#✧ will byers. musings / yeah… crazy together

[hawkinsgsa]

[ahsterism]

tag drop pt. 1: misc general

[nancywheelersgirlfriend]

I found this on the internet: “We’re best friends, and literally everyone knows we’re in love, but we’re too shy to say anything. I want this year to be different, so I’ve stayed by your side through this whole New Year’s party so we could kiss at midnight, but now it’s five minutes till, and I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE YOU ARE!” and I want it so badly with Nancy and Robin

hehe this was fun :) i hope this is what you were looking for!! i know i changed the prompt a little, but it has the same premise

minor steddie, basically blink n you'll miss it

edge of '87 (3,160 words)

11:30 PM

“This time’s gonna be different.” Robin’s voice was muffled by the sheer amount of cake she’d just anxiously shoved in her mouth. Steve, unimpressed and pressed to her shoulder, watched her choke down the chocolate and took a casual sip from his mysterious alcoholic concoction. Whatever Eddie had dumped together for the ‘Party Punch’ in the kitchen, neither could muster the courage to ask. Probably something illegal and/or toxic for the human body. He kept drinking.

“Yeah,” Steve agreed.

“I swear to God,” Robin continued, pressing her cheek to his with intent. “I’m gonna do it. And it’s not gonna be a ‘friend kiss’.”

“What the hell is a ‘friend kiss’?” Steve asked, question going wholly unanswered as Robin took a rather violent swig of her own drink as an exclamation. 

“Tongue and everything,” Robin promised, nodding squarely. Steve scowled into the rim of his cup, eyes drifting away from his best friend and onto the box set behind her. New Years’ Rocking Eve, ‘87 edition, played hazily. He had to squint to tell apart the faces. “Maybe teeth.”

“Teeth,” Steve nodded absently. “Right. Good choice.”

“Maybe not teeth,” Robin mulled over the possibilities, pacing back and forth in front of him. Steve had to stand on the tips of his toes to look over her outrageously frizzed brown hair so he could keep watching Dick Clark. “Did she like teeth?”

“She had them,” Steve mused. “And so did I. So she probably did. I can’t remember.”

“You are useless,” Robin went ahead and hissed the last word, mushing their faces together once more. She was sweating like a pig, all nervous energy and excited rage. “T minus thirty minutes. Should I brush my teeth?”

“I think you should calm down,” Steve said, peeling her hand away from where it latched like a vice onto his arm. He squeezed her fingers in his bigger palm, an attempt to calm her down that was sadly in vain. Robin could spin herself out like nobody’s business and she appeared to be in the midst of a F5 breakdown. “Nancy’s not gonna like it if you’re soaking her.”

“Does my breath smell nice?” Robin breathed directly onto his nose as a test. Steve grimaced and dropped her hand, waving her away half-heartedly.

“Never do that again,” He said, a finger to her chest in emphasis.

“But does it smell nice?” Robin asked again. Steve deliberated. She smelled like girl, a general smell that he tended to rather like. Whether or not Nancy would was the question. 

Even though he knew she would, because Nancy adored everything that had to do with Robin. Steve supposed that’s where the phrase ‘crazy in love’ came from, because half of the things Nancy went mad about were things he could barely tolerate about Robin. In a loving way, obviously. 

Their scientific experiment was interrupted by a stomping Will Byers, who came down Steve’s stairs in a rush of adrenaline and Child’s-First-Tipsy. 

“Have you seen Mike?” Will said, practically snorting fire out of his nostrils. Steve shrugged unhelpfully.

“Back porch,” Robin supplied, pressing her drink to the corner of her lip absently. “Have you seen Nancy?”

“Last I saw, she was out by her car,” Will said; the exchange of priceless, gay-crush information a silent agreement.

“By herself?” 

“With Jonathan,” Will said, sadder this time. He gave Robin a pitying smile before turning heel and breaking into a run, nearly crashing into the kitchen wall with the force of his sprint. Whatever he needed Mike for, it was urgent. Robin turned to Steve with an utterly devastated look on her face.

“She’s with Jonathan,” Robin groaned dramatically.

“I heard,” Steve empathized, slugging an arm around Robin’s shoulder. His eyes glazed back over to the tv, where the Go-Gos were performing. They were pretty good. “I also heard they broke up.”

“Of course they broke up,” Robin snapped, rolling her eyes. “But that doesn’t mean he’s also not looking for a New Year’s kiss. High school relationships are fickle like that.”

“But yours and Nancy’s won’t be?” Steve asked, laughing.

“It’s different,” Robin argued, face flushing from both the intolerable heat of the living room and her embarrassment. 

“I’m sure his breath doesn’t smell half as nice as yours,” Steve promised. Robin sighed and glanced over her shoulder, as if waiting for Nancy to appear in the doorway that very moment. When the second passed and the door stayed firmly shut, she turned back to Steve with a shake of her head. They clicked red solo cups. He settled in to watch the ball drop.

11:40 PM

“Jonathan and Nancy broke up, right?” Robin’s question came from her left side. Max practically jumped six feet in the air.

She’d been relaxing, sprawled out on the outdoor couch and content to listen for splashing sounds. She knew Lucas and Will had jumped in the pool a few minutes before, having heard them come up for air and tease each other about the skill of their cannonballs. The pain of not being able to see them perform said cannonballs was dulling, a welcome reminder that time tended to heal all wounds. She liked hearing them laugh, anyway. 

But getting used to being rendered completely blind in both eyes didn’t mean she could metaphysically sense when somebody showed up. Her friends had started to announce themselves when they got closer, a habit Max didn’t care enough to break. Robin, however, had never learned to do that. She simply appeared in Max’s subconscious, usually halfway to a panic attack. 

“Yes,” Max confirmed once she’d gotten her rabbit’s heart down to a normal pace. Her hand reached out into the darkness, spasming. Robin’s furnace fingers touched hers and they clasped together, a welcome ‘hello’ for the new year. Her unspoken longer sentence was: Because she’s in love with you, dumbass.

“Good,” Robin breathed out through her nose, squeezing Max’s hand. Max felt the couch deepen beside her, Robin’s jacket-covered shoulder pressing against hers and their sneakers colliding on the concrete.

“Are you finally gonna kiss her?” Max asked. Robin’s sharp intake of breath was loud in her ear, all frightened. Like a deer caught in the headlights of a semi-truck. Max fought back the urge to smirk and instead removed her hand from Robin’s to pat at her knee comfortingly.

“Yes,” Robin rushed out all at once, a release of air and admittance. “Yes. Am I crazy?”

“I think it’s overdue,” Max allowed, which was a total understatement. 

Robin and Nancy’s unspoken feelings for each other were becoming practically unbearable for the group at large to handle, but especially for Max. Both older girls came to her for advice and vice versa - so she’d been hearing them gush about each other for months on months. It got tiring the first go around. Now she was just about sick of it, nearly on the verge of confessing to Robin all those sappy and honey-covered things Nancy waxed poetic about. Maybe that was the push they needed. Or maybe Robin was finally gonna get her shit together. Max had been praying for it.

“Do you think she’ll kiss back?” Robin asked. The telltale click of her biting off an already short fingernail followed.

“I know she will,” Max said. She knew Robin wouldn’t take her seriously. Still, Robin hummed in agreement. Together they sat listening to the boys in the water. “What time is it?”

“11:42,” Robin supplied quickly, no doubt glancing down at her military watch. “When is it too early to go looking for her?” 

“I’d say you should find her soon,” Max said after a moment of consideration. “You don’t want to miss the ball drop.”

“Very smart,” Robin said. Max felt the couch relax as she stood up, grunting as she stretched in the chilly night air. “Very smart. You’re smarter than I am.”

“Is that a surprise?” Max asked, but she knew she was speaking to the empty air. She smiled, a small private one for herself, and desperately hoped Robin would finally end this terrible back-and-forth once and for all. If she didn’t psych herself out at the last second, that is.

11:50 PM

“Have you seen Nance?” Robin asked. Argyle shook his head, eyes now completely tinted with red and hair a mess.

“Maybe upstairs?” He suggested, gesturing with the pace of a sloth to the stairwell behind them. Robin nodded absently, turning on her heel and trudging up. 

Logically she knew there were only so many places Nancy could be. Nancy’s whispered confessions and secrets over the crest of pink-covered pillows told Robin she had certain places she avoided when the group spent time at Steve’s house. She hardly spent any time by the pool. She didn’t go near his bedroom. 

He was rich but he wasn’t megarich. His house was bigger than anything else Robin had stepped foot into, and sometimes she thought she might get permanently lost with the identical white doors and plethora of matching family portraits. But Nancy had to be somewhere. And Robin had to find her. 

She walked up the stairs with the determination of a suicide bomber, knowing her mission was likely to ultimately fail and carrying herself to doom nonetheless. Surely Max was telling the truth when she confirmed Nancy and Jon had broken up. Though if it were true, it was only one obstacle on the track - the second being a much larger, more complex hump.

Robin had no idea if Nancy liked her back. There were moments, little bits in time, where she’d managed to convince herself there could be something between them more than female friendship and trauma bonding. On the frequent nights spent sleeping over in Robin’s   cramped twin bed, Nancy would fling her legs out over Robin’s and cuddle up close to her. Did regular girls do that with each other? Robin had no fucking idea.

Or the way Nancy looked at her sometimes, especially at night - under street lamps as they walked through their old neighborhoods and discussed their separated childhoods. Discussed their united college experiences, both deciding to attend the much closer and safer option of University of Indianapolis. The way their gloved hands tended to brush on colder nights, pressed shoulder-to-shoulder for warmth. When they ordered takeout and Nancy gave Robin bites off her fork without Robin even having to ask, remembering that she liked lo mein but not the steamed carrots in her order of vegetables.

It all seemed to stack up. Maybe Robin was drunk. Maybe she was delusional. At this point, she couldn’t bring herself to care.

Her crush on Nancy Wheeler was so overpowering that, though it was difficult to admit, it would hurt more to continue having to stand beside the most beautiful girl on the face of the earth than actually confess her feelings for her. Robin sucked in a deep breath as she reached the top of the stairs, peeking around into the dark hallway. Hopefully she found nobody having sex. Hopefully she found Nancy and hopefully, hopefully Nancy would kiss her back.

11:54 PM

Nancy was not upstairs, but Steve and Eddie certainly were, and Robin was never going to be able to get that image out of her head. As she stumbled back down the dimly lit hallway, pulling her sweater to her chest and grimacing to herself, Robin racked her brain. Where could Nancy possibly be hiding? Could a portal to the Upside-Down have opened up underneath her, removing her from the party? Would Vecna be that cruel and unusual?

As Robin stormed past the blaring television, where Argyle and Jonathan had sprawled out on Steve’s pleather couch to watch, she could hear the crowd cheering on the ball drop. T minus five minutes until Robin had to spend another year helplessly alone.

“Nancy?” She called out to nobody in particular, rounding her way through Steve’s empty dining room and back into his kitchen. There she found Will up on the counter, in a much better mood than he had been twenty minutes prior, swinging his legs and talking to his sister. “Have you guys seen Nancy?”

“Sorry, I told you where I last saw her,” Will said, shrugging. “If she’s not by her car, I have no idea.” Robin realized she hadn’t checked outside. El didn’t speak, she just took a sip from her twisty straw cup and smiled, pleased, at Robin. Robin couldn’t help but reach over and ruffle their hair before ducking away and rushing outside.

“Don’t forget to come in for the ball drop!” El spoke up in that soft voice after her as she ran through the patio door.

She passed Max and Lucas at the pool, no doubt making out or on the verge. Robin nearly broke the hinge on the wooden fence gate as she went, leaving it to swing behind her as she stepped out into Steve’s front yard. The street was alight with houses celebrating New Years’ similarly to theirs, streetlights with no warning blink and roads empty for the night. She stumbled down the lawn, glancing at every passing shadow with her eyes narrowed.

11:55 PM

“Nancy?” Robin shouted, hands on her hips. The space by her car was void of a person, Jonathan or Nancy. So clearly she’d moved on. As Robin walked back to the house, she heard the familiar pitter of flats on pavement. 

She burst back through the patio gate to find Nancy on the opposite end of the backyard, shrouded in the light from the immense amount of Christmas lights Steve kept strung up year-round. 

11:56 PM

Robin sprinted along the poolside, skidding across pavement to reach Nancy in time. The girl in question glanced up from where she’d been focused on watching the stars, eyes bright and beautiful and dilated. Her brown eyes felt like oceans at this point. Robin was teetering on the edge of falling in.

“Nance,” Robin began, realizing with embarrassment that she was out of breath from her sprint across the house. Nancy blinked in acknowledgement, smiling that beautiful pink-lipped smile. Her lips looked glossy in the moonlight, face stained by the gray light. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

11:57 PM

“Why?” Nancy asked with a twinkling laugh, stepping closer to Robin. Her hand came out to smooth down a part of Robin’s shirt she hadn’t realized she’d ruffled - her turtleneck halfway up against her pale neck. Nancy pulled down the fabric and smoothed out both hands across Robin’s shoulders, looking proud that she’d cleaned her up. Robin could barely swallow down her fear, let alone make any proper sentences. Nancy’s face was so close to hers now. It was to an unbearable degree.

