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megalony · 2 days ago

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Somewhere Safe

This is a new Eddie Munson imagine that I had a little idea for. I hope you will all like it.

Any feedback always makes my day.

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Summary: (Y/n) doesn't have the best home life and knowing this, Eddie tells her to come and live with him. But he isn't too happy when the group are at a party, and someone tries to play a cruel prank on his girlfriend.

Enjoy.

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Tears as torturous as acid poured down (Y/n)'s face as her feet thudded against the stairs. Each step she took felt like a mile and the house somehow felt like it was growing, contorting into a maze to keep her here. To trap her.

Her feet seemed to crash against the stairs no matter how light she tried to make her steps and in the end, (Y/n) gave up. She allowed the soles of her converse to crash against the carpet and cause the floorboards to creak and groan at her presence.

Her hands grappled with the bannister which she used to propel herself round to the left and she stumbled into another sprint.

The sound of that shrill voice echoed behind her, thundering across the upstairs landing, trying to catch her before she left. Before she made her escape. Well (Y/n) wouldn't be caught. Not tonight.

Her heart thudded and her lungs ached as she reached the front door and scurried outside. She didn't bother to shut or lock the door behind her, it would only slow her down. She moved her hand to secure the rucksack hanging off her shoulder to make sure she didn't drop it in her hurry to leave.

The wind caused her acidic tears to streak across her face and whip along her skin and it hurt. (Y/n)'s eyes were stinging from how much she had cried and her body was shaking from a mixture of panic and adrenaline.

She tripped down the path that sloped down towards the road. It was always a struggle getting up to the house that was built on a slight incline, but it was always so easy to flee.

(Y/n) felt like her heart was going to give out when she saw that familiar dark blue car parked in front of the next house.

Steve.

He was right on time. He always parked in front of the neighbours house; he knew from experience that (Y/n) didn't like her mother to know who she was going out with or see where she was going. But it didn't matter anymore, not after today.

Her body shuddered and trembled and her lungs seemed to stutter in her chest as she pelted across the grass and aimed for that car that would save her.

"She has remembered we're going out, right?" Robin tossed her head back against the headrest and arched one brow as she looked over at Steve. She didn't like to wait around and they had been parked up for almost ten minutes. Usually as soon as Steve pulled up, (Y/n) would bolt out and be in the car within a minute.

"I spoke to her this morning."

"Well clearly-" Robin broke off into a shriek when a resounding thud bashed against the back window.

Both of them turned around to see one of (Y/n)'s hands plastered against the car window and their expressions mirrored shock as they watched her wrench the door open and almost collapse onto the backseat.

As soon as (Y/n) was inside, she yanked the door shut and dropped her bag down into the footwell. Deep breaths rasped past her lips as she started to shake all over again. She was safe. She was with her friends. Nothing could happen to her now if Steve drove off right away.

A frown formed on Steve's lips as he tried to turn and look behind him towards one of his oldest friends.

He and (Y/n) had been friends since she was ten. Steve was like the older brother she never had and they rowed and bickered like siblings but they would do anything for each other.

When Robin joined their little gang, it almost seemed like the three of them were siblings.

"Hey- woah, you okay?"

"Drive." (Y/n) didn't have the time, energy or effort to even begin to explain. She just needed Steve to drive, to get out of here and take her away somewhere safe.

Although tonight's plans might have to change now. (Y/n) shuddered at the thought and she coiled her arms towards her chest as her eyes fell closed. They had planned on going to the movies tonight, but (Y/n) couldn't do that anymore. She couldn't try and pretend that she was fine and that everything was okay when it wasn't. She couldn't go and sit in a crowded screen and eat popcorn and make jokes and slide down in the chair like the three of them always did when they got rowdy and into a giggling fit.

(Y/n) couldn't concentrate on a movie after what had been said and done tonight. Her mind wasn't in the right place for that.

She was already drifting off into her own world, her eyes tightly closed while she brought her knees up to her chest instead of bothering to pull on her seatbelt.

"Is that blood?" Panic entwined in Robin's voice when she turned around in her seat and looked behind her to where her friend was sitting.

She saw the way (Y/n) flinched when she looked down at her exposed arms which she quickly pressed into her shirt so they couldn't be seen. And she ducked her head down and shimmied until her hood was covering her face so the specks of blood over her brow couldn't be seen either.

She curled up with her knees pressing over her arms that were now pinned against her torso and with her forehead pressing into the top of her knees, (Y/n) effectively hid herself away from two of her best friends. She never liked or wanted to hide from them, but tonight was different.

"What?" Panic bubbled up in Steve's voice causing his tone to heighten as he tried to glance over his shoulder towards his friend. He hadn't seen any blood, but then again, he didn't see her properly when she all but threw herself into the car. "What happened?"

It was clear something had gone on tonight. (Y/n) had thrust herself into the car in a panicked state and she was late, she was hardly ever late to meet them for anything. And she wasn't joking or throwing her arms around them in a hug. She wasn't speaking to them at all. And when Steve looked through the mirror and saw how she was curled up in the backseat, his lips fell into a wince and his fingers began to drum against the steering wheel out of panic.

Something had happened at home.

Steve knew (Y/n) didn't have a good relationship with her mum, but he never pried. In all the years that they had been friends, Steve had been round to (Y/n)'s house all of twice. Whenever they met up or went out or hung together, it was always at Steve's house or at the movies or at school.

He knew (Y/n) argued a lot with her mum and her home life was clearly chaotic at the best of times. Steve had seen the signs, but whenever he tried to approach the subject, (Y/n) veered away and he had learned not to ask. He asked if she was alright, if she needed to talk or go out and vent and brush off steam, but he didn't inquire any further.

"(Y/n) talk to me-"

"Eddie. Please, t-take me to Eddie's." (Y/n) hated how pathetic her voice sounded and she wiped her eyes with the collar of her shirt before she pressed her face back down into her knees.

She didn't want to be a burden or ruin their night, but going to the cinema wasn't going to happen for (Y/n) and she didn't want to mess up what was left of Steve and Robin's night. They could still go to the movies like chaotic siblings and have fun. (Y/n) just needed a ride to Eddie's trailer, and Steve was her best friend. He always gave her a ride wherever she needed if her boyfriend couldn't.

(Y/n) wanted to be with Eddie. He would know what to do. His presence was always so calming to (Y/n) and she needed to be with him and decompress and calm down. Besides, (Y/n) had nowhere else to go but Eddie's place.

Steve glanced to the right and locked eyes with Robin for a few seconds, but neither of them had any clues as to what was happening or ideas about what to do. So, with a shrug of his shoulders, he veered to the left and changed course. The trailer park was only five minutes away and if that was where (Y/n) wanted to go, then that's what they would do.

Every now and then, the pair of them snuck glances into the back of the car, but (Y/n) hadn't moved. She stayed curled up like a child who had been scolded. She didn't speak other than the odd whimper or sniff and neither Robin nor Steve said a word either, they didn't know what to do and the atmosphere in the car felt so fragile that one word might shatter everything.

The road into the trailer park was rocky with various pot holes and chunks of gravel. When the car rolled to a stop beside Eddie's beat up van, Steve took a deep breath and glanced behind him towards (Y/n). She didn't seem to have noticed that they were here.

He stretched his hand out towards her and brushed the back of his hand along her knee, he didn't want to grab her and frighten her.

As soon as she saw where they were, (Y/n) scrambled to grab her bag and get out the car. She knew Steve would get out with her, he was a cautious friend and a gentleman when he wanted to be. He would see her inside and make sure she was alright before he left.

"Stay here," He murmured across to Robin before he climbed out the car. He already knew (Y/n) wouldn't ask him and Robin to stay, she would want them to carry on to the cinema and have a fun night. But Steve needed to check she was actually alright and see if Eddie could get through to her before he dared leave her here.

Steve rounded the front of the car and hopped up the steps so he could knock on the trailer door. He assumed that Wayne would be at work, he always did the night shifts and he prayed that Eddie's van being here meant he was home and not out with the band or at a party or doing some deal somewhere.

The moment the trailer door opened and (Y/n) caught a flash of that familiar crimped brown hair, she surged forward. She didn't care that she unbalanced Steve and almost knocked him off the steps. Nor did she care about being polite and saying hello first. All she cared about was getting to Eddie.

Her body barrelled into his arms, causing Eddie to stumble onto his back foot before he regained his balance and held them both upright. His lips quirked into a confused grin, flashing his pearly whites as he felt (Y/n)'s arms bind tightly around his middle and her face meshed up against his sternum.

Confusion sparkled within Eddie's brown eyes as he wrapped his right arm around (Y/n)'s waist and moved his left hand to cradle the back of her head. And he tilted his head down to briefly kiss the top of her head before he noticed Steve was stood on the steps, his car parked a few feet away.

"Hey, I thought you were all going to the movies tonight?"

Eddie only went along to the movies with them if the whole group was going and if it was a film that was either a new sci-fi or a horror. But when it was just Steve and Robin, Eddie hung back and let the three of them head out together. He knew they would never think of him as being in the way, but he knew they enjoyed heading out together and if he went along, Eddie would simply attach himself to (Y/n) and end up missing half the movie by making out with her.

When (Y/n) didn't answer or say anything at all, Eddie looked over towards Steve, and his smile slowly began to fade.

Steve looked worried. He was stood on the top step with one hand on his hip and the other tangled up in the long hair at the back of his neck. His lips were curled up into a grimace and every time he looked towards (Y/n), there was that sense of panic in his eyes that rattled Eddie's core.

And Eddie finally noticed that Robin was in the car with her nose practically smushed against the window, desperately trying to see and hear what was happening. She looked worried too. Something had happened.

"Something happened, she won't tell me what, but she asked to come here."

Tremoring breaths left Eddie's parted lips and he managed to nod his head before he looked down at (Y/n). She was still bound to his chest like some kind of monkey, unwilling to look up at him or take one step away as if she thought she might die if she let him go.

Diverting his attention back down to the girl in his arms, Eddie tried to take a step back inside the trailer, but (Y/n) moved with him like they were one being.

He sucked in a deep breath which he held in while his hands moved round so he was cupping her face in his palms. He leaned his chest back and carefully peeled (Y/n) off of him so he could look down at her. His brows creased and his thumbs glided along her cheekbones.

