#stobin platonic soulmates

[urdreamgirls-dreamgirl]

may the odds be ever in your favor.

“Dustin Henderson!” The voice rings out from the front of the crowd, perky and cheerful, like the whole entire town hasn’t been gathered here to watch as two of its children are sent to the slaughter on national television.

Steve’s heart pounds in his chest. Sweat breaks out across his back. Adrenaline pumps through his veins, makes his fingertips throb. Dustin, just a few rows in front of him, turns to look at Steve. He meets Steve’s gaze with tears in his eyes, panicked.

Steve can’t think. He can’t see anything beyond Dustin’s fear.

“I volunteer,” he hears himself yell out. His voice sounds shockingly calm to his own ears. “I volunteer as tribute.”

There’s a murmur in the crowd, a ripple of movement. No one from their district has ever volunteered in the history of the Games. Steve is eighteen. This was his last year participating in the Reaping. He'd almost made it.

The fear doesn’t disappear from Dustin’s face, his eyes round and glassy. Steve is distantly aware that Dustin is yelling, but he can’t hear anything over the rushing in his own ears. A Peacekeeper appears on either side of him and they pull him towards the stage, their hands firm and bruising around his biceps. Steve’s feet drag. He can’t seem to lift them high enough to step on his own. The Peacekeeper’s practically drag him up the steps and onto the raised platform of the stage.

Sam Owens, the tribute escort for their district, is smiling wide, teeth white and blinding in the morning sun. He pats Steve on the back, moves him to center stage with his hands on Steve’s arms.

“District 12’s first volunteer ever!” Owens yells into the microphone. “How exciting! History in the making.”

There’s only silence. Steve’s eyes find Claudia Henderson in the crowd. The look on her face shifts from relief to horror and back again. Even from here, Steve can see the tears on her face, shimmering in the sunlight.

Just then, movement at the back of the crowd of teenagers catches his attention. He spies Nancy in one of the back rows. She isn’t ever included in the Reaping, has never had to sign up for tesserae as the mayor’s daughter, but she always shows. Every year when Steve asks about it, she mumbles something about ‘bearing witness.’

Nancy, beautiful in her expensive wool dress, dark hair curled and pinned out of her face, raises her left hand. She presses the fingertips of her first three fingers to her lips before raising her arm high into the air.

Steve watches in fascination as the crowd shifts, shuffling in place, before lifting their own hands and mirroring Nancy’s salute. Steve swallows, breathes deep for the first time in what feels like hours.

Owens’s smile falters, but only slightly. “Right. Now for the girls.” He moves to the large glass bowl, hand circling, fingertips reaching. He pulls a tiny folded paper from the bowl. His hands are quick and sure as he breaks the seal, glancing down at the name. “Robin Buckley!”

The crowd shifts again. Steve feels his lungs collapse in his chest. He focuses in on where Robin stands at the center of the crowd of girls. Her mouth hangs open, her blue eyes huge in her pale face. Steve feels as if his knees are about to give out, wobbly and weak, but he somehow manages to keep his balance. He sees Nancy—just beyond Robin—barely react, but doesn’t miss the way her jaw tightens and her fists clench at her sides, knows her well enough by now to read her tells. The crowd parts as Robin slowly makes her way towards the stage. Owens pulls Robin by her hands, positions her so she stands shoulder to shoulder with Steve.

Steve feels like he might lose consciousness at any moment. His stomach turns, throat constricting. His vision goes dark around the edges.

He can’t bring himself to look over at Robin, knows he’ll lose control if he does, but he feels the back of her hand brush against his, feels her pinky curling around his. He has to bite back a sob and looks down at his feet, breathing deep through his nose.

Everything becomes a blur. Time seems to simultaneously slow down and speed up. Peacekeepers flank Robin and Steve as Owens leads them toward the Justice Building. They only have so much time before they’re forced onto a train bound for the Capitol, will only have a handful of minutes to say goodbye to everyone they’re leaving behind.

Once they make it to the Justice Building, they’re led into a wood-paneled sitting room with overstuffed armchairs and too many throw pillows. Steve’s head is starting to pound, temples throbbing. He feels a heavy pressure behind his eyes and he falls onto a couch in the center of the room. He leans his elbows on his knees, head in his hands. He pushes his palms against his skull. He’s vaguely aware of Robin perched on the cushion next to him, spine ramrod straight, both feet planted firmly on the floor. Her hands twist in her lap.

Steve isn’t sure how long they sit there before the door opens and Dustin comes rushing toward him. Claudia Henderson follows closely behind her son. Robin’s parents bring up the rear.

“Steve, are you stupid? Why would you do that?” Dustin screeches at him, flinging his arms around Steve’s neck—practically tackling Steve into the cushions—and holding on for dear life. Steve can’t respond to him, throat suddenly dry. All he can do is bring his arms tight around Dustin, returning his hug. Several long moments pass before Dustin finally releases him. He looks so young, face red and blotchy. He brings his sleeve up to wipe at his nose and something in Steve fractures as he watches him.

Steve looks at Claudia, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. He stands from the couch and opens his arms to her. She practically falls into him, winding her arms around his waist. “Don’t let him watch,” he tells her, voice low so Dustin won’t hear. He feels his own burning tears spill from the corners of his eyes. They only have a few moments together. “Promise me. Please. He can’t watch.”

