#this is about the single dad au

[sonicrainicorn]

I'm losing my goddamn mind over this:

[iceman-soup]

masc!reader × divorced!price

Knowing John Price from outside of the military - fuckin hell, knowing him from a toddlers' group of all places. You had both joined at roughly the same time, and being the only dads there rather than mums, you quickly stuck by each other, becoming fast friends since the first session.

Turns out, he'd had a shitty divorce a few years ago, and, well - his sweet baby girl got caught up in all the middle of it. She was a tiny baby at the time, but the legal stuff regarding her in the divorce was messy and Price barely managed to see her at all; and then her mother had been arrested for something or other (he didn't like to talk about it) and he had gained full custody, and arrangements were made for her to stay with his family whilst he was on deployment.

Your story was entirely different. The kid was technically your sister's - but she had died shortly after childbirth, and with no partner and an awful relationship with your parents, the two of you had agreed beforehand that if anything happened, you would become the baby's legal carer. But you'd called the boy yours after only a few months, and that's all you ever introduced him as now. Your son.

The toddler group wasn't great for either you nor Price, to be honest. The kids loved the playtime, which was good - but the parent "teachings" that the leader held were mostly encouraging weird outdated shit that wasn't worth listening to, let alone enforcing. Not to mention the constant repetition of how a single parent is a "bad" parent, which you scoffed at every time. Good thing about it was how you and John could sit at one of your houses after and shit talk it over a coffee.

Was he hot? Sure. Yes. Absolutely. It was the very first thing you noticed about him. But more than that you were genuinely grateful to have a friend; another single dad to lean on, to finally start talking about your sister's death and all the guilt you felt with your son. Someone who would actually get it.

Price started to come around to yours almost every day, even when the toddlers' group was only once a week. He insisted it was nicer than his flat, and the kids had more space to play anyway. You never minded. He took you over to his parents' house, introducing you to them. They were quick to befriend you and your child, mentioning how you should visit John's daughter there when he's on deployment.

Deployment. Forgot about that.

You laugh and nod, thanking them before you leave. You take your son to a play park and sit on a bench, watching him and just thinking. It doesn't take long til you realise you're thinking less about your friend being all captain-y and more about his smile you've come to adore being wiped from his face. About him coming home and there being more scars on his hands and arms than before. 'Cause you fucking counted. Realising he might not come home at all.

You go to his flat the next day, awkward small talk as the kids go off to play. He can tell something's up. He asks if it was his parents. Fucking apologises as if he did something wrong. You sit him down on the sofa, and rest your head on his shoulder.

"Dunno what to do," you start, eyes flickering shut when he combs a comforting hand through your hair. "You're such a great man, John. Dunno what I'd do if you went."

He looks at you for a moment; you can feel his gaze. Tilts your chin up with a calloused finger and brushes his lips against yours. It takes a second or two to process what's happening - and then you're kissing him again, his jacket balled up in your fists as you hold him closer, suddenly realise this is what it was all along. The hot, slightly traumatised dad had tripped you up and you fell fuckin hard.

All too quickly and you're lowering him down against the sofa, and his hands are on your back, and your tongue is prodding impatiently at his lip. Then he opens his mouth and you almost seem to melt into it, a soft groan in his throat, and you're lying on top of him, and his legs are around your waist-

"I'm not complaining," you hum between kisses, "but how is making out gonna help?"

He breaks apart. Looks at you with a sort of dog-like curiosity, mulling over the question for a second. Then his hands snake up to rest in your hair, and he smiles his signature smile. "Don't know. Just thought I wanted to kiss you. Won't fix me goin' on deployment, but-" he glances away, a flush creeping up his neck, "thought... thought you might be somethin' to come back to, y'know?"

You chuckle quietly, pressing your lips to his blush. "You askin' me out, John?" He kisses you tenderly, shuffling to sit up a little, pulling you onto his lap facing him.

"If you'll take me."

And you don't even have to think about it. "'Course I will."

[f1amboyant]

Training Season

Charles had always liked football just fine. He played as a kid in the schoolyard with his classmates and was as bad at it as everyone else but laughed all the same. Then… Well, then he couldn’t really play anymore, but he still watched the games on TV and followed the big international events. He liked it just fine. But now. Now Charles was rethinking his love for the sport entirely. Come to think of it, he might actually love football. For his son, of course. And not at all for the coach running from one end of the pitch to the other with wild hair and high cheekbones tinted pink, short shorts and muscular hairy legs and an ass that–

OR: Single dad Charles takes his son to football practice and falls in love with the unfraily handsome coach: Carlos. Also, he may have a lot of trauma to work on, but who has the time?

explicit ~ 50k ~ AU, fluff and angst, trauma, mpreg, so much fluffffff

READ ON AO3

Charles had always liked football just fine. He played as a kid in the schoolyard with his classmates and was as bad at it as everyone else but laughed all the same. Then… Well, then he couldn’t really play anymore, but he still watched the games on TV and followed the big international events. He liked it just fine.

