#steve harrington love story

[mychemicalimagines]

We Scare Because We Care - Steve Harrington

Summary: YN Henderson has shown up to Family Video ready to see her best friend and her boyfriend when an idea pops into her head. 

Warnings: Language, Fluff, Scaring of Loved Ones. AU: No Upside Down. If there is anymore, let me know!

Words: 1,363

Tag List: Reblogged.

A/N: Now, we have never seen Stranger Things but I love the characters so I’ve decided to make my own AU. I want to make this into a Ficlet so please send in some requests for Steve x Henderson!Reader. I already have a whole timeline ready for requests!! 

Since we’ve not seen the show, and are only comfortable writing AU, this ficlet, and all requests/one shots we do will be for this AU Version of Stranger Things. And, at this current time, this is the only thing we’ll be taking requests for since we’re still working on several chaptered series’. Thank you for the understand and hope you enjoy!! 

To be tagged in this Universe of Steve x Henderson!Reader: Comment, Message Me, Submit an Ask or Tag Yourself In My Bio!

October 1985

YN steps out of her car with the movie her, Steve Harrington and her little brother, Dustin, watched the night before. She just dropped Dustin off at the Byers’ house and decided to return the movie early so she can see her best friend, Robin, and her boyfriend. As she approaches the building, she can see Robin facing the window as she stands next to Steve, who’s back is to the door. 

YN smirks to herself before waving to capture Robin’s attention. Her concentration in the conversation with Steve is broken as she looks over to the window to see her other best friend standing beside a movie poster. She raises an eyebrow slightly, wondering why the girl didn’t just walk into the store. 

YN smirks and gestures to Steve, who hasn’t noticed his co-worker has stopped paying attention to him. Robin grins and nods slightly before turning back to her co-worker. He raises an eyebrow and glances over his shoulder. 

“What are you looking at?” He asks, looking toward the window. 

She looks to where YN was hiding to notice she’s gone. 

“I thought I saw Vicki!” She quickly lies, knowing what her best friend is going to do. “Go get that box of movies that Keith wants us to put out.”

Standing straight, Steve uncrosses his arms and walks toward the counter doorway.

“Why do I have to do it?” He playfully whines. “I thought he wanted YN to do it tomorrow morning?”

“Because I’d rather do it right now than help her in the morning, Dingus.” She leans back and crosses her arms. 

He shakes his head and mumbles himself as he walks through the backroom door. Robin quickly turns toward the door and waves YN in. She runs in the door and quickly over to the counter. She tosses the movie to Robin, who catches it and watches as her best friend jumps, sliding over the counter. 

YN drops to the ground and puts her back against the movies below the counter and waits for her boyfriend to walk out of the backroom. Robin puts the movie against the register and leans back again, acting as if she never moved from her position. Steve walks out a few seconds later with a large box in his hands. 

Not knowing what just happened, he puts the box on the counter and looks through it. 

“Anyway! As I was saying before, Dustin decided it would be a good idea to…” 

As he continues his story about the night before, which Robin is definitely not paying attention to, YN turns slowly, still crouched, as to not alert her boyfriend that she’s behind the counter. Robin bites her lip, trying not to laugh. Steve pulls out a pile of movies from the box and puts them on the counter as he looks up at her. 

“Why are you acting…”

YN jumps up quickly, yelling out, “Steve!!”

He screams and jumps back, accidentally pushing the tapes off the counter. Together, YN and Robin burst out into laughter as he grabs his chest and pants. 

“Holy shit.” He says, hoping to calm down his heart. “You scared the shit out of me!”

“That was the point, Dingus.” Robin giggles, giving her best friend a high five.

“Why would you do that?” He asks, walking around the counter to his girlfriend. 

“Gotta keep you on your toes, Harrington.” She grins, wrapping her arms around his neck. 

“I can tell, Henderson.” He shakes his head with a smile before leaning down toward her. 

Before their lips can meet, they hear a fake gag come from beside them. They sigh softly before looking toward Robin whose arms are crossed as she leans against the counter. 

“Do you really have to do that in the store?” She raises an eyebrow. 

“Hi, Vicki!” Steve says, waving toward the door.

She whips around and looks over the register to see if her crush is standing there. When she sees no one is at the door, she turns back around to see the lovely couple locked at the lip. She playfully gags again before shaking her head. 

“If you’re going to do that, go to the back.”

Steve pulls away and looks at her with a grin. “We’ll be back! Thanks, Robin!”

“I wasn’t serious!!” She stands straight as a customer walks in the door.

He completely ignores her and grabs YN by the arm and pulls her toward the backroom door, causing her to laugh. 

***

It’s been two weeks and Steve has decided that it's been enough time for YN to forget that she scared him at Family Video. Since she brought Robin into her ‘master plan’, he decided to bring someone else in to help him with his own. He knocks at the Henderson door, waiting impatiently, praying that YN doesn’t open the door. 

“I got it!” He hears before the door opens to reveal Dustin. 

