#time loop Stobin

[sp0o0kylights]

If there are two stranger things scenarios I will NEVER tire of it is

1) drugged Stobin at Starcourt crashing into Eddie/Hellfire/Hopper literally anybody but the kids

And

2) Hellfire having a totally average 80s sitcom style day as The Nerdy Kids until Steve and the plot come crashing in at Mach 40.

[hbyrde36]

Times Like These (The Anniversary Edition)

CH 1 CH 2 Ch 3 Ch 4 Ch5 Ch 6 Ch 7 Ch 8 Ch 9 Ch 10

Chapter 11: Broken

WC: 4999 | AO3 link

The house was a flurry of activity, with everyone rushing around to make their final preparations as the clock ticked down to dusk when they would set off for Benny’s to put their plan into motion one last time. 

At least Eddie hoped this would be the last time. 

He didn’t see Steve again until they arrived at the old abandoned burger place and started unloading the sound system, speakers, and wire from the back of his van, stacking it all near the gate that led to the Upside Down. 

Hopper and Nancy stood guard with weapons drawn as he and Steve traversed back and forth into the other dimension, making sure everything was set up and ready to go for Robin and Chrissy to provide the distraction that would draw the bats away from Vecna’s lair.

They stole sideways glances at each other as they worked, not speaking or even properly making eye contact until El pulled them both aside to talk.

“It does not change much from your side of things, but I wanted to explain. I will not be piggybacking into Eddie’s mind. I will wait until Henry is distracted and go into his mind directly.”

Eddie tilted his head, impressed. It was a good idea to change tactics. “Like sneaking in the back door while he’s looking out the front. Okay, yeah, I get it.”

“Yes!” She agreed brightly. “Since he has seen in your mind and has an idea of our plan he will be looking for me in your memories, while I will be sneaking in through his.”

“So what do you need me to do?”

“You still need to think of some happy memories to hide in. The longer you keep him busy, the more time I have to get close before he realizes. The important thing is, you must keep moving, do not let him get too close. I will not be looking for you, so you will be on your own. Jonathan will signal Joyce again with the flashlight when it is time for Steve to pull you out.”

She held Eddie’s gaze firmly until he nodded his understanding, then turned to Steve. “But—If he starts to float, do not wait. Pull him out right away.”

Steve dipped his chin. “I will.” 

“What if you need more time?” Eddie asked. 

“I won’t.” She insisted, her tone leaving no room for argument.

All too soon it was time to separate, the goodbyes and good lucks a bit more somber this time around without the rest of the kids there to witness it.

Hopper gave Eddie an unexpected pat on the back before walking off with Joyce to share a private moment by the cars. Jonathan shook his hand, while Nancy gave him a warm smile and a squeeze on the arm before the two of them wandered off as well, keeping an eye on El while she waited for her dad.  

Robin was the next to approach, pulling him into a surprisingly tight hug, and whispering a quiet “good luck” before giving up her place to Chrissy and making her way over to where Steve stood.

Chrissy took him into her arms, rocking them side to side as she buried her face in his chest. He squeezed his eyes shut, breathing her in as he held her back, this precious girl, the only constant he’d really allowed himself to have this go around. She whispered soft words of encouragement to him, making him promise to stay safe while he did the same to her.

When they finally broke apart he found himself staring over her shoulder at the place where he and Steve had shared their own emotional goodbye in the last loop, the moment everything had changed, when he’d been cradled so gently in the other boy’s arms. 

It was the same spot where Steve stood now, holding Robin this time, as they too made quiet promises to each other to be careful, where he gave her his baby, his precious nail bat to protect herself with, because weapons would be of no use to him where they were going, wouldn’t help if and when Eddie started to float. 

“Remember, no matter what happens, one way or another I’ll see you on the other side.” Chrissy said, drawing his attention back.

He tried to smile at her, to nod, but the pit in his stomach wouldn’t allow for much more than a twitch of his upper lip. He took her hand instead, squeezed it. 

“See you on the other side, Chris.”

He looked up again to find Steve’s eyes on him now too, and they walked together in silence to Steve’s car, Joyce already waiting for them in the passenger seat. 

Eddie did his best to clear his head on the way to the Creel house, staring out the window as he cataloged the happiest moments of his life, pretending not to notice the way Steve kept trying to catch his eye in the rear view mirror.

To be extra safe, they parked Steve’s BMW behind the dilapidated house where it couldn't be seen from the street. There was no reason to think Jason would be out looking for them this time, but they were taking no risks. 

Before they parted in the front yard, her for the jungle gym across the street, and them for the attic where they suspected Vecna would be lurking on the other side, Joyce faced them both and smiled.  

“You can do this honey, I know you can,” she said, cupping Eddie’s cheek with one hand before doing the same to Steve with her other. “Take care of each other up there. I’ll come check on you after the final signal.”

-

Eddie could feel Steve's gaze on him again, the weight of it heavy, as they held their lamps aloft and carefully climbed the stairs to the attic. They had to be as quiet as possible, so as not to draw Vecna’s attention before the others were ready.

They took up positions by a window, leaning against the wall on either side of it so they could see out to where Joyce was waiting to signal them, and after a moment of eerie silence, where they could hear nothing but the barest of sounds emanating from both of their headphones, Steve pulled a notebook and pen out of the inner pocket of his jacket, scribbling something on it quickly before holding it out to Eddie.

Scared?

Eddie made no move to take the pad out of his hand, only stared down at the single word inked there in stark black on the white page. He swallowed hard, shrugging as he looked away from Steve’s penetrating stare. 

Of course he was scared, he wanted to say. He was fucking terrified. 

That their plan wouldn’t work—that it would. 

That he’d die and it would all start over again—that he’d die and it wouldn’t, no more 1ups, game over.

Steve pulled the notebook back to himself, flipped to a fresh page and wrote again, shoving both the pad and pen forcibly into Eddie’s hands, as if to say he wouldn’t take silence for an answer this time. 

Why didn’t you want me here?

Though they were more than fair, the words stung to see. 

God—Eddie had really fucked up, hadn’t he? And it wasn’t like this was the first time it occurred to him that he’d handled things badly this time around, he was well aware, but it was hitting him hard now as Steve stared at him, looking so hurt and angry. 

But what could he do? They were out of time for confessions or explanations. 

Eddie wrote back, knowing his short apology was entirely inadequate, but it was all he could offer under the current circumstances. 

I'm sorry, It’s complicated. 

Steve read the note with a clenched jaw, shaking his head.

The signal came then, three flashes through the window from Joyce, and Eddie was officially out of time. He met Steve’s wounded gaze and wished he’d been brave enough to do it all differently. 

At that moment Eddie made up his mind, and maybe it was a little—or a lot—too late, but he decided this was it, it was going to work this time. He could do this, El could do this, they could all do this. And when it was over he would tell Steve everything—all of it. From what they’d been to each other once—what he’d hoped they’d been at least—to how he felt about him now. He would hold nothing back, and whatever would be, would be. At least then he could say he’d tried.

Steve started to tuck the notepad away but Eddie reached out to grip his wrist, stopping him, and gently pried it out of his hand, jotting his last words down as quickly as he could. 

He pressed the pad of paper back into Steve’s grip, holding it for a few beats longer than necessary, letting their touch linger as he looked deep into Steve’s eyes one last time, pleading with him to understand. 

I AM sorry. Talk later? Let me explain?

Steve pursed his lips, face softening slightly as he took the words in. 

Suddenly there was another flash on the window, Joyce signaling them again with her light. They needed to hurry. 

Eddie gave Steve a sad smile, wordlessly removing his headphones and handing them over along with the Walkman he unclipped from his belt. He turned, feeling safe with Steve at his back and looked up into the rafters—could almost picture Vecna hanging there by all his tentacle-like vines in the other dimension.  

“Okay asshole, I’m here—no music. You win. I give up.”

Eddie waited—thirty seconds, a minute—to see if anything would happen, but of course it wouldn’t be that easy. 

It was always going to be a long shot, making Vecna believe he was actually here surrendering. The enemy knew their plan, had seen it play out in different ways through Eddie’s own memories. If he was going to pull this off, he’d really have to sell it.

He took a deep breath and opened himself wide, letting the pain he’d been collecting like rain water fill his heart to spread throughout his chest, running through his veins like a raging river. All those things he’d tried to push down, and hold back, and sure, they’d spilled over once or twice over the course of days but now he let it flow freely. He thought about it all—the terror of seeing Chrissy succumb not once, not twice, but three times on his watch. He recalled his own deaths too, how he’d known on some level exactly what end he was sentencing himself to when he’d cut the rope, leaving Dustin safely behind as he went to lead the bats away. 

He remembered every moment of failure from the first loop to this one in vivid detail.

And Steve. 

He thought of Steve, and let Dustin’s voice fill his head again, weakly crying out, He’s gone.

Eddie sniffled, choking back tears as he took a few shaking steps forward, closer to where Vecna should be, and away from his heart, dragging his feet through the thick coating of dust on the old wood floor. 

“I thought about what you said, about this being my fate?” His voice, though hollow and ruined, was loud in the unnatural silence of the room. 

“You were right—” He shook his head, dropping his voice low, almost a whisper. “Of course you were right. I’m no hero. I can’t save anyone—I can’t even save myself.”

There was a shuffling behind him as Steve moved. Eddie didn't turn to see but he could feel the other boy getting closer and held out a hand to ward him off. The movement stopped immediately.

Eddie hung his head, listening, standing stock-still as seconds gave way to minutes, and still nothing. 

Panic began to set in. Their whole plan was hinging on this, it all fell apart if he didn’t get Vecna on the hook.

“Come on goddammit!” He shouted, kicking an old coffee can full of nails clear across the room with a loud clatter. “You offered to end my suffering and I want–I want out… whatever it takes. I just want it to be over!”

One deep breath.

Two. 

“What are you waiting for?! You want me to beg? I’m begging! Take me you motherfucker!”

Another sound, a creak and a footstep, the air behind him shifting. Eddie readied to wave Steve off again but the other boy started to speak before he could even lift his arm. 

“I knew it. I knew it shouldn’t be you.” Steve snarled. “You can’t even play bait right. Have you always been such a complete and utter failure, Eddie?”

Eddie knew better than to fall for it this time, and he knew Steve better than to think he’d ever say anything to him with that level of vitriol in his voice, no matter what he’d done.

The guy was good, though. Eddie had to give him that. Subtle, just like before he had no way of knowing exactly when it’d happened but he was in Vecna’s thrall now. 

It was time.

He backed away from the thing that had again stolen Steve's beautiful face and turned it into something twisted, slamming his eyes shut against the image, doing his best to conjure up the first good memory in his arsenal. 

He sat across from Wayne at the little two-seater table in the kitchen in the trailer—a room in a place that was so comfortable and familiar to him now, but on this day, his 12th birthday, still hadn’t quite felt like home yet. Wayne had to work that night, couldn't afford to take the time off, but did his best to make the day a special one for his nephew anyway. He’d woken up much earlier than usual and taken Eddie into town, so he could spend what few quarters he’d managed to scrounge up playing games at the arcade. Now they were back, about to dig into a small but decadent triple chocolate cake, Eddie’s favorite, after splitting a couple cans of SpaghettiOs for dinner—Eddie’s other favorite.

He didn’t expect to receive any gifts. 

It was already the best birthday he’d ever had, and his only wish when blowing out his single birthday candle had been that he get to stay with Wayne forever, and maybe return the favor someday—take care of Wayne when he was old and Eddie was grown. 

