#that's what you get for not making mike smile in S2

[bylrndgm]

#make mike wheeler smile in S5

inspired by: @unrepentant-byler-shipper's reblog

[cerealbishh]

"I'm sorry for what you're going through, but this salt-of-the-earth, take whatever comes attitude won't help you keep your land. And I know whatever breaks your heart breaks Rhett's. And I don't want that."

[love-byers]

the first time i saw this, when i was NOT a byler shipper, i thought el was running TO mike. i thought we were getting a sweet moment where el runs to mike and he puts an arm around her or hugs her.

then i realized she was running away from him. 

and i was like, why?? they're supposed to be the couple why does she not want his comfort??

and even after will calls her out on doing mike wrong by lying to him, even after she sees that mike is attempting to talk to her and comfort her, that he's not angry at her, she still tells angela to lie to mike. more lies. that's how much she cares about keeping up the persona. had angela lied to mike, el would've continued lying to him the entire week. something she knows in her heart is wrong and not fair to mike.

this is a theme in s4. putting who you want to be seen as before being honest with your bf/gf. going above and beyond to preserve your lie, to be seen as who you want to be.

chrissy does that with jason. who she portrays herself as is completely different than who she really is and what she's really going through. jason has absolutely no idea chrissy is struggling and refused to believe chrissy would buy drugs, because chrissy didn't want to tell him. who knows how jason would've reacted if chrissy was honest, we don't know because chrissy didn't trust him enough to tell him. that's not love at all, that's sad.

this is a point in s2 as well. murray calls nancy out for being afraid to be her true self, and she stays with steve because she doesn't have to be her true self around him. she is her true self when she's with jonathan, and that's why they worked together. that's love.

the exact same thing happens with chrissy. the first time we see her genuinely smile is when she's with eddie. she's sweet and charismatic, and had she lived she totally would've gone to eddie's show, something you never would've expected from her, something her boyfriend, the person she pretends to love, would NEVER do.

robin and steve reinforce this too

you fall in love with the person who makes you feel accepted, the person who makes you feel like you can be who you are. the person you trust with your true self.

mike and el don't trust each other enough, they don't understand each other well enough.

they would have to change their behavior towards each other by leaps and bounds, and we're already at the last season. there is no time for that. stranger things isn't a multi season show about the complexity of romantic relationships and the healthy way to resolve problems. there is no time for that in just about any movie or show, especially a sci-fi show. you know what's way easier and way more likable? pairing your character with someone they naturally click with, who bring out the best in each other and for some reason can't help but be their authentic selves when they're with each other.

did it with jancy, like i said earlier

did it with lumax. when lucas and max talked on the bus max found herself spewing about things she'd never even said out loud before, and she had to stop herself. something about lucas just made her feel comfortable, like she could be herself and tell the truth. she trusted him.

"You're nothing like your brother, okay? You're cool and different, you're super smart, and you're like, totally tubular."

jopper too! joyce constantly had to hide things from bob, she was insecure about their family not being normal.

"This is not a normal family."

"It could be."

though bob had good intentions, the message of the show is not trying to be normal when you aren't. whatever it is about you that makes you weird or different, whatever you've been through that changed you, stay true to it. dont bottle it up and try to be someone else. all of vecnas victims in s4 were doing this, and it didn't end well for them.

they even did it with dustin and suzie. dustin constantly tries to impress max with his teeth, then in season 3 he says suzie thinks kissing is better without teeth. he doesn't have to be insecure about that or try to impress her. she likes him for him.

mike isn't comfortable being his true self around el either. he's insecure about his interests, he feels like he has to act older and cooler to impress her.

you shouldn't be with the person you feel you have to impress. you should be with the person who relieves that pressure, who makes you feel like being the authentic you is enough.

jonathan and nancy, lucas and max, joyce and hopper, dustin and suzie,

cough WILL AND MIKE cough...

[sheisjoeschateau]

"Oh, so we DO love Steve..." | PART IV

************************************************************************

Steve Harrington x Bauman!fem!reader enemies to lovers, heavy angst, hurt/comfort, upside down mayhem, S2-S4, post S4 universe hot-take, end-of-the-world / dystopian setting, ugly fights turned smut (...but with hella plot). 18+

CHAPTER WARNINGS: major character death (?), more plot-driven smut, strong language, anxiety-inducing themes, panic attacks, co-dependency, hot n heavy but low-key emotional s*x. MINORS, DNI. 18+

⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ SERIES MASTERLIST ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

When you do manage to get yourself out of bed and dressed for the day, which consists of an oversized long sleeved shirt that you stole from your uncle (because you liked it) along with some leggings and long white socks, you tell yourself to take a deep breath and accept whatever fate awaits you.

You've made your bed (literally, and figuratively speaking) so now you have to... well, not lie in it...

Anyway.

You walk downstairs to smell Steve at work in the kitchen, cooking up something delicious. Eddie sees you first, on the couch.

He grins and waves. "Mornin’, princess.”  

You smile and give him a little wave. "Howdy."

Robin walks in with a first aid kit to give him fresh bandages, visibly sagging with relief when she sees you.

“Oh thank God, you’re up. These kids are already on one...”

You can’t help but snort a laugh at that, taking in her frazzled state, and you ask her what you can do to help but she just says in a desperate voice, “Coffee, please, I love you.”  You grin and nod, hearing her and Eddie fussing over his dressing as you make for a hot cup of coffee.

You can hear the kids all around the corner, chirping lively from the kitchen. Even El is in there participating. Hopper’s voice is in the mix somewhere, grunting something about “indoor voices.”  Your uncle is arguing over something with Erica, balls deep in a heated debate.

When you round the corner, your eyes first land on Nancy. She’s sitting at the bar with Jonathan. She smiles at you shyly. Jonathan greets you out loud.

“Bauman Squared is up.”

The kids all get in a tizzy of excitement. Erica’s excitement is short-lived, given her intense debate with your uncle. But Dustin is rushing over to you, blabbering about something pertaining to the lifespan of canned goods, and Mike is chiming in from the table saying, “No, Dustin, hold up, okay?  So, Bauman, this is actually how it started.”

But your uncle cuts him off, asking them why they call you that when you both share the same last name. Joyce teasingly points out that he’s Murray and you’re Bauman.

Hopper adds to that, “yeah man, get with the program. Your niece is our favorite.” He shoots you a wink, and you give him a finger gun of approval.

Your uncle is rolling his eyes, but shoots you a desperate look — “Coffee. Black. Strong. Gracias.”   Erica resumes her debate with him.

You grin as you move to go get your uncle a much needed cup of coffee, finding that Steve has stopped flipping the pancakes to look at you with a soft smile and scooting over a hot mug of coffee to you. 

But it’s not for your uncle. It’s for you.

“Two sugar, light cream, right?”   

The way that Steve murmurs the question to you makes you weak in the knees. You settle for giving him a tight-lipped grin and nod.

“Yeah, thank you,” you murmur back.

Steve moves to grab another mug, moving to pour another cup of straight black coffee for your uncle. You can’t help but notice the curve of his biceps as he does, secretly admiring his face while the coffee pours from the pot. The way his white t-shirt fits him just right, his gray sweatpants sitting at the jusssst right point of his hips.

You swallow. Fuck.

You get a hold of yourself before he’s handing it over to you. He winks. “It’s strong. I promise.”

You smirk back at him, raising the glass in thanks before walking it over to your uncle.

You don’t notice the way that Steve tries to hide the overwhelming thoughts in his brain, signaling his evolving feelings for you.

And you also don’t notice now Nancy catches it, or how it uncomfortably makes her heart seize...

But you do notice your uncle staring at you with those damn all-knowing-eyes, while Erica incessantly jabbers on about whatever the hell they’re debating. You and Murray exchange the quietest but most intense glares.

And Hopper's got half a donut hanging out of his mouth as he happens to catch the tail end of this. He wants to ask, but decides it’s best to hold off on that.

***

The day goes well. The house is always staying busy, so it keeps you all that way. Hopper is calling for a family meeting in the living room, which gets everyone in a tizzy.

The boys will always, at some point, try to take over. It takes both Joyce and Hopper to set them straight.

Your uncle makes sure to throw in his usual statement: “peanut gallery hours will follow the meeting, thank you.” 

This meeting is no exception, and it goes exactly like that.

Will makes great points, as always — and he is allowed to, along with El, given their ties to the supernatural.

Jonathan and Nancy always listen the best. One of them takes notes.

Normally, you sit next to your uncle or Eddie while Steve always takes a seat next to Robin. 

But this time, as you sit next to Murray at the end of the couch listening to Hopper try to push through his conference lecture while Dustin interjects like crazy, your heart flutters as Steve moves from the staircase over to sit on the arm of the couch -- next to you.

You sit still, not letting yourself react or look up at him. But you also forget to breathe. Thankfully, he’s too busy telling Dustin to can it so he doesn’t notice.

Robin is slowly shifting back in her seated position in the large loveseat, having been prepared to make room for Steve. She’s too grateful to have it to herself to feel suspicious yet.

Eddie, however, clocks it. What “it” is, necessarily? He doesn’t know.  Like honestly, he’s not even in the ballpark.  But still, he notices so yay gold star.

Nancy does know what “it” is, though, when she catches it.  Or at least she has an inkling.  She’s not the note taker today, so she’s able to catch it. She wonders to herself if maybe she is just overthinking it, given her conflicted feelings for Steve while still with Jonathan.

Steve is actively participating in the conversation with the adults, and you chime in as well. Once you’ve gotten a grip on yourself.

Something is being said about needing to go on a supply run, but also how they need to get over to the main field and see what is happening at the lab — which is now squared off with all electric fencing. The kids are LOUD, demanding it be them. Hopper shuts that down real fast.

“So help me Goddddd, listentome.” — Hopper

“Kids, shh, calm down…” — Joyce

“FETUSES, SILENCIO.”  — Murray

The kids relent with rolled eyes and groans of displeasure. Hopper rubs his temples, resetting.  Then speaking —

“I will be assigning roles. You will hear them, and you will accept them.  Deal?”

Everyone nods, agreeing. Even the kids. Great, you think, so they’ve learned to know better than push their luck that far…

Hopper is assigning 4 separate groups to 4 separate tasks. 

In one group: Robin, Nancy, Will and Joyce. They will be making the supply run.

In the 2nd group: Dustin, Erica and Murray will be staying here to run the command center. Murray’s the boss. He grins, but also wants to jump off a cliff for the fact he has been assigned the responsibility of managing the two loudest kids in the group. Lucas will also stay with Max, while on lookout at base.

In the 3rd group: Hopper, El, Mike and Argyle as the driver. They’ll be assessing the damage done, pertaining to the gate re-opening. They’re on Vecna patrol.

In the 4th group: Jonathan, Steve, you and Eddie. You’ll all be venturing over the fence to spy on the lab and get a look at what is happening over there, while reporting back to Group 2.

This sends Dustin to a fit of determination, as he insists that he joins your group so that he can help with the walkie-talkie communication since Lucas and Erica can man the fort. (Murray definitely takes offense to that.)

Hopper huffs but doesn’t disagree with the suggestion. “Don’t let this give you any sort of false pretenses, kid. This is the one suggestion you’ve made that is sensible.”

Dustin just grins like a dopey idiot. Then he looks at Steve. “Yay!”

Steve rolls his eyes but honestly, he’s cool with having his buddy.

The plan is to go into effect early tomorrow morning. Meaning, everyone needs to get some good ass sleep and tuck in early.

You’re in your room now, having just showered and put on your pajamas with freshly brushed teeth. You’re putting together your combat outfit for tomorrow when there’s a knock at your door.

You expect it to be your uncle, since earlier he was going over strategies with you for an obscenely long time — which is his very awkward way of indirectly saying, “hey, you’re my niece and I love you and I’m worried about you because that’s what family does.” So you figure he’s drawn up another 10 plans to run by you, and you're happy to humor him on them.

But it’s Steve on the other side, looking shy and like he might’ve had to talk himself into doing this in fear of how you might react.

You give him a surprised but pleasant smile. He stands there, returning it timidly. There is a silence that falls over both of you. Then finally —

“Can I sleep in here tonight?”

You have to literally restrain yourself from jumping at that question with a way-too-eager oh thank god, yes. Instead, you just give him a polite grin.

“Yeah, of course,” you say.

Steve lets himself in, and he looks over to see your outfit set aside for tomorrow. He nods at it as he sits on the edge of the bed.

“Tryna look badass?”

You smirk. “I am a badass. I’m a Bauman.”

You expect Steve to scoff. To roll his eyes. Make some snide remark. But he doesn’t. He just looks at you, with that same look on his face that he had this morning while you two laid in bed together. You can’t break away your gaze for a moment, almost hypnotized.

God, he is so beautiful. Why the fuck is he so beautiful?

Finally, you break the stare down by moving to get your combat boots out from the closet and place them beside the clothes.

And that’s when you feel it. His fingers brushing the edge of your t-shirt, hooking onto it so that you turn around. You do, letting him turn you to face him. He’s looking at you intently, and slowly he pulls you towards him to cage you between his spread legs as he sits on the edge of the bed. It’s half shy, half confident. Gentle but assertive. You stare down into his doe eyes, and you hold your breath when his fingers splay across your hips as they grip onto you. You’re so close to him now, too close yet somehow not close enough. You can’t breathe.

After soaking you in, Steve reaches one arm up to pull your neck down to his face so that he can brush the tip of his nose against yours, just like you did last night. Ever so slowly, be nuzzles. Eskimo kiss.

And then his lips are finding their way to be against yours.

Steve kisses you softly, taking his time and just breathing you in. Then he sighs into your mouth as he stands so that he can lift you up, making you swing your legs to wrap around his waist and hold yourself to him there. He turns you both around, effortlessly walking you over to sit on top of the chest of drawers. Damn, he's strong. Steve places you there, lips still on yours, before he finally pulls back.  His hands glide down to the bottom of your shirt. Please, his eyes ask. But this time, he wrenches your shirt off of you with more vigor than last night. It’s urgent, and it’s still urgent when his lips crash back into yours before wrenching himself back again so that you can tug his shirt over his own head. He grunts impatiently, wanting to not be apart from you yet needing to be skin to skin. He paws and grabs at you, needy and greedy, but something about it feels a whole lot more like love than lust.

Steve tastes like summer. Sunscreen, popsicles and June. He smells like pool water and boyfriend. And he looks like a dream. 

You wonder how in the world he would have felt if he’d been told during his King Steve era that one day, he’d be having sex with that one student who graduated a year early and didn’t belong to any niche crowd or group or clique. You wonder if he would scoff at that, wave it off. Say, nah, that girl? Never.

But the way that Steve keens into your neck right now, murmuring sinful names for you like angel and baby, makes you wonder if King Steve wouldn’t be able to understand that the new and improved Steve Harrington might just happen to be into things he never was into before. Maybe he’d gotten close with Nancy. Maybe you were a rebound. But he didn’t kiss you like that. Or treat you like that after your first time, for that matter...

And the second time was just as euphoric as the first time, just different. Steve was more in control, clinging to you and unafraid to go for it.

Before you know it, you’re up against the wall with your bare chest against it and your legs spread widely and his mouth on your ear. Tugging at your earlobe with his teeth and his shaky breathing, infused with his pleasured grunting humming inside of your eardrums. You pant and bite back the screams that you so fucking badly want to release. but you don't, not wanting to wake the entire household or get the attention anyone awake.  However, you made sure that he knew you were in pure fucking bliss with the way you arched your back into him and dripped all over his girth.

“Been wanting to be here inside you all day,” he rasped, thrusting against you. “Didn’t wanna leave this room.” His words break up as he pounds himself deeper into your guts. “Needed to — to — n-n-need you —”

You throw your head back against him, climaxing at his words for the second time in a row tonight. His arm linked around your waist tightens, gripping you like a lifeline, and he chokes into your ears — which only sends you into an orgasm unlike anything you’ve ever felt in your life. And Steve shares the exact same experience as you do when he ejaculates inside of you.

You both pant and gasp for air, your heart rates racing at lightning speed and trying to level out. You’re both slick with sweat and sex, and as Steve rests his head against your shoulder it sends chills up your arms when his hair flops and tickles your bare skin.

Steve pulls out of you, and you shiver as you feel him leave your body, inch by inch. The loss of him is overwhelming, and your legs shake. But before you can even move to catch yourself, Steve is already turning you to him with a steady grasp on you.

The way that Steve strokes your hair, moving it out of your face as he stares into your eyes again, is priceless. You can’t help it…

“You’re beautiful, Steve Harrington.” You breathe it against his face, still catching your breath. The corners of your lips twitch, almost like you want to laugh or smile. “I can’t stand you.”

Steve looks at you like you’re all that matters in this world. The pads of his thumbs stroke the skin under your eyes, softly, gingerly. He moves to press his lips to the corner of your mouth, breathing against it, “I can’t stand you either.”

Feather-like kisses are pressed to the corner of your mouth and cheek, and you revel in the glory of it, pressing your skull into the wall with your eyes fluttering shut.

Steve falls asleep first that night, with you tucked underneath his chin and with his arms holding you protectively. You let the sound of his steady breathing lull you to sleep.

***

The next morning comes sooner than you’d like.

You feel someone squeeze you tightly to them, pressing their lips to the crown of your hair before they roll out of bed. You watch as Steve’s back muscles flex while he tugs his sweatpants back over his boxers, then throws his shirt back on and heads to your little en-suite bathroom for a few minutes. You force yourself to sit up, knowing that it’s time and you’ll need to get ready.

Hopper would be so mad if he knew about the 5 hours of sleep you got, versus the 8.

You’re pulling out a pair of socks to go with your boots when Steve emerges from the bathroom, and before you can stand up and move to switch places — he’s cupping your cheeks to kiss your forehead in two lingering pecks. You smile under his touch.

You give him the shyest of looks before going to brush your teeth, re-shower and get changed.

Steve quietly murmurs to you the promise of coffee as he leaves. And he is all you think about in the shower.

You get changed into your army pants, combat boots, and fitted t-shirt. You grab yourself a windbreaker and throw your go-bag over your shoulder, ready to face the day.

Dustin is securing the command center with Murray and Erica, while Mike comes over to you carrying snacks.

“Here, I set extra aside so that you have plenty.”  Mike always treated you more like a sister than Nancy, and it doesn’t go unnoticed by her. You ruffle his hair and give him a quick squeeze, grateful.

Lucas and Will are asking you questions about the trip, along with Mike, and you assure your kiddos that you’ll all be fine.

Hopper comes over to you with Murray, entrusting you with one of their guns. “You’re the group's team lead today, along with Steve.”

Steve’s got his nail bat, along with a pistol.

Murray is going over the inner workings of the lab’s field layout with you and your group.

“The break switch is in this building,' he's saying. "But thanks to Erica and Dustin, we’ve got a way of hacking into it at exactly this time. You’ll have this much time to mount the electric fence and get to the other side. Seize. Those. Minutes. Haul ass. Get to the other side.  No asking why the chicken crossed the road. Capiché?”

The way that Jonathan, Eddie and Steve repeat the word back to him makes you visibly bite back a laugh.

Joyce is giving everyone the nurturing mama bear talk, hugging everyone too many times — especially Jonathan. She has Will in her group, so she’ll be a little more sane in the head thankfully.

Nancy and Jonathan are giving each other an affectionate goodbye that Steve doesn’t even notice. Nancy wonders if he does. Silently, and selfishly, she hopes he does. But he doesn’t.

Robin is rambling about something having to do with a jump-ship plan in case the jump-ship plan doesn’t work, and if they need to establish not only a 2nd abort —

“— but maybe even a 3rd abort? and wait is there really enough backpacks that they’re taking to fit all the supplies and can goods that they — ”

“Oh my god, Robin, please breathe,” Steve cuts her off.

“Wait, what’s the jump ship plan?” Argyle’s question makes everyone whip their head in his direction with incredulous looks on their faces.

Hopper looks ready to slug someone but also like a nervous dad. After he goes back over the plan for everyone, giving the bullet points, he tells you all to eat your breakfasts and be by the front door within 30 minutes or else.

Lucas takes his plate up to sit with Max. El comes over to talk with you about the day, saying that she’ll send a signal if she sees anything dangerous headed your way at the lab. She gives you a tight hug, which tugs at Hopper’s heart. He and Murray share a very rare, quiet moment with an exchange in their eyes. Our girls.

Steve is telling the boys and Erica to follow him upstairs to Max’s room to join Lucas for a motherly pep talk, and they all follow him like chicks following a mother hen.

Eddie is being given strict instructions by Robin to follow orders and not rip his stitches that she’s worked hard at keeping in tact by mounting the wall --

...“and be on the damn lookout only so help me god or else I’ll rip them back open myself,” she threatens him.

Eddie visibly swallows and nods at that, believing her.

Suddenly Nancy is walking up to you, as you stand there still hugging El while looking over Murray’s shoulder at his computer system setup. She looks nervous as you turn to her.

“Hey, umm, keep an eye on them, will you?” she asks shyly, sheepishly. “I worry about them. Especially Dustin.”

You know she meant Steve. “Yeah. Of course.”

Nancy nods awkwardly, grateful you didn’t correct her and a little embarrassed. She points to the gun on your back, giving you a tight-lipped grin. “Glad it’s you handling that bad boy.”

She flashes the same one across her back. You chuckle lightly, agreeing with her. “Yeah, the last thing we need is for Eddie to get his hands on this or else he’ll murder the whole town.”

Nancy giggles.

Eddie snickers at the joke, appreciating your dark humor. He gives you a wry smile. “Thanks princess, but I only prefer bone crushing, eye sucking curses.”

You all eat some whole wheat eggos (even El) and some scrambled eggs. Plenty of water, plus some coffee.

Steve walks in to scoop up his plate during the last 10 minutes, and Hopper takes pity on him — given that he’s been with the kids.

“You get an extra 5,” Hopper tells him.

“Appreciate it, Hop.” 

Steve carries his plate over to the table, moving to sit by you and Murray — who does his best to just stare down at his coffee and ignore catching this in his peripheral vision. Sip, slurp.

It’s a quiet breakfast. Tense. Stiff. Everyone is nervous. This stuff never does get easier…

***

The kids all boom back down the stairs, loud as ever.

And everyone is out the door on time, minus the extra 5 minutes that Hopper secretly gave for Steve’s benefit. Thankfully, it goes unremarked but the kids.

You all put their hands in a circle because Dustin insisted a while back that you cannot all part ways without a group huddle. So it’s now become tradition. Everyone fist bumps in unison, and the four groups embark on their separate journeys.

Group 1 does well, making it into town. They have the bottom tier level of risk, which Hopper did intentionally for Joyce and Will's sakes because those are his hearts. He also adores the two girls, Nancy and Robin, of course. They carefully fill up Joyce’s car in doses, trying not to attract attention as everyone has a strict evacuation mandate that goes into place next week along with a food supply limit. They’re ahead of the game, doing everything not to give away what Dr. Owens warned them about.

Group 2 is in full swing, back at Casa Harrington. Erica and Murray bicker like a married couple, but they also high five. Lucas makes sure that Max is safely tucked in, giving her a kiss on the forehead and a promise to be back upstairs in a few hours.

Group 3 is cautious. They have to calculate every single move, given the risks. El uses her senses to tap in, blindfold on and static on the van's radio ringing throughout the car. Mike keeps watch, along with Argyle at the wheel — and Hopper navigates.

Group 4, your group, is en route. You have the longest journey to make on foot, making sure to keep their strength. Jonathan keeps watch of time, and Dustin hangs into the walkie-talkie to keep contact. You scan the area, and so does Steve, as you all walk. Eddie sings to himself to keep from wigging out, and it’s definitely giving mumbled panic.

You are telling everyone the ETA, using the compass. Steve tells the gang to keep the same pace so that they make sure they aren’t there too soon or too late, wanting to time it right with Group 2’s orders.

At some point, you gesture for everyone to pivot directions, and when Steve steps in your direction — he instinctively reaches out to brush the small of your back. It’s so subtle… yet so telling.

