#Eddie and Nancy as the bestest of friends

[steddiealltheway]

Eddie and Nancy start talking to each other as a result of the fruity four hanging out together. It’s not that Robin and Steve are excluding them or anything, but sometimes they’re just on a different level with their weird platonic soulmates psychic communication whatever they call it. Anyways, Eddie and Nancy bond over the weirdness of it, but quickly become good friends.

Like good friends. Eddie is at the point where he thinks he can call Nancy his best friend - sorry Gareth you’re like second in command best friend. Sure, they’re a strange mix, but she’s been there for him even after he came out to her. Shortly after, she had revealed that she thought she might have feelings for Robin, and Eddie was absolutely ecstatic and encouraged her to go after her.

See, Eddie is determined not to lose Nancy as a friend. Because what they have is pretty close to what Steve and Robin have which is really saying something. Plus, Nancy is just a good person, so Eddie would never do anything to hurt her. Which is exactly why the only thing he will never tell her is how strong his feelings are for Steve Harrington.

One of the number one rules is to not date your friend’s ex - especially your best friend’s ex. At least, that’s one of the things Eddie got from the cheesy films that he and Nancy love to watch. But he vows to never ever make a move on Steve, and of course Steve will never make a move on him first.

So, Eddie sees nothing wrong with watching a second movie with Steve after Robin and Nancy have left. In fact, Nancy encouraged him to stay with a knowing smile, and if he didn’t know any better, that smile would mean that he should make a move. But there’s no way. Even though Nancy has feelings for Robin - and looks to be on her way to dating her soon - Eddie will not date her ex - well, attempt to date her ex.

And yes, maybe Robin got permission from Steve to date his ex, but that’s because Steve is just the kind of guy who would never sacrifice Robin’s happiness for his own. Nancy is probably the same way, but that just seems like it’ll leave a bitter trail of resentment.

So Eddie tries not to lean into Steve’s touch in the slightest even when he scoots over and drapes an arm over the back of the couch. He’s entirely on edge through the first few minutes of the movie, and then it becomes worse when he realizes Steve is staring at him. Eddie glances over to ask him if he has something on his face when Steve starts to lean in - eyes locked on Eddie’s lips.

Eddie scrambles back until he’s on the end of the couch. “What are you doing?” Eddie asks, breathing heavily as his heart races.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Steve asks with all the Harrington charm that would make Eddie swoon if he wasn’t so terrified.

“You… you can’t do that,” Eddie says as Steve scoots in closer.

He looks over him then stops. “Hey, if I read things wrong, then I’m so sorry. I’ll let it go. But I really thought you liked me,” Steve says eyebrows pinched together.

Eddie sighs. “Is it that obvious?” Then he freezes as he realizes his grave mistake. He should’ve just taken the bait and said he didn’t like him. Shit. What will Nancy think when she finds out?

Then Steve is smiling again and making his way to Eddie’s end of the couch. He flirts, “If you like me, and I like you. Then, I think there’s a pretty simple solution to those feelings.”

Eddie quickly gets off the couch and backs up until his back is against some wall. “Steve, we can’t do this.”

“Why not?” Steve asks with his head cocked to the side looking entirely confused and adorable.

“Because Nancy!” Eddie explains because it’s clear as day that there’s no way this would work since she’s his best friend.

Steve looks even more confused as he stays sitting on the couch. “I’m not dating Nancy, Eddie. And I don’t like her anymore if that’s what you’re trying to imply.”

Eddie takes a deep breath. “I can’t date my best friend’s ex,” he says firmly.

For some reason, this has Steve standing up and making his way to him with a smile. “You’re concerned about hurting Nancy?” Eddie nods because yeah of course he is. Then Steve is getting up in his personal space again and leaning in. “And what if I told you Nancy encouraged me to make a move on you?”

“What?” Eddie splutters out. There’s no way. He hadn’t even told her about his feelings.

Steve’s flirtatious grin disappears as he looks into Eddie’s eyes. “Eddie, I’m serious. I told Nancy about the way I felt, and she told me to do something about it because you definitely felt the same.”

“I didn’t even tell her,” Eddie argues. And Steve finally pulls away. Then, he grabs Eddie’s hand and tugs him into following him. Before Eddie knows it, Steve has a phone in his hand as he dials a number.

“Hey. Yeah, it’s me… Everything is okay here, don’t worry… Yes, I made a move… And Eddie here is refusing all of my advances because he’s afraid to hurt you… of course.” Steve holds out the phone to him. “Nancy wants to talk to you.”

Eddie reluctantly takes the phone. “Hello?”

“Edward Munson, you better kiss Steve right this instant.”

Eddie’s mouth gapes and then he’s firing back, “Nancy Wheeler, I refuse to date your ex because that’s one of the number one rules of what not to do to your best friend.”

There’s a pause on the other line. “What in the world are you talking about?”

Eddie’s hand goes flying up. “In all those movies the girl is backstabbed by a friend who dates her ex and that ruins the whole friendship! I’m not doing that to you!”

There’s a sigh and then Nancy says, “Eddie. Please tell me you’re not basing our friendship off crappy drama movies.” Eddie pauses as he thinks back to all the advice he’s taken from them. There’s a soft, “Oh my god,” on the other line as Eddie twists the phone cord up in his hand. “Okay, okay. Hear me out. Using those movies as example, you know what every one one of those have in common?”

“No,” Eddie admits quietly.

“The girl never gives the other friend permission, and if she does, she certainly doesn’t encourage her ex to act on it as well! Plus, the girls in all those movies are kind of bitches, and I would like to think we don’t stoop as low as they do.”

Eddie takes a breath and quickly asks, “Nancy Wheeler, please tell me you will not hate me forever if I date your ex.”

“I will hate you forever if you don’t date Steve. Eddie, you’ve been pining after him for months!”

“But don’t you think that will lead to some kind of resentment on your part?” Eddie reasons.

There’s a pause on the other line. “The only resentment will come from you because I’m entirely over Steve, and I want both of you to be happy. Plus… I’m pretty content with Robin right now.”

Eddie smiles as he eggs her on, “Pretty content you say?”

There’s a laugh on the other line before Nancy says, “We’ll talk about this later. But right now you better kiss him. He’s been pining after you for some time too, but I never told you that!”

“I love you,” Eddie says sincerely.

Nancy voice softens. “I love you, too. Now get your damn man.” She hangs up and Eddie carefully puts the phone back on the receiver. He turns to find Steve no longer near him. He wanders back to the living room where Steve sits on the couch, foot tapping quickly as he stares off into space looking so concerned that it’s actually endearing.

“Steve?”

Steve’s head snaps to the side as Eddie gets closer to him. “Yeah?” He asks sounding endlessly hopeful.

Eddie leans down and asks, “Is that kiss still an option or…”

Steve takes a moment to process, but then he’s breaking out into the biggest smile as he replies, “Yes, it’s still an option.”

So, Eddie finally leans in and kisses Steve.

He’s going to have a lot to tell Nancy later, including a solid thank you.

[taintedcigs]

GETAWAY CAR — rockstar!e.m. x f!reader

CHAPTER FIVE: STRUCK A MATCH AND BLEW YOUR MIND

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✦ summary: in which you decide to reveal everything at brunch and chaos ensues. (wc: 8.3k+)

✦ warnings — ANGST!!, like this one is really angsty buckle up! argument </33, yelling, crying, mentions of an ab*sive relationship, it is not detailed by they talk A LOT about it, mentions of bruises, some trauma/making fun of trauma, chrissy being super mean and omfg reader is PETTY, jealousy, pining and slowburn, strong language!, mentions of alc*hol and drg use and a toxic/ab*sive relationship, food!!, steve is silly luv him

✦ pairings — rockstar!eddie munson x fem!reader, past billy hargrove x fem!reader, eddie munson x chrissy cunningham, nancy wheeler x jonathan byers

✦ authors note — ngl this was fun to write LMAO but so hellish to edit JFC IM FINALLY DONE!! a few songs i listened to while i wrote this chapter are; liar by paramore, rwylm by taylors swift, and lover you should've come over by jeff buckley. need to add all those to the playlist asap !! also feel free to chat with me in the asks abt this series (and anything tbh) pls!! and not proof-read pls ignore mistakes!!

series masterlist | series playlist

Counting cobblestones was your best distraction from Robin’s loud groans and the noises her dress made as she stretched it further and further. The sun streamed through the both of you, causing you to squeeze your eyes lightly. 

“Would you let my poor dress go?” You warned without turning to her, hand having a harsh grip on the gin bottle you were afraid of dropping. 

“I can’t, it’s itching!” She groaned, harshly scratching her chest. 

“Why’d you even ask to borrow a dress if you hated wearing them so much?” You threw her a look.

"I wanted to look presentable! But now, I think I’d rather wear a trash bag than ever be this uncomfortable again,” she said through gritted teeth, following you to the doorstep. 

You giggled, “But you know what?” you turned to her with a smile, “You look super pretty in that dress, Robs,” you winked teasingly, earning a groan from her as your hand shakily pressed onto the red doorbell, careful not to drop the bottle that was in your grip. 

A few rumbles were overheard before Steve swiftly opened the door, leaning against the doorframe as he gave the two of you a look, both of you in your sundress, while you held the bottle in your hand like a prized possession and Robin was still scratching her neck. “About damn time, I was starting to think you guys forgot where I lived!” He said teasingly, causing you to narrow your gaze. 

“Whatever happened to hello? Hi? I missed you, my bestest friend, Pinky!” You exaggerated dramatically, “Oh and you totally look so much better than that traitor sitting in my living room,” you spat snarkily, perfectly imitating a bitchy Steve. 

“You know about that?” Steve asked, and you were quick to nod. “Oh, thank fucking god! I did not want to be the one to tell you,” he sighed a breath of relief, a gesture you met with a roll of your eyes.

Steve quickly changed his tone to flattery. “Have I told you how much I missed you, sweetheart?” he said with exaggerated sweetness, “Oh, and you look so pretty!” He continued with an amplified smile, “so much better than that traitor sitting in my living room.” He hummed, covering his mouth sideways, so childlike that it had you giggling. 

Amid the banter, Robin, still visibly uncomfortable, impatiently broke in. “Okay, doofus, are you gonna let us in?” She groaned and brushed past the two of you, making her way to the familiar kitchen.

“Hello to you too, Rob!” Steve responded with a chuckle, before closing the door and guiding you both to the cozy kitchen.

Once inside, Steve couldn't help but ask, “So, what have you got there, P?” His eyes locked on the gin bottle in your hand.

With an excited gleam in your eye, you presented it proudly. “A party gift,” you said with a grin, shaking it gently in front of Steve's face before he took it from you.

"For breakfast?" Steve asked with a huff and a raised eyebrow. 

“We’re going to make breakfast martinis!” Robin chimed in excitedly, her eyes lighting up as she grabbed two elegant cocktail glasses she'd found in Steve's well-stocked kitchen. The crystal-clear glasses made a chiming sound when she set them down harshly.

“You guys have a problem,” he joked, leaning against the kitchen counter while he eyed the way you hurriedly searched for something in his fridge.

“Says the guy who used to shotgun five beers like it was nothing,” you scoffed behind the fridge door. A shushed ‘Yes!’ escaped from your lips when you acquired lemons and a bottle of orange juice from the fridge's depths. 

“And that is not how you make a breakfast martini,” he playfully groaned, stealing your ingredients away from you. Your pout was met with a playful eye roll.

“Oh-kay, fancy pants,” Robin mocked, making you snort with her easy banter.

Steve couldn't help but ask, genuine concern etching his brow, “You sure you’re okay?”

You shrugged nonchalantly, but they both eyed your expressions curiously, almost as if you were a ticking time bomb.

“Oh, c'mon, you two!” You brushed it off, trying to shift the focus.

“We’re just worried about you is all,” Robin added, placing a reassuring hand on your shoulder. Her fingertips were warm against your skin, concern washed over her face.

“It’s perfectly normal to not be okay, you know,” Steve reassured you, his voice gentle. “I mean, it must be hard coming back here after everything-”

“Well, I’m fine, Steve,” you replied a bit more sharply than you intended, guilt settling in your stomach quickly. Steve's comforting stance somehow allowed your emotions to spill out more freely.

“It’s-it’s just such a fucking gut punch that he brought her here, you know?” The frustration in your voice was palpable, tone heavy with pain.

“I know, I know,” Steve empathized, both of them stood by your side, hands resting on both of your shoulders, comedically protective. 

“Want me to beat him up?” Steve said with a serious gaze, hands forming into fists as he playfully punched the air. You and Robin erupted in giggles, as Robin elbowed him playfully, “I think she needs someone better at fights to protect her, you know?” She narrowed her gaze.

“Ow!” Steve dramatically gasped, “Rude!” He pouted. “Thank you, my knight in shining armor, but I’ll be fine." You snatched the gin bottle, moving on to the task at hand – preparing the breakfast martinis as you poured the clear liquid into the glass.

“I’m more worried about your health there,” he hummed, pointing toward the generous amount of gin you poured into your glass. 

“Jesus, when did you become such a priss, King Steve?” Robin mocked further before he gave the two of you a look. 

“I don’t like you two together,” he huffed, hand gesturing between the two of you dramatically, “so mean,” he said, tone exaggerated, and slumped playfully, pretending to be defeated.

“Aww, come on, Stevie,” you pouted, “I missed ya,” with a hum, you gave him a quick, affectionate squeeze in a tight hug. Steve responded with a theatrical cough causing you to roll your eyes.

“What have you been up to? I listened to Robin’s work crush, the whole fucking way…” You enunciated dramatically, drawing a teasing reaction from Robin, who exclaimed, “Hey!” in response.

“Can you believe her name is Lily? Lily… that’s so pretty, she’s so pretty… Like a flower. I mean her hair is so soft, I-I mean it seems soft I never like touched it or anything, that would be creepy-” You mimicked Robin and her fast-talking, and she stuck her tongue at you childishly. 

“Is doofusness contagious? I feel like you’ve been standing too close to Steve.” She mocked with a smirk, taking a jab at both of you, but more so Steve as she leaned against the counter cooly. 

“You’re quick with the comebacks today, Rob, jeez!” You praised, turning back to Steve who was disregarding the two of you with a shake of his head.  

Robin winked at you, before snatching the bottle from Steve’s hand to make herself a drink. “So… Stevie, what about you?” You hummed, leaning in with a curious expression.

“How’s work?”

A proud smile spread across Steve's face as he said, “I got a promotion.”

“Oh my god!” You exclaimed, genuine excitement dancing in your eyes. “Steve, that’s amazing!” His frown had your brows furrowed, “why are you not excited?” You pouted.

“You remember Adam?” He huffed, “the guy from accounting?” Your brows quirked up in intrigue, Steve was quick to nod. 

“He turned out to be a douche,” with a scoff, he leaned further on the courter, his muscles flexing with irritation. “What?” You asked with a frown, “but you said it was getting serious?” 

“Yeah, I guess I was wrong, I dunno,” He shrugged, wanting to seem nonchalant but it was obvious he was hurt. 

Your face fell quickly, “well, what about that other girl you met in the grocery store?” You asked hopefully, nudging him slightly. 

“Didn’t even call me back,” Steve huffed, and you couldn't help but pout at his apparent string of bad luck.

“Stevie…”

“I dunno what’s wrong with me,” Steve admitted, his voice laced with self-doubt.

Your heart ached at his insecurity, and you couldn't help but reassure him. “What? Nothing is wrong with you! Are you kidding?”

“These people sound like the problem to me!” You exclaimed, “I mean look at you! A nice boy with a good job, and that hair? So soft!” you giggled, hand ruffling with his perfectly made hair, which he would usually yell at you for, but now he just looked at you with the most puppy dog eyes. “Harrington, you’re the whole goddamn package.” 

“You mean that?” He sounded so insecure, and innocent, that your stomach was quick to drop, knowing that Steve doubted himself like this. 

“Of course!” you reassured with a pat on his back, “fuck both of them! I’ll get you something to drink.” You winked.

