#steve’s panic when he realizes max is driving the car

[runninguplenorahills]

Nothing will EVER top the comedy that was Max driving Steve’s car in s2!

[xoxoavenger]

The Perfect Plan

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Fem!Reader

summary: Steve has a perfect plan to propose to Y/N, but the timing seems not so perfect.

word count: 2009

warnings: none

masterlist

Steve had it planned out perfectly.

Everyone was back in town, the plan being that they were all gonna camp out at the lake as a reunion. Steve was sending all the girls out to get their nails done, so Y/N wouldn't be suspicious as to why her nails had to be done. Even Robin was getting hers done, if only because Steve told her the plan. Nancy seemed suspicious, but Steve was confident she wouldn't say anything. Now, all that was left to do was to get everything set up at the campsite with the boys.

"So, why are they all getting their nails done before we're going camping?" Eddie asks, helping Steve lay out one of the tents. Steve just shrugs casually, as if he didn't plan the whole thing.

"I thought Nancy told me it was your idea?" Jonathan asks from across the camp, pausing his fight with Will.

"El told me it was just them getting together before having to be here." Mike chimes in, dropping his tent and causing Dustin to jerk forward.

"Having to be here?" Steve repeats, feeling a little hurt that El didn't want to hang out with him.

"Max said they were supposed to be back, like, an hour ago." Lucas said, finishing his tent. They've got quite a few up, and Steve made sure his and Y/N's tent is furthest away from everyone. He finally finishes setting up the tent with Eddie. He looks over to see Mike and Dustin still struggling, but otherwise there are six (seven with Mike and Dustin's) tents standing between the trees.

Steve checks his watch for the first time since they arrived and realizes that it's been far too long, even with all six girls getting their nails done. It's starting to get dark, and he wanted them to be here before the moon settled in.

"What the hell are they doing?" Steve mutters, frown creasing his face. He looks toward the boys as they start yelling, still not having the last tent set up, when a couple cars start rolling in the dirt road.

"Finally!" Dustin throws his poles on top of the tent tarp and walks away. "Maybe they can figure this out." He mutters, and Eddie just smirks in amusement.

"Sorry we're late!" Robin runs out of Y/N's car, which she was driving. Steve tried to look around Robin for Y/N, but then Robin was in front of Steve. Her face was trying to smile but he could tell something was wrong.

"What happened?" Steve's heart is racing, thinking the worst.

"Don't panic," Robin starts, which makes him panic even more. Robin's about to tell him the rest when Y/N runs stumbles into Steve.

"Steeeve!" She screeches, flinging her arms around him.

She's drunk.

"I thought you were," Steve starts, but he catches Robin's eyes over Y/N's shoulder and sees her shake her head, pointing to her nails and frowning. Steve gets the hint that he should not talk about the nails for some reason.

"Steve!" Y/N cries, this time sadness seeping through her voice. "Steve, oh my God, they fucked up!" He's pretty sure there's real tears coming out of her eyes, so he just rubs her back while staring at Robin, mouthing what the fuck.

"She made us go to the bar and do shots." Erica sighs, walking up to the boys.

"How did you get in?" Lucas asks as he walks up, crossing his arms. His younger sister, the only one in the group not 21, just stares at him.

"Why did you do shots?" Steve whispers to Y/N, who's still hugging him close and crying.

"Look at these!" She cries, shoving her hands in his face. He grabs her wrist to see more clearly, pushing her hand away slighting so it wasn't right next to his eyeballs.

"What's wrong with them?" Steve asks, seeing the color. She had chosen a light, pastel version of her favorite color. They're short and cute, and Steve is confused as he stares at them.

"Are you kidding me?" She cries, tears falling down her face. She walks over to the far tent, probably because she wants to be away from everyone, and almost rips the zipper as she locks herself in. Steve is glad he put all their stuff in there before helping everyone set up the rest of the tents, because he thinks she could use a nap.

"I think she knows." Robin whispers as the other girls begin getting their stuff out of the cars and helping the boys finish up everything. The sun is starting to set, and Steve feels a headache coming on already.

"What?" Steve knows what Robin must be talking about, but he doesn't want to admit it to myself.

"She wanted white nails. White! But somehow, they were out of whit polish. I mean, what kind of nail salon runs out of white?" Robin looks over to the tent Y/N disappeared into, Steve following her eyes. It's quiet, but Steve is sure she's still crying.

"That's why she's upset?" Steve asks, trying to understand his girlfriend's frustration. It's just a color. Why would it matter?

"I wish." Max is suddenly next to them, and Steve almost jumps at the sound of her voice. "No, it's worse than that."

"Worse?" Steve is so confused and worried now, not sure what he can do to make this better.

"They cut her nails too short." Robin explains with a sigh, remembering the terrible experience at the salon.

"And the polish isn't even!" El chimes in from where she's helping Mike set up their tent. It's going much better than it had with Dustin, who has a beer cracked open as he watches Eddie and Argyle trying to start the fire.

"Shit." Steve puts a hand on his face, not sure what to do. This was supposed to be the perfect time to propose; they brought champagne, they're all here to celebrate. He can't push it off. Maybe it would cheer her up, if he did it tomorrow instead of on the last day?

Steve leaves everyone to go over to the tent, heart cracking when he hears the sniffles from outside the tent.

"Y/N?" He mutters before he begins to unzip the tent. She's laying there, on the small air mattress Steve somehow managed to sneak in and blow it up with only Eddie noticing. Eddie had asked if Y/N was pregnant, and Steve had almost slapped him, and then Eddie stayed quiet about it.

Steve isn't sure if Eddie thinks she's pregnant, but if it keeps him from telling everyone that there's a mattress in their tent then he'll let him think whatever. Now that Y/N is drunk however, he's not sure how long that secret is gonna last.

"Baby, what can I do?" Steve asks quietly, noticing how she put on the sheets and blankets and pillows on the bed but didn't get underneath it. Y/N just stays face down, sniffling into the pillow. He feels bad, but he has no idea what to do.

"There's nothing to do." Y/N cries, not lifting her head.

"What if I make a fire so you can have a s'more?" He suggests, rubbing her back. She looks up slowly, and he fights back a smile.

"That's fine." She says, sitting up and falling into him.

"And when we get home, I'll redo your nails." Steve has no idea how to do nails, but it makes Y/N give a watery smile.

"I wish I could go back in time." Y/N says, and Steve knows they need to get off this line of thought.

"If you went back in time then we wouldn't be having s'mores." He tells her, trying to get her out of the tent.

"You right." Y/N giggles, letting Steve lead her back out.

~

The next day, they're on a hike. Dustin is complaining, so much that Steve wants to throw him over the side of the mountain. It's not a large one, but needs some peace. His heart is racing, the ring in his pocket burning a hole in his thigh.

They all make it to the top, Eddie throwing himself dramatically over the bench with a groan while Dustin continues to complain. Everyone splits up, walking around the top and talking to each other. Y/N and Steve walk to the edge, overlooking the lake and the forest.

"We saved that." Y/N smirks, reminiscing on the UpsideDown days. Steve scrunches his face at the unpleasant memories but feels a little pride bubble up.

"I love you." Steve mutters, looking down at her and pulling away slightly. She smiles at him from under her cap, tilting her head to let him kiss her. He pulls away and is about to get down when Robin snatches his arm and pulls him away.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Robin asks lowly, eyes wide but brows pinched.

"What are you doing?" Steve asks, anger bleeding into his voice. "You're ruining my proposal!" He almost yells it, but one look over his shoulder at Y/N, who is now talking to Max and El, makes him lower his voice.

"Your proposal was ruined when Y/N's nails got all messed up! You can't propose because then every time she thinks of the proposal she'll remember her nails." Robin explains. Steve thinks this through; it makes sense, but he doesn't like it.

"But you said you thought she knew about it anyway." Steve argues. Robin just shakes her head. "So if I don't propose, she may get upset."

"Steve," Robin mutters, but Steve isn't listening.

"I chose this weekend because all our friends are here. If I wait, you guys won't be here. So if it's that big of a deal, I will go to the goddamn store and buy fake nails and glue them to her nails and paint them white then, fuck, that's what will happen!" Steve runs a hand through his hair, his voice raised louder than he realized. Robin was looking wide eyed behind him, and Steve was at the end of his rope.

"Steve," She says again, but he almost explodes.

"What?" He yells, watching Robin point behind him. He turns to see Y/N, mouth open as she stares at him.

His heart stops.

"You heard that?" He asks her, trying not to let his voice shake.

"Of course I did." She whispers, smiling with teary eyes. Steve isn't sure what to do, so he just stares. "Steve, I love that you would do that for me. But I don't need that. And I had a feeling you would propose, which is why I was upset. But I knew how much thought you put into this." She raises an eyebrow after she finishes, clearly waiting for Steve to finish what he started.

"I love you." He repeats, and she just smiles even harder as he gets down on one knee. "I have known it was you since the beginning. And I couldn't imagine my life without you. I don't want to. I feel like I finally found myself when I found you. And I want to feel like this forever."

Steve's back is facing Robin, so he doesn't see Robin open her mouth to say Get on with it! and Eddie skillfully putting his hand over Robin's mouth.

"Will you marry me?" He asks, barely getting the words out over the emotion in his throat. Y/N nods, and then Steve realizes he never brought out the ring. He fumbles for a moment in his pocket before grabbing the ring and pulling it out. She lets him slide it over her finger but doesn't even let him stand before she is tackling him to the ground in a hug. Everyone is cheering, their friends letting them have one moment before they join in on the dogpile.

"This is perfect." She whispers into Steve's ear. He just chuckles and rubs her back. He's barely able to breathe underneath everyone, but he doesn't tell them to move.

"Who brought the champagne?" Dustin asks, and everyone hikes quickly down the mountain to get back to the camp. 

//

tags: @avada-kedavra-bitch-187  @one-sweet-gubler @sadbitchfangirl @gloryekaterina  @oblivion-void @alexshaff2002 @m-rae23 @icequeen1371 @mcueveryday @parkershoco @feelinglikeineedlotsofnaps @peculiarwren @kenzi-woycehoski @multifandom-boss-bitch @freezaz123 @mads-weasley @johnricharddeacy @sweetdreamsshifter @param8re @ashlynhasmanyhyperfixations @wish-upon-a-star-1310

[panickedpenguin]

I am melting with the idea of Billy arriving in Hawkins later, after everything's said and done, people have died, like kids have died, and Steve is a depleted mess of a person who is desperate for soft things to ease his nightmares. Steve doesn't talk much, doesn't wear bright colors or flirt anymore, only ever hangs out with the screaming panic attack that is Robin.

Max begins to make friends with Lucas and Dustin, filling the void that is the loss of El and Will, being introduced to Mike who lives in the long-term ward of the hospital. Max meeting Steve and being suspicious of how quiet and sad he is, like he might kill somebody, like he might kill himself, because she's only ever known rage and never depression.

And then there's Billy. Billy coming in hot and bothered by this guy who used to be the town sweetheart, used to be the high school basketball star, apparently used to have a real nice car. But now he's a ghost, wandering around the police station doing secretarial work that just doesn't make sense to Billy. And that's how Billy gets to know him first, at the station. He's given a speeding ticket every week, he's fined for disturbing the peace and nearly arrested for disassembling a car engine on public sidewalks. But also for Billy's business permit and purchase of property and some tax debauchle including the previous owner of a 1976 chevy pickup. Billy was working hard to open his own garage and build a clientele of hobbyists and car builders. All this to say, he didn't want to be thinking about the sad eyes of some cop-wanabe.

None the less, he tries to get those eyes to show some other emotion. He tries to make Steve laugh, or grimace, or even get a good eye roll. When his small jokes and barbs don't work, Billy escalates to teasing and name calling. Some days, what Billy thinks must be the worst days, Billy has to resort to shoving Steve's folders onto the ground and calling him stupid for doing a woman's job just to get his eyes to show anything but black.

There's one time he manages to make Steve cry. There's one time he makes Steve grin and blush. It's a lot. Billy realizes he has a big fat crush and it's driving him mad.

So I'm melting at the thought of Steve learning how to feel emotions again, how to feel safe in his feelings and accepted as a person, all wrapped in the softest blankets while bad boy Billy kisses the top of his head and tells him to hush up, they're getting to the best part.

[steddiealltheway]

Part Nine of Not-So-Secret Secret Admirer!!!!!!!!! Part One. Part Eight. AO3 Link.

It’s been a week since Eddie has been to Family Video, and he isn’t any closer to figuring out how to live his life without Steve. Instead, he’s figuring out how to avoid Steve which also means trying to avoid Dustin and the other kids so no one tries to interfere with things. Wayne has been giving him space while also being persistent that he eats and gets out every once in a while. 

And Eddie... he’s actually written a few songs. Not for Corroded Coffin because they’re the slowest, most depressing music that he would never want another soul – and especially his bandmates – to hear, but they’re just for him to try to make something out of what he’s feeling. But this also means that he just kind of wallows. 

There’s a knock on the trailer door and Eddie waits a minute, hoping that they’ll just go away. But then the knocking gets really persistent, so Eddie gets out of bed and flings the door open. 

“Red?” 

Max stands on the other side of the door, walkie in hand. “We need a ride,” she says. 

Eddie crosses his arms. “Who?” 

“The whole party. We’re having a movie night tonight at Steve’s, but we need to get a movie from Family Video. You’re invited too by the way.” 

Eddie can feel a look of panic settle over his face that Max catches immediately. “What?” 

He takes a moment to debate how detrimental it would be to turn down the ride, but he knows that would only have Max trying to pry the truth out of him. If he accepts the ride, he can just make some lame excuse about not wanting to go inside, and maybe the kids won’t notice. 

“Nothing, I just have something to do so you guys need to be quick. And I won’t be able to make it tonight,” Eddie says, hoping that’s enough to keep Max from sensing something’s wrong.  

Max looks at him for a moment, and Eddie prepares to be interrogated until she holds up her walkie and says, “Eddie said yes.” 

“Any excuse to see Steve, I swear,” comes Dustin’s answering response. 

Eddie holds out his hand to Max who hands over the walkie. “You realize I can hear you, right?” Eddie asks. 

There’s no response which Eddie interprets as Dustin likely swearing in his room. Eddie grabs his keys off the counter and feels very thankful that he had decided to shower and put on clean clothes that morning as he climbs into his van. Time to make a few stops. 

Once everyone is in the van, Eddie tries to not participate at all in the conversation, hoping that they won’t bring up- 

“So, Eddie, how’s the admirer stuff going?” Mike of all people pipes up. 

Shit shit shit. Eddie sits in the anticipatory silence and decides he needs to come clean. “It’s not happening anymore.” 

The car erupts, but mainly everyone is asking, “So, you’re dating now?” 

Eddie scoffs, “No, actually, Steve isn’t really talking to me right now.” 

“That’s why Steve has been so upset because Mom and Dad are fighting,” Dustin jokes, but Lucas ends up hitting him on the arm and shaking his head. 

“More like Mom divorced Dad,” Eddie says. The car goes silent. 

Will ends up speaking up, “So, what happened?” 

Eddie figures that he might as well tell them. “Robin and I set him up with a random girl who pretended to be the admirer, and Steve found out it was all a lie and that everyone except him knew about it. So be careful today, he might be mad at you all, too.” 

In the rearview mirror, Eddie sees Max shaking her head before she starts whispering to El. Luckily, she doesn’t voice her thoughts out loud. 

The rest of the drive is short but filled with awkward fleeting silence as they try and fail to start a new conversation. Seems like everyone is anticipating their impending doom: a Steve Harrington lecture. 

Eddie pulls into the parking lot of Family Video which is strangely empty beside Steve’s car. One of these days, Eddie will show up on Steve’s day off. “Have fun,” Eddie says as they start climbing out of his van. 

When the final door closes, Eddie nearly slumps in relief before his driver-side door opens up. Max and El stand next to his door with matching intense looks of determination. “You’re coming with us, and if you don’t go willingly, El will make this very hard for you,” Max says with her arms crossed and eyebrows slightly raised. 