The cold metal of his rings felt soothing against (Y/n)'s burning skin and she closed her eyes, relishing in the touch rather than focusing on Eddie's concerned expression and his knitted brows that were pulled together in confusion.

He could see now that she was subtly trembling, something he hadn't felt when she clung to him seconds ago. But what made Eddie's lips curl into a snarl was the cut along the left side of her brow near her eye. It didn't look deep enough to need medical attention, but it was enough to leave a streak of blood trickling down her face and it was certainly going to swell and bruise by morning.

And when Eddie spared a glance back towards Steve, he realised that Steve was silently tapping his arms. That caused Eddie to look down to (Y/n)'s hands that were now clinging to his wrists like she was afraid he was going to let her go. His eyes scanned down her hands, wrists and to her exposed forearms.

More cuts along her arms that were smeared in small streaks of blood.

"Oh baby."

(Y/n) couldn't help the tears that started to trickle down her face again and she leaned forward until her nose was meshed up against his sternum and her heavy breaths were fanning into his black cotton shirt. Her hands let go of his wrists in favour of binding her arms back around his waist again and she cried quietly when Eddie's fingers knotted into her hair. He cupped the back of her head with both hands and pressed feverish kisses to the top of her head in an attempt to calm her down.

"Thanks for dropping her off Harrington, we'll be fine."

When Steve nodded, Eddie reached one hand out to pat his shoulder as a sign of thanks. He was glad Steve had brought her here, Eddie didn't want to think about (Y/n) walking down here in this state late at night. It didn't bear thinking about.

Steve gently rested his hand on (Y/n)'s lower back and mumbled "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" before he headed back down the steps towards the car. Suddenly going to the cinema wasn't as exciting anymore now that they knew something wasn't right with (Y/n).

Once the car pulled away, Eddie nudged the door shut and carefully walked backwards, easing (Y/n) with him as they walked in tandem like their legs were tied together.

He glanced his eyes around the trailer before deciding to aim for the sofa and once he sat back down on the sofa, he pulled (Y/n) along with him. She didn't argue or make a disapproving sound, she didn't say anything at all.

Her arms shifted from Eddie's waist to lock around his neck instead and she sat down on his lap, wriggling until she was as close as possible. Her face tucked into Eddie's neck with his hair tickling the back of her head as it curled around her like a curtain trying to protect her and shield her from any prying eyes, not that there was anyone else with them in the trailer.

She lifted her legs and swung them up onto the sofa beside Eddie while one of his hands gripped her thigh and the other curved around her lower back and settled on the dip in her waist.

They stayed like that for a few minutes while Eddie kissed her temple and breathed softly against her skin. He waited until he felt the tears finally stop and her breaths began to even out before he tried to start a conversation.

"Wanna tell me what happened, babe?"

She didn't want to. (Y/n) really didn't want to explain what had happened back at home tonight, but she knew she needed to. She couldn't just sit here and panic Eddie- panic him more than she already had. She needed to at least explain why she had turned up and changed the plans when she was supposed to be at the cinema with Steve and Robin.

She nuzzled her nose into Eddie's collar bone while she felt him humming something against the top of her head, probably the tune he had stuck in his head.

"Mum was in one of her moods, I said- I said I was going to the cinema, but she d-didn't believe me. She called me a whore." (Y/n) almost laughed as she spoke and the cynical smile on her lips was one second away from breaking into a hollow crease.

Eddie was the only one who knew what (Y/n)'s home life was like. (Y/n) had never told anyone what she went through at home, not until she and Eddie got together and he suddenly told her about his own parents. About his shitty dad who didn't stick around and his mum who couldn't be bothered with him after a while. And that was before he got into drugs and smoking and started failing at school; she was probably the reason he went downhill in the first place.

With Eddie being so open to her and when he first told her he loved her, something changed within (Y/n). She felt safe. She felt loved and understood and like it was okay to tell one person what her home life was like.

(Y/n)'s dad wasn't in the picture anymore, after he left, it was just (Y/n) and her mum, and it had been Hell.

Little things (Y/n) did, things that weren't naughty or wrong or bad, it could have been something as simple as drawing a picture or playing the wrong movie, but they set her mum off. They sent her into a rant, into a fit of rage.

Her mother was bent on drilling rules and discipline into (Y/n) and her way of doing that was shouting and lashing out.

She felt Eddie tense against her and the way he sighed through his teeth against her temple made (Y/n) shudder. He had never met her mum but he hated her with a deep vengeance already.

"What did she do?" There was something deep and guttural about Eddie's voice and it made (Y/n) shiver. Especially when Eddie moved his hand from her thigh to cup her cheek and trace his thumb along the cut to her brow.

"I kept telling her it was a cinema trip, but she wouldn't listen. She smacked me, b- but she had a knife…"

(Y/n) shakily let go of Eddie's neck and moved her arms towards her face to show that she had tried to defend herself. And when she hovered her arms near her face, it allowed Eddie a better look at the few cuts to her arms. Superficial wounds, but still bleeding cuts nonetheless and any wound was wrong no matter how shallow or small it was.

Her mum had hit her, nothing new, it was something that happened on occasion and each time it did, (Y/n) fled the house so it wouldn't get worse. She always came home to find her mum crying and apologising or pretending like it hadn't happened.

Tonight was almost the same as normal, but her mum lashed out with a kitchen knife in her hand. It slashed (Y/n)'s face and when she tried to strike her again, (Y/n) ended up with cuts on her arms.

She ran to her bedroom, grabbed her bag- which she added a few clothes to so she didn't have to go home tonight- and fled the house with her mother shouting and screaming behind her.

"You're not going back there."

"I brought an overnight bag." (Y/n) tiredly pointed to her rucksack on the floor beside the front door before she snuggled further into Eddie. He never minded when she wanted to stay over, he encouraged her to stay with him especially if her mum was in one of her moods. And Wayne never minded if he came home to find (Y/n) cooking in the kitchen or watching tv with Eddie in the mornings before school.

"No, I mean you're not going back there again. You can stay here with me." The determination in Eddie's voice was surprising and it made (Y/n)'s heart flutter.

She tilted her head back against his shoulder so she could look up at him and her trembling fingertips delicately traced his jaw and his lower lip which caused him to shudder and close his eyes automatically.

"Eddie…"

"Baby, you're not safe there. If you're here with me then you're safe, uncle Wayne won't mind. Some of your stuff is in my room anyway, so stay. Stay with me."

Eddie curled his hand carefully and slowly around her wrist as not to frighten her and he tilted his head to press his lips against the palm of her hand. He leaned into her touch before he pushed forward and pressed his lips to hers in a burning, searing kiss that stole all the air from (Y/n)'s lungs.

Going back home was just putting (Y/n) at risk. What would stop her mum from doing this again and harming her or stabbing her next time?

If (Y/n) stayed here with Eddie and his uncle, she would be safe. She stayed over at least once a week as it was when things got too much. They could share Eddie's room, he would drive her to school every morning with him and bring her home. She could go out with Robin and Steve and the gang without having to hide or lie or panic about getting home and wondering what mood her mum would be in.

Eddie barely let their lips part, even as (Y/n) pulled back for air, their lips were still brushing and his hand was now cradling the side of her neck.

He uttered "Stay with me," against her lips and he sucked her lower lip between his teeth as his hooded eyes bore into hers, desperate for her to say yes. He wanted her here with him where she was loved and safe.

Eddie knew (Y/n) couldn't tell her mum about any of her male friends. Her mum had it in her mind that (Y/n) couldn't hang out with boys or else she would be corrupted and her grades would slip and she would get into trouble. She didn't seem to realise that (Y/n) could simply be friends with Steve and be in a relationship with Eddie and still get the grades and attend school and still be herself.

She never told her mum about Steve and she certainly didn't mention Eddie because his reputation preceded him and her mum would go off the rails because she didn't know about Eddie's sweet side the way (Y/n) did.

So if (Y/n) stayed here, her mum wouldn't know. She wouldn't know where Eddie lived, she didn't even know that (Y/n) knew Eddie or that she was dating him. She would be protected here.

(Y/n) didn't feel able to say no. She couldn't help the smile that curled at her lips and she leaned into his chest, pushing him back against the sofa as she kissed him with fever.

"Okay."

No sooner had the word passed her lips and into Eddie's mouth than his hand left her hip and curved round to cup her bum. She could feel his lips curving into a wide grin against her mouth that he was bruising with his feverish kisses and he made sure (Y/n)'s legs were hooked around his waist before he got up from the sofa with her sat on his hips.

"That's my girl. Now let's clean those cuts up, hm?" She was here with him now, and this was where she was staying. And Eddie would always look after her.

***

(Y/n) didn't like parties. There was only one type of party where she felt truly comfortable and at ease and that was the parties which Steve hosted. The ones where Nancy, Robin, Eddie and the rest of the group attended. Just them, nobody else, no other kids from school to mock them or stare or get too rowdy and cop off in the bedrooms.

(Y/n) wasn't sure they really classed as parties so much as they were sleepovers, but those were the only kind that (Y/n) felt okay in.

She didn't truly want to be here, but Nancy and Steve insisted. It was one of Nancy's friends throwing the party and apparently everyone was invited. That meant Nancy wanted all her friends to go with her so they could have some fun.

But their definitions of fun were very different.

With both her arms bound around her waist, (Y/n) tilted her head down and tried to worm her way through the bodies in the kitchen so she could get a drink.

They hadn't been here long and already (Y/n) was eager to leave, but she couldn't. She couldn't sneak off without Nancy and the rest of the group knowing and they all promised they would stick together tonight. They were here to have fun and dance and mess around, but they would still hang with each other. (Y/n) didn't want to be a kill joy, she didn't want to be the first one to leave.

She found some plastic cups and got two drinks of whatever punch was in the large fish bowl on the counter. Everyone was drinking from it so it couldn't be spiked with anything bad, she hoped.

Once she turned around with both drinks in hand, she tried to weave back through the sea of people. At least where the rest of the group were sitting in the back room, it wasn't so crowded and they weren't going deaf with the music or squashed near people dancing. They were out the way and could have a somewhat fun night.