“I have something to tell you,” Robin admitted shakily, glancing back at the house. She could hear their friends all gathering in the living room, no doubt surrounding Steve’s television and cheering on the oncoming ball drop. She ignored them, shaking her head and pulling her focus back to Nance.

11:58 PM

Because, in the end, Nancy was just a girl. She was just a girl shrouded in moonlight, looking up at Robin with that mesmerizing face of hers and a giggle on the end of her tongue. Nancy’s wide-eyed expression brought with it an intoxicating feeling Robin never wanted to be rid of. Her hands drifted up to stop Nancy’s from leaving the place they’d settled in on her sweater, pulling them down to clasp them over her chest. Nancy’s eyes, swift and detective-like, followed the movement curiously.

“I-” Robin felt herself faltering and kicked herself for doing so. It was hard to string words together in the presence of Nancy. For all her anxious sputtering and running around, when it got down to it she tended to be utterly speechless - case in point. “I, um.”

11:59 PM

“Yes?” Nancy pressed, dark eyebrows raised playfully. Robin’s mouth was desert-dry. She swallowed again and shut her eyes. No more time to fret over it. She needed to do this.

The dim shouts of their friends counting down the last minute before 1987 officially got rung in spurned her on. Robin reopened her eyes to find Nancy inches closer, their noses pressed together. 

She was just Nancy. Robin let go of Nancy’s hands to hold onto her face, fingertips pressing down the corners of her ears and thumbs brushing over the familiar blush. Nancy’s eyes went wide by a decimal, and then narrowed. In challenge. In agreement.

“I wanted to say,” Robin began again. Suddenly fireworks erupted above them, no doubt set off by one of Steve’s obnoxious neighbors.

12:00 AM

“I wanted to say,” Robin repeated for the last time. She wouldn’t let herself be shaken. Neither girl bothered to look up at the sky. “Happy New Year, Nance.” Robin steeled her jaw and leaned in. Unbelievably and dream-like, Nancy met her halfway.

Robin nearly fell over from the force of Nancy’s kiss, hands dropping from Nancy’s face to wind themselves around her waist. Their sweater fabrics brushed together as Nancy tilted her head, balance and access coming together underneath the stars. Robin pulled her impossibly closer and sighed into Nancy’s mouth. It felt like fireworks behind her eyes. It felt like the celebration was in her head.

“Happy New Year,” Nancy whispered into Robin’s lips, her big eyes only about a centimeter away. Robin didn’t know which one to focus on. “Were you looking for me to do that?”

“Yeah,” Robin admitted. Nancy laughed into her mouth, pressing a small kiss to the corner and then pressing back tenfold. When they came up for air again, Nancy was still laughing. “What?”

“I was looking for you, too,” Nancy admitted with a sly grin. Robin chuckled and closed her eyes, forehead to Nancy’s. 

“Great minds think alike,” Robin said. Nancy nodded solemnly, pressing another kiss to Robin’s jaw.

“Do you know what I’m thinking now?” Nancy asked, eyes suddenly alight with a mischief that had Robin’s stomach churning in excitement. More fireworks above them crackled and now she couldn’t resist turning her head up to watch, bright colors exploding against a backdrop of black. A new year cleansed of the Upside-Down. The perfect girl in her arms. All in all, a pretty good night. Robin grinned as she watched them explode one by one. 

She felt a hand on her chin then, longer fingernails pressed against her cheek. She let Nancy guide her head back down, feeling oddly chastised. 

“I have no idea,” Robin admitted. Nancy winked.

“Take a guess,” She murmured before leaning in again. Robin’s hands found their way up her back, into her hair. Feeling her everywhere. Although the kiss was hard to maintain when they were both grinning so hard.

And from somewhere in the house, voices chorused in relief after their own excited New Years’ celebrations: “Fucking finally!”

[ncturn-e]

❛❛ ¡cherry bomb! ❜❜

❛ el mañana ❜

✰ ‘verse

⤷ sɓuᴉɥꓕ ɹǝɓuɐɹʇS

♡ pairing

⤷ dr. alexei / laura garcía (oc)

☹ warnings

⤷ none

word count

⤷ 1,845

tags

⤷ @justice-for-dr-alexei

a/n: this is the shitty start to hopefully something lovely for a man who never received the love he deserved. lemme know if you would like to be tagged on updates to this story :)

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If there was one thing to be anticipated upon opening the bunker doors and lumbering inside, Laura knew the mean end of a shotgun was not the first on her list. Her first reaction was an ungodly squawk as she stumbled onto her backside, the guitar case clattering off her back and the bag of paints spilling onto the ground.

“Son of a bitch, Murray!” was her second, her anger rightly placed as she struggled to get to her feet while simultaneously gathering her strewn paraphernalia. Her hair was in massive disarray, and her tanned hands were splotched and smudged with still-drying paint.

“‘Knock before you walk’,” Murray seethed as he withdrew the shotgun, tugging on his beard in a sort of annoyed manner. “You know you're supposed to buzz the warning before sashaying in unannounced - you know that!”

“And I also know I'm the only other person besides you who knows how to get inside,” the Latina mumbled. The man slid to block her back before she could walk inside, and she produced a loud, tired huff. “It's been a long day, Murph. I just need a place to crash for the night. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

“If you would've buzzed before bursting in,” Murray stated, clearly tense as the short Latina tried to bob around him. “You'd know that I was a bit busy at the moment -”

“- busy fucking around with the Girl Scout at the door when there are more important things to -”

Laura cut off the unfamiliar voice, “Another human being! Murph, I thought I was your only connection to the world above, you minx!” She seized the opportunity to dart past the eccentric and his shotgun just as he opened his mouth to object. The girl skipped through the armoured doors and into the main room, halting in her steps to visually greet three brand new individuals with a weary-but-still-pleasant disposition. There was a short, bleary-eyed, and oddly expressive woman, an angry moustached wall of a guy who resembled a father at the end of his wit, and a very unsettled, dishevelled man curled up in one of the loveseats. Naturally, Laura was not at all surprised by the oddities of the company - after all, she was friends with Murray Bauman of all people - and she set down the case of her guitar with a smile.

“Of all places a nice girl would be, I would never have guessed the home of a paranoid hermit,” the first man grumbled, placing his face in his hands and rubbing at the weariness lining his expression. The woman beside him sent her elbow into his arm lightly, shooting Laura an apologetic look, though she didn't appear to disagree with his assessment.

While the first stocky slab of a man ran a thumb over his moustache with an utterly exasperated noise, the woman next to him quickly got to her feet, moving to attempt an awkward introduction as she began to consolidate a clutter of wrappers and fast-good carnage together on the coffee table. The third man, likely younger than the other two, was staring at the newcomer through his glasses, wearing an aura of newly introduced confusion.

As Murray came bumbling back into the room, he seized Laura by the shoulders and attempted to steer her back towards the front door. She wriggled free with a wince, and, after casting another quick look at the trio around the table, quipped, “You never have company. Either you're doing something illegal, or convening to stop something illegal illegally.”

“How about Russian translations and a wild goose chase?” Murray muttered, massaging his forehead before nodding in the vague direction of the younger man. “This is Dr. Alexei, our very own foreign menace, graced by the company of Officer Jim Hopper and Joyce Byers.” He added in a tired tone, “Ne bespokoysya Ona bezvredna,” waving his hand. The young man, Alexei, loosened his shoulders slightly, still eyeing the little Latina with both wariness and interest.

“Okay. So, Jim -”

“Hopper,” the first man grunted.

“Oh - okay, Hopper. Joyce. Alexei.” Laura recited each name. “Neat. Anyone want something to drink?”

“You're not - Laura, I swear to Christ - can you at least stay in the other room?” Murray spoke exasperatedly, trying and failing to guide her out of the area.

Laura feigned offence. “You haven't even offered your guests a drink besides that crap Burger King calls edible?” she scoffed as Murray threw his hands into the air. She looked at the doctor, saying with playful sympathy, “I'll bet he didn't even get you water.”

“Apparently a strawberry Slurpee was worse than water,” Hopper growled before Joyce yanked at his arm as if to say ‘shut up, you big oaf.’

“He said strawberry was fine now!” the woman protested, but he waved her off. They then descended into what was most definitely a lover’s quarrel before Murray made a loud and obnoxious shhing noise through his teeth.

“Shut. Up.”

The others complied, except Laura, of course.

“So, what is going on here?” she queried, picking at a spot of dry paint on her knuckles. She moved to hoist her guitar case over to leave against the nearest wall, still observing the others.

There was a beat of silence, puckered by an annoyed whine from Murray before Joyce began to speak up. “Are you from Hawkins?”

Laura shook her head. “No. I'm just two towns over. Read what happened last year, though - that's some crazy stuff -” She cut herself off. “Byers. Byers - you're the woman who found her son two years ago! Er, what was his name -”

“Will.” Joyce showed a soft smile. Murray seemed to have given up on trying to reign in the conversation and had gone rooting through the kitchen, presumably for alcohol.

“Yeah! I'm glad you found him,” Laura went on with a shrug before perching herself on the armrest of one of the empty seats. When she caught the man called Alexei watching her with friendly intent, she shot him a grin before turning back to Joyce. “How's he doing these days?”

“Good - well, better!” Joyce answered, the smile remaining on her features before she was interrupted by an unintelligible grumble from Hopper. “Oh, what is it now? Do you need a Slurpee now? You big - baby - man.”

“Just saying,” the policeman said slowly, tone wavering with restrained irritation. “Not solving the Russian situation with small talk.”

“Russians? So they've finally broken through our defences?” Laura sounded only half facetiously.

Hopper gestured halfheartedly to Alexei. “Ask Smirnoff over here. He's the one with a big-ass base under the goddamn mall.”

Laura creased her brows, turning back to Alexei and repeating, “Base?”

“He can't understand you,” Joyce piped up, just as Murray came strolling in with a glass of what was probably whiskey.

“Doesn't know a lick of English,” Murray confirmed tiredly before falling back into the seat adjacent to the Latina. “I'm the nearest local translator, apparently,” he added with a gallon of absolutely sarcastic glee before tossing the whiskey down his throat. He winced before smiling way too widely.

Laura outed a small ‘ooooh’ as tucked a curl of hair behind her ear, looking at the scientist apologetically. Jamming a thumb into her chest, she made a clear introduction by saying, “Laura.” The Soviet repeated it slowly, thick and hesitant from his tongue. The grin that lit up her features sent a blossom of red spiralling into the young man’s face.

“Alrighty then. Since everyone knows my name now, why don't you all get me caught up on what the hell is happening?”

She humorously took the gurgling sounds of malcontent from Murray’s glass as an affirmative.

»»»

When all was said and done, it was an understatement to say Laura was baffled, if not utterly blown away by the massive import of information that had just been funnelled into her brain, all in a little less than an hour. However, visibly to Murray’s amusement, the presumed couple - who made it a point to announce that they were, in fact, not involved - went off into another minor argument before Murray had cordoned them off into another room.

Laura had taken it upon herself to sit on the floor beside the coffee table and sort out grocery baggie of paints, attempting to clean her hands off in the midst. “Russians have invaded America, and they chose to do so in the ass-end of nowhere. That was clever on their part, I will admit,” the woman mused over the muffled shouts coming from the other room. She rubbed her eyes tiredly, watching Murray come out of the kitchen and situate himself next to the Russian scientist on the sofa across from Laura. ”And he really doesn't understand English?” she requested confirmation, gently nodding her head at Alexei.

”Not a word.”

”Ah,” she murmured, drumming her paint-stained fingers along her leg. She sounded disappointed.

Alexei appeared to notice this, sitting up a smidge as he looked between Murray and Laura, eventually mumbling something to the other man with raised brows. Murray shook his head and replied, pausing in the middle before finishing with the babbling syllables, “Yedinstvennyye drugiye yazyki kotoryye ona znayet eto ispanskaya i umnaya zadnitsa.”

When Laura looked at him expectantly, Murray rolled his eyes and translated, “I told him you only speak English, Spanish, and Smartass.”

The Latina held up a very special finger. Murray chortled tiredly, muttering, “Yeah, you too, Lottie.”

After a reprieve, looked up again and asked slowly, “Do you, ah - do you think I could talk to him? Through you, I mean -”

Before she could even finish, Murray was out of his chair and fleeing to the kitchen for what was presumably more alcohol. “No, no, no, no, don't get me started. No. You already never shut your mouth as it is.”

Laura raised her hands in defence. “Jesus, Murph … I just want to talk to the guy. And I think you owe me for putting your thing in my face.” A pause, then through a sly grin, “Me pregunto cómo reaminará la Mamá cuando escucha cómo trataste a tus invitados.”

Murray gripped his glass with white knuckles and resignation, staring down the young woman - plus Alexei, who had no idea what was going on - before leaving the room, only to return with an armful of paper and a few dull pencils. “Comprise. Knock yourself out with a round of Pictionary first. I'll ‘repay’ you by being a translator tomorrow. Deal?”

