#nancy wheeler x carol perkins

[stevethehairington]

just,,,,, nancy/carol enemies to lovers college au

i'm thinking about nancy, who has a plan — who has had a plan for years now. to go to college, to pursue her dream in journalism.

i'm thinking about carol, who doesn't have a plan. not really. just sees college as a way to push off the inevitable — a husband, a white picket fence, a house full of kids — a few more years.

nancy is ambitious, she's studious, she takes it seriously.

carol is not. the only thing she's studying are the boys, and the only thing she's taking seriously are the parties.

nancy is shocked to see carol, but she figures that she'll be easy to avoid; after all, they aren't part of the same social circles, and there's no way their schedules are going to overlap.

except, to nancy's annoyance, she keeps running into carol despite wanting nothing to do with her. she sees her in the library, at the campus coffee shop, in the quad. they see each other in the concession line at the football game, they bump into each other in the bathroom, they walk past each other at the club fair.

carol's not surprised to see nancy here — she always knew she'd end up at a place like this, if there's one thing nancy wheeler is its persistent — but she is surprised that in a campus this big they keep crossing paths. it annoys her too.

and the thing is — carol thinks, and has always thought, that nancy wheeler is such a priss. that nancy is so drastically different from her — and not in a good way.

but, really, underneath it all, the two of them are so much more alike than either of them could ever think.

the biggest similarity being that they both have this preconceived notion of what their life is Supposed to look like — a husband, kids, a career as a wife and a mother and a homemaker, not anything else. it's one that's been forced onto them, by society, by their parents, by everyone else around them.

nancy has obviously rejected that. but carol is still very much stuck in that thinking, and she doesn't necessarily see a way out of that expectation (whether it be because of familial obligation and parental pressure or the fact that she just doesn't know what she wants to do with her life in the first place).

that is just another reason why carol is so bitter towards nancy and "hates" her so much — because nancy has done what carol hasn't, what she can't.

and, nancy is the same as she was in high school — driven, focused, precise — but she's also soooo different too — looser, more confident, more self-assured, still sweet but she's sharper with it, like she knows what she wants and knows how to get it now.

and carol is (still) outrageously jealous of that too.

so they keep seeing each other on campus, and i haven't decided how it happens — perhaps there is some sort of confrontation? one that happens at a party maybe? where both of them have had a little too much to drink maybe? — but one thing leads to another and they end up angrily making out eith each other.

carol's not gay — she's never given being with girls much thought, any thought before. not for herself anyways. but theres something so magnetic about nancy wheeler that she just cant help but tug on that thread.

and then keep tugging on that thread. because it keeps happening after that. and it keeps escalating too. kissing leads to touching and touching leads to falling into bed together. only its not anything sweet or nice or lovely. it's fiery, it's clashing, it's rough around the edges.

it's hate sex through and through.

it becomes a release for them both, something to do when the disdain becomes too much and bubbles over. something to get all their animosity out.

there is, of course, some flavor of denial that gets thrown into the mix from carol — an "im not into girls just because im sleeping with you. it's just sex, you're just a convenient body to me" type of sentiment (one she learned from tommy, evidently, because it's one he used back in high school to excuse his attraction to men and the times he'd fool around with them behind the bleachers or in the locker room after everyone went home).

nancy, though, has already gone through her denial -> self acceptance phase — she and robin had a brief fling at the end of high school after they'd started getting closer and robin, who knew she was a lesbian and was pretty secure in it, helped nancy realize it herself and figure it out. things didn't work out between them romantically, but they're still good friends.

and this thing with carol — nancy's just in it to have a little fun. to fulfill that part of her that wanted to be more out there in college, to be more experimental. and, well, carol's a good lay. so she goes along with it.

and maybe they end up hanging out a little more outside of their hookups. instead of leaving right away, carol loiters, going through the things on nancy's desk, because she's always been nosey like that. she sees some of nancy's flash cards, and what do you know? carol's in that class too, just a different section of it. so they end up studying together. and that turns into grabbing lunch on occasion, or sometimes coffee. and they start to talk more, in between the studying, in between the screwing. they start to learn more about each other. they start to peel back the incredibly complex layers.

and, naturally, ✨️feelings✨️ start to get involved — feelings that aren't just hate.

then, of course, things all come to a head at some point. conflict must arise (most likely something to do with nancy going after what she wants (which is carol) and carol having to face the music here — the double whammy of having feelings for nancy wheeler, who is, in fact, a woman.) and it gets resolved eventually (the two reconcile and decide to give things a go).

i haven't thought much further about that part of this yet and how exactly it would play out. but. y e a h. just, nancy/carol.

(also important to note that carol goes in undeclared, but eventually changes to pre-law because nancy helps her realize that she would make a damn good lawyer, and the idea of that sparks a fire inside of carol because she has finally Found Her Purpose.)

[estrellami-1]

Steddie Week 2024

July 5th Prompt: Reunion

Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 6 | Day 7

@steddie-week

“Babe,” Eddie calls from the kitchen. Steve’s in the bathroom, brushing his teeth, so he garbles out an unintelligible one minute! before quickly finishing.

He walks into the kitchen, tugging at the collar of his shirt. “What’s up?”

Eddie’s eyes are dancing with mirth as he helps Steve fix his collar. “You’ll never guess what just came in the mail.”

Steve raises a brow. “You’re acting like my parents are groveling at the door right now.”

Eddie barks out a laugh. “Oh, sweetheart, no. I’d very much be laughing in their faces if that’s what was happening.” He grabs Steve’s glasses from the counter he’d forgotten them on last night, unfolds them, and carefully slides them on Steve’s face. “No migraines,” he murmurs, and Steve’s hit with a rush of love so big he just has to tell Eddie.

“I love you.”

Eddie smiles softly; a small, disbelieving, hopeful thing that’s never changed from the first time Steve said it. “And I, my love,” he murmurs back. “But no, it’s not your parents.” His grin grows into a giggle. “It’s fuckin’ Hawkins High.”

Steve makes a face. “It’s still standing?”

Eddie snorts. “Apparently-fucking-ly.” He grabs two letters; one with Steve’s name, one with Eddie’s. “One letter for each of us. I already opened mine. It’s a reunion.”

Steve furrows his brows, rips into the envelope, pulls the paper out. “Hawkins High School… forty-year reunion… de-” he frowns up at Eddie. “Decennial?”

Eddie hums, nods. “Every ten years. God knows where our other ones went.”

Steve hums. “Guess we can throw these in the trash, huh?”

Eddie shifts. “You don’t want to go?”

Steve stares at him incredulously. “You do? You, Eddie Munson, want to go back to the place where—and these are your words, here—apart from our group of friends, only the- the backwoods of inbreeding resides?”

Eddie cackles. “Oh yeah, I did say that, didn’t I?” He’s delighted. Steve’s finding it hard not to smile in the face of that joy.

“So you want to go back?”

Eddie shrugs. “Think about it,” he requests. “I don’t want to go to see how anyone else is doing. Frankly, I don’t have the time to give two shits about them. But you know I’ll always jump at the chance to show you off.”

Steve raises both eyebrows this time. “You want to show me off? In fucking Hawkins?”

Eddie deflates. “You don’t want to go.”

Steve shakes his head. “No, babe, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying that even though it’s legal, even though we’re officially married now, if there’s one place that isn’t gonna be accepting…” he trails off, lets Eddie finish the thought for himself.

“What if I convince Nancy to come?”

“Well, she’ll have to come if we go, won’t she? Cause you know she’ll go anywhere Robin does, and Robin’s gonna follow me, so…”

Eddie snickers. “Okay, yeah, fair enough. But babe, we’ll have Nancy and Robin on our side. The three of you took on Vecna, I think you can take on some overweight, washed-up, balding fifty-something-year-old.” He squeezes at Steve’s biceps, and Steve tries not to preen.

He’s proud of the care he’s shown his body, he’s proud of the way he looks, he’s proud that Eddie likes the way he looks. He can feel his resolve waning, is about to tell Eddie fuck it, let’s go, when his phone rings.

He pats his pockets, looks around for it. “Room,” Eddie supplies, and Steve gratefully peck his cheek before jogging to their room, where it’s laying on his nightstand. Eddie walks in as he answers it, having followed at a more sedate pace. “Hello?”

“Are you going to the reunion?”

“Hey, Robbie,” Steve chuckles, meets Eddie’s eyes. “Yeah, we are.”

“Yes!” She cheers. “You’re the best, we’re getting joint hotel rooms, right?”

He laughs and sits on the edge of the bed. “It’s Hawkins, Robs, I don’t think it has anything quite that fancy.”

Robin groans, loud and long enough that both Steve and Eddie have to stifle their giggles. “But I haven’t seen you in forever!”

“It’s been barely a week, Robbie.”

“That’s what I said!”

He relents. “I know. I miss you too. We’ll see you there?”

“Yeah,” she agrees, and hangs up.

Steve looks at Eddie, amused. “I guess we’d better pack. And you should tell the guys, don’t you have something going on that day?”

“Oh, shit,” Eddie says, and runs to the living room for his phone.

Steve surveys their room and sighs. He calls out to Eddie, “bring me a notepad on your way back, please!”

Eddie does, so he sets to work making a list for everything they need to pack while Eddie types away, postponing his plans.

While they might not get joint hotel rooms, Steve, Eddie, Robin, and Nancy are carpooling back to Hawkins in Robin’s van. She’s driving, Nancy’s in the passenger seat, Steve’s right behind Robin and Eddie’s right behind Nancy. Their luggage is piled precariously in the back, meaning every time Robin turns, the luggage slides from one side of the van to the other. Steve, with his mostly-undiagnosed OCD, flinches every time. And every time, Eddie pats his hand.

Besides the shifting suitcases, it’s a nice ride, even if Steve does grab Eddie’s hand and squeeze, just a hair tightly, whenever they pass the Welcome to Hawkins! sign.

Everyone gets a little quiet, after that. Robin fumbles with the radio, and Eddie perks up. “This song,” he says, practically bouncing in his seat.

Steve snorts. “Iron Maiden,” he tells her.

“The fact that you know that-”

“It gets worse,” he tells her, grinning. “The song is called Wasted Years. I know all the words.”

Robin grins, turns the volume up.

The joke’s really on her, though, because she’s always been good at music, patterns, and she’s singing the chorus with him and Eddie by the time they get to the end of the song, Nancy laughing at them. “So understand,” they sing, Robin glancing in the rearview mirror, Steve looking from her to Eddie and back again. “Don’t waste your time always searching for those wasted years. Face up, make this stand. And realize you’re living in the golden years!”

