grabmyhammer-blog

[upsidedog]

for a time after season two mike is convinced max is mean, not because she is, but because he only ever acts antagonistically towards her. and the party keeps trying to explain to him that max doesn’t hate him, he hates max, but he’s just like “no when i insult her she insults me back, it’s mutual.” it goes on for weeks until mike decides he wants to learn how to skate because skating is cool and he wants to be cool. this has nothing to do with max according to him. so now everyday he’s sneaking out after dark to hang out in the skatepark. until one night, decked out in his dorky ass shoulder pads, knee pads and oversized helmet, max is exiting as he’s entering. max starts yelling and mike isn’t listening, he’s already in his head like “she’s right. skateboarding’s her thing. i’m a wheelless loser.” when he actually listens she's excited. she didn't know he could skate, or wanted to skate, it doesn’t matter, if he doesn't know already she can teach him or if he does they can skate together! she wants to see his board, see his tricks, teach him things... so, basically, like. shit! okay! maybe they are friends!

mike and max skate together long enough for them to bond but not long enough for mike to get good at skating. it was good while it lasted, but alas, mike was not cut out for the board

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

Sorry, I couldn't help but post this, I thought it was too funny.

Eddie has been spending too much time with Steve lately, but the kids didn't know that. Well, Max and El were the only ones who knew because Max lived across from Eddie. Will had some idea. Max could have told them to calm down, but then she wouldn't have had any fun. So they followed Dustin, Mike, and Lucas to the Munson's trailer. Wayne was sitting on the couch outside when they walked over.

"Hey, Junior," Wayne greeted Dustin and pushed his hat down over his eyes.

Junior was the name Wayne had given Dustin because of how much he reminded him of Eddie. It ticked Dustin to no end. He pushed the hat Wayne had given him up and glared at him for a moment.

"Uncle Wayne, do you know where Eddie? We can't find him anywhere, and we haven't seen him in a few days," Dustin said.

"Oh, yeah, the Harrington boy kidnapped him. I told him to keep him, seeing as I didn't have enough money for the ransom," Wayne said, and Max had to fight to keep from laughing when he winked at her.

"Oh my God! The hits to the head finally made him lose it," Mike said, and Wayne nearly lost it.

"I think it's up to you boys to rescue him," Wayne said seriously.

Mike, Lucas, and Dustin hurried to jump on their bikes. Will, El, and Max followed slowly behind them. They arrived at Steve's, out of breath.

"What if Steve’s been taken over by the Mind Flayer?" Dustin asked.

"Or Vecna?" Lucas asked.

They raced to the door and banged on it.

"Shouldn't we tell them before they completely lose their minds?" Will asked.

"No, the dumbasses deserve this if they can't fanthom the possibility that Steve and Eddie are, uh, friends," Max said.

"Right, friends," Will grinned.

"You know," Max said, narrowing her eyes.

"I guessed."

Steve opened the door with Eddie pressed against his chest, an arm thrown loosely around his neck.

"Step back or the metalhead gets it," Steve said menacingly.

"Please, sir, I didn't mean it!" Eddie exclaimed.

"You don't have to do this, Steve!" Dustin exclaimed.

"Yeah, man, come on," Lucas pleaded.

"Oh, but I do. This asshole broke my favorite coffee mug!" Steve growled and grabbed the back of his hair. "He has to pay!"

"No, master, I swear I'll be good," Eddie said.

Steve pulled his hair back and kissed him deeply. The guys stared at them, stunned. Steve pulled back.

"Oh no! Not the kisses! Anything but the kisses!" Eddie wailed. "Please, don't smother me with kisses!"

"You guys are together," Dustin said.

"Yeah, no shit," Eddie said, dropping the act and letting Steve wrap his arms around his waist.

"Goddamnit! We're dumbasses!" Dustin said and took off his hat, hitting himself with it.

Max, El, and Will burst into peels of laughter.

"You guys knew!" Lucas exclaimed.

"Well, they did. I didn't know for sure," Will said with a grin.

"Did anyone think of the possibility that they were dating?" Mike asked.

"No," the other two said in unison.

"We are dumbasses," Mike said.

The others laughed.

"Wait, how did you guys know to do that?" Dustin asked Steve and Eddie.

"Wayne called us."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Well, Steve, I'm glad you haven't lost your mind and haven't actually kidnapped Eddie. You two seem happy," Dustin said.

They all agreed and climbed back onto their bikes. They rode off into the sunset, calling each other every name in the books.

[kennahjune]

Just got a very unlikely idea but oh well

Steddie AU where they get together cause of Mike.

It’s post-s3 pre-s4 maybe or post-s4 with Alive-Eddie; either way, Steve and Eddie are constantly around each other because of the kids.

And it’s Mike that realizes it first, when he notices that Steve looks at Eddie like how he used to look at Nancy. And yes he would know, Dustin, because he was forced to learn what knocking was after walking in on them one too many times.

But really, Mike doesn’t want to believe it. Because why would Steve be looking at Eddie like that? Adoration Mike can understand— what about Eddie wouldn’t you adore? But unconditional romantic love? He didn’t get it.

Not because they were both guys! Mike was in no place to make any remarks about that. Not anymore. But because they were so different from each other.

Mike was there during every Hellfire meeting when Eddie went on rampages about “King Steve”. He was there at the sleepovers when Steve would utter under his breath about “Asshole Metalheads”. He was there when Steve and Eddie finally met for the first time outside of school, when Steve was picking them up for Hellfire, and Steve looked ready to kill when Eddie brought up “Losing the Crown.”

And sure, Mike may seem oblivious and aloof and “give no fucks” most of them time, but really it wasn’t true! Ok— maybe the oblivious part. But he didn’t “give no fucks”— he has a lot of fucks to give, actually.

And sure maybe he doesn’t seem to care about most things. But he does! A lot more than he should sometimes. He cared when Nancy and Steve first broke up (maybe not for Steve’s side until he knew the full story but still). He cared when Barb died (she was his friend to, maybe not as close as her and Nancy but still!). And he cared when Max got dragged into everything. And he cared when Hopper “died”— and sure, maybe he stopped trying to care after that. Because caring got him hurt in more ways than one.

But Steve and Eddie? They’re things he cares about. People he cares about a lot more than he cares to admit. Steve saved his life on more than one occasion and showed him more affection in a month than Ted Wheeler did in Mikes whole life. And Eddie was the one of the first to show Mike that “hey, it’s ok to be a nerd.”

So yeah, they mean a lot to him.

But them being romantically together makes no sense to him. And when he tries to bring this up to the rest of the Party, he was told he was insane.

“Steve and Eddie aren’t interested in each other romantically,” claimed Dustin, “They’re just friends.”

“Not even that,” called Max from the couch.

Lucas snorted but otherwise said nothing.

Mike looked at Will for help.

“Well— why do you think they are romantically involved?”

Mike huffed. “Do none of you guys see it? Steve might as well have heart eyes!”

El nodded. “I agree. Mike is right.”

Suddenly all eyes were on El. Mikes were shining with hope and everyone looked incredulous.

“But why?” Dustin asked exasperatedly. “They’re— they’re nothing alike!”

“I know!” shouted Mike. He stood and paced. “But Steve always looks so fond of Eddie! And we’ve all heard the typical “King Steve” rant from Eddie and the “Asshole Metalheads” one from Steve, right?”

Max, Dustin and Lucas all answered with a unified “yes” while El and Will answered with a unified “no”.

Mike waved his hand and continued to pace. “But maybe it’s an opposites attract kind of thing? Like Max and Lucas?”

“Excuse me?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Or maybe it’s not! Because nothing about them is really opposite other than their styles.”

“But—“ Dustin was quick to interrupt, “—they are pretty opposite. Jock and Metalhead? Seems pretty fucking twisted to me.”

“Yeah but you’re looking at the cliques,” Will added, finally catching on. “Mikes looking at personality.”

Mike clapped happily. “Yes exactly! They’re both bitchy and quick-witted! They’re both dramatic in their own ways—“

“—they’re both oddly parental and protective,” added Lucas, also catching on.

Mike nodded aggressively.

“Ok—“ Max shook her head. “—say we believe that Steve and Eddie actually are romantically interest in one another. What are we supposed to do about it?” she put extra emphasis on “we”.

Mike looked at them each one by one. Max, who was sprawled on the couch like she owned it. Lucas, who had Max’s legs in his lap and was gently rubbing her thigh. Dustin, who was sat in a chair at the end of the couch with his thinking face on. El, who was looking at Mike with a sly grin— an expression he rarely saw on her. And Will, who was looking at Mike with something like Steve to Eddie.

But none of that right now.

Dustin stood up and walked to stand by Mike. He threw an arm around his shoulders (Mike bending with the action) and loudly proclaimed “We need to get them together!”

Will stood hurriedly and joined them, El right behind him with a grin on her face. Lucas shrugged and looked to Max as if saying “what can you do?” before gently pushing her legs off of him joining them as well.

They all looked at Max expectantly. She groaned and stood to join them, a chorus of cheers ringing out.

…

Idk if I’m gonna continue this or not but eh

[imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl]

The One I've Been Waiting For {Part 09 of 13}

Word count: 2.3 K

Summary: Billy Hargrove is just one of the many students you're supposed to help. The last thing you expect from your interaction is that he'll start flirtt with you... Much less that Billy would stir up feelings you'd rather keep hidden. Despite the mutual sentiments that soon enough start to grow, there are a lot of reasons for whatever it is to be left alone, and one of them is your age...

{Stranger Things Masterlist}

A/N: In this story, reader is 5 years older than Billy, who's 18.

•••

A Vision from Hell

 You couldn't drive for a while. When you got behind the wheel the next day, you couldn't do it. So, Billy, Tanya, and Liam took turns driving you through town until you got better. It took a few days, but they were patient with you.

 But the days passed by and you got yourself back together. But today, since you slept at Tanya's, she dropped you at the Hawkins Elementary School, where you tutored a kid. But now, after a small, routine meeting with the principal and some teachers, it's time to go. You're crossing the small parking lot when you see Max chatting with her friends.

 “I gotta go, I'm late.” She tells them, putting her skateboard on the ground and stepping on it. “Billy will be mad.”

 “No, he won't.” You speak up when you're close enough, making the whole party look at you. “I'm going there anyway. Wouldn't mind the company.”

 “Sure.” She shrugs, picking up the skate. “Guys, this is (Y/N). She's... Something of Billy's. Not quite sure yet.”

 “Hi, I'm Dustin.” One of them says, the one with curly hair, shaking your hand. “These other jerks are Lucas, Will. Mike and Eleven.”

 “Eleven? Like the number?”

 “El for short.” The girl nods with a small smile.

 “Alright, let's go.” Max tilts her head and after waving at the kids, you start following her.

 The day is warm, a little hot even, and you take off the light sweater you were wearing, tying it around your waist. You enjoy walking. Well, you enjoy walking here. The small town's slow pace is getting to you, and you like the simple streets and the many trees. Hawkins is a beautiful place, even though sometimes you feel like there isn't much to do.

 “So. You and Billy, huh?” Max asks after a while. “You two are together or what?”

 Blushing, you wonder if she knows Billy has been spending the nights with you. Almost every night, the only exception being when Neil is especially mad because you don't want him to explode at Billy. “We're... Seeing how things play out. Getting to know each other. Hanging out. Stuff like that.”

 “Stuff like that. AKA dating.” She teases, looking at you with a smile. “Whatever it is, it's good for him. He's less of an asshole ever since you came into the picture.”

 That's good to know. “Can I ask you something?” You continue when she nods. “You know I'm a little older than him, right?” Coming back to the same thought is tiring, you know it. But it's still something that hovers above your head. Not as much as before, but it's still there.

 “You're what? Nineteen?”

 “Twenty-three.”

 “You come out as being around his age. And even if you didn't I don't think that's a big deal.”

 “I just don't want it to be weird.” Max is part of Billy's life, and you want to be accepted by her. If she's ok with it, part of you feels relieved.

 “Look, stupid people will find it weird. Stupid people like Neil. But they don't get a say in it.” You reach the High School parking lot, walking around the few people still going home. “Those who really matter, friends and family, those are the ones who will support you, as long as you're happy.”

 “You're very mature for your age.” You tell her with a smile. “Thanks, Maxine.”

 “Call me Max.” She lightly elbows you, throwing the board on the ground and skating the short distance to Billy's Camaro. “Hey, shitface.”

 “You're late. Again.” You hear him saying as you walk around the hood, still out of his sight.

 “I had to walk instead of skating.”

 “Why? This thing is brand new, it can't be broken.”

 “I made her walk.” You say, smiling when Billy turns around to look at you.

 “Then it's you I should be mad at.”

 “I'm not scared of you.” You whisper, heat spreading through your cheeks.

 “Would the two lovebirds give it a break and drive me home before doing whatever you're doing?” Max complains as she gets inside the car.

 Billy's eye roll makes you giggle as you make your way to the passenger seat.

 Keeping the windows open, you feel the wind messing with your hair.

 “Jerkface, why are you driving so slow?” Max asks after a while, on the edge of her seat, leaning forward and holding on to both your and Billy's seat. “Did you wreck your car again?”

 “I'm under the speed limit.” He explains.

 “So you obey the laws now?”

 “I was in an accident I was a kid.” Turning your face to look at her, you gesture at the scar above your lip. “Got this after surgery to fix my wrecked lip. I lost my grandma and little brother that day.”

 “Oh, sorry.” She says, a sad expression on her face. “Drive safely,” Max tells her brother, slapping his arm.

 You wait for him to lash out at her, and by the look on her face, you know she's waiting for it too. But it doesn't come. Billy just rolls his eyes, hanging his arm out the window.

 “God, it's so hot.” The redhead complains as Billy enters their street. “Won't this heat wave go away?”

 “Not so soon. They're planning on opening the pool.” Billy adds.

 “Pool?”

 “Hawkins Community Pool. I worked there last summer as a lifeguard so they gave me a call.” Billy answers as he stops the car and steps out. You do the same but stand by the open passenger door. “They usually open in the Summer they're considering it because of this heatwave.” He gestures at the house. “Come. Neil isn't home, I'll show you the place.”

 “Alright.” Pushing the door close after taking your bag, you follow them through the sidewalk.

 “(Y/N), you're a tutor, right?” Max asks and you nod. “Could you help me? They'll only assign me to someone if I fail.”

 “Sure, I can help you off the records. What do you need help with?”

 “English. I suck and my teacher is definitely evil.” You enter the house as she speaks, looking around.

 “It's not the subject I'm tutoring but I can give you a hand. Just tell me when you're free so we can find a gap in my schedule.” Your eyes fall on the bench press in the middle of the living room, and it screams Billy Hargrove.

 “I'm free right now.” She exclaims.

 “Maxine, don't even think about it,” Billy warns.

 “Look, you're dating a decent, nice girl who is smart. Let me enjoy the benefits.” The girl snaps back, gesturing at the hall. “I'll get my stuff.”

 “Sure.” Smiling, you put your bag on the couch, but it falls and opens, spreading some papers around. “Shit.” You mumble as you kneel to catch them.

 Billy does the same, handing you a small pile of papers at the top of a notebook. “House of the Next Century?” He asks, and you look at the blue sheet of paper on the top of the pile.

 “It's an exposition from the Architecture School.” Putting everything back inside the bag, you stand up. “Liam's sister takes that course so she's involved and invited us.”

 “Sounds interesting.”

 “We can go if you want. But you know what else is interesting? Having a freaking bench press in the middle of the living room.”

 “Oh, you noticed.”

 “How could I miss it?” Walking over it, you check the weights. “Can you really lift those things? They're huge.” Holding the bar, you give a little push, but nothing moves.

 “I can make a show if you want.” Billy moves closer, but his eyes are on you.

 “You're so cocky, Billy.” Blushing, you look away, biting your lip.

 “When are you going to let me kiss you again?” He suddenly asks, taking you by surprise.

 You and Billy haven't kissed since that night, you're not sure why. “I don't know... On some special occasion, maybe.”

 “Special occasion, huh?” He says, a smirk taking over his lips. “I can work on that.”

 “You two can make out later, I need help,” Max speaks, making her way to the kitchen.