Claudia lets out a sob, but Steve can feel her nod against him. “I promise. Come back to us. Promise to fight, Steve,” she whispers, so only Steve can hear. Steve breathes in deep, smells the floral perfume she only wears three times a year on special occasions, the one that reminds him of warm hugs and home.

“Promise,” Steve whispers back.

The visitors are ushered out of the room and Steve is finally able to look at Robin. Her eyes are bright, shiny with tears, but she hasn’t cried, not yet. She has that look on her face, the one Steve recognizes as determination. The one she wears when they decide to break Capitol rules and hike out into the woods, into the bright sunny clearing by the stream where her quick fingers work on building her traps while Steve sharpens his arrow- and spearheads. All they can do is stare at each other.

Someone knocks softly on the door, breaking the spell between them. They both jump and turn toward the sound as the heavy door creaks open. Nancy steps through.

Her face is swollen and her eyes are red-rimmed, but her bottom lip is firm and her head is held high. She has something clutched in her hand.

She crosses the room to where they sit. She kneels in front of them on the patterned carpet. She grabs at Steve’s hand with her free one, pressing whatever’s in the other into Robin’s palm.

“You’re allowed one token from home in the arena,” Nancy’s voice comes out low and quick. “Will you wear this?” Robin looks down at her hand, turns over a gold pin. Steve can’t quite see what it is, thinks it might be the shape of a bird.

Robin nods, gaze lifting to meet Nancy’s.

“Stick together,” Nancy tells them. “Promise. That’s what will get you through the Games. Trust no one but each other. They want a show. Give them one. I—just—” She clearly wants to say more, but she bites her lip, shaking her head. Her curls bounce. “Just. Keep each other safe. Stay alive.” As she says it, a single tear falls from her eye. She abandons her grip on Steve’s hand to wipe it away angrily. “Promise,” she demands.

“Promise,” Robin’s voice comes out a hoarse whisper. “We promise, Nance.” Her fingers curl around the gold pin.

Nancy wraps them both in firm but quick hugs before she leaves the room without a backward glance.

~*~

Robin and Steve are left alone for what feels like hours but can really only be a few minutes before being driven to the train that will transport them to the Capitol. Owens leads them into the lavish train car, where the District 12 mentor, Murray Bauman, already sits.

“Well,” he says, smiling grimly, arms open wide. “What beautiful and brave tributes we have this year.” He takes a swig from the bottle clutched in his hand.

Neither Robin nor Steve speak, they just move toward the seats opposite Murray, dropping down onto the plush cushions in tandem. Steve’s head is still pounding, exhaustion making his arms feel heavy.

Steve must fall asleep sitting up, because the next thing he knows, he wakes to a moving train and dark windows. Robin is no longer next to him. He hears murmuring and glances around, finding Robin and Murray huddled together in a corner, heads close.

Steve clears his throat, sitting up straight. The two of them glance toward him. Robin gives him a tight smile, small and strained. Murray’s grin is wider, but no more happy than Robin’s.

“What’d I miss?” Steve mumbles, voice heavy with sleep. He runs a hand through his hair.

“Talking strategy,” Murray tells him. “Come join the party.” He pats the seat of the chair next to him.

Steve pushes himself from his seat and crosses the small space, dropping heavily into the wooden chair.

“I was asking Murray about finding shelter in the arena,” Robin says softly, like she can tell that Steve’s head is still killing him, despite his nap.

“Right. So?” Steve turns toward Murray.

“So your first priority is surviving long enough that you’ll even need shelter,” Murray replies. “The first few moments in the arena are the deadliest. Absolutely brutal. The Careers will rush the Cornucopia and unprepared tributes will be picked off one by one. Don’t get caught up in the bloodbath.”

Steve thinks that they probably should take everything Murray says with a massive grain of salt. He and Robin hadn’t even been alive when Murray had won the 50th Games almost 25 years ago, but it was common District knowledge that he’d only won as a fluke, because of stupid mistakes other tributes had made and not because of any strategic prowess on his part. Now, Murray was mostly known as the town drunk, who spent his winnings at the only pub in town and more often than not made a fool of himself as he stumbled through the streets before the miners had even broken for lunch.

Steve and Robin share a look.

“No, stop, what’s that?” Murray says pointing between them. His gaze jumps from Steve to Robin and back again.

“What’s what?” Robin asks, genuine confusion coloring her voice.

“That look. Are you… can you read each other’s minds?” The last part is said in a fascinated whisper.

“You’re drunk, old man,” Steve says, rolling his eyes and scowling. Murray is getting on his last nerve already.

“You’re not wrong, kid.” Murray smiles and takes another pull from the bottle in his hand.

Steve sighs. “We should probably call it a night. It’s been a long day. We can reconvene when our heads are clearer.” He gives Murray a pointed look.

“My head is plenty clear,” Murray slurs.

“Right. Get some sleep,” Steve tells both Robin and Murray. “And drink some damn water.” The last part is directed at their mentor.

Murray salutes them both before disappearing from the train car, wandering off to his bed.

Robin and Steve stand in silence.

“Well, goodnight, Steve,” Robin whispers into the space between them. Her voice sounds small in a way it so rarely does. Steve can’t help but reach out a hand to her, pulling her into his chest before she goes of to bed. She sags against him, arms wrapped tight around his waist.

“We’ll figure it out, Rob,” he mumbles into her hair, dropping a kiss to the crown of her head. “We always do.”

Robin sniffles and pulls away, rubbing a hand over her face. “Yeah. We always do.”

She gives him one last look before following Murray out of the train car.

