#but also I need Steve to survive and live and leave town

[catharusustulatus]

If Eleven can bring Max back after she’s died and all her bones are broken and her eyesight is gone, then how is Steve’s likely death going to matter in a meaningful way? Will Max die and we will see that Eleven’s powers can’t cheat death? Will Eleven be too busy or overpowered to save Steve? Will it be because they don’t have much of a connection? Will his death be too swift for her to act? I am just wondering how introducing the fact that Eleven can possibly (probably) bring Max back from death kind of negates Steve’s probable death’s impact. Because why not him too? Unless he dies and then he’s brought back as well. How will they explain the boundaries of that power?

[solarmorrigan]

Steve Harrington is absolutely the sort of person to become emotionally dependent on a pet. He grew up lonely and he loves taking care of things, and here's this creature that loves him unconditionally and is dependent on him for care? He's a goner

He finds a kitten in his backyard, wet and cold and alone, but in pretty good shape, all things considered. It hisses and swipes at him, but it's also mewing pathetically, and Steve can't just leave it, so he manages to get the thing inside with minimal blood loss (all his) and cleans it up and feeds it. It's a lot more amenable to the idea of Steve once it's warm and dry and full, and by the end of the day, it's curled up and purring in the crook of his neck, and Steve is already prepared to die for this thing

He does recognize that the right thing to do is to ask around and see if anyone is missing a kitten, which he does do, but no one on his street or the next one over lays claim to it, and there aren’t any kind of wanted posters going up for it, so Steve decides he is now the proud owner of a cat

He names her Baby and dotes on her accordingly. (In his defense, the name is Robin's idea; she tells him that he treats the cat enough like a baby, so the name might as well fit. Steve's always been shit at coming up with names, so he just goes with it)

Baby is the world's most spoiled cat, which Steve readily admits. But isn't that what cats are for? She's a wonderful cat and she clearly deserves nice things and Steve is going to get them for her. Toys, treats, a plush cat bed, the best food, whatever he thinks she could possibly need or want. If "I work hard so my cat can live a better life" t-shirts had existed in the 80s, Robin probably would have gotten one for him and he probably would have worn it

Of course, it helps that Baby actually does adore Steve. With everyone else, she ranges from frosty to outright hostile (she's taken a particular dislike to Eddie, of all people, which is unfortunate, because Steve really, really likes Eddie); she'll consent to be admired, and she'll accept treats, and she might even let more familiar people pet her, but in the end she is very much Steve's baby. If he's home, she's stuck to his side like a burr, curled up wherever he is and purring away, content just to be with him. She still snuggles up in the crook of his shoulder at night, just like when she was a kitten, even though she's bigger now and is a bit less easily accommodated

It goes without saying that Baby is strictly an indoor cat. Steve lives right up against the woods and there are predators out there, and people in town drive like assholes, and Steve won't take the chance of her being eaten or run over or meeting some other horrible fate. He really doesn't think his heart could take it

But of course, because all cats are terrible bastards at heart (affectionate), Baby darts out the back door one day as Steve is coming in off the patio, chasing after some other small animal that Steve can't even see, and she's out of the backyard and up towards the trees before Steve can do much more than make a grab for her

And Steve, who has survived interrogations and monster attacks and many situations objectively much more stressful than this, does not panic. He does spend half the night wandering around in the trees with a flashlight, shaking a bag of cat food and calling for Baby, but that's not panicking, that's problem solving

He eventually gets too cold and too tired to keep going and has to pack it in for the night. He holds onto some shred of hope that she'll be waiting by the back door when he wakes up, wondering why the hell it's taken so long for him to come let her in, but apparently that's not the way life works, because the patio and all areas around the house are still distinctly catless come daybreak

Eddie shows up sometime mid-morning, just as Steve is preparing to head back out and look for her. He has genuinely never seen Steve so upset; he looks like he might actually cry if he doesn't find that damn cat, which just isn't something that Steve does. But he's actually fucking distraught, and Eddie simply can't have that, even if Baby is his nemesis, so he goes to the phone and makes some calls

He cashes in on favors, he makes promises, he actually agrees to pay Mike ten bucks to show up, but he gets the kids, all the older teens (the only reason Robin hadn't been there already is because Steve hadn't paused long enough to tell her what was going on), and even the Corroded Coffin boys up to Steve's house to comb the woods for Steve's damn cat

It's Eddie who finds her in the end, a shock of pale, mewling fur actually stuck in a fucking tree. The cliche nearly kills him – either that or trying to climb down a tree one-handed while holding a cat. He's surprised she actually lets him pick her up, but then again, she's been out here all night, she's cold, and at least she recognizes Eddie. Maybe this is the beginning of a truce

Or, she might go back to hissing and swiping at Eddie any time she the mood takes her, but Eddie doesn't even care, because Steve is elated to have Baby back, so fucking happy that he doesn't even seem to notice that she's digging her claws into his arm as she clings to him for dear life all the way back to the house. Eddie will deal with anything that Steve loves that much

Steve pays for pizza to thank everyone for putting their Saturday on hold to search-and-rescue a cat, and everyone warms up and eats their fill before slowly filtering back out of the house. And later, after Baby's been cleaned up and fed and properly doted on and is purring away curled up over a heating vent in the living room, Steve takes Eddie upstairs to show his thanks in a much more thorough manner

After all – Baby is very important to him, and he's more relieved than he can say to have her back, but she isn't the only thing that Steve adores

[callooopie]

CALLOOOPIE‼️❗️‼️❗️‼️❗️‼️❗️‼️❗️

DROP A MODERN!CREGAN HEADCANON LIST. AND MY LIFE, IS YOURS. 🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶

Modern!Cregan Stark headcannons (pt. 1)

Forgive my northern attitude, oh I was raised on little light — Northern Attitude // Noah Kahan

okay… we did not get much Cregan.. so these modern vibes might be a little off. I looked long and hard (🤨) at a photo of him and these were the vibes I conjured up.

This man.. is so serious. Whenever you look at Cregan he looks like he’s going to pop a blood vessel with how tense he is. He’ll tell you not to worry, this is his natural state (“natural state?!?!”) you don’t think you’ve ever seen him relaxed… although there are times he lets loose, it’s reserved and calm. If he does relax it’s still oddly tense or as if he’s on edge. He’s mastered the art of being both chill but perceptive of his surroundings to a headache inducing degree. “Hm? Yeah I’m fine. Don’t worry about me, honest. One of us needs to be alert here.”

Immediately dipped after college. He got his degree in environmental engineering, he’s out of there. You, Jace, and Davos once planned a summer trip to Cregan’s cabin way up north. Now, way up north? Think like the Yukon or the bush of Alaska—that’s where Cregan would make his home. It’s secluded, no one bothers him, and he can live off the land in relative peace. You three get lost, of course. It’s like you have to take a seaplane, and then hike for a bit to the nearest town, and then you’ll have to wait for him to pick you all up. “You guys kept running around town. It took me forever to find you. Texts? I don’t get those traveling from the cabin… oh well—you’re all here now. The air will do you idiots some good.”

Dog dad. Dog dad. Dog dad. Cregan’s got big dogs, he’s got little dogs. A livestock dog to care for his chickens, some other big dogs for hunting, and a lap dog for emotional support purposes. It’s a hearty mix of Labrador, Pyrenees, mountain dog, maybe even a shepherd of sorts. But the little dog? I feel like it’d either be a dachshund or a corgi. A corgi is a reliable herd dog on top of being just a little guy. But a dachshund would be something he would hold as he walked around the perimeter of his land. Or even better he would have both. But this is his herd, his squad. “Hey!—settle down everyone. Sit down.. down now! Sorry about them, they’re just excited to see you. They’re usually pretty lax, except around you it seems.”

Terrible driver. But not because he’s bad at it, but because he’s literally in the wilderness, there are no traffic laws to obey. He’s driving down a hill full speed no braking. You’re in the passenger seat holding on for dear life as the car literally shakes and jolts you around. But Cregan? He’ll be holding a simple conversation with you, voice not even shaking from the sudden movements of the jeep or truck as he navigates the country road. I cannot figure out if he has more truck vibes or more Jeep vibes. I feel like either would work—as long as they got the job done. And either way, both cars would be muddied and somewhat damaged—filled with survival gear, winter gear, more things tied down on top with bungie cords and hooks. “What do you need? Oh, yeah that should be in the back.. somewhere. Probably in one of the bags—lemme go check for you. Hang tight, be right back.”

This man fishes. Not like “leaving my bitch wife to go fishin’ with my boys” more like “I’m catching the radioactive catfish of Chernobyl and no one’s stopping me” type fishing. He gets into it, he goes crazy. Cregan’s out on a boat at sea looking for Cthulhu. Y’all know the show River Monsters? That’s Cregan’s type of fishing. Sure he does more ‘relaxed’ fishing once in a while, he enjoys the mix of adventure but also the quiet and the patience of the fish. He will talk about how beautiful the fish is, like Steve Irwin levels of talking to fish (and animals in general). Cregan’s a catch and release king, but if he does choose to use the fish he will use all of it from the head to the bones. Everything’s getting used and processed into something. “Let’s see what you caught.. oh nice, that’s a chinook salmon. A beauty too, look at the size of that thing. You caught that beast yourself without my help? It’ll taste better on an open fire, c’mon I’ll teach you how to gut it… don’t frown at me.”

Master chef I would think. It’s not Michelin star cooking, but cooking with the freshest ingredients possible? Cregan makes a mean salad from the veggies in his garden (a pretty big garden too, he built those wooden garden beds himself) and when he hunts he uses all the meat and bones from the animal as said before with the fish. He’s not overly hunting either, he gets enough for you and him to last a while. “Good harvest today, real good—everything was ripe and ready. What do you think? It all looks good? ..that’s.. that’s good. I’m glad.. save room for dessert too then. Have you ever had acorn cake?”

You know what? He’s a park ranger. Or a state ranger. He’s got a job where he can take care of the land and teach people about the environment and how to respect it. Cregan’s all about teaching little kids what plants are poisonous and then on the next call he’s busting folks for throwing litter into a river. He is the type that if he spots you maybe hiking or doing something while he’s on duty he will pretend to bust you over for something heinous or embarrassing. Bonus if there’s people around you, now you’re getting arrested for leaving a dildo attached to a tree. But usually? It’s silly reasons laced with compliments that make you blush or smile. “..Whatcha doing out here? Hiking? Suuure. Y’know we heard some reports about a.. a very um—beautiful person wandering looking lost.. just saying, I know my way around..”

Such a good listener. Cregan is for the people who just need an ear to listen to them. If something’s bothering you, upsetting you, or you’re just not feeling like yourself; he’ll lead you out to the back porch, gesturing for you to sit down on the step beside him. It’ll be quiet, except for the sounds of nature surrounding the cabin and the woods. You can see mountain ranges in the background, the midnight sun casting a hazy glow over the land. And the next thing you know is you’re pouring your heart out to him. Cregan would remain silent, unless you ask him for advice or support. He’s the type to not want to impose on you if you don’t wish to hear unsolicited opinions or comments on a matter—so you’ll need to tell him you want to hear his advice.

Busted ass cabin. It’s so good. There’s a nearby lake, there’s mountains in the distance. The woods are thick and beautiful. The people yearn for such a place. It’s such a relaxed vibe too, take off your shoes in the house though. There is a lot of cleaning that goes on however on account of the dogs around the home. But the cabin is lived in and homey. It’s cool and refreshing in the summers with the windows open, and it’s warm and cozy in the winters with the fireplace roaring. It’s not too big, but it’s not too cramped either. “Not too warm? Too cold maybe? …well if you’re cold there’s a good way to fix that—“

Cregan loves teaching you how to live off the land. It’s basically a part of what he does for his job. But with just you? It feels more special, more intimate. You’re eager to learn, and he’s more than happy to show you how to start a fire in an emergency, how to skin an animal and use all its parts for different things. What to do if you’re in a bind in the woods and what you should do first. It’s good advice honestly. Pure survival skills. His hands would be over yours, guiding them through the motions of something. His chin resting atop your head or on your shoulder as he explains each step or how something can be utilized to its fullest potential.

Don’t take his silence or his lack of reactions as something negative. Cregan’s just the type to silently revel in your presence first and foremost, no talking required. Most of your fishing or hunting trips are filled with silence, save for the sound of music from an old portable radio and the occasional sound of a beer can opening. Sometimes you read, sometimes you fish alongside him. But know that he does enjoy your company heavily, and if you do say something don’t worry he’ll respond. Sometimes he does worry maybe he’s a little too aloof or reserved when it comes to you. Reassure him that words aren’t always needed, and sometimes it’s good to just be next to one another without adding anything to it.

With you he can get a little silly. Cregan would lean against your side of the truck, a stupid smile on his face as you talk to him. If you’re hiking and there’s a muddy spot, he will pick you up and carry you over it. He’s the type to serve you food first before him, and if he’s having a snack he’s the type to share it without needing you to ask him. It’s like the phrase to be loved is to be seen. Fresh flowers for you every day, he wakes up early to make you coffee in bed. If you’re the squeamish type about hunting/fishing, he won’t go into the details of your dinner. And if you’re with him, he’ll take care of the food far off from you so you don’t need to see it.

[sidekickjoey]

In the summer of '86, fresh off of saving the world, Steve Harrington and Nancy Wheeler get blonde highlights.

Be it a coping mechanism after handling the hell that was spring or simply a mutual need for change, the decision is made without nervousness from either party. They enter the salon together, swear up and down to their assigned hairstylists that, yes, this is what they want and no, they do not care that their hair already looks perfect as is, thanks, and leave donning notably different looks.

Steve's signature chestnut ends up woven between streaks of gold, giving him a sort of distracting glimmering effect when he walks out into the sun. Nancy's waves, though still shoulder length and crimped to perfection, sway almost completely and utterly blonde in any light.

Needless to say, their new looks quickly make them, the former it-couple of Hawkins, the talk of the town once more - including that of their two closest friends, Eddie and Robin.

They, unlike the general public of Hawkins, have spent the past few months slowly building massive crushes on Steve and Nancy, entranced by their might after surviving the horrors of the Upside Down. While to most a change in hair color for Steve and Nancy is merely an oddity, to them? It's like someone hit the panic button and left them to scatter in a secluded room.

Robin has only been over her gaga-for-Vickie phase for a few weeks now. The wound is still fresh, and she knows she should not be looking once again into a possible unrequited love situation until she is better healed emotionally. She also knows he has a weakness for blondes that goes beyond all reason, i.e. Tammy Thompson and her muppet singing voice. She shouldn't act and possibly jeopardize one of her most sincere female friendships over a silly little weakness like that.

However, Nancy looks like a vision in blonde.

Robin thinks it's her big doe eyes that do it. They pop when the blonde meshes with Nancy's fair skin, and it makes her heart swoon in the most debilitating of ways. Not to mention, the softer cut she got along with the lighter coloring frames her face so well. Robin swoons over it. If not for her fear of rejection, she probably would have already taken the leap and done something stupid, like confess how Nancy's scrambled her brain.

Eddie's not doing much better himself with Steve.

He had been there in the early days, when Scoops Ahoy's newest worker showed up in his first edition of golden highlights. Like any good Hawkins resident, he had handled it with poise, class, and lots of extra trips to Scoops Ahoy whenever he happened to be at the Starcourt Mall, along with frequent whisperings of 'what the hell' expressed in the confines of his room where no one could hear him freak out. T'was standard™.

This look, though...it blows Scoops Ahoy Steve away by miles.

It's bright. It's golden. It's like he slipped and fell into some kind of radiant daydream, only to emerge like a ray of sunlight to distract Eddie Munson and Eddie Munson alone, and Eddie can't shut up about it.

Seriously, Wayne has heard enough.

The issue is, he has next to no idea what to do about these feelings. His mind is screaming to make a move on the guy, because you only live once and, well, he's already on his second try. However, his little worried heart loves Steve's newfound companionship and whatever odd-couple friendship they have going on right now. He doesn't want to lose that because of some dye job and a trim. It's too important, too good.

So, like Robin, he finds himself refraining.

They both refrain, and over the next week or so, the decision to do so eats at them like mad. They stumble over their words when speaking to Steve and Nancy. They actually stumble physically, in Robin's case, when Nancy walks by one morning. They tell anyone and everyone they can about it aside from Steve and Nancy, and by the end of that week, it all hits a breaking point. Word slips for the sake of everyone's sanity to Steve and Nancy.

It should mark the beginning of havoc and betrayal.

Instead, it breeds two plans.

Because, here's the thing: Steve and Nancy are not dumb, contrary to what some might think. They are wildly observant people. They know what their friends are up to, and Robin and Eddie are high on that friend list after spring. They've seen their behavior and, though Nancy had to spell a little bit of it out for Steve, both have come to the conclusion that something is definitely up in the crush department. If they want to capitalize on it, they know there is no better time than now while their haircuts are still new and their own crushes are seeking an opportunity to spill their feelings.

