddie grinned wildly back up at him, leaning into the satisfaction of watching his blood and spit creep down the man’s cheek.

He scoffed in distaste before moving to wipe his face with his sleeve. There was a contempt in his eyes, but his voice was nothing but calm when he simply answered, “I do.”

Then he nodded at the creep in the mad scientist getup in the corner, who came forward with two needles that rivaled the one in Seattle in size. Eddie felt himself inadvertently squeeze Steve’s hand as he tensed again. 

“What—” Steve slurred, but before he could finish his question he must have seen what Eddie had been reacting to. “Fuck’s that?”

“Something to help loosen your tongues,” the interrogator answered. He turned on his heel and left just as Eddie felt the pinch of a needle sliding in his neck.

———

At first Eddie didn’t feel any different, and he wondered if maybe he’d built up enough of a tolerance to whatever the Russians had drugged them with by frequently getting high off his own supply. He also considered that maybe the heightened adrenaline that was carrying him through this otherworldly situation might have been staving off the effect for now. 

Either way, his focus was less on however he’d been poisoned, and more on keeping Steve talking. He’d been slurring his words and complaining about the room spinning ever since he’d taken that last blow to the head, and even if that was partly the drugs talking, Eddie was also pretty certain he had a concussion. Again.

Even though the two of them had managed to fend off Billy pretty well, last fall, Steve had still come away with a pretty impressive head injury to show for it. 

“Come on Stevie,” Eddie kept saying every time Steve lulled off into silence. “Keep talking to me. Stay awake.”

“Whaddya wanna talk about?” Steve asked, then started laughing to himself. “Your crush on Birdie?”

“Oh, god,” Eddie groaned, unwilling to rehash Dustin’s wildly inaccurate hypotheses about his love life at the moment. “Please, no.”

“But you lurve her,” Steve crooned, sounding very high indeed. “And apparently so do I, and we’re gonna have to fight over her if we want to stay manly men.”

“I think we all know Chris is gonna beat us both there,” Eddie said, trying to keep Chrissy’s name vague enough so that no one would go looking for her, if they were listening in now. 

Eddie also didn’t bother to pretend he couldn’t parse Steve’s ramblings. Even high and concussed, he made perfect sense to Eddie.

Eddie wasn’t sure what that said, really.

Steve laughed, surprisingly full of joy considering the situation. He didn’t stop, either. Eddie felt Steve lean forward with it, tumbling into more giggles as he probably imagined Chrissy Cunningham slaying them both like dragons for Robin’s hand. Or, at least, that’s what Eddie was picturing.  

No sooner than he’d had that thought, a wave of hilarity hit him. He wasn’t sure if it was just the contagion of Steve’s laughter, or the drugs finally kicking in, or both, but pretty soon they were both giggling ferociously at the thought of either one of them being in love with Robin Buckley.

Eddie wasn’t quite prepared for the wave of sadness that hit him when he wondered if he’d ever get to see her again. 

“Fuck,” Eddie winced, all of a sudden on the verge of tears. This was not a good high at all. It was too much of a rollercoaster, heightening every emotion well past the point of discomfort. “I miss her.”

“Me, too,” Steve said, sounding forlorn now as well. 

“Maybe we should talk about how we’re gonna get out of here, instead,” Eddie suggested. 

“Oh,” Steve sighed, dropping his head back to Eddie’s shoulder again. Eddie could just barely make out the top of Steve’s head in his peripheral. It looked swollen and lumpy already. “I don’t have a plan for that, actually. D’you?”

“Maybe,” Eddie hedged, glancing over to the table of instruments the mad scientist had left in the corner. He’d been staring at it for what felt like hours, now, even though it had probably only been minutes. “It’s a little harebrained, though. Like, Dustin would be proud.”

“Lay it on me, Munson.”

Eddie, by some ungodly willpower, managed to avoid making a dirty joke. He did snort, though, and heard Steve scoff in response.

“They left scissors in here,” Eddie powered through, nodding his head over in the direction of the table. “We could try to, I don’t know, scooch our chairs over towards them?”

Steve was already flopping around before Eddie finished talking, scraping the legs of his chair against the concrete floor as he did. 

“Woah, slow down, Stevie,” Eddie cut in. “We’ve gotta move together. Alright?”

“Yeah, okay,” Steve agreed, then waited for Eddie to count to three before they both moved in sync towards the table. They’d only managed to move a few inches, but it was enough to give Eddie a surge of hope. They tried again, and again, until they moved slightly off kilter and both went tumbling down to the floor in a heap.

Eddie landed on the same bad elbow again and, through the haze of pain shooting up and down his arm, rather nonsensically wondered if this might fuck up his ability to keep playing guitar. As if he’d ever hold a guitar again, now that his best plan had gone splat on the floor. Much like his elbow.

“Fuuuuck,” Steve groaned, and Eddie snapped back to what was important in an instant.

“Did you hit your head?” he asked, worried he’d just made things worse than just being trapped and tied up, but now also on the floor. 

“No,” Steve answered. “That still felt shitty, though.”

“Here, here,” Eddie agreed, and then they both burst into laughter again. 

They laid there snickering for a while, and Eddie wondered if these drugs were designed not to be doing anything for the pain in his arm. Probably, knowing these sadistic bastards. 

He got distracted from ruminating on how the drugs were supposed to work when Steve started humming to himself.

“Are you singing Toto?” Eddie asked, baffled.

“Mhmm,” Steve answered without really stopping his little tune. “It’s been stuck in my head for a while now.”

“Why?” Eddie urged.

“Because when we were holding the door shut, we were holding the line,” Steve said like that much should have been obvious. The sad thing was, that made perfect sense to Eddie.

It was also kind of hilarious.

“Jesus,” Eddie breathed, still feeling some giggles bubbling up out of his throat an unable to stop them. He really couldn’t believe this was actually happening. From the torture to the Toto. “Is this how you thought us working together would go?” 