Laura clicked her tongue and scrambled over to fetch the supplies, responding with a coy, “Es un acuerdo,” before watching Murray dramatically excuse himself. Looking over to the confused Russian, she smiled, scooting closer to his seat as his eyes followed her movements curiously. He opened his mouth to ask a question but shut it after remembering only one person in the bunker understood him. His brows furrowed, and he sat back with a faint little huff until Laura edged up next to him. He appeared a bit confused by her smile. Nevertheless, she raised a pencil and said anyways, “Let's play some Pictionary, comrade.”

[hunnywrites]

Chapter Four: Lifeguards On Duty

Summary: The town of Hawkins has been turned upside down with the news that Will Byers has suddenly gone missing. Teddi Larsson and Billy Hargrove are gonna get to the bottom of things. Season one AU.

Pairing: Billy Hargrove/OFC

A/N: I guess I’m bumping the rating on this to mature now. I should throw out a disclaimer that I sort of hate writing smut so that’s why it’s so brief. We’re also getting our first glimpse of papa bear Hopper. Trust and believe that if he could legally adopt Teddi and Billy he totally would. Hope you enjoy!

Once Teddi and Billy made sure that Dustin, Lucas and Eleven made it home safe, they headed back to Billy’s place. The lights inside the living room where on. Probably Susan waiting up for Billy and Max to come home. Teddi parked her van a little ways down the street and hurried to the back side of the house to Billy’s window. She rubbed at her arms roughly to try and warm herself up as she waited for him to let her in. 

His light flicked on, and Billy quietly opened his window and helped pull Teddi inside. “Sorry,” he muttered. “It’s already on the news about Will. Susan had a million questions.” Teddi pulled her puffy jacket off and plopped down onto Billy’s bed. 

“Is Max okay?” she asked quietly. 

Billy sat next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to his chest. “She’s gonna be okay. It’ll just take awhile. Susan’s making her hot chocolate.” he said with a small laugh. Like he thought it was funny that Susan seemed to think hot chocolate could fix the fact that Max’s friend was dead. 

Teddi’s eyes burned. Her bottom lip was trembling again. She clasped a hand tightly over her mouth to try and quiet the sob that escaped her. Will was dead. He was gone. She would never see him again. And the last image she had of him was his body being pulled out of the quarry. She felt Billy place a kiss on the top of her head, and his hand rubbing slow circles on her back as she cried. Teddi knew that he hated it when people cried. He would always say that he never knew what to do. But he was better at comforting than he thought. All she needed was for him to sit there with her. 

She cried for Will. And for Joyce and Johnathan. She cried for Mike, Lucas, Max and Dustin. Even El. Why did life have to be so unfair? Why did Will have to be taken so young? Why had Benny felt so alone that he had killed himself? Why did she, Billy and Max have to live in such terrible households? 

Eventually her crying quieted. Teddi wiped roughly at her eyes and sniffed loudly. “...You want me to get Susan to make you some hot chocolate?” Billy asked lowly, a hint of teasing in his voice. Teddi let out a soft laugh and shook her head. 

“I’m okay...god, I should probably head home.”

“Stay,” he said into her hair. “You shouldn’t have to be alone tonight.” 

Teddi sniffed again and frowned up at him. “What about Neil and Susan? We’ll get caught.” 

“Let me worry about it. We can skip school tomorrow. Go out to the lake or something.” His hand moved from her shoulder to her waist, and he picked Teddi up with ease. She twisted around and settled onto his lap, straddling him. She idly played with the collar of his jean jacket as she considered his offer. Maybe Will’s death had made her realize that life was short. Maybe this was a seize the moment type of thing. Maybe it was because she felt so vulnerable. Or maybe it was the way Billy was softly nipping at her neck, his fingers digging gently into her hips...

“I don’t wanna do this anymore.” Teddi said suddenly. Billy pulled away from her almost as if she had slapped him. 

He blinked a few times. “...You don’t want to do what anymore?” he asked carefully. 

“This. Us,” Billy only frowned and she shook her head. “I mean...god, what do I mean?” she asked herself, her hands grabbing onto his jacket tightly. “I don’t want to see other people anymore. I want you. Us. I want you to take me out on a real date. Even if it’s just to fool around at the drive in,” she said with a soft laugh. “I mean, I…” why couldn’t she just say the words? She felt it. She knew she did. 

“...Are you saying you love me, Larsson?” he wasn’t teasing her. He said it quietly, as if someone was trying to listen in on what they were saying. 

Teddi let out a relieved sigh. The fact that Billy knew exactly what she was trying to say solidified her decision to speak her mind. It also gave her the boost of confidence she needed. “I love you.” she repeated. 

Billy smirked at her, pressing two fingers behind his ear and turning his head. “Sorry. I don’t think I heard that. You mind repeating it?” 

Teddi smiled, rolling her eyes and giving his shoulder a playful shove. “Shut up, dick.” Billy chuckled, pulling Teddi to him and kissing her deeply. There was a small part of her that worried he wouldn’t say it back. She sort of expected it. Billy had grown up with the idea that showing genuine affection made him look weak. And while he had made leaps and bounds in that area, he still had issues every now and then. He didn’t have any trouble with physical affection, but the emotional affection was still a sore subject. 

Billy’s hand ran up and under the back of Teddi’s shirt, his fingers drawing circles on her skin. She pulled away from him and took his face gently in her hands. “...And don’t feel like you have to say it back, okay?” she added shyly. 

Billy shook his head. He tucked a strand of Teddi’s sandy blonde hair behind her ear. “But I do,” he said. Teddi’s heart was hammering so hard in her chest she was positive that he could probably feel it. There was a second where his guard went up again. He almost looked like he regretted saying it. But it was gone in a flash. He knew he was safe with Teddi. 

That casual smirk was back. “Guess it’s you and me ‘till the end then, Larsson.”

“‘Till the end…” Teddi mused with a smirk of her own. “...I don’t know. Not sure if I’ll be able to stand you for that long.” she teased. Billy scoffed and tossed Teddi off of his lap and back onto his bed. 

He hovered over her, Teddi’s hands finding a home on his biceps. “If I have to put up with your mouth then you have to put up with me.” he grumbled, kissing her again. “How ‘bout I put that Kate Bush shit you like on and we consummate this thing?” 

Teddi fell into a fit of giggles. She covered her mouth to quiet her laughter and nodded. “Took the words right out of my mouth.” she teased.

Something about the way Billy touched her that night was different than usual. It was almost like he was afraid he might break her. Her own hands felt like they couldn’t stop shaking. It was more than just her nerves being shot from the night’s events. It was like the two of them saying those three little words had somehow changed the entire dynamic of their relationship. 

Their movements were clumsy. The pair shared quiet laughter each time their heads knocked together or when Teddi bit down on Billy’s lip just a little too hard. The butterflies in Teddi’s stomach were almost overwhelming. Her stomach flipped and turned with every touch, every kiss, and every slow rock of Billy’s hips. Teddi’s fingers wound themselves into Billy’s hair as that wonderfully warm feeling joined the butterflies in her stomach. His fingers dug softly into her hips, his nails leaving small crescent moons in her skin.

Teddi’s eyes still ached from all the crying she had done earlier that night. Her eyelids were drooping sleepily as she curled up at Billy’s side. He was smoking and talking to her about something. She couldn’t really make out what. For the first time in days her mind seemed clear. Empty. Eventually she drifted off into a deep sleep. She didn’t dream that night.

---

Billy woke up the next morning with a start. Someone was knocking on his bedroom door. “Billy?” Susan called softly. Teddi stirred gently next to him. He shot out of bed, quickly getting dressed before popping his head out of his door. Susan smiled at him somewhat nervously, her hands fiddling together as she hovered awkwardly out in the hall. “Could you do me a favor? Max is staying home today, and I have errands to run...could you maybe watch her? I’ve been so worried since we heard the news about Will…” she swallowed thickly. “She’s not speaking much. I don’t think she’ll be much of a bother.”

“Yeah,” Billy nodded. “Sure, Susan. No problem,” Susan could drive Billy crazy on a good day. Now with everything going on and the added fact that he had a naked, sleeping Teddi in his bed made him want to all but shove Susan out of the house. “I’ll see you later, huh?” he shut his door, whirling around to focus on Teddi. He almost didn’t want to wake her up. She looked so peaceful. 

He crawled back into bed, wrapping an arm around her middle and burying his face in her neck. “Ted, come on. Time to wake up. Susan’s gone so we’re in the clear.” much like Billy, Teddi wasn’t much of a morning person. Teddi let out a whine like groan and turned over, hiding her face in her pillow. 

“Can’t we just stay here?” she asked, her voice muffled. 

Billy let out a chuckle. “Yeah, sure,” he pulled his shirt over his head. “But as much as I don’t want you to, you should probably put this on. Max’s is staying home.” 

Teddi grumbled, snatching his shirt and slipping it on. As if on cue Max knocked on Billy’s door before slowly peeking inside. “...Can you give me a ride to Mike’s?”

“Now? It’s seven AM.” Billy muttered, his lips clamped around a cigarette as he lit it. 

“He says it’s important. Something about Will and El.” she explained. Billy only rolled his eyes. Max looked over at Teddi, who was bundled up under the covers, with a pleading look. “Teddi, make him give me a ride.”

Billy scoffed. “She can’t make me do anything, Max.”

If Teddi was given 900 guesses as to what Mike could possibly have to say about Will and El she probably wouldn’t be able to guess. So she was pretty intrigued by it. Plus, she wanted to check in on Eleven after the way Mike had treated her the night before at the quarry. “Come on, Billy. Let’s give her a ride. What’s the worst that can happen?”

Billy shot her a look. “You honestly have to ask that?” he looked over at Max, and then back at Teddi. This wouldn’t be a fight he’d win. “Jesus, fine. I’ll take you.” Max was out of the room and down the hall to change nearly before Billy could even agree. He looked over at Teddi, who was failing to hide a smile. “...You don’t make me do anything.” he repeated firmly.

“No, no of course not.” she said, crawling over him to get out of bed. 

Mrs. Wheeler wasn’t home when they arrived. Mike said she took Holly out to run errands and wouldn’t be back for a few hours. “We have to get El to school. So she can call Will.” he explained as he lead Teddi, Billy and Max down to the basement. 

Teddi and Billy shared a look. “...What do you mean so she can call Will?” Teddi asked carefully. 

“That body they pulled out of the water last night wasn’t Will.” Mike said firmly.

“Mike…” Max said with a soft sigh.

“No! You have to trust me. Last night Eleven called Will on my walkie. He’s still alive. He was singing that song he likes so much. But she can’t call him for long. So we need a bigger radio.”

“The AV club.” Max said, as if it were obvious.

“Exactly. So we’re trying to disguise El so we can get her there without anyone noticing her.” as the four of them entered the basement, Lucas and Dustin were fitting a blonde wig on Eleven’s head. She smiled when she saw Teddi, Billy and Max.

“Oh yeah, that’s not conspicuous at all.” Billy said sarcastically. Teddi elbowed him harshly in his side. Eleven was hovering awkwardly, her fingers fidgeting with each other as her wide eyes surveyed each person in the room.

Teddi leaned forward, resting her hands on her knees. “What do you think, El? I’m digging the new look.”

El smiled softly and nodded. “Pretty.” 

“Very pretty,” Teddi agreed with a smile. “...Has Mike been feeding you?”

Lucas let out a snort. “He gives her half of whatever his mom makes him.” he said. Mike shot him a cold look.

Teddi held out her hand. “Come on, I’ll make you something while these guys finish up their grand scheme. Can’t call Will on an empty stomach, right?” The thing was, Teddi wasn’t much of a cook. She lived off things you could pop in a microwave and fast food. But she figured anything she could make would be better than Mike’s lukewarm leftovers. 

“So...how are things with Mike? Did he apologize?” Teddi asked as she started to rummage through the kitchen cabinets.

Eleven nodded. “Yes.”

Teddi looked over her shoulder at the girl and smiled. “...You don’t talk much, huh?” she asked. El shook her head, a shy smile forming on her lips. “That’s okay. I can talk enough for the both of us. At least that’s what Billy says,” she said with a soft snort. 

There wasn’t much in the way of microwaveable food. Which didn’t really surprised Teddi much since it was Karen Wheeler’s kitchen. Eventually she pulled out a box of Eggos from the freezer, holding it up to Eleven. “How ‘bout it?” 

Eleven noticeably perked up and nodded. “A girl after my own heart. I’ll make you my super special breakfast of champions.” she popped four waffles into the toaster. 

“You can’t feed her waffles and coke.” Billy said as he walked into the kitchen. 

“And what should I feed her?” Teddi asked, grabbing a can of coke and a jar of strawberry jam from the fridge. Eleven watched the exchange quietly, observing the two teens. 

“I don’t know...what do kids with superpowers eat?”

Teddi rolled her eyes. “What do you think they eat? Radioactive rocks?” Billy pulled a face at her. Teddi spread the jam on each waffle, stacking them onto a plate and topping it off with some whipped cream. “There ya go, Ellie Bean.” El looked at the treat with wide eyes before digging in. 

