#Steve Harrington/original character

[deunmiu-dessie]

he misses you. he misses you like a flower misses the sun. like the desert misses the rain. like you are the entirety of his being. as if you hold the key to his fierce, thumping bloody heart within the palm of your hands, like he is nothing without you— and perhaps he isn't. he doesn't feel like himself, no, in fact, he feels empty. like a shell of the man he used to be before you. he feels as though the world has lost its color, its meaning, and it makes him feel bare— it makes him feel.

he misses you. he misses the warmth of your perfume, a sweet and spicy blended aroma of saffron and sugared lavender. he misses your smile, all wide and pretty— genuine and charming, and always all for him. he misses the sound of your laughter, raw and boisterous, but sometimes soft and breathy, intimate. he misses your kisses, shy and cloying— yet fierce and angry at times as well. he misses the small things, like the scatter of moles across the expanse of your body that he finds himself counting when he can't fall asleep. or the way you fuss over him, mumbling curses and your love for him all in the same sentence.

he is nothing without you, and he knows it all too well.

the soft jangle of your keys in the lock makes him look up from his journal, the door swinging open. and despite himself, he finds that he's softened underneath your warm, loving gaze. ah, he also misses the sound of your voice, euphonious and soft, a tone you use for him specifically.

❝why are you looking at me like that?❞

he can feel his heart dance within his chest, pounding fiercely as you slant your hip to the side, the very same hips he adores holding onto when swaying with you to music. your eyes, which always seem to sweep him under with their intensity with no fail, are glittering with mirth, it knocks the breath from his chest. ❝ i adore you,❞ he utters— he sounds like a fool in love, and he doesn't particularly mind it. your cheeks flush with color and you playfully roll your eyes. that's alright, you don't need to say it back, he knows.

❝help me with the groceries?❞

he? ⸺ SIMON, gojo satoru, DAMON SALVATORE, soap, older!TANJIRO, scott mccall, GAZ, clark kent, EMMETT CULLEN, leon kennedy, STEVE HARRINGTON, giyu tomioka, JOHN PRICE, loran, ULYSSES, rick grimes, KÖNIG, dick grayson, SPENCER REID.

honestly it can be anyone you envision.

[psychotic-nonsense]

In October of 1967, Steve Harrington is born in Hawkins, Indiana.

He's raised there, forced to live under the strict expectations of his parents, Richard and Samantha. Barely escapes their clutches, freedom fueled by the kids and adults that take the role of guardian and family when the time is right. Keeps himself in check with the always impending apocalypses that arise beneath his feet.

In June of 1985 - when Steve Harrington is 18, while Richard and Samantha Harrington are visiting New York for an extended work trip - Veronica Harrington is born.

She was carried and raised in secret from their hometown. They take care of her between their business hours, dropping her in the hands of nannies and babysitters galore. They don't even think of Indiana during Veronica's early childhood, too focused on work and making sure their daughter starts up right.

In October of 1986 - when Steve Harrington is 19, aged further by ending the Vecna War, yet tamed by his newfound love in Eddie Munson - Richard and Samantha Harrington return to Hawkins.

They don't ask about what happened to their son. They don't ask about the town. They don't ask questions, just give responses to them. Sneering at Steve's friends, complaining about the state of the house, commenting at the disfunctional chaos their home has become.

In November of 1986, Richard and Samantha Harrington disown Steve.

They just let him go. They at least give him a folder of his legal documents, but otherwise just tell him to get out of their house and never use their name again. Claiming Steve doesn't need anything from the room because the Harrington's own everything in it. They don't call him son, they don't say goodbye, they don't acknowledge who's actually taken care of the house, they don't admit most of Steve's former room has changed with money Steve earned himself, they don't dare to give him any money or care where he goes. They just say they're sick of dealing with an unworthy mistake of a child, and force him out of their house.

In November of 1986, the Party's adults adopt Steve.

He runs to them first after everything happens. Held himself together at the start, but broke down the second the words were out. While everyone was trying to comfort Steve, Wayne Munson and Jim Hopper were the first to succeed. They know firsthand that this family would never be the same as blood, no matter how much that blood has boiled and burned before, but the love will be stronger and it will be here. When everyone seconds it, Steve finally accepts it. He becomes a child of the Party - he's everyone's son and everyone's brother, taking whatever surname he sees fit.

In November of 1986, Steve Henderson and Eddie Munson leave Hawkins.

Despite all this good, Steve can't bear to stay in this damned town a second longer, where everyone knows who he is and will soon know everything he isn't. And it's not like Eddie was looking forward to sticking around Hawkins either, especially without his Steve. The kids are the first to agree, surprisingly, and the adults promise to find a way for the boys to get out. Later that week, when Richard and Samantha leave the house to prepare for Veronica, Steve and Eddie break in to take everything that's rightfully theirs. While they're there, not sure what prompts him, Steve makes a bag of his clothes with shoes and his wallet tucked within it, shoving it into his closet. Dustin's mom uses an old favor to get the boys an apartment in Chicago, the Party has one last farewell, and the two boys are gone.

From 1986 onward, Veronica Harrington is raised in Hawkins, Indiana.

Richard and Samantha are adamant in their daughter coming out exactly how she should. They steadily convince the town to forget the Harringtons ever had a son and lock the room on the second floor next to the stairs without ever touching the inside. They raise her with formality and pride at the top of their expectations, wanting at least one child to come out right.

But Veronica is the spitting image of Steve's honesty and care. She puts on a facade when needed, but even at a young age, she wants nothing more than to be someone's light in the darkness. She plays with every lonely kid at school, and tries to make people laugh at the business parties she's dragged to. It's not received well by her parents, but Veronica is much too strong willed and stubborn to let it phase her.

In April of 1991 - when she's 6 and they're so much stronger around their hearts - Veronica Harrington meets Steve and Eddie Munson for the first time.

It's the year Erica is set to graduate high school. Steve and Eddie have been making the drive for every holiday this year, ordered determined to give her the best senior year she could have. It's Easter Sunday, and Wayne somehow managed to drag his boys away to church - a Munson custom, as even Eddie insisted they go.

While at the snack table post sermon, a little girl comes up to Steve, mistaking him for her father. He and Eddie gently comfort the girl, introducing themselves and offering to help the girl find her parents. That's when Veronica introduces herself, striking Steve deep in his heart. Still, he keeps quiet, even gifting her a little origami crane made from napkins at the table. He calls her "chickpea" for the color of her dress, tells her to keep the crane secret and safe, "If ever you need to find your way back home, you hold that close, and it'll tell you."

Meanwhile, Wayne has come across Richard and Samantha in the crowd opposite the kids. Exchanging formalities, Wayne mentions his son and nephew are in town, news the Harrington's are surprised at, as Wayne didn't seem like the father type. However, trying to keep face, they remain civil and insist on introducing their daughter.

Cue Veronica running to her parents with Steve and Eddie in tow. Cue Steve calling Wayne dad right to Richard's face. Cue the Harrington's immediate leave from the church, Veronica waving behind her with a crane placed carefully in her pocket.

From then on, Veronica Harrington's life changes indefinitely.

Her parents' expectations grow tenfold. She finds out she's horribly allergic to chickpeas. All of her friends must be approved by her parents, and any that don't fit their image are ordered to leave her.

Veronica takes these changes in stride - is her class's top student, captain of the softball and volleyball teams in junior high, keeps the friends she wants in secret from her parents - but she can't help but keep the crane in a little box in her room. Gets a necklace with a little origami crane pendant, holds it whenever she needs to make a hard choice. Can't help but expand herself in secret, learn things her parents would never approve of - lock picking, other languages, sleight of hand, a clothing style that's nothing like the dark blues of her family, all warmth and light. She explores every room in her house, yet is unable to find her way into that room upstairs next to the steps.

In May of 1998, Veronica Harrington discovers the truth about her brother.

She's about to be a freshman. Her class was touring the high school in preparation, and while passing the athletics hall, her eyes hit the swimming trophies. Each row stuffed with trophies, and each one with a name that stabbed her right in the stomach: Steve Harrington.

After that, she couldn't bear all the secrecy anymore. Late that same night, she finally uses her lock picking skills to break into that room. And though it's devoid of life, it is a bedroom, so evidently lived in. It's frozen in time, twisted sheets covered in dust, old papers crinkled from being stepped on but not picked up, old clean clothes still sitting in the hamper. It's a boy's room, clearly, and Veronica is careful walking around this place of memories.

She does still explore, quietly clicking on lights around the room, too cautious to touch the overhead lights. She looks under the bed, finding a bat and a trash can lid, both embedded with rusty nails. A shirt that still smells like fresh laundry yet has a back stained permanently with long red lines down the shoulders. Dozens of stapled documents labeled NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT, detailing horrific events that each have that same name signed at the bottom.

With shaking hands she checks the closet, and finds it mostly empty. All except for a deep green graduation robe and cap, a cream Hawkins High letterman, and a duffel bag hidden in the back corner. The cap has a 1985 tassel, and the letterman has Harrington branded on the back with basketball and swimming patches galore. And the bag, when she checks it, looks like a survivalist pack someone would make in an apocalypse. At the top sits a wallet, and inside is an ID for a Steve Harrington, who has the same face as the one in her origami memories.

And Veronica is done. She wakes up the next morning and throws Steve's jacket on the kitchen table, startling both her parents mid sip of coffee. She finds herself in a screaming match with her father, demanding them to quit lying to her, begging to know who her brother is.

In a fit of rage, Richard tells her. Tells her everything Richard and Samantha never saw in Steve, about Veronica's secret birth, the disownment, Steve's disappearance from the Harrington house and Hawkins. She's reminded of that one Easter Sunday, and is told how Richard and Samantha faked Veronica's allergy to keep her mind from being tainted by whatever curse befell their bloodline before. Orders her to never say that name again.

In a fit of rage, Veronica bites back. Calls her parents cruel and overly expectant. Comes clean about her secret freedom. Says she'd rather be nothing than ever carry the burden of the Harrington name ever again.

She hides away in her room after the fight. Cries in her closet with her origami box cradled tightly to her chest, begging it to take her home because this place isn't anymore, maybe never was. Cries for the brother she never even got to meet, who went through so many horrible things yet still got put through this same punishment. Cries for the future she won't get to have, losing her hope for a new beginning that will now never be.

At the start of June, 1998, Veronica runs away.

She makes it through the rest of May in near silence. She writes notes for all of her friends at the end of the school year, and one for her parents to inevitably find. Finds 75 dollars in Steve's old wallet, stuffs the duffel bag the rest of the way with her belongings, and says goodbye to Hawkins.

She takes the first bus she can find out of town. Doesn't care that it's going to Chicago, doesn't really care where she's going now. She befriends an old homeless man riding the bus as well, becomes another interesting name in his "Book of Wanders (Pronounced as Wonders)." As Veronica's telling the story about unknowingly meeting her brother, she remembers the crane in her bag. She reaches in to retrieve the little box, then the crane, nearly crying seeing how disheveled and unfolded it is. Broken and doomed, just like her. But looking at it now after so long, she thinks she sees something written inside it. Despite it shattering her heart pieces, she carefully unfolds the little crane.

At its center, in old, bleeding blue text, reads, "Find the Swooping Bat if you've lost your way."

The old man laughs then, taking Veronica's hand and placing it onto her chest, over her heart. "It's fate," he whispers in the dark bus. "There's a place called that in Chicago."

Veronica uses her money to rent them both a hotel for the night, giving the old man a warm bath for the first time in weeks. She gifts him the clothes as well, saying it's, "an honorary thanks from my brother, for helping me get here." They bid each other farewell in the morning, the old man telling her to keep hold of fate.

She finds her way to the Swooping Bat easily, hand on her necklace guiding her way. It's a quaint little diner, popular enough to be comfortably warm when she walks in. A young lady in a wheelchair - Max, says her nametag, with pins saying things like, "Summer work blows" and "USC grad or bust!" resting on her collar - guides her to a booth next to the sunrise.

"Anything I can get you today?" Max asks when Veronica's seated.

Veronica's fully ready to order everything on the menu, what with how delicious this place smells, but then she remembers her funds. 5 bucks, if she's lucky. "Just a chocolate milk, for now. Biggest one you have, please." She somehow plays off Max's skeptical look, her eyes sweeping over Veronica's no doubt disheveled and no-food-in-36-hours appearance.

It somehow works out, and Max is wheeling away. Veronica allows herself a moment to collapse, stomach growling in pain and eyes burning with the realization she has no idea what she's going to do now. She just has this last bit of hope to hold onto, and without it, she'll be nothing but a husk.

She's not sure how long she sits there, staring at the sunrise and letting sound and AC whisk her mind away, but there's suddenly a little knock on her table. Her head snaps up, and there's Max again, setting down a giant glass of chocolate milk... alongside a loaded breakfast plate.

"It's on the house," Max rushes to explain, all fondness when Veronica scrambles to get her wallet. "Courtesy of the owner. And between you and me," she whispers with a wink, "just take the damn food, kid."

Veronica stumbles over herself for a moment, rendered near speechless, before she finally comes back. She begs Max to thank the owner profusely, before rushing to dig into the pancakes before her. She's halfway done dousing the stack in syrup by the time Max wheels away, when there's suddenly someone laughing.

"Of course," says a choked-up voice behind her. "Can't have any chickpeas starving in my booths."

Veronica nearly drops her fork. She turns so sharply she gets dizzy. Seven years can't change a person that much, surely, because though he's bigger in the torso and he has glasses on the bridge of his nose and his hair is cut so close, he still has the same softness in his voice and the same slouch in his stance and the same moles around his eyes and his smile is so bright despite the tears in his eyes, and though Veronica can barely see through tears herself, it's not like she needs them anyway to know it's-

"Steve!" she cries, scrambling out of the booth to meet her brother halfway. The relief of it all working out has the rest of her restraint collapsing, forcing harsh sobs out of her and into Steve's shoulder. The siblings hold each other in the middle of a restaurant, a voice in the background asking everyone to leave them be. Steve doesn't stop whispering, even as his chest heaves with broken gasps between tears, "You're save, Veronica, I got you, I got you, it's gonna be okay, you're safe here, it's okay, sis, it's okay..."

