#but seriously i love eddie and robin and i think they would’ve had such a cool relationship

[stupidfreakingthoughts]

Thinking about robin being queer and knowing she was queer and having to deal with it for her whole life. She had to research queer culture herself, and she painted her nails in that order that meant “gay person here!!!!”, and she wore a carabiner with keys clipped onto her jeans. She got a few looks from people in the hallway at school, but no one ever approached her. She never outright said anything to anyone, and she wasn’t planning on it.

That was, until Steve Harrington. She hadn’t expected, when she first got the job at Scoops Ahoy and found out that the other employee was popular, basketball playing, King Steve Harrington, that they would become close. She had a plan, going in that she would do the bare minimum to work with him. She would never purposely start a conversation with him, and she would only ever talk to him about work, nothing personal, ever.

But she didn’t expect this new version of Steve. This Steve who was kind and struck out with girls and was apparently a parent to a bunch of middle schoolers. This Steve who tried to banter with her and on the first day on the job, apologized for anything that he might’ve done in high school. This Steve who had fallen off his throne and was insecure about not getting into any colleges. This Steve was one that Robin felt she could be friends with.

Even though they were becoming friends, Robin hadn’t meant to come out to him. She had never imagined coming out to anyone, really. She had fantasized about it, sure, but it was never serious. When she came out to Steve, she was high as hell and had just gotten tortured. She wasn’t really thinking as she told Steve about Tammy Thompson, but she didn’t regret it afterwards. She was so glad when they started laughing together and when he didn’t abandon her.

Then all the shit with the Mind Flayer happened, and the mall burned down, and she and Steve had to find jobs again. Luckily, they found a job together at Family Video, and although they had the worst manager, they had a lot of free time where they could watch movies together or just talk. Every time Steve made a small comment about the girls in whatever movie they were watching or girls that had been in the store, she became more surprised about how accepting he truly was. It wasn’t just being okay with her queerness, it was full on pointing out pretty girls and making fun of her when she stared too long at someone checking out at the store. It was truly loving her for who she was, which was what she wanted for so long. She had never expected it from Steve Harrington of all people, but she was so glad that it was him in the end. Her platonic soulmate.

Still, even though she had Steve, she still wanted a queer friend. Which was why she was so glad when Eddie joined their little group. She had noticed the hanky in his pocket back at school, and she knew what it meant because of all the research she had done all those summers ago. She knew they couldn’t talk about their preferences in people to date or take to bed in the middle of this war happening against Henry/Vecna/One, so she figured she’d wait until after they got out of the Upside Down and there was space to talk.

But then, he died. And she was devastated that the first cool queer person she had found, who was loud and open and seemed really nice despite everything, was dead. And they never even got the chance to talk.

[ataliagold]

Flowers In Your Hair

For @astrangersummer week 3 prompt 'flowers'. Title from Flowers In Your Hair by The Lumineers.

Pairing: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson

Rating: General

W/C: 1249

Tags: Post Series 4 Volume 2, Everyone Lives, Established Steddie, Fluff, Soft Steve Harrington, Steve Loves Yellow Flowers, Eddie Loves Steve, El and Max are best friends, summer, this is just softness

Summary: Eddie enlists some help to find the perfect flowers for Steve. Despite his own insecurities, Eddie is learning that his boyfriend loves soft things.

___

“Robin, what kind of flowers does Steve like?”

Eddie was draped over the Family Video counter, having stolen the barely-working desk fan air flow for himself.

Robin paused where she was rifling through the box of returned tapes to give him a confused look. “Flowers? Really?”

Eddie threw up a hand, then regretted it, because that had taken far too much effort in the stifling heat. “What? You think a man can’t buy flowers for another man? You judging me, Buckley?”

Robin scoffed. “No. Just…why flowers?”

“It’s romantic!” Eddie whined. “We have a date tonight and Steve loves that stuff. He might not say it, but he does. On Valentine’s Day I got him chocolates and roses and you should’ve seen his face, honestly if we hadn’t been in public I probably would’ve got on my knees there and then -”

Robin leaned over and slapped a hand across his mouth. “Jesus, enough.”

Eddie grinned behind her hand, and poked his tongue out to touch Robin’s palm.

She snatched it away with a shout, fake gagging behind the counter. “Munson, that was disgusting.”

Eddie shrugged. “You love me, though.”

“Steve loves you,” Robin corrected. “And so, by extension, I’m unfortunately forced to too.” She smiled a little, taking any sting out of her words. “Seriously though, the kids are over there, watch your mouth.” She dipped her head towards the sci-fi section, where Dustin and Mike were loudly arguing over which tape to rent for their next movie night. Max and El were hanging back, Max eagerly trying to explain a movie synopsis to El. Whatever it was, it sounded violent, and El looked confused.

Eddie leaned further over the counter, letting the weak breeze from the fan flick his hair around. “Help me?” he asked, batting his eyes at Robin.

She screwed up her nose a little before responding. “Honestly, I don’t know. You said you got him roses before, right? Did he like those?”

“Well, yeah, but I think he liked the gesture more than anything else.”

Robin shrugged. “Just get him anything, then. It’s from you, so he’ll love it.”

“But I want to get his favourite,” Eddie lamented. “He deserves the best.”

“Well, I agree with you there.”

“Eddie?”

A small voice sounded behind him, and Eddie summoned the energy to turn his head. El was standing behind him, looking a little shy.

“Yeah, supergirl?”

“You wanted to know Steve’s favourite flowers?”

Eddie slid off the counter a bit, straightening up. “Yeah, I do.”

El glanced between him and Robin for a moment. “Steve used to help me and Max with our hair. When mine was longer, we would make daisy chains and Steve braided them into my hair, he even let us put them in his sometimes. We tried to use other flowers sometimes but they did not stay together very well. But Steve’s favourites are yellow ones.”

And that…made sense, Eddie supposed. Yellow was Steve’s favourite colour, after all, but Eddie wasn’t sure where to find yellow flowers. He couldn’t afford much at the florist, and what flowers were yellow, anyway? Sunflowers? Where the hell would he get those?

Robin tugged his sleeve, pulled Eddie back to the counter so she could lean over and whisper, “The Klines have yellow roses growing by their fence.”

“The old Mayor?” Eddie asked with a frown.

“Yup.”

A smile slowly spread across his face.

“There are marigolds by the school field,” El added. “And yellow violas and tulips by the cabin. I can show you.”

And that was how, a short time later, Eddie was snapping off fragrant yellow roses at the stalk where they were poking out between the stark white pickets of Larry Kline’s fence. Max and El were standing further down the footpath, acting as lookouts while Eddie huddled by the fence and took his quarry as quickly as he could.

At the first surprised shout from inside the fence, he darted away, collecting the girls with a grin as he ran past them.

He threw back his head and laughed, roses clutched in his warm hand, Max beaming beside him.

“That guy’s an asshole,” she told Eddie as they jogged away from the house. “Serves him right.”

They couldn’t move too quickly – Max’s bones had healed, but she wasn’t exactly up to a sprint across town just yet. But they made it to Eddie’s van parked around the corner, and moved on to their next stop.

Just like that, Eddie spent the afternoon traipsing along with the two girls. El showed him where to find all sorts of different flowers, and Max went along because where El went, she went. It was hot, the sun baking them from above in a cloudless sky, but Eddie didn’t care – this was for Steve.

By the time they were finished, Eddie had gathered a large handful of flowers in all different shades of yellow and orange, and the girls had wrapped them in some plastic procured from Hopper’s cabin and poured some water into the bottom to keep them fresh in the summer heat.

“There,” El told him proudly, handing over the bouquet while Max tried to find some ribbon in a drawer to tie around it. “They’re pretty. Like Steve.”

Eddie spluttered a little at El’s directness. “Oh…yeah. Yeah, they are. He is.”

El nodded. “Max often says so, too.”

“Oh my god, shut up,” Max yelled from El’s room.

Eddie smirked, because the girl’s little crush on his boyfriend was no secret. “It’s ok Max, I agree with you.”

Max stomped back towards them, slapped a length of gold ribbon into Eddie’s hands, and then took El’s arm and pulled her back towards the room.

Effectively dismissed, Eddie returned to his trailer to rush through a shower and getting changed, barely with enough time left to get to Steve’s before their dinner plans.

Waiting in front of his boyfriend’s door, Eddie passed the bouquet from hand to hand, a little nervous.

This is stupid.

Steve Harrington, former jock supreme, once-captain of the basketball team, nail-bat wielding badass wasn’t going to appreciate some yellow flowers.

Eddie almost turned tail. Almost tossed the flowers into the back of his van to be dealt with later, almost gave in to the nerves in his stomach.

Almost.

Because there was a softness to Steve that Eddie was learning to know and love. It was in the way he treated the kids, the way he gently held Eddie’s hand, the way he baked cookies when his friends were coming over and apparently braided flowers into the girls’ hair.

Eddie took a deep breath, clutched his yellow flowers, and knocked on the door.

It opened after a moment.

“Eds, hey, sorry I just gotta get my shoes on -” Steve trailed off as he took in the sight of Eddie standing there, flowers gripped in shaky hands.

Eddie cleared his throat, held out the bouquet. “For you. If, um…if you want them. Sorry if it’s stupid, I wanted to get you something but I couldn’t afford much and El told me you liked yellow flowers so I spent the afternoon going around town and finding them, and the roses actually involved some petty theft but -”

Steve took the flowers with one hand, and pulled Eddie through the door with the other, lips seeking his mouth and swallowing the rest of his sentence.

When they finally pulled apart, Eddie smiled shyly. “You like them, then?”

“I love them, Eds.”

___

[theflowerrooms]

hi petal! i've got an idea if you're still looking for requests c:

-imagine the squad goes camping but there was a miscommunication/error in booking and steve ends up having to room with eddie & the reader.

-he's already annoyed about having to third wheel but also bc he knows theyre always going at it.

-one night, he went to bed earlier than the group.

-by the time eddie & reader get to bed, they assume he's fast asleep but they were kinda loud coming into the cabin so he stirs awake.

-once they're in bed, they start messin around and eventually have sex, not caring about how loud their being bc they still think steve is asleep when really he's wide awake like O.O

(i'll leave it up to you whether or not steve gets himself off to them doin it but part of me feels like he has a voyeurism kink heehehe)

to request • eddie’s masterlist • steve’s masterlist • main

Wide Awake

Eddie Munson x Reader, x Steve Harrington (slight)

Summary: on a trip with friends, Steve ends up rooming with Eddie and you, the token sex addicts as he’s lovingly called you. He goes to bed early and you and Eddie calling soon after, thinking he’s fast asleep when you two start messing around

I seriously loved writing this so much! Thank you for the request! I’m a big fan of Steddie x reader and I’ve really been wanting to write more with Stevie <3 thank you! Love, Petal

wordcount: 2k

Warnings: smut, slight dubious consent, swearing, penetrative sex, voyeurism (Steve can hear reader and Eddie going at it), exhibitionism (Eddie and reader are definitely getting off on it, praise, slight humiliation?

He should’ve been the one to call and book the rooms. Maybe then they would’ve gotten four rooms with one bed each instead of two rooms with two beds each. Steve glared at you and Eddie across the fire pit, cozied together. Your face was buried into Eddie’s neck as you laughed at something Robin said. He didn’t hate you or Eddie, in fact, he loved you both immensely, his best friends. What he hated was the fact that you were always on each other. A constant reminder of how he was alone when the two of you looked happier than anyone had been before. It didn’t help that Steve had a thing for the both of you before you started dating.

Steve watched as Eddie’s hand slipped from your waist to your thigh, gripping it tightly and pulling you closer to him. He watched as your lips found Eddie’s pulse point, leaving nothing more than a gentle kiss, but it was enough to let Steve know you two were about to be interested in more than friendly kisses and lingering touches.

That was his cue to leave, go to bed and fall asleep before he got stuck listening to you two go at it.

He said his goodnights to everyone and all but ran to the room he’d soon be sharing with you and Eddie. His bed was cold and comfortable, but he was bitter and annoyed, and the cold only reminded him that there was nobody else to warm his bed with him. He hadn’t laid there long before he’d almost fallen asleep, resting on his side and blanket up to his chin as he faced the wall. His drowsiness was quick to leave him when he heard the door swing open and close.

"Shh- shut up, Steve's sleepin'." He heard you giggle, Eddie giggling in response. The corner of his mouth quirked up in a slight smile at your tipsy laughs, you sounded like you'd each been drinking. He knew it hadn't been more than a beer each; You and Eddie were just drunk on each other.

He heard Eddie's heavy footsteps as you led him over to the bed. He could hear you both falling onto the mattress and he was immediately grateful that the beds weren't squeaky, so at least he'd not have to listen to that.

  He listened to you giggle and Eddie shush you. "Keep your pretty mouth shut, don't wanna wake up Steve." Eddie rasped. Steve could tell by his playful tone that he didn't really care if they woke him up or not.

  The room soon filled with the sounds of you and Eddie kissing, clearly sloppy and rushed. Steve's face started to heat up with a deep blush that he was too embarrassed to acknowledge. And as your breath started to grow heavy with a soft sigh against Eddie's lips, Steve began to consider that maybe being stuck in a room with you and Eddie wasn't such a bad thing.

  "Get this off baby." Eddie mumbled, mouthing breathily at your neck. You whispered something that Steve couldn't really hear, but he did hear his name. "Baby, it's fine, we'll be real quiet. If Harrington wakes up he can deal, or go sleep with the girls, it's fine." Eddie assured you, pecking kisses over his shoulder. Steve wanted to be irritated with Eddie for not caring to respect that maybe Steve didn't want to chance hearing you both fuck, but… Steve wasn't so mad about it, more excited than he was able to admit. It wasn't like he hadn't thought about Eddie and you like that before. He wasn't upset that he'd get to hear it this time.

  Eddie was quick to help you get your shirt off. Steve could hear him kiss down the column of your chest, hear your shirt drop to the floor and he could even hear the zipper of your shorts before they hit the floor too.

“Fuck you’re so pretty.” Eddie groaned under his breath. Steve had to stop himself from turning to look for himself. He’d never seen you wearing less than a bikini, but that was enough for him to imagine. He didn’t have to see you to know that he already agreed.

Eddie kissed your sternum and unclasped your bra, letting you slide it off yourself as he let his hand fall to your cunt, rubbing slow, teasing circles over your panties. “Eddie, please.” You tried to whisper, but the unsteady and loud whimper that followed your words defeated the purpose of you whispering in the first place.

Your voice was darker, so sweet and needy, and that was it before Steve could feel him growing hard in his sweatpants. He heard Eddie’s taunting laugh and more whimpers from you that got him fully hard. He desperately wanted to turn and look at you, to reach down and palm himself, but he wouldn’t.

“Gonna let me taste you baby?” Eddie rasped, leaving more wet kisses on your stomach as he slid your underwear down your legs. Steve felt conflicted. He was excited at the possibility of getting to hear Eddie go down on you, frustrated that he couldn’t watch, and jealous that he didn’t get to have his mouth on you. Or even have Eddie’s mouth on himself.

You tugged Eddie’s hair to pull him up closer to you, and the groan he let out made Steve’s cock twitch. “Not right now, need you so bad, please.” Your voice shook and Steve exhaled, careful not to be too loud. He heard Eddie’s shirt hit the floor, then the zipper of his jeans. Steve wondered if he was stripping himself, or if you were helping him.

He stopped thinking about that the second he heard you gasp and sigh. He couldn’t be sure as he wasn’t able to see, but he imagined Eddie pushing his cock into you, bottoming out. He wondered how wet you were, and how deep Eddie was inside of you. He wanted to see so bad, but he was grateful to be able to hear the soft sounds you let out.

“Jesus… how are you always so fuckin’ tight? Feel so good angel.” Eddie’s voice was shakey, keeping his voice down for Steve’s sake. Unbeknownst to you both, Steve desperately wanted Eddie to speak up, wanted you to let yourself be louder.

As Eddie started moving faster in and out of you, you both stopped paying much attention to your volume. Eddie breathed heavily, and quiet moans were pushed out of your lips with each thrust of his cock. Steve could even hear your cunt, hearing just how soaking wet Eddie made you.

Steve’s cock was aching against his pants, and he just had to do something. Obviously he couldn’t jerk off right there: You’d stop if you knew he was listening. He shifted so that instead of laying on his side, he was on his stomach, giving him the perfect opportunity to press his hips against the mattress. He could gain some friction and alleviate some of the pressure from being so hard and not being able to do anything about it.

He nearly cursed at himself, the noise of him moving alerted you and Eddie. You both stopped, looking over at him to gauge whether or not he was awake. After a few moments of tense silence, Eddie started fucking you again, harder than before and catching you off guard. You whined, so loud and beautiful, and Steve couldn’t help but rhythmically roll his hips into the mattress. He had to bite down on his lip to keep himself quiet.

“Eddie-” His name fell from your lips, caught somewhere between a warning for him to slow down, or a plead for him to give you more. Steve didn’t think you were sure what you wanted.

“What’s the matter baby? Don’t wanna wake up Stevie?” Eddie asked teasingly and you hummed in agreement. “Awe, you don’t want Steve to see how well you take my cock? Don’t want Steve to see how fuckin’ pretty you look getting fucked?” He groaned and Steve almost groaned in return. Eddie’s words were doing just as much for him as they were for you, then the broken whine that came out of your mouth had Steve realizing the likelihood of him cumming in his pants like some desperate kid.

“Y’know what? I think you want him to see you. With the way you’re fuckin’ tightening up every time I say his damn name? God, fuck-” He fucked you harder, nails digging into the meat of your thighs, but it only spurred you on. He hit your g-spot over and over again, and you bit down on the junction between his neck and shoulder to try and quiet yourself. It was no use; you were still moaning desperately and Steve could hear every bit of it loud and clear. Each broken whine and whimper from your lips was bringing him closer and closer to an orgasm, just like Eddie’s cock was doing for you.

“Fucking- damn it, feel so good. Gonna cum baby? Are you gonna cum on my cock right next to Steve? Such a slut, fuckin’ love you” Eddie moaned, his thrusts were growing sloppier and sloppier and Steve could hear it.