Billy groaned beside her. “If you name it you’ll get attached, Ted.” he warned in a sort of sing songy way.

Teddi shot him a look. ���She is not an it, Billy. And will you stop it with that already? I’m being nice.” El wasn’t paying attention to them anymore. She was nearly shovelling the waffles into her mouth like she hadn’t eaten in days. 

Billy opened his mouth to argue, but Max and the rest of the kids came running up the stairs. Max looked between Billy and Teddi, taking in their angry expressions. “...What are you two bickering about now?” 

“Nothing.” they said at the same time. 

Billy gave Teddi one last look before turning to Mike. “Can we get this over with? Go get in the car.” he ordered, shooing the kids through the kitchen and out the front door. Eleven shoved the last bite of waffles in her mouth, wiping some excess whipped cream away with the back of her hand. She smiled up happily at Teddi before running off to join her friends in the van. 

If you name it you’ll get attached. Teddi scoffed at Billy’s words. And why couldn’t she? What was so wrong with that? Eleven didn’t have anyone. Why couldn’t that be Teddi? She knew that this was probably some deep, psychological thing that a therapist would have a field day with. Trying to make up for the shitty childhood she had and all that. 

She didn’t really care. 

---

Teddi and Billy dropped the kids and their bikes off at the middle school. They promised that once El got in contact with Will they would ride their bikes back to Mikes and call them to tell them what happened. Now the pair were at a diner that sat on Hawkin’s main street. 

“You think they’ll find anything?” Teddi asked, absently stirring her strawberry milkshake with her straw. She had her own doubts. Mainly because they had seen Will’s body the night before. If he was really alive, how could anyone possibly explain something like that? 

“Nope.” Billy answered firmly. His mouth was full with chilli cheese fries. 

Teddi let out a loud sigh and sunk further into her seat. “Can’t you be a little more optimistic?” 

“Nope,” he repeated, taking a large swig of coke. He let out a soft sigh when he saw the sad look on Teddi’s face. “...What do you think they’ll find, Ted? I mean, you saw Will’s body-”

“I know. I know...I don’t know what I expect. I just hope they find something. For their sake, I guess.” 

Their conversation was cut off when there was a loud knock on the window beside them. Chief Jim Hopper was looking down at the two teens with a stern look, his hands on his hips and his jaw set tightly. “Great…” Billy muttered. 

Hopper walked into the diner and over to the two teens. He wasn’t in his uniform, which Teddi found a little odd. “Aren’t you two supposed to be in school?” he asked, checking his watch. 

Billy and Teddi exchanged a look. “...We’re sad about Byers.” Billy said eventually. 

Teddi rolled her eyes. “We are sad about Will.” she shot Billy a dirty look. 

“You know, Powell and Callaghan are looking for you two. They’re over at the high school questioning your friends.”

Billy noticeably tensed up. “Questioning us for what? We haven’t done shit.”

Hopper looked over his shoulder quickly before sliding into the booth next to Teddi. “Barb Holland’s missing. We got a call from Karen Wheeler. She says you’re the last ones to see her.”

Teddi’s eyes widened. “Barb’s missing?” she asked. This was a nightmare. An absolute nightmare. “What do you mean she’s missing? I thought she was sick.”

Hopper raised an eyebrow. “Who said she was sick?” 

Billy let out a low groan and sunk in his seat. “Nice going, Larsson.” he muttered.

Teddi glared over at Billy. When she turned back to Hopper her expression softened. Teddi was more confused than she had ever been. There had been so many twists and turns the past few days that she barely knew which way was up. But she knew that Hopper would listen. He might not believe her, but he would listen. “Barb didn’t come to school yesterday. Nancy was worried because I guess Barb left the party early-”

“We were already gone by then.” Billy interjected, earning another glare from Teddi.

“So I told her that maybe Barb was just sick or something. She cut her hand-”

Hopper held up his hand to stop her. “She cut her hand? How?” 

“...Shotgunning a beer.” Teddi said, not meeting the chief’s eyes. Now it was Billy’s turn to glare at her.

Thankfully Hopper only gave what passed as a stern look before moving on. “But you two haven’t seen her since this party? Haven’t heard from her?”

Teddi shook her head. “We left to go pick up Max just after she cut her hand. And he probably couldn’t pick her out of a lineup,” she jabbed a thumb in Billy’s direction. He didn’t argue. “Do you think something bad happened? Do you think it’s related to what happened to Will?” 

Hopper gave her an odd sort of look. Like somehow they were both in on the same secret and he didn’t want anyone else to know that they were in on it. But it was gone in a flash. “What happened to Will was an accident. It’s horrible, and it’s sad, but it was an accident. We’re gonna get to the bottom of what happened to Barb. And until then I want you two to keep your noses where they belong, okay? No more parties after curfew, and no more skipping school,” 

Teddi and Billy both shifted awkwardly. Hopper reached over and took one of Billy’s fries. “I’m gonna look the other way this time. But I want you two back in school tomorrow. And you stop worrying so much, kid,” he put a gentle hand on Teddi’s shoulder. “You’re gonna give yourself a stroke.”

“That’s what I’ve been telling her.” Billy said with a smug look. Teddi rolled her eyes. 

Hopper looked over at Teddi with a sort of teasing smile. “See? You know if it’s serious if me and him are agreeing. You two stay safe, okay? I gotta get going,” he rose from the booth, turning and pointing a finger at each of them. “School tomorrow.” he reminded them. Billy gave a mock salute and Hopper was off. 

There was a long silence before Teddi finally spoke up. “We need to do something.” 

Billy let out a sigh. “Like what, Ted? Go monster hunting?” 

“Exactly.”

“Teddi-” 

Teddi leaned across the table and looked at Billy with a tired expression. “Did you see Hop’s face when I brought up Will? It’s like he knows something. Maybe he knows what we know, and he just doesn’t want to say it.” 

“You mean about the Demo…” he drifted off, clearly not able to remember the name. 

“Demogorgon,” Teddi finished for him. Billy gave her a look. One that said ‘do you hear how crazy you sound?’ Of course she knew that. But she was past the point of caring. “They said that Will drowned, Billy. What are the chances that Will drowns and Barb runs away? You know that Quarry. We used to hang out there all the time in middle school. If you fell into it you would be dead before you hit the water. Every single bone in your body would break. You saw his body. Did it look like anything was broken to you?”

Billy couldn’t argue that point. There had been this rumor when they were kids that some guy had fallen into the quarry back in the 60’s, and when the cops dragged his body out of the water he looked like a jellyfish. Will definitely hadn’t looked like that. He hadn’t had a scratch on him. 

Billy took another bite of his chili fries before thoughtfully looking over at Teddi. “Well, what’s the plan, Teddi Bear? We’re gonna go camp out in the woods until something tries to kill us?” 

---

“This is one of the dumbest fucking things I’ve ever done,” Billy muttered. “And that includes the time we were gonna run away to Disneyland when we were ten.” Billy and Teddi were sitting in Teddi’s van. They had driven a little ways into the woods, not far enough to lose their way from the main road, but far enough in that no one driving past could see them. 

“...That was a pretty decent plan.” Teddi defended. It wasn’t. Somehow they had seemed to think they could actually walk to California with nothing but some clothes and their toothbrushes shoved into their backpacks. Hopper had found them about twenty minutes into their grand escape plan. He took them to the bakery down the street from the police station, bought them both donuts and talked to them about what things were like at home before he took them back to school. Steve had been pretty pissed that they hadn’t invited him along. 

Billy turned in his seat and pointed back where there was a bottle of kerosene and a can of Billy’s hairspray they had tossed into the back of the van. “How can you say any plan is worse than this?” he asked. 

“It was your idea to be Smokey Bear’s worst nightmare, Hargrove. Not mine,” she argued. Teddi shut the van off and hopped out. Billy grabbed the kerosene and hairspray and got out behind her, muttering angrily. “Besides, we have to be able to defend ourselves somehow, right?”

Billy gave her a tired look. “Defend ourselves against the make believe monster? Oh, sure,” he turned to the woods that sat before them. “Watch out, Demogorgons! Lifeguards on duty!” he called sarcastically.

“Be quiet!” Teddi hissed out, slapping her hand over his mouth. “If there is something out there it’ll know that we’re here!” 

Billy rolled his eyes and pushed Teddi’s hand away. “Let’s just get this over with.” he muttered. 

Teddi let out an annoyed huff and took off ahead of Billy. She hated when he got like this. All grouchy and stubborn. It was rare that it was aimed in her direction, but Teddi was never one to put up with Billy’s attitude. 

Billy’s jaw tightened as he watched his girlfriend venture further into the woods without him. He let out an annoyed breath out of his nose and followed after her, nearly stomping like a toddler having a tantrum. Teddi flicked on her flashlight, the bright beam illuminating their path. 

Billy was firm in his belief that there wasn’t anything in the woods. But still, he had to admit he felt a little uneasy the further they walked. It wasn’t too far. If he turned around he could probably still see the outline of Teddi’s van. But he couldn’t help but feel like they shouldn’t be there. Like they were trespassing almost. 

He felt like they were being watched. The little hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end. Billy tried his hardest to make his eyes adjust to the dark. He couldn’t see anything or anyone. But there was something out there. He could hear something moving around them. Getting closer. 

Teddi jumped a little when she felt Billy’s hand gently touch her arm. He had caught up to her, taking a step or two ahead as if he were trying to shield her from something. She opened her mouth to let out some sassy comment when Billy held a finger up to his lips to quiet her. She frowned up at him, watching in confusion as he surveyed the area around them. He started fumbling for the lighter in his jean jacket. 

“Billy, what-” Teddi’s question was cut off by a horrible screech. It was that same horrible sound they had heard the night Will went missing. It was close. Teddi’s entire body started to tingle. Her hands couldn’t stop shaking. The scream had been so loud she could hear a quiet ringing in her ears. 

Billy wrapped his hand around Teddi’s wrist and he pulled her closer to him. “We’re going back to the van.” it wasn’t a suggestion. Teddi wasn’t going to argue. There was a loud snap somewhere nearby. Teddi jumped at the sound. Something was coming towards them. Slowly. 

Teddi couldn’t help herself. She shined the light of her flashlight to their left. The beam of light was shaky, but she saw a flash of something moving over behind the trees. She let out a small gasp, and Billy’s hand tightened around her. 

“What the fuck is that?” Billy asked. He was breathing heavily. He pushed Teddi further behind him and took on a defensive stance. It was an animal, he thought. It was too big to be a coyote. Too thin to be a bear. Whatever it was, he was sure it was stalking them. 

There was another loud snap. Teddi pointed the flashlight out in front of them. She’d caught it this time. Neither of them knew what they were looking at. It was...a creature. Nothing they’d ever seen before. It was on all fours. It had paused mid stride. It had a long, thin, almost sort of gangly grey body. It didn’t have a face. It’s head almost looked like a flower that hadn’t bloomed just yet. 

Teddi’s hands were shaking so badly she almost dropped the flashlight. She felt Billy’s entire body go tense. Her heart was pounding so loudly in her ears that she almost hadn’t heard him. “When I tell you to run, you run back to the van and you don’t look back.” 

The monster slowly rose to its feet before them. It easily had to be seven feet tall. Teddi suddenly noticed the way that its long, thin fingers ended in sharp points. She thought she would be sick. It’s face opened, revealing six red petal like appendages that were lined with rows of tiny, sharp teeth. It let out that horrible scream again. Billy told her to run. She did. She knew that Billy was behind her as she carried herself back through the woods and to the van. The monster wasn’t far behind them. Teddi let out a startled gasp as it screeched again, stumbling over some branches. 

Her van was close by. She could see it through her blurry, tear filled vision. Teddi willed her legs to move faster. She couldn’t let herself think about what would happen if that thing caught her. 

Billy was telling her to get in the van. He had slowed down behind her. Teddi threw the driver’s side door open as Billy came to a stop in front of the van. He held up the lighter to the can of hairspray, a large flame shooting out in front of him and towards the creature. 

It screeched again. Like it was in pain. Teddi started the van, screaming for Billy to get in. He didn’t let up with his makeshift flamethrower until he was safely back inside next to her. “Hit it.” He said firmly.

“What?” Teddi asked helplessly. She felt like she couldn’t catch her breath. 

“Run the fucking thing over!” He yelled. 

Teddi slammed her foot down on the gas. There was a loud crunch. The entire van lurched forward as she collided with the monster. She was sure the front of her van had been crushed. It felt like she had run into a semi truck. Teddi threw the van into reverse and sped backwards towards the main road before taking off down the street. 

She didn’t let up on the gas until Mirkwood was no longer in view. 

[tea-and-g2s]

Holiday fic recs

(I will be adding to this , my bookmark tagging system is still a wip lol)

The Natural Binding Properties of Pine Sap

(4296 words) by

uraneia

Chapters: 1/1

Fandom:

Teen Wolf (TV)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski

Characters: Derek Hale, Stiles Stilinski, Melissa McCall, Scott McCall, Lydia Martin, Cora Hale, Isaac Lahey, Sheriff Stilinski, Allison Argent

Additional Tags: Christmas fic, Pining, Magical Intervention, First Kiss, Deputy Derek, Mistletoe

Summary:

Derek saves a nymph from being somebody's Christmas decoration. As a reward, the nymph grants him a twig of mistletoe.

