#it really smells like mike wheeler’s basement

[a-strange-inkling]

[lovebugism]

“ Sneak out and come watch the stars with me. ” this gives me such Steve vibes. maybe something cute and romantic? I’m in my feels hahaha

thanks for your request, angel! please enjoy xoxo — steve takes his bad-at-feelings gf on a romantic outing. it goes exactly how he expected. (mean-ish!reader, fluff, 1.8k)

bug's summer fic fest ♡

The forest behind the suburbs of Maple Street is sparse and full of green. Illuminated by a blue moon and blinking yellow fireflies, Steve holds your hand and leads you through thin trees and tall grass. 

You follow behind him and try hopelessly to keep up with his longer strides. A cat-like grin pulls at your mouth as you joke, “You know, when you said you wanted to sneak out and watch the stars, I thought that was a euphemism for something.”

Steve looks over his shoulder at you. His honey eyes squint as he flashes you a lopsided smile. “Is that really how low you think of me, sweetheart?”

“I just forget how much of a romantic you are sometimes.”

Your sneakers scuff against the dirt when Steve stops suddenly in front of you. He takes a step closer, smoothing his broad hands up your bare arms. His sparkling touch leaves prickling goosebumps on your skin. He stops at the sleeves of your t-shirt, long fingers warm where they sprawl below your shoulders.

“That’s exactly why I have to remind you then, huh?” he singsongs, bending softly at the waist to kiss you. 

You’re too busy rolling your eyes at his cheesy remark to meet him halfway. His plush lips brush the very corner of your mouth.

A couple more steps, and the woods break off into a clearing. A black lake sits in the middle of it all, sparkling under neon moonlight. The other side is lined with thicker trees in a more velvet shade of green. It’s lush, filled with the buzzing sounds of nightlife, and smelling heavily of summertime.

It’s the kind of beauty that takes your breath away. Sort of like the pretty boy beside you.

Steve catches you staring, and you cower. You purse your quiet smile to the side of your mouth when he flashes you a similar grin. Your eyes narrow accusingly, “How did you know this was back here?”

The boy’s beam ebbs instantaneously, mourning the fleeting moment of pure adoration. His fingers wrap gently around your wrist, tugging you closer to the clearing. “Don’t worry about it. Let’s just sit, yeah?”

Before you can complain about your good jeans getting dirty, he strips himself of his summer jacket and spreads it on the grassy bank below you. He shoots you a knowing look in the meanwhile — full of twinkling eyes and quirked lips — as though anticipating your protest. You meet it with a halfhearted glower.

“How many times did you come out here with Nancy Wheeler, then, huh?” you tease as you descend onto the polyester fabric.

Steve huffs when he plops down beside you. “You’re an absolute glutton for punishment, you know that?”

“I just like making fun of you—”

“Of course you do.”

“—And also, I think it’s really funny you took me to a spot you used to take your ex,” you conclude with a giggle sputtering from your mouth. Your laugh is high and airy, like it’s actually funny to you and not a confession of misplaced jealousy. 

It’s the only reason Steve smiles softly back at you. “Shut up,” he grouses quietly despite his grin. “I just wanted to get out of that house, alright? It was getting way too loud in there.”

The Wheeler’s were having a weekend get-together. There was no real occasion for it other than the want to decorate their big house and bigger backyard for the summer season. You figured that was the sort of thing rich people did whenever they got bored.

The afternoon was pretty tolerable, but the kids only seemed to get more wired as the night progressed. You could only tolerate the yelling in Mike Wheeler’s basement for so long.

“We can’t stay gone for too long,” you tell him as you settle into his side.

Steve wraps an arm around your shoulder to press you further into him. The side of your arm rests against his ribs. His cologne embraces you the same way he does, engulfing you with its clean musky scent.

The boy laughs. “Why? ‘Cause everyone will think we’re screwing?”

“No,” you drawl with your own breathy giggle. “Because I promised Holly we’d do your makeup before bedtime.”

A beat passes. You tilt your chin to stare up at the boy beside you. You met his deadpanned expression with a mischievous grin. 

“No, you didn’t,” he challenges with narrowed honey eyes.

“I absolutely did— right after I promised we’d play Princess and Dragons with her, actually.”

Steve’s brows pinch. “Since when do dragons wear makeup?”

“…You’re the princess, Stevie.”

“Right,” he concedes, licking his lips and trying his best to feign annoyance. He’s too full of adoration for you not to smile, though. His pink lips quirk in a crooked smirk as he shakes his head at you. “You’re lucky I love you, you know that?”

“Oh,” you hum. “You love me, huh?”

That phrase was a new one. Well, between the two of you, anyway. 

You’d said it first — blurted it, really — at breakfast a few mornings ago. Steve griped that you beat him to the punch, right before he said it back to you. He said he’d wanted to say it for a while but could never find the courage to. You haven’t quite let him live it down.

“Unfortunately,” he grumbles.

“Well, that just sucks for you.”

“Does it now?”

“Mhmm,” you answer wordlessly as you lean in closer to him, your mouths mere inches apart. You can smell Coca-Cola and chocolate ice cream on his breath when it entwines with your own.

“And why’s that?”

You grin when your noses brush together. “‘Cause I love you back.”

“God,” he grimaces quietly. “That’s disgusting.”

You nod. The tip of your nose brushes the structured bridge of his. “Absolutely repulsive.”

Your lips lock hardly a second later. His plush pink ones press against your own in a lingering peck. 

You didn’t know how much you missed the feel of him until now. You hadn’t felt so starved for him all day, but now that you finally have him against your mouth, you feel like he’s bringing your withering figure back to life.

You sigh against him. You feel the smile on his mouth at the feeling of the heavy breath fanning over his cupid’s bow. Steve pulls back, then kisses you deeper. His plush lips part to open yours. His tongue slips between them, warm and wet. The irregular pattern of the pink muscle juts against your own. 

You vaguely feel his hand curl around the back of your neck before you feel the dewy grass pressing against your back. 

A soft gasp is inhaled through your nose when the boy unexpectedly lays you back. Your eyes flutter open while your lips continue to be so ardently kissed. You squirm at the feeling of your shirt dampening and wonder if the icky feeling is worth being so close to him.

Before you can answer, you gasp again. This time through your mouth.

Steve pulls back, frightened that he’s hurt you. His wide chocolate eyes dart over your face, checking for any sign that something might be wrong. “What? What happened?”

“It’s Hercules!” you answer.

His brows furrow. “It’s what?”

“Hercules! The constellation! You can only see it in the summertime—” you explain, pushing your hands against the boy’s shoulders. “—Get off!”

Steve huffs and rolls onto his back, propping himself on his elbows. You rise once more with your chin pointed towards the black sky. You spare him a brief glance. A smile pulls softly at the corners of your mouth when you see the boyish pout on his face.

“You’re the one that wanted to watch the stars, remember?” you remind him.

“I wanted to watch you under the stars,” he corrects in a monotone. “That’s totally different.”

“Just c’mere and look.”

He sighs but abides you anyway. When he sits up beside you again, you reach over his lap for his left hand. You rest your pointer finger next to his and trace the blinking constellation along the velvet blue sky. “These are the legs, see?”

Steve squints. “Sorta…”

“It’s kinda like he’s running, right? And those are the arms.”

A beat passes. The boy’s puzzled gaze flits between you and the night sky. “…Is that it?”

You squint at him. “What do you mean, is that it?”

“He has no head,” he explains as if you haven’t noticed.

“…Okay?”

“How can it be Hercules if he doesn’t have a head?” the boy scoffs like it’s some unsolved travesty.

“Because it’s a constellation, Steve,” you giggle.

“Well, it looks a lot more like a crab than a Hercules, babe.”

“There’s already a crab constellation. It’s Cancer.”

Steve shrugs, pink lips jutted softly out. “Well, they got it all backwards.”

“I’ll let Ptolemy know,” you quip with the loving roll of your eyes.

“Who?”

“Ptolemy. The astronomer,” you answer in a monotone. You’re met with a pretty face contorted in confusion. “Did you not learn anything in science class?”

Steve thinks for a moment, then shakes his head. “Nope.”

You laugh at the honesty of his answer. “We literally had Ms. Cook’s together. Twice. Astronomy One and Two.”

“I only took those classes ‘cause I knew you’d be in them,” the boy scoffs.

“Shut up…”

“I’m serious— well, Astro One, I just got lucky. But then, senior year, I dropped chemistry for Astro Two so I could spend my last semester with you.”

Your heart swells at his words, warmed by the thought that he’s been whipped for you just as long as you’ve been for him. 

You’ve never felt truly worthy of his love. Not now. Not ever. 

Girls like you aren’t supposed to end up with guys like Steve. 

Of everyone he could’ve chosen, he chose you — the girl who finds affection close to impossible basically all the time. The girl who throws out mindless insults easier than I love you’s. But he loved you, anyway. 

Of everyone else — it was you.

“Is that why you spent five months sitting behind me and annoying the absolute shit outta me?” you joke instead of telling him you love him so much you could cry.

“I prefer the phrase wooing the shit outta you,” Steve corrects with his head tilted to his shoulder. “But, sure. Yeah.”

You shake your head with a fond smile hinting at your lips. “You’re disgusting…”

“Well, it worked,” he counters, a proud grin on his face. “Here we are, two years later, watching the stars while you lecture me about Pa-moley or whoever the fuck.”

“Ptolemy,” you correct, smiling just as wide as he is.

“Right,” he hums back. His chocolate eyes sparkle when he looks at you, twinkling with stars and adoration. “I can’t imagine being out here and getting smart-mouthed by anyone else.”

Through burning cheeks, you quip “That’s because no one else can do it as well as I can.”

Steve beams. “Exactly.”

[paradiseismine]

Finn and his characters cuddling you - headcanons

Pairing: Finn Wolfhard + Finnverse characters x gender neutral!reader

Warnings: rather fluffy with a tinyyyy bit of spice, ok? No smut this time ❤️

Summary: how Finn and each of his characters would cuddle with you 🥰

Love note from Nina: my last two Finn-related fics pretty much flopped, and that made me quite sad. I considered abandoning this account, I’m not sure if I should just keep putting these fics out into the world, even if no one cares. Anyway. Trying to write some fluffier stuff as well 💕

Finn Wolfhard (himself)

Our beloved boy won’t say it to your face, but he’s a sucker for some cuddles. He was a bit more reserved regarding physical affection when you two met, but with time, you truly made him a serial cuddler. Whenever he has some time off, you’re required to meet up with him and cuddle him for a good couple hours. Finnie lovesss putting his head on your chest and listening to your heartbeat, or just lying on top of you altogether. He says it’s really calming, and his anxieties all seem to melt away. If you run your fingers through his hair, humming or whispering sweet nothings to him, it’s over - he’ll either fall asleep in a minute or get the urge to, you know, take things further. Being able to relax and trust someone so much actually turns him on quite a bit.

Boris Pavlikovsky

It’s hard to make this one ask for cuddles, he’ll mostly just lie beside you in bed and cuddle you without a word, or make you lie down with him if he knows you’re not busy. Being a big spoon all the way, expect him to attach himself perfectly to your butt, and get used to feeling his erection a bit while you’re cuddling. It doesn’t mean anything, though - he’s just relaxed, he’ll say, nothing malicious. There has to be some serious hand holding all throughout the cuddling session, some neck kisses and sweet words in Russian or Polish as well. Also lots of “love you forever, kochanie”, “you smell so good, wish I can smell you forever”, that delicious accent never failing to make you smile.

Mike Wheeler

After a d&d campaign or a stroll at the mall with the gang, your paladin expects some good time alone with his sweetheart - and cuddles are mandatory for him. He’ll normally take you to his room or to his basement, put his arm around your shoulder with the lamest “fake yawn” move and cuddle you. You’ll laugh and embrace him fully, still amazed that he actually pulled off that cliché on you (and well, it worked). Mikey loves some light making out and tender caresses as you two cuddle, even if they don’t lead to anything - he just loves touching your body in anyway he can, just feeling that you enjoy his company and his touch is more than enough to get him smiling like a little kid.

Miles Fairchild

Cuddles are a bit rarer with Miles, but that’s just because he doesn’t really know how to ask for them. Non-sexual affection is a bit harder for him, you’d always known that. So, you can just initiate the cuddles whenever you want them, and he’ll never deny them. When you two cuddle, he’ll embrace your body fully, tangling his legs to yours, arms around your torso, all of it. Usually you’re on top of him, he likes to think he’s protecting you. He’s not very vocal on expressing his feelings for you, but he’ll run his fingers through your hair gently, ask if you’re comfortable, if you need anything, and talk about anything you want.

Trevor Spengler

You know Trev can’t resist some good cuddles. He was a bit shy at first, but as you two got closer, he felt more comfortable to ask for cuddles and kisses when he’s feeling a bit needy. When you two are in bed, he lovesss to be the little spoon and wear you like a human backpack. If you’re on the couch or on the backseat of the Ectomobile, he’ll cradle you like you’re a baby, making sure to caress your face gently and pepper you with kisses. When you watch horror movies with him, it’s his time to shine, as he gets to squeeze you in his arms and “protect you” from the ghosts and monsters in the films. He finds it adorable when you squeal and rush into his embrace as you get jumpscared.

Ziggy Katz

Our favorite internet celebrity is THE cuddles man, hands down. He’ll always make sure the bedsheets and blankets are fresh out of the dryer and that he smells amazing himself. The lighting is always a bit dimmed, mostly provided by the neon signs in his room. He’ll ask you to put your head to his chest and cuddle him as he runs his fingers through your hair, gently playing with it. Expect a lo-fi playlist to be playing softly on the background, as well as some slow kissing here and there. If it’s later in the evening, you two will probably end up dozing off and having some good repairing sleep together, only to wake up completely tangled up in each other’s arms the next morning. He just loves having you around and sharing that kind of intimacy with you.

