#max and el get caught up with the plan and laugh behind mike and will’s back

[messrsbyler]

what if lucas and dustin notice the fixation mike has on superman and they arrange for halloween a superman costume for will. will knows nothing about lucas and dustin’s ulterior motives (because he is as clueless as mike) but he puts it on and then knocks on the wheeler’s house late at night since they would all meet there first. mike answers the door and his eyes go wide open and he blushes the second he sees will as superman in his doorstep, looking way too good for mike’s sanity. behind mike lucas and dustin snort and high five. will is just confused and also nervous because mike won’t stop looking at him

[ladykailitha]

EddieHawk? *name in progress*

Listen, come closer. Steddie LadyHawke AU. I know, I know, it's been done before but they modernized it.

Picture this.

Sir Stephan as head of the guard for Bishop William (Billy) and they both fall for the beautiful and ethereal Eddie. He is the adopted nephew of Lord Wayne and crowning jewel of the small principality of Hawkins.

Sir Stephan and Eddie know that they can't wed under the eye of Prince Henry (Vecna) and Bishop William plan to run away together and elope.

Max not knowing that her guardian the Bishop is madly in love with Eddie, tells him of their plans thinking that he could help them get away.

The Bishop is enraged that they would even think of running away and with the help of the Prince place a curse on the pair.

Five years later and Robin, who is a thief and escape artist extraordinaire breaks out of the town prison which was said to be inescapable.

Sir Thomas, the new head of the guard and the Bishop's right hand man is intent on capturing her to find out how she escaped.

She just happens to run into Sir Thomas and the guard right where Sir Stephan was trying to make it back to the center of Hawkins to kill the Bishop and he accidentally rescues her.

But in their running, they move farther away from the Hawkins much to Sir Stephan's ire. When they stop for the night, even though there is still plenty of daylight left, Robin gets annoyed. She wants to get away from the bad men after, stopping now does not accomplish that. So Stephan tells her to leave.

Robin weighs the two options and stays with the buff dude with a very big sword. And strangely a beautiful raven.

Stephan tells her that if she sees a large wolf, run away. Don't engage. He will not be responsible if it eats her.

Robin is confused, there haven't been wolves in the area in decades. But she doesn't argue afraid he'll just leave her behind. He also tells her that when the sun sets to lay out the clothing in right saddle bag and do not talk to the man who comes to get them.

So she does what she's told.

Mostly.

She talks to the young man. Learns his name is Edwin, but everyone calls him Eddie. He's sweet and awkward. And if she was attracted to men, she might just fall in love with him.

The wolf appears and Robin is terrified. But oddly Eddie is not.

Come morning, Stephan is back and the beautiful man is gone. Stephan calls to the raven and he lands on Robin's arm not Stephan's. And ooh boy does that cause a stir.

"I'm gay you daft creature!" she hisses, "Go back to your master!"

Stephan laughs for the first time and the raven lands on Stephan's wrist.

But the guard has caught up with them and a stray arrow hits the raven. Stephan is distraught. Terrified.

He rides for miles, hard and fast to a small fortress. It's run by a group of outcasts. Max, El, Dustin, Will, Mike, and Lucas. All run out of Hawkins for one reason or another.

Max carries the heaviest sin by far.

Stephan yells at the gate. "Come down here and help him. Now!"

They all come running and Robin is confused.

While El and Will seek to heal the bird, Max and Dustin feed Robin. She's worried about Stephan. But Dustin tells her Mike and Lucas have him.

Robin catches Will and El covering the body of a naked Eddie with a wound in his shoulder right where the raven was shot. So she gets the truth out of Max and Dustin about the curse that binds them together but keeps them apart. At night Eddie is a human and Stephan a wolf, and during the day, Stephan is a human and Eddie the raven. Never can they see each other.

Robin is upset. That's horrible.

But the Party has a plan. They just have to get Stephan to agree to it.

Come morning the bird is fully healed and they set off again, Max and Dustin following behind. Stephan refuses to listen to their plan and insists his going to kill the Bishop will break the curse.

The bishop is tired of waiting and sends out a wolf hunter, Yuri to kill Stephan.

There is a harrowing moment that night when poor Eddie and Robin think Stephan has been caught in one of these traps, but thanks to the quick thinking of Max and Robin they kill the hunter in one of his own traps.

But it's too close for comfort. They need to end this and fast.

They travel all day, getting nearer to the city once again. When they camp at night, it's near a frozen lake that they had skirted that morning.

Only when the wolf attempts to cross it, he falls in. And with everyone's help and the big ass sword, Robin manages to save the wolf.

In the morning before the sun fully comes over the horizon, Robin makes a lean-to casting Eddie in shadow long enough for Stephan to be human long enough to see Eddie before he fully transforms into a bird.

Robin tells Stephan that she lost the sword in the lake and Stephan in his anger pushes her. She lands on the ground and he sees the great big gouges from where the wolf had scratched her helping him out of the lake.

He apologies and hugs her.

They make it to the town and Max insists that if Stephan waits until the eclipse to kill the Bishop the curse will be broke for sure. But Stephan can't trust her. Tells her to kill Eddie if he fails. If the bells ring, he's failed.

He goes in and with a sword he takes off a soldier he kills attacks Mass.

He kills Tommy but before he can kill the Bishop, one of the guards manage to ring the bell just as the eclipse starts. Stephan is gutted.

But before he can kill himself, Eddie comes running in human.

The Bishop is pissed and tries to kill Eddie with his staff, but Robin slides Stephan's sword to him and he kills the Bishop, ending the curse for good.

*cradles your face in my hands* Do you, you see the vision? Can you? Because I can.

[t-lostinworlds]

" it's okay. i promise you, i will be here when you wake up. " with steve harrington please :)

A/N: i'm such a sucker for a love confession moment so it somehow made it's way here lmao. hope u like this @annab-nana !! <3

steve harrington x fem!reader | wc: 1.3k | best friends to lovers, canon typical violence, blood | prompts in bold!

The party was cornered when you found them.

They were trapped against the edge of the cabin, a Demogorgon towering over them. El was unconscious in Max's arms, Dustin was kneeling beside them, trying to reach for any help via his walkie, Lucas, Will and Mike shielding them on all sides.

Steve was at the forefront, knuckles near white as he gripped his infamous bat.

The self-sacrificial lamb, the self-appointed human shield.

And you were tired of it.

You were tired of seeing your best friend getting hurt, of him acting like he was expendable, that it didn't matter how badly beaten he got as long as he could save someone else, careless of his own life as if being at the battlefront was all he was born for, a penance.

So then came an idea—an exceptionally stupid idea. 

But it was good enough.

"Hey, tooth decay!" you shouted, grip tightening on the kitchen knife you'd grabbed out of panic when you caught wind of Dustin's call on the radio. With a sharp breath, you cut across your palm, hissing as blood dripped down your fingertips, thick and crimson. You held it out, grinning when the Demogorgon started to look for the smell. "Heard you have some sort of iron deficiency!"

"What the fuck are you doing!" Steve yelled, and you wanted to flick his ear for trying to ruin your spontaneously dangerous plan.

Though a split second later, you could see it on his face, the realization of exactly what it was you were doing.

You slowly backed away when the monster turned, keeping your hand out to ensure your role: the bait.

"Get them to safety!" you called out when it finally walked to you.

"NO!"

It lunged.

You ran.

Hand stinging and tainted red, heart pumping in your ears, in sync with your fast pace, motivated by the much heavier footfall behind you, claws tearing into the ground, growing nearer and—

You yelped when a branch caught your foot, breath knocked out of you when you landed on your front. With gritted teeth, you crawled towards the knife, whimpering as you turned your body and rested your back against the tree, blade wielded, a poor attempt at defense.

After all, what would one kitchen knife do compared to hundreds of it in the Demogorgon's mouth alone?

The next thing you felt was sharp claws across your stomach, a shrilling scream leaving your lips, muffled by the ringing in your ears.

There was a shout of your name, a series of gunshots, a collection of footsteps, and then, everything went dark.

•••

The light came back in the form of constant beeping.

You groaned, lifting your hand to rub your eyes only to stop when you couldn't move it. Something heavy was on top of it. Blinking away the drowsiness, only then did you notice the rough fingers interlocked with yours.

Slowly looking up, you saw Steve watching you carefully, features momentarily covered in relief before they hardened.

Before you could ask him what was wrong, he let go of your hand.

You ignored the sting in your chest as you watched him stomp toward the door and poked his head out. You heard muffled voices followed by departing footsteps. Steve walked back inside but stood at the corner of the room, arms crossed, jaw clenched, eyes deadset on the tiled floor.

A few seconds later, Dustin came in with a nurse and doctor in tow.

Steve never said a single word.

Not when they checked your vitals, not when the rest of the party stumbled into the room with relieved smiles and grateful laughs, not even when it was later in the night when everyone had gone home, leaving the two of you alone once again.

No, Steve remained in his corner, unmoving, quietly seething. Because if he were a cartoon, you could practically see his hair flowing as steam blew out of his ears.

"What?" you said, voice hoarse, tone teasing. "No, 'thank you for saving our asses' speech?"

That set him off.

Steve growled as he started pacing in front of your bed, wearing down tracks on the tiles. You carefully watched him as he tugged on his roots, harsh palm over his reddened face, chest heaving, fist clenched.

Oh he was pissed.

"Steve—"

"I'm so fucking mad at you right now," he growled, shooting you a glare.

"I can tell," you muttered, fiddling the bandage around your hand.

"I can't fucking believe you've done that! Y-You and your fucking self-sacrificial ass—"

"Well, sorry for taking your self-sacrificial title in the group. Didn't know you're so sensitive about it," you scoffed, eyes rolling.

"That's not funny," he snapped, pointing a warning finger at you. "That's not fucking funny."

"Steve—"

"You almost died!"

You frowned at the slight shake in his voice, your slight annoyance replaced with worry.

"You almost…you could've died and I-I thought—" Steve took a sharp breath, rubbing his face frustratedly as he kept pacing in front of the bed. "I thought I lost my best friend! I thought I lost you b-before I could…before I—"

"Steve…"

"Before I could even say I love you!"

You froze.

"I-I don't care if you hate me for this o-or if I've ruined our friendship or what b-but I just need to—"

"Will you shut up and kiss me?"

Steve blinked. One, two, three before he stalked towards the bed, palms rough yet gentle as he held your face and all but crashed his lips on yours.

The kiss was heavy, sweet, desperate, laced with worry and need, a touch of longing, hints of lust, overflowing with love.

You pulled away when you felt wetness on your cheeks, heart aching when you realized the tears were not yours.

"You s-scared me," he croaked, eyes screwed shut, reflective lines running down his flushed cheeks. "You scared me so fucking much."

"I'm sorry," you whispered, thumbs catching the tears before they could touch his skin. "Hey, I'm okay now. We're okay."

Steve nodded wordlessly, forehead pressed against yours as he tried to even his breathing. Clearing his throat, his voice was still rough as he whispered,

"Promise me you won't ever do that again."

"If it means saving your life and the kids? You know I won't hesitate to do it again," you said truthfully with a small smile. "And I know you'd do the same, too."

"God you're so annoying," he grumbled, though the corner of his mouth twitched. You were right, after all.

You chuckled, sound dying with a frown when you saw the already prominent, dark circles under his eyes.

You didn't know how long you were unconscious nor how bad it got when that thing attacked you.

But you did know Steve.

How he probably hadn't left your side since then, how his guilt had been eating him alive as he carefully watched over you, ears tuned into the soft beeps, his damning thoughts not giving him a moment of respite in fear that you'd suddenly be taken from him if he did as much as closed his eyes for a few minutes.

It made your heart melt and break in the same breath.

"You should get some sleep."

He shook his head, words of protest already on the tip of his tongue.

"Hey," you cut him off, cupping his face, placing tender sweet kisses on his lips. "It's okay. I promise you, I will be here when you wake up."

"You better be or I'm hunting you down and strapping you to the bed."

You wiggled your brows. "Kinky."

"I hate you," he groaned, face buried in your neck.

"I love you, too."

You felt his smile grow against your skin.

"Now, go to sleep. We all know you need your beauty rest. Your hair is starting to lose volume, Harrington."

"You're unbelievable."

⤷ still accepting asks & requests! come join and frolic with me!

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[newlesbianprideflag]

One day.

in my call for prompts, @booksandpaperss requested secret relationship byler shenanigans and... this ended up going a slightly more sappy/melancholic route than maybe intended but I hope you still enjoy!! (cross posted on ao3)

------

Goodbyes from the Wheeler basement take a while to kick in.

Someone always has a story to finish, which launches into another one, and from there a debate, and then a joke, and another, and then someone suggests another movie to watch and then Max will threaten to drive herself home, despite the blindness, and then Lucas and El cajole and then once she's been talked into sitting, someone else will have a story—

It takes about half an hour, this time.

Not terrible.

El is the last to go, Jonathan a bit late picking her up. Will gives her a kiss on the cheek and promises to be home in time for lunch tomorrow (she's been trying out new recipes every Wednesday, with varying degrees of success). She threatens to hold him to that promise, and she waves bye to Mike, and she goes, and the door closes behind her.

And then they're alone.

"Hi," Mike says, smile poorly hidden. He's about five feet away, which Will instantly decides is five too many.

He steps towards him. "Hi."

Mike sighs out a laugh, and puts his fingers through Will's belt loops, and pulls him closer. And repeats, made somewhat stupid by his adoration, "Hi."

"You did that one already," Will reminds. And then he's kissing Mike, and that's probably the best sort of 'hello'.

By the time they break for air, Mike's hands are cradling Will's face, foreheads resting against each others', every breath shared. Mike laughs, and buries his face in Will's neck, and Will hugs him tight.

Will draws his hand up and down Mike's back, liking the feeling of his shivers, the way Mike will melt into his arms like this. "Hey," he says, gently tugging on one of the curls fallen long and beautiful over Mike's shoulder.

Mike turns his face to look at Will. "Hey."

"What's up?" Will asks, idiotically. He feels so new at this, and he is. New at having Mike Wheeler. New at being able to kiss him. New at looking at him and not forcing himself to look away. He doesn't know the rules, yet.

"Nothing." Mike snorts, and pulls away to look Will in the face. "Just looking at the most gorgeous guy in Indiana."

Will scoffs and shoves Mike's face away with one hand. "Terrible."

"It's true!" Mike pushes Will's hand away and leans in to press a kiss to his jaw. "I was just — fucking staring at you. All night. It was torture. I wanted to hold your hand so bad."

Will flushes, a little breathless the way he always is when Mike says things like that (still so new), and musters up the courage to tease back, "That's all you thought about?"

Mike grins. "I mean, no." He presses a kiss to Will's neck. "This too." His jaw. "And this." His cheek. "And this." And he kisses Will again, full on the mouth.

"I wish you could've," Will says, low in the space between them. It is a bit wistful, the tone, and Mike senses it. His hold tightens. "I did too — just, looking at you. With everyone around, wishing I could hold you, right there. Like Max and Lucas do."

"I know." Mike's cheek is pressed to his, their faces in parallel such that they can't look at each other. It's easier to not. When thinking about things like this. "One day, right?" The upturn is so clearly a question, that Will can't imagine denying.

He nods, knowing Mike can feel it. "One day."

"It's gonna be easy, one day," Mike says, a promise to himself as much as Will. Will can tell. "One day, we're going to tell them, and everyone will be cool, and we'll kiss at parties and call each other sappy shit in public and let everyone hear about the future we're planning--"

Will shuts his eyes and turns his face so it is tucked in Mike's hair. "Yeah," he says, voice only breaking slightly. "They're going to tease us so much," he says, and if the few tears that come out with it get caught in Mike's curls, he knows the other boy won't say.

"God, yeah." His face turned to Will's means every word is nearly a kiss to the cheek. "We're never gonna hear the end of it." He laughs. Or sobs, maybe. Will isn't looking him in the face. "And we'll both be here. Together. Till then. Yeah?"