 “Duty calls.” Winking at Billy, you turn around and follow Maxine.

 The two of you get the kitchen table, and you have to read a couple of things to pick up what she needs help with. It's not that complicated, and you still remember some things from school, so it doesn't take much until you're explaining to her. Billy comes to the kitchen every once in a while, but as the night falls and after he makes the three of you a sandwich, he sticks around, listening.

 It gets to you that they're doing better. You don't think Billy hates his step-sister, they just annoy each other as all siblings do. And it even makes you laugh sometimes.

 “You could help me with History too,” Max says as she looks for chapter 7 of her book. “And Geography.”

 “I sure can.”

 “Maxine, stop stealing my girl's time.” Billy snaps, and you giggle.

 “I'm not your girl.” With both elbows on the take, a smirk comes to your lips.

 “Ouch!” The girl exclaims. “That must've hurt.”

 “Yet.” You decide to add soon after.

 “On your face, shitbird,” Billy answers, and you can't help but laugh.

 “The two of you are crazy.” You mumble in between laughs. “I really–” You're cut off not by the front door opening, and by the way Billy stands up abruptly, and Max's eyes go wide, you know who it is.

 “I told Anne we'd be joining them on Saturday.” A woman's voice speaks, and you wonder what you should do. Both Billy and Max seem nervous.

 “Alright then. She better make something good or else it'll be a waste of my damn time.” A man says, not sounding very excited about the woman's plans.

 “We have to-” Billy starts, but he stops talking the moment a man comes into the kitchen.

 Neil's eyes find you immediately, lingering for quite a while, flying then to Billy and Max. “Who is this girl in my house?” He inquires in a rude tone.

 “This is (Y/N). She's one of the tutors from the new campus and she's helping me study for the tests.” Max answers, and the woman, Susan, comes to the kitchen as well.

 Unlike Neil, she kindly smiles and walks over to you. “Hello, (Y/N). I'm Susan, Maxine's mother. Thanks for helping her.”

 “No need to thank me. I'm just doing my job.” You shyly say, shaking Susan's hand.

 “Come on, Neil. Let's leave them to do their thing.” Susan turns to face Neil.

 “What about you? What are you doing here?” He asks Billy.

 You can feel anger irradiating from him, and you just want to grab his hand and take him away. The atmosphere is heavy, almost tangible. You can tell Neil is trying not to let it show, but it's obvious. You can feel it. “Got hungry and made myself a sandwich.”

 “Then be a gentleman once in your life and make some for your sister and her teacher.”

 “He already did.” You speak up, way too abruptly, trying not to let your anger show. Under the table, you clench your fists.

 Neil nods exchanging a glance with his son. “Get back to your room then.”

 You shouldn't say anything. You should let it go and talk to Billy after. But you can't. “He's helping us.”

 “He is?”

 “Yes.” Max bursts out, looking at Neil. “He was making questions.”

 Neil doesn't believe it, but after glancing at Susan, he nods. “Alright then.”

 “She was leaving anyway,” Billy says.

 “(Y/N) could stay for dinner, right, honey?” Susan asks Niel with a smile. “To thank her for helping Max.”

 “That would be lovely, but I have somewhere to be.” With a forced smile, you stand up.

 “Me too. I can give her a ride home.”

 “Sure. Thanks, Billy.” Nodding, you walk around the table. “Max, let me know when you're free so we can continue, alright?”

 “Alright, (Y/N). Thank you.”

 “Good night, Mr. and Mrs. Hargrove.” You mutter, heading for the front door and stopping only to take your bag.

 Billy takes a minute to reach you on the sidewalk, and you wonder what Neil just told him. In silence, you both get into the car and you only relax when he drives away.

 “I'm sorry about that.” Billy apologies, eyes on the road. “I thought they'd be out until later.”

 “It wasn't your fault.” Reaching out your arm, you touch his shoulder. “I had a nice time with you and Maxine.”

 “Me too, (Y/N)...”

 There's pain in his voice, and it breaks your heart. “What's wrong?”

 “I don't want you near Neil. I don't want him looking at you as if-” He stops speaking, running a hand through his hair. “Neil has a taste for young girls. He cheats on Susan on a regular basis and I can't have him thinking about you that way.”

 You feel weird, remembering how he stared at you. “I'm sorry. But it doesn't matter now. Let's go home and order a pizza.” You only understand what you said when the words already left your mouth. And when you look at Billy, you see a smile he's trying to hide. So you can't take it back. You'll just let it be if it makes him happy. “I want pepperoni.”

 “Pepperoni it'll be then.”

 “Oh, and I have a request, Hawkins Community Pool lifeguard. Who do I have to pay to have that pool open? I wanna enjoy a free sample of Summer.”

 “I'll see what I can do for you, Princess.” He looks at you with a smile, the one that belongs to you alone.

•••

@aunicornmademedoit @alexa4040 @goth-cowgirl-03 @nyctophilic0vitnir @minispice-1

[snowangeldotmp3]

dear lucas; from max

hehe i have more letters. anyway, this is from my kas!max wip, and these letters are supposed to be holding back a little bit like max was in the series, as these were supposed to be written around episode 4. this is my first Real time writing for max, so please be kind lol. again like with the dear barb letter (which you can read here) it will be in first person, and will be posted to ao3!

Lucas,

Hey, stalker.

You know what this means if you’re reading this.

I’m sorry for not telling you sooner. I just didn’t know how. I’m sorry I kept pulling away.

And before you start, don’t blame yourself. This isn’t your fault, and you couldn’t have stopped this. Vecna is just an asshole, and I was a bad girlfriend. A bad friend, too. Friends don’t lie, or whatever, but I did. I said I was fine and I wasn’t. I’m sorry for being a bad friend.

I heard about the game, by the way. I listened to it on the radio. I can’t believe your Hawkins High’s star player now.

I should’ve been there.

This is about to get really sappy and gross, and if you tell anyone I swear to god I will haunt your ass, Sinclair.

I’m glad I came to Hawkins. Sure, every six months there’s a world ending threat and now one of them is directly attacking me, but, I’m still glad I met you guys. Hawkins was new and scary, not just because of the monsters.

You asked me, about two years ago, in the back of the Palace Arcade, “Do you accept the risk?” Do you remember that? Back then I thought that it was just a story, that you were just really, really into the nerd shit that you and your friends had created and just wanted me to play along. I hadn’t realized it was a serious thing until the junkyard. Until I saw the monsters for real. Then I understood.

I’m glad I accepted the risk. I’m glad I got to meet you and the rest of the Party and become part of your weird little friend group. I don’t regret it. Even if it seems like I should, especially right now, especially with what happened in the summer. But I don’t. I don’t think I would change anything about how we met. I would still accept the risk.

I do want to make him pay, though. The shit head behind all of this. He’s been doing this shit the whole time, the Mind Flayer, the Spider Monster, and now all of this. You have to swear to me, Lucas. You’ll make him pay. You and the Party and Steve, Nancy, and Robin. Shit, El too. She probably already knows that something is up even if she doesn’t have her powers. You all have to make him pay. Not just for me, either. Everybody who’s been affected by this. Will, Nancy’s friend, all of those people last summer, Chrissy, Fred, everyone.

This letter is the hardest one, besides the one I wrote for my mom, and I’m glad you’re all asleep right now so you can’t see me crying like a baby trying to write this. Don’t laugh at me. I’m really gonna miss you guys. Our movie nights, or sneaking into the movie theater and the drive in or walking downtown and just talking or planning our Halloween costumes together. (You have to go as the Green Lantern this year. Especially if I don’t make it out of this. I don’t give a shit what Mike plans.)

I’ll miss you most, Lucas. You are such a good person, you’re so kind. You were there for me and wanted to be there for me when I didn’t want to be around people at all. I know it’s cliché to say, but you’ve got a heart of gold, Lucas. You have never given up on me. And I know that if you’re reading this it means the worst has happened, but I’d like to think you didn’t give up on me then, either. That you were there until my final moments.

You are my guiding light. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when you were there for me. I hope whenever you hear Kate Bush, you’ll think of me, Stalker.

From,

Love, your girlfriend,

Mad Max.

[strangeswift]

What would happen if Dustin died instead of Steve?

I am very confident that he won't actually die but if the Duffers make him try to do to some self sacrificing bullshit because of Eddie I will still cry.

If Dustin died instead of Steve (he won't) hmmmmm well I think we'd be shown Steve's reaction and then the party's reaction. Cuz Steve is like a parental figure so those always hit. Let's explore that in this Dustin death drabble that I whipped up just for you anon <3 TW for death... obviously.

Dustin was alone. Ducked behind rubble just outside the gate.

"I won't run," he said into his radio.

"You should run, man! It's a fucking demogorgon!" Lucas responded, the radio staticky from him yelling into it.

"Yeah, and I need to keep it away from El," Dustin said.

"El has powers, dumbass! Last time I checked, you didn't. Unless you've been holding out on us," Lucas said, frustrated.

"Yeah, well she's a little goddamn busy right now, shithead!" Dustin yelled.

"So you're just gonna get yourself killed," Lucas said.

"I'm gonna lure it away from her. I'm not gonna get myself killed," Dustin said.

"Dustin, this is Mike and Will." Mike's voice came through Dustin's radio, "Whatever you think you're doing, don't."

"Will's there?" Dusitin asked.

The radio was silent for a moment, then, "Dustin?"

"Hey man," Dustin said.

"Dustin, what's going on?" Will asked, sounding confused, and terrified.

"Dont worry. It's gonna be fine," Dustin said, "And if it isn't, I uh... I love you guys. Tell Max too, and El. That I love them. And tell Steve I'm sorry."

"Henderson! Stay right where you fucking are! We are almost to you, stay fucking put," Steve's voice came through the radio, more stern than Dustin had ever heard him.

"It's getting too close, I can't wait," Dustin said.

"Henderson, we are almost to you. Let me take care of it." Steve said, emphasizing every word.

"There isn't time," Dustin said.

"Dude!" Lucas started, but Dustin cut him off with "Over and out," and collapsed the antenna.

He stood up from where he was crouched behind the rubble, and got a clear view of the demogorgon. It was getting closer to where El crouched behind a different rock, her eyes closed and her nose bleeding.

She was in a mindfight, holding Vecna back so the others could return from the Upside Down.

The rest if them had one job: monster patrol.

They were spread thin.

Dustin watched as the monster got even closer to El, who in her trance, couldn't see it. He took a deep breath and fixed his eyes on the demogorgon.

"Hey, asshole!" he yelled.

The demogorgon turned. It opened its face and let out a roar, starting to rapidly advance toward Dustin.

"Shit shit shit shit shit shit!" Dustin yelled, turning and running in the opposite direction of El and the gate.

"Henderson!" he heard Steve's voice from behind him. He spared a backward glance to see Steve and Jonathan running in his direction. Though they were quite a long way behind the angry demogorgon that was also running in his direction.

"Steve! Help!" he yelled. He hadn't meant to.

He tripped.

The monster closed in. It went in for the kill.

Steve shot at the monster as he and Jonathan ran toward them. It wasn't fazed by the bullets. They advanced further as the moster tore at Dustin's flesh. Suddenly, it looked up and started running back toward the gate.

Dustin's distraction had worked.

El was up now, Lucas got to her and snapped her out of her trance just as Joyce, Hopper, and Nancy were emerging from the Upside Down.

Everyone was safe. They had weapons. They'd be able to fight off the demogorgon when it returned to the gate where it sensed them.

Dustin's distraction had worked.

And Dustin was dead.

Steve could hear Hopper over his radio, "...one demogorgon. It's dead now. Everyone okay?"

Everyone was not okay.

Steve looked down at Dustin's lifeless body.

"Steve," Jonathan started, his voice shaky.

Steve shook his head, tears spilling over.

"No. No. Nope. This isn't happening. This can't be happening," Steve said firmly, though his voice cracked.

He took a step back, feeling like he might vomit. He briefly registered that Jonathan was crying, and looking at him, waiting for his reaction.

"This wasn't supposed to happen. I told him. I told him to wait. He never listens," Steve started, "He always thinks he knows best. He never listens to me. He had to go and make some grand sacrifice. I told him! I told him, 'You're not Munson.' I told him not to pull that kind of shit. I told him to stay alive. And what did he do?" Steve rambled almost hysterically, stumbling backward. Jonathan grabbed his shoulders to steady him.

"Steve," Jonathan repeated.

Steve couldn't hear him.

[nerd-at-sea5]

robin gets beat up and cannot hide anything from nancy bc it's nancy so cute ronance ensues bc i love them

im using canon pronouns for everyone bc i’m still working out my gender hcs for them all :) (max is nb but idk pronouns yet)

cw-blood, fighting, slurs, homphobia, abuse

robin buckley didn’t dislike being slammed into walls.

ok scratch that, she liked it when it was nancy wheeler doing the slamming. because that normally came with a kiss.

when it’s some random dickheaded kid from school, she likes it less. a lot less.

“hey faggot.”

“hey jack-hole. you know, i’m really starting to think you’re why condoms we’re invented.”

sharp pain to the shoulder blades, “that sounds like it’ll bruise, buckley.”

she did her best to smirk through the grimace, “it’s fine, i’ll get your mom to patch it up next time i go to rail her. say hi to your little brother for me!”

the kid’s grip lessened, “what?” then his expression changed, and before robin could see his arm swinging, one, two, three-there was blood pouring from her nose, her right eye felt like it was swelling and she could feel a split lip with her tounge.

he and his posse stalked away as robin sank to the floor with a groan.

the best part is that the dude didn’t even know she was gay. no one did-outside of the party + adults involved with party.

he was just a run-of-the-mill bully who liked to call kids faggots. go figure.

either way, the brunette was a little proud of herself, normally in those situations she’d fight back, and 9/10 times she hurt the dude worse than he hurt her, it’s probably why she’s been suspended. twice.

but sarcasm is easier when it comes to robin’s academics. not so much her physical and mental health.

she groaned again, pressing her palms to her eyes in an attempt to push back the tears threatening to spill, it didn’t work so robin hauled herself up and punched the locker.

“OW FUCK ME.”

biking with one or no hands was easy and didn’t even faze robin much, so as she dumped her bike in the wheelers front yard, adding to the pile, she swung her short hair in front of her eyes as best she could, a futile attempt but still an attempt to hide the forming bruise.

the door swung open without anyone touching it, and robin took that as a sign to go in, flopping herself down next to nancy and steve on the couch while the boys argued over a movie, max and el sat in a chair together whispering.

“afternoon nerds.”

a smattering of “hey rob.” “hi.” “afternoon.” came out of the kids, steve reached over to lay his arm over her shoulders, the other around jonathan, both who had their eyes on the boys.

nancy on the other hand, raised her eyebrow and gently brought a hand up tp robin’s face, who tried to redirect it, “nance don’t-”

“oh my god, robin!” her yell alerted everyone else, and steve instantly swung around, “jesus christ, rob-what happened to you-”

“n-nothing!” robin sputtered out, holding her palms up as nancy rushed to the bathroom, steve on her heals before robin held up her hand.

“well come on then!”

her girlfriend pointed at the sink, “sit.”

“nancy, really i’m-”

“robin buckley so help me god do not lie to me right now. you are not fine, and if you say so much as it it will be a bigger lie than mike saying he’s not in love with will. now, for fucks sake. express your goddamn emotions and don’t fucking hide them from me.”

she finishes putting tape on robin’s face and steps between her legs, gently running a hand over the taller girl’s lip, “i love you to much to keep watching you get hurt.”

nancy’s voice was so soft it was nearly a whisper, and it almost broke robin’s heart.

she really did try, she tried to fly under the radar, not get called out by assholes, but people had been pegging her as the weirdest girl in hawkins for years now.

robin knew that every time she showed up somewhere with a new bruise-nancy knew exactly how she’d gotten it.

face=school, arms/legs=biking or other mooter accident, torso=well. torso meant parents.

“i love you too, nance.”

nancy’s lips twitched for a second, “then stop getting yourself all beat up.”

“oh i thought looked hot like this.” robin quips back, earning a light glare from nancy, who sighs.

robin’s stomach twists, and she gently hooks her feet around nancy’s back, pulling her closer to her chest, wrapping her arms around nancy’s back and burying her face in her shoulder/neck.