"That you, lil' chickpea?" whispers a different voice once they've calmed down. Veronica reluctantly pulls away and finds a man kneeling beside them, a hand on Steve's shoulder and similar tears in his eyes. His hair and tattoos remind her of the tamed wild from seven years ago, covered in black in the middle of church yet glowing brighter than the stained glass, the one that Steve looks at in past and present with a glowing love Veronica never saw between her parents.

"Yeah," she whispers, wiping her tears away before placing a hand atop her necklace. It catches Eddie and Steve's eyes and make them beam with pride and relief. "Yeah, it's... it's me...."

[august-grey]

i don't need your closure | chapter 13

read on ao3

masterpost

July 1986

This was it. This was how Alice was going to die. Not at the hands of evil Russians miles below a shopping mall or torn to shreds by one of the multitude of monsters that plagued her little town. No, she was going to go out in the passenger seat of he mother’s Volvo, knuckles white around the handle on the door, foot punched down the invisible brake pedal. 

Fighting the urge to squeeze her eyes shut, Alice contemplated the choices that led her to this moment. How had she gone from taking Dustin to an orthodontist appointment to fearing for her mortal wellbeing in a mostly empty strip-mall parking lot with her 15-year-old brother behind the wheel of their mother’s car? 

Alice looked over at the boy in question, his eyes wide and laser-focused on the pavement, and reminded herself why she was doing this. 

“So, I’m taking driver’s ed next year.” Dustin piped up from the passenger seat, his lisp a little more pronounced after getting his braces tightened.

“Oh yeah?” Dustin gave a grunt of affirmation. “Mr. Paulson still teaching that?”

“Uh-huh, I heard he’s brutal.” Alice nodded emphatically. That was putting it lightly. Dustin continued, “Lots of kids…they’re getting practice over the summer…just to get a head start, y’know? Mike’s and Lucas’ dads have taken them out a bunch. Mike’s even been on a real road already.”

“That’s not a bad idea, extra practice would definitely help. Paulson flunked me twice before I finally got my license. Just never really got a chance to practice after dad left and everything. Has mom taken…” She trailed off, a sudden realization dawning on her. No. Of course mom hadn’t had the time to take Dustin out to drive. Their mother barely had time to take care of herself let alone teach her anxious children to maneuver a vehicle.

Not for the first time, Alice found herself cursing her father. Don’t get her wrong, Alice was glad that her parents were divorced. Michael was a piece of shit who didn’t deserve anything her mother had to offer. She’d always known that her mother was too good for that sorry excuse of a human. Alice just wished he had found a scrap of humanity before abandoning his family, leaving them with nothing but a forwarding address and a promise to see his children at Christmas.

Alice hadn’t been surprised in the slightest when Christmas came and went without even a phone call, but Dustin…Dustin had been heartbroken. For months afterward he waited for their father to simply return. To change his mind, realize that he had made a mistake and come home to his family. The brief phone calls from Michael yielded empty promises of going for ice cream or baseball games, leaving Dustin disappointed again and again as plans fell through. 

Anger festered inside Alice, finally bubbling over one day as she sat with her little brother as he watched the sky darken out their front window, waiting for their father’s car to pull into the driveway for a belated birthday visit. Dustin’s thirteenth birthday had been three weeks prior, and the bastard still couldn’t be bothered to even give his son this small gift.

Down the hall, Alice heard her mother leave yet another message for her ex-husband. He wasn’t coming, Alice had a feeling from the beginning. Knowing this didn’t make the situation any easier. A small shake of their mother’s head when she returned to the living room was all it took for Dustin’s resolve to crumple. Running into his mother’s arms, he buried his face into her chest, shoulders heaving with silent sobs. 

Alice needed to hit something. Her fists clenched, nails digging into her palms. She wasn’t going to let her father get away with hurting her brother like that. Not again. While the rest of her family was distracted, Alice smuggled her mom’s car keys out of her purse and drove the three hours to their father’s new bachelor pad, stopping only to grab a birthday card from a random drug store. 

Michael could only stare at his daughter, open-mouthed, as she shoved the card into his hands, demanding he sign it for Dustin. He did so, hastily shoving a few twenties in the envelope for good measure. Then he had the gall to ask Alice how she was doing. Ignoring his question completely, Alice simply told her father to either make a real effort to have a relationship with his son or to leave them the hell alone. 

She couldn’t remember the half-excuse he had spluttered out as she left him in the doorway, but she did remember crying the entire ride home. She remembered the look on Dustin’s face as she pressed the card into his hands and being grounded for a week for disappearing with her mother’s car for seven hours on a school night. She remembered being the one to step up in her father’s place. Taking Dustin to school and to extracurriculars, helping her mother with home repairs, picking up extra chores around the house. 

And now, she supposed, she was going to have to teach her father’s youngest how to drive.

***

“Okay, now slowly—“ Dustin slammed the brakes at the edge of the lot, jolting Alice forward in her seat. She took a calming breath before gently correcting him as he turned the wheel, taking the car down the row of shopfronts. “Try to ease into the stops, Dusty. Gently press the brake as you’re coming up to the—oh Jesus.”

“Sorry, sorry!” He exclaimed, shifting the direction of the car after coming a little too close to the curb. “This is awful, how do you do this every day without feeling like you’re going do murder someone with this death-machine?”

“You just have to…I don’t know…give it time and you kinda become one with the death-machine?” Her brother shot her a quick, bewildered glance. “Does that make sense? It gets easier with practice, I promise. Just…try to relax.”

“That’s not going to happen.” He groaned miserably, braking a little too hard again in the back corner of the lot. Fumbling around the console in a panic, he flipped on the turn signal, then the windshield wipers. “At this rate I’ll never be comfortable behind the wheel and I’ll never get my license and...and— Alice, how do I put this stupid thing in park?!”

“Calm down, you’re fine.” She reached over, moving the shifter into park and turning off the ignition. As soon as he was able to release the brake, Dustin threw himself from the Volvo. Alice rolled her eyes at his dramatics and exited the vehicle herself. “You’re not going to be amazing right away, Dustin. It’s going to take time. We’ll go out more once I get my car back and you’ll be a pro by the end of the summer. Paulson won’t know what hit him.”

Dustin didn’t look convinced. He leaned against the hood of the yellow Volvo and buried his face in his hands. Alice felt a little out of her depth; she was usually the one freaking out in every situation. Her brother was normally overly confident in nearly everything he did. He’d thrown himself into countless dangerous situations without a second thought; seeing him freak out over driving of all things was disconcerting to say the least. 

“Are you hungry? We can stop for burgers or something?” Food. If there was anything that could distract Alice from an anxiety spiral, it was a good, greasy meal. Surely that would work on her brother, too.

He shook his head glumly, looking forlornly across the parking lot. “Nah, my mouth is still sore from the orthodontist.”

Alice sighed. She didn’t like it, but she had one last idea that could bring up his mood, even just for the moment. 

“You wanna stop in RadioShack before heading home?” That got his attention. Shooting Alice a Cheshire grin, Dustin took off across the pavement toward the electronics store.

She trailed behind him, shouting, “You have twenty minutes! Any longer and you’re walking home!”

***

RadioShack had been a mistake. Sweat dripped down her neck as Alice glanced down at her watch; Dustin had been in the shop for nearly 45 minutes and she was slowly losing her mind. By the time she popped into the shop, Dustin had already been neck deep in whatever gadget he needed for his project of the week. 

Deciding she didn’t want to get roped into a one-sided conversation she couldn’t keep up with (she wasn’t feeling that generous), Alice picked up a small pack of batteries for her Walkman and left her brother muttering to himself over a display of tiny voice recorders. 

Five minutes. She’d give Dustin five more minutes and then she’d go in there and physically drag him out if she needed to. The midday sun emerged from behind a cloud, shining through the windshield and effectively blinding Alice. Make that two minutes.

“Alice?” Jumping at the sound of her name, Alice scanned the parking lot for a familiar face. The lot had become considerably more full than it was during Dustin’s impromptu driving lesson, but it didn’t take long to find the source of the voice before they flung themselves halfway through Alice’s open window, obscuring her vision with a mop of messy brown hair.

“Jesus, Robin, back up would ya?” Alice grasped her assailant by the shoulders and gently shoved her out of her personal bubble. Robin dropped to a crouch next to the car, so she was level with the open window, eyes wide and panicked.

“Thank god you’re here. Wait…why are you here? Y’know what nevermind, I’m in a crisis and I need you to talk me down.” 

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” Reaching for the handle of door, Alice gave the seemingly innocuous plaza a once over, searching for anything out of the ordinary or potentially dangerous. Robin rested a hand on her arm, drawing Alice’s attention back to her.

“No, no. Nothing like that.” Robin took a deep breath, opened her mouth to speak again, and…stopped. Alice furrowed her brow and waited for the girl to speak. After a few long moments of silence, Alice gestured impatiently for Robin to continue. 

“I’ve been invited to a party.” She finally blurted out, expectantly looking to Alice for advice. 

“Okay.”

“By a girl.”

“Okay?”

“A specific girl.”

“…okay?”

“…a specific redheaded clarinetist with incredible taste in movies.”

“Oh! Oh my god, okay! When did this happen?”

“Just now, in the Rite-Aid tampon isle.” Robin stated miserably, popping up from her position by the door to pace the pavement. “So you see my problem, now!”

“Uh no, am I missing something?” Taking her chances with the angry July sun, Alice exited the blessed cover of the car as she watched her friend frantically pace the length of the adjacent parking space. “You like Vickie. This is good news, Robin!”

“No, Alice, this is an absolute nightmare!”  Robin stopped to run both of her hands through her hair, making her bangs stick up in perfectly odd angles to add to the slightly manic aura she was giving off. “Before this moment, Vickie had been purely a hypothetical. I could daydream all I want, but now, now…this is real life. She asked me to a party. And what’s going to happen, huh? I’m going to make a fool of myself and word vomit all over her and she’ll be horrified and I’ll be arrested for…for something. I’m sure I’ll deserve it at that point.”

Alice shook her head in disbelief. What was up with everyone today? First Dustin with his driving lesson, now Robin was having a complete meltdown on her watch. It was only a matter of time, she supposed, seeing as both Robin and Dusin had dealt with their fair share of Alice’s neuroticism. The least she could do was return the favor.

“Well, we can’t let that happen, can we? You’re not cut out for prison, no offence.” Alice stepped forward, reaching up to smooth Robin’s hair back to its normal state of messiness. Once she was satisfied, Alice settled her hands on the taller girl’s shoulders. “You just need backup, a wingman. We can make it a group thing. You, me, and Vickie.”

“That’s not a group, that’s you getting drunk and awkwardly chaperoning me like some sort of messed up, regency-era courting ritual, all while I desperately try not to make a fool of myself in front of a cute girl.” Robin mumbled through pursed lips. Though Robin wasn’t wrong, Alice didn’t exactly enjoy being reduced to nothing more than a bumbling overseer. As much as she wanted to help Robin, third-wheeling all night wasn’t necessarily Alice’s idea of a good time. 

She had an idea; whether it was a good one or not was the nagging question in the back of her mind. Briefly, Alice considered the last disastrous party she’s attended in Hawkins. It had been the precursor to what was possibly the worst night of her life, if you don’t take all of the the literal horrors and death she’d experienced over the past few years into account.

The night she was sure she’d lost her best friend. For good.

It’s different now, she reasoned with herself. She and Steve were on good terms; well on their way to friendship again. And though she didn’t yet have the full story of what had happened that night…or what had led to it, Alice could at least hope it wouldn’t happen again. There was only one way to find out, she supposed.

“I can, uh, askstevetogo.” Alice mumbled, half-heartedly tossing out the thought before she could stop herself. It wasn’t as if she was looking for an excuse to see him or anything, it just made sense. They are all friends. Friends go to parties together. As friends. “Then it’ll be a real group. Make things less weird, y’know?”

Robin’s eyebrows disappeared into her bangs as she shimmied out of Alice’s grip. “Oh, no, no. You can’t just say something like that and not elaborate. Did you and Steve make up?”

“Kinda? We’re…talking. It’s not a big deal.”  Robin seemed unimpressed, to say the least. Alice knew the girl wasn’t going to let her get away with that bullshit answer, and with a sigh, launched into an abridged version of what had happened with Sudsy. How she and Steve had ended up babysitting together, how Alice had emotionally blown up and confronted him, and then the subsequent, tentative makeup.

Obviously, making up with Steve was, in fact, a big deal to Alice. The past week had been the happiest she’d felt in months, and as much as she hated to admit it, that had a lot to do with Steve Harrington. True to his word, Steve hadn’t pressured Alice into anything since their conversation the previous weekend. To no one’s surprise, especially Alice’s, it took less than a day before she found herself eager to see him again. 

So, after harassing Dustin for Steve’s new phone number, she called him. He sounded pleased, but genuinely surprised to hear from her so soon. The palpable fondness in his voice combined with the itch to be within arms reach of him again, was how she found herself inviting Steve to take a walk with her. 

For safety purposes, of course. 

You see, Alice had a new client. A big, goofy Great Dane, who needed to be walked while her human worked overnights. Normally Alice wouldn’t think twice before declining the job; she and the dark didn’t really get along after everything she had been through. But this particular client had offered double her regular fee just to feed the dog dinner and take her on a quick walk before bed.

Alice couldn’t refuse the easy money, but that still left the problem of having to be outside. In the dark. Alone. She sucked it up the first night, walked the half-mile to the clients house, took the pup around the block while her nerves spiked, and finally ended up sprinting home after making sure the dog was safely in bed, the plan to call Steve already on her mind.  

As she predicted, he eagerly agreed to accompany her the next night. And then the next, and the next…until they fell into an easy, somewhat familiar, routine. Steve would pick her up at 8:30 on the dot, they’d take care of the dog, and then just sit and talk until Steve had to get himself to bed for work the next day. Sometimes Dustin would join them, if he wasn’t off galavanting with his Dungeons and Dragons club or messing with machines in his bedroom. But, mostly, it was just the two of them.

He followed her lead at every turn. Never pushing for anything more than what Alice was comfortable with giving, keeping a respectable distance. Alice, on the other hand, was having an incredibly hard time sticking to her own boundaries. Despite her reservations, Alice physically couldn’t keep herself away from Steve. It was like that night babysitting Holly had broke open a dam in Alice’s brain. 

Steve Harrington loved her. 

