#season two episode four

[harringtonstilinski]

Always The Babysitter - Chapter Twelve: Will the Wise

Author: @harringtonstilinski​ Characters: Steve Harrington x Olivia Henderson(OC) (eventually) Word Count: 2,271 Warnings:  fluff, lil' bit of angst, maybe a phrase we're gonna see in the future? 👀, dart... eating mews Smut: no | yes; A/N: Hi, friends! We've got more fluff in this episode!! What do we think about Steve & Olivia's friendship? Remember, if you like this chapter, please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox. As always, read at your own risk and enjoy 😊

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Hopper ended up taking me back to the station, where I biked home when my shift was over. He told me on the way that I couldn’t see her because it was dangerous- the same thing he told me the night before.

I understood and went home when my shift was done, seeing Dustin home as well. We hung out that night, watching tv with our mom before we had to take our showers and go to bed.

Mom said she needed the car again for errands today since she didn’t get all of them done yesterday, which was fine because when I stepped outside after Dustin turned onto the street, Steve was pulling into my driveway.

I didn’t have to do an early shift at the station, so we went straight to school, talking about anything and everything again. I told him about the pumpkins and how they were all rotting for no apparent reason.

We walked into the school together, laughing about something he’d said. Our first periods were next to each other, so we parted ways for an hour before we stopped by my second period, where my teacher was holding my assignments for the day, then went to the gym where I sat in my usual spot on the bleachers and got to work on my schoolwork before the boys played Shirts vs Skins again.

I watched as Steve tried to keep Billy from getting the ball, only for Billy’s teammate to throw it to him, Steve trying to knock the ball away from Billy, who ended up pushing Steve away a little to dribble the ball.

“Alright!” Billy said. “Alright, alright!” Gesturing towards Steve, he said, “King Steve! King Steve, everyone. And his lovely Queen behind him!”

I rolled my eyes at his words. All I wanted to do was come out of the bleachers to pummel his face in.

“I like it,” Billy added. “Playing tough today.”

“Jesus! Do you ever stop talking, man? Come on!” Steve said.

Billy laughed before saying, “What? You afraid the coach is gonna bench you now that I’m here? Huh? Or are you afraid your Queen is gonna go for a real man?” He shouldered Steve, making a basket before looking at me and winking.

“Ew,” I muttered. 

“What?” he asked.

“I think I threw up in my mouth a little,” I sighed. “Watch your fucking back, Hargrove.”

He chuckled and turned around, bending down to help Steve up, but instead stopped about halfway and said, “You were moving your feet. Plant them next time, draw a charge,” before pushing him back down to the ground.

Again, red. All I saw. I leapt out of the bleachers so fast, I didn’t even register Steve getting up and putting his arms around my waist, putting my back against his front.

“Let go, Steve,” I said, struggling to get out of his hold.

“No.”

“Let. Me. Go.”

“No.”

“Aw, come on, Harrington,” Billy said. “Let her see what a real man is all about.”

I struggled even more against Steve, but stopped when the coach blew his whistle, calling my name. I looked his way when he blew the whistle again, telling his team to go hit the showers.

Steve told me to wait in my spot, and not talk to Billy, no matter what he says to me. I sighed and nodded, telling him not to take too long.

I went back to doing my schoolwork when the last bell rang for the next class, but I just stayed put, not caring about going to class. I definitely wanted to leave when I heard Billy say, “Especially that one.”

I looked up, seeing him looking at me with a smile that I’m sure would get a lot of girls out here wet, but not me.

Tommy H. said something that I really didn’t need to comprehend as I heard their sneakers on the gym floor.

“Ready?” Steve asked, standing by the bleachers a couple minutes later.

I got down, shouldering my bag. “I really don’t want to be here anymore. I just… I wanna go to the station to get my hours in and go home to soak in a nice, hot bubble bath.”

He put his arm around me as I took a deep breath. “It’ll be fine. Just ignore him.”

I gasped. “I have an idea. I just go to the front office and tell them that Hop needs me early today and that I need to get there right away! Problem solved!”

Steve laughed, but agreed. Surprisingly, the administrators believed the hell out of me, which made Steve and I laugh once we got in the car. 

“I cannot believe that worked,” I laughed as Steve was backing out of his spot.

He shook his head, a smile on his face as he put the car in drive and drove off to the station. 

“Thanks for taking me around,” I said. “Since Mom’s been needing the car here lately.”

“It’s no problem,” Steve replied. “I enjoy it. Really.”