“i don’t want to lose you just when i’ve got you for the first time you know.”

robin smiles into her girlfriends neck, “your not losing me anytime soon baby.”

“baby?”

“oh please, i’ve heard steve call you way worse.”

“mhm...i like it better from you.”

robin smiles again, “baby it is then.”

nancy’s reply is replaced with a gasp as the taller girl presses her lips to the shorter’s neck, over and over again.

nancy’s back hits the door, and robin feels butterflies so intense in her stomach that she thinks she might explode.

she can’t fathom why someone would ever need drugs when kissing feels like this.

maybe it’s because robin’s kissing nancy fucking wheeler.

and because nancy fucking wheeler kissed her first, right outside her parents bedroom, where her dad was sleeping.

the same dad who would not be ok with it if he found out that not one, but both of his kids swing both ways.

robin’s parents won’t be that happy either, but joyce is.

robin’s practically living with the byers/hoppers at this point-she’s claimed the guest room and when people come over steve takes the floor and nancy curls up next to robin and they talk all night with jonathan.

“i’m ok nancy. really.”

when nancy’s looking up at her with those blue eyes and steady grin saying “you better be.” robin is convinced she’d take another hundred hits to the face for this girl.

“i love you robin, i really really do.”

yep. she really would.

[flohamilton]

Hi! can i request a blind reader x stranger things people headcanon? But like blind in a Toph way and not a normal way.

Hi anon! I hope this is what you meant! Let me know if i missed anything! And i hope you enjoy!

First of all i think we should acknowledge how willing everyone is to help you out with certain things

Need someone to read what’s on the menu at a new restaurant? Dustin is happy help, not without making sure you knew what his favorites were, of course

Not sure which shirt to buy because you can’t quite grasp the difference between beige and tan? Nancy is always there to explain it to you and give her opinion on which shade goes better with your skin tone

Talking about celebrities and what they wore to last night’s award show? Steve and Robin will tell you exactly who the hottest people were Every! Single! Time!

Is the group reacting to some outrageous fight they saw break out in the parking lot? Lucas and Max are giving you a play by play run down of the entire thing live as it’s happening

You don’t always need their help though, what with echolocation and feeling the vibrations of the things around you, you could always get around pretty well and that never ceased to amaze your friends

“I just don’t get it!” Dustin would exclaim when he saw you use echolocation to navigate a busy area of the mall. “How are you more graceful than Mike and he has 20/20 vision!”

“Knock it off asshole,” mike would grumble

Argyle is also particularly amazed by you. Something in his brain can’t comprehend how you can’t see yet you can feel the vibrations

“Hey dude do you think you can teach me how to do that?” He would say as you were using echolocation “I want to feel the vibrations too!”

Sometimes they would forget you are blind though, they don’t mean to, truly. But it happens

Dustin would be so excited “Y/n, check out this sick new comic book i just got! Look at the cover!”

“Dude y/n can’t see,” Steve would grumble, and although you couldn’t see it, you knew Steve just smacked Dustin upside the head

On another note you loved to hang out with Eddie whenever corroded coffin was having a rehearsal. Feeling the vibrations of the music and being able to have the full experience, no sight necessary made you so happy

Mike you always try to get you to laugh

“I know you can’t see this right now, y/n, but Lucas just did the most impressive backflip I’ve ever seen and I’m really sorry that you couldn’t see it”

I can also see El being so sweet and helpful and guiding you around, even though she knew you didn’t need her help. She’s always coming up to you and grabbing your hand to lead you through a large crowd or help you down the stairs and you are always so appreciative

Jonathan is always describing things to you

he would give you weather updates or inform you about simple things he thought would be worth a description “the leaves are starting to turn, y/n, they’re not quite all orange or brown yet but they’re getting there. I’ll let you know when they start to fall!”

Will is always giving you indicators of what the group is laughing at

“Right now Mike is doing the chicken dance and he looks ridiculous”

And mike would fire back with “Right now Will is not doing the chicken dance and he also looks ridiculous!”

Erica is always gossiping to you, telling you about whose hairstyles were the worst in her opinion

“I tried to tell him it’s sitting like a mop!”

“It is not!” Steve would cry

“Don’t worry Steve,” you would say, patting his shoulder, “I believe you.”

[circethesinner]

the puppeteer ✿ mad max - chapter 15 ✿

pairing: steve harrington x original female character (can be read as x reader)

warning(s): strong language, descriptions of violence, mature themes 

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"Hey Bambi, are you free-" Bambi brushed past the boy as he tried to talk to her, knocking his bag of Cheetos on the floor, not that she cared.

"Fuck off, Keith, I'm not in the mood," She groaned, scanning down the aisles of the arcade to find who she was sent to collect. "Dustin, I've been waiting in the van for ten minutes. If you're not home by 9pm, you know damn well your mom won't let you out anymore."

"Some asshole named Mad Max knocked me off the number one spot on Dig Dug. I have to reclaim my title!" Dustin protested, but Bambi grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him away from the arcade machine and his friends.

"Your title will be there for you tomorrow, but if I don't get you home now, your mom will realise I'm not actually tutoring you, and you can kiss this arcade and all your fucking leaderboards goodbye!" Bambi sighed as Dustin tried to wiggle his way out of her grip. They'd worked out a deal where Dustin's mom would pay Bambi to tutor Dustin, but instead of actually tutoring him, they split the money so Dustin could go to the arcade and Bambi could add her share to the diner in her attempt to pay George back for everything he'd done for her over the years. He refused to accept any money she tried to give him directly, so she had started to add it to the cash register in the diner whenever he wasn't looking. It wasn't much, but it was enough for her to feel like maybe she was starting to make a dent into what she knew she owed him.

"At least let me say goodbye to everyone!" Dustin protested, pulling himself out of Bambi's grip.

"If you're not in the van in the next two minutes, you're in deep shit!" Bambi called out as he hurried back to his friends. She sighed and turned, flicking her keys in her hand as she weaved in and out of the crowds of people in the arcade.

"Bambi! I just wanted to know if you were free on-" Keith tried his luck again, but Bambi was having none of it. She'd made the mistake of talking to him the first time she'd visited the arcade, and he'd taken it as a sign that she was definitely interested in him. Now, no matter how many times she shut him down and how rudely she did it, he wouldn't listen.

"Keith, I swear to fucking god if you ask me out again, it'll be the last thing you'll ever say because your head will be shoved so far up your own ass you'll suffocate!" Bambi glared at him, and he froze in his place.

"You... you could have just said no," He pouted. "There's no need to be such a bi-"

"Consider your next words very carefully," Bambi cut him off before he had a chance to finish the name he was calling her. "I have said no. I've said no every time you've asked me, and I will continue to say no for the rest of eternity."

"He's not worth it, Bambi!" Dustin sighed. This time, he grabbed her and started pulling her towards the exit. She was grateful as she was on her final straw with Keith, and if he'd opened his mouth again, she would have punched him. "He tried to bribe Mike into prostituting Nancy earlier."

"Fucking creep...." Bambi growled as they left the arcade. She unlocked the van and helped Dustin load his bike into the back.

"I don't understand why you don't just do your mind control thing to make him shit his pants or something," Dustin sighed as he made sure the bike was secure and wouldn't move around while they were driving.

"You know exactly why I won't do that," Bambi mumbled. After what had happened the previous year, Bambi hadn't used her powers at all. Trying to get into the Demogorgan's mind had wiped her out. She'd been hospitalised for three days just trying to recover. For those three days, she was on edge. There had been scientists Bambi recognised from the lab wandering around checking on Will and occasionally on her, checking to see what she knew. Fortunately, it had been long enough, and she'd changed enough, so they hadn't recognised her. From that moment on, she realised it was too dangerous to use her powers in Hawkins. She was on their radar. Bambi wasn't sure where her powers stood. She knew that it was likely that the burnout weakened her, and she'd burn out again faster. If she burnt out her powers and landed herself in the hospital again, they'd start asking questions she wouldn't be able to answer. So, in George's words, Bambi was 'Power Sober'.

"Can I pick the music this time?" Dustin asked once they were seated in the front of the van. He reached for the radio to turn it on.

"My van! Don't touch!" She told him, swatting his hand away.

"Technically, it's Geoge's van," Dustin pointed out. The van was still George's, but he let Bambi use it more often than not. Whenever she had to pick Dustin or any of the other boys up, it worked out easier since they could just stick their bikes in the back. "You're just going to play Billy Joel again!" He protested, trying to reach again for the radio. Bambi swatted his hand away again.

"Well, I was going to ask you what you wanted to listen to, but Billy Joel sounds like a great idea!" She grinned, pressing play on the radio. Her Billy Joel cassette was already in there, as it always was. For the rest of the ride, Dustin held his hands over his ears as Bambi very loudly (and badly) sang along to Uptown Girl.

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"Steve, I say this because I care about you...." Bambi sighed, looking over the sheets of paper Steve had handed her. "This is the worst college application I've ever seen."

"How many college applications have you seen?" Steve asked, taking the papers back out of her hands and re-reading them.

"I mean, not many, I guess, so that probably does count for something if it makes you feel better?" Bambi opened her locker to get her books out for the first lesson of the day.

"It really doesn't," Steve groaned, leaning his head against the locker next to her.

"I can help you work on it tonight if you want to come over?" Bambi suggested.

"Can't. Nancy's dragging me to that dinner with Barb's parents tonight." Steve sighed, lifting his head up. "Besides, George said he'd stab me if I step foot in your house again."

"He didn't mean it! He was just upset after you broke the television... again," Bambi tried to hold back her laughter as she remembered Steve's face when he realised what he'd done. George had been overreacting, he just didn't like Steve to begin with, and he'd take every opportunity to keep him away. "George left this morning anyway. He's gone to manage the other diner for two weeks because Bobbie somehow ran over his own foot."

"Oooh, what I hear is that Bambi has a party place for the next two weeks," Tommy suddenly appeared behind them and threw his arm over Bambi's shoulder, which she immediately pushed off.

"If that's what you heard, then you need to get your ears checked," Bambi rolled her eyes and closed her locker. "I've got a class to get to." She pushed past Tommy and Steve and started to walk as fast as she could down the hallway, though she wasn't looking where she was going and walked directly into someone.

Bambi looked up to apologise and found herself face to face with someone she'd never seen before, and based on the sour look on his face she hoped to never see again.

"Watch it," He glared at her as he stepped to the side and walked past her, purposely bumping his shoulder into hers as he went.

"Asshole," Bambi muttered as she looked back. She saw Tommy start to walk and talk with the stranger, and she sighed. As if she needed another reason to avoid him.

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Bambi was trying desperately to shove her books back in her locker, though they kept on falling out. She was interrupted in her battle by a piece of paper being waved in her face. She recognised the sleeves on the arms holding it out and took the paper, studying it. 

"Come and get sheet faced?" Bambi turned around and winced at the awful pun as she read it aloud. "Yeah, sorry Nance, there's no way I'm going to this."

"Come on, Bambi!" Nancy pleaded, taking the orange flier from her hands and waving it in front of her face again. "It'll be a fun night!"

"I don't do costume parties!" Bambi protested, shaking her head as she took the flier out of Nancy's hands again so she'd stop waving it around. "I don't have a costume anyway, and you've seen my wardrobe so there's no way I can make one. My style consists of ancient t-shirts with references I don't understand on them and old jeans someone's grandad probably died in. I mean, unless you want me to wear that one dress that literally everyone hates and none of you let me leave the house in, I've got nothing."

"It's an awful dress Bambs." Nancy sighed.

"It's not awful it's just... an acquired taste." Bambi protested. The dress in reference was an old floral print dress she'd found at a thrift shop. It had a matching hat and it was, in the words of everyone who had ever seen it, the ugliest item of clothing ever. Bambi had only bought it because it was so hideous that it was hilarious. It was brown with neon orange, baby food green, and bright purple flowers. It had no shape to it and looked like it once had a job as a pair of curtains at a retirement home and someone just stuck arms and beige lace to it to call it a dress.

"Yeah, and the acquired taste is poison!" Nancy rolled her eyes, they'd been over this argument so many times. The more people hated it, the more Bambi claimed to love it. "Besides, you do have a costume. I watched you make you and the boys those Dragons and Dungeons costumes. You can just wear that."

"Dungeons and Dragons," Bambi corrected. "I don't think I can show up to the party dressed as a tiefling warlock who's pledged her soul to a sheep demon named Baa-tholomew in exchange for her powers."

"I didn't understand a word of what you said, but weren't you like a little devil thing?" Nancy asked. "You were orange, and you had horns."

"Well, yes technically, since tieflings are derived from devils and humans, but-" Bambi was about to explain in detail what tieflings were, but Jonathan had joined them, and Nancy took his arrival as an opportunity to stop Bambi from going on another twenty-minute speech on a game Nancy didn't really care about.

"Jonathan's coming to the party, right?" Nancy smiled. Jonathan looked down at the fliers.

"No, I'm not," Jonathan denied. "I told you already. I'm going trick-or-treating with Will." "I just remembered that I agreed to join you and the kids while you're trick-or-treating!" Bambi motioned for Jonathan to agree with her. "So it looks like I can't go to the party, oops! Sorry!"

"You're both going to this party," Nancy huffed, looking between her two friends. "Even if that means I have to drag you both there myself."

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HECC YECC time for season 2!!!

y'all I'm gonna draw the dress and attach a picture at some point because I need you to SEE it because in my head it's awful and I need everyone else to suffer as much as I do knowing that my brain can produce such a monstrosity

likes are very much appreciated and I will give each and every one of you little kisses on the forehead for each comment you write :)

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taglist (let me know if you want to be added!)

@missyviolet123

[just-jordie-things]

The Crown - Steve Harrington

word count: 4462 warnings: dedicated to @high-functioning-fangirl02 <3

You’d give your life to protect these kids.  

These kids you’ve known since you started babysitting them in the sixth grade.  Back when Mrs Henderson hired you to watch Dustin.  Which essentially meant that you’d watch all of them.  But that was alright, over the past seven years of being their designated babysitter, you’d grown to love them all.

Mike Wheeler, the snarky little love-struck shit that you spent grieving with since losing Eleven.  Lucas Sinclair, the sweet boy with the occasional attitude whom you helped construct his Ghostbusters costume. Will Byers, the full time sweetheart that made you cookies for Valentine’s Day after hearing you complain about being dateless.  And of course Dustin, cute little button nosed Dusty with a trash mouthing tendency, whom looked up to you like a role model.

Hell, you were their role model.  Driving them to and from school, covering for them on late nights so they could finish their D&D tournaments.  Fiercely protecting them a year ago when Hawkins was Demogorgon infested.  Standing up for them when you’d see some upperclassmen picking on them.

Those who dared glance the wrong way towards The Party in your presence, were rumored to run home crying with a bleeding nose and terrified shriek.  You never put down the rumors… because maybe it had happened once or twice…

Over time The Party was no longer just a band of middle schoolers.  It had opened up to their babysitter, being you, a senior girl who had not many other friends.  Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers, which the boys always claimed was strictly because of family relations.  Not because Dustin was still harbouring a crush for Mike’s older sister.  The town Sheriff, Jim Hopper, who’d proved himself not to be an asshole, and turned out an alright guy.  Joyce Byers, whom you loved like a mother and whom treated you like her own daughter.  You’d frequently been titled ‘the daughter she wished to have had’ which always raised a snarky response from her sons.  Maxine (just Max.  Never Maxine) Hargrove, a high spirited and not your typical girl that you grew fond of easily.  Especially since she was nothing like her big brother.

And then there was Steve Harrington.  Who… really just was at the wrong place at the wrong time and ended up getting roped into the mess that Hawkins Lab had created.  King Steve, as you’d known him before you’d officially met last year by fluke accident, was always the popular boy that had a pretty girl hanging off his arm.  You weren’t sure why that changed so quickly, why he didn’t put himself out there as much as he used to, didn’t party hard anymore, wasn’t bragging about the new girl he was with that week like he was known for.  Maybe that day, when he walked into the Wheeler’s house right as you Nancy and Jonathan were awaiting the Demogorgon’s arrival, maybe he changed then.

