#will byers the boy with the worse luck

[bookofwambs]

thinking about how will has probably come to terms that mike has chose el over him. and that he might never have the same friendship with mike as he once had and that he’s probably gonna be okay bc as long as mike is happy and el is happy, he’s fine with being in the background and no longer being the most important person in mike’s life. he’s come to terms that he won’t spend his life with mike, that they won’t play dnd and nintendo and whatever other games they like. and he’s also come to terms that there is no point in arguing with mike anymore about their friendship, he’s tried twice and was made out to be the bad guy and got yelled at. and so he won’t try anymore, he’ll take what he gets from mike, even if it’s just crumbles, even if the only reason mike keeps him around is so he can vent to him about his relationship problems. will won’t bother with asking mike to pick him, to ask mike why it came to this and why mike can’t seem to treat will the same way he does with lucas and dustin. he’s come to terms that he’s the only who’s the problem and who wouldn’t get his happy ending and he’s fine with it because as long as mike is happy with el then he’s happy too.

and isn’t that just sad.

[apomaro-mellow]

S1E11: Moving in Pt 1

S1E10

A beat up truck drove into the otherwise quiet neighborhood, a moving truck following it from behind. They stopped at a house on the corner and the father was the first to get out, followed by a young girl. He put an arm around her shoulders.

“New town, new house, new start. Let’s make it a good one”, Jim said, patting El’s shoulder.

“What’s so good about moving?”, Steve asked as he slammed the door. 

“Like he said, it’s a new start”, El said. “And new is good, right?”

“New people are almost always weird”, Steve said, crossing his arms. “Take the spy brigade next door.” He pointed to the group of boys watching them from over the fence. The moment they were caught, they ducked down, whispering harshly amongst themselves at not being sneaky enough.

“New means getting to reinvent yourself”, Jim said, paying the neighbor kids no mind. “Whatever you were before, you can be someone new in Hawkins.”

Steve rolled his eyes and took out his first box, going ahead into the house to claim his room. El was in no rush and paused to see if the boys popped their heads up again. When they didn’t, she went in to start unpacking as well. El took out her radio and turned it onto a station to give her music to bop to as she started bringing her room together. While she did, her head filled with images of having girlfriends over, slumber parties, spin the bottle, those things.

But eventually, she got interested in seeing how Steve was setting up his room. Only instead of finding him in the middle of unpacking, she saw that pretty much all of his boxes were still closed. He laid on his bed, magazine in hand.

“You’re not unpacking”, she said plainly.

“I’ll get to it later”, Steve said, not looking up from the pages.

El came over and plopped onto the bed. “Are you excited to start school?”

“The only people excited for school are nerds. And having to be the new kid makes it even worse. You gotta work extra hard to get in with the right people. I wish you the best of luck.”

“What do I need luck for?”, El giggled. “I’m gonna be the new girl. That automatically makes me fun and interesting, right?”

Steve let out a put upon sigh and closed his magazine. “Oh you sweet naive child. There’s nothing I can do for you except give you a warning. Whatever you do, don’t hang out with the dorks at your school. Ever.”

----------------------

El stood before a class full of children and tried to look confident. But it was hard when people were staring at you. Then she recognized some of the boys from yesterday. She took her seat and focused on the lesson, but when lunch came around, she found them sitting at a table and sat with them. They stared at her in shock, so she spoke first.

“You were spying on my family yesterday.”

They began to loudly protest at that when another girl came up, slamming her tray of food down. “Are you guys being creeps to the new girl again?”

“No!”

“We’re not creeps! We’re not creeps! Max, you’re gonna make her think we’re weird.”

“I’m Max”, she said to El, ignoring the boys. “That loud mouth is Mike, Mr. Know-it-all is Dustin, that one’s Lucas, and this is Will. Don’t let his eyes fool you, he’s a little shit like the rest of them.”

El laughed, the boys still protesting in the background. She found it easy to melt into their group and her first day went on fine. She said as much when it was time for dinner, her, Jim, and Steve sitting around the table.

“I was talking to the neighbors today. That woman Joyce, she’s got a boy your age, Steve”, Jim pointed at him. “His name’s Jonathan, you should hang out with him.”

“I’ve already heard about Jonathan Byers and his weird family”, Steve said. “No thanks. I’ve got a reputation to uphold. Coach already said he’d make a special exception and let me try out for the team.”

Jim shrugged. He knew there was no getting Steve to do what he didn’t want to do. “What about you?”, he asked El. “Make any new friends today?”

“I made five!”, El exclaimed happily. “Maxine Mayfield, but she likes it when people call her Max. Lucas Sinclair, Dustin Henderson, Will Byers, and Mike Wheeler.”

“Wait, you’re friends with Will Byers?”, Steve gawked. “The Byers are the weird family next door. How could you do this to me, El?”

“What makes them weird? Will is nice”, El frowned.

“And how does her making friends affect you at all, Mr. Popularity?”, Jim also frowned and it was amazing how similar they looked.

“Because people talk”, Steve said. “El, I told you not to make friends with nerds and dorks.”

“Don’t get mad at me just because you don’t have any friends yet”, El snarked.

“I have friends!”, Steve argued.

“Name one then.”

“They know my name, that’s the important part”, Steve said.

---------------------

Steve was in his element, shooting baskets and dodging opponents as he made his way to said basket. Every time he scored, there was a group of girls in the stands cheering for him. The coach looked on approvingly. He clapped his hands and then clapped his hand onto Steve’s shoulder.

“You’re a stand out Harrington. We’d love to have you on the team!”

Accepted by the team, Steve was surrounded by an entourage of what amounted to high school royalty. Said group was hanging out in the school’s parking lot. The middle schools was just across the way and also getting out. Someone next to Steve scoffed as a group of kids came out of the school, hauling some sort of technical equipment.

“God the dipwads really start young, don’t they?”

“Born a dork, live a dork. I mean just look at Eddie Munson.”

Steve’s eyes were directed to a guy who was leaning against a white van, something in his mouth that looked like a cigarette that he had rolled himself, fiddling with a rubix cube. Steve couldn’t tell exactly what made him an outcast. But the fact that he wasn’t standing with the in-crowd said enough. Steve was here and he was there.

“Hey, Harrington, I think one of the mini-freaks is trying to get your attention”, another person pointed towards the middle school.

When Steve turned to look, he saw El waving excitedly at him. Her smile, big and exuberant. 

“Dude, do you know her?”

Steve shook his head. “No idea who she is.” He turned away and got in his car so he wouldn’t have to face the look of disappointment on El’s face.

To be continued…

Part 12

[cavinginhisfvce]

Something about Billy unknowingly being related to the Byers and not finding out until shit hits the fan with Neil in the worst way, and now Billy is a sixteen year old kid, whose gonna end up in the system (or worse) unless Susan can find family willing to take him in.

She'd take him in a heartbeat, but she's not financially stable enough to care for two children, and herself.

(I don't think this is how it all works, but for the sake of my hc, it is.)

Cue Joyce, who thought she'd never met Billy, until one day he came to study with Jonathan, almost immediately clocking the boy as her half sister's son.

She'd met him only twice before, when Billy's mom could manage a trip without Neil hovering.

Though, Billy and his mother were strikingly similar in appearance, it was the pendant dangling from the boy's neck that confirmed her suspicions.

When Billy leaves, she begins bombarding Jonathan with questions about the blond, only for her son to sigh and tell her she'd have better luck getting answers out of Steve Harrington as the pair had been extremely close.

It's not until Billy's court date, the one where the judge would either pass him off to a group home, or by some grace of God, let him stay with Susan and his sister.

However, Billy's world gets rocked, when Joyce Byers walks into the courtroom, Jim Hopper following close behind the small woman.

Apparently she wanted custody of her nephew? And her Nephew was Billy?

Once her accusation of being Billy's aunt had somehow been confirmed, (it also helped that she was already an approved foster mother), the judge was suddenly granting her guardianship, obviously wanting this particular case to be done with already.

Something something, Billy moves in with the Byers, and despite Joyce being his aunt, he actually gets the mother he'd always dreamed of. He gets the family dynamic he'd only ever seen on television, and he's happy. He still struggles, more than any kid his age should, but he actually has a support system now, so it isn't so bad anymore.

And if Joyce finds out that Billy and Steve are dating, and implements a three inch rule (thanks, Hopper!) then that's their business.

[willow-lark]

@edwin-bleh here is the @bylersecretsanta fic i wrote for you!! i hope you like it! (also on A03)

heartbeat

Mike’s already done this once. He did it years ago, and that one time was enough, thank you. It hadn’t even been real, then. He’d stifled a laugh the entire time, at the total unseriousness of it all. He had exchanged knowing glances with Lucas and Dustin, and it had all been sort of a game. Fun, honestly. We know something the grown-ups don’t.

But still—he’s already been here once.

There’s really no need to do it again. Right?

Mike sure thinks so.

Yet his collar chokes him, and his black suit itches along his arms and legs, and Dustin presses against his right side, and Mike keeps his eyes lowered as Jonathan Byers gets up to speak at his little brother’s funeral.

Will’s gone for good this time. Mike knows this. He saw Will’s body—definitely no government fake this time.

In the end, it turned out that not even a fiery exorcism could sever Will’s connection to the parasitic hive mind of the Upside-Down. And when the brain dies, the body dies, too. Henry Creel is dead. And therefore so is Will.

How hadn’t they known? Everyone thought Will was safe. Mike thought Will was safe. 

Mike had spoken to him alone that evening, right before Will suited up with his rifle to head out with Hopper and El on their last, overnight mission into the Upside Down to destroy both it and Henry once and for all.

He yanked Will in and kissed him hard, that dark evening behind Hopper’s cabin in the woods. He said, “Good luck. Come back to me, alright?”

And Will smiled and told him, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Then Hopper shouted out the window that it was time for the boys to come back inside so that he and El and Will could leave, and Will pecked Mike’s lips one more time. Mike lingered, staring up at the rapturous, ashy sky, and started counting down the hours to when all of this would be finally, permanently over.

It is over, now. Just—not exactly what Mike thought would be over.

Mike first met Will on a sunny day in September twelve years ago. It wasn’t nearly enough time.

Never once, in Mike’s entire life since that day—not even when the Byers were in California and Will wasn’t picking up any of Mike’s calls—did he really imagine Will not being there for his entire life. He can’t even remember what life used to be like, before Will.

He thinks it was probably worse.

It’s definitely worse now.

And Mike’s really, pretty sure it’s all his fault. He should have stopped Will from leaving Hopper’s cabin, should have insisted that Hopper and El could kill Vecna on their own.

Mike should have stopped Will from leaving his house that very first night in November 1983. He should have made Will stay the night, told him that he shouldn’t bike so far in the dark.

He knows that Will was instrumental in that final hunt. El described to everyone the way Will tracked him, using their connection to spy and angle the trio for their attack. Hopper described how Will shot Henry, precise and fearless, as El battled him in the Mind-Space for the final time.

Mike should have done something.

Instead, he waited anxiously with the others until, finally, just as the sun was beginning to rise, Hopper and El could be seen approaching the cabin. The sky had cleared. The gates were closed.

El’s face was white as she strode ahead of Hopper. Mike squinted as his eyes adjusted to the muted light of dawn until he found Hopper behind her.

Hopper was carrying a body.

Mike remembers his fingers curling around the cold metal pole of a fire truck, watching in total horror as they pulled Will’s body—identifiable from the distance by his bright red-and-yellow vest—out of the freezing waters of the quarry. 

He remembers being frozen himself, that morning, fingers digging into Lucas’s arm, this time, as Joyce and Jonathan sprinted down from the porch toward their family members. Mike doesn’t remember how he started breathing again. Or how he’s still managing it.

This time, Will is gone for real. He’s not coming back, and Mike doesn’t know how he’s supposed to continue like this, and Jonathan’s still giving his eulogy, and Mike should be listening, because that’s what’s respectful, that’s what would be honorable to Will, but he hasn’t heard a single word.

All Mike can focus on is the hole in his chest where his heart used to be.

Twelve years wasn’t remotely long enough to be Will’s friend. And it had only been these past few months that Mike had allowed himself to be in love with him. What too short of a time, from that argument they had in Mike’s basement, when Will shouted at Mike to Stop giving me all these mixed signals and tell me what you want to say! and Mike paused, considered, and shouted right back, I want to tell you I’m in love with you!

Mike can count on one hand all the times that something he’s said has baffled Will past the point of coming up with one of his snappy responses. That time, Will recoiled like Mike had slapped him, and said, hushed and vulnerable, Mike, that’s just mean.

And that led to a whole different argument, but finally, at an utter loss for words, Mike just pulled Will in by the collar and kissed him.

That, finally, did lead to a satisfactory resolution.

And Mike was happy.

Even though the world was ending, and Henry Creel was still at large, and demogorgons were roaming Hawkins. (Christ, it had been attractive on that one grocery trip when Will pushed Mike aside and stepped forward in two long strides, angling his gun in one smooth confident motion, before firing and knocking that demodog down. Mike had gawked the whole time from his position on the pavement, where he’d fallen back after Will’s shove. When the demodog was dead, Will turned back to Mike, and though he’d raised an eyebrow, wordlessly offered his hand to help Mike up.)

He had been happy, because after so long, things were finally right with Will again. Things were more than right—they were the best they’d ever been, because not only could Mike once more be Will’s best friend, he also got to kiss him and flirt with him and lay his head on Will’s chest and listen to his heartbeat.

And maybe Mike Wheeler is only fifteen, and really hasn’t even known that he likes boys for very long, and maybe he knows that two boys can’t really get married to each other, but maybe that doesn’t matter. Mike thinks that he might have married Will, someday. 

Now he’ll never know.

Will doesn’t have a heartbeat anymore.

Because when El’s eyes snapped open as she finished Henry off in the Mind-Space, blood leaking from her nose and ears, Will dropped, too.

Both El and Hopper said he hadn’t even made a sound. It wasn’t like that one awful night, when Will-the-Spy had led them to where Hopper was stuck in the tunnels, and the Lab-Men had marched in and set fire to everything. Will hadn’t writhed on the ground screaming in pain like a banshee as Mike stood above him, terrified more than he’d ever been in his life, because his best friend was screaming and nothing Mike was doing was making him snap out of it.

No. This time he just inhaled, a little sharply, fell to the ground, and was gone. The first—and the final—victim of their crusade against the Upside Down.

Mike should have known it would come to this.

He should have stopped it.

But what could Mike have done, really? He’s the useless one, right?

Maybe it should even be him, lying in that casket instead of Will. 

Even so, he’s the one standing here at Will’s funeral, alone and surrounded by all of his friends and family. He’s the one who’s still alive.

Jonathan Byers finishes giving his eulogy.

Mike keeps his eyes glued to the ground.