Just the thought alone was hard for Alice to wrap her mind around. Truthfully, she was scared. Hell, Alice was terrified. And still justifiably angry on top of it all. Months of convincing herself to turn her hurt into hate couldn’t be washed away so easily. No matter how badly she wanted to believe that Steve was truly repentant and wanted to make things right with her, Alice couldn’t shake the feeling that although everything between them was going well now didn’t necessarily mean it wouldn’t go to shit just as quickly. 

But in spite of it all, it was just so easy to fall back into an familiar rapor with her former best friend. It was a more than little unnerving how effortlessly Steve had fit back into her life and, even moreso, how badly she wanted him to stay there.

***

“So, yeah. We’re talking. That’s it.”

“Oh my god.”

“I know.”

“Steve’s in love with you.”

“Apparently.”

“You’re in love with Steve?”

“I…yeah. I guess am.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I have no idea.”

“Shit, Alice.”

Alice couldn’t agree more; shit.

***

Alice’s mother dropped her off at Robin’s house a full two hours early, at the younger girl’s request. Well…it sounded more like a panicked demand over the phone than a polite request, but Alice was willing to overlook that tiny detail. Either way, she was grateful for an excuse after Claudia had offered to drive the girls to the party itself. As much as she loved and appreciated her mom, that simply wouldn’t do.

“No, seriously, it’s okay, Mom!” Alice attempted to dissuade her mother. “It’s only a ten minute walk from Robin’s. You don’t want to drive all the way back out here in just to drive us less than a mile up the road.”

Reluctantly, Claudia agreed that the girls could take care of themselves, and left Alice and her overnight bag at Robin’s. She waited until her daughter was safely inside before waving and backing out of the driveway. 

In the time it took for Alice to arrive, Robin’s bedroom had descended into absolute chaos. Ninety percent of the time they had before the party was spent digging through the chaos that was Robin’s wardrobe, piecing together the perfectly casual, but not too casual because “then what if Vickie thinks I’m a slob! Don’t give me that look, you’re just as much a mess as I am,” outfit.

The other ten percent was taken up by relentless, teasing back-and-forth from both girls. It had started off with Alice clearly having the upperhand; gently mocking her friend as she tried on article after article of clothing. Alice was quite enjoying herself. That is, until it came time to talk to Steve about the party.

 In the end, it had been Robin who had called to recruit Steve as a secondary wingman and a ride home. It was stupid. The phone had been in Alice’s hand, she had dialed his number. His new number. The one for his fancy, independent, adult apartment. The first ring in her ear sent her stomach fluttering and her heart pounding, resulting in the phone being flung into a bewildered Robin’s hands.

Cooly recovering from Alice’s sudden panic, Robin had managed to convince Steve to meet them at the party. Alice hovered over her shoulder, ears straining to hear the other side of the conversation and chewing her pinky nail down to the nub. 

What was wrong with her? Alice chastised herself. She’d spoken to Steve on the phone quite literally hundreds of times. At least thrice that week alone. 

Inviting him to a party, though, somehow felt too much like she was back in middle school asking Matthew Miller to the Snowball, only to spend the night sulking on the bleachers after being stood up.

So, in true middle school fashion, it only made sense that she make her friend ask Steve, instead. Not that she thought Steve would stand her up. Because it wasn’t like this was a date or anything. This was merely a group outing with a couple of pals.

She’d never hear the end of it from Robin. 

***

The party itself was a docile thing, despite being packed with a couple dozen band nerds. The music was decent and the drinks were surprisingly good for a questionable concoction thrown together by a teenager. 

Robin zeroed in on Vickie the second they stepped through the door. When the redhead greeted both girls with a hug, Alice was impressed by how quickly Robin recovered from the close contact. 

As the night went on, much to Alice’s delight, it seemed that Robin’s initial apprehensions about the party were proving to be completely unnecessary. And though she was having a good time and was always glad to spend time with Robin, it really seemed like Alice’s presence was barely needed. 

It may have been the effervescent lighting on the dance floor or maybe the faint buzz of alcohol in her system, but Alice could swear Robin practically radiating confidence as she danced with the girls she had been pining over for months. Ever the dutiful friend, Alice swayed to the music with them, overthinking about what the correct amount of respectable distance would be. Not so close to the couple that she was invading their bubble, but not too far away to be unable to participate in conversation or miss any distress signals from Robin. 

Luckily for her, after some subtle comments from Robin, followed by a not-so-subtle elbow to the ribs, Alice finally took the hint and excused herself. She counted this as a victory in staying firmly in wingman territory. There would be no outdated chaperoning tonight. 

Not quite sure what to do with herself after leaving the one person in the house she actually felt comfortable spending time with, Alice wandered through the festivities, stopping to chit chat with old classmates every so often. She certainly wasn’t looking for Steve. Not really. Was she disappointed he wasn’t there yet? Maybe, but mostly Alice just felt overwhelmed without someone to anchor her. 

In the end she parked herself on a couch in the den, only returning to the party proper to replenish her drink. It was quieter in there, and much less crowded than the main living areas. There were a few people playing scrabble at a card table in the middle of the room as movie played softly in the corner, a couple boys sprawled out on a rug in front of the the television, watching intently. This was definitely more her speed tonight. 

Unfortunately, despite being a refuge from the chaos, this was also how Alice found herself three and a half drinks deep, getting her ear talked off by goddamn Matthew Miller. Yes, that Matthew Miller. She had cursed herself by thinking of him earlier. It seemed Matthew had conveniently forgotten his eighth grade indiscretions. Sadly for him, Alice was excellent at holding a grudge, even through the pleasant, fuzzy haze of drunkenness. 

“Anyway, you’d be surprised by the kind of stuff you could get away with in college. No one cares, Henderson, you could do whatever you want.” Matthew had his arm stretched across the back of the couch, fingers lingering dangerously close to Alice’s shoulder. She clenched her plastic cup in her hand and stared straight ahead, willing someone, anyone, to save her from this conversation. Where the hell was Robin when she needed her? “And the girls, man. They’re nothing like high school chicks; everyone is just so open minded, y’know?”

“Mmhm.”

“Most of the them are just there looking for husbands, anyway, so it’s easier. That’s what Trevor says, anyway. You remember Trevor, right? He was french horn in high school, but we were roommates last semester, too. Anyway, it’s true though. These girls are just looking for someone to settle down and have babies with.”

Okay, that was quite enough of that. Alice threw the rest of her drink back, grimaced and finally turned toward Matthew with a withering scowl, preparing to lay into his insufferable, sexist ideas about women as a whole.

“First of all, you misogynistic prick, that’s—oh! ” Alice’s speech was slightly slurred, but not enough to hide the venom behind her words. Words that were all too suddenly cut off by the aforementioned prick making a bee-line for Alice’s lips, his eyes closed and mouth horrifyingly open. She threw herself backward into the arm of the couch at the last second, simultaneously pushing Matthew back into the cushions opposite her. “Oh, no thank you!”

The boy was clearly taken aback, or at the very least, not used to being turned down. “Are you sure? I thought we were having a moment!”

“What part of... of that ‘conversation’” Alice emphasized the word with some sloppy air quotes. “Made you think we were having a moment?! I might be drunk, but I’m not, like, random, regrettable hookup drunk, Trevor.”

“Matthew.” The boy corrected her with a glare. With practiced ease, he shifted his face into cool disinterest before plucking Alice’s empty cup from her hand. “I’m going to get us a refill. Maybe you’ll be a little nicer when I get back.”

Frowning deeply at his retreating back, Alice knew this was her chance to make a hasty departure. She just needed to get up. Which was easy, so easy. Or at least it would have been two drinks ago. The liquor had settled into her limbs, weighing her down like sandbags. It was fine, though. She just needed to flag down Robin to pull her out of the quicksand-like cushions that were sucking her deeper and deeper into the couch with every passing minute.

But where was Robin? Alice squinted her eyes, trying to find a familiar face in the crowd through the open doorway, but failed to spot either of the girls she’d been with earlier. This was also fine, surely someone had to know where they had disappeared off to. Triumph shot through Alice as she successfully caught the eye of a friendly face. She beaconed the familiar, fluffy-haired girl over.

“Kate. Kate listen, where is Robin?” 

“Hey Alice, you good?” Kate smiled down at her, amusement glinting in her eyes, before helpfully taking a quick look around the room. “I don’t really know, I’m sorry. I think she and Vickie were in the kitchen earlier, do you want me to go check?”

“You’re an angel, Kate, truly. A tumpeteer from the heavens.” The words tumbled from Alice’s mouth without filter. The lack of control should have mortified Alice, but she was well past the point of actually caring. Kate just chuckled, patted Alice on the head like a puppy, and made for the kitchen. 

No sooner did Alice’s ally disappear through one doorway, did her adversary emerge through another, a fresh plastic cup clutched in each hand. 

Shit. The time for games was over. Gathering every speck of willpower she possessed, Alice pushed herself up from the cavernous couch. Bad idea. Awful idea. She clutched the arm of the couch as the room moved around her, swaying and spinning like a carnival ride. Her stomach churned slightly. Don’t puke, don’t puke, don’t puke.

A hand appeared on her arm, steadying her. Instinctively, she swatted it away. Unfortunately, the sudden movement tipped Alice off balance just enough to send her falling back into the accursed couch. She glared up at her assailant, ready to lay into Matthew about touching her without consent. Oh. Not Matthew, then.

Steve, her knight in shining polo, loomed over her with bemusement etched into his features. A flash of annoyance coursed through her; where had he been an hour ago, before her night had started to go downhill? However, the feeling was quickly overshadowed by dread when she caught Matthew’s garish, caution-sign yellow t-shirt from the corner of her eye.

“Listen, I’m sorry I’m late, but you’re not going to believe the breakthrough I’ve had with Gladys—“

“Sit down,” she whispered to Steve, cutting him off as Matthew drew ever closer. Without a second thought, Steve slid into the seat next to Alice, side-eyeing the approaching figure. Alice clutched his arm, pulling him close like a human shield, as if she could camouflage herself with Steve’s considerably larger stature. “Pretend you’re talking to me.”

“Pretend to—we were talking, Alice. Until you rudely interrupted me.” Alice laughed loudly, tossing her head in the direction of where Matthew awkwardly hovered nearby, his shins bumping on the corner of the crowded coffee table. Steve snuck a peek, taking in the boy fumbling with the red cups in his hands, and nodded to signify he understood the situation. 

“Ah, I see. Okay, what angle are we going with here? The usual?” 

“Nuh uh, our moms work together. Dead grandma isn’t going to work.”

“What about my dead grandma?”

“Maybe. Can you even pull that off?”

“You underestimate me, Henderson.” Alice bit back a smirk as Steve took the challenge to heart. Without any sort of preamble he turned and pressed his forehead into her shoulder. Sliding his hand into hers, he gripped her fingers tightly and put in his best effort into looking the part of a grief-stricken man.

Alice froze.

For the first time, Alice was thankful for the alcohol that dulled her senses. Her heart fluttered as she tried not to think about the way his breath felt on her neck as he buried his face into her shoulder. Or the way the hard plane of his torso pressed into her own, or how it nearly took her breath away. 

Alice took a second to compose herself. You’re a goddamn professional, she scolded herself. This was a tried and true act, one that she and Steve had played out at least half a dozen times before to get out many an awkward encounter, though it was usually her amping up the dramatics. The proximity meant nothing, and Alice had better remember that. After all, it wasn’t as if they’d never been that close before. Closer, she recalled, heat pooling in her stomach. 

It had just been so long. 

But she could think about that later. Instead of lingering on feeling the heat of his skin on her body, she focused on the performance at hand. 

“What’s wrong with him?” Matthew finally piped up after what felt like an eternity of fake-comforting Steve as he fake-cried into the light cardigan she’d thrown over her tank top earlier in the evening. Alice glowered at him incredulously as she rubbed a comforting hand up and down Steves back. He was good, maybe too good. A wicked thought crossed her mind. Lets see how well he could do with this one.

“Shh, his guinea pig just died.” She hissed. Steve stiffened a bit, thrown off by Alice’s plot twist. She bit the inside of her cheek, keeping cool. “Show a little respect, Miller.”

“Damn, Harrington, I’m sorry man. Here,” Matthew deposited both cups of god-knows-what concoction, on the table before them.  “Have a drink for…for—“

“Henrietta.” Alice supplied, helpfully. 

“For Henrietta.” Matthew nodded and clapped Steve on the shoulder before hurrying away as quickly as his feet could take him. Once he was safely out of sight, Alice couldn’t hold back the peals of laughter. Steve took the moment to collect himself, smoothing back his hair and wiping the non-existent tears from his face. 

“Guinea pig?” Steve spluttered, shaking his head in disbelief. 

She shrugged helplessly. “You were so convincing, though, Steve! Why didn’t you ever try out for the school plays? We never had enough boys, they would have eaten you up.”

“Just another one of my many unrealized talents. Come on, lets go find the lovebirds. They’re around here somewhere.” He chuckled, rising from his seat. Offering a hand to Alice, he pulled her up with minimal effort. She felt steady enough on her feet to follow him through the house, but not before swiping her drink from the coffee table. 

 ***

“And then! After giving me all this bullshit about how these college girls are all so eager to throw themselves at him, he decides its a perfect time to go for it. Mouth. Wide. Open.”

“Please, tell me you’re kidding.” Robin and Vickie sat shoulder-to-shoulder on one of the few lounge chairs scattered across the backyard, twin expressions of disgust etched across their faces. Alice was sprawled across the foot of a shared lounge chair herself. Steve had somehow managed to fold himself onto a tight ball of limbs on the other half, leaving plenty of room for Alice to gesticulate wildly as she recounted every gory detail of her run-in with Matthew.

“I swear he like, unhinged his jaw or something.” Alice cackled, shifting her body to lean more of her weight onto Steve’s bent legs. At this point, she was sure he was the only thing keeping her upright. To his credit, he merely shifted to accommodate her, untangling himself slightly so that he could sprawl his legs out on either side of her. Alice took the opportunity to claim space of her own, scooting back to nestle her shoulder against his chest, while keeping her body angled to carry on her conversation. 

Sober Alice would have never, not in a million years. But drunk Alice was an entirely different story. She reveled in the easy way Steve slipped an arm around her waist, hooking his thumb through the belt loop on her hip. The action didn’t go unnoticed to the girl across from her, either. Robin caught Alice’s eye and gave a wink. Alice tried, and failed, to hide a grin. 