But now. Now Charles was rethinking his love for the sport entirely. Come to think of it, he might actually lovefootball.

For his son, of course. 

And not at all for the coach running from one end of the pitch to the other with wild hair and high cheekbones tinted pink, short shorts and muscular hairy legs and an ass that–

“Dad! Dad, did you see this? Dad! Look!”

Charles’ eyes snapped away from the coach’s posterior and settled back on the little boy with sandy hair and a bright red shirt and even brighter blue eyes.

“Did you see?” the boy asked excitedly, jumping on the green in front of the bench where Charles was sitting. “Did you see, Dad?”

“Yes, yes, of course, I saw. You’re doing amazing, Gab!” Charles lied through his teeth with cheeks as red as the shirt his son was wearing.

He didn’t see a thing, too focused on the coach instead of his own son.

Come on, Charles. You’re here for Gabriel, not to ogle the coach.

But to Charles’ defense, the coach was truly something to look at.

Surrounded by a dozen of excited and chaotic children running around everywhere, the man still ran twice as much as them, showing off his football skills. His t-shirt clang to his sweaty skin, hinting at muscular pecs and defined abs. His short shorts hiked up on his thick thighs showing way more than what was decent for Charles’ sanity. And truly he looked like a Greek god running around among mortals, if Charles could say so himself.

“Vamos, vamos, vamos!” the coach shouted, encouraging the children and oh no, Charles thought, was that Spanish? Poor Charles wasn’t ready for a sexy man like this one with an even sexier Spanish accent, no no no.

Charles tried very hard to focus on his son on the pitch. It lasted for half a minute before his gaze found the coach again. And apparently he wasn’t the only one ogling.

“Damn,” a woman sighed longingly behind Charles. “I would let that man do anything he wanted to me.”  

Her friend giggled.

“You are married, Susie,” the friend said. “Leave him for us, single gals, okay?”

Susie laughed and Charles risked a glance back, and yep, sure enough, the two middle-aged women followed the very same coach Charles was drooling over. Weren’t they a little old for him? But before he could ponder if yes or no, and that no, he shouldn’t shame women’s sexuality no matter their age, one of them noticed him.

“Oh, hi!” the one with the platinum square-cut hair said. Charles recognized Susie’s voice. “Sorry about that, dear. We can get a bit carried away with a man like this one. All the football moms are. You should see the group chat.”

She chuckled and Charles tried very hard not to blush.

“Sorry,” she said again, extending a hand. “I’m Susie, by the way.”

He shook her hand.

“I’m Charles. Gabriel is my son.”

“Oh, he’s such a sweet kid. And he looks a lot like you, I should have guessed. I don’t think we’ve seen you here before, though.”

“Busy with work.”

Charles tried (and failed) not to blush.

“Gabriel says you build houses,” Susan ventured carefully.

“I’m an architect.”

“Close enough,” she said with the knowing smile of a mother. “I'm Jack's mom, by the way. There’s a little gathering after practice next week. All the parents are invited to bring snacks and drinks. You’re probably busy but if you want, you are more than welcome to come. Gabriel’s mom, too.”

“Oh, it’s just me and Gab,” Charles mumbled but his shy reply was swallowed by the whistle ringing high in his ears and a cacophony of young voices heading straight for the stands and the changing rooms.

An armful of eight years old suddenly tackled him and Charles picked up his son, embracing sweat and dirt and grass and everything.

“Dad! Did you see all my moves? Did you see the goal I scored?”

“I did!”

He did not.

“I’m getting so good! The coach said so! And…”

The little boy babbled away in his dad’s ear as Charles waved a shy goodbye at Susie and the other mom, before going to the car. He risked a last glance at the pitch, but the coach was already gone.

“So, what’s the name of your coach, again?” Charles asked as innocently as he could when Gabriel paused in his incessant babbling just long enough to breathe in the back of the car.

In the rearview mirror, Charles could see the boy’s eyes sparkle at the mention of the coach.

“Carlos!” Gab shouted, grabbing the back of Charles’ seat. “He is so so cool and he is so so good at football. He teaches me all these tricks and…”

Charles smiled softly, listening to his son babble on and on about his favorite coach in the whole world and how talented and nice and funny and great and amazing and super and cool and awesome he was. For a second, Charles’ heart tugged with something like longing. A man, who was so sexy it hurt and so sweet with the kids, it had Charles’ belly in all sorts of little twists.

