#lumax ficlet

[andiwriteordie]

can’t turn back now (i’m haunted)

i blame @rotisserie5107 for this one. 

a little lumax/elumax drabble i threw together just now, based on the idea of a kas!max storyline where vecna uses her against them and also on the song haunted by taylor swift. :) 

__

It’s not her.

It’s not her. 

It can’t be her.

Except that it is—it is her. There’s no denying it now, because Lucas knows her better than he knows anybody else in this world. He’s spent the last two years sitting by her bedside, hoping and waiting and praying for her to just wake up and to come back to him. He’s committed every single detail of her face to memory, out of pure terror that he might actually lose her someday. 

It’s not her, everything within Lucas cries, full of a grief and a terror and a pain unlike anything else he’s ever known.

But it is.

It is her.

“Max?” Lucas whispers. His voice comes out, and it sounds so small. His hands are trembling around the rifle that he barely knows how to use, because he’s only seventeen for God’s sake. They’re all just kids, and this is all just some awful, fucked up nightmare that they’re living in.

The person standing in front of him seems—because he doesn’t want to believe it’s her, even though he knows that it is, he knows it is, he knows it deep in his heart that is breaking into a million different pieces—to recognize that name. Cloudy eyes stare back at him, completely unseeing, and a slow smile forms on her face.

The knife in Lucas’s heart twists even deeper still. God, it’s been so long since he’s seen that smile, and he’s prayed every single fucking day to see it again. But not like this. God. Not like this.

She steps towards him with an unsteady gait. Her injuries have healed—as best as they can at least—but she hasn’t walked in years. She hasn’t been awake in years. This shouldn’t be possible. None of this should be possible.

Lucas doesn’t want this to be possible. Suddenly, he has everything that he’s been wishing for since that cursed night back in 1986, but it’s wrong. It’s all so, so wrong.

“Did you miss me, stalker?” the person in front of him whispers, sending a chill down Lucas’s spine. Her voice is raspy from disuse, and she takes another unsteady step towards him. 

Thump, thump, thump goes Lucas’s nervous heartbeat, and he clenches his hands tighter around his rifle. “Let her go,” he says, his voice trembling. “Get. Out of her head.”

Another cold, twisted smile. Another step towards him. “I’m afraid I can’t do that,” she mocks. “That’s just not how this works. You wanted her back, didn’t you? Well, now you have her. Now, you have me.”

Hot, salty tears sting Lucas’s eyes. Vecna… he’s just trying to get into Lucas’s head. He can’t afford to lose focus right now. This isn’t Max, and the real Max is somewhere in there—somewhere she can still be reached. Lucas knows she is.

So, Lucas blinks his tears back and forces himself to breathe. “We’ll find a way to save you, Max,” he whispers. “I promise you. I promise I won’t let him do this to you.”

Then, before the reanimated body of the girl Lucas loves can respond, Lucas yells, “NOW!” 

The hospital door bursts open, and light floods, revealing his friends—the Party—waiting on the other side. El leads the way, and there’s a fierce, angry look on her face as she holds out her hand towards Max’s body.

Her powers send Max flying backwards into the wall, and Lucas flinches as a pained cry—Max’s cry—fills the air. Likewise, El also flinches, but she walks forward regardless, holding Max’s reanimated body in place. Lucas’s legs feel like jelly, but somehow, he finds the strength to follow her, standing at El’s right hand in front of their captive best friend. 

“Leave. Her. Alone,” El hisses, her voice absolutely murderous. “I will kill you for this. I will kill you.”

Another cruel smile forms on Max’s face, and though her eyes are unseeing, she manages to look El directly in the eye. “No, you won’t,” she says, her voice terrifying cold and low. “Not unless you want her to die with me.”

A lump forms in the back of Lucas’s throat. Fresh tears sting his eyes, and he clenches his fists. Behind him, the other members of the Party file in, and someone—Mike, Lucas thinks—squeezes his shoulder gently. Will and Dustin follow his lead. 

All five of them stand united, somehow looking their lost friend and their worst enemy in the eye. It’s Lucas’s worst nightmare, and his heart is aching, but somehow, he finds the strength to keep going.

“We’ll save you, Max,” Lucas says fiercely. His voice comes out more confident that he expected it to. It doesn’t shake, and it’s full of all the resolve and hope and love he has in his heart. “I promise… I promise we’ll save you. I promise I’ll save you.”

Lucas turns to look at El, and he nods slightly—the silent confirmation that she can do what she needs to do.

And El gets it. There’s pain in her eyes—the same kind of pain that Lucas holds in his own heart. She’s hurting just as much as he is.

“We love you, Max,” El whispers.

Then, without any other hesitation, El renders their captive best friend unconscious. Max slumps over, and Lucas reaches forward, catching her in his arms. Her skin is ice cold, and it’s as if she’s a corpse, instead of the living, breathing, incredible person that Lucas knows and loves.

Fresh tears well in his eyes, and Lucas shuts them tightly, holding Max’s body close. It hurts—God, it hurts to see her like this. To… to know that Vecna is using her and taking away another part of who Max is and holding her hostage and keeping her from everyone she loves. It hurts, and there’s a fire inside Lucas’s heart that burns and burns and burns.

(He can’t let himself think about that fire too much. Because if he does, Lucas knows he’ll burn the world down in the process. To save Max… he thinks he’d do anything.)

Someone wraps their arms around him, and Lucas opens his eyes, looking at his friends with blurry vision. El is staring back at him, her own eyes full of tears, and an absolutely devastated look on her face.

“We will get her back,” she says, her voice soft but strong. “We will save her.”

Another set of arms wrap around him, then another, and another, until every single Party member is kneeling on the floor beside Lucas and Max and holding each other close. None of the others say a word, but they don’t have to. Lucas knows that—for the first time in years—they are all on the same page. Every single one of them knows what they have to do next, and every single one of them is willing to do whatever it takes.

They’re going to save Max.

They have to.

[wayward-sherlock]

hi! lumax for the shuffle ask game?

hi!!

this is longer than i expected, so it’s under the cut! <3

If she was being honest, Max wasn’t completely sure why Lucas was still with her.

She’d lost contact for a few days, when her mom had broken their phone in a fit of despair; he hadn’t cared and had just gifted her a new radio, so it wouldn’t happen again. She’d yelled at him, before, when her emotions had reared their ugly head and she wasn’t sure how to deal with it; he’d talked to her with soft, kind words that made her regret it, and when she’d apologized, he’d kissed her forehead and said it was okay.

There were some days where Max was grateful that he had stayed with her, through thick and thin. Most days, though, she felt guilty, like she was holding him back; he deserved better than her, she was sure.

Even though she knew he’d refuse, Max had tried to cancel on their movie date. The school day had been rough, longer than usual, and when she’d got home her eyes were already brimming with tears. She knew that if he showed up, her face would be red and splotchy from crying, and she’d be hiccuping in front of him, and the whole ordeal would just be embarrassing as hell.

Some small, nearly infinitesimal part of her was worried he wouldn’t love her, if he saw her like that. Max had never let anybody see her cry before, and it felt…it felt too vulnerable.

Lucas came around anyways.

[loveinhawkins]

When Lucas Sinclair starts to apologise for missing The Cult of Vecna, Eddie initially thinks that he’s hearing things.

Well, actually, the first thing he thinks is something along the lines of ‘what the fuck are you talking about?’

It takes him almost a solid thirty seconds to even vaguely remember his campaign; the last day of school before Spring Break feels dreamlike, as if it happened to someone else, as if he just watched everything through a fogged-up window.

“Jesus, Sinclair. I’ve got an ongoing list of folks who owe me an apology since, like, sixth grade, and trust me, your name’s not on there. Can pretty confidently say it never will, okay?”

Eddie sees Steve tilt his head ever so slightly from where he’s walking just ahead of them, like he’s listening in. Spots his faint nod of approval.

Eddie can’t decide if he resents it or finds it endearing—kind of gets the ridiculous feeling that Steve’s vetting him on behalf of the kids.

“Okay,” Lucas says, and he’s smiling, but there’s a sort of sombreness to it, too. “Still, I should’ve—”

“Hey, hindsight’s twenty-twenty,” Eddie says, firmly cutting off whatever self-critical bullshit he was about to hear. He knocks his shoulder against Lucas’s, adds a dry, “Like, I would’ve been a dick about it no matter what.”

Lucas laughs, but it’s muted. Then he takes a deep breath, and Eddie suddenly realises that he must’ve been using the apology to get himself started, to work himself up to what he really wanted to say.