“Anyway, then Steve finally showed up, but Henrietta died and he started crying, which we all know is the ultimate boy repellent, so s’all good now.” 

“Wait, who’s Henrietta?” Vickie piped up, looking concerned by the mention of someone dying. 

“Steve’s guinea pig.” Alice yawned behind her hand, before resting her head on her folded knees. “But don’t worry, I’m not even a hundred percent sure she even existed.”

“She definitely never existed, you nerd.” Steve’s chest rumbled as he spoke, chuckling softly. 

The conversation drifted to movies and Alice’s altered state-of-mind had a hard time keeping up with titles and actors. Despite her lack of ability to make a mental contribution, Alice was overjoyed to see Robin so open and totally herself around Vickie. If anyone deserved to be in a happy relationship, it was Robin. Alice knew she couldn’t come close to understanding the nuances of being in Robin’s shoes, but she certainly knew the sting of unrequited love. 

Though, she supposed, her’s wasn’t really unrequited, now was it? Did it still count as unrequited if the feelings had actually been requited all along, but the other party had chosen to be an ass about them for the better part of a year instead of talking about said feelings? Either way, Alice felt a strong kinship with Robin in the whole romance department. 

Head swimming, Alice decided that last drink had been a bad idea. To her credit, she’d only drank half of it before a moment of clarity had her switching to bottled water, but it was enough to push her just a bit too far over her usual limit. Enough to completely disregard any and all inhibitions, but also, as it turned out, enough to make her very, very sleepy. 

The fourth time Alice’s head slipped from it’s perch, Steve let out a heavy sigh, wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her tighter into himself. Alice gave up trying to keep herself up and settled fully against his chest, letting her eyes drift shut. 

Everything about this was against Alice’s better judgement, and yet she couldn’t shake the feeling of how right it felt. The buttons of his shirt digging into her cheek, how his breath ruffled her hair as he dipped his head to whisper in her ear.

“Maybe it’s time to get you home, huh?” Alice’s eyes snapped open and forced herself upright. Absolutely not; there was no way she was about to cut Robin’s night short because she got a little too drunk and couldn’t keep her eyes open. 

“Nope, can’t go home.” She mumbled sleepily, pulling the front of her cardigan to wrap around her body a bit tighter to ward off the chilly night air.

“…why not?”

“Two reasons Stephen,” Alice held up a lazy finger, ticking off the first. “Number one; look at Robin.”

Steve grumbled but did as he was told, fixing his gaze on Robin, who was now visibly uncomfortable with the sudden attention Alice brought to her.

“When was the last time you saw Robin have a good time at a party?”

“I have tons of fun at parties all the time, Alice!” Robin protested from her chair. 

“Exactly. I’m not going to make her leave a nice time just so she could lay in bed listening to me snore all night.”

“I can take Robin home later.” Vickie nervously interjected, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. “If that’s what you want, I mean. No pressure, it’s just…I’m having a nice time too.”

Robin visibly lit up at the prospect of actual Alone Time with her long-term crush. She nodded enthusiastically, a blush creeping up her neck. Alice flashed her what she hoped was a subtle thumbs up, which in hindsight was maybe a bit too subtle even for its intended recipient. Embarrassed, she tucked her hand back into her sweater.

“Oh, perfect. That problem was solved…quickly. Anyway, third of—“

“Second?”

“Second of all…I can’t go home drunk. My mom will cry and it’ll lead Dustin down a…a dark path of drugs and alcohol. You guys know the kid, there very impressionable at that age.” 

“That doesn’t seem likely.”

“You don’t know that. I just…I don’t like them seeing me like this. So I can…I’ll sleep it off on this lawn chair, I guess. If you don’t mind scooting…” She leaned forward as far as she could, giving Steve a chance to get up. He swung his long legs over the side of the lounge and hesitated, a brief flash of inner conflict crossed his face as he considered something.

“Or…”

“Or?”

“Or I can take you back to my place and you can sober up there.”

Alice clapped a hand over her speeding heart, face heating to what was sure sure to be a low-grade fever. What was this kid playing at? 

“Mr. Harrington, I think we’ve established I’m not that kind of girl!” She managed to choke out after her pulse calmed. 

“Jesus Christ, Alice, not like that!” He spluttered, taking a few steps back as though to put some distance between himself and Alice. Robin dissolved into a fit of mad laughter, completely ignoring the icy glare Steve shot in her direction. He placed his hands on his hips, looking absolutely exasperated by both girls. “I just figured my couch would be a hell of a lot more comfortable than a hard plastic chair, but if that’s what you’d prefer then by all means—“

“No, no! That’s…that’s actually super nice of you, Steve.” Alice tried to recover, feeling a small pang of guilt through the alcohol. She had misunderstood, of course Steve was just trying to help. That’s just what they did; they took care of each other. 

“Listen, don’t feel obligated or anything, it was just a suggestion. I can just as easily let you sleep right here, or take you to Robin’s, or to back to your house to corrupt Dustin. Just wanted you to have options, is all.” Steve rambled as Alice leant over to fish her purse from underneath the lounge. Stumbling clumsily to her feet, she looped her arm around Steve’s to regain some balance.

“Do you have snacks?”

“Ok, I’ve changed my mind. You’re not allowed in my home.” 

“Can we stop somewhere to get snacks?”

“Will you behave yourself if I say yes?”

“I can’t make any promises.”

[munsonkitten]

Eddie falls asleep on the couch when he doesn’t mean to. He’s there watching a movie on TV while he waits for Steve to come home from a shift at Family Video. Those saturday shifts when Steve works until midnight always have Eddie fighting off sleep.

It’s weird because he’s always been a night owl. He stays up until the early hours of the morning so often he used to think his sleep schedule was permanently fucked. But on the nights when all he can do is wait there on the couch under a blanket, the cat on his chest and their dog on his legs, he can’t help it. He slips away as a movie plays on low volume, the lights turned down low, his head turned toward the front door so he can see Steve right when he comes in.

Cozy and warm, it's always the best feeling to let himself get comfortable and let sleep take him.

Steve comes home on those nights, finds Eddie there with their pets, sleeping soundly. He goes over to press a kiss to his forehead, right on the exposed spot where Eddie’s bangs have parted in his sleep. Eddie blinks his eyes open, fights the sleepiness away.

He rolls off the couch and lets Steve catch his arm to steady him as he rises to his feet. He stumbles -- overheated from the cat and dog and warm cozy blanket -- down to their bedroom. He lays in their bed while Steve changes out of his work clothes.

It’s in these soft, warm moments, when Eddie’s just barely awake, where he knows that this is exactly how he wants to spend the rest of his life.

[morganski-19]

Steve is hanging out with Robin when he hears a knock at the front door. Robin gives him a concerned look as he leaves the living room to open it, neither of them expecting anyone, and everyone they know has a key. 

When he opens the door, a girl he guesses is around Dustin’s age is there, nervously playing with her hands, a backpack loosely thrown over her shoulder. “Hi, sorry to bother you but, do the Harrington’s live here?” she asks shyly.

“Yes, I’m Steve. Who are you?” There is a familiarity to her face that he can’t quite place.  

“Steve, right, they said he had a son. I’m uh, my name is Julie. Your dad kinda knew my mom.”

He must have met her at one of his dad’s work events, that has to be why she looks familiar. “Oh ok, did she have to drop something off here or something?”

“Well, kinda. But it’s not what you’re probably expecting.” She pauses looking unsure of what she is going to say next. “Can I- can I come it, you might want to sit down for what I have to say. It’s kind of shocking.”

“I’m not sure, I don’t really know you. Could you tell me who your mom is, maybe I can remember you then.”

She takes a deep breath. “When I said that my mom knew your dad, I didn’t mean from work. Well, I did mean from work but she hasn’t worked for him in over fifteen years, so I doubt you’d remember her. She was his secretary for a while, and they had a very,” she pauses again, looking around to see if anyone is there. “Intimate, relationship.”

The dots clicked immediately in his head, thoughts immediately started to run around about who this girl could really be. He thinks that her offer to sit down was probably necessary. “Yeah, why don’t you come in.”

“Ok.” She steps through the doorway, waiting for him to lead her through the house. 

He brings her to the kitchen, motioning for her to sit at the small table. Grabbing a few glasses, he fills them with water and brings them over, placing one in front of her. She thanks him, taking it and gulping it down with shaky hands. The more he looks at her, the more he can’t help but see more and more similarities, just ones that remind him of himself. 

“Who was it, Steve,” Robin asks, wandering into the kitchen. “Oh shit, hi.”

“Rob, this is Julie, her mom apparently knew my dad.” Steve makes a motion with his head to indicate how, hoping that she can read it right. 

With the way her eyes widen, he can’t help but think that she did. “Oh like, special knew. Like knew knew.”

“Yes,” Julie says weakly. “Yeah, they did.”

“Oh shit,” Robin takes a seat next to Steve, her hand immediately finding his. It brings comfort, reassurance that she’s there. He knew his dad was a piece of crap cheater, his mom certainly made it known during many of their screaming matches. But with the girl staring at him with the same eyes he sees every morning in the mirror, his brain can’t help but jump to the conclusion that she’s, something. And that just makes his chest tighten in anxiety.

“I, uh.” Julie starts, wringing her hand nervously again. “I don’t really know how to say this gently. But, when my mom worked for your dad, they had an affair. It didn’t last that long, but remember when I said my mom stopped working for him like fifteen years ago? It was actually seventeen because that’s when she figured out she was pregnant.”

Steve feels a lump forming in his throat as she nods, trying to take it all in. “With you?” he asks, not knowing how he is even speaking at all right now. Robin squeezes his hand.

Julie gives a small nod, looking down at the table. “Yeah.”

“And my dad is-” he can’t finish the sentence, but it’s answered by her sorry nod. “Holy shit.” 

He runs a hand through his hair, trying to wrap his head around everything. This girl, Julie, is his sister. Half-sister, whatever, it doesn’t matter. Robin breaks her contact with him and goes to rub his back instead. His head falls into his hands propped up on the table and he just focuses on breathing. 

“Steve, you ok?” Robin’s voice soothes him a little bit, but when your world just gets shattered, there’s not much that can be done to help completely. 

“I knew he cheated. I knew that, accepted that. It’s why my mom followed him around on all his trips. But he- he had a kid, and just hid it.”

“I’m sorry. I know this is a lot to take in, I have proof if you want to see it.”

Steve looks at Robin, asking her what to do with his eyes. She shrugs, her way of saying that it couldn’t hurt. Probably is better that they have proof anyway, make sure this is legit. He nods, unable to say anything. 

“Could we see it? Just to double-check everything,” Robin asks for him. God he’s so happy that she’s here

Julie ruffles around in her backpack, random clothes peeping out as she pulls out a file. She opens it, pulling out two pieces of paper before going in again and pulling out what looks like a school ID. “Here’s my birth certificate and the paternity test. And my ID with my picture on it, so you know it’s me.”

The first thing he sees is his father’s name on the test results, followed by the line saying his relation to Julie is undeniable. That he was undeniably the father. The birth certificate only has the signature of her mother and the doctor, but the father’s name is absent. He ditched them, probably made her mom prove that this kid was his, and then just paid them to shut them up. His mom would never know, he would never know, and they never had access to any of his records. 

Julie Rebecca Lawson, born January 28, 1970. He was three when she was born. He’s had a sibling this whole time, and he didn’t even know it. 

“Does your mom know you’re here?” Robin asks, softly. 

Julie’s face visibly falls as she rapidly blinks away some tears. “She- she died two weeks ago. Car accident.”

“I’m so sorry, Julie,” Robin reaches across to comfort her, but the hand she was going to grab gets pulled away. “Whoever is watching you then, do they know where you are?”

She sniffles. “I’ve been staying with a foster family while they find a permanent placement. They don’t really care where I am. My caseworkers were trying to find some family, but my grandparents are long gone and my mom’s sister is in no place to take in a kid. So they were looking on my dad’s side.” She says the word dad as if they don’t fit right in her mouth. 

“I didn’t come here looking for a place to say,” she continues. “Right before my mom passed, she finally told me about my dad. How he never wanted anything to do with me because he had a big reputation and another family. It was supposed to be a secret, but the more I thought about it, I couldn’t help but think that you had a right to know. And then since she-, since I needed a place to stay, it was only a matter of time before you found out. I knew he was out of town so I thought it might be better to say it myself. Now I’m not so sure that was such a great idea.”

“No,” Steve finally says. “I’m, I’m glad you told me. You’re right, we, me and my mom, had a right to know. So, thank you. Rob, could I talk to you for a minute?”

She stands. “Yeah. We’ll be right back, ok Julie.” 

Julie says a soft reply as Robin leads Steve to the living room. She has shock in her eyes, he’s sure he does too. “I don’t know what to do, Rob.”

“How could you? You just found out that your dad had another kid. With another woman. And then hid it from you. How are you supposed to cope with that information?”

“I don’t know. I have no clue what to do from here but I can’t help but. Shit Rob, I want to help her.”

“Steve, you don’t know her, at all. She just spawned on your doorstep not even an hour ago and just dropped the biggest bombshell on you since the, you know what. I get that you want to help her, I do. Shit, I do too. But I’m just asking that you take a step back and think about this.”

Steve crosses his arms, pulling his eyebrows together. The decision was pretty much made in his mind, but she was right. “What if she stays the night, we sleep on this and get to know her more tomorrow. Then we can go from there.”

“Ok,” she puts a hand on Steve’s arm. “That’s a good plan.” 

Robin steps forward, pulling him into a hug before they walk back into the kitchen. Julie looks back up at them, uncertainty filling her face. It reminds him so much of himself it sort of hurts. “Julie, you can stay the night, if you want to. That way tomorrow we can talk some more, and get to know each other, figure out what to do about this. But I can drive you back to the house you’re staying at if you’d like.”

“Could I stay here, I really don’t like it there.”

“Come on, I’ll show you the guest room.”

