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ekza-art · 1 year

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Why is Mike so dumb? (Not really)

The layered internal conflicts of the characters in Stranger Things are truly admirable. And the fact that people refuse to see that behind the words of the characters may be hiding something completely different from what they mean, only confirms this: people love to deceive, and first of all themselves.

"Friends don't lie" has become more than just the Party's naïve motto as they've grown older, it's become the keynote that, after coming full circle, like so much else on the show, it's back to full circle by Season 5. The Duffer brothers have made the lines of the show's key characters incredibly deep and complex, and what's happening right now between El, Will and Mike is one of the most complex and truly horrifying tragedies of our entire existence.

It always seemed very strange to me how a large number of people cling to Mileven and do not see anything else around. At the same time, I do not feel hatred or rejection towards lovers of the Mike / Eleven couple. But let's be objective: how many couples do you know who have stayed with each other for life, becoming each other's first? I'm not talking about the couples from the series that ended up getting this far, let's talk about reality. Children's first love is something truly pure, tender, almost holy. I was also in love with my 11-12 years old, and when now, at 31, I remember this, I remember only warmth and bright feelings. I remember this boy's name, but I don't even remember his face.

At the same time, the Duffer brothers in an interview frankly told us several key things: they do not believe in love at first sight, they do not consider the relationship between Mike and Eleven to be something serious, they describe this relationship as “Mike found a puppy in the forest and wanted to take care of him". Plus, and I think it's a big deal, when Eleven was first seen, Party had her hair cut so short that other people thought she was a boy -- at 11 years old, boys and girls aren't that different yet. At the same time, I always liked the ease and acceptance with which Mike spoke about El in any of its forms: he really didn't care if she looked like a girl or a boy, he finds her "pretty" in any form. And I think this is also important.

I was a fan of Mileven myself until the end of Season 2. I cried and was touched by the way Mike and El kissed at the Snow Ball. But during Season 3, I began to understand that something was clearly wrong going on between them. And Mike is really starting to act weird. At this time, they are 14 years old, more conscious sexuality begins to wake up. Hormones are raging and all that stuff. And at these moments, I begin to notice in Mike that he is not really want to take next base in relationships with El. Don't you remember yourself at 14? I remember myself very clear. We hung out in groups, and when the boys paid attention to us, we wanted to be as tactile with them as possible. But Mike is limited to very modest hand touches. This is his maximum, while El hugs him, reaches for him, while kissing wants to touch his face and hair. This is weird. I do not take into account Mike's lies in all of this, but for some reason one very important thing comes to my mind: at 11 years old, Mike did not listen to Hopper and went to look for Will with the Party on his own, at 12 years old, Mike, angry, attacked Hopper with his fists. And then suddenly he was horrified by Hopper when he scared Mike a little? Last year a boy literally saw a possessed friend and dead people, for God sake! At the same time, the boy probably understood that Jim would not do anything to him, would not harm him at all. So why did he start to avoid El and come up with all sorts of nonsense? Was he just looking for a reason? And the words of Jim to Joyce are also important: "they kiss all the time." That is, apart from kisses, a couple of Mike and El are not interested in anything else and do not have a connect without any "End of the World" danger? That's really sad.

"Mike tries to be normal as hard as he can" is practically a Finn's quote from Season 4. And in general, the way Finn refers to his character as an "idiot" in other interviews shows us that he understands what's going on with Mike, and it pisses him off. If this isn't a sexual identity crisis, then what could be tormenting Mike so much? I remember my identity crisis, which I lived at the age of 15-18. It almost took me to a psychiatrist and a surgeon because I couldn't figure out why I liked both boys and girls and why I sometimes felt like a guy. It was scary. I lived in Russia in the 2000s and it was very similar to the 1980s in America, trust me. The clash of conservatism and liberalism regarding sexual minorities and their representation on TV was simply crazy. I had no where to get information about what was happening to me. And as I look at Mike's tossing, I remember that I also tried my best to be "normal." I had my first sex at 20, with my close many-years friend, because it was too scary for me. And at the same time I suffered very deeply inside and thought that I was going crazy. Of course, Mike begins to lie to himself and believe his lies in order to stay sane. He really believes what he says at the end of Season 4. But his monologue is the bizarre mixture of lies and half-truths that he is now capable of.

I sincerely believe that Mike loves El. However, he is completely honest when he says that he "cares about her", calls her a "superhero" and cannot say "I love you" when El expects these words from him as her boyfriend. He loves her, but not in the way that El loves him -- not in a romantic way. Mike's monologue at the end of Season 4 is kind of a compromise. He reconciled his two opposing sides inside and brought them to what we have in the final. But while it's true that he might like guys too, he's not ready to dive just yet.

And at the same time, I really like the way El reacts to all of this. I want to ask the Mileven fans why, after the long-awaited “I love you”, El barely talks to Mike and feels lonely? She had been waiting for these words for so long, heard them -- but is she unhappy? Doesn't this seem strange? I would love to hear an explanation of this situation, because if it's not that El sensed the lie in Mike's words (and that he was lying to himself first of all), then I don't understand what is happening. I think El is amazing and she deserves the truth. And a relationship with a guy who is confused in himself is not what she deserves.

I'm truly sorry for Mike. I understand his conflict, I understand his suffering. He really is terribly confused. And I love how the Duffer brothers showed us that from the very beginning of the series. While everyone was wondering if Will was gay (although in the very first developments for the series, the phrase "has difficulties with sexual identity" was literally on the second line of Will's description, that is, it is a key to his personality), they dragged through the growing up Mike's internal conflict, giving us such microscopic clues that it was very easy to miss.

The theme of growing up, changes in oneself and in the world, self-determination, presented by the Duffer brothers in Stranger Things is really brilliant. We are used to the fact that there are shows for children and there are shows for teenagers, and these are completely different age categories and they raise completely different topics. And because of this, the very transition between these categories seems to turn into a perennial abyss. Although in fact the border is very thin, and it is this border that is the most conflicting of the moments of life. We are used to the fact that 15-16 year old teenagers are played by 20+ year old actors, this does not seem strange. And I don’t know how about you, but I still have very strange feelings from the fact that in Season 1 we see 11-13 year old actors who play 12-year-old characters with their childish games, and in 4 season they are already 18-20 years old, their characters have become full-fledged teenagers of 15-16 years old, and they really grew up. But, unlike other shows where we get to know teenage characters already at their 15-16, here we grew up with them. We live together with these complex conflicts of adolescence. And yes, that's why we often feel uncomfortable about it. We want certainty, we want to see that the characters have clear answers to everything, but come on guys! Let's be honest with each other.

#mike wheeler #will byers #eleven #jane hopper #stranger things #byler #mileven #platonic mileven

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ladykailitha · 2 years

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In the Midnight Hour Part 13

And here we go, the last part. The one that took the longest to complete. But it’s done. And I just want to say thank you to anyone that followed this through to the end.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12

Two Months Later:

It was getting out of hospital day for Eddie. Max was still in physical therapy but she had been out for a couple of weeks.

So they were having a ‘everybody is out of hospital’ party that night. Everyone was invited. Including the remaining members of Hellfire and Corroded Coffin.

There were a couple of them that had moved away due their homes literally going up in smoke, but those that stayed behind, were staunchly on Eddie’s side.

Steve was just grateful that both his and Eddie’s legal troubles had been cleared up. Granted Steve’s problems were more ‘civil’ and not ‘criminal’ in nature, but it had been a headache trying to find out about his parents, the house, his trust fund.

That last one had been the biggest problem. It was still set to activate when he turned twenty-one. Which was still a couple of years away. But if he was going to paying for all the bills of the big ass house he was going to need it.

Or so he thought. It was Nancy who had brought up the government hush money when he was complaining about his legal woes to the older kids when he got out of the hospital.

Turns out, thanks to the mall burning down with him in it, he was a very, very wealthy man. He had even more wealth than both his parents combined. Which he had to be honest made him very uncomfortable.

The party was of course at Steve’s house. Only now it really was his and not his parents.

The Hopper-Byers family were the first to arrive. Joyce had brought her cole slaw even though Steve had told her he had everything covered.

Jonathan just patted his shoulder. “Just go along with it. Besides it’s not a barbecue without it.”

Steve sighed and set it on the counter with the rest of the sides. Steve had been doing a lot of cooking and baking for today. He wanted it to be perfect.

El looked around. “Where’s Uncle Wayne?”

Steve shook his head. “Don’t worry, they’re just probably taking it slow for Eddie. They wouldn’t miss their own coming home party.”

El frowned. “I just assumed that they would be here first.”

Will smiled. “You know Dad has to be early, to get the grill started heating up. We were always going to be the first, remember?”

El sighed. “I forgot.”

“Why don’t you kids get into your swim suits and splash around in the pool while you wait?” Joyce said gently.

Will and El were off like a shot trying to beat each other to the best bathroom to change.

Jonathan just grabbed a soda from the cooler and sat down on one of the pool loungers.

Steve frowned. “Aren’t you going to get in pool, Jon?”

Jon shielded his eyes from the son and grinned. “Maybe later, like after those two have gotten their splashes out of them?”

Just as he said that the two of them came tearing out of the house to jump straight into the pool.

Steve laughed. “You know they aren’t ever going to their zoomies out.”

Jon grinned. “Maybe when they’re our age.”

Hop threw a roll at Jonathan. “You aren’t that old. Sheesh.”

“Whatever you say, old man,” he shot back.

Joyce giggled.

Just then Nancy and Mike came round back.

“Mike!” El and Will called out together.

Mike grinned. “Hey, guys!”

“Hurry up and get changed!” Will shouted.

Mike immediately turned back around and dashed back into the house to do just that.

Nancy just shook her head and went to go sit on Jonathan’s lap and laid her head on his shoulder.

Steve smiled at them. The two of them had been become closer since Steve started dating Eddie. Jonathan gained more confidence and Nancy finally relaxed into their relationship.

Dustin arrived with the Sinclairs and Max. Max was up and walking about but her eyes still made it difficult for her to move around.

“Welcome!” Steve cried, going over to hug all of them.

He whispered to Max, “Do you want to have El help you get to the bathroom or have you got it?”

She thought about it for a moment and then replied, “El please.”

Steve nodded. “Hey, El!” he called out. “Can you show Max where to change. It’s been awhile since she’s been here and doesn’t remember where it is.”

El was out the pool like a shot and was next to her friend in two seconds.

“Come on!” she said cheerfully.

Dustin and Lucas followed close behind, shoving and pushing at each other as they fought over the second best bathroom.

People kept arriving and soon everyone was there but Wayne and Eddie. The food was ready and everyone was eyeing the burgers ravenously.

Steve bit his bottom lip. He didn’t want to tell people to wait, but he also didn’t want Eddie and Wayne to miss out.

But before he could decide one way or the other, they walked through his door.

It took every once of self-control Steve had not to run up to Eddie and kiss him senseless.

But his slow walk up to his boyfriend gave him the opportunity to admire every inch of him.

Eddie was dressed in grey jeans with a black tank top. He had his white sneakers on.

Steve put his hand on Eddie’s waist. “Hey, gorgeous.”

Eddie kissed him in front of everyone. “Sorry I’m late, sweetheart.”

“This idiot just had shower and get himself all dolled up for a certain young man,” Wayne groused as Steve gave him a hug.

“Well I appreciate the effort,” Steve said, eyeing his boyfriend again.

Eddie huffed out a laugh. “Like the smell of disinfectant and Bleach that had seeped into every pore and follicle wasn’t a contributing factor in all that.”

Wayne laughed. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Still wanted to look pretty for your boy, though.”

Eddie blushed.

“Come get something to eat,” Steve said. And everyone followed suit.

After everyone had eat their fill and had either lounged around or finally entered the pool, Steve and Eddie were finally able to be by themselves.

“So what’s the final prognosis on your voice?” Steve asked.

“I can harmonize, but lead vocalist is out,” Eddie said bitterly.

Steve curled his hand gently around the scar on Eddie’s throat. “I’m sorry, babe. I’d gladly swap my vocal cords for yours if I could.”

Eddie leaned into the touch. “I know you would, sweetheart. But the important part is that I can talk, I can sing, even if it’ll never be the depth and range I had before, and I’m here with you.”

“I love you, Eds.”

“Love you, too, darlin’,” Eddie said going in for a kiss.

A shadow passed over them and they looked up to see Jeff had came up to them with Eddie’s guitar. The one he thought he had lost in the Upside Down.

“Holy shit, dude!” Eddie cried as he took his baby back. “Where did you find her?”

“Me and Gareth were roped into helping your uncle clean up the old trailer and salvage as much as we could,” he explained, choking back tears. “I found this among the wreckage and got it repaired. And then you came back.”

Eddie stood up and hugged Jeff and then hugged Gareth. “You guys are the best friends a guy could hope for.”

Gareth just grinned. “You know what the toll is, jackass.”

Eddie sat down with the guitar on his knee. He wasn’t quite well enough to play standing for long periods of time.

He started playing Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Queen but when he got to the first verse, his voice cracked.

He almost stopped playing but Steve started singing the song with Jeff and Gareth adding the backup vocals.

Soon everyone was bobbing their heads and clapping along. When they finally got to the end Gareth and Jeff were nearly doubled over with laughter.

“Holy hell, Steve-o!” Jeff said. “Where the hell have you been hiding that voice, man?”

Eddie looked up Steve, eyes wide and hopeful. “We do need a new lead singer...”

Steve glanced down at Eddie then up at Gareth and Jeff who looked even more hopeful than Eddie.

“I’ll tell you what,” Steve said, hand on his hip. “Give me about half a dozen songs to learn, yours or someone else’s, don’t care. And then I’ll properly audition. If and that is a major if, I’m a good fit, I will happily take over singing duties from Eddie.”

Eddie, Gareth, and Jeff all hugged him.

Steve shrugged them off. “Shoo. I don’t even like metal...” he said shaking his head.

They all laughed.

“We’ll convert you,” Gareth said, a wicked gleam in his eye.

Steve just shook his head and settle back to sit next to Eddie. Seeing him with his guitar again was the perfect ending to all of this.

“I love you, babe,” Eddie said, when Steve put his arm around him.

“I know I’ll always be second to your sweetheart,” Steve teased.

Eddie laughed. “She didn’t save me from Hell, and you did. I’m pretty sure that makes you my number one.”

Steve smiled. “I love you, too, sunshine.”

Eddie just grinned, turning back to his guitar and began to play again. Steve hummed along.

“Not familiar with that one,” he murmured.

“It’s not done yet,” Eddie admitted, shyly. “It’s about a boy that loved deeper than anyone who went to hell to rescue the love of his life.”

“So it’s a play on Orpheus and Eurydice,” Steve said. “And how does it end?”

Eddie cupped Steve’s cheek and drew him in for a kiss. “Happily ever after.”

“The best kind.”

Tag List: @swimmingbirdrunningrock @panicatthediaz @renaissan-vvitch@grtwdsmwhr @chaoticlovingdreamer @savory-babby @thequeenrainacorn @anzelsilver @estrellami-1 @steddieassheg0es @currently-steddiebrainrot @gregre369 @steddie-there @clumsywriter @babbler1202

#My writing #stranger things #steddie #vampire eddie #ladykailtiha writes

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frankenstein-ate-my-left-shoe · 2 years

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A Recipe for Disaster

The Princess Diaries 2 steddie AU no one asked for but that i couldn’t get out of my head!!

On AO3 here

It had taken a lot for Steve to get to where he is.