But no. No no no. Not possible, not happening.

Don’t even think about it, Charlie. That’s how you end up in trouble. These sorts of things never ended well for him.

He clenched his jaw, forced the devilishly handsome Spaniard out of his mind and called to Gabriel.

“We’re eating lasagna, tonight.”

“Oh. Okay,” the boy answered with no enthusiasm whatsoever.

“At Grandma’s,” Charles added and the smile was back on his son’s face.

“Yes!” the kid shouted, bouncing on the backseat happily.

Yeah, Charles could pretend he was hurt by Gabriel’s lack of confidence in his father’s cooking abilities, but truly the boy was right. Anyways, all was normal. Life was good, for Charles’ little family of two. He didn’t need anyone else.

(A little fantasy on the football coach couldn’t hurt, though, right?)

(Right.)

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[momotonescreaming]

Hear me out, single dad Tommy.

He's dating a woman (not Abby) and maybe they're engaged, maybe they're just dating - but something feels off, feels wrong and Tommy is still figuring himself out. The conclusion he's coming to is terrifying in the way that it doesn't feel wrong.

He thinks he might be gay,

And then she tells him she's pregnant, and it's his. Maybe the condom broke, maybe she was changing birth control, or maybe we just handwave it away as an accident like the show does. They sure as hell weren't trying for it.

And he's terrified and it hits him that he can't do it anymore. Continue to live the lie he didn't quite know he was living. So he tells her he's gay. He breaks her heart, and listens to her cry and he can't help but feel relieved at the weight off his shoulders.

They continue to live together as they figure it out. She starts looking at apartments, they start talking about dividing their stuff, and then they start talking about the baby. And maybe she doesn't know if she wants to keep it or not. There's a lot more crying.

Together, they come to a decision. Tommy keeps his house - it's in his name after all - and she moves out. She pursues her career, goes travelling, finds herself.

He keeps their baby.

[journey-to-the-attic]

au where this was how ik and diavolo met for the first time when she was like seven

[afewproblems]

Season Two Halloween AU Part Eight

Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six Part Seven

Synopsis: What if Eddie had been at Tina's Halloween Party in Season Two? Featuring Steve!Whump, Stancy Breakup, and Eddie just trying to keep up with all these new revelations about who King-Steve actually is...

As always, thank you thank you to the lovely Jess @strangersteddierthings for letting me brainstorm and send spoilers!

***

Eddie pulls gently on the strap of Dustin's safety goggles, trying as much as he can not to snag his curls in the process.

Almost everyone is decked out in their make-shift protective gear, with bandanas over their mouths, swim goggles --hell, even an old diving mask that Lucas found in the Byers basement. Mike won the painters mask, even though it's slightly too big on his little face.

When Eddie asks if all of this is really necessary, Dustin, Lucas, and Mike all glare ferociously at him before shouting over top of one another about how the Upside Down is toxic and that Will had been lucky last year, and to stop being an idiot. 

Eddie looks to Max who shrugs and pulls down her own swimming goggles over her eyes.

"Don't look at me, I'm new here remember?" She mutters, walking towards the pile of various items the kids brought with them. She grabs a pair of rubber gloves and tosses them at Eddie who manages to catch one while the other falls limply into the dirt.

"They went in full body suits last year, on oxygen, to save Will," Dustin adds, his voice slightly muffled by the floral scarf wrapped around his face, "as little exposed skin as you can, it isn't safe".

Eddie can't help but picture the last Sci-Fi pulp story he read in a zine with government conspiracies and men in yellow suits investigating supposed 'crash sites' in the desert. 

He shivers and pulls his own black bandana from his back pocket to put on.

Steve hasn't moved since they parked and hauled everything out of the van for their descent.

He sits in the sliding side door of the van with his head between his knees and the bat between his hands. Steve had insisted on coming with them, despite the fact that he'd only just managed to stop vomiting about five minutes ago and the nausea is still kicking his ass.

Stubborn idiot.

Eddie shakes his head as he turns back to Dustin to find the kid has wandered closer, standing right beside him now.

"He's dating Nancy," Dustin says quietly, tipping his head towards Steve as surreptitiously as he can.

Eddie freezes at the words and tries to keep his face blank in the way he's seen Steve do, he's not sure he's managed it but the way Dustin rolls his eyes. 

Eddie opens his mouth to respond, with what he isn't sure of given the chorus of shitshitshitshitshit playing on a loop in his head. 

Dustin beats him to it.

"But Mike told me they've been fighting lately, if it helps?" 