But though he hadn’t been expecting any presents, he’d be lying if he said that the guitar Wayne gave him that night wasn’t the best one he’d ever received. Before leaving for work that night Wayne showed him three chords—G, C, and D, and told him if he could master those he’d be able to play something like half the songs on the radio. 

Eddie nodded reverently, and Wayne chuckled, dropping a kiss on the top of his head before leaving for his shift. 

He practiced those damn chords until his fingers bled, and loved every minute of it. It was still his happiest birthday to date.  

The trailer faded away and suddenly he was in the backstage area of the Hawkins Middle School auditorium, waiting for his turn to go on at the annual talent show. 

The other two members of his band stood watching the other acts from the wings with wide eyes, but Eddie? He was transfixed by Chrissy Cunningham as she rehearsed, twirling her pink glittery batton with incredible precision, throwing it up high in the air, and catching it with ease each time.

Until the one time she didn’t, and the stick bounced off of her palm and landed right at his feet. Eddie smiled and quickly bent to pick it up, moving to hand it back but as she reached out began to twirl it between his fingers like it was a drumstick, a skill developed out of boredom and as a way to hone the kind of dexterity he needed in his hands to play the type of music he loved. 

She giggled, clapping at his display when he bowed and returned the tool of her trade. 

He liked making her laugh, he realized—just plain liked her full stop, actually.

They sat and talked as they waited their turns and Eddie discovered that Chrissy was kind, and as beautiful on the inside as on the outside. He found himself wishing they could be friends, as dumb an idea as that was. She was a cheerleader, a popular kid, top of the food chain, and he was already well on his way to earning the title of Freak. They could never be friends, save for these few stolen moments behind the big black curtain. 

Except Eddie knew better now. They would be friends someday, best friends if he had anything to say about it. For a moment he wished he could go back for real, tell that little boy and girl how they’ll save each other—how much they’ll come to mean to each other one day. 

The theater lights went out, throwing the backstage area into an abrupt twilight as the scene around him shifted and changed—no longer age-worn linoleum cracking under his sneakers, now his bare feet rested on soft carpet, the walls surrounding him covered in the most hideous plaid wallpaper.

It was dark, the room unlit save for a few slivers of moonlight peaking in between the blinds as he climbed into the bed where Steve already lay. It was a night from exactly one week ago, in the previous loop, the last one they’d spent together before dying. 

Steve pulled him close, wrapping him up in his arms, entwining their legs until Eddie didn’t know where he ended and Steve began. 

It all felt so real, and so good. Like coming home. 

Steve was warm and solid and when Eddie nuzzled into his neck he didn’t pull away, he leaned in, rubbing his cheek against Eddie’s hair and pressing lips to it. 

It would have been easy to stay there in that memory as long as possible, but the fear of Vecna showing up and tainting it in some way was enough of a motivator to have Eddie wracking his brain for the next happy thought. 

He hadn’t really prepared for more than this, he wasn’t exactly a walking fount of good times, and it felt like he’d already been stuck in this mindscape, or whatever it was, for too long—but he tried. 

The only thing on his mind now was SteveSteveSteve, so it wasn’t much of a surprise when he blinked and found himself back behind Benny’s getting ready to head into the Upside Down, only to hear those two little words fall from Steve’s lips right behind him again. 

“Eddie, wait.”

He smiled to himself, waiting for the familiar touch of Steve’s hand on his elbow but it never came, instead there was a cool rattling breath on the back of his neck. 

Eddie whirled, gasping at the sight and scrambled backwards to get away from the vile creature that was now in front of him, much too close for comfort. Vecna, in his true form, a humanoid nightmare covered in taut sinewy flesh and raw meat.

His heart pounded and panic crawled up his throat like bile as he backed into the building, his hands slapping at the wall, searching for the gate that should be there. He just needed to get away, get enough distance between them so he could think, maybe come up with another memory to hide him. 

But then the wall was gone, something more like wet tree bark beneath his hands now. His vision swam, the light around him growing and changing, the sky no longer the blues and pinks of dusk—he was surrounded by a blood red haze. 

His fingers kept searching anyway until they brushed up against cold dead skin. He recoiled, screaming, and looked back to find the body of Fred Benson wrapped up in vines, and mounted like a trophy on a pole. 

This was not his memory, he’d never seen this place before, but needed only one guess to figure out where he was. No longer stuck in his own mind he must be in Vecna’s now, with no idea how to get out. 

A rushing sound filled the space between his ears, the rhythmic whooshing of blood as it pumped through his body, so loud inside his own head.

There was a thing out there that could help him, it was… it was right there on the tip of his tongue but he couldn’t—

His vision narrowed, the world whiting out around him, tipping on its side and he felt himself falling—falling for much longer than it should have taken to hit the ground. 

He landed on his back, blinking hard and tried to sit up, but he was so tired. He’d been running—hiding from something. He was almost sure. 

A familiar sound began far off in the distance, he strained to hear it, tried to recognize it, but his own pulse was still so loud and distracting. 

A pair of legs in jeans and sneakers—moving, alive—a girl, came into view.

He shrank away from her, unsure.

“Eddie? You shouldn’t be here. It’s time for you to go.”

“I don’t—how—what?”

Oh. 

The girl was El, she was his friend. He couldn’t remember before, couldn't seem to think straight.

“El,” he breathed, as she helped him to stand, shaking his head to try and clear some of the fog. “I–I don’t feel so good.”

“He’s dying, Eleven.” Vecna’s deep rasping voice boomed nearby as he approached them. “You can’t even save one of your friends, yet you expect to stop me?”

He raised a long gnarled claw in Eddie’s direction but El stepped in front, mirroring him with her own hand raised, the force of their power like a shimmering heat in the air between them.

Suddenly the strange noise got louder, and it wasn’t just noise, Eddie could make out the vocals now, the beating of the drums, the thrashing of the guitar.

“You hear it, the music?” Eleven shouted to him as she continued to hold Vecna at bay. “That is Steve calling you back to him. Look for him, Eddie. Find the way out. You have to hurry.”

The more he concentrated on it the better he could hear the rhythm and pulse of Master of Puppets being pumped into this place, beckoning to him—Steve and Joyce too, shouting his name—and he felt a little more like himself.

“What about you?” Eddie asked.

“I’ve got this.” She said, never taking her eyes off her target. In the next instant she let out a primal scream, a fierce shriek unlike anything he’d ever heard before, and Vecna went flying up in the air, his arms seemingly pinned to his sides. 

Eddie cast his gaze around wildly, looking for anything out of place in this hellscape, and finally spotted a faint light on the horizon that had to be his portal. He ran. It was a long way off but he gave it everything he had, arms pumping, legs burning. 

He stumbled, woozy and lightheaded, but caught himself—kept going. 

As he got close he could see himself floating there in the attic, Steve clinging to his leg, reaching for his hand, and without a second thought hurled himself head first into the mirage.

-

Eddie took a deep shuddering breath.

It was dark.

He was cold.

He couldn't feel anything.

“Steve?” He sobbed.

“I’m here, I’m here.”

Arms tightened around him and suddenly Eddie could feel again, everywhere Steve touched him at least, and something hot and wet that was dripping down his face. 

It was still dark.

“I can’t–I can’t see anything.”

Steve rocked him gently. “You’re safe. You’re safe, I’ve got you.”

He tried to move, to touch back, but there was an awful grinding pain.

Eddie hissed. “My arm—”

“Don’t try to move, okay? I don’t–” Steve's chest shook, Eddie thought he might be crying. “I don’t know how badly you’re hurt yet–”

It all went quiet abruptly.

Eddie drifted in the dark. It was a lot like the place he went between loops. 

“Eddie? Eddie?!”

He came back to himself with Steve shaking him, screaming his name. He tried to respond but every effort felt like far too much. Maybe he was dying again. If so, at least this time it would be in Steve’s arms. 

There were far worse ways to go.  

-

Eddie woke up.

It was a first for him, at least in recent experience, to wake up from unconsciousness in a hospital like a normal person instead of falling back into his body in the past.

His head ached but it was a distant thing, thanks to good ol’ prescription painkillers no doubt.

He blinked his eyes open slowly, a little stunned that he could see at all, but it was blurry and unfocused. There was a shapeless form wearing Steve’s clothes asleep in a chair by his bed, what looked like Robin in another by the door. He wondered how long he’d been out, if it was the same night. He tried to raise his arm, to reach for Steve even though he was too far away. But the arm was too heavy in its cast.

He fell asleep before he could try again. 

When he roused next, it was to low voices arguing quietly nearby.

“You don’t know that.”

“Seems pretty fucking clear to me, Robin. I’m–I'm gonna go. It doesn’t matter anyway.”

“Steve–”

“Don’t! Just—call me if anything happens?”

“Okay.”

A door closed, heavy and final.

That didn’t sound good. 

Eddie burned to know what they were talking about but sleep once again sucked him under mid-thought.

-

When he woke for good the sun was shining in through the windows, and Wayne, Chrissy, Robin, and Dustin were all sitting around his bed. He could see again.

It was Wayne who first noticed the change, jumping up out of his chair to hover over him.

“Boy you ever scare me like that again I'll kill you myself, you hear me?” The man muttered as he leaned down to give him a hug.

Eddie chuckled hoarsely into his uncle's shoulder, and could have cried with how happy he was to see him and his familiar gray stubble, the smell of Marlboro Reds wafting off his jacket. “I missed you too, old man.”

“You-all keep an eye on him,” Wayne said to the small crowd as he headed for the room’s door. “I’ll go and tell the nurse you’re awake.” 

Like he was going to get up and run away. 

Eddie carefully pushed himself up into a sitting position with his one good arm, surprised to find he wasn’t feeling worse. 

“What happened?” He asked, now that they were alone.

“They got him!” Chrissy beamed. 

“Hopper said they burned what they could–” Dustin elaborated, swallowing thickly. “And chopped the rest up into little pieces after El destroyed his mind. It’s over, for real this time.” 

Eddie sagged in relief, sinking back into his pillow.

“Oh thank fuck. Do you think that means the rest of it’s over too, the loops I mean? I don’t think I can do it again, man.”

“Well, since we don’t know what caused you to start looping to begin with there’s no way to know for sure, but if the catalyst is you dying, and here you are very much alive even if you did give us quite the fucking scare you asshole!” Dustin swatted him in the shoulder above his cast.

“Hey! Watch the goods!”

“I would say odds are you're safe from having to go back again. As long as you don’t, y’know, die for a while.” 

“Wasn’t planning on it.” Eddie grinned, hoping to draw a smile out of the kid, but he remained solemn and serious.

“Good.” Dustin said, flatly.

Eddie sighed. “Dustin, I–”

“We almost lost you.”

“I’m sorry.”

Eddie wanted to say more, but voices could be heard making their way down the hall towards his room, and he needed to know what he was supposed to say to them.

“Listen, quick, before they come in.” Robin jumped in, grasping the situation just as he had. “The official story is that you were attacked and kidnapped by the same serial killer who murdered Fred and Patrick, the long lost son of Victor Creel. You managed to escape, and Joyce and Steve found you on the side of the road and brought you here. If anyone asks for details just tell them you don’t remember.”

The last word was barely out of her mouth when the door swung open, revealing Wayne along with a doctor and two nurses, who quickly went about examining him. 

He got lucky—very lucky. As bad as he’d looked when he was brought in, unconscious and pale and covered in blood, it all boiled down to a few bruises and a broken arm. The doctor’s had worried for his sight, since much of the blood had seemed to come from his eyes, but on closer examination they couldn’t find an actual wound, and he passed a vision test with flying colors.