Or maybe it was after he’d been sucked into… whatever this all was… and he changed to keep the secret.  Or maybe it was after Nancy had broken up with him, around the same time he started growing closer to Dustin.

But right now as you watched him directing the kids, you were more aware that he wasn’t King Steve anymore, that you had been before.  Sure, you’d realized somewhere along the way he was different.  But it wasn’t until now that you noticed it completely as it was.

“No listen you little shits, no one, is going anywhere” Steve ordered, holding a wash rag in his hand and pointing it between each of the boys, and girl, that stood in front of him.

“Friggin’ pointless just staying here” Dustin grumbled, walking out of the room whilst still muttering.  Mike groaned loudly, dramatically, and left to the living room with Max and Lucas.  You knew that he was still plotting you get out there tonight.  Consequences and dangers be damned.

You looked to Steve with a sigh, a lazy smile on your lips as you walked past him to go after Dustin.  He watched you go, letting out a breath as well as he put his hands on his hips and standing alone in the hall with his thoughts.

He’d give his life to protect these kids.

“Dusty?” You called gently as you walked into the kitchen, seeing Dustin sitting on the floor against the dishwasher.  Your brows furrowed as you sat across from him by the cabinets.  “You alright kiddo?”

“Would I be sitting in here brooding if I was?” He quipped, though you knew he meant well.

“Sweetheart you’re too adorable to be a brooder” You laughed softly, pulling your knees up slightly.  “A pouter maybe, but not a brooder”

“Thanks y/n” He responded dryly.  You rolled your eyes in response to his sarcasm.

“Come on kid, open up a little.  It’s me” Your words were soft, which did prompt Dustin to consider explaining to you his thoughts.  “Please? If we make it out of this alive I’ll take you to the arcade.  I’ve got a big jar full of quarters I’ve saved up-”

“Okay okay I’ll take the bribe” Dustin caved with a laugh that made your mood lighten.  “Look it’s gonna sound lame and cheesy but… everyone else is helping.  Jonathan and Nance and Mrs Byers and Hopper and Elle, but what am I doing?”

“You’re staying safe” Your answer came out instantly, but it didn’t seem to be the one the boy was looking for.

“No I’m not, I’m sitting on the sidelines, watching everyone else go be heroes and getting hurt.  I’m not doing a damn thing!”

“Hey” You hummed softly, and scooted over closer to put your head on his shoulder.  “You’re a hero Dustin.  Don’t tell yourself any differently.  All of you are, Mike too, and Lucas, and Max, and-”

“Steve?” Dustin offered, and you nodded, looking at him confusedly by the strange tone of voice he used.

“Of course, why’re you looking at me like that?”

“No reason” Dustin shrugged nonchalantly, brushing off the uncomfortable air between you both.

“Alright well, you should believe me” You continued.  “Even if you don’t think so, you’re all my heroes, got it Henderson?” The boy smiled and nodded, prompting you to push the cap of his hat down playfully before he could get up and leave the room.

“Mike’s probably still planning his attack” He told you, but you shrugged and waved a hand.

“Let him plot and brood” You said, and Dustin’s mouth fell open.

“How come Mike can brood but I can’t?” You rolled your eyes, still waving your hand for him to get out of here.

“Just go plot with him, I know you’re itching to” You said, and he grinned wide at you, glad you were letting him go plan their escape and attack.

“Thanks y/n!” He called, already racing out of the room.  “You’re the best!” You laughed, shaking your head as you stood back up and dusted off the pants of your overalls.  Steve came in a few moments later, watching you almost suspiciously.

“What?” You questioned, and he shrugged, shaking his head.

“Nothing.  Just wondering why you’re permitting them to conspire against us” He said.

“They’re not conspiring, they’re just discussing.  No harm in that”

“Um, every harm in that.  As in all of us, being harmed, because of that” He said, but you didn’t really seem to care what he thought about it.

“They’re fine, we’re all fine, don’t freak out so much mom” You said, walking out towards the kids and seeing them all circled up and discussing their big plan.

“I’m not a mom” Steve argued, and you chuckled, turning to see him, his dish rag on his shoulder, hands on hips.  It only made you laugh more.

“Mhm, alright.  Well then what would you call yourself?” You replied sarcastically, nodding towards his own stance, and making Steve second guess himself.

“This- you-! Alright whatever just stay away from the windows and go be safe somewhere” He muttered, walking into the living room where the kids were.  You rolled your eyes again, but couldn’t help the smile on your lips.

Perhaps, you thought, King Steve was the king of something else now.

You watched as he was waving his rag at the kids again, yelling at them for plotting behind his back, and reminding them that no one was going anywhere.  But even as Dustin pouted, Steve was rubbing his hand over the thirteen year old’s head.  Almost soothingly, like he felt bad for ending their little meeting.

“What a mom” You mumbled, and headed back into the kitchen for something to eat.

You used to resent Steve, back when he was the king of school and didn’t care about anything more than he cared about his popularity and his hair.  Back when he didn’t give a shit about pretty much anything.  And looking at him now and seeing him watch over these kids, you could physically feel your heart swelling.  If that isn’t character development, you weren’t sure what was.

You weren’t sure why it made you feel so bubbly either.

“Listen runts, we’re staying here, we’re staying safe, and we’re not dying!” Steve said, for what felt like the fifth time.  But Mike kept arguing back at him.

“Everyone else is out there!”

“Everyone else knows how to fight all that shit!” Steve retorted.  “We are staying, here” He repeated slowly, waving his rag between each word.  “You got that?”

“You’re just saying that cause y/n’s here.  If she wasn’t here, we’d all be getting in your car and going!” Lucas spoke up.  Your brows furrowed at that.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You asked, ignoring your search for food and now strutting into the room where everyone else was.  “Am I dragging you down?” You asked, almost sarcastic, but wondering what he’d actually meant by his announcement.  Were you dragging them down?

“No, Steve would just protect your ass over our asses” Max shrugged, and the others nodded.

“What the hell? Everyone here is protecting their own asses, I’m not getting killed for a bunch of kids!” Steve said, making flustered and jerky movements.  You brushed off their newly sprung argument over where Steve’s bat is swinging and who it’s swinging for.

Apparently, The Party was certain that he’d die for you, rather die for them.  But you didn’t care much about what they thought.  They’d always thought that you and Steve were meant to be some power couple, but you supposed it was just cause you were the same age and the kids only ever saw you two together.  There was no real evidence (as far as they showed) towards the ‘chemistry’ you and Steve supposedly had.

You wandered to the window, curiously looking out it with your arms wrapped around yourself.

“Will you just shut up?” Mike’s yelling made you jump a little, and you turned to see your friends all still arguing with each other.  You smiled slightly, meeting Steve’s eyes as he gave you a bored look.  You just laughed a little bit back at him.  Steve’s expression softened into a small smile.  Your face flushed with heat, and you nervously turned away from him to look back out the window again.

A light blinded you almost instantly, making you squint your eyes and put a hand over them to try and clear your vision.

“What the hell?” You muttered, leaning closer to the glass to see what was going on.  Headlights, there was a car here.  Someone was here.  “Steve?” You called, not turning away from the window.  He came over right away, looking outside to see a familiar Camaro parked in the driveway.

“Shit” He grumbled, walking towards the front door.

“What- where are you going? Who is it?” You asked, following quickly after him, but Steve quickly turned to make you stay back.

“Just stay in here-”

“Sinclair!” A voice hollered from outside, and you jumped, eyes widening as you recognized it.  “I know you’re in there!”

“Billy?” You whispered to Steve, who nodded.  You stepped backwards, eyes never leaving Steve’s.  “What’s he doing here?” Your voice was quiet.

Billy Hargrove, was the most vile, horrible person you’d ever met.  And his wicked ways of bending people to his will, shook you intensely to your core.  It was no secret to the others that Billy not only terrified you, but would seductively torture you every day.  Sure, you’d been picked on before, but this was different.  Every day he’d come to you, hoping to get something out of you, just to mess with you.

“Come on babe, a little kiss, just a little one, we can discuss the rest later”

“You don’t want to get a ride home with me and have some fun?”

“When’re you finally gonna give this up and just put out?”

You shuddered slightly, practically feeling his hot breath against your skin just thinking about the things he’s said to you.  Stopping you in the hallways, finding you at your locker, approaching you while you waited at Steve’s car for a ride home.

“I know you’re in there you little pig! Come out here or I’ll have to go in!” His voice was dangerous, threatening.  And you felt a legitimate fear for your life, and the kids’.

“It’s fine, you’re fine, I promise” Steve said quietly, out of earshot of the others.  “All of you stay here, stay away from the windows” He ordered, giving you one last look before you turned and went to The Party.  They needed you right now, all huddled around Lucas and Max to make sure if Billy were to look inside, he wouldn’t see them.

“Come on guys” You said softly, ushering them as far away from the window as you could.  Steve, on the other hand, opened the door and stepped outside.

Instead of hiding in a room, completely out of sight of the maniac, you all ducked under the windowsill to see what was happening.

“Am I dreaming or is that really you Harrington?” You felt your entire body quivering upon hearing Billy’s voice.  Dustin, who was crouched next to you, turned and gave you a worried look, but your eyes were dead set on the outside.

“Yeah it’s me, don’t cream your pants” Steve responded, walking out towards him as he pulled off his leather jacket.

“What’re you doing here amigo?” Billy asked, the cigarette hanging off his lips moving as he spoke.

“I could ask you the same thing” Steve responded, void of emotion.  “Amigo”

“Lookin’ for my step sister.  Little birdie told me she was here”

“Huh, that’s weird I don’t know her” Steve lied easily, and convincingly.  You prayed to God that Billy believed him.

“Small? Redhead?” Billy replied disbelievingly.  “Bit of a bitch?”

“Ashole” Max muttered to herself inside.

“Doesn’t ring a bell, sorry buddy” Steve replied, still not sounding like he cared even an inkling.  Billy nodded, taking out his cigarette.

“You know… I don’t how this, this whole situation Harrington is um.., it’s giving me the heebie jeebies” Billy said, looking at Steve a little more threateningly.

“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

“My thirteen year old sister goes missing all day, and then I find her with you” Billy pointed accusatory hands towards Steve, giving him a disgusted look.  “In a strangers house” He continued.  “And you lie to me about it” Steve chuckled bitterly, shaking his head and looking away for a moment.

“Yeah, maybe you were dropped too much as a child or what” Steve said snarkily.  But Billy just grinned his twisted grin and licked his tongue over the front of his teeth.  “I don’t know what you don’t understand about what I just said”

You felt a chill go down your spine as Steve’s protectiveness took over his tone.  Dustin beside you mumbling a quiet, “Holy shit”

“She’s not here” Steve said carefully.  Billy nodded, looking pointedly towards the window where you and The Party were all huddled and looking out of.

“Then who’s that?” He asked, pointing his cigarette towards his sister.

“Down!” You hissed, and the five of you dropped to the floor so fast you all groaned from the impact of the floor.

“Shit!” Dustin cursed.  “Did he see us?”

“Oh shit” Steve grumbled.  “Okay listen-” Billy pushed him to the ground before he could explain anything.  The boy kicked him, before storming up into the house.

“Well well well” Billy smirked, seeing you and The Party standing there together, you in front of all of them.  “y/n l/n, what a lovely little surprise” You grimaced, but he didn’t seem to care.  “And Lucas Sinclair, not so much a surprise at all” You moved over more in front of Lucas, who’s hands grabbed onto your arm out of fear.  “I thought I told you to stay away from him Max”

“Billy, go away” Max retorted, but her voice wavered.

“You disobeyed me” Billy leaned over his step sister tauntingly.  “And you know what happens when you disobey me” He added in a hushed, volatile voice.

“Billy-”

“I break things” He uttered, before pushing you aside, crashing your body into the wall.  Before slamming Lucas up against the cupboards.

“Billy stop!” Max and the others began to yell, Dustin rushing over to help you up, but you were already standing up on your own.

“Get off of me!” Lucas cried.

“Since Maxine won’t listen to me, maybe you will” Billy muttered.  “You stay away from her.  Stay-! Away from her” He yelled awkwardly.  “Do you hear me?”

“I said get off me!” Lucas screamed again, followed by a knee between Billy’s legs.  You gasped, feeling a moment of pride as Billy stumbled back and released him.

“You are so dead Sinclair!” Billy hollered.  “You’re dead-”

“No” Steve grabbed Billy by the shoulder, spinning him around roughly.  “You are” And with that he swung his fist and planted it hard enough against Billy’s jaw to make him topple over.

“Steve!” You yelped out of surprise.  He looked at you for a moment, nodding in reassurance as he shook out his hand.  It’d been a while since he’d hit anybody.  Billy stood back up, laughing menacingly.  “You’re a fucking psycho!” You screeched before you could stop yourself.

“Looks like you got some fire in you after all huh!?” He yelled at Steve.  “I’ve been waiting to meet this King Steve everybody’s been telling me so much about” He stepped closer to Steve, glaring at him.

“Get out” Steve muttered, pushing Billy’s chest lightly to move him away from him.  Billy stepped back and stood there for a moment.  And after a few seconds passed you were certain that he was going to stay back.

Until he swung swiftly at Steve, but missed as Steve ducked just in time.  You gasped, clapping your hands over your mouth in terror.  Steve stood back up and swung his fist again, hitting Billy and making him stumble again.

“Yes! Get him Steve!” Dustin cheered, and the others began to as well.  You couldn’t find yourself to say anything, just wince every time a punch was made.  Steve hit him two more times, and Billy ran into the kitchen sink.  Leaning back and wincing in pain.

“Kill him! Kill him!” Mike was yelling.  But Billy grabbed a plate of the counter, smashing it over Steve’s head, and making him fall to the ground.

“Steve!” You screamed now, taking long strides to get over to him, only to be pushed away by Billy.  Who hit Steve as soon as he stood up again.  He grabbed Steve by the shoulders, staring him down.

“No one.  Tells me what to do” He muttered angrily, and threw his head forward hard into Steve’s knocking him down again.

“Fucking hell” You mumbled, tears beginning to prick your eyes in fear that Billy was actually going to kill Steve.  The mullet wearing psycho leapt onto Steve, pinning him down and swinging punch after punch against his face.

“Stop it!” Mike yelled at the top of his lungs, but it did nothing to end Billy’s attack.

“Steve!” Dustin hollered.

You stood frozen, every scene in front of you soundless, and moving slowly.  You could only feel your heart in your chest, sending you into an anxiety attack, you were sure.  But it barely mattered to you in that moment.  You turned away, and your eyes landed on something.

The syringe used on Will earlier.

Sleep… put him to sleep… your thoughts were broken as you reached for it, looking at it in your hands for a few seconds, before stepping forward and slamming the needle into Billy’s neck without a hesitation.  Mike and Dustin gasped, standing back.  Everyone’s eyes stuck on the syringe hanging out of BIlly’s neck now.  A disgust filling them up at the sight.

“Shit y/n” Dustin mumbled, his hand covering his mouth to stop vomit from flowing.

Billy stood up, wobbling slightly as he turned to look at you.  He pulled the needle out of his neck, vision beginning to fail.  “The hell is this?” He asked, trying to step towards you threateningly, but he was wobbling so much you didn’t even move.  No longer afraid of him.

“You’re fucking done Hargrove” You muttered, and before thinking twice to second guess yourself, punching him across the jaw, and sending him back on his ass.  Billy groaned, staying down where he’d fallen against the couch.

“Shit what did you do” He mumbled, growing dizzy from the mix of drug and pain.

A few moments later he completely passed out.

“Fuck” You hissed in pain, putting your bruising knuckles against your mouth.  You didn’t think punching someone would hurt so damn much.

“y/n holy shit”

“Are you okay?”

“That was badass!”

The Party was fussing and cheering for you, but you didn’t respond, kneeling down by Steve next and counting up all the cuts and bruises he was beginning to sport.  He was unconscious, that was for sure.  But he’d be in for a world of hurt when he woke up.

“Come on, help me get him back to Jon’s bed” You called to the kids.

It was difficult moving him, but after ten minutes you’d managed to get him into Jonathan’s room to lie on the bed there.  You were sat next to him, a cold wet rag in your hand, and the open first aid kit on the ground.  It took you awhile to clean off all the blood and apply bandages where you thought they were necessary.  There was a frozen bag of peas you’d put over one of his eyes to stop the swelling, but so far it still looked pretty bad.