I made a post a lil while ago abt a Steddie x Hunger Games AU because Hunger Games was all over my for you page for whatever reason. Here’s a take on it. This will likely continue BUT I do not do tag lists. I’m sorry! They give me anxiety 🌝 hope you like it!

[steventhusiast]

ok so I visited a few of my saved prompt lists and will be staying here [gestures around to your askbox] to send you a few of them!!!!

for starters;;;

can I have Stobin + being the last two people awake at a sleepover? 🫶

hiii lulu! hope you like this hehe

send me prompts for my 500 follower celebration! <- link only works on desktop

-

"Steve."

Steve jolts out of his half asleep state at the sound of someone whisper yelling. He literally had been about to pass the fuck out, who decided to interrupt his-

"Steve." The person says again, slightly louder. Steve wonders if they'll wake up any of the other teens that are asleep, scattered around the Wheeler house's lounge.

Finally, Steve squints his eyes open, and is met with Robin sat up on the couch, staring down at him where he's laying on the floor with a blanket over him. She smiles innocently at him.

"You awake?" She asks, and Steve has to hold back a snort.

"No." He deadpans.

"Come outside with me." She requests in a whisper, and Steve huffs a little petulantly even as he goes through the motions of getting up and following her out of the lounge.

When they get outside, Robin guides them over to the bench on the back porch of the house, and just sits there. It's quiet for a moment, until Steve huffs and crosses his arms over his chest.

"You stopped me from falling asleep to come sit outside and do nothing?" He whines, and Robin shoves at his shoulder.

"Brought you outside because I wanted to talk to my bestie without worrying about waking up Nance. She is such a light sleeper, you know?"

Robin saying she wanted to talk to him makes him frown, because it sounds a little serious.

"Are you okay? What'd you wanna talk about?" He asks, concern clear in his voice. Robin makes a small 'huh' noise, and looks over at him with a confused frown.

"Oh!" She says eventually, and then giggles and shakes her head, "No, dingus, I meant I genuinely just wanted to talk to you. What'd you think of the movie?"

"It was shit."

"Steven Marie Harrington! That was cinema!"

[java-jay]

Hell was the journey

but it brought me Heaven

About all my tiny screen people

[myrkky]

platonic soulmates Stobin

[steviesbicrisis]

To me it’s the fact that Steve assumed Robin had a license but still woke up 3 hours before his work shift to drive her to school everyday.

That is not a plot hole everybody, that is just the kind of person Steve Harrington is.

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

The party, of course, immediately accepted Will and Robin when they came out. Dustin couldn't help but ask the question because he's a nosy little shit.

Dustin: *looking at Robin* If you had to pick a man, though, who would you go for?

Robin: Steve. No contest. Only in a parallel universe, though. And parallel me still has to like women. There's no universe where I'm straight. Not that I have anything against heterosexuality.

Steve: Eddie. *everyone stares at him* Oh, was that question not directed at both of us?

Eddie: It's okay, big boy. If I were gay, I'd go for you, too.

Argyle: *whispering* Oh, man, Steve and Eddie don't know about bisexuality.

Steve: You whispered that to me.

Argyle: Oh, sorry. *turns to Jonathan* Oh, man, Steve and Eddie don't know that bisexuality exists.

[paperbackribs]

Oh post of origin

[gr3yearl]

robin buckley as chappell roan and steve as her backup dancer and platonic soulmate (obviously)

something something they go to the vmas, perform, look cool as fuck whilst doing it, and eddie munson, lead guitarist of corroded coffin, is physically incapable of not making a fool of himself on social media, much to his manager's chagrin

everything goes along swimmingly between the two and with robin's career until someone, probably a rabid corroded coffin fan, digs into steve and discovers robin and steve are married, and have been for years

cue an extensive media circus where a not-small minority of robin's fandom cancels her for lying about being a lesbian. robin and steve work together to search for the patience to explain midwestern homophobia and lavender marriages to 12 year olds on tiktok and are reasonably successful, much to their surprise

roughly half a year after the fiasco had died down -- besides the occasional over-zealous kid trying to remind people why their fav is #problematic -- eddie tweets 'i <3 sleeping with married men', followed by a frantic reply of 'THERE WAS MNEAT TO BE A PICTURE WITH THIS', before he finally manages to post the intended picture of him and steve

robin, Shit-Stirrer Supreme, innocuously posts a week later a wedding picture of her and steve, captioned 'the only man i'd trust to always be faithful to me' and eddie quite publicly unfollows robin

the groupchat with all three of them in it is full of screenshots and videos of reactions for them to laugh over, reaching its peak when robin features on a corroded coffin song

[whathehonestfuk]

Stobin getting married super quick after Robin turns 18 because they're platonic soulmates and they need to make sure they get informed if anything happens to the other one also tax benefits and it affords Robin a lot of safety to have a husband

They just forget to tell people it's 1000% platonic because the concept of it being anything other than that is so ridiculous to them

Ques shenanigans and Eddie's pining

[the-fandom-blog]

[urdreamgirls-dreamgirl]

part one part two part three part four part five AO3

“I will love you no matter where you go and who you see. I will love you if you don’t marry me. I will love you if you marry someone else and I will love you if you have a child and I will love you if you have two children. I will love you if you never marry at all and never have children, and spend all your years wishing you had married me after all, and I must say that on late cold nights I prefer this scenario out of all the scenarios I have mentioned. That is how I will love you even as the world goes on its wicked way.”