Nancy's plan to handle Robin, to the untrained eye, is simple. She's known for carefully thought out strikes when people least expect them, and the last thing she's going to do is stop using that tactic to her advantage now.

So, she invites the other girl on a trip to the mall for new bracelets. She claims it's on account of Holly taking hers hostage (not a total lie) and needing time out with someone her age (also not a total lie), and Robin buys it in seconds. A day later, they meet up at a boutique mall just outside of Hawkins and roam for a few hours together. It's simple. Casual. Subtle enough to be innocent from afar yet just intimate enough for Nancy to make her move when the time is right.

The time becomes right when they're sitting at a booth in the food court, chatting about Holly's other jewelry-related crimes. Nancy accidentally knocks the fork for her salad off the table, catching the attention of them both. Robin is quick to say she's got it, but Nancy is faster. Ready. She reaches down, picks up the fork, and in a fit of bravery, makes damn sure she holds eye contact with Robin the entire way back up. Robin swallows and looks away, clearly flustered and trying to behave over such a small thing as eye contact. But, Nancy doesn't want her to ignore it this time. So, she pulls a cheesy line from Steve's old book (that she totally did not rehearse with Steve, not at all) and misbehaves, just to get the ball rolling.

Batting her eyes, she asks in her most casual drawl, "Sheesh Robin, do blondes always make you this nervous?"

Robin chokes on her milkshake. 'Accidentally' knocks over her own fork. Goes down beneath the table to - not subtly - whisper-scream about what the hell that just was, because what the hell was that? Hello?

Nancy finds it incredibly endearing. She kind of wants to tell her about it.

She joins Robin on the floor to do so and giggles, freakin giggles, at Robin's shock and awe over her being there. Robin, panicked, reaches for the fork she dropped and holds it up to Nancy for her to see like it's some kind of explanation for her huddling under the table a full minute after it fell. She then stutters out a small 'got it,' despite Nancy being a goddamn journalist who notices things for her job and is fully capable of using her own two eyes to see, what the heck Robin??

Nancy still finds it all so endearing, though she doesn't think saying it out loud would be the best course of action anymore. Her last words sort of sent the poor girl into a spiral, and as fun as it is sharing this cramped space with her, she kind of wants to get off the gross tile if at all possible. So, instead, she does the next best thing and expresses her fondness physically.

With a kiss.

On the mouth.

Hidden by the table but all-too-real and seen to Robin, who forgets how to breathe because oh my gosh. Oh my GOSH.