“I’m… I’m sorry about… about Jason and… I thought I’d thrown them all off the trail, but—”

“Oh, don’t—don’t worry about it, man,” Eddie says faintly.

There’s a flash of Jason in his mind’s eye, the savage twist of his lip as he ran into the lake; he thinks of Lucas lying to his face, the danger of him being found out, and feels sick.

“Seriously, you could’ve told them… y’know. Wouldn’t have held it against you.”

Eddie doesn’t mention that him getting caught still feels inevitable, like he’s just waiting for the walls to close in.

But right now, at least, he can breathe a little easier. The shire might be burning, but there’s people leading him through it. He’s not alone.

Lucas looks appalled. “What? No, I couldn’t—I couldn’t do that to you.”

It’s said with such conviction that Eddie has to fight through a sudden tightness in his throat—doesn’t really know what to do in the face of such undeserved loyalty.

He settles on saying, “So, how was the game?” which is embarrassingly inadequate, but a genuine question nevertheless; the past few… Jesus, however long it’s been, he’s been in permanent need of a distraction.

Steve slows his walking pace—to anyone else it might’ve seemed subtle, but Eddie’s used to noticing such things. He somehow gets the feeling that Steve is no longer scrutinising him, not exactly; his posture’s relaxed and open, his forehead free of frown lines.

It’s more like he’s simply curious about Eddie’s behaviour. The way his eyes drift over, then down to the forest floor, then back again silently seems to say what are you thinking?

Or maybe Eddie’s projecting because he asks the very same question whenever a muscle jumps in Steve’s jaw.

“Oh, um…” Lucas says hesitantly. “I was on the bench for most of it, so—”

“Quit being modest.” The quiet whir of a tape being rewound; Max Mayfield comes up to Lucas’s side. “He made the winning shot,” she tells Eddie pointedly. “It was a buzzer-beater.”

“Oh, holy shit. Well done, dude.”

From the way Lucas is staring at Max with wide eyes, it’s obvious that he’s barely registered what Eddie’s said.

“How do you know that?” he asks. “You… you weren’t at the game.”

“I, uh.” Max looks down for a moment, fiddling with the headphones around her neck. “I listened to it on the radio.”

Lucas smiles so brightly. There’s an earnestness to him; Eddie spotted it a mile away, ever since that first day back at school, when all the new freshmen were anxiously lining up to get lunch.

Max softens—her arms are still folded, but she drifts a little closer to Lucas as they walk, all studied casualness.

(Oh, Eddie’s been there before: forced to run track in middle school Phys Ed, and the only saving grace was ‘just so happening’ to run at the same pace as any boy who’d smile at him.)

Eddie catches Steve’s eye, and this time Steve gives him a very deliberate expression, nodding fondly at Max and Lucas.

Look at them, he’s saying with his eyes, as if he and Eddie are on the same team, as if Eddie at all deserves to be let in on whatever shared history Steve has with these kids.

Eddie kicks at a stray twig. You’re not going to get a lump in your throat about this, damn it, don’t be stupid.

“S’gonna be historic, Sinclair,” he says. “Last time the Tigers won a championship was, uh, lemme think… twenty-two years ago.”

Lucas stops in his tracks.

“I know that,” he says, eyes shrewd, “but why do you know?”

Eddie raises his hands with a grin, it wasn’t me, officer. “What, I can’t repeat a few years without retaining a little school knowledge?”

“Oh,” Lucas says, and it’s like Eddie can see him mentally replaying every cafeteria speech. He grins back. “So you’re a hypocrite.”

“Maybe,” Eddie says. He glances further afield, where Dustin is animatedly explaining something to Robin and Nancy. “I know you’re not gonna give me shit for it, though.”

“Huh, guess you don’t really know me,” Lucas says, and Max snorts.

Eddie smirks. “And it’s, like, doubly historic since the last person to score a buzzer-beater was—”

He cuts himself off, because Steve abruptly turns to him, like they’re in alliance, and draws a hand sharply across his neck.

But Lucas is already hooked. “What? Who was it?”

Eddie gives Steve a helpless shrug. Sorry, man.

“I’m looking right at him,” he says.

Lucas rounds on Steve. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because,” Steve says, flustered, “that was your thing, Lucas, I didn’t wanna be all…”

He trails off with a vague hand gesture, and Eddie thinks he somehow gets what he means—smiles at the thoughtfulness of it.

“That makes, like, no sense,” Lucas says vehemently. His eyes practically have stars in them. “Damn it, we shoulda got a photo.”

Steve laughs in surprise. “All right, noted.”

“I mean, Wheeler works for the school paper, right?” Eddie says. “They’ve probably got old issues. Hey, Sinclair, you could have, y’know, side-by-side photos. Yours and then…” He waves a hand at Steve. “Ancient history.”

Steve rolls his eyes. “Ancient, sure.”

“Oh, Lucas,” Max says, batting her eyes excessively, “I’d frame a picture of you. Pray to it every night.”

Lucas blushes. “Shut up,” he says, elbowing her gently; Eddie thinks that it’s the first time he’s heard Max Mayfield laugh.

Steve’s watching over them again, and his eyes go pensive when Lucas mumbles something like, “I wouldn’t mind a frame.”

The expression Steve has is something Eddie’s only seen once before, and it was on Wayne’s face. Eddie had privately dubbed it the ‘found something for your birthday’ look when he’d noticed it: him and Wayne on a road trip, Eddie not so secretly mooning over the secondhand acoustic guitar in the shop window.

“Your picture should be bigger, Sinclair,” Steve says, sounding both teasing and sincere. “My shot didn’t win a Championship Game.” In an undertone, he adds, “As Brenda so helpfully reminded me.”

Oh, Eddie’s not letting that go.

“Do mine ears deceive me? Did you take a date to a high school basketball game?” Eddie cackles. “You sure know how to woo ‘em, Harrington.”

“Hey,” Steve says defensively, “she could only make that day. Told her I had non-negotiable plans: it was either the game or it was a bust.”

Huh, Eddie thinks, that’s actually… really sweet.

Lucas looks torn between being embarrassed or touched. “You didn’t need to do that, Steve.”

“Sure I did. C’mon, you thought I was gonna go to every match and then miss the Championship?” Steve’s eyebrows furrow. “Where was Erica, anyway?”

… Ah.

“Mea culpa,” Eddie says. “She was, uh, at Hellfire.”

Lucas scoffs. “It’s fine,” he says. “Last time she was at a game, she kept shouting that she loved my tactics.” He looks out into the middle distance. “I was on the bench the whole time.”

Steve chuckles. “Yeah, I missed her being there.” He’s sporting a smile that’s somehow the perfect balance of fond and mischievous; it, quite frankly, has no business looking as attractive as it does. “We had, um, alternative commentary for every game. That kid should have a radio show.” He comes closer, adds in another aside, “Would’ve made the date more bearable if she was there.”

Eddie stifles a laugh, has a moment of respectful silence for Brenda.

Max and Lucas cut in front, keep walking until they’re almost out of earshot; Eddie hears Lucas faintly say something that sounds like, “Was I totally tubular?”, soon drowned out by Max’s laughter.

There’s a short silence.

“Thanks, Eddie,” Steve says suddenly.

Eddie blinks at him, quickly turns his genuine confusion into a bit. “What for, Harrington? My devastating wit? Devilish good looks?”

Steve shakes his head. He smiles for a moment, in on the joke, but then he looks over at Lucas and Max again, and… there.

A muscle jumps in his jaw.

“It’s just… they’ve got a lot to carry, y’know? So…” He shrugs. “Thanks.”

It’s said so quietly, so without fanfare.

Eddie’s hit with the realisation between one footstep and the next: that he’s earned Steve Harrington’s trust.

It feels… weighty.

But Eddie doesn’t mind it; he doesn’t think it’s going to crush his ribs. If anything it feels like they’re sharing a load.

“Don’t gotta thank me for that, Harrington.”

Steve smiles, pushing back his hair; Eddie’s brought back to the moment he did the very same on the basketball court, just as the ball sunk through the net, and Eddie decided fuck it, wholeheartedly embracing his hypocrisy as he jumped up and down with the band kids.

I cheered so goddamn loud for you, Eddie thinks.

He doesn’t say it.

But he keeps walking next to Steve. Feels a little young, a little bit like he’s running track—checking his pace just so he could see a boy smile at him.

[doriandrifting]

And when Max wakes up and finally gets to talk to Lucas, and she aims for sarcastic when she asks, “So you’ve been watching me sleep?” but it’s too watery to be anything but affectionate. And Lucas says all choked up, “Yeah—Yeah, I’ve been waiting for you to wake up. Felt like a total stalker.” Then what?

