#crazy together reference in front of nancy

[jujuprincesinhasofia]

mike s1&2 never left but I need him even more obvious in s5

"he's quiet today" "you're barely talking" I see u mike

I need the will voice to be so apparent in s5, it already is (another 90 miles, why), but for s5:

"SHUT UP DUSTIN🤬 yeah will what were u saying☺️🥰"

and then someone who didn't grow up with them, maybe Robin and Steve looking at each other like

did u hear that too 😯

i did why is no one else discussing this 🤨

maybe they're already together, remember their double dates? 🤔

noo he was still dating the eleven girl during that 😬

what? 😟

[steviewashere]

Terrifyingly Intense

Rating: General CW: Minor References to Sex, Steve Harrington's Self Worth Issues Tags: Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Arguing, Apologizing, Making Up, Steve Harrington has Self Esteem Issues, Emotionally Hurt Steve Harrington, Emotionally Hurt Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington is a Lover, Steve Harrington Loves Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington is a Sweetheart, Eddie Munson is a Sweetheart, Happy Ending

For the @steddielovemonth prompt: "Love is terrifying."

💕—————💕

Steve doesn’t know what’s wrong with him.

He’s pretty incapable of being normal about how he loves Eddie. From week two of their relationship, Steve was ready to get down on one knee and propose. Which is insane of him. They’ve been close friends since Eddie woke up in early April. And somewhere in there, Steve said the words all over again with true intent and intense feeling. Now it’s December and they’ve been together for less than a month. And Steve is driving himself up a wall.

But it makes him sick to his stomach.

Yeah, he said “I love you”, to Eddie. He’s said it out of fear in the hospital. Said it with hysteria in that field some weeks ago. But that doesn’t change the way Steve wants to say it again. In a sobering moment. When they’re doing something mundane. And he hasn’t disappointed anybody around him or nearly lost anybody to some third world grave danger.

He should know how to do this.

Yet, here he is in their little relationship—which, truly, feels too intense and big for human language—pulling himself away whenever Eddie wants to see him or talk to him or be with him.

Logically, he shouldn’t be doing something so stupid.

But—God—he’s so afraid. Afraid that Eddie will wake up one day, realize just how intense and lonely and nuts Steve is, and he’ll break off what they have. And then…Well, then Eddie won’t wanna be friends, he’ll stop hanging around, he’ll make up excuses to not have Hellfire in Steve’s dining room, he’ll do something crazy like unfriend all of them, he’ll get the fuck out of Hawkins, he’ll leave everything he’s ever known behind.

Yeah, Steve can’t be the cause of that.

So, he hides away. Keeps himself busy. Occupied, whatever. Hands never idle. Brain never quiet. Eyes never rested. And he stays away from Eddie.

——— By the second week of Steve’s little shenanigan, Eddie has caught on.

It’s obvious by the hurt that simmers in his eyes. His soft scowl. The lingering touches that used to make Steve’s skin light up with arousal, now fleeting. Just as fleeting as every other love anything Steve’s ever involved himself in. But he’s too afraid of whatever realization Eddie will make of him.

To be vulnerable, well that’s like death to Steve. He remembers one of the last times he did so. Sans Robin’s confession, because Steve doesn’t think he had an actual thing for her—he’s easily convinced, okay, and he’s also an extremely lonely person. But Nancy definitely left her mark on his self worth, that’s for certain. Bullshit bounces around his—what he thinks—empty skull. If he allows himself to love strongly, he’ll be bullshit eventually. If he forces himself to pull away, he’ll probably still be bullshit.

He won’t win either way.

And that’s apparent by the next time Eddie comes pounding on his front door. Very literally. His fist making the whole door shake.

Steve rips it open, ready to spit fire at whoever is there, but all words die on his tongue in the face of Eddie’s open anger. Eddie’s face is furrowed everywhere possible, his eyes are like lasers, skin red and redder as he looks at Steve.

“Hey, Eds,” Steve tries to coo.

“Cut the shit, Harrington,” Eddie growls back. He shoves his way past Steve. Stumbling into the foyer. It’s been raining and Eddie’s soaked, dripping water from his leather jacket onto the floor, but Steve is too stunned to do anything about it.

In fact, Steve’s stomach is lurching. His mouth filling with saliva. Ready to puke. He shuts the door behind himself, turning around to fully face Eddie. “What—uh—What’s wrong, babe?”

Eddie looks around the space. As if hunting for something. His eyes are sharp when he glares back. “You aren’t busy,” he spits, “you didn’t have a shift at work, I already asked Robin. And you very much so aren’t sick.” He crosses his arms over his chest. The squeak of his jacket loud between them. “When you’re sick, you’re miserable. Like a wet fucking cat. You make a whole ordeal of it. And I come to your rescue every time. Yet, you’re lying to me.” He steps closer into Steve’s space. Steve steps away, back slamming into the door. “Why are you lying to me?”

Steve shakes his head. “I’m not, Eds. I wouldn’t—“ He bunches his palms at his sides. They’re sweating. His stomach still heavy and twisting. Chest pulsing. “—I wouldn’t lie to you. I don’t know—“

“Then why are you pulling away?” Eddie is practically pleading for an answer. His voice goes pitchy. “I hardly see you anymore. You claim your busy or sick or whatever—But you never are!” He exclaims, his words echoing.

Finally, Steve finds his strength to move. Stepping around Eddie, speeding into the kitchen. Eddie is following him, his footfalls heavy and clumsy, chasing. He won’t give Eddie an answer because he’s not sure which words to even say.

“Sorry I’m pulling away, I love you too much.” That doesn’t even make any fucking sense. Steve never makes sense. This whole thing is starting to make him dumb.

He pulls open the fridge, sticking his head inside, acting as if he’s about to make food. His hands rummaging, digging through his things, knocking containers over, nearly breaking some glass condiment bottles. If he can just get Eddie to grow disinterested in this conversation, maybe he’ll leave and Steve can stew in his feelings, up until he actually knows what to say.

God, what is wrong with him?

“Talk to me, Steve,” Eddie is demanding. “Please just talk to me. Is it something I did? Did I hurt you the last time we had sex or something? Were you dissatisfied with the last date I took you on? Because I can think of a million other things to do, to take you to experience, if you would only talk to me!” He begins to shout. Steve flinches where his head is still buried. He’s always hated arguing, reminds him of his parents, if he’s being honest. But Eddie doesn’t know that. And he hasn’t taken notice. So he continues on, “Maybe you didn’t like the Christmas gift I got you? Is that it? What did I do? Please, Steve, please just—“

“I can’t!” Steve finally yells back, standing up ramrod straight, the fridge door quietly and gently closing behind him. He shifts on his feet, hands bunching at his sides once more. He shakes his head, the tears already prickling in his eyes. “You don’t want to know, okay? You’ll think it’s stupid or something and then I’ll feel worse and I—You can’t know.”

His eyes dart up to Eddie, When was I looking at the floor? And Eddie looks…Well, he looks damn unhappy about that answer. But also severely concerned. He chews at his lip, crossing his arms once more, popping his hip so that his body is leaning away from Steve. He sharply exhales. “If you cheated on me or something, you can just say that. And I’ll get out of your hair.”

“What?” Steve squeaks. “Why would you think that? I wouldn’t do that to somebody.”

“Then what’s wrong? That’s all I can possibly think of as to why you’re putting distance between us.”

He stiffens, swallowing. Sniffling. God, why is he about to cry? His breath stutters in his chest. Stomach churning and churning and flipping. “It’s because I—“ He hiccups a sigh. “It’s because I love you too much, okay?” He whispers. Steve can’t make his voice any louder than that. The shame at the admission coiling tight in his throat and chest. He crosses his own arms, fingers wrapping around his elbows, fingernails digging into his soft flesh. “Like so much, you’ll think I’m insane. And then you’ll get weirded out by me. And you’ll think I’m fucking with you or something and then you’ll just leave. Like everybody else has.”

Eddie softens. Arms dangling loose at his sides. He hesitantly gets closer to Steve. “Baby,” he’s softly cooing, “why would that make me not love you? All I want is to be loved by you.”

“I’m scared,” Steve confesses. “I’m scared you’ll hear me and you’ll see how much I love you and you’ll leave. Or you’ll…You’ll realize something that a lot of other people tend to realize—“ He takes a gasping breath, something salty landing on his tongue. Of course he’s crying. “You’ll just realize that I’m a bullshit person. That I’m too much and too intense and too enamored, or whatever. You’ll realize that I’m bullshit in the sense that I don’t know what to do in a crisis or when I need to make somebody happy. You’ll think I’m bullshitting you about every fucking thing. Because I—“ A sob leaves his chest. It’s got claws, it hurts on the exit.

Out of the corner of his eye, Eddie slowly raises his left palm and cups Steve’s right cheek. His other hand lands on Steve’s opposite bicep. He runs his hand up and down the arm in tender swipes. “Steve,” Eddie starts, his voice low and trapping—his words are almost congested. “Sweetheart, your feelings aren’t bullshit. You aren’t bullshit because you feel something. Especially something like love. You deserve to have that. And you deserve the possibility of reciprocating.”

“I love you so bad, Eddie,” Steve cries out. “It fucking terrifies me how much I do. And I—“ The sobs come easier now, rattling his whole body, crumpling him bit by bit. Eddie shuffles in and drags Steve to his chest. And over Eddie’s heart, Steve mutters, “I don’t know how to be normal.”

Eddie’s hand on his bicep moves to the back of Steve’s head. His other hand falling away to Steve’s shoulder. “I love you, too,” he murmurs. “It physically hurt to not have you near me. I thought that I fucked everything up, Stevie. I love you so much, it threatens to destroy me sometimes.”

Steve nuzzles in closer. Tentatively wrapping his arms around his middle. “I’m sorry.”

“No,” Eddie whispers, “You don’t need to apologize. I understand, it’s alright.” He presses a chaste kiss to Steve’s head. His lips lingering. “Besides, I’m the most abnormal person fucking ever, sweetheart. Your love won’t chase me away. Never ever. You never have to be scared about loving me too much. I welcome it.”

“Okay,” Steve mutters, “I’m still sorry.”

Eddie sighs. “I know, love bug,” he whispers. “I know you are.” He moves his arm to wrap around Steve’s own torso, swiping his hand in one long, soothing stripe over his spine. Another kiss, this time to Steve’s temple. “Let’s order some pizza or something, alright? We’ll cuddle on the couch and calm down. I’m sorry for yelling at you. Sorry for assuming the worst. I just love you so much and I know you love me, too—I couldn’t come up with a single reason why you’d stop.”

“I don’t think I can stop, which is also scary. But—Like a good fear? It gives me adrenaline.”

Eddie’s chest vibrates with his laughter. Bright in the otherwise gloomy and dark place Steve’s found himself in. “Don’t you ever stop,” he demands. “I want your love all the time. I’ll tell you if something bugs me, alright? Don’t go assuming. Because I love you, Stevie. I love you so much.”

Steve pulls back, face pointed up at Eddie’s. He matches his soft smile. “I love you, too. Let’s get some pepperoni pizza, though. Because I am fucking hungry.” He squeezes his arms around Eddie. “Hungry for you, too.” And he saunters away.

In return, he hears Eddie shout after him, “You better make do on that! I missed you too much for you to tease me!”

Maybe he should learn to just trust his gut. To just admit what he’s feeling. Because it seems, if he’s honest about it the first time, good things happen in return.

💕—————💕 Gotta be honest, this isn't my best work. I've been feeling pretty mucky recently and nearly didn't have the energy to write. But I think this suffices.

[longtallglasses]

who's gonna write the stranger things/byler/lumax amazing race competition reality show au???

like byler is marketed as the nerdy childhood best friends team, “we've already gone on much crazier quests together when we were ten so this race is gonna be a piece cake!”

the whole audience at home picking up on their insane chemistry like... 👀

they're the clear front runners from the start because they hardly need to talk at all to get things done, work so quickly on their feet, mike is a crazy good strategist, and they’re always on the same page. and ToTally side eye other teams that are a mess, judgy shared smirks and eye rolls.

I know mike would be taking the whole thing soooo seriously while will is like :) ☺️ as mike figures out all the clues in seconds. even better if in this universe they already know lumax so mike is extra competitive bc he wants to beat them.

lumax is the loud and funny bickering couple, (also *cough* the couple everyone is attracted to) either freshly newlyweds, or just engaged. they have a million moments in the show where something goes wrong and they look at each other like 'wtf?!' 'this isn't my fault!' 'well you said we didn't have to worry about water!' they still would somehow manage to pull through and do okay

they are more 'secret planners' being sneaky that the audience is also blindsided by some of their actions. they excel best at the physical challenges that’s where they don’t need to check in w the other, but sometimes also really surprise everyone with their smarts.

also 100% love being sabateurs!!! very excited to fuck over another team if they can. if it airs at a time of social media people would be making comps of all their little zingers, one liners, and banter.

and simply bc i think this would be SO funny is dustin and mr. clarke as a team. teacher and ex-student team. the science guys! however despite being super smart a lot of their skills and knowledge aren't translating to most of these practical challenges and obstacles (mr. clarke more than dustin).

they don't do the best communicating with locals and stuff of the like, but people LOVE to watch them, i just have this vision of mr. clarke having to sky dive or crawl through some dark cave and freaking out, while dustin yells at him to keep going. instant comedy gold to the folks back home. dusitn for some reason still refers to mr. clarks AS mr. clarke.

they would also be the team hit with every detour task, slowing them down so much, dustin is so irate every time while mr. clarke is like weirdly overtly optimistic bc he's really there to just have fun. (like yes a steve/dustin team would be great too but i think i'd rather a steve/robin or a robin/nancy team alongside these)

[lovestuckyhatemarvel]

Oh hello, episode 4. Let’s see if you have more memorable things than the first three episodes did.

1.) It’s hard for Max to see that Billy is wrong ‘cause he’s always a kind of a jerk.

2.) I love Max telling El about comic books, especially Wonder Woman.

3.) I forgot how crazy the old woman is acting when they take her away in an ambulance.

4.) I can’t remember if Heather survives this season, but she’s gonna need a lot of therapy if she does survive and does remember it, because leaving her begging, sobbing parents in a basement to be possessed isn’t something you really get over.

5.) Real shitty of the mindflayer for making people be awake for the possession. Like c’mon.

6.) Why is Hopper not in a hospital?

7.) The boys are terrible at communication.

8.) Robin has a plan and took all the tips.

9.) I had thought that Heather’s dad looked familiar and had already forgotten until I saw him again that he’s the douchebag head of the paper.

10.) Is Mrs. Driscoll actually a paranoid schizophrenic or were they just having this man be weird?

11.) Nancy and Jonathan got fired.

12.) We gotta get El on a roller coaster.

13.) Learning about hosts for the Mind Flayer.

14.) Larry is a terrible liar. You’d think a politician would be a better liar. Actually scratch that, that makes sense.

15.) It is very hard to blackmail someone who has blackmail on you too.

16.) “Don’t give me that dead daughter sob story, because I just don’t care.” Shocked Hopper only broke his nose and not killed him.

17.) Ohhhhh. I forgot Hopper threatens to chop the man’s finger off with a cigar cutter.

18.) “Oliver Twist routine” Nancy really is classist. Also if Ted Wheeler really did make 6 figures in the 1980s, they really really were well off.

19.) Dustin is like Gumbo.

20.) I didn’t know Billy even owned a shirt. Did the Mind Flayer have to go shopping?

21.) ‘Boys only’? You’re being dumb, Mike.

22.) Having Erica be a huge fan of capitalism sucks. Bare minimum I need someone to have her eventually grow out of this immature phase and be like, “yeah, no, that was stupid. Capitalism sucks.” Because kids, capitalism sucks. It hurts everyone but the ultra rich.

23.) I forgot the mayor keeps the papers in his ugly house.

24.) I really do like to see Hopper outside of his work uniform. I also like to see JOyce putting stuff together.

25.) Aw, Nancy actually went to her mom.

26.) Like this is really a surface level reading of feminism to think ‘I am a woman and therefore damn the fallout and consequences because I am woman, hear me roar’ is the end all to be all. Like I love Nancy and Karen talking and loving each other but she did still blow up Jonathan’s spot and refer to him talking about his economic circumstances as ‘Oliver twist routine’. Like that was fucked up.

27.) I forgot how genuinely worried Max was about Billy. She really really hoped it wasn’t Billy that was the new host.

28.) Operation Child Endangerment is a great name, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, Erica.

29.) You’d think a guy like a mayor would have handcuff keys by his bed.

30.) Steve is so fucking worried up until Erica walks through those doors.

31.) The wild thing is I’ve thought Billy’s actor, Dacre, is attractive in other things, but I do not think he’s attractive at all as Billy. Like both because of the hair and the attitude. He’s just terminally unfuckable to me. And it’s one of the many reasons I hate Steve/Billy. I also hate Eddie/Billy.

32.) Billy hit the back wall hard enough to break tiles. Either that or they’re shitty tiles.

33.) Fun fact, HIPAA didn’t exist until the 90s so the only thing stopping Nancy from just being a concerned neighbor getting answers would be hospital policy and how willing to talk the front desk woman is.

34.) “If you die, I die.” “…Okay.”

35.) I forgot that the fucking elevator plummets like it’s a goddamn roller coaster ride.

36.) I had blocked out Billy sobbing in the sauna and saying ‘he made me do it’ entirely.

37.) Max is so sad and so worried about Max.

38.) if Will didn’t have Spidey senses, Max would have gotten stabbed with broken tile and sauna glass.

39.) I forgot Billy gets pinned to the wall with weights and it keeps cutting back to Mrs. Driscoll looking horrifying.

40.) I also forgot that Billy’s body is forced to choke El. Also that Mike is the one who takes a bat to possessed Billy to save her.

41.) And then Billy got thrown through a brick wall before getting up and walking off.

42.) There’s so many people in that abandoned factory.

[poguesofthebau]

dating steve would include... (part two)

pairing: steve harrington x fem!henderson!reader part one

-sneaking him into your house for sleepovers

-him complaining whenever you dedicated time to schoolwork instead of him (even if you allowed him to sit with you while you worked)

-both of you being slightly territorial but completely unwilling to admit it, which was always entertaining for your friends to watch in action

-occasionally giving him a hard time over all the girls he dated before you just to see him get all worked up and defensive

-letting robin take the passenger seat when he drives you both to school, until he randomly starts picking you up first and doubling back by his house for robin afterward ("what? you're too nice to tell robin to get in the back, so i had to take matters into my own hands")

-dustin referring to you and steve as every famous duo under the sun •bonnie and clyde •romeo and juliet •holmes and watson

-understanding all the kids' d&d terminology, which only ever surprises steve ("babe, how do you know this stuff? am i the only normal one here?")

-randomly making a statement supporting queer rights during a conversation with steve and robin which eventually led to her coming out to you

-punching billy in the face in the school parking lot one time because he was being racist giving lucas a hard time, which steve was actually pretty mad at you for (“y/n, he could’ve seriously hurt you! do you not understand that?”)

-taking mid-day naps together after you got out of school/he got out of work

-steve being the best listener when you just needed someone to rant to •mumbling a supportive mhmmm whenever you made a specific point during the rant •you rambling for 5 minutes straight, then sighing and saying, “ya know?”, to which steve nods and says “i hear ya, babe” •when your anger fades a little and you ask him, “am i just being crazy?” his immediate response is something like ‘absolutely not! those dickheads are lucky i don't send el to fling them off a rooftop or something'

-dustin barreling into your room while preemptively covering his eyes and yelling threats every time he realizes steve is over and you have the door closed

-him offering to drive you whenever you mentioned having to go somewhere to him

-constantly having to explain lord of the rings/the hobbit references to him (“babe, please just read the books”)

-when you ask what's gonna happen when you go away for college, he looks genuinely dumbfounded before shrugging and saying, "i thought i'd just go wherever you go"

-a double date with nancy and jonathan that was both horribly awkward and incredibly fun

-spearheading all the kids' crazy plans, which drives steve insane

-steve looking at you and saying, “these are the people that are gonna babysit our kids one day” every time your friends did anything abnormal/ridiculous •while dustin, mike, lucas, and will have a full-blown argument over their d&d campaign •after robin trips and face-plants on the walk from her front door to steve's car •when el is using her powers to adjust the tv antenna so no one has to get up from their seats •after nancy convinced everyone to go back into the upside down/face vecna despite the terrible odds

-your mom adoring him, which kind of annoyed dustin but also made his heart feel whole

-his fingers hooked in your belt loops in a crowd to keep from getting separated

-him playing with your fingers while you talked to dustin about something that didn’t interest him

-listening to him sing in the shower when he didn’t realize how loud he was being

-giving him tons of nicknames but only reusing the ones that made him blush •lover •stevie (which he forbade anyone else from calling him) •batman (originally because of his iconic nail bat, but then a double entendre of sorts after his encounter with vecna's bats)

-him knowing your favorite song off the top of his head even before vecna came around

[hobisfavoritespritecan]

Peanut Butter Death Wish

Steve Harrington X Reader (Established Relationship) X Eddie Munson

Slight crack! Eddie is a little shit in this one, but you're a bit of an antagonist too.