If this gets enough interest, I might make this into a whole fic of its own. So let me know if this interests you at all. Edit: This fic is now happening. I'm creating a tag list so if you'd like to be added to it, please respond under this post (so I can keep track of it better)

Edit 2: The fill part one is now posted here

[xxmayxx05]

Just the Three of us

pairing: eddie munson x fem!reader x Steve Harrington

Contents: Smut 18+, oral (giving/receiving), unprotected sex (Please be safe irl), manhandling, praise kink, pet names, multiple orgasms

a/n: Hi everyone! I hope you guys like this second part of the mini series. If you guys have any recommendations of what you want to see on the third part please comment. Reblogs and comments are highly appreciated, I hope you like it. - May<3

word count: 2,8k

After two hours of hard studying everyone decided that a break was truly needed. Eddie and Steve couldn’t keep their eyes out of your beautiful curves. Robin rolled her eyes when she saw Steve putting a hand on top of your thigh, when you both were talking. Eddies gaze hardened and tried to chime into the conversation and put his hand on your other thigh. 

“I have a question for you y/n” Robin said with a little smirk, she was going to get the boys very riled up. 

“What’s up Robin?” you asked as you looked up at her. Noticing her small smirk, you knew that you had something on her mind. 

“Let’s say that hypothetically, what would happen if two boys that you like and hypothetically they like you back. Per se, what would happen?” she asked while leaning back on her arms and waited for your reply. Eddie and Steve have now sat themselves straight and waited with a lot of anticipation to your reply. 

“That is a very odd question to ask Robin” you said and kept eye contact with her. A burning sensation over came you body when you felt Steve’s and Eddie’s gazes burning through you. “I’m very open minded, if I like both and they like me as well. A trio doesn’t sound bad at all” you said and got up. “Help me serve some lemonade Robin” you said and walked to the kitchen. Hoping that the boys got the hint. 

—-

“Fuck, Harrington” Eddie whispered shouted. He couldn’t believe that you were the kind to be okay with a trio. He was surprised but then again he thought that it would be perfect. Eddie knew that Steve liked you as well but never even thought that there could be a possibility of you three becoming a trio. 

“I know Munson” Steve said quietly and looked at him. “I didn’t think she had it in her” he said surprised, deep inside he felt excited. The though of having you in bed, your body all exposed for him and Eddie. Your back arching and the sound of your sweet moans filling the room while they both made love to you; made him go crazy. 

“I would be okay with it” Eddie said quietly and looked at him. “You like her and so do I. I don’t want to keep competing over her” he said and extended his hand toward Steve. Eddie knew that  he was crazy for accepting to be in  trio but he liked you a lot, ever since he saw you for the first time. 

“Let’s keep this civil Munson” Steve agreed and shook Eddie’s hand. 

Right on time you walked in and handed one glass of lemonade to Steve. 

“Here you go” you said and sat between them again. 

“Here you go dufus” Robin said and handed one glass of lemonade to Eddie. She looked up at the clock in the living room and faked surprised. “Shit, I have to go” she said hurriedly and packed up her backpack. Leaning down quickly she hugged you and said her goodbyes to the guys. 

“Oh yeah, she had to go meet up with Max at the arcade” she said and took a sip of your lemonade and looked at both boys. Hoping that one of them would make a move just like Robin had told you in the kitchen. She plotted a small excuse so that she could go and you three could have some privacy to yourselves. 

Steve and Eddie looked at each other and leaned back against the sofa. The three of you drank your perspective lemonades and sat in silence. There was a lot of sexual tension in the living room and they didn’t know how to break it. 

“So, you are okay with being shared?” Steve asked confidently and turned to look at you. He knew that Eddie was too shy to make a move. 

“Mhm, you only live once” you said and put your glass down between you thighs. “Two is better than one, I guess” saying softly and bit your bottom lip when you felt Eddie put a hand on your left thigh. 

“It’s good to know that you think that way, we both really like you alot” Eddie said quietly and massaged your thigh softly. 

You turned your head to the left and looked at him. He was blushing softly and leaned in to peck you lips. Finally you thought. 

“He is right, love. We wouldn’t mind sharing you at all” Steve said and leaned down. He left small kisses on your exposed neck and smiled softly when you let out small moans. 

“I would love to be with the both of you” you said and leaned your head back in pleasure. Eddie had grabbed the glass between your thighs and put it aside. He leaned down and left kisses on the right side of your neck. Giving a small wink at Steve, both of them left kisses on your neck and massaged your inner thighs. 

“Can we go to my room please?” you asked quietly and caressed both of their cheeks. Leaning in to the right you pecked Steves lips and then to the left pecking Eddies. Both boys nodded their heads and got up. Carefully they helped you get up and you grabbed their hands. Leading them upstairs to your room.

“Sit down” you told them as you closed your door and locked it. Both listened to you and sat next to each other in bed. Walking up to them, you decided to stand between Eddie’s legs. Leaning down you kissed him passionately, a needy moan escaped his mouth. Steve bit his bottom lip at the sight of you both making out. His member was growning within each second and he felt his jeans becoming too tight for his growing member. You heard Steve hissing softly and you leaned back. 

“Are you okay Steve?” you asked innocently and caressed his cheek. Looking down, you saw the outline of his member through his jeans. You stepped back from Eddie and went between Steves legs. Getting down on your knees, you looked up at him and Eddie. “Remove your clothes” you ordered them both. 

They quickly and quietly obeyed your commands. You watched them both remove their clothes and watched in awe at the sight. Steve cock was long and hard the tip was leaking with precum. Eddie’s cock was thick and long. Immediately you became even more wet then you already were. Letting out a small whimper, you brought your right hand to your mouth and spit on it. Bringing it to Eddie’s member, you wrapped your hand around it and motioned it up and down. 

Eddie’s deep breathes escaped his mouth, he felt on cloud nine when he felt your hand wrapped around his needy cock. He moaned when he saw you leaned down and licked Steve’s tip. 

“Fuck baby” Steve moaned softly when he felt your wet tongue lick a small strip from the bottom of his cock all the way to the top of his tip. His fantasy was finally going to come true, he was going to have sex with the girl of his dreams and a threesome. “Oh fuck!” he cried out in pleasure when you wrapped your plump lips around his hard cock and began moving your head up and down. Your mouth felt heavenly around his cock. 

You moaned at the praise and the way Steve reacted to your mouth around your cock. Feeling a lot of pride that you had both boys on the palm of your hand, you looked at Eddie while you kept giving Steve head. Tightening your grip softly on his cock, he moaned at the feeling and looked down at you. He brought a hand to your cheek and softly smacked you. 

“Such a needy slut” he praised your and smacked you again.  Eddie didn’t know what took over him but he needed you to become vulnerable for them both. “Look at you being a needy slut, letting me and Steve use your pretty body from now on” he said and looked at Steve. “We own this slut, Harrington” he said with a smirk. 

“Fuck yes we do” Steve said and gripped your hair. Pulling your it up, you removed your mouth from his cock and gasped to catch up with your breathing. 

“Remove your clothes and lay in bed baby” Steve ordered and helped you get up. Him and Eddie were mesmerized by your body, little by little as your removed the only two pieces of clothing you wore. Surprised that you didn’t wear a bra or panties, both boys were falling more in love with you by the second and they couldn’t wait until they finally had a taste of you. 

You took a small breath and laid down, waiting for one of the two boys to make a move. Steve was the first one to remove his pants and got on top of you. Leaning down he looked down at your plump red lips and caressed your cheek. 

“Are you sure, you want this?” he asked softly and looked deeply into your eyes. Hoping that you wouldn’t regret what was to come later on. 

“I really do Steve” you whispered and removed his shirt. Smiling softly when he brought his arms up, helping you to remove his shirt. You looked at Eddie and chuckled softly when he just stood there with a cheesy small smile. “Join us, Ed” you said and leaned your head to the side when Steve started leaving kisses on your neck. Moaning softly when you felt him suck softly against your soft skin, he was marking you and you loved that. 

“Patience baby” Eddie said and removed the remaining of his clothes. He got on the bed and softly wrapped his hand around the base of his cock. “Open that pretty mouth of yours baby” he said and tapped the tip of his cock on top of your plump lips. Eddie groaned softly when he finally felt your warm and wet mouth around his cock, something that he has dreamt about ever since he met you. 

Steve left kisses all the way down from your neck, into between your inner thighs. He smirked softly when he saw how wet your pussy looked from his angle. Leaning in he gave a soft lick between your wet pussy lips and moaned at your sweet taste. You tasted like heaven, just like he thought you did. He knew that he was going to be addicted to your sweet taste and he couldn’t wait for more. Wrapping his arms around your thick thighs, he spread them about and began eating you out as if he didn’t eat for days. 

You were a moaning mess, around Eddie’s cock. Steve was eating your pussy out in such a delicious way, the sounds of him licking your wet pussy, your sweet moans, and Eddie’s praises filled the entire room. Eddie softly held your hair into a pony tail while he thrusted his cock in and out of your warm mouth, the way he praised you made you fall in love with him even more. Making eye contact with him, you started meeting his small thrusts inside your mouth. Gagging around his cock made him moan loudly and fill your mouth with his cum. 

“Oh Fuck” he panted and he brought a hand to your cheek. “Swallow my cum baby” he cooed softly when he saw how fucked you looked. 

You swallowed and leaned upward to kiss him passionately. Feeling a lot of pride that you had that type of control over Eddie. 

Steve had gotten on his knees and spit on his hand. He loved the sight of you and Eddie making out infront of him, but felt a little jealous at the tiny lack of attention that he was not receiving. Wrapping his hand around his cock, he brought it up and down. 

“It’s my turn baby” Steve said and aligned the tip of his cock against your wet pussy. Smiling softly when you turned to him with a drunken gaze and nodded your head. 

“Please, I need you” you said in a pleading matter. Gasping softly when you felt him insert his tip inside of you. He was stretching you out up to oblivion, and couldn’t control your moans. His hips started gaining control as he slid in and out of you, his fingers dug deep into your hips and thrusted deeper. 

Eddie brought a hand down to your clit and began to rub it fast. Your loud moans became music to his ears, he loved how you were so desperate for him and Steve. Loving the sight of your head thrown back in pleasure, back arched and your breasts bouncing with each of Steves thrust. He knew that this was going to be one of many more nights like this. Leaning down he began leaving kisses on your exposed neck and marking it just like Henderson did. 

“Liking my cock baby?” Steve teased and smacked you softly. You looked like a fucked mess and he loved the sight of that. Loving the thought that you were cock drunk, with his cock.

You whimpered when you felt him smack you. Couldn’t put words together, you just moaned and nodded your head. 

“Use your words, princess” Eddie said and wrapped his hand around your neck. “Behave for him” he said and gripped his hand more around your neck.

“Y-Yes daddy” you gasped for air and let out a scream of pleasure when Steves thrust became harder and faster. With no warning, he cummed and filled you up with his warm seed. 

“F-fuck!” Steve moaned and slowed down his thrusts. The way you called him Daddy was unexpected and made him cum right then and there. Steve loved the way Daddy rolled out of your pretty mouth in such a innocent but dirty way. 

“Eddie, I need you” you said quietly and pecked his lips. 

“My baby didn’t cum?” he asked teasingly and got on top of you once Steve slid out. Eddie didn’t care about the mess that Harrington made inside of you and slammed his cock without any warning. Your moans got louder with each thrust that he made inside of you. 

“D-daddy” you gasped and wrapped your arms around his back. Your nails digging on his back, leaving small crescent moons but you couldn’t help it. Eddie was fucking you so well, him and Steve knew how to fuck very well. 

“Mm cum for me baby, cum around my cock” Eddie praised you as he grabbed one of your legs and put them around his shoulder. Sliding even deeper inside of you. 

“Fuck baby fuck!, you are only ours” 

“Y-yes daddy!” you say moaning loudly. Looking to your side, you look at Steve. Feeling that you needed his approval to cum as well. Once he gave you a small nod, you gave into the pleasure and cummed all over Eddies cock. 

Eyes rolled back and your back arched in pleasure. Tears rolled down your cheeks at the intense orgasm that took over your body, it was all too much for you after a long time of being celibate. 

Eddie kept fucking you into oblivion until he moaned loudly and cummed inside of you. His cum mixing with Steves and your wet juices. 

“Fuck” he panted harshly and carefully brought down your leg from his shoulder. Sliding out carefully and laid down next to you. His orgasm hit him the hardest. 

Steve let you both calm down and went to you bathroom. He grabbed a cloth and brought it to the sink. Wetting it a little, he came back into the room and up to you. Steve carefully cleaned up the huge mess that was between your legs and left kisses around your chest. 

“You did so well for us baby” he praised you softly as he looked at your fucked up state. 

All you could do was nod your head carefully and let him clean you up. 

Eddie got up to clean himself up and looked outside the window. He was surprised that it was night time. After finishing cleaning himself up, he turned off the bathroom light and walked inside your room. Smiling at you fast asleep, cuddling with Steve who was also fallen asleep. Eddie grabbed the blanket from the end of your bed and extended it over both of the bare bodies. Turning off the late of your room, he walked to the other side of your bed and got under your blanket. 

“Goodnight baby” he whispered and wrapped his arm around your bare waist. Letting sleep take over his tired body. Dreaming of what was going to happen next.

[moonbeamoclock]

Hot take that shouldn’t be a hot take:

my biggest pet peeve is when people tag something as a x reader but it’s actually an oc…..i got to the last chapter of a fic only for the description of the ‘reader’ to be of a white person.

then the author got nasty with me after i called her out about it but that’s whatever

it takes an extra 2 mins to have a generic description of a person rather then give the details of their appearance but some of y’all are just too lazy to do even that

[ash5monster01]

Not Just The Books

Pairing: Steve Harrington x FemReader

Warnings: 18+, no use of Y/N, smut, nudity, language, fluff, friends to lovers, minors DNI.

Summary: Steve catches you reading a smutty book and before the embarrassment can settle in you realize he is more interested in doing the stuff in the book with you.

word count: 3.5k

Masterlist

It was not uncommon for you and Steve to be able to sit in silence comfortably. Sometimes having the presence of a friend while you did different things was so much better than being alone. So you both sat comfortably in his living room, you in the easy chair, lamp on to illuminate your book, and him in the center of the couch, slumped down, as he watched whatever was on TV. The sound didn’t bother you as you read, you normally were in another world, not noticing the things around you. So even though Steve had the TV blaring with the hearing of a Grandpa, you didn’t even mind, the TV could explode and you wouldn’t notice. Thing was Steve always noticed you, even if his favorite movie was on TV.