Steve and Eddie are practically screaming it at each other by the last line. Robin’s given up to join Nancy in laughing at them. Steve joins in as Eddie plays air guitar to the end of the song, collapsing in a laugh when it’s finally over.

“Okay,” Eddie says, grinning. “I think I could take on anything now.”

“Yeah?” Nancy asks, pointing ahead. “You’re ready for the reunion?”

They’d decided, since the last time they took a proper road trip had been too many years ago, they could do it the same day as the reunion.

They’d forgotten how getting old, coupled with the problems every one of them still has from the Upside Down, means they’re all very much sore from sitting in a car for upwards of five hours.

The plan was drive the five-something hours, go to the reunion, crash in the hotel, and drive back home the next day.

Steve hates the plan now and wants to go to the hotel to rest like the old man he’s letting himself be.

However unfortunate it may be, the reunion is today, which means Steve gets to suck it up, say hi to people he probably doesn’t even remember anymore, and then leave.

He hops out of the car and stretches a little, laughing when Eddie attempts the same hop out of the car and almost eats asphalt. “Dumbass,” he mutters. Eddie shoots him a Cheshire grin.

Before long they’re ready to walk inside. Steve takes a breath as he passes through the doors. The hallways are the same, but the lockers are new. It still smells like teenagers and feet, he notices, wrinkling his nose. The things you’ll get nose-blind to, he supposes.

The letters they’d gotten said the reunion was to be held in the gym, so that’s where they head.

Steve didn’t know what he expected, but it wasn’t a few snack tables along the edge of the room and a single Reunion of ‘85 banner. “Goddamn,” Eddie says from beside him, “depressing much?”

Steve snorts in agreement and walks over to the drink table. If he’s going to talk to people, he’s at least going to have questionable-looking punch while he does.

When he turns after getting punch, he nearly runs into someone. He quickly steps back. “Oh, sorry!” He looks up into the shocked face of Tommy Hagan. He blinks. “Tommy?”

“Steve.”

Steve smiles. “How’ve you been?”

Tommy blinks, like he can’t believe Steve’s being nice to him right now, and that’s when Steve remembers they’d parted on not-so-nice terms. Oh well, he would’ve feigned politeness even if he’d remembered. “I’m good, yeah, uh, how- how’re you?”

“I’m good,” Steve agrees. “Really good. Last I remember you and Carol were dancing around each other, yeah? What happened there?”

“We got married,” Tommy nods.

“Congratulations!”

“And then divorced two years later,” Tommy adds, smirking. Steve winces. “How about you? Last I knew, it was you and Wheeler, ‘cept she cheated on you with Byers, yeah?”

“God,” Steve laughs, “that was so long ago. Yeah, that happened. We talked it through and Nance and I are really good friends now. She’s married to someone else, as am I, but we both keep in touch with Jon, thought he’s out in California now.”

Tommy’s brow raises. “Married? Who’s the lucky girl?”

A presence beside him makes Steve turn to see Eddie grinning at him. “My ears are burning.”

“They should be,” he laughs. “Tommy, you remember Eddie?”

“Munson,” Tommy nods, then does a double take. “Wait, you’re married?”

“As of three years ago now,” Eddie says proudly. “But together for…”

“Thirty-seven years,” Steve provides, smiling at his husband before turning back to Tommy. “Did you ever get remarried after Carol?” Tommy shakes his head.

Eddie whispers in Steve’s ear, “You know he totally had the hots for you, right?”

Steve winces at the blast of static from his hearing aid and quickly shuts it off. “Ow,” he mutters, grinning crookedly at Eddie, who looks apologetic. He quickly signs what he’d whispered, and Steve laughs. “Don’t you remember my initial panic?”

Eddie thinks, back to when Steve had asked him what’s gay versus friendly, becoming increasingly confused when most of the things Eddie ticked off in the gay category were things Steve and Tommy had done that Steve had thought firmly resided in the friendly category. “Oh, yeah.”

Steve snorts, shakes his head, pushes him away. “Go talk to someone else. Rescue Robin, she looks like she needs it.”

“Nah,” Eddie says, “she can hold her own,” but goes anyways after a quick peck to Steve’s cheek. Steve turns the hearing aid back on.

“Man,” Tommy says wonderingly, “what happened to you?”

“Concussions,” Steve answers flatly. “Three of ‘em. Then I grew up.” He sighs, looks down at his cup, then up at Tommy. “Listen, man, about what we used to do-”

Tommy winces. “I know. I had that revelation a while ago, actually, but it was definitely shitty of me.”

Steve smiles, shrugs. “You had a crush on me. It’s not an excuse, but it does make a certain kind of sense you’d react that way, especially considering the kind of home life you had.” He smiles self-deprecatingly. “Feel free to stop listening if the therapist side of me comes out. I swear I’m not trying to, like, diagnose you with anything.”

Tommy’s brows raise. “You’re a therapist?”

Steve hums affirmatively. “Started as a school counselor, if you can believe that.”

Tommy fixes him with a wondering grin. “Y’know? I think I can see it.”

“Do my eyes deceive me,” someone says from their side, draping their arms across Steve and Tommy’s shoulders, pulling them into a hug.

Steve comes face-to-face with Carol. He grins. “Hey, Carol.”

“Hey, you,” she says, raking her eyes over him. “Time’s been good to you.”

“You’re one to talk,” Steve says happily, but its true; she doesn’t look a day over forty, instead of the fifty-odd she is now. “How are you?”

“Can’t complain,” she agrees.

They go through the same song-and-dance, but this time when she asks who he’s married to, he sees Eddie juggling water bottles, talking to a couple of people. “Oh, for-” he mutters, then louder, “Eddie, what in the everloving fuck are you doing?”

Eddie drops a bottle, puts the other two on the table behind him, and jogs over to throw his weight onto Steve. “Making friends.”

Steve snorts, elbows him off. “Say hi to Carol, babe.”

Carol clocks it immediately, based on the twitch of her eyebrow, but only says, “I didn’t peg you two as a couple.”

“Well, yeah,” Eddie snorts, “it was Bumfuck, Indiana in the 80’s.”

Carol tilts her head in agreement, then turns to Tommy and says coolly, “Tommy.”

“Carol,” he replies, tips of his ears red.

Eddie looks between them, then turns a raised eyebrow on Steve, who quickly signs, “Married for two years a while ago. I don’t know any details.”

“He clearly is still into her.”

“I refuse to be a part of whatever you’re planning.”

Eddie pouts. “You’re no fun.”

Carol clears her throat. “Sign language?”

Steve snorts. “Turns out brains aren’t supposed to get banged around. You’ve got a real good chance of messing something up that way.”

Eddie pokes his cheek. “‘S not your fault.”

“Never said it was,” Steve placates.

Carol shakes her head. “How many concussions do you have?”

Steve hums. “Three? Four?”

“Three,” Eddie corrects. “Not that we need to get into it right now.” He gives Carol a tight smile, and Steve hip-checks him.

“Down, boy,” he murmurs with a smile. “I’m alright.” He turns to Carol with a wider smile. “Long story short, the concussions caused irreparable hearing loss. I’m almost completely deaf in my left ear, but I get by.”

“Damn,” Carol says lightly, “life, huh?”

Steve snorts. “You can say that again.” He tilts his head. “How are you?” He asks. “Really?”

She gives him a crooked smile. “Let’s walk and talk.” Steve offers her his arm, which she takes with a laugh.

“How am I,” she muses. “Well I thought I found love, but we imploded two years later. Thank god for prenups, I guess, but at the same time, that made it feel like we were doomed from the start.”

Steve hums. “Eddie and I have been legally married for three years,” he tells her. “Together for thirty-seven. We’ve got prenups. Not because we think we won’t work, but because we want the people we care about to not have to worry about any of that.” He’s silent for a few steps. “I used to think love is out of our control. That we don’t get to decide who we fall for. And maybe, to a certain extent, that’s true. But love is also a choice you make every day. Eddie and I are still in love because we choose to be.”

“You look at each other like you’re on your honeymoon.”

Steve giggles. “And to think we didn’t even have a honeymoon!”

Carol laughs, too, then sobers. “You always were more fortunate in love,” she says. “What do you think? Do we have a chance?”

Steve hums. “I think it’s obvious, just by looking at him, that he’s still into you.”

“No shit.”

“So what’s important is how you feel. Marriage is work, I’m not gonna lie and say it’s not. So are you ready, and I mean really ready, to work for it?”

She works her lower lip. “I think so,” she admits. “But I- I’m also not completely sure I’m straight.”

“Okay,” Steve shrugs. “Do you know what he and I used to get up to?” He shrugs at her look. “I’m just saying, neither is he.”

“I mean, I definitely still like guys.”

“Well duh, you’ve taken more dick than I have and I’m married to a man.”

She snorts. “But women…”

“I know,” Steve says sympathetically. “It’s hard, isn’t it.” He pats her hand. “If you’re ready to try, though, you need to talk to him.” He turns her around, gestures toward Tommy, who quickly looks away, cheeks burning. They both laugh softly.

Carol leans up to kiss his cheek. “Thank you, Steve. Let’s keep in touch.”

“Let’s actually keep in touch,” he agrees, handing her his phone. “Where do you live?”

“Columbus for now, but he’s in Dayton.”

Steve hums. “We’re in Detroit.”

“We’ll do phone calls,” Carol decides, laughing.

Steve chuckles, saves her number. “Plan to meet up-”

“Never actually do-”

“Oh, Carol, it’s been so long-”

They both break off into giggles. “You’re fun,” she decides. “I wish we’d kept in touch.”

“To be fair, we competed for title of bitchiest.”

“To be fair, I don’t think we ever grew out of that,” Carol retorted, and Steve snorts, gently shoving her.

“Alright, go get your man, and send mine over here.”

She gently steps on his shoe as she leaves, impish smile in place, and Steve turns only to run into Nancy and Robin. “Hey, guys,” he smiles.

Nancy gives him a look. “Making nice with Carol?”

Steve shrugs, grins at her. “Turns out we were just kids. Who knew, right?”

Just then, Eddie comes up behind him, wrapping his arms around Steve’s waist and resting his chin on Steve’s shoulder. “What’re we talking about?”

Nancy smiles at him, wraps an arm around Robin’s waist. “Being kids.”

“That so?” He presses a kiss to Steve’s cheek, pushes back to look at him. “You look lighter.”

Steve hums. “‘S cause I love you.”

“Charmer,” Eddie mutters, turning bright red. “C’mon, seriously.”

“Seriously,” Steve agrees. “I was talking with Carol about her and Tommy, and I told her that why we work is because we work at it.”

“Very true.”

From behind them, someone cautiously asks, “Eddie Munson?”

They both turn, and suddenly Eddie’s scooping her up in a hug. “Ronnie! What the hell are you doin’ here, huh?”