Before the younger boy can open his mouth, Steve immediately covers it with the palm of his hand.

“Don’t let her know I’m here.” He whispers, glancing into the house for a moment. “I need your help.”

Dustin raises an eyebrow, confused. Steve leans down slightly and begins whispering in his ear, revealing his own plan. As he talks, Dustin’s eyes widen before he smirks against Steve’s hand. When he removes his hand, the younger boy nods fast and slowly opens the door more to allow the older teen to enter the house. 

Together, they walk to the living room, away from the hallway to get their plan in motion. 

“Dustin, who was at the door?” YN calls out from her room. 

“It was just Mike! He was bringing my backpack back! I forgot it at his house yesterday!” He easily lies.

Normally, he wouldn’t lie to his sister. She is his best friend after all, aside from The Party of course, but this is important. Well, not important, but important to them. 

“I could have driven you.” She calls back.

“I didn’t realize it!”

She doesn’t answer, allowing their plan to continue. Steve hides behind the wall and waits. A few seconds later, Dustin throws one of his DND books down on the floor before screaming out. 

“YN! YN! Come here, quick! OW! Shit!”

Her door slams open and she runs down the hallway, her sock covered feet padding against the hardwood her mother had put in earlier that summer. As she slides around the corner, Steve jumps out.

“YN!” He yells, causing her to scream and jump backward.

Due to her not expecting it, she slips and falls to her ass with a loud thunk. His eyes widen but he relaxes once he sees her start to laugh. She lays back on the floor, laughing hard, holding her stomach, causing the two boys in the room to start laughing with her.  

“Jesus!” She giggles. “I was not…Holy shit.”

“Payback, sweetheart.” Steve smirks as he calms down and walks over to her. 

“I didn’t make you fall though!” She laughs and takes his hand after he offers it. 

“Still. You scared me so I paid you back.” He leans and kisses her cheek as she stands.

“This just means I have to get you back.” She smirks.  

“Why not turn this into a competition?” Dustin asks, walking over to them. 

“I like that idea.” YN grins. “Looks like I have Robin on my team and you guys are a team.”

“Any rules?” He asks, looking up at his sister. 

“Just two rules: No repeating your turn. If we scare you, we can’t scare you again until you scare us and vice versa.”

“Reasonable.” Steve nods at her words. 

“Rule two: If you bring anyone into your team, like Mike or Will, they officially join your team and they have the chance to be scared.” She smirks. 

 “Deal.” Steve smirks and puts his hand out toward her. 

She happily shakes his hand before rushing down the hallway toward her bedroom to call her best friend. A scoreboard ended up on the wall of the Family Video backroom, confusing the hell out of Keith. 

Team Hair vs Team Scare Queens.

May the best team win.

[harmonictechnicality]

something something Eddie Munson visits a local bookstore to purchase a first edition copy of The Hobbit.

He sits in a big comfy chair to read it and after a few minutes, a group of kids start to gather on the floor around him. Eddie notices a sign next to the chair that says ‘after school story time’ and because he can’t resist their curious little expressions, he begins narrating the first chapter to them.

The bookstore manager, Steve Harrington, hears the children’s laughter and walks to the back of the store to find an extremely animated man reading a story to the kids.

He’s shamelessly watching the storyteller, when his co-manager - Robin - walks by and sees him staring at Eddie.

“You should hire him next week too,” she suggests. “The kids love him.”

Steve gives her a puzzled look. “You didn’t hire him?”

“No. You didn’t hire him?”

Steve shakes his head and returns back to watching Eddie, who’s now standing up and showing his young audience the novel’s map of Middle-earth. He’s not sure who is more captivated in this moment. The kids. The storyteller. Or himself.

“Well, Steve,” Robin interrupts his internal dialogue. “You better find out his story before their parents get here and give us an earful.”

“Definitely.” Steve is still smiling at Eddie - only this time, Eddie catches him and smiles back.

“I definitely want to know his story.”

[infiniteentertainment]

So we saw Tammy Thompson sing the national anthem in the first episode of s4...

Which prompted Robin and Steve to give each other looks because they remembered Robin's coming out moment in the bathroom, where they made fun of Tammy's singing...

Vickie overheard them joking, and Robin took the opportunity to talk to her, saying that she "used to think that Tammy sounded good because I had this massive crush—um, we took a massively hard class together. We were in Mrs. Click's class together," reminding the audience of Robin's explanation that, in the class, she wanted Tammy to look at her, while Tammy only looked at Steve.

So episodes later, in the boat out on Lovers Lake, where Robin looked at Nancy looking at Steve? Yeah. This was a direct callback.

And it's interesting that even though Robin's crush was specifically mentioned when talking to Vickie, it's this scene with Nancy that we see what Robin referenced in action.

But the question is: why do any of this?