Being threatened with superpowers was definitely not something Eddie had factored in when bringing them there, but there's no way he's getting out of this. “Okay, okay,” Eddie says and climbs out of the van. His legs are shaking and his heart is already pounding. He hopes Steve is on his break. 

When he walks through the door and glances around, he nearly jumps for joy as he sees that Steve really might actually be on his break because he’s nowhere in sight. There’s only Robin who looks highly concerned. “What are you doing here?” she asks lowly then glances toward the backroom where Steve must be. 

“I’m being held here against my will,” Eddie says and cocks his head towards El. 

Robin crosses her arms and gives El a look. “Okay, you may think you’re helping, but Steve just started talking and even joking with me again and somewhat started to pretend things are normal between us. And I’ve been apologizing for weeks now. I have no idea what he’s going to do if he sees all of us here at once.” 

It’s a fair point. Eddie turns to El and nods, “I absolutely agree, and I’m pretty sure I’m the last person he wants to see. So, I’m going to head back to the van, and I’ll see you guys soon.” 

Eddie turns to leave, but his feet don’t move. What the hell? He tries to pick them up but it’s like he’s stuck in cement or something. He looks at El who has a thin trail of blood running down from her nose. “El, seriously let me go.” 

There’s a bit of commotion as Dustin, Lucas, Will, and Mike realize what’s happening and start telling her to cut it out. Max argues with them and tells them it’s for the best while Robin panickily tells them they need to lower their volume or Steve- 

"What the hell is going on?” Steve asks as the door to the breakroom flies open. He freezes as he makes eye contact with Eddie. 

Eddie’s heart seems to stop beating. This is the moment he’s been simultaneously dreading and looking forward to. 

Steve looks... rough. Well, nothing compared to his usual bright self that Eddie had gotten so accustomed to. The lines between his eyebrows are more creased than usual, there’s a tenseness to his whole body but it seems especially concentrated in his shoulders, and the weird thing that really gets Eddie is that his hair looks... flat. 

He’s still gorgeous, and no matter what he does, he always will be. But he also looks like he’s stopped taking care of himself as much as he used to. Eddie knows he doesn’t look any better – actually, he most definitely looks worse. 

“What are you doing here?” Steve asks more confused than accusatory. 

Eddie tilts his head to the right. “I wasn’t going to come in, I promise. They’re kind of holding me hostage.” 

Dustin, Lucas, Will, and Mike all start loudly explaining that it isn’t them, but Steve waves a hand through the air and they all go silent. “El, let Eddie go,” Steve says with his hands coming to his hips. 

Eddie feels a weight lifted off of him and he can’t help but let his gaze linger on Steve for a moment. Steve nods at him with his lips in a tight line. Eddie turns around and pushes the front door open. 

At least, he would push it open, but it won’t budge. He curses under his breath and tries the other one which also won’t budge. He turns back to El who looks away as if she didn’t do anything. 

“Okay, what do you want?” Eddie asks. 

“For this all to be over,” Max answers instead of El. 

Steve shakes his head and lets out a humorless laugh. 

“You know what,” Max says, “This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever witnessed in my life. Sure, yes, everyone knew about the plan. But the thing is, we all knew that Eddie was in love with Steve, right?” 

The rest of the party and even Robin nod hesitantly. “And I don’t know about anyone else, but I thought it was all an elaborate way for Eddie to finally confess his feelings to Steve.” 

“Yeah, I mean, I thought that was pretty obvious,” Lucas comments and holds his hands up when Eddie shoots him a look. 

Steve crosses his arms and says, “No, it was a way to get me to shut up about my dating life. Plus, isn’t your whole thing ‘friends don’t lie?’”  

The Party all look at each other guiltily, but Will is the one who manages to say, “What about the whole thing with Dustin’s leg?” 

“The what?” Dustin asks. 

“Oh yeah,” Lucas says with a smile, “You were complaining about how horrible your broken leg was all the time. Then, when I hurt my ankle, we kind of played up how badly I had hurt it. And you suddenly got all brave and stopped complaining and even showed me some exercises to help it get better.” 

Dustin looks at everyone and points at them. “You all knew this?!” 

Eddie glances around as everyone, including Steve, starts to nod. Somehow, Eddie had missed this. 

“But, after that, you stopped complaining and your leg started to actually heal a lot faster. You even started to talk about things other than your leg for once, and it felt like we got the real Dustin back,” Mike says. “But sorry man, we were only trying to help.” 

Everyone chimes in to apologize, but Dustin cuts them off, “I’m going to be pissed for a while, but I will admit that it was nice to pretend to be better than Lucas for a bit. Plus... my leg did heal faster – even the doctor was surprised.” 

“Yeah, compare faking a love interest to healing a broken leg,” Eddie mutters. 

“If you think about it, it’s kind of the same,” El says. Eddie gives her a look before she continues, “Dustin broke his leg, and even though we faked the intensity of Lucas’s injury, the injury was still real. It even resulted in Dustin’s leg getting better. For Steve, he had a broken... heart or ego, and although the love interest was fake, Eddie’s love for Steve was not fake, and that’s why I don’t understand why Steve’s heart is not healed.”

“That was really good El,” Will whispers to her encouragingly, and she smiles back at him. 

“His heart isn’t healed because we all lied to him, and I didn’t start off this fake thing to win him over or whatever. I didn’t even have feelings for him when it started,” Eddie admits although the truth is painful. 

“Bullshit,” Dustin says. 

“Language,” Steve quietly warns him. 

“No, I also call bullshit,” Robin agrees. 

Then, several people speak up about how it’s all bullshit, and Eddie remembers what that word means to Steve and sees him quickly break. “It’s bullshit that I had feelings for him before the secret admirer bullshit, and then I fell in love with him when he was faking it all because you guys didn’t want to hear me rant to you. Did you not realize you could’ve just talked to me? You could have said, ‘Steve, we love you, but please shut up about your love life.’ And I would’ve listened. But instead, you went on an elaborate scheme to trick me, and I had to embarrass myself in the process because everyone knew. And then you set me up on a fake date with some stranger who I didn’t get along with at all because you thought I would be stupid enough to believe that I would think she was the admirer and for some reason I would instantly fall for her.” 

Fell in love? Feelings before? Eddie glances toward Steve who is flushed red, hands on his hips, looking at everyone except him. Without the stupid admirer plot, he could’ve ended up with Steve and never hurt him. If he would’ve just talked to him…If any of them would have just talked to him. 

A silence falls over the group, and Eddie takes a moment to sit in it. It really was always that simple. 

It feels like Eddie’s heart is breaking all over again as he mourns what could’ve been. 

“You could’ve just talked to me, too,” Dustin says and his friends glare at him. “What? While we’re all getting the truth out, I thought I’d mention it.” 

“Ok,” Max begins, with her eyebrows furrowed as if she’s making everything up as she goes, “We did a really bad thing. To both of you. And we’re all really sorry. Right?” 

Everyone mumbles apologies to Dustin and Steve, and Steve even says one to Dustin. Max continues, “But we’ve been through too much to have this be the thing that tears us apart. I mean, Eddie almost died. And I thought you barely knew him, Steve, but you were almost as much of a wreck as Dustin.” 

“It’s true,” Robin chimes in, “I had to make you eat and pry you out of that hospital room.” 

Steve shoots Robin a warning look which makes Eddie realize that they’re telling the truth. 

“And when Eddie woke up, the first thing he asked after he saw me and Wayne was where Steve was,” Dustin adds. 

Eddie racks his brain for the memory but comes up blank. “I don’t remember that. Why didn’t anyone tell me this?” 

“I asked them not to say anything about my pre-wake-up visits,” Steve admits looking right at Eddie. “But no one told me about what you said.” 

The kids glance around guiltily again, and El blurts out, “We took bets on when you two would figure it out.” 

The kids all groan and shriek while Max defends her and yells, “Friends don’t lie!” which shuts everyone up. 

Eddie takes a moment to sit in the feeling of everyone lying to him as well plus the sudden information that explains why he and Steve were all the sudden very buddy-buddy after his hospital stay – not that he minded of course. But somehow, they had both fallen for each other during their brief time together and Eddie’s short comatose state seemed to enhance that. But for some reason, Eddie had just refused to accept his growing crush on Steve until this admirer shit.

“Anything else anyone would like to admit?” Steve asks sounding like he’s holding back a fit of anger. Everyone looks around and then starts shaking their head, but Eddie’s gaze remains away from Steve. “Then let’s just move on from this like we always do,” Steve says and heads towards the back room. 

Eddie looks down at the ring he’s fidgeting with on his finger. Steve’s ring. He slides it off. “Wait.” 

Steve stops in his tracks and hesitantly turns around. 

Carefully, Eddie makes his way toward Steve and holds out the ring to him. 

“Holy shit, are you proposing?” Dustin yells. 

Eddie shoots him a look while Steve warns language. “No, it’s a peace offering,” Eddie admits then looks to Steve. “Doesn’t mean you’re suddenly not mad or that you’re forgiving me. Just lets me know that eventually, we might be okay.” 

Steve looks at the ring and then at Eddie. Slowly, he makes his way over, reaches out, and slips it on. 

Eddie takes a moment to look at the image of him still holding the ring which is now around Steve’s ring finger. It looks so distinctly right that it sends a shiver down his spine. He slowly glances up to Steve who stares back at him with what looks like a million things he’s trying to say in his gaze. Eddie’s about to apologize all over again and beg for a second chance when- 

“Thank god that’s over. Steve, can we have a movie night tonight at your place?” Dustin asks. Eddie shoots him another look of disbelief. That little shit.  

“You didn’t ask him already?” Mike shrieks while Lucas and Will simultaneously facepalm. 

Max and El start to lecture him when Steve reluctantly takes his hand back and whispers, "You should leave now before I give them all the worst talk they’ve ever received.” Eddie smiles at him and Steve gives him a small smile in return that makes it feel like a bit of weight has been lifted off of Eddie’s shoulders. 

He’s able to sneak out just as Steve says, “Alright, listen up...” 

Eddie waits in his van for a concerning amount of time, but he takes it to acknowledge that he isn’t yet forgiven but maybe he’s a few steps closer to not losing Steve for good. But mostly he hopes that maybe one day Steve won’t feel so hurt. 

The doors to Family Video open revealing the guiltiest group of teens that Eddie has ever seen. They all file into the car and Eddie can’t help but tease, “I’m guessing no movie tonight?” 

He gets a few glares in return, but El says, “He said maybe Friday,” which seems to bring some joy back to her. 

Eddie smiles. He knows that Steve will forever be a sucker to those kids, but maybe they’ve learned a few things for now. Only time will tell.

Part Ten

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[nailbatss]

"Lie to Me"

This is another entry for @harringrovesummerbingo !!

Square & Prompt: A3 - “Lie to Me”

Rating: Angsty

Word Count: 3.1k

Major Tags: Harringrove (obviously), angst, like the most hurtful piece I’ve probably written, blood, mentions of wounds, confession of feelings, aaaangst, character death

Summary: When things go wrong in the Starcourt Mall, who’s going to be there for you when things all go wrong? Billy doesn’t have anyone, or so he thinks. That is, until things go wrong for him to find out.

Who can you count on when things go south? Who’s going to be there for you to patch your wounds when you get in a huge fight?

If you were to ask Steve, he would easily say this group of weirdos that he pulled together last minute.

If you ask Billy, he’d answer nobody. He couldn’t count on his friends back in California, they’ve probably long forgotten him. Tommy H and Carol weren’t even his close friends either. They were groupies looking for the next hottest commodity, him. 

What happens when you lose that fight?

Steve would answer he gets drugged by the Russians and forced to tell the truth about something he doesn’t even want to spill out. He was pretty sure his head would be raging about that one. It was already bad enough he got the shit beaten out of him by Hargrove and he hated him for that, but he understood his panic about Max. That part he could forgive, now his comment about Lucas? Absolutely not.

That was his kid. He wasn’t going to play around when it came to his kids. Hell, Billy couldn’t blame him for protecting his little sister. In fact, nobody could actually. He realized he lost his connection to her the moment she decided to drug him and knock him out in that abandoned house.

He lost everything.

Billy wasn’t the type to sulk about, in fact, he was going to do the exact opposite. He was going to pretend like none of this shit bothered him.

That’s why he almost had a thing with Mrs. Wheeler. Yeah, he doesn’t like to think about that. It was only for show anyway since he felt sick the moment she started to reciprocate and pretend to think about leaving her husband to be with him.

God, what was he thinking?

That night when he was driving to the motel, he was actually going to break it off. He wasn’t going to continue flirting with her since someone else had caught his eye. He had it bad for Harrington; that he wasn’t proud to admit, but it was something.

He’d stopped flirting with girls, stopped trying to pick them up, and instead, he started to lay it thick on the brunette boy. Though he was older, Billy took that as a challenge to keep doing it. He liked pushing the envelope and seeing how much he could get away with.

Crash. Squealing of brakes. Smashing of glass.

After he had wrecked by the old mill, Billy pulled himself out of his car for now to investigate what the hell had happened. Rubbing the back of his head, his sharp blue eyes scanned the area, searching for any sign of what could have made him crash. Raising his brow, Billy knew it was better not to ask who was there in the darkness. Huffing to himself, he shook his head and turned around to return to his car. 

Fwoop. Snatch!

“What the hell?!” He exclaimed as something wrapped around his ankles, pulling him back towards that abandoned factory. “Hey! What the fuck, let go of me!” He roared as he tried to kick whatever had its hold on him off of him. “LET! GO!”

His heart was racing with something he was very familiar with, fear. His screams were contained within the walls of the steelworks, his hands gripping everything in his path to try and hold himself off. His cries of anguish weren’t heard by anyone and he was sure this was how he died. Someone had him and they weren’t going to let go anytime soon.

A single tear slid down his cheek as he whispered an apology into the darkness.

“I’m sorry Steve… I’m sorry Max…”

That was all before he was dragged into the darkness.

~*~

“What are you doing out here, amigo?” He confidently strides up to Steve, playing coy for a moment. He noticed a figure in the window as soon as they started talking. Now wasn’t the time to draw attention there yet.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Steve retorts and puts his hands on his hips. Bitchy, he liked that in the man.

“My thirteen year old sister goes missing, all day. Then I find her out here with you, in a stranger’s house, and you lie to me about it.” Billy’s face contorts with an almost angered expression.

“She’s not with me, man.” Steve scoffed.

Suddenly, Billy gestures with his lit cigarette towards a window, seeing a familiar figure in the dim lighting of the house.

“Then who’s that?”

“Oh shit.”

The air was knocked out of Steve’s lungs as he hit the ground. Billy tossed his finished cigarette into the woods somewhere and he exhaled the smoke.

“I told you to plant your feet, pretty boy.” 

Then he swaggered on into the house, the door closing behind him.

Stars danced on the edge of Steve’s vision as he was once again knocked down. He couldn’t lose. Not this time.

So he pushed himself to his feet and chased after him.

~*~

Dark. Everything was so dark. Billy began to wonder what happened as he recalled that sudden memory. Was this all Steve’s plan? Did his little group of freaks crash his car and do this to him?

No, they weren’t smart enough for that.

Well, maybe the curly-haired one, that kid was freakishly smart from what Max told him.

Either way, he didn’t like this.

“Hello?” He called out as he stumbled through the dark, attempting to find a light source, anything like that.

“This isn’t funny.”

“You mean you do not like this game?” A growling voice questioned him.

There was a chill in his bones. Something didn’t feel right here.

“What the fuck? No, I don’t like this! Let me go!”

“Oh, but we cannot. We have work to do, William.” 

Yeah, Billy most definitely did not like that.

“What do you mean?” His heart rate picked up, obviously frightened by the voice and how it knew his name. His real name. Not the nickname he went by.

“You and I have work to do. These people, this place, it did not give you anything. I will make things right, you will see. Everything will be perfect.”

“Stop speaking in fucking riddles! Tell me what you want from me!”

A deep chuckle rang out, making the ends of his hair stick up on his neck. Something was deeply wrong here and he didn’t know how to go about fixing it.

“We will start by fixing your relationships with your family. Your sister will thank you for this.” 

