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moonchildreads · 5 months

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Chapter 25 - Part-Time Lover

IN THIS CHAPTER: New routines, chilling at Lover's Lake, and Eddie and Dottie take a Big Step [17.4k]

WARNINGS: self-esteem issues (body shapes and stretch marks, both positive and negative), eddie being a simp for his girl (also maybe the author aka me being a lil gay over women's bodies), suggestive themes, jokes about male masturbation, discussions about past not so great sexual experiences (not explicit, focused on feelings and consent), allusions to sex (fluffy and poetic), NO EXPLICIT SMUT

A/N: dottie's experiences with her ex boyfriend in this chapter are heavily based on my own, please be kind. i'm not trying to infantilise her, i'm just being honest about what being unexperienced was like for some of us when we were teenagers. hope you enjoy it even if you can't relate (and let me know if you want to be added to the taglist!)

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We are undercover passion on the run Chasing love up against the sun

Friday, June 20th - 1986

“There! I see them, park here!”

“I have eyes, man, stop hitting me while I’m driving!”

The week following their graduation, the Hellfire Class of ‘86 had been presented with a daunting task: syncing their schedules to make time for each other while officially entering the workforce. After leaving high school, each of them knew that new routines had to be established, and so they quickly discovered that familiarity was key in navigating the strange grown-up world they had been thrown into so nonchalantly. When Eddie’s van parked outside of Giulia’s that first Monday and Jeff and Gareth spilled out from the inside with snacks and vending machine sandwiches like they were spoils of war, Dottie and Donny immediately clocked out and wordlessly agreed to this new tradition that was, in fact, a continuation of everything they held dear while in school - love and companionship in the form of sharing a meal.

A plan guided by convenience had been quickly laid out: Eddie finished his apprenticeship shift at 1 pm, and upon leaving he’d pick Jeff up at the last house in his route as a very in-demand dog walker over in the upper-middle class side of Hawkins. Together, they’d head to Big Buy where they’d wait in the parking lot for Gareth to clock out at 2, and finally, they’d meet up with Donny and Dottie at a small park nearby Giulia’s, always sitting under the very same tree Gareth had frantically been pointing at through the van’s dashboard.

“Alright, nerds, what’s on the menu?” Donny said on that particularly hot Friday as he saw their friends climb out of the van, ready to get out of the heat trapped inside its metallic body.

“We snagged two pizzas today! Donny’s been learning to throw the dough and we got to keep the ones that didn’t fall to the floor,” Dottie said, proudly presenting the boxes resting on their picnic blanket to the boys.

“I’ve got Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper, and a huge bag of chips,” said Gareth, letting the plastic bag fall from his hand onto the middle of their circle.

“What kind?” asked Jeff, gathering the plastic cups and napkins he’d shoved in his backpack that morning before leaving home.

“Sour cream and onion.”

“Nice.”

“I’ve got grapes, pretzels, and two egg sandwiches from the vending machine,” said Eddie, opening his lunchbox and throwing the bag of green grapes towards Dottie who cooed happily.

“I’ve got apple slices, M&Ms, two PB&Js, and Mrs. Kendall gave me a bunch of jerky as a snack, not really sure why,” Jeff finished the roll call, getting a handful of gas station jerky out of his backpack’s front pocket.

“Do you think I’ll die if I put jerky on top of my pizza?” asked Gareth at large.

“Dunno, but go for it,” Donny encouraged him, filling cups with soda and distributing them around.

Dottie loved having lunch with her friends at the park. On Tuesday, it had rained all morning so they’d instead sought out refuge at one of the booths within Giulia’s, Donny’s family more than happy to play host to the teens while they prepped for the dinner shift. They’d had a pleasant lunch that day, but there was nothing that could compare to the sense of freedom she felt while sitting on their blanket, pooling all their lunches and snacks together and complaining about their new jobs.

After only a few days, it became clear to everyone that Donny was the privileged one within their friend group - his post was inside the kitchen learning all about his Dad’s craft, and he was taking to it with gusto and innate skills he had never known he’d had but seemed to have begun developing in his Home Ec classes. Gareth, on the other end of the scale, was seriously considering asking to be switched to the graveyard shift if he had to play nice to yet another presumptuous customer demanding to see a manager because he wasn’t allowed to accept their expired coupons.

Eddie felt like he was somewhere between the two. He loved getting his hands greasy and figuring out what was wrong with a car, the satisfaction of fixing something and seeing Thatcher’s proud smile was easily the best part of the job. However, he did not enjoy the fact that all the rich idiots in town came in with their expensive cars asking for repairs to be done quicker than it was humanly possible.

Carson Humphrey, Andy Humphrey’s father, had come into the shop on Wednesday for a simple oil change. Thatcher was more than happy to let Eddie take over, confident in his apprentice’s budding skills, but it soon became clear that wasn’t happening - Carson loudly proclaimed he didn’t want “that good for nothing Munson boy” touching his car and breaking something that would certainly cost more than Eddie’s salary to replace. Thatcher had sent a red faced Eddie to the break room, told him to get himself a soda from the vending machine, and did the oil change as fast as he could to get Humphrey Sr. out of his shop and onto his merry way.

“Don’t let that asshole get to you,” Thatcher had said when he found Eddie smoking behind the shop after Carson left. “Thinks he’s all high and mighty ‘cause he has money, well… that ain’t stopping his wife from askin’ for Dougie’s number when she was here last month.”

“No fuckin’ way,” Eddie scoffed, cigarette in his mouth while leaning over to see Doug’s shiny bald head through the window.

“You ain’t heard it from me, boy,” the older man laughed. “But women love a man willing to get his hands dirty. Ask that girl of yours, she’ll tell you.”

Eddie had simply nodded and kept his hair down to hide his ears that were surely becoming more red by the second, quickly dismissing any salacious thoughts as his wristwatch beeped loudly to announce the end of his shift. He distracted himself with yet another smoke and loud headbanging music as he drove down the street - he did not need to hear shit from either Jeff or Gareth as he picked them up, his jeans feeling uncomfortably tight under the Indiana sun.

“You guys will never guess who I saw today,” Gareth said back in the present, a slice of pizza in one hand and a handful of chips in the other.

“Wheeler?” Eddie ventured a guess.

“...You’re an asshole, you knew that?”

“I never said which Wheeler! It could have been Nancy,” he defended himself.

“Why would anyone care if I saw Nancy Wheeler?”

“Can’t believe we’ve got more updates on Henderson than we do on Mike,” Jeff commented, ignoring their bickering.

“I know, right? Did you talk to him?” Dottie asked, splitting an egg sandwich in two and giving the other half to her waiting boyfriend.

“Well, not exactly…,” Gareth grimaced.

The day after graduation, the Hellfire Club got together at the Henderson house to send Dustin on his merry way to Camp Know Where, even if it was at the expense of putting their D&D sessions on hold until he made his triumphant return a couple of weeks later. Still, his friends took it upon themselves to help him pack with no complaints, all while excitedly chattering about the kinds of activities he’d be participating in once he arrived at camp. They also, of course, teased him endlessly about the fact that he was about to be reunited with his “hotter-than-Phoebe-Cates-but-still-a-genius” girlfriend, pestering him to bring back pictures as proof of her existence.

In the midst of good-natured ribbing, the older boys helped him shove his heavy bags into Claudia Henderson’s trunk; the kind woman watched them with a gentle smile on her face, grateful for the little community his son had found himself a part of upon entering high school. While they were hugging Dustin goodbye and wishing him a fun time at camp, Dottie couldn’t help but notice that after interacting with both Mike and Erica, the previously relaxed boy grew strangely serious before pressing slips of paper into their hands.

“Radio in if you need me, okay?” he said, looking at Mike with intense eyes. “I’ll check in at this frequency every morning.”

“Dustin-” Mike began to protest, but he was cut short before he could say more.

“I’m serious,” Dustin turned to Erica. “You can use Cerebro, my Mom will let you in. I can be back in a day tops.”

“You worry too much,” Erica dismissed him, but there was something in her expression that said she was taking his words to heart. “Go to your nerd camp with your nerd girlfriend and we’ll see you in a few weeks. We’ll be fine.”

“Okay, okay, just… y’know.”

“I know. We’ll keep you updated, dumbass.”

“Thanks,” he smiled at her genuinely before moving on like nothing had happened.

If the rest of the boys noticed the weird exchange, no one said anything, and thus Dustin left Hawkins in high spirits, grinning at the sight of his friends waving at him from his front lawn as his Mom’s car got smaller and smaller as it headed down the road.

It was a shame, however, that with Dustin away for a few weeks, Mike chose to essentially become a recluse in his own home instead of hanging out with everyone else. Unlike Erica who was spending all her free time roaming around town with her gang of middle school girl friends trailing behind her, the middle Wheeler sibling hadn’t poked his head out of his basement all week after seeing Dustin off. If, in fact, what Gareth was saying was true, this was the first Mike sighting they’d had since Saturday, and they knew from Dustin’s midweek phone call to Eddie that he hadn’t heard from him either.

Gareth had been counting the coins in his register for the third time that morning when he saw Karen Wheeler, baby Holly, and Mike approach, cart full of groceries. He’d exchanged pleasantries with his friend’s mother as he scanned their items but the younger boy seemed overall uninterested in joining the conversation, quickly pushing the cart (along with his baby sister) away towards their car while leaving behind his mom to pay.

Seeing the older boy weirded out by her son’s behavior, Karen took it upon herself to apologize on his behalf. Apparently Mike had been in a foul mood all week because his friends in California couldn’t make the big trip to Indiana like they had anticipated, and that meant that he wouldn’t see his best friend Will or his girlfriend Jane until further notice. It’s okay, I understand, Gareth had said in a dramatic tone. Young love will do that to you, and Karen had laughed earnestly before bidding him goodbye and following her son to the parking lot.

“You can’t be serious,” Donny deadpanned when Gareth finished retelling the encounter to his friends.

“100% true. He’s pissy because his girlfriend isn’t coming over anymore.”

“That’s bullshit,” Jeff laughed. “He saw her in March, he can’t be that whipped.”

“Right? That’s what I said!”

“I dunno, guys,” Eddie said, pensive. “I’d be pretty upset if I couldn’t see my girl for months.”

“Well, Ed, lucky for you no one is planning to cut your right hand off,” Gareth said sarcastically, and Eddie pushed him over with his foot.

“I’m being serious, jackass. Can’t a guy be a romantic and travel to see his girlfriend often?”

“Any guy? Yes, sure. You, King of the Cynics? Give us a break,” Jeff scoffed.

“You’d really go all the way to Cali every few months just for a girl?” Dottie asked, eyes stuck to her sandwich. Will you actually come visit me in Michigan when I’m gone like you said you would? was what she really wanted to ask. Will you still love me even if we don’t see each other every day? Will I still be your girl when I live in a different state than you?

“Darling, I’d travel to another dimension for my girl,” he replied, voice a little bit too earnest for the casual conversation they were having.

“Oh my god, you’re so fucking corny,” Gareth threw his head back as he laid dramatically on the blanket. “You used to be cool, man, what happened to you?”

“I turned 20. Careful, it’ll happen to you too if you don’t watch out.”

The conversation quickly switched to different topics, like new music someone had recently discovered, a cool video game coming out soon, and most importantly, making plans for the upcoming weekend. Jeff was trying to convince everyone to go see a movie on Saturday, cleverly mentioning the air conditioning as a big selling point while they packed up the remnants of their lunch and headed to Eddie’s van.

“Is there even anything good playing right now?” Gareth asked, wishing the inflatable pool gathering dust in his garage didn’t have a hole in it.

“Don’t think so, Aliens isn’t coming out until next month,” Donny said. “Dot wanted to watch Labyrinth but that was next week, I think.”

“Hey, Dot!” Gareth yelled at her; she had stayed behind to fold their huge picnic blanket with Eddie. “When’s Labyrinth coming out?”

“Next Friday! Why?” she yelled back.

“Jeff wants to go to the movies tomorrow!”

“Unless it’s horror, I’m in. They have air conditioning!”

“See? What did I tell you?” Jeff said to Gareth and Donny, grinning. “We should go see Never Too Young to Die.”

“No! Nope, no, nuh-uh, I’m not watching any John Stamos willingly, my Nonna’s obsession with him is enough for me,” Donny groaned.

“She a General Hospital fan?” Gareth snickered.

“Yeah but they sent his character to jail a few years ago so he left the show and she followed him to his new sitcom. It’s shit, don’t watch it.”

“Don’t worry, we won’t,” Jeff affirmed. “But. Gene Simmons is in the movie so I think we should go watch it anyway.”

“Okay, now hold up-”

As soon as the boys disappeared behind the van, Eddie deliberately slowed down his actions so he could steal away a few seconds to talk to Dottie in private without their friends eavesdropping. While pretending like he was still trying to fit the blanket into her backpack, he looked up at Dottie with one eye closed to keep the sun from blinding him, his dimples on display as he beamed at her. She smiled, savoring their first moment alone of the day.

“So I was thinking,” he began, as he casually threw her bag over his shoulder and began slowly walking towards his van.

“Go on.”

“D’you wanna do something different today?”

“Different like what?”

“We could go to the lake,” he said, like he hadn’t been planning on inviting her all day. “We have a blanket already, and it’s a nice day, we could swim a little. Dunno, it’s too hot to be inside. And I think your Dad might be getting suspicious that I’m always around when he comes home.”

“Oh,” Dottie exclaimed, turning shy. “I- I’d love that but I’m not… I didn’t bring my swimsuit so-”

“Whatchu need a swimsuit for?”

Three sets of eyes were staring at them from the rear of the van, having been hidden from their sight in search of a bit of shadow to stand in while they waited for their friends. Jeff looked curious but innocent enough; it was Gareth and Donny that Eddie was suddenly afraid of. They were both looking at them with equally intrigued expressions, but where Donny was encouraging, Gareth was dangerously mischievous.

“Are you guys going to the pool without us?” the curly haired boy asked, staring pointedly at his best friends; Dottie looked like they’d been caught with their hands inside the proverbial cookie jar.

“No, no, definitely not,” Eddie stuttered. “I mean, who wants to go to the pool, right? It’s full of fuckin’ toddlers and their mommies, that’s so lame-”

“We were just talking about going to the lake but we don’t have swimsuits on us so we can’t go,” Dottie said, hoping to put an end to the topic.

“We can go anyways and swim in our undies,” Donny proposed, raising his eyebrows in Eddie’s direction. “It’s not like we haven’t done it before.”

“Uh, guys, I don’t think Dot’s comfortable with that,” Jeff looked at his friends.

“Yeah, yeah, totally, that’s why we said we weren’t going,” Eddie added, pushing everyone towards the van doors. “Why were you out here?”

“You didn’t give us your keys,” Gareth said, grinning at him.

“We can go.”

“Huh?” Eddie turned around to look at Dottie who was staring at the gravel.

“I, uh… It’s really hot today and we should- I mean, we don’t have to get in but we can- if you guys want to, we could still go. To the lake.”

“Yeah? You wanna go?” he asked, hopeful.

“Yeah, sure,” she smiled at him, cheeks red from the sun. “Why not?”

“Okay. Okay!” he said. “Everyone get in the van, we’re going to the lake!”

“Oooh, can we stop to buy beer on the way?”

“And more chips!”

Dottie and Eddie looked at each other sheepishly and shrugged before following their friends. Time alone for the lovebirds would have to wait until later, but who could say no to a new adventure presented in such an impromptu but lovely way? Summer had only just begun after all, and no one could see the storm brewing on the horizon yet. Might as well make the most out of their day if the sun was still shining, right?

Eddie had had it all planned out. As he tossed and turned in his bed the previous night, he decided that on Friday he was going to take his girlfriend to their spot at the lake, lay down on their blanket under the trees and kick their shoes off for a while. He had made sure his acoustic guitar was tuned to perfection, and had shoved it into the back of his van to serenade her until the sun went down, the Snoopy thermos bottle Wayne had gotten him for his birthday hidden away in his backpack and full of apple flavored Kool-Aid - her favorite. He was going to romance the shit out of his girl and kiss her until he felt they’d had enough without having to worry for a single second about her Dad coming home from work early and catching them sprawled out on the couch. Or her bed. Or worse, the kitchen counter.

The Hellfire Class of ‘86 was touchy, there was no denying it. None of them really knew what personal space meant, everyone was always on top of each other, and they’d shared enough meals together to still be disgusted about the notion of having to drink from the same cup. Eddie and Dottie were actually not the worst offenders of the group, at least not in public, but by the sheer nature of their secret relationship, the pair were on their toes about just how much physical familiarity they displayed in front of others. This was exactly the reason why during the past week, they’d reserved their soft touches and gentle caresses to when they were tucked away inside Dottie’s home, shielded from any straying eyes and the relentless gossip mill that haunted Hawkins at every step.

On Thursday, however, things had taken a turn. Maybe it had been the climbing heat of the summer, or the natural excitement that having a shared secret filled them with. Maybe it had been the fact that the cute domesticity they had enjoyed while they were still in high school had intensified by virtue of now having the house alone for entire afternoons while James was still at work. Maybe it was Eddie’s work coveralls like Thatcher had implied, lightly stained with grease and tied at his waist, or maybe it was Dottie’s flowy red sundress, his favorite color. The truth was that the waters between them had reached a boiling point, and Eddie had finally snapped and crowded his girlfriend against the counter while she was putting together a snack tray for them to enjoy, uncaring to the clock that ticked on above the kitchen door.

In an uncharacteristic move, Dottie had let herself take what she needed from her boyfriend, and in turn, he had let her explore this new side of their relationship in earnest. He’d helped her climb onto the counter where she sat prettily, lips attached to lips and hands roaming with the eagerness of an explorer. She’d kissed him before, but never like this. Never with this much urgency, like she couldn’t bear the thought of not kissing him. Mouths roamed to necks, fronts pressed against fronts, and Eddie ventured a burning hand under her skirt, tracing up, up, up on the outside of her left thigh when the sound of a car door being closed with force made them jump apart.

They’d looked at the entrance door with apprehension for a few seconds before they heard the neighbor’s dog barking loudly, clearly welcoming his owner who was unlatching his noisy sidegate and trying to control his furry friend before anyone in the neighborhood complained. Eddie and Dottie stared at each other for a few seconds, hearts racing and breathing ragged before he broke into a fit of nervous giggles. She’d tucked her head down and smiled shyly, getting off the counter and going back to the task she’d been working on before she’d let her innermost thoughts guide her actions.

Eddie had fooled around with people before, but this, he felt, was different. This wasn’t a one-and-done deal, some fun in the back of his van that he could feel good about while ignoring the fact that no one had really asked him for his name or his number before he saw them leave. No, this was different because Dottie was different. She was his girlfriend, not a random stranger at The Hideout, and yet Eddie couldn’t help but feel uneasy about the way she pretended nothing had happened for the rest of the day. There was no more flirty banter, no cheeky hands on knees, no sneaky kisses after her Dad walked into the house 15 minutes later. Eddie didn’t claim to be an expert in relationships, but he figured then he had to follow her lead.

If Dottie wanted to wait, he’d wait for as long as she wanted, and so he was going to take her to the lake and sing for her until his throat hurt. Nothing more, nothing less. For her, Eddie Munson could and would be the perfect boyfriend. That is, if their friends could stop getting in his way.

“Sweet, the dock is still here!” Gareth exclaimed, looking out of the window.

“Park over there, man,” Donny instructed from the co-pilot seat. “Sun’s gonna move soon, we’ll get more shadow under that tree.”

Quickly, all five teens jumped off the van before it came to a halt, desperate to feel the breeze on their skin. The afternoon heat had given way to an oppressive humidity that could be felt under every piece of clothing they were wearing, and no one wanted to sit on Eddie’s itchy fabric and leather seats for any longer than they absolutely had to. They spread their blanket near the van, sneakers piled up on every corner so the wind couldn’t steal it away while they were cooling off in the lake, a plastic milk crate in the middle serving as an impromptu table.

“Who the fuck bought Bud Light?” Jeff asked, hauling the cold case of beer cans out of the back of the van.

“It was the cheapest one they had,” Eddie said.

“No way PBR isn’t cheaper,” Gareth said.

“Yeah, but PBR tastes like corn,” Donny laughed, dropping two new bags of chips onto the blanket.

“Ed, what’s in here?” Dottie’s soft voice rang through the clearing.

She was holding his backpack on one hand, the heavy Snoopy thermos on the other. Eddie opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before he hoisted his guitar higher on his shoulder, desperately trying to act nonchalant so the rest of the boys wouldn’t pick up on his now ruined plan.

“That’d be apple Kool-Aid,” he admitted, a shy smile gracing his face. “Forgot to tell you I had some earlier, sorry.”

“Ew,” Gareth scrunched his face. “That’s, like, the worst kind of Kool-Aid.”

“Hey, watch it,” Eddie said, pushing him off balance lightly. “That’s her favorite.”

“Your favorite Kool-Aid flavor is apple?” the younger boy turned to her. “That’s so gross, it tastes like piss.”

“Damn, G, whose piss have you been drinking to know that?” she retorted, making their friends snort.

“Okay, enough chit-chat! I’m overheating here, let’s get in the water,” Donny said, bending down to take his socks off.

“Last in buys the popcorn tomorrow!” Gareth yelled, pulling his shirt off and letting his shorts fall to the ground before running towards the wooden dock in his briefs.

Donny and Eddie looked at each other, shrugged once, and hurried to get their clothes off as well, both of them immediately cannonballing into the cold water. Dottie watched them shove each other under the surface, loud screaming and laughter echoing within the confines of their little hidden place in the woods. She hadn’t missed the meaning of the bottle in her hand - Eddie had thought of her that morning before he left for work. He’d packed it for her, along with the guitar resting on the checkered fabric on the grass. Her eyes searched for her boyfriend, his wild hair flattened with the weight of the droplets clinging to his curls. To her side, blue and white fabric rustled, startling her out of her thoughts.

“Are you getting in?” Jeff asked when she turned to look at him.

“Uh, I- I’m not sure,” Dottie admitted. “You?”

“Y-yeah. Same.”

She examined him with gentle eyes, noticing the beads of sweat gathering at his hairline. It was clear he was feeling hot, his thick jeans sticking to the skin of his legs, the fabric around his collar getting darker with perspiration. She felt the heat too, but she had had the foresight of wearing shorts and a cotton tank top that day; his three-quarter sleeved Black Sabbath shirt didn’t look like it allowed much air to reach his feverish skin under it.

Donny and Gareth have older sisters, she realized all of a sudden as Jeff looked forlornly at their friends. It was probably normal for siblings to see each other in various states of undress as they grew up, especially if they shared bedrooms or bathrooms. Donny had been Vittoria and Isabella’s baby doll before little Giulietta had been born, and while the age difference between Gareth and Gretchen was smaller than Donny’s and his older sisters’, the fact that their bedrooms were connected through a Jack-and-Jill meant that they’d seen each other in their underwear more often than either of them could count by the time they’d both entered elementary school.

Jeff only had an older brother, and he probably felt a bit shy taking his clothes in front of Dottie. If she was being honest with herself, had she not been worried about being semi-naked in front of Eddie for the first time ever, she would most likely have had the same concerns as him.

“You can go in with them if you want to,” she said, motioning towards the lake with her head and trying to be encouraging. “I don’t mind you guys being in your undies around me if that’s what’s stopping you.”

“No, it’s- it’s fine, I’m not hot,” he said, crossing his arms.

“Jeff, you’re sweating buckets. I can turn around until you’re in the water if that makes you feel better.”

“No, it’s- it’s not you,” he sighed, apprehension on his face. “It’s everyone, I guess? I- I’m not used to, like, showing my legs to people. It makes me feel weird.”

“Oh,” Dottie said, not really understanding the issue but still aiming to be supportive. “Are you like super hairy or something? Because Donny could knit a blanket with his leg hair and no one cares, I promise no one’s gonna make fun of you.”

“No, no, I’m not hairy,” he snorted. “I mean I have some hair, I’m a guy, but no, he’s definitely the hairiest out of all of us.”

“Dunno, man, you haven’t seen me in winter when I don’t shave,” she joked, and he smiled at her gratefully for making their conversation feel lighter.

“It’s not hair I’m worried about,” Jeff said, turning towards her and lowering his voice. “Swear you won’t laugh?”

“It’s just me, Jeff,” she put her hands in her back pockets and shrugged. “When have I ever laughed at you about anything?”

Jeff hadn’t known what to expect when Dottie first joined Hellfire. They’d had a couple of female members in the club as the years had gone by, but none of them were quite like her and he didn’t know what to make of it at that time. Dottie, for starters, did not look like she was into heavy metal or nerdy stuff, dressing like any other girl he could have seen on the street, complete with trendy pastels and dainty florals. She had, however, been incredibly kind and not judgemental, eager to learn how to play D&D and taking it way more seriously than he’d thought she would on their first session, and that - along with the snacks she’d brought with her that day - had helped make him less wary of her intentions.

It certainly surprised him when all three of his best friends immediately struck a friendship with her, particularly Gareth who had a reputation of not knowing how to talk to girls in the first place. Still, in just a few short weeks, Dottie’d become a permanent fixture within their friend group and Jeff had no reasons to contradict them when the girl who sat next to him during World History lessons often smiled at him like a timid puppy asking for her new owner to play with her. If she was willing to put in the work to call him a friend, he would oblige and do the same, and that was exactly what he had done all those months ago.

“Okay, yeah,” he said, nodding a couple of times while he gathered courage. “It’s just- I, uh, I have a lot of marks on my legs. And I don’t like when people stare at them. It feels like they’re judging me.”

“Marks like scars or…?”

“Like stretch marks. I have them on the backs of my knees and on my hips. They’re… they’re kinda a lot. My Mom used to rub this oil on me to make them smaller but I don’t think it did anything to be honest.”

“I get it,” Dottie smiled. “I have them too, y’know.”

“You do?”

“Yeah,” she said, shifting her weight from foot to foot. “I have them on my butt and my hips. Here, look-” she moved her leg to the side and pulled the cuff of her jean shorts higher, letting him see the web of silvery scars climbing on the side of her leg.

“Wow.”

“I used to hate undressing in the locker room because none of my friends had them and I thought they were ugly, and then my Auntie Rachel said I should think of them like a badge of honor. Like you survived puberty and now you have all these battle scars to show for it, right?” she said, and Jeff snorted. “I know. It sounds so stupid, but it did make me feel better about them so… Dunno. It hurt like hell to get them so maybe she’s got a point.”

“God, yes. Some nights it felt like someone was trying to shatter my fucking kneecaps from the inside,” he laughed, happy to commiserate with a friend.

“Dude, I was terrified! No one told me growth spurts felt like being tied to those goddamn medieval beds that stretch your limbs until they snap, I thought I was dying,” she said. “It was the worst, honestly. I’m happy I stayed kinda short because that shit was painful.”