“Love you- I- need to cum Eddie.” Your sweet voice was heavy with tears of pleasure, and simultaneously, you and Steve felt the pulsing in your lower stomachs, warning you of your orgasm.

“C’mon, so good for me, cum for me. Be a good slut and cum for me.” Eddie’s voice was thick and raspy, but sweet and loving. It guided you to your orgasm and you moaned loudly as you arched your back and came on his cock. At the same time, at Eddie’s demand, Steve came as well, his jaw hanging open in a choked back, silent moan as he filled his sweatpants with cum.

Eddie’s hips stuttered against yours and he came too, groaning loudly. A whiny moan that you loved to hear as he fucked his cum inside of you. “Fuck- s’good for me.” He mumbled, kissing your forehead as he stilled inside of you.

Steve rested there quietly, as quietly as he could manage. He listened to Eddie pull out of you and lay next to you, kissing the skin of your shoulders softly. Steve heard the blankets moving around as Eddie pulled them up over your shoulders for you.

“Thank you.” Your voice was sweet and sleepy, still heavy with that post orgasm haze. You thanked Eddie again, kissing his jaw. Steve wanted to thank him too, he wished he’d be able to replay everything he’d heard in his head over and over for the rest of time. He hoped you would do the same the next night. He’d make sure you ‘accidentally’ had to share a room with one another again. “Goodnight.” Steve smiled to himself as he heard your sweet voice, so loving and pretty. He heard you and Eddie kiss for a moment again and then he heard you shuffle closer to your boyfriend, burying your face in his neck. He was willing to bet you looked so cute.

Eddie yawned himself, “Goodnight baby.” He littered kisses over the crown of your head and Steve listened. He began to grow frustrated and jealous again, wishing he had someone to kiss him, to hold him. He wanted to scold himself for being so bitter about you and Eddie being happy together. You both deserved it after all; Steve just wanted to be happy, and he liked you both so much.

Finally, as Steve came back to himself after coming down from the post-orgasm high, he chewed his lip anxiously. What kind of creep not only listens to his friends have sex with each other, but gets off to it as well? The cold, wet stain in his pants began to grow uncomfortable as he began to grow guilty. What would you think if you knew? What would Eddie think? He was sure Eddie would want to knock his teeth out if he knew. Finally, he was interrupted from his anxious thoughts by Eddie’s voice.

“G’night Steve.”

[a-little-unsteddie]

Walrus

genuinely had so much fun figuring out what to do, and i have another idea that i may write for this same prompt, but!! have this!

written for @steddiemicrofic’s august prompt ‘cake’ || wc: 311 || rating: T || cw: none

As Steve watched Eddie fool around with the kids in the Byers’ backyard, he came to a horrifying realization. Maybe he was being dramatic, but as he watched Eddie put two raw hotdogs in his mouth to have make-shift walrus tusks, Steve thought it was perfectly reasonable to think the fact that he loved Eddie Munson was horrifying. Especially as this was the realization, his chest swelling with so much emotion it was hard to contain. Steve tipped his head back against the side of the house and groaned loudly.

“Fuck.” He sighed, lowering his head to once again watch as Eddie pretended to be a fucking walrus with Dustin laughing so hard at him that soda was coming out of his nose.

“What’s up, dingus?” Robin asked as she approached, handing him a coke. Steve sighed dramatically again, gesturing to Eddie. Robin looked to where he was, and then looked back at Steve with a look of disbelief. “Really?”

Steve groaned, “I know,” he crossed his arms and pouted. “I’m mad about it too.”

“I mean, seriously, Dingus. That?” Robin said, gesturing exasperatedly at where Eddie was now fumbling with the hot dogs that were once shoved in his mouth.

“I know!”

“You had the audacity to make fun of me for Tammy Thompson,” Robin then began laughing, even as Steve whined at her to quit. “Oh, man, first you tell me that Tommy H. was your bi-awakening, and now Eddie Munson?” She snorted, clapping her hands together in a way that Steve privately thought would’ve been a great impression of a seal, matching Eddie’s walrus impersonation. “This just takes the cake, Dingus!”

Steve sighed loudly, looking out at Eddie again, who was looking at the ground sadly. He looked up then, making eye contact with Steve and immediately flushed red. Steve smirked softly, and waved his fingers at him.

[elizabethwritesmen]

𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚜

chapter 1 - i remember everything

pairing: firefighter!steve x reader

summary: in high school, steve and y/n were the best of friends. now, she’s moved back to hawkins, and he hasn’t seen her since her graduation 7 years before.

warnings: smut to come in later chapters.

a/n: this is a christmas fic, split into parts. this part does not mention christmas because it is not christmas time yet. also, steve is 28 and reader is 25. this fic is basically a hallmark script but make it sexy and angsty. italics paragraphs are flashbacks. all parts will be out by december 25.

chapter 2 | chapter 3 | chapter 4

I remembered everything.

The bumps in the driveway that tousled my car like a carnival ride. The sparkling lake glistening with the sun’s reflection, reminiscent of all the times I snuck out there with my friends for a swim in high school. The beautiful cabin, two story but still small and cozy, haunted by all the scary stories that were told in it by high school students goofing off because they didn’t know what real life was.

The crack in the window where Robin tripped and fell into it that never got fixed because we never told my parents.

The guitar picks Eddie left all over the place, never remembering to take them home with him.

The small stain on the carpet from where the kids spilled a beer they’d stolen.

The huge tree by the water with Steve’s name carved into it, right next to mine, and a poorly shaped heart scribbled beside them.

Yes, I remembered everything.

I sighed as I unpacked my boxes, putting things away where I thought they should go. I never thought I’d be back in Hawkins, and I hadn’t yet decided how I felt about it, but the cards were dealt to me so I had to play them. It wasn’t so bad, though. I moved away less than a week after I graduated high school thinking that if I went to college in another state and started a new life, I could get away scott free from the things that were weighing on me. But it doesn’t work that way. You never get away from matters of the heart. They stay, and stay, and stay.

I stopped abruptly when I heard a knock at the door, going to check it and seeing Robin standing on the porch. I opened it quickly, “Rob!” I exclaimed as I pulled her into a hug. She squeezed me back with just as much force.

“You’re really back,” she sighed, “Your mom told me you’d be here and I was worried it wasn’t true!”

“Well here I am,” I giggled, pulling away reluctantly and letting her in. She walked with me to the dining room table where I had my things laid out and started helping me put them away.

“So how was Florida?” She asked.

“Hot,” I blandly offered, and she laughed.

“Seriously. You disappear the day you graduate and I hear from you maybe four times before we lose touch. I wanna know everything!”

I sighed, pausing for a moment, “I’m sorry about that, Robin. I didn’t mean to disappear on you, you know you’re one of the best friends I’ll ever have and I love you.”

“Oh, you don’t have to apologize to me, honey. I was never mad at you, but only because I understood why you left. Steve and Eddie, though… they went through it for the first year you were gone. Don’t even get me started on the kids.”

“Eddie understood, I know he did. He knew I was leaving, he was the only person I told because he caught me talking about my plane ticket on the phone. And the kids would never have understood, they were too young. Just needing to get out for a while would’ve sounded like a lame excuse to them.”

“But you didn’t just need to get out for a while, you needed to get away from Steve for a while”

“That’s not the only reason.”

“But it was a reason. Right?”

Hesitantly and carefully, I answered her, “Yes. It was. I couldn’t keep letting him break my heart. I needed space.”

“You couldn’t have found space in Hawkins? You had to leave?”

“There was no space in Hawkins. Wherever I went, he found me. He never left me alone. Even when I asked him to.”

“Because he loved you.”

“But it wasn’t enough,” I sighed exasperatedly, “Can we talk about something else?”

“Of course,” she smiled, “We’ll discuss Steve more later.”

“No we won’t,” I rolled my eyes, tossing a trinket from one of the boxes at her. She dodged it with a laugh, carrying on the conversation.

“Really though, how was Florida?”

“It was good. I dunno, I don’t think I fit in there.”

“Why’s that?”

“I’m not all beachy and outgoing like most people there were. But they were all super nice anyway. I made some friends at the college I went to, but I didn’t stay close to any of them after I graduated and started working.”

“Is that why you moved back? Cause you had no friends?”

“Robin!” I scolded, mouth dropping open. She laughed again, lighting up the room. “I did have friends, I’m just not a very social person!”

“Then why did you move back?”

I shrugged, “Florida isn’t the place for me, but I don’t know where is, so my mom suggested I move back here in the mean time.”

“And she’s just, like, letting you live in the cabin?”

“Yeah. I mean, they didn’t pay for it, and I’ve spent more time here than they have anyway. When my grandpa left it to them, they thought it was more of an extra bill than a vacation house. That’s why they’re gonna put it in my name if I decide to stay.”

“What?” she squealed, her eyes going wide as saucers, “So you could be little miss homeowner! That’s amazing! As bad as the economy is, I’d take that deal in a heartbeat!”

“I know, I know. I’m thinking about it. It is nice to be around family again. And you.”

“Just wait til you see the others. They’re gonna be SO excited you’re back! As a matter of fact why don’t we have them over here for a little reunion?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Do you even still hang out with them?”

“Eddie and Steve, yeah. We’re all still pretty close. The kids are all kinda doing their own thing now, but we still see each other a lot too, around town and such. And we still have a group chat, we just don’t send much but dumb memes in it.”

“Damn, Rob. Thanks for including me in this group chat!” I huffed, smacking her arm jokingly.

“You left, you gave up your groupchat rights!”

We laughed together and talked some more as we finished unpacking my boxes. I didn’t have much, no furniture or anything because the cabin was already completely furnished. My grandpa had impeccable taste, everything was extremely elegant while also being perfectly warm and rustic.

“Okay,” she sighed after we threw away the last piece of cardboard, “It’s dark now so I should probably get home, but let’s hang out again tomorrow! Come up to town! I opened up a music shop, you can come see!”

“That’s amazing! I’d love to come see!”

And with that, she was off. I breathed in a deep sigh, a smile on my face as I fell onto the couch and turned the TV on. It was nice to have Robin again. I was impressed with how quickly and swiftly we fell into old habits, gossiping and chatting like no time had passed and we were still just two kids. The person I was nervous to see again was Steve.

-

The next day, I woke up and showered, preparing myself to go to town. I needed to pick up groceries, and I also wanted to stop by Robin’s music shop, excited to see her hard work paid off.

I slipped on a pair of running shorts and a crop top, throwing a loose cardigan on over it and slipping into a pair of tennis shoes. My hair was curled and I had on light makeup. I felt pretty, but not overdone. I wanted to at least look decent enough that, if I ran into someone I knew, I wouldn’t be mortified.

The grocery store was desolate as I pulled into the parking lot, only a few cars in the spaces and a firetruck parked by the door. I supposed public servants do need to shop, too. I wondered if it was someone I knew, I remember my dad was friends with some of the town’s firemen when I was younger, but I shrugged it off, wanting to get in and out hassle free.

As soon as I walked in the door, though, I was greeted with a high pitched voice, “Y/N?”

I turned to see who it belonged to and was delighted to see Max, behind one of the registers wearing a store polo.

“Hey!” I grinned wide, rushing over to her and going in for a hug. She’d been like a little sister when I’d lived in Hawkins before, and I had to admit, I missed her while I was gone.

“What’re you doing here?” she asked, leaning back to stare at me, “I haven’t seen you in like… five years!”

“I know, I know. I moved back!”

“What? Like forever?” she asked, hope creeping into her voice.

“Maybe. I haven’t decided yet. But definitely for a while. What about you? How long have you been working here?”

“Two years now. Dustin works here, too, but he’s off today.”

“That’s a shame. I’ll have to come back when he’s here and see him!”

“Oh, you should see everyone! We’ve all missed you so much! Even the ones of us that won’t admit it,” she giggled with an eye roll, “Mike has always been stubborn and dumb.”

“Well that’s okay,” I hummed, “I’m here now, so it’s all okay.”

“Yeah, but next time you leave, can you warn a girl first? I missed you a lot!”

“I know, I’m sorry. Scouts honor, next time I’ll shove you in my suitcase and bring you with me.”

“Perfect,” she beamed, her teeth as pearly white as always. She looked older, and she’d grown up beautifully. I didn’t know if she was still with Lucas, but if so, he was lucky.

I let go of her, getting started on my shopping. I didn’t get much, just the basics, and a few minutes later I was done and ready to check out. I wasn’t paying attention and accidentally bumped into the guy in front of me in line.

“Oh God, I’m so sorry!” I rushed out as I pulled my cart away gently. He turned around and my mouth fell open as I recognized his pretty face.

“Y/N,” he said, his voice steady but his face gave him away. He was in utter shock.

“Steve,” I offered back, staring at him, waiting for what he had to say.

Max interrupted the short awkward silence, “Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you Y/N’s back.”

He sent her a glare then turned back to me, scanning over me, settling on all the parts of me that had changed. I’d filled out more, and I could tell he noticed. I could tell he appreciated it.

I scanned over him as well, taking note of his khakis and the Hawkins Fire Dept T shirt he wore. So the truck was his. Interesting. He looked good, better than ever. He was more chiseled than I remembered, and it worked for him, from his head to his toes. And his hair was as iconic as always.

“Why’re you back?” he asked me, his voice devoid of much emotion.

“Just wanted to come back for a while.”

“A while? So not forever?”

“I dunno, Steve. I haven’t thought that far ahead,” I breathed out a laugh.

“You never did.”

My eyes dropped, shame creeping in. “I’m sorry for how I left, Steve. I just had to go.”

“Yeah,” he deadpanned, “It’s fine. Is what it is. It’s your business anyway.”

“Steve, please don’t do that,” I sighed.

“Do what?”

“That thing you always do where you pretend you’re not hurt.”

“I’m not. I might’ve been seven years ago, but I’ve had a lot of time for that wound to close, Y/N.”

“So you’re not happy to see me at all?”

“Not as happy as I would’ve been to see you on my doorstep that day.”

I knew exactly what day he was talking about. It was the Saturday, two weeks after I graduated. He’d asked me a month in advance to come over, and I agreed, not even thinking about the fact that I was leaving. He’d consistently asked me for reassurance that I would be there, and every time I promised I would. But I wasn’t.

“I’m just so sorry Stevie. I can’t even tell you how sorry I am. Of all the people I hurt, I regret hurting you the most.”

“It’s fine. Like I said, seven years,” he shrugged, grabbing his receipt from Max and walking out. I watched him go, dejected, melancholy overtaking me.

“You ok? That was rough to watch,” Max gave me a sympathetic look and I forced a smile.

“I’m good, Maxy. Like he said. Seven years.”

She stared at me for a moment, as if she was deciding what to say, an internal battle behind her eyes. “He had a party planned for you that day.”

“What?”

“Yeah. With me and the other guys and Robin and everybody. He was so excited, he never shut up about it. Then he found out you left and cancelled. He hasn’t really been the same since.”

“How’d he find out I left?”

“Your dad told him. He went over to see you and you weren’t there.”

I sighed, my eyes welling up. I couldn’t believe I’d screwed up that badly. All I wanted was a getaway, I never knew I’d be hurting so many people. I never knew he cared so much.

“Max, I-“

“Was in love with him. I know. Everybody knows. That’s why we didn’t understand why you left.”

“He wanted girl after girl after girl. And it was never me. I was never his type. I needed to get away to get over him or I was gonna live a life full of heartbreak and disappointment. But now I see how selfish that was.”

“It wasn’t selfish. Just not well thought out. Have you at least gotten over him?”

“I thought so, til I saw him look at me like that.”

I finished checking out and promised Max I’d be back in to see her, then headed to the music store. The exterior was nice. It was a painted brick building, colorful and bright. There was a huge mural on the side of it, and I knew it was all Robin’s doing because I remembered that particular building being boring and run down before I left.

I walked inside, looking around to see the inside was just as amazing. I was honestly impressed with how well she’d done everything, from organizing to decorating.

“Rob, this is awesome!” I exclaimed as I walked up to the counter. She’d been looking down, doing some kind of paperwork, but when she looked up and saw me she put it down and ran around the counter.

“You really came!”

“Of course I came, have I ever let you down?” I asked, laughing, then added, “Well, other than that one time.”

“You’re right. You did always used to come through. I don’t think you ever missed anything.”

“And I definitely wouldn’t miss this! If I’d known you opened it, I would’ve been here that day to watch you cut the ribbon or whatever!”

“Oh, it’s okay, it wasn’t that big of a ceremony. You know nothing is big in Hawkins unless you’re rich. But I get good business and I’ve kept the doors open. Plus, all the high school girls like to take pictures in front of the mural outside for their instagrams, and that’s actually drummed up a lot of business.”

“I’d imagine so. Show me around?”

She took me to the instruments section, explaining why she’d organized it the way she had and how it made the most sense. Then we wandered to the sheet music, and then to the records. Finally, we hit the cds and a little caddy full of Apple, Spotify, Iheartradio and Youtube gift cards. She also had a small section with assorted local snacks.

“This is great, really,” I smiled, “I’m so proud of you.”

“Well, I actually got the idea from you,” she nonchalantly shrugged.

“When?” I furrowed my brows and asked.

“One time, I was talking to you about how I’m just a band geek and you told me band geeks make it far in life. You suggested I either get famous or open up a huge store full of band stuff and make tons of money. You really thought I had it in me to do both.”

“You did have it in you. You could be in a real band right now if you wanted.”

She full on belly laughed, waving the thought off. “Whatever. Change of subject, I heard you saw Steve.”

“Heard from who?”

“From Steve. He called me mad because I didn’t tell him you were home.”

“Why was he so mad?”

“Well, he’ll say it’s because he just wasn’t expecting to see you and would be happy if you’d have just stayed gone. But I know it’s because he does want you here, more than anything, and all his old feelings are coming back, and he would’ve liked some wanting before seeing your face in the middle of the grocery store after seven years.”

“It wasn’t the middle of the grocery store,” I rolled my eyes, “It was the front. And he was not happy to see me, sorry to be the one to burst your bubble. Old feelings can’t come up if there weren’t any in the first place, Im just a girl he used to be friends with.”

“It was always more with you and Steve,” she shrugged, “Everyone else saw it.”

“If I’d known he planned a party for me, I would’ve been there that day.”