“Please let me make it,” Steve replied with a hint of mischief, narrowing his gaze playfully. “In fact, I’ll make both of you a proper drink,” he emphasized.

“Fine, pretty boy.”

“Rob,” he called out to her with a tilt of his head  “Orange liquor, please?”

Robin looked at him with a puzzled look, “am I supposed to know where that is?” 

A tad exasperated, Steve pointed to a spot on the counter. “Right there on the counter, Rob. Jesus, you never let me look cool.”

“Don’t worry pretty boy, you don’t need her to make you look cool.” You winked teasingly, hand gently placed on Steve’s shoulder to give him a reassuring squeeze, causing Robin to snort behind you as you elbowed harshly to shush her. 

Of fucking course, that’s when they decided to come into the kitchen, you could hear Chrissy’s annoying giggles before you saw her, and Eddie’s face dropped the second he saw the two of you. And all you could focus on was how close they were standing next to each other, Chrissy’s shoulder brushing against his.

You felt sick again. 

Eddie cleared his throat, the laughter in the room dying with it. His sour face grew hot because he heard your compliments to Steve, saw the smiles you gave him, and your hand on his arm. 

Insecure thoughts were quick to race through his mind, why was your hand on his arm? And pretty boy? You used to call him that. And him only.

His thoughts should have driven him closer to Chrissy, to make you more jealous, to have that satisfaction, but all it did was leave a bitter taste in his mouth, another lump he couldn’t swallow, and he stepped a bit back away from her unintentionally. 

“Hi!” Chrissy beamed, and your eyes squinted with her voice, the urge to roll your eyes, and confront her right now was strong. 

None of you answered her, it was awkward, pretty fucking awkward that even Robin’s cheshire cat smile didn’t save the room, Eddie speaking up did. 

“You- uh got any water, Harrington?” It was supposed to be a joke, but the way it rolled out of his jealous lips made him sound bitter as if he was pissed at him. 

Steve, taken aback by Eddie's sudden change in attitude, raised an eyebrow and responded, “Yeah?” He pointed toward the refrigerator, offering some bottled water.

Annoyance seeped through you as they stood there, prickling like a knife through your skin, your gaze narrowed as you tried to avoid looking at them, but it was awkward, so fucking awkward. 

Eddie was quick to take a sip from the bottle, the entire room filled with silence as his gaze never faltered on you, “you got any notes for me?” Eddie said cooly, leaning onto the fridge, Chrissy by his side. 

It was aimed at you, and you totally would’ve missed it if every eye in the room didn’t turn to you. You furrowed your brows in confusion, trying to deflect the attention. "Huh?"

Eddie’s demeanor changed at your confusion, almost like his confidence wore off the second he realized you might not have read it. “The note, you said you’d review it?” His voice held emotion, you could hear it, a pang of insecurity along with betrayal, but you didn’t want to talk about this, and you didn’t want to talk about it in front of her.

“No.” You lied through your teeth, swallowing the lump in your throat when you finally looked at him, like really, really looked at him. 

He looked tired, with dark circles surrounding his eyes, hair even messier than usual, his lips cracked, and you could smell the nicotine off of him, even though he was halfway across the room. 

And there was a slight shift in the way he held himself when you told him you didn’t read it, his tongue rolling inside of his cheek in a sour manner before he straightened up. “Typical,” he spat, he didn’t mean to, it was more supposed to be his inner voice, but he couldn’t help himself.  He couldn’t help the way he felt insecure when he saw you standing next to Steve, and he couldn’t help but show how much you not reading the note shattered him.

“Excuse me?” You scoffed, the air in the room getting tense, Steve and Robin pretending to be distracted while continuing to make a drink, Robin’s clumsy clatters serving as a noisy backdrop. 

“What does that mean?” You asked calmly, maybe it wasn’t as calm as you intended it to be, but he really had the nerve to come for you when he didn’t even realize he was the one who was in the wrong. 

“It means that I wouldn’t have expected anything more from you,” he spat out like he was your enemy, and it hurt, it fucking hurt that he saw you as someone that careless as if you didn’t read the entire note the whole night, as if you didn’t fall asleep to Aurora playing in the background. As if he knew anything. 

Your anger flared, and you couldn’t help yourself, “What the actual fuck is your problem?” Your voice raised, and you straightened yourself, taking a step closer to them as both Robin and Steve’s heads snapped toward your direction, wanting to interrupt, but Chrissy got to it first. 

“Okay, I don’t think we should-” Her screeching voice grated your ears.

With that, your attention turned to her, head cocking in a sharp gesture of anger, “stay out of it,” you warned, both Steve and Robin watched you in full force, almost looking like they wanted to cheer you on. 

Chrissy turned to Eddie as if she was asking for him to say something back to you, but Eddie’s gaze remained on you, unable to process anything else. 

She took a step closer, her head slightly tilted to the side, “Oh, come on, take a chill pill, Pinky,” she gave you a smile, it wasn’t warming, it wasn’t genuine, you could see right through her. This was her catty smile. 

And it almost triggered something in you—the way her head tilted, her hand on her hips, the ‘take a chill pill’ line, it was something you recognized all too well. 

The same phrase, that same annoying octave, and the same hand on her hips when she first “accidentally” started the rumor that you had kissed Eddie—granted, it wasn’t a rumor. It was true, you had kissed Eddie while you and Billy were on a break, but you told her that in confidence, and she broke your trust. Yet, like an idiot, you believed her when she said it was an accident, and that someone must have overheard the two of you talking.

Once Billy found out about the rumors, he barely let you breathe, not only did the fights get more amped up and violent, but he also isolated you from your friends, and mostly Eddie. You didn’t put the pieces together that Chrissy caused the rumor until much later.

Then, at Steve’s party, the same smile, and that same phrase, like you hadn’t caught her with Billy in the bathroom minutes ago. 

And now, she was doing it again, you assumed it was on purpose, or at least it all felt like it was on purpose. And it boggled your mind how quickly she made Eddie believe she was a nice person. Because she wasn’t, and even if she was, your friendship was beyond salvageable now. 

You decided to take a step closer to her, Steve and Robin both jumping on their feet, afraid of what might happen. But you had no intention of doing anything, or even saying anything to her. 

Because you had decided your mind. 

If Chrissy wanted to play that game, then so fucking be it. 

When the bell rang once again, Steve was quick to rise, “Must be Nancy and Jonathan!” he announced, voice almost cracking from the tension in the room. He was quick to scurry off, inviting the main couple inside. You turned to Robin swiftly, almost ruining her balance with the way you snatched the drink from her hand, you took a big sip, downing the contents in one go. Then, without acknowledging either of them, you headed inside, leaving behind the simmering tension in the kitchen. 

-

You were all seated, Nancy and Jonathan side by side, next to them Steve and Robin, and on their right, were the rest of the band, followed by Chrissy, Eddie, and you. 

The table itself looked perfect, you could see that Steve went all out for it, adorning the table with an array of breakfast foods. Plates piled high with pastries, fruit, muffins, and of course, Steve’s special pancakes. He never stopped raving about them, and the second he sat down, he grabbed a generous amount of it to his plate. A pot of steaming coffee sat right by the end of the table, along with your gin bottle sitting right next to it, which was what you had been preferring, because everything was fucking awkward.

You were sipping on your drink like it was your lifeline, Steve and Robin watched you with a concerned gaze, whispering back and forth. 

Jeff, Gareth, and the new drummer you hadn’t met before, Nathan were laughing obnoxiously, and you almost felt like it was all aimed at you.

Maybe you were paranoid, but you assumed they wouldn’t be keen on you, knowing that after L.A. all they saw was a mess of Eddie who wrote nothing but sad songs, which all the lyrics seemed to point in your direction.

“How is pre-wedding life going for the love birds?” Eddie hummed seemingly more content than before.

Jonathan and Nancy both let out an exasperated sigh, giggling like kids after they realized how in sync they were, “pretty fuckin’ tiring,” Jonathan replied, taking a mouthful bite from the pastry he had on his plate.

“You guys are still on for tonight, right? I promised the guy at Hideout at least two songs from Corroded Coffin,” he emphasized the band's name mockingly. 

“‘Course, dude, whatever you need,” Eddie gave him a small smile, a wink thrown in for good measure.

Unintentionally, Eddie shifted his gaze towards you, observing the way you seemed to shrink into your seat, fingers nervously tracing the rim of your drink. Chrissy's eyes followed him, her gaze narrowing as she caught onto the subtle shift in his attention. He leaned closer to you, so close that his hand almost brushed against yours that sat on the table.

Eddie opened his pursed lips, about to utter something, but Chrissy couldn’t let that happen.

“This feels weird,” She hummed, “the last time we were all here, this table was for beer pong.” She giggled, and slightly nudged Eddie.

Eddie gave her a tight-lipped smile before his attention was quick to turn back to you, but you ignored his burning gaze.

“Steve that was a sick party,” She exclaimed excitedly, trying to gather Steve’s attention who was busy trying to locate the syrup for his awaiting pancakes. 

Your head almost popped up simultaneously at the mention… the same party. The same fucking party she tried to kiss Billy. The same fucking party she humiliated you with her words. The same party she made fun of…

“Huh?” He asked mindlessly, almost knocking over Robin’s drink with how fast he was looking for the syrup, completely ignoring Chrissy. “Jesus Christ!” He exclaimed, earning furrowed brows from Robin, who just shook her head at him. 

“I forgot the syrup!” He groaned, getting up from his seat. “I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Robin mocked, as Steve threw her a glare before making a hasty retreat to the kitchen with a string of curses leaving his lips, while the rest of the table tried to soak in the awkwardness.

Gareth was quick to chime in though, “oh, yeah!” he quipped, remembering the party. “You went to that party?” Jeff asked with his brows pinched together in confusion. 

“Yeah, Eddie was selling so he brought me along,” he explained, grabbing Eddie by the shoulder with a chuckle. 

“Oh god, that was the same party you beat Billy to a fuckin’ pulp, dude!” His chuckle grew louder, hand on his stomach.

You and Eddie tensed at the mention of it, while you enjoyed Billy finally not being able to get away with his violence, none of that memory was amusing to you in the slightest. And nor was it to Eddie. 

Gareth turned to Chrissy when his laughter finally died off, “Hey, didn’t we play beer pong together?” 

Chrissy's face lit up with a nostalgic giggle, “oh my god, we totally did!” She exclaimed excitedly, but your gaze remained on your empty plate, unable to contain the rage bubbling inside of you. 

"It was so funny," she began, "Gareth kept missing it, but..."

Your patience reached its limit, and you couldn't help but interject. "When was that?" Your voice tinged with an edge, cut through the chatter at the table.

Multiple heads were quick to turn to you, and Chrissy probably had no clue what you were up to.  Maybe this was a low blow, maybe you shouldn’t tell in front of everyone.

“We were pretty drunk, I don’t remember-” She said meekly, but you interrupted, again.

“I was at that party too, but I must have missed that!” You continued, your words sharp and calculated. And feigning a faux sense of intrigue. Maybe it was cruel, but this was the perfect setup, and Chrissy was falling right into your trap. 

Before she could respond, you pressed on, your tone dripping with sarcasm. “oooh! Was that before or after you tried to hook up with my ex-boyfriend?” Your words hung heavy in the air, the whole table quick to fall silent. 

Almost all eyes except Chrissy turned to you, Robin almost choked on the strong drink Steve made for her. Gareth, Jeff, and Nathan all stopped their inner chatter, while Jonathan and Nancy’s eyes widened in unison.

As the tension continued to mount, Jonathan quickly turned to Nancy, leaning towards her, “Should I do something-” He whispered to Nancy, who didn’t dare to move, watching everything unravel before her. 

“Don’t you dare,” she warned, “she deserves this confrontation. And, I am tired of Eddie pestering us about this; he deserves to know.” Nancy shrugged, Jonathan reluctantly raised his hands in agreement, almost like he was surrendering to her reasonings. 

Chrissy stood there, her voice caught in her throat, mouth agape, unable to utter a coherent response. She was frozen, eyes wide with shock, while her fingers nervously fumbled with the napkin on the table, struggling to find the words to defend herself.

You reacted with a bitter, mocking disbelief, shaking your head slowly. “Shit, or was it after you blamed me for what Billy did to me? You know, making fun of my bruises and stuff?”

“What?” Eddie’s face scrunched in disgust, his eyes flickering to Chrissy, who seemed to shrink under the weight of what she did. Jonathan and Nancy watched with their mouth almost hanging open. Robin had a smug smile on her face, she bit her lip in excitement while watching everything unfold. It was like all of them had been waiting for this confrontation. 

Poor Jeff, Gareth, and Nathan just watched with a confused look, not knowing anything about the deep history between the three of you. 

Chrissy stammered, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment, but once again you didn’t let her. “No, no, wait!” You were relentless, sarcasm cutting through your tone as you playfully hit your forehead in a mocking gesture. “I think it was after you made fun of my parents leaving me, what did you say they were?” You mocked a pensive expression, a dangerous glint in your eyes, “Junkies?” Your gaze narrowed, Chrissy’s stammering continued, and she turned to Eddie desperately, while her vision was getting blurry. 

The room had grown oppressively tense, no one dared to speak, Robin, Jonathan, and Nancy all wore disgusted faces, along with the surprise of you laying everything out on the table, literally. Jeff and Gareth silently oofed, even though they didn’t know anything, they knew that what Chrissy did was fucked up. 

Eddie struggled to process it, your words, the realization that Chrissy had done something worse other than trying to hook up with Billy was hard to sink into his skin.  “What the fuck are you talking about?” He repeated, his entire world almost shattering dramatically.

“Oh, didn’t your sweet, sweet Chrissy mention all that?” You weren’t holding back, every bitterness, every ugliness, you were ready to spit it all at him and Chrissy.  

And you wished it would give you satisfaction, you wished it would make you feel better.

But it didn’t. None of it felt good, none of it filled the void inside of you. None of it helped you get over the betrayal that unfolded right between your eyes. 

None of it helped you get over the cruel look Chrissy gave you when she made fun of your traumas, none of it helped you get over the fact that Eddie told you that you ruined his life, and none of it helped the way your lip trembled when you saw the two of them kiss. 

“Okay, I’ve got the syrup!” Steve chimed in, unaware of everything that had just transpired in the room, his brows furrowed when he noticed the tension, every eye on the table turned to him, except for you, Chrissy, and Eddie. 

Chrissy's desperate gaze fixed on Eddie, pleading for some form of understanding or forgiveness, but his gaze remained unwaveringly locked on you, filled with guilt. Your own eyes were cast downward, remaining on your lap, while you tried hard to fight back the tears. 

Because no matter what, Chrissy betrayed your trust, you trusted her enough to tell her what Billy did to you, and instead of getting help, she tried to kiss him, or actually did kiss him, you never found out the truth—both of them told you a different version of the story. 

She made fun of your parents leaving you. She blamed you for the things Billy did. Like it meant nothing to her. Like you meant nothing to her. 

“Did I just interrupt something-” Steve was quickly hushed by Robin, who pulled him to his seat quickly. “Pinky is confronting Chrissy!” 

“What? Now?” He whisper-yelled, putting down the syrup jar on the table, eyeing the tension between the three of you. Robin nodded, “Eddie’s trying to process all of it, and Chrissy looks like she’s about to burst into tears,” she added. 

“He didn’t know?” Steve’s brows furrowed, “Nuh-uh, don’t you remember how P made us all promise not to tell anyone? You know how she is with her personal stuff,” the two of them whispered back and forth, earning a glare from Nancy that shut both of them up. 

Eddie’s expressions were unreadable, mixed with every possible emotion as he drew a deep breath in a feeble attempt to make sense of everything. “W-what exactly happened?” With uncertainty in his eyes, he faced you, he wanted to know everything. But you didn’t dare to look at him, crossing your arms defensively against your chest—you were in no way ready to tell him anything. 

“I-I wanted to apologize to you, and I wanted to..” Chrissy’s voice trembled, she seemed apologetic, eyes glistening with guilt, but it truly meant nothing to you.