Even though Robin said Vickie is the girl of her dreams, we saw Vickie for approximately 3 min of s4, and it's within the last 20 min of the final episode that they had their first actual on-screen conversation. Meanwhile, Robin had been glued to Nancy's side all season. The writers are smart, they could've inserted Vickie into the main group at any point, to give her and Robin a chance to bond, and to develop their relationship. It's been done before with other characters. If anything, it seems like the last thing the writers would want is to give clear preferential treatment to Robin's dynamic with a character who's (supposedly) not meant to be a love interest for her (especially in the season where the actual love interest is first introduced, and the audience has been mentally prepped for Robin to have romantic interactions). I'm not saying Robin can't have platonic female friends, I'm just pointing out interesting writing choices, and the usage of show vs tell.

[inklessletter]

I dreamed of your voice last night, and it sounded as lonely as I am. Are you trapped in there? Are you... are you real?

Thank you for trusting the process again <3

[lonestarcowpoke]

Okay but 10 Things I Hate About You but make it Steddie???

Like, Robin loves Steve but it is impossible for her to get a date when everyone assumes she’s dating Steve. Steve, after a bad breakup with Nancy has sworn off dating and insist to Robin it cannot be that bad.

So, desperate to ask out pretty and popular Chrissy, Robin enlist the help of her crushes best friend Eddie Munson, mysterious bad boy who just moved in with his uncle. And for a price, Eddie is more than willing to agree.

But Eddie finds that Steve isn’t so easy to woo and furthermore is much more interesting than Eddie originally gave him credit for.

[tartarusknight]

Eddie Joins the Family

Eddie didn’t think that he would get a big family when he pulled Dustin, Mike, and Lucas into Hellfire. He didn’t think it would happen but it did. One day, after school he’s stopped short at the sound of his name. He stopped and glanced back to see a redheaded girl. She looked familiar but he couldn’t place her. She had a skateboard under her arm and a determined look on her face. “You’re Eddie Munson right?”

Eddie frowned, “I don’t sell to kids.”

Her nose wrinkled, “ew. I’m Max, Lucas’s girl- we’re friends.” She stumbles a little and his eyebrow raised. 

She rolled her shoulders back, “can you give me a ride home? I missed the bus and we’re neighbors. I can give you embarrassing stories of any of the boys,” she waves her hand but he can see her nerves. 

“Sure,” he shrugged and she brightened. However, she was definitely trying to hide her emotions. “Our chariot awaits, milady.” He opened the door for her a swept his hand towards his shitty van. However, it didn’t stop there. Suddenly he was driving her more and more. Even though she didn’t even join his club! Okay, but she was quickly becoming one of his favorite freshman anyways. 

But Max wasn’t the only one. One day he ran into Nancy Wheeler and she actually stopped him. “Eddie, right?” Her eyes were hard and he shifted nervously. He gave her a small nod and she cleared her throat. “Mike’s really looking up to you lately.”

Eddie grimaced, “he could’ve picked someone better.”

She nods in agreement which stings only a little. He knew it was true. “You’re going to meet me twice a week. Give me your schedule.” She ordered and he stood there dumbfounded. “It wasn’t an option, come on.” She waved her hand. 

So he took a moment and wrote it all down before handing it over. She frowned, maybe at his shitty hand writing or the way it was kind of jumbled. “We have study hall the same hour. I’ll get a pass and I’ll meet you.”

“Uh, why?”

Her glare was terrifying, “because if he’s going to look up to you than you can give him a good example. I’m not going to let you keep failing all your classes and show him what it’s okay.” She snapped and Eddie wasn’t sure if he’s ever been this shocked before. “Understand?”

“Aye, aye, captain.” He gave her a weak salute before she turned and walked off. 

Then suddenly he and Nancy were working together often and in the few classes they shared she offered to be paired with him. It was freaky and his friends were just as weirded out as he was. But he had to admit that as they met after school a few times, that maybe, just maybe they were becoming friends. It wasn’t confirmed until one day she was painting his nails as he rambled about an idea he had for a campaign. Except she wasn’t just listening, she was giving him tips and helping him develop it even better. 

And with Nancy came Karen Wheeler. The woman would give him baked goods and thank him for all he was doing with Mike. It was weird but she made amazing cookies so he dealt with it and fucking Ted who didn’t deserve Karen. However, it got even worse when he made a comment that he mostly cooked for himself and his uncle since Wayne worked the worst hours. That had him in the kitchen with Sue Sinclair, Claudia Henderson, and you guessed it, Karen Wheeler. 

The three moms taught him all their tips and tricks, telling him he could impress any girl with his new skills. He didn’t say he wasn’t interested in any girls. Instead, he grinned and took all the information he could. It became a weekly thing and he got all the good gossip that wasn’t high school bullshit. And he gave them all the high school bullshit they wanted. 

And suddenly he became a babysitter for his younger friends. The freshman were annoyed at the development and Eddie got paid to hang out with them so he was fine with it. It didn’t happen often, since apparently Eddie was the back up babysitter. He didn’t care... that much, he was just curious. But being the back up babysitter gave him Erica Sinclair who quickly became his arch enemy and favorite. They didn’t do much but when he was in charge of her they would argue back and forth before retiring to painting mini figures with music playing in the background. 