If Derek had known the mistletoe would come to life and goad him into kissing people at random, he might have tried to refuse.

I Just Want You For My Own (More Than You Could Ever Know)

(16062 words) by

yodasyoyo

Chapters: 4/4

Fandom:

Teen Wolf (TV)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Vernon Boyd/Erica Reyes

Characters: Derek Hale, Stiles Stilinski, Erica Reyes, Vernon Boyd

Additional Tags: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Barista Stiles Stilinski, Alpha Derek, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Stiles, Oblivious Derek, Scent Marking, gratuitous cuddling, basically all my favorite tropes distilled into one fic, Happy Christmas, schmoopy as fuck, don't expect any kind of plot, it's fluff for fluffs sake, Derek Cooks, Sharing Clothes

Series: Part 1 of

Sterek Christmas Fics

Summary:

“What is with that sweater, dude?”

Derek ducks his head to look at it, abashed. “Uh- Mrs Hernandez knitted it for me. It’s an early Christmas gift.” He smooths it down self-consciously.

Stiles cocks an eyebrow.

“What? She’s my neighbor and sometimes I-” Derek trails off. Stiles’ other eyebrow rises to join the first, and Derek sighs. “Sometimes I help her carry her groceries."

Of course he does. One day maybe Stiles will stop being in love with Derek Hale, but today is not that day.

mistletoe and other holiday propaganda

(54648 words) by

ToAStranger, brawls

Chapters: 9/9

Fandom:

Stranger Things (TV 2016)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington

Characters: Billy Hargrove, Steve Harrington, Tommy H. (Stranger Things), Carol (Stranger Things), Nancy Wheeler, Barbara "Barb" Holland, Jonathan Byers, Dustin Henderson

Summary:

Everybody wants something for Christmas.

It just so happens that the only way for everyone to get what they want is for Billy and Steve to pretend to be dating over Christmas break. It's really the only option.

Forget Your Perfect Offering

(10367 words) by

yodasyoyo

Chapters: 1/1

Fandom:

Teen Wolf (TV)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski

Characters: Sheriff Stilinski, Derek Hale, Stiles Stilinski

Additional Tags: Found Family, 5+1 Things, POV Sheriff Stilinski, brief mention of past alcohol abuse, Getting Together, Mutual Pining, FBI Agent Stiles Stilinski, Deputy Derek Hale, Christmas (sorta briefly near the end)

Series: Part 5 of

Sterek Christmas Fics

Summary:

They’re both so pale under the layers of ash and soot, that’s the first thing John notices, that, and the smell that clings to their hair, their skin, their clothes.

Years later, when he knows Derek better, when he knows the truth, he’ll recall this moment and it’ll make his heart break a little. He’ll remember how the scent was so acrid, so intense, and he’ll wonder: If it was like that for him— a human— then how much worse for them? What else could they smell as they sat on hard plastic chairs beneath the stark strip light in a paint-peeled hallway at the Sheriff’s station?

or:

5 times the Sheriff called Derek 'son', and 1 time Derek called the Sheriff 'dad'.

Real life isn't a movie (life doesn't make narrative sense)

(11586 words) by

dearericbittle

Chapters: 1/1

Fandom:

Teen Wolf (TV)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski

Characters: Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale, Laura Hale, Cora Hale, Talia Hale, Peter Hale, Original Hale Character(s), Scott McCall (Teen Wolf)

Additional Tags: Spark Stiles Stilinski, FBI Agent Stiles Stilinski, Beta Derek Hale, Alternate Universe - No Hale Fire, Alive Hale Family, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Holidays, Mates Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, POV Stiles Stilinski, Banter, Christmas Fluff

Summary:

Somehow accidentally insulting a hot guy in a coffee shop leads to pretending to be his boyfriend in front of a house full of werewolves. Stiles Stilinski is living his best life and making the most of his Hallmark movie moment.

A Hale for the Holidays

(38095 words) by

rlnerdgirl

Chapters: 1/1

Fandom:

Teen Wolf (TV)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski

Characters: Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale, Laura Hale, Talia Hale, Sheriff Stilinski, Scott McCall, Kira Yukimura

Additional Tags: Stiles is a homeless doctoral student, Derek is a semi-famous author, Shenanigans, Christmas, New Year's Eve, Alternate Universe - Human, New York City, Beacon Hills, Fake/Pretend Relationship

Summary:

“I sent you a Christmas card that got sent back to me. Did you get a new apartment?” his dad wonders. The question is all suspicion and little anything else.

A flicker of an idea sparks. It’s not nearly formed well enough for him to say, “Yeah, actually,” and when he follows that with, “I moved in with someone,” he wants to punch himself in the face. He’s living with someone?!

“You’re living with someone?” It’s the same voice and tone as the one in Stiles’ head, just thirty years older.

Two things keep Stiles from bashing his face onto the table: there’s a steaming cup of coffee in the way and, more importantly, his dad will definitely hear. Someone passes by in front of him and a semi-familiar book cover catches his eye. “Derek Hale,” he muses, and stops. No. That wasn’t meant to be out loud.

Our Kind of Nuts

(22553 words) by

ericaismeg

Chapters: 1/1

Fandom:

Teen Wolf (TV)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski

Characters: Derek Hale, Stiles Stilinski, Erica Reyes, Lydia Martin, Allison Argent, Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), Jackson Whittemore, Vernon Boyd, Sheriff Stilinski, Isaac Lahey

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - College/University, Pack in College, Mama's Bakery, Erica Reyes & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, Lydia Martin & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, Scott McCall & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, Stiles Stilinski & Jackson Whittemore Friendship, Slow Build, Slow Build Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Drinking, Drunkenness, Abused Isaac, Fluff, major fluff, Texting, Tutoring, Minor Vernon Boyd/Erica Reyes, Minor Lydia Martin/Jackson Whittemore, Minor Allison Argent/Scott McCall, Minor Allison Argent/Isaac Lahey/Scott McCall, Cheesy, Fox Erica Loves You, Christmas, pride and prejudice - Freeform, Sappy Derek Hale, Romantic Fluff, Romantic Derek, Romantic Stiles Stilinski, Movie Night, Game Night

Series: Part 1 of

Erica Loves You

Summary:

Stiles doesn't know that reaching out to Erica, a girl from his Psych class, is going to change his entire life. All he wanted was a quiet place to study. Suddenly, he's becoming best friends with Erica, getting a tutor from Boyd, going crazy over this guy who is quite passionate about Pride and Prejudice named Derek, being supportive to Lydia, finding some weird peace treaty with Jackson, and inviting Erica's best friend to live with him, Scott, and Jackson for a bit.

He didn't expect things to turn out like this, but hell, he's not complaining one bit.

Dysfunctional Domesticity

(6973 words) by

yodasyoyo

Chapters: 1/1

Fandom:

Teen Wolf (TV)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski

Characters: Derek Hale, Stiles Stilinski, Lydia Martin, Scott McCall (Teen Wolf)

Additional Tags: Mutual Pining, Oblivious Derek, Jealous Derek, Christmas, Matchmaker Lydia, Stiles is hot, Derek doesn’t know how to deal

Series: Part 4 of

Sterek Christmas Fics

Summary:

Derek schools his features into an expression that he hopes looks wise and profound, yet caring, and not like he was recently thinking about dicks.

-----

Derek has a crush okay? A stupid crush on Stiles, which he will totally get over as long as he can make it through the holiday season without giving himself away.

Fortunately for him, Lydia has other plans.

Double-Booked

(30801 words) by

IndianSummer13

Chapters: 8/8

Fandom:

Riverdale (TV 2017)

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones, Archie Andrews/Veronica Lodge, Archie Andrews & Veronica Lodge

Characters: Betty Cooper, Jughead Jones, Archie Andrews, Veronica Lodge

Additional Tags: Light Angst, Alternate Universe, holiday fluff, Christmas, Smut ahead, First Time

Summary:

“Look, Holden Caulfield,” Veronica says. “It’s not like Betty and I signed up for a vacation with you either. But we’re not leaving now that we’re here, so unless you are, you’re gonna have to share. It’s the fairest way.”

Or, when Betty and Veronica book a stay at a lodge in Vermont over Christmas, the last thing they expect to find is the place already occupied.

to face unafraid (the plans that we made)

(32690 words) by

singsongsung

,

sylwrites

Chapters: 6/6

Fandom:

Riverdale (TV 2017)

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones

Characters: Betty Cooper, Jughead Jones, Veronica Lodge, Archie Andrews, Polly Cooper, Jason Blossom, Alice Cooper (Archie Comics), Hal Cooper, Dilton Doiley

Additional Tags: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Christmas Fluff, Tropes, Tropes Everywhere, the authors do not apologize

Summary:

"You need to show Alice that you’re in charge of your own life. You are the captain of your own soul, Betty Cooper.” Veronica drums her manicured nails against the side of her empty mug in a steady beat, a sure sign that she’s feeling contemplative. “Would you like to know what I would do?”

“Why not," Betty says.

Veronica leans forward. “I’d bring home Alice Cooper’s worst nightmare.” She smirks. “And boy, do I have the perfect candidate in mind.”

 AU.

Stay.

(15357 words) by

paradis

Chapters: 1/1

Fandom:

Teen Wolf (TV)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Allison Argent/Scott McCall, Isaac Lahey/Lydia Martin, past (brief) Stiles Stilinski/Danny Mahealani

Characters: Erica Reyes, Sheriff Stilinski

Additional Tags: Christmas fic, Stiles Stilinski & Lydia Martin are BFFs, angsty, but it's got a fluffy ending

Summary:

He leaves because the press of Derek’s lips and the sting of his teeth against Stiles’ neck are still burning his skin, and he can’t stop touching them, but then he remembers Derek telling him he’s not pack, he never was, and that he doesn’t belong here.

He leaves because Lydia asks him too, but he doesn’t go back to Beacon Hills because no one asked him to come back.

A Holly Jolly Stiles

(7160 words) by

Triangulum

Chapters: 1/1

Fandom:

Teen Wolf (TV)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Peter Hale/Stiles Stilinski

Characters: Peter Hale, Stiles Stilinski, The Pack (Teen Wolf)

Additional Tags: Christmas Fluff, Getting Together, Steter Secret Santa 2018

Summary:

Stiles....goes a bit overboard at Christmas. He knows this. His dad knows this. Scott knows this. The pack...does not.

Or

Stiles is going to give the pack a great Christmas whether they like it or not. And if special attention is paid to Peter, well...

Mother of Dragons

(11985 words) by

Lissadiane

Chapters: 1/1

Fandom:

Teen Wolf (TV)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski

Characters: Derek Hale, Stiles Stilinski, Cora Hale, Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), Lydia Martin, Allison Argent

Additional Tags: Christmas, Fluff, Hogwarts AU

Series: Part 1 of

Mother of Dragons

Summary:

Since Hogwarts had opened its doors to werewolves, many Hale children had apparently come through, wary and angry, refusing to socialize with the other students. And one by one, they’d been sorted into Slytherin, obviously, with the odd Ravenclaw to mix things up.

And then along came little Derek Hale, who’d barely gotten his ass on the stool before the hat was calling out Gryffindor.

Everyone thought it was funny, even now, when Derek was in his seventh year. Stiles, though, found it fascinating.

It helped, of course, that Derek was two years older and hotter than the sun.

[coffee-obsessed-writer]

New Year’s ‘85

Jim Hopper x Reader

A/N: This is my submission for @moonstruckhargrove 1K Writing challenge. My prompt was “I’m not going anywhere”. 

**I should note, this follows Christmas with Hopper & The Waffle Maker. Though I don’t think its 100% necessary to have read that first.**

Summary: After spending Christmas with Hopper and El, you thought your growing relationship with the Chief was going great, until he shows up late for your New Year’s Eve dinner with a rash of reasons it wouldn’t be good for you to be together. But before the clock strikes twelve, you’re determined to get him to open up tell you why.

Words: 5.8K

Warnings: Slight angst, some fluff, mild language, that’s about it

Forever Tags: @kazosa // @sorenmarie87 //  @lefthologramdeer // @rockyhorrorpictureshowstyle // @his-paradox // @letsby

All errors are mine. Unbeta’d and still new to writing Hopper, so please be gentle.

Since spending Christmas with Hopper and El, you and the Chief had been getting closer. It was slow moving, both of you very tentative in how to approach your growing feelings. Around the station, you both kept things completely professional. Even Finlay, who worked Christmas night, had no idea that you and Hopper were becoming more than colleagues after hours. In fact, only Flo noticed any difference at all.

It was New Year’s Eve and the Hawkins Police Department had been far busier than usual. Finlay and Powell had taken the holiday off, so Officer Callahan and the Chief were the only ones on duty. The drunk and disorderly calls started early in the day, then there were several car accidents after that. As the day drug on, you were certain you’d never get out of there. You were nervously chewing on the end of a pencil when Flo stopped in front of your desk, her glasses hung on by a thread at the end of her nose as she peered down at you with a sly grin.