They wanted to hold him one more night for observation, but that was it. Come the next day he’d be free to go home, with a follow-up appointment scheduled for 6 weeks from now to come back and have his cast removed. 

Still, throughout the course of the day everyone paid him a visit, with one notable exception.

Steve never showed. 

No one brought him up and Eddie was too afraid of the answer to question it. 

He’d asked if they could talk later, pleaded with Steve to let him explain—and supposed his absence now was answer enough. Clearly Steve had decided he wasn’t worth hearing out. 

Chapter 12

Special thanks to @penny00dreadful for being the best beta, friend and cheerleader.

Reblogs are always appreciated, and if you want to be tagged just let me know! I'd be more than happy to do so 💜

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[thisapplepielife]

Written for @stobinmonth and @corrodedcoffinfest.

It's Tradition

Stobin Month Prompt: Tradition & CCF Spring Break Prompt: Beach | Word Count: 1000 | Rating: T | POV: Robin | Pairing: Platonic Stobin, Steddie | CW: Mentions of Recreation Drug/Alcohol Use, Steve's Neglectful Parents | Tags: Childhood Friends AU, Reuniting

It's tradition. The annual week-long Buckley family trip to the beach. A highlight of the year, until her parents made it clear they didn't want to go anymore.

All good things must come to an end. 

They just couldn't understand Robin didn't want to go somewhere new. That Robin didn't want it to end. That she needed to go to the same house, on the same beach, where she spent a week each year of her childhood. 

That she wanted to go where she last saw Steve. At least one more time.

Even though Steve hasn't been there the last six years her family visited, and she heard the Harrington house sold when his parents divorced. That's the gossip around this small coastal town, anyway.

Either way, the Harringtons are long gone, taking Steve with them.

But he was the best friend she's ever had, and turning up for a week every spring and getting to see him was a staple of her childhood.

So, with her summer job savings she rented the same house her family always did, and sits on the screened-in porch.

Harrington's old house definitely doesn't have Steve in it, instead a family with a bunch of little kids that are loving their time on the water. On the other side, there's a rowdy group, loud at all hours, but closer to her age. She watches them, trying to not be sad that this last attempt was a bust. 

One of the guys is currently swinging his girlfriend around in circles as she screams, delighted. Two others are making s'mores. And the long-haired one is running around in circles like a maniac. Harassing his friends on a loop. At least they're having fun. She's seen them drink, smoke weed, and poke at a bonfire.

This was stupid. It's been six years, of course he was never coming back. He probably doesn't even remember her. She was just some girl that turned up once a year for a week at a time.

She hears another car pull up behind the house next door, and their place has been grand central station. This time it's another dark-haired guy that the long-haired one is immediately pawing at, much to the complaints of the others.

Then, the newcomer turns and looks towards her house. 

Steve.

At least, she thinks that's Steve. He just grew up. Has a better haircut.

Robin feels frozen to the porch swing, unsure if he can see her or not. If he'll even remember her if he can.

"Robin?!" he yells, then comes darting across the sand. She stands, crosses the porch and throws open the door.

She barely makes it out onto the deck before she's wrapped up in a big hug, "Robin Buckley! I didn't think, I mean, I knew it was a long shot when I rented this other house, but it's you! You're you!"

She's her. And he's him. She starts to cry. She really never thought she'd see him again.

"Robin's here!" Steve yells and the rest of them cheer, like they were totally in on this as a possibility. 

He didn't forget.

He wanted to see her too.

Later, after all the introductions have been made, Robin joins them around the fire they've built. Eddie, Steve's boyfriend, and boy was she delighted to find that out, is in a band and have finally made enough for a real vacation.

Steve planned for it to be here, over spring break, hoping to see her.

Jeff is picking out a soft tune on his guitar, and they are all razzing him, saying it's not metal enough, but before long, two more guitars are fetched from the house and Gareth's beating on an upside down bucket. Diana in the sand, resting her head against his thigh, seemingly unconcerned with the flailing of his arms.

Trusting he won't hit her. 

The music's a little aggressive, but they blend well. 

Steve leans into Robin's side, explaining, "They're a heavy metal band."

"They're good at this," she says. She can't believe this is really Steve. It feels like they haven't missed a day.

"And they know it, despite the bitching. Don't let them fool you, they aren't that cool. They did a bit of wedding band gigging early on to make ends meet."

She giggles, delighted by the image of that.

"I like Eddie," she says.

"I was kinda worried you'd, like, disapprove."

"Hello? I like girls, dingus. I figured that was always obvious."

"Not that obvious," he says, and she laughs. He was never the most observant kid on earth.

"Where'd you wind up, you just disappeared?" she asks.

"Boarding school," he answers, and she reaches over and squeezes his hand.

"I'm sorry," she says, and she is. 

"Well, it made me into a boy kisser," he teases, and she leans on his shoulder, and giggles.

"It did not."

"It didn't, but it may have put jumper cables on my bisexual awakening."

She smiles, "Are you happy now?"

And Steve looks over at Eddie, riffing back and forth with his band, "Very."

Robin smiles, "He's kinda feral."

"Well, that's his best quality," Steve teases, adding, "They're playing in a bar down the beach tomorrow night. I hope you'll come."

She nods. She'll go anywhere he wants her to this week, as long as she gets to see Steve again.

The next night, Steve's walking around the small venue, and she realizes he's somehow in charge of this dog and pony show. Robin sits at a table with Diana, and waits for the band to get started.

Robin can see Eddie and Gareth jumping up and down, just off-stage, bumping chests.

Diana rolls her eyes, but she's clearly fond, "It's tradition. I don't ask questions."

Robin likes traditions. Finds comfort in them.

And as Corroded Coffin is announced, Steve settles in the wings where she can see him. He grew up. They both did, and now she hopes they can make new traditions with friends, together.

If you want to write your own, or see more entries, check out @corrodedcoffinfest to read takes on Spring Break prompts, or to offer up your own!

For more Stobin, pop on over to @stobinmonth to follow along with the fun!

[fuctacles]

Small world indeed

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

@genderthings Stobin at Work: fantasy job T | Platonic Hellcheer and Stobin, pre-steddie and buckingham | summer job time!

Finally, they have a little reprieve from the sadness that is Hawkins. Eddie didn't expect Chrissy to follow him, but once she learned more about renfaires there was no talking her out of it. Her parents still thought it was a summer camp job, which wasn't far from the truth is a summer camp was catering mostly to adult nerds. 

The pay was shit, but the real reason Eddie was there was being immersed in the small renfaire village, living there and eating for free. Money was secondary on his priority list. Once he found out he could attend for free in exchange for help, he called the organizers and got himself the best job imaginable right after being a successful musician. The boys had their summer mostly planned out but Chrissy decided to join him.

They park the van in the designated parking space out of view, where it won't ruin the medieval scenery. There's only a few other cars there, as the fair is still a couple of days from opening. Its mostly other vans and trucks, except a familiar Bimmer. But Eddie is probably just paranoid. There's no way Harrington was here, miles from Hawkins at a renfaire. 

"You the newbies?" a short woman greets them at the gate, already dressed in hobbit-like garbs. Eddie could start crying at the spot. 

"Yes, we're new. I'm Chrissy and this is Eddie," Chrissy has to introduce them, since her friend has gone speechless. 

"I'm Marge, nice to meet you!" the woman checks something off in her notepad. "The others are already here and waiting for the briefing." Marge motions for them to follow. "I'll show you to the staffs tent, it's where we hold meetings and have meals. Artem will tell you everything." She holds the flap of the tent open for them to walk through. 

Only, Chrissy stops in her tracks and Eddie runs into her back. 

"Chrissy?! Are you the other new hires? Oh my god!"

It's Robin Buckley's excited voice.

Eddie instinctively tries to hide behind Chrissy's tiny friend, because where's Robin...

"Eddie? Holy shit guys, we thought we would ran into you at this nerd festival, but as co-workers? Oh, this is gonna be great!" Steve grins at him, visible from under Chrissy's armpit. 

"You know each other?" Marge peers around them to look inside the tent. "That's sweet, most of the staff are friends." She smiles at them. "I'll go grab Artem." With a gentle pat on the back, she sends them stumbling inside. 

"What are you guys doing here?" Eddie croaks out when Steve lifts him in a tight hug. 

"We thought we could do something fun for a change," Steve shrugs, putting him down.

"Yeah, constant cleaning and waiting tables is a bummer." Robin sticks out her tongue. Her arm is looped around Chrissy's.

"And we get discounts, I thought I could treat Henderson to some nerd stuff when he's back from his other nerd camp."

"That's very nice of you," Eddie offers weakly. 

"Everyone here?" A new voice comes from the entrance, and a burly man with an impressive beard comes inside. "My name is Artem and I'll be your chief," he introduces himself. "Hope you're ready for three months of nerdy fun."

Chrissy and Eddie exchange panicked looks. More like three months of torturous pining. If they put Steve in a linen tunic, there better be a healer nearby.

Tags: @blasvemous @wheneverfeasible @phantomcat94 @eyehartart

[steddiehyperfixation]

so you don't get lost (steddie ficlet)

written for @steddielovemonth day 17 rating: T cw: alcohol tags: first kiss, clubbing, college au, platonic stobin prompt: Love is about a hand reaching out to you so you don't get lost

“She’s totally into me, right?” Robin asks as they wait for their drinks at the bar, her smile a mile wide, and it’s been a minute since Steve’s seen her smile like that. 

“Yeah, totally,” Steve agrees. The girl Robin’s been talking to all night is drifting back over to them even as they speak, the two of them like magnets since they first traded smiles on the dance floor earlier that night. 

Robin glances back at her and bites back a wider grin. She bounces on her tippy toes and whispers to Steve, “If I make out with her it’s not gonna make you feel awkward, is it?” 

Steve shakes his head. “Go ahead,” he encourages. 

It had been a group effort to get Robin out tonight. Her university friends had enlisted Steve to help drag her out of the mopey funk she’d been in since getting broken up with two weeks ago, and it had taken an hour of Steve hyping her up while she kept crying off her attempts to do her makeup before she finally managed to make it to the club. He’s just glad it had been worth it. 

“I don’t even know if I remember how to do this,” Robin mutters, a little nervously, as she and Steve grab their drinks and rejoin her friends on the dance floor. But it turns out, she has nothing to worry about. The two girls resume their orbit around each other, and the second the next beat drops and the lights strobe, the other girl finally pulls Robin into a heated kiss. Steve watches this, and he smiles fondly. She deserves it. He’s happy for her. 

And he’s totally not jealous. Not necessarily of Robin, obviously, or the girl she’s kissing, but simply of the fact that they’ve so easily found a hot drunk stranger to make out with at the club and he…hasn’t. He can’t even remember the last time he’s had a decent kiss, much less scored at a club, though not for not wanting to. 

Steve finds himself glancing at Robin’s friend Eddie, the tatted-up metalhead Steve’s felt a pull towards since the first time they’d met. He thinks about kissing him every time they’re out together, and maybe there was a time when Steve would’ve just gone for it, a time before he’d taken a few too many hits to the ego and developed doubts and insecurities, but now the thought just makes him nervous. Eddie makes him nervous. 

He feels that nervousness now as Eddie catches him staring and he shakes those lovely dark curls out of his face and smiles at him. It bubbles in his stomach, flutters in his chest. Steve downs the rest of his drink and looks away. The alcohol floods heat through his veins and blurs his vision, but the ever-present thrum of anxiety just from being in Eddie’s proximity still isn’t dulled. He bobs numbly to the music, avoiding looking at anybody at all now, only staring at the floor or the wall or some super fascinating point just above everyone’s heads, sure he looks like an absolute freak. 