So when he spotted you uncrossing your legs it peaked his interest. You still hadn’t torn your eyes from the book to see he had noticed your movement. Steve had almost turned away until he saw you had pressed your legs together, your teeth capturing your bottom lip. His heart accelerated slightly because he knew that kind of movement. He had caused many of girls that kind of movement, so when you started to shift in your seat, your breaths coming out in smaller pants he realized there was something more to the book you had tightly gripped in your hands. You still didn’t even flinch as Steve stood and walked over to you, in fact you couldn’t even tear your eyes from the page as he quite literally did it for you.

“Steve!” you screeched and he quickly noticed how dilated your eyes were, how fast your chest rose with each breath. You looked like a woman starved.

“Since when do books make you act like that” Steve teased, eyebrows raised highly and you felt the embarrassment burn through you.

“Please give me my book back” you begged, hand out, waiting for him to hand it over.

“You know, normally I would” and the panic started to set in as he turned the book towards himself. Steve never attempted to read your books. Why now?

“Please Steve!” you we’re quick, lunging towards him, but he was quicker. Your voice was rough, all worked up, and no one had even touched you.

“It’s always Steve you need to read more, when was the last time you opened a book, and now you don’t want me too?” he knew he was getting under your skin and you just prayed he woundn't read the page you were on. If there was some higher power out there they would keep him from reading that page right now.

“Just not that book, I was enjoying it” even Steve could hear how uncomfortable you sounded as you said it. It was as if you were trying to get him to cough it up without knowing what was so interesting about it.

“Well, I want to see what’s so good” and just like that his eyes dipped down and you launched for him. Yet Steve escaped your grasp, running across the room, and leaping onto the couch where he stood. Book now face open and you got to watch him read it in real time, like he was on a stage.

Claire panted out heavy breaths, skin on fire everywhere he left a wet love bite and blew on it. She tried to steady her breathing but as his wet kisses trailed down her stomach, finishing on the waist band of her shorts, she couldn’t quite seem to stop the breaths that came out.

Slowly his fingers curled into her waistband and she lifted her hips to make it easier, a silent conformation that what he was doing was okay. As the cool air of the bedroom hit her dripping core she couldn’t help but whimper over the thought of him burying himself between her folds.

“So perfect” he spoke, his tongue darting out to take a small taste. “And sweet”

Then just like that he was devouring her completely. So fast her back arched without her knowledge, pressing into him as he deliciously lapped up everything he could. Eating her out better than anyone ever had, and as his nose nudged against her clit she couldn’t help but begin to feel the coil tighten in her stomach. He had barely done anything and she was already ready to cum.

“Holy shit” Steve muttered, dropping his arms that held the book as he looked down at you from the couch. Very much unable to meet his eyes as he realized exactly what you were reading.

“Can I have my book back now?” you nervously asked, arm rubbing up and down your other one. Steve jumped back down to the ground. Trying to regain your gaze.

“Want to explain this to me?” he asked, holding it over and you quickly snatched it back.

“Not particularly” you now hyper aware of exactly how alone the two of you were right now.

“You like to read dirty books” he chuckled like a little kid and finally you dared to glance up at him only to see a smug look on his face, like he obtained information he was going to hold over your head for years to come.

“Most girls do Steve” you hissed attempting to hit him with the book but he quickly stopped you, his head coming to a shake.

“Whatever you say, it just looked like you were really enjoying it. I’d never seen you so…” he paused, trying to think of a word, and your heart accelerated. Thumping quickly against your ribs and you prayed he couldn’t hear it. “Worked up”

You sucked in a sharp breath as he said it and the air around you turned heavy. This had gone from embarrassing to mortifying because not only did you get caught reading about sex but you got caught for it turning you on. Steve had noticed you were turned on and now you wished he didn’t notice you even existed. “Can we not talk about this, I was acting like I always do”

“That’s a lie, you wouldn’t move while reading even if a tornado came through here but you couldn’t even sit still. You were needy and I know it because I’ve seen it a hundred times” now you were red as a fire truck and Steve was enjoying this way too much. Yet he was also getting turned on which he shouldn’t have because it’s you. His longest and oldest friend, the one he can be completely comfortable with but now he wanted to know exactly how wet you were from that stupid book and he wanted to see if he could get you wetter.

“Ah yes, King Steve, ruler of sex. Can’t take a hint but knows when a girl is turned on” you told him sarcastically, annoyed he insisted on embarrassing you further.

“So you admit to being turned on?” he said with a smirk and you rolled your eyes with a groan.

“My God give it a break, yes I was turned on, is that what you want to hear?” you asked him and as you let out heavy breaths and waited for him to give a sarcastic answer it never came. Instead he stared you down, like you admitting this suddenly made you a four course meal. Steve had never looked at you like this and now you were nervous all over again but about an entirely different thing.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” you nervously asked, attempting to back away from him because now the foot and half between you two was way too close.

“I’m not doing anything” he told you, stepping towards you to shorten the distance again and you wished he hadn’t of done it because now Steve was replacing the guy in the book for you.

“Yes you are, you’re looking at me like you want to kiss me” you said, trying to make it sound like a joke but even to you is sounded nervous. Steve just tilted his head, eyeing you up and down completely.

“It looks like that because I do want to kiss you” how was he so comfortable talking to you like this? You had never crossed this line before and now you wanted him to touch you and stay away all at the same time. “So can I kiss you?”

“I uh, I I..-“ you stammered, unsure how you went from peacefully ignoring each other to the edge of the line. If you say yes you would give him a reason to cross it and that was a lot of responsibility for a person.

“I need an answer sweetheart, because I really really want to kiss you” he spoke slowly and you swallowed hard, still turned on from the book and now a little turned on by him.

“Uh yeah, I-I guess” you told him and a grin cracked across his face and before you could say anything more his hands were on your face and drawing your lips near his own. He waited a minute before pressing them to yours, whether is was hesitant or savory you weren’t sure. But after a steady breath he pressed against you, mouth hot and slotting between your own lips perfectly. He was a good kisser but you already knew that.

It took only seconds for it to get heated, his hands tugging lightly at your hair and tongue grazing your lip. You parted in an instant, letting his tongue tangle with your own and then it was over. He had you backing up all the way to wall, your back thumping against it, and his knee wedging between your legs. Against your better judgement you started to grind against it, unable to stop your self considering how worked up you had been. “Getting yourself so turned on without any release, seems like torture sweetheart”

“There was going to be release, later, when I was alone” and your response had Steve’s head tipping back as he let out a groan.

“Still unfair, why don’t you let me take care of you?” Steve coaxed and you involuntarily ground down on his leg, knowing release was right around the corner if you just let him. Was it worth it though? To cross this line just for some sweet release? For a touch that could unwind you more than your own hands could? You knew Steve was a good lay, had been legend among the Hawkins High halls because of it. Should you even find out for yourself with risk of ruining the friendship? Fuck it.

You didn’t even have to answer based on the way your lips smashed back into his own. He met your pace in the blink of an eye and you couldn’t keep yourself from pulling at the hem of his shirt, trying to lift it above his head. Even needier at the sight of his bare torso you began to ride his leg like your life depended on it. A deep chuckle left his throat as his hands dug in the doughy flesh of your hips, slowing your movements against him. He wanted to take his sweet time with you and if he went any slower you were going to be a whining mess.

“What do you need baby?” he asked against your neck, sucking hard on the sensitive spot there and you were in no position to care that he probably gave you a crimson hickey.

“Take off my shirt” you told him with a groan, keening as he licked the sore spot of your neck. He obeyed, removing the baggy T-shirt you had worn over here just to be met with the sight that you had forgone a bra. You watched as his eyes turned almost black at the sight of you, swallowing thickly before cupping his hands around both your breasts. The minute he began to knead the flesh your head was hitting back against the wall, fighting from grinding on his leg again. Something about Steve needily groping your chest ignited a fire within you and you had been doing good until your nipple was sucked into his warm mouth and involuntarily you bucked your hips on his leg so hard you felt your hips bones hit his own.

"Such a needy girl" he teased before moving to suck on your other breast. As much as his words turned you on you still found yourself needing to feel more in control. Steve would be too cocky knowing he got you to so desperately fall apart like this. So in a moment of courage you took some intiative. With his eyes still closed, mouth littering your breast with hickeys, you dropped your hand down and grasped his hard on through his sweats. You felt the squeak from his throat on your breast as you began to stroke him through his pants and just as the girls had said in highschol, Steve was intimidatingly big.

“Looks like the book turned more than just me on” you teased, a sly smile on your face and Steve removed his mouth from your breast, tongue grazing up the skin of you neck till he was face to face.

“That’s not the book, that’s you” he told you and these words gave you the rush of confidence you needed for your fingers to slip below his waist band and grasp his cock right at the base. He hissed at the feeling of your cool fingers and the attention you were giving him.

“Stevie is needy too, what does he need?” you hummed, eyes wide and innocently looking up at him. He squeezed his own eyes shut as you slowly stroked him, prepared to ease him out of his pants.

“Baby this is about you” he told you, trying his best to back away but you had a grip on him that he was enjoying way too much.

“I know, that’s why I want to do this” and you were spinning both of you around, pressing him against the wall he previously had you caged in. He groaned as you dropped to your knees, breasts swinging as you finally pulled his sweat pants down. His length stared you down but he looked delicious as ever. If someone had ever suggested you’d be sucking your best friends cock tonight you would’ve told them they were lying but now here you were, taking him into your mouth. You hummed at the saltiness of his skin, tongue swirling around his swollen tip. He grabbed your hair without even realizing, trying to ease you to take more of him. Slacking your jaw you allowed him to glide in and out of your warm mouth, letting him hit the back of your throat, humming against him which made him writhe against the wall.

“Okay, stop I’m going to cum” he pulled you off of him, arms easing under your own and lifting you to your feet as if you weighed nothing. You smiled deviously at him, chin slick with spit and he didn’t waste two seconds before pulling you into a deep kiss. “It’s my turn to get a taste now”

He was mumbling against your lips, arms wrapped around you as he carried you over to the couch he had been watching TV on. Once he had you laid gently across it he was removing his own pants and dropping to his knees to remove yours. He made sure to take his sweet time, pulling the soft material down your legs, memorizing the cream color of the lace panties that had been soaked against your mound. You tried not to whine out as he touched you everywhere but there. You were on the verge of begging until he finally moved to pull the cream fabric off of you. You went to close your legs but his arm stopped you, keeping you wide open for him.

“So perfect” he said and you groaned out.

“Don’t tease” and Steve knew you meant both about the book and about how he was taking care of you. So he just grinned before dipping down and licking a long stripe through your folds.

“And sweet” and you didn’t have any time to yell at him because he was devouring you whole. Your stomach jumped as he sucked harshly at your clit, back arching and pressing your pussy straight into his face. His hands gripped the back of your thighs, more than likely leaving bruised finger prints but you hoped they did. You wanted to remember the mind numbing head Steve Harrington gave you. You almost didn’t expect him to be so good at eating you out. You should’ve thought because your heels were digging into his back, hands tugging harshly as his curls, and you were moaning unapologetically because he was just that good. You could feel the coil begin to tighten in your stomach and you were grinding against his tongue, movements getting faster indicating you were right there. It wasn’t until his lips wrapped around your clit did you find yourself begin to snap, shaking as your body seemed to leave earth and come back to you all at once.

“Hope you’ve got another one in you baby” he cooed, kissing up your stomach and breasts. He finally met your mouth and even though you were already half worn out you found yourself gripping his cock in your hand again. He winced due to holding his own orgasm off and your thumb gently rolled over his tip.

“Show me what you’ve got Harrington” you were telling him, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips before sucking on his neck. Steve hoped you were leaving your mark and soon enough you were lining him up between your legs. You shuttered as he ran himself through your slick.

He couldn’t wait any longer and finally he was pushing himself in you, bottoming out in seconds as you fully sucked him in. He knew not to move as your mouth froze against his neck and he moved to kiss your lips, an apology and promise that it would stop hurting soon. He was in his own pain of needed relief until your hand was grazing down his bare back.

“Please move, I’m begging you” and he didn’t need to be told twice as he pulled back and slammed into you again. You moaned loudly and he quickly found his pace, moving in and out of you as best he could. Swiftly you grabbed his hands, placing them on your breasts which he didn’t hesitate to grip. He used them for balance as he slammed in and out you, massaging them and loving them as best he could. The way you were reacting made him realize this was what turned you on most, attention to your breasts. Needing to have his release soon he dipped down, removing one hand to suck at your nipple as hard as he could, hips still slamming into you. The wet heat of his mouth had you keening in seconds and you gasped out, trying your best not to yell.

“I’m coming Steve, fuck cum in me please” you begged and he almost came right there as he heard those words. In moments you were pulsating around him, clenching tightly and milking him for all he was worth. The tightness of you made him follow right after, thick ropes shooting into you. You panted heavily as you gripped his shoulders, indicating him not to move.

“I want you inside of me a little longer” you told him and he slowly eased down onto you, trying his best not to move and overstimulate you.

“Where the fuck did this behavior come from?” he asked, pressing gentle kisses to the hickeys he had littered your breasts with. He was trying his best not to get hard over the fact he was still inside of you.

“I’ve always been like this Steve” you told him, feeling him twitch inside you.

“This dirty, why haven’t we been fucking sooner?” he chuckled, mouth kissing your chin and you rolled your eyes.

“Because I don’t fuck around Steve, and I always told myself that if we did this it had to be real” and the weight of your words hit him with surprise. Yet it wasn’t the kind of surprise you had expected.

“You mean to tell me you liked me this whole time too? Then what the fuck have we been waiting for?” he groaned out and your eyes widened as you reached for him.

“You like me too?” you hopefully asked and he smiled, lifting to press his mouth to your own. You winced as he slipped out of you, no doubt a mess all over the couch that now had to be cleaned.

“Hell I love you, I’ve always loved you” he told you after a beat and you smiled up at him, realizing you should’ve read dirty books around him sooner.