[familyvideostevie]

Hi bestie all I’m thinking abt is bee girl spending Christmas with Steve and all of her new friends and by then she really knows all of them and it’s softness 🥺

man have i been saving this one! here's a little taste of christmas in the no good at waiting au with bee girl and steve having a christmas movie marathon with all of their friends!

fluff, [0.8k],a no good at waiting one-shot | au masterlist___

"I can't believe you've never been here," Will says, mouth half-full of popcorn. He looks a little sheepish, then swallows. "I guess we spend a lot of time at New-Bee's when we hang out with you." You're both standing in the Wheeler's kitchen, arms full of snacks to bring down to your friends for Christmas movie night.

"Eddie said that you guys play DnD here still, right?"

Will nods. "Yeah, our own campaigns. This is where we started playing back when we were really young. We do Hellfire at school, though." He's a good kid, first to volunteer to help you carry everything back down. The only reason Steve isn't up here helping you is because he's the last one to arrive -- his task is getting the tapes from the video store in town.

"Lucas told me that you just finished a really good one, right?" you ask him.

"He won't admit it, but it was the best one yet," Lucas says from the basement door. "You guys were taking a long time. Do you need help?" You're about to brush him off but then the doorbell rings.

"That's probably Steve," you say. "Here, take this down and we'll be right there." Lucas takes the candy you're holding and he and Will head down the stairs.

"Coming!" you holler at the front door. When you pull it open you're greeted with a scowling Steve who brightens at the sight of you.

"Gonna let me in?" he says. "It's cold as shit out here. All my best parts are gonna freeze off."

You beckon him inside and laugh. "Nah, your nose looks fine." His smile turns back to a scowl and you can't help but kiss him. "Hi," you say softly.

"Hi yourself," he says back, kissing you again, this time a little slower. "Everyone else here already?" You nod.

"Just got the snacks together. What tapes did you snag?" He holds out the plastic bag for you to take. He strips off his coat and hat and toes off his boots as you look through it.

"A Christmas Story, White Christmas, The Snowman...Gremlins? Steve, really?"

"Just watch, honey, they're gonna vote for that one. Trust me." You reach out to fix his mussed hair.

"Guys, stop making out and bring us the movies!" Robin calls up the stairs. Steve rolls his eyes and heads down, you on his heels. What you find in the Wheeler's basement warms your heart. There are too many of you for the couch and the chairs, so everyone is sprawled out on blankets and pillows, too. Robin has claimed an armchair for herself, Eddie leaning on her legs in front of it. Jonathan and Nancy are on one corner of the couch and Mike and El on the other. Dustin and Will are in another corner entirely, talking about something DnD related, and Lucas and Max are throwing M&Ms into each other's mouths on the armchair they're squeezed into together.

Your little family. You love every single one of them so much. And the boy in front of you is no exception. It feels like you love Steve more and more every day.

"Finally!" Dustin cries. "Alright, it's voting time."

What ensues is the most serious display of democracy you've ever seen. When the vote swings for Gremlins, Steve sends you a look, eyebrows raised like I told you so. He pops the movie in the VCR and sits next to you on the piece of the floor you two have claimed for yourselves. He raises his arm and you move into his side, breathing him in. He smells like his loft -- detergent and aftershave and something earthy.

"Having fun?" he whispers. His lips brush the shell of your ear and you shiver. "Sorry I was late."

"S'okay," you whisper back. "Can I stay at yours tonight?" Not an out of the ordinary ask by any means, but you haven't seen him all day and you really want to hold him tonight. You seem to spend most nights there these days, anyway. But you secretly think that he likes you asking, likes you reminding him that you want to be around him all the time.

"Why, you think you're gonna get lucky?" he teases. El's socked foot pushes on his shoulder as she hushes him. He sticks his tongue out at her.

"Am I not?" you say, softer this time. Even in the dark of the basement you see his cheeks heat. Steve Harrington, cocky until you flirt back, and then he folds. He kisses your temple, nose in your hair. His hand runs up and down your arm and you settle your own on this thigh.

"Nah, it's me who's the lucky one," he says against your skin. You shush him before El can kick him again and rest your head on his shoulder. You're both lucky, you think. You get to have this forever.

[paperbackribs]

His shield and sword

Part 3 of A Gardener's Devotion

POV Outsider as everyone watches Eddie and Steve through their romance of flowers.

One - Erica

For Erica, it too starts with a daisy.

The dungeon is dark, light peeking through the sole window that leads to the outside. Squat lamps are positioned in its corners and her men are by her side. She is prepared for battle and its stench. No, really, the smell gets pretty bad in the Wheeler basement. Erica always makes sure to spritz her cape with Jean Nate for when she can't stomach the funk of teen boy any longer; it's pretty effective when she drapes it over her nose.

But she is Lady Applejack, she will persevere.

Her pens are coordinated by colour and size, her stats updated on her character sheet, and her miniature positioned in place. She is ready. Has been ready for ten minutes already, but these jackasses are taking their time despite their self-proclaimed experience in the game.

Lucas is arguing about Mike's strategy in the last session, which means that Mike won't let it go and Will is too wrapped up in watching the two boys get into it. At least Dustin has his shit set up. They nod across the table at each other, veterans in arms in the face of familiar idiocy.

Their Dungeon Master, she is surprised to note, is not riding the boys over their delay but seems to be a little out of it. The distance in his eyes causes an uncomfortable shiver to run down her spine, the fear of Vecna not as distant as she'd like. So, Erica pings one of her precious dice at him--the sacrifices she makes, seriously--to get his attention.

Eddie's tilted back in his chair, nearly on only the back legs, but when the die bounces off his forehead he slams down to earth with a narrowed gaze at her. For a moment, Erica's worried Lady Applejack is going to pay for her mistake but then he grins and clicks his fingers.

Turning in a move that would snap any other normal person's spine he digs into his canvas bag, gesturing her over with large hands. Erica reluctantly leaves her chair to round the table until she sees what he's wagging at her -- it's a faded blue and green book with snow covered mountains looming over a valley of trees and water.

Dustin has convinced her to give Tolkien a chance. It sounds… interesting, she can admit. Never say she is unreasonable. Though she wasn't willing to shell out money to try it, which is when Eddie had gallantly offered to lend her his copy of The Hobbit. It's tattered and she doesn't want to know what that stain on the spine is, but she appreciates the loan.

"My Lady Applejack," Eddie intones as he bend in his chair to present it to her, the old wood squeaking. "As agreed, a fine tome suited for our fierce and intelligent warrior."

Erica nods as if this is her right, even though she does appreciate it a little, taking the novel to casually rifle through its pages like she's doing him the favour. The pages are yellowed and delicate in the way of old and loved paper.

As she does, a little flash of white and yellow falls and drifts to the floor. As if in slow motion she sees the look of concern for the flower punch through her DM's face before his gaze slides back to her with a hint of mortification edging around his pinched mouth. Time speeds up and Eddie lunges, snatching the daisy from the floor.

Erica smirks, always ready to root out blackmail material. Which is also why she keeps her voice low; you can't blackmail someone if it's not a secret. "What's that, Eddie?"

"Nothing," he mutters, shifting forward so his loose hair hides his profile.

But it can't be nothing because he's found a lined notebook and is carefully placing the pressed daisy between its pages. She watches him just as carefully position the book into his bag so that it won't bend.

"Doesn't look like nothing," she sings out quietly, but clearly.

Eddie's face looks like someone squished it together in their hands and she knows it's because he knows she's not going to let it go. "It's just a flower, okay."

"It's from someone, isn't it?" She's getting the same vibes from Eddie as she did when Lucas came back from a date with Max. That same squirming look when he'd tried to hide the ratty woven bracelet that she had last seen on the red-head's wrist.

"Who's the girl, Eddie," she wheedles.

She's enjoying pinning him down like a bug, which is why she's surprised when he just scoffs and rolls his eyes because it looks genuine. Maybe she was off base after all.

"Let it go, Lady Applejack or you'll be rolling disadvantage for a whole campaign." His finger in her face is stern and a good businesswoman knows when to cut her losses. And maybe she likes Eddie enough to think that it's nice if someone had given him a flower, so she'll let it go. For now.

If he's foolish enough to give her ammunition again then all bets are off.

Two - Wayne

"Hi, Mr Munson!"

Wayne has opened the door of their new house to a beaming Steve Harrington. The kid's hair is ridiculously high and, in his polo shirt and pressed jeans, he looks like all those other preppy kids that were hunting his boy not that long ago. He has a cardboard box under one arm and is waving at Wayne with his hand, as if they aren't less than a foot away from each other.

"Eddie's not here," and he's starting to close the door when Harrington bounces a little for his attention.

"No, no. Um, I'm here for you actually." Harrington's hand has faltered in the air to drop behind his neck, rubbing it as if he knows exactly how unwelcome Wayne considers him.

Eddie seems to like Steve and the other boy has been visiting a fair bit lately. He knows that Eddie considers him some sort of hero from all that supernatural stuff that apparently happened, but Wayne isn't sold on his nephew's objectivity. His boy has a lot of heart.

Wayne grunts, but doesn't slam the door in his face.

Harrington rallies and flourishes the box in front of him. Wayne hears the clatter of what sounds like pottery inside. 

"Eddie mentioned you're trying to get more into cooking so I thought I'd bring a housewarming gift. You know, since I didn't when you first moved in." His voice falters a little at the end and Wayne may feel a smidge of guilt for making someone so young feel so obviously bad in under two minutes flat.

He's just not sure what Harrington's motivation here is. In general. Eddie is great. Wayne knows this, but others struggle to see it. He can be little hard to follow sometimes, a little too loud, but he's also enthusiastic and sweet and damn more smarter than his uncle. Wayne knows this, but people from Harrington's neck of the woods don't mix with Hawkins's trailer trash unless they want something.

Still, Harrington seems to have girded his courage because while his smile is a little more forced, he hasn't moved from presenting the box in front of him. Wayne jerks his head for him to come inside.

He leads them through a short hallway into the lounge area. It's double the size of their one at the trailer, airy with its cream coloured walls and Wayne feels like he can breathe in his own home for the first time in years. He may have made do before, but it doesn't mean that the walls didn't feel like they were closing in on him back at that trailer park sometimes.

"What've you got there, kid?"

Harrington tilts the box towards Wayne and he sees that his guess on pottery was correct. Three clay pots are wedged together with what smells like mint and two other herbs he can't remember the name of.

"It's rosemary, parsley and mint. The pots are small enough to sit in your kitchen's windowsill, but big enough that the herbs will grow enough to cut for your recipes. I like to use rosemary and parsley when I cook, they're sort of simple flavours? Easy to blend in if you don't want to get too fancy. Eddie's liked them before."

Wayne feels his eyebrows rise, he wouldn't have thought a child of Harrington senior would cook for himself. Moreso at the realisation that he's been cooking for Eddie. Maybe there's a little more to Harrington than he'd thought; something that his Eddie sees. "Okay, bring it in then."

He leads the younger man through even more space to reach their kitchen, a cheerful spot with yellow walls and wide windows above the counter. Wayne thinks sometimes he could swim in all the air he has now.

Harrington unloads the pots a little nervously and Wayne decides to cut him a break by admitting he's not sure how to care for them. The kid lights up, but not--as Wayne may have expected--for the opportunity to show off his superior knowledge, but as if Wayne has given him the gift of explaining about one of his favourite topics: plant care.

It reminds him of his nephew so much that he finds Harrington's passion almost endearing. He lets the kid rattle on because it's just so like Eddie, but also because, damn it, he does want to start experimenting in the kitchen and some new herbs may be a good way to start.

As Harrington said, the pots fit neatly onto the windowsill and considering the care he's shown so far, Wayne wouldn't be surprised if he'd measured the brown containers before choosing them. He's still a little caught in that thought when Eddie's voice pierces the room, "Uncle Wayne, I can't believe you've seduced another one. Can't you leave any for me?"

Now, Wayne's long used to Eddie popping up out of nowhere, the kid can move as quiet as a cat sometimes. Clearly, a witchy black cat, Uncle Wayne. But Harrington jumps a foot before twirling around like he's been caught robbing the place and Wayne realises that maybe this was supposed to be a secret from Eddie or, at least, something that he wasn't exactly doing for brownie points.

He watches the two start to dance around each other, which confirms at least one theory to Wayne -- Eddie's admiration for his friend is closer to crush territory than not. This would normally worry him because, again, preppy boys are more likely to hurt people like his Eddie than not. But the other kid is doing his own bit of peacocking too; Wayne's half expecting him to ask Eddie out on a date over that kitchen island.

Even when Wayne interrupts--there is only so much he can watch of his own nephew flirting--and he sees Harrington's back tense like he'd just remembered that they're not alone, the boy keeps his smiling eyes trained on Eddie. Gaze glued to him even when his kid does some foolish flourishes to look over at their housewarming gift.

The last time Wayne had seen a dopey look like that was in his own mirror while thinking about sweet Marcie Chambers.

Wayne decides, as Harrington continues to coach the Munson's through herb care and use, that he'll still keep a careful eye on these two, but maybe he doesn't have as much to be worried about as he'd thought.

Three - Will...

[hellfireslut]

Could you do an eddie x bimbo gf where she is meeting the gang for the first time and eddie is nervous, they all think she's like him (style/music wise) but when they see her everyone (but I can see mainly steve do this) it's like "WTF HOW!?" And "how did you end up with her!?"