I smiled and looked out the window. If I don’t get these feelings under control, I might just kiss him stupid.

~~~

Hopper wasn’t at the station when Steve dropped me off. I asked Flo where he was, and she told me that he was probably at the Byers house. Groaning, I walked back outside, Steve’s car a block away. He was stopped a light, which I thanked the universe for. I got it in and scared him half to death.

“Geez–”

“I need you to take me to the Byers,” I rushed. “Hop’s there.”

He nodded and took the next turn to drive to the Byers home. The drive was silent, but it was a comfortable silence. When we got there, I thanked him and kissed his cheek, something I hadn’t realized I’d done until I got halfway to the door.

The front door was open, and cold inside the house. “Hello?” “Olivia?” Joyce said. She came around the corner. “Aren’t you supposed to be at school?”

“Y-yeah,” I stuttered. “But I was having some rage issues towards another student– what’s going on?” 

“Come on,” she said, giving me the come here motion with her hand.

I followed her to Will’s room, the boy just sitting there facing the window. “What’s wrong with him?” I whispered.

“Will, honey, Olivia’s here to visit,” Joyce said.

At his non-response, Joyce, Hop and I sat down next to Will on his bed, two drawings in Hop’s hands. “So this thing, this shadow thing,” Hop said. “You told your mom it likes it like this. It likes it cold?” With red rimmed eyes, Will whispered, “Yeah.” Confusion laced over my face, I asked, “How do you know that?”

“I just… know.”

Hopper looked at the drawings again before asking, “Does he talk to you?”

“No,” Will said. “It’s like… I don’t have to think. I just know things now. Things I never did before.”

Hopper got up and moved to sit in Will’s desk chair, asking, “And, uhh… what else do you know?”

“It’s hard to explain,” Will said. “It’s like old memories in the back of my head, only… they’re not my memories.”

I wanted to wrap my arm around his upper back like I used to, but feared doing it for some reason.

“I mean, I don’t think they’re old memories at all,” Will continued. “They’re… they’re now-memories, happening all at once, now.”

“Can you describe these now-memories?” Hopper asked.

“I don’t know,” Will replied after a moment. “It’s… it’s hard to explain.”

“I know it’s hard,” Joyce said. “But can you try? For us?”

With tears in his eyes, Will replied, “It’s like… they’re growing and spreading… killing.”

“The memories?”

“I don’t know.” He started crying, saying, “I’m sorry,” as he put his face in the crook of his mother’s neck. She looked around for a moment before looking me in the eyes.

“What if you draw them?” I asked. “It’ll be easier than using words.”

When he agreed, he moved to his desk to start drawing… more like scribbling. Once there were enough papers he’d tossed to the ground, we picked them up and took them into the living room, going back every so often to fetch more.

I was looking at them, more confused than ever. “I’m so fucking confused,” I whispered.

“Language,” Hopper groaned.

“This is more of the same,” Joyce said.

“Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just scribbles.” He put one page behind the others he was holding, Joyce telling him to wait before she started looking for a paper in her stack, connecting the papers together.

“Oh, my goodness,” I said, realization hitting me like a bus. “I know what he’s doing.” I ran to get more papers, waiting for both adults to give me instruction.

“Wait, what?” Hopper asked.

“All the lines connect, Hop.”

We moved the table and couch out of the way, setting the papers down on the ground. I sat on the ground on my knees, connecting each paper that was dropping to the floor. I enjoyed doing puzzles. They relaxed me a lot.

We went back to get more papers as fast as we were putting the lines together from each paper. Once we were done and had every single paper that we had taped together, we stepped back to admire the work we’d just done.

“Does this mean anything to you?” Hopper asked, before moving along the papers.

“No,” Joyce said. “Is it some sort of maze or a road? I mean, it’s sort of forking and branching like… like lightning.”

“You think it’s that storm?”

“No, the storm he drew was different,” I said. “He used red. This is all blue and some weird dirt color.”

“Maybe it’s roots,” Joyce suggested. “‘Cause remember, he was saying it was spreading–”

“Killing,” Hop and I said.

“He said they were killing,” he said. He stood there for a moment before saying, “Vines.” He turned to put his jacket and hat on while saying, “He’s drawing vines.”

When he walked out, I looked at Joyce with my arms crossed. “I was gonna say he’s drawing some sort of map, but vines is good, too.”

She chuckled before looking at her watch. “Oh, sweetie, you better go. Don’t wanna be late to start your hours.”

“I’m sure our Chief here will count towards my hours,” I said.

She gave me that look that only mothers know how to give, so I relented. “Okay. I’ll go to the station and put in my hours.”

~~~

When I walked up the driveway, I heard a bike behind me. Turning to see who it was, I smiled when it was Dustin. He didn’t acknowledge me as he passed me, but he did almost shut the door on my face when he walked in the house.

Mom was filling up Mews’ food bowl when I walked in, Dustin saying his apologizes.

“Where are you?” Mom yelled. “Mew-Mew.” She looked our way, saying, “Oh, hi, kids.”

“Hey, Mom,” we said.

“Everything okay?” 

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” Dustin said. “Yeah.”

“Livvie, how were your hours?” 

“Fine, Mama,” I smiled. “The Chief has this big case regarding the pump–”

“Liv!” Dustin yelled. 

I sighed before kissing my mom’s cheek, telling her I’d talk to her about my hours later. Dustin called my name again as I walked down the hallway, my reply being that if he didn’t shut his face, I’d take his teeth and hide them.

When I walked into his room and slid the door shut, I watched him walk to Yurtle’s tank, saying, “Dart, I’ve gotta talk to you, buddy.” He took off his hat and backpack, slinging them onto his bed. “It’s about my friend, Will.”

“Who the hell is Dart?” I asked.

“You’re about to see,” he smiled, turning to look at me. Taking a sheet off the tank, he said, “I think–” before stopping his words, the glass on the tank shattered.

“You better start explaining,” I said, coming to stand next to him.

“Liv, look.”

I looked at the slime that was dripping off the edges of the broken glass, more on the floor of the tank. “Gross.”

Dustin picked up what looked like molted skin, something a snake would shed. “What the hell?”

A roaring sound made me jump and turn around to face the other side of the room. A sound that was all too familiar.