“Leave Max out of this!”

He was met by silence, then suddenly, he was left alone it felt like.

The darkness quickly gave way to a window opening, which he seemed to realize was his body. He watched as his hands lifted up, his ring glinting in the pale sunlight as it crept through the boarded up windows.

“Oh shit.”

That wasn’t him moving anything. 

That thing was moving him.

And he had no idea where it was headed.

~*~

Hissing, the creature hated the fireworks as they hit his body, and Billy stood still, watching it all happen from inside. He was screaming for himself to wake up, to not harm anyone else. He was tired of seeing the destruction that befell his hands. He had already sacrificed Heather and her family to this thing. Now, he had to watch as it was after that girl Max was friends with.El, he seemed to recall. 

Before he knew it, his body was turning, heading towards the girl as she was on the ground. He was wrestling with her in an attempt to pick her up. Her leg was damaged and she was a prime target for that creature who was made up of their townspeople, the people who had lived in this town and he had made fun of. Soon, the monster slammed him away from the window, his body slamming into the floor. He picked himself up and he decided to sit on the nearest surface, a perfect mockup of his bed. 

He hoisted himself up, sitting down on the not so plush surface to wait. Tears were falling down his face at this point. Nobody could save him, not even himself. This creature had caused mass destruction and the town was fearful. He didn’t know if anyone was left. Or if anything was left for that matter. All there seemed to be was this stupid mall. 

Billy balled himself up and he let the tears flow, apologies flowing from his lips.

~*~

Basketball. He was good at that.

His father had found out that he wasn’t actually into girls. He screamed at him and berated his son, throwing punches left and right, beating the hell out of him to “teach him a lesson”. Blood poured from his nose, bruises were blossoming underneath his t-shirt. Neil wasn’t stupid enough to leave marks were people could see them.

That’s what made getting away with it so easy. Neil didn’t have to worry about Billy snitching to anyone because that would mean he loses the roof over his head, he loses the food that’s on the table, and he loses access to the one person who treated him like a son. 

He took beatings for Max too. She was too young to go through that.

He wasn’t going to lay a finger on her.

This one was particularly bad. He sat on his bed and wiped his nose, wheezing from the beating he took. Hearing a soft knock at the door, he didn’t even move. He knew that was Max from the pattern of her knocks. He didn’t have the strength to tell her to piss off. He could actually use the company.

“‘Min.” He muttered.

Max must have understood, or she was coming in anyway, that was a choice too. Lifting his head, Billy acknowledged her with a nod. A soft gasp escaped her as she took in the sight before her. Neil hadn’t been so careful this time and really let Billy have it. His nose was busted, his lip was too, and his eye was swelling shut. There was no way he could write that off as an accident.

The red-haired girl approached him with a first aid kit. It broke his heart knowing she had to know how to fix him up. Kneeling on the floor in front of him, Max opened the kit and immediately began tending to his wounds.

“How d’ya know how to-”

“Fix you? I’ve bandaged you up a few times.. You know, Mom showed me how to do this.” She answered with a soft scoff. “He beat the hell out of you, huh?”

“I’ll fuckin say.” Billy muttered and winced as she put a cotton ball on his forehead. It was soaked with hydrogen peroxide to clean out the wound. Damn, she’d be a good nurse if she wanted to be.

“You shouldn’t have to do this.” He said quietly, so quietly that Max almost didn’t hear him.

“What kind of sister would I be if I didn’t? After all, you took that one for me, didn’t you?”

“No… I deserved it.”

“Why?” Max questioned as she paused wiping the wound to bandage it.

“He found out I don’t play for the same team.” Billy answered somberly.

“What does that-” Max paused to process what he said, “Oh…”

“Yeah, oh.”

“I’m sorry.. I’m so sorry.” Max whispered.

“Why are you sorry? You didn’t do this to me.”

“Because you didn’t deserve it.” 

Billy’s bottom lip nearly trembled from hearing how heartbroken she sounded. After she closed the kit and stood to leave, his arms snaked around her and pulled her in for a hug. Leaning his forehead against her stomach, he swear he didn’t feel the tears start racing until she hugged him back.

One day they’d get out of there. One day he wouldn’t have to hide who he is.

~*~

“You ever think about what it would be like to get out of here?” Billy questioned one night. 

He and Steve were at the Harrington residence and smoking outside by the pool. It was a warm enough night and the pool had been cleaned since Barb’s death. He wasn’t about to let some bad juju come back while he was trying to have a good night.

Steve exhaled his smoke. “I do, yeah… Other times, I feel-” He paused to think of the word he was looking for.

“Trapped?” Billy finished.

“Yeah, yeah, trapped. That’s it.” He took another drag from his cigarette.

“You never did tell me why you called so suddenly. And what happened to you?” Steve asked as he turned his attention towards the blonde.

“My dad found out something I was hiding from him and he didn’t take it too well.”

“Shit, dude, I’m sorry.” Steve’s expression softened and his brows furrowed in worry. “Don’t hit me for this. But why did he hurt you? Like what exactly did he find out?”

Billy chuckled softly, ironically even.

“Neil Hargrove doesn’t like the fact that his son likes dick, not pussy.”

“O-Oh.” Steve coughed and he tried to recover from what he had just heard.

“Right on, good for you dude.” Steve flushed with a brilliant shade of red. “How’d you find that out?”

“I tried sleeping around, nothing ever felt… right. Not until I met someone.” He shrugged. “Not like I’m going to pursue anything with him though.”

“Why’s that?”

“I think he plays for the opposite team. He likes chicks too much.” Billy shrugs.

“Well, how do you know?” Steve questioned, sitting shoulder to shoulder with him now.

Billy took that moment to look at him. “I don’t know, Harrington, do you like dudes?”

Steve’s eyebrows furrowed inquisitively. “I- why are you asking m- oh.”

It was silent between the two of them for a while until Billy stood up. “That was stupid, forget it.” 

Before the blonde could completely walk away, Steve stood up quickly and caught his wrist.

“Hey, I never said I didn’t like dudes.” Steve smiled softly.

“You also didn’t answer my question. Just let me go, we’ll forget about it.” Billy tried to yank his hand away.

But that was before Steve caught his jaw, pulling him in for a searing kiss. 

His eyes widened before he melted into the kiss. The boys pulled away for air a moment or so later. Their eyes met; blue met brown in a clash of colors, all their feelings being unsaid, but lingering in the air. It was obvious they had a connection.

One that Billy wasn’t going to let go now that he had it.

"Be mine?"

"Fuck yeah, pretty boy. M'all yours."

~*~

The next time Billy lifted his head, he saw her standing there. That weird girl, El, her name was. He could see the 011 tattooed on her wrist. How she had one so young, he’d never know, but she was a badass in his eyes for it.

“It is time to go now.”

“Go? Go where?” He questioned. “And how are you here?”

“Go home.” El smiled. “I came to find you.”

“You mean?”

“Yes, out of here.” She extended her hand, wanting him to take it, so she could bring him home. “Back to the others, to Max, to Steve.” 

A blush creeped along his cheeks. Yeah, he wanted to go home, back to Steve, and where he felt the most comfortable. 

“Okay.” He placed his hand in hers, standing to his feet, “Take me home.”

Whoosh!

After opening his eyes, Billy’s met those concerned brown ones all over again. He was laying on top of her and keeping her pinned beneath his body. Suddenly, he felt sick, so he stood up and faced towards the loud screeching noise. The Mindflayer was extending its tentacles towards the two of them. He figured since he had been sacrificing her to it, that’s why it was creeping so slowly.

He grit his teeth together and reached out, basically pushing the tentacle’s arm away. He screamed, “Don’t touch her!”

Steve watched on with agony as Billy was doing that. “Billy stop!” His heart was pounding. Robin grabbed his hand and pulled him back. “Stop! You’re only going to get yourself killed!”

“He’s going to get himself killed! Rob let go!” He panicked and he looked at her. “Please.”

“No, Steve, I’m sorry. I can’t lose you.” Robin pleaded.

He managed to turn back, only to watch as that other tentacle impaled Billy right through the stomach. His scream erupted through the mall as he shoved the thing away from him, obviously taking back his authority.

“Fuck you! I’m not letting anyone else run my life for me!” He growled, desperately trying not to choke on his own blood. 

The next tentacle went right through his chest, making him fall to his knees. Before he could completely collapse, he felt someone cradle his head and pull him into their lap.

Cloudy blue eyes met those deep pools of chocolate.

His smile was tinted with blood, his own blood. “H-Hey pretty boy. F-fancy meeting you here.” He coughed.

“You promised me… You promised!” Steve sobbed softly.

“I-I know I did.” Billy wheezed again, staring up at him. Picking up his hand, he gently placed it on Steve’s cheek.

“Need you to do me f-favor.”

“A-Anything! I’ll do anything!” Steve sniffled.

“Lie to me, pretty boy.”

“W-What?” Steve was confused.

“Lie to me. Tell me we-we’re going to make it. T-Tell me about our lives after this.” Billy requested softly and his gaze seemed slightly far off.

“We’re going to get the hell out of here. A-And we’re, we’re going to get married. I don’t give a shit if it’s legal or not.” Steve sniffled. “I-I want a house on the beach with you. I-I want about two or three kids.” He wiped his tears away. “We’ll get a dog.”

“W-What kind of dog?” Billy wheezed.

“A golden retriever, o-or a lab. And you’ll be a mechanic to fix cars, I’ll be a teacher. We’ll just be happy, I don’t give a damn how, but we will.” Steve sniffled.

“S-Sounds good. M’tired, p-pretty boy.” Billy’s eyes were slowly shutting.

Steve knew he was losing this battle. He wasn’t going to be able to fight anymore. After all, he spent his whole life fighting. Billy had been through it all.

“Go ahead, baby, you go ahead and rest, okay?” Steve choked out.

“M’kay. L-Love you, S-Steve.”

“I-I love you too, Billy.” He stroked his cheek, getting the curls out of his face.

The gesture made Billy smile slightly before his eyes fully shut, slipping off into that peaceful warmth that he felt. His hand fell into Steve’s waiting one and a sob rang out from Steve’s chest. 

His beautiful California boy was gone. With him, Steve’s heart.

[hargrove-mayfields]

Harringrove Harvest Week- Day 2

Prompt: Beetlejuice

Billy and Steve as Adam and Barbara, Max as Lydia, and the rest is pretty canon divergent.

Billy was driving too fast in his stupid car again. The papers say it was on purpose, because of his past and the rumors that followed him out of Hawkins, Indiana. The true story is something that shouldn't have been there smashed his windshield. He over-corrected, slipping into a panic attack, and lost control. Into the riverbank that beautiful Chevy went. In 1989, Billy Hargrove and his boyfriend of three years, going on four, drove off a bridge.

He and Steve had left as soon as they graduated, using combined resources from their combined summer jobs to score a shell of a house. A farmhouse, still too country for Billy’s California tastes, but cozy. They made it their home. Spent the years they had together thrifting furniture and putting up wallpaper and fixing new leaks that would pop up. And then…

Neil bought the house as soon as word got back to Old Cherry Road telling the Hargrove-Mayfields that Billy and Steve had kicked the bucket. Even in death he couldn’t let his son have anything nice.

The house they made was too frilly for Neil’s military tastes. Too comfortable maybe. Too reflective of everything Billy had earned in his short life once he finally got away from that asshole. Love, happiness, safety. Only to be holed up in the attic, where he and Steve have to watch while his father and Susan gleefully destroy the house they were supposed to get married in.

Max does too. Her whole life has turned into a dark room. One big dark room. And even though Billy is just a floor above her, he’s terrified to reach out to her when she’s like that. They didn’t leave things on the best of terms when he skipped out on Hawkins, but Steve convinces him that it’s the only way to do something about the destruction of the house.

He gets Billy to do the sheet ghost shtick to prove to Max they aren’t just a grief induced hallucination, and she starts spending a lot of time with them, scheming ways to scare Neil and Susan off so she can have the house since she’s almost eighteen. (They consider taking the easy route and murdering them but the idea is shot down when they realize they’ll have two more ghosts in the house they’ll never be able to get rid of.)

Neil catches wind that Max has been talking to her dead brother, and thinks she’s lost her mind. He steals the handbook from her room, there because she wanted to read it and this time understand what Billy was going through. But once Neil has his hands on it, he doesn’t mistake the séance actually, he does the exorcism on purpose to prove a point.

Max being scared out of her mind to lose Billy and Steve again summons Beetlejuice (Vecna?), the plan backfires, she’s only seventeen and she’s marrying a corpse? Ew.

Susan grows a heart when her daughter is imprisoned in a crimson red wedding dress, and her stepson is half decomposed in front of her. She defies Neil and closes the book, Billy and Steve are saved, so Billy can save his little sister and kill his dad in one go à la sand worm.

The end sequence of Max passing her test and dancing and floating and everyone finally being happy is the same, except Billy definitely plays angry rock music for her to float around to instead of Harry Belafonte, because that’s their mutual outlet.

[astrostormclouds]

Prompt: inconvenient timing || Stranger Things || Vecna & Gwen

Oh boy, here we go.

Trig. Warning: Mentions of a car crash, death, and abandonment.

"Alright, be careful." Steve helped Gwen onto the makeshift rope that went through the gate. Steve paid close attention to his little cousin, he didn't want what happened to Nancy happening to her. They only went in another time before going after Vecna to gather more information on the time in the Upside Down.

Gwen climbed through the gate and landed on the mattress. She quickly moved out of the way so Steve could get through. She took a deep breathe of the right-side up world air, closing her eyes. Even though Eddie's trailer didn't smell that well, it still smelt better then the Upside Down. She opened her eyes after hearing Steve on the mattress, but he wasn't.

"Steve? Steeve?? This isn't funny.." Now that she realized it, no one was there with her. Not Eddie, not Kim. No one. "Guys, stop it! I don't like this!"

Meanwhile outside of Gwen's head, Steve shook her viciously. Eddie had been sent into a panic attack, Kim panicking while going through her bag. She could have sworn that she shoved a Madonna tape into her bag in case this happened. She couldn't seem to find it. Could she have dropped it? Kim looked around on the floor. Still, nothing. There was only one other place it could be..

Back inside Gwen's head, she had opened the trailer door and saw her father. But that was impossible, he died in a car crash. "Dad? Is that really you? Where's mom? And Steve-"

"What do you mean? I'm picking you up from school. There's no plan's with Steve today, that I know of." Her father smiled at her, showing confusion. She turned around and went to look at the trailer. It was her old school instead of Eddie's trailer.

"What?" Gwen looked back at her father. He just gestured her to get into the car. She slid into the front passenger seat and tried to make sense of what was happening. Her father got in and started the car. He started driving and hummed to the radio. "We should pick up some flowers for your mum, huh?"

Gwen's eyes widened, recognized that sentence. He said it the day of the crash. She took a deep breath before answering. "Yeah, she sure deserves them."

They got to the store and her father told her he'd be back. She sat there, realizing what was happening to her. This wasn't real. This is what Vecna did to Nancy and Max. God, they really needed El.

Back with the older teens, Kim had got back into the upside down to search for the tape. Eddie tried to play his guitar to get her out of the trance state she was in. It was no use. Steve was holding his little cousin close, trying his best not to shed any tears. Kim searched the ground around the gate, groaning. If it wasn't here, it was back at Wheeler's house.

She sprinted to the home of the Wheeler's as fast as she could, knowing that she could easily tell Dustin what was happening with a simple "SOS" Morse code. She caught her breath and quickly looked for the tape. She sent a "SOS" and "TRAILER" message through the light.

"Shit, guys they need our help!" She heard Dustin's voice echo. Then came Max's voice. "But they told us to stay here-"

Robin interrupted, "They need help. Who cares what they said before??"

Kim sighed and found the tape. As she was sprinting back to the trailer, she encountered a demobat. She panicked, grabbing the first weapon out of her bag and swung at the bat. This will take a while..