“I know. And he knew, too. That’s why he told us to never tell you. He didn’t want you to feel guilty, and he didn’t want you to have to come back just for him.”

I sighed, feeling even worse than I did when Steve was staring at me with that look in his eyes. I knew him, I knew his faces, and I knew what he looked like when he was hurt. I really did a number on him.

“I don’t know if I can make this one better, Rob.”

“You can. He’ll get over his anger, I promise. The way he felt about you doesn’t just go away, he has a big ol’ soft spot for you. There’s nothing he could ever hold against you, not even this.”

I nodded with yet another sigh, “Anyways, what about you? Any ladies on the roster?”

She looked shocked I’d asked, “Bold aren’t you?”

“Always have been!”

She proceeded to tell me about all the girls she’d been interested in, and all the ones she’d dated since I left. It was nice to see her so comfortable with herself, and it was even nicer to hear that she’d gotten some really cool girlfriends.

“So who are you dating now?” I asked, leaning on the counter, fully intrigued.

“Well, there’s this lady, Shelly. She sold me this building. She’s older than me, but goodness, what I wouldn’t do to -“

“You don’t have to continue that,” I giggled, “I catch your drift. Is she into you?”

“Well… she’s recently divorced from a man, but sometimes she flirts like she’s curious or something.”

“Maybe she is. Maybe she wants to taste your cherry chapstick,” I stuck my tongue at her jokingly.

We were interrupted by the bell above the door, and I turned to see Steve walking in, Eddie on his tail wearing the exact same uniform.

“Oh,” he stared blankly when he saw me, “I’ll come back later.”

“No,” I stopped him, “If me being here is that big of a deal then I’ll go.”

Robin scoffed, “Neither of you idiots are going anywhere. We’re all friends here.”

“It’s ok Rob,” I sighed, “Really, I’m fine with leaving.”

“Steve, she doesn’t have to leave, man. We’re not gonna be here long, and she’s not hurting anybody,” Eddie put in his two cents, and I smiled.

“Hey Eddie,” I walked over to him and he opened his arms wide for a hug.

“Hey Y/N. I’ve missed you.”

“Missed you more,” I poked him as I pulled away, taking in his short hair and muscles more formed than I’d ever seen them. “Fire department make you chop your curls off?”

“Unfortunately.”

“It’s a nice look,” I shrugged, “Very handsome and mature.”

Steve cleared his throat and we turned to him. “Relax,” Eddie sighed, “We’re not flirting, bro. That’s what you guys do.”

Steve blushed. He couldn’t stop himself. “Give it a rest, Eddie.”

“Not until you stop your temper tantrum and let the past go.”

“I’m not throwing a temper tantrum,” Steve rolled his eyes, and Robin took it upon herself to lighten the mood.

“Anyways,” she smiled brightly, “How’s work going today, boys?”

“Well, we have a kitten in the firetruck,” Steve sighed, and she laughed.

“A cat?”

“Yeah, Steve rescued it from a bush, it’s little foot was stuck in one of the branches,” Eddie patted Steve on the back.

“It looks like that cat Y/N used to have, the one that she cried for a week straight when it died,” Steve mused, smiling at me for the first time since I’d seen him again as if involuntarily. He caught himself though, and turned away.

“You remember that?” I asked.

“I remember everything,” he shrugged, “Wanna see it?”

“Of course!” I squealed, and he walked me outside, opening the drivers’ side door and pulling it out.

It was cute, white with silver spots all over it. It meowed as he handed it to me, climbing into my arms and clinging on to me for dear life.

“Oh, he’s perfect,” I hummed as I stared at him, holding him close to me and giving his forehead kisses.

“He’s yours,” Steve said, his eyes trained on me and the cat, “If you want him, I mean.”

I looked at him, seeing if there was any sign of joking but there was none. “I’d love to take him!”

“I thought of you when I saw him,” he admitted to me, staring at his feet and swaying nervously.

“I didn’t think you even still thought about me.”

“All the time.”

His voice was almost too low for me to hear, but I caught it and my heart sped up.

“Steve, I’m sorry again. Really. I missed you every day. If I could go back and be there that day…”

“You don’t have to explain yourself,” he sighed, “I was angry when I first saw you. I’m not now. I just needed to get over the initial shock, that’s all.”

“So you don’t hate me?”

“I couldn’t if I wanted to. You were my best friend. I just… I just wanna understand why you left. You never told me. Nobody ever told me.”

“It’s…” I hesitated. How could I explain it to him? “It’s a long story.”

“Of course,” he nodded, “Well whenever you’re ready to, we can talk.”

“Okay.”

We stared at each other for a moment before Eddie broke the silence, “You ready to go Steve? They’re gonna be sending out a search party soon if we don’t get back.”

“Yeah,” he nodded then turned to me, “See you later, Y/N. Take care of the cat.”

“I will. Bye,” I smiled, watching him walk away.

Well, at least the anger had subsided. But I was never going to be able to explain the reason I left.

The night of my graduation

The ceremony had taken ages. I wouldn’t have cared if not for the heels that had been cramping my feet all day and the tight white dress that I wanted to rip off. I groaned as I walked to the parking lot where my family was waiting, along with my friends.

The first person that greeted me was Steve. He was always the first to greet me, no matter the place or occasion. In his hand, he held my favorite slippers, fuzzy and cozy and just what my feet needed.

“Aww, Stevie, you brought me slippers?” I cooed, pouting at his kind gesture.

“When you told me you were wearing those ridiculous heels I knew I needed to bring them so I wouldn’t have to listen to you complain about your feet hurting.”

I ripped my heels off with a vengeance and replaced them with the slippers that had cute smiley faces on them, and my face matched the expression. I pulled Steve into a hug so tight I thought we might suffocate each other, breathing him in.

“This is why you’re my best friend,” I hummed into his chest.

We didn’t let go of each other for a minute or two, soaking in the moment. Our hugs were always like that. It always felt like we were never going to see each other again. Only this time, we really weren’t. He didn’t know that, though.

He pulled away, looking in my eyes, a sparkle in his that was all for me. His eyes trailed down to my open gown and the dress under it, and he raised his brows.

“You look good.”

“Just good?”

“Really good.”

And that moment dragged on with a heated glance shared between us, eyes locked on each other and refusing to move until Robin barreled over to us, kids in tow and Eddie following.

“Quit hogging her, dingus, she’s too pretty to only talk to you,” she rolled her eyes, hugging me tightly and chit chatting about the ceremony. Steve stayed quiet though, and that heated gaze didn’t dissipate. Something felt different. Something was off, in the best way.

My family joined us, offering to bring us all back to the cabin for a barbecue and we eagerly agreed. I rode with Steve, naturally, the kids rode with my parents, and Eddie and Robin took his van.

The ride felt longer than it should’ve, tension in the air.

“Steve, what’s happening?” I asked.

“What do you mean?”

“We’ve never run out of things to talk about,” I shrugged, leaning over to brush a stray strand of hair behind his ear.

“We haven’t run out of things to talk about. It’s just, sometimes when I’m with you, nothing needs to be said.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“I think so,” he glanced at me, his eyes sharp and cutting into my heart, right where I wanted him most. Right where he already was.

Minutes later, we pulled in the rough driveway, my hair flying all over my face. He chuckled, smoothing it out over my head before we got out, joining everyone else by the lake.

“They’ve got it decked out,” I commented as we approached, and Steve just smiled bashfully. “Did you have something to do with this?”

“Maybe.”

I giggled lightly, turning away from him to greet everyone else.

“Y/N, Steve, you made it!” my mom beamed, pulling us into a hug, “I see you ditched the gown!”

“Yeah, it was itchy,” I grimaced, remembering the horrible material.

“Well I wanted to take pictures but we can do it later,” she shrugged, leading us to the picnic table. The benches were full, though, so Steve pulled a big folding chair up and sat down, pulling me down beside him, my legs over his lap. That wasn’t unusual for us, we were always touchy and feely, always beside eachother somehow. Nobody even found it odd anymore, though the jokes about us getting together never ceased.

Everyone laughed and had a good time, and as the night wore on, I got a little sleepy. Steve and I had been up and about, but we were back in our chair, my head laid in the crook of his neck and his arms around me.

“Wanna go for a walk?” he asked me, watching everyone else continue their good time. I nodded, standing up. He stood up after me, grabbing my hand and leading me away.

We walked through a trail in the woods we’d found the first time we snuck out to the cabin together.

“Remember the first time we came out here?” he asked me, and I nodded with a laugh.

“I slipped in mud and fell on my ass. I fractured my foot, too, and I couldn’t walk. I was disgusting, but you still carried me back to the car.”

“I don’t mind getting a little dirty,” he shrugged with a wink, and I rolled my eyes. “Not with you, at least.”

Finally, we reached our destination, a clearing by the water. It had the prettiest view of the sky.

“Swim with me,” he stated, as if it was more of a demand than a question.

“Steve!” I huffed, “I can’t swim in this dress!”

“Then take it off. You have on a bra and panties, right?”

“Well… y-yeah, but-“

“Just do it. You only graduate high school once, do something crazy with me! We’re best friends, right?” he coerced, squeezing my hands and pulling me closer to the water.

I sighed, nodding slowly. “Will you unzip me?”

He walked behind me and laid his hands on my shoulders. They were warm and heavy, his grip on me soft but firm. his fingers trailed down my back to the little metal piece and he pulled it down, exposing black lace and my plain black thong. I turned to him, letting the white material fall to the ground, and the way his eyes lingered in all the places a friend shouldn’t look was hard to miss.

“Why would you wear that to graduate?” he asked, “Were you planning on getting lucky tonight!”

“I’m already lucky tonight, Steve,” I sighed, “I’m with you. Now take off your clothes and come on!”

He chuckled, his eyes darker than they’d been a moment ago, and pulled his shirt over his head, then kicking off his pants. I was greedy taking him in, his boxers tight and leaving little to the imagination.

Steve and I had seen each other like that before. We’d walked in on each other changing, and we’d swam in regular swimsuits. All of our insecurities had already been exposed so many times, so none of them even mattered at all. This felt different, though. Being in nothing but dainty lingerie had me shy, exposed.

He approached me slowly, his hands landing on my hips, his eyes meeting mine and staying. He was so close I could feel his body heat radiating off of him, goosebumps prickling my skin.

“Race you,” he smirked suddenly, twirling me out of the way and sliding past me, running to the water and jumping in. I rolled my eyes and laughed, following him and jumping on his back. We fell into a fit of giggles together as he tossed me off, pulling me into his front instead.

The giggles died out, replaced by heavy breath.

“I won,” he whispered.

“What’s your prize?” I responded breathily.

He groaned, leaning his head down into my neck and inhaling.

“You’re driving me crazy. You’re my best friend. I shouldn’t… I shouldn’t…”

“Shouldn’t what?”

“Shouldn’t love you so much.”

“I love you too, Steve,” I giggled, but he stopped me, his thumb running over my bottom lip.

“I don’t think I could’ve made it these last couple years without you,” he admitted. “You’re the best thing that’s happened to me. Don’t tell the kids.”

“Oh, I won’t, they’d be crushed,” I nodded dramatically.

For a second I thought he’d kiss me. I thought he’d kiss me and I wouldn’t have to leave. He leaned in so close, his lips were less than a breath away from mine. But then he pulled to the side and kissed my cheek instead, then trailed his lips down, ghosting over the sensitive skin of my neck.

I let out a raspy breath, “Steve,” I barely moaned. I needed him so bad I could feel it, I could hear it and see it. I’d been in love with him for far too long. His hand tangled in my slightly wet hair, tugging lightly, pulling me in. His other landed on my side, trailing down my thigh and pulling my leg over his hip. I could feel everything, and I didn’t know how to take it all.

All of a sudden, he pulled away, his hand still in mine but the warmth gone. I whined at the loss of contact.

“We’re supposed to be swimming!” he chuckled, haphazardly pulling me under with him. And like that, the moment was replaced with something lighter, friendlier, but still close.

Later that night, Steve drove me back to my parents’ house. As he parked in the driveway, he turned to me.

“I can’t wait to see you again,” he whispered bashfully.

I stared at my lap, not knowing what to say. I wanted to tell him I was leaving, but he would just beg me to stay and wear me down until I agreed, and I would spend the rest of my life hanging on his arm next to whatever girl he wanted more than me. I was never going to be it for him. I was never going to be what he wanted. I wasn’t enough.

“Goodbye, Steve,” I gave him a sad smile and got out of the car, running inside the house.

[r-is-typing]

not my type | e.m

summary: in which eddie loses the best thing that’s ever happened to him

requested?: yes! requested by anon!

request: Ooh can I request a Eddie x cheerleader!reader who are friends and hang out a lot despite what people think. They become a little more than friends but keep that part a secret. His friends (the older ones not the kids) notice he's hanging out with the reader and asks if they're dating but then he lies and says something like "never, she's not my type". Then the reader hears him and gets really upset and confronts him? Sorry I'm just a sucker for something angsty!

pairing: eddie munson x cheerleader!reader

category: angst

content warnings: super angsty

word count: <1k 

To say Eddie loved her would be quite an understatement.

Eddie didn’t just love Y/N. He adored her, worshipped her. But, of course, he couldn’t let her know that. At least, not for the first two years of friendship. Especially when he was an outcast and she was a cheerleader. The head cheerleader at that. She had to keep up their social standards, but she didn’t care. 

Which, in turn, did cause a lot of issues.

Chrissy Cunningham was the only one out of the cheer and basketball teams that actually respected and felt happy for the two. Chrissy didn’t know Eddie, but she didn’t need to. She saw how much the friendship between the two meant to Y/N and that was all that mattered. 

Then, she became the first to know when Y/N and Eddie’s friendship evolved from playful shoves and friendly gestures to kisses and secret sleepovers. 

It was a Friday night, which usually meant dinner and a movie night at Eddie’s trailer. Y/N stood at her locker, putting away textbooks from classes she had already gone to, and grabbing the textbooks she needed for classes later in the day. 

“Hey, so, Harrington and I were thinking,” Robin approached her, making the girl press her back against the locker, holding her textbooks to her chest. “We wanted to do something fun, maybe go bowling or something.” Y/N nodded, looking at Robin curiously. “You wanna go?” 

She stood still for a moment, debating on what to say.

On the one hand, she’d love to spend time with her friends. It wasn’t very often it was just them without the younger kids. As much as she loved them, it was nice to be able to talk about whatever without Dustin groaning in disgust or El exclaiming her confusion as she didn’t understand a lot of social normalities. 

But, on the other hand, it was date night. Just like she didn’t get time with her friends, she got even less time with Eddie, their relationship being secret and all. So, the couple made a deal that one day a week, no matter what, they’d spend time together. 

“Sorry, Rob. Chrissy and the rest of the cheer team wanted to hang out tonight. Go over some routines for the pep rally. Maybe this weekend?” 

Robin nodded, understanding that extracurriculars were tough, and required a lot of attention. “Yeah, no problem. Ready to go to lunch?” Y/N nodded, closing her locker and following Robin to the cafeteria. Since Robin and Steve became closer to Y/N and Eddie due to the couple’s discovery of the Upside Down, they’ve been sitting with the rest of the Hellfire Club on occasion. 

As they walked closer, Steve’s voice got louder. 

“Alright, so c’mon, Munson. You’re seriously going to sit here and say you’ve never thought about being with Y/N, man? I mean, there’s nothing going on there?” This caught the two girls' attention. Y/N looked towards Eddie, noticing his whole body tense up and then relax in the same few seconds.

“Harrington, how many times are you going to ask?”

The snarky voice of her boyfriend almost made her laugh. Almost. It would’ve had his next few words not stung so badly. Eddie had spoken words that she was afraid of and worried daily about, yet he spoke them. Eddie knew her fears and still said something that had he known she was listening, would’ve been well aware that it would’ve broken her heart. 

“No, man. Never gonna happen; she’s not my type.”

Y/N looked toward Chrissy who had heard every word and stood up quickly, rushing to her side. “Y/N, come on.” Robin looked confusedly toward the two, and Steve looked up from the table, calling out. “Rob, Y/N, you gonna sit down or what?” 

Eddie froze, his body becoming tense again at the mention of his girlfriend. 

“Y/N-” “Not now, Munson.”

Chrissy cut him off sharply, wrapping an arm around Y/N and leading her out of the cafeteria. Eddie stood quickly to his feet and chased after the two. “Cunningham, let me talk to her.” He choked out, out of breath as he caught up to them. 

“You’re joking, right?”

Chrissy shook her head in disbelief and joined Y/N where she was hiding in the locker room. Echoing sobs escaped the room before Chrissy could close the door fully. Eddie’s heart broke, just like every time Y/N cried, but this time… 

This time, it was because of him. He made her cry. 

A week passed since the events. Y/N did everything she could to avoid Eddie in every possible way. She closed her bedroom curtains so Eddie was given the signal that she didn’t want to see him, she sat with Chrissy at lunch in the cheer coach's office, and she got Nancy rides to and from school. 

Y/N avoided Eddie as if he was the plague. 

But, she decided she needed to do the right thing and put an end to it. Officially. So, she asked Nancy to drive her over to Eddie’s, Steve and Robin in the backseat, one large box in the trunk of Nancy’s car. 

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Nancy looked at the teary-eyed girl in front of her as the four stood outside Eddie’s trailer, one of the lamposts barely lighting their surroundings. Y/N ended up telling the three of them about everything, especially after she couldn’t hide her heartbreak anymore. 

“No, but I have to.” 

Y/N sighed, brushing her hair out of her face, taking the box into her arms, and walking closer and closer to his trailer until the familiar smell of weed and Eddie’s familiar musk filled her senses. 

Her knuckles rapped against the screen door and she backed away against the railing of the porch as she waited. 

“Baby, I’ve be-” Eddie grunted as the cardboard box once in Y/N’s arms shoved against his chest. “Stop, Eddie. Just stop. I don’t want to hear it, alright? You’ve done enough.” Ouch, Eddie thought. 

“Just come inside and we can talk.”

Y/N scoffed, looking back at her friends who were now back in Nancy’s car. “Talk? About what, Eddie? About how I’m not your type, how after almost six months, I’m suddenly not the girl you told me you loved?” 

Eddie’s features softened as he looked at her, seeing how badly he had hurt her. 