And it still hits Will, whenever he hears the anxiety in Mike's tone, that this wasn't easy on him either. He had the worrying, the fear, the desperate hoping and belief it was one-sided that Will had. He needs the reminder, just as Will does. So Will does. "Of course I'll be here." He tightens his hold on Mike's torso, just a bit. "Kind of forever."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Mike pulls back, just enough to look Will in the face. "Kind of forever. For me, too."

Will nods, tight and tearful. "That's good."

"It's stupid," Mike says. "But, one day—"

"One day," Will echoes.

"If you wanted," Mike continues. "I've thought about..."

"Yeah?"

"About, right here," Mike says, letting go of Will's hand just long enough to tap on his left ring finger. Will tilts his head, curious. "It's stupid."

Will shakes his head. "No, what is it?"

Mike bites his lip. "I've thought — I know gold's boring, the standard, but I think it's the right color for you. And I probably won't be able to afford diamonds, but, I don't know." He is still looking down at Will's hand, at that one ringless finger. "I kind of hope you'd say yes, anyway."

And Will — Will loves him like vice, both meaning sin and tight bond, so he doesn't air out all the pessimisms that sit in his gut. Instead, he turns his hand over so Mike's wrist is rested daintily in his palm. "I saw this ring once, it was a band made out of Lapis. The blue would look good with your cool tones." He rolls Mike's ring finger between two of his. "If you wanted."

When he meets Mike's eyes, he is beaming. "You're the artist," is all he says, but there is something in it that makes Will think he really means it. In all the vast imagination of Michael Wheeler, there really is a place where Will and Mike are exchanging vows and rings and maybe even signing what they have into law.

And it is early. Maybe it is even stupid, foolish, something Will might look back on with embarrassment one day, making such bold claims so fast.

Maybe, one day, it will go exactly as they hope.

"I am," Will confirms, and kisses Mike, once more. "I love you."

"I love you," Mike returns.

And today, all of this is true.

[parkert01]

Party - Jim Hopper

This party had been planned for months, it was started out as a celebration party for the staff and their families. You had made sure your calendar was free, hoping that Jim would invite you. He eventually did, but only a week before the event, not much time to buy a new dress and shoes but you managed to do it with help from El and Max. 

You had invited them to the party, they in turn invited Will, Mike, Dustin, Eddie and Steve. Steve was always flirting with you, although you admit, he was cute, he was way too young for you to consider a relationship with and you had a crush on Jim. That much was obvious to everyone, the longing looks you sent him whenever you were in the same room, the slight touches, the need to be near him and doing everything for him. Jim never picked up on it, he was oblivious, he had not been in a relationship in a long time and never knew you were flirting with him. 

El held your hand when you walked into the station, the party already in full swing, drinks flowing and music playing. You guided El to her friends, they all said hello to you, while Steve winked at you and gave you a kiss on your cheek, what you didn't see was Jim was staring at Steve, jaw clenched and a tight grip on his glass. 

El went to dance with her friends, as you stood to the side of the room, away from everyone. You hoped that Jim would come speak to you or ask you to dance but as the hours ticked by, he didn't glance your way, you still had the same drink you started with. You were contemplating leaving when El came marching up to you. 

"Where is dad?"  You looked at her confused, "I don't know El. Do you think you could all get a lift home with your dad. I am going to go home" She shook her head no, grabbed your hand and started pulling you around the room, weaving in and out of people while looking around looking for Jim. She stopped suddenly when she spotted him talking to one of his colleagues, narrowed her eyes and pulled you quickly to him. She tapped his arm, he looked down at her and smiled. She held out your arm, grabbed his, he must have got the hint as he grabbed your arm and looked at you confused. 

"Y/N came her for you, brought us here for you and you haven't spoken to her all night"

"El, its okay. It's no big deal" 

"Dance with her or I will" Steve said. You didn't realise that the kids had come to stand behind you, Jim stared at Steve, sighed, grabbed your hand and pulled you to the dancefloor. As you danced, Jim whispered in your ear " I hate seeing Steve flirt with you. He thinks he has a chance with you" You laughed and said "He's too young, plus I have my eye on someone else. 

Jim pulled away from you and raised his eyebrow. "Who is it? Do I know him?" Now or never you thought, you nodded "It's you Jim. I like you". He smiled, put his hand on your lower back, dipping you slightly as he leant down to kiss you. 

You were both to caught up in the moment to realise the kids were watching you on the side lines, high fiving each other and smiling. They could clearly see the love radiating off you both. 

[twistedsiren86]

Growing Pains

Based off of the idea that Steve Harrington in fact is a human being who doesn’t heal overnight, and actually has lifelong ailments from all the times he’s been beaten up. While also being Steddie :P

1988

Steve's eyes close as he tries to keep his composure. The kids are making one hell of a racket, and it was causing the ringing in his right ear to worsen. Steve has gotten used to the constant ringing, it's been going on ever since he and Robin got caught by the Russians while working at Scoops Ahoy. Steve had not been new to taking a beating, and maybe that's why a switch flipped inside his head that day.

The ringing wasn’t the only thing ailing Steve Harrington.

Glasses should've come after Billy Hargrove pummeled his face to hell and back, although Steve firmly pushed that idea away until he could no longer read the kids' homework sheets without squinting and bringing the paper an inch from his face.

Now the spunkier kids tease him. They call him grandpa and offer an arm to walk him across the street. Dustin always asks how many fingers he’s holding up and Steve’s in a very Eddie Munson fashion, shoots Dustin the middle finger. The less daring kids try to be helpful, but it just makes Steve feel like a lacking parental figure.

To his dismay, he’ll laugh with Dustin, Mike, and Lucas when they tease him. And he always thanks El and Will. And well, Max is practically his child since her mother isn’t responsible for her anymore, so Max gets all the free passes.

Behind it all, Steve hates that he's so worn down already. Hell, he's in his early twenties, he shouldn't need glasses to read the paper, or earplugs on the Fourth of July.

Steve knows that he caused this all on himself. Or, at least that's what he tells himself. He should've gone to a doctor sooner, he should've fought harder, he should've-

Steve thinks he should've, would've, could've a lot. He thinks about all his mistakes and all of his downfalls. He thinks of all the failed plans, the 'oh shit' moments, the inevitable backfires. The times he's put the kids in harm's way, or when his friends follow him into the line of fire because they look at Steve as a beacon. He is, well, was their compass within the madness.

And sure, they have scars. Max wears glasses now too. But he makes sure hers are cool. The boys know better than to pick on Max. She’ll quite literally kick their asses for it. Eddie's scars are worse than Steve's. Took Eddie over a year to let anyone see him without a shirt. Dustin's ankle still hurts him when the weather changes. Lucas has a scar above his eyebrow, courtesy of Jason Carver. Those who don’t have physical scars have mental ones. They all have their little reminders of the chaos.

The adults in Steve's life don't tease him, no they do something much worse. Scratch that… They do things that are very nice, kind, and caring. And it makes Steve feel weak and broken. Robin always raises her voice an octave or two when speaking directly to Steve. Nancy make sure she talks slower around Steve so he can follow her lips if he misses a word. Jon holds his photographs a little too close for Steve’s liking, but in the name of being helpful. It's all very kind, and painstakingly annoying.

Eddie is the only adult who doesn't. Well, Eddie has his ways of sneaking in those helpful little tidbits without Steve noticing. The curly headed man is talented in his ways.

Eddie only ever sits on Steve's left side, which Steve never picks up on. With Steve’s good ear closes to him, Eddie doesn't have to raise his voice. Eddie also leans way farther into Steve's personal space than the others as it is, so he doesn't make a big deal of showing Steve something up close when he doesn't have his glasses on. And Eddie makes sure to never hand Steve something on his right side, as Steve's peripheral vision in his right eye is basically nonexistent.

Eddie doesn't make Steve feel broken or less than.

Eddie calls Steve pretty, knowing that the scarring around Steve’s right eye and the glasses took away his Harrington confidence. And Eddie always makes sure Steve eats. Even if he’s sworn off red meat for the rest of his life. Eddie cleans Steve's glasses with his bandanas when they get smudged from roughhousing with the kids, and reminds Steve to take his vitamins in the morning

Eddie is so casual about all the little things, so it never gives Steve a sick feeling in his stomach. Instead he gets little spurts of butterflies swarming in his abdomen.

Eddie kisses Steve’s cheek all the way up to the crescent shaped scars along his orbital bone on the days Steve feels down on himself. The metal head got good in the kitchen after moving into the Harrington residence, Steve didn’t eat much, cooked even less, so Eddie took on the role of chef.

Eddie also barks at the kids when they’re going a little to hard on his favorite person. Of course, Eddie is all bark and zero bite so they don’t listen. But Steve appreciates him trying.

And on the Fourth of July when Steve Harrington is stuck wearing earplugs, Eddie wraps his arms around Steve and squeezes him as the fireworks explode. The vibrations from it lingering in their chests.

Eddie never makes Steve feel weak or infirm.

No, Eddie makes him feel... loved.

[bellsofthebooks]

El and Max going to Billy when they get into arguments with Lucas and Mike because Steve always has to defend his children

“Billy… why are boys stupid?” Billy choked on his drag, caught off guard by El’s confidence in her tone, and her anger. “The hell kinda question is that?”

“She dumped him.” Max spoke, behind Billy. Billy’s eyes raised. Weren’t they just together yesterday? Laughing and having fun. “And I also dumped Lucas.” Max has no remorse in her face, neither did El.

“I’m sorry- I’m confused here. Weren’t you guys just having loads of fun at the arcade yesterday?” Billy questioned taking more than one drag from his cigarette, wondering why he was so invested into this.

“Yea. But Lucas pointed out my zit! Then- then Mike?! Yea he got super mad at El for wandering off and playing her own games without him!” Max continued rambling about what else the boys did, and Billy listened intensely as El added some stuff in.

When Max and El were done. Billy sighed and spoke up “Well… I don’t know about the boys side of the story… but they are being a bit ridiculous!” “Right!” The girls said in unison.

Billy chuckled, he was so teasing Steve about this when he got home. “Wanna go get some ice cream and maybe we can plan some… pranks?” Billy smirked and El and Max hurried into the car.

[edelweiss-coffee]

chapter eight has arrived, dearies <3

ao3

The week went by with hardly any hiccups– save for the few times that Will had to untangle his hand from Mike’s at the very last second (before they caught a football player’s eye), and the nerve-wracking double take from Ted Wheeler as the boys stepped out of Nancy’s car after school, attached at the hip.

Lucas and Dustin were ecstatic. At lunch every day, they pleaded quietly with the boys, begging to tell Max and El about their newfound relationship, to no avail.

“I can’t risk anyone else knowing anything,” Mike mumbled. “Not until I get the balls to tell my dad.” He looked at Will, an apologetic haze over his eyes. “I’m sorry, Will. I wanna shout it from the rooftops, I do. I’m just scared about my parents. We just have to keep this quiet until I tell them, okay?”

He was met with protest from the party (“Aw, come on, Mike! You know Max won’t tell anyone!” and “El doesn’t talk to anyone but us, guys.”), but not Will.

“It’s okay, Mike. Really. I get it. I’m not upset, I’m not mad. I get it,” he explained.

Mike smiled gently, that sad haze still about him.

Lucas nudged his arm, a sly smile written all over his face. 

“I’ve got an idea,” he chortled.

“Bad idea, Lucas. Bad idea,” Mike smiled.

“We’re staying at Mike’s house tonight, bitches!” Lucas whooped, clapping his hands.

Dustin cackled, Will giggled to himself. Mike laughed too, toying with his hair.

“Fine, fine. No stealing wine from my mom this time, though. I’m pretty sure I heard her asking my dad for it. I had to hide the bottle under the couch in the basement,” Mike chuckled.

“I can bring some,” Will piped in.

All three boys turned their heads theatrically to face him.

“You?” Dustin teased.

“My mom has like, 40 bottles of wine in the dining room. She wouldn’t even notice.” Will ruffled his hair a bit, and pointed at the other boys. “And can you guys stop acting surprised any time I do something cool? Starting to make me feel lame,” he laughed.

“We’re not surprised! I mean, I’m not surprised, at least. None of us are! Right guys?” Mike tried. 

“No, we are. Will’s always been cool, but now he’s like, next level,” Lucas said.

“Yeah, you sort of stepped your game up somewhere between stealing a bunch of 7Up and kissing Mike,” Dustin jeered, met with some half-angry shushing noises from Mike.

“Jeez, Dustin. Bring a megaphone next time,” Mike sighed through gritted teeth.

“Hey,” Will whispered. “It’s okay. Nobody cares about us here.”

Mike grinned. 

“Thank you,” he whispered back, rolling up his sleeves.

– – – – – – 

Mike and Will went to Will’s house together after school, to grab Will’s overnight things.

They went to Will’s room together. Mike took Will’s clothes out of his drawers while Will grabbed his toothbrush from the bathroom.

“What’re you doin’?” Will asked from the doorway.

“Gettin’ your clothes,” Mike answered, matter-of-factly. “Where are your sweaters? It’s gonna get cold.”

“In the closet.”

Mike hopped to his feet and grabbed a yellow pullover. 

“This one good? It’s soft.”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Will smiled.

Mike shoved the sweater in Will's bag and the two of them walked into the dining room. They set their backpacks by the front door. Their plan to nick a bottle of wine was muddied by Joyce’s cooking dinner, but they didn’t seem ready to give up on it just yet. They stood on either side of the dining table, with Mike closest to the wine rack.

“Do you boys wanna stay for dinner? I made my homemade mac and cheese you like, Mike,” Joyce bellowed over the radio.

“Could we just take some with us? We’ve got a big night ahead of us,” Will asked.

“Of course, baby! I’ll just put some in one of the–” 

She stopped mid-thought.

“Mike, baby what are you doing?”

She stared, confused, at the black haired boy, who was sliding a big bottle of White Zinfandel out of its slot in the bottle display.

Mike’s face turned white as he pulled the bottle behind his back and smiled at Joyce.

“Mike!” Will cackled. His face blotched bright red, and he shook his head. “You suck, are you serious?” He giggled, covering his face.

Joyce scoffed in disbelief, a wry smile coming to the surface. 

“Boys! Wine? You’re drinking wine? Since when are you drinking wine?”

“We don’t drink like, a lot, mom. It’s more for the uh, the like, humor in drinking in a basement out of paper cups,” Will said, nervously toying with the dining chair in front of him.

“Yeah, we’re just losers in my basement, listening to the radio and playing Tr–”

“Playing games, and stuff. Sorry, mom. We won’t take that. Mike, put it back,” Will giggled. “She already saw you take it out.” 

“Take what?” A voice shot from the hallway..

“Nothing, Jonathan,” Will sighed, wrapping his hands around the knobs of the chair.

“Joyce’s wine,” Mike giggled, gesturing at the wine display.

Jonathan laughed. He laughed hard, his face turning pink and his throat making a choking sound. He looked at Mike, then Will, and then to their bags near the door.

“Geniuses. My guess, mom was right here when you tried to snag it, too?”

“Mmm. Yep,” Mike smiled, clapping his hands.

“Better luck next time,” Jonathan snickered. 

They all laughed together for a minute, and Joyce leaned to Will, kissing his forehead.

“Better luck next time,” she echoed, holding Will’s cheek.

She turned around and danced back over to the stove. 

“As I was saying,” she laughed, “I’ll put some of this into some tupperware for you guys. Will the rest of your party be there? At Mikes?”

“Yeah, they’re coming too.”

Jonathan rummaged through the fridge and took something out, then speed walked toward the door while Joyce wasn’t looking. He knelt near the boy’s bags and shoved it into one of them.

“I’ll send you with two containers, then, ‘cause those boys love my mac and cheese. Wouldn’t want anyone to get jealous,” Joyce teased, tapping the spoon off on the edge of the glass container.

Will and Mike locked eyes, and shared a confused look between the two of them, having both witnessed Jonathan’s behavior. They both looked back at Jonathan, who nodded. 

“Wh–” Mike started.

“Pff,” Will interjected. 