However, that wasn’t even the end of it. Because suddenly Dustin was introducing him to Robin Buckley. Apparently Dustin had been trying to get her and their friend together but since they didn’t seem to get their act together, Dustin believed him and Robin would work together. Eddie and Robin took one look at each other and saw the fruitiness of the other. Which gave him a friend to talk about all the shit he dealt with that no one else did. No one else but Robin. 

Robin was a beauty and became one of his closest friends. They often spent time at his trailer and she started eating lunch with him and Hellfire. Of course Dustin was being a little bitch about it but Eddie and Robin claimed their were completely platonic. Which had the young members echoing, “with a capital P.” 

That one comment brought in the last of the party that remained in Hawkins, Steve Harrington. Steve was someone he knew from school but this Steve wasn’t what he expected. The first interaction after all the bragging the rest of the party did for him didn’t match up with his old vision. Eddie was leaving Hellfire and noticed Robin standing next to the man, waiting for the kids. “Eddie!” Robin waved like he wasn’t walking towards her already. 

He grinned, “hey Buckley, fancy meeting you here.” Then he glanced over at Steve and god dammit, he was still as pretty as he had been back in high school. 

“Harrington,” he drawled and watched Steve’s face grow pink. Which was curious...

Steve smiled and it wasn’t a smile Eddie had seen on him before, not really. This looked completely real and a little dopey. “Hey, Munson, I heard I’m missing out on the Munson friendship train.” He tilted his head a little and his hair flopped. The kids were already getting into Steve’s car but neither Steve nor Robin looked to be in a rush to leave. 

Eddie laughed a little awkwardly, “Yeah man. You don’t know what you’re missing.” He waved at himself and watched Steve’s eyes drop to follow his hands up and down his body. Which was... it was... Eddie didn’t really understand what he was feeling. 

He cleared his throat, “welp, enjoy driving these gremlins home.” He waved at the back seat. However, when he looked at Steve the dude look upset at the idea. Which was weird because he’s been told over and over how much Steve loved the kids. He waved and jogged off to avoid anymore of that. 

But that wasn’t the last he saw Steve. No, in fact, suddenly Steve always picked them up. Nancy no longer took time out of her schedule nor did any of the parents. And when Eddie went to his weekly dinner session with the moms they all laughed and said Steve was a good babysitter, always so caring about their time and kids. 

And well... Eddie didn’t hate it. Not one bit as Steve got there about 30 minutes early each time and watched the end of the session. Then he’d help Eddie clean up and they’d talk until they parted ways. Some times Robin was with him and most of those nights they’d meet him at the trailer after dropping the kids off with a movie for the three of them. Except soon, Steve would stop with or without Robin. 

Eddie loved and hated his time with Steve. Because the more time they saw each other, the more Eddie fell for the straight boy. He was done falling for straight boys so it pissed him off. But it didn’t stop him from putting his legs in Steve’s lap during a movie. Or letting Steve play with his hair. Or letting Steve kiss-

Okay the kissing was knew. And Eddie wasn’t sure of anything anymore. Not when during Grease Steve got up from the couch to sing and dance along. Eddie had laughed and when he was pulled to his feet, he stumbled into Steve’s chest. It was just the two of them but even if they had been in a crowded room, Eddie was sure the only thing he would’ve seen would’ve been Steve. 

Steve had cupped his face and smiled, “You’re the one that I want, o o oo honey. The one I need,” Steve had sung so soft and Eddie blinked at him, shocked. “Eddie,” Steve whispered as he leaned in closer. “Can I kiss you?” Eddie had made some noise that he’ll never claim and nodded frantically. Steve kissed like it was a sport that he never got less than gold in. Eddie pressed in and they moved in sync. 

And when they dropped next to each other in Eddie’s bed. Eddie didn’t think Steve might be as straight as he previously thought. “You know,” Steve started after they both regained their breath. “All I heard for weeks was Eddie this, Eddie that. Suddenly even the moms were in love with you. And it was so god damn annoying. Cause I knew they were all right. I remembered you from school, how free and open you were. When Dustin and the others mentioned you befriending them I knew they’d be okay. But I was jealous.”

Eddie looked over at him, “You were jealous? Of me?”

Steve snorted and Eddie didn’t think it was fair that even that was endearing. “Of you, of them. I don’t know... but I saw my shot and I took it.” He shrugged and Eddie raised an eyebrow. “Dude, you were like my gay awakening! I serious!” Steve had a big smile on his face and Eddie grinned back. 

“Really? Little ol’ Eddie Munson was King Steve’s awakening?”

Steve smacked him and rolled so he leaned over Eddie, “yeah. You were.”

They grinned at each other, “so you were checking me out when you first picked up the kids.”