“Do all of yours look white?” Jeff asked, curious.

“Now they do but they used to look pink and a bit swollen, like when a cat scratches you on the leg, y’know? But they turned white after a while, so I guess that means they’ve healed. Yours don’t look like that?”

“Not really, no. I could show you if you want.”

Dottie was aware that Jeff was trusting her with something very important with his offering. Not wanting to spook him off while he was being so vulnerable with her, she nodded eagerly and waited for him to push his jeans down until they touched the soft grass under his feet. He bent down to grab them and fold them carefully while she looked at his legs with an interested expression, but not a malicious one.

“I actually didn’t know stretch marks could look like that,” she said, embarrassed.

“I didn’t know either until I got them,” he said, hands twitching nervously at his sides. “It’s probably because my skin is darker than yours.”

Jeff stood in that clearing in the blue checkered boxers his Mom had bought for him, and felt the breeze calm his heated skin. The backs of his knees were damp with sweat, and Dottie could see them painted with both cream and very dark brown scars at the point where his calf joined the back of his thigh. The intricate webbing stopped after a few inches, and then resumed at his hips, hidden by the breathable fabric, but traces of it could be seen near the elastic at the top. Jeff’s lower body had stretched and stretched, making him as tall as his brother and as slender as his mother, and the signs were displayed for the world to see for what was probably the first time since he’d gotten them.

Wordlessly, Dottie’s hands went to the top of her shorts and undid her belt, zipper falling open afterwards as her legs kicked the jean fabric aside. Jeff’s eyes roamed the patches of skin she’d mentioned before, observing silvery threads in similar patterns to his own as they climbed the sides of her upper thighs, her high-cut cotton panties not helping to conceal them unlike his choice of underwear. They smiled at each other and it was suddenly very clear to both of them that there was nothing to fear here; there was not an ounce of shame or embarrassment to behold in that clearing.

“So… do you wanna get in now?” Jeff asked, pulling bravery out of thin air.

“I… Yeah. Yeah, I’ll do it if you do it,” she grinned at him, conspiratorially.

“Okay, let’s- let’s just go for it!”

With the sort of giddiness that comes from overcoming a personal hurdle, the two teens finished undressing and walked side by side to the little dock where they sat down until they both felt comfortable enough in their own skin to jump into the water together. Jeff hadn’t known what to expect when he’d first met Dottie, but he was infinitely glad he took the chance to get to know her, thankful that his friends had had much better foresight about her than he did upon their first encounter.

Eddie wanted to drown himself. Was that a dramatic reaction to the situation at hand? Most likely, yes, but he’d never been known to be a level-headed guy in the first place so he couldn’t really be blamed for it. Not only had his plans to share a romantic afternoon with his girl been thwarted by their friends poking their noses where they didn’t belong, but also the first time Eddie was seeing Dottie in her underwear was at the same time everyone was seeing her in her underwear, and quite frankly, he didn’t care for it one bit.

It wasn’t that Eddie was jealous - that ship had sailed a long time ago and sunk to the bottom of the ocean more and more every time she told him she loved him - but he did feel like he had been cheated out of a very important First in their relationship. He’d imagined the moment very differently, and he was very much upset that he could only allow himself glimpses of her so as not to seem like a creep while she sat on the dock with Jeff, their calves shoved into the water as they chatted amicably. Still, while his friends were distracted, he felt like he could allow himself a few moments to take in the little things that he could observe about her and catalog them in his own brain under the Think About Later, Preferably While I’m Alone And In The Shower label.

If the magazines hidden underneath his bed were supposed to capture the hottest people on Earth, then Dottie was, in his eyes, a goddess living amongst common folk. Upon seeing her lounging by the water, he was reminded of that one time in Art class when their teacher had given them a presentation about statues in Ancient Greece - something about why so many of them didn’t have arms, and how beauty standards had changed throughout the years. Eddie hadn’t really cared for it at the time, but staring at the soft pudge protruding from her stomach and the thick thighs that molded themselves to the wood under them, he felt like if he were to carve Aphrodite herself in stone, she would have looked like one Dorothy Burke.

Every single detail about her was overwhelming to him. The myriad of moles that littered her body, the way the hairs on her arms stood to attention when she pulled her legs out of the cold water and the breeze hit them just right, the liquid silver that marred the skin on her hips. Her toes painted bright pink, her cute chuckles at whatever Jeff was saying, her hair moving in the wind as she stood at the dock gathering courage to jump in, the unassuming set of matching bra and panties she’d chosen to wear that day: cotton, little soft pink flowers dotting the fabric and two tiny non-functional baby pink bows, one sewn between her breasts and one underneath her belly button. He felt like a pervert ogling her and a worshiper at her altar at the same time, and he had to stop looking at her and chill the fuck out before anyone noticed that he would have gone to war, written poetry, and gladly died for her if she asked him to do so right that second.

“Eddie!” Gareth called, startling him out of his thoughts. Jeff and Dottie had already jumped into the lake and joined the fun. “You in for chicken? Dot’s gonna be the referee.”

“Hell yeah, man! Same teams as usual?” Eddie replied, doing what he did best when caught daydreaming: pretend he hadn’t been daydreaming.

“You’re going down, bitch!” Donny yelled before lowering himself underwater so Gareth could climb on his shoulders.

“Hey Ed, do you mind if I go on top this time?” Jeff asked, surprising Eddie.

A long time ago, the eldest Vitale sister, Isabella, had heard the boys gossip about Jeff and didn’t like what she’d eavesdropped on one bit. They’d been sitting in the living room at Donny’s house, putting away the pieces of the board game they had been playing on a rainy afternoon when the topic of Jeff and his pants had come up. The boy hadn’t been present for the conversation; his Mom had picked him up a few minutes earlier, and so his friends had felt like it was safe to speculate on why he was so hellbent on not wearing the mandatory shorts everyone else wore during gym class. Isabella heard them mention his newly acquired stretch marks and dismiss it as the issue at hand rather quickly, moving on to juicier theories like secret tattoos or acne in weird places. She’d shut them down in an instant.

From that day on and thanks to a long stream of yelling coming from Isabella, the boys understood that Jeff was sensitive about showing his bare legs to the world, and that if they really considered him a friend, they’d stop making a note of it every time he chose joggers over shorts and covered himself with a big towel after getting out of the pool. So in that moment, while Jeff seemed to not care that his scars were on display for everyone to scrutinize, Eddie resolved to immediately shove his head underwater and help him onto his shoulders, happy to prove to him that he’d been wrong all along when hiding himself around their friend group.

The little corner of Lover’s Lake that the Hellfire teens had chosen as their spot for the afternoon had never seen a battle the likes of The Great Chicken Fight of ‘86. Both teams fought fiercely, sometimes winning, sometimes choking on a bit of lake water, but after several rounds Donny and Eddie asked for a break to let their shoulders rest, and Team Donny and Gareth was officially crowned as the champion for the day.

At around five, every cloud in the sky was officially gone and the temperature had started to drop so everyone agreed it was time to get out of the lake and enjoy the sun before it went down behind the trees. Eddie offered Donny and Gareth to share a joint as their prize, and they gladly accepted it, all three of them grabbing a couple of beers each and sitting on the dock to smoke and get pleasantly buzzed. Not interested in partaking, Jeff and Dottie chose to go back to the blanket near the van where they sat down and drank their beers while he plucked some tunes out of his friend’s acoustic guitar.

“That sounds gorgeous,” Dottie told him sincerely, lying on her front on the blanket, head resting on her crossed arms and legs swinging behind her.

“My Mom loves this song,” Jeff said, playing the intro of Ain’t No Sunshine by Bill Withers once more.

“I’ve never heard of it before,” she admitted. “Can you sing it for me?”

“Yeah, for sure,” he smiled, always happy to spread his love of music around.

Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone, Jeff crooned, his tone raspier than usual and carrying over to where the guys were sitting at the dock. It’s not warm when she’s away, ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone, and she’s always gone too long, anytime she goes away. Dottie stared at her friend in awe of his raw gift. All the Corroded Coffin members were talented, she knew that very well, but Jeff had always been the most shy in demonstrating it outside of Gareth’s garage and the relative anonymity of The Hideout, perhaps due to his father’s silent disapproval of his son’s artistic inclination.

And I know, I know, I know, I know… After observing countless practices and a couple of their weekly gigs, Dottie was fairly confident that while Eddie was the most talented guitar player out of the two, Jeff had the best voice in the band by far. As he sang about longing for someone who leaves often, she couldn’t help but think of themselves, about how summer was ticking by fast and one day, they’d all have to say goodbye to each other for a while like they had done with Dustin the previous weekend. And this house just ain’t no home, anytime she goes away.

“That was… wow,” she shook her head in disbelief once he had finished his rendition. “Bill Withers you said?”

“Mhm. He’s from West Virginia, you know? My Granddad is always talking about him,” Jeff said, going back to playing basic chord progressions while he explained.

“Maybe you’ll get to meet him while you’re there.”

“I doubt it, he’s probably like a gazillionaire by now. He totally lives in LA.”

“Never too late to ask for a transfer,” she joked, and he scoffed like he was offended at the suggestion.

“This sucks, man,” he sighed, putting the guitar aside and dropping onto the blanket next to her, elbows bumping. “All this time I’ve been looking for any excuses to leave this shithole and now that I have them, I don’t wanna go.”

“It’s just four years. We’ll blink and be back here before we know it. And there’s the holidays too, we have to come see family and stuff.”

“Yeah, I guess. Unless we get real jobs and then we won’t be able to come back.”

“Yeah, maybe. Can I tell you a secret?” she whispered.

“Of course.”

“I’m super scared that when we leave you guys will forget about me,” she said, turning around to lay on her back. “Like I’m gonna come back to Hawkins for Christmas break and it’ll be like I never existed.”

“You’re insane,” Jeff shook his head. “There’s no way we’d forget about you. Especially Eddie.”

“W-what do you mean?” Dottie said, hand draped over her eyes to hide her expression.

“Okay, so I know I’m not like an expert on this,” he began. “-but I think Eddie really likes you. As in, more than friends.”

“Oh,” she replied, trying very hard not to laugh. “That’s… I don’t know what to say. You really think so?”

“I’ve never seen him act like this before. It’s like someone brainwashed him, but in a good way? Dunno. He seems happier when you’re around. I think we all are, actually.”

“Aw, Jeffie,” she cooed, sitting up and pulling him into a one-armed hug, ignoring the fact that none of them had bothered to put their clothes back on after getting out of the water. “I’m really happy with you guys too, senior year would have completely sucked if I hadn’t met you. I think that’s what scares me the most, because I told you about my friends in New York and how they used to forget about me during summer and I just- I don’t want things to change, y’know? I’m happy like this!”

“Nothing’s going to change, Dot,” he said, sitting up too. “Well, I mean, everything is going to change when we go off to college, but that doesn’t mean we have to change. We’ll all still be friends… and maybe you and Eddie can be more than friends,” she shoved him and he laughed. “But we’ll keep in touch. We’ll send postcards, and letters, and we can call each other, you’ll see.”

“Promise me,” Dottie said, lifting her pinky finger. “Promise me we’ll still be best friends even when I’m in Michigan and you’re in West Virginia.”

“The better Virginia,” he said dramatically, linking his pinky with hers.

“The best Virginia, but only when you’re in it.”

“Why are you buttering me up so much? What terrible song do you want me to play next?” he narrowed his eyes, but they both knew he would always gladly play anything his friends asked for.

“Well, now that you mention it…”

Jeff picked up the guitar again before she could finish her sentence and launched into a sped up version of Back in the U.S.S.R by The Beatles, making Dottie dissolve into giggles as he faked a terrible British accent. Eddie watched from the dock, his bare back resting on old wood while Gareth and Donny talked next to him. He couldn’t even be mad at the fact that Jeff was fulfilling his fantasy; he was enjoying the tunes too and the view of his girlfriend lounging on the grass in her undies was enough to keep him content for the moment.

“Might wanna be less obvious with the staring, bud,” Donny said, bringing him back to the present instead of fixating on how she pushed her bra strap back onto her shoulder when it moved out of place.

“Fuck off,” Eddie scoffed. “I wasn’t staring. I was zoning out.”

“Sure you were,” Gareth said, sharing a conspiratorial glance with Donny. “That why you planned this cute little date? So you could zone out?”

“Cute little date? You mean the chill hangout you were both invited to?” Eddie said.

“You brought the dragon slayer guitar, man. This was not a casual hangout and you know it.”

“It was already in my van, I didn’t do shit.”

“Yeah, right. What about the Kool-Aid then? Her favorite flavor? Come on, Ed, we know you’re into her,” Donny said plainly. “Why are you so scared of asking her out?”

“I’m not!”

“Then why haven’t you already?!”

“I have!” he said, exasperation making him slip up.

“You have?!” Both Gareth and Donny stared at him, confused.

“I- I mean… No, I- I was gonna ask her today. And then you assholes ruined it,” Eddie deflected, making them feel bad about it to cover up his mistake. “I love you both, but you’re nosy as hell. I’m not telling you shit about anything anymore.”

“Okay, that’s so fuckin’ rude,” Gareth said, exaggerating being upset for drama. “We’re rooting for you two, jackass, you don’t gotta treat us like the enemy. We can help you if you want!”

“Nope, I don’t need any help, thank you. I’m doing pretty okay without you.”

“Really? Because from where we’re sitting, Jeff is the one having the date you planned with your girl. You might wanna hurry up and make your move before he swoops in.”

“First, don’t use Jeff of all people to try and make me jealous. That’s lame and you know that, we’re all friends here,” Eddie scolded Gareth, making him raise his hands to concede. “Second, I have nothing to worry about.”

“How can you be so sure of that?”

Eddie was about to answer when a damp haired Dottie approached them, Eddie’s black sleeveless shirt that he had cut himself hanging from her fingers. She stopped right in front of them, beaming down at her boyfriend with cheeks tainted red from the sun.

“What’s up, princess?” he smirked, knowing that his friends were watching the interaction curiously.

“Can I pretty-please borrow your shirt for a bit? I’m cold but I don’t wanna put my shorts on, I don’t wanna get them wet,” she pouted at him, as if she thought he’d ever say no to her.

“Yeah, of course. There’s a flannel somewhere in the back of the van if you want that one.”

“No, this one’s okay!” Dottie said, lifting the shirt and putting her head through it. “Thank you!”

She hopped away and back towards Jeff while she pulled her arms through the big holes at the sides, the black fabric falling down her back until it covered the delicate flower pattern on her panties. Eddie took a sip of his beer can and turned to look at the boys; Donny was holding in a chuckle and Gareth was staring at him in disbelief.

“You were asking?” Eddie said, smug.

“I… Shut the fuck up,” Gareth shook his head.

“You two are gonna be so gross when you actually start dating,” Donny said, thoroughly entertained.

“Maybe. Or maybe we’re already dating and we just haven’t told you,” Eddie said, mysteriously.

“Yeah, right. You’re like the most transparent person on Earth, Ed,” Gareth said.

“And she’s the worst liar ever,” Donny added, making Eddie snort.

What they don’t know can’t hurt them, Eddie thought as they switched topics and he took another glance at his girlfriend in the distance. She was looking right back at him with a smitten smile on her face, so he winked at her once, watching how she turned bashful and looked away from him. He wasn’t trying to be mean to their friends but when he had said sneaking around could be fun, he didn’t know how absolutely right he would be, and Eddie was determined to make the most of it before they had to come clean when summer drew to a close.

“What are you doing tonight?”

“Are you asking me out? Should I be worried about the guys tagging along again?”

“Ha, ha, you’re so funny. Answer the question.”

Eddie and Dottie were waiting for a red light to change back to green on the way to her home after having dropped everyone else off. When the sun started to disappear behind the treeline, the Hellfire Class of ‘86 very reluctantly decided it was time to return to society where wearing clothes was expected of them. Eddie had mourned in silence the fact that Dottie wasn’t wearing his shirt anymore, but considering it had been warm when she gave it back to him, he felt like a small mercy had been afforded to him in his time of suffering. The temperature was falling fast as the daylight said goodbye to Hawkins for the night, making Dottie burrow further into the co-pilot seat as she turned to the side to look at the metalhead.

“Well, I was thinking I really need a shower before I do anything else because I am covered in lake water and I feel sticky and gross. And- I don’t know, maybe watch a movie before bed? You? Got any plans?”

“Not yet,” Eddie said, changing gears before he let his hand find hers, interlacing their fingers. “Was kinda hoping you could help me out with that.”

“Oh, so you are asking me out,” Dottie smiled.

“Well, since our super romantic date turned into you having to see all our hairy asses, I thought it’d be nice to make it up to you,” he shot her a quick smile before turning his eyes back onto the road. “Wanna pick up a pizza and have dinner with me and Wayne? We can get a movie too, and you can stay over if you want. He won’t mind.”

“I don’t know, Ed,” she sighed, her thumb drawing patterns on the back of his hand. “I want to, I really do, but staying the night is… Don’t know if I can get away with that.”

“Don’t wanna keep lying to your Dad, huh?”

“No, well… I don’t actually mind the lying. He’d kinda freak out if he knew, I think. And he’d sit me down to have the most awkward talk in the world and like, I’m sorry, I know he’d mean well but he’s late on that by like four years. Mrs. Maybelle beat him to it and she did a damn good job.”

“Health teacher?”

“Mhm. She was so cool. I think she single-handedly lowered the teen pregnancy statistics in my school.”

“Wow. Go Mrs. Maybelle,” he chuckled. “It’s okay though, we’ll see each other tomorrow. Or you can still come over only for dinner, I know Wayne misses you.”

“He does?” she bit her lip as she smiled, warmth spreading inside her chest.

“Pfft, are you kidding? He likes you more than he likes me. Asks me about you all the time,” Eddie said, a tinge of pride in his voice, like he loved the fact that his Uncle and his girlfriend got along so well.

Dottie stared at their intertwined hands as she mulled over his words, only snapping out of it when he moved to switch gears again without letting her fingers go. The van slowly came to a stop on her driveway, the soft murmur of the engine filling the quiet of the summer night. He turned to look at her with curiosity when she made no moves to get out; she was burning a hole on her front door with nervous eyes, thumb on her free hand lodged between her lips as she bit down on her nail gently.

“I’m gonna take a shower first,” she muttered. “Then we can go. And we have to tell my Dad everyone is staying over at yours too.”

“Okay,” he said, the side of his mouth coming up in an amused smile. “Anything else?”

“For dinner, can we get something that isn’t pizza? I’ve been having Italian all week, Donny’s family keeps feeding me everything on the menu so I can recommend it to the customers. I think I’ll die if I eat any more dough this week.”

“Of course,” he chuckled at her dramatics. “KFC okay? Wayne loves a drumstick.”

“KFC sounds great actually.”

Finally turning off the van and heading inside, the pair put some distance between them to seem casual in front of James, who sat on the couch half asleep with a crossword puzzle in his hand and the TV tuned in to some random game show he wasn’t really watching. He took his glasses off and brushed a hand over his face tiredly, opening his arms so Dottie could beeline in his direction and give him a big hug.

“Hey honey, where have you been?” James said, voice gruff after a very long week.

“We went to the lake,” she said, perching on the armrest next to him, Eddie taking a seat in the armchair near them. “It was too hot to do anything else today. How was work?”

“Tiring. S’that why you smell like a swamp? Because you got in the lake?”

“Dad! You’re so mean, I do not smell like a swamp.”

“You kinda do,” Eddie said, giving her a toothy smile.

“You’re not supposed to gang up on me, you got into the lake too,” she stuck her tongue out at him and he laughed in response. “If it’s so bad I’m gonna go take a shower and you two can finally be free from my ogre smell.”

“Are you two hanging out here tonight?” James asked, hand holding onto his daughter’s wrist for a second before she could leave. “What do you want for dinner?”

“We’re going back to Eddie’s for movie night. Everyone went home to shower first,” Dottie lied.

“Oh, okay. You’re staying over or you need me to pick you up later?”

“I think we’re staying but if not, Donny can drive me back, don’t worry about it. We’re supposed to go to the theater tomorrow anyway, Jeff was saying something about Gene Simmons being in a movie? Dunno. I’m pretty excited about the aircon though.”

“Of course you are,” her Dad laughed, finally letting her arm go. “Go back to the Black Lagoon now, shoo.”

“Dad, stop it!”

Dottie had long ago stopped worrying about the kinds of conversation her Dad and Eddie got up to while she wasn’t around as they often revolved around three distinct subjects: nerd stuff, cars, and whatever interesting thing had happened recently. That day’s talk seemed to be about a high end car that had come into Thatcher’s shop in the morning, and as both men marveled at its engineering like they were kids at Christmas, Dottie headed upstairs to the bathroom to rid herself of her dirty clothes and the sticky lake residue on her skin.

The water coming out of the showerhead pinged off the tiles softly, the echoey nature of the room lulling her into a sense of peace and comfort as she slowly undressed and stepped into the empty tub. Dottie took her time relaxing after a long week of intense training at her new job, gentle fingertips working her ginger and mint scented shampoo on her scalp. Her sun-kissed skin felt like it was sizzling under the warm water, more cold than hot to ease the tightness under the red patches. She turned off the water after rinsing all the soap off, wrapped herself in a fluffy white towel and padded her way to her bedroom to finish getting ready for the night.

While she dried herself and applied moisturizer to her shoulders, cheeks and bridge of her nose to avoid her skin peeling off, Dottie stared at her wardrobe with a million questions on her tongue. It was easy enough to put together an outfit for the casual date night - any t-shirt and pair of shorts would suffice for dinner with Eddie and Wayne. It was, however, the rest of her clothes that worried her, from which set of pjs would be appropriate for the eldest Munson to see her in when they inevitably shared breakfast together the following morning yet still cute enough to wear while cuddling up under a blanket with Eddie while they watched a movie, down to, most importantly, her undergarments.

Dottie, while having very limited experience, was no stranger to what sort of things couples would get up to when they had an empty house to themselves. Standing next to her dresser with her underwear drawer open, she weighed all options in her mind. Would Eddie mind that she didn’t own anything like she’d seen on the girls in the magazines under his bed? Would he care about what she wore at all? Was he even interested in taking the next big step with her? It had certainly seemed so on Thursday, but he had backed off completely afterwards leaving Dottie to overthink their interactions until she had finally fallen asleep.

Truth be told, if she really had to consider it, was she ready? She felt comfortable with him, yes, she definitely felt safe, but did that mean anything had to happen that specific night? Eddie had seen her in a completely normal set of underwear all day and hadn’t said a thing. He hadn’t even kissed her. He’d held her hand in the van after everyone left, and he’d been as affectionate and friendly as ever, but aside from that… was he put off now that he knew what she looked like under her clothes?

No. Stop it, Dottie told herself before she could go down a dangerous spiral. He didn’t say anything good but also he didn’t say anything bad. He was probably just embarrassed to say something with everyone around, that’s all. He’ll totally mention it tonight, that’s why he wants you to come over. With a confidence that was more performative than real, she chose a simple white cotton set that felt cute but was also comfortable enough to sleep in, grabbed her favorite pajamas and quickly put an overnight bag together before climbing down the stairs before she could regret her choices. In the living room, Eddie and James were still talking about the fancy car.

“You ready?” Eddie got up when she approached them. “I’ll drop you off at Family Video while I pick up the chicken.”

“Okay. Any suggestions?”

“You pick,” he smiled at her. “But get the two movie deal with the popcorn, I’ll get you gummy bears at the station.”

“Got it,” Dottie turned to her Dad. “I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon, is that okay?”

“Go have fun,” James enveloped her in a hug. “Call me if you need anything.”

“I will. Love you.”

“Love you too, honey,” he kissed her forehead and let her go to shake Eddie’s hand goodbye. “You two be safe, alright? Say hi to Wayne from me.”

“Will do, sir. Have a good night,” Eddie said, wondering not for the first time if James knew more than he let on.

Dottie walked into Family Video with a simple mission: she had to find two movies that both her and Eddie could enjoy together. They both liked fantasy and sci-fi, but a lore-heavy or emotionally compelling movie didn’t feel like the right choice for a night where everything was meant to change between them, and certainly horror was out of the picture if she wanted to get a wink of sleep for the following week. Something lighthearted and fun like Ghostbusters or Beverly Hills Cop seemed like the perfect choice in her mind, and she knew just the person to ask for help in her quest.

The smell of plastic and air freshener filled the air as she surveyed the store for that familiar head of hair she’d come to be really fond of, but when she finally found it, her plans were immediately thrown off the table. Robin Buckley stood in the children’s movie aisle looking very overwhelmed while being surrounded by three little kids and their sweet grandma, who was trying to pick a movie for them. The kids kept showing different tapes to her, and the old lady insisted Robin explain the gist of each of them so she could decide which one was more appropriate for her grandchildren to watch. By the looks of it, this had been going on for several minutes before Dottie’s arrival judging by how disheveled Robin’s vest was getting as the kids tugged on it trying to catch her attention and offer yet another tape as a new contender.

“Hi, welcome to Family Video! How can I help you?” a man’s voice beckoned Dottie further into the store, only to find herself face to face with one Steve Harrington.

“Oh hey, nice to see you again!” she said honestly, watching how the friendly looking boy lit up at her acknowledgement of him.

“Yeah, nice to see you too! Congrats on graduation, by the way,” Steve said, leaning onto the counter.

“Thank you!”

“So, what can I help you with? Unless you’re here for Robin.”

“Oh, no, it’s- well, actually I did want her help but I guess if you two are friends that means you must have good taste too, right?”

“That was kinda a backhanded compliment but I’ll take it anyway,” Steve joked. “What were you looking for? I’m not an expert like Rob, but I’ve seen some cool stuff since I got this job.”

“I was looking for something light? Like… I don’t know, something like Back to the Future maybe?” Dottie mused, following him to one of the aisles at the front of the store.

“You’re in luck because I did see that one. Instant classic. I don’t get why Alex P. Keaton was trying to bang his Mom though, what was up with that?” he lowered his voice conspiratorially, making her chuckle.

“He wasn’t, she was trying to bang him,” she said, and Steve’s eyebrows shot up. “She didn’t know he was her son. Are you sure you’ve seen it?”

“Of course I did,” he scoffed. “I saw it with Robin - hey, Rob!”

“Steve, I’m a little busy here,” Robin raised her voice from her side of the store, throwing daggers at him with her eyes.

“Just answer this for me please: did I see Back to the Future with you or not?”

“Yeah, why-”

“Thank you!” Steve triumphantly turned back to Dottie who was watching the entire interaction with an amused expression on her face. “What did I tell you? I saw it!”

“Okay, I believe you,” she laughed. “Can you help me find something similar to that since you’re Michael J. Fox’s biggest fan?”

“Who’s that?” he asked, back turned as he browsed the shelves in search of a VHS he knew he had stocked earlier in the week. “Aha! Here it is, Teen Wolf. I saw it on a date like a month ago, I think you’d like it.”