⚠️ Warnings: Swearing, mentions of blood and weapons, eating expired peanut butter, sexual references ⚠️

"So uh, the Upside Down is a real place. I thought you guys were talking in D&D terms." Eddie says, stuffing his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. With the way that the eerie glow of the other dimension fell on the two boys, Eddie's Hellfire Club Tshirt looked brighter than ever. Besides from the strangeness of the newfound place, it was all he could focus on as the group walked towards Nancy's house- for what, he didn't know. The infamous Steve (The Hair) Harrington was walking directly next to him and Eddie thought he looked ridiculous wearing nothing but his denim jacket and bandages. Laughing to himself, he let his gaze wander over to where you were.

You and Eddie had been friends for a while, but this stupid Harrington guy always got in the way seeing as you two were together. Eddie had wished he knew you before all this craziness so that he might've had the chance to sweep you off your feet instead of killing Demobats. You were wearing black ripped jeans and a David Bowie shirt which was slightly too large for you and hung loosely at your sides- Eddie was sure it was Steve's but he wasn't going to bring it up. Your hair was pulled back into a ponytail and your shoes were triple knotted with their florescent laces. You were beautiful, and this fake snow/ash shit that fell around everywhere definitely added to your beauty. He would've continued staring if it wasn't for Steve interrupting his thoughts.

"Yeah, I've never played that Dungeons and Dragons game before, but all the kids like to make up names for this dimension using their preexisting ones." Steve said, unaware that Eddie was currently eyeing up his girlfriend. He pushed his hair back with his hand and Eddie saw a glistening stream of blood running down the top of his forehead.

"Uh, Steve dude, you've got some blood up there." Eddie motions with his finger as to where it is and Steve wipes it off with the back of his hand.

"Thanks, guess those bats did give me more trouble than I originally thought." He said, taking off Eddie's jacket. "Thank you for this, but I really don't want to get blood on it."

He hands the jacket back to Eddie and Eddie takes it with an unsure expression. He just wanted to be deemed worthy of Steve's time.

"Hey, I think we made it." You said, walking up to the two boys and immediately going to stand by Steve's side and assess the wounds he had. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay." Steve said and you watched more blood run down his forehead, giving him a look which read "Are you fucking stupid?"

"He's lying to you, (Y/N). I saw him stumble over a tree root a little ways back, I'm sure he's getting over the embarrassment of tripping." Eddie smiled and you laughed at his antics.

"Of course he did, he's clumsy as hell." You replied and winked in Eddie's direction. He felt his heart grow ten times bigger at the cute smile you sent him with it.

Walking on towards Nancy's house, Robin struggles with the doorknob and tries to get in to no avail. The lock was stuck in an odd place and no matter how many tries from the group, it wouldn't open.

"Allow me," you said, heading for the living room window and breaking the glass, "It's not your real house so it's fine."

Steve finally caught onto Eddie's staring as you contemplated the best way to slip into the room. He hit Eddie on the shoulder with a scowl and grabbed the denim jacket out of his hands. "Here," he said, putting the article of clothing on the windowsill, "This'll make it so that you don't get cut on the glass."

"Are you sure it's okay that I use this, Eddie?" You asked, completely unaware of the tension between the two. Smiling cockily at Steve, Eddie turned to you and put his hand on his chest.

"Of course that's fine, sweetheart."

Steve felt like the veins in his arms were going to pop.

"Thanks!" You said, slipping into the living room and opening the front door from the inside to allow everyone else in. The darkness consumed the entirety of the abandoned hallways that were familiar to you. Running your fingers over the wallpaper, you remembered all the nights you spent over at Nancy's hanging out with her and watching the latest VHS tapes. Smiling fondly at the memory, you move on into her bedroom following Nancy herself, and have a look around at the posters hanging up. It might've been the Upside Down, but there was the Tom Cruise poster clear as day. You didn't understand the appeal, but hey- maybe the Demogorgons liked him.

Nancy strode over to the closet and frantically searched around for the box that would contain the guns she had for self-defense. Why she had bought them, you didn't know. You picked up the diary from the bedside table and opened up to the latest entry. 1983. The year Barb went missing.

"Where the fuck did they go?" Nancy sighs with frustration as she digs through everything in her closet.

"Maybe the Demogorgons took them?" You offer the ridiculous suggestion to no one in particular and laugh at your own joke.

"Real funny (Y/N)." Nancy says, clearly still upset about not finding them.

"No, no. I think she might be onto something." Eddie says with an antagonizing grin, looking you directly in the face. You stare at Steve with a confused look now noticing what Eddie was up to, but your boyfriend was looking down at his shoes with his mouth pressed into a hard line. He was pissed.

You throw the book over to Nancy, who looks at you with confusion. "What's this?" She asks.

"Your diary. Look at the date."

"You were looking at her diary?" Robin pipes up from the hallway with her head just barely visible around the corner. You rolled your eyes with a smile.

"September. 1983." Nancy read aloud and you watched the realization dawn on her. "I haven't bought the guns yet. That's why they're not here."

"Bingo." You said, laying back on her bed and staring up at her ceiling. Because of this, you didn't notice that Steve and Eddie had walked out of the room.

Turning the corner into the kitchen, Steve leans back against the countertop which was covered in the mysterious vines that adorned the rest of the Upside Down. He glared at Eddie who had joined him and felt the anger rushing back to him. However, he decided it would be best for everyone if he stayed calm.

"What was that?" He asked, putting his hands on his hips.

"What was what?" Eddie asked, rummaging through the cupboards and finding a jar of peanut butter.

"You know what I'm talking about." Steve said, handing Eddie a spoon from the drawer behind him.

"Thanks." He replied and opened up the jar, still staring at Steve.

A couple of moments pass while Eddie eats his snack and Steve waits for him to answer. The punk rocker's hair was strewn all over the place and his shirt was covered in the stains from both the lake and the other dimension. Well, at least he had a shirt.

"Why are you trying to seduce my girlfriend?" Steve asked, grabbing a spoon of his own and sharing the peanut butter with Eddie.

"1983 peanut butter. Seasoned with the sky shit from the Upside Down." Eddie said.

"Can you just answer the question?"

"Oh uh. Because she's hot I guess." He says, moving towards the cabinet again to try and find another snack. Stopping him by placing a hand around his arm, Steve gave him the death glare.

"I respect you, dude. I really do. But (Y/N) isn't available."

"What are you guys talking about?" You came out from Nancy's room with the diary under your arm and your hair down now. You looked tired and worn out from all this Scooby-Doo investigating that both boys felt bad for leaving you to do the work while they had their petty argument.

"Steve was telling me to stop flirting with you." Eddie put point-blank and held out the jar for you. You walked over to him and dipped your finger in taking a little taste of it before deciding it was safe to eat.

"This shit has to be expired." You said, grabbing the spoon from Steve and popping more of the delicious cream into your mouth.

"It most definitely is." Eddie said.

"So uh, the fact that Eddie is flirting with you doesn't bother you at all?" Steve asked you with concern.

"Nah, it just makes you all angry and flustered and I think a jealous Steve is a hot Steve."

Steve found himself grow extremely hot when you said that, the blush on his face overpowering any other expression. He was nervous that you were secretly liking Eddie's antics but to find out that it was just to get a rise out of him, made him feel things he probably shouldn't describe with the third party in the room.

"Pants getting tight, bud?" Eddie asked with a knowing glance and Steve hurried to place his hands on his jeans to conceal anything that he didn't want showing. You were smiling and staring him up and down.

"I gotta hand it to you, (Y/N). Steve is sexy as hell."

"That's just your bisexuality talking." You said to Eddie with a knowing glance. He laughed and now started to check out your boyfriend.

"If you ever need a third party, you know who to ask." Eddie said, exchanging a fist bump with you.

"Absolutely not." Steve said, taking your hand with the spoon still attached outside of the Wheelers house.

[fuckmeupjackson]

I Think S3 Jancy's Goodbye Scene Tells Us How Mike Feels About Will

Buckle up girlies and get your yoga pants on cause this might be a stretch. But if it's actually right, I think it's really cool! ***LONG POST*** bc i cant stop being detailed. ***excuse the messy explanations****

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Here's the TL;DR:

Jancy's emotional goodbye scene reveals Mike's inner thoughts for Will by using several parallels, including double lights and a reference to the "crazy together" scene. It's pretty basic, it just shows that Mike essentially deeply longs for and misses Will and that's what motivates his emotions.

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Here's a link to a clip of the Jancy scene if you want to watch it at any point: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBVa0rOLITo&t=54s

Byler Scene + 1st Parallel

Okay, so to start off, we're looking at the characters' goodbye scenes as the Byers family moves out of their house at the end of season 3. In case you forgot, Mike and Will's very brief conversation goes like this:

M: "Dude, that's the donation box."

W: "I know. I was thinking I could just use yours when I come back. If we still wanna play.'

M: "But what if you wanna join another party?"

W: "Not possible"

That's it. Will walks off happily to the left of the screen, then it immediately cues to Jonathan walking left into the frame of the next scene. This is the first thing that tells us that maybe we should be comparing Will and Jonathan together throughout these two scenes, as well as the fact that they are both the ones who are moving out of the house (and that they're brothers, of course). Jonathan approaches his doorway and leans on the frame. What I would like to point out are the double lights behind him.

As he positions himself on the doorframe to the left, he moves to be directly in front of these lights. Double lights, from what I have seen, have come up in two more significant times throughout the show:

The fact that the double lights come up in both these scenes is initially what made me start to pay attention to them. They're especially significant because they're the lights that flash when Will says "see you tomorrow" to Mike -- the day he gets kidnapped into the upside down. Of course double lights on garages is common, but it's not as common indoors, especially in a house. They're definitely intentional.

And ,then in the second scene (s4) they're right behind Vecna (who has been paralleled with Will Byers) in a scene with Nancy (earlier in that scene, Nancy also has a moment where she's positioned in front of those double lights.). So now we know that, if I'm not being delusional, there's a connection between Will, Jonathan, Nancy, Mike, and Vecna/the upside down throughout these three scenes.

I AM GOING TO BE FOCUSING ON THE FIRST SCENE, WHERE WILL LEAVES MIKE AND THE LIGHTS FLICKER.

Let's briefly talk about that flickering lights scene. It's the very first sign that Will is in trouble, and it marks the very beginning of his relationship with the upside down. It's where all the pain started for Will, and therefore for Mike as well. My theory is that this symbol between the Season 3 Jancy scene and the Season 1 Byler scene means Jonathan and Nancy's dialogue here represents what Mike has been wishing he could say/have said to Will since that day he went missing. Ever since that one moment at the garage that started it all. Or better yet just the day he realized Will went missing /or/ thought Will was dead. Sounds confusing but it'll make sense soon. But it especially makes sense since, you know, this moving out scene is ALSO another moment where Mike and Will get physically separated for the second time since will's initial disappearance. It's just like a re-do of Byler's first garage/"it got me" scene. (And there's also the scene a few minutes later after this of Mike hugging his mom, which parallels and further establishes the connection to season 1 Mike when he does the same after he thinks Will is dead.). That may be a stretch, and if it is, I still believe that this Jancy scene is meant to reveal Mike and Will's feelings for each other at least in this moment, as they are separated and begin to move away physically.

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Mike's Inner Thoughts + 2nd BIG Parallel

So, in order to check this theory, let's take a look at Jancy's actual dialogue here. Nancy follows Jonathan into the frame and asks

"Is that everything?" I absolutely have convinced myself that this is significant here. This is the first thing that is said. It's DIRECTLY after Will walks away from his convo with Mike that I wrote out above. Let me remind you that Will and Mike's goodbye scene was the shortest out of any of the friend groups/relationships'. It was very brief and didn't really have a sense of closure. Mike didn't even respond to Will, he just gave him a mysterious smile as Will walked away. So I think Nancy saying this here is narratively an effort to open up a deeper part of the conversation, that should have been an extension from Byler's conversation. "Is that everything you wanted to say?" --and then Jancy says what was on Byler's minds for them-- is what role her line plays here.

(I recommend video of the J*ncy scene here, it would help to watch it when reading the dialogue out because it really emphasizes the emotions lol: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBVa0rOLITo&t=54s)

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DIALOGUE

From here on, I just want you to imagine Nancy's dialogue as Mike's thoughts and Jonathan's dialogue as Will's thoughts, especially in the context of what Mike has constantly been feeling towards Will throughout his arc:

Jonathan: "I guess so. 17 years of my life, packed up in one day." --(a nod to leaving his childhood behind - just as Will's dnd book is - and possibly referencing how Will's childhood was taken away when kidnapped by the demogorgon)--

Nancy: *goes up behind J to hug him* "What if I just... don't let you go?"

Jonathan: "I think... the new owners might kick us out."

Nancy: "You could stay in our basement." Jonathan: "Your dad would love that."

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Analysis: There's the theme of Nancy/Mike not wanting to let Will/Jonathan go here. It's so heart-wrenching. This just makes me really emotional, cause it's so emotional to begin with, but to imagine it as Mike's inner feelings to Will too... UGH. I'm just gonna say it, I lowkey CRIED AND THREW A FIT WHEN I FIRST IMAGINED IT. BUT SILENTLY CAUSE SOMEONE WAS SLEEPING IN THE OTHER ROOM XD. But...

There are a few similarities here: The basement is where Mike and Will felt like they could be themselves. The father would disapprove of their relationship. It's all the same.

"The new owners may kick us out" could mean several things, but I think it most likely means that if Mike didn't want to let Will go, meaning he wanted to stay close to him forever, society would see them together and judge and isolate them ("kick them out"). Or it could mean that Mike wishes he could have saved Will, maybe by not letting him leave (here goes another garage scene parallel in season 3 - "Will, come on, don't leave, it's raining" - Mike just wants to keep Will "home" because it's safe for him). But Will's capture was inevitable, the monsters would get him anyway, just as his pain and trauma getting a hold of him was inevitable, and society would make him feel like a mistake at some point in his life anyway, no matter what his best friend could do for him.

All of this just reiterates Mike's desire to keep Will in his life and his fear of letting him go, even if he doesn't show it right away.

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DIALOGUE CONT'D

Nancy: "We could hide you in a tent. Like El."

*Nancy begins to Cry. *

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At this point, it's not really so much about showing what's on Mike/Will's minds, but more so an explanation of their arc together.

It would be quite easy to say that, keeping in mind that Nancy parallels Mike here, this reflects Mike's feelings about El, but I have a completely different theory. Throughout the show, El represents Hope. Hope, sometimes, to the point of delusion. She also tends to fill people's empty hearts. We can see here that Nancy is being overly wishful, trying to provide the clearly unrealistic, bordering on childish, solution of keeping him in her basement in order to lessen the pain of losing the boy she's in love with. Sound familiar? I think this whole time, that's how Mike has felt about El and Will. He clung to El because of the hope she provided to him. She did the impossible for him. She helped bring his friend back and defeat the evil monsters (which represent pain/trauma/being in the closet.). But ultimately... his attachment to her is driven by the love he has for his best friend, and the desire to run away from the pain it causes him. That's a post for another time though lol, let's take a look at an EVEN BETTER part. BECAUSE IT'S AN ACTUAL SCENE PARALLELED WITH BYLER.

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This next part is the most TELLING ONE:

Jonathan: "Hey. it's okay."

*JONATHAN TAKES NANCY'S HAND AND TRACES IT WITH HIS THUMB*

Jonathan - "As a wise man once said, we've got shared trauma." (perhaps a nod to Will the wise, even tho he's talking about Murray lolz).

*cuts to their faces then cuts back to their hands again*

Nancy: "So what's a little more, right?"

Jonathan: *kisses her hand* "What's a little more."

They then kiss and hug in front of the window and it zooms out.

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This has probably been mentioned before and I haven't seen it bc I'm fairly new on tumblr, but this is literally like the crazy together scene you guys. There are so many similarities here. There's also the hand holding that actually parallels the scene where Mike says "we won't. we won't" to Will in season 2. But especially regarding the Crazy Together scene, there are two similarities here: the shared trauma/going crazy together, and then there's the fact that both the scenes mark the beginning of the two characters spiraling in different directions but, somehow, becoming closer as a result of it. (Nancy and Jonathan are moving farther apart physically, but somehow that's shared trauma? That's because them moving apart makes their two hearts ache in the same way, a way that nobody else seems to understand, which will ultimately be what connects them together despite the long distance. Then for Mike and Will in the Crazy Together scene, they are talking about going crazy for two slightly different, but similar reasons, reasons that in the future will split them apart, but somehow this drives them closer together, showing that no matter what causes them pain, they know that they can ultimately rely on being understood by one another, more so than by anybody else. Ugh and the fact that the Crazy Together scene happens directly after another Jancy scene where Jonathan puts Nancy in her bed?! And both those scenes are about one character taking the other character home so they can feel safe?! And Byler is in the basement which is mentioned by Nancy here?! And Mike took Will there after saying "let's take you home"?! And this scene is all about home?! It's happening. I'm believing everything I'm saying, and that's dangerous XD.)

The last thing I'd like to say is the soundtrack here is the tiniest bit reminiscent of "You're The Heart." (@ 2:30 and somewhat at the beginning) And it's called "You're a fighter." Take what you want from that. That could be pro m*leven if you want, unless you're like me and you think that Mike's monologue to El w/ You're the Heart playing in the BG was actually a reveal of his feelings for Will, esp given that, you know, the title of the score is named after what Will said to Mike to inspire him.

Also, as a disclaimer, I didn't want to diminish Jancy's relationship here, I love this scene on its own and what it means to Jancy, so sorry if it came across like I thought they were only important in relation to Byler, not my intention!

OKay guys BYEEEEEEEEEEE

if you read this whole thing I'm sorry for putting you through the torture that is my stream of consciousness but thank you for reading haha

**FEEL FREE TO CORRECT ME ON ANYTHING OR ADD ON**

<3

[beepboop358]

My Byler theories/predictions for S4

Since s4 is already confirmed to not be the last season, I don’t think Byler will officially get together in s4. I do think that we are definitely going to get a large amount of Byler’s development in s4 though, we just aren’t at the finish line yet. Since Byler has been being developed all through each of the seasons, I think the writers are playing the long game with Mike and Will. I really appreciate a queer romance that is so well developped, especially in something so popular! I think the season will end on a note where it’s understood what Mike has been struggling with, It’s made known that Will is gay, and that Mike has feelings for Will, and Will has feelings for Mike.

My predictions/theories for Byler in s4:

Mike might be acting a little off at school and Dustin is going to notice his odd behavior and ask what’s up

I think Mike will be getting in trouble at school and at home (based on whenever he doesn’t have Will/El around he does stupid things - like graffitti the bathroom wall, plagiarize essays, curse at adults, etc.) I don’t know if Mike knows about Eddie dealing drugs, but he might and he might get drugs from Eddie and do them to cope with everything he is struggling with. His parents might ground him for doing drugs, and forbid him from going to visit the Byers, and then we could get our runaway smalltown boy montage! LOL

Lonnie might come to visit the Byers in California for Will’s birthday. He will probably show up because he thinks they have money now, or he wants to sue Starcourt like he wanted to sue the quarry in s1. Mike will also be there visiting for Will’s birthday. Lonnie will mock Will and make fun of him like he always did, but he will also hate Mike. Lonnie will definitely notice Will and Mike’s dynamics and he will definitely comment about it. He might even call them homophobic slurs like we know he used to do with Will when he was younger. Lonnie will probably make Will cry and Mike upset. Lonnie might possibly “out” him and Mike before they are out and confirm it themselves. Some of the movies on the stranger writers twitter for s4 also hint at this, as well as having the baseball references. There are also hints to Will’s birthday throughout the show: The rainbow happy birthday mug seen in the crazy together scene, the “sorry i forgot your birthday card” in Will’s room from Lonnie, and Joyce’s speech in the shed discussing Will’s 8th birthday and his “rainbow ship”. Jonathan also mentions how Lonnie made him kill a rabbit on his 10th birthday and he cried for a week after, just more hints that if Lonnie shows up for Will’s bday, it’s gonna be bad.