“Hell yeah I was,” Steve winked and it was so dorky. He was flushed pink but still trying to stay confident. “To be honest, I lied when we started talking.” Eddie raised an eyebrow, insincerity rising up in him. But then Steve flushed more, “I didn’t want to join the Munson friendship train. I wanted to see what you’d be like as my boyfriend.” Steve wiggled his eyebrows and Eddie couldn’t stop the laugh.

“Yeah?” He flipped them so he was on top of Steve. Steve looked pleased as he did so. “Get ready, big boy. I’ll show you what you’re missing.” He promised and kissed him just because he could. 

Steve broke it though, “so, you, Eddie Munson agree to go on a date with me?”

Eddie rolled his eyes, “yes. I Eddie Munson, will date you, Steve Harrington. You can pick me up tomorrow at 7.”

And Eddie would swear that Steve’s eyes fucking twinkled. “It’s a date.”

So, yeah bringing Dustin, Lucas, and Mike into Hellfire was one of the best decisions he’s ever made. Maybe one day he’ll thank them for giving him the best year he’s ever had. 

[morganbritton132]

David kinda hates that he has to interrupt the truly bizarre conversation Steve and Dustin are having about wiretapping and a ‘Cerebro’ but Career Day is about to officially start and-

Steve: David! Hey, have I intro- no, I introduced you guys already. How do you feel about older women?

Dustin: Oh my god, Steve, El and I are just friends! And anyways, she’s not going to want to date this literal child!

David, reluctantly: I’m twenty-four

Steve: I’m not asking for El. I’m asking for Susie since you won’t marry her either.

Dustin: What’s Susie going to do with a middle school teacher? She’d have a more intellectually stimulating conversation with a brick wall.

Steve: Dude, harsh. Apologize.

Dustin, unconvincing: Sorry

David: Uh, no problem? Steve, um. You wanted to know when… Well, your ex. He’s here.

Steve HE’S here???

[paperbackribs]

He was going to ask for a glass of milk

"I've got to have something," Eddie mutters, "I still have Steve in my mouth."

"You're a pig, don't you dare even say it--" Robin groans at Steve as he perks up next to her. She falls back with a dramatic eye roll against the couch while somehow conveying a sense of comraderie to her hive-mind twin, faintly gesturing for him to continue onwards with an indulgent hand movement.

"You mean...?" Steve asks meaningfully, voice earnestly hopeful even while sweet hazel eyes deepen over a dirty smirk.

Eddie quirks an eyebrow over the second lot of homemade cookies halfway to his mouth, clueless until he suddenly, horrifyingly understands how the dynamic duo had interpreted his words.

"You mean..." Eddie echoes incredulously, waiting for the two of them to jump up, do jazz hands and cry out: 'surprise you homo, Steve Harrington is not into you.'

Instead.

Oh my god, Eddie thinks, as they turn and nod at each other, heart beating harder as Steve's face firms in a familiar determined expression, as if Eddie's a goal to be stolen away from the home team.

Swiftly, and in an almost professional manner that has Robin clapping Steve between his shoulders, she swiftly exits their apartment. The slap of the door slamming behind her echoes through the place and Steve steps forward, eyes mischievous in a way that has Eddie's knees near buckling.

"Want to have a real reason to wash out your mouth?"

[trensu]

ETA: now on ao3 as Hawkins Halfway House for Homeless Horrors

ETA2: now with an additional snippet

okay, how's this for an AU

We know that Steve wants to be a dad. Like, his literal life dream is to have a minimum of six children. SIX. who wants that?? crazy people, that's who. but we forgive him his insanity because he's sweet and will actually probably be a really good dad and there's not enough of those in the world.

the downer is that it's the late 90s, he's a (still) single guy in his thirties, and every adoption agency on the planet would rather give their children to a heteronormative couple who don't even want kids than to a single dude who would dedicate his heart and soul to giving his kids a happy healthy home.

He's bemoaning his fate to Robin at a bar they recently discovered. It's a weird little joint, kinda tucked away on the outskirts where Steve could've sworn didn't exist just last week. The patrons were kinda weird too but neither he or Robin could put their finger on why or how. If Steve had been a little less miserable, and Robin a little less caught up in comforting him, they might've noticed how everyone else in the bar kept sneaking curious glances at them or how they somehow always kept most of their features hidden.

They didn't though. Even when they were interrupted by a handsome black gentleman who called himself Jeff. Jeff said that he couldn't help but overhear their dilemma and that he's actually part of an agency that is more open minded about potential foster or adoptive parents. Steve's a little deeper in his cups than he intended, and doesn't question that some random guy in a bar is offering him a chance of having children. Robin is not as far in her cups and finds it a bit suspicious.

She was going to say something about it but Jeff looked her in the eye and said, "Everything is fine. There's no reason to worry. I'm only trying to help."

"You're only trying to help," Robin murmured back blearily. "Everything is fine. Yeah. Yeah, 'm not worried."

Jeff gives Steve his card and tells him he can stop by the very next day if he'd like, since his schedule is open.