She laughs and hugs him back just as hard. “Did you ever know a Jackson Starnes?”

Eddie’s brow furrows for a second, then smooths out. “Oh, Jackie! Yeah, he was cool.”

“Mhm. He’s my husband.”

“No shit? I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks,” she laughs, then nods at everyone else. “Who’s the hunk you were hangin’ off of?”

Eddie chuckles. “Ronnie, meet my husband, Steve.”

She turns an eyebrow on him. “You got married?”

“He proposed,” Steve corrects her, grinning.

“To the preppiest of jocks,” Robin adds.

Eddie laughs. “What can I say? It’s love.” He swoons, placing a hand over his chest, almost pulling Ronnie over with the arm still over her shoulder.

She laughs and dumps him off of her. Steve swoops in before he can fall, hoisting him up with a quick kiss.

“I’m Nancy,” she says, extending her hand to Ronnie. “And this is my wife Robin.”

“Oh!” Eddie says, literally jumping back into the conversation. “Robin and Steve are like how we were.”

“Platonic soulmates,” Steve agrees.

“With a capital P,” Robin emphasizes.

“It’s nice to meet you all,” Ronnie says.

“How’s Wayne?” She asks Eddie.

“Dead.” He snickers at her face. “‘S alright, Ronnie. It’s been years.”

“Still. I can be sorry.”

“You can,” he agrees. “It won’t help anything, but you can.” He digs his phone out of his pockets, opens his contacts app. “Here, lemme get your number, yeah?”

“Fuck yeah,” Ronnie says, “let’s hang out, just lemme know when so I can get a sitter.”

Eddie chokes on nothing. “You have a kid?”

Ronnie grins, a shit-eating thing as she hands his phone back. “Three.”

“Goddamn,” he says, “you got pictures?”

Ronnie rolls her eyes, grabs her phone. “What kind of mom would I be if I didn’t? Here, this is Cassie, Alex, and… that’s Elijah.”

“Oh, man, Alex looks just like Jackie, doesn’t he?”

“I carry him for nine months,” Ronnie bitches good-naturedly. “‘Nough about me, though, how’re you? Corroded Coffin ever take off?”

Eddie snorts. “You hear about the psychopath in ‘86?”

“I remember something about it.”

“Yeah. I got caught in the crossfires, wrongfully blamed, and spent…” he looks at Steve. “A year?”

“Almost.”

He turns back to Ronnie. “Almost a year hiding out. Corroded Coffin was officially disbanded after I was allowed out of hiding.”

“Fuck,” Ronnie says, “there goes my entire foot in my mouth, I guess. What’re you doing now, then?”

He chuckles. “A little bit of everything, honestly. A little music, a little writing, a little D&D. Nothing that’s made me a household name, but enough that I’m kept busy and we’re comfortable.”

Ronnie nods. “And how about you?” She asks Steve.

“Oh, nothing as fun as that,” Steve chuckles. “I’m a therapist.”

Ronnie tilts her head. “Any specialties?”

“C-PTSD, mainly.”

“Damn, I know about eight people who could use someone like you.”

Steve snorts. “That’s usually the way it goes, yeah.”

“Well it was great seeing you, Eddie,” Ronnie says. “And meeting all the rest of you. But I’ve got to find my husband and get back home, so we’ll have to continue this later.”

“Of course,” Steve says. “See you later?”

“Absolutely,” Ronnie nods, then turns and walks off.

They decide to leave not too much later. They’re all tired, so the drive to the hotel is filled with only the sound of the radio, turned almost all the way down.

“Y’know,” Eddie murmurs, tracing the ring on Steve’s finger, “she was my first kiss.”

Steve snorts, an explosive thing that he definitely learned from Robin. “She what?”

“Yup,” Eddie nods. “I knew I liked girls, but she’s the only one I got close enough to to actually know. We got stupid one night and decided to kiss and it basically went how it would if you and Robin were to kiss.”

“Ew,” Steve says on reflex. Eddie snorts.

Robin slaps at him from her seat, then yells when he slaps back, “Don’t distract the driver!”

“Bitch,” he tells her, “you slapped first!”

“You said ew about kissing me!”

“Do you want to kiss me?”

“Hell no!”

“That’s why I said it!”

Eddie leans up to murmur to Nancy, “should we break it up?”

“Eh, give it a minute. Once they resort to cursing their lineages we can break it up.”

He chuckles. “Always the wise one, Wheeler.”

“You’d best believe it,” she nods smugly.

“Nancy!” Robin says. “Baby! Defend me!”

“About kissing Steve? Who I’ve kissed before?”

“Oh, no,” Robin says, horrified. “I’m stuck in the car with the two people who are experts on Steve kissing.”

“Why’d you make it sound like a bad thing?” Steve demands.

And… yeah. Eddie’s glad they got separate hotel rooms.

Based on the look Nancy throws his way when they part, she’s glad, too.

[augustjustice]

I’m a big fan of Steve “queer all along but didn’t realize it” Harrington, but in the most specific way possible, which is this: Steve was in quasi-poly queerplatonic relationships with both Tommy and Carol and then Nancy and Jonathan without knowing it. 

Like, Steve and Tommy grew up as close friends, and when Tommy started dating Carol in junior high, Steve just...kept hanging out with him, but now as a trio rather than a duo. Thirdwheeling on dates without ever thinking anything of it, attached at the hip. 

And, so, when Steve and Nancy started dating, Steve really didn’t see anything wrong with the fact that Jonathan sometimes ended up tagging along on their dates, both at Nancy’s invitation to make it a group hang out and sometimes an invite from Steve himself. 

Though nothing explicitly non-platonic ever happened, it’s only later, when Steve looks back on it, that he realizes 1) that he’d had crushes on Tommy and Jonathan he hadn’t recognized as such and 2) there was something eyebrow-raising, in most people’s eyes, about inviting a third person to tag along on your date. 

(He hasn’t broken pattern yet, though. Because now he has Eddie and Robin, his boyfriend and platonic soulmate respectively, and Robin frequently ends up crashing his dates with Eddie. Everyone is fine with this.)

[atimeofyourlife]

Steve loved people easily. Too easily. He thought there was something wrong with him, because no one ever seemed to love him back in the same way.

The first time he loved anyone was his parents. It was the natural, unconditional love that a child would hold for their parents. Even from a young age, he would do anything he could to make them happy, make them proud. For the first few years, it seemed to work. His mother would show him off to her friends, who would coo over how adorable he was. His father would brag to his associates about how good Steve was, how he would grow up to be strong, athletic, smart. Occasionally, he'd be left with a babysitter, or his grandparents, for a weekend if his parents had to attend a conference, but it wasn't enough for him to feel left behind.

That changed shortly after he turned four. His parents decided he was old enough to be left with nannies most of the time, so they could travel whenever to fit the needs of the business. Even when they were home, which was often little more than a week out of each month, most of the childcare was passed off to the nannies. They didn't seem to care enough to talk about, or even to him anymore. Any attempt he made to show them love was met with "Not now, Steven," or "Don't be so childish, Steven." And as he got older, they cared less and less. After he turned nine, they decided he was old enough to look after himself outside of that one week each month, only having the housekeeper checking in on him twice a week when cleaning the house and restocking the groceries. By the time he was twelve, the amount of time they were home had dropped to one week every two months, and they started missing holidays, coming home two days after Thanksgiving, and then not being home again until well into the new year. He was thirteen the first time they forgot his birthday.

Once he'd turned fifteen and got his learner's permit, they cut the housekeeper. He was more than old enough to take care of the house on his own, and as he could drive, he could get the groceries himself. They'd leave money each time they were home, a little over what was enough for the two months of groceries. A few days before they were due home, they'd call with a list of groceries they expected to be stocked by the time they got back. They actually remembered his sixteenth birthday, buying him a brand new BMW to replace the small second-hand black car they'd got for him to learn to drive in. But they missed the date by six weeks.

At eighteen, he only saw or heard from them if there was something they weren't happy about. Like his poor grades, or not getting into college. They didn't bother to acknowledge his graduation, taking the attitude that it didn't matter as he wasn't going to be making anything of himself. They made him get a job to cover his own expenses, believing that he needed to take life seriously if he wanted their help. They didn't even make the time to come home after hearing he'd been injured in the mall fire. Just leaving him a message saying that they'd give him a two-month grace period before he would be expected to find another job.

He hadn't even reached nineteen the last time he heard from them. After the earthquake he got a call, not to find out if he was injured, just to find out if the house was ok. A couple of days after that, they called again to inform him that they'd found a new house and movers would be coming in to collect the rest of their belongings. They'd wanted to sell the house, but the property market in Hawkins was nearly impossible after everything that had happened, so they were going to sign it over to him. It was after the movers had left Steve realized, they hadn't even left a forwarding address or their new number.

------

Steve loved each of his babysitters and nannies until he realized that they were being paid to take care of him. They gave him a love and attention that he didn't receive from his parents. They cared enough to let him ramble about his day. They spent enough time with him to know his likes and dislikes. To keep track of his hobbies. They were the ones to look after him when he was sick or injured, to comfort him after a bad dream. They would see when he needed new clothes, either from wearing through or growing out of his old ones.

But they were temporary. They only loved and cared about him for as long as they were getting paid to. Two or three times a year, a new nanny would take the place of the old one. He was seven when he realized that they didn't actually care about him, they only cared about getting paid. Overhearing one talking on the phone, "This kid is a bit too clingy, but at least the pay is good for this family." Once he was old enough to be left alone, he missed the companionship of having a nanny, but he couldn't bring himself to miss the false love they brought.

------

As soon as Steve met Tommy and Carol, they meant everything to him. Meeting Tommy at age six, and Carol two years later, when she moved to Hawkins at age eight. He clung to them, the first people his age that seemed to return his love for them. And it was all good, at least while they were young. They spent most of the time together, with each of them inviting Steve over at least once a week. Bringing him into their families, giving Steve a chance to see how bad his own was.

Steve couldn't see it at first, but the friendship between him, Tommy, and Carol became less about the love they had for each other, and more about the love they had for what he could provide. When they were eleven, they realized that Steve having the house to himself most of the time meant that they had somewhere to escape from supervision, and to get away with doing whatever they wanted. As they got older, it meant they had a place where they could have sex without being caught by their parents, siblings, or the police. They loved that he would feed them, always having the best snacks, learning how to cook their favorite meals, giving them food off his lunch tray at school. Once they started high school, they loved the empty house for the ability to throw the biggest parties, securing them top spots on the Hawkins High social ladder. After Steve had received his car, they loved the free rides, basically treating him as a taxi service. His car was much nicer than anything either of them could afford, and gave them a taste of freedom as long as they could give to them.