Mike might get Will a watch for his birthday. This would reference the clocks being central to the s4 plot, and “not wanting things to change/turning back the clock” in Hopper’s letter

Will is being homophobically bullied at his new school again, possibly references to Will having HIV/AIDS because the height of the epidemic was in the 80’s and it was very stigmatized

Mike will call Will more than he will call El. Will might be slightly surprised by this, El’s frequent calling will annoy Mike and he might turn off his walkie talkie. (basically the reverse of what Mike said would happen in the s3 ending mileven scene)

Mike and Will will be in the same location for most of the season, like s2. They will not leave each other’s sides for the majority of the time they are together.

S4 Group Predictions:

- El, Will, Mike trio together with Jonathan and Argyle. (we will get some obvious tension between El, Will, and Mike, and Mike will hate Argyle at first)

- Robin, Steve, Erica, Max, Dustin, Lucas, Vickie, Eddie, Nancy

- Joyce, Murray, etc?

- Hopper and the other Russians (Dimitri, etc)

The rift between Mike and El will continue to grow.

When Mike comes to visit, she will notice he seems much more interested in Will.

El will ask why the bullies call Will those things (queer/fairy/gay/homo, probably f slurs too), what it means and if he really is “a queer”.

I don’t know if Will is going to come out to El. They have never interacted before, and I doubt Will trusts her or really likes her much mainly, because of Mike. Unless they get super close during the time not portrayed on screen between s3 and s4, or by being all each other has in California, I don’t know if  he will come out to El. I could see this going either way depending on how their friendship develops. I definitely do not think Will is going to tell El he likes Mike, even if he does confide in her he is gay. I think she will find out eventually but in some other way, probably just from Mike’s behavior towards Will.

El will eventually realize she doesn’t actually love Mike and let go of the ‘romance’ aspect of their bond, but still highly value him as a friend.

Mike might be called homophobic slurs at school as well. Mike will definitely be teased (regardless of his sexuality) because he is in the hellfire club and since satanic panic is sweeping the town, people look at D&D as if it is a satanic game, and he will be teased because of that.

Based on the leaked bts pics, I have a theory a cheerleader, or someone else, might show interest in Mike.  Mike will not reciprocate and she will call him out for it asking why he doesn't like her because “any other guy at this school would” or something like that, maybe even ask “what are you gay or something”. It would certainly be good for Mike’s narrative but idk if it will happen.

Will may confide in Jonathan about his feelings for Mike and the things the bullies say to him at school. Jonathan will be supportive of Will, as will Joyce. I think he will also try to protect Will from Lonnie and they will both defend Will to Lonnie.

I think we need a scene of Mike with his Mom telling him to follow his heart, like who you like, etc. because life is too short to waste it being miserable or something like that. This could be inspired by Mike’s parents seperating, but idk. This could also encourage Mike to initiate more romantic things with Will.

I would love to get a scene of Will confronting Mike for “Joining another party”, after Will said he wouldn’t.

Will and Mike need to discuss what was said in their fight.

I think since Mike's been holding in a lot of turmoil and struggling with his sexuality for so long we might get a small breakdown scene from him, of him telling Will he’s really sorry for how he treated him last summer, and for all the things he said to Will. Mike will profusely apologize and also hint at how he’s confused and been dealing with a lot.

I think Mike will be the first one to break down and confess he has feelings for Will and has been struggling with coming to terms with his sexuality.

Once Will has confirmation Mike is also struggling with his sexuality, Will might come out to him. I would love for him to reference the fight being like “You were right. I don’t like girls.” (from @itsonlystrange ‘s 4x07 byler script it’s so good!) I don't know if Will will confess he likes Mike to his face or not. I don't think it's likely given how shy Will is and how afraid he is of Mike not reciprocating, but who knows.

Mike may initiate a kiss between him and Will - towards the end of the season probably (eyewitness parallel - explained in my byler proof google slides)

I think Mike and Will might write letters to each other, with some love-y connotations. There is a lot of evidence for this in the canon comics of them writing notes to each other, and that cryptic tweet from stranger writers twitter with a blocked out message and the date Will went missing saying it wasn’t about a couple or hopper. Maybe byler related? This tweet may not be a letter but it might be. The most popular theories are that the message is to Will, “love mike”, which I love. https://twitter.com/strangerwriters/status/1184945905973153792?lang=en

Will has a new haircut (bts pics) and Mike will gush over it. Maybe some gay-panicking too hopefully

I think El will be either physically or at least emotionally distant the entire season from the other kids (again following the pattern of even and odd seasons) El needs some personal development this season, since she didn’t get any in s3.

El might confront Mike and ask if he is gay and if he likes Will, which could be El’s motivation to go off on a journey of her own to learn more about her own life. I don’t think it will be a huge fight, but El might make some references to him always lying to her. I think Mike might just kind of try to talk his way out of it at first, but he will eventually break. This might be a two part discussion and Mike doesn’t admit she is right until later. I don’t think it makes sense for El to be heartbroken (explained in my byler proof slides), just slightly annoyed. This is based off of the movie Tootsie which they borrowed the “gift” idea from in s3 already. In the movie, the girlfriend then after receiving the gift asks “Michael” if he is gay.

I really think eventually El will realize it’s okay because she doesn’t love him romantically either, and once she realizes that her own personal development can really begin.

I think we will see a noticeable change in Mike’s demeanor. I think Mike will mainly just be trying to hide that he is gay now. He joined the hellfire club so we know he’s playing d&d again meaning he is reverting back to his true self, not the weird act he put on in s3 trying to be straight and change himself. He is still struggling, but he knows he likes Will. Regardless that doesn’t mean he is going to be super clear about how he feels. He is going to be extremely afraid of opening up and then getting hurt by Will. He will probably do some of his usual ‘lead Will on and then shut it down’ thing. And I really want Will to call him out on this. This could also lead to Mike breaking down in front of Will and confessing. I think we are going to get a lot of 'Mike gay panicking' moments, he's going to be extremely afraid of being found out/suspected.

Byler things I really want to happen that we may get because they would have narrative significance:

I really want flashbacks to those 3 months of summer between the starcourt explosion and the Byers moving, of moments between Mike and Will when they hang out alone together, with some obvious romantic tension. Like where they are super playful and almost kiss, or they are kind of touchy, or something in the realm of that. I think we need a flashback of something that explains Will’s flirty nature at the very end of s3 with Mike, because he doesn't normally act like that. I want noticeable “is something going on with them?” vibes. This could also happen during the thanksgiving/christmas flashbacks.

I hope we get flashbacks of Mike going to the Byers for Thanksgiving, and the Byers coming back to Hawkins for Christmas. Preferably of some Mike and Will moments that hint at Mike’s confusion or how he feels “so alone” without Will, maybe with some “crazy together” references too! I’d also love some tension between the 3 of them, maybe this is when El starts to get suspicious of Mike liking Will.

Hopefully we get some shots of Mike biking past the byers old house and going to look at castle byers and reminiscing.

I’d love to get a flashback of Mike the day the Byers moved away, of him crying or being upset, alone in his room/basement while looking at Will’s drawings or pictures of Will and him together. Mainly to confirm for people that Mike was upset about Will moving, not as much El.

This one does not seem super probable, but it is a very popular theory. Idk if it’s possible because of location logistics, but if they spend enough time together, I’d love for Mike to get to know Robin better, and Will too. Maybe once everyone comes together at the end of the season, she will notice their dynamics and could help guide and inspire them to be themselves. Hey maybe thats for s5 :) But I do think it’s a possibility that Mike may work at the video store with Steve and Robin, and she will pick up on Mike’s behavior and understand, whether she communicates that to him or not.

[forevfangirlwrites]

I love your how to handle fame series and I totally get if you’re six of writing for this AU but if you aren’t I’d love one with them making the relationship official like Annabeth telling Percy he can post a picture of them for the first time or her telling him she wants to make it official and post on social media and Percy just being happy to tell the world that she’s his and vice versa

CONTINUATION OF: PART 9

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 , Part 7,  Part 8

If Percy ever decides to pick up the memoir business again, the entire thing could be about the past two days, which have downright been the weirdest, most surreal days of his whole life.

On second thought, maybe he wouldn’t be able to write it because he’s spent all weekend trying to compartmentalize it and it still feels like a blur.

Like one really long day.

And you’d think, given the magnitude of the events that had occurred, he’d remember it better.

CHB had been the first to report the news, courtesy of that lady shoving a mic in his face, but the interview had really sealed the deal. Zoe Nightshade is acclaimed for reporting facts not fiction in the celeb news world, so going on her show to talk about it had been the best way to get the right version of the story out there.

All he remembers about the set are the hot lights, the white couch (that he was immediately worried about ruining) and Annabeth by his side, holding his hand.

Overall, it had been good. The entire thing had been premeditated by Annabeth, who had started off the interview explaining how they wanted to go public on their own terms instead of someone else leaking it, but that they still wished to keep their personal lives private.

Percy had also kept to his premeditated script, saying he’s a barista from New York, and shifting the dialogue (as Annabeth called it) to their meeting.

After the interview Annabeth had given him a big hug and told him it was a success.

But then…..oh then, came The Notifications™.

As if he didn’t already spend too much time on his phone, he’s been glued to it all weekend.

“It’s going to be rough,” Annabeth had said with the same worried face that she had when the talk about going public had come up a month ago.

And Percy knows, right, he’s been in the service industry and knows how people can be jerks. He knows there’s going to be backlash.

Maybe that’s why Annabeth had rented a beach house far down the coast and been by his side constantly the past two days.

He glances over at her, leaning back on her comfy wicker chair with her feet propped, reading a book. As if she can tell he’s looking at her, she puts down her book and turns to face him.

“What’s up?’

Her long legs look golden in the sunlight filtering through the light curtains and she’s practically glowing with the beach air wafting through the open window.

Long story short, she looks beautiful.

Focusing his brain from the detour it took to admire her, he shakes his head.

“Nothing…just wondering how I got here.”

She picks up her cup of tea from the table beside her. “What do you mean?”

Leaning back against the headboard of the bed, he stares at the high planked ceiling.

“I don’t know…just everything. I mean for one, I’ve never seen so many pictures of myself…even my mom’s albums would have a tough time competing…actually, they might still win now that I think about it.”

Annabeth chuckles at that. And while it’s true his mom has an absurd amount of pictures, him and Annabeth have been plastered a fair amount on various articles and social media. He’d kept his Instagram private, but his Twitter hadn’t stopped blowing up.

“And I’ve never had this many people talk or…speculate about me.” He drops his gaze from the ceiling to once again land on her. “Like, it’s the most hate I’ve ever gotten…”

The inevitable comments on him being a gold digger, though expected, had been hard to see. It stung a little to think people thought he was anything other than hopelessly in love with his girlfriend.

But no one had been more pissed than Annabeth and it had taken kisses from him to distract her.

He sees the same anger and worry start to flare up now, her eyebrows already creasing together, and rushes to complete his thought.

“But it’s also the most support I’d gotten.”

Luckily, an overwhelming majority of Annabeth’s fans had been super supportive of them. One picture in particular, one of them standing at the red carpet staring into each other’s eyes, had gone viral and “Percabeth” (as people were dubbing them) had been number one on trending for a whole day.

So many people not only calling them cute, but also describing him as hot. Percy had almost laughed out loud when he’d first read comments gushing about how attractive he was. (Take that, Nancy Bobofit, who called him ugly in middle school.)

“It’s just really crazy I guess, I never expected this from my life.”

He really should write a memoir. Other people need to know how almost comically absurd his life is now. (It would start with riding the subway to school every day.)

Annabeth sits up in her chair, still wearing the frown from earlier.

“Do you regret it?”

She asks calmly enough, but he can see the worry behind her eyes and the fear creep into her tone. He slides off the bed and walks to her, sitting on the footstool she’d been propping her feet on a second ago.

“Not at all.”

Reaching for her hand, he raises it to her lips, keeping eye contact. She needs to know that he’d take it all if it means he gets to be with her.

The day after the interview, Annabeth had told him to pick out a picture of them to post on her Instagram. And though it had immediately become her most liked picture, it wasn’t just fan service. The smile on her face when she posted it had made Percy’s heart melt even more.

Because the truth is, despite everything, it feels so good to call her his in front of the whole world.

Annabeth smiles, pulling their intertwined hands close to her and resting her cheek against them.

“Good.”

His phone vibrates and he can’t help but look over. Annabeth smiles, amusedly. “Who is it?”

He reaches for the device, unlocking it with a swipe. “My mom.”

“What’s she saying?”

He smiles as he reads the text. “That her friends are blowing up about this.”

Annabeth chuckles. “Don’t worry, it’ll blow over soon.”

Almost automatically, he opens up Twitter. It’s become a bad habit over the past two days.  “Well, we have been trending for a while…”

His sentence veers off as he checks the trending tab. Number one this morning had been a kpop star whose birthday was today and “Percabeth” had been second.

But now number one was…Jogan Paul, who had apparently been caught in some money laundering scheme and become the center of all public outrage. Number two was still the kpop star and number three was #ultranatural.

“Percabeth” was nowhere to be found.

“You’re right…we’re not trending anymore, some other guy, Jogan did a—”

“Money laundering scheme?” Annabeth finishes and he looks up from his phone to see her smile over her tea.

“Yeah…everyone’s talking about him….and then it’s a k—”

“Kpop idol? Yeah, it’s P-Dawn’s birthday,” Annabeth finishes again.

Percy stares at her.

Annabeth, after posting the Instagram photo, hadn’t checked her phone almost all weekend, letting him look at everything going on.

So how could she know all this? He’s pretty sure she hasn’t checked her phone in hours, instead working her way though her book.

“Yeah…” he continues, still confused. “So we’re not trending anymore. This Jogan guy really messed stuff up…”

Annabeth shrugs, still smiling. “That’s how it goes, people move on from things quickly.”

He nods. He knows this. And personally he’s glad that they’re not the main topic of conversation now. It feels like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders. He puts down his phone with a smile.

“Yeah, it’s fortunate that this guy messed up, really took the eyes off of us.”

Of course, not all the eyes. Annabeth’s fans will still talk about it, but now the media has something juicer to report on.

“Yeah, fortunate,” Annabeth repeats, lifting her cup again to take a sip, but she can’t hide her smile.

Something about this feels…

“Did you know about this?”

Annabeth just takes a sip of her tea.

Peering over the cup, she replies sweetly, “Did you know the season finale of Ultranatural is on tonight?”

And that’s all the answer he needs.

(So he naturally responds by picking her up and tossing her in bed, letting her laughs bounce off the high ceilings as he wraps her in a hug, thinking that there needs to be a whole chapter in his memoir about just how smart his girlfriend is.)

A/N: As I said in the beginning, this is the continuation to the last chapter in the how to handle fame series. Thank you for sending in the prompt! It’s been a popular one and I had a whole storyline for it (though I did include the insta pic :)

When I came up with this plotline I just couldn’t get the idea out of my head that Annabeth would totally mastermind the entire thing and make sure that their relationship didn’t get too much heat.

Plus, let’s be real, news moves fast, and their relationship, while a big thing, isn’t the only thing going on the world for people to talk about. And stories that spark outrage blow up more than two people dating, so I tried to keep this as realistic as I could.

Part of the reason it’s taken so long for this is because I truly wasn’t sure the best way to tackle this whole thing while still staying true to reality as best I could. So when I thought of the Annabeth planning out this whole thing I thought it was fun and cute and went for it. I mean this entire series has taken off in a way I had truly never imagined.

A lot of people had requested the whole going public thing and how it would play out, so I really hope you guys liked this! (And thank you anon for sending in the prompt I used to post this :)

(Also a lot of references to things that have happened semi-recently so lmk if you’ve figured them out, not that they’re that hard lol)

[kaypeace21]

El is NOT ‘in love’ with Mike

Mileven-shippers be bugging - apparently I’m  ‘misogynisitc’ to think Mike Wheeler is gay, cause I’m not taking into consideration how ‘in love’ El is and am therefore enjoying her suffering (despite the fact I’ve said multiple times I don’t think El is in love with him either). So I’m just doing a rebuttal. Not going to even mention the milevens who lap-up the ‘Will is gay and pinning over straight-Mike for the rest of his life’-narrative. But,besides all the s4 movies having the long distance couple break up and admit in at least 4-6 movies that they both knew all along “it would never work out” and that they never loved each other. And El’s character even being happy for byler .The show hints at the fact (pretty heavily) El isn’t ‘in love’ with Mike. But is simply confused (given her lack of proper socialization). I’ve mentioned it before but just some obvious points people like to ignore...

For some inexplicable reason...We’re supposed to believe in s1 a traumatized girl (with no proper socialization with adults or peers) who doesn’t even know what a friend is -  is supposed to know the nuances of romantic, platonic, and familial love (or just the distinctions between physical attraction, crushes ,or romantic love)? Really?!

-  in s1 El knew Mike for 4 days, but we’re supposed to believe they ‘fell in love at first sight’? Even when the official ST-twitter ‘st writers’ said they don’t believe in ‘love at first sight’.

- El is mixing up familial love with romantic love.  Before he asks her out , El asks in regards to the status of their relationship “will you be like my brother?” And she is confused and upset when Mike says “no”- and proceeds to ask , “Why?” their relationship would be different than siblings. And Mike says “I don’t know, I guess it’s not.” 

Then Mike accidentally implies the only difference between friends/siblings/ gfs is that you kiss them. Mike pretty much says it’s different simply for the fact that it would be weird to go to a dance with someone who is like a sister - then kisses her.  

And then In s2, Mike tries to emulate his ‘non jealous’ friend,  Dustin, who is happy for lumax (despite his own romantic feelings). So Mike tries to act like Dustin, and  forces Will to dance with a girl (who’s wearing a rainbow hair clip). And right after this we see Dustin look sad about Max/Lucas dancing and Mike (next to Dustin) look sadly at Will/girl dancing in the same exact frame as Max/Lucas. As they switch between these 2 shots to emphasize their sadness/jealousy. 

Then they both sit down (mirroring each other) on the verge of tears before Nancy and El show up to comfort them and distract them.  As El once again (presumably) wears Nancy dress.

The parallels continue as Nancy (who has no romantic feelings for Dustin but more of a sibling-esque bond) teaches him how to dance, similar to how Mike teaches El to do the same. Indicating it’s not romantic for either pairings (despite the kiss). Mike :” you don’t go to dances with your sister?/ no?/ i mean you can but it’d be really weird.”

*In s2 they even make a direct parallel to Luke &Leia (who were siblings who had a weird romantic relationship/kiss before realizing they were related). Mike (as Leia) saying “it’s a trap” to El (Luke). 

And Leia (Mike) eventually gets with Han (Will) the one she had the real romantic tension with all along, and who she tried to make jealous by using Luke (El). Specifically, by kissing Luke (El) in front of Han (Will). Doing this by kissing El at the dance where Will could see.

They’re also compared to cousins.

And most damming is how Mike/El is compared to mileven. Cause El is confusing familial love for Mike with romantic.

* In s1 Lucas even compares El to Mike’s sister Holly, while the decoration of a heart being propelled by a rainbow hangs above him. Which echos what happened in s2 as well.In s2 , Erica  forces He-man and barbie to make out. And Lucas angrily separates the two. And then this discussion happens.

Erica: “Hey , They’re in love!”Lucas (livid- and standing right next to a rainbow): “No, actually,  they’re not. They don’t even exist on the same planet.”