[jaskwritesthings]

cause the brainrot is real and i'm a sucker for a kid fic here's some more 'i'll never write it but bOY does it live rent free in my mind 24/7'

slutting it up all around hawkins, looking for the one has its consequences and steve harrington gets the call one day that the condom failed and he's about to be a father. it's not ideal, it's not a fairytale by any stretch, there's really no chemistry between them and it wasn't a memorable night for either of them, its awkward and stilted but they agree to work something out and be civil and kind cause neither of them have the best parents and they don't want the cycle to continue. so a slightly rocky friendship it is. and it's good, it's weird but it's good and there's plans and shit that would make nancy proud of him

and then the luck of hawkins strikes and she's gone, complications during childbirth, not common but just uncommon enough to be unlucky and isn't that just the fate of anybody who dares to hope for something good in this town.

so now there's a baby, a sweet innocent baby boy and no mother and steve is floundering like he just got tossed in the deep end for the first time and worse, her parents want nothing to do with it. it they call their grandson like he's a terrible piece of furniture they inherited and not the child of their daughter. a bad memory they say, not their problem they say and they wash their hands of it. and his parents are the same, it's all about reputation they say, appearances they say. they leave unsubtle adoption pamphlets lying around. but steve says fuck that, his life hasn't been about reputation and appearence for years now, not since barb died alone in his pool and nancy took him down a peg and monsters crawled out of the byers walls and he started giving a shit about the local nerdy pre-teen population.

so steve chooses his kid and winds up with a duffel full of clothes and a car that's thankfully in his name and a slammed door in his face and no son of mine ringing in his ears.

he's alone, except he's really not. he's steve harrington, babysitter supreme and there's a whole line of mother's who offer up their couches and spare rooms to him without hesitation. mrs henderson doesn't think twice about bringing steve into her home and her arms for one of her signature back breaking hugs. joyce helps him pick up what he needs from the store and gives him the employee discount with a wink. mrs wheeler teaches him what to do cause holly's not yet old enough that the old instincts have faded and she still has some baby books tucked away. lucas' mum is an estate agent and helps him find something in his tiny budget, he's pretty sure he shouldn't be able to afford anything in hawkins let alone one of the trailers but she makes it work and steve figures out where lucas and erica get the steel in their spines from.

his savings go with the snap of a finger but he's the proud owner of the cheapest trailer in the park, the one with enough holes in it to make him worry about the winter months before it hits, and the cheapest necessities possible but it's still comes up short but steve can survive in a sleeping bag on a arm chair that doesn't so much recline as it does break every time your pull the lever. everything he owns is an offering from someone's garage and the wonky wallpaper and lumpy paint is thanks to the kids helping decorate and plug as many of the rusted holes as they can find. It's not much but it's the first real home he can say he's ever had and it was made by those he loves and who love him.

family video doesn't pay enough, doesn't have enough hours to cover a newborn and a new home with all the necessities so he winds up at the plant. and it's shit, everybody knows he's 'harrington's boy' and everybody hates his father so they hate him. every two person job is suddenly a one man show and it's his show and the audience is heckling and booing him and steve doesn't fight back. because he gets it, he was exactly what they think he is once upon a time and he really hasn't paid for those crimes so he takes the licks and keeps his head down and does the work. and one lunch its dry crackers and cold coffee because diapers and a babysitter really cut into the tiny budget and steve won't let his kid starve or suffer with some subpar babysitter and someone starts poking fun at how his mother didn't pack him his lunch and steve tries to ignore them, keep his head down and just power through but then they're talking about his dad and the shit he's pulled around town and how much they hate him and hate steve by proxy and steve tells them to get in line behind him because fuck he hates his dad more than some no name plant worker with a grudge and then its all on the table, the newborn and the disownment and now there's pity in their eyes and

and then there's an apple dropped at his elbow and eddie's uncle in sliding onto the bench next to him asking if his kid is sleeping through the night yet and suddenly the table is full of guys commiserating over sleepless nights and how much everything costs and there's half a sandwich and a cookie and some carrot sticks appearing in front of steve and he keeps his head down to ignore the blur in his vision and nobody comments on the shake of his shoulders and wayne munson has an arm around his shoulder and a firm but comforting steadying grip on his arm.

when steve gets home that night it's not long before there's a knock at the door and its eddie, discount babysitting services just for you big boy and there's a bag of diapers and formula and its not much but its what eddie and his uncle could spare and its sweet and he's tired and suddenly he's hugging eddie who just lets him, holds him tight through it.

and so eddie quickly becomes a permanent fixture in his drafty trailer, caring for steve's kid while steve busts his ass at the plant to make ends meet. soon enough it's basically steve and eddie's home because eddie's clothes are over the third hand armchair that has no stuffing and his tapes are half opened next to the stereo and his toothbrush is next to steve's and steve can hear him making baby talk while he showers and steve keeps stepping on d4's from when eddie host's the party's d&d campaign and his chicken scratch handwriting says they need more bread and when steve says 'i'm home' eddie greets him with 'welcome home honey' and its stupid jokes about being a kept woman that force a breathy laugh from steve because there's an ache forming in his chest that throbs when eddie leaves and his fingers twitch to reach out and beg him to stay, stay forever.

but steve isn't going to do anything about it cause eddie's his friend, eddie watches his kid for him and tucks the bills he hides in eddie's jacket back into his wallet cause steve needs them more than eddie does and eddie sits with him at night watching movies that neither of them are really paying attention too and listens as he talks about all the fucked up shit they've been through. eddie who holds out the beer bottle or the joint and gets it. truly gets all of it cause he's been there too and steve can't help the guilt he feels about how glad he is that eddie went through it too, he shouldn't have had to but boy is steve glad he did and isn't that a terrible thought that keeps him up at night sometimes but it doesn't stop the relief of having eddie there beside him. they talk and they laugh and when shit gets bad and the shakes set in, its eddie's hand in his or his fingers massaging the back of steve's neck or their foreheads pushed together almost painfully as they remind each other they're here, they're alive and god damn does steve need eddie. he needs his friend and he just can't risk it all on wanting more when what they have is so damned important already.

but of course, hawkins luck strikes again. and one night they're watching alien again and eddie saunters in from the makeshift nursery that's slowly but surely evolving into a decent kids room and throws himself down next to steve, practically falling on top of him his back curled into steve's chest like he was made to fit right there and with his usual tired but happy smile and tells him the little one is finally down and he looks up at steve with blue-black bags under his eyes and a ridiculously pastel pink cloth over the shoulder of his band shirt and his hair's tied up in one of nancy's scrunchies because his hair ties disappear into the void which they make jokes about vecna and the upside down stealing everybody's left sock from the laundromat and all the hair ties and-

and steve kisses him. its light, its chaste, it's an awkward angle the burns the muscle in his neck to hold and eddie's mouth is slack in shock and oh shit oh shit oh shit

steve practically catapults eddie off of him and launches himself across the room already apologising and panicking. his breath coming too quick and sharp and oh god how the fuck could he ruined one of the few good things in his life? just like that. he's half expecting the door for the trailer to slam shut behind eddie… but it doesn't. cause eddie is there, in his space, hand on his chest, instructing him on how to breathe and he does. steve follows eddie's orders so easily now whether it's child care or breathing, he does what eddie tells him to do.

when he's breathing is steady once again, when the tears are cold on his skin, drying in the humidity of the trailer, eddie kisses him back. sweet and soft and a little hesitant as though he's worried it won't be welcome but steve wraps his arms around eddie and tilts his head just so and there, much better, perfect even.

[ssadumba55]

Keep the Door Open! (Mike Wheeler X Fem! Reader)

Request: could u do a image we’re maybe her mom is Joyce Byers she heading to work and then she catches them in a heated make out session(she dating mike wheeler). Then she make Jonathan keep a eye on them while she goes to work then when she come back she talk to them. Sorry it that a lot to ask for.

So maybe, in retrospect, having your boyfriend over and making out with him in your bedroom without your mom knowing had been a bad idea. It wasn’t your idea, though, at least not originally. It had been Mike’s and when Mike had an idea, there was no getting him off of it. He could be really stubborn when he wanted to be. His stubbornness had always been a trait you adored and admired in him.

But now all that trait had gotten you was a one-way ticket to being babysat by your older brother.

Jonathan clearly did not want to be put on babysitting duty anymore than you wanted him to babysit you and Mike, but he’d had no choice. As soon as your mom had found you and Mike like that it had been game over. There was no turning back.

Your brother pretended like he didn’t know why he was there; he didn’t even scold you for it. There was no point. You both knew you’d get an earful from your mother later for it. Mike apologized profusely throughout the afternoon, but you waved him off each time. This wasn’t entirely his fault anyway, if you hadn’t agreed to it, maybe you wouldn’t be in this situation. The two of you spent most of the afternoon creating new D&D characters for a campaign Dustin was planning instead.

Your other brother, Will, was out with Lucas and Dustin. You wished you and Mike had decided to join them after all, but it was too late now. The hours ticked by slowly. Then, in the late afternoon, Joyce Byers returned home from her shift at the store. Jonathan immediately jumped to hi feet, muttering an excuse about how he needed to go see Nancy Wheeler for something and scampering out the door before anyone could demand he stay.

“You know we need to have a talk, right?” Your mother asked as she began putting the groceries away. Mike stood up from where the two of you had been sitting on the floor.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Byers. That will never happen again. It was my idea, we got really into it and sometimes I get a little carried away when I have ideas even if they’re stupid, you know? Like this one-time Dustin, Lucas and I wanted to- Ow!” He let out a yelp as you elbowed him, glaring at you and rubbing his arm.

“You’re not in trouble, I think we just need to set some boundaries for the house.” Your mom held out her hands. At those words, the tension in your shoulders immediately eased up. Boundaries were something you could live with, punishment not so much. You were thankful she wasn’t angry or anything with you.

“Boundaries?” Mike asked, looking between the two of you uneasily. He clearly wasn’t used to strict rules like that being set in place. You wondered briefly if it was because he was a boy, you were sure Nancy definitely had a stricter set of boundaries than Jonathan.

“She means we can’t be in my bedroom, alone with the door shut anymore. And we can’t do what we did earlier.” You felt your face heat up slightly. There was nothing quite as embarrassing as having your mom walk in on you and your boyfriend making out on your bed. Especially when she hadn’t even known said boyfriend was, in fact, your boyfriend.

You would never forget that moment, you shuddered inwardly.

“And if the two of you are home than me or Jonathan must be here as well, I trust you both but it’s always better to be safe than sorry.” Your mother added and you nodded. There was nothing unreasonable about this, as much as you hated to admit it. Your mother was a practical woman, she wasn’t stupid. She was raising three kids; she knew her stuff when it came to this.

You and Mike nodded, both looking down at your feet. You wondered if Mike was feeling as embarrassed as you were.

“Y- You won’t tell my mom, will you Ms. Byers?” Mike scratched the back of his neck. You shuddered at the thought of Mrs. Wheeler giving you and Mike this same talk. As nice as she was, you suspected that it would be a lot more awkward than this one.

“Of course not, but don’t let me catch you doing this again, okay?”

You both nodded and as soon as she dismissed you, hurried to clean your D&D stuff from the floor in the family room. Neither of you spoke as you carried the stuff back to your bedroom. Mike kneeled to push the papers into their proper spot.

“That could’ve been worse.” Mike finally said, breaking the silence and you laughed.

“You should’ve seen her talk with Jonathan and Nancy. Will and I could hear the whole thing from the other side of the house. I’m pretty sure all of Hawkins could hear her.” You grinned and Mike grinned back.

Nothing could work parents up quite as much as young love, that was just the way life worked. But you couldn’t help but feel somewhat grateful you lucked out and got such an amazing mom. At least she hadn’t banned you from seeing Mike ever again, although part of you suspected maybe she wanted to. At least she still has Will, you thought as you and Mike climbed back onto the bed to lay together.

“Keep the door open!” She yelled a reminder and Mike laughed.

“Sorry about her.”

“Don’t be.”

[backtohawkins]

WELCOME BACK TO HAWKINS, COLE MONTGOMERY (timothee chalamet fc),

good luck and have a bitchin summer!

[Timothée Chalamet, cismale, he/him] who’s that? oh it’s [walden cole montgomery]. i hear they’re [21] and are known as [the loverboy] around [the skate park]. they’re also a [junior] at [indiana state] and a [manager] at the [music center]. they’re known to be [artistic + intellectual] and [self-involved + elusive]. some people say they remind them of [poetry whispered during a rainstorm, snide remarks from the back of the classroom, the outline of a flask in his jean pocket]. [nikki, 25, she/her, n/a, central]

  headcanons:

Cole is the half-brother of Jonathan and Will Byers (Lonnie sure got around in high school); he only found out a few years ago, right around when Will went missing and, frankly, Cole didn’t say anything because he didn’t particularly want to be tied to “Zombie Boy.” Since then, he hasn’t known how or even if he should say something.

Cole has been in love once: with Adam, the star quarterback two years his senior. For two years, they shared clandestine meetings and quiet declarations of love and whispered promises that they’d move somewhere where things could be different, where everyone could know. But then Adam changed, seemingly overnight. He avoided Cole and acted cruel and empty; Cole still doesn’t know what happened, and never will, because Adam died in the mall fire. *note: Adam was one of The Flayed, and while Cole knows something was very off, he has no idea how to find answers

Cole hasn’t been the same since Adam died. He went away to college to study Literature, which should have made him happy, but he just felt like a ghost. He’s not sure if it’s worse to be away at college pretending like nothing happened, or back in Hawkins constantly reminded of him.

pinterest: https://pin.it/2TRSfCb

[jellyfishloveletterghosts]

we going to get a part 2 to your Special alpha omega fic? I mean its to good to leave alone

I assume you are talking about You’re Extra Special, Something Else, if so then the answer is yes, eventually. I am still waiting on Season 4 before I get it really started, I want to see what they do with the plot before I commit to the plot points from season 3 I’ve decided to use.

In the mean time have this little bit I wrote that will hopefully make it into Part 2 of the series. The story the kids are telling is based on this DnD comic

-

“Why is Steve banned from DnD?” Billy asks one night while the kids are setting up their game.

 “Because he has terrible luck.”

 “Or the best luck depending how you look at it, we did win that campaign.” Lucas says only to have popcorn thrown at him by Dustin and Mike. Billy definitely wants to hear this story. 

 “Will was running the campaign he can tell you.” Dustin offers distractedly, shoving popcorn from the map as he tries to figure out which way it is supposed to go.

 “Well?” Billy turns an expectant look on little Byers who is pink cheeked and a little giggly.

 “Well everything was going fine ‘till we got to the last battle, Steve was doing alright.”

“No he wasn't, he nearly died ten times, his character tripped over a rock and nearly KOd.” Mike puts in unhelpfully.

 Will rolls his eyes. “He was doing fine for his first time, plus we all know Dustin wouldn’t have let him die.”

 “Yeah we know, he was the only person Dustin was bothering to heal.” Lucas says with a glare directed at Dustin.

 “What the guy needed all the help he could get.” Dustin defends around a mouthful of popcorn, Lucas and Mike both open their mouths to argue before shrugging and nodding their heads in agreement. 

 “Anyways.” Will says with a huff of a sigh once the boys settle back into set up. “So the big boss was this warlord orc. So everyone else was nearly dead toward the end of the fight except Steve-”

 “Because Dustin used every single heal on him!”

 “Except Steve! And he decided to insult the villain but he didn’t want to make a speech so he rolled the dice and got a 1 so he did the opposite, he complimented the orc. Then when I tried to make the orc attack, I rolled a 1 and” Will’s cheeks go pink. “So I had the orc caress his face.” He says with a little shrug.

 “Keep going it gets worse.” Mike mumbles, and Billy kicks at him when Will looks a little offended. “What?” Mike hisses, before catching sight of Will. “I mean better, it gets better. Go on Will tell Billy what happens next, I bet he will get a kick out of it.”

 “It’s very romantic.” Dustin mumbles distractedly. Billy catches El nodding her head in agreement where she is on the couch occasionally pushing the pieces on the board with her telekinesis messing up the arrangement. 

 “Well, Steve tried to attack again and only ended up returning the gesture, he rolled a 1 again and then that sort of thing went on for a few rolls.” Will goes even pinks. “So Steve decided to change tactics and seduce the ocr, which he had to roll for.”

 “You’ll never believe what he rolled.” Lucas says with an eye roll before dramatically banging his head on the table, Bill has a guess but he patiently waits for Will to go on.

 “Shut up Lucas I’m trying to listen to Will’s story.” Max says tossing a stray Dungeons and Dragon book in his direction, it misses and further messes up the game setup, not that Max cares waving her hand at Will in a hurry up and continue gesture. 

 “He rolled a twenty. They had a beautiful wedding, Sir Dustin was the best man and Sir Lucas cried.” Will says grinning, Billy’s laugh dies at Steve and married. He knows it is just a game but he does not like it, the idea of Steve being someone else's, even someone else imaginary.

 Billy shakes himself, chuckling at the kids arguing, and reminds himself again that Steve is not actually married because it is a game and orcs are not real, he should probably double check that last bit with El.

 “I did not.” Lucas shouts.

 “Friends don’t lie.” El shouts louder just as the door opens and Steve comes in with the rest of their pack. 

 “What’s going on?” Steve asks head tilted with a touch of confusion as he glances from El over to Billy who he makes his way toward leaning down for a kiss as he runs a hand absently through Will’s hair in greeting.

 “I hear you’re a married man, have to admit I’m a little disappointed that I won't be the first.” Billy says after he gets his kiss hello, one hand curling around the back of Steve’s neck keeping him close. Steve gets that pinched confused look for a few moments before his scent colors with embarrassment and his eyes go wide. 

 “We agreed to never talk about that again!” Steve whines, trying to pull away from Billy so he can scold his pups, instead Billy pulls him down over the back of the couch, careful to keep Steve’s limbs from landing too heavily on Will.

 “Never talk about what again?” Carol asks, interest peaked sitting on the arm of the chair Max and El are sharing.

 “The story of why Steve isn’t allowed to play DnD, turns out it’s a love story.” Max says grinning conspiratorially at Carol.

 “I love a good love story!” Tommy announces, Steve just groans into Billy’s shoulder as the kids start recounting the tale.

[femmeharringrove]

we belong - chapter one

tag squad!! - @a-magey​ @harringrovetrashh​ @lostnoise​ @greyspilot​ - if you’d like to be added to the list hmu!!

     Steve Harrington is arguably the strangest beta in Hawkins. Everybody agrees on this one fact. In a town comprised mostly of betas, it’s easy to notice when one is different, and Steve’s behavior has him sticking out like a sore thumb. He’s got plenty of normal beta characteristics, sure. He’s an excellent peacemaker, a level-headed thinker most of the time. But he’s incredibly fiery when he wants to be, aggressively protective, like an alpha hovering over his pack. He’s also adopted six older pups out of the blue, and the rest of Hawkins has watched in utter confusion as he’s marched about town herding his kids along like an omega watching over his litter.

     Billy Hargrove isn’t sure what to make of it.

( read on ao3 )

     And it’s not like he usually spends his time thinking about the brunette’s habits, not outside of the night the other started swinging fists in an attempt to protect Max and her dipshit friends from his rage, but he’s had plenty of time to think lately. He’s had nothing but time in this stupid hospital, with its stupid walls and stupid sterile smell. Once he gets out, he’s determined to never step foot in this place again. Max has been visiting every day, according to the nurses, and her company makes it bearable at best. She actually spent the first three nights sleeping in the waiting room with Harrington of all people.