They both smiled and shrugged, turning to Joyce.

“Here you go, boys. Jonathan, do you wanna drive them over to Mike’s? I just realized they can’t bring these over there on their bikes.”

“Yeah, sure. You can hook your bikes up to the back,” Jonathan nodded.

“Thanks,” Mike said.

“No problem. You guys ready?” Jonathan nudged Will���s arm with a smile.

“Yeah. Let’s go.” He turned to Joyce. “Love you mom.”

“Will, where’s your jacket? It’s getting cold,” Joyce squeaked.

“I’ll be fine. We’re just gonna be in the basement.”

“Thanks for the mac and cheese,” Mike added.

She kissed both of their foreheads, and hugged Jonathan.

“I love you too. Drive safe, okay?”

Jonathan jingled his keys, opening the front door.

“‘Course, mom.”

– – – – – – 

Jonathan eyed Mike and Will in the rearview mirror. 

“I put some Seagrams in your backpack,” he shouted, over Mambo Sun by T. Rex.

“What?” Mike beamed. He unzipped his bag to reveal six bright blue wine coolers.

With my hat in my hand, I’m a hungry man….. For you….

I got stars in my beard, and I feel real weird…. For you….

Mike and Will gasped in sync, in disbelief. 

“You absolutely did not have to do that,” Will laughed.

“C’mon, the way you guys got caught? Pitiful,” he teased. 

“Oh, hey. Jonathan?” Mike piped up.

Jonathan turned the music down.

“Yeah?”

“Will’s my boyfriend now. We’re together. Is– is that okay? With-with you?” he uttered. He grabbed ahold of Will’s hand, interlocking their fingers together. Will looked at his brother, anxiety and fear all over his face.

“Oh. Oh! Y-Yeah, that’s– Wow, that’s incredible. Are you for real?”

“Yeah, I’m– We’re gay. We’re together,” Will said, almost at a whisper.

Jonathan stopped the car, even though they were still a few blocks before Mike’s driveway.

“That is amazing to hear, guys. I mean it, that is just– that’s just really, really great news.”

“Thanks, Jonathan,” Will choked out. He squeezed Mike’s hand.

Jonathan smiled.

“How much of an asshole would I be if I said um, ‘it’s about time’?”

The three of them burst into laughter. 

“Not at all. Took me a while to uh, get it,” Mike laughed.

“At least you got it,” Jonathan teased. He began driving again, turning the music back up.

Beneath the bebop moon, I’m howlin’ like a loon…. For you….

Beneath the mambo sun, I’ve got to be the one….

Jonathan once again turned down the music, this time outside Mike’s house.

“Hey Mike. Did you tell your parents yet?”

“N-no, I didn’t. It’s not ‘cause I’m ashamed of Will or anything. I really love him, I promise. I’m not gonna hurt him,” Mike panicked.

“No, I get it. It’s tough. I believe you. Hey, don’t worry about it, okay? If they don’t love you unconditionally, if God forbid telling them goes bad, I’m heading to college soon. You can just– have my room.”

Mike was silent, but his eyes shone. He gulped, he rolled Will’s fingers over his. 

“You don’t have to tell them, you know,” Will whispered.

“No, I want to,” Mike mumbled, looking at the floor. “I do have to. I love you, okay?” He turned to Jonathan. “I really, really love him. I wanna scream it. I like to hold his hand, I like to be too close to him. I don't wanna have to hide anymore. I mean it, I’m gonna tell them.”

“Whatever you want to do, and whenever you’re ready,” Jonathan said softly. “Love you both. Drink responsibly,” he teased.

“Love you. Thanks for the wine coolers,” Will giggled.

The boys started up Mike’s driveway.

“Should’ve brought my coat,” Will shivered.

Almost immediately, Mike took off his backpack. He took his jacket off and put it around Will’s shoulders.

“Your mom tried to tell you,” he giggled.

“You are ridiculous,” Will sighed, smiling at the black-haired boy. “Thank you.”

“No problem, pretty.”

Will scoffed playfully at the nickname, shaking his head.

They got to the front door and Mike took an audible deep breath.

“I’ve got a feeling that I’m gonna end up telling my parents tonight.”

[mca-attack21]

Semi-Flayed

Steve Harrington x Reader. Season 3 finale spoilers.

The floor was cold, the atmosphere chaotic. The screams of your friends were drowned out by the fireworks and snarls of the mindflayer. Despite the noise, you clearly heard Billy, or the Mindflayer rather, whisper, “Stay still, it will all be over soon," his words sent ice through your veins. You struggled against his grasp, but it was no use. Realizing the imminence of your demise, you felt an overwhelming sadness, not even for yourself, but for Steve Harrington, the first and apparently last love of your life. As the “flaying” began, he was the only thing on your mind. You hoped that he would survive this, that he would get out of Hawkins, that he would be happy. You hoped-

“Y/N!” Steve screamed as he blew his cover to run to your side.

This caught the attention of Eleven, who managed to use her powers to throw Billy away from you. She fell back against Mike. The rest of the kids were still blasting the mind flayer with fireworks. Steve used the opportunity to pick you up and carry you away from the action.

“Y/n? Can you hear me? You gotta wake up okay? I did not survive being tortured by Russians only to have you be flayed before I could even-” his voice broke, and before he could continue, he was rounding the corner to where Dustin was.

“Shit. Is she okay?”

“I don’t know. Billy - the mind flayer- how do we know if she? What if she was?” Steve tried, but his heart couldn’t even handle the idea of you being lost to him.

“She wasn’t flayed.”

“How do you know?” Steve asked reluctant to be relieved.

“The hive mind is activated, she would be awake and trying to kill us if she was,” Dustin explained.

“Then why isn’t she waking up?”

“I don’t know Steve, but we have bigger problems right now,” he said gesturing to the fact that they were almost out of Fireworks.

Steve hesitantly left your side to help the others and watched in absolute shock as Billy sacrificed himself. It was only moments later that the mind flayer collapsed. It was over. Jonathan hugged Nancy, Mike went to Eleven, Lucas held Max as she cried, and both Steve and Dustin turned towards you.

“Y/n wake up!” Steve tried shaking your shoulders. He lowered his head to your chest to hear your heart beating and feel your breathing, “Y/n, c’mon, I need you to wake up,” he tried again, sounding more desperate.

Before he could continue, the FBI came running in and they were all escorted out. Steve barely managed to convince the EMT to let him ride with you. He was stuck in the waiting room for what seemed like forever, shrugging off the nurses who offered to check out his injuries. Dustin, Mike, Nancy, and Jonathon came in, gathering in silence waiting for any news. The worst part for Steve was when your mother showed up, he had never felt more guilty than when he lied to her about what happened.

Eventually, the doctor came out with a flustered look on his face. He asked for your mom, and Steve quickly stood to join them. The doctor protested, but your mom assured him that Steve should come with her.

“So, I don’t know how to tell you this, but as far as we can tell there is nothing physically wrong with your daughter. She is seemingly in a coma with no cause. As such, there is nothing medically we can do other than sustain her condition if you choose to do so,” he then turned to Steve, “Can you run me through what happened again?” Steve managed to recount his story, trying to ignore your mother's sobs. As soon as he finished, he exited the room in shock, he sunk down to the floor, struggling to breathe, replaying the doctor's words over and over again in his head. His chest was filled with immense pain at the thought of losing you.

He sat there a while trying to calm himself down before forcing himself off the wall and back to the waiting room, where Will, Mrs. Byers, and Eleven had joined the others. All eyes went to him expectantly, but with one look at him Dustin said what they were all thinking, “Shit..."

Steve repeated what the doctor had said, Nancy pulled him into a comforting hug. While the others started brainstorming. There was an hour of outrageous theories until finally, Will realized something, “She wasn’t completely flayed, but the process was definitely initiated.”

“Obviously,” Dustin chimed in.

“But what is flaying? It’s like your identity being ripped away from you and replaced with the host mentality,” Will continued.

“So maybe Y/n’s soul or whatever was separated. Nothing medically wrong with her, because that’s not a physical connection” Mike added.

“So in other words, we have to jumpstart the connection again,” Lucas agreed, and then all eyes shifted to El.

“Do you think you could try to find her? Like you did Billy or Heather?” Mike asked.

“I can try,” El nodded.

Dustin walked over to where Steve was laying with his head in Mrs. Byers' lap. She ran her fingers through his hair like she had for her sons so many times, mind wandering to Hopper. Steve looked so broke, like he had given up any hope.

“We need to get into Y/n’s room, we think we know how to fix her,” Dustin announced.

It was like that swiped a switch in Steve, and he popped up at once, “What do you mean?”

Dustin explained everything to Steve and Mrs. Byers, and then again in layman's terms. From there the whole group formed a plan. Mrs. Byers and Nancy would go distract your mom. Dustin, Mike, and Will would distract the nurses. Steve and El would sneak into your room, while Jonathon kept watch. For once, everything went smoothly.

El was searching the cabinets for something to cover her eyes with, and Steve handed her the red ascot from his Scoops uniform. She went to your side and took your hand, instantly being transported into your consciousness.

It was dark, unlike anything she had ever experienced before. Every step she took was echoing, the entire reality was glitching in and out, but there was no sign of you.

“Y/n?” she called out.

The blackness would flash to a scene of you and then back to the nothingness, “Y/n, can you hear me?” El tried again, “I need you to focus on my voice, and I can bring you back. I’ll bring you back home, back to Steve.”

At the mention of Steve, the glitching stopped and El could see you know for the first time, you laid on the ground folded into yourself. You were pale and shaking, looking only a moment away from death. As she got closer she could hear you softly repeating, “Please don't, I'm sorry.” There was no indication that you knew she was there. She touched you lightly on the shoulder, but it didn’t phase you.

“Y/n? We need to get out of here, I need your help,” she tried, again receiving no response. The glitching started again, each time putting more and more distance between the two of you. El knew that you wouldn’t survive it much longer.

In the hospital room, Steve watched as blood trickled down Eleven’s face. He didn’t know why it was taking so long. He tried to get an idea of what was happening through the one-sided conversation that he was hearing, but even that was being drowned out by his fear of losing you, What if this didn’t work? The lights started flickering, the machines in the room going nuts, and then suddenly Eleven called his name, “I need you to talk to her, to bring her back.”

“What does that even mean?”

“Steve, we don't have time, just talk to her!”

“Okay….Uhm...Y/n? It’s Steve. Your boyfriend,” he started, feeling extremely uncomfortable, before his emotions took over. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t there to protect you. I’m here now though, and I need you to come back to me. I need you to wake up, cause you are the best thing that has ever happened to me and I don’t want to lose you. Not now, not ever. Please Y/n. I love you so much, please wake up." As he finished, everything went black, the entire hospital lost power.

In your head, every nightmare you had ever had was playing through your mind. You were cold and afraid, feeling lost beyond anything you have ever felt. Whatever was happening to you it was killing you, you could feel it draining you. A strange numbness started to overtake you. You weren’t giving up, you were running out of fight. Just as you were trying to prepare yourself for whatever would come next, you heard a familiar voice, “Okay….Uhm...Y/n? It’s Steve. Your boyfriend.” Hearing his voice made everything stop. A warmth filled you, and you forced your eyes open, seeing Eleven.

"El?" you asked weakly.

“You’re going to be fine, I’m here,” she reassured, moving towards you and taking your hand.

The next thing you remember was hearing Steve’s voice, “Are you okay?” he asked, you forced your eyes open to see who he was talking to.

“I’ll be fine,” Eleven reassured him, wiping her nose.

“Everything was going crazy in here and then the power went out...Is she okay now?"

Suddenly Eleven’s face lit up, “Why don’t you ask her yourself?”

You had never seen Steve turn around so quickly in his life, a wide smile on his face as he practically dove onto your bed holding you like his life depended on it. “Nice to see you too,” you laughed. God did he love that laugh, and that smile, and you.

“I am so glad that you are okay,” he sighed, allowing himself to relax a little for the first time since he had found out about the Russian code from Dustin.

“Are you okay?” you asked running your finger lightly across his cheek. His eye was swollen and undoubtedly painful. His lip was busted and his nose was also bruised and swollen. In other words, he looked like he got into a fight with his hands tied behind his back.

He put his hand over yours and pulled it down to his chest over his heart as he had done so many times before, “It’s worse than it looks, I promise. I’m just glad you're okay.”

You were going to ask him what happened but were interrupted by the kids coming in excitedly. They were vividly telling you everything that happened after you were “Semi-flayed” as Will had coined it. You listened to every word, happy to know that it was all over. Their commotion gained the attention of the nurse, who proceeded to kick everyone out. Well, everyone but Steve who was practically glued to your side.

She went back to find the doctor and notify your mother, promising to bring back the ice that you requested for Steve’s eye. There were more happy reunions, followed by another round of tests, and finally, you were discharged. Joyce took Will, Jonathan, Dustin, and Lucas home. Nancy took Mike and Eleven back to her house. Your mom went back to your house and you went with Steve to his.

You both were exhausted but found it hard to sleep.

“What happens now?” you asked innocently.

“What do you mean?”

“How do we move forward from this? I mean nothing can ever really be the same can it?”

Steve thought for a moment, “I think we grieve and heal, then we start looking for the little victories again until this is nothing more than a memory.”

You nodded, “I love you, Steve Harrington,” you spoke softly.

You missed the grin that spread across his face before he kissed your forehead, “I love you too.”

You laid like that for a while, it didn’t take Steve long to fall asleep. You thought about what he said. Tomorrow would be hard, and the day after that too, but eventually your life would become some type of normal again. You shifted to look at his face, careful not to wake him. You felt a sense of relief, knowing that as long as the two of you had each other, you could work through the rest.

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

COSMIC - S3:E4; Chapter Four, The Sauna Test - [Pt. 4]

A Will Byers x Reader Series

𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘦, 𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘌𝘭, 𝘔𝘢𝘹 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘠/𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘍𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘙𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘯, 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘓𝘺𝘯𝘹.

||𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

We shouldn't be doing this. I thought we all agreed? It was too risky putting her in there, even if she is backup. But Y/n insisted.

There were just too many things that could go wrong.

What if the plan didn't work? What if he caught on before he got in the sauna? What if he breaks out?

Everyone seems pretty confident in the plan, and it is a strong plan. But... they don't know the Mind Flayer like I do. They don't know how determined he is.

Especially when he's angry.

"Y/n...?" I wince internally when my voice comes out softer than I wanted.

She looks over her shoulder, away from the huddled party, and steps away with me out of earshot while Lucas finishes up the details. She took my hands in hers and gave them a gentle squeeze, already reading my thoughts.

"I'm still doing this, hon,"

I can't help but sag my shoulders, avoiding her eye and nervously I begin playing with her hands. "You don't have to though,"

"I know," she says. But with one look I can tell she's trying to bury her worry. "But we've got no other choice,"

"Yes, we do. We can wait for more backup. We could finally find Dustin? Get my mom, the chief...?"

I trail off as Y/n gives me a bittersweet smile, tracing my hands with her thumbs. My gut sinks.

"You said it yourself, Will. We need to do this as soon as possible. If it is him, he could hurt someone,"

This time it's her turn to trail off, and finally, I speak with a gentle, countering voice. "Like you?"

She sighs, sagging her head against my shoulder and lazily snaking her hands around my waist in a hug. I hug her back, trying to enjoy this moment. I can tell she is too. It's then I hear her mumble against my shoulder, "I'm too stubborn to die,"

I laugh to myself, hugging her tighter and over her shoulder I see the Party split up. Mike was tailing El, Lucas was most likely out on the hunt for a lock of some sort as he had volunteered earlier and Max stayed put with the binoculars.

Against my better judgment, I pull away and meet Y/n's eye. The look of adoration in them was hard to believe, and it still made my knees weak. Thankful again for her and this moment, I planted a kiss on the crown of her head and she smiled.

"You trust me, right?" She asked, her voice unusually delicate.

I moved my chin off of her head so I could gawk at her, completely appaled.

"What?" But she was serious, and it broke my heart. "Of course I trust you. It's him I don't trust. I know what he's capable of and... I know what he thinks of you."