[imfinereallyy]

*throws phone across room while reading ao3* “the second hand embarrassment is burning through my veins.”

*proceeds to pick up the phone again, only to repeat this endless cycle*

[queenie-ofthe-void]

A Desperate Fool - Part 2

written for @steddiemicrofic

Prompt: 'top' | wc: 510 | rated: T | cw: hurt/no comfort (comfort is coming I promise!), mentions of child abandonment, breakup fic, AU-Modern Rockstar!Eddie

Part 1

~~~

“Hey, Teddy Bear!”

Eddie quickly scans for the voice piercing the buzzing swarm of paparazzi outside his home. It’s a cold winter night, yet after his public outburst with Robin a week ago and the ensuing onslaught of viral videos, they never seem to leave. Attention that used to have him feeling on top of the world now only leaves him feeling like the scum of the earth.

The overtly personal nickname rings through his memories, filling him with hope and dread in equal measure.

If I’m your baby, Eds, then you’re my Teddy Bear.

A swath of red hair and a high fade catch his gaze against the light snowfall. The boy’s usual charming smile’s been replaced with a cold stare, while she’s actively scowling. Eddie rushes through the crowd, excited to see them after so long despite the circumstances. He pulls them into the safety of his home, slamming the door behind them.

“Did you honestly think Steve was the only person you abandoned?” Max asks, before Eddie can even say hello.

Abandoned. A low blow, throwing Eddie’s childhood in his face, at least before he was adopted in all but name by the Wheeler’s. But coming from Max, he thinks maybe it’s fair play. She’s always been more Harrington than Mayfield, Lucas too. Out of the bunch, they’ve always been Steve’s kids.

“Mike had to go back to therapy! Nancy actually cried,” she spits, pacing the foyer while Lucas stands stoic by the door. 

“I didn’t think they’d-” Eddie starts before he’s interrupted.

“What? That your family wouldn’t be upset, feel as betrayed as Steve?” Lucas finally speaks up. “So when you bragged about outgrowing your roots, that wasn’t supposed to mean us too?”

Eddie shrinks in on himself. He’s being admonished in his own home, and he knows he deserves it. He knows, truly. He just can’t handle the overwhelming aches of guilt and regret, which pang louder with each disappointed loved one. Another reminder he’d surrounded himself with people who only care about Metal Munson. 

He’s foolishly desperate to win back his family, people who loved him for himself. He wants to be Eddie again. His baby’s Teddy Bear.

“What-” he tries again, forcing words around the growing knot in his throat and watery eyes. He’s cried so much lately. “Why are you here?”

Max eyes him skeptically, glancing at Lucas and sharing a look Eddie can’t decipher. They make a silent decision, and she moves to stand by her husband at the door.

“Steve’s getting married this summer,” she states, like it’s nothing. Like it’s not the end of Eddie’s world.

The tears fall, then. He loses control of a sob before he gets his voice back. “To who?” he pitifully asks, pretending he actually wants to know.

“You don’t know her,” Lucas replies.

Her. Her. Herherherher.

“Oh,” Eddie says softly. He can’t stop shaking, or is the earth quaking beneath him.

Max sighs, sympathetic, and rips his world open further still.

“Steve wants to talk, but you’ll have to get through Nancy first.”

Part Three

~~~

I SWEAR it's gonna get better!!! Some solid Eddie and Nancy comfort coming up next. Think I might keep adding on to this fic via prompts only but we'll see.

[withacapitalp]

“Okay, so now we add the water, right?”

“No! No water!” Steve practically shouted, grabbing the pot and holding it high above his head so Joyce couldn’t reach it, “Joyce, we’ve talked about this,”

She rolled her eyes, putting the measuring cup on the counter and sighing. Robin and the kids giggled from their spot in the living room, the parade turned down low so they could hear every bit of the clownery going on in the kitchen. Steve turned the evil eye on them and put one hand on his hip. 

“And, peanut gallery, if you want to have food, you’ll want to keep your snark at bay. Unless you want to be the ones in here helping me make an entire Thanksgiving meal for fourteen.”

“Always the mom,” Max sighed, patting her stomach, “I’ll have you know if we’re not eating by five o’clock sharp, Nugget here will be making Lucas drive us to McDonalds,” 

Steve waved her off and turned back to the stove, placing down the pot and stirring his perfectly prepared potatoes. It felt kind of weird to keep thinking of them as kids now that they were all graduating from college. But, to Steve, they would always be kids. No matter how tall, how old, how many nuggets of their own they had, those seven little kids would always be the stupid pre-teens that had given him his life. 

“Now, it’s important to remember to continue to whisk, or else they’ll get clumpy.” Steve instructed in a no nonsense tone. He had eaten enough of her radioactive cooking to know where she would start to lose sight of the final product. 

“Are you torturing my wife?” Hopper asked as he entered into the fray, grabbing another round of beers for him and the boys. Steve could just catch the sound of Jonathan and Wayne yelling at the TV in the bedroom upstairs, calling the referee out on some bullshit play. 

“This is the real question, Hop. Is your wife torturing my husband?” A voice came from behind him, soft and buttery. A voice Steve had desperately missed, even though this trip had only been a short few weeks.

Steve hummed, leaning back into Eddie’s arms and letting his eyes slip shut for a second. Eddie had only been in Chicago for three weeks to re-record something for his newest album, but to Steve it was always too long.  Warm pale arms littered with scars came up around him, fingers playing with the silver chain around his neck. No government would ever recognize it, they couldn’t really tell the world, but the ring on that chain was everything to Steve, just like the man who had given it to him. 

“She is,” Steve fake-whispered into Eddie’s ear, “She’s trying to poison us all with liquid potatoes,”

“Lucky for us, we have you,” Eddie whispered back, pressing a kiss to Steve’s cheek from behind, “God bless you, Mr. Potato Man.”

Steve snickered, turning around so he could fully face his partner. Eddie’s hair was shorter now than it was when they were young and stupid, and he was starting to get crows feet in the corner of his eyes.

He was more beautiful every time Steve saw him. 

“Quick! Eddie distract him while I put water in the potatoes!” Joyce cried. Eddie immediately went along with it, yanking Steve away from the stove and ignoring his protests as she began to experiment. Steve conceded defeat the second the paprika was pulled out of the cupboard. Some things would just never change. 

Eddie dragged him into the hallway, hiding them ever so slightly from the rest. 

“Glad to be home,” He murmured, hugging Steve close and resting their foreheads together. 

Home. The home Eddie had bought him all those years ago. The carpet in the living room was a soft cream now instead of gaudy orange, and there were boxes filled with mums in each window. The mold problem had been fully eradicated, but the screen door still swung open and shut in the wind. 

Steve didn’t mind it anymore.  It was just a part of the charm of their house. 

Their house. Even now it made his heart fill to the bursting to think of it. Their house.  

But now that Eddie was back, it was really home. 

[strangersatellites]

happy valentine’s day steddie nation! have some lumax & steddie shenanigans as a treat! i love you all! 🫶🏼

February 11th, 1987

It’s not that she’s particularly interested in watching E.T. again. It's more so the fact that the back of the VHS box has enough words that she can pretend to read it for an extended period of time without looking suspicious. 

See, Max is a planner. She plans. Plots might actually be a better word. Perhaps even schemes.

Whatever. She plans. 

When the time is right, she executes. 

Luckily, Lucas is good for two (2) things. 

Anything and everything Max asks of him

Causing problems on purpose

That’s how she finds herself here. Pretending to read the back of a movie she’s seen at least ten times while she acts like she’s not able to hear the conversation happening at the Family Video counter.

“Oh come on! It’s for Valentine’s Day!”

Steve stops whatever he’s trying to do on the tv and props a hand on his hip while he levels Lucas with a look.

“What makes you think I don’t have plans already, Sinclair? Huh? I could have my own date to plan for all you know.”

Lucas snorts. “Yeah, right. Please, Steve? I already told Max you said yes so she’s expecting it to be a whole thing! I’ll ask Eddie to drop us off and everything! Plus, my mom said we can only have a date if you chaperone and no offense, but I’m not taking you to a restaurant.”

“Well maybe we need to practice honesty in our relationships,” Steve says, pointing the tv remote at him. “You’re lucky Max is my favorite, or else you would’ve been in deep shit. Now what did you tell her I was cooking?”

Max has to hide a giggle behind the horror movie display at the way Lucas visibly sags in relief. He throws her a wink when Steve turns back to the screen. 