Indianapolis, Indiana Summer 1996

Steve wakes up alone in his big bed with fluffy white sheets for the last time. The sun filters in through the spaces between his blinds, but the curtains have been taken down and the holes in the drywall spackled and painted over. He climbs from his bed and gets into the shower before he strips the sheets from his mattress. He makes his breakfast—scrambled eggs and burnt bacon—before washing the dishes in his sink. He carefully wraps each plate in newspaper before stacking them in a brown cardboard box. His phone rings.

“Hello?” He says into the receiver.

“Hey, Steve, me and Lucas are at the U-Haul place,” Dustin says on the other end of the line. “Can we just pull up right in front of the building?”

“Yeah, I already talked to the super. Should be all clear down there.”

“Alright, see ya soon.”

“Thanks, Dustin.” Steve hangs up and goes back to wrapping the last of his dishes and mugs. He’s taping up the box he’s been working on, writing “KITCHEN” in big, black letters on the side when there’s a knock on the door.

“It’s open!” He calls out. Then, when he hears the door swing shut, he yells, “Start with the stuff in the bedroom, but please for the love of god, be careful!” Lucas had already broken Steve’s favorite lamp when he’d come with El and Max to help pack a few boxes last weekend and bring them over to Frank and Doug’s garage for storage.

“Always the babysitter,” a familiar voice says from the kitchen doorway.

Steve whirls around to see Eddie, in a white t-shirt and black jeans, leaning his shoulder against the refrigerator. 

“Um,” Steve says and drops the plate he’s holding. It smashes against the kitchen tiles. Neither of them glance at it. Steve watches the way Eddie’s forearms flex as he crosses his arms over his chest.

“Heard you could use some help moving,” Eddie says, a soft smile on his face. “I’m pretty good at heavy lifting, you know.”

~*~

Indianapolis, Indiana Summer 1995

When Steve wakes up, he’s in a tiny bed with rough scratchy sheets. The sunlight is pouring in through uncovered windows. There’s a mechanical beeping. Someone takes his hand in theirs. It is soft and dry. The grip on his fingers is tight.

“Steve?” A voice says next to him.

Steve groans. His head hurts. He has to squint against the light in the room, winces at the tinny beeping of the machines. He turns to see Robin sitting in the vinyl armchair at the side of his bed.

“Mm,” he tries to say something to her, but he’s not sure what it is. His mouth feels glued shut, like he’s eaten a spoonful of peanut butter, teeth all gummy and stuck.

“Water?” She asks, lifting her hand from his to pour him a cup from the plastic pitcher on the bedside table. He can’t get his hand to grip the paper cup properly, so she has to hold it to his lips for him. It’s borderline humiliating as the water misses his mouth and pours down his chin.

Once he’s back against the pillows, he makes a vague gesture with his hand. Robin clears her throat.

“Well—” She’s interrupted by a horde of people practically falling through the doorway. 

“Steve!” El practically shouts. She sees Steve wince and lowers her voice. “Steve. You’re awake.” Mike and Will come in behind her, followed by Jonathan, Nancy, and Max.

Steve grunts in her direction. He tries to sit up, but there’s a shooting pain in his side. He lays back down, gesturing with his hand again.

“After I called you, I called everyone,” El starts, filling Steve in on what he’s missed. “Robin and Nancy, Dustin… Eddie.” She only stumbles slightly over the name and Steve expends all his energy on not reacting to it. “We got there just in time, Steve. You were… not good.” Her eyes are huge as she looks at him.

Steve clears his throat. “Was it…?” His voice is raspy, hoarse, like sandpaper over stones. He can only get out the first two words of his question, but he knows El understands.

“It was Vecna, but… different.” El tilts her head, considering. “Not human at all, not even a little. Not anymore. Changed. Worse.” She shakes her head, like it’s hard to explain. “You were… on the ground, when we got there. In a trance, almost, but it wasn’t the same as… back then. It was… something different. I don’t know. It is hard to explain, I think.” She shakes her head again.

“But you woke up when El called for you,” Will picks up where El’s left off. “You got up and you fought, Steve. You… It was wild.” 

“And then it was over. It was so quick,” El says, eyes shining. “But it’s over. Really. It’s gone. I promise.”

Steve wants to believe her. He wants to believe that the girl with the superpowers has finally defeated the monsters. But he’s been told all this before. He’s seen what happens when they let their guards down, when they try to forget. He’s seen what happens when they leave. 

Steve tries to nod at her, tries to smile. Tries to pretend that he believes her.

~*~

Indianapolis, Indiana Fall 1995

Steve spends a week in the hospital and then three more weeks in rehab where he has to do physical therapy every day. The Party is in and out and Steve thinks that Nancy might have made some sort of schedule for visiting him. Steve only hears vague rumblings of Eddie’s whereabouts. He’s only really convinced that Eddie’s even in the same city when Robin brings him his favorite donuts from the bakery that Eddie used to take him to on Saturday mornings, back when they were happy.

When Steve’s finally released on orders to stay home from work for another month and to do as little as possible—barring his physical therapy—Robin moves back in to her old room in Steve’s apartment. Steve doesn’t ask and Robin doesn’t even really offer. She just… stays. Just tells him that this is how it’s going to be.

On the ride home from the rehab center, she promises it’s only temporary, that she’ll only be there until Steve gets the all-clear to head back out into the world on his own. Steve protests until they reach his apartment building and comes face-to-face with the crumbling concrete stairs that lead all the way up to his apartment. He only stops his grumbling when Robin slips his arm over her shoulder and helps him to his front door. 

