Steve Harrington - Blog Posts

Dustin’s Dads!!!

I love them sm grrrrr

OMDDD

my friend asked if we can watch this show called normal people, and i’d read on a blog once that daisy could be a fan cast for Eddie’s mom and i realised Paul looks like Eddie’s dad too. so get ready for them to be his parents whenever i write for Eddie.

Steve's been a sailor for years. He's survived a lot of different "adventures".

Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to survive being left on an Island without any supplies.

He's regretting declining the offer to become a Capitan. If he ever makes it back he's begging for the position.

It's not uncommon for an experienced sailor to join a crew that's brand new for a little to help them out. Steve was happy to do it even.

He just didn't think they would leave him stranded on a island in the middle of the ocean.

Steve didn't know what to do so he just started walking towards the trees.

And he kept walking. For hours, maybe even a day or so.

The sun has left and appeared 3 times so it's been a few days. But he kept walking.

Until he started to hear an alluring melody that felt like it was pulling him towards something.

He kept walking towards it and the louder it got the worst the urge got to find the source.

It was hypnotizing.

Eventually he reached a circle lake that was absolutely beautiful. Crystal clear water, pearls and jewels surrounding the edges, the prettiest rocks he has ever seen.

But sitting on a rock was the source of the sound. A man?

A man with a dark red tail and long black hair. It stopped singing once it saw him.

"You finally made it" the man said, voice as mesmerizing as the song it was singing.

Steve didn't say anything. Just continued to stare.

He made it to what? His death? Is this what he was hallucinating while he died? Out of everything he sees a man with a tail and so many expensive items he could probably buy the whole town Steve was from.

He sat down and leaned against a rock, if he was going to die he was going to die comfortably.

As comfortable as sand can be.

"Not talkative? I thought all humans liked using their voice" it asked sliding into the water and swimming closer, crawling out of the water to try and get closer to him.

It layed on the sand next to Steve just starting at him.

"Do you not have a voice?" It asked.

Steve sighed, "I have a voice but I refuse to talk to someone my imagination made" he closed his eyes.

"You think you can imagine something like me," He can hear the smirk in its voice. "Why do you think I'm fake?" Of course, his mind made someone to make his last moments alive hell.

"Because I've been here for days without food and water in the heat, I'm ovbisouly dying. Now be quiet" Steve spat out, just wanting peace in his last moments.

He seriously hoped Robin won't be to devastated when he doesn't return home.

Suddenly something touched his mouth, he jumped back and opened his eyes. The man was holding a cup filled with water.

"Drink" it commanded.

"I'm not drinking water from a uh whatever you are, it's probably not even clean"

"Its rude to assume the worst, isn't it?"

Steve glared at him.

The man sighed and threw a red apple at him, "at least eat that"

Steve scanned the apple for a moment before deciding it was safe and taking a bite.

"So what will it take for me to convince you that im real and trustworthy?"

Maybe being left on this island wasn't so bad.

Rose

word count: 12,698

Fandom: Stranger Things Pairing: Robin Buckley x Female!Harrington!Reader   Pronouns: She/Her Relationship: Romantic Occupation: University Student Ability: N/A

Keys:

[F/N]: Female Name [L/N]: Last Name [N/N]: Nickname [H/C]: Hair Color [E/C]: Eye Color

Warnings: n/a

this was requested by my friend @unparalleled-slothy​ and her friend @puresass​, so you can go thank them for giving me enough inspiration to write something.

this is going to be if billy and [f/n] didn’t die or get possessed by the mind flayer, so an overall happy ending for those poor unfortunate souls.

I know this is way past valentine’s day but I don’t give a shit, I was just lazy.

that is all.

Ah, valentines the day.

The day where you celebrate love, whether it may be with your significant other or rather suffering in utter loneliness because you have no significant other. A holiday where the price of stuffed toys, a bundle of flowers and chocolate have doubled in price because they can do that. This was the first year [F/N] was going to spend Valentine’s Day with her actual lover, her beautiful girlfriend Robin Buckley, that wasn’t just some on and off fling but a girl she genuinely had a relationship with. Someone she almost loved just as much as her brother— almost, but she still had a place deep within her heart. Sure, [F/N] still had university to worry about but what’s a few missed days? Besides, she’s paid a few of her friends/classmates to take notes for her so when she returns she doesn’t flunk so hard.

Steve himself was just as excited for Valentine’s Day as [F/N] was, this time he was going to spend it with Billy. This was something new for the both of them, not so much Steve, but spending the holiday with another boy, yes. Steve’s heart was filled with so much love, he was ready to shower it all onto Billy, but he knew better than to overwhelm the blonde. Learning from him, he knew that Billy was starved of affection and was slowly getting used to Steve’s lingering touches, so he knew he had to hold back. Steve and [F/N] both had a plan for their lovers, they had all day to play and get their surprise ready for them, especially since neither one of them had school to attend and Steve was taking a day off from Family Video just to prepare.

“So what do you have in store for Hargrove, Stevie?” [F/N] asks, both herself and Steve lounging about outside by the pool despite the weather, a cold beer in her hand as they stared up at the dark sky above them “He’s told me he’s excited for what you have planned out, basically pleading with me to spare some details.” she hums to herself when she saw an excited grin stretch across his cheeks.

“Do you remember how lover’s lake has the best view after dark?” she nods her head, tilting her head back to take a swig of her drink “That’s exactly where I’m going to take him where the two of us are going to enjoy a night dinner under the stars.” her face lights up, snapping her fingers in his direction.

“Oh, I see. Are you planning it so that the stars reflect against the water?” he nods his head, snapping his fingers in her direction.

“Exactly that, sister dearest.” [F/N] applauds him for his creative idea, he sniffles softly and tilts his drink in her direction to gesture for her to speak her idea then took a drink “What about you? Robin has been begging me to spill what you’re gonna do with her.” [F/N] grinned, her couldn’t help but roll his eyes when he recognised that mischievous grin.

“You’re just gonna have to wait and see, my dear little brother.” Steve rolled his eyes.

“Whatever you’re planning, I bet it’s got something that could potentially get you in jail.” she laughs whilst throwing her head back.

“Please, I’ve been to jail too many times to count that it doesn’t even matter to me anymore!” he couldn’t help but stare at her, whether it be with disappointment or disbelief, it wouldn’t matter to her so he tilts his head back and takes a longer gulp of his alcoholic beverage.

And that’s where [F/N] found herself outside of Robin’s house on Valentine’s Day morning, she drove slowly down her street as to not alert the entire street that she was there, especially not Robin. Pulling up just a couple houses down to her house she eyes it closely then nods to herself, no one seemed to be awake in the Buckley Residence so now was her time. She drums her hands against the stirring wheel before leaning over to the passenger side to grab a rose from the bouquet, along with a small box of chocolates. Her plan was to deliver her a rose from the bouquet along with a treat to Robin throughout the entire day until Robin collects all the roses and completes the bouquet, then at the very end of school she would pull up and take her on a sweet date, then to finish it off they were going to watch one of Robin’s favorite movies then cuddle their way to sleep.

She nods to herself. Yes, such a splendid plan. Lacing her fingers together and cracking them, she hastily makes her way over to Robin’s window that she would always climb to secretly get into her room. What a Harrington trait, huh? Her window was a little high, but she always kept the window open no matter the weather. Well, snow days were an exception but they were their favorite cause they could get away with spending the entire day in bed snuggling. Tucking the box of chocolates into her pocket and putting the rose into her mouth, she takes a step back, then leapt up to grab onto the edge of her windowsill then proceeded to push herself up until she was able to reach into Robin’s room. With that, she spat the rose into her hand and gently placed it down on the windowsill followed by the box of chocolates. Glancing up, she smiled softly yet brightly at the sight of her sweet little birdie sleeping peacefully. She wished she could stay longer; she wished she had a bit of time to give her girlfriend and kiss on the forehead but the sound of her door handle jiggling caused [F/N] to panic and lose her balance, evidently falling backwards and onto the ground.

*THUD*

“Ah, hmm…?” Robin let out a tired groan when her door was open. Taking a peek from out of her pillow, she saw her mother standing over her with a kind smile on her face “Argh, mum…. let me sleep.” she giggles softly at Robin, watching her daughter turn her head back into her pillow to bury her face further into the plush cotton.

“Now, now, Robin. You can’t just sleep in today.” she laughs this time when Robin groaned louder “Today’s a special day.”

“Friday?”

“No, sweetheart, it’s valentine’s day. And this year, you don’t have to spend it alone.” this was enough to get Robin to push herself up, her mother was laughing cheerfully now at the state of her daughter. Her short hair was a mess and sticking out in all sorts of places with some drool dribbling out of the corner of her mouth “If you finish your school day quicker, you might get to spend some time with that girl you love so much.” Robin’s face quickly turned a shade of red.

“Mum!” she groans out “You know it isn’t like that.” this caused her to roll her eyes.

“Right, like I don’t see the way you look at her each time she comes to pick you up and drop you off.” she leans down and gently pats her head “No matter how hard you try to hide it, my sweet daughter, your father and I will love you, regardless. Just remember that, Robin.” she then presses a kiss to her forehead, proceeded to ruffle her hair with a soft chuckle, and finally left Robin to wake up and get ready for school. She tosses her head back to shake the loose strands out of her face and in the corner of her eyes she notices the deep shade of red sitting on her desk. Standing to her feet, she gasped softly at the sight of a rose next to a box of chocolates, she giggles lovingly at the sight and picks them up, only then to notice a small note attached to the chocolates.

’good morning birdie,

I hope you had a good sleep, thought you might like a little gift to start your morning. There is plenty to come throughout the day, so forgive me that I do not come to take you to school for I have much to prepare for the evening. But I want you to know that it will be worth the wait, so enjoy your day and wait, you shall be greatly rewarded for your patience.

from yours truly, [f/n] harrington~❤️’

Robin could feel her cheeks already starting to hurt from hood big of a smile she wore on her face, she quickly peeks out of the window to try to at least catch her while she was leaving but frowned softly when she couldn’t see her mustang nor did she hear it when it left. Well, this was enough to know that [F/N] didn’t forget, so she nods her head and gets ready for the day, very excited to learn what her girlfriend had in store for them. Little did she know, [F/N] was beneath her outside the whole time. She laid completely still when she saw Robin stick her head out in search for her, then relaxed when she disappeared.

“How long are you going to be lying there, Harrington?” not even looking up to the owner of the voice, she raised her hand in greeting.

“Good morning to you too, Mr Buckley.” he nods to himself when he looked up from where she potentially fell from then back down at her. He kneels down and gently knocks on her forehead.

“Don’t do anything too frivolous, young lady. She’s still in high school while you’re a university student.” [F/N] nods her head and salutes him.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, sir.” he hums at her, nodding his head.

“Glad you understand.” she was a little startled when he grabbed her by the collar of her shirt, pulling her up slightly but enough so that they were face to face “But if I hear that you did something to her, to my daughter, you’ll have to answer to me. I don’t give a damn if you’re a woman or not, I’m still that girl’s father and I’m going to treat anyone she brings home the same way until they understand that my daughter is not to be messed with, got it?” [F/N] rapidly nods her head.

“Yes sir, I understands sir.”

“I’m happy we could have this conversation. Now run along. I don’t want her getting the wrong idea.” she nods her head and hurries off the moment he let her go, he stood outside the driveway sand watched her flee to her car, hand on his hip with a cup of coffee in his other hand “… that girl’s dead the moment she breaks my girls heart.” [F/N] now found herself trying to hide her car as she pulled up to Hawkins High School and how she was able to pull it off, she didn’t know, she was just that skilled. Sneaking into Hawkins High wasn’t too hard, trying not to get recognised as one of the most notorious student from a few of her old teachers was almost a little tricky, but blending in with a few students made it easier for her to slither past them. The hallways of Hawkins High were littered with hearts, banners saying “happy valentines day” and other shit like that, barf, this school was always quite the try hard when celebrating all sorts of holidays. Her next mission was to find Robin’s locker, and with the help of Billy and even Wheeler senior, she somewhat knows where it is.

“They said it should be around… here!” [F/N] made sure that no one was looking when she proceeded to break into her locker, cracking open a lock wasn’t hard for her, she’s opened up a bunch of lockers when she was still attending this shithole for a school. She grinned when the lock sprung open so with a smug grin and whistle she opened the locker and was greeted with the sight of Robin’s stuff, she did double check to see it was hers and pulled out of her duffel bag the next rose, a box of treats with a note and a trinket from Robin’s favorite book series. Hmm, she wonders what sort of face Robin will make when she sees thi—

“[F/N]?” she lets out a shriek at the sound of her name, slamming the locker door shut and whipping her head over in the direction of the voice, though, she was greatly surprised to see who it was “What are you doing here?”

“Eddie? What are you STILL doing here?” Eddie Munson, [F/N]’s longtime best friend since her last year of middle school and throughout high school up till her last year where she graduated and left Hawkins to study out of state. She was greatly surprised to see Eddie, who was her age, at Hawkins himself. Shouldn’t he be out and about making a name for himself outside of Hawkins, away from this shitty town that thought he was nothing more than a freak? She stared at him closer before making a face of disappointment, Eddie’s face scrunched up when he recognised it “You dumb bitch, were you held back again?” Eddie pulls a face before raising a hand.

“Don’t avoid the question.” she scoffs at him, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms “I don’t see a reason for you to be here, on Valentine’s Day of all days. I thought you’d be out and about getting into any girl’s pants to satisfy your loneliness.”

“Ah hahaha, very funny. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t make jokes on my loneliness. Thank you very much.” she sighed when he made a gesture for her to continue, for her to explain what the hell she was doing there when she had absolutely no business being there in the first place, she sighed as she scratched her cheek “Well… I’m visiting someone.” he raised a brow.

“Visiting someone? Who?” before she could answer, Eddie let out a yelp when she grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and pulled him away and out of sight while also kicking her bag away. She held him close as she pressed herself into the wall behind her while he pressed his hands on either side of her head, their legs in between each other while they were face to face. Eddie was going to ask for her drastic reaction but paused when he saw her lean forward to peek past the lockers that were hiding them from the owner of the locker she broke in to. He leaned back and his eyes widened softly at who he saw. Robin Buckley? That band weirdo? No, it couldn’t be. He goes to make a joke when he turned back to look at [F/N] but paused when he saw that genuine look of love on her face that was only ever reserved for Steve and sometimes him and his group of friends, but this look? This look was new, she sighed lovingly as she draped her arms over his shoulders and rested her head on the side of his as she stared at Robin with a lovesick gaze. Her face brightened when she saw the rose she gave Robin that morning tucked into the breast pocket of her jacket, heh, the jacket she stole the year prior.

Robin was in a good mood that morning, seeing [F/N] definitely would have made it better, but she would have to settle for the surprise she had for her that afternoon. Steve was the one to pick her up that morning, but she sat in the backseat, leaving the front seat reserved for his boyfriend Billy. She drowned out their chatter for their afternoon date out and focussed solely on getting through the day as quickly as she could so she could see [F/N], oh, how she was graving to see her girlfriend right then and there. Pulling up to the school, she quickly gave her goodbye to Steve and Billy and rushed into the school, gagging out the few students who didn’t have enough decency to tongue fuck each other behind closed doors. She practically had to shove some random girl talking to her boyfriend because they were in front of her locker, she scoffed as she puts in the code to her lock then opens her locker, face brightening up to find another rose, chocolate and a gift inside.

’hi songbird,

Did you see the gift I left you? It’s a little trinket from one of your favorite book series you love talking about. I saw it in a shop and managed to buy it. It was the last in stock so I was quite lucky to snag it. Have a good day at school, Robin. Don’t slack off just because we’re doing something this afternoon. Love you~

From yours truly, your girlfriend~❤️’

Aw~ look at the face she was making. Her face was turning redder by the second! Ah hah, she’s hugging the note! Look, she’s grabbing the little trinket and putting it in her pocket. She likes it. She fully melts into the embrace she pulled Eddie into, her arms now wrapping around him as her head slouched into the crook of his neck, sighing dreamily as she watched Robin pick up the rose and add it to the first one inside her pocket. The moment Robin was out of sight [F/N] finally managed to collect herself and acknowledge Eddie, only to freeze up when he was staring at her with a suggestive expression.

“So… Buckley~” she scoffed at him, he laughed when he saw her face turn pink from embarrassment “I didn’t know you were into band nerds.” he burst out into laughter when she peeled herself off of him and pushed him away.

“Coming from a band nerd himself, loser.” they stare at each other this time before grinning at each other and grabbing each other by the hand, a loud clap echoing through the hallway the moment they grasped each other’s hands “So, you finally found the one that captured your heart. Do you love her just as much as you love your brother?” [F/N] pulls a face, tilting her head side to side before shrugging.

“She’s a close second place.” he scoffs.

“Dude, no.” she laughs with a shrug.

“She understood what she was getting herself into the moment she accepted to be my girlfriend, but I do tend to treat her with extra love.” with that she winked and blew him a kiss, he jokingly caught it then threw it in a nearby trashcan, she let out a gasp at his audacity “Anyways, think you know what class she has first? I wanna leave another rose.” Eddie lets out a breath as he looks down at his wrist to check the time.

“I don’t think you have enough time to do that, the bells about to—” the bell rung before he could finish, she let out a sigh at that “Welp, you better leave before you get in trouble. I, myself, have math class to attend.” [F/N] throws her head back with a laugh.

“Damn, math was never your strongest suit. Be well, soldier!” she salutes him and planned to leave but was stopped when a teacher appeared, it would’ve been bad if the teacher recognised her, it was awful because this teacher didn’t recognize her and thought she was a student.

“Oh, trying to ditch school, are you? With Mister Munson, no less.” [F/N] paused in her tracks, glancing back at Eddie then back at the teacher while pointing at herself, the teacher let out a sigh “Yes, you. Goodness, students these days. You think you can just avoid class to fool around because it’s Valentine’s Day, don’t you? Well, I’ve got news for you kiddos, you gotta suck it up and wait for the end of school so get to it!” [F/N] was then grabbed roughly by her arm, along with Eddie, and the two of them were dragged to math class. Eddie was giggling softly to himself as he and [F/N] sat at the back of the classroom, she herself had an incredulous look on her face that screamed she wanted to die. She glanced at him and gave him a glare, telling him to shut the fuck up, but he knew well and just ignored the way she was staring daggers into his eyes. A few other students attending that class were staring at the two in confusion, especially at [F/N] because they didn’t recognize who the fuck she was, the few juniors that were around when she reigned supreme in Hawkins as the fallen queen, were extra confused as to why she was there.

“Now students, I’d like for you to take out your textbooks and flip to the page that we were working on last week.” [F/N] scratched her eyebrow as she watched the lot of students do as they were told, she wanted to slap Eddie when she could feel him smirking at her as he pulled out his textbook that he would usually leave dormant in the bottom of his bag.

“Why am I here? I’m a goddamn university student, for crying out loud.” she let out a groan when her plans to leave gifts for Robin were stopped by this stupid teacher, dumb bitch. Whilst writing down a few problems on the blackboard, the teacher turned to observe the class but huffed when she saw that student she saw outside in the hallway, not paying attention. What irked her even more was that she had nothing on her desk and she looked quite bored, for heaven’s sake, even Eddie Munson has his book out and was at least writing something down “Is there a problem, young lady?” [F/N] glanced up when she spoke, looking around in confusion once more before pointing at herself.

“Me?” [F/N] asked, this caused the teacher to sigh.

“Yes, you. You have nothing out while the rest of the class is taking down notes. Is this class boring to you?” the young student had the audacity to yawn, she sniffled to herself as she proceeded to get comfortable.

“Boring? Oh no, it’s just calculus is quite easy.” she spares Eddie a glance “And I’m not sure why you’re attending this class when it’s quite difficult for the way your brain thinks.” Eddie shrugs.

“Have to pass it if I want to graduate.” he winces when she slapped his knee.

“Then fucking pay attention instead of sketching your D&D characters, numb nuts.” the two of them then proceeded to slap each other. The teacher has enough and slams her book shut.

“Well then, young lady. If this class is SO easy for you, you wouldn’t mind answering the few questions on the board, now would you?” [F/N] briefly looks away from Eddie to see the question. True or False, the graph of f(x) and that of f(x + 2) are the same, she rolled her eyes.

“False. The graph of f(x + 2) is that of f(x) shifted 2 units to the left.” the teacher was a little taken aback at the quick response, she quickly looks through the answers and exhales sharply when she was indeed, correct.

“Alright, what about the second one?” another true or false, the equation x = | y | , with x >= 0, represents y as a function of x.

“False again. Solve for y to find that y = | x | or y = -| x |; for one value of the independent variable x we have two values of the dependent variable y.” [F/N] chuckled with a smirk, now ignoring Eddie in favor of the teacher, leaning back in her seat and resting her face a top of her knuckles, her legs crossed over each other with her free hand tapping against the desk “Is that all you’ve got, ma’am?”

“Alright, fine.” pulling out a book of parametric equations, the teacher was quick to jot down the first question she saw. Eddie spared his friend a glance and saw she was eyeing down the question as the teacher went, in the parametric equation, x = 8 cos At, y = 8 sin At, 0 ⩽ t ⩽ 2π,​ how does A affect the circle as A changes? The teacher turns to face [F/N] the moment she finished, she didn’t spare her a look as she continued to look at the question, continuously muttering under her breath as she drew little equations in the air “Do you have an answer?” she didn’t like the smirk she wore on her face.

“I do.” lacing her fingers together she pushed them out and heard them crack under the soft pressure, she then rolled her fingers then opened her hand out “Eliminating t, x² + y² = cos², At + sin² At = 1, which is still a circle with radius 11 and center at the origin.” the teacher quickly looks through the book for the answer, in disbelief that she was able to solve that question without even needing to write it down, she was taken aback when she was correct.

“And your working out?”

“If we have A = 1/2 A = 2/1​, (x,y) = (cos⁡1/2 t, sin⁡1/2t), i.e. as t ranges from 0 to 2π, 2π, the equation starts at (1,0) (1,0) and stops at (−1,0) (−1,0). This means that it goes halfway through the circle. So A governs the rate at which the equation traces out a circle. Similarly, if A = 2, A = 2, the equation moves twice around the circle.” she winks upon finishing, holding her hand out towards Eddie, who promptly slapped his hand down for a loud high five. She wasn’t valedictorian for nothing, always at the top of her classes without properly needing to pay attention to anything, she really only graduated out of spite “Like I said, ma’am, calculus is quite easy.” [F/N] smirks when the teacher turned red, rather it be from anger or embarrassment, both outcomes were hilarious as she stormed out of the room. 

“Dang, you really made her angry.” Eddie murmured, she just shrugged as she dug her hand into her pocket, pulling out a flask.

“It’s her own fault for picking on me.” she unscrews the cap and takes a long swig, letting out a shudder as the sting of alcohol went down her throat, whining softly when he took the flask from her and chugged some alcohol down as well.

“You still haven’t lost your touch, have you?” she shakes her head.

“Nope.” [F/N] takes her flask back from Eddie to take another swig but paused when she saw a teacher she did recognise and they definitely recognised her, Eddie notices her gaze when she abruptly stands to her feet “I’ve got to go.” she grabs her duffle back and makes a break for it, she throws her bag through an open window before proceeding to throw herself out, letting out an oof when she landed on the ground with a thud. Everyone in the classroom watched as she sprung up, snickering amongst each other when they saw a bunch of leaves and twigs in her hair.

“You good, Harrington?” [F/N] blinked at him, then gave him a thumbs up.

“Spectacular.” she ducks down when the teacher she knew made an appearance, she briefly peeked through the window to mouth out “drama room” to him, he understood and gave her a thumbs up. She grinned softly and ducked away once more, scurrying out of view, then ran full speed to where the drama room was. She runs past a classroom but came to a stop when she saw someone, she briefly walks backwards, then ducks out of sight when she managed to find Robin’s class. A big grin appeared on her face when she saw her, peeking out from the bottom edge of the window to look at Robin. She hummed softly, giggling when she saw the look of absolute boredom on her face. She spares at glance at her duffle bag and smirks softly. Robin was at the verge of yawning during her time in history. The teacher was going on about something that was going through one ear and straight out the other. She was fiddling with the small trinket [F/N] got for her when she felt something hit her on the side of the head, she turned in the direction it came from but the sight of a deep shade of red caught her attention. She raised a brow in confusion when she saw that it was a rose, but where on earth did it come from? Sure Robin had no clue where it came from but [F/N] couldn’t help but smile blissfully, she nod to herself and ducked down once more than scrambled away to the drama room.

And that brings us to…

“Eddie said he wanted to discuss an upcoming campaign, said it was important.” Jeff murmurs softly as he, Gareth and Nathan walked to the drama room with the lingering first years following closely behind them. Glancing back at them over his shoulder, he couldn’t help but think back to the time where he and the other three used to follow behind Eddie and [F/N] during their first year, the two of them were full of so much confidence it was almost envious, though Eddie was the bark and [F/N] was the bite, a very dangerous duo “Don’t understand why he couldn’t talk about it during lunch in the cafeteria.” Gareth sighed.

“And where is he now?” Nathan crossed his arms with a scoffed.

“He got held back in English, he flunked on an assessment Mrs. O’Donnell assigned and she wanted to talk to him.” this caused all three of them to shake their head “At this rate he isn’t graduating, again.” Gareth raised his hand.

“Emphasis on the again.” now they’re all laughing, he then looked back at the first years again and waved his hand to get their attention “You guys are smart, right? Think you can give Eddie some pointers so he can pass SOME of his tests.” Dustin hums, looking up in thought.

“That’s a little tough. We’re all smart in different subjects, Gareth.” Lucas raises a finger.

“And Eddie has a different way of thinking, we all do.” Mike nods his head.

“And to adapt a way to teach Eddie where he can understand what we’re trying to explain to him is a challenge in itself.” he purses his lips “No offences to Eddie.” they all shake their head.

“None taken.” Nathan sighs as they approach the drama room.

“There really was only one person that was able to think down to Eddie’s level, even more so, get Eddie to study.” they think back to the time where on multiple occasions [F/N] was able to explain whatever she was doing and/or studying and explain it in such a detailed way that Eddie was able to follow what she was saying. Her proudest moment was when she managed to tutor him in physics and he got his very first C-, it wasn’t much, but he was better than a lousy F “Where have the days gone.” Nathan adds, a comical tear shedding from his eye.

“Really?” Mike questions, astonished that someone made Eddie STUDY “Who was it?”

“Not anyone you would know, but she’s a graduate and Eddie’s best friend.” Gareth pushes the door to the drama room open as he finishes his sentence, looking up from where he was he was shocked to see who was sitting in Eddie’s prized throne. Upon hearing the door open, [F/N], who was sitting on Eddie’s throne with her legs propped on the table whilst she read a D&D guidebook, looked up to see who it was and was immediately met with shocked looks. The shock quickly morphs into excitement and happiness as the boys cheer upon seeing her, the three first years stare in confusion at what was unfolding. What on earth was Steve’s older sister doing here at school, and why were their three seniors cheering at the sight of her? [F/N] quickly shuts the book and tosses it onto the table, standing onto her feet and throwing her arms into the air.

“Boys!” she cheers happily, she laughs when they copy her.

“[F/N]!” she rushes over to them and doesn’t hesitate to launch herself into Nathan’s arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and laughed aloud when he started spinning her around. When he put her down she cuddled into him as he squeezed her tight, she then moved on to Jeff and gave him the same bone-crushing hug then left Gareth for last. Since he was shorter compared to Jeff and Nathan, she wrapped her arms around his head while his were around her waist, she laughed as she pulled him close “Gare-bear!” she cooed softly, the two boys behind her laughed at the nickname that she and Eddie used exclusively for Gareth.