Gwen nervously picked at her braces as her father got into the car. Her father handed her the flowers so he could drive, but that's when the nice thing ended. As he was driving she saw the driver that hit them come around the corner. She braced herself for the hit. They would swerve off the rode and hit a pole, her father, not having his seat belt on, would go right out the window. But, it didn't happen. Instead, the car stopped completely and her father turned to her. There was blood dripping from his head like the crash had happened.

"Don't you remember?" Her father's voice faded into someone else's voice. He didn't look himself. Gwen's panic went up and she unbuckled. She tried to open the car door and unlock it, but the lock wouldn't budge. She screamed and pressed her back against the door. Her father... No that THING tried to reach for her. Suddenly, the door got ripped off and she fell out of the seat. She fell through to the ground and suddenly she was in the upside down version of the Creel's house. There she saw him. Vecna himself. He grinned at her.

"Hello, Gwendolyn." Vecna greeted as tendrils pulled her against a broken wall of the house. "It's so nice to finally meet you."

Steve watched in disbelief as his little cousin jerked away from him. "Shit, shit, shit! Kim will you hurry up?!"

Eddie looked through the gate, jumping at the sound of both the Upside Down trailer's door slamming open and the trailer he was in right now's door slamming open. The siblings had perfect timing didn't they? Dustin stole Max's tape player and headphones as Kim climbed through the gate. Dustin and Kim frantically worked together to put the Madonna tape into the small machine.

Gwen struggled against the tendrils, unable to breath properly due to one wrapped tightly around her neck like a boa. Vecna, or Henry, stepped closer to her.

"What do you.. want from me of all people?" Gwen choked out. Vecna just tilted his head at her, moving closer. As he did with Max, and the rest of his victims, he lifted his hand to Gwen's face.

Kim put the headphones on Gwen's ears and nodded to Dustin to press play. Dustin placed the tape player into Gwen's overalls pocket, just before she started floating. Eddie covered his ears and turned away, getting flashbacks to Chrissy. He couldn't watch.

"Gwen! Gwen, please!" Steve's voice echoed over the music now blaring. Gwen decided to be like her cousin and rip a piece of the tendril with her teeth. Although Steve did it with a demobat, she'll just be cooler and do it to the disgusting tendril. She was then dropped to the ground as Vecna seemed to be in pain.

"'Cause we are living in a material world."

"Wait, hang on. This is Material Girl!" Gwen started dancing. Vecna looked at her in disbelief. Why was she dancing instead of running? This was the weirdest victim he's had.

"Some boys romance, some boys slow dance."

Gwen continued dancing, seemingly mocking Vecna as he couldn't quite catch her with the tendrils. She began running away from him. She did a flip to get over debris that fell in front of her. Thanks gymnastics class. She had way too much fun mocking and teasing Vecna.

"Don't worry guys, I'll be right there." Gwen went to run again but tripped over a tendril, falling to the ground. Oh, how speedy quick she got back up. She ran, and ran... and ran.

She finally woke up and fell into Steve's arms. He clung to her, fearing if her let go she would be cursed again. Everyone got so confused when she laughing.

"Messing with the main boss is fun."

[1nephthys]

You're saving me just by being with me.

Summary: When Vecna found her next victim, only one song by only one specific person could safe him...

Pairing: Steve Harrington x fem!reader

Warnings: spoilers for season 3&4, some tears, blood, my English

Word count: ~2.2k

PLEASE DO NOT COPY.

Feel free to comment, reblog and request if you enjoyed it tho.

When Max starts getting those weird visions od grandfather clock and then Vecna she wanted to say goodbye. Just in case. She wrote letters for her family and friends. There was only one person, she wasn't able to give one of them to. Billy.

She asked - no- she told Steve to drive her to the cemetery. He couldn't say no so he, Max, Dustin, Lucas and y/n got in to car and then to parking lot close to this location.

Max asked group for some privacy so she go to Billy's grave alone. After few minutes Lucas started to worry.

"We should go check on her." He said already getting out of the car. Steve did the same to stop him. He saw how much poor guy was warried and he knew he needed to calm him down. Y/n and Dustin also go after them.

Standing next to the car door, Steve had his hand on the hood and he put the other one on Lucas shoulder and said "Look, I know you worry about her, but if you start panic, she probably also will. Calm down, give her few more minutes and then we will check."

Y/n sent him small smile from other side of the car and that calmed him a little. He let his hands fall to the sides of his body and nodded without more words.

Few minutes passed, and Lucas said "Alright, It's been four minutes, c'mon, we need to check on her."

Lucas didn't even look at y/n and Steve in front sits, he just got out of the car, Dustin ran after him with his backpack and walkie-talkie in hands.

Y/n looked at Steve, he seems like he didn't even heard Lucas. She shook his body. "Steve." He didn't respond. Girl tried harder and repeat his name louder. "Come on Steve, it's not a good time for joking."

What she didn't know, was that the boy also was getting visions. He saw clock and Vecna, his head was hurting all the time. He just didn't want to worry his girlfriend and friends. He saw that night in the mall.

*flashback*

Dustin, Steve, Robin, y/n and Erica were standing at the hill when Steve started running away. He screamed that he was going to help the rest of the group in mall. He was glad, that his girlfriend was there, save (if you can call any place in Hawkins safe).

Only if he knew, that the girl would run after him.

Steve realized he wasn't alone when he started the car and she was sitting beside him, it was too risky to sent girl back to Dustin, so he just let y/n come with him. Steve drove as fast as possible. "When we get there, stay by my side, all the time." Boy said stressed, he looked at the road ahead them, if only stones and grass could be called some kind of road.

Girl didn't even have a chance to get out of the car. When the couple were right next to the mall, Steve noticed Nancy with a gun, shooting at the car that was going to hit her. Behind her, was another car with Jonathan and kids inside.

Billy, was too close to Nancy, there was no way to escape for her and the other car that couldn't start. Steve looked over at y/n right before hitting Billy's car with all the power he could.

Nancy, and boys in the car were safe, but y/n was unconscious. Steve noticed a cut on her forehead. Her head hit the dashboard on impact.

"Steve!" Jonathan yelled from the car that finally started.

He got out of the car and took his girl to the trunk of the other car because his definitely wasn't able to use anymore.

He was holding the girl so close to his chest, tears in his eyes and dark scenario in his head. He just killed the love of his life.

"C'mon baby, wake up, wake up, we had plans remember? Come on, you were supposed to stay by my side, all good and alive, remember?" he was stroking her bloody cheek with his shaking hands.

Nancy looked at him from the front, she notice cut on y/n's forehead. She quickly take of her scarf and hand it to Lucas. "hold it to her cut." she instructed him, she knew that Steve was too upset to help her right now, when he probably had panic attack. Lucas was close enough to hold it in a right place. Everyone looked at her with worry, Steve still mumbled about his love for her and his plans for the future with her. He knew she wasn't able to hear it and the others in the car do but he didn't care.

He is not letting her die in his arms, because of something he did.

*end of flashback*

Maybe she didn't die, but he still blamed himself for all the pain she went through. And while girl screamed for him to wake up and come back to her, he saw her saying in his face that she wish she never met him.

He saw red and Vecna telling him, it was time for him. She cried so loud, that Dustin heard her. Even thought Max was levitating with her favorite song on headphones, young boy runed to the car as fast as he could.

When he saw his best friend standing in one place with his eyes somewhere in the back of his head and his girlfriend screaming, he knew immediately what was going on.

"his favorite song! His favorite song y/n!" He rushed to the car and got all the cassettes he found. "Which one is his favorite?!" Girl stared at him, confused so he quickly added "Y/n, there's no time for explanations! Just give me his favorite song before it's too late!"

They both started looking for something that might be his favorite. Y/n found cassette with only little heart in place where title of the song supposed to be.

She had no idea how he got it but somehow, she knew exactly which song was it. "this one". She handed Dustin cassette and he rushed to the car to put it in. He put a full volume so they could be sure, he heard that in the place he was already levitating.

Y/n heard her own voice.

*flashback*

"Oh, c'mon darling, you know how much I love when you singing to me! Plus, it's my favorite song! Let me record that for a cassette! I swear on Dustin, no one beside me and you in the car gonna hear it! Please, please, please!" Steve was begging his girlfriend.

He loved her voice more than everything so when he heard her singing Can't Take My Eyes off You by Frankie Valli in her own, a little bit slower way, he was ready to sell his soul for it. But y/n was still insecure about her singing and Steve was actually the only person in the world that ever heard her angelic voice. Oh, boy he felt like the luckiest men on earth.

"I don't know, Steve." Y/n said again.

It was always the answer for that question but Steve wasn't giving up. Everyone in the world could think that he was the worst boyfriend ever but he got his record. Y/n didn't know that he was recording her singing once in his room. He listened to it every time he was driving alone. At first, he felt kind of bad for doing it without permission but this feeling goes away after some time.

*end of flashback*

After Dustin realized who was singing, he was more than surprised but it wasn't time for questions. In the middle of the song, Steve was still levitating and Max with Lucas came back. They both were scared, red-haired girl was still shaking with her headphones on. They all were looking at Steve above their heads, y/n sobbing on her knees at this point. She was terrified of losing the love of her live.

Song was coming to an end and then Steve gasped, and fall on the ground. Y/n tried to catch him, he end up right in her arms. Dustin, Lucas and Max come to them and hugged him all together.

"Steve, you're fine, we're fine." Y/n said, not sure if she wanted to calm him down or herself. She was still holding him so tight while he tried to catch his breath. "God, Steve why didn't you told us you had had this visions too, I was so scared"

"I didn't want to worry you, I knew we would find a way and I would be fine" Boy said after a few seconds when he could finally breath normally.

"I know this is emotional moment and you almost just died but you so goddamn stupid, Steve" Dustin said from behind y/n, which actually reminded her that it wasn't just the two of them here.

"Shut up" Steve looked at his friend. "Let's get out of here" He stand up and goes to the car. The rest of the group did the same.

"You good?" Y/n looked at Max, she couldn't know the same thing happened to her, she just guessed by headphones on her ears.

"Been better but I will be fine" Max secured her.

"Keep this song played on the ride back home." Lucas said and as much as y/n wanted no one to hear it, it was the only way to keep Steve safe.

"I don't mind at all" Steve said looking at his girlfriend for permission to play the song again. He was ready to risk his life if only girl was uncomfortable with their friends hearing it. She just nodded so Steve played it again and started car.

"I didn't know you could sing like that, y/n" Dustin commented.

"Shut up" the couple said in the same time from front sits. Kids stayed quiet the whole ride. Dustin talked only when he was explaining how the thing with favorite song work. They arrived at Dustin house and the younger part of group left the car there. Steve and y/n looked at each others.

"I'm sorry for recording you, but hey! I'm alive because of it!" Steve said with a little smile. She couldn't be angry at him. She pulled him in for a kiss, which he quickly returned.

Before the kiss could turn into whole make out session girl pulled away and said quietly "Don't you dare hiding something like that ever again"

Their foreheads were still pressed together, his hands on her cheeks and hers on his wrists with soft music playing in the background. Tears starts building in her eyes again at the thought of losing her Steve. Before she had chance to blink them away, Steve was already wiping them off her cheeks with his thumps.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, we are both fine right now. You know, I saw you were so worried about Max I really didn't want to give you another reason. Plus, with you and those nerds I really feel safe if we are talking about this upside down thing." He said sweetly.

He totally understood why she was more upset than him. After all, even if it was traumatic, he was still grateful that it was him, not her.

"I love you so, so much Steve" she said looking at his eyes, those big, brown eyes.

"I love you y/n, more than you can imagine. You know, when you started the song, I saw all of ours moment and that's bring me back. Like Sundays mornings at yours or when we singing or our movie nights. Those are the best memories I have and those are all with you. You are saving me just by being with me."

They were about to kiss again, when Dustin knocked on car window. "I'm sorry to interrupt you but we have serial killer who is for sure not human on our teil, so it's definitely not a good time for car sex!"

They pulled away and get out of the car "do you even know what sex is you little piece of sh-" Y/n stopped Steve by hitting his side with her elbow.

Three of them got into house, they sat in Dustin's room, knowing well it was going to be a long night...

a/n. this is kinda chaotic but I wrote it when I was drunk and then just corrected mistakes (there were a lot more than now btw). Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it!

[crimxonwrites]

Billy’s girl | Eddie Munson x fem!reader part 5- ❝Vecna’s curse❞

·° A/N: This part is pretty slow, but fear not! 𝒮𝓂𝓊𝓉 is coming soon. :)

☇ summary: You are trying to get over your ex-boyfriend’s death by getting high out of your mind. Your plans fail as you realize that you don’t need drugs to forget Billy, you need someone to make you forget.

☇ warnings: TRAUMA, bad coping mechanisms, season 3 spoilers, season 4 spoilers, mentions of death, mentions of blood, ptsd

☇ pairings: eddie munson x fem!reader

დMasterlist

დ Part six

“How many phones do you have?” Dustin asks, voice full of despair.

“Two! Three, if you count Keith’s.” Robin answers.

“Y/N! Don’t worry, we will find Eddie as soon as possible…” Dustin says.

The voices of your friends start fading in the background.

Spending the last few days getting to know Eddie, you regret ever believing in any rumors about him. Eddie has opened up to you about how he used to get bullied when he was younger, and how it took a toll on his mental health. Nowadays, he is desensitized to it all, but it still makes you worry.

Your head is spinning and your heart is aching knowing what people will say about Eddie if they find out Chrissy’s body was discovered in his trailer. You already know what everybody thinks of him; that he is a freak who worships Satan. They will hunt him.

You let yourself slowly be consumed by regret and fear. Eddie’s disappearance only meant one thing: last night, he most likely went by your house and you were not there for him. You should have been there for him. Now, he is missing and probably very, very scared and alone and confused. Fuck.

“Y/N?” Dustin’s voice brings you back to reality. He is waving his hand up and down, trying to get you to pay attention.

“Sorry…” Wiping a tear off your face, you apologize to him.

“Can you fill them in while I do this?” Dustin asks and starts typing on the store computer.

“Fill us in on what?” You can sense the uneasiness in Robin’s voice.

“We think it’s happening again.” Max’s voice makes you wince; you were so lost in your thoughts that only now you were made aware of her presence. You have not seen Max ever since Billy died. Despite not being her actual brother, she reminded you of him too much, so you decided to avoid her like the plague in the past year. Sometimes you wonder if things would be different if you had told her about your relationship with Billy. If you opened up to her about him, maybe his death would’ve brought you two closer.

“After I saw Eddie and Chrissy get into his trailer, something happened.” Max continued. “The TV went static and the lights started flickering.” She adds and you slowly start to realize what she is talking about. “That’s the moment when I heard Eddie scream and get in his van.” Your head starts pounding. “He always drives like a maniac, but… I saw the look on his face. He was scared.” Overwhelmed by the new information, you feel your body losing its balance. “I can’t say for sure, but I think it’s back.” Max’s voice grows dim while you clumsily try leaning on one of the shelves.

The headache grows stronger and you notice little drops of blood dripping on your shirt.

“Y/N?” Steve’s voice echoes through your head.

Voices begin fading and your vision blurs.

---

“Should we get her to a hospital?”

“No, we need her to find Eddie.”

“Oh, so you are willing to risk YN’s literal life for your new freak friend?”

“Shouldn’t cops be looking for Eddie?”

“It’s okay, I will look after her.”

---

You wake up in cold sweat. Panic takes over while scanning your surroundings. Taking deep breathes, the familiar smell of Steve’s car invades your nostrils.  “Hey!” Max’s voice startles you. She is sitting in the passenger’s seat, looking back at you. “How are you feeling?” She asks.

“Where are we?” you taste blood in your mouth.

“Uh, Reefer Rick’s house.” She answers and you slowly begin remembering what happened.

Someone died, and Eddie is missing, and the nosebleeds are back and everything feels like last summer all over again. Feeling like you are going to suffocate, you open the car door and stumble outside. Still dizzy from the dreadful headache, you lose your balance and fall to the ground.

“Take it easy!” Max’s hands are on your shoulders as she tries to pull you up. You hear Dustin’s voice in the distance as you steadily get up and begin walking towards him.  “Your nose was bleeding.” Max says, trying to catch up to you.