     Harrington, who, according to Max herself, was admitted into the hospital the night of the mall incident too. Billy just barely remembers seeing the beta there that night; his face littered with bruises and oddly bloody. Max didn’t know what exactly happened, Steve and Dustin won’t tell anyone about it, but from what she gathered the Soviet Union was involved. Billy doesn’t think about that too much – he’s more interested in the way Steve’s been at the hospital every single day with Max, as long as he’s been conscious to see it.

     The nurses say Steve’s been with her ever since he was discharged, coming in every day and comforting her whenever she gets upset. He’s seen the beta do it too, the way he opens his arms up the moment Max’s lip begins to wobble and holds her close until she’s calmed, petting her hair and murmuring in her ear something he can never hear.

     Sometimes he brings little Byers with him, and the kid’s nice. Billy likes him. The first time the pup came to visit, he sat right next to the scowling alpha and told him that he got it, he’d been there before, and if he ever wanted to talk about it he’d listen. At the time, Billy snapped about not needin’ to talk to some pup about any damn thing, but that didn’t deter the kid, and now the blonde was thinking he just may take the kid up on the offer. Every time Will comes, he sits by Billy for a few minutes and makes easy conversation before retreating to Harrington and plastering himself to the beta’s side so Max can be close to Billy, piping up to add to the conversation every now and again.

     Other times, instead of Byers, Steve brings the Henderson kid. This one’s loud and pushy, but it’s clear to Billy that this is Harrington’s pup. Steve looks at the curly-haired bastard with all the fond pride of a pleased parent, even when he’s trying to scold the pup. And the kid’s smart, he knows Steve would be hard pressed to actually get mad at him, but it seems he doesn’t really want to make the beta mad anyway – the bond between them goes both ways, that much is clear. They make an odd pair; Harrington’s on the quiet side, more reserved than the pup. Henderson can’t seem to stay quiet longer than two minutes, and he likes saying whatever comes to mind, almost painfully blunt in his mannerisms. Billy has to admire that a little bit, even if it irks him at times.

     Harrington brings the others too, sometimes, but for the most part it’s Max, Dustin, and Will. El will occasionally tag along, quiet and observant, her large eyes filled with kind understanding every time she looked at him, and Sinclair came by once to keep Max company. The kid’s still wary of him, and the alpha can’t really blame him, not in the slightest. Billy supposes he owes the kid an apology. He’s not good at those, but he’ll spit one out sooner or later. He owes a lot of people apologies – Max, all of her little friends, even Steve. Steve’s promises to be the hardest, because the guy’s got this obnoxious habit of being unbearably kind even when Billy’s a dick. Every day he’s come into this hospital he’s offered a gentle smile, a kind greeting, and brings him books to help ward off boredom when he’s on his own. Last week, the beta brought a bag full of yarn and sat there for a good half hour showing him how to crochet and knit. Billy, of course, bitched about it the whole time, because what alpha willingly learned that shit anyway?

     And, hey, if he now has a scarf in the works hiding in that stupid bag, who’s going to say anything about it?

     The answer is Neil, he knows. Neil would kick his ass if he saw the way Billy’s fingers nimbly dance with those needles, regardless of whether his son is sitting in a hospital bed or not. But the nice thing, if it can be called nice, is that Neil Hargrove hasn’t shown his face once in the hospital. Max told him that he came the night Billy was admitted, stayed until the blonde got out of the barrage of surgeries he’d underwent, and promptly left. And yeah, it’s sucky, but Billy supposes it’s for the best. Neil can drain a room of warmth faster than anything, and Billy’s uncomfortable already. And if he came and found Steve sitting there, the chances of being called a fucking fairy were higher than he’d like them to be, as well as the chances of getting the shit beat out of him. Sure, he supposes he can just tell Harrington to go, but the thing is the beta’s good at making the cold hospital room feel a smidge warmer. Billy isn’t sure he wants to willingly force that warmth out for anyone, let alone his father.

     Which is why Billy’s mad at him. It’d be easy if Steve was cruel to him, but the doe-eyed brunette is surprisingly soft. He’s got his edges, his eyes flash with a certain element of danger every now and again, but he’s overwhelmingly made of soft lines and gentle corners. And Billy isn’t sure how to respond to that most of the time. Today, however, crossing his arms as he stares at the beta and his redhead sister, he knows just the answer to give to Steve’s kindness.

     “Absolutely the fuck not.” Max’s sharp blue eyes are wide as she glares at Billy, unimpressed with the alpha’s stony expression.

     “Why not?” she demands. “Bill, you know you can’t come back home, it’s not a good idea for your recovery. Steve’s house is huge, you could avoid him all you wanted!” Her eyes flicker towards the man next to her, features softening for a brief moment. “No offense, Steve.” Steve smiles faintly in reply, hands raising up slightly.

     “None taken.” Billy rolls his eyes, lips pressing into a thin line.

     “Look, I’m not going to live with your stupid babysitter, Maxine.” His voice is a nasty growl, mean and sharp and fully intended to stop this conversation, but Max isn’t that easy to put off.

     “Can you stop being so stubborn?” she growls right back, arms crossing over her chest and teeth baring in a snarl almost identical to his. “I’m just trying to keep an eye on you, you dumbass, because I don’t want you to end up getting worse, and we both know you’re not gonna be able to recover all the way at home!” She’s so goddamn fiery, Billy gripes internally. She’s learned that from him, however, so he hardly has a right to say anything. If he has to put money on it, he’s almost completely convinced this kid’s going to be an alpha. Neil isn’t going to like that, and the idea sends a flash of worry through the blonde for a fraction of a moment.

     “And, what, you think I’ll do better with him?” His head jabs sharply towards the other man. “I’ll try my luck in my own damn house, thanks.”

     “Billy, please!” Max’s lighter blue eyes clash with his ocean hues, her face pinched and far too serious for any fourteen-year-old. “Look, I get it. You and Steve aren’t friends or whatever, but he said he’d let you stay – not live there, you don’t have to move in forever.” Max’s reasoning isn’t half bad, Billy has to admit. Her hands grasp at one another as she presses on, words tumbling over each other in their haste to escape her lips. “It’s just for a little while, just until you finish recovering, then you can come home. Just think about it!”

     “And you think my absence won’t be noticed?” he interrogates. Because Neil certainly isn’t going to react well to something like this. If the man finds out he’s staying with another boy, it’s going to lead to trouble for him and for Harrington. Max waves her hand frantically.

     “We’ll just tell him you’re still in the hospital! He won’t check, you and I both know that.” And she’s right, he does know it. Neil hasn’t so much as called, the chances of him deciding to do so anytime soon are slim to none. His sister’s eyes are staring at him wide and hopeful, and Billy’s too tired to fight her on the matter any further.

     “Don’t you and your stupid friends spend, like, all your time at his house?” he asks, shoulders dropping slightly. Max sees the move for what it is and grins broadly.

     “Well, yeah, but we won’t bother you! Promise.” Her promise isn’t worth shit, they both know it, and judging from Harrington’s knowing look, so does he. Billy’s icy eyes settle on the man.

     “You’re awful quiet over there,” he grumbles. Steve’s shoulders rise and fall in a loose shrug.

     “I wouldn’t have agreed to do it if I didn’t want to,” he replies. “It’s like Max said, we aren’t friends or anything, but she’s convinced you’ll get better faster at my place. If it means that much to her, then I’m game.” Billy’s eyes narrow as they consider Steve. Brown eyes blink back at him, wide and surprisingly kind all things considered. He really hates that. He hates that Max is so worried. He hates most of all that this is his best bet in all truthfulness. A heavy sigh escapes him, turning into a defeated groan as it draws out.

     “This is only until I think I’m better,” he relents, scowling at Steve’s relieved look and Max’s elated bounce. “I don’t give a shit what the two of you think, when I think I’m done, I’m done. And don’t think we –“ A hand shoots out to point at Steve warningly. “ – are gonna get chummy or something. I’m only doing this to get her to shut up.” The beta’s shoulders relax as he leans into his seat. Max, standing beside Harrington, grins broadly.

     “And I promise, I won’t say anything about it,” she relents. “You can come home as soon as you’re better again.” She moves closer to him, wraps her smaller hand around his, and squeezes, a hesitant smile on her face. This is another new thing about their relationship, the ease with which Max shows her affection now. Billy supposes that’s what happens when you almost die. And he likes it, really. Even if he’s been shit at showing it over the years, he does care for Max. He’s protected her from Neil for a long time, and she’s patched him up more times than he’s willing to count. Their dynamic has always been a strained one. But the way Billy’s seen it, his dad’s a bad alpha, and he’s always needed to step up and take that position for the pup.

He’s not sure he’s ever been particularly good at it, but he’s trying, you know?

     And so it’s settled that day. Billy’s going to move in with his high school rival, and he can’t make sense of it for the life of him.

     The thing is, Steve’s not really used to the idea of having a pack. Richard Harrington needed an heir for his company, and Antonella Bianchi-Harrington thought a baby would solve her marriage problems; that was the only reason they’d had a pup. Both had planned on a quiet, strong alpha son, but Steve destroyed that concept the moment he was born; of all the dynamics, only omegas could be spotted at birth due to their genitalia, and when Richard saw what his son was he nearly abandoned him in that hospital. Antonella’s maternal instincts demanded they keep him however, and so he was brought home; that was where her mothering ended, essentially. Growing up, Steve didn’t know that was the cause for his parents’ distaste for him. He knew they despised omegas, but he hardly knew what an omega was, and certainly didn’t know he was a part of that group. All he knew was that his father always looked at him with disgust, that his mother avoided him like the plague, that they never talked about dynamics except when Richard felt like sneering about omegas and boasting about alphas.

     Neither of them were home when a thirteen-year-old Steve woke up drenched in sweat, his leaking slick soaking the mattress, his abdomen cramping and his mind panicked and hazy. He suffered three days in that state, cried and curled up in bed trying to comfort himself. On the fourth day, he made his way to Melvad’s to purchase scent blockers, and that’s how he’s lived life up to this point. That day he presented was the day it clicked, the day he’d realized why his parents despised him.

     And the thing was, he couldn’t blame them, still can’t blame them. Male omegas are a rarity, and many people think of them as abominations. Those who ended up with women are seen as unmanly, and those who end up with men are called names Steve wouldn’t dare repeat in his own head, let alone out loud. Steve knew that before he presented, and he knows it now, so he’s kept his presentation a secret. As far as Hawkins is concerned, he’s just a beta, and he’s not planning on telling anyone otherwise anytime soon.

     But he’s got the kids now.

It was a matter of instinct; Dustin needed help, and so he helped. Max feared Billy’s rage in the Byers’ home, so he fought the alpha. Mike wanted a listening ear to rant about Nancy too, so he began letting the kid come over. He never meant to adopt the gaggle of older pups, but here he is, constantly scenting them and making sure they’re safe and comfortable. Will likes to joke that Steve’s become their pack omega. He’s not entirely wrong, but Steve’s not going to tell him that.

     And it’s the first time he’s been allowed to be himself, really. With the kids, Steve can just be an omega, he can worry over them and fuss and feed them copious amounts of baked ziti. Steve can let them curl up on his chest and groom their hairlines and listen to their troubles. He can mother them about and spoil them to his heart’s content. He’s allowed to give in to his instinctive need to nurture and care for and protect, and he’s beyond grateful because he can’t do this for other people.

     He especially can’t do it for Billy fucking Hargrove, if he wants to keep some sense of dignity. And that’s going to be easier said than done. He sits in his Beamer and watches silently as Max guides the familiar blonde out of the hospital doors. He looks good, Steve decides. He’s got a little limp, looks a little stiff, but he’s moving on his own mostly, and judging from the faint noise Steve hears and the annoyed, faraway look on Max’s face, his talkative attitude hasn’t taken a hit. The omega takes a deep breath and prepares himself as the passenger door is yanked open by Max.

     “ – Which is why I’m half-tempted to write to one of those big-time newspapers and tell them all about this shit,” Billy is ranting. Max looks ready to stab someone.

     “Can you shut up and get in the car, please?” she growls. The elder of the two alphas obeys without much of a fuss, easing himself into the passenger seat while Max deposits herself in the back.

     “Hey, what did those fuckers do with my Camaro?” Billy questions, his sharp eyes landing on Steve with an accusatory look. “You totaled my baby, Harrington, you might owe me a new fucking car.”

     “I’m not buying anyone a car,” Steve replies, throwing his car in reverse and backing out of the parking lot. The Camaro is sitting in Hopper’s driveway at the moment, Steve asked the chief to help him fix it after the mall incident, after learning that the other boy was still alive. The keys are sitting in a dish in his kitchen right now. But Steve’s not handing that thing over until he’s sure the blonde is capable of driving without keeling over and dying on the side of the road. Billy makes a face at him, narrowing his eyes.

     “Well, you at least owe me a pack of smokes, amigo,” he drawls, that stupid smug look creeping over his freckled features. Steve makes an indignant sound.

     “Are you fucking insane, Hargrove?” he spats. “You’ve been in how many lung surgeries and you want to smoke? Absolutely fucking not.”

     “Aw, you’re no fun,” the alpha groans, slouching in his seat and reaching out to lazily flick the radio to life. Steve’s eyes drift off the road long enough to glare at the other boy.

     “Stop complaining and put your damn seatbelt on.” Billy growls, but obeys again, switching the station to some garish rock music and turning it up loudly. Steve’s head is beginning to throb.

     “Hey Steve,” Max pipes up, “can we stop by McDonald’s?” He notes with interest the way Billy perks up at the mention of the restaurant. It’s been months since the guy’s eaten anything outside of the hospital’s shitty cuisine, he supposes greasy fast food sounds as good as a five-course meal in his grandmother's Venetian home right now.

     “Yeah, yeah, alright.” Billy’s master plan must be to drive Harrington crazy, because he begins chanting various menu items like a child as Steve zips down the road.

     To Billy’s credit, if that’s his plan then it’s working. Steve’s considering driving into the next tree he sees.

     He dishes out a stupid amount of money at McDonald’s; Billy demands four burgers, a hefty order of fries, and a huge milkshake. Max settles for one burger, and Steve orders chicken nuggets for himself, much to Billy’s amusement. He teases Steve most of the way home. The brunette throws a nugget at him at some point and Max laughs so hard she chokes on her root beer. Billy is blissfully silent after that, though he grins triumphantly as he chomps on the thrown piece of chicken.

     In a stunning turn of events, today is meant to be a kid-free day. Steve drops Max off at the Byers residence on the way home and cruises on into Loch Nora. Billy’s silence comes to an end with a low whistle. “Damn, pretty boy, I forgot you live in Rich People Central,” he muses. “I’m gonna get so bored around here, everyone knows rich people are stuck up as all hell.” Steve doesn’t feel like dignifying that with a reply, his hands flexing around the steering wheel instead. By the time they pull into the driveway of the Harrington family’s ridiculously large house, Billy’s openly staring at him, and the omega finds himself on edge. He slows to a stop in his long driveway, turns off the engine, and turns to meet that blue-eyed stare, his eyebrows arched upwards. Billy’s eyes are completely unreadable, he hates it.

     “Do you want a picture, Hargrove?” he deadpans. The alpha skips over the question and instead offers his own.

     “Shitbird says you’re here alone most of the time, that true?” Steve’s hackles go up faster than anything, his arms crossing over his chest as he glares openly at the boy across from him.

     “Why the fuck do you care?”

     “Never said I did, Harrington.” Billy holds his hands up in a placating gesture, before settling back in his seat. “Just wanna make sure I don’t wander into the kitchen one morning with my dick out and find Misses Harrington trying to enjoy her coffee or something.” Steve scoffs and rolls his eyes, getting a cheeky grin in response.

     “If I have to wake up and see your dick in the morning when I’m drinking coffee I’m kicking you out, Steve announces, getting out of the car. He hears Billy follow him up to the door, and once the two get in the shorter boy whistles again.

     “Your house feels like a fucking museum, Harrington, you really live in here?” Steve makes a beeline for the kitchen.

     “Yes, I do. And you do too, for the time being.” The brunette yanks the fridge open and grabs a bottle of soda off the shelf. “I let Max bring some clothes and shit over the other day, it’s all in the guest room down the hall on the right.” Steve pauses to give the boy a pointed look. “Do not go into the room on the left, nobody goes in there.”

     “Ooh, sounds ominous. What’s in there, all the Harrington family secrets? Family skeletons? Real skeletons?” Billy’s eyebrows waggle obnoxiously, and Steve rolls his eyes with a long-suffering sigh.

     “No, it’s my dad’s office. Nobody goes in there but him. And it’s where the good booze is, and I don’t need you drinking me dry.” Steve already did that a little over a month ago, nearly got alcohol poisoning during a bad night. hopper found him passed out by the pool and took the omega to Indianapolis to buy replacements; he doesn't think the chief will be too keen about helping out again so soon. To his surprise, Billy doesn’t offer any sort of reply, oddly silent behind him. Steve turns around, another soda bottle in hand to offer to the alpha, and finds him staring at the counter. At the dish on the counter. At the keys in the dish on the counter. The omega moves closer and swipes them up, depositing the metal in his back pocket. “You can’t drive yet, don’t even think about it.”