It's perfect. It's effortless. It's everything. It's hands-down worth the hours of waiting Nancy had to do under a hairdryer in foils to get her here, and even more worth Robin's adorably rushed confession after the fact that she's always liked blondes, just a little bit.

~~~~~~

Steve's plan is a lot different than Nancy's.

He is a tried-and-true passionate romantic after all, and Eddie is about as dramatic as Shakespeare. A casual outing or demure kiss under a table is just not going to cut it in terms of a confession for either of them. Steve knows this. He tells it to Nancy. Repeatedly.

After hours of back and forth over the phone, he eventually finds himself at a music store, equipped with a wad of cash and his eyes set on an, admittedly, badass looking guitar. It has blue flames along its black exterior that rise to its very top and are lined with a reflective silver, making it glimmer even in the dim light of the shop. Eddie's been moaning about losing his sweetheart to the Upside Down for weeks -- no, months at this point. Steve thinks this blue beauty would be a perfect replacement for her. He also thinks it might just be what they need to stop dancing around each other's feelings too, if he's lucky.

He purchases it and stows it away in his bedroom before calling Eddie over the following day. The boy is all nerves when he finally arrives. Steve doesn't help ease them by running his hand through his hair more than once, but what can he say? It's a tough habit to break, and he's been doing it ever since he's hand anything more than a buzz cut. Sue him.

After pleasantries about their day are discussed and Eddie appears to be more calmed down, Steve invites him upstairs for a 'surprise' that just about undoes all the poor boy's progress at once.

Because Steve didn't just place the new guitar in its case and put a bow on it to surprise Eddie. No, he propped that sucker on its stand, bought a small light to illuminate the silver and blue, and placed a little card on the case that said, 'To Eddie, from your sweetheart.'

Steve watches as Eddie physically has to reboot upon seeing it all. He then rushes to cover his ears as Eddie returns to consciousness with a full-blown yell, running over to his gift with repeated 'no way's that get higher and higher in volume with each utterance. All noise ceases when he finally reads the card, though. That's when Steve feels safe enough to drop his hands to his side and make his approach, a shy grin on his lips.

"Like it?"

"Y-You're my sweetheart?"

With a shrug, Steve once again cards a hand through his hair. "If you want me to be. I-I mean, I assumed you would want me to be with all the looks you've been giving me, a-and everything with the Upside Down. But if I've got that wrong, if...shit, maybe I should just-"

Their first kiss is messy, wet, and way too enthusiastic.

Eddie's all teeth from how wide he's smiling into the kiss, and Steve nearly falls over from the sheer force of the guy barreling into him. He grows a bit dizzy, too, from how firm Eddie's grip on his hair has him, and that does little for his already frazzled balance. But, it's perfect. It's so stupidly them and perfect and wild like Steve had hoped it to be, like Eddie hoped it to be.

Later, when Steve leaves Eddie to enjoy his guitar in peace and breathe because, yeah, he finds himself making a mental note to call Nancy when he's home. If this is what one round of highlights gets him, he'll be damned if they don't plan another round for touch ups soon.

Stepping inside, Steve catches sight of a blinking light on his answering machine that tells him Nancy'd be damned, too.

He smiles.

[fly1nglow]

WHEN THE BELLS RING (1).

summary ── steve is desperate to make his work environment a less unbearable place and the newly arrived teacher could be a good distraction.

pairings & characters ── teacher!steve x teacher!fem!reader, some ocs

additional info & warnings ── fluff, slow burn, reader is supposed to be a ‘big city girl’, reader is also kinda anxious, little steve pov inserted, i guess steve is not accurate but i tried my best </3, no warnings besides that, i guess

author’s notes: ok… so this is my first fanfic after sooo long, but this idea came to me in a dream and i wanted to write, i feel like it kinda sucks but i also just wanna have some fun writing again. also… i know this must be annoying but… should i say english isn’t my first language (and that i dont know how the educational system of united states works)? :/, that should be all, pls be kind <3

The breeze passed through the leaves gently, taking some to the windshield, it was a really pleasant scene to enjoy in autumn, but it was also a great change of scenery in your opinion: Hawkins, from what you knew and had seen so far at that moment, it felt like that kind of small town you see in movies, where everyone knows everyone and nothing really happens, very different from what you had grown up with and lived with all your life, which were noisy cities, tall buildings and people who really didn't care. they paid attention to you.

But sudden changes weren't very pleasant either, yet here you were, in a small town in the middle of Indiana.

After taking another sip of your coffee, hoping the drink would distract you from something you didn't yet know you feared, you grabbed your bag and threw in the items that would be needed to survive your first day of work at Hawkins Public School. Your keys, notebooks and books were everything he considered really essential for the day.

Getting out of the car, you clutched the cup with the now cold drink in your hands, placed your bag in your arms, and headed towards the clearly old but friendly-looking building in front of you.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ—

Steve was curious to know who would replace Mrs. Brown, because although he got along with most people, his coworkers didn't exactly fit into that category. They were mostly middle-aged people, who thought he was childish, whether because of his age or the way he acted, he still didn't know for sure, but he knew they were his age once and he hoped they would be kinder.

However, he still didn't know how meeting 'the newbie' could help his case, he figured, that maybe by getting to know him first he could get some information and then pass it on to his colleagues, maybe then they would see him as someone helpful and trustworthy, but he still didn't know how that would help him.

It was lost in these thoughts that he found himself in the still empty hallway and in front of Mrs. Brown's old door, now weathered and which he knew made a loud noise when it was pushed in a certain way and now, he was a little unsure, a very different feeling compared to the confident and playful Steve of just a few years ago. But his movements seemed not to follow his thoughts, because now he had knocked on the door.

Before he could step back and get him out of there, he opened the door after hearing a muffled and distant voice say 'come in'.

‘‘Good morning.’’ Steve laughed and hurried over.

‘‘Oh, good morning!’’ A young-looking woman, who was pasting some notices on the wall, turned to face him, left the materials on the table and approached to greet him, as he was approaching.

‘‘I’m Professor Harrington, but you can actually call me Steve, you know, I guess it’s okay, in fact I prefer to be called that…’’

Now he was rambling. He extended his hand for a shake, which she readily accepted. Now closer, he could notice a few more small details about her: her hair was slightly messy, perhaps due to the wind outside, there was also a small piece of adhesive tape stuck near the collar of her pullover sweater, but he pretended not to notice, afraid that she would think he was looking more than he should.

‘‘Well, I’m a physical education teacher. I thought it would be a good idea to stop by and say hi.’’

She then introduced herself.

‘‘That’s very kind of you, Steve.’’

‘‘Well…’’ Steve looked around the room, but his mind was looking for some way to keep the conversation going, or maybe an excuse to leave. ‘‘Do you need help? Do you already know the building? You know I can…’’

Great, he was rambling again. Good way to make a good impression, right?

‘‘Actually, if you guys have a coffee machine, I’d love to know where it is.’’

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ—

You definitely hadn't thought much when you left your room and decided to follow Professor Harrington to the staff room, a small room, with white walls, two windows, shelves full of books, papers, some chairs and tables. It wasn't exactly the most comfortable place you'd ever seen. But you just wanted to distract yourself from the hustle and bustle of your own thoughts, because the first day of work had left you exhausted and it hadn't even started yet.

Also, you weren't the type to jump to conclusions because of appearance, but the first thing you noticed was that Steve had adorable eyes that seemed to match the type of person he was. And at the moment he seemed like a lovely person. That he talked a lot.

He had recently talked about how he grew up in the city and how it was a little strange teaching the children of people he had known all his life. You also shared some facts, about where you grew up and where you studied, all while he observed you carefully and asked some questions to keep the conversation going.

‘‘So why did you come here?’’

‘‘Salary, obviously.’’

You tried to joke and he chuckled weakly at your little attempt at being funny. Steve looked away from your figure, as you were drinking the second cup of coffee of the day, he observed the other person who entered the room, but who still didn't notice the presence of the two of you in the room. This made Steve get a little closer to you, still keeping an acceptable distance but so that only you could hear him whisper:

‘‘That’s Professor Watson, from physics… A pain in the ass at first, but if he likes you, he might get you a discount on drinks at a bar.’’

‘‘Discounts in a bar? Why?’’ You whispered back, while trying to focus on the new figure that appeared: it was a small man in comparison to Steve, his hair already showing signs of getting gray and he had a serious face.

‘‘His sister owns one of the bars in town, she always gives discounts to his friends and colleagues.’’

‘‘And you, do you have a discount there?’’

‘‘No, he hates me. But who knows, maybe you’ll be luckier than me.’’

‘‘Good strategy, Harrington, you barely know me and you’re already trying to use me to get discounts at bars?’’

You both laughed and soon the sound caught the attention of the person who was previously the center of the conversation. Steve quickly distanced himself and silently indicated with signs for you to follow him and then, there followed another one of those social formalities that people tend to forget happened easily: introducing yourself.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ—

And introducing yourself was the key word and the pattern that followed for practically the entire day: introducing yourself to your colleagues, students and some parents.

The students were as you expected them to be, lively students who preferred talking to their classmates rather than paying attention in class, but, luckily or perhaps your own teaching talent, you managed to get them to pay attention to what you were saying. and they were able to apply their knowledge well to their tasks. As for your coworkers, excluding Steve, your colleagues weren't exactly the warmest and friendliest people you knew, but that didn't take up much space in your mind.

Not long after the last bell rang, you were getting ready to end the day at work and return to your cozy home. Until two knocks on the door distracted you.

Peeking through the half-open door, you quickly realized who it was: Steve trying to be helpful again.

‘‘Do you need help there, newbie?’’

You didn't mind the small informalities when you were quick to decline his help.

‘‘No need, I was already finishing it anyway.’’

He pretended to look disappointed, you couldn't help but chuckle at his theatrics. You quickly finished your things and grabbed your bag, and left the room with Steve following right behind you.

‘‘You know,’’ Steve began as you both walked down the corridor, ‘‘that’s the good part about being a physical education teacher, I don’t need a room, just some balls and a court.’’

‘‘It’s easy when a good number of children love the chance to be aggressive without being reprimanded.’’

‘‘It is,’’ Steve agreed, a fond smile on his face. ‘‘Kids can be a handful, but they mean well. Today, one of them lobbed a ball right at my stomach, but they made up for it with a lollipop as an apology.’’

‘‘A lollipop," you chuckled, ‘‘the universal peace offering.’’

‘‘If lollipops didn't work wonders, doctors wouldn't hand them out after every appointment,’’ Steve quipped, his laughter echoing down the hallway.

Steve walked you to the parking lot, soon stopping near what you assumed was his car. You turned to see him and to say goodbye.

‘‘See you tomorrow, newbie,’’ Steve grinned.

‘‘See you tomorrow, Professor Harrington,’’ you replied with a playful smirk.

He rolled his eyes and got into the car, making your way to your own car as you watched him get further away. Placing your arms a little closer to your body to avoid the cold, you could reflect a little on that end of the day as you once again observed the parking lot, now a little darker as the sun was already hiding, but which you expected to see for a while, for many more days.

In that silence, you could conclude that the first day of work had not been as horrible and terrifying as you had expected.

[eddiesguitarskills]

When We Were Young

Part 4

Ex Eddie Munson X reader

Other parts : 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Intro: 5 years have past since you packed up and left behind Hawkins. Well not all of it, as the people you met there are still a huge part of your life. But it's been 5 years since you had set a foot in the small town, 5 years since you left him.And now after all that time you were back.

Warning: angst, language, mentions of suicide, miscarriages, self harm, mental health.Arguments. Mentions of break ups. Female identity reader. Use of y/n

Bold parts are flashbacks

Word count: 3.4 k

A/n: please only read if you are in a good place, I wouldn't want this story to trigger or hurt anyone. I'm so sorry this took so long to write, I hope having some good flashbacks makes up for that.

Not Prove Read

It had been two weeks since you'd been back, with planning for the new school year, catching up with your family, seeing the Harrington's, and occasionally seeing your old friends, you hadn't had a chance to see Eddie. Not that he hadn't been consuming your thoughts, but having people around really helped that. However, your distractions were getting fewer and fewer as time went on. The younger members of your group were going back to school. Lucas went back to Kentucky last week, and Max and Will back to New York to study art two days ago. Mike and Jane went back to California yesterday. The settlement money coming to use for all the younger kids.

Dustin had left it as late as he could as he didn't want to miss a moment with you or his friends. Besides it's not like he had far to travel he went to Indiana Tech which was about an hour away from home. He was offered scholarships to ivy league schools, but he felt too guilty to take them. He worried that if he left the state something would happen and he wouldn't be there to fix it this time.

In his first year he travelled to school, but this year he was staying there. Eddie and Steve had convinced him that he needed to undergo the proper college experience and he was not going to do that in his mom's house. Especially with how anxious she was about everything he did, where he was, the fact that he couldn’t own a car despite having a driving license. Which is why he knew what they were saying was right. He needed a change, but he was also thankfully it was not too far away his anxiety couldn't survive that. He was glad he could come back whenever he needed, which might be sooner rather than later he thought as he still hadn’t spoken to Eddie since that night. He had tried many times but was met with silence. Eddie could be very dramatic so Dustin knew he would cool down eventually he just needed time. But today he had to leave he couldn’t wait for Eddie to talk to him anymore.

You turn the key walking into the Harrington’s house. You would knock but Nancy and Steve told you, this is as much your home as it is their’s so you come anytime you wanted. You did at least try to announce your arrival though as you never wanted to impose on them. Today was different as the pair knew you were coming to watch their three-year-old Rosie, while Nancy was at work and Steve took Dustin to college.

Steve was in the living room on the phone looking worried, tapping his foot rapidly, he looked up at you and slammed the phone back into the receiver. “I was trying to call you”. You look at your watch confused “am I late?” he shakes his head. “No it's just Nancy got in a car accident-”. You felt nerves fill your body, the same expression of worry on your face as his. “Is she okay?”. He nods slightly “they said it's just a slight concussion, and a few cuts but they need to keep her a few hours for observations”. As soon as you heard those words relief started to wash away the anxiety. You were still slightly upset that she was hurt but you were glad it wasn't anything serious. But you knew Steve all too well how he panicked about the people he loved, it was understandable with everything he had been through. “What are you waiting here for? Go. I've got Rosie as long as you need”. He hugs you, then grabs his jacket and keys.

You felt as if you were forgetting something like an annoying scratch you couldn't itch. Scratching away at your brain. Dustin. You almost forgot the reason you came to watch Rosie in the first place. “Should I ring Dustin and let him know?”. Steve opened the front door “no it's fine, I've already rang, Eddie is taking him”. You nod. Hoping he doesn't see you cringe at the mention of your ex’s name.

Beep. Beep. Dustin looked outside the window to see his friend. Well with how Eddie had been avoiding him he wasn't sure what their relationship was. At least now he would get a chance to talk to the headstrong man before he went to college. Eddie showed no sign that he was getting out of the car, which made Dustin worry he would have to move all of the boxes to his van by himself. He didn’t have many as he tried to keep the packing light, since it was a shared dorm room. But they were still heavy boxes, and at least five of them. Plus a suitcase. Maybe this was Eddie’s way of punishing him.

Dustin bent down to get the first box which was full of engineering books, his knees made a clicking sound on the way down. It hurt a bit but he powered through exiting the front door over to Eddie’s car. Only now the man wasn’t in the front seat he was standing by the back of the van with a cigarette in his mouth. He pulled the box from Dustin’s hand and put it in the trunk. Dustin thanked the man but he still said nothing, he just nodded to show he had heard him. Eddie walked over to Dustin’s house and started to retrieve the boxes. Keeping the cigarettes lit and in his mouth. Now and then using his hand to pull it out to tap the ash. It felt like a slap in the face for Dustin who had tried so hard to get Eddie to quit, and maybe that was why Eddie was doing it, another form of punishment. The reality was he smoking because he was stressed, and the slight burn to his throat was enough to ease the thought even for a second.

When all the bags were secured in the back of the van they set off. The tension could be cut with a knife. Eddie didn’t hate Dustin, he was just scared that he was losing him to you as well, which had no real logic behind it. In fact with how Eddie had been ignoring his friend, he was causing the problem himself. Having enough of the awkward tension Dustin decided to be the bigger person, “so how’s the bar?” Eddie nods “good”. Eddie wanted to hit himself why was he being so awkward it’s like recently he couldn’t get rid of his foul mood. Since you had come back a dark cloud had formed over his life.

He still didn’t understand if you could come back now why couldn’t you come back before? Maybe then you both could have fixed things. “We really need to get you a car, can’t have me and Harrington being your chauffeurs forever” he tries to joke but the tone of his voice doesn’t show that. Dustin agrees; thankful to hear Eddie’s voice even if he wasn’t a cheery one. It was better than the silent treatment.

Dustin was going to use this time stuck in a car with Eddie to his advantage. The worse that could happen is he wouldn’t talk to him again, with him going to college it was now or never. “About that night at Steve’s-“ Eddie turns his radio up to ignore the conversation. For years everyone had avoided talking about you, now he would have to get used to hearing your name again. However, nothing could prepare him for the hurt just a name could cause. Dustin lowered the radio “trust me I know you don’t wanna hear about her but the reality is she’s here now. So wouldn’t it be better to be able to vent or ask any questions to someone you trust?”. Dustin was always too smart for his own good, of course, what he was saying was right, not that Eddie wanted to admit that. Dustin had been the only person that had seen him break down about it and he never told anyone. I guess that’s what hurt him the most that night at Harrington’s, Dustin had seen how hurt he was about this, but from the looks of it seemed like he and you were still friends it didn’t make sense.

He banged on Dustin’s door again and again until he got an answer. The young boy answered, still in his pjs as it was three in the morning. He came to the door quickly scared someone had happened with the upside down again. What he didn’t expect to see was Eddie with bloodshot eyes, panicked. Before he had time to ask questions Eddie was speaking. “Do you know where she is?”. Shit, maybe it was the upside-down Dustin thought. “We fought, she couldn’t have just left like that, that’s not what people do. Do they?”. Dustin couldn’t understand fully what was happening but he knew it was about you, he had never seen Eddie looking like this, he looked worse than when he was accused of murder. “Eddie why don’t you come inside, we can figure this out together”. Tears started to pour from Eddie’s eyes so many that he felt like he was choking on them.

“I don’t get it” Eddie mutters under his breath if it wasn’t for the tight conforms of the van Dustin might have not heard it. “Which part?”. Eddie pulls the van to a stop at a red light and looks over at his younger friend “all of it”. There is quietness in the car. Dustin doesn’t know what to say. It wasn’t a question so he isn’t sure how to answer, or even if there was a right answer. There wasn't a book to help him explain all of this or if there was he hadn't found it yet. Eddie was sick of the silence and glad for the green light so he doesn't have to look at Dustin when he speaks. “What happened?” Dustin sighs “I didn’t expect you to come, I was trying to warn-“. Eddie grips the steering wheel so tight his knuckles turn white. “That’s not what I mean”. Dustin didn’t want to betray your trust but Eddie was his best friend so he was in an awkward situation. “I don’t know.” The man took his eyes off the road for a second to glare at his friend “bullshit”. Even with his eyes back on the road, Dustin was still scared.