But, on top of the pain, he could tell there was something she was trying to mask, or trying to fight. “I, uh, guess I should give you this back too..” Y/N reached around the back of her neck, pulling something over her head. Eddie’s eyes widened as he realized what it was. 

Y/N placed the item into his hand before walking down the steps and stepping onto the gravel. “Goodbye, Eddie.” She gave a final nod before turning her back towards him and jogging towards Nancy’s car.

Eddie looked down at his guitar pick necklace in his hands. The item screaming at him in the face that the damage had been done, he’d lost her for good, and it would be the biggest mistake of his life.

r is typing... i'm not crying, you are... i loved writing this so much <3 thank you for the request! i hope you like it! r is signing off... join the taglist! taglist: @jojoisawesome @howardshottub @jssmth5 @alexxavicry @angelbunnyboo @meaganjm @ruinedbythehobbit

[helloheyhihowdyheya]

Get Well Soon

Eddie Munson x reader

Masterlist

Summary: Steve got sick. You wanted to make a get-well-soon basket. Eddie took that idea very seriously.

Word count: ~1.3k

Warnings: Some fluff, some swearing. Eddie being his funny, dramatic self. Reader’s gender/pronouns not specified.

A/n: Just a funny little idea for Eddie if Steve ever got sick. I hope you enjoy, thanks for reading <3

--

Steve got sick. You would’ve accused him of having the “man flu” had you not seen how pale he’d looked and backed up ten feet after the scratchy coughs he let out. Steve had blamed it on one of the kids for getting him sick, but Dustin had said it was Steve’s aging body at fault.

Either way, he was bedridden with a fever, all of you taking turns visiting him and helping him through it. Yesterday, after grabbing the mail for Steve, you’d suggested to Eddie to put together a basket of sorts to help him feel better — medicine, soup, chocolate, tissues, maybe a card. It hadn’t meant to be much, just something to help him recover and show that his friends were here for him. You hadn’t meant for it to become this…

“Christ, Lucas. Do you want Steve to throw up more? Cause that’s what this is going to do,” Eddie said, peering over Lucas’s shoulder. You were all sitting at the dining table at the Wheeler house. Your boyfriend had his arms crossed, having quickly taken over the mom role from Steve in his absence.

Lucas had drawn a thermometer with an ice pack on its head for his get well soon card, and while it was a little bit crooked, it wasn’t bad. You knew Steve would appreciate it anywa-

“Robin, you’ve seen a VHS tape before, right?” Eddie asked, his hair falling along his shoulder as he moved next to her.

She leaned back in her chair to look him in the face, rolling her eyes. “I literally work on a video store, Munson.”

Eddie pursed his lips, nodding as he brought a finger down to the basket she was decorating. “Yeah, thought so… Then what in the everloving hell is this you’ve made?” 

One of the crafts you thought could be nice was to draw designs on the basket (really just a cardboard box). You’d all chosen some movies to include in there for him to watch, so Robin had decorated the box with sketches of VHS tapes. You couldn’t quite tell what was wrong with it, but you had long since given up on stopping Eddie’s tirade.

Robin continued her drawing, saying, “It’s literally fine, dickwad. Steve’s too hopped up on meds to even care!”

She definitely had a point. But you just sat there, continuing to redesign the label of a Farah Fawcett hairspray bottle. Instead of her name and face, you thought Steve might find it funny to have his name and face on it — he’d become the epitome of great hair in this town anyway. You were cutting his face out of a picture when Eddie walked up behind you.

For a moment, you braced yourself. But he bent down to kiss you on the head, whispering, “Sweetheart, this is perfect. He’s gonna love it.” His thumb stroked across the back of your shoulder as he kept walking past. Internally, you smiled while ignoring Robin’s playful glare.

Before Eddie could make any more remarks, Dustin came in through the front door, holding up a shopping bag. “Okay, I think I got all the snacks and meds for Steve. How are the arts and crafts going?”

Biting down on the inside of your cheek, you listened to the silence that followed Dustin’s question. Just scurried sounds of colored pencils and tape ripping filled the room.

Meanwhile, Eddie took the bag, rustling through its contents. “Henderson…” he said, and all of you looked up, waiting for his next words. “Are these goddamn Red Vines?” He pulled out a pack of Red Vines licorice, holding it up with shaking fingers.

“Uh, yeah?” Dustin muttered, his eyebrows scrunched together.

Most of you ducked as Eddie threw the Red Vines toward Dustin, who just barely dodged it. “I said Twizzlers. Twizzlers. I…” He pressed his finger and thumb on the bridge of his nose, breathing deeply. “We’d said we wanted to make a get-well-soon basket for Steve. How is he supposed to get better under these conditions!?”

By this point, you let out a soft laugh, unable to hold back your amusement any longer. Maybe the power had gotten to his head too much. He’d even convinced your parents to make some of their homemade soup for Steve.

“Are you going to do any work besides yelling at children?” Max asked from the couch, her eyebrow raised as she worked on her nearly completed card.

Eddie put his hands on his hips, and you had immediate flashbacks to Steve. Silently to Robin, you copied his pose, setting your hands on your waist and pretending to lecture while Eddie spoke.

“I already made a card and a personalized tissue box because I’m efficient, so I have the time to ensure the rest of you don’t poison Steve with these measly gifts.” 

Max gave him an unimpressed look, but a hint of a smile showed when she saw you. Robin had started copying the pose too, both of you hiding your laughter. You quickly stopped when Eddie turned around, but he still saw the way your shoulders shook. Thankfully, before he could say anything, Mike walked in with the stack of VHS tapes for the basket.

“Finally,” Eddie said, looking at all the gifts. “We should be pretty close to done now, even with its faults.” He pointed the last words toward Dustin, who flipped him the bird from across the room.

With a tired back and aching wrists, you yourself were nearly finished with the hairspray. But just as you fixed the new label onto the bottle, Mike bumped into your shoulder as he walked past with the tapes. Your hands flew forward, knocking the bottle and its cover off the table. As it hit the floor, you heard the snap of the bottle’s nozzle breaking off.

Complete silence followed, none of you moving as you stared at the damaged hairspray. In the process, the picture of Steve had ripped too, just leaving half of his face on it. There’d be no way to fit the nozzle back on.

“Mike…” Eddie said, the word tight like it could snap at any moment. You barely breathed. “Go get another one. Now.”

Mike sputtered an apology to you, but then turned to Eddie. “I can’t even drive, man. We could–”

“Figure it out, Wheeler!”

“Eddie, it’s really fine,” you told him, walking up to him and running a hand down his arm to calm him down. “It doesn’t need to be perfect. Steve would probably cry even if we’d just gotten him one card, let alone several.”

You watched his jaw tick as he thought, his weight leaning into your touch. “Fine. I’ll save my artistic vision for another time. We can be done, guys,” he muttered, waving a hand through the air.

A collective sigh of relief went through the room. You grabbed the different gifts from everyone, trying to set them up in the basket just right. Then Eddie took over, twisting things this way and that until it looked perfect — minus the Red Vines, according to him.

Yeah, he was dramatic. But Eddie cared for others with his whole heart, and you wouldn’t trade that for anything. And you were right about Steve. Surrounded by his closest friends and delirious with a high fever, Steve took one look at the wonky, mismatched get-well-soon basket and teared up. You pretended not to notice the watery look in Eddie’s eyes either.

[myersmaniac]

~ wish I would’ve~

Pairings: Eddie Munson x Henderson!reader, mentions of past relationship with Steve Harrington x Henderson!reader ( she/her) pronouns.

• no use of y/n

CLIFFHANGER!!!

Flash backs written like this lol💕

Part 1

——————

YOU’RE SO CAUGHT UP IN THIS SOCIAL STATUS BULLSHIT YOU NEVER HAVE TIME FOR ME!

You screamed at Steve as he sat looking completely emotionless, all that mattered to him was keeping up his title of “ king Steve”.

What the actual fuck are you talking about, all I ever do is spend time with you if you ask me we might even spend TO MUCH TIME around each other. Steve replied.

Your jaw almost hit the ground then you began to speak. “ TO MUCH TIME??? THATS WHAT YOU THINK? DONT START WITH ME HARRINGTON; WHEN WE ARE TOGETHER IM NOTHING MORE THAN AN ARM REST, A PROP BESIDE YOU WHILE YOU SIT SHIT TALKING WITH TOMMY.”

THAT ISN’T TRUE, IM TRYING MY BEST. Steve said in his defense.

“ WELL TRY FUCKING HARDER” it might come off a bit harsh but you’ve had enough, when you and Steve first got together it was amazing, you were both so very in love but lately it’s all been feeling one sided. Steve’s taking this king Steve stuff way to serious, he barley even talks to you.

“ NANCY WOULD NEVER HAVE SAID SOMETHING LIKE THAT” Steve screamed, instant regret followed. The silence in the air said more than words ever could. Steve stumbled through his vocabulary trying to figure out how he could fix this. “ baby you know I didn’t-” he started but you quickly cut him off with a simple “we’re done”.

——

It took a few months for you to pull yourself together but you finally came around with the help of Eddie Munson. You had met him through your little brother Dustin, he dropped him off from a hellfire meeting one night and his car broke down right as he pulled up to your house, thankfully they made it there safely but Eddie ended up having to stay the night and the car got fixed in the morning; you spent that night talking to Eddie and you both grew closer by the day and eventually began to become a little more than friends.

Steve knew what he said was wrong, he knew it was all a mistake. Even though you left months ago he still can’t get you off his mind. He’s let go of the whole “ king steve” childish nonsense. You were much more important to him than that but it’s a little to late now.

———

Eddie reached for your hand as you both walked into school. “You look gorgeous today as always m’lady” he said in his cute little accent he does that you love. “ and you as well my prince” you both giggled and pecked at each others lips. Little did you know Steve was watching from afar his heart breaking at the sight of you with another guy. He knew you deserved to be treated well, he didn’t blame you for leaving, he knew he was an asshole but now he’s changed. His heart felt heavy and his eyes fluttered fighting tears. All he could do was walk the other way.

———

Later that day he began his shift at family video which means he also began his ranting about you to Robin. “ I just wish I would’ve listened or said more or done better” Steve spoke. “ ughh” robin said rolling her eyes “ you know Steve this is getting old. You messed up dude, we all do but you’ve seriously got to move on.” “ don’t you think I would if I could? I can’t Robin, I love her.” Steve replied. Before Robin could get any words out the door opened “ welcome to family videos!” Robin said, she picked up her head to greet whoever had came in but that’s when she was met with Eddie. Robin knew you and Eddie had been seeing each other, Steve had mentioned it one, two or a thousand times. All she could give was a soft smile to him. Steve panicked. He didn’t know if you were behind Eddie or if Eddie came to start a fight, every possibility was running through his head except for the fact that he could just be coming to get a movie. So Steve hid behind a cardboard cut out and made a complete fool of himself.

———

Eddie knew you and Steve had dated but he didn’t know to much, he though things ended peacefully and you two didn’t really have that much history but boy was he mistaken.

“ uhhh why did Harrington just run behind a cardboard cut out?” Were Eddie’s first words. Steve swiftly came out from behind the cut out trying to play it off “ not hiding, just cleaning” he was beyond confused right now. Robin just shrugged with embarrassment. “ anyways” Eddie began, “do you guys have sixteen candles?” Steve’s heart was shattered all over again. He knew that was your favorite movie which was probably why Eddie was asking for it right now. “ uhh yeah, I actually have a copy right here, here you go” Robin pulled a copy out from behind the counter that had just been returned earlier that day. “ Thanks” Eddie replied. There had been intense awkwardness in the room the entire time and Eddie honestly didn’t have a clue as to why. He awkwardly waved the movie a little then turned to walk out the door. As soon as he did “ THATS HER FAVORITE MOVIE ROBIN” Steve said “ JESUS CHRIST HARRINGTON ENOUGH!” Robin replied throwing her hands up in defeat. “ they’re probably watching it tonight doing God knows what, I can’t take it any more. That should be me on her bed watching it with her, me holding her not that freak!” Suddenly a cough came from the door. It was Eddie “ I forgot to pay and no one mentioned it but keep your fucking movie.” Eddie tossed the movie and walked out the door.

[writer-in-theory]

do not go gently — steddie.

whumptober no. 3 — hair’s breadth from death

summary: steve is apparently supposed to die in 24 hours, but there’s so much left to say. —or, what if steve was targeted by vecna instead? prompt: “say goodbye” pairing: steve harrington/eddie munson, implied past steve/billy category: hurt/comfort content warnings: language, discussions of death word count: 2k

This wasn’t the first time Steve Harrington thought he would die, but it was the first time he felt totally and utterly alone with this realization. 

The first time he’d been sixteen, staring at the front of the Byers's house feeling the surety in his bones that he would run back inside with nothing but a bat with nails to protect him. He’d run in knowing there was some creature inside that didn’t belong there, one that for some reason wanted to kill them. It had been easier then, knowing that if he died it would be because he was protecting the girl he thought he loved and the guy he desperately wanted to make amends with. 

The next time, it had been even easier to risk his life. Steve hadn’t even hesitated for a second when the demodogs rushed him and Dustin—all he knew was that if he could wrap himself around that boy to give him a miracle’s chance at survival, then he’d take it. After all, Dustin Henderson was easily one of the most brilliant people he’d ever met, and the kid was still in middle school. There was so much for him to look forward to, so much that he could do with all that brilliance, what else could Steve do except place his own life between the kid and danger? Dustin had never outright thanked him, but he had slowly pulled Steve into his circle of family so completely that Steve couldn’t imagine a life without the little dork around.

With each year another battle with death Steve fought, and the next came in the form of Russians hiding out under his place of work. He still shuddered at the thought of everything the Russians could have done if they’d had more time, everything that he would’ve let them do because as long as their attention was on him it wasn’t on Robin. Robin, who would’ve been safe had he not pulled her into their schemes, who deserved a chance to travel to Nashville to go after the girl of her dreams after all of this. 

Each time he’d had someone to stand beside, someone to reason out the end of his journey. He’d survived so much, and fought so hard, it was downright insulting to go out like this—being mind-hunted by some guy named Vecna who for some reason wanted to kill traumatized teenagers from Hawkins.

“I can hear you thinking from here, Harrington,” Eddie Munson of all people called out, startling Steve from where he sat on one of the pool chairs in his backyard. He’d given up smoking years ago after Dustin pestered him for long enough, but now he let a cigarette dangle between his fingers, allowing himself this one cheat on his final day. Henderson would just have to understand.

“Thought I’d give it a try,” Steve huffed out, settling back into his chair as Eddie climbed into the one beside him, sitting sideways with crisscrossed legs so he could face Steve completely. 

“And how’s it treating our precious King Steve?”

“You know what, Munson, thinking kind of blows,” Steve laughed, the sound growing in confidence when Eddie laughed along with him. “But you know, I better do it while I still can.”

The laughter died off with a pained whisper, drifting off into the night like the steam that rose from the unused pool. Steve had been in it once or twice since Barb but found he was far less afraid of being pulled under the surface in the community pool. He thought he might give it a go tonight when there was nothing left to be afraid of, but instead, he just sat and watched the steam coil from it wondering if his final breath would look like that too. 

“Those kids in there aren’t gonna let anything happen to you,” Eddie told him, more seriousness in his voice than Steve had heard since a broken bottle had been pressed against his neck. “I don’t know how, but they’ll figure something out.”

“Promise me something, Munson,” Steve spoke suddenly, whipping his head to the side to look at the other man. Eddie, for what it was worth, seemed startled by the sudden eye contact or maybe the intensity in Steve’s look. His dark eyes widened, his eyebrows lifting into his messy bangs. “Don’t let them risk their shit for me, alright? Just...out of everyone, it could’ve been, maybe this isn’t so bad.”

“Now where’s that King Steve who used to walk around Hawkins High like he fuckin’ owned the place?” Eddie asked with a bit more hardness in his expression than Steve was expecting. The familiarity of it caught him off-guard and sent his head reeling back as though the words had physically smacked him. “He was a bitch to deal with but at least he had some fire left.”

Steve scoffed, shaking his head and running one hand through his hair. “Funny, you’re starting to sound a lot like someone else who thought way too highly of me,” he breathed more than spoke, getting one mental glimpse of blue eyes before he shook the thought away, not daring to touch that hurt even at the end. 

“Don’t get me wrong, Harrington, this new babysitter version of you’s a lot more tolerable,” Eddie answered, planting his feet back on the ground and leaning forward closer to him, “but King Steve wouldn’t just lay down and die without a fight.”

“I’m not—” Steve began to argue, all clenched fists and furrowed eyebrows before he took a breath, and forced his muscles to relax. “This isn’t like the other times, okay? I can’t just throw a punch and get out of this.”

“What happened to all the talk before about what a great supernatural power-fighting team you all make?”

Steve shrugged, shifting in his chair to mirror Eddie—arms resting against his thighs so he can lean forward, shoulders tilted slightly inward. The tops of his white Nikes were inches from Eddie’s shoes, one move and they’d bump feet. Steve let the question linger in the air between them, and thankfully Eddie didn’t press any further. He just watched, his clasped hands far too close to Steve’s. Any other time, when his emotions weren’t already going haywire, and the proximity might’ve made him malfunction.

“I don’t want any of the little shits to lose hope,” Steve finally answered, “don’t want the last thing I see of them to be crying. I mean, how could I tell them I have no idea how to get out of this? That it’s gonna be some clock wizard who takes me out and I’m actually pretty fucking terrified of it because I have no idea what to expect. It’s not fair, man, and I can’t stick that on the kids.”

Eddie was silent for only a moment before his head tilted down a little so his eyes could watch as his hands messed with the rings on his fingers. “I was with Chrissy when he...” another pause. “You wanna know so bad, I could tell you.”

Steve knew he shouldn’t. He wanted to ask for every gory detail of what would happen to him but at the same time, his heart screamed against it, slamming itself against his chest cavity to prevent any more fear from filling the already tight space.

“Did it hurt her?”

Eddie looked up to meet Steve’s gaze then, wincing and nodding once. “Yeah, looked like it.”

“Was it quick?”

Eddie paused again, looked like he wanted to say something before he thought better of himself. “Too quick for me to do anything about it.”