     “You have my car?” Blue eyes look around as if the Camaro might appear right there in the kitchen. Steve shakes his head, then nods, then shakes again.

     “It’s not here, if that’s what you’re asking.”

     “It was fucked to hell, why do you have the keys?” Billy’s face is completely serious now, his body leaning towards Steve’s intently. The taller boy frowns deeply and takes a step back, his eyes shifting away.

     “I, uh, well. Hopper and I fixed it up. Figured you might want it back. We had to repaint it, I don’t think the color’s exactly right, but it’s working now.” Billy’s eyes stare a little longer.

     “Why’d you put me in the room downstairs?” Steve frowns again, brows furrowing in confusion.

     “You’ve still got stitches in, and Max says the doctors said you shouldn’t go up and down stairs.” Large brown eyes blink at the alpha, who seems to be thinking hard about something, before Billy’s face twists into a sneer.

     “What’s your game, Harrington? Why are you doing this?” Steve hasn’t been this confused since high school math.

     “You needed a place to go, and I’ve got space,” he replies slowly. “It means a lot to Max, and if it matters to her it matters to me. Just wanted to be helpful.” Blue eyes narrow and he stares at Steve for a long time. The omega shifts on his feet awkwardly before finally holding out the unopened soda bottle. “You thirsty?”

     It’s meant to diffuse the odd tension, and it works. Billy blinks, looks between Steve’s face and the soda bottle before he shakes his head and takes the offered drink, all smug charm and general obnoxious snarkiness again.

     “Alright, alright. Gimmie the grand tour, pretty boy. I wanna see as much of the Harrington Mansion Museum as I can.” Steve isn’t quite sure what just happened, but he obliges easily and begins making his way down the hall, shaking his head in wonder. Maybe he sould have thought a little harder about letting his old rival stay in his house; this is already beginning to feel like the beginning of a very chaotic nightmare.

[anotherhargrovebitch]

why’re you talking to me? : b.h

you’re the quiet girl who goes unnoticed except by those who make fun of her. until billy notices you, and then things chance. whether for the better or worse, you’re about to find out. (thank you @tearsforhan for the idea bby) - 1.4k

Leaning into your locker, you fiddled with the lock as you clutch your books close to your chest. You’ve learnt better than to let them rest on the floor or hang loosely in your arms. 

A heavy sigh escapes your lips as you shove the books into the locker, resting your head beside the door as you mentally block out everything. A few more hours, you think to yourself. And before you know it, you’ll be back home. It’s just a few hours, what’s the worst that could happen on a Thursday afternoon?

Remaining oblivious to the world and people surrounding you, Billy walks through the corridor with his friends trailing behind him. Everyone avoided colliding with Billy in the hallway. The last person who dared to cross his path ended up with a black eye and a missing tooth. In Billy’s terms, that was letting the guy get off lightly.

You glance your eyes out from your locker upon hearing some commotion. It was never a quiet day in Hawkins High. Ever since the Byers boy disappeared last summer, the town’s never fully recovered. You knew it was better to keep your head down and not ask questions, which is exactly what you intended on doing. 

Billy has stopped close to your locker having crossed paths with Steve. Internally you groan, wishing it could’ve been closer to Cassidy’s locker instead. But with no such luck, you close the door of your locker louder than intended, catching Billy off guard as he glances over. 

For a split second, Billy doesn’t react having only caught a glimpse of you. You weren’t a face he knew, nor one he would associate himself with. But as you walk away, he can’t help but feel a pull toward you.

“Just stay outta my way, dick.” Billy mutters to Steve coldly who scoffs before turning away, wrapping his arm back around Nancy as the pair disappear into the crowd of students lining the corridor. 

Keeping your head down, you turn into the library unaware of the figure hot on your tail.

“Hey, Y/n,” The librarian smiles to you as you shyly wave back, forcing a brief smile before rushing further down the library and into a small cubby few know of. 

As Billy enters, the librarian raises an eyebrow to him as he smirks. “Have you seen a girl come in here, yay high, kinda cute?” Billy asks her, watching as she huffs lightly before returning to her duties. “Okay then,” Billy mutters under his breath before walking further in, his eyes searching for you but finding no such joy. 

Wandering through the library with a determined expression, everyone kept their heads down. He headed toward the spiral staircase, located above the cubby you curl up in and study. 

Your ears perk up at the sound of those unmistakable boots as they approach your direction. “Shit.” You mutter under your breath, hoping he will just continue upstairs and leave you be. 

Billy takes hold of the rail and walks upwards but pauses as he hears the sound of soft hums beneath him. He peers across, spotting you curled up in an armchair surrounded by old books. You’re in your own world, writing away as you hold another book open with your free hand. 

Pausing on the steps, a smile crosses Billy’s face as he focuses on you. “In a world of your own, sweetheart?” He speaks up and watches as you jump, dropping your book as you look up at him with wide eyes.

Swallowing the sudden lump in his throat, Billy recedes down the stairs and picks your book up as you remain seated. He hands you the book, his fingertips grazing over yours. “Thank you.” You mutter in response, returning your attention to your notes, but he remains in front of you. “whatever you wanna say, just say it.” You say half-heartedly, catching him off guard. 

“What’d you mean?” Billy questions, seeing you give him a cold look.

“You’re not here to make fun of me like all your friends?” You question, slowly watching as Billy’s smile falters.

Stepping closer, Billy looks around to make sure no one is watching. “Why’d they make fun of you?” He asks seriously, any element of humour or charm has dropped to a level of concern you’re unsure of. 

You shrug your shoulder. “Always have done since we got to High School. Surprised you didn’t just join in.” You tell him, a dry laugh escaping your lips as you hide the insecurity you feel about Billy being this close and not snapping at you like everyone else does. 

Shaking his head, Billy kneels down in front of you, his hand resting on your knee. “Angel, you gotta tell me who and I’ll make sure they leave you the hell alone.” His eyes lock with yours as you weakly nod, listing off more than half of your grade as Billy takes each name in with more spite than the last. “Come on,” He rises to his feet, helping you gather your things. 

“What’re you doing?” You nervously ask as you pick up your bag, Billy passing you your things as he takes a hold of your hand. 

“Helping you.” He responds with a shadow of a smile playing on his lips. “Look, I don’t like bullies.” He leans closer as you look up as you raise an eyebrow. 

“Really, huh?” You joke, a wave of unexpected confidence rising in your system as you begin to move away from your hiding spot, emerging from the dark with Billy by your side.

“Princess, I only pick on those who deserve it,” He defends himself, resting his hand on his chest as he takes a chewing gum, loudly chewing as you walk toward the exit, ignoring the glances you’re both receiving. 

“So, Steve Harrington always deserves it?” You’re observant, along with half of the school. 

Billy nods, causing you to chuckle. “He’s a dick, what’d you expect?” The question remains unanswered as you both exit the library as you feel daggers being pointed close to your chest in the form of his friends' fiery glares. “Keep walking,” He mutters to you, his hand moving to rest around your waist. “hold your head up high, doll.” He encourages as you near his friends.

You’re certain he can feel your heart beating uncontrollably as his friends’ eyes follow you in disgust. “Billy, what’re you doing with Y/n? She’s a freak!” Carol squeals, scoffing loudly. 

“Fuck off, Carol.” Billy retorts, and they all go quiet. 

No one talks back to Billy, and they know better than to question. 

A smile rises on your lips as you and Billy turn into an empty classroom. You let out a shaky breath as you pace around the classroom, weaving between desks as Billy stands by the door, taking the sight in.

“Holy shit, you just shut Carol down.” You laugh wholeheartedly, running your fingers through your hair. 

Billy shrugs his shoulder. “It’s nothing, she needs to be reminded that other people exist sometimes.” He passes it off as nothing, hiding the fact that your smile is beaming and it’s making his cold heart swell with warmth. 

Without thinking, you move closer and wrap your arms around Billy’s waist. Your face is buried into his chest as you shut your eyes. For a moment you forget the stories, you let your mind forgive Billy for all the hearts he’s broken, the kids who nearly piss themselves when he glances in their direction. 

Looking down at you, Billy hesitates until he relaxes and wraps his arms around you. He smiles as his chin rests on the top of your head. It felt comforting, something he hasn’t felt in years. 

“Thank you, Billy.” You softly mutter, smiling into him as he allows himself a genuine smile, even if you can’t see it.

As you pull away, Billy moves his curls away from his face. “You better get your bag. We got class to get to.” He tells you as you turn away, grabbing your bag.

“Since when do you go to class?” You joke, and Billy rolls his eyes in response.

“I’ll go if it means they’ll leave you alone.” He mutters back before taking your hand in his. As you look down, he clears his throat. “Safety in numbers, angel. Didn’t you ever learn that?” He winks as he squeezes your hand lightly, refusing to let go.

[argylemikewheeler]

some line-by-line analysis: the rain argument

Honestly to start, my favorite thing, I’m not sure why, is that when Will tells Mike to “forget it” and runs up the stairs, Mike doesn’t call after him. He just follows. Even before, when Will’s anger is still escalating, Mike just says “You [Lucas] want to keep playing, right?” and “We’ll just call the girls afterwards”, which aren’t really argumentative. They’re both positive affirmations (to Mike at least) that he wants to keep playing. There isn’t a “hey! knock it off! we want to still play!” from Mike, just an assurance that it all can wait until after... and even when Will storms out, he doesn’t use any interjections/argue after him. He just follows.

Once they get outside, Mike still doesn’t argue that Will is being unreasonable or ridiculous about his outburst. He just says “Will, come on. You can’t leave. It’s raining.” These are not any biased form of argument from Mike; he’s still not “raising a hand” (verbally) to Will’s outburst. He just wants to get Will to stay in any way he can-- or just not let Will leave mad, which Mike obviously hates BUT doesn’t engage with, unlike previously seen with other characters (Lucas, Max, Hopper etc).

Finally, we have the apology: “Listen, I said I was sorry, all right? It’s a cool campaign. It’s really cool!” again, still not saying that Will is unreasonable or getting Mike’s own view of the situation across: he’s still just trying to comfort Will. He knows he’s done something wrong or, again, he just doesn’t want to argue with him at all.

Finally, though, when Will makes an accusation Mike does respond with “That’s not true!” and he looks betrayed rather than incredulous. How could he, Mike Wheeler, be ruining a Party that he, for all intents and purposes of the show’s framing, is the “leader” of? How could he be ruining something he loves so dearly without knowing? How is that possible? It can’t be true.

After that, and what I find most interesting, is Mike stays silent as Will goes off on him. I mean, this is the most angry we’ve seen Will Byers and the most reserved we’ve ever seen Mike Wheeler. From the beginning, Mike is shown to be vocally righteous and stubborn, and Will is timid and of few words. But here, Mike stands and listens-- he doesn’t even lift his arms up in a silent way of arguing with him. He’s listening.

Mike gawks and waits, only cutting in when Will insults Mike’s desire to make out with “some [stupid] girl”. Again I’m not sure why, but I find it interesting that Will doesn’t address who Mike is making out with. It’s not a personal attack on El really. It’s an attack on Mike kissing girls in general over hanging out with them. Will, to me, isn’t calling El stupid; he’s merely labeling every girl that Mike will ever make out with as stupid. Again, it’s an attack at Mike choosing to do that, not directed at El. By not naming her, I think it really says a lot about the intent, but that might just be me.

And then we have the biggest line: “El’s not stupid!” followed by “It’s not my fault you don’t like girls.” I mean, what a wild pair of sentences. First, let’s address Mike’s rebuttal: it’s weak, right? I mean, I’m not saying that Mike even knows of his Other Feelings and that’s influencing how he speaks, but Mike really doesn’t go to bat for El that much here. He just cuts Will off by arguing the only point he could get in edgewise-- the only thing that could be argued. Him not knowing where Dustin was? Yeah, fair. Will being annoyed that Mike is picking girls over the Party? Yeah, that’s fair too. Calling El stupid? Yeah, NO that’s not cool. Here, Mike brings things back to being personal/being about El-- which wasn’t what Will was saying, and Mike probably knows that. It’s just the only thing he could finally interject about because Will is right in his own emotions.

Secondly, I almost don’t know what to intelligently say about the “not my fault” line. I mean, it changes the mood so quickly. So quickly. Mike makes it, in his own way, about their sexuality (and the ways that kids express it/experience it differently). Mike doesn’t say “It’s not my fault you don’t have a girlfriend”, no. He labels the entire conflict as Will’s inability to be romantically attracted to girls. He makes it personal and he makes it direct. He exposes that he’s noticed that Will isn’t taking interest in girls (rather than just pointing out he has no “luck” with them) and Will is silent.

There is nothing to say for Will. He can’t argue that point of reasoning anymore. If it was “not my fault you don’t have a girlfriend”, Will could have easily said “because I don’t want one!” and pushed the denial forward and offered an excuse to the sudden exposure of his actions. He stays silent and lets the sentence echo. The way he looks at Mike is one of shock, but the anger doesn’t go away. He’s not shocked that Mike knows/noticed; he’s upset that he’s chosen now to bring it up.

To which Mike apologizes! He knows, again, that he’s messed up. He goes back to affirming Will-- in tone only, in a way. “I’m not trying to be a jerk” is a bit more “hands on” than his previous listening technique, but he still says it in such a more calm way.

And now, the big part: “But we’re not kids anymore. I mean, what did you think, really? That we were never gonna get girlfriends? We were just gonna sit in my basement all day and play games for the rest of our lives?”

First off? The tone. Mike’s tone at the end of this speech is the same as when he started. He doesn’t raise his voice despite asking a bunch of rhetorical questions and reiterating his point. He is calm as he actually starts the argument. The way he ends that last question sounds like a genuine question to me and it’s so fascinating. He wants an answer.

AND that’s because I think Mike’s confused about Will, honestly. I’m not saying Mike’s conscious of his confusion, but I think there is something about his friend that he just doesn’t understand-- and it’s his lack of attraction to girls, as previously noticed. He points out, at first, that he knows how Will (and himself) acted as kids. They experienced the same level of “feelings” for girls-- which was probably none because they’re goobers and twelve. But then Mike changes to asking what did Will think was going to happen, which in a way is Mike also prompting himself too. Obviously, by asking this, something hasn’t gone the way he planned either. And this, in a way, is probably Will not showing any attraction to girls-- never getting that girlfriend that was obviously something Mike was going to do. Mike thought they’d be the same again, just as they were as children, but Will’s different.

But here, also important to note, Mike brings it back to girlfriends and not just girls. Before, he accuses Will of not liking any girl but then when talking about himself (his language kind of cuts Will out of the “we” that is getting girlfriends after the “don’t like girls” comment) but then he’s back to pointing out that this new “we” of course was going to get girlfriends because they could. This is something a lot of people have noted in their own analysis but Mike really implies here that getting a girlfriend was an expected part of their teenage trajectory. And yeah, it might not say much for a boy to assume he’d get a girlfriend, but Mike is kind of accusing Will of essentially: what? you think we’d all be like you? not have any girlfriends?

And this is why Mike asks the last question so genuinely: he really isn’t sure what Will thought their lives would be like if he wasn’t going to get a girlfriend. The concept of Will not getting one is off-putting to Mike. I don’t think he truly knows Will is gay, but I think here he’s really kind of voicing his own confusion for how Will’s growing up with him. How can a boy not get one? Is that an option? Is that possible? How could someone show no interest in girls and then just, not get one? Mike marks this up to Will wanting to do the same thing as they did as children (when they all didn’t like girls at all,or more directly, thinking Will is “staying a child”) and Will takes this line to mean that they’d all keep the group together, that he’d get to keep his friends while he obviously misses out on romantic milestones: “Yeah. I guess I did. I really did.”

Will admits he thought he could have normal teenage years, and he has to hear from his straight-relationshipped friend that he was wrong. And Mike definitely doesn’t understand the difference in their answers/tone, but his face drops as he realizes that Will really did want that time with them, not just the “immature hobby”, so to speak.

Mike knows he fucked up-- he doesn’t know why or how, but he knows-- and promptly follows Will with an apology. He knows his words weren’t appropriate, if only for voicing an observation he shouldn’t have-- about Will and girls-- and he admits to being a “total asshole”. Which, yes, is nice because Mike kind of was in terms of turning his friend away but also? Nothing in that argument was particularly outlandishly rude. He never shouted at him, except for outing that he knew Will didn’t like girls. Mike’s apology being so severe says more, to me, about how much Mike understands about his words/fuck up than that he just knows he did bad. He wants to fix what he said, he just doesn’t know how.

And what’s worse is while Mike’s trying to figure out what happened and what he said in combination with what he feels himself-- and maybe in being more like Will than he thought-- Will is sitting alone and thinking everything he’s wanted (just staying in the basement, in that safety) is “stupid”.

What sucks the most, and what made that arc feel unfinished and unsatisfying to me, is that they never meet in the middle. At least not in season 3. I’m sure 4 will have them reuniting in the middle again. They’re best friends; they can’t be on opposite sides of understanding for long. That’s just not how they work-- it’s obvious it’s never been that way. And if “liking girls” is the thing that twists that dynamic, than goddamn that really means something huh?