“Shit, you really don’t fucking get it, do you?” You couldn’t help but click your tongue in annoyance, hand on your forehead in disbelief. “This isn’t about your stupid apology.” 

“You knew them, Chrissy,” you continued, your voice quivering with raw emotion, “you were there with me when they left, you fucking comforted me when I cried…” All of it felt too raw for you, your chest tightening the more you remembered it all, “and then you used it as a punch line for a stupid joke, to hurt me.” 

You took a deep breath in an attempt to continue, your heart tightening the more you spoke. “You knew what Billy did to me, you saw the bruises, and you acted like none of that mattered when you kissed him!” 

“I d-didn’t—it was a misunderstanding!” She tried to defend herself, but you didn’t care. 

You were quick to get up from your seat, feeling suffocated. “God, i-it really hurt, it did.” you confessed, your voice trembling as you blinked away the tears. “But it doesn’t anymore because you were dead to me the second you uttered those words.” Your lips trembled.

“And you,” with a tone filled with bitterness, you finally turned to Eddie, really looking at him for the first time. His eyes were filled with regret, brows scrunched up together with guilt. Your hand pointed toward him accusingly, “fucking date her for all I care, you two deserve each other.” 

You stormed off to the backyard quickly, not being able to hold back the tears anymore. Eddie got up the second you did, pleading for your name. The room fell silent again, and just as he was about to chase you, Steve was quick to rise to his feet, intervening with a grab of Eddie’s arm. 

“Give her some time,” Steve’s harsh hold on Eddie’s arm had everyone eyeing them.

“Excuse me?” Eddie retorted, his gaze dangerously fiery. 

“She needs some time, Eddie.” 

“Fuck off,” Eddie warned, gaze dropping to the hold that Steve had on him, his anger simmering just below the surface.

“Man, I’m trying to be helpful right now, you’re the last person she wants to fucking see,” Steve spat, gaze narrowing as he looked at him with disgust. 

That was the breaking point for Eddie, he took a step closer, his anger ready to spill over to Steve, which wasn’t fair, but it had been building up the second he saw how close the two of you were. The smiles you threw at him. The compliments. It was stupid and so unlike him, but with everything, he couldn’t afford to lose you, not again.

And it looked like he just did. 

“That’s not any of your fuckin’ business, Harrington-”

Before the situation could escalate further, Jonathan intervened, stepping between the two of them. “Alright, alright!” he gently defused the tension. “Steve, Rob, go see if she’s okay,” He demanded, the two of them looking at him dumbfoundedly, “Go!” he exclaimed, and Robin was quick to rise from her seat, dragging Steve away from Eddie who was still throwing daggers with his looks toward Steve.

“And Eddie, I need to talk to you for a second.” Jonathan caught Eddie’s attention and tugged at his jacket to the side while Nancy quickly excused herself from the awkward table before the three of them huddled in the corner. 

Eddie was quick to shake off the hold Jonathan had on him, his anger still uncontained. “What?” His voice was raised. 

“You need to calm the fuck down,” Jonathan warned. 

“Why didn’t you guys-” He took a deep breath. “How could you guys not fuckin’ tell me?” His voice was desperate. 

“She told us not to!” Nancy added. “God, I’m such a fuckin’ idiot.” He exasperated.

Jonathan agreed with a nod, “That, you are.” Earning a glare from Eddie, he continued, “I’m sorry dude, but it’s true, you shouldn’t have paraded her around in front of Pinky.” 

“How was I supposed to know?!?”

“You weren’t,” Nancy sighed, “but you knew what happened with Billy, and that should’ve been enough, Eddie.”

Eddie shook his head to disagree, his disheveled hair hung over his forehead, barely covering his pained eyes. “If I knew, if I fucking knew for a second that s-she made fun of, shit-” His voice cracked, struggling to find the right words. The vivid recollections of your pain etched lines of hurt across his face. “God, I saw how much her parents leaving crushed her, Nance. I was there, I comforted her.” Nancy could sense the hurt in his voice. 

“Every time she came over to a Munson dinner, every time Wayne told her she was family, every time Wayne did somethin’ for her... I-I could just see how much she appreciated it. Wayne, and me…” 

His voice continued to tremble, and tears welled up in his eyes. “And I saw those goddamn bruises that fucking asshole left, s-she was shaking, Jon- I-I knew how hard it was for her, if I…”  He took a shuddering breath, voice still shaky, and gaze glistening with unshed tears.

His hands moved in agitation, desperate to defend himself and express his guilt. “If I… If I knew for one goddamn second that she made fun of that, I w-would’ve never!” He punctuated his words desperately, hands rubbing against his face in disbelief.

“I know, I know,” Nancy reassured with a soothing voice, both she and Jonathan reached out to rub his back comfortingly. “I think she’s just upset right now, Ed.” Jonathan spoke up.

“I mean can you really blame her? I know you didn’t know anything, but the moment she came back to the town, the first thing she saw was you and Chrissy kissing… it was probably a tough pill for her to swallow.” Nancy mumbled.

Jonathan was quick to add with a soft-spoken plea, “Give her some time, and then you can apologize, okay?” He nodded, trying to take all of the information he acquired in the last five minutes

“I also think you have someone else you need to talk to,” Jonathan whispered, gaze pointing toward Chrissy who had been itching to speak to him, her gaze repeatedly flickering in their direction.

And once Chrissy realized Eddie looking back at her, she was quick to get up from her seat, shoulders slumped as she approached him. She eyed the way Nancy and Jonathan gave Eddie a slight smile and a nudge on his shoulder before they left. 

Her eyes were glossy, face red. “C-can I talk to you?” She stammered.

“Y-yeah,” he conceded, a hint of uncertainty in his voice, not able to help himself when his head turned toward the sliding door, wanting to get a glimpse of you but blocked by the figure of Steve.

“I-I should’ve told you what I did.” Chrissy sighed, swallowing the lump in her throat as she took a deep breath.

“I-I’m sorry. I just…” She recollected her thoughts, “you were like the only one who didn’t know and it just… It felt nice to hang out with someone who didn’t shun me out.”

“Steve, Nancy, Jonathan… even Robin, the second they learned what I said, they didn’t even look me in the face!” Her voice cracked.

“And I know I probably deserved that but that was so long ago and I…” Her gaze fell toward the floor, she felt embarrassed, she should’ve never done that to you, and she did have her reasons, but she also knew none of them would ever justify what she said. 

“I was just miserable and bitter and P-pinky didn’t deserve any of that. I know that but…” Her head snapped up, her tearful eyes locking with Eddie’s, “I really had fun with you these past couple of days and…”

Eddie was quick to interrupt her, shaking his head, “Chrissy…” He sighed, fingers rubbing his temples in an attempt to comfort himself, it was too much, everything was too much.

And he didn’t want to be here, he didn’t want to talk to her, he didn’t want some pep talk from Jonathan and Nancy, he only wanted you.

He wanted to tell you how sorry he was, and how much of an idiot he was. Even though he didn’t know anything. But he should’ve known better. He should have.

And he felt the guilt gnawing at him, consuming him from the inside.

“I really felt like we had something-” Eddie was quick to dismiss her.

“Chrissy, I’m sorry I should have never done this, I-I’m such a fucking coward.”

“W-what?” Chrissy asked, her voice breaking again, tears brimming in her eyes. “I should’ve known,” she sighed, shutting her eyes briefly to avoid the tears.

Eddie let out a confused hum. “I-I mean I kind of did, I saw the way you looked at her, the way your eyes lit up unintentionally whenever someone mentioned her. The smile you had when she talked to you… You were never ever like that with me, not even for a second.”

It took Eddie a few seconds to process that, he knew he should’ve never done anything with Chrissy, he never should’ve tried to defend her to you, he should’ve listened to you. He was an idiot. 

Chrissy was right. It was you. It had always been you. 

“I didn’t- I didn’t fuckin’ mean to but I think like back in my mind, I did all of this to make myself feel better because I knew she might be coming back and I just wanted to make myself feel like I got over her. I-I know that’s incredibly shitty and I’m sorry-” 

“So you just used me?” She spat, feeling like a pawn in a game she did not want to be a part of.

“N-no! That’s not what I tried to do! I just… I just, I’m sorry that it came off that way… I thought I could you know… do this,” he mumbled, pointing toward the space between them.

“I can’t and I never should have tried.”

“What the hell does that even mean?” He could see Chrissy’s hurt turn quickly to anger, and maybe five minutes ago, when he didn’t know what she did to you, he would’ve apologized for being a dick, and for doing something as stupid as this. But he couldn’t be apologetic to her, not anymore.

“I-it means it’s always been her, and it’s always going to be her, Chrissy,” Eddie admitted, something that he should’ve realized a long time ago, and Chrissy wanted to laugh at that.

Of course, it was going to be you, it was always you. 

Billy, and now Eddie. No matter what she did, she could never compete with you. You didn’t even have to do anything and they would devote their whole fucking life to you. 

And it pissed her off, made her bitter. Which wasn’t fair, which didn’t make what she ever did or said okay. But her mind justified it. Fueled her to say those things to you. 

Eddie, struggling to process Chrissy's words, stammered in disbelief, “I can’t even look at you after what she told me. How could you be so cruel?” The way he viewed Chrissy changed in a matter of seconds, disgust overtaking his senses. 

But Chrissy found that amusing. She chuckled bitterly, shaking her head. “Me?” She pointed an accusatory finger at him, “You just admitted that you basically used me. Jesus Christ, you’re an asshole.”

“And I’m really sorry about that,” he said, his voice filled with sincerity, “that isn’t what I intended to-“

Chrissy, still seething with anger and disappointment, didn't give him a chance to finish. “Save it.” She rolled her eyes, hand defensively pointing toward him.

Gareth, Jeff, and Nathan suddenly appeared, intruding awkwardly into the already strained atmosphere between the two of them. Gareth was the first to speak up, attempting to break the tension. He cleared his throat and said, “Uhhh- hey man, we’re gonna take off.”

“You comin’?” Jeff inquired, standing beside Gareth.

 “Uhhh, no? I need to talk to her.” Eddie replied firmly.

“Seriously? You’re still running after her?” Gareth bit back, Jeff tried to elbow him to shut him up but it was no use.

“I’ll see you guys tonight.” He said through gritted teeth, not in the mood to deal with Gareth’s hatred for you.

“Chrissy, you comin’?” Gareth was quick to turn to her, and she nodded quickly, before throwing a harsh look at Eddie.

“Jerk,” she mumbled under her breath, leaving off with them.

“I did deserve that.” Eddie sighed, mumbling to himself before he finally decided to meet all of you in the backyard.

-

You leaned back on your seat, eyes still glossy but you looked happier, a giggle leaving your lips at something Steve said. 

And it hurt Eddie to see that, it hurt because your teary eyes were all because of him, and you were giggling only because of Steve.

It wasn’t like this before, he was the one who always made you happy, he never made you cry, he never uttered horrible words to you like he did yesterday. 

Was it all doomed? 

Did the chance for the two of you pass by and both of you were too much of an idiot to realize it? Did he manage to fuck everything up with just barely two days? 

Your laughter died down the second your gaze met his, breath getting hitched in your throat. He looked guilty, those shaggy bangs falling messily on his forehead, hand stuffed into the back of his black jeans.  Walking over to you with such shyness that your gaze softened, you didn’t want to be like this with him. It was never like this before. 

But it hurt so much that you could feel your chest swell with the pain. His words, Chrissy… you couldn’t pretend like none of it happened anymore. 

“Can we talk?” 

“Dude, I just told you-” Steve was quick to interject, and it brought warmth in your stomach, the feeling nicely seeping into your skin, knowing that your friends truly cared about you, and how much they would do to protect you. 

They had done it with Chrissy, you never asked them to do anything, but the second you told any of them what happened, they didn’t even throw her a second glance when they ran into her ever again in this damned town. 

And it meant so much, knowing that there were people you could count on, a sense of protectiveness and security that your parents never provided for you. But you liked that, you liked having them, an untraditional way of family, but your family regardless. 

“Harrington, will you fuckin’-”

You interrupted both of their stupid dick-measuring competition with a sigh, “It’s okay, Steve,” you murmured, throwing him a smile before squeezing his arm gently. “We do need to talk,” you nodded off toward Eddie, dragging him off to the other side gently, away from all of them.

“Look, fuck- I’m so sorry, okay?” He started, his voice apologetic.

“Eddie, please-”

“No, no, let me talk, please,” he breathed out, desperate, his gaze mirroring yours, fingers brushing on your arms, gentle, pleading. 

“I’m sorry, I’m a fucking idiot, I’m the biggest fucking idiot in the whole world.”

“Y-you never ruined my life, okay? You could never, even if you tried your hardest. Even if you did the worst possible thing to me. I could never see you like that. I could never see the worst of you.”

“I-I shouldn’t have done what I did, I shouldn’t have brought her everywhere, and I shouldn’t have tried to defend her to you.”

“E-eddie, stop” you gulped, interrupting him, “You-you’re confusing the fuck out of me… You tell me I ruined your life, and then I read those stupid notes-”

“You read them?” Eddie’s brows raised in surprise, an idiotic grin curling on his lips.

“Of course I did.” You muttered, avoiding his gaze.

“But you said-” 

“I wanted to piss you off,” you admitted with a meek voice. 

“And what did you think?” He asked, hopeful, still feeling nervous with the way you were so calm, he knew nothing good was gonna come out of this. 

“That I-I can’t do this.” 

“I mean, the song is really great…” You muttered, and you wanted to mention the other note, how much it crushed you and how much you wished it could change anything, but you couldn’t handle it anymore. You couldn’t handle seeing him, you couldn’t handle anything about Eddie. You needed some time apart. 

“And I’m glad you realized you fucked up but I… I’m just so tired,” you sighed, licking your lips to get some sort of encouragement to say the things that you were about to say. 

“I-I can’t do this back and forth with you anymore,” you huffed. 

“I mean just look at us! I’ve been here for almost two days and look how many times we fought and then pretended like nothing happened! T-this isn’t how we used to be,” you bit on your lip, tasting the bitter taste of metallic blood, just so the tears wouldn’t spill. 

“I know…” he muttered, “but why didn’t you just tell me? Then… and even now?”

“I-I was embarrassed,” you muttered shyly. His brows scrunched, embarrassed? why would you be embarrassed for the shitty things she did?

“Why would you be embarrassed?” He asked.

“Because it was true, Eddie,” you blinked away the tears, settling with that uncomfortable feeling.

“What are you talking about, what she did was fuckin’ cruel, and if I knew-”

“N-no, it was true.” You huffed. “Deadbeat parents and an abusive ex-boyfriend… like how cliche could I fucking get?” You wanted to laugh bitterly.

“I-I’m a mess and she’s right… And so were you! It was such a gut punch when you said it to me, but you were right.” Your lip was wobbling, eyes squinted. “I-I ruined your life and-”

“No, don’t fucking say that-”

“But it is true!” You exclaimed with a sad expression, “I ruined your life and I-I should’ve never tried to re-enter it, and I should’ve left you alone.”

“I-I’m sorry, for everything, for LA, I could say that as many times as you need me to…” you sighed. “but I promise you don’t have to worry about me anymore.”

“W-what?” He stuttered, still struggling to process your words.

“I told you Eddie, I don’t want to do this. As we said, we don’t have to talk to each other this weekend, and afterward, I’ll be gone.” 

“You won’t ever hear from me or see me again.” 

“But that is not what I want!” Eddie exclaimed, desperate, he didn’t want to lose you, and he was going to. There was nothing he could do to stop it. 

He already lost you once, and maybe he could blame you for that, but this one. It was all him. 

He tried to reach for your arm, to touch you again, to feel the warmth he felt a night ago like everything would be just as it was five years ago. But you were quick to take a step back away from him. 

“But it’s what I want.” You tried to speak calmly, your cracking voice fast to fail you. 

“W-what about the album cover?” 

With a touch of bitterness in your tone, you retorted, “I’m sure you can find someone much better than me.”

“C’mon, Pinky, you can’t be serious, that’s like a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing-”

“I’d rather be stuck at the record store for the rest of my life,” you muttered bitterly, words cutting through him. You could see how much they were hurting him, but there was no other way, you had to protect your own feelings. 