It goes beyond just wanting to kiss Eddie; Steve’s not stupid, he knows the only explanation for this sheer amount of nervousness he feels around him is that he’s got an actual, proper crush. Because not only is Eddie super fucking hot, he’s also sweet. Steve is an outsider in this group and he knows it, the college dropout who only tags along because Robin insists on it, but Eddie never makes him feel like that. It’s always Eddie who makes sure he’s included in conversations, always Eddie who makes a point to loop Steve into the context of inside jokes and stories whenever Robin is too distracted to. Steve craves those interactions, gets a thrill every time Eddie so much as speaks to him. So he doesn’t only want to kiss him, he also just wants Eddie to like him, wants him to see him as a friend at the very least. But it’s not like they’ve ever even hung out outside of a group setting, and sometimes Steve fears Eddie’s just being nice and he doesn’t actually see him as anything at all. 

Steve’s drifted so far into his own head he doesn’t realize his group is on the move, pushing deeper into the dance floor and leaving him behind. 

“Steve!” Eddie’s voice calls out to him and snaps him out of it. Everyone else has been taken by the crowd, but Eddie hangs back, reaching his hand out to Steve. 

Steve takes it, swallowing down the way his heart pounds as Eddie’s fingers curl around his hand. Eddie pulls him through the throng of jostling, sweaty bodies, and even though he maintains a tight grip on Steve’s hand, he still keeps looking back at him like he’s making extra sure Steve doesn’t get lost. Warmth blooms in Steve’s chest. Maybe he’s just drunk, maybe he’s just delusional, but all of the sudden he feels so very very cared for. 

“Thanks,” Steve says, nearly shouting to be heard over the music. 

“‘Course.” Eddie smiles as he turns around to face him. They’ve caught up to their friends now, but he’s still holding Steve’s hand. “I’d never just leave you stranded.” 

Of course he wouldn’t. He never has before. Steve just smiles back and squeezes Eddie’s hand. 

They’ve only just let go of each other when Robin and her girl, still kissing clumsily and staggering about the dance floor, stumble straight into Steve and knock him off balance. “Woah!” Eddie reaches for him again instantly, looping an arm around Steve’s waist to keep him from toppling over or careening into the crowd. 

“Ah! Sorry!” Robin giggles before she’s whisked away again. 

Eddie laughs. “Good for her, right?” 

“Yeah, good for her,” Steve says, watching his best friend spin out of sight, and when he looks back he startles at how close he and Eddie are, suddenly very aware of Eddie’s arm around his waist and his hands on Eddie’s chest. 

“You okay?” Eddie asks, his grip on Steve tightening like he means to steady him. 

“Yeah, thanks again.” Steve regains his footing, but he doesn’t pull away. There’s something there, he thinks, in the way Eddie’s always reaching out to him so he doesn’t get lost, literally and figuratively, in crowds and conversations. It could just be friendly, it could just be nothing, but for the first time, Steve lets himself hope. He even thinks about leaning in right now, but then he thinks about it too much, and he doesn’t. 

Instead, there’s a weird moment where they’re both just staring at each other. Eddie’s got this confused little smile on his face like he’s waiting to see what Steve will do, and when Steve doesn’t do anything, Eddie’s smile abruptly becomes more playful as if he’s trying to break the tension, and he starts theatrically swaying them to the music, even though it is most definitely not the swaying sort of beat. Steve laughs, his racing heart making it come out giddy and giggly, especially when Eddie drops his waist to grab his hand and twirl him around. 

Eddie pulls him in close again then, and this time Steve doesn’t think at all. In fact, it’s unclear which one of them leans in first; all Steve knows is that their lips finally, finally meet in the middle and he finally, finally gets to tangle his hands in Eddie’s hair, and it’s sweet and it’s hungry and it’s absolutely perfect. Steve holds onto Eddie and he gets lost in him. 

When Steve meets back up with Robin outside after the club closes, they exchange a celebratory, congratulatory high five, the both of them with matching kiss-swollen lips and dates set for next week. 

[stevieharringtonwifeguy]

im not usually one for time loop or fix-it-time-travel fics but like. an outsider pov where stobin are the only ones who went back to season one would be so good like imagine you go into school one day and the most popular dude in school has now surgically attached himself to this random fuckn band nerd sophomore and any time someone implies that's weird he's like why???? it's robin?????? and then one day you catch them in the parking lot going through his trunk and he pulls out a molotov cocktail and the weird band girl is like 'okay it's sweet that you remembered how much i like the molotovs but also i feel like you shouldn't have brought that to school' and he just goes like oh yeah fair and you're sitting there like IS IT???? IS IT FAIR??????

[thefreakandthehair]

@eddiemonth prompt, oct 12th: Soulmates | Eight - Sleeping at Last | Perceptive a/n: steddie, soulmates au (phillia + eros). eddie & jeff as platonic soulmates, stobin soulmates mentioned always. un-betaed because I’m challenging myself to write these in under an hour. read on ao3 | link to masterpost on ao3

Soulmates, Eddie scoffs to himself as he doodles in his notebook at the back of the coffee shop. Bullshit. 

He knows it’s actually not, that people walk around every day hand-in-hand with beautiful, swirling tattoos that grow in intricacy and detail the more time they spend with their soulmate. Most days, Eddie doesn’t mind that the simple snake design on the inside of his wrist never so much as slithers, but today? Today, he minds. 

Dating in the world of soulmates is challenging. He tries to just focus on how feels, on if the person sitting across from him is compatible with his lifestyle, on if there’s any kind of spark, but it’s inevitable that at some point, both he and his date look down at their wrists to find nothing. 

His coffee date had gone well enough but, like always, was a dead-end. How many paths can one person try before the destination seems moot? 

So he sits and scribbles in his notebook, hoping that perhaps staying in the coffee shop rather than returning home to the apartment he shares with Jeff will provide some inspiration. That tattoo, the one that’d started as a small star on his ankle, has grown into a whirling galaxy since moving in with Jeff– a philia connection if he’s ever seen one. But if his eros tattoo won’t build upon itself naturally, he’ll do it manually with a tattoo gun. 

It also helps that the barista is perhaps the most beautiful man Eddie’s ever laid eyes on, enough so that it’s… actually a little intimidating, if he’s being honest with himself. Intimidating to the point that Eddie’s yet to approach him for a refill since the girl who’d given him his first sugary abomination finished her shift. Besides, the mystery barista must’ve already found his soulmate. His entire left arm, from fingertip to at least his elbow, is covered in delicate, colorful designs that twist and wind about his skin, curling around each finger and looping gracefully up his arm.

I can still enjoy the view, he justifies to himself, taking a sip from his cup and remembering for the third time that it’s empty. 

He sighs and sets it back down, clearing his throat. It’s as good a time as any, he supposes, as he stands from his little corner table by the window and strolls across the room to the counter. 

“Hi, what can I get started for ya?” The barista asks, his name tag now visible and proclaiming Steve. 

“Uh,” he starts. “Salted caramel mocha, please?” 

Steve’s smile is bright and he leans on the counter, leveling it straight in Eddie’s direction. All Eddie wanted was a refill on his sweet treat disguised as coffee and instead, it feels as though he’s smacked in the head.

“Comin’ right up,” Steve replies, turning around to get his order going. “You’ve been sitting over there for a while, how’d that date go?” He asks with the confidence and familiarity of someone Eddie’s known his entire life. 

“Watching me, were you?” 

Steve grins over his shoulder, shrugging. “A little.” 

“I’m flattered. Well, I’m still here and they’re not so that oughta tell you everything.” 

Steve hums and turns back to the machine, finishing up his order. Eddie’s heart beats rhythmically, somehow slowing and quickening all at once and his lungs feel buoyed by something more powerful than his breath. When Steve faces him again and hands him his cup, exchanging it for the empty one in Eddie’s hand, they both freeze. 

Eddie’s snake begins to move. 

A clear, serpentine movement at the center as small, geometric lines begin to appear in the background. 

“Holy shit,” Eddie whispers, setting his full cup down so he doesn’t spill it. 

“Yeah, holy shit.” Steve places his other arm on the counter, the blank one, and Eddie sees that it’s not blank. There’s a small, barebones tree on his forearm whose leaves begin to blossom and shake, different shades of greens and oranges appearing before his eyes. 

“But– your other arm?” Eddie chokes out, eyes flickering between his own wrist, Steve’s forearm, and Steve’s other, fuller arm. 

“Philia. That’s Robin. But this one, this is eros.” Steve smiles again, matching the one Eddie can feel spreading across his own face as he looks up from his forearm. “I’m Steve.”

Steve smiles again, matching the one Eddie can feel spreading across his own face as he looks up from his forearm. Eddie looks in wonderment, searching for any sign of lie or trickery in Steve’s eyes and finds nothing but warmth and familiarity. 

“I’m Eddie.”

[kittythelitter]

I've seen Steve goes back in time and befriends Robin early fics. But now I'm thinking about dweeby band geek closeted friendless lesbian Robin Buckley trying to find a way to get King Steve Pre-character-development-concussions Harrington to listen to her and help her keep Barb from dying along with everyone else.

Time travel AU where theyre supposed to get a do-over like they're sent back in time from the end of season 4 to when it all started for them but for whatever reason Robin remembers in like August of 83. And she's like. It's fine I can wait like two months for Steve and Nancy and the kids to be in the loop and then she sees Barb and realizes that depending on what the catalyst is for them to remember it might be too late for Barb. So she decides to try to interfere ahead of time.

She like decides she knows Steve so well and he knows her so well that she's more likely going to be able to wake him up. So she like approaches him and like offers to tutor him and like. Knows too much about him and is a rambler who struggles to lie so she comes off as a stalker. And it's angsty and funny and devastating in turns. And he kind of believes her at some points but doesn't remember. And then she like. Accidentally comes out to him and they bond and become real friends again and then season 1 starts happening and everyone's remembering. But Steve doesn't.

Maybe it was too many blows to the head over the years. Maybe it was because Robin diverted his life so much that he can't remember. But he's still Steve. But he also doesn't remember what everyone else does.

And it's angsty and everyone's like reflecting on their relationships with Steve and how they can regain them when he doesn't remember and they do. And some of them blame Robin but like. Barb's alive and will got rescued early and everyone else remembers so they are way better equipped to go thru this again without as many losses and suffering. But Steve doesn't remember.

Anyway Steve remembers when they win. Or maybe when he gets hit in the head for the first time since they came back and he just managed to go so long without getting hit in the head and it was his trigger. Or he still gets drugged by the Russians and it all comes back in the worst most disorienting way possible. I have a lot of ideas.

[True loves kiss! Eddie version. Platonic cheek kiss Robin version. Joyce or Claudia giving him a motherly kiss on the cheek or the top of his head version. He unthinkingly drops a kiss on the top of one of the kids heads in a fraught moment where he's comforting them and suddenly remembers. There's a lot of love to choose from. ]

It has a happy ending and maybe there's Steddie but it's primarily a platonic soulmates Stobin idea.

But before the happy ending there's a lot of angst and like conflict revolving around all these people having their very specific very close relationships with Steve and he just. Doesn't remember them.