Eddie cocks an eyebrow mid-song, ceasing the mumbling altogether for about 2 solid seconds, before resuming as he walks. Even Jonathan raises an eyebrow, silently smirking.

Dustin misses it entirely.

Then Dustin starts communicating back and forth on the walkie-talkie with Erica, and as they start to bicker Steve interjects.

“Hey, dingus, cool it and listen to what she’s saying, please.”

Dustin huffs, whining, “but she’s wronnnng...” 

You squint in the sunlight as you look back at him, saying simply, “Listen to your mother.”

Steve doesn’t even flinch. You both just look back at your son expectantly. Dustin sighs but obeys.

Oh that definitely makes Eddie and Jonathan share a look.

Back at base, Murray is struggling to access the switch for the electric fence closest to where Group 4 (you guys) is approaching. He and Erica work hard at it, and Lucas helps as he keeps open the line of communication with Dustin via the walkie-talkie.

“This east side gate is a bitch,” Murray is griping over the channel.  “Hang tight, just pause when you guys make it there.”

Dustin and Lucas are going back and forth, while Jonathan tries to keep up with what they are all saying. 

You can see the fence up ahead, and so does Steve. 

Eddie’s singing gets louder.

Nancy speaks over the walkie-talkie channel: “Group 1, reporting.  Over.” 

Dustin speaks.  “Group 4, tuned in.  Over.” 

The other groups tune in, too.  Nancy continues in a hushed voice.  “Food supply is running low so we’re going to double up.  The mandate will be really strict.  Can’t take chances.  Over.” 

Jonathan tells her to keep them posted with the ETA.

El comes onto the walkie-talkie, asking for you. 

You take it, speaking: “Bauman squared, I copy.  Over.” 

Eleven tells you that she can see you all headed there to the lab, and that no one is nearby.  You’re safe. 

Hopper adds: “But Eddie, make sure that you stay tuned into this channel and relay it to Dustin just in case.  Over.”

Eddie’s song of woe dies on his lips with an anxious exhale.  “Roger that, over.”

Steve speaks up, “Alright guys, we’re here.” 

Dustin signals Murray, right on cue.  You all stare up at the looming electric fence in front of you.  It’s tall.  At least 30 feet up.  You gulp.  So does Jonathan.  For Steve, it’s easy.  For Dustin, well, it’s exciting.

Jonathan adds to the relayed info, addressing Murray, saying, “Yeah, uhhh, it’s pretty high up man?” 

Murray’s tone comes through, crisp.  “How high is high?” 

Jonathan visibly shrinks back as he squints in the sunlight. “Like...25-30 feet?”

Murray curses on the other side, frustrated.  “Alright, hold please.”

Steve turns over to face you all, starting with you.  “It’s gonna be a helluva climb.”

You nod.  “We’ll have to double up the speed, guys.  But for safety, let’s just do two at a time.”

Jonathan’s brow furrows.  “Why?”

You tell them it’s safest this way.  This way, two people can gauge the timing of it just in case.  Dustin immediately demands to go in the first group, which Steve shuts down promptly — like all good mothers would with their favorite child.  He starts to onboard Jonathan, but you’re already saying you’ll go as you tighten up your bag.  Steve looks at you, hesitant. 

You look back at him, giving him a nod.  “No arguments.”

Steve sighs through his nose.  “Yeah, I figured as much.” 

He’s so sexy when he isn't actually hating you, and instead just consistently miffed with you…

“Group 4, listen up,” Murray’s voice comes over the walkie-talkie.  “I’m signaling the switch now.  On my mark, it will take exactly 3 minutes for it to activate.  You’ll have 60 seconds to climb it.  Up and down.  That’s it.  Remember what I said: haul ass.”

Dustin responded back with a sigh, “Steve and Bauman Squared insist on going two at a time so…”  He dreads the next question, cringing before asking.  “Any chance you guys can…do it…twice?”

You turn around, waiting to hear your uncle’s reply and wondering if you’ll need to step in.  His befuddled response confirms, yes you will, and you walk over to take the walkie.

“Uncle Murray, it’s not very sturdy.  It’s too big a risk, four at a time.  If you can’t do it, then just me and Steve will go.  What can we do?  Over.” 

You speak matter-of-factly, which Steve appreciates.  He stands with his hands on his hips and tongue between his teeth, all hot and mom-like.  Even though for you...he’s giving daddy.

Eddie has been pacing a trough into the grass.  Please let me have company, he thinks.

Jonathan’s just quiet, wondering if now is a good time to tell everyone that he’s actually afraid of heights. 

Dustin just wants to fucking climb already.

“Workin’ on it.  Standby.”  Your uncle’s monotone voice makes you all wait. 

You stare up at the fence while you do.  Then, turning your face over in Steve’s direction, you find that he’s already gazing over at you.  That fondness in his eyes is back, and you feel your cheeks flush under the sun.  But it’s not the sun making you blush.  Steve's hands are still on his tips, and he gives you a tiny wink before turning to look back at Dustin with the walkie-talkie.  He tells his kid not to stress about it if they can’t come, which only starts a back-and-forth argument between mother and son.  But Erica’s voice cuts through it over the walkie.

“Group 4 nerds, listen up.  We found a way to do it.  Over.”

Dustin pumps his fist in glee.  Jonathan doesn’t.  Eddie realizes he’s doomed, back to being there all alone. 

Steve takes the walkie, asking, “Same timeframes, Murray?  Over?” 

Your uncle confirms it, but then Lucas is in the background saying, “Wait, are you sure this will give them 60 seconds?” 

Steve raises an eyebrow at that.  But you’re looking at the top of the fence.  The end of the other side of the line is quiet for a hot minute.  No doubt, Murray and the kids are beefing.  Re-calculating.  Beefing some more.  Getting attitudes.  Then finally —

“Erica to group 4, confirming.  Timeframes are exact.  Wait for us to signal the 2nd climb.  Standby and brace for 1st climb.  Over.”

You and Steve look at each other.  Here we go.  He fastens his backpack, reaching out a hand to you and telling you to hand over yours.  You go to protest, but he’s just insisting without budging and reaching anyway.  It isn’t until his hand starts to slide the strap down your shoulder that you huff and relent. 

“30 seconds to climb.”

“There’s a ledge up there, wide enough to stand on.”  You nod up at it as you tell Steve.  “If we run low on time, we hang there until the 2nd climb.” 

Steve nods at you, agreeing.  He turns and relays that to a very anxious Jonathan and a very antsy Dustin.  You gesture over to Dustin, telling him to toss you his backpack.  Steve goes to argue but you hold up a hand. 

“Better me than him," you say quickly. It’s a parental thing that he would insist on too, so he lets you win that one. 

Dustin obeys after seeing mom agree with…um…dad? Are you dad?

“10 seconds to climb.”

Steve talks fast, in position to pounce.  “Eddie, on go, toss that branch to hit the fence.  Double check for sparks.”  Eddie nods, picking up the large branch nearby.  You get in position with Steve.

“5…4…3…2…1…climb!”

Eddie tosses the branch.  No electric shock.  All systems go.

You and Steve hop as high as you can, climbing up like champs.  You both hustle, swiftly making the climb like pro climbers.  Steve is faster, planning to reach down and lift you the rest of the way if he gets to the top first.  But you’re almost right at the same level with him, almost at the top.

…until your bag catches.

The strap of Dustin’s bag pulls you back down.  Air catches in your throat, no scream escaping your mouth as it swings you around, unhooks and makes you fall back some feet.  But you latch back onto the wall, back down to midway.  Fuck. 

Dustin gasps, Jonathan shouts your name.  Eddie starts his shit-shit-shit chant. 

You look down, realizing that it’s way too far of a drop to just fall back down and start over.  You are literally back to the mid-way point. 

You make up your mind within a few seconds: keep going.

Steve is hoisting himself up onto the thick ledge as this is happening, and when he turns to see you lower his heart stops. 

“Bauman, what happened??"

But you keep climbing, shouting, “Steve, just keep going.” 

But Steve is not having that.  He’ll fucking wait.  Hell, he’ll wait for Dustin too.  He’s staying put.  He shakes his head, clapping his hands and reaching for you even though you still have another fourth of the wall to mount before you reach him.

“30 more seconds.”  Oh thank God, that’s plenty.

”You got this, Bauman, c’mon...” Steve’s ready to hold you again.  Anxious.  So fucking anxious.

Dustin is cheering too, along with Eddie and Jonathan.  You’re fine.  Almost there.

You look at Steve at the top, leaning over the side looking down at you. You can see the anxious anticipation in his brown eyed gaze.

“20 more seconds.  Group 2, don’t forget to wait for our signal.”

But right as Murray stops talking — the wall buzzes. 

Everything happens in slow motion.  One second feels like a whole minute for all 5 of you in your group.  Your ears perk up at the sound.  That wasn’t an insect.  That’s mechanic.  That’s —

“Was that —”  Eddie barely started to ask the question you were all wondering.

“Fuck, Bauman — !!! ”  Jonathan’s voice is panicked with realization.

Steve’s brow furrowed, alarm and horror sweeping across his entire face.

You feel a scorch so hot, fire itself couldn’t have burned as badly as the electric shock that shot through your entire body did. 

In that single second, you felt your brain short circuit.

You felt your hands get shoved away from the wall, throwing you off with blinding force.

You felt your throat snap, and you felt your heart rumble inside of your chest...

And then you felt it stop.

*****************************

:( im sorry, Steve.

author notes: I am sure that the fence thing might be weird and not accurate, but it helped my vision for how this chapter goes down. so I hope you all will be kind and not find it too "unrealistic." had to watch some stuff like the OG Jurassic Park, and get ideas for it.

tag list: @erastourvip @get0ut0fmyr00m @xprloki @eddiemuns0nl0ver @marrowfrog00 @poppet05 @wiltedflowersundertowers

[kiirotoao]

Protective Mike headcanons! To the whole main cast because a lot of my Byler headcanons involve Mike being protective already why not!

Mike will cross his arms and pretend that he’s not paying attention to Max when she skateboards beside him but after that fall in s2 he’s always ready to reach out and stabilize her in a split second

If Mike has any leftovers, he always offers his food to Holly first if she’s still hungry

He also makes sure she’s never unheard at the kitchen table. Lord save the soul who dares to speak over Holly because Mike will roar at them to SHUT UP and then smile at Holly like so what were you saying? :)

Lucas loves birds just because I’m projecting - and Mike doesn’t really care about birds but if Lucas sees a cool one nearby Mike won’t let anyone scare the bird off so that Lucas can have his fun

Mike is basically a crosswalk guard when he’s with anyone when they hit a crosswalk. Boy is extending his arms and holding the other person/people back, making sure the road is clear before they walk.

Mike is a notoriously slow biker when someone’s riding with him. In danger, he’s booking it, but otherwise, he’s vigilant and tries to avoid rocky paths

If anyone gets hurt near Mike, he’s going to become their personal crutch until they can move independently, sometimes even to the point of irritation. Like someone could hurt a toe and walk fine but Mike is right under their arm like hey you okay? He did this a lot to Dustin before s4 because I said so

Mike’s a little clumsy but if he’s carrying something hot or delicate or the like, he’s using both hands and shooing anyone in his way so he doesn’t drop that thing and hurt anyone

Going off his adorable binder of Will’s drawings, Mike keeps his school notes and papers (surprisingly to Lucas and Dustin) organized to the point where he can carry comics in perfect condition before he gives them away

When it’s raining, Mike makes sure that raincoat hoods are being affixed if they keep flying down - he started doing this to everyone in The Party after doing it to Holly so much

Mike gets so angry if people talk shit about his friends. This is canon, but I like to imagine that it extends to their families, too. Like he’ll throw Hopper under the bus but he’s actually really adamant that he’s a good person. Same with Joyce. You will see him after class if you even make a “your mom” joke about her

Mike is first to point out if someone is hurt and figure out the who, what, when, where, and why it happened and make sure they’re safe (Will’s first to notice which then leads to Mike interrogating)

[teambyler]

"Byler Endgame, One Episode at a Time" - s5e5

Plot beats and scenes leading to a Byler endgame, one episode at a time, for Season 5 of Stranger Things. (This is just for fun! I have no insider knowledge!)

Also see Part 0, where I explain what I think a Byler Endgame has to address. Link to the previous episode.

s5e5

Will is unconscious and bound to prevent him from taking off his headphones. Mike and El stay with Will. The group heads out to assault Vecna’s power source when Vecna is distracted by Will. El will piggyback and try to protect Will.

El talks to Mike. “You know why he took off the headphones, Mike?” “Vecna controlled his mind?” “No, Mike… Will was doing it. He loves you, Mike. I saw what Vecna told him. He said he’d kill you if he doesn’t give himself to Vecna.” Mike’s mouth drops open. El tears up: “He doesn’t see living without you, Mike… Did you know he’s loved you since you were five years old?” Mike can’t believe what he’s hearing. “WHAT?” “If he makes it, you have to talk to him, Mike, okay? No more pretending.” She tenderly puts her hand in his hair. “Friends don’t lie.” Mike starts to realize it all and starts to sob. She hugs him. Mike glances at Will and looks back at El: “Thank you. I - I’m so sorry…” She shakes her head and smiles, and kisses Mike on the cheek.

They hear from the walkie-talkie that now is the time. She takes Mike’s hand, “I can help you talk to him.” He understands and nods. They each hold one of Will’s hands. El takes the headphones off of Will. He starts to breathe heavily. Vecna is getting close… They close their eyes as El starts to focus.

Current-day Will is in the Upside Down, in the woods, and El is nowhere to be seen. Something is pursuing him. He runs to the old Byers house, runs in, and shuts the door. He hears Vecna taunting him: “How suitable. It’s time to finish what I started…” Will runs out to the old shed where the gun is. He is hyperventilating and starts to load the bullets. He feels the back of his neck, and turns around. He knows Vecna is in the back yard. Vecna slowly approaches the shed… when Will strides out and fires the gun. Vecna staggers back. Will is reliving and struggling through all the trauma and pain of everything that has happened to him since that fateful night. He strides forward, repeatedly firing, getting closer each time.

The bullets only have so much effect, and Vecna grabs Will by the neck. Will starts panicking. Back at Hopper’s cabin it becomes apparent Will is being Vecna’d. Mike: “El, what’s happening?” El is still struggling to focus. Mike tearfully kisses Will’s hand. “I’m right here!” El arrives in the Upside Down. She tries to stop Vecna but vines immediately grab her and restrain her. Vecna smiles and looks at Will: “Good… I see you have power over this place, too…” El looks in horror at Will, who is looking at Vecna in utter despair as he continues to taunt him. The more hopeless he feels, the more horrible his surroundings become. The Upside Down is tied to Will. El cannot reach him. Will starts to levitate.

Back in Hopper’s cabin, El levitates herself and Mike together with Will. She tightens her grip on Mike’s hand. Mike’s eyes open wide as he realizes what El’s doing. She shares his memories with Will (“I asked you to be my friend. You said yes”… a kindergarten Mike and Will swinging high on a pair of swings… biking through the rain and hugging his mom when he thought Will was dead, jumping off the cliff to join Will, by his bedside in s2, apologizing to Will in the rain, Will: “Not possible,” Mike looking back at Byers house and hugging his mom again, reading El’s letter “Maybe it is for a girl, I think there is someone he likes”, Will giving Mike the painting in the van, Mike happy seeing the painting, Will: “better for being different”) Mike: “I love you Will! Not just as a friend… I’ve always loved you. The painting, all of it, going to Vecna… I know what you’re doing! I won’t let you! And I’m sorry! I was too stupid to say how I feel. I was scared Will! I’m so sorry…”

… Vecna snaps Will’s arm. Mike: “No!!!”

In the Upside Down, Will opens his eyes with a look of utter determination. The vines unwrap around El. She distracts Vecna enough that Will falls to the ground (here and in Hopper’s cabin). El and Vecna have a showdown. The rest of the party, seeing their chance, get at Vecna’s power source. Seeing he is weakened, Vecna hurries elsewhere.

Will wakes up and winces from his arm, and looks kind of lost. Mike and El look at each other with concern. Mike: “I’m here.” He wants to hold Will but doesn’t want to hurt him. Will looks directly at Mike and extends his one good arm to him. Mike cups Will’s face and kisses him passionately. It is a long kiss… Will puts his hand in Mike’s hair, tears flowing. When it’s over Will is in disbelief.  “Am I dead?” El and Mike laugh. Mike caresses Will’s hair. Mike: “Don’t leave me Will, ever…” Will laughs and nods. “Okay.” Mike laughs, they kiss, and then hold on to each other as tightly as Will’s arm allows.

FOLLOW ME for the next part of “Byler Endgame, One Episode at a Time”!

Part 0 (what a Byler endgame needs to address) Previous episode Next episode

-teambyler

[toptophat]

Top Hat's thoughts on the FNAF movie (Spoilers)

I thoroughly enjoyed it! Smiled throughout the whole thing

As a FNAF fan, seeing some key moments from the games as well as acknowledging the fandom (e.g Game theory's MatPat and The Living Tombstone's iconic song at the credits) made my jaw drop

FNAF veterans such as Dawko enjoyed it so that made me optimistic

The animatronics were replicated perfectly and the entire set for the restaurant is just too beautiful

Scenes such as the break-in, while not exactly scary, were still intense enough to keep me invested

Unpopular opinion - I kinda liked the pillow fort scene, it was cheesy but it could be seen as the animatronics trying to gain Abby's trust to lure her to be stuffed into a suit. Also I'm jealous, i wanna make a pillow fort with them 😭

And here's where I'll address (some of) the main critiques people gave to the movie (references: anything in the media that would link to this in a way)

"The movie wasn't scary at all, it should've been gory"

Yeah, I agree, even though I got shocked a couple of times (like the balloon boy gag) it wasn't really terrifying

But honestly, after watching countless "playthroughs" as a kid, you start to realise... The games were never that scary in the first place

To be honest, the only thing scary about it was actually some areas in the fandom (you know who you are..)

I'm aware that FNAF was never for kids, no matter how many elsagate vids were made on it. So it would make sense for it to have blood and gore. It definitely would've made scenes like the spring lock scene more traumatising to look back at

You know what else was expected to be more adult oriented? Cuphead's Netflix adaptation. While I understand that both of these beloved franchises could've been adapted to be more adult, it can also be noted that the Cuphead show is actually accepted by the fandom as while it did have a rocky start with S1, it showed that the writers were testing the waters to try something new, and by S2, they had a better idea of what they wanted, and a lot of people fell in love with it. While it would've definitely been cool to see more gore, it wouldn't improve the movie automatically

"The movie doesn't follow the original lore"

While, yes, it would've been cool to see all theories confirmed by Scott himself during the film, it's also good to remember this: they're called "adaptations" for a reason

Many popular franchises, when adapted to the big/small screen can experience changes in the known story and lore as a way to bring this fresh new start and perspective, they never aim to continue or tell the story again when it wasn't necessary in the first place (*cough cough* Lion King 2019). Last time I checked: Luigi wasn't the one who gets kidnapped by Bowser (SMB23), Cuphead never lost the right to his soul due to a carnival game (TCS), The Echidnas never had beef with freaking owls over the master emerald (The Sonic movies)

Let's be honest here, Scott may have made FNAF, but all the popular fan theories wrote the story, so everything is kinda messy. Maybe this was Scott's chance to rewrite everything, to start over and stray away from the messy lore that others made, MatPat seemed to be cool with it, he was even in the damn movie!

While, there have been times when repeating the same story makes it stale and repetitive (Disney), Changing important elements of the story (Also Disney) can make it unfaithful and pointless, so I understand that.

The changes that were made in this movie were interesting, making Vanessa, Afton's daughter could add more impact on the whole Vanny thing as she's been around this horrible man her whole life. Not making Mike, Abby and Garrett, Afton's children doesn't really deepen the personal connection and conflict between Mike and Afton so it'll be interesting to see how that one goes especially with Circus Baby now that Abby has no real connection to Afton other than that one encounter

Also I heard from one review that the movies take more inspiration from the books, but I don't have enough knowledge on the books to elaborate on that argument

Unless there's some weird twist, which is highly unlikely, I'd love to see how they develop these newly established dynamics if there are sequels being planned (pls make more, I need to see how this goes)

Besides, like I said, often, the first movies, seasons etc are there to experiment, it has the potential to improve in each new installment. For example, JJBA, it took until around parts 3-4 for Araki to have a better idea of what he wanted it to be.

Conclusion

That's about all I really have to say. I understand that many had high expectations going in and, who wouldn't? It shows we value ourselves and that we want to experience things that are worth our time. People are not obligated to love everything and don't have to agree with everything I said. I personally found the movie to be enjoyable and worth my time, and, while i know it lacked in some aspects, who knows?, as it progresses, opinions could change and if we get more of the revamped FNAF, then, we could see if it changed for the better or for the worse. And while first impressions do matter, it won't always be the same impression moving forward (for people who liked and didn't like the movie)

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk!

[safflowerseason]

old dan x amy fanfiction

I'm trying to flex my rusty fanfiction writing muscles, and going through old files I found this old Dan x Amy story that I never finished. It was a fill-in-the-gaps fic set between S2 and S3 and the tentative summary was : "The two months between seasons two and three, or, the story of how Amy and Dan went to Mike’s wedding together." I always thought this was a kind of interesting period in the relationship...by the end of S2 Dan and Amy have clearly settled into their banter-y "work spouses" relationship and they start S3 literally attending a wedding together. But at the same time, they are also in open competition for the role of campaign manager...I was always intrigued by in the dynamics of that transition. Anyway, I never finished it--it got very long and unwieldy, surprise surprise--but if there are any old Dan/Amy fic readers still out there I thought I'd post the first few pages here. There's quite a bit of general ensemble banter as well, related to Mike's wedding. Enjoy!

The morning after they learn that POTUS (officially, cross his precious heart, no turning back now) will not be running for a second term, Dan comes into the office with a giant stack of paper and starts piling it ostentatiously all around his desk. 

“What is this? Some sort of political mating ritual? Are you building a nest egg?”

“Well now you wouldn’t know enough to say, would you, Amy?”

Unfortunately, Amy doesn’t have a good response immediately—she was up until 2am brainstorming campaign strategies, and she knows Dan was up until at least 1:45 because they were texting ideas back and forth until then—so she just returns to her coffee and Post headlines and ignores him while he bustles around trying to make as much noise as possible. 

Selina comes in late, trilling with brittle laughter and smiling manically—Gary trails her, looking mildly repulsed and mutters “Andrew” in Amy and Dan’s general direction. Amy grimaces and adds “figure out a way to get rid of Andrew permanently” to her list of things to do before the campaign starts. She wonders if it would be considered a misuse of government forces to have Special Ops just take him out.

Andrew notwithstanding, the mood in the office is better than it has been all year. Mike whistles when he gets back from the press gaggle and Dan doesn’t immediately tell him to shut up. People actually use the world “please.” Amy’s fully cognizant something is going to blow it all up soon, but for now, she’ll let them enjoy the first morning in a long time where they don’t have to feel bad about the trajectory of their careers. 

At the morning strategy meeting, they talk about the best way to move forward until POTUS announces he won’t be running, discuss events to add to or remove from the public schedule in light of the upcoming campaign, and at the end of the meeting Dan brandishes his giant stack of paper and announces: “Ma’am, it’s time for you to publish your book.”

“Oooh!” Gary exclaims. “A book! Can I be in it?”

“You’re definitely not in it, Gary.”

“Yeah, Gary, what would you be doing in my book?” Selina demands, and Gary slinks back into the corner. “Dan, is it really the right time for this kind of political kabuki?”

“We need to lay the foundation for your presidential run in a non-threatening manner by reintroducing you to the public in a way that subtly separates you from POTUS. A book tour is the best way to do that, and unfortunately, ma’am, we need a book for a book tour.” 

Amy regards him suspiciously: he’s doing that thing where he appears to sincerely care about his job. This is always cause for deep concern. 

“Ma’am, do I have to write a whole book now?” Mike asks, looking forlorn. Dan glares and unceremoniously dumps the stack of paper in his lap. Mike grunts. “What the fuck do you think this is, Mike? Your obituary?”