“I swear to god, Dustin,” I whispered.

“Dart?” Dustin said. 

I saw a blood trail from about the middle of the room on the carpet to the chair sitting in the corner of the room, going over it. We looked over, my mouth instantly hanging open.

“Oh, my god. Mews,” I gasped.

The creature turned and faced us, opening its mouth and screeching. I put a hand over my mouth to keep from screaming before walking out of Dustin’s room and into mine.

“Liv, I need you to keep calm,” Dustin said, sliding my door shut. 

“Keep calm?” I exclaimed. “Keep calm? Dustin, why is there a fucking Demogorgon in the house?!” I whisper-yelled my question, not wanting to alarm our mom. “Why the hell was it eating Mews?”

“When I found him, he looked like a new species of reptile–”

“Well, he’s not! He’s from the Upside Down! Hopefully he can’t eat through wood because you’re sleeping in here tonight. Or you need to find some way to keep him contained tonight.”

It was quiet for a moment before he asked, “But he’s cute, though, right?” with a small smile on his face.

“Oh, my god.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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~~~

A/N 2:  hi, friends! what do we think about hop trying to keep liv's language in check? please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox.

Additional Note: 

~~~

Forever / Everything Taglist: @stiles-o-dylan24​​ @stixnstripesworld​ @fandom-princess-forevermore​​​ @quanticobae​​​ @mischiefandi​​​ @kellyashcroft @lauren-novak​​​​

Steve Harrington Taglist: @madaboutjoe

If you’re tagged and didn’t want to be, please let me know.

~~~

*Please don’t post my writing anywhere else without my consent. The author of this work will always and forever be @harringtonstilinski​.

All characters, story lines, and plot aside from y/n and her storyline & plot, are all of the work of The Duffer Brothers.

*These works contain material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited.

No part of these works may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.

Posted on January 22, 2024

[identittie-crisis]

rewatching rick and morty for the nth time and S2:Ep4 reminds me how Jerry is at least bi-curious. love that for the guy. bit of a dick but he’s got his perks 🤷‍♀️

[solarpunkpresentspodcast]

Episode 2.4 is live to Patrons!

Episode 2.4: Solarpunk Music to Inspire Action with Thomas Cannon is live to our Patrons! The episode will be available to all via the podcast feed next Monday.

Interested in early access? Support us at https://www.patreon.com/solarpunkpresents.

Other ways of supporting us include leaving us a positive review on your podcatcher of choice, sharing episodes or the podcast as a whole with comrades, friends, and family, commenting on our posts, or sending us an uplifting message. Every little bit helps to lift our spirits and motivate us to keep going!

-Ariel

[witchofinterest]

[shortbreadly]

OH MY FUCKING GOD I’M FUCKING STUPID I DIDN’T NOTICE HE CALLED HIM BLITZY UNTIL NOW

[kipkiphoorayy]

i think showing loser, baby or that one bar scene from the finale to a pilot era huskerdust shipper would be like showing a victorian child bluetooth or something

[its-all-a-blur-pal]

For all time. Always…

[homicidalbrunette]

The fact that we have never seen them lipsync against each other is such a void in gay culture

[dinitride-art]

“Mike wheeler’s armpit of a basement”

“I’ve seen Mike’s room look worse than this”

“I was being a total self pitying idiot”

“Why am I the bad guy”

“One day she’s going to realize that I’m just some random nerd”

“At least Lois Lane is an ace reporter for the Daily Planet”

“I’ve been bullied my whole life”

“Mike’s always whining about it”

“And yet you still have a C in Spanish”

“You can’t even write it Mike”

“You made it super clear that you’re not interested in anything I have to say”

“-and if I said that thing then maybe she’d want me there with her, wherever she is”

“The bad government dudes are after your super-girlfriend right? Right?! Okay, so, maybe the cops can help us find out where she is because they’re gonna kill her, man. And if they kill her, there gonna kill us!”

“Oh, no, no, no, no- it’s a shitty knock off, yeah”

“Who’s that twig with her?”

“That doesn’t mean he’s wrong. I mean, if that guy would’ve lived one more second- one more second- th- we could know where she is. Wh-why didn’t he just say the number? I-I should’ve explained myself, cuz then maybe, Eleven would’ve taken me with her and things would be different but I-I didn’t know what to say”

“And I feel like maybe I-I was worrying too much about El, and I don’t know, maybe I feel like I lost you or something”

“Y’know the last few days, I’ve had to think about the last talk we had. You know, before the cops and the whole word went to shit and everything? I- I guess- I just- I- I dunno- I guess I just wanted to- to say-”

“But… but what if after all of this is over… sh-she doesn’t need me anymore?”

“No I… it’s so stupid, given everything that’s going on. It’s just… I… I don’t know. I just”

“I, love you.”

Mike’s flopping on the floor like a miserable and suffocating fish out of water season. His friends make fun of him. Eddie made fun of his clothes. Karen told Dustin he’s welcome at the Wheeler’s anytime which implies that Mike isn’t really talking to his friends outside of school. Dustin and Mike didn’t know when Lucas’ basketball game was, which implies that they haven’t really been talking to Lucas a lot. Mike did call the Byers but wasn’t able to get through. El and Will are have been in Lenora for months and Mike hasn’t really been able to talk to either of them. El’s been lying to him in her letters and writing and signing letters is a reminder that he’s avoiding writing the word love. Everyone’s telling him that he’s doing something wrong. This kids going through it.

