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patchworkgargoyle · 5 months

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with a bang 🎊

A gift for the lovely and talented Joey (@matchingbatbites) as part of our STuad server holiday gift exchange! I hope you enjoy, and have a lovely new year <3

Based on the prompts: impact play, secret relationship, and "don't be mean to me." Fingers crossed I did them justice! Rated: E || 4.7k words || CW: impact play, unprotected sex Full tag list on ao3!

Eddie was going to combust. He was also debating whether he should plot Robin’s untimely demise or send her a Thank You bouquet. Dressing up for their New Years party had been her idea, after all, and once she got Nancy on her side there was no swaying either of them, no matter how much the rest of them had hemmed and hawed. Eddie didn’t see a point to it; he’d thought they were just calling it a New Years party as an excuse to hang out without the rugrats for once, but then Robin wanted to make it a party party. With champagne and shit. And fancy clothes.

Once Argyle had confirmed he could wear whatever colours he wanted, so long as the clothes were dressy, Eddie knew his fate was sealed. He’d been the biggest—and loudest—nay-sayer, but with Jonathan, Steve, and Vickie being more or less neutral, his hard-fought battle against a dress code had been lost.

And jesus christ, is he ever glad he lost.

He got to Steve’s place last after he hit up the liquor store, the three bottles of the cheapest sparkling wine in his arms bought with their pooled funds. They nearly smashed on the Harrington stoop when Steve opened the front door he’d obnoxiously kicked looking like… well.

Steve owned a suit, apparently. A nice one. God, it must be tailored or some shit with how well it fit. His shoulders were so broad in the suit jacket, the black tie looking at home around Steve’s throat under the pressed white collar. Black dress pants made his legs long. Even that signature swoop in his hair was perfectly coiffed. Eddie’s eyes devoured the sight before him, and the first and foremost thought in his mind was that he wanted to get Steve out of that suit as soon as goddamn possible. Especially when Steve began to smirk at him knowingly.

His second thought was that he was so screwed.

They’d been hooking up for a bit now, was the thing. It was new. They hadn’t told anyone yet because they wanted to keep it to themselves, figure it out a little, have fun before the kids learned about it and got nosy. When they’d started talking about going on dates, though—and if his past self knew he’d be planning a date with Steve Harrington he’d blow a gasket—they’d agreed to say something once New Years was over. But how the hell was Eddie going to keep his mouth shut, not to mention his hands to himself, when Steve looked like that!?

“You’re wearing that?” he hissed. “This is cruel and unusual, Steve. This is torture. Why are you dressed like that when I can’t do anything about it!”

Shrugging, Steve whispered, “It’s my only suit, it’s all I had to wear.”

Eddie felt he was being too nonchalant about this and narrowed his eyes. He opened his mouth to complain more but then he heard Nancy’s voice from inside. “What are you guys doing? It’s cold out!” she said with a laugh, and Steve cocked an eyebrow and stepped aside so Eddie could come in.

Steve took the bottles so Eddie could get out of his coat, and he did notice, with no small amount of satisfaction, that Steve’s eyes were on him too. Eddie might not have a tailored suit, but his black dress shirt and slacks fit him pretty damn well, he figured, and the way Steve was looking at him made it clear he thought the same. Eddie stuck his tongue out between his teeth and wiggled his eyebrows at Steve suggestively and earned a dark, desirous look from him that promised later and sent a thrill down Eddie’s spine.

But later was getting harder and harder to wait for. As their little party went on, Steve found more ways to drive Eddie up the fucking wall, when he’d rather be pushed into the wall, secrecy be damned.

It was all the little touches, the fleeting looks. Steve developed a habit of tugging on Eddie’s belt loops when no one was looking, or the sleeve of his shirt; something that would grab Eddie’s attention and pull him just a smidge closer. When they’d ended up sitting next to each other on the couch Steve gradually shifted into Eddie’s space and their thighs kept touching, and Eddie couldn’t stop thinking about how it felt to have his legs tangled with Steve’s in his bed. And then, when their eyes met, Eddie swore Steve would check him out. It was always quick, but he could practically feel it when Steve looked at his lips, or where his shirt collar was undone. Eddie went red every time.

Eventually Eddie decided to give as good as he got, though that may have also been fueled by the cheap wine. He’d watch Steve over the rim of his glass until Steve caught on and licked his lips when Steve’s eyes flicked downward, only glancing away after a few seconds of holding his gaze. Letting his arm drape casually over the back of the couch so he could brush his fingers down the nape of Steve’s neck was absolutely a risk, but it was worth it when Steve’s breath hitched and he stumbled over his words. He was talking to Jonathan, though, who was high as a kite and didn’t notice. Hopefully.

They kept upping the ante all night and Eddie was a stiff breeze away from getting hard from all the tension by the time midnight crept up on the group. Five minutes before the countdown, Nancy herded them all out to Steve’s backyard in a rush. The town stretched out in the distance, lights glittering in the dark winter night. An occasional screech and flash of colour from premature fireworks interrupted the anticipatory silence that hung over Hawkins. Vickie helped Robin uncork the last bottle of champagne, and the teens passed it around, refilling their glasses as they huddled close to fend off the cold.

“Did we really have to stand outside for this?” Steve grumbled. He stood between Eddie and Robin and kept bumping shoulders with both of them.

“Duh, we can’t see the fireworks from inside, dingus,” Robin said, even though she shivered the hardest out of all of them. Vickie was tucked into her side and had her arms wrapped around Robin’s waist to try to keep warm.

Steve crossed his arms and glared out across the snowy lawn. “We could’ve grabbed our coats at least.”

“I did mean to give us more time to get ready, but it’s too late now.” Nancy looked at her watch. “Two minutes until midnight.”

When Eddie shoved his free hand in his pocket and shivered extra hard, Steve leaned into him, and it took every bit of willpower to not give in to the urge to rest his head on Steve’s shoulder. Or kiss him. The idea of being openly affectionate with Steve made Eddie feel all fizzy inside in the best way. He was glad they were going to tell everyone after this. As fun as it had been, keeping this between themselves, he was getting tired of having to hide how he felt. He wanted their friends to know, wanted to touch and kiss his boyfrie—Steve without having to sneak around.

“Anyone got a wish they wanna make?” Argyle asked, and everyone else shot him confused looks.

“I don’t think people make wishes on New Years,” Jonathan said haltingly. “Do you mean resolutions?”

“Nah dude, I think wishes are better. Less pressure, y’know?”

Eddie tipped his head thoughtfully. “That’s a good point,” he said, and Argyle beamed at him.

“Yeah, that sounds like a nice idea.” Vickie agreed. “We should all think of a wish!”

“Just don’t say what it is or it won’t come true. Told my sister that I wished on a dandelion that my skateboard would never break but the next day it snapped like–” Argyle mimed breaking something over his knee, complete with sound effects. “It was a total bummer, man.”

“Wasn’t that the one you cracked and duct taped over?” Jonathan asked, bloodshot eyes narrowed as he tried to remember.

“Yeah, but like, with the good tape.”

Nancy gave an amused, but pinched, smile when she said, “Half a minute.”

Steve shuffled and Eddie looked over at him. He was so unfairly handsome tonight, freckled cheeks and nose flushed from the chill, and though his hair wasn’t quite as perfect anymore it just made him look roguish. Eddie wanted to get his hands in it. He wanted to kiss Steve so much it hurt. Subtly, Eddie slipped his hand from his pocket and wiggled the tips of his fingers in-between Steve’s, and Steve looked down at his feet to hide his smile, giving Eddie’s fingers a brief squeeze.

His heart beat a rapid staccato in his chest and Eddie knew right then what he was going to wish for.

“Ten seconds!” Nancy announced, then counted down, and everyone joined in, grinning at each other excitedly. Five seconds, three, one, and–

A whole chorus of screeching, banging fireworks from the town almost drowned out their cheers of Happy New Year! A riot of colours burst across the sky, spilling over the untouched snow and lighting up their faces, and Eddie silently sent his wish up into the sky with them.

Steve didn’t look at anyone but him, his face soft with affection. And Eddie couldn’t take his eyes off Steve. The fireworks looked better reflected in his eyes anyway.

“Hey, can you help me grab something from inside?” Steve asked, and Eddie nodded frantically.

Robin snorted when Steve and Eddie scampered off, but Eddie paid her no mind. He was too busy following Steve through the house filled with the loud music they’d forgotten to turn off. When he realised they were heading upstairs, heat began to burn low in his belly and anticipation buzzed under his skin. He wasn’t sure if they were out of view yet, but he didn’t care, giving Steve’s ass a light smack and smirking when Steve shot a glare over his shoulder. How could he be expected to resist? It was right in front of him!

They hurried down the hallway to Steve’s room, and Eddie was barely through the doorway when Steve shut it and crowded him up against it to kiss him. Eddie groaned hungrily and parted his lips for Steve’s tongue, the kiss turning messy with their enthusiasm. He felt Steve yanking his shirt out of his slacks and flinched, gasping, when Steve’s cold fingers touched his scarred sides.

“Been driving me nuts all night, Eds,” Steve muttered against Eddie’s lips, his hands inching up Eddie’s shirt. “You look so good all dressed up, god. When you touched my neck I almost caved and pinned you to the couch.”

Eddie laughed. “I couldn’t help myself,” he purred.

“Yeah well, it was a dick move.” Steve reached Eddie’s chest and swiped his chilly thumb over Eddie’s hardened nipple before pinching and rolling it, making him whimper. “Kinda think I should get some payback for it.”

“Don’t be mean to me, Stevie,” Eddie said, but his tone was deliberately teasing even as he squirmed a bit under Steve’s hands. He loved pressing his luck with Steve, pushing his buttons and seeing what it got him.

Steve arched an eyebrow, then shoved his knee between Eddie’s thighs, pressing into Eddie’s rapidly hardening cock. His mouth fell open and he rocked into the pressure. But then Steve’s hands grabbed him by the hips and held him still, pinned to the door, and Eddie whined.

“You teased me all night, and you think I’ll make it easy for you?” Steve smirked before he leaned down to kiss Eddie’s collarbones, nipping at Eddie’s skin to make him twitch ineffectually in his grip. All the while, he kept lightly grinding his thigh against Eddie’s dick, barely enough movement to taunt him.

Eddie groaned. “You teased me too!”

Steve slapped Eddie’s thigh and the shock of it, more than the light sting of it, made Eddie bite his lip to muffle a moan. “You made it worse,” Steve whispered into his ear as he soothed the spot he’d slapped with a gentle touch. “So yeah, I’m gonna be a little mean.”

Teeth caught his earlobe and Eddie shuddered, unable to contain a triumphant grin. Holy shit, he was excited for this. He fucking loved it when this side of Steve came out to play.

Straightening up, Steve let go of Eddie’s hips to work at the knot in his tie. “Ride my thigh,” he said as the knot came free and he whipped the tie off, flinging it somewhere into the room. Eddie nodded and started rolling his hips. The relief at being able to move was almost as powerful as the surge of arousal he felt at the command. His slacks were tight over his cock but the friction was so delicious. Steve’s strong thigh kept Eddie’s legs apart enough that he had to brace himself on Steve’s shoulders. It gave him enough stability to really grind, and jesus christ, between all the flirting and teasing and touching all night, and this, Eddie could already feel his orgasm building. Shit.

And the way Steve looked wasn’t helping anything. A lock of hair had come free over his forehead, making him look more artfully dishevelled, and Steve had unbuttoned the first few buttons of his shirt, dark curls of hair peeking out. Eddie wanted to eat him, be eaten by him. He dug his fingers into Steve’s shoulders and pulled him into a demanding kiss, licking into his mouth and swallowing his low moan.

While they kissed, Steve made quick work of Eddie’s shirt, and as soon as it was gone Steve’s hands were on him again, greedy and grasping. One wide palm held the back of his head, tugging lightly at his hair, and the other guided Eddie’s hips faster. Heat blazed in his gut and Eddie’s desperate grinding was starting to lose its tempo.

“S-Steve, oh fuck, gonna come in my pants i-if I keep going,” Eddie rasped.

“You can keep going a little longer,” Steve replied, no, insisted.

“I can’t,” Eddie whined. Steve slapped his thigh again, harder this time, and Eddie’s whine went embarrassingly high and reedy.

“Might have to be a little mean if you can’t keep going. Do you want that, baby?”

Oh yes he fucking did. “Yes, yes, fuck, Steve, yes I do,” he babbled, and Steve clicked his tongue like he was disappointed. But all Eddie saw in his face was devoted hunger, hazel eyes intense with it, making something swoop in Eddie’s gut.

“Your choice,” Steve said casually. Then he slapped him again, on the same, still stinging spot, and Eddie threw his head back as he came soundlessly, making a mess of his boxers, immediately feeling warm and sticky as he gasped for air and clung to Steve.

Steve held him through it, made sure his head didn’t smash into the door, muttering, “So pretty when you come, Eddie. Couldn’t help it, could you? S’okay. You’ll make it up to me.”

“I will, I will Steve, whatever you want.”

“Good boy,” Steve said, low and confident. Eddie shivered at the words and his eager groan was silenced when Steve kissed him, taking him by the hand and leading him with teasing, bitey kisses to the bed.

Eddie’s knees hit the bed and he let himself fall, bouncing on the eyesore of a duvet and quickly scrambling to get his slacks off, cringing at the way his cum made his boxers stick to him. At least he had a spare pair here. Steve grabbed the lube from his nightstand and chucked it onto the bed, then stood between Eddie’s legs and stared, swallowing at the sight of Eddie sprawled out on his bed. Smirking, Eddie spread his legs further, tilting his chin back as he tossed his hair. Seeing Steve still fully clothed, in a suit no less, hard cock bulging in his dress pants while Eddie was bare fucking naked below him made Eddie feel electric. He wiggled a little just to ease the frisson skittering along his nerves.

“Like what you see?” he asked.

Reaching out, Steve trailed his big fingers along the sensitive skin of Eddie’s inner thigh reverently, goosebumps rising in his wake. “Always do.”

How Steve managed to sound turned on and sincere, Eddie had no idea, but it made his heart do flips in his chest.

Steve started slowly undoing the buttons of his shirt as his eyes lingered over Eddie’s body. “Turn over for me,” he said, and Eddie obeyed quickly, getting on his knees and elbows. Stretching out across the blankets, he looked over his shoulder at Steve and wiggled his ass in the air.

“C’mon Stevie,” he urged, drawing out the syllables, “I wanna know what you’re planning in that pretty head of yours.”

“Jesus, you’re impatient.” Steve shook his head, but there was a fond smile tugging at his lips and he did speed up. Once undressed—and Eddie would never get over the sight of Steve naked, or the sheer size of his cock, jesus christ—he stepped closer to the bed and yanked Eddie in by his hips, making him yelp. “Maybe you should ask me politely,” he said.

“Pretty please, Stevie, with a cherry on t—aah!”

The slap to his asscheek rang out in the room, the sting radiating out all warm and tingly. Eddie made a short, whiny noise as his dick gave a valiant twitch. There was a click from behind him and Eddie jumped when he felt cold lube drip over his hole, then down his taint. Steve dragged his thumb through it, then rubbed soothingly over the ring of muscle.

“Count them for me.”

Eddie nodded and counted that first slap, then the next two, alternating sides each time. Steve kept massaging his hole, then pressing in gently when Eddie relaxed between each smack. By the fifth slap Eddie’s cheeks were prickling painfully, and his cock started to fill out again, hanging heavy between his legs and twitching almost painfully at every slap. He knew his pale skin must be so red.

Steve paused and brushed his free hand over Eddie’s heated, sore skin. “You doing okay, Eds?”

“Yep, oh yeah, so fucking okay,” he breathed, “green, golden, whatever. I’m so good.”

Laughing, Steve bent over and kissed the small of Eddie’ back. “Such a good boy for me, baby. Now keep counting.”

With each smack, Eddie felt his belly tighten further and further. He was so fucking aroused he’d began to writhe and rock back onto Steve’s thumb, then his fingers when he started stretching Eddie, prepping him. By the time they got to nine, Eddie was shaking, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes.

“Oh god, Steve, please, I want you to fuck me already, please please please,” he begged.

“I dunno. You think you’ve made it up to me yet?”

Another slap, and Eddie sobbed out, “Ten! Yes, please Stevie, I’ve been good!”

Steve’s fingers pulled out of Eddie’s hole and he sobbed again, clenching around nothing. “You’re okay, Eds, you have been good, I’ve got you,” Steve reassured. There was a wet sound, and soon enough the blunt head of Steve’s slicked-up cock pressed against Eddie’s stretched hole. He rubbed his clean hand down along the curve of Eddie’s spine, the tender touch almost overwhelming in comparison to the hot pain in his cheeks. “Ready?” Steve asked.

“God yes.”

Eddie muffled his guttural moan in the covers as Steve pushed in, also groaning in relief. And he didn’t waste much time. Eddie was loose enough that Steve’s short, sharp thrusts brought them flush together with little effort, though Eddie still felt stretched out and so fucking full. They stayed like that for a moment, adjusting to the feeling together. The way Steve breathed, heavy and quick, told Eddie that he was getting control of himself. That Steve was close to coming just from slapping him around made him grin and squeeze around his cock like a tease.

“Eddie, that’s unfair,” Steve grunted and grabbed a small handful of ass in retaliation. Pain burned deliciously under his hand.

“Sorry, sweetheart,” Eddie said only a tiny bit insincerely. He felt Steve laugh more than he heard it.