“Wait, you’ve already written it?” Amy exclaims, completely non-plussed. “Since yesterday?”

“Please Amy.” says Dan, looking superior.

“Well Dan, I’ve got to hand it to you…it looks like I won’t have to write a single word myself, which is, obviously, the ideal.” Selina’s already flipping through the chapters, looking interested in spite of herself (then again, it is a book about her). 

“It’s basically written, ma’am, we’ll just need to do a few informational sessions about your political career and personal life, to add in some expository information.”

“That sounds excruciating.” Selina sighs. “But if you think it’s absolutely necessary…”

“I promise you that I will make the experience as pleasant as possible.” Dan smiles the smile he gives rich political widows and young women with babies. Amy gets a very bad feeling in her stomach. 

“This is a trap but I can’t figure out how.” she mutters to Mike, and he just nods bleakly.

~*~

Everyone’s about to disperse when Mike calls out casually “Oh yeah, if everyone could finalize their RSVPs to the wedding by Tuesday, that’d be great.” 

The silence he is met with is deafening. 

“…what wedding?” Amy finally ventures.

Mike looks at her. “My wedding.”

“To who?”

“Whom.” Gary corrects, and then flinches as Dan glares at him. 

“My fiancée.” When they all look blank, Mike says, in a more annoyed tone of voice “You guys, we got engaged three months ago! We sent the invitations right after!”

“Mike, I have matters of global significance to attend to that are infinitely more important than your personal life. Infinitely more important.” 

“And who checks their mailbox in the twenty first century?” Dan muses. 

“Hey, I do!” Gary pipes up. “I knew you were getting married, Mike.”

“Sue!” Amy yells out. “When’s Mike’s wedding?”

“June 17th.” Sue reports promptly from her desk. “It’s tentatively on the veep’s schedule.”

“Jesus Christ,” exclaims Selina. “You scheduled your dumbass wedding right as prep for the primaries take off. Really, Mike?”

“Yeah, Mike.” Dan echoes sycophantically.

“It’s not like we knew you were going to run, ma’am.”

“Okay.” Amy clears her throat. Everyone falls silent. “Congratulations. Who is the…who is the woman?”

“Wendy Collins. She’s a fashion reporter for the Post.”

“A journalist?!” Selina explodes. The morning goes downhill from there.

~*~

Amy sends an intern home to sort through three months of unopened mail and retrieve Mike’s wedding invitation. The intern comes back with a lavender invitation printed with navy sail boats. 

“I can’t tell if you’re having a boy or getting married.” Dan snarks. 

“Oh my god, Mike, don’t you fucking dare have a kid.” God, a kid, can you fucking imagine, Amy would sooner slit her wrists. “I’m not getting stuck with just Dan on the campaign trail, he was the worst press secretary since whoever’s job it was to manage Hoover’s image.” Dan gives her the finger behind Selina’s back.

“I suppose it wouldn’t play well with the public if I didn’t attend my own press secretary’s wedding.” Selina sounds like she would rather do literally anything else. 

“Cheer up, ma’am. It’s entirely possible there could be a nuclear stand-off or a global health crisis that will require your attention.” Sue replies stoically.

“God, here’s hoping.” Selina stalks back into her office.

“I don’t know why you’re all so cranky, I love weddings. Sue, put it in big, bold letters so we make sure to schedule around the day.” 

“I think I can do my job without your input, Gary. ” 

“Gary!” Selina shouts from her desk. “I need some caffeine before my meeting with the Speaker, and if I could get it, you know, before I die…”

“Coming, ma’am.” 

~*~

“So when did you actually write this?” Amy asks Dan, later that afternoon. He’s commandeered the white board and is writing words like inspiration and reflection all over it in big letters. “Seriously. Even you cannot bullshit this fast.” 

“Oh, Amy.” Dan smirks. “Sweet, innocent Amy. You think this book is original? I’ve got ten different versions of it. You just change the background information depending on the politician, and boom—instant book.”

“So you’re just mindlessly reproducing soft bullshit narratives that appeal to the lowest common denominator of the American electorate.”

“Yep.” replies Dan, gleefully. “And it’s going to get her elected.”

~*~

A week after they learn about Mike’s wedding, Gary mopes into the office looking like a drowned possum. Selina’s in an endless meeting with the HUD secretary, and he spends the entire morning sighing dramatically over his desk until Sue finally snaps and asks him what’s wrong. 

“Dana and I had another fight….” he lowers his voice, “…about Selina.” 

“Dana who?” asks Dan. 

“I really feel like we all need to get better at remembering information about each other’s personal lives.” Mike complains. 

“We absolutely do not.” Amy contradicts. 

“It’s all right for you, everyone knows you’re dating Ed because he already works for Selina.”

“Yes, and I really regret that fact.” Also she’s not entirely sure they’re still dating, but she’s sure as hell not going to mention that in front of Dan. 

(It has become a-moment-to-which-they-do-not-ever-refer, when Dan had asked her to “grab a bite” after Catherine’s party, whatever that had meant and she couldn’t, because she had a date with Ed, and then Dan got inexplicably wasted with Jonah at Catherine’s make-up birthday dinner and they bonded over acting like jealous Neanderthals. But then the next day Dan called Jonah a malformed super-alien who emerged from leftover godzilla jizz, didn’t mention Ed, and everything went back to normal.)

“So what happened with you and Dan?” Ed asked, the next time they went out. “Did you, like, break his heart or something?”

“He…really hates Boston.” Amy mumbled into her whiskey, and then wondered what the fuck she was doing making excuses for Dan Egan. 

So anyway, they don’t talk about it.)

“Can we focus on me, please?” Gary’s demanding loudly. “Dana’s so mad that I’m still working here. She won’t even let me touch the cheese anymore.”

“So quit.” Dan suggests, sweetly.

“Dan,” Amy says warningly. Selina would have a fucking meltdown.

“Nice try, Dan.” Gary spits. “Selina already told me I can’t.” 

“So break up with Dana. She stole Selina’s lipstick and leaked your precious code to the press. She’s obviously trying to destroy your career.” 

“You have to be a man about it, Gary.” Sue tells him. “I know it’s an unfamiliar concept.”  

Gary agonizes all day. Mike ends up taking him out for a drink after Selina’s left for the evening. They come up back absolutely shit-faced around nine in the evening with the news that Gary is now officially Mike’s unofficial wedding planner. 

“How much did you have to drink?” Amy asks, disgusted. 

“Two margaritas.” Gary giggles. “And we decided on yellow as an accent color for the wedding.” 

“Wow.” says Dan. “I didn’t even know it was possible for you to be even less than a man than I thought.”

“Dan, how is Gary’s bag any different than what you carry around?” Mike slurs.

“Uh, mine isn’t filled with lipstick and tampons, for starters, Mike.” 

“No, just hair gel and skincare products.” Amy deadpans, and is rewarded when Dan gives her a dirty look over Gary’s head.

“You guys, this is extremely unprofessional behavior.” Jonah announces sanctimoniously, from where he’s lurking in the corner. “POTUS would not be pleased if he knew this is how the veep manages her office.”

“Jonah, you literally announce it when a female press aide gives you her business card to give to Kent.”

“They give me more than their business cards and you know it, Dan.”

In the end she and Dan have to put Gary to bed on the couch and pour Mike into a cab, and it doesn’t even make the top thirty list of humiliating things Amy’s done in the course of her tenure as VP chief of staff. 

“Why do I feel like Selina’s entire campaign is going to be us babysitting these idiots?” Dan mutters as they watch the cab disappear into traffic.

“Feel free to jump ship at any time, I won’t stop you.” 

Dan bares his teeth at her, that fake-innocent smile that’s definitely going to land him in prison one day. “Sorry, Ames, you’re not going to the moon without me.” 

“Pity that.”

 ~*~

To absolutely no one’s surprise, Dan is an obnoxious dickhead about Selina’s book. 

Due to the need to get the manuscript to print as quickly as possible, he demands an hour of one-on-one time with Selina every morning so he can mine anecdotes about her personal life and political career. Selina overrules both Amy and Sue and actually gives it to him. Something about how Andrew thinks the book is a good idea too. Fucking Andrew.

Well, that’s perfectly fine. Amy has plenty to do to prepare for the upcoming campaign, and it’s all much more important than Selina’s book. It absolutely does not matter that Dan always emerges from these private sessions looking even more smug than he usually does (if such a thing were possible). As though he knows all kinds of new secrets about Selina. Which he doesn’t. Amy already knows everything that needs to be known, and Gary knows what nobody needs to know.

Mike’s too preoccupied with his upcoming wedding to really make a pretense of caring about the book—or about work in general, so Dan’s writing and handling more of Mike’s duties (whatever they are, if he’s ever handled them, which is debatable). Theoretically, as chief of staff Amy should step in and make some noise about equitable handling of the VP’s communication strategy blah blah blah. But she figures Mike’s in love and Dan, as much as it pains her to admit it, has never shied away from more work.

*

Summer sets in over D.C., and the days get long and humid. The interns dig out the floor fans from storage, and Gary starts keeping scented silk handkerchiefs for Selina to dab on her neck and forehead whenever they have to cross the street. Dan bans Mike from coming anywhere his desk or personal items—“in case you contaminate anything with your flop sweat”—and Amy starts getting multiple invitations for Brookheimer summer family reunions that she, mercifully, has no time to attend. 

The House dithers over a pharmaceutical bill that’s dead on arrival in the Senate. Ben and Kent pop in from time to time with presidential updates. POTUS is reportedly planning a bunch of foreign policy spectacles in order to show off how relevant he is: state dinners, a tour of some East African refugee camps, a summit with Japan and South Korea…

“That’s just fine.” Selina tells Ben, her eyes glinting opportunistically. “Tell him he can spend the entire summer on his impotency tour. I’ve got everything under control here, in the actual United States of America.”  

“Yeah yeah yeah.” Ben replies, his mouth twisting into a smirk in spite of himself. “Try and contain your glee, ma’am.” 

They go to Baltimore to talk about violence in schools, then to Pennsylvania to talk to some steel workers. On the way back, Gary makes Mike a pros and cons chart about different kinds of wedding cake. 

Andrew lurks, popping up occasionally to take Selina to dinner or try and convince Sue to put some sketchy fundraiser on the schedule. She, Dan, and Sue develop a strategy to get him out of the office. Whenever he lingers, Amy gets a convenient call from the director of the Office of Investigations over at Treasury, and Andrew disappears within three seconds flat. It’s remarkably effective.

In between his information sessions with Selina, downplaying the inevitability of Selina’s campaign to the press, meetings with Amy on the Hill to try and derail a trade war with Mexico, and thinking of even more creative nicknames for Jonah, Dan writes the book.

~*~

It is, as Amy suspected, saccharine garbage. 

“Dan, you know this…this is fucking terrible, right?”

She’s perched on the arm of the loveseat; Dan’s sprawled over it, taking up a truly excessive amount of space with his long legs and arms. There are balls of paper scattered all around. Writing, based on the way Dan goes about it, looks a lot like dramatically crumpling up pieces of paper and lounging around on various pieces of furniture like he’s Jack fucking Kerouac.

“I mean, thank God you’ve already negotiated the publishing deal, because this is some serious—“

Dan throws a ball of paper at her. “You want your own book, get in line, Brookheimer.”

“Written by you? Pass.”

“Someone had to write it, Amy.”

“Like there aren’t fifty ghostwriters in this town more qualified than you.”

“I dare you to find even one.”

“Guys,” Sue intervenes, without even looking up from her computer. “Take it outside, please.” 

[thetargaryenbride]

Nail To The Coffin - S2 - Chapter 8

Warnings: blood, injury

Pairing: Steve Harrington x f!Byers!Reader

Word Count: 6575

A.N: And thus, we have arrived at the end. Well, there will be one more chapter to officially wrap up season 2 because some characters need some more communication, but like, the S2 plot itself is at least over. Billy is hard to deal with but I'm trying to have him interact and maybe slowly begin to change. Hopefully, I'll pull it off haha As always, please do make me know if I’ve written certain characters OOC and if you think there is something that can be corrected within the story. Thank you for reading. Hope you like it! 🖤 🥀

Masterlist || Chapter 7 || Chapter 9

For the next hour or so, the whole group had united strength and had concocted a plan to redecorate the shed so they could interrogate Will. Your heart broke for the nth time since the beginning of this month as you had to helplessly witness your brother go through horrible thing after horrible thing yet again.

And as if your mental turmoil wasn’t enough, the physical one wasn’t giving you peace either. In fact, you were feeling as if your condition was getting worse. You were getting colder and colder and you could feel sweat forming on your forehead.

“I get why El was your mage now,” you overheard Max talking in the kitchen as she and Mike were getting more supplies to take to the shed.

“What?”

“Lucas. He told me all about her.”

“Well, he shouldn’t have,” said the boy disgruntled and you frowned. “And just because you know the truth, it doesn’t mean you’re in our party. You do know that, right?”

“Yeah, I-I know…I mean, why would you want a stupid zoomer in your party anyways?” she spoke after a while. “I’m just saying, El? She sounds like she was really awesome.”

You understood that Mike felt horrible since El left and now with Max’s sudden appearance and the boys having no problem accepting her into the party must have seemed to him as if the group was replacing Eleven which was not the case.

Max probably felt equally as horrible because of his cold behavior. She also seemed to be pretty much just an outcast as Mike, Dustin, Lucas and Will were, so you supposed school wasn’t that much of a pleasant experience for her. On top of all, she had Billy for a brother so that must be tough. Not that you claimed to know how Billy was behind closed doors and how he acted around his family but you’ve seen enough of his behavior in public so that prompted you to believe he was a pain in the ass, hence why you had offered Max to come to you if he became too much to handle.

You just had a knack for helping fix broken things.  

“Yeah…she was…Until that thing took her. Just like it took Bob,” he said tersely before getting up to leave.

“Hey,” you called out, making him halt in his tracks. “Come here,” you beckoned him over with your hand and he approached you, kneeling down by your side.

“What is it? Are you feeling sick? Do you need me to call someone?” he blabbered and you smiled. It was sweet that he was concerned.

“I just need to talk to you about something,” you said as you took his hand and patted it, eyes shooting to look at Max who walked out of the house, seemingly in bad spirits, before you looked back at the boy. “Listen…I know that you probably feel like you’d be replacing El if you accept Max into the party…but that’s not how things happen, you know?” you told him softly, voice changing from whisper to low speaking to whisper again, and he looked at the floor. “The party is like a family. There is always room for expansion. The bigger the family, the more fun we get to have, the more precious moments we get to experience…the more support we get to receive. And Max? She’s-she is a great kid. She fits right in,” you let out a breathy chuckle. “I mean, we kind of accepted Steve, Nancy and Jonathan into the party after last year’s events and look how things got more interesting, no? But that doesn’t mean we’re replacing El because she’ll always have a very special place in the party…and in our hearts…Got it?” you asked as you tapped his nose and his lip twitched in a small smile before he nodded.

“Yeah…”

“Off you go now,” you patted his shoulder and he stood up, sparing you one last glance before going outside.

Not long after, the preparations were completed and everyone returned back in the house with the exception of Mike, Hopper, Jonathan, and Joyce who stayed to interrogate Will. The kids and Nancy were pacing and moping in the kitchen and the corridor while Steve joined you.    

“You think this is gonna work?” you asked and he nodded.

“Of course, it’s gonna work. What, did you suddenly lose faith in the plan?”

“No, it’s just…expect the unexpected, right?”

Just when you said that the lights began flickering like mad. It took them a couple of seconds to stop and sometime later, Hopper and the others barged into the house.

“What happened?” asked Dustin and you tried to lift yourself to get a better look only for Steve to squeeze your hand warningly and send you a scolding look which made you give up on your attempts and stay down.

“I think he’s talking, just not with words.”

“What is that?” asked Steve as he stood up to approach the table where everyone had gathered.

“Morse code.”

“H-E-R-E.”

“Here.”

“Will’s still in there. He’s talking to us.”

“I have an idea,” spouted your brother before he rushed to his room and then you saw him carrying the stereo outside.

“Steve,” you called out softly and the boy immediately knelt by your side. “Take me to Will.”

“What? No! You should be lying down.”

“Please,” you sent him a look and the two of you stared at each other for a while before he finally relented, letting out a long sigh and running a hand through his hair.

“Alright, hang on,” he instructed as he wriggled his hands underneath your form and lifted you very slowly.

“Harrington, what the hell are you doing?” snapped Hopper when he saw Steve carry you out of the house. “She shouldn’t be in any other position other than lying down!”

“Hopper, please,” you begged. “He’s my brother.”

“I mean, you can’t resist the puppy eyes, man, why do you think I’m standing here right now,” quipped Steve and Hopper rubbed his face and let out a long exhale, utterly exasperated.

“Alright, go in,” he opened the door and let you pass through.

Your eyes immediately fell on Will’s form and your blood ran cold at the sight of him tied up

“Hey, what are you doing here?” asked gently Joyce as she rushed to help Steve put you down on the chair in front of Will. “You shouldn’t be up and about, baby, you’ll hurt yourself,” she sniffed as she caressed your face and you gave her a smile.

“I’m fine, mama. I just…had to come talk to him.”

“I know…I know…”

“Will?” you finally faced your brother and your heart clenched for the nth time. “I know you’re still in there. I know you’re listening. And I want you to know something that I haven’t spoken about before. But once this is over, I will tell you of it again,” you began and Joyce, Hopper, Steve, and Jonathan shared a look as they focused on you and Will.

“There was that time…it wasn’t long ago actually, but rather recently…when me, mom, and Jonathan were all so busy with work and school that we barely had time to eat properly, much less cook. We could spare time to make you something but we kind of neglected ourselves. One night, me and Jonathan got home very late. Mom was already asleep and we thought you were too. But we were surprised to see the lights in the kitchen still on and you in there with an apron and everything. You had cooked us dinner,” you smiled through the throbbing pain in your abdomen and ribs, fiddling with your fingers and plucking finger skins as you tried to gather enough strength to keep going. “You scolded us for eating microwave food or skipping meals in general and forced us to sit down and eat. You were adorable. You prepared all our favorite dishes. Mind you, they weren’t perfect but we didn’t expect them to be since it was the first time you cooked by yourself. But it wasn’t the stomach they fed anyways. They fed the soul. Because the gesture, showing that you care and doing something for someone, is what matters most. And you kept doing it for quite some time, even when we stopped with the microwave food and me and Jonathan began cooking again. You still insisted on doing things for us. It began with the cooking, then you helped clean, then you began preparing my clothes for the day just so I can get extra ten minutes of sleep instead of wasting them on picking outfits and I gotta say, you have some great sense of fashion,” you chuckled as you shook your head and Will just stared at you intently, fingers tapping against the leg of the chair.

“You even began delving into history just so I had someone to talk to about those kinds of things. Because no one else is interested in that. Most are sticking with science and all so it gets a bit lonely to not have someone to brainstorm with about history, languages, and art. But you began learning just because of me. And that’s the kindest thing someone could do for another. And-“ you choked on your words and cleared your throat, swallowing the tears. “and, um…when you’d find me halfway passed out on the couch after those heavy doses of the special K, you’d make sure I was lying comfortably and covered nicely with a blanket. You even learned to make chamomile tea for me. To help me fight off stress and headaches,” you cleared your throat again as you rubbed at your eye and sent him another wobbly smile. “What I’m trying to say here is that…you’re my precious brother who is selfless and kind beyond belief. One-of-a-kind. And I don’t believe for a second that he’s gone.”

For a second there you could swear you saw his eyes shine and glisten. You could swear you saw a glimpse of Will but it was gone with the snap of fingers and you looked down in defeat.

“Hey…don’t despair. We keep on going,” whispered Jonathan as he caressed your head and you nodded.

“Yeah, we keep going, she gets back inside,” ordered Hopper as he nudged his head to the door, signaling Steve to take you out. “I don’t want to risk the wound reopening with all that moving and bending. Go.”

Steve didn’t hesitate to take you in his arms and follow the man’s command, quickly exiting the shed, and taking you back inside where he placed you back down on the sofa.

After that, you didn’t know how long it’s been since your mother and brother were in there, trying to get anything out of Will as you were dozing in and out of sleep, but at one point you were jerked into the world of the living when you heard the kids whoop in triumph and you strained your ears to listen to them.

“Close gate,” echoed all of them, and your face fell.

So in order to get rid of the monster you had to close the gate in the lab and before you did that you had to find a way to get that thing out of Will so he wouldn’t die in the process. You still had no idea whether you were connected to it or not because you still weren’t feeling any different but you really hoped you weren’t, otherwise, things would just get even more complicated.

“El…we need El,” you whispered and Steve – the only one being closest to you and able to hear – whirled around and gave you a look of confusion. You would have to explain to everyone that she was actually not dead and they would feel angry and betrayed and you really didn’t have the mental or physical capacity to deal with this right now so you were just going to leave this all to Hopper to handle.

Just then the phone rang, making everyone jump.

“Shit! Shit!” Dustin voiced what everyone was thinking as he went to open and close the phone. But it rang again and this time Nancy completely tore it off the wall and slammed it on the ground.

“Well that was unnecessary,” you scowled.

“Do you think he heard that?” asked Max.

“It’s just a phone. It could be anywhere. Right?” Steve tried to bring some positivity but even he was unsure.

As if on cue, the sound of screeching monsters echoed in the distance and it made everyone’s neck hair bristle.

“That’s not good,” drawled Dustin as he, Max, Mike, and Lucas rushed to look outside the windows.

“Uhm, anyone else think we should be getting the hell outta here?” asked Steve a bit panicky as he kneeled by your side, head darting to look at every occupant in the room.

“But they are so close! There’s no time,” exclaimed Nancy worriedly.

“Great! Then we’re all gonna die,” he quipped sarcastically.

“Hey! Hey, get away from the windows!” warned Hopper and the kids immediately moved away and went to the center of the room. “Y/N is there a room that doesn’t have a window?” he asked and you shook your head, making him curse under his breath. “Alright, alright…Harrington you can swing the bat, right?” he asked and Steve nodded, already adjusting the weapon in his hand. “Good. Now, who knows how to use this?” he showcased the shotgun and everyone shared looks before Nancy spoke up.

“I can.”

“Jonathan, you’ll be responsible for your sister. Stick to her side and stay behind the group,” he instructed him while handing the weapon to Nancy and the boy nodded. If the monsters were to storm in and attack, they wouldn’t harm Will because he was a host. But your situation was unclear and you were injured on top of all so you’d be the first to die, hence why you needed to be behind the protective line everyone was forming.

“C’mon. I know it’s gonna hurt but bear with me, ok?” your brother spoke gently as he put his arms under you and slowly lifted you. You winced as your hand went to grasp his shoulder, head buried in his chest. “I know, I know, it’s ok. I’m done,” he whispered in your hair as he stood up from the crouched position and moved as far away from the windows as possible, hiding behind Steve, Hopper, and Nancy.

The screeching and growling were getting too close for comfort and all of you stared at the windows, the doors, and pretty much every corner, expecting something to barge in. The tension and the fear were suffocating.

“What are they doing!?”

“Playing with their prey,” you whispered as you held tightly onto Jonathan and his grip on you strengthened.

Suddenly, a monster was lurched through the window making all of you jump, the broken glass flying everywhere as the creature landed on the ground and stayed there, unmoving.

The group cautiously approached the Demo-dog and all of you were shocked to see it was dead after Hopper nudged it with his foot and it still didn’t move.

“Holy shit!”

“Is it dead!?”

Then the door got unlocked and all of you snapped to look at it, making you wince as Jonathan jerked your body when he turned around sharply.

But when they saw who entered, everyone got numb with shock.

Everyone, except you and Hopper who felt mostly relief.

Eleven has returned.

You watched on happily, a smile growing on your face when Mike and El hugged, finally reuniting after a whole year of being apart, the two of them crying and letting out breaths of relief. It honestly made you tear up.

“I never gave up on you,” he told her once they pulled apart. “I called you every night. Every night for-“

“Three-hundred and fifty-three days… I heard.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were there?” he asked confused. “That you were ok?”