“Yea, it sometimes does that.” You answer, your tone being much colder than you expected it to be. You hate admitting it, but Max’s presence only makes your anxiety grow. It’s not her fault, but you can’t help but feel this way... everything about her reminds you of Billy.

“I get nosebleeds too.” She says and you stop walking, turning to face her. “And headaches, and I often faint.” Max adds.

Nosebleeds, nightmares, nausea, fainting, you started experiencing these symptoms after Billy died. At first, you were scared out of your mind but you refused to seek help. You never told anyone about it and you buried them deep down once you started getting used to them. After a few months, they stopped.

Now they are back.

“How often does this happen?” You ask her, hoping all of this is just a coincidence.

“Every couple of weeks.” She answers. “It started happening after…”

“Billy died.” You continue and Max stares at you, speechless.

Max didn’t know about your relationship with Billy, or so you thought. You would catch a glimpse or two of her when you were at Billy’s house, but you just assumed she thought you and Billy were friends, or acquaintances.

“Guys!” Robin yells before entering the boathouse. “Come on!” Both you and Max start running towards her.

“Wait, so what does this mean?” Max grabs your hand and stops you from entering the boathouse.

The moonlight shines over her face as you notice the distress in her eyes. “I don’t know.” You lie and break the eye contact. If there is anything you hate the most in this world, lying is number one. “I mean… it could just be trauma response.” Lying to your friends is number two.

“Trauma? Were you and Billy a thing?” she whispers, swiftly getting closer to you.

You open your mouth, trying to think of another lie, but you give up and slowly nod. The look on Max’s face is confusing. She could be angry, shocked, sad… you give up on guessing when she shrugs and shines the flashlight inside the boathouse.

You feel a cold shiver down your spine when you realize what you are seeing. Dustin and Robin are staring at Eddie in surprise, who is now holding something sharp at Steve’s neck. “Eddie, it’s me! Harrington!” Steve looks at you. “You know, I’m friends with your-“

“Eddie?” You call his name, voice trembling. Max moves out of your way as you take a step closer to him. Not knowing what to say next, you slowly walk towards them.

He must be in shock. If Max is right, and you start believing she is, Eddie must have seen some strange things. You reach out to him, trying to get him to drop whatever he is holding at Steve’s neck. Scared out of his mind, Eddie’s body tenses under your touch.

“You shouldn’t be here.” He lets Steve go and looks at you, eyes full of terror. “It’s not safe.” He adds as he slowly sits down and takes a deep breath.

“We just want to talk.” Dustin lowers his body, attempting to comfort him. “Tell us what happened.”

“You won’t believe me.” Eddie looks up at you.

“Try us.” Max says.

Preparing to hear the worst, you take a seat on the small boat, opposite of Eddie. “Chrissy’s body just, like, lifted up in the air and, uh… And she just, like, hung there. In the air. And her bones… Uh, she...” Eddie pauses and you freeze. “Her bones started to snap.” Robin grabs your hand as you listen, too stunned to say or do anything. “Her eyes, man. It… it was like there was something, like, inside her, pulling.” Eddie gesticulates. “I… I didn’t know what to do, so I… I ran away.” He looks up at you and scoffs. “You all think I’m crazy, right?”

“We believe you.” Dustin speaks and you let go of Robin’s hand.

“Don’t bullshit me, man!” Eddie yells.

“We are not bullshitting you.” Robin responds.

“We believe you.” Max adds.

“Eddie…” you finally speak, gradually getting closer to him. “We believe you.” Feeling his distress, you hold his hand.

“What I’m about to tell you might be a little… difficult to take.” Dustin starts and you mentally prepare yourself for what he is about to say. “You know how people say Hawkins is cursed? They are not… way off.” Images of the Mind Flayer start flashing before your eyes. “There is another world. A world hidden beneath Hawkins. Sometimes it bleeds into ours.” The Upside Down is not news to you. You have never actually been there, but you’ve heard your friends talking about it countless times last summer, and after seeing the Mind Flayer take Billy from you, you hope to never end up there.

“Like ghosts and shit?” Eddie asks and you feel his nails dig into the skin of your hand.

“Not really...” You carefully speak, attempting to not make Eddie more frightened than he already is.

“There are some things worse than ghosts.” Max adds.

“These monsters from this other world… we thought they were gone.” Dustin speaks and you flinch when the image of Billy’s lifeless body flashes through your mind. “But they’ve come back before.” The Mind Flayer’s growling echoes through your head. “That’s why we needed to find you.”

“If they are back again, we need to know.” Max’s voice is quiet.

“It would almost look like dust, swirling dust.” Dustin says and you wonder if this is too much information for someone who is still in shock.

Eddie shakes his head in disapproval. “No, man, there was nothing you could see or, uh…” his grip only tightens as he speaks. “Or touch. I tried to wake her but she couldn’t move.” Tensions run high while he continues. “It was like she was in a trance or something.”

“Or under a spell.” Dustin speaks.

“A curse.” Eddie adds.

“Vecna’s curse.”

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

¸.·°Taglist: @tayrae515​ @theinfaethablefig​ @yunho-leeknow dumbasssimp

naiomiwinchester

[princessamericachavez]

Welcome to the end of the world | Day 0

Not for the first time, Steve Harrington wishes that life was like the movies, that he could close his eyes and skip this part, jump forward to a few days from now when the horrors are over and he’s back to putting the pieces of normalcy back together, like he has so many times before. 

There’s no skipping this. 

At least, not the way he would like. There is no fade to black and easy transition. Instead it's a series of terrible and awful images and sensations as time ever-so-slowly crawls on. His brain catches snapshots of it.

The strangled sob of a voice he knows by heart, his feet pushing him through the dark wasted land, over monstrous death bodies, skidding to a stop next to a small body in the middle of all that horror.

“Dustin!” He doesn’t recognize his own voice, nor the desperation of his grip on the boy’s hoodie. “What the hell man? What are you- why are you here? What happened?! Dustin, what happened, are you okay? Are you hurt?”

There is no answer. One moment he is at the edge of panic and the next he has an armful of a sobbing kid.

Time stops. But it doesn’t.

There’s Dustin sobbing against his chest unconsolably, making awful heart-breaking sounds Steve never wants to hear again in his life. It’s him holding on to this kid as tightly as he can, eyes locked on Eddie Munson’s unseeing gaze. There’s blood around his neck and bite marks all through his body and Steve knows personally the pain he must have gone through before it was all over. But there’s no time for mourn —not for Steve— because they aren’t out of the woods yet and he can’t lose himself to horror and grief just yet. Maybe ever. 

There’s Nancy’s insistent hand on his shoulder, urging them to leave, and the weight of Dustin’s body as he uselessly struggles against Steve’s iron grip. He’s not leaving the kid here, no matter how much he yells and screams at him. Only after a few dozen feet does he let go and that is when he realizes that Dustin is hurt too. Steve’s blood runs cold as he catches the boy before he stumbles. He daren’t ask, not yet. Get him out of here. Get them all out of here. That’s all he can focus on at the moment. 

Returning is a mess. The gate is gone. Or, to be more precise, it’s gone from a baby gate to a mama gage. It’s like someone teared the world in two. There are a couple of complains, but Steve refuses to let anyone other than himself go through first. It’s weird and hard and it involves him jumping from a chair and crawling his way up/down into a torn part mess of metal that was once Eddie Munson’s home. “Fuck,” he sighs looking at the size of the divide, but can’t let himself take in what a gate this big and here, in the middle of a trailer park, even means. They need to get out of here first. Fast. He helps Dustin’s up, doing his best to avoid doing any further damage to his leg. Then Robin, then Nancy. That’s it. They are one man down, no one else coming through. The others take the situation in with stunned silence until he reminds them they aren’t quite out of danger as it is.

Steve doesn’t know who finally reaches out to Lucas, but the sound of his broken voice is burnt into his brain as he tells them, between sobs, he’s waiting for an ambulance for Max. He’s holding her, he tells them. She’s breathing, but she wasn’t before. He’s so scared.

There’s the highway and the roads and Steve driving a goddam trailer like a maniac on their way to the hospital. His fingers clench painfully around the steering wheel. There’s no sound other than the car’s engine and Dustin’s occasional strangled sob.

They get there just in time to see the paramedics pull her out of the ambulance. Max, bloodied and pale, her little bones snapped in awful ways that make Steve’s stomach turn with horror.

He can hear the others move and get out of the car, but his body won’t answer his commands. He can’t move. And then he sees Dustin, limping forward and instinct kicks back in. “Henderson wait!” He manages as he throws himself out the trailer’s door and after him. Dustin won’t even look at him, but he let’s Steve help him forward into the hospital.

Lucas is there already, eyes reddened with tears and twisted with desperation. But that’s about as much as Steve expected. What he didn’t see coming is the bruises on his face, there’s blood and a broken lip and a darkened eye. “What the hell happened?” He asks, tilting the boy’s chin. He knows these wounds intimately, he knows what did them. Fists. Anger. Another kind of violence. Lucas dismisses him, only wants to focus on Max and Steve has to bite back the bitter bile in the back of his throat and let him have it for now.

They are too late. Max counted on them, trusted them to kill Vecna before the asshole got to her. They failed her. Steve failed her. The thoughts bounce around his head as they sit on the hospital’s waiting room. There’s so much movement around, people screaming and rushing over. He was vaguely aware of rubble and caos as he sped through the city but couldn’t focus on any of it. Still can’t.

Max is estable, a doctor tells them, though her voice sounds unsure. She’s not responding right now, she adds carefully, but she is breathing and they are going to operate on her legs and arms as soon as an OR is available. The fact that she doesn’t ask how the hell this happened is just another worry to add to the ever growing list in the back of Steve’s brain.

Once the news settle, comes another round of arguments to get everyone else to get checked out. Lucas wants to go in immediately to see Max but Steve refuses. He’s had too many dangerous concussions of his own to let him go unchecked. “You’re no help to her if you pass out of brain bleeding, Sinclair,” he snaps, a bit harder than he intended to, but it works. Dustin hasn’t said a word and won’t let anyone check his leg. Robin and Nancy actually look at him, expecting Steve to know what to do but he is at a loss here. Something about the kid’s pain terrifies him into stillness.

Get over yourself, Harrington.

“Hey, buddy?” He tries, crouching next to him. Dustin won’t meet his eyes. “Let’s get your leg checked out, okay?” Dustin just shakes his head. Steve bites the inside of his cheek so hard it almost hurts. What would Eddie say? “Listen, Henderson, this tough-guy thing you are doing? This isn’t any good to anyone, okay? There’s- there’s another battle coming, for sure. And we still have to make that fucker pay. So- so if this was- if this was one of your adventures, what would you do?”

Dustin glares at him, but the eye contact is enough to egg Steve on.

“You’d heal yourself and be ready for the next battle or whatever, right? Hey! Look at me,” he demands when Dustin’s gaze trails off into the distance. “I need you to be ready and good next time we go to Murdor.”

“Mordor.”

“What?”

“It’s Mordor.”

“Okay, Mordor. Whatever. Now, would you please go get that leg checked?”

Miraculously, Dustin nods cleaning snot off his face and finally lets himself be led away by the nice nurse that has been giving them space.

He is left with the girls. Nance, Robin, Erica. They whisper with each other, trying to piece together what happened. He lets them, as he paces around. He’ll undoubtedly get the infodump by Robin later, when she’s made more sense of it than he can right now.

Time becomes a blur again until the next snap shot wakes him up.

Parents arrive like a hurricane. Not his, mind you, the kids’. The nurse is in the middle of telling them that the kids are getting checked out and how lucky they were that their siblings brought them over. Said “siblings” stand up all at once at the sight of the adults (real, responsible, honest to god adults and not the three of them pretending to be strong for the children).

The Wheelers rush to their daughter and embrace her like she’s a little girl and not the woman that just shot round after round into a murderer’s chest. The Sinclairs bounce between yelling and fretting over Erica as she assures them she and her brother are alright (they haven’t seen Lucas’ wounds, but someone must have filled them in as they came in). And Mrs. Henderson makes a beeline straight towards Steve, who can feel every single muscle in his body tense with anticipation of an epic dress down. Behind him, Robin shuffles and at least he has her now (at home, when this happens with his dad, it’s so much worse to face it alone).

“It’s okay. He’s okay,” he rushes while he can. “I think he hurt his leg a bit but he’s getting it checked. I’m- I’m sorry, I-“

His voice cracks. What possible excuse could he give Dustin’s mother. He can’t even defend himself because he knows he fucked up. He wasn’t there. He shouldn’t have left them alone. He shouldn’t have put that responsibility on them, on Eddie. It could’ve been Dustin. God, it could’ve been Dustin and as horrible as losing Munson is, the possibility of losing that kid is like ripping his heart out.

Steve expects a slap. Honestly, he deserves it. So, of course, he flinches when the woman throws herself at him and wraps him into a bear hug.

“Thank you,” Dustin’s mother says and it’s all too much. He doesn’t get it. His eyes well up with tears.

“I’m sorry,” he repeats.

At some point there’s more movement. The Wheeler’s take Nancy home. There’s a look, he thinks, sent his way, but he probably hallucinated it. Dustin and his mother, silently attached by the hip, leave with a quick quiet goodbye. The Sinclairs have to plead with Lucas until he agrees to go home and clean up but only if they will let him come back here to spend the night with Max. Max’s mom, pale and ghostly, assures then he can come and stay with her as much as he wants. The quiet and sad resignation in her voice terrifies Steve more than any monster. It’s the sound of someone making peace with goodbye.

Steve is exhausted to the very bottom of his soul but Robin will not let him go until he gets his wounds checked out too. “I’m fine,” he tries but she will not shut up about rabies and internal bleeding and other infections until he agrees.

Nurse Kelly is nice and after three years of misfortune they are well acquainted with each other. As usual, she gives him a very disappointed look but doesn’t ask where the wounds come from or why in the name of the Lord he keeps getting the shit kicked out of him. There’s more stitches than he can count and some wonderful painkillers (he hadn’t even realized how bad it all burned until they kicked in). She does say they would usually keep him in observation, but there’s too much going on and they have no beds left. He should really find out what the hell happened in town.

Robin is waiting for him when he comes out, half dozing off on the waiting room chair. Everyone has gone home but she is here… for him. Relief and affection rush through him as soon as he sees her perk up. “All good, no rabies,” he assures her. Her shoulders finally relax as she gives him a smile.

It’s Robin who points out they probably shouldn’t keep moving around on a stolen trailer. They walk. The city is loud and chaotic. There’s smoke in the sky and from where they stand it seems like downtown is on fire. Part of Steve wants to go check it out, but his body is at its limit and his brain can’t focus on much more than: get Robin home and go get in bed.

The noise dies down as they make it out of the city and into the residential area of town. He drops her off at her front door with a tight hug and a promise to talk tomorrow. She’s reluctant to let him go alone but Steve promises it’ll be okay. It’s a short walk to his place and, really, after everything else that’s happened he probably won’t find trouble on the way. Nothing he can’t deal with.

By the time he makes it home it’s light outside. His folks are probably sleeping. He saw people out there in the streets, shouting names and trying to call their loved ones or waving photographs around in hopes that someone would identify them. Though he hasn’t seen his parents or been home in the past three days, he knew better than to expect any missing posters for him. If things had gone wrong today on the Upside Down, he is sure it would’ve taken them at least a couple weeks to realize he wasn’t around. He knows all that. There’s still a pang of disappointment in his chest as he climbs up to his bedroom and, quietly as he can, closes the door.

He sits in his bed and thinks tears will come, that horror and fear will finally hit and that he will come to terms with everything that happened. Eddie, Max, Dustin, Lucas… but all he gets are those snapshots, those vivid memories here and there in between the blanks. Before he can even begin to put it together, exhaustion beats him to it and knocks him out in one fell swoop.