As a person, not like, “in life”-wise

He was most definitely better off than most, he was about to be King of a whole ass country for fucks sake, but the internal shitstorm he had gone through to become the person he is today...was a lot.

He was 16 going on 17 when his long lost aunt showed back up in his life. News of his birthright hitting him like a ton of bricks.

Queen Joyce Renaldi was his father (Stephan Artur Renaldi II)’s older sister, and became Genovia’s ruler when her father passed away shortly after Steve’s.

She had sat down with him and patiently explained everything to him, that since he was the sole male heir to the throne, the crown’d be his when he turned 18. If he wanted it. That she’d train him in everything he needed to know to get him ready and if she had anything to do with it, he wouldn’t be alone in this. He’d have her to guide him as long as he needed her.

At that point in his life, he had already: lost his dad, learned how much of an ass his father really was (and how much people were glad he was gone), and completely shut down. He used to be the King of his school (ironically) but after his dad died, he dropped the façade and became friends with Robin Buckley, local freak.

It didn’t take long before they were the literal best of friends, joined at the hip and at the braincell, platonic soulmates. She became everything to Steve and even after one bad drug trip, finding out he was a royal (for real), their first fight, and his stupid brain thinking that his old best friend Tommy Hagen wasn’t just flirting with him to capitalize on Steve’s newfound status, but because he actually did like him back only to be caught by paparazzi making out in a boathouse at his school’s beach party…Robin was still there. She was always there for him.

She even decided to pursue her degree in languages at the same college; and not just her own degree, but also took another major in international and public affairs, same as him. Fully intending to stay by his side in Genovia.

Steve loves her so damn much (a fact she says he reminds her of all too often).

Which brings him to today. Graduation day.

Finally, finally, he’d be returning to Genovia. With Robin and their co-parented orange cat named Concrete by his side, he’d finally be returning to the country he loved. That he had loved since first landing there the summer after junior year.

He was looking forward to his 21st birthday coming up in a few weeks, nervous about being completely ‘of age’, and the upcoming coronation, but Aunt Joyce had assured him that he would rule at her side before officially taking over.

“Your highness, Lady Robin, look out the window,” Jim Hopper: head of security, local badass, and great friend and father (to his own kids, and a welcome father-figure to Steve these last 4/5 years), interrupted Steve’s tired thoughts and worries, “Welcome back to Genovia.”

Steve looked up at Hopper, grinning, and turned to the window closest to their seats where Robin was already holding Concrete up by his armpits to look out the window too. Steve loved seeing the palace as they flew over, but now all he saw was two-day old, travel-mussed, blonde hair and the bottom half of a very fat orange cat.

—--

The few weeks leading up to his 21st birthday went by in a flash.

The first couple days were appointments with the Palace’s medical team, introductions to the newer members of the staff that Steve would be seeing around daily, official introductions of Robin (and her official titling as Steve’s Royal Advisor) to the staff, fittings for his attire for the ball (a maroon tuxedo, subtly patterned with branches of the Genovian Pear tree in a slightly darker shade, a golden sunflower yellow bow tie and matching waistcoat, Genovia’s royal sash and medals, and a smaller crown of his grandfathers who, like Steve, was partial to warm tones than to cool ones. This crown looked like if the circular backsplash pattern of a drop of water was cast in gold. The peaks of the crown were each adorned with a ruby, which just barely poked out above Steve’s hair like a halo), and multiple small family dinners, just Steve and his two favorite ladies (Aunt Joyce and Robin) plus Lord Concrete and Joyce’s beloved mutt Maurice. The latter of the two being sworn enemies.

Soon (too soon), it was the night of his ball. Joyce was to enter first with Hopper, and after her speech, would lead the attendees in a toast to Steve as he entered the ballroom. Steve could hear Joyce making her speech though the heavy oak doors, her voice carrying easily though the hall as if the palace itself wanted to send her voice as far as it could.

To top off the pile of anxiety growing in the pit of his stomach, Robin wasn’t with him at the moment. She wasn’t allowed to make the entrance with him, but knowing she’d be just on the other side of the door and down the stairs, gave him little reprieve.

He was pacing between the two doormen on his side of the door, twisting his grandfather’s signet ring worriedly on his left middle finger. The ring was a gift from Joyce for his birthday, said she wanted Steve to have it because “He would have absolutely adored you, Steve. He’d be so proud to see such a handsome, well-rounded young man wear it.” She had his face cupped in her small hands and wiped away his tears with her thumbs when they made their appearance. The ring was too big, big enough for Steve to be constantly worried about losing it right off his finger at the slightest movement. He is already planning on sending it off to be resized, but wanted to have it with him tonight.

Again, too soon, there was no more time to panic as he could hear the announcement of his name coming from the ballroom.

“Presenting, His Royal Highness, Stephan Artur Harrington-Renaldi, Prince of Genovia.”

At the bangs of the announcer’s staff, Steve stepped forward on shaky legs, the double doors opening before him by the ballroom’s doormen just as rehearsed. He dusts off his old “King Steve” mask and smile from his time in high school, puts them on, and walks through the threshold and out to the short balcony created by the twin staircases, beaming at the gathered dignitaries.

“To Prince Steve.” Joyce calls and lifts her glass of champagne.

“To Prince Steve!” The crowd parrots.

Steve lifts his right hand and gives them all a wave, then switches it out for his left, waving a little bit too vigorously toward where he’s spotted Robin who’s grinning at him, looking stunning in the sparkly golden yellow gown she had to almost be wrestled into. He must’ve waved too hard because he feels his grandfather’s ring fly directly off his sweaty hand.

He turns, eyeline chasing the flight path of the ring only to see it land safely in one of the doorman’s grasp.

The elderly man approaches Steve “It happens all the time.” he drops the ring into Steve’s palm and smiles. “And Happy Birthday.”

“Thank you very much.” Steve returns the smile

The titter and giggles from the crowd subdue back into easy chatter as Steve comes down the stairs to his left, and grasps Robin’s hand on his arm as soon as she weaves her arm with his.

“You must be the clumsiest royal to ever grace these halls, Your Royal Dingus.”

“You’re absolutely right, now every important person in the literal world knows it.”

"You are incorrect, Lady Robin,” Joyce calls from behind the two, who turn to face her. “My father was just as clumsy as our Steve, perhaps even more so.” Her smile is polite and loving, but the teasing smile on Hopper’s face betrays exactly what she is thinking.

‘Those two are just as symbiotic as Robin and I, I swear.’ Steve thinks to himself.

“Gee thanks,” Steve rolls his eyes but detaches himself from Robin “Care to be my first dance, Aunt Joyce?”

“I thought you’d never ask, my dear.” She similarly unweaves her arm from Hopper’s and places her palm atop the back of Steve’s downturned one.

Steve leads her to the middle of the ballroom, their guests parting like the red sea in front of them to give an open area to dance. As if they could read their minds, the band starts a classic waltz and Steve leads his Aunt around the outer edge of the circle.

Hopper soon joins them with Robin, and slowly, more and more folks spin themselves into the dance. Steve smiles at Prime Minister Wayne Henderson and his wife Claudia as he and Joyce spin past them, and when the song ends, it’s like the ice has been broken and the party can actually start.

People approach him from all angles to wish him a happy birthday, and make their introductions, including quite a few members of parliament, recognizable by the Genovian Crests pinned to their suits. Robin latches back to his side, they fend off the “Oh, how cute of a couple!” comments as usual, and Robin gets to flex her dignitary muscles. He catches a few excerpts sometimes when she is speaking to foreign dignitaries in their native languages. Steve feels very lucky to have her.

He’s whisked away soon after to start the part(s) of the evening he’s dreading the most. Prince Stephan is expected to dance with all the eligible persons of Royal descent. He starts with Robin first, just to get his nerves out of the way.. Then it’s off to the races.

It’s really like they all just expect him to be only a Prince Charming, He asks many of them questions about their own countries/principalities or their interests and they look at him like they'd rather he just tell them how nice they look.

The only one that doesn’t fit this mold so far, is a woman about his age named Nancy. Her small and petite frame is definitely in that mold of most of the attendees he’s expected to dance with, but she tells Steve immediately about how she’d love to be a journalist if it weren’t for her royal expectations.

“I just love to get down to the bottom of things, you know? I like digging in and finding out anything and everything about a story.”

“That sounds fantastic, I’d love to read some of your work sometime.” Steve smiles at her and is rewarded with a small smile and blush. “Actually,” he continues “Our head of security’s oldest son is a photographer, I’d love to introduce you. His work is really good; I feel like your writing and his photo skills could be a great combination.”

He wasn’t lying either, from the few minutes he’s spent with Nancy, he can tell without a doubt that anything she wrote would be fantastic, and though Jonathan and he have always been kinda weird, his photography is plastered all over the Palace’s media releases and he definitely has talent.

“Really? I would love to meet him.”

“Come on, I need a break from dancing anyhow.” They step apart and he offers his arm to her, which she takes. Steve can easily spot Hopper from across the room, easily a head taller than most.

Hopper greets them as they approach, “Good evening your highness, your highness.” directing their titles to each of them.

“Hi Hop, is Jonathan around today? Nancy here is an aspiring reporter and I’d love to introduce them.”

Hopper smiles warmly down at Nancy, “Ah, is that so! Well it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Madam Nancy, let me radio Jon.”

“Thank you Mr. Hopper.” Nancy beams at him

“Please, your highness, Hopper or Jim is just fine with me.

“Just don’t call him Jimmy.” Steve stage whispers to Nancy, loud enough for Hopper to hear and shake his head at him. “Are Will and Ellie around tonight?”

“Ah yes, they are around here somewhere. I think they and Mr. Henderson have met the young Lord Sinclair, so I’m sure I will have to respond to one of their messes here sooner than later.”

“Your other children?” Nancy asks, genuinely curious.

“Yes ma’am, the wonder twins themselves.” His close-lipped smile makes his mustache scrunch on his face along with causing his well-worn crows feet to make their appearance.

“Whadja need…dad?” Steve hears Jonathan call out then trail off when he catches sight of Steve. “Good evening your highness, happy birthday.” He quickly catches himself and greets Steve with a short bow, “Is there something wrong?”

“Not at all Jonathan, I just wanted to introduce you to Princess Nancy here.” He gestures at Nancy, who’d mostly been hidden from sight behind Steve from where Jonathan had approached. She releases her hold on Steve’s arm and extends her hand for Jonathan to take.

“Many apologies your highness, I didn’t see you there. How do you do?” He takes Nancy’s extended hand and bows with a light kiss to her knuckles. “Is there something I can help you with?”

Steve watches this exchange and immediately the arrow on his brand new internal ‘Nancy’ dial flops from where it was in the “Interested in Nancy” section, to the complete opposite “Get Nancy and Jonathan together at all costs” section.

Nancy’s whole face and neck are blushing a wonderful shade of pink (Steve can even see some dripping down onto her collarbones since the navy blue dress she wears is sleeveless). Steve smirks and is about to cut in to tell Jon all about her, but she gets to it before he can, still eloquent and in command of her words despite her obvious flustered mood.

“I was telling Steve about my wishes to become a journalist and he said your photography work was very good. I am assuming you are on the palace’s public relations team?”

Jonathan still hasn’t let go of Nancy’s hand, and it doesn’t look like he’d like to anytime soon. “Y_yes, I am the lead photographer.. Steve said that?” Jonathan glaces at Steve disbelievingly.

Nancy nods, “He did. I would love to see what you’ve been able to capture so far.” She gestures to the heavy-looking camera around his neck.

“Uhh..” Jonathan looks to Steve worriedly, who quickly mimes standing up straight and offering his arm. “O_of course, I’d love to show you, your highness.” He offers his arm to her and she takes it excitedly.

“Please, just call me Nancy.” she smiles at Jon and his face flushes red.

About an hour later, Steve is starving and starting to get hangry from lack of food. He really doesn’t want to accidentally snap at someone important, so he sneaks over to the corner where his towering birthday cake has been mocking him, picks up one of the tiny serving spoons, and spoons out a mouthful of the cake from behind one of the fondant flowers.

Someone taps him on the shoulder “I saw that.”

Steve looks over, ready to apologize, and has to look down a bit more than he thought. “Uh, it’s my cake.” He tells the younger man. He must be at least 18, he’s definitely not a young kid. Curly light brown hair, slicked backward on the sides, like a fake mullet. “I like your hair dude, very 80s.”

The kid looked embarrassed, “Yeah my mom did it, it’s not what I would have done but I’m not the best at maintaining my curls myself. Our deal is if my mom does my hair, she does all of it. Style and all.”

“It looks really good, I promise, you should tell her thanks.” Steve says, taking another bite of cake.

“Dude.” the kid says incredulously, “Save some for the rest of us.”

“Dude.” Steve parrots back in the same tone “It’s my cake, I can eat as much as I want.” He pauses for a second, and thinks ‘Reel it back in Steve, you don’t even know who this kid is or who this kid’s parents are. Don’t be rude and start a war accidentally.’

“Sorry, I haven’t eaten anything all night and I can feel myself getting hangry. I’m Steve.” Steve switches the small spoon into his left hand and extends his right to the kid

“Yeah, I know who you are, you did make a pretty grand entrance earlier; don’t know if you noticed.” He takes Steve’s hand and gives it a strong (but somewhat clammy) shake. “I’m Dustin Henderson.”

“Ah, so you’re Wayne’s kid.” Steve drops Dustin’s hand.

“No, Claudia’s kid. Wayne is my Step-dad.”

“Oh, sorry...Wait, is that a bad thing?”

“God no, Wayne is the best. Quiet, contemplative, you know he loves you no matter what. And he’s been around as long as I can remember.”

Steve nods along to what Dustin is saying, picking up a second spoon and pulling out another spoonful of cake for Dustin, handing it to him while he’s still talking.

“He even took my Mom’s last name when they got married. He said that he’s the one joining our family, not the other way ‘round.”

Steve has that much more respect for the already well-respected Prime Minister.

“Plus I heard him tell my mom once that his family are a bunch of sleezebags so he’s happy to be rid of his own name anyhow.”

“Wow really? Who’s his family I wonder?”

“Dunno, never asked him and I don’t really want to bring it up if he hates them all, you know?”

“True, true.” Steve agrees. “I like you kid, (“Kid?? I’m only 3 years younger than you!”) I hope to see you around again if I don’t die of boredom talking to all these parliament geezers.”

Dustin grins a big squinty grin at him and extends his hand to Steve again. Steve smiles and shakes his hand, then Dustin puts on a fake, very haughty voice and says “I’ll have my people contact your people.”

Steve throws his head back and bellows out a laugh, “Sounds good man. C’mon, I wanna introduce you to my best friend, Robin. She’s the coolest, I think you guys will like each other.” He pats Dustin on the shoulder, stepping out around the table to lead him across the room where Robin is chatting with Murray and Hopper.

“Oooh, best friend only?” Dustin asks suggestively

“Nuh-uh don’t even go there little man, Steve looks back at the teen, “I am SO not her type and___oh shoot, your..foot” Steve looks up at the person whose foot he just crushed, and his hazel eyes meet chocolate brown. “Are you alright?”

“I’ll survive, your highness.” the man says, standing to his full height, Steve also rises to keep his gaze. “The fault was entirely my own. I apologize.”

The man is just slightly taller than Steve, and has dark brown, almost black, curls. They cascade onto his shoulders, and Steve has the overwhelming urge to reach out and see if they are as soft as they look. Only half of this hair is down, the top half pulled back away from his face.