“Because I wouldn’t let her,” Hopper finally revealed and Mike’s face fell with realization as he backed away to make room for the man to get closer. “The hell is this? Where have you been?” he asked and she matched his energy.

“Where have you been?”

But there was no animosity between them, only concern and relief as they hugged.

“You’ve been hiding her…You’ve been hiding her this whole time!” yelled Mike as he hit Hopper’s arm and the man grabbed him by the collar.

“Hey!... Let’s talk…Alone,” he grit out and proceeded to drag the boy into one of the rooms.

Eleven watched them go before she finally turned to face the others and her eyes widened when she saw you in Jonathan’s arms.

“Y/N!” she gasped as she ran to you and you reached out for her, wrapping an arm around her and bringing her as close to you as you possibly could in this position, giving her a long kiss on the temple. “You’re…you’re hurt,” she gulped as she pulled away and saw the blood stains, eyes filling with worry as she grasped your hand tightly.  

“I’ll be ok. Don’t worry. But, I’m so sorry I didn’t come to check on you, baby,” you sniffed. “I left you all alone when I should’ve taken you with me and brought you here or something,” you apologized and she shook her head.

“It’s not your fault…and…I wasn’t home,” she admitted bashfully and you scrunched up your eyebrows in confusion.

“Wait…you knew about her too!?” exclaimed Dustin and you sent them an apologetic smile, making him and Lucas look at each other and throw their hands in frustration. “Wonderful! Did everyone besides us know!?”

“Hey,” muttered El as she neared the boys and smiled at them. “Don’t get angry…We’re together now. It’s all that matters,” she said as she hugged them and they returned it full-force.

While she got acquainted with the others, Jonathan brought you back to the sofa and let you lie down after Joyce brushed any shards of glass off it, adjusting you so you could be comfortable. The blanket had been wrapped around you the whole time so he only straightened it a bit and tucked you in.   

“Can you…bring me some water,” you cleared your throat and your brother nodded, heading for the kitchen. You could hear the boys catching up Eleven on everything that has happened and explaining to her the possible plans and outcomes. But you heard it all as background noise because all your focus was on your burning side area.

You shut your eyes and let out a shaky breath as your hand went to nestle itself on top of the wound. The pain was beginning to slightly increase and you were beginning to feel a bit out of it. But you didn’t want Jonathan or the others to notice. They had more important things to deal with right now and saving Will and closing the gate were the top priorities.

“It’s not like it was before. It’s grown. A lot…And I mean, that’s considering we can get in there. The place is crawling with those dogs.”

‘Use a decoy’ is what you wanted to shout at them but for some reason, you just couldn’t find the strength to do so anymore.

“I can do it.”

“You’re not hearing me.”

“I’m hearing you. I can do it,” spoke El confidently and Mike sighed dejectedly.

“Even if El can, there’s still another problem. If the brain dies, the body dies.”

“I thought that was the whole point,” joined Max.

“It is but…if we’re really right about this, I mean if El closes the gate and kills the Mind Flayer’s army-“

“Will’s a part of that army.”

“Closing the gate will kill him.”

“Harsh conditions,” muttered Joyce after a moment of silence.

“What?” asked Hopper and she whirled to face everyone.

“Back in the lab! Y/N suggested to Dr. Owens to create harsh conditions for the virus so it can’t survive within the host anymore!” she snapped her fingers and everyone’s eyes widened.

“Will keeps saying that he likes it cold,” muttered Jonathan.

“Exactly! We keep giving it what it wants!” exclaimed the woman.

“So we make the host uninhabitable…We need to burn it out of him!”

“But what about Y/N?” asked Joyce suddenly and everyone’s hopeful faces fell. “I mean, the doctor told us her examinations are similar, yet different to those of Will. What if-what if she’s also become a host?” she gnawed on her lip worriedly and Hopper shook his head.

“No, I don’t think that’s the case anymore. She would’ve shown symptoms by now. With Will it took shortly for them to show, right? She doesn’t share any of the symptoms he had.”

“Then what does this mean?”

“My best guess is that when she fell and hit her head down in the tunnels, particles, and slime from the vines got into her wound and probably spread through her bloodstream. Sure it was a minor head trauma that didn’t require stitches but the side of her head still got quite grazed so it might have gotten in through there and maybe that’s what altered the results,” he explained and Joyce tightened her lips, still unconvinced.

“If they are indeed connected, maybe removing the virus from the main host will automatically remove it from other hosts!” suggested Mike hopefully.

“So when we start burning it out of Will, it’s gonna show on Y/N too. That is if she’s also infected. We have to bet on this. We can’t move Y/N in her condition,” Hopper sent Joyce a look and she gave up, nodding her head.

“Then…I’ll take Will somewhere and burn that thing out of him.”

“You can go to my cabin. I’ll tell you which way to go,” offered Hopper and Jonathan waved his hand.

“Hold on! You can’t just go alone, mom.”

“Jonathan, you have to stay here with your sister. We can’t leave her alone.”

“She’s not alone,” intervened Steve. “I’ll be here. We’ll keep in touch the whole time and if something comes up I’ll tell you,” suggested the boy and Joyce looked at him for a while, hesitating, before she finally agreed.

“Ok…ok, then me and Jonathan will take Will and-and go to Hopper’s cabin. Honey, go fetch all the heaters that we have,” she instructed him and he bolted out of the room with Nancy on his tail.

“Me and the kid will head for the lab,” said Hopper. “The rest will stay here.”

“What? No way! Just the two of you? That’s-that’s dangerous,” barked Mike and Hopper rubbed his temple in frustration.

“Oh, really, and who’s gonna assist us in getting rid of the dogs? You?” he lifted his brows. “Or him,” he pointed at Dustin and then at Lucas and Max. “Or the slingshot over there? You’ll only be on the way. You’re staying here and that’s non-negotiable.”

“Hey, sweetie,” whispered Joyce as she knelt by your side and your eyes fluttered open although you found it hard to do so. “Hang on just for a bit more, hm? We’ll fix this very soon and everything will be ok,” she caressed your head and you gave her a small smile. Jonathan was there too, also smiling encouragingly at you.

There was hope in the air now.

It was refreshing.

You could almost see the ending of this all. You could feel it in the palm of your hand and you were ready to grasp it.

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me,” you breathed out and she placed a kiss on your forehead while Jonathan took your hand and squeezed.

“We’ll be back soon.”

Afterward, everyone left the house, leaving you all alone inside.

You supposed they were all saying goodbyes to each other, wishing good luck to one another, that sort of thing. But you secretly wanted someone to come back inside already because the silence and the emptiness were making you very uneasy.

“Hey,” as if answering your prayer, Steve’s familiar voice sounded in your ears and you did a double-take, not even realizing that a couple of minutes had passed already and Steve and the kids had returned inside. For a moment there you thought you were truly getting delirious.

He plopped on the carpeted floor next to you. “I, uh…I know it’s irrelevant right now but…” he began saying but stopped himself, making you furrow your eyebrows.

“Whatever it is, say it. We can’t pass the time by just staring at each other, right?”

“Yeah, you’re right,” he chuckled lightly. “I just…officially broke up with Nancy,” he revealed and your eyes widened.

“What?... Things were really, not going well between you two?” you asked sympathetically.

“I think we just realized that we don’t actually love one another.”

The two of you fell into silence then. Steve was fiddling with his fingers as he seemed to be deep in thought and then he left your side to join the kids at cleaning up the place. Except they had gotten into an argument while cleaning because the kids had suggested a crazy plan to go out there and act as a decoy, draw the monsters out of the lab so Hopper and El could get through without a problem.

“And what? We’re just gonna leave Y/N here alone? Did you think about that? And once again, if we do this, we’re toast, dude. We’re dead!”

“But-“

“No, no, no, no, no! No buts. I promised to keep you shitheads safe and that’s exactly what I plan on doing,” he stated firmly. “We’re staying here. On the bench. And we’re waiting for the starting team to do their job. Does everybody understand?”

“This isn’t a stupid sports game!”

“I said does everybody understand that!? I need a yes.”  

You actually agreed with their decoy plan and you wanted them to carry it through because you didn’t want Hopper and El to face dozens of monsters on their own but you had no idea how you were going to convince Steve to go through with it. You let out a long shaky exhale as you shifted uncomfortably and tried calming yourself, focusing on dispersing the pain. But it wasn’t helping.

Everyone kept silent for a while before nodding in defeat and he threw the rag onto the table before going to check on you.

“Are you ok?” right after the words slipped his mouth he immediately kicked himself for asking such a stupid question.

“I’m fine,” you whispered but he marched to your side and put a hand on your forehead anyway. He frowned deeply at how cool and clammy your skin was. Then he rounded the sofa and knelt by your side.

“Steve?” you called out quietly, eyes closed, resting.

“Yeah?” he gently pulled the blanket and his eyes widened.

There was blood everywhere. It had seeped through the stitches apparently, staining a big chunk of the bandages and the tank top. His whole body ran cold as panic settled in his gut.

“If I die-“

“Jesus, sometimes you can be so dramatic. No different than Munson and Henderson, I swear,” he drawled, voice rumbling and reverberating lowly as he tried to compose himself, his hands shaking when he pulled the blanket back up to your chest, gulping a lump that had stuck in his throat.  

“Well, that’s an interesting pair if I’ve heard one…These two will get along,” a weak smile graced your features and he tried to fight back the welling of tears and find strength in his voice to keep it steady.

“Y/N, seriously, listen to me…You’re not going to die…ok? Not before I…” he let out a shaky breath. “-take you out on a date and…and do all the things I wanna do with you…together,” he finally confessed and you cracked your eyes open halfway, looking at him with shock.

“You want to take me on a date?”  

“Yeah…very much…and I know how that sounds and I-I know what you’re thinking right now and I know what you’re gonna say. I know it’s probably super awkward and outright ridiculous and it’ll probably ruin-“

“Steve, I love you,” you breathed out and his soft, panicked rambling ceased.

“What?”

“I love you…I’ve loved you for…a long time,” you revealed.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked gently.

“Cause I never thought someone like you would fall for someone like me…and I didn’t want to ruin our friendship.”

“It’s exactly because it’s ‘someone like you’,” he then found the courage to place his hand on the side of your face and stroke your cheek, giving you a smile. You closed your eyes as you let yourself sink into the feeling and in the meantime, Steve’s smile faltered as he motioned for Dustin to come over.

The boy approached with a confused face and just before he was about to speak up, Steve signaled for him to call the hospital, lips forming the words silently. Dustin’s eyes widened when he saw how still you were and he immediately dashed to find a way to contact the hospital and let them know an emergency patient was coming in.

“What are…the things you want to do with me?” you asked timidly and his lip twitched.  

“Like…being able to push your hair behind your ear,” he began, “…dance with you slowly…hold hands…kiss you,” he whispered the last words as his smile melted once again and you opened your eyes only to see the worry in his as if he was afraid he had overstepped a boundary which was ridiculous considering you had just confessed.

“Why wait?” you asked breathlessly and his eyes widened.

You lifted your hand and beckoned him to get closer. He lowered himself slowly until your noses were touching. The two of you looked into each other’s eyes for a bit before you placed a gentle touch on his cheek and closed your eyes, prompting him to do the same. And then his lips brushed yours as if asking for permission one last time. You arched your chin higher which connected your lips more properly and he finally pressed his against yours in a sweet kiss.

Suddenly, the sound of a revving engine penetrated the silence, and everyone tensed.

“It’s my brother,” informed Max after she had run to the window to check. “He-he can’t know I’m here! He’ll kill me. He’ll kill us!”

“Hold on. Leave it to me,” said Steve confidently as he stood up and sprinted out of the house.

You called the kids to your side and they hesitantly left the window to come sit by you.

“We’ll just tell him that…you are helping me…ok? In fact…maybe I can convince him to stay with me while you go complete that plan of yours,” you suggested and their eyes widened.

“You want us to go through with it?” asked Mike in shock and you nodded.

“Mhm…it’s a good plan.”

Just then, the door was pretty much thrown off its hinges as Billy stormed in. His enraged expression quickly melted into one of shock and confusion when he saw you and the kids.

“Jesus, Hargrove. You wanna tear down my house or somethin’,” you drawled and he looked at the door, then back at you.

“The fuck is going on here?” he grit out.

“You want the long story or the short?” you lifted an eyebrow and his eyes darted between you and Max.

“Short.”

“I got attacked on my way home. The kids found me. They’ve been taking care of me since. Don’t blame Max for it,” you explained or rather lied, and his eyebrows shot to his hairline in surprise.

“And where are your brothers? Your mother?” he asked as he took a step forward, making Max and the others tense and fidget but you tried your best to keep your calm.

“They left for Indianapolis earlier today. Mom wanted to get Will checked by some specialist at their hospi-“ the words got caught in your throat all of a sudden as you felt a chilling sensation run through your whole body, making you quiver as your hand flew to your stomach, then to your mouth. Billy and the kids looked at you with confusion and concern.

“W-what is it?” asked Mike with wide eyes and you gulped.

“I’m…I feel nauseous,” you muttered as you closed your eyes and tried to focus on battling down the bubbling feeling.

“W-we need to get you to-to the hospital,” panicked Dustin as he scouted the room for Steve.

Meanwhile, Max pulled down the blanket and everyone scrunched up their faces.

“It’s hemorrhage,” snapped Mike worriedly and Billy clicked his tongue as he marched to the sofa, pushing Lucas out of the way, making him fall to the ground.

“Move your asses,” he barked at the kids and they scattered away from the boy who leaned and made sure to wrap your whole body with the blanket. You hissed when he moved you around and he simply told you to bear with it before lifting you in his arms. You groaned and buried your face in his shoulder.

“What are you doing?” bit out Mike and Billy glared at him.

“What does it look like?” he responded curtly before turning and walking briskly towards the door. “I better see you home when I get back, Max,” Billy warned the girl as he looked at her over his shoulder and she nodded shakily. You sent her a firm look without Billy noticing and she understood what you meant.

On your way to Billy’s car, you saw Steve passed out outside, face beaten and bloody. Your jaw clenched at the sight and you wanted nothing more than to punch the boy carrying you in the face and give him a taste of his own medicine but you knew that if you acted or said anything rashly and insulting, he might change his mind, leave you and go take Max and most possibly hurt the kids in the process because you knew they’d try to protect her. You were better off distracting him as long as you could while they went to do their part of the plan.

“If you bleed on my seat, you’re dead meat Byers,” he grunted out as he lowered you onto the passenger seat and adjusted your position.

“I’m sorry. Next time I’ll just walk to the hospital and bleed on the road instead,” you drawled quietly and he huffed in amusement.

“You’re a different kind of stubborn, ain’t you,” he shook his head as he shut the door before circling the vehicle to get in the driver’s seat.

You were fairly surprised to see him drive slowly for the first time ever. He probably didn’t want to jerk your body and cause more harm to the wound with rash movements which was weirdly considerate of him.

“So you do have a heart,” you let out a small smile and the boy snorted.

“Believe it or not I’m not the kinda person to walk away from someone who’s dying.”

“Hmm…could’ve fooled me for a second.”

Silence engulfed the two of you for a while and he had to shift his gaze from the road to you, to make sure you haven’t actually died. But you were simply thinking about many things. For one, you never thought you’d end up in Billy’s car as he drove you to the hospital in order to save your life after severely beating the boy you loved. It was one of the weirdest things to happen to you – almost as weird as being attacked by inter-dimensional monsters two years in a row. 

 “You know…I remember the first time we met,” you finally spoke and he lifted a brow, clicking his tongue in annoyance.

“If you wanna rub in how you rejected me, I’ll just throw you outta the car right now.”

“No…it’s not that…It happened after the party,” you tried to keep your eyes open and slightly turned your head to look at him. “You won’t remember…you passed out.”

“Did I,” he drawled.

“I stayed till the end…everyone was passed out from drinking…You were…on the verge…stumbling towards the bathroom. You could barely stand,” you paused to take a breath and gather some more strength. You were starting to feel really tired and sleepy. “I don’t know what prompted me to do it…I helped you reach the bathroom…I made you throw up cuz I was scared you’d get alcohol poisonin’,” you slurred and he furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to remember that night but his memories were bleary. He did remember someone’s voice, talking to him in a painfully blinding white room. He had thought it was some kind of hallucination. He did remember waking up in a bathroom a couple of hours later so you were telling the truth. It’s not like you had a reason to lie anyway.  

“Uh, thanks for that.”

“You mumbled somethin’ in your state… somethin' bout your mom,” you revealed and his eyes widened. “It wasn’t clear but… you sounded…hurt.”

“Shut up,” he grit out as his grip on the wheel tightened.

“Look…I just wanna say…you don’t…always need to be this…tough, macho, jerk…ok? If you reach out…and if you try to be just a tad bit kinder…you might find good people reaching back…good people to surround yourself with…Every person needs that,” you breathed out as you sent him a knowing look and he stared at you for a while. Your gaze held power, wisdom, and kindness he’s never seen or experienced before. Neither had he experienced someone presenting him with such an offer. You stared at one another, almost as if you had fallen into a trance before he averted his eyes back to the road.

A minute later, which seemed way too long for the both of you, he was parking in front of the hospital and rushing out of the vehicle to call for help. A group consisting of doctors and nurses came and carefully lifted you out of the seat and set you on a gurney.

“Stay?” you whispered with pleading eyes before you were rolled away and Billy could only watch as he stood rooted on his spot. He contemplated whether to leave or not. He didn’t owe you anything and he already did enough by bringing you to the hospital. He just wanted to get somewhere far away and not think for the rest of the night. Hopefully, his date hadn’t abandoned him.

But then he thought about what you had told him on the way. He had no idea that you had witnessed him in such a vulnerable state and he wondered what were the words he had let slip back then that you would think of him as someone who was hurt. And he wondered how much did you manage to piece together from that little slip-up? He was angry and frustrated beyond belief but at the same time, his heart and gut clenched at the kind words you had offered. Nobody has been kind to him. And now he was battling heavily with himself and he had absolutely no idea how he was supposed to feel or what he was supposed to do.

But in the end, he concluded that maybe taking it all step by step was the best thing he could do for now.

So he’d start by staying.

[v-i-r-i-d-i-a-n]

YOU WANNA KNOW SOMETHIN

Y’ALL ACTUALLY WANNA KNOW HOW I FEEL ABT MIKE WILL AND EL??

I just want them to be happy

I started watching stranger things because of the hype of S4, I watched the first season with my parents in 2018 but didn’t rlly remember anything abt the plot and I didn’t get past episode where Jonathan’s camera was broken because I physically couldn’t watch anything with embarrassment at that point in my life

Anyways all I remember is that I didn’t care abt milkvan, like at all, I had no emotional attachment to them, I thought they were vaguely cute? But I felt like I had seen this formula a million times before and it was boring at that point, so I just didn’t really care abt them, I loved the characters don’t get me wrong but their relationship just never really felt that important to me, I always preferred them as friends anyways, their platonic interactions were always my favorites

I knew that I just wanted these little fuckers to be happy and if Mike and Eleven being together made them happy so be it, even then tho I was starting to realize the differences between Mike/Will and Mike/El but I could’ve passed off S2 Byler was platonic if they wrote Mileven super cute, but at that point I hadn’t seen them together on screen enough to rlly have any attachment to them

And then I watched S3, and S4

And I realized if I want these characters to be happy they cannot be together- they’re relationship does not work, it is not healthy, it’s not good for either of them- and it’s not good for Will

THEY COULD’VE SALVAGED IT IN S3 WRITTEN THEIR PROBLEMS OFF AS IT BEING MIKES FIRST RELATIONSHIP AND HOW HES STILL A KID AND DOESNT ENTIRELY UNDERSTAND AND HOW EL DOESNT ENTIRELY UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS TO BE A PERSON YET

BUT THEN WE’RE SHOWN EL LITERALLY AT HER HAPPIEST WHEN SHE ISNT HANGING OUT WITH MIKE?? WE’RE TOLD MIKE AND HER DO NOT HAVE PROPER CONVERSATIONS ABOUT EACH OTHER- ABOUT THE THINGS THEY LIKE TO DO- THE THINGS THEY JUST LIKE- AND IM SUPPOSED TO BE ROOTING FOR THEM???

We’re shown El giggling and having a good time after breaking up with Mike, we’re told that El see’s him as “her first boy friend” which means she thinks she’s gonna get another eventually- we’re SHOWN El being happy without Mike

We’re shown that Mike keeps El in a holding place she doesn’t want to be in anymore

AND THEN WE’RE SHOWN WILL BEING DEVASTATED WITHOUT MIKE, WE’RE SHOWN AND TOLD THAT WILL LOVES MIKE AND WE’RE SHOWN THAT WILL KNOWS HIM AND HOW TO HELP HIM AND HOW TO MAKE HIM FEEL BETTER AND WE’RE SHOWN JUST HOW DIFFERENT AND IMPORTANT THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS

EVEN JUST THE ENDING OF S3 WHERE MIKE AND WILLS CONVERSATION ENDS WITH THEM SWEETLY SMILING AT EACH OTHER WELL MAKING PROMISES TO NEVER REPLACE EACH OTHER WELL MIKE AND ELS ENDS WITH THEM KISSING AND MIKE HAVING HIS EYES OPEN AND EL WALKING AWAY FROM HIM WELL HE STANDS STARING LOOKING VAGUELY DISGUSTED WITH THE INTERNAL DIALOGUE OF “what’s wrong with me” ?????????

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO ROOT FOR THE COUPLE THAT HAS BEEN SHOWN TIME AND TIME AND TIME AGAIN TO BE BETTER OFF AS FRIENDS??? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO ROOT FOR THEM WHEN THEY DONT SEEM TO MAKE EACH OTHER HAPPY??? WHEN THEY KNOW LIKE NOTHING ABT EACH OTHER? WHEN ONE OF THEM IS ALWAYS SAYING THEY DONT LIKE THE OTHERS INTERESTS?? WHEN LOOKING OBJECTIVELY AT IT THEIR PERSONAL ARCS GO IN LIKE OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS???

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO NOT ROOT FOR THE COUPLE THAT HAS BEEN SHOWN TIME AND TIME AGAIN TO KNOW EACH OTHER THE BEST OUT OF EVERYONE??? TO HAVE SOME OF THE SWEETEST SCENES AND HEART TO HEARTS AND PARALLELS SO MANY CANON COUPLES ?? WHO MAKES OOGLY EYES AT EACH OTHER AND SMILE AND PROMISE EACH OTHER THEY WONT REPLACE ONE ANOTHER

I just want El and Mike and Will to be happy and looking objectively at it Mike and El breaking up seems to be when El is the happiest, and Mike and Will being together is when they’re at their happiest

[erikiara80]

Will and Jonathan

To celebrate Will’s birthday, long post dedicated to my favorite brothers and their beautiful bond.

Season 1

The most terrifying week of Jonathan’s life. First, he thought that if he had been at home, nothing bad would’ve happened to Will. Then, if you think about it, he is the only one who thought for at least two days that Will really died. His worst nightmare. He failed to protect his little brother.

But he’s always there for Will. And if he had been there that night too, the Demogorgon would’ve killed him and taken Will anyway. And Will would’ve have been lost.

When Will is sad, Jonathan can always make him smile and feel better: 

I have a brother, eight years younger than me. We are very close. I basically raised him. You know, single mom (divorced parents when I was 13 and my brother was 5), night shifts. And we were also poor. 

I relate to the Byers so much. In my family, I am Jonathan. It’s so painful to imagine what he felt when Hopper told him that they had lost Will

When he saw Will’s small body on that table

Season 1 is a roller coaster of emotions. But they all love Will too much. And their love saved him. This is one of the most precious moments in the whole show, imo. I love it so much.

Jonathan is so emotional. He holds Will’s hand as if he wants to be sure that Will won’t go away again. Also, wonderful performance from Charlie. I can feel all Jonathan’s love, happiness and relief

Season 2

Another big season for the Byers brothers. And another time Jonathan risked to lose Will. The crazy thing is that this time Will is there but something is trying to erase everything he is. Another nightmare (army of monsters aside, lol)

Once again, the season starts with Jonathan taking care of his family (I really hope tho that at the end of the story, he can finally live his life and find his happiness, knowing that his family is safe. It’s so unfair -Lonnie’s fault- that he has all those responsibilties at such young age)

Fortunately, he also has Nancy. He’s starting to find something for himself. Problem is, Henry doesn’t care. So, the moment Jon leaves town... oops, Will gets possessed. No wonder he thinks he can’t leave him and his mom. 