And of course there's a moment where someone says something devastating about how it doesn't really matter if Steve remembers the monsters and upsidedown stuff because it's not like he's ever been useful in the planning stages. He doesn't need to remember to swing a bat. Like really going for calling Steve dumb in a state of distress because they're really upset that Steve doesn't remember them and they're lashing out. I'm thinking Dustin or Mike but really there's a lot of good devastating options that hurt in different ways.

[tartarusknight]

any recommendations for angsty steve centric fics?

We love some Steve angst!

Boys Keep Swinging by Carbocat is an extremely devastating story. It's not a romance story there isn't any steddie, it's main focus is on Steve and how he struggles with PTSD from everything.

Chokechain by GhostHost is another great fic. The Summary of that one is: Rumors of Steve's pending engagement threaten to splinter the post-Vecna bliss with a harsh dose of reality.

cyclical by cuips_not_cute is a time loop fic. Which is pretty self explanatory. Steve is struggling to save his friends and end the loops.

Gave me something to lose by sierra_writes_things is a shorter story but it's so good. It's not resolved at the end so if that isn't your cup of tea...

how long is forever by boredorphan. Summary is "it felt like they could breathe air again, without the constant fear of having to answer a code red in the middle of the night because of a newly discovered creature. Because what returns to them is not something about the upside down, no. Simply it's a consequence. The result of poorly made decisions, neglected care. It's the loss. Stolen memories."

I know I've kissed you before (Can I try again) by ChristinMKay is so good for an AU. It's a no "supernatural" fic and it's has Steve adopting Dustin in it, which was perfect. This is a steddie fic and it switches back and forth from the past and the present to show you the whole story.

I'd Ask You To Be True by chandy... This fic was the hardest thing I've ever read. It's not a romance story instead it focuses on Steve's relationship with the party. It's based after season two I believe, and its heartbreaking. Through this story we see Steve battling cancer and the party's support during it. However, I will say that it's a heartbreaking ending but it's a beautiful ending at the same time. Read the tags and be warned this one legitimately made me sob to the point I stopped reading it for a little while so I could breathe.

It Takes Two to Survive by Orange_Sunsets is more of a stobin angst fic. It's where Steve and Robin not saved from the Russians instead they end up in the hands of Martin Brenner.

Long Live The Kings by me_4eva is very angsty. It is based in the middle of season 3 and after. It is a Harringrove fic which isn't my cup of tea but it was done so well that I still enjoyed it, maybe just because romance isn't the point of the fic. It's a survival fic through and through. I really recommend this one, it's angsty all around.

Passing of the Torch by mummifiedgoose is a short one that has a sad ending but it touches on the similarities of Lucas and Steve.

Remind Me That I Am A Fool by The_Bees_Want_Arson is a fic about self harm and suicide but it doesn't have a sad ending so that's a plus.

Remember What You're Looking At Is Me by Kwills91 is another good one. It's a steddie fic but it really touches on how Steve is struggling.

Okay so like I have more but I'll let you look at these first. If you want I write a lot of Steve-centric angst. Which is linked on my page :)

[ronanceautistic]

Here is my mostly Ronance, mostly Nancy-centric fic masterlist :D

Meta

Nancy Wheeler full character analysis with a focus on autistic traits (the autistic nancy doc)

Over 200K

Stranger Things rewrite where Nancy goes missing instead of Will (Ronance, Wheeler Siblings, platonic Stobin) - 41 chapters

50K - 100K

Nancy and Robin gay pining during summer 1986 (Ronance, minor Byler) - 15 chapters

10K-50K

A collection of prompts given to me from my asks - (Nancy-centric, click here for specific list of prompts) - 13/? chapters

Ronancetober 2024 posts - (Ronance) - 10/10 chapters

Modern Selective Mutism!Nancy AU (Ronance) - 15/? chapters

Nancy grew up in Hawkins Lab AU (Karen & Nancy, Ronance, Barb & Nancy ((unrequited love))) - chapters 9/9

The Last Of Us AU (Ronance, Max & Nancy, Max & Robin, platonic Stobin & minor Lumax) - 8 chapters

Nancy can freeze time (Ronance, platonic Ednancy) - 5 chapters

Grosse Pointe Blank AU where Nancy is a hitman for hire (Ronance, platonic Ednancy, platonic Stobin) - 6 chapters

Season 4 rewrite where Nancy is cursed instead of Max (Ronance) - 4 chapters

One shots set inbetween Season 1 and 2 (Jopper, Boyce, Byler, Wheeler Siblings, Eleven & Robin) - 6 chapters

5-10K

Six years after they save the world, Robin and Nancy reconnect (Ronance platonic or romantic, Holly & Nancy) - 1 chapter

Nancy & Robin fall in love, Nancy recovers from OCD (Ronance) - 1 chapter

Nancy is stuck in a death loop, Robin has to watch (Ronance) - 1 chapter

Modern AU where Robin and Nancy do a school project (Ronance) - 1 chapter

The Good Place AU (Ronance, Minor Steddie) - 2 chapters

Two one shots, werewolf!Robin and werewolf!Nancy (Ronance, platonic or romantic) - 2 chapters

Pirate AU based on Monkey Island (Ronance) - 1 chapter

Under 5K

A more detailed S4 rewrite where Nancy is cursed instead of Max - (Ronance) 1/9 chapters

Robin and Nancy meet on Nancy's first day of Kindergarten (Ronance, platonic or romantic) - 1 chapter

Depression/Healing fic where Robin takes care of Nancy (Ronance, platonic or romantic) - 1 chapter

Nancy has a flashback with only Mike around to help (Wheeler Siblings) - 1 chapter

Nancy angst with Robin loving her (Ronance, platonic or romantic) - 1 chapter

Ronance aquarium date! (Ronance) - 1 chapter

7 year old Nancy scripts a D&D-ish game for Robin (Ronance, platonic or romantic) - 1 chapter

Robin needs stitches, but is afraid of blood. Nancy is here to help and pine. (Ronance) - 1 chapter

Horror Movie AU where Robin & Nancy stay the night at the Creel House (Ronance, platonic or romantic) - 1 chapter

Nancy and Robin are werewolves, who turn during S4 E7 (Ronance, platonic or romantic) - 1 chapter

Nancy is not okay, Robin notices (Ronance, platonic or romantic) - 1 chapter

Nancy’s Vecna Vision from Max’s POV (Max & Nancy, minor Lumax) - 1 chapter

Robin and Nancy take care of each other after the gates open (Ronance, platonic or romantic) - 1 chapter

Nancy is afraid of heights (Ronance, platonic or romantic) - 1 chapter

Nancy survivors guilt character study (Ronance, platonic or romantic) - 1 chapter

The night after Fred’s death (Just Nancy) - 1 chapter

Nancy loneliness character study (Just Nancy) - 1 chapter

[sp0o0kylights]

and STOBIN TIME LOOP EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! [vibrates at the speed of sound] i like this one a normal amount

NGL this ones in like, seven documents spread across my drive, so I might have posted this part? UNSURE

Snippet:

"I normally would never in my life even think of doing this, but this is a dire emergency situation." Robin says apologetically.

She looks around, like they're going to do a drug deal instead of somehow proving that she and Steve were time traveling, before taking a deep, dramatic breath.

"You have a crush on Steve."

Steve blinks. "Wait, really?"

Eddie's face flames so fast not even his storytelling can back him out of the embarrassment. 'What the hell Buckley, I-"

Robin isn’t done. 

"You once got so distracted by his ass in gym sorts you crashed into a door and bloodied your nose."

Steve's eyebrows are in his hair line. "Really?" 

“You guys are so stupid, Eddie doesn't have a crush on Steve.”  Dustin scoffs. 

Eddie makes a strangled noise. "I don't--I wouldn't--no?!"

"Smooth, Eds." Steve deadpans.

There’s a smile creeping across his face, some combination of smug and heated that makes Eddie’s blush darken, the red racing down his neck to his chest. 

“Ed's?" He croaks, as if the very idea of the nickname offends him.

"There's your proof, now would you maybe believe us about how we're all about to die!?" And Robin's talking, not to Eddie but to Dustin of all people. "As if that's even half of the weird shit we've seen!"

"You agreed to meet Chrissy tonight right? At your trailer?" Steve cut in, and he at least, is still talking to Eddie.

Who is currently having a hell of a time stringing two words together, torn between bolting in sheer panic and screeching several insults at Robin Buckley.

"Yes?" 

"Good. We don't have long, and I am not singing Call Me again." He motions towards Robin, who turns to face him.  

"You're telling me." She grumbles, as if they were just gonna--speed past the accusation of Eddie being queer and having a crush on Steve fucking Harrington (and who cared if it was true!?) "That song is burned into my brain."

Robin snatches Dustin by the wrist, yanking him foreward in a march down Hawkins halls.

Steve takes a step after her, before pausing to lean in and whisper conspirutually in Eddie's ear.

"In the future I had a crush on you too." He admits with a grin.

Eddie makes a noise he will later deny, with every bit of the heart and soul Hawkins insists he doesn't have, was a squeak.

[steddieunderdogfics]

This week’s writer spotlight feature is:  @formosusiniquis! They've shared thirty-seven works with us in the Stranger Things tag with thirty-one of those featuring the tag Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson!

Our anonymous nominator recommends the following works by @formosusiniquis:

i'll play giles, you be spike

your eyes can be so cruel (just as i can be)

in the library there lived a hobbit

future in your hand (signed, sealed, delivered)

I've never read anything from Bec that I didn't absolutely LOVE! They have a real knack for building a scene and sucking you into the story, and they have incredible range in genre while still remaining in-character and realistic. -- anonymous

Below the cut,��@formosusiniquis answered some questions about their writing process and some of their recommended work!

Why do you write Steddie?

Steve has always been a favorite character of mine since season 1; I fell off after binging the first season when it first came out but ‘d check in through mutuals to see what was happening with him. The fandom really brought their A game and after a couple days of falling face first back into it I knew I had to take a turn playing with their dynamic. It really has the best of both worlds with the opposites attract rivals thing but beneath the surface they have all these commonalities about the things that really matter and playing with them to get them to push through those differences is so much fun!

What’s your favorite trope to READ?

I will never not love enemies to lovers or a good slow burn romance. Both at once is just the best. Steddie specific tropes though - I can’t resist a different first meeting: Steve getting adopted by Hellfire or Eddie stalking Scoops, they’re all good.

What’s your favorite trope to WRITE?

I don’t know if this is a trope but my favorite thing to write is just Steve, Robin, and Eddie being teenagers. Just stupid banter and shenanigans. Or maybe a strange PV that you wouldn’t expect not always outside, though I do like that, but things like doing Eddie’s POV for my time loop fic today is a new day to find you or the reddit entries in Am I the Asshole?

What’s your favorite Steddie fic?

Impossible question, there are so many astounding fics in this fandom we’ve been so blessed. I could probably give you a top 5 based on trope alone. But a few favorites:

And Timeless Days of August - thegoodthebadandthenerdy ( @cauldronoflove ) - JJ is my favorite author in every fandom and this fic is gorgeous and majorly under appreciated. It’s more steddie heavy than the rest of the series which is a fantastic exploration of nancy & eddie’s friendship that everyone should read.

took you for a working boy - pukner ( @pukner ) - the gender in this fic is legendary, astounding even, and I absolutely adore the visual way it’s written. The stylistic choices made throughout are inspiring.

change up, high inside - GibbousLunation - had to include at least one Stevie fic. This one has it all: sports, steddie, and most importantly some god tier stobin.

Is there a trope you’re excited to explore in a future work but haven’t yet?

Honestly, before this fandom I never had much of a taste for omegaverse, but there are some real masterworks written by some amazing authors here and I’ve been tempted to see what gender fuckery I can get up to with secondary genders. That or fake dating.