“No,” Steve snorted, still laughing too. “I thought us working together would just be us flirting and annoying Robin all day.”

Eddie wasn’t sure why that struck him like an admission, of sorts. It wasn’t like he didn’t know they were flirting, literally all the time. The only real question Eddie ever had about it was if it was serious flirting, or the type you did to pass the time with one of your best friends while you were bored and didn’t have anything better to do.

At this point Eddie didn’t even really remember what flirting without feelings felt like, but that didn’t mean Steve was in the same boat. Eddie snorted at the nautical pun in his own inner monologue, and Steve jostled behind him. 

“What’s funny?” he asked.

“Nothing,” Eddie deflected. “I can’t believe you tried to convince them we’re real spies.”

“You started it!” Steve protested, sounding affronted but amused.

“I was just trying to buy time to make them chase their tails and stop hitting you!” Eddie said.

“So they hit you instead,” Steve pointed out in a deeply unimpressed tone. 

“I’m not the one who��s probably double concussed.”

“I’m fine,” Steve muttered, then went quiet. He did sound more alert than he had before, so Eddie opted to let the silence linger for a while.

He started contemplating if they were going to die like this, tied together and hanging on to each other for dear life. 

This really isn’t how I ever imagined tying you up, Stevie, Eddie thought with a wry smile. Or you tying me up. 

“Think about that a lot, do you?” Steve asked, and Eddie was pretty sure the whole world stopped turning. He stayed silent for a beat, but being tied to the object of his desire, he couldn’t exactly run away and dodge the question.

“Did I say that out loud?” he finally asked, dreading the answer. 

“Yes,” Steve laughed, and Eddie winced until he felt the split in his lip open back up. “I don’t mind being tied to you. But it’d be more fun if at least one of us had our hands free, though.”

“Damn it, Stevie,” Eddie grumbled, finding his encouragement entirely unhelpful. “We can’t flirt now. We’ve got bigger problems.”

“Eh,” Steve said, and Eddie felt a stilted attempt at a shrug behind him. “If we’re gonna die we might as well flirt.”

Eddie thought if they really were going to die, maybe he should tell Steve about  his feelings beyond how he wanted to tie Steve up. Or vice versa.

“I think maybe if we’re gonna die, I’ve got more important things to say.” He knew it was partly the drugs talking, but he also could create an itemized and detailed list of all the times he’d wanted to tell Steve while he was completely sober, too. 

Steve didn’t say anything for a beat, so Eddie started to panic that he’d passed out again. 

“Stevie?” Eddie asked. “Stay with me, okay?”

“I’m not going anywhere, Eds,” Steve said softly. “I was just thinking.”

“About?”

“I have stuff to say, too. But you first, ‘cause I’m a gentleman.”

“Could’ve fooled me—”

“Eddie,” Steve cut him off.

“Right, sorry.” Eddie sighed, wishing he could rub his eyes and clear some of the fog from his head. “I guess…I just want to say that you’re one of the most important people in my life, Stevie. My best friend, even—don’t tell Jeff I said that—and even if I’m not yours. And even though this whole thing is unbelievably shitty, I’m glad we’re together. If I had to pick someone to get stuck in a secret Russian bunker with, it’d be you ten times outta ten, Stevie. Except I’d avoid the you getting tortured part, because I’ve never been more scared or desperate to make something stop in my life.”

“Really?” Steve asked, somehow sounding like he could hardly believe his ears.

“Stevie, I can’t bear to see you hurt.” Eddie said with the utmost sincerity. “You have to know that.”

“I guess I do now,” Steve murmured.

“I’d do just about anything to fix it,” Eddie said. “I swear to god, Steve.”

“You could always kiss it better,” Steve said, a teasing lilt to his tone. But Eddie was too far down the rabbit hole of being earnest with feelings.

“Done,” he said without hesitating. Steve didn’t respond other than to let out a surprised sounding little laugh, so Eddie kept talking. “I never thought we’d even talk to each other, let alone be friends, you know’? But I’m so glad I accidentally stumbled on you and Dustin looking for Dart last year. Because you made my second go-around at being a senior fun, and you even make working a shitty mall job bearable. So even if we die down here, I just want you to know that I’ve been so glad to know you, Steve Harrington. The real you. Because you’re beautiful, to me.”

Steve stayed quiet for a long while, probably trying to let his truth-serum addled and re-traumatized brain absorb everything Eddie had just said. But it was so deathly silent in that room—so far underground and reinforced with enough heavy metal to make even Eddie shy away—that he thought maybe his own heart had finally caved in and stopped under the sheer weight of what he felt for Steve. 

“I feel the same, Eds,” Steve finally replied, gently but surefire.

“Yeah?” Eddie heard the wobble in his voice.

“Of course,” Steve insisted. “You’re my best friend, too, though.”

“Um,” Eddie huffed out a laugh, realizing Steve might be too high to function. “What about Robin?”

“That’s different,” Steve said immediately, but didn’t elaborate as to why. “Plus, you can have more than one, dumbass.”

“You’re calling me a dumbass?” Eddie scoffed, incredulous. “That’s your response to my heartfelt confession?”

“You didn’t confess anything!” Steve argued back. “You just basically said you’re surprised you don’t hate me!”

“I did not!” Eddie tried to defend himself, but in all honestly he couldn’t remember exactly what he’d said already. He thought it was a lot deeper than that, though. “I said—”

Eddie’s attempt to explain himself was interrupted by the sound of Dustin Henderson barging into the room, waving around one of those long ass shocky-stick-things that the Russians carried around, and bellowing out his best war cry. Eddie was both astonished and impressed.

Once Dustin realized there was no one to electrocute, or even at his eye level, he glanced down to find Eddie and Steve on the floor. 

“How’d you two end up down there?” he asked. 

“Russian soldiers are kinky,” Steve answered, and Eddie couldn’t help the hysterical cascade of laughter that billowed out of him. He could barely believe whatever conversation he and Steve had just been having, let alone the fact that Henderson was here, already going for the aforementioned scissors and trying to set them free.