“Surprise!” Steve nearly jumps out of his own skin when Robin finally gets the door open and ushers him inside his own home. Steve is bombarded with tiny flecks of paper that he slowly realizes are supposed to be confetti, very clearly homemade. He vaguely thinks about how someone who is not him better clean that up later.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Steve gasps out, clutching at his own chest. “This is how I fucking die. Not monsters. Just you stupid assholes sneaking into my apartment.” He scowls at them and they all have the good grace to look at least a little guilty, even Erica.

“Sorry, Steve,” El says from where she stands between Max and Lucas. “We just wanted to welcome you home.” That’s when Steve sees the banner that says “Welcome home, Steve” hanging over his couch, each letter a different color, all wonky and wobbly. Steve can’t even help the slow smile that spreads over his face.

Steve doesn’t even see Eddie until Robin’s got him settled on his couch, his cane propped next to him against the armrest. She pushes a plastic party cup of soda into one hand and a slice of his welcome home cake into the other. Steve doesn’t miss the fact that the cake is El’s favorite, chocolate on chocolate on chocolate. He shoves a big forkful into his mouth before he even notices Eddie sitting in the corner. Their eyes meet and Eddie raises his own plastic cup in Steve’s direction, a soft smile playing around his lips. Steve swallows thickly and nods back, eyes darting away quickly.

Despite the music and the laughing and the constant conversation, once he’s done with his cake, Steve starts fading fast. He’s still recovering, his wounds burning hot on his side, his legs aching from his trek up the stairs. He stretches, leans back against the couch cushions. He couldn’t keep his eyes open if he tried. 

He hears Robin and Nancy start to round up the Party, pushing them out the door. They all want one last word with Steve, but Robin tells them all they can come back later in the week when Steve’s feeling a little bit better. He hears them all grumbling, half-hearted protests and half-baked arguments about why they should be allowed to stay. He hears them filter out into the hallway and he cracks one eye open, wanting just one last glimpse of them all before he falls into sleep.

But when Steve finally looks over toward the door, the Party has already been pushed out the door, with Robin and Nancy following them out into the hall, making sure they get down the stairs, as if they might try to sneak back in when they’re not looking. It’s just Eddie standing there, lingering near the open front door.

“Bye, Stevie,” he says when he sees Steve looking at him, so softly that Steve almost thinks he must imagine it. But then Eddie raises his hand and gives him a little wave, just a wiggle of his fingers, before he makes his own way out the door. “Feel better.”

Steve falls into a dreamless sleep right there on the couch. 

~*~

Robin has been staying with Steve for about a month when they start to really get into it. She broaches the topic one night in the living room and it’s clear to Steve that she’s been waiting for the perfect moment. 

They’re washing up from dinner. They’d opted for take-out, since Robin can’t cook at all and Steve’s still a little unsteady on his feet most days. He’s hoping that he’ll be able to go back to work in another week, just waiting for the all-clear from his physical therapist. 

Robin comes back from taking the trash out to find Steve stretched out on the couch. She washes her hands and then drops herself into the ugly armchair that Steve’s sure must have come from her mom’s basement at some point over the years they’d lived together. She sighs and Steve braces himself.

“So,” she starts, trying for casual and missing by about a mile. She looks up at Steve and meets his gaze before clearing her throat. “Do you ever think about getting out of here?”

“What, this apartment?” Steve asks, purposely missing her point. His calves are cramping and his temples throb. He can’t really imagine a worse conversation than this one, right now. 

“Come on, Steve,” Robin rolls her eyes. “You know what I mean. Are you going to stay in Indiana for the rest of your life?”

“What’s wrong with Indiana?” Steve crosses his arms over his chest.

“Nothing.” She crosses her own arms, mirroring Steve. “There’s only something wrong with it if you’re too scared to go anywhere else.”

“I not scared,” Steve insists. His fingertips dig into the muscles of his forearms. 

“You’re not?” Robin raises her eyebrow. “Then what are you doing, Steve? If you’re not scared, why are you here while Eddie’s still writing love songs for you halfway across the country.”

Steve’s ribs crack. His lungs collapse. His heart squeezes in his chest. 

“It’s not about that,” Steve mutters, barely able to get the words out. He can’t get enough air. 

“What’s it about, then?” Robin’s voice is gentler now, less combative, but still challenging. 

“I was the only one here, Robin,” Steve doesn’t hide the anger from his voice, the resentment. He unfolds his arms to clutch at the couch cushion beneath him, like it’ll keep him tethered to the earth. “Everyone left and I stayed. I was the only one here. I was here when no one else was.”

“And you almost died, Steve!” Robin’s voice is just as angry as Steve’s when she responds. “You almost died down there. Alone. If Will and El hadn’t gotten there when they did, you wouldn’t be here.”

Steve snaps his jaw shut, his teeth slamming together painfully. He takes a deep breath, tries to regain control of himself.

“I understand that, Robin. But what am I going to do? Leave? Stop watching?”

“Steve,” Robin says, her voice soft. Sadder than he’s ever heard her before. He can’t look at her. He knows she’s crying. He is too, he can feel the hot tears on his cheeks. Steve hears her drop from the chair onto the carpet as she makes her way over to the couch on her knees. “Steve, look at me,” she says when she’s kneeling in front of him. He looks at her. His heart breaks. He remembers the last time they were in this living room, crying together. He remembers how scared she had looked. How angry she’d been at how he was hurting himself. He thinks this might be the same thing. “This isn’t your responsibility. Not alone. We all made it back. We made it in time. You don’t have to stay here. You shouldn’t stay here just because you’re afraid.”