The next day, Steve is regretting having gotten so drunk. Not really because of the hangover (though holy shit, he is NOT twenty anymore he needs to stop drinking like one). No. It's because Jeff had just finished giving him a tour of the facility full of rambunctious children in need of a home.

Actually, that had been pretty okay even if the other adults in the facility startled at the sight of him and the children kept ducking into other rooms to hide from him.

No. It's because Jeff had just introduced him to a child named Dustin who sneezed unexpectedly and somehow turned into a kitten.

"Um," Steve said. Jeff sighed.

"Dustin hasn't gotten back control over his shapeshifting since his mother's passing, but I assure you he's been improving."

"...shapeshifting," Steve said, numbly.

"Yes. Dustin tends to go for cat shapes, like his mother did." Jeff bends down to pick up the loudly mewing tabby kitten. "We've managed to get him to shift mostly into a domestic shorthair, rather than a cougar cub."

"That's great," Steve squeaked as he tried to tamp down the growing hysteria in him. "Really, really great. Y'know what, Jeff, this whole thing's been great but I think I'm still kind of drunk so I'm just gonna go--"

"No, wait," Jeff says, quickly placing the Dustin kitten on his shoulder before reaching out to grab Steve by the elbow. "Please. Look, you seem like a good guy. I did a quick scan of you and everything, and I really think if you'd take a moment to sit down and--"

"JEFFORD BILLANY JONES."

Jeff's shoulders hunched, nearly dislodging Dustin from his shoulder. He sighed again and turned to face the man storming towards him and Steve.

"Eddy, you know none of that is my name."

"I'll call you whatever I want since for some unfathomable reason, you've brought a human into my sanctuary. Why is there a human in my home, Jeffamy."

"Eddy, let me explain."

"It's Eddie in front of the human," Eddie said.

Steve's brain was experiencing some sort of malfunction because Jeff had been calling this man Eddie, except if he concentrated, the way Jeff said Eddie and the way Eddie had said Eddie sounded very very different except it hadn't because they both sounded like Eddie except for how Jeff's Eddie sounded different from, the same as, different, just like--

A pair of ringed fingers snapped aggressively in front of his face, startling Steve from an impending aneurysm.

"You. Who are you, who sent you, what do you want."

Steve stuttered something incoherent. He's pretty sure he's had a mental break from reality. There was some sort of sentient black sludge creeping across the tiled floor, wrapping a tendril around Jeff's leg.

"What is that?" Steve squawked. Jeff beamed at him.

"Oh, this is El! She's a Monster Under the Bed. She hasn't decided on a form yet, but that's okay, we love her just as she is."

"Jeff," Eddie snapped. Jeff looked at Eddie stubbornly.

"You told me we needed all hands on deck."

"How dare you, I'd never stoop to using boat metaphors."

"Don't distract me with blatant lies. Eddy, you said we needed help. You said you'd take anyone at this point."

Steve has not been able to stop staring at the sludge creature (El?). He's beginning to realize that he can't quite remember what Jeff looked like, or any of the adults they had seen. He's noticing that some of the children that have been scampering about had looked off. Like the boy with the bowl-cut they had passed by earlier who had looked...frosty around the edges. Or the girl he thought had had red feathers in her hair but is now suspecting the feathers were something more than decorative.

Ringed fingers snap in front of his face again. Steve finally focused on the man named Eddie who was actually named Eddie which was different from Eddie somehow. Now that he's able to shove away the confusion that is this man's name, he's struck by the fact that Eddie was quite possibly the most gorgeous man Steve's ever seen. He had wide, dark eyes that made Steve think of seabeds in the deepest of waters. His hair was a riot of dark brown curls that for some reason brought to mind swirling schools of fish.

"Answer my questions," Eddie demanded. Steve blinked and, with some difficulty, remembered the previous interrogation.

"Uh, I'm Steve. Jeff invited me because I want to be a dad."

Eddie barked out a laugh.

"Oh, is that right? In that case, welcome to Hawkins' Halfway House for Homeless Horrors! I'm sure Jeff would love to finish introducing you to the rest of our children. Have you met Mike? He's a ghoul! Or Lucas! He's a werewolf and his dream is to become a basketball star. They both have very sharp teeth so watch out for their tantrums."

Jeff scowls at Eddie before turning back to Steve. Steve was starting to feel faint and he was no longer sure if he regretted drinking the night before or regretted not drinking more.

"Steve, it's okay. Eddy is making it sound scarier than it actually is. You said you wanted to be a dad, and we need foster parents that can help these kids learn how to blend in with humans. That's what the halfway house is for, but there's only so much they can learn while living in sanctuary. We need a way to have them experience the human world more directly while still keeping them safe, and I think you're the solution we've been looking for. What do you think?"

"I think I need to sit down," Steve said thinly. Eddie snorted derisively. Steve was slightly offended but honestly everything was a bit too much right now and he really would like to sit down for a moment just to process. Because monsters are real, apparently, and some of them need parents. Which was terrifying to think about but also not so much? Because all kids were little monsters some of the time right? If Steve could have a moment to get his bearings...