Dustin still scrunched up his beautiful little face in confusion at the way Eddie and Steve were giggling like a couple of sailors on drugs.

“What the hell happened to you?” He asked as the ropes around Eddie’s arms finally loosened. Eddie felt the blood flow return to his uninjured arm much quicker than the other, but that didn’t stop him from helping Dustin undo the ropes around their feet. 

“Long story, Dust,” Eddie said, giving the top of his head an affectionate pat before twisting around to help Steve up. 

When Eddie finally got another look at Steve’s face, he was horrified to see what they’d done to him. His left eye was a mottled mess of bruises, and almost swollen shut. The other eye was turning black, too, but not nearly as badly. His nose was bloody and swollen, but by some miracle it didn’t actually look broken. He had a deep cut on his chin that Eddie thought would probably scar, but that was nothing compared to the laceration left behind by the pistol. It was still bleeding, leaving a trail of dried and sticky blood alike down the side of Steve’s face and down his neck. 

Somehow, Steve was still the most beautiful thing Eddie’d ever seen. 

Steve smiled at him dopily, looking about as high as Eddie felt, but Eddie didn’t have the time to bask in it before more alarms started blaring.

“That’s our cue,” Dustin said, before grabbing at Steve and Eddie both and shoving them ahead of him towards the door. Eddie wrapped one of Steve’s arms around his neck, ready to haul him out if need be, and let Dustin’s momentum push them towards the doorway.

Until the shooting started, at least. 

It all happened too fast for Eddie to even blink. He’d just poked his head through the door and into the corridor outside when the pop of a pistol sounded. In such close quarters, it loudly echoed through the halls of the bunker until Eddie’s ears were practically screaming. Distantly he saw the same officer Steve had clocked with the phone standing twenty feet or so down the hall, but the sight of him didn’t have time to register before Steve was shoving himself in front of Eddie, until Eddie went tumbling out of the line of fire and back into the interrogation room. 

As he tumbled backwards into Dustin, all Eddie knew for sure was that Steve cried out in pain again. Then there was a big crash outside, accompanied a loud squeaking sound, like sneakers on a basketball court.

Eddie didn’t care how many times he’d get shot, as soon as he had his bearings again he scrambled back to Steve’s side. He frantically checked Steve over for whatever had hurt him, until he landed on a new patch of blood seeping through the ripped fabric of Steve’s sleeve. 

“Fuck,” Steve hissed, looking down at where the bullet had grazed his bicep. 

Eddie was speechless, unable to do anything more than take Steve’s arm as gently as he could into his hands and stare at the wound, looking for any sign of more damage. 

Steve had just thrown himself in front of a fucking bullet for Eddie, literally. He wasn’t nearly sober enough or high enough to properly process that information.

“Hey, dipshits, let’s go!” Robin shouted from down the hall, and Eddie had the wherewithal to look up for the first time. She was sitting at the wheel of one of the bright red carts the soldiers used to drive around down here, with Erica in the front seat and an unconscious Russian soldier splayed out in front of it. His gun had been knocked out of his hand, and skidded halfway down the hall when Robin had apparently run him over.

Between a phone to the face and a cart to the whole damn body, this guy was having a bad day of getting knocked around by the dynamic duo of Steve and Robin. 

Eddie thought that made Steve sound like Batman, a little, but he managed to suppress the thought into a snicker and move towards getting the fuck out of there.

Eddie tugged Steve along with him, despite his whines of protest, with Dustin quick on their heels. Then Dustin put two insistent little hands on Eddie and Steve’s backs and shoved them into the back of the cart, then crawled in behind them. 

“Aren’t you glad you still haven’t taught me to drive?” Robin shouted over her shoulder, presumably at Steve, as she maneuvered the cart around the the once more unconscious soldier. Then they took off speeding down the hall. 

“Are you okay?” Eddie asked Dustin first, though he was pretty certain of the answer. Dustin nodded frantically, though he did look a little pale now, and Eddie gave him a hopefully reassuring pat on the head before he turned back to Steve’s bleeding bicep. Not knowing what else to do, Eddie tugged the dumbass little ascot free of his own uniform, then used it as a bandage to tie around Steve’s arm. Steve hissed again at the contact, but Eddie merely shushed him. 

Eddie still couldn’t actually fathom that Steve had just taken a bullet for him, so he decided to voice his disbelief. “What’d you do that for? The fuck is wrong with you?”

“Well I’ve been shot, for one!” Steve answered, incredulous. 

“What?!” Robin cried, twisting around in her seat while she was still pushing the cart to the maximum speed it was capable of. Everyone, but no one louder than Erica, screeched at her to put her eyes back on the corridor in front of them as the cart jerked to the right. Robin faced forward again, but she called back over her shoulder in a shaky voice, “Are you okay, Steve?”

“It’s just a graze,” Eddie replied as his trembling, still half-numb hands finally managed to tie the makeshift bandage into a knot. Then he looked Steve in the eye, or at least the one that wasn’t nearly swollen shut, and felt all the fight drain out of his body. He gave Steve as grateful a smile as he could manage and said, “You’re gonna be fine.”

“I know,” Steve murmured, then tentatively touched two fingers to the cut on Eddie’s bottom lip. “You’re bleeding.”

“I’m gonna be fine, too,” Eddie promised. He felt Dustin’s eyes on them, but couldn’t be bothered not to take Steve’s hand in his own as they sped back towards the elevator.

[PART THREE]

[medusapelagia]

21 AU-gust: Coaches

Rating: Teen and up Relationship: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson WT: Billy Hargrove, Permanently Injured Steve Harrington, implied reference to depression WC: 1811

“Come on! Get up, Harrington !”

“Fuck you, Munson!” Yeah, I know the drill, you hate me and you are not going to move from your stupid bed,”

“Fuck off! I can’t fucking move and you know that!”