Blue Jeans and Bimbos

paring : eddie munson x fem!bimbo!reader

summary : as requested above!

word count : 1.1k

warnings : light swearing, nothing really just a bunch of tooth rotting fluff!

characters : eddie munson, dustin henderson, mike wheeler, hellfire club members

a/n : these request are so fun omg this is my favorite story i’ve written so far! keep em coming! also i changed it from the gang to the hellfire club bc i didn’t wanna disappoint writing for steve bc i never have before! if you’d like me to change it lmk!

Hellfire Club, 1986

Y/N skipped down the hallway all bubbly. Her brain squealed in the thrill of meeting her boyfriends’ closest friends. Thoughts of his friends welcoming her with open arms crowded her mind with satisfaction. As she made her way to the basement of the school, the buckle of her pink strapped heel unbuckled. She quickly grasped for the handle of the stairs, catching herself before she tumbled down the stairwell. She bent over to re-buckle her shoe as she heard footsteps from behind her. Y/N stood up, dusting off her bubblegum pink skirt grinning. Eddie placed his hand on her shoulder, rubbing it slightly, signaling her that it was him.

“Someone’s excited, aren’t you sweetheart?” Eddie looked into her eyes, capturing the beauty of the features of her radiating face.

“Yes, Eddie! You have no idea, I mean I’ve heard all the stories of your little group but now I can finally meet them and hear them on my own!” Y/N was so excited she could burst into pink sparkles and perfume. Eddie grinned at her enthusiasm, softly rubbing his hand across her perfectly blushed cheek. He held Y/N’s hand the rest of the way down the stairs.

When the pair reached the doors of the abandoned theatre, a big sign read “HELLFIRE CLUB ENTER IF YOU DARE”. Y/N gripped at the leather material of Eddie’s shoulder, looking into his eyes. Eddie looked down at her apprehensively. Y/N, too naive to realize he was nervous of his friends meeting her, rested her head upon his side.

Thoughts of disappointment and fear consumed Eddie’s brain. Y/N was different from any girl his “gang” had heard him speak about. A bright and eccentric face, pink sparkly shoes, notes of rose and marshmallow perfume wafted the noses of students as she walked past the halls. Y/N was the complete opposite of him and the people he hung with. His tattered blue jeans, shaggy dark brown curls, and the smell of marijuana and cologne. The pair couldn’t be more divergent.

“Eddie, babe, do I look okay?” Y/N said, pulling a tube of lipgloss out of her bra. She applied a thick coat of the clear gloss around her lips, smoothing and puckering them together.

“Beautiful as always, doll.” Eddie scratched the back of his head, glancing down at his shoes. Y/N looked at him upset. “Oh, he thinks I look bad doesn’t he! Maybe it’s all the blush.” she thought.

“Eddie if you don’t want to meet your friends, you can just say so.” Y/N began pouting, tears welling up in her Y/E/C eyes.

“Y/N why are you crying? I want you to meet them, I promise. I’m just nervous of what they’ll think of you…” Eddie let out a depressive sigh, not wanting to hurt her feelings.

“Well, I know I’m a bit different from your crowd, but I don’t see that as a bad thing!” she began to blot the tears from her face. “Maybe they’ll think I’m cool enough to play Dungeons and Demons with you! Ooo and I would get to be a fairy!”

Eddie tried to hold back a chuckle, ultimately failing as he began to snort.

“Why are you laughing at me!” Y/N said playfully hitting his shoulder.

“Sweetheart, it’s Dungeons and Dragons.” Eddie let out another breathy laugh at her reaction.

“Whatever game it is I’m sure they’ll let me be a fairy. Now can we pleaseeeee go see your friends?” Y/N looked up at Eddie, slowly batting her lashes, giving him a look she knew he couldn’t resist.

“Sure thing, babe.” He said, pulling her waist in softly towards his chest.

-

“Where the hell is he? There’s no way Eddie’s going to be late to his own campaign.” Dustin said agitatedly.

“He’s probably out with his girlfriend, duh. They’re conjoined at the hip along with his guitar.” Mike said laughing.

Dustin laughed, turning around as he heard the club door spring open. In walked Eddie, along side Y/N, holding onto his arm slightly hiding behind his back.

“Eddie, you have to stop trying to convince the cheer team that D&D is cool, they’re just going to bully us more!” Mike said confused how out of place Y/N looked as she walked into the room.

“This isn’t one of the cheerleaders, boys, this is my girlfriend, Y/N.”

The whole tables eyes practically shot out of their heads as the words “girlfriend” and “Y/N” left his mouth in the same sentence.

Y/N began sprinting towards the center table, stopping herself when she stood in front of Dustin. She squealed softly, causing Eddie to let out a sigh and a chuckled from behind her.

“Oh. My. God! You’re Dustin! Eddie talks so much about you! You’re even cuter than I imagined” Y/N said as she fluffed the curls on top of his head.

“Eddie, she smells like a magazine perfume sample.” Dustin said satirically.

“Oh, it’s not a magazine silly, Eddie bought it for me! It’s marshmallows and roses!” she said, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

“Eddie, there’s no way she’s your girlfriend. Y/N how much did he pay you to do this? Nevermind I don’t want to know.” Dustin said pretending to gag.

Eddie stared at him angrily causing Dustin to turn the other way.

She began to walk to the other side of the table, greeting the other club members, then stopping to talk to Mike.

“Oh my god Eddie, you didn’t tell me Mike Wheeler was in your group!” she said, all giddy. “I used to be like, best friends with your sister, Nancy!”

When Y/N finished greeting the rest of the Hellfire Club, Eddie began walking to his throne, Y/N following behind him after realized where he went. Eddie sat down in his throne. Y/N tried climbing up the side of it, struggling.

“Careful doll, don’t want to break the other heel.” Eddie helped her up onto his lap. She shifted around to become more comfortable, suddenly all eyes were on the couple.

“You guys don’t mind if Y/N stays to watch our campaign, right?” Eddie said, deadpanned at Dustin’s eyes that were wide open at the way she was sitting on his lap. A mix of no not at all’s and sure why not’s floated from the groups lips. Y/N clapped excitedly at their acceptance. Y/N leaned back, whispering into Eddie’s ear.

“See, I told you they’d like me! You were worried for nothing.” she giggled as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Enough staring boys! Who’s ready to take down Lord Vecna!”. The group cheered loudly in amusement.

“Do you think Vecna could be taken down by a fairy?” Y/N said gleeful. The group laughed causing her to pout.

“What! I’m serious!”

Eddie placed a small kiss on her neck, causing her to melt into his lap.

“Only by you, babe.”

[redroses07]

Nightmares//Mike Wheeler

Mike Wheeler x Fem!reader fluff

Summary: Reader has nightmares when she tries to sleep so she visits Mike in the middle of the night to talk. This takes place sometime between season 3 and 4

Content warning: A little bit of angst, mentions of nightmares. Mentions of PTSD.

Word Count: 1.1k

A/N: This is my first time posting any of my writing anywhere, and of course it had to be Mike because I love him. I know a lot of people don't like him but you know what, they can fight me. Anyways, hope you enjoy! 🥰

You laid on your bed, in the dark, eyes wide, staring at the ceiling. This wasn't the first night your body had refused to doze off. You were plagued with so much exhaustion during the day that you had to fight to stay awake in class. It was a coping mechanism really, not sleeping, considering the horrific nightmares that came when you did. You would rather die of sleep deprivation than relive the terrors of the upside down like some sort of twisted movie. You sighed and rolled out of bed, an idea forming in your mind. You strode over to your messy desk where your walkie-talkie resided. It really was wrong to wake him at this hour, even if it was a Friday. Although you knew that being in his arms was the only thing that would help you fall asleep at this point. You turned on the device, the static loud as you adjusted it's frequency.

"Mike," you whisper into the walkie-talkie. "Mike are you there?"

You waited several moments, half-hoping he wouldn't answer so you could avoid the guilt and embarrassment that came with waking him.

Mike's sleepy voice said your name through the static, your heart skipping a beat when you heard it. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah...It's just, I can't sleep. Would it be okay if I came over?" You said nervously. This was beyond stupid, you were probably on his last nerve right now.

"Of course! Just come through the basement door, and be quiet so my parents don't hear you." He explained.

"Okay, thank you so, so much." He didn't sound angry or annoyed which made you feel much better.

"See you in a minute." Mike said before turning off the walkie-talkie. You smiled, set the device back on your desk and slipped on your worn out black converse high-tops.

You exit your room and walk downstairs, stepping as softly as possible, not wanting to wake my parents. I quietly exited the house and entered the late-night streets of Hawkins. The air had a slight chill to it which was unusual for the time of year. It smelled of pine trees and early fall.

You speed walk down the sidewalk, your heart rate increasing as you did. you arrived at Mike's house in less than five minutes due to the fact that you lived so close.

You headed around back and could see a faint light coming from the basement window. as you got close enough to look inside you saw Mike laying on the couch, seemingly waiting for you. You lightly tapped on the door, careful not to make a ruckus.

Mike opened the door, his smile making a warm feeling grow inside you. God, you loved his smile.

"Hey" Mike whispered, taking your hand and pulling you inside the basement. His dark curly hair was messy, but in your opinion it just made him look cuter.

"Hey..." you said softly as you looked up at him. Was he always this tall?

"So, what's wrong? you sounded really freaked out." Mike wondered, squeezing your hand tighter as you both sat on the couch, you hadn't realized he was still holding it.

"It's just..." you began, your voice catching as the tears you've been holding back for months threatened to spill. You had never talked about this, not out loud. But you figured Mike should be the first person you tell considering he was your best friend and you may or may not be in love with him.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm here, I'm listening." Mike took his free arm and wrapped it around you, pulling you into him. He smelled strongly of cocoa and cedar, it was a unique smell, but it was your favorite.

"I can't sleep because every time I try I have horrible nightmares. I know that we're safe now but i'm just so scared all the time. And it's gotten so hard lately..." you trailed off as you began to let out shaky sobs.

You buried your face in Mike's chest, and he wrapped his arms around you. Tears leaked from your eyes, like an uncontrollable waterfall.

"Sorry I'm getting your clothes all wet." you muttered, embarrassed.

"Don't worry about that." Mike whispered in your ear, as he slowly ran his fingers through your hair.

"You know, I get them too." His voice was shaky, as if he was on the verge of tears.

"Yeah, all the time...I'm constantly worried that something's going to happen to my family or Will...or El...or you. And the worst part is being alone." He confessed

I looked up and found a pair of sad brown eyes staring back at me. Despite my current emotional state, the butterflies in my stomach came to life.

"I know how you feel, you can't talk to your parents about it. When you wake up you can't scream, so you just sit there and cry and stare at the ceiling." You say softly.

Mike brought his hand up and ran his thumb over your cheek. Goosebumps formed where his skin touched yours. He moved his hand down, softly brushing his fingers against your lips. You smiled under his touch.

"Can I kiss you." He mumbled, and your heart skips a beat.

You nod and his lips crash against yours. The kiss was messy, but you couldn't have asked for anything more. Mike's hands wrap around your waist as you all but fall into him. You smile against his lips. He was perfect, this was perfect.

"Can I...stay here tonight?" you say before planting a short kiss on his cheek.

"Yeah, yeah. We'll just have to hide you from my parents in the morning."

"I've snuck out of my own house I can sneak out of yours." you reply, and he kisses you again, proving that the butterflies in your stomach were still alive and well.

"Here lets go to my room." Mike says as he intertwines his fingers in yours and leads you up the stairs.

The two of you enter his room, you take your shoes and socks off and climb into his bed.

You lay on his chest with his arms draped around you.

Mike kisses you on the forehead and then nuzzles his nose in the crook of your neck.

"Night" He whispers against your skin.

"Night." You answer.

You melt into him, feeling safe for the first time in months. In that moment all of your fears disappeared, and you thought of nothing but you and Mike. This was by far the most comfortable you had ever felt. The sound of his heartbeat eventually lulled you to sleep.

You both slept soundly through the night.

[unholyhelbig]

Ronance with "No, NO, don't throw up in that" PLS

[A/N: I really, really enjoy writing these idiots. This one is specifically dedicated to @hellmo]

Masterlist | Join my Taglist | Prompt Suggestions

Summary: Robin shows up at the Wheeler residence intoxicated, and ready to admit feelings.

TW's: Vomit, and drinking, and probably awful grammar

Halloween was Three Months Ago | Nancy Wheeler x Robin Buckley

Nancy Wheeler opened her front door, sleep worn and irritable. Her hair was wild, the curls having dried against her pillows in a wild ringlet of distress. She had fallen into a fitful sleep halfway through making flashcards and was rudely awakened by soft pattering on her windowpane that she figured was rain.

It was, in fact, not rain. Robin Buckley had scooped up a handful of pebbles from Mrs. Wheeler’s back garden and began pelting them one by one at the glass in small, muffled noises. The moon was full, and Nancy could see her clearly inebriated. She pushed open the window and breathed in the cold night air.

“What are you doing?” She whispered harshly.

“I can’t go home, my mom’s going to kill me!”  

Even drunk Robin had enough sense to know that she shouldn’t stumble into her home, filled to the brink with knick-knacks that were easily breakable. Her mother had fallen asleep on the sofa on more than one occasion, waiting for her to get home. It was better to beg for forgiveness than ask permission, and that was only achievable when she could see straight.

Nancy frowned before waving Robin to the front door and ushering her directly into the basement hangout that Mike and his friends usually inhabited. Their latest campaign was set up on a folded table, and string lights gave the place a soft glow. Robin could sleep off her intoxication here.