Eddie just stares, his mind running a mile a minute, his eyes search Dustin's face for any hint of malice or disgust. But there's nothing.

"You don't…care?" Eddie says slowly, softly, he looks around to the other kids to see if anyone else is listening.

They all continue to argue and bicker over the equipment  except for Max who has walked over to Steve to hand him a pair of rubber gloves. She leans down and tilts her head to look at Steve who still hasn't moved from his position in the van door. 

Dustin shrugs, "why should I? I know what people say about it, but you protected us, you stayed," he looks at Eddie with fierce blue eyes, "bullies talk a lot of shit about other people for what they like".

"And you're not bad Eddie, you're good, just like everyone here". 

Eddie blinks trying to ignore the tightness in his chest at the words and the sting behind his eyes. 

'You're a good kid Ed, that's all that matters,' Wayne had told him the day he came out. 'And I'll love you no matter what'.

So that was at least two people who didn't think he was the town 'freak' -- but a stubborn image of Steve's expression that night by the pool comes to mind as he vehemently argued against being scared of Eddie during the now infamous Halloween party.

Three people then.

"If it helps, he wouldn't shut up about Dallas after he and Nance watched the Outsiders last year so," Dustin shrugs again, this time with the slightest teasing grin. 

Eddie is overcome with such a strong feeling of fondness for the kid that he reaches out and pulls Dustin into a one armed hug that's really more of a headlock than anything else. Eddie takes off Dustin's hat to ruffle his hair before putting it back on and tugging it down over the kids eyes, he snorts at the squawk that Dustin makes in response.

"Dallas huh?" he says with a grin before clearing his throat, "I've always been more partial to a pretty boy myself". 

He laughs as Dustin pushes him off muttering under his breath, "everyone's obsessed with relationships," which only makes Eddie laugh harder. 

Maybe it's the hysteria of the situation, maybe it's the exhaustion loosely wrapping itself around his hands, but in this moment Eddie lets himself push away why they are standing in the middle of this field in the pitch dark, and lets himself reach out for what was previously impossible.

He claps Dustin on the back and tips his head towards the rest of the party getting ready. 

"How distracting can you be?" Eddie asks in a low conspiratorial voice.

Dustin frowns, his eyes dart from where Max is struggling to pull on a second blue rubber glove after getting the first one on to where Steve is finally managing to sit up in the van, pulling on the gloves Max left him with, and rolls his eyes again.

"Yeah, yeah, you get five minutes," Dustin drops his voice slightly, and if it's an imitation of Eddie barking orders at the kids earlier, it's pretty good actually. 

Eddie huffs and sends Dustin a wink before turning on his heel and making his way to the van.

Steve has managed to finally sit up properly and in the moonlight it appears that the green caste to his face is also gone. He looks up as Eddie approaches, and sends him a wane smile. 

"How you feeling?" Eddie says softly. He crouches down on the balls of his feet so he and Steve are at eye level and reaches out for his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. It's as though a dam has burst ever since he was able to gather Steve in his arms in the van, he can't stop reaching out for him. 

"Like my head has a pulse," Steve answers after a moment, "kinda how it felt after Jon cleaned my clock last year, but worse". 

He shrugs and gives Eddie a small smile that stretches his split lip until a small bead of red appears, Steve winces and swipes his hand over the cut, "I'm kinda hoping it doesn't become a yearly thing, you only get so many concussions ya know?" 

No Eddie doesn’t know, but he was also never a jock, dodging elbows, or balls, or apparently monsters in the woods on the regular.

He looks back at the kids, only to see Dustin pointing at the watch on his wrist; even in the dark Eddie can read Dustin's expression.

Hurry up.

Eddie swallows roughly and turns back to Steve, who doesn't move his gaze quickly enough to hide his own stare.

The wistful pinch of Steve's brow is still there, plain as day, and it cements Eddie's decision.

He leans closer, close enough that his nose is nearly touching Steve's own.

"I need to tell you something, and I need you to let me get through it because we don't have a lot of time, okay?" 

Steve blinks once, his wide hazel eyes search Eddie's face as he slowly nods, his mouth opens but Eddie reaches up and presses his palm to gently cover it.

"You caught me off guard before," he whispers quickly, before Steve can move the hand on his mouth, "when you told me about your Nonna". 

He sees Steve's eyes go even wider and feels him freeze under his hand, but he has to keep going. 

"And I thought, you couldn't possibly be saying what I thought you'd were saying, I couldn't--"

Eddie forces himself to meet Steve's gaze this time, as though he could simply transfer his thoughts directly, save himself the embarrassment of trying to make the words come.

He takes a deep breath in, releasing it slowly through his nose.

"I couldn't let myself hope, not then".