[confused-wanderer]

The new episode of Helluva boss had two A’s crossed.

Amazing and angsty.

But here’s the what ifs I keep wondering about.

NO HATE TO THE CREATORS OR THE SHOW THEY’RE BOTH AMAZING THESE ARE JUST MY OPINIONS SO NO HATE PLEASE.

Forget Blitz coming to save Stolas what about Octavia?

The one person in the world who cherishes Stolas, loves him more then Blitz and is her only stability.

She’s already afraid of losing him, and maybe since she doesn’t know how so many spells her magic would be erratic and dangerously malicious.

I want to see Octavia going ape shit, maybe her protecting Stolas can unlock her demon form for the audience to see as she defends her father with every thing she’s got.

Also things I hope but will probably never happen:

1. Blitz and Octavia team up to take down Stella and Andreaphus.

2. Stella might try to sway Octavia to her side to get possession of Stolas’ stuff.

3. Octavia confronts blitz and tells him about how Stolas has changed since meeting him, how he became happier, more full of life and how now he’s depressed because he doesn’t get to see him anymore.

4. Give me Blitz comforting Octavia

5. Striker returns and Stolas kills him, his last words to striker being “I told you you’d pay if you came near my daughter.” Stolas going feral and torturing Striker, seeing red until Blitz is the one who has to pull him back.

6. Signs that Blitz actually visited Stolas in the hospital a lot before he woke up but never told him.

7. Blitz mother henning Stolas while trying not to be too obvious about it and miserably failing. Going so far as to throw himself in front of Stolas and getting injured, but immediately frantic about Stolas and only calming down when he checks to make sure he’s okay. Give me stubborn but scared Blitz who refuses to talk about it, even to M&M.

Just- Octavia would’ve been devastated hearing the news. You can’t tell me she wouldn’t go feral protecting what she loves dearly. She’s Stolas’ daughter after all.

And when he’s hurt, give me Blitz whose father instincts kick in seeing Octavia cry and he sits down and cheers her up in typical Blitz way.

And maybe he’s terrified too, and they both just sit there in each others company, comforting each other.

This episode gave so much potential to the different possible character interactions and development that could arise from it, but while I’m excited to see what they come up with unfortunately I don’t think many of them will actually happen.

[theangelshavethephonebox]

Cursed idea: What if Jack was so sensitive to the creature's plight in "Meat" because the Master tortured him in a similar way during The Year, carving him up like that.

"Imprisoned, chained and drugged. welcome to planet Earth"

[annoyingboing]

honestly i’m fascinated by loki and mobius’ relationship platonic or romantic. i really hope they address it more in this season (although fat chance because haha disney) because it’s honestly incredible to see how different this loki is from our mcu!timeline loki and it’s the tva and mobius who has helped him change so much

i think the pie scene (OH MY GOD THE PIE SCENE) was a step in the right direction BUT WHY WASNT MOBIUS THERE

[broadwayfan92]

After watching Loki season two episode four

[witchofinterest]

[harringtonstilinski]

Always The Babysitter - Chapter Twenty-Seven: Vecna's Curse

Author: @harringtonstilinski​ Characters: Steve Harrington x Olivia Henderson(OC) Word Count: 4,431 Warnings: fluff, angst, olivia being protective, mentions of chrissy (may she r.i.p.) Smut: no | yes; 18+ MINORS DNI: unprotected m+f (wrap before you tap), oral (f receiving), brief fingering (f receiving), A/N: Hi, friends! We getting Eddie in this chapter!! I'm so freaking excited, lol. If you like this chapter, please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox. As always, read at your own risk and enjoy 😊

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I woke up sore, but a good kind of sore. Feeling a heavy arm on me, I turned my head over my shoulder, looking at Steve’s adorable sleeping face. Smiling, I turned over on my other side, lightly cupping his cheek.

Leaning forward, I placed a light kiss to his lips, feeling his arm tighten around me. Taking a deep breath as Steve started to deepen the kiss, I wrapped my arm around his neck, our lips moving in sync. 

He moved me on my back, caging my head in with his forearms, my other arm going around his neck. I let out a quiet moan as I felt Steve’s tongue meet mine. Feeling his hardened shaft on my thigh, I smiled into the kiss.

“Is that morning wood, or are you happy to see me?” I asked.

Chuckling lightly, he looked at our bodies between the sheets, moving a hand to my core, dipping one finger in my entrance. “Looks like someone’s happy to see me.”

I could hear the stupid ass smirk on his face. “Uh-huh,” I moaned. “Very happy.”

As Steve moved his finger in and out of my core, I cupped his cheek kissing him before he started moving down my body, kissing the valley of my breast, my stomach before kissing right above my clit. 

Moving my hand to his hair, I threaded my fingers through his strands, resting my hand lightly on his head as he kissed my clit before kitten licking it.

“Steve,” I breathed. “More.”

He licked a stripe up my core, my back arching just a little. He fingered me while working on my clit with his beautiful mouth. Just before I was about to cum, he pulled away, crawling his way back up my body before kissing my mouth while putting the head of his cock at my entrance.

“Wait,” I breathed, putting a hand on his hip. “We don’t have any more condoms.”

“I’ll pull out,” he said.

I trusted Steve with everything I had, so I nodded, cupping his face again. “Don’t.”