What is your writing process like?

A hot mess. I usually come up with an idea like a fever dream, usually unhinged dialogue that I backwards engineer into something. Or I get some big sweeping concept that I have to wrangle into being feasible and I pick and prod at it for months alternating between it being the sole focus of my attention or basically abandoning it until it has my interest again.

Do you have any writing quirks?

I write about half of my fics dialogue first with some really basic emotional notation and then I’ll work backwards to establish the rest of the scene, what the characters are doing, how they’re moving, etc. A lot of the time the dialogue or specific character narration points hit the clearest for me, but then I’ll have to work a little harder to see how they’re sitting or moving through the room.

Do you prefer posting when you’ve finished writing or on a schedule?

Most of my fics are one shots or ficlets so they are finished via requirement to have something to post and that is definitely for a reason. The few times I’ve posted a wip that hasn’t been completely or mostly done it’s like the well of inspiration dries up so, better to post on a schedule for me.

Which fic are you most proud of?

Either of my Steddie Bang fics even though your eyes isn’t quite finished yet. They both just feel very intricate to me and any time I can manage to pull off something with a plot and substance I’m proud of myself.

How did you get the idea for future in your hand (signed, sealed, delivered)?

It was actually last year’s Steddie Summer exchange so initial credit for the idea goes to @oh-stars who asked for a childhood penpals fic that roadtrip to see each other and I was immediately enchanted. Epistolary storytelling is a favorite of mine and I couldn’t resist putting my own spin on it.

When writing in the library there lived a hobbit, what was something you didn’t expect?

Oh my god, probably the whole fic. As @oriarts can attest the first draft I attempted was needlessly and horrifically angsty. I scrapped like almost all of it and leaned into the RomCom of it all with some help from @thefreakandthehair who beta’d and it became an entirely different (and much better) fic.

What inspired in the library there lived a hobbit?

Inspired first by this gorgeous artwork by the aforementioned oriarts. Then also a little bit by my own experience as an overworked children’s librarian.

What was your favorite part to write from your eyes can be so cruel (just as i can be)?

So far it’s been the masquerade scene. I won’t include it here cause it’s so long, but it’s my favorite scene from the movie and to pay homage to it was a lot of fun!

How do/did you feel writing i'll play giles, you be spike?

That is the definition of silly goofy fic. Definitely one I had a lot of fun writing because the only thoughts in my brain were stobin banter and bad vampire jokes. As it should be.

What was the most difficult part of writing your eyes can be so cruel (just as i can be)?

So far? Finishing it. This has very much been a labor of love, but it’s also a fic that’s genre wise so far out of my wheelhouse that progress has been slower than I’d like it to be. It has been such a joy when everything is clicking that it makes the hard stuff not so bad.

Do you have a favorite scene and/or line from any of your fics?

It’s not Steddie, at least not fully but I am still so in love with all of my Stobin hivemind fic the bells, the joy (together in darkness), but the gender in this scene is pretty good.

Lying in bed together, the Thundercats night light he’d bought in ‘83 -- claiming it was a gift for a nephew he didn’t have -- casting a gentle glow on the room, he can feel Robin gently prodding at their connection again. The fragile space in their brain he’s started thinking of as the Wall. The thing their squishy human brains had constructed. A safety mechanism to keep them separate enough not to break. A coping mechanism that makes him miss her like a phantom limb even when she is lying inches from him sharing the same breath-warmed air. She doesn’t look him in the eye, they don’t care for eye contact. “Did you ever feel like this before we were us?” A girl, not a girl. A boy, not a boy. Both and nothing. Trying on clothes and terms and personalities that fit a size too small. Pinching your toes and leaving them blistered. Robin feels more at home with lesbian than woman and Steve has always just worn whatever personality people liked most, swapping them out like masks for one that works.

Do you have any upcoming projects or fics you’d like to share/promote?

Well my biggest project right now is to continue finishing your eyes which will happen!!! Other than that nothing concrete on the horizon. I’ve got a drive full of wips to look out for -- mostly stobin and steddie. I’ve also been tossing around the idea of a series of Stevie fics all inspired by Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess. So if any of that sounds any good feel free to bully me into actually following through.

Outside of these questions, Is there anything YOU would like to add?

Nothing to add other than how much I have really cherished my time in this fandom. Everyone I have interacted with has been truly so lovely and kind. It has possibly been one of my most enjoyable fandom experiences to date and I truly believe it’s because the fandom gets genuine joy from lifting up others and their hard work. So thank you all, I love you, I’ll be here forever.

Thank you to our author, @formosusiniquis, and our nominator! See more of @formosusiniquis works featured on our page throughout the day!

Writer’s Spotlight is every Wednesday! Want to nominate an author? You can nominate them here!

[felixir-of-moths]

MASTERLIST

🏚️Hayloft I (songfic inspire by Mother Mother)

AO3 | WIP SERIE

R: E | wc: 16,481 rt: 1h Steddathan | drama, romance | love triangle | thriller

♫ A Life Trite and Jaded (your best won't do)

AO3 | WIP SERIE

R: M | wc: 18,730 rt: 1h15 Steddie | social drama | paranormal investigation | angst & humor

🎵 Playlist : Trite & Jaded

Steddie Events :

🌸 In Bloom | SteddieBingoSpring | AO3 | [will be a serie]

R: E | wc: 12,716 rt: 50min | 3rd most💗 on ao3 getting together | modern setting | angst & comfort | flirting 🍋

🎵Playlist : In Bloom

🥇1,5k hits on ao3 !! 🥇

🪁 High as a Kite | AO3 | SteddieBingoSpring

R: M | wc: 9,220 rt: 36min | 1rst most💗 on ao3 post Vecna | hospital shenanigans | first kiss | drugs | comedy

🎵 Playlist : Kite

🫦 Casting Error | AO3 | SteddieBingoSpring | 2cnd most💗 on ao3

R: E | wc: 6,296 rt: 25min fuckbuddies | BDSM | Dirty Talk | subspace | kink negotiation 🍋

📝 Small fics:

🪦 Make him pay | steddiemicrofic, prompt: delay R: T | wc: 408 rt: 2min | AU soulmates, battle VS Vecna, bad ending

🚌 Gasoline | steddieholidaydrabbles, prompt: school's out for summer | 5th most💗 on ao3 R: T | wc: 988 rt: 4min | AU modern, graduation, arson, first meetings

✍️ Robin's RPF of Boredom | crack fic, Robin is writing Steddie RPF R: T to E | wc: 1,288 | still going

👀 Hold that for me | steddiemicrofic prompt: hot | domsteve prompt caught | R: E | wc: 315 | voyeurism, 3some, Stomdie

Other fics :

🧜🏻‍♂️Mermay Bingo | Stmonstercalendar

🦩The Pool | Steve's Afterparty | mermay bingo, prompt: size difference, rum, mimicry R: T | wc: 8,339 rt: 33min | Steve&Eddie&Robin | friends with benefits, good babysitters Steve&Eddie, baby mermaid Robin

💎The Cove | Eddie's loot | mermay bingo, prompt: pirates, trinkets, anatomy lesson, show R: E | wc: 7,425 rt: 28min | Steddie | monsterfucking, Merman Steve, Pirate Eddie, grief, past Gareth/Eddie, strangers to lovers

Soon: 🧚‍♀️ | 🐣

🎸 Corroded Coffin Bingo | May Mayhem

🏳️‍⚧️ Freakier than me | corrodedcoffinfest, prompt: nice guy who only hates you R: T | wc: 2,575 rt: 10min | Gareth&Eddie, enemies to friends, coming out

🚗 Their youngest fan | corrodedcoffinfest, prompt: grand theft me R: T | wc: 1,331 rt: 5min | Chrissy&Eddie, Steve&Robin | accidental baby acquisition, Corroded Coffin Tour

🍩 We admitted we were powerless | corrodedcoffinfest, prompt: sold his soul for a donut R: T | wc: 1,805, rt: 7min | Chrissy&Doug, Doug&Eddie | eating disorder, 12 steps program, Doug is a sweetheart

🛏️ Only in my head, my head | corrodedcoffinfest, prompt: too many beds R: T | wc: 1,284, rt: 5min | Steddie | meta fiction, limbo, backrooms, major character death, liminal space

👑A Party of Freaks | corrodedcoffinfest, prompt: from riches to rags R: T | wc: 2,978, rt: 12min | dungeons&dragons, Eddie&the band, mercenaries, tieflings, mild Stobin and Steddie

---

🦌 Caught in the Headlights | STWG RarePairFicSwap | AO3 |

R: M | wc: 3,909 rt: 15min | 4th most💗 on ao3 Stonathan | time loop | getting back together | nightmares | angst

🗡️ From Falcon to Hawk | AO3 | [may be a serie]

R: M | wc: 3,462 rt: 14min dark fantasy | tech magic | kings and witches

About me :

Felix, he/they, French, 30+ NeuroA, queer, freshly out of burn out writing genres: angst with happy endings, sci-fi, fantasy writing topics: found families, queer & neuroA identity, mental health struggles do I write 🍋: not always, mostly BDSM related

Writing is an all-time passion, but writing in English is pretty new for me. If you see some misspelling or some obvious errors, you can always DM me, I'll be happy to learn new things!

[katyawriteswhump]

The power of love, part 10 (steddie, stobin, steve whump fic)

Steve has a habit of surviving near-death experiences then getting sick for no reason. And Eddie and those fatal bat bites? After an impossible feat of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation from Steve, he’s mysteriously fixed. So, Eddie’s back to being banished, this time with Steve and Robin in tow. Eddie’s healing, but Steve isn’t… and life gets even more confusing, when Eddie develops feelings for Steve, which aren’t entirely unrequited.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 11 Part 12

Contains mild kink (under-negotiated and going slightly wrong—all for plotty purposes, honest!)

(also on AO3 here)

...

Steve POV continued

“You sure about this, Stevie?”

“What part of ‘let’s do this’ do you not get?” 

Steve unwinds himself from Eddie. He peels his sweater over his head then glances down at the bandages… Screw it, can’t think about it now.

“Damn,” breathes Eddie, apparently drooling too hard to care. “I totally dreamed about this, when I luuuuurved to hate you. Okay, hate is kinda overkill but—”

“Yeah, I was a douche. Blah, blah, blah.” Steve shivers lightly, pitches the sweater at Eddie, who totally fails to catch it. “If this is some freak show revenge kink—”

“Wasn’t like that—seriously, you have no idea. It was, uh…” Eddie ventures closer. Under the quivering beams of the flashlight, his dark eyes seem impossibly large and liquid. “I used to watch you in the pool—you were so disgustingly squeaky clean. I wanted to drag you into the deepest, darkest recesses of my dungeon-master mind and, ahem…”

“I needed bringing down a peg?” Steve gets right in Eddie’s face.

“Not even that.” Eddie’s deadly serious. “Just wanted you aaaaall for myself.”

Steve smirks—best way to disguise the candy-ass swirl of butterflies in his belly—then steps back and spreads his arms. “I’m all yours. Knock yourself out.”

Eddie gets some rope, hooks it over a high beam, and climbs on a crate to fasten it in place. He then plants a palm on Steve’s bare chest, backing him up against a wooden post. Steve smirks harder than ever, if only to distract himself—and Eddie—from the heart hammering insanely beneath Eddie’s hand. Jesus Christ, don’t think! Focus on the hotness.