"But when I thought you were dead on the floor, that Billy had broken you into a million pieces and we would never be able to put you back together again and I realized," Eddie moves his hand now, letting it travel along Steve's jaw, to the back of his head. He swipes his thumb along the crest of Steve's cheekbone and tries not to let the way the other man holds his breath deter him.

"That I might not get another chance to be that person your Nonna told you about, if I didn't tell you how I felt". 

Steve blinks again and Eddie halts, letting go of Steve completely as he watches the wide hazel eyes grow shiny in the moonlight. 

Oh fuck.

Steve's nose flares slightly with how rapidly he's breathing and his mouth opens and closes in quick succession as he seems to struggle to find the words to respond.

"I--"

"Steve! Eddie!" Mike calls out from behind them, "we are running out of time! Let's go!" 

Eddie curses under his breath and whirls around; Mike stands at the edge of the cavern, his hands on his hips in a similar position to one Steve held earlier, the painter's mask pulled up to reveal the irritated frown on his face.

Dustin has his own face in his hand but looks up soon enough to offer Eddie a resigned shrug.

He catches Max watching the exchange with curious eyes, her face tilting between Eddie, Dustin, Mike, and Steve, but he can't think about that now. 

Not with Steve pushing himself up from the van on unsteady legs, he brushes past Eddie, reaching up with a shaking hand to pinch his nose. 

Eddie darts a hand out to catch Steve's elbow, halting his path.

Steve lets him.

Eddie takes a step closer, wracking his brain, trying to figure out what he could have said to make Steve so upset, had he read him wrong after all, had he overstepped somehow?

"Steve," he says softly, his grip on Steve's elbow is loose but steady as he pulls him closer.

Steve doesn't turn to look at Eddie but he doesn't move away either.

"What the hell is the hold up assholes!" Mike barks out again and Eddie lets himself throw a dirty glare at the kid, which Mike merely rolls his eyes at. 

The attitude on these kids.

Mike does eventually turn, pulled by Dustin, back to the rope that Lucas is securing to the nearby fencepost, hopefully distracted for long enough to let Eddie figure this out. 

But before he can say anything, Steve is pulling himself away from the grip on his elbow, “Eddie--”

"Please,” the word falls out of his mouth, desperate, louder than he wants, “please Steve, just, promise me we'll talk”.

Steve turns his face slightly, just enough that Eddie knows he sees him. 

His eyes are no longer wet, but still red rimmed, his nose slightly pink, the same way he looked that night at the halloween party sitting on that rock in the dark. 

“Okay,” Steve whispers into the night air, quickly and quietly before he presses forward. 

Eddie lets him go, his empty hand drops limply at his side as he watches Steve make his way back to the kids. He snatches an unused pair of goggles from the nearly empty pile on the ground and checks the post where Lucas had secured the rope. 

Eddie watches from the sidelines as Steve seamlessly moves back into Babysitter mode, and while some part of Eddie is relieved at this, he can’t help but miss the way it felt to hold Steve, to put him back together again. 

Even if it was just for a moment.

Part Nine Now Up!

Tag List:

@eriquin @luvinthefreaks @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @goodolefashionedloverboi @ellietheasexylibrarian @bambibiest @sadboislovebeans @howincrediblysapphicofyou @coleys-a-nerd @whycantiuseunderscore @airconditioning123 @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx @corrodedbisexual @starman-jpg @ilovecupcakesandtea @yoriposts @clumsiluni @pelinelin @phantomcat94 @lololol-1234 @anaibis @steveshairspray @hellfireone @eddielives1986 @sunswathe  @tentativeghost @robin-not-batman @estrellami-1 @manda-panda-monium @tinyplanet95 @perseus-notjackson @queenie-ofthe-void @rainbowsaw @sp0o0kylights @littlebluejane @hi-im-eff  @phantypurple @just-ladyme @thoroughlycollected @justrandomfandomstm @swimmingbirdrunningrock @finntheehumaneater @dynamic-powerm@nightmareglitter @genderless-spoon @zaddipax @thebiblesays @pyrohonk @emly03 @geekymagicalpotato @sidebarre @lemon-astra @cipounette @discreetapple @starlitlakes @saphhicwitchbitch @marvel-ous-m @lingeringmirth @honorarybrit81 @bookbinderbitch @finntheehumaneater  @lololol-1234 @eddie-munsons-missing-nipple @monsterloverforhire @gaydrieeen @starlight-archer @homosexual-having-tea @devondespresso @rennnnon @my-hyperfixations-hell-blog

And a few people I think may be intersted!