She deposited Robin on one end of the sofa. The girl let out a small noise between a whoops and sorry. Robin tiptoed back up the steps to the basement and allowed herself to close the door, close them into a cool darkness aside from the string lights, reflecting gold against Robin’s freckled cheeks.

“No, no!” Nancy had reached the bottom of the steps just as Robin reached for an old bucket of Halloween candy that was a replica of a stormtrooper. Mike hadn’t used it in years, the same stale tootsie rolls marinated with bat-themed peanuts and discarded lollipop sticks. “Don’t throw up in that!”

Robin let out a gross sound and heaved into the bucket twice. Nancy cringed. The whole place smelled of bile and beer and she was suddenly regretting closing them in here. But Robin’s eyes were glassy, and her cheeks were flushed. Nancy wanted to take care of her in that moment. In every moment, maybe. She hadn’t stopped to think about it before.

Carefully, she maneuvered the bucket from Robin’s lap and tossed it out the back door, onto the grey moonlit grass. It seemed like a problem for later, smelled like one too. She got Robin a ginger ale from the basement fridge, avoiding the old popsicles and miller lights her father stored.

“Drink this,” She ordered, sitting next to her on the couch and cracking the metal seal. Robin groaned and fell into Nancy. Her breath was hot with alcohol, her nose close against the crook of Nancy’s neck. “Or not.”

“You’re so nice,” Robin mumbled into her throat, the words tickling. “I didn’t think I’d ever end up on the Nancy Wheeler’s couch. Mike’s cool, beautiful older sister that has a bunch of guns. Where did you get guns?”

Nancy laughed “You’re drunk.”

Robin nodded and swallowed the mostly sour taste on her tongue before accepting the glass of water that Nancy offered. It dripped down her chin and soaked into her collar until it was damp. Nancy watched as the girl’s jaw clenched and unclenched at the hydration. It must taste like metal, she decided.

A word stuck out to her. Beautiful. She remembers the first time Steve told her that she was. It was written in chicken scratch on a torn piece of notebook paper that she embarrassingly shoved into a box somewhere. She felt prideful that the Steve Harrington had complimented her looks, the swim captain, the all-American boy.

Johnathan had called her beautiful too. It slipped out between heated kisses after a years-worth of tension. She barely heard it over the pulsing of her own heart. But stilled when she did. It felt nice. Just as it had when she read the words from Steve. Nice.

This felt different, and not just because Robin had just upchucked into her brother's favorite Halloween pail. Even with her drunkenness, there was sincerity behind it. Not just saying it because it felt like the right thing to say, or because Nancy was hastily trying to undo a belt buckle.

Nancy situated Robin on the sofa with another glass of water and a decorative pillow. She could drool on the patterned side and it would blend right in. When she stood, Robin’s fingers found her own, squeezing. “Nance?”

“Yeah, Robin?”

“Thank you for taking care of me.”

“Of course.”

Instead of going upstairs, she found herself settling into her father’s old recliner, pulling a throw blanket over herself. God forbid Robin falls to the floor in her sleep, hit’s her head on the edge of the coffee table, and bleeds out. That’s the reason she told herself she stayed as she drifted back into sleep.

Nancy jolted awake to the sound of a whirring blender upstairs. Her mother had been on a health kick lately. Every morning on the dot she would blend a stalk of celery, a cup of water, and chia seeds that she had ordered in the mail. She choked it down unhappily before whipping up breakfast.

The girls’ eyes flicked to the sofa. Was last night a dream? No, of course, it wasn’t. She wouldn’t’ be down here if it was all in her head. Robin was laying face down, her nose pressed against the cushion. The glass of water on the table had been drained.

“Oh my god,” She groaned, voice muffled “Who is sawing?”

“My mother,”

At the sound of Nancy’s sleep-riddled voice, Robin shot up way too fast for her own good. Her stomach clenched and she fought off the urge to vomit. She must have been drinking way past her legal limit last night, and now she was on Nancy Wheeler's couch, in Nancy Wheeler's basement. With Nancy Wheeler.

“Hi,” Robin said.

“Hi.”

Nancy felt her cheeks warm up despite herself. Robin’s hair was messy, her voice thick with hangover. Her shirt was wrinkled, the imprint of the pattern on her pillow made little red intents against her skin that Nancy wanted to sooth. She pushed the front of the recliner down instead, giving herself solid ground to stand on.

Robin groaned as she sat up and Nancy was worried that she would lose whatever water that she had gotten down. She looked positively green but swallowed hard and kept everything down. There were rings on every finger and a necklace that hung low against Robin’s chest. Not as if Nancy was looking.

“How much of a fool did I make out of myself?”

Nancy shrugged “Honestly, I’ve seen worse. You did vomit in a replica stormtrooper helmet.”

“Great.”

The blender stopped upstairs, and the scent of food began to waft under the crack of the door. Nancy could hear the morning news streaming through the television they kept in the kitchen. She had forced herself to focus on the words of the newscaster, no matter how garbled. School closures due to weather. A car crash off the interstate. Nothing that sounded monster related.

“My mom always makes enough for a whole village.” Nancy found herself saying, cupping the back of her neck nervously. “You could stay for breakfast if you’d like. Or you can sneak out the side door. Though, I can’t stop whoever catches you.”

Robin weighed her options; Nancy could see it behind her soft blue eyes. They reflected the multi-colored string lights that plunged them into a dull glow. They were pretty, Nancy decided. Robin had a tendency to mumble, and apparently get drunk, but Nancy liked this small moment between them. Didn’t want it to end.

“Breakfast sounds good.”

Nancy found herself smiling “Good. Can’t believe I got the resident band kid to agree to stay at the beautiful mysterious Nancy Wheeler’s house for breakfast.”

“Oh my god,” Robin grabs the throw pillow and pushed it against her features, letting out a muffled scream into the fabric. “Vecna take me now.”

[erin-bo-berin]

just read your “this isn’t goodbye” and would absolutely love a fluffy follow up/part 2 where maybe steve goes to visit reader at school or the reader is home for the holidays and it’s just really cute and fluffy please?

Yes, yes! I couldn’t handle leaving it like that cause I was crying while writing it it broke my heart 😭 I’m not sure how it works everywhere, but I know of some colleges that are through with the semester before Thanksgiving until beginning of January, so it’s like an entire month off, so that’s what I’m gonna have it be like, just to clear up any confusion.

But yes all the fluff for this couple!

We Made It

Part 2 of This Isn’t Goodbye

Steve Harrington x Reader

You hadn’t told Steve you would be home for the holidays. Well, that’s a lie. He knew you would be home, he just didn’t know when.

He’d figured probably sometime in December, maybe closer to Christmas. He didn’t think he’d have the opportunity to see you for Thanksgiving or that you’d be home for an entire month.

You’d enlisted the kids’ help in surprising him. So, they had poor Steve out driving around for the last hour, while you awaited in the basement of the Wheeler household—most known as the home base for the group.

You heard footsteps and raised voices from upstairs and you waited in anticipation to finally see your boyfriend for the first time since the end of July.

It had been a long four months. Sure, you talked on the phone all the time. But due to Steve’s busy work schedule, hauling teens around town and your classes, he’d never had the chance to visit this semester. Talking to him was nice, you loved the sound of his voice, but you’d missed seeing him in person. Missed smelling his intoxicating scent, a mixture of his cologne, hair products and just him.

“Why did I just spend an hour driving you idiots around town if you couldn’t make up your mind where you wanted to go?” Steve’s voice carried down to you from upstairs, “We’d get to the movies, then you decided you wanted to go to the park. We get to the park and then suddenly you’re hungry. We get to the goddamn diner and then all of a sudden you wanted to go rent a movie! You’re lucky I didn’t ring your necks! Where are you guys going?”

“Just follow us,” Mike said.

You heard half a dozen footsteps on the stairs and soon the teens appeared, grinning like mad.

“Hey, come back here! I’m not finished with you!”

Steve’s footsteps followed next and when you came in view, he stumbled slightly, shocked to see you.

“Y/N?!”

His earlier annoyance was gone and his face split into a wide grin.

“You’re home!”

He practically went flying off the stairs and for you, picking you up and spinning you around as he hugged you.

“Surprise!” Dustin smirked.

“Was this why you guys had me driving all around town?”

“We wanted to make sure she had time to get here,” Max smiled.

“Okay, I take it all back. You guys aren’t so bad,” he smiled, in their direction, his arms still tight around you.

“Come on guys, let’s give the love birds some privacy,” Lucas said, herding his friends upstairs.

“When did you get in?” Steve asked, pulling you down to sit with him on the couch.

You put your legs in his lap, situating yourself before answering.

“About half an hour ago. I’m yours for an entire 5 weeks.”

He looked so shocked and happy that you couldn’t help but smile.

“You’re done with the first semester?”

“Mhm. Finished my exams earlier this week, just in time for Thanksgiving. Classes don’t resume until after New Years. You’re going to get so tired of me.”

“Never,” Steve smiled, “So what’s the updates on the grades?”

You usually kept Steve updated on grades you made on tests, essays, but hadn’t yet let him know your course grades. It meant so much to you to know that he was so invested in knowing about little things like this.

“Three A’s, one B.”

“That’s my baby girl!” he praised, giving you a high five, “I knew you could do it.”

“I’m just thankful to get a B in the mandatory science course. It doesn’t even have anything to do with my degree! It’s just one of those “freshmen have to take it” courses, but it was hard.”

“It may not be an A, but I’m still damn proud of you for getting a B,” he said, lacing his fingers through yours.

“So, what would you like to do during break?” you asked, shifting, so you could rest your head on his shoulder.

“Uh, how about everything?”

“Everything huh?” you laughed.

“Well, first, the big gang Thanksgiving is being held by Joyce and Hopper this year, so of course we’re going to that. I’m going to eat so much pumpkin pie.”

“You and me both,” you agreed.

“Then we have a week to just lay around being full and happy while we eat Thanksgiving leftovers. We can go Christmas shopping. I promised I’d take the kids.”

“Aw that’s sweet.”

“You’re definitely coming with us though,” he said.

“Definitely.”

“We have to go ice skating at that new rink one town over. We can even invite the kids.”

“Sounds like you want to hang out with them more than you do with me,” you teased, knowing that was far from the case.

“They kinda ended up becoming attached to me at some point.”

“Not that you mind, of course.”

“Eh, well,” he joked, laughing at the look you gave him.

You knew him better than that.

“What else?” you promoted.

“Hmm. We definitely have to bake Christmas cookies. Decorate the tree. Make some snow angels and snowmen when it snows. Have a snowball fight. We must go see Santa.”

“We must?”

“Of course! How else will Santa know what I want for Christmas?” Steve protested.

“Well, how can he get me what I want when I already have the best present?” you smiled, leaning up to kiss him.

“I’m so glad you’re home,” Steve grinned, resting his forehead against yours.

“I am too.”

“Hey Y/N,” he whispered.

“Hmm?”

“We made it through the first semester.”

“Yes,” your smile matched his own, “Yes, we did.”

[argylemikewheeler]

Okay, I'm actually awake and sporting more than two braincells now and I ahve a few things to say:

1) Please for the love of god plug the link to your friends-to-lovers fic bc god knows I need more reading material and going down the tag by kudos can only do so much

2) And YES! I love when other people agree with the hc that Steve is a master of disguises. Like, sure he's not the most book smart guys, but he's one of the most socially smart guys between all the teenagers in ST tbh. It makes me think that he himself didn't even know who the real Steve was until he pulled away from Tommy and Carol and started hanging more with the kids and Jonathan.

And don't get me started on how he and Dustin became so close as to be described as adoptive brothers bc god knows Steve needed that sort of closeness with someone. From what we know (and I think most of the fandom agrees on that at least) is that Steve's parents are rarely around and either don't care about him or are misguided in their care thinking raising a child is just giving them expensive stuff and letting them fend for themselves. Kinda makes me wonder if he was touch starved and that's what led him to become his King Steve persona.

3) Also pls gimme some of your Byler fics too bc I have been falling back into my loving Mike Wheeler era and he's such a little drama queen. I love the dynamic he and Will have throughout the show except slightly for S3 bc HO BOI Mike really done fucked up there with both El and Will. Plus you don't just say that meeting somebody is the best decision you've ever made and then completely shrug it off. Like, COME ON MATE!

4) And last but not least, this one is entirely smth that came to mind like half an hour ago but do you think Mike would grow up to be the type of teenager who would smoke cigarettes? Like maybe is a thing he picked up from Nancy when he caught her smoking in secret once. And he's not a chain smoker or anything but occasionally you can find him on the roof of the Wheeler's house smoking a lone cigarette. I think the party wouldn't know. Maybe only Will at best and that's bc he finds Mike’s packet of cigarettes once looking for a pastel he lost in the basement. So when they are like 18, and the party is like “Hey lets smoke one just to see if we can” etc. Everyone expected Max to know, of course. El is a bit of a surprise but not that much. But then when Mike just casually takes a drag like it's the most casual thing in the world, no choking or anything, everyone kind of just stares?

-⚡

FIRST on the docket: My fic be good. that I keep wobbling back and forth about writing a part 2-- maybe season 4 will be the perfect inspiration to write it. maybe jon and steve will have more scenes to go off of.... let's hope.

I really love the idea that Steve didn't know who he himself was until that change we see in season 1. When he goes back to clean up the movie theater? Telling Carol and Tommy they're shit? An eruption! A Moment! Going to Jonathan's house to apologize but still willing to kick his ass because he thinks he hurt Nancy? Duality of man. Love it sm.