He is drop-dead gorgeous.

“Are you sure you don’t want to exchange licenses and proof of insurance?”

“No, no, these shoes were a little big anyway, the swelling should help them fit a bit better.” he grins and Steve feels his heart palpitate at the sight.

“Please, excuse me..” He says, stepping back and to the side to squeeze through the crowd.

“Sure.” Steve says, whisper quiet, but dreamboat is already walking away.

As usual, Steve just knows exactly where Robin is, and he turns to meet her gaze (she had already been watching the interaction from her spot across the room).

The two of them mouth “What the fuck?” to each other before Steve’s attention is pulled back to Dustin quietly saying "Holy shit.."

"You saw nothing, that was nothing." Steve points at Dustin accusingly.

Dustin puts his hands up in mock surrender "Okay, okay, that was nothing..."

A couple dances later, Steve finds himself dancing with one little girl that honestly, he’d dance with all night if he could. She’s a sassy little thing, a princess from a neighboring country, who calls herself “Lady Applejack” with all the conviction in the world (Steve thinks her name is really Erica though). She stands on his toes while he spins them in dance like she is trying with all her might to crush the digits below her own into the floor for offending her personally.

When he asks about her interests, she tells him almost reluctantly about her love for Dungeons and Dragons, but insists that she’s NOT a nerd. He’s not sure what Dungeons and Dragons even is, but he has an overwhelming feeling that Dustin actually might. Steve tells her as much, and she looks excited that there may be someone else here to talk to about her game.

Steve feels a tap on his shoulder and when he turns, dreamboat is smiling down at Erica.

“Pardon me, Lady Applejack, may I cut in?”

“I’d be mad if you didn’t.” And with that, Erica nearly wrenched herself from Steve’s grasp, and strutted off, looking for Dustin.

“I would say thank you for saving me, but she’s the best dance partner I’ve had so far.” Steve tells the dreamboat, sliding into his arms like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“I believe you wholeheartedly, Your Highness.” He chuckles

“Steve. I prefer to be called Steve. And you are…?”

“Eddie. Just.. Eddie.”

Steve laughs “Well, Just Eddie, I’m glad to see that my clumsiness hasn't affected your dancing.” Eddie spins them in a lazy circle, “I’m sorry I stepped on your foot.” he whispers

“You can step on my foot anytime.” Eddie says, a promise.

They had stopped twirling, more or less just swaying back and forth in one spot. Steve was suddenly hyper-aware of how close they had gotten to each other, and how much closer Eddie’s forehead was to his own.

Suddenly, Eddie’s head spun to look at something. It was Dustin.

“It’s Sir Dustin’s turn.” He says to Eddie in that same fake-haughty tone he’d used before.

“You’re quite right, Sir Dustin.” Eddie says, stepping away from Steve and giving Dustin a quick bow.

Steve finds himself missing his closeness when his whole front goes cold in his absence.

“Your highness,” Eddie smolders at him through his lashes with his own bow to Steve, which he returns. And then. He’s gone.

Steve automatically takes Dustin’s hands and starts up the waltz once again, mood soured completely and vaguely aware that Dustin is trying to get his attention.

"Dude. Steve!”

Steve looks down at Dustin, hoping his calm face portrays how pissed he is.

Dustin rolls his eyes, “Look, I know we just met but please just play along here, pretend like you and I both know this is a joke. Laugh or something.”

Now Steve’s just confused.

“With all respect your highness, really and truthfully, love who you love, but the old guys that will end up making decisions for you are not all as cool as Wayne, and would probably have an aneurysm if they think you’re actually making googly eyes at the eligible bachelors here.”

Steve laughs uncomfortably, “Uh, I’m not_”

“You and I both know you were. C’mon man, you know I’m right.”

Steve actually starts laughing at the absurdity of it all. He’s grateful for Dustin, Steve knows he’s right, but he also wants to cry and bury himself in the garden out of embarrassment.

“You’re right, you’re right! Damn it… He was a total dreamboat though, wasn’t he?” Steve waggles his eyebrows at Dustin and laughs again at his disgusted expression.

“Want me to save you, little man?” This time, it’s Robin who cuts in, moving to take her turn as Steve’s dance partner.

“Ugh. Please.” Steve lets Dustin go. “Don’t say I don’t do anything for you.” he says as he walks away, waving at Steve and Robin over his shoulder.

“Tell me everything right now or I swear to god I will throw your shoes into the fountain.” Robin demands as soon as they start spinning.

“You saw how hot he was! And literally so smooth..”

“What was with the kid?”

“I was mooning over Eddie.”

“Oh, his name is Eddie huh?” She grins at him slyly “And what about it?”

“Dustin, rightfully, pointed out that the peanut gallery wouldn’t be too keen on me dancing with all the hotties in the room, not just the lady-type ones. He cut in to cover for me.”

Robin winced in understanding “Oof.. yeah I should’ve caught that too, honestly.”

"Yeah, me too.”

After this leg of the Prince Stephan World Waltzing Tour, Prime Minister Henderson tells Steve once again that “There’s a member of Parliament you should meet.” and heads off to go grab said member’s attention before Steve follows. Murray, Joyce’s #1 and palace scheduling wizard, passes by and Steve stops him with an uncomfortable “Murray, how many more members of parliament are there?”

“Only six left, sir. You’ve got it this.” He claps his hand on Steve’s shoulder.

‘Oh. That’s not too bad,’ Steve shrugs to himself as he and Murray part ways. Someone calls his name from behind him and when he turns toward the voice, he feels a tug at his hair and a weight sliding from his head at the same time.

Whirling around, Steve’s hand flies to his head to try and catch the crown before it falls completely off, but is met with the faces of a very apologetic waiter and a very cold-looking member of parliament who had already saved the priceless item from hitting the floor. The waiter whose tray had knocked the crown off his head is apologizing profusely, and the other man is making what Steve thinks is a very rude shoo-ing motion towards them.

He focuses his attention on the gangly looking waiter. “I am so sorry, It was only an accident!”

“No, No, it’s perfectly fine I promise. I am all good, no harm no foul.” Steve smiles genuinely at them.

The waiter clasps his hands together and smiles gratefully before turning and rushing from the room. ‘I’ll have to make sure he’s not fired for this, that’d be shitty.’ Steve thinks to himself.

“Thank you for catching that.” Steve tells the cold-mannered man, crouching down a bit so he can place the crown back on his head.

“You should be more careful, your Royal Highness.” He tells Steve, fixing the headpiece into position, “someone may try to take that from you.”

“I sure hope not,” Steve says with an awkward laugh, lightly touching his head “thank you for all your help!” and turns back to Prime Minister Henderson, intending on asking who the cold-mannered man was.

Pt. 2 here!

Tagging the couple folks that showed interest on my original post, hope you don’t mind! @totallybitchin, @potentialheartofdarkness, @steddieasitgoes, @princessstevemunson

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problemswithbooks · 2 years

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I’m kinda glad the next season there not adding no new characters and I’m hoping for a happy ending and according to duffers will is going to take center stage but I’ll believe it when I see it

Yeah, it'll be nice not to spend a bunch of time introducing new characters, especially since they seem to only be there so they people to kill that the audience cares about who aren't the main cast.

I do hope there's a happy ending.

Some people have speculated that Eddie might come back as an undead pawn of Vecna, who maybe they can save. I sort of doubt it at the moment sense they haven't done that sort of thing before, but I won't complain if Eddie comes back. He was a really fun character, and out of the dead cast, I think bringing him back would make the most sense.

AS for Will, I agree that he should play a big role in the last season. He has the biggest connection the the Upside Down along with El, and he has been poorly utilized for most of the show, usually ending up a damsel in destress. So it'd be nice if he got to have a better, and bigger role in the final.

I've seen a lot of talk that says Byler (Will/Mike) is going to be end game ship wise and that's going to be a part of his big role. Personally, I hesitate to say it will happen and am a little worried seeing how sure people are that it's going to be canon. I remember to much of that in past fandoms, like Sherlock or Voltron. People were so sure their ship was 100% going to happen and then were furious when it didn't materialize. With Sherlock that was understandable because the fans were purposely baited, but Voltron wasn't like that, yet people were still counting their chickens before they hatched, so to speak.

I'm not against the ship, but I do think if it happens the Duffers are going to have to be spot on with their writing to make it work and not feel tacked on. As many Byler shippers have pointed out Mike has been pretty shit to Will, while also being a crap boyfriend to El. For me at least it would be weird to have El break up with Mike because he's been shitty to her (only seeing El as a superman/weapon), and then to have Will and Mike get together, especially if he also develops powers.

Unless there's a time skip between them getting together, for me it'd just feel like Mike hadn't had enough time to grow and change after his break up with El. That he was bound to repeat the same mistakes with Will.

#ask #thanks for the ask :)#sorry it got buried #Stranger Things #I admit I am a little bias toward Byler because as an Aro person I'm a little sick of the #traumatized teens get together and live happily ever after trope #like to honest none of these people should be dating #they all seem rather bad at thanks to the Duffers writing #which is either brilliant because they act like real teens who break up every 5 min and don't really get relationship stuff yet #or terrible because they do mean for these ships to be really romantic and for watchers to see them as working out in the future #like even if Byler happened I'd have no faith that it'd last more then a few months given Mike's track record with El #which I guess isn't bad #gay teens deserve to have rep that shows them having crappy first relationships too #but i doubt any end ships will be treated as temporary #shows like to end on the ships being forever #which I would get for older couples like Joyce and Hopper #but not so much for teens who have already shown that they like breaking up at a moments notice #like I won't really believe any of the end game ships lasting more then a few months with any of the younger kids

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were-wolverine · 2 years

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more of punk!steve bc i adore him

steve first runs into the Party at the arcade (where he works part time because he wants to make his own money as a ‘fuck you’ to his parents and cuz it’s a chill job) and he becomes their favorite worker and they become his favorite customers. one day steve takes a smoke break in the parking lot and sees some kids bullying the Party and his older brother instincts kick in.

he walks up behind the party like “well well what do we have here?” and the Party is like “steve!! :D” and steve in his leather jacket and ripped jeans and combat boots glares down the bullies and they scamper off. from then on steve tells the kids to go to him if someone is bothering them and it becomes town-wide knowledge not to mess with byers wheeler henderson & sinclair. he basically becomes their personal Scary Dog.

the parents end up wanting to meet this young man who kept bullies away from their kids (and they’ve heard all sorts of rumors about him and he dresses like That so they’re suspicious) and steve’s like “yeah sounds great!” and immediately charms all of them because he’s a sweetheart and does genuinely care about and want to protect their kids. from then on he’s the go-to babysitter / ride to school / campaign host. steve pretends to be annoyed but he loves it and treats them all like they’re his younger siblings (especially lucas and dustin)

joyce and steve bond especially and they have coffee dates every sunday and just talk (joyce tries to get steve to come to her when he needs help or just someone to listen). at first everyone who sees them is super confused because what is paranoid mother Joyce Byers doing with the high school bad boy Steve Harrington?? but after a couple months it just becomes commonplace and people will even stop by to say hi

i also think jonathan and steve would end up being best friends in like freshman year and steve would get jancy together in s1 (steve and nancy don’t date). he’s never a third wheel though they have a great “this is my boyfriend and our best friend steve” type relationship. (plus jonathan never takes the creepy pics and the whole fight never happens so they’re all chill).

steve and robin are fellow outcasts so they’re chill. then steve beats up some guys who harassed her and they become actual friends and steve lets robin come over whenever her parents are being shitty. steve lowkey converts her into a punk and they basically do illegal shit and have a bunch of fun.

btw steve is a fully realized biromantic demisexual (or just queer whatv lol) and he has an extremely accurate gaydar which is partially why stobin become friends. anyways i’m mentioning this becauseee

steve meets will byers and Immediately Knows and pretty much comes out to him and tells him it’s okay and he becomes wills Gay Mentor (imo jonathan can either be straight or queer and just not really informed abt gay shit so steve would be the mentor in his place bc they’re basically brothers anyway (joyce absolutely tries to adopt steve multiple times)).

steve meets max at the arcade before any of the Party befriend her and she immediately becomes another of his favorite customers (the ranking is dustin, will & lucas & max, mike). she thinks he’s super cool and basically projects onto him as an older brother figure and he’s happy to play the part. he notices the way billy treats max and threatens him that if he ever treats her like that again he will kill him and hopper will help him hide the body. things are pretty peaceful for max after that. additionally neil hargrove gets arrested for domestic and child abuse and billy takes his car and leaves without a word. max’s mom still drinks so steve kinda unofficially adopts her, she has her own room in his house and ends up staying there most days. he ends up actually adopting her later but they’re still more of an older brother & younger sister dynamic than father & daughter

steve doesn’t interact with eddie until s4 but they know of each other and are on neutral terms until the byers move to cali and eddie starts DMing for dustin lucas mike erica and max (who steve managed to convince to play). they’re wary of each other at first but eddie realizes steve is actually a huge softie and steve realizes eddie is just a cute dork who reads LOTR and plays D&D.

steve isn’t on any sports teams or anything but he works out on his own, goes for jogs every morning with jonathan and nancy especially after the demogorgon and demodog shit. basically he’s fit and good at fighting (due to more experience with it) and nancy taught him how to shoot so he can do that too. most of his scars are from demo-creatures instead of fistfights, though he has a few of those too (not from jonathan or billy tho).

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truessences · 2 years

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My Opinions on the Stranger Things Ships

No one asked me of course but we all share opinions that no one asked for lol. So I'll be sharing my quick thoughts on ships that I see people mention. Everyone's opinions are valid I just may not agree and you don't have to agree with me. I said what I said and I will not be arguing about it.

I'm not going to be rude to anyone and if you are rude while sharing your opinions, I will block you. Simple.

This isn't in any particular order except going from adults-teens-main party.

Adults

Jopper (Joyce and Hopper) - They're fine lol. I like them. In the first season, I don't think I thought much about it. It wasn't really until maybe season 3 but I thought Hopper was being really yelly and mean. But her thinking he died and then their reunion in S4 was really sweet. Them kissing and all that, I was like yeah, I think this is a natural progression.

Older Teens

Stancy (Steve and Nancy)- I thought they were okay early on except for when he got mad without talking to her and letting his friends slut shame her publicly. But I think them breaking up was a natural progression because Nancy and Jonathan had chemistry and it seemed like they were gonna lead into that anyway. In S4, they're really trying to push on us that they might be thinking of each other, Steve particularly, especially since Eddie was like blatantly telling him that that's true love lol. I don't think they need to get back together.

Jancy (Jonathan and Nancy)- I like them fine. What he did in S1 was creepy and personally I can't say I'd even talk to him after that. But they did kind of trauma bond so sure I guess. I don't mind them. But at this point, if they break up, Nancy needs to just go off to college and be bad ass. I know Hawkins is basically split open but whose to say that stuff will happen now or that Vecna will wait while he heals (maybe Eddie can return?? *Cries*). I think there should be a time jump anyway, so if that's the case, Nancy should be single. Maybe she met some other young man while in college.

Vobin? Ribickie? (Robin and Vickie)- I wish we got to see more of them interacting but I want Robin to get her girl lol. Their scene at the end of S4 was cute and I hope that if Vicky/Vickie shows up again that they're together. Maybe not publicly but for each other, together. Or I want Robin to be with someone she loves and loves her.