All movement from him stopped. “W-what?”

“Don’t pull out,” I whispered. “I asked my doctor about being on the pill and she put me on it. Plus, I got tested and I’m clean.”

I could see nothing but adoration in his eyes as he looked at me, a hint of a smile on his face. Picking my head up, I kissed his lips, feeling him kiss me back. I gasped, feeling him enter me bare.

He groaned. “Fuck, you feel amazing.”

“Oh, my god,” I breathed. 

Steve started pumping his hips back and forth, continuing to hit that spot inside me that had me moaning his name like prayer.

“Fuck, Liv,” he groaned. “Won’t last much longer.”

“I’m gonna cum,” I breathed, reaching between us to boost my orgasm. Loudly moaning his name, I came. Hard. Harder than I ever have. I felt Steve’s cock twitch inside me, feeling his seed release into my pussy.

We stayed like that for a moment before I threaded my fingers through his hair, sighing. “We should get up now,” I whispered.

I felt him nod before yawning, lifting his head off my chest, our eyes meeting. He placed a sweet kiss to my lips before lifting himself off of me, slowly pulling out, both of us hissing. Once Steve was out of the bed, he went into his bathroom, relieving himself before coming back out with a damp cloth, wiping up the mess coming out of my core. 

I hummed as he finished cleaning me up, holding his hand out for me to take. Placing my hand in his, he gently helped me out of the bed, a groan coming from my throat.

“You okay?” he asked, placing his hands on my hips as I stood.

“Yeah, just a little sore,” I answered, looking into his eyes, seeing concern. I lightly chuckled, threading my fingers through the hair just above his ear. “But it’s a good kind of sore.” Moving my hand to his chest, I smiled before walking around him to the bathroom, starting the water for a shower.

Once we both had taken a shower together, minus the funny business, we’d gotten dressed for our day at Family Video, going down the stairs to get some breakfast before heading out of the door.

We had to pick up Robin from her house since we all had the same shift this morning. Keith was there to open the door and make sure we got all clocked in before he went into his office for a couple hours.

~~~

After Keith had left, Steve, Robin and I were all busy putting the returns up as Robin told Steve and I about her night in the stands last night at the basketball game. 

“And then Vickie laughed,” she said. “And it wasn’t like a cheap, fake laugh either. It was like… a real, genuine laugh.”

“Of course, she laughed, Robin,” Steve said, putting some returns away. “It was my Muppet joke. It’s hilarious.”

“My point is that Vickie laughed and everything was just like…”

“Right with the world?” I added with a smile on my face as I shelved a VHS case.

“It was perfect,” Robin said.

“But?” Steve asked.

“But I’m having this problem where it’s like, I should stop talking,” she explained. “I have said everything I need to say. But then I guess I get nervous, and the words- they just- they keep spilling out, and it’s like my… my brain is moving faster than my mouth–”

“No, your mouth is moving faster than your brain,” I corrected.

“Well, I’m digging a hole for myself,” she continued. “And I want to stop digging. I’m trying to stop digging, but I can’t. And I’m doing it right now, aren’t I?”

Steve and I were standing next to a shelf of movies, one of his hands on the top of it, his other arm wrapped around my neck as I had my arm around the middle of his back, looking at her with small smiles on both of our faces.

“Yeah, babe,” I said. “You are.”

Robin exhaled, backing up to the poster behind her, resting her back against it, saying, “I’m hopeless.” Steve and I followed, my back against his chest as we both said, “Eh.”

“We all are,” Steve said, wrapping his arms around my stomach, chin meeting my shoulder.

“I wish we could, like, combine,” I said.

“Combine?” Steve asked.

"Think about it, babe. Robin knows exactly what she wants in the girl of her dreams, but lacks the courage to ask her out,” I explained. Unwrapping his arms from around my middle, I started pacing in front of him and Robin. “Meanwhile, we’ve been together for over a year and go on like a million dates. You obviously know what you want because you have me.”

“Mhmm,” Steve mumbled. 

“So if we all combined, all problems would be gone.” I turned around and faced them, hands out to my sides.

“I think I found our morning movie,” Robin said, moving past me.

“Plus, I’m still okay with whoring you out just for a sale,” I said, moving closer to Steve.

“Doctor Zhivago,” Robin’s voice cut through.

“Oh, no,” I said.

“You know I don’t do double VHS,” Steve said, putting his hands on my shoulders to turn me around before he grabbed a buggy full of returns.

“But it’s about doomed love,” Robin said, sweetly.

“Not relatable,” I muttered, moving to the counter.

“Also, Julie Christie is b-b-bonkers hot in this. Like, seriously, the most beautiful creature I have seen in my life,” she said, moving behind the counter with me.

“I thought Vickie was?” I asked, turning on the TV.

The reporter's voice came blaring through the speakers as she said, “We’re in Forest Hills trailer park in east Roane County. We don’t have a lot of details right now, but we can confirm that the body of a Hawkins High student was discovered early this morning. Police have not yet released the victim’s name–”

“Dustin,” I whispered. I turned around and picked the phone up, calling my mom. When she answered, I immediately spit out, “Where’s Dustin? Did he make it home last night?” When she answered that he did, and that he was sitting right next to her, I let out a breath of relief. “Oh, thank god.”

~~~

Our eyes were glued to the screen when we didn’t have any customers in the store. Hugging my arms around myself, I brought my fingers up to play with my bottom lip, something I do when I’m super anxious or just thinking.