“We’ll in that case, let’s do this again”

For you to enjoy <3: @jjmaybankswifes-blog @halflifejess

[snake-queen04]

[munsonfamilyband]

I’ve seen it talked about a couple times but the idea of Steve secretly knowing a lot more about DnD than he lets on is so funny to me. Especially if, and this is my personal favorite reason, after Starcourt he got Erica to rework her agreement so instead of free ice cream for life, it was just occasional ice cream and he and Robin had to play DnD with her. Dustin gets roped into it and he’s sworn to secrecy, and somehow he manages to never mention it at all, even when Eddie complains about Steve pre-Vecna.

Then Eddie and Steve are dating and he keeps offering to teach Steve how to play, and Steve has to keep giving him reasons why he doesn’t want to learn. It all comes to a head when Steve comes home from work to see Eddie holding Steve’s character sheets and player’s manual. Robin watches as they basically act out a soap opera over DnD in Steve’s living room. To make it up to Eddie, Steve is forced to play with the kids - the first time Steve actually has a combat turn and knows what he’s doing, Mike stops functioning for a solid minute and a half.

[toobusybeingdelulu]

look who is speaking…

[dazedandconfused-15]

Dom billy rubbing your swollen pussy infront of a mirror crossing your legs with his calling you his good girl and laughing at how sensitive you are😫 overstimulation and praise kink?

Your every desire will be fulfilled👀

Warning: 18+, sexual content

The night is draped in a blanket of darkness, the soft glow of the moon filtering through your window and casting gentle shadows across your room. You’re getting ready for bed as the world outside settles into silence. You sit cross-legged on the plush carpet of your room, facing your mirrored wardrobe, running a brush through your hair.

The creaking of the window signals Billy’s arrival. You turn to meet his gaze, a small smile tugging at the corners of your lips. You are not technically dating. You haven't discussed what you are, but you have been going out for a month now, and you know for a fact that he has been only seeing you.

“Hey,” you greet him softly, the word contrasting with the wild beating of your heart.

His piercing blue eyes meet yours, a hint of a smirk playing on his lips.

“Hey doll,” he responds in his trademark confident tone, his voice low and husky. He takes off his jacket and drops it down on your bed.

Then, without another word, he closes the distance between you, his presence filling the room with an electric energy that sets your heart racing. He bends down and cups your jaw, capturing your lips in a kiss that makes your head spin. When he breaks the kiss you swear you’re still seeing the stars and absently notice that he settles behind you, resting his back against your bed. With a gentle tug, he pulls you against him. You find yourself seated between his legs, facing the mirror as he begins to comb your hair.

“Thanks.“ you sigh. Billy kisses your cheek, his mustache tickling your skin deliciously.

“Still studying?”

You follow his gaze, looking down at the open notebook beside you, where snippets of Shakespeare's words mingle with your own scribbles. You tell him you saw the Romeo and Juliet movie adaptation in English literature earlier in the day, and you found it kind of boring.

You stare at nothing, feeling lulled by his gentle touch. “I just don't think this version is really good.”

Billy doesn’t answer, kissing your cheek repeatedly.

“Like, I was literally falling asleep.”

He just hums, his lips trailing on your neck as his hands find the bare skin of your belly under the nightgown. Your notebook is long gone, abandoned in the floor beside you. He is not listening to you at all, you notice, as you feel them slowly rise to your breasts.

“Billy.“ you scold him in a whisper. “My parents are in the next room.”

“They're asleep,” he points out to you, cupping your breasts in his hands.

You sigh when he runs his thumbs over your nipples, and bites your earlobe, and you feel the heat expand in your lower abdomen. “They could hear us.”

“Not if you stay quiet,” his other hand reaches down between your legs, grazing the slit above your panties. A shiver runs down your spine. His low voice vibrates against your ear. “C'mon, pretty girl. You know you want it. Been waiting to touch you all day.”

And to prove his point, he moves your panties to the side. You are actually already wet. It doesn't take much, being in close physical contact with Billy does that to you. All it takes is for him to press a kiss on your neck, for his voice to brush your ear, for his hands to squeeze your waist or draw circles on your lower belly, and a signal is sent straight to your core. You can’t lie, it’s hard to see him passing by in the school’s hallways and not being able to touch him. The private looks that he gives you from far away, or the occasional wink as he sees you looking in the lunchroom or when you share gym classes together are enough to set you on fire.

Billy hisses a breath as his finger runs along your wet flesh. “Soakin' wet, babe.”

You bite your lip, concluding that you’ll surrender as you do every time to his temptations.

“I hate you,” you whisper as Billy lifts your nightgown until it's around your waist, spreads your thighs, and places his legs over yours, entwining them together, and you are now completely exposed to his mercy, and before the mirror.

“Mh,” he almost chuckles. “Pretty sure it's the opposite.”

You see him smiling slyly on the mirror, and you're about to respond in kind when his finger slides down your slit again, spreading your wetness over your sex.

“Mh, Billy...” you whisper dreamily, arching your back. His thick fingers begin massaging your clit slowly, applying just the right amount of pressure.

“Yeah, doll...always ready for me,” he plays with your nipple, his hot breath against your ear. “Such a pretty thing.”

His voice, his touch, and his scent send you into a frenzy. You can't control your libido with him. You can't resist and turn your face away, kissing him. It is a slow, dirty kiss in the way you slide your tongue into his mouth. And Billy doesn't control himself either, responding so briskly that your head reclines backward under the pressure of his lips. You grasp the long curls at the nape of his neck, squeezing them between your fingers, losing yourself in him. A moan escapes your lips as he applies more pressure.

Billy pinches your clit in reprimand, almost making you jump. He breaks the kiss. He licks you lasciviously from lower lip to upper lip, his eyes hooded and close to yours. “Need to be quiet.”

“Yes, sorry,” You whisper breathlessly. “Wait what are you...” you begin when he removes his hand from your sex. Then you realize when he taps your lips with his fingers.

“Suck it,” he commands. You wrap your lips around his two fingers, tasting yourself. “Yeah, just like “hat.” his voice is low and smooth like dripping honey. -Like you do with my cock, babe. Nice and deep.”

He pulls out his fingers with a resounding 'pop,' slick with your saliva. When he comes back to rub you, you purse your lips to keep you from gasping. It's not long before you’re panting, on the edge of the precipice. You desperately want to get there but you also want it to never end. The way his hand grasps your breast possessively while the other massages you and his teeth nibble your skin drives you crazy.

“I want you inside me so bad.” you whimper above the wet sounds your sex makes.

“Yeah?” he whispers, slightly panting. Then tsks when you groan again. “You can't keep quiet now, can’t imagine how bad it would be with my cock inside you.”

You try not to look at your face in the mirror, but you can see how red your cheeks are. So you close your eyes, embarrassed. Billy doesn't like it. He pinches your clit again and you squeal.

“Open your eyes.” he growls.

You comply, and when you meet his dark gaze you can no longer hold back, your orgasm explodes and your hips buck against his touch, a moan escaping your lips.

He swallows your moan, sucking your tongue as his ministrations never stop, and you slowly open your eyes. You gasp as you feel his finger teasing your entrance, your sex overstimulated and sensitive.

“No.” whine, retreating against his torso to get away from his fingers.

Billy laughs at your feeble attempt to avoid his touch, pink tongue darting out to lick his lower lip. Your wetness trickles down, making a mess on the hard floor beneath you.

“C’mon babe. One more.”

“I can’t.” you shake your head as he slides his two fingers in you to the brim, bringing you closer to him at the same time by pushing you against him with the same hand, heel against your pubis. You suck a breath between your teeth at the sudden intrusion.

“You can do it,” he nips at your neck. “I know your pretty pussy can. Just one more…”

Having his fingers inside you is almost too much, but when he starts moving them in and out of you, they slip easily, and somehow the flame in you is slowly rekindled again. Your hand grips his forearm as you adjust around him, digging your nails into his skin. You meet his icy blue eyes and that’s all it takes to feel butterflies in your stomach. You can’t tell him no. Your whole body gives in and lights up again, you still can’t fathom how the hell he can keep your desire alive, how easily you can give it to him immediately after he brings you to your high, it’s a never ending roller coaster.

“See,” he breathes against your ear as he licks his upper lip, the squelching of your sex around his fingers is almost too loud for you, but you can’t help but look down between his legs, following his hooded gaze. “Fuckin’ made for me.”

You’re unbelievably red and swollen from the overstimulation and pleasure that is building again, your lower lips spread like a flower around him.

“This pussy is all for me, yeah?”

“Yeah,” answer breathlessly, trying to keep your voice at bay. “All yours.”

Then he applies pressure to the rough patch of skin inside you and your thighs quiver. You almost want to close them but they’re blocked by the iron grip of his legs over yours.

His eyes are fixed in rapture on the mirror, looking at his fingers working roughly between your legs. They slide in and out of you obscenely, shiny with your wetness, him whispering filthy things in your ear.

“Oh my god…” you whisper shakily as the pressure starts building beyond any limit.

“Gonna gush on my fingers, babe?” he groans softly against your ear. “Think you can keep quiet?”

You don’t get what he means, but a weird feeling starts building along with your pressure, very similar to when you need to pee, and you start panicking. His movements are now fast, his hand almost jerking as his fingers press continually inside you.

“Billy, no, wait,” you try to pull at his forearm, these opposite sensations rising more and more inside you. “No, no…”

“Yeah, that’s it,” he growls, his breath ragged. 

And before you can stop it, it just happens. Billy covers your mouth with his hand, his fingers unrelentless as your sex squelches and liquid comes out of you, wetting the floor and mixing with your wetness. You bite his hand stifling a loud moan, your thighs shake uncontrollably from the most powerful orgasm you ever experienced, while his fingers keep applying pressure. Your eyes roll on the back of your head. For a moment, you’re overcome by pure and primal sensations, everything else disappears.

“Fuck.” Billy grunts. “That’s my good girl.”

As you slowly come down from your high, you realize how much of a mess you’ve just made. Your face heats up even more than it already is, embarrassing pulling at your insides.

Billy breathes out a laugh, his fingers still inside you. “Holy shit. That was something.”

“I’m sorry,” you quickly say, unable to meet his gaze on the mirror. “I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“Hey,” he nudges your leg with his knee. “What are you sorry for?”

“Well, for...” gesture at the mess between your legs, embarrassed to say the word. “This. For peeing on your hand.”

Billy laughs, and you almost reprimand him for being loud. “You didn’t pee on my hand. You squirted, and it was fucking hot, let me tell ya.”

You look at him in confusion, wincing as he retreats his fingers and brings them to his mouth. Your eyes widen in astonishment as he licks them clean.

“What…”

“Looks like I have to teach you one stuff or two.”he nudges his nose against yours, his eyes glinting with amusement but still dilated with desire. And you suddenly become aware of his hardness hot and insisting on your lower back. “This is gonna be fun,”

[psychotic-nonsense]

"I'm sorry."

It's the first thing Steve says after everything.

After getting Vecna Cursed. After nearly dying. After a hallucination of Eddie saved him. After running through a looped forest. After finding sanctuary in Steve's memory of that Starcourt bathroom. After Eddie reveals himself as Eddie.

It's the only thing he can think of. It's not big enough to fit everything, but it's the only thing that fits in his mouth.

"Don't be."

Maybe that's the only thing Eddie can think of too. The only thing Eddie can bear to say.

Because don't be can't stop Steve's eyes from watering when he sees the vest in his closet. Don't be can't stop Steve's feet from dragging him to the cemetery every evening to clean Eddie's graffiti-covered tombstone. Don't be can't stop Steve from sitting beside Wayne and listening to him talk about the Eddie he remembers. Don't be can't stop Eddie's body from showing up in Steve's dreams, nor Eddie's corpse from his nightmares. Don't be couldn't keep the pain away enough, didn't stop Vecna from latching onto it while Steve was walking alone in the woods.

Don't be isn't enough for what Steve wants to hear. But even stuck here waiting, hoping, for someone to get Steve out, there just isn't enough time.

"I miss you."

"...Why?"

Eddie says it back so quickly, so quietly, like it's just unfathomable to him. Maybe it is, considering their last memories. But their eyes meet and he looks just as sad, just as longing, as Steve.

"You were my friend."

Steve can't help but say it like that. Like they were friends for years instead of days. Like Eddie was that important to him in their final moments. Like his heart really aches for Eddie every second of the apocalypse.

Can't help but say it like he means it.

"I wish we could've had more time..."

Steve's voice cracks a little there as he turns away, hiding. It's all he wants. It's all Vecna used to entice him with. It's all that's keeping him going, to finally fulfill the last request Eddie made. It's all he has left to feel close to Eddie.

The Eddie that's sitting right next to him, silent, his sight weighing on Steve's skin. Conscious and aware and the real Eddie. Trapped in Vecna's head as a backup power source, yet who still risked everything to come save Steve. Who Steve will never see again because killing Vecna means killing Eddie for good, and his heart doesn't want it, is begging for another solution...

But for once, his broken head overpowers his shattered heart.

"Maybe we did."

Eddie takes Steve's hand. Meets Steve's surprised look with his own small smile of hope. They're both suddenly tearing up, eyes glistening with life in this gray stall.

"Maybe in another world, we got a second first chance. A first second chance. Maybe even a third, or fourth. Maybe in a different life, we had everything we wanted. Because you, Steve Harrington, are too good for me to be doomed to meet just once."

And for a moment, Steve sees it. Feels it. Versions of them connected through the universe.

Little kids playing in the lake. One with bruised skin and shaved hair, loud but unfathomably lonely. One with a bruised heart and soft eyes, timid but stubbornly hopeful.

A rockstar with glittering chains, center stage in the spotlight. A set of eyes in the crowd or behind the curtain, watching only him.

A werewolf and a vampire, two cryptids of horror, meeting in the dead of a full moon night to feel safe with the only other one who understands.

A future where they won, where the only death was the one that mattered. A process of healing and learning, coming home to a family every single day.

A world without pain, without their hell, where two high schoolers found freedom from their shackles and company in each other. Hiding away together in the dark corners of the town.

Steve even sees other versions of them. Versions that he knows were originally never supposed to meet, yet forces so much greater than them pulled them together.

A metalhead drug dealer, constantly getting into trouble with one nail-bat-weilding cop.

A criminal's fugitive nature leading him to a rugged trailer park, and the dangerous owner within one such home.

An eccentric king in an old coliseum, always choosing one particular warrior as his champion.

A young programmer being pulled away from his work by sobs above his apartment, running upstairs to check on the law student that recently moved in.