He knew he had to tell the truth but even he didn’t know that. He only knew what Steve revealed while drunk one night. “She- ”, Eddie didn’t want to be lied to anymore he needed the truth, maybe it would help the nightmares. “I honestly don’t know much”. Eddie’s nostrils flared, as he sighed. “Please don’t lie to me”. Dustin couldn’t bare to look at his friend so he looked out the window “I’m not, all I know is she had… I don’t know…. A breakdown or something… it was bound to happen to one of us… you know what this place can do to you, so she ran and I don’t exactly blame her. She seems so much better… but whenever you or the upside-down or Hawkins was mentioned I could see this pain behind her eyes. I knew that look well, I’d seen it in the mirror but it seemed worse for her.”

Eddie felt like a knife had been pierced through his chest, you were suffering and he didn’t even notice. Was it after the fight? Before? Had the fight pushed you over the edge? If only you would had talked to him maybe he could have helped. Why did you have to be so difficult? Maybe he was the difficult one. Maybe if he would have talked to you more, you wouldn't have ran. For years he had convinced himself you had abandoned him, you were the bad guy but maybe it was always more complex than that.

It had been a couple of hours since you had heard from Steve, despite him saying it wasn't severe, with the lack of communication you had started to worry. You were also not sure what to tell Rosie, so you tried different ways to distract her. Watching her favourite film, the little mermaid on repeat. Have a tea party, baking and now your least favourite game question time with a 3-year-old. It was at moments like this you could tell who her mother was. She had started with the easy question favourite colour? favourite princess? The best my little pony? Who was your Favourite 3-year-old? Now she had started on the more hard-hitting questions and it's not like you could avoid answering, because she would pester you with ‘why’ until she got a response.

“Do you have a husband?” you shake your head, surprised she could say such a big word and even more surprised by the question. “no, do you think I need one?”. The little girl considered the question “ it would make you happy”. There were a lot of layers to the girl's question and even more with her response. You wanted to tell the girl you didn't need a man to be happy but she was three and obsessed with Disney princesses, you weren't sure she would understand. So you poke her sides to tickle her and tell her “I get to spend time with my favourite person, I'm very happy”. The girl pout and shakes her head. “Not like mommy and daddy”. You smile, not wanting to get into your need to be single with a child. In fact, you didn't want to admit out loud that you were scared to be in a relationship, that deep down you never got over- no you could not think that. “Well that's because mommy and daddy are like prince charming and Cinderella. I'm like the fairy godmother. The fairy godmother is happy to help others and doesn't have a husband”.

The girl crosses her arms, and pouts her lips more. She looked adorable, but she didn't look in the mood to be told that. “No you are a princess, not a fairy godmother” she stated like a fact that you should know. The truth is it had been so long since you felt special that it felt weird for someone to describe you this way. The compliment from a three-year-old meant an awful lot to you, more than you would like to admit.

A week before the events that led to Eddie being accused of murder, you had been feeling super unwell. You weren't sure what was wrong with you, maybe it had something to do with your missed period but you were too scared to find out. You were lying on Eddie's bed not wanting to move. He had assumed you were about to get your period as this is how you would usually act during that time, so he got all of your comfort snacks. You groaned when he turned on the light. “I'm sorry princess, but I brought snacks does that make up for it”. You grumble “it depends on the snack” he hands the bag over to you, which is filled with your favourites, you root through it “I guess you're forgiven”. You spot a red shiny package, you read the writing ‘ring pop’.

Pulling it out you show it to him “you better not be proposing when I feel like death” he shakes his head, “no when I propose I promise it will be the cheesy thing ever, that has ever happened. The more embarrassing for you, the better”. You fake laugh at him, but aren't able to wipe the smile off your face at the thought of your future together. “I guess it's kind of a promise that one day you will be my wife...I like the sound of that, my wife” “ he gets on the bed with you pulling you into his chest. Eddie Munson was truly the sweetest boy around. Maybe having a child would be too bad if you had him holding your hand through it.

You gesture to yourself up and down “you sure you want to make a promise that like that when I look like this?” he nudges your knee teasingly “well you know what they say for better... Or worse”. You playfully hit his arm pretending to be annoyed. “Well, now I'm definitely not sharing my snacks with you.”

You nod choosing to agree with the girl to hopefully move her on to the next question. “Why you not live here before?” oh God maybe the relationship question was better. “Because I lived in England”. The girl looks confused “why?” you smile. How could you decide anything that happened to a small child when it was confusing enough for you to understand? “Because I didn't want my aunt to be alone”. You knew what word was going to come from Rosie's mouth next “why?”

“Because- umm” you had begun to speak out of instinct but you didn't know what to say. “Mummy says you were sad. I missed you. made daddy sad, and me sad”. Don't cry. Whatever you don't cry. You are grown-up, you have to stay strong. Rosie was smart for her age but there was still a world of hurt you wanted to protect her from. You lift her onto your lap hugging her “I'm sorry, sometimes being a grown-up is hard. And we have to be a little mean to be happy”. Before she could say the same phrase you spoke again “because life isn't always far but it can be amazing when it wants to be”. The girl didn't speak again she just pondered the words not completely understanding but wanting to show she was a big enough girl to get it. You could see a frown forming on her face, so you gently rubbed it away. “Don't worry, it's confusing for grown up too”.

The front door opened bringing an end to the conversation you two were having. The girl jumped off your lap running to her parents. She cuddles Nancy’s leg. You follow behind, thankful to see your friend only with a few scratches. You hug her too, quickly and carefully to not get in the way or kick Rosie. “That’s not far you can't look that pretty after a car accident”. She pushes you away. “Ha ha very funny”. You shake your head “I'm not joking” you look down at the little girl “see I told you, your mommy was Cinderella”. Steve straightens his back and pretends to flex his muscles “does that make me prince charming?” he made it too easy sometimes. “No, that makes you the pumpkin”.

Eddie and Dustin had been stuck in the car for an hour and a half, since the unexpected reveal, they hadn't said much. Or at least Eddie hadn't heard much, all he could think about was you. Which wasn't a change as you had been all he thought about since you came back, but these thoughts came with new feelings, guilt, and confusion. They finally pulled to a stop outside the dorms. Dustin was about to get out when Eddie put his hand out to stop him. “What should I do?”. Dustin shrugs “I don't think they are any answer for that, you are two broken people. I'm not sure even one of you can fix that, but maybe being nicer would be a start”.

Eddie nods, “when did you get so smart?”. Dustin smiled, the Eddie he knew and loved was there, even if it was only briefly. “I'm surprised I haven't lost brain cells being friends with you”. The man laughed, he couldn't even pretend to care about the insult. The thing is no matter if they bicker or fight the two were brothers nothing would change that. And only now the realisation was kicking in that Eddie had been so stubborn about feeling betrayed, that he had missed the time he could have spent enjoying his best friend's last weeks in town before he moved. Of course, he wasn't far and they would still talk. But he wonders how many problems he would solve if he should stop being so stubborn, believing he was always right when he never had any of the answers.

Taglist

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@micheledawn1975

[stevetonyweekly]

Stevetony Weekly - August 20th

 This week’s list is being prepped early because I’ll be traveling Sunday--so it’s shorter than normal. I’ll make it up to you next week! Remember to leave comment/kudos for the fic you love! 

~*~ 

Indefinitely by complicationstoo 

Recent college graduate Tony Stark is content with his life. He has his bookstore, a few close friends, and he hasn't spoken to his father in over a year. When Steve Rogers, the actor famous for his role as Captain America, walks into the store one autumn morning, Tony's in for one hell of a ride.

  A Notting Hill AU

Say My Name by citsiurtlanu

Steve reminds Tony that there's more to him than the war his weapons were used in.

The Strangers You Call Friends by Mireille

Stark frustrates Sheriff Rogers, but that doesn't mean he wants to see the man drink himself to death. Timely needs a blacksmith, after all.

A Handsome Stranger Called Death by hopelesse, isozyme

Steve Rogers was an optimist, and he had no sense for the limits of one man with a six-shooter and a strong will, but he was canny enough to know that he wasn’t getting any good done as pig food.

A mashup of 1872 and T. Kingfisher’s Jackalope Wives. You could also call it a vampire AU.

Inevitable Conclusion by ohmyloki

Steve wondered what Tony kissed like. Was it hard and fast like so much of Tony’s life had been? Or would it be something slow and methodical like how Tony was in his workshop, always making sure to dot his i’s and cross his t’s?

Architecture by Sineala

Tony decorates Avengers Tower for the new team's first Christmas, and Steve's standing in a very fortuitous place.

take me away to you by complicationstoo

One perfect weekend. That's how it starts.

stars glued to our thighs by starvels (dinosaur)

Steve’s been out of town for a few weeks, doing the superhero thing. To welcome Steve back home properly, Tony clears some space for Steve to slide right into.

you and I are both page and pen by Missy_dee811

I have a good life. I have wonderful friends. I’ve got more money than I know what to do with, and thanks to that, I have a knack for building elaborate tinker toys. They’ve helped me cope.

Through it all, I’ve managed to help some people here and there.

And I’ve been lucky, so very lucky. I manage a disease from which some never recover, for a scotch on the rocks tempts me daily.

But there’s always been the question of my heart.

[Podfic of] Wilt Thou Exchange by exmanhater

"The first time Steve meets Toni is about a week after he wakes up."

Ice Prince by complicationstoo

Tony Stark bought a hockey team on a whim, having never watched the sport in his life. He decides to take a hands-on approach to being a team owner and starts spending time with team captain Steve Rogers. "Hands-on approach" soon becomes very literal.

Toward the Sun by shinysylver

Steve is exhausted. He's spent a decade just trying to survive and somehow forgot how to live in the process. But is it too late to fix what he's broken?

Tony nearly died, but thanks to Extremis he's healthier than ever. However, just because the battle is over doesn't mean the war is won. He's out of retirement now for good or ill.

The only thing that's certain is that the Earth needs the Avengers and the Avengers need both Steve and Tony.

Enemy At The Gates by AvocadoLove

By the time Captain America was found and defrosted, the Chitauri had wiped out the entire state of New York, and Iron Man was the world’s most wanted villain.

[mixreality]

"Rumble" theories, headcanons, and musings

My personal opinion on the events in the movie and the events before and after it. Correct me if something is wrong!

Perhaps I've gone too far, but I think - it's closer to the reality of the world we were shown in the movie.

Theory on the disappearance of Rayburn and Jimbo. At the beginning of the movie we are told that they disappeared (died) somewhere at the sea. After we are shown Stoker's new monster - Tentacular, which all his appearance indicates he's marine-type monster. Based on these two facts we conclude that Tentacular is involved in the disappearance of Rayburn and Jimbo. Brilliant deduction, I know.

Headcanons!

Tentacular got a scar on his face from Rayburn's claws when he tried to drown him.

T and Rayburn are about the same age and knew each other long before the events of the movie. Their paths parted after Ray's decision to become a wrestler and the birth of Steve (Rayburn Jr.). Hence, the envy of success and the desire to be better than his former friend.

Back to the theory. Tentacular comes in Stoker sometime after the tragedy, under the guise of "I hear you're looking for a new champion". Since the town had big problems and came in grief after the "disappearance" of their favorites, they gladly accept T, and Siggy becomes his trainer.

Headcanons!

Siggy probably knows that Tentacular is involved in the deaths of Jimbo and Rayburn, but doesn't show it until he's sure it's true. OR he took part in it too.

The loss of his leg is unrelated to the incident in the sea, as in the movie in Vinnie's flashbacks, Sig was already wearing a prosthetic leg.

After the death of his father, Steve may have lived with his mother away from the city for some time. There is no mention of her in the movie, but I assume she just lives somewhere far far away from civilization. The second option - Steve leave town and just wandered around the region/state for a few years until he got into underground monster fights because he needed money to keep living.

Another interesting moment. Siggy tells Winnie to stop the fight, because if Tentacular senses blood, the situation will get out of hand. What did he mean by that? Sharks have a phenomenon called "food fever." It's when there's a lot of blood in a place and the amount of blood makes sharks go crazy and eat everything. T is a shark, and a pretty big one; perhaps his senses are more heightened than normal sharks too. If Steve got a nosebleed during a fight, for example, T would probably go berserk and destroy not only the arena, but also the stadium and even the entire city. Of course, not without casualties, and here the irreversible process of total 4uckup. We wouldn't see it in the movie, so we will stop only at the destruction of the stadium (take into: all the people have time to evacuate).

Other.

Not all monsters in the movie universe are wrestlers. Example: Mac is a monster who works as a commentator (albeit on the subject of wrestling). Monsters, due to their incredible strength, can be useful in professions where that strength is especially valuable. Such as construction and demolition on a large scale, heavy lifting, working at heights/depths, mining, etc. Those who are not satisfied with either of those things go into the creative arts. I'd really like to see a monster DJ!!!

"Tentacular" is a stage name. Personally, I think the name "Nigel" would suit him perfectly. Name meaning: champion, perseverance, independence, zeal; also: cruelty, egoism, envy, hatred. The colors are blue and purple, the element is water. 100% hit. It's compatible with his looks, too.

Steve and his father can tolerate extra high temperatures.

In the second part of the movie (if it ever comes out) Steve will bring his "dancing style" to the end and it will be more like wrestling. However, lazy as he was, he will remain lazy.

There is a very small chance that Rayburn and Jimbo survived, but decided to lay low after the "mysterious disappearance".

Ray and T are about 20-23 years old at the time of their friendship (before the movie), 35-45 years old during the movie. Steve is 3-5 years older than Winnie. I can get very confused about the timing of what's going on in the movie, so consider this as headcanon. I'm having trouble with "time feeling"…

Winnie is a foot-fetishist.

[capt-carter-mostly-official]

Hi captain! *salute and wink*

i'm bored can you tell me a war story?

-@azalea-romanoff

Hello there Lea, glad to hear from you!

I’d be happy to, now what would be a good one… hmmm, I can think of a few.

But let’s go with the time I visited my old school with the 107th, since that’s a pretty one and I honestly don’t want to talk about death today.

So, it’s December 1944, it’s new years. We’re all on leave, but not long enough for the boys to ship back to the states. So, what am I supposed to do, leave them in some rooming house in London or Bath and trust them to survive it? Of course not, that would be incredibly stupid.

So, I show up at my brother Michael’s door with these eight mostly American guys in full uniform two days before New Years. Since I’d enlisted, Michael had moved to the same town I’d gone to school in, and coincidentally the one where Angie Martinelli worked at the recruiter’s office. She was a the daughter of an American businessman and his British wife, she’d grown up in New York until she had been sent to the same boarding school as I was. To make a long story short, we’d fallen in love. Which was incredibly stupid, but I never managed to regret it.

She was, in fact, boarding with Michael because I’d introduced them, and when he found out they lived in the same town, he said he couldn’t not give a proper home to his little sister’s best friend. He had eventually found out about us, and by some miracle it was just fine. And of course, she was home. So I’m here, standing on the porch in full uniform with the Howling Commandos, in the snow, in this little town in England, and Angie comes running down the stairs with her hair in pin curls and a shawl over her nightgown and tackles me in a hug, and we’re just grinning and hugging while Michael’s still stunned in the doorway. She looks around, raises her eyebrows, and says “you didn’t say you were bringin’ guests English! Where are we gonna put all these folks?” And Michael just starts laughing his ass off and waves everyone in. They all stomp off their boots and start leaving their shoes by the door like me and Angie.

So eventually we figure out where we’re sleeping everyone; me and Angie sharing her room, Steve and Bucky in mine with Frenchie, Monty and Jonsey on their floor, everyone else on sofas and chairs and a few on the floor. And we all wind up in the kitchen at probably ten o’clock that night drinking tea, because me and Monty had been complaining about the tea Jim had gotten. And Angie and Bucky are commiserating about how horrible me and Steve are to keep an eye on, and suddenly Dum Dum says “hey Miss Union Jack, this your girl?” And then the room got incredibly quite incredibly quickly. Steve, who of course had figured it out within minutes of hearing me mention her for the first time, looked prepared punch him if necessary, Michael was ready to kill the whole room from how he was standing. But also, these men had been alright when they’d found out about Buck and Steve — that’s an entirely different story — after a bit of explaining, and would kill to keep that secret. So, I grabbed Angie’s hand and nodded rather sharply before telling them that “yes, this is my girl, and anyone who has anything to say about it can walk out that door right now and never come back.” Michael just shrugged and smiled. “What, you thought she’d do what our dad wanted?” Was his answer(for context, Dad always wanted me to get married young to a young, respectable, Christian family man. Dad and I were never very close) and Dum Dum nodded and proceeded to decidedly un-subtly spike his tea.

The next day, we somehow wound up deciding to visit me and Angie’s old school, because both of us knew being stuck there over the holiday break was always lonely and it would be nice to see some old teachers. However, the boys only had one change of clothes and both needed to be washed, so we were all in uniform, and I was in my standard officer’s uniform. So we arrive, as our now world-famous selves, to an all-girls boarding school on New Year’s Eve, bearing a large bag of candy and some popping corn we’d picked up from the grocery.

There were about a fifteen, maybe twenty girls left in the place, and all of them were incredibly excited, particularly when Miss Ashton, the headmistress, came down to tell them I’d been a student here. They all knew Angie, she visited often, but they pulled stories out of me for the whole morning, and then convinced all of us to go ice skating on the pond. Which went horribly. Me and Angie knew how, and Bucky was decent enough. Steve chose to sit on the side, In Bucky and Dum Dum’s coats as well as his own, and draw with the youngest girl, who I think was probably about twelve. Dum Dum fell on his face, Monty and Jim started teaching a few to play hockey, and eventually they found enough sticks in the woods to start a game with a rock and a bunch of tree branches. Everyone was just laughing and it was so beautiful. We came in probably around four and made all the popcorn and the teachers who were left joined us. There were stories and songs and Michael came down with some food and we spent New Year’s Eve there.

We shipped out again about three days later. That was the last time I saw Angie. But we did have a “ceremony” on New Year’s Day. We exchanged necklaces, since rings would be too risky, and said vows we made up on the spot with the Commandos and Michael as our witnesses. Frenchie’s dad has been a pastor, so he officiated. It was beautiful. We didn’t say it was a marriage, because we were too afraid. But that’s what it was. She was my wife in every way that mattered. And… I found a letter in a box. From Angie, to me. Signed “your wife, Angie”

So I suppose I’m a widow now. I guess I never really thought about it that way before.

[corrodedseraphine]

jazz | one shot

pairing: eddie munson x fem!reader

summary: Eddie always felt that jazz was not his cup of tea, so when Steve offered to devote one evening a week just to it, he wasn't convinced. Until he met you. After all, jazz may not turn out to be so bad, right? angst/fluff, strangers to lovers

TW: use of drugs

the one shot is also avaliable on ao3

11 738 words

taglist: @i-me-mine and here I would love to thank you because you are the first person ever that have asked to be tagged under my work, it is crazy for me, and I really hope you won't be dissapointed 🙈

I really hope it is not too long or boring or cringe or too bad, in my head it looked much better, oh god

eddie munson masterlist | general masterlist

When the small town of Hawkins was almost all pulled underground in 1986, many people lost their entire livelihood and left the cursed place in terror and desperation. Thus, the population of Hawkins was reduced by more than half. It took years to try to rebuild it however nothing could return to normal. This disaster, nevertheless, brought something good. People all over the world wanted to see the town absorbed by the earth, so over time tourism became the main income. The place where the trailer park used to be was now the biggest attraction, with people lining up to see the most damaged part of the city, around which many legends appeared. The official version was an earthquake, but many people said it was hell's gate and the damage that had been done was caused by Satan himself. In a way, these beliefs were true, but not everyone needed to know that.

After defeating Vecna, Joyce and her children returned to Hawkins and moved in with Hopper. The rest of the team didn't leave either. The traumatic experience, instead of propelling them to escape, the bond with this town prevented them from doing so. When Eddie miraculously survived an attack by demobats and was carried out of there in an unconscious state by Steve and Dustin he spent several weeks in the hospital. Fortunately, with Hopper's help, they were able to guarantee that all medical expenses would be covered by the government so as not to burden Wayne with it. In addition, they both received very generous compensation. 