*****

February 12th, 1987

Finding the money is easy. 

It’s not Max’s fault Eddie is an absolute idiot and leaves his wallet in his unlocked van during Hellfire. 

The man is just asking to be a victim of petty theft.

Plus, she doubts he even pays enough attention to the amount of money he has in there anyway. He probably won’t even know it's gone. 

Picking the flowers out wasn’t difficult either. 

Steve’s favorite flowers are tulips, and under any other circumstances they would be the obvious choice. But everyone knows a dozen red roses means true love. 

And it's Valentine’s Day. Come on.

The florist had watched the pair look at all the flowers with a twinkle in her eye. No doubt she thought Lucas was buying them for Max. 

Gross.

Convincing her that they needed them delivered to Family Video on Valentine’s Day was a little trickier.

“No they’re not for me, ew.” and “They’re for a friend.” and “Yes, we know it's last minute.”

But arguably the most difficult part had been choosing what to put on the card. 

They’re sitting on the sidewalk outside the arcade writing and crossing out and writing again while everyone else is inside.

“Lucas, are you kidding me? We can’t just say Happy Valentine’s Day. That’s so lame.”

He throws his hands up in an exasperated gesture. “Well what else? We can’t be all ‘roses are red, violets are blue, I’m a big dumb idiot who won’t make a move.’”

Max snorts a laugh and gives him a conspiratory smile before she starts writing on the back of a receipt.

“No. But you know what we can do?”

*****

February 13th, 1987

“I don’t know… this feels a little risky.”

Max swats at Lucas’s bicep and glares. 

“Just trust me. All we have to do is get Eddie there and his own desperate need to be nosy will do the rest.”

Lucas takes a deep breath in and accepts his fate. “If this doesn’t work it's your fault.”

She just rolls her eyes and shoves him up and off the couch. 

They’re in the Wheeler’s basement finishing up yesterday’s campaign so they can all have Valentine’s day to do their own thing. Eddie called for a ten minute break after Mike and Dustin had to very nearly be physically held back during an argument about what move they should make next. 

He’s propped on the arm of his chair and writing something in a little notebook when Lucas approaches. 

“Uh hey, Eddie? Can I ask you something?”

The older boy raises his eyes up to meet Lucas’s and squints at him.

“Roll for charisma.”

Now it's Lucas’s turn to roll his eyes. “Are you serious?”

Eddie breaks into a bright smile and settles into his seat with a laugh. “Nah, man. What’s up, Sinclair?”

“Are you busy tomorrow? Do you have any plans for Valentine’s Day I mean?”

Eddie’s brows furrow and he tilts his head a bit. “No way, dude. I’ll be sitting at home with a movie and a bowl of Wayne’s spaghetti if the past is any indication of how my day will play out. Besides, you know how I feel about all that shit.”

Max squints from her place on the couch braiding El’s hair. She does know how he feels about all that shit. She heard him telling Robin alllllllll about how he wanted to have a real Valentine’s Day date one day. 

She’s grateful at this moment that he’s publicly sticking to his guns. No “forced conformity” in sight.

That would’ve ruined the plan.

“Perfect!” Lucas claps.

Max cringes but he recovers.

“Uh, I mean– I mean that’s perfect for me then! I was going to ask if you could come pick me up from Steve’s tomorrow. He told me he’d let me go through his closet and pick out something to wear.” He looks down and picks at a string on his jacket and Max has to hand it to him. His acting skills are pretty impressive. “I’m taking Max on a real date tomorrow.”

Eddie’s face softens and he cuts the shit with his false bravado almost instantly.

“That’s sweet, man. But why can’t Harrington drive you to Max’s exactly?”

And shit.

Max didn’t think Eddie would question him. Not with the way he drives them places all the time. 

Then again so does Steve. So maybe that was a bit of an oversight.

But Lucas takes it in stride. “Oh he said something about cooking for his own date when I leave.”

Max might be a bit more worried about Lucas’s ability to lie off the cuff if she weren’t so impressed.

Eddie just nods. “Sure, kiddo. I’ll be there at 7 o’clock sharp.”

Easy.

Now they wait.

*****

February 14th, 1987

Max is sitting on the counter swinging her feet while Steve and Robin bicker back and forth about what order the new display movies should go in.

It’s ten minutes before six and she’s starting to get nervous.

Her inner monologue is screaming, “I knew she would forget to deliver them.”

Just about the time she’s going to ask to use Keith’s phone to call Lucas, the florist van pulls up.

Steve furrows his brow and looks at Robin. She just raises her shoulders and shakes her head. He opens the door and leans against it.

A young girl hops out of the passenger seat with the prettiest bouquet of red roses Max has ever seen. She has to bite back her own smile. 

“Hi!” The girl greets while rustling through the leaves to find the card. “Delivery for uh– Stevie?”

Robin snorts and slaps a hand over her mouth.

Steve runs a hand through his hair and stutters out a “I’ll just get those. Yeah– yeah thanks. Have a good one,” and comes back inside.

Max puts on her game face when he puts them on the counter and steps back with his hands on his hips. 

Robin has propped her chin in her hands and is looking on with barely concealed glee.

Max levels him with a bored look. “So… What does the card say?”

He reaches for the card and reads it quietly to himself. If Max isn’t mistaken, his cheeks are dusted with a pink flush.

He smiles and laughs. “They’re from Eds.”

Eds? Gross.

“Dear Stevie, something happened and I'm head over heels. Happy Valentine’s Day. Love, Eddie.”

Robin mimes being struck by Cupid and Steve giggles at her antics and thumbs over the petals of one of the flowers with a soft smile.

Before Max can unpack that, the door bursts open so hard the bell swings into the glass with a clang.

Steve’s head snaps to the door with a “LUCAS!” already ringing out through the store.

He holds his hands up in a placating gesture and catches his breath.

“Sorry! Sorry! Max, you ready to go?”

And, oh. Right. 

She hops off the counter and grabs her bag. Spins around to Robin and Steve with a smile.

She leans in to whisper, “We’re going somewhere on a date tonight. He thinks I don’t know.”

Robin bites back another smile and salutes Lucas while Steve laughs under his breath and grabs his own keys and the vase off the counter.

“Have fun kiddos! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Robin calls out as they take off out the door.

*****

As riveting as the idea of hiding in a bush and watching Steve cook and sing to himself for an hour sounds, in practice it is painfully boring.

“Seriously? We couldn’t have just gone to the arcade until 7 o’clock?” Lucas angry-whispers.

Max adjusts her elbows on her knees so her binoculars are steadier.

“No. We need to be here to make sure everything goes to plan.”

Lucas groans and Max gives him an aggressive shush.

“Steve already liked the flowers and he double checked with me yesterday that you still wanted his homemade pizza. Literally all Eddie has to do is show up and take the bait.”

Now it’s Max who’s groaning. “Ugh, I don’t know, okay! But it's like five minutes ‘til seven anyway so it doesn’t matter.”

It’s just when they see Steve set the plates on either side of the bouquet on the table that they hear the sound of Eddie’s van turning into the driveway.

They both inhale sharply and duck further behind the bushes. 

When Eddie climbs out he looks… nice.

Nice for Eddie at least. 

There’s no chains, no dirty sneakers. Instead there’s a black button up and his nice boots. He’s got his hair half pulled up and all of his earrings in.

Max and Lucas share a bewildered look. Surely he didn’t lie about not having plans tonight, right?

Realistically the two know they’re too far away to hear or be heard but that doesn’t stop them from holding their breath as Eddie knocks on the door.

Steve opens it with a towel slung over his shoulder. He’s dressed the part too. Dark jeans and a dark red sweater, looking exactly like a parent chaperoning a kid’s date.

His smile is bright as he opens the door and gestures for Eddie to come inside. 

They stand beside the foyer window and chat while the two look on through binoculars with bated breath. 

“Surely Eddie’s noticed I’m not there by now, right?” Lucas questions.

Max hums and nods. “Yeah and I’m guessing that Steve has realized Eddie isn’t dropping us off either.”

The two boys throw their heads back in what they can only assume to be hearty laughter from their lack of sound. Steve nods his head towards the kitchen and Eddie gestures for him to lead the way.

“It worked! Max! It actually worked! He’s staying!”

Steve pulls out Eddie’s chair and lights the candles; dims the lights, and takes his own seat.

Max just laughs. “Of course it worked. They’ve been into each other for months! They’re both just too stupid to notice it without a little push!”

They look on in silence as Steve has magically procured a bottle of wine and two glasses and is filling them while they talk.