But before that, we get another beautiful moment where Jonathan encourauges Will to be himself and be proud of it (Jonathan is just a wonderful person, ok?)

Will is so upset about everything. He knows nobody can understand how he feels. At first he doesn’t even want to talk with Jonathan.

But Jonathan knows him so well and always knows what to say. Being a freak is actually the best. Normal people never accomplish anything important in this world. 

And then this. So sweet. Aaaand we also have little shit Will, who always reminds his siblings that they are friendless, lol. I love him

And of course, Will smiles again

Then, sorry Jonathan. The real nightmare begins. I love S2, because there’s so much love for Will in every scene. From Mike, Joyce, Jonathan. What an amazing season! I’m so happy that S5 will include big S2 ideas but also have S1 vibe. The two seasons where Will and the love people have for him are central.

The last episodes are incredible. I just love everything.

The shed scene is absolutely one of my favorite scenes of the show, and imo, one of the best. Stellar acting, perfect shots, amazing dialogue, and oh, the emotions. It’s simply perfect. And different from what we usually see in Stranger Things.

They love him so much

But then this moment kills me every time. Jonathan is desperate. He can’t hear Will screaming and being in such pain without helping him. I’m glad Nancy was there. In fact, a few minutes later, he tries to help Will, but it was a mistake. 

Jonathan couldn’t think anymore. He was sure Will was dying. He had to save him. But Nancy, as always, helped (yeah, she hurt Will, but it was the only way) This scene!

And then, he got his brother back

Season 3

There aren’t as many scenes as in the previous seasons, but the love between them is always there. 

Always protective

And even when he doesn’t say anything, Jonathan always see his brother’s pain, like Charlie said.

Season 4 

Both brothers are struggling a lot now. They’re older and for a while they probably thought they weren’t as close as they used to be. And that hurt and must have felt so strange. Jonathan is almost adult now. He feels all the weight of his responsibilities. He feels like living his life means abandoning his family. So he’s stuck. So glad he has Argyle!

And Will is dealing with feeling different, his feelings for Mike and the fear that he will never be happy. He’ll never find love. It doesn’t help that for the first time he doesn’t feel his brother’s support. Jonathan seems different and distant. Maybe Will, who’s more aware of his sexuality now, even believes that it’s his fault if his brother doesn’t spend much time with him anymore. 

That’s heartbreaking.

But of course it’s not true, it will never be true. Jonathan never stops caring, or being protective. No matter what.

Oh, and this moment. This moment...

This is the season where both Will and Jonathan have much less scenes than in any other season, and yet S4 is where they share probably their most emotional and beautiful moment. This is the only scene in the show, along with when they find Will’s fake body in the quarry, that made me cry.

It’s so beautiful. Many people criticize it and say it wasn’t clear enough. That the writers were cowards. But I think it’s the opposite. It’s so delicate. And so in character. Jonathan was so sweet. 

He didn’t push Will, because he didn’t know if Will was ready. He knows Will is afraid of losing the people he loves, that they won’t accept him. So he didn’t explicitly say that he knows. He just let his little brother know that he will always love him. That he will always be there. He made Will understand that he is important and special to him, and he will always be. 

And NOTHING. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING will ever change that.

And Will’s little smile and tears when he hears those words. Jonathan hasn’t forgotten about him. He wasn’t distant because he knows and doesn’t approve.

He’s just dealing with his own problems. And I love, love that here Will also wants to reassure Jonathan that he will always be there for him too.

This has never happened in other seasons. It was always Jonathan the one who offered support. And it makes me hope that in S5, the season of Will’s coming of age, he too will reassure and protect Jonathan, and tell him that he deserves happiness. 

Jonathan’s always been there for Will, and I’m sure he will do everything to protect him again in S5. But Will will protect his brother (and mom) too. Jonathan will see him become confident and find love with Mike. He’ll see his mom with Hopper, and El happy too. And he’ll finally know that he can live his life and that his family is safe and happy.

[spicysix]

fake it 'till you make it | jonathan byers X reader

“It was all Nancy Wheeler's fault. I mean, literally. Quite from the beginning. Because it was all about Nancy Wheeler, wasn't it? It was all because of Nancy Wheeler, it was all for Nancy Wheeler.” or: you and Jonathan create a plan to make Nancy jealous

warnings: fake relationship, in between S1 and S2, gn! reader (no pronouns, no gendered terms, no y/n used). mostly fluff, a pinch of crack taken seriously at the beginning just because i love it, right before all the fucking feels hit in. and my already known absurd use of italics.

word count: 9.1k

a/n: based on this request, thank you so much anon. your request drove me completely insane, i had a few out of body experiences and ended up with 9k words of love and devotion to Jonathan Byers. don't worry, no Nancy hate in here, it's almost as much of a love letter to her as it is to Jonathan tbh, Reader just doesn't know better in the first paragraphs. hope y'all like it! don't forget to reblog if you do, and comments are always treasured and kept in a little golden box in my nightstand for me to delight in them on lonely nights ♡

↳ ao3

It was all Nancy Wheeler's fault.

I mean, literally. Quite from the beginning. Because it was all about Nancy Wheeler, wasn't it? It was all because of Nancy Wheeler, it was all for Nancy Wheeler.

Okay, let’s start from the top.

Jonathan has always kind of been there. He didn't say much, he didn't present himself much, he didn't get quite noticed. But he has always been there. And you had a thing for those who weren't actually seen, but that had always been there anyway.

Your interest was purely out of curiosity, though, of course. Because you wanted to understand the whole thing. Sure, you had the bigger picture — abusive, absent father, overprotective mom, young brother, and the whole heavy weight of teen parentalization on top of Johnny-boy's scrawny shoulders.

Multiply that for, like, a billion, and we get what we got after November 6th: missing young brother, over-overprotective mom, asshole opportunistic father, and the whole heavy weight of guilt on top of Johnny-boy's scrawny shoulders.

And, in the middle of all that, enters Nancy Wheeler.

Okay, wait, from the top again.

It was mid-May, and Jonathan was just there, as usual. Revealing some photos, the bigger and the smaller pictures you were so deeply curious to see. A precisely requested assignment for a History project — you really loved History, you'd put all your effort into it — and, oh wow! You were also there!

Both of you revealing your pictures, Johnathan had used that shiny new camera he showed up with after Christmas break — after Nancy Wheeler's boyfriend, Steve Harrington, broke the previous one (I mean, if the rumors were true, Johnny-boy was being kind of a creep. But apparently he apologized or whatever, because after Steve's purple eye and Will Byers' death and resuscitation thing, you've seen Johnathan, Steve, and Nancy Wheeler having lunch all together. As crazy as it all sounded).

That’s a digression, back from the top again.

You and Jonathan were sharing the silence only a red room and its buzzing little red lamp lights could provide, minding your own business. Well, he was minding his own business, you were kind of curious about the bigger and the smaller pictures. Minding his business as well.

Shoulder to shoulder as you worked on your photos, you hanging your own as Jonathan took his down from where they've been drying.

It was literally a bigger and a smaller picture, okay, I kid you not.

Jonathan seemed to get lost in his thoughts as he analyzed the bigger one, the one you've seen already — what seemed to be a reunion of sorts between the Byers and the Wheelers, parents and children, and those other two little gremlins that Will and Mike (was it Mike? Nancy’s younger brother, Will’s best friend) were inseparable friends with.

The younger ones were sitting on the floor, those huge smiles on their baby faces, happiness exhaling from, well, probably finding out that their friend that had gone missing for a week wasn't actually dead.

The parents, Joyce Byers, and Karen and What's-His-Face Wheeler were sitting on the couch behind the kids, pride and joy in the mothers' faces and boredom on the father's face — it was his permanent state, you were aware of it by now from seeing him from time to time on the streets.

Pretty, preppy, prissy Nancy was standing behind the couch, just behind her daddy, younger baby sister in her arms as she smiled that tiny little pouty smile of hers. No pretty, preppy, poshy Steve in sight, you wondered where he was, as Jonathan was standing beside Nancy and the baby, hands in his pants pockets, that perpetual blank stare in his eyes of someone being constantly haunted.

You found it cute, somehow.

Cute in, like, a curious kind of way. Wanted to find out what was haunting him so badly.

And then. In the present, real, out-of-picture time or whatever, Jonathan snapped out of his thoughts as he went to get the other picture — the smaller one — from where it was hanging. His hand stopped a single inch before touching it, and you saw from the corner of your eye that he was looking at you from the corner of his eye. Combine the peripheral vision situation with his hesitancy to grab the smaller picture, your life-long curiosity and an impulsive strike, and before you even thought about what you were doing, you were suddenly grabbing the fucking picture before Jonathan could.

You grabbed it, and he let out what sounded like a gasp and a whimper at the same time, and you walked backward until your back met the wall behind you. And Jonathan was all over you in a second, trying to grab your arms as you put them behind your back, hiding the picture — you didn't even get to see it, had no idea what he was so mortified about. He was saying, or screaming maybe, something at you that you couldn’t distinguish because his head was too close to yours. Distress all over his cute scrawny face, and you barely had the time to register the guilt bubbling in your stomach — because, fuck, why did you do that? It was a personal thing, you weren't even friends, you had talked to him like five times tops if you didn't count the whole trimester where you were basically best friends because of that Science project in freshman year.

You missed freshman year.

Anyway, there was no time to think about freshman year.

Over from the top, for real this time!

In the middle of all that, enters Nancy Wheeler.

Literally, physically enters the red room while you and Jonathan are pressed together against the wall, your arms behind your back, his arms on your arms and waist or maybe hips — you were unfocused, to be honest, by the fact that he was basically manhandling you with all his scrawny kid strength.

Well, Jonathan did win a fight over Steve Harrington, handed the School King's ass to him on a golden plate, so you shouldn't be that much surprised.

Alas, Nancy stopped at the door, her huge doe eyes getting even huger, sharp jaw going slack, long pointy fingers wrapped so tightly around the door handle that her knuckles were white.

"Oh! I- Jesus, I'm sorry! Jonathan, I-" Jonathan hadn't said a word since she entered, his whole body had gone frozen, and you were afraid he had stopped breathing altogether. "I'll come back later? I- Or, you'll come find me? I- Oh, god, I'm sorry!"

She ran off after her eloquent speech, not waiting for an answer and slamming the door behind her. Jonathan walked away from you and started murmuring something under his breath while walking in circles within the tiny space in the red room, forgetting about you and your stupid kidnapping of his picture, and finding out a new something to stress about.

You brought your arm to your front, finally looking at it and seeing what he really didn’t want you to see in the picture.

Guess who?

Nancy Fucking Wheeler.

It was on the same day as the other photo if Nancy’s clothes were to say, and she was away from the camera, her profile showing. Holding a single flower — you had no idea which one, you didn’t understand much about flowers. You knew it wasn’t a rose — in between her thin fingers, nose close to the petals, a delicate smile on her lips. She was in front of a window, the light from the outside encompassing her in a kind of godly aura, specks of dust around her, and yet she was the main focus of the whole frame.

As far as a picture could talk, this one was screaming ‘love’ so loudly it was deafening.

Something stirred in your belly, something raw and annoying and mean, but you ignored it and approached Jonathan carefully — as he was still kind of shaking, palms pressed tightly against his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered, already stretching your arm to give him back his Nancy Wheeler love portrait. “Curiosity killed the cat and whatnot,” you muttered as he looked at you with anger and snatched the photo from your fingers.

“Yeah, and it’s gonna get you killed too.” His voice was restrained, his whole strength going into not yelling at you again even if his words were threatening enough. “You should go,” he commanded before remembering that his pictures were ready and yours weren’t. “I should go.”

He gathered his photos, his tools and his backpack, and you couldn’t will yourself to tear your eyes from every single movement he made, even if it was painful to watch because he was so clearly pissed at you — and rightfully so.

“If it’s any worth, she looked jealous,” you said, right before he left the red room.

Jonathan paused, door half open, his hand gripping the handle so tightly his knuckles were going white — a perfect mirror image of what Nancy looked like just a few minutes before. He didn’t turn to look at you or to answer your remark, just huffed, shook his head, and left, slamming the door behind him.

You rubbed your face, felt like tearing your hair off your head, took a few long, deep breaths before resuming your task of revealing the photos for your History Project. Buried every single feeling into your head and heart, they weren’t worthy to feel or talk about, and you had more pressing urges.

The History Project. Something about your local community, how a small town revolved around its few citizens, and you thanked every god you could come up with that Jonathan left before you revealed your last picture. Or, that you distracted Jonathan enough by prodding onto his secrets before the revealing liquid did its job and revealed the secrets you were hiding yourself.

You took the picture from the container with the revealing liquid and hung it alongside the other ones you had already put up to dry. You looked at your secret smaller picture.

Out of frame, you knew that Joyce Byers was at the cashier counter of Melvald’s, handing little Will some random candy as he looked excited at the gift. In the frame, in the picture, focused on, behind Will, was Jonathan. Also on his profile, almost the same angle as his own picture of Nancy. He was smiling softly at the sight of his family once again reunited in such an uneventful task such as grocery shopping. The natural daylight from outside the store made his skin glow, and the little crisp texture and reflexes of the not-so-clean window between you and him made the picture look somehow cozy — the opposite effect of distancing that you’d think it would give it. He was at the very center of the frame, soft brown jacket over his shoulders, hands holding plastic bags as he waited for his brother, his pink cheeks making your own face heat up — you remembered. You were infatuated with how relaxed he looked, some of that whole heavy weight finally off his scrawny shoulders; so relaxed that he didn’t even notice you from across the street, taking the picture like a fucking weirdo stalker.

And as far as a picture could talk, this one was screaming ‘love’ so loudly it was deafening.

Thankfully, your own ears were the only ones at range. And accustomed to the noise already.

-✧-

“I fucked up.”

Those were the first words you heard from Jonathan after the whole Nancy Wheeler love portrait fiasco in the red room. It was Friday already, and three whole days had passed - not that you were waiting for him to come talk to you sooner, because you never even talked before that, but something about the way you’d cross eyes in the hallways of the school made the air between you two weighted with something other than your crippling guilt.

“Come again?” you asked, setting down the Bukowski book you were pretending to read for your English class - ugh, Bukowski annoyed you.

Jonathan, for some reason, seemed annoyed at you.

‘Some reason’, okay, other than the obvious reason.

“I avoided Nancy after that day for as long as I could, but then she cornered me earlier today and I got too nervous and might have made the whole situation worst than it already was,” he answered, looking around him as if someone in the school parking lot was about to come out from behind a car and punch him in the face.

Hm, maybe Steve Harrington would.

“How did you manage that?” you asked again, crossing a leg under the other where you were sitting on the bench.

“I might have told her we, you and me, I mean, are… in a relationship.”

There was a ringing in your ear that kind of popped before the world went abruptly silent. You could see Jonathan in front of you, staring at you, waiting for your answer, but he was kind of blurry and the people walking behind him seemed to move in slow motion all of a sudden. It felt like years before you gathered just enough brain power to answer him.

“You. What.”

He groaned, and that made the world go back to normal inside your head, before he rubbed his eyes with the tip of his fingers.

“She came at me, asked who you were and if everything was okay that day, and all I could think of was you saying she had been jealous and, I don’t know, it felt like I blacked out or was possessed or something and then, out of nowhere, I was saying we were dating.”

“To make her more jealous?” you confirmed, and he shrugged violently.

“I guess!” he almost yelled, and then curled over himself in embarrassment. He hid his whole face behind the palms of his hands and you wanted to push them away, hold his cheeks yourself and-

Nope, block that thought out.

“Okay,” you said instead.

“Okay? ‘Okay’, what? Jesus, are you even more insane than I thought?”

You shrugged and pretended his words didn’t sting. “I’m saying we should go for it.” You saw his mouth opening, and spoke before whatever words were going to come out of him could hurt you further: “I can be your fake lover, you make Nancy jealous, she finds out she wants you and not Steve, dumps his ass and you and her will live happily ever after.”

Why were your impulsive thoughts making you so willingly throw yourself into a scenery that was only going to hurt you badly? You had no answer for that.

Jonathan frowned and actually seemed to consider, which was probably worse because you were pretty sure he was going to immediately deny your offer. It was a crazy fucking offer after all, who did you think you were? Molly Ringwald in a rom-com?

Well, apparently Jonathan thought he was Anthony Michael Hall, because the next thing he said was: “Yeah, let’s do that.”

“Dude. You’re kidding me?” you asked, twisting your entire body to fully face him and he seemed confused. “I was being sarcastic!” You weren’t, not really, but he didn’t know that. “We can’t do that, it won’t work! Just grow out some balls and ask her out, or whatever.”

You got up and started gathering your stuff since your free period was coming to an end, but Jonathan held your wrist before you could leave, a wave of shock starting where your skins connected all the way up to your brain. You ignored it.

“I already embarrassed myself too much in front of her. Please?” he begged, those sweet eyes of his staring deeply into your soul, and you huffed.

Closed your eyes so you wouldn’t see him, pulled your arm away so he wouldn’t touch you. He had too much power over you — and he had no idea.

“You owe me one, boyfriend,” you said just in time for the bell to ring, and then you were on your way to your English class, Bukowski ignored and forgotten, Jonathan’s pleading eyes the only thing on your mind.

“So, boyfriend, how did our love story begin?” Your question startled Jonathan, who hadn’t seen your approach.

He was sitting on the bench furthest from the entry of the park, looking at every direction around him just as he was in the school parking lot earlier that day. Still scared Steve Harrington would pop out of nowhere to beat his ass in revenge a few weeks late.

Jonathan had the luck of not sharing a single class with you over the rest of the school day, so he slipped a little note into your locker at some point, like a middle schooler trying to flirt. His note, however, did not read “WANNA GO GET MILKSHAKES WITH ME? [ ] YES [ ] NO - MARK WITH AN X”, but a simple “meet me @ train station park after school, gotta plan this right” instead.

Underwhelming.

You, however, were a pro at nothing else except committing to a bit, and it had been your stupid idea after all. So you went to the damn train station park to meet him and plan your damn love story, just so the two of you could make damned Nancy Wheeler jealous.

Jonathan was jumpy and kept as much distance in between you on the bench as he could, as if he was afraid you were going to attack him and devour his flesh like a monster coming from a sci-fi horror. You buried all your thoughts and feelings for him in the deepest of corners inside your mind (you’ve been doing that a lot, lately) and tried not to take any of his skittish reactions personally.

The two of you worked nicely, considering all the circumstances, and came up with some ideas that weren’t half bad. If you stopped to think why you were even doing all that in the first place, you’d have a hysterical laughing fit, so you just pretended like you were rehearsing a school play or something.

“You… need a ride?” Jonathan asked and you thought for half a minute before denying.

Surely it would be better if the two of you spent more time together since you were supposed to be dating. But Jonathan was still acting weird — more than usual — and you really didn’t want to impose or to feel worse than you already did from all his mistreatment.

“Uh, no, house’s not that far,” you lied, it was a good walk to your home, but Jonathan seemed relieved at your answer so you felt like you picked the right one.

You suppressed the need to huff, roll your eyes and push him in annoyance or do something else a middle schooler would do.

You also suppressed the will to smile politely at him as you said your goodbyes because, frankly, he wasn’t so deserving of it.

Phone numbers were exchanged in case of emergencies or needs to plan further, and you left before he could come up with something else. You were tired, drained really, from suppressing so much the whole day, and you couldn’t wait to sleep throughout the whole weekend if you could. Hoping no ‘Jonathan Byers loves Nancy Wheeler and would do anything for her’ emergencies would come up. Building up the courage to continue your own ‘You love Jonathan Byers and would do anything for him’ stupid plan.

-✧-

From all the worldviews you had to deconstruct as you grew older — you know, like, Santa isn't real, Reagan’s not a good president no matter what your grandpa said, vegetables are good for your health, and no, U2 wasn't actually that great of a band-

Well, the hardest and also easiest mental worldview deconstruction to be made was that Nancy Wheeler was actually a nice gal.

It was easy because it happened only after your first lunch with your brand new boyfriend Jonathan, and his great best friends Steve Harrington and Nancy Wheeler herself.  Because it took Nancy one single lunch to win you over with all that wit, brains, charm of hers. And it was hard because, let's be honest, you've been holding a grudge over her for absolutely nothing (let’s call it nothing, okay?) for… a couple of years, now.

It happened Monday, and Jonathan was waiting for you outside your classroom right before lunch break, ready to take you to meet his friends or whatever they were. You were caught by surprise, but you were also a great improviser, and so you tucked his hands into yours (ignored his astounded demeanor and the blush in his cheeks, and that electric wave that hit you again) and let him lead you down the hallways.

You tried not to pay attention to all the looks you received. If all that had happened before November, you wouldn’t even be noticed — neither you nor Jonathan noticeable enough to gather attention from your peers. After his… well, after everything that happened to him and around him after November 6th, though, Jonathan was a little more perceived around school grounds.

Your face burned and your palms sweat with all the eyes turned on you, but you mastered the art of looking blasé all the way to the cafeteria. All the way to the table where Steve and Nancy were sitting side by side, his arm over her shoulder as they talked quietly.

“Hey,” Jonathan greeted as you reached the table, and the couple looked up at you. Steve raised an eyebrow and Nancy’s face contorted in some way before settling into a smile. Jonathan introduced you by name. “we’re dating,” he said, mostly to Steve who didn’t seem to know the news.

“Oh, wow. Cool, man. And nice to meet you,” Steve nodded at you with his million-dollar smile.

“Same,” you answered before letting go of Jonathan’s hand, sitting down and getting your sandwich from your backpack.

Jonathan sat down beside you and you could feel how stiff he was moving. You’d normally reach out and try and reassure him through physical contact if he was a friend of yours. But even though you were dating, you didn’t know if he would react nicely to that. So you kept to yourself.

“It’s nice to finally meet you properly,” Nancy called out, reaching across the table to rest her hand against your arm. Her skin was warm. “I’m sorry about… the other day.”

Steve turned to her clearly confused, and you answered before he could ask questions.

“Don’t worry about it. Hey, we have Math together, don’t we?” you asked instead, and Nancy nodded before going on a rampage about the Math teacher who was an absolute asshole.

She didn’t seem like a huge talker, but that was just one of your misconceptions about her that she went off on proving you wrong about. She seemed cold and distant, but she was actually really attentive and asked questions about you all lunch. She seemed uptight and annoying, but she was actually really funny and amusing. She seemed arrogant and presumptuous, but she was actually really down to earth and offered to help you with some English assignments in exchange for you to help her with some Math assignments.

She talked quietly and smoothly, and had witty remarks to every single comment her boyfriend made — not all of them were dumb, and not all of Nancy’s answers bordered on mean, but some of them certainly did. Steve didn’t seem to mind, though. He looked at her as if she hung the Sun all the way up in the sky. It was funny to see them side by side. They had a lot in common, physically. Top line, casual-chic clothing, elegant fabric softener smell, ironed to no faults. Sharp-edged jaws and expressive eyes, silk-smooth tongues and winning smiles, charisma all over.

That’s as far as it went, though.

Her nerdy comments went in through Steve’s left ear and out through his right. Jonathan laughed at them. Her journalistic eye caught onto little details that went unnoticed by her boyfriend. Jonathan noticed them with her. Steve smiled politely at Jonathan’s dry jokes, not always understanding them, but Nancy hid her laughs behind her wrist.

As if god was trying to show you that opposites attract, and if the devil was trying to give him a counterpoint of: no, actually, similars attract. All happening right in front of your skeptical eyes in the middle of school lunch, in between Science and PE.

Jonathan walked you to your next class after it was all over, and you were overwhelmed with how much you enjoyed Nancy Wheeler’s company. Which made it all extra difficult, since now you understood Jonathan’s infatuation with her.