The door opening with the sound of the bell ringing above it had me turning around, dropping my hand once I saw Dustin and Max walk through the door.

“Oh, sweet shit,” I whispered in relief as Dustin said, “Hey, Steve.”

“You guys see this?” Steve asked.

“You had me worried sick before I called mom,” I said.

“How many phones do you have?” Dustin asked.

“Someone was murdered,” Steve said.

“How many phones do you have?” my brother enunciated.

“Two, why?”

“Technically three,” Robin said. “If you count Keith’s in the back.” Looking at my brother, Max said, “Yeah, three works,” right before Dustin took his backpack from his shoulders, slinging it over the counter.

“Dustin, no,” I said, already knowing what he was about to do.

He pushed his bag across the counter before jumping on it, Robin, Steve and I exclaiming our own words.

“What are you–?” 

“My pile!”

“Dustin, no!”

He kicked the tapes that Steve had stacked up, the older teen saying, “No, no, no! My tapes! Dude.”

“You couldn’t have gone around the damn counter?” I asked, right behind him once he cleared the counter and sat at the computer. “Hey, shit for brains, that’s for employees only. What the hell are you doing?”

“Setting up base of operations, shit for brains,” Dustin replied.

“Base of operations?” Robin asked.

I tried pushing him off the stool, but he fought back, bringing an arm up to protect himself and to push me back. “Get off, Dustin.”

“No, Liv, stop. I need it.”

“The fuck for?”

“Looking up Eddie’s friend’s phone numbers,” Dustin explained.

“Care to explain why?” I asked, crossing my arms. I knew Eddie sold weed, and his friends might’ve as well, but I didn’t know for sure. I knew who Eddie’s dealer was though, but I wasn’t about to let them know that just yet. “Will someone please answer the phone?!”

“Oh, Eddie,” Steve said. “Your new best friend you think is cooler because he plays your nerdy game?”

“Steve, stop,” I breathed, turning to look at him.

“Yes,” Dustin groaned. Turning to Steve, he said, “I never said that.”

“Seriously, you guys,” Robin voiced. “Maybe on a Monday, you can play around in here like toddlers, but it’s Saturday. It’s our busiest day.”

Clipboard and pencil in hand, Dustin looked at the computer after typing in one of Eddie’s friends names, saying, “Alright, look, Robin, I totally empathize, but this cannot wait until Monday.”

“Oh, my god,” I muttered, hearing Steve mutter it as well. I rolled my eyes, sighing, while turning around to help Robin pick up Dustin’s mess.

“What, ‘cause calling all of Eddie’s friends is an emergency?” Robin asked.

“Correct!” Dustin exclaimed.

“Since I’m his older sister, do you want me to strangle him?” I asked. “Because I’m  itching to strangle the little shit.”

“We can take turns,” Robin said, turning her head to look at me with a smile.