“Gare-bear?” Dustin whispered to Lucas, who shrugged his shoulders and continued to watch the exchange. Gareth lets out a grunt when she let go of him and instead held him in a headlock, digging her knuckles into his head.

“Dude, [F/N]! Stop that!” Gareth manages to push her off after a couple seconds of torture, she chuckles softly to herself and holds her hand up in front of her “My head hurts, thanks!” she winks at him.

“No problem, Gare-bear.” she hums softly when Nathan places a hand on her shoulder.

“What are you doing here [F/N]? You’re not exactly a high school student anymore.” she gasped, giving them a wounded look as she placed a hand on her chest.

“Am I not allowed to come visit my bestest friends in the whole wide world?” she deadpans when they stare blankly at her, she clicks her tongue and looks away while placing a hand on her hip “Alright, fine. I broke into the school to do some shit, you happy?” Jeff shakes his head.

“Of all the things you could do, especially on valentine’s day, you broke into the school. And here I thought you’d take this opportunity to ask out any unfortunate soul just so you can have your fun with them.” she scoffs at him, now glaring at him and pointing a finger in his face.

“Well unlike you three, y’all are hoeless! From my years of being your friend, I don’t ever remember seeing a girl in your arms!” now it was their turn to look offended, crossing her arms and looking away as they tried giving her every excuse in the book, her brow perked up when she saw Dustin raise his hand to get her attention “Yeah? What’s up little dude?” she questions, raising her own hand to keep Gareth out of her face.

“[F/N]? What are you doing here? And how do you know those three?” she laughs, throwing her head back.

“You seriously don’t know? Wow.” she doesn’t get to answer before Jeff appears from over her shoulder.

“She’s our best friend from back when she attended Hawkins.”

“That’s right! She’s an honorary member of Hellfire and Corroded Coffin.” she nods her head, grin so wide her cheeks started to hurt as she flexed her arm.

“That’s right, I’m one of the original members of Hellfire before I left!” she then let out a sigh, leaning back into Jeff’s chest “Oh, how I miss the good old days.” the four of them then start to talk about anything that came to mind, leaving Dustin, Lucas and Mike to look at each other in disbelief. [F/N], Steve’s older sister, was friends with the members of Hellfire? Does that mean she’s friends with Eddie? If they remembered correctly, [F/N] was at least a year older than Steve, that would make her and Eddie the same age.

“I understand you guys, but what is Eddie still doing in school? How could he flunk school for two years?” Gareth sighs.

“Without you to keep him from getting off track, that moron was pushing his assessments and exams to the side. He focused more on campaigns and his music, you were really the only person that could get Eddie to listen.” she lets out a long groan at the information.

“That damn idiot, I’m not his babysitter. I swear, he’s a dead man.” they all perk up at the sound of the door, [F/N] is cheering again when she saw Eddie enter the room “Eddie!”

“[F/N]!” the two are quick to approach each other, continuously slapping their hands together before grasping their hands together in a tight grip, they both then lean backwards before slamming their foreheads together. They let out dazed snickers, holding their heads after the harsh blow to the head.

“You two are so dumb.” Nathan comments, this caused them to giggle to themselves “Is this what you wanted to talk about, Eddie?” he nod his head, both himself and [F/N] holding each other by the shoulder.

“Yeah, I saw her this morning breaking into a locker and thought I’d keep her a secret for you guys. Did you like the surprise?” the three smile, yeah, they totally liked it.

“But that still doesn’t explain why you’re here in the first place, [F/N].” now [F/N]’s face drops when she felt Eddie smirk at her, before she could do anything to silence him, Eddie covers her mouth with his hand and keeps her locked under his arm as he leaned in close to the three so the three juniors couldn’t hear the private information.

“[F/N]’s got a girlfriend, so she broke into the school to leave her gifts.” Gareth, Jeff and Nathan’s face lit up, both in surprise and joy that [F/N] genuinely found somebody to love. [F/N] was bright pink when she ripped herself out of Eddie’s grip as she stared at them, she was now covering her face when they quickly surrounded her and spoke in hushed tones about who it could be.

“You’ve got a girlfriend? Wow, congratulations, [F/N]!”

“Who is it? Someone we know?”

“When did you meet her?” yeah, the boys knew that she was a lesbian, of course they did. They were the first to know when she realised that she didn’t really feel that sort of attraction towards the male population, she cried in joy when they fully supported her, but it did annoy her when they came to her about advice when it came to picking up ladies because she was still ridiculously good at it. They laugh softly when they saw her look away, twirling a strand of her hair around her finger.

“I met her last year, at the starcourt mall when I came down to see Stevie.” this caused the four of them to look at each other.

“You were here last year? How come you didn’t come see us first?” she and the three children behind her froze up, but she managed to keep her composure as her mind wandered back to ‘84. They look at her in confusion when she just closed her eyes and smiled at them, not knowing the horrors she faced and how she practically died. She let out a shuddered breath but continued to smile at them, her hand subconsciously lifting up from her side to press against her chest, feeling the rough scar beneath the layers of her clothes.

“Oh, I was just really busy I didn’t have the time to pop in.” she knew they wouldn’t buy the lie but if she wasn’t telling them on purpose, they knew better than to pry, so they left it at that. She lets out a grunt when Jeff wraps his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close and giving her a grin.

“Well, we’re happy that we get to see you now. We’ve got to hang out again, just like old times.” they look at her in anticipation, she sighs at the puppy dog eyes staring at her.

“Alright, alright! I’ll make sure i’ve got time so we can hang out.” she laughs when they were all pulled into a group huddle, Eddie and Gareth shouting loudly.

“Woohoo!”

Team Hellfire were now in on the plan.

Gareth, Jeff and Nathan were just as surprised as Eddie to learn that she had fallen head over heels for Robin Buckley. They thought she would have gone for someone like Chrissy Cunningham, and though she was a catch herself, Robin was more of her type. She punched Gareth in the face when he started to tease [F/N] for liking someone like Robin, this caused the other three to hold their tongues if they wanted to keep them. Anyways- they acted like a barrier to hide her from others that could potentially recognise her, she was almost caught when she wasn’t paying attention and Robin appeared from around the corner, the four boys quickly got in front of her and she hid behind Nathan. Robin looked at them, a bead of sweat forming on her cheek when she saw they were acting weird; weirder than usual. She just shook her head and quickly walked by them, tucking her hands into her pockets, she flinched when she felt something. A big smile worked its way onto her face when she saw it was another gift and note, opening the small box, she gasped softly when she saw that it was chain ring. 

’hi robbie,

What do you think of this gift? I saw that you already had one, but what’s more to add to your collection? Besides, you’ll look good in just about anything I give, even more so, I think you’ll look good with not—

Robin quickly closed the note and pressed it to her chest, her face turning different shades of red. She looks around to see if anyone could have potentially have read the provocative note and let out a sigh of relief when no one was particularly close to see the contents, she takes another peek but decides to read it when she’s out of sight. Gareth raised a brow at the reaction Robin gave upon reading the note and looked back at his older friend, sighing softly when he saw that she was hanging off of Nathan’s back, a dopey little grin on her face as she stared dreamily at Robin’s retreating figure. Yup, they can definitely conclude that she had fallen deeply in love with Robin, she didn’t look at anyone like that for just about anybody, this girl was special.

Robin now found herself in band practice, her last hour before school was over and she got to spend her valentine’s day afternoon with [F/N]. Time and time again she got gift after gift, sometimes it was small things like a shiny rock, maybe even a pretty feather, then it ranged to things like rings and necklaces. So far her favourite was a spiked leather jacket, how she managed to sneak that onto her desk without her noticing, she’ll never know. Standing beside her was Vicki, the last person she had a crush on, after Tammy Thompson, and the ginger haired girl was rambling about her boyfriend and how he has plans for a date. She was listening but her words went through one ear and out the other, cause she just couldn’t contain her excitement about finally being in the arms of her gorgeous girlfriend.

“Hey, Robin.” she hummed, not really giving her attention to Vicki “Do you have a valentines?”

“Huh?” she giggled softly.

“I saw the roses and gifts you’ve gotten this entire day. You’ve either got a secret admirer, or you’ve got a boyfriend.” Robin couldn’t help but gag at the thought of being with a boy, people already thought that she was dating Steve while [F/N] was dating Billy. It was for the better that people thought that way, but she really wanted to flaunt about and declaring that [F/N] Harrington was her girlfriend.

“Boyfriend? Yuck. I’ll take the secret admirer, hoping they don’t reveal themselves so they can continue to give me chocolates.” Vicki laughs when she saw Robin pull out one of the many box of chocolates she got, taking out one and throwing it into her mouth “Better than being in such a troublesome relationship.”

“Well, you wouldn’t know how being in a relationship feels until you’ve got one. It feels so nice, when you’ve found the right one, that is.” Robin had to agree with Vicki on that one, it felt very nice to be in a relationship with [F/N]. Even though [F/N] made it clear that Steve was still her number one priority, she still made sure that Robin didn’t feel left out or that she didn’t feel loved. She always made sure that she was going to be with Robin through thick and thin, that they were going to be together until death has them. Robin was called away so she and the other brass players can discuss what parts they’re playing for Hawkins high basketball team, not knowing someone sneaking in through a window that was miraculously left open. By the time Robin returned back to her abandoned instrument she was surprised to see an assortment of flowers inside her trumpet, she looked at Vicki and saw her shrug.

“You didn’t see who put those there?” she shook her head, but there was a knowing look in her eyes.

“Not at all.” Vicki laughed when Robin playfully shoved her, Robin took the flowers out of her trumpet and inhaled the aroma the roses were giving, smiling softly down them “This secret admirer of yours seems to like you a lot.” Robin’s face turned a soft shade of pink, nodding her head blissfully. The tuba player blows softly into their mouthpiece as their eyes drift to the side, raising a brow at the sight of [F/N] hiding behind the large instrument as she watched Robin.

“Thanks again.” she murmured softly, they rolled their eyes as they raised their hand, a smirk grew on their face when she slapped down a fifty dollar bill “We never speak a word of this.”

“Never speak a word of what?” she clicks her tongue and snaps her finger at them, nodding her head.

“Exactly.” how Robin didn’t witness her shuffle out of the room, they’ll never know.

[time skip: end of the school day]

“Whoa! Is that a mustang?!”

“Who’s got money for a car like that?”

“Didn’t Hargrove own a camaro?”

“Yeah, that was until it got totalled.”

Eddie scoffed as he and his lot exited the school and saw the students huddled around [F/N]’s prized mustang, even when she was no longer a student she was still the centre of attention. He furrowed his brows when he saw that there was a bit of a dent on her front bumper and her lights were replaced, what the hell did she do to that caused her to damage her precious car? The other three behind him seemed to have noticed the difference but their thoughts came to a pause when the already loud chatter got louder, they looked up and scoffed when they saw that it was just [F/N] exiting her car. There was no denying it, the Harrington charm was very effective, because both the girls and boys couldn’t help but gush at the sight of [F/N] Harrington. Even though she fell from her grace long ago, they were no denying that she wasn’t the girl people would kill to be.

[F/N] scoffed at the people that started to surrounding, opting to put her sunglasses on and sit on the hood of her car as she waited for Robin. She had this excuse in her head that she was going to pick Robin up and bring her to Steve, confirming the rumour that she in fact was going out with her brother and that she won the approval of his overprotective older sister. Yes, that sounded like a full proof place indeed, now all she had to do was wait for her sweet little birdie and hopefully not lose her temper with the approaching high school boys horny on valentine’s day and wishing to get in her pants. She had a blank expression on her face when some jock slid in beside her, she didn’t pay him any mind and continued to wait patiently…. as patiently as her mind would allow it.

“So, what’s a pretty thing—”

“No.” he sputtered back at her abrupt answer.

“Well, I was thinking that—”

“No.” he felt irritated that she kept interrupting him, Eddie and his lot paled when they saw that jock continue to push [F/N]’s limits but their jaws dropped when he suddenly grabbed her wrist and pull her so that she would look at him.

“Listen, I’m trying to be nice here.” a few people whisper amongst themselves at the ordeal, watching closely as he leaned in closely to her face “How’s about you ditch your lousy date for me? I promise I can treat you… nicely?” he let out a surprised yelp when she grabbed him by his jaw with her free hand and slammed him down onto the hood, this time she leaned down towards his face but pulled down her sunglasses so he could get a good look at the disgust and anger in her eyes.

“What the fuck does no sound like to you? I am not here for a child like you who doesn’t understand basic english, maybe that’s why you’re still in school.” he let out a grunt, grabbing her by the wrist when he felt her tighten her grip on his jaw that was more than likely going to cause a bruise to form, a bead of sweat formed on his cheek when her glare hardened on him “Learn to treat a woman like a human before deciding to treat her like she’s a trophy to be won.” he shouts out in surprise when she lifted him up before proceeding to throw him onto the ground, the people watching all let out a roar of laughter at his shameless display “Don’t waste my time and get out of my sight.” she scoffed when he scurried off, probably off to the other jocks that put him up his poor attempt of getting laid. She shook her head and returned to her spot, flicking down her sunglasses until they perched themselves back onto the bridge of her nose and now waited in peace… despite the unneeded audience.

“What’s going on?” Eddie let out a startled yelp when he was shoved aside, looking to see who it was, he scoffed when he saw that it was merely Hargrove. Ever since 84′, that blonde has been causing nothing but trouble ever since he got here. Not only did he kick Harrington Jr. off his high horse and dethroned him, he apparently beat the guy black and blue at the Byers household. Why [F/N] hasn’t murdered that blue eyed bell yet, he’ll never kn— “[F/N]?” Eddie sputtered, Billy knows [F/N]? If he did, does that mean he survived an encountered with [F/N]?! She seemed to have sensed his presence because her head perked up and her face subconsciously brightened up at the sight of the blonde, going so far as to raising her hand to greet him.

“Billy!” she exclaimed, but then she realised her mistake. The rumour that she and Billy were a couple was still floating around and the fact that she was waiting at Hawkins High for someone, and now that she greeted him, can only confirm the rumour that these fuckers made up. Billy to realised what she had done because now everyone was looking between the two, a few of the female students were looking at [F/N] enviously that she managed to bag Billy Hargrove while the boys whispered their admirations and congratulations to Billy for hitching a date with the most gorgeous person within Hawkins.

“[F/N]…” he said again, muttering it this time. The two of them look at each other and they seemed to have been having a silent conversation between the two of them.

”Forgive me. I did it out of pure habit.”

“Yeah, and now people think you’re here for me.” she shrugged her shoulders, now looking away from him. Billy let out a grunt when he was grabbed by the shoulder and turned around, he raised a brow when he saw that it was Eddie Munson. If he remembered correctly, [F/N] mentioned in a passing conversation that Eddie was her greatest friend and she valued him very much, so he found it interesting that he was now face to face with the brunette.

“Hargrove, you know [F/N]?” Jeff looked him up and down.

“I for sure would have thought she would have beaten him up after what happened with her brother.” Billy flinched softly at the mention of that, thinking back to both events. 

“No, no, she did. We’re just on good terms now, she considers me one of her good friends now.” he raised a brow when a smug aura radiated out of the four of them, a bead of sweat forming on his cheek as they smirked at him.

“Oh, yeah? Well, we’re her best friends!” Billy rolled his eyes.

“Right.” [F/N] slaps a hand onto her forehead as she watched them interact, she drags it down her face and glanced anywhere that wasn’t Hellfire doing their usual tomfoolery and involving poor Billy.

“Hey, weren’t [F/N] and Munson a thing back when she attended?” her face paled at those words, looking over towards the person who said and she recognised it as a junior that attended while she was still around. That’s right, people thought that [F/N] turned baddie because she got together with Eddie, what made it worse was that both of them were always hanging off the other and Eddie was a naturally affectionate person and since she was deprived of any and all physical affection, she couldn’t help but lean into it every once in awhile.

‘No, please god no.’ she thought in her head.

“You don’t think…”

’Please, you stupid high school students!’

”Oh, my, god! Munson is picking a fight with Hargrove!”

“He must still have feelings for [F/N] after the two of them broke up when she went out of states! Ooo, what a juicy thing to see on valentine’s day.” she deadpans when everyone who heard started whispering their own conspiracies, Billy and Eddie were amused at the accusations.

“Really? You with [F/N]? Now that sounds like a fantasy.” Eddie scoffs, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms.

“Says you. You oughta be dead for what you did to her brother.” Billy nods to himself, the two of them then stare at each other “… you wanna mess with her?” Billy couldn’t help but grin mischievously.

“With pleasure.” [F/N] was ready to call it quits and just go and find Robin herself but paused when Eddie and Billy came over and approached her, she stared at them in confusion when they took either side of her but neither broke eye contact with each other. 

“I don’t know what you think you’re doing, Munson, but [F/N] is my girlfriend.” she deadpans once more, what? Eddie laughed, taking [F/N] by her wrist and pulling her towards him.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Hargrove, I’ve known her much longer than you have, and we hadn’t officially broken up, so she’s technically still my girlfriend.” Billy shook his head as he grabbed her other wrist and pulled her towards him.

“Well, I wonder why she came to me when she came back to Hawkins instead of you, huh?” Eddie know couldn’t help but get a little irritated at that, because he too wondered why his friend didn’t come to see him when she was in town.

“You know, I tend to wonder as well.” the two of them then began to bicker about who was better, feeding into the lies that [F/N] was in fact dating one or the either and people were placing their bets on who it was. Did the former queen share her throne with her jester or perhaps with the new king who dethroned her brother? Billy and Eddie were abruptly interrupted when she ripped herself free from their hold then grabbed them both by their faces and pulled them down towards her face.

“What the fuck is wrong with you two? Is it fun that you’re taking great pleasure in my misfortune?” the two glance at each other then grin cheekily at her, she sighs at the silent response and squeezed harder on their faces. Her face then immediately brightens up when she saw the person she was waiting for, both boys let out a grunt when she threw them backwards and opened her arms “Robin~ there’s my favourite person.” she coos, Robin giggles to herself and reaches her hands out towards her girlfriend, to which she lowered her arms and took Robin’s hands into her own.

“You seriously waited for me?” she nods.

“Yeah, Steve asked me to come get you.” Robin’s shoulders slumped slightly, realisation dawning on her that she and [F/N] couldn’t even be open about their relationship, that [F/N] was hers “Lets get going, i don’t want to be here any longer than I need to.” she let out a grunt when she felt Eddie wrap an arm around her shoulder.

“Hows about you give me a lift as well? I missed being in your mustang?” she scoffed at him, smacking his arm off her shoulder.

“What happened to your van?” he waves his hand.

“It’s in the shop? Had to get a few things replaced.” she raised a brow.

“And you can afford that?” he places a hand on his chest.

“You wound me.” she was simply going to abandon him and only take Billy and Robin, which was the plan from the start, but a shout caught her attention. Turning to the source, her eyes widened at the sight of the same teacher that dragged her into her math lesson and she looked downright pissed. Eddie seemed to have noticed her distraction and turned to see what it was but was caught off guard when she started pushing him towards her car, she throws the door open and kicks him into the backseat. Robin and Billy seemed to have gotten the hint when they heard that math teacher screaming out for someone to stop the trespasser, that being [F/N], but no one did anything and just watched [F/N] jump into the drivers seat and quickly drive out of the parking lot.

“Well that was unnecessarily stressful.” she grumbled under her breath “Welp, it’s official, i ain’t ever going back as long as that teacher is still there. I think she’s gonna try and have me arrested.” Billy started to laugh, leaning forward from where he was seated in the backseat.

“I can’t believe you actually broke into the school.” she shrugged her shoulders.

“What can I say? I was aching to see my sweet birdie.” she cooed softly, reaching towards Robin’s face to twirl a strand of her hair around her finger before tucking it behind her hair. Robin immediately looked away to twirl a strand of her hair around her own finger, she then stopped when she realised what [F/N] had done and looked at Eddie in distress. He noticed Robin’s change in expression and raised his hands, giving her a look of reassurance.

“Don’t worry about it, Buckley. I already know [F/N] swings that way, I’m just more surprised she ended up with someone to begin with.” Robin looks at [F/N] and she nods her head.

“Yeah, he was one of the first people I came out to. I trust him with my life.” she then abruptly stops the car and turns back towards them, a look of irritation shining in her eyes “But fuck the both of you for what you did! Now people are going to spread rumours how I’m getting fucked by the both of y’all, and that thought alone is disgusting.” she sneers at them in disgust when they give her suggestive smirks “If you say anything I don’t like I’m gonna have you guys walk.” none of them could really risk going through with the risk so they just kept their mouths shut, she was kind enough to drop Eddie off first because Billy now lived in the trailer park after his father turned tail and bailed after the events that occurred during the 85′ and has been back since. Max’s mum, Susan, was kind enough to keep a roof over his head until he graduated but most of the time Billy was with Steve at their home. [F/N] greeted Wayne and he was more than welcoming when he saw her, opening his arms up and bringing her into a bone crushing hug, Robin laughed upon seeing her winded self nearly collapse to the ground when he let her go. She gifted the Munson’s a rose each and some chocolates, sparing them a kiss before leaving when Billy left the trailer and back into her car. [F/N] was instructed to pick Billy up and bring him around the house after the school while Steve himself hurried to pick the children up and drop them off home then race back to the house before her. He also told her to have Billy’s eyes closed before she made it home so when they was turning the corner to the Harrington residence she told Billy to do exactly that.

“Are we almost there?” she giggles softly. 

“Yeah, we’re nearly there.” she has to silence Robin when she nearly gasped at what was in the driveway, [F/N] instructs Billy to keep his eyes closed when she parks her car and gets out of the drivers seat.

“Oh goodie, you’re here!” Billy’s head perks up at the sound of Steve’s voice, Robin then scoffs softly from where she was.

“You didn’t just say “oh goodie” at the sight of your boyfriend.” Steve playfully glared at Robin.

“Oh, hahaha, very funny.”

“Steve, whatever this is, it better not be stupid.”

“I promise you, blue, that you’re gonna love this surprise. Both [F/N], Robin and I put this together. Just for you.” [F/N] smiled softly at her brother, she waited for him to give her the go to and when she did she gently tapped Billy on his arm.

“You can open your eyes now.” and so he does and his eyes immediately start tearing up at the sight of his new and repaired camaro sitting in the driveway, both girls gently caress his arms before stepping back to let Steve comfort his boyfriend. Yeah, it was Steve’s idea to tow Billy’s car out from the dump and get it repaired. [F/N] found him working on it in their garage and immediately asked if she could help in any way she could, this later led to Robin wanting in to help as well. They had only recently gotten everything repaired or replaced just before valentine’s day and Steve believed it would be the perfect gift for his sweet Billy “And I’ll leave you two here.” she blows Billy a kiss and bids them both goodbye then the two of them were off to enjoy the rest of their afternoon together.

“i can’t believe you actually broke into the school, [F/N]. I thought you put Billy up to it.” she shrugged her shoulders, letting out a laugh.

“It wouldn’t have meant as much as it did if he did it, sweetheart. He only helped me to find which locker was yours, other than that, it was Eddie who helped me get close enough to you to leave little gifts.” 

“Well, I really appreciated all those thoughtful little gifts.” Robin glances at her face and it brightens when she saw a big smile stretch across her lips followed by a soft flush of pink, seeing [F/N] react like this always made Robin feel giddy. She soon bites her lip, her hand slipping into her pocket and feeling for the small little gift box that had been sitting in there the whole day. Of course she had a gift for [F/N], she would have felt awful if she didn’t get anything for her, but it was nothing in comparison to everything [F/N] has given her so far and she wasn’t even finished with her surprise “[F/N].” she gently called, she got a hum in response followed by her turning the music down.

“Yes?”

“I love you.” the flush on [F/N]’s face turned brighter, this caused Robin to giggle once more.

“And I… love you too.” she brought Robin home first so she could freshen up and wear something more comfortable, she had yet another lecture from Robin’s father while her mother told him to lay off, telling [F/N] that she’ll be more than welcome to come by the Buckley residence whenever she was around. Robin now found herself in Billy’s situation, however, she had a blindfold over her eyes as she [F/N] drove her to an unknown location.

“Are you sure you’re not taking me out of town to kill me?” [F/N] laughs.

“Oh, please. If I wanted to kill you I would have done it without the need to leave town.” Robin shudders at the thought “Don’t even think about bringing up last years events.” Robin clears her throat.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” [F/N] takes a deep breath to calm herself down “Are we nearly there yet? I want to look at you.” she chuckles at the impatience coming from her, tapping against the stirring wheel when they were stopped at the red light.

“Don’t worry Robin, you’ll get plenty of me and more when we get there, so be patient.” that comment was more than enough to get Robin to quiet down for the rest of the car ride, when they finally arrived at their destination Robin was led out of the car and taken on a bit of a walk. She held onto [F/N]’s arm as she trusted her not to let go, she let out a soft gasp when [F/N] did let her go but she held onto her hands and kissed the back of her knuckles “Just stand here for a bit and I’ll tell you when to take the blindfold off, mmkay?”

“O-Okay, just don’t take too long.” this earned Robin a soft kiss to the cheek, [F/N] quickly jogs away and sets up when she needs to get done, only a couple minutes pass when she hears [F/N] shout for her.

“You can take the blindfold off!” she was still a bit of a distance away from where she left her, Robin sighs softly and takes the blindfold off and the moment she did the sound of music hit her ears. She gasped softly at the sight of where [F/N] brought her, she had brought her to a beautiful lush rose garden and at the very centre of it all was a beautifully let gazebo and of course her beautiful girlfriend “Happy valentine’s day, Robin.” the wind picked up and blew some of the rose petals into the air, making the scene in front of her more romantic as she began to approach [F/N].

“When did you…?” she began to question, [F/N] chuckled softly as she took a step forward.

“One of the few fortunate things of being a Harrington’s child, you know a few good places for dates.” she sighed softly as she looked up at the gazebo “My mother told me how my father brought her here for valentine’s day, and though I’m not particularly fond of following in his footsteps, this place was too good to pass up on. So, hows about a nicely lit dinner between lovers on this sweet valentine’s day settle for a date?” [F/N] then reaches forward, extending her hand out to Robin for her to take.

“Heh, how romantic.” Robin finally settles her hand down in [F/N]’s hand, letting out a laugh when [F/N] pulled her into her arms and spun the two of them around, the both of them laughing to their hearts content “Did you book this place out?” she asked, [F/N] hummed as the two of them now swayed to the music.

“Mm hmm, I booked it weeks in advance and paid a lot of money so someone else couldn’t buy the spot out of me. You deserve the perfect view as we dine and dance on this very romantic day.” she muses, pressing her cheek into Robin’s “Do you like it?” she briefly pulls away to get a look at Robin’s face but hers dropped a little when Robin looked a little conflicted, she soon holds her hands and rubs her thumbs over her knuckles “What’s wrong? Is it too much?” Robin lets out a sigh, pulling back a little as she looked anywhere that wasn’t [F/N]’s pretty doe eyes.

“No, it’s just… I feel guilty that I won’t be able to treat you to something as grand as this. My gift can’t even match up to everything you put together.” [F/N] gasps softly.

“You got me a gift?” Robin meekly nodded her head “Can I see it? If it makes you feel better, you’ll be the first person— girlfriend, really, that’s gotten me a gift?” Robin whipped her head to look back towards [F/N], who chuckled nervously as she rubbed the back of her neck bashfully.

“Really?” she nods.