The Party had sat with you for what felt like a long time before you told them to go back to the living room and wait for the others to return home.  Dustin put up a small fight about it, but eventually gave in and listened to your order.  And now it was just you kneeling on the ground by Steve, watching over him carefully.  Making sure he was breathing okay, and that nothing would begin to bleed again.

“Well King Steve, you got quite the ass kicking” You mumbled, just to yourself.  Your fingers placed a few stray hairs on his forehead back into place.  “But your crown is still there” You smiled to yourself, fingertips gently brushing his hair.

“y/n?” Your eyes looked back at him as he mumbled, almost incoherently.  “What happened?” The poor boy’s eyes weren’t even open.

“You put up a really good fight” You told him softly.  He winced, the pain probably beginning to settle in.

“Did I win?” He groaned, eyes clenching shut momentarily.  You bit down on your lip and shook your head, even though he couldn’t see you.

“You put up a really good fight” You repeated yourself, playing with his hair again.  Steve sighed, knowing the answer.

“Is he gone?” He asked, eyes finally beginning to flutter open.

“Yeah… yeah he won’t be back any time soon, I’m sure” You answered.  Steve looked up at you, smiling down gently at him.  He smiled back instantly, and moved his arm to push your hair back, but even at it’s slight movement you winced in pain.  “You’re in pretty bad shape” You told him quietly.  “But you’ll heal up alright”

“Are you okay?” He asked, and you nodded.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine” You shrugged slightly.  “We’re all really worried about you.  Dustin thought you were dead” Steve chuckled painfully, shaking his head a little bit.

“Are they alright? Max and Lucas?”

“Yeah, we’re all good Steve” You hummed with a slight nod.  You leaned forward, a little closer to him to check on the eye swelled under the bag of peas.  You frowned, seeing the black and blue bruise that only seemed to be spreading.

“I’m alright, don’t fuss so much” Steve said, putting his hand over the bag and pushing it back against his face.  Your eyes met his for a moment.

“You’re pretty bruised up Harrington” You sighed, taking the wet rag in your hand and dabbing it gently on his bruised cheek.  “There’s not an inch of your face spared”

“It’ll be fine, I’ll heal up”

“Years from now, maybe” You replied sarcastically, and he smiled at you while you carefully pressed the cold cloth to his face.

“You’re beautiful, you know that?” He murmured, and you looked at him for the briefest of seconds before going back to work.  Now is not the time to talk about feelings, you thought to yourself.

“Yeah? Go play hero some more and you’ll never see anything again” You told him, and he shrugged slightly, not having a response to that.

“I just wanted to remind you.  In case you haven’t been told in a while” He said.  You bit on the inside of your cheek to keep from smiling too much.  You looked down at him, your eyes softening slightly.

You leaned over closer to him, pausing for a moment before pressing your lips lightly against his.  It was a chaste kiss, only lasting a few seconds as you didn’t want to hurt him anymore than he already was.  When you pulled back, you smiled nervously at him, and he only smiled back at you.

“You’re lucky you didn’t die Harrington” You said, and got right back to work on pressing the rag to his wounds.

“That I am” He replied cheekily.

You giggled softly, smiling down at him and wondering just when he’d changed so much.

You knew he’d give his life for these kids too, just like you would.

love me some babysitter steve

xoxo ~ jordie

[namjoonswifey99]

What The Heart Wants Pt.6

Billy Hargrove X Reader

Warnings : Cursing , Bullying , Harassment , Billy being Billy 

Author Note: Hope You Enjoy This Chapter and I apologize this was supposed to be out but ive going though a rough patch with my family so i hope you understand.

Billy walked over to Y/N and Max; he couldn't help but overhear Susan talking to the police.

“ Sir please i just want my little girl I don't do anything else but her.” Susan says trying to calm her breathing from crying so much

“ Ma'am, your daughter stated she wants to go with her step brother and his girlfriend. We are gonna have to take you downtown for questioning. This isn't the first time Mrs.Hargrove.”  Officer Powell asked why detaining her.

Susan started to protest but saw that was Max was looking at her and stopped and held her head down and started walking with the officer.

“ I'm so sorry you guys had to see that, that wasn't what I was going for, I just wanted to get our stuff so we can move in.” Billy says looking sad he never wanted Max or Y/N to see that side again. Billy then looks towards Will who was just wide eyed.

“ Hey Will right i'm sorry you had to see that I truly didn't mean for you to see that.” Billy says with an apologetic look. Will looks up at Billy, surprised by the story Jonathan and Max told him.  He doesn't seem so bad hopefully they can be friends

“

“ It's okay Billy i understand”. Will says, accepting his apology. 

Y/N then runs up and pulls Billy into a hug and just embraces him Y/N was so proud of Billy he finally stood up against his father. “ im super proud of you baby” Y/N says kissing Billy’s cheek 

Hopper looked at the two teenagers and smiled. It was rare for guys like Billy. He's honestly happy that he has this chance to make his life right with the right people by his side. 

“ Come one let’s get some more stuff out the house and go to Y/N place” Billy says while getting his key from Y/N . “ Yessss so i can more stuff then i intended” Max says while shouting in excitement to bring more of her things. “ Well as long as it fits in the car we'll just get a truck to move it”. Billy says while correcting Max he doesn't want his car to be too crowded. “ You guys don’t need a bed or dressers. My parents got you guys covered with bedding just more clothes and stuff you can fit”. Y/N says while fixing the trunk to make room.

----- 1 Hour Later----

After an hour later they arrived at Y/N house. Her and Billy explained what happened at his fathers house . Y/N and Billy starts to explain what had happened down at his fathers house and how he was gonna move forward to have sole custody of Max and to be filed down as independent. 

“ That’s a very good plan Billy and you know you and Max can still for however long you like it’s no problem to us you were already family from the beginning” Y/N mother Angelina says while putting the cookies in the oven. 

“ I agree with my wife you can stay however long you like” Y/N father Tremaine says while putting the sodas in the freezer. 

“ we definitely appreciate the love and roof you're giving me and max I won’t let you down” Billy says while looking at them. 

“ You don’t have to prove anything baby, we love you just the way you are flaws and all “ Y/ N says as she looks at Billy with full love in the eyes.

“ BABY” Both of Y/N parents shouted at the same time. 

“ Ummmmm yea as of today me and Billy are together “Y/N says while looking down shyly. To shy look at her parents reaction. 

“ Ha I knew it Tre you owe me 40$ bucks” Angelina says happily she knew they was gonna get together 

“ Man you guys couldn’t wait till next week I could’ve had extra money” Tre says pulling out the 40 dollars to hand to his wife. 

“ You are not mad about us” Billy says confused because growing with a dad like his a relationship between him and Y/N would be frowned upon. 

“ never we don’t care as long as you live and respect our daughter that’s all that matters” Tremaine says to Billy while tenderly holding Angelina to him. 

Y/N was about to say something when the doorbell rang, she gets up to ask who it was when a familiar voice called out. 

“ Y/ N your favorite person in the whole wide world is here “ 

“ No I’m Y/N favorite you can ask her herself” 

“ No Y/N loves me more she makes me more food than any of you” 

“ Well Y/N be at my house almost every other day with my sister so I get to see her more than any of you” 

Y/N knew right there it was the rest of her miniature best friends. 

“ Well all you are wrong Y/N loves me more and I’m living with her” Max says with a smug look on her face as Y/N opens the door. 

On her porch stands Lucas , Dustin , Eleven, and Mike with Steve standing behind them. 

After Max’s statement chaos was issued.

“ What no way, no fair” Dustin whines in disbelief. 

“ Yea what Dustin said , How come max stays” Lucas says while looking offended. 

“ Well it’s easier for you doofus . She like me more” Max says sticking her tongue out at the boys. 

“ That means we can have all the sleepovers and waffles we want” Eleven says with a bright smile on her face. 

“ Okay now listen I love you all the same your all my favorites I can’t just choose one”. Y/N says trying to mediate the situation. 

“ What about me guys? I can be as cool as Y/N” Steve said with a cocky grin. 

The group just all stared at him. 

“ No offense Steve buddy but Y/N waaaaaaayyy more cooler than you by a landslide”. Mike says. 

Before Steve can retort, Billy comes to the door to see what’s taking so long and notices Steve and gives him an annoyed look. There’s one thing Billy is a lot of but he doesn’t put his hand on women. He may be an asshole and a bully but he’s no woman beater. 

Y/N felt the tension before Steve face gave it away.  Before a fight can escalate she steps in. 

“ Okay so I got 4 movies picked out then we can go to the bonus room and play some board games and before you even ask Dustin and Lucas yes I did make you guys favorite dessert”. Y/N says while ushering the kids inside the house. 

Before Steve can ask why Billy was there Y/N comes back out. 

“ Thanks for dropping the kids off for Hopper I’ll call him when it’s time to come get them, '' Y/N says with a kind smile. 

“ Uhh yeah no problem anytime” Steve says, stuttering, he wanted to apologize for his actions earlier but with Billy right there he’ll never get the chance. 

Y/N turns to leave when she notices Billy still staring down at Steve so she grabs him by the back of his shirt and pulls him in the house. 

The kids were all in the living room trying to decide which movie they’re gonna watch. 

“ Baby look at me” Y/N says, grabbing Billy’s face so he’s looking directly at her. 

“ baby you’ve changed for the better don’t let what today put you down you know I’m right here by your side every step of the way” Y/N says while looking him in the eye so he can see she really meant what she’s saying. 

“ I know baby it’s just I want them to know I’ve changed. I got my second chance at life and to do what is right and I couldn’t have done it with you my sweet angel by my side” Billy says lovingly to Y/N. 

The chemistry between Y/N and Billy is unmatched for the simple fact when it was him against the world Y/N was by his side and he will never take that for granted him and Y/N connection is way deeper than anybody can imagine. 

Y/N just continued to look at him with so much adoration in her eyes. 

“ Okay love birds we chose the movie we’re waiting on you guys now”. Max says with an eye roll. 

Y/N and Billy walked into the living room but not before Y/N leaned down and whispered in Max’s ear. 

“ don’t worry max I have a grand plan for Lucas”. Y/N says walking away with a small grin on her face. Leaving a blushing max in her wake. 

— 2 Hours Later —-

After the movie ended Y/N looked over at the clock and noticed it was 7:40. It looks like they only have time for one game before she has to call Hopper. 

“ So I have guys listen up, it's a little late so we have time for one more movie or game whatever you guys decide”. Y/N says while pulling out the games from the chest. 

After about 5 minutes they decided on watching another movie before they left. 

“ So Max I heard there’s this boy whose been crushing on you for a while” Y/N says teasingly. Y/N signaled for Max to play along if one thing Y/N knows about men is that they’re extremely possessive no matter what age. 

“ Yea and I like him back hopefully he asks me to the dance” Max says with a blush on her face. 

Y/N notices from the corner of her eye that Lucas is not taking what they said well which means her plan is going accordingly. 

“ if you need my help with getting him to ask you I’ll definitely do it” Y/N says eagerly. 

Before Max can let out her response Lucas stands up and takes her and says. 

“ Would you do me the honor of my date for the winter formal?” Lucas says while looking so nervous. 

 Max pretends to think about it which makes him start sweating. More than he already was. 

“ Yes doofus of course I’ll go with you” Max says with a smile. 

Y/N was happy for Max she got what she wanted but Billy on the other hand was not so ecstatic. Y/N looked over and saw Billy with a scowl on his face. 

“ what’s wrong”.Y/N asked. 

“ Don’t you think it’s to soon for them” Billy says with a pout on his face. 

“ Awwww his the big brother feeling protective” Y/N responds teasingly. 

Billy kisses his teeth at her statement. 

“ No” was Billys only response. 

“ awww baby it’s okay it just a school dance they’ll be fine” Y/N says while kissing his cheek. 

“……. Fine but I don’t like it”. Billy says to Y/N. 

Y/N laughs wholeheartedly. He was just so precious and cute when he’s worried. 

The kids looked over at them when they heard Y/N they looked at her like she was crazy but left it alone.She was alway like that with Billy.

“ Okay kids get your stuff ready I’m going to call Hopper”. Y/N says while getting up and grabbing the house phone. 

After a while Hopper picks up. 

“ Hey Hopper the kids are ready” 

“ Umm about that I’m stuck at work and I already called their parents to see if it was okay for them to stay” 

“ What did they say”

“ Well they wasn’t to keen on Billy living there but since they trust you they allowed them to stay” 

“Okay that’s great I do have extra clothes for them especially when they stayed here during the you-know-what.” 

“ That’s great do you also think you can drop them off at school or call somebody to help” 

“ No it’s okay I’ll ask my mom in the Morning to take the kids she’ll be happy to” 

“ Okay that’s great Y/N I’ll pick up Eleven after school so will the parents except Dustin he’s going with Steve” 

“ Geats I’ll let the kids and my parents know have a good night Hopper” 

“ You Y/N Bye”

“Bye” 

 Y/N hangs up and goes back to the living room to tell the kids. 

“ Okay guys put your stuff away your spending the night here and Billy and my mom will drop you off in the morning” Y/N says while getting the extra blankets and pillows out. 

“ Yesssss Y/ N you're officially the best ever”  Max says with excitement that her friends get to stay.  

“ Well I try my best but you should really thank Hopper. He's staying overtime at work,  so Max and Eleven are rooming in Max’s room , Boys you’ll be bunking with Billy”.  Y/N  says while taking them upstairs. 

“ Actually you guys can get my room. I'll bunk with Y/N just don’t touch any of my things”. Billy says while staring them down. 

“ Billy now my parents love you and all but they will literally kill us if they find us in bed together”. Y/N says wagging her finger in a no motion. 

“ We can leave the door open, I just want to spend time with you and cuddle” Billy says while wrapping his arms around her waist to bring her closer to him.

“ It stays wide open Billy im not playing with you” Y/N says while mugging him because she was not gonna die over this man even though she do love him her parents were a different story.

“ I understand baby i promise” Billy says while sealing their lips together in a nice passion lip lock.

[psychdelia]

okokok i’m personally a long haired billy stan and i would have loved to see him grow his hair out super long and curly but,,, post s3 billy with short hair. the sides are cut but on top he has a mess of unruly chopped blonde curls that are short but growing out.

when he first leaves the hospital he wears jackets and hoodies with the hood up. if he doesn’t have a hood, he wears beanies and keeps them covering his ears. whenever people ask why, he just says he’s cold. which. isn’t a lie, but more a variation of the truth. he does run cold these days, much prefers sweatshirts to half unbuttoned tops (but he does miss those during the summer.)

he’ll never admit to being insecure about his ears. he feels they’re a little big. maybe stand out too much. the worst is when they turn red when he’s blushing or cold and they draw more attention to themselves. he’s always hated them, since his mom left up until now. she would always tuck his hair behind his ears, tell him that he’s perfect with a kiss to the forehead. he hasn’t had anyone to do that for him in years.

when he woke up in the hospital to short hair, he cried. pressed his hands over his ears, hiding them and blocking out all the beeping machines and white noise around him, breath ragged as he silently sobbed into the pillow.

his hair had grown out a little by the time he was able to leave the hospital. the sides weren’t as bare and the top of his head consisted of blonde curls that weren’t long enough to style but too short to keep contained in hoods and beanies. a couple of curls usually spilled out onto his forehead. when he moved in with joyce, she took on the role of moving his hair out of his face with a gentle touch and warm smile. she’d ask, “you bringing the mullet back anytime soon, blondie?” and billy would chuckle. shrug as he responded with a “think i’m just gonna let it grow out.”

max and the other little shits liked to mess with him. they were afraid of him in the beginning, kept their distance and avoided him at all costs. he couldn’t blame them, though, as he had grown afraid of himself as well. it took lots of therapy and joyce holding him as he broke down countless times about the way his now trembling, scarred hands were used to kill against his will. however, once the party discovered he had gone soft due to a miscommunication about the walkie talkie channels and they all woke up at 2am to billy crying and quietly calling max’s name because he had a bad dream about all the shit he put her through before possession... well they just weren’t as afraid of him. they’d bug him as if he was their older brother. kept tugging at his hoodie strings, stealing chips out of his bowl, begged him to watch movies and play d&d with them. he refused to play d&d never lasted through a movie, always fell asleep halfway through to the sound of the tv and not-so-quiet whisper commentary, mostly coming from dustin.

on one cursed evening, everyone was there for movie night. piled on one couch and the floor were the party, robin, steve, and billy on the other couch, steve sitting between the two. nancy and jonathan managed to slip away but not before billy glared at jonathan since he couldn’t leave AND they were supposed to smoke tonight, earning an apologetic thin smile and shrug. as usual, he got halfway through whatever the shits were making him watch again before falling asleep. except this time his head landed on steve’s shoulder, curls spilling out of his hood and brushing his forehead and steve’s neck. he woke up when the movie ended, groggy and tired with his face buried in the crook of steve’s neck. he groaned, annoyed at dustin, mike, and lucas all talking over each other at the same speed and volume, not processing the position he was in until steve chuckled and he felt the rumble against his lips. it sent billy flying back towards the couch edge, suddenly awake as he stared at steve with wide eyes and pink cheeks.