And HERE is my ao3 link to all my stranger things fics which is mostly byeler, to tell you the truth. You can also search my prompts tag or summary fic or bullet fic tags for more of the same. I've written MORE than enough about Mike saying being Will's friend is the best thing he's ever done... it's my weakness.

Mike steals Steve's cigarettes when he quits. At first he doesn't know what to do with them-- should he really smoke them???-- then one day he just gets too curious and steals a lighter from his mom's candle cabinet. He sneaks out the window to the little side roof and lights one. He coughs and gags and snorts and hacks but still finishes it. He just wanted to know he could do it. And he does it every once in a while-- he doesn't realize he likes how it makes him breathe regularly and, effectively, calm down, when he's stressed. Will only knows because he smells it on Mike one day-- knowing the smell well from his mom and Hopper's smoking. He doesn't say much but just knows if he offered he'd say no thank you. No judgement just not for him. And you're absolutely right, when the gang all go to try a cigarette they're all passing it around like no no no you light it no no you start it!! and Mike just steps up and grabs it, holding it in his lips before cupping the flame and lighting the end and taking a long, full drag. What?! he asks, letting the smoke billow out his mouth. What?! Why are you all looking at me like that?

[catharrington]

13 from that prompt list is so cute🥺💖

13/ This wasn’t meant to be a date, but we’ve had such a good time and now it’s 2 a.m. and I should really go home…

I’ve already done this one but I’m doing it again anon because I love you just that much!!!

***

Trick or treat! (Give me something good to eat)

Billy thinks he was in love with Steve before walked up to stand next to him in the middle of the street dressed as Michal Myers, but now he knows. The rest of the kids all piled out next to him, in their own nerdy costumes, the boys giddy as fuck joining where El and Max stood waiting. Billy’s breath caught in his throat as Steve casually got close enough to touch.

“Hey,” he greeted easy, trying not to give away the affect the pretty boy has, “ready for a- wait a second, Harrington?”

Steve was wearing his light blue zip up windbreaker, some stone wash true blue jeans, hands on his cocked hips, a preppy attempt at the blue jumpsuit Myers wears in ‘Halloween’.

Billy’s got his eyes focused on that goofy rubber mask, the mess of plastic hair on top. “Please tell me you didn’t take the time out of your life to style that fucking mask’s hair?”

And Steve turns to him, the mask moving, his big browns showing through the cut eye openings. “Maybe I did, Hargrove.” He casually mumbles. “Did you glue leaves on that ugly net to make it look like Jason Voorhees coming up from the bottom of the lake?”

So Billy’s smiling behind his own mask. A cheep hockey mask hand painted with red slashes and some brown paint to make it appear worn, dirty. To look like Jason as close as Billy could get inside his small budget inside his small bedroom. He shrugs and the dark green net laying over his shoulders with Melvald’s general store olive green leaves and moss dollar floral picks glued to it jostles with the movement. He spent too long on this dumb costume.

But it’s totally worth it when he’s standing next to Steve. Michael Myers with gel and hairspray locking his hair into a handsome swoop. At least he’s not the only teenager taking this too seriously.

“I told you guys before, we so don’t need babysitters for trick or treating,” Mike opened his mouth from behind Billy’s shoulder.

“Yeah, no,” Steve sighed, his voice still muffled from the mask but still sharp with authority. “Dustin told me all about the kids who stole your candy last time. Sent Will into a full panic attack. That’s not happening this year, not with us here.”

“Very heroic,” Mike drawls back, he rolls his eyes. Such a fucking headache. “But we’ve got El for that! She’s stronger than anyone-,”

Steve shakes his head, cutting mike off with a wave of his hand. “We are also here to make sure nothing happens to El because she’s still not supposed to be in the open like this. Hopper’s orders, Mike. Why don’t you go argue with him, hum?”

“How ‘bout this,” Billy interrupts Mike as he opens his mouth to say something else bratty, “I want some punk kids to pick on you so I can bash their fucking teeth in. Genuinely looking forward to it. I’m here trying to have a fun night- and you are my nerdy bait!”

Max rolls her eyes, kicks some dirt across the road. But Billy’s words shut Mike right up. And the rest of them look warry, but on board to say the least. Billy side glances Steve, wishes he wasn’t wearing that mask so he could see if that made him laugh.

The kids all look exasperated in their own ways. Billy doesn’t miss the way Will gives a shy smile turned only for Mike to see.

Steve traces one hand down Billy’s arm, cups over his shoulder with all the scratchy net and thick hot glue. Runs comfortingly and steady down the back of his arm, curls around his elbow soft, then brushes off the end of his jacket. Like smoke evaporing off graveyard soil on Halloween night.

Billy snaps his head to watch as Steve leaves. Following the kids as they start walking. Billy jogs to keep up.

That’s how they find themselves in the Wheeler’s upper middle class basement huddled in the corner while the kids sort through their plastic pumpkins. Making confusing piles of candy bars and taffy, some pixie sticks and gum, one huge mountain of jaw breakers Billy wouldn’t mind snatching a couple off the top of. Or a whole handful.

Mrs. Wheeler had opened the front door in a full saloon girl get up, dark mole drawn on her upper lip, smiling in a tight frisky coil as her eyes trail over the tightness of Billy’s jacket across his shoulders. Steve’s already ripped his mask off as they came up to the porch, whimpering in his pretty voice how much he messed up his pretty hair.

“I’m all sweaty,” he whines, pushing both his hands through his hair so his zipped up jacket raises off his hips. His skin pale blue in the cold porch light.

Billy gives Karen one glance, a smile as he lifts his own mask to rest on top of his head, before he offers to hold Michael Myers’ rubber head. Holds his hands out all gentlemanly. It’s worth it for the surprised perk in Steve’s glossy brown eyes. And the annoyed start in Karen’s perfect smile. Billy holds Steve’s mask so he doesn’t mess up the hair as they follow inside.

That’s how they find themselves sitting so close their shoulders are touching. Arms flush and warm feeling, the muscle of Billy’s flexing and taught. Steve’s softer, relaxed, letting his body’s weight tilt ever so to rest against Billy.

The shitty costume net bunching up to make room for Steve. Billy sucking in a breath as he lets Steve get comfortable.

He feels so damn warm on the cold October night. His hair is messy, smells like roasted pumpkin seeds. Billy can’t help it, must be how tired he is from walking around until midnight with a bunch of kids. He must be deliriously high from spending all night trailing behind Steve’s perky ass in those tight jeans. Must be all the sugar going to his head and making him damn near drunk on it. Because Billy knows better.

Knows he shouldn’t. But he wants, he so wants. And Steve’s made it so easy. Made it smell like roasted pumpkin seeds his mother used to make, one of the few smell of home.

Billy leans over and nuzzles his nose into Steve’s hair. Uses one hand to cradle the back of his neck gently, if not possessively, as he does it. Steve jostles alert, his eyes drowsy from dozing off. But he doesn’t move away. Doesn’t startle or even stiffen in Billy’s hands.

The hands that could beat him, have beat him. The hands that know blood more than chocolate. Abuse more than love.

Billy’s breath catches in his throat as that word ghosted around his head, love.

Steve turns from where he’s leaned. Shifts so he’s pushing himself off Billy’s shoulder to look into his eyes. Bracing himself up on one of Billy’s thighs.

“Hey,” he says dumbly, like they haven’t been shackled together on babysitter duty all night long. Brown eyes move over his face, across his dark circles and ratty mustache to his lips. Billy slightly parts them.

“You made that mask look really good,” Billy compliments him like an idiot. A full on skeeze brain. “You can make anything work, Harrington. Like a super power.”

“Think I could work a mullet?” Steve snarks back, and it serves Billy right for how embarrassing he’s being. His hand tightens in Steve’s long hair slightly grown out in the back, a baby mullet, strands gossamer across his fingers that don’t deserve it.

“Yeah,” he nods.

Steve smiles as he leans forward, nuzzles that sharp nose right up next to Billy’s chubby one and seals their lips together in a kiss. Eyes flutter closed. Billy wraps his arms around Steve’s neck, pulls him in close. Gasps into the kiss while Steve’s still smiling.

He tastes like chocolate and peanut butter, kisses deep and sucks on his tongue like he means it. Because he does. Steve’s hands come up to cradle his cheeks as if Billy’s something precious to be held.

They part for beath and Billy can still taste him. Never wants to stop. Laughs because he’s so far gone. So in love he’s making Halloween costumes in his room and babysitting brats when there’s perfectly good high school parties to hit up. Got him complementing a stupid Michael Myers mask with stupid pretty boy hair.

Steve swipes his thumbs over Billy’s cheekbones before leaning down to kiss him again. He’s sure it’s been the best Halloween of his whole life.

[bylerboyfriends]

ok, a prompt: "pineapple on pizza? i'm sorry, i can't be seen with you anymore" for whoever you want!

Ding Dong!

“Oh! That’s probably the pizza guy! Be right back, babe.” Mike pecked Will’s cheek before rushing up the stairs.

Will was left on the couch with a smiling face and a rumbling tummy. He could smell the warm pie of carbs and sodium all the way in the basement. Which only made his smile deepen and hunger more intense.

Seconds later, Mike was coming back down the stairs with the box in his hands. Excitement and a dash of mischief was sprinkled all over his face. He sat the box on the small coffee table in front of the couch and lifted the lid.

Will immediately regretted letting Mike “surprise him” with the toppings.

Chunks of dark yellow fruit and ham were scattered across the bed of cheese and crust. Will Byers definitely loved himself some pizza, but fruit should never be near a pizza.

“Pineapple on pizza? I’m sorry, I can’t be seen with you anymore.”

Will picks up his jacket and stands, moving as if trying to get to the stairs.

“Will! Wait,” Mike gently grabs the arm of his boyfriend. “You said I could surprise you!”

“Yea, and I expected the the most shocking topping you’d pick would be mushrooms! I could just pick those off!”

Mike laughs at the exaggerated way Will was speaking. “Why can’t you just do the same with the pineapple?”

“Are you kidding me? It’s an acidic fruit! The juices have already seeped into the cheese and sauce and ruined the taste of the entire pizza!”

“I think you’re being a bit dramatic. Have you ever even tried it before?”

“No! I refuse!”

“Come on, Will. Just taste it! Pleeeeaaase,” Mike quickly put on his pleading face. Puppy dog eyes and praying hands aimed at his weak boyfriend. This tactic never seems to fail Mike when it comes to Will.

It seemed like Will might not be giving in so easily this time, though. He crossed his arms and turned his head but made no move to leave. This brought a smirk to Mike’s face, he could work with this easily.

He stepped closer to the smaller boy. Carefully, he grasped Will’s chin and turned his head to face his own. Mike spoke in a low voice, “Please, Will? You might like it...!”

Will scanned the hopeful look on his boyfriend’s face, furrowed his brow, then proceeded to roll his eyes. “Fine!”

He then proceeds to stomp back over to the couch, slamming his body down in his previous spot. He made sure to make a show of it so Mike knows he is not happy about being tricked into eating this disgrace of a pizza. And yes it is tricking when Mike uses that adorable pleading face. He knows it always works, making it unfair. Therefore, a trick.

That’s Will’s logic, anyway.

Mike excitedly plucks a piece of pizza from the grease stained cardboard. Setting it on a napkin and handing it to Will, who looks at it with a disgusted face.

“Come on, Will! It really isn’t bad!”

“My gut feeling says otherwise...”

Will gives one last disdained look to his boyfriend before finally taking a bite. He chews cautiously and curses himself when he realizes that he enjoys it.

Mike takes note of the fact that Will didn’t spit the bite out, he didn’t look disgusted by it either. “You like it!” Mike gasps.

“No I don’t! Im tolerating it. For you.”

“Yeah right! You were about to LEAVE me without second thought.”

“I wasn’t going to leave YOU.... just your house.”

“Well no matter what or who you were leaving, you were leaving nonetheless. And now all of a sudden your tolerating it for me? That’s doubtful.”

Will gives him a good long stare before he finally admits in a whisper, “Fine, it’s not so bad. But don’t tell anyone. I don’t want to be associated with the Pineapple on Pizza Fan Club.”

“That’s not a thing.”

“Don’t lie to me! I know there’s a secret society of you weirdos!”

Mike squints his eyes and grins evilly. “You’re right. We meet every Sunday. And I’m supposed to be bringing a new sacrifice this weekend...” He looks his boyfriend up and down. The last thing he sees before attacking the smaller boy’s neck with kisses is his wide eyes and frightened face.

Will burst into a fit of giggles. “Don’t joke like that! I wouldn’t doubt it when it comes to you freaks!”

Mike feigns offended. “You can’t even say that! You’re one of us now!”

“Micheal Wheeler I’m serious, if you tell anyone I will have your head on a platter.”

Mike blushes at the use of his full name and deadpan expression. He gulps and complies. “Yes sir.”

Will smiles and pats the dark hair of his boyfriend. “Good.”

—-

Thanks for the prompt, darling! This was so fun to write. :)

[ghostspideys-moved]

All For The Best

Chapter Six

A/N: This one’s unfortunately kind of short, but I’m doing my best to keep up and update on time.

Word Count: 1.1k

Pairings: Steve Harrington x OC, Nancy Wheeler x Jonathan Byers x OC

Summary: Just when Hawthorne thinks his life can’t get any weirder, he’s proven wrong, and he wonders if it’s too late to back out.

Hawthorne groaned when he heard the phone ring. He’d been sleeping, so it was a very jarring sound. Even worse was how early it was, and it seemed like Jonathan was just as aggravated. 