Steve’s throat tightens. He doesn’t know what to say. He can’t promise he’ll stop being scared. He can’t promise he’ll leave, just pick up and go. He wants to. He wants to tell her that he doesn’t need to be here. That he just wants to be here. But it’s not true and he can’t lie to her. Not like this. Wouldn’t even dream of it. Robin seems to understand that. She just stays there, kneeling in front of him, one hand on his knee and one hand gripping one of his, vice-like and warm.

They stay like that for a long time, until the tears dry on both their faces.

~*~

Indianapolis, Indiana Summer 1996

Steve’s mouth has gone dry. His hands feel hollow, weightless. His fingertips burn. He can feel the heat rushing to his face. 

Eddie’s smile falters.

“Or I could, uh. Sorry. I didn’t—“ Eddie starts, standing upright and taking a step back. Steve is quick to cut him off.

“No, no!” He practically yells into the space between them. “No, I, uh. Was just surprised. To see you.” He makes a vague gesture with his hand at his side.

“Robin called,” Eddie says, as if that explains everything. “Said you were skipping town.” Steve hears the implied finally in his words and can’t help but roll his eyes.

Eddie and Steve have spoken sporadically in the year since Steve was in the hospital. Mostly on the phone, but they’d seen each other at Christmas. Steve had tried to avoid Eddie—it should have been easy with the campaign Will was running in Joyce’s basement over the holiday; Steve doesn’t think any of the boys had showered for a full week—but somehow, Eddie was always in Steve’s line of vision, nudging his shoulder when Jonathan told a joke, piling more mashed potatoes on his plate at family dinner, passing him the last sugar cookie on Christmas morning. Steve had felt off-kilter for the entire week he’d been sleeping on the Byers-Hopper living room couch and had come back to Indianapolis with a head full of ghosts. 

Eddie had started calling him after that, just to check in, he’d said. Only once or twice every couple of weeks, but he always had a funny little story about the cat he’d adopted out in LA that made Steve laugh until his sides hurt, still just a little bruised and broken from last summer.

Steve hadn’t told Eddie about his plans to leave Indianapolis. He’d wanted to be sure that he could really do it, that he wasn’t going to come back scared, with his tail between his legs, forced to take up temporary residence over Frank and Doug’s garage until he could find something permanent, all because he was too much of a coward to leave the past behind. 

“Yeah.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Apparently Frank and Doug are looking to franchise. Heard I was just about ready to leave Indianapolis and asked if I’d take a look at a few different places for them. New York, Chicago, Seattle…” He lets his voice trail off.

“LA?” Eddie asks and Steve tries not to convince himself that the look on Eddie’s face is hopeful. 

“Uh. Yeah, actually. LA’s on the list. Last stop on the tour.” Steve cringes as he says the last part, but Eddie just smiles.

“Maybe I could find someone to show you around.” Eddie looks down at his feet and then glances back up at Steve through his eyelashes, all flirtatious and pink. 

“That… would be nice.” Steve’s sweating now, his skin tight and hot across his chest and shoulders. 

“Yeah?” Eddie does sound so hopeful then that Steve feels something in his chest swell at the sound. He feels the blush rising in his own cheeks.

He can’t help the smile that spreads across his face. “Yeah.”

Before they can say anything else, the front door bangs open and Dustin and Lucas come crashing into Steve’s kitchen. 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Steve yells, holding up his hands. “Remember what happened last time! Don’t break any of my shit.”

They’re not even listening, too busy jumping around Eddie, shouting about how they thought they wouldn’t see him until Thanksgiving. Steve smiles at them, rolling his eyes. Eddie meets his gaze from across the kitchen and shoots him a wink.

It’s not perfect. There’s a lot they need to talk about. Steve’s got more cities to visit before he even gets out to LA. He’s not sure he’ll even want to leave Indianapolis once he’s out there. But he’s willing to try and he thinks that, for right now, that’s enough. He’s still scared. He’s scared shitless. Feels like he might vomit every time he thinks about driving out of Indiana. But he thinks there might be some better things waiting out there for him than whatever he’s leaving behind here. He’s got Robin and Nancy in New York. Will and Mike out in Seattle. Lucas, Max, and El in Chicago. Eddie in LA and Jonathan and Argyle down in San Diego. Dustin out in Boston and Erica down in DC. He’s willing to try, for them.

~*~

Only three more plates and an end table get sacrificed to the moving gods by the time they’ve packed Steve’s entire life into the back of the U-Haul Dustin and Lucas had driven over earlier. Steve watches them drive it away from the curb before he unlocks the driver’s side door in his car and gets in. Eddie slides in next to him in the passenger’s seat. 

Eddie looks over at him as Steve slides his sunglasses over his nose. “Ready, Stevie?” 

“Yeah,” Steve says. “Ready.” 

He smiles as he drives away from his apartment for the last time. 

~*~

And here we are, finally at the end. I hope you enjoyed this. I was planning on this being a bit more bittersweet and sad here at the end, but. They didn’t want that, I guess! This was BY FAR the longest and most difficult part to write and I do worry that I’ve fucked up the pacing, but this is all necessary for where these idiots end up so.