Ronance/Steddie (Robin and Nancy/Steve and Eddie)- These are fan ships. I personally didn't read them as couples and it's fine if you did. For Robin and Nancy, I liked that they seemed to become friends after that bit of major awkwardness in the beginning. Nancy hasn't had a close girl friend since Barb was murdered (that she still feels guilty about and I even thought that Nancy might be feeling super protective of Robin and Max) and Robin may not have many friends in general. So that's what I was thinking. As for Steve and Eddie, meh lol, I'm not the biggest Steve fan so... I'm indifferent but idk if I think that Eddie would be with Steve if he chose to date a guy. Some of the fan comics are really cute though. The one where Eddie works at the renaissance fair is cute lol.

Hellcheer/Edissy (Eddie and Chrissy)- They were cute and I'm mad we didn't get more of them. Joe and Grace had natural chemistry and that scene in the forest was a masterclass at introducing new characters to fall in love with in 3 minutes. I was unsure about both of them, Eddie more than Chrissy but that scene made me like them both. I was distraught with her death and then with his later (also for other reasons). I feel like if they got to live, they would have became easy friends. Even if it wasn't romantic, which I'm fine with that too, I just wanted them to have more scenes together.

The Main Party.

Byler (Will and Mike)- So I’m not gonna touch on this too much for the sake of arguments. At this point, it's clear that Will has feelings for Mike but there hasn’t been anything to me that shows that Mike knows or feels the same. I think a lot of posts for this ship have been extremely dishonest and manipulative of scenes and situations. I think it’s weird. You don’t need to do that for your ship. You see something that others don’t and that’s fine but I find that the people become the problem with this ship than the ship itself. You don't have to make it seem like Will reacted to Mike telling Eleven that his life started the day he found her in the woods when that screenshot wasn't from that part AND Will disappeared the day before. That's dishonest. Also seems to me that y'all want Mike to say and do the things he does for El for Will but are mad when he does it for El and say that he's lying to her? Wouldn't that be fucked up that he's lying to El, with his acts of service, with his clear emotions because he suddenly decides that he loved Will all this time? That's fucked up to me. That's all.

ElMax (Eleven and Max)- I've only seen this a few times and I think it's cute when people talk about it lol, but I also view this as a friendship. They became friends in S3 and while we don't really know if they contacted each other much during the time between S3 and S4, I think they love for each other is there and I love that in their party of boys, they have each other to lean on. Even if I found Max to be annoying and overbearing in S3.

Dusuzie? (Dustin and Suzie)- We haven't seen them interact in person but I think they're so sweet. The Neverending Story sequence is easily Top 10. I like that Dustin found someone who is just as smart and nerdy as he is but they're both cool in their own right. I hope in S5 that we get to see them actually be together more.

Lumax (Lucas and Max)- I've liked them enough as they grew closer in S2. I thought it was clear pretty early that Max was gonna choose Lucas. While we didn't get to see them be boyfriend and girlfriend that much in S3, what we did see was cute and funny. The first episode was great stuff with them. In S4, we get a more serious and emotional Lumax and while they're not together, you can tell that Lucas still cares for her and that's she's trying not to show she cares. This is shown in Dear Billy and how he doesn't leave her side from then on (sounds familiar hmm *glances at Mileven*). He saved her knowing her favorite song and then to tell her that he also loves Kate Bush now for saving her... top tier boyfriend material. Then in the finale episode, just the way he's trying to protect her but also allow her to try and go through with her plan. Ugh, it's just so good. Caleb and Sadie also have so much chemistry. I watch interviews with them and they just work really well together. I really hope that if Max wakes up in S5 (since they didn't kill her the way I think they just should have), that she and Lucas get to talk and grow together and if it's a time jump like I want, that they'll either be together or still be close. If they officially break up again, I think it'll still be a very good and amicable break up. But otherwise, top tier couple.

Mileven (Mike and Eleven)- I really could go on and on but I'll try not to. They have been our main couple and our main characters since S1. I know Mike has been sidelined a lot and I don't like it but that doesn't negate that he's technically the lead boy on the show. Anyway, they met each other the first time and Mike immediately was taken with her, this is clear when the camera panned from Eleven to the boys and then zoomed in on Mike's face. It was clear to me at least. Love at first sight even if it had to develop over time. Mike goes into caregiver mode and literally does everything he can to keep her safe and make her comfortable. He shows her his toys and everything lol. In S2, this boy called her every day because he was sure she didn't die and it was his plan to lure the demodogs so that Eleven and Hopper could get in to close the gate. Now in S3, he's afraid of losing her, afraid of being apart from her and yeah they totally get too attached at the hip which was something they had to learn (though let's not forget that Hopper threatened him leading to the decisions he makes in the beginning). But he's attentive to her regardless and he's trying to be so protective because while everyone is okay and pushing her to find the Flayed, he's the only one worried about her pushing herself too hard, "I love her and I can't lose her again!" Like come on. He was always the first into action, when Billy attacks Eleven, he goes in with a pipe (while everyone else just stood there), and then later when the Mind Flayer attacked them in the cabin, he was the first one to try and save El when it grabbed her leg. He even ran at Billy when he attacked, Max, Mike and Eleven in the mall. Then one of my fave scenes is the one in the store when he's trying to tell her that he loves her but he's babbling and can't get out (this is a character trait as he did the same thing in S1 and then later in S4 in the pizza place). He reassured Eleven that her powers will come back at some point. Then this boy spends the entire S4 dealing with his own insecurities which we FINALLY get to see him talk about with someone (but ya know he's actually lying and talking about Will)... then we get his confession and regardless if you found it cheesy or not, I felt that shit and so did he and Eleven. At this point, whether or not they last as adults, they are endgame for the show.

But these are just my thoughts on the ships I see people talk about. I'm not gonna argue about them either. I'm too old for that shit lol.

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just-jordie-things · 3 years

Text

The Crown - Steve Harrington

word count: 4462 warnings: dedicated to @high-functioning-fangirl02 <3

You’d give your life to protect these kids.

These kids you’ve known since you started babysitting them in the sixth grade. Back when Mrs Henderson hired you to watch Dustin. Which essentially meant that you’d watch all of them. But that was alright, over the past seven years of being their designated babysitter, you’d grown to love them all.

Mike Wheeler, the snarky little love-struck shit that you spent grieving with since losing Eleven. Lucas Sinclair, the sweet boy with the occasional attitude whom you helped construct his Ghostbusters costume. Will Byers, the full time sweetheart that made you cookies for Valentine’s Day after hearing you complain about being dateless. And of course Dustin, cute little button nosed Dusty with a trash mouthing tendency, whom looked up to you like a role model.

Hell, you were their role model. Driving them to and from school, covering for them on late nights so they could finish their D&D tournaments. Fiercely protecting them a year ago when Hawkins was Demogorgon infested. Standing up for them when you’d see some upperclassmen picking on them.

Those who dared glance the wrong way towards The Party in your presence, were rumored to run home crying with a bleeding nose and terrified shriek. You never put down the rumors… because maybe it had happened once or twice…

Over time The Party was no longer just a band of middle schoolers. It had opened up to their babysitter, being you, a senior girl who had not many other friends. Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers, which the boys always claimed was strictly because of family relations. Not because Dustin was still harbouring a crush for Mike’s older sister. The town Sheriff, Jim Hopper, who’d proved himself not to be an asshole, and turned out an alright guy. Joyce Byers, whom you loved like a mother and whom treated you like her own daughter. You’d frequently been titled ‘the daughter she wished to have had’ which always raised a snarky response from her sons. Maxine (just Max. Never Maxine) Hargrove, a high spirited and not your typical girl that you grew fond of easily. Especially since she was nothing like her big brother.

And then there was Steve Harrington. Who… really just was at the wrong place at the wrong time and ended up getting roped into the mess that Hawkins Lab had created. King Steve, as you’d known him before you’d officially met last year by fluke accident, was always the popular boy that had a pretty girl hanging off his arm. You weren’t sure why that changed so quickly, why he didn’t put himself out there as much as he used to, didn’t party hard anymore, wasn’t bragging about the new girl he was with that week like he was known for. Maybe that day, when he walked into the Wheeler’s house right as you Nancy and Jonathan were awaiting the Demogorgon’s arrival, maybe he changed then.

Or maybe it was after he’d been sucked into… whatever this all was… and he changed to keep the secret. Or maybe it was after Nancy had broken up with him, around the same time he started growing closer to Dustin.

But right now as you watched him directing the kids, you were more aware that he wasn’t King Steve anymore, that you had been before. Sure, you’d realized somewhere along the way he was different. But it wasn’t until now that you noticed it completely as it was.

“No listen you little shits, no one, is going anywhere” Steve ordered, holding a wash rag in his hand and pointing it between each of the boys, and girl, that stood in front of him.

“Friggin’ pointless just staying here” Dustin grumbled, walking out of the room whilst still muttering. Mike groaned loudly, dramatically, and left to the living room with Max and Lucas. You knew that he was still plotting you get out there tonight. Consequences and dangers be damned.

You looked to Steve with a sigh, a lazy smile on your lips as you walked past him to go after Dustin. He watched you go, letting out a breath as well as he put his hands on his hips and standing alone in the hall with his thoughts.

He’d give his life to protect these kids.

“Dusty?” You called gently as you walked into the kitchen, seeing Dustin sitting on the floor against the dishwasher. Your brows furrowed as you sat across from him by the cabinets. “You alright kiddo?”

“Would I be sitting in here brooding if I was?” He quipped, though you knew he meant well.

“Sweetheart you’re too adorable to be a brooder” You laughed softly, pulling your knees up slightly. “A pouter maybe, but not a brooder”

“Thanks y/n” He responded dryly. You rolled your eyes in response to his sarcasm.

“Come on kid, open up a little. It’s me” Your words were soft, which did prompt Dustin to consider explaining to you his thoughts. “Please? If we make it out of this alive I’ll take you to the arcade. I’ve got a big jar full of quarters I’ve saved up-”

“Okay okay I’ll take the bribe” Dustin caved with a laugh that made your mood lighten. “Look it’s gonna sound lame and cheesy but… everyone else is helping. Jonathan and Nance and Mrs Byers and Hopper and Elle, but what am I doing?”

“You’re staying safe” Your answer came out instantly, but it didn’t seem to be the one the boy was looking for.

“No I’m not, I’m sitting on the sidelines, watching everyone else go be heroes and getting hurt. I’m not doing a damn thing!”

“Hey” You hummed softly, and scooted over closer to put your head on his shoulder. “You’re a hero Dustin. Don’t tell yourself any differently. All of you are, Mike too, and Lucas, and Max, and-”

“Steve?” Dustin offered, and you nodded, looking at him confusedly by the strange tone of voice he used.

“Of course, why’re you looking at me like that?”

“No reason” Dustin shrugged nonchalantly, brushing off the uncomfortable air between you both.

“Alright well, you should believe me” You continued. “Even if you don’t think so, you’re all my heroes, got it Henderson?” The boy smiled and nodded, prompting you to push the cap of his hat down playfully before he could get up and leave the room.

“Mike’s probably still planning his attack” He told you, but you shrugged and waved a hand.

“Let him plot and brood” You said, and Dustin’s mouth fell open.

“How come Mike can brood but I can’t?” You rolled your eyes, still waving your hand for him to get out of here.

“Just go plot with him, I know you’re itching to” You said, and he grinned wide at you, glad you were letting him go plan their escape and attack.

“Thanks y/n!” He called, already racing out of the room. “You’re the best!” You laughed, shaking your head as you stood back up and dusted off the pants of your overalls. Steve came in a few moments later, watching you almost suspiciously.

“What?” You questioned, and he shrugged, shaking his head.

“Nothing. Just wondering why you’re permitting them to conspire against us” He said.

“They’re not conspiring, they’re just discussing. No harm in that”

“Um, every harm in that. As in all of us, being harmed, because of that” He said, but you didn’t really seem to care what he thought about it.

“They’re fine, we’re all fine, don’t freak out so much mom” You said, walking out towards the kids and seeing them all circled up and discussing their big plan.

“I’m not a mom” Steve argued, and you chuckled, turning to see him, his dish rag on his shoulder, hands on hips. It only made you laugh more.

“Mhm, alright. Well then what would you call yourself?” You replied sarcastically, nodding towards his own stance, and making Steve second guess himself.

“This- you-! Alright whatever just stay away from the windows and go be safe somewhere” He muttered, walking into the living room where the kids were. You rolled your eyes again, but couldn’t help the smile on your lips.

Perhaps, you thought, King Steve was the king of something else now.

You watched as he was waving his rag at the kids again, yelling at them for plotting behind his back, and reminding them that no one was going anywhere. But even as Dustin pouted, Steve was rubbing his hand over the thirteen year old’s head. Almost soothingly, like he felt bad for ending their little meeting.

“What a mom” You mumbled, and headed back into the kitchen for something to eat.

You used to resent Steve, back when he was the king of school and didn’t care about anything more than he cared about his popularity and his hair. Back when he didn’t give a shit about pretty much anything. And looking at him now and seeing him watch over these kids, you could physically feel your heart swelling. If that isn’t character development, you weren’t sure what was.

You weren’t sure why it made you feel so bubbly either.

“Listen runts, we’re staying here, we’re staying safe, and we’re not dying!” Steve said, for what felt like the fifth time. But Mike kept arguing back at him.

“Everyone else is out there!”

“Everyone else knows how to fight all that shit!” Steve retorted. “We are staying, here” He repeated slowly, waving his rag between each word. “You got that?”

“You’re just saying that cause y/n’s here. If she wasn’t here, we’d all be getting in your car and going!” Lucas spoke up. Your brows furrowed at that.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You asked, ignoring your search for food and now strutting into the room where everyone else was. “Am I dragging you down?” You asked, almost sarcastic, but wondering what he’d actually meant by his announcement. Were you dragging them down?

“No, Steve would just protect your ass over our asses” Max shrugged, and the others nodded.

“What the hell? Everyone here is protecting their own asses, I’m not getting killed for a bunch of kids!” Steve said, making flustered and jerky movements. You brushed off their newly sprung argument over where Steve’s bat is swinging and who it’s swinging for.

Apparently, The Party was certain that he’d die for you, rather die for them. But you didn’t care much about what they thought. They’d always thought that you and Steve were meant to be some power couple, but you supposed it was just cause you were the same age and the kids only ever saw you two together. There was no real evidence (as far as they showed) towards the ‘chemistry’ you and Steve supposedly had.

You wandered to the window, curiously looking out it with your arms wrapped around yourself.

“Will you just shut up?” Mike’s yelling made you jump a little, and you turned to see your friends all still arguing with each other. You smiled slightly, meeting Steve’s eyes as he gave you a bored look. You just laughed a little bit back at him. Steve’s expression softened into a small smile. Your face flushed with heat, and you nervously turned away from him to look back out the window again.

A light blinded you almost instantly, making you squint your eyes and put a hand over them to try and clear your vision.

“What the hell?” You muttered, leaning closer to the glass to see what was going on. Headlights, there was a car here. Someone was here. “Steve?” You called, not turning away from the window. He came over right away, looking outside to see a familiar Camaro parked in the driveway.

“Shit” He grumbled, walking towards the front door.

“What- where are you going? Who is it?” You asked, following quickly after him, but Steve quickly turned to make you stay back.

“Just stay in here-”

“Sinclair!” A voice hollered from outside, and you jumped, eyes widening as you recognized it. “I know you’re in there!”

“Billy?” You whispered to Steve, who nodded. You stepped backwards, eyes never leaving Steve’s. “What’s he doing here?” Your voice was quiet.