“woah, hey,” steve looked at billy as if he were a wild animal, approaching him with gentleness and warmth. “mornin’ tiger. you fell asleep man, no biggie.”

billy swallowed the dry lump in his throat down, tense muscles finally going lax as he slumped against the couch. he glanced up only to find steve smiling and robin smirking knowingly, sipping on her coke as she stared at a frazzled billy.

the two got closer after that, steve and billy. steve always sat down closest to billy, sometimes making room for himself in a space much too small, gently shoving billy aside to plop down before pulling billy half onto his lap. one time in particular it was billy who had left his room to find no open seats available. steve just. stood up and grabbed billy’s hand, dragged him back to his original spot on the couch. billy figured steve was offering his spot up. was in the surprise of his life when steve plopped back down and grabbed billy’s hips, urging him down onto his lap. billy’s cheeks immediately reddened. sitting on steve’s lap, his back to steve’s chest, was already one thing. to be in a full room with everyone’s shocked eyes on them?

billy tried to escape. he really did. steve had other plans if the strong arm he wrapped around billys waist and the softly whispered “relax” was anything to go by. it took about ten minutes for billy to relax in steve’s arms and lean back against him. his cheeks remained red, alongside the tips of his ears hidden under a beanie. he hadn’t expected steve to grab onto his hips, gently squeeze his love handles and press his thumbs into them as he hooked his chin over billy’s shoulder. by the time he managed to sneak his hands under billys sweatshirt, skin-on-skin contact as he grabbed at his hips again, fingertips digging into the new softness, billy was a wreck. his face was on fire, his body betraying him with every hitched breath and lean back into steve’s embrace. he nearly lost his mind as steve pressed a kiss to the back of his neck, now shaved bare and exposed to the world, hidden from the room around them. billy scrambled to get up, rushing to the kitchen with a mumbled “thirsty,” eyes glued to the floor.

and of fucking course steve followed him into the kitchen. he shot him a weak glare when steve asked, “what’s wrong, baby? my lap not as comfortable as my shoulder?” while grabbing at billys hips again, urging him close. billy gave in, letting steve pull him close and rest a possessive hand on the small of his back, holding their bodies flush. “you’re an asshole.” billy huffed, shaking his head. a few stray curls fell into his face and steve’s other hand shot up, fingers twitching, hesitating before reaching over and pulling billys beanie off.

and like. billy wasn’t expecting that. he was maybe expecting a cheek cup or a finger tucking his hair back into place. but now he stood exposed, growing curls messy atop his head and the tips of his ears red, out for the world to see. he saw as steve’s eyes looked his face over, lingering on his flush and then his lips for a second too long before flicking over to his ears. he hummed softly.

“you’ve got cute ears,” steve murmured, leaning in and pressing a kiss below his lobe. “and a cute blush.” steve took his pierced lobe into his mouth, metal hoop cold against his tongue. “and an even nicer ass.” the hand on the small of billy’s back dipped lower, grabbing a handful of ass and squeezing.

billy smacked steve’s chest playfully, huffing out an “asshole” as steve cackled, pressing kisses up his neck before planting one on his lips.

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

COSMIC - S3:E3; Chapter Three, The Case Of The Missing Lifeguard - [Pt. 5]

A Will Byers x Reader Series

𝘌𝘭 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘉𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘋&𝘋. 𝘋𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦.

⚠️: Castle Byers scene. Meaning lots of angst, self destructive thinking, and misguided self punishing

📝: Started making it... had a break down [fr tho]... ¯\_( ツ)_/¯ bon appetite! 👩‍🍳 [edit: told ya 💀]

🔑: underlined and bold means they're talking in Russian

||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

Warm rain spits from the angry blanket of clouds, falling through the sky and drenching Mike and Lucas to the bone despite their rain gear. Mud splashed up onto their ankles and drenching their socks as their bikes skid up the Byers driveway. Without a thought, they throw their bikes into the ground before racing up onto Will's porch.

It had taken far longer than they cared to admit to decide to go and find Will. To make things right.

Mike was realizing far too late just how right Will was. He didn't even recognize himself anymore. El had become such an important piece of his life, but he hadnt realized until now just how much he let his feelings screw up all the wonderful things he had in his life to begin with. He missed how things used to be. With the party. With Y/n.

With Will.

All the anger he feels towards himself is channeled into his fist banging on Will's front door.

"Will!" He cries. "Will, I'm sorry, man, alright? I was being a total asshole. I've been a total asshole. Please, can you just come outside and we'll talk?"

No answer but the thundering clouds rolling over their heads. He pounds on the door again.

"Will!"

Lucas hurries to the window, cupping his palms against the glass and peering inside. He knocks on the window, doing his best to peer around the curtains and furniture obscuring his sight.

"Hey, Will! Come on, man! We're sorry!" He knocks again, growing nervous. "Will!"

||𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

'Sorry, man. Curfew,'

'For the last time, Will! No!'

-'What, so I should be locked up all day, too?'

-'Maybe!'

Huffing, I throw the wrinkling comic book into the old mattress. Nothing was working. Nothing was enough to distract me. I was too angry.

I looked down at the withered cover of the comic book I had just thrown, my chest sinking further. Dustin's X-MEN 134, he gave it to me after that night at the hospital.

Thinking about it now, I can't even remember the last time all seven of us hung out as a party. I don't count Dustin's welcome home. Mike and El couldn't be bothered to pretend to care, and Lucas and Max kept ganging up on Dustin. Dustin was understandably upset and not wanting anything to do with us, leaving just me and Y/n. And now, not even her.

How did everything get so messed up?

What was I doing wrong?

I looked around the walls of Castle Byers, a lump forming in my throat. Everywhere I looked, I was painfully reminded of the truth.

My friends don't want me anymore.

I keep telling myself that's bullshit, but the more I do the more it feels like a lie.

They're moving on without me.

Friends don't just forget you, I reasoned. They don't just abandon you.

Then why were they doing just that?

Maybe they weren't my real friends. Friend's don't do what they did.

Everything hurts. I've been telling myself I'm fine, that I'm overreacting but I don't think I am anymore. I'm just tired. I'm tried of feeling like this. I'm tired of being pushed aside, especially when I need them most.

They didn't use to be like this, I tell myself. But somehow that just hurts more.

I had people that cared about me, who were willing to risk their lives to save me. Twice.

And now they don't give me a second thought.

I was shaking now, but I don't think it's from the rain. The storm had finally reached me, seeping through the walls and dampening my clothes and hair.

Another painful realization hits me; Castle Byers looked just like it had the night I built it with Jonathan.

Even though this night was so much like the night Castle Byers was constructed, it couldn't feel more different. More unfamiliar.

My teary eyes find my first D&D manual, propped up against the wooden walls, soaked and forgotten like me. I'm painfully reminded of the night all this started.

I remember it as clear as if it were yesterday, and yet it feels light-years away.

'Something is coming. Something hungry for blood.'

《•••》

"What is it?" I ask, edging further off my seat.

This time it's Dustin who cuts in, "What if it's the Demogorgon?"

Oh, great, I think, throwing myself back in my seat with an anxious huff. We're not ready to face a Demogorgon!

Beside me, Y/n draws in an equally anxious breath.

"Oh, Jesus, we're so screwed if it's the Demogorgon." Dustin rambles on.

"It's not the Demogorgon." Lucas says, assuring us all.

《•••》

My eyes trail to one of my favorite drawings; Will The Wise and Y/C/N. The one I had made when Y/n was first constructing her character. The one that hung in my room for so long, always cheering me up. The one that gave my mom the idea to help me communicate my now memories.

The one that Y/n always threatened to steal for her room as often and as recently as her last visit. The memory of her warm touch lingering on my cheeks burned as bright as the blush raging over me that night so long ago.

'Wait a minute... Did you guys hear that?'

《•••》

The anticipated silence in the basement left by Mike grew louder as he leaned in.

"Boom..." His voice grows louder. "Boom," Louder.

"BOOM!" Mike bellows, slamming his hands against the flat surface, rattling the table and all its contents.

The sudden noise was enough to make me and my friends jump, as was the sudden hand grabbing for my own.

All the more startled, I look down to see Y/n's hand grasping my arm like a lifeline. I feel my skin flush, my cheeks surely reddened as I catch her eye. She looked flustered, smiling a small smile before retracting her hand and returning to the game, unknowingly leaving me in a dizzying blush.

•••

"Will, your action!"

"Fireball!" I cry, throwing the dice to the board with a satisfying rattle.

"FOURTEEN!"

My friends erupt into cheers, all around me as we celebrate together.

"BOOM!"

"Direct hit!" Mike cries, beaming proudly at me across the table. "Will the Wise's fireball hits the Thessalhydra!"

Our excited shouts fill the basement, each and every one of us victorious. My smile can't get any wider when I feel Y/n's hands grip my shoulder and begin shaking me excitedly. We both laugh, feeling on top of the world with our cheering friends by our side.

《•••》

Pained, I look away only to find the proof right in front of my eyes. My three favorite pictures; all of them, my friends and me — happy — staring back up at me.

Our photo from the science fair, encased in the popsicle frame Mike had made bearing all of our characters' names along the side. I brought it here, I brought all my favorite pictures here, to Castle Byers — to my safe place — cause that's where I knew I would need their comfort the most.

But as I look at them now, all I feel is bitterness and pain. I'm reminded of just how much everything has changed.

The science fair was a reminder of the good thing I had before that night. Before everything started.

Y/n and me, at the Snow Ball. My arm wrapped around her, the two of us grinning nervously. It wasn't just the night Y/n and I had first kissed, it was also the first night I felt like the Party had gotten bigger. All of us, Max and El included had been happy. Everyone was laughing and getting along, the happiest we had ever been — the strongest. But now I see it was really the beginning of the end.

It had been coming for so long and I didn't even see it.

And Halloween. Last Halloween, everything had been perfect. For just one. Single. Stupid. Moment.

Shakily, I pick up the photo Jonathan had taken of all of us in our costumes. We were all smiling.

We were all happy.

'Who you gonna call?'

《•••》

I beam as I see my friends pulling up, looking just as excited as I felt.

"Ghostbusters!" I finish, watching as they look me over, happily surprised.

"Hey, Spengler!"

"Egon! Looking sharp!" Y/n grinned, pulling me into a quick hug.

"Janine!" I beam. "Venkman!"

《•••》

As I look at it now, my eyes and throat stinging as Mike's voice echoes louder than ever in my mind.

'I mean, what did you think, really?'

What was I thinking?

'That we were just gonna sit in my basement all day, playing games for the rest of our lives?'

How could I have been so naive?

'it's not my fault you can't move on!'

How could I have been so... so...

"Stupid." I tell myself, my voice splitting in my throat. "So stupid!"

My hands trembling violently with rage and my own sobs, I tear the photo in two.

I was stupid. Stupid to believe I was as big of a priority to them as they were to me.

I rip the drawing off the walls, tearing it to pieces.

Stupid to ever think they'd still cared about me.

I rip and tear and crumple up every meaningful piece of them in an act of defiance.

They won't care. I think bitterly. They won't miss these, they probably won't even notice. Not like I would have.

I grab my bat.

How could I be so fucking stupid?!

Why was I hanging on to all this stuff anyway? Why was I clinging so tightly to something that was already gone?

Because I've been stupid. I'm just some stupid kid that won't grow up.

I storm out of the tent.

I'm just some stupid kid who can't grow up. They made that perfectly clear.

I stand in the pouring rain now, heart thundering in my chest as I stare at the piece of my childhood I couldn't let go of.

So. Stupid.

And I start swinging.

I swing and I swing, with an anger and frustration I've never felt so intensely until now. It's been building my whole life and I didn't realize it. Every swing is simultaneously the best and the worst I've ever felt. Every slur I've heard from my dad, from Troy, is channeled into the bat. Every ounce of frustration and fear I felt since I came back from the Upside Down that nobody understood. Every laugh, every jeer, every single moment I've felt alone is channeled into the destruction of the one place on this earth I ever felt safe.

But it holds up and in the back of my mind, I hear Jonathan again.

'And it took so long cause you were so bad at hammering'

And I start kicking, and I start ripping the walls apart until it's a crumpled heap and I stop.

The sight of Castle Byers in ruins breaks me even harder.

I didn't want it gone, but I did it anyway. That part of me that was angry at myself, told me to keep going. Cause that's what I deserved for believing things could stay the same even though deep down I knew that wasn't true.

I finally stop when I see the castle in ruins.

Exhausted, I collapse to the ground beside the wreckage.

As I sob, stewing in the pain and overwhelming grief I felt I was drowning in, the rain pours heavily over me, soaking me to the bone.

Just as it had the night it had been built.

And now, Castle Byers was gone.

||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

When blue meets yellow in the west.

8:41 pm. It was almost time.

The yellow and blue clock hands were illuminated by a flash of lightning, streaking through the mall's skylight. Starcourt had long since closed, and the real activity was just beginning.

Stationed at the loading docks near the back, standing under the worst storm Hawkins had seen in years were two guards. They watched through the downpour as the scheduled truck backed its way under the concrete cover.

And perched on the roof, just out of sight sat Dustin, Steve, and Robin, scouting from under their rain slickers.

"Look for Imperial Panda and Kauffman Shoes," she reminds them.

Steve wipes away at the rain dripping into his eyes, squinting even further to get a clear picture Dustin already has.

A man in a bright yellow raincoat emerges from a hidden side door, a trolley cart full of packages marked with a familiar insignia.

"They're with that whistling guy!" Dustin says suddenly, motioning out from behind the only pair of binoculars.

"What do you think's in there?" Steve wonders, eyeing the Lynx logo on the back of their many yellow jackets.

"Guns? Bombs?"

"Chemical weapons?" Robin tries.

"Whatever it is," Dustin says, now cautiously studying the heavily armed guards. He had to admit to himself, they really weren't trying very hard not to be obvious. "they're armed to the teeth."

"Great," comes Steve's sarcastic voice, once again rubbing at his eyes, silently wishing he had brought a coat with a hood. "That's great."

A soft clink that would have been obnoxiously loud had it not been for the noise of the storm brings their attention to another guard. Having pressed a glowing button on a small control panel, two large metal doors swung open to reveal another room.

"Hey!" Robin says, squinting through the rain as she tries to get a glimpse without the binoculars. "What's in there?"

"It's just more boxes,"

"Let me check it out," Steve says, grabbing for the binoculars.

Huffing, Dustin fought to keep his grip on the binoculars. "No, I'm still looking!"

"Lemme see it!"

"Hang on!"

Steve's grip had loosened with the slick of rain, sending the binoculars knocking into the cement. The issue had already been forgotten when they saw the guards' attention had been stolen. Simultaneously, the three of them dove to the ground in a panic.

The guards began to pace, grip on their firearms tightening as they gaze out into the night. Seeing nothing but empty roofs and angry skies above them, they unknowingly miss the trio huddled against the roof wall.

Just out of sight to the right of Dustin, Steve and Robin sat panting as they try to calm their racing hearts. Way too close a call. And neither of them had realized what they had done until their eyes landed on their entertained hands. Just as quickly as they notice, they break apart, embarrassed.