Winning against Vecna was harder than they thought. They miraculously escape from the upside down but Max is left blind and Steve… Well, Steve had cushioned Eddie’s fall with his body, damaging his spine.

“Get up from that stupid bed!”

“I’m not going to sit on that stupid chair so feel free to leave me alone!”

Eddie sighs and goes back to the kitchen where Steve’s mother is waiting for him with a coffee.

“You didn’t manage to convince him, uh?” She asks, offering him a cup of black coffee.

Eddie shakes his head and she tries to comfort him, putting a hand on Eddie’s shoulder “Maybe tomorrow.” 

“Yeah. Maybe tomorrow.”

Eddie feels so fucking guilty. If Steve hadn’t cushioned his fall he wouldn’t be in a fucking wheelchair.

“It’s not your fault.” The woman says, sipping her coffee “I’m sure that Steve is happy that you are fine. It’s just difficult for him.” She puts the mug on the table “He is just like his father. He can’t accept that some things are above one’s control.”

Eddie nods, starting at the door of Steve’s new room on the first floor.

“How is Wayne?”

“Fine. He is talking about moving.”

“You should go with him.”

“No way! I’m not leaving Steve!”

“If you stay for him he will hate you and he will hate himself.”

“It’s too soon!”

“The sooner the better, kid.” She says, then she goes back to Steve’s room.

His mum it’s the only one who manages to make him get up from the bed.

“I don’t want to go sitting in the living room!”

He is complaining while she pushes him toward the television.

“Your room smells and I have to clean it. Watch some TV, read a book, but Don‘t go back to bed!”

“You are still here.” Steve states when he sees Eddie sitting in the kitchen, the cup of coffee still in his hand.

“Coffee?”

“I’m fine.”

He doesn’t even look at him, he just sits in front of the fucking television without turning it on. He stays like that until his mother comes back, and then he asks to go back to his bed.

“No young boy. I’m sorry but I’m not letting you get bedsores because you love your room. You can play something with Eddie, or go for a walk or…

“Where the fuck am I supposed to go? Uh? I can’t go to the woods in a fucking chair, I can’t drive my car! I can’t do anything! I’m just a waste of space!” he screams angrily at her.

The room goes silent for a moment.

Steve’s eyes are full of tears while he is trying desperately to keep it cool, and his mother's face is blank.

“Get out Steve. Breathe some air. We both need it.”

Eddie is frozen.

The woman came back as soon as the ER called her and she stayed at the hospital with him night and day. She has wiped away Steve’s tears and helped him through the worst part of the exam he had to do, but maybe this is too much even for her.

“Ok, ok. Let’s get some air, uh big boy? Me, you, and the crack in the pavements.” he says, feigning an enthusiasm that he doesn’t feel, and starts wheeling him out of the house.

Steve is so stressed out that he doesn’t even complain.

Eddie takes the blanket on the couch and puts it on his shoulder, just in case, then grabs a pair of sunglasses, Steve’s mom probably, and they are outside for the first time in months.

Eddie knows that Steve doesn’t want the neighbor to see him like that, so he moves around the house, finding himself in front of the heathen swimming pool.

“Are you going to push me in the pool and let me drown?” Steve asks and Eddie can’t say if he is joking or not.

“Would you like that?”

“I mean… it would be poetic somehow. Barb died in this very same pool, did you know that?”

He did but that’s not the kind of argument he wants to talk about right now.

“So, what are your plans? Apart from keep yelling at anyone who tries to help you.”

“I am no!”

“Oh yes, you are. And we try to understand, we really do, but sometimes you are just a fucking little bully like in high school. Only with a personal chair.”

“Fuck off Munson! You can go where the hell you want! Leave with Wayne! Have a life! Even my mum thinks that you would be better far from me so go. Leave me here. I will not go anywhere!”

“I don’t want to leave you, jackass! Ok? I’m fucking in love with you and I don’t care if I have to take you on my fucking back to show you how many things you can still do! I’ll fucking do it! But you have to let me inside, Steve! You can’t keep pushing me away forever!”

Steve doesn’t answer, he turns his head toward the house “Can we go back now?”

Eddie sighs and wheels him back to his home.

***

He doesn’t know how the fuck did he end like this, but he is sitting at a table with Max, Dustin, and Billy Hargrove.

“How is he?”

“Same. Angry. Hurt. And he hates everyone. Me and his mum in particular.”

Max nods “I get it. I wasn’t very thrilled when I found out that I was going to be blind either. But he has to find something that makes him wanna live.”

“Do you think he is contemplating suicide?” Dustin asks scared.

“No, I don’t think so. He is too angry to be resigned, but I’m out of ideas on how to get him out of that fucking house.”

Billy stares at him for a long moment “You don’t have to get him out of the house actually.”

Dustin snorts “And you should be the straight-A guy? We want him to leave the house!”

Billy glares at him “We want him to leave the room. It’s different.”

“What are you thinking?” 

Billy looks at Eddie “He was good at sports. Really good. And he is competitive. He always was. I was thinking of making him play some sports again.”

“Ok, that’s nice, but even if Steve is super rich we can’t pay people to play with him and let him win!” Eddie complaints.

“That’s not what I was thinking.” he leans back on the chair “When I first got up I had to do a lot of physiotherapy at the hospital. I hated every single second of it. I liked only one thing. The pool. And he has an enormous swimming pool just behind his house.”

“Yes, and he thinks that drawing in the swimming pool would be really poetic. No fucking way!”

“You know why pools are perfect for physiotherapy? Because in the water you weigh less. Steve was always an athlete, he will have to get used to using his arms more now that he can’t use his legs but I think it can work. When he sees that he can move on his own in the water, maybe he’ll understand that his life is not over.”

“Ok. Cool. And how do you think you will convince him?”

“With a competition.”

***

“No, no, no. You are not going to put Steve in the water unsupervised! We don’t know if he can still swim or not! He will fucking drawn!” Steve's mothere doesn't look very convinced.

“Listen, I’m a certified lifeguard, if anything happens I’ll be there, just let him try.”