[slikbedding]

protect me

pairing: Steve Harrington x Munson fem reader

warnings: introduction fluff.

parts: pt:1  pt:2

 Your dear, sweet, kind, obnoxious, loud, and “freak” of a brother is in his 3rd senior year. YOUR senior year, which means he's graduating with you. Well you and Wayne hope he is. “Eddie?” you called as you entered the boat house of reefer ricks. Eddie sat by the wall drinking one of the beers you’d snuck to him last night. “Am I finally your favorite club member?” you asked, smirking, holding up a bag of burgers and a six pack of his favorite beer. “You’ve always been my favorite sheep, sis.” Eddie smiled as he snatched the bag. After he finished eating, you were looking out towards the road while Eddie relaxed. “Shit, there's a car.” you said in a panic Eddie got in the boat and pulled you in with him. There were a few voices and rustling as the door to the boat house had opened. “ don’t worry Steve will get him with his oar.” spoke a familiar voice similar to Dustin’s. Eddie jumped up and pinned a tall long haired brunette to a wall holding a broken bottle to his throat. “Eddie, Eddie he's cool, he's cool!” Dustin yelled a little bit, Eddie looked between Dustin and the male. “I'm cool.” the brunette had said fear in his eyes. “I swear on my mom, right guys.” Dustin looked at everyone he was with and they all agreed on Dustin's mom. Eddie let the broken bottle fall and you let out the breath you hadn’t realized you were holding. “Y/n? Have you been with Eddie the whole time?” Max asked, finally acknowledging your existence. “I'll bring him food, that's about it.” you responded with looks and the two older brunettes. “I'm y/n Munson, Eddie's sister.” you smiled, the pair introduced themselves as Eddie sat against the wall before telling them what happened with Chrissy. The night turned to day, and you went with Steve, robin, and the kids to follow the cops. Seeing what was in front of you almost made you sick. Your best friend Fred, laying there on the road, arms bent in impossible ways, same with his legs. “Freddie?” you said in a cry like a whisper. Nancy looked over and saw you and the group, she finished talking to the cops before walking over to you. Her hold was tight, like she was afraid you’d disappear or you’d be next to end up like Fred. Going back to where Nancy had left her car sitting a few feet from your trailer that was surrounded by police. After figuring out a plan, you let calm wash over you. “Us ladies will go talk to the library while you guys go talk to the shrink.” Robin said, grabbing your arm. “Oh hell no, if in the babysitter she's gonna come with me.” Steve spoke, pulling you towards him. Robin let you go, you got in the front seat and went with Steve and the kids to Mrs. Kelly’s. After a few moments Max came and yelled at Steve to drive. While at the school searching through the office you looked at max for a second. When you looked back at her she had started walking out of the room towards the hallway. So you saw, what, a clock?” you had said in a sarcastic manner,  which was not intended, it caused Dustin to smack your arm. After a few short minutes of her explaining what was happening, and Lucas scaring the shit out of all of you, you guys had gone back to Nancy’s to hatch a plan. Watching Max write letters to her family, even to her brother Billy. You walked over to Steve and started to talk to him. “I never thought the king Steve Harrington, would be friend a bunch of children plus a lesbian.” you laughed, Steve looked at you with a smile. “yeah I know it took me by surprise too, but they’re like the siblings i never could have.” Steve said looking over at Lucas and Dustin then to max. “Don’t tell Eddie but I always like guys who care about kids of any age, you know like a father or older brother figure.” you smiled looking at max as well. “So all I got from that, is that I'm the type of guy you’d date?” Steve smirked. “Don’t get a big head about it Harrington.” you smiled at him, as he smiled back. After a while, Nancy and robin went to talk to creel, we drove max to the graveyard and waited for her to finish talking to Billy. Lets just say now you understood the measures of whatever the fuck was happening in Hawkins. After driving to Rick's place the next day panic set in. There were tons of cops. Dustin's Walkey went off and Eddie told us where he was. While walking to skull rock you and Steve were following Dustin who was going the wrong way. Steve eventually took the lead and walked us straight to skull rock, Dustin complained about his compass. “See even though you're wrong,” Steve waved his arms around as you walked next to him. While he continued to talk. “ you're a total butthead.” Steve spoke, causing you to laugh while you stood next to him, he smiled at you. There was a noise behind you three, it was your brother. “I concur Dustin Henderson you are a total butthead.” he said, you and Dustin hugged him as time passed following Dustin this time lead to lovers lake. Where a gate was for the upside down. Robin, Nancy and Eddie had gotten in the boat, Eddie pushed you and Dustin back. “You guys trying to sink us, fits 3 people MAX.” he spoke, you grabbed his hand. “Ok good thing i can swim.” you said getting in the boat followed by Steve. Now, in the middle of the lake, Steve stood up taking off his sweater. You and Nancy were both looking, you were actually drooling almost. Steve went under the water, which caused Eddie to look at you. “Of all guys you could have a crush on, why Harrington?” He asked you, catching Robin and Nancy's attention. “His nice Eds’, better than the jocks I used to date.” you said Eddie nodded in agreement. Steve came back up, and said he found the gate before being pulled back under. You stood up, Eddie grabbed you, knowing you were going after him. You shoved him and jumped in. unaware of what was to come.

[thinger-strang]

i have some ideas about a "reverse" au; where billy is the indiana native while steve is the california newbie ( @smashmouth-hargrove i said i would tag you)

billy

drives a truck (neils old one that breaks down every few hundred miles) but is saving up for something more flashy

still has a mullet but it's not as shaggy

definitely has a piercing still but doesn't wear the dangly bit unless he's going "out"

wears a lot of ratty tee shirts, still with cut off sleeves for some of them

been working at bennys diner since he got his drivers permit

mostly a loner but friends? with tommy and carol but not besties and definitely not at the top of the food chain

and i feel like billy would be quieter? like still angry and gets into fights all the time but less likely to draw a lot of attention to himself, having grown up a gay kid in such a small prejudiced town

him and max still dont really get along but in more of an "im ignoring you therefore you dont exist" type way

but same basic backstory with his mom and everything just in hawkins

hed get involved with all the upside down shit bc max is part of the party from basically the beginning and while they have a stilted relationship they still look out for each other

im thinking itd be something with el and max would get freaked out by her powers and everything theyre discovering and end up telling billy

he wouldnt believe her at first not until he meets el or something (i don't really have like a plot line worked out)

but i think he'd be lumped with the kids, cant really picture him running around with nancy and jonathan and definitely not hopper and joyce, i think hed end up as a kind of babysitter type accidentally

steve

even bigger hair from swimming in the saltwater all the time

actually canonically a swimmer

seems very laid back, everyone immediately pegs him as a stoner (not wrong but still)

lives in hawkins now bc his parents got a divorce but both were also deemed unfit to have a child so he lives with his aunt claudia now

dustin hates him at first bc he only remembers steve as the awful cousin he's only met once but they grow on each other

steve only wore bright shorts and like crop tops for the longest time until claudia realizes he literally doesn't own warmer clothes and takes him out to get new clothes

hes really charming and everyone kinda swoons around him but doesnt ever take anyone out (he just went through a weird break up and isnt in the mood)

he gets dragged into the upside down shit when he goes to pick up Dustin from dnd (so way earlier in the day than billy gets max originally) and billys at the house so he asks to talk to billy outside and apologizes for starting shit with him at school (they get into a fight bc steve, trying to cover his own gay ass, calls billy a queer and they fight but steve feels awful bc that was shitty he was just really mad about moving idk) and then theres demodogs, steve panics but ends up kicking ass with the bat yay!

him and billy end up becoming really good friends and since steve doesnt have a car, just drives claudias station wagon when he can, billy ends up picking him up and driving him around a lot and they hang out in all the hidey holes billys found over the years

[harrygroves]

part three of willing victim steve/lifeguard billy

part two

Max finds it under his bed.

She’s looking for her skateboard cause she knows Billy took it -- he’s been in a bad fucking mood for at least two weeks now -- so she’s in his room on high alert because she doesn’t know where he is or when he’ll be back, but she knows he took it and she’s going to find it. She had heard him get home from work, change his clothes, then leave again without a word. That was at least two hours ago and the streets are dead quiet. She figures it’s now or never.

That’s when she finds the box.

She opens the lid, expecting to find something gross but it’s a box of random...stuff.

There’s a rolled up flyer, fluorescent orange and it says TINA'S HALLOWEEN PARTY --  let’s get sheet-faced with the stock-image of a ghost below it.

There’s a single golden and green striped sock and Max quickly drops that back into the box, wiping her hand on her shirt and making a gross-out face.

There’s a drawing, and Max recognizes it. It’s one of Will’s drawings that littered every available space of the Byers house not too long ago, the tunnels beneath Hawkins, the unmistakable blue and black shading forming pathways across the paper.

There’s a folded sliver of paper that is glossy, heavier than notebook paper. It’s a torn-out yearbook photo, and Steve Harrington is staring back at her when she smoothes it out.

She finds a name tag, Steve’s name emboldened in red and recognizes that it’s his from his work uniform.

There’s a pack of cigarettes, half-gone but it’s not Billy’s brand.

Max stares at all the...well, it’s crap, to be honest, with a furrowed brow and a pinched mouth.

What...the hell is all this stuff?

From what she knew, Steve and Billy didn’t get along.

Was this...just a box of hate?

She hears the roar of an engine and panics, dropping the box. She quickly bends down, sliding the cover on and pushing it under Billy’s bed before scrambling out of his room.

*

Steve knows Billy’s address because of Max and he never gave it much thought before but now he’s driving towards the house and he’s still in his stupid uniform and he doesn’t know what he’s going to say or do because putting himself purposefully in Billy’s orbit is making his chest hurt and his stomach flip. The car ride is a complete black-out experience and he doesn’t become aware of his surroundings until he’s pulling into the driveway.

Conveniently Billy seems to have just pulled into the driveway as well, shutting his car off and throwing the door open.

Billy gets out of the car, and turns to look at Steve, not immediately realizing it’s him. When Steve shuts his car off, extinguishing the lights, Billy understands and looks lost for a moment, like this is an unexpected surprise.

It’s the first time, in a long time, Steve has felt he’s had the upper hand.

That thought gives him a burst of adrenaline and he shoves his way out of his car, standing with his frame leant over the door.

“Harrington?” Billy says, and he is surprised, by the way his voice tilts. Steve’s insides twist and he can feel his heart beat faster.

“I need my name tag, Hargrove.” Steve’s feeling brave behind the door, a lot more bite in him than he’s had in a long time.

But that’s what Billy does. Strikes some sort of match, and usually Steve’s overpowered by the flame but now he’s ignited too and it’s making him feel braver.

“What?” Billy laughs, then turns his head back, and Steve sees it too.

There’s a curtain moving slightly as if someone just pulled it aside to look out at them.

Billy looks scared when he meets Steve’s gaze again.

“Shit.” Billy says thickly through clenched teeth.

Steve doesn’t know why Billy looks like a cornered animal, but the deflated ego is a plus and he pushes, “Seriously, I need it back. It costs like, five dollars to replace.”

Billy is suddenly moving, rushing forward, and Steve shrinks back a step, but makes himself stop, hanging onto the door like it’s a lifeboat anchoring him along in this chaotic, turbulent sea rushing around him.

“You need to leave.” Billy bites out, and he’s getting closer and closer with each long stride.

“Give me the name tag and I’ll leave.” Steve repeats but the words only half come out, that familiar feeling taking hold of him as he watches Billy advance on him. Something inside him that tells him to back up, to run.

“I don't have it here, okay?” Billy says, as he lands on the other side of Steve’s door, eyeing him with a mixture of displeasure and terror, lighting a cigarette because he seemingly needs something to do with his hands.

“Okay?” Steve says, shaking his head a little. “I don't -- what’s your problem, man?” He says, regaining some control now that Billy has stopped moving and doesn’t seem to have the intention of crowding closer.

Billy’s jawline hardens, like he’s grinding his teeth together. He takes a hard suck of his cigarette and blows the smoke in Steve’s face.

“If you don't get out of here. Right. Now. I’ll show you how much of a problem I can be.” Billy says, leaning in, sticking a finger in Steve’s face, speaking quiet and slow, and his expression tells Steve that he means it.

Steve has been at the end of Billy’s unhinged rage before, and he doesn’t want to be again.

He takes a deep breath, expelling it through his nose and says. “I’ll come get it tomorrow morning at the pool.” He says, eyes boring into Billy’s, trying to send some sort of message that says i’m serious.

Billy gives another quick glance back at his house before turning back to Harrington.

“Whatever.” He grumbles, flicking his cigarette at Steve, who ducks inside his car to avoid it.

“Asshole.” Steve mutters, starting the engine.

*

The name tag is burning a hole in his swim shorts pocket. He feels it moving as he walks.

Harrington’s parked in front of the entrance to the pool, leaning against his car, wearing that stupid fucking uniform.

And Steve, fuck, he shouldn’t look cute in the outfit, shouldn’t look soft and sweet, but he does, even though he’s trying to glare Billy down.

“Hey.” Billy says casually, with a jerk of his head, like they’re just meeting to hang out.

“Finally.” Steve mutters, standing straight, shoving his hands in his pockets. His eyes glance down at Billy’s stomach exposed under the edge of his Everlast crop top, but then his eyes move away, towards the ground.

“This what you’re looking for?” Billy says, taking the name tag and flashing it at Steve.

“Yeah, obviously.” Steve replies, eyes igniting as they meet Billy’s gaze, disdain pouring out from him.

And that’s a good thing, it’s the best thing; Steve hating him makes everything easier, but fuck -- it still sends this wave of physical pain through Billy that almost makes him keel over.

Trying to think of something -- anything -- to stay close to this kid whilst keeping him at arm's length...it was getting harder and more complicated and Billy was rocketing towards a losing battle.

Billy, lost in his thoughts, hadn’t noticed Steve get closer, shove himself in Billy’s space, but he tunes in as Steve’s hand comes up to grab at the name tag.

And Billy lashes out because it’s what he does.

He grabs Steve’s wrist with his free hand. That’s what happens when someone gets this close to him -- because they’re usually trying to hurt him -- so he grabs Harrington’s wrist and squeezes and Steve lets out this soft, shocked sound at the contact.

Harrington’s unmoving, eyes sliding from the name tag to Billy. Billy flicks his eyes down to Steve’s mouth, because it’s right there, close once again, just like at the pool those couple weeks back when it was available to him for a few, blissful hours.

And that’s when Billy feels it.

Harrington’s pulse in his wrist -- Billy had become adept at finding them since he became a lifeguard -- was racing.

Billy dug his thumb into Steve’s wrist and Steve wrenched it away from him, face morphing from angry to confused.

Adrenaline, it had to just be adrenaline…

Billy searched Steve’s face for a sign, anything, but Steve just stared back, dumb and soft -- willing victim -- and opened his mouth like he was going to say something.

Billy cuts him off. “Just. Here.” He shoved the name tag into Steve’s hand.

Steve stares down at it like he doesn’t understand.

He looks back to Billy. “Really? That easy?”

“Yeah, now get out of here.” Billy mumbles, looking past Harrington towards the pool gate.

“Why’d you take it in the first place?” Steve asks, pinning it to his shirt.

It ends up crooked. Billy shouldn’t find that endearing.

He doesn’t answer Steve, shoving past him, bumping shoulders, heading for the pool.

“Billy!” Steve yells.

He freezes, turns half-way towards Steve, and waits.

“Thanks.” Steve says.

Billy’s heart swoops, and he hates it.

Maybe he should punch Harrington.

But in the time it takes Billy to consider this Steve is already getting back into his car.

He has a hand on the steering wheel, extends his fingers from it in a small wave before backing out of the parking lot.

Billy feels his heart leave with him.

part four

[itsnotwierditsart13]

Holy Shit (ronance fanfic)

A small little fic about Robin and Nancy getting together:)

It was a thankfully slow day at Family Video as Robin and Steve worked their shift together. Robin was building a new cardboard display case for a shipment that was supposed to have arrived hours ago. Everything was always moving in slow motion at this job, though, and Robin enjoyed it thoroughly. Meanwhile, Steve couldn’t even bother to look busy as he slumped in the one old raggedy chair that Keith allowed them to have. It was pouring rain outside, the windows rattling from thunder every so often. There were probably going to be at least 2 more customers coming in before they closed in four hours. Mostly just older ladies who shouldn’t be driving a car, let alone in the poor weather conditions. Ms. Matheson, a store regular, never rewound her tapes fully, always halfway. It drove Steve crazy, even though he expected it.