Y/n doesn't say anything this time. She just looks back at our interwoven hands and then back at me. She shoots me a quick, forced smile that unintentionally told me she was feeling more and more uneasy. But because it was Y/n, she was trying to brave for others. She was putting it aside for the great good.

She shouldn't have to. She doesn't have to. I just wish she knew that.

"Come on," she says, pulling me along after Lucas. "Let's go."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

We found Lucas in the maintenance shed, digging through multiple boxes. I fell quiet and immediately got to work searching the shelves. Behind me at the door, Y/n hesitated, almost unsure of the silent tension in the room before ultimately shrugging it off and getting to work.

So far, all I was seeing was gardening gloves and other gardening supplies like pesticides, undoubtedly for lawn maintenance in front of and around the pools.

"Uh, Will...?" Lucas asks, shooting a nervous glance between me and Y/n from over his shoulder. "Um, you know about yesterday...?" Lucas asks softly.

Y/n hesitated from beside me for a moment, and in turn, so does Lucas. But he seems determined to make things right.

"It's fine, Lucas," I say, looking up from the box. "You don't have to say anything."

"I know..." Lucas continues, closing whatever lockbox he had found himself in. He was obviously nervous doing this in front of Y/n, but I guess I couldn't blame him. "But it's just... it was a really cool campaign. " he looks between both of us now, earnestly. "both of you did a great job."

He looks back at me, and Y/n shifts by my side, a frown on her face and her mouth in a small 'o' shape.

"And Mike and I should have never-"

"I don't care anymore Lucas," I say, moving on to a new box. "I really don't. We have bigger things to worry about now,

I know he's sorry, but I also know that if I dwell on it any longer I will only grow more upset. And I was already too worried about how this was going to go.

A pile of metal in the next box caught my eye. It was a long rope of steel chains and I pulled it out of the box, showing it to them.

"This should hold him,"

They both nod, looking somewhat relieved. But as I had feared, the matter wasn't being put to bed. Y/n had turned back to Lucas with a quirked brow and an edge in her voice and asked the last question we needed in this moment.

"Mike and you shouldn't have what?"

||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

The chain lock on the door undid itself and the azure gate swung open, allowing El to stride inside.

'A fake man' is what she was told to look for, at least that's how the others summed it up when she asked what a "dummy" looked like. Her first answer had been from Max - "easy, we both dated one" - she told El. She had rolled her eyes despite fighting back a small smile. She half expected a rebuttal from Y/n but El had turned her head just in time to see Will pulling her away, and El's shoulders sagged.

She wasn't gonna think about it, or get her hopes up. El was determined to keep her mind on the task at hand, even now as her wide eyes scoured the shelves of many peculiar items. Finally, a flash of bright red caught her eye and she knew immediately why they called it a fake man.

El picked it up off the shelf and tried not to think about how much it creeped her out. Its head, arms, and legs flopped around when she picked it up and suddenly she was filled with aggravation. But it had not been from this dummy. It had been from the one that followed her.

"Hey, I found the breakers," El didn't turn her head, she just grimaced and sighed. The last person she wanted to see now was Mike. "Woah, that thing is super creepy. Let me see it-"

He took it from her arms abruptly when she turned, and she frowned up at him. Mike didn't notice. With a goofy smile, he held it up in his arms like a puppet.

"I think this'll work. Right buddy?" His other hand moved to the dummy's chin, making it talk in a grating high pitched voice. "'Right Mike',"

El was done waiting, and she certainly wasn't impressed with his behavior. She gave him a purposeful, deadpan glare before taking the dummy back and making a break for the door. Alone.

But Mike didn't still didn't seem to take the hint. Why was he laughing and joking, she wondered. Why was he acting like nothing was wrong?

"Hey, El," he calls after her, for once sounding earnest.

Against her better judgment, she turns around.

"I just," he sighs, beginning to fight nervously. "I wanted to say..." he shifts on his feet. "You know when I said Nana was sick?" He took another, plunging deep breath. Here goes nothing, he thought."Well, she wasn't. I lied."

"I know."

El turned to leave, and Mike called out again. "Right, right, right, I just... I think it was important for you to know the context," he adds.

Her eyes tighten in a glare, she was growing impatient.

"Hopper," Mike says quickly. "he went crazy on me. Telling me I'm spending way too much time with you. He made me lie, I mean, you're the most important thing to me in the world-"

"-What if he's right?" El cut in, dropping the dummy on the ground.

"What?"

"Hop," she challenged, stepping forward.

A lazy grin took over Mike's face, a mocking grin, and he laughed dismissively. "Oh, no, no, no. He's just some angry old man who hates joy,"

The girl grits her teeth, reminded more and more of Diana's truth lasso and the Amazon warriors Max and Y/n had taught her about. And it gave her more confidence in her answer.

"But if I only see you," she explains slowly, putting on a facetious tone and jabbing a finger in his shoulder. "and I'm a different species than you, then I should be with my species more."

"What are you talking about?" Mike asks, flabbergasted as El retrieves the dummy from the floor. When she nears the gate, his jaw drops in shock when it clicks. "...Did you spy on me?"

"That's totally against the rules!" He cries, and she heaves the dummy over her shoulders.

"I make my own rules,"

And with that, El had left leaving Mike alone and in shock.

The silence had lasted only moments before a crackle of his walkie startled him.

"Mike? Are you there?"

"Yeah!" He can't help but snap, still much too in his own head.

"Where are you guys?" Max asks from her station at the car.

She hadn't left, nor had she taken her eyes off of Billy since everyone split.

"I'm coming... just hold on a second- Mike!"

Max did a double-take at the walkie when she barely heard the second voice in the background. It sounded like Y/n. But Mike had already shut off his coms. So Max shrugged, setting down her walkie and taking another hesitant look through the binoculars at her stepbrother.

"I hope it's not you," she says under her breath. "I really hope it not you."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"Mike!"

Mike stumbled back against the shelves, startled when Y/n came storming in and he nervously closed his walkie.

She looked livid.

Will and Lucas were right on her tail, fearfully and hesitantly trying to persuade or calm her in some way.

"The hell is wrong with you, Wheeler?"

"What?!" He asked, completely dumbfounded.

"You heard me! What the hell is your problem?"

"You tell me! Apparently, I'm messing up everywhere," he exclaims, gesturing after El. "you're gonna have to be more specific,"

"Y/n, really, just let it go. I'm over it-" Will eased.

"-Well, I'm not." She spits, glowering at Mike. "Why the hell would you say that? How could you say that?!"

"Say what...?!" Mike's heart and stomach sunk 6 feet when he met the saddened eyes of Will, and he felt he might hurl. He had been kicking himself since it came out of his mouth, just as he had with his fight outside the mall with Y/n. It was getting harder and harder for Mike not to explode these days, everything instinct seemed to be the wrong one. "Oh..."

"Yeah, oh," she snarls, completely disgusted. "None of us said that to you when El was gone for a year now did we?"

Mike picks his eyes back up off the floor where he had guiltily been avoiding everyone's eye and meets her fiery glare, shifting uncomfortably on his feet. The more and more she looks at him the more he feels like he's standing on hot coals.

But despite her intimidating stature, her voice grew quieter and more intense.

"And you spent all those nights in her fort, testing the channels and calling out to her?When we all thought she was dead. Did we ever say anything so horrible?"

He shifts again, his heartbreaking and anger swelling up in his chest at himself as he recalls what he said to Will. "No, you didn't."

"No, we didn't. Because friends don't do that shit."

"No, they don't,"

"They also don't shit all over their friend, leaving him behind, mocking things important to him either," she says pointedly, now sharing that look with Lucas but it was less severe towards the Sinclair boy. "huh?"

They both nodded, and Will stayed quiet.

-"No,"

-"Huh-uh,"

She turns back to Mike, shaking her head with her arms folded over her stomach. She was still passed but the boy looked well past sorry. And suddenly her face went blank, scaring Mike.

"What?" He asks carefully.

"You drew first blood, metaphorically speaking," Y/n informed, still trying to tamper down her anger. "so you have to apologize. A real one, not a fake one, and not out of defense."

Mike fell silent again, looking between her, Lucas, and finally Will. Before he could open his mouth to speak, she finished.

"Do it when you mean it, Mike. Not because you got caught,"

And then, like deja vu, she was gone leaving him and this time, his friends in silent shock. And with one lingering look, Will had left with her.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"Erica, do you copy?"

Erica buckled the helmet under her chin, her head still getting used to the weight of two flashlights and Dustin's walkie headset.

Night had fallen and everyone had locked up, including their very own Scoops Ahoy. With the addition of one Dustin Henderson and Erica Sinclair of course. The girl tightens her backpack over her shoulders and stands ready at the latter.

"Mm-hmm. I copy. You nerds in position, or what?"

"Yeah, we're in position," Robin answers softly, careful not to draw any attention like last time despite the lack of company. "It's It's quiet here, so you've got the green light."

"Green light. Got it." She nods, beginning her ascent. "Commence Operation Child Endangerment."

"Can we maybe not call it that?" Robin plead.

"See you on the other side, nerds." Was her only response and the line went quiet.

Erica had begun her journey into the vents.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

After several painstaking, hair-tearing minutes the trio finally heard a response.

"Alright, nerds. I'm there,"

"Do you see anything?" Robin asks.

Erica peers through the vents with little interest.

"Yeah, I see those boring little boxes you're so excited about,"

"Any guards?"

"Negative,"

"Booby traps?" Robin inquires.

Erica scoffs as she slips the backpack off her shoulders.

"If I could see them, they'd be pretty shit traps, wouldn't they?"

Steve fights a smirk, but it wasn't hard given his stress level.

"Thank you for that," Robin deadpans.

Erica rears back her legs and with a fearsome cry she kicked out the vent and tossed her backpack out onto the floor. And nary a booby trap in sight. So far.

Her feet collided with the ground and she gave a firm nod.

"I'm in,"

Those words hit Steve harder than anything they had done all week, and he feels suddenly as if a giant weight had been placed on his lungs preventing him from breathing.

"Oh, god," he groaned into his hands.

They were sending an actual child - not to mention a child he barely knew - into certain danger for the sake of reward. Oh, he definitely went too far, this was bad. This was so very bad.

A far-off buzzing pulled his eyes back to the doors just in time to see them swing open. And out waltzed Erica who was waiting for them with a knowing look.

"Free ice cream. For. Life!"

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

A choir of crickets sings into the starless night. The warm breeze blowing in from the east enunciates the sway of the trees and carries with it the smell of chlorine drifting in from the closed pool. The concrete was still wet from today's patrons, and the last of the darkened footprints on the concrete had begun to dry. Including the trail that led all the way into the men's locker room.

Billy stood under the gentle stream of water, allowing the freezing water to soak all the way to his bones. He had been in the shower for at least an hour, trying desperately to quell the fire in his veins but he only managed to subdue it to a small ember.

Finally, he kills the water, and the locker room falls deadly quiet. Billy liked the quiet, he always had. And now more than ever.

Towel secured around his torso, he now stands at and opens his designated locker, and begins to change. His mind wanders aimlessly, anything that wasn't the obvious when suddenly, the silence is first disturbed.

The moaning of the metal door bounced off of the long stretch of lockers with an echoey tin, and Billy bristled.

"Pool's closed,"

Metal cried out to him again, finished by a shuddering clang from the door yet again.

"Hey!"

No answer.

He slams the locker shut so hard the whole row shakes and he takes off down the hall after them in a blind fury.

"YOU HEAR ME?!"

Again no answer, but Billy wouldn't accept it.

"The pool is closed!"

He throws his fists against the exit door, confused as to why it wasn't opening. Unbeknownst to him, a certain brunette was hiding in the shadows across the locker room, playing with the door - and the lock now trapping him inside - all without lifting a finger.

Angered and confused, Billy continues his assault on the door; slamming fist after fist, push after push but there was no give. He was locked inside.

And the lights cut out.

Billy was high alert now. And so was He. Billy could feel him prickle, far back in his mind but he was there. Watching.

Waiting.

"Billy," came a distant, sing-song voice.

"Who's there," he seethes.

"Billy~"

He stalked back around the corner as he echoes the mocking, sing-song voice.

"Who's there~"

More rattling preceded a chilling, squeaky laugh that echoed seemingly from everywhere. Billy takes a chance and rips open the first shower curtain, but finds nothing. The voice calls out again, once, twice. It laughs.

"You think this is funny?" He asks, in a frighteningly low voice.

The voice laughs, once again, in response and hisses another taunt. "Billy! Come and find me!"

He stalks further and further, edging the end of the brick wall as his eyes prowl across the room in search of movement.

"I find you, it is your funeral," he promises.

His eyes lock on the closing door leading to the weight room, and as if reading his thoughts, the voice eggs him on.

"Come and get me! Come on!"

Slowly he maneuvers towards the door, reaching ever so slowly for the handle. And in one swift motion, he rips it open and storms inside, finding no one but himself. At first.

"Billy!" The voice cried again, closer than ever. Another taunting laugh.

But Billy's eyes were dead set ahead on the sauna door, and more specifically the silhouette of moppy hair waiting for him behind the foggy glass window. The corners of Billy's mouth are yanked up in a disconnected smile that never quite reaches his pained eyes.

"Got you,"

His lips curl back into a snarl - an exaggerated smile - as he claps his hands and cackles, marching in for the kill.

He's already ripping open the door, face falling and realizing the truth of it all when he registers the voice clear as day and flatter and angrier than ever.

"Come and get me you piece of shit."

A fake. A goddamn fake made out of a stolen CPR dummy was the only thing waiting for him, harnessed from the ceiling. In a flood of anger, Billy steps forward and grabs the dummy in a chokehold, its rubber head hitting the ceiling with a thud. And that's when he spots it.

The walkie-talkie duct-taped to its chest and still talking to him.

"Hey. Behind you,"

Billy whirls around to find one of the girls from the night before.

El.

"Hi,"

Billy chucks the dummy into the sauna floor, but before he can do anything else, the girl flicks her head with a grunt and he's sent flying into the tile wall. It shatters where his back makes contact and he cries out in pain, falling to the floor in a heap.

"Now!" Mike cries.

The lights return with a sharp click and across the room, the Party emerges from their hiding spot in the locker rooms.

Billy's already on his feet, blood pounding in his ears just from his furious screams as he storms after El. But El is faster. She rakes one clawed hand through the air with a grunt and the door swings shut with a loud bang, where the others got to work.

Y/n had stopped at El's side where she was mostly hidden, for once allowing her best friend to shield her from the man pounding and screaming against the glass like a rabid dog. The others had already secured a smaller metal pipe through the door handle and the pipes attached to the wall, encircling it all with the rope of chains Will had discovered.

"Come on! Come on!" Mike reflexively cried, with nothing more to do but help hold the door closed and watch as Billy atta ked inches from his face.

He could feel the door moving.

At last, the click of the lock reached their ears. "Got it!" Lucas cried.

The four of them scurry back to El's side, watching in horror as Billy descended into madness before their very eyes.

The lock and chains rattled, as did the pipe and with every flinch of the door, the edge in the air grew sharper. Y/n felt a hand squeeze her own and she knew it was Will, and she gave his hand a thankful squeeze. Nobody said anything as he roared in anger, and they all feared what might happen next but not a single one of them expected what did.

His face slowly fell, his screams dying out with it as his expression turned to gasp when he noticed a particular individual.

"Max,"

His voice was a whisper, barely a breath, as he looked upon the girl. Her expression was unreadable, but it didn't take a genius to know she was trying to be brave. He looked - and sounded - betrayed. One by one, her friends look to her, her ocean eyes dead ahead on her brother.

"Do it," she says.

Releasing Y/n's hand, Will runs forward to the controls, commencing the sauna test.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

The trio, now quartet, stood packed together inside the locked room, peering over the same Imperial Panda box that was identical to the others piling the shelves. Steve handed Dustin's pocket knife back to the boy after splitting the tape. He pries the lid open, popping the remaining bit of tape, and unfolds the cardboard to reveal an unexpected sight.