Lucas smiles and nudges Max with his shoulder. “Dude. Best Valentine’s Day ever.”

She smiles back and punches his arm. “Yeah. Best one ever.”

*****

Meanwhile in the Harrington House

“So, should we tell them?”

Eddie snorts. “Tell them what? That we knew they were trying to set us up or that we’ve been together for four months?”

Now it’s Steve who’s laughing. “I was thinking more about the fact that we can see them in the bushes.”

“Nah. I want to keep that one until I need to sandbag them for something.”

Steve shakes his head and looks at the table.

Eddie grabs his hand and lowers his voice to a whisper. “Hey.”

Steve looks up and meets his eyes, gets a little lost in the way they sparkle in the candlelight.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, baby.”

He lifts Eddie’s hand and presses a soft kiss to his knuckles, the new devil ring Steve gave him before he left this morning.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Eds.”

Maybe if Max and Lucas had looked a little closer, they would have noticed that the plates on the table didn’t have homemade pizza, they had spaghetti.

That the bouquet on the table wasn’t a dozen roses.

It was tulips.

[anaxibiaclark]

Thinking about Steve taking Max in after she gets out of the hospital. (No, her mother did not abandon her, Max wanted to finish high school in Hawkins.)

Her body has fully healed but she still can't see a damn thing. At most, she can see blurred lines of text when she brings a book up to the tip of her nose and tilts her head slightly to the left. (Unfortunately, corrective lenses don't help.) Usually she just gets Lucas or El to read to her.

When Steve and Eddie bring her home, it's a big to do for Lucas. He's become a slight helicopter boyfriend. Always worried that she'll get hurt if she isn't using her guide cane.

As they step into the house, Eddie watches Lucas scan the interior for any obstacles that might be in the way. Panic is still clear as day on his face.

"Sinclair, relax." Eddie says, squeezing his shoulder reassuringly. "Steve and I spent days mapping this place out for the safest paths to traverse."

"Really?" Slight skepticism can be heard in Lucas' voice.

Eddie sighs, "yes, really." He steps away to grab his DM notebook from a side table that is now flush with the wall. "Look," he walks back over to Lucas flipping through the notebook.

Lucas' eyes go big recognizing the notebook. "Is that your...?"

"Yes it is," Eddie confirms, placing the notebook in Lucas' hands. "But if you even think about flipping to the front, I will make sure your Ranger is the first one to die in my new campaign." Eddie smirks when he sees Lucas' Adam's apple bob in his throat.

"What am I looking at here?" Lucas asks as he studies the graph paper within the notebook.

"It's the layout of Steve's house." He points to some numbers in the margins. "We even figured out the number of steps to take before she reaches an obstacle."

Just then, Eddie happens to look up in time to catch Max approaching said obstacle. "Hey, Red?"

Max freezes in place. "Yeah?"

"Take a half step to your left." He watches as she takes the half step.

"What did I almost walk into?"

"End table."

Max reaches her right hand out and brushes fingertips over the wood. "Thanks, Eddie."

"You're welcome, Kiddo."

Eddie smiles as he watches El approach Max, linking their arms together, guiding the redhead down the hall towards the den.

Steve's voice can be heard as he gives Max direction. "So, Max, you roughly have about six steps from the hallway entrance to the laundry room. Which will be to your right."

"I'm blind Steve." Max says with a bit of snark. "How am I gonna be able to do my own laundry?"

Steve huffes out a breath. "It's a reference point Mayfield."

The girls giggle and Eddie can't help but snicker. He's certain that Steve has now taken on his "mom stance," hands on hips and annoyance written across his face.

"Jesus," exasperation can be heard in his voice. "You're just as bad as the boys."

More giggling can be heard as it fades down the hall.

Eddie turns his focus back to Lucas. "See," he gestures towards the hall. "She's in good hands Sinclair."

"Fine." Lucas sighs, shaking his head. "I'll take your word for it."

Eddie can still see the worry in the young boy's eyes. "Hey," he says reassuringly, "Max is safe here, we made sure of it. Besides, Steve already has a guide dog in the works for Red. We just have to make sure they'll be a good fit for eachother."

Lucas starts to physically relax as Eddie continues. "He also has a lady, who's coming from Indianapolis, willing to teach Red how to read braille."

Eddie notices a sheen in Lucas' eyes. "Steve did all of this for her?"

"Well," a smug smile spreads across his face. "I'm the one who came up with the floor plan," he pauses as Lucas let's out a choked laugh. "But, yes, everything else was all Steve's doing."

A calming silence washes over them for a brief moment. Until they hear a pained groan and muffled laughter.

"Let's go rescue Steve from embarrassment." Eddie says, pulling Lucas towards the hallway.

Lucas chuckles. "That's probably a wise idea."

[suspiciouslackofclowns]

It’s awkward at first. Like watching your parents kiss and having to look away to shield yourself from the secondhand embarrassment.

But now Max is… used to it. Appreciative of it, even.

For a while, she was seriously starting to doubt the existence of love. She figured that, if anything, the best she could hope for is to be able to tolerate someone enough to spend the rest of her life with them. To hope that she finds someone who doesn’t take pleasure in screaming at her or raising their fists.

Because all this talk of love and romance and whatever else is fantasy, clearly.

At least, that’s what she thought.

“You gonna pick something or just stare at the tapes forever?” Billy huffs.

He strolls past the couch, playfully nudging her arm and earning an eye roll. It’s Thursday night, which means that Steve has brought home an abundant selection of movies before they all get snatched up for the weekend at the video store. It also means that Lucas is curled up on the sofa next to her.

Movie nights used to be tense. Billy and Steve wouldn’t sit too close, and their presence, again, felt like that of parents. Like Max and Lucas shouldn’t sit too close either for fear of being scolded.

But, several weeks and a bestowed pack of condoms from Billy later, things are easier.

The blond, rather than finding a seat on the entire open half of the couch, heads straight for the recliner that Steve is already sitting in. Without even looking, Steve spreads his legs and opens his arms.

The beat up old La-Z-Boy gives an eerie creak under their shared weight when Billy eases into his lap.

At one point, Max would have felt awkward for bearing witness to it. Would have avoided looking at that side of the room for the whole evening or even turned in early for the night. But she watches, instead, how Steve’s arms lace around Billy’s waist and pull him closer. How Billy relaxes instantly and smiles when a kiss is pressed to his shoulder, to his neck, and then to his cheek.

It’s nice, she thinks.

Someone is finally being gentle with her brother, and she couldn’t have picked anyone better suited for the job.

[angeldreamsoffanfic]

An excerpt from my upcoming fic where Steve and Max are thrown into an alternate universe after their untimely death, and they get to be the siblings they both deserve <3

-

Steve Harrington is quiet as he took a slow sip of his hot cocoa, the rich kind made with milk instead of water, topped with whipped cream and sprinkled with marshmallows. The sky above him is darkened, storm clouds rolling in quick, and Steve can’t bring himself to move from his spot on his back porch.

Even if he knows that he’ll definitely get drenched when the rain actually starts.

The back door squeaks open and Steve tilts his head slightly, catching sight of Max stepping out onto the porch herself. Her red hair is still held in the two French braids he had managed, just a bit more mused by sleep. Max tugged on the collar of his sweater she was wearing, the bright red one that Steve knows everyone likes to “borrow”, and she slides onto the step next to him.

Steve is completely silent as he passes the cup to Max instead.

Max is completely silent as she takes a sip, before she passes it back.

“I never really understood why you acted the way you did, if I’m being honest.” Max admits softly, her brows furrowed almost taut as she cast a look toward the swimming pool. It’s empty now, but it won’t be for long. Steve knows this, knows that the closer it gets to Will disappearing— that his father will tell him to call someone to start filling it again. “I thought maybe you were just a mother hen, but…”

“But?” Steve repeats, turning his head to catch Max’s eyes. Her blue eyes are almost watery with tears, and Steve diverted his eyes as one of her hands came up to wipe them haphazardly away.

“You did it so we could just be kids.”

Steve is silent, and instead chose to pass the mug back toward Max- who took it and cupped it in between her palms. Steve shifts so he can face Max, and pauses to prop himself comfortably against the pillar of his back porch.

“I grew up like this,” Steve explains softly, his own brow furrowed as he waved a hand around him. “I just… all of you were so young when it first all started, and if I could give you a little peace…”

“Who gives you peace?” Max asks with wide eyes, and Steve smiles as he cast her a look with slightly raised brows. Max’s eyes immediately widen, and Steve lets out a soft sigh of a laugh at the incredulous look that immediately spread over Max’s face. “Me?”