[clericbyers]

7!

[ 7 was already requested but since i didn’t exactly use the words for that prompt, I’ll take your ask and use it to write a second part! ]

Mike bangs on the door to the Byers house as regret bleeds through his actions.

“Will! Will, come out please! I was being an asshole but can we talk?”

No answer.

Lucas crosses his arms with a worried frown. “I don’t think he went home, Mike.”

“No, no, he said he was going home,” the taller boy bangs at the door frantically again. There’s still no answer. “Where is Joyce? Where is..he can’t be—no, he can’t be taken again. The gate is closed.”

Mike feels sick even thinking about Will being snatched up by the demogorgon again. He refuses to believe Will is facing the fate he was already unfortunate to face a year and a half ago. He knocks a few more times, less pounding and more melancholy desperation, but it doesn’t change the fact that no one is home.

Lucas pats Mike’s shoulder but the tension in Mike’s body and mind makes him shove off the comfort. He doesn’t deserve that right now; he was in the wrong and he needs to make things right. Where would Will go after being bullied? (And even though Mike never wants to refer to himself as a bully, he knows Will isn’t happy with him and would treat him as so after what he said.)

“Castle Byers,” gasps Mike and he yanks Lucas’ arm to sprint into the woods down a familiar path way.

The rain splatters harshly on his face, stinging reminders of the pain he’s put his best friend through, if he’s even able to keep calling Will his best friend after this. Mike tries not to think about how badly he’s messed things up and continues on his jog. He’s not athletic and he’s wheezing while inhaling cold water droplets, his nose is running and his chest and legs burn but he needs to find Will as soon as possible. If the wound closes and scars over, Will won’t want to talk about it and it’ll be the big elephant in the room for the rest of their friendship. Mike needs to fix things now.

The two make their way through the trees towards the fort and Mike can see Will’s silhouette through the sheets of rain between them. From here, it looks like Will’s got a bat and fear dances on the back of Mike’s neck. He lunges forward, every muscle in his legs screaming from his previous sprint, and grabs Will’s arm before he can lift the bat.

“Don’t!” Mike shouts. “Let go of the bat, Will.”

“Let go of me!” Will shouts back. His eyes are red from tears and his face is blotchy even with the rain washing away the salty residue. “I told you I don’t want to see you!”

“What you want doesn’t matter right now!”

“Oh, and what you want does?”

“I don’t want to be here in the middle of a storm watching you try to destroy the last fucking good memory you’ve got but here we are! So no, what I want doesn’t matter, either.” Mike yanks the bat from Will’s slippery fingers and stumbles from the force. He tosses the bat aside and steps closer to Will. “This is about what you need.”

“What I need is for you to leave me alone.” The brunette steps back with a watery laugh. “You had no trouble casting me aside an hour ago!”

“An hour ago isn’t now, Will! I’m not leaving. You and me, right? I promised that. I promised that and I’m not breaking that promise again.”

Will stares up into Mike’s eyes and takes in a quivering breath. “Friends don’t lie.”

“You’re right, they don’t. They shouldn’t.” Mike holds out his hand with a serious expression on his drenched face. “I drew first blood. You don’t have to accept my apology now, but I know I was in the wrong, okay? Let’s go inside so we can get dry and not catch dumb summer colds, yeah?”

Will’s eyes dart between Mike’s hand and his eyes. “I can’t. I can’t shake on this, Mike. It’s not just an argument and you know it.”

“Will,” Lucas starts but both Mike and Will turn to him with mirrored looks screaming stay out of this. He steps back with raised hands but deep concern drawn on his face.

Mike steps closer to Will and takes his hands even when Will tries to pull back. Mike’s not the strongest by a long shot but his hands are big enough the enclose Will’s and keep him in Mike’s grip. Will’s breath catches in his throat and he refuses to keep eye contact with Mike from this closeness. “I’ve been an asshole, I get that, and I really didn’t mean to insult you. I didn’t know.”

“Of course you wouldn’t, you oblivious nut.” Will rolls his eyes and looks off to the side. “Doesn’t matter anyway. You can’t take back what you said.”

“I’m not trying to, trust me.” Will winces at that and Mike sighs. “Look, you’re right: I don’t have to try to be a jerk to be one. I was mad you blamed me for everything and I couldn’t deny it so I tried to blame you for something instead and totally crossed a line with it.”

“Try to blame me for…oh, Mike, that’s so rich.” Will chuckles and it’s far too shaky and unstable for Mike to feel comfortable. “That’s so fucking rich because it’s just your luck that’s your fault anyway!”

Mike blinks and loosens his grip on Will just enough for the other boy to yank his hands away. “My fault? But I—,” and then the full implication sinks in and Mike can’t quite catch his breath. “You? Me? You, wait, me, Will?”

“Yes, you! You and your stupid hair and your stupid laugh and your stupid eyes! All of it is stupid!” Will’s crying again, gasping between shouts as he steps back from Mike even more. “I was blinded, do you get it now?”

Mike nods. He understands being blinded by feelings. “I do.” He reaches out again and Will takes in a sharp breath with fear pooling in his eyes. Mike lurched forward and takes the smaller boy into his arms. Will doesn’t struggle and immediately collapses into tears against Mike’s chest.

“I’m sorry,” he’s repeatedly sobbing, “I didn’t mean to. I’m so sorry.”

“I’m not accepting your sorry. You have nothing to be sorry for.” The taller boy squeezes a little harder as a protective instinct washes over him with the breeze. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not and you know it.”

“Yeah, okay, it’s not okay but it’s okay to me.” Mike leans his chin on the top of Will’s head and closes his eyes as he rubs his friend’s back. “Will,” he starts, unsure really of what to say right now. He knows Will needs his comfort and support right now after such a confession, but he can’t find words as his brain struggles to accept not just Will’s words, but Mike’s own before he and Lucas went searching for Will.

I love him.

“Hey, Will, look at me.” Mike starts as he pulls away from the other boy. Will shakes his head, still crying into Mike chest. The sight breaks Mike’s heart just a little more. “Please,” he begs and feels the corner of his lips twitch when Will complies. Mike takes one hand to wipe a stray tear and then clears his throat shakily. His heart is in his throat and he honestly doesn’t know if this will make things worse, but he feels compelled to say so in a way he’s never felt with anyone else. “I love you.”

Will laughs. “Good one, Mike; make me feel better by saying you feel the same way.”

“No, Will, I’m serious.”

Will starts laughing again and then falters as his eyes scan Mike’s face for any falsehoods. When he seems to find what he’s looking for, Will immediately jumps on his toes and smashes his lips to Mike’s own. Mike stills with shock, eyes blown wide open as he stumbles from the force of Will’s jump. Mike’s knees buckle and they tumble to the ground but he pulls Will in and takes the other boy’s face in hand to return the kiss. He doesn’t know how long they lay there in the rain clinging onto each other with anguish, fear, and tainted relief rushing through their veins, but Mike knows he wouldn’t have pulled away if it weren’t for air.

“You’re not out of the doghouse, Wheeler,” starts Will as he glares up at Mike through his wet bangs. He opens his mouth to say more but then freezes with a stillness that worries Mike. Will slowly reaches a hand to the back of his neck and starts turning back toward town. Any previous mood evaporates the moment Will speaks up.

“He’s back.”

[too-strange-for-earth]

Memories (4-?)

Parings: steve Harrington x reader, Jim hopper x daughter! reader, nancy wheeler x platonic! reader, Jonathon Byers x platonic! reader. (Future Billy Hargrove x platonic!reader)

Masterlist

Prompt list

(1)-(2)-(3)-(5)-(6)

tags: @bandsandanimefreak @fortheloveoflamp @naomiiiiiiiiiii04 @addictwithaheavydirtycheetah

warnings: bad writing, all over the place, Russians, language, going off canon.

(y/n): your name

(y/n/n): your nickname

(y/h/c): your hair color

(y/e/c): your eye color

---

(Y/N) was a smart girl, she picked up Russian in a matter of weeks, learned how to act sick to get more food, and was able to escape through a crappy planned ventilation system. Although it sounded easy, there was a trick; sneak out of the cell, take out one of the guards, take their uniform, act like one of them, and learn what the hell that scream was from. Of course with her luck, the base she was located at was in the mountains, fuck. 

As she walked quickly across the halls trying to look through any and all cells to find out who or what that scream was from. She was hoping with every fibre in her body it was just another cellmate and not what she dealt with in the past two years. She came across a giant cell with high ceilings and electric bars she saw it, that grey slimy beast with countless rows of teeth that caused her to have night terrors. That awful creature made by the devil himself to torture Will and Elven.  No wonder they were in the mountains... but if this thing was here then that meant that they have a gate open. ‘Shit, h-how could this happen?’ She saw it closed! She has to get out of here. It took her a few months to get enough money for one plane ticket. She has to tell the others. She was too worried about telling her friends and family she forgot that it's been a year since they've seen her.

She has changed a lot since Hawkins, she has seen gruesome things happen to innocent people. When she got on the plane she started to think about her dad ‘has he been okay? is he taking care of El?’ as her mind wondered she thought of Steve ‘did he move on? Did he find someone to take my place? Did he forget about me?’ of course she shouldn't be mad if he did move on, they all thought she was dead, but that didn’t stop the raging fire festering in her.

-

At this point in (Y/N)’s life, she is no longer phased by anything out of the ordinary. She fought weird alien-like creatures, almost died, has a sister with superpowers, been captured by Russians, best friends with children, and now sitting in the basement of her best friends house being pelted with questions.

“So you're telling me that the Russians, the big ugly guys, Alexie’s co-workers, took you right as that machine was destroyed?” Hopper being frustrated was an understatement. He was furious, not at his daughter, but the things she had to deal with, with the Russians taking her away. “Yeah, but that's not what we should be worrying about. They have a gate in the mountains in one of their bases. The Demogorgon is back” Steve was pacing around the room not even bothering to look at El, Hopper, or even (y/n). 

Steve should be worried that there is another Demogorgon on the planet, but his mind was occupied with the thoughts of ‘has she moved on?’ It was a silly thought. “Steve, I know you love (y/n) and all but now is the time to make a strategy if they come back to Hawkins,” Max said looking at the boy who finally looked up. “How do we know that they'll come back to Hawkins?” Steve said looking at (y/n) with sunken eyes. 

“We don't. But we still need to be prepared. While I was there I found that it was very difficult to keep the Demogorgon alive, sure it was below freezing, but it didn't have a strong enough power source there. Only Hawkins does, they've tried opening gates in other areas of America but they didn't work correctly. If I am correct, and I usually am, the gate has a strong magnetic field that can change compasses north as well as demagnetize anything. In that area, there was no demagnetization, nor did the compasses change.” The girl said looking at Dustin, Lucas, Mike, El, and Will. Ignoring the looks from Steve, she saw his date that night, she was pretty; completely different from herself. She was jealous but now is not the time.  

“You have dealt with this before, is there any way that the Demogorgon can feed off of electricity or anything that's not meat?” she said as the five kids looked at each other. “I'm not sure... it could be possible. In the upsidedown, there weren't any animals at all, but then again it's interdimensional. But there was some power, the lights would flicker but that's it.” Joyce said as Hopper sighed. 

“Whatever it is, I'm not having you go back out there and fight it.” He pointed a finger at his eldest. “Dad it was one year. I survived one year without supervision also have you forgotten that we fought a literal meat monster that would not fucking die!” She glared at her father. 

“I agree with your dad on this (y/n/n), we already lost you once. I don't want to lose you again.” Steve said pleading with the girl whos looks could kill. “oh really? Well, Steven, apparently you didn’t lose much did you?” It was wrong to be angry at him, it was stupid. Yet she felt betrayed, did he even try to look for her? Did he even wait to move on?

“What does that mean?” El whispered to Max. The young girl shook her head and mouthed later. The tension in the room was unbearable, side glances from the kids, Joyce and Hopper silently talking amongst themselves.

“If you want to continue this conversation I’d advise it to be private. After all we have worse matters to deal with.” Jim finally broke the awkward silence. It was heart breaking to see Steve’s eyes flash from relief to sadness, and to see (y/n)’s turn from happiness to betrayed. The couple has had fights before, but they were petty fights going from “you are my last ice cream sandwich” to “that’s not how you play the game” but this was much worse. It wasn’t because of some silly popsicle, it was about trust.

“Well if you excuse me, I’m going home to sleep.” She tried to walk away before Mike ran infront of her, blocking her path to the stairs. “You can’t just waltz out of here! People think your dead! And not just the “got lost in the woods” type of dead! It’s been a year with no sign of you coming back until two days ago.” He had a point. This wasn’t like two years ago where they could convince everyone to think Will got lost in the woods for a month.

“I’ll pull my truck around and you can sneak in that way.” Her father said walking past her. “Kids, I think we should leave (y/n/n) and Steve alone so they can catch up.” Those were the first things Robin has said all day. Probably in shock from all of this. She didn’t know (y/n) that well, but she did think of her as a friend.

As everyone was leaving El slipped Steve the ring he gave her a year ago. (y/n) turned to face Steve, unsure what to call him. “So you saw me at the movies” he scratched his neck awkwardly as she stood infront of him with crossed arms. “Sure did.” She said shortly.

“Ya know I-I didn’t stop looking for you until this month, I never forgot you. I mean hell I never stopped loving you.” He sighed as she rolled her eyes trying to hold back tears. “Then why did you move on?” She asked softly. “I didn’t, I never did. She asked me to go to the movies and Dustin kicked me out of his house the minute I told him.” He walked towards her slowly, hopping she won’t move away. “I was lonely Steve, there were times I- where I thought I would die.” She finally broke, sobs pouring out of her lips as he embraced her.

“There wasn’t a day where I didn’t watch your family tapes, I’m pretty sure Hopper is tired of me going to his house for dinner every night and falling asleep watching those videos” he laughed sadly rubbing her back. She laughed at the thought of him passed out on the couch.

“Hey! Don’t laugh at that! It’s pathetic!” He scolded pulling away from her as she looked at him. “Oh so loving me is pathetic now?” She teased, a glint of mischief in her eyes as a smirk played on her lips. “Never.” He smiled at her. They were both close enough where their breaths mingled, one inch closer and they’d be kissing. They were moving closer together about to kiss when El walked in the room.

“Dads ready.” She smiled to herself when she saw the two jump apart as blush spread across their faces.

(Part 5)

[insideoutstory]

Inside Out → Chapter Twenty

summary: Eleven’s experiment in the bath brings everyone to some emotional tipping points. word count: 5.8k warnings: Found family feels, grieving

[ masterlist ]   [ FF.net ]

Getting to the middle school was no easy feat. Jonathan’s car only held five people, and while the chief’s car was bigger, there were still only five seats. Much to Hopper’s annoyance, the kids were still refusing to split up, and Christine wouldn’t let them out of her sight. Eventually, Jonathan had to surrender his keys to her again so they could all ride together. He stayed behind with Nancy to help Hopper and Mrs. Byers load the old kiddy pool into the back of the truck. 

The kids all resumed their same spots in the car. The boys sat in the back, reviewing the notes Christine had taken down from Mr. Clarke and discussing their supplies. Hopper was bringing the pool. To fill it, they’d need hoses from the groundskeeper’s storeroom. They figured the best place to set up would be the gymnasium. They’d have enough room to set up, and they could use the taps from the locker rooms. The salt they would get from storage out back, where Hopper knew they stored the road salt for the parking lot. After that, it was just a matter of keeping things quiet and dark enough for Eleven to do her thing. 

Eleven was not speaking. She’d just been sitting anxiously in the passenger seat, rubbing her hands up and down her legs. Christine had put on some music to soothe her, and reached over to take her hand again. 

She was trying not to show it, but she was just as scared as Eleven was. She’d seen the strain Eleven’s power put on her. Hopefully the pool would help stretch her abilities a bit farther, but there was still a pretty high risk. Christine didn’t want to see Eleven ashen and bleeding again, passing out from the strain of projecting herself into an alternate dimension. But Eleven was the only shot they had. 

The rest of Christine’s fears were about answers. She didn’t know what she’d do if they didn’t like the ones they got. What if Eleven couldn’t find Barb and Will? Because Jonathan had been right. If the Upside Down was a mirror of their universe, they had the whole world to hide. What if they weren’t even in alternate Hawkins anymore? Just how much could Eleven’s powers take before they gave out? Or worse, what if they were too late? What if Will really was gone? Or Barb, or both of them? 

Christine shook her head, and squeezed the steering wheel a little tighter. They’d cross that bridge when they came to it. For now, they had to focus on the isolation tank. One thing at a time. 

It was eerie to drive through the school’s empty parking lot. Christine drove the car around back and parked by the gym. She hopped out first, striding to the doors and giving them a solid tug. All she managed to do was hurt her shoulder. For some reason, it hadn’t occurred to her that the school might be locked on a Saturday night. 

“Shit.” 

“What’s shit?” asked Dustin, stretching as he exited the car. 