Staying away from Eddie was the only thing you could do to stop hurting yourself and everyone else. You had already caused enough problems for everyone in the room. 

Eddie's voice turned somber as he uttered, “So, this is it?” A sense of defeat washed over him.

“We’ve been doing it for the past five years, why should it change now?”

Because I want you. 

Because I haven’t been able to do that for the past five years either. 

Because I could never stay away from you. 

Because it has always been you, from the moment we met. 

Because I love you. Always have, always will.

Was what he should’ve said, some grand speech, something to sweep you off your feet, something to change your mind. Anything. So he wouldn’t lose you again, so you could finally realize how much he cared about you, how much he would always care about you.

But nothing came out of his trembling lips, not even a sound.

He stood there, feeling as if time froze around him. Like he was stuck, everything around him moved, but he didn’t, he couldn’t.

He watched you go back to Steve. Steve comfortably threw an arm around your shoulder and let you know that you could stay here with him and that he would drive you to The Hideout tonight.

And it should have been him. Him, who offered to take you to his place. Him, you spent the rest of your day with.

Him, who you ran off to whenever you felt sad or when your heart was broken. He couldn’t accept that he was no longer the one you ran to, but the one who caused all of it. 

✦ final authors note — OKAY. so please let me know if u want flashbacks in the next chapter bc thats what i had in mind but idk how yall feel abt flashbacks but i swear they will reveal A LOT LMAO.

also please interact/reblog/like or give me any feedback to support me ily &lt;3

permanent taglist (lmk if u want to be added): @mandyjo8719 @kellsck @batkin028 @hideoutside @sashaphantomhive @nabiiturner @andvys (ILY.) @siriuslysmoking @plk-18 @emxxblog @babyloutattoo89 @micheledawn1975 @sole-screws @joannamuns9n @trixyvixx @fangirling-4-ever @browneyes528

[forever-rogue]

if that rb was asking for requests…. kisses that start out passionate but grows more delicate + brushing lips together, lingering for a moment, catching your breath, with eddie? love your writing So much you never miss 💗

AN | Friends to lovers! Pining! Misunderstandings! It’s all here 🥺🥰

Warnings | Mild Language 

Pairing | Eddie x Fem!Reader

Word Count | 3k

Masterlist | Main, Eddie 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

“You’re drooling,” you jumped at the sound of Steve’s voice, almost dropping the hot chocolate you were currently sipping on. You turned and offered him a very pathetic little glare that only caused him to laugh.

“I was not drooling,” you insisted haughtily, “I was looking at the books on that top shelf.”

“I didn’t know Eddie was a book,” fuck. You were so screwed - Steve had caught you red-handed and he would never let you live it down. He might have been your best friend, but he certainly wasn’t afraid to give you a hard time, “it seems like you’re super into reading these days.”

“Steve,” you looked at him with the best puppy dog eyes you could muster up, “please don’t say anything. If you love me, you’ll let it go.”

“Fine,” he sighed dramatically as he bit into his chocolate croissant. Crumbs flaked all over his sweater, which you instinctively brushed away. What you didn’t know was that that happened to be the precise moment Eddie looked over at the two of you. A deep frown settled on his pretty features, “you should just tell him, you know?”

“Tell him what exactly?” you grabbed a napkin and wiped at the corners of his mouth. He made a small sound of content as he swallowed his bite.

“That you’re in love with him!”

“Shut up, Steve!” you hissed, looking around to make sure no one had heard him, clamping your hand over his mouth. Thankfully, no one so much as looked in your direction. You let out a small sigh of relief, “I’m not in love with him! Maybe like..o-or something like that.”

“As if,” he pulled your hand away and raised an eyebrow, “you’re in love with him, he’s in love with you. So…why not finally make a move?”

“Because you’re wrong,” you exhaled deeply before hanging your head. If only what Steve had said was true. It would have made everything so much better, “he’s not…no. He’s just my friend, just like you. And that’s all that either of you will ever be.”

“Excuse me,” Steve scoffed, “I am your best friend. Get it right.”

“The bestest of all time,” you promised softly, reaching up and gently touching his face, “don’t know what I’d do without you, Steve.”

“Suffer,” he teased, but you knew that he was probably right, “luckily you’ll never have to find out.”

“Good,” you let him wrap you up in a tight hug, relaxing into his touch. Besides being a fool, Steve always knew what to say, he was just kind and golden-hearted in that way. But…he might have had a bit of an ulterior motive to his hug. Unlike your obliviousness, he was fully aware of the fact that Eddie had been watching the two of you like a hawk. 

If he couldn’t get you to confess your feelings, maybe he could get Eddie to. If Eddie was jealous enough of Steve, surely he would be pushed into saying something. Right? Right. Steve happened to be a naturally affectionate person, so it wasn’t unusual for the two of you to be touchy-feely. He was just going to ramp it for as long as it took.

Steve Harrington had a plan.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Movie night this week was at Steve’s house. How perfect…and totally planned. Not just by Steve this time, but naturally Robin had to put in her two cents and the chaos duo that they were came up with a grand idea.

You were in the kitchen, getting snacks when Steve came in and joined you. The kitchen was open to the living room and you could see everyone starting to get comfortable for whatever movie Nancy and Jonathan had picked out. Mostly, your eyes were glued to Eddie, watching as the pretty boy talked to Dustin. He'd caught your eye a few times and exchanged soft smiles with you, but you just couldn't bring yourself to go over to him.

"Hey babe," Steve was being a little loud, louder than he normally was, but you just chalked it up to the fact that the house was buzzing with the whole gang, "what'cha getting for snacks?"

"The classics," you stated as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Steve stood behind you and wrapped an arm around your midsection, resting his chin on your shoulder. You warmed up to him, both of you fans of physical touch and leaned into his touch, "popcorn, chips - two different kinds since the kids are picky, pizza has been ordered, and there's plenty of sodas!"

"You're the best," Steve whispered, pressing a kiss to the side of your head. He looked into the living room quickly to make sure Eddie was looking over. Thanks to Robin's little idea of sitting across from him and chatting so he'd be forced to look your way. Steve turned his head and hid his face, trying not to laugh out loud, "the absolute best."

Everyone made it through the first movie without issue, save for Max falling asleep for a little bit, head resting on Lucas’ shoulder. They were too cute for their own good sometimes. But a bathroom and refuel of snacks break was called and you decided to go to the backyard to get some fresh air for a few minutes. It was pretty outside, the stars were out and the moon was full, and everything felt so calm and tranquil, which was a far cry from what you normally experienced; naturally you had to take advantage.

You heard the sliding glass door open and expected it to be Steve or Robin, but ended up locking eyes with Eddie. Your breath hitched in your throat as you smiled softly…unfortunately he didn’t return the smile, only offering you a stiff nod. You walked over to him, instinctively reaching for his arm and out a hand on his strong bicep.

“Hey,” your heart was beating nervously as you looked at him, soft eyed and honeyed smiled, “everything alright?”

“Yeah,” he insisted, relieved (and disappointed) at the loss of your touch on his arm. Your expression faltered, not quite sure why he seemed so distant with you. He’d been distant lately, you realized. How very strange, “‘s alright.”

“Eddie,” did you have to sound so sweet and innocent when you said his name like that? It made him want to melt into a puddle at your feet, “are we okay? I feel like you’ve been..off lately. Did I do something?”

His big brown eyes widened as he looked at you in disbelief. You had no clue - no clue that he was desperately in love with you. So much that it made his heart ache every time he saw you and Steve together. Either you were a great actress, or you were really so blind. You must have - you were dating Steve after all. A thought that never ceased to grind his gears. He shook his head and tried to play it off, “no, sweetheart, you didn’t. I’ve just been…busy.”

“Busy,” you repeated softly and he just nodded, avoiding your eyes, “oh.”

You sounded so heartbroken at his obvious lie - you were. He looked at you and shrugged lightly, giving you a small, but apologetic look, “sorry.”

What exactly was he sorry for? Sorry for being in love with you while you dated his friend? Sorry for being lovesick and heartbroken over you? Sorry for being scared and running away from you? Realistically it was all of the above. 

“Okay,” your lips formed into a pretty, plump pout. Eddie wanted nothing more than to kiss it away, to kiss you until it was all better, to kiss you until you realized that you were it for him. You rocked back and forth on your heels for a moment before gently pushing past him, “I’ll see you around, I guess.”

“Wait, sweetheart - “ but you were already gone and back inside, closing the door behind you. You hadn’t waited for him to say anything else, already feeling the tears stinging at the back of your eyes. You didn’t want him to see you cry, so you opted to run away and let the tears roll down your cheeks in peace. Eddie groaned at him, scrubbing a hand over his tired over, “fuck.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

It had been just about a week since the fiasco at movie night. Not that anyone besides you and Eddie were privy to that piece of information. The two of you had avoided each other like the plague since, neither of you ready to fully discuss what had happened. 

This particular night found the lot of you at the county fair, ready to indulge in overpriced and overly fried food, games, and rides. Plus the baby animals, that part was always one of your favorites. The younger kids had split off, promising to meet up at the front when it was time to leave. 

That left Nancy and Jonathan, with the couple wandering off on their own, and you, Steve, Robin, and Eddie. Of course. But - the little chaos duo had another plan up their sleeves. 

Robin tugged on Eddie’s sleeve and motioned with her head in the direction of the food area, “ready to try every single disgustingly fried thing?”

“Duh,” Eddie didn’t hesitate to high five her and trail after her, turning around to give you and Steve a small wave. The fact that he saw Steve’s arm around your shoulders made him scowl; it was so painfully obvious. Mission accomplished.

“Hey,” you turned to the boy and reached for his hand, “can we go and look at the baby animals first? I don’t wanna go too late in case they need to sleep!”

“I…” the look he gave you was nothing but fond affection. He took your hand and laced your fingers together, nothing new or foreign to either of you, “I would love to.”

You made a small sound of delight before pulling him along with you. The cherry on top was that you opted to take the quickest and most direct route to the stables, which just happened to be right through the food stalls. This moment was practically writing itself at this point. 

Robin could barely hide her glee when spotted the two of you, making sure to move around Eddie so he would see the two of you. And did he ever - he was practically glaring daggers at Steve. 

“She looks pretty tonight,” Robin commented innocently as she looked after you, “her dress is cute.”

“Mhmm,” he agreed through gritted teeth, “sure does.”

“Yeah,” Robin sighed wistfully, “she’s got great style, and she’s pretty. But also so smart and kind like…that’s dream girl status.”

“I guess,” yes, he wanted to scream, yes. You were his dream girl; you had been since the day he’d met you. He’d just been too much of a wimp to make a move and lost to you King Steve. He wanted to punch himself at the idea. 

“Well,” she looped her arm through his, “maybe one day, she’ll meet her dream man.”

“Too bad she’s already met him,” Eddie couldn’t help it. He wanted to pout and be sad, and he figured if anyone understood, it would be Robin. She looked up at him and raised her eyebrows, internally screaming at the fact that their plan was finally coming to fruition, “his hair’s stupid.”

“What are you talking about, Eddie?” she asked softly, doing her very best to keep an innocent look on her face. So much for having no acting skills, she thought, take that Steve. 

“Steve,” he sighed in exasperation, trying to cut some of the bitterness out of his voice, “she’s dating Steve! She’s in love with him. Her dream man.”

“Eddie,” oh yes. It was all coming together, “she’s not dating Steve. They’re best friends. They’ve known each other since they were like five-years-old - they’re more brother and sister than anything.”

“What?” Eddie’s eyes almost bugged out of the sockets as he tried to wrap his mind around what Robin had said. Surely…there was no way. No way that Eddie Munson might actually have a chance with you, “but they’re so…touchy?”

“That’s just how they are,” she shrugged as she moved up in line and placed their order while the boy seemed to malfunction, “they’re affectionate people. All touchy-feely. But trust me, Steve Harrington is not her dream man.”

“So…” Eddie held his face in his hands, heart beating wildly, “where did they go?”

“Knowing her, probably to see the baby animals,” Robin shrugged, trying to contain her excitement. Eddie nodded before turning on his heel.

“I gotta go!” and he was off and running after you without anymore. Robin sighed in content as she grabbed the plate of food and made her way over to an empty table to wait for Steve. 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

It wasn’t but a few minutes before he joined her, looking giddy as ever. The two of them high-fived, “I saw Eddie coming so I just kinda ditched her. I’m sure the rest will work itself out. Operation Lovestruck is a success!”

You hadn’t even noticed that Steve had left your side, enthralled by the little lambs and sheep. They were all clambering for your attention, which you eagerly gave them, crouching down and petting their soft fur. It wasn’t until a shadow loomed over you that you realized you hadn’t been paying attention.

“Steve-” you stood up but found yourself face to face with Eddie. His face was a mix of excitement and nerves as he smiled softly at you, “oh. H-hey Eddie.”

“Hey,” his voice was too soft for his own good, “can we talk?”

“Yeah,” your worst fears started swirling around your mind. He was going to end his friendship with you. He was going to call out for being a creep over him. He was going to tell you that he despised you. It had to be something bad, right?

You followed him out of the stables and to the back, where it was more quiet and secluded. He stopped and turned to you, soft brown eyes studying you intently; no one had ever looked at you like that before. Your stomach was practically bursting with butterflies as you tried to find something, anything, to say. You were left speechless as you looked back at the pretty boy.

It happened before you knew it. Eddie’s warm, gentle hands cradled your face as he leaned in and kissed you. You accepted his kiss, eagerly and happily, closing your eyes and leaning into him, wrapping your fingers delicately around his wrists. He was kissing you like it was the last thing he would ever do, like it was the only he ever wanted to do. You melted like putty in his touch, letting him kiss you dizzy.

You parted for just a moment to catch your breath, exchanging shy smiles before he pressed his forehead yours. But you wanted more; now that you had a taste you never wanted to let go. You captured his soft lips with yours, kissing him gently and softly, in no particular rush but wanting the intimacy of closeness with him.

“I really like you,” he whispered after a few moments of blissful silence in which you exchanged a few more soft kisses.

“I kinda figured,” you teased, “after the whole you know, kissing me thing.”

“I thought you were dating Harrington,” he confessed and you looked at him in confusion before breaking into a fit of giggles. A pretty blush colored his cheeks, “don’t laugh! It’s not that far of a stretch.”

“Steve? Eww,” you laughed and that helped him to relax, “he’s like my brother, I’d never…no.”

“Fuck,” he breathed out in relief as he reached up to touch your face, his thumb gently brushing over the apple of your cheek, “if I knew that I would said something a lot sooner. I just-”

You cut him off by kissing him again, catching him by surprise as he gasped lightly before kissing you back. You really liked kissing him, “you know, the funny thing is Steve kept pushing me to tell you how I feel.”

“How do you feel?”

“I really like you,” you echoed his words and brought the biggest smile to his face. He could get used to hearing that, “do you wanna go and look at the baby animals with me and then stuff our faces with fried food?”

“On one condition.”

“Name it.”

“I get to kiss you more,” there was a cheeky little grin on his face as you pressed a kiss to his cheeks, “lots more.”

“Definitely,” you promised and reached for his hand, “now let’s go! We gotta see the babies before they have to go to sleep!”

Oh yeah. Eddie Munson was a sucker for you.