It was an odd way to put it. It was how Steve might word it if one of the Party had gotten hurt under his watch. Maybe it was the nighttime cover, or maybe it was the fact that in less than twenty-four hours none of this would matter anymore, but Steve found himself reaching forward and grabbing onto one of Eddie’s hands, startling both of them. 

“You know that’s not on you, right, Munson?”

“Yeah, sure,” Eddie answered quickly, leaning back a little and face scrunching up as if to wave off the thought physically. “Not like I’ve run at every sight of danger so far while people risk their lives. Those kids, Chrissy, even King Steve Harrington himself.”

“You’re not running this time,” Steve told him firmly.

“You asked me to make sure we let you die.”

“That’s not running,” Steve reaffirmed. “Those kids need a babysitter, alright? It’s like they’ve got magnets strapped to their backs ready to attract any trouble they can. And if I can’t be the one with the bat ready to fight that trouble off, I need someone else they like just as much to do the job.”

“I’m no varsity team captain, Harrington, I don’t lead.” Eddie practically spits out the words ‘team captain’ like they left a bad taste in his mouth, making Steve huff out a bit of a laugh even in the serious situation. He wondered what would’ve happened if high school cliques weren’t so rigid and if maybe Steve had gotten the chance to talk to Eddie sooner. Maybe things would be different. Maybe they’d have more than a brief handhold and a half dozen lingering stares at the end of the day. 

“You are a DM.” Steve laughed at the look on Eddie’s face, rolling his eyes and letting his hand run through his hair out of habit again. “C’mon, man, I have to hear Henderson talk about that game every day, I’ve picked up some things. And I’ve picked up that the DM’s sorta like the team captain. You lead the group, direct them where they need to go. You keep them all from killing each other which honestly is impressive enough. Believe me, you’re qualified for the job.”

“Too bad there won’t be a job opening any time soon,” Eddie replied resolutely.

“Eddie,” Steve sighed, head tilting as he fought to understand why the man couldn’t just get it that—

“Say what you want, but I’ve seen two people get all their bones snapped by some freaky mind magic, and I’m not making that three.” Eddie stood up then, holding out one hand as if Steve needed help to stand. Steve still took it though, not letting go right away once they were both standing. “So say goodbye all you want but when I’m right King Steve’ll be making an appearance in our next campaign.”

“Fine,” Steve agreed, shaking his head at the mischief held within Eddie’s eyes. They were standing so close now, so god damn close that Steve could see every tiny detail of Eddie’s face if he looked—and he looked. “but when I’m right and all the goodbyes were necessary, you’re wearing my varsity letterman for a whole week. Try being King Eddie for a change.”

Eddie laughed, and the bright sound made Steve laugh too. It wasn’t that funny, what they’d said, but maybe the emotions of the day had caught up to him enough because soon enough Steve was bent in half, hands braced on his knees as he wheezed through his laughter. Tears streamed from the surprising joy, and maybe some of that joy was mixed in with the fear of what lay ahead, but at least he had this moment. A good moment to replace all the bad that had taken over his memory of this pool, all because of Eddie fucking Munson.

And when the laughter finally died down and he was left standing in front of Eddie on what could potentially be the last night of his life, Steve realized he maybe wasn’t going into this alone after all.

[thestobingirlie]

Hello!! Just wanted to say thank you for your absolutely refreshing takes. It makes me feel like I'm not the only one which is so nice. I love checking your blog and reading through your responses, they're always so insightful!! Especially about Steve, Robin and Nancy

One thing ive been thinking about lately  that ive been wondering if you have thoughts on (but no pressure if you dont!) - is Nancy's plan to take down Vecna in s4. She saw the vision , she's ambitious and determined to take Vecna down, but she's also unempathetic, doesn't think about consequences and always needs to be right. She bulldozes over everyone and a part of me wonders how differently it could have gone if they didn't follow her plan. Or adjusted it. I mean, Steve has severe road rash up his whole back and arms, has been bitten, strangled, and is breathing in the toxic Upside Down air - and she still wants to go back into the Upside down relying on him. She dismisses his concerns about the bats and then the bats kill Eddie. A lot of this is probably just the Duffers writing decisions but get this boy some medical attention please oh my god take his injuries seriously. Nancy gets herself another gun even though they don't work on Upside Down creatures.

Sorry this isn't more coherent! Nancy is just so complicated and fucked up and interesting to think about!

thank you so much! i love compliments <3

thanks for calling my responses insightful! i try not to get too lost in what i want for characters and my interpretations and stick to what canon presents us with. obviously my opinions will always seep through, but i’m glad you like them!

i think the thing with nancy’s plan is that the duffers don’t want to make nancy look like an idiot, but her plan was designed to fail.

so everything that goes wrong is kind of outside of her control. there’s an earthquake, and they get caught by vines. eddie chooses to run back into the horde of bats. jason shows up and breaks max’s walkman.

the duffers didn’t want the audience to look at the plan and blame nancy for how it went wrong, because she’s their girlboss.

the thing is, when you look deeper into the plan, it’s just kinda stupid. she has someone majorly injured on the main vecna hunting team (and god someone please help this boy, he’s bled through his bandages nearly the second they’re on), she’s using a gun against an upside down creature when she’s never seen that work (steve has an axe that he just doesn’t use against vecna?), eddie and dustin aren’t given any kind of firepower to defend themselves, and everyone completely forgot that jason was after them.

i think if we’re going within the realm of canon, no plan they came up with was ever going to work because the vecna defeat has to wait for s5.

but within fanon, i do think if they’d waited a little more, if nancy had been a little more willing to listen to the others, planned a little better, this much shit wouldn’t have gone wrong. nancy finds it difficult to consider other people, she can’t always see the big picture when she’s focused on saving people, she’s not super emotionally in tune with others, and as a result the boy that’s seen two people get horrifically killed in the last few days gets put on the suicide mission.

though we also have to remember nancy is traumatised by what vecna showed her, so i don’t know if she ever would’ve been able to think clearly. she’s feeling guilty, and desperate, and so she reasons out max putting herself in danger as for the greater good.

sorry this didn’t end up being more about nancy! nancy is very fun to dive into, and her role in the plan is super interesting, especially because i don’t think she’s a particularly good leader figure, but i think the plan sucked because the duffers needed it to suck. and if the duffers wanted vecna defeated in s4, her plan would’ve worked, and nancy wouldn’t have girlbossed her way too close to the sun.

[wibble-wobbegong]

okay, well you asked…as someone who believes eddie was “maybe” queer, personally i just was not that invested in eddie as a character beyond the role he filled in s4. he was written to die so maybe that’s why i didn’t get attached to him from the start (i liked him enough to be sad by the time he died) but either way? he’s dead, his story is over.

if he was queercoded, it doesn’t do anything to serve the narrative or his character arc the way it does with canon gay characters like will and robin (and mike) because it was never a point as far as his internal struggles & he never had a love interest. and not that characters sexuality needs to be a big deal or a plot point to matter or validate their existence as queer, but in this case…it would just elevate eddie from being a regular 1-season side character death (like bob, rip) to a bury-your-gay trope dead side character.

so it just simply doesn’t matter to us. they especially don’t get representation points for queer-coding a character and just killing him off. it would actually be worse to assume that was their intention. make me fear for their other gay characters (i refused to believe they will bury robin or will next season)

i think the most it would matter going forward (for characters who are still alive) is in terms of mike looking up to him as the leader of the freaks and outcasts and non-conformist, as inspiration to accept mike’s own queerness, which i think is a popular headcanon, and i don’t mind but. is not really about eddie himself so much as it’s about mike’s journey? which could also be the same as if eddie was straight and still preached about anti-conformity, mike could take heart from that.

that’s my genuine answer as an eddie-neutral stranger things fan. i simply don’t think his queer-coding is canonically relevant if it does exist.

anon his queerness isn’t important to his character because it’s VITAL to mike’s character. eddie played a huge role in his self acceptance and pulling him into a much, much happier headspace than he would’ve been had eddie never come around. mike desperately needed someone to tell him being queer is okay, and he couldn’t do that with a straight person at the time. mike has always been about nonconformity, his only conforming trait has been his sexuality. other people want him to conform in many ways, but he’s resisted most of it except his sexuality. his acceptance didn’t come about just because of nonconformity preaching, because he didn’t need to be told it was okay to not be normal, he needed to be told it was okay to not be straight. i’m actually writing a full breakdown on their relationship that should maybe be going up tonight

eddie was never meant to be more than a figure for the other characters’ stories. his queerness isn’t relevant to him because it’s not actually about him, but about the people he impacted just like eddie’s death was never meant to serve as a satisfactory ending for himself but rather as a kickstarter to a newfound aspect of dustin we’ve never seen before, a newfound seriousness in how he treats all the UD stuff.

also, i’m not particularly invested in eddie himself but rather his impact. he really isn’t much of a character outside of his service to other narratives.

the bury-your-gays trope doesn’t exist in ST because two of our biggest characters are gay men and we have robin and vickie, and none of them are gonna be dying in S5 (most likely). the trope is only a trope if it applies to all the queer characters, but it doesn’t. queer people are very diversely represented in ST, as we see from henry to will to mike to vickie to robin. they’re all different. a gay character dying isn’t bad unless they’re doing it because the character is gay and treating queer people like trauma porn.

also, eddie’s queercoding is on the same level as mike’s queercoding. it’s not just a little headcanon but something heavily supported by the narrative, to the point where anything else seems almost unrealistic or impossible

thank you for the ask!!!

[mrsjellymunson]

KNOCK AT THE CABIN | Prologue

Written for @bettyfrommars, @allthingsjoeq and @somnambulic-thing’s Stranger Prompts, Prompt 1. He shows up at your house covered in mud in the rain, but the problem is, he died two months ago.

Series Summary: After the events of the previous months, everyone is shocked by the unexpected return of an old friend. But is it really him?

Chapter Summary: On a stormy night, an unexpected visitor arrives.

WC: 1.14k

Series C/W: 🔞 18+, MDNI, NSFW. I mean it, if you’re under 18, git! Post-S4, Upside Down exists, dark/supernatural themes. Eventual Eddie Munson x fem!reader smut. Swearing. Not much to caution about in this part, unless you don’t like rain, or bad decor.

A/N: This series contains a lot of things I haven’t written for before, so I’d love to know what you think! Please comment and reblog, it means the world to writers, and reblogs mean work gets seen. This series has a taglist so if you’d like to be on either it, or my general list, lemme know in a comment, ask or message 🙏💗

Next: Part One Part Two

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My masterlist

You’re holed up in an old farmhouse on the outskirts of Hawkins. It’s not exactly remote, but the nearest building is little more than a speck on the horizon so you feel pretty isolated. Owens organised it, explaining it would be a good idea for the older members of the party to lay low for a little while. Nancy had put forward an excellent argument for remaining with her family, but you, Robin and Steve had reluctantly packed up some of your belongings and relocated here. For how long, you don’t know.

It’s no palace. The wood-built building is certainly past its best, the yellowing 50s kitchen barely functional and the faded decor not to anyone's taste. But it’s (mostly) warm, (usually) dry, and most importantly, it feels safe. Which is something you all need after the events of the past few months.

You’re all acutely aware of the obvious gap in your merry band. Owens had insisted that the three of you didn’t attend the funeral, but he’d involved you as much as he could, ferrying messages between you and the kids and Wayne, discussing what he would’ve wanted to wear (you all agreed on his spare Hellfire shirt and leather jacket, knowing he’d never want to be separated from either, plus a brand new, government-funded pair of black 501s), and sneaking mementoes to you with Wayne’s approval.

Mike and Will have taken charge of his D&D paraphernalia, Dustin got his wallet chain (and wears it with literally everything, even his Weird Al shirts and colourful shorts), and Lucas opted for a small pocket knife. You, Steve and Robin each have one of his rings. Steve and Robin keep theirs in their rooms, but you wear the silver skull every day. It’s too big for your fingers, and is even a little loose on your thumb, but that’s where you keep it, spinning it to ease your anxiety, and smoothing the pads of your fingers over its bumpy surface to remind you of the friend you’ve lost. Rueing the fact that you always wanted him to be more than that, but never had the chance to find out whether he felt the same.

The kids visit periodically, even staying over sometimes, nobody expecting anyone to be watching the comings and goings of a bunch of nerdy teens. Nancy drops them off, sometimes staying, sometimes not. On this occasion she’d dropped and run, explaining that she was going to visit Max in the hospital tomorrow, spending some quality girly time with her. Lucas, who usually spent every spare moment by her bedside, was going to spend the weekend here, after Max, still seriously ill but now well enough to communicate, insisted that he needed to spend at least a bit of time with his old friends.

Tonight, you’d had a movie marathon, Keith developing an uncharacteristically generous side since everything kicked off and periodically dropping off and collecting piles of VHS tapes. Not quite generous enough to bring you any brand new releases, but even things you’ve seen before are better than the ‘sweet FA’ you’d have available given the nonexistent TV reception around here.

Popcorn litters the floor and the saggy furniture, as do gangly boys and a long-haired girl. Jane has commandeered the sole armchair, sitting in it cross-legged, and you, Steve and Robin are squashed onto the sofa with an equally squashed Dustin, the latter insisting that there was definitely room for one more.

Mike and Will are on the floor between the sofa and the old, battered coffee table. Mike’s hunched over a bowl of chips that he’s shovelling in, and Will is leaning against your legs, you stroking his hair in a way you know he finds comforting. Lucas is lounging on the floor at the side of the table, his long body stretched out and his head supported on threadbare throw pillows.

The gentle patter of drizzly rain against the windows and roof, and the crackle of the open fire, one of your only sources of heating, gives the evening a cosy feel, though you hope the rain doesn’t get any heavier as you don’t entirely trust the roof over the rear extension to cope with much more meteorological abuse.

You’ve just finished Raiders Of the Lost Ark and Steve has got up to swap it out for The Stuff, when there’s a strong gust of wind and the rainfall picks up significantly. Great, you think, the weather gods definitely weren’t listening to your silent pleas.

None of you notice Jane stiffening in her seat and shifting uncomfortably.

Under the lashing of the wind and rain there’s a sudden noise at the front door. Not urgent, not loud, just two soft thuds. If the kids had been roughhousing or the film had been on you may even have missed them.

You all look at each other, instantly and equally on edge, and all hoping that somebody, anybody, will provide a simple explanation for this.

Steve’s the first to speak. Jaw slack and brow furrowed, he asks the room, “Uhh, did anyone order takeout?”

There’s a cacophony of ‘no’s’ and shaken heads, before another soft thud is heard, just one this time.

Steve steels himself, not for the first time realising that it’s his responsibility to investigate the possibly terrifying, and potentially life-threatening, situation. He stands from his position by the video player and moves towards the door, fingertips skimming the top of the bat that’s always to the side of it, before closing his hand softly around the handle.

He pulls back the sliding bolts before twisting the lock and pulling the door open just a crack, leaving the chain on. The noise of the weather increases in volume, but other than that there’s no indication of what’s on the other side.

Steve has his back to you so you don’t see his eyes go wide, but you do hear a soft, “Wh- What the fuck?”

Robin being Robin, and perpetually thinking about her stomach, she says,

“What is it, doofus? Pleeease tell me it’s Jonathon and Argyle dropping by from Cali with some delicious Surfer Boy pizza??”

“Uh, no, it’s, uh- You know what? Maybe you should just come and see for yourself. Wait, scratch that, just the adults.”

Knowing this will unwittingly pique the interest of the kids more than if he’d just allowed everyone to come look, you and Robin glance at each other before quickly rising and moving to the door.

Steve closes it and takes off the chain, opening it wide as the three of you arrive, the kids following close behind and trying to look between you.

There, hunched, shivering, soaking wet and covered in mud, is your friend. The one who’d died saving the town. The one they’d buried only a few days ago, after he’d been lying on a slab in a lab somewhere for weeks.

Eddie.

Next: Part One Part Two

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Thanks so much for reading! I really hope you enjoyed this. Lemme know if you’d like to be tagged in future parts.

Extra tags: @jamdoughnutmagician @joejoequinnquinn

[spectorcomplex]

—WE NEED MUSIC! e.munson x reader

you’re more madonna, blondie, and bowie and eddie munson has to find common ground to save your life

pairing: eddie munsox x fem!reader (she/her pronouns) 

warnings: swearing, descriptions of blood, cuts, wounds, drowning. 

word count: 3.7k

my masterlist

Nancy Wheeler has it all. The beauty, brains, and ferocity. But unbeknownst to the majority of Hawkins, what she lacked was a friend. You two have shared classes before, exchanged kind smiles in the halls, and even engaged in small talk whenever the opportunity presented itself. But the two of you never truly got to know each other— until Senior Year. 

The summer air still lingered as it slowly intertwined itself with the fall cold when you saw the announcement on the classroom bulletin board. It was the first day of your senior year and you were already having post-graduation anxieties. Should you have participated more? To prepare yourself for college interactions? Or to be more knowledgeable and worldly—

“Miss Y/L/N.” The teacher’s stern voice broke you out of your stupor. You quickly hung your head as a weak form of an apology but your eyes discretely lingered on the paper pinned to the board. 

Shortly after that, you pushed all inhibitions aside, dug out the converse shoebox containing wrinkled papers, and submitted a small compilation of the short stories you’ve written over the past few years to The Weekly Streak. 

You had gotten more than you bargained for. The editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, Nancy Wheeler herself, excused you from Calculus class to gush about how the news staff loved your writings. The Weekly Streak was only looking for contributors but Nancy convinced them to give you a full-time spot.

If you want it, of course.

Of course, I want it, Nancy. If it means getting pulled out of Calculus more then yeah. 

She laughed, you laughed, and the rest was history. 

—+—

You really wished your history going forth with Nancy consisted more of laughing and gossiping while painting your nails and not getting your skin ripped apart by interdimensional-tentacle-vampire hybrid bats.

“Oh god, oh god, oh god,” You groaned as more of the creatures tried to tear into your flesh. “We’re gonna die, we’re gonna die!”

“Don’t be so pessimistic, angel eyes!” 

If Eddie Munson wasn’t helping you to survive by smacking an oar around you would’ve wrung his neck at the nickname. You seriously regret wearing that ABBA shirt when the group dropped off food for him at that cabin by Lover’s Lake. 