Then Steve started to move again. The slow drag of his cock made Eddie shudder, able to feel every vein before he plunged back in again. Groaning low in his throat, Steve said, “Fuck, Eddie, wish you could see yourself.” Both his hands grabbed at Eddie’s ass, and he jerked and whimpered at the pain. “So pretty and red.”

Eddie just whined wordlessly, and Steve’s thrusts sped up. Fists white-knuckled in the covers, he rocked back eagerly, desperate for the feeling rising like a tide about to crash over him. Steve’s cock felt so fucking good, but then Steve got a knee up on the mattress and he draped himself over Eddie’s back and the angle drove him right into Eddie’s prostate, over and over. Eddie couldn’t help the sweet, needy cries that tumbled out of his mouth as his pleasure mounted.

Fingers entwined with his. It was Steve’s favourite thing to do during sex and it’d quickly become Eddie’s too. One more point of connection, a soft gesture no matter how hard they were fucking each other, and it made Eddie melt every time. He squeezed Steve’s fingers, maybe a little too hard, but Steve just fucked him faster, the sound of skin slapping against sweaty skin mingling with their moaning.

“Steve, gonna come, soon, holy shit. T-touch me? Please, want you to touch me,” Eddie said.

“Me too, god, I’ve got you.”

Reaching down, Steve wrapped his hand around Eddie’s aching, dripping cock and jerked him in time with his thrusts. Eddie was fucking overwhelmed. Steve’s hand, Steve’s cock, he didn’t know which feeling to chase, couldn’t tell the difference as he sped towards the crest of his climax. Fresh tears sprang to his eyes, his legs shook, the only anchor he had was Steve’s hand in his and he clung to it as he moaned Steve’s name.

“I’m so close, wanna come with you,” Steve begged raggedly. “Come for me, Eddie, please baby.”

The urgency in his voice and the way Steve’s rhythm grew sloppy and rough pushed Eddie over the edge finally, gloriously. His orgasm crashed over him and he came with a choked cry, rutting into Steve’s grip as he spilled on the duvet. Steve’s forehead dropped onto Eddie’s back and with a few hard pumps of his hips he came too, warm and deep inside Eddie.

Eddie’s legs gave out and he collapsed on the bed, grunting when Steve came down with him. They both laughed breathlessly, and Steve rolled off him, lazily scooting up the bed and trying to pull Eddie along too. Though he felt like a limp noodle, Eddie gave in and fumbled his way up and into Steve’s sweaty arms. Head resting on his chest, Eddie could hear how Steve’s heartbeat steadily slowed to something calm, and could feel his own slow to match.

Music was still blasting downstairs, and fireworks were still going off here and there outside. One flashed close to Steve’s window, a shower of green and gold that lit up Steve’s gorgeous eyes.

“Happy New Year, Steve,” he whispered.

Smiling, Steve kissed Eddie sweet and slow, then said, “Happy New Year, Eddie.”

Eddie returned the smile, but it grew into something cheeky when he got an awful idea. He saw the suspicion grow across Steve’s face. “I guess we, uh… really started the year off with a bang,” he said, and Steve’s head fell back onto his pillow with a pained groan.

When they both woke up, Steve eventually managed to coax Eddie out of bed so they could get breakfast started for everyone. It didn’t take much coaxing when he reminded Eddie that he planned to make french toast just for him. Dressed in Steve’s borrowed pyjamas, Eddie blearily trudged downstairs with him.

Their friends must have found their ways to the various guest rooms, because the living room and kitchen were empty. It looked like half of the mess from last night had been tidied, and Eddie shook his head with a smile when he imagined Nancy trying to clean before being convinced to go to bed.

Eddie took up his usual spot, seated on the counter—despite the soreness from last night—and mostly out of the way while Steve got everything together. He looked so soft in the light and his old, worn Hawkins High Basketball shirt, his hair ravaged by sleep. Sighing, Eddie propped his chin in his hand as he watched him move around the kitchen.

Steve caught him staring and put his hands on his hips. “What?”

“You’re just sooo handsome,” Eddie cooed, “I’d eat you for breakfast instead.” He snapped his teeth and Steve snorted and rolled his eyes as he closed the distance between them.

“Probably healthier to eat french toast,” he said. Hands on the counter at either side of Eddie’s knees, Steve looked up at Eddie. “And Robin would kill you for killing me.”

Clicking his tongue, Eddie tilted his head in agreement. “Yep. Probably. She’d have to enact some sort of best friend revenge clause if I murdered you and I don’t think I want to incur the Wrath of Buckley.”

“I don’t recommend it. She’s clumsy but if she does manage to land a hit she can kinda pack a punch.”

Eddie leaned in and wiggled his eyebrows, letting out a low, suggestive hum. “So do you,” he said, and even though Steve rolled his eyes again he also smiled. He barely had to tip his chin up to reach Eddie’s lips, and they traded a few kisses in the quiet morning sunlight. Eddie wrapped his arms around Steve’s neck, his hands inevitably finding their way into Steve’s hair.

They were both so distracted that they didn’t notice someone walk into the kitchen.

“Morning, brochachos,” Argyle said cheerily, and Steve and Eddie jumped away from each other, red faced and wide eyed. “Oh shit, sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt the love fest!”

“Wh-huh?” Eddie said eloquently.

“It’s—uh,” Steve followed up.

Robin peered around the doorway next. “You two done or are you gonna burn breakfast?”

“It’s not gonna burn, Robs,” Steve frowned, but then said, “wait. Why aren’t you freaking out?”

The flat look Robin gave him made Eddie snort, even if it was kind of about him, too. “You’re kidding, right? I had my suspicions, Steve, but last night confirmed everything. You couldn’t keep your eyes off each other all night, it was ridiculous. And then the whole, ‘can you help me grab something from inside’ thing was the most obvious excuse ever.”

“And you didn’t come back down after that,” Nancy said as she and Jonathan walked in. “Morning, Eddie.”

“Uh. Uh-huh. Good morning. So, hold on, none of you care?” Eddie asked.

“Like I said, kind of already knew. We were just waiting for you to tell us,” Robin said as she poured coffee into two mugs. “I gotta tell Vickie exactly how right I was, be right back. And the french toast is burning, Steve.” Steve swore and jogged over to the stove.

Jonathan pulled a mug out of the cupboard as he spoke next. “I think it’s great you guys are boyfriends. It’s a good fit, y’know?”

Eddie’s heart thumped and he looked at Steve, who turned around from trying to save the first batch of breakfast from incendiary doom. Steve’s cheeks were a little red, and he was smiling shyly. Shrugged a bit, like a question. Beaming at him, Eddie said, “Yeah. Boyfriends. I think it’s great too.”

Dividers by @/saradika and @/cafekitsune

#matchingbatbites #steddie #eddie munson #steve harrington #stranger things #fanfic #sav scrawls stuff

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londondziban · 7 months

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No one asked but I'm bored so here are my ratings of popular Stranger Things ships! (kind of a long post).

Disclaimer: Ship who you wanna ship. This is just for fun :)

Byler: 100/10, I love my boys. No notes.

Lumax: Also a 100/10. They're just so!!!

Elmax: 9/10. I love them with my whole heart but I'm a Lumax shipper first and foremost.

Elumax: 100000/10. Literal perfection. Elmax AND Lumax (and Hopclair, depending on how you view the ship dynamic)? Literally what more could you want?

Duzie: 7/10. They're cute and I really like Suzie. I wish we could've seen more of them, maybe Suzie will come back with a bigger role next season.

Henderhop: 6/10. Typically I HC El as a lesbian but I actually like this pairing. Definitely not a ship I'd die on but I enjoy interacting with the fan content.

Henderclair: 6/10. Listen, I love their dynamic. If I didn't HC Dustin as the token straight, I'd probably rate them higher. Platonically? Literally everything to me. Romantically? I'm not opposed.

Byclair: 8/10. I also like them a lot but I'm a die-hard Byler shipper. I do enjoy interacting with the fan content though!

Wheelclair: 7/10. They're silly and I love them but this is a particular dynamic I prefer platonic. I do HC that Mike had a crush on Lucas when they were younger though.

Mileven: 1/10. I'm just not a fan. I'm giving them a one solely cuz I enjoyed them in season 1 when I first watched the show in middle school, but I'm definitely not a fan of this ship at all. Platonically though?? Amazing.

Jancy: 10/10. I love them. I'm praying every day that the Duffers didn't completely fuck them up and that they'll be endgame.

Ronance: 9/10. I like them, they're cute. I interact with a lot of their fan content. Let's go lesbians.

Rovickie/Rockie: 7/10. I just don't know enough about Vickie yet to know if them as endgame is what I'm rooting for, but from what we've seen they're cute.

Stonathan: 10/10. I love them and I'm so excited for their interactions in season 5! They're the enemies to lovers.

Jargyle: 9/10. Love me some stoner boyfriends. They've definitely kissed before at least once.

Stancy: -10000/10. BOOOOOOO 🍅🍅🍅. They are not right for each other. Steve deserves someone who loves him and Nancy deserves someone she loves.

Stoncy: 3/10. If it's in the way that Steve and Jonathan are dating and Jonathan and Nancy are dating with Nancy and Steve being platonic, then sure. But if it's all three dating, nah. Steve and Nancy just don't work imo.

Buckingham (Chrissy x Robin): 8/10. I think this is considered a rare pair but I think they're adorable and I love the fan content around them.

Hellcheer: 5/10. Not my favorite but I have no issues with this ship. I see the vision of them as best friends mainly.

Steddie: 5/10. They're not bad and I interact with some of their fan content (some of their tiktok edits go hard), but they're just kind of okay, you know?

Jopper: 10/10. I love them. Been a Jopper fan since day one. They're so endgame.

If there's any other ships you want to know my opinion on, let me know!

(All fun and games here, y'all. Ship whatever you want)

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crackers4jenn · 10 months

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"I was thinking, 'Nancy Wheeler, she’s not just another suburban girl who thinks she’s rebelling by doing exactly what every other suburban girl does... until that phase passes and they marry some boring one-time jock who now works sales, and they live out a perfectly boring little life at the end of a cul-de-sac. Exactly like their parents, who they thought were so depressing, but now, hey, they get it.'"

The way this scene, this quote, has such a chokehold on the Stranger Things fandom to the point that most people refuse to let Steve or Nancy out of the box it pigeonholes them into. I'm always so baffled when people reference it as ✨proof✨ that they shouldn't get back together.

First of all, what Jonathan is doing here is projecting. Big time. He barely even knows Nancy at this point (beyond being his brother's friend's sister) but he's got this idealized version of her in his head and this, you know, Nice Guy complex that makes him think he knows the Real True Nancy, that he's the guy who really sees her for who she is and not who she pretends to be. He says as much to defend his picture taking. "I saw this girl, you know, trying to be someone else. But for that moment, it was like you were alone, or you thought you were. And, you know, you could just be yourself." Which, again, lemme repeat that he barely even knows her.

BUT ACTUALLY. The reason Jonathan is so disparaging is because he has this annihilistic approach to romance/marriage/happily-ever-afters in general based on his own experiences that have NOTHINGGGG to do with who he's even perceiving Nancy to be here. Case in point, fast-forward to season 4. Even when him and Nancy are dating and seemingly headed toward a lifetime together, he can't help but think they'll end up just like his parents based off of nothing but the fact that he doesn't want to go to the same college as her: "the cycle never ends." This is why I say Jonathan was projecting in the scene above. Not because he's full of bullshit but because, first and foremost, he already has trouble believing happy marriages can exist in the first place. So surely Nancy is just going through the motions with Steve, and of course that's just going to lead to resentment. That's the end result, right? Regardless of whether she's dating Steve or with Jonathan himself, it's the ending he assigns to both relationships.

It's also worth noting that, at this point in time, only 5 episodes into the first season, there is definitely a lot of truth in what Jonathan's implying about Steve and Nancy's relationship. Steve's still King Steve at this point, he's only just starting to crawl forward, he hasn't even gotten the thunk on the head he credited Nancy with giving him. So, yeah, it's very easy for Nancy to hear this superficial reading of her and Steve's relationship and want to rebel against it because, at that point, at that exact moment in time, her and Steve very well could have headed down that path.

But the thing is, what you can apply to these s1 characters (by way of this scene) is no longer applicable to their s4 characters - at least where Steve and Nancy are concerned. Nancy once admitted she didn't want to be trapped in a loveless marriage that ended with a cul-de-sac and a husband too checked out to look up from the newspaper. Great news is, that version of who Steve could've been no longer exists. Steve is now the guy who shows up when Nancy is first feeling adrift (present instead of distant,) he's the guy hoping to tag along on her investigative quests (interested instead of dismissive,) he's the guy literally leaping headfirst into danger (active instead of passive,) he's the one holding onto her with both hands during her Vecna mindfuck, he's at her side the entire time once they reunite.

So.

If ever there was a point being made about s1 Steve's incompatibility with Nancy by way of his early-on passivity, then SURELYYYYY there is something to be said about how directly involved s4 Steve was in aiding Nancy and what that says about their CURRENT compatibility.

#stranger things #jonathan byers #nancy wheeler #steve harrington #stancy

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uwusillygirl · 6 months

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HAPPY END OF KINKTOBER! UWUSILLYGIRL'S BIG HUGE THANK YOU POST!

hi!!!!

first and foremost, i'd love to thank everyone for such a fabulous kinktober. i was tentative about doing something within the community; i was worried no one would participate, or i would be organizing an event "wrong", or that people would feel limited by my prompts and suggestions. you all made sure that absolutely NONE OF THESE FEARS WERE WARRANTED! everyone came with the COOLEST shit.

here is a brief collection of some of my personal favorites; either just stunningly written, fascinatingly done, or personally my cup of tea (and i will not tell you which is which! lmao!)

A SHORT LIST OF SOME FANTASTIC PIECES (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER):

@aicosu's "KNOCK KNOCK": oxy-addicted, adhd, dopamine hole eddie and fastidious, nerdy, ex-fundamentalist chrissy meet at the glory hole of a seedy sex arcade. visceral, headachey, and so hot.

@staceymcgillicuddy's whole series was awesome, but i LOVED their "humiliation + bladder control" prompt especially. nasty and mean!

@jewelledfoxes' also had banger after banger, but i really loved their bottoming from the top prompt, "i'd probably still adore you with your hands around my neck" .

the anonymously posted "if loving you is wrong, I don't want to be right": the most charming, sweetest little take on hybristophilia a girl has ever seen! chrissy sees eddie being very evil and bad (read as: harmless graffiti) and is simply swept away by his raw criminality. so cute, soft, silly, fantastic.

@chrissy-n-eddie's "Bottom Bunk", a one-shot using "gender bend" and "spit" to give the CUTEST DAMN SAPPHIC CAMP COUNSELOR PUSSY EATING FIC TO EVER EXIST MAYBE EVER? THEY'VE GOT SUNBURNED NOSES! THEY'RE IN LITTLE YELLOW T-SHIRTS!

@bettercraic went big-brained as all hell with their jonathan/nancy/eddie/chrissy voyuerism installment, "let's make a team". quick and sexy.

@erythromanc3r wrote this mean and insane and nasty one-shot, "kiss me where you bruise me" that is the hottest anything ever. you're never gonna guess what i loved about it (kidding. you will. it's mean.)

FINALLY! i would like to thank those who stuck to THEIR OWN HARD LIMITS, CREATED WHOLE SERIES, OR WANTED TO DO SOMETHING ELSE! we had some people make whole cohesive (@hunter-gatherer-stuff) stories, we had some people come in and write about pimple popping, we had people write shit (@badlydrawnlips) based on my own indulgent little kink dynamics (sorry, couldn't not mention that one... so baller), and best of all, we had people write their own stuff when the prompts were not for them. that made my heart so happy.

A FINAL PERVERT'S NOTE:

if you are working on a kinktober series that's gonna take more time, if you have prompts in process that you suddenly have the urge to finish, if you wake up in a cold sweat on december 3rd and just NEED to write about spit, fucking do it and tag it. i love you so much. every day is kinktober if you are a true pervert. take your time, love your life, remember that fanfiction (like art in general!) should be an enjoyable effort and made under your own rules!

there is still some stuff i have left to read on the tag! and i loved literally everything i read, this is just a rapid-fire word vomit. i PROMISE i will get around to anything unread soon! i am so unbelievably pleased about this month, thank you all again so, so, so much!

#hellcheer kinktober 2023 #i couldn't find some of you to tag!! if you are unmentioned in one of my links please let me know!!

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dufrau · 4 months

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(amybeth in that cast photo setting off little alarm bells in my ronance addled brain and i feel very bad because she the actress has obviously done nothing wrong and vickie the character has also done nothing wrong and who knows i might wind up actually loving rockie/rovickie on the show but my brain is like. please. no thank you. i'm happy where i am.)

(but here is the thing, even if i do wind up liking rockie/rovickie i will still first and foremost be a ronance shipper because i am first and foremost a nancy wheeler stan and ronance is the ultimate "good for her" ending for nancy wheeler.)

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nerdyvocals · 11 months

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Need to know your thoughts on Cynthia putting on that jacket when they get home from the dance. Cause I have a couple theories which both might be false.

1. The jacket is their father’s jacket and Cynthia needed some type of love so put the jacket on for comfort.

2. The jacket could be what Cynthia wanted to wear to the dance…

Would love to know your thoughts on this scene.