“We should have Nancy come by, since it’s so dead,” Steve stated casually as if he didn’t have ulterior motives. He was slumped in his chair, eyeballing Robin for any type of reaction. It was clear that she had feelings for Nancy. After everything that had happened at Starcourt the four of them had formed a bond. Hanging out together most days, sometimes including the kids.

“Don’t start,” Robin replied while flinging a piece of cardboard at him. It narrowly missed his head and landed on the dirty carpet behind him. “She’s my friend and straight, if you’ve forgotten. I’m not gonna indulge in whatever you’ve cooked up in that head of yours.” There was another boom of thunder, drowning out Steve’s exasperated sigh. It was the same conversation they’ve had about twenty times since Steve had picked up on Robin’s feelings. 

“It’s just...sometimes when she’s looking at you. She’s looking at you. Ya know?” Steve explained. He was entirely convinced that Nancy felt at least something more than friendly for Robin. The two acted differently around each other. “And she knows you’re a lady lover. Maybe you’re like her gay awakening or something,” he finished, causing Robin to raise an eyebrow at him from across the counter. 

“Whatever you say, Dingus.” It was clear that Robin didn’t believe a word he said. “Now, can you make yourself useful and hand me the duct tape,” she gestured to the roll that was out of her reach. He rolled his eyes as he passed it over to her.

He didn’t have the heart to mention that she was building it upside down.

_______________________________________________________________

Robin was beginning to lose her mind at a rapid rate. It was clear Steve was going to be no help in the situation as he sat on the far end of the couch, minding his business. 

The three of them, minus Johnathan, had decided to have a casual Friday night movie marathon. That was nothing out of the ordinary, except the minute Steve flicked the lights off and started ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ Robin’s brain almost short circuited. Nancy, who was previously sitting a good distance away, curled into Robin’s side like it was the most casual thing in the world. She wiggled around enough that Robin had no choice but to wrap an arm around her small shoulders. They were now fifteen minutes into the film and Robin couldn’t process anything that was happening. She knew that her body was rigid and stiff, almost like a statue, but it was impossible to relax. What was Nancy doing? Sure, they had hugged before and the occasional times they’ve had to sit closely. Nothing like this had ever occurred, though.

Nancy seemed relaxed and engrossed in the movie. Robin had been side-eyeing her. Meanwhile, Steve continued to act like nothing strange was happening. Although Robin knew that he was fully aware of the situation at hand. The asshole was probably feeling pretty smug currently. Robin would’ve thrown popcorn at his stupid hair if her arm wasn’t already occupied. Despite the growing anxiety, it felt good to have Nancy against her. The girl was warm and small enough that she fit perfectly under her arm. Nancy’s arm that wasn’t wedged between them was laying gently across Robin’s stomach. It was all so...intimate. Robin had no idea what to think of it. This was the closest she had ever been to another girl before. On top of the fact that she had feelings for said girl. 

That thought alone filled her with guilt almost immediately. Nancy was probably used to cuddling up to her girl friends like this, why should Robin be any different. The fact that Robin was a lesbian probably wasn’t even a thought in Nancy’s mind. The girl had taken the news in stride when Robin had slipped up and came out accidentally a month ago. Here Robin was, though, catching feelings for an innocent straight girl. A straight girl who was currently happily tucked into her side. Shit.

Robin stood up abruptly, dislodging Nancy and causing Steve to startle slightly. “Um, I have to pee,” she mumbled out unconvincingly before taking off down the short hallway. When she was finally locked in Steve’s small bathroom she let out a sigh of frustration. It was times like these that she wished she could just be normal. It took another few minutes to calm herself down enough but she knew she had to return to the couch eventually. It would look suspicious if she hid in the bathroom all night. 

When she walked back out into the darkened room, Nancy glanced over at her with an unreadable expression. She quietly sat back down and did her best to avoid the two pairs of eyes that she could feel on her every so often.

Nancy kept her distance for the rest of the night.

________________________________________________________________

A week had passed since the ‘Movie Night incident’, as Steve had dubbed it, and things had only gotten stranger. To Robin’s horror, Nancy had been touchy feely with her every chance she got. Such as, entwining their hands while walking or resting her legs over Robin’s in the car. It was causing Robin to be in constant gay panic mode, which was exhausting to say the least. The more it occurred, the more Steve found it entirely amusing, though. Also, Nancy was always hanging around with them at the Video store. She’d stop in and bring them lunch, even if it was just for a few minutes. It was as if Nancy was doing everything in her power to give Robin a heart attack. 

Despite everything, Robin could only feel herself falling harder for the other girl. It pissed her off. She could barely focus when the other girl was around. Currently, she was trying not to stare as Nancy walked into the store with all the kids trailing behind her. Dustin immediately made a beeline for Steve, who was stocking shelves. The others all screamed over each other about which movie to rent. Will, with his sweetheart face, gave a small wave to Robin as he passed. He would always be her favorite of the bunch. 

“Hey Robin,” Nancy greeted casually, a small smirk on her face. She wore that expression a lot now and Robin couldn’t decipher it to save her life. “Sorry for the midday child tornado. I’m dropping them off at the Byers house but they wanted to stop for movies,” she joked. Robin had to swallow around the lump that had formed in her throat and waved her arm dismissively. 

“Please, it’s been bleak around here anyway. The only person I’ve had to talk to was Dingus,” Robin responded, gesturing over to Steve, who was now surrounded by all the kids. He was probably getting ready to hand them over a movie that they shouldn't be watching at their age. Nancy let out a laugh and stepped forward until she was standing directly in front of Robin.

“Yeah, I know the feeling. Especially when I’m stuck watching Mike while our parents are out,” she spoke and then paused, leaning in a bit more. “Although, I am pretty jealous that he gets to hangout with you all day. Even if you have to deal with customer service.” Robin held her breath as Nancy just kind of stared at her with that same unreadable smirk. Before anything else could transpire between them, Max sprinted through them towards the register. The others followed behind soon after, all yelling about her movie choice. Nancy just rolled her eyes while Robin finally let air into her lungs again. The spell was broken after that as they both made their way over to the, still arguing, group.

Robin didn’t miss Steve making kissy faces at her from behind Nancy’s back. He’d seen the whole exchange.

________________________________________________________________

Another week passed by in much the same fashion. It all came crashing to a sudden halt when Nancy had stopped by the store on a Sunday afternoon. Steve wasn’t scheduled and it was just Robin watching the counter by herself. Nancy had only been there an hour before flustering Robin to her breaking point. 

“Okay!” Robin shouted, causing Nancy to startle and take a step back. They had just finished their coffees that Nancy had gotten them while talking easily. When there was a moment of silence Nancy got that smirk on her face again. The one she’d been sporting constantly the last two weeks. Out of the blue, as if it wasn’t a huge deal, Nancy leaned over and kissed her cheek. “You can’t do that! You’re gonna kill me!” Robin continued to rant. She could feel the heat rushing to her face as Nancy just stared at her with wide eyes.

“Do you…um? Do you not have feelings for me?” Nancy asked hesitantly with confusion in her voice.

Robin sucked in a breath of air so forcefully that it made her cough a little. “What!” she wheezed out, grabbing ahold of the counter. Nancy had the decency to look sheepish as she shrugged her shoulders gently.

“I sort of overheard you and Steve talking about me. More specifically that you...liked me. But now I’m realizing I’m an idiot and probably misinterpreted the conversation,” she finished, taking another hesitant step back from Robin. “Oh god, you probably think I’m a freak now.” Robin just continued to stare at the other girl in shock. “You were just trying to be my friend and I was touching you constantly. I am so sorry,” Nancy ranted while waving her hands around anxiously. It was clear she was working herself up into an all out panic attack.

“Wait,” Robin startled, holding her hand up suddenly. “You were flirting with me?” The statement caused Nancy to stop her pacing and look at Robin.

“Well...yeah. Obviously,” she gritted out aggressively and crossed her arms over herself.

“Do you have feelings for me?” Robin yelped back. Nancy just scoffed and let out a bitter laugh.

“Jesus Christ, Robin, you’re really gonna make me say it? Yes...I like you, a lot. You’re funny and caring and I just feel comfortable around you,�� Nancy’s words were mumbled out but Robin caught the whole thing.

“Holy shit, Nance,” Robin breathed out in disbelief. The other girl just looked up and glared back at her. With that look, Robin realized what a dumbass she’d been and smiled widely. Before Nancy could comment on it, Robin gathered all her courage and leaned forward to connect their lips. It took a few seconds for Nancy, who was probably confused, to kiss back. They stood there kissing gently while everything else around them faded away. Robin wrapped her arms around the smaller girl, pulling them as close as possible. She could feel Nancy smiling into the kiss. 

It wasn’t until a few minutes later the sound of the door chiming broke them apart. Luckily, they were behind a shelf so the visitor couldn’t have seen what they were doing. Robin just rolled her eyes as Steve came strolling around the corner, though. Of course he’d make an appearance even on his day off. When he spotted the two of them he stopped dead in his tracks. It only took a moment for him to take note of Nancy’s blush before he smiled widely. 

“You two look like you’re having fun,” he stated. In the next second he had to dodge Nancy’s swatting hands. Robin couldn’t keep the smile off her face even if she tried.

[sh1tbird-shantytown]

lowkey blowing up your inbox with all this angst, but it just keeps coming. But imagine Joyce slapping Billy for what he did to Steve (the kids may have exaggerated a little bit), but it doesn't matter at that point because he's already having a whole shutdown/panic attack

perfect. i’m prepared for this one right now.

let’s-a-go!

—

he could only stare at steve. couldn’t look away from the damage he’d caused. it was just the two of them. sat at the byers’ dining table.

steve had been the only one to give him any mind. even max had been completely ignoring him. had muttered something to steve before she left to the living room with the other kids.

he took the cup of water harrington slid to his hands and drank greedily. still hazy from the drugs. his chest was slowly tightening. uncomfortable and painful. steve wouldn’t look back at him and tapped his pinky against his own cup instead.

“can you drive yet?” a car door slammed outside. billy jumped at it, looked at the door through the open space into the living room. shook his head. steve nodded, “i’ll try to keep the kids quiet.”

billy looked back at him, “what?”

their eyes met and steve offered a weak smile, “i don’t think either of us want to deal with hopper taking you to the station tonight. i’ll tell the kids to hold off mentioning,” he gestured to his swollen head, “this.” billy teared up but blinked it away, no self pity. “you obviously have shit going on already.” billy really wanted to cry. he was a piece of shit.

“i’m sorry,” he shamefully started. “i’m really sorry about doing...” he held his cup with both his shaky hands, “oh god. i’m so sorry!” he didn’t realize right away that his shoulders were shaking.

steve opened his mouth the same time the front door opened and one adults walked though. the wheeler boy rushed in front of her and followed the woman’s pointed finger outside. the faint call of ‘will’ cut off by the door.

“ms. byers!” dustin greeted, “we have a problem.” lucas and max stood behind him, nodding.

steve muttered, “awe hell,” before fast walking out of the room.

“billy hargrove came by earlier and beat up stev—“ he was muffled by steve’s hand. billy watched them as his heart started beating even faster.

“it’s alright, joyce, how about we—“

“what happened, steve?” ms. byers looked so worried billy felt bile rush up. he used the table to steady himself enough to stand up.

max glared at her toes, “my brother hit him with a plate and then jumped on him.”

steve put his hands out assuringly, “we really don’t have to worry about that right now.”

dustin hit steve’s arm with the back of his hand, “he almost killed you. of course it’s important! what the hell are you on about?”

lucas folded his arms, “hopper should put him in a cell!”

“just—“

“where is he?” joyce asked the room. didn’t even have to hear an answer before she caught billy’s eye. she slowly walked up to him. he felt his breath pick up. he saw flickers of neil. just as he’d been hours before. “you did that?” she gestured to harrington’s blue, red, and purple splotched skin. he had to nod. didn’t have control. couldn’t escape. his heart was sputtering like a failing car engine on the highway.

steve tried to follow her even after dustin grabbed his arm, “wait—“

closer and closer and...SMACK.

everyone was silent. steve was four feet away and joyce was one. she looked scary; so scary. scarier than neil. because neil already looked scary, but this woman looked nice and kind and soft and now she looked.... brimmed with hatred.

he felt the sting slowly and it got worse and worse. the same tender spot that neil had hit, and then steve had punched. he touched it, all tingling and swelling like a bee sting. “ow,” he whispered. joyce seemed somewhere between regretful and even more upset.

then he sobbed.

ugly and loud. desperate and lost. both his hands grazed the abused skin. tumbled down to his bottom and he couldn’t breathe. his throat was clogged from all the unkept bushes of emotion. his lungs were frozen in place and his body wouldn’t stop trembling.

“hargrove,” he felt fingers press gingerly into his knees. steve. “billy, look at me.” he hadn’t even known his eyes had been closed. he unstuck them and slowly focused on steve. he watched him nod and smile, “there you go! good job.” something loosened in his neck. one quick breath. steve nodded warmly, “there you go, man.” another crumble and another few breaths. steve kept just his fingertips barely touching him as he slowly got his senses back.

steve only moved away when billy started breathing again. they sat against the walls adjacent to one another.

if it were any other moment in his life he would have laughed at ms. byers’ expression. she slowly gathered herself back up.

“steve, you should go rest.” she stepped closer but steve gave her a look when billy curled up more. he hadn’t meant to. but she stopped and steve shook his head.

“i want to stay. you can go to the kids. i’m sure will and mike should come back in by now.” billy wouldn’t look up, only heard what they said. didn’t see joyce nod and usher the kids away with her understanding gaze.

billy’s head went numb when he felt steve take his hand.

“no one’s going to hurt you anymore here,” he promised. “not like whoever has been.”

somehow, steve had caught on, and billy’s tears turned into something relieved.

“thank you,” he cried out quietly.

“anytime.”

[hargrove-mayfields]

You’re The One I Want To Go Through Time With

Day one of HWOL is finally here!! So excited to share all I’ve written! For today I chose the prompt Neighbors AU!!! You can read this on ao3 also as part of the collection as well!!  Hope y’all like it!! 

Word Count: 11,952

Rated: G

It finally happens when he’s 15 years old. It’s not like he hasn’t seen it coming, but Steve gets kicked out.

In the very beginning of a particularly brutal Hawkins summer, he had decided to invite Tommy over to smoke weed in the pool house. He thought nothing of it, but the neighbors complained about the smell, and, coupled with every other act of his deemed irresponsible, immature, disgraceful, by his stuck-up parents, a couple of blunts was apparently the last straw.

They tell him the Harringtons had a reputation, an air of elegance and respect they had to upkeep, so they couldn’t just let him bring drugs onto their property. He thought it was ridiculous, considering that they were allowed as much wine aging in the cellar and expensive whiskey propped up on a hutch as they wanted, but when he’d brought it up he’d gotten nothing but a stern look.

They’d been through this a thousand times over, how worthless and terrible a son he could be, grounding him for bringing too many girls home, taking his car away when he failed a class, so he knew to expect a punishment.

This is obviously the next step, the throwing him out on the street thing, for years he could feel the neglect and tension starting to build up and boil over. Sometimes, they’d even hang threats of it over his head, so now that was told he had to be out of the mansion by the end of next week or there would be consequences, it couldn’t be too much of a shocker.

Though at some point, he’s got to wonder if they ever really thought as far ahead as consequences, or if they just knew they trained their boy well enough that it never got that far. If only he had more of a spine.

Now, as unsurprising as the scenario may be, Steve was still absolutely in no way, by any means ready to be thrown out on the streets before he even had his driver’s license.

In the case of emergency, like the time Stephen Sr. got just a little too rough and popped his wrist out of place, or when they’d left him alone for a month at age 9 and he went three days without food because he didn’t know how to turn the stove on, he had his aunt, the thankfully much more compassionate counterpart to his mother, who lived over in California.