Billy Hargrove, was the most vile, horrible person you’d ever met. And his wicked ways of bending people to his will, shook you intensely to your core. It was no secret to the others that Billy not only terrified you, but would seductively torture you every day. Sure, you’d been picked on before, but this was different. Every day he’d come to you, hoping to get something out of you, just to mess with you.

“Come on babe, a little kiss, just a little one, we can discuss the rest later”

“You don’t want to get a ride home with me and have some fun?”

“When’re you finally gonna give this up and just put out?”

You shuddered slightly, practically feeling his hot breath against your skin just thinking about the things he’s said to you. Stopping you in the hallways, finding you at your locker, approaching you while you waited at Steve’s car for a ride home.

“I know you’re in there you little pig! Come out here or I’ll have to go in!” His voice was dangerous, threatening. And you felt a legitimate fear for your life, and the kids’.

“It’s fine, you’re fine, I promise” Steve said quietly, out of earshot of the others. “All of you stay here, stay away from the windows” He ordered, giving you one last look before you turned and went to The Party. They needed you right now, all huddled around Lucas and Max to make sure if Billy were to look inside, he wouldn’t see them.

“Come on guys” You said softly, ushering them as far away from the window as you could. Steve, on the other hand, opened the door and stepped outside.

Instead of hiding in a room, completely out of sight of the maniac, you all ducked under the windowsill to see what was happening.

“Am I dreaming or is that really you Harrington?” You felt your entire body quivering upon hearing Billy’s voice. Dustin, who was crouched next to you, turned and gave you a worried look, but your eyes were dead set on the outside.

“Yeah it’s me, don’t cream your pants” Steve responded, walking out towards him as he pulled off his leather jacket.

“What’re you doing here amigo?” Billy asked, the cigarette hanging off his lips moving as he spoke.

“I could ask you the same thing” Steve responded, void of emotion. “Amigo”

“Lookin’ for my step sister. Little birdie told me she was here”

“Huh, that’s weird I don’t know her” Steve lied easily, and convincingly. You prayed to God that Billy believed him.

“Small? Redhead?” Billy replied disbelievingly. “Bit of a bitch?”

“Ashole” Max muttered to herself inside.

“Doesn’t ring a bell, sorry buddy” Steve replied, still not sounding like he cared even an inkling. Billy nodded, taking out his cigarette.

“You know… I don’t how this, this whole situation Harrington is um.., it’s giving me the heebie jeebies” Billy said, looking at Steve a little more threateningly.

“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

“My thirteen year old sister goes missing all day, and then I find her with you” Billy pointed accusatory hands towards Steve, giving him a disgusted look. “In a strangers house” He continued. “And you lie to me about it” Steve chuckled bitterly, shaking his head and looking away for a moment.

“Yeah, maybe you were dropped too much as a child or what” Steve said snarkily. But Billy just grinned his twisted grin and licked his tongue over the front of his teeth. “I don’t know what you don’t understand about what I just said”

You felt a chill go down your spine as Steve’s protectiveness took over his tone. Dustin beside you mumbling a quiet, “Holy shit”

“She’s not here” Steve said carefully. Billy nodded, looking pointedly towards the window where you and The Party were all huddled and looking out of.

“Then who’s that?” He asked, pointing his cigarette towards his sister.

“Down!” You hissed, and the five of you dropped to the floor so fast you all groaned from the impact of the floor.

“Shit!” Dustin cursed. “Did he see us?”

“Oh shit” Steve grumbled. “Okay listen-” Billy pushed him to the ground before he could explain anything. The boy kicked him, before storming up into the house.

“Well well well” Billy smirked, seeing you and The Party standing there together, you in front of all of them. “y/n l/n, what a lovely little surprise” You grimaced, but he didn’t seem to care. “And Lucas Sinclair, not so much a surprise at all” You moved over more in front of Lucas, who’s hands grabbed onto your arm out of fear. “I thought I told you to stay away from him Max”

“Billy, go away” Max retorted, but her voice wavered.

“You disobeyed me” Billy leaned over his step sister tauntingly. “And you know what happens when you disobey me” He added in a hushed, volatile voice.

“Billy-”

“I break things” He uttered, before pushing you aside, crashing your body into the wall. Before slamming Lucas up against the cupboards.

“Billy stop!” Max and the others began to yell, Dustin rushing over to help you up, but you were already standing up on your own.

“Get off of me!” Lucas cried.

“Since Maxine won’t listen to me, maybe you will” Billy muttered. “You stay away from her. Stay-! Away from her” He yelled awkwardly. “Do you hear me?”

“I said get off me!” Lucas screamed again, followed by a knee between Billy’s legs. You gasped, feeling a moment of pride as Billy stumbled back and released him.

“You are so dead Sinclair!” Billy hollered. “You’re dead-”

“No” Steve grabbed Billy by the shoulder, spinning him around roughly. “You are” And with that he swung his fist and planted it hard enough against Billy’s jaw to make him topple over.

“Steve!” You yelped out of surprise. He looked at you for a moment, nodding in reassurance as he shook out his hand. It’d been a while since he’d hit anybody. Billy stood back up, laughing menacingly. “You’re a fucking psycho!” You screeched before you could stop yourself.

“Looks like you got some fire in you after all huh!?” He yelled at Steve. “I’ve been waiting to meet this King Steve everybody’s been telling me so much about” He stepped closer to Steve, glaring at him.

“Get out” Steve muttered, pushing Billy’s chest lightly to move him away from him. Billy stepped back and stood there for a moment. And after a few seconds passed you were certain that he was going to stay back.

Until he swung swiftly at Steve, but missed as Steve ducked just in time. You gasped, clapping your hands over your mouth in terror. Steve stood back up and swung his fist again, hitting Billy and making him stumble again.

“Yes! Get him Steve!” Dustin cheered, and the others began to as well. You couldn’t find yourself to say anything, just wince every time a punch was made. Steve hit him two more times, and Billy ran into the kitchen sink. Leaning back and wincing in pain.

“Kill him! Kill him!” Mike was yelling. But Billy grabbed a plate of the counter, smashing it over Steve’s head, and making him fall to the ground.

“Steve!” You screamed now, taking long strides to get over to him, only to be pushed away by Billy. Who hit Steve as soon as he stood up again. He grabbed Steve by the shoulders, staring him down.

“No one. Tells me what to do” He muttered angrily, and threw his head forward hard into Steve’s knocking him down again.

“Fucking hell” You mumbled, tears beginning to prick your eyes in fear that Billy was actually going to kill Steve. The mullet wearing psycho leapt onto Steve, pinning him down and swinging punch after punch against his face.

“Stop it!” Mike yelled at the top of his lungs, but it did nothing to end Billy’s attack.

“Steve!” Dustin hollered.

You stood frozen, every scene in front of you soundless, and moving slowly. You could only feel your heart in your chest, sending you into an anxiety attack, you were sure. But it barely mattered to you in that moment. You turned away, and your eyes landed on something.

The syringe used on Will earlier.

Sleep… put him to sleep… your thoughts were broken as you reached for it, looking at it in your hands for a few seconds, before stepping forward and slamming the needle into Billy’s neck without a hesitation. Mike and Dustin gasped, standing back. Everyone’s eyes stuck on the syringe hanging out of BIlly’s neck now. A disgust filling them up at the sight.

“Shit y/n” Dustin mumbled, his hand covering his mouth to stop vomit from flowing.

Billy stood up, wobbling slightly as he turned to look at you. He pulled the needle out of his neck, vision beginning to fail. “The hell is this?” He asked, trying to step towards you threateningly, but he was wobbling so much you didn’t even move. No longer afraid of him.

“You’re fucking done Hargrove” You muttered, and before thinking twice to second guess yourself, punching him across the jaw, and sending him back on his ass. Billy groaned, staying down where he’d fallen against the couch.

“Shit what did you do” He mumbled, growing dizzy from the mix of drug and pain.

A few moments later he completely passed out.

“Fuck” You hissed in pain, putting your bruising knuckles against your mouth. You didn’t think punching someone would hurt so damn much.

“y/n holy shit”

“Are you okay?”

“That was badass!”

The Party was fussing and cheering for you, but you didn’t respond, kneeling down by Steve next and counting up all the cuts and bruises he was beginning to sport. He was unconscious, that was for sure. But he’d be in for a world of hurt when he woke up.

“Come on, help me get him back to Jon’s bed” You called to the kids.

It was difficult moving him, but after ten minutes you’d managed to get him into Jonathan’s room to lie on the bed there. You were sat next to him, a cold wet rag in your hand, and the open first aid kit on the ground. It took you awhile to clean off all the blood and apply bandages where you thought they were necessary. There was a frozen bag of peas you’d put over one of his eyes to stop the swelling, but so far it still looked pretty bad.

The Party had sat with you for what felt like a long time before you told them to go back to the living room and wait for the others to return home. Dustin put up a small fight about it, but eventually gave in and listened to your order. And now it was just you kneeling on the ground by Steve, watching over him carefully. Making sure he was breathing okay, and that nothing would begin to bleed again.

“Well King Steve, you got quite the ass kicking” You mumbled, just to yourself. Your fingers placed a few stray hairs on his forehead back into place. “But your crown is still there” You smiled to yourself, fingertips gently brushing his hair.

“y/n?” Your eyes looked back at him as he mumbled, almost incoherently. “What happened?” The poor boy’s eyes weren’t even open.

“You put up a really good fight” You told him softly. He winced, the pain probably beginning to settle in.

“Did I win?” He groaned, eyes clenching shut momentarily. You bit down on your lip and shook your head, even though he couldn’t see you.

“You put up a really good fight” You repeated yourself, playing with his hair again. Steve sighed, knowing the answer.

“Is he gone?” He asked, eyes finally beginning to flutter open.

“Yeah… yeah he won’t be back any time soon, I’m sure” You answered. Steve looked up at you, smiling down gently at him. He smiled back instantly, and moved his arm to push your hair back, but even at it’s slight movement you winced in pain. “You’re in pretty bad shape” You told him quietly. “But you’ll heal up alright”

“Are you okay?” He asked, and you nodded.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine” You shrugged slightly. “We’re all really worried about you. Dustin thought you were dead” Steve chuckled painfully, shaking his head a little bit.

“Are they alright? Max and Lucas?”

“Yeah, we’re all good Steve” You hummed with a slight nod. You leaned forward, a little closer to him to check on the eye swelled under the bag of peas. You frowned, seeing the black and blue bruise that only seemed to be spreading.

“I’m alright, don’t fuss so much” Steve said, putting his hand over the bag and pushing it back against his face. Your eyes met his for a moment.

“You’re pretty bruised up Harrington” You sighed, taking the wet rag in your hand and dabbing it gently on his bruised cheek. “There’s not an inch of your face spared”

“It’ll be fine, I’ll heal up”

“Years from now, maybe” You replied sarcastically, and he smiled at you while you carefully pressed the cold cloth to his face.

“You’re beautiful, you know that?” He murmured, and you looked at him for the briefest of seconds before going back to work. Now is not the time to talk about feelings, you thought to yourself.

“Yeah? Go play hero some more and you’ll never see anything again” You told him, and he shrugged slightly, not having a response to that.

“I just wanted to remind you. In case you haven’t been told in a while” He said. You bit on the inside of your cheek to keep from smiling too much. You looked down at him, your eyes softening slightly.

You leaned over closer to him, pausing for a moment before pressing your lips lightly against his. It was a chaste kiss, only lasting a few seconds as you didn’t want to hurt him anymore than he already was. When you pulled back, you smiled nervously at him, and he only smiled back at you.

“You’re lucky you didn’t die Harrington” You said, and got right back to work on pressing the rag to his wounds.

“That I am” He replied cheekily.

You giggled softly, smiling down at him and wondering just when he’d changed so much.

You knew he��d give his life for these kids too, just like you would.

love me some babysitter steve

xoxo ~ jordie

#stranger things #stranger things x reader #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things imagine #stranger things scenario #steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington fanfiction #steve harrington scenario #steve harrington imagine

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tiktaalic · 2 years

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Genuinely suspect they’ll kill one fan favorite main character in like the last season though and I doubt it will be a minority (I think the duffers realize that’s be a bad look) so Lucas, Erica, Will, Robin, and probably Dustin (idk if when writing him they consider him a disabled character or not especially since he’s not actively getting bullied about it now) are safe. Max and hopper already “died” recently so they’re safe. Nancy’s good because if she dies who will date boy? If they were going to kill jonathan I think they would have done it already bc no one would have cared.

I’m pretty sure that leaves Joyce, Steve, and El…

I can’t see it being Joyce for whatever reason. Maybe it’s because she is the biggest name actress in the show she is the 80s and her and hopper are the “best” couple on the show (uncontroversial, no rivals, adults so they have the best chance of going the distance) and killing her would really only make her kids sad, which yes now includes El who is Stranger Things but like. Lucas, Dustin, Steve etc will just be like “wow that sucks guys sorry about your mom”. Hopper mourning Joyce would just be a rehash of her mourning him which would kind of blow but stranger things CAN BE repetitive.

Steve would be a good bet because he’s tied to all the kids more or less, it’s resolve the love triangle they just re stressed so it’d impact all the older teens (except Jonathan maybe I’m unclear if they’re friends) and the adults would feel bad since he’s a young guy even if they don’t have much of a dynamic. But then the two biggest characters they’ve killed so far are “Steve but if he was truly an asshole” and “guy we wrote to have the same emotional impact as Steve dying” so killing him would be the same old, same old. Stranger things is a bad enough show that I suspect they might do it, but I’m not convinced it’ll definitely happen.

El though. El is the stranger thing. El was supposed to die in season one to wrap things up in a nice little bow before they decided to drag the show on to milk it dry. I can 100% see the show ending with her death because “it was always the plan” and/or “with her gone things can finally be normal” and it’d be the ultimate sacrifice narratively since she’s the main character, she’s connected to everyone (except maybe Robin, Steve, and Erica) so big emotional impact! And how else can she kill villains that she already failed to defeat? Not that I ascribe to these thoughts necessarily but I’m sure this would be the reasoning behind it. And somehow I feel like killing her would be less controversial, obsessed fandom wise, than Steve. He’s just some guy by stans love some guys. But there’s also no reason they can’t both die but like you said. Allergic to killing main characters

All of this is because they kill people for emotional impact as opposed to plot necessity

So I think there’s like. A 50% chance el literally dies midway through the last ep or whatever and in that case (and ONLY that case) byler happens and it’s the worst canonization of a gay relationship. Ever I think

Nothing to add to this I think it stands on its own.