Steve noticed it after his fight with Jonathan. When they cared more about getting even than how Steve felt. They'd wanted to get revenge on Nancy, framing it as them helping Steve, rather than finding out what Steve actually needed them to do. Wanting to get back at Jonathan instead of being concerned about how Steve was after the fight. Steve couldn't help mourning the friendship, as they had meant so much to him for so long. But he couldn't believe how long it had taken him to realise that they had stopped loving him, and instead loved what he could give to them.

------

He fell in love with Nancy hard and fast. She was beautiful and smart, ambitious and determined. He didn't care what his friends thought of the relationship, he just wanted to make it work. He tried to find ways to bring her into his world, trying to include her in plans with his friends, inviting her to parties. Then Barb went missing from his yard. He knew he handled it poorly, but he felt lost on what he could actually do. Paired with the uncertainty of what his parents would do upon hearing about it, and the encouragement from Tommy and Carol, it pushed him to do things he later regretted.

He apologized, and she accepted it. They got back together a month after the Upside Down happened, just in time for Christmas. He vowed to himself that he would do better, be better for her. He made her happiness his top priority. He used small surprises to cheer her up, little gifts and imaginative dates. He comforted her through the sadness, grief, and guilt, making himself available whenever she needed him. He supported her in the difficult moments, like going to regular dinners with Barb's parents. And he found himself falling deeper and deeper in love with her. She seemed to hold the same love for him, so he didn't feel wrong for daydreaming about a future together. A family together. Every word of love from her, every action that showed her interest, it cemented it a little more. She would show up to the pool while he was lifeguarding over the summer, with the excuse of bringing Holly, but really just staring at him while he was on duty, and chatting during his breaks. She would be at every basketball game, every baseball game, every swim meet. For the first time in his life, he consistently had someone to cheer him on in the stands. Despite the difficulties they'd had, Steve felt like nothing could bring them down.

Then it crashed and burned. Steve genuinely didn't see any issue with the relationship, any sign that the love was unrequited, until his heart was being ripped out and shattered on the bathroom floor of Tina's Halloween party. His head spun with the words. "Like we're in love," and "You're bullshit." He started questioning himself, how long had she felt like that? Had she ever loved him? How had he never noticed? He got Jonathan to take her home, feeling hurt but with the love and care he had for her, he wanted to make sure she got home safe. He tried to isolate himself from her, not picking her up for school. But she wanted to talk while he was in gym. Pinning the problems on him. Denying the words she said while drunk, refusing to take responsibility for them. Not even being able to lie and say she loved him. It was like a knife to the chest finding out from Tommy that she'd run off with Jonathan after less than a day. He still tried to make it right, showing up at her house to apologize, for her not to be home. When everyone finally grouped together, seeing her with Jonathan, the confirmation he hadn't wanted. Nancy looked at Jonathan with a love and adoration that Steve had never seen directed at him. If it weren't for the fight needed for the Upside Down, he would've isolated himself and broken down, wondering why he wasn't good enough. Why he was unloveable.

------

Having a younger brother figure thrust on him wasn't something Steve expected at seventeen, but he would be eternally grateful. Dustin burst into his life at possibly the best time for him. After Nancy broke his heart, he needed somewhere for the love to go. He gave advice, was a listening ear. Doing what he could to help build Dustin's confidence. He was there for the kid whenever he was needed. And Dustin gave him so much in return. A place where he could take himself less seriously, where he didn't need to be Steve Harrington, or King Steve, or 'The Hair'. He could just be Steve, with no expectations or strings attached. Dustin showed up to his graduation, was there to cheer and clap for him when no one else was, and singlehandedly organised the other kids into surprising Steve after. With a grocery store cake that they'd pooled their money to buy, and a handmade card that they'd all signed. He'd missed him like crazy while he was away at camp. And having him back after improved his mood so much, despite being thrown into the Russians.

Steve could feel it changing slowly. Right from the first mention of Eddie Munson and Hellfire Club. He knew he was being replaced as the older brother friend, being swapped out for someone Dustin considered cooler because of the shared love of D&D. Dustin had become more abrasive to him, and was spending less and less time around. It almost felt like a repeat of losing the love of Tommy and Carol, only being wanted when he was useful, for what he could provide. Even after the fight with Vecna, Eddie was still the preferred older brother friend. The one Dustin sought for rides and advice, only coming to Steve if Eddie wasn't available. Dustin had endless patience for Eddie's questions, despite not extending Steve the same courtesy. He never once insulted Eddie's intelligence, despite the fact that the man took three years and a shady government department intervening to complete his senior year of high school, whereas Steve's intelligence was a free for all, overlooking the fact he was the one that was able to pass enough classes to graduate on his first attempt, just because he didn't have much direction in life. Losing the love of Dustin hurt, but it wasn't surprising. Steve knew he was replaceable, expendable. Only needed until a better choice came along.

------

The love he had for Robin was unexpected. He denied it and pushed it away at first. Partly because he felt certain that she didn't like him back, but mostly because he felt wary about loving again. Not wanting to get hurt again, to feel unloved again. It was slow at first, the playful insults having a charming quality to them. Then it hit fast, when he saw how smart she was, how brilliant she was. He could picture being happy with her as his girlfriend, different to other girls he'd dated or been with. He confessed his love while high on Russian truth serum.

She didn't love him back like that. She couldn't love him back in a romantic sense. He didn't have time to feel hurt about it, being caught in the centre of the action. By the time his head had cleared enough to be able to think clearly, he realized that a different kind of love between them could be just as good. Loving each other platonically, best friends, soulmates. It wasn't the love he'd first thought of and expected, but it was the most love he'd ever received. And he didn't doubt it for a second.

------

The love he had for Eddie scared him. It was unplanned, unexpected. What he initially felt for Eddie was mostly distaste, and a little jealousy. Until spring break. He was wary at first, knowing Eddie's reputation. In any other town, it would have been as simple as a drug deal gone wrong. But Hawkins had to be different. Eddie got dragged into the mess of the Upside Down in the worst way possible. Steve didn't really notice the change in his feelings, other than that of friendship, until after it was over. It wasn't until they'd got out of there, injured but alive, that Steve let himself read into the comments, the flirting. Steve started to love Eddie quickly and it terrified him for two reasons, it was his first time having romantic feelings for another guy, and he didn't have a good track record of people loving him back.

Eddie was the one to start it. Steve had come out to Eddie and Robin, and it was a few weeks later while they were a little drunk. Eddie kissed Steve, and took him to bed. Eddie was the one to address it the next morning, asking Steve out. Steve allowed himself to fall again. He loved all of Eddie's quirks, how passionate he was about his music and D&D. How he was anything but a morning person, but always wake up enough to kiss Steve goodbye in the mornings before work. How when he was sat doing nothing, or just watching the tv, his fingers would be constantly moving as if they were moving across the frets on a guitar. Eddie was the first to say I love you. That was what pushed Steve further, into believing it couldn't go wrong. Because there'd never been a time where he hadn't been the first.

And it seemed to go right. Weeks, months passed. It was nearing the year before it fell apart. Steve had noticed that Eddie kept him separate from his other friends, his bandmates. He didn't blame him for it, he'd been an asshole in high school, and while he couldn't remember doing anything to Eddie's bandmates, he'd never given them much reason to trust him either. He would have liked a chance to meet them properly, to make it right, but he wasn't going to push it. He didn't want to give Eddie a reason to have second thoughts about the relationship. It blew up when Steve was planning to surprise Eddie at the trailer. He let himself in using the key Wayne had given him, trying to keep as quiet as possible. It threw him a little, to see a couple of boxes stacked by the tv that hadn't been there a few days before. He started to make his way down the hall, but stopped short when he heard voices. "You're not going to call off whatever you've got going with Harrington before you leave?" It was one of Eddie's bandmates, but Steve couldn't identify which one. He held his breath while waiting for Eddie's reply.

"It's not like it's anything serious. I just keep him around because he's hot and a good fuck." Steve's heart shattered at Eddie's words. He was torn between running out of the trailer, bursting in to confront Eddie, or staying put to try to hear more. In his inner turmoil, he missed the other guy's response, but he heard Eddie's next words loud and clear. "It's not like I even care about him that much. I'll leave town and in a week he'll be back to chasing skirts. He'd probably just strike out, because look at him. I don't understand how could anyone love Steve Harrington."

Steve fled the trailer, not caring about the noise as he moved, choking back sobs that were desperate to burst out of his throat. He threw himself into his car and just drove until the tears blurred his vision so much he couldn't see the road. He couldn't understand how he'd been so stupid, so blind. It was the same pattern repeating again, and Eddie's words had destroyed him, it was the question he'd asked himself so many times before.

How could anyone love Steve Harrington?

My last fic ended fluffier than I first planned, so my brain went have 3k of angst with just a brief fluffy platonic stobin interlude. I'm sorry. I did plan to get this up like 2 days ago but migraines decided otherwise.

[ilovetwig]

Made myself sad thinking about how Stancy was always doomed by the narrative and never got a fair chance at being together. Their peers were so against them dating. Barb was really trying to talk Nancy out of going to Steve's party and warning her to be careful of him. Jonathan was gaslighting Nancy for dating a "one-time jock" because he thought she wasn't like all the other girls 🙄 Tommy and Carol were making fun of Steve for wanting to date a girl like Nancy and teasing him for catching feelings for her. Karen and Ted were very anxious about Nancy's choice to date Steve. Mike found Steve to be annoying and Lucas even considered him to be a douchebag. Literally not one person was on their side. And then we add the Upside Down to that, and they even had freaking Vecna against them! Honestly, I feel bad that Steve and Nancy weren't allowed the grace to just be silly teens together who had a crush on each other and wanted to take a chance on one other. They had so many outside forces trying to control them and their feelings for one another *cough* creepy Murray included *cough* and yet, somehow they always find their way back to each other in every season. They really had all these obstacles thrown at them, and still can't be kept apart.

[xoxoladyclara]

stranger things poly nonsense, part 1

aka everyone loves stevie ❤️

[merryhaze]

Mean bisexuals of Hawkins High:

Meaner lesbians of Hawkins High (and beyond):

[bottomtim]

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sooo, some people on twitter dot com were talking about shipping carol and robin as a “doomed from the start” kind of ship, so i thought it would be fun to try my hand at it, too 👉🏻👈🏻 please enjoy a few loosely related scene snippets of an au in my head where robin is kind of hooking up with carol to cope with nancy having a girlfriend while she’s in college (and not totally pictured: nancy trying to hold on to her first queer relationship despite knowing they’re not right for each other when robin is, like, right there! (metaphorically; literally, she is almost a thousand miles away))

bubblescoopers, is this anything? 🫡 happy wip wednesday!!