“You,” Steve nodded with a small smile, especially as Max takes another sip of the cocoa- whipped cream just above her upper lip before she licks it away. “And Robin, the rest of the brat pack too.”

“Really?” Max’s voice is soft, even as she raps one of her fingers against the mug. “But me first?”

Steve shrugs, even as the sky overhead lets out a rumble. Max extends the mug back toward Steve, and he takes another sip before he sent Max a small smile.

“I’ve always wanted a sister, y’know?”

Max allows herself to let out the softest giggle she’s ever heard, even if she’ll vehemently deny it if Steve ever attempted to bring it up. Max smiles, tilts her head back to face the sky, watching as the rain starts to fall.

“I’ve always wanted an actual brother.”

[existingonthisplane]

The party playing truth or dare and Dustin, in his utterly unhinged era, decides to give someone a fake dating dare.

Realizes that Will, to his knowledge, is the only one who hasn’t dated.

Him and Lucas are already in relationships and El is Will’s sister so absolutely not.

Decides it’s up to their good pal Michael.

“My dearest buddy, Mike-“

And Mike tenses immediately cause Dustin’s got that tone he uses when he’s a little too excited about an idea. So Mike is just sitting there staring nervously.

And Dustin is like “I dare you to date Will for a week! Our boy deserves a good time.”

Will’s eyes widening comically large at the statement and Mike looks like he just got dunked in cold water.

“If he’s okay with it of course” Dustin adds on quickly at the end. Noticing Mike and Will’s reaction.

“I’m not sure about that one, man” Lucas pipes in adjusting his position next to Max so she can lean on him more comfortably.

“Fake dating? Isn’t that just normal dating?” El says, confusion thick in her voice turning towards Max who’s hand she’s holding.

“It’s stupid that’s what it is. But I guess it works for a dare? Not sure if I’d pick Wheeler of all people.” Max throws in lifting her head off of Lucas’s shoulder and shaking it.

“Doesn’t matter what you think Max, it’s about Will. So,” Dustin turns back facing Will again,”what’ll it be?”

And the whole group just turns towards him waiting for an answer, save for Mike who looks like he’s trying to remember how to function.

Will just starts stammering not really sure what to make of this at all. Of course Dustin would dare the ONE person who Will would actually like to date if that was possible.

Dustin hearing the lack of replies would go on to explain a little further how Mike is honestly the perfect candidate which Will honestly can’t argue with the logic of it because going from Dustin’s perspective Mike is Will’s best friend, hanging out regularly is already something they do and they like a lot of the same things.

It wouldn’t be that different from how they are now, Dustin honestly just wants Mike to hold Will’s hand and take him on like date nights or something? “Give him the experience” as he put it so lovingly.

“I mean, I guess I’m okay with it. It’s just a dare and this is honestly the closest I’ll get to actually dating someone since I’m not all that interested.” Will says, a little cautiously. If his friends read into it a bit they don’t say anything.

Mike is very very quiet still and it’s a little concerning so Will looks over at him. Trying to check in with his eyes. Mike looks far away though, lost in thought. At least his face doesn’t look like he’s in agony, he’s just blushing? A lot actually.

“Well I need you to know. I’m not going to dare him if you don’t want to.” Will looks back over to Dustin who’s got his eyebrow arched.

Dustin glances back over at Mike and Will realizes that they’re both thinking the same thing of giving Mike an out. If Will says no, then Mike is spared. All they need Mike to do is actually look and give that signal that he’s uncomfortable.

Mike glances up at Will. Probably because he could feel the eyes on him.

“So are you sure Will?” Dustin repeats, more for Mike’s sake than Will’s at this point.

Mike’s gaze is steady and something determined flits between his eyes. Will’s pretty sure his face is on fire.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, yes I’m sure.”

“Sick! Okay Wheeler, I dare you to date Will for a week! I want you to pull out all the stops too! Full blown dates, pay for his meals!!! Tell him he’s the cutest guy you’ve seen or something! No holding any punches, got it?” Dustin rattles off like he’d been planning it the whole time.

“What happens if he doesn’t pull all the stops out?” El asks from behind him.

“Oh right! If you don’t complete the dare in a satisfactory way you’ve got to read the whole party that one poem you absolutely refuse to let any of us see.”

A collective gasp rings across the room. Not even Will had seen that supposed poem! They’re not even sure if it exists. These are high stakes here.

Mike makes a face that’s got too many emotions to decipher though but Will thinks it makes him look constipated.

“You wouldn’t-“ Mike starts

“Oh but I would. And I did. So what’ll it be Wheeler?”

“Fine! Not like I was going to chicken out anyways. I’ll be the best god damn boyfriend any of you people have ever seen.” Mike says. Cheeks puffing out in annoyance.

“I’m not sure about that one considering your track record” El mumbles but everyone still hears.

Max starts cackling and Lucas has a fist covering his mouth looking away to keep from laughing himself.

Dustin has doubled over at the comment and Will is trying and failing severely to keep it together.

“El!!” Mike shouts, face a whole new shade of red and El just shrugs in reply.

Mike turns towards Will, betrayal written over his features and Will thinks it’s cute, mouthing a quick “sorry” though his laughter.

Mike rolls his eyes, plopping down next to him and leaning near his ear.

“I don’t know why you’re laughing considering I’m yours for a week now.”

That sobers Will up almost instantly. Mouth clinking shut before he turns his face towards his best friend in disbelief. Their noses brush at the movement and Will makes the weakest effort in existence to move back to give some space.

He goes to reply when Dustin pipes in with a quick

“You guys getting started already? Damn, I guess he was serious.”

The room is back to laughing eventually dissolving into regular conversation. Mike smiles quickly at Will before looking back at his friends joining in leaving Will reeling.

Will’s face is red for the rest of the night.

[morganski-19]

Some believed that there were invisible strings that tied you to your soulmate no matter where they were in the world. No matter what, you would find your soulmate at some point in your life, and fall in love. No one really believed this theory, until there were enough reports of enough people seeing them. The only catch you could only see your strings when your soulmate died.

Steve didn't believe in them though, he thought it was dumb. After all of his failed dates and relationships, it was easier to believe that soulmates just weren't real. That way he wouldn't get excited when he started dating someone new, and less hurt when it came to an end.

"Maybe you just haven't found the right person yet," Robin would say, secretly hoping that she would find the person on the other end of the string. But Steve still thought it was better to just stop believing.

That was until he saw the strings for the first time. At first, it was so fast that he barely even noticed it. Just a small string of red that showed up on Robin's finger as he helped her down the Creel House stairs. He didn't think anything of it really, until it happened again.

When he, Nancy, and Robin were walking back to the trailer, he saw the strings again, just for a flash. A short red string connects Robin and Nancy's pinkies. Looking down just in time, he saw his own red string tied around his right pinky, severed, before it disappeared again.

Fear built in Steve's chest. He thought he was crazy, that this was just some upside down hallucination. But he can't get rid of the feeling that this is real, that his soulmate is dying before he can ever get the chance to love them.

When the three of them find Dustin crying over Eddie's body, Steve forgets all of it for a moment. Just worrying about getting Eddie out, and keeping him alive.

They get him to a hospital right before he flatlines. Eddie is rushed to the emergency room as soon as he is resuscitated, but not before Steve is met with a sea of red.

String tangled and stretched all over the hospital. Tying themself to people in the waiting rooms, their strings running down the hallways and through the doors. The doctor's red strings leave the hospital doors, making their way down the street. But Steve's is left severed again.

He doesn't see the strings for another hour until he does for a full two minutes. Looking down at the severed string on his finger, he can't help but think that he'll see this string forever. That he spent so long believing that soulmates weren't real, he didn't even notice that he found it.

Glancing over at Robin, he sees her string cross the room to where Nancy is sitting with Lucas in Dustin. Lucas's runs down the hall to where Max is, and Dustin's goes to what Steve can only think is Utah.

Within the blink of an eye, the strings disappear again and stay that way, leaving Steve with the knowledge that soulmate's are real, and his is alive.

if anyone wants to do anything thing with this, be my guest. might do a longer version of this myself, but lord knows when I'll have time to do so.

[jaegerisim]

BYLER X HARRY POTTER AU

aka, El spreading the “not all Slytherins are bad and not a Gryffindors are good’’ agenda bc she is totally not biased. I am totally biased bc Slytherin is my house and I’m a Slytherin through and through

My goal is to make this sooo gay and popular that it reaches JK Rowling and burns her mind and eyes.