#ask #anonymous #stranger things #posting does not equal endorsements Thais is just a masterpiece of interacting with a show #long post

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roanofarcc · 2 years

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Yes scenes between Lucas and Steve would be amazing!!! Especially since they didn’t do what I was hoping they would do between them which was have a conversation about the night that billy targeted Lucas. And have a talk or show them playing basketball together. Same I want steve and Dustin to go back to the season 2 dynamic like where are their emotional scenes together? Like I get it they’re now more siblings and siblings tease each other but also these characters are different from real life dynamics. So it would be so amazing to see that on screen that everyone’s friendship in the group is different from other people’s friendship in the town. Like they’re all weirdos (affectionate) so why not show the actual townspeople being really weirded out by them? Why not show them questioning their friendship and being weirded out when they say things at the exact same time of know that their friend needs something before that friend says anything? This season dustin just says that no one was nice to them but we don’t get the why. We don’t see it at all. Meanwhile season 1 was very explicit in their bullying and it showed you why they were being heavily bullied. And yes seeing Dustin and Lucas bonding and healing together would be amazing. Especially since they’re considered besties and part of the original Party. Yeah it’s so weird how none of their peers talked about all the weird circumstances that they’ve been involved in. And you’re right that they have a complicated relationship with Hawkins and that the show could’ve gone into this more. Especially them like you said going to high school. Which also ngl while I love the concept and what they did somewhat with this plot line. I’m still confused as to why everyone was gunning for eddie as the scapegoat. I get it the while he’s the leader of DnD and they make him the outsider freak. Chrissy died in his house so I do get it. But also the reporters and all that other stuff make it a point to say how their town has been filled with tragedies. Bring up Barb and I think they brought up Bob. And of course the mall fire. Which like Eddie wasn’t there for at all and the town would know this so they would mainly be pointing the blame on Lucas and Mike and Dustin. And although Will’s disappearance started everything (even to the town since everyone was looking for Will and they had a funeral), it was never mentioned by the townspeople this season. Which makes me feel like something’s suspicious there but also the duffer bros forgot Will’s birthday even tho it’s right there on screen lol. Honestly I just feel that they should have had more people talking about the kids and then teens and hopper and Joyce. Especially hopper. He was the fucking chief of Hawkins and yet we got no mention of him from the fucking town??? No one showed any grieve over that? It’s just bizarre that they didn’t have the town say anything about hopper being dead.

they really butchered steve and dustin's relationship this season, it just felt...weird? dustin was too snappy and there really weren't any moments that felt genuine and sweet between the two. we know they care an awful lot about each other, but we didn't get to explore that dynamic more this season which sucked :/ I wished we would've seen more concern or emotion, something! anything! they pushed this pairing and then kind of let it all go to shove eddie in steve's older brother role. obviously, there are differences between steve and eddie and their relationship with dustin, but it would've been fun to see steve and dustin's history of like almost dying together a couple time shine a little more, you know?

yeah, I wish they would've incorporated the whole conspiracy and hysteria aspect more into this season too. it would have been cool to see the residents a little more involved, but I have hope that in s5, since the whole season will be set (from what's been said) completely in hawkins, they'll do just that. which I'm really excited about. not only does that leave open the door of possibility for the parents and clueless but suspicious hawkins residents to play a big part, but that also means that ALL the main characters will be together! they'll still probably break them up into groups throughout the season, but there's no way there won't a battle planning / final battle scene with everyone (like in s2). the potential for a steve & hopper team up, the original party fighting together, more nancy and robin, nancy and steve and jonathan trio back in action! there are so many and I hope they explore new dynamics within the main characters

#answered ask #stranger things #kat tag!#inbox

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femmeharringrove · 4 years

Text

see, it's not like steve's ever been good at coping.

it's bad after starcourt, but instead of dealing with it then steve just puts everything into healing others. he comforts eleven, stays on the phone all night with lucas or dustin, helps will learn not to fear the cold, gives billy a shoulder to cry on and a place to live.

and so billy gets a front-row seat to steve's self-destruction.

he doesn't think it's his place to speak, initially, but he does worry when steve leaves early in the afternoon and comes back wasted, bruises on his throat and traces of powder on his clothes. some weekends he doesn't come home, he goes to indianapolis and shows up late sunday evening with a massive hangover and billy just gets him to eat and drink a little before getting him in bed. steve's not eating enough, he's losing weight and billy worries because this is his best friend, not even heather matches their level. and steve's done so much good for him but he doesn't know how to return the favor - not until steve barrels out of the bathroom one night shaking like a leaf, tears streaming down his face. billy takes one look inside, catches sight of two life-changing sticks, and rushes out after him.

and it's then, when he finds steve out by the quarry in a panic, that he knows how to help.

"i didn't mean to get pregnant," steve sniffles, and the moment billy crouches next to him the brunette is shuffling closer, scared and in need of comfort. and billy's still working on the physical thing, learning it's okay to be affectionate, but he doesn't hesitate to hold steve as close as he can.

"i know," he murmurs. "it's okay. we'll figure it out. you aren't doing this alone, you hear me?" and initially billy thinks he's fucked up because steve starts crying again, but when this round of sobs passes the other boy gives him a shaky smile.

"you promise?"

"cross my heart and all that shit." and that's just it. whatever steve needs, billy's got him.

steve initially doesn't want to go through with it, but decides ultimately it could be a good thing. he's thought about parenthood before, always wondered if he could be a better father than his own. this is a chance to prove it. and billy gives him all the support in the world. nobody messes with the only child of the harrington family, they can't afford the fallout, but he's always gotten dirty looks after coming out and they get worse now that he's pregnant. but billy follows him everywhere now amd anyone who gives him a look has to face the blonde's anger. and sure, he's not where he once was. he's still putting on muscle and learning to use his hands again, but half of what makes billy hargrove scary is the way he presents himself, the glare that suggests he knows people won't mess with him. and they don't, amd they don't mess with steve either for the same reason.

and when billy isn't around to do the protecting, steve's got others. joyce has kicked people out of melvad's before, for harassing a fifteen year-old steve. and five years later she still does it, voice calm and eyes steely. claudia is at every appointment he has, making sure the other nurses and doctors call him by the right name and pronouns. she's there when steve sees the baby's hand for the first time and has a breakdown because he's growing a whole person and doesn't know if he'll really be able to take care of them.

and claudia, she remembers being confused and a little judgemental when steve came out as steve, but that was before she caught him shuffling down the aisles of the library one day, small and clearly anxious about everyone he came across. thirteen year-old steve had lacked the easy confidence he sported now, and it was when she saw him that it sort of clicked. she didn't understand how someone could be a gender other than the one they were born as, but she made a point to greet him as steve any time she saw him and made an effort to accept him. now he's like the older son she never had, dustin's big brother, and when he weeps frantically over the daunting trial of parenthood she takes him by the shoulders and gives him the most serious look she can muster.

"nobody is ever ready for parenthood," she tells him, and one hand comes to wipe his tears away. "but you have exactly the heart for this job. you're going to be the best father in this whole town."

which steve doesn't agree with. the best dad in town is hopper.

hopper, who's been harassing people for harassing steve for years, but is more aggressive about it now because steve really means something to him now. sometimes, eleven calls him her brother, and hop figures, yeah, the kid could use a dad. so he makes a habit of checking up on him, and it gets more frequent now because he's also checking on billy, and with a baby on the way hopper's protectiveness is at an all-time high. nobody wants to fuck with the chief, so no one fucks with steve.

when the harringtons find out, steve's dad is livid, but it's steve's mother who keeps him from lashing out. the couple can't stand the blow to their social life and so it's off to lansing for them, a fresh start or whatever. the house stays under their name, though, and steve and billy make it theirs. the cosy master bedroom becomes steve's, billy finally decorates the guest room downstairs as his own. his mother calls sort of regularly, she's not thrilled about the situation but she's eager for a grandbaby to spoil, and steve counts that as a blessing.

of course, the party freaks out when steve announces his pregnancy. it's not like they didn't know steve could get pregnant, but they've never considered the idea that he would. eleven, max, and will are immediately thrilled, discussing baby names and wanting to pat his belly - especially el, who's never really experienced a pregnancy. mike and lucas are a little weirded out, but mike brings steve a bunch of baby books left over from holly and lucas donates his own old toys, declaring that baby harrington was going to be the coolest baby ever if he got to help look out for the little one. dustin doesn't know how to feel initially, which stresses steve out, but when someone throws a slur at steve three weeks after that dustin flips out, yells himself hoarse at the fucker, and declares himself steve and the baby's most ardent protector. the whole group has already discussed babysitting schedules and, yeah, maybe steve did cry about it, but he's pregnant and it was probably the hormones and not anything else, thank you.

robin gently berates him about sleeping with strangers out of town when she finds out, but after that she takes her position as aunt very seriously. within four weeks she buys three outfits, five stuffed animals, and a french record to help the baby learn the language.

"no such thing as too early," she says as she drops it on the dresser in steve's old room. the new nursery.

it's a labor of love, mostly by billy. woodworking is a big help with his hands so he was all too happy to make a crib himself. again, steve cried, but this time he feels it's justified. billy's put a rocking chair in too, and a record player too - "your taste in music is shit," he'd deadpanned as he brought the thing in. "someone's gotta culture the little snot." amd billy does that all the time, he's called the baby a snot, a turd, a little shit, all that jazz. but his face is softer than it's ever been and that makes steve smile every single time.

steve's labor of love starts five weeks early, much to his horror, and it hurts like a bitch. he gives birth early in the morning after a rainy night. she's a little replica of steve, down to the moles on her cheek, and he doesn't think he's ever known love until he looks at his daughter and feels the almost painful swell in his chest. he cries as he hugs her against his chest and swears on his life he'll do right by this wondrous little girl. her name is nikita - no, not after the elton john song, though later when she asks that's what he tells her, just so she can throw her head back and groan, "daaad!"

no, she's named after his grandmother. and she gets rosaline for a middle name after billy's mother. because, even if they didn't say it, it's clear billy intends to co-parent. he doesn't call it that, he just says he's helping a friend, but he's the one who changes her diaper at night and bounces her to sleep listening to metallica and teaches her to eat spaghetti.

and originally, he's the one she calls dad.

first it's baba, which steve thinks is in reference to the fact that billy bottlefeeds her, and billy thinks it's similar enough to "billy" to not be anything more than that. but she gets older and learns to say billy and steve, and still calls him baba. baba and papa. and to the outside world it makes sense, they're a little family, steve and billy ooze a chemistry anyone else can't deny. but it takes them three extra years to get with the program and become a couple.

to this day, niki claims there aren't more clueless people out than her dads when it comes to love.

#steebie writes #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things au #steve harrington #billy hargrove #harringrove #i'll come up with a name for this au later but y'all should ask me about it

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mediocre--writing · 3 years

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ok but what about steve being super duper close with his mom. like they exchange letters constantly and have so many phone conversations (steve’s dad is sick of the rising phone bill).

but steve’s mom comes home all the time, even when his dad doesn’t. she visits for every holiday and every break and every chance she can.

but steve loves his mom, he’s a total mommas boy.

they go shopping together and trade recipes they find while they’re away from each other.

and she’s the first person steve told about billy. he called her directly after their first date and they gossiped about what he looked like and how he treated steve on the date.

before every date, he’ll call his mom and they’ll pick out a nice outfit and after every date (or the morning after) they would call and discuss.

so, after steve and billy had been dating for a solid three months, momma harrington finally got a chance to come and visit.

it was a saturday, steve had tried calling her at one to plan his outfit for his and billy’s date, but she didn’t answer.

he was worried, but planned on calling her after the date.

billy ended the date early because he could tell that steve just wasn’t all there tonight. so billy drives him home and steve is just worried about his mom.

they’d talked earlier in the week and he’d told her about his date tonight, and she would have called (either earlier that day or week) if she wasn’t going to be able to talk to him beforehand.

but they get to steve’s house and her car is in the driveway (it’s usually in the garage because she’s not home).

steve knows what that means. he jumps out of billy’s car before he fully stops and runs to the front door, leaving a very startled and confused billy in the driveway.

he makes his way into the house to see steve and, who he presumes to be his mother, hugging very tight. but he knows steve gives the best hugs, so it makes sense.

when billy softly closes the door, steve’s mom’s—missy’s—head maneuvering to look at billy from steve’s shoulder.

“i can assume you’re billy?” she smiles—and she looks just like steve. they have the same sweet doe eyes and soft brown hair that has more volume than billy’s stereo.

“yes, ma’am—mrs. harrington, ma’am?” billy can sweet talk women, but he cannot impress a mother.

“missy, billy,” her and steve’s hug ends and she moves towards billy, “you can just call me missy,”

“yes, ma’am—missy,” she just chuckles in response and moves in to hug him and he, apprehensively, accepts it.

it’s the most settling hug he’s ever had from someone who wasn’t steve. she’s warm and welcoming and just tall enough to put her arms around his shoulders and pull him in tight, just like steve does.

“mom, why didn’t you tell me you were coming down?” steve asked after she turned back to grab her coffee mug.

“‘t was a surprise, steven,” she ruffled his hair as she walked past, moving to sit in the corner of the couch as she used a remote to turn on the stereo. “there’s more coffee in the pot if you boys want any,”

“thank you,” billy went to grab both him and steve mugs and coffee as steve moved to sit with his mom.

once they were situated, billy was by the armrest of the couch, steve in the middle, and missy in the corner with three pillows—there were more similarities between her and steve than their looks.

they were conversing easier than billy had thought they would, there was no stall in the conversation and he had plenty to talk about between all of them—plus tons of embarrassing young (and not-so-young) steve stories.

at some point during the night, billy and missy had been talking about either california or bands steve didn’t care for and he fell asleep.

which wasn’t the best idea, because then they moved to the large bookshelf on the other side of the room, rifling through picture albums and old yearbooks, all featuring steve.

until 1am, they laughed and shared stories about steve and each other, bonding closer and closer.

under a stack of steve’s yearbooks, billy found an even older one: one from missy and john’s senior yearbook.

as he flips through the pages, he spots hopper and joyce, who both look dorky enough for him to tease them about it later. he finds john soon after (them all being grouped in the ‘h’ section) but he can’t find missy. not even a michelle.

“where are you?”

billy asks innocently as she grabs the yearbook, flipping to the very last page where she’s the very last student: ruth zelner.

“ruth?” billy raises an eyebrow.

“my dad always called me ‘missy’ and so does john, and it just caught on,” she shrugged as she flipped through more pages in the book, looking at superlatives and costume days, “plus, ruth sounds like an old lady name,”

they laughed a little more over some of the pictures, now sitting with their shoulders together and looking down at the book.

as they giggled, billy noticed how her and steve’s noses both did that scrunchy thing when they snorted.

she even showed him a picture of her and john on the superlatives page: cutest couple.

their picture was dorky, swapped clothes, but his sweater vest and button up hung on her skinny body and her dress wasn’t zipped at all as it hugged his torso. and, yet, they looked like they couldn’t be happier.

the next morning, as steve woke up from the couch, he could hear hushed taking coming from the kitchen.

he found it strange that the living room was such a mess, books scattered everywhere and blankets laid on the floor sloppily, but he got up and walked into the kitchen.

“that’s my mug,”

billy was holding a ‘moms favorite’ mug (which was given to steve as a joke, him being an only child and all).

“no, no,” missy chuckled, “he’s got the right mug,”

billy snorted behind the mug and steve’s eyes widened, “wow, i’m a little offended,”

“don’t worry, your my favorite biological kid,” she kissed him on the cheek as he passed.

“i’m your only biological kid,” steve grumbled.

“and, therefore, my favorite!” missy chuckled

steve moved over to billy, pecking his temple as he moved in to cuddle into his chest, “you can’t steal my mom,”

billy put down his mug and wrapped his arms around steve, “we can share her,”

#billy needs a mom #so i gave him one #stranger things #harringrove #billy hargrove #steve harrington #billy x steve #steve x billy #mediocre—writing #mw harringrove

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puresoulshope · 3 years

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Stranger Things – Season 4 Teaser Analysis

I am excited I have some thoughts and I need people to scream with me so, here we go.

First shot we see in the trailer is the shot of a clock. I don’t think it is a coincidence at all, because we have been waiting for season 4 quite some time. The clock’s minute hand is on 12, and the hour hand is on 3. It makes me, hopefully, think that new season will be released on 12.3.2021 which is 3 December.