“Yeah, I played the male role in the relationship and was the one that usually gave my dates gifts. Most of the times I could tell that each relationship I had was one sided, that my love and attention would never get reciprocated.” Robin pouts softly, reaching forward to cup [F/N]’s face.

“Well, they’re stupid to not think of spoiling you either.” this caused a laugh out of her, Robin pulls away to dig into her pocket. She nervously held the small box in her hand, rubbing her thumb into the wrapping before handing it to her. She waits nervously as [F/N] pulls at the ribbon to unravel it then she removes the lid to look at what was inside, Robin watches her grab it and pull it out, revealing the small little locket that she bought from an antique store. She opens it and her heart melts at the sight of the picture inside, it was taken by Steve when she was in the hospital after she and Billy miraculously survived the onslaught they suffered through, it was of her and Robin cuddled together look happier than ever as they shared a kissed. On the other part of that locket had words engraved on it, ”you’ll forever have my heart, as I’ll have yours. through thick and thin, I will always love you; never forget that”. [F/N] couldn’t help but grit her teeth as her hand enclosed on the locket, her eyes began to water as the tears threatened to fall down her cheeks. Robin quickly cups her cheeks when the tears finally did manage to fall, she understood why [F/N] was reacting this way.

When she and Billy did recover after the Starcourt burnt down, [F/N] wanted nothing to do with Robin and Steve. She wanted to leave the state and stay out, not because she didn’t love them anymore, no, it was because she thought it was safer for the both of them if she wasn’t around anymore. It broke her heart that she was alive after everything she had done, she would have felt better if she died after that because at least she wouldn’t have to feel the guilt of practically cheating on her girlfriend while emotionally abusing her then physically beating the shit out of her and her precious little brother. Robin made it clear that there wasn’t anything that [F/N] said that was going to drive her away, [F/N] needed her more than ever and she was going to stay by her side and give her the help that she needs to recover; both physically and mentally. It took a lot of time before [F/N] was able to look at her again or even touch her without recoiling away, Robin was in tears when [F/N] managed to actually hug her without immediately pulling away, her heart swelled up when they were able to cuddle in bed like they did before. Robin thought of that little gift when she saw that locket in that antique shop she passed while in Indy with Steve, she was grateful for her brother when he still had that photo saved on film and quickly got it developed, shaped and placed perfectly in the locket. She thought that [F/N] would appreciate a gift that marked a pretty intense part of there life along with words that helped ease her mind that Robin was going nowhere.

“W-What did I do to deserve someone like you?” she sobbed into her shoulder, her arms wrapped around her torso as she pulled her close and held her tight so she wouldn’t disappear “Why did you stick around when I’ve become this damaged?” she inhaled deeply, rubbing her hands up and down her back.

“Because I loved you, and I knew what I was getting myself into the moment I agreed to be yours.” she gasped softly at that as another sob left her lips, Robin gently pulls back but doesn’t resist when [F/N] moved her arms from her torso to around her waist. She lifts her face up to gently wipe away the tears before pulling her into a much needed kiss, [F/N] couldn’t help but cry softly into the kiss “You deserve to be loved, and you deserve to be taken care of. You deserve love.” this earned a soft hum, the older woman leaning into the palm that cupped her cheeks as her body relaxed.

“I deserve… to be loved.” Robin nods.

“You do, and I am more than willing to give you my love.” she then takes the locket from out of [F/N]’s hands, quickly clipping it on around her neck then gently patting her on the chest “Happy valentine’s day, [F/N].” she smiled tearfully, sniffling softly as she held the locket in her hand.

“Happy valentine’s day, Robin.” she then kneels down to wrap her arms around Robin’s waist to lift her up and spin the both of them around, laughing to her hearts contents when Robin let out a squeal of joy, her hands planted on her shoulders to keep herself balanced. When [F/N] finally brought her down she continued to hold her in her arms but this time Robin wrapped her arms around her neck, the two of them stared into each other’s eyes then finally shared a kiss that they poured so much love into.

They were in love, and that was their moment.

…

…

“Are you alright?” a voice asked, the person they asked slowly opened their eyes and they had a pained expression on their face as a single tear ran down their cheek. They stared up at the sky above them and their face turned bitter as they raised their hand, swiping the tear away in one swoop.

“Yeah, I just had a nice dream.”

Siblings pt. 2

word count: 28,395

Fandom: Stranger Things Pairing: Robin Buckley + Steve Harrington x Female!Harrington!Reader Pronouns: She/Her Relationship: Romantic/Familial Occupation: University Student Ability: N/A

Keys:

[F/N]: Female Name [L/N]: Last Name [N/N]: Nickname [H/C]: Hair Color [E/C]: Eye Color

Warnings: flayed reader, angst, violence, blood, vulgar language, murder, character death

“Siblings” pt.1, pt.3

@eddiemunsonsmiddlefingers​ has a map of hawkins and I’m constantly using that to reference where shit is. it’s awfully helpful.

I wasn’t planning on making a part two to this story but I suddenly got an idea from a line I kept repeating in my head and thought “why the hell not” to the point I might make this a story.

so I was going to write the scene where el saw billy’s happiest memory but chose against it, since we all know what it is, I’m not going to bother and just write [f/n]’s.

might eventually make this a story on my wattpad account because I dove too deep into this.

I rushed the ending, it sucks but I needed to finish this to settle my mind.

that is all.

“You know? I’d probably find that downright hilarious if not for the fact that you’re dating my brother, Billy.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really. Plus, that bitch is weird. There’s actually a word in the dictionary for what she’s doing.”

“And what might that be?”

“Grooming.”

[F/N] and Billy were having one of their late night hangouts at the Hideout, sitting at the bar drinking alcohol, not really shit faced yet but they were slowly getting there. Billy was in the midst of telling [F/N] the reoccurring times Karen Wheeler, mother of Nancy and Mike Wheeler, has been opening flirting with Billy. She remembered the first time Billy had told her about this, of course she was weirded out about it but she laughed that this grown ass married woman was flirting with a guy that was about two decades younger than her, basically the same age as her eldest daughter! She would’ve laughed again when he flirted back with her, just to get her off his ass, but now he and her brother were in a relationship. The four of them would never make their relationship public, never. They’ve simply stuck to being friends on the outside, but when they’re alone, they do all things a couple would do. Sometimes when they’re on a double date, people would always mistake Billy and [F/N] as a couple as well as Steve and Robin, mostly because each duo were always seen together. They took advantage of that, so whenever either Billy or Robin came over to the Harrington household, there was never bad air lingering around. So sometimes it would fuck [F/N] off when middle aged women would flirt with a minor, knowing that he was in a committed relationship with her! The people of Hawkins were so fucked in the head.

“Doesn’t she make you uncomfortable, Billy?” she asked out of concern, reaching forward to place a hand on his knee and squeezing it lightly “I won’t bring this up with Steve, but you know in this town, word travels fast. Besides, I don’t want him getting worried and getting the wrong idea.” Billy softly nods his head.

“I know. That pretty boy would probably lose his shit on me first, then go after that Wheeler.” they both look up in thought, trying to imagine the thought of Steve going apeshit on Nancy’s mother, they were almost tempted to tell him just to see it happen to the point that burst out into laughter “He is your brother, so if he’s anything like you, he’ll probably beat the shit out of her!” she throws her head back with a laugh.

“Hah! As much as I agree with that, he respects women now. He’d probably ask me to drag her out by her hair, to which I will gladly do it!” they laugh again before grabbing their drinks and raising it up “To Steve potentially losing his shit on Wheeler’s mum!” they clink drinks before proceeding to down it, when they finish their drinks Billy raised his empty bottle to the bartender.

“Two more, please!” since the two of them drove to the Hideout, and the fact they had things to do early in the morning, they couldn’t get totally hammered so after a few drinks they later stuck to drinking water to sober themselves up then continued chatting or peacefully listening to the music that the Hideout had or the few indie bands that performed that night. After a couple hours of having fun they finally decided to drag themselves out and back to their cars, however, they were both leaning on each other to help each other walk whilst laughing and giggling to themselves. Billy’s laughter echoed throughout the car park as he watched [F/N] collapse to the ground and nearly face plant into the side of her front bumper but managed to catch herself before she gave herself a bleeding nose and possibly a concussion “Will you be alright, Harrington?” she waves her hand to brush him off.

“Please, you’re just as shit faced as I am.” they start laughing again before settling in their cars, [F/N] rolls down her window to let the wind blow through her car after starting her car before briefly pausing when Billy flashed his lights at her, she raised a brow at him then narrowed her eyes when she saw him smirk at her “The fuck are you looking at me like that Hargrove?” his smirk only widens when he revved the engine of his Camaro.

“How’s about a little race? I wanna give my pretty boy a little smooch before going home.” she scoffed, rolling her eyes.

“Gross, I don’t need to know that.” she hummed in thought before raising her finger “I’ll race yah after seeing Robin, alright? We’re passing her house, and I wanna see her if you’re gonna see my brother.” Billy shrugs his shoulder with a laugh, brushing his hair out of his face. 

“Alright, might wanna tell your girlie that you’re gonna lose after I smoke your ass back to your place.” she scoffed.

“Whatever.” they both laugh and finally pull out of the parking lot. Robin was currently laying on her back, head bobbing softly as she listened to the music coming from her headphones playing through her cassette player. [F/N] graciously made her a mixtape of songs that they both liked, she smiled as she remembered that memory fondly. Because of the wealth the Harrington name held, [F/N] would always buy her expensive gifts after hearing the type of lifestyle she had grown up in. As lovely as each gift was, Robin asked her for something sentimental instead of jewellery like necklaces and earrings and rings (though she does appreciate them and wears them on special occasions), Steve told her that [F/N] had been hauled up in her room ever since then and when she came to pick her up, [F/N] presented her the mixtape. She’s probably listened to the entire playlist on repeats so many times that she can remembered ever song in order, but she just can’t help it, she was so in love. 

*TAP*

*TAP*

“Hmm?” she hums out in confusion, just briefly hearing the sound of tapping when the song faded out. She pulled the headphones off her head and looked around in confusion, she got a little angry when she thought that it was her siblings fucking with her but stopped when the tapping was coming from her window. She pushed herself upright and a big smile appeared on her face when she saw [F/N], who was currently looking down and talking to someone before raising her head to look at Robin once more, wobbling back and forward “[F/N]?” she muttered softly in question before stumbling to her feet and rushing to the window, throwing it open to greet her girlfriend, only to wince at the stench of alcohol and cigarettes coming from her breath.

“Robin~” she cooed out with a shout, only to shush herself when Robin raised a finger to her lips while shaking her head so she in turn covered her mouth with her hands “Sorry, sorry, I just missed you.” Robin rolled her eyes.

“We saw each other a couple hours ago.” she giggled to herself when she saw a flash of confusion come across her face before she nodded her head.

“Oh, you’re right… but I wanted to see you again.” Robin shook her head once more with a soft smile, she then realised that there was quite a distance from the ground and her window so she leaned forward whilst looking down and had to slap a hand over her mouth to quiet herself when she saw that [F/N] perched herself on Billy’s shoulders, to which he was just as equally drunk and could barely stand straight “Oh yeah, and Billy is here as well.” he looks up and gives a grin, saluting Robin, to which she returns to gesture.

“Howdy.”  “Hi?” she chuckles and looks back at [F/N], to which she was grinning ear to ear as she leaned forward, closing the small gap between them and pressing a small peck on her lips “What’s with the kiss, [F/N]? Not that I don’t like it.” the slightly drunk girl smiled at her, winking softly.

“Thought I’d drop by and give you a goodnight kiss, why? Don’t want any?” Robin scoffed before reaching forward, grabbing [F/N] by her cheeks and pulling her into a kiss. Robin couldn’t help but let out a groan when she could taste the alcohol and cigarettes against her tongue, she briefly pulled away but was only brought into another kiss when [F/N] grabbed her by the back of her neck to keep her still. By the time they separate [F/N] was grinning ear to ear, Robin flustered up a little when she saw the left over lipstick from her lips smudge across [F/N]’s neck “I’ll see you in the morning, sweets?” Robin giggled, wrapping a strand of her hair around her finger and twirling it around.

“Mm hmm.” Robin and [F/N] were giggling at each other before [F/N] started falling backwards, she let out a startled yelp and looked down at Billy and saw he lost his footing and couldn’t hold her up anymore and was starting to fall backwards, to which she tried to grab Robin’s windowsill to save herself but it slipped right under her grasp and the two of them fell to the ground with a loud thud. Robin gasped and stuck her head out of the window to see if they were alright, shaking her head slightly with a tired smile on her face when she saw the two of them slightly dazed and groaning.

“Nice one, Billy…” she murmured under her breath, grunting softly when he slapped her leg.

“You’re fat.”

“You’re weak.” he scoffs at her before proceeding throw her legs off of him, they then pull themselves to their feet and start retreating back to their cars, [F/N] sparing Robin one last glance followed by a kiss then finally scurried into her car. Robin sighed dreamily when [F/N] waved her goodbye as she and Billy drove off, she closed her eyes then pushed herself back into her room where she collapsed into her bed, smiling like a dork when all she could think of was how lucky she was to finally have someone that loves her. Speaking of which, [F/N] and Billy were gunning it down the streets, they were going to have to deal with the police and Hopper later but they didn’t give a shit as they sped down the empty streets of Hawkins, laughing wildly. They took a slight detour just so their moment of fun could last a little longer, that’s where they found themselves side by side, the both of them trying their best to get ahead of the other.

“We should’ve made a bet, Harrington!” he shouts at her, she scoffs and looks back at him.

“Oh, yeah? Then how about the first one back to my house has to buy us both gas for our cars for three weeks!” he smirks at that.

“Then I hope your wallet can handle the expenses of gas because you’re on!” he lets out a laugh as he shifts gears while putting more pressure on the gas, she grimaced when she saw him get a head of her and was creating some distance. She knew his Camaro was significantly faster in comparison to her Mustang, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have a few tricks up her sleeves to keep up with him. Billy looked into his rear view mirror and saw [F/N] hot on his tail, he licked his lips with a laugh as he turned his attention back to the road ahead of him, he had this in the ba— he lets out a shout when something flew into the windscreen. [F/N] let out a confused noise when she saw Billy swerving around but when she saw that she was still speeding towards him, evidently going to crash into him, she lets out a shout and slammed on the breaks and quickly swerved out of the way before she could hit Billy. She managed to get control of her car as it comes to a halt, she was breathing heavily at what happened before remembering about Billy.

“Oh my god, Billy!” she shouts, jumping out of her car and running over to see if he was alright “Billy! Shit!” she runs over to his car and winced at the state of it, she moves over to the drivers side and opened the door.

“Piece of shit…” she heard him groan out.

“Are you okay, Billy?” he sucked in a breath, pushing himself back into his seat then raised a hand to press against his forehead, wincing when his hand touched his bleeding forehead “Shit, you’re bleeding.” he scoffs at her.

“No shit.” she frowns at him, reaching forward to cup his face and make him look at her. 

“God, I hope you don’t have a concussion.” he smacks her hands off of him then gestures for her to move, she does so but ultimately helps him out of the car.

“Just great, this is just fucking great.” he mutters to himself as he looks at the state of his Camaro, she in turn approached the front of his car and saw the cracked windscreen, she furrowed her brows in confusion and mild disgust when she saw some sort of slime on the windscreen where it was cracked. She reached forward and gently touched it, only to regret it as she shudder at the feeling, she wiped it off against her pants “Fuck, this is going to cost a fucking fortune to repair.” Billy threads his fingers through his hair, at the verge of yanking them out of his scalp but calmed down slightly when [F/N] placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it, Hargrove. I’ll help pay for it… with my parents money.” he scoffs, shoving her back softly to sit on the hood of his car.

“I don’t think they’ll appreciate the loss of money in their account.” she scoffs right back at him, sitting down beside him and offering him a cigarette, to which he graciously took and let her light it, enjoying the feeling of the nicotine filling his lungs then letting it all out.

“Please, I’ll be lucky if they notice a couple grand is missing.” the two of them start smoking away, she sniffles a little as she let the cigarette hang loosely by her lips “Perhaps this wasn’t a good idea on our part. We’re drunk, possibly high and extremely tired.” Billy rolls his eyes, taking the cigarette from his lips and held it in between his fingers.

“Yeah, but we’re both competitive and like to win.” she pursed her lips.

“True.” they fist bump each other “Anyways, what hit your car? A bird?” he shrugs his shoulders.

“Not sure, was going way too fast to get a glimpse of what it was.” she looked back at where they were previously then looked around at their surroundings, she suddenly felt a chill run down her back as the abandoned steel works factory loomed over them, she swallows thickly then turned back to Billy and gestured to her car.

“How’s about we get the fuck out of here? This place is giving me the heebie jeebies. I’ll be even more generous as to let you stay at our place while someone looks over your car, I personally know a good mechanic that can get your baby whipped back up into shape in no time.” he looked liked he was considering that option, he then winces when she cupped his face once more and looked at his bleeding forehead “But after we take care of this, I don’t want Stevie getting worried about this.” he nods his head.

“Agreed… we’re not telling him about this, right?”

“Are you crazy? Fuck no.” they both stand up but whipped their heads in the direction they heard something shuffle.

“Who’s there?!” Billy shouts, neither get a reply “I said who’s there?!” [F/N] shook her head, noticing that Billy was getting paranoid. Before she could say anything Billy’s feet were suddenly swept out from under him, he all but dropped to the ground before he was being dragged away. He desperately clawed at the ground to stop himself but there just wasn’t anything to cling onto, this continued as he was dragged through the factory and as he was going to be pulled down into the lower level of the factory he managed to grab a hold of the railing of the stairs. He clung onto it desperately, panic coursing throughout his body when he could feel his grip slowly slipping and when it did he expected to be dragged down the staircase but [F/N] caught him.

“I… got you!” she strains out, her grip on him deathly tight as she tried to pull him back but her feet where being dragged forward. She tries to dig the heels of her feet into the ground to keep herself from moving any further, their sweaty hands weren’t helping their predicament because she did lose her hold on his left hand but she quickly grabbed the railing. All this was for naught when something slithered around her ankle and yanked her, she fell to the ground with a thud with Billy on top of her before they were both dragged down the stairs into basement. The moment the two of them came face to face with this weird goopy looking thing they couldn’t help but scream at the top of their lungs as it roared at them, holding each other right as it loomed over them. The next few moments were silent, just the sound of chains swaying in the soft wind followed by quiet rumbling, this moment was interrupted when both Billy and [F/N] managed to pull themselves out of the basement. [F/N] starts pushing Billy and herself away but they both stumble to the ground, pushing themselves back as they spare a glance back at the entrance to the basement and shudder when they hear a roar come from that thing. Billy pulls himself onto his feet first and grabs [F/N] by the back of her jacket to yank her to her feet, she’s holding onto his arm as they’re scrambling out of the factory and rushing to their respective cars. They don’t waste a second to drive the fuck out of there, Billy driving ahead of [F/N] but he pulls to the side when he saw a phone booth, neither of them turn their cars off as they jump out but Billy makes it into the phone booth to make the call while [F/N] stood outside, breathing heavily as she kept looking back towards the direction they came from.

”911, what’s your emergency?” Billy goes to speak but the words got caught in his throat, I mean, how could it not? What the fuck was he supposed to say? Hey, my friend and I got in a car accident because we were drunk then we found this weird fucking monster, send help right away please! The two of them started to panic when the light in the phone booth started flickering as their surroundings changed ”Is someone there? Hello—” the voice cut off when the light completely turned off, Billy hangs up the phone as he walks out of the phone booth. He hears a noise and starts walking towards it, flinching slightly when he felt something so he glanced down and saw [F/N] just as equally terrified as he was holding onto his arm and hand. He places his free hand on her shoulder then the two of them walked towards the fog where they heard footsteps coming towards them.

“What do you want?” Billy manages to croak out, voice shaky and not sounding like his usual self “Hey, I said what do you want?!” he was desperate for an answer but the two of them started to panic again when they saw a group of people coming towards them. Red lightning struck as the group of people came to a halt, instead two people from the crowd came walking towards them and they both equally froze when their vision cleared up and they were staring right back at themselves.

[time skip: the next day]

Steve stood in front of his full body mirror as he does his hair up, something he always does in the morning though it was usually done for naught because of that stupid little hat he has to wear that was apart of the uniform that was just as stupid. He sets his hairspray on his desk, looking at his iconic hair and touching it up for the nth time of that morning before nodding his head when he was satisfied with how it looked. With everything ready he picked up his keys and tucked them into his pocket then walked out of his bedroom with an extra skip on his step in his step, things were finally looking up for him that he couldn’t not be happy. His sister was home for the summer break, he’s actually enjoying work (kind of), he’s made friends with the girl at said work, his sister is dating said girl while he himself has gotten himself into a relationship that first started off rocky but evidently he fell in love with him. He wasn’t expecting to see his sister as he walked past her room, she was always gone in the morning to go pick up Robin, but he halted at her door when he saw the state she was in.

“[F/N]…?” he muttered softly, pushing open her door that was left open just a bit and his eyes widened when he saw her. She was sitting hunched over at the edge of her bed, elbows planted on her knees as her head rested on her interlocked fingers. She was panting heavily while sweating profusely, she looked downright horrible “Oh my god, [F/N]! Are you okay?” he exclaims as he rushed over to her side, kneeling down to try and get a look at her face and saw her face was pale while her [E/C] eyes were dull from their usual shine.

“Steve…” she weakly breathed out, he moved his hands to gently place a hand on her forehead and quickly withdrew it when he felt a burning sensation under his fingertips.

“You’re burning up, [F/N]!” he shouts then proceeds to push her onto her back so that she was lying on her bed but she shook her head, weakly pushing him back so she could get up.

“No, no… I need to get Robin, I promised to get her.” she weakly hits at his chest, letting out a whine when he grabbed her by her wrists to stop her futile attempts to get him off and gently lays her down on the bed.

“I’ll get her, okay? I think she’ll understand why you couldn’t get her if I tell her that you’re sick, alright? You’ll only worry her if you show up as the mess you are right now, besides, I don’t think you can drive in the state you’re in.” she lets out a groan, slapping her hands onto her face and dragging them down “I’ll open the window so it can help you can cool down, if there isn’t anything in the cabinets I’ll grab some shit from the pharmacy on my way back from work. Don’t do anything that’ll make you feel any worse than you already are.” she chuckles weakly, placing a hand on her chest and looking over at Steve.

“Since when were you the one… to look after me?” he just shook his head, he walks into her bathroom then later came out with a wet cloth to wipe away the sweat on her forehead then placed another wet and cold cloth on her forehead to help cool her down.

“Since my sister was the one that got fucked up in my stead.” she scoffed then hummed when she felt Steve cup her cheek, she leaned into his touch but winced when it got too hot for her liking and jerked away, he sighed sadly and retracted his hand from her “I’ll try and get off early so I can take care of you, alright? Don’t do anything to drastic while I’m gone.” she waves her hand.

“No promises…” she pants out as her hand dropped back down onto her chest, he sighs softly then knelt down to press a kiss to her temple then retreated out of her room to leave for work. Hours go by but not a single thing changed, she only felt worse and worse as she tried to calm her breathing down, tried to stop herself from sweating so much, but the summer heat was just becoming to unbearable. She closed her eyes as she tried breathing through her nose, a horrible mistake on her part when the memory of the night before came flooding back. Her fingers dug into her shirt when the flashing images of those rats scattering along the floor reappeared, being held down by some fucking monster as it forced something into her body. Her eyes snapped opened as she let out a scream, shooting up straight as she continued to pant, she takes the cloth off her head and throws it to the ground as she weakly makes her way to her bathroom. She leans her weight into the sink, her hands gripping onto the sink as her head hung loosely in front of her. She managed to lift her head to stare at her reflection, her vision slowly clearing up so she can get a good look at her reflection but then another flashback from last night appeared before her.

”What do you want…?” she managed to whimper out, her usual personality nowhere to be seen as she leaned closer into Billy’s side, who held onto her tightly but neither one of them could tear their eyes away from their doppelgängers.

”To build.” both doppelgängers said in unison, they even sound like them but their voices were slightly disoriented with a deep, echoing feeling to it. Billy and [F/N] manage to tear their eyes away from them to look at each other, nothing but confusion were seen on their faces ”I want you to build.”

“To build what?” Billy asks.

”What you see.” [F/N] shakes her head.

“I-I… I don’t understand.” they both flinch backwards when that same lightning struck and they were suddenly back on the side of the road, [F/N] all but collapses to her knees as she threads her fingers through her hair, her shoulders trembling at the terror the two of them witnessed. Billy was still standing as he looked around for wherever they could have gone, shaking his head.

“I don’t understand!”

“Ah!” she screamed at her reflection before proceeding to punch it, not bothering to remove her fist when the shattered glass fell into the sink and cut her hand. When her breathing calmed down she pulled her fist and let her trembling hand hang by her side, she took deep breaths through her nose before turning her head to the side “I need to talk to Billy…” she muttered softly then quickly left the bathroom, putting on her shoes and grabbing a jacket that had her keys in her pockets. The drive to the Hawkins community pool felt like a nightmare, her windows were all the way down and her AC was blasting to cool down her overheating body, but what freaked her out was when she was stopped at a red light. She perched her arm on the open window as her finger nervously tapped against the stirring wheel, she hissed in pain when she felt like she was being burn so she glanced down at her hand and furrowed her brows when she saw a burn mark forming on the back of her hand, she immediately pulls her arm back into the car. She pulls up to the pool and quickly hops out of her car, not bothering to lock it up and just simply slams the door shut and rushes into the pool. She spots Billy just as disoriented as she is, she didn’t waste any time to whistle to catch his attention, when his head shot up and looked for her, he managed to spot her waving her hand.

“[F/N]…?” he mumbles in confusion, he pushes himself up when he saw her waving him over, mouthing that they needed to talk. He all but jumps out of his seat and rushes over to her as fast as he could, stumbling with his footing but he managed to reach her in the end, grabbing her by her wrist and dragging her into the changing rooms, the showers specifically “What are you doing here?” she takes a shaky breath, holding her arms and digging her fingers into her jacket.

“Are we not going to talk about last night?” she asked, she inhales sharply as she runs her hands over her face “Have you been seeing things? Hearing things? I feel like I’m losing my mind…” she croaks out, she lets out a yelp when he grabbed her wrist again to look at the burn on her hand.

“What happened here?” her eyes trailed down his arm and noticed a similar looking burn on his elbow, they both started feeling hot again, [F/N] tears her jacket off but that isn’t enough and so Billy shoves her into the shower and turns on the cold water. They both silently soak in the water but start to get distracted when the pain in their burns starts aching, they’re both reaching for their wounds and grimace when they could hear something moving beneath their skin, the moment their hands grazed against the wound a flash of a monster appeared in their heads followed by high pitched screeching. They both fall to the ground, clutching their heads in agonising pain, pressing their heads into the tiled walls to try and lessen the pain but nothing was working, they were yelling in pain but it soon came to a halt when they heard a voice.

“Billy…?” [F/N] couldn’t recognise it, the two of them managed to push themselves back to lean against the wall behind them as they watched the girl kneel down in front of them “Billy. Take me to him.” they both stare at her in confusion.

“What?” they mutter.

“I said are you hurt?” she then looked in between the both of them as they continued to stare at her “What’s going on? I heard screaming. Should I call an ambulance?” she asked out of genuine concern, she then slowly backed away when she noticed the look of pain and confusion disappear and was replaced with one of malice. She lets out a scream when [F/N] shoots towards her, her hand slamming against her mouth to muffle her screams of terror whilst her other hand held both her wrists in an iron grip.