(Y/n) could feel a bubble of annoyance swelling in her chest when she passed Chrissy. The cheerleader who thought she was the best of the best and better than everybody else. Chrissy used to try and tease (Y/n) in class quite a lot, and she wasn't pleased when she realised she would have to stop tormenting (Y/n) because if she didn't, (Y/n) would tell the rest of the school that Chrissy had tried buying drugs from Eddie. That would ruin Chrissy's reputation.

"Nice outfit." Chrissy's voice was shrill and the smirk on her face was unsettling as her eyes dragged up and down (Y/n)'s outfit.

She wasn't wearing anything special. This wasn't a dressing up party or Halloween. She was wearing a pair of jeans and Eddie's Hellfire shirt, mainly because it had long sleeves and covered the little scratches and cuts that were finally healed on her arms. Besides, Eddie liked it when she wore his clothes, he was always telling her that.

With an arched brow, (Y/n) looked up and down Chrissy's outfit with a small huff. Chrissy looked like she was going to bed, she had on a skimpy shirt that barely went down to her hips and a pair of shorts so small and tight that they looked uncomfortable. They looked like knickers rather than shorts.

"Nice underwear." Was the response she gave before she walked off to find Eddie again.

Once she was back near the group, (Y/n) locked her eyes on Eddie's frame. He was sat on the sofa, thighs spread apart, elbows resting on his thighs and his chest hunched forward to look at the coffee table where they were playing some kind of game.

A smile pulled at Eddie's lips when (Y/n) walked towards him and held out a red plastic cup in his direction. He took it without question, his smile broadening when he watched her kneel down on the floor and move around until she was sat between his legs with her back up against the sofa. He looped an arm over her shoulder and attached his lips to the back of her head.

"Thanks," He murmured into her hair before he leaned round a bit more to press a kiss to her temple.

(Y/n) grinned and shivered at the feeling of Eddie's hair tickling her shoulder and the crook of her neck as he leaned into her. His cheek smushed up against hers and his chest pressed into her back and shoulders as she felt him smiling and chuckling against her skin.

If Eddie hadn't of tagged along tonight (Y/n) wouldn't have stayed this long, but he didn't have band practice tonight so he had agreed to come along for a night out. It beat hanging around the trailer on his own if (Y/n) wasn't home.

Most of the kids at school knew (Y/n) was staying with Eddie now. Someone had started commenting that he drove her to and from school and it soon caught round that she had been staying at the trailer.

At least (Y/n) knew this news wasn't going to get back to her mum and if it did, she would have a hard time trying to find exactly who Eddie was and where he lived.

Steve, Eddie and Robin had all helped (Y/n) sneak back home last week when her mum was at work so she could grab her stuff. She only took the essentials, her school work, her few favourite books and her clothes and one or two mementos. That was all she needed for now and she had been happier than ever now that she was staying with Eddie- and Wayne, who kept reassuring her he didn't mind her staying with them.

They stayed like that for a while, (Y/n) perched happily on the floor between Eddie's legs that occasionally squeezed into her sides like he was caging her in or making sure she was still there and secure in his embrace.

(Y/n) leaned her cheek on Eddie's knee and curled up against his leg. The alcohol made her relax, but being around the group made her feel a lot better.

She didn't join in whatever game they were playing, neither did Nancy, but Steve and Robin were battling against Eddie in what (Y/n) was sure was some strange game of cards with new rules. Although Eddie seemed to be winning so (Y/n) wasn't going to start questioning the rules.

When she felt Eddie's hand slithering across her shoulder and down her side, (Y/n) tilted her head back on his knees so she could look up at him. Her lips curved into a tender grin and she closed her eyes when he leaned down to kiss her.

His lips tasted like liquorish and sweetened cocktails and his tongue tasted even sweeter when it dove past her lips to battle with hers.

She could feel his hand creeping back up her side until his hand was curled beneath her chin like he was making sure she wasn't about to tilt her head down or pull away from him. But he did let her come up for air when her head started to spin.

His hand stayed caressing her chin for a while and the love-drunk look in his eyes made (Y/n) want to melt on the spot. Eddie could look at her however he wanted and (Y/n) would feel like she was the only person in the world worth looking at; at least in Eddie's world.

"Hey lovebirds, we need more drinks."

"So go get some." Eddie quipped back before he leaned forward and stole another kiss from (Y/n)'s lips. His thumb traced along (Y/n)'s chin and his teeth sank a bit too deeply into her lower lip causing a droplet of blood to splash on his tongue when Steve gave him a shove in the shoulder.

"I'm not an octopus Munson, give me a hand." Steve didn't duck in time before Eddie's free hand clipped him round the back of the head. He was expecting something like that, but he was surprised when Eddie sighed and pushed up from the sofa. He was actually going to help.

Eddie's hands moved to (Y/n)'s shoulders so he could carefully step around her, not wanting to kick or nudge her by accident. He gave her shoulders a lasting squeeze before he followed Steve towards the kitchen, grumbling in the process about having to move.

"Well this music sucks." Robin wasn't lying and as soon as she clocked the idiot who was supposed to be a DJ, she pushed up from the floor and headed in his direction. She wasn't listening to this for the rest of the night, she wanted some proper music and she didn't care who she had to annoy to get her way.

(Y/n) began to tap her fingers on her thighs, feeling a calm buzz mingling in with her blood from the alcohol. She wouldn't have much more, she wanted to at least be able to walk straight when they all decided to call it a night and left. Wobbling out wouldn't be the greatest way to leave and all of them were walking home so they couldn't be blackout drunk tonight.

She pulled out of her thoughts and glanced to the left when Nancy leaned across the sofa to nudge her arm.

Nancy's crimped hair was waving in all directions like she had come into contact with too much static and her smile was rather dopey and loose showing she was on her way to being drunk.

She was practically lying on the sofa with her cheek smushed up into the cushion and her hand lolled on (Y/n)'s shoulder to gain her attention.

"Help me find the bathroom?"

(Y/n) suspected she might have to carry her friend to the bathroom rather than help her scout it out, but she nodded. Finding the bathroom in a strange house wasn't an easy task and it wasn't nice to do alone.

She pushed up to her feet and held her hands out, helping Nancy straighten up and stop wobbling.

Nancy slung her arm around the back of (Y/n)'s shoulders, grinning drunkenly as the pair of them headed away from the room and towards the hall. Neither of them were sure whether there would be a downstairs toilet or not but they decided to try their luck down the hall to find out.

They were in luck. At the end of the hall to the left, a couple stumbled out of the bathroom with toussled hair and skewed jeans. There was a bathroom.

"I'll wait here." (Y/n) unhooked Nancy's arm from around the back of her neck and helped her wobble into the bathroom before she closed the door.

(Y/n) turned so her back was pressed against the wall and she closed her eyes for a few moments, trying to gather her thoughts and make sure she wasn't as drunk as Nancy clearly was.

She found it strange that some of the people from school were so easy-going and so willing to have sex in a stranger's house, in any room that they could find. Anyone could walk in. People could see or laugh or try and interrupt. What if the owners or person's parents came home? It was all too risky and too unsettling for (Y/n). She wouldn't want to have sex in a strangers house in someone else's bedroom, she probably wouldn't go in the bathroom either.

Eddie wasn't like that either, he wouldn't beat around the bush or try and find a random room. If Eddie wanted her, he would make it plainly obvious and he would make their excuses to leave and head back home where they would be alone.

A smile began to pull on her lips and her eyes remained closed as she listened to the sudden change of music. A heavy drum intro, soon followed by at least three different guitar beats. Oh yes, Robin had gotten hold of the DJ, or maybe even Eddie had gone over and made a request as the song sounded vaguely familiar and definitely something that Eddie would listen to.

But her eyes snapped open when an unfamiliar pair of hands suddenly latched around her arm and she was pulled off of the wall she was leaning against.

Her sense of balance wobbled and distorted for a few seconds and (Y/n) darted her eyes around to try and find out what was going on, but her brows furrowed and her heart hammered against her chest when she realised who was stood beside her.

What was Chrissy doing?

Unease bridled through (Y/n)'s chest and dwelled in her stomach as Chrissy steered her down the hall, away from the bathroom where Nancy was. And when (Y/n) felt another hand gripping her other arm, she looked to find one of Chrissy's cheerleading minions beside her.

"Get off-"

"Oh, but we have something to show you."

The sickly tone to her voice made (Y/n)'s stomach churn, but she couldn't pull away. Her shoes skidded against the floor, her knees bent awkwardly and she tried to push back and pull away from them but it didn't work. Their fingers felt like viper's teeth sinking into her arms and they suddenly stopped, no longer dragging (Y/n) down the hall.

Maybe they realised other people at the party would ask them what they were doing and make them stop if they realised both girls were dragging (Y/n) somewhere unwillingly.

(Y/n) twisted her head from left to right, trying in vain to see if Nancy was drunkenly wandering out of the bathroom or to see if she could catch one of the group somewhere in the distance. But she couldn't see anyone. And before she knew what was happening, she was suddenly pushed forward.

For a dreaded moment, she had a horrible feeling that she had just been pushed into a bedroom and someone was waiting in there to make fun of her or play some kind of prank on her.

It was much worse.

She had been shoved into a closet.

Panic settled in her lungs like stones, clogging up until she could barely take in one ounce of air. Her body began to shake as her hands scoured around her, but she couldn't find anything except for a mountain of coats and dozens of pairs of shoes squandered around her feet.

The room couldn't have been bigger than a bathtub, there was barely room for (Y/n) to turn round in a circle and each hook on the wall held a coat or a shawl or a hat. Making (Y/n) feel like she was in a room with a dozen strangers, all cramped together.

She spun on her heels, barely able to see the door with how dark the closet was. The only source of light was the thin orange hue leaking through beneath the door, but it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough to calm (Y/n) down.

Her hands grasped the tiny door handle and she shoved, but it wouldn't open. Someone was holding the handle so it wouldn't twist in any direction, and there was a heavy weight against the door preventing (Y/n) from barging it open even a tiny bit.

"Having fun in there, freak?"

"Open the door!" Her fists bashed down on the door as tears began to well up in her eyes.

She couldn't see. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't move. She couldn't get out.