Then, we are greeted by a security camera, which is on. From the lens of the camera we can see that the kids from the laboratory are being watched. This camera and its red light means the Hawkins Lab is still watching the kids they experimented on and our characters, especially Eleven, right now. Or, maybe it is referring to the Upside Down still watching our characters, especially Will. Maybe both.

We see two kids, playing and crawling on all fours on a rainbow floor. From earlier season we know that The Rainbow Room is where the experimented kids played, and from their hospital gowns it is safe to say that they are from the Hawkins Lab, or another lab participated in the same study. I noticed that they are crawling on a very similar pace and they are very close in shape. My first thoughts went: twins. The MK Ultra experiments were made on pregnant women; it is very possible that the researchers wanted to know how would the results be effected if there were two babies being affected at the same time. Also the fact that between 8 and 11, the only revelated laboratory kids so far, there are two consecutive missing numbers, 9 and 10. Maybe, we are looking at 9 and 10 here

Hands down, the most crucial part of the trailer. The fact that there are at least two older/ teenage looking laboratory kids here means that maybe right now there are two adults out there who were once laboratory kids. Or, maybe they are already dead. We are not aware of their fate but there is something else here this shot is telling us something important. They are playing chess. A chess game with figures which very much look like D&D characters. This shot, is telling us that all those seasons we watched so far are a chess match between our protagonists and antagonists. But who is winning? The team that has the King wins, of course. Our King is Will Byers (literally) and the party who has the king on their side wins that season/match. The first season’s winner was Upside Down, because Upside Down still had a part of it inside Will which lead to the events of season 2. In season 2, our Queen piece Eleven, the most powerful piece of the game, and the team play of other pieces saved and protected the King, so they won. But Upside Down still had pawns in its hand, and it extended them with Billy in third season. In all seasons, valuable pieces were lost due to game. Upside Down took them (Bob and Hopper).

I don’t have much complex thoughts about this shot. Only that the kid who is holding the ball probably has the power to see the future. That’s it. That’s the theory.

In this shot, red circle figures landed on the numbers 4, 7 and 8. We know that the number 8, Kali, is alive. Referencing from that this shot here may be telling us about the numbers of kids who are still alive.

There are five red blocks here. Four of them are put in doubles while the fifth one is on top of them, alone. This shot may referencing the fact that at the end of the third season, most of our couples got seperated : Mike and Eleven, Nancy and Jonathan, Joyce and Hopper. Only couple left standing together is Lucas and Max. This seperation is also emphasied in the next shot, but I want to say that this can also symbolise that these couples getting closer and becoming one again at the end of the season.

Lastly, this shot is showing three kids playing together while another kid is sitting all alone by himself in the other side of the room. Three kids may reference Mike, Lucas and Dustin who are still together in Hawkins while Will is away from them. This is a sad reminder for us that Will got separated from his party at the end of the season. We may see a new side of Will because of this development. He may be a little different when we see him again this season. Personally, I have a lot of feelings for the character development of Will and effects of the events happened on him, so, hopefully this is something that will be examined in this season.

(Friendly reminder : This is my first time writing a teaser analysis and English is not my first language. So if you notice any mistake, please comment on them. Also I am ignoring the books and comics published, only taking the events showed on TV series as canon)

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flamehairedwritings · 4 years

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hey, i really love your Hopper fics and your writing ❤️ and if the hc requests are still open, could you write one about Hopper and Age Gap? that would be awesome, thank youuu 💕

Hello, lovely!! I’m so sorry this has taken so long, I hope you enjoy! And thank you so, so much!! ❤️

S o ... this kind of turned into almost a drabble, maybe even a fic, because this is a long one, pals. Maybe also a touch angsty?

—

It was the one thing Hop didn’t want to do after his divorce: date a younger woman.

It was cliché, it was classic, it was stereotypical, it was just... Everyone would frown at it, he thought anyway.

After moving back to Hawkins, he dated women close to his age, other divorcées who were looking for a one time thing, nothing serious. And he liked it perfectly fine that way. It was ideal, it worked, and it meant he couldn’t hurt anyone, and no one could hurt him.

And then he came to remember just how small Hawkins is, and how word gets around.

Divorcées would come looking for him, having heard from their friends that it would be a one time thing, but a damn good one time thing, and those looking for something more turned him down when he approached. It was a system that worked for everyone until Hopper started to realise the playing field was getting smaller and smaller.

So he branched, taking women who wanted more on a couple of dates, sleeping with them and then just letting it fade out. He knew he was an ass for doing it, he knew he was but... they deserved more and he just wanted to feel good for a short time.

And then he met you.

As Chief of Police, Hopper likes to know everyone, or at least be familiar with faces, so when he sees you, as an unfamiliar face, you catch his attention... and you’re beautiful, but he only let’s that passing thought stay for a couple of seconds because you’re obviously younger than him, maybe by about 15, 20 years, maybe more, you could possibly actually look a little older than your age.

He finds out from Flo a few days later, because she seems to always know everything, that she found out through a friend of a friend’s niece that you’re new in town and you’d just got a job at the diner.

On a usual day, Hopper gets up half an hour before work, showers sometimes, eats sometimes, changes, then heads to work. There he’ll grab something to eat if something’s there, have coffee, then work. He’ll either work through his lunch break and Flo will bring him something, or he’ll head out to the diner or nearest fast food restaurant with one of his colleagues. After getting the information from Flo, he decides to get lunch out. Powell comes with him as they both have to discuss a case, and Hop will suggest the diner and they’ll go there.

Selecting a booth, he’ll sit so he can see the counter, because there you are. You’re in the diner uniform, smiling and laughing with one of your colleagues, and he’ll wish that you’ll come over, and also hope you don’t.

You do, and you give them both a wide smile... and he won’t say hello. He’ll just say his order. You’ll still be smiling, nodding, confirming his order and Powell’s, and your smile will only widen further as you tell them it’ll be out soon. Then you’ll walk away and he’ll want to kick himself.

Could’ve at least asked her how her day is going, you idiot.

He won’t really know why he’s feeling so weird about talking to you. Yes, he thinks you’re attractive, but... Ooh, he absolutely doesn’t want to go there because, cliché. And you’ll definitely not be interested in an older guy like him.

When you bring their order he’ll just mumble his thanks and focus on Powell while they eat and talk... but his gaze will slide over to wherever you are every now and then, watching you talk to other customers, talk with your colleagues, stand at the counter, bite at your lower lip, check your watch when you think no one’s looking.

He’ll pay you afterwards as Powell goes outside to bring the Blazer round, and when you thank him, he’ll leave a tip and mumble, ‘Have a nice day.’

The smile you give him will make his jaw clench slightly, especially when you say, ‘Thanks, you, too.’

... But he’ll start going there regularly for lunch, every second day nearly. You’ll almost always be there, and he’ll sit in the same booth which he works out must be your area because you’ll always come over and serve. He’ll always bring someone with him, too, almost as a buffer, and you’re always smiling.

You’re just smiling and being polite because it’s your job, he tells himself, and he always tips more than he usually would, which he then tells himself is why you beam when you see him. It’s just because he��s a good tipping customer.

Then, one day, two weeks or so later, he’ll go with Powell, and just as they’ve both finished and Powell goes to get the Blazer and Hop finds himself paying again, silence falling as he gets his wallet out and you wait patiently, he’ll be saying it before he can stop himself.

‘So, uh, you havin’ a good day?’

If you’re surprised that he’s finally saying more than ‘yes’, ‘the usual’, ‘thanks’, ‘bye’, you won’t show it, just nod and smile.

‘Yeah, thank you, I am. How about you?’

‘Well, you know. Work’s busy.’ Is that even a proper answer?

‘I bet. Will you be out tonight, though?’

He’ll look at you, blanking. ‘Huh?’

‘At the fair?’

Ah, shit, he’d forgotten about that. It’s his night off and he’s going to... not do much actually, crack a few beers open, watch whatever is on TV, fall asleep on the couch, the usual.

‘Uh... I don’t think so.’

‘That’s too bad. I hope you change your mind.’ Smiling, you’ll thank him for coming in and then walk away... and he’ll be staring at you, unmoving.

Did you just... No... No, you couldn’t have... No. No.

He’ll dismiss it. You absolutely weren’t flirting or coming on to him in any form or way, you were just being polite.

But when he heads home after his shift, your words return to him, lingering. He dissects them, the way you said it, the way you’d smiled and... had you lingered slightly before saying goodbye?

Why am I thinkin’ like a fuckin’ teenager.

Back at his trailer, he’ll open a beer, sit on the couch, and... think about the fair. And you.

...

An hour there wouldn’t hurt.

He’s changed and out the door in less than ten minutes.

The fair is in full-swing when he arrives, and the moment he’s out of his Blazer, hands in his pockets and walking towards it, he feels like an idiot. What the hell is he doing here?

Luckily, he’ll run into some of the guys from work, though, here with their kids and he’ll talk to them for a while, get a beer. Then he’ll see Joyce and her two boys with some of the other kids they hang out with, and he’ll walk around with them, trying to help Joyce keep them in order. When they’re all demanding a hot dog and a drink, they’ll all manage to find a free table and sit at it while Hop offers to pay (why am I always paying for things) and he’ll head over to the already large queue.

Hands in his pockets, he’ll be lost in his thoughts, muttering under his breath every now and then at how slow the queue is moving, and then he’ll hear it.

‘Chief?’

He knows that voice. Turning, he’ll find you behind him, arms folded, smile wide.

‘Oh, uh, hey.’

‘You came.’

‘Yeah, yeah, I did.’

‘Are you having a good time?’

‘Uh, yeah. Kinda. I’m kinda babysittin’, though, so.’

‘Oh, right. Who are you here with?’

‘Them, over there.’

He’ll point and you’ll turn to find a brown-haired woman trying to keep a group of boys in order as they argue over... Well, you can’t really understand much of what they’re saying but it sounds cool.

‘That seems like a lot of fun.’

He’ll smile at how genuinely you say it, shrugging. ‘Yeah, I guess. Who are you here with?’

‘Some friends. Well, people from work, but I think we’re friends now.’

‘That’s good.’

‘Yeah, I think so.’

Then, there’ll be a silence that he’s dreaded since the moment he heard your voice. So he’ll just say the first thing that comes to mind.

‘Can I buy whatever it is you’re gettin’?’

You’ll blink, then shake your head. ‘Oh, no, don’t worry about it, it’s fine, thank you, though.’

You idiot, of course she’s fine.

‘Yeah, sure, don’t worry about it—’

‘You can buy me a drink another time, though?’

He’ll stare at you, before realising he needs to actually answer. ‘Oh, uh... Yeah, sure.’

You’ll beam, then nod, releasing a small breath. ‘Good. My number is... Oh, shit, do you have any paper and pen?’

He’ll be patting his pockets like his life depends on it. ‘Uh, shit, no, I—’

‘Hang on, here we go...’ You’ll both be at the front of the queue now, and you’ll ask for a napkin and a pen from the server, and you’ll scrawl your number down before handing it to him.

‘Call me,’ you say with a soft laugh, and he’ll carefully tuck it into his pocket before saying he absolutely will, ordering what he needs in almost a daze, and then bidding you goodbye as he returns to Joyce and the boys.

The next day, he’ll call you and ask you out to dinner, because that seems classier to him, and you’ll arrange it for the day after that.

He’ll be nervous. Very, very nervous.

You’re not young but you’re younger, and he so didn’t want to fall into a cliché. He’ll have to pep-talk himself manically throughout the day.

No, he’s not going to cancel because he wants to do it, yes, you’re younger, but that’s not a bad thing, you had asked him to ask you out, and all it was was one date. One date. It didn’t even have to go beyond that. It was just going to be dinner with someone and getting to know them... which is a date.

Flo will catch wind of it, like she always seems to do.

‘You’re going on a date with Janice’s friend’s niece’s friend?’

‘Don’t start, Flo—’

‘Don’t mess it up, Hop, she’s nice.’

Great, more pressure.

The evening will come and he’ll get there early, sick of pacing in his living room. You’ll arrive a few minutes before the agreed time, and he’ll pause at the sight of you.

Beautiful. God damn beautiful. You always are when he sees you, but...

He’ll rise from his chair and kiss you on the cheek because that’s what’s expected on a date, right, and then the night will begin.

... And from that night on, well... Things and feelings develop and progress very quickly.

He’ll love it, he’ll love spending time with you, talking with you, going out with you, you’re incredible to him.

It’s just... sometimes thoughts will creep into his mind when you are out in public. Was that person staring? What are they thinking? In fact, what do his colleagues think? Flo’s happy, but he thinks at this point she’d be happy with anyone he got close with.

When you are out, either at a bar or at dinner or one of the many fairs Hawkins puts on, his arm will drop from where it was around your shoulders, or his hand will release yours and slip into his pocket. He doesn’t even realise he’s doing it. You don’t really think much of it at first, thinking he just isn’t a huge fan of PDA, even though you don’t think hand holding is in-your-face, but, hey, if that’s his preference.

But then you start to notice it a lot more in different ways. You’ll eat in more than out, and if you are out he seems tense, almost rushing through the meal. He won’t touch you in public, maybe hold your hand a little, but if you wrap your arms around him and kiss him he’ll just smile slightly and return it quickly.

It’s starting to become so obvious to you because when you’re at his trailer or your place, he can’t keep his hands off of you. You’ll be on his lap, curled up beside him, cuddling him, he’ll have his hands on you, he’ll want to kiss you every few minutes, he’ll caress you, having sex with him is incredible and frequent.

So, wanting to give him the benefit of the doubt, you do a few tests before you say anything. You’ll be out shopping, and you’ll slip your hand into his. He’ll let it go a few moments later and pick something up which you think, fine, we’re browsing, he needs his hands.

Walking down the street you’ll slide your arm around his waist, and a few moments later, he’ll suggest you both cross the street, twisting his body to check if any vehicles are coming and it’ll just so happen that your arm will fall from him.

Stopping for a drink, you’ll reach over and place your hand on his and he’ll squeeze it lightly before sitting back, his hands falling into his lap.

And then you’ll go for your final test. Walking down a street, you’ll turn to him and kiss him, the type of firm, lingering kiss that usually, in private, would have him gripping at you and groaning.

Now, though... he pulls his head back after a second and smiles slightly before asking where you want to go to next.

Home, you’ll say. Alone.

He’ll frown, not quite understanding, but as you walk away he won’t call after you because he doesn’t want people staring any more than he already is telling himself they are.

He’ll go straight home and call you, but you won’t answer. So he’ll wait a little while and call again. No answer.

Then he’ll just grab his keys and head over.

When you answer the door and let him in because you know he won’t go anywhere, with your eyes shining and jaw tight, his heart will sink.

‘Baby, what’s wrong?’

‘What’s wrong’? you’ll scoff, arms folded, staring at him in your hallway. ‘I’m gonna ask you something and you’re gonna tell me the truth.’

‘Of course.’

‘Are you embarrassed to be with me?’

He’ll stare at you.

‘... What?’

‘Are you embarrassed to be with me?’

‘Embarrassed? What, no, baby, of course not—’

‘Then why won’t you let me touch you in public? Why won’t you touch me?’

As you list off everything he does, his heart will sink further.

Shit.

‘No, baby, I... I just... I’m a little self-conscious ‘cause you’re younger than me, by quite a bit, and I worry about what people think about me, and... if anything, sweetheart, I thought... I sometimes think... you’d be embarrassed to be with me.’