Hooo boy I am so glad someone asked me specifically about this, because I am actually very qualified to talk about it!!!

If you don't know me; Hi, I'm Levi, I am a theatre student, I'm currently working toward a degree in costume design and technology, and I have Big Opinions on clothing. Before I actually start talking about said opinions, let me first give a quick rundown on Costumes 101. Disclaimer: my education has been largely in the realm of stage production, but in Costume Land there is a very large overlap between stage and screen, with the main differences being on the technical side, which I will get more into later. That said, given the genre and tone of this show, my stage knowledge will apply.

And a word of warning: this anon has released a beast and this is going to be a long post, therefore I am putting my analysis under the cut. Also, apologies to those I tag, just want to make sure images and gifs get their proper credit.

Now, first and foremost, the purpose of costume on both screen and stage is to give insight into each character and passively tell a story. Therefore, nothing is coincidence and everything is intentional. Color, silhouette, piece, and style are all meticulously selected to bring a character to life and tell the audience who they are.

Example: In the live yesterday, Tricia Fukuhara mentioned requesting a beret she saw in the costume shop for Nancy, and while they did end up putting Nancy in several hats, she was told berets specifically were reserved for another character, Lydia. We do actually see another thespian with a beret, Alice (who IMDb tells me is played by Emilee Nimetz), which has... interesting implications, but that's for another post.

So let's see what we're working with here.

(gif by @stbot)

The first thing I notice is fairly obvious: this coat doesn't fit. That shoulder seam should be sitting right on the ball of their shoulder (think top of the shoulder cap); it's nearly halfway down their upper arm. Think it looks long here? Even when they're standing, it hits about mid-thigh. Not to mention that the sleeves themselves are baggy and way too long. They are swimming in this coat.

What does this mean? This coat isn't Cynthia's.

One could argue that it wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility that Cynthia would own an ill-fitting coat; given the time period, I imagine it would be hard for a girl to find men's clothing in her size. Except, for the most part, Cynthia's masc clothing does fit.

(gif by @greasegifs)

(gif by @wlwshipper)

(gif by @greasegifs)

(Image by @jealous-kippen)

Cynthia clearly has no problem finding men's clothing that fits. That said, there are technical reasons behind why a garment must fit beyond story-telling. Namely: actors' safety.

Out of any single one of Cynthia's looks, I would argue that this monstrosity:

(Image credit: promo shot)

would be the most likely candidate for ill-fitting garment, character-wise. Everything we know about Cynthia suggests that they aren't the type of person to buy a dress they will likely only wear once (i.e., they are poor: single-parent home, always hungry, excitement over free food (Buddy's campaign candy), and it appears that they live in an apartment).

All this to say, it would make sense for this dress in particular to not fit, and yet, it does. Why? There's a dance scene. While the hand jive itself is not a particularly intensive dance move, Ari is standing on tables, climbing on cars, jumping, crouching, all manner of things that would be dangerous to do in a garment that was too big.

(Side note: I've seen quite a few people suggest that this is an old dress or possibly a hand-me-down from somewhere, or if anything, purchased second-hand. I have reason to believe it's not, but again, that's another post).

Of course, Ari, and by extension, Cynthia, isn't doing anything in the Coat Scene (tm) that would endanger them by wearing something too big. Even still, given their previous wardrobe, it's out of place. And like I said before, nothing is coincidence and everything is intentional. And why is it significant that the coat is too big? Because nothing else that Cynthia wears is.

Now, all this was a very long-winded way to say that this is Papa Zdunowski's coat. It's clearly not Cynthia's, and their dad is the only other person they live with. So yes, dearest Anon, your theory is most definitely correct.

Cynthia had just had probably one of the worst nights in their young life. Their friend group has fallen apart, they've messed up big time with their oldest friend, Richie has been arrested, and they're being forced to confront that they are queer. They come home to an empty house, either literally (dad's still at the shop and mom hasn't been there in a long time) or figuratively (dad's asleep, and mom hasn't been there in a long time). Either way, it's not like they can really talk to anyone about what's been going on with them. But they desperately need comfort. So what do they do?

They wear their father's coat like a hug and get drunk on the couch.

Thank you and good night.

(if anyone wants to hear the costume tangents I forced myself to avoid or just wants to hear more costume rants, feel free to hit up my ask box or dms. I chose this career for a reason and if you give me permission, I Will Not Shut Up.)

#rise of the pink ladies #grease rise of the pink ladies #cynthia zdunowski #ask box #anon ask #rotpl #grease rotpl #costume theory #costuming #long post

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fluffansmut-old · 1 year

Text

Like you haven’t done that

Summary: You’re the second Byers child and the middle sister in the Byers trio. Most of the time your brothers are great, but when you start to sneak around, dating Eddie Munson and planing r-rated activities with him, your big brother suddenly becomes more annoying than ever.

Even though you’re not doing anything that you know that he hasn’t already done himself.

Content warnings: Eddie x Byers!reader, protective & annoying Jonathan, the Byers kids (including reader) have daddy issues, mentions of sexual activity, mentions of birth control options, hickies, slightly awkward sex-talk.

A/N: realised I hadn’t posted this to tumblr, and since it’s all out on AO3 already I’ve decided to drop all three parts on tumblr right away.

Word count: 4227

AO3 | Masterlist

Part 2 - Part 3

It was friday morning in march-85.

You were sat at the kitchen table eating breakfast with your brothers this particular morning, when the phone rang.

Hoping it to be who you thought It were you sprung out of your chair to answer.

“Why is she so eager to answer the phone nowadays? Will asked Jonathan who shook his head in response.

“No idea, but something is definitely up.”

You answered the phone.

“Byers”

“Hello sweetheart” you heard on the other side.

“Hi babe”

“I was just calling to ask if everything is arranged for tonight or if I need to kick Wayne and his poker buddies out of the trailer for the night” Eddie said, you could hear in his voice how excited he was.

“It’s arranged, Will is playing DnD at wheeler’s, Jonathan is studying at the library with Nancy and mom is working late so she won’t be home until at least 11.30.” You confirmed.

You and Eddie had carefully planned out the whole thing. The two of you had been trying to find a moment to yourselves, a moment to have sex and not worry constantly about being quiet or interrupted. (Or caught for that matter, Joyce didn’t know that you were sexually active or with Eddie for that matter)

so now when all the people living in your house were otherwise occupied, you jumped on it.

“Great, then I’ll se you at school gorgeous.” Eddie said, you could clearly visualise the smirk on his face.

“See you, babe, I love you” you said.

“Love you too.” Eddie replied then the line when silent.

When you turned around to return to your breakfast you were met by your big brother, who was leaning up against the wall giving you a pointed look.

“Who is babe?” He asked.

“None of your concern” you replied, walking towards the table.

Jonathan was of course not ready to drop it there.

What do you have planned that mom doesn’t know about?” He asked. Sitting down across from you at the table again.

“It’s nothing Jonathan, nothing.” You said, trying to put an end to the conversation. You didn’t want Will to hear you argue.

“Okay well if it’s nothing, then why are you telling babe that you are home alone tonight? I thought you were gonna study with Stacy?” Jonathan said, calling your bluff.

“First and foremost, I am too, going to study with Stacy tonight. But stop eavesdropping on my phone calls! Is nothing fucking private in this house anymore?” You exclaimed as you rose from the table and put the bowl and spoon in the sink.

“Don’t swear infront of Will, and I’m not buying anything so tell me what you are up to.”

Will who still was stained since your parents divorce hated fights in general and tried to help.

“Hey Jonathan it’s okay, Dustin says shit all the time, I’m used too it?”

“There see, he’s used too it.” You said

“And besides, you aren’t my parent and you cannot tell me what to do!”

Jonathan huffed.

“I am still one and a half year older than you” he said.

“I’m riding my bike to school today” you said, refusing to have this conversation continuing on all the way to school.

You ruffled Will’s hair when you passed his chair and shot him a

“Have a good day kiddo” before you walked out the door.

The first time you saw Eddie that day was when he walked into the cafeteria as you were walking out. He grabbed your arm and spun you close to him.

At first you got a little frightened but when you realised that it was Eddie you smiled. He pressed his forehead against yours and you locked eyes with his soft, dreamy ones.

“Hello gorgeous” he said.

“Hello handsome” you replied and kissed him.

“I can’t wait for tonight” he said. ”the thought of what we are about to do later has been consuming my mind all day”

“What are these thought consuming ideas of yours ?” You asked.

His eyes grew impossibly wider with lust and he said,

“I don’t think those words are appropriate on school property” he said with a smirk, teasing you.

“Are you really one to talk about what’s appropriate, you know since you´re known for trampling all over the tables in the cafeteria when it suits you.”

His smirk grew even wider when you called him out on his bullshit and then he leaned in closer and whispered,

“Let’s just say; I want to ravish you” he said.

“Oh please do” you replied. Giving him a kiss.

“You want a preview?” He asked, and before you even thought it through you nodded and said;

“Yes!”

Right where your collarbone meets your neck he gave you a hickey.

When he pulled away you heard him gasp a little.

“Holy shit, sorry sweetheart, I didn’t mean to make it so obvious.” He said and ran his fingers over it.

“Is it really big?” You asked, now slightly nervous about the questions that your brother would have for you.

“Bigger than I was going for” he said.

“I’m sorry sweetheart”

“It’s fine, I just gotta hide it from Jonathan” you said.

You gave Eddie a goodbye kiss for now and you parted ways, he went into the cafeteria and you and Stacy went towards to the bathroom to try and cover up the hickey.

On the way there you did a quick search of the surroundings, just to make sure Jonathan weren’t watching.

What you didn’t notice was the king of Hawkins high himself, that saw the whole thing play out.

And when Steve later met Nancy and Jonathan outside of science class things didn’t go as you planned.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” He said, smiling at the pair.

“Nothing much, just trying to get through this school year.” Nancy replied with a small sigh, gesturing towards the pile of paper she had in her arms. “How are you?”

“Same, just trying to survive until graduation. “ he said, and then he remembered what he witness earlier “Hey Byers, I saw your sister with that Munson kid before, when did they start dating?”

The question threw Jonathan a little... he wasn’t stupid, he knew that babe most likely were someone that you were in fact dating? But, that it was Eddie Munson made him feel uneasy.

“You aren’t fucking with me now, are you Harrington?” Jonathan asked.

“Wait you didn’t know?” Steve said, slightly surprised.

“Are you positive that it was Eddie Munson?” Nancy asked sensing the tension from Jonathan.

“I’m certain , that cult like t-shirt that he always wears, leather jacket, and jeans vest, cos apparently that’s something you can wear at the same time. “ Steve said, describing the eccentric kid they all had seen in the cafeteria countless of times before. “It was him.”

“And you are sure that it was my sister?” Jonathan then asked.

“Yes, I have seen your sister before, she wore this patterned blouse this morning right?” Steve said, starting to describe the blouse. “Light blue with geometric shapes on it in pastel colours?”

“Yeah” Jonathan said, remembering the blouse from breakfast.

“Then I’m sorry my friend, but it was her too.” Steve said, giving Jonathan a sympathetic look.

You had successfully avoided your big brother during the whole school day and was more than satisfied with that when you hopped on you bike again that afternoon.

Your mind was only focused on preparing for Eddie’s arrival later.

When you came home you dropped your bag by the door and took a deep breath, enjoying the silence.

You organised you room a bit, ie, shoving junk and old stuffed animals into the closet.

You straightened up your bed a bit, not that it still would look like that at the end of the night but still.

Right then and there you realised that you didn’t have any condoms…

Sure it was Eddies responsibility to bring some, but you didn’t want the night to be spoiled even if he forgot them.

You weren’t on any birth control, simply bc that required a signature from a parent, and taking that up with your mom was a no go at the moment. You thought about it for a moment, then an idea popped into your head. Jonathan might have some…

You walked into your brothers room and headed straight for his nightstand, but as you pulled out the draw you only found this old photography magazine. You cursed a little under your breath, couldn’t he just have some condoms you could steal without his knowledge?

You checked the pockets of some of his most worn clothes but only found nickels and gum wrappers.

His desk draw wasn’t any successful either.

”How can he not have any condoms?” you thought, and returned to the nightstand, you picked up the magazine to check underneath it. It was then you hit the jackpot, out from between the pages fell condoms, onto the floor.

”That sneaky little shit” you mumbled and picked up two condoms, putting them in your pant-pocket. As you bent down to pick up the rest you suddenly heard a very familiar voice.

”I knew that you were fucking lying” Jonathan said. You jerked at his words just dropping the remaining condoms and the magazine right back into his nightstand.

”He can’t even bring his own fucking condoms?”

”I have not clue what your on about?” You said, deciding that denial was the way to go with Jonathan. You began to walk out of the room but Jonathan grabbed your wrist making you stay.

”I´m not stupid if you think so, I know that its drug-dealer-cult-leader Eddie Munson who you are planning to sleep with.” Jonathan said, getting properly worked up about it all. ”And its obviously him that also already branded you like cattle.”

He pointed towards the hickey by your collarbone.

”You are such a fucking idiot, you don´t even know him! ” you spat, jerking your hand free from his grip. ”And its not like you haven’t done the exact same thing.”

”Don´t bring me into this” he responded. ”You are the one to make stupid mistakes”

Your blood was boiling and you wanted to slap your brother across the face.

”You are the stupid one, going around judging people on what other people say all the time.” You said, getting really defensive over Eddie. ”Weren’t we just the freaks,huh? When Will went missing? We were the zombie-boy-siblings for about a year Jonathan”

”That was totally different and you know it.” He said.

”How exactly is it different?” You said.

Jonathan stumbled over his words, not really sure of what to say.

”Its not worth explaining to you” he landed on.

”You are such a dick, do you know that “ you said, walking out of his room.

”I want my condoms back.” Jonathan then said.

”They are all in your nightstand.” You replied, walking towards the kitchen.

”I saw you putting some in your pocket, I’m not stupid, hand them over” he said.

”And what will the outcome be of that?” You asked him, ”do you think that you can stop me from having sex just because you take away the condoms?”

He huffed.

”You are really stupid, you really would have unprotected sex just cause the contraception just isn’t right the beside you?” He said.

” I´ve heard the pullout method is effective or what do you say picture-perfect-big-brother” you spat at him, knowing full well what he and Nancy did at Murray Baumans house about 3 months ago.

”What are you talking about now?” He said, playing innocent.

” Cut the bullshit, you know that I talk to Nancy right?” You responded.

“First and foremost that is none of your business, and it’s not what we are discussing here?” Jonathan said.

“I thought unprotected sex was exactly what we were discussing?” You shot back.

Before Jonathan could reply your fight got cut off by your mom coming home with a pounding migraine.

“Hey, hey,hey” she shouted and then held a hand to her head. “Who is having unprotected sex?”

You quickly pointed a finger towards Jonathan as he did the same towards you, just as when you were kids.

“Okay, you two sit down, and don’t speak a word until I’m back.” Joyce said and pointed towards the couch.

You and Jonathan started to bicker about calling each other out as you mom went towards the kitchen.

“I said not a word!” She snapped at you, as she grabbed a hairclip from the table, putting her hair up.

You and Jonathan shut up quickly after that.

Joyce had looked forward towards a quiet house with only you and Stacy home so she could rest, but now she had to give a improvised sex talk to her two teenagers.

“Let’s have them close in age Joyce, they’ll have so much FUN together” she muttered, imitating Lonnie, whilst she was rumaging around trying to find painkillers.

Of course there was some truth in what he had said, you and Jonathan could always depend on each other to look after one another, which sometimes was nice and sometimes ended up in situations like this.

It drove Joyce crazy, the way the two of you never could leave it, she was just happy that both of you took it out on each other and both considered Will to be your favourite sibling, since Will would take fights so much more to heart.

“So, one at the time please explain why the two of you are fighting?” She said as she sat down on the table opposite you.

“Well for starters, she’s lying to you” Jonathan blurted out pointing at you.

“Oh c’mon for fucks sake” you said.

“Mind your language a bit please, now is this true ?” Joyce said, searching your face with that concerned mom look that you hated.

“Jonathan is totally throwing me under the bus here and it’s so unfair” you replied, hoping to shift blame.

The problem with your brother was that he knew every curveball you had and had learned how to easily dodge them.

“You didn’t answer the question?” He taunted.

You gave him the finger when your mom looked away and then you said,

“I’m not lying more than Jonathan is?”

“I’m not lying, she is.”

“Okay okay, quit bickering” Joyce said, shutting you both up. “I do not care who is lying and by the looks of it you both are, now what brought on this whole unprotected sex discussion?”

It was like a lightbulb went off over your head, and then you turned towards your brother.

“You want to tell her of should I?” You said putting your hand in your pocket.

Jonathan who had enough of your bullshit didn’t think before blurting out

“She stole my condoms to go have sex with the school drug dealer”

“Well Jonathan had unprotected sex with Nancy at a strangers house” you shot back, if he could play dirty then so could you.

“You are freaking unbelievable, how is that relevant at all?” Jonathan said.

Joyce was overwhelmed to say the least, these were sides of her children (and Nancy Wheeler for that matter) that she never expected to see.

“Okay I’m gonna need so much more information to make this make sense.” She gave you and Jonathan this maternal look that you had seen a thousand times before. It was best for the two of you to tell the truth.

“If I’m gonna say anything I want him to shut the fuck up whilst I talk” you started, glaring towards Jonathan.

Jonathan was about to protest when Joyce cut him off.