The four of them peer in to get a better look at the single metal box with one indented handle in the very center. Steve sends them each a curious look before twisting the lid until he felt and heard the satisfying click and hiss of air releasing from the inside. Discarding the lid revealed to all four figures four similar handles inside corresponding cylinders; steam spilling out from all sides.

"That's definitely not Chinese food," Steve says finally.

He makes a grab for one of the cylinders but stops himself, motioning for the three.

"Uh, maybe you guys should, uh, you know stand back,"

Robin shrugs and complies, and Erica steps off the box of Kauffman Shoes she had been standing on but Dustin doesn't move. He just shakes his head defiantly.

"No,"

"Just step back, alright?" Steve says, eyeing the handle while trying to shoo the kid away.

"No,"

"Step back!"

-"no!"

-"seriously!"

-"No!" Dustin cries, growing upset. "If you die, I die,"

The room goes silent and everyone stares at Dustin as he gives Steve a challenging look. And after several moments of silence, Steve concedes.

"Okay," he finally shrugs.

Steve turns back to the handle and draws in an anxious, and unlikely-but-also-not-impossibly last breath, and unlocks the cylinder. Again, it hisses and more and more steam spills out but all eyes were on the glowing green substance in the cylinder Steve now held up.

"What the hell?" Steve gasps.

"What... is that?" Robin can't help but ask.

The billowing sound of grinding gears and squeaking pulleys rang in their ears and they all felt an invisible force sway them on their feet. They hadn't previously thought it possible, but their attention was stolen away from the mysterious glowing substance and towards the room.

"Is that just me or did the room move?" Dustin murmured.

"Booby traps," Erica croaked, for the first time sounding scared.

The room was filled with more and more clicks that only grew louder and Robin snapped into action.

"Okay, you know what? Let's just grab that and go," she says, snatching the cylinder from Steve's hands and begab securing it in Erica's backpack.

Dustin made a break for the panel, where Erica had shown him and wasted no time in pressing, "door open," but nothing happened. Just the empty clicks reaching his ears as he feverishly pressed the button over and over and tried not to panic.

"Which one do I press, Erica?"

"Just press the damn button, nerd,"

"Which one, I-" He gulps nervously, swiping at his sweating brow trying to maintain a level voice. "I'm pressing the button, okay?"

"Press 'open door'!"

"I'm pressing 'open door'!"

-"Just open the-- press the other button!" Steve cuts in, and all four of them begin shouting over one another as they spiral into a frenzy.

-"Guys, just get out of the way so she can press the button!"

"-would you stop?"

"-I'm trying!"

"-Would you let me just do it?! Would you just stop?!"

"Just open the door!"

Pulling a hail Mary, Steve hit every button he could see and a sudden jolt shook the room with the loudest clang they had heard so far. They all stilled; the room falling silent around them apart from the wailing of the gears.

A giant red barricade had unsheathed itself over the door, blocking their only exit and their stomachs dropped. Literally. The room itself was suddenly plunged at a sickening speed, knocking them into the walls and floors with terrified shrieks. As Steve gripped the shelf and the wall, trying to steady himself, his widened eyes fall on the upper wall - or lack thereof - where concrete walls and rows upon rows of lights were rushing past them all confirming to him the worst.

"Oh, shit,"

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

A Step By Step Guide on How To Blur Protestors Faces to Protect Their Identities:

Black Aids Institute: "We source capacity building, mobilization, policy, and advocacy efforts from Black leaders and communities across the country. We provide high-quality, direct HIV services to Black people."

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Twitter link or @/BlackCollective

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[lluvguts]

stargazing // byler

pairing: will byers / mike wheeler & eleven / max mayfield

genre/warnings: mainly fluff! some soft angst

word count: 2502

summary:  Where the party goes laser tagging for Will's 16th birthday and something happens that Mike will never forget aka that first kiss no one asked for.

n/a: post season 3 spoilers!! you’ve been warned!

March 22nd, 1987

6:37 pm

“Lucas, I don’t even care if it’s Will’s birthday, so help me if you crash this car I’m making Eleven open the gate and feed you to the Demodogs,” Dustin yelled from the front seat of the Henderson’s van with the rest of the group piled in the back.

“El can’t do that anymore, genius.” Max had her hands clasped in Eleven’s lap.

“I have my license, Dustin. Stop freaking out,” Lucas groaned but still reduced his speed by a few miles.

“Lie-sense?” Eleven looked to Max.

“Can we please stop arguing?” Mike hollered over the shouting from the back of the van, as well as Max’s arm stretching across the console to crank the volume louder on the radio.

The party had decided to celebrate Will Byer’s sixteenth birthday in the most acceptable way possible: laser tag. The boys had outgrown Dungeons & Dragons—for the most part—but that didn’t stop them from pooling their money and planning on spending the night shooting each other with lasers and eating junk food like children; if anything it brought back the nostalgia of their middle school antics. The girls, on the other hand, didn’t care for the game as much—although Eleven had a difficult time wrapping her head around the entire idea of laser tagging—and they only went for the sake of Will and to spend time together.

The van slowly turned into the parking lot of the laser tag center and the chatter subsided.

“Is this what you wanted for your birthday?” Mike turned to Will. The other boy gave a shy smile and nodded. No matter how many weeks since they’d announced their relationship to the party and their parents—even realizing it themselves—Will’s affectionate gestures made Mike’s heart beat a little faster, and his eyes linger on the boy’s face a little longer. He wasn’t used to it yet, he’d never been in a real relationship. And his smile is driving me mad.

Will took Mike’s hand and pulled him out of the last row of seats. As he jumped down from the van Mike’s eyes flickered to his shorts. Only briefly. Were they always that..short? His heart leapt from his chest and he looked away, embarrassed, only to find their intertwined fingers. Will caught Mike’s flustered expression.

“What?” he laughed and held up their hands, “Do you want me to stop?”

“No!” Mike said, his face reddening. “Uh, I mean, you don’t have to. Sorry, it’s just all so new-“

“Hey! Birthday boy! Get over here! You too, stupid,” Max called, pointing to the Polaroid camera in her hands while the rest of the group huddled around the front entrance for the photo.

Will smiled up at the dark haired boy and lead them over to the others. Max held the camera out in front of her as the rest of the group filed behind her, grinning. Will snaked his hand over Mike’s shoulders and Eleven draped her arms around Max from behind.

“Cheese!”

“Mike, stop looking at Will, look at the camera,” Lucas snapped.

They all laughed as the light flashed.

“I took a few, so you all get a copy.” Max let the film develop for a few seconds and handed them each a photo. Mike took one and before he slid it into his pocket he showed it to Will, both staring at their cheeky grins. He already knew where he’d keep the photo—on the bulletin board in his bedroom, amongst ticket stubs, poems and sketches Will had done, and photos of the group when they were younger; right next to the many polaroids he’d snapped of Will. A collage of his hazel eyes. His beautiful, bright eyes.

“Cute, Mikey,” Will whispered. Was he talking about the picture? Or him?

Will briefly touched Mike’s shoulder then caught up with the rest of them, leaving him to stare at the smiles on the film, hiding his blush.

7:02 pm

“Boys against girls!”  

“How is that fair?” Eleven hissed, “It’s just the two of us.”

“We can join a group that’s already in there,” Will added.

“You’re all such a headache. Let’s just split it into two groups. Me, Mike and Dustin on the red team. Will, Lucas and Eleven on blue. Deal?” Max counted off on her fingers.

Mike looked around the area as the others went with their teams and pulled on the correct vests and guns.

“Need some help?” Max asked and went to her girlfriend’s side, she was holding the gear in her arms with a startled expression like she was handling a bomb. She giggled as Max guided the heavy vest over her head and adjusted it to her small waist. Eleven watched it all in wonder, then looked up at her face.

“Pretty,” She said to Max and leaned in for a hug, their pink cheeks pressed close.

“See Will? It’s that simple,” Dustin whispered loudly and then chuckled while he watched the girls. Will punched Dustin in the arm and his eyes quickly met Mike’s from across the neon lit waiting room.

Will was about to say something to him, not in words. In his stare. But the booming voice from the overhead speaker filled the room.

“Game begins in five,” The announcer said.

“Alright. I’m going to go with my team. You remember the rules?” Max had her hands on Eleven’s shoulders, staring into her eyes.

Mike tried to make Will look again, but he was talking to Dustin as they headed into a different room. What was he going to say? What was so simple?

Eleven pointed to Max’s glowing chest, “Shoot the red vests. Hide. Be quiet.”

“See? You’ll do great,” Max hugged her one last time and went over to the door, “But, I am going to win.”

“We’ll see about that, Mad Max.” Lucas shouted and patted their shoulders companionably.

A buzzer sounded as the main doors opened; Mike’s team rushed inside to station themselves around the maze. The arena was pitch black save for the neon lights across the carpeted floor and a constellation of yellow artificial stars on the ceiling. He knew that Will’s team was somewhere on the opposite side, lurking in the shadows. Waiting to stake the perfect moment to strike. The visual made Mike’s heart race and he was drowning in worry.

He could only think of Will. It’s gonna be just like that time at the arcade. Just like Halloween. He’s gonna be walking and everything’s fine until someone jumps out and it triggers a memory in his mind. What if he can’t control it, and the figure in front of him suddenly turns into a Demogorgon? Or the Mind Flayer in his head?

Mike crept around the curved bend in the maze and quietly ducked into a dark alcove to think. A shout suddenly echoed and floated up into the air, the resonant cry drifting to Mike’s ears. To anyone else the sound only meant that someone had gotten caught off guard and a laser to the chest.

What if that’s Will? Is he okay?  

Mike sat up slowly, hoping to find Will and make sure he was safe; he turned his head around the edge of the alcove and in the sound of slamming plastic someone crashed into him. He staggered back, registering the face.

“Oh. Will, thank God. I was going to see-“

Before he could get out the last of his sentence Will took the barrel of his laser gun and pinned Mike back against the alcove wall.

He couldn’t speak.

Mike only watched Will draw his lips up to his mouth, frozen in surprise. Will squeezed the trigger as their lips parted at the same time, as though they’d wanted this from the start. He kissed Will back and shuddered when he felt a brush of those teeth along the front of his flushed lips; Mike dropped his gun and grabbed at his face, embracing the startling sensation when Will pressed himself closer, trapping him. Oh God, don’t move. Don’t pull away, Mike pleaded.  

The trigger went off and Mike’s vest buzzed and filled the space with flashing red light—but Will didn’t let go. He just rooted him in place by the tip of the gun, its weight carrying all throughout the plastic front of his vest and into his pounding heart.

Will sighed into his open mouth, making Mike shudder involuntarily before he moved his body away. The air was filled with the sound of their shaky breathing.

“That’s what I wanted for my birthday,” Mike’s heart sped up at his gruff, breathy voice.

Mike reached for him again, “W-Wait-“

“Shhh,” Will whispered and placed his hand on Mike’s face, smirking, “You’re dead, Wheeler.”

He rushed out of the alcove with a smile plastered on his face before Mike could run after him. The vest shook once more, signaling his loss, before the color faded and died. Mike slid down onto the floor and brought his fingers to his hot cheeks. His lips started to burn as the last few minutes replayed in his head, making his breathing turn ragged again and his stomach twist back into messy, feverish knots.

Mike felt the pulse roar in his ears, still staring at the empty space where Will was only moments before. Where he’d just kissed him.

What just happened?

8:49 pm

“Our team,” Eleven started, staring hopelessly out the car window into the night, “Lost.”

“Yep,” Dustin sighed, “That’s what happens when you’re up against the best.”

Mike ignored their arguing and stared out the back window at the stars. They covered the dark sky, too many to count, thousands of glittering and radiant sparks—they reminded him of Will’s eyes. So full of amber light and happiness, no matter the circumstance.

“Hey.” Mike flinched when there was a tap on his shoulder. Any touch from him and Mike turned into a live wire, his lungs forgot how to work and his heart thrashed wildly inside his aching chest. He longed to let Will’s touch linger, to sustain the burning, fluttering sensation.

“Yeah?” He whispered, taking the time to even his breathing before he looked at Will.

His eyes flickered between Mike’s, searching his face. “Was that alright?”

“Was what alright?”

“Back in the arena..you know..”

Mike’s cheeks burned tomato red as he remembered the softness of his lips and quickly murmured, “Oh, yeah. That was really nice Will, I just-“

“What?” He leaned in, as if getting closer would help to understand. Mike’s body tensed at the hurt beginning to show on Will’s face.

“It..kinda caught me off guard.”

Will paused. “Do you want me to ask you next time? If it’s okay?”

Mike nodded.

Will smiled at their bodies, intentionally placed as far apart as possible. “Can I hold your hand?”

He nodded again and Will slipped his hand into Mike’s, letting his fingers trail absently along the front of his knuckles.

“Mike, this is your stop,” Lucas said from the driver’s seat. Will held his hand tighter.

“Could I come too?” Will asked him quietly, “My mom wouldn’t mind.”

“Of course,” Mike hid his red face as he climbed over the back seat to the car door.

“Aight. Happy birthday, Will,” Dustin said and waved at the two.

He gave Dustin a shy smile. “Thanks, guys. It was really fun.”

“Don’t do anything stupid!” Max shouted out the window as the van sped away.

They stared at each other for a moment, in the quiet of the night, standing in front of the Wheeler’s unlit driveway. Until the front door swung open and Nancy was calling from the porch.

“Guess we better go in then,” Mike whispered, caught up in Will’s gaze.

He looked away, grinning. “Yeah.”

9:02 pm

“There’s so many photos here,” Will inspected the cork board on Mike’s wall. When they’d went inside Mike opened the window above his bed to let the peaceful night sounds in, and allow the stars outside to watch.

“Wait a minute,” Will touched a piece of paper tacked on the board, “I drew this.”

“I love your art, Will. How could I not hang it up?” Mike smiled up at him, so full of affection. He’s adorable when he’s flustered. Will muttered something under his breath and his face turned pink.

“Oh, right!” Mike got off his bed and joined his side. He handed over the Polaroid photo from his pocket, “You can pick the spot to put it up if you want.”

Will studied the picture, as if seeing it for the first time. He was close, close enough that Mike could see every detail of his face, see the curve of his lips that had fit so perfectly in his own.

“You’re so cute.” He pointed to Mike in the photo, then tore a piece of tape to hang the Polaroid next to a small drawing. A pencil sketch of Mike, with a caption at the bottom in Will’s handwriting: my Paladin.

“Y-you’re uh, pretty cute too,” Mike stammered. When Will finished hanging the picture he turned around and followed him to the bed, his head tipping up so their eyes met. The air suddenly felt very warm as they sat chest to chest—silent except for the crickets outside—until Will spoke softly.

“Mikey, can I ask something?” His hazel eyes never left his face.

Mike didn’t realize he’d been holding his breath.

“Anything.”

Will was leaning back on his hands, and decidedly scooted closer. “Can you..hold me please?”

His eyes widened. Will’s request was so gentle that it made Mike’s heart burn for him. The desire to have him in his arms. “Of course I will.”

Mike took his hands and wrapped them around his neck, leaning them back on the comforter, drawing him closer than they’d ever been before. Will nestled his cheek to Mike’s chest as he faced the stars out the open window, his legs eased down to rest snug by his sides.

“Is this okay?” Will asked, tilting his head up so he could nestle into Mike’s neck. His soft brown hair brushed Mike’s skin and sent goosebumps racing up his arms. He closed his eyes and rubbed Will’s back in comforting circles.

“It’s perfect,” He said.

Will yawned. “This was such a great birthday.”

“Yeah?”

“Duh, I had my first kiss.” Will murmured, his fingers under Mike’s neck started to play with his dark curls.

“Tired?” Mike asked, his hands never leaving his back.

“Only a little,” He replied with a drowsy smile against his chest.

He laughed and put a hand gingerly on Will’s face to move a strand of hair. In the minutes that followed he let Will fall asleep while he studied the stars outside, listened to the heartbeat of the boy on top of him, the drawing on the cork-board. The title scrawled beneath.