“Let me try what?”

Billy smiles like a shark.

“Pretty boy. How are you?”

“Got me a new chair, you didn’t know?”

“I did, but Munson here thinks that it is not fitted for royalties, so I wanted to propose to you a little swim in your swimming pool.”

“Trying to finally kill me?”

“Too many witnesses. Maybe next time.”

“I can’t move my legs, asshole.”

“But you can move your arms, prick.”

Steve looks at him, annoyed, then turns toward his mother “I need my speedo.”

***

Eddie is on edge.

Billy is already in the water, waiting for Steve, but the pool does not have the equipment to help him lower himself in the water, so they are trying to help him sit on the poolside, and then he will push himself into the water.

Eddie hates water.

Since Lovers Lake he wasn’t able to get too close to a lake, or a pool, or whatever, and now Steve is going to submerge himself in the very same pool where Barb died.

Shit.

“I can hear you thinking.” Steve’s mother says, at his side “He’ll be good. My kid is a warrior.” 

Eddie nods, he knows that he is, but still, he frets.

“Come on pretty boy, do you want to make me wait all day long?” Billy teases him from the water, and with a sudden push, Steve jumps into the swimming pool.

He immediately gets dragged to the bottom, but Billy tightens his grip around his chest and brings him to the surface.

“Fuck this! Fuck you! Fuck everyone!” Steve yells while spitting water.

“Come on! It’s your first time. You have to learn how to use your body.” he helps him on his back “First swimming lesson. Get used to the water. You are going to stay relaxed and I’m going to move you around the pool. nothing too complicated, ok?”

Steve grumbles but nods, and lets the other boy hold his back and move him in the water.

After a few moments, he starts to relax.

“Not bad, uh?”

“I was co-captain of the swimming pool! I can do more than lie on the water like a dead body!”

Billy smirks “I know you do. But I am the coach, and I’m the one who decides what you can do and what you can’t. And let me tell you. I have big projects for you.”

“Like what?”

“Have you ever thought about the Olympics?”

***

Two years later, at the 1988 Summer Paralympics, Steve is ready to get in the water. 

Billy is at his side because Steve was adamant, he was not going to participate without his personal coach.

“Now go and bring me back that fucking medal, ok pretty boy? Eddie is ready to take you to a very exclusive restaurant in Seoul to celebrate, but you didn’t hear that from me, are we clear?”

Steve nods, waves at his mum and Eddie, and wears his swimming goggles, ready to win his first Olympic medal.

[the-mortifying-ordeal-of]

It's mortifying to ask

It's my oldest pattern, running. Freezing, panicking, running, hiding, but then always peeking through my fingers, tilting my face up to the sun chasing warmth, wanting to be pursued, needing comfort. I want to be worth chasing - follow me into the dark, crouch in the corner with me, wrap me in your arms, rock me and soothe me and ask me what's wrong. I want a fierce grip, an intense love, two palms on my face seeking eye contact, holding space. I want to fall apart, feral and writhing and fighting but held.

I tossed and turned in her bed, fighting the destruction bubbling up in my throat. My limbs twitched, the smallest of sounds escaping, my breath too tight; I tried deep breaths, retention, heavy sighs. I lunged up out of her duvet and planted myself upside down in downdog, letting the blood rush to my head and feeling the ache in my shoulders as my palms cramped desperately into her pillow top. She squeezed my forearm and I wanted to rake my fingernails down flesh - I pressed crescents into my chest, holding my heartbeat in place, trying to tamp down my terror with tight pressure. I stumbled out of bed for Benadryl, still craving the Valium she'd jokingly offered, craving salt and crunch and comfort - wanting to run, play, exhaust the burning anxiety overflowing in my veins. Her dog was snoring, the heat was suffocating, I wanted to fight and scream and binge and numb and die. "I'm the problem, I'm the problem, I'm the problem" burrowing toxic and barbed into my brain. I just wanted relief, and she kept her distance. I asked if she'd be sad if I left, and she said she would, but I could do whatever I needed to do. I needed her - I needed to be pinned to the mattress, gripped tightly, teeth in flesh and warm words against my ear. I needed a violent love, louder than my fear; fuck me harder than I hate myself. Pursue me, chase me, hold me in place, draw me out. Make a mess with me. I want to chant the intrusive thoughts, bleed out the insecurity, throw open the doors to all my secret hiding places. But first you have to knock, beat your fists against the door so I know you mean it, won't politely leave when it takes me a moment to free the deadbolts, padlocks, bars and and jams and clutter blocking the entryway. Need me like you mean it, like you want me, like you know it's worth the fight.

She always lets me go. Peacefully recedes into silence, boundaried and quiet and patient. I want fury, I want righteous capacity, I want to be torn out of my comfort zone and sheltered on your island. Give me refuge, grab my arm and tear me out of the street so fiercely that you leave bruises - save me from myself, take control, help me.

I cannot believe I drove home. So doped up, starving and frantic and scared. I played my music loud, kept the windows down, didn't let my eyes rest in one spot too long, but I know I could have died. Could have easily crashed from the fluttering adrenaline, overcorrected into a ditch, slipped across the center line into the lure of a stranger's headlights. I was numb and dissociated and weak. She let me go.

It's mortifying to ask: please chase me. Please fight me. Please shake me and hold me and tear it out of me. Please ask me what's wrong, ask again when I deflect, ask again when I lapse into silence, ask again and again and again. Tell me what you want, what you think, what you see. Don't let me go. Fight me, fight for me, stay. I need a firm hand, a grip on my jaw, fingers laced into my hair, fingerprints wrapped around my arm. Find me. Hold me still. See me through.

It is infuriating to fall apart in front of therapeutic boundaries, inhuman patience, selfless equanimity. Use my color system, take chances, check in, talk to me, fall apart with me. I wanted connection and instead I was frozen and alone and mortified, just wanted to break, wanted to make a mess, and felt acutely like a ticking bomb and she had gone to her bunker without me.