“I’m so sorry about this.” she whispers, she then pulls her up then slammed the back of her head against the ground to knock her unconscious. Both herself and Billy stand up and stare down at the unconscious girl then looked at each other and nodded.

[time skip: starcourt mall, scoops ahoy]

Robin felt a little deflated that entire day, first she wasn’t able to see [F/N] and Steve was the one to pick her up in her stead. She was confused when the younger Harrington pulled up to her house and so she obviously asked where her girlfriend was, the answer she got was a worried looking Steve telling her how awful [F/N] was and that she was very sick to the point she could barely move. Sure, she was worried for her girlfriend and completely understood why she couldn’t come get her, but she just couldn’t understand how she got sick. Last night she looked completely fine, only being a little tipsy but other than that, she was fine. Robin now found herself serving free samples to some little girl that was slowly getting on her last nerve, ready to pop a nerve, but then the sight of [H/C] hair her eyes.

“[F/N]?” she mumbled under her breath, wasn’t she supposed to be lying down in her bed at home? She shook her head and turned towards the window into the back room, throwing it open to get Steve and his little friend Dustin’s attention “Hey, Harrington! Man the counter, will you? I need to go check something out!” she shouts, choosing to ignore his shouts of protest as she abandons the counter and rushes out of the store, pushing past people to check if who she saw was actually her girlfriend. Her face lights up when she heard her familiar laughter so she turned the corner and was going to greet her but froze up at what she saw, there she saw [F/N] talking with some guy as he openly flirted and joked with and she was laughing at it.

“That is the dumbest pick up line I’ve ever heard, you dork.” he scoffs, bumping his shoulder against hers.

“But it made you smile, didn’t it?” she then shoved him back, not being able to hide the big smile on her face.

“Barely.” her heart dropped into her stomach when she saw [F/N] grab the guy by the collar of his jacket and pull him back, the two of them stumbling out of view. Robin grits her teeth and rushes over to where the two disappeared, she rounded the corner but was left flabbergasted when she saw neither of them, they just simply vanished. Maybe she was just seeing things, maybe she was just desperate to see [F/N] that she conjured her up, but why the hell was she shamelessly flirting with some random fucker? The end of the night came sooner than later, from seeing her girlfriend with some guy to helping her brother and some random child with a Russian translation, she was currently sitting in Steve’s passenger seat as he drove them to his house.

“Is she really sick?” Steve let out a dramatic sigh, rolling his eyes.

“Yes! How many times do I have to tell you, Robin? What you saw was definitely not [F/N]. For one, she’d never flirt with a guy. Two, she’d never let a guy flirt with her, because she’d either fight them or throw up.” that option made her chuckle, that sounded like her “My sister isn’t the type of person to cheat, okay? She actually beat that into me, so I highly doubt she would ever do something so frivolous.” Robin sighed, the back of her head hitting the car seat.

“I know… I think I’m just getting paranoid.” she jolts in her seat when Steve placed his hand on her shoulder, she looked at him and saw him giving her a reassuring look.

“Robin, if my sister does anything and says anything hurtful to you, you’ll tell me right?” he inhales through his nose and looks back towards the road “She doesn’t do or say things without meaning it. When she said she was in love with you, she meant it. When she said she wanted to be with me, she meant it. So if she somehow says she doesn’t want to be with you anymore… she’ll say it to you straight and she won’t do it behind your back, she isn’t like that. She isn’t one for hiding her feelings and she isn’t afraid to voice her opinions, rarely have I ever seen her bottle up her emotions. I don’t see any reason why she would ever go behind your back, but if she does anything to you that just doesn’t seem right, tell me. I’ll make sure to talk to her, so don’t worry about anything, alright?” she couldn’t help but get a little teary eyed, Steve smiled softly when Robin tearfully nodded her head.

“Alright, thank you.”

“No problem.” Steve then lets out a laugh when he pulled up to their house, gesturing to the driveway “Look at that, Robin! Her car is here.” Robin shrugs, sure, but it doesn’t cross out the possibility that she still left the house. Entering the Harrington household, Steve flips on the hallway lights and shuffles out of his shoes, letting out a slight grunt when Robin shoved past him to rush up the stairs to get to [F/N]. Steve told her that her condition was horrible, that she was sweating profusely and couldn’t stop her body from trembling, going so far as she couldn’t control her breathing. She needed to see this for herself, she needed to see how sick her girlfriend was to calm her mind of the image of her perfectly healthy girlfriend that she saw at the mall with some gu—

“S-Stevie…? Is that you?” Robin jerked backwards a little shocked after throwing the door open, there in the dark room with the hallway light to illuminate the room, was her girlfriend laying on her back whilst clutching her chest, looking just as terrible as Steve described “Stevie…?” she called out once more, she nearly tripped over her feet when she finally managed to move.

“N-No, [F/N], it’s me.” she saw [F/N] perk up at the sound of her voice and so turned her head towards her, smiling weakly when her eyes set on girlfriend.

“Robin…” she cooed, Robin smiled softly and knelt down, placing a hand on her forehead and let her thumb caress her skin “You’re here… why?” they hear Steve clear his throat, he decides not to turn on the light as he took a spot on the other side of Robin, standing over his sick sister who smiled at him.

“She wanted to see you, asking me after our shift to bring her here to check up on you.” Steve decided it would be for the best to keep Robin’s actual intentions a secret from his sister, it was the better option because that reason made [F/N] smile at the both of them.

“Y’all are saps…” she mumbled out, she then reached for Robin and gently tapped her shoulder “I’m sorry I couldn’t pick you up this morning, I feel so awful for leaving you hanging like that.” Robin shook her head, taking her hand into here and squeezing.

“No, no, it’s fine. I’m just glad that your brother came and got me, would have sucked if I have to bike instead.” they both giggle at that, Steve smiled at his sister and her girlfriend, not understanding where Robin ever got the misunderstanding of [F/N] ever betraying her in the worst way. He then pulled a face when he realised why and swore in his head to never voice that stupid thought of his, he reached forward and placed his hand on [F/N]’s cheek and she leaned into his subtle touch.

“Your fever seems to have calmed down a little, did you take some tylenol?” she nods softly.

“Mm, I found some in my cabinet.”

“Alright, that’s good.” Steve has Robin help him with taking care of [F/N] to the best of their abilities, staying with her until she was drifting off to sleep, and when she finally did he pulled her out of the room and closed the door behind them “See? What did I tell you? She never left the house, Robin.” she nods her head, holding her arms.

“I know, I know. I just can’t help but feel insecure, you know? She’s totally out of my league, and yet she wants to be in a relationship with me! A nobody, a weirdo that’s apart of band and is employed in an ice cream shop.” Steve scoffs at that, placing his hands on his hips.

“That’s exactly what she likes about you, Robin. She finds it cool that you can play instruments.” she rolled her eyes bashfully, spinning one of her rings around with her thumb.

“Stop it.” Robin takes on last peek at [F/N] before finally leaving with Steve so he can take her home, it didn’t take long for the younger Harrington to return home nor did it take long for him to fall into a deep sleep. The moment silence fell upon the Harrington household [F/N] eyes shot open and she no longer looked sick anymore, she sat up and threw the covers off her body to reveal the clothes she was wearing were never changed. She shuffles out of her bed and walks over to her locked bathroom, pushing the door open to find the same boy Robin saw her with submerged in cold icy water. [F/N] did indeed see Robin in the corner of her eye when she was at the Starcourt Mall, that was the reason why she pulled that boy into empty hallway but she pulled him into an empty room before Robin could see them and proceeded to choke him out with little to no effort. 

She now found herself back at the abandoned steel works factory, exiting her car, she lifted her head to see Billy was there as well. Neither said a word to the other, just silently moving to the trunks of their cars and opening them up, finding their tied up victims unconscious, Billy lifts Heather into his arms while [F/N] throws the guy over her shoulder and the two of them walk side by side back down into the basement where it all started. Settling the two down, they hover over their unconscious bodies that slowly started regaining consciousness. Of course the two of them were unaware of the situation they were, blinking their eyes as they looked around in confusion, their eyes met and they were both confused when they saw their mouths were duck taped shut while their hands and feet were bound. Panic started to arise as they tried to free themselves, Heather letting out whimpers as she tried to shake free while the guy was screaming under the tape, they were both silenced when Billy grabbed Heather by her shoulders while [F/N] grabbed the other guy by his face and held his jaw in a tight hold.

“Don’t be afraid.” they said in an emotionless tone, both victims ceased their muffled cries and movements “It’ll all be over soon. Just stay very still.” they then remove the tape from their mouths before finally pulling away and stepping back, standing together as the same monster that did something to them crawled out of the shadows towards its latest victims, snarling at them as they screamed in terror. 

Billy and [F/N] could do nothing but watch.

[time skip: two days later]

The two of them continued to collect more and more victims for the monster to turn into mindless zombies, sometimes almost getting caught by their respective siblings, but they always managed to play it off. [F/N] remembered bringing a girl home she met in the middle of town, she recognised her as an old classmate friend and said how she wanted to reconnect. The girl was helpless against the mind controlled girl, struggling under her iron grip as she ties her hands up but was interrupted when the front door to the house was opened and in came walking Steve. He enters the kitchen and there he found his now healthy sister by the counter with an innocent smile on her face, waving her hand to greet him on his return home.  “Anything interesting happen today, [F/N]?” she only shrugged her shoulders.

“Same old, same old.” he was satisfied with the answer and ventures upstairs to his room, unaware of the whimpering girl under the counter wanting to cry out for him to save her from his crazy sister but could only whimper silently when [F/N]’s fingers dug into the meat of her face whenever she felt her struggle. She was now hauling her down into the basement of the factory, she hummed softly when she saw Billy and Heather already down there with two victims of their own “You’ve been busy, huh?” she mused, Billy glanced up at her and saw the girl over her shoulder.

“So have you.” 

[F/N] now found herself sane and sitting in her car, inhaling and exhaling softly as she watched the unknowing people walk by her, not knowing that she was picking out her latest few victims to bring to the monster. A pinch of her sanity was clinging to the back of her mind, she was already losing her mind because she could do nothing but watch her body go around kidnapping people and offering them up to this monster to do who knows what. She takes a deep breath, running her fingers through her hair before her eyes settled on a group of girls, she remembered one of them as a girl she hooked up with a few times while they were still in high school, this could be an easy catch because the other girl still had some lingering feelings for her. She rolls her neck, ready to do what she’s been doing for the past few days but her body suddenly fought against it. There were two fights going on in her mind right now, one was sweet talking this one time fling into bringing her and her friends back home to have some fun, possibly get them wasted out of their minds then bring them back to the factory, but the other was against it. This last piece of her sanity was fighting against that, she didn’t want to flirt with this girl, she didn’t want to tell her words that were rightfully reserved for her girlfriend. She lets out a groan, aching pain throbbing in her head as she tried taking control of her mind but ultimately lost when the pain became to unbearable.

“Don’t make this harder for you than it already is…” she muttered to herself, her voice not sounding like her own. Flicking down her sunglasses, she pulls at the collar of her jacket before finally opening the door to her car just as the girls were walking past her car. This obviously caught their attention, they were already checking out the ridiculously nice car but the moment [F/N] stepped out of the car the girl she hooked up with couldn’t help but freeze up when she saw her long time crush. [F/N] pretended to pay them no mind, throwing her car door shut and locked it, walking past the group of girls and as she walked further away, she stopped when the girl called out to her.

“H-Hey, [F/N]!” her friends snickered at how shaky her voice was as she stuttered over her words, she cursed at them but straightened up when [F/N] turned her head over her shoulder to look at the group.

“Yes?” she swallowed thickly, taking a step forward as she clutched onto the straps of her hand bag.

“D-Do you— do you remember me, by any chance?” her face flushed up when she tilted her head down, her sunglasses slipping down the bridge of her nose so she could see past the tinted lenses and at the girl in question “We were in the same chemistry class? We sat together and did a few projects together?” she was really hoping that [F/N] would remember, she took a step forward as she turned around fully, raising her hand to grab the frames of her glasses and pulled them down as she looked her up and down.

“Chemistry…?” she muttered to herself, looking up in thought then smirked down at her “Right, you’re— you’re Veronica, right? Veronica Gibbons?” her face lights up immensely because [F/N] Harrington remembered her, she actually remembered her! She enthusiastically nodded her head, reaching forward to grab her hand.

“Yes! I’m so happy you remember me.” her friends were giggling from behind her, knowing just how big of a crush she had on the female Harrington, also remembering how much she cried when she left Hawkins to study in a different state, but now she’s back as she has a chance to be with her. She then tilted her head when [F/N] pouted softly, taking off her glasses then biting the end of one of the frames.

“Actually, I’m still having a little trouble remembering, think you can help jog my memory up?” the group of girls giggled at the suggestion, Veronica turned back towards them and saw them gushing at her and giving her the thumbs up, gesturing for her to shoot her shot with [F/N].

“S-Sure.” 

Robin felt like she accomplished a mission. You could really do a lot with just twenty bucks, she exits the post office and stuffed the entire layout of the Starcourt Mall into her bag and jogs over to where she parked her bike, only slowing in pace when she heard soft giggling. Turning to see what the laughter was all about, she saw a group of girls gushing about how lucky their friend was, she thought nothing of it until the name “Harrington” left their lips. She then glanced over at the parked Mustang and immediately recognised it as [F/N]’s car, she then noticed that they kept glancing back towards the little alleyway and her insecurities started getting the best of her again. The name “Veronica Gibbons” left their loose lips and more thoughts started circulating in her head, she remembered that girl. She was definitely one of the best looking students during her year at Hawkins High School, she was that iconic popular girl that did cheerleading, was beautiful, smart and was wanted by the entirety of the male population. But there was a rumour that she was into girls, that she was into the particular Harrington that was untouchable, a heartbreaker who’s heart would never beat for anyone but her brother.

She didn’t hesitate to drop her bag on the ground and rush over to the alleyway, turning the corner and her heart stopped when she saw it. Veronica was pushing [F/N] back against the wall, her hands tightly gripping onto [F/N]’s biceps as she pressed her lips against her own. [F/N] didn’t bother reciprocating the loveless kiss, just let the shorter one of the two take the lead as she desperately kissed her. She tried not to think about it, she tried so hard not to think how awful she feels for playing with this girls feelings just because she couldn’t control her own body, she didn’t want to think about how much this was going to hurt Robin, but what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. Veronica pulled away and gave [F/N] a sheepish smile, flushing up when she noticed that her lipstick smeared onto her lips, she turns away to avoid her intense gaze but a gasp left her lips when she noticed a figure at the end of the alleyway.

“[F/N]…?” her heart dropped into her stomach, visible fear in her eyes that were hidden under the tinted lenses of her sunglasses. Robin gritted her teeth when she saw Veronica pushed herself off of [F/N], clearing her throat and fixing herself up, excusing herself from the heartbroken Robin as she tearfully gazed at [F/N], who had yet to acknowledge her existence “[F/N], please… tell me that what I saw didn’t really happen.” [F/N] just let out a sigh, crossing her arms and leaned against the brick wall behind her, finally sparing Robin a glance that just wasn’t kind.

“What’s there to talk about?” Robin’s hand clenched into a tight fist, whoever this person was, it wasn’t her [F/N]. Her loving and sweet [F/N] who’d give her the world, who would fight the world just to see her happy, whoever this imposter was, she hated their guts for what they’ve done with her girlfriend. She marches over to her and stood in front of her, glaring up at her with a tearful gaze and saw that [F/N] had an indifferent expression on her face, like she didn’t care that she just got caught “You seem upset, little birdie.” she cooed out, Robin nearly keened at the nickname, any other time she would turn red, but right now she was filled with anger and anguish.

“Is this just a joke, [F/N]? Are you not going to acknowledge the fact that I just caught you kissing another girl, or the fact that you let that girl kiss you despite already being in a relationship with me?! Is she another relative of yours you and Steve forgot to bring up? If that’s the case, that’s really fucking weird.” Robin turns away, running a hand through her hair than back at her “I thought you loved me, [F/N]. I thought you said you wanted to be with me, but as of lately, I feel like you’ve become an entirely different person. Ever since that night, I haven’t seen a trace of the girl that said she was in love with me. What the fuck has happened to you, [F/N]!” Robin continued to rant and rave at the betrayal and [F/N] just took it, because another war was raging on in her head.

Take her.

Not her.

Bring her.

Ignore her.

Kill her. 

Spare her.

[F/N]’s fingers clawed at the wall behind her, her nails digging into the bricks to the point they were being crushed under her hold. Her teeth were biting down so hard on her lips to the point they were bleeding, she was trying to distract herself from the grotesque thought of bringing one of the few people that she loves to that fucking thing. She was trying so hard the past two days to avoid Steve and Robin, she was trying so hard to limit her time with those two because if she was with them for more than a couple minutes then she would lose all control of her body and she would hurt them. That was the last thing that she wanted, she didn’t want to hurt them, she didn’t want them to die all because she made one stupid decision. She said nothing as Robin continued to question what their relationship has come to after two days of her acting off, she wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around Robin and tell her everything, tell her that everything is going to be okay and that kiss with Veronica whatever meant nothing to her. But she knew the moment her arms were around her, there was no letting go of her, and not for a good reason either. She wanted to do something to keep Robin away, give her a reason to avoid her, to never see her again.

“You’re making me think that everything about our relationship was for nothing!” she shouts, tears now running down her face, oh how she wanted to wipe those tears away but she didn’t want to touch her with the hands that have been the cause of people losing their minds and possibly their lives “Was there absolutely nothing, nothing special about our relationship?” Robin stood their panting in front of [F/N], the girl silently looking down at her.

“… are you done?” she flinched back at the harsh words.

“Wha—”

“Was anything in our relationship special? Wow, you were really deep in that delusional fantasy of yours, huh? Well, let me tell you something, Buckley.” she harshly jabs her finger into Robin’s chest, causing her to stagger backwards as each jab got harsher and harsher at each step she took “Your love for me was nice, it was, but it’s gotten boring. There’s nothing about you that excites me anymore, so yeah, maybe our relationship was for nothing.”

“[F-F/N]…” she lets out a whimper when her back was no pressed against the opposite wall, [F/N] looming over her with a dark look on her face.

“There is no us, not anymore. I don’t need you.” [F/N] makes sure to grab her by the jaw, lifting her up off the ground as she glared down at her “You mean nothing to me.” Robin lets out a whimper when she felt her nails digging into her skin, she spares her a glance through her teary eyes and when she looked into [F/N]’s eyes, there was no warmth but dull and empty eyes staring right back at her. She let out a gasp when [F/N] dropped her, letting her collapse to the ground and grovel at her feet. She turned on her heel and started walking away, ignoring how much she wanted to stop and apologise to Robin, how this isn’t what she wanted but this was the hill she was going to die on if it meant that Robin was safe from her ”And Buckley, don’t even think about telling Stevie about this, not that he’ll even be on your side in the first place. I’m his sister, he loves me, and you? You’re nothing but a coworker he has to put up with.” she didn’t even bother looking back at Robin when she finally left the alleyway, leaving Robin to wallow up with a broken heart as she cried out in anguish.

“[F/N]?” she let out a hum, turning towards Veronica who now sat in her passenger seat while her friends were excitingly sitting in the back “Are you alright?”  “Why wouldn’t I be, sweetheart?” she flushed at the pet name, she points at her face.

“You’re crying…” her eyes widened softly at that, glancing down at her face to see a single tear running down her cheek, she chuckles softly at that and wipes it away with her thumb.

“Just a little dust that got in my eye, nothing to worry about.”

Hours go by and night has enveloped Hawkins, to which [F/N] was currently loading the drunk, unconscious and tied up girls into her car once more. Getting them completely intoxicated took no trouble whatsoever, they were more than happy to get wasted with the more popular Harrington. [F/N] herself was drinking away her sorrows after breaking up with Robin, wanting nothing more then to numb the pain and forget that look of pain and betrayal on Robin’s face, but it’ll forever be burned into the back of her mind. She lets out an exhausted sigh after loading the last of the girls into the backseat, rolling her shoulders after walking back and forward from the house and her car repeatedly. Steve had yet to return from Scoops Ahoy despite how late into the night it was becoming so she was taking his absence as an opportunity to get everything done. Driving to the factory wasn’t as eventful, driving legally to avoid unwanted attention so she doesn’t get pulled over, when she reached the basement she was quite surprised to see the state Billy was in.

“Fuck happened to you?” she questions, quietly offering up the girls to the monster then returned to his side with a rag and some water “You look like you got the shit beaten out of you.” he looked up at her, letting her clean up the blood and sweat “That girl, was it her?” he nods.

“Yeah. It was her.” she nods softly, taking his hand and wiping away the blood on his knuckles “She knows now. She knows about me. She could’ve killed me.” she nods again, she puts the rag down and gently pats his hand.

“Yes, but not us. Not us.” they then glance at the crowd of people they’ve either managed to kidnap altogether or were infected by the rats that were controlled by the monster “There’s no way she’ll know that there are more of us. She could barely handle you, so what makes her think she can handle all of us?”

“You’re right.”  “I know. Our time is nearly upon us, so we needn’t worry until then.”

[the next day, with the party]

The party along with Jonathan and Nancy were all hunkered down in the Wheeler household in the basement, each discussing what had happened the following night and their latest discoveries. The children told the two young adults how the Mind Flayer had returned and that Billy Hargrove was under its control, in return they told the party how an old woman, Mrs Driscoll, was found eating fertiliser and was acting crazy. Nancy then deducted how that since the attack last night along with their sauna test happened at the same time, the possibility of the Mind Flayer flaying more than just Billy.

“Billy was doing something to her, but there was someone else as well.” they all look at El when she spoke up, she looks at Max “There was another girl, but she looked more worried for him.” she closed her eyes to remember seeing Billy, she remembered seeing that girl who looked terrified as she called out for Billy.

“Another girl? What did she look like?” Max urged, maybe if they find this girl she could help them find Billy and maybe even the Mind Flayer.

“Um, she was tall, maybe about Billy’s height. She had [H/C] hair, [E/C] eyes and a few beauty marks on her neck and face.” she closed her eyes to remember any other features that stood out to her “Her eyes, though, her eyes reminded me a lot of Steve’s.” this subtle feature caught Nancy’s attention, her face lighting up in remembrance, this caused the others to look at her when she started snapping her fingers.

“W-Wait— Wait right there.” the others watch as Nancy rushed out of the basement, questioning what she was planning on grabbing, and when she returned she had a handful of polaroids and a few articles “El, is the girl you’re describing… her?” El leans forward to see Nancy was looking through the photos before pushing a certain article towards her, she ignores the headline as her eyes zone in on the picture. They she saw the girl she saw through her vision but this time she had a giant grin on her face, a bit of a crazed expression on her face as she stuck her tongue out while one of her hands was doing the rock on devil horns.

“Y-Yes, yes! That’s who I saw,” Nancy and Jonathan share a look of disbelief “W-Who is she?”  “That’s Steve’s sister! That’s [F/N] Harrington!” this caused the lot of them to lurch forward and look all the pictures of said Harrington “I remember her being back in town, but to think that she and Billy were actually friends.” she muttered under her breath, Max was looking at a picture had in his hands and her eyes widened when she too recognised her face.

“Holy shit.” Max says, now they look at her when they saw her pick up a different photo, this time it was of a polaroid of the girl at a party, sitting on a couch with her legs over the arm rest as she was chugging down an entire bottle of vodka “That’s Billy’s girlfriend.” now Nancy and Jonathan were in even more shock.

“Fucking, what?!” Max nods her head.

“I’ve seen her around the house a couple times, and whenever she’s around he’s a lot more happier. I remember hearing a girls laughter from his room and when I came in to see what it was…” she shudders at the memory, shaking her head “It wasn’t particularly a fun sight.” the certain memory she’s remembering back to was when she, Steve and Robin snuck into Billy’s room through his window with some weed and alcohol they were planning on sharing with each other. None of them had realised Max was home until they heard her calling Billy’s name followed by her footsteps, Robin and Steve were quick to hide away and when [F/N] attempted to jump out the window, she instead tripped over her own feet and landed on top to Billy, that was when Max walked into the room and misunderstood the entire situation. All the residents of the Hargrove/Mayfield household are one hundred percent convinced that the two are in a relationship, this fact was rather beneficial for the both of them.

“I heard rumours going around that Billy was dating [F/N], but I never believed them.” Jonathan admits “But it makes it all the more believable that the two of them were together.”  “Then do you think she’s flayed? Like Billy?” Nancy takes a breath.

“There’s only one way to find out.” they now find themselves driving to the Harrington household, all feeling concerned and anxious. Nancy was the most worried because she’s witnessed firsthand what the older Harrington was capable of, she was already crazy as is and would only tone it down when her younger brother was in the picture. She loved her brother to bits that the moment someone looked at him wrong she didn’t hesitate to beat their asses with a chair, she remembered how she got arrested for nearly beating a kid near death because they threatened to kill her brother. They reap what they sow, no? Pulling up to the house, Jonathan and Nancy recognise the car that’s in the driveway, it was [F/N]’s infamous Mustang that could rival Billy’s Camaro when it came down to public disturbance.

“Is there anything about her that we should be careful about?” Jonathan looks up in thought as they approach the front door.

“Um, if you thought Billy was bad… I’d say she’s worse.” they pale at that, she’s worse than Billy? “But if you get on her good side, she’s actually a pretty decent person, nice even.” Nancy nods her head, agreeing with what he’s saying. The two now stood in front of the two, both equally hesitating to knock because they share an equal fear of the female Harrington, Nancy was the one to take a deep breath and knock on the door. They waited for a while for the door to open, awkwardly looking around to pass the time, they hear stumbling footsteps and a few things getting knocked over before the door was open. Nancy and Jonathan reel backwards when the smell of alcohol hit their faces, there in front of them was the sight of a depressed and intoxicated [F/N] that was leaning against the doorframe to keep herself from falling to the ground while in one of her hands was a bottle of tequila. 

This is not what the party were expecting.

“Who the fff… phuck are you?” [F/N] slurred out, clearly not in the right state of mind and very much drunk.

“Is that you… [F/N]?” Nancy asked, very much unsure that the girl in front of her was the Harrington that she knew. [F/N] was one to get drunk at the oddest times of the day, but it looked like she had been crying, and she does not shed tears for anything or just about anyone. [F/N] giggled drunkenly, swaying softly before lifting the bottle of tequila and taking a long swig from it, letting out a satisfied breath as the alcohol burned her throat.

“Yeah? What’s it to you?” [F/N] was going to ignore the bothersome people who came knocking at her door while she was trying to wallow up in sadness, ready to just outright slam the door in their faces but paused when in her drunken eyes she could just make out who exactly the girl is “W-Who are you?” she stuttered out, Nancy swallows thickly, patting her dress to smooth it out.

“Um, it’s me, Nancy Wheeler?” [F/N]’s blood starts to run cold, sobering up just at the mention of the name “I dated your brother a while ago, and we’ve met a couple times when we weren’t dating?” the silence scared them, maybe it was because [F/N]’s drunken state disappeared as she stared Nancy dead in the eyes and wouldn’t break eye contact no matter how many times Nancy looked away or turned her head away, [F/N] just continued to stare at her. Soon, a soft smile appeared on her face as she chuckled softly, she then leaned down to put the bottle of tequila on the ground then reached forward to grab Nancy by the sides of her head. The others watch in confusion as [F/N] gently caressed her face but it changed when she leaned her head back then slammed her forehead right into the bridge of Nancy’s nose hard enough to break it. She let go of her head and let her fall back onto the ground, not really caring as the girl cried out in pain and clutched onto her nose, she then leans back down to pick up her tequila as the children and Jonathan surround Nancy.