"This was a terrible idea, Jeffathan."

"I think it was a great idea, actually. I really think this could work."

"No. I forbid it. Don't do this again."

Then there was a sweet and beautiful humming. It made the edges of Steve's mind go fuzzy and soft. He blinked slowly and looked for the source of the sound. Eddie stared at him intently and when he spoke, his voice was like music.

"Steve," Eddie said. "Steve, do you want to make me happy?"

Steve nodded dumbly. He wanted that more than anything in the whole world. He wanted to make Eddie smile. He wanted Eddie to never stop singing.

"It would make me very happy if you went home and forgot everything you saw here today," Eddie continued.

Steve made a sad sound. He didn't want to forget. He didn't want to forget beautiful, gorgeous Eddie and this place that could make his dream come true.

"Please, Steve," Eddie's lyrical voice took on an aching mournful tone. "If you don't, you'll break my heart. I'll never be happy again."

The sadness in the song made Steve feel like the world was ending. Eddie couldn't be sad! Steve would rather die than make Eddie sad!

"I forget," Steve mumbled through the fog in his mind. "And you'll be happy?"

"So happy. I'd be the happiest man alive if you do that one little thing for me, my sweet Steve."

Steve nods again. "Okay."

"Good boy," Eddie croons. Steve felt like he swallowed the sun at those words. He followed Eddie as Eddie guided him through the halfway house. Eddie hummed his lovely song the entire way.

"Go home and forget," Eddie sang one last time as he helped Steve get behind the wheel of his car.

"Yeah," Steve replied dreamily and drove away.

--

The telephone rang shrilly through his apartment. Steve stumbled out of bed and picked up, only fumbling it a little bit.

"H'llo?"

"Steve, what the hell, I've been trying to get a hold of you all day! Where have you been?" Robin's voice rang out, making Steve flinch. He scrubbed his free hand over his face tiredly.

"Home? I just woke up," Steve said. It was weird that he was fully dressed, he thought dazedly, but it wouldn't be the first time he's passed out drunk in his street clothes. Was he wearing this shirt yesterday? He could've sworn he'd worn the navy one.

"What? Just now? It's like five in the evening!"

"Huh. That'd explain the weird dream," Steve mumbled.

"Was it the one where you get seduced by a giant squid? Because I don't need to know more about your weird tentacle fetish."

"I don't have a tentacle fetish! I had the dream ONE time, and I wasn't being seduced, I was getting drowned and it was terrifying!"

"To-may-to, to-mah-to."

"Whatever, this one was weirder anyway."

"I find that hard to believe but now I'm morbidly curious. Hit me with it."

"...I don't remember."

"There goes my entertainment for the evening."

"Was there a reason you called, Robin?"

"Yes! I met this girl named Chrissy and I swear Steve, she's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen..."

Beautiful. Steve had the faint impression of dark eyes and silver rings, but it was quickly washed away like a child's sandcastle in the tide under the onslaught of Robin's ramblings. As he listened to his best friend, he couldn't help but feel there was something he'd forgotten. There was something he'd been planning on doing today, wasn't there...?

...oh, well. If it was really important, he'd remember eventually.

[mychemicalimagines]

H&H Ficlet Master List

These one shots do belong to me. The characters used do NOT belong to me. They are all from the same timeline. AU: No Upside Down. This is a Steve Harrington x Henderson!Reader Ficlet. I try not to describe the reader in anyway and have used 80s aesthetics for looks in the banner. I do not have any looks in mind as I write.  

We Scare Because We Care - October 1985

[sparkle-fiend]

“In a certain kingdom, in a certain land, there was a village, surrounded by a forest, and a wide river nearby…”

**********

From the Steddie Big Bang project 020, Tessellation (by the incredible @maryofdoom).

Six stories about Steve and Eddie, in six very different universes - check it out here!

[ahhrenata]

a little doodle inspired by @stevethehairington ‘s fic come and rest your bones with me 🧡 I love them building a little fort together (on a rainy day✨). they deserve some cute quality time!

[inklessletter]

He knew he would have to apologize to his own body every day for the rest of his life if he kept using it as a prison for all the love he had stored for Steve. All those brand new, unused kisses, rotting in his lips. All those unspoken words, with no air in his lungs to be shared. All those itching caresses, locked in his skin, with nowhere to go. Eddie was a cursed temple. A graveyard of love. Unfit for the living. God, he needed to tell him.

❄️❄️❄️

In the process we trust.

Um, that snippet over there? Yeah, that's from one of my own fics. First time to draw something based on my words.

[willowworkswithwords]

Eddie looks at the empty fridge. Then his laundry. Back to the fridge.

Eddie’s brain’s been swimming in fog all night. The bites have been itchy, the nightmares had kept him up until he’d not bothered trying to sleep at all, and he feels like he’s gonna cry and for what. Just a basket of laundry and a near empty fridge.