Cue El and mike being compared to ET and Eliot (by the Duffers in multiple interviews and in the pilot script, shown above ) .  And  El watching he-man in s1- while Dustin in s2 has he-man and et next to eachother to show they were in fact  Lucas was talking about mileven.  Mike even calls El “yoda” in s1. We also see El compared to ET on multiple occasions in s1 (the bike scene, reese’s pieces vs eggos, et/el both having a the barbie like makeover and dressing as a ghost etc).  And then there’s the  old euphemism of “girls come from Venus, and boys come from Mars”. So El telling mike he should ‘stick with his own species’ (aka boys). And the Duffers saying mileven isn’t in love cause they’re not from the same planet  -is just them telling us , Mike is gay  and El doesn’t love him either. Will even says to Mike “welcome to my world”. In s3 we see Mike’s gotten rid of the sign that has a heart being propelled by a rainbow (symbolizing how he’s trying to hide/get rid of his feelings for Will) . But in El’s room while mileven makes-out we see a drawing of a heart being propelled by a rainbow (similar to the sign in s1 )- emphasizing the fact that no matter how much he makes out with El, and tries to hide the truth... he’s still gay. Like Max said in her rebuttal to El’s comment of “friends don’t lie”. “Yeah, but boyfriends lie ALL THE TIME”. Cause the relationship on Mike’s end was always a farce.

- And before their first kiss ,  after asking if she’d be like his sis, she asks  if he’s asking her to the snow ball as “a friend?” And he says “it’s different”. But  El again asks “how?”. And Mike (similar to El’s sibling question) once again can’t explain the difference of how friends and romantic partners are different to her, before they kiss. And just a few days earlier she asked the gang “what is friend?”. Yet we’re supposed to believe she knows she has a crush on Mike? 

El constantly says in reference to Mike “friends don’t lie” (even in s3). Her instincts are telling her she doesn’t have romantic feelings for him ... which is why in a span of 3 minutes she says she thinks of him as both a “brother” and a “friend” when he tries to make it romantic in s1.

This whole ‘romantic confession’ of Mike’s in s1,  echos his ‘love confession’ in s3. With Mike making it romantic and El once again not understanding his words or reciprocating her understanding of ‘feeling like she’s in love with him’.

Mike, before his love confession, apologizes for everything BUT LYING (the thing that broke them up in the first place). Aka because the love confession itself, was yet another lie Mike was telling. Which is why he never says “I love you” (to her face) but instead says *blank/it* instead of “love” .Saying “It makes you crazy…blank makes you crazy.

In s1 Flo says  “ only love makes you  crazy and that damn stupid”. Re-contextualizing  the “crazy together” scene between Mike and Will as romantic (since  Mike & Flo both equate love to making you ‘crazy’ ) .

When Mike tries to confess his “love” to El , he says “Well , they do say it makes you crazy”… much to El’s confusion as  she says “what makes you crazy”? But when Mike asks Will, “We’ll go crazy together, right? Will immediately responds back “yeah, crazy together.”As they smile at each other.

Then there’s the fact that in s2 El’s new catchphrase was “not stupid”.She even says this line right before going to visit Mike. Right before Mike says he loves El, Nancy even comments that “El’s not stupid”. And in s3 El says “there’s more to life than STUPID boys.”And in s3 during the byler fight, Mike says “El’s not stupid.”  As opposed to Will who right after this, runs to castle byers, looks at the Halloween pic where they both said they’d go ‘crazy together’, and cries and calls himself “stupid” (4x). 

(x)(x)

The show says El is neither stupid nor crazy for Mike, meaning she DOES NOT (romantically) LOVE MIKE! The only one who is “crazy” and “stupid” for Mike is Will. Therefore, Will is the only one in love with Mike! . She even ignored his confession for 3 months and lied about hearing it- that doesn’t scream ‘in love’ .

- El mimicks Erica Kane and pretends to be with a fictional Mike Roy, while watching ‘all my children’ (Mike and Erica aren’t endgame btw) . Which parallels mileven to Karen/ Billy. Before she meets him she’s reading a romance book that has a guy that resembles Billy on the cover. The Duffers even mentioned they changed the cover to show the resemblance between Billy and the fictional book character. And we see Karen reading the sequel in s3 before Billy appears. Both El and Karen don’t/didn’t love Mike or Billy- they just projected onto them fictional characters they were infatuated with. She knew Mike for 4 days- saw a rushed romance on tv with a character named Mike- and simply wanted to emulate it with the only Mike she knew.

-She latched on to Mike more than the others since he was the first boy her age who took care of her. If Dustin did everything Mike did, she would of assumed she was in love with him too! El through her limited knowledge (given to her by Mike) essentially assumes boyfriends (who you are in love with) are boys who you think of as “friends, cousins, or brothers” who you kiss. Since Mike accidentally implied that feelings for  brothers/ friends are the same as  romantic crushes (in s1 saying about the difference “I don’t know I guess there isn’t”, and she is later taught while in isolation that kissing=romantic love (by soap operas). And then projects Mike roy (who she’s actually crushing on) onto our Mike wheeler. And then she proceeds to mimic what she sees on screen. Similar to how she copies Max’s words in s3. El says “I love you too”, cause (similar to mimicking Max and soap operas) she assumes mimicking him is what she’s supposed to do! Not cause she's actually in love with him! 

(X)

Not to mention the episode of the soap opera episode she’s mimicking is about a women and a man (named Michael) who rush into a relationship despite barely knowing each other, because of traumatic circumstances . And who are not endgame! She’s mimicking the female character who (has romantic feelings for a guy named Mike). Just like Mike projects Will on to El. El does the same projecting qualities of soap-opera Mike Roy onto our Mike Wheeler.

 - For El’s entire life she has known only 4 boys and 1 girl her age (her dating options are pathetically puny). She knew 4 boys for less then then a week, then immediately jumped into dating the first one who kissed her (and the only one who visited her for her 6 months in isolation at the cabin...interacting with her only romantic option, Mike).She’s never had a normal social-life  like most kids who interact with a large number of  boys and girls. So she could never see if what she had for Mike was romantic (or more than a simple crush) cause she has nothing to compare it to. 

In s3 

- Dustin compares stancy to Mileven stating it’s “bullshit”. And in s1 mileven is compared to Karen/Ted, as El sits and enjoys Ted’s laz-eboy chair. Similar to how Steve and Ted both eat chicken as their female partners storm away upset, and both men do nothing to help. Nancy states the only reason Karen and Ted got married was because they were young and that getting together was the more ‘socially acceptable/logical choice’ and saying “I don’t think my parents ever loved each other.” John says Nancy was repeating her mom’s mistakes by getting with the jock (Steve) , similar to how her mom got with a wealthy man (Ted). And now Mike is repeating Nancy and Karen’s mistakes getting with a girl cause it’s the logical choice (instead of being with the boy he loves).It’s mutual though (just like the Wheeler parents, mileven never loved each other).

-  In s3 El even says “How do I know what I like?” In reference to clothes and Max says she has to figure that out on her own without letting Mike or Hopper influence her. Associating mileven with El’s lack of understanding of knowing what she likes. This poor girl doesn’t even know how to interpret what objects she likes but we’re supposed to believe , before this she knew with certainty she liked Mike romantically?! 

Later Max even asks her “Is Mike a good kisser?” And she similarly answers “I don’t know, he’s my first boyfriend”. While staring at a pic of the karate-kid ( right after she dumped Mike).  Implying subconsciously she’s thinking of other boys , who are not Mike in the future. Which is actually very similar to the soap opera character who went on to have many marriages after being “in love with” Michael. Plus, despite making out with him everyday for 6 months straight- she doesn’t feel strongly , and is neutral/confused about how kissing him makes her feel (similar to clothes).

This is also in direct opposition to Will, who said he expected him and Mike to never get girlfriends and spend the rest of their lives together, and who later cries while looking at a picture of Mike. Unlike El who is happy and swooning over a pic of a random male celeb. They even have El (after breaking up with Mike) happily read comics books with Max, while Will (right before his breaks down) throws his comic on the floor, frustrated he can’t get his mind off of his fight with Mike.

- Also if she’s ‘so in love with him’ as people claim, her  laughing right after breaking up with him and having a party with Max makes little to no sense. And if you say she simply ‘doesn’t understand how breakups work’... you’re just proving my point that she’s too naive and not emotionally-mature enough to be in a romantic-relationship in the first place.  The breakup between Mileven was comedic, while Byler’s fight was serious, cause byler’s fight is more important to the writers .Mike’s drastically different expressions after the fight. The dramatic framing in the rain vs the casual comedic after-math at the mall. One fight being in front of a crowd, while byler’s fight was something private and just between them. El smiling vs Will’s heartbreak. It just highlights once again Will loves Mike, and El doesn’t!

- After Mike says to  El (in the pool shed) she’s “the most important thing in the world “, to him. She ignores his proclamation, and agrees with Hopper that they’re spending too much time together, and tells him they both need to  spend time with their own species. Which is contrasted with Mike’s confession in the Byers-shed (in s2) where Mike says, asking Will to be his friend was the ‘best thing he’s ever done’ . And those words were what helped break Will from his possession.

The framing of this mileven scene was not cinematic or heartfelt, and neither was the delivery from Mike.We as the audience are supposed to take his words as seriously as El- aka , not at all. Because the scene and his words were meant to feel empty.  He’s not crying, trying to reach her with proclamations of his genuine feelings. There’s no narrative importance to this scene (unlike byler’s). And there’s no dramatic music, framing, lighting or shot composition (and the pool-scene was also incredibly short).

Then, juxtapose this to the MUCH longer byler scene. A literal single tear falls down Mike’s cheek, as he recounts the first day they met. This whole monologue is only of tight shots of just their faces (their bodies aren’t shown like in the pool shed scene). This is a personal moment between them and them alone- and the fact we zoom in on their faces (expresses this to be important emotionally) . And when we see Will’s reaction to Mike saying “it was the best thing I’ve ever done”. We just see Will’s face only- no music is playing and all we hear is  Will’s whimpers and Mike crying in the background. They even have an added layer to this because earlier in the season Will assumes John only hangs out with him because he has no friends. But then Mike (despite all the hardships with the demogorgan and Mindflayer) still tells Will that asking him to be his friend was still the best thing he’s ever done. And those words are  what helps Will begin to break from his possession .

-When Max makes fun of how Mike talks to much, El agrees and laughs. And similarly when Max says Mike is wrong and it isn’t just “a break” El once again chuckles.  This is not the behavior of someone who’s deeply in love with a person.

Canonically El isn’t even into Mike’s real personality traits or his interests. Not only making fun of how he talks too much, but walking away and ignoring him when he excitedly talked about dinosaurs or makes jokes with the cpr dummy. She’s not into ‘nerds’. She only swooned for him in s3 when he was acting like a ‘bad-boy’ who was disrespectful to Hopper and his friends. Probably, because that’s what the tv has conditioned her to like. 

-Robin who had feelings for a girl also points out that Steve “didn’t even like her” despite all the attention Tammy gave him (similar to Mike with El).  Tammy is a someone who sucks at singing but does it all the time (COUGH insert mike’s singing in s3 as  El cuts him off as a parallel XD) .  And Robin annoyed also call’s Steve’s  hair “stupid”  like how Will called El “stupid”.  Implying similar to Steve who didn’t like Tammy (who his gay friend was crushing on) ... EL doesn’t like Mike (Who Will is in love with).

- She also never apologizes for spying on Mike-despite it clearly upsetting him. But to be fair Mike NEVER apologized for lying either (the cause of their breakup). It’s just so obvious they’re not compatible on any level. They can’t even agree to respect each others’ core principles; C’mon guys!

-Her whole arc in s2 was about leaving the cabin and learning more about herself and gaining independence from men controlling her autonomy (aka hopper and brenner). She went from wanting to see her friends and leave the cabin that she was forced to remain in because of Hopper. To in s3 , ignoring her friends and choosing to seclude herself in the cabin even when (unlike s2 ) she was allowed out of the house! All because she was dating mike.She directly went against her own mantra of “friends don’t lie” from s2 , lying to her friends to return to the cabin and kiss mike- limiting her much needed social interaction which she obtained by escaping the cabin in s2. Dating Mike caused her character to regress as a character NOT PROGRESS.

But also... El had no issues lying to her friends to ditch them and kiss mike (compromising her mantra of “friends don’t lie”. Just like Mike who lied to El despite him teaching her the saying in the first place- and how when together he stops being the group leader. They literally bring out the worst in each other! Lucas even says “ they’re lying”. Before Dustin says their relationship is “bullshit”. But then when Mike lied to her, that’s when she dumps him? And of course El pretends she didn’t hear the “I love her” (a form of lying). This is a stereotypical-childish-middle school-romance that falls apart easily based on petty reasons, cause it lacks a strong foundation. XD

-Then we’re supposed to believe she loves Mike-despite ignoring his love confession for 3 months?! Only saying she “loves” him (and‘making-up’ with him) right before she is about to move, and despite knowing about it for so long? To be fair she had other things to deal with (moving in with the Byers and losing Hopper). But it’s also suspicious it happens right after Mike helps her grab the teddy bear she can’t reach. This is because she used 2 different stuffed bears (Hopper and Terry’s in s2) as a comfort objects (and in s3 Will’s). In s2, she’d snuggle with them when she felt abandoned or at her lowest emotionally. And even the (romantic) ‘golden-teddy bear gift’ Mike was going to give her , was an empty gesture- that would of meant less than simply apologizing. She even wears Hopper’s shirt at the end of s3 which in s2 she snuggled with when homesick.  Her using teddy bears like s2,  wearing Hopper’s shirt from s2 (and undoing the s3 makeover where Max said to dress what felt like her and NOT Mike & Hopper),  and kissing Mike again, symbolizes all her character development was undone from s3- it’s symbolic of her CHARACTER REGRESSION. Just like how in s3 she stayed in the cabin and lied to her friends (when she started to date Mike)- undoing her character arc from s2 which was in direct opposition to her s2 character arc. Mileven’s kissing at the end of s3 shows it’s a bad for El’s growth and inhibits it- that’s what  season 3 was saying!

El feels vulnerable  because she’s moving away and  still hasn’t gotten her powers back. But  then Mike comes in and gives her, her comfort object (which she couldn’t retrieve by herself, when she tried to use her telekenesis. That’s when El (conveniently) decides to proclaim she’s in love with him too. While in Will’s room, holding Will’s old teddy bear, as the teddybear comes between Mike and El (as they kiss).  It’s obvious (unlike Will) she doesn’t love him , but has just formed a co-dependency to him- and is looking for stability given all the new changes in her life. Like Hopper’s letter said “I don’t want things to change.” She preferred life when Hopper was still around and she had this fake fantasy that Mike was a good boyfriend- before s3.

-And again the very last shot we see of El and Will shows once again El doesn’t love Mike, the way Will does. (Image by  @tsugarubecker)

She’s not as distraught or crying like Will is. She’s smiling with light over 1/2 her face because even if El struggles in a new environment she’ll be fine without her friends/Mike who she knew for 9 months. Honestly, other than Mike, she only knew the others for 3 months (since El never went out and only hung out with Mike). She’s hopeful . Will won’t be - because he actually loves Mike and won’t be able to have a new party , and will be a mess without his support system of friends, that he’s had for years! (Why jonathan looks at him concerned- when he’s just crying. With absolutely no hope in his face- covered in shadow , the opposite of El).

So again I say- EL IS NOT IN LOVE WITH MIKE! And, she will not be ‘heartbroken’ or devastated when they breakup. Frankly, her being away from Mike and gaining independence from Hawkins, and meeting new people is the best thing the writers could do for her character growth.

[hopelikethemoon]

Weed (Javier x Reader) {MTMF}

Title: Weed Rating: PG-13 Length: 4600 Warnings: Potential triggers if you have toxic family members and/or triggers difficult child hoods. Also recreational marijuana use and fluff!  Notes: You can find everything about Maybe Today, Maybe Forever here. Set November 2nd 1998.  Summary: Reader goes to therapy and Javier tries something new.

@grapemama @seawhisperer @huliabitch @pedropascalito @rogrsnbarnes @thewallpapergoesorido @twomoonstwosuns @gooddaykate @livasaurasrex @ham4arrow @plexflexico​ @readsalot73 @hdlynn​ @lokiaddicted​ @randomness501 @fioccodineveautunnale​  @roxypeanut​ @snivellusim​ @lukesrighthand​ @historynerd04 @mrsparknuts​ @synystersilenceinblacknwhite​ @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead​ @exrebelshocktrooper​ @awesomefandomsunited​ @ah-callie​ @swhiskeys​ @lady-tano​ @beskar-droids​ @space-floozy​ @cable-kenobi​ @cool-ultra-nerd @himbopoes​ @findhimfives​ @pedrosdoll​ @frietiemeloen​ @arrowswithwifi​ @random066​ @uncomicalhumour​ @heather-lynn​ @domino-oh-damn​ @cyarikaaa @ahopelessromanticwritersworld​ @im-still-a-pieceofgarbage @ksgeekgirl  @yabby-girl @xqueenofthecraziesx​ @punkass-potato @coredrive @pascalesque @theduchessofkirkcaldy @queenquazar @sabinemorans @buckstaposition @holkaskrosnou @yespolkadotkitty @fleetwoodmactshirt @seeking-a-great–perhaps

“I was quite surprised to hear from you again.” Nancy remarked as she shuffled papers in her notebook, peering up at you from the rim of her eyeglasses. “When last we met, you seemed to be well on your way.” She took her glasses off and sat them on her desk, “Have we had a setback?”

You chewed on your bottom lip as you stared across the room at her, “I wouldn’t necessarily call it a setback.” 

“What would you call it?”

“I was doing really well. After everything with the articles, Javier and I went on vacation together and things felt…” You sighed. “I felt like I had finally hit my stride. You know?”

“Perhaps you should elaborate.”

You and Javier had already decided that Nancy was a safe space to discuss your elopement. It wasn’t like she could tell anyone about your sessions. Not to mention the fact that you had discussed your aversion to the whole concept at length in previous sessions.

But it still felt wrong to tell her. 

“Well,” You drew in a deep breath before exhaling slowly. “Javier and I got married.”

“Congratulations.”

“Thank you.” You smiled, picking a piece of fuzz off your leg. “It was perfect. I finally realized I had reached this point in my life where I wanted that. I wanted this thing that was just ours.”

“Why do you think that is?”

“I mean, you know that Javier and I are private people. Having our lives splashed across newspapers was daunting. Which… that’s actually why I’m here.”

“Your marriage?”

“No. My mother.”

Nancy’s brows rose upwards and for the first time she seemed shocked by something you had to say. “Your mother?”

You rubbed your lips together and nodded a little. “She showed up this weekend. Halloween.” You laughed quietly, staring at a spot on the floor. “Seeing her again… it brought up. A lot.”

“Would you like to discuss what it brought up?”

“That’s why I’m here,” You retorted, before you sank back against the sofa, raking your fingers through your hair. “For a few fleeting seconds I let myself actually believe that maybe she had changed. That maybe rehab had cured her. Finally. But… then I was thirteen again. I felt so small and… scared.”

“Scared?”

“I’ve worked very hard to make sure my girls have a safe, loving, harmonious life. I even came here. I recognized I had a problem after Sofía and I… handled it. That’s what I do. I handle things.” You swallowed thickly, feeling a knot form in the pit of your stomach. “This isn’t new. We’ve talked about her before.”

Nancy flipped through the pages of her notebook, “Yes. I recall our lengthy conversation about her addiction. You made a lot of progress, grappling with those difficult emotions that grew from a difficult situation. How did this encounter make you feel?”

“I don’t think I’ve slept since Friday night.” You shrugged a shoulder, “Javier’s been great. He’s… always been understanding.”

“But you’ve never fully discussed the details with him, have you?”

You bit down on your bottom lip and shook your head. 

“Why do you think that is?”

“Because it’s a lot. We used to talk about it… before we were together. It’s come up before.”

“You once referred to her as a shadow on your life. Does it feel like that shadow returned?”

“Yes.” You rubbed your hands together, leaning forward on the edge of the sofa. “That’s exactly how it feels. She’s gone — I hope she’s gone — but I still feel…”

“Small?”

“She pulled all the same tricks. She tried to make Javi think I was crazy. She pulled the tears and the blaming and… I genuinely don’t think she realizes how traumatized I was as a child.”

“What stands out?”

You laughed, pinching the bridge of your nose. “God, I don’t even know. There was so much.” 

“I would like to try something, if you’re open.” Nancy suggested, “Would you be comfortable laying down?”

“Sure.” You kicked off your shoes and stretched out lengthwise on the sofa. “Is this the whole… introspective breathing exercise?”

“Yes.”

You dragged your hands over your face, trying to will yourself to relax. “Alright. I’m ready.” 