“Oh my god, Nancy!” Mike shouts as he falls to his knees, comforting his sister as she tried to stop her bleeding nose “What is wrong with you?!” he shouts up at [F/N], who once again threw her head back as she downed another swig from her bottle, completely ignoring him.

“I don’t like you, Wheeler.” she sneers out, taking a step forward and glaring down at the girl “I know what my brother did to you and Byers over there back in 83′, as his older sister I apologise, but what you did to him last year? He told me everything, how the girl he wanted to be with said everything between them was bullshit, then went and ran straight into the arms of the guy she told him not to worry about. You should’ve thought twice before showing your face to me, Wheeler, because now you’re on my number one hit list.” she makes the “I’m watching you” gesture with her fingers then turned around to go back into her house, only stopping when Jonathan used his foot to keep the door from closing properly.

“Wait, [F/N]!” she glared at him “We really need to talk to you.” she scoffs, throwing her head back.

“About what?”

“About Billy.” she was in the middle of taking another long swig from her bottle but froze up at the mention of Billy, slowly lowering the bottle to look at the older Byers “We really need to talk about him, and we’d appreciate it if you could tell us everything you know about him that’s happened in the past couple of days.” she stared at the lot of them being letting out a sigh, that’s where they found themselves in [F/N]’s kitchen as her drunken rage turned into a sob fest.

“You know?! I feel like he’s been acting different as of lately, and— and that he’s been distancing himself! I feel like he’s become a completely different person!” she cried from where she was seated, the others all sat across from her as her body moved dramatically “Then he broke up with me, saying how it was for the best! What the fuck does that mean?! Why does breaking up with me the best for us?! I still wanted to be friends, but I couldn’t even have that either! So here I am, drinking myself into a stupor!” she shouts and goes to drink again but let out a whine when nothing came out, pulling it away from her lips and tipping the bottle only for a few droplets to come pouring out. The others all glance at each other and watch as she moved to a wine cabinet to grab a bottle of expensive looking wine.

“She’s totally not flayed, right?” Lucas questioned, Mike shook his head.

“Not a chance.” they all wince when she trips into the wine cabinet, no chance.

“Hey, where can I get some ice?” Jonathan asked, [F/N] looked back towards him before shakily pointing at the fridge.

“Should be some in the freezer, Byers. Help yourself out.” Jonathan nods and goes to get some but Mike was already on his feet to grab it himself, wanting to soothe his sister’s pain, at least Max and El stopped the bleeding. He’s in front of the fridge and about to open the freezer but stopped when he saw a picture hanging on the fridge, taking a closer look, his eyes widened at what he saw. There he saw [F/N], Steve, Billy and that cashier that works with Steve, Robin Buckley if he remembered correctly, standing together with wide smiles and looking happy “Mike, the ice!”

“Oh, right, sorry!” he opens the freezer and grabbed the ice tray, handing it to Jonathan, and closed the freezer door but continued to look at the picture just as [F/N] came over “When did you take this?” she let out a confused noise and leaned forward to see what he was looking at, they all watch as she froze up once again, her hand lifting up from her side to look at the photo. It was during the time when they were at the fair, Steve wanted to take a photo and there was no saying no to Steve. [F/N], Robin, Steve and Billy, in that order, stood together and took a round of different photos and each kept one, right below it with the caption “night of 85′ where it started”. She closed her eyes as a bitter look crossed her face, nothing will be the same ever again and that memory of the four of them happy together will be one of her fondest memories.

“It… doesn’t matter.” she lets out, grabbing the corner of the picture she yanks it off the fridge and tucks it into her pocket “A-Anyways, what’s this about Billy? What’s he done that’s caused you lot to come to me?” El was the one to speak, reaching forward to hold [F/N]’s hand.

“We would like to know if… if you’ve been with him in the past few days, if by chance you’ve been feeling strange.” she stares down at her hand in confusion, she doesn’t pull her hand back though and just simply squeezes it.

“Well, if drinking before five counts as weird, then not particularly, no.” they all sigh at that, she pulls her hand away and crossed her arms, humming to herself whilst looking up in thought “Um, he and that Heather Holloway have been acting weird together. He doesn’t usually hang out with that girl, but the way he talked about her was weird. He even dressed modestly when planning on having dinner with her parents, and that man usually dresses like a complete whore.” they look at her weirdly as she snaps her fingers, she lets out a grunt as she popped the cork off the wine bottle and proceeded to pour herself glass.

“Heather Holloway?” [F/N] nods her head, head falling backwards as she brings the glass to her lips and drinks the wine “Alright, anything else?” she begrudgingly looked off to the side, thinking of anything else that came to mind.

“Uh, he told me he had been planning on visiting this old lady in the hospital? Does that mean anything to you?” she noticed them all visibly flinch, sharing knowing looks with each other “Telling by the looks on your faces, I guess that was helpful?” she questioned, her face scrunched up when Nancy nodded her head in her direction.

“Very!” she bit her tongue and shrunk back when [F/N] glared at her, El grabbed [F/N]’s hand once more and shook it lightly.

“Billy is in trouble, and what you’ve told us has helped our chances on finding him and helping him.” El’s face lifted up when she noticed the way [F/N]’s face softened up at that, she pursed her lips as she averted her eyes from the girl.

“I hope he hasn’t gotten himself into anything too dangerous.” they all hated how that wasn’t the case, with everything they got out of the drunk yet slightly sobering up Harrington, they left just as quickly as they arrived. Will was the last out the door but he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, his hand immediately slaps onto his neck and he turned around to see [F/N] following them out so she can shut the door behind them. She felt his gaze so she looked down at him to see what he wanted, the chill went away when her drunken eyes looked him up and down “What?” he nervously shook his head.

“N-Nothing.” she narrowed her eyes on him but evidently shrugged her shoulders, the moment they were at their car she slammed the door shut, not waiting for them to pull out of the driveway.

“Will, are you alright?” Mike asked, his hand reaching over to gently grab his hand, Will looked up at Mike and gave him a nervous smile as he nodded his head.

“Y-Yeah, I’m good.” [F/N] stood in her empty kitchen, wine glass in her hand as she tapped her finger against the marble countertop. If she played her roll well enough, the group will probably go and investigate the Holloway household then make their way to the hospital to check on poor old Mrs Driscoll, she was now rolling her fingers against the counter.

“Well, why not give them a surprise for snooping in things they shouldn’t go poking their heads in?” she laughs to herself, downing the rest of wine in her glass before proceeding to round a few other flayed people to come help her.

[later at night]

The party arrive at the hospital when the sun was down and it was late into the night, they quickly rush out of the car and towards the hospitals entrance, completely unaware of the Ford Mustang that was parked not to far away from where they were. Per hospital visits, only two people were allowed to visit a patient at a time so Nancy and Jonathan went ahead while the others lingered around the waiting room. The two walk down the hallway to get to Dorris Driscoll’s room in silence, but to be honest, it was a little too quire despite it being a hospital. They hadn’t seen a single nurse or doctor since they arrived at the floor, it was rather unusual but they shrugged it off with that it wasn’t that busy of a night. Entering the room, they were met with the sight of Mrs Driscoll nowhere to be seen while the flowers Nancy brought and placed into a vase were knocked over.

“Where is she?” Jonathan asks as they scan the room, Nancy shakes her head.

“I don’t know.” she answers as she rushes towards the fallen vase, Jonathan following right behind her.

“Are you sure this is the right room?”

“Yeah.” they both then look up when the lights started flicking on and off, footsteps were heard from the hallway until a figure appeared at the door, the two turned around just as the figure spoke.

“She’s gone home.” there they see Tom Holloway, appearance looking disheveled as his hands and end of his button up were covered in blood “We were hoping you might come back.” the two start backing away when Tom enters the room and starts approaching them slowly, Jonathan raises his arm in front of Nancy to keep her behind him as they inched further and further away from Tom.

“Who’s blood is that?” Tom doesn’t answer him as he gets closer to them.

“Tom, whatever you’ve done, it’s not you. He’s making you do this.” now that they were practically within arms length from Tom, Jonathan didn’t take any chances and grabbed the vase, smashing it into the side of Tom’s head. The older man fell into the wall giving Jonathan and Nancy a chance to flee out of the room, they didn’t get far when another flayed appeared down the hall with a wound exactly where Jonathan hit Tom with the vase.

“Owie.” he feigns the pain as he caressed where his temple was bleeding but it healed, black veins bulging out from his temple as he started walking towards them.

“Go, go, go!” Jonathan shouts, pushing Nancy towards the staircase in an attempt to escape the two flayed men. The two of them are racing down the stairs, they aren’t really aware what floor they’re on but they don’t want to take any chances as they’re running down the hall, going further and further they see the dead bodies of the hospital workers, at least they now knew whose blood that was “This way, this way!” he shouts as he pulls Nancy down a part of the hospital that had construction being done, the two men that were chasing them weren’t even running and were just simply walking at a steady pace.

“You haven’t got them yet?” Bruce glanced over to see [F/N] on a chair, body hunched over with her elbows resting on her knees. Beneath her foot was a nurse whimpering, crying silently as [F/N] pressed the heel of her shoe into her head and slowly applied more pressure as the nurse squirmed to get free “How hard is it to grab those two idiots?” she questioned.

“Just playing a little game of cat and mouse, that’s all.” she chuckled cruelly, shaking her head.

“Get them before they cause us more trouble. That girl isn’t here to assist them, so one of you should be enough to handle them both, alright?” he nods his head and rushed off to go find Nancy and Jonathan, not like that would be hard. She finally turned her attention to the crying nurse who looked up at her, eyes pleading with her to let her go “It’s a shame that you weren’t able to see the world he was going to create, but I guess it’s better for you not to stay and find out.” [F/N] then reached over to the axe that was resting against the wall, both her hands and the blade drenched in blood of the various victims that were claimed that night. She now aimlessly walked the hospital halls, whistling a random tune as she felt the flayed Bruce find the two and so she made her way over to where they were, Bruce was chasing after Nancy as she screamed for help while Tom was making his way over to where Jonathan was.

Find them.

Kill them.

Erase them.

Annihilate them.

“They’re working on it.” she murmurs under her breath, getting closer and closer to where Tom was with Jonathan, he was playing with his food. She shook her head, maybe it was wrong to bring those two along with her and she probably should have brought two other peo— she suddenly let out a grunt, her head being thrown back as she stumbled into the wall. She brought a hand to her mouth and saw black blood bleeding from her mouth, she drops the axe when she felt another impact smash her across the face and she finally fell to the ground. She was growling under her breath, panting as she starts pushing herself up but fell back when another smash to the head was delivered to Bruce while Jonathan stabbed Tom in the neck. The shared pain they felt sucked and had [F/N] grovelling on the floor, both hands slapped around her neck as black bleed bled from her face and neck, her veins then started bumping black as they started turning visible “You worthless… imbeciles!” she roared out, the Mind Flayer gifted her and Billy more power since they were the first to turn into his mindless zombies, so their regenerative abilities were superb in comparison to the rest. While Bruce and Tom lay motionless on the floor she picked herself back up, rolling her neck and hearing it crack under the pressure, she leans down to pick the fallen axe up and dragged it behind her to find the two causing them so many problems. 

She was greatly irritated, gripping onto the axe with so much force that the wood started to crack under her hold. Those two had one simple job to do and they failed horrendously to the point that their bodies turned into goop, she heard the sound of panting so she looked over and saw a doctor she thought she had killed, dragging himself along the floor to get to safety. The moment he heard footsteps he thought he was saved so he turned to see his saviour but his face fell at the sight of an enraged [F/N], dragging her axe behind her and leaving a trail of blood behind her. The doctor let out a cry as he tried crawling away again but was stopped when she stomped on his back, she brings the axe above her head and swing it down, landing a clean hit into the back of his skull and killing him. Blood splattered onto her face as she didn’t bother wiping it off, just simply yanked the axe out of his head and continued on with her journey. She was walking down the hall when she saw the goop of what was Tom and Bruce form into the monster, a miniature version of the Mind Flayer.

“Now look what you’ve done with yourself.” she speaks, walking out from the hallway as her body was drenched in a mixture of black and red blood, she then turned her head and a wicked smile spread across her face at the sight of Jonathan “There you are~” she cooed, now standing beside the Mind Flayer as she stared Jonathan down while the monster stared at Nancy.

“[F-F/N]…?” they both stutter out, she giggled to herself, throwing the axe over her shoulder and bounced it lightly.

“The one and only.” she winks at Jonathan then turns towards the monster, lifting the axe up to point at it “You had one job, right? One! And you failed it, immensely. All you had to do was kill them, and you couldn’t even do something so simple to the point you’ve gone and turn yourself into that. Good job, really, good job.” she shook her head in disappointment as the monster lets out a whine, knowing that the original Mind Flayer favours her and Billy over the rest.

“[F/N], w-what have you done?” Nancy whispers out as she looked the older Harrington up and down seeing she was covered in blood that just wasn’t hers as her veins were pumping with black blood “You were flayed? For how long?!” she cries out, she just shrugs.

“Does it matter? You’ll be dead anyways.” she looks back up at the monster and whistles, pointing with her thumb towards Nancy “Get her, I’ll deal with the other one. You won’t have trouble with this, will you?” she chuckles when it lets out a roar and starts charging towards her, she in turn starts marching over to where Jonathan is.

“Shit.”

“Nancy! Run!” she immediately backs into the door to the staircase but let out a panicked cry when sandbags were keeping the door from opening fully, Jonathan starts to panic as well because the monster was quickly closing the distance between the two of them and [F/N] was also getting closer to him. When Nancy manages to break through the door and run away he felt a sense of relief but it didn’t last when [F/N] was on him, he grabs one of the IV poles to defend himself but lets out a grunt when she kicked him in the chest, he evidently falls to the ground because of this.

“I’m really going to enjoy this, I never really liked you anyway, creep.” she lets out a grunt as she tries slamming the axe down on him but he managed to roll away just in time. He’s pushing himself back to get away from [F/N] as she leisurely strides after him, dragging the bloodied axe behind her in an almost taunting way “I don’t even need to do much to influence this body into wanting to kill you, it’s already rather homicidal and her hatred for you and that other girl is pretty deep.” Jonathan manages to push himself onto his feet and starts running away from her but in a way that he was chasing after the monster and Nancy.

“Is this because I beat her brother up and Nancy broke up with him?!” she only shrugs, easily matching his pace as she chased after him.

“Probably, but she was already crazy even before that, I’ve just pushed aside her rationality.” she swings at him again but he ducks out of the way, wincing when the axe made contact with the wall and a crack formed under the impact “Her love for her brother is both her weakness and her strength. She’d do anything for him; anything.” she’s swinging at him left and right, him narrowly dodging out of the way when he’s finally at the hallway where he sees the miniature Mind Flayer at a door that he believes Nancy has locked herself in.

“No, Nancy!” this was his shortcoming when he froze up, watching as the monster lost its physical form to turn back into a state of goop so it could slip under the cracks of the door. He was kicked in the back and fell onto his stomach, he pushes himself onto his back but let out a grunt of pain when she hit him with the butt of the axe, causing him to fall limp onto his back and daze him.

“No more running, little Jonathan. You’re making my job harder than it needs to be, so just sit still,” she starts, raising the axe over her head and smiling crazily down at him “and let me kill you.” she laughs wickedly and finally swings the axe down, having a clean shot to kill Jonathan but the axe is stopped inches away from his face. He gasped, eyes widen in shock as he stared up at the blade while [F/N] in turn was confused, letting out a strained grunt as she tried pushing it down but it wasn’t budging.

“Jonathan!” the two of them whip their heads around and see the party down the hall, El’s hand stretched out a stopping the blade from meeting Jonathan’s face. They all flinch back at the vicious look in [F/N]’s eyes, god, she looked exactly like Billy during the sauna test. El didn’t waste any time as she raised her hand, this motion caused the axe in her hands to move away from Jonathan, and because she was still holding the axe in her hands, El used it to send [F/N] flying back and pin her to the wall with it pressed against her throat, just like Billy.

“Holy shit, she was flayed the whole time!” Lucas shouts as they all rush towards Jonathan to help him up, they all spare [F/N] a glance and saw she was growling at them, letting out a animalistic roar as she pushes against the axe that was keeping her at bay, El in turn was putting more power into keeping [F/N] still “Does that mean she lured us here?!”

“It doesn’t matter now!” Mike shouts, they all shudder when [F/N] starts giggling maniacally “Why the hell are you laughing?!”

“You dumbasses a-are… are exactly where I want you.” Mike shakes his head.

“Really? But aren’t you the one being pinned to the wall right now?” she continues to laugh, her head rolling backwards and resting against the wall behind her. The dark blood pumping through her veins become more visible as she lets out another roar, finally managing to push El’s hold off of her and throw the axe towards them, they all duck out as the way just as she lands on the ground with a heavy thud.

“Jeez, way to go dickwad.” Max sneers at him, [F/N] wipes away the blood dripping down her nose as she leaned down to pick up the fallen axe. She throws her head back, running a hand through her hair as she laughs again, El is panting as she ignores the blood running down her nose.

“What’s so funny?” blood is running down her face and she can’t tell whether it’s hers or not, but she doesn’t care as she looks down at the children, she throws her axe over her shoulders and motions with her eyes to the room behind them.

“Aren’t you forgetting about someone?” at the mention of that they heard a scream, they all turn their heads towards the door and [F/N] laughs once more “I know a fight I can’t win when I see one, so here’s how this is going to go. You lot have two options. Option one, I run away and you lot are given the chance to save Nancy from meeting her inevitable end because you choose to save her instead of chase after me. Or option two, you give up on little Miss Nancy to chase after little ol’ me, this gives you the chance to learn things about where the monster is and what he’s planning on doing, but this also means that Wheeler meets her end. So what’s it gonna be? Are you going to be the hero that saves the damsel in distress, or the hero that sacrifices her to save the world?” she doesn’t wait for them to answer as she’s already running in the opposite direction, El raises her arm to stop her but flinched when she heard Nancy’s cry for help.

“El, leave her! Please, you’ve got to save Nancy! You’ve got to save my sister!” Mike cries out, tears swelling in his eyes when Nancy’s screams got louder, he then desperately tugs on her arm “Please, El! Please!” El’s eyes were still on [F/N]’s retreating figure, growling softly under her breath when she saw the light smirk on her face before she turned the corner and disappeared. [F/N] was pouting softly as she exits the hospital, spinning the axe around her wrists, and was slightly disappointed she couldn’t kill Jonathan or that Nancy. Oh well, there was still plenty of time to get them next ti— she jumped up in surprise when the monster was thrown out of the room and landed right beside her, she looked up from where it fell and saw the lot peering outside the window, she then gives them a two fingered salute before rushing over to her car and driving away as the monster turns itself into goop once more to escape through the sewers.

“… so which one of us is telling Steve?” Lucas murmurs, they all pale at that. Back with [F/N], she finally reaches the factory, letting out a groan as she walks down the stairs to the basement, hand on her neck while rolling her neck as the axe rested on her shoulder.

“You look like hell.” she scoffs at Billy, wiping the blood on her face with the back of her hand.

“I feel like hell. I couldn’t get shit done because the two idiots I brought with me were of no help whatsoever.” the goop that escaped from the hospital the appears, slithering towards the original to merge with it, it grows in size as the two stare up at it.

“It’s time.”

[time skip: the next day]

El sat in front of the TV that was playing nothing but static, a blindfold over her eyes to help her focus on finding where the Mind Flayer could possibly be while the others sat back and watched her overexert herself. She was panting as she tried so hard to keep pushing herself but in the end she couldn’t anymore and ripped the blindfold off her eyes, she now found herself in the kitchen getting a glass of water, gulping it down until the glass was completely empty. The others were discussing what they should do, they could possibly go and find [F/N] but they didn’t want to take the chance on fighting the newly psychopath and she probably wasn’t going to be home, the other option was Billy who definitely was home but him being there was just a trap waiting for them. El set her empty glass on the kitchen counter and let her eyes wander under until they landed on a box of lucky charms, staring at the rainbow, she got bitter flashbacks of her mother but then an idea struck in her head that she went back to the ground.

“It’s too risky.”

“Yeah, and unnecessary. Killing the flayed won’t stop the Mind Flayer. We have to find out where it’s spreading from. We have to find the source.”

“Billy and [F/N] know it.” they all turn to El when she entered the room “They’ve both been there, to the source. She even said that if we went after her and caught her, we could’ve learned where the Mind Flayer was.” Mike shook his head.

“Yeah, but—”

“It’s a trap, I know. We can’t go to Billy or [F/N], but I think there’s another way. A way for me to see where they’ve been.” she’s sat in front of the TV once more with a blindfold over her eyes, concentrating on the static noise coming from the TV. She takes a deep breath and concentrates until she finds herself in the void and in the distance she can see something. As she gets closer she finds herself staring down at Billy and [F/N] sitting beside each other on what she assumes is Billy’s bed, [F/N] had her eyes closed as she rested her head on his shoulder and Billy himself was sitting up straight while staring into nothing. The one thing the two of them were doing was holding each other’s hand, occasionally squeezing, as her other arm was wrapped around her waist as his other hand rested on his knee. El now stood in front of the two, who weren’t completely unaware that she was there, but they both had a feeling that someone was there. El lets out a shaky breath as she reaches down, grabbing both of their free hands “Billy… [F/N]. I want to see. I want to see what happened.” Billy raises his head and [F/N] opens her eyes, El could see the tears in their eyes as they stared up at her, she lets out a gasp when the hands she was holding let go of hers and instead held a tight grip on her forearm. She tries to break free but neither one of them were letting go, their hold on her only tightened as she fought against them but when they did let go of her, she falls back but their memories of everything they’ve done flashed in her head. From [F/N] and Billy killing people, from them kidnapping people, from them hurting people, from the Mind Flayer infecting the two of them, from the very beginning when Billy crashed and [F/N] rushing to come to his aid.

El let out a grunt when she fell onto the concrete sidewalk, she groans as she rubs the back of her head and slowly pushed herself up so her hands were holding her up, she looked around and saw that she was on some random street that she couldn’t recognise but the sun was up and there weren’t many people around, it was practically empty. She finally pulls herself onto her feet and starts walking around, maybe trying to find someone or something she can recognise. She lets out a gasp when she heard laughter so she goes to turn around and see what it was but paused when a young child, a little girl, ran past her laughing to her hearts content. Looking her up and down, she wore a [F/C] sweater and shorts while her hair was tied up with a hair tie that had small little ladybugs on it, the girl laughed again before turning around and waving her hand in the direction El was standing in.

“Stevie, come on! You’re so slow.” El gasps softly and when she turns around she sees the child version of Steve Harrington, he looked to be about ten years of age, pushing a bike where the girl was standing “Didn’t you ask me to teach you how to ride a bike?” Steve pants as he walks past El and towards his older sister.

“You’re not the one pushing the bike [F/N].” he complains, she just rolls her eyes.

“Stop being such a big baby, dingus.” he pouts, El follows them and finds that they’re in some neighbourhood in Hawkins that has smooth terrain for Steve to ride his bike. El smiled softly seeing [F/N] tease Steve while he in turn was crying at her to stop, she did eventually stop when she saw his eyes start getting misty and started pushing his bike. It was quite sweet watching the older Harrington treated her brother rather delicately, he seemed like such a crybaby when he was a kid.

“I-I’m having second thoughts, [F/N].” Steve said to her, his voice barely above a whisper. He was currently on the bike, his hands clutching onto the handles as his feet rested on the pedals, [F/N] stood beside him while holding the back because she knew that he didn’t have the balance to hold himself. She exhaled through her nose, looking him up and down.

“Well, we can always do this another time, not everybody can get it on their first try.” she tries reassuring him but noticed that he still looked upset over the matter, her eyes looked down in thought before she reached over and placed her hand on top of his “Hey, Steve, I’ll be right beside you, alright? I’ll always be with you every step of the way, I promise you that.” Steve sniffles at that, looking down at his sister with teary eyes.

“R-Really?” she nods, a big smile on her face.

“Really, I’ll always be there for you.” seeing her smile made one just as big spread across his lips, he then nods as he looked ahead of them.

“Okay, I can do this.” and as [F/N] promised, she was right beside him to help keep him balanced as he pedalled down the sidewalk, but the moment she noticed that he was doing on his own was when she pulled her arms back and instead ran beside him.

“You’re doing it, Stevie! Look at you go!” she cheered, he took a quick glance at her and saw that he really was doing it on his own, a big smile broke onto his face as he went on. When [F/N] could no longer keep up with him, she stopped running at his pace and let out an exhausted breath as she hunched forward to catch her breath. El approached the young [F/N], looking at her face and there she saw the look of pure love as she watched her brother go, she saw that she completely adored her brother to no ends. El remembered Nancy mentioning how [F/N] would do about anything for her younger brother, it didn’t what it was, it’s just that she would go to great lengths for him. [F/N] gasped and this caused El to stop looking at her and instead back at Steve, who winced when she saw the wheel get caught in something, causing him to fly off the bike “Steve!” she shouts out and immediately rushes to his side, to which he was bawling his eyes out as his knees were bleeding and hands were scrapped.

“It hurts, [F/N]! It hurts so much!” he cries out, [F/N] drops to her knees as she looked him up and down, trying to figure out what to do as he continued sobbing. She then tries to calm him down but it just doesn’t seem to work, nothing she was doing was working and he only seemed to be getting worse, so she starts to cry with Steve. El found it a little funny that the two siblings were crying, Steve because he was hurt and [F/N] because Steve was crying. She never would have imagined that the drunk, depressed and psychotic [F/N] she met the day prior was the same caring little girl she watched before her. When [F/N] did manage to calm down, not enough to stop crying, she picked Steve up and carried him on his back and ran to the closets house, abandoning the bike in favor of someone helping her brother. The person she chose was quite startled to find two crying children at her door step, awkwardly question what was wrong but managed to understand what happened through all the snot and tears [F/N] blubbered out.

[you can skip past this, this is basically her past that I accidentally started to write and I couldn’t fucking stop]

[F/N]’s happiest memory was anything that involved Steve, she was the eldest Harrington child of the Harrington couple. The two of them never wanted a daughter and expected their first child to be a son, but when they got [F/N] instead they didn’t hesitate to have sex again just to conceive another child in hopes of getting a son, and their hopes came true when Steve was born. [F/N] noticed at a young age how her parents favoured Steve over her every time, it didn’t matter what it was, it was always him before her, but she never did care about that, because her parents were just assholes and her baby brother didn’t do anything to deserve the anger she had for their parents to be directed at him. There was just something different between the two of them when they started getting older, they were joined at the hip when they were children but the moment they were in middle school, it was a different story. [F/N] naturally entered middle school before him and she already earned herself a title, the up and rising star of Hawkins Middle School that would surely become the Queen of Hawkins High when she graduates middle school. She was beautiful, a Harrington genetic gift, naturally smart and athletic, very kind and charismatic that she was the person everyone wanted to be with.

So her achievements greatly overshadowed Steve’s to the point that their parents attention moved from him to her, at first she was happy that she got their validation, but noticing how her and Steve were drifting apart and his admiration towards her turned green with envy, she started second guessing all the popularity she gained. It got worse for Steve when he started middle school, he was known as the “other Harrington” that just couldn’t match up to his sister, he was just constantly in her shadow no matter where he went. Constantly being compared to her was like a nightmare to him, he was struggling to finish an English essay? [F/N] would have easily gotten it done in half the time it took him to write a single sentence. He managed to score a three pointer in basketball during P.E? How about winning against Hawkins Middle School’s rivalling team with the most points they’ve seen in years. He didn’t want to be known as the younger brother of [F/N] Harrington, he wanted people to know him as Steve Harrington, but that was never going to happen as long as people knew that he was her brother. [F/N] obviously noticed the treatment her sweet little brother was going through, she tried so hard to talk to him or get people to stop with their bullshit, but that made Steve angrier, he didn’t want her pity.