A rendition of "Let me out!" bellowed past (Y/n)'s lips as she began to wheeze from how little air she was actually intaking. Each shallow breath she took made her lungs ache and she felt like she was going to throw up. They had to let her out. They couldn't leave her in here like this. Someone else would surely notice if she began screaming and hitting the door.

Could (Y/n) scream louder than the music blasting from the tv and the speakers? Could she make enough ruckus, or would no one pay any attention? Would the group even come looking for her? How long until they noticed she wasn't with them?

"Out! Out! Let- let me out!" Words spluttered past her lips, but she couldn't speak from how tight and hoarse her throat was becoming.

Each breath became a strangled sound and her hands trembled as they bashed into the wooden door so harshly that grazes began to appear on her skin.

They knew. They knew she hated small spaces. Chrissy had been in science class with (Y/n) last year when (Y/n) went into the supply cupboard and the door jammed. She had screamed and when the teacher opened the door, (Y/n) was in tears.

Everyone knew she couldn't stand small confined places, they had picked on her enough for what happened in science class. Until (Y/n) began dating Eddie. No one was brave enough to pick on 'the freak's girlfriend' because Eddie was fiercely protective.

"I'll go find them." Eddie muttered as he set his bottle of beer down on the table and started to wander around the house. He could see Robin trying to get the music changed, again, but Nancy and (Y/n) had wandered off and it didn't look like Steve was going to get up and search for them anytime soon.

And Eddie knew his girlfriend, he knew what she was like. She didn't like wandering around strange places on her own and she wasn't one for going out for a smoke or walking off, especially not without Eddie.

His fingers tangled in his hair and he scratched his scalp as he sighed and started mulling about the house. He knew the girls weren't in the kitchen, he and Steve had just come from there with a multitude of different drinks stuffed into their hands and the creases of their elbows.

A soft "Where are you babe?" muttered beneath his breath as he did a circle of the room before he tried to aim for the stairs.

Before he got to the stairs, his attention was stolen by a round of chanting and the curious side of him glanced to the left.

His eyes narrowed as he saw people crowding in the hall. (Y/n) didn't like crowds of people, but she and Nancy might have wandered over there to see what was going on. Or they could have headed outside to get away from the crowd.

Curiosity got the better of him and Eddie pulled away from the stairs so he could trudge down the hall instead with his head angled to one side and his eyes narrowing in on the scene ahead of him. But when his eyes clocked a familiar set of caramel curls, his expression faded into confusion.

Nancy. She was on the edge of the crowd, desperately pushing against them but she couldn't get to whatever everyone was crowding round. And Eddie couldn't see (Y/n) anywhere.

The laughter and the drunken slurrs instantly faded into hushed whispers and panicked voices when Eddie neared, and that made him uncomfortable. There were some people at school who feared him, and he rather liked that because it meant they stayed away from him and didn't try and talk or tease or irritate him. And then there were others who tried to taunt him and make fun of him, but Eddie's sense of humour was warped and he loved how irritated they got when he didn't react the way they wanted.

But right now, seeing people glare at him and look at him with worry in their eyes, that was unsettling. He didn't normally get this kind of reaction, and at a party no less.

His breathing began to turn deep and his chest heaved against his denim jacket when he glanced to the right and saw what everyone was crowding around. There was a door, whether it was to a bathroom or a bedroom, Eddie had no idea. But he could see Jason Carver clinging to the handle and someone else stood so close that the door couldn't be opened.

Oh no.

"Who's in there?" There was a dangerous look in Eddie's eyes and his jaw started to grind and lock in place as he pointed to the door.

There were still people laughing, oblivious to his presence. People like Jason and Chrissy and their cronies who hadn't noticed Eddie stood on the outskirts of the crowd of teens hanging around the door.

"Who's in there?" He rose his voice when he got no answer but his tone deepened in pitch as he slammed his hand against the wall to try and gain someone's attention. Anybody's attention. If it was who he thought it was in that room then there was going to be Hell to pay for this.

Nancy hated the way Eddie's expression changed from concerned to absolutely livid when they both heard (Y/n)'s scream. She knew. Nancy knew from the moment she came out the bathroom and saw the crowd with (Y/n) nowhere in sight, that something bad had happened. And when she heard her friend calling out, she tried to get closer. But people just kept pushing her away. She had already gotten a bruise to her chest where someone pushed her into the wall to stop her from getting to the door.

"Eddie!" The tone in (Y/n)'s voice was desperate and told them just how panicked she was, if her screams weren't enough to convey her terror.

Within an instant, Eddie's hands curled around Jason's shirt and he tackled him backwards until he let go of the door and stumbled against the wall where Eddie pinned him up.

"Why the fuck would you do that?!" His nostrils flared as he seethed until his face was going red and every vein and artery in his body seemed to pop out beneath his skin. His head twisted to the side and he glared at Nancy as everyone started to shout and move. "Get her out!"

She needed no more prompting than that to wrench the door open but Nancy stumbled back with a gasp when (Y/n) fell forward.

(Y/n) had been pressing all of her weight on the door in a feeble attempt to get someone to open it. She tried bashing her knees, her shoulder, her whole body into the wooden door but it didn't budge. Until now. Her hands and knees scraped the carpet floor as she went down with a thud as soon as the door swung open.

Gasps and sobs left her lips and tears dripped from her eyes that were burning and stinging like cleaning solution had been poured into her eyes.

She ignored whoever was trying to talk to her, there was too much static in her head for her to be able to cooperate and even try to work out what she was being told. And as soon as hands tried to grapple for her, (Y/n) screamed and thrust her elbows out in every direction until whoever it was left her alone.

"Eddie- oh God- Steve stop him!" Nancy's hands tangled in her hair and she stepped back as she tried to stop her head from exploding and get someone to do something.

The idiots who had been gathering around had quickly dispersed in every direction. All that was left was Jason's friends and Chrissy, stood to one side as she watched in terror as Eddie slammed his fist down into Jason's nose. It didn't take a genius to know that Jason's nose had broken and the thick rings cladding Eddie's fingers cut into his cheek, marking his pale skin.

"Eddie get off him! Jesus Christ! Someone go get (Y/n)." Steve thrust a hand in the other direction to where he could see (Y/n) scrambling to stumble away. They couldn't let her run off when Steve had seen her crying, they couldn't just watch her leave on her own someone had to go with her.

His hands reached down and he used all his might to wrench Eddie off of Jason who wasn't even fighting back, although that could be because Eddie's punches had stunned him.

Eddie wasn't one for fights. He used words and jokes to deflect situations and he loved winding people up by taking the piss out of them. He made self-deprecating jokes against himself too which always riled people up. It took a lot for Eddie to feel the need to fight physically, something he was usually against. But he couldn't help it.

They had tortured (Y/n) by locking her in there.

He swung his arms at his sides, screeching "Get the Hell off me!" until he realised it was Steve. But he still shrugged off Steve's touch when he scrambled back onto his feet.

His sleeve swiped beneath his lips and nose and he shook his hands out at his sides, thankful he was wearing all his rings as they had saved him from splitting his knuckles. The rings had done all the work of damaging Jason's face with minimal backlash on Eddie's knuckles and skin.

He slammed his palm against the wall as he hurried down the hall, glad everyone was moving out of his way so he didn't have to push them.

He knew Steve and Nancy were half a second behind him while Robin was a step in front, trying to catch up with (Y/n).

The fresh air hit each of them like a truck and the cold seeped into (Y/n)'s chest and caused her lungs to seize up. Her hands moved to press to her chest, begging her lungs to start working again as she gagged and tried to claw for a deep breath.

Her body writhed and shook when she felt hands reaching out for her again and she tried her best not to scream because she knew the only people who would have followed her out here were her friends.

"What- what was that? What happened?" Robin managed to rest a hand on (Y/n)'s shoulder for all of two seconds before she was shaken off.

"They locked her in a closet but she's claustrophobic."

"Assholes." Spat past Robin's lips in a low grunt as she glanced towards the house as if she hoped they would all hear her and feel sorry for themselves. As if they could do that to someone when they were supposed to be at a party. Everyone was supposed to be enjoying themselves. How did listening to (Y/n) panic and scream count as fun or enjoyment for anyone? They were sick.

(Y/n) furiously wiped her hands across her face to try and clear away the tears that were soaking into her face. And when she slowly turned around to face them all, there was only one person she was looking at.

She didn't have to say anything at all for Eddie to hurry forward and deadlock his arms around her. One hand cupped the back of her neck and the other arm pinned around her lower back near her hips, binding her into his chest like he was trying to stuff her into his heart to keep her safe.

He smothered his lips in the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her shampoo as he tried to calm down his breathing and stop himself from becoming enraged.

His hands were shaking against her skin and each breath Eddie took felt like his chest was about to explode.

"It was- I… like mum-"

"I know, I know babe." Eddie hushed against her hair as he began to lean them from side to side like they were doing some kind of slow dance together.

Eddie knew. He was the only one in the group who knew that it wasn't just claustrophobia for (Y/n). It was bad memories too.

She had told Eddie about what her mum was like and how she had treated her when she was younger and each story Eddie heard made him furious. He thought his childhood with his parents had been bad, but Eddie would take that any day over how (Y/n)'s mum had treated her and brought her up.

Her mum used to lock (Y/n) in the closet when she was 'bad', but that could be anything. From (Y/n) not finishing her meal or doing something as simple as spilling something on the floor.

It was how (Y/n) had learned not to tell her mum things, such as that some of her closest friends were boys because she knew her mother would think she was being promiscuous and try to punish her or call her names. there had been times in (Y/n)'s childhood where she was locked in the closet at home and she was forced to kneel on grains of rice until her knees bled and her toes went numb.

She had even slept in there on a few occasions when her mum forgot she was in there. Or when (Y/n) had snook out for a few hours to see her friends, her mum had locked her in the closet and made her sleep in there so she couldn't try and sneak out again.

(Y/n) couldn't abide by small spaces anymore, especially not cupboards or closets like that. She could hear her mother's shrill voice telling her to be a good daughter for once. She could hear her mother crying as she wished (Y/n) would just be good and do as she was told and not be a brat or an ungrateful or promiscuous girl.

She was afraid of being locked away and never being able to get out again.