“Dial down on the cursing and the tone please” she first scolded. “But you do make a valid point, now Jonathan, let your sister talk”

Jonathan thought about protesting again but decided against it, since it probably wouldn’t help.

“I’ve met this guy…his name is Eddie, and despite popular belief” you said, shooting a glare towards Jonathan, “he is actually the sweetest man I've ever met. He is kind, considerate and I feel very safe with him.”

Jonathan who at this point didn't believe the sincerity in your voice rolled his eyes at your statement, but kept quiet.

“Okay…” Joyce said choosing her next words wisely. “He sounds lovely… but what worries me is the talk about drugs, has he ever offered you drugs?”

“He never has” you said triumphantly, looking at Jonathan before returning your eyes towards your mom.

“Has he ever dealt drugs with someone else in your presence?” Joyce asked.

You shook your head, cause sure people pulled him aside in school whilst you were in earshot but he always dealt the actual drugs in the woods by the school, and you weren’t there.

“Is he even like.. uhm high in front of you?” Joyce asked, searching your face for any indication of insincerity.

You pondered the question for a moment… It wasn’t like Eddie was high most of the time, it was more of a business than a hobby to put it that way. But sure it had happened once or twice that you surprised him at the trailer park, to find him with a joint in between his fingers.

“No, he isn’t” you responded.

“Then there isn’t much more I can ask from him, in that department” Joyce settled on.

Jonathan wasn’t satisfied with the fact that your mom was willing to drop the drug dealing after that conversation, he cleared his throat to say something, but was only met by a held up finger in front of him, telling him to keep quiet.

“Now honey, I assume that you are planning on sleeping with this Edward? It was Edward right?” Joyce asked, calling you by the nickname she had for you since you were a kid.

You blushed at the question, wasn’t it obvious?

“You can call him Eddie, everybody does” you first corrected. “But yeah…”

It was strange to admit it to your mom. It was even strange to say it out loud.

“Can I ask if you’ve ever done anything of that nature before?” She asked. Blood drained from your face, you didn’t want to admit any details in front of your mom and brother.

“No details necessary, just yes or no” your mom added and put a hand on your knee.

You thought about you and Eddie, about hickies, handjobs and fingerings, about Eddie’s hands on your tits and that time you came from grinding on his jean-clad thigh.

“ uhm, yes, but nothing too intimate so to say” you settled.

You mom nodded, then she turned towards your brother for the first time in a while.

“And am I right to assume by the conversation that I walked in on that you and Nancy are sexually active?” She asked.

You snickered silently,because finally it wasn’t only about you.

Jonathan pushed you slightly in the side with his elbow to shut you up.

“Yes, you are” Jonathan said, searching the wall in front of him trying to avoid looking his mother in the face as he answered the question.

“Okay, the two of you, let’s talk about protection” she stated going into this educating version of herself that you both hated.

“Mom, c’mon, we know already” Jonathan muttered, you saw him turning red in the face.

“Um no, we are discussing this” Joyce stated. Just as she was about to continue the door opened and in came the youngest Byers sibling.

“Hi Im just gonna grab my Dn… are both of you in trouble at the same time again?” Will asked, looking at both his older siblings. Who both looked flustered and ashamed.

“Why do you assume that they are in trouble?” Joyce asked. Taken a bit by suprised at Will´s question, was it really that obvious?

“ mom, your sitting on the coffetable, plus you have your hair up, you only put you hair up when you´re annoyed.” Will stated.

“Kid is good.” you said, smiling slightly at how observant your little brother was.

“They are in fact in trouble, but it's nothing that you need to worry about” Joyce said smiling at her youngest. “Go get your things. “

He ran off towards his room and your mom turned back towards you and Jonathan.

“Now where were we?” She said, “oh, yeah, Birth control is mandatory. It’s not up for discussion, I don’t want grandchildren yet and I promise you guys, non of you wants an STI”

“I think she’s talking to you” you said to Jonathan.

“At least I have condoms in my room” he muttered, “it`s more than your shitty boyfriend has.”

“Jonathan Byers!” Joyce said sternly, shutting your brother up.

“I just wanna add for the record that i didn´t borrow condoms from Jonathans stash because Eddie wasn´t planning on bringing any.” you said, defending both yourself and Eddie. “ I did it because I didnt want to be left without, incase he forgot, or it broke or something.”

“That was a very mature decision honey and I think it shows that you´re mature and responsible.” she said. ”although please ask your brother before going through his drawers and stealing things from him”

“Mkay, then” you said and rolled your eyes. You were nowhere near apologising to Jonathan.

“We can also look into contraceptive pills if that is something you might want” she said looking at you, hand on your knee.

“And if it ever comes up for discussion between you and Nancy, I want you to tell her that I will help in anyway I can, I’ll talk to Karen with her if she wants to.”

Jonathan simply nodded, and considered telling her about it.

“Now want to talk about consent” Joyce continued on, looking like she was mentally checking things off the “sex-talk-check-list”

“Once again mom we know, okay?” Jonathan groaned.

“Well good, that’s good” Joyce said. “Because like birth control it’s mandatory, I don’t want you to feel any pressure to do something that you don’t want to, no matter how big or small it is, and I don’t want you to pressure anyone into anything”

“I just wanna say if I ever find out that Munson has pressured you into doing some freaky shit then I swear to god I’ll beat him with my own hands” Jonathan said and your first instinct was to slap him, but since that would only land you in more trouble with your mom you decided against it.

“I can’t believe you” you said, “how can you even say that? It’s so unlike you to judge someone so hard with even knowing them”

Neither Joyce nor Jonathan had any chance to say anything because right after your outburst, there came a crash from your room and a very familiar,

“Oh shit”

“Speaking of the devil” Jonathan said with an eye roll.

“Shut the fuck up.” You said.

“Jonathan, that is quite enough” Joyce said, giving Jonathan a stern look. “Honey, go tell Eddie to wait in your room whilst we finish up here” Joyce said and you rose from the couch.

In the doorway to your room you saw your little brother staring wide-eyed at the long haired man who was busy putting all the cds he knocked down back.

“Hey babe” you said which made him look up.

“Oh I’m sorry sweetheart, I tried to be discreet and ended up being the total opposite.” He said smiling at you, then he turned his attention to the younger boy who stood next to you clutching his campaign to his chest.

“And this must the younger-brother-Byers?”

“Uhm yes, I’m.. Will” he said, turning a little shy. He then turned to you and you spotted that curious hint in his eye. “What’s hellfire club?” He whispered trying discreetly to motion towards the shirt Eddie was wearing.

“Ask him.” You said, knowing full well that Eddie would enjoy both answering the question and your brothers reaction.

“Will this is Eddie” you said, taking a step into the room, coaxing Will to join you. “He is the absolute nicest. And you can ask absolutely ask him what you asked me”

“What’s hellfire club?” Will asked, blushing slightly.

“It’s only the coolest club at Hawkins high” Eddie said, looking very proud. “We play DnD, and I’m the dungeon master”

You immediately noticed that spark light up inside of Will.

“You play DnD?” He asked, voice high pitched and excited.

“Live for it kid” Eddie replied. “I take it as you do too?”

“Yeah, I actually planned the campaign we are playing tonight” he said, looking at the things he was holding.

“Oh no way, can you show me?” Eddie said and took a seat on your bed. Not two seconds later Will was sat next to him.

“I just came him here to tell you that we are totally busted and mom asked me to tell you to stay in here whilst she finished up the most embarrassing mom-talk I’ve ever received.” You said to Eddie.

“Yeah, yeah go be embarrassed, I don’t have time for you right now” he said and shifted his focus back to Will who already started talking about the campaign.

You smiled as you returned to the living room, at least one of your brothers liked Eddie.

#eddie munson #eddie stranger things #eddie munson x reader #eddie x reader

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steampunkforever · 28 days

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Almost every American has thought about the prospect of a second Civil War. Considering the man hiding pipe bombs around DC last election year, it becomes clear why this would come to mind. Which is why this election season is the perfect opportunity to release a movie about a modern civil war written by an Englishman who quite apparently doesn't know anything about American culture, politics, or small unit tactics.

Alex Garland's Civil War is a movie about the fall of democracy as the US is shattered by a violent military conflict as its fascist President violates the constitution in order to retain power, but it actually wants to be a movie about a cozy witch in a small German village in the alps. Ok not really. This is a movie that promises to be about political violence in America but is really about War Journalism. It tries to do both and does none of them well. But first and foremost it's a showcase of regrettable AR furniture and trite culture war references.

After January 6th, 2021, I was discussing the Capitol riots with some right-voting blue-collar workers, and the most memorable takeaway from that conversation was being told "it was our turn." This one sentence told me everything about American cultural rage that this film completely misunderstands.

Every now and then I come across a film that's very good from a visual and structural standpoint but completely falls apart thematically. This is Civil War. Alex Garland knows how to make movies, and this is a solid film that knows how to position needle drops and position the camera to really Say Something About America. Except it doesn't do that last thing.

Politically, this is a film you could make if you fed the AI bot that writes Nancy Pelosi's campaign donation emails ten thousand hours of January Sixth footage and asked it to write an article for The New Republic. Close readings reveal that this is a film about Covid, particularly journalism, but Garland shoehorns the story he wants to tell about journo ethics Cloverfield-style into a much more complicated narrative. It's simply intellectual laziness to make a movie about a morally and politically complicated war and then handwave it away with a simple "it doesn't matter." You're releasing this on an election year! This is a movie that needs a spine! How does Micheal Bay have a more biting criticism of American presidential candidates in his movies than you do?

The movie isn't politically neutral necessarily. Nick Offerman looks exactly like a certain 45th president of the United States (he even dissolves the FBI). There's a proud boy/boogaloo boy militia committing war crimes. One of the main battles we see is fought in Charlottesville, a city that saw little fighting during the actual Civil War but is infamous for the 2017 murder of a counterprotestor at a confederate statue rally. And let us not forget the film's much-quoted "what kind of American are you?" segment so prominently displayed in the trailers. The movie displays the prototypical NPR host handwringing, and this level of political commentary only serves to make the film feel even more out of touch, made all the more lukewarm at the film's halfhearted play at neutrality in the pursuit of something that #makesyouthink.

The film is like Apocalypse Now! if Coppola really wanted to shoehorn in a thematically irrelevant main plot and never answer any of the questions raised by the much more interesting events that make up the movie's backdrop. It's like Children of Men if the director didn't really care about the atrocities his characters were witnessing as much as he just wanted to make a roadtrip movie. It's not bad, it's lazy, and this makes me angrier.

This is a movie that reminded me about Greta Gerwig's Barbie. A very well shot film with a solid director, great cinematography, and no idea what its message is. Except Garland didn't have a feel good montage at the end to save the movie for him. Just underwhelming combat. The only thing this film got remotely right about a modern American Civil War 2 is the fact that the Ford Excursion is the perfect vehicle to take into a war zone.

No matter how gorgeous the cinematography, don't let this movie fool you.

The White House isn't so cartoonishly simple to storm. Attack Helicopters would not be performing air support roles that close to buildings. M4 pattern rifles have a much sharper report. An abandoned JC Penny doesn't mean that America has fallen, it just reminds you that the Shopping Mall was never a sustainable business practice. The sniper scene is really good, I'll admit, but also not how any of this works.

This movie lacks the spine and the conviction to say anything real about the American Condition in any meaningful way other than "they own guns and experience cultural polarization," a take much too bland to be worth the price of tickets + popcorn.

#civil war #alex garland #filmposting #a24 #jesse plemons #kirsten dunst #film

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boldlyvoid · 1 year

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Midnight Runner 3

18+ Steve Harrington x Eddie Munson

Summary: What's worse than crushing on someone at a time like this? Falling in love with them.

Warnings: season 4 canon scenes just fruitier, background ronance, mentions of steves bloody wounds, hurt/comfort, love confessions (kinda), emotional heart to hearts

word count: 11k

Fic Masterlist

Eddie was scared of 2 things, currently: spending his life in prison… and dying at the hands of an evil wizard from another dimension. So when he got into the boat with Nancy and Robin, the last thing he expected was to develop a 3rd fear:

Losing Steve.

They got out into the middle of the lake and the compass started to freak the fuck out, Robin radioed back to Dustin to say his theory was right and before he could even reply, Steve was taking off his shoes and socks.

“Steve, what are you doing?” Nancy wants to stop him before he makes any stupid decisions thank god.

“Somebody’s gotta go down and check this out… unless one of you three can top being a Hawkins High swim co-captain and a certified lifeguard for 3 years, it’s gotta be me,” he says, so matter-of-factly, rubbing it in that he was the brawn to their brains. “No complaints. Alright?”

“Hey, I’m not complaining,” Eddie doesn’t fight it, he simply takes everything out of the shopping bag he’s been carrying around in his pocket— it had his smokes and a lighter, and all his snacks were gone now. “I do not wanna go down there…”

Steve was going to want to see under the water, and the flashlight wasn’t going to like being wet, so he wrapped it in the plastic bag and tied it real good. Steve’s done nothing but feed him and worry for his safety these last few days, Eddie was going to repay him by protecting him. From the boat. There’s no way he’s going down there with him.

Steve takes his sweater off, Nancy stares at his chest with a look of admiration… he was her first time, she’s always going to look at him a certain way. Robin caught that, staring back at Nancy with a smile that screamed just how fond she was of Nance after getting to know her better these last few days. Eddie watches it all happen, everyone is looking at someone else, they were a party that cared for one another first and foremost. It was nice. It felt like a family.

“Hey,” Eddie gets Steve’s attention to hand him the flashlight. Steve, ever the flirt, smirks and says hey right back to him. Eddie wants to smile back and say something about him stripping and putting on a show for everyone but there’s this anxious feeling gnawing at his stomach and he can only reply with: “Good luck.”

“Thanks,” Steve replies, tossing his shirt to Eddie.

First, he shows up in track pants with that ass, then he admits to liking him and now he’s shirtless and deliciously lit by the moonlight… Eddie takes a cigarette out of the pack and places it in his mouth because sweet Jesus Harrington was pretty. Just as he flicks his lighter, robin takes the cig from his mouth and tosses it in the water. “Gross.”

Eddies about to say something when Steve starts to stretch and hype himself up, they all notice he’s about to jump and Nancy cuts him off. “Steve…” she panics, making him turn around. She gives him the softest expression he’s seen from her in a long time.

She can’t verbalize that she still cares for him because what would that mean? They’re exes, and she has a boyfriend… at least, kinda? Robin said Nancy seemed to be having issues with him, so is this all just a way to get over him? She can’t tell him she cares about him, but she can ask him to “be careful.”

He gives her a little nod and then flashes his attention to Eddie. It’s a mere millisecond of his time, but it says everything. I’ll be back for you.

Before anyone can say anything else, Steve jumps off the boat and into the water. They grip onto the boat and stay completely still as statues, hoping the stele frame will even itself back out on the lake, and eventually, it does.

All three of them are on edge for the same, yet completely different reasons.

Robin loves Steve with her entire being, he is the brother she always wanted and the friend she was always supposed to have. He is her person.

Nancy has a million things she still hasn’t said to him and they all start with I’m sorry. She would give anything to be Steve’s friend again, especially now, especially if it means Robin comes with him.

And Eddie… Eddie wanted to take him out and show him a good time and god willing, make him his. Repay the favour from that first night and treat him properly from now on until forever.

He wanted to love Steve Harrington.

“Where are we at, Wheeler?” Robin asks, her voice shaky with fear.

“Closing in on a minute,” Nancy replies, watching the second hand on her watch come right back around.

They’re waiting on the light to come back. They watched it fade as he got deeper and deeper and then it went pitch black. Eddie figured that when he was swimming back up, they’d see the flashlight again and they’d be able to calm down. But they never saw it. The water is pitch black and as still as ever. Like Steve never jumped in, in the first place.

Suddenly Steve emerges above the water, arms flailing, he takes in a large gasp of air and scares the shit out of all of them but only Eddie yells. “Jesus Christ!” He can’t help it, he’s been on edge for days and Steve just kept scaring him.

“I found it,” Steve gasps, swimming towards the boat and taking hold of it so he wouldn’t have to tread in the water for so long. Once he caught his breath he’d get back in… it wasn’t going to be pretty trying to haul himself back over the side of the boat.

“You found it?!” Nancy is so excited to see him and hear the news.

“Yeah, I found it… it’s more of a snack-sized gate than the mama gate but still, it’s pretty damn big,” Steve explains, the lack of oxygen still evident in his breathing patterns but he’s trying.

And then something grabs his foot. Steve is tugged down below the water, causing them all to scream and panic, but he comes back up. He wipes the water ff his face and stares at them like what the fuck was that… and then he’s gone again.

“STEVE!” Eddie panics. “Steve!! No, no, no!!! Steve!” He yells over the other two, leaning over the side of the boat to see nothing. The water is too dark to know what happened. “What the hell was that, man?!”

“Nancy, seriously what the hell was that?!” Robin panics, but Nancy is silent.

They turn to her with looks of pure terror, but Nancy isn’t panicking. She’s in survival mode— no, protector mode. She doesn’t even think twice, she just places her boot on the edge of the boat and goes to jump when Eddie grabs her hand. “Wait, wait, you’re not going in there, are you?”

“Just wait here,” she pushes his hand off of her and jumps in.

“NO NANCY!!!” Robin freaks out next, Eddie hears a similar fear in her voice. The two of them stare at each other, not knowing what the fuck they were going to do without the two people who know what to do in a situation like this.