“My Cleric,” Mike whispered to the stars.

[argylemikewheeler]

snack break (in)

|| steve and jonathan come back to steve’s house after a date-- only to find the party raiding his kitchen for snacks ||

The date had been a success, by all means. By all margins of error. It was just dinner-- just dinner, Steve had promised, trying to get Jonathan to agree to see him Saturday night without feeling the pressure to be someone he wasn’t, to conform to an idea they, themselves, weren’t. Steve picked Jonathan up at the end of his driveway; Jonathan didn’t want Will seeing his car or his mom to accidentally spill their secret by asking why didn’t Steve come in and say hi the other night and start Will asking all the wrong questions.

They both dressed... differently. Jonathan wore what he’d wear to school: simple but clean tan shirt half-tucked into the front of his jeans, with a large black, gray, and red flannel hanging over him. It was a new one though; Steve had never seen Jonathan in red before. When his headlights found him on the berm, Steve almost didn’t think it was him. He couldn’t hide his smile.

Steve wore his best rugby shirt-- the white and navy blue striped one that he knew was Jonathan’s favorite-- tucked into his best jeans. He cuffed both his sleeves and pant hems up, exposing the best of his forearms-- and a little ankle. It said what he wanted to say. Which was... really not something Steve actually said until dinner was over and they were sitting in his car deciding if their evening was over already.

“Where do you want to go?”

“I don’t know... Wherever you want to, Steve.”

“I... I was just going to go home.”

“Yeah... that sounds fine.”

“Do you... want to come back home with me?”

“... Yeah. I do.”

Steve let Jonathan change the radio station and fiddle around in his glove compartment with his CDs. He didn’t want to say anything to ruin the best thing to come out of his entire summer; the chance to laugh and stumble and smile and be stupid and just be with his best friend. His parents had been gone for an entire month-- and would be for another two weeks-- and Steve needed some new voices echoing around the hallways. He would not mind if it was Jonathan’s. Or if it wasn’t an echo, but actually a stay until morning.

They loitered in the driveway despite their solitude. Jonathan held Steve’s hand, reaching for his other one to place on Jonathan’s leg-- to pull him closer over the console and break the barrier they’d had to keep up all night across the dinner table. Steve didn’t want to leave the car; didn’t want to break the tether he was quickly tying to himself, and then around Jonathan as he wrapped his hand in his shirt.

Jonathan pulled back when it was obvious the car would be the worst place to be-- worst place to get caught-- carrying out their evening plans.

Walking in the door, Steve heard quiet clattering in the kitchen. Someone was home. He reached over Jonathan and grabbed his arm, pushing him behind him. Jonathan placed a hand on his shoulder, quietly asking what was wrong.

“Mom? Dad?” Steve asked the silence-- and answered Jonathan. “Are you guys home already?” There weren’t any cars in the driveway. Where had they been-- had they seen them?

“Is that Steve?” One voice asked. It was higher pitched than Steve expected-- and there was more than one that answered. It was a group-- a whole party...

“Dustin?” Steve called, walking forward again. Jonathan followed close behind.

“Steve! Hey Steve! Where do you keep your snacks?”

Upon rounding the corner, Steve found Dustin sitting on his counter, legs dangling and gently kicking the cabinets. Steve also found Lucas, Max, Mike, El, and Will all crowded around the breakfast bar. Every cabinet was open-- and El was standing in front of the open freezer, digging around.

“I-In the pantry.” Steve tried to answer without trembling. His hand relaxed on Jonathan’s arm, slapping against his leg. “Dustin I gave you that spare key for emergencies.”

“We were hungry.” Dustin scoffed. “We’re America’s growing youth we need food, Steve.”

“It’s eleven at night, Dustin.” Steve said. “I didn’t expect to come home to a gaggle of raccoons raiding my kitchen.”

"What were you doing out tonight?”

“And why are you with my brother?” Will seemed the only one to lock onto the key elephant parading into the room. “Hey Jonathan.”

“H-Hey, buddy. What are you doing out so late?”

“I was sleeping over at Mike’s--”

“--And we got a call from Lucas about Dustin’s plan to get some snacks. So now we’re here.” Mike said, leaning his elbows on the counter and looking at them evenly.

“Does mom know you’re sleeping over at Mike’s?” Jonathan unconvincingly played the Hard Cop, enforcing Will’s curfew.

“She dropped me off.” Will laughed, furrowing his eyebrows. “D-Did I do something wrong?”

“No! No, I’m just--”

“Does she not know you’re out?” Mike was trying to instigate, but he wasn’t wrong. Joyce didn’t know Jonathan was out-- because he wasn’t. Not like that at least. “Ooooo Jonathan’s gonna be in trouble.”

Steve finally regained control of himself, his heart rate settling. “You guys broke into my house.”

“We have a key, Steven.” Dustin said, dangling it from his fingers. “It’s not illegal if you willingly gave me a key. That’s consent and acknowledgement of risk.”

Steve paused. “Did you guys look into this before you came over?”

“We may have asked El’s dad.”

“The Chief?!” Steve knew he couldn’t argue with a man with a badge about the law advice he gave (most likely unknowingly) that now had him and Jonathan standing frozen and awkward in Steve’s kitchen. “You bothered the Chief of Police because you wanted my snacks?”

“You always have the good Doritos.” Max said, pulling open another cabinet. “Which we haven’t found-- where is your food?”

“In the pantry.” Steve said again, beginning to turn away and slowly navigate Jonathan back out the front door to drive him home. But something in Jonathan’s face stopped him, and not just in the usual way.

His face was tense, eyebrows knitted together and lips rolled together. Jonathan’s body was closed off-- his arms crossed and feet standing parallel and close together. He was uncomfortable with the sudden gaggle of eyes seeing Jonathan with Steve-- knowing without knowing. Having knowledge that would dawn on them days, weeks, years later with a slow, drawn out ooooooh... Jonathan wished they hadn’t come inside, hadn’t left the close, fumbling quarters of Steve’s car. But Jonathan also didn’t want to leave, not right away.

Even with his own signature and unreadable pursed expression, Jonathan was right. They couldn’t just leave-- the house or leave those kids alone. They wouldn’t have come for Steve’s house just for snacks. Steve knew hopeful, quiet desperation when he saw it. He knew what it was like to gently beg for friendship, from someone older to help and listen to him when he was nervous and about to start high school. Steve also knew what it was like to not get that help and be fed to the machine of perpetual expectations.

“Come on, let’s get you guys something to snack on.” Steve clapped his hands and started away from Jonathan and into the kitchen. “Jonathan get some bowls down from the cabinet, will you?”

“Uh, yeah. Sure.” It was without any hesitation-- or notice on the Party’s part-- that Jonathan knew exactly where the plastic snack bowls were. Steve tried not to feel too inflated by the fact his house layout held some small place in Jonathan’s constantly working mind. He had a place-- maybe in his heart too?

Jonathan kept track of the kids’ shouted orders as Steve walked around to the hall pantry. He tucked as many bags of chips, pretzels, pop tarts, cheese puffs, and cereal as he could under his arms before returning. Jonathan had already placed bowls out in front of each kid, his hands free to start taking some of the snacks from Steve.

Thank God you’re here Steve wanted to say. But how would that sound-- what would that prompt?

Why was Jonathan there? It was nearly midnight on a Saturday night in the peak of summer. Sure, Steve and Jonathan hung out all the time after work, but that was in the daytime. That was out in the shame-stripping sunlight. When every concerned citizen fretting about Family Values could see that they were just two normal teenagers going to get ice cream, or walking innocuous laps around the mall definitely not brushing shoulders or hands.

This was the folded-in secret hours of evening, when everything and nothing happened. The impossible could unfold without a single witness to stop it-- which Steve had experienced the fall previous-- or it could be a moment seemingly omitted from time itself and simply for him (and Jonathan). This was something more than hanging out after work and it was very obvious if any of the kids knew where and how to look.

“What were you guys doing hanging out?” Dustin asked, seeing through Steve’s avoidance accidentally. He crunched down on his pretzel stick as he smiled.

They were children. They couldn’t be malicious.

“We just got something to eat.” Steve continued to pour pretzels into the row of bowls on the counter. “Got really hungry in the middle of my shift and... wanted to try that new restaurant downtown.”

“How was it?” Max asked, reaching over Lucas to stick her hand in the Doritos bag.

“Uh, fine.” Steve shrugged. “Just Italian food.”

“Oh, did you go to Mrs. Byers’s friend’s place?” El asked, flopping a pop tart out of its packaging.

“My mom--” Jonathan started. The mention of his mother pitched his voice, his face straining to maintain even.

“No, no,” Mike started, shaking his head and struggling to swallow his mouthful of frosted flakes. “The place is just called Enzo’s, El. It’s not her friend.”

“Oh.”

“Isn’t Enzo’s kind of fancy for you, Steve?” Dustin asked, lifting his eyebrows. “Especially dressed like that.”

“Hey!” Steve fiddled with his collar quickly. “I look good, okay. I worked hard on his hair.”

“You did?” Lucas teased.

“You did?” Jonathan echoed, his voice getting lost in the laughter of the kids.

Steve turned and met his eyes, could hear the embarrassing realization dawn on Jonathan. He fought his grin and set his jaw, gently pressing his tongue under his top teeth. “Yeah.” He said, without any subtly or charm. “Four tries.”

Jonathan snorted, still gentle and loving. “It looks the same, Steve.”

“Oh okay, Byers, that’s it--”

“What’s it?” Mike asked, still keen to raise Steve’s blood pressure.

“Nothing.”

“Noooo,” El said, pointing at Steve. She was looking at Dustin for encouragement. Which he gladly gave. “what is it.”

Oh okay, Byers, that’s it, you’re going home alone.

“Nothing. It’s a really long story--” Steve waved it away with a ridiculing eyeroll. “I’d rather hear about you guys. What’s up, dorks? Why did you break into my house?” Steve leaned against the refrigerator, crossing his arms and ankles. They all crunched quietly. “Come on, what is it?”

As Dustin began answering-- loneliness in the swampy evening hours of summer when they were with each other but they were scared of the other time that was still slipping them by-- Will was staring at Jonathan. His face was still and he was blinking slow. Jonathan had no idea.

He was too busy looking at Steve.

“Steve,” Will said suddenly. His eyebrows were furrowed and his neck was tense. “did you go on a date with my brother?”

“What?”

“Excuse me?”

“A date?”

“Will, what the hell I was talking-- wait, huh?”

“My mom and Hopper went to Enzo’s the other week.” Will sounded upset almost. Lied to. Exposed to something he wasn’t prepared for.

“It’s just a restaurant, Will.” Jonathan laughed, shaking his head. “Steve was bitching all day about how hungry he was--”

“And I got tipped a bunch at Scoops so I figured why not actually eat some real food?” Steve shrugged. “And also I love a good bread stick, ya know?”

The party had little to offer in wake of his question.

“Steve, are you dating Will’s brother.”

“I just said I wasn’t.” Steve sighed. “Do you people listen? Like at all?”

No one was speaking but somehow the room was deafening. Blood was pounding in Steve’s ears and he could feel both numbness and all the feeling in his body settle into his feet. He somehow thought he was asleep, completely dreaming this horror scenario.

Steve wasn’t ready to admit to using the word date with Jonathan. He wanted to, oh he wanted to, but they hadn’t agreed on it. Hadn’t decided if they were dating, seeing each other, hanging out, or just fooling around. They didn’t know how they were going to lie to each other about what was really happening-- which was genuine love.

Which was not going to be uttered in front of a gaggle of snack-stuffed children in the middle of the night, in a cavernous empty house.

“Can’t two guys go to dinner?” Jonathan scoffed, taking a bag of pretzels from the table. His crunch was the equivalent of a voice crack.

Dustin shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. Just seems weird, you’re out late.”

“You got a job, Dustin?” Steve asked, quirking his eyebrow. It was the only thing he thought could move on his entire body.

“Okay, okay, fine. I get it. You work so hard.” Dustin waved Steve down before offering him a snack. “Take us next time with the tip money, huh?”

"I’ll take it under consideration.” Steve said with a laugh, taking a chip.

Jonathan met his eyes across the room, smiling with an twist of pride turning the corners down in a tight line. They both could feel Will’s eyes going between them, but the room resumed it’s cacophony of noise and they didn’t care.

It was almost out. They were almost out. And the world didn’t implode, barely even changed. Steve thought he would feel all the air leave his chest, like the great inhale from a fire as it explodes. But it was barely the spark of a match. Even if it had been the moment, and Steve had confessed, he had the feeling nothing would have changed.

Well, nothing else would’ve changed. He still had to go grocery shopping again. Maybe, if he was charming enough, he could get some company for the trip. Extra set of arms-- hands-- perhaps...

[kingofno-whereville]

You potray billy and Steve well, I was wondering if you could write about the whole party getting involved to try and get billy and Steve together because billy and Steve just don't belivie that other is gay/bi or whatever

I tried something new with this prompt but I hope you like it!! it got pretty long ahah

------

Max was glad Billy was feeling better. She wasn’t sure he’d live to see another day after the mall incident. But even though he was feeling better and being nice, he was closed off. She’d never seen him wear a sweatshirt before but now he practically lived in his grey sweatshirt with “San Diego” printed in bold across the front. He’d sit on the couch in the living room(he roamed the house a lot more freely since her mom kicked Neil out. Good riddance.) and watch tv or just...stare at the wall. Like he’d go to his own little reality on that couch.

She tried to pull him out of his slump. As happy as she was to see him doing better in terms of physical health, she couldn’t stand to see him the way he was. She was starting to miss his loud and proud personality. So she’d get him to drive her to the party’s meetings. Ms. Byers pretty much always hosted the little group in the house her and Hopper had bought(it warmed her heart to see how happy El looked to have such a big family.) It took almost a month of asking to get Billy to come inside. The party was expecting him since Max explained her plan to them. They were willing to give him another chance. 

She could tell he felt out of place but before she even spoke to him, El was pulling him by the wrist to sit by her on the couch. Max didn’t quite understand the dynamic between her brother and El. El would visit him in the hospital and continued to visit when Billy came home. Sometimes she’d hear Billy reading to El in the living room. She was a little jealous because- yeah that’s her brother and she’d never admit it but she wanted attention from him. But she understood Billy needed his space. She’d wait.

The second time she got him to come, Steve was there. Everyone noticed them staring at the each other when they thought the other wasn’t looking. The third time, about half way through the session she noticed Billy and Steve had disappeared. She excused herself for a moment to look for them. She checked the porch and saw the two of them sharing a cigarette on the porch and laughing quietly. She left them alone. Maybe Billy would benefit from having a friend his age. But then they kept disappearing to sit on the porch and talk. After a month of them disappearing every Saturday afternoon, she confronted Billy in the car.

“What’s up with you and Steve?”

She knew Billy was gay. Found out before they moved to Hawkins. She walked in on him and another guy getting a little closer than she wanted to see. Not that she’s against being gay. She just didn’t want to see her step-brother half naked, getting hot and heavy on his bed with anyone. 

“We’re just friends.”

“But do you like him.” He was quiet, quieter than usual at least, his knuckles getting white on the wheel and then barely flushing red before turning white again.

“He’s not into guys.” She left it at that. With Billy at least. But she’d get to the bottom of this.

Tuesday was Steve’s day to drive some of the kids to school so Max stayed after everyone got out at school.

“What’re you doing Max? You gotta get to school.” Steve’s such a mother hen.

“What’s the deal with you and my brother?”

“Huh? Nothing.” Steve’s a lot easier to read than Billy. She barely said anything and his cheeks were already pink.

“Do you want to kiss him or something? You’re always sneaking off together.”

“I- no we’re just friends.”

“That’s the same thing he said. I almost think you rehearsed it.” Steve let out a laugh.

“We’re just close Max. Now go to school, okay?” She got out but leaned in the window.

“If you like Billy you can tell me.”

“Alright. I’ll keep that in mind now go to school.” 