“Can you just fill them in while I do this?” Dustin asked. “Fill us in on what?” Robin and I asked, turning to face my brother, boyfriend and Max, the latter looking like she really didn’t want to explain whatever it was that she was about to.

~~~

After Max had explained to us that she saw Eddie and Chrissy enter his trailer after the game last night and that some funky shit happened with her lights and TV, and that she knows it’s Chrissy’s body they wheeled out this morning and Eddie was nowhere to be seen, three out of the five us got busy calling all Eddie’s friends, trying to find out where he was hiding.

When I heard Max say Reefer Rick, I knew exactly who she was talking about; aka, Eddie’s dealer. After I wrote his name down, I watched as Steve walked by with the tapes for Doctor Zhivago, chuckling while shaking my head as I sat down at the computer, working on typing returns in, while also typing in Eddie’s friends names to get their phone numbers for Dustin, Robin and Max.

Steve came back around the counter, handing me the tapes, running his hand along my back while I asked for the girl's information to add it to her account. Once she gave it to me, Steve ran his hand along my back again as he went back around the counter, walking the girl out.

I heard him whisper, “Goddammit,” as he came back inside. All I could do was giggle and shake my head at him, finding humor in all this. Hearing one of the phones being placed back on the receiver, I turned around, looking at Max as she said, “I might have a lead.” “Seriously?” Dustin asked, excited.

“Yeah,” Max replied. “Apparently, Eddie gets drugs from some guy named Reefer Rick, and sometimes Eddie crashes there.” Humming, I turned back around before saying in a sing-song voice, “I could’ve told you that.” Silence for a few seconds as I typed in Rick’s name, feeling a hand collide with the back of my head. “Ow! What the fu–”

“And you’re just now saying something?” Dustin exclaimed.

“It’s not like anyone asked,” I said, looking at the computer before rubbing the back of my head, whispering, “Shithead.”

Robin, Dustin and Max had a small conversation as I typed and looked for Rick’s information, hearing something about a last name.

“Bet the cops know a last name,” Steve said.

I looked at him - well, moreso his back - watching as he placed a movie back in the crate at the front of the store as Max said, “What?” “Cops.” 

It was silent for a moment before I raised my eyebrows, saying, “Babe? Elaborate?” with curiosity.

“I mean, listen, if this Reefer Rick is actually a drug dealer-” Steve said, until I interrupted with “He is.”

Steve turned to rest his arms on the counter, continuing, “I guarantee you he’s been busted at some point. Means he’s in the system.”

“Like Olivia?” Dustin said.

I looked at him, an unamused expression on my face. “Gee, thanks for that.”

“The cops?” Dustin turned to face Steve a little more head on. “Really, Steve? That’s your suggestion?”

“I mean, I just think at this point they should probably be filled in on what we know, what’s going on,” Steve said.

“You think Eddie’s guilty, don’t you?” 

“Whoa, I believe in innocent until proven guilty, all that constitutional shit. I just, ya’know, just don’t think that we can rule it out.”

“You’d be a terrible cop, babe,” I said.

“That’s precisely what we’re trying to do here, Steve,” Max said.

“And maybe we’d have a little bit more luck if you spent less time whoring yourself out - with Liv’s permission - to get a sale and more time trying to find Eddie,” Dustin said.

“Oh, well, someone has to tend to the customers,” Steve retorted.

“Especially if they’re babes, right?” Robin and I said, the former winking.

Pointing to Robin, Steve said, “Hey, not fair,” before pointing to me saying, “You’re the one who agreed to this. And I tend to all the customers equally, babes and non-babes alike. We’ve got a very big selection in here. Okay, it can be super overwhelming for these people.”

“Okay, will someone please for the love of god pay attention to what I have up on this godforsaken computer?” I asked, gesturing to the device with my hands. “Okay, I have something we all have been looking for.”

Everyone huddled around me, seeing what I brought up on the computer. “Now, tell me how many Rick’s check out Fast Times, and not one, but three Cheech & Chong movies?”

“Baby, you’re a genius,” Steve said.

Flipping my hair over my shoulder, I said with a smile, “I know.”

“I could kiss you stupid right now.”

“Do that later,” Dustin said. “What’s the last name?”

“Lipton, like the tea. Lives at 2121 Holland Road. Which you could’ve also asked for earlier.” Again with the silence, so I groaned and hung my head for a moment before picking it back up. “I used to buy from him sophomore year.”

“The same year you started getting busted for all those B&E’s?” Steve asked.

“Yup,” I nodded. “The very one!”

“That’s out by Lover’s Lake,” Dustin said.

“Middle of nowhere,” Max added.

“Perfect place to hide,” Robin also added.

Robin, Steve and I went into the back to grab our stuff we walked in with, not bothering to clock out before we ran outside, Robin turning the sign to closed and locking the door. I hopped in the passenger seat as Steve sat in the driver’s seat, turning the car on as Dustin, Robin and Max piled in the backseat.

Reefer Rick’s, here we come!

~~~

It was dark by the time we made it to Reefer Rick’s. All I wanted to do was just close my eyes for an hour… or eight.

When Steve parked the car, we all piled out, heading to the front door of the house. Dustin rang the doorbell, waiting for a moment before pressing it again before becoming impatient and ringing the bell over and over again.

“Okay,” Steve said. “Well, that’s settled. I guess he’s not here.”

Dustin knocked on the door, becoming very impatient. “Eddie! It’s Dustin!”

“Awesome,” I breathed.

“Look, we just wanna talk, okay?! No cops, I swear! We just wanna help.”

Dustin, Steve, Max and Robin all had flashlights, except for me, for some reason. But that was okay because Steve’s fingers were threaded between mine.

I looked over to my left, watching as Robin looked through the window next to the door, as Dustin knocked on the door again, saying Eddie’s name before ringing the doorbell once again.

“Rick!” Dustin said before banging on the door. “Reefer Riiiiiiiiick!”

“Don’t scream that,” Steve said.

I walked away, following Max as Dustin screamed Rick’s name again, Steve saying, “Stop, he’s not there.”

Seeing the boathouse, I called, “Guys! Boathouse!” I felt everyone behind me before I started moving towards the boathouse, walking inside. “Hello? Anyone home? Eddie? Hey, it’s Liv. Are you here?”

“What a dump,” Steve muttered.

I looked over at him, unamused as he looked around. “Not everyone can grow up in a big house on the nicer side of town there, babe,” I said as I followed him around the other side of the boat that was sitting in the middle of the boathouse, his light turning off catching my eye. 

Watching him as he got an oar off the wall, I scrunch my eyebrows in confusion. “Babe, what are you doing?”

He ignored my question, stabbing the oar into the tarp that was in the boat. I jumped at the sound, as well as Dustin, who asked, “What are you doing?”

“Steven, what are you doing?” I asked, a little more sternly.

“He might be in here,” Steve answered.

“So take the tarp off,” Dustin quietly exclaimed.

Gesturing to the tarp with his hand, Steve said, “If you’re so brave, you take the tarp off,” before going back to stabbing it with the oar.

Max and Robin went over to a table, inspecting all the stuff that was on it as Max said, “Someone was here.”

“Maybe he heard us. Got spooked and ran,” Robin suggested.

Being a sarcastic little shit, Dustin said, “Don’t worry. Steve will get him with his oar.”

I chuckled as Steve said, “I know you think you’re being funny, Henderson, but considering the fact that everyone in this room has nearly died about a hundred times, personally, I don’t find it funny in the slight–”

His words were interrupted by a figure jumping out of the boat, pinning Steve to the wall, as he shouted, “Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!” before the sharp end of a broken glass bottom was pointed at his neck.

Realizing it’s Eddie, I held my hands out to him, standing between him and Steve, and Dustin, Max and Robin. “Eddie, Eddie, Eddie!! Stop, stop, stop!!”