Groaning, Hawthorne threw the pillow over his head and tried to drown out the sound. He sighed in relief when the ringing stopped, thinking it might be over and he could sleep peacefully again.

His hopes were dashed the moment the ringing started up again. Jonathan groaned and finally got up to answer the phone. At this point, Hawthorne realized he was going to get any more sleep and sat up, rubbing his eyes and yawning. He could just barely make out Jonathan’s voice. 

“Nancy, why wouldn’t he be safe?” 

Whatever was going on, Jonathan sounded very distressed, which was an immediate red flag that something was wrong. Hawthorne got up and went to check on him as he placed the phone back on the receiver.

“Is everything okay?” he asked, his voice still croaky from sleep.

Jonathan sighed and hurried back to his room. “We’re going to find the kids,” he said. “Nancy said something’s wrong, so we have to find Will.”

Hawthorne frowned and followed after him, watching for a moment as he frantically changed. “And just when I thought things might be a little normal around here.” He should have known better than to hope for some normalcy.

There was hardly any time to waste. They headed out to Jonathan’s car and headed to the hospital for Nancy as fast as was legally possible.

As soon as the three of them were finally together, they headed to Nancy’s house, where all of the kids were hanging out. No surprise there. They always gathered in the basement, that he was aware of. 

The door to the basement was closed when they showed up, but Nancy was quick to knock frantically. Mike yelled back in response. 

“Not now, Mom!”

“Mike, open the door.”

There was a pause before Hawthorne heard Mike scramble up the steps to open the door for them, a perplexed look on his face. Before he could even ask what was happening, Nancy hurried them down the stairs to gather the rest of the party.

Hawthorne listened to her ramble on for a bit, explaining everything to the kids. He could tell she was distressed, and he could tell why just listening to her. Admittedly, though, having to hear more shit about the Upside Down and the Mind Flayer, especially after his vision (could he even call it that?), just wasn’t sitting well with him. Sure, he knew they had to do something about this. He was well aware. But the more this dragged on, the lass he wanted to be involved. He hardly wanted to the first time around. And could anyone blame him? Hawthorne spent a whole three years in a lab only to find out he could have been dealing with this earlier? He wasn’t a fan of it.

Even worse was having to listen to Nancy and Jonathan act passive-aggressive towards each other. Hawthorne was trying so hard to fix whatever was going on with them, but they didn’t make it easy. Nor should he have to fix it. He just hoped they would work it out, otherwise he wasn’t sure what he was going to do.

Instead, he was trying to focus on the fact that, apparently, there were more people who were “flayed,” as the kids put it. That felt like something much more important to pay attention to, albeit much scarier. 

El seemed to connect some dots, which led to Nancy’s realization. It was all happening way too fast for Hawthorne to keep up with, and, before he could ask for some much needed clarification, they were already heading back to Jonathan's car. Perhaps the one time he really hated being tall was right now. Piling in with a bunch of kids wasn’t really fun. Before he knew it, Nancy was hurrying out of the driveway. It was alarming to him just how reckless she was being, but he didn’t say anything given the circumstances.

Hawthorne walks up to the door, trailing behind everyone. He feels like he’s gone on autopilot. Like he’s not really in control of himself anymore. He knows the moment they walk into this house, they’ll get the confirmation they need. And that’s when he’ll have to accept that he really is being roped into saving the world again.

It’s the last thing he wanted when he arrived home a few days ago, but he can’t do anything to put a stop to it. Not himself, anyways.

Nancy rang the doorbell — that much he can hear. For a moment, it grounded him to reality, to the moment. He really snapped out of his thoughts when no one answered. 

This is it. 

El opened the door for them, and there was a twisting feeling in Hawthorne’s stomach. The house was eerily silent. The only thing filling that silence is their footsteps, slow and careful as they stepped inside.

While Nancy was preoccupied with calling out, hoping to hear from any of the Holloways, Hawthorne looked around. He kept an eye out for anything out of the norm. But so far, it was just an empty house.

Except the weird smell in the air.

Thankfully, Hawthorne wasn’t the only one who noticed. 

“Do you guys smell that?” Nancy asked. 

Hawthorne nodded quickly, scrunching his nose at the smell. In the kitchen, assorted cans and bottles of chemicals were strewn across the nearly every surface. It made his stomach sick just thinking about what it was all for.

Jonathan picked up a can. “You think they’re guzzling this shit?”

“Yeah, either that or they went on a hell of a cleaning spree.”

Hawthorne felt gross just looking at all the cans. “That doesn’t make any sense, though,” he said.

“Yeah. Last year, Will didn’t eat chemicals,” Max added. “Did you?”

Hawthorne was pretty sure he’d remember that part if he had. 

“No. This is something new.”

Mike seemed to have a solid theory about them making some new substance with the chemicals, which didn’t confuse him any less. 

“Can the Mind Flayer even do that?” Hawthorne asked. “I mean, keep people alive after downing...what...a ton of different chemicals.”

Will shrugged. “It’s hard to say what it could do. I don’t think it has that many limits.” That thought wasn’t unsettling at all.

Nancy led them into the dining room, where she found an empty bottle and a blood stain on the carpet. How quickly she put the pieces together astounded him. It always did. 

Hawthorne followed them to the next room where a rope laid. None of this was a good sign at all. And now they were going to have to find the source of this mess? This was the worst. 

“Mrs. Driscoll,” Will chimed in. “If she wants to go back so badly, why don’t we let her?”

Sure, it was their best shot, but Hawthorne didn’t have to like it. Already, he had lots of regrets about tagging along.

//

Taglist: @charmedtenderness​ @nxncywheeler​ @musicalytrashpanda​

[barbarasbae]

Just a Taste-The Aftermath

Part 2 of Just a Taste 

Word Count: 1.4k

Warning: blood mention, threats/blackmail, implied smut, threats of violence against women/teenage girls (small scene but I don’t want people to be thrown into it and be uncomfortable) 

Notes: Y/n is cousins with the Byers and that is simply because the Party’s and Hopper’s involvement are pretty crucial to the plot of this series towards the climax so far. The vampire information from Dustin in this chapter are all almost just copied and pasted from the vampire DnD wiki page. I have italicized the text I am referring to. Also, this is about to be the most used gif:

Y/n woke up that morning with a special kind of pain permeating through her brain. With a groan, she trudged out of bed and pulled on her favorite sweatshirt and jeans. Due to the hangover, she was already running late and was forced to down a muffin and banana in the car. It didn’t help that she was also battling against the movement-restricting puffy coat her mom always made her wear. School was uneventful, boring as always. By lunch, Y/n had convinced herself that she had just dreamt having sex with Billy Hargrove, as well as him most likely being a vampire. That is until he threw his arm around her shoulders as she left the building. “I need to talk to you.“

“Okay?” He pulled her behind the school building, looking around like he was trying to make sure no one saw them. “So last night was...good.” He said, lighting a cigarette. She saw the fangs. Oh. She hadn’t made that up. Well,  fuck. “You’re cousins with the weird kid right? Zombie boy?” 

“Don’t call him that.” He flicked the bud of his cigarette to the ground before advancing towards her until her back hit the cinderblock wall. “He’s one of my step-sisters little nerd friends.” They were so close she could feel that he wasn’t really breathing like he should. It was like he forgot to inhale every third or fourth breath. “Do not tell anyone about what happened, got it?” He said, fangs looking much more prominent. “This is why all those girls are scared of you aren’t they?” She murmured, his gaze too intense on her face for her to keep eye contact. “Wait...really?” His brows furrowed. “Yeah. Girls start acting different after going out with you.” He twisted one of his rings, looking like he was thinking. The moment was over as soon as it started, him looking back into her eyes. “Good.” Y/n found it easy to say this was one of the scariest moments of her life. “I know where you live, princess. If Max finds out, I can and will drain your body in two minutes.” The tip of his nose brushed hers. She wanted to cry. “Got it?” He snarled quietly. She nodded, biting her lip. He walked off, leaving Y/n to deal with her pounding heartbeat and weak legs. 

Once she was able to form a cognitive thought again, she immediately went to the public library. It just didn’t sit well with her that such a creature was free-roaming Hawkins. She checked out some classics: Dracula, The Vampyre,  Interview with the Vampire, Survival Skills for boys (you never know), and Varney the Vampire. She spent the night completely ignoring her homework, pouring over the books and writing notes in order to help her understand what the hell was going on. And maybe help her get rid of him. She felt a little queasy at the thought of going against him; everyone knew how Billy had almost hospitalized Chris Nickleson his second week in Hawkins. Despite feeling like she was walking on eggshells, Y/n didn’t actually see Billy for the entire day. Which could be a good thing. Or really bad. As soon as the final bell rang, Y/n beelined to the middle school, cornering Will and his friends as they came down the front steps. “Hey, you guys gonna play Dungeons and Dragons today?”

“Yeah.We’re gonna meet up at Mikes house.” Will answered. “When?” She pulled out a pen.

“Four.” Y/n marked it down on her hand.

“Ok. I need to ask you guys about something. I’ll see you then.” She said, trying to keep her wits about her and make sure no curly haired blond heard her discussion. The kids looked perplexed, but went along. They thought Y/n was pretty cool. Maybe cooler than Steve. (A big maybe). 

After returning her books (getting rid of the evidence), she went to the Wheeler’s house with her notes in hand and was greeted by Mr. Wheeler. “Hi Mr. Wheeler, is my cousin here?” He didn’t look like he knew who she was talking about. “Will Byers?” 

“Oh yeah. They’re in the basement.” She thanked him and scooted into the door, almost running to the basement. “Hi Mrs. Wheeler!” She called as she ran to the steps. “Hey Y/n!” The boys looked at the out-of-breath teenager as she threw her notes on the table. She tossed her coat, sitting down at their little table, getting her pen and paper out. “So, let’s say theoretically, if there was a vampire in Hawkins, how would I kill it?” They looked at her like she had a third eye. “Or even turn it back into a human?” 

“Is there something happening?” Mike asked, looking for his walkie talkie. 

“It’s for a...book I’m writing.” She fibbed, Dustin grabbing the manual and looking it up. “A vampire can be of any evil alignment, and if its alignment was not evil in life it becomes so in undeath.” He scanned for some more stats a little farther down. “It retains all the abilities it had in life, plus it gains the ability to drain blood and life energy, and to dominate other creatures with its gaze...it can also command rats, bats and wolves or take the form of them. They are superhumanly strong and regenerate/heal quickly from injuries. They can also turn into a gaseous form.” He finished, looking up to see Y/n furiously writing down more notes. “How do I get rid of it?”

“You stab it through the heart with a wooden stake. You can also deter it from attacking you by wearing a cross and throwing holy water at it.” Will supplied, looking over Dustin’s shoulder. “Okay. Thanks guys. Have fun with your game.” She went home and spent the evening organizing all the information she had gathered, writing a plan of sorts down. Then there was a knock on her window that scared her half to death. She looked up, the blood draining from her face. Billy. She collected her stuff and hid it the best she could in her closet. She walked over to the window, his eyes dark. She cracked the window as little as she could so she could hear him. “What do you want?”

“Food. You smell so good. Could smell you from the street.” Okay, creepy. He kept his eyes trained on her, watching her leave the room and return with towels. After laying them on the bed, she walked to the window and begrudgingly opened it all the way. “You’ve got to invite me in.”

“What?”

“Just say to me ‘you can come in’.” 

“Okay. You can come in.” He came in and kissed her, hands greedily seeking the warmth her skin held from laying in bed. She leaned over and closed the window, him breaking for a moment. But then he just kissed her deeper. She kissed back, but he could tell it was different. “You know I wont drain you, right? I was just saying that stuff to scare you.” He was suddenly a teenage boy again,not a monster, rubbing his thumb into her waist. A faint blush was painting his cheeks, which she didn’t think was possible. “Well it worked.” She said softly, hands going to his biceps. “Sorry,” he sounded sheepish, like he was genuinely embarrassed by his decision to threaten her. He stopped touching her, walking over to her bed and sitting. She sat next to him cautiously, feeling more and more anxious as he kept his eyes trained on her bandaged neck (now decorated with a Batman bandaid).

“Were transformers not good enough for you?” 

“I needed to change it because it was an open wound that hadn’t been cleaned.” She retorted with an eye roll and a little smile. His hand ghosted over hers that was resting in between them. He gently kissed the wounded spot, then trailed his lips up to her cheek. She winced, clutching her fist as an especially painful cramp throbbed in her lower belly. “Can I help? Please?”  He begged, hand gripping her upper thigh. His fangs had grown longer, Billy ready to eat. “Y/n, I won’t bite again. I promise!” The look in his eyes was very innocent compared to what he had just asked her to let him do. She nodded. A smile grew on his face. She was on her back, hungry lips against hers before she could blink. 

[harringtonandbuckley]

maybe it’s the candlelight

robin buckley x reader

request: hey hon! could you do something where it’s robin and the readers anniversary and they can’t exactly go out and do couple stuff so steve/jancy/the party set up a cute lil date for them? xx

requests are open

“So what’s the plan for tonight?” Steve called across the store, attempting to grab Robin’s attention.

“Tonight?” Robin stuck her head around the shelves of tapes and narrowed her eyes.

“Yeah,” Steve scoffed and threw his hands in the air. “You know, your anniversary? With Y/N? Oh my god. You forgot.”

Robin rolled her eyes and retreated back to the counter. “I didn’t forget, dingus. We’re just not gonna do anything.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“It means,” Robin rested her elbows on the cold surface, lowering her voice even though no one else was in the store. “We’re just gonna watch a movie or something at my place. It’s not like we can go out and celebrate it.”