“See you later,” he said his goodbye at the gym entrance.

A group of people walked past the two of you and Jonathan thought it was a good idea to land a kiss on your cheek. Your breath hitched and you didn’t have the time to say goodbye back before Jonathan was walking to the main building, to his own class.

Your cheek burned the whole day, and so did the hand you used to hold his through the hallways, and your heart ached with the thoughts on your mind of how much Jonathan and Nancy seemed meant to be, and how much you wish they weren’t.

-✧-

It was two whole weeks of that. Two whole weeks walking hand-in-hand with Jonathan and sitting with him, Nancy, and Steve at lunch. And sitting beside Nancy at the Math classes you shared, because she invited you to and you couldn’t say no.

And there was something about the three of them, something weird that they seemed to have in common. When they’d reminisce over something that happened around the time Will went missing, and they would stop and look at you mid-sentence sometimes, and one of them would suddenly change the subject.

You were curious, of course, it was part of your nature to be exceedingly curious at all times.

But they all seemed to hate to talk about it, even if they brought it up from time to time, and you seemed to recognize that constantly haunted look of Jonathan in his friends’ faces as well, and the look wasn’t as cute anymore.

So you didn’t pry.

Somewhere between the end of May and the beginning of June, Nancy and Steve asked you and Jonathan to go out with them on a double date, as if reading your mind for what could possibly be your worst nightmare, but again you couldn’t say no.

You might have picked your best outfit, and you might have done your hair more carefully than you usually did, and you might have put on an extra ring or necklace. And your parents might have noticed, and you might have lied and said you were going to a colleague’s birthday party and not on a double date to the movies and a restaurant with your weird fake boyfriend and his weird preppy friends.

Jonathan picked you up at seven sharp in his old Ford and he didn’t seem much different than usual outfit-wise, but he was definitely using cologne.

“You look nice,” he said as you entered the car and you tried not to swoon at the crumbs of his attention.

“You smell nice,” you answered, and it pleased you enough to see that blush of his creeping up his neck and cheeks.

Steve and Nancy were already there waiting under the marquee. Jonathan parked and the two of you left the car and went on your way to meet the other couple. Nancy greeted you with a tight hug. You wanted to throw yourself into oncoming traffic just as much as you wanted to stay in the unusual embrace for a long time.

“This is where your boyfriend gave me a taste of his amazing right hook,” Steve said to you, pointing at the little alley by the theater.

“Steve!” Nancy reprimanded, but it seemed like she was holding back a smile.

“What was all that about, anyway?” you asked, giving into your curiosity, eager for the whole story now that you could finally have it.

You forgot that dating Jonathan should probably mean that you’d know what it was all about already. He would’ve told the person he was dating, right? Thankfully no one seemed to notice your little slip.

“Jonathan was a bit of a creep, I was a huge of an asshole and Nancy sadly got caught in between us,” Steve answered honestly. “We’re all good now, though, aren’t we? All in the past.” He smiled at the other two, who nodded along and smiled back.

Jonathan and Nancy’s smiles didn’t seem as sincere as Steve’s. And that didn’t feel like the actual whole story, but again you didn’t pry because they were getting that weird haunted look.

Steve threw his arm over Nancy’s shoulder. “Let’s get some popcorn, my treat,” he said and started walking into the theater. Jonathan touched your lower back, guiding you, and you held back a sigh.

You were in for a long evening.

Indiana Jones conquered the Temple Of Doom, or whatever. You didn’t pay much attention, it was hard to with Jonathan’s arm draped over your shoulder the whole time and the whispered little comments he would make with Nancy — instead of you — through the film.

You went to a restaurant after, Nancy’s choice, not too far from the theater so you all walked there. Hand in hand again. Nancy and Steve behind you, talking about the movie. Jonathan tried to rile up a conversation about it with you — finally — but, as you hadn’t paid much attention, you didn’t have a lot to say.

Food was good and thankfully the topic of conversation wasn’t the movie, because you couldn’t pretend to have paid attention to it in front of the three of them at the same time. Instead, you talked about your summer plans. Well, mostly Steve’s summer plans, he was going on vacation with his parents, somewhere on the East Coast, maybe Hawaii? Nancy was just going to see her grandma for a couple of weeks up in Chicago. Your parents weren’t fans of travels, and Jonathan was… well, the guy was poor. So Steve’s plans were the most thrilling ones.

“Too bad your parents won’t wanna travel, you could have the house to yourselves,” Steve said with a smirk and a wiggle of his eyebrows.

You laughed loudly — mostly nervously — and Jonathan blushed. It was your usual responses at this point.

“Sure, yeah,” you said, if only not to leave a weird silence up, before looking at your wristwatch. “They’re very strict anyway, and look at that! I gotta be home soon,” you continued, and Jonathan coughed to hide a laugh.

“We should ask for the check,” he said and raised his hand to get the waiter’s attention.

That weird conversation was over, finally, and you paid for the dinner individually. By the grace of gods Steve didn’t comment on Jonathan not paying for you, since he paid for his own girlfriend, but he sure eyed you curiously as you handed your money.

“This was so nice, we should do it more often!” Nancy commented on your way back to the cars, her arm intertwined with yours as Steve and Jonathan steered behind. “It feels nice to have a normal friend after-” she stopped herself and her eyes widened, and she gulped loudly and didn’t finish her sentence.

You remembered Barb Holland, and her great English essays and her amazing grades in History, and her suspicious disappearance near Will’s back in November. How she supposedly ran away from home. How she didn’t seem at all like the type to do that.

Nancy was looking guilty and haunted, that look the three of them shared, and your curiosity was turning into apprehension of knowing what had happened. She let go of your arm, and she never finished her sentence. The boys also went quiet behind you. There was a weighted tension on top of the four of you.

You reached Steve’s bimmer and he touched Nancy’s arm to lead her to the passenger side, and she was still in a kind of haze as she waved goodbye from the window. Steve seemed worried, and so did Jonathan, but none of them said anything. And neither did you.

Jonathan took you home, one of his hipster band’s tape on the sound system, the stars out brightly and the most awkward of silences between the two of you.

There was no one out in your street to see you as he parked in your driveway, but he kissed your cheek goodbye all the same. And you held him tightly in a hug, wanting to comfort him even though you had no idea what haunted him. Crippling curiosity equal to a crippling fear, wishing for the truth and wishing to never having to find out the truth.

-✧-

You had two final weeks of school before Summer and the great excuse of having to finish your essays and projects to hide in the library and not have to talk to the trio that confused you more and more every day.

But still, sometimes Nancy would stop by and study with you. Always helpful, and kind, and nice. You never talked about that night. Sometimes she’d bring Steve with her, and she’d tutor him and they didn’t bother you, and it felt good to have the company.

Sometimes Jonathan would stop by. He’d bring you lunch, he’d bring you books, he’d bring you comfort. The warmth of his presence was addictive, reminding you of late freshman year and the Science project you built together. And you dreaded the day this would all end, he’d forget about you with Nancy Wheeler in his arms, and you’d be nothing but an embarrassing and funny story to maybe tell their grandkids.

You were able to escape them one single day, to retake your final picture for that History collage, the one you used to replace Jonathan’s love portrait. As the class to present the projects came up, you shared a knowing look with him when you noticed he also replaced Nancy’s love portrait on his own collage. A secret between you, him, and little red lamp lights. A secret neither of you talked about. Those were starting to grow.

“How cute that you two have so much in common, you even chose the same format for your projects! I love collages,” one of your colleagues said to you after class was over.

Jonathan was waiting beside your table for you to gather your stuff, and you felt your knees weaken at the way he smiled from the compliment, none of that blush anymore, a pinch of almost confidence. You couldn’t know if you loved it or hated it.

“Mine doesn’t look as good, though,” he answered, pointing at your pictures as if he wasn’t the professional photographer, and you weren’t just someone with a hobby.

“You’re both adorable,” the colleague said before leaving, Jonathan thanked her all nonchalant as if used to it by now.

And you couldn’t come up with any words throughout the whole conversation, your throat constricted with the need to tell her to shut up and tell Jonathan how you felt for him, beg him to let you go. It wasn’t fun anymore.

He didn’t let you scurry away to the library, no more excuses to do so since the History project was the last one, and he held your hand through the hallways, and he held your bag for you, and he sat so close to you at the table bench, while Nancy ranted on about her Spanish essay, that you could feel the heat of his thigh pressed against yours, but his eyes never left Nancy’s as she spoke.

It felt as if there was an elephant at each of your shoulders, and you couldn’t stop staring at him, and he didn’t spare a single glance your way even as his arm was almost glued to yours with the heat and the sweat and the stickiness of early Summer. Your heart tight in your chest, beating fast and loud and strong against your ribcage, as if begging to be let out, to go rest on Jonathan’s hands where it belonged.

-✧-

Summer came, and you stayed home. Not many friends to go out with, not many party invitations in your mailbox, no one else to see on a day-to-day basis except your parents. They asked about Jonathan once, because they saw him picking you up and bringing you back on that double date you had with Nancy and Steve. You said he was probably traveling, that you weren’t so close, you didn’t know, and they knew better not to ask again.

It was August already, a whole long month of Summer break where you’d missed him every day, missed his sweet smile, the way his blush would start by his neck and go up until it reached his cheeks, missed his calm and soothing tone of voice, missed the way he’d smell of pancakes and mint shampoo in the mornings.

Didn’t miss the way he would look at her.

But you missed her too, though. You missed Nancy’s company, and her sweet smile and her calm and soothing tone of voice. You even missed Steve and the way he’d compare everything to a basketball game, and how he high-fived you when Nancy quizzed him on the library and he’d get an answer right. In the weirdest turn of events, they became your friends. And you missed your friends.

Your body seemed to know how your brain thought and your heart ached, because when your father asked you to get groceries, your feet automatically walked further than needed and took you to Melvald’s on Main instead of the market near your house.

And of course he was there.

You knew he’d be there. He told you (and Nancy, and Steve, during that double date) he’d be taking a summer job with his mom, was dreading the tasks already but he could use the money.

He was stocking, standing in the cereal aisle seeming a little confused about where to put the Honeycomb and the Fruit Loops. And that same natural daylight from the outside reached him and made his skin glow, and there were no dirty windows between you two as you reached him without even noticing you had been walking towards him.

“Hey,” you called out, and he turned to you and smiled weirdly wide.

“Hi. Long time no see. How’s your summer?” he asked, putting down the cereal boxes.

You shrugged. “Nothing exciting. How’s Melvald’s treating you?”

“It’s not so hard. Not a big place,” he shrugged as well, and he was still smiling and he was taller than you so the sunlight behind you was hitting his eyes just right and your heart thumped.

“You’ve seen Nancy?” you asked because you liked to suffer, you’ve come to know. “She’s back from Chicago already?”

“Oh, I think she is. Will went to Mike’s yesterday, but I haven’t seen her, no.”

“Don’t you want to?” you pressed, because you weren’t suffering enough, apparently. He shot you a comically puzzled look before shrugging and smiling again.

“I guess? No more than I wanted to see you, though. Or, like, Steve, for that matter,” he answered and you huffed.

“Sure. Anyway, where’s the pasta sauce in here?” you changed the subject and he pointed towards a specific place.

You started walking without saying anything further and, to your surprise, he followed you.

“What, you didn’t miss me back?” he was teasing you, and it would’ve thrilled you just a few months ago how close you got to each other, and you would’ve reveled in any kind of attention he’d paid to you, but you just wanted to scream because it wasn’t fun anymore. It was painful.

You didn’t answer, because you wanted to tell him the truth, and tell him that yeah, you’ve missed him so much it ached, you’ve missed him so much you cried yourself to sleep once, you missed him so much and you couldn’t have him, he wasn’t yours, but you were his even if he didn’t know. Even if his eyes were never focused on you as yours were focused on him.

“C’mon, don’t go breaking my heart,” he teased again and you stopped abruptly right in front of the tomato sauce stand.

“Jonathan, please don’t do this,” you asked, voice wavering, and his smile dropped instantly at the sound of it.

“I’m sorry. What is it?” he asked earnestly, really had no idea, and you didn’t have it in you to be patient enough to spell it out for him.

“How long do we have to keep this up for?” you pleaded, turning to look at him. Your heart ached, your eyes burned, how could he not see it? How could he not see you? “We can just call it off now, yeah? We haven’t seen them yet, don’t even know if Steve’s back already, we can just say it happened over summer when they weren’t here.”

“What are you talking about?” he pushed the knife in deeper, your hands were shaking, you were almost begging for him to look at you, to see right through you so you wouldn’t have to say it out loud.

“Really, dude?” you asked loudly, saw his mom looking up from a magazine at the cashier counter to look at the two of you. “Our fake relationship thing? That amazing fucking plan of ours? It’s clearly not heading anywhere, Nancy and Steve are still together and she’s actually become my friend so it sucks to be in this position.” You gestured around you as if your mentioned friends would pop out of nowhere to your surprise. You were still loud, and you didn’t care. “Just do as I said that day, grow out some balls, and tell her the truth.”

Rich advice, coming from you.

Do as you say, don’t do as you do, or whatever.

You didn’t wait for an answer and forgot about the fucking sauce, and just started walking towards the store entrance so you could let all of this go and never have to deal with the ‘Jonathan Byers loves Nancy Wheeler and would do anything for her’ fiasco.

Joyce — Jonathan’s fucking mom, for Christ’s sake — called out to you as you stormed out of Melvald’s, you didn’t even know she knew your name, but you didn’t stop anyway. Not until there was a warm hand holding your arm, and you knew that hand by now, all its softness and its calluses, bends and curves and dents, and your heart was already broken but it somehow hurt and bled even more.

“Dude, please!” you begged again, and he was looking at you, searching for something in your eyes and yet he still couldn’t see it. Couldn’t see you.

“I’m sorry, what did I do? What can I do?”

“There’s nothing you can do, I think, just leave me alone,” you answered, and he let go of you and he seemed hurt by your words.

You walked back to your house and apologized to your dad for not bringing back his groceries, and he didn’t ask why when he saw your wet eyes. He made you tea, patted you on the head and you cried yourself to sleep again.

-✧-

“A friend of yours is here,” your mom said as you left the shower, three whole days after your (fight? Was it a fight?) encounter with Jonathan. “Waiting in your room,” she said.

It should have confused you, made you wonder. But it didn’t. You knew it was him. Who else would it be?

It was Nancy Wheeler.

Sitting on your bed, and her hair was shorter and her cheeks were a darker shade of pink than they were when you last saw her on the last day of school before Summer break.

“Hi?” you said or asked, and she smiled when she saw you were there.

Got up and walked towards you and hugged you tightly, you missed that hug, and her freshly cut hair smelled of something floral.

She pulled you by your hand until you two were sitting in your bed, side by side.

“I broke up with Steve. Jonathan told me everything,” she said, and your tiny broken heart still had some strength in it to break even further, shockingly.

“Uh, good for you, I guess?” You shrugged, not sure what she wanted you to say. “When’s the wedding?” you clouded your pain with humor because, when didn’t you?

“I just said I broke up with Steve, what wedding?”

“Yours and Jonathan’s?” Why were they so difficult? Oblivious. Why did they enjoy torturing you?

“No, listen,” she called your name as if you weren’t paying attention. “Jonathan told me everything. The whole deal, the whole plan, the whole picture, everything.”

It was a funny déjà-vu. There was a ringing in your ear that kind of popped before the world went abruptly silent. You could see Nancy in front of you, staring at you with a weird misplaced smile, waiting for your answer — what did she want you to answer, honestly? — but she was kind of blurry. It felt like years before you gathered just enough brain power to answer her.

“He. What.”

She giggled, and that made the world go back to normal inside your head, before she rolled her eyes with amusement.

“You two are so dense,” she said, still smiling. “I had to spell it out for him, and I kinda saw it coming, but not from you.”

“Nancy, for the love of all things holy, what are you talking about?” You held her hands in yours, and she looked at your hands held together for a second before looking into your eyes again to talk.

“You’re in love with him,” she answered, and you weren’t surprised that she knew.

“Fucking duh, he’s the only one who can’t see it.” She laughed, and her eyes twinkled.

“And he’s in love with you,” she completed, and it wasn’t funny anymore.

“No, he’s not.”

“You’re the only one who can’t see it,” she threw back at you and you rolled your eyes at her wit — you loved it so much.

“Nancy, he likes you. Literally how we got here in the first place.” You gestured around you as if she could see how miserable you’ve been lately without him, and without your study sessions and your lunches together as a group. “If not to get with him, why did you break up with Steve?” you asked.

“There is… a lot that held us together. Not just Steve and me, but us and Jonathan as well. And I was just using Steve as a crutch, trying to pretend everything was fine and normal, but it isn’t, and it isn’t fair to either of us. And I noticed all that thanks to you being my friend.”

You remembered the date — again — and the way Nancy recoiled to herself at the end of it, and your friends’ collective haunted guilty look, and Will Byers and how he came back, and Barb Holland and how she did not.

“Jonathan came to my house to talk, we got a little lost in the middle of it all but he knocked some sense into me, and I like to think I’ve knocked some sense into him back,” she said, and she was still so calm and collected, but she felt lighter somehow, and she never stopped smiling sweetly at you. “You should go check.”

It was all Nancy Wheeler's fault.

I mean, literally. Quite from the beginning. Because it was all about Nancy Wheeler, wasn't it? It was all because of Nancy Wheeler, it was all for Nancy Wheeler.

She convinced you to go talk to Jonathan, and at this point you trusted her so freely that you did just that. She convinced you to give him a chance, and you convinced yourself you were doing it because she asked you to, you were doing it for her and not for yourself or Jonathan. She was a very persuasive little lady, you’ve come to find out.

The street where the Byers lived was weird as fuck, and the forest surrounding it gave you the worst chills ever, but you kept your calm as you rode your bike all the way to the Byers’ front yard.

You knocked, and Jonathan answered. He seemed surprised to see you, and that blush of his creeped up from his neck to his cheeks and you fell for him again just then.

“Hi,” he said, still staring.

“Hi. Can we talk?” He shook his head, came back to himself, and opened the door to let you in. “Where’s your family?”

“Mom’s still at Melvald’s, Will’s at Mike’s,” he answered, and started going down the hallway, so you followed him.

His room looked, felt and smelled like him and it was both comforting and distressing to be surrounded by Jonathan in all senses. You were still scared of how this conversation would go.

He went digging through some stuff in his desk, and when he found it he walked closer to you where you were still standing awkwardly by the door. He handed you something, a picture.

“You called it ‘Nancy Wheeler love portrait’, that day at the train station park,” he said while you observed again Nancy’s profile in the photo. You had it memorized at this point, burned to the back of your eyelids. “It really was,” he continued and you shot him a puzzled look. “It was a love portrait, it was love I guess.”

He shrugged, and only then you noticed he was holding something behind his back. He moved his hand, brought it forward and you saw that it was another picture but you couldn’t see what it was about. He smiled down adoringly at it before handing it to you.

It was you.

A photo taken of your profile. You were sitting at a desk at the school library, in front of a window, the light from the outside encompassing you in a kind of godly aura, specks of dust flying around you and a big smile on your lips as you looked down at your hands resting on top of the table.

It was so similar. It was the same angle, the same lightning, the same pose. And yet it was so different from the Nancy Wheeler love portrait.

“Your own love portrait,” Jonathan said, voice almost a whisper, and you wanted to look at him and check if he was blushing the way his voice made it seem like he was, but you couldn’t take your eyes off the photo. “Steve and Nancy are out of frame, you were laughing at something he just said, so relaxed and happy around our friends you didn’t even notice me taking the picture like a weirdo.”

He softly touched your hand that was holding the picture, just the tips of his fingers, and they were enough to ignite a spark that made your whole body burn. You stared at that contact of your skins for the very few seconds they lasted before Jonathan pulled his arm back and continued talking.

“I got a little lost in the middle of it all, I think. Forgot there was a plan. Forgot why it all began. Forgot about Nancy, and all I could think about was you. How I wanted to see you again day after day, and hold your hand through the hallways on our way to lunch, and sit beside you at the cafeteria table. And take you on dates without Steve’s stupid comments, just you and me, and you’d laugh at my jokes ‘cause you always do. And to take more pictures of you. Take pictures with you. Just, do stuff together. All the time.

And I was so scared that you’d notice that change in me, notice how far gone for you I was. I didn’t want to spend time apart but I also couldn’t even look at you without wanting to kiss you so bad. I’d be glued to you at all times, hurt from wanting you so much, and yet I couldn’t let you go. Didn’t want to ask you to let me go.”

You finally looked at him and, yes, he was blushing. But he was so determined, so confident. You decided you loved it.

“Me and Nancy, we… got a past. Not even romantic, but, we’ve been through a lot and I’ll tell you all about it, but. I think you’ve always been there, ever since that Science project freshman year, you’ve been there on the sidelines, and when we started talking again because of our stupid plan, I realized how much I’ve missed you. And I didn’t care about the plan anymore, and I didn’t want it to end because I just wanted it to be real.”

It was unbelievable how much you recognized those words, as if you were saying them yourself. You couldn’t help but smile, and Jonathan smiled back at you, and you wanted to kiss his smile senseless.

So you did just that.

You held the pictures far from your bodies, because you didn’t want to damage them, and you threw your other arm around his neck. He hugged your waist close to him and you kissed his smile, and he kissed your smile back. He tasted of pancakes and maple syrup and coffee with cream no sugar, and you feasted on that meal as if it was your last. You let your fingers wander through his hair, and it was soft and it smelled of mint shampoo, and your senses were overwhelmed, surrounded by Jonathan in all senses and it felt like dying and going to heaven.

You kissed for a long time before your lungs ran out of air, and your lips separated but your foreheads were still touching. You handed the pictures back to Jonathan, and he took them with a confused expression. You fished something out of your back pocket, your wallet, and you fished something out of your wallet, a picture. You handed that to him too.

“Jonathan Byers love portrait,” you both said at the same time and laughed together.

You kept your picture of him and he kept your picture of you, and you held onto his face that was still blushing and warm and soft, and he kissed you for a long time. And the plan didn’t work out, not really, but it kinda did, and it was all Nancy Wheeler’s fault.

[freakymcnastys]

borderline. - chapter one [the chain]

━━ . ˚₊ ꒱ "where i couldn’t get away."

context: circa s2...so imagine s2 sam and dean

word count: 4.5k (i got carried away sorry)

THE WINCHESTERS HAD been searching for a new job for the past several days. Sam and Dina had been cooped up inside lousy motels while Dean ventured out searching for girls. Most days, Sam and Dina would fall asleep at the small dinner table and Dean would fall onto the nearest mattress he could find. But recently, Sam had been following a case out west; it was only a couple of hours out and Sam was tired of being locked up. So, he figured what the hell.

"Hey uhh there's this case happening in South Dakota and I wanna check it out..." Sam started, handing Dean a cup of coffee and Dina a glass of orange juice. Dean's eyes blinked slowly and Dina clapped her hands quietly; celebrating the idea of finally getting back on the job. "Well, Sammy do explain..." Dina teased, giving her attention to the boy.

Sam explained all the details about the killings and how they all said ‘an angel came to them’, oftentimes interrupting himself to feed ideas into his siblings’ heads about what to look out for when hunting. Dina seemed intrigued and poor Dean could barely stay awake. Dina agreed almost immediately, and after a little convincing, the Winchesters were packing up their bags and heading toward the Impala.

. . .

The drive had been the most memorable part of the trip so far. The Winchesters had been in South Dakota for almost 3 days and had found squat. Sam lay on the bed facing the ceiling and Dina was sitting on the couch looking through John's old notebook, hoping to find something...anything. "Dude, have you found something in there yet?" Dean mumbled, grabbing a beer from the fridge before sitting next to Dina and looking over at Sam.

Dina searched the pages for anything the trio hadn't seen yet. Dina and Sam had discussed earlier in the day what they thought this entity could have been so Dina was trying to find information about it inside the notebook. Dean wasn't paying attention when Dina began to speak, "Hey Sam come here..." In a moment of hope, Sam hopped up from the bed, walked over to the other side of Dina, and slumped over the couch to look at the initials Dina was pointing at. "Who's MC?" Dina questioned, looking up at the older boy for an answer. Dean looked over at the sudden question, trying to recall if John had introduced someone by those initials to him. "I've never heard of 'em..." Dean stated, shaking his head. "Look there's a number..." Sam pointed out, grabbing his phone from out of his pocket.