Maybe she's confused because I've told her that initiating sex has scared me in the past, so she's waiting for me to speak up and initiate hard conversations and ask for what I need. Maybe she thinks I'll talk when I'm ready, I'll reach for comfort when I need it, and that leaving is sometimes what I actually need. I don't know how to calmly convey how much a dying person never truly wants to be alone. Don't be afraid of me, don't step away, don't turn away, don't let me go.

She asked for time together but didn't start a single hard conversation besides asking how I was, and when I deflected, we sat in silence. So much silence. I wanted to hang up and fall apart. Why would I invite her into my darkest corners when she looks around, hums noncommittally, and thanks me for inviting her? Why would I open myself up to her when her idea of soothing is to tell me a funny story? Why can't she see me? Can she not see what she hasn't experienced? Does she not understand that "I'm sorry you feel that way" isn't soothing? Don't tell me you love me, don't tell me I'm good, don't thank me or tell me you trust me or say some neutral, accepting shit. I'm feral and messy and dying - I don't want a passive witness. I want a partner. I want someone to pull me out or be in it with me - don't just watch. This isn't a show.

I'm so tired. Dizzy and unfocused and confused. I have therapy in an hour and I don't know what to say: I wanted sex, I wanted to be fucked up and free and dissolve into her, I wanted to make a mess and play and be real. Instead I got false, polite nonsense and a chasm of loneliness.

How do I want to be received when I'm panicking? I know I want intense sensation, the freedom to rant and sob and scream, I want aftercare and soft touches and whole body comfort. I want grounding and reminders and reinforcement and a truth bigger than my fear. I felt obligated to get my shit together, to soothe myself, to communicate what I needed when I was disintegrated - but haven't we talked about this before? Haven't I asked her to ask me? Maybe she could have taken me for a drive, or a walk, or to get comfort food, or she could have pressed ice into my palms or hugged me tightly or fucking anything but lie motionless in bed beside me in the most tense thick silence I've ever felt, intermittently squeezing my forearm in a way that might as well have been a pat on the head.

Ugh I'm tired.

[huntingpeople-savingsam]

This isn’t even hate on Jon himself but the problem with Jxncy has always been that Nancy is simply not that important to Jon. And frankly, he isn’t that important to her either.

They were drawn to each other for one clear reason— they both had loved ones who were taken by the Upside Down and they both wanted justice and revenge for them. The difference is, Jon got Will back while Nancy lost Barb.

And we see that sheer singular reason they got together be the thing that tears them apart after season 2 because after season 2, Jon and has his family back and Nancy is left to mourn Barb essentially alone. She tried to turn to Steve but he was reluctant to join her in the cathartic revenge plan she needed because of the NDA they had to sign after season 1.

(“Let’s burn that lab to the ground.”)

And Jon joins her and is supportive of that… in seasons 1 and 2, while Will is still in danger. But as soon as he’s safe in season 3, Jon and Nance’s relationship falls apart because he doesn’t support her anymore. When she’s being treated poorly by their misogynistic bosses and she wants to prove herself and investigate weird stuff happening in Hawkins, Jon doesn’t care anymore because Will is safe and he (fairly) wants to keep this job to help support his family. But he doesn’t care that Nancy is still so angry about the Upside Down and desperate to investigate and take it down because she is still mourning Barb and never got the relief Jon did in getting Will back. And in season 4 after Jon and Nancy are no longer physically close to one another they feel the distance this created that much more because they just don’t seem to care enough to visit or even call or write to each other. Or even to outright break up with the other.

And alternatively, Steve, since at least season 2 if not the end of season 1, has been growing and changing to be better for Nancy. He loves her so deeply and sincerely that even if she believes she’ll be happier with someone else, he wants that for her if that’ll make her happy.

(“It’s okay, Nance. It’s okay.”)

Then from Nancy’s side, she only really wants what’s right for Jon when they want the same thing. In seasons 1 and 2, they both want catharsis and truth and revenge. And she supports him and helps to save Will like they couldn’t save Barb. But in season 3 when she is left alone in these feelings of continued mourning, she still wants to keep investigating and exposing all the evil in Hawkins and doesn’t care if doing so endangers her and Jon’s jobs.

“To be honest, I wasn’t thinking about him.”

Then we’re in season 4 where Jon and Nancy just don’t want the same things, they’re physically separated, and their relationship is hanging on by the thread of expectation that they were meant to be together, even when it’s clear that they’re not.

And when Nancy needs somebody to help her and to support her and stop the evil in Hawkins once again when another one of her friends is taken and killed, Steve shows up.

And she likes that. She likes that he’s there, he’s willing to fight with her, he’s not holding her back but he’s also protecting her. He makes her feel safe for the first time in a long time while helping her to investigate and fight the Upside Down. And this is because Steve actually genuinely loves her, not just their shared trauma and desire to bring down the Upside Down. She sees in how supportive and protective and caring and surprisingly lighthearted in the situations they’re in he is and it’s because he loves her so much he wants her to feel safe and supported and to make her laugh.

Because Steve does love Nancy more wholly and completely than Jon ever has and that’s just the facts.

jonathan will never love nancy like steve does and i say that in the most unbiased way possible

[lupon]

Water symbolism

I noticed water and drowning bring brought up a lot for a while now and I’ve been trying to figure out what it all meant. It wasn’t until I rewatched the scene of El first going in NINA that it finally clicked

“We shouldn’t have just thrown her in there like this, she’s gonna drown in there”

“She will learn to swim”

They were referring to El drowning in her trauma and bad memories her brain was blocking out. Suddenly it all started to make sense. A lot of people have noticed the same lyrics playing when both Max and Will died:

“I don’t wanna swim the ocean, I don't wanna fight the tide when it’s cold I’d like to die”

Right before Max died, one of the last things she said to Vecna was “Now I lie awake at night praying something bad will happen to me” “I want you to make me disappear” Will has also been referenced to be dealing with depression.