Steve was a dead give away. The pink cheeks, the hesitation in his answers. So either they were already together or they needed an extra push. She’d ask her brother again when he drove her home from school. 

But Steve was in Billy’s car when he picked her up. She had to listen to them flirt the entire drive home. Billy stopped in the drive way but didn’t turn the car off.

“Max can you tell Susan I’m hanging out at Steve’s tonight?”

“Yeah? See you tomorrow Billy.” He waved to her when she got out before driving off. She ran to her room and grabbed her walkie talkie. “Guys! Guys are you there?”

“What’s up?” Lucas was first to answer. 

“I think Steve and my brother are like...in love or something.”

“Ok?” Mike didn’t sound very interested in Max’s revelation.

“I think we should set them up.”

“I’m down. I can’t stand the way Steve’s been staring at him since they started hanging out. He’s all..lovestruck or whatever.” Dustin.

“I’m thinking if we all give them little pushes in the right direction they can do it on their own.” She’d thought this through since she started picking up on the way they looked at each other.

“What do you need us do?” Lucas is like a dog in some ways. He’s loyal and if you throw him something he’ll get it for you. Too bad he lies.

“I think we should start by making it clear to both of them that they both like men. We can bring it up before they go sit on the porch.”

“How? Do they even know that we know they like..guys?” It’s always nice to hear Will’s voice. He usually doesn’t talk much during after school. He likes to do his homework as soon as he got home. 

“Steve kinda...told me he likes guys? Not dramatically he just mentioned it in a conversation.” It didn’t really surprise her that Dustin knew about Steve.

“Ok well then maybe if you ask Steve if he’s got a guy he’s rushing off to when he gets up to leave then that’ll set them up for an opportunity.”

“How do you know Billy will make a move?”

“Come on. It’s Billy. Of course he’ll make a move.”

Saturday came and sure enough, Max was the first to see Steve moving towards the door. She kicked Dustin under the table, Dustin looking up to see Steve leaving now too.

“Where are running off to Steve? Got some boy waiting on you?”

“What? No! I’m just going outside.” Max looked behind her to see Billy looking a little shaken in his seat. Good. 

“Alright have fun!” Steve shook his head before going out, Billy going outside not long after. 

But nothing seemed to change. The weekend passed and everything stayed the same. But Steve was in Billy’s car Monday morning on the drive to school. 

“Where are you two off to today?”

“We’re going to hang out why do you care?”

“None of your business.” The rest of the car ride was quiet but she kept an eye on the two of them. Even if they weren’t together, they definitely had feelings for each other. They would look at each other and then look away sometimes. At some point she saw them reach for the radio and bump hands, the two of them laughing quietly. She could see how red Steve’s ears were and could only imagine what the rest of his face looked like. She didn’t understand love much. She didn’t even think she’d ever loved someone like that. Not even Lucas in the time they were together. Not to say she never wanted to love someone. She wanted someone to look at her the way Steve looked at Billy, even after everything Billy had done. She was pretty sure Steve had brought Billy back out of the shell he’d been hiding in for months after the incident. Maybe they didn’t know it yet but they were meant for each other. 

The party was waiting for her outside of the school. 

“Hey guys.”

“Well? Did it work?” Dustin was always business. 

“No. I don’t think it did.” Sure they were all lovey or whatever but she just had a strong feeling that they needed another push. “I think we need to set them up on a date. Clearly they can’t do it themselves.”

“We could drag them to the movies on Friday after school?” 

“That’s actually a great idea. Thanks Will! Some of us can ride with Billy and Dustin you can get Steve to drive the rest of you.”

“Alright.”

She asked Billy on the way home if he could drive her, El, and Lucas to the movies on Friday. Of course he said yes. Dustin gave an all clear on Steve driving the rest of them to the movies over their walkie talkies. Friday came. Max got Billy to come inside with them, said the movie was supposed to be really good. It helped that it was scary. He got them a big bowl of popcorn to share and sodas. Steve, Dustin, Mike, and Will walked in while they were getting their sodas.

“Hey guys!”

“Hi Max!” Will waved to her from the door. They all met up in front of the the theater but Billy and Steve stayed behind.

Steve had been there for Billy during a really tough time after the incident. He made him feel like himself again. Maybe that’s why he stopped him outside the theater. He did love him. After everything, how could he not love him?

“Do you want to sit with me during the movie? Away from the kids?”

“If I was smart I’d think you were asking me out Billy.”

“I am.”

“Alright. I’m saying yes then.” Steve’s smile always made his heart skip a beat. There’d been so many times where he’d smile and Billy’s thought about kissing him. He’s kind of glad he waited though.

Max spent the entire movie trying not to look behind her. She knew that Billy and Steve had picked a seat in the way back of the empty theater but she wanted to let them be. Near the end of the movie she couldn’t help herself though and she was glad because she just barely caught them kissing and laughing quietly about god even knows what. She’s glad they had each other.

[stevesnailbat]

fear of the (un)known | steve harrington

chapter seven : happier 

summary: Grace, or 007 as she had been called, finally escaped Hawkins Lab after seventeen long years. But, freedom is a lot harder than she thought it would be to maintain.

warnings: pining once again, a little angsty

word count: 2.0K

a/n: this chapter took forever so my bad!! but there’s a time jump and everything is about to get a lot more interesting after this one!! hopefully I'll be more consistent with chapters 8 through 12 :) gif by @harringtown

read the rest HERE!

-june 1985-

“So you’re telling me that you didn’t even know when your birthday was until you were sixteen? Like, not a single 'happy birthday' or any kind of celebration during the whole time you were there?” Lucas implores, plopping down next to Max on Hopper’s couch.

“They were in a lab, dipshit. It's not like they were at some fun summer camp or something.” Steve quips, shoving Lucas' shoulder lightly as he leaned against the back of the couch. 

“The most fun I ever had in the lab was when they’d let me stay out of my room for the day, if you’d even call that fun. I found my own fun in messing with people’s minds when I was younger.” Grace retorts, a small smile passing over her face for a moment.

“What about you, El?” Max asks, facing the girl sitting next to Mike on the couch. “Did you ever get to celebrate anything?”

El only shook her head, looking from Max over to Grace, a sad look on her face. Grace rubs her hand along El’s shoulder for a moment, knowing that she hated thinking about the small details and bad memories of being in the lab. 

“So, it’s settled then.” Max says, a smile lighting up her face as an idea crossed her mind.

“What’s settled?” Mike interjects snidely, making Max’s eyes narrow in his direction. 

“Grace just said that her eighteenth birthday is this weekend, right?” Max snaps, watching the rest of them nod. “El said she’s never had any birthday celebration either. So, let’s give them both a birthday party!”

“You guys really don’t have to—“

“Oh c’mon, Grace! It’ll be fun!” Max pleads, and Mike, Lucas and Will nod excitedly. 

“I don’t need a party, I can assure you that.” Grace insists, shaking her head while smiling kindly at the redhead. “But we can celebrate El’s birthday in place of mine.”

El’s eyes light up at the thought of celebrating with all of her friends, which warms Grace’s heart. She gives her a look as if to say ‘thank you’ for giving them the idea, and Grace ruffles her hair lovingly. 

“Alright, enough talk about this, we can work out all the details later. Right now, I need to get you all home before I get yelled at or accused of losing you all.” Steve interjects, throwing his chin up as he points to the door, motioning for the kids to get up. 

Everyone says their goodbyes and the kids head out the door to go towards the BMW in the drive. Steve shoots a small smile and wave in Grace’s direction before turning to leave the house, closing the front door behind him. Grace could feel her heart skip a beat merely because of the eye contact they just had. She knew she was in too deep to lose the crush she had on him to simply be his friend. She stared at the spot that Steve last stood for a little longer than anticipated, only breaking from her thoughts at the sound of El’s giggle.

“What’s so funny?” Grace asks, quirking her eyebrows questionably at the smiling girl next to her. 

“You like Steve.” she replies simply, making Grace’s eyes go wide momentarily.

“Only as a friend, El.” Grace says calmly, trying not to blush at her blunt statement. “That’s it.” 

El gives her an incredulous smile, as if to tell her that she’s not very believable. Grace huffs quietly at El, chewing on her lip as she wracks her brain for something to say to cover up her feelings. She didn’t want everyone knowing what she was feeling, even though it was quite obvious to everyone around. 

“Even if I did like Steve, I would never do anything about it.” she said weakly, biting back the feeling of sadness she felt at the words she spoke. “He thinks I’m just the crazy girl who showed up in his backyard and got into his mind a few times.”

The look on El’s face showed that she didn’t believe a word coming from Grace’s mouth once again. El knew that there was some kind of feelings between the two of them. She’d seen the way Grace would sneak long, admiring glances at Steve while he was reading to her at the table, and she’d noticed how willing he was to do almost anything to help her. They kept coming back together, but neither of them wanted to admit why. 

El only shook her head at Grace’s answer before standing up from the couch, heading towards her room without a word. Grace didn’t have the words to describe how she really felt, but she knew that, in her mind, El did. 

For the next two days, Grace and El didn’t hear much from the party. Of course, El talked on the phone with Mike and would visit with him—with supervision by Grace or Hop—at the cabin, but that was the extent of it. They were both becoming a curious about the sudden disconnect. Little did they know, Steve and the kids were planning a birthday party for both of them throughout the course of those two missing days.

When the Saturday came, El got a call from Mike around 3 p.m., telling her that he was leaving his house to ride over to the cabin. She was excited as usual, just the thought of seeing Mike bringing a smile to her face. Seeing the way El lit up around him made Grace’s chest ache, but her heart swell. She wanted something like that, something that would make her smile the way seeing Mike made El smile. 

Thirty minutes passed and there was a knock on the front door. El rushed past where Grace and Hopper were sitting in the living room, hurrying to open the door with a smile on her face. The smile on her face faltered slightly when she opened the door to see how many people were there. The party and Steve stood on the other side of the door, balloons, gifts, cake and pizza boxes in tow.  

“Surprise!” the kids say in unison, making Grace and Hopper turn to see what was happening at the door.

They all walked inside, setting everything down as they piled into the living room and kitchen area. Grace stood from the couch as she looked over to Hopper in the recliner next to her, who had a small smile on his lips. She walked over to the kitchen, heart filling with warmth at the sight of El’s grin. Max looked over to her and El after setting the balloons down, watching as El skipped past her to talk to Mike. Grace had noticed that El ignored the girl, but had never brought it up. She pulled Max into a quick hug, a smile still stuck on her face. 

“Thank you for doing this for her, I’m sure she really appreciates it. Even if she doesn't say it to you directly.” Grace says thankfully.

“Don’t thank me, thank Steve for putting all of this together.” she says, pointing at Steve, who was already digging into the pizza they brought. “He planned it all and even put your name on the cake and got you a present.”

Grace’s stomach was in knots now, the thought of Steve putting in that much effort for her making her feel nauseous. She looked over to him, locking eyes with him for a long moment. Steve smiled at her, completely skipping past the pain in her eyes as she smiled back. She walked towards him, reaching for a plate to grab some pizza too. 

“You didn’t have to do that, y’know.” Grace says quietly to him, peering over at him with a hesitant gaze as he furrowed his brows. “You didn’t have to make the party for me too, I told you it should just be about El.”

“It’s no big deal, Grace. It is your actual birthday after all. You’re an adult now, you’re free. You deserve some kind of celebration.” Steve insists, nudging her shoulder as he continued to eat. 

The pain in her stomach grew deeper as Steve said that she was free, because she knew she was far from it. She was far from being able to celebrate anything. But, she forced a smile onto her face to show appreciation for the nice gesture. Grace was truly grateful for everything he did, but knew it wasn’t just out of the kindness of his heart. She knew he was forcing his feelings down too. It was better that way. They both knew it. 

The celebration continued with bubbly chatter and laughing. The kids carried on happy conversations about comics and new movies coming to theaters soon while Grace and Steve listened passively, neither of them saying much to the other. The scene in front of Grace was enough to make her smile, really. Seeing them all happy and content made her feel at home, like she was finally growing into a normal life again. 

Steve couldn’t help but notice the smile on her face, and couldn’t help but stare at her longingly. He felt himself getting lost in her smile for a moment, a feeling of adoration spreading through his body as he did. A rough hand on his shoulder shook him from his thoughts, Hopper had noticed the trance he was in and had to break him from it. Steve’s cheeks grew hot at the thought of getting caught, but Grace didn’t notice the interaction at all.

“How about you bring over those presents you brought?” Hopper suggests to Steve, making Grace and El snap their heads in their direction. 

“Oh—Right, yeah. I’ll get those.” Steve stammers, standing up from the chair abruptly to grab the gift bags. 

Steve handed the bags to Grace and El, and each of them dug into them quickly. El’s smile grew even wider—if that was even possible—when she saw the comics and mixtapes inside the bag from her friends. Grace pulled out several movies and some mixtapes, eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the mix of presents in front of her. 

“You said Hop wasn’t too fond of you reading so much, so I thought you’d like some movies and music instead.” Steve says, picking up one of the movies from the table to look at it. 

“You really didn’t have to do this—“

“But I wanted to do it. So, just accept the gifts, Grace.” Steve laughs bitterly, raising his eyebrows at the frown that crossed her face. “This is what friends are for.”

“Thank you, Steve.” she says, pulling him in for a quick hug. “You’re a great friend.”

There was something about hearing the word ‘friend’ slip from her lips that made Steve nauseous. Of course, he had just called her a friend, but it seemed all too real when she said it to him. He forced a smile as she pulled away, watching as she let her eyes flicker from his quickly to avoid his gaze. Steve felt like his heart was being ripped out by the thought of never being able to find out what life would be like with Grace, it was all he wanted. But it was better that way, things were better with them as just friends. 

So, he sucked it up and hid his emotions, like he always did. He watched her from afar, seeing the smile on her face as she talked about the movies he bought with Max and Will. The only thing he wanted was for her to be happy, and this was how it had to be for that to happen. 

tags: @sourapplebaby @harringtown @jxnehxpper @charmed-asylum @daddystevee @queenofthehairharrington @heart-eye-harrington @hystericalmedicine @a-magey @lemonypink @karasong @batbatsupermanme @used-avocado @letscici @igotmadskills @mikariell95 @anerroroccurrrrred @blueberrylemontea-fanfic @ilovebucketbarnes @bravest-at-heart

[almondmilkygay]

Byler; Secret.

Suggested by; @marsmel. Thank you for the idea!

Max inhaled deeply as she lent against Lucas' side. This was the fiftieth message she had received from Mike, upon the topic of Will. He had been ranting and ranting, every bottled feeling and emotion had been dumped upon her.

"Mike, again?" Lucas chuckled, playing with her hair as her head fell into his lap.

"The asshole's bottled up everything," Max laughed, "It's the hormones."

"Tell me about it," Lucas merely said, as his phone vibrated too. He didn't bother picking it up, knowing on the other side it would be Will, sending screenshot after screenshot, emoji after emoji, about the one, the only, Mike Wheeler, "Seriously!" He finally said, as it buzzed oncemore. He sighed out loud, picking up the phone, "How many paragraphs do these guys need to send before realising they love each other?"

"Could be a hundred, could be two hundred. Point is, they'll never learn," Max pointed out, placing her phone face down on the cool wooden floor, "Should force them to kiss at Mike's house this weekend.." She thought out loud, and jumped slightly as Lucas slapped a hand against his own thigh, hissing out in pain.

"Yes!" Before saying, "Shit.. But yes. We can.. we can.. lock them in a closet, or something," He said, "And send them the screenshots of what they've been saying to each other!" Max soon caught on.

"They'd have no choice but to talk," She butted in, whipping her phone off the ground, "I'll let Dustin and El know."

Hell, were shenanigans going to occur on the weekend at Mike's place. The two in question were oblivious to it of course, and the other party members did a decent job of hiding it. After lecturing El upon the subject of white lies, the plan was to move forward.

"Hey, Will..?" Lucas asked, holding out his name upon his tongue, "Could you go grab my deodrant from Mike's room?"