“A movie though? Seriously?” Steve remarked, lowering himself to Robin’s level. She nodded her head and shrugged. “You’re actually telling me that for your one year anniversay, your one year anniversary, you’re going to watch a movie.”

“Yeah? What’s wrong with that?”

“Jesus Christ. I don’t know how you managed to get a girl like Y/N when all you want to do is watch some, probably dumbass, movie for a milestone anniversary.” Steve put his hands on his hips and glared.

“It was her idea, actually.” Robin sang, walking behind the counter and towards the breakroom. Steve followed closely behind.

“And thats what you want to do, too?” Steve asked, leaning against the door frame.

“I’m fine doing anything as long as she’s fine with it,” Robin paused and turned toward Steve. “and I’m completely fine with it.”

Steve could sense a hint of something in her voice, and that something wasn’t exactly happy. Robin huffed and sat down in a chair. “I just wish times were different, you know? Like yeah, movie dates are cool. But it’s not like we can go out because thats a big societal ‘no-no.’ And I can’t exactly afford to do some grand gesture for her. Don’t get me wrong, Y/N is worth every grand gesture I can think of. It’s just out of the question, I guess.”

Steve ran his hand through his hair and sympathetically smiled at Robin. She returned the look. 

Steve was going to do something. He had no idea what, but he was, come hell or high water.

________________________________________________________________

“You’re probably wondering why I gathered you all here today.” Steve spoke, looking across the Wheeler’s basement. 

“I mean it’s my house and I called everyone so techinally I gathered everyone here, shithead.” Mike spat, leaning back into the sofa. 

“Do you really have to act like an ass right now? Clearly Steve has something he needs to get across.” Max retorted, glaring daggers at her counterpart. 

Steve opened and closed his mouth, looking for the right time to jump back into the conversation. He figured he might as well let the kids argue it out for a few moments.

“Yeah!” Lucas shouted, taking Max’s side mainly out of fear. 

“I’m ready, Steve!” Dustin screamed, attempting to grab everyone’s attention. And he did. 

“Uh, actually keep talking. I just realized we’re still waiting on Nancy and Jonathan.” So, doing as they were told, the party continued to fight, chaos increasing. Will and El sat patiently, waiting for Steve’s speech to begin.

“Sorry we’re late,” Nancy spoke quickly as she ushered Jonathan down the stairs. “traffic wouldn’t let up.

“Let’s begin then, shall we?” Steve clapped and the kids stopped talking. “I need your help. Every single one of you.”

“Our help?” Max questioned. Steve nodded frantically.

“Yes and unfortunately we don’t have a lot of time. It’s already four o’clock and I need everything to be done by seven so we have to move quick.”

“You still haven’t told us what’s going on.”

“Oh yeah,” Steve chuckled nervously and cleared his throat. “As you all know, Robin and Y/N have been together for quite some time.”

A chorus of ‘yeah’s filled the room. “Well, today is actually their one year anniversary and they have literally nothing planned?”

“Wait, seriously?” Nancy gasped. 

“Yeah,” Steve rubbed the back of his neck and took a deep breath. “They can’t really publicly celebrate so their just gonna go to Robin’s and watch a movie.”

“A movie?” Lucas pondered, tapping his fingers on the floor. “What’s so bad about a movie.”

“Nothing. It’s just they deserve more. They deserve to do more than watch a goddamn movie. They deserve all of the cliche bullshit that we do for each other.” Steve spoke. Everyone nodded their heads wildly.

“And that’s where you all come in,” he smiled and pointed at all of them. “I need all of you to come to my house and help me decorate it. But the main issue is I have zero ideas on what to do.”

“Dinner!”

“Flowers.”

“Maybe a movie!”

“Music.”

“Lights.” El smiled and Steve caught her answer. “Lots of lights.”

“Honestly, I’m game for anything as long as it’s done nice and quick.”

“That’s what s⁠—”

“Lucas if you don’t stop where you’re going with that, I will ruin your life.” Max cut him off and glared.

“To my house we go!”

________________________________________________________________

You got to Robin’s at six thirty, duffle bag full of clothes in hand. You just got out of work and you didn’t have time to change out of your uniform. You knocked on the door gently, not wanting to be too loud. You knew Robin was still on edge after the whole Starcourt incident, so you were always cautious in what you did. 

The door opened almost instantly and Robin welcomed you in, closing the door behind you. 

“Hey, babe.” You greeted as she took you in her arms, embracing you instantly. You chuckled and wrapped your arms around her waist, relaxing into her. 

“Happy anniversary,” she mummbled into your shoulder.

“Happy anniversary to you, too,” you smiled and pulled away. “As much as I would love to stay like that, this uniform smells and I can’t be in it any more. I’m gonna run and change really quick.”

“Sure. You know where my room is.” Robin smiled and walked into the kitchen. You grabbed your bag and forced yourself up the stairs. You changed quickly and went back down, finding Robin at the bottom of the stairs. She didn’t look very happy.

“What’s wrong?” You asked, your face dropping.

“Steve,” she groaned and rubbed her face with her hands. “He just called and said that he can’t find his dog anywhere and asked if we would come over and help look.” 

“Oh,” you spoke quietly, nodding. “Yeah, he probably does need the extra help.”

“Y/N, I’m so sorry.” Robin spoke frantically, attempting to apologize. You kissed her cheek and patted her shoulder. “Don’t apologize. We have a dog to find.”

You laughed and barrled out the door to your car, Robin following close behind. So maybe the movie wouldn’t be until later than expecred.

________________________________________________________________

“Why the hell are all of his lights off?” Robin spat as you pulled into Steve’s driveway. “Maybe he’s using a flashlight or something?”

“Or,” Robin laughed angrily, “he’s just being a little bitch. His dog is probably under his bed or some shit.”

“Okay, tone it down.” You grabbed her hand and she looked at you.

“Sorry.”

“S’okay.” You shrugged and let go of her hand, getting out of the car swiftly. She followed suit and took a deep breath. The both of you walked up to Steve’s front door, and Robin rapped her knuckles against the wood, holding her breath.

“IT”S OPEN!” a shout came from somewhere in the house. You eyed her suspiciously.

“Who the hell was that? Since when does Steve sound like a twelve year old?” You gawked. Robin looked at you with wide eyes.

“Sounded like Dustin.” Robin’s eyebrows furrowed and she carefully turned the doorknob, opening the door slowly. The entrance way was pitch black and a dim light could be seem from down the hallway. The two of you followed the light slowly, suddenly aware of your surroundings. No Steve. No Dustin. No no one.

As you approached what Robin said was the living room, you glanced at the floor, realizing there were rose petals littering the tiles. You and Robin shared a look before you entered the room. 

Steve stood in the middle in front of a small table covered in candles and more flower petals.

“Welcome, ladies.” He beamed and gestured for the two of you to sit down. You both did, staring at him all the way.

“What is all of this?” Robin asked meekly, taking in the room. She noticed Chistmas lights on the wall but they weren’t on. 

“I just wanted you guys to have a good night, as did the kids and Nancy and Jonathan.” Steve spoke, his eyes softening. 

“You really did all of this for us?” You asked, your own eyes filling with tears. 

“Yeah,” he turned and gestured to the coffee table across the room. “There’s random food and stuff over there, a few movies that won’t bore you to death, and there’s lights that you can plug in to set the mood.”

He wiggled his eyebrows and gestured to the doorway behind him. “There’s dinner foods in there that were expertly crafted by, get this, the local pizza place.”

You burst into laughter and he bowed. “Thank you, thank you. We wanted to have a radio playing or something for dinner but it broke and we couldn’t get one in time.”

“Steve.” Robin breathed. She went to stand but he waved her off.

“I don’t need either of you to thank me or them,” he shook his head sternly. “Just please enjoy the night and stay however long you want to. You two deserve it.” He smiled and sauntered out of the room, leaving you two in comfortable silence.

You spoke, breaking the quiet. “So does he actually have a dog?”

Robin snorted. “I don’t even know. God, I’m a shitty friend.”

“And not because you called him a bitch earlier?” You laughed and she blushed, bowing her head. She looked up and cleared her throat awkwardly.

Standing up, she walked to you, hand outstretched. “May I have this dance?”

“You may,” you giggled as she tugged you up, pulling you close. Her arms snaked around your waist and yours around her neck. “But to what music?”

She shrugged and her eyes met yours. You rested your head against her shoulder as you two began to sway. You could hear her softly humming a tune as you two moved. Ocassionally, she would sing a line or two close to your ear, ever so gently.

“You know something?” She spoke, interupting her humming. She pulled back a little bit, just enough that you could see each other.

“Hm?” 

“Maybe it’s the candlelight or something,” her voice lowered into a whisper and her blue eyes shone. “But I don’t think I could imagine me without you.”

“Oh yeah?” you teased.

“Yeah,” her smile was so warm, so calm, that it sent shivers up your spine. “You and me. Y/N and Robin for the win.”

“You know I love you, right?” You pondered, bringing your hand to her cheek.

“Yeah, I love you, too.”

“I’m sorry I don’t say it enough.” You admitted, your face faltering. She kissed you gently, pulling you close once more.

“You don’t have to. I know.”

“Happy anniversary, Rob.”

“Happy anniversary, Y/N.”

[insideoutstory]

Inside Out → Chapter Twenty-Five

summary: Christmas 1983. All things change, some people too. But they all remember. word count: 3.5k warnings: Immaturity and fluff at its finest A/N: This is the final chapter of the first installment! Thank you everyone for reading and please, reblog or send me a message if you enjoyed!

[ masterlist ]   [ FF.net ]

December 24, 1983 

“Something is coming. Something angry. Hungry for your blood. It is almost here.” 

Mike paused dramatically, making the boys around the table fidget in anticipation. 

 “What is it?” asked Will. 

“It’s the thessalhydra,” said Dustin. “I’m telling you…” 

“It’s not the thessalhydra,” Lucas dismissed. 

“I’m telling you, it’s the thessalhydra!” 

“THE THESSALHYRDA!” Mike slammed a figurine down onto the board, effectively ending the argument and sending a wave of groans around the table. “It roars in anger! Will, your action!” 

“What should I do?” Will asked in a panic. “I don’t…” 

“Fireball him!” Lucas insisted. 

Everyone turned to Dustin for his opinion. He stroked his chin, then grinned in agreement. “Fireball the son of a bitch.” 

Will grabbed the dice, shaking them fervently and then throwing them down onto the board. There was a split second of fear as they all counted. Then the basement erupted into screams once more. 

“Fourteen!” 

“Boom!” 

“Direct hit!” 

“Yes!” 

“Will the Wise’s fireball hits the thessalhydra! It makes a painful—eeeryaaaaagh! And then, it crumbles to the ground! Its clawed hand reaches for you one last time and, and, and, and…” 

Mike reeled around the room, staggering across the basement and falling to his knees. He trembled, one hand stretched toward his friends. And then his head collapsed to the table. 

The way the boys screamed, it sounded like they were celebrating the damn moon landing. They jumped out of their chairs, arms thrust in the air, and began to circle the table with rhythmic chanting. Mike grinned, returning to his DM chair and referring to his notes.

“Lucas cuts off its seven heads, and Dustin places them into his bag of holding. You carry the heads out of the dungeon, victorious, and you present them to King Tristan. He thanks you for your bravery and service.” 

The cheers stopped abruptly.

“Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah,” Dustin said, shaking his head. “That’s not it, is it?” 

“No, there’s a medal ceremony…” 

“Oh, a medal ceremony? What are you talking about?” 

“Yeah, man,” Lucas butted in. “The campaign was way too short.” 

“Yeah!” agreed Will. 

“It was ten hours!” Mike cried. 

“But it doesn’t make any sense!” Dustin argued. 

 “It makes sense!” 

“Uh, no! What about the lost knight?” 

“And those weird flowers in the cave!” added Will. 

“And the proud princess!” added Lucas. “No way you wrote Christine in for a couple measly lines. Right, Chrissy?” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Lucas. I just came for the snacks.” 

Christine was sitting on the couch, a book open in her lap. She’d been reading in the basement for most of the day, taking breaks to watch the boys and offer the occasional character voice. Even Nancy had come down to pitch in—a true Christmas miracle. The two of them had played cards on the floor until Steve showed up to join the Wheelers’ for a traditional viewing of It’s a Wonderful Life. It just proved how seriously he was taking his new title as “boyfriend.” 

They’d invited Christine to join them, but she wasn’t that masochistic. Nancy had returned upstairs, and Christine had instead stepped into her role as the proud princess. 

“I didn’t write Princess Pallantia for Christine,” Mike said in irritation. “She was side character to persuade Sir Lucas into going on the quest. It needed to be justified in the plot.” 

“Wow,” Dustin snorted. “Lucas doing something just cause it’s Christine.” 

“Just like real life,” Will giggled. 

“Shut the hell up!” 

A riot probably would have broken out had it not been for a sound at the top of the stairs. The door to the basement swung open, and a few seconds later, Jonathan peeked his head into the room. 

“Geez, what’s that smell?” he asked. “Have you guys been playing games all day or just farting? Seriously, Christine, how do you even breathe down here?” 

“Reluctantly,” she replied without looking up from the page. 

“It’s probably Christine’s fault anyway,” scoffed Dustin, sweeping up his bag. “It never smells this bad, and she’s the only new one around here.” 

“No way!” Christine said in protest. She jabbed a finger at Jonathan. “You know the rules. He who smelt it dealt it.” 

“He who rhymed it supplied it,” Dustin shot back. “Or should I say she?” 

The boys burst into giggles and applause, and Christine rolled her eyes. She grabbed her crutches from the end of the couch, and hoisted her bag up onto her shoulder. 