Excited to hear what you all think. Sorry for not really explaining anything about the Upside Down. I don’t know what was going on! It’s inexplicable! You have to believe me! Epigraph is from Lemony Snicket, although I did definitely edit it down so there’s that lol if you don’t read on AO3, the title of this chapter is “i can’t believe you told me everything’s okay, that we would find each other somewhere else one day.” :)

Anyway, I don’t really think this lives up to the rest of the fic (I truly believe that this is the best story I’ve ever written), but it makes me happy and it’s complete and I do very much love it, even in all it’s imperfection.

I had no sleep last night and took Tylenol PM about an hour ago, so please forgive any mistakes (and please do feel free to point them out to me! it’s very helpful, I promise! I actually did reread the other parts before finishing this, but it’s highly likely I missed a thing or two).

Here’s the taglist. I’m very very very sorry if I missed you or tagged you by mistake. :)  @starlight-archer @sly-bananabread @eddiemunsonswife @renaissan-vvitch @gamerdano @n0-1-important @orangeandthefairroadkill @hollysimone  @spkdnailbats  @and-say @fabledanzel @grtwdsmwhr @dogswithforks @grimmfitzz @lololol-1234 @estrellami-1 @ajamlessbaby @goblineddie @bejeweledbaby @lizard-dyk3 @savory-babby @mssrs-weasley @anzelsilver

[missmariannecherie]

So many Stobin-besties vibes… 🥹

Also:

I love them! Almost as much as I love Robin and Steve.

[lexirosewrites]

thinking about dyslexic omega steve who keeps turning down eddie’s courting proposals because the idea of reading so many love letters is a daunting task

then robin comes along and she may gag reading eddie’s extra gooey words out loud to him, but the look on steve’s lovestruck face is worth it every single time

[catknives]

soulmate-esque au where steve is born with a psychic power where the first time he touches someone who will be important to him, he gets flashes of future moments between the two of them.

the first time he touches nancy he sees flashes of the two of them happy together, then an argument. the flashes clearly jump ahead a few years, as if they maybe stopped talking for a while, but they still look happy in that future. he thinks that maybe they get in a big fight, but clearly they’re still in each others lives for a long, long time.

when he ruffles dustin’s hair looking for dart, he gets flashes of laughter and jokes and a long life of brotherhood. he sees secret handshakes and little plastic dice and being invited to thanksgiving.

they’re not always positive. the first time he brushes past billy in the locker room, he’s filled with flashes of anger and dread and pain, and none of what he sees makes sense in the moment.

on his first day at scoops, he shakes robin’s hands and gets his biggest vision yet. there’s so much love and happiness and joy there, including a montage in which they seem to work a frankly absurd variety of jobs. but he gets stuck on an image of himself in a tux, robin in a wedding dress, and thinks this must be my future wife.

it isn’t until much later, on a dirty bathroom floor, that he realizes he was standing behind robin in that vision of her in a wedding dress, and, oh, he’s her best man.

almost a year later, when eddie pushes him against a wall with a broken bottle to his neck, steve is almost convinced he’s passed out because of the sheer number of visions running through his head. some of the flashes are innocent happy moments—sharing a joint, laughing at a movie, making dinner—but there’s also flashes of pleasure and adoration and devotion on a level that steve’s never felt before.

he sees flashes of waking up next to eddie in bed, walking a dog around a lake hand in hand, watching eddie perform on stage, a soft kiss to a bare shoulder.

and suddenly steve yearns, thinks he’s never fully known the meaning of that word until now. he tries to play it cool, doesn’t want to freak eddie out, but he’s seen so many visions of them holding hands that his fingers itch with the need to interlace with eddie’s.

when eddie is attacked by demobats, everyone tries to get steve and dustin to leave eddie’s body behind, because clearly eddie is dead. and steve can’t explain to them why he knows that can’t be true, he just stubbornly insists and drags eddie to a hospital as he promises again and again to dustin that eddie is going to make it.

everyone but steve is shocked when the doctors find the barest hint of a pulse.

it’s touch and go at first, but they put eddie in a medically induced coma and he starts to improve. steve is there the whole time. he tells the unconscious eddie about all of the things they still have to do together, about how he knows eddie will live a long, happy life because he’s seen eddie with gray in his hair, laugh lines etched into his face, as they welcome their first grandchild to the world.

and eddie makes it, and when he was up eddie tells steve he heard everything. steve steels himself for denial or disbelief, but eddie tells him that it’s the first thing he’s heard in the past month that actually makes sense.

they share their first kiss right there in the hospital room, and even though steve has seen this moment before, it still takes his breath away.

as he grows older, steve notices more and more of the moments he’s seen in visions as they happen. he happily discovers that there’s so much the visions don’t show, and there’s still so much to see.

because yes, just like he saw all those years ago, he stands behind robin at her wedding, and it’s as moving and special as it always looked. but he also gives max away at her and lucas’s wedding, and he helps dustin propose to suzie, and he helps erica pick out her wedding dress. and, of course, robin stands behind steve at his own wedding.

steve lives a long happy life, with so many memories—seen and unseen—to look forward to.

[unclewaynemunson]

“I need to tell you something.”

Shitfuckno. Eddie doesn't even know why he's still surprised. This is how it always goes, after all. He should probably just give up and stop dating altogether – again.

Steve looks at him exactly as ominously as the words I need to tell you something require. Perfect Steve. Funny Steve. Sweet Steve. Sexy Steve. Steve, who Eddie had genuinely believed to be different.

Eddie sighs, barely suppressing a dark chuckle while he turns away from that perfect face. He doesn't want to look at Steve when he'll tell him the undoubtedly messed-up shit he's about to spill.