Eddie reaches up to grab one end of the rope, loop it around one of Steve’s wrists. Steve tugs himself free: “You do know what you’re doing here, right?”

“Believe me, my uncle is worse than any overgrown boy-scout leader. Not sure he taught me knots and shit for exactly these purposes, but… anyhoo.”

“Okay. Got one condition. You get shirtless too.”

Eddie’s grin makes Steve ache in all sorts of fun places. “Guess I can indulge you, Babe.”

“Babe? I was a brat five minutes ago. Make yer mind up.”

Eddie flips the bird, turns away and strips. Steve lolls against the post, despite longing to drag his tongue over every salty inch of Eddie’s torso. Jesus, he never knew he had a shoulder and back kink, because… Gnnng! And those tats, stark against Eddie’s pale skin? As Eddie turns back, Steve drinks them all in. Even the goddamn bats, which should be scary as hell these days, are beyond intoxicating, and seem to dance and spin and…

“Ready now?” Eddie grabs the rope.

Steve fakes a yawn. “Getting old waiting, Munson.” 

“You really are a brat, you know that? C’mon, gimme your hand.”

Eddie ties Steve’s right wrist with a loopy, hitchy knot. He tugs another part of the rope, suspending Steve’s wrist in the air above him.

“How ya doing, big boy?” Eddie grazes his fingers, feather-light, down the light stubble on Steve’s cheek.

“Never better.” 

Steve swallows hard, offers Eddie his other hand. The exquisite concentration on Eddie’s face, the tip of pink tongue at the corner of his mouth, is hilarious. Eddie’s half-naked body is totally smokin’, and yet…

Steve’s eyes drift closed. Those butterflies in his stomach are fast transforming into a horde of angry wasps. He’s had his hands tied before, by the Soviets and… Dammit, is this really distracting him from anything? I DIED IN 1978. I DIED! His breaths come faster, shallower. Nevertheless, he bites his lip against asking Eddie to stop, to slow down even. Don’t spoil this, Harrington.

“Stevie, you sure you’re okay?”

As soon as his gaze meets Eddie’s, Steve’s anxiety fades a little, and he nods. He tugs lightly at Eddie’s handiwork, now complete, and a snigger he genuinely feels tugs the corner of his lips. While the ropes don’t dig in, he doesn’t think he could easily yank himself free.

Okay, this is definitely kinda hot. Like the channel of air between their bare chests, which honestly, steams like a sauna. He’s always been in control in sexual relationships, always taking the lead. Lately, yeah, it’s felt kinda dull almost, as if he’s been going through the motions. Now, his nerves still jangle, but simply losing himself again in Eddie’s soulful eyes, he’s getting a goddamn semi. He peeps down, and the strain at Eddie’s fly suggests he’s suffering the same.

“What you gonna do next, Munson?” he husks.

“Stevie, I… I…” Eddie steps back, plows all eight fingers deep into that lush hair. “Seriously, now I got you like this, I have no clue, other than I want to kiss you so bad.”

“I want that so bad too.” 

Eddie kisses his own knuckles, dusts them across Steve’s lips, setting Steve squirming, keening even. His heart and his every goddamn fibre strain madly toward Eddie. Then an unexpected rumbling noise clamps those same fibres super-tight.

“Fuck!” Eddie’s half-lidded eyes stretch wide. “More choppers?” 

“No… No. Sounds like a truck or something.”

“How?”

“Robin said there was a track, remember? Shit, shit, shit! Turn the flashlight off. Now.”

Eddie obeys. Pitch darkness slams down. “Fine,” says Steve, struggling to keep it together. “You gotta untie me, man.”

“Right. Yeah.”

Cold sweat carves rivulets down the back of Steve’s neck, soaking the hair as his nape, while Eddie fumbles at the rope. Eddie’s frantic, singsong voice unsettles Steve further: “Nooooo. Can’t see what I’m doing.”

“You tied the dumb things? How hard can it be!”

“Stop struggling. You’re making the knots tighter.” 

“Oh.” Steve hadn’t realized he was doing that. “Sorry. Sorry.”

Eddie switches the flashlight back on. 

“Are you insane?” hisses Steve.

“Not the expert I thought I was, okay? I’m gonna have to slice them. Don’t wanna slice you.” Eddie retrieves a flick-knife from his back pocket, starts hacking above Steve’s right wrist. “Aaaaargh! You blunted this thing slashing your way through that goddamn jungle.”

“Somebody had to carve a path for you two great wusses. Just… Don’t be a klutz.”

“Aaaaah, I suck at this, Stevie. I don’t like this. I don’t like this.”

Neither does Steve. An engine revs and grinds, waaaay too close. “Turn the stupid light off. Go! Warn Robin. She’s a heavy sleeper.”

“But—”

“DO IT!” Steve’s furious desperation hits home. Eddie kills the flashlight, leaving Steve tethered by the wrists. Totally helpless.

Calm down, calm down. Focus, Harrington. Free yourself and then you can help them.

He grits his teeth, tugs again at the ropes. They simply bite deeper into his flesh. Nevertheless, Eddie has sawed partially through the rope above his right wrist. He throws everything into that, shoulder and biceps burning, until…

Snap.

His right wrist flies free, and he slumps forward into the darkness. Which makes the bonds around his left wrist snare super-tight, like he was caught in an animal trap.

Ooow! Oh great, just great.

He staggers upright to slacken the remaining rope, gives it a single strenuous tug then pulls short, gasping. At this rate, he’s gonna squeeze his own goddamn hand off.

He hears murmured voices—Eddie? Robin? Two beams of dusky white light streak through the small windows of the cabin—headlamps!?! 

His increasingly feeble struggles dry up. Whoever is coming is nearly here, and he wants to punch something, to kick something. Anything! He’d do anything to protect Eddie and Robin. Anything… Anything.

Giddiness swirls through his body like a mist. He’s nearly bent double, before the wrench through his shoulder revives him. Ow, Jesus! He scrambles to find his footing, to lighten the burden on his shoulder socket, though he’s still light-headed, his chest tight and shuddering. Are the army here? Have Robin and Eddie been taken? Oh God, oh God!

Something that feels like a mini lightning-storm consumes his brain, echoed by a deafening clap of thunder, and then…

Nothing.

…

Eddie POV

Eddie dips around the wavering beams of the slowly approaching headlights. He dashes into the bunkroom, where Robin is asleep.

In the gloom, he grabs her shoulder, shakes her. “Robin!” 

“Mind the kittens… Huh? Shit, sorry, dreaming. What the—”

Eddie flattens his hand over her mouth. “Someone’s coming,” he hisses.

“Shit-birds, what do we…” Robin sits up, slides to her feet. Her attention swings to Steve’s empty bunk. “Where is he?”

“Long story. Listen, you gotta run. Now. Hide.”

“Where? There’s only one way out.” Her arms flap everywhere. “Where’s Steve, Eddie?” 

“Gonna get him. Come on!”

They sidle out of the bunkroom, keeping tight to the cabin and the shadows. The revs from the vehicle are hard-by. “Hide in the trees,” says Eddie. “Go.”

“Not without Steve! Where is… Oh my God, oh my God.” 

Two headlight beams dazzle, as the vehicle enters the camp. A few fleeting heartbeats later, lightning forks across the sky, echoed by a deafening thunderclap. As Eddie and Robin charge deeper into the shadows, the heavens literally crack apart and a wall of rain slams down. Eddie sprints for the cabin where he left Steve, already soaked to the skin, no idea if Robin followed.

“Steve?” he whispers. “Steve! Shit! Shiiiiit!” Blundering in the dark, he discovers Steve’s completely out of it, dangling limply from one wrist. Eddie’s clumsily bracing his weight, when a flashlight sets him squinting, and a large figure blocks the doorway.

It’s all over.

Somebody roars, “What the hell is going on?” 

It sounds like Chief Hopper.

Eddie’s so stunned that he almost lets Steve drop. Fortunately, Hopper is already there—or, at least, some tall, lean, mean-looking dude that resembles him. Whoever he is, he gets his arms around Steve, while elbowing Eddie out of the way.

“Eddie? What? Why? What did you do to him? How could you? HOW COULD YOU?” Robin, holding the light, sounds ten times angrier than the thunder.

“It… uh, it wasn’t like that.” Eddie wrings his sopping hair. “I can explain?”

“Save it, Munson,” mutters the Hopper-look-alike, who’s already produced a vicious-looking blade and is hacking Steve free. Then he scoops one arm under Steve’s knees, and with a grunt, he picks him up.

“You got beds somewhere?” asks Hopper. Robin nods, before leading the way out into the easing rain.

Part 11

tags: @estrellami-1 @kal-ology (thank you, thank you, thank you!) If anybody else would like to be tagged on this fic or any of my writing, please let me know :) Reblogs, comments and likes also very much appreciated :) Thank you for reading so far :)

(also part of my steve whump fic series on AO3)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 11

[griefabyss69]

I'm hungry, so your word is "cookie" 🍪

This made me realize I'm hungry so I went and made lunch lmao!

Thanks for the word, this one gave me the inspiration I needed to continue with the Stobin & Eddie platonic bondage scene from my LARP AU! <3 (Other snippets from this are in the LARP AU tag)

"Comfortable?" Steve asks, pushing at a loop so it butts against the others. Robin nods. "Good." He then grabs the rope by her knees and tips her over onto her side, controlling it so she doesn't roll onto her face. She braces against it, but of course she can't like, stop it or anything, and it does something weird to her brain. "Fuck," she whispers, and Steve smooths his palm down over her shoulder. "I'm gonna connect them," he says, waiting for her to nod again before he's neatening out the ropes again. He pulls at the rope between her elbows until her arms are resting on her knees, and then he ties them together, taking his time. Robin shivers, feeling both protected and vulnerable. A sheet of cookies baking in an oven comes to mind and she laughs. It's just like that, especially since she has no guard against the heat of how she feels. "You're doing great," Eddie says quietly. Steve brushes her hair out of her face again. Robin wonders if all of her skin is glowing. Or if it looks like static. Or if she looks the exact same as she always does, despite the fact that every time she tries to move or pull at the ropes, the restriction creates little science experiment explosions in her chest. "How's that? Comfortable?" She makes an incomprehensible sound, just one syllable to explain everything, and Steve laughs, carding his fingers through her hair properly. "There you go," he says. Ugh. They're both being so… so nice to her. Like they're happy to spend all day just doing this so she can try something new and… She keeps her eyes shut as they water - she doesn't want to alarm them. She's just happy, and super relieved. It felt nothing like Starcourt when Steve tipped her over - in fact, she only just thought of it right now. She wonders if this is even working as therapy if she's not feeling scared. Maybe it'll help some of the weird phantom sensations she gets though, like when she thinks she feels straps digging into her upper arms or the tilting of her world for a split second. Maybe she'll feel this instead.