"I'm taking her home." Eddie announced quietly while his cheek rested on top of (Y/n)'s head and he looked towards the group. He continued to sway them from side to side while his fingers carded through (Y/n)'s hair and he sighed deeply.

It had been the plan anyway for them all to walk home. The trailer park was ten minutes away and Nancy had been hoping to catch a ride home with a friend. Steve and Robin didn't think that far ahead, they were used to hitching rides or drunkenly making their way home. Steve's place was close, the three of them could go and crash there for the night.

"You sure you'll be okay?"

Eddie nodded at Robin before he squeezed (Y/n) in his arms to try and make sure she was ready to go home. Back to her new home, where she didn't have to worry what time she got back or coming up with a good excuse for where she had been and who she had been. Back to a home where she was loved and welcomed and treated with respect rather than imposing anger to make her fall into place.

Home was now with Eddie; home was finally somewhere safe.

#imagine #eddie x reader #eddie munson #eddie imagnie #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson imagine #stranger things season 4 #stranger things 4 #stranger things imagine #stranger things #steve harrington #nancy wheeler #joseph quinn x reader #joseph quinn #joseph quinn imagine

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blueandyellow7 · 8 hours ago

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only real ones remember this absolute gem of an era

#there's so fucking many of them #2022 was peak #byler #will byers #mike wheeler #stranger things #stranger things 5 #st4 #stranger things 4 #matthew modine

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moonstruckme · 14 hours ago

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i saw you wanted some asks other than the marauders

what ab eddie munson x homeschooled reader. i’ve never seen anyone write that and i was homeschooled through middle and high school. maybe reader is just hanging out in eddies room when he gets home from school bc they’re house is chaotic and they’d rather hang out with eddie? maybe reader brings their school work over to eddies to do because it’s quite at his place. i would take my books and notebooks to my friends house and do my school work until i got distracted. and usually id just flip to the back of the books for the answers 👀

i would pack my books in a tote like bag and just walk over there when i could lol

Thank you for requesting lovely Pepper <3

Eddie Munson x fem!reader ♡ 436 words

There are signs of you already when Eddie gets home. A pair of shoes by the door, a tidier kitchen than either Eddie or Wayne have ever left it, and soft music coming from Eddie’s room.

He finds you laying stomach-down on his bed, bent over a book and munching on a bag of chips with the radio sitting on the open windowsill. The afternoon breeze brings in the smell of greenery and springtime.��

“Hey, beautiful.” Eddie lets his backpack slump to the floor.

You don’t startle. Must have heard him coming up the road. You turn your head to greet him with a show-stopping smile. “Hey.”

“You didn’t have to clean the kitchen.”

You shrug. “Figured if I’m going to steal your food, I may as well try and carry my weight.” You crunch down on a chip happily. “How was school?”

“Boring.” Eddie throws himself down onto the bed beside you, causing the springs to squeal and you to bounce slightly. “How’s your school going?”

“Not bad. Also pretty boring.”

“Yeah? Whatcha working on?”

You hum as his face finds its way to the side of your neck. It’s your routine to come to the quiet of Eddie’s trailer to do your schoolwork, and it’s Eddie’s routine to distract you. You tend to prove yourself amenable to distraction.

“Just math, you know. Bleh.”

“Bleh,” Eddie agrees. He kisses where your heart beats under your jaw. “But look at you, miss studious. Still doing work at four thirty in the afternoon.”

“Well” —he can hear the smile in your voice as you yield to distraction once again, letting go of your book to wrap your arms around him— “I didn’t actually start until noon.”

A giggly squeal escapes you when Eddie grabs your waist without warning, digging his fingers into your sides playfully. You’re beneath him in a second.

“Sounds like you’ve been working hard,” he says.

“Not really,” you reply, voice ringing with delight.

Eddie makes a pfft noise. He goes for your neck again, more to antagonize some more giggles out of you than anything else. “Harder than me. I think you deserve a break, sweetheart.”

Your fingers burrow into his curls. “I could use a break,” you say amenably.

“There’s my slacker.” Eddie works his way up to your mouth, catching the appalled laughter as it escapes.

“Hey!”

“What? I told you, you’ve already done more than me.”

“Yeah, but that’s such a low bar.”

“Huh?” He grabs your sides, kissing you as you writhe with poorly contained glee. “I didn’t quite catch that, sweetheart. Maybe you wanna try saying that again.”

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obsessionatthemoment · 3 days ago

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Was having Byler doubt this morning, then remember the last scene of season 4 where the types of flowers Mike had picked El previously are decaying, and behind her, it's 2 canon couples, then Byler. They were wild for that.

Anyway, back to Byler endgame (this might be the shortest my Byler doubt has ever lasted).

#byler #stranger things #byler endgame #stranger things 4

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heartburriedinvenice · 2 days ago

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the end is undeniably near (and i keep running towards it) - steve h.

(steve harrington x hopper!reader)

a part of my phoebe challenge 🎞🪐💌🕯

based on the song "i know the end" by phoebe bridgers

in which you always wanted to escape hawkins, indiana, until you didn't anymore.

in which the billboard said "the end is near"

content warning post season 3 (SO SPOILERS), mild cursing (maybe), ANGST like the whole time, unhealthy coping, and hawkins being hawkins, reader is an implied theater kid (im sorry not sorry)

a / n i disappeared on y’all, I’m sorry!! you know life is getting weird when i randomly return to tumblr. just dipping my toes back in the water of all this so i apologize if i am a little rusty. this is just a piece of a hopper!reader show rewrite that has been in the works for a while so if anyone likes it enough, lmk, I’d be be happy to start posting the whole thing,starting from season 1! any feedback would be awesome (and also requests cause I need inspo back). okay enjoy some angst!

No one ever got out of Hawkins, Indiana. Like the town was somehow enclosed within some heavy-duty bubble, only a few people ever got the nerves to squeeze through. Until you did, until you did the one thing you believed was impossible. You packed your bags, loaded up your car, and left hell. And you did it without a goodbye because the only way to do the impossible was without one. And deep down you knew you were a coward, even after fighting monsters and otherworldly creatures, you were a coward. You could not face what was left behind or allow yourself to acknowledge it.

And it ate away at you in a way you could have never imagined. Too busy pretending like it never crossed your mind, like Hawkins never existed in the first place. Still, it chipped at you piece by piece until the guilt of escaping Hawkins, Indiana finally caught up with you. Until one day that guilt would sneak up and trip you, sending you tumbling all the way back down a hill to only land right back at the gates of Hawkins, at its green sign, Welcome to Hawkins! That warm welcome, the warmest welcome, with its murders and second dimensions and its people. Those people. Those people who worked their way so deep into your heart before you could even realize it. So deep that leaving felt like removing deeply grown roots from a garden, so impossible, so hard to tell where they even stopped growing. You weren’t sure entirely when they grew so deep, you don’t really remember at all how they got there. When you let them? Why did you let them? After everything, you should have known better. You shouldn’t have let them.

You were fifteen when you knew you could never live in Hawkins, Indiana your whole life. It never felt real, artificial, fake. Mass-produced nuclear families and white picket fence houses and stale dead-end jobs.

And then Steve Harrington needed an extra art credit and found his way as the lead in Hawkins High’s production of Romeo and Juliet. When rehearsing turned into giving Steve girl advice and driving with him to drop off flowers. When running lines became swinging a bat of nails and finding an alien in a fridge. When the day before the play performance had turned into icing Steve's bruises on your couch as you ran lines back and forth because neither of you could sleep. When a whole group of middle schoolers sat in the front row and your dad sat center with a bouquet of flowers. They were your family. Your strange and messy family all pretending to be interested in the gibberish mess of Shakespeare on stage. Them watching with stifled laughs as Steve stumbled through lines, as the balcony scene turned into him and you having a staring contest trying to figure out whose lines were next. And though your director would have your heads later, the two of you sat giggling during intermission and had to hold the laughter again when your director asked why you didn’t have time to be memorized to perfection. Because you had all the time in the world, didn’t you?.

Unbelievable as it was, you began to question what you at fifteen had promised you would do. Because you had found more than stale every day Hawkins. You had found their odd-balls who taught you to play Dungeons and Dragons in their basement, who reminded you so much of your sister. And you had found Steve Harrington, a pretty boy with a heart of gold, who risked his life for his Juliet that night at the mall. Who held you tight when it all got too much.

When you moved back to Hawkins, Indiana, after Sara, after your parents split, you were sure life would never be the same again. You needed a fresh start, to completely reconfigure your life and pretend none of what had happened had happened. That you never had a sister, that your dad hadn’t completely changed, burrowing himself under alcohol and late shifts. That your mom wasn’t actively trying to forget and build another life over the one that had been left abandoned in that New York apartment. You were so sure you would have to move on, cut it all out the minute you graduated from high school. You were sure you had to escape on your rickety old bike right out of town.

Then things happened and somehow you found yourself again, found your father again as you sat together for your first Christmas dinner in years. Celebrating the return of the young Will Byers and the return of something else, something more, something familiar and warm. It wasn’t perfect, far from it, but it was yours. You saw your father again for the first time in years that night, Christmas Eve, sitting on the porch as light snow fell and hit your heads, bundled in warm jackets, pretending the coffee you made was not mediocre at best. The police chief and his daughter, a messy duo. And that was perfect to you.

And then things happened again and again and again and finally everything just shattered.

And you left. You did what you had always hoped to do. But you didn’t feel the pride you had thought you would feel when you dreamed it at fifteen. You weren’t heading towards a new life, you were sitting in a stuffy apartment in the city. You were stuck again at what felt like the beginning. Unable to go with the Byers, you immediately made other plans, back at the apartment you had spent so many nights trying to forget.

And it ate away at you in a way you could have never imagined or wanted to imagine. Too busy pretending like it never crossed your mind, like Hawkins never existed in the first place. Still, it chipped at you piece by piece until the guilt of escaping Hawkins, Indiana finally caught up with you. Until one day that guilt would sneak up and trip you, sending you tumbling all the way back down a hill to only land right back at the gates of Hawkins, at its green sign, Welcome to Hawkins! That warm welcome, the warmest welcome, with its murders and second dimensions and its people. Those people. Those people who worked their way so deep into your heart before you could even realize it. So deep that leaving felt like removing deeply grown roots from a garden, so impossible, so hard to tell where they even stopped growing. You weren’t sure entirely when they grew so deep, you don’t really remember at all how they got there. When you let them? Why did you let them? After everything, you should have known better. You shouldn’t have let them.