“Fine. If you wanna be like that, guess I won’t tell you what Mike and I planned for Princess Pallantia.” 

“CHRISTINE!” Mike screeched angrily, while the others nearly lost their minds. “I told you that was top secret information!” 

“I knew it!” Dustin was screaming. “I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!” 

“We’re definitely gonna have to save her,” Lucas practically sang. “And when we do, I’m gonna roll for charismaaa!” 

“I’m not gonna let you romance Pallantia,” Mike groaned. 

“Yeah, that’s boring,” said Will. “I bet it’s something exciting! Like she’s really an assassin!” 

“With what weapon?” Dustin laughed. “Acidic farts?” 

“I’ll show you a damn weapon.” 

Christine raised her crutch, and with practiced precision, knocked his hat off his head. The boys jeered and laughed, and Dustin tried to wrestle the crutch out of her hands. Christine hopped on her good leg and whacked him in the knees with the second crutch. 

“Alright, enough!” Jonathan called over the clamor. He handed Dustin back his hat, and forced Christine’s weapon back to the ground. “You have been spending way too much time with them.” 

“Yeah, well it’s them or you, so…” 

Jonathan snorted, the jab rolling off his back. It was becoming the norm for them, trading half-hearted insults instead of having genuine conversations. They were still a far cry from being friends. Christine had yet to fully forgive Jonathan for the mysterious pictures. Even if she did, there was still the problem that she found him pretentious. At least the feeling was mutual. She didn’t need Nancy’s insight to know Jonathan thought she was petty and shallow with bad taste in guys. It was clear he didn’t like her very much. But as Nancy had pointed out, that put Christine in the vast majority. 

Still, they’d been through enough in the last month to make being enemies impossible. Jonathan had saved her best friend’s life. Christine had risked her own to save his brother. They both spent too much time looking after middle schoolers, and had dangerous secrets they could never share with the rest of the world. So for now they were testing out the awkward line of acquaintances. They’d just have to take it from there. 

“Ready to go?” Jonathan asked his brother, nodding toward the stairs. 

“Yeah,” said Will. “Just a sec. We have to do the thing.” 

“What thing?” Christine asked. 

The boys ignored her, hurrying into a huddle so they could whisper to each other in private. Christine rolled her eyes, and went to share a commiserating look with Jonathan. But Jonathan wasn’t there. He was already jogging up the stairs. 

“Hey!” she called after him, affronted. “Are you still driving us home?” 

“Yeah! Just let me know when you’re done!” 

Christine was about to yell that she was very much done, and didn’t need to wait on the boys. But Dustin had grabbed her by the arm, tugging her adamantly toward the table. 

“Come on! Move it! Sit down, Christine!” 

Her crutches were seized from her as she was forced down into a chair. Each one of the boys ignored her mounting protests. Mike and Will resumed their seats at the table, while Lucas ran to rummage in his backpack. Dustin took the liberty of clapping his hands over her eyes. 

“Dustin, knock it off.” She tried to beat his arms away, but he just clamped his elbows over her ears and held on tight. “I’m serious, Dust! What’s going on?” 

“Hold on! Jesus Christ, just be patient! DM, some atmosphere?” 

Across the table, Mike started a drumroll. Will joined in, and a few seconds later there was a large thud in the middle of the table. 

“Ta da!” Lucas sang. 

Dustin removed his hands. Sitting in the middle of the table was a box, about the size of a loaf of bread. It was poorly wrapped, not with actual wrapping paper, but with drawing paper all taped together. It only took one look to guess that Will had taken the liberty of drawing the pictures, and someone had stuck a blue bow on top. 

“What is this?” 

“It’s a present,” Lucas laughed at her. “You’re supposed to open it.” 

“You got me a present?” 

Christine was still hesitant to reach for it, but Dustin had begun his own drumroll on her back. 

“Open it, open it, open it, open it…” 

“Alright! I’m going, I’m going…” 

She grabbed the package, trying to be as gentle as she could with the paper. Her jaw dropped the moment the first piece fell away. She could already see the Radio Shack label, the Realistic brand name, the picture on the side of the box… 

The boys giggled as she started moving faster, pushing away the rest of the drawings so she could get to opening the box. 

It was a radio. A Realistic TRC-214 supercomm, just like the boys had. Three channel, squelch control, range-boost side panels. She was itching to get to the schematics, but she was still stuck staring at it. 

“Oh my God, this—this is crazy,” she giggled, turning the walkie over in her hands. “This is gorgeous! Where did you get this?” 

“We all chipped in,” said Mike. “If you’re gonna be part of the party, we need a way to communicate. You know, for emergencies.” 

Christine beamed, and then froze. The reality setting in, she shook her head frantically. 

“Wait, wait, wait…you four bought this for me?” 

“Duh,” said Dustin, smacking her on the shoulder. “That’s why we had you open it. How dumb are you?” 

“No. No way, guys.” 

“Why not?” asked Will. 

“Because this—this is way too expensive! I can’t take something like this from you guys! How much did this even…?” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Lucas assured her, and she glared at him. 

“Of course I’m going to worry about it! You’re all in middle school! Where did you even get this kind of cash?” 

“Alright, so we may have had some financial assistance from your friends,” Dustin admitted. “But don’t go thanking Jonathan or Nancy or Steve Douchington for this. It was our idea.” 

Christine bit her lip. She stared down at the radio, a battle of wills raging inside her chest. She wasn’t entirely comfortable accepting such a pricey gift from the party. The problem was, she wanted it. She really, really wanted it. It was a pretty grand gesture after all, and she didn’t want to seem rude by refusing. And if Nancy and Steve had chipped in…  

Her fingers delicately circled the antenna. 

“Are you sure?” she asked one last time. 

Will smiled brightly. “Definitely.” 

“Besides, none of us could use it anyway,” said Dustin. “It’s for rogue use only.” 

“Rogue?” 

“Yeah,” Mike confirmed. “It’s your D&D class.” 

“No, I—I know what it is but…me? A rogue? Really?” 

“Totally,” gushed Lucas. “It makes so much sense!” 

“Like how you lied to Mr. Clarke on the phone,” Dustin supplied. 

“Or how you found the other door to the Upside Down,” said Will. 

“And you hid Eleven at your house without anyone finding her,” added Mike. “The bad men didn’t find her, or your neighbors, or the cops.” 

“Your deception stats are off the charts,” Dustin said proudly. 

“But you stay on that channel!” Mike warned. “We preset it for you. You can’t listen into our conversations or anything. This is a gesture of trust.” 

“No, I get it,” Christine agreed, giving him a small salute. “Yes, sir, DM, sir.” 

“So you’ll keep it?” Will asked, excitedly. 

“Yeah,” she said, allowing herself to grin again. “I mean it’s insane, but…yeah. Thank you, guys. Seriously.” 

“We love you Christiiine!” Dustin sang in the most obnoxious voice imaginable. The he proceeded to jump on her from behind, smothering her in a hug. 

“Okay, knock it off.” 

But Dustin’s hug was clearly meant to be as annoying as it felt. Lucas collided with her on her left, then Will from her right, all of them doing their best to strangle the life out of her while they laughed. 

Mike was above showing such affection, even to be a pest. He rolled his eyes, and looked from the radio in her hands to the corner. Christine followed his eyes to the blanket fort, still set up in memoriam. If she had to guess, it had been a huge part of the reason they’d bought the walkie. If anyone was going to reach her besides Mike, it was Christine. 

She fought off the rest of the boys and grabbed her crutches. She wouldn’t suffocate Mike with a hug, but she did ruffle his hair appreciatively. He slapped her hand away, but was hiding a smile. 

“Alright,” she sighed, turning back to her bag. “Say your goodbyes. Someone still needs to help me up these stairs.” 

Will carried her bag while Dustin carried her crutches, and Christine did her best to crawl her way up the staircase. They helped her wobble to her feet at the landing, and then they headed out together. They stopped in the kitchen to say goodbye to Mrs. Wheeler, busy making dessert for a family banquet the next night, then paused by the living room to wave goodbye to Nancy and Steve. They were cuddling on the couch in front of the TV. They probably would have gotten up if she’d asked, but Christine didn’t want to bother them. Pointing to the sleeping Mr. Wheeler as an excuse, she just waved and kept walking. 

Jonathan was waiting for them by the front door. He was also carrying a small box, wrapped much more carefully than Christine’s had been. Christine hid a smile and averted her gaze. 

They headed out to the car, Christine moving a little more slowly than the rest as she tried not to slip on the ice. She and Dustin slid into the back seat. He snapped at her as her crutches threatened to smack him in the face, mostly inadvertently this time, and Jonathan had to diffuse the argument again. But Will had other concerns. 

“Can I open it?” he asked, pointing to the gift Jonathan had left on the center console. 

“When we get home,” said Jonathan starting up the car. 

“Please?” Will begged. 

Jonathan exhaled, and caught Christine’s eye in the rearview mirror. She shrugged. “Hey, I’ve got mine already.” 

“Yeah,” Dustin agreed. “I wanna see what it is!” 

“Alright,” Jonathan sighed, nodding to the box. “Sure. Go ahead.” 

Will grabbed for the gift, ripping off the paper much less delicately than Christine had. Inside was a small box, Pentax logo on the side, and picture of his new camera on the front. 

The boys cooed over it, jabbering about all the cool pictures Jonathan would be able to take. Christine watched Jonathan carefully in his mirror for a reaction. He was shocked, mostly. But there was a definite smile on his face as he glanced between the box and the house. 

He caught her eye in the mirror again, a questioning look in his eye. She raised her hands to feign innocence. She’d donated a few dollars to the cause, but had been sworn to secrecy. Personally, she wasn’t sure how she felt about gifting Jonathan a new camera. But Nancy would be glad to hear he liked the gift. Steve would probably be ecstatic. It’d been his idea, after all. 

Jonathan dropped them off on Dover Avenue, he and Christine sharing a stunted goodbye while the boys happily wished each other a Merry Christmas. Dustin took Christine’s bag for her, and walked beside her up to her house. He waited until the Byers’ beat up car had pulled away from the curb to say anything. 

“Are you gonna start dating Jonathan?” 

 Christine nearly choked. “What?” 

“I was just wondering,” he said with a casual shrug. “Since Nancy’s dating Steve again, and you guys spend so much time with us.” 

“Gross. I’d date you before I dated Jonathan.” 

“Ew! That’s disgusting!” 

“My point exactly.” 

“Then why are things so weird with you guys?” Dustin asked. “It’s like you’re both pining and constipated.” 

Christine sighed, fumbling with her house keys. She was not going to have this conversation with Dustin. She hated how insightful he was sometimes. Yes, she and Jonathan were dejected and pining. But not for each other. 

“The only constipated one around here is you,” Christine shot, swinging her front door open. “Ask me about it again, and I’m not bringing you your Christmas gift.” 

The threat wiped Dustin’s brain clear of any previous conversation. 

“Is it Mario Bros?” he demanded. “Did you get me Mario Bros for the Atari?” 

“I don’t know. Maybe I didn’t get you anything.” 

She grinned and slammed the door in his face. She could still hear him cursing, and he banged a fist against the side of the house. 

“Real mature, Christine! Merry Freaking Christmas!” 

“Merry Freaking Christmas!” she called back. Laughing, she withdrew into the house. 

To many, it would have looked like the Walcotts hadn’t finished decorating. Moving around for so many years, they hadn’t had the luxury of amassing a collection of ornaments and trinkets like some others. They had a basic tree with some obligatory baubles. Most of them were hanging lopsided, or were grouped unevenly, a side effect of her father being in charge of decorations while she was in her cast. They’d purchased one wreath for the door, hung the minimum amount of lights, and called it a day. Christine didn’t mind in the slightest. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to look at Christmas lights the same way again. 

 She crept carefully past the living room. Like Mr. Wheeler, her father had fallen asleep in front of the television. She’d wake him up in a couple minutes so he could go to bed. They had to be over at the Hendersons’ at nine o’clock tomorrow for Christmas breakfast, courtesy of Claudia, which meant getting up early to open their own presents first. But there was one thing Christine wanted to do before her dad woke up. 

She snuck into the kitchen and popped two waffles into the toaster. While they cooked, she pulled out the box she had stashed in one of the cabinets under the counter. She’d already packed it, but she just wanted to double check. One pack of Pop-Tarts, one can of whipped cream, an apple and banana she was sure would go untouched, one pair of mittens and a card written out in her own loopy handwriting. Most of the note was dedicated to a simplistic explanation of what Christmas even was. Who knew if the scientists at the Lab had explained anything about Christmas or birthdays or any other holiday? She didn’t think she’d done a very good job describing it, but she supposed it was the thought that counted. 

The waffles cooked through, she added them to the package and taped the box shut. She headed down the hallway and out into the backyard, where a light coating of snow was already beginning to dust the grass. 

Christine carefully stepped down the steps and limped her way over to the tree line. She had to go several feet into the trees, making sure the package was out of sight. She laid it amongst the fallen branches, and placed a flat rock on top to keep it in place. Pulling a Sharpie out of her back pocket, she drew two straight lines on the rock. 

A cold wind blew through the yard, and she quickly retreated inside. She knew the chances of Eleven finding the package were low. She was a smart girl, and if she was out there, she’d know not to return to any of the party. Most likely, the package would be torn apart by a raccoon, or become an early Christmas present for Mews if she was feeling adventurous enough to wander into the next yard. But putting something, anything, out there for her to call her home made Christine feel a little more at peace. It was the thought that counted. 

She stared out the back door, and after several minutes of staring, finally flipped the switch for the porch light. It flickered. And then went out.