“Got special plans for tonight?” she asked.

“What? No. Why?”

“You’re watching the clock something fierce today. Far more than usual.”

“Oh, well… I have a roast in the crock pot at home. Just hate to leave that thing going for too long, you know? Fire hazard and all that.”

“Mmhmm,” she mused, her lips pursed in disbelief. “Funny though, Chief was saying he needed to be back by a certain time tonight, too. I could be totally wrong but, I have to ask, any chance that’s due to you somehow? I see how he looks at you when no one is looking at him.”

Your heart stopped for a moment, and instead of immediately denying it, you hesitated which gave her the answer she already knew. Flo leaned further over your desk and lowered her voice. “Well, I won’t pry, but having a nice girl like you in his life would be a good thing. Can you just do me one favor? Be sure to throw a vegetable into that man’s meal once in a while, would ya? He just blows me off when I voice concern over how he takes care of himself.”

You stifled a laugh while nodding. “I’ll do my best.”

She gave you a sly wink before heading off back to her desk. Shaking your head, you returned to the work in front of you. Transcribing police reports and typing them up had become tedious and you were just ready to go home and get cleaned up for your dinner with the boss.

The phone on your desk started ringing, so you pushed the reports aside and answered. “Hawkins Police Department, how can I assist you today?”

“You can start by telling me are still on for dinner,” the Chief’s voice came through the receiver, low and raspy, making your stomach flip flop like it did every time he walked into the room.

“Yes, that’s affirmative,” you replied, trying desperately not to grin like an idiot.

“Good. Because after this day, I want to put my feet up, eat some hot food I didn’t have to microwave and wrap my arms around—No! Dammit… C’mon Callahan! You gotta… no! You gotta cuff him from behind…” He shouted away from the receiver, then growled in frustration before he was talking to you again. “Jesus Christ. I’ll call you right back, ok?”

“Sure thing,” you chuckled and hung up when the line went dead.

He never did get a chance to call back, which was mildly disappointing, but the rest of the day seemed to fly by thanks to the flood of calls that did come in. Each one described in fantastic and varying detail some sort of light in the sky over the site that used to be Hawkins Lab. They were coming in so fast, one after the other, you didn’t even have a chance to dispatch out to Hopper or Callahan before they came back to the station.

The calls finally calmed down about ten minutes before your shift was over, and right before Hopper and Callahan returned with several additions for the drunk tank in tow.

“Its crazy out there today,” he groaned, shaking off the snow that had started to fall. “How’s it been around here?”

“Busy. I was just about to try and get you on the radio. Calls keep coming in about some lights in the sky. People are losing their minds.”

“Lights? What are you talking about?” he asked, taking the slips of paper with the calls on them from you, letting his fingers linger against yours. It was subtle, but it didn’t go unnoticed by you at all. “Like, fireworks? It is New Year’s Eve. I imagine some dumbass kids will try to light some off somewhere.”

“They said it looked like the clouds were on fire over the Hawkins Lab site,” you said, but stopped after you saw the look that registered on his face.

“What did you say?” he retorted in a voice that barely broke a whisper.

“Its right there on the sheets. The last call in said it looked like the clouds were on fire—”

“Over Hawkins Lab?”

“Mhm.” You waited for Callahan to pass behind the Chief after having dumped the drunks in one of the cells and leaned in a little closer. “What’s wrong? You look like you saw a ghost.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” he mumbled. “I… I’m gonna check this out. Come here for a minute,” he said and lightly took you by the arm, walking you down the hallway towards the rear exit of the station and out of the back door.

The cold air hit you and immediately made you shiver. Without thinking he took off his blue Sherriff’s jacket and draped it over your shoulders. It was quiet, and the snow was falling softly around you, the only light was coming from the old, yellowed bulb burning over the back door.

“I have to go check this out, but I want you to keep it between us, alright? We’ve had… problems in the past with the Lab and, uh, I just don’t want to freak anyone out. Okay?”

“Yeah, sure Chief, whatever you need.”

“Thanks. And I thought we talked about this Chief crap,” he teased, narrowing his eyes at you.

“We are at work, you never know where there are prying eyes or ears,” you shrugged and thought about Flo spying on you from a window somewhere.

“Well, if there are spies, they are about to get an eyeful,” he teased lowly, and bent down to kiss you lightly on the lips.

Despite the bite in the air, his lips were warm, and you loved how his mustache tickled your face whenever he kissed you.

“You sure that’s a good idea at the station, Chief?”

He rolled his eyes at your use of “Chief” again but bit his lower lip and took both your shoulders in his large, inviting hands.

“I might be late for our dinner,” he said, rubbing your upper arms to dispel the chill.

“That’s ok. Do what you have to. Dinner will keep, I just hope that come midnight…” you trailed off and shrugged, giving him a look of longing to accompany it.

“Come midnight, I was sort of hoping that we’d be doing something else entirely,” he mused and raised a suggestive brow. “But, until then, why don’t you get out of here for the night. I’d rather you be home, safe, before the snow gets bad. El is with Joyce Byers tonight, she’s having some kind of party for the kids, so I’ll come by as soon as I check out these calls, okay?”

���Yeah,” you replied tenderly, “that sounds good to me.”

“Go on, get back inside before you freeze,” he grumbled and directed you back towards the door.

You slipped off his coat and handed it back to him before going back to your desk. “See you before midnight?”

“That is definitely my plan,” he said, and as he put his coat back on, beneath his beard grew the smile of a man who seemed genuinely excited.

“Be careful, please?”

He shook his head slightly at your concern and simply tipped his hat once before turning to leave.

  The pot roast smelled amazing, the potatoes were silky and flavorful, and the handmade biscuits were rising to perfection. It was going to be the best meal you’d ever made, and you were beyond excited to finally have Hopper over at your place for dinner… just the two of you. If he would just get there already. It was getting closer and closer to midnight, and your hopes of a New Year’s Eve date were beginning to fade.

Maybe there had been something going on at the lab site, and he got wrapped up. It had happened before. Sometimes things happened in Hawkins, especially over the last two years and it would be brushed off or explained away, but they were odd happenings; the explanations given for them by the military, even stranger.

Shaking the thoughts away, you didn’t want to start to worry needlessly. You thought of calling the station but calling to randomly ask if the Chief was around may look suspicious, and you didn’t want to stir up any necessary trouble. Pacing the floor, you paused at the phone several times, even picking it up to make sure the dial tone worked.

Nervously chewing on your nails, the clock on your mantel struck eleven, just as a pair of headlights swept across your living room window. Seeing it was the Chief’s truck, you sighed in relief and ran to the door to open it. Even through the snow was still falling, you could see him sitting in the front seat; his head bowed, his hands tightly gripping the steering wheel. Finally, he must have felt your eyes on him, because he picked up his head and slowly made his way out of the truck.

“I’m sorry I’m so late, and didn’t call,” he said once he approached, but made no move to come inside. He seemed off; you couldn’t tell if he was upset or nervous, but either way this wasn’t the same guy that kissed you behind the police station a few hours earlier.

“Its okay, are you alright? Was there something going on at the old lab site?”

He shrugged it off and was struggling with what to say.

“Look, I… I can’t stay after all,” he started, then mumbled a swear under his breath. He wouldn’t meet your eyes either, making your stomach flutter, but not in the way it had earlier when he called you. This wasn’t a good feeling at all.

“Come on inside for a minute, its freezing. Warm up by the fire and you can expl—”

“No, I can’t. I can’t stay. There’s just a lot—(Y/N) getting involved with someone from work…” he trailed off. With his thoughts scattered, his expression and body language screaming of frustration, you had no idea what was going on but you were starting to get mad.

“Why? What’s changed over the last few hours?” you asked, trying not to get too upset or spiral into ranting of your own.

“Nothing. Just thinking…”

“Bullshit. What happened, Jim?!” His head snapped up at your use of his first name, his jaw slacked open in surprise. You crossed your arms over your chest and leaned against the open front door, hoping he would just come inside to talk to you. “Please, just… come inside for a minute at least.”

He growled lowly, the internal argument he was having, clearly written all over his face. “Just for a minute.”

 Once inside, Hopper removed his coat and laid it over the back of the chair. The room was filled with the smell of the fireplace and dinner warming in the oven. You noticed that he picked up on the scent as his eyes drifted towards the entrance of the kitchen.

“So, what happened? When I saw you at the station, things were fine. What happened out at the lab site?”

“Its not about that,” he said unconvincingly. “There’s just a lot that you don’t know. A lot I don’t necessarily want to dredge up…”

You dropped to the couch and sighed. “Please just tell me. Whatever it is--”

“It’s not that simple, (Y/N). Things are okay now, but before, they were very, very complicated. Very NOT okay. Life had just gotten back to normal right before Christmas. Then, you came along and, I didn’t expect or want that.”

You felt a punch to your gut. What happened between you and the Chief on Christmas had felt special, and the way Hopper had kept pursuing you after made you think it was for him, too. And El; at least so you thought. His sudden change in demeanor towards you made you angry and incredibly sad. It was over before it even got started and you felt it was unfair of him, at least without a reasonable explanation.

“Is this about El?” you asked softly, thinking that it must be; because really, what else could it be?

He was quiet. “I don’t know how to answer that. It is, and it isn’t. Look, I told you, its complicated. I won’t burden you—”

“Oh, fuck that, Hop! Why can’t you just say what it really is, huh? Something happened, someone else came along, I don’t know what… but whatever it was in the last five hours that went down, just tell me… you changed your mind and don’t like me that way. Fine. But say so! Don’t try and give me the ‘it’s complicated and I won’t burden you’ bullshit!”

“God… dammnit,” he mumbled and sat next to you on the couch. He took off his Sherrif’s hat and toyed with the brim of it, his head hung to his chest.

“What?”

“I wish it were that simple,” he replied. “The problem here, (Y/N), is that I do like you,” he paused and groaned at his choice of words. “Jesus Christ, you spend a few minutes with teenagers and I start to sound like one,” he mumbled to himself before continuing his thought. “I really like spending time with you and so does the kid. What I meant was, I didn’t want someone in my life. I wasn’t looking for it. El, she was enough. Her and I are trying to find our footing together, as a real family. But you surprised me. Christmas, surprised me.”

“So, then what changed? Please, just tell me,” you leaned over and took the hat from him, leaving it to your side on the couch. You grabbed his hands in yours, though they could barely contain his, and squeezed them.

“If I tell you everything, it could put you in danger somehow.” Hopper dared to catch your gaze, and his normally stoic blue eyes were overcome with worry. “I’d never forgive myself.”

“What danger? Please, don’t make me torture you to extract information. Don’t worry about my safety. I am grown woman who has been taking care of herself since she was sixteen. I can handle whatever you have to throw at me.” Letting go of his hand, you brought your fingers to his cheek and softened your smile. “I like you, Jim. I like El. If it really isn’t a matter of how you feel about me, then please… tell me. I promise you, I’m not going anywhere.”

He searched your face for any trace of a lie. When he found none, he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “You got any liquor? Beer? Anything? This is going to require a drink.”

“Yeah, sure.”

After grabbing a couple beers from the fridge, you came back into the living room and found him standing by the fireplace. He was looking at the pictures you kept of your family on the mantle, but never saw in person anymore.

“Here,” you said, holding out one of the bottles.

“Where’s your tree?” he asked absently.

“What?”

“Your tree… Christmas decorations. Did you take them down already?”

“No,” you said and took a swig of your bottle. “I didn’t have any up. Not a huge fan of it, to be honest.”

“But, you brought all that stuff to my house…”

“Its different when you have someone to celebrate with, Hopper.”

He registered the flash of emotion that welled in your eyes and seemed to have a moment of realization. He simply nodded in understanding and slowly walked back to the couch.

“I, uh, had a family once. Married--little girl,” he paused, and looked to you as if he hoped you already knew so he wouldn’t have to go through it again.

“I know…Flo told me when I first started at the station,” you spoke softly and cast your eyes to the ground. “I’m so sorry.”

“Then you can imagine when El came into my life, being a dad again wasn’t exactly on my radar. I got real used to being the lonely, grouchy guy. It was hard, not to be that anymore.”

“Sure, that makes sense.”

He guzzled half the bottle and used his tongue to wipe the bit of suds on his lip. “El, isn’t a normal kid. She’s had one hell of a life before she came to live with me. Her parents, well—” he just shook his head and sighed deeply. “She was treated like a lab rat. Experimented on at that fucking place. She grew up there, locked in a room and put through these awful tests…”

His voice caught in his throat as he tried to describe the experiments they had performed on her. He was being slightly vague, and as you sat and listened, disgusted with the procedures and trials that were performed on this beautiful, sweet kid, you wondered what they were trying to achieve. Though, you didn’t dare ask.

“How did she come to be with you? How did you get her away from that?”

“I didn’t really. She ran away, and I found her. I hid her for a while until things settled down,” he said with a shrug. “There’s more, so much more, but… tonight when I went out to the lab, it all sort of came rushing back. Everything she’d gone through—we’d gone through—to get her away from there, to put a normal life back together…”

He was trailing off, not making sense again. Hopper realized you were getting lost in his ramblings and slammed back the rest of his beer. Without saying another word, he got up and went to the fridge, returning with two more beers. He sat back on the couch, this time close enough that your knees were touching.