“Focus on your breath. In and out. As you feel the air rushing into your lungs, I want you to think back to your childhood.” Nancy advised you. “Pinpoint a moment. Just one.”

You closed your eyes, focusing on your breathing just as she had told you to. You pictured your lungs filling with air and deflating as you exhaled. How many times had you used breathing exercises to manage anxiety?

You let your mind wander back — at first you thought of Javier. Those were easy memories to reflect on. Safe memories. The way he’d held you this morning, the way he tried to chase away all of the bad memories that had returned with your mother. But you weren’t sitting on Nancy’s sofa to think about Javi.

“What do you see?”

“The house I grew up in,” You answered, digging your teeth into your bottom lip as you settled into that memory. “We lived in one of those one-level post-War houses. It was identical to the one next to us, except… we had a blue front door. She painted it when she was high, it was… It was poorly painted.”

“Who painted it?”

“My mother.”

“How does that blue door make you feel?”

“I used to dread it. Every time my dad would bring me back after a weekend with him…” You sighed heavily. “It wasn’t a welcome sight.”

“And what was beyond that door?”

“The place I lived. It was never home. It was just the place I lived.” You weren’t sure if you’d ever really had a home before Javier and the girls. They felt like what home had always looked like in books and movies. 

“If I was coming back from dad’s house, I knew I was going to be met with hostility. She treated me like a traitor every time I came back to the house. If she had gotten high while I was gone, she was usually passed out on the sofa — that was the best time to come back.”

“Tell me about your room.”

“There was a mural on one of the walls. A butterfly.” You shook your head slowly as you pictured the poorly drawn butterfly. “I used to pretend I was the butterfly, that I could just fly out the window and never look back.”

“Did you feel trapped?”

“Always.” You shifted on the sofa, trying to find a more comfortable position. “I never felt safe.”

“Why?”

“There were always people in our house. Strangers — a lot of strange men.” 

“Were you ever harmed?”

“No. I’m certain I’m lucky in that regard. I slept with a chair in front of my door. My dad told me to do that. Even though he wasn’t there, he tried to protect me.”

“Do you think these experiences have played a part in how you approach your life?”

You laughed bitterly, “Every day. Not even consciously. These things are so hard wired into who I am.”

“How so?”

“Before Javier and I were together, I was terrified that my daughter would be brought up into a life like my own. Torn between two people who couldn’t get along. I knew Javier was a good man, but I still feared that. It makes life very confusing for a child.” 

“Let’s touch on those fears. It’s very common in adults who have suffered from upbringings like your own — they fear repeating the cycle. Is that something you find yourself faced with?”

“All the time. Everything that happened with Sofía’s birth brought up a lot of those emotions. I was afraid it would be the trigger. I had never felt that way before. I felt like a stranger in my own body.” You focused on your breathing again, trying to push aside the panic you felt. “Seeing her again this weekend, definitely brought those emotions back to the surface. Javier tried to reassure me. He was great — so great.”

“What emotions?”

“She got under my skin.” You admitted. “I have worked so hard to provide everything for my family. We have a home, we love each other, the girls are safe and loved.”

“How did your interaction with your mother go?”

“She showed up Saturday night. We had plans for Josie — a school Halloween party. I let Javier handle it because I just didn’t have the emotional bandwidth. I guess she said some shitty things to him, I’m not surprised. She skirted around it with me on Sunday.”

“Why did you speak to her on Sunday?”

“Javier had to reason with her. To get her to leave, you know?” You swallowed thickly. “So she came back on Sunday and we talked. She made excuses, she blamed me, she lashed out. I was thirteen again.”

“Why thirteen?”

You opened your eyes, turning to look at Nancy. “What?”

“You mentioned thirteen twice. What happened when you were twelve?”

“Oh,” You rubbed at the spot between your brows. “My mother and her boyfriend — I think it was Greg… there were a few at the time — but, they had this party…” You closed your eyes again. “Drugs everywhere. My mother was drunk, on top of whatever she’d snorted… she hadn’t even bothered to make dinner for me. So I was in the kitchen, it was in the back of the house, and I was trying to make something to eat. There was this woman who was there and I guess she had wandered away from the rest of the party—” 

“Take your time.”

You covered your face, “She was nice. Obviously very high, but she liked my shirt. It had a butterfly on it.” You pressed the heels of your palms against your eyes. “She sat down at the kitchen table and she… nodded out and then she made this sound.” You sat up slowly then, pushing your fingers through your hair. “It was like a death rattle.”

“Did she die?”

You nodded, “Right in front of me. I tried to call 911, but…” You looked at a point somewhere beyond Nancy. “My mother threatened me. She said if I told anyone what happened, she’d make sure I never saw my father again. I couldn’t sleep for weeks.”

“You have gone through a considerable amount of trauma at a very young age,” Nancy surmised, closing her notebook as she leaned against her desk. “Yet you have overcome it. You have a healthy relationship with your partner, you put tremendous consideration into your relationship with your daughters. But I do think there is more work to be done. You are not an island. You are no longer isolated.”

You pressed your lips together and nodded slowly as you weighed her words. “I know I’m not. And I do talk about these things with Javier. I always have.” 

“It is okay to let go of the past. You don’t have to carry that baggage with you.” Nancy smiled at you kindly, “This is a minor setback, that you cannot let affect the progress you’ve made.”

You chewed on your thumbnail nervously, “I know. And I am aware that I’m a work in progress. We all are.”

Nancy nodded, “Exactly. Focus on today, on the here and now. Don’t let yourself get trapped in this moment. Your mother has no control over your future.”

“I tell everyone that it’s okay to cut toxic people out of their lives, but when it came to my own mother I hesitated.” 

“We all want to believe the best in someone. But some people aren’t wired to be their best. There’s no shame in disconnecting. Focus on your own family.”

You smiled back at her, “Thank you. I do think I’m going to start having sessions again. I want to get through this—“ You gestured to your chest. “I have a lot of pain that I’m still carrying. I would like to work through it with you.”

“I’m here for you. And, of course, Javier if he decides he’d like to join us.”

“I’m sure he will,” You laughed softly. “He was willing to come today if I needed support.”

“Our regular appointment time is still open. Feel free to call and get yourself back on my books.”

“Thank you.”

 ——

 Talking about your past hadn’t necessarily managed to cure your mild malaise, but it has helped to an extent. You felt lighter. You didn’t feel afraid that you’d see Rebecca standing outside of your house when you got home. 

Maybe a few more weeks of talking with Nancy — before you packed up the car to head to Laredo for Thanksgiving — would do you good. 

You peeled off your coat as you walked through the front door, hanging it on the hook. “Should I be afraid? It’s awfully quiet.” You called out, glancing around the empty family room. 

“In the kitchen!” Javier called out and you followed his voice. “You got home sooner than I expected.”

Your brows rose upwards as you looked at the bags of chips sitting on the counter. “Are we having a party I was unaware of?”

“No,” Javier grinned at you, shaking his head. “Connie’s keeping the girls another night. She’s off today.”

“Oh?” You tilted your head to the side. “Bags of chips, no kids…” 

He sat a familiar box down on the counter between the two of you, “I’m finally ready to bite the bullet, baby.”

You couldn’t help but cover your mouth and laugh, “Javier!” You moved around the counter, wrapping your arms around him as you continued to laugh. “You really don’t have to try weed, just because I’m having a shitty couple of days.”

“But I want to,” Javier ran his hand down your back. “You said before that it helps with stress and… I think we’re both pretty stressed right now.”

“I agree with that, but you really don’t have to try something you don’t want to. I know how you feel about it.”

“I had a really long conversation with Nadia about it at the party Saturday night. She laid it all out pretty clearly,” He rocked his jaw as you pulled back to look at him. “I can see the merits of smoking occasionally.”

You smiled up at him adoringly, “And here I thought I couldn’t love you anymore than I already do.” You rose up and pressed a kiss to his lips. “Better watch out,” You teased, cupping his jaw. “I might have to marry you.”

“Did you tell her?”

“I’ve never seen her so surprised.” You told him as you ran your thumb over his bottom lip. “It was a good session. I think I’m going to start going again.”

“Good.”

You ran your hands over his shoulders as you leaned against him, “I can’t believe you’re willing to smoke. Finally. God, I hope you love it.” 

“I like the prospect of being pain free for an evening.” Javier leaned down and rested his forehead against yours. “How are you doing?”

“I’m here.” You curled a hand around the back of his neck, playing with the hair there. “A lot of bad memories got dredged up.”

“I know you didn’t sleep last night.” He pressed a quick kiss to your lips, giving your hip a squeeze. “You gonna fall asleep on me if we smoke?”

You snorted, “Probably.” You watched him as he moved back to the grab the box off the counter. “Don’t you have class tomorrow?”

“I’ve assigned it a research day. They’ll be working on the proposals.” He answered smoothly. “They need the time to work anyways.”

“I’m touched that you did all of this, Javi.” 

He shrugged, “I wanted to do something that would cheer you up, baby. You were pretty out of it last night.”

“Last night was rough,” You admitted as you took the box from him, “Grab the chips.” 

Javier followed you into the bedroom, sitting the chips down on the foot of the bed as he watched you open the windows to let some fresh air in. 

“What should I expect?”

You paused, hands on your hips as you turned back towards him. “It’s different for everyone, but for the most part… You’ll feel like you’re drunk, without feeling drunk. Warm and fuzzy.” You shrugged. “I just know it makes me feel really calm.”

He pressed his tongue to the inside of his cheek as he nodded, “This can never get out. They won’t let either of us teach.”

“Marriage, pegging, and weed. Our three dirty secrets.” You wiggled your brows at him as you moved to join him at the foot of the bed. 

You sat the box on your legs, opening it and pulling out the neatly rolled joint from the last time you’d taken a hit. “It’s a lot like smoking. Same in and out.” You explained, sitting the box aside and holding the lighter out to him. “The key is that you have to let go and enjoy it.”

Javier dragged his teeth over his bottom lip and nodded, “I think after the year we’ve had, I can let go and have fun.”

“And that’s growth.” You laughed, before tucking the joint between your lips. He flicked the lighter on, bringing it to the end of the joint and lighting it for you. 

You pinched it between your fingers, drawing in a deep breath before exhaling slowly. This was exactly what you needed. You could already feel the first tingles as it settled. 

“Ready?” You questioned, holding the joint out between you. “You don’t have to, Javi. I don’t mind smoking if you just want to lay here with me.”

He shook his head, taking the joint from you. “I’m willing to try it, baby. I wanna see what all the fuss is about.” 

You rolled your eyes. “Of course you do.”

Javier brought it to his lips, tagging a drag off of it before passing it back to you. “What am I supposed to feel?”

You snatched it from him and took another breath, “Just let it happen. Don’t overthink it.” You held the joint up, smirking as he leaned forward and wrapped his lips around it. 

He had really nice lips. 

Javier rubbed his lips together thoughtfully, “I feel a little tingle.” He admitted, taking it back from you after you took another hit. 

“Just sink into it,” You advised him as you took the little ashtray out of the box, leaving it on the bed as you rose to your feet. 

“Where are you going?”

“Nowhere.” You gave him a look as you sat the box down on your nightstand, before returning to him to take another drag off it. “I’m just making more room.”

Javier laughed as he exhaled. “More room for what?”

You shrugged, “I was thinking a pillow fight.”

“Oh really?” He laughed again, watching you as you picked up the bag of sour cream and onion chips and sat them on the nightstand too. “Why a pillow fight?”

“Because it sounds fun.” You plopped back down beside him, taking the joint from him and take another hit off it, “Javier Peña is smoking weed.”

He rolled his eyes, “I’ve been corrupted.”

“Corruption looks good on you,” You told him, brushing your knuckles against his cheek. “I miss the hair.

Javier grinned around the joint tucked between his lips, “I didn’t let it go until you got your wish.”

You leaned over and kissed his cheek, ruffling your fingers through his hair. “You look good when you’re getting fucked.”

“So I’ve been told,” He said as he exhaled a puff of smoke between you, before passing it back to you. “I haven’t got a bad word to say about it.”

“Good.” You scrunched up your nose and laughed. “You’re so good to me.”

Javier beamed, “Have you met you?”

“I don’t know if I have.” You tucked your leg beneath you as you angled yourself towards him. “Tell me more.”

“Well,” He offered you the joint again. “I do feel tingly!” Javier snorted, “Is this what it feels like?”

“I don’t know. How do you feel?” You questioned, toying with the third button of his shirt. “I feel warm.”

“I feel warm too!” He clasped his hands together, looking towards the open windows. “I feel good.”

“That’s all I want,” You admitted to him, sitting the smoldering joint in the ashtray. “You know what?”

“What?”

“You’re hot.”

He laughed loudly, sinking back against the bed, his legs still draped over the edge. “Yeah?”

You nodded emphatically. “I remember… my first day.” You swept your hands through the air dramatically. “I walked into the office and saw you and just thought — hot!”

“Oh, was that your first thought?” 

You laid back in the bed, settling into the crook of his arm, “Mhm.” You sighed happily. “And then I quickly realized what a dick you were.” You pressed close to him, nuzzling at his neck. “That’s how I knew I was screwed.”

Javier laughed, rubbing his hand down your arm, “We were both screwed.” He hummed, his lips still drawn into a smile as he stared up at the ceiling. “Do you remember New Years?”

“Like eleven months ago?”

He shook his head, “Before Josie was born.”

Your brows furrowed as you tried to focus on the specific moment he was referencing, “I broke my wine glass.”

“Yeah!” He nodded, tilting his head to look at you. “Steve’s a funny guy.”

You shoved him playfully, “Are you going to rhapsodize about Steve now?”

“No! No.” Javier made a sound that very nearly sounded like a giggle. “He swears he didn’t know that we were orbiting each other.”

“Orbiting each other.” You mocked, sitting up to grab the joint, taking another hit as you laid back on the bed. 

“He swears he didn’t really know just how bad we had it for each other—“

“Bullshit!” You called out dramatically and you both started laughing. 

“He knew. Of course he knew. That jackass.” He took the joint from you and took two puffs off it. “But that night — son of a bitch — he told me I was holding you back. That as long as I acted like I had feelings for you, you weren’t going to ever look for someone.”

You frowned, “He wasn’t wrong.”

“Made me feel like an asshole, baby.” He rubbed his hand over his chest, like he’d been injured. “It's why, I…”

“Was that’s why you wanted to drive me home?”

“Yeah.” He shrugged, “He made it sound like I needed to set you free and…”

You dropped the joint back into the ashtray and cut him off before he could finish. You planted your hand over his mouth and scrambled to straddle him. “No. We’re not doing sad.” You warned him. “Wanna know a secret?”

He licked the palm of your hand. 

“Javier.”

He nodded. 

“I wanted to go home with you.” You confessed, leaning forward so your nose brushed against his. “I got myself off thinking of you.” You slowly pulled your hand away, “I was so certain 1992 was going to be a shit year. They were thinking about leaving and everything was falling apart but, I thought — I didn’t fuck it up with Javier, I’ve still got him.”

His hands went to your hips, “And you do. I could never up and leave you, baby.”

You leaned in and kissed him, “If we weren’t married, I’d marry you all over again.”

“Yeah?” Javier grabbed at your hips and you shivered, you loved how much more every little touch felt like. “I can’t wait to tell pops.”

You grinned as you laughed, “He’s gonna be so fucking excited.” You nipped at his bottom lip. “I hope we run into Lorraine at the toy store again.”

“Jesus Christ.” Javier groaned, “Why bring up her? I’m feeling good baby.”

You bumped your nose against his, “Because I’m vindictive.” You grinned down at him. “And I love proving people wrong.” You traced your finger down his nose. “But I know the Javier that no one can see.”

“You do.” He parted his lips as you ran your finger over his lips. “We both know the real us.”

“I really like us.” You mused, “I think we’ve done really well for ourselves.”

Javier nodded his head, “I do too.” He played with the hem of your sweater, “Didn’t you say you were warm, baby?”

“Trying to get me undressed?” You questioned, giggling as you let him peel the sweater off your body.

“Maybe.”

“Turnabout, babe.” You quipped as you wrestled with the buttons of his shirt until it fell open. 

“You know… my knees aren’t hurting.” He pointed out, running his hand over your bare arms as he looked up at you. “But I can’t tell if I want to fuck your or just hold you.” Javier laughed and you couldn’t help but join in on the pure joy that was in his laughter. 

“It’s funny isn’t it?” You questioned, playing with the hair that fell against his forehead. “Am I horny? Or do I just want to be held?”

“What do you want?” Javier questioned, running his hands over your skin anywhere he could reach. Which you definitely enjoyed. 

“As tempted as I am to take advantage of your very exuberant self,” You leaned down to kiss him, playing your tongue over his bottom lip. “I just want to be held. Right now, at least.”

“Whatever you want, baby.” Javier promised you, leaning up to meet your lips again. 

Somehow he managed to maneuver both of you up the bed with you still on his lap, while you clutched at the ashtray so you could stick on the nightstand. 

You rolled onto the bed beside him, staring up at the ceiling as you sank into the warmth of the high buzzing through you. Your eyes felt heavy, but you ignored it — you really did need to sleep tonight. But it wasn’t tonight yet. 

“Do you like it?”

“It’s different.” He held his hands up in front of his face. “I feel like there’s this… space in between me and me.”

“Weird, right?”

“And my pops does this?”

You nodded, “Your body gets used to it after awhile. You’re still high just not quite as… tingly.”

“It’s nice though.”

You rolled onto your side and draped your arm over his chest. “I want you to feel good.”

“I do.” He brushed his fingers over your hair. “I love you, baby.”

“I love you too.” You grinned, meeting his gaze before you both descended into laughter. “You’re so dorky.”

“Who me?”

“Yes. You’ve got this dorky face thing going on.” You gestured to his face. “You’ve taken five years off. At least.”

“Mmm, that could work in our favor.”

You swatted his chest and snorted, “Please. No. I can’t believe she even insinuated that! What a bitch.”

“You were incredible yesterday.” He told you warmly, stroking his fingers through your hair. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Thank you.” You sank into his side. “I’m just… if I rest my eyes for five minutes will you still hold me?”

“I’ll hold you until the end of time, baby.”

“That sounds like a long time.”

“Yeah? Well, it’s forever.” He kissed your temple. “Relax, baby. Just sleep. And then we can… I’m a little tired too. Hungry and tired.”

“That’s nice.” You mumbled, pressing your face into the crook of his neck, before two sleepless nights got the better of you. 

[northcarolinanative]

𝙲𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 (𝟻)

Chapter 5: The Bigger Picture

A/N: WOW! Y’all are so sweet and amazing <3 Here is Chapter 5. Tension is building, kinda. This is so s l o w burn that it’s hurting me. I kinda want this to be about more than just a romance tho? Especially in the beginning, but I am working on the other chapters, and where it is heading, I promise! Bare with me haha! Also I have no clue if those maps exist or if that’s even a thing. I’m just making it up, but it could be right haha. 

I practically dragged JJ through the front door of the Chateau. “What’s all this about Y/N” JJ finally asked as you both walked through the kitchen. I pulled my keys out of my pocket, fiddling on the keyring, finding the small golden key. I held it up to JJ, rattling the other keys, a smile plastered to my face. “A key? How exactly is that supposed to help us Y/N?” I rolled my eyes in response. I turned to the door, just on the side of the living room. 

My dad’s office. 

As long as I could remember, I was never allowed in there for extended periods of time. I would wander in some late nights when he left the door cracked, or to bring him a glass of water and a snack. I could see him now thinking back, hunched over the desk, glasses low on his nose, pen in one hand, the other holding the map that he was marking up. 

“Ah. Y/N. Taking care of your old man, making sure I stay alive I see” and he would chuckle, but I didn’t. I left, and days later her disappeared, he was killed all because of that stupid shipwreck, just like my brother. 

I rummaged through a few things, pulling binders down and looking through the first few pages. JJ looked over at me, honestly worried. I mean if I was watching someone else in my position I probably would be too. I know I probably looked crazy, I was grasping at short, short straws. It was all because I was not ready to give up on my brother just yet. I found the binder labeled “Ship maps”. I pulled it out and handed it to JJ. Okay, maybe this was a little far-fetched, but it was something. 