The screeches stopped and all that was left was an eerie static in the air and Steve Harrington softly crying out in pain. 

Never in a million years would you have thought that you’d end up in an alternate dimension of your hometown with probably the most random combination of people. “The Freak” and “The King” and you three girls. 

It was scary how quickly you were accepting that this entire predicament you found yourself in was real. Nancy never held back when opening up to you, her relationship with Steve, with Jonathan, her brother, the misogynist pricks at The Hawkins Post and she definitely did not sugarcoat all the crazy events surrounding Will Byers’ disappearance. All she avoided was talking about Barbara but you respect her boundaries. 

It’s okay if you think I’m crazy. I’d think the same if we switched roles. 

Honestly, Nance, it sounds like the plot of those science fiction movies and you’d kill it as a scriptwriter. 

Well, you better start thinking about writing drafts about all that’s happened in the past week and what’s about to happen and submit them to a Hollywood producer. 

“C’mon, chiquitita, we need to find cover,” Eddie addressed you again. You glared at him but followed nonetheless. 

You didn’t even notice that you were mindlessly walking around a few seconds ago until Robin grabbed your forearm. 

“For both our sakes,” She chuckled. You also nearly fell into the lake that day you wore the ABBA shirt.

It wasn’t long until your group stopped again. You froze at the thought of more “demobats”, or whatever you heard Steve call it, coming your way but thankfully it was just Steve coming to a halt due to his injuries. 

Nancy immediately came to his aid and you watched in curiosity. Their glances towards each other lately were not as discreet as they think and you would’ve easily jumped in to nag Steve’s ear off to protect your best friend if he wasn’t being nice. It was odd. You were never in his line of fire when he was still in school but you saw from a distance how much an asshole King Steve was. But during this entire ‘adventure’ he was actually decent and your rudeness would be unwarranted. You saw the genuine fear in his eyes when Max Mayfield’s eyes rolled to the back of her head and she started lifting off from the ground. Sure you were scared too because she’s only a child, she doesn’t deserve this but you could tell that the look in Steve’s eyes was fear coming from a place of losing a loved one. 

Steve was grunting in pain as Nancy wrapped the scrap fabric around his torso and it was only then did the sting of the bites from earlier settle in your nerves. Someone was saying something about guns but the blood pumping in your ears overpowered their voices. 

“Fuck,” You said as you eyed the red gashes. “Am I gonna have rabies?!”

“What?”  “That’s what I was saying!”

The sight of blood never did anything good for you. It always creeped you out and made you woozy. It didn’t matter if it was your own or from someone else’s wound, oh, but it was definitely way worse if it was your own. You felt like throwing up at the sight. And you were trying to keep the tears of pain at bay but it was as if all the hurt from the bats only registered now. It was probably a coping mechanism; you hated blood and everything about it and that’s why you only looked now. 

“Woah, hey,” Was that Robin or Eddie? “Y/N? Are you okay?”

Oh, it’s Munson. You could tell from the long strands of hair softly tickling your cheek. 

“She hates blood. Like really hates blood,” Nancy said in panic.

“And there’s lots of it,” Robin let out in a breath.

That seemed to alert you subconsciously and your breathing picked up until you were sure you were gasping. You’re overreacting. Steve has it much worse and he’s still standing. 

You tried to right yourself by shaking your head. Snap out of it! Then you felt a fabric, almost like a handkerchief, running over your bare arms— you hated that you ditched your denim jacket at the Wheelers— and the sight of ring-clad hands wiping away the red liquid confused you enough to distract you from the pain. 

“There you go.. okay now, Y/L/N?” You oddly felt deflated at the lack of a nickname. 

“Yeah, yeah, sorry for being such a little bitch,” You chuckled but your voice was devoid of humor. 

“You helped me by grabbing those things with your bare hands,” Steve suddenly spoke, his hands mimicking your actions. “That’s badass.”

You huffed out a thanks with a truer chuckle this time. This whole dynamic was weird but everyone’s presence was the only comfort you had right now and you would not let it slip from your fingers. 

“Let’s get moving then,” You suggested. “I heard something about Nancy’s guns?”

Said gun owner gave you a watery smile. She gently pulled you in, careful to avoid your cuts, “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Me too,” You sighed. “I’m glad everyone’s okay.”

Your group got to trekking the ghastly landscape towards the upside down Wheeler house. What a mouthful. It was exhausting watching every step because of the apparent vine mechanism but your adrenaline still hasn’t run out and you hoped it would last until you got out of this literal hellhole. 

The dust particles and never ending midnight sky sent shivers down your spine. You sent a quiet prayer for all of you to make it out alive. 

“Hey,” It was Munson again. You nearly tripped backwards when he appeared next to you. 

It felt nice that he was talking to you. You’ve had English with him twice and you would be lying if you said the metalhead didn’t intrigue you. He intimidated you, sure, but there were layers to that. He was an enigma. The most interaction you had with Eddie was that group project for midterms and finals. You were probably giving yourself too much credit but you felt as if you had gotten past the first layer of his facade during that time. To everybody else, it was a teenage boy not caring for his studies, but to your keen eye it was obvious that Eddie Munson was purposefully orchestrating that appearance to the world. He submitted works two weeks late but when you got a peek, his poetry blew you away. As if it was some lyricist’s magnum opus. But you knew he had more to offer in the future and he was only going to get better from there. The piece was so good that even if it was submitted way past the deadline, the poem still got a B. 

“Hey,” You greeted back. When he didn’t reply for a minute, you followed up with a “How are you holding up?”

He looked taken aback. It was quite adorable really. You were used to his scowl and exaggerated faces to tease someone. You couldn’t find a better description for right now than puppy dog eyes.

“You’re asking me that? You, who got beaten up by bats?” Eddie asked, bewildered. 

“I mean, you’re dealing with a police investigation, a Salem witch hunt– you’re the witch by the way, and the actual supernatural all at once and you probably haven’t had a proper meal in a week,” You frowned. “And I wasn’t beat up.”

“Well, since you put it that way, it is pretty fucked up. But I’d rather deal with this Vecna jerk than the new chief of police.” He smiled this time, directly at you and it felt like a metaphorical light in this literal dark. 

“I actually kinda miss Hopper,” You shrugged. You hugged your arms to your chest. The feeling of the dried blood bothered you. “Chrissy would have already gotten her justice by now.”

It was silent after that when Eddie had no reply to your words. You feared that you said the wrong thing and your heart sinked even further. More anxiety wasn’t needed in this life or death situation. 

“Do you-” He started, Your head whipped towards his direction so fast that you felt your cheeks warm at your eagerness. “Do you think he’d accuse me? Hopper, I mean.”

This time you didn’t break eye contact. “No. He wouldn’t even name you a suspect so quickly like they did. They’re so prejudiced it’s insane.”

“Prejudice, heh,” 

“What’s funny?” You asked, eyeing his sly grin. It was a look of trouble. 

“Nothing, just,” Eddie ran a hand along his chin. This time you eyed the chunky, intricate silver rings. “I remember we were grouped for a class and you scolded poor Logan Clarke when he asked too many questions while you were trying to read your copy of Pride and Prejudice.”

You had no recollection of that memory but you couldn’t help but flash him a curious smile, “You remember that?”

“Is that weird?” He asked, suddenly looking self-conscious. When you shook your head no, his grin made a return. 

Robin was now suddenly yelling directions and you all quickly followed. The sooner the better. You had a family to come home to. And after getting out of the upside down you had to save them. You had to.

The grimey distorted version of the Wheeler house came into view and all of you stopped to catch your breath. All that was needed was to safely get into Nancy’s room and grab her weapon. The notion of having something to protect you in the upside down gave you relief. 

The other three made their way up the stairs quickly but a gentle hand on yours stopped you in your tracks. 

“Here.”

You were dumbstruck. Eddie Munson was offering you his leather jacket. You didn’t know him that well but you think you know his sentiment over the piece of clothing he was handing to you. 

You started to shake your head to refuse but he shook his head back and went around your frame to help you slip your arms into the sleeves without hurting yourself. You caught a glimpse of his pale forearms, the only marks littering it were artsy tattoos. You didn’t know why you felt relieved when he didn’t have the same teeth marks and blood on him. 

He stepped away when the jacket was finally on. It smelled of dark mahogany, real leather, and something so uniquely Eddie. One part of your brain was telling you to return it but it was warm and comforting that your tense shoulders finally had a moment to sag and relax. 

“Take it, dancing queen. You’re practically shivering.”

—+—

So close. You were so close. 

You had practically burst into tears of joy when Nancy returned to normal. You jumped back into the other side without hesitation when you heard Steve calling out to her. You felt like sinking into the floor when you saw her rolled back eyes. You were straight up sobbing and you were surprised you pulled enough strength to hold her unconscious body next to Steve. 

“Nancy!” You shook her harshly. If that was what needed to be done to wake her up while the others looked for cassette tapes then you’d shake her til your arms fell off. “Nancy, no, no, no, please. Please. No.”

Flashes of past memories came and go through your mind and you didn’t pay it attention when the present sight of your best friend at the verge of being killed is as terrifying. 

She came back with a gasp. You didn’t have time to ponder how she did come back without the physcological effects of music but you were thankful. You told her to get back to the other side, the normal side, as you watched her along with Steve. 

Steve, ever the gentleman, let you go first. You were not the most athletic so climbing up the makeshift rope was a bit of a struggle. Nancy didn’t let her exhaustion take over, not until she helped you by grabbing your hand. She was still clutching your hand by the time Steve came back and you didn’t know why suddenly the grip was almost bone crushing. 

“You’re so happy aren’t you? That everyone’s back?” Nancy said. Her voice was clear of the raspiness it had earlier. Too clear. Almost artificial, as if something was mimicking her. 

“Yes, I’m so-“ You mentally prepared yourself for it but it still caught you off guard. 

One half of Nancy’s face looked as if it was melting like candle wax. You weren’t stupid. You knew it was your turn. 

“Nancy, I—“ You started. It was probably pointless that you called her Nancy since obviously this person in front of you isn’t your best friend anymore. 

“I thought we didn’t keep secrets, Y/N.” Her ‘voice’ was pitching lower and lower that it was now scary, horror like. She sauntered towards you and kept getting closer without stopping that you fell back. Her face was so distorted to the point she looked like a corpse and you cried at the sight. 

You felt sand. Sand everywhere. But the menacing red sky surrounding you didn’t fit the scenery of a beach. A sob slipped past your lips. No no no. You cannot relive this all again. The heartbreak of everything would actually manage to kill you before this Vecna creature did. 

“Please, stop,” Such a juvenile act, covering your ears with the palm of your hands. “Please, let me go.”

Then you heard it. A chime of a clock. A booming sound that vibrated in your chest and you knew this is what haunted Max.

“Why would I do that, Y/N.” The voice was completely different now. No trace of Nancy in its echo. Your name was hissed like a taunt. 

“Just like you let me go?” The shout was so loud it forced your eyes open. And you screamed. 

—+—

“Fuck! Y/N, wake up!” 

The sight of your skin, once full of life, was now turning grayer by the minute. No sight was scarier than your eyes lacking its vibrant color as a milky white took its place. The leather jacket covering your frame looked more vibrant than your ghostly appearance. 

Everybody’s hands were shaking. Nancy’s as she helplessly shook your body. Max’s and Robin’s as they went over the piles of cassette tapes that were most likely not going to have your favorite bands. Dustin and Lucas’ as they each set up a boom box and a cassette player with headphones just to be safe. But all these precautions were going to be in vain if they didn’t find a song that will pull you out of this godforsaken curse. 

“No, no, hey, hey!” Steve desperately clutched onto your wrists as he saw the first sign of your feet lifting off the ground. 

—+— 

“I didn’t mean to,” You shook your head. The tears were overflowing now. “I’m sorry, you know I’m sorry. I regret it every single day of my life.” 

“Do you now?” The face of your cousin was as distorted as Nancy’s. But this felt a lot more eerie as the last time you saw it was when—

You screamed in utter fear as the face and body morphed again but this time it wasn’t into another person. A monster. With vein like lines crawling all over their giant body and surprisingly human eyes. They were cold and hateful. 

You tried to get up and crawl away, feeling the black sand scratch at your wounds, opening them up again. You cried in pain. Worse when you were pulled by your feet and dragged backwards. The pain was unlike anything you’ve felt before and you hoped that if it was your time to go, this horrendous monster would have the mercy of making it a quick departure. 

—+—

“Fuck, fuck,” 

Dustin looked over, surprised at his friend, the mighty Eddie Munson, having tears well up by his eyes.

“I-I know she likes ABBA–shit! I don’t have anything like that, fuck. Fuck!” Eddie was carelessly tearing through his collection. Most of these cost a good amount of money but right now he couldn’t even think about anything like that when saving you was his top priority. 

This had already happened once in his home and he was not about to let it happen again. 

“Anything close! Like a soft rock or something that sounds like pop! Anything—anything!” Nancy was sobbing now. She couldn’t let another best friend of hers be taken away from her. 

Suddenly, a tape with a black cover and gold lining was in Eddie’s grasp. This is the closest he can get away from his heavy metal. 

He raised it to Nancy so she can look but she was teary eyed and trying to grasp onto your legs. Eddie showed it to the person closest next to him, Robin, who nodded.

“I think she listens to them. It’s worth a try.” Robin’s deep voice was raspier than usual as fear consumed her eyes that were looking over at you. 

Eddie gave a mumbled sorry to the Sinclair siblings as he practically shoved them out of the way to place the tape into the boom box and pressed play. The sound was surely going to draw attention from the neighbors but it was just a famous song playing so all they could hope for was that there will probably be no danger. 

—+—

“You left her there to drown, Y/N,” You swear you heard Vecna tsk. The creepy, sluggish vines slithered towards you and were tightly wrapping around your limbs. 

This was the end. 

But just the beginning. Of a song. Of hope. Of a familiar song you would scream to when you had the chance to be home alone. 

Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to me

“You are going to die today, Y/N, you are going to drown. Just like your beloved cousin did.”

You shut your eyes. It was an accident. You were a child. You have not fully forgiven yourself but what is important you were in the process of it. 

It hurts. Every single day you feel the pull of guilt and you may never be without it, but you were living in the way you can still love your family. This isn’t your time. Not in the hands of a monster named after a silly game character.

Too late, my time has come,

Sends shivers down my spine, body's aching all the time

The vines were pressing into the minor cuts on your legs. Your hands were still free and you caught a glimpse of the leather adorning your arms. You were not going to go without seeing the boy who owns this jacket. 

So you took your chance, rattled Vecna like how Steve demonstrated you did with the bats, and fled for your fucking life. Your knees were killing you, the cuts all over your body were determined to slow you down, but not even this beast could defeat Freddie Mercury.

You didn’t look back. Only let the sound of Queen consume you with hope as you saw the image of your friends hold onto your body. It was the light at the end of the tunnel. 

And when the operatic section hits, you felt connected with yourself once more before falling into carpeted ground. 

You vaguely heard a female voice saying they were going to get a glass of water. Something small and cold pressed against the side of your neck and you just knew. 

“You had Queen?” You teased with a broken voice. 

You heard a collective sigh of relief and never felt happier. A hand gently smoothed over your tangled hair. 

“Yeah, thank god, I wouldn’t know what I would’ve done with myself. I better start calling you Killer Queen now, eh?”

That nickname doesn’t sound so bad. 

my first stranger things fic :> please reblog if you enjoyed it <3

[wakeupthemembersofbylernation]

You are not delusional.

I know it’s been said a million times in different fonts, but Byler is definitely endgame because it genuinely doesn’t make any sense if it’s not.

Yes, one-sided love is common in real life and in fiction, but who writes an unrequited love story like THIS? When was the last time one of the MAIN characters of a show was IN LOVE with one of the other MAIN characters of a show for ALL of its seasons, with the narrative very clearly building up to a grand confession AND the other person unaware of the depth of these feelings for whatever reason, only for that narrative to end in rejection at the very END of the story? Take a look at Phineas & Ferb. Yes, I’m comparing Stranger Things to Phineas and Ferb. Isabella was very obviously in love with Phineas the entire show, and it looked one-sided, but the song, “What Might Have Been” reveals that it’s not one-sided at all (plot twist!), and Phineas has just been clueless. They get together in the end.

If Byler was meant to be one-sided, the best time in my opinion would be to rip the bandaid off in season 3, the “summer of love.” This brought Will’s sexuality to the forefront since all his friends were dating girls. They sorta did that with the Byler fight (and then they had Mike bike miles in the rain to apologize, a very common romantic trope). But if Byler was meant to be one-sided, it would’ve been definitive, and then Mike would’ve comforted his friend and told him he’ll always be there for him and that nothing will change. That would’ve been sad, but it would’ve paved the way for Season 4 and 5 to explore the fall out of this and introduce and develop a new, fan favorite, reciprocated love interest for Will. Stranger Things makes us fall in love with new characters all the time: Max in Season 2, Robin in Season 3, Eddie in Season 4. But that’s not what they did.

Byler is literally just the childhood friends to lovers trope. El complicates things, but even so, it’s not uncommon for characters to date other characters and even confess love to them before realizing who they’re actually supposed to be with. Millard Fillmore isn’t married; they are literally teens trying to figure out the whole dating thing in unprecedented circumstances. What does make Byler spicy and complex is the fact that it doesn’t just involve figuring out feelings, it involves figuring out one’s sexuality in small town Indiana in the 80s. But you’re not delusional for simply understanding the childhood friends to lovers trope and following along.

Usually unrequited crush storylines are written as short term crushes and not taken very seriously (ie: Dustin and Max or Meng and Aang from ATLA). They aren’t given this level of narrative weight, paralleled to canon romantic relationships on the show, and given romantically coded fights and conversations that put other pairings to shame. A story that does come to mind when I think of an unrequited love being given narrative weight is Little Women, which is ironically one of the influences on Season 4 and very Byler-coded in nature. I don’t deny that unrequited love can sometimes be a painful narrative tool to help a character grow, but this is not written how those storylines are usually written. You don’t make the GA explicitly aware of a love triangle that has been brewing from the beginning, make clear a character’s feelings in the penultimate season, not resolve them, drag it out to the final season, and then just keep the status quo (and turbulent) relationship in the end. The entire painting situation just follows the miscommunication trope which is extremely common in romantic storylines, and there’d be no point in writing it this way if it wasn’t leading to anything.