"Sure," Will shrugged, crawling from his knees and onto his feet, "Why can't you?"

"Cause I'm laying on him!" Max intervened, wiggling her way into Lucas' legs, "Mike, could you get my water?" Mike sighed out deeply, and followed Will into the room, whispering a little,

"Lazy shit."

Under his breath. Dustin rushed to the door, jamming a loose plank of wood against the handle. El readied herself and flexed her hand, and before the remaining party members knew it, the door handle had fallen off the door.

Inside of the room, Mike was rummaging among his friends' belongings.

"I don't understand," He threw a shirt behind him, "Why they couldn't," A shoe fell from a bag as he continued searching, "Do this themselves," He finally finished, standing to his feet with a dark metal water bottle in his hand, only to find the door knob had fallen from the door, "Oh you have got to be shitting me."

"What?" Will asked softly, sending Mike haywire. He turned to where Mike was facing and saw the door handle too, "Shit."

"Language, Byers," Mike laughed slightly, "Guess we'll just screw it on.." He picked it up from the ground and jammed it back inside of the hole. After a few moments of twisting and turning, Mike took a step back and let go, only to see it fall to the ground again, "Come on!" As he did this, a phone buzzed behind him. Will's phone.

Will peered down at his phone, and at the message Lucas had sent him. Or, multiple messages. An array of screenshots and paragraphs had been placed inside of their conversation, ones that Will didn't recognise as their own. He scrolled through, inquisitive, only to realise they were from Max's phone, in a conversation with Mike. He read through each one, to finally realise every single screenshot was about him. Will read through them in silence, as Mike muttered assorted cuss words at the door.

Eventually, Mike's phone vibrated too.

"Damn wifi!" Said Max's voice from the other side of the door. Mike opened his phone and read through his and Max's conversation. He, too, read through the screenshots and paragraphs, rants and emojis. He almost immediately caught onto the fact that they were about him, from Will. Unlike Will, Mike wasn't too slick about hiding his emotions.

"Holy.. shit.." Mike droned, switching off his phone and covering his red face with his two palms.

"What?" Will asked, looking up from his phone with a red face too, only to see Mike's covered. Cautiously, he padded across the floor to peel Mike's hands from his face, "What.. Mike?" Mike mouthed a couple words in silence, neither Will could make out, "Speak to me."

"You," He gestured at Will, then back at himself, "Me. Like. Like, like like.." He thought for a moment, "Like.. love." He shrugged a moment, and Will's face turned an impossibly darker shade of red.

"L-Love?"

Mike nodded, taking a bold step closer to Will.

"Love," He agreed. Mike finally found his voice again, "I love you, Will Byers."

"Mike Wheeler," Will thought for a moment, "I love you too."

The two enclosed on each other in a gentle kiss. Will's hands gripped the sides of Mike's face as Mike's hands found themselves at home behind Will's neck and on his waist. They smiled out of the kiss, still in each other's embrace.

"Okay, we get it," Mike finally yelled at the other side of the door, "You can let us out now." Him and Will took a step closer, peeking through the hole in the door where the door knob might've been.

"Shit!" Max cried out, admist laughter from Dustin and Lucas, "How're we meant to get them out?"

[ghostspideys-moved]

All For The Best

Chapter Eight

A/N: I’m actually pretty proud of this chapter. Don’t forget to leave a comment or reblog if you’ve been enjoying this ride so far.

Word Count: 2.7k

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

Summary: While El looks for the flayed, Hawthorne reveals a secret he’s been keeping in for a long time.

Somehow, Hawthorne was stuck sitting in the waiting room, watching over the kids. He supposed someone had to look after them, especially since Nancy and Jonathan decided they’d be the ones to visit Mrs. Driscoll.

He was sitting next to El, who was reading a magazine, mostly flipping through and glancing at the pictures. He’d already heard about her break up with Mike, and he didn’t need to be able to read her mind to know it was bothering her. Especially when he’d caught her glancing over in Mike’s direction a few times. 

“How are you holding up?” Hawthorne asked. El glanced up at him, a confused look on her face. “You know, with you and Mike?”

El shrugged. “Okay.”

As she turned back to her magazine, he debated exactly how to help her out. It wasn’t exactly Mike’s fault, though he hadn’t been the smartest either. Hawthorne remembered what Hopper said about his “talk” with Mike, and he couldn’t help feeling that was the real problem here. Not that he was surprised. Even he was a bit annoyed with Hopper handling this the way he had.

“You know, I think you two should talk,” he finally said. “I mean, you both seem miserable without each other?”

“Miserable?” El set her magazine down, clearly wondering what he was getting at. 

“You know, like...sad. But, like, really sad,” Hawthorne explained. “If you two don’t talk to each other, I’m sure it could get a lot worse.”

She at least appeared to be considering her words. Sure, he didn’t know how solid his own advice was, but he was a little tired of watching them tip-toe around each other. He could practically see the wheels turning in her head. “Like Nancy and Jonathan.”

Hawthorne sighed, slumping in his seat. “Yeah, something like that,” he said. “They’re working it out, but it happens. Fights happen.” It wasn’t like he was some expert on relationships, and he didn’t really know where all of this was coming from, but he hoped it was helping her, even if only a bit.

Turning to her, Hawthorne gave El a reassuring smile. “Just don’t hold a grudge against him, okay? Most guys your age do dumb things.” He was glad that part earned a laugh from her. “Hell, I do dumb things all the time.”

For all his attempts to keep Nancy and Jonathan together, it was taking a toll on him. And, though it was taking some time, it seemed like the two of them were finally making progress. There was still some understanding needing to be reached, but it was something. He didn’t plan on mediating forever. Eventually, they’d have to own up to their own mistakes - they both had some apologizing to do, he was sure - and he was just glad to help kick-start the process. If anything, he didn’t want El and Mike to let this sour their relationship. They were kids, and they deserved to learn from their mistakes just as much as anyone else. 

Hawthorne let his advice sink in and left when Mike came over to talk with El. He was more than happy to give them space to work things out, though he made a mental note to have a talk with Hopper about the mess he’d made.

By now, he was starting to realize Nancy and Jonathan had been gone for a while. And maybe there was nothing to worry about, but he had an awful feeling. It was sitting in his gut, constantly pestering him. With how easily things went to shit again, Hawthorne hoped they were okay. It occurred to him to check on them, but there was no way he was going to get past the receptionist. And if he did manage that and it turned out he was worrying for nothing, he would just feel like an idiot.

Just as his anxiety was starting to get the best of him, the lights started flickering. Normally, Hawthorne might pass it off as nothing, but that usually wasn’t a good sign. He’d learned that by now. Thankfully, he wasn’t the only one to notice, and even worse was how jumpy Will was. The poor kid looked pale and unbelievably freaked out. It was becoming abundantly clear to Hawthorne that he may well have been right to be worried.

Will’s shaky, “he’s here,” was enough for it to dawn on Hawthorne that this was about to get pretty intense, as much as he hated it.

At the very least, they’d missed the action so far, but neither Nancy nor Jonathan looked like they were in very good shape. And as soon as they explained everything that happened, they were off to the cabin. 

Rex came running over when Hawthorne let them all inside, and El ended up locking herself in her room as she tried to track the flayed. Hawthorne tried to busy himself with feeding Rex while everyone else was working out their plans. In the grand scheme of things, he wasn’t sure how to help, and he felt pretty useless. He’d hardly done anything to help. If only he could stop being a coward for just a minute, he might be able to contribute something. 

He’d been so deep in thought that he’d accidentally spilled some of the dog food. His only response was a deep sigh as he moved to clean it up. Hawthorne looked up when he noticed Nancy trying to help. She opened her mouth to speak a few times, trying to find her words.

“Are you okay?” Nancy asked. 

If there were any words to describe how he was feeling, “okay” was not one of them. “Fine,” Hawthorne lied, standing again.

It was clear she didn’t totally believe him. Even when they finished cleaning, she didn’t let up. “If this about what’s been happening between Jonathan and I, I’m really sorry you got caught in the middle of it.”

Sure, that might have been part of his stress, but he had no clue how to even explain everything that was going on in his head. It was so much more than that.

“No. I mean, not really.” Hawthorne sighed, looking down. “I guess I’m just stressed out with everything that’s been happening. After last time, I really hoped all of this was behind on.”

The concerned look on her face only made him feel bad for putting all of this on her. Nancy had much bigger things to worry about. Seeming to sense his apprehension, she took his hand and made him look her in the eyes.

“Everything’s gonna be fine, okay?” Whether it was true or not, he almost believed her. “We’ll get through this just like last time.”

“Nance, I don’t even know where my sister is, or if she’s even okay. I don’t know where Hop is either, and I feel like I’m doing a terrible job of keeping it together.”

Nancy paused for a moment before asking, “You saw it, didn’t you? When you were walking in the parking lot?”

Hawthorne had almost forgotten about his vision, but he could never forget the dread he felt in that moment. “Yeah. It wasn’t much, really,” he admitted. “But I freaked out.” If it came down to it, he wasn’t sure if he’d really be able to help any of them. This was worse than last year, and he just knew that, given the chance, he’d freeze. Just like he always did.

Somehow, Nancy always had a way of making him feel better, and this was no exception. “You’re stressing yourself out too much,” she said. “Don’t forget. You’re not alone. You have me, Jonathan, the kids, your family. None of us will ever make you deal with this alone.”

Deep down, he knew that. It felt good to hear it, though. Sometimes, he needed a reminder that he wasn’t carrying all of this weight alone. 

Hawthorne offered a slight smile as she kissed him on the cheek. Now that he was feeling at least somewhat better, he let her get back to planning. He let her borrow the phone in the meantime, and he actually managed to feed Rex. The poor dog probably needed it. Hawthorne was feeding him as regularly as possible in all this mess, but he felt bad for leaving him for so long every now and then.

Just as Hawthorne was settled, Nancy finished her final phone call, none of which produced any results. It wasn’t looking so good. With no clue where any of the flayed were, they had no clue what they were doing. It was like they’d just disappeared, and they weren’t any closer to finding the source of the flaying.

Worse still was the argument happening between Mike and Max. Hawthorne didn’t feel so inclined to agree with either of them, no matter how much they yelled. Realistically, both of them were right. He’d learned the hard way that even if they explained to El how damaging it could be to push herself, that didn’t mean it would stop her. Mike was very adamant on finding a new plan, though, and Hawthorne couldn’t blame him. El had been locked up for quite some time now looking for the flayed.

“You’re treating her like some kind of machine when she’s not a machine, and I don’t want her to die looking for the flayed when they’ve obviously vanished off the face of the earth,” Mike snapped. “So can we please just come up with a new plan? Because I love her, and I can’t lose her again.”

His words were met with silence as they sank in. Hawthorne could hardly believe what he’d heard, but Mike said it with such confidence and conviction that it was almost frightening. 

Before anyone could say more, El finally came out of her room. She looked fine, if not a bit exhausted, and Hawthorne thanked whatever omnipotent being there may or may not be that she was okay. 

“What’s going on?” El asked, glancing at each of them curiously.

Mike was quick to cover for them. “Nothing. Nothing.”

“Just a family discussion,” Lucas added.

“Oh.” El seemed satisfied enough with their answer, even if she didn’t totally believe it. “I found him.”

El usually needed some quiet when she was tracking. The TV was turned on, only playing static for her, and her blindfold was back on. Everyone was trying to stay quiet for her sake in the hopes she would find something. 

Thankfully, she found Billy, just like she’d said, though they didn’t have much to go off of with the information she had. He was sitting in his room, which Max confirmed wasn’t normal. It was clearly a trap.

But El was insistent that she might know a way to figure out where he’d been, and while Hawthorne didn’t want her to push herself, he knew it was the only way to get anywhere. They hadn’t been having any success on their own. 

After taking a break, El put the blindfold back on and tried to look again. 

Hawthorne sighed and sat back while she gave it another go. “So, what do we do if this doesn’t work?” he asked quietly, trying not to bother El.

“Don’t you have powers?” Mike asked. “Can’t you help somehow?”

Nancy gave him a stern look. “Mike.”

“We’ve never seen him use them. Maybe he just doesn’t have any,” Lucas said.

“If they took him to the lab, he has to have them.”

Hawthorne raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, hi. Standing right here.”

“Well, do you?” Mike asked.

There was no way around this. Hawthorne was going to have to explain himself eventually, and he knew that. 

“Yeah. It’s just...not a good idea for me to use them,” he claimed.

“But whatever it is you can do, it might help El.”

“I haven’t used them in years. The last time I did that things went wrong.”

“We can’t push everything onto her, though. She’s going to wear herself out.”

“You told her you’d trust her, though.”

“And I do, but I know she could use the help.”

Max finally cut in. “Okay, seriously. You’re gonna break El’s concentration.”

Hawthorne and Mike finally shut up, but they gave each other one last look of disdain. Nancy pulled him and Jonathan over to the kitchen where they wouldn’t bother El.

“Hey, don’t worry about him, okay? He’s just worried,” she said. 

Hawthorne sighed, leaning against the counter. “I know. I get it,” he replied. “I’m just as worried she’s going to wear herself thin, but I don’t think I’d even be all that helpful.”

“What happened the last time you used your powers?” Jonathan asked. “It sounded like it was pretty bad.”

That felt like the understatement of the year. But if he trusted anyone with this, it was both of them. He might as well get it off his chest.

“I just...they made us do a lot of tests, you know? The scientists liked to up the stakes each time, and they’d already learned a lot about my powers. I really just tried to go along with what they asked of me because it was better that way.” Hawthorne swallowed dryly. “Whenever I touch people - any sort of skin contact - I absorb their strength, memories, abilities, sometimes even pieces of their personality. But it always wears off eventually, and they just pass out until it wears off.

“One time, I guess the scientists were curious what would happen if I tried it on one of the other kids. Maybe I could absorb their powers. And they were right. It worked the first few times, and it only lasted about half an hour at most. They’d always be fine afterwards. But one time, it didn’t go that way at all. There was this kid they had me try it out on and-” Hawthorne almost couldn’t finish, but he dismissed their looks of concern, trying to press on. “It didn’t wear off that time. And he went into a coma. Pretty sure he didn’t make it.”

Jonathan placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a reassuring look. “How long did it take to wear off?” he asked.

“It didn’t.” Hawthorne avoided their eyes, knowing he’d break down otherwise. “I still have his powers. I don’t use them, but I could any time. It’s kind of been eating at me.”

They shared a look, almost seeming to debate if they should ask him anything else. But he knew they’d stop if he really asked them to. 

Nancy finally braved one more question. “What exactly were his powers?”

Hawthorne hesitated. “Shapeshifting.”

In his mind, it wasn’t anything monumental. Nor was it going to do them any good. And while he had his powers mostly under control by now, he wasn’t sure how he’d feel about knocking anyone else out if he didn’t have to. 

Before he could go into it any further, El announced she’d found the source. They raced over as Max asked where it was. 

“Brimborn...Steelworks.”

Jonathan grabbed the phone book and flipped through the pages in a hurry. “Found it. 6522 Cherry Oak Drive.”

“That’s close,” Nancy realized.

El still hadn’t come back yet, which was beyond worrying. Mike was trying to call her back, but it didn’t seem like she could just yet. There wasn’t anything they could do to bring her back. She had to do it herself, but it didn’t look like she was ready yet. 

The room went silent as they waited hopefully for her to get out of there. El finally threw off the blindfold, screaming. 

Hawthorne felt his heart sink when she started crying, throwing herself into Mike’s arms. He raced back to the kitchen and grabbed her a glass of water as Mike calmed her down. They made her sit down and take a drink, giving her enough time to bounce back from whatever she saw. 

Hawthorne was taken by surprise as she clung onto him, clearly exhausted and scared beyond belief. He tried to calm her down, wrapping his arms around her as he let her cry. If he was having any doubts before, they were only growing and settling in his mind, but he would never back out on any of them, but least of all El. Mike had been right about her needing all the help she could get.

//

Taglist: @charmedtenderness​ @nxncywheeler​ @koibecomedragons​