And then Steve Harrington needed an extra art credit and found his way as the lead in Hawkins High’s production of Romeo and Juliet. When rehearsing turned into giving Steve girl advice and driving with him to drop off flowers. When running lines became swinging a bat of nails and finding an alien in a fridge. Or jumping into a hole in the ground and lighting up never-ending tunnels of vines straight from those horror movies you used to watch with your sister. When the day before the play performance had turned into icing Steve's bruises on your couch as you ran lines back and forth because neither of you could sleep. When a whole group of middle schoolers sat in the front row and your dad sat center with a crumble bouquet of flowers. They were your family. Your strange and messy family all pretending to be interested in the gibberish mess of Shakespeare on stage. Them watching with stifled laughs as Steve stumbled through lines, as the balcony scene turned into him and you having a staring contest trying to figure out whose lines were next. And though your director would have your heads later, the two of you sat giggling during intermission and had to hold the laughter again when your director asked why you didn’t have time to be memorized to perfection. Because you had all the time in the world, didn’t you?.

Unbelievable as it was, you began to question what you at fifteen had promised you would do. Because you had found more than stale every day Hawkins, you had found their odd-balls who taught you to play Dungeons and Dragons in their basement who reminded you so much of your sister. And you had found Steve Harrington, a pretty boy with a heart of gold, who risked his life for his Juliet that night at the mall, pulling you up when you twisted your ankle running up a flight of stairs and getting you out to paramedics when it was over. Icing your ankle and holding you when it all got too much. When you watched everyone exit the mall but the only real family you felt like you had left. When the police told you your fathers body couldn’t be found, buried under ash and grime in the mall fire. That he was the hero, that he saved your lives sacrificing himself.

When you moved back to Hawkins, Indiana, after Sara, after your parents split, you were sure life would never be the same again. You needed a fresh start, to completely reconfigure your life and pretend none of what had happened had happened. That you never had a sister, that your dad hadn’t completely changed, burrowing himself under alcohol and late shifts. That your mom wasn’t actively trying to forget and build another life over the past one that had been left abandoned in that New York apartment, calling only for holidays and those important life events she was so sad she had to miss. You were so sure you would have to move on, cut it all out the minute you graduated from high school. You were sure you had to escape on your rickety old bike right out of town.

Then things happened and somehow you found yourself again, found your father again as you sat together for their first Christmas dinner in years. Celebrating the return of the young Will Byers and the return of something else, something more, something familiar and warm. It wasn’t perfect, far from it, but it was steps in a direction. You saw your father again for the first time in years that night, Christmas Eve, sitting on the porch as light snow fell and hit your heads, bundled in warm jackets, pretending the coffee you made was not mediocre at best. It wasn’t perfect, but it was something for the two of you. The police chief and his daughter, a messy duo. And that was perfect to you.

And then things happened again and again and again and finally everything just shattered.

Spring of 1986, the New York apartment was driving you insane. You felt like you might start running up the walls if you didn’t get out soon. At least that would be ten times more interesting than sitting and watching your Step-Dad watch golf—a sport you didn't understand. Seeing how bored you were, he tried to explain it, but you didn't process a single word he was saying.

You didn’t want to have something with him, you didn’t want a thing you bonded over and you especially didn’t want that thing to be golf.

You debated moving, you debated being drastic and dying your hair to make your mom upset but what good would that do other than feed the part in yourself that no longer cared, no longer wanted to care. Everything you cared about had slipped from your grasp, had disappeared, no matter how tightly you clutched it was gone.

Fuck.

You stared at the wallpaper, one you knew your mom had probably gushed over at the store and chosen. And you glanced at the patterned carpet, and the family picture you were not in. And even though they all reassured you that you were family, deep down you knew you had uprooted their whole routine. You especially saw it in your moms eyes when she looked at you a little too long, a constant reminder of what she had lost all those years ago.

You listened to the busy city traffic below the apartment and the sound of wailing sirens you had completely become ignorant of after you lived in Hawkins so long. You glanced at the kitchen, the sink with no dishes and a fridge actually filled with food that wasn’t leftover take-out, mediocre pasta you had cooked, or boxes of Eggos. And you looked at the man beside you, silent, watching golf. It was all so different.

Every day it remained that way, your mom got home from work late, your stepfather came home before you got back from school, and then Liam, your step brother would come home.

He made it all a little more bearable. The littlest but only because he reminded you of home. He reminded you of Dungeons and Dragons in Mike Wheeler's basement, and your found sister, and the party that always had you on your toes. But even you could not warm up to the boy because he would never be them. And it was unfair. It was cruel of you to make comparisons between Hawkins and New York, to allow that to shut out the only family you now had. But it was one habit you could not seem to break no matter how hard you tried.

Hawkins, Indiana was quiet, it was small. Hawkins, Indiana was both a breath of fresh air and a tightening grip that had you gasping, clawing for a second to breathe. New York was loud, so loud that the sounds of sirens and blaring car horns became only white noise in your head. It was big, not big in the welcoming and warming way. Not big in the feeling of catching sight of a friend in a crowded room. It was big in the way you could not point out a single person at school that you had seen more than once. It was big in a way similar to that of being alone in the middle of a large party. It was so big that being alone in a quiet, dark, empty room would feel the same as walking amidst the large crowds on the street.

And New York didn’t have Steve Harrington. New York didn’t have crazy kids and weird aliens, New York didn’t have Robin Buckley or Nancy Wheeler or Jonathan Byers, New York didn’t have comforting hugs from Joyce, and New York didn’t have your dad and it never would again. The thought of it was enough to make you sick, nausea filling every inch of your body, barely able to swallow down the fact. But you would swallow it down like you always did, like you did everything else.

Your mom would always tell you you could talk to her if you needed to, that no matter how long you were a part she still cared about you. But you still remember the look on her face when you had turned up at the apartment after all those years. Finally back together face to face, the only words she was able to muster was, “you grew up”.

You kept busy filling the days with nothing. On a good day Liam would show you some project he did in class that day, him seemingly the most unbothered by your move-in. And your stepdad, Bill, would ask you how school was to which you would reply fine. It was fine, it would always be just fine.

And you would stare at the phone on the wall in the kitchen. Dialing and hanging up and dialing and hanging up, hearing him pick up and then slamming the phone down, falling back into the chair at the kitchen table. Sometimes he would call back, you knew he caught on, you would just listen as the phone rang, head in your hands. You couldn’t face it, it was all too much and answering that call, hearing that voice would only throw it all back at you at once. It would knock you down and hold you there as you tried to gain control of the emotions you had locked up so tight once again. You felt sick to your stomach once again and the feeling spread, it spread all throughout your body, all the way to your fingertips and toes. For the first time in your life, you begged your body to just throw up, hoping the feelings would go along with it, until the pit in your stomach was completely washed away.

It was this sinking feeling every time you heard the phone ring and as much as you wanted to convince yourself otherwise, you weren’t sure if you would ever pick up. Maybe you would just forget about it all. But it was hard when your mind was plagued with images of creatures you could only describe as otherworldly and when every time you looked at yourself in the mirror before a shower your eyes would draw focus to the deep cut scars that littered your body. You would never truly escape Hawkins, Indiana, it was impossible, and it would follow you around until you finally gave up and went back. But you refused to allow it to have that control, until you picked up the phone…by accident.

It was late, a Saturday evening of all things. Your mother was working late that weekend, your step dad was asleep on the couch, and your step brother had abandoned his books on the table and gone to bed. And the phone kept ringing and ringing and ringing, over and over in repeated increments. One call, two minutes passed, another call, three minutes had passed, and a third call with three minutes passing and on and on and on-

“Will you turn the damn thing off!” Yelled the man on the couch, whose deep sleeping was even disturbed by your past trying to creep back in.

And it worried you, as you apologized and turned back to the phone, head aching from the noise. It worried you because every time before, the phone would ring one, maybe two times before the line went silent. But tonight, you had lost track of just how many times you had slammed the phone down to stop the ringing.

You looked up at the phone again, quiet for much too long, longer than before and RING. RING. RING.

The grunt of your step father filled the empty room and without a second thought, not wanting another lecture from your mom about not getting along with him, you reached for the phone line. Slowly placing it against your ear, you instantly pulled it back as a voice blasted through, louder than the ringing of the phone itself. “Goddammit! please pick up the phone-”

“Hey,” was all you said, it was faint and quiet in contrast, laced with guilt that had piled up from months of avoidance and pretending Hawkins didn’t exist. But it was loud enough to stop the yelling as murmurs and whispers filled the background of wherever your caller was calling from.

Your Steve Harrington, your Romeo who deserved answers. After everything you had been through he deserved something from you that you had failed to deliver.

“Oh thank god, you don’t know how happy I am to hear your voice,” and what you expected to be anger was anything but, rather the clearest sound of overwhelming relief. Relief that all came crashing down the minute he spoke his next words. “You need to get back here, like... like-“

The sound of struggling came from their end of the phone and your heart rate sped up in a panic, only realizing how tightly you were holding the phone to your ear.

Dustin’s voice quickly came through the line, a complaining Steve evident in the back, “like right now, like ASAP, like as soon as possible.”

Dustin’s voice, his tone did nothing to loosen your grip on the phone, nothing to ease your panic and you almost slammed the phone down again. Back home, back in the familiar, back to memories of people that haunted your every thought. You wondered if they had called the Byers, your sister, you wondered if she was there too.

“We can pay your bus ticket, but I can’t really explain like this and we just, we need your help,” Dustin practically cried. “We all need you. We can’t let anyone get hurt again.”

That was all you needed. Hawkins had a pull on you, a force you tried to ignore but eventually pulled you back anyways. Steve was back on the line soon after, you already scribbling a note to your mom, phone pressed against your ear by your shoulder. And when you heard his voice again your breath caught in your throat…it seemed to always do that with him.

“Steve, I-”

“You don’t have to say anything.”