JJ took it carefully out of my hand. He hesitantly looked at me before looking down at the map, slowly unfolding it. I started to tap my fingers against the table. My nerves were on edge as JJ looked between the map he was unfolding and me. His hand reached down to cover mine that was tapping at an annoyingly fast pace. I bit my lip as he looked over the map. 

He furrowed his brows and looked up at me. “What am I looking at exactly?” He questioned. I laid the map out on the table. I couldn’t blame him, if my dad had not been into this stuff I wouldn’t know what was happening either. 

“Okay so here,” I pointed to one of the lines that were on the page, and traced it down the coast of North Carolina, to where it landed in a port in Charleston, “is the route that the ship was recorded to talk, based off of the sonar and the GPS in it. Ya know, the kinda thing that the bigger, hauling, cargo ships have? For the long trips?” I finished looking for the key. 

JJ slowly nodded his head looking at me. He could tell I might be on to something, he just was not quite sure yet. I flipped up the side of the map, just the first panel, and it showed an elaborate excel table, filled with numbers and symbols. “Here” I pointed to one of the highlighted symbols along the path that I previously traced, “Is…” I took my other hand to skim the table to the side, trying to find the matching color and symbol. “Ah. Here.” I tapped the symbol in the table, JJ leaned closer to me making my breath hitch involuntarily, we were so close, we were touching, practically no space between us. “See here it says that this ship reached 35.1146° N, 75.9810° W, on Saturday, May 14th, 2007, at…” I followed the line with my finger, 16:45” I finished my rant. 

“Okay.” JJ breathed out, his brows still knitted close together. I could see the worry in his eyes. At this moment I could not see it, but he thought I might have been going crazy, things are starting to get to me.”Y/N, this is great, but I don’t know what this has to do with John B.” He sighed. “But I'm not gonna lie, a girl who knows her way around the ocean, the commanding voyage out to sea, boss babe style, kinda hot Y/N” JJ joked, trying to lighten the mood and his worry, then he realized how close we were, but he didn’t move. 

I let out a laugh. It felt natural, which was nice. “I'm being serious JJ,” I said, still laughing and pushing his shoulder back. 

“Whatever you say,” He paused. “Princess.” I rolled my eyes looking back over the map. “What does all this mean though? How is this map, from before we knew what the Merchant was, going to help us find John B?” 

“Ah, you have to think bigger JJ. You see if we can get the coordinates of the Phantom’s last signals, where it was found, or where it could have been between last night and when they pulled it up, we can cross-reference that, with any boats that may have come through. If we can somehow get a map from any of those larger companies, maybe the ferries, hell we might even be able to get it off the internet. We can see if any boats came around then start from there?” I said, but it sounded like a question. “I know that it’s barely anything, but it’s something JJ!’ I continued rambling. “If the ships picked up JB and Sarah, pulled them on board, then  maybe…” I didn’t know how to finish the thought. I looked up from the scattered maps to JJ. 

JJ stared blankly at the maps then up at me. He both put his hand on the sides of my face and just looked at me. He probably thought I was crazy, that I was losing my mind. “You’re a genius Y/N” He then placed a quick dramatic kiss on the top of my forehead. “Seriously, I never would have even thought to look into any of that.” He stepped back. I was slightly taken about by his actions had we always been this touchy with one another when John B was around. “So where the hell do we start Nancy Drew?” JJ said, rubbing his hands together making me laugh. 

“The ferry would be a good place?” I said shrugging my shoulders. “But I haven't exactly thought that far ahead” I laughed a little, and saw a smile still on JJ’s face.

“Then we’ll start at the ferry’s office!”  JJ said moving out of the office. I looked up and around the room. At all the research that my father did. All the books that line the walls, the maps hung up, all of it. I wanted to get rid of it. My skin felt hot and I could feel it turning red. I gripped the table tightly, hoping the anger would pass. A picture frame on the wall caught my attention. I lifted it from the hook it was sitting on. In the frame was a picture of the Royal Merchant, labeled and matted. Stuck on the outside of the glass, covering the lower corner of the Merchant was a picture of the three of us, John B, my dad, and I. It was taken a few summers ago by our neighbor, we had come back from a long day out on the boat fishing. I felt tears start to form in my eyes. My back was facing the door so I didn’t see JJ enter the room. He came up behind me, putting his hands on either of my shoulders. He looked down at the photos in my hands. 

I reached one hand up to wipe a stray tear. I was so sick of crying. “I can’t believe that a shipwreck from the 1800s made me lose two of the most important people in my life.” 

“I know” JJ spun me around to look at him. “You have a plan,” He said smiling

“We’ve got a plan” I corrected him. “Actually, before we head out on this chase, do you think you could help me with something?” I said softly. 

“Anything,” JJ replied. The worried look still in his eyes.  

“Can you help me clean up here?” I looked around at the mess, from when I got here, and the mess that I had just made. “I don’t know, I just want to clean it up, lock the door, and not think about it for a while,” I said, starting to fold-up maps. 

“Of course.” JJ smiled starting to close up binders and arrange them on the shelf. “If  you were going to use me as a maid Routledge, you could have at least bought me one of those cute costumes?” 

I pretended to gag. “JJ that is an image that I did not need in my head.” 

“You may not have needed it, but I bet you’re enjoying it.” He winked in my direction. I felt the blush creeping back onto my face. 

“In your dreams J,” I said with a laugh. 

CH 6

Tagged; @nikki082489 @lovelymaybankk @dolanfivsosxox @alexa-playafricabytoto @downbytheouterbanks @heyhargrove​ @kayln021 @readysteadygo23   @im-a-stranger-thing @imagines-and-preferences1216

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[zodiyack]

True Colors

Pairing: Billy Hargrove x reader

Warnings: Neil abusing Billy, vulnerable!Billy, soft!Billy, fluff, sexual references because we’re describing Billy here, swearing, lyrics

Song: True Colors by Cyndi Lauper (Cover Version by Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake)

Note: I don’t know if this has already been done, but I think of Billy when I hear this, so let’s go. | Lyrics = Bold + Italic | Memories = Italic

Masterlist | Stranger Things Masterlist

You with the sad eyes. Don't be discouraged. Oh I realize, It's hard to take courage. In a world full of people, You can lose sight of it all. The darkness inside you, Can make you feel so small

Neil grunted, throwing Billy into the wall. Susan held her hands over Max’s eyes, protecting her from seeing her stepbrother and stepfather fight. Max knew it was happening, she knew what it sounded like. What it looked like. She’d seen a tear escape Billy’s eye after one before. Unfortunately, Billy bullied her for knowing what happened. He thought she pitted him. He thought she thought he was weak just like his dad did. And for Susan...well she didn’t do anything but watch with fear. She didn’t step in like a mother would. It made Billy agitated. His mother would’ve stopped Neil. 

His head hit his pillow and his eyes closed. Trying ever so hard to forget about the words his father spoke. Failing to free his mind from the insults and swears that poured out of his father’s mouth, he growled and turned over. His eyes opened and he decided to think of something else. California. His mother. Anything. He felt so weak. Just as weak as his father claimed he was. Tears escaped Billy’s eyes at the thought of everyone finding out his fears and insecurities. Would his mother find him weak? Of course she wouldn’t...but Billy didn’t know that.

Tommy and Carol were pretty much cackling after Billy shoved a freshman into a locker. He was mad, taking his anger out on another human being just like his father did. He wanted to prove to everyone that he wasn’t weak, that he wasn’t the pussy his dad accused him of being. No matter what happened or what he did, Billy still felt weak. The girls he brought home praised him, and he loved it. People at school brought his confidence back up when they cheered him on in fights. So, Billy did what Billy did best. He slept with random girls and brawled at school. Even if Neil broke his self esteem all over again, it was the only way he would get it the attention he wanted.

Show me a smile then, Don't be unhappy. Can't remember when, I last saw you laughing. This world makes you crazy, And you've taken all you can bear. Just, call me up, 'Cause I will always be there

There was one person that Billy could practically milk compliments from was his true best friend. Y/n L/n. She was always there for him in fights, awaiting his command or permission to join in. They shared laughs, hugs, happy tears while watching cheesy movies, and good memories. Even so, he never noticed it when she would avoid him every time where was a girl by his side. 

To be completely honest; no one noticed. She was basically invisible to everyone except for him. It wasn’t her fault, she really did try to make friends and get noticed by humanity. Billy only originally realized she existed because no one else did. What he didn’t know, was that the day that he started talking to her was the day her life officially started.

Bumping into people and stumbling over her own feet, y/n raced to get to class. She was five minutes late, she didn’t actually care- but her family did. It was crowded in the halls, as per usual, and that meant it would take longer to get to her class. ‘Why not ditch at this point.’ She agreed with her thoughts and sat down against the nearest wall, closing her eyes and drifting into wherever her imagination took her.

“What’s a pretty girl like you doing by herself?” Y/n’s head snapped to where the voice came from. A handsome blonde teen leaned against the opposite wall. He had a curly mullet, and his tight denim jeans were hugging his legs. Her eyes traveled up his body, glancing at his unbuttoned shirt, then at his half smirk.

“Me?” There was no possible way a man that gorgeous was talking to her. Y/n denied the very thought. No one talked to her. Not even Nancy, who everyone thought was an angel and a nice girl. His nod went against her theory, making her furrow her eyebrows and tilt her head. “Why? No one does.”

“Well why would that happen? Did you scare ‘em or somethin’?” 

She shook her head and looked down, sighing. “No. I’m just unnoticed here. The teachers don’t even know who I am half the time.”

“Well, I’ll be the first person to notice you. I’m Billy. Billy Hargrove.”

“I know... I’m Y/n L/n.” The bell rang and startled Y/n. Billy chuckled and walked over to the young girl.

“See you around, Y/n L/n.”

And he did. After many days of getting to know each other, she approached him with the sweets she made in home ec. He didn’t know why, but it was different. No one really gave Billy Hargrove gifts. Why? He was Billy fucking Hargrove. Emphasis on the “fucking.” He didn’t do feelings. He did girls. He didn’t eat treats. He ate pussy. He didn’t accept gifts unless it was a girl’s virginity. So when the popular Hawkins King ate one of them and thanked her; it was a surprise for everyone.

She watched him fight. One day, she even threw a punch at a jock named Theo after he had given Billy a nasty cut. To say it amazed Billy would be an understatement. That shit was hot and the only people who witnessed it were Theo and Billy. Billy had a small crush on her for a bit. Alas, reality knocked on his door when he remembered that he only did girls and then left them. He couldn’t just do her and then continue being her best friend. He wasn’t that evil.

Little did he know, his point of not being evil wasn’t proved to Y/n. To her, it was so incredibly evil that he robbed her of being able to see an actual smile on his face, full of real joy and laughter. She knew the difference between fake and real happiness. All she wanted, was to see the genuine side of him. Not the Billy that could give a good fucking, not the Billy that would see his bloodied and bruised knuckles as his trophy, but the Billy that was somewhere deep down hidden under his many masks.

And I see your true colors, Shining through- I see your true colors, And that's why I love you. So don't be afraid, to let them show; Your true colors, True colors are beautiful!

Billy clung to Y/n, crying into her shoulder as she rubbed his back. She didn’t know why he was crying, but she was there for him and she would always be. The friends didn’t move for a while. Even when it was almost midnight, they just sat there, Billy’s head resting on Y/n. She whispered soft positive things to him as she combed her fingers through his curls. It was nice, the two of them quiet, calm, and alone together.

You would probably guess that he did this often, seeing her reaction and how he would never cry in front of another person. But that, sadly, is nowhere near accurate. Even Y/n was surprised to see Billy knock at her door instead of her window, a small bruise on his cheek. She rushed him up to her room and took care of him. Neither of them had spoken a word since he showed up, the silence didn’t affect them though.

The teens never spoke about it. Billy showed up more and more, with bruises worse and worse. A normal best friend would ask what happened nonstop, but she was his best friend. And being his best friend meant that your relationship with him was not normal. It meant that you weren’t normal. It meant that you had a heart that could love someone like Billy Hargrove. And as a person with a heart like that, she took care of him and didn’t persist that he tell her what happened. She asked once and he told her he didn’t want to talk about it, so she stopped asking.

He appreciated the confidentiality she let him keep. Billy promised himself that one day, he’d prove himself not weak to her by telling her the truth of his life. He would let her see the true parts of him...when he was ready. And hopefully that was soon, because his hurt and suffering was affecting her. She loved him, and it brought her great pain to see the person she loved struggle.

The silence was soon broken by Billy. “Can I stay the night?”

Y/n winced at the sound of his voice being scratchy and full of sorrow. She was calm again after he sat up and grabbed her face with one hand, turning it towards his. “Of course, anytime Billy.”

I see your true colors, Shining through (true colors). I see your true colors; And that's why I love you. So don't be afraid, to let them show. Your true colors, True colors are beautiful! Like a rainbow, Ooh ooh ooh, like a rainbow

“Y/n?” She sat up and rubbed her eyes. 

It was the day after Billy stayed the night for the first time. They didn’t move from their position after he put his head back on her shoulder, Billy waking up as the sun rose in the blue sky outside Y/n’s window. He looked around, panicking inside as this was not his room. His memories of the night before came flooding into his head, of the silent moment he shared with his best friend. Of the thoughts that he had while they sat in tranquility. Today was the day he’d tell her.

Y/n and Billy’s eyes closed. Whispers of goodnight were not made, instead, the two fell back onto the bed. The night was calm as the stars danced in the night sky. Though they were unconscious, Billy and Y/n’s hands inched towards each others, intertwining with smiles on their faces.

When he was fully awake, Billy didn’t wake Y/n up. Instead he watched her for a moment. She slept peacefully, cuddling the pillow that replaced Billy’s body. A small smile was on her face, making a genuine one appear on Billy’s. He left the room, letting her sleep. The boy couldn’t cook if his life depended on it, but he gave it his all, bringing a tray with her favorite breakfast on it.

“While we’re on the topic of food, I could go for some y/f/r (your favorite restaurant). I really love y/f/b, it’s amazing! Have you ever had it?” The h/c girl was beaming with excitement. On the other hand, Billy was staring at the girl in front of them. “Oh. You’re not even listening. Why am I not surprised.”

“Huh? Yeah we can go to...”

“Y/f/r. Billy you’re obviously distracted right now. Are you alright?”

“Yes Y/n. I’m absolutely fine. I’m sorry, let’s just go, okay?”

“Okay...”

Rubbing her arm, he said her name softly. Her eyes fluttered open, taking Billy’s breath away. She glanced over to the food tray, looking back up at him with confusion. “You..remembered?” He nodded and set the tray down, giving her a kiss on her forehead. “I thought you weren’t paying attention that day.”

“I was. I just didn’t completely register it until now. I didn’t register a lot of things until last night...” Y/n tilted her head at his words. She took a sip of y/f/d, waiting for him to continue. Sitting down, he did so, “Those bruises are..from my dad. I’m a shit person, and I know it. I just refuse to admit it. I think I’m weak..but what makes me weak is letting everyone tell me that I am so much that I end up believing it.” He inhaled, looking at her and grabbing her hand that was resting on her lap. “But you- you help me. You do all these things and I was too caught up in false pride to see them... I need to say something, promise me that our friendship won’t change if I say it?”

Y/n nodded and squeezed his hand in reassurance. “I promise.”

“I love you Y/n L/n. I have for the longest time, I just was too blind and too much of an asshole to realize it.”

Billy waited for her response. This silence had the opposite feeling of last night’s. He was about to give in, say it was a joke, until she finally spoke up. “You’re not an asshole Billy. you showed your true self to me, that’s all I’ve ever wanted. You told me the truth, and that takes a lot of strength. I love both of those things about you. And I love you more than them.”

True Colors - Cyndi Lauper / Anna Kendrick & Justin Timberlake

[percysaysfuck]

THREE OLD BITCHES KNIT THE SOCKS OF DEATH

I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr—a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip—had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.

Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up, but they would stare at me like I was psycho.

It got so I almost believed them—Mrs. Dodds had never existed.

Almost.

But Grover couldn't fool me. When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim she didn't exist. But I knew he was fucking lying.

Something was going on. Something had happened at the museum.

I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.

The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.

I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs. I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her shit faced friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.

Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.

The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy.

Fine, I told myself. Just fine.

I was homesick.

I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious fucking stepfather and his shitty poker parties.

And yet. . . there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the woods out my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. Id miss Grover, who'd been a good friend, even if he was a little fucked up. I worried how he'd survive next year without me.

I'd miss Latin class, too—Mr. Brunner's crazy tournament days and his faith that I could do well.

As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I studied for. I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him.

The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology across my dorm room. Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing one-eighties as if they were riding skateboards. There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon, or Polydictes and Polydeuces. And conjugating those Latin verbs? Fucking forget it.

I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.

I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson. I took a deep breath. I picked up the mythology book.

I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.

I walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.

I was three steps from the door handle when I heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said ". . . worried about Percy, sir. "

I froze.

Shit.

I'm not usually an eavesdropper, but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking shit about you to an adult.

I inched closer.

". . . alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know too—"

"We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more. "

"But he may not have time. The summer solstice deadline— "

"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can. "

"Sir, he saw her. . . . "

"His imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that. "

"Sir, I . . . I can't fail in my duties again. " Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean. "

"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now lets just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall—"

The mythology book dropped out of my hand and hit the floor with a thud.

Fuck.

Mr. Brunner went silent.

My heart hammering, I picked up the book and backed down the hall.

A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archers bow.

I opened the nearest door and slipped inside.

A few seconds later I heard a slow clop-clop-clop, like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.

A bead of sweat trickled down my neck.

Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice. "

"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn . . . "

"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow. "

"Don't remind me. "

The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.

I waited in the dark for what seemed like forever.

Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and made my way back up to the dorm.

Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.

"Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?"

I didn't answer.

"You look awful. " He frowned. "Is everything okay?"

"Just. . . tired. "

I turned so he couldn't read my expression, and started getting ready for bed.

I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.

But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought I was in some kind of danger.

The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam, my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside.

For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.

"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's . . . it's for the best. "

His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit fucking smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips.

I mumbled, "Okay, sir. "

"I mean . . . " Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time. "

My eyes stung.

Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.

"Right," I said, trembling.

"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say . . . you're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be—"

"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for fucking reminding me. "

"Percy—"

But I was already gone.

On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.

The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of fucking nobodies.

They asked me what Id be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city.

What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.

"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool. "

They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.

The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had, so there we were, together again, heading into the city.

During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.

Finally I couldn't fucking stand it anymore.

I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"

Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha—what do you mean?"

I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.

Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"

"Oh . . . not much. What's the summer solstice dead-line?"

He winced. "Look, Percy . . . I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers . . . "

"Grover—"

"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and . . . "

"Grover, you're a really, really bad fucking liar. "

His ears turned pink.

From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer."

The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something like:

Grover Underwood

Keeper

Half-Blood Hill

Long Island, New York

(800) 009-0009

"What's Half—"

"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um . . . summer address. "

My heart sank. Grover had a fucking summer home. I'd never considered that his family might be as rich as the others at Yancy.

"Okay," I said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion. "

He nodded. "Or . . . or if you need me. "

"Why the fuck would I need you?"

It came out harsher than I meant it to.

Grover blushed right down to his Adams apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I—I kind of have to protect you. "

I stared at him.

All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. I'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without me. And here he was acting like he was the one who fucking defended me.

"Grover," I said, "what exactly are you protecting me from?"

There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.

After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.

We were on a stretch of country road—no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.

The stuff on sale looked really fucking good: heaping boxes of bloodred cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks Id ever seen.

I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn.

All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.

The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right fucking at me.

I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching.

"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man—"

"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"

"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"

"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all. "

The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors—gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I heard Grover catch his breath.

"Were getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on. "

"What?" I said. "It's a thousand degrees in there. "

"Come on!" He pried open the door and climbed inside, but I stayed back.

Across the road, the old ladies were still watching me. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could hear that snip across four lanes of traffic. Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me wondering who they could possibly be for—Sasquatch or Godzilla.

At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life.

The passengers cheered.

"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"

Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the fucking flu.

Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.

"Grover?"

"Yeah?"

"What are you not fucking telling me?"

He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"

"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like . . . Mrs. Dodds, are they?"

His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much, much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you saw. "

"The middle one took out her scissors, and she fucking cut the yarn. "

He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't. It was something else, something almost—older.

He said, "You saw her snip the cord. "

"Yeah. So?" But even as I said it, I knew it was a big deal.