@steddierthings @steddie-there @stevesbipanic @henderdads

[brainrotroulette]

Cowboy Aeneas for @please-be-nice-im-sensitive ‘s Cowboy Iliad AU

(which you should ALL check out)

‘TIS FINALLY DONE! (As done as it’s going to get because I injured my shoulder 🤡) Peep the little nods to his godly guardians 🤭

[crispyjeans]

So, I had a dumb au idea:

The AU is basically: Morro gets adopted by the Smiths (instead of dying)

When their parents disappear, Morro is the one to raise Kai and Nya. It's easier for him than it would've been for Kai, because Morro's a full grown adult with a stable job.

When the events of the pilot happen, he's the one who gets taken because he's not going to let his siblings get hurt, and he accidentally befriends Garmadon, who asks him to take care of Lloyd.

He adopts Harumi after the Great Devourer incident (it's a coping mechanism for accidentally letting her parents die 😔)

I'm working on a fic for this au right now (not posted yet) but here's some silly doodles:

The last one is when they're on the Dark Island (Morro gets 'captured' instead of Misako)

Garmadon blushes a golden color because that's the color of his blood :)

[moeblob]

They're soulmates in every single universe and I miss them at the most random times.

[eugeneplace]

Little question: Do you plan to do more Branch art as a single father? I loved the AU

Oh yeah, yeah! Sorry, WDT is very um... demanding. But I haven't abandoned any of my other Aus! This one in particular is in a process of ✨Glow Up✨

Here, a little sneak peek

I wanted him to look more like Grandma Rosiepuff, that's why his hair is tied in a bun. Oh! And I had an idea! I'm gonna make Branch's child be the result of a one-night stand with [redacted]

[13reasonstoeatthatcake]

I really want to know how Lilith Sorrengail feels about trying her best to get her youngest daughter away from whatever it was that her dad supposedly found in the Archives after Brennan 'died', just to get said daughter even more involved with the tyrrish rebellion two: electric boogaloo.

[sonicrainicorn]

the fact that I like writing angst so much is really funny considering I think I write sweet, wholesome moments better

[kheprriverse]

Upcoming Ballad changes 👀?

[novella-november]

Is this fanfic friendly? I feel like an outlier.

I guess this is my sign it's time to throw together a FAQ post to link to lol.

Yes, every event for this blog is fanfic friendly :D

Though as I mentioned on my Ominous October post, for events that include multiple short stories, I encourage everyone to flex their creativity and take one of their planned short story fanfics, and at least *attempt* to turn one of them into something entirely original; rebuilding a character and story from the ground up to stand on its own two legs is no easy feat, and that is what makes it so fun!

It really gets your creative gears turning, to make an "au of an existing material" to be something entirely original, and you can be pleasantly surprised about the things you come up with!

As a few people say, its not just a matter of "filing the serial numbers off" -- you have to add in just as much *or more* as what you take out when you are turning a fanfiction into something that is original and completely divorced from its original source material / inspiration, and that is a hard, but very rewarding challenge!

Obviously, this is not a requirement (there's no hard requirements for any of the challenges, other than no cheating, including no using AI),

but if you would like an extra challenge for the short story events and you're planning on doing entirely fan-fiction, I highly recommend trying it out at least once, and seeing where it leads you--

you may find yourself pleasantly surprised by what you find down that rabbit hole!

[mewniemoon]

Narinder as a dad would simultaneously be both "Kids are indestructible, they got rubber bones. Throw em off the roof for landing-on-thy-feet practice? Sure why not, theres a matress at the bottom they'll be fine, walking it off builds character, Shamura raised me and I turned out fine." and "These are my precious vunerable tiny darlings, my little meow meows, my kibby cats, and I will protect them with my entire being. The worlds cruel and unjust and if you even look at my baby shittens I will vaporize you to dust with my rage alone." And these are both true at once and can flicker on and off at any second.

[afewproblems]

Season Two Halloween AU Part Seven

Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six

Synopsis: What if Eddie had been at Tina's Halloween Party in Season Two? Featuring Steve!Whump, Stancy Breakup, and Eddie just trying to keep up with all these new revelations about who King-Steve actually is...

As always, thank you thank you to the lovely Jess @strangersteddierthings for being my cheerleader!

[CW: Discussions of injuries, vomiting]

***

Eddie grips the steering wheel tightly in his hands, while his eyes flick from the rearview mirror and back to the road over and over again, watching for movement, for some sign of wakefulness in Steve.

Dustin had managed to find bandages and peroxide earlier in the Byers washroom to help clean up Steve's face before they left, while Eddie delicately picked the shards of ceramic out of Steve's hair.

The impact had broken the skin and would definitely require stitches, but there were no pieces left in the wound.