When it turned out that the owner of the Hideout, the bar where Corroded Coffin played every Thursday, was leaving town Eddie and Steve decided to buy the place back and invest in its development. In addition, above the bar was the apartment in which the Munsons took up residence. It was much larger than the trailer. A large living room connected to the kitchen, a bathroom and two separate rooms.

The first few years were very tough, but the more tourists showed up in Hawkins, the more the Hideout made a profit. Eventually the income was large enough that they could afford to renovate the place. Every night since then, many passersby and locals have treated the Hideout as one of the main social spots in and around Hawkins. Of course, Corroded Coffin didn't stop giving their performances, but in addition to them there were many different artists.

"No way!" shouted Eddie, sitting down on a stool at the bar. "I'm not going to let this place turn into a retirement home!"

"It's only one evening a week! Why do you have to be so dramatic?"

"Besides, there are young people in the world who like jazz you wuss," interjected Robin standing behind the bar. Despite being a manager, she claimed that standing behind the bar was one of her favorite activities. This was especially true when her newly hired bartender, Laura, was with her on shift.

"Fine! But only once a week. We can't afford to go more days without doing anything." he rolled his eyes.

"You'll be surprised how there will be even more people than at your concerts." laughed Steve pleased with his friend's agreement.

"A blow below the belt Harrington! A blow below the belt!"

To Munson's surprise, the Jazz evenings proved to be a success. Every week many people of all ages gathered there. He himself dreaded avoiding his workplace on this day, but today, exceptionally, due to the flurry of paperwork, he and Steve were stuck in the office, which was located in the back of the bar.

"I'm fed up, this paperwork is killing me." said Steve laying his head on the desk. "How about a little break?"

"It's totally like you're reading my mind, big boy." replied Eddie and quickly got up. When they came out, a large crowd of people appeared to their eyes. Almost all the seats were occupied. People were immersed in conversation sipping drinks and enjoying the pleasant sounds of trumpets, piano and other instruments. Scanning the room, his gaze settled on you. You were sitting at a two-person table bent over some papers and a red pen in your hand. He must have been looking at you for too long and it didn't escape Robin's attention.

"I told you that young people can like jazz too." she said patting him on the shoulder.

"Huh?" he replied exasperatedly.

"It's y/n. She moved to Hawkins a few months ago to teach at the high school. Ever since we started holding jazz nights she's been here every week in the same place loaded with tests. She says that with this music she concentrates best and grading doesn't get so tiring at all."

"Do you know her shoe size, too?" he asked sarcastically impressed by how much information Robin knows about you.

"Not yet." She winked at him. "Unlike you, instead of just staring at her I also started talking. I would advise you to do the same, I have a strange feeling that you would like each other."

"I can already see it, a teacher and a guy who repeated the last grade twice and was allergic to school?"

"Sounds pretty romantic to me." interjected Steve. "It would be a nice change in your life if you tried something more than being limited to quickies with random tourists in the back of a bar."

"Just shut up." replied an annoyed Eddie and walked away from them to make himself a drink. He didn't want to admit it, but he knew they were right. Many times, after "quickies" as Steve called it, he tried to ask someone out but no one was ever interested. No one ever wanted to get to know him better. He knew he was just a little adventure they would later tell their friends about when they got home. He found you attractive. That was a fact. Sipping a whiskey and Coke, he watched as you wrote something on a piece of paper in concentration and occasionally your focus shifted to the band playing on stage. In those moments, a gentle smile appeared on your face.

"Here." Robin said, approaching him with a colorful drink in her hand. Seeing his surprised face, she continued. "This is her favorite drink, go carry it and get a few words out." There was a moment of hesitation. He didn't know if he should listen to them. On the other hand, he had nothing to lose. He took the drink from Robin's hands and slowly moved toward you. When you noticed someone approaching you, you raised your eyes. You thought it was Steve or Robin. Since you started coming here you could tell that you had become so friendly with them that they always sat down to talk to you for a while. This time you didn't recognize the person walking towards you. It was a man dressed in black ripped jeans and a black T-shirt. He had long curly hair chaotically pinned up in a low bun. A few curls fell over his face. He was looking straight at you smiling slightly, by which you could see the slight dimples in his cheeks. In his hand he was holding one of your favorite drinks, which you had not ordered. At first you thought it was for someone else however when your eyes met you reciprocated the smile. The stranger was already opening his mouth to say something when he suddenly slipped on a napkin and in the next few seconds landed on the floor, and the drink spilled on the table and the sheets of paper that lay on it.

"Oh my god are you okay?" got up quickly from the chair to help him up.

"Shit!" he replied and looked panickedly at the soaked tests. 

Before you had time to respond anything Steve and Robin were next to you with a huge roll of paper towel. In confusion, you started wiping everything down, and an embarrassed Eddie took advantage of the moment when your attention wasn't on him and ran off to the office. When you finished cleaning you looked around for him, but couldn't spot him anywhere.

"I'll take them into the office and put them on the radiator maybe they'll dry out a bit." Steve said.

"Thank you." you said handing him the soaked papers. "And uh- Steve?"

"Yes?"

"This is your new employee?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I've never seen him here, but if he is, don't be mad at him, okay? It could happen to anyone. I'm sure once these tests dry I can continue checking." Harrington just sent you a smile and moved toward the back room.

"Not a bad first impression, dude!" he laughed when he noticed Eddie who was sitting in an armchair and staring aimlessly out the window.

"Can you stop talking and get to work?" retorted a frustrated Eddie.

"Yes, sir!" he saluted. "But I still have to tell you that you have a chance. I guess you caught her eye since she wasn't even angry that you flooded her students' work."

"Work!" shouted Munson, trying with all his might to focus on the documents they had to fill out and forget the earlier situation, the memories of which had already haunted him until he fell asleep and caused a wave of embarrassment to wash over his entire body. 

Since then, Eddie has avoided Thursdays even more than usual. As bad as it was, even if he wasn't there he couldn't stop thinking about the fact that you were just sitting there probably bent over the next batch of tests. Steve and Robin tried many times to persuade him to come and try again but the vision of being humiliated once more was stronger and made him always refuse.

Friday nights were reserved for Corroded Coffin performances. The whole band, as always, gave an amazing show, but halfway through when Eddie was carelessly running around the small stage with his guitar he spotted you at the end of the room. You were sitting alone at the same table as always, but this time you looked different. Dressed this time in an airy dress, with your hair down and makeup on your face, you attracted his attention even more, so he didn't let you out of his sight for the rest of the performance. When your gazes crossed you sent him a shy smile and he looked away panicked. What happened to the confidence that always radiated from him when he performed? It evaporated.

When they finished and another band took the stage after them, he and the guys moved toward the bar. Robin was already waiting with ready, filled glasses.

"Another good performance, you guys deserved an extra ice cube as a reward." she said, causing Laura to laugh. Eddie just shook his head and gave a thumbs up as he saw his friend's face light up seeing her co-worker's reaction. Holding his glass, he walked behind the bar again returned his gaze to you. Each time the bar door closed your hopeful sight hung on them and then hope turned to disappointment. You sipped your favorite drink nervously looking around the room and checking your watch from time to time.

"The picture goes like this." Robin said, snapping him out of his reverie. "She's supposed to have a date here, but as you can see the idiot didn't deign to show up."

"How do you know?" how could anyone double-cross you? Knowing the reason for your disappointed face, he felt a slight sting of sadness.

"Because she told me? I asked her when she came to get a second drink."

"Are you just going to stand there and stare at her, or are you finally going to join her?" asked Gareth. "Unless you don't want to, in which case I'll be more than happy to do it and take the place of whoever she was supposed to be here with."

"Don't!" the metalhead snapped, seeing Gareth get up from the bar stool. Embarrassed by his reaction, he sighed rolling his eyes.

"Dude, I've never seen you like this," laughed Jeff. "What happened to Eddie, who was throwing his charm like some crazy spell?"

"I don't know!" he whined.

"This is your chance to at least make a good second impression. I'll prepare a drink for you, and you carry it to her this time without spilling it." Robin decided.

As she said so it happened. This time with extreme care Munson managed to reach his destination and put the drink in front of you without any accidents. All the time he felt the eyes of his friends on him, but the closer he got to you the more he managed to ignore it.

"May I join you?" he asked.

"Sure." You replied sending a slight smile. "You were great." you commented.

"Oh, thank you. We play every week, if you'd like to see us again sometime." He winked at you, smiling broadly while sliding his drink in your direction. "On the house."

"Steve won't mind?"

"Why would he?"

"I didn't know musicians could give away free drinks."

"Yeah, right. I think we didn't get a chance to get to know each other the right way." he laughed scratching the back of his neck with his hand. "I'm Eddie. Eddie Munson. And Steve and I are the owners of this place."

"Oh." You replied slightly shocked. "Now I feel quite strange, after our last meeting I thought you were the bartender and I asked Steve not to be angry with that situation."

"For which I am very sorry. I hope you didn't get in trouble because of it?"

"No, fortunately after drying off I was still able to read and finish checking."

"I'm glad. And it's very nice what you said to Harrington, I appreciate it."

"I'm y/n." you said suddenly extending your hand toward him. "Y/n y/l/n. I moved here recently to work at Hawkins High."

"Well, I'd love to get to know you better, if you don't mind."

"I mean...I've already been stood up anyway, so I'd be happy to spend time with someone who actually feels like it."

In this way, for the next few hours you sat getting to know each other better. At first everything was quite strange and awkward, until finally, unbeknownst to you, you found common ground. Eddie told you his story related to The Hideout, and also mentioned his other hobby, which turned out to be a fantasy board game. You listened with pleasure as he recalled the days when he ran Hellfire in high school. Meanwhile, clearly interested, he also asked questions about you and your life, which you happily answered. The hands of the clock were moving at an incredibly fast tempo when it came time to close the bar. You thanked Eddie for saving the evening and you both parted, feeling a flock of butterflies rise in your bellies at the thought of each other.

That's how you became a regular at Corroded Coffin performances in addition to the Thursday jazz evenings (at which Eddie suddenly started appearing). Munson introduced you to his bandmates with whom you also caught on well. Eventually Hawskins was no longer a stranger to you. At first you felt very lonely in it, but now you looked forward to your weekly trips to the bar.

You were sitting bent over a test when out of the corner of your eye you noticed someone sitting down to you. Your first thought was none other than Eddie, who always sat down with you when you came in and you spent hours talking together. However, when you raised your head and noticed that it wasn't him the smile from your face quickly disappeared and was replaced by uncertainty.

"Can I help you somehow?" you asked the man.

"I figured a beautiful woman like you couldn't spend an evening alone, so I hope it won't be a problem for me to join you." he replied. You took a slightly better look at him. He looked a few years older than you, dressed in a black shirt and jeans. A watch that you would have had to work for over a year was shining on his wrist. He definitely made no secret of his wealth. "Can I buy you a drink?" he asked.

"Oh, no need." you said.

"I insist."

"Uhm... apple juice will do, thank you." you replied confused, and your new companion moved toward the bar. As Laura served him, Robin sent you a questioning look. You just shrugged your shoulders and shifted your gaze back to the test.

You didn't have time to check too much because after a while you had company again. The man's name was Dave and he was the owner of a fairly well-known company in a town near Hawkins. He had no problem telling you almost everything about himself over the next several minutes. You just nodded politely while sipping your juice. The funniest thing in all this was that he didn't even ask you what your name was.

At the same time, Eddie's attention did not escape the fact that someone had taken his place at your table. All day he had been gathering the courage to finally ask you out. The better you knew each other, the more he convinced himself that it was worth a try. He loved your conversations, loved hearing about how your day was going, how you spoke with amusement about your students' next crazy ideas. Your presence definitely brought a lot of light into his life, so now seeing someone else sitting across from you, he felt a pretty strong sting of jealousy. Did you date someone else here? Did he miss his chance? Resigned, he hid in the office, to which he left the door slightly ajar.

"What's this guy sitting with y/n?" asked Steve when he saw his friend.

"I have no idea." he replied, pretending to be unimpressed.

"I don't like him." Steve commented without taking his eyes off you.

The time in Dave's company passed... weirdly. His mouth wouldn't close and his self-deprecation and hearing about his company's utilities didn't interest you at all. You started to feel dizzy from the overload of unnecessary information. Wait a minute. You were really dizzy. You moved your gaze quickly to one of the sheets of paper, on which the letters suddenly began to move. What's wrong with you? You haven't drunk anything today, except for the juice you got from a stranger. Oh no.

"Are you all right? Why don't we go outside? Can I drive you home?" he began to propose. No way. The remnants of your consciousness screamed for you to run as far away as possible. With a shaky step, you quickly walked toward Robin. At the bar, you could barely stay on your feet.

"Jesus, y/n what happened?" she asked worriedly.

"I feel very strange... Everything around me is... blurry." suddenly speaking seemed much more challenging than usual.

"Are you okay dariling?" the voice of Dave reached you faster than his hand which after a moment landed on your back. "Can you give her a bottle of water for the road? We're about to leave." You were stunned.

"She's not going anywhere with you." Said Robin in a raised voice.

"Robin...very bad...I-I feel...bad." You mumbled out. As soon as Dave associated the facts that you knew this barmaid immediately began to retreat.

"Did you drink anything besides juice?" you nodded your head negatively.

Suddenly all the dots in Robin's head were connected. "You son of a bitch!" she shouted. "What did you give to her?!"

"What are you talking about?!"

"Bathroom." you whispered and hearing this, Laura immediately jumped out from behind the bar and helped you with getting there.

"What's going on here?" suddenly Steve's voice reached everyone.

"Your bartender put drugs into my friend's juice!"

"Dude are you crazy?!"

"The police will take care of it. Both of you to the office, now!" Steve knew that pretending to believe the man was the only option to keep him here until Hopper's arrival. "Eddie go stand behind the bar, when Hopper comes send him here," he said.

"What's wrong?" asked Eddie, seeing Robin sending a murderous look to the guy who was sitting at the table with you just a moment ago. Hearing his question she was already opening her mouth to answer, but Steve interrupted her right away.

"I'll tell you later, for now someone has to go stand behind the bar." Harrington was aware that your friendship with Eddie had grown significantly. He also knew that you meant much more than just a friend to him and he really didn't want to risk an additional ambulance call. Munson wordlessly left the room and did what Steve instructed. All the time, he was wondering what had happened. Many different scenarios were running through his head when suddenly Laura came running to him.

"Where's Steve?" she asked panicked.

"In the office with Robin and some dude. Why don't you tell me what happened?"

"Uh...This guy added something to y/n's juice and accused Robin of it. I took y/n to the bathroom, she probably returned everything she had in the system, but she's still too weak to move. She can't lie on the bathroom floor all evening." He added something to the y/n juice. These words rolled around in his head causing his rage to grow with each passing second. He was halfway to the office when he felt the barmaid grab his wrist. "She needs your help Eddie."

"Stay here." He replied and with a quick step moved toward the women's bathroom. You were leaning against the wall in a half-lying position. Your legs and arms suddenly became ten times heavier. Your eyes were bloodshot and tears were rolling down your cheeks. You didn't even have the strength to wipe them away. Everything seemed distant to you, as if behind a fog.

"Jesus Christ, what did he do to you y/n" suddenly a familiar tumbling curls appeared in front of your eyes. "I'll kill him, I'll kill the bastard" he muttered and quickly grabbed the toilet paper, ripped off a piece and wiped your face with it. Your condition made his heart ache. At the very thought of how Dave wanted to take advantage of your vulnerability he felt like going back to the office and really killing him.

"Eddie?" you whispered

"Yes, sweetheart, it's me," he said. When he looked into your unconscious eyes he immediately softened. Steve had called Hopper so he would take care of appointing justice. The priority was you and taking care of you.

"W-what's goin' on?" your voice was so weak it was barely audible.

"Some idiot put something in your juice, sweetheart."

"Oh." you heard his words but you were so stunned that they didn't reach you. Eddie was aware of that. He was also aware that when you get up in the morning and the events of the previous evening hit you in their entirety, in addition to shock, you may be hit by a whole range of negative emotions. Later you will be faced with giving a statement to the police, which will certainly not improve the situation.

"I'll take care of you, okay? Are you okay with it?" he asked grabbing your hand. You just nodded. "Are you able to get up?"

"I don't...know." The very act of speaking seemed to be awfully difficult for you. "I'm very h-heavy."

"I will help you, okay?"

"'kay" hearing the permission he put his arms around you tightly, resting all your weight on him, helped you up. He knew that you wouldn't get very far in this state, so he decided to take you to his apartment. When you came out of the bathroom a worried Laura informed you that Hopper had already arrived, and in the meantime she gathered all your things from the table and carried them to her locker. Eddie said he was taking you to his place and told her to tell the others.

To get to the apartment you had to go out the back exit. The change in the air was a shock to you compared to the warmth that prevailed inside. The worst was ahead of you. To reach your destination you still had to climb the stairs, which in your case was a huge challenge. After a few stumbles, you found yourself in a small hallway that led to a large living room. At the mere sight of the couch, your eyes began to close on their own. Eddie, seeing you fly off, quickly helped you pull off your shoes and led you deeper into the apartment. To your surprise you passed the couch you wanted and after a while you were in a small room, most of which was occupied by a huge bed. You were relieved to sit on it, but you felt the soft mattress attracting your whole body like a magnet.

"Are you okay? Do you need anything?" he asked, sitting down next to you.

"No." You muttered into the bedclothes.

"You know I don't want to hurt you right?" this question made you look at him with all the remaining power you had.

"I trust you, Eddie." you replied. The words meant much more to him than he expected. They went straight to his heart, crumbling the thick stone wall he had been building around him for years. He reached out his hand toward you and, after a moment's hesitation, brushed a few strands of hair away from your face, then stroked your cheek gently. "But I shouldn't," you laughed with sudden residual strength.

"What? Why?" he asked surprised. The second part of your statement slightly scared him.

"Robin told me that you don't like jazz." Feeling relieved, he only laughed. You were wrong. Eddie had enjoyed jazz a lot for some time. Eddie might even love jazz, but this was not the moment for such a conversation.

"Let me make you some tea okay? Fortunately, you got rid of the bad stuff out of your system fairly quickly, so you should be fine, but if anything call out. I'll be right back."

I trust you Eddie. Your words rolled around in his head making him smile to himself. The warmth that spread through his body was indescribable. He thought he would never feel like this again, but you gave him hope that things would be different.

When he returned to the room with a mug of warm tea in his hands you were already asleep. Not wanting to wake you, he gently covered you with a blanket that lay at the other end of the bed and turned off the light. He left the door open, just in case. He himself took a seat on the couch in the living room analyzing everything connected with you and your relationship with him.

That morning when Wayne came home from work he found his nephew sleeping on the couch. Walking to his room, he noticed that the door to Eddie's room was unusually open. Curiosity won, so he looked inside and saw an unfamiliar girl sleeping on the edge. This was strange. Wayne was used to Eddie bringing girls here from time to time. Sometimes he would pass them at the door when he came home from work, sometimes a little later they would escape from the apartment in a hurry. Wayne did not approve of such behavior but had no intention of interfering. There was nothing left for him to do but pray in his soul that fate would eventually send someone who would be happy to stay for breakfast and, in time, even for dinner.