Robin thinks about it for a second, she takes a deep breath and hauls herself to the edge of the boat. She didn’t want to do this, but not only was Steve down there…

“No, no, no, no,” Eddie reaches out. “What are you doing? She said wait.”

“Yeah, I heard her,” Robin says with another exhale, she was getting ready to go no matter what he said.

“She’s in charge!” He freaks out because if Robin goes and if Nancy is already down there, he has to go too. Everyone who loves Steve should be jumping in right now to go after him and Eddie is so scared, too scared. He needs an excuse not to follow Nancy and if Robin goes, he doesn’t have that anymore.

“Are you kidding me? I made that shit up.”

Before Eddie can even say anything, she plugs her nose and tosses herself back off the boat.

“God-damn-lying-son-of-a-bitch!” He freaks out, tossing Steve’s shirt to the floor of the boat, he stands… then he sits again, but ultimately he stands back up and gets ready to jump in too, “oh this is stupid. This is so stupid… shit, shit, shit, shit!”

He jumps in head first, the water is so fucking cold. Shockingly so— it is March after all… after the initial shock of it all, he starts to swim deeper and deeper. It’s hard, the water fights him the whole way down, and about halfway there, he sees the glowing red light that must be the gate. He follows it, reaches out for the weeds around it and pulls himself forward until he’s ripped through the gate and tossed out the other side. He was prepared for more water, but he was tossed onto the hard rock that should be the lake floor.

The first thing he hears is screaming. He stands up with Robin and Nancy who are all searching for him, they can’t see him behind the shipwrecked boat covered in vines, they can only hear him. Nancy picks up an oar from the ground, she tosses it back to Eddie and grabs another for herself, robin on the other hand grabs the once-abandoned flashlight and follows them toward the sound of his screaming.

Without thinking, Nancy sees the thing attacking him and hits it with her oar as hard as humanly possible, sending it flying. “Hey there.”

The adrenaline that rushes through Eddie is more intense than any drug he’s ever taken, he’s able to fend off the bats coming to attack them while robin and Nancy hand the two that attacked Steve’s chest. He’s still on the ground, eddies on his way to tear the thing off him when Steve bites into its tail and pulls it off without letting it get away. He swings the bat around like a fucking rag doll, hitting it off the floor again and again until it stops trying to fly away. He places his bare foot onto the centre of the beast and tugs on the tail, successfully ripping it in two.

The 4 of them back up into each other, nothing’s flying at them, everything is dead… but the pieces of the beasts are still moving around trying to catch up to their own deaths. Once they realize the immediate danger is over, thats when it sets in.

“Jesus Christ…” Eddie mumbles to himself, registering that he just killed something for the first time in his life and he was in another dimension and it was in fact scary as hell. “Jesus H Christ!!”

Steve, however, he’s bleeding and tired and he almost drops to the ground if it wasn’t for Nancy catching him. “Are you okay?”

Steve looks down at himself for the first time, and Eddie sees it too. “They took about a pound of flesh,” Steve chuckles with disbelief, “but other than that… yeah, never better.”

Nancy checks behind him, Eddie does too, but Steve’s only been bitten on his sides and he’s bleeding around his neck from the spikes on these little fuckers tails… but he looks okay. It looks liveable.

“Uh… do you guys think that these bats have, like, rabies??” Robin asks, leaning over a bat and staring at it with her flashlight.

“Excuse me?” Eddie can’t believe he’s hearing her right, that’s what she’s scared about right now?

“It’s just that rabies are like my number one greatest fear, and I think we should probably get you to a doctor like really soon—” she starts to ramble. Steve looks like he’s heard it all before while Nancy looks at her with disbelief, shaking her head lightly. “—because once symptoms set in, it’s like too late, you’re already, like, dead.”

In the distance, the bats make their gut-wrenchingly awful screech, drawing their attention away from Robin's anxiety. Eddie rushes to Steve, he goes to stand in front of him but Steve pushes him back, he makes sure he’s in front of everyone. His arms out, he makes sure they’re safe… they are everyone he’s ever loved in his entire life, after all.

5 bats land around the gate, fishing with their tails for something to eat. “We can take them… right?” Steve whispers.

But he speaks too soon, lightning illuminates the sky to show off the hundred of bats headed their way for what must be dinner time… there was no way they were taking them all.

“The woods, come on!” Nancy points, taking off before the others.

The 4 of them run as fast as they can towards the shoreline, mostly uphill from the deepest part of the lake towards the boat launch, over dead fish and lost tires, around vines connected to Vecna and finally, they reach the forest. There’s enough tree coverage to keep them hidden from the bats, but even if they did see them, they were preoccupied with going to the gate for a snack.

They run all the way back to skull rock, hiding under it for cover until the sky sounds empty again. It's genuinely terrifying. Eddie has never been so scared in his life… and he’s been through some shit from the age of 4 to 20. Nothing was ever this horrific.

When the coast is clear, they think they’re fine and all go to stand back up… but Steve isn’t fine. He topples over himself and falls against the rock, barely holding himself up. Nancy rushes to him and Eddie wants to, too… he just doesn’t know if he’s allowed to. He doesn’t know if he’s Steve’s little secret. He doesn’t know how much he still loves Nancy, but he’s starting to realize she might still love him. So he stays back.

He lets her clean him up, she rips her shirt and makes a homemade bandage for him all while robin rants about rabies. Eddie can’t watch, he runs away once again… standing at the edge of the tree line like a coward because seeing Steve in pain makes him want to cry. Instead, he climbs over a fallen tree like an idiot and takes a look at the land.

“So this place is like Hawkins but with monsters and nasty shit?” He calls out, mostly to robin so she’ll talk about anything other than rabies.

“Pretty much,” Nancy answers instead, helping Steve back up to his feet. “Hey, watch it! This is all a hive mind.”

“Right, shit, sorry,” he remembers what Steve said the other night and slowly but carefully makes his way back down.

“But everything from our world is still here, right? Except people, obviously?” Robin double-checks.

“As far as I understand it, yeah,” Nancy nods.

“So, theoretically, we could go to the police station and get guns and grenades and whatever else we need to blow up those bath things that are guarding the gate,” Robin suggests like it’s easy.

“Yeah, I highly doubt that the Hawkins PD has grenades, robin,” Steve shakes his head, “but yeah, sure, they might have guns.”

“Well, we don’t have to go all the way downtown for guns,” Nancy reminds Steve but the others have no idea. “I have guns. In my bedroom.”

“You,” Eddie points at her, “Nancy Wheeler, have guns, plural? In your bedroom?” He can’t fucking believe it. Little miss goody two shoes was actually keeping guns in her shoeboxes and no one would’ve ever known.

“Full of surprises, isn’t she?” Robin says, overwhelmed and just talking for the sake of it now.

“A Russian Makarov and a revolver—

“Yeah, you almost shot me with that one,” Steve teases, bumping shoulders with her.

“You almost deserved it,” she says in a tone that sounds a lot less friendly. It makes Eddie’s blood boil the way she stares up at him.

He just can’t take it anymore. Steve was his. What better way to prove it than to mark him with his scent… he takes off his jean vest and tosses it at Steve, hitting him a bit too hard and taking him right out of his gross little eye-fucking session with Nancy.

“For your modesty, dude,” he glares at him.

Steve stares back, about to snap for the unneeded aggression when the earth starts to shake. Robin trips over herself and starts to fall to the floor, Eddie reaches out for her only to fall with her, cushioning the blow with his own body. Nancy falls into Steve and the two of them grip the edge of the rock formation to keep steady until the shaking stops.

And when it does stop, every critter in this god-forsaken hell-hole starts to cry out. The forest echoes with sounds only heard in one’s nightmares, “yeah, so, guns seem like a pretty good idea to me,” Eddie suggests as the sounds die down.

“Me too,” Robin agrees, still on the floor with Eddie.

He hurt his knee when they hit the ground, he rubs it silently, waiting for Nancy or Steve to say something when they walk out in front of them. “So what are we waiting for?” Steve asks, now wearing Eddie’s jacket.

Fuck. He looked good in it too.

—

The walk from skull rock to Nancy’s house was too long… they stopped for a few breaks, they didn’t have any food or water so it was a struggle trying to keep going. The only thing that kept them from staying still too long was the sounds of the creatures in the distance. Luckily, they didn’t see anything, but they were definitely out there.

Nancy took the lead, with Robin at her side, and Steve stayed at their rear— he was the slowest with his injuries but also the most alert in times like this, Eddie stuck to his side, evening it up. The girls walked pretty fast, they were deep in conversation about god-knows-what while Steve kept his attention on making sure Eddie didn’t trip and trying to ignore the pain he was in.

“Hey, man,” Steve turns to him, the girls up far ahead enough that he didn’t have to worry about them hearing… and honestly, even if they did, he wouldn’t be scared to tell Nancy the truth. With the way she smiles at robin when she rambles, he has a feeling that she gets it.

“Yeah,” Eddie slows down, giving Steve a smile.

“I just wanted to say thanks… for saving my ass back there,” Steve can’t help it. For a moment he felt like a goner, he couldn’t get loose, he couldn’t breathe… and then all 3 of them came to rescue him. All 3.

“Shit, you saved your own ass, man,” Eddie bumps shoulders with him, shrugging it off. Steve places his hand on his back and pats him with a smile, it’s a small thank you. “I mean, that was a real Ozzy move you pulled back there.”

“Ozzy?”

“When you took a bite out of that bat?” Eddie explains further but Steve still doesn’t get it.

It’s also part of his shtick; pretend not to care and it drives them wild. So just he stares at Eddie blankly, shaking his head slightly.

“Ozzy Osbourne?” Eddie clarifies further, looking absolutely let down that Steve doesn’t know him. “Black Sabbath? He-he bit a bat's head off on stage?”

“I don't—

“No?” Eddie can’t believe it.

Steve has to look away to fight the smirk bubbling inside of him. This is how he got his hooks into him. He wanted Eddie to keep talking, to explain it all to him with that glimmer of love in his eyes that he gets when he’s excited.

Robin, just ahead of them, can hear it all. She turns to Nancy with a knowing smirk, “he’s so obvious… he does this thing where he pretends to be uninterested so that it drives them crazy and they want to talk to him more.”

“He used to do that to me,” Nancy can’t help but laugh, looking back to see them standing so close.

“It’s very metal, what you did,” Eddie drops his tone and bumps shoulders with him again, practically begging to hold his hand. “That’s all I’m saying.”

“Thanks,” he takes the compliment, avoiding eye contact so he doesn’t lost in them and they don’t get left behind.

“Henderson told me you were a badass… insisted upon the matter, in fact,” he keeps going with the compliments.

“Wait, Henderson said that?” He can't believe it, he half expected them to bond over calling Steve an idiot or something like that… not this.

“Oh yeah, shit, kid worships you, dude,” he exaggerates, Steve is sure of it. “Like you have no idea. It’s kinda annoying if I’m being honest.”

Steve laughs, biting his tongue he almost replies, ‘you love it.’

“I don’t even know why I care what that little shrimp thinks,” he keeps going. “But uh, I guess I got a little jealous, Steve.”

Steve says nothing, he just turns to him with a smirk, that same ego Dustin carries around starting to show in him again. Eddie was just digging a hole deeper into Steve's heart, making a home there with each new true and kind compliment. Normally people just called him pretty… sometimes funny. Never nice. Never loving. Never brotherly or badass or metal.

“I guess I couldn’t accept the fact that Steve Harrington was actually… a good dude. Rich parents, popular, chick love him. Not a douche? No way, man,” he rants, invading Steve's space and talking with his hands. “No way. That, like, flies in the face of all the laws in the universe and my own, personal Munson doctrine.”

He’s so up in Steve’s face, and so cute, he has to push him away with a giggle. But he comes right back, leaning in close, Steve’s given up on playing it cool and now smiling like an idiot.

“Still super jealous as hell, by the way,” Eddie teases, close enough to kiss him.

“Ch-yeah, okay,” he pushes him away, shaking his head with disbelief. He really likes this dork.

“Which is why I would never have jumped in to save your ass. Not under any uh… normal circumstances—“ they stop when they hear a branch break, flashing the light through the trees, they don’t see anything except Nancy and Robin a fair bit ahead of them, laughing at something funny they can't hear.

“Nope,” Eddie keeps going, staring off into the distance as he walks and talks at the same time. “Outside of D&D I am no hero. I see danger and I just turn heel and run… or at least, thats what I’ve learned about myself this week.”

Steve follows him, “give yourself a break man,” he reaches out to touch his arm but Eddie grabs his hand and moves it off of him, halting all movement.

“See?” He points over to Nancy and then stares Steve deep in the eyes. “The only reason I came in here was ‘cause those ladies came in straight after you. Now, I was too ashamed to be the one who stayed behind. But Wheeler, right there. She didn’t waste a second.”

Steve looks over at her, confused why Eddie’s bringing this up. Nancy just does that. She runs into danger and thinks about the consequences later, that’s just who she is. She’s a protector. She’s an older sister. She’s a strong woman trying to keep everyone in the town safe, not just Steve. But Eddie wouldn’t know that. Eddie only knows her as the quiet goody-goody from some of his classes this year. He knows her as Mike’s older sister with the perm and the pink backpack who is always in the library, reading alone since her friend died. He doesn’t know that she’s a badass with a perfect shot. He doesn’t know she was apprehended by the government and recorded their whole conversation to expose them to the media, knowing she could go to jail or worse, be murdered for it. He doesn’t know the real Nancy.

Or the real Steve for that matter.

“Not one second, she just dove right in.” Eddie keeps going, trying to drive his point home but he just draws Steve’s eyes back to his own. “Now, I don’t know what happened between you two, but if I were you, I would get her back.”

Steve's jaw clenches then. Not again... Not another person in his life trying to get him back with Nancy.

“Because that was as unambiguous a sign of true love as these cynical eyes have ever seen,” he holds his hand over his heart, staring back at Steve with a look that can only be described as personal heartache. He doesn’t mean what he’s saying. He’s just trying to let him off the hook.

They look back at Nancy and Robin, so far now they’re barely a shadow in the trees now. Steve, without thinking it through, reaches out and takes a hold of Eddie’s shirt and pulls him closer. His other hand lands on Eddie’s cheek just in time to guide him into a kiss.

Eddie is shocked at first, stiff as a board for a good second before he settles. He carefully wraps an arm around Steve, inside of the vest so his hand rests on Steve’s bare back. He pulls them in so they’re chest to chest, breathing in deeply through his nose, he makes the kiss last as long as possible before they pull apart… barely.

They rest their foreheads against each other, Steve rubs his thumb over Eddie’s cheek and stares into his eyes. “I don’t love Nancy.”

“Okay,” he believes him.

Everything starts to rumble again, sending them down into the dirt, Steve on top of him and saying Eddie’s catchphrase out of sheer surprise, “god-damn-it!”

“Here we go again,” Eddie complains, holding Steve close and gripping the dirt for support at the same time.

It lasts longer than the others, rumbling long enough to make something feel wrong. Really wrong. And then Robin is screaming Nancy’s name over and over.

Steve and Eddie stand even through the rumbling, Steve takes his hand and tugs him along, running after their friends as carefully and as fast as they can.

The world stops shaking when they meet up with her at the edge of the tree line, facing the toppled-down transformers covered in vines that used to stand in the field behind Nancy’s home. She’s frozen with fear. Seeing her home like this was a shocking thing. And now they have to go inside it.

“Are you okay?” Robin asks, rubbing Nancy’s back softly.

She nods, “come on.”

The field doesn’t have any tree cover, it’s open and illuminated by the red lightning that cracks in the sky. Robin reaches out for Nancy’s hand, not even noticing that Steve and Eddie are also hand-in-hand. Nancy takes it, gladly, tugging robin along and keeping her safe while they’re exposed in the open like this.

“I didn’t know they were close,” Eddie mumbles near Steve’s ear as they walk, not too far behind them.

He shrugs, keeping his own voice down, he slows so they fall back a bit more, “she’s just like that… she lost Barb to a Demogorgon, she’s going to let any of us die down here.”

“Wait, I thought Brass Barb died in a lab accident?” Eddie says a bit too loud, making Nancy and Robin turn around.

“How’d you know her nickname?” Robin asks.

“How’d you know it?” Nancy is extra confused when Robin knew it.

“She can play every brass instrument in the band, she was interchangeable for a bunch of our players,” Robin explains… “we stood together every day for 2 years.”

“Yeah, I was there too, until I got kicked out of band for flunking English the first time, you guys were sophomores then,” Eddie sighs, still pissed off about it.

“Yeah, no, I remember,” Nancy shakes her head. “It just feels so weird to think about how long she’s been gone for, especially when I’m down here…”

“So let’s get out of here,” Robin gives her a little smile, tugging her along quicker, the boys run just as fast behind them.

—

Eddie followed Nancy up into her room to find those guns she spoke of, except all they found was her exact bedroom from November 6th, 1983… and while they’re in the past, Dustin and the kids are back in their own time, in the right side up, figuring out exactly what’s going on with these gates. Steve hears them in the walls like rats, almost going crazy trying to figure out why the fuck he can hear only Dustin speaking until the others finally come back downstairs.

It's Erika's idea to get the light bright, light is literally in the name and you can make anything you want on it. It’s a genius idea and it allows them to talk through universes… she was the future of hellfire, and Eddie couldn’t wait to see what other wonderful ideas she had in her mind once they make it out of this.