Two actors, finding an easy friendship in the months of filming one season of a show that would change their lives.

In that moment, Steve's overwhelmed by the closeness he suddenly feels with the soul beside him. Falling into tears, he pulls Eddie into a tight hug, holding him so so close to convey everything he can't say. Feeling Eddie hold him back, hearing everything Eddie can't say in return.

Familiar music comes on outside the stall. Robin's voice calls out to him, telling him to come home.

And when he does leave, Steve hopes that someone out there will understand that he never can. Because here in Eddie's arms is the only place that will ever truly feel like home.

"Thank you... for everything, Eddie."

Thank you, Steve. For everything and more..."

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

- List of AUs, in order, after, "Versions of them connected through the universe": Childhood Friends / Rockstar!Eddie / Werewolf!Steve & Vampire!Eddie / Eddie Survives / No Upside Down & High School

- List of Multiverse Steddie AUs, in order, after, "...yet forces so much greater than them pulled them together": Eddie x Gator / Baron x Michael / Geta x Sean / Keys x Eric / Quinn and Keery

[jaebeomsbitch]

There’s nothing you hated more than being sick. You felt helpless and useless, leaning against your partner for help when you despised relying on others. Nonetheless you sit quietly next to him feeling the heat of his arm radiating deep into your skin as you cough and sniffle.

You wipe your nose with your sleeve standing up and slowing, swaying with dizziness.

“Woah, hold on. What do you need baby?” He asks softly holding onto your wrist, thumb tracing your inner wrist comfortingly.

“Need a blanket” you murmur, wiping more snot against your sleeve. He pulls you down softly onto his lap.

“Got one here sweetheart, where it’s always at” he says, pulling the blanket from the back of the couch where it always hangs.

“Oh” you blink, as he spreads the soft fabric over the two of you, tucking in the edges under your thighs.

“Better?" he asks quietly, his fingers absentmindedly tracing patterns onto your thigh.

When you nod sleepily, he leans in and whispers into your ear, "Good. Now let's try to enjoy this movie, yeah? No more coughing allowed - I want to hear those sweet little gasps of yours when the scary parts come on."

[mugloversonly]

When I Grow Up

This is for the Steddie Holiday Drabble Popup Event. @steddieholidaydrabbles

Rating: G; WC:726

Steve double checked his pockets while he waited for Eddie and Amelia. It was a big day for the new family. Amelia was graduating kindergarten and she needed to be spectacular. She wanted them all to wear matching outfits, and she wanted to wear her hair the same way her papa did. So, naturally Eddie was a blubbering mess all week.

His disposable cameras were secured and he called up to the two divas. “Time to go or we’ll be late!”

“Coming!” Eddie yelled back wetly. Steve grabbed an extra pack of travel tissues and shoved them in his pocket. He loved his cry baby husband. Speak of the devil, he glanced over his shoulder to watch him come down the steps, and had to suppress a giggle. Eddie was carrying Amelia down with him and both of them were wearing the same thing as Steve: a black button down with dark gray jeans and a pink bow tie. She’d developed a love of dark colors recently, but she still loved her pink. But what got Steve the most, was the hair.

The two of them were sporting matching double dutch braids with plastic roses weaved in. There was an absurd amount of glitter in both their hair and a crazy amount of hair clips. It was obvious that they worked as a team, with Eddie doing the braids and Amelia the accessories. “Dad! You need glitter too!” Amelia shouted. He sighed and knelt down for her to sprinkle his hair with the glitter. “Now we all match!” She jumped out of Eddie’s arms and ran through the garage door and into the car. Steve and Eddie shared a kiss before they followed her.

~~~

They were sitting with the other parents of the kindergartners as they sang their end of year song. They even did a bit of sign language to go along with it. Next was the section where all the kids said what they wanted to be when they grew up.

There were Astronauts, fire fighters, singers, and one very ambitious kid who wanted to be a mermaid scientist. Whether that was studying mermaids or inventing them, Eddie couldn’t tell. But finally it was Amelia’s turn. Eddie took a deep breath, trying his best to stay dry eyed. Steve already handed him a bundle of tissues but he was determined not to use them. That all went out the window the second his little girl spoke.

“Amelia Munson, what do you want to be when you grow up?” Her teacher asked. She smiled and looked at her dads.

“I want to grow up to be a tattoo artist like my papa.” She said. Eddie’s hands flew to his mouth as he gasped. He looked at Steve out of the corner of his eye and saw him pulling out some more tissues before handing them over without a word. He grabbed them gratefully and dabbed at his eyes.

Steve smiled fondly and wrapped his arm around Eddie as he blubbered. The parents around them awed and a few of their parent friends glanced at the pair. Funnily enough, even though Eddie looked like a scary dog, all the parents knew he was a big cry baby when it came to Amelia.

Thinking back to her first day, Eddie remembered how he had cried harder than any of the moms that were there with their kids as the class made their way inside. Steve had to practically drag him away and he made him park across the street for over an hour until they left, “just in case she gets too sad and wants to come home, Steve.” Eddie explained.

If Amelia was sick, he was the one to come pick her up. Not because Steve didn’t care, but it was a lot easier for Eddie to drop everything since he owned the studio he tattooed in. A high school guidance counselor couldn’t exactly drop everything at a moment’s notice.

He knew they had a special bond, the two had a similar background and early childhood. But he never expected their bond to be so special she’d want to grow up to be just like him. The thought filled his heart to bursting.

He looked at Steve and whispered “we really need to get her a cat.” Steve rolled his eyes fondly.

“The puppy wasn’t enough?”

https://archiveofourown.org/works/56184907

[morganski-19]

The One With the Second Date

“Ok, I’m not sure what I was expecting to happen in the end,” Ryan explains as they leave the theater, “but it wasn’t that.”

Nancy laughs. “It was a stereotypical romcom, they were always going to end up together in the end.”

Ryan and Nancy walk down the sidewalk. Ryan’s hands shoved into his jacket pockets while Nancy’s are at her sides.

“I just think that she was much better with the other guy. They had way more chemistry.”

Nancy nods with another laugh.

They come to a stop outside of a parking garage. Ryan turns toward her. “My car’s in there,” he points awkwardly to the garage.

“My bus stop is right over there,” Nancy points across the street.

Ryan lets out a nervous huff. “You know, we didn’t really get to talk much tonight. With seeing a movie and everything. My parking’s for the whole night. And there’s this nice ice cream place around the corner that we could go to. If you wanted to.”

Nancy smiles. “Sure.”

“Sure?” Ryan looks generally surprised. “Sure, yeah ok. It’s this way.”

He leads them across the street and down one block. Turning at the corner and halfway down, there is a small ice cream shop. They walk in, a family and one other couple at the tables. But otherwise, it’s empty. Nancy looks at the options, debating which to choose. While Ryan immediately knows what he wants and asks the employee. One scoop of vanilla and one cookies and cream. Making sure to note that they needed to be rung up together but were in no rush.

When Nancy chooses the honey vanilla flavor, Ryan beats her to register to pay.

“You know I can pay for us at least once,” Nancy jokes. She instead pulls out a few dollars and slides them into the tip jar.

Ryan laughs. Taking back his change and dumping it into the jar as well. “It was my idea, so it’s my money.”

Nancy walks over to the table in the corner. “So, I need to plan the next date and then I get to pay?”

“Yeah,” Ryan stutters. There’s been a nervous energy with him all night. “That would work.”

“I promise I don’t mean anything by this question, I’m just generally interested. Why are you so nervous? We’ve already been on one date.”

Ryan sets down his ice cream, rubbing his palms on his pants. “I’ve been on what seems like hundreds of first dates. It’s down to a routine at this point. But as far as second dates go, there’s only been a few. And most of those times, it never went anywhere else, and I was back on the app the next morning.”

Nancy nods, showing that she’s listening.

“I get that’s just how dating can be, sometimes. Especially through dating apps. But I just want something that lasts more than a week or two, you know?”

“I do.” Nancy stares down at her ice cream. “I kind of gave up dating for a while for the same reason. It was just horrible date after horrible date. So I gave up.”

“What made you try again?”

Nancy sighs. Debating how much she should tell. “My best friend, who also lives across the hall from me, got a new girlfriend.”

“Oh,” he says. With a mix of shock and concern.

“There’s nothing there, I promise. Back when we were in college, there was a phase where we both liked each other but didn’t know. Part of me kind of always harbored those feelings for her, but it was time to finally let them go. Whatever we could have had was over, it was time to recognize that.”

“And you though going on a dating app would help with that?”

Nancy lets her hands fall into her hands. “That makes me sound like an asshole. I swear that I didn’t agree to go on a date with you just to get over my stupid feelings. They played no part in deciding to go on a date with you.”

Ryan reaches across the table and gently pushes Nancy’s hands out of the way. “I believe you, for what it’s worth. We’ve all been there at some point.”

“That makes me feel a little better.”

“I appreciate you being honest with me. I,” he pauses. Taking a deep breath. “I really like you, Nancy. You’re probably the best person I’ve met on one of these apps.”

Nancy smiles. “Same here.”

They fall into a comfortable silence. Finishing their ice cream and heading outside again. When Ryan goes to shove his hands into his pockets again, Nancy stops him. Taking his hand into hers. They walk back to the street where they would need to part ways. Nancy waiting for the bus and Ryan crossing the street to his car.

“Would it be ok if I drove you home?” he asks. “It’s dark and way better than a bus.”

“Yeah, that would be ok.”

She follows him to his car and directs them to her apartment building. He finds a spot down the street and parks. Planning on walking her to her door. With full explanation that she can tell him no.

Instead, she rolls her eyes and gets out of the car. Waiting for him to get out. He does, stumbling over his step a bit.

“So, for our next date,” Nancy talks as they walk up the stairs. “I was thinking that we could to this Mexican place I love.”

“Yeah, that sounds great.”

“And it’s my idea so my money, right?” She stops in front of her door. Facing him.

He laughs. “That was the deal.”

Inside of Steve and Robin’s apartment, Robin is staring through the peephole. Having heard Nancy come back and got curious. That’s all, curious.

“What the hell are you doing?” Steve asks. Looking unenthused.

Robin shushes him. “Nancy is back from her date. She’s talking with the guy outside the door.”

“Let me see.” Steve pushes Robin out of the way, looking through the peephole. “Oh, he’s cuter in person.”

Robin slaps his arm. “Don’t encourage this.”

“How am I encouraging this? I’m behind a door, she can’t hear me. Also, it’s too late for that. I was there for the pre-date crisis.”

“And she still went out on the date?”

Steve shrugs. “Yeah well, she seemed to really like the guy. Argyle even did his weird stalking thing he does and found nothing bad. He checked out.”

Robin pushes Steve out of the way again, looking through the peephole once more. “Oh no, she’s doing that face. You know that face.”

“I am well aware of the face.” Steve leans up against the wall next to the door. “Why is this bothering you so much? She’s allowed to date if she wants to.”

“I don’t know,” Robin groans. Letting her forehead thunk against the door. “She just deserves so much, and she’s been on so many dates and none of them have been good. I’m just . . .  looking out for her. That’s all.”

Steve hums, disbelieving. Pulling out his phone.

Steve: I think Robin is jealous of Nancy’s new guy

Eddie: Oh wow, what a shocker

Eddie: Do you not remember the two-hour long pity session she conveniently had after Nancy had the first date

Steve: They’re out in the hall right now, Robin can’t stop looking at them through the peephole

Eddie: Can’t she just pretend to take out the trash like a normal person

Steve: Are you going to go do that now?

Eddie: Yes

Eddie: I need to see this guy in person

Back in the hall, while all of that was ensuing, Nancy and Ryan were saying goodbye. Not exactly making any moves toward it. Until Eddie opens the door, with a half full bag of trash in hand, interrupts it.

“Oh, hey, Nance. I didn’t hear you get back,” he says, nonchalant. Looking over at Ryan with fake shock. “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt.”

Nancy sighs, catching onto Eddie’s play. “Ryan, this is my roommate Eddie.”

Ryan holds out his hand. “Nice to meet you, man. Nancy’s told me about you.”

“Same here.” Eddie shakes his hands. “I’m just gonna, thank you.” He steps in between them to head down the hall to the trash shoot. Leaving them alone again.

“I should get going,” Ryan says, pushing his hands into his pockets again. “It was really nice to see you again.”

Nancy smiles. “Yeah, it was. I’ll text you later when I’m free.”

“I’ll be looking for it.”

There is a break of silence. Expectation in the air. Ryan shrugs in the direction of the stairs. “I’ll see you later.”

“Oh my god.” Nancy stops his from walking away. Grabbing his face and pulling him down. Pressing a kiss to his lips. He’s shocked for a second, before pressing into it. “Have a good night,” she says after pulling back.

Ryan steps backward, a blush covering his face. “Yeah, uh, yeah. You too. I’ll text you later. Yeah. Bye.”

He turns to walk down the hall while Nancy snorts to herself. Eddie comes back around the corner with a teasing smile.

“Don’t even start, Munson.” Nancy walks into the apartment.

“Oh, I wasn’t going to say anything.” He closes the door behind them. “I was just merely observing.”

Nancy glares at him while taking off her earring. “Observing?”

“He seems nice,” Eddie teasing tone.

“He is nice.”

“Is he a good kisser?”

“There it is.” Nancy walks to her bedroom. “Night.”

Eddie leans on the back of the couch. “No, I wanted to do the after-date gossip.”

“Maybe tomorrow.” She closes the bedroom door.

Eddie sighs, pulling out his phone to see many new texts from Steve.

Steve: Holy shit, she kissed him

Steve: Robin is not taking that well

Steve: She’s trying to play off her jealousy as protectiveness

Steve: Maybe we should warn Nancy about the tirade she’s going to get tomorrow about the dangers of kissing random men

Eddie: I don’t know, the guy was pretty respectful about it

Eddie: He was smiling like an idiot when I passed him in the hall

Eddie: And Nancy seems happy about it

Steve: This is going to be both entertaining and a pain in the ass

Eddie: Agreed

Eddie: I take it Robin isn’t going out tonight then

Steve: Sadly not

Steve: There goes our plans

Eddie: Damn, I kind of really want to kiss you right now

Steve: You know

Steve: No one is ever in the laundry room this late

Eddie: I could do some laundry

Steve: Meet you there in twenty

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