“It’s locked,” Christine complained. “And watch your language.” 

“What happened to ‘I’m not your mother’ and ‘you can curse as much as you want’?” 

“I changed my mind. Just get back in the car. We’ll check out the front, or…I don’t know. A window.” 

She’d made it halfway to the car when the door swung open behind her. Christine jumped, whirling around. It took a second for her brain to catch up. When it did, she frowned at Eleven, who was surreptitiously wiping her nose. 

“You, just…stop that. Save your energy.” 

“You’re just mad cause she scared you,” snickered Mike, and he led the way into the building. 

The chief’s truck pulled up a few minutes later, and Hopper gave them their marching orders. He and Jonathan would take care of the salt. The Wheelers would handle the hoses, while Dustin and Lucas did their best to set up the pool. Hopper had tried to stick Mrs. Byers with them to supervise, but she’d made her own adamant case. She was going with Christine to prep Eleven. That was final. 

That was how Christine ended up walking through the science wing of Hawkins Middle with Joyce Byers, a quiet Eleven walking between them. Christine had expected there to be some sort of interrogation. Mrs. Byers probably had a thousand questions for the psychic kid who’d tracked down her son. But she was quiet for most of the walk, and when she finally did pipe up, it was to Christine. 

“I remember you, you know,” she said. “After you said that thing about Will liking colors, I started to remember. You were there when I took him to see Poltergeist. Hid a bag of M&M’s in the bottom of his popcorn. He really loved it. I never got to thank you.” 

Christine gave her a tight smile. It was an embarrassing thing for someone to remember. She had no idea what to say in response. Thankfully, Mrs. Byers let her off the hook. 

“Do you still work at The Hawk?” 

“Yeah,” Christine said with relief. “It’s not bad. I wish we had more movies, but we’re getting a new one next week. And I get to see all the new stuff when it comes out.” 

“That’s nice,” she said lightly. It was the obligatory response before her next question. “I don’t suppose you know anything about…you know. The fight Jonathan was in.” 

“Oh, uh…you should probably just ask him about that.” 

Mrs. Byers nodded. It didn’t seem like she’d expected anything different. There was a part of Christine that was screaming for her to bring up the photographs Jonathan had taken, but she did her best to quiet it. Now was not the right time to be a tattle tale. They’d come back around to that disturbing detail later, she was sure. 

“I hope you didn’t do too much damage.” 

“Sorry?” Christine asked. 

Mrs. Byers pointed knowingly down at her hand, the one that was holding Eleven’s. The bruises were still visible through El’s fingers. Christine gasped. 

“Oh! No, that—that wasn’t Jonathan! I was fighting this asshole named Tommy. It was…it was a big thing.” 

“And this thing…had nothing to do with Jonathan’s fight?” 

“Well…like I said. I think you should talk to him.” 

“Right.” Mrs. Byers bobbed her head. “Can I ask what he said? This other boy?” 

“He just…He said some not great things about Nancy. But I guess I can’t talk. I’ve said some not great things about her too.” 

Christine grimaced, her own poor words resurfacing in her brain. But to her surprise, Mrs. Byers just nodded sagely. 

“Friendship can be weird like that. Especially in high school. Everyone says things they don’t mean. Sometimes you need the drama to remind you how important your friends are. Sometimes it’s classes and boys, and…sometimes, it’s uh—it’s science fiction monsters.” 

“Both, actually,” Christine said with a snort. 

They finally found a lab room that would have what they needed. Christine flicked on the lights, urging Eleven into a desk so she could look for the safety goggles she wanted. Mrs. Byers hung back by the door, wringing her hands. 

“So, how can I help? What else do you need? Should we find you some different clothes? Maybe something a little lighter than your dress?” 

“Good luck with that,” Christine laughed as she was going through the cabinets. 

 “Oh, I’m sure we could find something around here. A big T-shirt, or…” 

“No, I mean getting her to change. I’ve been trying for a few days now. But she loves that dress and she will not take it off.” 

“Well, I can see why,” Mrs. Byers said kindly. “You look very pretty in it.” 

Eleven muttered her thanks, and Mrs. Byers turned back to Christine. 

“Was it yours?” 

“Ha, uh no. Nancy’s. I left the boys alone for one afternoon and they took her back to the Wheelers’ to give her a makeover. She got the new dress, new tube socks, makeup. Even a blonde wig.” 

“I’m sure that looked beautiful. And it probably only made you look even more like sisters.” 

Christine stilled with the goggles in her hands. “Really?” 

“Oh, definitely,” said Mrs. Byers. “It’s a little bit the face—you both have those big, pretty brown eyes. But mostly…it’s just the way you are with each other. Jonathan’s the same way with Will. Protective, encouraging. I’d know it anywhere. You girls must be very close.” 

It was a simple observation, but Christine couldn’t help but take it as a compliment. She had a feeling that was how Mrs. Byers had intended it. She still had that warm, knowing smile. The farthest thing from the crazed, delusional woman Christine had feared she might be. Maybe it was the situation, but she just seemed like a really good mom. 

“I guess we are,” said Christine, smiling slightly. 

She could feel Eleven’s eyes on her, one of her intense, probing gazes that burned the skin. Christine bashfully passed the goggles to Mrs. Byers. 

“Uh, here. I’m…I’m gonna see if I can find some duct tape to black them out.” 

They did the best they could with the goggles. Christine found some duct tape in the emergency station, and cut long strips so Mrs. Byers could stick them on. They weren’t especially stylish, but they were dark enough, and they’d keep the water out. 

“There we go,” Mrs. Byers said to herself as she smoothed out the last strip. She held them up for Eleven to see. “This will keep it dark for you. Just like in your bathtub.” 

Eleven nodded. She’d grown quiet again, her nerves more evident on her face as their to do list got shorter and shorter. It was clear whatever “the bathtub” meant to her, it wasn’t good. She wasn’t looking forward to doing it again. 

Christine wished there was something she could do to stop it. But Eleven knew she was their only hope. It was why she wasn’t putting up a fight. The only thing Christine could do was pick her nails, and keep the depths of her concerns to herself. Mrs. Byers let out a deep sigh. 

“You’re a very brave girl,” she told Eleven. “You know that, don’t you? Everything you’re doing for my boy…for Will…for—for my family…thank you.” 

Eleven smiled meekly, much like Christine had earlier. She wasn’t used to being thanked. And much like earlier, Mrs. Byers didn’t seem to need a response. She took Eleven’s hands in her own and continued to encourage her earnestly. 

“Listen. Christine and I are going to be there with you the whole time. And if it ever gets too scary, in that—in that place…you just let us know, okay?” 

Eleven looked between the two of them, nodding. “Yes.” 

“Ready?” 

And after an extra moment of trembling breath, Eleven nodded again. “Ready.” 

As they walked back to the group, Eleven stood between them again. Her left hand was wrapped around Christine’s, and her right stayed firmly in Mrs. Byers’. 

Everyone had already reconvened by the time they reached the gymnasium. Hopper and Jonathan were pouring salt into the water, Nancy and Lucas standing by with rakes to push it around and help it dissolve. 

“You know,” Christine called, “it might’ve been easier to use hot water to dissolve the salt, and then just wait until it cooled to the right temperature.” 

“Shut up, Chrissy,” Dustin snapped. “Next time, I’ll use the duct tape and you can build the sensory deprivation tank.” 

“We might actually have to do that, you know. Doubt Mr. Clarke is gonna get off my back about the science fair.” 

“We’ve almost got it,” said Mike, staring down at the water. “I feel good about it this time, Dustin.” 

They all watched as the salt swirled around the bottom of the pool, slowly growing smaller and smaller and—finally—disappearing. Dustin grabbed a half-carton of eggs off the supply cart. He held his breath and placed the egg into the water. It bobbed for a moment, then settled gently on the surface. It was truly, properly floating. 

Mike slapped Dustin on the arm in shock, while Lucas clapped him on the back. Christine beamed with pride, stepping up behind him and rubbing his hat over his curls. 

“Nice job, boy genius,” she congratulated. 

The joy of victory was short lived. Now that they had a working bathtub, all that remained was to put Eleven in it. Hopper left to douse the lights, while Mike and Lucas turned up the volume on Will’s supercomm. Christine and Joyce helped steady Eleven as she stepped out of her socks and shoes. She reluctantly handed Mike his watch. And once she was ready, she put on her goggles and stepped out into the water. 

Everyone gathered around the pool to watch. They were spread around the edge, all staring into the center. In the semi-dark, it felt like some sort of séance. Christine held her breath, and tried to ignore the hairs on the back of her neck that were screaming that something was wrong. 

Mrs. Byers reached over and patted Christine on the knee. 

Eleven worked faster this time. The dim lights of the gym flickered overhead after scarcely a minute, and the interference from the walkie had already reached an eerie hum. She floated with arms stretched out toward the sides, her mouth agape, head twitching back and forth as if she were trying to read something very large very fast. The only sound in the room was the rippling of the water and Eleven’s shaking breath. Everyone else was paralyzed to the core. 

“Barb? Barbara?” 

Nancy gasped and grabbed Christine’s hand. Christine squeezed reassuringly, turning her gaze to the walkie. She just wanted to hear Barb’s voice. They’d tried twice and failed, but this was number three. That was the charm. Now she’d be able to hear her. 

But the walkie stayed silent. Eleven’s breathing picked up. The water rippled around her even though she wasn’t actually moving. Overhead, the gym lights flickered again, then snapped off abruptly. 

“What’s happening?” Nancy asked nervously. 

Mike shook his head. “I don’t know.” 

“Is Barb okay? Is she okay?” 

Christine felt the nausea rising in her throat. She bit hard on the inside of her cheek, staring down the supercomm, willing it to speak. She knew her grip on Nancy’s hand was throttling, but she could not escape the swelling fear in her chest. Barb was coming. She was going to hear Barb’s voice. Barb was… 

“Gone.” 

Eleven’s voice broke as she choked out the word. She said it again, and again, her head jerking back and forth. The walkie was practically screaming on the supply cart. A wave shot up from the center of the pool, slapping violently against the sides. 

“Gone. Gone. Gone.” 

It was all Christine could do not to vault herself into the pool. Out of grief, or concern, either one. Nancy had already beaten her to crying, one hand clapped over her mouth and squeezing her sobs back inside. Eleven was beginning to thrash in the water—screaming, terrified—but Christine was scared to touch her in her trance. She felt trapped inside herself, just like Eleven. 

“It’s okay,” Mrs. Byers whispered, leaning over the water to grab one of Eleven’s arms. “It’s okay. Christine? It’s okay.” 

With a start, Christine realized Mrs. Byers’ other hand was on her own. She gently squeezed her wrist, pulling her hand out over the water. It was a moment before Christine caught on. When her shock finally faded away, she choked back her tears and grabbed the small hand that was reaching out for her. 

“I’m right here, El. It’s okay. There’s nothing you can do. Just breathe. It’s okay. We’ve got you.” 

Mrs. Byers echoed her reassurances on Eleven’s other side. Slowly but surely, Eleven’s breathing began to steady. She clung to their hands like lifelines, her lips still trembling. The water stilled around her. The radio resumed its normal hum, and the lights went dark once more. Mrs. Byers retracted her hand cautiously, but Christine left hers securely in Eleven’s grip. 

“Castle Byers…?” 

Jonathan and his mother both froze as Eleven tested the words in the air. Christine grit her teeth and said a silent prayer. God, they could not go through that again. He had to be okay. Will had to be okay… 

It took a couple seconds, but Eleven finally spoke again. 

“Will. Will?” 

Mrs. Byers shuddered a gasp. She gripped Eleven’s arm tighter, not needing any more information. 

“You tell him—tell him I’m coming,” she pleaded. “Mom is coming.” 

Eleven repeated the words into the air. On the cart, the radio crackled to life. 

“Hurry…” 

Christine could have collapsed over from the relief that went through her bones. He was still alive. If nothing else, Will was still alive. They had time. 

“Okay, listen,” Mrs. Byers was instructing, leaning out over the pool. “You tell him to—to stay where he is. We’re coming. We’re coming, okay? We’re coming, honey.” 

Again, Eleven repeated the words. She said Will’s name, waiting for him, asking for some kind of response. But something was wrong. The static on the supercomm was distorting again. It squealed, and though Eleven wasn’t crying in the pool, they could hear her sobs and screams floating through from the other world. The water in the pool was starting to shake again. Everyone exchanged a terrified look. 

And then Christine heard the familiar clicking over the radio. 

“Eleven, come back,” she ordered. “Eleven, get out of there now!” 

There was a colossal splash as Eleven sprang up from the pool. She ripped her goggles off, breathing heavily and shaking like a leaf. Christine wasted no time in tugging her close, wrapping her arms around her and tucking her head underneath her chin. 

“It’s okay, El. I’ve got you. You’re okay. You did good. You did so good.” 

Eleven gripped tight to her arm, crying into the stiff, white fabric of her sleeves. A comforting hand stroke Christine’s back, reached around and held Eleven as well. Christine didn’t need to look up to know it was Joyce. 

“Hop…” she whispered. 

“Yeah, I got it,” he said, without needed to hear the rest of the plea. 

There was a shuffle around the pool as everyone got up. Hopper left again to find the lights, the kids all converging on the other side of the pool to watch Eleven warily. Jonathan hovered behind his mom, too worried to interrupt but probably too relieved about his brother to stray far from her. 

 Nancy stood and walked away. The door to the gym swung shut behind her, echoing ominously around the gymnasium. Christine knew she should go after her. But she also knew Nancy needed space. And Eleven needed to be okay first. 

“Come on,” Christine coaxed, helping her to her feet. “Let’s get you dried off.” 

She and Mrs. Byers did the best they could wring out the fabric of Eleven’s dress. Mike brought over one of the towels, but seemed to sense that it wasn’t time to talk yet. He handed it to Eleven with a bracing smile, letting his hand trail over hers. Then he retreated to the other side of the pool to stand with Lucas and Dustin. 

 Mrs. Byers was looking back towards Jonathan. 

“Go,” Christine offered with a nod. 

“Oh…no, it’s…” 

“It’s okay,” Christine said firmly. “I’ve got her.” 

The woman nodded, patting Eleven’s back one last time. Then she hurried over to her eldest son and pulled him into a bone crushing hug. It hurt Christine to watch. She was relieved, happy for them. But she couldn’t help but think how Barb’s parents would never get the same privilege. 

 Christine eased Eleven down onto the bleacher, and wrapped the towel tighter around her shoulders. After she was settled, Christine started shedding her work uniform. 

“I hate this thing,” she babbled as she tossed the clip on bowtie onto the seat. “It’s so uncomfortable. I don’t know why we need to wear uniforms to look presentable anyway. It’s not like people don’t know I work there. I’m the one behind the counter, right?” 

She shed the dripping button down and dropped it onto the gym floor. She shivered in the black tank top. It was cold in the gym. But there wasn’t time to linger on it. 

“I’m sorry,” Eleven whispered. 

Christine looked down at her sadly. Eleven wouldn’t look up. Her eyes were fixed on the bowtie, which she’d picked up and began twirling in her hands. Still, Christine knew she wasn’t apologizing for the uniform. 

“It’s not your fault,” Christine reminded her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Barb was…it was an accident. There’s nothing you could have done. There’s probably nothing any of us could have done. But I know that doesn’t stop it from hurting, or being scary.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

“I know.” Christine ran a hand over her head, then slipped out of her seat. She kneeled on the floor in front of Eleven, forcing the girl to meet her gaze. “Hey. If it wasn’t for you, we never would have known what happened to Barb. You gave us the truth. And sometimes that’s all you can ask for.” 

It was hard, but Christine tried to smile. She closed Eleven’s hands over the bowtie and rubbed the skin reassuringly. Eleven watched her fingers intently. 

“Joyce said…like sisters.” 

“Yeah. Yeah, she did.” Christine laughed weakly, and ran a thumb over the back of Eleven’s wrist. “You remember when I showed you that picture of me and Dustin? And I said he was like my annoying little brother? It’s like that. Sometimes, when we spend a lot of time with people, they become like your family. And that’s great, because you can be super close, closer than friends, and it’s the family you choose for yourself. So it’s not about who your parents are. It’s just about who you care about, and who your family is here.” 

Christine laid a hand over her chest, tapping on her heart. Eleven squinted at her. Uncertainly, she raised a hand to copy her. 

“So…sisters?” 

Christine but her lip, unsure if she was trying to hide her smile or her tears. 

“Yeah. Sisters. Definitely.” 

“Alright, break it up!” Dustin pushed past Christine, plopping down next to Eleven so he could throw his arms around her as well. “She’s our friend, too.” 

“Are you okay?” Mike asked, sitting on her other side. “That looked really scary.” 

“Okay,” Eleven confirmed with a nod.  

“Are you okay, Chrissy?” asked Lucas. 

 “Me? Yeah, I’m—I’m fine.” The boys shared a dubious look, which did not make Christine feel self-conscious in the slightest. She braved another smile, rubbing Lucas on the shoulder. “Seriously, guys. I’m fine.” 

“Y-Yeah,” he said, grinning widely. “We just wanted to...you know. Make sure.” 