It dawns on him that Wayne hasn’t left the factory yet, that Eddie could call him and ask him to get groceries on his way home. But Wayne’ been working longer shifts for a couple months now, to make up for the time he spent with Eddie in the hospital those first two weeks when no one was sure what was going to happen. Eddie’s been trying to do things on his own when Wayne isn’t there, to let him help when he is, to balance physical recovery and mental trauma and school and the bills sitting on the kitchen table.

Eddie won’t call Wayne.

He looks at the phone on the wall, weighs the pros and cons, tries to imagine himself getting into his van and driving all the way to the laundromat and then the grocery store by himself and already feels tired by it.

“Hello?”

“Hey Steve, it’s me.”

“Eddie, you ok?”

Eddie wraps the phone cord around his finger, grimacing at the worry he can practically see emanating from Steve.

“Yeah man, I’m uh, I’m like, fine? But could you help me do some, some errands?”

Eddie holds his breath, pulls the cord tight around his pinky finger.

“I’m on my way, Eddie. See you soon.”

And that’s that. Eddie hangs up, sliding his fingers from the cord and sits down on the couch, knee bouncing, until he hears the Beemer roll up onto the gravel drive. Steve let’s himself in and Eddie’s heart jumps into his throat when he realizes he’s left the door open this whole time and anything could have happened and—

“Hey Eddie,” Steve says, sliding onto the couch right next to Eddie, knee bumping bouncing knee.

“Hey.”

Steve presses his hand, just for a second, to Eddie’s knee. Eddie stills his knees but pulls a lock of hair into his mouth, can’t stop himself from doing it even as the voice that’s always in his head tells him to just stop.

Steve squeezes, then lets go. He stares at Eddie for a second more, then smiles softly and grabs the basket of laundry.

“Ok man, let’s go.”

“Can we, uh, run to the grocery store too?”

“Sure. Anywhere else?”

“No,” Eddie starts to lever himself up off the couch. “Thank you, Steve.”

Steve is already at the door, holding it open for Eddie as he props the basket up against his hip.

“No problem, man.”

His smile is soft, and Eddie feels his own lips curl up and knows Steve can see his eyes crinkle.

The early dawn of the morning is beautiful, promising. Eddie feels the anxiety of the night still gripping onto him, but it’s moved from his chest to his legs, which is better but still not best. Steve doesn’t try to make conversation as he sets the Beemer in motion, letting Eddie watch the passing trees to the tune of Tears for Fears. Maybe it’s because Eddie doesn’t even reach for the dial that Steve keeps quiet, or maybe it’s the gentle morning still making its way over the horizon, still burning off the last dredges of sleep.

Glancing at Steve, Eddie doesn’t think he got much sleep either.

The laundromat is on Eddie’s side of town, close enough to downtown that they’ll probably just walk to get groceries once the clothes are in the dryer. There’s no one else there, though a machine is running in the corner. Steve starts setting up the machine immediately, and Eddie suppresses his surprise behind a lock of hair. He wouldn’t have thought that Steve would know how to work the machine but wonders never cease. It lets Eddie sit down gingerly on chair by the window.

The restlessness in his legs has turned into an ache. Steve glances at him as he put the clothes in, separating lights and darks into two different machines. Eddie starts to push his hand into his pocket for change, but Steve, facing away from him, not even realizing, takes nickels and dime from his own pocket and pops them into both machines, setting them running.

“Here, I grabbed this for you,” Steve says, book in hand. It’s an old, tattered copy of a collection of science fiction Wayne had given him. It’d been sitting next to him on the couch, Eddie realized, and he takes it from Steve’s outstretched hand with a grin he can’t help.

“Thanks, Steve-o.”

Steve’s own grin breaks out. He pulls out his own book, which was in his back pocket, for whatever reason, and Eddie tries (and fails) to hold back the look of utter confusion that crosses his face. He swears Steve did that on purpose.

“Anytime, Ed.”

They sit in the loud-quiet, the clunking machine and soft sound of each other’s breaths, and for a little while, they just are.

[elevenenthusiast]

If those leaks about stranger things 5 on twitter are true then i have nothing else to say other than that it sounds ass.

[fizzigigsimmer]

Billy gets super turned on when Steve listens to him. Like not in the normal way though, like to his feelings or problems and shit.

That's nice and all but what really gets him going, is the weird patronizing stuff. Like when Steve lets Billy teach him how to change his oil, or the correct way to pronounce a big word. He doesn't think Steve is stupid and he's not trying to make him feel that way to stroke his own ego, so what gives?

It's been getting worse lately. Popped a boner when he caught Steve making the same pre-workout smoothie and trying the warmup exercises that Billy does just because he realized his muscles are less sore afterwards. Let him fuck him against the table just for teasing " Damn you. You're always right."

It might be weird, but he likes knowing that Steve pays attention, not just to what Billy says but what he does, even when Billy isn't asking for that attention. And when he looks, he doesn't see a waste of space or whatever it was that made Neil decide he could never do anything right.

With Steve, somehow he's always right.