“Sometimes when you’re different, you feel like a mistake”

“Stop treating me like that, like everyone else does like there’s something wrong with me. It doesn’t help, it just makes me feel like more of a freak”

“Stupid. So stupid. Stupid stupid stupid”

“Because you’re my brother and I love you, and there is nothing in this world, okay, absolutely nothing that will ever change that. You got that?”

“When it’s cold I’d like to die” parallels the “He likes it cold” quote

Here’s some other times water was mentioned/referenced in the show:

“The anniversary of an event can bring back traumatic memories and sort of open up the neurological floodgates so to speak”

Bob tuned on the water which attracted the demodog to it

“I wish I could swim like dolphins, like dolphins can swim” 

Nancy was taking a shower when she was having flashbacks of the Demogorgon

Billy was taking a shower when he couldn’t fight the Mind Flayer anymore at took his first victim

Will turned on the faucet after he puked up the slug, had an episode, then turned it off

Water was dripping from a faucet when Will had an episode in his house 

Barb died in a pool

Will’s body was found in a lake

When El looked at her reelection in the water she saw the part of herself she didn’t like and screamed, compared to saying she was “pretty” and “still pretty” when she saw herself in a mirror

Dustin named the gate to the Upside Down watergate

Dustin was walking around offering injured people at the gym H2O

“Water still works” in Hoppers cabin, when the camra was panning around to show how the place had been destroyed by the Mind Flayer in s3

Heather and Billy both took a cold (He likes it cold) bath when they were flayed

*insert Heather being dragged underwater in the mind scape when she was flayed*

*insert Steve being dragged underwater into the Upside Down*

(Maybe a reach but Billy was surfing on top of the water when he was with his mom, possibly symbolizing how he was able to handle his father as long as his mom was there. Being able to “fight the tide” and “swim the ocean” until she left)

So then I got thinking about the scene in s3 when Erica wanted to drink the green liquid from the Russians:

“We can survive a long time down here without food, but if the human body doesn’t get water, it will die”

“I hate to break it to you, but this is not water”

“No but it’s a liquid and if it comes down to me drinking that shit or dying of thirst, I drink”

Then I remembered something Dustin said in s4:

“What if with each kill, he’s not simply killing them, he’s making a powerful psychic connection to his victims, a connection powerful enough to rip a hole in the fabric of time and space”

If water represents traumatic and unhappy memories, and Vecna is killing people/opening gates by showing them all of these memories, then the artificial “water” the commies made was meant to substitute that needed ingredient in order to open a gate. 

Because here’s the thing: did the gate in s1 open because El touched the Demogorgon, or did it open because El felt a extremally powerful emotion, one strong enough to rip a hole through the fabric of time and space? El was also extremally emotional when she opened a temporary gate to send One/the Demogorgon through. Vecna used people’s bad memories against them to make them feel a strong emotion in order to open gates, the reason could possibly be that he just doesn’t feel strong enough emotions to be able to do it himself. Or, maybe you need to use good memories to make a gate to the right side up world from the Upside Down, and he simply doesn’t have any. So instead he makes gates from the right side up to the Upside Down, which is why a gate appears where the victim died instead of where he himself is. After all, he isn’t the one who’s feeling a strong enough emotion to open a gate. 

Anyway back to the water theory:

There is no water in the Upside Down because the Upside Down IS the water. That’s why voices have a strange effect whenever characters are shouting/yelling and why it has a blue tint. The Upside Down is metaphorically a place where bad memories live and “fester” as Kali said in s2. Note the parallel:

Will: “It’s like they’re (the vines) are growing and spreading... killing”

Illusion Brenner: “You have a wound Eleven, a terrible wound. And it will grow, spread, and eventually, it will kill you”

El’s pain and suffering directly parallels the creatures from the Upside Down. And since water represents those thoughts and feelings, there is no water inside the Upside Down. 

So, how does this play into how they will defeat the Upside Down? Well - “I wish I could swim, like dolphins can swim” “I don’t want to swim the ocean, I don’t want to fight the tide” “she will learn to swim” How did El learn to swim? She confronted her pain and became stronger because of it. Will’s arc in s5 will likely follow the same route. In order for the characters to beat the Upside Down they need to learn how to confront feelings and memories they don’t like. Only after they do that will they be able to face the place that represents all of their pain. Erica said they would die without it because they could never learn to swim without water.  Once they all learn how to swim, the water holds no power over them.

(@will80sbyers I saw you posting about your water theory and it inspired me to finally finish this one I’ve been working on for a while. Figured you’d be interested)

[shenanigans-and-imagines]

ok first of all, completely OBSESSED with “Welcome to Hellfire” it was everything i needed and more. and second of all i remember you mentioning that lucy and eddie get into a fight before s4 and that’s kinda why she quits hellfire (i’m sorry if this is kinda wrong but i was scrolling through the tag and couldn’t really find it) and i was hoping you could maybe elaborate a bit more on that. like was the fight just initially about her quitting and it spiraled from there? i know that’s kinda why it was awkward when they first find eddie in the boat house but i crave details

Okay, this is actually something I’ve been chipping away at for a while. I don’t have any exact dialogue but I can give you the broad strokes.

Some background, their fight would take place after the events of season 3.

Hopper and Billy are dead and as far as Eddie knows, the Mall just burned down.

Lucy and Eddie haven’t been hanging out as much as a result, but it looks like things are going to turn around as Eddie’s birthday approaches

Eddie never expects anything from his birthday anymore, between his dead beat parents and his uncle working all the time, there has never been much of a celebration. He honestly kind of hates it.