[strangersatellites]

AU where eddie and steve are going to have dinner with steve’s ex-girlfriend/longest best friend and her girlfriend/ steve’s bestest best friend and eddie is woefully under prepared.

the ex, nancy, works for some government agency, like the CIA or some shit and her digital footprint is nonexistent. eddie knows. he’s looked. there’s not a photo of her to be had anywhere.

even robin’s socials only have pictures that she’s barely in. a blurry picture of her hand holding a glass. her holding a menu in front of her face from across the table. shit like that. robin called it a soft launch.

well, actually she called it a “not really soft launch because everyone already knows about her so i’m not really launching the fact that i have a girlfriend so much as i am the fact that she’s her and because she’s her she can’t be photographed a lot at least not anywhere that’s going to be shared publicly but the principle is still the same as a soft launch where you would slowly post pictures with details implying that you were dating someone but you guys already know i’m dating her so it’s not quite that but that’s the idea. you know?”

eddie is impressed by her lung capacity.

eddie’s a bit of a hipster in his approach to social media as well, only posting grainy black and white photos of guitars or coffees or occasionally steve.

so he gets it. kind of.

so you can imagine eddie’s surprise as they’re walking up the sidewalk to the restaurant and he sees the female version of himself.

it’s cold out so they’re both wearing long black coats and boots. she’s got curly brown hair and is wearing a lot of jewelry. rings specifically, on the hand that’s holding a cigarette up to her mouth.

eddie does a double take when he sees it’s the same one he’s holding his own cigarette with.

steve calls down the sidewalk, “robbie! nance!”

and even the scowl that she wears for a split second before she realizes who’s yelling looks just like eddie’s own resting angry face, as steve calls it.

the only real difference is that she’s tiny.

where eddie’s pushing six feet she looks barely five and a half.

he’s brought a little comfort that by the fact nancy looks as shocked as he does. spending about ten seconds just staring at each other before he barks out a laugh.

he holds up a hand in front of himself and sees the recognition flit across nancy’s face as she catches on. raises her own and moves it in unison with eddie’s. turns her head to the side when he does and barely conceals her laugh.

“so i guess you’re eddie then?” and even her voice is strong and teasing in a way eddie’s knows steve likes because he’s told eddie he likes his.

he reaches out an arm to wrap her up in a hug.

“in the flesh and blood. the mysterious nancy wheeler, it’s a pleasure.”

he turns and looks at steve and robin where the former is flushed red in the face and has a hand covering his smile while robin is physically bent at the knees covering her laughter.

“stevie you never told me your ex could be my doppelgänger.”

au august day 11: doppelgänger

[sanguineterrain]

stranger things masterlist

ONE-SHOTS.

✩ sweeter than this.  ─ steve harrington x reader

you and steve take the gang apple-picking. (fluff, pining, the kids being cute and trying to get steve and the reader together).

✩ somebody to you.  ─ steve harrington x reader

you’ve never been kissed. steve changes that. (fluff fluff fluff, best friend!steve, inexperienced reader, first kiss). 

✩ we got a lovin’ thing.─ steve harrington x reader x eddie munson

eddie, as it turns out, is the only one with a brain cell among the three of you. (or: the time you didn't know you were all dating). [didn’t know they were dating, fluff, getting together].

✩ adore you.  ─ steve harrington x reader x eddie munson

when you and eddie learn that steve has never celebrated his birthday—and had no intention of letting you know he even had a birthday—you two make it your mission to give him the best birthday ever. secret parties, however, aren’t always easy to keep secret. (mild angst, birthday fluff, steve harrington feeling loved!!)

✩ lampshade.  ─ steve harrington x reader

after an encounter with your high school bully, you're reminded that you don't have to be alone with your insecurities. (plus size reader, insecurity, bullying, sweet boyfriend steve)

✩ you were made for lovin’ me.  ─ steve harrington x reader *

you and steve haven’t seen each other in a week. he’s desperate. just how you like him. (sub!steve, *smut 18+ only!!!)

✩ no other will do.  ─ eddie munson x reader

you're home from college for the holidays. eddie's playing a show and he wants you to be there. how can you say no to the boy you've been in love with since freshman year? (friends to lovers, pining, eddie playing his sexy mf guitar)

✩ no more lonely nights. ─ steve harrington x reader

steve comes home from starcourt, bruised and battered. and you're there. you always are. (friends to lovers, hurt comfort, s3 steve, bed sharing, confessions)

✩ let me know that it's real. ─ steve harrington x reader

you get stood up for a date. steve finds you first. (reader is stood up, friends to lovers, steve is the bestest. the BESTEST!!!)

✩ i'll put us back together at heart. ─ steve harrington x reader

it's 1987. you haven't spoken to steve harrington in nearly five years. then dustin henderson tells you about a sweet deal he has at family video, where he can rent any video he wants. (ex-friends to lovers, angst with a happy ending, steve and reader always find each other).

☆ it's a feeling that's fine. — steve harrington x reader

you accidentally climb the wrong fence on the hottest day of may. it turns out to be the best thing that's ever happened to you. (summer romance, strangers to friends to lovers, sweetheart steve, unconventional first meeting)

☆ redamancy. — steve harrington x reader

redamancy (n.) - the act of loving someone who loves you back; a love returned in full // or, four times you kissed steve harrington, and one time he finally kissed you back. (friends to lovers, mutual pining, fluff, mild canon angst, kissing!!)

SERIES.

'ABOUT A BOY' UNIVERSE ─ eddie munson x gn!reader

a series of snapshots between a gender neutral reader and their first relationship with the one and only eddie munson.

BLURBS.

▻ kissing steve aaaallll over his face ‘cause he’s a pretty boy!

▻ going to a drive in movie with eddie

▻ werewolf eddie being sweet on you

▻ the first time you use a pet name on steve

▻ giggly comfy cuddles with steve

▻ steve and eddie sharing the bed (steddie)

▻ best friend pining!steve who greets you with back hugs

▻ steve comforts you after a terrifying nightmare

▻ steve helps you "study" (based on the steve/nancy s1 scene)

▻ steve has glasses. you go feral.

▻ robin confesses her love for you on a snow day

▻ werewolf steve needs some comfort and cuddles

▻ steve finds old poetry eddie wrote about him (steddie)

▻ you read to steve and pine over him

▻ you visit steve in the hospital while he's loopy on pain meds (s4 hurt steve)

▻ cowboy!deputy steve captures you, a slippery outlaw (suggestive/nsfw)

▻ outlaw!eddie visits you, his favorite bartender

▻ steve gives eddie an incentive to finish their morning run together (steddie, nsfw)

dividers by firefly-graphics

[strangerthingsreversebigbang]

In case you missed them, here are the next ten works posted from the Stranger Things Reverse Big Bang!

---

A Chance to Fly by @karadanverss | Art by @madwomanwithawarehouse

Rating: Teens and Up

Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply

Characters(s):

Steve Harrington, Jonathan Byers, Nancy Wheeler, Will Byers, Eleven | Jane Hopper, Martin Brenner, Bob Newby (Stranger Things), Lonnie Byers, Jim "Chief" Hopper

Relationship(s): Jonathan Byers/Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler

Summary: Jonathan Byers has never been like his peers. In addition to being socially awkward, and odd, he was born green. If that wasn't enough, he had power like no one in the town of Ozkins has ever seen before. When he goes off to school to keep an eye on his brother and sister he makes some unlikely friends, and despite what he's expecting, he starts to see a real future for himself in Ozkins. Unfortunately, nothing is quite what it seems and it isn't long before Jonathan isn't quite sure what he's gotten himself into. -- Wicked AU.

Simple As That by @fuctacles | Art by DragonChris

Rating: General Audiences

Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply

Character(s): Eleven | Jane Hopper, Lucas Sinclair, Max Mayfield, Erica Sinclair

Relationship(s):

Relationship(s): Eleven | Jane Hopper/Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair, Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair, Eleven | Jane Hopper & Maxine "Max" Mayfield & Lucas Sinclair, Erica Sinclair & Lucas Sinclair

Summary: Sometimes, home is a girl, her boyfriend, and the freeloader on their couch.

or

Erica, the bestest sister ever, visits her brother for the weekend and makes Lucas question what exactly is happening between him, Max, and El.

Unseen Connections by @klausinamarink | Art by @yellowsweater-bluevest

Rating: Teens and Up

Warning(s): Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Character(s): Will Byers, Eleven | Jane Hopper, Mike Wheeler, The Party (Stranger Things), Joyce Byers, Jonathan Byers

Pairing(s): Will Byers/Mike Wheeler, Will Byers & Eleven

Summary: It's a miracle that Will Byers was found alive after a week of being missing. But Will doesn't feel like a miracle. Some days when it gets too much, he retreats into the void where he speaks to a girl with superpowers.

Only You (Until It Is Done) by @rajumat | Art by @alduade-art

Rating: Mature

Warnings(s): Graphic Depictions of Violence

Character(s): Steve Harrington, D'artagnan "Dart" (Stranger Things), Dustin Henderson, Robin Buckley, Eddie Munson, Billy Hargrove

Relationship(s): Steve Harrington & Dart the Demodog

Summary:

Trapped in the Upside Down after the night in the tunnels went horribly wrong, Steve is doing his best to pick himself up and keep going. Sure, his only company is Dustin’s ill-advised “pet demodog” Dart. And sure, they’re being hunted by the largest demogorgon that Steve has ever seen.

But it could be worse!

It’s not like the Russians are running their own experiments in the Upside Down or anything.

Fic 008 in 2024’s Reverse Big Bang!

Still The One by @faithfulcat111 | Art by @karadanverss

Rating: Teens and Up

Warning(s): Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings 

Character(s): Steve Harrington, Jonathan Byers

Relationship(s): Jonathan Byers/Steve Harrington

Summary: Sometimes things fall apart. But sometimes they can come together again.

In the Library There Lived a Hobbit by @formosusiniquis | Art by @thefreakandthehair

Rating: Teens and Up

Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply

Character(s): Steve Harrington; Eddie Munson; Robin Buckley; The Party; Wayne Munson; Original Child Character

Relationship(s): Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson; Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington

Summary: Steve Harrington has always been a romantic. He spends his time in his head imagining possible futures with strangers, but one in particular has really caught his attention: the mysterious son of Wayne who comes to Baby and Me every week with his granddaughter Lucy. When opportunity knocks, Steve is quick to suggest that this mysterious dad starts volunteering at the library. Enter Eddie Munson, a high school crush, and now Steve has to deal with the fantasy single dad he'd been imagining being real, in the library, and reading fantasy books to kids twice a week.

I'm just gonna swim (until you love me) by @just-my-latest-hyperfixation | Art by @hereforanepilogue

Rating: General Audiences

Warning(s): Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings

Character(s): steve harrington, eddie munson

Relationship(s): Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Joyce Byers/Jim "Chief" Hopper (mentioned)

Summary: He came here to distract himself from his thoughts about Hawkins and all the things he left behind. Most of them horrible; most of them things he hopes he’ll never have to experience ever again. The horrors that still haunt his nightmares. The hatred and the bigotry of the fine townspeople. But also … But also. Also the only people he’s ever called friends. The ones who stuck with him and defended him, even when everyone else called him a freak and a murderer. Who not only dragged him out of literal hell, but stuck around after. When the mobs and the torches and pitchforks were gone, and the wounds were scarred over, and his name had been cleared, but the rumors and the looks and the goddamn whispers remained. He’s been trying to forget about the past for two years. And now it’s standing in front of him in skinny jeans and a striped polo, pretty and perfect and kissable as ever, measuring him with an expectant look. — Or: The one in which Eddie goes to the aquarium and finds his past (and maybe his future) in the shark tank.

Let's Leave Nothing Unsaid by @salamandergoo | Art by @alduade-art

Rating: Mature

Warning(s): Graphic Depictions of Violence

Character(s): Robin Arellano, Finney Blake, Steve Harrington, Robin Buckley, Gwen Blake, Dustin Henderson, Jeff, Gareth, Eddie Munson

Relationship(s): Robin Arellano & Finney Blake, Robin Arellano & Steve Harrington, Robin Arellano & Eddie Munson, Robin Arellano & Robin Buckley, Steve Harrington & Robin Buckley

Summary: Robin Arellano thought that if they could just get out of the basement of their kidnapper, he and Finney would be okay. They’d return to their normal lives. But normal was different, and years later he finds himself in Hawkins, Indiana on a desperate search to find his best friend. And then two days later, he’s searching again. Why can they not catch a break?

Worth the World by @lemonlimelights | Art by @anaccidentwaitingtohappen

Rating: Teens and Up

Warnings(s): No Archive Warnings Apply 

Character(s): Mike Wheeler, Steve Harrington, Will Byers, Eleven | Jane Hopper

Relationship(s): Steve Harrington & Mike Wheeler, Mike Wheeler & Eleven | Jane Hopper, Will Byers/Mike Wheeler, (Minor) Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson

Summary: Steve and Mike give each other pep-talks in their own unique ways, and it works! The almost end of the world is rough but they can figure it out together.

Don't Stop Burning by @whataboutthefish | Art by @yellowsweater-bluevest

Rating: Teens and Up

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Character(s): Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley, Nancy Wheeler, Jim Hopper, Eleven, The Party

Relationship(s): Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington & Robin Buckley

Summary: Escaping from Hawkin’s Laboratory had been hard, prying Papa’s phantom claws out of his mind took every strength he had. Seven thought that would be the hard part, but when he finally got free, running through unknown land with no direction to go he realized it had only been the beginning of this nightmare he was running from.

---

Stay tuned for more incredible works from the Stranger Things Reverse Big Bang!

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[homiesexual-or-homosexual]

Undead

Pairing: Monster! Eddie x reader

Summary: dustin hides now not dead and very alive and very much a vampire eddie in his basement. the whole group knows except you. steve tells Eddie that it’s not smart to see you but eddie doesn’t care. so eddie just like breaks out of dustin’s basement and goes to find you

Warnings: Plot divergent, mike is bad at keeping secrets, steve is maybe a little mean to heartbroken and kinda lonely eddie, happy reunion at the end <3

———

Grief. It’s all you feel. Other than the numbness that’s fogged your brain.

You barely feel anything than those two feelings anymore.

After loosing one of your bestest friends and potential life partner about 3 months ago now, you feel lost. You’d buried yourself in rebuilding and replenishing the town after Hawkins was hit by a massive earthquake, and buried yourself some more in your job at the local record store. Woodwork, food making, cloth folding, box packing, record restocking, and home chores are all you know now.

You barely see your friends anymore. While you cross paths as you work at the makeshift shelter in the Hawkins High gymnasium, you often work on the other side of the large room. You feel their eyes but you ignore them, not ready to face them yet.

But unbeknownst to you, and all the other older kids/adults of the group, Dustin Henderson has been hiding something too. Rather than hide himself from the world, he’s been hiding someone. Someone that was supposed to be very dead and very not alive.

Well, that someone did die, but he’s alive now, again. But different. Physically and mentally.

This very alive someone has large, ratty, bat-like wings and fangs, like some otherworldly creature. His nails grow fast and are sharp, but he tries to keep them cut short, nervous chewing does it’s work on keeping the nails/claws short as well. Some senses seem enhanced as well too. Hearing, smell, sight (especially as night), and taste. He can eat fine and normal food, much to Dustin’s amazement and bewilderment.

But Dustin could only keep this secret for so long. When Mike opens his big mouth and spills the beans to Nancy, Nancy is so shocked that her first instinct is to drag Mike to Dustin’s and barge into the basement to find a very alive Eddie Munson.

Upon the discovery, Nancy calls her first emergency group meeting in Dustin’s basement, despite his and Mike’s protests. And Nancy spills the secret to the rest of the group, with definite proof.

The group panics and bickers amongst each other until Erica speaks up.

“What are we gonna tell Y/n?” She asks.

The group goes quiet at the same time Robin blurts, “We can’t tell Y/n!”

Eddie, who’s been sitting off to the side, stands and asks, “Why not? Are you afraid she’ll be frightened of me?”

“Yes,” Nancy answers.

Eddie opens his mouth to protest but Nancy continues.

“It’ll be like seeing a ghost, Eddie,” Nancy tells him. “You died in front of her. Sure, you’re still you, but you’re not you anymore.”

“But-“ Eddie starts.

“Eddie,” Steve grabs the boy’s attention. “It’s been three months since you died. She’s still acting like you died yesterday. We’ve barely seen her, much less talked to her. She might quite literally die from shock from seeing you, especially with the way you are now.”

“How I am now?” Eddie snaps.

“You’ve got fangs now, man,” Steve defends his statement. “And wings. And claws.”

“I keep them short!” Eddie protests.

“That doesn’t matter now!” Steve starts to raise his voice. “She can’t handle you! She’s not well! She needs help before we introduce this new you to her!!”