[fanficsfromyesteryear]

𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐁𝐎𝐃𝐘❜𝐒 𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐄

⟶ 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑 ////////////////////////////////////

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prologue | chapter 1 | chapter 2 synopsis: there’s a new monster terrorizing the small town of hawkins, indiana, and it’s not one from an alternate dimension. with halloween quickly approaching and everyone’s nerves already on edge, the last thing anybody wants is a prankster serial killer running amuck, but alas, hawkins’s residents aren’t exactly known for getting what they want, are they? warnings: mentions of death, language, one (1) innuendo if you squint-

         A week later, it was if Billy Hargrove had never existed in the sleepy midwestern town. The most news coverage his death got was a segment warning teens of the rising dangers of drunkenness and drug usage, both of which were blamed for his “unfortunate end,” though were nothing more than easy excuses to avoid investigating the mysterious circumstances of his demise any further, as lazy, small city cops were prone to do when their residents were always so eager to turn a blind eye to anything that went against whatever was in their Holy Book.

         Y/N had nearly forgotten about Billy, too, though Eddie made it easy. A part of her felt guilty for the countless hours spent with him in passing days, but he seemed to be the only person who wasn’t walking on eggshells with her—no matter how much it appeared that Hawkins’s residents had moved on from Billy’s death, Y/N was a living reminder of him, and there was a cautiousness in their approach to her now, like they were trying to talk someone down from a ledge. His name was a taboo subject, and their conscious efforts to avoid it were nearly written across their faces at each interaction.

         Yet, Eddie made it seem so easy. It was largely due to the fact that where others felt sympathy or morbid curiosity regarding Billy’s final moments, Eddie held only mild disinterest. He was of the firm belief that the world wasn’t being deprived of some great man in the absence of Billy Hargrove—there were plenty more just like him, and Eddie could only hope that he and Y/N would be fortunate enough so as to not cross paths with any of them, lest Y/N be swept away and ensnared again.

         It was irrevocably selfish of Eddie to feel that way, but he couldn’t bring himself to care about that, either, not after getting a real taste of Y/N’s company, the way her eyes lit up when she smiled, hand seeking out his arm to grip onto whenever she threw her head back in laughter at something dumb he’d said, or the way she’d started sitting in the back of their shared math class just to swap notes with him when their teacher wasn’t looking. If he had to choose between that or Billy’s miraculous recovery, he hoped Billy a long, peaceful rest six feet under.

                                                 ────── 〔 ☠ 〕──────

         The shrill ring of a phone cut through the laughter that bounced off the walls of Tina’s kitchen, where she, Carol, and Y/N sat scattered across the dining room chairs and countertop, sipping cold bottles of Coca-Cola fresh from the refrigerator. They’d come in from an after-school shopping trip not long ago, bags tossed carelessly in the entryway in favor of something to drink, and whoever it was calling now seemed to have impeccable timing.

         Tina hopped down from the counter and rounded the corner to where the house phone hung on the wall. “Hello?” she answered. A pause, then her head reappeared, eyebrows scrunched in confusion. “It’s for you,” she said, extending the phone to Carol.

         “That’s weird,” said Carol, standing from her seat and crossing the space to join Tina. “How’d they know I was here?”

         All that Tina offered in response was a shrug before practically skipping back into the kitchen to pick up where she and Y/N had left off on the latest gossip.

         Carol held the receiver up to her ear. “Who’s this?” she asked.

         “Ah, Carol,” replied a voice, too warbled to be identifiable. “There you are. I had to send the other girl away. Don’t want to get her mixed up with the skeletons in your closet.”

         Carol scoffed, folding an arm across the striped fabric of her sweater. “What skeletons? Everyone knows I’m not a good person. It’s not like I’m trying to hide it.”

         “But do they know how deep it goes? That you left a girl to die in Steve Harrington’s swimming pool while you fucked your scumbag boyfriend in his parent’s room?”

         “She didn’t die,” Carol said, lowering her voice. “They said she ran away, found her car and everything...”

         “Aw, that’s cute, trusting the police like any upright, law-abiding citizen your town pretends to have so many of. That’s just what they want you to think. I’d thought a rule-breaker like you wouldn’t be so easily persuaded, but who am I kidding? You’re all the same, willing to turn a blind eye to save your own skin.”

         “What do you want?”

         “Wouldn’t it be a shame for you to fall victim to the same fate, gone without a trace with hardly a soul left to mourn your loss? At least she had parents that loved her, but what are you? Hawkins’ third-favorite bed warmer? A real modern-day tragedy...I’m sure Shakespeare would be proud.” A static-filled silence punctuated the caller’s words, then, “Tell me, do you even remember her name? If you can manage that much, I might see about postponing your untimely demise. You’d make an interesting final girl, the slut turned hero—no one would see it coming.”

         Carol bit at the end of her thumbnail, eyes studying the wall opposite her as if she expected the girl’s name to be written somewhere on the plaster. “Beth,” she finally tried.

         A tut of disappointment echoed through the earpiece. “Close, but no cigar. Can’t say I’m surprised, though. It’s just like you to only ever think of yourself. That’s your middle name, right, Carol?”

         “If you don’t tell me who you are, I’ll go to the police,” Carol warned, though the waver in her voice confirmed her fear to her accuser.

         “What would be the fun in that?”

         Before the redhead could get another word in, the dial tone told her that there would be no one there to listen, and she returned the phone to its hook with shaky fingers before returning to her friends.

         Upon her arrival, Tina and Y/N paused their conversation. “Who was that?” Tina asked. “You were gone for a while.”

         Carol glanced back at the clock over the door frame and realized that Tina was right. “Oh,” she started. “Yeah, my mom was just chewing me out for getting detention again.”

         A lie, but that was to be expected from a girl like Carol Perkins, who only cared to cover her tracks should someone try to sniff her out.

                                                ────── 〔 ☠ 〕─────

         “Are you even listening?”

         Nancy’s gaze snapped away from the blur of trees passing by in a grey haze on the other side of the window. “Sorry,” she admitted, brows furrowing, “what were you saying?”

         Steve laughed humorlessly with a shake of his head, soft strands of meticulously cared-for hair swinging with the effort. “You know, for someone who cares so much about school, you seem pretty okay with dismissing this whole essay thing.”

         “Seriously? We’re going to eat dinner with Barb’s parents, and you’re still thinking about that? Can’t you give it a rest for now? I mean, Barb died because of us.”

         “I get that, Nance, I do, but that’s in the past,” Steve argued, one hand on the steering wheel as he gestured with the other. “There’s no way to change it now, but this is my future we’re talking about. If I don’t get into a decent school, I’ll be stuck here for God knows how long, hopping from job to job until I end up behind a desk like my old man.”

         “At least you still have a future.”

         The quiet air that fell over them was tense with unspoken arguments and pointless attempts at comfort, but eventually, Steve cleared his throat, hesitantly reaching across the center console to lace his fingers with Nancy’s. “You’re right,” he said. “I’m sorry. I was being selfish.”

         Nancy smiled weakly. “It’s fine. I’ll help you with your essay after dinner, I promise, just—no more college talk until then, okay?”

         “Okay.”

         That was a little over a week ago, yet the couple seemed to find themselves in a similar situation now. Nancy kept waiting for Steve to call, to be the first to apologize as he always was—whether the fight was over something he’d been the cause of or not, he was the one to break, but this time, the sentiment had escaped him.

         If it wasn’t forgetfulness, though, then maybe, he was truly as mad as he had seemed when the two had talked during Steve’s basketball practice.

         Nancy didn’t consider herself especially prideful, but she didn’t believe an apology was necessary from her end. She’d been excessively drunk that night at Tina’s party—she hardly remembered getting home at all, much less who had taken her there. Of course, she’d assumed her knight in shining armor had been Steve as it usually was. In fact, the realization of him having presumably left her alone there in such a state was more troubling than anything that she may or may not have said to him in the heat of misdirected anger.

         He didn’t actually expect Nancy to feel guilty over something she couldn’t recall, right?

                                               ────── 〔 ☠ 〕─────

         When Y/N finally left Tina’s house, walking home under the last, fading blue of the day, her path illuminated by the glow of orange spotlights cast over the sidewalk by the streetlamps that lined it, she felt the gentle misting of rain beginning to wet the back of her sweater. She hurried her footsteps, plastic bag held over her head with little regard to its contents as she aimed only to get home before the rush of water creeping up behind her could catch up—a truly impossible feat but her goal nonetheless. Y/N should’ve taken Tommy H. up on his offer to drive her home, despite how annoying he and Carol were when they got together.

         Y/N was soaked to the bone when the blur of headlights appeared on the horizon, slowing as a van neared, then pulled to a stop beside her. She would’ve been startled by the prospect had she not immediately recognized the driver.

         “Get in,” said Eddie, voice loud to be heard over the rain pelting the metal roof of his beat-up vehicle.

         “Are you sure?” asked Y/N, trying in vain to blink away the droplets gathered on her eyelashes. “My house is the other way, and I don’t wanna get your seats wet.”

         Eddie laughed. “Yes, I’m sure. If I let you walk home in this, I’d be the monster everyone thinks I am.” He didn’t say anything about Y/N getting his seats wet—an arguably poor choice of words on her part; instead, he let the joke die on the tip of his tongue before he opened his mouth to speak again. “If it makes you feel any better, I forgot something back at school, so I was gonna have to turn around, anyway.”

         At that, Y/N relented, quickly rounding the front of Eddie’s van and sliding through the door, which Eddie pushed open for her from where he sat. “Thanks,” she muttered with a timid smile, wiping uselessly at her cheeks with damp sleeves.

         “Don’t mention it,” Eddie answered. “Who am I to turn away a damsel in distress?”

         A damsel in distress who should’ve known better than to walk alone at night with a serial killer on the loose.

         A damsel in distress whose mother had told her countless times not to get into strange boy’s cars, except Eddie wasn’t a stranger. She knew him.

         Didn’t she?

[smellsliketeen-cringe]

[courferre-stan]

Throwing this out into the void in the hopes literally anyone will see in the next 24hrs. If anyone is interested in a cc x cc stranger things roleplay with any of these character I write for listed, please feel free to reach out:

Billy Hargrove

Robin Buckley

Nancy Wheeler

Steve Harrington

Gareth Emerson

Carol Perkins

[roanofarcc]

PROJECT SUNSHINE CHAPTER FOUR → TEENAGEDOM

summary: steve harrington x oc

when another product of Hawkins National Laboratory escaped a long-survived nightmare alongside her sister, she crashed into one unsuspecting teenage boy and dragged him deeper into the dark mysteries that made up their hometown. 

word count. 3.1k

warnings: cannon typical violence, child-abuse, horror, gore, and depictions of mental illness. parts of this story were written pre-season 4 release. slight cannon divergence. 