Word guess WIP game

[ronancexists]

Ronance/Platonic Stobin drabble that may become a story if I have the motivation for it (and if enough people that like it and actually want more) 😅

~~~

Robin huffed exhaustedly as she flopped onto Nancy's bed, ignoring the other woman's huff of annoyance as the sudden movement jostled the papers that had been spread out on the cover.

"Rough day?" Nancy asked, gathering the papers she had been using to study for her upcoming calculus test in her arms and setting them on the nightstand. She then shifted her gaze to Robin, who had flung an arm across her face while Nancy adjusted herself so she was lying on her back, turning her head to stare at Robin.

"The roughest," Robin agreed.

"Want to talk about it?" Nancy offered.

Robin merely shook her head, removing her arm so she could meet Nancy's gaze.

Nancy's entire demeanor softened when she noticed the red-rimmed and teary eyes. "Come here," she murmured, holding her arms out as an invitation.

Robin accepted the invitation, diving into Nancy's arms just as a fresh round of sobs escaped her. Her entire chest was heaving as tears streamed down her face, creating a wet spot on one of Nancy's favorite shirts.

The journalist would worry about that later. For now, her sole focus was on her beautiful yet devastated girlfriend who was an inconsolable mess in her arms.

"It's ok Robs, I'm here," Nancy whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of Robin's head as her arms tightened around the younger woman. "I'm here, I've got you."

Robin let out a choked whimper, nails digging into Nancy's arms. She wanted to tell Nancy, she did, but she couldn't get the words out. The memory had been replaying in her mind on a loop since she had left Family Video in a rush.

~~~

Robin arched an eyebrow as Steve sighed in boredom for what had to be the millionth time since their shift started less than an hour ago. "Knock it off, dingus," she said.

"But Robbie, I'm sooooo bored," he said, looking at her with sad puppy dog eyes.

She merely rolled her eyes at the childish man. "Really? I couldn't tell."

"You're so mean," Steve said, sticking his tongue out as Robin flicked him off.

"But you love me anyways," Robin said through a grin, ignoring the flicker of guilt that passed through her at the fact that Steve still didn't know that she and Nancy had become a thing.

After everything that happened at Starcourt, Steve had been the one to drive Robin to the Byers home, where everything about the Upside Down had been explained to her, starting from Will's disappearance all the way up to what she had just witnessed at the mall.

Of course, it wasn't an easy explanation to get through as everyone wanted to contribute and pitch in their own versions of what they had experienced, but they managed to get through it with a question here and there from Robin.

Much to everyone's surprise, she had taken everything in stride. Though they supposed it was much easier to take in after you had witnessed the Mind Flayer and been drugged and tortured by evil Russians.

Everyone spent that night at the Byers, dispersed throughout the living room. The older teens took the couches while the younger ones piled onto the floor in a mountain of blankets and pillows and intertwined limbs.

Steve and Robin fell asleep a few inches apart on the couch, but when they woke up, Steve's arm was around Robin's waist and his head was resting on her shoulder, puffs of breath hitting the freckled woman's neck. They sprang apart rather quickly, but after a few nights, it became their thing.

And a few days after that, Robin unofficially moved with Steve. With both of their parents never home, she was practically at his house every day. She got her own bedroom, but one of them always ended up in the other's bed. Steve started driving her to and from work, even on nights they weren't scheduled together (which was a rare occasion).

A few weeks later, Nancy had called out of the blue to check up on Robin and see how she was handling everything. The younger woman confessed that she was still having nightmares and sought out Nancy's advice on how to make them disappear. Nancy offered to come pick her up and take them somewhere to go eat, and Robin readily agreed.

Their friendship was tentative, but after everything that had happened with Vecna/Henry/One, it blossomed. Nancy had never met anyone like Robin, who so easily went along with her ideas, never doubting her for even a second. Someone who was sarcastic and intelligent and quite the rambler. She had also never met a woman as beautiful as Robin, and it made her question everything she thought she knew about herself, especially when Robin finally worked up the courage to tell her that she was into girls.

After Robin's nervous confession, it was like everything clicked into place for Nancy. Without hesitation, she cupped Robin's cheeks in her hands and leaned in, pressing her lips against Robin's as she had been dreaming about for days. She had thought she had made a horrible mistake and was on the verge of pulling away when Robin finally reciprocated the kiss. Electricity crackled between them, running through their veins and leaving them absolutely breathless and dazed when they finally pulled apart.

Shortly after, the two began dating, though not without a thorough conversation about everything that had happened between Nancy and Steve. Nancy confessed that yes, she had hurt Steve, but he had also hurt her by trying to pretend as though nothing ever happened, as if her best friend in the entire world, Barb, hadn't been murdered by some vicious creature in a haunted world that mirrored their town.

Robin told Nancy that Steve was her best friend, her platonic partner, and that yes, she really, really liked Nancy and absolutely wanted to date her and be her girlfriend, but she didn't want to do anything that would hurt him or make him feel as though Robin had betrayed him.

Nancy reassured Robin that Steve wanted nothing more than for the both of them to be happy, and that he wouldn't have a problem with the two of them being together. She understood that if Robin really believed they shouldn't be together because of him, she would step away from the younger woman, as heartbreaking as it would be to do so.

Robin was certain she fell even harder for Nancy in that moment, and pressed a firm, loving kiss to the journalist's lips. "Wish me luck," she said.

"Good luck," Nancy said, chastely kissing Robin before she escorted her downstairs and to the front door, where Steve was waiting to pick her up so they could head to work together.

That had been earlier in the day, and now, Robin's heart was beating ferociously in her chest. Her hands felt sweaty, her eyes were zeroing in on everything except for Steve, and her mouth felt extremely dry. She couldn't help but to fiddle with her rings, inhaling and exhaling deeply to try and calm her nerves.

Of course with Steve being an expert on everything Robin, he instantly sensed the shift in the air, a concerned frown adorning his face when he noticed Robin was playing with her rings. She only did that when she was extremely bored or when she was utterly nervous about something. "You alright Robbie?" he asked, brow pinching in concern as she looked at him with wide, frightened eyes.

"Y-yeah, yeah, of course. Everything is completely and totally fine. Why wouldn't it be? I'm working with my absolute best friend in the entire world who happens to be none other than Steve "the Hair" Harrington. Hey, don't you think it's funny that your nickname also matches your last name? Because I do. I think it's absolutely hilarious, actually. Even though it's not spelled the same as the type of hair that's on your head, it still makes for a really funny thing. God, it's really hot in here. It's making my head spin. Is your head spinning, Stevie? Because mine is."

"Robin," Steve interrupted, placing his hands on his friend's shoulders. "Breathe with me. In, and out. In, and out," he instructed, exaggerating his own breathing until Robin's breaths were slowing down and matching his. "There ya go. Nice and easy."

"Thanks," she whispered, pressing her forehead against his shoulder, wrapping her arms around him tight.

"You're welcome," he replied, hugging her just as tight. "Want to tell me what that was all about?" Steve questioned as they pulled apart, looking at her expectantly.

"Not particularly, no," she said, slender fingers instantly going to twist her rings around and around and around.

"You know you can tell me anything," Steve insisted, staring directly into Robin's eyes to prove he was serious, his frown returning when Robin tore her eyes away from his own.

"Promise you won't get mad? That you'll let me explain?" she asked, and Steve absolutely hated how her voice trembled.

"I promise Robbie, I swear it."

Robin inhaled sharply, steeling herself before meeting his concerned gaze. "I'm dating Nancy."

She flinched away from Steve as though she was expecting him to hit her. What she didn't expect was for Steve to brace himself on the counter, in absolute tears due to how hard he was laughing.

"You! A-and Nancy!" he spluttered, gasping for air as he continued to chuckle. "That's a good one. Really, that was fantastic. Oh, you just made my day."

Robin scowled, hands on her hips as she sent a death glare his way. "I'm being serious, you asshole."

Steve looked up at Robin, his amusement fading into confusion. "You're serious?"

"Yes, dingus. I'm serious. Nancy and I have been together for a few weeks now. I've been dying to tell you but I didn't know how to. I know you guys hurt one another and you're slowly becoming friends again and I didn't want to do anything to jeopardize that but God, Steve, Nancy is absolutely amazing. She's passionate and brilliant and kind and a badass and cares so deeply even though she's been so badly hurt in the past and she doesn't even—"

"You and Nancy?!" Steve exclaimed, his voice rising in pitch. "You and Nancy Wheeler?! The very same Nancy Wheeler you declared was a priss in the bathroom at Starcourt?! The Nancy Wheeler you know tore my heart up before stomping on it?! Nancy Wheeler, Mike's older sister Nancy Wheeler?!"

"Yes Steve, that Nancy Wheeler!" Robin shouted back in exasperation. "Do you know another badass woman named Nancy Wheeler?!"

Steve's mouth flailed open and shut as he tried to come up with a response.

Robin softened as she took notice of how confused and hurt Steve was. "I never meant to hurt you, Stevie. That's why I'm telling you. I'm just a girl whose in love with another girl who happens to be your ex. That's all."

"That's all?" Steve repeated sarcastically, venom dripping off every word. "Robin, you know what she did to me. You know how much she hurt me and how devastated I was. Hell, you were the one to comfort me when I would get down on myself about our relationship and talked me out of calling her like the drunken idiot we both know I can be! Was that all just some ploy to keep me from her so you could have her all to yourself?!"

Robin narrowed her eyes at her friend, ignoring the tears that were beginning to gather due to Steve's accusation. "No, Steve, it's nothing like that. I fell for Nancy because of who she is, not because it would hurt you. That's the whole reason I wanted to talk to you. I didn't want to keep this from you any longer because I knew you would react like this!"

"Like what?!"

"Like this! Accusing me of shit you know I would never do! You're my best friend, Steve James Harrington, and I would never do anything that would jeopardize our friendship!"

"Well you did, Robin! Out of all the girls in Hawkins to date, you chose Nancy!"

"You know that I have to be careful and that I actually don't have many options in this small, homophobic, bumfuck of a town," Robin growled, practically nose to nose with Steve.

"Well it's not my fault that it's unnatural, now is it?"

Both of them froze in place as soon as the question dropped from his lips, Robin heartbroken and in disbelief while Steve was horrified and shocked.

"Rob, I—"

"Fuck you, Steve," she spat, ripping her Family Video vest off her person and slamming it onto the counter, enjoying how it made Steve flinch.

Steve faltered as he reached out for Robin, the devastation and resignation in her eyes breaking his heart more than Nancy ever did.

"You are the one person I trusted," Robin said, swallowing past the lump in her throat. "I never thought in a million years that you of all people would be the one I trusted with that part of myself, because you were an absolute douchebag in high school. But you managed to get me to open up to you and despite all of my instincts telling me not to, I did. I trusted you because you weren't King Steve anymore, but clearly I was wrong. You haven't changed, and you never will."

With that, Robin rushed past Steve and out the door. She ran straight to Steve's car, grabbed her bike out of the trunk, and pedaled as hard and as fast as she could, ignoring Steve's desperate calls for her to come back. She paid no attention to the tears streaming down her face. There was only one thing on her mind.

She needed to get to Nancy.

~~~

Nancy wasn't sure how much time had passed since Robin had broken down in her arms. All she knew was that something had to have gone terribly wrong between Robin and Steve for her girlfriend to be so inconsolable and so obviously crushed.

"I've got you Robin, I promise. I'm here for you, whatever you need," Nancy vowed quietly so as not to further overwhelm her girlfriend.

"Thank you," Robin replied, her voice even raspier than normal.

"There's no need to thank me," the journalist said, smiling down at the the younger teen.

"I got snot all over your favorite shirt," Robin mumbled, a small grin appearing as Nancy chuckled.

"You're more important than a shirt, Robin."

"Mmhmm," she agreed through a yawn, snuggling closer to Nancy.

Nancy simply held her girlfriend tighter, running a hand through Robin's hair to help soothe her to sleep. "I love you, Robin."

"Love you too, Nance," she said, looking at the curly-haired brunette with half-lidded eyes.

"I'll be here when you wake," Nancy assured her, absolutely melting when Robin promptly closed her eyes and dozed off within minutes.

While she wasn't sure about the specifics of what went down between the two friends, she was sure about one thing.

Steve Harrington was a dead man.