The minute they’re gone, having passive aggressively hurried off somewhere, probably the country club or something, to complain about how disappointing their son was with their rich friends, Steve grabs a suitcase from the closet and gives his Aunt Margaret a call.

Before he knows it she’s got him a flight booked, a written agreement from her sister that proved taking him in was legal, and a set of luggage. Three days later, he was flying first class towards the rest of his life.

~~~~~~~

Touching down in San Francisco has got to be the most surreal thing he’s ever done.

He’d never even left the Midwest before, his farthest ventures being into the three states surrounding his home state, so to be charted off to the west coast? It’s an experience alright.

Aunt Margaret is there waiting for him, her jet black permed hair a few inches above the rest, her brown eyes sparkling with the kindest smile he’s ever seen as she runs up to hug him.

She takes all of his bags, swatting his hands away when he tries to carry even one, and makes him sit in the car while she shoves it all into the trunk.

He wasn’t used to not being the help, since that’s all his parents ever really saw him as anyways, only valuable as their son if they got something out of the time they spent with him. It’s got him feeling weird the whole drive back to the Margos apartment, like he’s in some alternate reality where people are nice to him for a change.

She lives in one of those shared places, a duplex where the house is divided into two halves for two different renters, the very kind his mother would’ve turned her nose up at despite having been raised in one herself. Margaret told him there was a mother and son who lived in the other half, but they’re quiet enough, and polite.

Just pulling up outside of the house, Steve already knows it’s everything he’s ever wanted.

The house itself, painted a pale shade of peeling yellow and missing the majority of the shingles off of the roof, is actually a reasonable size, a direct contrast to the mansion he grew up in, fit for a dozen but occupied by one most days.

Brutal summer heat has dried up the lawn and the garden so they aren’t perfectly tailored, not trimmed by underpaid staff or watered by automatic sprinklers. All across it there’s a scattering of ornaments, like colorful pinwheels in the front garden, and plastic flamingos standing guard by the mailbox.

There’s even a rickety old fence, all mossy and broken up to mark the edges of their property, so different from the white vinyl fence in his backyard at his parents house.

It would seem too that the garage was only big enough for one car, not three like he was used to, and that the makeshift gravel driveway leading up to it was at max capacity with only his aunts Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais, and a dinged up old Karmann Ghia the same color as the house parked in it.

Basically, there were none of the telltale signs that a neglected rich boy lived there, and from that alone he already knew he belonged here.

His aunt hurries him into their section of the house, theirs is the right side, so he can get to resting off the jet lag before he starts unpacking, but he’s far too distracted taking everything in to worry about being a little drowsy.

The rooms are small and the ceilings are low. Where there would’ve been beige and white and other sophisticated tones, there was a rainbow of colors in Margos apartment, from the curtains to the carpet, the Afghan on the back of the couch to the little trinkets in the entertainment center and windowsills.

He notices that, to accommodate for the heavy summer heat, there was a fan spinning in the corner, and all the windows were left wide open. His parents had the windows painted shut back home.

It might’ve been overwhelming, being thrown into a place like this so suddenly, but in his heart he knows this was what he was made for: a cozy life with someone who treated him with the bare minimum of respect.

~~~~~~~

Eventually Steve does fall asleep, the switch from Eastern Standard to Pacific time just being too great for his body. He doesn’t really mean to, he thought he’d just lay down for a minute while he was putting his clothes away in his new dresser, but he ends up sleeping until it’s almost dark out.

He goes looking for Margo when he realizes the house is empty, an irrational pit of dread growing in his chest at the familiarity of being alone, and finds her out back.

The yard also seems to be shared with the other house, a wispy line of barely showing through grass separating the two where a divider had once been, but had since been ripped up.

His aunt is with another woman, a blonde lady who he assumed was from the next door apartment, were sitting in mismatched lawn chairs, cigarettes glowing as the sun got lower and lower in the sky.

Margaret beckons him over once she notices him, and shows him off to the woman. It’s not at all like his mother would’ve done it, none of the flaunting him to make a good impression. This is more like her wanting to introduce him because she genuinely cares.

In a way, it almost makes Steve more uneasy. He could handle all the fake stuff with only the slightest hint of discomfort at being gawked at, because most of the time he’d never have to see those people again, but this was astronomically different.

“Maria, this is my nephew Steve.” Deep blue eyes seem to take him in, accompanied by a polite smile that makes his stomach drop for no good reason.

He panics, shifts into the role of the perfect little socialite he’d been working on his whole life. Without thinking, he extends his hand for her to and produces the generic response his mother’d trained into him. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Ms..”

She takes his hand, but looks a little surprised about doing it. “Hargrove. But we don’t have to do formalities.”

“Right.” It feels awkward to Steve, but judging from the laid back attitude of the women, it’s not a universal sentiment. That only makes it more embarrassing, to be the only one bothered by it.

His aunt leans back in her chair, tapping the ash of the end of her cigarette and tells him, “Go ahead and grab a chair Stevie.”

He straightens his back out and scans the yard, expecting a chair to already be propped open somewhere. The confusion must be apparent on his face when he finds nothing but grass and more grass, because his aunt specifies, “By the shed, kiddo.”

His parents always told him they weren’t allowed to have lawn furniture except the pool chairs cemented to the ground, because they said it didn’t fit the lifestyle they tried to lead. Even the concept of a shed would’ve been insulting to their tastes.

He's done enough growing up to know now that they were just afraid to look too much like they were people who lived in rural Indiana instead of in true big city luxury. They couldn’t risk seeming too much like they weren’t in the upper middle, it would be a disgrace.

The contrast between that and just sitting out there and not having his guard up is so, grounding. Not having anything at all to do but just, sit and appreciate instead of performing and worrying, it’s a lot to take in at once.

He was so nervous the whole way up, even though it was his aunt and he already knew she was nice, that they wouldn’t get along, since that’s the way things always were with his own mum, and lord knows he hardly ever even spoke to his father.

But it’s really not tense at all, actually, it’s sort of the opposite. For once in his life he feels free of expectations, and takes the moment to just exist. Ruthie and Stephen Sr. had long ago made sure that was a concept he could barely understand.

It’s not too long after that that the screen door to Maria’s side of the house swings open, scaring Steve so bad he almost tips his chair over as he startles.

There’s a boy who he’s guessing is about his age leaning out the door, but from the distance he’s at and with how dark it’s getting, Steve doesn’t see much else about him. “M back momma.”

“Okay baby.” The screen door clicks shut again in the next moment, and Maria offers Steve an apologetic smile “You’ve gotta excuse my Billy. He’s not too good with other kids.”

“No, it’s alright.” He assures her, like a polite social butterfly should.

Maria goes in a little while after that, and Margaret and Steve follow suit, since the sun’s almost all the way down.

But Steve’s curious now. He wants to know more about the boy, Billy, he thinks was what Maria called him. It’s only right to wonder, being that they’re neighbors now and all.

It gets brought up later that night, when they’re watching TV on the couch, a thrifted, feather stuffed thing he thought was simultaneously the most hideous and most comfortable thing he’d ever sat on.

“I didn’t know you had neighbors.” He’d been trying to work himself up to talking about it, sitting in the corner of the couch in a little ball and picking at his nails as he worked up his courage.

It was funny, being so nervous over casual conversation, but he guesses he could blame his parents for that one.

His own mum wouldn’t have even paid him any mind, at most pretending to listen while her eyes stayed trained to the television or magazine or coworker in front of her and hummed a non committal response, but Margo turns her whole body on the couch to face him while she answers him, with a complete sentence even. “Oh, people used to come and go all the time over there.”

“How long have they been here? Maria and her son?”

She thinks for a moment, a little surprised at her nephew's interest in the topic of their neighbors. “I don’t know, probably about a year or so now.”

“What’re they like?” He comes across as maybe a little too eager, and his aunt notices.

“What’s got you so curious?” There’s a teasing bit of reprimanding in her tone, just enough to suggest that she knows he’s being a nib-nose, but doesn’t mind it.

And he feels himself flush, because he is being nosy. To try to save face just a little, he comes up with an excuse that isn’t quite a lie. “Nothin’, just knew all my neighbors back in Hawkins, I guess.”

But she wasn’t upset with him, it wasn’t her intention to get him to shut up, like it would’ve been had he heard the same thing from one Ruthie Harrington, so she answers that question too. “I don’t know, they’re nice, sort of reserved, but I’ve never had any problems with them.”

~~~~~~

The two boys are properly introduced for the first time the next morning, when Steve goes out to fetch the mail for Margret. It feels like the least he can do for bumming off of his aunt.

Stepping out on the porch just shy of 8 in the morning and not seeing dewey grass, or the early sunshine muted behind rolling fog and dreary clouds is something he’s going to have to get used to.

Summers in Hawkins were always muggy, full of thunderstorms and unpredictably dreary days. San Francisco is so bright, so different, and such a relief.

While Steve basks in it, the already warm breeze and the sun shining bright, the neighbors’ door opens up and Billy comes out to do the same, standing on his tip-toes to reach up into the mailbox beside the door, holding a traveler's mug of coffee in the opposite hand.

When he turns around to go back inside, Steve, staying true to wanting to get to know the other boy better, has taken a few steps closer, and has extended a hand for Billy to shake, the same sort of introduction panic he’d felt last night.

But, Billy, seeing that his hands are a bit preoccupied by a stack of bills and a cup of coffee, just offers a sheepish smile.

Steve settles for a formal introduction without a handshake, though it’s still too stiff an interaction to really get to know him beyond the awkward new rich kid in town. “Hi. My name is Steve Harrington. I’m uh, I'm your new neighbor.”

“Pleasure to meet you Steve Harrington. M’Billy” They stand there, neither of them making any move to do anything but just look at one another. Billy clears his throat and shakes the coffee cup towards Steve, sensing that maybe this was the place for hospitality. “You want some? My momma always makes too much.”

“No thanks. I’m uh, allergic to coffee beans.”

“Huh.” He seems amused by that, scrunches his nose up like he doesn’t believe it, and Steve wants to curl up and disappear. “I’ll see you later then, Steve Harrington.”

He watches the other boy turn back to leave after that, and still sort of just stands there before his brain comes back on and he realizes he should say something in return. “Right, uh, bye.”

It’s just a moment's passing, but Steve can’t get the interaction out of his head.

He chalks it up to being nervous that his new neighbors won’t like him, the fear that Aunt Margo will send him back to his parents if he can’t get along here, and that makes logical sense, except, what he’s caught up on is Billy’s crooked smile, and his blond curls that lay just past his ears, messy from just waking up and bleached from the sun, and the spatter of dark freckles across his nose.

First full day in California and he has a crush on the neighbor kid. He can’t believe himself.

There isn’t very much time to mull that fact over though, because, over breakfast, what his aunt calls her ‘special occasion breakfast’ of cinnamon rolls with ice cream, she tells him she’s going to do some errands today.

And that’s alright, he tells her he’ll be fine all by himself, and he is, for the first few hours, but the more time she’s gone, the worse and worse he starts to feel. It’s that worry again, that deep rooted fear that he’ll be left alone forever.

Experience has taught him to try to calm himself down, to catch his breath and try to focus on the fact that he knows he’s being irrational, but those techniques don’t cut it, as they often don’t, and he’s sending himself further into a panic attack trying to think too hard about it

Sitting inside, he gets stir crazy, feels suffocated by everything that had before been inviting to him, so he goes for some fresh air out front. Watching the road for so long, just waiting for the Oldsmobile to pull up, he starts to feel antsy again, so he goes out back where it’s quiet instead.

There’s a glider on the porch back there, an old rusty thing that squeaked every time Steve rocked it forward or back, but the calming motion of it is probably the only thing keeping him from spiraling too far.

He doesn’t really know what time it is anymore, only that he’s hungry, and that the sun’s going down, and that he’s been sort of zoned out back there for a long while. He feels hot and cold at the same time, and he’s lost in his head.

The sound of a screen door gently tapping against the side of the house brings his eyes up from the spot on the ground he’d been staring at with tears in his eyes, but it isn’t his aunt Margaret coming home, it’s just Billy.

With his hands stuffed in his pockets, leaning against the wall between the back doors, he says real quiet like, “Momma told me to ask if you wanted some of the dinner she made.”

He shrugs. “I’m alright.”

“I figured.” Billy looks at the floor while he tries to figure out how he wants to approach this. For a long moment, neither of them say a word, no sound between them but distant field crickets, until Billy asks, his voice quiet enough it barely registers in Steve’s mind. “You okay?”

If he’s being entirely honest, Steve doesn’t really know if he’s okay. He trusted his aunt enough to move all the way across the country with her, and yet he can’t manage enough trust to believe her when she said she’d come home from some errands? Doesn’t sound too okay to him.

But he’s not in Hawkins, he’s away from the people he knows for sure wouldn’t be coming back for him unless it was to pull something like they had and treat him like garbage. So in a way, he guesses he’s better than ever.

Unable to think of any words that might convey what he’s thinking, Steve just shrugs again, but Billy seems to get it. He sits down next to Steve on the glider and plants his feet so it won’t move, and so Steve’s attention will be on him.

Knowing he’s got Steve’s focus, since he looks over at him with glossy eyes, Billy tries to reassure him, “Your aunt’s a good lady. She wouldn’t leave you.”

“Who said I thought she would?” It sounds pathetic, wet and stuffy with the remnants of tears he hadn’t known were falling, but there’s a vulnerability he couldn’t hide behind even the toughest of masks that reveals he isn’t being honest.

“The way you watched for her car said enough.” It makes Steve feel exposed, having a total stranger see right through him, but Billy explains himself. “When my momma went out looking for this place, I was sure I’d never see her again.”

“Why did you guys move here?” If he was going to psychoanalyze Steve, he felt it was only fair to ask Billy a pressing question back.

“I’ll tell you if you tell me.” He deflects it back onto Steve in a way that might’ve seemed cocky, but it's obvious he’s just trying to avoid the question.

Steve won’t let him win this one though, maybe just to save his own ego, or pretend like he hadn’t been caught crying by someone he met that morning, or maybe it was just because he had asked first, but he wants Billy to answer, so he tells him, with the slightest hint of a bashful smile playing at his lips, “You first.”

“Stubborn.” He cracks a smile back though, and goes ahead and goes first at the other boys insistence. “My dad’s a real nasty s.o.b. Would get drunk and mean for no good reason, so momma took me and we high-tailed it before he did anything too drastic.”

He didn’t know what he was expecting, why he even felt like it was any of his business, and he doesn’t know what he should say to that.

For lack of a better response, he gives his own little life story summary. “My parents were rich. They didn’t want me, so they have the time of day for me. No matter what I did they punished me for it, grounded me, hit me, sent me to Christian school, until they just got sick of me, I guess.”

“That sounds pretty shitty.” Billy offered.

“Yeah, yours too.”

After a while, Billy, sounding for a moment like he’s a lot wiser than any 14 year old has the right to be, says “What matters is we’re here now.”

Steve feels so touched hearing that. It was so simple a thing for the other boy to say, but coming from Billy after he’d just shared what he did, it means a lot more than just basic condolences.

Hardly anybody had ever been that genuine in anything they said to him. Steve can hardly force a response out of his shocked mouth. As he looks over at Billy’s face, still turned up towards the sky, he sees all that meaning there illuminated by the stars, and he's able to mutter a breathless, “Yeah.” in response.

They both jump when the door flies open, and aunt Margo comes running over to Steve. Frantically she explains that she’d been trying to make sure everything was legal, only to find that some of Steve’s papers were missing, and they had to try to track them all down and get some of them faxed, and it ended up taking way longer than expected.

It feels nice to be understood. Just a few years ago his parents left for what was supposed to be a three day trip to Indianapolis, only they didn’t come back for what was almost two months. Once they were home they didn’t even mention it, just continued going about their business as usual until it was time to leave again. His aunt taking the effort to explain herself was already a vast improvement from that.

He lets her pull him into a big hug, accepts her apology as the air is squeezed out of his lungs, and when he pulls away from her, Billy’s gone.

~~~~~~~

Finish reading on ao3! You can find this posted under the same title by ej_writer or as part of the hwol collection over there! Sorry tumblrs word limits deemed this too long!