“But maybe she’ll get better when she sees me!” Eddie protests again.

“No! Eddie!!” Steve sighs heavily, squeezing the bridge of his nose. “Eddie, just listen to me. It’s too soon, man. Just give her some time.”

“So I’m just supposed to hide down here for who knows how long?” Eddie asks, voiced lowered but dripping with irritation.

“Yes,” Steve answered. “I’m sorry, but yes.”

Eddie huffed, throwing himself down onto the couch in the basement.

“Can you ever go outside during the day anyway?” Robin asked, a little sass to her voice.

“Yes,” Eddie grumbled, crossing his arms.

Unbeknownst to quite literally everyone in the room, Eddie came up with a plan.

After everyone left and Dustin went to bed, and was in bed for at least an hour, Eddie would sneak out through the basement fire escape. Once out in the world, he’d make his way to your house. The only obstacle left would be getting into your house, hopefully through your bedroom window that you possibly left unlocked even after all this time.

The air is tingly. The smell of fresh leaves, blooming flowers, and the day’s cars waft through the air. It’s cool and smooth, better than the warm, stuffy air of Dustin’s basement.

Eddie makes his way through the streets, going by heart to the way to your house, but he decides to go the long way around. He slows as he passes the trailer park. It seems that the earthquake hit his former home the hardest, only a few new homes have been placed and their respective properties have been cleaned up. He shakes his head of memories and picks up his pace, making his way to the suburbs on the other side of the woods that borders the Hawkins trailer park.

A few of the house’s lights are on, but most are off. Cars are parked in the driveway. He doesn’t see the two story he’s looking for and keeps walking, making it important to stick to the shadows.

It’s a few moments before he comes up on the familiar oak that covers a majority of the front yard. Eddie makes his way to the side yard and climbs the scrangly cherry blossom tree so he can make his way into your backyard. He climbs the trellis filled with orange trumpet vines and practically starts shaking when he sees the lilac curtains shielding his view from your lit bedroom window. Eddie feels his wings vibrate as he makes his way to the window. He tries the little lip on the bottom of the window and it gives, letting him be able to slip his fingers between the window sill and window.

Eddie lifts the window more and stops when it abruptly squeaks. He pauses, listening for footsteps. He doesn’t hear footsteps, or any noise that indicated, but what he does hear is the muffled lull of The Call of Ktulu, playing from the vinyl that Eddie had gifted you for your birthday.

The boy tries the window again, successfully lifting your window without any noise.

He slips inside, parting your curtain.

Your room hasn’t changed one bit. Your bed is still against the opposite wall from the window, nestled into the far corner. Your desk is against the wall to the right, facing away from the bed and adjacent from your bedroom door and the window Eddie just slithered through. Your closet sits in the wall next to your desk, filled with your shirts and his, a little three drawer dresser sits under the shirts, your shoes filling one of the corners inside the closet. And your, rectangular shaped, nightstand sits beside your bed, the record player that eddie gifted your sits atop it, sitting beside the lamp that sat closest to your bed. Though the room is a little messy, your laundry overflowing a little and some and some water bottles litter your desk and nightstand.

“Eddie?”

You. You stand in the doorway of your room, looking like a deer in headlights. You’re dressed in pjs, a large t-shirt and some shorts. You look tired, exhausted even.

“Is that you?”

Eddie wills his mouth to move and vocal chords to vibrate but it’s as if his body forgot how to function. So with no air entering or exiting his lungs, he goes for a simple nod. He suddenly feels nervous and the previous shaking from before comes back.

You stand there for a few moments before taking a step forward. And then another. And another. Until you’re crashing into Eddie’s chest and pulling him down by your arms wrapped around his neck. You’re practically choking him with how tight you have him wrapped in your arms.

Eddie hesitates before squeezing you into his own hug. He’s crushing you in a bear hug and stuffing his face into the side of your head. The metalhead doesn’t even realize he’s crying until you’re both pulling away from each other and his cheeks are cold. Eddie holds you by your forearms, and you cling to his wrists.

You’re crying too. Eyes are bloodshot and a river of tears flow down your cheeks and drip down onto your plush carpet flooring. You laugh a little bit, taking in a shuttering breath.

“Hi,” Your breathing stutters, and you take a hand away to wipe at your cheek.

“Hi,” Eddie responds. He moves his hands to cup your cheeks, smudging the wet tears aside.

“You look… different,” You point out, eyeing his new characteristics.

“Really?? I hadn’t noticed,” he says with a toothy smile on his face, and that’s when you notice his fangs. They don’t look too sharp, but sharp enough to cause some damage.

“Oh,” Your eyebrows raise in surprise. “What are these?”

You move your hands to poke at his fangs, testing their sharpness with the pad of your pointer finger.

“Careful,” he mumbles so he doesn’t accidentally prick your finger by talking. “They’re kinda sharp.”

“I see that,” You tell him. “How have you been? Where have you been?”

“Umm tired, hungry, and a little grumpy,” Eddie lists off. “And been down in Dustin’s stuffy basement with like zero outside time.”

“Dustin’s basement?” You press.

“Umm yeah,” Eddie scratches the back of his neck nervously. “Everyone else might’ve known i’ve been alive for about three months now. But nobody told you cause they didn’t want to upset you or anything, and they didn’t want me to come “hunt you down” or anything. Cause I assume you’ve been pretty down since I like… died and everything.”

“Three months?!” You seem to latch onto that first before processing everything else. “Hunt me down?? Did you actually die or what that something that I just imagined??”

“Uhhmmm yeah…” Eddie’s nervous now, twiddling with his hair now. “I did die, for like a couple days I guess. And Dustin said when I “woke back up” I had the wings and stuff. And I guess they didn’t know if i’d be Eddie Eddie or like Monster Eddie, or if i’d go on like a weird predatory killing spree or anything. I guess no one’s ever died and then come back with wings and fangs, y’know. You’re not mad or anything?? I hope???”

You sigh heavily, “No, I’m not mad. I guess irritated? That Dustin and everyone else decided to let me grief for like three months despite you being alive for that period of time. But I’m very glad that you’re alive and well, if not a little different as well.”

“Hey,” Eddie spreads his wings a little. “I guess I give better hugs now!”

“Yeah!” You agree. “Are you hungry?”

“Very. Chicken nuggets and poptarts aren’t very good breakfast and dinners for three months straight,” Eddie tells you.

“Good,” You move and grab his hand. “Spaghetti it is.”

He follows after you, happy as a puppy. Eddie’s happy to be back, officially now. And with his favorite girl of all time that truly does love him completely and unconditionally.

[pbs-theundeadmaggot]

first love // Something to believe

🎶something to believe by painting promises

(AU) Steve Harrington x fem!reader

[a/n] back from the grave and ready to start writing again I introduce to you... a new series! this is just the beginning of a new and painful adventure for our favourite boy Stevie, hope you enjoy! btw the upside down doesn't exist, Eddie lives and Nancy isn't Steve's Ex (everything else is normal though).

[warnings] none!

first love masterlist here!

Almost thirty and still painfully single, you’d come to the conclusion that maybe love just wasn’t for you. Sure your parents and friends loved you but nobody was In Love with you. Since freshman year of high school you’d been aware of your lack of romantic interests, wether it was Chad from biology who asked you out as a dare or Jake from math who was about as interesting as watching paint dry, nobody had seen you; nobody had wanted you. 

Except for Steve.

At 14 you weren’t sure if it was his adorably nervous smile or shining brown orbs that drew you in but since the first moment your eyes met you fell head over heels for him. No matter how much your parents hounded you on your feelings for the cute chestnut haired boy you chalked everything down to a right place, right time kind of thing. In secret you were a fool in love, smiling like an idiot any time his name was mentioned and in public you were simply a best friend, his best friend.

 While time passed and fate crowned him as the infamous ‘King Steve’ your feelings never faltered. Growing day by day, minute by minute, even when you were deemed a glorified personal assistant by his other so called ‘friends’, shunned aside among the ‘peasants’ unworthy of a royalties precious time. Short lived but a monumental time in his life, he managed to find his way back to you, like magnets yearning to meet, no matter the circumstances you could never be apart for long.

At 19 after watching him go through his fair share of girl friends and hookups you finally realised it was better to keep your feelings hidden. After all, trading years of friendship for one night of pleasure wasn’t worth it, not when you could have every other part of him, any day of the week, forever. In fact, if that was all you’d ever be you were more than happy to have the privilege of admiring him from afar even when it meant you’d never get close enough to call him yours. 

By 20 you and Steve were still the bestest of friends, welcoming new additions to the ever growing group. The newest addition being Eddie Munson the resident 'freak' which he proudly claimed. Along with Robin and Nancy everything had been perfect, too perfect. That should've been the first red flag, the second being that you entertained the idea of falling for a guy named Christopher. You may not have loved him but that didn't make it any better when you found him in bed with one of his exes, his excuse being that he used your status as the 'golden girl' and best friend to the ex 'king' to make said ex jealous, no shocker but it worked.

You vividly remember Steve consoling you that same night, jokingly pointing out your awful taste in guys, if only he knew. Before stating something that would change the rest of your life forever.

Sat side by side basking in the humidity of the summer air you laughed and joked as Steve told you of yet another fail at family video. You had been sworn to secrecy as he recalled tripping over in order to escape one of his overly enthusiastic past hookups. Knowing full well if Dustin ever found out Steve would never know peace again.

You don't know quite how long had passed between the jokes and the comfortable silence that currently surrounded you, but you decided that if you had to stay in one moment forever, it would be right now. The warm beer in hand and head rested on Steve's shoulder as you watched the night pass by could never compare to the nights you'd spent alone or with Christopher. Steve was your home and you were his. Which is why he knew he had to take a chance. A very stupid, idiotic chance, but a chance nonetheless.

A pact.

If the two of you remained single at 30 you'd marry each other. It was a no brainer. There would be no more question about when you would finally settle down and find a decent husband, but it also satisfied the stupid societal standard of the white picket fence dream. Although, what that meant would entail was to be worried about at a later point. Besides, who knew if the pact would still be valid in 24 hours, let alone another ten years.

⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

[a/n] Reblogs and comments are greatly appreciated and encouraged!

other works available here!

Tagging some mutuals who might be interested? @munsonsreputation @sweetpeapod @mysticmunson @acourtofsnakes @jesus-in-the-womb @chvoswxtch

[bartxnhood]

kairosclerosis | e.m

gif not mine

| eddie munson x fem! reader, steve harrington x fem!reader

summary: dealing with your feelings for steve as he has someone else in his heart. but, you are comforted by your new friend, eddie munson, who, you fall for.

warnings: steve being kinda a douche lol. angst with a very slight happy ending if you squint.

authors note: i really hope this does well lol. also, you guys might remember this plot from an old peter parker imagine but i spiced it up a bit. enjoy ! feed back is appreciated! also i made steve & nancy the same age as the reader and eddie so they’re all in school together lmao

not proofread

(requests open)

kairosclerosis: the moment when you realize you’re happy.

Copyright © 2022 bartxnhood. All rights reserved. This original work is not allowed to be reposted on any platform in any format.

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“hey, steve!” chimed, bumping onto his shoulder. you had just recently made a friend, her name was nancy and naturally, you wanted to introduce her to your closest friend. steve harrington. you didn’t expect this to ruin your friendship with him.

“what’s up?” he hummed, turning away from his locker to meet the two of you. “this is nancy, we have a few classes together and i thought you’d like to meet her! i think we’d all get along.” you turned to nancy, she gave him a wave as your felt held that wide grin.

memories filled your mind as you sat on the floor of your bedroom. you look up at the ceiling, hearing the rain fall on your tin roof you sighed. nothing has been the same since. nancy and steve seemed to have hit off pretty well..often leaving you out. well..nancy had invited you out a few times but you denied it, it was for a ‘girls night’ but you usually denied. a couple of times you had gone she was gushing about how steve gave her every second of his day. which you knew, he eventually stopped coming by your house. the only time he’d come over would be to see dustin. if he saw you he’d merely say ‘hi’.

you knew he liked her, you saw it in his beautiful brown eyes. his eyes which used to look at you the same way. deep down you knew were jealous. of course, you were. this was nancy wheeler, it-girl of hawkins. you even loved her, she was too kind to hate. but you wanted to. you wanted to hate her so badly.

you hated how steve’s face would light up when you would mention her, you hated his smile when he was around her. when you watched them from afar at school. you blamed yourself, which isn’t new. but just maybe if you hadn’t introduced them, steve would still be around.

you didn’t exactly have many friends. Your little brother, dustin was your bestest friend. he always shared his interests with you, even if he was smarter than you he always explained what everything meant. that’s how you met steve, the two of you babysat together. you were attached to the hip but nancy soon took your spot.

“why is nancy wheeler babysitting us with steve instead of you?” your brother and a couple of his friends burst into your room. you looked up from the book you had your nose stuck in. “uh because they’re friends?” you shrugged, then went back. “well we miss you” max spoke up, everyone agreeing with her. “can you take us out or something?” elven asked, you dropped your book looking at the pleading faces of the kids.

that’s how you ended up taking all six of the kids to get ice cream. that’s also when you met eddie munson for the first time.

since then, the two of you have started hanging out more. taking the kids on their adventures. eddie soon took over steve’s place in your heart.

“here you are, sweetheart” eddie’s voice pulled you from your thoughts as he handed you a soda. “thanks” you hummed, opening it. he was over for the day, had helped you watch the kids, and decided to hang out with you for a bit. “what’s going on in your pretty mind?” he hopped on your bed leaning back on a. oh pls of your pillows and stuffed animals. “just stuff” you shrugged, looking up at him.

you were interrupted by the doorbell ringing a few times. “y/n! get the door!” your mother yelled, a sigh escaped your lips and pushed yourself off of the floor.

you flung open the door revealing steve. “steve?” you blurted, and he gave you a sheepish smile. “hi, y/n.” he waved. “what are you doing here?” you asked, he shrugged. “just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out. i haven’t seen you in a while” he answered. for a moment you felt hopeful. maybe he missed you?

that thought was quick to fall when you saw nancy in his passenger seat.

“i have homework, steve. maybe next time.” which wasn’t entirely a lie, you did have homework but already finished it. “but thanks for the invite” you added, and . you could hear him about to say something but you shut the door in his face and walked back to your room.

when you closed the door in his face he felt a piece of his heartbreak. it was then he knew something was up with you, walking back to his car he ran his fingers through his hair. “is she coming?” nancy asked. he shook his head, “nope, slammed the door in my face” he sighed, turning the car on. “oh, well maybe next time”

steve hated your absence. he always loved having you around. you always made his day a little bit better you were like a breath of fresh air. but, he also loved having nancy around, she brought something new to his life.

—

eddie admired your bedroom, posters of bands, movies, and books you had. each one of these things made you, you. sure, not all of it was his taste but he would love to hear you talk about your interests. he began to listen to your music too, finding himself humming the tune to himself when he misses you.

when you returned to your bedroom, your face darker than usual he knew something was up. “what happened, doll face?” he patted the space on the bed next time him. with a exhausted sigh escaping your chest you fell by his side. “steve fucking harrington” you blurted, turning you head to look at the long haired boy. “being hisself” and dry laugh escaped eddie’s mouth. “this shocks you because?” you sat up, shrugging to his question. “well, you have me. tell me all your problems, i will listen. unless it’s about your awful music taste.” he teased.

a wide grin formed on your face, gently pushing his shoulder. he jumped up from his seat, hands in the air. “there she is!” he clapped., “she’s back!”

. · . · . · . · . . · . · . · . · .

you stood at your locker, jotting down something that was on your mind. “y/n” you heard, quickly closing your notebook and looking over your shoulder. “hmm?” you asked looking at nancy. she smiled at you, “i uh, steve told me about last night. is everything okay? you know where here for you.” yeah. sure you are. you plastered a smile on your lips. “yeah, just a rough night. listen, i’m sorry i couldn’t make it last night, but i’m hoping i can make it up tomorrow night?“ her eyes lit up and she nodded, “yeah! my place at five! don’t be late” she laughed, you nodded giving her a grin. “okay, i gotta go to class. see you later, y/n!”

you watched her walk off and past eddie who was approaching you. he paid no attention as his eyes were glued to you.