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When Sunshine was little, she was allowed to press glow-in-the-dark stars to the ceiling of her room. It wasn’t her idea, but rather the oldest child inside the Lab. Ivy, or 002, somehow convinced them to let them all decorate their otherwise cold and white rooms with the stars. And after they were stuck to the ceiling, whenever Sunshine was upset, Ivy would sneak into her room after curfew, and they’d look at the stars together. Ivy would tell her to make a wish, and she promised that it would come true, even if they were real stars. But the older Sunshine got, she realized that wishes on fake stars didn’t come true, no matter how much you believe in them.

However, for the first time in what felt like her whole life, she saw real stars with her own eyes.

Seated in the backyard of Steve’s house, Sunshine found herself surrounded by a group of teenagers who were drastically different from her.

It was a dangerous game she was playing. The more people who knew about her added to the long list of threats the two posed, but it was a calculated risk on her part. It was either return to Steve’s house for one night or risk a night in the woods.

And it was going rather well. The lie that Steve had told his friends worked. They all believed she was a family friend, and none of them questioned it despite the obvious differences she had from them. To them, she was another teen at a party; they had no idea of the nightmare she was still too close to.

Sunshine noticed every small difference between them and her. The two boys held cans of beer in their hands and smirks plastered on their faces, and the girls wore soft-colored clothing and carried an air of sweet carelessness with them. They all were normal kids who talked about school and their plans for the weekend, while Sunshine sat with her knees pulled into her chest while the world slowly closed in around her.

Her head spun from the events that took place that day, which were full of bad decisions. When she left that morning, she didn’t realize how unprepared for the real world she was. Every person she passed made her heart seize up inside her chest The air of Hawkins was cold, and all the streets were unfamiliar.

She had roamed the woods for a while in search of Eleven, and the whole time she thought of Ivy. The older girl had been the closest thing they all had to a mother, but she was still a teenager herself. Ivy acted much older, though. She was the one who pressed kisses to their foreheads before they fell asleep and held their hands when they were scared.

Sunshine wished, more than anything, that Ivy was beside her. She would’ve known just want to do, where to go, and how to find Eleven.

Instead, Sunshine was still without her sister and still haunted by the ghost of Two.

Before she got too lost in the woods, Sunshine hesitantly ventured into town to see if her sister had sought out the paved streets instead of the towering trees. And when she entered the convenience store that afternoon, she had no intention of drawing any attention to herself. She had the money from Steve tucked safely inside her coat pocket and planned to use to it buy something to eat. But when she walked down one of the aisles, there was a woman at the other end who stared at her with a gaze that bore into Sunshine's skin. It freaked her out, so she hurried into the next aisle, but as she did so, she swore she saw the frame of a familiar ghost with dark skin and even darker eyes pass her by. In a frantic blur, she tried to chase after the conjured version of Ivy her mind had created.

She followed the false hope of a child who longed for something comfortable and familiar in such an unfamiliar place. But there was a bag of chips in her hand that she hadn’t paid for still in her hands as she rushed toward the door, and the man in charge thought she was trying to steal.

He refused to listen to her and grabbed her wrist harshly. The contact caused her to freeze and almost shut down completely. It felt like she was back in the Lab, in a paper gown and with a shaved head, being dragged down the hall. Her limbs went stiff, and her heart threatened to beat right out of her chest. She was so sure the man was going to make one phone call and that’d be it for her. They’d find her and put her right back inside the very place she had finally escaped from.

And instead of fighting back, all she could do at the moment was try not to cry like a pathetic child.

But, in an odd turn of events, the boy she’d met the night before appeared out of nowhere and untangled her from the mess she’d made. Maybe that was why she was so quick to follow him back to his house for another night.

Even in the presence of strangers in his backyard, Sunshine was a little less petrified. The people were all kids like her, and she had always trusted kids more than adults. There had yet to be an adult she came across who didn’t lie to her, hurt her, or manipulate her in some way or another. Adults never kept their promises, and Sunshine had seen adults do some of the vilest things imaginable to innocent children who couldn’t defend themselves.

It was children and teenagers alike who she trusted and put her faith into; they were the only ones who hadn’t let her down. So, she didn’t run from the unusual social scene, and sat in a chair beside Steve’s swimming pool and listened to his friends talk.

A soft sigh fell from Sunshine’s lips, and it was visible in the cool air. She watched the stars that glittered in the darkness; real stars that maybe, just maybe, made wishes come true.

“So, Stella,” someone said, calling her attention using the name Steve had made up back at the store. A petite brunette, who sat in the seat beside her, asked, “Where’d you say you were from?”

Sudden panic swelled up in her chest and her eyes darted toward Steve, who was already looking at her. He cleared his throat and toyed with the can of beer in his hands, probably formulating another lie. “Oh, man, you know, her family moves around like crazy. But, uh, you said New York was the next stop, right?”

Sunshine nodded slowly. “Yes. New York,” she repeated.

The girl who asked her the question introduced herself as Nancy. She was about the same height as Sunshine, with long hair that fell over her shoulders and a soft smile. “That’s cool! I’ve always wanted to visit New York,” she said. Maybe Sunshine did too.

One of the friends that she’d met earlier that day, Carol, flicked a lighter and grumbled, “New York’s gotta be better than this shithole.” She took a long drag of a cigarette and blew out the smoke before she spoke again. “How long are you crashing at Steve’s bachelor pad?”

“N-Not long,” she answered quickly and a little clumsy. She wasn’t used to being asked so many questions or talking much to anyone who wasn’t Eleven. And even then, she had hardly saw her sister inside the Lab.

“Not much of a talker, huh?” Tommy mused.

Sunshine shifted in her seat, unsure of what she was supposed to say until Steve steered his friend’s attention away from her. He held up another two beers and whistled at the boy. “Hey, dude, shotgun?”

Tommy’s lips quirked upwards in a smirk as Steve tossed him the can.

She watched closely as the two boys poked holes in the cans and threw their heads back, drinking it as quickly as they could before the can was empty, then they threw their trash to the ground and cheered.

There was almost nothing she understood about the world around her. Every word from the teens' mouths, mixed with carefree laughter, made her sink further into the daunting realization that she was still all alone. Steve and his friends fit together; they made sense to each other. It was Sunshine who was the clear outlier. Her mind had been re-wired to remove almost all normalcy inside of it. There was a persistent buzz in the back of her brain and a dangerous glow she could create in the palms of her hands. She wasn’t like them, but she wished she could have been.

It didn’t matter how far she and Eleven ran away from Hawkins, she’d never fully rid herself of the past. All Sunshine hoped for was that her sister got a second chance. Eleven was a few years younger, and there was still time for her to live a somewhat normal life as a kid if they fully escaped.

“Oh, shit!” A chorus of yells ripped through the air, causing Sunshine to flinch at the noise and turn her attention onto a short-haired redhead, Barb, who was standing and clutching her hand as blood dripped down her arm and onto the concrete below.

“Barb…” Nancy stood up too and placed her hand on her friend’s shoulder, but Barb jerked away and shook her head.

“It’s fine, Nance. It’s fine,” she muttered before she glanced at Steve. “Where’s your bathroom?”

“It’s just down the first hall and to the right.”

Right then, Sunshine felt a sudden shift in the air, one that she couldn’t explain but felt deep in her gut. She was struck with an almost violent sense of unease, and her eyes stayed glued to the drops of blood that soaked into the concrete.

The air felt thick and even colder than before.

Sunshine watched as the group of teens, minus Barb, returned to their conversation as if nothing had happened. Turning her head, she peered out into the darkness toward the woods.

The bottoms of her feet still stung with cuts from running, and her body still ached. All of that pain collided with a feeling of dread that only increased when she gazed into the woods.

She wanted to believe it all was just an overwhelming feeling of guilt. Guilt over not finding her sister and splitting up with her in the first place. But, that little voice in the back of her head warned her that it was something more.

There was something out there.

A dual set of screams rang out within a colorless bedroom. A young number Seven fell against the floor with a strangled gasp before she scrambled backward until her back hit the wall on the opposite side of the room from an even younger boy.

The boy’s eyes were glassed over, foggy and unfocused, and a line of blood dripped down from his nose. Ivy jumped down from the bed she sat on, observing, and kneeled beside Seven. She placed her cold fingers on the little girl’s shoulders and stared at the crescent-shaped nail marks felt behind on Seven’s forearm, deep enough to draw blood.

The air was thick and buzzed with unnatural static that caused the hair on all three children's arms to stand on end.

Ivy let go of Seven and slowly crossed the room to where the youngest of the three sat. The boy held his legs close to his chest and let tears dot his pale cheeks, but he bit down hard on his lower lip to stifle his cries.

“What did you see?” Ivy asked calmly, as to not frighten the boy any further than he already was. His chin trembled as his eyes cleared and returned to their natural, unhazy gray. “Tell us what you saw, Nine.”

Nine sniffled and rested his chin on top of his knees, gaining the courage to speak. “Dark,” he whispered. There was something unnerving about the tone of his quiet voice.

“What else?” Ivy pressed.

They all knew Nine was fragile - most kids inside the Lab were despite what they were capable of - but Nine’s abilities were not to be tip-toed around. Whatever he saw when his fingernails dug into Seven’s skin was important.

“Nine, tell us what you saw.”

“Dark. The dark, so much of it,” he cried as more tears gathered in his eyes and ran down his face. There were things inside the little boy’s head that neither Two nor Seven could fathom. His head was like a hive of wasps, and each time he made contact with someone, it was like kicking the nest. It buzzed too loud inside his ears; too many blurred figures, bright flashes, all-consuming darkness, and hundreds of hushed conversations from unknown voices that he couldn’t make out.

“A-And the end.”

The sound of splashing and loud laughter drew Sunshine out of her memory. She tried to shake the image of Ivy and Nine out of her head as she looked away from the woods and onto the pool, where the teens had pushed each other into. They swam around still in their clothes with wide smiles.

Sunshine swallowed the lump in her throat and hurried from the backyard back into Steve’s house.

She felt hot and cold at the same time. Her fingers were numb, but the back of her neck beaded with sweat. She didn’t know what was happening to her, or in general. Maybe it all was inside her head, some kind of side effect of escaping the Lab and experiencing the real world. Or maybe the little boy from her memory knew something no one else did; maybe he had felt the same sense of dread she did at that very moment.

There was something wrong about Hawkins; it was like the rancid air of the Lab leaked out onto the town, and no one noticed, or they chose to ignore it. Maybe that was easier to do when you hadn’t witnessed what happened behind the white walls.