The biggest worry for Eddie, with Steve now cleaned and bandaged, was that Steve had already been smacked around the day before by Hargrove. He can't even imagine what two blows to the head in two days has actually done, and there wouldn't be any way of knowing until Steve wakes.

And that is where the argument had started.

***

"We can't just leave, we have to do something we have to give them time!" Mike insists while Eddie gathers the soiled towels covered in blood and peroxide.

Eddie scoffs and whirls around on Mike.

"Are you joking? Your babysitter just got obliterated by an ashtray, we're going to the hospital".

Dustin reaches out for Eddies shoulder, shaking it with urgency, "Steve would have--"

"No, he told you guys that we were not getting involved, we're on the bench".

"You can't keep all of us here," Max tries this time, she crosses her arms in front of her and scowls at Eddie, "if we all go, we'll all be safe".

Eddie barks out a nearly hysterical laugh at the suggestion, these fucking kids.

He looks down at Steve and tries to imagine what he would do in this scenario. Hopper, Joyce, Nancy, and Jonathan are gone; Steve is the only other expert left in this situation, the only other voice of reason in the house.

With his eyes closed and the blood now gone, Steve looks as though he could be sleeping.

"Shit. Shit," Eddie brings his hands up into his hair and tries to slow down the panic coursing through him. It's too much, too many people to worry about even without the literal destruction of their town hanging over their heads.

He looks at Steve again.

"Okay, but if we do this, you listen to me, no arguments, none of that shit you give Steve," Eddie begins counting off his fingers as he speaks, "and most importantly, we go to the hospital, you get forty-five minutes".

***

"Mike, are you still keeping time for how long he's been out?" Eddie asks as he looks at the kids through the rearview.

Though he hadn't thought about it when he bought the van off of Reefer Rick --a deal he's still not sure who got the better end of, based on the lightness of Eddie's wallet for weeks afterwards, Eddie is pretty grateful now for the number of seats and the long bench in the back.

Steve's Beemer wouldn't have been able to fit all of them and as much as Max tried to justify stealing her brothers car, neither would the Camero.

Mike mutters something under his breath and Dustin elbows him in the ribs, hard by the sound Mike makes and the glare he shoots Dustin in response.

"I got it," Max says tiredly, she holds up her watch before letting her hand drop into her lap.

She perks up slightly and leans forward to grip the back of the drivers seat, "you know, if you want to sit back here, I can--"

"Nope, nope," Eddie punctuates the words by slapping the steering wheel, "your job is to watch him, and navigate".

"I'm navigating," Lucas insists from the passenger seat beside Eddie. He has the map from earlier spread out over his legs and a finger tracing the red marker lines they had made earlier that night, "you're going to keep going straight and then it's a left on Mount Sinai by the way".

Eddie nods and opens his mouth to ask about how long until the turn when a groan floats up from the back.

Eddie nearly slams on the brakes in surprise, instead jerking the wheel, sending the van into a harsh swerve over the empty road. The kids all yell over one another but Dustin's voice carries the loudest.

"You're jostling him, Jesus Eddie!"

Eddie winces as he manages to straighten the vehicle's course once more, "shit, shit sorry, just, is he awake?"

"Not really," Dustin says, the sound of rustling fabric and another groan punctuating the silent car.

Eddie's resolve finally snaps.

He turns to Lucas, "you said it's just straight and then one more turn right?" Eddie asks as he lets the car drift to the side of the road before throwing it into park.

"Yeah, why?" Lucas says slowly, his face scrunched into a confused frown, Max perks up once again from the middle row in Eddie's periphery.

Eddie turns to face Max's wide grin and rolls his eyes, "yeah, yeah, get up here," he grumbles, popping open the driver's side door.

"Seatbelt or no deal, keep it under sixty, and slow down on the turn".

Max nods rapidly and bites her lip, nearly vibrating with excitement as she scrambles over the middle console to take Eddie's place, "you got it!"

"Why does she get to drive?" Mike growls under his breath but it still carries through the open drivers side door. Steve makes another noise and Eddie has to tamp down a scream of frustration at the sound.

He makes his way to the back passenger door, sliding it open to meet Mike's glare, "my van, my rules Wheeler, move up, Dustin you're keeping the time now".

Dustin nods and leans towards the front, lifting his watch as he asks Max quietly about how long Steve has been out.

Eddie settles in the far back next to Steve, ignoring the guilt that settles heavily in his stomach. If only he had locked the door, if he had been able to hold his own with Billy, this never would have happened. Eddie swallows the lump that begins to form in his throat and pours his focus into Steve, that's who needs him now.