“Lemme guess, you're married?” That was what the last guy he dated told him, seven months after they got to know each other. It can't be much worse than that, can it?

Steve grabs Eddie's hand, causing him to involuntarily jerk up his head and meet his eyes.

“How did you know?”

Jesus H. Christ. Not again.

Eddie roughly pulls his hand out of Steve's grip and laughs a joyless laugh.

“Apparently I'm a good guesser.”

He stands up from the park bench the two of them had been sharing. “Well, Steve, this has been a blast. You should go back to your wife, or husband – don't tell me, I don't even wanna know – and I should um, get going. Maybe tell the next person right away what they'll be getting themselves into. Would save them a lot of wasted time, just in case cheating and going around other people's backs isn't really their thing, y'know.”

“Eddie, wait, let me explain!”

Eddie picks up his pace, but Steve, stubborn as he is, easily keeps up with him.

“I'm really not interested, man.”

“It's not – I'm not cheating on her!”

“Okay, so you have an open marriage, good for you. Still the kind of information you could've shared with me, say, three months ago, don't you think?”

“She's a lesbian.”

And that makes Eddie freeze on the spot. It takes Steve two steps before he realizes Eddie has stopped moving; he walks backwards until he's standing right in front of Eddie.

“She's my best friend,” he says, immediately using Eddie's stunned silence to his advantage. “Robin, my roommate – I told you all about her. We wanted to buy a house together and that turned out to be very complicated when you're not... Well, when you're not romantically involved. So we got married. For the, um, practical reasons. We never – we're like siblings. I love her like a sister. But she's also my wife. Platonically.”

It takes a few seconds until Steve's words sink in. Then, Eddie leaps forward and basically collapses into Steve's arms, needing to hold onto him to prevent himself from crashing to the ground.

Steve's arms are warm, strong, and as safe as ever.

“Eddie, are you okay?” Steve asks softly. His lips brush against Eddie's ear while he speaks, and worry colors his voice.

Perfect Steve. Too-good-to-be-true Steve.

“Jesus Christ, Steve,” is the only thing Eddie manages to say.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you,” Steve says. “It's just – I've gotten some, um... Less than ideal reactions, in the past, whenever I told this when I was seeing someone. So I thought it'd be better to wait until things were getting serious.” He sighs, tangling his fingers in Eddie's hair. “I didn't wanna scare you off. Are we – are you okay?”

Eddie nods. He lifts his head from where it's resting against Steve's shoulder and raises his hands to squeeze them around Steve's face.

“We're okay,” he says. “And I'm sorry I didn't want to listen to you. I–” He stops; he can't find the words right away. It's still difficult to talk about those things; to let himself be vulnerable. But Steve has been honest with him, so it's only fair to return the favor.

“I've been hurt, Steve,” he confesses. “More than once. I've had some really shitty experiences with dudes not being honest with me. I thought that that was what was happening again, and I couldn't – I couldn't go through that again. Especially not with you.”

“Jesus, Eddie, I'm so sorry.”

“It's okay,” Eddie rushes to say, pulling Steve even closer towards him. “I trust you.” And as soon as these words leave his mouth, he knows it's the truth.

“I do want to be absolutely clear about one thing, though,” Steve says.

Eddie leans back in Steve's arms to give him an expectant look.

“Robin is my wife. I'm not planning on that to change anytime soon. We've been through a lot together. She's been the most important person in my life for years. We own a house and a dog together, and I love her more than anything. I like you a lot, and I promise you I'm all-in with you, but... Robin is still my number one. And that's not gonna change overnight. I need you to be okay with that.”

Eddie swallows. He looks into Steve's eyes. All he sees is a man who is honest, who loves his friends deeply, and who refuses to make any compromises when it comes to love – whether it be the platonic or the romantic kind.

It doesn't scare Eddie off; it only makes him fonder of Steve.

He smiles, glances around to check if they're alone, and presses a quick kiss against Steve's lips.

“I think I can live with that,” he says. “As long as I'm the only one who gets to do this.” He closes his eyes and lets his lips meet Steve's again.

The sigh that Steve breathes into their tentative kiss is one filled with relief.

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

Robin: You know, as a lesbian, I've never hit on a guy before.

Steve: *squints* Where is this going?

Robin: I'm just saying, what? Because I'm a lesbian I'm not allowed to hit on a guy.

Steve: *confused* No one's stopping you?

Robin: *checks her watch* Next guy that comes in.

Steve rolls his eyes. The bell above the store rang as Eddie walked through the door. Steve froze, and Robin grinned.

Steve: Oh, no.

Eddie walked towards Steve, but then Robin pushed her way in front of him.

Robin: *winks* Hey, pretty boy, you're talking to me today.

Eddie: Okay, what is this?

Robin: Your hair looks great. . . I kind of just want to sink my fingers into it. . . Pull on it in all the right ways. . .really make you scream. . .big boy.

Eddie: *panicking* Am I in the wrong universe?! Is today opposite day? What memo did I not get? Steve, Robin, did you actually manage to switch bodies, or is that still just a joke?

Robin: Are those new pants? They look good on you.

Eddie: *shrieks*

Robin: . . . They'd look better on Steve’s floor.

Steve: Robin!

Eddie: *sighs in relief* Thank God!

Steve: She's not wrong, though. You are a pretty boy, your hair looks great, and your pants definitely would look better on my floor.

Eddie: 😳