There is NOTHING inherently delusional about Byler. Nada. Zip. Zilch. People might make fun of our complicated theories (because they obviously only take things at face-value and have no imagination or media analysis curiosity), but even if you defenestrate the Byler Slides entirely, there’s NOTHING delusional about believing a couple might break up in a show, even if they’ve been dating for a long time, especially if there are clear problems in the relationship. There is NOTHING delusional about believing a character might date someone else, especially if that someone else is a character who is canonically in love with them. That literally happens all the time in countless stories, movies, and shows. The ONLY reason people call us delusional is because they just can’t fathom Mike being anything other than straight since he doesn’t “seem that way.” But keep in mind, they also couldn’t fathom Will being gay, and look how that turned out for them.

Manic Pixie Dream Girls use Mike’s “we’re friends, friends” comment to argue that Mike made clear he doesn’t have any romantic feelings for Will, but I gotta ask, have they seen any film or show ever? When has claiming to be “just friends” in a defensive tone EVER meant that you are truly just friends? Are you just friends, Michael? Are “friends” electric? Idk, because that was an extremely self-incriminating thing to say. We just caught you in fruity 4K. Michael Wheeler, 84,000 people know what you are. Bylers don’t just have the weight of evidence on our side; we have the weight of some of the most popular romantic storytelling tropes of all time.

We aren’t delusional. We are right.

[ihavenocluedude]

Lost in admiration

Eddie Munson x Gender Neutral!reader

Link to reading this on Ao3    Link to my main masterlist 

A/N - I don’t mention any pronouns as far as I know so I think I can call this gender neutral but what the heck do I know. Title sort of taken from the song Head over Heels by Tears For Fears. Although not really inspired by it. Except maybe the vibes?? I’ve seriously been working on this for days now and my brain is beat. I am so in love with Eddie Munson though so it’s worth it. 

Sort of inspired by these two tags I wrote in a reblog of an Eddie Gifset :

Warnings - Swearing (a lot of internal anxious swearing especially I guess but also in dialogue, which is also mostly in the anxious dialogues), crushing on someone for years, mentions of drugs and alcohol, drinking, I’m kind of scared this is OOC... so like hoping it isn’t but warning that it might be

Word Count - 5.7k

”So, you’re having a party on Friday?” This had been going on for 3 days now, the near-constant questioning. 

Several people coming up to you at any time they themselves figured was a good time to ask this very question. And now even fucking popular douchebag star of the basketball team Jason Carver was speaking to you. Seemingly trying to work some sort of charm that you bet several of the cheerleaders had fallen victim to.

”There’s no party.”

”That’s not what the entire school is saying y’know? Parents gone, a whole house to yourself, don’t be selfish.” As if any of that would change your mind to actually liking parties and wanting to have a bunch of strangers in your home.

”I know.” You chuckled sarcastically before continuing ”But, y’know… no one in this school except for me actually lives there so, it’s my right to decide. No party.”

”So… no party?”

”Exactly. Spread the word, jock.” Thankfully, he stepped away from your lunch table after that. ”I hate this.”

”You don’t hate this.”

”Robin. I hate this. Someone literally almost stopped me in the grocery store yesterday, with my mom next to me! They’re not even away yet. And it wasn’t even me who told the masses that I’d be home alone this weekend.” You ranted in anguish before letting out a small groan, your volume rising slightly during your rant, making several of the students in the cafeteria look over at the two of you.

”I am sorry for telling Steve…”

”I know.”

”I didn’t think he’d-”

”Robin, it’s okay. It’s fine. It would’ve spread around anyway. Apparently, Steve was not the first to start spreading the word. Someone heard us talking the other day and didn’t hear all of it, so they assumed, like they always do.”

Your parents had told you the weekend before they were going to be away. Told you that they trusted you not to do anything stupid, have at most just three friends over, and to try not to mess up the house whilst they were gone. They hadn’t told and taught you the wise lesson that it’s wise not to mention this information in school or to tell your best friend not to tell anyone including her still somewhat new friend Steve Harrington.

Formerly known as King Steve. More recently known as the guy who had a thousand dates lined up but nowhere to take them to. Hawkins wasn’t exactly the most… eventful place unless you count the horrifying events that you’d thankfully and unthankfully gotten to know about through Robin’s rants to you about it after she got pulled into it all.

And Steve couldn’t possibly bring all his dates to the makeout spots like Lovers’ Lake or Skull Rock. No no no, that would be completely ridiculous. So when he heard Robin mentioning you being home alone for the weekend, aka a possibility for a party he could take a date to, he’d just ran off to the phone to start calling numbers. He isn’t the guy to force a party upon you but… he ’accidentally’ was anyhow.

”Would it be that bad if you had a party?”

”Are you offering to clean up the house with me the day after?” You asked mostly sarcastically. Even with trying to turn everyone and anyone away from the idea that you were having a party… It was sort of starting to grow on you anyway.

The ’classic’ high school experience was just there right in front of you, why not appreciate it? Besides if you didn’t you’d have to open your door every five minutes on Friday and tell them ’no, there isn’t a party here, listen for a second… you hear that? complete silence’ anyway by the way this had spread… so why not instead actually just let them in.

”Sure.”

”Really?”

”Why not?”

”Am I really going to have a party just because of group pressure?” Robin’s smile was ridiculously infectious and even as you said it you felt your lips quirking up into a small smile.

”Not just. He would totally come.” AND she’d won you over completely. You knew exactly who she was talking about, because who else would she be talking about with such inflection in her voice.

Before you knew it you had stood up on the lunch table dramatically as he himself has done before. Clearing your voice in a showy way before almost screaming to the cafeteria ”I CHANGED MY MIND! MY HOUSE THIS FRIDAY, PEOPLE!”

You should’ve known to regret those sentences by the way the basketball team table started cheering. Fuck. But then whilst you were getting down off the table, desperately averting your eyes from the popular table, your eyes just quickly locked on him for a second. The usual jean vest & leather jacket duo, and the Hellfire club shirt proudly presented under them. But more importantly, his eyes on you too.

”Well, that was nice.”

”Do you think he’ll still come if Jason and his league of basketball douchebags come?”

You knew that he wasn’t that into parties in general. But he showed up sometimes. You weren’t really a party person yourself but if Eddie ’The Freak’ Munson came to the party, you’d hear about it the day after usually. Some of them he just attended because he knew he could sell a lot, bringing along his little lunch box-y thingy.

But… in this situation, you also sort of had a contact that could perhaps convince him to come. Hopefully.

The video store wasn’t necessarily your favorite place in Hawkins, but it wasn’t all that bad. You’d hang out with Robin whilst she worked sometimes, which led to actually getting to know Harrington a bit. There were movies galore, you had a pretty good friend discount, and Robin would tell you when something you’d maybe want to rent or buy would come in. But none of those reasons were why you entered the video store along with Robin right after school that afternoon. Almost rushing up to Steve Harrington, a somewhat pleading look in your eyes already.

”I need you to pass on a message. Well, not a message per se… I just-”

”Out with it.”

”I want you to make Dustin convince Eddie Munson to go to my party. Without making it all- fucking- obvious.” You were jittery, nervous, and still just a tad on edge from your earlier announcement at lunch. And Steve’s immediate reaction to start laughing at what you just said did not help your on edge behavior. ”Steve, I’m serious.”

”Eddie ’The Freak’ Munson?” He scoffed once he’d calmed down his laughing enough to get words out, but then turned quiet for a few seconds as he saw your anxiousness. ”Are you… No way! You’re into Freaky Eddie?”

”Steve! Shut up!” You muttered with wide eyes, quickly glancing around the store to thankfully see no customers your age in the store at the moment. ”Can you do it?”

”It’s up to Dustin but I can ask him.”

— ~~~ —

All in all… it wasn’t a big deal. The thing about Eddie, your thing for Eddie. But it had started years ago.

It could all be traced back to middle school. But you wouldn’t call what you felt back then a crush. It was more like…  an admiring kind of intimidation and jealousy.

He was just so himself.

You felt like you were still deciding if you were an actual person and there he was so… fully formed. He’d already started his rock band with his friends, been so passionate about music it almost made you sick, and had a sick buzzcut at the time. And he was older. He seemed so mature and grown sometimes although he was probably nothing of the kind.

It wasn’t like you ever talked to him, the intimidation was just… too much. He went off to high school whilst you were stuck in middle school for two more years without him and by then he’d slipped away from your mind a little. Well until you saw him again at least.

Once you caught up to high school with him he was in his junior year. Just two more years until you’d probably never see him again, at least that’s what you thought.

Freshman year was… easy. It wasn’t quite the same awestruck admiration you’d had for him when you were younger. And you hadn’t yet quite seen him like you would come to see him the year after. Once entering your sophomore year, the year of his first senior year, you realized that the feelings you felt towards him had definitely developed more… romantically?

Without ever speaking to the guy, without ever actually interacting with him, it had still developed.

He had started growing out his hair from the buzzcut the year before, the shaggy curly hair growing quickly and just almost reaching his shoulders at that point. And you noticed that you’d never really noticed his eyes before. For a guy who seemed so unreserved and called a freak, his eyes were just really calm in a way. Yet so expressive, warm, and just beautiful. And although you’d never really mention it to anyone, not even Robin, he was adorable. And hot.

But you had to be honest with yourself after all. That was his senior year. He’d leave Hawkins and probably never come back after that, at least that’s what you’d heard the plan was. And you were… glad.

Maybe you could stop feeling like some school girl with a silly crush on the ’bad boy’ of the school. Maybe you could stop feeling as if he was just everywhere you went in Hawkins, just because your brain seemed to feel like it meant more seeing him than seeing any other schmuck in this school or person in this world. Maybe you could stop fantasizing about joining his club just to get the courage to actually talk to him.

Then he was held back.

And it all just snowballed. The feelings grew more intense and testified to the fact that you really never were going to speak to him out of your own volition. Not even if you tried joining The Hellfire club, because how on earth were you going to speak to him whilst under the pressure of the game too?

And now you had agreed to host a party partially because Robin told you he’d come. It wasn’t even guaranteed. It was just speculation and your heart jumped out of your chest and told your brain it was a good idea, even when in afterthought it felt like the most stupid thing you’d ever done.

— ~~~ —

You’d thought about if you’d actually get the courage to speak to Eddie at the party. Would what people call ’liquid courage’ actually give you courage? You weren’t a party person yourself, you didn’t know the proper etiquette, and you definitely didn’t feel like you had whatever you thought you needed to speak to Eddie Munson. Which felt silly considering Freshmen speak to him daily.

You hadn’t ever talked to him thus far, why would it happen at the party?

This was the question you were both asking yourself as much as you also were protesting it. You obviously wanted to speak to him. And hey, why not? It would be more casual at the party, perhaps liquid courage is actually courage, and hey maybe unicorns do exist?

It all just felt so ridiculous that you questioned why you were thinking about it this much anyway. A loop in your head with the intermittent ’you should think about all the other great things about this party!’. And still, it was on your mind the whole Thursday school day.

”Hey!-shit. Hello?” The question had been clouding your mind enough to first not even notice the person who’d called after you. ”Can you stop walking please?” Or at least seemed to be calling for you. You turned around before answering, hoping to see that it wasn’t yet another person asking about the party and instead someone calling after someone else.

And there he was. Seemingly actually calling for you.

Taking a breath and clearing your throat before answering, ”Y-Yeah?” if you hadn’t it probably would’ve sounded more like a whisper.

”You’re having a party tomorrow right?” A quick nod in response as you don’t fully trust your words, barely even trusting your facial expressions in this moment. ”Could we talk for a minute?”

”Yeah sure absolutely.” You were talking to him. What the fuck was going on.

”Not… in school preferably.” He clarified, hoping that you’d get what he was signifying. You gave a slower nod before gesturing with your thumb over your shoulder towards the way you were headed out of school, him giving you a nod back to say that he’d follow you. Walking up beside you as you then walked side by side through the halls.

”I could… I could drive you home or something and we could talk about it on the way?” He suggested sort of stumbling through the sentence, your shy and quiet demeanor because of being flustered evidently being somewhat contagious.  

”Uhm… well, my friend is supposed to pick me up. But… yeah sure?

”Oh, I should’ve known, you can still go with… them. We could just talk tomorrow?”

”No, it’s fine, really.” You insisted whilst simultaneously trying as hard as possible not to constantly look up at him. To get to see his eyes up close or see if he had that smile you’d only get to truly see when he was making a spectacle of himself somewhere in the school. Instead, you allowed yourself a few short glances before averting your eyes to the way you were going.

Whispers from other people in the hall somehow already started going around about the two of you as they saw you. But soon enough Eddie’s voice cut through them as he spoke to you again.

”So, Steve right?”

”Huh?”

”The friend picking you up?”

”How’d you know?” Your eyebrows furrowed slightly in response although quickly trying to unfurrow them to not seem as desperate for the answer as you actually felt. Running your fingers anxiously over your forehead lightly before running your hand over your hair and then dropping it to your side again.

”Well he picks you up sometimes right?”

”Well yeah but-”

”And I know Dustin who knows Steve so…”

”Right. Of course.” Somehow it had never truly come up in your mind that Eddie could know who you were. That he had heard about you from Dustin or others, that he could’ve had thought about you too whenever you two saw each other around Hawkins the last couple of years. ”I just have to tell Robin that I’m going with you instead and then we can go I guess.” You sort of sighed out when the two of you stepped out of the school, trying to take deep breaths but still feeling like you were somehow failing.

Once outside Robin was thankfully the first thing you saw. Not that she was close by but rather that your eyes knew just as well as your brain to seek her out when anxious. Your safe person.

”I’ll just go wait in my van.”

”I- I don’t know which one’s yours.” It wasn’t completely true, but it wasn’t false either. You’d seen him arrive at school once or twice at the same time that you did and although you had picked up that it was a van… you’d mostly been focused on the driver rather than the car or really trying not to look.

But even though you knew you’d embarrass yourself more by trying to find it later without knowing what it looks like… you found yourself regretting saying that anyway. Because right after you said it, he got closer to you, made sure he was on the same eye-level as you, and then pointed it out before noting; ”It’s… that one.”

Shivers. down. your. spine. Mouth slacking slightly open before quickly snapping it shut. Breathing in deeply through your nose, although regretting that instantly as well.

He was barely doing anything but being somewhat close to you, body heat radiating from him, his arm pointing over one of your shoulders towards the van that sat just a small distance away, his head lingering quite closely by yours on your other side.

But considering you’d pined for him for over two years, been admiring him, and been intimidated by him for even longer, it felt like… nothing else. Not to talk about the fact that you got a heavy dose of what he smells like, heavenly by the way, when you breathed in through your nose.

”I- I see it. I think. I’ll be right over. I just- see you later.” You managed to get out before directing your eyes back to Robin and walking quickly towards her. Her eyes were wide and already looking at you, definitely having seen what just happened, your eyes instantly shooting daggers back at her as you knew that Eddie would be able to see her expression if he looked over.

And although she was your safe person you once again couldn’t stop the incessant overthinking going on in your head as you walked towards her.

Eddie must think that you’re terrified of him or something by the way you’ve averted your eyes, stumbled and stuttered your way through the conversation, and the anxious behavior overall. OR he knows, he’s noticed and he knows. Either way; Fuck fuck fuckity fuck.

”So, what the hell was that?” Robin asked a teasing grin on her face that probably wouldn’t stop even if you begged her not to smile like that ’because it’s making it obvious’.

”I- uhm… he wants… Eddie- he wants to talk about the party, I think. He’s sort of driving me home.”

”What?”

”You can literally not make a big deal out of this right now, I’m freaking out and he’s probably looking at us or something. I can’t look-” You started ranting, your last few words catching Robin’s attention as she decided to glance his way instead, your hand immediately going up to her jaw to push her eyes back to you ”Robin! You can’t either, are you crazy?”

”Somewhat.”

”What the fuck do I do.”

”You think I know anything about that?”

”I don’t know! Where the fuck is Steve when we need him?” And almost as if summoning a demon, you apparently summoned Steve by just saying his name, his car rolling into the nearest parking spot to you and Robin before quickly half getting out one foot in the car and the other on the asphalt. ”Oh, thank fuck.”

”How did you do that?” Robin chuckled before looking over at Steve. ”Hi Dingus. Look like it’s just going to be the two of us.”

”Really? You don’t need a ride?” Steve asked, directing the first question to Robin before looking at you and tilting his head the way it feels like he always does when asking something.

”Getting a ride by Eddie Munson.” Robin answered, louder than needed and with the same teasing grin as earlier. Throwing her stuff in the back seat before assuming the Steve Harrington Position of one foot in and one foot out.

”I thought you’d never spoken to him before?” Steve questioned, thankfully much softer and not as loud as Robin. You walked closer to the car hoping that fewer people might be interested in the talk the three of you were having and not having to talk as loudly. Or at least not as loudly as Robin thought she needed to for you to hear from that small distance away.

”I haven’t. Not until today, he was sort of waiting on me outside the classroom by the end of my lesson I guess?” And it still felt like one of your dreams or fantasies, although with a lot more anxiety.

”And you’re getting in a car with him?”

”I trust him. I mean hasn’t he like driven Dustin sometime or something? He trusts him too! But uhm… I need… Like- What the hell do I do? Like how do I act?”

”Why are you asking me?”

”Because you know about these sorts of things! I’ve seen you at the video store. C’mon now Harrington, lay it on me, tell me how I’m supposed to act.”

”Haven’t you been there during all the talks we’ve had with Robin about her crush? Be yourself!”

”Yeah fine whatever, but you can’t just do that, right?” The former king of Hawkins High had to have some sort of advice other than the totally cliché thing that Robin had said first.

”What, do you mean flirting?”

”I guess?” Although the nervous feelings from before weren’t gone, you found yourself a lot calmer around Robin and Steve. Eyes not averting as much except looking over at Robin from time to time and once or twice glancing over at the van to see that it’s still there. Just looking at the hulk of the van though and not even daring to look through the front window of the car in fear that you’ll lose all your calm within just a microsecond or something.