Sunshine turned down the hallway and almost collided with someone who was rounding the corner as well.

“Oh!” Barb gasped out in surprise. “Geez, you scared me.”

“Sorry,” Sunshine said, her heart racing. Her gaze dropped onto the girl’s hand, which was wrapped in a red-stained bandage. “Is your hand okay?”

Barb nodded. “Yeah. It’s just a little cut, but I guess that’s what I get.” She let out a small, almost bitter laugh that punctuated the end of her sentence. Barb’s eyes met Sunshine’s before they shifted slightly and across her face, probably noting the bruises that looked a little worse in the brighter lightening of Steve’s house than compared to outside. “Are you okay?”

With a tight-lipped smile, Sunshine replied, “Yes. I just…I needed, uh-” Her words came out clunky and she didn’t really know what she was trying to say, but Barb seemed to know or guessed that she did.

“You need a break from the happy couples out there?” Barb said.

To Barb, it seemed like she and Sunshine shared something in common like they were on the same page. What they supposedly were on the same page about, Sunshine had no clue.

“Tell me about it,” Barb huffed. “You’re just lucky you don’t have to go to school with them.”

There was a sadness that Sunshine saw behind the teen’s eyes, but it was a kind of sadness that confused her. The two girls that stood face to face in the hall lived very different lives, but Sunshine pretended to understand, and just for a moment, Barb believed that Steve’s friend Stella understood just how she felt. For a moment, Barb believed that Sunshine understood something as mundane as teenage drama.

“Hey, Barb. Can you talk for a sec?” Nancy’s voice came from somewhere behind Sunshine and it was followed by more chatter and footsteps. The group all entered the home in their soaked clothes.

Barb’s shoulders slumped slightly before she slipped past Sunshine and disappeared around the corner to speak with her friend Nancy.

Steve’s other two friends, Tommy and Carol wandered into the kitchen, which only left Steve. He had a towel draped over his shoulders and his hair felt flat against his head. The carefree and happy look on his face faltered when he met Sunshine’s gaze, who still stood in the hall with her face paled and muscles tense.

“Everything all right?” he asked, walking toward her.

She wasn’t sure she had an answer to that, not one that could explain just how she felt. Every emotion she experienced felt out of place inside her head. She was so used to pushing all of those feelings down, but they refused to stay put and all rose to the surface at once.

With a quiet sigh, she replied with a simple, “Yes.”

Steve didn’t look too convinced of her answer, but it was clear that his attention was elsewhere. He wiped a few drops of water from his cheek and gestured down the hall. “There are clean pajamas in the laundry room, and my mom always keeps the bathroom down there stocked with stuff, if you want to shower or anything,” he said. “And there are still blankets and pillows on the couch, okay?”

Sunshine nodded, and Steve took that as his cue to return to his friends.

After grabbing a change of clothes, she locked herself in the bathroom.

Warm water worked to soothe her tense muscles just slightly, and she tried to focus on the shower itself instead of the tangled web of thoughts inside her head. She scrubbed her skin until it was raw, making sure that any trace of the woods or the Lab was washed down the drain. She even rubbed her tattoo in a fruitless attempt to erase that identity completely, but it’d never leave.

“The end.”

Over the running water, Nine’s words still sounded in her ears. They stirred up a cold, hopeless feeling deep inside her chest, snaking around her heart and squeezing it tight. She had tried to ask him what he meant, what he saw, but she never got the answer. All she knew was that Nine saw something when his fingers dug into her arm, showing him her future.

That, among many other things, were answers Sunshine would never get.

She wouldn’t be the only one who wouldn’t get the answers they deserved either.

Blood ran down the drain of the tub from a cut that Sunshine accidentally reopened on the palm of her hand. Outside, another drop of blood fell into the swimming pool. It hit the blue surface and mixed with the stench of chlorine, and yet another mystery unraveled in Hawkins.

Tagged → @thearcher-winchester-version @suniloli

@sattlersquarry

[stevethehairington]

i am Thinking about the nancy/carol thoughts i had a while back again 👀

[eddies-artofsuffering]

Childhood best friends Steve and Eddie, inseparable ever since they met on the curb when Steve starts first grade. Grown apart because of a string of misunderstandings. Steve wanting to prove himself, win approval from his parents - whilst Eddie’s fighting his own demons from the family bullshit, barely able to return the smile.

By the time Eddie’s 12 he’s completely shutting himself off; in the meantime Steve finds that he’s athletically inclined, making new friends.

Eddie’s 16 when he makes one last attempt for them to go back to how it used to be. But Steve’s already too far away, not ready to sever ties with the conformity, the popularity.

And Eddie punishes himself by believing that Steve chose something else over him. Pushes him away as hard as he can. Renounces Steve altogether, telling himself that Harrington is a sworn enemy.

Until, well, until - their friends are taken one by one in November 1983, and they inevitably reconnect, trying to find out the truth behind it all.

[threewaywithdelusion]

Soulmate AU: Steve Meets Nancy, Tommy/Carol

This is a bonus scene from my Soulmate AU. It's set in Steve's sophomore year of high school, and thus early in the first chapter of the fic.

~

It was the middle of basketball season, which meant Steve should have been focused on perfecting his layup, but instead he was looking around the cafeteria, trying to find a date.

This was because it was also the second week of February. Valentine’s Day was next Monday.

Steve had a policy of not having an actual date on the 14th. Valentine’s Day felt like it said something about a relationship, and none of the girls he had dated or slept with meant enough to him to be worthy of it. Steve wasn’t saving Valentine’s Day for his soulmate, exactly, but he was saving it for someone he loved. His first kiss has been Janice Jacobs in a game of spin the bottle. His first date had been Lisa Wilson in sixth grade, with the basketball team cheering him on to ask her out. His first time had been Stephanie Lowell last summer, a little drunk at a party.

Steve didn’t mind any of those firsts really. He’d had fun with the girls and if they hadn’t been movie-perfect moments then that was because this was real life.

But Steve wanted to save at least one first for someone that he actually loved — not that he could say that to Tommy and Carol. It sounded like something a girl would say, way too sappy and embarrassing to ever admit to.

But even if Steve didn’t want to go out on Valentine’s Day itself, he still had to find a girl to take out this weekend. He was Steve Harrington — he couldn’t not have a date on Valentine’s Day weekend.

“Why don’t you steal a bottle of your mom’s good wine and we can do a picnic?” Tommy asked Carol, trying to plan their date. 

“A picnic in February?” Carol arched her eyebrows. She was picking at the food on her lunch tray, which looked particularly inedible today. 

“How about Louise Baker?” Steve asked, tilting his head towards a pretty dark-haired girl on the other side of the cafeteria. 

“She has a crush on Ryan,” Carol dismissed. “That’ll be too messy with the team if she actually decides to go for it.”

“We can do an indoor picnic,” Tommy tried. “I’ll rent a movie and get fancy cheeses or whatever.”

Carol rolled her eyes. “No. Steve, what about Julie Richards?”

Steve was already shaking his head. “Her dad works with my dad. If I go out with her and he finds out, I’ll probably have to marry her or some shit.”

Carol hummed, discarding that idea. Doing something that would please Steve’s dad was never the right choice.

“What if we drive to Indy for the weekend?” Tommy asked. He’d just gotten his driver’s license last month and he was always looking for ways to use it. 

“No,” Carol said. 

“You’re being such a snob,” Tommy said. “If you hate all my ideas, why don’t you come up with something?” 

“Because you’re the guy,” Carol snapped. “You’re supposed to plan the date.”

Steve thought it was obvious that Carol hated all of Tommy’s ideas because they all involved hiding away, just the two of them. Carol wanted to be shown off. She wanted Tommy to take her out on the town and act proud that she was his girlfriend so she could flaunt how happy and in-love she was to all the miserable, single people. And probably all the people who were in love but who weren’t doing as good of a job at it as Carol.

Steve didn’t tell Tommy that though. Carol clearly wanted him to realize what she wanted himself and Steve knew better than to cross her. When it came to their friend group, there was no solidarity amongst brothers; if you pissed off Carol, it was every man for himself and God help them all.

Steve looked around at the girls in the cafeteria again. He couldn’t date anyone he’d already been with or anyone his teammates had seriously dated, which ruled out a large portion of the girls. He was also hoping for someone that he actually found attractive and interesting, though if he couldn’t find a girl he liked he would settle, just so he wouldn’t look pathetic and alone.

One girl was walking towards their table and she stood out. Long brown hair, pale skin, and huge blue eyes. She was wearing a kind of frumpy outfit, but she was pretty enough to pull it off.

She stopped right next to Steve and for a moment he wondered if his wildest dreams were coming true and she was here to flirt for a Valentine’s Day date.

But she didn’t look at him. She looked at Tommy and Carol, holding herself rigidly like she thought that made her look more impressive. “Hi, I’m Nancy. I’m writing an article for the Hawkins Post. Can I ask you some questions?”

Tommy glanced at Carol and when she didn’t object said, “Yeah, sure.”

Nancy sat down next to Steve and he shot her a flirtatious look that she ignored. She pulled out a lined notebook and a blue pen and sat poised, like she had to take serious notes about whatever she asked.

It was kind of cute.

“When did you two meet?” Nancy asked.

Carol looked unimpressed. “Seriously? Doesn’t everyone know this already?”

Nancy’s mouth pressed into a little line. “I guess not.”

“Third grade,” Tommy said. “When Carol moved to Hawkins.”

Nancy nodded and made a little note. “And when did you realize you were soulmates?”

“Seventh grade,” Tommy said, sounding bored.

Steve had to admit, these were terrible interview questions. Hawkins wasn’t that big of a town and Tommy and Carol were the only soulmates in the whole high school, which meant the rumor mill had had a field day with the two of them. Why write an article that said nothing new?

Nancy pointed at Carol’s forearm, where the word bitch was proudly displayed. “What’s the story of how you realized you were soulmates?”

“Okay, this is boring,” Carol said. “We’ve done our charity for the day.”

“What?” Nancy looked shocked.

“This interview is stupid,” Tommy said, like he was talking to someone particularly dumb. He used that tone a lot, but almost never on Steve, which Steve appreciated. 

Nancy’s eyes sparked. “Look, I don’t like it either. I don’t give a shit about your relationship. But I’m a freshman and they won’t give me any good articles so I need to get this stupid Valentine’s Day article right so they’ll let me report on something I actually care about.”

Tommy and Carol did not look moved. But Steve liked this side of Nancy, different from the perfect little wallflower who had sat down. She was willing to fight for an article she didn’t even believe in and there was something mesmerizing about the way she tipped her chin up and set her shoulders.