Turns out, what Nancy said earlier was right. Every time the Demogorgon attacked it left a gate and vecna was doing the same thing. If they got in through Patrick's murder site, there had to also be one in the woods where Fred died and on the ceiling of Eddie’s trailer where Vecna got her.

The last message they send says “bike 2 Eddie’s” and they’re off, running down Nancy’s stairs and through the kitchen, towards the garage. “Hey, uh,” Eddie stops by the fridge, “you don’t suppose there’s like, anything still safe to consume here, right?”

“No,” Nancy looks at him like he’s an idiot. “Come on, we have 7 miles until we get back to the real world and you can have a snack then.”

“And what size, prey tell, are these bikes?” He continues to ask as he follows her outside.

“Ah,” she smiles when she sees them. “You see, they were 12 and in my basement the night the gate opened the first time, so all 4 bikes are still here.”

Nancy picks up what once was Will’s bike, it has Byers carved into the handlebars. It’s the smallest one, she’s the smallest of the 4 of them, so she takes it.

“So they’re preteen-sized, sick,” Eddie nods, picking up Dustin’s, it has a light on it, and it still works.

Robin takes Mikes and Steve has Lucas’s, they’re not too small, their tires still have a decent amount of air and all the flashlights work. Luckily, the roads aren’t as covered in vines as the forest, so they can take off pretty fast. 7 miles wasn’t going to be too hard… but it did feel like forever.

They passed the Creel house where thousands of bats circled around it like birds of prey stalking a meal. They picked up the pace and biked faster, all through the neighbourhoods that hated him on the other side, and even though the town looks like a nightmare, he takes it in as his last look. He has no idea if he’ll ever get to bike through town again without people throwing tomatoes at him… or worse, his last trip through could be in a cop car or a hearse.

They enter the trailer park and Eddie takes the lead, he takes them down the winding path towards the middle of the park and points at the minty blue and white trailer, now covered in nasty shit, “right here!”

He tosses his bike to the ground as soon as they reach the grassy part right in front of his trailer. He tries his hardest to catch his breath, arms above his head while he takes a look around… it’s so freaky with the vines and the perpetual darkness, but this is where he grew up. He doesn’t have enough time to panic about how fucked up this is because Nancy is already storming towards the trailer door.

“Thats gotta be a Guinness world record,” Robin explains, lungs heaving, searching for air but still finding space to talk. “Most miles travelled inter-dimensionally.”

Steve coughs while following the rest of them towards the door, he spits out whatever was in his mouth, “I just inhaled a bunch of that shit.” Then he coughs again, more alarmed this time, “I think it’s stuck in my throat.”

Eddie swings the door open and heads in first, he almost stops right in the doorway at the sight of his living room's new feature but he keeps walking so they can all get in. Steve closes the door behind them all and they huddle unintentionally for protection, Steve points the flashlight at the gate. “Goddamn…”

Eddie hasn’t been back inside his home since Chrissy died. The last thing he remembers is looking up from the floor to see Chrissy on the ceiling, her bones breaking, the sound rings in his ear— he swallows, cringing inside at the memory of it all. “That’s where Chrissy died… like, right where she died.” His voice breaks, and he turns to Steve for support and finds it in his eyes.

They say ‘it’s not your fault’ with the slightest shake of Steve’s head, they’re so wrapped up in each other that they don’t notice what robin sees.

“I think there’s something in there,” she panics, fearful more bats will break the seal and they’ll be trapped in a tiny space with deadly creatures.

They all lean in closer, not stepping closer per say, but studying it carefully from where they are, “what the hell is that?” Steve wonders aloud, it’s exactly what they’re all thinking, anyway.

Suddenly the gate bursts open, the red membrane breaks and goop starts to spill, they jump back, screaming for their lives for just a second before the adrenaline kicks back in. Eddie and Steve haul the girls back and stand in front but Nancy breaks past, watching the gate drop in horror. “Ugh? What the—

It's a broom handle that’s sticking through and from the other side they can see a brighter version of the trailer floor. They turn to each there with pure amazement. Dustin did it. That little shit pulled through. Literally.

They hear his giggle before they see him, cautiously taking a few steps towards the gate, they look up to see Dustin, Max, Lucas and Erika celebrating their success of finding another safe gate for their friends, they get even happier when they see Steve, Nancy Eddie and Robin from the other side. Dustin waves, “hi there!”

“Hi?” They all wave back, absolutely over the moon that they’re rescued and that the kids, their kids, managed to figure it out and get there in time.

“We’ve got a plan to get you out, don’t worry!” Erika yells up to them. “Get it, Lucas,” she shoves him, sending the boys back to get the mattress.

Max is holding a bunch of bed sheets tied together to look like the rope they climb in gym class, “we're going to toss this through… Dustin thinks that if it’s half there and half there then it has to stay secure in the middle? Cause that’s where the worlds meet and the gravity is different? I don’t know.”

“Makes sense,” Nancy shrugs.

The mattress gets thrown down on the floor and Eddie is immediately embarrassed. He’s had that bed since he was a preteen and it was Waynes before that, he spilled bong water on his bed the morning before shit went south and the others are… he doesn’t even remember at this point. He’s had those ugly yellow and brown butterflies on his bed for as long as he can remember. New sheets weren’t really something he ever thought to put on the grocery list when they had a perfectly good washing machine and no one slept in his bed but him? This is why.

“Those stains are, uh…” he looks at robin and Nancy and then Steve and then back up, wanting to die ever so slightly. “I don’t know what those stains are.”

“Mhm,” Robin looks at him with a look of disgust and then over to Steve, who looks at her just as alarmed. ‘This is really the love of your life?’ She asks with her eyes.

He shrugs and sighs, ‘I guess.’

“Now, I’m not quite sure how these physics are gonna work,” Dustin cuts into the awkward silence and takes the rope from max. “But uh… here goes nothing.”

He tosses it through and they jump back when it comes flying at them in the upside down. Dustin holds his end so it doesn’t all go through and then it stops. It hangs there with half of it dangling from each side, just as they suspected it would.

“And if my theory is correct…” Dustin drops the side he’s holding and steps back with a laugh, “abracadabra.”

“holy shit,” almost all of them mumble under their breath. It’s remarkable just how much Dustin knows and how much of it is applicable to the shit they go through.

“Okay, pull on it, see if it holds!” Dustin calls up to them, watching Robin reach out and take hold of the rope. She tugs on it with all her body weight and it doesn’t budge at all. They all keep laughing in amazement, it’s just so fucking cool.

“This is the craziest shit I’ve ever seen in my life!” Erika rants, “and I’ve seen some crazy shit…”

Dustin reaches back to give her a high five, Eddie can’t even imagine what they mean by that… they’re like a decade younger than him, how could they have seen something that almost equals up to this?

Robin takes a deep breath and takes hold of the rope again, “okay, I guess I’m the guinea pig.”

The younger group all backup, making way on the landing pad as Dustin puts it. Robin struggles just a bit but finds her footing, Nancy stands behind her with her hands up, ready to catch her if she falls, watching her carefully the whole way through. She flops over to the other side and lands on the mattress, on her back, she sits up with a smile. “Oh thank god… that was fun.”

Dustin gives her a hand and helps her off the mattress, and she gives him a little hug as a thank you for getting them back through a safe spot.

Eddie expects Nancy to follow her but she doesn’t and Steve isn’t going either, they’re looking at each other so Eddie just grabs the rope. “All right! I guess I’ll go.”

Eddie jumps up and starts making his way up the rope, this was his least favourite part in gym but he did it every year, for 6 years. Only this year did they let him skip it and yet here he was, doing it anyway.

“Easy, easy,” Steve worries, knowing he’s clumsy and he’ll fall a lot harder than Robin did, given how much bigger he is. He’s like a tank compared to her.

Eddie smacks down onto the mattress and sits right up, wiping his bangs from his face he gasps, “that was fun? Shit,” he takes robins hand and she hauls him up to his feet so they can watch Steve and Nancy make it through next.

“See you on the other side,” Steve says, not because he’s going next, but because he’s letting Nancy know she is. He’s not leaving until she’s out. She knows that.

She nods, “on the other…” she freezes, her eyes roll back into her head and Steve panics.

“Nance… Nancy!!”

“What’s going on!?” Robins shouts through the gate.

“Oh no,” Steve starts to shake her. “Oh no, no, no, no, no…”

“Vecna,” Max says it out loud, but everyone already knew. They’ve all seen Max go through this.

“Music,” Robin smacks eddies arm, “she needs a song, oh my god… oh my god! Steve!! What song would have a good memory for her?”

“I don’t know?!” He screams back at her, still shaking Nancy, “Dustin, what song played when she danced with you?”

“I don’t remember!?” He screams, “and I doubt that’s her happiest memory?”

“It doesn’t have to be the happiest it just has to give her a memory happy enough to get her out of his nightmare, she has to get to a dream, to the light, basically,” Robin rambles and thinks, she’ sees Nancy around all the time… like the other morning.

Steve dropped her off just as Nancy was getting out of her car. The exact same song was playing on the radio moments prior, she locked eyes with robin and gave her a little smile and then waved at Steve. It was simple. It was happy. It was before all this shit started… yet if it never started, she’d never be this close to Nancy now.

“The radio,” Robin points at Dustin’s walkie and they pass it to her, she turns the knob towards the radio station thats always on in Steve’s beamer and hopes to god they’re playing Object of My Desire by Starpoint. It’s been so overplayed lately, that she might just— “thank god,” she hears it and cranks the radio to full blast.

“We can’t toss it through,” Eddie reminds her, “the towers are all down, down there, they’re not going to hear anything once it gets down there.”

“Right,” Robin looks around, “get me that chair,” she points.

Lucas hustles over and gets it, setting it up on top of the mattress so Robin can stand on the chair and hold it up to the gate.

“Can you hear it?” She asks Steve, who’s picking Nancy up around the waist and lifting her up so she’s closer to the sound.

“Yeah!”

“Come on, come on,” Eddie mumbles to himself, tapping his thighs and watching carefully. It’s taking too long… it feels like it goes on forever, just like they described with Max. Chrissy wasn’t out this long, she had long since cracked and fallen back to the floor in this amount of time. It must be a good thing if it’s taking forever.

The song is just about to end when Nancy snaps out of it, panicking and swinging as she comes to. She pushes Steve to the ground and crawls away from him, “it’s okay, it’s okay!” Steve assures her.

“Oh, thank god,” Robin steps down from the chair and turns the walkie off. She moves the chair off the mattress but stands back on it so she can watch what happens on the other side.

Eddie steps into view as well, watching Steve soothe Nancy while she pushes him away. “It’s fine, I’m fine.”

“Okay,” he lets it go. “Can you climb?”

She nods and looks up to see Robin, she sighs and softens. “Yeah, I can.”

Robin pushes Eddie back so Nancy has the full mattress to fall down on, they watch her climb the rope carefully and flop down just like they did, only less enthusiastically. Robin breaks away from Eddie and helps Nancy off the floor, “you’re okay?”

She nods, “yeah, I… I talked to him?”

“To Vecna?” Max knows but she asks anyway.

Nancy just nods, following robin off the mattress so that Steve could come through, finally. Eddie anxiously watches as Steve climbs the rope and tosses himself down to the floor with a hiss and a whine, he’s been thrown around quite a bit and it was starting to show. The others crowd Nancy, not knowing Steve was so badly attacked beforehand, so it’s just Eddie that helps him up, he holds Steve close and rubs his arm, “you okay?”

He nods, “I’m okay…” Steve makes his way over to the others, he places a hand on Nancy’s back, “you don’t have to talk about it right away, you know that?”

She nods, “yeah, I know… um, we should all take like a few hours to just chill, I don’t think he’s going to get right back to it. I think he likes the challenge.”

“We shouldn’t be here,” Dustin reminds them that they’re currently inside a taped-off crime scene, “is your mom home?” He asks Max.

She shakes her head, “no she has a 24-hour on shift at the hospital, she’ll be home around noon though…”

“Okay, we’ll head next door,” Lucas agrees, opening the door to let Erika out first.

“Um,” Nancy doesn’t mean to draw all their attention back to herself but they all stop and turn, thinking she’s got more news. “Robin, can you come with me for a walk? I need to calm down and I can’t go alone.”

“Y-yeah, absolutely,” she doesn’t even think twice, she just takes Nancy’s hand.

“Don’t go off too far,” Steve interjects, “take a walkie.”

“On our walkie,” Robin teases, knowing Steve just wants to keep them safe. She even manages to make Nancy smile a bit. “We’ll be fine.”

Steve knows that but it’s still hard to let her go knowing anything could happen to either of them. “I know,” he gives them a small smile and a nod as they leave, heading over to Max’s with the other kids. Leaving Dustin with Steve and Eddie.

“Are you okay?” Dustin asks, finally noticing all the blood on Steve and the fact he’s in Eddie’s vest.

He nods, “yeah I just—

“We need to get him some clean clothes,” Eddie interjects. “You go watch Max, you can be in charge until Nancy gets back.”

“Yes!” Dustin cheers, Eddie knew exactly how to get him to leave without asking any questions. “I’ll come get you if we need anything.”

“Sounds good,” Eddie holds the door open for him and pats his back on his way out. He shuts the door once he’s gone and turns to Steve with a smile, “and then there were two…”

“I’m in no condition to be seduced,” Steve teases, moving over to the counter to lean against it, he’s getting tired.

Eddie walks over and cups Steve’s face with his hand, staring into his eyes, “I know, sweetheart, so let’s get you cleaned up.”

—

Eddie's quick to start rummaging around in all the drawers in the hallway, he talks to himself while he does it and eventually pulls out a white box, “found ya, sucker.”

He cracks the box open and starts heading to his room, Steve watches and follows carefully, “what’re you doing?”

“Wayne used to hide the first aid kit from me cause I wasted all the supplies once trying to make my own special effects face wounds with the gauze… that’s another story, anyway, I have a bunch of shit in here if you want to get cleaned up?” He suggests, holding up some antibacterial spray and some big bandaids.

He crosses his arms and smirks, overflowing with what could only be described as love. “You wanna take care of me?”

“Yeah, Harrington. Sue me,” he tosses the gauze onto the bed, which is now just a boxspring covered in his comforter and pillows. “But, before I can do that, we’ve gotta wash all that blood off of you.”

Steve sighs and looks down at his chest, this was going to hurt like a son-of-a-bitch but he knew Eddie was right. “okay…”

“Right in here,” Eddie places a hand on his arm and leads him into the bathroom. “You can shower or I can just run a towel over you?”

“If I shower and then have to get back into these clothes I’m going to freak out,” Steve admits.

“I was going to let you borrow— well, actually I don’t need anything back, you can wear whatever you want from my room,” Eddie explains, riffling through the linen closet for some facecloths that Wayne wouldn’t mind ruining with blood and bat guts. “It’s not like I’m coming back here anyway.”

“Hey,” Steve reaches out and pulls his attention back to him. “Don’t say that.”

“I’m just being realistic.”

“I’m not losing you,” Steve puts his foot down. “Not to jail, not to Jason and his goons, not to Vecna or-or these fuckin’ bats,” he references down to his injuries. “You’re not going anywhere except to dinner with me when this is over and done with. Okay?”

“Okay,” Eddie manages to smile. “Now would you take my vest off so I can wipe you down? I cant have you dying from an infection before our date.”

“Okay,” he starts to push it off his shoulders and realizes just how much it hurts to lift his arms and stretch out his chest. “Ouch, fuck?”

“Sorry,” Eddie apologizes on behalf of Steve's wounds and takes the jacket as soon as it’s off of him. “Turn around?”

“Yeah,” Steve does as he’s told, slowly but surely.

Eddie looks at the knot that Nancy tied in the fabric, it’s tight as can be, and his meaty fingers aren’t getting that knot out. “Stay here, I’m going to go get the scissors.”

“Okay,” Steve didn’t mind, he simply takes a hold of the edge of the sink to steady himself and waits. Eddie runs out, Steve can hear him tossing cutlery around in the drawer in the kitchen and then his heavy feet running back to him.

“Okay, here we go…” he has to hype himself up for this part. He really didn’t want to see how much of Steve was missing under this fabric.

Steve hisses as the fabric tugs on his skin where it’s been fused by dried blood, Eddie apologizes again and again as he takes it off slowly, making Steve turn around to face him again in the process. “Jesus,” Eddie says under his breath once he takes a good look at the damage.

“Hot, I know,” Steve teases, giving him a smile before he too looks at it in the mirror. He catches Eddie looking at him in the mirror too, then their eyes meet in the reflection, making them smile slightly. “It’ll be okay… at least it’s not another head trauma.”

“Yeah, you seem to get your ass beat a lot…” Eddie doesn’t mean it as a dig or an insult, “I mean, that’s gotta affect you somehow?”

He nods, “headaches mostly, and this ear rings a lot,” he points to the left one. “But it’s liveable.”

“So, when we get supplies later we should add a helmet to the list, got it,” Eddie teases again and Steve shoves him.

Steve watches him giggle through the mirror, Eddie picks up one of the face cloths and turns the water on. He plays around with the taps until it’s a good temperature and he wets the towel. “Do you want to sit?”

“Where?” Steve gestures to the counter or the toilet.

“The counter would be better,” Eddie thinks, “here, I’ll help—

Steve doesn’t need help, he grips the counter with both hands and stands on his tip toes so that his ass cheek is taller than the counter and he scoots himself back until he’s secure. “There,” he spreads his legs and tugs Eddie between them so they’re closer.