“Yeah? How did that date turn out for you?”

“Really bad, but the movie was great,” he tapped on the plastic cover. “Big recommend.”

“You’ve convinced me, I’ll take it. Oh, and this one too, please,” Dottie said, walking to the next aisle and picking up another VHS she’d had her eyes on for a while.

“Clue? Like the board game?”

“Exactly! I haven’t seen it yet, but Tim Curry is in it so it must be good.”

“Who’s Tim Curry again?”

“Did you ever end up seeing Rocky Horror?” he nodded so she continued. “He plays Dr. Frank-N-Furter, you know, the guy in the corset?”

“Ah, yes! Yeah, I remember him. It was, uhm, it was a really interesting movie! The music was very catchy,” Steve said, walking over to the counter to ring her up while he scratched his neck nervously. “You know, I’ve been talking with Robin about going to see some shows in Indy, she knows some cool spots and- and they might be showing stuff like Rocky Horror too! I mean, they seem like the kinda places that would show movies like that. You could come with us if you’d like, I know Rob would love that.”

Steve Harrington’s new self-appointed life purpose after striking out on so many dates for the past year, was to be Robin Buckley’s wingman. He was no longer interested in pursuing flings that always led to him on his own couch with his head on Robin’s lap and her hands on his hair while they watched some weird avant-garde movie she’d picked for the day. He was, quite frankly, tired of trying so hard for nothing, and he’d told her as much when he took her out for dinner on her graduation day.

In a so-sad-it’s-almost-comical turn of events, Steve’s big declaration had been forgotten rather quickly when Robin turned her head to call the waitress over and spotted Vickie, fellow band geek and current crush, making out with her college boyfriend, both of them tucked into one of the booths at the back of the restaurant. Steve tried to pick up the pieces of his best friend’s broken heart that night, her head on his lap on the floor of his bathroom for a change, but he simply hadn’t known how to make everything better at the time.

And so, it was during the next morning as he watched Robin snoozing in what was quickly becoming her side on his bed, her reddish-brown hair spilling over his fluffiest pillow, that he decided the only solution was to find Robin a new object of desire, one that would be emotionally available to reciprocate her feelings without fear of becoming the town pariah. In that scenario, who could be better than the short curly haired girl that already looked to be fond of his best friend, was seemingly unafraid of judgment since she already was friends with the freaks, and was about to move to a bigger city where small town sensibilities couldn’t reach either of them?

It was a flawless plan if you asked him. There was only one little problem in it, but Steve couldn’t be blamed for that - he didn’t have all relevant information yet.

“I’d love to go with you guys too!” Dottie said, excited at the prospect of new friends and fun adventures. “I’ve only been to Indy once so I don’t really know any cool places there or anything.”

“Yeah, me neither,” Steve laughed. “Rob’s been a few times with the school’s band though. They get around, did you know that?”

“I’ll take your word for it,” she chuckled, grabbing a few bills from her front pocket. “I have two questions. One, can I get the two movies and popcorn deal? And two, would it be okay if I invited a friend to join us on our big city adventures?”

“One, sweet or salty? Two, that depends,” he said mysteriously, moving over to the snacks display next to the cash register.

“Sweet, please,” she instructed. “Depends on what?”

“I don’t know, is your friend cute?”

“I think so, but I don’t really know your type,” Dottie said, glancing to the side as the front door opened and Eddie walked in, a big grin on his face. “Speak of the devil.”

“Harrington,” Eddie said, sliding next to her and bumping her shoulder like he wasn’t dying to throw an arm around his girlfriend.

“Munson,” Steve greeted him. “Wait, did you- is he the friend you were talking about?”

“You were talking about me with King Steve, princess?” Eddie raised his eyebrows, amused.

“Steve was inviting me to join some cool plans he has with Robin and I thought you might want to come too,” Dottie explained. “I think Dustin would be really happy if you two hung out. He looks up to you both so much.”

“He, uh… Henderson talks about me?” Steve said, surprised.

“Yeah, man, kid worships you,” Eddie scoffed.

“I asked him about you when I saw you at our graduation,” Dottie said, making both boys turn towards her. “He said you were his babysitter, but he thought of you as his older brother.”

“He did? That little shit,” Steve muttered, biting back a self-satisfied smile.

“Gotta talk Claudia into giving him a sibling, that kid’s lonely as hell,” Eddie joked, but his girlfriend didn’t seem to like it very much.

“You’re an only child, if anyone understands what that’s like, it should be you.”

“You’re an only child too,” he noted.

“We should make a club,” Steve said, bringing Dottie’s attention back to him while he put the bag of microwave popcorn and the movies she’d picked in a bag. “I’m also an only child.”

“Hey, sorry I couldn’t say hi earlier!” Robin interrupted their talk, dumping a bunch of VHS cases onto the counter. “Ring all of these up before she changes her mind,” she whispered to Steve, making all three teens snort.

“No worries, you looked pretty busy,” Dottie said, pulling her into a hug. “It’s so nice to see you, we’re kinda neighbors now!”

“Yeah- wait, what?”

“I got a summer job over at Giulia’s! Wanted to come say hi earlier in the week but they keep me on a leash while I’m getting trained.”

“No way!” Robin smiled. “Steve and I love their meatball sandwich!”

“No, you love their meatball sandwich.”

“You always eat the other half, why don’t you get something else if you don’t like it?”

“Because you hate the mortadella sandwich I like so I always let you get the one you want,” he deadpanned, while he finished scanning the stack of movies in front of him.

“Isn’t mortadella horse meat?” Eddie asked.

“No, it’s pork,” Dottie replied, well acquainted with the sandwich menu by then.

“Whatever it is, it’s disgusting,” Robin said, grabbing the bag Steve was offering to her and heading to where the older lady waited while she read the back cover for Cocoon. “Duty calls, have a good night you two.”

“Thanks, Buckley!” Eddie called, but she had already slipped her customer service smile back on to answer more of the old grandma’s questions.

“Well, you guys are done,” Steve said, bracing himself on the counter. “Unless you need anything else?”

“Nope, we’re good, Harrington, thanks,” the metalhead said, arm finally curling around his girlfriend’s waist and pulling her towards the front doors.

“Bye, Steve, see you around!” she said, waving at him over her boyfriend’s shoulder.

“I’ll drop by next week so we can make plans!” he replied, not letting her forget about his invite.

“Please do! Bye, Robin!” was the last thing Dottie could say before the door closed behind her.

Steve rested his head on his hand as he watched Robin wrap up with the older lady and her rambunctious grandchildren, herding all of them towards the exit lest they asked any more questions or shoved a new tape into her hands. As soon as they were gone, she walked back where he was standing and dropped her entire body weight onto the counter; Steve patted her hair as if to say “there, there”.

“So…,” he began.

“So?” Robin replied, voice muffled by her own arms.

“Am I a great wingman or what?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I asked Dorothy to come with us to Indianapolis. Thought she’d be into it. She said yes, by the way, you’re welcome.”

“You did what?! Steve, I’m not- if people knew-,” she began panicking.

No one in Hawkins could know about her best kept secret, which was exactly why Steve had offered to go with her to queer friendly spots in the big city of Indianapolis and act as her alibi should anyone ask. If anyone knew, if anyone found out, if Dottie wasn’t as cool with things like Robin was 99.9% sure she was… Well, it was safe to assume that Robin would be grabbing the bag hidden at the bottom of Steve’s closet and disappearing into the night, probably taking said boy with her.

“You said she was, y’know, like you! She likes Rocky Horror as much as you do, that has to mean something! And this is a perfect chance for you to get over stupid Vickie and her ugly boyfriend, come on, Rob.”

“You can’t just- ugh! You’re such a dingus!” Robin covered her face with her ringed fingers.

“What, what did I do? She seemed really excited about it when I asked!” Steve defended himself, hands on his hips. “She wanted to know if Munson could come too but he’s a freak, he’s probably into it anyway. I’ll distract him, you don’t have to worry about it.”

“Oh my god, you’re just- she’s dating Munson, you idiot!” she said, exasperated.

“What? No, no way! She totally likes girls, you said so yourself.”

“People can like two things at the same time, Steve,” Robin explained in a deadpan tone.

“...They can?” Steve frowned, looking extremely confused as his friend loudly groaned and let her head drop back onto the counter, bracing herself for a long end of shift at Family Video.

Summer nights at the Munson trailer had never really been Eddie’s favorite (mainly due to the lack of air conditioning), but chilling on the couch after dinner with his pedestal fan turned on to its max speed, a funny movie playing on the TV, and his girlfriend tucked into his side, he had to admit he had reached a level of relaxation he didn’t entirely know was possible before that moment.

Wayne was sitting at the kitchen table while he laced his boots - the last step in his routine to get ready for work - and Eddie thought that the only thing that could make the night better was for his Uncle to not have to leave at all. Reluctantly, he contented himself with the knowledge that Wayne had decided to not attend his usual Friday-before-work union meeting to have dinner with them, the KFC bucket they’d all shared now crushed at the bottom of their trash can. The dishes were washed, Eddie had already showered, and Dottie had changed into her pajamas by the time Wayne finally said goodbye to the teens, warning them to behave and not piss off any neighbors with loud music like his nephew was known to do, especially on weekend nights.

Everything felt peaceful, perfectly cozy and comforting after a long week filled with new jobs and snappy customers. The sounds of Teen Wolf filled the air, the constant whirring of the fan and the cool breeze on his skin were lulling him into a dreamlike state. As the movie progressed and Dottie sank more and more into the couch cushions, his heavy arm draped around her shoulders, Eddie pulled her legs onto his lap where he drew patterns on her skin with his fingertips, brain completely turned off as he watched Michael J. Fox prance around a basketball court with fake fur all over his body. Had he been less comatose from the amount of fried chicken and mashed potatoes he’d consumed at dinnertime, maybe he’d have noticed sooner that his girlfriend was not enjoying the quiet moment as much as he was.

Dottie simply could not focus on the movie playing in front of them, head busy nervously anticipating the moment when Eddie would finally make a move on her. And yet, as the minutes ticked on and he looked exponentially engrossed in the story unfolding on his TV, it was looking very unlikely that he would try to do anything about the fact that they were going to be completely alone for the next ten hours. What’s happening? Did I scare him off? She felt like prey waiting for her predator to pounce, except he didn’t seem too concerned in chasing her in the first place. Eddie’s perfectly innocent behavior set all her alarms off - there was danger in the unknown, and Dottie didn’t like not knowing what to expect.

“You want another one?” Eddie’s voice startled her.

“Huh?”

“I’m gonna get another Coke, you want one too?” he shook the empty can in his hand to illustrate his point.

“Oh, no, thank you. Mine’s still pretty full,” she replied, pointing to her barely touched can on his coffee table next to her yet unopened bag of gummy bears.

“Be right back,” he muttered, pressing a noisy kiss to her hairline as he moved her legs from his lap back onto the couch and jogged towards his fridge.

They were more than half an hour into the movie and Dottie painfully realized that by this time, Tyler would have already had her topless on his bed. Back then, there had been many times where she had wanted to continue watching their chosen film instead of doing, well, that, but she had never mentioned it to him for fear of pissing him off. That’s what girlfriends and boyfriends did when they were alone after all, wasn’t it? Jeannie and Tracey had said it was normal when she asked them about it after the first time it had happened. Would Nancy agree with them? Would Chrissy, or Robin?

Eddie padded his way back to the couch, finally noticing that something was off. Dottie wasn’t watching the TV like he thought she had been all along - no, her head was turned towards the screen’s general area but her eyes weren’t focused on anything in particular, right hand restlessly playing with her Mom’s ring on her left middle finger. She jumped when he grabbed her ankle, sitting back down next to her and pulling her legs back onto his lap.

“Hey,” he whispered, lowering his head to look into her eyes. “You okay?”

“Yeah, of course,” she whispered back, settling against his side like she hadn’t recoiled when he’d touched her.

“You sure? I can see your brain working overtime.”

“Yeah, I’m okay. I’m just… thinking about next week, don’t worry about it. You’re missing the movie,” she lied quickly, hoping to throw his attention off her and back onto the screen.

“Fuck the movie. What’s next week?”

“Uh, your gig?” she chuckled. “We’re going to Indy on Friday, remember? You’re supposed to be driving us there.”

“Oh,” he said, surprised. “Yeah, no, of course I remember that but you… I mean, you looked like you wanted to throw up for a sec there. What’s wrong? You don’t wanna come?”

“What?! I got you that gig, of course I wanna go!” Dottie said, like he was insane for even suggesting she didn’t wanna be there.

“I’m just asking, darling, that’s all,” he squeezed her close. “You’re like, super tense right now, what’s going on?”

“I… I have nothing to wear,” she rolled her eyes, doubling down on her lie. “It’s silly, you don’t wanna hear about it.”

“Nope, no, none of that,” he shook his head. “If I’m asking, it’s because I wanna know. Hey, why don’t you ask Nancy to go shopping with you, huh?”

“I was kinda hoping I could borrow something from you, actually.”

“Yeah? You wanna raid my closet?” he smiled, smitten.

“Can I?”

“What’s mine is yours, princess,” Eddie said, nosing her hair. “You know I love it when you wear my clothes. How about I bring some stuff over for you on Friday when I pick you up and you can do my makeup like we talked about? Sound good?”

“Sounds perfect, Ed,” she smiled back, burrowing into his chest and pressing a kiss to the soft cotton. “Thank you.”

Even after she settled back next to him like nothing was wrong, Eddie knew that she had been lying. He could tell instantly, not only because he prided himself in knowing her like the back of his hand, but because he’d always found Dorothy Burke pretty easy to read. With her sitting so close next to him, he could pick up on all the little things he knew by now were signs of nervousness: the racing heart, the shallow breaths, the twitching fingers. Enough was enough, and Eddie decided that he’d confront her and get it over with, or else he’d never forgive himself for pretending everything was fine when it clearly wasn’t.

“Okay, Dot, come on, this-,” he sat up, pulling her up with him. “I can feel your fucking heartbeat. I know something’s up. Just tell me what it is so we can fix it, mhm?”

Dottie had never been one to ever shy away from Eddie’s affections; if anything, she had always given as good as she got. Hugs always lasted a little bit longer than they should, kisses were pressed to places that weren’t the apples of their cheeks, and wandering hands had never been stopped before, even before they’d begun dating. It was for that same reason that her reaction to him simply asking if anything was wrong scared him half to death, because he wasn’t used to her pulling away whenever he initiated physical contact. Eddie hadn’t even finished settling into his new sitting position when she moved further away from him, knees up in front of her like she was trying to put up a wall between them.

Eddie looked at her, really, truly looked at her for the first time all evening and immediately didn’t like what he saw. Her eyes were shifty and shiny, the lips he adored so much were turned into a sad looking pout, and her arms were wrapped around her legs like she was shielding herself from him. Had he read this entire situation wrong? She’d agreed to stay the night with him, even lied to her Dad about it. Had he come across as too eager? Too needy? Had he scared her off somehow?

“Baby, what- what happened? Did I do something wrong?” Eddie asked, searching her eyes with his as she moved her head down to avoid having to look at him. “D’you wanna go home? I- I can take you, you don’t have to stay-”

“Aren’t you gonna make a move on me?” she asked, voice timid but dejected.

“Huh?”

He swore she was fucking with him. She had to be. There was just no other way, because out of any combination of words that could have come out of her mouth at that moment, that exact sentence had never once crossed his mind. Dottie finally lifted her eyes to look at him upon hearing his confused reaction; he had never seen her so nervous and unsure of anything since the day met her. Suddenly, he was reminded of that shy girl that had padded her way into the props room all those months ago, terrified and vulnerable, yet brave in ways he hadn’t considered she could be at the time. Desperate for human connection, for someone to look at her and say hey, welcome, take a seat and don’t you dare leave. He had been trying so hard to go at her pace, to not rush her or make her feel pressured. Where had he failed?

“I’m sorry, could you- shit, say that again for me, please,” he said, dumbfounded.

“Are you going to make a move on me or not, Ed? It’s a simple question,” Dottie repeated, visibly upset.

“I- I wasn’t- Did you want me to or…?”

“No! I mean, yes, I- I don’t know,” she said, hunching over her knees, shoulders coming up in self-defense. “Isn’t that why I’m here? Because you wanna have sex?”

“Fuck, I’m-”, Eddie scrunched his face and moved closer, hands finding hers and tangling their fingers together. The tightness in his chest eased when she didn’t pull them back. “Baby, no. I invited you over because I wanted to spend time with you. Do you really think I would only ask you to come over so I can get laid?”

“Well, isn’t that what couples are supposed to do when they’re alone? Have sex?”

“When they want to, yeah, of course,” he moved his hand to her chin and lifted her face gently. “But that’s not why I asked you to spend the night, babe. Look, I know I’m selfish, okay? We had fun today with the guys, but I just wanted you all to myself for a while. Wanted to watch a movie and hold you like this, that’s all. No sex involved, I swear.”

“Oh,” she said with furrowed brows, and fell quiet for a moment. The movie kept playing in the background as she spoke up again. “I’ve never really done that before.”

“You’ve never watched a movie with your boyfriend before?” he pushed a curl behind her ear.

“No, I- I’ve done that, kinda. I’ve just never been to my boyfriend’s house when he’s alone and not had sex.”

“Oh,” it was Eddie’s turn to be surprised.

“It’s just that Tyler and I - we never hung out like that after we started dating. We always went out with other friends, and if I went to his house we’d, y’know, do it. I thought you wanted us to do that too.”

“Okay, wait, hold on,” he shook his head as if that could help him clear his mind. “You only went to his house to have sex? You never, like, chilled out with him? Watched a movie, played a board game, I don’t know, anything that wasn’t sex?”

“Jeannie said that’s, like, the only reason why guys invite you over-”

“Fuck Jeannie, she’s an idiot,” he argued. “Answer my question, darling. Did you ever go to his house and not have sex?”

“I… I don’t think so? It wasn’t a big deal, we just… he said we should take advantage of the empty house since we didn’t get to spend a lot of time alone.”

“Did you even want to take advantage of the empty house?”

“I dunno. Sometimes.”

“Dot.”

“It’s not like that!” she crossed her arms and looked away, feeling judged and embarrassed. “I didn’t enjoy it very much, okay? It was just a thing we did sometimes. He wasn’t, like, forcing me! I could always leave or not go if I didn’t want to.”

“Jesus Christ,” Eddie said in disbelief.

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” Dottie declared, getting up from the couch and collecting their discarded snacks from the coffee table.

“No, I really think we should,” he followed her into the kitchen.

“Why? So you can keep mocking me because I thought you wanted to have sex with me? It’s fine, Eddie, I made a mistake, I get it.”

“I’m not mocking you! I’m just trying to understand- can you please- fuckin’ hell, Dot, stop fucking cleaning my kitchen!”

Teen Wolf was still playing in the background as they stared at each other, knowing full well neither of them was going to back down. The wet rag on Dottie’s hand dripped water onto the linoleum, silence stretching between them. Eddie waited, and waited, his expression worried and desperate at the same time. Her lower lip quivered the more she looked into his earnest eyes. She felt so dumb and small. All day she’d been stressing herself out at the possibility of Eddie wanting to take their relationship to the next level and he hadn’t even thought about it. Wanted to watch a movie and hold you, he’d said.

Dottie had never really known what it was to desire intimacy until Eddie had waltzed right into her life, and the more she pondered on it, the more ashamed she felt. Wasn’t he supposed to want it more than she did? He was the man after all, that’s what guys did, right? What did it mean then, if she was ready for more and he wasn’t? Did he not want her at all? Wasn’t he as attracted to her as she was to him?

“Can we please forget I said anything?” she mumbled, more droplets of water hitting the floor as she unconsciously squeezed the rag in her fist.

“No, baby, we can’t,” he said softly, reaching to remove the wet cloth from her hands and guiding her towards the couch again one step at a time. “We really have to talk about this.”

“It’s so humiliating, Eddie, please,” Dottie pleaded. “You don’t want to do it, I get it. It’s okay, I shouldn’t have assumed-”

“Darling Dottie, baby, my love,” he put his hands on her shoulders dramatically. “You don’t want to know how much I actually want to have sex with you because I promise you it’s a lot, but we need to talk about this because I can’t have you thinking that the only reason I want to spend time with you is because there might be fucking involved.”

“I know that’s not the only thing, but-,” she began with burning cheeks, but he stopped her by pushing her onto the cushions again.

“No, no, no. No buts. We can finish the movie and go to sleep on opposite sides of the bed and I wouldn’t give a shit. Am I gonna jerk off in the bathroom when you’re out of here? Fuck yeah, you’re hot as shit, babe,” he said, pleased that even though she groaned and covered her face with her hands, she giggled at his crass words. “But I need you to understand that we don’t have to do anything we don’t feel like doing. Ever. I’m happy with this. I’m happy with you.”

“You really mean that?”

“Do you even know how much it means to me that you want to sleep in my bed with me?” Eddie said, his voice sounding constricted. “That no matter what happens, if we have sex or not, that you’re still gonna be there when I wake up?”

“Why wouldn’t I be there?” Dottie looked confused.

“Darling, come on,” he said, like it was obvious. “I’ve never been dating material. No one has ever been interested in doing that shit with me, at least not until you showed up. Look, if you want to do it, I’m all for it. I promise you, seeing you today at the lake in those cute little panties had me almost drowning myself. I’d be happy to do literally anything with you, but if you think we have to do it because I want it, then get that idea out of your head, okay? This is… this is new to me. No one has ever wanted me just for me and you say you do, so I’m going slow with you because I honestly don’t know what the fuck I’m doing and I don’t want to fuck this up,” he pulled her hands away from where they were tucked against her chest and kneaded her skin with his thumbs. “You mean too much to me to rush into things because I’m thinking with the wrong head.”

“Eddie,” she groaned, letting her head fall forward until it hit his collarbone.

“What?” he chuckled.

Dottie felt like shit. She couldn’t even pretend not to feel like shit, because that’s truly how she felt. Here was Eddie, sweet, loving, perfect Eddie battling his own demons and still putting her first, and all she could think about was how she’d basically cornered him and accused him of not making a move on her because he didn’t like her enough to have sex with her. He did like her, more than enough if he was to believed, and he yet he was still willing to wait because he didn’t want to fuck anything up.

Her heart broke for him as they sat on the couch, his head coming to rest on top of hers and his nails lightly scratching her back on top of her pjs. She put her arms around his waist and held him, horribly cognizant of how much love was stored in him, and how little he’d received from others throughout his entire life. The idea that anyone had taken Eddie to bed (or, most accurately, to the back of his van) and had made him feel disposable and unwanted was almost unthinkable to her. How could anyone leave him after seeing him at his most vulnerable? No, that was simply unacceptable, and Dottie knew she couldn’t let that notion fester in his brain anymore.

“I’m sorry,” she said, nuzzling his jaw. “I don’t really have a lot of experience on this and I thought you were just waiting until we were alone, and then when you didn’t even kiss me, I thought I’d done something wrong.”

“Wait, I haven’t kissed you since Wayne left?”

“You gave me a kiss on the cheek at lunch.”

“I haven’t kissed you all day?!” Eddie was appalled.

“It’s okay, we haven’t really been alone-”

“It’s not okay, we need to fix this,” he said, squishing her cheeks and planting a peck on her lips. “Can’t fucking believe-” he smooched her again. “-I haven’t-” Smooch. “-kissed this pretty face-”

“Eddie, stop!” she laughed, mirth in her face and in her voice.

“Prettiest- fucking- girl-,” he kept pressing wet kisses to every part of her face he could reach while she giggled and tried to squirm out of his reach. “Why are you running away from me, huh? Let me love you, come on!”

Time stopped when Dottie’s back hit the cushion she’d been sitting on, Eddie falling on top of her and barely managing to hold himself up in time so he wouldn’t hit her face with his big head. He let out a silly laugh, grateful for his quick reflexes or else they’d be dealing with a bloody nose, but he cut it short when he felt Dottie’s hand come up to push his unruly hair behind his ear. She was smiling, yes, but she was looking up at him with the kind of loving eyes he’d only ever seen in movies before he’d met her. Eyes he never thought one day could be looking at him.

The tension in the air was thick as she made herself comfortable between his arms, legs opening so he could hover over her like he’d done a few times by now whenever they kissed on her bed. Eddie was about to lean in to do just that when she moved her hand from his hair and brought it to the buttons at the front of her pajama set. As if transfixed, he saw her undo the first button, and then the second one, the dainty blue floral pattern giving way to skin covered by a pure white cotton bra with a thin lace trim. Her fingers were onto the third button when Eddie’s right hand covered hers, stopping her movements at once.

“W-what are you doing?” he said, searching her face for any signs of discomfort or unease. He found none.

“Can you help me take this off?” she said, with that characteristic tender determination he loved so much.

“We don’t have to. That’s not what I meant-”

“Just love me, Eddie. Please.”

“Darling, I-,” he was terrified. Completely and utterly terrified, his big doe eyes shining as he tried to find the words for what he was feeling.

“I’m gonna be here when you fall asleep, and I’ll still be here when you wake up. I promise,” she whispered, knees rising until they bracketed his hips, her hands moving to cup his face again.

“I love you,” Eddie said, letting his weight pull him down and into her embrace as he burrowed his head into her neck. “Fuck, I’m so in love with you.”

“I love you too, Ed.”

“Yeah? You do?”

“Mhm. So so much.”

“Okay,” he mumbled wetly.

He gave himself a few seconds to breathe in the moment and she let him, understanding that as much as this meant to her, it meant a whole lot to him too. After mentally patting himself on the back a couple of times, he rose back again onto his forearms and nodded once, like he was convincing himself that he wouldn’t ruin anything by charging forward. After all, it looked like she had been waiting for him at the next pit stop once more.

“Okay, we’re gonna do this, yeah? You ready?” he asked, mouth pulling into half a smile.

“Yeah. You might have to, like, have some patience with me. Because I want this, I swear I do, but I’m really nervous.”

“I’m nervous too,” he said, filled with easy excitement. “Let’s, uh, let’s get ready for bed first, okay? And we can see where it goes from there?”

“Yeah, okay,” she agreed.

There was palpable electricity around them as they collected themselves for the night. While Dottie was in the bathroom, Eddie took his time straightening the living room for when Wayne came home, not wanting a repeat from the awkward talk they’d had with him a few weeks back. He didn’t want to disappoint his old man; he really had taught him better than that. When she was done and it was his turn to brush his teeth, she waited for him right next to the light switch, and once he returned to her, they moved together hand in hand from the darkened area to his cozy bedroom, self-contained mess on every corner welcoming them further in.

“Do, uh,” Eddie said as he clicked his door closed. “Do you want the lights on or off?”

“Off, I think,” Dottie replied, chewing anxiously on her nail again. “But maybe we could open the curtain a little bit? I think that’d be good.”