When the man entered the room there was a piece of paper lying on his bed.

Hi Wayne,

You've probably already noticed that we have a visitor. This evening was full of sensations. Remember how I told you about the girl who likes jazz? The one I recently befriended, and you laughed that you never would have thought that your nephew who is allergic to everything school-related would have a crush on a teacher? That's y/n. Some asshole put something in her drink. As far as I know there is no one in Hawkins who could help her, so I took it upon myself. I couldn't leave her there alone, I hope you understand. I don't know how much she will remember when she gets up in the morning, she will definitely be in shock so act calmly, okay? To be clear, nothing happened between us, I know what you're thinking, but she's not like the rest. You can also expect a visit from Hopper, I told him he would find her at our place.

It was one of the few moments in Wayne's life in which he knew that despite the problems his boy attracted to him like a magnet, he had raised him well. He was proud of him.

The morning fell on you like a ton of rubble. The slightest sound tore your head apart causing terrible pain. The rest of your body was also not in the best condition to that you woke up very sweaty. When you opened your eyes you were horrified to see that the room you were in was not yours at all. When you raised yourself slightly in its corner you noticed three guitars lined up in a row. One of them seemed familiar to you. You started looking around further on the wall there were many posters of various bands, some of which you associated. Shifting your gaze to yourself, you were slightly relieved that you were wearing yesterday's clothes. At that moment a wave of memories also came over you, some more clear others terribly fuzzy. Dave. Dave who added something to your juice. Is Robin in trouble now because of you? Laura dragging you behind her to the bathroom. The icy white tiles and which you leaned against after vomiting. Eddie. Eddie came to help you. He said something to you, but you couldn't remember what. Cold air and then a lot of stairs. And darkness. You were in Eddie's apartment. It was his bedroom. You slept in his bed. But where is Eddie? You had to go to the bathroom. You sluggishly raised yourself from the bed and with arms spread so as to better catch your balance you left the room and walked to the living room where a metalhead was sitting on the couch and writing something in a thick notebook. Hearing footsteps he turned towards you and greeted with a smile.

"Mornin', how are you feeling?" he asked.

"I-I don't know." you answered honestly. You were now an emotional explosive mix. "Can I use the bathroom?" you asked quietly.

"Of course! I've prepared a towel for you there and some clothes to change into if you'd like."

"Thank you Eddie."

"You're welcome, the bathroom is over there." he said pointing to the door.

When you disappeared behind the bathroom door Eddie got up and started preparing breakfast. He stated that he would prepare scrambled eggs, but as an emergency, if you didn't like it he also prepared sandwiches. He didn't know whether you preferred coffee or tea, so with that he preferred to wait until you came out of the bathroom. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice when his uncle joined him in the kitchen.

"Hey, kid." he said quietly.

"Hey, Wayne, sorry-" he began.

"Boy, you have nothing to apologize for. I'm proud of you." replied the man putting his hand on his nephew's shoulder.

"Wayne..." Eddie didn't have time to say when they heard the bathroom door opening. You were overwhelmed. The sense of shame didn't leave you either. "y/n? Are you all right? Is something wrong?" he asked seeing your gaze quickly jump from him to Wayne. Silence. Silence was the only answer he got, so he repeated your name a few more times.

"I'm so sorry Eddie." you howled. "I feel so ashamed, I shouldn't be here, I'm sorry." your voice was breaking. You felt awful in every possible way. Used, naive, humiliated, scared, embarrassed. You couldn't contain your emotions, you still felt too weak for all this.

"What? what are you apologizing for?" he said slowly extending his hand toward you asking for silent permission to touch you. You, feeling yourself crumbling, came closer to him and hugged him tightly wanting his arms to stop the remains of you and prevent them from falling apart. After a moment's hesitation, you felt him reciprocate the hug. The warmth of his body made you feel safe, which ironically made you start crying. Still holding you in his arms, he began to gently rock you, whispering from time to time that you had nothing to apologize for and that everything was fine. The closeness you felt was very comforting, so when you calmed down and opened your eyes you saw the other man looking at you with a slight smile. Seeing the shock on your face he immediately introduced himself.

"I'm Wayne" he said. "Eddie's uncle."

"G-good morning Mr. Munson." you said embarrassed, pulling away from his nephew. "I'm so sorry about all this, I'll just get my stuff and get out of here." you could feel the panic rising.

"Won't you stay for breakfast? We're having scrambled eggs today."

"Oh, I-" You didn't know what to say.

"It's okay y/n." interjected Eddie. He wanted to assure you that you were welcome here. "If you want I can drive you home, but if you just feel like staying there's nothing stopping you. Yesterday I told them to tell Hopper that you will be here when it's time to write up the statements, I thought you didn't want to be alone with all this." He was right, you didn't want to. Sitting alone in empty four walls would drive you crazy.

"I... really don't want to be a trouble, you've done enough for me already Eddie, I don't want to overuse your kindness."

"Everything is fine. I promise, okay?"

"Okay."

Convinced by his sincerity, you decided to stay until the police arrived. The three of you sat down at the table and began to eat breakfast. The radio was playing quietly in the background and you listened to the men's conversation, trying not to think about the previous night. When you finished you wanted to help clean up that the table, but they both categorically forbade you to go near the dishes. Feeling your tiredness catch up with you, you retreated back to Eddie's room. You lay down against the wall covering yourself with a blanket. The material was very fluffy and pleasant, soothing.

"May I come in?"

"This is your room." you replied. Eddie sat down next to you.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked with concern.

"I don't know. I feel awful." You could feel tears coming to your eyes. "I have no idea how I could have been so careless."

"Hey, don't blame yourself for that. Luckily, you noticed pretty quickly that something was wrong and went to Robin with it. You acted very well." he said grabbing your hand.

"You saved me." you said quietly. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He smiled. You saved me. Hearing these words, his heart beat faster and heat spread throughout his body. Your words very often had that effect on him. He looked at your face. Your gaze focused on your hands, which you were still holding. Despite your apparent sadness and fatigue you still looked beautiful. The most beautiful. He thought. He wanted to tell you this, but this was definitely not the time or season for such confessions. He noticed how you struggled not to close your eyes and fall asleep.

"Do you want to take a nap before Hopper comes?" he asked quietly.

"I think it would be good for me." you admitted.

"Would you mind if I stayed?" he asked uncertainly.

"Of course not." After all, it was his bed. Besides, in truth, you didn't mind. You felt safe.

As Wayne walked to his room through the ajar door, he could see you lying on the two ends of the bed, with your hands in the middle between you, still joined. The sight made him feel happy and hopeful. He wanted nothing more for Eddie than to finally find someone who would give him the love he deserved. And he deserved the truest and most beautiful one. Like any parent, he wanted the best for his son.

After two hours, you were awakened by the doorbell. The conversation with Hopper did not last long, Eddie sat next to you the whole time, supporting in silence. It turned out that you were not Dave's first victim. Fortunately, the first one who managed to be protected, from his intentions. Once you had made your statement, you and Eddie went down to the bar to get your belongings, which were left there, and then he drove you home, where, already alone, you had to deal with memories and thoughts that would haunt you for a long time.

Two weeks have passed since that day. You still couldn't come to terms with the situation and the feeling of shame you felt every time you thought about it. You wanted to sink into the ground, and dissapear, which is why you were unwilling to leave the house. Aside from work and a quick shopping, you spent your entire days on the living room couch. Your absence in the Hideout was felt by everyone. Your regular seat was empty, and every Thursday Eddie sat at that table hoping you would show up at the door any minute. He didn't want to impose, he wanted to give you the space and time you may have needed, but he couldn't stop thinking about you and missing you. 

No matter how hard you tried to focus on something else, the smiling, handsome face surrounded by battered curls always returned to your thoughts like a boomerang, making your heart beat faster.

For the third Thursday in a row, Eddie was sitting alone at your table sending sad glances toward the door when someone joined him. Wayne sat down across from him, and Steve and Robin appeared on either side of him, pushing back chairs.

"Shouldn't you be at work right now?" asked the younger Munson.

"I have two days off, so I thought I'd go crazy and pop in for some good beer." the man smiled.

"And I see you've found yourself some good company..." he sighed. "Buckley, shouldn't you be standing behind the bar right now? And you Harrington flirting with some lady in charge of liquor delivery, so that we can get a discount based on your beautiful eyes and charming personality?"

"That can wait, Eddie. We need to talk." Steve replied while rolling his eyes.

"About what?"

"We're sick of you wandering around the bar all day with the face of a sad puppy, dingus," said Robin.

"Apparently I haven't had reason to be happy."

"Son, if you miss her, just go and tell her so." interjected Wayne.

"How can you be sure it's about that?"

"For three Thursdays you've been sitting at the table where y/n sat all the time. What's more, every time the door opens you look at it as if Ozzy Osbourne is about to appear there." Robin concluded.

"That would be pretty metal." Eddie shrugged his shoulders. He wanted to pretend they weren't right, wanted to fool himself that he didn't care about you that much at all and your disappearance didn't affect him. But it had. He hated the fact that they were right once again.

"Go to her, invite this girl to a good dinner, buy her flowers, do something that will make her smile." continued the old man.

"Uncle Wayne is right." Steve backed him up. After several months of sitting together and keeping watch at Eddie's hospital bed, the entire group adopted Wayne as their uncle. Dustin was the first to do so, when he came to Eddie one day and greeted him with the words "hi Uncle Wayne." From then on, everyone started addressing him that way. At first it was a bit of a shock to him, but the more time he spent with the kids and the rest of the group he got used to it and had to admit he loved it.

"I can't just go and ask her out!"

"Why not?"

"Someone drugged her in my bar? Maybe she doesn't want to see me at all now because of it? I pretty much took her semi-conscious to MY apartment, maybe she thinks that I wanted to use her too? Maybe she doesn't want to know me anymore?"

"Son, we all know you would never hurt her, she knows that too." Wayne sighed.

"Okay, I have an idea!" exclaimed Robin and clapped her hands. "Since you don't want to ask her out on an official date, you'll do it by tricking her."

"What?"

"Steve do you remember the last time a jazz band came here and told us that they would like to play at the Hideout one Thursday?" a mischievous grin appeared on her face.

"Yes."

"So, we all know that y/n loves jazz, after all, it brought her here to us. I think Eddie would love to handle auditioning a new band, but since unfortunately the poor guy doesn't know much about this kind of music, he'd be happy to accept help from someone who has a knowledge of the subject."

"Shit, Robin, this is good," said Steve.

"I know." she smiled triumphantly. "You'll sense the situation during the audition, in the meantime arrange something warm to eat, a romantic dinner for two, after a private jazz concert? The girl will lose her head for you if she hasn't already!"

Eddie wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans and took a deep breath. Stress was eating him alive however, after a few minutes of staring at the door of your house he got the courage to knock. Seeing the surprise on your face he felt like turning on his heel and running away, but your voice was quicker.

"Hi." you said quietly. The surprise quickly turned into a warm smile that made his knees soften.

"Hi." he replied. "I'm not disturbing?"

"No, come in." You said making a pass at the door for him. You were glad to see him, shyly you had to admit that you missed him a lot.

"If you are tired I can go." he said looking at you with a slight smile. In fact, his arrival woke you up from the little nap you had taken on the living room couch.

"Sorry, I wasn't expecting visitors." you suddenly remembered that you were wearing old stretched out sweatpants and an oversized T-shirt.

"You look very nice," he said seeing your embarrassment. "I just wanted to see how you were feeling, it's been a long time since you were at our place, I was worried. We were all worried." He said looking around the apartment. It was one room smaller than his. On a table set up in the living room was a large box of tapes that immediately caught his attention, so he moved toward it. On the windowsill was a player from which soft trumpet and piano sounds flowed.

"I thought you didn't want to see me after all that..." you confessed.

"What? Why?" he asked shocked. On the contrary, he wanted nothing more than to see you.

"I caused you some trouble...Especially Robin, she got it the most. Later you had to give up your plans for the evening to take care of me, for which I thank you very much and I am truly grateful."

"Nothing that happened that evening was your fault, Robin was fine, except that if it hadn't been for Steve she would have scratched that asshole's eyes out. Hopper said poor Harrington couldn't hold her." You laughed lightly imagining it. "As for later...I wanted to take care of you, after all, that's what sa friend is for, right?" he said grabbing one of the tapes in the carton. He focused on it to avoid seeing your reaction. Turning the small box in his hand, he noticed the inscription "Your smile is brighter than the sun" on it. Curious, he began to look through more. Each of the tapes had some kind of inscription on it. "For worse days" ,"Take it easy, baby" , "I'll always be there for you"

"They belonged to my grandmother." You said seeing his interest and sat down on the couch, taking the box in your lap. Eddie sat down next to you, close enough that your shoulders were touching. The warmth of his body made you feel comfortable enough to rest your head against his shoulder. You couldn't resist. "She met my grandfather at a bar. She worked as a waitress, and he and his friends sometimes played small concerts there."

"I bet they were famous for jazz?" he chuckled.

"Yes. Grandpa's best friend played the saxophone and infected him with a love of jazz, and since Grandpa was playing the piano from a young age it was a matter of time until they started playing together, and later other friends joined them."

"So this music flows through your veins?" 

"You can say that." You replied giggling while digging through the tapes in the box. "Got it!" you exclaimed. "This is my favorite," you said holding up a box labeled "Always in my heart"

"Your grandfather must have been a huge romantic."

"Oh, yes, he definitely was. Once a week Grandma always got flowers from him. Sometimes he would buy them, and when we didn't have much money he would pluck one from someone's garden on the way home from work." you laughed. "But, hush, it's a secret."

"Your secrets are safe with me." You are, too. He almost slipped up.

"On Sundays when neither of them went to work they always played this tape and danced to it. I still remember that sight. One of the most beautiful memories I have."

"It sounds really beautiful," he said.

"When I was younger I always dreamed of such love, theirs seemed indestructible. Even after the worst argument they were somehow able to find a way to reconcile. My favorite song is the third on the cassette, it's called "Lost In Your Eyes" He always played it for Grandma when she had bad days. It always calmed her down."

"Did you manage to find it?"

"What?"

"That love" He didn't know why you were even being asked that question. Deep down, Eddie himself didn't know if he wanted to know the answer to that question. What if you answer that yes, that someone is waiting for you somewhere after all, or suddenly there is some secret fiancé you haven't had a chance to mention before? You quickly dispelled his worry.

"No, as you had a chance to see I don't have much luck with love, I'm a magnet for disasters." you said. "But that's not a conversation for the moment, because I think I'd burn with embarrassment."

"Okay, so maybe tell me more about your grandparents and jazz? Did you visit them often?"

"Oh, they raised me. My mother decided that motherhood was not her specialty so when I was two years old she ran away from home leaving me with my grandparents. And I don't know my father. It was always just the three of us. If I passed someone that my family on the street I wouldn't even know about it."

"Shit, when you said you didn't have anyone I thought it was just about Hawkins. I'm so sorry y/n."

"Don't be. It was very hard for me after they died, but I'm fine now. Moving here helped me. A change of environment, new people, a job I like. Although if I'm honest my favorite new thing is Hideout."

"I'm very pleased to hear that." he replied and winked at you.

"Especially on Thursdays, my grandfather would love jazz Thursdays, just like me." Why do you confide in him? You have no idea. Or maybe you do. Maybe it's because you feel wonderful in his company. That when he's close you feel safe and comfortable. Maybe it's because you're awfully thirsty for the closeness of another person, you're thirsty for the company of someone close in your life, and you terribly want Eddie to become your closest person. But won't that be crossing some boundaries? Does he want the same thing?

"I'm sure he always accompanies you during them. I hope he's not mad about some long-haired freak taking his place at your table." What he said melted your heart, touched every part of your body. After two weeks of isolation from the world and longing, you finally didn't feel so alone.

"Thank you Eddie." you said and you looked at him. His face very close to yours, beautiful big eyes gazed into yours and his lips formed in a small smile. You wondered what it would be like to kiss those lips. You were sure the feeling must be amazing.

"You don't have to thank me." he replied.

"I have. From the very beginning, I always waited for Thursday. Just to go to the Hideout. Even before we met, when I only knew Robin, Steve and Laura. It was a place where I never felt lonely, where I always felt welcome, and then you spilled a drink on my tests, and along with that spilled drink I found another person who makes living here easier and more enjoyable." emotions took over and words flew out of your mouth on their own, "I am so grateful for all of you and I miss it."

"We miss you too." He said and put his arm around you, you immediately accepted the gesture and after a while the embrace turned into a warm hug. "Your table looks so sad when it's empty. And my company is not enough for him." he said hugging you even tighter. You wanted time to stop and this moment to never end.

"I don't know if I can go back. I'm afraid to look Robin in the eye after that night."

"If we only let her, she would strangle that asshole with her bare hands for what he did to you. She misses you too, and she doesn't resent you, because nothing that happened that night is your fault, as I've said many times before."

"Do you really think so?"

"I know it." This time it was you who squeezed him tighter. Silence fell between the two of you. You were sitting on the couch snuggled into each other, jazz was quietly playing in the background, and Eddie was gently tracing shapes on your arm with his finger. You couldn't remember the last time you felt so good. The silence between you was not jarring. On the contrary, it gave a sense of peace. Eddie, on the other hand, could not control the thoughts running through his head at the speed of light. He had so many things to say to you, yet he didn't want to spoil the moment. He didn't want the bubble that had just surrounded you to burst and tear you apart.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" you asked after a long moment.

"With pleasure, what are we cooking?"

"I have no idea. You can think about it and I'll change in the meantime." you replied and reluctantly left the area of his arms.

You decided that you would make spaghetti. While you waited for the pasta to boil you told him more about your life with your grandparents. You even pulled out a photo album. Eddie absorbed the information about you like a sponge, he wanted to know everything you wanted to tell him. And you no longer defended yourself against the feelings that grew in you when your hands accidentally met, or the way your knees weakened when he sent you a smile. You were happy to let him into your life, hoping that he would want to stay in it.

You ate in front of the TV, laughing and commenting on some comedy that was on. The time flew by pleasantly, but also mercilessly. After dinner Eddie wordlessly helped you clean up and announced that he had to get to work.

"Thank you for coming." you said.

"It's me who thanks you for your hospitality and delicious dinner m'lady."

"Wait, I'll put some in the box for you for later! We made such a huge portion I won't be able to eat it myself." you said and quickly ran to the kitchen leaving Eddie alone. His gaze fell on the box with "Always in my heart" written on it. He knew what he wanted to do. The idea immediately popped into his head, so before he had a chance to think, he quickly walked over to the tape, took it and put it in his jacket pocket. Moments later, you returned to him with a box full of spaghetti.

"I put in a little more because I thought you'd want to share with your uncle." You said, smiling.

"Thank you." he said a bit nervously, fearing that you would immediately notice that the cassette was missing and it would turn out that he had taken it. "I have one more question for you, actually a request." he said quickly wanting you to focus your attention on him.

"Yes?"

"What are you doing next week on Saturday?"

"I have no plans," you said.