"Hey, this is MC...I can't come to the phone right now....leave a message."

Dina groaned loudly, clearly aggravated by their current situation. Dean got up and paced toward the small dinner table inside the motel. Sam looked over toward Dean. "Maybe Ellen knows?"

. . .

The bar was having an uneventful night. Ellen was making conversation with someone seated at the hightops when the phone rang. She quickly excused herself before grabbing the phone off the wooden pillar it was nailed to. "Harvelle's Roadhouse this is Ellen." Sam replied in a gentle tone, "Hey, Ellen..." Ellen's eyes light up almost instantly, smiling at the sound of Sam's voice. "Sam Winchester...what a surprise. How can I help you?" There was a slight pause. "Do you know who MC is? They're written down in Dad's notebook and we really...need some help right now."

A redhead poked her head up at the sight of Ellen's discomfort, she was intrigued. Ellen looked over at her before speaking, "Yeah that's Mike...Mike Cunningham..." Now the redhead was fully paying attention, the sudden mention of MC striking a nerve inside the girl. "Mike was...the best hunter John and I ever knew...he was a genius too. He passed a couple months ago."

On the other side of the phone, the Winchesters groaned.

"Oh that's terrible Ellen I'm so-"

 "It's ok, Sam."

Ellen looked over at the redhead, who had a sad frown on her face. Ellen gave her a warm smile before mouthing 'You want a job?' in her direction. She smiled, her red locks falling in front of her face. She took a final sip of her drink before giving Ellen a slow nod. "Hey Sam- I um... Mike's friend is here and I could send her over to ya. Only if you want."

Dean rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed with the idea of someone else joining them on a hunt, but before he could say anything Dina perched in. "Yes please!!"

Sam laughed and listened to Ellen ask some general questions about where they were staying and what names they had checked in under. Ellen had written them onto a napkin and handed them off to the girl before hanging up the phone. In an instant, the redhead was off the stool and heading for the door. "Hey!" Ellen yelled, causing the redhead to turn on the heels of her boots. "Don't scare 'em. They're just kids." The redhead let out a laugh and pushed some of her hair behind her ear. "I won't."

. . .

The Winchesters went to sleep hopeful and woke up in a haze. Dean seemed more reluctant about this mystery girl joining them and Dina had been bouncing off the walls since she had woken up. "Dina, would you slow down?" Dean questioned, annoyed as the three of them walked toward a nearby diner to get some breakfast. "I'm sorry I've never met a girl hunter before! I need a girlfriend to hang out with." Sam laughed and Dean rolled his eyes, "You heard what Ellen said it was one of his friends. She's probably some old lady..." Dina and Sam laughed in unison as they made their way into the small restaurant. 

While the Winchesters were enjoying their family breakfast Buffy pulled into the motel’s parking lot. The redhead parked her motorcycle beside the Impala, she assumed it was theirs. She grabbed her keys before making her way toward the motel clerk seated at the front desk. "Hi! I'm looking for my boyfriend Benedict Cain. He told me he was staying here with his brother and sister." The clerk, who had a cigarette sticking out of her mouth rolled her eyes and pointed toward one of the rooms. Buffy thanked her before strolling toward room 134. She leaned herself against the wood wall before lighting a cigarette for herself, awaiting the Winchesters.

Their breakfast had been enjoyable, but that feeling was slowly fading once Dean saw an unfamiliar woman standing beside their room. Sam noticed too, and pushed Dina behind them, she jumped up and could make out the faint smoke cloud coming from the woman's hand. The trio slowly made their way toward her, Dean was reaching for his gun as they walked. Buffy paid them no attention. Obviously she knew they were walking toward her and she tried to stay calm, excitement running through her veins. She took another puff of her cigarette before looking over at the trio, a small smile on her face. One of the boys started to speak, "Uhhh.." he seemed confused, why was a nice young woman standing in front of their door? She looked up at them and smiled wider, dropping the cigarette and stomping it out with her boot. "Sorry- I'm waiting on some friends. Let me get ou-"

Before Buffy could finish her sentence, Dean grabbed her arm harshly, pulling Buffy close before growling in her ear. "Who are you?" He questioned, his voice low and stern. "I'm a friend of Mike Cunningham. I think I have the wrong address so I'm going to leave you alone now." She pulled herself away from Dean calmly before turning back toward her motorcycle. The three Winchesters stood in awe, none of them saying a word as Buffy waltzed over to her ride and kicked herself onto the seat. Sam rushed after yelling "Wait!" As Buffy turned the key and started up the engine she looked up, a confused look on her face. "I'm sorry- we- we're the people you're looking for." Buffy laughed and quickly got off the motorcycle, "well why didn't you say so?" Buffy walked ahead of Sam, who turned back and watched the key to the motorcycle rotate clockwise, the vehicle slowly turning off. 

The group of four got into the motel room and nothing was said, not until the Winchesters sat down all together on the couch. "Wait so you are the friend Ellen was talking about?" Dean questioned, Dina nudged him playfully, rolling her eyes as the eldest sibling spoke. "Well...yeah I guess I'm the friend." Buffy stood in front of the TV, watching down as the Winchesters interrogated her. "Waitwaitwait...how old was this guy?" Dean questioned again, "Uhhh 52? Why is this relevant?" Buffy crossed her arms, "Cause Dean is wondering how some old guy got some hot chick like you-" Dean and Sam looked at Dina with horrified expressions on their faces. "Dina! You can't just say that!" Sam said in an angry tone. "Whattt you were both thinking it!" Dina argued back. "Woah ok guys let's chill out" Buffy spoke quietly, looking at everyone as she started playing with her hands. "Ellen wasn't really being truthful on the phone...Mike wasn't just a friend...He was my dad."

The room fell silent, nobody dared to say anything, Sam looked up at Buffy and frowned, he knew she wasn't fully over his death yet. "So, I'm Buffy...Cunningham. And you are the Winchesters." Buffy had an awkward expression on her face, she watched everyone process the information before she started speaking again. "Now- I know how tight-knit families of hunters are...so...all I'm here to do is help with the case and leave once it's over…" Buffy looked around the room while trying to avoid eye contact. "Why are you helping us...?" Dina questioned, a small smile plastered on her face. "Because I knew John...and he was really cool. My dad and your dad just... connected. So, I want to help out people who would've helped my dad." Buffy smiled at the group, and before they knew it, Sam started laying down all the information they had. 

“So it’s not a demon?” Buffy questioned, looking over at Sam who was still seated on the couch. “Yeah…no sulfur at the victim’s houses” Sam stated before looking up at Buffy, “you have any ideas?” he questioned, a gleam of hope in his eyes. “It could be a spirit playing God…sometimes spirits are too connected to their lives in the human realm that they don’t really wanna visit upstairs…” Buffy answered back, a strange expression now forming on Dean’s face. “Wait wait wait…a spirit? When did you start hunting…yesterday? Is that really all you can think of?” Sam shot Dean an angry expression, but he paid no attention to it. “Oh I’m sorry would you like something more creative? Like a magic fairy sprinkling murderous intentions onto these people?”  Buffy replied in an annoyed tone, clearly unamused with the snide comments flowing out of Dean’s mouth. “Well, aren’t you as sweet as a ray of sunshine…” Dean mumbled under his breath, clearly annoyed with the fact that this case was no longer a Winchester case. “I’m trying to help you Dean, I would be pretty miserable if I had been on a case for almost 4 fucking days and I hadn’t found anything that leads to the closing,” Dean grumbled angrily before looking back at Sam, who was frowning in disappointment. Once the interaction was over Buffy exited their room and strolled toward her room, and when the door shut she felt her hands indistinctively crawl to her head and pull strands of hair out of her scalp. 

… 

The next day Buffy and Dina went to the local library to pull up some records that could help with the case. When everyone was together again they learned some valuable information that could help identify the spirit pulling the strings on these people. They discovered that a priest had died just a week before the killings started happening, so they decided to pay a visit to the local house of worship to see if there was a grave nearby. “I’ll drive,” Dean said sternly, turning to face Buffy who was taking notes on a small piece of paper. “Looks like you’ll have to hitch a ride sweet thing,” Dean said in a sarcastic sad tone, Buffy huffed before grabbing her keys and strutting out the door. She walked toward her motorcycle before hopping on and shouting back at the Winchesters, “Teach your brother some manners!” 

When the Winchesters were on the road Dean started one of his lectures, “We will NOT work with her again.” he said seriously, watching Dina’s face crumble through his mirror. “C’mon Dean she’s fine! She’s helped us get some leads we were too dumb to find ourselves!” Sam said defensively, he watched Dean roll his eyes and press the gas pedal further down. “I don’t like her!” Dean practically yelled, Sam coiled back in his seat. “You don’t like her 'cause she makes you look less cool!” Dina spat back, Dean let out a chuckle before responding “No, Dina. I don’t like her 'cause I’ve got a bad feeling about her!” Dina rolled her eyes before making a sassy face in Dean’s direction, “You hate her 'cause she isn’t a Winchester! But we trust Ellen and if Dad knew her dad then she…can’t be all the bad, can she?” Dina questioned, leaving Dean mumbling curses as they pulled into the church’s parking lot.

Buffy leaned on the cement wall behind her, she watched the Impala pull into the parking lot and a wave of anxiety rushed through her as she watched Dean angrily stomp toward the church’s steps. When the group of four were all together they split into groups of two. Sam and Dean would talk to a priest while Dina and Buffy looked for the gravesite. As Dina and Buffy strolled to the basement of the church Dina couldn’t help but open her mouth, questions instantly slipping through her lips. “How old are you?” Dina questioned, watching as Buffy looked at headstones in search of the dead priest’s name “I’m 20…I’ll be 21 in a couple of months.” Buffy answered nonchalantly, unaware of the face Dina was making. “How long have you been hunting?” Dina asked, joining the search for the name as Buffy ventured further into the basement, “Since I can remember really… my Dad would take me on hunts when I was a baby and as I got older I started helping more.” 

“That means you’ve been hunting longer than my brother has!” Dina said excitedly

“Well don’t tell him, it might hurt his ego…” Buffy stated matter-of-factly, Dina let out a giggle…and Dean cleared his throat. 

“What might hurt my ego?” Dean questioned angrily, Buffy let out a sigh as she continued looking at the headstones, “That a girl has a longer hunting history than you.” Buffy said, tapping on the cold stone, this indicated that she had found the correct body. Dean let out a huff but before he could answer back Sam walked over to where Buffy was, nodding his head as he read the name plastered on the stone. “Let’s go, Buffy!” Dina said sweetly, clapping her hands as she strolled over toward the headstone. “We can come back tonight and burn his bones.” Sam stated, giving Buffy a quick pat on the back before turning toward Dean, “How about lunch?” 

The Winchesters took Buffy back to their motel room where they had some pizza and drinks. Dina sat in front of the TV clicking through channels while Dean, Sam, and Buffy sat conversing at the dinner table. “So Buffy do tell…” Dean started, taking another sip of his beer, “Did you ever meet our dad?” Buffy smiled lightly, tucking some hair behind her ear as she thought of an answer. “Yeah but only a couple of times, usually when my dad had to call for other hunters it meant bad news. I remember your mom a lot better than I remember him…she used to come over to my house and spend time with my mom when both of our dads were on hunting trips. You guys were there too but we never interacted I don’t think…” Sam seemed intrigued, “do you ever remember us interacting with each other?” Sam questioned, Buffy let out a laugh before taking a sip of her water, “God no. Dean wouldn’t let me talk to either of you…brotherly instinct I guess.” Buffy said bluntly, she watched Sam and Dean look at each other for a moment. “Have you always hunted? Like for a job?” Dina chimed in, walking over to the fridge to grab the carton of orange juice. “Ummm yeah, I guess, I mean I did other stuff too.” Dina’s eyes lit up and she pulled up a chair to join the conversation. “Oooo like what?” Dina asked, looking up at Buffy in awe. Dean rolled his eyes and Sam looked over at Buffy, letting her know he had her attention. “I went to college, I graduated this last semester, so when I was there I worked as a clerk at some store, you know…doing normal stuff” Buffy added, chuckling as Dina perched her head in the other girl's direction, “what did you study?” Sam’s eyes wandered back to Buffy, a certain itch knawed at his heart, he was entranced. “Oh! I majored in Folklore and History, and then I minored in literature. I guess I always knew I would follow in my dad’s footsteps so I studied things I knew would help me. Plus I could always become a teacher if I got tired of it.” Buffy smiled, and Dina smiled too, it was nice to see a female hunter achieving so many things she knew she would never do. “Oh that’s cool,” Sam butted in, giving Buffy a genuine smile before he started speaking again, “I was pre-law at Standford, I was gonna graduate but I got pulled into a case.” Buffy frowned, and she watched as Dean rolled his eyes. “So…Buffy…where did you go? Community college?” Dean questioned, taking another sip of his beer, Sam looked over at Dean with a horrified look, but all Buffy did was laugh. “Oh no no, I went to Harvard!” Buffy said cheerfully, she watched Dean look over at Sam, “Wait…Harvard Law School? Yeah right,” Dean scoffed and let out a chuckle, looking over at Sam. “What?…you’re like it’s hard to get into Harvard,” Buffy contested, turning her head over to Dean before running a hand through her hair. 

Dean rolled his eyes before looking at the clock hanging on the wall, clearly the conversation was over. “Hey cmon it’s late, let’s go catch this ghost before any more people die.” The eldest sibling said sternly, everyone lept from their seats and rushed toward the Impala. Dina and Dean got into the car but Sam stopped Buffy before she could exit the room, “I’m sorry about Dean he just-” Buffy smiled and let out a small laugh, “he doesn’t like me, I get it. No hard feelings baby boy” She smiled at Sam, clearly unfazed by Dean’s harsh remarks. He let out a nervous laugh before placing a hand on the back of his neck. “I’m- I’m glad you understand.” 

Before Buffy could reply Dean honked the horn inside the Impala, clearly annoyed with the fact they were wasting time. Buffy chuckled and patted Sam on the shoulder, “Let’s finish this!” Buffy said enthusiastically, smiling at Sam one more time before hopping onto her bike. Sam stood there dumbfounded for a second before rushing toward the car and jumping in. “Sooo I think Sammy likes her!” Dina playfully pointed out, shaking Sam’s shoulders from the backseat. All Sam could do was laugh. The drive was short, and before they knew it the group was breaking into the church basement. Buffy went first, rushing toward the small grave down the hall. “This is it,” she pointed out, taking a step back as the Winchester brothers started shoveling the small dirt hole. When Buffy turned around to look for Dina, she wasn’t there. Suddenly, a wave of nervousness washed over her. “Hey Dina isn’t here, I’m gonna go look for her…” Buffy trailed off, her heels clicking against the stone floor as she wandered into the depths of the basement. When her footsteps were no longer audible Sam let out a sigh, “Dean I want her to stay.” He said bluntly, watching Dean’s face contort only made Sam feel worse. “Sammy you only want her to stay 'cause you think she’s cute,” Dean stated in an angry tone. “No Dean! I want her to stay because I enjoy the company, you’re always gone when we aren’t hunting and she…she has no one else to go to! Please just for one more case!” Sam pleaded, clearly he wasn’t going to budge on the situation. “No Sam! This is a family! We are a family…Buffy Cunningham will never and I mean never be a part of this family!” Sam froze, and Dean continued digging dirt, clearly unfazed by the fact that Sam had stopped working. Dean scoffed as he heard Sam drop the shovel that was in his hand. “Fine. Do this case yourself.” Sam said in a monotone manner, stepping away from the grave and following in the direction Buffy had gone. 

Buffy had reached the end of the hallway where she saw Dina, seated on the floor as a towering priest stood ahead of her. “Please! I didn’t do anything!” Dina begged, tears welling in her eyes, the priest said nothing he just loomed over the girl. “Hey!” Buffy yelled, she watched the priest turn slowly, it was the man Dean and Sam were digging up just down the hall. “Get away from her!” She stated, stepping forward and reaching for her gun at the same time. “You’re disturbing my game you lowlife humans” The priest hissed, Buffy recoiled slowly, watching as the priest slowly turned in her direction. At this point, Dina had slowly crawled toward the back wall, watching Buffy stand one-to-one with the ghost. “You aren’t allowed to play your games anymore…” Buffy stated, reaching for her gun and quickly pointing it toward the ghost. “Ohh you think you’re scaring me…don’t you pretty girl?” The ghost said firmly, slowly walking toward Buffy, her gun pointing at him. “Well, I’ll have you know that I’m not afraid of some kids that think they can play God.” He stated in a creepy tone, as he moved closer to Buffy she stepped back, far enough to walk right into Sam, who had his salt-filled shotgun in hand. “We’re not the ones playing God, father…you are.”  

When Sam finished his sentence Buffy ducked down, and a loud bang followed as Sam fired one of the bullets straight into the ghost’s chest. Once the priest had disappeared Sam rushed toward Dina, who was curled up on the floor at this point. He slowly walked up to her and kneeled down, opening up his arms toward his younger sister. She let out a helpless sob, and for a moment Sam and Dina shared an embrace, Dina practically shrinking the moment she felt Sam’s arms wrap around her. Buffy sighed, before turning around to go and find the ghost again. She only had to wander for a minute before he appeared in front of her, “what a shame your little friend showed up before I could finish my chat with you.” He started, Buffy was unamused with his tone of voice. “Please what do we have to talk about?” She questioned, a small smirk plastered on her face. The priest stepped closer, but she didn’t move. The priest chuckled and reached his hand out to touch the girl, but she stayed unfazed. She heard Sam yell “Buffy!” from down the hall, but before the priest could reach her, he turned to ash and disappeared. Dina ran up to Buffy and shared a smile with her, before Dina could say anything Buffy cut her off, “Dina I’m so sorry I should’ve realized you were missing soo-” 

Before Buffy could finish Dina engulfed her in a hug, muttering “thank you” before squeezing the older girl tightly. Buffy smiled and watched Dean run down the hall with all their supplies. “Ok let’s go.” 

The drive was short, and everyone went to sleep without talking. Dean made sure Dina was ok before crawling into bed, but Sam stayed up late looking for a new case. Once he was satisfied with his research he fell asleep on the motel's couch. The next morning the Winchesters shared a small breakfast before packing up their bags and heading out to the Impala. They were almost done when Buffy exited her room with a suitcase in hand, she was clearly headed toward another case. “Were you gonna leave me without saying goodbye?” Buffy questioned, Sam let out a chuckle as he closed Baby’s trunk. “I may be a hunter but I remember my manners.” He said sweetly, Buffy let out a chuckle before giving Sam a small hug. “Thanks for everything Buffy,” Sam said sweetly, Buffy laughed, “Please I didn’t do anything.” Dina laughed through the open window of the Impala, “You saved my life!” The girl said sweetly, before smiling and giving Sam a thumbs up. Dean was sitting in the driver's seat, Buffy knew he wasn’t going to say goodbye. “Tell your brother I said bye,” Buffy said quietly, making her way toward her motorcycle. “Come with us.” 

Buffy froze and looked up at Sam with a strange expression. “Sam I’m not too keen on breaking my promises.” She said sweetly, smiling at the boy who was still standing in front of her. “There’s a case in Oklahoma we’re gonna go lead up on, I’d really like for you to come,” Sam said in a shy voice, a soft blush painted his cheeks. By this point, Buffy walked back over to him and put a hand to his cheek, “How could I deny you of what you want pretty boy, just make sure your brother doesn’t kill me.” Buffy gave Sam a sweet smile before getting onto her motorcycle, Sam smiled back and rushed toward the passenger side of the Impala, when he got in he had one thing to say, “just one more case, Dean.” Dina cheered from the back of the car and Dean mumbled, “I can’t believe I’m letting you do this.” Sam laughed and Dean turned the music on the radio louder. “Hey!” Buffy yelled, now banging on Dean’s window. “What?” Dean said in an angry tone, “The last one there pays for both the rooms.” Buffy smirked, before revving off onto the road. “Jesus Christ Sam, you picked a crazy” Dean murmured, but Sam was too busy watching Buffy ride off, her copper hair flying in the wind as she sped farther away from them. “Dean you’re letting her win!” and with that, Dean shifted gears and got onto the road, this was going to be a long hunt.

(OMGGG THE FIRST CHAPTER IS FINALLY DONE!! thank u sm for waiting on it, i hope ya'll love it <333)

love always, devina

[wibble-wobbegong]

What are your thoughts on the wild fluctuation of Mike's outfits in s2? He's either wearing his fancy ass collared argyle sweater OR a blue hoodie that's falling off one shoulder half the time

The juxtaposition always gets to me

OH MY GOD this was actually something me and @aemiron-main talked about once and i think his perspective differed a little but also was incredibly based so he’s getting @ ed in case he wants to jump in on this

this is something that happens every season, but mike’s clothes always tend to parallel ted’s. for the two outfits you’re talking about, here’s ted’s versions of them

same hoodie, same argyle print. there are a few key differences though

I know your original question was about the difference between mike’s outfits, but first i wanna look at each of them in relation to ted. at their base, both of these colors are light grays, arguably white, and white is a color a heavily associated with self acceptance or living the truth (think el at the end of s4 or nancy’s halloween outfit when she admits to not loving steve). both ted and mike are comfortable in who they are on some level this season. yes, mike is insecure as always, but he knows what his goals are and he’s strong in his relationships with the people around him. the first two seasons are mike at his most confident, and mike doesn’t hold back his emotions this season nearly as much as he does in the later ones. he’s not afraid of himself here. ted seems to be pretty okay with being the stalest man alive

so the difference? ted’s clothes are particularly plain in comparison. there’s nothing else adding to his personality, he’s mostly a blank slate. he’s the epitome of normal, which makes it easy to accept who he is. mike’s, however, maintain the pattern of horizontal stripes. we see it in pretty much all of his outfits in season 1 and 2. the costume designers talked about including triangles in robin’s s3 outfit to indicate queerness, but in my opinion there’s an even more obvious design choice that indicates queerness. stripes.

we see stripes in a lot of will’s outfits too, but an even more obvious example of this design choice are the scoops ahoy outfits

steve has horizontal stripes, but compared to robin?? the stripes go unnoticed in steve’s outfit, but robin is shoving the stripes in your face because they’re an important part of the outfit.

what does that mean for mike’s outfits? mike has self confidence, but there’s more to it than that. there’s also that indicator of queerness that greatly differs from ted. it’s directly showing us that mike is different from ted through the clear change in pattern.

the jacket itself also works as an indication of how open mike is being with his queer feelings. i’m of the belief that mike realized his feelings in s2, hence the repression kicking in during s3, and his jacket gives us a visual of mike slowly realizing his own feelings, unconsciously at first but by the time the jacket is open his feelings towards will become more and more obvious

the jacket slowly opens up, starting where you can barely see the shirt underneath, to it being more open at the top when he goes to the byers and it stays like that up until will goes to the hospital. we don’t really see mike’s jacket until the scene where will is trying to recall his memory. mike was probably starting to pick up on something here, considering we can literally see him getting shy about it, which we haven’t really seen from him before (crazy together wasn’t really shyness in the same way though there were soft smiles. mike was more entranced by will and feeling the warmth of no longer feeling alone than he was being shy like he is here)

even though he’s starting to question things, i don’t think he fully understands what he’s feeling till his shed monologue, which adds the half lighting we see in s3 and 4 in regards to mike’s romantic life

mike has one other outfit with this hoodie

his undershirt is the polar opposite of the one we see him wear with will. where his other shirt has a light under-color and blue and yellow stripes, this shirt has a much darker under-color and the the stripes are very thin, barely visible blue bands followed by prominent red and white. mike’s relationship with el in the way we last saw it (romantic) isn’t opening mike to being who he really is and we can barely see himself in these moments. a lot of his feelings for el are rooted in survivor’s guilt, feeling indebted to her, and grief. that small bit of white shows that some of his care for el is legitimate, but only on a deeper level; he cares for el at her core, but a lot of mike’s current perception is rooted in things that aren’t true to himself because he’s gay and isn’t actually romantically interested in el

but yeah! hope that makes sense!! i’m writing this during my psych class lmao

[aloneinthehellfire]

Chapter 9: Stuck On The Bench

Raining Hellfire: Season One | Season Two

Raining Hellfire: Season Two

Word Count: 3426 words

Warnings: swearing, mentions of death, illusions to possession, everyone ignoring mumma steve

[A/N: We're getting closer to the end of S2, let me know what you all want to see before the next season! I can promise now that Eddie will be making a comeback]

Stuck On The Bench

El was alive.