Once the room was sufficiently shrouded in darkness and their eyes had adjusted to the pouring moonlight, Eddie suddenly remembered something of vital importance he had tucked away in one of his drawers. Dottie watched him from where she was sitting on the corner of his bed; he moved around old shirts and socks until he found what he had been looking for. Sheepishly, he turned to her and held a little blue box, almost identical to the one they’d thrown out when they’d cleaned his room all those months earlier.

“Figured this would come in handy one day,” he scratched his neck with a sorry grin on his face. “I promise I checked the expiry date on these before I got them.”

“Yeah, that’s, that’s kinda very important,” she laughed at how ridiculously bashful they were being. “Y-you wanna get in now?”

“Sure!”

Eddie threw the newly purchased box of condoms onto his bedside table to find later if he happened to need them and got under the covers, lifting them up for her to get in as well. They lay there for a few seconds, turned onto their sides so they could see each other but neither moved. Feeling very goofy because of how much they were tiptoeing around the whole thing, he reached out across the bed until his fingertips found her arm, gently pulling her closer.

“Come ‘ere,” he whispered, tucking her into his side like he’d done so many times before and was sure he’d do many more times in the future.

“I love you,” she said, between soft kisses.

“I love you,” he replied.

Summer nights at the Munson trailer had never been Eddie’s favorite, at least not until now. He didn’t care anymore about the climbing temperatures and the fact that they didn’t have a functioning aircon, he couldn’t find it in himself to give two shits about the way the neighbor’s dog barked all fucking night, and how the cicadas never stopped singing their song until the sun was out in the sky again. How could he, when there was a literal miracle happening right inside his own bedroom?

As the two lost teens found themselves in each other, a dream grew underneath their shared bed: flowers fed with love blossomed in the humble garden of an imaginary fixer-upper in a quiet, yet pleasantly quirky neighborhood. There was a dog basking in the sun in the backyard, and a swing in the front porch with hand-sewn cushions on it. And in the imaginary foyer of the imaginary house, on the imaginary entrance table right below the imaginary frames that held pictures of moments that hadn’t happened yet, sat a shared bowl of rusty keys from long forgotten padlocks that neither owner knew where they were anymore, the keys not belonging to one or other, but to both of them at the same time.

taglist: @munsonology @kurdtbean @every1lovesanunderdog @eg-dr3amer3 @oneforthemunny @munsons-queen

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roanofarcc · 2 months

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PROJECT SUNSHINE CHAPTER FIFTY FIVE → THE GRISWOLD FAMILY CRISIS

summary: steve harrington x oc

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

word count. 3.5k || masterlist || ocs moodboard

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

previous chapter ← → next chapter

A mounting tension filled the air of Starcourt as the remaining members readied to split up. Sunshine along with Nancy, Jonathan, and the remaining kids gathered supplies to take to the P.I.’s safe house. Joyce had briefly explained to Sunshine that Murray was the only person they knew who spoke Russian, which was why he tagged along with her and Hopper. He had a house a state over that they could crash at until the Mind Flayer was no longer a threat and, hopefully, Hopper’s backup in the form of Dr. Owens and his team would show up eventually and solve their Russian problem.

“My battery’s low,” El said to Hopper. She wore her usual tired determination while Hopper wore a certain look of softness that he reserved only for his kids and Joyce. “But it will recharge.”

“I know it will, kid.”

El added, “I can fight.”

“Better than any of us, but right now, I need you safe.” Hopper looked up at Sunshine and Luke, who stood around the two who were seated on a bench. “I need all of you safe. This thing isn’t after me.”

Sunshine swallowed down the lump in her throat and looked down at her hands. Red marks circled her wrists from where they tied down in the base. She shuttered, thinking of Hopper and Joyce sneaking into that place. The adults brought a sense of comfort to all of them, taking some of the weight off of the older teens' shoulders. But she knew their plan was the best course of action. She still worried, though, that something would go wrong and put Hopper and or Joyce in danger. She wasn’t the only one worried.

“Just be careful, please,” Luke said to Hopper. He looked pale and uneasy.

“I will be.” Luke didn’t seem convinced. “We’ll be all right.” There was a glint behind Hopper’s eyes, a careful and caring one as he spoke to the son he never believed he’d have but found. By the look on Luke’s face, it was clear to see how much he wanted to believe Hopper. Luke was trying his best to understand what it meant to be taken care of and loved by an adult who didn’t want to hurt him, but who genuinely loved him and his sister.

“Hey.” Mike’s voice rang out as he approached the Hopper clan along with Max. “We should go.”

El wrapped Hopper up in a quick hug before he was passed off into the arms of Mike and Max, who helped her limp along on her bad leg.

“Mike?” Hopper sighed. “Be careful.” The kid nodded, a truce built between a father and boyfriend. They both wanted El safe; that was all that mattered at the end of the day.

Luke trailed behind them along with the rest of the kids. Sunshine moved to follow them, but she was stopped by Hopper. “Listen,” he began. “I know that all of that, all of this, is a lot. But I promise you, as soon as I get that Gate closed and end this for good, we will figure out exactly who has that file. I already called in Owens for a favor. If he shows up, I’ll get another one out of him, all right?” He placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. “I will take care of it.” If there was anyone in the world she trusted to ensure that she was safe and that her secret was safe from her mother and father, it was Hopper. He and Joyce were the first adults she met outside of the Lab who saw her as a kid, as a person. She trusted them with her life.

“Okay,” she replied, letting some of her stress roll off of her shoulders as she plastered on a brave face.

“Now,” he said. “Get out of here.”

Exiting the mall, Sunshine took a moment to breathe in the fresh air. The air smelled like incoming rain, and the humanity clung to her bare arms and legs welcomingly. As she walked towards Nancy’s car, she glanced upwards and caught a few stars not yet overtaken by clouds, twinkling in the darkness.

They all packed into the vehicle, squeezing to make enough room for everyone. Sunshine joined El, Max, and Mike in the very back, carefully making enough room for El to outstretch her leg to avoid irritating it any further. El curled into Sunshine’s side, muffling a pained groan.

After they all were inside, Nancy jammed her keys into the ignition. The car sputtered but didn’t turn on. “You can’t be serious,” Nancy grumbled. She tried again, earning an awful groan from the vehicle, but it failed again.

“Didn’t your mom just buy this car?” Will asked, squished in the middle seat between Lucas and Jonathan, who had given up the front seat for Luke in hopes of avoiding sending the kid into a fit visions.

“Yes.” Nancy let out a sigh. “I’m sure it’s fine.” She tried again, and the car refused to come to life.

“Did you leave the lights on?” asked Lucas.

“No.” Nancy angrily jammed the keys in, turning them back and forth each time the sputtering died down.

“Do we have gas?” Will questioned.

“Yes!” Nancy slammed her hands against the wheel in frustration. “Gah! Come on!”

Jonathan threw open the car door as he said, “Just stop, Nance. Pop the hood.”

They both stepped out of the car to try to figure out what the issue was. Sunshine absentmindedly brushed her fingers through El’s knotted hair in a lame attempt to soothe the pain El was clearly in but tried to hide.

The bright glare of distant headlights shot through the car windows. Sunshine peered out into the empty parking lot and found one singular car that she didn’t recall seeing a moment ago. As she stared into the lights, she was struck with the familiarity of the car.

A hand beat against the window, startling everyone inside. Nancy knocked with ferocity as she yelled, “Out of the car! Now!” They all listened without question, scrambling out of the vehicle. Sunshine and Mike grabbed El and followed the group back inside Starcourt. She couldn’t escape that goddamn mall.

Billy had found them, a possessed and puppeted Billy, which, according to the party, meant the Mind Flayer wouldn’t be far behind. Nancy’s car was out of commission, suspiciously so, which left them stuck like sitting ducks inside the mall.

“You’re going to kill him, aren’t you?” Max asked in the tense silence as Nancy loaded her gun.

From what Sunshine had gathered, Billy was much farther gone than Will had been last fall. He was the Mind Flayer’s pawn, a piece it was using to build its physical form in Hawkins.

“This is precautionary,” Nancy replied, but she wasn’t a very good liar. Max dipped her head and occupied herself by joining Lucas at one of the food court tables.

Mike used his walkie-talkie to try to get ahold of Steve for an emergency rescue, grumbling into his radio and pacing back and forth with increasing speed. Everyone else could only wait.

Sunshine found Luke seated farther away from the group, his eyes closed in concentration and fingers pressed against his forehead. “Luke?” He peeled his eyes open with a huff and slumped back into the bench he occupied.

“I can’t reach Leia. Her mind’s too busy. She must be using her abilities on the radio.” He shook his head, eyes watery as he stared at the tiled floor. “I think something’s wrong with me.”

“What’d you mean?” Sunshine asked, her voice laced with gentle concern.

He hesitated for a moment. “The other night, I saw Will’s future. He was worried about all of this happening, about the Mind Flayer coming back. But I didn’t see anything that has happened or that I know will happen tonight in his future. I saw something else…something I don’t understand.” He paused, looking over at the group who surrounded the overturned car, talking about something that Sunshine was too far away to hear. Luke continued. “I didn’t just see his future. I think I saw his past too.”

Sunshine couldn’t hide her surprise. “How is that possible?” She knew little about the inner workings of Luke’s abilities, but by the look on his face, he didn’t have an answer.

“It’s not,” he said. “Or it shouldn’t be. It’s never happened before. But seeing it screwed something up inside my head. Now, in my dreams, I can’t tell who they belong to. They’re all jumbled together and I’m seeing scenes that don’t fit; things that don’t make sense keep appearing with no explanation.”

Luke dug around in his jeans pocket and pulled out a crumbled piece of paper before handing it to Sunshine. She smoothed it out with the pad of her thumb, trying to work out the creases just enough to make sense of the picture on it. It was a scribbled drawing of a clock, one of those tall ones that older people kept in the corners of their living rooms, made of wood and chimed at the end of each hour.

“Have you seen this before?” he asked, to which she shook her head in reply.

Luke sighed. “I don’t know whose future it’s from or if it’s even from a future at all. There’s too much inside my head now.” He closed his eyes once more, screwing them together so tight it formed creases in the skin around his eyes. “What if I’ve seen things from the past but I’ve mistaken them for the future? What if my visions are scrambled up and I can’t tell the difference?”

Sunshine wished, more than anything, that she had the answers for him. She wished she could pull all of the worries from his head and soothe his worry, but she couldn’t; she didn’t know how to.

“Maybe what we can do, our abilities, can alter or change over time?” she said, unsure. There was no telling what the long-term side effects of their abilities would be years down the line, whether or not they would change and shift. The more she used her abilities, the stronger she grew and the longer she could use them. She learned, over time, how to preserve her energy, when she wasn’t using them in a panic. But she didn’t know how that would translate to Luke’s abilities; he was different from her, El, and Leia.

“But why now?”

“I don’t know-”

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud crash that startled the both of them. Sunshine whipped her head over her shoulder to see the group standing on top of one of the food court counters, having just flipped the car El used to knock out the Russian soldiers back to its upright position.

They joined the rest of them, pausing their conversation until they couldn’t figure a way out of Starcourt. Once their night was over, she’d try to think of some explanation for Luke or at least help him work through his new-found abilities to see into people’s pasts.

She stood beside Max, who anxiously picked at her polished fingernails with her brows pulled in concentration. “Are you okay?” she asked the redhead, bumping her shoulder against Max’s.

“I guess.” Max shrugged. “I just want this night to be over.”

Sunshine cracked a small smile. “You and me both.”

Max reached into her pocket and pulled out a slightly smushed granola bar. “I snagged two of these from Nancy’s purse in the car. You look like you need it.” Sunshine took it gratefully, not caring that the chocolate chips were slightly melted, and it smelled a little bit like the perfume Nancy always wore, which she kept in her purse.

“Thanks,” Sunshine said with her mouth full. “It’s been a long day.” She couldn’t recall the last time she had eaten anything. The granola bar tasted like the greatest thing she had ever eaten at that moment. She wanted to savor it, but she didn’t know how long they had until either someone came to their rescue or Billy came stomping into Starcourt.

“A long day with Russians and random co-workers of Steve’s?” Mike said, joining the two girls.

“They weren’t exactly part of the plan.” Neither was getting stuck in the elevator or her nightmarish connection to Calum Miller’s father.

Something off to the side caught Max’s eye. “What is she doing.” Sunshine followed her gaze to where El dug in one of the mall trash cans. She grabbed something from the trash but then moved behind one of the pillars, out of sight. Sunshine moved to see what her sister was up to, but she was stopped by Max’s hand grabbing a hold of her wrist.

“Guys,” Max said, her gaze fixed upwards toward the ceiling. It took a moment, but the Sunshine heard it. The glass panels that made up the ceiling started to shake, rattling softly until it grew louder and louder.

“Nancy!” Mike screamed, calling the attention of the others still gathered around the car. The footsteps on the roof were right over them, and a large shadow came into view just as the glass started to fracture under the shadow’s weight.

Sunshine grabbed a hold of Mike while Max kept her grip on Sunshine’s wrist. She pulled the kids towards El and together, all four of them sprinted as far as they could across the mall before the glass ceiling shattered, raining shards down in dangerous droplets that accompanied the arrival of the Mind Flayer. They dove behind a food court counter, their knees pulled to their chests and breathing erratically.

Sunshine’s heart lodged in her throat as an ear-splitting roar shook the entire building.

☀☀☀

Steve didn’t consider himself the most patient person in the world, but after a year of becoming one of the go-to babysitters for a group of Hawkins's most sarcastic teenagers, he liked to think he had grown more patient. That being said, with one good eye, his collections of other injuries, an ever-increasing cloud of doom hanging over their heads, having to part ways with Sunshine, and no more Russian drugs in his system to mellow him out, Steve was nearly at his breaking point.

“We are in the middle of something right now, in case you haven’t noticed!” Dustin snapped at Calum Miller as they stood atop a tall, grassy hill where Dustin’s super-radio was located.

Calum had his fingers threaded through his hair and was breaking down in a way Steve had no time to deal with and no sympathy for. He knew better than anyone that no one was destined to become their father, but the second he saw the hurt in Sunshine’s eyes when she looked at the photo of Calum’s father, Steve also abandoned that belief. And when Calum had the nerve to call Sunshine a liar, he nearly found himself in another fight he’d probably lose. That didn’t matter to him, though. He’d lose a hundred more fights if that meant Sunshine wouldn’t have to keep fighting tooth and nail for a life she more than deserved.

“I don’t understand!” Calum shouted, not at anyone in particular, as he paced back and forth in the overgrown grass.

Tamera tried to calm him down, but she looked equally freaked out. “Clearly your mom was right all along. Your dad was mixed up in bad business.”

“That doesn’t make him a bad person!” His voice was desperate, almost broken. But Steve felt his fingers curl into fists at his sides as he tried to shove down the anger that steadily rose in his chest.

“Did you not see the look on her face?” Tamera asked, sounding on the verge of tears. He felt worse for her than Calum. Maybe it was because she wasn’t trying to justify what Calum’s dad had done to Sunshine and every other kid inside the Lab. And maybe a small part of it was Robin’s crush on Tamera. “Something obviously really terrible happened to her.”

Calum stopped pacing. “Why are you taking their side?”

“There are no sides!” Tamera yelled. “We got your answers. We got too many answers! God, I feel like my brain is melting!” Tears started to leak from her eyes, and she didn’t bother to wipe them away and she continued yelling at Calum. “I take back everything I said. I shouldn’t have told you we should look into that stupid file. I should have listened to my gut, and we should have stayed out of this.”

A bitter cold laugh sounded from Calum. “Well, it’s a little too fucking late for that. You told me to open that file in the first place. You wanted to play detective with me. This is just as much your fault as it is mine! And now look where we are!” He waved his hands around wildly. “We still have no idea where my dad is and apparently everything we know about our world is utter bullshit! Monsters are real. Does anything fucking matter anymore?”

Steve rubbed his forehead, trying to pull his headache out of his skull by sheer will. “Please, for the love of God, have your breakdown after we finish this,” he said. Maybe it was a little insensitive, but Steve didn’t give a shit.

With a scoff, Calum turned his attention onto Steve, trying to look taller than he was. “You are your freaky group of children just told us everything we understood about our reality is wrong. We were chased by Russians through the fucking mall. It’s totally normal for people to have superpowers. And I was right from the very start of this whole thing when I said Danielle had something to do with my dad. So, I’m sorry for freaking out, but that’s a whole lot of fucking information to take in, asshole!”

“Seriously?” Steve shook his head. He tried to think back to that night at Jonathan’s when he discovered that monsters were real. He freaked out too. It wasn’t an easy thing to comprehend, but they had a job to do; they could freak out tomorrow. “Look, I get it. All of this is fucked. We’ve all been there. But you freaking out right now isn’t helping any-”

“Steve!” Leia’s scream rang through the air like a gunshot. Everyone stopped talking and looked at the girl kneeling beside Dustin at the radio. A streak of blood fell from her nose. Steve rushed to her side immediately, abandoning his scolding of Calum.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, kneeling beside her.

“It found them!” she cried, her voice strained and tears gathering in her wide eyes. “T-They’re still at the mall. It found them!”

An icy fear crawled up Steve’s spine. He sprung up from the ground and rushed to the edge of the hillside that just barely overlooked the mall.

“What are you talking about?” Robin asked from somewhere behind Steve.

“Luke,” Leia hiccupped. “He’s scared. They’re all so scared.”

They all gathered, aside from Dustin, beside Steve, peering over at the mall. The lights of the building blinked wildly, much like how they did that night at Jonathan’s, only on a much larger scale. It was no longer a single, slightly larger than the average human side monster and Christmas lights inside a home. It had become a thirty-foot melted flesh monster and the lights of the entire Starcourt Mall.

Cold fingers gripped Steve’s arm frantically, demanding his attention. Leia looked at him, shaking. “Steve, we have to do something. W-We have to…It’s going to kill them.”

He was silent for a moment, stuck in his own fear as his brain moved too fast. It was going to kill them. The Mind Flayer was going to kill them, and they were stuck at that mall.

“Griswold family, this is Scoops Troop! Do you copy? Over.” Dustin called the group that was supposed to be on their way to Illinois. The only response was static. Steve’s chest tightened uncomfortably as he waited, silently praying for a response. Dustin tried again. “Griswold family, I repeat, this is Scoops Troop. Do you copy? Over.” A pause, then a response. No familiar voice cut through to tell them everyone was okay. Instead, a bone-chilling roar tore through the walkie’s speaker, echoing into the night.

“Shit,” Steve cursed under his breath. He snapped into action, harshly grabbing Calum by the shoulders. “Give me your keys.”

“W-What?” Calum’s face had gone white, no doubt from the further confirmation that monsters existed.

“Key!” Steve demanded and Calum put up no fight. He tossed his keys to Steve, too flustered and confused to say much of anything at all.

Steve then started to dart toward Calum’s minivan that they abandoned halfway up the hill.

Robin followed him. “Where are you going?”

“To get them the hell out of there! Stay here and contact the others!”

Robin chased after him, leaving behind the three kids in the care of Tamera. Together, they jumped into the minivan and hightailed it back to the mall.

Tagged. @sattlersquarry , @leptitlu , @two-sides-samecoin

#stranger things #steve harrington #steve harrington x oc #steve harrington x original character #stranger things fic #stranger things fanfiction #steve harrington fanfic #stranger things 3 #robin buckley #dustin henderson #erica sinclair #max mayfield #mike wheeler #el hopper #project sunshine

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harringtonstilinski · 1 year

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Summary: Steve Harrington and Olivia Henderson have been the best of friends since they could remember. It was a coincidence, really. They got put in the same first grade class.

As time went on, they were practically joined at the hip!.. until they turned 12, and Olivia started babysitting her little brother, Dustin, and his best friends, Mike Wheeler, Will Byers and Lucas Sinclair.

A crush on Steve developed for Olivia when they entered the 7th Grade at Hawkins Middle School.

Olivia changed a little in high school. Her clothing got a little darker; black shirts and black Chuck Taylor’s. She still wore her denim; she couldn’t shy away from it, but she added more than just blue denim jeans. Skirts and shorts were added to her wardrobe.

Steve became popular in High School and was dubbed the King of Hawkins High after the previous King graduated. Steve felt he had to live up to the expectations of being King, but that didn’t really stop Olivia from hanging out with him when he wasn’t around Tommy H. and Carol.

Things started to change when he became attracted to Nancy Wheeler, Mike’s older sister. He started ditched Olivia more for Nancy, and she understood, but didn’t like it.

The night Will Byers went missing, it put a few things into perspective for Olivia, like her protectiveness for Dustin grew, as well as her friendship with Will’s older brother, Jonathan.

Dustin, of course, dragged his sister into the craziness of Eleven, a mysterious girl with superpowers that showed up out of nowhere.

Will Olivia eventually tell Steve about her feelings for him during their Upside Down adventures, or will she continue to keep it a secret?

Season One

Season Two

Season Three

Season Four

Season Five

Steve Harrington Masterlist

Series Playlist

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notruercolors · 7 months

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“The Rise of The Archer”

Chapter 1 “Brewing Storm

Abigail looked over at her alarm clock. 8:45pm. She got up out of bed abandoning her chemistry notes scattered across the room. She winced as she pulled out another curler that had more of her light brown hair stuck in it. She scrunched up her nose tossing the last roller on the floor. She pulled out the Seventeen magazine from her nightstand. “Yeah, right, sure. Put rollers in your hair to tame your curls. More like pulling out your hair.”

She grabbed the Seventeen magazine from her bed and put it under her arm. “I may as well just throw out this piece of shit. Clearly, they don’t know shit about curly hair.” She got up popping out her newest cassette She’s So Unusual by Cyndi Lauper out of the cassette player of her boombox and popped it back into its own box.

“Yo, Dustin, have you taken a shower yet? We have school tomorrow,” called out Abigail knocking on Dustin’s door. It was eerily quiet on the other side of the door. “I’m coming in, you better be dressed.” She pushed open the door. The bed was still made and dark.

“Fuck. Mom’s going to kill me,” Abigail slammed the door shut.

She walked down the hallway to the living room. Then ran a hand through her brown curls before walking back to her room digging out a box from her closet finding a radio. She flipped it, turning the knob until she reached the frequency the Party always used.

Abigail held down the talk button. “Archer to Bard. You better get your ass home before I find you.” She watched the numbers switch several more times before she picked up the walkie talkie again.

Abigail pressed the talk button again. “Alright, enough bullshit. Dustin, you better answer me right now.”

Nothing. Abigail sighed, tossing the walkie talkie on the bed. She took a deep long breath. “I swear. Soon as mom and I allow you to stay out later on your own you start with this bullshit. Oh, I’m not a baby anymore. Pfft. I swear to God if I have to drive to the Wheelers and drag his ass home, I’m going to strangle him.” She rambled to herself as she walked down the hallway passing the sofa briskly.

Abigail shrieked as Mews leapt out from under the sofa hissing swatted at her ankle before bolting down the hallway bouncing off the walls towards her mother’s room. Abigail grabbed her ankle where Mews had managed to scratch. “Fuck you too Mews!”

Just as she got the phone and started to dial the Wheelers number the door banged against the wall. Abigail slammed the phone back down and stalked into leaving you. She crossed her arms glaring at her brother. Dustin shrunk slightly in his sister's glare.

“Dustin Clarence Henderson. Do you know what fucking time it is? I went to tell you to take a shower to find an empty bed!” shouted Abigail. “Are you trying to give me a fucking heart attack at sixteen?!”

Dustin put his hands up in the air. “Sorry, we were playing a campaign. That curfew is totally lame. It’s so not far you get to stay out until 10pm.You aren’t going to tell mom, right?” he asked pausing for a second giving his sister the best puppy dog eyes he could muster “After all, I did you a solid when you snuck out to that party, I never told mom.”

“Don’t start blackmailing me and stop with those puppy dog eyes,” Abigail frowned, taking a deep breath. “Fine, I won’t tell. But seriously Dusty, you nearly gave me a heart attack when I looked in your room to realize you weren’t there. You promise to radio me if you are late.”

“I’m not a baby anymore. You and mom worry too much,” Dustin said but after seeing Abigail’s eyes looked even a bit teary, he looked down at his feet. “I know, I promise. I’m sorry. It was just a really cool campaign.”

Abigail sighed walking over ruffling Dustin’s hair. “It’s okay bud. There’s some truth to what you are saying. You aren’t a baby, but you aren’t sixteen either. Mom lets me stay out late because I can drive now. When you can drive, if you aren’t stupid, I’m sure you will stay out late too. Why don’t you take a shower and I’ll make some hot chocolate and you can tell me all about it before bed. You ate, right?”

“Yeah, we had pizza.” Dustin replied.

“I won’t heat anything up then. Go shower or I’ll drink all the hot chocolate.”

Abigail went to the kitchen boiling a kettle of water and pulling out two mugs then the hot cocoa mix. While she looked out the window overlooking the backyard into the forest a chill ran from her spine all the way to her neck causing her to rub her arms as she got goosebumps. She went over and checked the lock on the back door just to be safe. Of course, it was locked. She couldn’t help but chew on the inside of her lip furrowing her eyebrow slightly, seeing some movement in the pushes.

“Abby, the kettle,” said Dustin, still shaking water out of his curls with a towel.

Abby ran over and turned off the stove. She yelped after grabbing the kettle handle without grabbing the oven mitt. “Fuck!”

“That was stupid. Even I know not to grab a hot kettle without a mitt.” Dustin still went over concerned, taking a glance at Abby's hand. It was only slightly red.

“Not that smartest choice I’ve made,” Abby rolled her eyes grabbing the mitt this time before pouring the water into the mugs.

After settling on the sofa Dustin began to recount the entire campaign with dramatic expressions. Abby just smiled listening to him ramble on about the campaign.

“Right at the end Mrs. Wheeler yelled down for us to go home. The dice flew across the room. Will, Lucas and I were crawling all over the room looking for the dice. Finally, Will found it. He rolled a 7, which would have been bad if Mike saw, but thankfully he didn’t otherwise the demogorgon would have killed him. The party is so fucked without Will.”

“It sounds like a great game,” Abby said with a smile “but it’s ten and we both have school tomorrow and if mom gets home before we are in bed, she might be worse than a demogorgon.”

“Hey, Abby…” Dustin said as Abby collected the mugs and started to turn off the lights.

“Yeah.”

“Why don’t you play anymore?” Dustin looked over at Abby with pleading eyes.

“Well, if you ever needed my character for a special campaign maybe I would come for one, but just one. It can’t be during soccer season or a play or during exams,” sighed Abby. “I’m just busy now that I’m in high school.” She paused for a moment, smirking. “And who said I didn’t play anymore? Maybe I just found some better players.”

“Hey!” Dustin put a hand on my heart. “You wound me dearly milady.”