" A jazz band that would like to try out on Thursdays has applied, and I need to audition them."

"I thought you didn't like jazz."

"Damn Robin and her unbridled tongue." he laughed nervously. "Actually, I admit that I was not fond of it, but that has changed. In fact, I'm starting to like jazz, even a lot. That's why I'm very eager to do an audition, but I thought I could use the help of a jazz expert."

"You mean me?" you asked surprised.

"Of course I do."

"I'd be very happy to help you."

"Great! But I hope to see you on Thursday? You don't want your table to crumble from nostalgia, do you?" his playful smile became infectious.

"You can tell my table that I also miss it and I'm already looking forward to sitting by it again on Thursday." You replied smiling widely.

When you were left alone in the air you could still smell the faint scent of his perfume. Feeling his presence still, the smile did not leave your face, making your cheeks start to ache after a while. The gray clouds from your sky slowly departed into the distance and the sun appeared again with small steps. Again you waited impatiently for Thursday.

The week flew by quickly, the days passed by as you counted down to Thursday, and Thursday evening itself turned out to be wonderful. This time as soon as you crossed the doorstep of the Hideout you noticed that there was not only Eddie sitting at the table, but also Robin and Steve. You sat and caught up all evening laughing and enjoying each other's company. You felt happy.

For Eddie, the week was a bit busier. Stressed about Saturday and what he had planned for you, he kept wondering if he was doing the right thing. The cassette he took from your apartment was playing non-stop. Especially song number three. He spent every spare moment sitting at the piano and trying to learn it. On the night from Friday to Saturday, nerves and stress were eating him alive. He processed every possible scenario in his head as if tonight might turn out differently. Unable to sleep at five in the morning, he went downstairs to continue practicing. He could already play the song from memory, but the fear of getting something wrong was worse. Lost in a musical trance, he didn't hear when someone came inside.

"Eddie? What the hell are you doing here at this hour son?" A puzzled Wayne walked closer.

"Y'know, just practicing..."

"I didn't know you'd gone back to playing the piano."

"I never thought I'd go back to it either." He sighed, turning toward his uncle.

"You haven't played for a very long time, since..."

"Since mom died. I know." Eddie's love of music was inherited from his mother who taught him to play the piano. From a young age they spent hours at the instrument. Unfortunately, after her death it was too painful for him, but he was not able to live long without playing. That's why he started playing the guitar instead of the piano.

"What's going on boy?"

"Do you remember y/n?"

"Of course I do. What about her? Didn't your plan with the 'audition' succeed?"

"It succeeded and that's the problem. I wanted to do something special for her, something that made her feel special..."

"You wrote her a song?"

"Not really. The last time I visited her, she told me about her grandfather who played jazz. He recorded a lot of tapes and she showed me her favorite one, she even said which song from it she liked best, so I thought I'd learn and when we were left alone I'd play it for her, but the more I think about it the more it all scares me."

"Listen kid, feelings are not a simple thing. But you're one of the bravest people I know, so I'm sure you can handle it."

"What if I take it all wrong and she doesn't feel the same? What if she gets too upset that I stole her beloved souvenir of her grandparents and she doesn't want to listen to me?"

"You think too much. I understand that you have doubts, everyone has them, but you can't let them overshadow the purpose of it all. Even if she doesn't reciprocate your feelings, we can handle it. I'll be here for you."

"Thanks, Wayne." The younger Munson felt a weight fall from his heart to some extent and be replaced by a slight flame of hope. Conversations with his uncle always have that effect on him.

"Which doesn't change the fact that I'm ninety-nine percent sure she'll appreciate the gesture and won't even get too angry about the stolen tape. I have a good feeling about this girl, and you know your old man is rarely wrong." The man laughed and sat down in a chair. "Now play this song, I want to hear it."

Saturday evening came sooner than Eddie would have expected. Normally the Hideout would now be filled to the brim but this time there was emptiness and silence. Silence that seemed too loud for him. The black shirt he had buttoned up to his neck seemed to choke him, so he unbuttoned the first two buttons. The stress still made him incredibly hot. Suddenly he heard a door opening in which you appeared. At the sight of you, his heart sped up twice as fast, he became more and more aware that tonight would bring many changes, but he still wasn't sure if they were good ones.

"I know I'm a little early, but I couldn't wait." you said smiling broadly.

"That's okay, you look beautiful." he replied.

"You equally. It suits you in that shirt." It was a fact. It was the first time you'd seen him in a more elegant version, and you'd have to be lying if you said it hadn't crossed your mind what would happen if he undid a few more buttons. "It's creepy here without a crowd of people." you commented, wanting to dismiss those thoughts and change the subject. You sat down at a table opposite the stage. "This place is always full of life," you said.

"It reminds me of our early days when practically every day was like this." He responded by sitting down across from you. "Fortunately, it has grown more vibrant over time."

"I'm glad. I can't imagine life in Hawkins without this place."

Eddie wanted to reply that he couldn't imagine Hawkins without you now, but bit his tongue. Not yet. Before he had time to say anything the door opened again letting in a band of 5 musicians. They were in their early twenties. Excitedly, they introduced themselves to you and began to spread out on stage. Ironically, the most stressed person in the room was still Munson. When they started playing you focused all your attention on the performers, Eddie, however, was unable to. You listened to the performance with a smile on your lips, enjoying every note they played. The songs varied, some fast and cheerful, others a bit sadder or calm and soothing. You were absorbed in each of them, the emotions conveyed in the music flowing through you while painting different facial expressions that Eddie could read like a book. From time to time he forced himself to look at the stage, but then quickly returned his gaze to you. He was unable to think about anything else but how beautiful you looked. He had already seen you in various states and no matter what, you were always beautiful to him. He felt like stopping the show and shouting right in your face all the emotions that were blowing up inside him. But he had to endure for a few more moments. He had to be patient to tell you in the right way that every time you are close to him he feels a pain in his ribs which is caused by his heart, which wants to escape from its cage straight to you.

"Will you stay here with them for a while? I have to go upstairs quickly, I promise I'll be right back." he said nervously, when the audition finished.

"Is something wrong?" you asked worriedly.

"No, just wait here for me, okay?"

"Sure."

In the meantime, while the band was packing up the instruments he rushed upstairs where hot food prepared by Wayne, who had already left for work, was waiting for him. The portions were packed in boxes, and on one of them was a note saying "Good luck son!". The metalhead took a deep breath and, together with the food, headed back downstairs.

When he returned the musicians were ready to leave, he thanked them and said he would call on Monday with an answer and possible details.

"I thought a little snack wouldn't hurt us." he said turning toward you and began to take out the containers. "I'm sorry that I didn't prepare the porcelain crockery," he said.

"Whatever it is it doesn't need porcelain crockery to smell delicious." you replied and helped him lay everything out.

The meal passed you in a very pleasant atmosphere. You joked and talked about the audition. In your opinion, they should definitely give them a chance, and Eddie had no choice but to agree because, first of all, he didn't pay a bit of attention to the music they were playing because he was too busy melting at the sight of you, and secondly, he would do anything you wanted. There was also the third, he knew you wouldn't do him any harm. 

"So... do you feel like another little performance?" he asked when silence fell between you. Seeing your curious face he continued. "I'm saying in advance that I haven't done this in years." He walked toward the piano. When he sat down at it, nerves and stress took over completely causing momentary paralysis. He stuck his gaze into the keys and felt his palms flood with sweat and begin to shake. Come on, Eddie, you can do it. He repeated over and over in his mind, but it didn't help. He was so preoccupied with all this that he didn't notice when you got up from the table and slowly walked toward him, only to sit down next to him a moment later.

"I would love to hear you play Eddie." you said grabbing his hand. You didn't mind how wet with sweat it was. When you saw a smile creep onto his face along with that small gesture, you thought you'd like to hold it forever. When your touch eased his nerves and his fingers didn't shake so badly he began to play. At first his uncertainty made him barely touch the keys, but every time he glanced in your direction and saw your delight when you recognized the next moments of the song he became more and more confident. And with each successive note your heart grew.

"Lost In Your Eyes," you whispered when he finished.

"Yeah, so lost." he replied grabbing your hand. Now or never. He thought, Your faces were now very close together, Eddie rested his forehead against yours and took a deep breath. His eyes were big and dark. Beautiful. It was a beauty in which you could get lost and wander for the rest of your life. "I feel so lost right now that I don't even know how to say what has been going on in my head for a very long time," he said.

"Try it, I have a feeling that in our minds we think alike." you encouraged him.

"I've really liked jazz lately, y'know?" his voice was very quiet and low, but every word reached you with redoubled force.

"Well...I didn't think I'd ever become a metal fan, but recently I've found that metal can be very magnetic..."

"Do you think you could fall in love with metal? Because I think I've been falling in love with jazz for a while now."

You were just about to answer, when suddenly a loud bang came from the office. You both jumped up and looked away from each other, directing your gaze toward the source of the noise. Eddie slowly got up walking there, so you followed him. From a distance you heard muffled voices from behind the door, which became more and more clear the closer you got.

"I thought you were as stealthy as a nina, idiot. You weren't supposed to knock over a whole cabinet!" It was Robin.

"Oh I'm sorry I took away your role as a bull in a china shop!" Steve hissed back. "I don't hear anything, they are quiet, do you think they heard us?"

"Move your ass, dingus."

Eddie showed you to be quiet, but you had a hard time holding back the laughter that was gathering inside you. What the hell were they doing there? Suddenly Munson abruptly opened the door while yelling as loudly as he could. Surprised and somewhat frightened eavesdroppers fell to the floor.

"What the fuck dude?!" shouted Steve putting his hand over his heart. "Do you want me to have a heart attack?"

"Yeah Steve, what the fuck?" replied Eddie crossing his arms over his chest. "Can anyone know why you are spying on us? I thought you guys had enough spies, especially Russian ones."

"Oh come on! We were just curious how you were doing, you know very well how strongly we are rooting for you!" exclaimed Robin.

"And that was the reason for you to break in here through the window?" he asked amused, pointing to the open 'entrance'.

"Maybe it didn't work out so well, we just wanted to see how it was going and back out the same way." Steve tried to defend himself.

"Oh my God Steve, that sounds so much worse said out loud." sighed Robin and hid her face in her hands. "Come on creep, we should go now."

"Yes, you should, and this time PLEASE use the damn door."

"Yeah, we are sorry. Bye crab, bye y/n." said Robin, and on her way out she gestured that you should call her later.

"Bye stalkers!" you replied waving your hand.

When you were left alone again Eddie brought a tape recorder from the office. "I hope you won't hate me and forgive me, but last time I was at your place I borrowed something without asking." he said while putting the cassette inside.

"I connected the dots the moment you started playing the piano." You laughed lightly as you approached him. "I think I'm able to forgive you for stealing my favorite heirloom from my grandfather."

"That sounds awful, don't say it that way," he said.

"Then what way should I put it?"

"Maybe that I borrowed it without asking to impress you? And to ask you to dance now?" he pulled you to him putting his hands on your waist. You wrapped yours around his neck.

"Actually, it sounds better."

"Right?"

"Yeah..."

"So where were we before the two morons interrupted us?"

"You said you started falling in love with jazz..." you stepped closer to him, and his hands tightened around you. "And I was just about to answer you that metal and jazz is a very uncommon combination." A look of mild shock and sadness flashed across his face. He started to pull away when you pulled him as close to you as you could. Your chests touched and your lips were separated by millimeters. "But this very rare connection could turn out to be something really beautiful," you said.

"Do you really think so?" your proximity made it difficult for him to breathe evenly.

"That's what I hope for." you whispered and your lips lightly brushed his when you said it, and he put his hand on your cheek.

"I'd like to know what it's like to feel jazz all over me." he whispered while nudging yours with his nose.

"Nothing stands in the way." you replied and he finally brought your lips together in a passionate kiss. The music in the background enchanted the moment you were in and you felt that you would never have to feel lonely again. You had a feeling that with Eddie, Hawkins would become your home.

[wuffgang-ameowdeus-moozart]

According to the dictionary, home is a place. A property you can buy or sell. A place where people or animals live and are cared for by people who are not their relations or owners. Someone or something's place of origin.

(It was night once again, both of them at Steve's because his parents are never there and hers are just happy she isn't spending all her nights at home, and neither of them sleeping because they were never sleeping, and also neither of them partying because Robin had never liked alcohol or unpredictability and loud music gave her a migraine. Steve isn't sure what he was doing. Maybe trying to fall asleep, maybe staring aimless at the ceiling. He remembers what Robin was doing, though. He always remembers Robin. He makes the effort, for her. Maybe also for himself, a bit. He remembers thinking "she always bites her lower when she is concentrating", as if he hadn't had that same thought a hundred and a thousand times before. He remembers thinking, "i need to remember what her hair looks like, in the moonlight", although the actual hair evades him. He knows what it must have looked like, spends more than enough time with her to know everything by heart, but he doesn't remember how it looked like that night specifically.)

According to the dictionary, his home is Hawkins. And he supposes that he does, indeed, know this town he was born into. He knows the streets and the establishments and even most of the people. He gets greeted by name when he enters the public pool, or the diner, or the arcade, or the library. He knows the places kids and teens go to to hide from their parents, pretending their parents didn't sneak into the exact same places to hide from theirs. But it is more of a side-effect than anything. He does not know Hawkins on purpose. He does not make an active effort to keep every little detail in his mind. He does not feel a sense of loss when he forgets one of the streetnames, even if it is only for a moment. He does not know Hawkins so intimately he feels it in his bones, does not know it in a way no one else does. Hawkins does not know who he is in a way not even himself can fully comprehend. He does not trust these houses or these cars or these trees.

(it had been before chrissy and patrick and eddie but after hopper and billy. she'd had a spanish dictionary in her hands, the english one laying besides her left thigh. "i survived the actual russian secret service", had been her deadpan answer upon his worries regarding the lack of light and the tiny letters. They'd always found it funny, the way Robin's parents were always so relieved when she returned messy-haired and bleary-eyed, completely unaware that the bags under her eyes were the result of studying the language she hadn't picked in Highschool.)

If Hawkins were his home, he supposes he would be mourning it. The cracked streets, the destroyed houses. He feels annoyance, mostly. It is inconvenient, having to watch his step whenever he leaves the house or skip over every crack too wide to evade.

(She'd put the spanish dictionary to the side, picked up the English one instead and opened it on a random page. "What does "home" mean?". He voice had been rough after hours without use, words slightly slurred due to the lack of sleep and the late hour of the night. "What?". He thinks she'd retied her hair after that, annoyed at the whisps that kept fluttering into her face. "The definition, dingus" had been the reply, her lips motioning to the thick book on her lap. "What do you think Mr. Oxford would define the term "home" as?" Steve doesn't remember what he answered because that is not the important part.

They played the game until they fell asleep, searching for more and more obscure words, and they comforted each other when the nightmares woke them up again. "do not", he'd thought, more fierce and desperate than before "do not forget it. Don't you dare let this feeling slip your mind. Keep it here, even if nothing else, remember this")

He looks at her, and he remembers. He never forgets, but sometimes it slips his mind to make an active effort, to do it on purpose. Steve knows people are much more fragile than buildings, but he still takes her hand. He feels the sweat and the callouses and the dirt and the heat. He feels the light cut she got four days ago, mostly healed by now, and thinks, with purpose, remember this.

[atimeofyourlife]

Whumptober day 7

rated:t | wc: 620 | prompt: “I paced around for hours on empty; I jumped at the slightest of sounds.” | Alleyway | Radio Silence | “Can you hear me?”

Steve walked through the silent night, bat in hand and a walkie clipped to his belt. There was no official patrol, not yet, but he couldn't just wait for something bad to happen. Everyone in the know knew that it was only a matter of time before Vecna returned to strength. Only a matter of time before the Upside Down became an active threat again, putting the lives of the entire town at risk.

Everyone else was saying that the time was needed to rest, and regroup. To make sure everyone was in the best physical condition and to have a plan before they started trying anything. But Steve knew deep down that they would miss the start. Vecna wouldn't come back straight away with all guns blazing. There would be smaller signs, ones they could miss, to start with. To get spies into the town and to try and damage anything. He wasn't certain what the signs would be, so that's why he patrolled for hours on end every night. Checking the growth of the vines snaking out of the cracks dividing the town, marking with spray paint any that had gotten bigger. Keeping a watch for the smallest of demo-creatures. There had been dogs and bats, what was to say there wasn't a smaller version out there, like demo-rats, or mice. Something that would be easier to miss.

It felt like he was pacing all over town, looking for something, anything. Often running on empty after spending his days working and planning and volunteering. But this was something he needed to do. He wasn't going to let anyone down again. He just had to protect those who meant the most to him.

The nights were always eerily quiet, only accompanied by the sound of his own footsteps. So many people had fled the town after the earthquake, and most of those who remained refused to go out after dark, claiming it to be too unsafe. There wasn't even the sound of nocturnal animals, as much of the wildlife that survived had also left the area. But the quiet was a benefit in some ways, it meant he could hear any sound, making it easier to pick up if there was something going on. Sure, he'd jumped out of his skin a few times when the wind had picked up, or when he'd seen one of the very few animals that still roamed the streets of Hawkins. But it meant his reflexes were there, that he was able to respond to any sound in an instant.

Steve startled at the sound of the leaves rustling as he reached the train tracks, but to tried to brush it off as the light breeze that was around. A few steps later he heard the snap of a twig, causing him to jump and swing around, bat and flashlight raised. He shone the flashlight all around, but there wasn't anything there. He peered into the woods, but the flashlight only highlighted the shadows cast by the trees. He continued on, but was unable to shake the feeling that he was being followed by something. He kept looking behind him, but there was never anything there. He kept almost reaching for the walkie, but didn't want to alarm anyone. No one knew he did these nightly patrols, and he didn't want to wake everyone up if it was just going to be a cat.

He'd just reached the junkyard when the unmistakable chittering of a demodog reached his ears. He grabbed the walkie, and held down the button, shouting "Code red." repeatedly.

His calls for help cut off with a scream as the demodogs crept out of the woods and lunged for him.

[delving-verilly]

Steve Harrington - Secondary Teacher

Not sure original sources, if you know, let me know and I can credit.

Imagine 40-year-old Steve Harrington as a Secondary Teacher - History. He survived having his heart broken, being beaten to a pulp by numerous factors/people, being drugged by Russians and journeys into the Upside Down, including being choked out and eaten alive by bats (of which he still bears the scars from).

A failed marriage with Nancy Wheeler after she discovered a relationship based on trauma with Jonathan was never a healthy core. Rather than clinging to the familiar, she decided she didn't love Steve and left him after years of marriage, moving to New York to have a new start, argued by Steve something she should have done rather than marry him.

He also survived a failed relationship with Eddie Munson (yeah, he survived, too), where they bonded through shared trauma. Never a healthy basis for a relationship. It resulted in a nipple piercing, a couple of small ink pieces, and another big dose of heartbreak.

He has come out the other side half-deaf with PTSD, TBI, ongoing headaches and scarring. He still has his bat, though. After years of therapy, he managed to get on top of it all. He embraced his health and swims regularly, trains in boxing (he got sick of having his arse handed to him), weights and regularly participates in tournament bowling with other teachers for fun. He also picked up the guitar with Eddie; arguably, his style is more subdued than Eddie's.