“Steve, why won’t you talk to me anymore? Please, I just want to make things between us better, like what it used to be when we were children!” she pleads out to him, she flinched back when he slammed his hands down on his desk, whipping his head around to glare at her.

“You want to make things right? Alright, maybe stop being better at everything! Maybe stop being the topic of every conversation people have when they come to talk to me! Maybe just stop being the reason my life is ruined!” he pushes his chair back with his legs as he approaches her “Stop being smart! Stop being pretty! Stop people the centre of attention!” she lets out a grunt when he shoved her back, her stumbling out his room as he reached for the door “Maybe just stop being my sister altogether!” he finished and slammed the door in her face, she continued to stand where he left her as she stared at his door, she let out choked up noises as tears glistened in her eyes before finally sniffling and walking away.  That was definitely the last time the two of them properly spoke with each other and no matter how many times she tried to work things out, how hard she tried to make things better, he just never gave her the time of day to hear her out. Her graduation from middle school to high school was probably her worst day because Steve didn’t even want to be there and only came because their parents would be more disappointed in him if he didn’t come to support his sister, and for him it was probably a great day because it meant that he didn’t have to see his sister the following year at all. If she didn’t do anything soon she was possibly going to lose Steve, so staring at her reflection she stared at herself and couldn’t help but hate she was looking at. She never felt like she was looking at herself, just looking at the person her parents made her out to be without her ever being able to properly find herself. She wanted to change, she wanted to be different from the person she saw in the reflection, and there was just one person that could possibly help her.

“Eddie Munson!” she screamed at the top of lungs at the trailer park, she knew the bastard was home, telling how the lights in his trailer were on. Eddie “the Freak” Munson was her polar opposite in middle school and a boy who was in the same year as she was. She remembered first seeing him during their middle school’s talent show with how him and his band “Corroded Coffin” performed heavy metal, it was very loud and a little disorganised, but it was pretty good in her opinion. She met Eddie on a few occasions but each time weren’t really pleasant, mostly because he spoke to her as if she didn’t know how the world worked since she was a privileged little girl that got everything she wanted. She didn’t know what hurt more, the fact that he isn’t entirely wrong or that it was him that woke her up. Eddie opened the door to the trailer and was surprised to see [F/N] standing there, so with his usual cocky attitude, he crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe.

“Well what do we have here? What can this jester do for her majesty, [F/N] “the Queen” Harrington?” he cooed, [F/N] didn’t bother to say anything and just went straight to the point.

“I need your help.”

“And what can little ol’ me do for you?”

“I need you to make me look like you.” now he was a little thrown off at the request, the one and only girl that everybody loves and has everything at the palm of her hand, was asking for his help in making her… look like him? She noticed that he was confused so she raised her hand, she goes to speak but a chill ran up her spine when a burst of wind blew through her body “Can I come in? I’m fucking freezing.” her swearing was even more startling, [F/N] was prim and proper and wasn’t know for using such vulgar language, and yet here she was.

“O-Oh, yeah, of course.” and that’s where Eddie found himself holding a box of tissues for [F/N] as she told him everything that happened during her year in middle school, bawling her eyes out as she told him that her worst fear was possibly coming true “So, let me get this straight… you want me, to make you look like me so that your parents and possibly others start viewing in a different way and that people will start liking your brother?” she sniffles, nodding her head.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much it.” he sucks in a breath, running a hand through his growing hair after growing through his buzz cut.

“I don’t know if I find that endearing that you came to me for help or insulting that you came to me for help.” she gave him an apologetic look “But I see where you’re coming from, female Harrington. You don’t want people to see you in a positive light and if they hate you enough they’ll draw their attention towards the better Harrington.” she nods her head.

“That’s exactly what I want.” he lets out a startled yelp when she grabbed his hand, holding it in between her own and gave him a desperate look “I’ll do anything to drift the attention away from me and give it to him, I won’t care how people view me as long as they stop making my brother feel even worse than he already feels. I want to be there beside him instead of on the sidelines.” he inhales sharply, this really wasn’t what he was expecting to happen on a Saturday night.

“Well… alright.” she lights up, a big smile on her face “But I want no complaining from you, alright? The moment you start doubting anything I do, I’m gonna give up on you,” she nods her head at the terns he set.

“Of course, totally!” she stands up, still holding his hand, and shakes it rather vigorously “If this works, I owe you big time, Munson.”

And being a man of his word, on the first day of her high school year, the soft and kind [F/N] was nowhere to be seen. Instead Hawkins High was met with the new and improved Harrington that wore leather or denim and had several piercings that were definitely not done by a professional, she even wore dark make up instead of the light or natural one. To say everyone was shocked would be an understatement, everyone was in disbelief when she pulled up to school in such attire but it was the fact that she was with Eddie Munson of all people! They were laughing about and talking as if they have been best friends since they were children, even his group of friends were in on the deal of making her less popular so she wasn’t seen without being with Eddie and his group of freaks. Her entire personality was a total flip as well, from the well spoken and polite young lady turned to a rude and vulgar woman who’s attitude was the worst that people couldn’t stand being with her. The teachers couldn’t believe what they were seeing either, she was once a straight A student but now she was barely passing with D+ and C-’s.

She learnt everything from Eddie, and she was always grateful for him because she actually felt free. Being with him and his group of friends was so relaxing because she didn’t have to worry about how she looked and how she acted anymore, she could actually properly be herself. Listening to heavy metal and screaming at the top of her lungs, smoking weed and laying on the floor of his trailer, letting him ramble on and on about some fantasy game called D&D, she didn’t care, it felt nice to actually have real friends instead of those people leeching off of her. But that didn’t matter, well it did, but what really mattered was the fact that it was working. People didn’t want to be associated with the former Queen who now hung around with the freaks and because she was barely pulling her weight in school and was constantly failing, her parents were absolutely livid with her.

“What has gotten into you, [F/N]? You were never like this leading up to this year! It’s all because you’ve been hanging around that Munson boy! He’s not a good influence on you!” she just rolled his eyes as her mother shouts all sorts of nonsense at her, both her mother and father have cornered her and sat her down to have a proper talk with her.

“Not only that, but you’re failing every single one of your classes! You’re barely getting marks above F’s, and at this rate, you’re not even going to pass at the end of your senior year! You’re sullying the Harrington name, [F/N]! I thought we raised you better than this.” she scoffs this time, leaning back into the sofa as she crossed her arms.

“Well I’m sorry for not being mummy and daddy’s perfect little princess anymore, but if you’re not going to accept the me I am today, then why the fuck should I pull my weight anymore? Besides, you still have your perfect little golden child Stevie to take my place if I ever go too far.” she snickers to herself when they continued to yell at her, telling her to that this rebellious act of hers better come to an end or she will face consequences, to which she just laughed in their faces before shoving past them and out the front door where Eddie was waiting for her with his shitty van.

“Dude, we could hear the shouting all the way from out here!” Gareth exclaims, throwing open the back doors for her to jump in, to which she laughed as she took Jeff’s hand as he helped her in “They sounded really angry, you alright?” she just shrugged.

“Honestly I could give less of a shit at what they’re saying, but it’s definitely working, I can just feel them ready to disown me and label me as the family disappointment, I’m just waiting for it now.” Eddie laughs from the drivers seat, glancing back at her.

“You’re crazy.” she winks with a click of her tongue.

“I have you to thank.” they all laugh as he drives to the Quarry.

Steve was completely baffled when people started treating him differently. For some reason he was now known as the better Harrington, the one that didn’t stray from the path of righteousness, or whatever the hell that meant, but it felt good that every topic wasn’t about his sister anymore. Well, when his sister was brought up, it was to tell him how awful it was to now be related to the psycho apart of Eddie Munson’s group of friends. When Steve first saw [F/N]’s transformation and change of behaviour, he didn’t believe it until he saw the way she now argued with everything their parents said. She never used to fight back against them, she would usually just nod and agree with anything they said, but not anymore. Now their parents were looking at him again, telling him they expected great things from him, how he was the new light of the Harrington family and that he was better than his good for nothing sister. As for [F/N], she was happy to see that her brother was finally getting that popularity he deserved and it didn’t matter that she had hell to pay for such a cost, all that mattered to her was that Steve wasn’t bitter having to go to school anymore.

She didn’t care that people insulted her.

She didn’t care that her parents hated her.

If Steve was happy, that’s all that mattered.

Sitting on the hood of her car, [F/N] had blood running down her nose and a bruise forming on the side of her cheek, knuckles torn and bloodied as her clothes were a little disheveled. The bruise on her cheek was given to her during an altercation with her father once again, this time he couldn’t stand her attitude and backhanded her clean across the face hard enough to give her a nose bleed. She didn’t see an ounce of regret on his face and not even her mother did anything to stop anything from escalating, she couldn’t take staying in that house any longer and just left without another word. Her knuckles bleeding were from her brutally punching a brick wall until she physically couldn’t close her knuckles anymore and just tired herself out until she sat on the hood of her car while smoking a cigarette to calm herself down.

“… fuck.” she muttered under her breath, she was totally going to Eddie’s trailer to get high and drunk to the point she couldn’t remember who the fuck she was. When she finally decided she was done, she hopped off the hood of her car and snuffed out her cigarette, getting to ready to jump into her car but paused when she heard her name.

“[F/N]!” she was confused when she saw Steve rushing over to her, she was confused as to why he was there.

“Steve?” she called out, she really didn’t want to deal with him right now be decided to stick it out to see what he had to say “What do you want? Don’t you have basketball practice going on right now?” he scoffed, shaking his head as he looked her up and down, wincing when he saw her bloodied knuckles.

“I don’t give a shit about that.” he reaches for her hand but flinched back when pulled her hand back.

“Why are you here? Don’t you have better things to do than deal with me?” he swallows the saliva in his throat, not liking the tired look in his sisters eyes.

“I-I’m here because I’m worried about you, I just— I don’t understand why you’re acting like this, [F/N]. You’re nothing like the way you were in middle school, what happened to her? Why did you suddenly change? Why are you so different now, [F/N]? I just don’t understand.” he shakes his head as he remembered back to the year prior when his sister first changed, the once quiet house was now filled with arguing and shouting matches between her and their parents to the point that Steve couldn’t handle it “Why are you like this, [F/N]! You had everything and then suddenly you threw it all away because of what? What?! Why did you do it?! What was it?!” Steve didn’t understand why he was yelling at his sister, he usually wouldn’t raise his voice like this and especially not when his sister was bleeding because of their father, but he just needed to quell his curiosity as to why his sister would do such a thi—

“I did it for you, Steve!” she shouts, he was taken aback, what? “I threw away everything for you! The popularity! The attention! Mum and dad’s respect, everything! I gave up everything because I saw how my popularity was affecting you! I couldn’t stand the thought that my brother was feeling the way he was in middle school all because people couldn’t see past me whenever they were with you. I hated the fact that we aren’t as close as we were when we were children, so I thought, if I act differently to what people are used to, then maybe people will start liking Steve Harrington instead of his older sister. And look at that, it worked! It actually worked, because people fucking hate me now and they adore you! You’re the Harrington that isn’t a fuck up!” [F/N] hadn’t realised she started crying until she felt the tears running down her face instead of blood, she pulls back and quickly wiped away the tears, grunting out in pain when she clenched her fists.

“B-But… why? Why would you do that?” Steve stuttered out, not believing she would do something like that, she just rolled her eyes before throwing her arms open at him.

“You said it yourself, Steve! I asked what I had to do to make things right, and you listed everything off! I had to stop being better at everything, I had to stop being the topic of every conversation, I had to stop being smart, I had to stop being pretty, I had to stop being the centre of attention! I did everything! I did everything you asked! Now all that’s left is to stop being your sister!” god, the fact that she remembered everything while he didn’t had Steve start tearing up, she had to tear her eyes away from him to stop her urges to comfort him, she takes a breath and jabs her finger into his chest “I gave you what you wanted, so I hope you’re satisfied with what you’re given. I’m only waiting for mum and dad to fulfil you’re last request and maybe then you’re ruined life will be magically fixed.”

“[F-F/N], I’m sorry— I didn’t—” she raised her hands, rubbing her sleeve under her nose.

“Save it.” she sniffles as she turns her back “Go home, Steve. I’ll stay out of your life as long as you want. Wouldn’t want to ruin the perfect life you’ve accumulated since I’ve fallen from my grace.” with that she leaves Steve standing all alone, feeling even more worse when she finally saw those tears run down his face.

That… that was her worst memory that she regrets.

She regrets shouting at him.

She regrets making him cry.

She regrets that she hurt him and left him alone.

[yeah, that’s all I’ll write for her backstory. I definitely had more to write, but it’s gotten too long and I want to get back to the main plot]

El tears off the blindfold, panting heavily after finally leaving the memories of Billy and [F/N] when she found the location of where the Mind Flayer was located. She looks around to see no one in sight, she was all alone in the cabin despite hearing their voices not to long ago.

“Mike?” she calls out but got no answer, she repeatedly called out his name again but was left unanswered until another voice spoke up.

“He can’t hear you.” turning her head, she gasps when she sees Billy emerge from out of one of the rooms “You shouldn’t have looked for me. Because now I see you. We can all see you. You… let us in. And now… you are going to have to let us stay.” as the Mind Flayer speaks through Billy, he’s slowly approaching El as she backs away from him in tears, she’s gasps when someone was right behind her.

“Don’t you see?” looking over her shoulder she saw that it was [F/N] with that same psychotic grin on her face, leaning over the couch El backed herself into but quickly pushed herself off to get away from her “We’ve been building it… for you. All this time, we’ve been building it. All that work, all that pain… all of it, for you.” the two of them now stood together, eyes misty as they held each other’s hand.

“And now it’s time. Time to end it. We are going to end you. And when you are gone, we are going to end your friends. And then we are going to end… everyone.” they speak in unison and before they could do anything, El screams at the top of her lungs as she throws her hand out towards them, sending them flying back to where they came from, and so the two of them woke up exactly where El found them in Billy’s room. [F/N] had a sad look on her face as she lifted herself off of Billy’s shoulder, neither one of them said a word as they sat in silence and squeezed each other’s hand.

“This sucks.”

[starcourt mall]

It all happened so fast. One moment they’re being attacked at Hopper’s cabin, next thing they know they’re hiding out at the Starcourt Mall because Billy had somehow managed to find them and was waiting out for them in his busted up Camaro. [F/N] was nowhere in sight and they didn’t know what terrified them the most, the fact that she was just lurking around waiting for them or that Billy was ready to run them over without a second thought. Hiding in the mall didn’t go as well as they thought, because the next thing they knew was that the Mind Flayer was right on top of them and broke through the skylight, landing right where they were and was now in search for El. The group consisting of Nancy, Johnathan, Lucas and Will somehow managed to escape and were hurriedly trying to replace their stolen ignition cable, their hearts beginning to race at the sound of Billy’s engine revving.

“Shit!”

“Get the car started, go!” Nancy cocks her gun as Jonathan jumps into the drivers seat to start the car, Nancy raises the gun and aims it towards Billy. She doesn’t back down when he starts driving towards her, she narrows her eyes as she starts firing at him, the others are panicking as she’s shooting at his already shattered windscreen that’s doing little to no damage as he continues to get closer and closer to her. The moment her gun ran out of ammunition was when she started to panic, she looks between the gun and Billy before ducking down and curling up against the car despite knowing that was going to do little to nothing to suppress the pain of getting smashed against the car but was surprised when Steve, in a different car, rammed right into the side of Billy’s Camaro. Both he and Robin grunt out in pain at the impact but were both pretty much okay, Robin looked up at Steve and saw that he had a panicked look on his face due to the fact that his boyfriend almost killed his ex and in order to stop him from doing that he crashed a car into him.

“Steve, are you alright?” she asks him, he’s panting as he continued to stare at Billy’s unconscious body laying limp in his car.

“Ask me tomorrow.” their gaze then goes upwards when they heard snarling, Robin gasps in shock to see the disgusting fleshy monster dubbed as the Mind Flayer on top of the Starcourt Mall, they whip their heads around when they heard the honk of the other car pull up beside them.

“Get in!” the Mind Flayer was quick to give chase but paused when a new pair of headlights flashed on, it decided she could take care of them. Johnathan thinks they’re in the clear, the Mind Flayer isn’t in sight as they’re driving away but he wasn’t taking any chances as he continued to high tail it away from the mall. He spares a glance back at Will and saw he was gently caressing the back of his neck, he was close, and he just wasn’t showing himself.  “What the hell was that thing back there?!” Robin shouts, pointing out the car in the direction they just fled.

“I’m guessing that was the Mind Flayer, and that was the body made of the flesh of various dead people?” Steve sums up as he looks at the other four, to which they all nod their heads to confirm what he said “Great, I can’t wait to get back home and explain to my sister why I was gone and why my face is beaten up. Hopefully she doesn’t go on a murder spree upon seeing my face.” the four of them wincing didn’t go unnoticed, even Robin flinched hearing the mention of his sister.

“Um… about that, actually…” Lucas starts, rubbing the back of his neck “Your sister, uh— she’s kind of um, like…” Lucas peeks back at Steve and felt a chill run down his spine, Steve was wearing an expression that he normally never wore. His expression was a mixture of concern and slight anger, concern for the safety and well-being on his older sister and anger that something has happened to his sister while he was trapped in an elevator then tortured by Russians.

“What’s wrong with my sister?” Nancy licks her lips, not really sure where to begin on the matter of his older sister.

“Steve, your sister…” she sighs, running a hand through her hair “Your sister, kind of…” Steve was getting more irritated over the fact that they weren’t telling him, he grits his teeth as he glared at them.

“What’s wrong with my sister?!” he shouts this time in hopes it’ll get them to spit it out, Will lets out a shuddered breath when he felt a tingle in his neck, he glances backwards and saw a flash of someone’s high beams hit them. They all turn around to see what it was and the roar of a car engine slowly gaining on them made their hearts drop into their stomachs when they recognised the car, Steve and Robin look out through the back window and their eyes widened when they saw the familiar license plate “[F/N]…?” he manages to mutter out then let out a grunt when the car rear ended them.

“Shit! Jonathan!” he curses under his breath as he changes gear to create some distance between them and her but their car was nothing in comparison to her mustang because she caught up to them easily, each time she made sure to rear end them. When she noticed nothing was happening she pulled back a little just so she was now driving beside them, they all turn to look at her but Steve and Robin were the most shocked because they haven’t seen her like this. Deranged looking, eyes bloodshot and teary as her body was sweating uncontrollably while her veins were pumping black ooze throughout her entire body.

“You wanna know what’s wrong with her?!” Lucas shouts, letting out a scream when [F/N] drives the side of her car into theirs “She’s been flayed by the Mind Flayer and this entire week she’s been kidnapping people and offering them to the Mind Flayer, and not too long ago she killed a bunch of people at the hospital and nearly killed Nancy and Jonathan! There, now you know!” Will smacks Lucas for the way he said it, gesturing to Steve and saw how the boy looked confused and scared. What confused them was that Robin shared the same expression, Lucas said that she was under that things control for about a week, so does that mean…

“Wait, you’re telling me that the whole reason she’s been acting different— that she’s acting like that, is because that monster we saw before brainwashed her?!” Will nods his head, she slumps back in the back as she recalls how [F/N] was acting when she broke up with her. She knew that there was something wrong with her but she just couldn’t pin just what was wrong, her eyes had lost their usual shine and she was avoiding eye contact with her, refusing to. It felt like she was talking to someone entirely different, and all that was true, that person from before was not her girlfriend but an imposter in her body. Robin looks at Steve and saw his eyes never left [F/N], she had a crazy smile on her face as she stared Jonathan down “Steve…” she mumbles.

“What did it do to you, [F/N]?” he’s only ever seen that look on her face maybe once or twice, and that was when she was getting some sick pleasure out of beating the shit out of a few high school kids that picked on him, she was crazy like that, but she made sure not to make that face again whenever he was present because it was a little unsettling “That’s… that’s not my sister, that’s not [F/N]. Is this— is this also happening to Billy?” they nod.

“They were together when it happened.” that just made things worse, it must have happened just after they left Robin’s. Was that why [F/N] was sick that morning? Oh my god, it was happening right under their noses and neither of them noticed. Jonathan steadies the car again when [F/N] rams hers into them again but let out a confused noise when she suddenly stopped, he glances over at her and saw she was looking ahead of them. He watched in confusion when she drove ahead of them then turned around but stopped in the middle of the road, Jonathan slams on the breaks to stop them from going any further and there the two of them are staring each other down.

“Jonathan…” Nancy mutters, not a single one of them breaking eye contact with [F/N], Jonathan takes a breath as he grips the stirring wheel, swallowing thickly every time he hears [F/N] rev her engines as her car jerks forward. [F/N] was no longer in control, no matter how hard she was trying to fight the Mind Flayer for control it was no use and she was locked inside her own body as she watched it move on its on accord. A dark grin was adorn on her face, watching closely to what Jonathan was going to do next. Was he going to back up and continue this game of cat and mouse? Was he going to play a game of chicken instead? Both options sounded fun to her, but she decided it was going to be her to choose for him because she pushes the handbrake down and slams on the gas and exhilarates forward “Jonathan!”

“I know!” he fumbles with the gear but switches it to drive and starts driving towards her as well, he had a plan in his head to swerve out of the way just at the nick of them, but he failed to inform the others as he kept getting closer and closer. Steve looked between Jonathan and sister and he couldn’t calm down, he could only think of how bad the collision will have on [F/N]. He was always like this, worrying for his sister than for his own well-being, just like her worrying for Steve rather than herself. Like brother like sister. Neither one of them were slowing down to the point [F/N] was laughing hysterically, changing gears to go fast enough to kill them and quite possibly herself. Well, if she hurt herself it didn’t matter, the Mind Flayer can heal her body no matter how severely injured her body gets.

“Jonathan, what are you doing?!” Will shouts at his brother.

“Relax, I know what I’m doi—” he was cut off when Steve pulls himself out from the back, reaching past Will and Lucas for the handbrake “Steve— what are you doing?!”

“I’m sorry, Jonathan! But you’d honestly do the same.” he pulls the brake up and the car instantly starts to drift, Jonathan tries to regain control while Nancy smacks Steve’s hands off the handbrake but they were too late when [F/N]’s mustang hit the side of their car, luckily. They spin off the road while [F/N] came to a stop in the middle of the road, she didn’t expect that outcome but she was happy that it was in her favor, she guesses Steve doesn’t want to hurt her either. Such a loving little brother.

“I didn’t think things were gonna be this easy, honestly. Even Billy’s having a hard time.” she snickers softly and looks in the rear view mirror, pouting softly when she noticed a small cut on her forehead that was bleeding a little. With a shrug, she swipes her thumb over it and grins when it healed up instantly. Kicking her door open, she steps out then leaned in to grab the axe sitting in her passenger seat and doesn’t bother turning her car off as she starts approaching the other car, throwing the axe over her shoulder and continuously bounced it while whistling a song. Jonathan lets out a groan, clutching his forehead after his head took the force of the airbags that deployed, he really was going to kill Steve later for this, but he couldn’t help but understand what Steve was going through. Not too long ago it was his brother that was under the Mind Flayer’s control and now it’s Steve’s sister that didn’t even know this shit was going on in the first place, oh the irony. He whips his head around when he heard Nancy let out a scream, they all look over to see that it was [F/N] “Yoohoo~ open the door.”

“Fuck no!” Nancy promptly locks the door to emphasise her point but [F/N] just rolled her eyes, pulling her fist back then punching through the door then proceeded the tear it off. Nancy doesn’t hesitate to push herself away from [F/N] just as she leans into the car, her eyes scanning through the many occupants inside but she let out a sigh when she didn’t see the one they were after.

“She’s not here.” she muttered under her breath, probably informing the Mind Flayer that El was still at the mall and not with the others that fled. She was going to leave it at that, the Mind Flayer was calling her back, but those feelings for what Nancy fucking Wheeler did to her brother started to resurface, and that’s where she found herself grabbing Wheeler by her hair and dragging her out of the car.

“Nancy!”

“Nancy, no!” Nancy cries out in pain from the roots of her hair being violently tugged on, the pain gets worse when [F/N] slams the side of her face onto the hood of the car and holds her there.

“[F/N], please… don’t do this. You don’t want to do this.” [F/N] lets out a hum, looking up in thought before nodding her head.

“No, no, that’s where you’re wrong. You have absolutely no idea how much I want to do this; how much I really want to kill you with my own hands.” Nancy starts to tremble, tears swelling up in her eyes when [F/N] raises her free hand that was holding the axe, seeing the dried blood splatter all over the blade and some on the shaft “I’ll pay your little brother a visit after I’m done with you, I’m sure he’ll be happy seeing your decapitated head mounted on a stick.” before she could bring the axe down she’s being pulled back by Jonathan and Steve, Nancy falls to the ground as Robin goes around and tries to pry the axe out of her hands.

“[F/N], please… stop this! This isn’t like you to go this far!” Steve pleads. Steve knew his sister was strong, but right now was just plain ridiculous, it was taking both himself and Jonathan putting their entire weight to keep her from moving but even that wasn’t enough. She lets out an animalistic growl as she lets go off the axe and letting Robin stumble backwards, she throws Steve off next and hunches forward to lift Jonathan off the ground as she grabs his arms that were wrapped around her neck and proceeds to throw him over her, this also causes him to tear her jacket off but she could care less about it. She sets her sights on Robin and doesn’t hesitate to punch her across the face, Steve goes to stand up to reprimand [F/N] again but let out a grunt when she kicked him down and grabbed the axe that she managed to catch. His breath gets caught in his throat as he watched [F/N] swing the axe over her shoulder and it comes down as quickly as it was raised, he wants to raise his arms to shield his face but what can that do? With tears in his eyes, he looks up at his sister with pleading eyes and there— there he saw a flash of color return to her eyes, a flash of regret and confusion when they met his. He saw a glimpse of his sister inside those eyes that were fighting back against the Mind Flayer, but he knew she couldn’t hold it for long but he was grateful for the time given because she redirected the blade aiming for his face into the side of the car. He flinches at the impact, watching as the car rocked back and forth before finally settling down. His sister is now panting above him, staring down at him with a slightly less hostile expression, but he knew she wasn’t herself yet, her eyes were still in a dazed state while her veins were still black “[F/N]…” he whimpers out, all he wants is his sister back.

“S-Stevie…?” she croaks out, he gasps at her voice whispering out to him but soon her face twists in pain. She pulls away, pressing the heels of her hands into her forehead to fight against the aching pain the Mind Flayer was inflicting on her, fighting for dominance within her head and it managed to win because now she was fleeing the scene and back to her car. She did hesitate to leave, her eyes glancing back at the others that were slowly picking themselves off the floor, but she shook her head before driving back to the Starcourt mall.  “Welp, that hurt,..” Robin groaned out, holding her cheek as some blood pulled up in her mouth “I can’t believe she hit me.”

“She… she didn’t mean it.” Steve muttered, hand over his chest. 

“But I don’t understand.” Robin says rather bitterly “Why didn’t she kill you? She was clearly going to do it, but she stopped at the last second.” Jonathan let out a groan as he pushed himself onto his feet, his hand clutching tightly onto the jacket he tore off her body before he was thrown off.