“Showoff,” Eddie teases him, he wrings the excess water out of the face cloth and brings it over to Steve’s chest.

“You probably shouldn’t wring it out,” Steve micro-manages him. “You’re going to scrub my skin off if you don’t let the water soak the grime off.”

“Right,” he doesn’t argue, he simply re-wets it, “get ready…” he says as he brings it over to his chest, water droplets falling onto Steve’s pants and he hisses as it spreads down his stomach, “sorry, sorry.”

“Stop apologizing,” he says through gritted teeth. “It’s fine, it has to happen.”

“Yeah, well I still feel bad,” he all but whispers, watching the water turn red as it rushes down his chest.

He’s so close to the wounds he has no choice but to look and he hates it. It’s not that it’s gross(it is) it’s the fact that it’s Steve and in Eddie’s mind, Steve isn’t just Steve anymore… Steve watches his face carefully, in complete silence while Eddie washes the blood and grime off of him. Eddies face is so concentrated, he bites his tongue and breathes through his nose, he tries to shake his bangs out of his face as he leans in closer to Steve, hunched forward, and they keep falling into his eyes.

Steve just reaches out and runs his fingers through Eddie’s hair, pushing his bangs back for him. It draws Eddie’s attention back up to his eyes, he looks shocked, “sorry,” Steve whispers. “You just—

“It’s okay,” Eddie gives him a sweet smile. “No one really touches my hair…”

“Me either,” Steve knows what thats like, a bit too well. Out of everything in his life, his hair was the one thing he could control perfectly. Eddie probably felt similarly. It’s something he grew, something he takes care of, something that makes him, him. He’s so perfectly Eddie with this hair. “You’re pretty, you know that?”

The smirk that grows on Eddie’s face is beautiful, his eyes glisten in the soft yellow light of his trailer bathroom and he’s quiet. There isn’t a snarky reply, he doesn’t tell him to shut up or draw his attention to something else. He just smiles and takes it all in.

“I mean it,” Steve says for good measure. “Before Robin even suggested that it could be you, I already thought you were too pretty for your own good… it’s why I was so short with you, looking at you was so hard, I just want to tell you all the time that you’re so fuckin' pretty.”

“You’re going to give me a big head, Steve,” Eddie can’t take him seriously anymore, it was too much affection for him to handle. “Then again, you do give good head.”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t play dumb,” Eddie teases him, still wiping down his chest and now avoiding his eye contact. “You like pretty much sucked the soul out of me back there, I haven’t been the same since… haven’t even tried getting laid since, I’m like hypnotized by you, Harrington.”

“Back to Harrington,” he sighs and leans back against the mirror so Eddie can get at the lower bites on his stomach. “Got it.”

“Don’t do that,” Eddie picks up on it too. “It’s an endearing Harrington, okay? I need more than 4 days with you to make more nicknames than just Stevie and if I say that around the kids they’re going to have a fucking field day with it.”

“I guess,” Steve can see where he’s coming from. “Are you afraid of me?”

“What?” He looks up into Steve’s eyes again, his big brown puppy dog eyes could break Steve’s heart if he looked at him the right way. “Why would I be scared of you? You’ve done nothing but try and protect me?”

“I don’t know, it just seems like no matter what I do, no matter how open I get, you’re still so closed off? What do I have to do to get you to let me know if you like me back? I don’t want this to just be some end of the world I might as well flirt with him, shit, I want this to work if we live through this,” he’s honest about it. “I’ve done nothing but think about you— well, the you from the woods— for almost an entire year.”

“That’s not me, anymore,” he whispers. “You know that. We’re different now. Things are a lot different. And if I don’t make it I want you to be normal and not get hung up on me, get back with na—

“I swear the next person to say I should date Nancy again is getting punched,” Steve cuts him off. “I’d rather saw off my arms than date Nancy again.”

“Then why did you lose it back there,” Eddie points out to his living room. “You can’t tell me that you don’t love Nancy and then react like that. You were distraught dude, don’t lie to me. You still care for her. You still love her.”

“How would you feel if your friend, not the drummer the other one… Jer—”

“Jeff.”

“Yeah, how would you feel if Jeff was getting Vecna’d right in front of your eyes? You said Gareth is your best friend, but would you still react with love if Jeff was in trouble?” Steve asks, really getting him to think about it.

He nods, realizing he’s been over thinking it. “It’s just, you see, Nancy’s pretty and she’s not wanted for murder and—

“And she doesn’t love me. She never really did and she’s happy with Jonathan,” he can’t help but cut Eddie off. “I know Nancy better than anyone here because we dated— if you can even call it dating, but I took her on a few dates, I slept with her the night her best friend in the world died and then I over-reacted when she started spending time with Jonathan, not knowing she was hunting the thing that got Barb for revenge… and then I lost her before I even had her.”

“Oh,” Eddie can’t believe he’s getting the full story like this.

“And if I’m being really honest with you, I’m not even sure if the love I had for her was real. I can’t hold it against her for pretending anymore when I genuinely don’t remember being in love with her. It was so long ago. But sure, I love her, she’s my friend and she’s Mike's older sister and she’s buddy-buddy with Robin now and I can’t let her die while Jonathan isn’t here! He’s kicked my ass once already, I don’t need more brain damage because I failed to protect someone we all care about. The same way I’d protect Robin or Max and especially… you.”

Eddie’s never seen Steve talk so passionately. It’s like he took a page out of Buckley's book and paired it with his freakish ability to hold his breath for a long time, resulting in that ramble of truth. He didn’t even know what to say to it, at least he thought he didn’t and then he asks the simplest question. “Why?”

“Which part?” Steve manages to smile, “the not sure about loving Nancy bit or the falling in love with you bit?”

Eddie’s eyes do that thing where they get impossibly big and he leans forward, feeling like he imagined it. “What?”

“I kinda figured since you love me and all, I could say it to you.”

“Backup, backup,” he waves his hands around in front of himself with his eyes closed for a moment, taking it all in. “When did I say I love you?”

“You didn’t have to, you just jumped in after me.”

“Not right away and I definitely didn’t want to?” He freaks out, feeling like he’s been caught and he needs to defend himself.

“I didn’t want to help Nancy and Jonathan the first time. But I did because I loved her,” he explains with a growing smirk. “I figured you out so easily because I did the exact same thing before.”

“You ran?” Eddie can’t believe it. Badass Steve was actually… kind of normal dude.

“I showed up to apologize to Jonathan for calling him and his brother queer… yeah I know it was a shitty thing to do given who I am and all, but, after he kicked the shit out of me, I had time to reflect and realized, like, nope, it’s just me who’s queer and what I said was super fucked up… So I went to apologize but imagine my surprise when Jonathan opens the door and he was bleeding from his hand and the whole house smells like gasoline and there is a bear trap in the hallway and a Demogorgon on the way,” Steve honestly can’t believe its a real memory and not a dream he’s retelling.

“But it was too late, they dragged me down the hall into Will’s room and we waited for the thing to attack but it got distracted? It disappeared again and I took the first chance I had to get the fuck out of there.”

“I mean, it’s not like they needed you,” Eddie teases, bringing a smile to Steve’s face.

“I know, but that’s not the point, is it?” Steve points it back on him. He did the same fuckin thing earlier. Nancy and robin probably had it covered and he went anyway. “Nancy Wheeler, given any partner, is fantastic at defending this town. That’s a fact I know for sure.”

Eddie drops the washcloth in the sink and gives in, he places his hands on Steve’s thighs and looks up into his eyes, “what else do you know?”

“I know I went back into that house not because I didn’t think she could do it, but because if Jonathan died and Nancy lost him and Barb, and Joyce lost him and Will… I couldn’t live with myself. I went back in because I loved Nancy and I would’ve thrown myself in front of the thing if need be to make sure they were the ones who got out of it okay.”

“It was a suicide mission?” Eddie softens, putting all the clues together.

He nods, “I loved her, I hated myself and who I was becoming and it wasn’t changing. Even if I dropped Tommy and Carole, even if I somehow got away from my parent's influence… I never thought I’d get to a point in my life where I could be myself and like myself at the same time. I was ready to die in there for her.”

“But you didn’t,” Eddie is thankful beyond belief.

“Yeah, but surviving wasn’t any better. The government sat us all down and said we could never speak about it, we were in danger from the Russians if we did talk about it—

“Yeah right—

“No, they were serious but that’s later,” Steve is serious and Eddie can tell. “Nancy and I were told it was best to act as normal as possible and that we’d never get in trouble for being underage and drinking the night barb went missing and while I was super thankful my parents wouldn’t find out, Nancy was pissed that nothing was being done as justice for Barb… I processed it all by pretending it didn’t happen and she couldn’t because she didn’t get closure. Not like Joyce, Joyce got her son back and Nancy was stuck with me and nothing else.”

“I’m sorry,” Eddie reaches up to cup Steve’s cheek, “you didn’t look happy that year… I remember she’d sit in the parking lot with Jonathan and you’d always just play basketball in the gym or run track the whole break.”

He nods, “I always passed you on your way for a smoke.”

Eddie gives him a sweet smile, “you’re the only jock that would pass me without saying something snarky.”

“I never saw you leave a fight with a black eye,” Steve admits. “I was still yet to win a fight of my own at that point.”

“I would never hurt you,” Eddie whispers and Steve knows that to be true. It’s why he can open up to him so easily.

“I didn’t feel worthy of love for a long time,” he whispers back. “Nancy helped, she told me and I believed her but… I knew it wasn’t real. I knew we weren’t having sex cause she remembered how Barb died every time we tried and she didn’t sleep over at my house ever cause it feels haunted to her and the more I tried to be normal the more it made her wish she wasn’t with me. We were both pretending but for vastly different reasons. She didn’t want to get in trouble and I didn’t want to accept the fact that once she left, I was going to be lonely.”

“Didn’t you already have Dustin then?” Eddie asks, knowing how much Dustin loves him.

He shakes his head, “no, actually, I was on my way to her place to ask her to take me back after we broke up when I ran into Dustin and he needed help with something from the upside down that ate his cat.”

Eddies eyes grow wide, “his cat?”

He nods, “yeah it was one of those demo-dog things I was telling you about, they have the same mouths as the bats but they act like wolves.”

“Holy fuck?”

Steve just nods, “it’s been insane and thats just he starts of the second year… last summer we found out that the Russians were in Hawkins under the mall and I went down there with Robin, Dustin and Erika… we barely made it out alive and then we still had to fight the thing from the upside down that came out of the gate that the stupid fucking Russians opened up.”

Eddie can tell he’s the most traumatized by it so he runs his hands down Steve’s shoulders and shushes him softly, “you’re here now though, we’re working all together on this one. It’s not just Nancy, it’s not just you and the kids. It’s all of us. We can do it.”

Steve leans forward and kisses him again. He can’t help himself. He has to kiss Eddie as much as humanly possible before they can’t anymore because if he knows one thing from all of this, it’s that the people you love can be taken from you in the blink of an eye. Barb. Bob. Billy… Hopper. They’re all gone and everyone who loved them is devastated now.

He doesn’t want to know what it feels like to lose Eddie. Thats a devastation that he’d never recover from.

General Taglist

@ncsls0515 @stevesmunsons @reidsbookclub @wroteclassicaly @sweetyyhippyy @manuosorioh @mrs-dr-reid @k-k0129 @squishyturtle @katsukis1wife @babybisexual

Steddie

@nosaladallowed-ao3 @wifeyreid @girl-with-an-orange-cat @sunshinemunchkin @luna-munson83 @manda-panda-monium @steve-thehair-mamabear

@knightoftheieves @swimmingbirdrunningrock @throwbackthrowaway

#cruising fic #steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #steve harrington fanfiction #eddie munson fanfiction #stranger things fanfiction #steddie fanfiction

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stevie-petey · 2 months

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May I ask your opinion on a hypothetical? What if it was Bug who went missing instead of will? Bug decides to ride home with will despite him saying he's old enough to go on his own and she ends up saving him from the demogorgan but takes his place and gets trapped in the upsidedown. How would Jonathan react, would he and Nancy still get together? ( probably not but still a question of how the dynamics would change) How would Dustin react, how would Claudia react?? She'd lose her poor mind with grief. I still feel like Joyce would be the one to connect lights to the upside down. Like she's visiting Claudia and sees the lights flicker, the same she's seen at her house. Bugs going everywhere trying to get someone to help her.

ooo this is an interesting hypothetical !! gonna do a read more because im gonna raaaaamble

first and foremost: the kids would IMMEDIATELY initiate a search party for bug the same way they did for will. mike and dustin would be the leading men, demanding people help and find her. this is why they still end up finding el in the woods, they were searching for bug when it happens because will remembers everything that happened and wants her home safe and sound

for jonathan: he would lose his mind and blame himself for it all, the same as bug blames herself for will, jon would blame himself for bug. hes the one who told her to take will home, hes the one who sent her to her deathbed. i dont think he would still end up with nancy, at least maybe not in season 1. i feel like hed be so sick with worry and guilt that the thought of hitting on nancy would send him over the edge. instead, when bug is back home safe, he might then start feeling something for nancy since she kept him sane the entire time bug was gone. i say this because bug going missing would switch the og dynamics - jon now becomes overbearing when she returns and she hates being coddled and would unintentionally push him away, right into nancys arms (as in the original story as well)

joyce would uncover it all, i agree, and its because jon and will INSIST on her helping and they all go to claudia and dustin to make sure theyre ok. claudia would spiral like joyce did in season 1, losing her firstborn child and i imagine we'd get a scene like with lonnie where bugs dad makes an appearance and makes things Worse

as for where bug would hide: id say castle byers like will did. she helped build it, she spent time there, and it was close to the byers home when it happens. she would stay there, maybe find her way home to claudia, but just freak out and try to stay alive for the boys. thats what would keep her going - the guilt of dying and letting jon and her boys grieve over her :(

bonus for steve: he would 100% get involved earlier in this scenario. hed be with nancy when he hears bug went missing and hed freak, but wont know why. heres this girl hes always had a weird fascination over and who has been so angelic and kind, and now shes missing ??? hed feel horrible and offer to help jonathan before nancy does i think. idk it just fits in my mind

#ask #anon #m speaks #idk what to tag this ???#not really insight #buuuut #ch insight #i guess

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munsonology · 1 year

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I know you like Eddie and idk if u like Steve but I keep seeing these steddie/reader fics where Steve is a sub and Eddie is a dom but like

Eddie is def a soft!dom at times, but he's a switch. First and foremost. Secondly, Steve?? Sure, rare occasions he can be a sub, but he is mean he is a bitch!! He is a dom!! He would totally get off on degradation and then during aftercare make sure you know he never meant those things and he loves u. Eddie is just mumbling and moaning the whole time incoherently, the only words you can make out is "feels so good" "good girl" 'fuck me" and "please more". But after? He is cocky as fuck acting like he wasn't just a second away from whining for one of you two to peg him

Bestie I love Steve! I know it doesn’t seem like it but I was originally a Steve girl but I think having the gap between season 3 and 4 I kinda stopped and then Eddie came and here I am lol

But you’re so right! Steve never gives me sub vibes only dom, especially after watching season 2. I think steve still has king steve tendencies so when y’all get together he’s cautious to let it show because you’re his perfect match, and he doesn’t wanna scare you away. He was a mess after Nancy, but with you it’s different he feels like he couldn’t go on without you so he’ll do everything to keep you around.

I think Steve could let you dom him but only for like 30 minutes 😭 he’d never let you have full control but I think you kinda don’t want to either the whole time?? Like you’d tie his hands to the bed posts in his room and he’d tease like “are you sure it’s tight enough?” And now you’re questioning your knot skills

And maybe at the 15 min mark you’re mouth is full with big dick Steve, one hand at the base and the other tickling his balls how he likes but you stop and blow some air on the swollen head of his cock like a candle and now it’s on and he’s looking at you and says “do that again and you’ll regret it kitten”

But 10 minutes later you’re lowering yourself on his beautiful cock, and he’s so big 🤤 you’ve never had to lower yourself without help before and you gotta admit you might need help. You’re barely past the tip, and now he’s looking at you with a little smirk “do you need help baby. Just untie me” but you pout “no I can do it myself” and he chuckles “it’s ok to admit you need help kitten” and he sees how you’re determined so he talks you through it, encouraging you to take more of him, you your cunt was made for him and no one else but it’s still not working so you give up “ok I’ll let you take over” and he grins and flips you over on your back so fast your head spins and he laughs “I untied myself when you went to change the cassette….now let daddy take care of you kitten” it’s about a year before you dom him again 😭

Eddie on the other hand is so switchy. I feel like he can switch mid scene too if y’all are playing like that. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, but like if you make him suck your strap (it’s a 2 sided dildo) but he sees how you moan when he tugs on the shaft that’s his opening!! And now he’s over you, one hand on your throat and the other on your strap fucking you with it and you don’t know how it happened so fast. One minute you had him on his knees, fucking him and jerking him off and making him blow you and now he’s taking your strap off and fucking your cunt wide open, taking a vibe (when did get that??? How did he hide that the whole time??) to your clit and forcing orgasm after orgasm out of you. The sheets are soaked from cum and squirt obviously and when he’s had his fill he tells you to open your mouth so he can make a deposit of spit as a token of forgiveness because he knows tonight was your night to dom. Yeah Eddie has tricks up his sleeves you gotta be careful with him 😭😭😭😭

#steve harrington/fem!reader #steve harrington smut #eddie munson/reader #eddie munson #eddie munson x female reader #fem reader #eddie munson x black!reader #eddie munson x black female reader #eddie munson smut #steve harrington/reader #steve harrington/you #Steve Harrington/black female reader #fem!reader #steve harrington #sav’s anons

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ariesbilly · 1 year

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Steve Harrington is a pretty good choice in partner, but Billy is of the solid opinion that everything can be improved. And what won't be improved willingly can always be roped and dragged there kicking and screaming.