Dustin made a loud coughing sound, which sounded suspiciously like the word “whipped.” Lucas reached around Eleven’s back and smacked him on the head. Mike hit Lucas in the chest, then fixed Christine with a solemn gaze. 

“We’re sorry about Barb,” he said softly. “Really.” 

Everyone stilled, which made it harder to keep her voice level when she replied. 

“Yeah. Me too.” Christine cleared her throat and climbed to her feet. “Speaking of, I’m gonna go check on Nancy. Keep an eye on these idiots for me, okay, El? You’re in charge.” 

The boys grumbled, and Eleven gave her a proud nod. “Okay.” 

Christine grinned. She pressed a quick kiss to the top of Eleven’s head, then crossed the gym so she could step out into the hallway. 

In a lot of ways, Hawkins High School and Hawkins Middle School were mirrors of each other. They had the same departments in the same places, the same number of students. They even had the same ugly tiger mural on the wall outside the gymnasium. Nancy sat underneath it, her back pressed to the wall and her face hidden in her knees. Even if the hall hadn’t been so quiet, her shaking shoulders showed she was crying from a mile away. 

Christine closed the door to the gym as quietly as she could. Then she walked over to the mural and nudged Nancy with the toe of her boot. 

Nancy jumped, and scrambled to wipe the tears from her face. “Sorry, I’m—oh. Christine.” 

“Just me,” she said, holding her hands up in the air. She pressed her back to the tiger, and slid down next to Nancy. “Don’t stop crying on my account. I was kinda planning on catching up.” 

“No, I’m sorry. God, I—I know I’m being stupid, it’s just...” 

“Woah, hey.” Christine gaped at her, and nudged her knee firmly. “Nothing about this is stupid. I mean this is...this is Barb we’re talking about...” 

“I know, but there’s so much more going on.” Nancy ran her hands over her head, forcing her flyaway hairs back into her orderly ponytail. “With Eleven and Will and...I mean, look at you. You’re not crying.” 

“Don’t say it like that,” Christine groaned. “I feel bad enough as it is.” 

“Don’t. Seriously, Chris. You’re probably just in shock.” 

“But that’s the awful thing. I feel like...I’m just not. Part of me feels like I knew the whole time, you know? The minute you told me you hadn’t heard from her. And then I feel like shit because it’s like...it’s like I’d already given up on her.” 

“You did not give up on her,” Nancy said vehemently. “None of us did. If we had, none of us would be here, right? And now...now we have a chance to save Will.” 

She nodded adamantly, more to herself than anything. Christine could practically see her brain resetting, working hard to stay focused and keep from shutting down. Barb was gone. But they weren’t out of the woods yet. 

The doors to the gym slammed open again. Hopper burst through, blowing right past them and out the second set of doors to the parking lot. Jonathan and his mother were hot on his heels. They struggled with the second door as it threatened to shut them in, then followed Hopper outside. Everyone was fighting—and not quietly. Not that it was a secret what the fight was about, anyway. Hopper was attempting to save the day solo. Mrs. Byers wasn’t about to let him. Nancy and Christine could hear crystal clear as she went off on him, reminding him that Will was her son and that nothing on heaven or earth would stop her from going after him. Jonathan’s voice chimed in, saying that he could come, that he could help. But things must not have gone his way. 

They listened as the chief’s truck sped away from the school. Then the doors opened one more time, and Jonathan trudged back inside. He joined them wordlessly. With his back pressed to the wall, he slid down on the other side of Nancy. And then they sat in silence. 

“What’s Castle Byers?” Christine finally asked. 

“His clubhouse,” Jonathan answered weakly. “We built it together, in the woods out back. So he’d have someplace to hide when Mom and Dad were fighting.” 

“Far?” 

“Not from here. But they have to go through the lab and then walk, so…” 

Neither of them finished the thought. Christine knew from personal experience how long it took to hike around Hawkins to the Byers’ house. Hopper and Mrs. Byers would have a long trek ahead of them. And that was if they could make it through the guards at Hawkins Laboratory. If Will had told them to hurry, how much time did they really have? 

“We need to go back to the station.” 

Christine and Jonathan both turned to Nancy in surprise. She was staring a hole at the tiles in front of her. Her eyes were shining, but completely focused. 

“What?” asked Jonathan. 

“Your mom and Hopper are just walking in there like bait. That thing is still in there. And we can’t just sit here and let it get them too.” 

“Nancy,” Christine said lowly. “We’re not exactly…” 

“We can’t.” Nancy turned to her, completely resolute. “We can’t give up, right? We have to keep fighting, we…we have to do something.” 

“But do what?” 

“You still want to try it out?” Jonathan asked Nancy. 

“I wanna finish what we started,” she replied. “I want to kill it.” 

She and Jonathan nodded at each other. They both looked determined, their jaws set and their hands curled into fists on their knees. But Christine was still tripping a couple steps behind. 

“Wait,” she said, glancing between them. “That’s what all the shit in the box was for? You’re gonna try and hunt it down?” 

“We’re gonna trap it,” said Jonathan. “And then, yeah. We’re gonna kill it.” 

“What did you think we were doing?” Nancy asked. 

“I don’t know! Booby trapping the house for protection?” 

“We are,” she said plainly. “And then we’re gonna try and summon it.” 

“S-Summon…? Nance, I know I joked it was a demon, but…” 

“No, I mean like—call it. We think it can sense blood. Track it. That’s how it found Barb.” 

“And how it followed Will,” Jonathan agreed. “After he fell off his bike.” 

“So we go to Jonathan’s house, set up the traps, and lure it in. The lights are already set up, and that way we’ll know it’s coming.” 

“Guys, this is insane,” Christine pleaded. “This thing is—it’s huge! And it’s dangerous, and…” 

“I know exactly what it is.” 

Christine faltered. Of course Nancy knew what the Demogorgon was. She’d seen it, already gotten trapped once, gone up against it once. It just made trying again seem all the more crazy. 

“Nance,” she begged, turning to face her fully. “Don’t…Don’t do this. We just lost Barb, and…if anything happened to you…” 

Nancy nodded in understanding. She took Christine’s hand and squeezed it hard, just as imploring. 

“That’s exactly why I have to. We can’t let it kill anyone else. Not Will, or Hopper, or Mrs. Byers.” 

They stared each other down. They fought silently through their hands, each trying to squeeze the other one into agreeing with them. Christine thought she was pretty strong. But in the end, she was the one who deflated. 

“Barb would kill us for doing something this stupid, you know.” 

“Probably,” Nancy said with a watery smile. “But she’d come with us anyway.” 

“Us?” asked Jonathan. 

“Of course ‘us,’” Christine scoffed. “You don’t think I’m gonna let you two get yourselves killed alone, do you?” 

“But what about the kids?” 

That did make Christine pause. She didn’t want to leave the kids behind. But she couldn’t let Nancy go up against the Demogorgon with only Byers for backup. That was more dangerous than waiting at the school. Even if Eleven did have government scientists looking for her, the kids were smart. They knew how to keep their heads down avoid detection. They’d done alright for the last week, hadn’t they? 

…but what if that luck ran out? 

“We divide and conquer,” Nancy said, squeezing her hand again. “The lab will be busy enough dealing with Hopper and Mrs. Byers. We keep the monster busy, and it all keeps everything away from Eleven. The kids will be fine.” 

Christine nodded, trying to convince herself. The kids would be fine. They knew the score, and knew the dangers. Plus, they had Eleven. It would be okay. 

“Okay,” she said shakily. “Let’s do this.” 

They all got to their feet, shaking out the trembling in their hands. 

“Your dad still have that shotgun in the garage?” Nancy asked smile, and Christine nodded. “Good. So we’ll go to the station, pick up our stuff, and then swing by your house to pick up yours.” 

“What about the lab guys?” Jonathan asked. “They were swarming her house before.” 

“They must’ve cleared it by now though, right?” 

“I guess. But what if they’re watching it?” 

“I don’t know. We’ll just have to…” 

Jonathan and Nancy continued to bicker on, picking apart the plan and trying to find the best way to proceed. But Christine was having a hard time focusing. 

She drifted over to the doors of the gymnasium, peeking inside just as she had during the assembly. There were the kids, alone on the bleachers. Eleven was wrapped in her towel, leaning heavily on Mike’s shoulder. Lucas sat behind her, rubbing her back comfortingly as he talked to Dustin on Mike’s other side. They looked so small. It almost snapped her resolution clean in two. 

Almost as if she’d sensed it, Eleven looked up and caught her eye. She smiled. It was small, and it was sad. Just like every other time she’d stared at Christine, it gave off the sense that she’d analyzed everything around her. Like she knew everything about Christine from her favorite color to the conversation she’d just been having in the hall. 

Eleven lifted a hand, and tapped her heart. 

After a long night of holding it back, Christine felt her tears beginning to escape over her cheeks. She forced her face into one more smile, and tapped her own heart too. With Eleven’s permission, she turned away and followed Nancy and Jonathan out the door.

[unfortunate-stranger-losers]

Right-Side Up AU, Part Three: It’s the End of the World {AO3} {tumblr} {Part One} {Part Two}

Chapter Sixteen → The Squads get Split Up

“So, let’s get this straight.” Nancy sighed, leaning over the trunk of the squad car. “Ms Driscoll had a weird-ass seizure last night that the doctors don’t get-” 

“What time was it?” Jonathan asked. 

“Around 9:00.” Hopper said. 

“When do you think the kids started setting Billy on fire?” Jonathan asked. 

Joyce shut her eyes. “Oh, son of a bitch.” 

The man handcuffed to Jonathan said something, and Nancy said, “Please, sir, not now.” 

Joyce glanced up at the rising sun over the horizon and said, “Someone needs to get back to the kids. But we can’t very well take him along.” she gestured to the man, who seemed more confused than upset at this situation. 

“Do we know anyone who speaks Russian? Maybe we can get information out of him.” Jonathan asked. 

“Mike knows a little, but not enough to translate.” Nancy sighed. 

“Besides, taking Smirnoff over here to the superpowered kids is a bad idea for what should be obvious reasons.” Hopper groaned. 

Joyce paused, considering, and then said, “What about Murray? Would Murray know Russian?” 

“Who?” Jonathan asked. 

“A guy we leaked information with last year.” Hopper said. “I think he does, actually.” 

“So we go to Murray?” 

“But we need to go back to the kids.” Jonathan said. “They’re probably freaked.” 

Hopper paused, and then said, “I’ll go back to the kids. The rest of you go to Murray.” 

“What?” Joyce jumped. 

“That assassin guy knows I’m after him, he saw me.” Hopper said. “Likely, he’ll follow me-” 

“So you’re going to lead him to the kids?” 

“So we want to keep him away from the scientist we can get information from.” 

“Well, you’re not going back to the kids alone if you think you’re gonna be tailed.” Joyce said. 

“Absolutely not.” Nancy agreed. 

“But we can’t take him back, either!” 

“So,” Jonathan held up his hand, trying to gather everyone’s attention. “We need to split Hopper and him up. Nobody should be going anywhere alone, though- Mom, tell us how to get to this Murray guy, we’ll take him.” 

“What? You’re-” 

“Nobody will think to tail two teenagers.” Jonathan said. “And Nancy’s the one with the working gun right now. You need to get back and check on the kids. You figure this out, we’ll figure out what’s going on with him,” he gestured to the man cuffed to him, “And we’ll call you from that guy’s house.” 

Hopper sighed, then turned to Nancy and Jonathan. “Murray’s… a bit paranoid. When you get there, tell him you’re with us and you need help.” 

“I just…” Joyce paused, glancing between them all. 

Nancy sighed, and put a hand on her shoulder. “Ms Byers, we’ve gotta stop this as soon as possible, before it can get… bad.” 

“Mom, you go with the Chief.” Jonathan said. “And make sure the kids are okay, right?” 

Joyce shut her eyes, and then nodded. “Yeah.” then she sighed. “We’re going to have to explain so much to Will.” 

Will was squished in the middle of everyone’s hug for only a few moments, before they all realized they were going to fall if they didn’t grab something. Robin grabbed onto the shelves, while Steve was flung unto a corner of the room. Dustin managed to push his way to the panel, where he gripped a handle to keep himself steady and frantically pressed several buttons. Will, for his part, managed to grab onto a box and hug it as if it was his lifeline. Everyone was screaming around him, which did not help his feelings of panic.

“We’re going down!” 

“Yeah, no shit, Harrington!” 

“Push the button!”

“I’m trying!” 

Will clung to the box and let out a cry, wishing he had his headphones with him. Everyone was shouting and things were falling and there was a rushing sound outside the walls and… 

They came to a sudden stop, and everyone, thrown off-balance, fell. Steve and Robin shouted, while Dustin managed to scramble to his feet first and check on Will- who realized holding onto a box hadn’t been the best idea, as it fell on him. Dustin helped lift it off, quickly checking over Will as he did. 

“Is everyone okay?” Robin asked, in a very dazed tone. 

Steve jumped up, his voice breaking as he shouted. “Yeah, I’m great, now that I know the Russians can design elevators!” He raced to the button panel, trying himself to press anything to open it. 

“We’ve clearly established that those buttons don’t work!” Robin shouted. 

“They’re buttons, they have to do something!” 

“Yeah, but only if we have a keycard!” 

“What?” 

Robin moved over, pointing to a switch beside the door, with a red light above it. “It’s an electronic lock, like the ones outside. Without it, it won’t operate. Meaning-” 

“We’re stuck in here.” Dustin said. 

Will’s eyes widened, and he grabbed onto Dustin’s arm. “Mom’s gonna freak. Jonathan’s gonna freak. The kids-” 

“Lucas!” Dustin froze. “Steve, Lucas is gonna- but, no, he’s with the others, they’ll be fine, right?” 

“Sure!” Steve shouted. “But we won’t be, if we’re dead in a Russian elevator!” 

Dustin hesitated, and then pointed up. “What if we climbed out?” He gestured to a darkened panel in the ceiling, one with a handle against it. 

Steve carefully moved over, climbing up and switching it, and then throwing the panel open and saying, “Don’t think that’ll work. We are in a very long, very railing-less elevator shaft, so unless one of you can climb up with your teeth, we’re in trouble.” 

“I wish we brought Mike.” Dustin groaned, sitting on a box. “He could’ve lifted us out.” 

“How?” Robin spat. 

“It doesn’t matter.” Will shivered, hugging himself and looking around. “We need to find a way out. Dustin, can you-” 

“On it.” Dustin nodded, curling up. “I’ll try to force something, but the stress might take a while.” 

“Force what?” Robin groaned in frustration, running her hands through her hair. “What goddamn shit are you talking about? Are you Jedi or something?” 

“Or something,” Dustin said, at the same time Will said, “That’s more Mike.” 

“How have you survived the nondisclosure this long, boys?” Steve sighed, putting his head in his hands. 

“Luck.” Dustin guessed. “Now shut up, I’ll focus.” 

“And I’ll…” Will took a deep breath. God, he wished he had a more useful power. “Try to think of something.” 

“Here.” Lucas sat on the sink, helping Mike wipe the blood from his face. He wondered for a minute if he’d actually hit his head while falling, the red stream seemed to never end. “I got you.” 

“Thanks.” Mike nodded numbly, staring at himself in the mirror. He had that haunted, distant look in his eyes that meant his mind was in a darker place, and the struggle home and restless attempts at sleep while waiting for the adults to get back hadn’t helped. 

“Hey.” Lucas put a hand on his shoulder, then, carefully, started tapping onto the sink, like when they were talking to Will on a nonverbal day. Are you hurt? 

Mike sighed, then tapped a response. Not badly. Been worse. 

You sure? 

Been worse. 

Lucas shuddered, and then tapped, When? He knew it was a bit intrusive to ask, but if he knew what was worse, he could have a reasonable guess as to how much pain he was in at the moment. 

Mike considered, and then said, “You saw that, I think. You were passing by when I was tired from all-day testing and got…” he shut his eyes, and tapped out, stubborn. Got the electricity. 

Lucas flinched, knowing the incident Mike was referring to. He’d only passed by very quickly, and the guards hadn’t let him turn back, but he’d heard Mike shouting, and then screaming, and then crying, and saw a flash through a window of him curled up… 

Lucas had been hit with the cattle prod a few times, too, so he knew that feeling, and it was hell. At least… Mike wasn’t feeling that at the moment. 

He returned his palm to Mike’s shoulder and said, “At least it’s not that. Next time, I’ll fight him.” 

Mike shook his head. 

“I will. I’ve got light.” Lucas waved his hand to brighten the room, as if Mike could have somehow forgotten. “He doesn’t like light and heat.” 

“I don’t want him knowing what you can do.” 

“We’ve got to stop him, Mike.” Lucas said. “I’ll protect you, I promise.” 

“I have to protect you.” Mike shook his head, putting a hand atop Lucas’s. “I’m the protector.” 

Lucas shook his head. “No. You’re Mike. And you’re our brother, and we protect each other.” 

Mike sighed, glancing down. “But I have to help.” 

“We can help you, too, you know. It’s not all up to you. It’s all of us.” Lucas said. He leaned over, and said, “And we all need to stick together. We all stopped the world ending last time, so we need to be together to do it again.” 