“Eddie! Eddie!” Dustin shouted, the older teen looking at him. “It’s me. It’s Dustin. This is Steve.”

“He’s not gonna hurt you, right, baby?” I asked, my breathing heavy.

“Right,” Steve whispered, agreeing. “Yeah.”

“Babe, drop the oar.”

He let it go, but that didn’t stop Eddie from trying to stab Steve’s neck, Dustin and I protesting as my fear went from an 8 to an 11 on a scale of one to ten.

“He’s cool,” Dustin said. “He’s cool.”

“I’m cool, man,” Steve whispered. “I’m cool.”

Looking at Steve, but directing his question at the whole group, or at least to just Dustin and myself, Eddie asked, “What are you doing here?”

“We’re looking for you,” Dustin said, hands out and eyes wide. 

“We’re here to help,” Robin said.

Eddie looked at us and it was just now that I could see the fear in his eyes, the emotion only softening a little as he locked eyes with me and Dustin. 

“These are my friends,” Dustin said. “You know Liv, my annoying older sister. You know Robin, from band.”

She imitated herself playing her trumpet.

“This is my friend Max. The one who never wants to play D&D.”

“Eddie,” I said, his eyes meeting mine. I took a tentative step towards him, my hands dropping slightly. “We’re on your side. Okay? I swear on mine and Dustin’s mother! Right, guys?”

“Yes, yes, we swear,” Max said.

“On Mrs. Henderson,” Robin said.

“On their… their mother,” Steve said.

It took a couple seconds but Eddie finally let go of Steve, my boyfriend groaning in relief as I rushed to him, putting my hands on his cheeks, checking him over.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

He nodded his head, “Yeah, I’m fine.” He bent over some, putting his hand on his neck as I rubbed his back before he sat on a stool next to us, pulling me into his lap.

Eddie was leaned against the wall he had Steve pinned against, sliding down into a squat. 

“Eddie,” Dustin said, squatting in front of him. “We just… want… to talk.” He reached for the bottle, Eddie snatching it back, his hand shaking from fear and adrenaline. “Okay.”

Robin walked over slowly, squatting down next to Dustin, Max following behind her to stand. “We wanna know what happened.” He shook his head, sniffling. “You don’t believe me.” ‘Try us,” I said, softly.

He looked at me like he didn’t believe me, but he wanted to do so bad.

I knew Eddie from the times I’d drop Dustin off for Hellfire at the school. Since I used to watch The Party play when they were little, I would stay and watch Hellfire. Eddie and I became friends, mainly because of Dustin. 

One night, they all got into a dispute about something non-D&D related, so I put my own two cents in, and ever since that night, mine and Eddie’s relationship was strictly platonic, just like Robin and Steve’s. 

Eddie moved from where he was squatted against the wall to sitting by the boat, legs crossed over each other as he explained what happened with Chrissy, voice tight with tears. “Her body just, like, lifted up into the air and, uh… and she just, like, hung there. In the air. And her bones, uh, she…” He made a noise, like he was humming to himself. “Her bones started to snap. Her eyes, man. It… it was like there was something, like, inside her head, pulling.”

My heart broke from him hearing his voice crack and tighten with every word he was saying. Steve and I had moved to stand next to a post, his arm around my shoulders, my left arm around his lower back. Robin was leaning on a table next to us, Max sitting on the stool in front of Steve and I, Dustin right up at the front, sitting on his knees in front of Eddie.

“I… I didn’t know what to do, so I…” Eddie said. “I ran away. I left her there.” He scoffed before saying, “You all think I’m crazy, right?” 

I shook my head, my own breath stuttering, “No, Eddie. We do not think you’re crazy.”

“Look, don’t bullshit me, Olivia! I know how this sounds!”

Steve’s grip on me tightening a little, my own tightening to let him know it was okay and that I had it handled.

“We’re not bullshitting you, Eddie. We believe you.”

Eddie let out the breath he was holding before Dustin said, “Look, what I’m about to tell you might be a little… difficult to take.”

Eddie blinked, nodding his slightly, saying, “Okay.”

“You know how people say Hawkins is… cursed? Well, they’re not way off.”

“There’s another world,” I added. “A world hidden beneath Hawkins, and sometimes it bleeds into ours.”

“Like ghosts and shit?” Eddie wondered.

“There are some things… worse than ghosts,” Max said.

“These monsters from this other world, we thought they were gone,” Dustin said. “But they’ve come back before, and that’s why we needed to find you.”

“If they’re back again,” Max said. “We need to know.”

“That night,” Robin wondered. “Did you see anything?”

“Dark particles, maybe?” Eddie shook his head, telling us no with just the movement.

“It would almost look like dust swirling around,” I said.

“No, Liv,” Eddie said. “There was nothing you could see or, uh… or touch.” He was quiet for a minute before he said, “Ya’know, I tried to wake her, Liv. She couldn’t move. It’s like she was–she was in a trance or something.”

“Or under a spell,” Dustin said.

“A curse.”

“Vecna’s curse.”

“Who’s Vecna?” Steve asked.

I placed my right hand on his chest, looking up at him as Dustin and I said, “An undead creature of great power.”

“A spell caster,” Eddie said.

“A dark wizard,” Dustin added.

Well, folks… here we go again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Posted on April 30, 2024

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