Each chapter (post) will represent a year, so there’ll be 7 posts

If this ooc, I’m sorry. 🥲 I’m bad at Mike POVs and Will is gonna be pretty “evil” during some chapters but you’ll see why

Mostly Mike POVs, might have one year that’s a Will POV

Headmaster: Martin Brenner

GRYFFINDORS:

Head of House: Jim Hopper (Defense Against The Dark Arts and Quidditch)

Head Boy and Prefect: Steve Harrington

Head Girl and Prefect: Nancy Wheeler

Students: Mike Wheeler and Lucas Sinclair

SLYTHERINS:

Head of House: Henry Creel (Potions)

Head Boy and Prefect: Billy Hargrove

Head Girl and Prefect: Robin Buckley

Students: Will Byers and Max Mayfield

HUFFLEPUFFS:

Head of House: Joyce Byers (Transfigurations)

Head Boy and Prefect: Jonathan Byers

Head Girl and Prefect: Chrissy Cunningham

Students: El Hopper

RAVENCLAWS:

Head of House: Murray Bauman (Divination)

Head Boy and Prefect: Fred Benson

Head Girl and Prefect: Barb Holland

Students: Dustin Henderson

OTHER PROFFESORS:

Dmitri Antonov (Charms)

Argyle (Herbology)

Romantic Relationships:

Will Byers/Mike Wheeler

Max Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair

El Hopper/Dustin Henderson

Steve Harrington/Jonathan Byers

Robin Buckley/Nancy Wheeler

Platonic Relationships:

Will Byers & Max Mayfield & Robin Buckley

Mike Wheeler & El Hopper

Mike Wheeler & Lucas Sinclair & Dustin Henderson

Mike Wheeler & Nancy Wheeler

El Hopper & Max Mayfield

1st Year

2nd Year

3rd year

4th Year

5th Year

6th Year

7th Year

[imfinereallyy]

#38 "i was eavesdropping and i heard something i can’t scrub from my memory" sounds like it could be very funny, especially from a kid's perspective!

you read my mind, it 100% needs be a kid POV, sorry this one is a bit shorter than my usual but it was fun to write. *it actually ended up being longer than I thought cause I have a problem with not knowing when enough is enough lol* ♡

find the request game here

Lucas was going to throw up. He liked to think he had a strong stomach, he really truly did, but this was too much even for him.

“What the hell is your problem?” Max asked him as he came back to Steve’s living room.

“Yea you look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Will pipes up, head leaning on his knee.

Lucas swallowed dryly, he had to phrase this carefully. “Well I was eavesdropping…”

Max snorted from her seat on the couch. “You Lucas Sinclair was eavesdropping? Didn’t think I’d ever see the day. What about the whole ‘respect people’s boundaries’ thing you rave about?”

“And I still stand by that! It’s just I didn’t want to interrupt and…” Lucas thought back to a few minutes ago. He had gone into the kitchen to grab Max an ice pack; she was having a bad hip day. When he had reached the door, he had heard Steve and Eddie talking, and it had sounded serious. Lucas felt bad about interrupting, but he also couldn’t go back to Max without the ice pack. They had been good for months now, and he didn’t want to risk it. (He knew this was ridiculous considering they weren’t really that dysfunctional, and she loved him, a reluctant secret smile confession on her end. But there was this deep part of Lucas who was terrified of disappointing her). So he was content with waiting outside the door until they were done.

Lucas really should have turned around and left.

“What if they don’t…want to be around us Stevie?” Eddie whispered.

“Baby they are just kids. They are good kids. They are our friends. They won’t be upset.” Steve murmured back.

This was the point Lucas should have turned around, but he was confused and wanted to understand.

“You aren’t even the slightest bit worried, that maybe they won’t be accepting? I don’t think any of them have been exposed to gay culture, let alone two men dating?”

Oh. Oh no. This was really private. Lucas should have really turned around but at that point, his feet were glued to the ground.

“I mean yea a little bit…they are shitheads. Especially Mike—“ Lucas had to hold back a snort, “—but they are good. It’s why we are friends with them. As much as it pains me to admit we are friends with children.”

Lucas wished he could see their faces.

“What if…what if they are more than shitheads this time?” Lucas had never heard Eddie’s voice sound so small.

“…do you want to wait a little longer?” Steve’s voice asked gently, with no anger.

“If that’s okay. I just…want to live in our bubble a little longer. Well our bubble plus Robin.” Lucas imagined Eddie biting his hair in that moment.

“Yea baby. We take this at the pace you need. And Robin already knows, which is pretty much the only person I can’t keep a secret from. And I like our little bubble too.” Lucas heard shuffling around, like fabric reaching around itself.

“Yea?”

“Yea. I think I can go a little longer without the twerps making gagging noises every time we kiss. We can wait to tell them we’re together.”

“Hmmmm should we do a practice show right now, to prepare for when we need to freak them out?” Eddie’s voice turned suddenly flirty.

“I like the way you think.” This was the last words Lucas heard before the sounds of the two of them clearly heavily making out came through the doorway. It was at the first moan that Lucas ran away.

Lucas was brought back to reality when Max snapped her fingers in his face. “Want to share with the class loser?”

Oh god, Lucas was gonna throw up at the memory.

It wasn’t the fact that they were men and that they were dating. Lucas was, in fact, really happy for them. He had never thought about it, but in a weird way, it made sense. He wanted them to be happy. And if he was really being honest with himself, he was hoping maybe this would get Max to stop staring at Steve when he doesn’t have a shirt on (a few months later, Lucas would be horribly proven wrong of this theory).

It wasn’t this kissing that made him want to vomit either. Sure, the idea of his older brother figure making out with his dungeon master wasn’t a pleasant thought, but he had witness Mike make out with El, so he was pretty immune to grossness.

No, the problem was Lucas realized with great certainty he was going to have to keep a secret.

He gagged at the thought.

Sure, he could keep a whole other dimension and government conspiracy theory a secret from his parents (and, ya know, the world), but he caved relatively quickly when it came to Max. And Max could tell whenever he was lying. But Lucas wasn’t stupid; he knew you couldn’t just tell other people that someone you know is gay. He didn't know the word for it, maybe there wasn’t one, but Lucas knew what it was like to be different. He didn’t want to make Steve and Eddie feel bad, or cause others to be mean to them. He didn’t think the rest of the party would care about the gay? Bisexual? Queer?—wait, that’s a bad word, Lucas thought—it didn’t matter what specifically, but he didn’t think they would care about the gay stuff—more like Lucas knew his friends. El and Max would have a million, invasive questions. Mike would be a dick, but not for serious reasons. More like “I have weird insecurities” reasons. It would probably be good for Will (again, Lucas isn’t stupid). And Dustin, holy shit, he would most definitely either be pissed he didn’t know sooner, or would rub it in everyone’s face that he made it happen. Both of which Lucas knew would be horrible reactions.

God, he was going to throw up. He was going to lie to his friends. His girlfriend. He couldn’t just share this secret. It would go horrible if he told, it’s not his secret! His stupid, stupid friends (not El and Max) would blow up if it came from him first. And then Eddie and Steve would be upset, he told, and they would think that the party hated them for something out of their control, even though they love them no matter what! And oh god, he’s gonna have to lie so much—

He was spiraling, he needed to calm down.

“Lucas?” Max’s face suddenly softened, like she knew he was having a hard time getting the words together. Lucas looked at her face, and took a couple of seconds to count her freckles but lost track quickly. He didn’t mind; he would to start again later. He followed the laugh lines around her eyes that weren’t there last year, and thought about trying to make her laugh.

Max said nothing as he stared, even as the guys pressed him to answer. It was strange, he was terrified of lying to Max, but he knew deep down she would understand. That she would know he was lying but wouldn’t call him out on it.

“I was eavesdropping and I heard something I can’t erase from my memory. I almost walked in on Steve giving sex advice to Eddie, so I walked away before it got gross. I forgot your ice pack; I’m sorry.” Lucas apologized; he did genuinely feel bad he didn’t succeed on his mission.

The guys started chattering behind him, asking questions and yelling out in disgust, but Max stayed quiet for a second, then said, “It’s okay, stalker. Didn’t have high hopes for you anyway. You always get distracted.”

Lucas sent her a grateful smile, and pretended to be offended. “Are you saying I don’t finish what I’ve started? You should know better, Max.”

Max threw her head back, and full body laughed. She scooped Lucas’ hand and wove her pale fingers between his. “That’s me being nice, Lucas. Don’t go around telling people that. Or I’ll have to up the ante.”

Lucas kissed the back of her hand and whispered, “Maybe I like it when you’re a little mean.”