Abby rolled her eyes as she flipped on the house light before turning off the lamp in the living room. “Now get to bed.”

“Wait, are you serious? Who do you play with?” asked Dustin as Abby darted down the hallway. “Hey! Don’t run away from me! Who stole our elf archer?”

Abby slammed her door shut and locked it. Dustin banged on the door. “I ain’t tellin’ ya nothin’. Go to bed!”

Abby shoved her notes into a pile and put them on her nightstand. She waited until the banging stopped before unlocking the door. She turned off the big light leaving only her lamp. She reached into her nightstand pulling out Jane Eyre. She had a bookshelf, but she refused to leave the book out for her mother to see because the last time she caught her reading P. S. I Love You next thing she knew her mother recommended romance books. Halfway though chapter two she was completely mortified by what her mother read.

When her door creaked open, she looked at her clock seeing it was 10:55. She tensed expecting to see her mother but instead Dustin peered inside.

“Dusty, seriously, you are really trying to give me a heart attack tonight,” Abby sighed, putting her book away.

“Can I sleep in here? Please?” Dustin asked using his best puppy-dog expression.

Abby rolled her eyes. “Just get in here before mom gets home.”

Dustin closed the door quietly. “She’s already home. Fell asleep watching TV.” Then he bounced on the bed making Abby laugh when she nearly fell off the bed.

“She worked two shifts…” Abby mumbled, biting the inside of her lip before looking at Dustin with gentleness.

“You haven’t asked to come into my room for a while. Why tonight?” She prodded gently.

“Couldn’t sleep. Could you maybe…tell me a story about dad again?” Dustin asked sweetly with a hopeful gleam in his eyes.

Abby felt her stomach drop a little bit but smiled at Dustin. “Sure, just one, because it’s late. Which one do you want me to tell?”

“Do you have any you haven’t told me?” Dustin asked warily.

“Dustin…I’ve told you like twenty times I won’t tell that story until your 13th birthday. You’re still too young for that one,” Abby frowned sharply.

“I wasn’t going to ask about that! I swear!” Dustin whispered, waving his hands in denial. “I wanted a funny one.”

“Sorry, yeah sure.” Abby ruffled Dustin’s curls. Dustin shoved her hands away from hair. “There is one I don’t think I told you.” She paused for a moment. “So you know how dad played baseball in college before he met mom. I wish I could say I inherited his gift for baseball. But alas I did not. I really fucking sucked. I was no where near hitting the fucking ball when we played at school. I always hated when we had our baseball unit in PE. So, one day in third grade…”

A small girl walked through the door. Her brown curls barely reach her shoulders looking more like a bird’s nest than a proper haircut. She threw her backpack on the floor.

“I’m never going back to school!” wailed Abby running up the stairs.

“Abigail Grace Henderson!” called her mother from the kitchen walking into the living room hearing all the ruckus.

Abby dramatically flopped on her bed. The door slowly creaked, and a tiny Dustin walked in holding a toy stegosaurus. He came up poking Abby.

“Sissy, play dinosaurs?” asked Dustin.

“No,” mumbled Abby into her pillow.

“Please dinosaurs,” said Dustin pouting slightly.

“I said no! I don’t want to play stupid dinosaurs with you!” snapped Abby.

Dustin’s eyes got big filling with big crocodile tears. His lower lip started to quiver.

“Shit,” said Abby biting her lip. “Don’t cry. I didn’t mean to yell. We can play later.” She quickly tried to negate the bubbling tears before Dustin let out a wail that would alert their parents. She went into her nightstand pulling out a 3 Musketeers Bar shoving it in his hand.

Dustin giggled running off with the candy bar. Abby let out a sigh of relief until she saw her father standing in the doorway with a raised eyebrow.

“Wow, you sounded a bit of a…”

“Dustin! Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” scolded Abby “give me a break I was 8 and had a bad day.”

“Why?” Dustin questioned.

“If you shut up, I’ll tell you.”

Abby’s dad was a tall man nearing 6 feet and a muscular build. With his mop of dark brown curls and bright blue eyes all made him a bit of an intimidating man. He was wearing a red and black plaid shirt and blue and yellow Brewers baseball cap.

“Care to explain why you are yelling at your little brother?” questioned Abby’s father firmly.

“Umm,” sputtered Abby. “I got mad because he wanted to play, and I wanted to be alone.”

Her father sat on the bed next to her. “But instead of telling him nicely to go away you decided to yell at him. How do you think that made him feel?”

“Not good,” replied Abby looking at the floor.

“What should you have done instead?” her father asked.

“Use my words.”

“Right. Now, you understand that. Why are you so mad?” probed her father, his voice much gentler than before.

“We are playing baseball in PE for the next month. And I can’t hit the ball. All the kids laugh and call me ‘No Hit Abby’,” pouted Abby.

“Kids can be not nice sometimes. But that doesn’t make it okay for you to not be nice at home,” replied her father.

“I know. I just got angry.”

“Abby, you are better than that. Were you born able to swim or ride a bike?” Abby shook her head. “Right, you had to practice. Do you think throwing a fit helped you back then?”

“No obviously. But I was like a baby, and you taught me those things.”

“Right. So instead of throwing a fit, what could you have done?”

“Asked for help,” muttered Abby.

“Here’s what you are going to do. First, you are going to pick up your stuff downstairs. Then, you play with your brother for a half hour then do your homework. After dinner we will go outside and practice,” said her father. Abby let out a small whine. “Absolutely no whining. You are not going to treat your brother, who happens to adore you, like that.”

“Okay..okay, I get it.”

“Good.”

Dustin let out a sigh. “So, what’s really so funny about this?”

“Jesus Dustin,” laughed Abby. “It’s a story. You gotta wait for the good parts.”

“Was dad scary?” Dustin questioned.

“I guess sometimes. He was a really tall man. Built a bit like the tanks he used to drive when he was in Vietnam. He was more like a big teddy bear, but he was a lot stricter than mom is,” Abby answered shrugging.

“Oh.”

“Though he was a tough teacher he taught me a lot of stuff. Like teaching me to swim and ride a bike and rock-climbing,” continued Abby with a faint sad smile.

“Woah, he took you rock-climbing,” gasped Dustin.

“It was our little secret. Mom would have had a heart attack if she knew we often went rock climbing when we went camping. Dad always said it was just as important a skill as riding a bike when it comes to camping. I’ve told you like a million different camping stories,” said Abby. Her eyes began to burn making her squint slightly, but she managed to blink back the betraying liquid trying to escape.

Dustin’s arms wrapped around her suddenly. Abby couldn’t help but hug him back. She smiled fondly at him as he curled up into her side.

“So, every night we would spend at least two hours in the backyard with dad tossing me the ball and I kept missing it.”

“It’s hard to imagine you sucking at a sport,” said Dustin.

“Baseball is not my jam. I’m not that fond of basketball either, but I tolerate watching it. I really only liked soccer,” said Abby “I much rather go camping or hunting with dad than do all the stupid after school stuff mom tried to put me in. She made me stay in Girl Scouts forever, don’t get me wrong it was okay, but they never taught us the important stuff, only girly things.”

Dustin hummed in response, his eyes shutting slightly.

It was a Saturday. Abby and her dad were outside tossing the ball back and forth and taking swings at balls. No matter how many times he taught her how to grip the bat and wait to swing. She kept missing, though it was getting closer and closer.

“It’s dinner time! You guys have been at it all day. It’s time to come in,” called Claudia from the back door.

“Dee, give us one more try. She’s so close,” said Abby’s father, speaking sweetly much like Dustin had earlier.

“Fine, one more.”

“Come on, you can get Abs,” encouraged Abby’s father.

Abby moved her hands up on the bat just like her dad had shown her. She waited. Swing. BAM! Dead center in the sweet spot of the bat.

Abby jumped up and opened the door excitedly. She barely noticed her mother running towards her father, who was toppled over on the ground holding his lower gut.

“Oh my, honey…are you alright?” Claudia asked between her laughing, finally pulling herself together. She patted her husband’s back.

“Good job, Abs. If you do that, trust me they won’t be laughing anymore,” he grunted as he slowly got up off the ground.

A soft snore made Abby look over at Dustin he had curled into a ball on her side with his head on her stomach. Abby patted Dustin’s head. “You remind me so much of him so painfully so.” She whispered.

“He may look like your dad. But you act far more like him,” said Claudia softly.

Abby jumped, putting a hand on her heart. “Oh my god, mom, you scared the crap out of me.”

“Language, Abigail,” Claudia scolded half-heartedly. “I do mean it though.” She came in and sat on the bed next to Abby.

“When I look at Dustin, I see your dad. But when you laugh, I hear his laughter and see his smile. When you score a point your face lights up just like his. Your cheekiness and determination among so many things. You are so much more like him than you realize.” Claudia smiled sadly.

“I wish he could have seen how much you’ve grown. I don’t think I tell you enough how much I appreciate what you do,” said Claudia.

“You were always there for Dustin in a way I couldn’t. You did so much when you were still so young. I know, I know, you’ll say it’s not a big deal, but it is.” Claudia said her face slightly flushed as her brown eyes were slightly glossy in the dim light.

“Are you doing okay Mom?” Abby asked cautiously, watching her mother’s face intently.

“Of course. I just realized how much you’ve grown up and I couldn’t help it,” Claudia smiled hissing the top of Abby’s head. “Just being sappy again. However, you aren’t grown enough to not sleep. Go to sleep.”

“Right. Goodnight, Mom.”

“Goodnight, Abby.”

Abby turned off the light scooting herself down onto her pillow carefully not to wake Dustin. Although Dustin had once slept through a tornado, she was probably safe. She couldn’t help twirling a finger around Dustin’s curls much like she had done to her father years ago. She quickly wiped a drop of hot liquid that had run down her cheek.

“Abby! Dusty! Breakfast is done!” Claudia called from the kitchen.

Abby squinted as she rubbed her ears. Dustin groaned next to her and rolled over, kneeing her in the stomach. Abby gasped clutching the side of her stomach. “Fuck! Dustin get your ass out of bed,” she shoved Dustin, making him roll off the bed.

“What the hell?!” Dustin shouted as he groaned from the rough landing.

“You’re the one that kneed me in the stomach! Now, I remember why I stopped letting you sleep in my bed!” Abby hissed as she got up out of bed.

“You didn’t have to push me that hard?” pouted Dustin as he got up off the floor.

“You’re fine.” Abby rolled her eyes “Get out dork so I can get dressed.”

“Fine.” Dustin slammed the door shut behind him.

Abby's hand reached for her favorite pair of jeans, fingers brushing over the soft denim. She rifled through her closet until her gaze landed on the fuzzy, striped blue and white sweater. Despite the fraying edges, evidence of countless washes, she couldn't help but smile at the familiar texture under her fingertips. It was a comforting reminder of the memories woven into its threads.

Abby saw the walkie talkie on her nightstand and pulled out the same box from the previous night. She paused for a moment looking at the familiar Brewers hat in the box. She took it holding it for a while before suddenly putting it back in the box and slamming the closet door shut. She squashed her notes back into her folder and shoved it back into her backpack with all her other books.

“Morning mom.” Abby greeted her mother brightly as she sat down at the table as her mother put strawberry pancakes in front of her. “Thanks.”

“DUSTIN, hurry up before I let your sister eat all the pancakes!” shouted Claudia. Abby rubbed her ears slightly as her mother had been standing right next to her. “Sorry dear, didn’t mean to shout in your ear.”

“It’s okay. But when I have hearing loss when I’m older I’m blaming you.” Abby started to shove a pancake in her mouth.

“Oh yes, your potential hearing loss will have nothing to do with blaring music all times of the day, especially that Metalda stuff.” Claudia rolled her eyes.

“Metallica. But I literally only listened to them one time and you won’t let it go” Abby replied with a mouthful of pancake.

“Seriously, are you five? Don’t talk while you’re eating.”

Abby rolled her eyes going back to her breakfast as Dustin walked in. She tapped her foot under the table blocking out the usual batter between her mom and Dustin in the morning. She watched the clock throughout breakfast before taking one more massive bite finishing off her plate. “Mom, can Dustin bike to school? I need to stop by the library to return a few books from my history project. I’ll be late if I take him to school too.”

“Dustin, do you mind?”

Dustin shrugged. “It’s fine.”

“Great! I gotta go then. I’ll be back by dinner time. We have a meeting for the Christmas musical, and I was going to go to Barb’s to study with Nancy but that’s after dinner.” Abby got up from the table getting ready to leave the kitchen but gives her mother a last second hug before running out grabbing her backpack from the floor as she left.

“Be safe! No speeding!”

“I will.” Abby waved off her mother.

Abby threw her backpack into the passenger seat of her navy Ford Escort. Inside she had a purple fuzzy dice and a Florida state fair fresher hanging from the rearview mirror as a gift from her grandmother. She fastened her seatbelt as she looked out the back windshield as pulled out of the driveway.

After reaching school Abby, after a harrowing escape from the librarian trying to get her to volunteer the only free time she gets on Saturdays, she went to her locker throwing in her books in the locker carelessly. She only grabbed her Romeo and Juliet for English and her notebook.

BANG.

Abigail held a hand on her chest hissing seeing the familiar jacket attached to hand from her peripheral vision. “Munson for fuck’s sake can you stop doing that?”

“So, Henderson. Friday night, usual place,” said Eddie rolling his eyes. Abby turned around looking up at Eddie.

“Friday is open. You got lucky I didn’t agree to babysit yet. You need to start giving me more than four days' notice, Munson.” Abby sighed.

“I can’t help it you overschedule,” Eddie rolled his eyes, “you’re the one that agreed to join Hellfire Club.”

“It’s not about me being overscheduled. It’s about common courtesy,” Abby rolled her eyes, “If I didn’t want to play D&D with you guys, I wouldn’t have bothered to overschedule myself. As much as I enjoyed the interrogation I agreed to meet Nancy and Barb at their lockers before English. I’ll see you Friday.”

“Are you sure you aren’t just trying to avoid being seen with me?” Eddie raised an eyebrow.

Abby rolled her eyes and sighed. “Why is it so hard for you to believe I want to be friends?”

“Because you have a clique. You have no reason to hang out with losers like us,” stated Eddie.

“I get everyone here tends to be an asshole here to you. I haven’t spent my entire life here in Hawkins. I don’t really know the whole history. But I’m usually a pretty good judge of character. With some error in that. I happen to think you are a decent person with a good heart. Just let me show you that I’m not like most of the assholes here,” Abby answered gently.

As Abby walked away, she saw Jeff walking up to Eddie. She could briefly hear Jeff scolding Eddie for being so suspicious. She gave a small smirk briefly hearing Jeff describe her fight with Carol in 7th grade.

Abby leaned against the lockers next to Barbara finding the tall auburn girl changing out her books. “Chemistry is going kill me. I was up so late trying to study for this test. I can’t afford bad grades in Chemistry if I plan on going to a veterinary school after graduation.”

Barbara rolled her eyes. “I seriously doubt a veterinary school is going to care about your grade in Chemistry in high school.”

Abby playfully shoved Barb. “You’re supposed to be the supportive one. You’re probably right, but my undergraduate school will care.”

“You’re overthinking again,” reminded Barbara.

“I know, I know. I can’t help it,” sighed Abby. “ Let’s go find Nancy.”

The pair walk towards the entrance of the school searching for Nancy as they are squeezed by the hoard of teenagers. Barbra waved to Nancy before Abby could see her.

“So? Did he call?” asked Barbra.

“Ugh, I didn’t agree to meet to talk about Harrington,” groaned Abby.

“Keep your voices down—” hissed Nancy.

Abby rolled her eyes.

“Did he?” Barbara whispered.

Nancy shakes her head walking up to her locker. “I told you, it’s not like that.”

Barbara raises an eyebrow and Abby gags slightly.

“Okay, I mean, yes, fine, he likes me, you know, but not like that,” continued Nancy.

“I’m pretty sure that’s all Harrington thinks about,” said Abby. Barbra gives her shoulder a nudge and firm look. Abby raises her hands up in surrender.

“We just made out a couple times,” Nancy continued.

“We just made out a couple times,” mocked Barbara. “Jesus, you're gonna be so cool now. It's ridiculous.”

“No, I’m not!”

“Nance, you totally are,” agreed Abby.

“You better still hang out with me, that’s all I’m saying. If you become friends with Carol and Tomm H…”

“I swear to god I will tell everyone what’s in your diary if you do that,” added Abby fake gagging at the suggestion of Nancy being friends with them.

“Gross. And I'm telling you, this was just a one-time, two-time thing, alright?” said Nancy as she opened her locker. Nancy pulls a note off her locker and opens it.

Abby looked over Barbra and Nancy’s shoulder reading it along with Nancy. MEET ME. BATHROOM. STEVE.

Nancy looks at Barbara and Abby, dumbfounded.

“You were saying?” replied Barbara smirking.

“Wrap it up Wheeler. Seriously,” remarked Abby.

“Gross, Abby. We are in the hallway for crying out loud,” said Nancy scrunching up her nose.

“Just giving good advice,” shrugged Abby ignoring the horrified looks from her friends, “he has a reputation , that's all. And I know your parents are strict and my mom doesn’t really question me at all about condoms.” She lowered her voice slightly to avoid people staring at the mention of condoms.

“Seriously?” said Barbara.

Abby shrugs. “She gave me a whole speech when I started high school that she didn’t want to be a grandma until I graduated college. Just take condoms when I need no questions asked.”

“See you in English Nancy,” called Barbara and Abby breaking away from Nancy.

“I can’t believe your mom is that cool about sex,” whispered Barabra as a group of girls walked by.

Abby continued, “My mom says I’m going to do that stuff and other things anyways. She would rather have me do it in a safe way. She's just being practical and honest with me.”

Barbara raises an eyebrow, her expression reflecting confusion rather than judgment. "Your mom is... different."

“Maybe. But look if you had to deal with what my mom and I did, you’d be different too,” sighed Abby sensing that Barbara really didn’t understand.

Abby continued, "It's really not just my mom, Barbara. It's about trust and openness in our relationship. Something you and Nancy seem to have nailed down."

Barbara frowns, her loyalty to Nancy evident in her defensive stance. "Nancy's different. We've been through a lot together."

Abigail nods, acknowledging Barbara's point, "I get that, but it doesn't mean our friendship should be any less valued."

Barbara's eyes soften as she considers Abigail's words, "It’s not like…,” she sighed. “I never meant it like that.”

“You didn’t have to,” said Abby, “It was obvious.”

Just as they were about to enter the classroom Barbara blurts out, "I heard rumors about you this summer... about you and George."

Abigail's eyes widened in shock, hurt evident in her expression. "What kind of rumors? Who’s been saying stuff?!”

Barbara immediately regrets her words, realizing she's overstepped her bounds. "I'm sorry, Abby. I shouldn't have said anything."

Abigail's hurt turns into frustration, "Why do you always jump to conclusions about me? You never question Nancy like this."

Barbara's guilt deepens as she realizes the fact she really does treat them differently, "You're right. I shouldn't have assumed. But you didn’t deny either…"

Abby paused for a moment, “I think I’m going to sit by myself today. Don’t expect me to be in the study group either. I need some space.”

“Abby, please, I didn’t mean it like that,” said Barbara as Abby slipped into the classroom.

“Serious Barb, back off,” said Abby, “This was a lot. I need time and if you want to show you value my relationship as much as Nancy's, give it to me.”

Barbara pressed her lips together but went to sit in her usual seat while Abby went and sat with an unfamiliar girl with shoulder length mousy brown hair she had seen a few times but never spoke to.

“Hope you don’t mind,” said Abby.

“Yeah, sure, no problem,” sputtered the girl moving her stuff over.

#stranger things fanfiction #stranger things oc #stranger things oc henderson #teen drama #paranormal story #teen romance #swearing #tw mental health #tw implied sex #chapter 1 #fanfiction

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skyfallslayer · 4 months

Text

Should We Stay or Should We Go? || Chapter Two

-A ST Rewrite Feat. Steve Harrington x Henderson!OFC-

Main Masterlist || Series Masterlist

🎲Summary: On the night of November 6th, 1983, Stephanie Henderson decided to walk her little brother’s friend, Will, back home. However… they never arrive. Now, Dustin, Mike and Lucas, and soon the exception of the girl’s ex-best friend, Steve, must band together to find out what happened. Meanwhile, Steph and Will must fight for their survival in this nightmarish version of Hawkins, Indiana.

🎲Chapter Summary: Lucas, Mike and Dustin try to talk to the girl they found in the woods; And Hopper questions an anxious Joyce about an unsettling phone call; Steph and Will must continue to survive; And Steve’s eyes get opened in a way he never saw coming.

🎲Pairings: Will x Platonic!OFC; Dustin x Sister!OC; Slow burn! Steve x Henderson!OFC (Ex-bestfriends to Lovers); Slow burn! Byler

🎲Rating: Teen-Mature

🎲Word Count: 11,024 (Oh, my lord)

🎲Date: 5/16/24

🎲Warnings: Angst; Swearing; Implied Broken Friendship; Talks of Kidnapping; Mental Strain/Breaking Down; Implying Sex; Lying; Implied Suicide; Death/Killing; Talks of Corpses; Blood; Gun Use; Steve's 'Asshole Era. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

(And let me know if I missed anything)

🎲A/N: Jesus. This was a tough one to write and edit (Hopefully I didn't make too many mistakes). But, geez. Writing different POVs, everyone's thought was a tough one. But hopefully y'all can understand 😅. Also, I am NOT a D&D player, so some of lore just comes straight from the wiki. Hopefully that's reliable enough. Anyway, sorry for the delay. Enjoy!

|| THE NIGHT BEFORE ||

“What the fuck are you?!” Will heard her scream as the creature tried to outmatch her. The light above them grew brighter and brighter, and he squeezed his eyes shut while gripping her jacket tighter. He prayed this was just another nightmare. Maybe… Maybe he’s getting his wish when he hears the silence. Does he dare open his eyes and see the truth?

He’s scared, trembling, and it heightens when he hears the girl heaving for air. So much so he clenches his grip on the fabric tighter, the strange smelling air going through his nostrils causing him to gasp himself. When his eyes snapped open is when his coughing fit started.

He hears his name being called, and hands coming around his shoulders. He almost jerks away, afraid, until his orbs settle on the silhouette before him.

“S-Steph?” He croaked, a sense of relief flooding his veins. “What just happened?” He could see the confusion on her face, looking around for clues. He followed her eyes, nose crinkling at the sight. “We’re still in the shed. But it’s… gross.”

She swallows. “Stay behind me.” She tells him, and guides herself through the door. They both shivered at the sudden drop in temperature. “Jesus, It’s freezing.”

Will and her looked around, the outside world seemed to be encased in a blue hue, the places around seemed to be tangled with vines and covered in something sticky. There was also a white powder that looked like snow, raining down from the dark skies above. A sky that didn’t even have moonlight like it did a few minutes ago.

“Did you hit your head when we crashed?” She asked after getting his attention away from the sky.

He shakes his head, almost sadly. If that had both just hit their heads, would the situation have been better? He frowns, worriedly thinking away as the older girl tries to stay calm.

“Come on.” She says, gesturing to him to follow. “Let’s go inside. I want to see something.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| PRESENT ||

The rain was coming down more intensely than before, followed by the grumbling of thunder and lightning. Somehow, miraculously, the boys, mostly Wheeler, managed to convince the strange girl they found in the woods to return home with them, and hid her in the basement.

“Is there a number we can call for your parents?” Mike asked, worriedly as the girl looked between the three boys, all scared and confused.

“Where’s your hair? Do you have cancer?” Dustin spitted out, genuinely curious.

“Did you run away?” Lucas asked, skeptical.

“Are you in some kind of trouble?” Mike says, just as his friend questions a red sustain on her shirt. He slaps his hand away quickly. “Stop it! You’re freaking her out!”

“She’s freaking me out!”

“I bet she’s deaf.” Dustin suggested, before taking a quick half step and smacking his hands together. The sound makes the girl flinch, and he frowns apologetically. “Not deaf.”

“That’s enough, all right? She’s just scared and cold.” Mike said, silencing the two before running over to the laundry basket and grabbing some clothes. “Here, these are clean. Okay?”

The girl takes them, taking a second to be grateful before she starts stripping– The boys freak out, Mike running up to stop her while the other two look away.

“See over there?” He points. “Th-That’s the bathroom. Privacy. Get it?” She nods and he shows her inside. Just when he was about to shut it behind him, she grabs it forcibly. “You don’t want it closed?”

“No.” She finally says, surprising him.

“Oh, so you can speak. Okay, well… Um, how about we just keep the door…” He slowly moves it until there’s about three inches of space. “Just like this. Is that better?”

“Yes.”

Mike smiles and leaves her be, rejoining the group who were having a conversation of their own.

“This is mental.” Dustin said, freaking out.

“At least she can talk.” Mike points out, with Lucas shaking his head, replying,

“She said ‘no’ and ‘yes’. Your three-year-old sister says more.”

“She tried to get naked.” Dustin adds.

“There’s something seriously wrong with her.” Lucas said, touching his temple. “Like, wrong in the head.”

“She just went like…” The Henderson boy makes a motion of taking off shirt (and even knocked his own hat off his head).

“I bet she escaped from Pennhurst.”

“From where?” Mike said, eyebrow raised.

“The nuthouse in Kerley County.”

“You got a lot of family there?” Dustin teased, getting a dirty look.

“Bite me. Seriously though, think about it. That would explain her shaved hair and why she’s so crazy.”

“Why she went like…” He does the shirt motion again. In his mind this was helping him and Lucas’ case.

“‘She’s an escapee’ is the point. She’s probably a psycho.”

“Like Michael Myers.”

“Exactly! We should’ve never brought her here.”

“So you just wanted to leave her out in that storm?” Mike asks, irritated.

“Yes! We went out to find Will–”

“And Phanie.” Dustin pressures.

“And Steph – not another problem!” Lucas agrees.

“I think we should tell your mom.”

“I second that.”

Mike holds his hand up. “Who’s crazy now?”

“How is that crazy?” Lucas scoffed.

“‘Cause, we weren’t supposed to be out tonight, remember?”

“So?”

“So if I tell my mom and she tells your mom and your mom–”

Dustin’s eyes widened. “Oh, man.”

“Our houses become Alcatraz.” Lucas frowns.

“Exactly. We’ll never find Will, or Steph.” Mike says, seeing Dustin make the shirt motion once more, silently asking the question about the girl. “All right, here’s the plan. She sleeps here tonight.”

Henderson perked up again. “You’re letting a girl–”

“Just listen! In the morning, she sneaks around my house, goes to the front door and rings my doorbell. My mom will answer and know exactly what to do. She’ll send her back to Pennhurst or wherever she comes from. We’ll be totally in the clear. And tomorrow night, we go back out. And this time, we find Will and Stephanie.”