”Listen. Calm down. Go sit down in his van and just talk for now. You can save the flirting for when you’re drunk, it’s easier.”

”That last bit sounds sort of like bad advice, but what the hell.”

Robin and Steve drove off and you made your way over to the car, sparing one single glance through the front window to make sure it was Eddie sitting there, which thankfully it was. And thankfully you didn’t lose your complete cool by just looking at him, progress.

”Hi. Sorry that took a while.”

”It’s okay.” Eddie’s answer was short and simple, his voice as smooth in tone as you’d always thought it was. ”That conversation looked intense?” shit

”Uhm… yeah, no. It was nothing.”

”So, not about me?” Eddie questioned that wonderful smile on his face, obviously lightly teasing you. Testing the waters.

”No, no. About the party.” You chuckled back in response with a shake of your head, it wasn’t technically a lie, the party was sort of mentioned. Steve had told you to leave the flirting to the party. Eddie still hadn’t started the car. The two of you talking in the quiet of his van although with the echo of the conversations of students getting out of school just outside.

”I know Harrington doesn’t like me.”

”Harrington doesn’t know you.” It came rushed out before you could even stop yourself, ”Not that- not that I do… I just-”

”No, I get it. That’s… sweet.” Finally, albeit your feelings were a bit mixed over it, he started the car and started getting out of the parking lot, driving out into Hawkins. ”So, about the party. I was thinking that I’m gonna go.”

”Great.”

”Yeah?”

”Do you want to come?”

”Do you want me to come?”

”Yeah. Sure.”

”Could I- You do know about my ’part-time job’, right?” You didn’t know where to look but looking over at him, you found your eyes meeting his just as he was gesturing the quotation marks with his right hand, nodding in response once again. ”Can I sell at your party?”

”Why not? I won’t be- But I don’t mind.” You explained with a shrug and a shake of your head, once again stumbling through your words. Kept your eyes on him for a little while, appreciating the moment whilst you could, and finding out that he glanced over ever so often. But when looking out the front window you realized you were getting pretty close to home. ”Do you know where I live?”

”Everyone’s sort of been shouting your address all over the school the last few days. It would be hard not to.”

”That’s really… uncomfortable honestly. The whole thing of everyone knowing where you live? I felt pretty much invisible before all of this.” You winced, had people at school really been that vocal about a party? ”I won’t get like… weird shit happening to me right?”

”They’ll probably forget as soon as they’re there.”

”Really?”

”Absolutely, you’ll be safe.”

— ~~~ —

”So this is going well so far, right?” You asked with your back leaned up against a wall in the entry hallway next to Robin, drink in your hand. The door stood wide open and ready for the next horde of teenagers to come in and crowd your living room, kitchen, and whatever else they wanted it seemed. ”I mean… we’ve got a crowd, Steve seems pretty happy over there with Heidi or whoever, they all seem to enjoy the music? And I’m like… tipsy for the first time in a long time.”

”You’re past tipsy, but yes. Everything seems pretty good. Except for one thing. You haven’t talked to him.”

”I said hi?” You defended yourself. But you couldn’t even defend yourself that much cause you knew you wanted to, you needed to. If you had been sober you would’ve felt completely ready to go somewhere else and hide from the situation, but the drinks had pulled something out of you. Neediness, something you had both sort of hoped for and dreaded.

Neediness that made your eyes linger on him every time you peeked around the party, neediness that felt like it was pulling at your heart, neediness that felt like it was pulsing through your blood.

”Dude, go and talk to him.”

”Sure, fuck it. Wish me luck.”

”Good luck!” Robin chuckled and gently pushed your shoulder as you separated yourself from the wall.

The living room was completely crowded, just as expected. What you hadn’t expected, however, was the way most of the people in the living room still hung out in their cliques. Sure they weren’t all in their separate little groups, some were on what had become the dance floor not giving a shit, some were playing drinking games whilst sitting on the couch, and all in all, it wasn’t that bad.

But the basketball team was almost standing in a line, all in their letterman jackets as if the jacket was a uniform. Stood all together as if they were trying to intimidate the whole party. Meanwhilst, the seniors of the group they call freaks were all spread across the room, none of them in their hellfire shirts.

”That looks weird, right?” An icebreaker was always a reliable way to enter a conversation. At least that’s what you hoped for when you came up to Eddie, gesturing towards the team. ”It looks almost horror movie-esque.”

”Yeah definitely.” He laughed out, and just like you and Robin had leaned against a wall in the hallway, you leaned against a wall with Eddie Munson. What you hoped was one of the normal positions at a party that wasn’t sitting or being in the way of others. ”You’re okay with them being here though?”

”Yeah it’s fine. At least I know who they are, if any of them breaks a lamp… I know whose parents to call.” Popping the ’p’ and sighing a little before averting your eyes from the team and instead to Eddie who definitely seemed to be in a laughing mood. Looking away from him a second later though when you realized that you currently couldn’t look at his eyes this closely without your mouth just slightly opening. ”I’m not like that uncomfortable with it but… there are a lot of people here that I feel like I don’t know.”

”You know me.”

”Do I?” It felt like it was just minutes ago when you had sort of excused yourself by saying that you didn’t know him in his car.

”Eddie Munson, Freak of Hawkins High. Nice to meet you.” He stretched out his hand with a smug grin on his face. With a playful tone in his voice and expressing a demeanor you’d only seen from afar before. You took his hand without much of a second thought but almost froze up when you could feel the rings on his fingers. The rings almost shocked you as if something knocked on your brain and just reminded you that this was Eddie Munson. The Eddie Munson.

”Oh, you’re that guy, well of course.” You teased with a chuckle, playing along.

”Told you that you knew me!” He chuckled and clapped his hands together once after your little shake. ”Y’know Dustin was talking so much about the party I thought he was gonna come here. That he was dropping hints that he wanted me to chaperone him to his first party or something.”

”Really?” You might have to smack the back of Dustin’s head a little next time you see him… ”Is that why you came?”

”No… Not at all.” Eddie remarked calmly, holding eye contact with you whilst he said it but then moved his eyes to look over the party around the two of you. ”Could we get away from this for a while?”

”For sure.”

You tried going outside at first but there were a lot of people outside too. People who’d probably had the same thought as Eddie. To get some air or just get away from being surrounded by people for a second or two at least.

”I have an idea.” You said before without a thought taking his hand in yours and leading him to the kitchen. Opened one of the drawers, and there they were; the key you’d locked the bedrooms with and a bag of snacks you’d saved for either when everyone left or for when you felt you needed to retreat to your bedroom. Almost like this moment turned out. Except you’d thought it would just be you, going up into your room, changing clothes and eating snacks, and then falling asleep.

Took the key, took the snacks, filled up your drink, and walked upstairs with Eddie in tow. As soon as Eddie made it into the room as well you shut the door as quickly as possible, set down your things and walked over to the windows, and opened them. Letting the fresh air in, but also thankfully some background noise. Took your things again and slumped down next to your bed, using it as a backrest.

”Better?”

”Much.” Eddie chuckled, his also refilled drink stretched out to toast with yours, ”Cheers.”

”Cheers.” He was sitting close enough for you to feel the heat of him radiating off of him once again. If he was so warm all the time you had no clue how the hell he constantly had on that leather jacket and jean vest combo. But you weren’t going to complain about any of that.

”I didn’t bring my stash.”

”Huh?”

”The… I asked if I could sell, y’know the other day. But… I didn’t bring it.”

”I don’t want to buy or anything-”

”No, you’re- I just… I didn’t want to sell. I just wanted to be here.” Eddie admitted with a sigh as if he absolutely needed to tell you that. His ’here’ sounded as if he really meant here, alone with you.

”That’s… sweet.” You chuckled as you heard yourself practically quoting him from the other day. Your heart felt as if it was going to beat its way out of you. And as a distraction… you decided to make it so much harder on yourself. Pulling your legs closer to yourself before picking up his closest arm and resting it on your angled lap as you decided to get a closer look at the tattoo near his elbow. Angling your knees slightly more in towards him as you stroked your fingers over the bats that decorated his skin.

You knew his eyes were on you as you started to trace them with one of your hands, whilst the one closest to him sort of just supported his arm. Or at least that’s only what it was doing until he took that hand in his own. However, you still didn’t dare look at him just yet. But you could still feel how close his head was to yours, how close you truly were now.

Your breathing had become kind of heavy, mostly in anticipation. This certainly felt like something was about to happen. And surprisingly you found yourself being the one to make it happen. Looked at him and took a deep breath in before you picked up your hand that had now just rested over his tattoo and guided it to his jaw instead. And then guided him to you.

Turns out, that having a crush on Eddie Munson leads to pretty amazing things. Like seeing the way he looked at you before you kissed. Feeling his free hand rest on one of your knees and guide them even closer to him. And the harsh feeling of several years of crushing on him, being intimidated by him, and admiring him softened severely.

”I’ve been wanting that for… too long.” Eddie sighed out dreamily once the two of you parted, which almost made you laugh in his face.

”You? I’ve been-” You started before your eyes widened and started over, ”Yeah no… way too long.” Your head bumped gently down on his shoulder forehead first and rested it there.

”What were you going to say?” His voice was quite hushed still but you could hear the smug and happy tone in it so clearly. Although he seemed to try not to sound so obvious.

”I uhm… I’ve sort of had this crush on you… for a while.”

”Really?”

”Yep.”

”Dustin trying to convince me to go makes a lot more sense now.” Eddie chuckled although his voice sounded more confused than enlightened. ”I sort of… figured out it was something behind it but I didn’t believe it when he said it was Steve who’d asked him to. I never figured out that there was a chain of command.”

”Oh god. Sorry. I was just… I didn’t think you’d come with the way the basketball team pretty much yelled their acceptance of the invite. And… y’know, crush. So I figured it was worth a try.” You shrugged lightly and placed your chin on his shoulder instead so you could look at him. Those big soft brown eyes looked right back at you.

”I was gonna come anyway.”

”Well I didn’t know that.”

”But now you do.”

[bellaramseysgf]

Never Leave (E.M)

Warning(s); a very bad description of the upside down,Steve being a slight asshole,mentions of blood,little bit angsty.

Pairing(s); Vamp!Eddie Munson x (Afab) Fem! Reader.

Summary; after getting stuck in the upside down steve goes back down with you to save Eddie.

“You know when I said I’d come help you look I didn’t expect for you to walk so fucking fast” Steve said as you were a few feet ahead of him. You watched your step careful of the vines that were growing out of the ground. “I’m on a mission, Steven. I need to find eddie and get him back before something happens” you replied as the ground began to shake. You managed to keep yourself balanced through it and it gave Steve enough time to catch up.

The upside down reeked. It smelt like old man and rotting corpses,the air was thick it almost felt hard to breath. You just tried to ignore it and make it back to where el last saw eddie.

“I never realized how much he meant to you” Steve said walking next to you now “yeah well that’s what happens when you’re too obsessed with your ex to see shit” you snapped at him.

Out of everyone that could’ve come you would’ve even chose robins constant rambling over him. Steve Harrington broke your heart and didn’t think twice about it,you liked him for 2 years and finally he asked you out only to ditch you the second things got rocky with johnathan and Nancy. He bailed on you. Left you stranded in a shopping marts parking lot because Nancy needed him. To say you were pissed at him would be a understatement.

“Geez, so snappy” Steve huffed and you rolled your eyes staying quiet. You finally made it to the highschool or well some fucked up version of it. It had black vines growing all through it,broken glass and tile covered the floor.

“Eddie?” You called softly as to not let anything else know you were there. “Eddie!!” You kept calling him as you and Steve explored the highschool. “Hey it’s your locker” Steve said stopping when he saw the remaining pieces of your locker inside the upside down. “Focus” you huffed.

Steve still stopped long enough to peak inside and saw the Polaroid Mike had taken of the pair of you at one of the school dances. You were grinning fondly at him and he was staring off in the distance, more then likely at Nancy. He felt guilt pang his chest when he saw how you looked at him with such admiration. He really hurt you.

“You can’t stay mad forever you know” Steve said and you ignore him peaking into classrooms. “I didn’t mean to hurt you” he added but still got no response. “I could’ve just let you come down here by yourself” “that would’ve been fine by me” you finally replied and Steve scoffed. “I know he’s our friend in all but what’s with you and Eddie?” You looked back at him “here? Seriously. You’re gonna do this here?” Steve shrugged and crossed his arms.

“Fine.” You huffed “Eddie…Eddie fixed what you broke steven. You ruined me, hurt me,damaged my heart,broke it even. You choose Nancy over me when you know how I felt about you. I loved you with everyone piece of my heart and it still wasn’t fucking good enough for you” you yelled out at him “Eddie, he made me feel better. Made me laugh,smile,made me feel good enough steven. I am good enough maybe not for you but for him I am.” Steve went to reply but you stopped him.

“I don’t wanna hear some lame excuse about how you loved Nancy and you had to do it. I don’t want you to fucking say you’re sorry or that you regret it because you don’t. You abandoned me and left me in your dust. I won’t forgive you for it because I know you aren’t really sorry about it okay?” You took a deep breath bringing your tone back to a calmer one. “So, I need to find Eddie because if I don’t my heart will be ruined again and I’m not sure I’ll survive it this time.” You turned on your heel and walked up some stairs.

“Eddi-” the name was ripped from your throat when the ground started to shake again. You didn’t have as good of a balance this time. Standing on a set of stairs the shaking urged you to trip backwards falling back into something hard. “Shit- Sorry Steve” you looked to your left to see Steve standing down the hall his eyes wide. You quickly looked back to see Eddie behind you his arms wrapped around you.

“Eddie!” You wrapped your arms around his neck and he let out a soft hiss holding you close. “I promised I’d get you, swore it” Eddie chuckled “yeah, you did.” Something felt off through something shifted,changed about his demeanor. “You alright?” You asked looking into his eyes “yeah, you’re hurt” just then you felt the warm sting of blood dripping from a cut on your leg. “Cmon I got ya” Steve finally made it over to the pair of you and lifted you off eddie wrapping your arm around his shoulder and picking you up bridal style.

“I can walk” you huffed “yeah, just say thank you” he replied and you looked over at Eddie. Eddie’s eyes were shifting from brown to a deep red. “Eds are you-” fangs poked out from his gums and Steve took a step back holding you away from him. “Calm down! I’m not gonna hurt you. You’re bleeding,it’s gonna happen” you and Steve looked at each other and then him. “It’s been a long 2 weeks alright? I’ll explain I just wanna go back home. Please.” Steve nodded and began to lead Eddie to the new gate they’d found.

“Last time you were like this you’d tripped jumping into my pool” Steve commented and you nodded “mhm.” Was your reply your eyes locked in on Eddie. “You know I-” “Steve please just be quiet. I don’t want to talk.” You said and he just nodded shutting up. Once they got you back to it you yelled out and Robin dropped a rope down. “Alright, you first” Steve and Eddie both helped you on the rope and you shimmed up, then Eddie, and lastly Steve.

You had never seen dustin run so fast to Eddie before, nearly tackling the man down. “You’re bleeding!” Nancy said and you laughed “uh yeah, I can feel it” Steve went to pick you back up but Eddie stopped him. “I’ve got her” he scooped you up as if you weighed nothing.

Eddie carried you most of the way back to his trailer you demanding to walk some of the way. “So stubborn” he complained “yeah, you taught me it” the two of you smiled at each other and he sat you on the couch. “I’ll go grab the first aid kit” you nodded and sighed leaning your head back.

Soon the rest of the crew walked in dispersing around the trailer and you as Eddie came back with the small white box. He handed it to Steve and Steve looked at him “I can’t do it” he stated plainly and Steve just eyed the box. Steve looked at you and you shrugged you didn’t care who did it you just wanted it done.

Steve knelt down and began to clean and bandage up the cut while eddie explained what had gone on in the two weeks he’d been stuck in the upside down. “So now I have fangs and crave blood, it’s weird.” You smiled at him all the same. “You’re a vampire” Dustin said and Eddie nodded “more or less” it took a few minutes for them to wrap around what he really just said.

Steve stood back up and you sighed leaning over on Eddie “I’m so glad you’re okay. I was so scared you died” Eddie smiled and kissed your forehead “not this time sweetheart.” You smiled and he lifted his arm around you allowing you to lay into his chest. “So now that you’re a vampire what’re you gonna do?” Robin asked and he shrugged “well, try to finish high school and move like I want.” You felt the vibration of his chest as he talked.

“Drag this one along with me probably” he glanced down at you and you smiled fondly. “Would miss you too much if you didn’t” you commented. “Whoa, you’re gonna move out of Hawkins?” Steve asked and you nodded “yeah, probably. I mean it’ll still take some time we’d have to save up money and plan it out” Steve grew quiet and then turned to leave.

“Is he alright?” Nancy asked and you sighed nodding. “As much as I love to see you guys I’m really tied and need a shower.” You sat up and Eddie pulled you back “not you, you stay” you nodded and said your goodbyes.

You curled up on the couch while Eddie showered and washed 2 weeks worth of funk off his body. You mindlessly flipped through channels on the tv when the door opened “hey!” Wayne walked in “did you guys find him?” He asked and you nodded “he’s in the shower” Wayne looked relieved “good. Uhm are you gonna stay over tonight?” You nodded “probably sleep with Ed’s like normal” Wayne nodded and you moved your feet so he could sit.

Once Eddie was done he came out in his sweats and a tank top his damp curls tied back into a bun. It was quiet for a moment when Wayne and Eddie saw each other. The two eventually hugged and talked for awhile, Eddie came up with some story about getting stuck some towns over during the earthquake. It was believable enough.

Later that night when you and Eddie finally got settled into to bed; “so I fixed you?” He asked and you felt your cheeks flush “you heard that?” Eddie smiled “I hear pretty much everything now” you nodded. “Yeah, you fixed me okay? Don’t let it go to your head pretty boy” you flicked his forehead and Eddie chuckled. “Thank you for saving me” “thank you for living” Eddie leaned down and nuzzled your nose before gently placing his lips to yours.

When he finally pulls away you snuggle into his chest. “Never leave eddie.” Eddie sighs sleepily “promise if I do I’ll bring you with.” You hummed in response and your felt his body go lax soft snores filling his room. Fuck, you were glad to have Eddie Munson back in your arms.