“No, but, Steve I really, just…I don’t know where to start,” you tried to explain, losing any of the words you had planned to say while lying awake at night, staring at the ceiling.

“You don’t have to,” he simply said. But you knew you would, you had too many words to speak. “Just show up, just be here. We need you, even if you don’t believe me. It’s getting crazy again.”

Hawkins would never not be.

“I will be,” you reassured, really reassured. “I will be, I promise.”

And if everyone in Hawkins knew something, you never broke a promise, never. You got close sometimes, sometimes it seemed like you would, but you always met your end of the bargain. You said you would be back in Hawkins, Indiana and you would be. Setting the phone down back on it's holder with a quiet click, you jumped from your chair in the kitchen, as the wood chair quietly screeched against the floor. Open and close, open and close, the drawers in the kitchen were opening and closing until you found a tape role, cutting away a piece. Grabbing your note off the counter, you secured the piece to it and stuck it against the fridge where it would be noticed by your mom.

She would know what it meant, you knew she knew all along, that New York hadn’t been your home in a long time. That Hawkins had grown into something much deeper than you could have ever anticipated. And even then, in that kitchen, in that busy city…you knew, the end was near

#stranger things #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington #steveharrington #stranger things 4 #stranger things x reader #stranger things fic #steve harrington x reader angst #angst fic #could become a series...#steve harrington angst

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farfaras · 2 days ago

Text

I think I got an ex but I forgot him.

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Ao3 link.

“Do you really think this is necessary?” Asked Jonathan. “I mean, in what context would we even do this?”

‘This’ being kissing.

Steve rolled his eyes. “I'm a PDA fanatic, Jon. And most people in the party know this. They saw me with Nancy.”

Jon seemed to be debating this. “That's… a point.”

“What's wrong with kissing me? Kissing is not that big of a deal. It's good with anyone.” Steve sighed, he didn't understand why this was an argument.

“Okay,” Jon put his hands up. “Say we kiss and it's normal and not weird, even when we used to not like each other not long ago.” Steve motioned for him to continue. “I say we establish a limit of kisses per day.” That sounds fair.

“How many?” Steve asked.

“How about, say four?” Jonathan proposed.

Steve raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

“Like four times? Or just four kisses? Be specific here.” Steve needed confirmation, and he was hoping it was times, because who counts kisses?

“Four times. Sure, Steve. Whatever.” Jon managed to read his mind somehow.

“Okay then, kiss me.” Steve said.

“Now?” He seemed hesitant.

“That's the whole reason I came over today, we were gonna practice our displays of affection.” Steve explained. He called Jonathan in the morning. Talked about how his hand holding during the coming out was great and those cheek kisses were cute and all, but they needed a bigger repertoire.

“Just thought we were gonna start smaller.” Jon muttered, kinda sassy like a kid uttering something under his breath so his mom doesn't hear.

Steve laughed. “Like what?”

“I don't know.” Jon was lost in thought for a moment. “Oh!” He snapped his fingers. “We do movie nights sometimes.”

“Okay. What does that have to do with anything?” Steve asked. People really needed to learn to explain themselves better.

“We can practice how we'd act there. You know, during the movie. How would we sit?” Jon finally explained his line of reasoning.

“Huh.” They could do that. “Ideas?”

“Well, we could do a simple arms around the shoulder.” Jon said.

“Boring!” Steve sing-songed. “That's not me at all. Doesn't even feel like something I would do.”

“It seems exactly like something I would do though.” Jonathan said. “What would you do then?”

“Making out, kissing necks, I don't know!”

Jon's eyes widened. “While other people are there? No, you wouldn't.”

“While they're sitting on my lap even.” Steve wiggled his eyebrows.

“Huh, maybe that's it.”

Steve’s face was back to confusion. “What?”

“The middle ground.” Jon continued. Steve just gave him his best please explain what you're saying eyes. “An arm around shoulders is too boring for you, and making out seems too much for me. So maybe being on someone's lap is the compromise.”

“Without making out.” Steve just wanted to confirm he was understanding.

Jon gave him a flat and unimpressed stare. “Yes, Steve. Without making out.”

“Okay, I knew you were smart, Byers.”

“I thought it was,” Jon was using air quotes now, “‘that's babe to you.’”

Steve lowered his voice. “I can call you babe” he also fucking winked.

“Save it for the show.”

Steve got up and sat on a chair near Jonathan's desk. “Okay, come here then.”

“Did we just assume I'm the one who's gonna sit on your lap?” Jon raised his eyebrows.

“Oh my god, if you wanted to feel my ass on you, all you had to do was ask.” Steve used a fake put upon voice so Jon'd know he was just teasing. He stood up and waited for him to sit.

Jon just stared at him, then burst out laughing. “Okay, we can try your way first.”

Steve sat back again on the chair. Jonathan didn't seem like he knew what to do next, he was just standing in front of him. “What are you waiting for? An invitation?”

“I don't think I've ever been this close to a guy before.” Jon pondered.

“Jesus christ,” Steve rolled his eyes. “We've definitely been this close before, maybe not while being friendly, but we've been close.”

“Right.” Jon turned around and sat down. Steve’s hands moved, his right hand on Jon's waist and the other grasped one of Jon's hands, after trailing on his arm.

“Put your arm around me, Jon.” Steve said and Jon listened.

After he did that, they were able to be face to face. “This is not so weird, is it?” Jonathan said.

“Nah. Actually ‘s kinda nice.” Their faces were close, so Steve backed up a little to send a smile Jonathan's way. “Can we kiss now?”

Jon just rolled his eyes at him and giggled. “You're persistent, Harrington.”

Steve just shrugged. “We're going to have to do it eventually.”

“Fine.” Jonathan sighed, looking at his ceiling. So resigned.

“You're acting like it's such a chore, should I be offended?” Steve quizzed. He wasn't actually offended, he thought it was funny. And also hoped Jon wasn't uncomfortable or anything.

“I'm just teasing. It really isn't a chore to kiss an attractive guy at all.” Jon put their intertwined hands on his lap.

“I knew you thought I was hot.” Steve got closer.

“I never told you because I know you're full of yourself and self absorbed, of course.” Steve mocked offense to that. “But we're friends now, so. I like you even if you're full of yourself and self absorbed.”

“Aw, I like you too Jonny boy.” Steve cooed.

“Please don't call me that.” Jon cringed.

“Do you prefer sweetie pie?” Steve rubbed their noses together to maximize the cheesiness.

“I thought we were gonna kiss.” Jon pulled back.

“Oh, now you wanna be kissing.” Steve teased. Jon gave him one of his many flat stares, Steve was getting used to them. “Okay! I'm gonna kiss you now.”

Steve moved the hand that was resting on Jon's waist to put it under his jaw, while Jonathan put his hand on the back of Steve's neck. They were still holding hands, it seemed like a natural thing a couple would do, right? Anyway, Steve guided him until their breaths were mingling, Jon just seemed to be waiting on him. So Steve closed the gap between them.

The kiss was innocent, chaste and close mouthed, lasted a couple seconds and then they were parting. Steve made a face, he communicated through his expression that they could do better, so he went back in. This time his lips were slightly parted, and he thumbed Jon's jaw so he'd do the same. That was moderately successful, but Steve felt like it wasn't enough. He put his fingers on Jon's chin so he could lead him to a more open mouth kiss. The way his tongue entered Jon's mouth was languid and deliberate in his exploration.

Jon made a pleased sound, it vibrated through him and it was like a reflex, the sound of someone being kissed and liking it just made him act on instinct now.

He started trailing kisses on Jon's jaw, then the neck. He let go of Jon's hand, which Jon just used that freedom to sink it in his hair. While Steve rested his on Jon's thigh, trailing a little higher than anticipated. Steve went back to kissing Jonathan. It punched out a tiny whimper out of him, maybe Steve surprised him a bit. This kiss was still slow, like the last one. The difference is that Jon was giving him tongue now, too. They weren't fighting for dominance whatsoever, it still felt like Steve was leading. He felt himself getting a little hot under the collar, and they were running out of breath so he backed off.

Jon's eyes were still closed. “Wow,” he opened his eyes. “That was way better that I thought it was gonna be.”

Huh? “You thought I'd be a bad kisser?!” Steve exclaimed. Even though he was thinking the exact same thing, for different reasons though. Jonathan was into dudes, and Steve considered himself to be a good kisser so it shouldn't be a bad experience for Jon at all! However Steve wasn't into dudes (right?), so it was a surprise that he didn't think this experience was at all bad. It was even pleasant. Could straight guys enjoy kissing a guy? It was just kissing after all.

“I didn't say that!” Jon huffed. “I just thought you'd be more awkward about kissing a guy, that was not awkward at all.”

“It wasn't. I wasn't.”

“It was actually kinda nice.” Jon stated.

“Oh, come on.” Steve rolled his eyes. “Just kinda?” They were still in the same position, Jon's hands had moved to his shoulders. But Steve still had his hands on Jon's waist and thigh. Since Jon's head was above his, it was easy to flutter his eyelashes for him.

Jonathan just laughed and rolled his eyes. “Okay, it was very nice.” He gave in.

Steve impulsively gave him a quick peck and moved them to sit up. “Okay, let's try that again but now I get to sit on your lap.”

Jonathan looked confused, kinda whiplashed, but complied and sat down. Steve, instead of just sitting like a normal person, actually straddled Jon's lap like a crazed little guy. Jonathan, in a turn of events, blushed and didn't even know where to put his hands. Steve easily placed his on Jon's neck.

“This is not what we agreed on.” He wouldn't look Steve in the eyes.

“I just wanted to see if I could fluster you,” Steve lied. “I see now that I could, now back to the original programming.” How anyone didn't realize how much of a dork Steve was, was still a mystery to him. He mirrored Jon's position now. His hands still on Jon's neck. “You can touch me, I'm not gonna bite.” Jonathan shot him a look with suspicion laced in it. “Okay, maybe if you want me to.” Steve joked. He was almost sure it was a joke, anyway.

Jonathan hugged his middle. It was cozy, sitting like this. “Now what?” He asked.

Steve shrugged. “Wanna make out? It was fun.”

Jonathan looked at him like he was crazy. “For fun? You'd do that just for fun?”