Hopper opened his drink and held it up to yours, clinking the bottles together just as the clock chimed half past eleven.

“Nothing happened out there tonight. It was what I thought, just some dumb ass teenagers setting off fireworks. But on the way back I got a call on the radio. Joyce needed me to get to her place, because El was having a bad night. After all this time, she still has bad nights. I went there to get her, make sure she was alright. Something triggered her to panic, and when she panics…” he inhaled deeply and slowly shook his head side to side, “it can get dangerous.”

“Is she alright? Where is she now? If she needs you, go. This can wait.”

A hint of a smile was on his lips has he patted your knee in reassurance but left his hand there; not that you minded.

“She’s alright. Once we talked, she decided she wanted to stay. Joyce knows how to help her, how to calm her down if she needs it.”

“Oh,” you said, feeling a slight pang of jealousy. You knew he was close to Joyce Byers, they’d known each other since high school, but that didn’t stop you from being a little envious of her closeness to the Chief.

“(Y/N), I panicked. Being at the lab again, seeing my kid having a hard time… it got to me. It had been calm enough that I sort of forgot, you know? That the threat was there. That it will always be there.”

“Threat? What threat?” you asked, but he didn’t hear you, he just kept talking, but more to himself than to you.”

“The whole drive over here I couldn’t help but worry what you would think or say if I told you everything, would you even believe me? Hell, I barely believed it. But it happened. Then, if I did, what could it do to your life? I won’t fuck up someone else’s life. Not like this.”

“Hey, relax. I still don’t get how it would be dangerous, or affect my life, Hop. I’m trying to understand, I am, but I just don’t see how—”

“Do you remember Bob Newby?” he asked suddenly.

“Um, yeah. I remember the name. He was a townie, right? Worked at the Radio Shack I think.”

“Yeah, him. I knew him from school; grew up with the guy. He was dating Joyce for a while, before he ended up dead in that lab.”

Your heart stopped for a moment. You didn’t remember hearing anything about his death. “Recently?”

“Recent enough, just past Halloween. The papers won’t report it. Certainly, won’t hear about it on the news,” he lowered his voice as if some unknown ears were listening, “but I was there and saw it with my own two eyes, (Y/N). I watched this man, who was there to help his girlfriend and her kid, get torn apart by these things that shouldn’t exist.”

Goosebumps broke out across your arms despite the warmth of the fire burning not even ten feet away. The house was suddenly quiet, only the sound of your shaky breath and the crackle of the fireplace could be heard.

“Wh—what?” your throat was dry, not even the beer helping to rectify that. “What did you say?”

“You heard me. God, it’s a long, long story, but what happened at that lab ended in blood. A lot of blood. The military tried to cover it all up. What happened to Will Byers, and, you remember that funeral for Barbara Holland? She was their victim, too.”

“Jesus,” you whispered. “I had no idea. How—how did they get away with all this?”

“They didn’t really. I don’t know, its all still so unsettled to me. But you can see why telling you, puts you in danger. I don’t want that for you. I don’t want to see someone I care about ripped apart or targeted by some shady ass military just because you’re dumb enough to like me.”

He leaned back against the couch and rubbed his free hand over his face. You weren’t getting the entire story, and you thought maybe it wasn’t that he didn’t want to tell you, but couldn’t. El wasn’t the only one who had suffered trauma, Hopper had too, but a man like him would never admit that. He was the strong one, the Police Chief; the guy you go to with the problems, not the guy WITH the problems.

“Look, I can’t pretend to understand everything. What you’ve told me is incredible and terrifying. You and El, you’ve been through something horrific, the Byers family, too. I heard you were there for them during their ordeal while Will was missing. Then to know it was way more than that… no one should have to deal with that alone. I may not have been there, but I can be here for you, now. You just can’t shut me out or try to push me away.”

Hopper’s hand fell away from his face and he turned to look at you. Inhaling deeply, he placed his beer bottle on the table beside him, then took yours from your hand and added it with his. A moment later, he wrapped his arm around your waist and pulled you into him.

His embrace felt safe and warm; even with the chill of what he had told you still in your veins, you knew no matter what happened, you’d be safe with him. You felt his lips press against the side of your hair and closed your eyes to revel in the growing magic of his touch.

The clock over the mantle chimed its short alert for a quarter till midnight. “I’ll be so glad when this year is over,” he mused, but you felt him hold you tighter. “I’m sorry that I came here the way I did. I wasn’t sure how you would take any of this. Hell, that’s not even all of it—”

“Jim,” you interrupted and pushed off his chest to sit up straighter on the couch next to him. “Whatever happened, whatever other terrible things happened because of that horrible place, I will listen to and try to process whenever you’re ready to talk about them. But when you want too, doesn’t have to be tonight.”

“You know,” he sat up with a slight groan of weariness, “there’s something about the way you call me Jim… I can’t tell if you want to kiss me or slap me,” he teased.

For the first time that night, you felt a genuine smile grow. “Maybe a bit of both.”

“They’re all in my life now. You get that, right? El, Joyce, Will, even the other kids. What we went through there, that’s never going to leave us.”

“I get that. But do you get that I like you, right? A lot. That day in the market on Christmas Eve when I saw you digging through those waffles… I don’t know, something happened. A flip got switched and I just sorta fell for you. Every day since then I’ve been trying to figure out what was different. What made that day different over any of the others in the few years I’ve known you.”

“Did you ever figure it out?” he asked, an amused grin on his lips and twinkle in his eyes.

“I think so, at least part of it is seeing you with her. Watching and hearing you talk about her, you get this expression on your face that just lights you up. When you were dancing with her on Christmas, spinning her around, I don’t believe I ever enjoyed a moment more in my life than I enjoyed watching that. You’re a special man, Jim Hopper, and I wish you could believe that. I’m not scared of what you told me. I’m only scared you don’t want to at least give this a try. I’m not easily frightened off.”

“That so?” he asked, his demeanor returning more to the Hopper you had gotten to know and not the one that showed up at your house almost an hour ago.

Hopper stood up from the couch and walked over to the radio that sat on top of the television. He scanned the channels until he found a tune he recognized and turned back around. “I Can’t Help Myself” by the Four Tops was playing and Hopper started to dance subtly at first, all the while keeping his gaze on you and a dopy, sort of love-sick smile on his face.

“If this doesn’t scare you away, nothing will,” he teased, then danced your way and grabbed your hand, pulling you off the couch. “Come on, it’s almost midnight and we’ve missed most of our date,” he held out his hand which you happily took and squealed a little as he tugged you into him and holding you tight, so you didn’t fall over.

“Where did you learn moves like that, Hop?”

“Had to figure out someway to impress girls back in the day,” he said with a chuckle.

As he moved you around the room to the song, though you were smiling and laughing with him, you still felt slightly uneasy about how he showed up at your house. What if he would get scared again, but this time it was after you’d really fallen in love with him and with his daughter? You wanted that, you wanted to be apart of their lives and maybe even one day, their family. But the uncertainty and worry clung to you, not allowing you to fully enjoy the moment.

“I’m not some clingy, nervous person, Hopper,” you said unexpectedly. “I’m not someone who needs constant reassurance, normally. I’ve been independent my whole life. When my mother insisted that I get married and start a family instead of having a career, I left home. I never once let my happiness rest on someone else, or in someone else. Understand?”

His eyes narrowed down on you curiously, but he nodded all the same. “I do.”

“Having said that, I have to ask, are you sure I’m what you want? You said you weren’t looking for anyone, you had enough with taking care of El, getting her acclimated to a new life.”

“I wasn’t looking at all. Hell, a new girlfriend wasn’t even on the radar. I hated the idea of coming here to push you away, but its what I scared myself into thinking what was best. I’m glad you called bullshit, that you didn’t give up on me. That’s what I need in my life. Just so happens it comes from a pretty damn beautiful woman, who, for whatever reason, likes me.”

“Just a little,” you teased, holding up your fingers to show an inch.

The song ended and just as the DJ began talking excitedly about the new year. After a minute or two of the DJ’s incessant babbling, the clock began chiming midnight. On the radio, the countdown begun with the sound of a cheering crowd in the distance. In your living room, Chief Jim Hopper of the Hawkins Police Department, took you in both of his arms and slightly dipped you back as your arms hooked up and around his neck.

“Three, two, one…” he rasped with a cheeky smile. “Happy New Year, (Y/N).”

“Happy New Year, Hop,” you replied and didn’t wait for him to kiss you. Bringing your mouth up to his, you nearly melted against him as he instantly parted your lips and engulfed your tongue with his.

The few times you had kissed him since Christmas, none of them felt like this. He was a surprisingly good kisser, that you knew, but you weren’t really prepared for how sexy he could be doing so, nor how this big, grizzly bear of a man could be so gentle at the same time. Not wanting the moment to end, you let yourself get swept up in him, releasing any fears or inhibitions and allowing the Chief to bear down on you, and claim you as his own.

He walked you back towards the couch, never taking his lips off yours. He turned you around, so he fell to the couch with a thud, pulling you down onto his lap. Leaning you back so your head rested on the throw pillow propped up on the arm of the couch, Hopper hovered over you, his intentions clear through the desire you saw in his eyes. You gazed up at him, silently pleading with him to kiss you again, but he just stared at you intently.

“Stay,” you whispered. “Stay the night with me.”

“What would your neighbors think? The Chief’s truck outside your place, all night long?”

You shrugged. “I don’t care if you don’t.”

“Do I look like a man who gives a shit what most of these yahoos think?”

“Nope,” you smiled and kissed him again.

This time, his hand ran roughly down the length of your body, down to your thigh and squeezing tightly. A low rumble emitted from his chest as he considered your offer to stay. “You sure you want me to? It’s a small town, everyone’s gonna know you’re sleeping with the Chief.”

“They probably already think that. I mean, Flo does.”

“No shit,” he laughed. “No wonder she kept winking at me today. I thought maybe she was getting sweet on me after all this time.”

You couldn’t help but chuckle, then covered his bearded cheek with your hand. “I’m serious. I want you to stay. I still have dinner in the oven, and I would certainly love to cook you breakfast in the morning.”

You pulled yourself up from laying across his lap and grabbed his hat off the end of the couch, placing it crookedly on your head, tipping it down and giving him your sexiest smile and wink.

“Well, when you put it like that… I think I could stay. Especially if you promise to wear the hat later. Looks damn good on you.”

“Deal. So, that’s a yes?” you asked, just to be sure, so your hopes wouldn’t be dashed again.

“I’d be stupid not too. You sure that you’re ready for all of this,” he motioned vaguely at himself and into the air. “Its gonna come with baggage, late nights, sporadically missed dinners, and a very unique and occasionally moody almost teenage girl. Not to mention, being the Chief’s girlfriend will most likely catch you some grief in town. Those old timers like to talk.”

“Your girlfriend?” your heart started to pound, and your desire to get closer to him as maddening. “Is that what I am now?”

“If you can forget everything I said when I showed up here, yeah. I think I’d like that a lot.” He wrapped his arms tightly around your waist, his fingers pulled up the back of your shirt and rested them on your skin. “Nice way to start off the New Year. And the kid, she’ll be really happy.”

“Will she?” you asked, feeling hopeful that you could become a good friend to his daughter.

“When I stopped at Joyce’s tonight, she asked if I was supposed to see the waffle maker. When I told her yeah, that’s when she decided she wanted to stay at the party. She didn’t want me to miss our date.”

“I might cry,” you chuckled, and swiped at the few stray tears that fell.

“It’s partially what freaked me out. She’s already so attached to you, and honestly, so am I.”

“The feeling’s mutual, for both of you.”

Hopper gripped you tightly and lifted you with him when he stood up from the couch. He picked you up and slung you over his should, making you break out into a fit of laughter.

“What are you doing?!” you squealed and playfully smacked his back to put you down.

“Taking my new girlfriend to bed, that’s what,” he growled and playfully smacked your ass. “It’s a brand-new year, gonna kick 1985 off the right way!”

As he carried you off down the hallway and to your bedroom, neither of you heard the walkie talkie come to life in the pocket of the coat he had left in the living room. The static blared for a second before Callahan’s voice broke through muffled and excited.

“Chief! Chief! You there? I got something you might wanna see!”

Tags are open for any future Hopper fics, just send me an ask if you wanna jump on them!