Lucas and Dustin share a look, until one of them finally shrugged. “I guess that works.”

“Great. We’ll start again tomorrow. Goodnight, guys.” Mike bid them as he went off to start making the mysterious girl a place to rest.

“This is crazy, man.” Lucas said, once they had snuck back out. “What the hell is Mike even thinking?”

“I don’t know. Do you think his plan will really work?” Dustin asked, as they headed over to where their bikes were hidden.

“I’m giving it less than a fifty percent chance of success.” He sighs. “I better get home.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Hey, don’t look so sad.” He pats his curly haired friend on the back. “We’ll find them.”

“I just want my sister back. You have no idea.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

In the following morning, in the Byers house, the eldest seemingly was keeping it together, making the morning meal like he always does and hoping his worrying mother would have just a bite.

“All right, Mom. Breakfast is ready.” Jonathan said, while placing the plate down in front of her, her thoughts being interrupted.

“What?” His mother said, before moving some papers. “No, be careful of the poster.”

“Yeah, okay. All right–”

“I can’t eat.”

“I just need you to eat, Mom.”

“Listen, listen. The Xerox place opens in, like…” She looks down at her watch. “30 minutes–”

“Mom–”

“And I don’t want you to go alone–”

“No, I know. I told you, I got it.”

“So I’m gonna have Karen take you, ‘cause I should be here.” She gestures around, all jittery. “Claudia will meet you there, b-but if she’s not, she’ll reimburse us for the copies of Stephanie, I–”

He shakes his head with understanding. “Okay.”

“We need to make, what, 200, 300 copies?” He nods again. “How much is a copy?”

“Mom?”

“Ten cents?”

“Mom?”

“If we– ten cents”

“Mom, Mom!” Jonathan stops her from counting the cash she had laid out, and squeezes her shoulder with her other hang to calm her. “Y-You can’t get like this, okay?”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Joyce replies, taking a shaky inhale of nicotine.

“No, it’s okay.” He reassures her softly, just before someone comes knocking on their door. The mother rushed over with her son on her tail, busting the door wide open for the exhausted police officer.

“We’ve been waiting six hours.”

“I know, I came as soon as I could.” Hopper replies, nearly dead on his feet.

“Six hours.”

“A little bit of trust here, all right?” He slides his hat off. “We’ve been searching all night, went all the way to Cartersville.”

“And?”

“Nothing.”

Joyce made a choking sound and looked away. “God…”

Hopper frowns, sadly. “Flo says you got a phone call?”

“Oh, yeah.” Joyce nods and shows him their phone.

He picks it, examining the speaker part of it which was charded black. “Storm barbecued this pretty good.”

She took a step back in surprise. “The storm?”

Hopper looked at her like she had two heads. “What else?”

“You’re saying that that’s not weird?”

“No, it’s weird.”

“Can we, like, trace who made the call? Contact the–”

“No, it doesn’t work like that.” He shakes his head, and then looks at her with all seriousness. “Now, uh, you’re sure it was Will? Because Flo said you just heard some breathing.”

“No. It was him, it was Will... and h-he was scared. And then something–”

“It was probably just a prank call. It was somebody trying to scare you.”

“Who would do that?” Joyce questioned, face full of confusion and sickness.

“Well, this thing’s been on TV. It brings out all the crazies, you know. False leads, prank calls, uh–”

“No, Hopper, it was not a prank. It was him.”

“Joyce.” He begins, as she denies him again

“Come on, how about a little trust here?” She laughs dryly. “What, you think I’m– I’m making this up?”

“I’m not saying that you’re making it up.” Hopper looks at her with concern again. “All I’m saying is it’s an emotional time for you.”

“And you think I don’t know my own son’s breathing?”

“Joyce–”

“Hopper, my son’s missing. A-And not only that, someone else’s daughter is missing.” She nervously takes a puff of her cigarette. “And you know what the mess up part about that is? Stephanie didn’t have to! She didn’t have to be the sweetheart she is and take my son home. She could have just drove past him, but she didn’t! She didn’t, Hop. And now I have to live with the thought that I made someone else’s kid go missing because I. Was. Working!”

She ends with an emotional sigh, tightening the heavy tension it the room. Jonathan worriedly looking at his mother before, locking eyes with the police chief who was trying to find the right words to say.

“You hear from, uh, Lonnie yet?” Hopper asked after the small silence.

“No.”

“It’s been long enough.” He puts his hat back on. “I’m having him checked out.”

“Oh, come on!” She sighs loudly, watching him leave. “You’re wasting your time.” Then the door shuts, and rubs her temple. “Jesus. He never listens!”

Jonathan ponders for a moment, before asking, “Mom, how likely is it that Will would actually go to Lonnie’s?”

“I…” Joyce runs a hand through her messy locks. “It’s possible, but he lives a long, long way. Especially on foot. But… I don’t– maybe he would! I…” She sighs again, overwhelmed. “However, I don’t think he would have gone with Stephanie. He’s… W-Will knows your father’s not the best man, and Will, you know, has that heart of gold.”

That got a chuckle out of both of them. “Yeah.”

“I don’t think Will would have risked Stephanie like that.” She shakes her head. “No. She’s an older kid, and older sister. As much as this sounds messed up, she would have done anything to make sure Will was safe. I know it. So… my question is…” She locks eyes with her son. “What would a girl her age think is a safe place for a young boy?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| TWO NIGHTS AGO ||

Stephanie flipped the lightswitch on in the kitchen out of curiosity, but finds herself still submerged in darkness. “Just what I thought. There’s no light.” She says with a frown.

“The flash of light we saw–” Will looks up at her. “Do you think it was a power outage?”

“I don’t think there’s light here, I mean-” She starts walking around, rubbing her shaking hands together. “Look at this place. I don’t think we’re in Hawkins anymore.” She shivers just a smidge. “At least it’s a little warmer inside here.” Then she hears a distressful sound. “Will?”

The boy was pale, pupils blown wide and had a small tremble. “W-What do you m-mean we’re not in Hawkins anymore?” He asked, lip quivering with a slight pant. “B-But th-this looks like my house. D-Did w-we get taken somewhere else? Can we even g-go home? I–”

“Shit… Will–” She rushes over, hands coming up to his shoulders while she gets on one knee. “Will? Hey, bud, listen– hey.” She makes sure his gaze meets hers. “Don’t freak out. I know it’s scary, but we’re going to figure this out. Once we do, I’m going to get us home, I promise.”

The boy sniffles into his shoulder, fighting back tears. “You promise?”

“I promise.” She says it without realizing the fate of those words.

He swallows and extends out a certain finger. “Pinky promise?”

Her breath was nearly taken away by that certain question, taking her far back into a distant memory. But… like hell she’s going to let that memory change her judgment. She interlocks hers with his and repeats, “Pinky promise.”

That got him to crack a smile. “So, what next?” He asks, making her rack her brain for a plan.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| PRESENT DAY ||

He woke up again to his cat’s crying. The young Henderson frowns, heart clenching at how Mews was wondering where his sister was at. For the urban legend of how cats had no emotions, he’s certainly not seeing it. He rubbed his eyes and wandered aimlessly around, the thought of calling sick into school was still fresh in his mind. Should he? I mean it made sense, and it wasn’t like the school won’t understand, so….

Was that a yes?

He walked through the hallway, curls in his eyes as slows in front of his sister’s bedroom. His cat locked eyes with him, sadness and confusion filled the slitted pupils. Mews meows again.

“She’s not back yet.” Dustin says, getting a chirp. “We’re trying. She’ll be back soon.” He starts walking away, hearing him make a sad sound once more.

“Dusty-bun, I’m going to make some posters.” Claudia said, who were gathering her belongings by the door. “I left you breakfast on the stove.”

His nervous fingers gripped his t-shirt as he tried not to sound so down. “Hey, Mom?” Her eyes meet his gaze. “Is it okay if I… stay home today?”

Claudia’s face softens bittersweetly. “Of course you can, sweety. If you leave the house for whatever reason, just leave me a note where you’re going, that’s all I ask.” She gives him a kiss on his hairline, and is one foot out the door before adding, “Oh! And be back before dark. Okay? Your Mama doesn’t need to worry about another kid.”

“Can do.”

He watches her smile and closes the door, locking it. He frowns at that action, I mean they’ve never locked their door before, and now it was becoming second nature. He was even surprised she told him he could leave the house. Or… did she not expect him to leave this place in the state he’s in? Sounds like something she would do.

He sighs and heads for the kitchen to make himself a plate. He didn’t have much of an appetite, really, but he didn’t want to hurt his mother’s feelings or make her beg for him to eat – he didn’t want to call ‘pot kettle black’ since he was the one that had to convince his mourning mother to eat last night. But it was hard, his fork just picking at the food, cutting it into smaller pieces to stare at before dropping his utensil onto the plate.

Steph… His fingers dug into his pocket and pulled the gold chain out, letting it sprawl out in his palm. He stares at it intensely, thinking. Come on, Sis, give me a sign. What happened to you and Will? What caused you to go off road and run? Run with Will’s shotgun out of all things?

What had got her so scared that they needed a weapon to protect themselves? Both her and Will were the last two people that would resort in violence, so the fact that they decided to arm themselves with a weapon tells him that something sinister was up.

But what? Dustin lays the necklace down next to him, pretending that she was here to eat with him like she always does, before deciding it was time to munch on what was left on his plate.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Hopper struggles to keep his mind clear after that conversation with Joyce. His thought always going back to this particular moment:

““Stephanie didn’t have to! She didn’t have to be the sweetheart she is and take my son home. She could have just drove past him, but she didn’t! She didn’t, Hop. And now I have to live with the thought that I made someone else’s kid go missing because I. Was. Working!””

Of course the woman felt guilty about everything. I mean, your kid goes missing, who else are you going to blame other than yourself? But she also was chipping away at the idea it was her fault that that poor girl was missing too. Blames herself for working later than usual, and wasn’t the one to come across her own son on the road and pick him up. That’s a lot of guilt for someone who’s holding the family together on her own.

He listens to the volunteers shout the children’s names, hoping that they would shout back. Hopper wishes that too. He prays that one of them would yell back for help and get this nightmare over with.

“Hey!” He shouts at the two officers. “Anything?”

Callahan shakes his head. “You?”

“No, nothing but a dead phone.”

“Joyce?”

Hopper nods. “About one step from falling off the edge.”

“She’s been a few steps for a while now, hasn’t she?” Powell asked, as he’s met with a stern glare.

“Kid’s missing, man. Show a little class.” Hopper snaps, making them avert their eyes.

“All right…”

He exhales and takes off with the rest of the group, shouting, “Come on, let’s go! We got a lot of ground to cover.” He keeps his fingers crossed that this would be it. That this would be the search that brings them home.

For their mothers' sake.

For his sake.

For every goddamn person out of here’s sake.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| THE NIGHT BEFORE ||

Stephanie shifted through the last cabinet and frowns. “Well, we can’t cook anything because there’s no electricity. But we can eat the dry goods. Unless we can figure out how to start a fire” She sighs, and wrinkles her nose. I mean, they can go a few days without eating if they didn’t want to touch the box of crackers covered in goo. But water? How were they supposed to have water if the faucet comes out with something they probably shouldn’t drink.

She rubs her temples, thinking. “I guess we’re going to have to look for some bottled stuff to drink.” She makes contact with the boy who just entered the room. “How you feeling?”

“Fine. I got a bit of a chill, but we can still grab clothes out of the closets if we need it.” Will replies, hugging his walkie talkie close.

“And the call?”

“Nothing. I mean I could hardly ever get reception over here anyway, so maybe we can try finding a different spot.”

“That wouldn’t be a bad idea." She says with a sigh. “Where’s the shotgun?”

“Oh, uh– Mom’s room.” He points behind him.

“Alright, maybe I’ll take a peek outside. If it seems clear, maybe we can try to find some reception.”

Stephanie leaves the room with Will looking back at his walkie. He had to remain strong, hopeful. He has to get through to someone. His friends, his family, one of them has to be able–

Wait.

Was he hearing things? Was his mind playing tricks?

His eyes trail to his living room where he swears he heard someone talking. It was faint, but you can’t miss it.

It sounds like… His chest tightens at a thought, his brown orbs blown wide as he looks at the yellow phone on the wall. It was probably hopeless, stupid even, I mean… the damn thing didn’t work when Stephanie tried to call for help when they were being chased. But that was the real world, this was… fake? Maybe it different, maybe it’s—

Oh, shit.

Maybe he’s just grasping at straws at this point and hopes it turns out okay.

His fingers latch around the phone, pulling it off the receiver and dials his home’s number, praying with all his might that this ridiculous idea would actually work.

Come on, come on, come on, come on, com–

Oh, he felt like crying when someone picked up.

[ ‘Hello?’ ]

His mother’s voice broke through and poke him in the heart. He couldn’t breath as relief washed over him like a storm.

[ ‘Hello? Lonnie? Hopper? Who is this?’ ]

Say something, say something, say something– His lip quivers as he swallows. “M-Mom?” He can’t wait till Steph hears about this. “M-Mom, I-It’s me.”

She can hear me right? She has to.

[ ‘Will? Will? It’s Will!’ ]

[ ‘Mom, it’s Will?’ ]

He could cry upon hearing the second voice. “J-Jonathan? Mom? M-Me and Stephanie are tr-trap in some weird place! I-I don’t know what t-to–”

Then he was cut off by the dreadful sound of the monster. Will watched as its claws wrapped around the corner, almost like it was pulling itself into the kitchen. He doesn’t even know where it came from. He didn’t even hear it freaking come in!

He froze on sight, his mother shouting something he couldn’t make out as the beast with no eyes looked directly at him. He wanted to scream but it was stuck in his throat. Is this how he was going to die? Die by listening to his mother’s pleas to answer her?

It shrieked and seemed to get bigger, ready to strike him down before it took a bullet to the face. The shot made it fall against the wall, and Will drops the fried phone and backs himself away. Stephanie looked half scared to death too as she cocks the shotgun again and fires one more when it stands up, sending it flying to the living room. As quickly as her buckling knees could hold her, she rushes over to Will, pulling him behind her as she aims the barrel into the direction the beast was. Shaking intensely, she carefully peeks around the corner to find that it had completely vanished like it did earlier. She gasps in shock before sliding to the ground herself, mentally drained.

“Steph!!” Will calls out with worry. He could see her eyes glassing over, her skin becoming paler as she shouts,

“Where the fuck are we?!”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| PRESENT DAY ||

Steve strolls into school, head in the clouds, and an aching feeling in the pit of his stomach. His sleep went to complete shit after the conversation with his girlfriend last night. He still doesn’t understand why it was affecting him so much. It’s not like him and Steph hung out anymore. So why is he losing sleep over this?

You’re not even friends anymore, Harrington. He mentally slaps himself. Get your shit together–

“Boo!” Tommy yelled, jumping out from behind the corner, startling him.

“Jesus, Hagan.” Steve said, holding his chest while the other teen laughed.

“That was so easy.”

“So–” Carol’s arm snakes around him with a grin. “Did you tell your little girlfriend about your party?”

“I-I… not yet.”

“What? You didn’t tell her at her house yesterday?”

“N-No. Never got the chance to.”

“What?!” Tommy scoffs. “Stealthy Stevie didn’t get to use his skills last night?” Him and his girlfriend laughed, but then grew quiet seeing how distant the King was being. “What the fuck’s going on with you, man?”

“Um…” Steve’s gaze gets caught onto someone else, spotting a certain person posting a certain flier up on the bulletin board. He swallows, and masks a fake smile. “You guys go ahead to class. I got to grab something out of my locker.”

“Oh, we can go with you.” Carol begins, trying to follow him but he shakes them off.

“No, no. Go ahead. I’ll meet you there.” Steve ignores the strange looks they gave him before walking away. Deciding this was the ‘only’ way, he rushes over to the oldest Byers kid, ‘accidently’ pushing his shoulder into his, knocking the papers out of his hand while he was leaving. He scoffs, while saying, “Watch where you’re going!”

Jonathan says nothing as he bends over to collect the rest, oblivious to the other teenager sliding a paper away with his foot. Once he leaves, Steve retrieves the flier from under his shoe, reading it over.

HAVE YOU SEEN ME? Stephanie Henderson Age 16, 5’4” Brown Hair, Blue Eyes, 110lbs. Last seen wearing a brown work uniform, black jacket, white sneakers, and a baseball cap. Reach out to Claudia Henderson or Joyce Byers at #### or ####

Steve stares with a distant look in his eyes, thumb brushing over her picture. Such a gentle smile for a gentle person. God… why did they have to use that picture? It was right before he–

He frowns, throwing his head back.

Fuck…

What the hell was he supposed to do now?

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Back at the Wheeler’s house, Mike decided to stay home, his parents totally unaware of him doing so. He showed the new girl around his place, acting a bit giggly when they finally got to his room. He was so excited to show off his action figures, and comic books, and anything else that he holds close to his heart. He didn’t even realize she was starting to wander off to where a collection of trophies were. Her brown eyes grew with fascination by them.

“Oh, these are all my science fair trophies. We got first every year.” Mike’s smile drops just a tad. “Except for last year when we got third. Mr. Clarke said it was totally political.”

Yeah, it totally was that. He expected some kind of reaction from her, except for the one where her eyes widened and she slowly pointed to the picture of Will in their fair picture together.

Mike perked up, hopeful. “You know Will? Did you see him? Last Night? On the road? Did–” He pauses. “Hang on a sec.” Maybe he’s getting his hopes up as he grabs another photo after shifting around in his drawer. It was a picture of his friends’ families at the lake, posing nicely for the camera.

He points to the girl in the right hand corner. “This is Stephanie. She’s his sister.” He points to Dustin who’s hanging out behind her. “She supposedly gave Will a ride the night he disappeared, and we can’t find her either. Did you see her too?”

The girl studies Steph’s face, slowly the same reaction she had from seeing Will returned as she pointed again. “I–”

Her answer was cut short when they heard something from outside. Mike gets up quickly, peeking through his curtains to see his mother’s car pulling into the driveway. He pales.

“Shit.” He rushes to grab her by the hand and strings her along. “We gotta hide!”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| HOURS BEFORE ||

Of course the eldest stayed awake for most of the night, the two of them tucked away in the far corner of Will’s room, her eyes trained on the door just in case that wretched monster appeared again. She kept a good grip on the shotgun, one foot planted on the ground for a quick pop up if needed. Adrenaline was pumping in her blood, she was fighting off her exhaustion and hunger, while a tune played on her dry lips.

“♪ Here we stand

Worlds apart, hearts broken in two. Two. Two

Sleepless nights.

Losing ground, I’m reaching for you. You. You

Feeling that it’s gone

Can’t change your mind

If we can’t go on

To survive–♪”

Will stirred beside her, his head resting on her shoulder that was starting to fall asleep, but she refused to jostle the kid. God knows he needs his rest. Well… so does she, but she’ll get around to that.

Her mind wanders back to the conversation they had last night, the one where Will admitted he spoke to his mother on the phone. Shock wasn’t the right word, especially when she examined the phone that had been burnt black, and when asking again if he heard that right, the youngest Byers swears he did.

Is there actually a way to communicate to… well… ‘our world’, I guess. She ponders on that thought, wondering if it’s possible to do so without frying your phone to death. Not to mention Will swears he heard people talking before calling his mother. Can we only communicate to the people we ‘hear’?

She scolds herself. This hurts my head too much.

“♪ –The tide

Love divides

Someday, love will find you

Break those chains that bind you

One night will remind you

How we touched and went our separate ways

If he ever hurts you

True love won’t desert you

You know I still love you

Though we touched and went our separate ways– ♪”

Will stirred again, this time waking up slowly with a groan. “Was it a dream…?” He whispers, his eyes opening at a snail pace.

“I wish.” Steph says, sadly.

“Did you sleep okay?” He asks, rubbing his face.

Her heart skips a beat and a lie slips out. “Uh, yeah. It was fine.”

“That’s good.”

“We shouldn’t stay here.” She says, surprising him. “We should probably move around, maybe lose that monster for a while. And you’re probably hungry too, I know my mom keeps cans and bottled water down in our basement for emergencies. That should tie us over for a little while.”

“Is it even safe to go out?” He wonders, yet intrigued. He’ll admit… he is a bit famished.

“I don’t know. But we got to try. Right?”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“Whoa, whoa. Careful, careful.” Hopper says as he snags his partner by the collar. “I need you alive for the next few days, at least.”

Callahan smirked and scoffed as he gestures to the Quarry below. “Oh, hell, I could survive that.” He said, making his superior laugh. “What? George Burness made the jump. And he was drunk as a skunk. He did it on a $10 bet.”

“George is a liar. You make that jump from this height, that water turns into cement. Hits you like a ton of bricks.” Hopper smacks his hands together. “Break every damn bone in your body.”

The youngster pondered on that for a second before shaking his head. “Nah.”

[ ‘Chief, you copy?’ ]

Hopper grabs his walkie from his belt. “Yeah, Flo, talk to me.”

[ ‘Hey, Chief, we got a call from over at Benny’s. I think you need to get there right away.’ ]

And those were words he didn’t want to hear. So he and his team rushed over there as quickly as they could, and the first they were met with was the smell of a rotting corpse.

“Ugh, Jesus!” Callahan said, covering his nose.

“Suicide?” Powell asked, after a moment of silence.

Hopper hummed and stared in disbelief at the man laying on the table, pistol in hand and a bullet wound straight through the temple. There’s no way this can be real.

“Missing kid, suicide.” Callahan frowns. “You must feel like a big city cop again, huh, Chief?

“Well, I mostly dealt with strangers back then.” Hopper replies, this particular moment he almost broke down. “Benny was my friend.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| HOURS BEFORE ||

Stephanie peeked outside before gesturing to Will to follow. The two of them had backpacks on that they found lying around, going to use them to fill up with anything they could find – But the task that lay ahead was going to be hard. The task was…

Walking back through Mirkwood to the Henderson home.

No lights, just a few bullets to spare, and their pure will to survive (Or maybe it’s the fear that’s fueling that will).

“I don’t like this.” Will mutters, only a few minutes after they left the Byers’ driveway and down a few feet on the road. “What if that thing spawns in front of us again?”

“Then we shoot it and book it again. That’s all we can do now.” Steph replies, carefully looking around. But what if he’s right? What if thing actually just spawns out of thin air? Then there’s not telling where and when not to go.

He stays silent, shaking a tad as they make it further down the road. It took a hot minute for the older girl to notice this and stop briefly, the twelve year old’s eyes confused just as she held out her hand. Without missing a beat, his clammy hand takes it, squeezing it tight. She smiles just a tad, reminding her of Dustin before they started walking again.

She felt him hang on to dear life as they strolled into the darkest part of Mirkwood, the eeriness that was silence was making their hearts race. She came to a conclusion after facing the monster last night that she had to be the strong one here. She has to act like the older sister again, and remain calm, and to keep him safe.

I made a promise. I don’t know how to fulfill it just yet, but I’m going to get him out of here. Steph casts a glance down at him, the poor boy’s face looked so cold. Does hers look like that too?

She grins after a quick thought. “Hey–” His eyes locked with hers. “What does a ‘Ranger’ do in D&D? That one sounds intriguing to me.”

His face lights up. “You actually want to play D&D?”

“Hey, you suggested it, I might as well. So, the Ranger? What’s that like? The lore?”

“Well, Rangers are warriors that explore different civilizations, and they hunt down the deadliest of monsters. They’re trained in many different combat techniques, survival skills, and even some magic.”

“Magic? I like the sound of that.”

“They mostly reside in the forest, or anything ‘nature-y’.”

She chuckles. “I don’t like the sound of that. What else? Aren’t there like… classes… or different types?

“Oh, yeah.” He nods. “I guess it depends on what you prefer. Do you want me to tell you?”

“I’m all ears.” Steph said, making a motion. I’m just glad he’s stopped shaking.

“Well, there’s a lot. The most common ones are ‘Beast Masters’, which are accompanied with an animal companion. Then there’s ‘Hunters’, which are mainly just professional assassins that take down monsters of all sorts. Now, even though all Rangers have the capability of taking monsters down, Hunters are strictly made just to do that.”

She hums. “Interesting.”

“Then there’s ‘Gloom Stalkers’, who live mostly in dark realms, and take down the shadowy beasts roaming the territory. They’re pretty good at ambushing their opponents.” He smiles. “Personally, I find that the coolest.”

“Well, I can see why. What else? Do Rangers get weapons?”

“Of course! The most common is a two-blade or archery.”

“Archery sounds cool.”

“See, I agree. But I know Lucas always says it’s ‘stupid’, so–”

Steph shakes her head with a sigh. “Oh, well. I guess I’ll have to prove him wrong when I play.”

“So you are going to play with us!” Will said, joyfully, like you just told him Christmas was coming early.

“If that’s how I prove Lucas wrong, then so be it. So how does one newbie play D&D?” She asked, hopefully this will keep him occupied. At least I can keep him distracted until we get there.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| PRESENT ||

“Are you out of your mind?” Lucas said, as soon as Mike was done with his explanation for them being here.

“Just listen to me.” Mike pleads.

“You are out of your mind–”

“She knows about Will and Steph.”

Dustin perks up after being the silent one here. “What do you mean she knows about them?”

Mike grabs the pictures from earlier and holds them up. “She pointed at them, at their picture. She knew they were missing. I could tell.”

“You could tell?” Lucas asked, looking between the pictures and the girl who was on the bed.

“Just think about it. Do you really think it was a coincidence that we found her on Mirkwood, the same place where they disappeared?”

Dustin nodded, agreeing. “That is weird.”

“And she said bad people are after her.” Mike said, with a frown. “I think maybe these bad people are the same ones that took Will and Steph. I think she knows what happened to them.”

“Then why doesn’t she tell us?” Lucas asked, glaring at her direction before stomping over. “Do you know where they are?” He grabs her by the shoulder. “Do you know where Will and Stephanie are?!”

“Stop it, you’re scaring her!” Mike pulls him away, as his friend brushes him off.

“She should be scared! If you know where they are, tell us! This is nuts. We have to take her to your mom.”

“No! Eleven said telling any adult would put us in danger.”

“What kind of danger?” Dustin asked, his thoughts from earlier about his sister and Will taking a shotgun with them crossed his mind.

Lucas gives him a weird look. “Her name is Eleven?”

“El for short.” Mike clarifies.

“Mike! What kind of danger?” Dustin pushes, his stomach turning.

“Danger danger!” The brunette makes a finger gun and points it between Henderson’s eyes before moving over towards Lucas who demises quickly.

“No, no, no!” Sinclair snaps, rushing for the door. “We’re going back to plan A. We’re telling your mom.”

He pulls open the door only for it to slam shut automatically. Not even batting an eye at that, he tries again, for it to not only to shut with more force but to even lock itself. The boys look back at the only explanation, and they see El standing on her feet with a drop of blood coming out of her nose.