“y/n!” eddie smiled, waving to you. you closed your locker leaning against it. “hi eddie” you greeted him with a grin. “about last night. is everything okay? you seemed off. i just wanted to check in on you“ he leaned up next to you, “eddie it’s fine. i’m fine, promise.” you assured, patting his shoulder. “good, you have any plans tonight? i was thinking we could hang out” he grinned.

you pondered, looking down at your books. “well” you started, “nancy wanted to hang out tonight but i think steve will be there, so sure” you nodded. you saw his eyes light up like a christmas tree. “great! i’ll pick you up, what time?”

“four-thirty” you answered.

“great, i’ll see you then. princess”

your heart skipped a beat at the nickname.

what was this sudden reaction? you were always used to his pet names.

as the middle of the day arrived, you heard the bell ringing through the school and you closed your books standing up and followed your fellow students out and flooded the hallways. you pushed a few of your peers mumble a mere “excuse me” trying to get to your locker without being trampled on. you managed to get to your locker in one piece and put your books away. you were just about to shut your locker when out of the corner of your eye you saw steve. naturally, you were going to call out to him and have him walk with you to grab lunch. that is, until nancy came by, reaching up and pressing a kiss on his cheek.

you quickly looked away staring into your locker until someone was next to you. “can i escort you to lunch?” eddie asked grabbing your attention back. you closed your locker and turned around to lean against the cold metal. you took a good look at the metal head and grinned, “i’d be honored” you laughed. the two of you walked away, eddie’s arm slung over your shoulder.

. · . · . · . · . . · . · . · . · .

your heart was breaking. falling apart. all because you were in love with someone who didn’t feel the same way. but eddie was right there by your side. he was picking yo the pieces of your broken heart and taking them back together. days mostly spent at your house or his trailer teaching you how to play guitar.

he promised himself and you that he’d never let your heart break like that again.

he hated seeing you frown. his smile was the best thing he’s ever seen. you were the brightest star in his galaxy. a part of him hoped you’d feel the same.

both steve and nancy had tried contacting you since school ended but you simply told them you were busy with homework. another lie. you continued to spend the remaining time with eddie and the kids. you loved them all, and it made your heart a bit fuller than they preferred having you and eddie around.

he was the best part of your week. from babysitting to laying out in the head stargazing and talking about your future. you found that you could be vulnerable around him. you were yourself. the happiest you’d been in a while.

you realized you now had feelings for your newfound friend.

. · . · . · . · . . · . · . · . · .

your birthday.

you always hated your birthday. with little to no friends, you rarely celebrated. everyone seemed to forget about it. especially steve and nancy. only family knew about it, and now eddie. and the kids of course. that morning your mother ushered you out of your bed, along with dustin. the three of you had a small birthday breakfast. they also gave you the first gifts of the day. your mother had picked out a pair of earrings, ones you had been eyeing for a while. and dustin handed you a handmade bracelet.

“i have one, so now we match” he grinned pulling his sleeve up and revealing a matching one. you chuckled, slipping the jewelry on. “i love it. thank you, both”

the day went by slowly, some of the kids stopping by and handing you their gifts. the last person to show up was eddie, he was picking you up for the dinner plans.

he knocked on your bedroom door and peeked in. “is that the birthday girl?!” he sang. you looked over your shoulder, putting your new earrings in. “eddie” you sighed, he let himself in. “what? everyone should know it’s my best girls day! everyone should be celebrating your birth!” he grinned.

“i brought you something” he swung a light purple bag in your face. you smiled, “you didn’t have to” you took the bag in your hands. “of course i did, now open it!” he snapped in your face. “okay! okay!” you laughed, looking into the bag. you found a box and lifted it out of the bag, as you opened the top you saw the red plastic guitar pic. “eddie?” you looked up at him.

“it’s my original” he took it out, unclamping the back. “turn around” you did as he said, raising your hair and letting him secure the chain. “there, now you have a piece of me.” you turned back to him, your fingers messing with the pic. “thank you, eddie. this is the best birthday gift ever.” a hint of pink-tinted his cheeks. “of course it is” he bowed playfully. “now, shall we get this dinner out of the way?”

. · . · . · . · . . · . · . · . · .

the two of you pulled up to her house, you were the first to exit eddie’s van. you saw nancy waiting at the door for you.

“you made it!” she wrapped her arms around you into a hug and dragged you inside. “and eddie is with you?” you nodded, “yeah, i uh assumed steve would be here, and i wanted some company” you smiled taking off your jacket. you and eddie followed nancy into her kitchen and you spotted steve with a glass. you stole a glance at him and he waved, mumbling a ‘hi’.

you felt stiff, eddie coming up behind you and put his hand on your shoulder, assuring your worries.

the night continued, neither of them mentioning your birthday or anything. eddie questioned you about it once but you said to let it go. you tried keeping yourself grounded for the night, but eddie was always there to grab your hand and squeeze it or he’d rest his hand on your leg.

you saw the looks they shared. the way he looked at her like she was the only person in his life. why didn’t they tell you? why were they keeping it a secret? those questions kept popping up for the rest of the night. “i guess we better get going before it gets too late. thank you guys for dinner.” you said, getting up from your chair and eddie did the same. “i’m glad you came over y/n. we should hang out more” nancy said waving at you. you nodded, grabbed your coat and eddie reached for your hand. “i’ll walk you out, y/n.“ steve stood up.

the three of you walked out of the wheeler house, eddie heading off first.

“i’ll grab the car” eddie hummed, deciding to give the two of you some space.

steve stood by your side in silence, nothing but the soft wind blowing through the trees. “you have a new necklace” he blurted. you reach up, touching the plastic. “yeah, eddie got it for me.”

for my birthday” you added

his mouth and ‘o’ shape. “oh..right.” he paused, finding the right words “listen i”

“dont” you cut him off with a heavy heart. he looked at you, “i really don’t want to hear it, steve.” you looked down at your feet. “i see the way you look at each other.” you started you could feel him staring at you. “i don’t care about my birthday, i just hated that i loved you” you fought the urge to fry. “so, when we’re you doing to tell me?” you asked again, looking into his eyes. he looked lost as he tried finding the words. “we were planning to tell you. i promise. we were just waiting for the right time.”

you nodded, “right. how long?” he shifted his legs and shrugged his shoulders. “two weeks” he admitted you scoffed crossing your arms. it was quiet. your mind was the loudest thing, you just wanted to tell him how much you loved him. “i never got the chance to tell you i love you…and maybe that was for the best..” your eyes began glossing over and your vision went blurry so you looked down to hide your tears. “what?” you shook your head. “you hurt me. big time, steve.” you looked up at him, hurt. “i wanted you to look at me the way you look at nancy but..i’ve realized i found someone better.” you turned your head looking across the street to eddie’s van, seeing his figure in the drivers side.

the two of you stood in awkward silence, it was the most heartbreaking thing you ever felt. the person you used to be so comfortable with..felt like a stranger.

“i never thought i’d be the one to hurt you”

you shrugged, “yeah, well i never thought i’d fall in love with eddie munson.” looking at steve again, taking in his features. his eyes you used to love. his hair that was so soft. “goodbye, steve” you walked in the other direction back to eddie’s van, leaves crunching under your shoes as you walked away.

[sublimecatgalaxy]

Ouu maybe steve x Eddie x reader where the boys are already dating then they meet the reader and all start dating, like their meet cute basically

Also I'm a feen for all your Eddie and Steve stories I have notifs on and everything 😭❣️

I had to look up what 'meet cute' means because apparently that is not in my vocabulary so I hope this is what you were thinking!! I also wasn't sure if this was fem!reader and it's typically what I write with this ship so I went with it :)

And thank you, also, for your support, it means the world to me.

A/n: this is a FICTIONAL piece on FICTIONAL characters. I'm not assuming sexualities of characters, just writing a request and writing a ship that I quite like. So no one get mad, please.

Eddie would tell you that he knew he was down bad for Steve right off the bat. He had seen him around the halls a few times before he graduated and even managed to share a few classes with him in senior year. But the ever present existence of females in Steve's life- Nancy, for one- stopped Eddie from even introducing himself.

But when Dustin joined Hellfire though and Eddie was pulled into the realm of the Upsidedown along with all of the bullshit that was hidden under Hawkins for the longest time, Eddie finally had his in.

He wasn't subtle, he knew this- he didn't want to be subtle. He was already labeled as the freak so who cares if Steve thought he was weird, it was the chance that he would also feel the same way that made it worth it. He openly flirted with Steve and even managed to raise a few brows when he would send him flirty winks and subtle touches.

What was shocking to Eddie- someone who's had his sexuality (or lack thereof) figured out loosely-was that Steve felt a similar way. Steve was much more confused of his feelings for men, in fact, he had never really thought about it too in depth until Eddie came along. But it's the fact that he thought about it at all which was good enough for Eddie and gave him grounds to go on, to push Steve a little bit more to explore that curiosity.

Maybe it was the fact that Eddie was just so comfortable and confident in himself, even if it was just an appearance to make himself seem more likable. It worked, I mean, Steve liked him, probably more than he should have and maybe that's what led him to playing off his interest as disgust for the repeat senior.

But by the time everything calmed down and Hawkin's was returned to its former glory, Eddie's feelings came out of him like word vomit and to Robin of all people. She quickly played match maker and encouraged Steve to get over his fascination of only boobies and to branch out a bit. That it 'couldn't hurt'.

Steve still says he owes his overall happiness to Robin, his bestest friend in the whole world.

Dating, as two men, was extremely weird to the both of them, especially when it came to the time that they were living in. They didn't go out on dates, they stuck to pretty neutral terms to referring to each other in public and they kept their group small. The group who knew about the Upsidedown, knew about their secret romance- the two biggest secrets in Hawkins. I mean, sure, some rock stars were coming out as gay or bisexual- terms they weren't even sure they really understood- but they understood feelings. They felt a lot of feelings- especially for each other. And they were content and the confusion seemed to dissipate after a bit.

That is until they met you.

They stand side by side, lips parted like fish out of water, the air in their lungs seemingly sucked from them at the sight of you. Both of them share thoughts about how undeniably beautiful you are and all of a sudden, all of the thoughts about them not being attracted to women anymore were thrown out the window.

You seemed to spark their interest in a different way than they were expecting, neither of them really expecting to fall head over heels at the same time for the Pizza Delivery girl. But they did, they both knew that you were special and that they wanted more from you than just handing you a tip and telling you to have a good day.

You still swear it was the start of a really bad porno.

"Am I at the right house- I swear to god, sometimes they fuck it up- it's not my fault, I promise." You stutter out a nervous laugh quickly, looking back and forth between the two handsome men before you, biting anxiously at the inside of your cheek as you wait for them to speak.

But they couldn't speak, they just stood there and looked at you for a good minute or two before stumbling to get money to actually buy the pizza they ordered in the first place. And after a few moments, Eddie invited you in, granted it was really awkward and rushed and his cheeks were as red as a firetruck.

"I don't know. I really don't wanna get fired- this is my second job this year." You laugh, reaching up to fix the hair that had blown into your face, watching the curly hair boy in front of you stutter.

"We'll help you come up with something- plus, we've got weed."

Maybe you should've paid more attention in the stranger danger courses or the pictures on the sides of the milk cartons but something about these two men- they drew you in. You couldn't deny the looks that the two of them gave you and the curiosity you felt being in their presence. Between that and the looks they gave each other, you could tell they were together.

And they could tell they wanted to be together with you.

Following that night, Steve made it a point to order pizza from your restaurant and request that you deliver it- the boys did that until they chalked up the guts to ask you out.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o- Taglist: @bubblebuttwade @rafelover2405 @leslienjazzy @sorceresss @grxnde-dwt @alex–awesome–22 @bunnietoof @niyamar1e @serialghost @plantlungs @geniusohn @akaliltimmytim @lilaalouuxx @xshariex @elliotsbeigeguitar @elle4404 @lelieja @srhxpci @joselyn001 @taysirene @spinkspanther @thedivineuphoria @peter-maximoffs @tsukishimawhore @poohkie90 @szlaco @distantsighs @nstyles4299 @wolflover384 @givemefoodandlovesstuff @vane2828 @yeswhatever33 @amirrahfranson @vvaalleennttiinna @f-mu @yaspillz @jeyramarie @skylievin@abbybarnes17 @jointherebellion215 @visiondaddy @steezysimfinds @its-ya-gay-boi-luigi

@crunchytoenailsyum@glizzymcguirex @beth123lg @melovesmut @rafecameronswhore @ariianelle @write-from-the-heart @vampviolets@haylee-e@popehaywardssecretgf @honee-chai-tea @lokiandbuckywife @smoke-and-fire @officiallyunofficialperson@heyaitsklaudia@rosepetalsparks @bluetreecloud20 @scenesofobx @double-shot-of-tequila @1dluver13xx @colbysbrocks @iamasimpingh0e @smoke-and-fire386 @loveshineslikethesky @id-3-kbro @diorsitgirl @errorfound101-allideasburnedout @neverwillknowme18 @ellyskey @taylors-folk @loversjoy @myaloveee @thyris-is @lagataprrr @aaaaslaaaan @minjix @luvrosee

[dadsbongos]

stranger things horror movie collection

-roses by other names American Psycho ft. Billy Hargrove and Max Mayfield A girl on the cheer squad confuses you for your co-captain, Billy - in Billy fashion - loses his mind over it.

-halloween Halloween ft. Dustin Henderson, Lucas Sinclair, Erica Sinclair, Max Mayfield, Steve Harrington, and Eddie Munson On Halloween night, you’re stuck babysitting a gaggle of nerds when the phone rings. The person on the other end, however, isn’t eager to answer.

-scream Scream ft. Eddie Munson, Nancy Wheeler, Robin Buckley, Steve Harrington, and Jonathan Byers The day after the horrific slaughter of Barb Holland, a year after the devastating murder of Mike Wheeler and Will Byers.

-june 13th, 1986 Friday the 13th ft. Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington, Robin Buckley, Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers, and Argyle On June 13th, 1986, Camp Hawkins Hills is the victim of further tragedy after its poisoned water, ill-stored foods, and the disappearance of a young camper.

-starcourt massacre - 1986 Fear Street ft. Robin Buckley, Steve Harrington, Billy Hargrove, Lucas Sinclair, and Max Mayfield Hawkins, Indiana, is cursed. With people being slaughtered in the streets and their own homes, the Starcourt mall becomes a quick hunting ground for this curse that you and your friends now have to try and survive.

-a warm body Jennifer's Body ft. Robin Buckley, Eddie Munson, and Steve Harrington You drag Robin to The Hideout in hopes of fulfilling your fantasy of hooking up with a boy in a band. Hijinks ensue and suddenly you’re a succubus that only your bestest friend can satiate.

[nushy]

I'll be there for you

pairing: steve harrington x f!reader

summary: Steve is your ex and is trying to get you back, but you have a new boyfriend.

warnings: depression, angst, swearing, sadness, death.

word count: 877

"Hey." Steve lightly said, as he sat next to you. You gave him a shocked look as this was the first time you two spoke after everything turned to shit, Eddie was framed for murder and the Upside Down was one step closer to Hawkins.

"Hey." you answered, not sure what else to say. There were some minutes of silence, while you both prepared Molotov cocktails. You cursed silently that you had to be alone with Steve, as Nancy was somewhere with Robin and Max, Dustin was with Eddie, preparing shields and Lucas and Erica were making spears somewhere in the far of the field.

"I... I want to apologize about what I did... all those years ago. I was a total douche." Suddenly Steve spoke, and it was the thing you least expected him to say. You looked him with wide eyes. "You know, the popularity got to me and I wanted to try new things and ... I was just an idiot."