Eddie's never seen someone with a head injury before, hell, he's never seen anyone get their ass beaten like Steve just did and Wayne's lessons in first aid never went past burns or cuts, maybe splinting a break.

Eddie was out of his depth with this.

Steve's unfocused gaze lands on him as he tilts his head slightly. He makes a small noise of recognition and lifts his left hand up to brush softly against Eddie's face.

"Nance?" Steve slurs out, blinking a few times, and fuck, if that doesn't sting.

Eddie can't quite hide his wince and breathes out sharply through his nose, "Nope, sorry, you're stuck with me".

Steve blinks again, this time his eyes narrow slightly as he reaches out again, but Eddie manages to catch his hand this time and gently lowers it back down. He allows himself one indulgence though, and entwines his fingers through Steve's own.

Just this once.

"Ed?" Steve says this time and Eddie can't help the grin that slowly pulls at his lips, thank God.

"Yeah man," Eddie whispers, he clears his throat in an attempt to move the lump that appears once more. Steve's pupils are different sizes but that doesn't seem to stop him from realizing they are no longer in the Byers home.

"Why--we're moving?"

"I was out numbered," Eddie says darkly, sending a glare to Dustin who flips him the bird over his shoulder. He's looking at Lucas's map from the seat behind him.

Steve groans again and Eddie watches as all the colour drains from his cheeks and lips. By the time Eddie realizes what is happening, Steve is already leaning his head over the floor and vomiting all over Eddie's shoes.

"Oh shit Steve, okay, okay, let it out," Eddie helps him sit up slightly and manages to move his feet for the next round, nose wrinkling at the smell of bile. He lets go of Steve's hand and instead settles for letting one hand brace his shoulder while the other sweeps into his hair, pulling the slightly longer sections away from his face.

Eddie tries to focus on keeping Steve steady rather than how soft his hair is.

Mike sucks his teeth in disgust as Dustin swears from the middle seat and covers his mouth, "did he just puke?"

Eddie wants to throttle them both.

Steve pulls him from his violent thoughts though as he coughs and gags again, breathing out a heavy whine as he catches his breath.

He mumbles something so quiet that Eddie almost wonders for a moment if he spoke at all, but then Steve taps his hand weakly against Eddie's hand on his shoulder.

"Pull over," he whispers in a much clearer voice this time and Eddie looks up towards the front of the car, Max is in the middle of turning, the last one if Lucas was to be believed.

"Steve, we can't," Eddie tries, hating the way that Steve deflates, it's almost like when Eddie found him after Tina's party.

"I sorry sweetheart, I promise, hospital after this," Eddie says quietly.

He freezes at the realization of what he just said.

Shit.

It's as though his heart has stopped in his chest and his ribs are crushing inwards, as though he's about to collapse like some dying star.

Eddie looks around the interior of the van, hoping no one else heard him only to catch Dustin staring him down with an intense but curious look in his eyes, his brow furrowed as though Eddie is a puzzle and the last piece has gone missing.

Dustin says nothing though, and turns back to the front where Mike, Lucas, and Max are talking animatedly.

Steve's head flops backwards onto Eddie's chest, pulling his focus from the kids. Steve is looking up at him and from his close Eddie can count the number of eyelashes, the number of freckles dusting his nose, the flecks of green in his blown eyes.

Even with his bruised face and the faint traces of bile on his breath, Steve is beautiful.

Eddie thinks of how Steve protected them all again and again, how he offered advice to Dustin -even if it wasn't the best, how he had insisted that Eddie wasn't the reason Steve had been scared that night, not wanting him to feel like yet another person was afraid of Eddie.

He thinks of all the ways that Steve has shown himself over the last few days and feels the last few strands holding up the image of King-Steve Harrington, finally fall away.

He's never let himself to stare like this, unashamedly at another man, it had always been too dangerous --especially in Hawkins.

Perhaps he can allow himself this other indulgence then, just for now.

Unbidden, the words Steve said earlier echo faintly for Eddie as they sit in the back of his beat up old van while the kids start arguing over the one painters mask they found in the shed earlier.

'People will come in and out of your life all the time, and the ones that are meant to be there will stay, and if they go, then it wasn't meant to be.

I think I need more people in my life like that'.

He swallows heavily as Steve's eyes close and he sinks even further into Eddie, his soft hair tickles against Eddie's neck as he burrows closer.

Eddie lifts his gaze to the roof of the van. He doesn't believe in God, no, hearing his uncle's stories of 'Nam, his mother dying, and Al kicking him to the curb were enough to dissuade Eddie of any real notion of a higher power existing.

But it doesn't stop him from sending a thought out into the universe.

If we make it out of this, Eddie thinks, I promise to listen this time.

Part Eight Now Up

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