“No.” She said, with a tone that told them not to push it.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Back at the station, Hopper was questioning an anxious friend of Benny’s. Earl was his name, and he was sitting in a chair, eyes full of disbelief as he lit a cigarette.

“Just doesn’t make any sense, Chief.”

“You, uh, notice anything odd about him the last few weeks?” Hopper asked, trying to keep it professional (even though this case was hurting him the most).

Earl shakes his head. “No, we’re fixin’ to go fishing down the Etowah next Sunday. I mean, he was lookin’ forward to it. I know that.”

“He got any enemies you might know about? I mean, people who might not want him around?”

“The exes didn’t like him much. That’s for sure, but… nah.”

“When was the last time you saw him?”

“Yesterday. Lunch, same as always.”

“Just you and the boys?”

“Yep. Me and Henry and…” He pauses. “Well, there was this, uh, this kid. No kid did this.”

“Kid?” Hopper nearly perked up hope. “What are you talking about?”

“Yeah. At lunch, uh, there was this boy that, uh I mean, he was trying to steal food out of Benny’s kitchen. Can you imagine that?”

Hopper locked eyes with Callahan who got the silent message. “This kid what’d he look like?”

“Well, he was about yea high.” Earl raises his arm up and out. “You know, tiny like. I didn’t get a good look at him, though. He was back in the kitchen.”

“He look like this?” Callahan asked, coming back with a missing kid poster of Will.

He takes the flier, and immediately shakes his head. “Oh, no, that’s… that’s Lonnie’s missin’ kid. No. This was a different kid. This one had really short hair. I mean, it was buzzed nearly down to the scalp.”

Hopper tries not to let his composure break, and continues to hold on to the slimmer of hope. “Yeah, well, let’s… You know, let’s forget about the haircut. I mean, if this kid had a buzz cut… could it be Lonnie’s kid?”

“Well, I-I… didn’t get a good look at him. About the right height, though. I mean, could’ve been. Yeah, that’s… Could’ve been.”

Hopper frowns, taking the poster back from him. “And, you only saw the boy right? No girl? Teenager? Dark hair?”

“No.” Earl shakes his head once more. “No. I didn’t see a girl.”

The Chief mentally sighs. This is not good.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

[ ‘A party?’ ]

Finally! Steve thought, pumping his fist. She finally sounded intrigued. He was hoping this would make up for his weird behavior at school.

And, no, no, no, It wasn’t because of– well… ‘you know who’. Totally not because of her. Totally, totally, totally not–

[ ‘Steve?’ ]

Nancy’s voice broke through his totally not clouded mind. “Uh, yeah, sorry. Yeah, a party. Well… kind of. It’s just going to be me, Tommy H. and Carol. No parents for the whole weekend, so we wouldn’t have to worry about them coming in and ruining the mo-jo.”

Just my friends and my girlfriend. Just having fun, no worries about–

[ ‘Not much of a party with just four people.’ ]

He laughs. “Okay, I’ll admit, it’s a little sad. But you know, it’s better this way. And, you know, if you want to, you can invite Barbara. If it makes you feel more comfortable. Or not. Or you don’t have to come–”

[ ‘Steve.’ ]

“Yeah?”

[ ‘I’ll totally come. But I’m going to try to convince Barb first if that’s alright.’ ]

“Yeah, Yeah. Totally. It starts at seven.”

[ ‘Starts at seven. Got it. I’ll see you then.’ ]

He smiles. “See you then. Bye.”

[ ‘Bye.’ ]

“Yes!” He said, once he hung up the phone. “Finally.” He feels his spirits get lifted again. “This is going to be perfect.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| HOURS BEFORE ||

“Welcome to Mi Casa.” Stephanie said, upon entering her home. Just as gross and dark as Will’s.

“You said the basement, right?” Will asked, the thought of eating something sounded nice.

“Yep.”

They thought navigating below “sunlight” was going to be hard, but I guess living in darkness for nearly twenty-four hours had its perks. Finding the tote where the emergency supplies were easier than they thought, their stomachs growing when they saw the cans of food.

“Hang on second.” Steph said, disappearing back up the stairs for a sec, and then coming back with some forks and a can opener. She uses her shirt to wipe it clean the best she could before using. “Pineapple or Peaches?”

“Pineapple, please.” Will said, drooling as she placed the open can in his hands. The two of them plop down criss-cross applesauce, sighing with relief that they could finally take a rest.

“We’ll have to take what we can, but don’t make your bag too heavy in case we need to run again. Got it?” She replies, sliding over a bottle of water to him too. He nods, and takes a second to chug some liquid too.

One can was enough for now, since none of them had any clue how long they’ll be here, they’ll need to ration what they can find. Food, water, a first aid kit, some mittens and hats, an extra jacket, socks (And Will was proud to find a half box of matches laying around).

“Do we need anything else?” He asked, making her think.

She hums, and feels around her pockets. “We need more ammo. Or another gun at least.”

“Do you have any?”

“No. I don’t.” She closes her eyes. Now where could we get more nearby?

But the more she thought about it, the more she dreaded. She does know one place they have a gun, and hopefully still does since it’s been so long.

She sighs. “I know… one place that has a gun. It’s far though. Really far. It’ll take us a couple hours to get there on foot. But it’s closer than going to town.”

“If that’s what we have to do, then let’s do it.” Will said, sliding his backpack back on, ready to start their journey again. He flashes her a goofy grin. “I hope I can count this as PE for school.”

If that was a joke to cheer her up then it totally worked.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Now that they might have a lead, the police and its volunteers spread out in the woods behind Benny’s diner, hoping to find some good news (For Hopper’s sake he really hopes so).

“Hey, you think Earl really saw Will?” Callahan asked, trying to keep up with his Boss’ speed. “I mean, what’s he doin’ with a shaved head? And stealing food from Benny?”

“Tell you what, when we find him, we’ll ask.” Hopper replies, with an attitude.

“Can’t ask a corpse questions.” Powell said, getting a glare. Suddenly, one of the volunteers blew a whistle.

“Hold up! You got something?” Hopper shouted and broke into a sprint. “Hey, what do you got?”

“Not sure.” The person said, crouching down next to a drain. “Maybe nothing. I found this. In there.”

Hopper takes a piece of fabric from his hand, before shining his flashlight through the drain, still hopeful that maybe he was lying in there, scared but safe.

“No way a kid crawls through there.” Powell said, in denial.

“I don’t know… a scared enough one might. His brother said he was good at hiding.”

“Yeah, but, just Will?” Callahan asked, conflicted. “What happened to Stephanie? ‘Cause there ain’t no way a teenager’s going to fit through this drain pipe.”

“Maybe they separated?” Powell questioned.

“I’m not so sure about that. Claudia said her daughter would never leave anyone behind.”

“Willingly that is.”

“Come on, you two.” Hopper said, jogging again.

This time, they decided to follow the drain pipe that led them further into the forest. Just as their knees were about to give out, they’re met with an electric fence and a keep out sign for the one and only…

Hawkins Lab.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“El?” Mike announces his arrival into the basement. He had just finished having dinner with his family, and even convinced his mom to let his friends stay the night. All part of his plan to figure out what was happening to his missing family.

“No adults. Just us and some meatloaf.” He continues, placing a tray down in front of the makeshift fort, letting her know to come out. Her eyes trail to him and then to the two boys falling behind. “Don’t worry. They won’t tell anyone about you. They promise. Right?”

“We never would’ve upset you if we knew you had superpowers.” Dustin said, before getting hit in the leg by Mike. “Ow!”

“What Dustin is trying to say is that they were just scared… earlier. That’s all.”

“We just wanted to find our friends.” Lucas admitted, feeling a tad guilty for his actions.

“‘Friends’?” El asked, confused by that word. It was so foreign to her. What does it even mean?

“Yeah, friends. Will? Steph?”

“What are ‘friends’?”

Lucas gave her a weird look. “Is she serious?” Henderson shrugged. “Um, a friend–”

“Is someone that you’d do anything for.” Mike cuts in.

“You lend them your cool stuff, like comic books and trading cards.” Dustin adds.

“And they never break a promise.”

“Especially when there’s spit.” Lucas also puts in, making sure she was getting it.

“Spit?” El said, tilting her head.

“A spit swear means–” He spits into his palm. “You never break your word.” He holds his hand out for Dustin to take and shake. “It’s a bond.”

Mike nods in agreement. “That’s super important, because friends… they tell each other things. Things that parents don’t know.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Barbara finally pulls the car over to the side after her friend insisted they stop here. She looks over at the brunette with a strange look. “What are we doing here? His house is three blocks away.”

“We can’t park in the driveway.” Nancy said, making the ginger roll her eyes.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah, the neighbors might see.”

“This is so stupid.” Barb shakes her head. “I’m just gonna drop you off.”

“Calm down, Barb. Come on. You promised that you’d go.” Nancy pleaded with her ‘baby doe’ face. “You’re coming. We’re gonna have a great time.”

“He just wants to get in your pants.”

Nancy chuckles with disbelief. “No, he doesn’t.”

“Nance… seriously. He invited you to his house. His parents aren’t home. Come on, you are not this stupid.”

“Tommy H. and Carol are gonna be there.”

“Tommy and Carol have been having sex since, like, seventh grade.” Barb cringes at the thought. “It’ll probably just be, like, a big orgy.”

“Gross.”

“I’m serious!”

“All right, well…” Nancy takes her seat belt off and starts unbuttoning her sweater. “You can be, like, my guardian. All right? Make sure I don’t get drunk and do anything stupid.”

“Ugh.” Barb said, shaking her head. She watches as her friend takes her top off and starts fiddling around in her purse for another one. “Is that a new bra?”

Nancy pauses. “No.”

“So, obvious, Nancy…”

“Hey.”

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

“What’s the weirdo doing?” Lucas asked, watching her sit at their D&D table and close her eyes.

“El?” Mike said, as they gathered around, waiting.

When she opens her eyes, she slowly gravitates to one of the pieces and picks it up. “Will.” She replies, showing it was the Wizard piece, the one that the boy always plays as.

“Superpowers.” Dustin said, as Lucas rolled his eyes, still not convinced about this whole thing.

“Did you see him? On Mirkwood? Do you know where he is?” Mike asks, just before she brushes the rest of the figures off the board and flips it over. She places the wizard piece on the board. “I don’t understand.”

“Hiding.” She replies, the boys looking at one another. She then places another figure down, surprising them.

“Who is that supposed to be?” Lucas asked, as Dustin perked up.

“The Ranger. Is that Stephanie?” He asked, as she nodded. “Are they hiding?” She nods again. “Together.” Another nod.

“From the bad men?” Mike asked, but she shakes her head in disappointment. “Then from who?”

And without saying another word she places another figure down.

It was a beast with two heads.

The Demogorgon.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| NOW ||

It took a while like she said, and luckily they had no trouble getting there, but what was troubling the young boy was that she wouldn’t tell him where they were going. Was she embarrassed by this place? Did something happen? He doesn’t know, but it’s gnawing at him.

“We’ve arrived.” She said, as they were coming up to it.

It was… a pretty big house, much bigger than his and even his friends’ houses. He wonders if this was one of the rich neighbourhoods or something like that. And sure enough… his questions would be answered when he happened to catch the name on the mailbox.

Oh.

Now he understands why she didn’t say anything.

“So this is the…” Was he choosing his words correctly? “The King’s house?”

“Yep.” Stephanie said, hand on the doorknob which miraculously opened. She rolls her blue eyes. “They still keep it unlocked.” They stepped inside, still gloomy and covered in vines and goo like the last two. “Let’s go upstairs.”

Will follows behind, observing everything that seemed a bit foreign for him. “I knew they were rich but I didn’t know they were that rich.” He said after observing art piece after art piece that he knows isn’t locally made.

“Yeah, they got crazy money.” She said, and her pace seemed to quicken without her noticing. She hustles into the parents room, opening the closet to find a safe. “Shit.” She forgot about the lock. “Where did that bastard put the key?”

Stephanie starts running around the bedroom, pulling open drawers, looking through trinkets, his wife’s jewelry box too – A curse word after every failed attempt.

“Steph?” Will said, worriedly.

“Just give me a second.” She snapped, and left the room. She starts opening the drawers from the tables in the hallway, visibly getting more annoyed with each second. “For fuck sakes–”

“Stephanie!”

“What?!” She slammed it shut, rattling everything that was on. The force and her tone seemed to shock him, and even take a small step back. She grips the table, closing her eyes to calm herself. “Fuck. I just…”

And when she opens them she finds herself staring at the boy she wanted to forget about. It was a picture of him on his swim team, the frame saying: Championship 1981. She just stares at with emotions the youngest Byers couldn’t figure out what they were.

“Steph?” He asked, slowly.

“Yeah?”

“What happened to you and Steve?”

She continues to stare at the photo for another minute before pushing herself to stand. “I think he still keeps that knife in his room.” Was what she muttered before heading in the opposite direction to another room.

Will could only wonder what really happened to them…

Just as the lights started to flicker.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| PRESENT ||

Inside the most “fabulous” party of the year, Barb laid back in one of the pool chairs, listening to the terrible music that’s blasting in her ear as her best friend watches her boyfriend slice a hole into a beer can and start drinking it all in one go.

“Is that supposed to impress me?” Nancy asked, as he sat down and lit a cigarette.

“You’re not?” Steve asked, genuinely surprised.

“You are a cliche, you do realize that?”

“You are a cliche. What with your– your grades and your band practice.”

“I’m so not in band.”

“Okay, party girl. Why don’t you just, uh, show us how it’s done, then?” He hands her the knife and a can.

“Okay.” She says, all giggly.

“You gotta make a little hole right in–”

“I got it.”

“Yeah, she’s smart, you douche!” Tommy said, as he crushes his own can on his forehead.

Soon, everyone was chanting “Chug” as Nancy down a whole beer in under thirty seconds. Everyone cheered and laughed, proud at the achievement.

“Barb, you wanna try?” Nancy asked, holding the blade up.

“What? No. No, I don’t want to. Thanks.” She said, shaking her head. But after a quick back and forth badgering she finally gave in. She rips the items out of the girl’s hand, clearly upset. It wasn’t long before her judgment was clouding her mind and accidentally nicks herself.

“Whoa, Gnarly.” Tommy said, impressed by the deep cut.

“Are you okay?” Nancy asked, worriedly.

“Yeah.” Barb said, trying to push her away.

“Barb, you’re bleeding.”

“I’m fine. Where’s your bathroom?”

“Oh, it’s– Steve stands up, and starts taking her over to the sliding door. “It’s, uh, down past the kitchen, to the left.” He frowns. Shit of course.

But before he could say anything, Tommy had pushed Carol into the pool and then jumped in after her. Steve then shrugs, and lets a smirk play on his face as he does the same to Nancy before doing a cannonball.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| NOW ||

Steph tries to contain herself as she enters his room. It was taking a lot of strength not to just start flipping things over, and tear those stupid pendants off the wall.

Stupid fucking house. Stupid fucking room. Stupid fucking Harrington. She grits her teeth, fighting back the tears in her eyes as she desperately tries to remember where he hid the blade.

She lets out a groan. “For fuck sake’s, man! Where did you put it?!” She yells, and kicks whatever was near her. She swears something must have fallen out from it, but she doesn’t even want to look.

God damn you, Harrington. She scolds, and rubs her face. How can he–

That’s when the light in his room flickered on and off scaring her half to death. “What the–”

“Stephanie!” Will’s voice shouted, kicking her into high gear.

“Fuck.” She mumbles, and races to find that blade.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| PRESENT ||

As soon as Barb comes out of the bathroom, she immediately spots a certain someone heading up the stairs. “Nance! Nancy.” She shouts, getting her to stop. “Where are you going?”

“Nowhere. Just… upstairs. To change. I… fell in the pool.” Nancy said, feeling like she was on cloud nine. “Why don’t you go ahead and go home. I’ll just… I’ll get a ride or something.”

“Nance–”

“Barb, I’m fine.”

“This isn’t you.”

“I’m fine. Just go ahead and go home, okay?”

And then Nancy leaves her all alone, confused and heartbroken by her friend’s actions. But despite being hurt, she couldn’t just up and leave her drunken buddy like this. So…

She decides to wait.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Steve had found her some clothes she could change in, and he was grinning like a kid upon the thought of seeing his girlfriend in his clothes.

I’m such a dork. He tells himself as she calls out his name. “Yeah?” There was a look in her eyes that he’s never seen before, and honestly was turned on by it.

But ‘Fuck that’, says the universe, and the home phone starts to ring.

He groans, irritated. “Hang on a second–” He proceeds to run out of the room, and shouts, “Hey! Turn the music down in case it’s my parents.”

Nancy chuckles, cheeks flush because she was ready to lose her– wait. Did something just touch her leg? She looks down to find that a box was tipped over and had opened, and wonders when that happened. Did she accidently kick it without realizing? Or was it already like that? Frankly, curiosity got the best of her as she crouched down to try to fix it. But then, her actions slowed when she saw something.

The Wheeler picks up a paper – a flier – to her surprise was the missing poster of Stephanie Henderson.

“What?” She says, quietly, confusedly. Why was he keeping this? And that’s when she puts two and two together. She starts shifting through the small pile which was made up of photos, movie tickets, receipts from a record store, arcade tokens and– “Oh, my god.”

Suddenly, Steve comes jogging back in, relief on his face. “False alarm. It was just–”

“So who is she to you?” Nancy asked, standing up and flashing the memorabilia at him.

His face falls immediately. “Hey, that’s–”

“Is she the person that was rumored you pushed away?”

“It’s nothing.” Steve replies, trying to take the stuff away from her, but she ain’t budging.

“It’s nothing, or she’s nothing?”

“It’s– W-What? You jealous?” He asked, trying to play this thing off cool, but his girlfriend wasn’t stupid.

“I’m not jealous. I’m just curious.” Nancy replies, honestly. She takes another look at the photos in her hand before looking back at him. “I mean, if she isn’t your friend anymore, then why do you hang on to all this stuff? Or better question–”

“Nancy, stop, it’s just–”

“Why did you break it off?”

His brain short circuits again. “What?”

“I said, ‘Why did you break it off?’ I mean…” She flips through some of the photos he has, memorized. “From what I see, you two remind me of Barb and I. You two look like you were tied at the hip. So why break it off?”

“I…” Why couldn’t he fucking talk all of a sudden? “I didn’t, I–”

“So, she broke it off?” She said, eyebrow raised.

“No. I-I broke it off, she didn’t do anything–”

“So… why did you?”

“Nancy–”

“Look, I just want to understand you. I mean, every time I think I have you figured out you throw me through a loop.” She gives him a reassuring look as she picks up the box, shuffling whatever was remaining around. “I mean, from what I see, you seem like a completely different person then. I just wonder if it’s a good thing or a bad–”

Now it was her turn to look lost (and for Steve to lose all the color in his face). She frowns, slowly pulling out a small casing. “Is this a… bullet?”

“That’s nothing!” He manages to snag at least that away.

“Why do you have a bullet in the box?!” She asks, eyes blown wide.

He swallows. “Nancy–”

“Did you shoot her or something?”

“What?!” He scoffs. “No! Why would I shoot her?!”

“Well did she shoot you?”

“No! Nobody shot anybody, it was just–”

“Then why do you have a stray bullet cas–”

“‘CAUSE IT WAS MY FAULT!! OKAY?!” Steve snaps, startling them both (He can’t believe he just lost his cool like that). He swallows again, head spinning at the memories (Why did he fucking leave the box right there?). “I just… there was an incident and… it… shaped my decision, okay? But it didn’t involve me or her with a gun, it was… s-someone else. Someone I know. I don’t know why I’m holding onto it, I…” He sighs and grabs the box, holding it out for her to put the stuff away.

It takes her a moment to process it all, and she does put all the stuff in her hands away, but she remains silent the whole time. She’s never seen him act this way before.

It honestly concerned her.

Nancy breaks eye contact, and only reverses it when she gathers the right words. “Look, Steve, I’m sorry I intruded, I probably shouldn’t have but… I’m just trying to understand you.”

Steve shakes his head, still confused. “I-I…” He shrugs, and crosses his arms defensibly. “What’s there to understand?”

Nancy gestures to him and says, “Well, for starters, you’re an airhead and–”

“So?” He cuts in, as she holds her tongue and continues.

“And you’re arrogant, snarky, and sweet–”

“Sweet’s fine.”

“Of course. Sweet’s fine. I love how nice you are to me, Steve.” She then frowns for him. “However, that gets overshadowed by your… insecurities.”

He pauses, now it was his turn to take in those words (What the hell did she mean by that? He’s not… no). “I don’t… I don’t have any… any–”

“Steve.” Nancy takes a step closer. “I don’t know why the kid in these pictures decided to change into the one I’m seeing before me, but if that doesn’t have to do with any insecurities, then I’m not sure why you decided to make that change willingly.”

“I… W-Willingly?” He scoffs again. “What do you mean? I never change willingly? What are you even getting at, Nance?” He hasn’t changed. He’s never changed. What is she even getting at?

But Nancy looked at him with eyes full of pity and took another step closer. “I don’t know what the reason was for you two to stop being friends, but all I know, from what I gathered, she wasn’t the one to end it.” She places Steph’s flier on his chest that he subconsciously grabbed, and said one last thing before leaving his room. And that was,

“Maybe there was a good reason for you to end it, but that’s not an excuse for you to stop being who you really are.”

And Steve’s left with an epiphany he’s not sure he can decipher.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

|| NOW ||

As soon as the lock was broken, she retrieved the gun from the safe and frantically told her companion to get down the stairs. Will and Steph’s hearts were in their ears, and it sped up when the light above the front door flickered.

“Shit–” She pulls the boy to a halt, and redirects them to the back door. “Go, go, go, go, go.”

She throws open the sliding door, and out into the backyard, but as soon as they step foot onto the ground, the lights around the empty pool start to flicker. The two of them stopped immediately and held their breaths. They weren’t sure where the beast was at, but it was definitely nearby ready to snatch them up.

They were afraid to even breathe or twitch. What if this thing really does appear out of thin air?

They both jolted when a loud growl came from somewhere inside the pool. Wasting no time, Steph taps Will on the arm and makes a shushing gesture, then waves him to follow her. The boy understood completely, and the two of them move slowly, so carefully that there’s not way–

The both of them screamed when two human hands grabbed onto the top of the pool ladder.

A girl’s head poked up, face battered and covered in grime, her glasses shattered and splattered with blood. The girl looked so fam–

“Nancy!!” She shouts, as something growls behind her, scaring all of them to their core. And when her eyes landed on the two of them, she desperately yelled for help just seconds before the beast’s claws wrapped around her head and pulled her back.

Will and Steph matched the girl’s scream, and the beast roared in delight that his prey was just right in front of it. Its claws could be seen grabbing the ladder, like it was trying to crawl out and feast.

That’s when the two of them booked it.

The guns rattled in their hands.

The tears in their eyes.

Whatever this place was, they knew…

This couldn’t get compared to hell itself.

(TBC)

-Taglist is Open-

@ladygrey03 @poppet05 @tooearlyforthis @lovesfics @lordzzz

@mirkwoodshewolf @sadbitchfangirl @olivewisp

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rxgnor0k · 2 years

Text

I Like Watching You Dance - E.Munson

masterlist➢𖤓

summary | In which nutcracker season is at its peak, and spending quality time with Eddie Munson is impossible. Eddie decides to surprise you after a long day of rehearsing, but ends up watching you in awe as you rehearse for your role as the sugar plum fairy in your academy's production of The Nutcracker.

tags | Eddie Munson x fem!reader, ballerina!reader, fluff, ballet fic, Nutcracker season, cute relationship, she/her pronouns used

word count | 1.2k

a/n | hey y'all!!! so I'd like to say that I am ballet dancer myself, so I know my stuff. This fic was very fun to write, especially because it's Nutcracker season right now, and that there was no research that had to be done! Bye!

⚠️ i will not allow anyone copy and pasting my work into any other social platform or site without consulting with me first ⚠️

───────────────────────

Eddie arrived to pick you up after your rehearsal, but you aren’t anywhere to be seen. He looks back down to the note card placed in his lap.

“16700 Dawn Rd, Ronan IN,” he read aloud. “Where the fuck is she?”

Due to your schedule with ballet, you and Eddie were unable to go on any sort of date, even spending some quality time together. He knew how hard it was for you, dancing everyday and all, but he hated not being able to see your face everyday after school and wrapping you up in his arms after a long day.

He looked out of his van window to see the large building with big, bold letters, written, “Balanchine Classical Ballet Academy,” which stood out compared to the white concrete walls of the exterior part of the building. Deciding whether to stay in the van, or go out and see if you were there or not, Eddie chose to get out. As he opens the driver’s side door, a cold gust of wind hits him like a bullet. Quickly, Eddie slams the door shut and goes to find a spare jacket hidden in the trunk. As soon as he finds it, he puts it on, and opens the door once more. The cold air comes back again but because of the big, warm coat Eddie had put on, it wasn’t as bad as it was before. Eddie approaches the large building with a scrunch on his face, he hates how the melted snow feels on his skin.

Once he enters the academy doors, Eddie is met with a busy atmosphere with little girls in pink and blue Capezio leotards and dance moms sewing costumes together while gossiping. All studios were occupied with dancers rehearsing for their production of The Nutcracker which was just around the corner from now. Eddie looks up at the tall walls covered in awards from ballet competitions from prior years, and photographs of very famous dancers. On one part of the wall hung a collection of headshots of the older dancers who’ve won all of the awards as well as bring some pride to the academy. He gazed up to the top and was met with your face. You wore a bright smile with your hair in a neat, tight bun. Right under was a gold plate that had “Y/n L/n, 1st place Winner of the International Grand Prix” engraved into it.

Eddie was interrupted by a voice of an older woman, “Do you need help, sir?”.

Eddie looks back to see a rather tall woman with a cane in hand. He looks past her and sees the group of gossiping mothers with concerned faces staring at him. Eddie realizes the situation and immediately begins panicking.

“Oh, I wasn’t here to cause any trouble, I was waiting for my girlfriend, you see-“

“Stop,” the woman demands. Eddie quickly silenced himself, the woman was awfully frightening. “I know who you are and I know you mean no harm.”

Eddie was taken aback, “How the fuck does she know who I am?,” he thought.

“Waiting for Ms. L/n I presume?” The older woman asks.

“Uhh yea, she’s usually done at 5:00, but she wasn’t outside, so I came in to see if she was here.”

The lady nods, “come with me,” she gestures to Eddie to follow her as they stride across a long hallway, studios on each side of the wall. Eddie’s eyes were glued to the floor, while people move out of their way for the lady to walk by. The loud noises were soon turned into hushes, and the only thing you could hear was the music coming from the studios, the whispering, and the click clacks of the woman’s heels.