“It’s really romantic,” Steve said, jumping in when it was clear that Tommy and Carol wouldn’t. “Tommy was defending Carol. Everybody called her a bitch, which is kind of true, but only because she says what other people are too afraid to say.”

The real story was that Carol had cried. Carol, who took pride in tearing other people down with her words and exploiting their secrets, had been called a bitch by everyone — the boys on Steve and Tommy’s basketball team, the girls on Carol’s soccer team, her friends, even one teacher — and she had finally broken down and cried about it. Hiding in the girls’ locker room, she’d asked if she was really such a bitch that everyone hated her. 

Tommy had said yeah. That she was too smart for her own good, always finding people’s insecurities and leveraging them against them. That she was precise with her insults, always cutting where it would hurt the most, and that terrified people. That she was really good at being really mean.

Carol had scowled and asked why he was still around if she was so awful. And Tommy had said, “because it’s impressive as fuck. When I get mad at people, I just hit them. And I’m strong and I’ll hit them where it’ll fuck them up, so it works. But you do it with words and you’re like, scary smart and it’s super hot watching you tear people down like it’s nothing. They’re right that you’re a bitch, but it would be really boring if you weren’t.”

Carol had stopped crying, eyes narrowed like she didn’t know whether to believe Tommy, and said, “really?”

“Duh,” Tommy had said. “You think I want to date some boring goody two-shoes? Would you want to date me if I was some pansy who let people walk all over me?”

Carol had snorted. “God, no.”

They’d started making out right then and there, in the girl’s locker room, in front of Steve’s eyes. 

Steve had made a face. “Aw, the bitch and the asshole. A match made in heaven.”

They’d both flipped him off.

“You’re a bitch and an asshole, Steve,” Carol had said. 

Steve had grinned at that badge of honor. A little bit of Tommy and a little bit of Carol. They all looked out for each other, protecting themselves and fighting to stay on top of the social pyramid.

They had stayed in the locker room while Carol fixed her makeup, putting on new mascara and fixing her lipstick. She’d fluffed her hair and a little, turned to Tommy and said, “you’re my soulmate, by the way,” then walked out of the locker room and to her math class like nothing had happened. It hadn’t been until school was out that day that she’d shown Tommy (and by extension Steve, their eternal third wheel) the word on her wrist.

“But everyone calls you a bitch,” Tommy had said.

“Yeah, but you’re the only one who likes it.”

And that had been that. 

Of course, that wasn’t the story they had told the rest of the school. 

“Tony Melvin was being a dick,” Tommy said, “trying to call Carol a slut for sleeping with me. And when she pointed out that she’d only ever slept with me and he’d slept with half the cheerleading team, he lost his shit.”

“Because I was right,�� Carol said.

“Because she was right,” Tommy agreed. 

“He started calling me a bitch, as if that was news to anyone,” Carol said, rolling her eyes. “So I told him that he shouldn’t start fights he couldn’t finish, and he got even madder. He started asking what the hell that meant and I said that he hadn’t been worth destroying before, but that I’d heard whispers from all the girls he’d slept with and that he should be scared. That I thought he should be called Tony-Two-Two because his dick was two inches long and he only lasted two seconds.”

“He did not like that,” Steve said, smirking. It had been kind of fun watching Carol tear Tony down. 

“He called me a bitch again, because that guy doesn’t have any brain cells to rub together and couldn’t come up with another insult if his life depended on it. And that’s when Steve said-“

“Carol, you are such a bitch,” Steve said in the most bored, deadpan tone he could manage. Exactly the way he’d said it in front of Tony. “Wow. It is so mean of you to tell this man the truth.”

“Tony swung at Steve, so Tommy jumped in and it turned into a fight,” Carol said. “When the teachers pulled them apart, Tony screamed at Tommy ‘What are you a queer or something? You’ll jump in to help King Steve but not to defend your own girlfriend?’ And Tommy said-“

Tommy grinned. “Carol doesn’t need me to defend her. Perks of dating a bitch.”

“And that’s when I knew,” Carol said. “Tommy said bitch like he loved me, which meant he was my soulmate.”

Nancy was furiously taking notes. She had her bottom lip between her teeth, a cute look of concentration on her face, and Steve thought she looked beautiful. 

She finally glanced up, looking between Carol and Tommy for a moment, eyes sharp. She didn’t look at Steve. 

Then she sighed and said, clearly reading off a pre-prepared list of questions, “How has discovering you’re soulmates affected your relationship?”

Carol and Tommy answered a few more boring questions. Being in the school newspaper was good for them, even if the article was going to be mind-numbingly dull. Usually only Steve and Tommy made it in and only for being on the basketball team, which was admittedly kind of mediocre. Steve was hoping they would win before he graduated, but a lot had to change for that to happen. 

Finally, Nancy wrapped up her questions and stood up. “Thanks for your time.”

“Good luck being the world’s most boring reporter,” Carol said, waving condescendingly.

Nancy’s lips tightened, her knuckles turning white on her little striped notebook. She sat back down, smiling disarmingly. “Tommy, do you ever wonder if Carol is lying to you?”

“What?” Tommy asked, looking blind-sided.

“Well, like you said, everyone knows Carol is a bitch. Everyone calls her that to her face. So couldn’t she just have chosen any guy who said that and claimed he was her soulmate?”

“What the fuck do you know about soulmates?” Tommy asked. 

“It’s just a question,” Nancy said, an innocent look on her face and a taunting lightness in her voice. 

“He’s my soulmate,” Carol said, voice tight. 

“Okay,” Nancy said. “But doesn’t being the only pair of soulmates in school boost your popularity? And didn’t the very public way you discovered you were soulmates help that?”

They had put on a bit of a show of having Carol and Tommy discover they were soulmates. But only because the real way it had happened was too vulnerable to show to others. No one had doubted that Tommy and Carol belonged together or that they had fabricated the way they had realized it. 

Nancy Wheeler was the first person to ever call bullshit. 

And Steve liked her for it. 

“Excuse me?” Carol asked. 

“We answer all your stupid-ass questions and you pull this shit?” Tommy asked. “Who the fuck even are you?”

“I’m Nancy Wheeler,” Nancy said primly. “And you seemed bored with the puff piece. So I can write a hard-hitting exposé if you’d prefer. Do a little investigative journalism. Are Tommy and Carol really soulmates or are they faking it for popularity? Is Tommy in on it, or is Carol just lying to his face? How do the pressures to find their soulmate affect teenagers in the midwest?”

“Nancy-“ Steve tried. 

She spun on him. “Does King Steve really have two soulmates, or does he just wear two armbands to get people to whisper about him? Are soulmates still sacred or are they used for social currency by the high school elite?”

Steve flinched back. 

Nancy softened. “It would make for a good article,” she said, almost like an apology. 

“I have two soulmates,” Steve insisted, voice tight. “I’m not lying.”

Nancy deflated, letting out a sigh. “I know. I don’t think you’re lying. It would just sound better than the hundredth school newspaper article about How To Tell If Steve Harrington Is Your Soulmate?”

Steve hated those articles. They always made him itch. Every time a new one was written, girls would approach him in droves, acting a specific way. One time the article had claimed that Steve’s soulmate must be athletic and only girls on the cheerleading and soccer teams had talked to him. One time the article had claimed Steve liked girls who thought he was funny, and girls had laughed at anything he said, regardless of if he was telling a joke or not. 

Steve, Tommy, and Carol had made a game out of it, preparing terrible jokes and betting money on if Steve could get a girl to laugh at it. 

“Am I in this article?” Steve asked Nancy. 

“That wasn’t the plan,” Nancy said. 

Steve relaxed. “Good.”

Nancy quirked an eyebrow. “What? You don’t want more publicity?”

“I hate when they write those fucking things,” Steve said. “They assume certain girls are my type, but no one actually asks me.”

Nancy picked up her notebook, making a bit of a show of it. “Steve Harrington, what is your type?”

Steve smiled a little. He gave her a purposeful up-and-down, then leaned in and said, “Smart girls.”

Nancy rolled her eyes, setting down the notebook. “Yeah, right.”

“It’s true,” Steve said. 

Nancy gave him a long, dubious stare but her cheeks flushed a pretty pink color, giving her away. She was pleased.

She cleared her throat and turned to Tommy and Carol. “So. I guess you’re on board with the puff piece?”

They couldn’t say no. If they did, Nancy would run an article questioning their entire relationship. 

“Yeah,” Tommy said. 

Nancy smiled, polite and pretty. “Great. Glad we’re on the same page.”

She stood and walked back to her own table, where a redheaded girl was waiting for her. Steve watched as they talked, Nancy showing the redhead the notebook and laughing about something. 

“No,” Tommy said. “Absolutely not, Steve.”

Steve jolted, turning back to his lunch. “I didn’t say anything.”

Tommy and Carol both stared him down, unimpressed. 

“She’s a priss,” Carol said. “She’ll never put out.”

“Maybe I like her for her brain,” Steve said. 

Carol rolled her eyes. “Sure, Steve.”

That should have been the end of it. Tommy went back to suggesting date ideas to Carol and everything should have been normal, but Steve couldn’t stop thinking about Nancy Wheeler. 

She was beautiful. She was clever. And she’d stood her own against Carol and Tommy, which not many people could do. Too many of the girls Steve had dated had cowered on double dates with Tommy and Carol, unable to bite back. But Nancy gave as good as she got. There was something steely under that pink cardigan . Something real. 

“We could make each other mixtapes and go for a long drive,” Tommy suggested. It was a nice date idea, but still so far from what Carol wanted. She was starting to scowl. 

“For fucks sake, Tommy!” Steve said. “Just buy her some flowers and take her to Enzo’s.”

“Thank you!” Carol said, throwing her hands up. “Goddamnit Tommy, it’s not that hard.”

Tommy crossed his arms. “Well maybe you should just date Steve then.”

“Nah,” Carol said, grabbing Tommy by the arms and pulling him closer. “You’re my soulmate.”

Tommy smiled. “Damn right I am.”

He leaned in and kissed her, deep and possessive, right in the middle of the cafeteria. Steve felt a pang of jealousy that he quickly tried to shove away. He loved Tommy and Carol. But he hated how much spending time around them reminded him that he was alone. 

He went back to perusing the cafeteria for potential Valentine’s Day dates, trying his best not to stare at beautiful, brilliant Nancy Wheeler. 

There had to be other girls worthy of his time. He just had to find them.

[merryhaze]

Anyone interested in an AU where Carol Perkins enters the upside down, and interacts extensively with Will, and where she and Nancy end up friends?

Inspired both by this fic - https://archiveofourown.org/works/47137369/chapters/118763662- and by @slayernina’s excellent post on Carol and Tommy -