[orphicdawn]

season three. summer of ‘85, before senior year, age seventeen.

chapter one. 

working at the cinema in the starcourt mall, caroline sees the boys and max sneaking into another r - rated movie. shaking her head, she goes over to scoop ahoy and scolds steve. “hey harrington, how many times are you going to let my little brother’s friends into movies they aren’t supposed to be in?” he tells her keep her voice down, but she just shrugs it off, “sorry you have to deal with him all the time now.”

caroline lets the boys, el, and max into the house while her mother goes to pick up dustin. “he will be so excited to see you guys,” she muses as she digs out his power controlled toys. waiting outside, she runs up to him and hugs him tight. “welcome home, dustpan man. it’s been too quiet without you.” once his friends surprise him, she leaves for work. 

she stops in at scoop ahoy to hear the tail - end of steve’s epic fail. “wow, steve. i remember you being more charming like a year ago.” setting down the exact change, she walks behind the counter and makes herself her favorite ice cream : one scoop of rocky road, and one scoop of cookie dough. “don’t let the children into another r - rated movie tonight. thanks, loser.”

chapter two.

dustin wakes her up the next day and begs her to take him to the mall to see steve. “right, i forget your strange friendship with that scooper.” caroline gets ready, and takes him to the mall with her. before she can stop him, dustin runs ahead to meet up with steve. finally catching up, she shakes her head at the sight of them reuniting. “okay losers, have fun. i’ll be over at the cinema if you need anything.” she waves to robin, “you have my permission to keep dustin in line.” 

 “what the hell does that mean?” she asks after she hears them recite the russian communication. dustin instantly moves to her side and pushes her out the door from the back. “hey, dustin what the hell?” he tries to tell her it’s nothing she needs to worry about, but eventually breaks and tells her that he intercepted russian communication, and robin translated it. “woah . . . cool, but that doesn’t make any sense.” she walks out with them as they suggest it’s code, and steve realizes it came from the mall itself. “why do we live in this crazy, nightmare town?” 

chapter three.

caroline is posted at the entrance of the cinema; which she’s using to spy people walking around the mall. she sees dustin and steve hiding behind a plant before they run off towards the escalator. suddenly she sees robin run out into the middle of the lower level. curious herself, she runs forward and meets them. “so what’s it mean?”

she ends up on top the roof alongside dustin, steve, and robin as they test out robin’s theory on the code. they barely escape when dustin and steve draw attention to them. “robin, i can’t believe you cracked it. that’s so awesome!” she pauses, “   ---   but also bad . . . evil russians and all.” 

chapter four. 

caroline shakes her head when dustin suggest getting into that room to find out what is in the boxes, “this is getting dangerous. maybe we need to call hopper.” the three of them immediately shoot down her idea and then robin returns with the blueprints of the mall. “yeah, so dustin isn’t going to fit,” she teases as she helps steve pull him out of the vent. 

caroline is completely against using erica to get into the room, but the rest of the group thinks it’ll be okay. as she is in the back room going over the data robin has collected, she sees steve. “hey, so we can’t call hopper, but telling a ten year old is okay?” he reassures her everything will be okay. as they are sitting on the roof waiting for erica to reach the room, she shakes her head. “operation child endangerment sounds right though.” 

“woah, woah. how about no one dies?” she says as dustin and steve argue. she grabs dustin’s shoulder when steve goes pull out the cylinder out. when the room shakes, she immedaitely turns to the doors. “we need to get out of here . . . NOW!” she grabs erica’s hand, and steps behind dustin ; erica pulls her hand away commenting how she isn’t a wimp. suddenly, the doors slam shut and room drops like an elevator. “we are so screwed! hopper sounds like a good idea now!” 

chapter five.

barely making it out of the elevator, caroline starts down the long corridor first. “come on. if we  don’t want to get caught, we need to start moving towards some kind of exit.” the rest of the group follows before she’s down speaking. she can’t believe they are stuck in this situation ; hawkins is turning into quite the shit show. caroline falls behind with dustin and steve as they theorize that the russians know something about the labs , demo - gods , and mind flayer. “i mean . . . nancy and jonathan helped out them. that news was everywhere for months. russians probably saw it.” 

as they reach the end of the corridor where all the russians are congregated. “jesus!” she whispers as she pushes everyone off to the side to hid behind the containers. “are we trying to be seen?” they quickly make it to the communications room where steve has to knock out a russian guard, and robin finds the control room where they are opening the gate back up. “you’ve got to be shitting me,” she looks to steve and dustin. “they are opening it. . . ” 

chapter six.

caroline doesn’t want to leave steve and robin, but she can’t send dustin and erica off on their own. “come on guys! we aren’t leaving you behind!” she is forced to go into the ventilation without them. “you’re going to be fine!” she motions for dustin and erica to be quiet and move forward. shit!  

she leans back against the vent walls as she listens to dustin and erica bicker over who is a nerd and who isn’t. “you guys, can we just keep moving. steve and robin are in serious danger. they will just kill them if they feel they won’t get anything out of them.”

dustin finds a way back to steve and robin and they are able to get them lose as they try to escape from the russians.

chapter seven.

sitting in the back of the little carrier van, she is already exhausted by the way steve and robin are acting. “yeah, doofus. i could have told you that they were drugged after riding back there with them.” she tries to help guide them out of the building, but they are too high to focus on one thing. dustin and erica help usher them into the side of the building when guards begin to chase after them again. “the cinema. come on!” she tugs steve and robin to forward as dustin and erica lead to the seats below. 

caroline moves back out into the cinema halls to keep watch for the russians and maybe get ahold of someone who can help them. she tries calling every single person who knows about the events from the last couple years, but she can’t get ahold of anyone. the byers, the wheelers, the sinclairs, hopper --- it’s like everyone vanished within the last twenty - four hours. erica and dustin show up saying they lost steve and robin. “great we lost our druggie friends, and i can’t get ahold of anyone in the party!” 

finding them in the bathroom, dustin tells them that they just need to walk out with a large crowd and they’ll go undetected. as they approach the exit, they find the russian guards waiting for them. robin slides down the center of the escalator and caroline pushes on everyone else to  follow --- going down last. they hide behind the great cookie stand.

the guards are taken out by the display car in starcourt. as the group reunites, everyone’s story comes together and starts to make some sense ; everyone has been experiencing the return of the mind flayer. “can we please call hopper now? he’ll be able to get the military here!” but suddenly el falls over as her leg is messed up very badly.

chapter eight.

“jonnathan are you serious? do you know what you’re doing?” she questions as he returns with a knife. everyone just stands by and lets him cut into her leg. caroline holds her el’s hand and whispers “it’ll be okay.” but el is strong enough to get the mind flayer beast out of her leg as hopper, joyce, and murray show up at the mall. “finally!” 

as the party formulates a plan to close the gate, and stop the chaos from spreading, caroline checks on steve and robin. “you guys feeling better? steve that looks really bad. way worse than the times with jonathan and billy.” they laugh a little, before being sent off to get dustin and erica to his radio transmitter to help navigate the adults. 

steve notices that starcourt’s lights are going crazy ; when dustin tries to connect with them they hear a loud roar over the walkie. “they need help!” caroline and robin run after steve as he races to the car to go back to starcourt to help get them out of there. “keep navigating, squirts! we’ll be back!”

as they pull into the parking lot, they see billy racing towards the party. steve picks up speed as he completely rams into the car to stop them. “holy shit . . .” caroline rushes over to the nancy’s car as she climbs in and ends up sitting on steve and robin’s legs. “jonathan drive faster! it’s coming!”

when dustin and suzy start singing over the walkie, caroline leans back and laughs. “jesus, dustin. . .i love my doofus brother.” 

the mind flayer starts to turn around, and jonathan quickly follows. “it must know that el isn’t in the car with us.” they arrive back at starcourt and attack the mind flayer using the fireworks that lucas grabbed earlier in the night. “stay here! i’m going down to get el.” caroline start down to the bottom floor to help el get away. she makes it down to her right as they run out of fireworks. she grabs el and pulls her back “come on, hon! we have to go.” she ends up next to mike and max as she ushers them to move  back ; she shields them with her body. 

the aftermath of the event is the hardest of them all. caroline tries her best to continue living a normal life by getting a new job as a waitress, but the loss of hopper takes a heavy toll on el, joyce, and the byers boys --- enough that joyce choses to move out of hawkins three months later which only has everyone else feeling the loss of their friends, and significant others. 

[clvric-blog]

tag drop. ignore.

[hawkinsgsa]

which  part  of  this  haunted  house  are  you?

THE WINDOWS.

Tell me, do you look inwards or out? You’re a dreamer who feels just a little too much about things just a little too out of reach. There’s a longing trapped inside of you, to be a part of the nature that you look over every day, and you resent the way people look through you with that same longing. They don’t get it. You watch them in the garden, see them get absorbed into nature little by little. They don’t feel it as strongly as you do. Still, when a new tenant moves in, a baby with them this time, you have to look inside as the house moves to absorb them before nature can. It hurts what remains of your heart, your still beating heart that feels just a little too much.

THE NURSERY.

Dear god, there is so much more for you. Time moves differently here; like it starts and stops and replays and rewinds. The days the days the days. They’re cyclical. They’re endless. The house doesn’t think you know, or rather, it won’t let you know. It is afraid knowledge will break you, so it sits you right in the middle of it all, four walls on every side. But you are not naive. You have been broken before. You are breakable and mendable and you have broken and mended. You wish to know more and, in turn, the house will grow around you like a shield of vines and ivy. It festers inside of you, this wanting, this need to be in control of your own narrative. It’s cyclical. It’s endless.

[hawkinsgsa]

𝒕𝒚𝒑𝒆𝒔  𝒐𝒇  𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆  :  𝒅𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒔  𝒂𝒏𝒅  𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒔  𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔

bold  what  applies  to  your  muse. ( repost, don’t reblog! )

𝙱𝙰𝚁𝙱𝙰𝚁𝙸𝙰𝙽 » toothy grins, stories around the campfire, clothes covered in pet hair, hot temper, old jeans, heartbeat in head, potatoes and steak, beaded jewelry, bruises like galaxies, mementos, backpack stuffed full, craigslist furniture, spontaneous road trips, air ripped from lungs.

𝙱𝙰𝚁𝙳 » homemade bread, white lies, easily excited, trying on hats, band geek, pep talks, no impulse control, sunsets, vintage fashion, long showers, selfies, following dreams, rosy cheeks, song mash-ups, pink lemonade with tequila, loves easily, animated storyteller, full of comebacks.

𝙲𝙻𝙴𝚁𝙸𝙲 »   list of wishes, biting their tongue, band-aids and neosporin, shoulder to cry on, morning sun, necklaces, trial and error, homemade quilts, formal clothing, astrology fan, messages in bottles, pleated braids, speaking up for friends, feathers, motivational quotes, vivid dreams.

𝙳𝚁𝚄𝙸𝙳 »   bird watching, shy kid, wind chimes, trying to whistle, summer camp, apple orchards, lost in their head, glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling, hoodies, thrift shopping, saving worms off the sidewalk, latin, bare feet, thunderstorms, numb fingers, braided hair, naming potted plants.

𝙵𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃𝙴𝚁 » goosebumps, leather jackets, adventure, chewing nails, cares deeply but can’t show it, bronze locks, no sleep, taste of iron, netflix binges, never forgets, combat boots, stories behind scars, table for one, official soundtracks, sore calves, trusts themselves the most.

𝙼𝙾𝙽𝙺 » always trying to be better, wanderlust, meditation, sweatpants, old photographs, yoga, sleeping in hammocks, nostalgia, minimalist design, breath of fresh air, baby animals, volunteering, perfectionist, doesn’t care about fashion, healthy snacks, noticing the little things.

𝙿𝙰𝙻𝙰𝙳𝙸𝙽 »   school uniforms, thick jackets, sleeping with the windows open, logical advice, scrapbooking, compasses, i fight for my friends, sculpture gardens, cold morning air, big soul, likes routine, secret romantic, last to get jokes, sunflowers, practical presents, misty weather.

𝚁𝙰𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁 »   herbal tea, smell of rain, blinking away tears, camping trips, collecting bones, swiss army knives, first impressions, anxious thoughts, bobby pins, burnt marshmallows, too competitive, clothes lines, messenger bags, holding grudges, gets along better with animals than people.

𝚁𝙾𝙶𝚄𝙴 » flirtatious sarcasm, candid photos, lost phone chargers, adrenaline rush, picking dirt out from beneath their nails, social chameleon, clashing clothes, self-deprecating jokes, claw machines, sits in chairs wrong, smudged eyeliner, has too many sunglasses, eats nothing or everything.

𝚂𝙾𝚁𝙲𝙴𝚁𝙴𝚁 »   infectious laugh, family trees, shivers down their spine, lipstick and roses, mood swings, clumsy, believing in destiny, high expectations, sleeping in darkness, collection of nail polish, passionate, good grades but never studies, poetry books, blowing kisses, not knowing their own strength.

𝚆𝙰𝚁𝙻𝙾𝙲𝙺 »   knowing everyone’s secrets, backpack covered in pins, envy, being in walmart late at night, earl grey, selective memory, conspiracy theories and cryptids, keysmashing, need to know basis, can’t cook, bags under eyes, experimental art, flickering bulbs, black clothing all year long.

𝚆𝙸𝚉𝙰𝚁𝙳 » piles of books, cat in lap, keeping a diary, indecision, scented candles, studying alone in a café, lingering touches, museum dates, unanswered questions, taking on too much responsibility, collections, chalk dust, comfy robes, unnecessary apologies, coming home after a long day.

tagged by: once again stole from myself

tagging: anyone who wants to!

[hawkinsgsa]

tag drop 2 — character tags