"This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time. "

"What last time?"

"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth. "

"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to fucking scare me. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me. "

This seemed like a strange request to me, but I promised he could.

"Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.

No answer.

"Grover—that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to fucking die?"

He looked at me mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers I'd like best on my coffin.

Fuck.

[let-me-write-shit]

Somebody To You: 23

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CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

Having to stand by and watch as the person Harry cared the most about was going through even more suffering, knowing there was most likely nothing he could do to remedy the problem, was pure hell. He could tell she was trying her best to put on a brave face and hold her head up, but that facade didn’t change the fact that he had to physically hold her up so she wouldn’t collapse while she was on the phone with her ex.

Normally, Harry was the jealous type. It wasn’t something he was proud of, and he was working on it, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t care that the person he cared about was flying home to see her ex-boyfriend of several years. Who wouldn’t care? This was different, though. It was hard to put any kind of scrutiny on that when Zoey was so clearly on the verge of a breakdown. He didn’t have time to be jealous, he was too worried about making sure Zoey would be okay.

So, once Katie and Nancy were out of view, he listened. Without interruption he listened to Zoey’s conviction weaken and crumble as she explained Michael’s dad, Paul, and his battle with cancer. He listened as she described her relationship with her ex-boyfriend’s family, especially the man she referred to as ‘Pops’, and how close they had gotten during her time with Michael. He listened as she confessed feeling guilty for her lack of communication with them after her relationship with Michael had ended and how little time she had left with him, especially with her living in LA. 

Harry’s heart shattered, his mind bringing him back to when his own step-father lost his battle with cancer. He’s been there before. He knows how she feels. And having to go through that so soon after losing her best friend, he couldn’t even imagine how she must be feeling right now. And Michael. It was hard to hate him right now, too. Not only did he also lose a friend last year, but he’s also just been given the news that his father had three months to live. He couldn’t fault Michael for wanting Zoey’s company at a time like this given her history with his family. Even with her obvious torment, she still managed to avoid crying. Tears lined her eyes, but shockingly, never fell. She was strong as hell. No one could say otherwise.

“I’m sorry,” Zoey chuckled, sniffling and wiping the tears that threatened to spill, “I think I’m still in shock.”

“It’s okay,” Harry pulled her close to his chest, glancing around to make sure no one was in sight before placing a kiss on the top of her head, “You’ll take it one day at a time. I’m here for you. All of your friends are here for you,” he pulled away looking into her eyes, “We’ve got your back.”

Zoey nodded with a sheepish grin and took a deep breath, “I know. I guess I need to let my parents know that they can expect me.”

“I’ll call the airline and get your flight situated,” Harry offered, “but first, let's go eat our pizza.”

When the two finally joined their friends at the main house, Katie had clearly filled everyone in on what had transpired. The energy in the room was more standoffish, no one quite knowing how to act around Zoey. This was part of the reason why she never liked to open up to anyone about any tribulations because she hated the pity. Harry was one of the few that never treated her like fragile glass or a charity case.

He couldn’t fault her friends for this, though. At least they cared. So, to ease the tension, Zoey was the first to start poking fun at the turnout of their pizza’s. Nancy had somehow managed to make her pizza in the shape of an octopus, which looked quite tragic. The mood lightened and laughter ensued, Zoey, doing her best to push the doom and gloom aside to enjoy her last night in Italy. She could worry about the inevitable grief tomorrow. 

It wasn’t long before everyone was back to their goofy, crazy selves. Zoey, Andy, Rory, and Nancy had gotten tipsy off of the wine and kept feeding more alcohol to Katie, who was a very giggly drunk. Harry had gotten a little buzz going, but wouldn’t have too much to drink as he was their ride home, mostly chatting with the owner of the vineyard.

“I can’t believe I’m going home tomorrow, I don’t want to leave,” Katie settled from her laughing fit, “I wish I could see Gio one more time.”

“Why don’t you invite him over, then?” Andy suggested.

Nancy piped up, “We could all go swimming back at the house.”

Katie’s eyes lit up and she instantly took her phone out, tapping away on the screen. Zoey laughed, shaking her head, the room slowly spinning and a warmth engulfing her body. She wasn’t buzzed anymore, she was drunk. And she knew this was a tell-tale sign for her to stop drinking.

Nancy sat up front with Harry on the way back to the house, controlling the music while Zoey and Katie leaned on each other for support in the back, the glow from Katie’s phone illuminating the car as she texted Giovanni. By the time they had gotten back, Zoey was back to her slight buzz, feeling light and carefree. Everyone had changed into their bathing suits and met outback. She looked over at Harry who was sitting on a lounge chair beside Andy, the two of them talking with a lot of hand gestures. She concentrated on Harry’s fingers, remembering the feeling of them inside of her the night before while her friends were out here talking. She grinned to herself, walking over to the rest of the group who were all in the pool already, floating around.

Zoey sat at the edge of the pool, letting her legs dangle in the water, “Thanks for all of this, guys,” she said to them, smiling, “This had been the best week of my life.”

Nancy swam up, holding onto Zoey’s legs, “You deserve it. You’re a good friend. And roommate. We love you. Besides, you clean up after yourself and aren’t an absolute psychopath, so we appreciate it.”

The girl's laughter caught Harry’s attention and he turned just in time to see Zoey slipping into the pool. He watched, a grin forming, as the girls giggled, splashed, and aggressively hugged each other. Something about the sound of women laughing with genuine cheeriness brought him the greatest joy. It was up there along with a great piano tune, the sound of giggling babies, and the soft chirps of birds in the early morning hours. And to see Zoey immersing herself in the moment instead of wallowing in the house brought forth a pride in her that he hadn’t quite expected. 

Andy cleared his throat, snapping Harry’s attention back to him only to see Andy’s eyes bounce from him to the girls, and back to him with a smirk, “They’re pretty cute, huh? Zoey seems to be having a lot of fun.”

It was just a question, but it sounded more accusatory than anything. Harry’s eyebrows furrowed, searching Andy’s face. Did he know? He couldn’t have, right? Zoey wouldn’t have said anything. And he thought they were doing a good job at keeping it discreet. He shook it off and nodded, “Yeah, good. I’m glad.”

“He’s here!” Katie’s shriek echoed as she pulled herself out of the pool, wrapping a towel around herself as she darted towards the door.

  Everyone laughed, amused by her eagerness to see the young Italian boy. His attention lingered on Zoey’s as the caught eyes, hers sparkling from the reflection of the moonlight against the water. She smiled at him, her expression softening and he could swear he felt his body melting into a puddle on the ground. 

Deeper voices were heard behind him and he turned his attention to see Katie prancing back out, accompanied by not only Giovanni but his older brother, Marco. His eyes widened and his stomach twisted in knots at the sight of him, his mind instantly flashing back to the night he and Zoey had gone on a date together, imagining how they ended their night, his lip on hers. He felt the heat rise in him, frustrated and jealous. His attention darted back to Zoey. From the looks of it, she was just as surprised to see Marco as Harry was, which comforted him a bit, but not enough. 

Everyone else seemed to be pleasantly surprised to see him, shouting his name and beckoning the two to join them in the pool. It didn’t take much convincing. Within seconds the brothers had stripped out of their clothes and dove into the pool, splashing around with the girls. Andy, following after. 

Harry was the only one not swimming, and Zoey noticed. She swam to the edge, arms resting on the side as she stared at him. There it was, again. The spark that allowed him to read her mind. He knew what that look meant. She was telling him to stop being a baby and get in the water. 

“Come on,” she mouthed, quietly waving him over. 

He smiled, rolling his eyes before giving in. With a running start, he bound towards the pool, jumping over her head and bringing his legs to his chest, colliding with the water in a cannonball that earned screams and cheers from the group. Harry swam towards Zoey before she got the chance to rejoin everyone, wiping the water from his eyes and shaking his hair. He could barely reach the floor of the pool on his tippy toes, though she had to paddle to keep afloat. 

“I better not see any flirting,” he warned, seductively. His tone was lighthearted, but she could sense the seriousness behind it.

She smirked, raising an eyebrow, “With you, or with Marco?”

Zoey winked, turning to start swimming away, but he grabbed her waist, pulling her back to him and whispering in her ear, “Careful. There’s a minimal amount of fabric between you and that beautiful cunt of yours. Don’t forget, I know where your sweet spot is and how to be discreet.”

He made sure that no one was looking before quickly sucking the nape of her neck with a hard kiss and lightly pushing her forward towards the rest of their friends. Her heart raced, tingling at the pit of her stomach, so turned on that she became flustered when Nancy tried to include him in their conversation. Harry shot her a quick wink at the sight. 

She did her best to make her intentions obvious with Marco, having a friendly conversation, but keeping a certain amount of distance between them so that there was no misunderstanding, and partially because she wanted to show Harry that her feelings lay with him, and no one else. She hoped he understood. But she worried that he didn’t.

She noticed that he would tense up and become nervous whenever she touched him in a way that could be misconstrued. Even though it was something they did before the got entangled in this web of sex and attraction, he would worry that his friends could see right through them and he wasn’t sure if he was ready to have that discussion with his friends right now. He was still coming to terms with the fact that he might lose his best friend if this all ended badly, along with grappling at the fact that the girl he cared for would be going back home tomorrow to spend time with her ex-boyfriend whom she still professed love for. 

He had to admit, though, he appreciated the way she handled the boundaries with Marco, never making Harry feel uncomfortable or uncertain. The night carried on for a while, everyone having dried off and gone inside for a movie which mostly everyone fell asleep during. Including himself. It was unexpected, and a part of him was angry that he didn’t spend the last night at least cuddling with Zoey in the privacy of one of their bedrooms. Instead, Zoey fell asleep, curled into a ball in between Rory and Andy who all shared a blanket. 

The Italian boys had apparently left at some point in the night, and when the phone alarms sounded, the sun wasn’t even up yet. They had barely gotten four hours of sleep, but their flight was super early in the morning and they needed to take showers and do one more once-over of the house to make sure they had everything packed and ready to go.

Even though his flight wasn’t for a few hours after theirs, he still decided to take them to the airport. Zoey had printed off her new boarding passes and, with the help of Harry, they bustled through baggage check-in and security. However, both gates were at different ends of the airport. With the guise that he promised the sisters’ parents that he would make sure they were okay after boarding the plane, he said goodbye to Nancy, Rory, and Andy and led Katie and Zoey towards their gate, waving at fans as he passed them and taking them to the closest VIP lounge to get more privacy. 

There were a few others in the lounge area, including two girls and a boy about his age that he noticed kept occasionally looking over, so Harry made sure to keep a reasonable amount of distance between him and Zoey, listening to the girls talk about how much fun they had this week and their dreams for future vacations, Harry inputting his two cents on the conversation. But the conversation was doing little to distract him as he overheard the broadcast announcing their call for boarding shortly. 

He frowned, seeing the two sisters gather their carry-on items, unable to hide his displeasure. Saying goodbye to Zoey got harder and harder each time they separated. And the not knowing when he would see her again made it even worse. Sure, he had a lot to do, but he wanted nothing more than to spend a few more days with her, afraid that once she got on that plane all of this would be over. Would she want anything to do with him when she got home? And a part of him, a small part, was scared that she’d see her ex and realize she was still in love with him. Trauma tended to bring people closer together, and as selfish as it sounded, he worried.

“Thanks, Harry! You’re the best!” Katie grinned, leaping into his arms and hugging him.

He laughed, squeezing her tighter and rustling her hair. He had really grown to like Katie and thought of her as a little sister, “Glad you could come. Tell your parents I said thank you for trusting me.”

“Will do,” she pulled away.

His attention turned to Zoey and they looked at each other, glumness embedded in their gaze before they both wrapped their arms around each other. He pulled her in close, taking a deep breath of her sweet and warm scent, feeling the warmth of her body on his. He felt an emptiness form in his chest, sadness beginning to take over. He didn’t want to let her go. He had half a mind to go with her, but he knew he couldn’t. He didn’t care who was looking at that point, he kissed her cheek, lingering for longer than what was typical. It could easily have been reasoned as a friendly kiss goodbye. But they both knew it was more. 

“Good luck,” he whispered as he finally pulled away, “Let me know when you land and give my condolences to Michael and Paul.”

She nodded, tears welling in her eyes, “I will.”

KEEP READING

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Taglist for Somebody To You:

@thurhomish , @stilljosiegrossie​ , @odetostep , @apples2019 , @stylesmioamore , @inyourhaven​

[darkdevasofdestruction]

Chapter 5: Fear and Loathing in Hawkins

(( Before I begin, I want to say that I found nowhere Billy’s canon birthday, so I’m just using my best friend’s as a reference. <3 ))

“You did it, babe! You did it! Congrats!” I jumped up and down, hugging Billy as he got 87% for his 5th test and his grades kept getting better and better. “At this rate you’re gonna get an A, not just a B!” I grinned widely, taking his test and putting it in my archives portfolio. “Say, are you tryina steal my scholarship, love~?” I teased with a poor excuse of a smirk. “I did it thanks to your help, Kitten. And thanks to you, we got an A+ at the project, so there’s only the exams to take and we’re settled for life.” he chuckled, leaning in to steal a kiss. “Do you…Do you wanna go back to Cali? It is one of the states we can study in with our scholarship, and the Uni is super close to the beach.” I jumped on the desk, dangling my feet back and forth, imagining how it’d be. “If that gives me an excuse to see you in a bathing suit, then sure thing.” he laughed, sitting down on the chair in front of me and putting his head on my thighs. “So soft…” he muttered, closing his eyes. “I’ve never been to the beach before. Could you teach me how to swim?” I asked, my eyes gleaming with stars imagining the cool water and the hot sand. “Anything for you, babe. It’ll be fun, I assure ya.” he smiled, most likely imagining as well. “Well, there’s only like half a year until we go there. It’s already April 1st and the exams are in June…Have you thought about what you wanted to study?” I asked, playing with his hair soothingly. “Mhh…I was thinking of Engineering…I’m no genius like you, babe, but I ain’t stupid. I think I could handle that.” he muttered, almost as if he didn’t want to think about the future. “That sounds lovely! Engineers are very well paid and nicely seen in society! We’ll be so cool together!” I clapped a bit in excitement, earning a chuckle. “You’re so adorable when you’re happy.” he smiled slight, looking up at me.

Things were looking promising for us and everything seemed like a real life Nirvana…But as usual, the good stuff doesn’t last too long and there’s always something that completely ruins everything and reminds you that life is cruel and maybe you shouldn’t trust anyone…Maybe not even yourself.

—

When I went to put some books in the locker, I notice something shiny, which proved to be Billy’s ‘K’ necklace that I gifted him at Christmas, only, the latch was broken. I wonder how did it get here…? I thought nobody else knew my locker combination. I put in the necklace in my pocket and closed it, making a mental note to change it soon before anything weird happens again and I walk to my next class. On the way there, I see Billy on the bench with two girls on either side of him, shamelessly flirting and he seemed to be enjoying it. Huh…

“Hey…Billy…” I go in front of him, ignoring the glares from the girls. “How are you?” “Pretty damn good, to be fair.” he smirked up at me. “Why you askin’?” “Uhm…I found this in my locker. Thought you might want it back…But the latch is broken.” I explained, showing him the necklace, and yet, he was barely paying any attention. “Oh, yeah, I took it off for Basketball practice today and then forgot where I put it. Can ya repair it for me?” he asked, leaning back on the seat. “Yeah…Sure. See you later.” I muttered, walking away to the class, holding the necklace tightly in my fist, a very dark feeling overflooding my heart.

Just…What the hell is going on…?

This kept repeating more and more with each day, sometimes outright ignoring me, or giving me empty answers, going to stay with his 'friends’ and so on…And I kept asking myself what did I do wrong. I kept trying to call him every night, but he either ignored it, or picked up the phone and then closing the call the next second. And trying to talk to him at highschool seemed to be close to impossible nowadays… But at least Nancy, Jonathan and Steve were okay with me staying with them, and they made me feel slightly better. After all, it was nice to have friends…I guess.

I kept myself busy with studying and I didn’t even realise that I didn’t speak to the kids in quite a long time. It’s just…Everything was making me get in such a Vertigo state that I forgot that I was alive.

It all just felt like a never-ending nightmare from which I found no escape… Until April 12th. Billy’s birthday.

It was a fine Friday and I was going to put his gift in his locker, then give him the necklace I managed to repair. I was looking down, walking down the corridor, holding the neatly wrapped package in one hand, while in the other I gripped the necklace really hard, until I saw a sight that made me wish I wouldn’t have woken up that day.

Billy and Tina were making out like there was no tomorrow, her pressed on his locker.

My face was shocked, but my heart felt stabbed and betrayed more than Caesar with Brutus. I let out a breath of amusement and disbelief, making him realise someone was there, and upon seeing me, he pushed Tina off him and tried walking towards me. I just shook my head in disgust, throwing the package in the nearest trash room and letting the necklace fall to the ground, not realising that I kept gripping it so hard that the sharp edges broke skin and let a few droplets of blood escape.

“Don’t even dare get closer to me. I don’t want to ever see you again. You’re nothing more than a liar, and fuck, your asshole of a father was right about you. Hell, maybe everyone was right about you. You’re just a fucking jerk and a whore with no morals or cares in this world. I regret the day I got to talk to you. I was so wrong to trust someone again…” I gritted my teeth before rushing out of the building, wanting to drive back home already. “Wait! Kitten, wait up! I can explain! It’s not as it looks like!” he tried to yell after me, but I turned around with such a poisonous glare, despite tears already escaping my eyes, that it made him rooted to the spot. “Explain WHAT, Hargrove?! That you cheated on me when you promised you’d never leave me? That you betrayed me, when you promised never to hurt me?! Really? What about 'Respect and Responsibility’? What about 'I’m a man of my words’? Are all of those lies too? Tsk…You’re just a spoiled brat, that’s it! Never speak to me again! And don’t call me Kitten! My name is Katrina Black, a name you will never get to speak again in your life!” I sneered at him, about to leave, but then I remembered the accessory around my neck, which made my roll my eyes in annoyance and go in front of him. “Oh, and one more thing…Give this to your next hook up, so they’ll feel good that you claimed them.” I growled, ripping off the necklace from my neck and hitting his chest with it. “Wait, don’t do that, you’ll get hurt!” he tried to say before seeing me rip the necklace, but it was too late. “Not more than what you did to me.” I said in a low voice before getting on my motorbike and stopping by the nearest market on my way home.“Happy Birthday, fuckass!”

As soon as I got home, I changed in only my AC/DC Tshirt and went to sit on the bathroom floor with the cassette next to me, putting music at max volume and staring at the many bottles of vodka and cigarette packs surrounding me. Well…Here goes nothing…

5 hours later, my head was spinning like crazy, the bathroom was smokier than London’s great smog and I kept screaming the lyrics to the songs that kept playing on repeat, not even realising that anymore, nor that tears kept wetting my face. I was a mess because honestly, I really couldn’t take this betrayal. I hate liars so much…

After I finished the 2nd Vodka bottle, I got up somehow and wanted to get a 3rd, but the phone ringing in my room made me groan in annoyance as I gripped the walls and fell on the bed, picking up the phone.

“Ye…? Who dere?” I slurred out, not even sure what I was saying was coherent or not. “Hey, Kat? Are you alright? I heard what happened today with that jerk and…Well, he went livid. He kept beating up anyone who dared to say anything about you…It was quite the sight.” Nancy’s sweet and worried voice called out, making me sigh. “Ye, ’m fine, j'st super drunk. Fuck tha’ asshole. He ain’t worth shit. F'kin cheat'r.” I managed to blurt out, making Nancy sigh as well. “Do you want me to come over and take care of you? Or I can call Jonathan or Steve if you feel more comfortable with them? I know you and Max were very close, but at this hour, I doubt she’d be able to come over…” she tried to suggest, but I only shook my head, forgetting that she can’t see it. “’S fine, Nance, thanks a lot fo’ worryin’ 'bout me. Appreciate it. I’ll be fine, ’m jus’ super pissed off. T’ll go 'way soon.” I declared, clearing my throat. “Okay, Kat…I hope you know what you’re doing. Please take care of yourself…Sweet dreams.” she told me before she hung up, making me groan as I put back the phone and went to get the vodka bottle and sit back in the bathroom. “Mhh…Wonder how long till I pass out…” I muttered, forcing myself to open the 3rd bottle.