Mike smiled a little, and then tapped, Why are you so grown up? 

Lucas grinned back at him, and tapped, Guess I’m the big brother. 

“I’m taller, though.” Mike said aloud, and they both started to laugh. 

“Hey.” El said. 

“Hey.” Max said back. 

They were sitting on opposite ends of the couch, staring into nothing. Neither of them had a very good sleep the night before, and now the boys were in the bathroom cleaning up, and they weren’t sure what to do.

El twirled her hair with a finger, before shutting her eyes and saying, “I’m sorry.” 

Max jumped. “What?” 

“I’m sorry.” she said, before clasping her hands together. “You were right. I’ve been spending too much time with one person-” 

“No, you were right.” Max sighed. “You thought he and the boys were dead, you have every right to spend time with them.” 

“And I should also be spending time with you. And I totally disregarded your feelings, you were scared-” 

“We all are.” 

“But we straight-up decided to investigate and nuke your shitty stepbrother without thinking about how you’d feel.” El sighed. “We got too caught up in… in getting this done quickly that we didn’t think about you.” 

“But we do need to get this done!” Max turned to her. “The sooner the shadow’s out of Billy, the sooner we kill it.” 

El shook her head. “No. No, Max, we need to figure something out. Better than last time. I mean, we got it out of you and it just went right to Billy. It’ll find another host if we don’t sit down and figure something out.” 

Max shut her eyes. “We will figure it out. Before it can kill anyone else.” 

El shivered. “You think it killed Heather?” 

“I think it did something to her.” 

El hesitated, before reaching over and grabbing Max’s hand. “I really am sorry, Max. And after this is all over, we’ll find time for just the two of us, okay? Arcade days. Girls’ days out. Mall shopping. No boys, no superpowers, just us.” 

Max glanced down at El’s hand on hers, and nodded. “Yeah. But… you know, it’s not all bad. I like the boys.” 

“Yeah.” El smirked a little. Then, she glanced down and said, “No more secrets between us, okay?” 

Max didn’t respond a moment. 

“I’ll start.” El said. “Um… I almost jumped off a cliff once.” 

“What?” Max turned to her, surprised. 

“Uh… yeah. Wasn’t my choice.” El blinked back tears. “It was… while you were gone. Troy was pissed at us for the peeing-his-pants incident and caught me with Will. He would’ve- if I hadn’t-” she wiped her eyes on her sleeve. “Mike saved me. He and Lucas found us.” she took a breath. “Wow. I haven’t… told anyone that. Since it happened.” 

“Not even Hop?” 

“He’d freak. Probably arrest Troy.” she laughed a little. “Mike broke his arm, so he got punished.” 

“Wow.” 

El considered. “Uh… Mike and I made out in the blanket fort last sleepover.” 

“I knew it.” 

They laughed a little at that, and then El narrowed her eyes. “Trying to think of more secrets.” 

“You’re criminally honest, El, I’m surprised you had two.” 

“Well, friends don’t lie.” 

Max sighed. “They don’t.” After a pause, she spat out, “You know how I… kinda like Lucas?” 

“I knew it!” 

“Shut up.” her face fell a bit, and El realized something was really bothering her.

She squeezed her hand, and said, “Okay. Go on.” 

“I… there’s another person, I… during school, I think I had a crush on. And…” she squeezed her eyes shut, so that she wouldn’t cry, or see El. “I realized it, last day, when we did the yearbook signing thing, and… and it’s been eating me up all Summer. Hell, maybe that’s why I’ve been… so pissed. So angry all the time.” she shook. “I don’t want to be angry. Like him, like them…” 

El released her hand, and put her arm around her. “You’re not. No matter how mad you are, you are never like Billy or your asshole of a stepfather, okay? Because you don’t take your fury out on someone weaker than you.” 

“I…” Max glanced over at her. “I said so many horrible things to you, and-” 

“And you were frustrated. It happens to everyone.” El said. “We all snap. But you know you- you hurt someone, and you’re trying to make it better. By apologizing, and helping. Did they ever do that?” Max shook her head. “No matter what scares you, you come out on top, Mayfield.” 

Unable to hold back her tears anymore, Max nodded, her ponytail, still messy from the night, bouncing against her head. El wrapped her arm tighter around her, and then smiled a little. “So. Who’s this other guy you like? Do I have to beat him up?” 

Max’s face fell even more, and she stared very hard at the table as she shook her head. 

“Well, talk to me. It can’t be that bad.” 

Max bit her lip, and then said, “Do you remember when you told me Jennifer Hayes was crying at my funeral?” 

“Yeah.” El’s brow furrowed in confusion. “What’s that got to do with this?” 

Silence. 

El got it. “Oh.” 

“Oh.” Max nodded. 

More silence. 

“Neil would’ve killed me.” Max’s voice shook, but all she could think to do was keep talking. “If he found out. And I’m not exaggerating. I think… I think Billy would, too, even though I… I think I like boys, too, I like Lucas, I… I really like Lucas, but… but it was graduation day, and we were signing yearbooks, and Jennifer Hayes came over and told me she always thought my skateboard was cool and maybe I could show her tricks sometime and- and she signed my book and her handwriting is so much prettier than mine and- and my heart just felt like… like it was light and flying and her smile was so pretty and as soon as she turned around and- and her hair bounced I just. I just knew what was happening and I… I didn’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do. I…” 

El leaned over, and pulled Max into the tightest hug she could. And without thinking, Max hugged her back, burying her head in El’s shoulder and letting the tears flow. 

“I think,” El said slowly, “That it’s way better that you like Jennifer Hayes, because if you’d said you liked Stacy, I think I would’ve disowned you.” 

Max froze a moment, and then burst out laughing. “Oh my God. Never.” 

“She’s such a bitch.” 

“Such a bitch.” 

El leaned her head on Max’s shoulder, and said, “So we’re in agreement? No Stacy.” 

“No Stacy and no Troy.” 

“Ew, no. Did you ever hear he pissed his pants?” 

Max laughed, and then cried some more, and El kept holding her until the bathroom door opened, and they slowly pulled apart, smiling at Lucas and Mike, who walked out, clinging to each other. 

“Hey.” Max waved. 

“Hey.” Lucas said. Then he glanced at the door. “Nobody yet?” 

El shook her head. “Not even Steve and the boys.” 

“I could… look for them.” Mike said. 

“No.” El said stubbornly. “You’re exhausted as it is.” 

“We need to know where they are.” Mike said, as he and Lucas sat on the edge of the couch. 

“We need a plan.” 

At that, the door opened. They all jumped, and Lucas leapt to his feet, instinctively summoning a shield around them. 

Hopper and Joyce both raced in, eyes wide and terrified. Once they laid eyes on the exhausted, scared kids behind a shield, Joyce put a hand over her mouth and stepped back. Hopper took a deep breath, and then said, “So I guess it didn’t go too well?” 

“Dad!” El shouted. Lucas dropped his shield, and her and Max flung themselves off the couch, running to him and almost knocking him over in a hug. He embraced them back, but after a moment, El pulled away, noticing scrapes on his face. “Are you hurt? What happened?” 

“Why are you so late?” Max asked. 

“Where’s Will?” Joyce asked. 

They all froze. 

“Um.” Mike said. “I can. Find out. Right now.” 

“He’s not here?” 

“Nobody came back last night.” El said. “We were scared you all died or something.” 

“Nobody’s died yet.” Hopper said. 

“Where’s Nancy?” Mike asked. 

“And Jonathan?” Lucas added. 

Joyce sighed. “Okay. Time out. I feel like we all need to compare notes- and then figure out where the fuck the others are.” 

“I’ll do that.” Mike scooted back, already grabbing Lucas’s bandana to use as a blindfold. 

“Mike-” El began. 

“Let me find Will and Dustin and Steve.” Mike told her. “I can do it.” 

“As for the rest of us,” Hopper said, putting his arms around his daughters, “What in the hell is going on?”

[rheesus]

corpse party! — richie tozier (two)

pairing: richie tozier x reader

warnings: panic attacks, mentions of murder, gore, horror, occult and paranormal happenings

— part two of ?

( see part one )

i wont do all 5 chapters since chapter one is entirely based on seiko and naomi who are beverly and eleven sooo yeah! if you want to know what would happen to them and you don’t know the story of corpse party well, watch a gameplay or something laksjshddh 

something soft and wet had landed on y/n's cheek as she laid unaware of her surroundings. whatever was running down her face like tear drops seemed to have woken the class representative up. her e/c eyes batted opened and met to the view of a ceiling that had a clear whole through both the top of the building and the floor between that and the floor she laid on, next to that was a broken light fixture, flickering intensely with its last life.

"so, you're one of the new victims, huh?" an unfamiliar make voice echoed from behind her. the voice alone sent a wave of chills throughout her entire body as she turned and let out a ear piercing scream, she scrambled away, looking up at a boy no older than 17 - the lower part of his body seemed to sway like flames but his whole being had a blue ethereal glow to it.

from out in the hallway she could easily hear two voices calling her name in worry; richie and ms byers. if not for the boy in front of her, she would've smiled at this revealation. the boy's eyes seemed to wander in the direction of their voices and he gave a bittersweet smile.

"wow, stuck in the same space with not one, but two people you know? you're lucky." 

"w-w-" 

"that luck wont last long, i mean - look what happened to me!" the boy had laughed but not in a way that emitted happiness or amusement. his eyes now wandered to the floor, where a pile of bones and some ripped clothing laid.

“what do you mean?” the teen girl boldly said, though her thoughts didn’t match her tone. the ghost just shrugged. 

“you’ve been dragged here against your will. it looks like an abandoned school but it’s hell. you’ll either die horribly or eventually, you’ll kill your friends and die horribly. no matter what, it’s just pain twenty-four fuckin seven.”

 y/n had gulped down her fear in hopes to ask more before something came barrelling through the door and the ghost had fled at the sight and sound.

richie tozier and their beloved ms. byers. 

the first thing that happened upon seeing each other was the tears and smiles of relief before ms byers wrapped the class rep in a tight embrace, richie had squatted down next to her. his grin only widened when she turned to playfully glare at him.

"of all our friends i could be stuck with and i get stuck with you?" the boy rolled his eyes and ms byers had chuckled.

“if you ask me, richie was more worried out of—”

“anyways, it’s good you’re alive.” richie cut the lady off, smiling and ignoring the way his cheeks warmed up. y/n had smiled too, hugging ms. byers again. their happiness was, however, short-lived. the building had started to shake violently and a loud scream rang out through the building — one of filled with the pain and suffering. and who it belonged to was a familiar person to the three.

eleven hopper. 

the very thought that one of her classmates and friends were in danger made y/n’s stomach churn and her mind to run wild with negative thoughts. soon those thoughts became to overwhelming to the point where the teen girl couldn’t help but lose her breath. ms. byers could sense her distress and cupped her face in her hands, 

“y/n, focus on me. it was probably nothing,” she gave an encouraging smile, “probably the wind.”

“but you heard it, right? that was el. our el.” ms byers sighed. richie looked around the wrecked classroom, chewing on his lip nervously.

“ms byers, stay here with y/n and i’ll go look for eleven—”

“no! you stay here with y/n where it’s safe and i will find eleven.”

“stop it! no!” the two looked back at the h/c, her breathing was still erratic but she persisted in talking, “you can’t leave, i just found both of you.”

the kindly teacher had done nothing but give a genuine, sweet smile, “you’ll be fine. i’ll bring eleven back here safe and sound. promise.”

not allowing y/n or richie to protest, ms. byers had left the classroom. the two students stared at the door for what felt like hours. y/n had moved her head towards the corpse of the boy she had talked to. near his the bones of what used to be his hand was nearly touching a card of some sort. she crawled to it and took it into her possession. in fine black print were the words.

derry boys high school

steve harrington 

d.o.b.: 16 april 1996

grade 12 

y/n had let out a shaky breath before stashing the id card in her jacket pocket. she looked back to the door ms. byers had left from and mumbled words of hope under her breath.

please, be okay.

joyce byers had found herself in a classroom worse off than the one she left richie and y/n. one half of it was collapsed in, leaving nothing but a black abyss. she would’ve gone up the stairs but she could hear a wicked voice giggle in her head, “unwise to go upstairs, teacher.”

and so she stayed on the same floor. she had taken five steps in before a blue boy had appeared before her, a bored expression across his face. his mullet was a mess and he glowed. 

“teacher! you stopped cowering with the two in the other classroom, huh?”

she looked at the boy in annoyance. what did he mean by cowering? joyce bit her tongue and gulped, “i heard one of my student’s scream and i’ve set out to find her.”

“i see... regrettably,” he spoke lowly, “that won’t be possible. this school exists in a nexus where multiple dimensions overlap. it’s a single closed space in a sea of closed spaces. in other words, even though you may be in the same school as your screaming student, you and her occupy different dimensions... which means you two can never meet.”

“if one of you should die, perhaps your body... or spirit may move from one space to another... you can find a way of traversing the planes freely as they do,” ms. byers didn’t know why but the way the boy spoke the word they, sent a chill running down her back. the blue boy continued to talk to her, “consider this fair warning: even if you should find the exact spot from which your student’s screams emanated... she herself may not be there and if she’s not there’s not a thing you can do about.”

the boy spoke smugly but there was no indication in his expression that he meant to be. joyce’s eyes were filling up with tears of desperation, “but i heard her scream!”

“it is true other children have arrived here not long ago and by all appearances seem to be your students,” the boy shrugged, “but as i explained, time and space is fragmented here and it doesn’t behave like you assume — you say you heard a scream. that may have taken place a few minutes ago or perhaps in another space hours previous or maybe an echo from the future, who’s to say. or maybe with the phenomenon as it is; it’s possible two closed spaces can have some influence on each other.”

the young woman had clenched her teeth. this young boy was doing her head in. all she wanted was to find eleven and verify her safety, “it doesn’t matter! i can’t go on and ignore an antagonising scream like that! step aside!”

she charged at him and he disappeared. ms. byers had missed the glowering expression he gave her. she had looked around the room for any clues or hints that her student was near but to no avail. as she went to leave the classroom, a supernatural force pull her back in, slamming the door fast. materialising in front of her was the same boy she had just talked to except her glowed red with nothing but malice and hate in his lifeless eyes.

“step aside?! why don’t you fuck off!” his voice was now no longer monotone, but angry at her. the ground had started to shake once again. too focused on the earthquake, ms byers had failed to notice the shelf filled with cutting supplies slowly falling towards her body. the shelf itself was too heavy with the combined force of wat was pushing it down and so it caused her to topple too.

she felt the bones in her back all crack at once and her skin was being sliced. was it the scissors or the scalpels or the glass that was worse? she couldn’t tell it was all too painful to bear. the angry teen started to talk again, “in all the world, the most vile and untrustworthy are you schoolteachers. all you give a shit about is your own well-being! you’re not worried about your students! you’re just worried about being held responsible if something should happen to them!”

joyce couldn’t worry about his rant, only how much the weight was hurt her, “youre all the same... every single one of you! and i won’t be taken in by your lies!”

this caught her attention. taken in by lies? 

“when you see a problem among your kids, you just keep your distance because you sure wouldn’t want to get involved! have to keep up appearances, right? you just pick out the problem children and chip away at them until they drop out or get expelled! you’re not disciplining them — you’re just raging at them! there’s no teacher ever that’s actually cared about their students!” 

with what little energy she had, ms byers spoke up bravely, “-you’re... you’re wrong.” 

this angered him more and the weight on her back grew more heavier, she let out a yelp of pain as he continued raging, “all of your students are destined to starve to death here if they don’t succumb to this hellhole and kill everyone! it’s the only possible outcome. they’ll all die meaningless deaths like me! and they won’t be thinking of you when they take their final breaths i’ll even pass on a message as they die so — any last words?”

the woman used her energy to glare up at him menacingly, “d...don’t touch those children.”

the teen boy snorted than laughed maniacally like she’d said the most wicked joke, “come again.”

“spare my students... please don’t hurt them.” for some reason this angered him more and more, “please! i beg of you don’t harm a hair on their... goddamn... heads.”

her voice faded out but her thoughts didn’t. 

please please be safe, my sweet students.

  richie had finally stopped looking at the door to turn and look at y/n. minutes had passed and no sign of eleven or ms byers could be seen. y/n suddenly stood up, legs wobbling slightly but nonetheless she bravely stood, walking to the door.

“we have to go find ms. byers.” she mumbled. she soundly drained and tired.

“no way, ms. byers said stay here so—”

“we have to go find ms. byers!” her tone caused richie to flinch, “i just have a bad feeling... we gotta go search for ms. byers.” 

the boy sighed and shook his head.

“fucks sake, fine. but we leave a note for her. do you have pen and paper?” y/n produced a pen but shook her head without any paper. richie messily written a note on the teachers desk and sighed again, “alright lets get the fuck out of here.”

this was so long holy fuck-

anyways i finished writing this at 1am and i’ve scared myself writing so congrats! here’s chapter two! and if you want to be apart of the tag list, i ask or just like the post i made abt it or if i forgot you please tell me oksejhdhdhd

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