Down below, the guards were now on high alert. One of them, unable to shake the feeling of being watched, stalked into the rain with his eyes deadset on an open spot on the roof. He was certain he heard the noise come from that direction.

"Stay here!" He orders to the other. "Watch the door!"

Reluctantly, his partner complies and inches back towards the doors.

When he finally reaches the top of the stairwell, he hesitates only a moment before he throws the roof door open, gun cocked.

But he was met only with steady claps of thunder and an empty roof.

Had he been wrong?

Or had he just missed whoever had been here?

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Clothes drenched, their shoes sloshing underneath their feet like sponges, Steve, Robin, and Dustin slip out from the shadows and make their way throughout the back halls behind the scenes of Starcourt.

"Well, I think we sound your Russians," Robin quips.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

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"The Black Trans Travel Fund is a grassroots, Black Trans led Collective, providing Black Transgender Women with financial and material resources needed to remove barriers to self-determining and accessing safer travel options"

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· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

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[fleshbarbie]

Same, but different.

Summary: Billy and Reader don’t particularly like each other, Billy thinks you’re a snob with a perfect life, you think Billy is an asshole with anger issues. That’s until the party starts to hang out more at your house, meaning Billy is there more often than not (because of Max) and thats when you both find out you’re more alike than you think.

-

“Can you guys keep it down?” You called out to the group, barely being heard over the sounds of the kids arguing and the obnoxious banging on the door. 

The only response you received in return was an apologetic smile from Will who seemed to be the only person who had heard you. You shook your head, unable to fight off the amused smile as the rest of the party continued to fight over who was currently winning whatever game they had decided to play for the night. Knowing they weren’t going to shut up until they came to a mutual agreement, you moved on and continued your journey to the front door, where whoever stood on the other side knocked again.

Gripping onto the cold handle, you opened the door with little effort, almost rolling your eyes at who you were now face to face with. Billy Hargrove.

You despised the teen for many reasons, the main one being that nobody stopped talking about him and it only seemed to boost his already over-the-top ego. Wherever you went, you either heard his name or saw his face and it didn’t take long for it to irritate you. It had only gotten worse once the party started spending most of their free time in your living room. The bunch had recently developed a friendship with your younger sister Alice, they shared the same interests and enjoyed her sass and quick wit (which you always argued she got from you).

But that meant that Max Mayfield, Billy’s step-sister was always over at your house - most times you found out she was over without anyone in her household knowing. You always scolded her for it when you found out, telling her that they need to know where she is at all times because, what if there was an emergency? But she didn’t seem fussed, only rolled her eyes and promised that she’d tell them from now on but she never did so you gave up with your lectures. 

“Is the little shit here again?”

Billy didn’t bother with a hello, getting straight to the point but you didn’t care. You wanted to get him away from your house as quickly as possible.

“If you mean Max then yes. But I’m only willing to go and get her for you, if you ask me nicely.” You crossed your arms over your chest, raising a brow as you awaited his next response. 

He shot you a dirty look, taking a cigarette out of the box he had been holding since you opened the door.

“I don’t have time to play your games (Y/L/N). Just go get her, tell her she should’ve been home an hour ago.” He grumbled, lighting the cigarette that now hung from his lips.

You didn’t move, not an inch. You stood in the same place and stared back at Billy. It only took him a second to realise you weren’t doing what he had told you to do and your stubbornness annoyed him more than he already was when he first arrived.

“Jesus Christ, can you go get her please?”

You smiled at your achievement, it wasn’t something many people could do: get Billy Hargrove to use his manners. You nodded your head, holding up two fingers to signal you’d only be two seconds. He didn’t say anything back, only puffed at the poison stick blowing the fumes into your house.

Half jogging into the living room, your eyes focused on the kids who had stopped arguing over who was winning - only now they were arguing over who was in last place. Sometimes it amazed you how they managed to remain friends.

“Um... Max? Billy’s here. Said something about you being an hour late.” You interrupted their heated debate, they all fell silent at the mention of Billy.

Max threw her cards down on the table, sighing at the thought of leaving her friends and having to put up with Billy for the next half an hour as he drove her home. She said bye to the others, to which they all responded to with their own ‘Goodbyes’ and ‘See you laters’. You smiled at the redhead when she approached you, which she gladly returned. You hadn’t known her for long, maybe two months at the most? But she had quickly become like another little sister to you. She always came to you when things were bothering her. You let her rant and gave her any advice you could manage and she adored you for it.

You led her to the front door which was still open, and you leaned against the doorframe whilst you patiently waited for her to put on her shoes which she had kicked off as soon as she got to your house over three hours ago now. 

“Are you coming by again tomorrow?” You asked her.

“No.”

“Yes.”

Both Billy and Max answered at the same time, you looked between the two wanting to laugh at the fact they both wore the same annoyed expression on their faces.

“You think I’m gonna let you out again after the shit you pulled tonight? Do you think I enjoy coming all the way out here for you Maxine? At this time? You’re a pain in my ass.” 

Billy finished his small rant by throwing down his cigarette, squishing it into the concrete with the heel of his boot. Max didn’t respond, only pushed past the two of you with an empty look which tugged at your heartstrings. 

“Hey, don’t be a dick to her Hargrove. She’s just a kid, they always lose track of time when they’re with their friends. I’m guessing you don’t know what that’s like considering you’ve never had any?” You fired, sending him the meanest glare you could manage.

He chuckled at the insult at first, taking a quick glance into your house. “You’re the one with a house full of kids (Y/N). Don’t have any friend’s your own age?” 

With that, he winked at you and strutted away over to his infamous blue Camaro, probably thinking he was amazing for the comeback he had thrown at you. You didn’t bother to waste your energy saying anything back, you knew he’d only enjoy the fact he’d gotten under your skin. Instead you slammed the front door shut, mumbling about how much you hated the mullet haired bastard under your breath. 

-

It was now just past 10:00pm and you had waved goodbye to the last member of the party, Mike’s Dad had disappeared down the street after spluttering a wide range of apologies at you for being late. Something about how he thought Karen was coming to collect him, but when he’d gotten home after a late night shift he realised she hadn’t bothered. Maybe if she knew Billy came over for Max every now and again she’d be more than eager to come get her son. 

With an exhausted sigh, you returned to your living room for what felt like the 50th time tonight.

“Come on Alice, you need to get ready for bed now.” You told your sister, her back was towards you as she continued to clean up after her friends.

You joined her on the floor, picking up the cards that Dustin had launched across the room in anger after Lucas had accused him of cheating for the third time. 

“Is Mom gonna be home tonight?” 

Her voice was quiet, you almost thought you had imagined it until you glanced over to her, only to see her already looking back at you. 

You could only shrug, looking back down at your hands, trying to distract yourself by putting the cards into a neat pile.

“I don’t know. I don’t think so, I’m sure she would’ve stumbled in by now.”

You kept your tone light and easy, not wanting to upset Alice.

She sighed but nodded. “You’re probably right.”

Putting the cards back into the box, you opened your arms gesturing Alice to come in for a hug. She didn’t waste any time and launched herself into your comforting embrace. You rubbed her back, pressing a gentle kiss to her head at one point.

“Don’t worry about it too much bug, she’ll probably make an appearance tomorrow like she always does. You know what she’s like.” You paused letting her soak up your words before you spoke again, “Go get into bed, I’ll finish up cleaning. Can’t have you being grumpy at school tomorrow, you’re already on thin ice.”

“That wasn’t even my fault! Miss Richardson is just overdramatic!” She exclaimed, pulling back from your embrace.

You laughed at her reaction, now standing up and helping her do the same. “Oh I’m sure she is, but still.. you need to make sure you don’t get into any more trouble. Can’t have people calling around here.”

You knew at her young age she wouldn’t understand how serious it would be if a teacher came over to speak to your Mom, only to find out she’s not at home and that, honestly, she’s hardly ever here. But she wasn’t stupid either. She knew it wasn’t a good thing that you were practically raising her yourself at this point, and that if people found out changes would be made. Changes that neither of you would enjoy.

So with a sigh, she nodded. “I’ll try.”

—

The next day you made your way to your locker, pushing past a few people who seemed to be walking as slow as they could just to annoy you. You eventually arrived at the same dull coloured locker you looked at almost every single day, and began exchanging the books you no longer needed for the ones you did need. Concentrating on the books, a loud thud beside you made you jump, your hand pressing against your chest in shock.

Looking to your side, you frowned at the sight of Billy leaning against the locker next to yours with a smug grin.

“Should be paying more attention to your surroundings, sweetheart. I could’ve been here to attack you.” He tutted, shaking his head.

“What do you want Hargrove?” You asked, now closing your own locker to focus all your attention on him.

He slipped his hand into his denim jacket, pulling out a slip of paper and holding it out to you. You stared down at it in confusion, focusing on the messy handwriting that was scrawled across it.

“Why are you giving me your number?”

He stood up straighter looking a tad bit annoyed at the fact you hadn’t taken it from him yet, so instead he just shoved it in your pocket, keeping his hand inside whilst he explained so you couldn’t take it out.

“It’s for when Max decides she wants to sneak over again. I need you to call me when she does, so I’m not looking like an idiot searching all over Hawkins for the little brat.” He told you, which was half true.

He hated driving around from house to house trying to figure out which friend she had decided to sneak off with, but he also hated the verbal and sometimes physical abuse he received from his Dad whenever Neil figured out Max wasn’t in her room, or anywhere else in the house - though of course he’d never tell you that part.

“Fine.” You agreed, “I’ll let you know, but don’t come storming over in one of your moods when you have to come get her.”

“Fine.”

After that was said, both of you fell silent not really knowing what else to say. He removed his hand from your pocket, but remained pressed up against the locker beside you. You zipped up your bag, placing the strap back over your shoulder and made a move to get to class, but a grip on your arm prevented you. You planned on tugging yourself away, and giving Billy a harsh glare with a few not so friendly words. But then you realised the grip was gentle and all of a sudden everything you had planned vanished from your mind and instead your were looking back at the taller boy waiting to see what he wanted.

“Are you okay? You look exhausted.”

Now this stunned you. His voice, which always held a hint of annoyance or amusement had been stripped of both and instead he sounded both genuine and concerned. He had never been this way towards you, the pair of you were always throwing insults to one and other, it was weird but the fact that you didn’t mind it made the situation even more bizarre. Recovering from the initial shock, you nodded in response.

“I’m okay. I just had to stay up a little later last night, the kids left me a mess to clean up but I don’t mind.” You told him, which was half true.

The party had left your living room and even a little bit of your kitchen a mess: things had been thrown, drinks had been spilt and half eaten food had been left behind. It took you just over an hour to get it all spotless and back to normal. But you also had a younger sister to look after, and exams to study for, and a part time job that you got in order to help with looking after your sister. All of it left you with not that many hours to sleep and so you attended school with five hours of sleep if you were lucky - though of course you’d never tell him that part.

He didn’t seem to buy it though, staring at you for a few seconds longer before finally nodding, accepting the fact you wouldn’t be telling him anything else. Not that he blamed you. You weren’t exactly best friends. He released the hold he hand on your arm and you didn’t spare him another glance, instead you just sped down the still semi-busy corridor not wanting to be late to class.

Billy watched you, he was intrigued. And he made a promise to himself to find out what you were hiding.

-

hi! this is my first time writing on tumblr, i usually post my stuff on wattpad but recently i’ve been obsessed with this app and i’ve been reading almost everything steve + billy related. this mini series is something i’ve been wanting to write for awhile now and i’m finally getting it done! i hope you enjoy it, sorry if there’s any mistakes i missed!

[kendallroydefender]

New beginnings (Billy Hargrove x reader)

A/n: this is set after season 3. I do not agree with some of his actions in the previous seasons but they shouldn’t have killed him off (maybe they didn’t who knows)

He was save. You actually did it. Only a week ago you had gotten the codes through the phone, finding out Billy had not only survived but was now trapped in the upside down was a big surprise for all of you. You had told your friends Steve, Nancy and Robin as soon as you discovered the messages he’d been sending and with the help of Max, Dustin, Lucas and Mike you found a way to get him out of there. El and Will didn’t knew about these events since they moved, although Nancy told Jonathan about it. Now you sat in the back of Steve’s car next to Billy with Robin in the passenger seat, Nancy drove the Kids home before meeting you again at the cabin Hopper used to life in (wich was a whole different story but Murray tried his best to get his contacts to get Hopper back from Russia). The ride was almost silent nobody knowing what to say. You looked at Billy who stared out of the window in his thoughts, he seemed so small and lost. His eyes catched yours and you offered him a small smile, the ghost of a smile appeared on his lips too. As soon as you arrived at the cabin you brought him to Hoppers old room telling him to take a shower and change into some of Steve’s clothes. Nancy came back soon with some Pizza for you to eat, y’all decided to stay at the cabin together for a few days to figure things out. It was new seeing him so silently, almost shy. You only knew Billy from seeing him at school and then from what happened with him and the mind flayer. The evening went on almost as quiet only a little bit of chatting in the group since you wanted to let him talk to you about what he had encountered whenever he was ready. When it was time to sleep you laid down on the couch with Robin, Nancy slept on the retainer and Steve on Elevens old bed with the door open. Everybody seemed to fall asleep pretty fast but you couldn’t sleep. At some point you sat up and saw on your wrist watch that it was 2 pm, you let out a small huff before getting up to get a glass of water, as you passed the other bedroom you saw that light was shimmering under the door and you knocked softly before peaking your head in. Billy layed on the bed lifting his head and looking at you "Come in.“ he said and you did as he said, closing the door behind you. He shuffled making space for you on the bed. "Can’t sleep either?“ he asked and you nodded "Guess you neither?“ you asked before adding "Sorry of course you haven’t. Who would after... it all..“

"Haven’t had a good night of sleep in some time.“ he said quietly "It was like being trapped in an nightmare, it- I-" You saw tears glimmer in his eyes "Hey it’s okay.“ he looked at you and your heart broke, he looked absolutely lost and broken, you didn’t knew what happened but suddenly your arms went around him and pulled him close, his arms held you tight as he silently cried into the crook of your neck. With your left hand you softly played with his hair. After minutes he sat back up again "sorry.“ he mumbled and you reached to take his hand in yours "You don’t need to apologize.“ he shook his head "No sorry for everything you had to go through to help me and for being such an asshole back then.“ "Yeah you kinda were a dick but you saved us too remember? If you hadn’t sacrificed yourself in the mall last summer it would have been way worse.“ you said and gave his hand a squeeze "Thank you..“ he cleared his throat before asking "Was it you?“ You didn’t knew what he meant "Huh?“ "Was it you who got my messages?“ it clicked with you "Yes.“ "Thank you.“ he smiled at you again and you felt a blush rise to your cheeks "You don’t need to thank me Billy.“ you said "But I want to. I was a douche but I want to change and you could have just ignored the messages.“ you shook your head "And leave you in the upside down? No we all know that it’s an nightmare, no one deserves that." He smiled "Not even the ex keg king Hargrove?“ he asked and you chuckled "Not even him.“ You two just smiled at each other for a moment, hands still interwined. You ended up talking to him for another hour or so before you fell asleep on his bed. Billy looked over at your sleeping form, you looked peaceful wich calmed him down a lot. He felt safe with your hand in his, a feeling he hadn’t felt in what seemed like forever. He fell asleep shortly after you.

You woke up from the sun shining through the window. Opening your eyes you saw that you were curled into Billy, who rested next to you, legs entangled and his arms around you. And you couldn’t help but smile, he stirred in his sleep before his eyes fluttered open slowly. "Sorry.“ he said again beginning to release you but you stopped him with laying your hand on his upper arm. "No more apologies.“ you smiled at him. Someone knocked on the door and before Nancy‘s head appeared you

and Billy made some space between you. "Hey we made something to eat if you want to.“ she said and you nodded and got up after she left again "Ready?“ you asked and Billy nodded following after you. You all ate and you felt that Billy was more at ease today. "Soo the kids are coming over today again.. if that’s... alright?“ Steve asked, he was still a little unsure of the whole situation and how to act, a year ago Billy and him would fight everytime they saw each other and now they were eating eggs together. Billy looked up for a second before he nodded, he then looked at you before reaching out for your hand under the table "I- uhm thank you all. For what you did.“ it was quiet for a moment THE Billy Hargrove was saying thank you and it seemed honest. "Well we did more dangerous things.“ Robin said jokingly remembering her and Steve’s encounter with the Russians last summer.