—

It was now Monday, and please, nobody ever leave me next to alcohol and cigarettes 'cause I swear to God I’m gonna go crazy. I puked so much that I thought my guts were out and my lungs exploded from the smoke. And the fact that I’m still exhausted like hell was understandable.

Everything went as it usually did, classes and then lunch, where for some reason or another, Billy decided to sit down next to me, making me groan and leave without a word. Of course he followed me to the courtyard, where he just had to stop me and spin me around to look at him.

“First of all, what the hell do you want?! Secondly, who gave you the right to TOUCH me?” I yanked my wrist from his hand and glared at him. “Can we please talk?” he tried to say, but I only tsked in annoyance and looked away. “Why would we? We have nothing to talk about. You fucked up, it’s all on you. I’m leaving.” I shrugged, ready to leave, but he stopped me again. “I…I’m sorry. I fucked up, you’re right. I hurt you, I broke my promises and I did exactly what I promised I wouldn’t do. You didn’t deserve any of that.” he confessed, looking at me. “Funny you should say that…Considering that you’re almost quoting what I said a few days ago…When you were too busy fucking Tina.” I scoffed, giving him a sarcastic smile. “Yes, I know, I fucked up, and I can’t ever ask you to forgive me. I deserved the phone call from two days ago where you cursed me into oblivion-” he started, making my eyes go wide in shock. “I did WHAT?!” I asked in horror, making him look confused at me. “You…Don’t remember that? It lasted for about an hour. You were crying, cursing and insulting me. It really broke my heart…” he muttered, looking away, but my face of horror was still there. “Fuck, I must have been really drunk to remember talking to Nancy, but not calling you to randomly curse you…Great.” I slapped my face in annoyance. “You hate alcohol.” he stated, but I only shrugged. “I hate cigarettes too, but that didn’t stop me from going full auto-destruct mode for 3 days before getting back to normal when I didn’t care about anyone. Bye, Hargrove, I have nothing more to say to you.” I turned to leave, but for the millionth time, I got stopped. “On the phone…You said…You said that you loved me. Did you, really…?” he barely breathed, making me stop dead in my tracks. “What, you thought I’d stay with you out of pity or something? 'Cause I felt lonely by myself? OF COURSE I DID, DUMBASS! Use that stupid brain of yours once in a while and maybe you’ll answer your own questions!” I threw my hands in the air in exasperation. “You…You also said you wanted to beat the hell out of me…So, you deserve to let your anger out on me. Do what will make you feel better.” he said in resignation, looking at the ground with a pitiful look. “I deserve everything and I will take anything. I hurt you…And I really suck.” he said in such a godamn pitiful voice that in made anger boil in me like never before. “What the FUCK do you want?! Do you want my pity? Do you want me to forgive you? THAT’S NEVER GONNA HAPPEN! You just want to fuck, that’s all you want! I was always just another girl on your stupid list, just another name and another challenge! I HATE YOU!” I turned to slap him, but…But just as my hand was about to collide with his face, I stopped and I started shaking and crying. “Fuck’s sake…I can’t do it…” I muttered with a sigh as I gritted my teeth in annoyance. “You can’t hurt me even now, after how much I hurt you…You still love me, and all I did was throw away your love like a spoiled brat…The truth is, I…I realised my feelings for you…I realised how much I care about you, and it was all so foreign and intense that…I got scared. And I tried to make those feelings go away by doing the same things that have been shielding me for all these years.” he explained, holding my hand as he made me touch his face, leaning into my touch. “Shut up…J-Just…Shut up! I don’t want to hear any more excuses! We’re done for, anyway! Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t possible trust you again. You…You just…You can’t even imagine the damage that you’ve done to me.” I shook my head, feeling my heart in pain like never before, making me take back my hand and jog away, having spotted Nancy and Jonathan going in the highschool to their next class. I needed a distraction, and studying/doodling always helped. “Hey, Kat, how are you holding up?” Nancy asked worriedly, hugging me. “I’m fine, all cool. Ready for Physics, I guess.” I shrugged, trying to play it cool. “Oh, I remembered. Next weekend there’s gonna be some charity party or something at our highschool and all students are asked to sign up and participate with anything interesting they’ve got. Mostly singing, as far as I know, but it works. Wanna go? I have to go there to take pictures for the event, so I can get you girls really good seats.” Jonathan suggested, making me and Nance look at each other and smiling simultaneously, and clearly agreeing. “Sure, that should be fun, right? I’m looking forward to it.” I smiled at them, feeling quite better, as if I finally belonged somewhere. “Hey, guys, hold up!” a familiar voice called out, making us 3 turn around and spot Steve. “Hey, so, uh…This weekend our basketball team has the 2nd last match and I wanted to ask if you’d come cheer on us. It will help a lot if I were to see some familiar faces…” he chuckled awkwardly. “I don’t know, Steve…With that git, Hargrove there, Kat might feel bad…” Nancy mumbled, looking at me, but I only grinned at them. “Nahh, who cares about him? My friend needs support? Then, Harrington, I will be there to support you. Just…Don’t steal my book again, please.” I winked at him, making the both of us laugh. “Thanks a lot, Kat, I really appreciate it. Jonathan, Nancy? Are you coming?” he asked as he put his arm around my shoulder. “Yeah, sure, man, why not.” Jonathan shrugged and we all agreed and made plans for these two following weekends.

Should be fun, huh?

—–

“Okay, Steve, so like, how do you want me to cheer? 'KING STEVE!’ or 'GO! GO! HARRINGTON!' ? ” I laughed as I rubbed his shoulders, the anxiety radiating off him. “That’s bloody awful, Kat, what the hell.” he grinned in disbelief, making me laugh at his reaction. “Okay, okay, I’ll just read my book until I see everyone screaming and I will do the same, how does that sound?” I tried to hype him up for the match the best I could. “Just…Just act natural and do what you want, okay?” he rolled his eyes and shook his arms a bit. “I have faith in you, Steve. GO FUCK THEM UP!” we high fived and I jogged on the bleachers, almost missing Billy’s lingering eyes on me and my friendly actions with Steve…Almost, being the key point. “Think they’ll win?” Jonathan asked, making me shrug. “I honestly have no idea what this game is about, but for everyone’s good, I hope they do.” I declared, paying attention to the game as soon as the first whistle blew.

It was a bit difficult properly paying attention and following the game since I honestly had no idea what was going on, but what I noticed was that Billy wasn’t really the same, while Steve was energetic like never before and managed to easily score like 4 times.

The points were tied and our team scored very rarely, which made me mess around a bit with the game, making sure Steve scored every time he threw the ball in the basket, or that the enemy team would randomly trip.

Hey, we won, what a surprise! Time to celebrate!

“KING STEVE! KING STEVE SCORED A GAZILLION TIMES! GO, KING STEVE!” I laughed as I jump-hugged him as a congratulations, but he only shook his head, grinning. “Thanks, Kat. Thanks a lot for the help.” he smirked, looking at me with a mischievous look in his eyes. “What ever could you mean by that, Harrington?” I chuckled, looking away. “I’ve been around you, El and a bunch of monsters enough to know when the ball moves anti-Physics law.” he laughed, ruffling my hair. “Jerk, not my hair! And come on, you played really well! What I did was just a bonus!” I tried to fix my hair a bit. “Hey, seeing the enemy team fall like idiots made my confidence boost like never before. I’d have laughed like an idiot if we weren’t mid-game. Come on, I’ll treat you to ice cream.” he proposed. “Oh, I won’t refuse free ice-cream! Go take a shower and I’ll take Jonathan and Nancy to the car, okay?” I asked, earning a nod. “Nancy! Steve is getting us free ice-cream! Let’s go!” I waved the two over, completely ignoring Billy coming over and looking crestfallen. “Did you just call him King Steve?” Billy’s soft voice asked from behind, making me turn at him with a bored look. “Yeah, I did, 'cause he won the game.” I shrugged, waiting for Nancy and Jonathan to come over. “Do you like him?” he asked again, his voice barely audible, somehow heartbroken. “No, we’re just friends…Not that it should concern you in any way. You see…He’s not a fuckass like you…Well, not anymore, that is. Bye now, free ice cream is waiting me and my friends.” I smiled fakely at him before hooking my arm to Nancy’s and going towards Steve’s car, where I got so much ice cream that I thought my brain would freeze, making the other 3 laugh at me.

We had such a nice time together, celebrating Hawkins’ victory and not having any worry in our heads… Except, maybe, the fact that Billy’s broken voice kept echoing in my head, making my heart cry…Stupidly weak heart…

It’s been already about 3 weeks without letting Billy talk to me more than necessary and I hate to admit to myself that it just keeps hurting more and more seeing him going down the way of self-destruction like never before. But tonight I was supposed to have fun with my 3 friends, right? Watch random students pretend they have talent and everyone to make fun of them 'cause they can’t sing, dance, or do anything really.

One guy completely butchered one of Michael Jackson’s dances, a girl hit all the wrong keys while playing a Beethoven piece another guy sounded strangled while attempting to sing “Stayin’ Alive” by Bee Gees… Okay, I mean, some of them were actually pretty good, I won’t deny, but I and Steve loved to make fun of the fails…It was just TOO hilarious!

It was all nice and giggles, until a very familiar instrumental started playing in the background, making me gasp in shock. “No…Way…” I barely managed to breathe out before snapping my head in the direction of the stage…

And there he was.

Billy Hargrove stood on the stage, holding the microphone with both hands, looking down, before up to scan the audience, before somehow managing to spot me, and we connected, neither of us daring to break the eye contact.

And he began to sing, in a soft voice like never before, earning hundreds of cheers and screams of excitement and adoration.

But I knew better than anyone else what this meant.

He wasn’t here for charity, or to impress anyone with his singing skills…

He was here to apologise.

He was here to try to reach my heart just like he used to before, and try to win me over again.

Time, it needs time to win back your love again I will be there, I will be there

His voice was sweet and warm yet sorrowful, like that of an angel, and I could feel dry sobs threatening to escape. “Kat, are you okay? What happened?” Steve asked, concerned at my sudden change of behaviour, but I wasn’t sure I could trust my voice much. “He…He’s…Apologising…And saying that he loves me…” I managed to choke out before covering my mouth, trying to control myself.

Love, only love can bring back your love someday I will be there, I will be there

He didn’t break eye contact even for a split of second, and I didn’t even realise tears were already going down my face until Nancy pulled me into her arms and offered me her napkin.

Fight, babe, I’ll fight to win back your love again I will be there, I will be there

“Go closer, it’s going to be okay. It will be okay, Kat.” Nancy reassured me, patting my head, but I was a bit scared that my legs would fail me from the intense emotions bursting in my heart.

Love, only love can bring down the wall someday I will be there, I will be there

Clutching my heart, I took a sharp breath and stood, holding the banister with dear life, afraid that I might collapse, as he started smiling, seeing me approach.

If we go again all the way from the start I would try to change the things that killed our love Your pride has built a wall, so strong that I can’t get through Is there really no chance to start once again?

I’m loving you

I quickly managed to climb down the stairs and started walking towards the stage, and as soon as those last words were so lovingly dragged out, I started crying, hugging myself as my heart was completely weak for him and him alone, and he extended his arm out toward me slightly, proving once again that he was trying to reach out me and my heart.

Try, baby, try to trust in my love again I will be there, I will be there

I started smiling and looking at him with such adoration on my face that it seemed to give him some sort of confidence as well to keep on going.

Love, our love just shouldn’t be thrown away I will be there, I will be there

I couldn’t contain myself and I started mouthing the lyrics to the song along with him, which made him put his hand to where his heart would be, in a way to match my action.

If we’d go again, all the way from the start I would try to change the things that killed our love Your pride has built a wall, so strong that I can’t get through Is there really no chance to start once again?

I nodded at him with a soft grin on my face, telling him that yes, I forgive him, and that I could feel he was being genuine with each word he’d sing and each emotion he’d express so openly.

If we’d go again, all the way from the start I would try to change the things that killed our love Yes, I’ve hurt your pride, and I know what you’ve been through You should give me a chance, this can’t be the end

By this time, I wasn’t sure if I just wanted him to stop singing so I’d be able to hold him close to me, or if I wanted him to keep singing because oh god, it did so many things to my heart that I couldn’t believe it was me who felt all these things.

I’m still loving you I’m still loving you I’m still loving you I need your love I’m still loving you

Still loving you, baby

He kept singing, so much force and emotion in his voice, that I started wiping the tears from my eyes as I kept repeating the same lyrics with him, confessing our undying love for each other over and over again.

Still loving you I need your love Still loving you I need your love, oh Still loving you I need your love, oh I need your love I need your love…

The song ended soon, making everyone stand up and cheer wildly, but he only had one thing in mind- He did a fast bow before walking down the stage and throwing his arms around me and holding me close to his chest, as tight as he could without leaving me breathless.

“I love you so much, Kat. I’m so sorry for letting trauma get the best of me. I was weak, I was a shithead and I hurt you. I was scared. I didn’t even realise that I turned back to my back habits until I saw you again…When I got the courage to actually look AT you, not THROUGH you. I don’t know what I was so scared about…What I still am so scared about…Maybe I am afraid that I will turn into my father and I will drive you away, like it made my mum leave me…I’ve been so afraid of fucking up…That I did without realising…I’m sorry, Kat, I really am. And I love you with all my heart.” he confessed, letting only one stray tear fall down his cheek, his eyes red from trying not to let his emotions get the best of him in front of the whole highschool. “I love you, Billy. I forgive you…And…Call me Kitten. I’m not leaving you.” I smiled softly, wiping away that tear before kissing him gently, before pulling away, earning a happy, almost choked out laugh from him. “I really don’t deserve someone like you…” he shook his head, but I paid that no mind, and instead, I trailed my fingers down his face, down his neck and to his chest, touching the 'K’ necklace that shined so beautifully. “I thought you’d throw it away.” I managed to say barely above a whisper. “No…Truth it, I started hyperventilating that day in the locker room, alone, thinking about everything going on, and I was suffocating. I tried to take it off carefully…But that didn’t work very well. I’m sorry I lied…I was embarrassed to tell you the truth.” he admitted, biting his lip. “It’s okay…I forgive you. I wasn’t expecting you to do what you did today…I…I never realised I could feel so many things at once…I thought I was gonna faint or something…It’s…It’s so weird…But I wouldn’t have it any other way. I appreciate the effort and sentiment you put in everything…Even if it took you quite a long while.” I let out an amused breath, making him take out something from his pocket…The 'B’ necklace. “Do you…Do you want it back…? I fixed the latch.” he asked softly, putting it on as soon as I put my hair on the side. “It’s funny, don’t you think? We keep breaking things, but we repair them for each other. We’re a bunch of idiots.” I laughed, making him put his forehead to mind. “Maybe from now on we’ll only fix each other and nothing bad will happen. I know I promised before, but this time, I am a new man and I am not afraid to brave any storm, if I have you by my side. Will you have me back…Kitten?” he smiled at me, making me roll my eyes. “I just said I will, silly! It will be as if none of these bad things happened. And we will be happy. We…We ARE happy.” I grinned, but he shook his head. “No…I hurt you, you shouldn’t forget that. It was my fault. Instead, I will make sure none of that ever happens again and I will focus solely on your happiness…Because Kat, if you are happy, I am happy, and that’s all I need from life. I love you.” he confessed once again, making me bury my face into his chest and hug him tightly. “Billy…Y-You’re doing that thing wh-where you’re stirring t-too many emotions i-in my heart a-and I can’t take it. C-Can you, like, s-slow down? I-I-I’m feeling faint.” I stutter out, hiding my face in his shirt, making him chuckle in amusement and kiss my head. “Oh, baby, you have no idea what YOU do to me every time you’re being so cute and adorable…And only I can make you so flustered. It’s doing lots of things to me and you’ve no idea.” he smirked lightly, but before he could say another thing, he started groaning in annoyance. “Who the fuck thought singing this stupid song was a good idea? Fuck The Police and this song.” he grumbled, making me laugh at his reaction. “Hey, Billy…I’m SO not kissing you on this song!” I grinned in amusement, barely managing to stifle my giggles, both of us having the throwback from the Snow Ball where everyone kept kissing on The Police’s “Every Breath You Take.” “Got me there, babe. And as if the song wasn’t stupid enough, his voice makes it even worse…” he pouted, resting his chin on the top of my head. “I had no idea that was possible…Until now.” I declared, holding him close to me and swinging back and forth to the soft and somehow broken rhythm of the music.

—-

“Billy! Hey, Billy! I’ve got news!” I ran to him, panting, out of breath since I had 0 physical endurance. “Huh? What happened?” he straightened out on the bench, not paying any attention to his stupid buddies anymore. “The exam results JUST appeared! And…Well, hope you don’t mind, but I peeked a tiiiiiny bit at yours before I even looked at mine and…Haha, don’t be mad!” I grinned sheepishly, making him roll his eyes and let out an amused breath. “Okay, Lady Scholarship, I’m sure you got all the good grades and snatched away the Studies Scholarship, right? How much did you get at Biology? 100%? ” he asked with a knowing smirk, making me blush at the confidence he had in me and look down, nodding, the grin on my face never faltering for a second. “That’s my Kitten! See, I told ya! You really need to trust yourself more, you’re a smart babe!” he got up to hug me tightly and kiss me on the lips with much passion. “Okay, okay, enough of this! Now, sit down and let me tell you about your results, okay?” I made him sit down again, trying to look as passive as possible. “Fine, babe, shoot.” he kept bouncing his leg up and down, trying to relax himself, but to no avail. “So, uhm…You got all the good grades…But uhm…At Biology, you didn’t get a B…” I trailed off, making his face fall into complete horror, before realising the smirk on my face that I couldn’t stop. “You got an A, babe. You got 97%! The Scholarship is yours!” This made him and everyone around his jump on their feet and roar in happiness, clapping and cheering for 'King Billy’, he bent down to my level and kissed me with so much passion that I thought my face would be worse than a tomato and that my heart would leap out of my heart from embarrassment, shock and all other emotions at a time. “WE’RE GOING TO CALI, BABY! WHOOOOO!!” he screamed as loud as he could to the sky, feeling like nothing else could go better for him in life. “Yessss! It’s gonna be so cool!! We did it, Billy! We really did it!!” I cheered with him, making him pick me up and wrapping my legs around his waist. “We’re gonna move in together, and it’s gonna be just us and nobody else to pressure or fuck with us. I’m so not letting you go, babe. The things you do to me, Kitten, you’ll never understand.” he smirked as he whispered that against my lips before shamelessly making out with me in front of everyone which made me blush like I was gonna die in the next second, but, well…They’re not gonna see us ever again so…So I just put my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me and smiling into the kissing. “You’re gonna be the death of me some day, honey.” I said in between kisses, softly and playfully biting his bottom lip, making him smirk widely. “Oh, Kitten, you naughty girl, you’re doing things to me and you are fully aware of that. You’re so lucky I love you.” he confessed before capturing my lips again, with just as much fire as before. “Oh, yeah, I really am lucky~.” I giggled softly, trying to tune out any new person passing by.

—-

“So, uhm…First of all, I wanted to thank all my teachers for being incredible moral, emotional and intellectual supports for me all these years of highschool…I want to thank my friends, Nancy, Jonathan and Steve, for being there for me when I needed them the most…I want to thank a bunch of 13 year olds for accepting me as their Party Nerd Leader…I want to thank my boyfriend, Billy Hargrove, who loves me so much and whom I love endlessly…” I trailed off a bit, looking at Billy, who already did his diploma acceptance speech, as a Scholarship winner, and I smirked widely. “And also, I want to thank all of you for being a bunch of dumbasses and for letting me steal your Scholarship and Loverboy so easily from right in front of you! You suck, guys! Toodles! See you in Cali!” I laughed, taking the diploma from the hands of Mrs. Green and I ran off the stage, jump-hugging Billy and kissing him deeply. “Now, babe, THAT is what I call a real badass speech. I’m so proud of you for showing them who’s the real Queen here.”  he smiled proudly at me, kissing my forehead. “WE’RE GOING TO CALI, BABY!” I couldn’t stop radiating with glee, just like a sunshine, and before ending the Graduation ceremony, we all threw our caps into the air and cheered that highschool is finally over.

And the best thing?

Well…

HARRINGTON IS TREATING US TO ICE-CREAM AGAIN!

Success~!

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8