“Back at the hospital, the Mind Flayer said… it said that Steve was both her weakness and her strength. She got more violent with Nancy and I because of what happened in 83, but once she saw Steve it settled, even if it was for a brief moment.” Steve continued to lay on the ground, his hand instinctively reached up to caress his cheek as memory flashed in his mind. He was remembering back to a time where [F/N] punched him across the face because he was basically screaming at her to punch him, he didn’t expect her to actual do it because she swore that she’d never hurt him, but she did.

“W-Why— why’d you hit me?” he whimpered out, tears being to swell in his eyes as he cradled his swelling check, to which she just sighed while rolling her eyes and placing her hands on her hips.

“You told me to, and besides, you were acting like a shit so you definitely deserved it.” his lip trembled and a small sob escaped his lips, she rolls her eyes again and smacks him in the shoulder “I hope you know that this goes for show that I’ll practically do anything for you, Stevie. But this will be the first and only time I’ll hurt you like this, mmkay? You’ve been acting a little entitled these past few weeks and you needed a little wake up call. Your arrogance will be your undoing one of these days, so don’t let it go to your head. I won’t be around to wake you up next time.” he sniffles, raising his hands to wipe away the falling tears.

“I promise, as long as you promise not to hit me like that again.” she chuckles softly, wiping away his tears.

“I promise. From today, I’ll never hurt you like that ever again, not even if you deserve it.” she starts to laugh when she ruffled his hair and he cried out in horror, screaming at her that she ruined his hair, she just continued to laugh as she ran away from him whilst he screamed bloody murder.

“[F/N]…” he starts tearing up but held them back when a hand was offered to him, he saw that it was Robin wearing [F/N]’s discarded jacket.

“Get up, Harrington. We’re gonna save your sister, and when we do, I’m gonna give her a proper ass whoppin!” driving back to the Starcourt mall they sat in silence, Jonathan breaking all the road laws as he sped down road in the car that was hanging onto its life by a thread. Steve raised his eyes from where he sat and saw Robin digging her face into the fabric of [F/N]’s jacket, he noticed that she was thinking about something because she had a look on her face that was debating whether or not she should speak or not “… she broke up with me.” this caused his body to straighten up, even the others in the car peeked back to listen in on the conversation, rude.

“What do you mean she broke up with you? W-Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” she let out a sigh, blinking back the tears that were slowly swelling up in her eyes.

“I guess it was because of that Mind Flayer, or whatever the fuck that thing is. I think she was in the middle of choosing that things latest meal, because I caught her in an alleyway letting a girl kiss her. It was when I went to go look for the blueprints.” Steve gasps softly at that, so that’s why she looked so dejected when she came back “I couldn’t recognise her, she stared at me with these cold, dead eyes and the way she spoke to me… I felt so scared being there. I wish I knew, I wish I knew she was going through that and then maybe I could’ve helped her. Maybe I wouldn’t have felt so angry at her that she broke up with me, left me in that alleyway all alone— and for what? To protect me? So she wouldn’t have to hurt me ever more than she did by breaking my heart? She even threatened me if I told you, saying you wouldn’t believe me because I’m nothing but your coworker while she’s your sister.” she sniffles to herself, wiping away the tears that fell from her eyes, she spared Steve a look but flinched a little. He now wore a very livid expression, Robin became a really close friend to Steve after he and his sister got together and they became closed after their encounter with the Russian soldiers under the mall, so hearing how his flayed sister threatened and broke up with her pissed him off.

“If you don’t kick her ass, I’ll kick it for you. But first, we’ve got to find her and Billy and free them from the control of the Mind Flayer. Whether you forgive her or not, that’s up to you, but she’s still my sister.”  “What about Billy?”  “I hope he can forgive me for totalling his camaro.” they stare at each other and laugh weakly, Robin now rested her forward on his shoulder and let her hands dip into the pockets but she hummed in confusion when she felt something. Pulling it out, her breath hitched when she pulled out the photo of the four of them at the fair. Steve felt her body tremble so he looked down and he himself flinched at the photo, seeing that photo almost felt like yesterday. Steve wished he could go back to the time where the other three were clueless about the Upside Down; clueless about the true horrors of Hawkins and that he was the only one who knew the truth. Where his sister was madly in love with his friend, where his boyfriend was in the safety of his arms, where none of this was happening on the first place and that the four of them were having their weekly sleepover at the Harrington household.

Man, what a distant memory.

[starcourt mall]

[F/N] arrives right on time, finding Billy pushing himself off of El just as the Mind Flayer descends from the skylight. El was regaining her consciousness as the blur of the monster slowly registered in her mind, [F/N] wordlessly stands beside Billy and reached over to take his hand into hers. He doesn’t spare her a glance and neither does she, and though they were still under the influence of the monster in front of them, the two of them squeezed each others hand to let each other know that they were still in there. The Mind Flayer is paying the two of them no mind, slowly approaching the small child to devour her, rid the last obstacle in its way, when something blew up in its face. Billy and [F/N] cry out in pain at the blow, sharing the pain with the Mind Flayer, blow after blow Billy and [F/N] grovel to their knees in pain as the Mind Flayer roared at the intruders. [F/N] peeked through his hands and saw the lot she nearly killed had followed quickly after her, how she never noticed them was beyond her, but she was going to finish what she started.

Deal with them.

Finish the job.

Make no mistakes.

“Shut up…” she growled out, managing to push herself onto her feet and towards the escalator to where their unwanted guests were, leaving Billy to watch over El. Of course none of them were expecting to see [F/N] on them, they were all to preoccupied laying waste to the Mind Flayer to notice that she was there. Lucas was the first to suffer at her mercy, the others heard his cry for help and immediately turned to see where he was, watching in shock when they saw [F/N] turn him around and strike him across the face that he fell to the ground after spitting out blood from his mouth,

“Lucas!” next was Will, who was unfortunate to be within arms length because she did not hesitate to raise the axe and hit him with the butt if the axe and knock him unconscious “Will!” Jonathan screams out and was ready to drop everything to help his brother but was stopped when Nancy grabbed his arm, pulling him back and shaking her head.

“No, no! Jonathan, I understand what you’re going through, but no! She will kill your the moment you’re within her grasp, she’s not letting us go this time.” he shakes his head.

“I don’t care! I need to get Will!” he cries out and rips his arm free from Nancy’s hold but stopped when he saw Steve and Robin already rushing over to stop [F/N] from going any further with the children, Nancy grabs his arm again and tugs at it to get his attention.

“Steve and Robin will deal with her, we’ll keep the Mind Flayer distracted, alright? Steve won’t let anything happen to your brother.” speaking of which, the Mind Flayer’s anger was beginning to mix in with her own, anger for the previous host that managed to slip through its grasp. Placing her foot on Will’s chest, she raises the axe up to slam it down but was once again stopped when it was smacked out of her hands, she growls at the perpetrator and saw that it was Robin, who had her hands out in front of her to keep some distance between her and [F/N].

“[F/N], baby, please… it’s me, it’s Robin.” she pleads, she flinches and takes a step back when [F/N] pushed herself off of Will but kicked his unconscious body away to approach Robin “Whatever this thing has done to you; has made you do, I want you to know that this isn’t your fault, none of it is. You’re just as innocent as the next person is, and I want you to know that I… I forgive you. Everything you said in the alleyway, I know you didn’t mean any of it. I want you to know that I still love you, through everything that’s happened, I love you.” Robin felt hopeful when she saw [F/N]’s hardened gaze soften, maybe she was caught up in her delusions of freeing her mind that she reached for her hand, that was her mistake because her hand quickly grabbed a hold of Robin to keep her from moving and with her other hand sucker punched her straight in the gut so hard that she spat out saliva. She didn’t let when Robin gasped out of breath, collapsing to her knees as she hunched over and clutched her stomach.

“I care not for your words, they mean nothing to me. Didn’t I already tell you that?” Robin lets out a sob at her cold words, wishing nothing more than to feel the warmth she once had only for her, but she could only cry out in pain when [F/N] twisted her arm “You’ve lost your chance of staying away, so I hope you’re prepared for the consequences.”

“Hey!” turning her head, she was taken aback when Steve came rushing over and slammed the bottom of a fire extinguisher into her face. She let out a gasp at the sudden blow, letting Robin go as her head was thrown back after the impact, she then raised her hand to cradle her throbbing nose as Steve’s arm dropped due to the weight of the extinguisher “You need to stop this madness, [F/N], I beg of you. I need you back, I need my big sister back!” he takes a step back when she growled at him but her face screwed up in pain once more, a mixture from getting hit with a fire extinguisher, the fireworks the Mind Flayer was getting hit with, but also [F/N] fighting for dominance over her mind once more.

He’s lying to you.

He doesn’t need you.

You don’t need him.

“Please, let’s just go home. With Robin and Billy, we’ll go home and watch movies like we used to. Talk about how much we hate our parents, how much we hate Hawkins and how we’ll leave as soon as Robin and Billy graduate. We’ll be together, like we always have. Just you, and me.” [F/N) groans out in pain, shaking her head as she slapped her hands against her forehead to quell all the madness that was going on “Just come back to me, my big sister.” Steve takes a step forward, reaching for her but gasped when she punched him in the face.

“Shut up!” she screamed at him, she struggled to stay standing whilst clutching her throbbing head.

Destroy him.

Annihilate him.

Murder him.

Kill him.

Steve couldn’t remember what happened next, first he was struggling to keep himself standing, the next thing he knew he was barely clinging to consciousness as he laid on his back while he suffered continuous blows to his face. [F/N] was currently on top of him, screaming at the top of her lungs as she punched him left and right, holding nothing back as she delivered blow after blow. At this right she was definitely going to kill him, but she just couldn’t stop herself, this time not pulling her punches and putting all her strength into each one. She saw him weakly reach out to her but she merely smacked his hand away then grab him by the collars of his shirt to pull him forward, reeling her head back to slam her forehead into the bridge of his nose. Blood gurgled in his throat and he was questioning why he was still conscious, wishing nothing more then for this continuous chain of pain to end, but he knew his sister was in a lot more pain. Weakly opening his eyes, he saw the pain in her eyes as she unwillingly hurt her sweet little brother that used to cry at the drop of a hat, so he reached for her once more when she held him up by his shirt as her other hand was pulled back.

“We… we were kids.” she furrowed her brows in confusion, what nonsense was he spouting out now? “We were k-kids and you were tea— teaching me to ride my bike. I wouldn’t stop crying, and you were making f-fun of me. You promised you’d be with me every… every step of the way. You never broke that promise, [F/N]; never. Even when you were gone, you made sure to write letters. Even when I s-said I hated you, you were still there.” his trembling hand managed to reach her face, gently cupping her cheek and caressing it with his thumb, her face softened and she leaned into the touch, a single tear running down her cheek “I love you, [F/N]…” his hand finally dropped to his side just as [F/N] took a deep breath, closing her eyes to reminiscent on every good memory she had of Steve, slowly but surely the black veins disappeared and the voice that screamed in her head grew silent. She blinked her eyes a few times in confusion, leaning backwards and looking around to see where exactly she was before finally looking down, and there her eyes widened in horror.

“Steve… Steve!” she screams at the top of her lungs, the tears swelling in her eyes falling freely down her cheeks. She hurriedly jumps off of him and lifts his weakened body into her lap, cradling his body into her arms while rocking back and forward “No, no, no, no, no! I didn’t mean to hurt you, I-I’m so sorry! I tried— I tried so hard to keep myself away from you, to stop myself from hurting you, but I’ve gone and broken my promise to you! I’m sorry, I’m sorry…!” she kept apologising over and over, but she just felt sick to her stomach. She couldn’t look at herself anymore, she couldn’t even look at her hands knowing that she was beating her brother that she swore she’d never hurt anymore. It hurt even more knowing that she hurt the love of her life, breaking her heart to keep her safe but then she hurt her when she was trying to save her from the monster that plagued her mind.

“[F/N]…” she gasped, looking down at her brother and saw that he was reaching for her again, she doesn’t hesitate to take his hand into hers and caress it, nuzzling the side of her face into it “You’re back…?” she chuckles weakly, nodding her head as she smiled weakly at him.

“Yes… yes, it’s me. It’s your big sister, who loves you very much.” he smiles at her but it breaks her heart seeing him looking up at her, face beaten and bleeding as his eyes were barely able to open “Will you ever forgive me?” he chuckles, closing his eyes and feeling his body relax under hers.

“What a foolish question, I’ll always f-forgive you…” she hunches over his body, her own trembling as her tears fell onto his body. A sob leaves her lips but her attention was torn off his body when she heard a loud roar, recognising it, she turned her head towards it and it widened at the sight of the Mind Flayer, her gaze soon hardened in rage at the mere sight of it. This fucking piece of shit was the cause of it all, for her and Billy hurting people, kidnapping people, killing people… her breaking up with Robin, and her hurting both Robin and Steve. She’ll never forgive it, she’ll never forget what it’s done to her and Billy, all because they were foolish enough to not go home and stayed out longer. Steve let out a confused noise when his head was lifted off of her lap, he watched as she picked up the fallen axe and at first he was worried she was back under the control of the Mind Flayer, but her gaze was trained on the Mind Flayer instead of anyone else “[F-F/N]…?” she breaks out into a running start then proceeds to step onto the railing and over it, raising the axe over her head then swings it down on the Mind Flayer.

“[F/N]?!” Billy, who was also free from the Mind Flayer’s control, shouts in surprise. Billy was holding one of the tentacles back that was aiming to kill El, pushing it back with everything he head, when [F/N] jumped off from the upper levels screaming and swinging the axe into the Mind Flayer’s body.

“You fucking piece of shit!” she yells, ripping the blade out of its gooey flesh then swung it down again “You made me hurt my brother! You made me break up with my girlfriend! You made me hurt so many people, and all for what?! Because you couldn’t make your own body?! You rat sack son of a bitch!” [F/N] knew what she was doing was stupid, that what she was doing was going to get her killed, but she really couldn’t care at all. She wanted to pay for what she’s done, why should she get off scot free? She wanted punishment, retribution for her actions “The only ending you’ll get is with your death!” she knew her actions would lead to her downfall, that what she was doing was meaningless, because the Mind Flayer easily threw her off and she landed on the ground with a thud. The next thing she knew was that one of the many tentacles surrounding the monster pierced her body, she slowly looked down and coughed up blood seeing the many teeth sink into her chest.

“Billy!” she hears a scream, turning her head, she sees that Billy has been met with the same fate. Pain runs throughout her body when several more of that things tentacles pierce through her body until it finally let her go, her body collapsing for she had no more strength left to keep her up. This was it, she was going to die alone knowing that she hurt her brother and her girlfriend— her ex? She didn’t know, all she knew was that she was going to die without making it up to the two people she loved the most, especially now that she was leaving her little brother alone. She coughs up more blood as she turns her head, noticing that Billy was still kicking so with what little strength she still had, she pushed herself onto her stomach and started dragging herself over to where he was laying. Finally reaching him, she pushes herself up then collapsed onto him, he looked down at her and saw she was crying.

“I won’t let you… die alone.” she muttered weakly, reaching her hand to rest on his cheek “I won’t leave you alone.” in turn for this final act of gentle affection, he raises his own hand to take her hand into his and the two of them stare into each other’s eyes.

“Why didn’t you leave me…?” he asked her, questioning what sanity she had for going back and saving him. She wouldn’t have had to suffer everything if she just abandoned him, he was used to it anyways, but she just gave him the best smile she could muster.

“Because… I wanted to see yours and Stevie’s wedding.” he stared at her but it did manage to crack a smile onto his face, and that was enough for the both of them.

“You’re stupid.”

“Maybe I am.” Steve was being helped down to the lower levels by Nancy and Jonathan, Robin following closely behind as the immense pain in her stomach still hadn’t settled, and Steve couldn’t properly walk on his own after the continuous blows he took to the face and head. They finally made it to the ground level and Steve looks over to see where Max was, crying in El’s arms, he looks where she was collapsed and his heart immediately dropped into his stomach at what he saw.

“No… no, no, no!” he cries out, Robin follows his gaze and herself saw both Billy and [F/N]’s motionless bodies that continued to bleed out “[F/N]! Billy! Please, god, no!” Steve thrashed in Nancy and Jonathan’s hood until they finally let him go, he fell to his knees but he scrambled to his feet and rushed over to their bodies. His hands trembled over their bodies, the tears in his eyes falling onto them “Please, no. Not like this, please. You can’t leave me, you can’t leave me alone…! You promised to be by my side, you promised!” his trembling hands reached to cup their faces and his face fell when they felt cold under his touch, god, this was really happening. Robin fell to her knees by his side, shaking her head at the sight of [F/N]’s lifeless body, she couldn’t believe that this was actually happening. She doesn’t hesitate to throw her arms around Steve’s body, squeezing him tightly and the two of them cried together knowing that they both lost somebody they loved.

But at least the two that did die, died in each other’s arms smiling.

Siblings

word count: 15,200

Fandom: Stranger Things Pairing: Robin Buckley x Female!Harrington!Reader Pronouns: She/Her Relationship: Romantic Occupation: University Student Ability: N/A

Keys:

[F/N]: Female Name [L/N]: Last Name [N/N]: Nickname [H/C]: Hair Color [E/C]: Eye Color [F/S]: Favorite Song [F/F]: Favorite Flavor

Warnings: slight angst, misunderstanding

“Siblings” pt.2, pt.3

I didn’t mean to make it this long, jesus christ.

that is all.

“Why the fuck did it take you so long to come get my ass, dipshit?”

“I wasn’t that long, you’re just overdramatic.”

“I’m overdramatic? Weren’t you the guy that cried to me that they didn’t have your branded hairspray and that you wouldn’t use some off branded knock off because it wouldn’t have the same effect in your hair like the original?”

“Hey…! You swore you wouldn’t bring that up.”

“You’re such a child.”

[F/N] Harrington, the elder sister of Steve Harrington. There weren’t many things that tore the two apart appearance wise, other than the fact that [F/N] was a woman, but they definitely shared the same eyes. [F/N] was away for University in another state and came back for summer break to visit her favourite brother and the shitty little town they both grew up in. Seeing her brother made her very happy, when they both saw each other after she got off her plane, they both jumped each other and couldn’t stop hugging each other while they both wore the biggest grins. [F/N] was telling Steve everything that’s been going on in the state she was studying in, telling him all the friends she’s made and how much better it was in comparison to Hawkins, telling him he’d like it if he was planning on leaving Hawkins any time soon.

Steve in return told his sister everything she missed out while she was out of Hawkins, though he was smart enough not to bring up anything revolving around the Upside Down. She was stunned to hear that he made friends with children that were about five years younger than him, this earned her a smack to the arm when she said that because they weren’t that young… maybe they were, but that’s not the point. She was more than happy that he was managing on his own, he even got a job scooping ice cream at the new mall Hawkins had called Starcourt, she definitely wanted to see that later.

“So,” she started, the two of them sitting across from each other at the dinner table as Steve served her some food “still single?” she snickered to herself when he jolted in his seat, he then glared at her and threatened her with a spoon, to which she raised her hands in defence.

“You… be quiet you.” she shrugged and started eating, he lets out a sigh and starts picking at his food “After Nancy and I broke up, I’ve been having some trouble finding a new girl I want to spend my time with, I can’t seem to be able to find the one, you know? I’ve been flirting with girls that come and order at the store, but it never seems to work anymore. Maybe I lost my touch, or…” he trailed off when he heard snoring, he deadpans and looks over at [F/N] to see she was resting her face on the palm of her hand as she snored.

“… oh, you’re done bitching?”

“You’re unbelievable.” she scoffs, throwing her hands up.

“So are you!” she shouts with a laugh, pointing at him with her fork “You’re not in high school anymore, Steve. These girls aren’t going to fall for your one liners or your status as King Steve. Right now, you’re just the average joe Steve, the civil citizen scooping ice cream. You need to stop thinking with the mindset that every girl that you flirt with is going to fall head over heels for that bullshit, no offence. Just find a girl that makes you feel like you’re on cloud nine, makes you think that “god, she’s the one” and do everything in your power to make sure she’s yours.” she sighs softly when he sulks a bit, head hanging low as he processed her words.

“You’re right.” she smirks, bringing her food to her mouth.

“I know I’m right.” she chews on her food and points at him once more “You gotta treat a girl like a goddamn queen or else you’ll lose a fine piece of meat because you weren’t careful ” his face scrunched up at the way she was wording it.

“Why do you know so much about how to treat a girl?” she deadpans at him.

“I’ve had many relationships with girls, Steve, and I failed each and every one of them.” he pulled a face at that, nodding his head and then the two of them sat in silence for the rest of the night. Right, he forgot that his sister was a lesbian and the two of them together were the biggest flirts of Hawkins, but of course she kept her sexuality on the down low, Hawkins was the shit hole it was and simply didn’t like things that weren’t… normal. Sure, Steve was an asshole in the beginning of high school, but he loved his sister more than some stupid popularity to out his sister for liking girls more than men. Though because of her attraction towards the female population, the two of them would often gossip about which girls they found cute.

“I’ve got work tomorrow, so I won’t be able to entertain you.” she waves her hand to dismiss him.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll just visit the Starcourt if I get bored.” he chuckles softly.

“Alright, stop by Scoops Ahoy if you wanna talk.” she salutes him.

“Will do.”

[the next morning]

“Why are you in the pool this early in the morning?” summer was always hot, even in the morning, so [F/N] was soaking in the Harrington pool on top of a float. She was probably going to soak in the sun for a couple minutes before doing a few laps around the pool when she heard footsteps, knowing that it was Steve, she chose to ignore him until he spoke up.

“Because it’s hot, dingus.” she hears him sigh, she then turned to get a look at him before squinting her eyes when she saw what he was wearing, she grabbed the side of her sunglasses and pulled them up as she looked him up and down “What the fuck are you wearing?” he grumbled under his breath when he saw that she was silently mocking him for his choice of clothing.

“It’s the uniform, I’ve got no choice but to wear it.” she snorts before pulling her glasses back down and laying back, moving into a comfortable position to sunbathe.

“Fucking loser.” he scoffed, kicking his feet.

“I’ve got work now, so I’ll see you later.” he turned to leave but stopped when he remembered something “The Starcourt Mall is pretty far out, so you’ll need to find your way there.” she raised her hand, not bothering to look over at him.

“Is my car still in storage?”

“Yes.” she snaps her fingers, dropping her hand into the water.

“Well then there you go.” he sighs but did smile a little when she waved him goodbye “I’ll see you later, Steve.”

“Bye, [F/N].” and with that he was gone, she inhaled through her nose before going slack on the pool float, what’s a few minutes napping in the pool? She shrugged and eventually lolling to sleep, later regretting it when she subconsciously turned and fell into the water of the pool, groaning as she resurfaced. She now found herself at a storage unit where her brother lovingly put her precious car while she was off at university, they would have left her car in the garage but they both knew that it would collect nothing but dust so they put it in storage once every few weeks someone would come in a check on it.

“Hey, look who’s back!” the owner of the storage unit exclaimed when [F/N] walked in, she waved her hand with a grin as she waved her hand to greet him “It’s nice to see you! How have you been?” she snorted softly, leaning against the front counter with a grin.

“I’ve been good. University has been kicking my ass lately, but it’s great to be back in the place I grew up in. I see nothing much has changed while I was gone.” this earned her a chuckle.

“Yeah, just the same old shit.” she nods to that and watched as he went through documents to pull out the one that has of her car, when he found it he lit up and separated it from the rest “Ah, here we go. Your car is in unit 83, I’ll have the key to the unit it just a bit.”

“Wonderful.” the moment they got to the unit and he unlocked it, she had the biggest smile on her face at the sight of her car “Oh baby, mummy’s back~” she cooed and quickly ran over to her car, throwing her arms over the hood off the car and hugging it as best as she could, the owner let out a chuckle as he watched her.

“It’s almost as if you care more about your car than your brother.” she laughed, waving her hand.

“Please, he’d do the same.”

“You’re right, it is a 1976 Ford Mustang Cobra II.” she saved up a lot of money for this baby from all the part time jobs she had, allowance money their parents gave her and even birthday money, all so she could afford this beautiful son of a bitch she took pride in “Well, she’s all yours. She was well taken of while you were gone, so if I see even a scratch on her, I’ll have your head.” she winked at him.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” throwing a cassette tape into the cars stereo and pumping the volume to max drowned out all the noise as she drove through Hawkins, bobbing her head to the music of [F/S], shouting and hollering like she was a teenager again during her high school days. Oh how she missed those days, but there wasn’t anything she could do to have those days back, so she was making the best of the time she had now. She was now sat at a red light, drumming her fingers against the stirring wheel to the music as she waited for the light to turn green, that was until she heard the revv of a car so she turned her head to see a gorgeous blue 1979 Chevrolet Camaro Z-28, she couldn’t help but whistle at the sight of it “What a beaut.”  “Thanks.” she glanced at the driver, a blonde with sun kissed skin and the prettiest pair of blue eyes she’s ever seen… it’s a shame he’s a man because she definitely would have jumped him if given the opportunity “You new around here?” he shouted, she chuckled and leaned into her seat.

“Not really, just recently came back.” he nods his head to that “What about you? I’ve never seen you around.”

“I moved here last year from California.”

“What a mistake on your part.” he snorts at that.

“I agree.” he glanced back towards the light to see if it turned green yet and when it didn’t he spared her another glance with a smirk “I’m Billy, Billy Hargrove! I hope to see you again, mustang.” her eyes widened slightly at that, Hargrove? She remembered seeing that name when Steve would send her letters, she was pretty sure that Steve wrote he beat the shit out of him, Billy raised a brow when he saw her snort a little.

“Hargrove, huh?” pushing her sunglasses up, he narrowed his eyes on hers, where has he seen those eyes before? “The name’s Harrington, [F/N] Harrington. See you whenever, camaro~” she sent him a wink followed with a kiss, she let out a laugh at his shocked expression before flicking her glasses down then driving off when the light turned green. His reaction was priceless, Steve was going to love this. She now stood outside the Starcourt Mall, leaning against her car and whistling at the sight of it, pushing her sunglasses onto her head to take the full view of the mall. Now this was something Hawkins should be proud of, Hawkins was nothing but a hick town out in the middle of Indiana but this was definitely something to be proud of “I wonder where Hawkins got the money to pay for this.” she muttered before chucking softly, pushing herself off her car and walking towards the entrance of the mall, ignoring the lingering stares of the people around her.

She was even more impressed of the inside, everything was bright and vibrant, there was just so much to look at. What the fuck did she miss that Hawkins had this place made? She wasn’t going to question it anymore than she has to, now she wants to find Scoops Ahoy just so she can make fun of her brother. Looking for it was actually quite the challenge, having to ask a couple people then thanking them when they actually answered her. She stirred clear from boys because when she asked one they thought she was asking them out or something, she turned around immediately and asked the closest girl who was actually helpful. Meanwhile at Scoops Ahoy, a girl who just wanted the day to be over was leaning against the counter and waiting for the next unsuspecting customer to come up and make her day even more horrible for being indecisive.

“Just end me….” she groaned out, taking her hat off to run a hand through her hair before plopping it back on “Harrington! What the fuck are you doing that’s taking this long?” she shouted from the front counter, turning around to through the window open to view into the back where she found Steve looking through the freeze.

“We ran out of a specific flavor and I’m looking to replace it, alright? I just can’t find it, so cool it Robin!” he shouts back as he dug deeper into the freezer, she rolled her eyes then groaned when she heard the jingle of someone entering the store.