Turning the corner, a group of dancers were all packed around a window, watching the rehearsal. They all stood in silence as they watched in awe of the beautiful ballerina. By the sound of the women's heels clicking once again, the dancers snapped their heads towards her away, and quickly gathered their bags and moved along.

“I guess I really am that frightening,” the woman chuckled.

“No shit, Sherlock, you look like you’d kill me with that cane,” Eddie thought, scratching the back of his head.

The woman stops right in front of the window where the prior dancers were standing. Eddie stops as well, and looks into the studio. A ballerina engrossed in the music made her away across the room and into a lift, a man held her high up into the air.

“Here she is,” the woman says, stepping to the side.

Eddie grows closer to the window and watches you. A navy blue leotard hugged your figure, and the black practice tutu you wore complimented it perfectly. The new pointe shoes you put on at the beginning of the day were now completely dead as the ribbons and elastic were holding by the threads. The shank and box were “soggy”, however, that didn’t matter at the moment. Eddie noticed how you moved your arms, it was almost as if they were in a fluid state. He marveled at the sight of you in such a graceful state.

As the ending of the Sugar Plum and Cavalier Pas De Deux came to a close, you sat yourself down while you gasped for air. The dance was so exhausting it left you breathless.

“Beautiful isn’t she?” the woman compliments. “I’ve taught her since she was nine years old. Never failed to disappoint me.”

Eddie nods, unsure of what to say.

You pack up your bags and replace the practice tutu with black trash bag pants. You take your dead pointe shoes off and put on normal everyday shoes. Your french twist, that had been neat and slick back at the beginning of the day, was now messed up with dozens of fly-always sticking at your skin. Your sweat creates a stain on your leotard, but who the fuck cared.

“Bye, Dmitri,” you wave. Dmitri, your pas de deux partner, waves back and says his goodbyes. You bring the bag to your shoulder and begin making your way out of the studio. Upon walking out, Eddie props himself against the door frame, making himself known.

“Eddie!” Your eyes brighten, hurrying over to embrace him into a tight hug. “I was going to call you to pick me up, but you're here!”

“Yea, I watched you do your twirling stuff,” Eddie said, in which he starts to mimic your en dedan turns.

“Wow, Eddie, you’re so funny. Ha ha,” you say, sarcastically of course. “Shit, sorry, you were probably bored. I didn’t think rehearsal would run for that long.”

“What! I like watching you dance, it was nice ,” Eddie wraps his arm around your shoulder while beginning to leave.

“Really? Do you think so? I say that sweat stains and bruised toe nails would say otherwise, but I’ll take the compliment,” you chuckle.

Walking into the lobby, hand-in-hand, the gossiping mothers turn their heads towards your way, staring at the two of you walk by.

“Did you see that?” One of them whispers.

“Yea, never thought someone like her would go for someone like him,” another replies.

“Well, I think they look cute together.”

“I saw them at the park this one time, they looked really happy.”

“I heard someone say that he’s a cult leader.”

“Oh shut your mouth, Carol. No one believes in that kind of stuff anymore.”

You and Eddie try not to laugh when you hear the gossiping. The pretty, kind, ballerina with the crazy, drug addict, metal head? Of course, no one would have thought that it would ever happen!

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a/n: sorry for another authors note, hehe. srry for being gone for such a long time, i had like no motivation to write anything lol. I wrote this fic in honor of Nutcracker season! bye!

Reposts and requests are always welcomed! Make sure to go check ou my other stuff! My masterlist is linked at the top of the page! Thank you for reading my fan fic!

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in-a-daddy-state-of-mind · 1 year

Text

The Devil in Disguise || Part I

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Henderson!reader

Summary: Your tumultuous relationship with Eddie Munson begins when he saves you by pretending to be your boyfriend

Word Count: 5.2k

Warnings: Creepy strangers, alcohol use, cigarettes, both Eddie and reader are over 18 in this, I think that’s it but let me know if there is anything else.

Notes: This is going to be a two parter with part 2 coming TBD. This is mostly fluff with Eddie and reader being dumb. Next part things will get even more interesting heheh. Also mentions Steddie in there because I can never decide if I want Eddie for myself or if I want him to be with Steve.

Your tumultuous run-ins with Eddie Munson began one night when you made the dire mistake of going to the Hideout by yourself.

You wanted to listen to some good music and it just so happened that no one wanted to go out that night. No bother. You were an independent woman and no one would stop you from having a good time which you mostly did.

Corroded Coffin played and you tried to resist staring at Eddie the entire time. You knew him from school but you doubted he knew you. He was friends with your brother but that’s where the connection between you stopped. That and the times you had come to the Hideout when his band just so happen to be playing and you developed a crush on the long-haired man. Could anyone blame you? Eddie was enchanting up on that stage and it seemed like every aspect of him was turned up to a thousand under the high lights. So you had the pleasure of staring and cheering for the hour sets feeling like a damn groupie. But that was it. The moment he stepped off of the stage he stopped being Eddie Munson, the superstar and went back to being Eddie Munson, the guy that constantly yelled during your lunch period. Just like that the crush was gone.

Today was no exception. You cheered, you cringed at yourself for doing so, and you also enjoyed the other really good bands that played. Just as you were beginning to gather up the courage to pay your bill and leave, a man that looked like he was in his 30s drunkly sat down next to you and began trying to start a conversation. Great, here you go again.

The one bad thing about being a young woman in Hawkins, Indiana who just so happened to like metal and punk was the inability to go out and not get hit on by men almost twice your age. You wanted to be more bold when things like this happened. In your head you told them to shove it and threw your drink on their faces. But in reality, you were too anxious to do anything like that. You mostly entertained the conversation by giving short answers and saying you weren’t interested. And it was also getting late, and your mother was waiting for you so you really should get going.

However, this time around no matter what you said the man would not waiver. He just insisted on keeping the conversation going, saying how pretty you were and how nice of a guy he was. You were beginning to panic and go through the basic self-defense you and Robin had learned that one time in your head when you felt an arm snake around your middle and a large hand rest on your hip.

“Jesus, sweetheart, I really can’t leave you alone, can I? I go to the bathroom for one second and you already have guys pilling on you.” You heard Eddie saying as you turned to stare at him.

You didn’t know what he was doing but the look on his face told you to trust him and go along with it. Hopefully, he could get you out of this.

“Sorry, babe. I keep telling him I’m not interested but it didn’t really stick.” You said in return still only staring at Eddie.

“So, what’s it going to be, asshole? You’re going to keep hitting on my girl?”

Hearing Eddie call you his girl made you feel a certain way you didn’t want to look too much into. You finally got the courage to look at the guy that was previously hitting on you to see a new embarrassed aura fall upon him.

“I’m so sorry, man. She didn’t say she had a boyfriend.” He said apologetically.

“How about you actually apologize to the lady for not leaving her alone, huh?” Eddie replied

The man sheepishly looked over at you and murmured a “sorry” that seemed to be all you were getting.

“Okay, now get the fuck out of here.” Eddie said with confidence.

He didn’t let go of your waist until the man was well off of your eye sight. As he did he immediately turned to you with what seemed to be concern in his eyes.

“Are you okay? I’m so sorry you have to deal with pricks like that to just listen to some decent music in this town.” Eddie immediately checked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thank you for the save.” You replied still a little shaken from the whole situation.

There was a moment of silence before Eddie decided to speak again.

“You’re Henderson’s sister right?” He questioned staring at you intensely.

“Yup, the very same.” You replied offering him your hand. “Y/N.”

He shook your hand with a cocky smile opening in his lips.

“Eddie-“

“Munson. Yeah I know who you are.” You finished before he could.

“Does my reputation proceed me?”

“Does mine?” You shot back.

He let out a short laugh at the retort. Fuck, he keeps forgetting how hot Henderson’s sister is. The moment he saw you squirming away from that drunken buffoon something almost primal in him screamed at him to help. He just couldn’t stand and watch any woman get harassed like that but Henderson’s sister specifically had more pull over him than he’d like to admit.

“Well, only that your brother sings your praises. I know you’re into theatre. We had English together once and you did this crazy presentation on how The Great Gatsby relates to the disillusioned Reagan youth?” Eddie began saying.

“I mean Reagan’s a clown. Someone has to say it.”

“It was hella metal.” The fact he remembered it made you blush once again “And I know you’re pals with Steve Harrington. How is he by the way?”

“Well. I mean still working at the video rental shop not sure about what he wants to do with his life and with an apparent inability to get a long-term relationship but well.” You responded sincerely.

Eddie laughed at that opening a smile that made him once again seem a bit more to you like stage Eddie than regular Eddie.

“Do you go around telling Harrington’s dirt to everybody?” Eddie questioned.

“No, but I know you two have history so I don’t think he would mind you knew.” You reply matter-of-factly.

At this Eddie lost his cool composure and despite the dark lighting of the space you could swear you saw him blushing.

“He told you about that?”

“He tells me about everything.” You retorted.

“Well, I hope not EVERYTHING.” He said making you laugh.

She was really charming. As Eddie stood in that filled up bar looking at her laughing at his stupid joke he couldn’t help but fixate on her smile. God, she had a pretty smile. Every second he spent talking to her the notion that she was Henderson’s sister and so it would be a really shitty move of his part to hit on her became more of a distant thought inside of his head that was manageable to ignore.

“Well, m’lady, it was a pleasure to see you here.” Eddie said reluctantly not really wanting to leave your side.

“A pleasure to see you too, Eddie. Your set was really good.”

At this Eddie dramatically grabbed at his heart and made as if he was going to fall over.

“And she has good taste? A woman after my own little heart.” Eddie flirted enjoying the red tint that fell on your cheeks at that.

“What can I say? I’m the full package.” You joked.

“I’ll see you at school, Henderson.” Eddie let out with a smile and made his way back to his friends.

The night had taken a very unexpected turn but not one you were completely opposed to. You finally paid your bill and made your way out of the bar unable to stop smiling like an idiot. Gosh, you really were turning into a groupie. As you made your way home, you told yourself that this was just a meaningless interaction and that as you went back to school everything would return to normal and Eddie would almost forget who you were.

Things very much did not go back to normal after that night at the Hideout. When before you and Eddie Munson would barely cross paths or basically ignore each other when you did, now it seemed like it was impossible for you to not see him everywhere. The hallways, the cafeteria, the library. It seemed that you weren’t even safe outside of school and he would pop up whenever you were at Family Video with Steve.

Not only that but now Eddie made his presence very known to you, and not in the way he made it known to everyone else. You would catch him looking at you during lunch all the time and to be frank he would catch you when you were doing the same. The only difference being that when you caught him he would smile at you cockily and you would immediately look down and blush when he did it.

Whenever you picked up Dustin and his friends from Hellfire Club now, Eddie would be lagging behind as if waiting for you. You would see him lighting a cigarette or talking to the other members or taking his sweet time to tie his shoelaces, basically anything to keep him behind long enough to see you. You started waving at him whenever this happened which would only make him open up the same shit eating grin and wave back at you nonchalantly.

Still this was how you remained. You circled around each other but nothing more. You hadn’t even talked to Eddie since that night and at this point you refused to be the first one to give in on this. Your brother had already teased you endlessly about it after seeing your ritual with Eddie after D&D.

“Someone likes the Dungeon Masteeeer.” Dustin said as soon as he got into your car after you waved Eddie good-bye.

“Dustin, we’ve been over this. First off, no I don’t. And second, calling him that makes it sound incredibly sexual.” You replied all too aware of the awkwardness emanating from Mike and Lucas on your back seat.

“You two are clearly flirting with each other. And knowing Eddie it’s probably sexual.” He retorted as you sped off of the parking lot.

“DUSTIN!” You yelled hitting him on the arm.

After much protest from you and the other boys you gave a ride home to, Dustin finally let it rest. That, however, did not put an end to this song and dance you and Eddie kept doing.

That was until one night Steve insisted you come with him and Dustin to an outing on a Sunday you didn’t have rehearsal. You accepted suspicious of all this secrecy as to where you were going. It was nothing new for you to hang out with both Dustin and Steve but they weren’t usually this anal about where you were going. So needless to say you were a bit confused when they parked in front of a trailer and Dustin immediately flew out of the car.

“This is a trailer park.” You simply said looking at Steve.

“Wow, your powers of observation never cease to amaze me.” Steve joked as he got out of the car.

You followed Steve into the trailer and to your surprise found most of your brothers’ friends, Robin, and the Hellfire guys all crammed in the small space. At the center of it all was Eddie Munson sitting on a goddamn throne and observing his band of subjects. You couldn’t help but roll your eyes as you looked at Steve.

“Seriously? You’re in on this as well?” You questioned your best friend.

“He asked me to bring you, okay? Be nice.” Steve insisted, not smoothly pushing you in Eddie’s direction.

Somewhat reluctantly you made your way next to Munson. Despite his being sat down and thus in the circumstances smaller than you he still exuded the ego that could annoy you to no end. He was clearly in his element. These were his people. You were the guest. And yet one nagging question still stood-

“So you need Harrington to invite girls out for you?”

“What can I say? I get nervous around pretty women.” Eddie replied simply once again making you blush.

It seemed like making your face red was becoming a sport for him. You looked around to mask your awkwardness.

“So this is Hellfire?” You asked looking back at him.

“In all its satanic glory.” Eddie said with a smile.

“So what do I pick my brother up from every Tuesday?”

“That’s also Hellfire. This is a side campaign we do so Harrington can play with us. He brought Buckley along one time and she kind of just stayed too.” Eddie explained once again examining his subjects.

You looked at Eddie again as a small quiet fell on him. Here, sitting on this stupid throne, amongst the people he clearly loved you were already beginning to see a glimpse of stage Eddie coming through and that meant trouble for you. Lost in your thought you ended up not noticing you were staring at Eddie.

“You ever played D&D?” Eddie asked taking you off your head.

“I’m an actor. Yeah, I’ve played D&D before.” You reply as if it were obvious.

“Oh, so the theatre kids are fellow adventurers?”

“We are. Except not all of us have to make a show out of everything we like.”

“I’m sorry I thought we were talking about the theatre kids.” Eddie joked.

“Says the man that is constantly climbing on lunch tables and yelling at the basketball team.” You replied without a thought.

“Touche.” Eddie conceited opening a smile. “Will you stay for the game then? They could use help beating this campaign.” With this Eddie leaned further back in the chair with an air of coolness “I’m not sure who makes the campaigns for you little theatre nerds but I’m pretty sure you’ve never seen anything like the shit I draw up before.”

“Oh you are on, Munson. I will destroy you.”

Turns out Hellfire was a lot of fun. Everyone took being in character very seriously which allowed you to do it as well. Not only that but you got to see Eddie play different characters which was just out of this world. By the end of it you were almost asking if he didn’t want to audition with you for the community theatre summer program after you both finished high school.

By the end of the night, you were all dead and the only two survivors were Steve and your brother. You tried not to be overly anxious as you watch them both argue against the next move.

“You have to get more than 17, Steve. These are very low odds.” Dusting nagged as Steve got more exasperated.

“I know, Henderson. Jesus, do you ever shut up?” Steve shot back.

“It’s hard to when the future of the entire party rests on our shoulders, Steve!” You brother yelled back.

“Just throw the damn dice!” Max yelled at both of them.

Steve threw the dice and there was a moment of absolute quiet as all of you waited for the die to roll. Before you could even process which number it landed on, you hear the room around you explode in cheer as Steve grabs you brother and begins jumping with him. You laugh as the group of people around you continue celebrating. You shoot a look at Eddie who is dramatically playing the death of the dragon your group finally beat. You smile to yourself and high-five Steve as he comes next to you.

After the end of the game, you discover that Hellfire does not end. Instead they continue in Eddie’s trailer, ordering pizza, half of them watching some movie Robin brought over from the store and the rest just sitting around and talking. You sit next to your brother, Steve and Mike as they recount to you what had happened in the campaign before you came to join them. Out of the corner of your eye you see Eddie exiting the trailer and you excuse yourself to follow.

When you arrive on the outside of the trailer you see Eddie lighting a cigarette and staring up at the sky.

“That was a pretty good campaign.” You say seeing Eddie jump at the sound of your voice.

“Christ, sweetheart, you almost gave me a heart attack.” Eddie says as you approach his side.

“You were right. You are much better than my DM.” You let out ignoring his comment.

“You flatter me.”

“Can I have one of yours?” You say pointing at the cigarette.

“You smoke?” Eddie asks incredulously.

You just nod and he gives you one of his cigarettes. Instead of pulling out his lighter to light up yours he instead choses to get unbearably close to you and light it with his own. After a few puffs of smoke have left your mouth you take a step back and take a deep drag as Eddie analyzes you.

Seeing you here, in his trailer, smoking one of his cigarettes, Eddie can barely believe that this isn’t a dream.

“You are not what I expected.” Eddie lets out almost subconsciously.

“You’re not what I expected either.” You reply giving him a small smile.

“What did you expect?”

“Selfish, asshole, who loves attention and is sort of mean to my brother despite saying is his friend.” You replied honestly.

“Well, I expected a prissy, little goody two shoes who is also a spoiled rich girl.” Eddie shot back.

“Guess neither of us missed the mark too much, huh?” You joked.

“Yeah, I guess not.” Eddie laughed.

You two fall silent again as you drag on your respective cigarettes. The night is peaceful and the weather is nice. You notice how many stars you can see in the sky from the trailer park. At that you imagine Eddie laying on top of the trailer and looking at the sky. His veiny arms resting below his head. He looks almost angelic in your head.

“You should come again next week.” Eddie blurts out pulling you out of your fantasy.

“What?”

“You should come to Hellfire, again.” He says again with less confidence than you usually see him with.

“Okay.” You simply say taking him by surprise.

“Wait, really?” He asks incredulously.

“Yeah. It was fun. I would love to come back.” You said with a smile. “I would also love to destroy your campaign once again next week.”

“I will not go as easy on you the next time, sweetheart.” Eddie replied with a smile.

With that you both put out your cigarettes and made your way back into the trailer. God, if you were going to have to see Eddie Munson emphatically play different characters every week you were going to be in trouble.

Turns out you loved Hellfire almost as much as you loved theatre. Because of rehearsals you could only attend the Sunday campaign but god was it fun. You enjoyed the time with your friends but you also enjoyed the new people you hadn’t met before. Most of all you seemed to enjoy becoming closer to Eddie.

After the first session as you kept coming back to the game you and Eddie became closer and closer. You would gravitate towards each other after the games and spend hours talking until your brother dragged you out of the trailer since you both needed to be at school the next day.

Not only that but as soon as you became a part Hellfire, Eddie started speaking to you in school as well. It seemed like he would find any excuse he could to come to your locker and talk to you. He forgot his notebook and needed some pages from yours (despite the fact that you had never seen him taking notes in a class), his lighter was busted could he borrow yours for the day, and you were pretty good in English, right? Turns out that he really was in dire need of help in his class despite the fact that you knew he read almost as much as you did.

You weren’t complaining though. You enjoyed the senseless flirting, his deep laugh and the way he looked at you when he thought you weren’t looking. As little as you would like to admit it the more time that passed the more obvious it was that you were falling hard for the metalhead. You only wished he would do something about it. Which was what you were ranting about to Robin and Steve as they worked at Family Video.

“I just don’t see why he would keep obviously flirting with me and not say anything!” You said exasperated as Steve lifted an eyebrow.

“How obvious are we talking?” Robin yelled from where she was putting away a stack of returned tapes.

“I asked for a Hellfire shirt and he said he couldn’t give me one because he wouldn’t be able to contain himself if he saw me wearing it.” You replied back watching Steve cringe at the thought of you and Eddie doing anything sexual.

You could hear Robin murmuring “that’s pretty obvious” as she went back to putting the tapes away.

“Look, Y/N, the thing with Eddie is that outside of the fantasy world? He’s a total coward.” Steve replied wanting to put an end to this discussion.

“Was he a coward with you?”

“Yes!” Both Steve and Robin shot back.

With this Robin quickly went on a rant about how Steve actually had to be the first one of them to make a queer advance because of Eddie and how frustrating that was. You grunted rolling your eyes. God you hated how Eddie had this ability to drive everyone insane. It was a talent you had to admit it.

“So what does he expect? To just keep stringing me along?” You interrupted.

“Or maybe he wants you to make a move.” Steve said nonchalantly.

“He’s going to keep fucking waiting.” You said matter-of-factly.

“Oh my god, can you Hendersons ever put your ego aside for one second? You rather just stay in this cat and mouse game then? Just so you’re not the first one to give in?” Steve argued looking like he was about done with your bullshit.

Well, you couldn’t really argue with that. So you concocted a plan that would surely make Eddie either ask you out once and for all or you would fucking conceit and do it yourself.

That is how you ended up in Steve’s car, wearing your skimpiest black outfit, with your brother in the back driving to the Hideout. You were going to seek the beast where he was most comfortable. It didn’t take your brother much convincing to drag him along with you, he had been curios to hear the music his little messiah would rant about. Steve was the one that you had to drag along a little more. He wasn’t a prude or anything but this wasn’t his scene, still you knew that deep down you would do anything for each other so in the end he came along.

As soon as you all got crosses on all your hands the three of you made your way into the bar. Luckily, at this point you were already friends with the bartender to the point that he would sneak you drinks despite your age. Just enough to the point he knew was safe. You almost laughed as you made your way to Steve and Dustin standing in front of the stage. They could not look more out of place.

Steve almost yanked the drink out of your hand chugging half of it immediately. You laughed at him sipping your own.

“You nervous there, Steve?” You teased.

“Never actually seen him play.”

You could almost see him sweating. You knew from Steve that him and Eddie had fooled around in the past. You also knew that Eddie was the first guy Steve had ever been with but in your own frustration and enchantment with Eddie Munson it never really occurred to you how this was impacting your best friend. You hated that you never really thought there might still be something there for him.

“Shit. I’m sorry, are you okay?” You said lightly making sure no on could hear you “Are you okay with this?”

“Oh, yeah. Don’t worry about it. Eddie and I are history.” Steve assured you taking another sip.

“Doesn’t mean you’re not nervous to see him all sweaty in his element though, right?”

“Yep.”

As if on cue, you hear the small crowd begin cheering and see the members walking on stage. Your heart seems to skip a beat as your eyes land on Eddie holding his electric guitar, wearing a sleeveless Metallica tee, a little bit of eyeliner and a bandana across his forehead. The second he gets to the microphone he spots you and your tiny band of outcasts and opens that intoxicating smile that seems to only happen on that stage.

“Rockers, criminals, and misfits of the Hideout, we are Corroded Coffin.” Eddie begins introducing and stops for the wave of cheers that follows that sentence. Despite him playing it down his band had actually gathered a small group of fans that you would see repeatedly every time you happened to be at the Hideout when they played.

“I would like to specially dedicate tonight’s performance to a special little lady in the audience.” With that Eddie pointed straight at you. “Folks, get yourselves a girl that will drag her friends out to watch your shitty band play on Thursday evenings. Except not this one because she is taken.”

As soon as those words left Eddie’s lips, Gareth yelled “ah one, two, three, four!” and the music was enveloping you and the rest of the crowd. You could feel Steve leaning closer to you to yell in your ear.

“Is he seriously being possessive right now?”

“You heard him just as well as I did.” You yell back.

“I’m going to kick his ass.”

“Have you actually ever won a fight, Steve?” You could hear your brother yelling in reply.

Steve shoved him lightly as you laughed. The rest of the set was just a blur of you yelling lyrics and at some point both Dustin and Steve becoming comfortable enough that they were also jumping at the beat and yelling out at the end of every song.

As the set was over and the lights came back on, Steve and you were already three drinks in and all three of you were covered in sweat. Despite of what happened next you were considering this night a success. You paid for your tab and rushed over to Steve and Dustin again.

“Come on!” You yelled grabbing Dustin’s hand and heading towards the exit that lead to the stage door.

Steve followed you two as you made your way through the crowd of drunks and groupies. As soon as the cold air hit your face you could see the four men with their instruments already in cases chatting with the security guard and some beginning to make their way out. Eddie was lazily laying against a wall with a cigarette perched on his lips. You could hear his laugh making its way through the cold night to you.

Gareth was the first one to spot you three and yell out. The warmth that spread through your stomach as you saw Eddie opening a smile as his eyes set on you was something you were becoming used to at this point.

“Well, Edward, that was… interesting music.” Dustin said as you arrived next to the band members.

“Not really in the mood to take notes right now. So why don’t you keep it to yourself, okay?” Eddie replied sarcastically never taking his eyes off of you.

Jesus, you looked good. From the second he saw you from the stage it was like you had cast a spell on him or something. The outfit perfectly hugged your body and it was the hottest thing Eddie had ever seen you wear. It was taking everything in him to not drag you backstage and have you on the shitty couch in the green room.

“I will say that was something, Munson.” Steve commented where he stood next to you with his arm over your shoulder.

For the first time, Eddie shifted his eyes from you to Steve. His perfect stupid hair was covered in sweat and his cheeks were reddened.

“Maybe you should have come here sooner. I’m sure she would have appreciated it.” Eddie shot back motioning to you. “But you know I am a simple man I’ll take what I can get.”

“Yeah, you and simple don’t seem to go well together.” Steve shot back casually.

“Whatever, Harrington.” Eddie waved off “You look good though, man.”

“You do too.” Steve replied back all too aware of how this felt more sincere than it did feel like flirting.

You and Steve and you are interrupted by your brother’s yelling.

“We can give everyone a lift, right?”

“Henderson, how many people do you think fit in my fucking car?!” Steve yelled back and moved away leaving you and Eddie by yourselves.

You were silent for a second as Eddie offered you his cigarette. You gladly took it taking a deep inhale, nervous all of a sudden.

“You guys did great tonight.” You finally say breaking the silence.

“Thanks, sweetheart. Your praise does mean everything to me.”

His eyes quickly did a once-over looking you up and down.

“Harrington is also not the only one looking good tonight.” He commented smirking.

“Well, I must say the rockstar look does suit you well too, Eds.”

With that you take one more deep drag of the cigarette gathering up the courage for what you came here to do. You hoped with the alcohol in your system it would have been easier but it seems like it only made you more jittery around Eddie. Well, fuck it. It was now or never.

“So is all this flirting you keep doing with me for nothing or are you ever going to actually ask me out, Munson?” You blurted out almost throwing up the words.

Eddie almost reeled back in surprise from your words. To say he was not expecting this would be an understatement. He nervously laugh and took a drag off the cigarette himself tossing it away.

“You are ruthless, aren’t you?” He finally said sheepishly.

“I think ruthless would have been if I said this about two weeks ago.” You shot back.

“Touche.”

Suddenly Eddie in a grand gesture kneeled down and grabbed one of your hands as if he was about to break into a soliloquy.

“My most honorable, beautiful, lovely doll. Sweetheart. Y/N Henderson, would you do me the utmost honor of going on a date with me?” He finally stated making you laugh.

“I thought you’d never ask.” You joked back.

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