"Yeah, you were." was the only thing you could say. Memories flooded your head - before Steve was popular in High School, you two were dating. He was your first boyfriend, your first love. But then, he started playing basketball, became popular and one day... he broke up with you and what sucked the most - it was through a note, passed by on of your classmates and when you read the note and looked at Steve, he just shrugged his shoulders and smiled awkwardly. He broke your heart that day. But it was for good, as some time after that you found YOUR group of people - the Hellfire Club and you and Eddie became bestest of friends. In fact, that's how you got into all of this - when Dustin and Mike joined the club. And after that the police found a dead body in Eddie's trailer, and more dead bodies followed, and the group explained everything about the Upside Down, and it all came full circle when you discovered that Steve was part of the gang too.

"You know, I realized how much I've missed you. After being reunited again now." he continued. Not that you weren't glad to see how much he's changed but the words made you go crazy.

"Missed me??? Steve, you broke my fucking heart and never spoke to me again. No explanation, just a damn stupid note." you got up, almost screaming at him.

"Please, calm down, I know I messed things up. I regret every bit of it." he looked like he was sorry, but it was too late.

"If you were really that sorry, you would come back then and apologize. But you totally forgot about me. You started dating Nancy. And I get it, she looks good, she is nice. But, goddamn it, I deserved at least a decent attitude from you. After that note, it was like I never existed. And I loved you for fuck's sake."

"And I loved you too, back then, I imagined my life with you. I know I screw up. But, I would do anything to have another chance. Those last few days that I spent with you... I realized what I've missed." he was looking you straight in the eyes, then hе got up, facing you. He lifted a hand, trying to touch your cheek. You pushed his hand and gave him a bad look.

"It's too late, Steve, I have another in my life. And I am happy." you felt tears in your eyes as you felt helpless, tired and lonely.

"Who?" he asked with too much emotion in his voice.

"Steve." you said softly this time and tilted your head. He stared into your eyes, right to your soul and the realization hit.

"Oh..." he let out a soft gasp.

"Yeah." he knew it was Eddie. In fact, he was the first one to know as your relationship with him was a secret.

"I mean, I get it. It is logical as he was the one who took care of you after I dumped you." he tried to explain to himself.

"It's more than that, Steve, he doesn't want something more of something different. And he is caring, and good, and funny. The time I was with you was great, don't get me wrong and I still miss those months we were together, but... it's over." you placed the bottle you were holding next to the others and just left. A single tear fell from your eyes as your heart remembered the buried feeling for the boy.

~~~

"Hey." Steve lightly said as he sat next to you. You didn't even lift your head, cheeks still wet from the tears. He hugged you, tightly, humming a long forgotten song that back in the days was your song.

"He's gone, Steve. He's dead." you sobbed, hiding your face in his jacket, immediately making a wet spot.

"I know, love. You have all the right to grieve. But I'm here, for you. I will be here, to help you, as he was there to help you when I hurt you. I gotta return the favor." he said tenderly, stroking your hair. For the first time in years, you were thankful that Steve was near you.

[taintedcigs]

the drama.. I'm living for it! I am Robin this chapter! because f**k Chrissy in this, she's basically used Eddie herself seeing as he was the only one not to know, then she gets mad he's unintentionally been doing the same thing? don't think so hun. byyeee.

Also, Nancy is an absolute treasure. It's meant to be her time, everyone coming together to celebrate her and Johnathan, but she's all 'stand back, Pinky has got this' love it. best girl.

Also loved how the intro to this was a call back to Robin being so uncomfortable in Nancy's clothes, really enjoy it when people do this in their fics 🖤 like a little nod to the series.

And then Eddie 💔 the part where he's realising she's slipping away 😭 and he just gives up! I relate to this a lot though, big conversations like that kinda just happen to me and it's not till maybe a day later I'm thinking 'why didn't I say this/that/the other?!' It's frustrating, so I get him in this. He needs to step back, regroup and then come back all guns blazing to get his girl! It's so ironic that he could tell Chrissy that it's Pinky and it always will be so easily, but he can't do the same to P. Also relate to this a lot 🥴 its a real problem.

Loved this chapter, so satisfying to see her get her moment and to have a bit more of the story uncovered. Also - love a flashback, my favourite fics on here have them, bring 'em on!

robin does not gaf and I LOVE HER FOR THAT!! chrissy has no ground to stand on! she feels SUPER guilty for everything so i see it as her trying to make herself feel better about the situation, and trying to shift some of the blame and guilt to eddie!!

nancy is just the best! she honestly looves having all her friends over, and is so okay with pinky just taking all of her power back!!!!

yess omg i love doing that tbh lmaoo!! so glad u liked ittt <33

i think he actually realized how much billy and chrissy did affect pinky, he feels SUPER and extremely guilty for even having a fling with chrissy and he sees how broken pinky is! he wants to give her some time!! he'll be READY to grovel and tell her how much he needs her soon! he was going to tell her all of that but once she told him she wants to be out of his life. poor boy was FROZEN. he has some making up to doooo!!

thankkk you for reading and leaving the bestest cutest feedback i appreciate it sooo much! flashback it is then!! it will have a looot of details that im excited for u guys to see 💗😉

[teameddiemunson]

I admit to not being super into Steve and Eddie as a pair.

But I love the idea of a polycule with Robin, Nancy, and Steve. Where Nancy is with Robin and with Steve.

I just really think Vickie isn’t a good match for Robin. they’re too much alike. But Nancy balances her out nicely. And Robin and Steve are already bestest best friends, so I think it would be a really good dynamic.

[areesvt]

every time i think of my two of my favorite shows (stranger things and outer banks) I can’t stop imagining a crossover where jj would bully the living hell of season 1 steve harrington, calling him a kook and make fun of his stupid rich boy style

But season 2 steve and season 2 jj tho…

Pope probably gonna befriend Nancy because the both of them give me higher achiever vibes and I love to imagine how supportive he would be to her dream of becoming a famous journalist

kiara and robin would make a great duo, both of them are sarcastic and (clearly not into boys) they would bond over how stupid boys are, their mommy issues would be enough to make them close friends :D

jj and steve may not be friends but john b and steve would be the bestest of friends, they’re both have shitty dads who couldn’t care less for their wellbeing, they’re both super protective of their found family

Would jj and eddie be friends? No not really, they don’t have anything in common (nothing that comes to mind at the moment) but they have the same lives, shitty backgrounds and even shittier parents, maybe they would listen to metal music and jj would be so excited about eddies tattoos and his cool rings

sarah would love the kids and in particular dustin and max, she’s the type to befriend kids around her sisters age, dustin and max are smart and quick to call people on their bullshit and I have the feeling she would appreciate that

[hellfirecluub]

ideas for an alternate season4 instead of whatever. that was. 

• NO RUSSIANS they’re irrelevant to the story’s larger themes i want them outta here!!!!!!! 

• i dont know or care what that means for hopper or murray. lol. 

• anyway the season instead is focused on california because we need to get out of hawkins and actually place these characters somewhere that isn’t their familiar small town where they face the same threat over and over again but in different fonts. 

• instead we’re focusing largely on the byers family and how they’re coping in dealing with the big change in scenery but also not as late in their move maybe like a few months in? (notice how we don’t really see joyce or will talk about how they feel about the move or cali at all? yeah i saw that) 

• first joyce: i would’ve like to see how she tackles raising el because 1. she is a teenage girl dealing with the loss of her father and also like pretty stunted in her social development 2. is also dealing with the loss of hopper herself 3. doesn’t really know el that well and actually has to put in the work at making el feel comfortable and like she’s part of the family  

• SECOND will: ok hold onto me here. instead of the hellfire club being a hawkins things we’re making it a cali thing because outside of that smalltown hysteria idea they were playing with there’s no real reason why they’re significant to the plot (there’s eddie but he could just as easily have been an 80′s metalhead or something that the party are introduced to). the hellfire club is still focused on DND but because they’re in cali it gives will something to actually do at school and set himself apart from el and his family. like imagine will angsty as hell from leaving his friends and being alone at a new school and he sees that there’s a dnd club so he joins which lets him express himself differently with a whole new set of friends?? if the friends are good or bad for him is neither here nor there but i think seeing will in a new environment where he can actually define himself outside of his family or his history would be really interesting and i could actually see him maybe being a bit self-destructive because he has all of this newfound freedom that he doesn’t know what to do with so he channels all of his teenager blues and anger into new hobbies like music or his art and i secretly just want to see a punk will alright ? okay???? i also want a focus on his relationship with el because they have a really intersting relationship because they both have bonds to the upside down and can relate to each other in a way no one else can. like i don’t want will to call el sister because they’re step-siblings and its treated like whatever i want to see the work behind that relationship 

jonathan: i want to see jonathan struggle with his identity because he cant be the Man of the House anymore because joyce is doing fine and actually thriving at her new job and he can’t be protective over will anymore because will is distancing himself and doesn’t want jonathan to hover anymore AND he doesn’t have nancy in california and he doesn’t know what to do with his future so he’s kind of just floating because he doesn’t have anyone to protect. ENTER: eleven. jonathan kind of takes it upon himself to be el’s Bestest Big Brother Ever because he can’t be that to will anymore because will won’t let him and i think it would actually be really cute to see jonathan use the same tactics he used on will when he was younger (introducing her to his music, being super supportive of her interests, defending her from bullies etc etc) and so el won’t feel as alone either. AGAIN i want to see their bond happen naturally and be fleshed out 

LAST el: i think she would have largely the same problems as in season 4 but this time actually have a larger support system than what we see in that season. i want to see both el and will smack a bully with a rollar skate. i want to see jonathan hugging el while she’s crying because she doesn’t know how to talk to anyone at her school and she feels like shes an outsider and jonathan saying she’s better than anyone else at that shitty ass school and then going to the shops at like 11pm to buy frozen waffles and whip cream. i want joyce to make the biggest most pettiest fuss about the bullying el is going through and making sure consequences are actually dealt out. ALSO the mike situation. in season 4 we don’t really see how el reacts to mike and will’s friendship tension and it’s assumedly because will doesn’t tell her how she’s feeling. i am actually a sucker for angst so i still want mike to be ignoring will but i want to see el grill his ass about making will feel sad lol. like just have there be something at the very least to show that she cares about will and isn’t just hyperfocused on her relationship to make (however there is an argument to be made that mike is one of the only things that makes her feel normal and safe and it’s more a relationship more born out of mutual trauma rather than love so that’s why she’s so fixated on him). and for her powers side of the plot i was thinking that maybe instead of her running away from the upside down the upside down is actually trying to catch up to her. like she’s so integral to its existence that where ever she goes a piece of the upside down goes with her and the california school is the one getting vecnaed instead of hawkins. so that gives us two things: a reason for the hawkins gang to be in california and a reason for why el needs to regain her powers (aka to reclaim her own body and agency instead of having the men in her life take advantage of her abilities for their own gain and to finally defeat her past so she can move forward i.e. vecna and the upside down). 

hawkins gang: this section is going to be shorter i hope. 

dustin: so we’ve removed the hellfire club from hawkins so where does that leave the party? DIVIDED that’s where. instead of only lucas branching out and finding new hobbies (like they said they were gonna do in high school) all of the party members start making different friends. i can see dustin joining like a computer club (for his gf suzie) or just a general science club. however i dont have much to say about dustin as a character tbh because he’s remained the kind of goofy comic relief man-with-a-plan character since s1 and he just hasn’t changed. if anyone else has ideas for his character im all ears. 

lucas: i actually really liked the direction they were going with lucas this season and but i just wish he had more screentime. other than that the only thing i’d change is him talking to mike and dustin about how their actions really hurt him and how he wishes that they were more supportive of his new direction (being in the ‘popular’ squad which will actually benefit all of them). id also like to see him internally struggle with his new friends shitting on his old one and where his loyalties really lie (we see a bit of that but not enough tbh). ALSO for a general all-group thing (which means dustin and lucas) i want to see them realise that the group’s friendship has fractured and actually out work to repair it and try to reach out to will who they come to see was the glue that held the party together in the end. also they hear about the strange stuff happening in cali from mike who heard it from el and they go back to s1 investigating. and obvs this means enlisting steve to follow a trail of spooky upside down shenanigans that el has left from her leaving hawkins and they discover that the upside down is actually following el so now they’re gonna try book it to cali and help her out 

max: i can see her arc largely being the same except we don’t have her become vecnaed until like maybe the very end. however i kind of want to see her be more conflicted with the reality that billy was a shitty shitty person but he still saved her life and like how can you miss a person you never even loved? how can you miss a person who hurt you over and over again? does that make her a bad person does that make her wrong or just as corrupt as he was? but why would he save her that doesn’t even make sense she just wants to talk to him pick his brain why did he do what he did. and yada yada. 

mike: now i find mike annoying as hell so this season i want to see the stick get ripped out of his ass. i want to see him get grilled by lucas dustin el nancy steve WILL. to actually deal with what his character has become and that is a whiny ass teenage boy who doesn’t serve a purpose to the story anymore other than being a leader who hasn’t led anyone since s1 and el’s bf. like okay how about instead of mike being into dnd he wants to be different in high school he wants everything to be different and he wants to be the one who leads his friends into their new life. except that doesn’t happen and everyone kind of leaves him to do their own thing and he’s like oh. shit. wtf am i supposed to do now. and so he’s a bit directionless and just goes back to his house immediately after school and then his dad starts to say he should think about joining some sports it’ll look good on his college applications and he’s like EW. and then his mum gives him the ultimatum of joining a club or not seeing el on spring break so he’s like FINE. WHATEVER. I’LL JOIN SOMETHING. nancy overhears this conversation and she’s like ohoho? so she drags mike into joining the newspaper club and making mike into her little assistant and they argue and shit all the time but it actually does bring them closer even if they do bicker all the time about what the story of the week should be (and they both like bossing around fred). ALSO when nancy hears about the mystery murders happening in cali she’s like that is some prime journalism mike i am coming with you to see your girlfriend and mike says nancy that is literally not happening and then the next shot of them is on the plane ride to cali with nancy brainstorming ideas of whos behind the murders and mike looking like he wants to die. (this does mean that they are the investigative duo this season instead of nancy and robin but ujm. sacrifices must be made sometimes.) 

steve: his character arc has remained pretty stagnant since season 2 tbh. like he went to douchebag in high school to not-a-douchebag out of highschool who still acts like he’s in it. i would just like to see him do something other than bicker with dustin and be love-sick for nancy all the time (we are not doing nancy and steve. that is just not happening that is so reductive for both of those characters to end up in the same place the started when the reason why their relationship ended is because in the end they were just two very different people with different goals and they didn’t mesh well together in a relationship and also WHO gets back together with their highschool ex. literally who. i want to see him actually mature and perhaps even be a bit more serious. 

robin: i like robin okay i LIKE HER. i love maya hawke i would let her kiss me on the mouth anyday of the week. but like. what does she do for the story. why does she need to be there other than to add to a comedic relief duo with steve that steve ALREADY HAS WITH DUSTIN. like she just makes him act more childish and more like a highschooler and i don’t really see what direction her character can really go if they don’t even give her the time of day to build a relationship with another woman significantly and not off-screen? but its whateves!!!!! she can just stay and chill in hawkins this season. 

plot outline: the early days of the big byers move. focus on how their family is coping in california. they get closer as a family but they’re all still struggling in their own individual ways. we see hawkins gang also struggle with highschool or adult life and kind of coping with the anxiety of trauma from the last couple of years. we go forward a couple months and now the byers are finding some stability and are moving on from hawkins. however strange things start happening on the route that the byers took to get from hawkins to cali like strange grotesque murders. que that stuff actually starting to happen in cali and the byers fam starts to get sus. el tells mike about it who tells his friends who tells steve who tells nancy and well i guess they’re all heading for california now. then they can do general vecna confrontation and other stuff i don’t know i don’t have all the answers 

general notes: 

• we need to get rid of some characters so we can actually develop the main cast

• we need to get out of hawkins

• we need to get rid of the russians 

• we need to add back the mystery of the upside down it’s too familiar with audiences at this point 

• we also need to give will powers at somepoint i dont know when but we just need to

• i might come back and add to this later but for now this is all that i’ve got so far and im not rereading any of what i wrote saurrrrrr