The day went by, the kids came over and Billy and Max had some time alone to talk, they seemed closer, Billy was really trying to be better. You slept on the couch when you heard someone scream, sitting up you saw that Nancy was also awake. She pointed towards the door of Hppers room "I got it.“ you said and hurried towards the door. Inside it was dark, Billy was still asleep but he tossed and turned, letting out small whimpers. Your heart sank and you sat down at the edge of the bed "Hey, hey Billy. It’s okay.“ his eyes opened and he looked at you with panic in his eyes for a few seconds before he recognized you and memories of the last few days rushed back to his mind. He wrapped his arms around your middle and you put your chin on top of his head "I‘m here, you’re safe.“ you said softly while stroking his hair once again. You laid back down pulling him with you, you drew circles onto his shoulder while he slowly drifted back to sleep. After that night you slept in his room every night. The others catched on the way your behavior towards him had changed, always encouraging him or squeezing his hand assuringly. His demeanor also changed a lot, he lost most of his old ways (a little bit of the cockiness was still there, we’re talking about Billy Hargrove here) and his new weariness slowly faded in these days. Nancy soon had to return to college and Steve, Robin and you took turns working at home video with the two taking more shifts so you was mostly at the cabin with Billy, wich not only made you happy but also made Steve glad not to have to stay alone with his ex enemy. It was almost winter but you sat outside of the cabin with Billy a cup of tea in your hands and a blanket around your shoulders. The close proximity now something normal to you, but it still made your heart flutter none the less. "How long will we stay here?“ he asked, shrugging you answered him "I don’t know, we haven’t thought that far.“ a small chuckle left his lips "We wanted to get you here safe first and then figure something out.“ you laid your head on his shoulder "I can’t go back to my family“ he cleared his throat before mumbling "My dad would probably kill me. He thought I ran away, max said.“ "You don’t have to, we will find something.“ You told him "You will be fine, it’ll take some time probably but everything will be okay.“ you added, you felt his arm wrap around your shoulders pulling you closer "I know I will. As long as you’re there with me.“ he said softly. You looked up at him, a smile on both of your faces, suddenly you were overly aware of how close your faces were. You could feel his breath on your face and you saw his eyes wandering to your lips before he came closer, his lips ghosted yours as he stopped and waited for your permission, you cupped his cheek and closed the gap. You inhaled sharply and your heart did Saltos in your chest. You broke away when you needed air but he rested his forehead on yours, still holding you close. You laid your hand on top of his and said "I will be there. Whatever is going to happen you will have me.“ and he smiled pecking your lips once more.

[hargrove-mayfields]

Day five of Horror on Cherry Lane Challenge! Today’s prompt was monsters!

Little brat’s been in the school ten minutes after the bell.

After they both broke curfew, Max staying out late trick-or-treating and going to one of her little friends’ house to trade candy, and Billy crashing at the lingering party until he was sober enough to come home and not get his ass kicked, they were supposed to be straight home today. Used up all their free time for the week apparently.

Max knew that this morning, he already told her to forget about the damn AV club. If he had to cancel on whatever chick he was going to take out (was it Carol? No, Carol is Tommy’s girl. Fuck he doesn’t know anybody yet) Max had to give her shit up to.

He gets bored of waiting for the little twerp and tosses his cigarette to the ground, marching in there his damn self.

Only time he’s ever been in this building was to pick Max up from AV. His dad made him come all the way inside and give his assessment on the teacher. Asked (slapped him and demanded it) that he do so to check on Max. Just to be sure. Like he cares.

But it works out anyways that he knows the way now that Max has decided to disappear and it’s up to him to track her down. Only problem is he gets there, and the room is empty. Not even just that Max isn’t in there, there’s no damn kids or teacher or nothing. Just a knocked over lamp and some shit on the floor.

He ain’t trying to hunt her down, but he has to get her back home in like, the next half-hour, and she’s somewhere she ain’t supposed to be. The school isn’t very big, half the damn building is closed off for the school board to use, so there isn’t much ground to cover.

He’s not trying to get himself arrested either, so he makes quick work of the school, checking all the places Max might be. Still, he comes up empty, and he’s about to just give up and let whoever she was with keep her when he sees something scurrying across the floor out of the corner of his eye.

It’s not really any of his business whether or not the middle school is infested, but it catches his eye for the wrong reasons.

It’s a gnarly little thing, a cross between a frog and rat or some shit, but Billy’d recognize that thing anywhere. It’s a fucking monster, crawling around the halls of his sisters school.

Purely on instinct, he tracks the thing to where it cornered itself, taking advantage of the fact that it’s still small and growing into its demon teeth to stomp on the gross monster. He stops once he’s positive it’s dead and not just faking him out like they do sometimes, he’s not gross or something, but he nearly jumps out of his skin when behind him, Max shouts, “Billy!”

He turns, ignoring the pile of goop that was one of those things to face his, apparently, from the flush on her cheeks and the bitterness in her tone, “Jesus, shitbird. What is wrong with you?”

He’s hardly even got the question out before Max snaps at him, “Why would you kill it!”

“Do you even know what that thing is?” Billy raises eyebrows, no patience for Max telling him what to do, but she counters with something that surprises him, “It was Dustins, he discovered it, you jerk!”

“Yeah, no. These things’ve been around longer’n any of us have been alive. And I don't care who found it first. They’re fucking monsters.”

“How do you even know what he was? You killed him.”

“It. Not him. Don’t humanize them.” Billy hisses, warning Max, “And anyways, I seen some shit kid. Don’t ask. And don’t play around with anymore of these little fuckers. Give ‘im a day or two ‘n he’ll be the size of a gray wolf. Another month or so and he’s seven feet tall.”

“But what is he?” Max demands stubbornly.

Billy answers simply, “Something you don’t want anything to do with.”

By now, the rest of Max’s friends have followed the sound of her yelling to their little showdown, and it’s Dustin, the owner of this thing, that chimes in, “But wait, does that mean you know?”

“Know what?” Max huffs, but she gets ignored, Billy firing back at Dustin, “Do you?”

All four of the kids nod at once. Billy sighs deeply, “Jesus, how the fuck did a bunch of little kids get caught up in this bullshit?”

“How did you?” These kids aren’t very original coming back at him with his own questions like this.

Again Max interjects, being left out of the questioning just making her more confused. “Excuse me, but what exactly are we talking about?”

But again nobody acknowledges her, Billy busy answering the boys’ questions.

“Had a friend came from that lab. You know about that part too?” He clarifies, getting three attentive nods, and this time one disapproving scowl, as he explains, “Well the monsters followed ‘im. Through their portals and his head and shit, they were out in California too. That’s how I know I was right to kill that thing.”

There’s a moment of stunned silence before Mike insists, “I don’t believe you.”

“I don’t know, man. How else would he know about everything?” Lucas shrugs, exciting Dustin and promoting him to ask, “Do you think he knows about Eleven too?”

“I’m still here too you guys. What is going on?” Max interrupts, serving only as a reminder, Lucas turning the conversation back to Billy as he asks, “Why haven’t you told Max?”

Billy smugly tries their little deflecting shtick on them, “Could ask you the same. Why are you showing her the monsters if you ain’t gonna tell her jack about ‘em either? I was keeping her safe. You assholes were keeping her stupid.”

Max interjects, “Hey!”

“No, that’s not fair. We had to sign an NDA.” Dustin corrects, very matter of fact for a kid who doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

“Yeah, me too kid. It wasn’t any secret that number six escaped. I’ve had those assholes watchin’ over my shoulder for years and I didn’t even do anythin’.” Billy feels like he’s having a trauma competition with a bunch of middle schoolers, and he hates it. His tone is harsh as he demands, “Which brings us into, what the hell did you do to get caught up in all this?”

“None of your business.” Mike spits, but for the first time in the conversation, Will chimes in, “I got taken. By the demogorgon.”

“Okay. What’s that got to do with this, kid?”

“The demogorgon is what we called the big one. Before El killed it.” Lucas explains.

“Look, I don’t know who El is, but believe me when I tell you, you brats don’t know nothing. There ain’t just one of those, you know. Every last one of those annoying little fuckers like the one I just squished’ll turned into a ‘big one’.” They all look collectively defeated by that, maybe because he knows more than they do, or maybe just because they didn’t want to admit it was that bad.

But none look more ghastly than Will, who barely manages to inform them, “That’s bad. Last night, I heard them while we were trick-or-treating. They were everywhere.”

“Then we’re gonna have to do something.” Dustin declares determinedly, but Billy shuts it down right away, “No. Seriously, what the hell? All you sorry little punks are going right the fuck back home and pretending none of this never happened. If you don’t provoke ‘em, they’ll stop.”

“But they weren’t provoked when they took Will.” One of then argues, but Billys ignoring them now, turning back to a no less calm Max, “I don’t care. I ain’t doing this shit all over again. Come on, Maxine. Gotta leave your little friends to their baby ‘demogorgon’ and their world saving bullshit.”

Max scrunches her face up and argues, “Um, did you forget that I still have no idea what the hell is going on?!”

“Honestly, yeah.” Billy admits, “But s’better if you don’t ask questions. Now if you please, we gotta go.”

“No. You’re being a jerk.” Max crosses her arms and glares at him, a clear sign shes refusing to leave with him.

Billy just shrugs, “M’always a jerk. Thought you’d know that by now.”

“I do. And that’s exactly why I’m not listening to you. If my friends are going to do something, I want in on it.”

“Look what you little fuckers did.” Billy grumbles at the boys before trying to reason with his sister again, “Max. We only got fifteen minutes out of an almost half hour drive to get home. Come on.”

“This is so much bigger than that! I don’t care what your stupid dad says, I want to do something!” Her attitude gets on Billy’s nerves. That’s definitely deliberate if the spite gleaming in her cold eyes is any indication.

“You don’t even know what it is!”

“Then I deserve to find out!”

Billy sighs deeply, done doing this with a bunch of little kids in over their heads, “You know what, fine, but we’re stoppin’ at a payphone and you’re gonna be the one to tell my old man I’m takin’ you out for.. I don’t know, fucking ice cream or some shit. And if we get in trouble, I’m blaming you. Deal?”

Max smiles to herself at having gotten one over on him, “Deal. Where are we going though?”

“I dunno. Ask your nerds. S’their big fucking idea.” Billy grumbles, matching Max’s bitterness.

“We’ll have to call a meeting.”

“Will my basement work?”

“No offense, but I don’t think he’s getting past your mom.” Dustin nods towards Billy, the older boy rolling his eyes even though he’s not wrong, then offers, “My mom doesn’t like visitors. Maybe Will’s?”

“Yeah, Mrs. Byers will let anybody come over.”

“And she already knows what’s going on.”

They all nod again, and Billy rolls his eyes at them again while Lucas relays their decision to Max, “Alright, meet us at Will’s in an hour.”

“Why that long though? We’re all here right now.”

“Gives us time to cover our tracks, shitbird.” Billy hums in response to Max, stepping forward and asking, “What’s the damn address?”

This ‘meeting’ the twerps called was pretty much everyone in this hick town that knows the same dirty little secret as he does getting together in a tiny house and panicking. Billy and Max get fully interrogated like, a dozen times, once by the damned chief of police himself, all the while everyone is coming up with theories and plots and arguing. So much fucking arguing among this lot.

It gets to be too much pretty quickly, day five in this place and he’s already having to jump back into some of the worst things that ever happened to him. None of these people realize how big this is. Especially not the kids who just think it’s badass to fight monsters.

He leaves without telling anyone, or without anyone noticing among the chaos, to the back porch to light one up. There’re ashtrays all over the house he could use, but looming smoke in that cramped little kitchen wasn’t going to be any better than watching it curl upwards to the stars. So outside it was.

He leans against the wall, gaze fixing straight to what’s above him. He doesn’t notice the presence of another person until he hears them speak, startling slightly at the sound of a voice breaking the calm silence of a humid November night.

It’s Steve, sitting on a rusty and banged up glider at the opposite end on the porch, lit up just like he is. “So, uh. I guess you’re a part of this now?”

“I guess I am.”

Steve just nods and responds simply, effectively ending the conversation, “Right.”

But that’s not satisfying to Billy. He might appreciate peace more than what’s going on in that house, but he doesn’t like empty silence either. “What’re we all awkward like this for, Harrington? Spit out what you’re thinkin’.”

“I dunno, man.”

Billy frowns, prompting, “Come on. I know them gears are turnin’ over there. You've been quiet since we all got here.”

Steve looks away from him, but he does answer, “I dunno it’s just.. We’ve lost so much. People died because of this. People I knew. And I don’t like that anyone else is involved I guess.”

Billy scoffs, “Even me? You don’t even know me other than the asshole you met at the party last night.”

“So? What do you mean even you? I don’t want anyone anywhere near those fucking monsters. Could be my worst enemy and I’d still save them. I’d protect anyone from those things.” The haunted look behind his eyes, which seem so tired the longer Billy looks, tells Billy everything he needs to know.

He doesn’t mean to sound so soft when he asks, “What makes you so confident you can? Save ‘em I mean.”

“I fought a demogorgon myself. Well, not really by myself. Nancy and Jonathan were there. But I took a nail bat to its fucking face. Like hell I’d just let one of those things get anyone. Even you.” Steve

Billy flicks away his burnt out cigarette, sitting next to Steve on the old glider. “That’s real touching H, but I ain’t letting nobody sacrifice themselves for me. Need I remind you I’ve fought these assholes too.”

“But you told the kids you didn’t. Said it was all your friend.” Steve looks at him, sort of doubtful, but Billy blows off the remark, “No shit Sherlock. I ain’t airing all my business to any nosy brats like them.”

“I get that, but.. “ Hesitantly, he clarifies, “Is.. your friend, you know, even real?”

Billy must look at him like he grew a second head, “Shit, man, you think I’m one of those freaky experiments? No way. ‘Course he was real.”

“Oh. You said ‘was.’ Does that mean...” Steve’s voice trails off, sparing him hearing the words out loud.

“Don’t know. He got caught about two years back. Haven’t heard from him since. They might’a brought ‘im back here, they might’a killed him. I dunno.” Billy shrugs, picking at his nails while he talks so he doesn’t have to acknowledge Steve, or the fact that he’s even admitting this shit to him, “That’s why we’re here in Hawkins though. Susan’s got family over in Hope and a little ways up by Indie, so I suggested Hawkins. Just to come see where he came from. Get some closure I guess.”

“Guess he was really important to you then?” Steve smiles softly, but Billy only sighs through his nose, “You got no idea, Harrington.”

“Well, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I’m sure you’ll meet someone like him again.” He offers.

Somehow that sentiment immediately sets Billy on edge though, something about his tone implying that he knows, knows him and six were more than just friends, and Billy really doesn’t want to face that kind of monster tonight. He snaps, suddenly defensive, “What the hell’s that s’posed to mean?”

Steve’s face falls a little, evidently surprised by how upset Billy is, and he tries to fix it, “Oh I just thought that, the way you talked about him- and you look so sad when you do- that he was, you know, special to you.”

“So what? You gonna leave me to the monsters or some shit for that?” Billy growls, quickly warranting more defense from Steve, “What? No way. No I.. I get it, Billy. I do. More than you probably think I do.”

Billy half nods, his shoulders untensing as he slowly recognizes Steve’s genuinity. He mumbles eventually, working through what he needs to in his head to be comfortable talking openly with him again, “Didn’t expect to be getting relationship counseling too. That your assignment on the team, mister romance expert?”

“Shut up. You’ve never seen me swing a bat before.”

“Oh believe me, I cannot wait to.”

Steve’s smile returns, something Billy is personally glad for, though he might not be ready for that realization yet. He bumps their shoulders together, to hold Billy's attention and let him know he’s genuine, “Still, in all seriousness man, I hope you can find someone else like that for you. I know it’s not really easy pickings around here.”

This time, Billy’s tone is light, his features soft and vulnerable for the boy next to him, for the way he makes him feel less weighed down, less alone in this, “You got no idea, Harrington.”