First and foremost; that godforsaken bedroom his boyfriend expects him to sleep in. Billy actually physically recoils the first time Harrington opens the door, and decides immediately if you ever want to break a man, just lock him in here.

Looking at his dad's bare asshole would invoke less of a vomit reflex than tartan on tartan. Also, whoever actually created and sold tartan wallpaper needs to be killed for the immediate greater good of humanity.

Still. The wallpaper is a longcon kinda game, so Billy turns his attention to something that can be fixed with relative swiftness.

The fire is roaring and crackling when Steve comes home from work, and his boyfriend scrunches his nose at it with a pleased, surprised smile. "Howdy, Pyro," he greets, leans over Billy's shoulder to warm his hands. Billy offers him the pack of marshmallows and, subtly, uses his heel to kick the pair of scissors further under the deck chair.

"Is that fabric?" Steve asks on his third marshmallow, leaning so close to the flames Billy has to pull him back lest he lose a brow.

"Eh, scraps I found in the garage."

Two weeks later, Steve has been rib-deep in his closet for a good half an hour before he calls out; "hey, Cake? Do you know where my green sweater is?"

Billy can't help smiling a slow, smug, sly little thing as he dries off the last dish. "Sorry, Hidalgo. No idea."

The next time, Steve brought it on himself. The faux-fur monstrosity he wears out to the movies looks like he cut up a rug made out of unfortunate roadkill and shaped it like a jacket, and honestly, Billy's just doing the Lord's work when he trips and spills a blue slushie all over it. It'll never wash out, and Harrington wisely decides the thing has lived a full life and deserves to visit the landfill of eternal rest.

The day after, Billy buys a cream colored suede jacket with sheepskin on the collar and cuffs. Presents it to Steve, pouty and apologetic, and Steve wears it for a week straight when they go out. It makes his eyes look deeper, darker. Makes the pink on his cheeks stand out a little.

Two months into dating proper, Steve wears an honest to god vest that Nancy got him for his birthday to Jonathan's college leaving party, and Billy has to do breathing exercises before getting in the car.

"You love him," he mutters, clenching and unclenching his fists. "You love him. His dick is fucking huge. You love him. He eats your ass like he's starving. You love him...."

The vest, ultimately, accidentally gets washed with a pair of jeans Billy doesn't really care about anyway, which happen to have a forgotten switchblade in the pocket, and Billy has to visibly school his expression when Steve pulls it out of the machine a half-hour later in eight different pieces.

They're three months, two jackets, three sweats, one vest and a pair of honest to god flared khakis ("they're novelty, Billy!") later, and they're laying together in their newly papered bedroom when Steve rolls over him, tucks a lock of his hair behind his ear and says;

"The guilt is eating me alive, so. How about next time you hate something I wear, you just tell me, and we can donate it to charity so you can get me something else, my conscience stays clear, and we're both happy, mm?"

Billy grins. "And inflict those crimes against humanity on other people? Damn, Long Johnson. Knew you were a secret sadist. That's kinda hot," he bites his lip and Steve laughs, squirms up close, fingers digging into Billy's hips, words hot on his ear.

"Oh, Barbie. If you wanna see sadism, I'll show you my christmas sweater collection."

I AM SCREAMING AT THESE NICKNAMES!!!!

billy is gonna queer eye steve so hard when they start dating ... he loves the rich preppy boy money he does NOT love the yuppie fashion he has to draw a line somewhere

#billys mantra every time steve does/wears something he hates being reminders that hes got a big dick and eats him out so good... real #harringrove #briana answers things

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rosemarydisaster · 2 years

Text

I'm a Bisexual a Steve, Nancy and Johnathan girlie first and foremost, but I've been thinking about the potential for Steve and/or Nancy not even knowing being homosexual was an option for them. The whole "yes, I've dated the opposite gender but never felt quite right about it". As an ace aro person that has "been there-done that", I'm really interested in the topic.

So, have a little gay Steve steddie ficlet with some bisexual Eddie, because why not (I usually headcanon him as gay but you know, thought it could be funny for this fic). Probably will do a Nancy one too.

Warnings for uses of queer as a slur, 80's general homophobia, and internalized homophobia. Also long post :

Steve has always been into girls. Obviously. He's Steve "The Hair" Harrington, king of Hawkins High. He's been suavely flirting his way through half the school's population since day one. The female half, obviously.

It was something that made his dad proud of him in ways only basketball and swimming had before. "That's my boy!" He'd said anytime Steve related his latest conquest. His son being a Lady's man was another badge of honor on the list. Sure, his Steve wasn't the brightest, but he was charismatic in that way only True Men of Business were. He did not need to know that Steve was simply copying those same men.

At first it came naturally. He wanted to emulate his heroes. His father, the movie characters the were "the only true Men left in this dammed country" according to his dad, the movie stars he laughed with, telling little Steve "now that's what I call charm!".

So Little Stevie got the message, just like he'd gotten the message that he had to be good at sport and all the other things his parent's love was condiotional upon. It was only natural, all parents wanted to be proud of their children. It was the child's job to make them proud, but instead of money they payed in love. So easy even little Stevie could understand it. He simply followed the instructions.

Girls came after that, and really, it was more of a side effect than anything else. The men he looked up to always knew how to sweep girls off their feet: just a little sweet talk and a shiny smile. He had not put a lot of thought into what happened afterwards though, he was just a kid after all.

Soon enough, he understood that his parents thought it was great that their little Romeo was the most popular boy in school. More so when the mothers started gossiping about "what a suave little cassanova the Harringtons have!". His mother fawned and chuckled with them, clearly loving the compliments her son received.

So Cassanova it was. He learned soon enough that dating had its own set of rules, just like friendships and sports and school and dressing. He needed to keep this perfect balance between easy to fall for and hard to obtain. When he became a teenager he understood his father found his salacious stories about making out with girls funny, but that he would not approve just any girl. If he was to bring anyone home for a proper dinner, she had to be pretty, rich, soft spoken, smart but not smarter than his dad, christian, dressed appropriately...the list went on and on.

He thought he figured it out with Nancy, because Nancy was great. She was his first big love, the girl she actually enjoyed spending time with. Most of the others had been an exhausting amount of acting the part, pretending to be interested in things that bored him off his mind, and actually getting some pretty decent validation from feeling desired.

But not Nancy. She was actually fun to be around! Nancy always had a dozen new topics she was passionate about and could spend hours on end rambling about them while Steve thought about how lucky he was to have found a girl that didn't felt like chore.

His father was not thrilled. Apparently she was "decent enough", but he assured Steve that her Know-it-all tendencies would end up driving him up the wall soon enough. Steve hoped it wouldn't. It had been hard enough to find a balance between who he was expected to date and who he enjoyed dating.

Intimacy with Nancy was something he simultaneously looked forward and was terrified of. Seducing girls was half the job of. He also had to learn how to "rock their world" or else his reign would be a short one. He knew girls gossiped, they made sure to lock eyes with him before whispering in their friends ears and coyly waving at him giggling. So he studied the subject with the same feverish intensity he'd studied how to get his hair right. And the feeling of accomplishement he got from it was almost reward enough.

Nancy was a different story, you see. She was the one. She was the future Steve was hoping for, the mother of his kids. And he was dreading getting to third base with her. What if it felt like a chore? Spending time with Nancy had never felt like that, but what if the sex part was awful? He always got the impression the girls were getting way more out of it than he was, and he just wanted to feel like them for once. So when it all came to shit, he blamed it on the Demogorgon.

It wasn't Nancy's fault, nor his. It was just so incredibly awkward to do the dirty when the last time you did, your girlfriend's bestie got murdered! So they decided to take it slow, and Steve couldn't be more grateful. Their first time hadn't been so bad, it's just he had trouble remembering with all the upside down bullshit and Johnathan Byers punching him.

Johnathan was a queer. That's what his father had called him, so Steve called Johnathan a queer. That's the way the world worked. Steve understood enough about them: They were weird, they didn't like girls, they tried to ruin the people that were actually normal, and they carried a really fucked up disease. He hoped Byers didn't have it. Look, the guy may had punched him, but he deserved a break. Byers had been so brave for his brother, like a hero from a movie. Maybe his father had been wrong about him being a queer.

He learned that his father had most definitely been wrong when his girlfriend cheated on him with said Byers after calling Steve "Bullshit". It wasn't a slap in the face, it was a sucker punch to the heart. But he'd manage, he always did. It would be easier without Billy though.

The thing about Billy was that Steve hated him. With fervor. He was a racist asshole that threatened one of his boys and constantly tried to antagonize him. He had something about him that unnerved Steve in the same way Johnathan had, but unlike Byers, he did it on purpose.

His father hated him too, but in that way that meant Steve was at fault somehow. "You can let that queer beat you!" He always shouted after Billy managed to be the center of attention at all their matches. He had decided that Billy was a queer too, you see. He cared too much about his looks and he was from California, which apparently was were they came from. Steve wasn't too sure about it, after all, he had been wrong about Byers.

When robin happened, he almost cried. It had been his second chance, another girl he actually liked spending time with. Robin was funny and smart and charming. His parents were going to hate her but it'd stopped being about them a long time ago. Steve needed to like a girl for himself, to prove wrong the intrusive thoughts about Johnathan, Tommy H, Billy and the rest. But Robin had not been the solution he'd hoped for. Instead, she had been the catalyst that absolutely wrecked his life. Sure, she also made it a hundred times better, but still.

He did not talk to her about it. Not at first. It was so much, and he was still reeling from the fact that he was friends with one of the queers his dad hated so much. It took him a while just to unlearn the stereotypes and fear mongering rumours he had been raised in. Robin helped, she had decided that not getting bashed after rejecting him probably meant Steve was safe. So she explained to him the lesbian thing.

Steve didn't want to stop her. Clearly, Robin had no one else to talk to about it, and the relieve on her face when she told him about the sub culture, about liking Vicky about her feelings in general...he could not bring himself to take that alway from her no matter how much he wanted to. And God he wanted to. He wanted to go back, back to a time were he didn't have all this thought and doubts and nonsense. Because the things that Robin said about men...no. Robin had known she was a lesbian. If Steve was q...gay, he would have known by now. Yup.

Eddie Munson was the most unexpected gear to finally click in Steve's head. Honestly, he would have been way less upset about it if it had been Tommy H or Billy. Sure, he hated them, but The Freak??? That was several levels more life ruining than it needed to be. But God was it unavoidable.

It started with the kids raving about the famed Eddie Munson. The greatest DM, the most talented musician, the coolest dude on planet earth, and sure enough Steve was jealous. Who was this Munson guy to take HIS kids? He'd fought monsters for them, and that's how they repaid him? Ungrateful little shits. He barely remembered the guy from school, but he knew he was supposed to be older than him, and he was still there? Loser! Even he had managed to graduate. And then he met him.

The Vecna thing was a harrowing affair all by itself. He almost lost a couple of his kids and his emotional support Robin. But it was just an almost. Eddie managed to rescue himself and Dustin from the demo bats by "doing what I'm best at Harrington!". They've managed to steal enough time by blocking the gate with his wardrobe to steal yet another car. He violated several traffic laws just to get to the creel's house before the demo bats did and, well, that got Carvers attention. And thank God, because Lucas needed to climb on top of Dustin to reach for Max ears, powering El in the process. Nancy took care of Carver fast enough when a sprinting Eddie greeted them at the gate.

Steve did not now if it was the theatrics with which he explained the situation, or the fact that he saved Dustin, Lucas and Max, but the denial was over. He tried to go back, to ignore the feeling in his chest (those famed butterflies, making a mess of his ribcage), but it was too little to late. The way he smiled at him from the hospital bed while they patched up the gunshot wounds from Carver. The way he reassured a guilty faced Lucas that he'd survive "isn't that right Harrington?". This wasn't Billy's attractive yet hateable face nor an inconvenient crush on Byers. He was in deep.

Robin was as helpful as Steve had been to her when she needed to vent about her own homosexuality. By the end, Steve was Hyperventilating and in tears because what the actual fuck. And then Robin just... awkwardly hugged him and whispered "it's okay if we can't talk about boobies anymore". He laughed. Of course he'd laugh. A bit hysterical at first, but by the end of it both of them were joking about being "too much of a perfect match". He thought Robin being a lesbian would be the thing that ruined everything, but it was just the perfect fit. Sure, everything else was still awful, but they could be miserable together.

It became a dangerous game, guessing what else exactly had been a mask he put on to keep his parents happy. Surely it couldn't be everything, right? He still had a personality. The thought of having lived a complete lie his entire existence was the most horrifying shit he could think of. Worse than Vecna and the Demogorgon combined. Robin was helpful though, she kept him from spiraling too much.

Eddie had turned into a recurring problem. Apparently goodie two shoes Nancy Wheeler and King Harrington claiming that Jason was the actual killer and that Eddie was just his cover up was all they needed to exonerate him. Eddie was an amazing liar too, so he sold the story in under a minute to the police. Carver was hurting Chrissy, Chrissy came to him, Carver caught them and killed her in retaliation. But Eddie scaped so he had to improvise.

Apparently half of that wasn't a lie. Munson had confessed to Steve and Johnathan, high as a kite, that him and Chrissy did have some feelings. They never acted on them, but they were planning to when she felt safe enough to leave Carver. That was painful on so many levels... He'd vaguely known Chrissy in school and she was sweet enough, seeing the way Eddie spoke about her made her murder feel so much more painful. What if Vecna had done that to Robin? Or what if he'd actually tried to kill Nancy? But also, hearing from the guy your pining after that he likes girls was just a whole different can of worms. It made him feel awful, being jealous of a dead girl.

Life went on for a while, in that sweet sweet agony. Sharing custody of the kids with Eddie, joking about who was the mum and who was the dad, trying to save up to move out with Robin, becoming actual friends with Byers, having a proper platonic friendship with Nancy...it wasn't so bad. Sure he could never have what he truly wanted, but he and Robin had already planned to be each other beards, their friend group expanded and he could be close to the guy he liked. It wasn't going to be the happy white picket fence he had desperately tried to sell to Nancy in a last ditch effort to remain heterosexual. Not that he was ever going to be truly happy there either.

Things took the most unexpected turn thanks to Byers junior. The five of them were hanging out in the Byers-Hopper residence, their hangout spot since the kids preferred the Wheeler's basement. When Will weakly knocked on his brother's door, Steve did not expect to see him teary eyed on the other side. Soon enough everyone in the room was trying to console poor Will. Steve and Robin were both completely dumbstruck when Will finally opened his mouth to confess. They shared a look of "oh no, what's going to happen?". Steve had already a reassurance in his lips, trying to prevent anyone else making a hurtful comment, when Johnathan hugged him and told him it was okay. Everyone else followed, and now the look he shared with Robin was one of immense relief. He was quick to add on to the support, feeling extremely guilty at the way Byers senior seemed to relax, clearly on the fence about his answer.

Turns out Will was heartbroken due to falling for a straight guy, something that Steve could very much relate to. He wanted to say so but it wasn't the right moment, this was about Will, and no matter how relieved he felt for the Kid and his and Robin's sake, he didn't want to derail the conversation. Nancy and him reassured him that Wheeler was an idiot, and that he wasn't missing much. "You can do better than my brother".

It was Eddie who actually got Will to stop sobbing with a simple question "How do you know he's straight?". Robin pointed out how he had dated El to which Eddie gave the baffling answer of "so what? he could like both!". Johnathan and Nancy were quick to jump on his theory, while Robin and Steve exchanged incredulous stares. Clearly Robin had not known about that, or else she would have told him.

"Is that a thing?" Steve dared to hope, hope that this was not some plot to make Will feel better. "Yeah Harrington" Eddie looked at him with all that intensity he conjured for DMing "I'm pretty fucking sure." They both stared at each other, trying to read the other's face. Looking for a sign, while aknowledging it wasn't the time or place to talk. In the end, Eddie gave Will a ride to the Wheeler's.

Once he and Robin were in the safety of his car it was absolute madness. Robin's final words were "I may not have know that was a thing, but know I know and he was flirting Dingus!". He tried to shut her down, not wanting to get his hopes up, but once he was alone in his hose...that was a different story.

He managed about seven whole minutes of repeating the mantra "just because he's into dudes doesn't mean he is into you" before deciding "fuck it" and gunning it for the door. He needed to know know. Steve opened the door at the same time Eddie closed his van's. After that it was only a couple of long strides, a locked door and Eddie slamming him against it.

"Sorry if I didn't read this correctly but-" Steve didn't let him finish. And sure enough, this time he actually felt it. The butterflies, the fireworks, his heart pumping away like it was about to explode. There would be time to talk things out, figure out what they wanted, but right then and there Steve finally felt alive. And he couldn't care less what his parents thought about it.

#steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #fruity four #stranger things #platonic stobin #tw queer slur #tw queerphobia #tw homophobia #tw internalized homophobia

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