You’ll let out a long, incredulous breath as you look at him, shaking your head. ‘Hopper... No one cares. I don’t care. We’re happy together, right?’

He’ll nod.

‘Then that’s all that matters.’ Dropping your arms, you’ll take his hands, a small smile pulling at your lips. ‘Of course I’m not embarrassed to be with you, Hop. I think you’re so fucking sexy and so funny and kind and smart and you’re just everything that I want.’

He’ll pull you closer as his smile matches yours. ‘You’re everything that I want, too, baby. I... I’m sorry, I was being an ass.’

‘Yeah, you were,’ you’ll agree as you arch an eyebrow and he snorts, your arms wrapping around his waist. ‘... but it’s okay, I forgive you.’

‘Good. Thank you.’

After that, he’ll be more relaxed with you in public. It’ll take a little while for all his insecurities to go away, but he’ll get there, and soon he’s holding your hand, kissing you, wrapping an arm around you, even making out with you on nights out at the bar.

And very soon, Jim Hopper will be very proud to show the world that you’re his, and he is yours.

—

Reblogs and comments make my day in a way I can’t describe.

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Masterlist

Tagged: @herb-welch, @pascalispedro @davidkharboursex, @jobean12-blog, @warmbeardsandredwine, @mademoiselle-black, @scrunchinn, @flames-bring-a-ton-of-ash, @divadinag, @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan, @deepsouth, @neganslittlebae, @ashphoenix105, @alahmorah, @daughterofthebrowncoats, @letsby, @tbkc, @kiwiphroot, @ashmely, @sistasarah-sallysaidso, @unicornsandgliiitter, @lucifer-in-leather, @heyjudeinthesky, @sleepylunarwolf, @ambeazyyy, @countryfire22, @sithlordslut, @mondsafari, @thejealousorchard, @norcula, @earinafae, @beltzboys2015-blog, @jinxiejenna, @justsimplevicky, @hellosupernaturaldoctor, @ginasellsbooks, @dwarvenbunnyears, @vale0413, @mrslydiaholden, @kimberliinabox, @thoughtsmeander2tumblingblindly, @allylupin, @cant-shake-this-feeling-off, @the-bitch-gotham-deserves, @warriorqueen1991, @thesurestthing, @zuni21798, @quietlovelovely, @maddieisaboredable, @windinyoursnail, @happy-hopper, @yedi16, @negansdirtygirl22, @slipperywhenwetsstuff, @my-rosegold-soul @madkskillz, @im-not-great-at-making-up-names, @sergeantangel, @bitchinsinclair, @dewy-biitch, @focusonspn, @wearethebrokenones, @sarcasm-is-my-native-tounge, @thatprettymvthafvcka, @pulplorrd, @gifsbysimplysonia, @opalsandlacemain @geordiequeen, @gothackedalready, @ayatimascd, @missaudreyhorney, @chiefharbour, @l0ve-0f-my-life

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#jim hopper x reader #chief jim hopper x reader #jim hopper #chief jim hopper #my writing #hoppers hcs #flamehairedwritings

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sttheorycraft · 3 years

Note

What do you think El’s storyline will be like?

I don't know if you mean in S4 or just in general for the rest of the show. Since this new framing is so new to me, I'll put it aside for now and answer based on my older viewpoint. I'll be basing it partially on leaked info from fan updates, so if you're sensitive to spoilers, maybe skip this one!

Okay, so what do we know from S3? Eleven's moved away from Hawkins after the events at Starcourt. She lost Hopper, made friends with Max but is leaving her behind, split with Mike and never seemed to get back together for months? For some reason? But is going to stay in touch with him with Cerebro, and he'll come visit periodically. She's moving in with Joyce, Jonathan, and Will - but there's another question on that shortly so more on that later. And she lost her powers, and had that weird bite from the Mind Flayer. That's the canon stuff we know, possible S4 spoilers incoming.

Right. So there are various theories/speculation about what could happen in S4 from leaked photos, possible scripts, auditions, etc. These could turn out to be bogus, but based on those and my own judgment, here are things we can reasonably expect to happen with El next season:

1) She's going to have a shit-ass time at school, although there's a question on that coming too, so I'll leave it at that for now.

2) The Mind Flayer's bite is going to come back with a vengeance. I don't know if she'll actually end up being possessed, though I kinda hope she does because it would be freaking terrifying.

3) There's going to be someone (the new military general guy I think) tracking El down, possibly from footage from when she went to Starcourt Mall before it burned down (or maybe even during the actual battle). This person will get to Owens, who will sell her out. El will be taken away and back to Brenner - this will happen while everyone is still in Lenora Hills, and may be the motivation for the Surfer Boy Pizza Gang's road trip to Hawkins (they'll be trying to rescue El).

4) There could be some explosion in Hawkins that leaves El (at least) injured, from some suspicious video leaks that happened a while back.

5) It's not accidental that Chernobyl happens at the end of S4. El's involvement seems more likely than not (maybe 60%? Hopper is the other likely candidate). Motivations could include Byler jealousy, as she's been foreshadowed to be jealous and possessive of Mike. Though there are other possible explanations, it's just worth including here.

If you mean the rest of the show: ahhh the DID stuff is throwing me. Even without going that far, there is clearly some theme going on in the subtext about splitting something into parts that have to be recombined for a happy ending. The Dark Crystal is referenced a lot and is a great example: a race is split into a good and an evil race which have to be recombined. There's an X-Men comic that's mentioned where Rogue and Captain Marvel get mentally coupled and one has to be killed or both will die. Then if you look into the Demogorgon in D&D culture: it actually has two heads, which are constantly fighting. I don't know exactly what it means yet. Under the DID theory, certain personalities need to reintegrate to become whole, fine. Ignoring that possibility, we still could have that El is Will's feminine side, some alternate self he wished he was so he could be with Mike and have it be socially acceptable. Or what about the fact that El might come from the Upside Down, she might've been created at the split, and the Mind Flayer might be her evil side? Or something. Not fully thought out. But it feels super-relevant to Eleven.

I will say: I ship Byler, and I dig the idea of Dark El as an enemy for a season (for its awesomeness factor), but I also like El. I hope whatever form things end up taking, she ends up with a happy ending. But it feels unlikely that the series will end with her life looking the way it did in the beginning of S3, or more "normal" than that.

And if El is E.T., well, E.T. eventually goes home. And as I posted about earlier, the Mind Flayer is said in S2 to be "so ancient it doesn't even remember its true home," and El is constantly told in that season that she's "home"... Feel like at the end she's going to walk into the Upside Down, say she's "home," and something epic will happen.

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marwritesgood · 5 years

Text

Beautiful | B. Hargrove

Pairing : Billy x Reader

Timeframe : Post-Season 3

Summary : [A Continuation of Pretty] Max and El, with the help of Joyce Byers, set out to grant Billy’s dying wish.

masterlist // PART ONE

It had been a month since your movie date with Billy, and you felt like things were going great. You told him you loved him religiously, and he would always pull you in for a kiss in response. Knowing all that he had to endure, you knew Billy would need time and assurance before he could ever admit that he loved you too. That would never stop you from showering him with love.

“Hey, you,” he smiled weakly, pulling you into his arms as you approached him and his car. It was just an ordinary Thursday night when you looked out your window and noticed Billy’s Camaro pull up into your driveway. Luckily for the both of you, you were home alone, and your parents wouldn’t return for at lest another three hours.

“Hey,” you replied softly, wrapping your arms around him. He reeked of tobacco- even more so than normal. This was always a sign that something was wrong. Billy had a tendency to absorb a packet of cigarettes whenever he was nervous, which was not often. “Everything okay? What are you doing here?”

“I just...” He caresses your cheek with his right hand, looking intently in your eyes as he paused for a prolonged moment. “I wanted to see you... One last time.”

You slowly pulled his hand away from your cheek. With furrowed eyebrows, you paused to look at Billy for a minute. Looking to see if his tell was appearing, desperate for some sort of sign that this was a joke. That he was just playing a cruel practical joke on you, because he knows how emotional you can get. Anything would be better than what he was suggesting.

“What’s going on, Billy?”

“My dad and- uh, Susan,” he began, coughing uncomfortably as he said his stepmom’s name aloud. The fact that he was bringing them up was enough for you to know that this was bad, but even still. You held hope. “They’re going through with the plan to move to Indiana... And they wanna leave tomorrow morning.”

“What?” You couldn’t keep your voice from cracking as you cried out. Billy couldn’t look you in the eye anymore. Not if it meant seeing you cry. “But, you said they weren’t gonna decide til the end of the year... I thought we had more time together.”

“They didn’t really care about what anyone else had to say... Not even Max.”

“... What does this mean about us?”

It pained you to ask that question. So much more than you could ever articulate.

“That’s why I’m here,” he stated shortly, before turning around, and opening the passenger door to his car. After closing the door and turning back to me, he held out a big cardboard box filled with familiar items that belonged to me. “To give you your stuff and... Say goodbye.” “You’re breaking up with me...” You couldn’t tell if you said that as a question or as an observation. Either way, there was no hiding how heartbroken you were. Billy couldn’t avoid looking you in the eye any longer. “You don’t have to do this, Billy... We can still... We can still talk over the phone. Write letters. I can visit you in my breaks. We can-”

“Y/n,” he says loudly, keeping me from continuing your list of different ways we could stay in touch. “C’mon. It’s pointless. Long distance doesn’t work... You and I both know that.”

A lot of the students who transferred to your school from out of state had a boyfriend or girlfriend back home. Just about all of them were forced to break it off, because dating someone you see everyday is significantly more easier than someone living on the other side of the country.

“Pointless?” You repeated, trying to conceal how hurt you were, but failing miserably at doing so. Billy’s face softened, as he quickly regretted his choice of words. “Why does it feel like you’re giving up on us, Billy? Like you’re giving up on me.”

“I don’t want to,” he affirmed, lifting his hand to your cheek. Normally, you would move away from his grasp, but given the situation, you decided to remain still. “I don’t wanna give up on us, but I do wanna set you free... And, moving to Indiana, and expecting you to be here waiting for me when I get back... That’s only gonna tie you down.”

“Oh, so this just you deciding what’s best for me, then huh?”

“Don’t make this harder than it already is,” he responded, matching your rise in volume. Arguments between the two of you were rare, but very tumultuous.

“I’ll do you one better then,” you fired back, before snatching the cardboard box aggressively away from his hand. “Go to Indiana and do whatever the hell you want... I’m done waiting around for you.”

There was irony in the way that Billy had arrived to say goodbye to you, but it was you who ended up walking away from him. Slamming the front door behind you, you threw the cardboard box in the corner of your bedroom and collapsed onto your bed.

->->->->->->->

“And, honey, you’re sure this is her house?”

It didn’t take a lot of convincing for Joyce to agree to drive Max and El to California in search of Billy’s ex-girlfriend. After the Battle at Starcourt Mall, and the immense grief of losing Hopper, she was looking forward to doing something good. Something that could potentially make another person happy.

“I’m sure,” Max answered, looking out her window and nodding. Her and El had begged Nancy to help them find your address. Once they arrived, Max instantly recognised the fences and the front door, having sat in the backseat whenever you and Billy picked her up from school.

“Let’s go,” El muttered in determination, before being the first to open her door and begin marching toward the front door.

Being the supervising adult, Joyce held El back from pressing the doorbell. Though she was certain there were no threats nearby, she still insisted on being the one to ring the doorbell. After a minute passed, the front door opened slowly, revealing the girl they had spent several hours in a truck finding.

“Hi-” your sentence was completely cut off, when she recognised the redheaded girl standing at her doorstep. “... Max?”

“Hey... Y/n,” she replied, as she slowly took a step towards you. Much to her surprise, you pulled her in for a hug, grasping onto her tightly, just as you often would whenever she came to you with troubles or concerns.

“I’m sorry,” you mumbled, as you turned to the other two standing in front of you. “Please come in.”

You walked them into your kitchen, where the four of you sat at your table.

“Um, Y/n, this is El and Ms Byers.”

“Joyce,” the older lady corrected, holding her hand out to she yours whilst offering a gentle smile. “I’m... I’m guessing you heard about what happened in the news recently.”

You nodded silently, holding your breath in attempt to keep yourself from crying again. That’s all you had done for the past few days, ever since you saw Billy’s face appear on the front page of your local newspapers.

“El and I,” Max began explaining, fumbling with her fingers as she spoke, something she had a tendency to do whenever she was nervous about something. Much like her brother this was a rare occasion. “We were there when it happened, and...”

She couldn’t finish explaining, before her eyes flooded with tears. Her small cries became muffled from the way she clasped her hand over her mouth and looked away. Joyce wrapped her arm around Max comfortingly, prompting El to finish explaining.

“Before he... died,” El began, furrowing her eyebrows as she tried to word her explanation in the most accurate way possible, without giving away the truth about what really happened. “He asked me to find you... And to tell you he loved you too.”

You held your hand over your mouth and weeped.

Things stayed like this for a while. Once Max recovered, she and El both rubbed your back as you cried. Each of them not being able to keep themselves from crying with you too. Once you began to ground yourself again, you remembered something that you had forced yourself to ignore for the past year and a half.

“This might be a lot to ask,” you whispered, clearing you throat, as you stood from your seat and faced the three women seated before you. Though you had only just met Joyce and El mere hours ago, you knew that if Max trusted them enough to be vulnerable around them, you could trust them in the same way too. “But would you be able to help me with something.”

The three of them exchanged brief glances with on another, before Joyce finally turned back to you and smiled.

“Whatever you need.”

You asked them to wait for a moment, before turning around and heading towards your bedroom. As you dug through a pile of old textbooks and dirty clothes, you recovered the last thing Billy had ever given to you, and you brought it with you back into the kitchen.

“Before he moved away, Billy gave me this,” you explained, as you gently unfolded the flaps and opened up the box. “I could never bring myself to go through the stuff in here, because we were one bad terms when he left, but now... now I think I’m ready.”

And so, for the next hour, you went through the numerous items in the box. The mixtapes he made for you. The chapstick containers you left in his car. The jacket you left in his bedroom. Even the several bras that had accumulated in the backseat of his car, which you had difficulty explaining to El.

“Hey, Y/n, what’s this?” Max asked, as she pulled out a light-wash denim jacket from the bottom of the box. You gasped, when yo saw her pull it out, because you instantly recognised the food stain pattern along the lapel.

“That’s his jacket,” You whispered in disbelief, holding the material closer to your face so you could feel it against your cheek- just like you did whenever you hugged him. “He had a couple like it, but that was the exact one he wore when-”

“He took you to see the Outsiders,” El finished, tears brimming within her eyes.

“... Yeah,” you smiled, glancing over at the small brunette. “How did you know?”

“He told me,” El answered. It was as close to an honest answer as she could offer.

“Did he... um- did he say anything else... about me?”

“Just that...” El smiles, finally knowing exactly what to say to you. “That you were beautiful, and... he was really happy with you.”

You exhale, as if to release much of what had burdened you for the past year. He made you so immensely happy. Though your heart was still struck aggressively by your grief, your pain was alleviated slightly just from knowing that you had the same effect on him.

#Billy Hargrove #billy x reader #billy hargrove x reader #billy hargrove imagines #stranger things #stranger things x reader #stranger things imagine #imagine #imagines #one shot #one shots #fanfiction #fandom #fanfic #Fandoms #fanfictions #angst #fluff

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