Max blushed and looked to check if the guys were paying attention (they weren’t; they were still arguing over sex they weren’t having), and leaned over to give him a soft kiss on the cheek. Max didn’t ask any questions even though Lucas knew she knew he was lying.

Lucas didn’t let go of her hand, and quietly hoped that Eddie made Steve feel the way Max made him feel.

He deserved something special like that.

**

I need you guys to know that I had to keep backtracking to correct boys into guys, cause I’m so used to writing from an older persons perspective. But I wanted some steddie and lumax mixed together. And Lucas! Deserves! More! Attention!!!

thank you so much for the ask I had so much fun with this one.

[queenie-ofthe-void]

pre-S4 Robin and Max || wc: ~1.6k || rating: teen || cws: depression, brief mentions of bullying and child neglect

~~~

Robin drops her lunch tray onto the table, falling into the seat with purpose. The young girl across from her startles at the movement. Pulling her headphones down slightly, Max raises her eyebrow in question, clearly annoyed at the unwelcomed company. Robin mimics the look in an overly dramatic way, and takes a large bite of her instant mashed potatoes. 

When Max only rolls her eyes and goes back to her homework– headphones off– Robin considers it a win. The girl’s been pulling away since Starcourt, drawing into herself in a way that’s putting everyone on edge, and the Party is at a loss for what to do. 

The beginning of freshman year was tough on all of the kids, but especially Max. Robin would eye her from across the lunchroom, seated at the opposite end of the table from the loud, brash, super super senior along with the rest of the Party and Hellfire boys. The poor girl would startle anytime Munson laughed too harshly and flinched at the loud bang of his fists on the table, shrinking into herself during his tabletop tirades. 

Needless to say, sitting with the Hellfire boys didn’t last long. Max’s patience for Eddie thinned even further after settling into the trailer across from him, complaining about music keeping her up at all hours of the night– the same electric guitar riffs over and over again. And she’d made more than one off-hand sarcastic remark about Munson’s late night customers causing the dog to howl at all hours of the night.

Robin looks towards the Hellfire table now. Sure enough, Eddie’s flailing his arms around in what is most likely a lecture on The Man. Dustin’s wide eyes and Mike’s entranced smile tell her they’re fully proselytized to the Munson Doctrine now, after a full five months of brain washing. Hopeless, the both of them. She has no idea what they see in the town drug dealer beyond D&D. Mike didn’t even like rock music before he joined Hellfire. Now he’s subconsciously crushing so hard on their fearless leader that he’s starting to dress like him. 

She supposes she’d be a bit of a hypocrite to judge him too harshly though. She only joined the pep band to see Vickie after school.

Cutting off her own dating anxieties, she focuses back on Max. The young girl is more relaxed than when Robin first sat down. She’s hunched over an old copy of Romeo and Juliet. Not one of Robin’s personal favorites, and she’d guess not one of Max’s either if her frustrated huff means anything. Why it’s required reading for freshmen she’ll never understand. But speaking of Romeo…

She looks around again, and her eyes lock on to Lucas’s. He’s staring directly at her with a desperate look in his eye that Robin tries to acquiesce with a tight smile. Another boy in a letterman jacket is trying to get his attention, but he’s shrugged off as Lucas moves to stand. 

Panicked, Robin checks to see that Max hasn’t noticed and shakes her head. A silent plea to not ruin the small ground she’s gained-- the first ground anyone has gained with Max in weeks. Hurt flashes across his face, but he sits down. Robin nods, hopefully telegraphing her thoughts. She can tell he's not happy about it, but he settles back into the conversation with his teammates.

Max dumped him just before Halloween and just shortly after she quit sitting with the Hellfire boys. Lucas had tried sitting with her instead, but the older boys stomped their proverbial toddler feet, arguing that he was already splitting too much of his time between D&D and basketball practice. They couldn’t believe he then had the audacity to spend even less time with them just to hang with some girl.

Needless to say Mike and Dustin had been less than supportive, caving to the peer pressure from the older members and Robin knows it’s one of the reasons why Lucas eventually ended up sitting with his teammates.

Then her mom started pulling doubles during the holidays and Max did her best to hole up in the trailer, refusing to come out no matter how much caroling the boys tried. Robin understands why Max wouldn’t want to go to the Party’s holiday gatherings. The boys were the core unit of the group, backed up by the Wheeler and Byers families. But the Byers’ left and took her best friend with them, the boys were fighting, and they weren’t even sure if Lucas would show up if Max wasn’t there. Robin was one of the few people involved in the Upside-Down bullshit who understood what isolation from the core group felt like, so why not try to include Max in their own tiny group of three.

A few days later, on the coldest day of break, Robin sat in the passenger seat with her fingers smashed up against the beemer’s heat vent and watched out the window as Max opened the door for the only person she was still talking to. The girl put up an argument, but no one can out-bitch The King himself. She let him in and they stepped out a few minutes later, a bag slung over her shoulder and a small dog in her arms. He never complained, even when the house smelled like wet dog for a week later.

Now it’s almost March, and it’s been weeks since she’s talked to anyone. She’s been sitting alone everyday, not answering the phone. So maybe it's Robin's turn to try talking with her, girl to girl.

“I know what you’re doing here,” Max states, hiding her hesitancy under a false bravado, the casual air of her tone undercut by her shifting gaze. “You can tell him to stop worrying, I’m fine.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Random Girl,” Robin answers with an innocent wave of her hand.

Max’s deadpanned stare says she’s not buying it. The nickname all but confirms her motives. 

That’s fine, Robin just needs a foot in the door and now that Max has opened said door, it’s like the dam between Robin's brain and mouth has burst. 

“I was just sitting here eating my lunch and minding my own business, when you decided to say something. And honestly, I think that’s pretty good for me considering I’ve been sitting here for almost twenty minutes in complete silence, which– you know– is not really my forte. Normally I like when people talk to me, it’s how conversations are supposed to work, ya know? But when it’s just me I can’t seem to stop and I’ll, like, keep going and going until it gets awkward.”

She can’t stop rambling and oh god she’s going to ruin this, she’s sure of it. Max let her sit here and now she’s going to ruin this for Lucas and the boys and–

“Just,” Max interrupts. Robin takes a deep breath, in and out. Calming herself down and keeping her mouth shut. “You can sit here, alright. But don’t, like, expect anything from me. You’re not going to get me to open up, or some shit– don’t even say language right now Robin I swear– so that you can report back on how I’m doing. Because I’m fine. Really.”

“Why would I report back to Lucas how you’re doing–” Robin starts. But Max interrupts again.

“You know that’s not who I’m talking about,” Max says quietly. Her eyes are turned downward, avoiding eye contact now that the fire’s burned out.

“Max,” Robin tries again, yet doesn’t know what to say. Anything she says will either be a lie, or so genuinely truthful Max might withdraw again. 

“Max, I just want to sit here. Ok? I promise I won’t jump in the beemer after school and spill all your secrets. We don’t even have to talk if you don’t want to! I’ll just sit over here and do homework, while you sit over there and do homework. Because Nancy’s busy with the newspaper now and maybe I can help you with Spanish and just--,” but she stops. She has to be honest. Or at least try without it being too much.

Max is looking at her. Watching intently, searching for something Robin can’t figure out.

She sighs, exhausted but unwilling to give up.

“He’s worried about you. Of course he is. That’s, like, Steve’s whole entire personality.” It gets the small smile out of Max that she was trying for. “But I’m sitting here because I want to, not because he told me to or so I could, I don’t know, gather information for him. Talk to me or not, but I’m sitting here for lunch from now on.”

Max eyes Robin, and must find whatever she was looking for. 

The bell rings, and they both move to pack up their books. “If you’re sitting here,” Max says “then you’re going to have to listen to me gush about Kate Bush.”

Like that’s a deterrent. Hell, it’s an incentive.

“Fine,” Robin makes a show of it, whining and rolling her eyes. “Then you’re going to have to get over it and listen to me bitch about Steve being a dingus and a total loser when it comes to picking up girls at work. I spend too much time with him to not get it off my chest.”

“Totally understandable,” Max says, a huff of laughter escaping behind her restrained smile. “See you tomorrow then.”

Robin turns, bouncing lightly on her feet to her next class after a successful mission. Steve might not have asked her to do this, but she’s doing it for him regardless. For both Steve and Max. 

She can’t wait to tell him all about it.

~~~

@devondespresso thanks for the WIP ask! I've actually been sitting on this for a while, so you gave me a good kick in the ass to finally finish up edits and post. 💜💜💜