He now lives in Indianapolis, where most of the Hawkins folk were relocated to after Hawkins got locked down and closed off by the government under cover of a 'chemical spill'. Others moved far away. Steve's parents passed away, leaving him, as their only child, pretty much everything. So he invested most of it, bought a nice condo for himself and invested in the one next door where Robin lives. She also became a Teacher, so they still drive to school together. He figured somewhere along the line he was good with kids, and sure enough, he is. Brilliant.

You meet him at a conference in town around developing resilience in youth. He gets excited because you can talk about theory and practice with him and get as excited as he does about how complacent the system is about actively individualising learning compared to cookie cutter, where so many special needs kids are left out or behind or targeted. He takes you for a lunch date and is the consummate gentleman. If anything, you think he's not interested because of metaphorically how far back he stands. You realise there is baggage there, but you also realise he is actively working on bettering himself and growing from it, which is the most attractive thing to you.

The bond is formed slowly, bit by bit, across multiple 'lunch' dates and random walks along the water. Not through trauma like his other relationships, but through genuine care and shared interest. It both terrifies and exhilarates him, and eventually, he lets you in, and you witness the biggest unselfish heart you've ever known.

[pluttskutt]

Blorbo blursday is upon us and I've elected a victim for this week. While I usually focus on OC's in my original work, I'll be sharing a fandom OC today. I'll talk about her role in the story but also her past, taking a dive into her motivations and why she cut off her family.

First born of the Harrington siblings, Amelia grew up with the pressure to be the perfect daughter. Mother dearest wanted a girl just like her, but Amelia took after her father more and, to her mother's despair, a grandmother she didn't meet until she ran away at 16.

Henri, her da, loved teaching her how to play hockey and introduced her to the music he grew up with himself. He bought her studs, boots, and did what he could to connect with her when his wife moved onto molding their son into the Harrington heir she was desperate to provide the family with.

The small town was too small for him, which was why he left, but came back to give Katherine the family life she wanted. So, when Amelia left without notice, he wasn't surprised. People had always said they were alike, after all.

Amelia (born Amélie Rosalie Harrington) coloured her hair, got piercings and tattoos, and lived her life when she was free from mother dearest. She got her autism diagnose, learnt she was ace, made a career in arts, and took care of her grandmother.

Then, Henri died in a car crash with Steve in the car. Her little brother survived but his only guardian was now their mother. Knowing that woman should not be responsible for anyone, Amelia went back to get her brother.

The rest of the Harrington's were against her, adamant the boy needed his mother and not someone like her. A tatted punk with hair that looked like someone threw up on it. Was she even capable of love, being autistic, not even in a relationship?

She managed to strike a deal with old grandpa Harrington before leaving though. If Katherine hurt Steve, she would be back and get custody even if it meant kicking her out the house.

There was no house to kick Katherine out of when she returned years later, however, as mother dearest had set it ablaze in the night with Steve inside. The burns on his skin was impossible to hide, the truth screaming at the police and the court, and unlike the bruises from slaps, mother dearest did not get away that time.

Amelia came back, bought a house for the two of them, and changed her apperance to be a fitting guardian. She never told Steve about how the family had screamed at her back when their da died, about how they threatened her to leave, and she took his burning hatred for abandoning him for years while the family talked about her to him.

Being autistic, she wasn't sure when to tell him certain things. Should she even? The last she wanted was to be like Katherine and shape his thoughts about others after her own.

[origamiplushie]

3. Max

Part 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Read on AO3.

They had wanted to stay in the waiting room until Max woke up but those of them who were not that badly injured were sent home shortly as the hospital was quickly filled with all the people who were injured when the rifts opened. Steve was, fortunately or not, confined to a hospital bed because the doctors were very concerned about the bat bites. However the rest were given first aid and sent to heal at home. Where most of the kids immediately got grounded by their very worried parents.

Robin was lucky enough to escape punishment, having managed to come up with enough excuses to calm down her parents. Thus she came back to keep Steve company in his hospital room as soon as she could. 

Being sent home was good for one thing at least because it meant Nancy was there when Mike finally called to check in. The California crew was already aware that something bad went down in Hawkins thanks to El but not sure about the details. Updating them meant that Nancy also got to hear about their side of things, which cleared up quite a few things for the Hawkins team. For example, how Max had survived the curse.

“... So they managed to build a sensory deprivation tank out of a pizza freezer and during our battle Eleven was fighting Vecna in Max’s head. Unfortunately, Vecna was too strong and hurt Max but Eleven managed to bring her back. Without her, Max would still be … gone.”

They all sat in solemn silence for a moment.

Nancy was the first to shake it off, having had longer to come to terms with what had apparently almost happened.

“Anyway I still need to tell the kids. I came here first thing after Mike’s call. I wanted to make sure that Max was, well, at least better than when we brought her in.”

Seeming to have steeled herself for telling this same story again, Nancy said goodbye to them and left them to their thoughts.

After a few minutes Robin broke the silence with a question.

 “Does that mean it was Eleven bringing people back from the dead this whole time? I mean it would make more sense than Upside Down creatures simply being unable to cause permanent harm in the Rightside Up.”

Steve nods and following Robin’s line of thought says: “Yeah, and it would explain why Barb didn’t come back. I’m pretty sure El doesn’t know who she even was and she most definitely didn’t know back then when she had just escaped from the lab! She wouldn’t have known to bring her back. But if she was hiding out in Mike’s basement then Mike would have definitely mentioned his best friend when he found out that friend was dead. And maybe later Dustin complained to her about his dead cat while they were all hanging out and she did it to cheer him up? I guess it all makes sense.” 

He hums thoughtfully. He was rearranging everything that had happened in the past few years in his head with this new context.

“That also explains why she was so distraught over losing her powers after Starcourt. Hopper was her dad.” Robin suddenly whispered.

Steve sombered instantly. “That must have been tough to deal with. You could bring back your friend’s dead pet but now that you’ve lost the only parent you’ve ever had, you’re helpless.”

“But hey! Nancy said El’s all powered up again! I’m sure Hopper will be back soon enough,” he said, trying to cheer her up.

Slowly Robin’s expression lightened and she agreed: “ That’s true! She’s probably already working on it!”

Steve felt a lot lighter himself. It had been hard, this past year, knowing that he was the oldest one of their little monster-killing group still left in town. He felt responsible for everyone. If the Upside Down came back, and it always seemed to come back, he would be the only adult there. Even before anything actually happened the thought filled him with anxiety. 

It’s not like Steve blamed Joyce for leaving - Hawkins wasn’t exactly full of good memories and living there kept ending up with her kids getting hurt. He didn’t blame Hopper for dying either. They all knew by now that this stuff was dangerous. But being aware of all that didn’t stop him from feeling sorta abandoned. He did not feel old enough to be the adult. He did not feel like he was good enough to protect everyone. Hell, by now it was pretty clear he wasn’t. Like Erica likes to say, just the facts. 

But now it would be fine because Joyce was going to come back to Hawkins and Hopper would be alive again. There would be actual adults who could handle this, who could keep the kids from getting hurt again. It wouldn’t just be him anymore. Now, finally, Steve could rest easier and focus on healing up before the next, inevitable, battle.

Next.

[multi-writer]

The Princess and The Anti Hero

Eddie Munson x latina! reader

Summary: The danger is back in Hawkins, and it´s time to help others again. This time? Eddie Munson. But what happens when your friends leave you to take care of him while the others are investigating the mysterious deaths? Well, this happens.

Warnings: SPOILERS S4, a bit of bone-breaking description. Also, this is my first time writing a fanfic (actually the second, but my first one was like in 2014 so that doesn’t count, and that one was in Spanish. So the first one in years and in English) so kind of poor writing and I changed some parts to go according to the story.

Words: 2.5k

Requested: No

Racism, homophobia, what else?

Ah, yes.

Monsters.

Since you moved to America, specifically to Hawkins, your life has changed to become more... strange.

The most unknown town in the country and it turned out to be one of the strangest and most dangerous, you confirmed that since you saw a girl blowing up a car with her hand and three screaming kids years ago. And to think that it would lead you to survive an attack of a giant spider in a shopping mall and then be able to live a more peaceful life in the smallest town, now without any supernatural problems. Or so you thought.

"Steve, when are you going to understand that those aren't the ways to get a girlfriend?" you asked as you finished a glass of ice cream, leaning against the counter of the video store.

"That's the thing...he doesn't understand" Robin scoffs as she wrote something down on the computer. Watching the girls leave the store as one blonde shoots Steve a flirtatious look.

"Very funny, but I have to tell you I've gotten a lot of dates that way" Steve mentioned from a booth arranging movies, causing Robin and you to look at each other and laughed.

"Hey...aren't you going back to your country for spring break?" Steve asked as he walked up to the counter.

"No, apparently we won't be visiting this year, my parents are kind of freaked out about what's going on here. What the news, something happened in this town… again" you replied sarcastically as you threw down the ice cream cup. From the window you could see Max and Dustin running to the store. As they entered, they both started talking at the same time causing Robin, you and Steve to come up with them.

"Steve... how many phones do you have?" asked Dustin.

"Did you see? Somebody was killed" commented Steve

"How many phones do you have?" repeated Dustin with anxiously.

"Two, why?" answered Steve as he looked at Robin.

"Three with Keith's" added Robin.

"Yeah... with three is perfect" said Max for the first time.

"Hey... what's going on?" you asked. As Dustin jumped across the counter causing Robin and Steve to groan.

"What are you guys doing" asked Steve angrily while picking some movies.

"I´m putting together a database" replied Dustin. "We need Eddie's contacts"

"Eddie? Like, Eddie Munson?" you asked as you looked at the computer screen.

"Yeah, do you know him?" asked Max.

"I've met him a few times. We were going to graduate in the same year but he had to repeat" you replied, looking confused at what Dustin was doing.

"Guys... what's going on?" asked Robin seriously.

After Dustin and Max explained everything about Eddie and Chrissy, we all got the same conclusion. Hawkins is not normal… again. Honestly, you should get paid by now. After Robin got the place where Eddie was supposed to be, Steve grabbed his keys, locked the store and got into his car, with you following behind.

After a while in Steve's car, you arrived at the place where Robin said Eddie would be. As you got out, you could see that the house was dark, making the stars shine brighter in the dark sky. Quietly everyone approached the doors, not knowing what was waiting for you in there. Out of the corner of your eye you could see Steve grab an oar to hit a boat with a blanket over it.

"Really Harrington?" asked Dustin scared.

"What? You want to lift the blanket yourself?" replied Steve, silencing Dustin.

As you finished checking, you could hear a noise coming from the boat that Steve had hit, from one second to the next you saw Eddie get out of it and point a knife at Steve's neck. Everyone froze.

"Eddie... it's me, Dustin, we're here to help you. You remember Robin? From the school band, Max, who never wants to play D&D with us, (y/n), who took classes with you last year and Steve, also from school, my best friend and who you have by the neck. Could you please let him go?" commented Dustin, fear could be heard in his voice.

Eddie looked at us for a few moments, in his brown eyes you could see the terror and shock, his shoulders were tense and the hand holding the knife against Steve's neck was shaking.

"Eddie, please, we can help you, you are innocent, we believe you" you told him as you slowly approached him.

"no... you wouldn't believe me, you can´t, it’s impossible to explain" Eddie spoke in a trembling voice.

"try, we will believe you" replied Max.

Seeing the safety of the group and checking to see if it was you, Eddie slowly lowered the knife and took a few steps away from Steve, allowing Steve to breathe and calm himself.

"I... I didn't kill her" Eddie stutters.

"We know... we know what's going on... it's normal to be afraid, we all went through the same thing and felt the same feeling you´re feeling right now" you told him in a soft voice as you moved closer. When you were next to him, you grabbed his wrist where the knife was and with your thumb you caressed him to make him relax, something you have been doing years before when you and the group were in dangerous situations.

"Chrissy was with me in my house, well, place. She wanted something strong so she could sleep, I left her alone for a few moments and when I came back she was immobile, her eyes were looking up” he said while moving his hands as trying to explain. “Out of nowhere she started to rise until she touched the ceiling, there her bones moved all over the place and her eyes exploded. I didn't know what to do, I was so scared and the only thing I could do was run from there. Very suspicious of me, don't you think" Eddie laughed humorlessly. Everyone turned to look at him worried about the situation.

"Don't worry Eddie, we'll help you clear your name" Dustin replied positively.

"good luck with that kid" answered the metal lover guy.

"well... we'll look for clues and bring food, (y/n) you stay with Eddie to watch over him and see that he doesn't do something stupid" ordered Steve as he got up and headed for the exit.

"What? No, I'll go with you, I know what we're up against too, or are you forgetting Steve? I saved your ass several times already" you replied angrily.

“And I don’t need a babysitter” said Eddie.

"Yes Steve, babysitting is your job” you mocked him.

“You´re the one who fights best and you know how to control your emotions in danger, perfect to be able to protect… him" Steve looked at Eddie while Dustin, Max and Robin were leaving silently, forcing you to agree. After they left, you and Eddie remained silent until Eddie decided to speak.

"So, you've already experienced something like this?” Eddie asked as he sat down, leaning against the wall and patted the floor three times, inviting you to sit down.

"Yes..." you sat down along with him. "strange things have been happening years ago, in Hawkins portals were opened and from there monsters have come out, years ago Dustin adopted one as his pet, ironically it helped us" you said as you laughed. "Remember what happened at the mall? It was like a giant spider that wanted to eat us, Billy saved us" you finished with a sigh. So much had happened, how come you were still doing this?

"Wow, I didn't think all that was about creatures coming out of portals, I thought all the accidents were more like a coincidence, a really bad one" replied Eddie.

"Yeah, who knew the only place we would get to live would be the most dangerous place in America" you answered.

"Right. Why did you decide to come to Hawkins?" asked Eddie as he approached you, as if the question would draw the attention of strangers outside.

"My parents decided to come here after some problems in my country, they thought that here we would have more opportunities and would be safer" you answered.

"I think they were wrong about the safe part. Bad luck for you" says Eddie smiling. "And how is your city? Where you come from, I guess it's bigger than Hawkins".

"it's more colorful, there´s more people and the food is definitely better" You smiled as you nudged him with your shoulder.

"hey, the food here is delicious, thank you very much" Eddie said with an accent that made you laugh.

"I'm not complaining" you replied.

“So… Latina princess here-” You cut him.

“Don´t call me that, it´s plain weird” you frowned at him making him quiet for some minutes.

“sorry… So, princess here is actually a hero” Eddie rest his head on the wall while looking at a window.

“I don´t consider myself as a hero, just a person with a really bad luck” you said.

“You are more of a hero than I´ll ever be, that’s for sure. I´m a freak anti-hero” Eddie looked at you.

"I don't think so" you turned to look at him, analyzing his face. "I believe that heroes are not those who risk themselves for any foolishness, heroes are those who, having a lot of fear, do things and risk themselves for what they believe is the right thing to do. Anyone can be a hero Eddie Munson."

"How poetic" Eddie said looking at you.

"And about being a freak, I can debate that too" you said smiling at him. "You just have different tastes, that's what makes us interesting people."

"You think I'm interesting?"

"You, Eddie, are the most interesting person I've ever met" You nudged his shoulder and Eddie nudged back and then started to get closer than he already was. God, his eyes were beautiful even in the night, his hand slowly caressed your arm leaving a trail of goosebumps, and he didn't stop until he reached your cheek, where you both closed your eyes ready for the expected. However, a noise caused you to pull away from Eddie.

"Did you hear that?" you said turning to the window. In the distance you could hear things falling and the voices of several men.

"Shit, the basketball team, they're coming for me. Run (y/n), leave me and hide" Eddie said as he stood up.

"You're crazy, I'm not leaving you alone, especially with those crazy dudes" You replied.

"For the first time in your life don't be the hero and get out of here" Eddie mentioned as he angrily approached and you don't blame him, his desperation was clouding his judgement. "They're not looking for you, I don't want to get you in any more trouble than you're in."

"Too late for that Eddie, remember? I´ve been in danger for years now" You commented as you looked for a place to escape, you could only see the windows, the woods, the house where the school basketball team was and the lake.

The lake.

"Eddie, help me push the boat."

"What? Are you crazy? They're going to catch us right away."

"Just do it."

You both pushed the boat until it hit the water, in the distance they could hear the team shouting that you had been found, there was no escape if not for the lake. Your last hope.

"Climb in, I'll push," Eddie commanded. Climbing in you grabbed the two oars and started rowing to assist Eddie in taking the boat deeper. When he got a good distance, Eddie jumped up and took the oars from your hands to row faster. Two players from the team decided to enter the lake to swim after you and were getting closer with each passing second.

"Eddie! Give me the oar!"

"What do you plan to do?!"

"Beat up whoever comes near" such an argument elicited a smile from Eddie and a `some hero you are' from him.

When the captain was very close to the boat his companion disappeared under the water and then floated over the lake, making the three of you to stop. As the seconds passed you could hear the bones of the boy break, each limb of him turned to different sides to end up with a broken jaw and no eyes. Now you could only hear the screams of you, Eddie and the team captain.

"That's what happened to Chrissy!" shouted Eddie as the body returned to the lake. Thanks to its impact small waves were created that moved the boat, Eddie managed to grab hold of the shores but you weren't so lucky.

"Mierda!" You shouted as you fell into the icy lake. When you came up for air you saw that Eddie was still in the boat and the team captain had fled. The lake seemed untouched. In your legs you could feel something moving back and forth making you despair. "Eddie, help me up-" You were interrupted when something grabbed your ankle and pulled you deep into the lake, cold was making your body numb and in the distance you could see a reddish light at the bottom of the lake.

Eddie, seeing you disappear under the water shouted your name, and without thinking he took off his jacket and jumped up to look for you. A little further down he found you being submerged, so he swam faster, no matter of the coldness, until he reached out to grab your hand, pulled you close to him and with one of his heavy boots he hit three times whatever was holding you and then pulled you both to the surface and helped you into the boat. Once you were both safe, Eddie could see that you were shivering in the cold night, as well as the red marks on your ankle.

"Are you all right?" asked Eddie as he slipped his dry jacket over your shoulders and then took your leg and put it over his, ready to inspect the wounds.

"I'm fine thanks to you" you replied in a low voice.

"When we get to shore, we'll find a place where we can rest and see what to do about your ankle, that looks terrible" Eddie said trying to joke to defuse the situation. He let your leg rest besides him and silently took the oars and rowed back as fast as he could to the other side of the lake. Just as they were about to arrive, Eddie got out of the boat into the safe part of the lake to take you both to safety. Seeing that the boat was secure, he held out his hand to help you down. As you took it, you realized how cold it was and how cold Eddie was. The careful hold and the look he gave you was breathtaking. He had never looked so beautiful.

"Eddie..." you spoke to him and he stared at you waiting for your comment. "Thank you for being my hero."

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I saw @unhingedbabee complaining of the lack of Latinas in Stranger Things, and honestly, same, so as a Latina myself (and a wannabe writer) I decided to write it, and better yet, for my new crush on Eddie. This is super general so I didn’t specify countries and traditions so everyone can be included.

So here is it. Hope you all enjoy it. Any ask or any advice is welcome!