“Got anything better to do?”

Jon thought about that for about five seconds before he was shrugging and shaking his head no.

As Steve was driving home, after a make out session with none other than Jonathan fucking Byers (they made out for like 20 minutes before Will actually walked in on them, the horror, which actually just helped them gain credibility for this fake dating spiel), he started to contemplate a possibility that maybe and just maybe a straight guy wouldn't have done what he did today.

And listen, kissing has always been one of Steve's favorite things to do. So he thought that no matter who it was it'd be good, or at least okay. But it wasn't just okay. It wasn't even just good. It was hot, and it was sensual, and if they kept going or changed positions he's almost positive that he'd have ended up with a problem.

So now he was confused. When he got home he needed to call Robin. Wait, what was he gonna tell her?

“You what?!” She yelled. Robin was pacing around the room. “You're an absolute moron. Oh my god, you're a moron and you're my moron.”

“You gotta understand! I- I panicked completely and you of all people should understand!” He tried to justify himself. Steve was just digging his own hole at this point.

He wasn't going to tell Robin about him fake dating Jonathan. He wasn't! But then he called her and she didn't even let him talk, said she was bored on their day off and invited herself over. Next thing he knew, he was spilling his guts all over the living room with Robin as his witness.

He really can't keep secrets from her.

“If you ignored him, he would've left you alone eventually!” She was talking about Dustin.

“You don't know that!” His voice was high. “Besides you didn't see the look on his face when he told Jon and me that our relationship might help someone who's struggling with their sexuality!” He still remembered that stupid and concerned face. “He was so concerned as a friend and he wanted to support them but didn't know how!”

“Oh god, does he know about me? Am I that obvious?” Robin paled.

“He was trying to set you up with me, he doesn't know about you.”

“Then… who…? Oh.” She calmed down and inhaled quickly just a second later. “I've had some suspicion about that kid for a while.”

“Yeah, well. Apparently Dustin too.”

“His heart's in the right place.” Robin sat down next to him on the couch.

“This isn't even what I wanted to talk to you about.” He complained.

“There's more to this absurdity?”

“So, Jon and I were practicing our kissing,”

“Of course you were.” She said.

“Shut up.” He fixed her a, hopefully, stern look. “We actually ended up making out for about 20 minutes, my suggestion by the way, and I found myself,” He should've thought about his words sooner.

“What?” Robin asked. She seemed patient with him, a ridiculous change of pace from a minute ago.

“Jon is a guy, and I enjoyed making out with him.”

Silence.

“Would you, do you think,” Steve needed to think before he spoke. “Do you think you'd enjoy kissing a guy?”

Robin made a disgusted face. “I would most definitely not enjoy kissing a guy.”

“Okay, but see, I always thought that kissing is just kissing and it would be good with anyone.” Steve explained his point of view, even though it was starting to sound like he was weird for it.

“Even before you knew what it was to kiss a guy?” She asked slowly.

“I mean, yeah, I've thought about guys I'd kiss before.” He responded.

“I've never seen a guy I'd be willing to kiss, Steve. Never even considered it.” She was shaking her head. Her eyes were so inquisitive, and Steve was starting to feel like he was under a microscope. “Maybe think more about that.”

He nodded.

“You want to watch a movie?” He needed a distraction.

“Always.” He really loved her.

The movie nights they had weren't strictly planned on a calendar, but they had them at least once a month it seemed like. Tonight was one of those. Steve liked having all of his friends at his house, it was comforting.

Tonight he wasn't even sure what they were watching, it was Lucas’ turn to pick a movie and he must have gone and rented it at family video while he wasn't working ‘cause he didn't remember Lucas renting anything.

The first people to arrive were obviously Robin and Eddie. They usually hung out a bit before the actual movie night, sometimes they stayed the night too. They let themselves in as always and sat down with him.

“Hey guys, want something to drink?” He offered.

“No, thanks, if I want anything I'll get it later.” Robin replied.

“You got coke, Stevie?” Eddie stood up to rummage his fridge.

“Yeah, it must be somewhere in there.” He followed Eddie into the kitchen. “Thought you'd want a beer.”

Eddie emerged with his drink in hand. He shrugged. “Night's still young.”

Steve smiled. “It isn't even night yet.”

“Exactly.”

Once everyone was there, all the kids and Jonathan too, they settled in to watch the movie.

Normally, Steve was in between Robin and Eddie for movie nights. However now that Jonathan and him were “together” they put their plan in action. Before, when they practiced their PDA, they decided that Steve was the one that would sit on Jon's lap. They just felt more comfortable that way, maybe because they spent more time that way but now that was irrelevant. They wouldn't change plans right at that moment.

So Jonathan sat on an individual couch and Steve followed. Right next to them was the couch he normally sat on with Eddie and Robin. He saw Robin visibly pout when she realized she wouldn't be able to sleep on his shoulder when she inevitably grew bored of the film. She gave herself a whole five seconds to mourn her bestie and then she schooled her expression and melted on the couch.

He was so amused with Robin's reaction that he hadn't noticed Eddie's. He actually looked mad. His brows were furrowed, his eyes didn't look happy at all. And his arms were crossed like he couldn't even believe what he was seeing. When he realized that Steve had caught his eye, he looked away and tried to relax. Emphasis on tried.

Steve really wanted to believe that Eddie's reaction was because he was gonna miss Steve being next to him and Robin, and not because of the nature of the relationship that Jon and Steve were portraying. He liked cuddling with Eddie and Robin during movie nights. They're his best friends, and he liked to think they enjoyed that time with him too. So a reaction to that change wasn't totally unwarranted, he just hoped that was the whole reason for it.

At some point during the movie, Jonathan and Steve did share a kiss. It was brief, nothing serious. But right after it happened, Steve heard someone standing up, and he turned to see Eddie leaving to enter the kitchen. He, of course, followed him.

Eddie was just standing in front of the sink.

Steve cleared his throat to announce himself. Eddie soon pretended to be looking for something in the fridge.

“What was that?” Steve asked.

Eddie looked back at him, finally. “What was what?” He closed the fridge, with his hands empty ‘cause he wasn't looking for anything really.

“Is there something you want to tell me Eddie?” He really, really didn't want something to be there.

Eddie crossed his arms. “What are you even implying?” His tone wasn't entirely defensive, it was also hesitant.

“You just, walked out right after,” Steve sighed. “Do you have a problem with me and Jon? I know I already asked you the other day but, you really are acting weird and it's making me nervous because you're one of my best friends and if you do have a problem it's gonna be so-” Steve didn't get to finish because Eddie was right in front of him suddenly and his hands were on his shoulders.

“Hey, hey,” Eddie used the tone of voice he used when he calmed Steve down from a nightmare. “You, you think I'm homophobic?” Eddie sounded pained.

For some reason, Steve realized he was misty eyed. He shook his head. “I would never think that about you, but the way you're acting…”

Eddie crushed him, he was hugging him so tight and Steve will always hug Eddie back.

Eddie stepped back. “I'm not homophobic. Quite um, the opposite actually.”

Steve did not understand subtlety, why did everyone forget that? “I don't- what?”

Eddie smiled fondly at him. He looked down, seemed to be finding courage to say something. He looked back up determined. “I'm gay, Steve.”

“Oh.” Steve nodded. “Thank you for telling me, you know for, trusting me.”

“I trust you the most, sweetheart.” They hugged again, it was longer this time.

When they separated, the look of confusion that was so common on Steve these days came back in full force. “Then why have you been acting so weird lately?” Steve asked.

Eddie opened his mouth, then closed it. He repeated that one, two or three other times. “I- you know, I was totally just,”

“Yeah?”

Eddie shrugged. “I guess I was jealous?”

“Are you asking me or telling me?” Steve thought that Eddie didn't seem completely sure about what he was saying.

“I'm lonely, okay?! I'm single and you parade around with your new boyfriend, which I should just be happy that you can because let's be honest, where could you guys act like this? Nowhere else!” Eddie was rambling now, but Steve understood what he was trying to say, mostly. “It's just, hard. You know?”

“I'm sorry.” Steve found himself saying.

“Eh. What are you gonna do?” Eddie seemed genuinely sad. Steve hated seeing him like this. He squeezed Steve’s shoulder and went back to the living room.

Steve just stood there for a really long time contemplating what just happened. He had another friend who was into guys. Eddie liked guys. Steve maybe also could like guys. Maybe. Did he? And why did this news leave him so shook? He felt like he could float but also like his stomach had a weight to it that had never been there before. And- god now there was a flutter.

Steve was so fucked.

Taglist below.

This is actually the last time I use the taglist (that is over a year old btw). So if you want to keep reading you can either follow the tag "I think I got an ex but I forgot him" or "mer writes sometimes". Thank you for reading!

Tag list.

@iliedaboutthechocolates @my2amgaythoughts @frostbitesoul @kaylakenobi @octopus-in-cripsis @leethegay @yourebuckingkiddingme @marvel-ous-m @messrs-weasley @thevidaren @princessdave @gleek4twd @ntwolf69 @lololol-1234 @fruitmix @thelady-mary @duckyreads @tauntedperfume @pyrohonk @grtwdsmwhr @manda-panda-monium @raisedbylibrarians @flwerkitty @goodolefashionedloverboi @clumsiluni @lexyvey @martinskis-lydias @gay-stranger-things @gregre369 @woven-of-stingers @addelyin @suddenlyinlove @random-thoughts-004 @trashcanniballecter @weirdasshomo @i-have-three-feelings @finalmoondragon @fancyorangepeels @infinitetrashbag @tartarusfairy @cattywompus1 @eddielives1986 @daleyeahson @simplycodey @satan-is-obsessed @paintsplatteredandimperfect @thefailcollection @alohastitch0626 @r0binscript @ledleaf @evix-syne666 @robin-is-sleepy @unhealthobsesions @estrellami-1 @catlovesfandoms @hellomynameismoo @stardust-era @omgshesinsane @emma-elsa-0000 @bye-zai @contraclockwork @beckkthewreck @newtstabber @aceflavouredyougurt @mistlafey @justalittleobsessedhere @chaoskiro @vhelt @u-a-wizard-jamie @callas-shitshow @pineapplecrispy

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