You couldn’t believe it. You assumed your eyes were deceiving you until Mike pushed past the group, pulling the girl into a tight hug.

“Is that…” Max questioned beside you, Lucas and Dustin nodding their heads as they looked on in bewilderment.

When you had been fighting off the Demogorgon with Nancy and Jonathan, the party had their own adventure. It turned out that the Demogorgon was only one of many and it was threatening their lives just as much as it threatened yours. El had used her power to send the monster back to the Upside Down, and it had taken her with it. To hear the news, to find the kids visiting you in hospital, heartbroken…

“Why didn’t you tell me you were there?” Mike questioned, teary eyed. “That you were okay?”

Before El could reply, Hopper stepped forward. “Because I wouldn’t let her.”

Mike stepped away in confusion but you just lowered your head. Of course Hopper knew about this. But you couldn’t blame him for keeping this a secret. At least now you know that El was safe.

“The hell is this? Where you been?” Hopper asks her, concern written across his face.

“Where have you been?” El responded but she was already hugging him.

You felt a pang in your heart to see the father-daughter relationship they shared. You never had that.

“You’ve been hiding her.” Mike says, quietly before raising his voice. “You’ve been hiding her this whole time!”

“Hey!” Hopper yells as Mike lashes out, grabbing his arm before he hits again, “Let’s talk. Alone.”

Hopper leads Mike into another room and leaves you all in stunned silence.

“So…” Dustin speaks, pursing his lips. “You’re alive.”

“We missed you.” Lucas says.

El smiles at him and Dustin before walking to them and pulling them both into a hug. You smile at the sight, especially with Lucas; he really did see her as a friend now, even after all the complications.

“I missed you, too.” She replies before pulling away. Something catches her eye behind them and her eyes lit up with joy. “Y/n?”

She looks to Steve who was currently blocking her view. You didn’t remember him moving in front of you. Steve clears his throat in realisation, lowering the arm that was still instinctively held out in front of you and he stepped away, crossing to the other side of the room.

El grins, running to you and you catch her in your arms.

“You’re okay.” You laugh, eyes swelling with happy tears. You thought you lost her.

“Hurt.” She frowns at your shoulder but you shake your head with a smile.

“I’m okay, too.” You notice her look, holding her at arm’s length. “You look so cool.”

“Cool?” She smiles when you nod.

“Obviously.” You laugh, “But you have always been cool.”

“We talked about you pretty much every day.” Dustin confesses, grinning. It catches El by surprise.

Without warning, El reaches her hand out and touches his mouth.

“You have teeth.” She simply says and Dustin’s face lit up.

“Oh? You like these pearls?” Dustin says before he makes a weird noise, practically purring. You could see everyone’s face scrunch with a mix of confusion and disgust. It was almost comical to see El so concerned.

“Eleven?” Max’s voice breaks through the party reunion and she steps towards her. You look between the two girls. Something felt… off.

“Hey. Um,” She holds her hand out to El, “I’m Max. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Rather than respond, El walks past her like she wasn’t even there, heading to Joyce and greeting the mother she never had.

You frown at the interaction before remembering the day you saw El stood outside of the gym. Max had been showing Mike her skating skills, trying to bond, trying to actually make a friend. The look on El’s face was one of hurt and anger. She saw her as a threat.

“Can I see him?” El’s whisper brought your attention to her, a small smile as Joyce strokes the girl’s hair.

Joyce shows her to Will’s room and you approach Max, wanting to comfort your sister.

“She’s not a big fan of new people. She’ll warm up to you, I’m sure.” You try but she shakes her head at you.

“It’s fine. Not like I’m in the stupid Party anyway.” Max mutters, pushing away and walking over to Lucas. You sigh, deciding it best to let her be.

“Hey.” Nancy appears next to you, finger pointing to your shoulder. “You okay?”

“I’m alive.” You say with a pathetic smile. It was all you could muster up at the moment.

“Sorry I couldn’t be there to help.” She looked nervous, fiddling with the sleeves of her jacket.

“It’s okay.” You suddenly laugh and she raises her brow. “Steve and I surprisingly didn’t kill eachother long enough to work as a team for once.”

“Now I’m really upset I missed it.” She smirked and you bumped her shoulder. Even with the smile, she seemed to sadden at the mention of Steve.

“Where’d you and Jonathan disappear to?”

“It’s…” Nancy sighs, looking to the boy, “I wanted to tell them the truth. Barb’s parents.”

“Did you?”

“Didn’t get the chance.” She shrugs, not saying much else. You wanted to question further but you rethink.

“Steve was worried about you.” You blurt, Nancy looking at you with a longing look, “Wouldn’t shut up about it.”

“Really?” She stole a glance at Steve who was currently swinging his bat around in boredom, accidentally hitting and denting one of the walls. You shook your head in amusement.

“Oh yeah.” You nod, pursing your lips. “Considered slamming my head into a wall for relief at one point.”

Nancy chuckles at your comment. It felt like old times, talking with her like this. But it was far from being like the past.

“You know…” You try to choose your words carefully. “You and Jonathan look like you make a great team.”

A blush creeps up her cheeks and she stumbles over a response. “We, uh- yeah, I guess. I just-”

“Nance.” You smile at her. You'd be damned if you had to watch this love triangle go on any longer. “Just… talk to him. You both deserve some relief.”

She looks at you with a puzzled but before she could respond, Hopper calls out.

“Okay, people. Let’s get a plan in order.”

You all follow his lead, crowding around a table to finally discuss how to close the gate into the Upside Down.

“It’s not like it was before.” Hopper sighs, “It’s grown. A lot. And I mean, that’s considering we can get in there. The place is crawling with those dogs.”

“Demo-dogs.” Dustin interrupts and you and Steve send eachother a look, rolling your eyes.

“I’m sorry, what?” Hopper makes the fatal mistake of questioning.

“I said, uh, demo-dogs. Like Demogorgon and dogs. You put them together, it sound pretty badass-”

“How is this important right now?” Hopper shakes his head and Dustin surrenders.

“It’s not. I’m sorry.” The boy turns away.

“I can do it.” Eleven’s words slice through the awkwardness, looking to Hopper.

“You’re not hearing me.” Hopper sighs and you lower your head. He cared about her.

“I’m hearing you.” She nods, stubborn. “I can do it.”

“Even if El can, there’s still another problem.” Mike cuts in, looking to you for some reason, “If the brain dies, the body dies.”

“I thought that was the whole point.” Max responds but you take a step back, everyone looking at you.

“It is, but if we’re really right about this…” Mike starts and you look back at the group.

“El will close the gate and kill the Mind Flayer’s army.” You say quietly, looking down at your hands. “Will…”

“Will’s a part of that army.” Lucas finishes and you nod solemnly.

“Closing the gate will kill him.” Mike confirms.

But your mind couldn’t help but bring up an earlier memory.

“Apparently, some sort of smoke was entering your mouth. Some particles or-”

“Dust.”

Susan had told you what your father had claimed. If he was right, you were in the same position as Will. But surely it couldn’t be true? Otherwise you would have been locked up with him, sedated. You'd be out of control. You'd be having... episodes...

Shit, you thought, stepping back from the impact of the realisation.

“He likes it cold.” Joyce finally speaks.

“What?” Hopper asks what’s on everyone’s mind.

“It’s what Will kept saying to me.” Joyce shares, “He likes it cold.”

She closes the window after leading you all to Will’s room. You tried to avoid looking at the small boy that lay on the bed.

“We keep giving it what it wants.”

“If this is a virus,” Nancy tries to piece a plan together, “and Will’s the host, then…”

“Then we need to make the host uninhabitable.” Jonathan finishes her train of thought.

“Heat.” You confirm, stroking your arm, “It hates the heat. Maybe it’ll kill it. Or, at least, force it out of his body.”

“We have to do it somewhere he doesn’t know this time.” Mike stresses.

“Yeah,” Dustin agrees, “Somewhere far away.”

“I know the place.” Hopper says after a minute of contemplation.

And just like that, a plan was put into place. But it meant you were all going to have to split up.

You help Nancy and Steve rummage around for anything that could produce heat, pulling out pieces from a pile in the dim light of the moon.

“You should go with him.”

You look up at Steve’s words. But he wasn’t talking to you. His eyes were on Nancy. Quickly, you moved away to give them some privacy.

“What?” Nancy sends him a confused look, moving around different parts.

“With Jonathan.” He says with so much confidence you almost stumbled. Not because it was an unimaginable response, but because all Steve had talked about was getting Nancy away from Jonathan.

“No, I’m…” Nancy shakes her head, clearing her throat. “I’m not just gonna leave Mike.”

“No one’s leaving anyone.” Steve shrugs, walking to her.

“I’ll look after him.” You spoke, catching her attention. “You know I will.”

“And me.” Steve nodded. Nancy looked to him with furrowed brows. “I may be a pretty shitty boyfriend, but… turns out I’m actually a pretty damn good babysitter.”

Nancy just stares at the boy currently studying a portable heater. You cough, wanting to help Steve’s case.

“It’s true.” You confirm. Steve sends you a look and you frantically shake your head. “About the last part. I- I don’t know about the first, I mean that’s for you two to, uh…”

You spin around, holding your hand in the air like you just heard something.

“What? Um, I think Dustin’s... calling me. Bye.” You quickly walked away, hearing Steve chuckle at the sight.

“You promise?” You overhear Mike talking and walk over, curiosity taking over.

He was stood with El, eyes ridden with worry.

“Promise.” She smiles and you feel a wave of deja-vu wash straight over you.

You’re about to walk over when they suddenly lean toward eachother. You stop in your tracks. They were definitely going to kiss.

What’s with the couples tonight? you wonder, searching for something to distract yourself.

“El…” Hopper calls out and you sigh in relief. “Come on, let’s go. It’s time.”

From the corner of your eye, you saw Steve walking to join your side, staring at the vehicles in front of you. In the next second, Nancy made an appearance. She sent you a small wave and headed to Jonathan’s car, sliding in to the passenger seat.

You quickly turned to Steve, expecting some sort of reaction. But his face gave nothing away. Instead, he gave a quick nod and a small smile towards the car and you felt proud of him. It was sad, but you were still proud. You knew that he was done fighting for something that would never work.

Hopper and El hopped into his truck. The girl waved and you returned the action, smiling. You watched as they left, heading to the lab to hopefully close the gate for good.

The Byers and Nancy pulled out of the driveway, heading to Hopper’s cabin to try and rid Will of the mind flayer’s virus. You kept silently praying that the plan would work, that Will would be free again to live a normal life.

You were hoping that this plan wouldn't kill you too.

Once they were gone, it left you and Steve standing in front of the porch. The kids were all crowded behind you.

“Babysitting…” Steve broke the silence, glancing back at the four currently entering the house, “… it’s easy, right?”

You tighten your lips, meeting his eyes.

“Right?” He tries again.

You just laugh, walking back inside the house while Steve muttered curses to himself.

Max joined you, sending a smile your way as she sat down next to Lucas. He immediately straightened in his seat, a grin across his lips as he looked at your sister adoringly. You silently raise your eyebrows.

Max sent you a warning look and you surrendered with your hands, chuckling as you walk away and headed to the kitchen.

Which, as it turns out, was a bigger source of entertainment.

“It should fit now.” Dustin demands after emptying out the fridge and ridding it of shelves. You stifle a laugh when you notice Steve looking to the boy with irritation.

He was also holding the dead demo-dog wrapped in a blanket.

“Is this really necessary?” He asked, doing everything to avoid looking at the creature in his arms.

“Yes, it is, okay?” Dustin raised his voice. “This is a ground-breaking scientific discovery. We can’t just bury it like some common mammal, okay? It’s not a dog.”

“All right, all right.” Steve sighed and he walked towards the refrigerator.

You slowly step forward, crossing your arms as you watched the boys trying to shove the dead demo-dog into a freezer.

It was a long effort but you kept staring in amusement, waiting until they finally succeeded and slammed the door shut with a sigh. Steve ruffled Dustin’s hat.

“Don’t tell anyone until we-” Dustin span on his heels, coming face to face with you and he squealed, “Jesus! Do you just float or something, how are you so quiet?”

“I’m actually an assassin.” You deadpan. Dustin widened his eyes at your response. He never caught on to your sarcasm.

“I’ll be honest… that wouldn’t surprise me.” Steve nodded, shrugging when Dustin sent him a look, “What? She’s scary, man.”

You flashed a smile at Steve, turning around just in time to hear Mike’s panicked voice echo across the house.

“That lab is swarming with hundreds of those dogs!”

Curious, the three of you walked over to where Mike stood with Lucas and Max. Max sent you a sarcastic look, making you laugh.

“Demo-dogs!” Dustin corrected. You and Steve groan in response.

“The Chief will take care of her.” Lucas comforted but it did nothing to Mike’s impatient state.

“Like she needs protection.” Max says and you point at her, nodding.

“Exactly.” You agree, tilting your head to meet Mike’s eyes. He softened a little as you put your hand on his shoulder. “She’s more than capable of looking after herself.”

“Listen, dude,” Steve joined in, hands on hip, “A coach calls a play in a game, bottom line, you execute it. All right?”

Everyone blankly stares at him.

“Dude.” You mock, “Read the room. These are nerds.”

“It’s true.” Dustin agrees, smiling. “Even Y/n.”

“Hey-” You protest but Mike interrupts.

“Okay, first of all, this isn’t some stupid sports game. And second, we’re not even in the game. We’re on the bench.”

Steve stammers, staring at you for a response but you just shrug. Even you didn’t realise they knew sports better than you thought.

“So, my point is…” Steve starts, trailing off with a squint of his eyes. You all stare, waiting. “Right, yeah, we’re on the bench, so, uh, there’s nothing we can do.”

“That’s not entirely true.” Dustin comments, “I mean, these demo-dogs, the have a hive mind. When they ran away from the bus, they were called away.”

Lucas nods. “If we get there attention…”

“Maybe we can draw them from the lab.” Max concludes.

“Clear a path to the gate.” Mike confirms, looking to you for any objections.

“Yeah and then we all die!” Steve raises his voice.

“That’s one point of view.” Dustin raises his brow and you laugh.

“Yeah, Harrington, that’s not very half glass full of you.”

“No,” He sends you an annoyed look, “That’s not a point of view. That’s a fact.”

In the small argument, Mike had been wandering around, focused on Will’s drawings currently mapped around the house.

“I got it!” He called out and you rush over, “This is where the Chief dug his hole. This is our way into the tunnel. So…”

He runs to the next drawing. You all follow.

“Here, right here. This is like a hub. So you got all the tunnels feeding in here.”

“It’s a weak spot.” You say, staring at the map.

“Exactly. Maybe if we set this on fire…” Mike wonders and Steve lets out a loud sound of disapproval.

“Oh, yeah? That’s a no.” He objects but you all ignore him, continuing to create a plan.

“Hey! Hey! Hey! This is not happening!” Steve yells and the kids start to complain. “No buts! I promised to keep you shitheads safe and that’s exactly what I plan on. You answer to me and Y/n and we say no!”

You stay silent, looking around to avoid his eyes. You pick up a nearby book, pretending to inspect the cover intently.

“Right? Y/n?” He looks at you, waiting for an answer.

“Hm, what?” You spin around, looking dumbfounded, “Did you say something?”

You didn’t want to explicitly disagree with his authority in front of the kids. He saw right through you.

“No. Absolutely not.” Steve runs a hand through his hair in frustration, “We’re staying on the bench… does everybody understand that?”

“This isn’t a stupid sports game!” Mike shouts back but Steve stays determined.

“I said, does everybody understand that? I need a yes.”

“No.” You smile and Steve groans at you.

“You’re a little shit, you know that?” He comments.

“I prefer ‘stunning and gorgeous’ but you can say that however you like.” You smirk. You loved messing with him.

A car engine revs outside, ruining Steve’s chance to reply. Everyone runs over to the window and you sigh, waving your arms. They were never good at being discrete.

“It’s my brother.” Max gasps and you shudder. You weren’t ever going to get used to that, even if you were possibly adopted. “He can’t know I’m here. He’ll kill me. He’ll kill us.”

Max turns to you with wide eyes for that last part and your breath hitches. There was only one thing for you to do; protect the kids.

“Leave it to me.” You say, dropping the book in your hand and heading to the front door.

“No, no, no, no.” Steve tries to grab your arm but you moved fast. “Hey!”

“Yes, Steve?” You turn, pulling on a jacket to hide your bandaged shoulder.

“Why- what-” He struggled to speak, frantically shaking his head, “Do you remember nothing from Tina’s party?”

“He was drunk.” You pulled the hairband from your hair, letting the strands fall loosely down.

“So?!”

“So… I can’t handle drunk Billy.” You shrug, checking your face in the mirror. “But I can handle sober Billy. Believe me, I’m a pro.”

“Oh, and what are you gonna do, huh?” Steve rests his hands on his hips, stepping in front of the exit. “Seduce him into leaving?”

It was meant as a joke but when you looked to him without expression, his eyes widened.

You flip your hair, gaining volume before shifting your shirt to make sure your chest looked more elevated. You needed to give Billy a distraction.

“All of you.” You point to the kids and motioned for Steve to move out of the way. “Stay out of sight. I mean it.”

Steve just stares for a moment until he snaps back into reality. “Y/n!”

“Steve!” You mimic, hand already on the door knob, “Leave it, okay? If I have to get in that fucking car with him to protect these kids then so help me, I will. And you’re not changing my mind.”

You turn the knob, stopping to look back at him. “Keep them safe.”

You leave the house, not waiting for a response. Closing the door behind you, you act as if you were just leaving. You were about to put on one hell of an acting experience.

Chapter 10: Babysitting Was Never Meant To Be Easy ->

taglist: @gnnnne / @beepisbeep / @paintballkid711/ @eddiesbirdie/ @livasaurasrex/ @darktimelegends / @jackierose902109 / @mvrylee

[kiirotoao]

Can we talk about Mileven for a minute. Another reason I don't buy their romantic relationship is the fact that most of their one on ones as a romantic couple (S3) are comedic and not very serious. Where are the deep conversations and when are we ever shown how much they understand each other... post (S2). It's almost like once they started dating they became a joke? Yes they have a few sweet moments but it's also scripted to be laughable. (S4) never showed them having a honest deep convo resolving issues and growing romantically. It could happen in (S5) but at this point I don't see the emotional romantic draw.

And then there is Byler to compare it to, where most of their one on ones are much much more serious, deep, heartfelt, with actual evidence of understanding and talks involving their feelings (which Mike seems to not have an issue with unlike his plot in S4 with El). This, mind you, happens to some degree in every season with Will. If Mike just sees Will as his best friend, why is he so serious about Will especially alone together. Even best friends are more casual then this.

Also a side note. The (S3) Mileven straight stereotype of the 'lazy, lying, clueless boy' dating the 'girl who is playing hard to get to teach her boyfriend a lesson' troupe is icky and makes me want El to find her power solo and Mike to remember that the old Mike (who has a special will voice) is a much better person and boyfriend. Thoughts?

Damn! Well said, dear anon!! I couldn’t agree more.

To anyone who says anything along the lines of ‘oh, Mleven can’t be broken up, they’ve been building up this whole time!’ Or ‘here’s the slow burn everyone wanted,’ or ‘Mike and El have grown so much even after fighting,’ I really don’t understand how any of that is founded. I totally agree and I feel like their relationship has been rather unserious. Even in the most serious love-centered topics of support (s1), connection (s2), breakups (s3), and expression (s4), it’s really interesting to me how their relationship has consistently lacked depth.

Despite dealing with some of the most important aspects of strong relationships, they aren’t close enough to showing, providing, or proving to have one. Mike supports El in season 1 as she does him, protecting and aiding each other with their strengths. But… so does everyone in that season to each other? The only difference is that Mike sheltered El which is very sweet, but not inherently romantic.

Then there’s season 2, which I must confess - I think that their reunion scene at the end of the season remains one of the sweetest moments on the show. Ever. It’s raw and emotional, and this was the closest thing we got to something romantic. But what shoots it down is the fact that their emotion was due to forced separation and Mike’s very real complex grief which gets completely glossed over in the show. So, I don’t know. It’s tricky. So are they romantic yet? They get virtually no time together. It’s a no for me.

And oh yeah, season 3 was the peak of unserious-ness. I also don’t enjoy that trope of ‘the boy chasing the girl who just doesn’t get it yet and she snubs him until the very end’ kind of energy. I swear that that stuff is littered in family-friendly movies usually as comedic relief, and Mike and El just barely made that trope more serious at the very least. Their breakup is dramatized and humorous, and the way that it’s mended still makes me chuckle. Mike offers her M&Ms, compliments her looks, they smile at each other, and suddenly they’re all good again? Yeah, that’s not very clear romance to me. All season long, they keep resisting each other. Mike lashes out to everyone and declares that he loves El but can’t say it to her face, and El has Max’s words tattooed on her heart that she keeps asserting that she deserves trust. The two just don’t quite reach each other that season. The second that I heard Hopper say that they’ve only been kissing all Summer long without complaining about them talking, I knew that I was not going to be invested in their relationship this season.

And so season 4 was truly the nail in the coffin, the final turning point. They’re not only shallow in making up, they’re shallow in being together. El isn’t honest with Mike about her time in Lenora, how she’s spent it, the people she’s met, the fun she’s truly having. Mike snaps about Will being disinterested, so it’s pretty clear that he was dishonest about his true feelings that day, too. And the most telling part is that he’s not mad at El. He’s mad at Will.

I think that what the writers have done is craft something so deeply intricate and hidden with Mike and Will to the point of confusion in much of the audience today. Will has always been a buffer of affection for Mike. In season 1 he’s the one they’re searching for. In season 2, he’s the one that Mike protects. In season 3, he’s the true breakup that Mike fights for. In season 4, he’s the listening ear and bleeding heart that Mike relies on. Their love only gets stronger and stronger whereas Mike and El are simply loving under the guise of physical closeness. I seriously think that that’s all that they have for each other.

That hug sequence at the end of season 4 really shocked me, because when I saw Mike and El hugging (not to mention that shot with Will right between them) I thought that it was sweet, but then suddenly Will and El are hugging, the siblings who are absolutely platonic, and it felt more emotional than Mike and El’s embrace. So not only are Mike and El visually equated to a platonic relationship, but their bond doesn’t even hold the same weight as the sibling-hood of Will and El.

It’s just wild to me that people don’t see it. I think that Byler is made abundantly clear for us to root for. The crazy together scene did it for me the first time I saw it. It was and still is one of my favorite scenes ever because it’s the total package. Closeness? Check. Honesty? Check. Hurt/comfort? Check. Matching, nerdy Halloween outfits? Check. The lack of anyone or anything else to distract them? Check. The crazy together scene is a marker of their relationship, and it never, ever dies.

Even though they fight, where are they years later? They’ve gone through supernatural and personal troubles together, and they’re still by each other’s side. “Friends. Best friends.” The same at heart. They promise to support each other, they reconnect, they come back from every breakup, and they readily express things on their minds and hearts. They’re there for each other and tell each other things that no other boys in the party have told each other.

Mike and El try to understand each other, they do, and sometimes it’s just trying that’s enough, but on a truly intimate level, that’s bullshit. Mike and Will have everything that they need and want for each other, and there’s no going through hoops to get it besides internalized homophobia. Which I very well think can be reasonably addressed next season.

So yep. Byler is endgame.