But Lucy has been dropping hints all summer of doing something fun and for the first time in years, he starts to get his hopes up

She then surprises him with tickets to a metal concert (still debating which band)

Eddie honestly thinks this is it; things have been rocky but he’s going to tell her exactly how he feels about her after the concert

But it doesn’t happen

The night of the concert Lucy and some of the others get pulled away by Hawkins lab for a debriefing on everything that happened

Tests are run, they’re all grilled for details, anything and everything is questioned to make sure this never happens again

Lucy can’t even make a phone call to tell Eddie she won’t be able to make it

By the time they finish up it’s super late and Lucy goes rushing over to Eddie’s trailer to apologize

Eddie turns up not long after to see Lucy waiting on the front step

He drove to Indianapolis, but never ended up walking through the doors

He’s had a few hours of driving and brooding which has done no thing to help his feeling a when he sees Lucy

She immediately tries to apologize, but Eddie cuts her off telling her he didn't know what he expected

Lucy asks him, "what's that supposed to mean" and Eddie goes off

He lists all the times she'd blown him off all summer, how she's been spending time with Harrington and the popular crowd, and has in general been avoiding him

Lucy protests and tells her it's not like that, but Eddie shoots her back with, "okay then tell me where you were that was so important you couldn't even call"

She doesn't answer and Eddie takes that as a guilty conscious

Lucy insists that she can't tell him. If she could she would, but she can't.

Eddie presses her on what that even means, but Lucy doesn't budge

If anything the last twelves hours have driven home exactly why she can't tell him; people who find out about the Upside Down get hurt, she already lost Barb and nearly lost her brother more times than she can count, she doesn't want to see Eddie get hurt

She tells him he's just going to have to trust her

Eddie tells her he can't, because he can't think of anything that would be so bad she couldn't tell him unless she's trying to cover her ass

He tells her he's an idiot for thinking she was different from the shallow assholes that live in this fucking town and he cannot wait to graduate and get the hell away from all of them

Lucy can't defend herself and basically tells him, "well, I guess that's it then"

She can't convince him to trust her again unless she tells him the truth, and she can't tell him the truth because there is no way he'd believe her; she can't win

She tells him she's sorry one more time and leaves crying

They spend the next year avoiding each other with these last words to each other echoing in their brains

Questions torment Eddie every time he thinks of her; what the hell was so important? Was it actually important? Did she really just blow him off? What couldn't she tell him?

Every time he sees her passing in the hallways he just wants to talk to her again, but doesn't want to be hit with a brick wall he knows is waiting for him

Lucy meanwhile just lets the guilt eat away at her from the inside out

She can't blame Eddie for any of the words he said, from his perspective it was completely justified. He had every reason to think the worst of her, but at the same time. She's hurt that he did.

There are so many nights she's stared at her phone wanting to finally break the silence and tell him everything, but then she rolls back over and talks herself out of it

Of course, all her intentions end up blowing up in her face when Eddie gets sucked into everything anyway

[steveiscaitiesbabygirl]

Had some thoughts about poly! Teens and comforting each other. Talked about this awhile ago on discord and felt the need to share them here too.

Eden goes to Steve because he listens to her vent without interrupting her. All while allowing her to paint his nails. She goes to Steve because as much as she pretends to hate it, she loves the way that he’ll take her into his arms afterwards. How he’ll wrap himself around her and say nothing when she starts to pick at the nail polish they just waited to dry for 10 minutes.

Steve goes to argyle because argyle is easy to be around when he’s upset. He doesn’t ask any question just welcomes steve with open arms and runs his fingers through his hair until Steve’s able to calm down enough to explain what has made him so upset.

Argyle goes to Robin because her rambling makes him feel a little less crazy. Everyone seems to handle all this crap with such ease (see the scene with the dead FBI agent) it’s nice to know he’s not the only one who’s freaked out by it. (They all are, robin’s just a little louder about it)

Robin goes to vickie because vickie is nice and calming, she’s all soft touches and “are you okay?” “How can I help you?”. Vickie makes Robin feel cared for in a way she doesn’t think she ever truly felt before.

Vickie goes to Nancy because Nancy is blunt in a way that makes her feel truly seen. She never has to worry about Nancy sugarcoating her words to make Vickie feel better. She tells it how it is and more often than not she bitches with vickie and tells her how she deserves better and she shouldn’t let people take advantage of her kindness

Nancy goes to Barb because no one else truly knows Nancy the way that she does. Barb is familiar and warm. She almost never has to ask Nancy what’s wrong because she seems to already know. Much in the same way that she just knows that Nancy just wants to vent while they sip at their hot chocolate.

Barb goes to Jonathan for the quiet. While she loves Nancy, she knows that Barb being upset would just make her want to go out and fight whatever made her upset, so Barb goes to Jonathan. He offers her companionable silence as they walk along a path in the woods and he takes pictures. The only words being spoken are her quite words of praise when he shows her one he’s especially proud of.

Jonathan goes to Eddie for the loudness. Sometimes he just needs background noise to his thoughts and Eddie is the perfect candidate. He’s always willing to talk about his campaigns or the new Dio song that came out to anyone that will listen.

Eddie goes to Heather, much to his shock. He wasn’t expecting it but Heather gives him a sense of normalcy. On the days that he thinks of the cold, grimy floor of the upside down, and the sharpness of the bats teeth as they tore into his skin, he finds he wants nothing more than to follow heather around like a lost puppy as she goes on one of her shopping sprees. He normally hates this but on these days it seems to be exactly what he needs to reassure himself that he’s alive, he’s here, and he’s shopping with Heather fucking Holloway. What the fuck

Heather goes to Chrissy because she’s soft in a way Heather rarely gets to be. Chrissy ushers heather into the bathroom so they can soak in the tub together. Afterwards, Chrissy will give Heather her softest clothes and start to eagerly brush through heather’s hair and massage her sore muscles. Chrissy pampers heather in a way she never thought she would allow. But Chrissy shows her that she’s not being high maintenance by wanting to be taken care of sometimes.

Chrissy goes to Eden because Eden encourages Chrissy to not be so soft all the time. She tells her that Chrissy is allowed to get mad and she’s more than allowed to tell people to “go fuck themselves”. Chrissy loves going to the top of a high hill with Eden and finally being able to scream about her hatred of her mother and how she’s sick of having to act like the perfect daughter.