“Well, hurry it up! We’ve got customers and I’m having to do everything all by my…self.” she trailed off when she saw who exactly walked through the doors, god… she ain’t ever seen anyone more attractive in her life. [F/C] finally managed to find the shop and was practically dying from all the walking she had to do, she took her sunglasses off once more, throwing her hair back when some of her [H/C] locks fell over her eyes and safely tucked her glasses in her shirt. Robin continued to gawk at this very attractive girl, mouth agape as [F/N] pursed her lips and nodded as she looked around the store before finally locking eyes with Robin. Her body froze up when those piercing [E/C] eyes landed on her but she started sweating when [F/N] started approaching her, her breath getting caught in her throat when she was finally in front of her.

“Hi.” she greets with a smile, Robin swallowed thickly.

“H-Hi.” [F/N] couldn’t help but chuckle softly when the cute girl in front of her stuttered, she looked her up and down then raised a brow when she was wearing the same uniform her brother was wearing, but she looked cute in hers “U-Um, welcome to Scoops Ahoy. H-How can I— how can I help you?” Robin stared up at the slightly taller girl and watched as she looked at the variety of ice cream out on display.

“Hmm… could I just get two scoops of [F/F] please? No toppings.” she found it adorable how she couldn’t stop staring at her, absentmindedly as she nodded her head.

“O-Of course, coming right up.” she almost felt bad with how much this girl was trembling under her gaze, she felt like a predator watching its pray before feasting upon it, but she just couldn’t help it “Alright, two scoops of [F/F].” she said, standing up straight and handing the cone to [F/N], breath hitching when she felt her hand briefly touch hers when she took it.

“How much do I owe you?” [F/N] asks, taking a couple bills out of her back pocket to pay for her ice cream but was startled when Robin pushed her hand away.

“O-Oh! It’s on the house.” her eyes widened at that, she couldn’t hide the smirk that rose to her lips.

“Really?” Robin couldn’t mutter out any words and only hummed as she nodded, [F/N] chuckled as she started to put her money away “Okay, but I feel bad, so have this.” it wasn’t much but she kept a twenty and tucked it into Robin’s hand, she then turned and winked at her followed by a click on her tongue before walking away. [F/N] let out a hum as she at her ice cream, thinking back to the way Robin looked at her, before pausing “I completely forgot the entire reason I was there.” she let out a sigh as her head dropped… well, at least she got ice cream out of it. Meanwhile with Robin, her hand tightly held onto the twenty dollar bill to the point it was crumbled up in her hand, face a bright red as she tried to remember that lingering feeling of [F/N]’s touch.

“Her hand was so soft…” she sighed out dreamily, body going slack on the counter. This stranger had the most beautiful [Long/Short] [H/C] hair she’s ever seen, it looked soft to touch, even those eyes had her getting lost when they looked directly into hers. But, there was just something about her eyes that had her thinking, she’s seen eyes like those but she just can’t remember wher—

“I found it!” her day dreaming was cut short at the sound of Steve’s voice, her smile dropping when he came out from the back with a tub of ice cream “I found it.” he repeats.

“Yeah, I can see that.” he huffs at her tone.

“Grouchy much.” he says as he replaces the empty tub “Did anything exciting happen while I was in the back?” she pretends to think then shook her head.

“Nope, nothing happened.” he shrugged and took over the front counter, flirting with the first girl he saw and left Robin to think about the gorgeous girl she managed to see before Harrington.

[end of the day]

“Welcome home, Stevie!” [F/N] greets from the couch, muting the television and waving her hand as Steve walks in through the front door “How was your day at work, sailor?” he lets out a sarcastic laugh, collapsing on the couch beside her and throwing his legs over hers.

“Honestly, it could’ve been better.” she purses her lips, nodding her head.

“Too bad, so sad. Anyways-” he groaned, his head falling into the arm rest of the chair “I saw the cutest girl when I came into your store to see you, I got so distracted that I completely forgot that I came in to see you.” his head immediately perked up at the mention of a cute girl, to which she rolled her eyes at the sudden interest.

“Go on.”

“It was your coworker, I didn’t manage to catch her name.” his jaw dropped.

“You mean Robin Buckley?” his face cringed when hers lit up.

“So that’s her name, Robin.” her face dropped when she saw him gag, turning away and pointing into his mouth at the mere thought of her having an attraction towards the girl “Why the fuck you reacting like that, dipshit? Is it cause she’s your coworker and you don’t want your sister sucking faces with her?” he lets out a dramatic sigh, throwing his head back.

“No! What’s there to like about her?” she shrugs.

“I don’t know, you tell me. She’s your coworker, tell me about her.” he scoffs.

“Where’s the fun in that? Isn’t the whole point about being infatuated with someone is getting to know them? You’d be cheating if I were to tell you everything I know about her.” she raised a brow at him, watching as he had a triumphant smirk on his lips while crossing his arms.

“Does that mean you’re infatuated with her as well?” it amused her how face his face changes, she kept a straight face as he glared at her.

“Me? Infatuated with her? Pah! I wouldn’t even dream of it. She’s not my type, not even on the ballpark. I know what my type is, alright?” she rolled her eyes, moving to get more comfortable on the sofa.

“What’s your type again?” he scoffs at her.

“For your information, she’s still in school, and she’s weird. She’s a weirdo, and she’s hyper. I don’t like that she’s hyper, and she did drama! That’s a bad look, and she’s in band? No.” she scoffed when he starts shaking his head.

“It’s only been a day, and we’re having this conversation again. Steve, now that you’re out of high school, which means technically you’re an adult, don’t you think it’s time that you move on from primitive constructs such as popularity? Instead of dating somebody because you think it’s gonna make you cooler, why not date somebody you actually enjoy being around?” he slumps into the couch at her words then flinched when she slapped his leg “And besides, I don’t even think you’ve got a chance to be with her.”  “What’s that supposed to mean? You saying I’ve lost my game?” she narrowed her eyes on him.

“Steve, Robin Buckley is the gayest girl I’ve ever seen ever since being back in Hawkins, and it’s only been a day.” they both sit in silence for what seems like an hour before Steve finally processed what she said.

“She’s gay? But I thought that term was used for men.” she slaps a hand onto her forehead “So you’re saying she’s a lesbian? That she’s into girls?” she nods her head.

“Yes, you simpleton, that’s exactly what I’m saying.” she then points at him “Don’t even think about asking her either, Steve. Asking someone about their sexuality is like asking whether or not you want to live.” he pulls a face.

“Wha—”

“I’m serious! It’s either life or death, and I’d rather choose death.” he raises his hands.

“Alright, alright! I won’t say anything.” she nods her head when he understood, the two of them sit in silence until he speaks up again “So, you can just tell when someone isn’t straight?” she closes her eyes in mild disappointment.

“You know what, yeah, some people can. It’s called a gaydar, and you, my sweet little brother, aren’t exactly the straightest man either.” she took great pleasure in seeing the look of confusion cross his face before it changed to panic, she always had fun teasing him.

“No, no!”  “I’m never wrong, brother!”

[time skip: a few weeks]

“Great, just great.” Robin muttered under breath, if her day couldn’t get any worse, it just did. Not only was she late to work, but her bike decided to pop its tire, the bus was late and it was raining. It’s like god decided to pick on her that morning and he was fucking winning. She collapsed onto the seat behind her, her bag dropping onto the ground as her face fell into her hand, she just wished the world would just give her a break, give her something to look forward to “Please, god, just give me one good thing.”

“Buckley?” she heard, her head shot up and she didn’t know whether she should thank god or kill him when she saw [F/N] looking at her through the passenger side window of her Mustang “You good? You look like you’re having a shitty morning.” Robin, who hadn’t realised she was tearing up, hurriedly wiped her tears and hoped [F/N] hadn’t noticed them.

“It could be worse!” she answers, only to flinch when lightning struck followed by the sound of thunder, [F/N] chuckled softly when Robin deflated “I need to learn to keep my mouth shut.” she mumbled softly, [F/N] nods her head as she leans back into her seat before looking back at her.

“Need a ride?” Robin’s head perked up.

“What?” 

“I’m asking you if you want a ride to work? I was on my way to the Starcourt Mall to watch a movie, so it wouldn’t inconvenience me.” she pressed her lips together when Robin raised her hands whilst shaking her head to reject the request.

“No, no, I’m fine. Thank you for offering, but I think I’d be much better off taking the bus instead. I just don’t want to dirty your car, I mean, it’s a very nice car and I think I’ll make a mess. I mean, I’m wet and if I get in your car, I’ll wet the seat. Besides I’m already late and you have a movie to catch, so I think it’ll be better if I just wait.” [F/N] deadpans when Robin started to ramble, what started off of her not wanting to dirty her car somehow turned to how she can dodge the raindrops. Man, when Steve said she talks a lot, this was not what she imagined.

“Get in the damn car.” she says, stopping Robin mid sentence but evidently making her nod.

“Yes, ma’am.” she laughs when Robin picks up her things and hurries over, thanking [F/N] when she opened her passenger door. When Robin was in her car, she rolled up the window and waited for her to fasten her seatbelt, she looked her up and down and noticed that she was shivering even under the hoodie she was wearing so she graced her with the warmth of her cars air conditioner “Thanks.” her face flushed when [F/N] winked.

“No problem.” Robin jerks back when [F/N] shifted gears then slammed her foot on the gas, smirking softly as she drove through the rain to the Starcourt Mall. The two sat in silence as music played through the cars sound system, [F/N] bobbing her head while tapping against the wheel.

“Um, [F/N]…” she lets out a hum, letting Robin know she had her attention as her eyes concentrated on the road ahead of them “This is probably the first proper conversation we’ve actually had where it isn’t me asking for what flavor of ice cream you want, but can I ask you something?” she hums again.

“Sure, what is it?” Robin bites her lip, she was really risking a lot asking her this.

“A-Are you… seeing anyone?” [F/N] purses her lips at that, Robin flinching softly when [F/N] spared her a glance.

“No I’m not, why? You making fun of me?” Robin quickly raises her hands, shaking them and her head to deny the thought,

“N-No, not at all!” [F/N] was still looking at her, waiting for her to explain why she asked “Um, I was asking because, uh… Steve? Yeah! Steve wanted me to ask you if you were single?” that smirk she wore on her face quickly washed away into a look of confusion.

“Steve Harrington asked you to ask me if I was seeing anyone?” she nods her head, fully confident that she bought the lie. She found it very amusing that both herself and Steve have failed to inform Robin that they were siblings, and as much as she wanted to tell her the truth…. she found it more hilarious to see how long it’ll take for her to realise they were in fact related.

“Yes.” she confirmed, [F/N] licked her lips.

“Well,” she starts, shaking her head in mild amusement before shrugging her shoulders “tell him h-he’s weird for asking.” [F/N] lights up when she heard Robin giggle.

“I’ll make sure to tell him.” they both then laugh together, Robin dreads the moment [F/N] pulls up to the mall, knowing that their time was cut short and she knew she didn’t have the confidence to strike up a conversation with her again. She hadn’t even noticed [F/N] stepped out of her car until her door was opened, she looked up and saw [F/N] holding her hand out to her while her other held an umbrella.

“Well? What are you waiting for?” Robin’s hand hesitated a little but eventually she managed to take her hand, [F/N] helped her out of the car then held the umbrella over her head as she waited for her to collect her stuff, when she did she kicked the door closed then locked her car “Come on, lets go.” as they were walking to the entrance [F/N] noticed that Robin kept some distance between them and her shoulder was getting wet, she lets out a hum at that. Robin wasn’t paying attention to [F/N] as they walked together but she jolted up when [F/N] placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her close so now they were shoulder to shoulder.

“W-Wha—”

“Your shoulder was getting wet, and there’s plenty of space under the umbrella.” Robin couldn’t look her in the eye as [F/N] side eyed her with a soft smirk on her face “I’m not gonna bite.” she has to hold back a snicker when she saw Robin’s face flush red, she can only imagine what’s going on in her head. When they were finally under the shelter of the mall, [F/N] had her back to Robin as she shook her umbrella dry of the rain while Robin’s hands clutched the sleeves of her hoodie.

“Um, thanks for the ride, [F/N].” hearing this caused [F/N] to look over her shoulder at Robin.

“Don’t worry about it.” she reassured, when her umbrella was dry enough she closed it then threw it over her shoulder and turned to face Robin once more “If you don’t have a ride home, do you want me to drop you off?” Robin’s head perked up at that.

“Huh? You want to drop me off home?” she nods.

“Well, yeah. Don’t you finish until the mall closes? That’s pretty late, and I don’t like the thought of you walking home at night. Besides, I highly doubt Steve is gracious enough to give you a ride home.”

“You don’t mind?” she shook her head.

“Of course not, in fact,” Robin watches in confusion when [F/N] pulls out a small notebook and pen and starts writing something down, when she was done she tore it out and handed it to her “call me if you ever need a ride or if you just wanna talk.”

“Y-You’re giving me your number?” [F/N] nods with a chuckle.

“Yeah, why? Don’t want it?” she teased and pulled the piece of paper back, laughing slightly when Robin quickly snatched it back.

“No, I want it!” Robin now had the biggest smile on her face as she clutched the small piece of paper “No take backs!” [F/N] only nodded.

“Alright, then I guess I’ll see you tonight.” she nods then scurries off to get to Scoops Ahoy, finally god has graced her with one good thing. [F/N] smiled as she crossed her arms while watching Robin run off, probably wishing that time would hurry up so the two of them could talk again.

“There you are, mustang.” she let out a whoa when she was grabbed by the waist and pulled into someone, she scoffed when she realised who it was and smacked him in the chest.

“Watch who you’re touching, camaro.” Billy Hargrove and [F/N] Harrington have established an… interesting relationship. The moment the two of them met again, it was on fucking sight. Billy didn’t hesitate to throw hands with [F/N] and she in return didn’t hesitate to fight dirty, she was angry at the blonde for nearly beating her brother to death so she returned all that pain tenfold, but he was definitely stronger than her in terms of strength. He didn’t pull his punches and the first punch to the face he delivered made her rethink her choices, though at the end of their fight, [F/N] had Billy’s neck locked in between her legs while he himself was holding her by the neck. When the two of them finally calmed down they both sat on the hood of Billy’s Camaro, all bruised and bloodied, while smoking a cigarette. They both sat in silence though [F/N] raised a brow when Billy held his fist out to her, she stared at it before bumping it with her own, and from then on the two of them have had a mutual understanding with each other. When [F/N] got home though, Steve was shocked to see her beaten up and when he questioned her, she just told him to not worry about it.

“So freckles there, that’s the girl you’re into?” he asks, he raised a brow when he heard her sigh and lean into him.

“Hell yeah, she’s just so fucking adorable that I can’t help but tease.” she let out a whoa when he shoved her off, she scoffed when he tucked his hands into his pockets and started walking over to the cinema.

“What’s there to like about girls? Men is where it’s all at.” she rolled her eyes, straightening out her jacket then following after him. Another reason to two of them got along, the two of them noticed that they were more alike than they let on.

“Ew, men.” they both stare at each other before bursting out into laughter, now walking beside each other as they made their way to the cinema to watch a movie. The people of Hawkins were always one for gossip, so when they spotted the two most attractive people of Hawkins together, they immediately let their minds begin to believe that they were a couple. The moment that rumour hit their ears they couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculous claims and just let them talk, though, it was better than being labeled as queer.

“So what’s this movie about again?” Billy questions, pulling out a pack of gum to replace his need to smoke a cigarette, [F/N] hums at the question, squeezing her chin in between her thumb and index finger.

“If I remember correctly, it’s about some guy who goes into the past…?” she trailed off when she couldn’t remember the plot of the movie, he rolled his eyes at her piss poor description of the movie.

“That sounds like a dumb movie. Why are we watching this again?” she rolled her eyes, paying for both their tickets while he bought them food.

“I wanted to watch this movie alone, you invited yourself, remember?” he deadpans at that, the two of them later found their seats and continued to chatter through all the ads “Besides, the main reason we’re here together is so we can bother Stevie later.” he purses his lips, nodding his head.

“Now that’s something I remember agreeing on.” she scoffed.

“You’re unbelievable sometimes, Hargrove.” he snickers at her.

“Right back at ‘cha, Harrington.”

[at scoops ahoy]

“Hello and welcome to Scoops Ahoy, today I’ll be your captain, Steve Harrington.” Robin rolled her eyes from where she was, scooping ice cream for the nth time that past hour whilst Steve flirted with every female customer that came in through the doors. Her mood was slightly better than usual, Steve noticed this as well, telling by the way she had this soft smile on her face even despite getting yelled at by a mother for scooping the ice cream wrong. Scooping the ice cream wrong? How do you even do that? “You seem to be an awfully good mood, did something good happen this morning?” he raised a brow when he saw a wishful look crossed her face.

“This cute…” she paused mid sentence, looking up at Steve and hesitated to finish “guy gave me a ride to work this morning and he even offered to drop me off after I finish.” she felt like she threw up in her mouth saying that, turning away from Steve to let out a slight gag, Steve on the other hand furrowed his brows in confusion at her words. Guy? Didn’t his sister suspect that Robin was a lesbian? Though she also did say that people who weren’t entirely straight wouldn’t nonchalantly say their sexuality, so he just nodded.

“Do you like this guy?” he asked, leaning against the counter and waited for her response.

“… I’d like to say I do, he’s just so perfect.” his gaze on her softened a little, he remembered a time he had that same expression when he thought of Nancy. Now his heart got a little bitter at the memory, he shook his head to rid his mind of the thoughts and gave her a grin followed by a thumbs up.

“You should shoot your shot.” he tells her, she shot up a this words “Do you think this guy is into you?” Robin pursed her lips, rubbing her hands together as she thought of the few short encounters she’s had with [F/N]. Whenever she started rambling without being aware of it, [F/N] never stopped her and just listened to her speak. [F/N] was often very sweet and kind with Robin, giving her little compliments and even putting big tips in the tip jar despite getting one small thing. Then that morning, she went out of her way to drive her to work in the piss pour rain and even drop her off home, going so far as to giving her her phone number to call her if she needs anything.

“Well, he doesn’t seem like he’s not into me.” Steve hummed softly when he saw Robin raise her hand to twirl a strand of her hair around her finger “I’m just scared that I’m looking too far into this, and that if I say anything, I’ll lose him.” she runs a hand through her hair, he nods his head and glances towards the door, when he didn’t see anyone coming towards the counter he put his attention back on Robin.

“Take this from someone who’s had plenty of people crushing on me, and vice versa.” she scoffed at him “You won’t know if they’re the one or not until it’s too late. I understand that it’s scary to confess your feelings to the person you’re in love with, but it feels a lot worse when you don’t say anything and you watch them go off with someone else without even trying. The thought of not saying anything when you could have is much more terrifying, and though you might lose them, it’s better than keeping those feelings to yourself.” she stared up at him in slight disbelief.

“Wow, that was the best thing I’ve ever heard you say, Harrington. Who knew you were capable of saying such good advice.” he rolled his eyes at her.

“Well, take it or leave it, I just want to meet the guy that’s got you all worked up in the future.” she pursed her lips at the thought of actually managing to score [F/N], maybe it was the look on Steve’s face when she pulls up with [F/N] by her side that makes her smirk.

“Whatever you say, Harrington.” they were both smiling at the end of their conversation, perking up slightly when they heard the chime of someone entering the store. Before they could greet the newest customer they were both shocked to see [F/N] walking in with Billy by her side, neither two noticed the shocked stares as they chattered about the movie.

“She totally had a thing for her son, right?” [F/N] questioned “I mean, I understand that she didn’t know that was her son, but imagine her surprise when so plus years later her son looks exactly like the guy she met all those years ago. Those should have set off some alarm bells.” Billy laughs at the assumption.

“No, it was the fact that she named her kid Marty. If I were her husband, I’d be pretty fucked off that my wife named our son after a guy she was attracted to.” she snaps her fingers, pointing at him.

“I know, right?” they both laugh together, they now stood at the counter with smirks on their faces, both individually staring at Steve and Robin. The two of them continued to stare at them in disbelief, [F/N] then leaned against the counter, hand resting down on it whilst her other was placed on her hip “Hi Buckley~” she cooed softly, Billy snickered softly when he noticed the tip of Robin’s ears flushed red, he then turned to Steve.

“Hi Harrington~” Billy said in the same tone [F/N] had, she noticed this and turned back to scoff at him, Steve then scoffed at the both of them.

“What are you two doing here?” Billy raised his hands in defence.

“Why the hostility, Stevie? Besides, this is an ice cream store. We’re here to buy ice cream, duh.” Steve sends [F/N], to which she just snickered with a shrug of her shoulders “Mustang here was in the mood for something sweet, so we came here.” she nods her head and pushes herself up so she was standing beside Billy again, crossing her arms and leaning her weight into one of her feet.

“Mm hmm, I just love the ice cream here.” she makes sure to wink at Robin at that, Steve looks between the two then notices the way Robin was bashfully smiling while trying to hide her red face behind her hair “There ain’t nothing more sweet then what this place has to offer.” whether or not that was directed at the ice cream or Robin, Steve just rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. What do you want?” Steve was almost done with his sister flirting with his coworker while he was there, was this how Robin felt whenever he flirted with girls every five minutes? Man, this sucks.

“You first, sweetheart.” Robin flinches a little at the pet name Billy called [F/N], she awaits her reaction and her heart sunk a little when she saw her playfully roll her eye as she smacks him in the chest.

“Such a gentlemen.” he shrugged his shoulders, she then glanced at Robin and gave her a soft smile “Could I have my usual, Robin? I’d appreciate it.” 

“R-Right, of course! Coming right up.” whilst [F/N] was busy watching Robin with her order, Billy leaned against the counter and had a thoughtful look about what he should order, to which Steve was growing more and more irritated at the smug look on both of their faces.

“Hmm, how about two scoops of vanilla and chocolate?” Steve just nods, when Robin finishes with [F/N]’s order he goes over and makes Billy’s, growing slightly flustered with the way Billy just continued to stare at Steve “What’s the matter, pretty boy? Am I making you uncomfortable?” [F/N] glanced at her brother and noticed the way he tensed up a little, his usually pale skin turning a shade of pink.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Steve felt her gaze on him so he turned and lightly glared at her, it hardened when he saw her smirking at him as she ate her ice cream.

“Called it.” is all she says, he grumbles under his breath when he knew what she was talking about. The two of them were already eating away at their ice cream as Robin tallied up their total, when the estimated amount came back Billy slapped down a twenty dollar bill.

“Keep the change.” [F/N] snaps her fingers and points at Robin.

“I’ll see you after work, Buckley.” she winks at her before the two finally walk out, sparing the two one last glance before they finally left. Both Steve and Robin let out a breath they hadn’t realised they were holding in and fanned their faces, they then look at each other.

“… we never speak of this.”

“Never speak of what?” meanwhile, Billy and [F/N] were sitting a little ways away from Scoops Ahoy and watched the two spiral into both a lesbian and bi panic, [F/N] laughs as she threw her head back.

“Damn, it’s so funny watching him question his sexuality.” [F/N) says, licking at the melting ice cream that ran down her cone and onto her fingers “I appreciate you flirting with my brother, it makes my fucking day.” Billy chuckled at that, eating away at his own ice cream while remembering the flustered spectate he left Steve in.

“Don’t mention it, flirting with him is almost like a sport, and I just love winning.” they both laugh at that. Hours later and Starcourt Mall is finally closed, Robin let out a sigh as she walked out of the mall a little more exhausted then usual but her head perked up at the sound of loud music. A smile graced her lips when she saw [F/N] sitting on the hood of her car smoking a cigarette, bobbing her head to the music while exhaling the smoke circulating in her lungs, breathing it out and watching it blow away in the wind.

“[F/N]!” she jolted up from where she was at the call of her name, turning her head towards the entrance of the mall then smiling when she saw Robin rushing over to her while waving her hand, this made her smile softly as she pushed herself off the hood and go over to the passengers side, opening the door and bowing her head.

“Your chariot awaits, my lady.” Robin giggled softly, shoving [F/N]’s face away, causing her to laugh at the gesture.

“Real smooth.” [F/N] closes the door the moment Robin got in and hurried over to the drivers side, taking the cigarette from her lips and tossing it away before jumping in. She lowers the volume for Robin when she noticed her wincing at how loud it was before starting her car then driving off, she continued to bob her head to the music as she drove out of the malls parking lot before turning her head towards Robin but not taking her eyes off the road. She asks the girl she lives so she knows where to drop her off and pick her up on future occasions, upon telling her address, [F/N] smirks softly and changes gears then slamming down on the gas “You sure like driving fast.” she laughs at that.

“Hell yeah I do, it’s been awhile since I’ve been able to drive my baby so I’m making the most of her.” at that she reached forward and gently caresses her dashboard “Besides, this isn’t even as fast as she can go. I’d go faster, but then I’d get pulled over. That Hopper guy is a real pain in my ass.”

“I’ll say.” Robin pats her hands against her legs and occasionally glances at [F/N], watching her tap her fingers against the wheel, mouthing the lyrics to the music and sometimes watching as her tongue poked out of her mouth to lick her dry lips.

“You know I feel you staring at me, Buckley.” Robin flinches at that and quickly turns away and faces ahead of them “You can keep staring, I don’t mind.” she chuckles when she could feel her grow flustered, it was always so fun teasing her.

“Can I ask you something?” she hums.

“You’re asking me a lot of things today, Robin. But sure, go ahead.”

“Um… is there anything going on between you and Billy?” this was enough to cause [F/N] to shoot forward, her once relaxed body tensing up at the thought.

“Me and Hargrove? Hah! That’s the funniest shit I’ve heard all day!” she laughed while throwing her head back “If this was because we walked in together acting closer than friends, or due to the fact that the people of this town have nothing better to do but spread false rumours, than you’re wrong. I thought I told you this morning that I wasn’t seeing anyone. Why? Was Harrington feeling threaten that I was with a guy that was more gorgeous than him?” she laughs again, she’ll have to bring this up to Steve, she glanced over at Robin and saw her raise her hands and shake her head.

“N-No, no! It isn’t like that!” [F/N] stared at her, slowing raising a brow “… alright, it’s kind of like that, but! You two looked awfully close.” [F/N] just shook her head, eyes looking back towards the road ahead of them.

“Rest assured, Robin, Billy is the last person I’d date, the same going for him. We’re nothing more than very good friends…” she trailed off at the end of her sentence, the two of them together were nothing but chaotic menaces that fed off each other’s tomfoolery.

“Oh, good, good. That’s good.” [F/N] shook her head, Robin was so obvious. Robin internally groaned when she saw [F/N] pulling up to her house, she almost didn’t want to leave because she wanted to spend just a few more minutes with [F/N].

“Do you have work tomorrow?”

“Huh?”

“I was asking if you had work tomorrow. Thought I’d ask just in case you needed a ride.” Robin swallowed thickly at the offer, her bike was still need of repairs and she didn’t really like the option of taking public transportation or bothering her partners for a ride.

“… you don’t mind?” she shook her head.

“No, and I told you before, if you ever need a ride, I’ll be just a phone call away.” Robin bites her lip at the thought of seeing [F/N] every morning and night instead of the few occasions when she came into the store, she can have longer conversations with her instead of the brief ones in the store, she can just spend some more time with the girl she really likes “So, you want me to pick you up in the morning?” she nods her head, clutching her bag to her chest.

“I’d like that a lot.” [F/N] smiled.

“Alright, then I’ll see you in the morning, freckles.” she had to hold back her laughter when Robin all but threw open the passenger door, nearly falling over in the process, before closing the door and rushing towards her house. [F/N] waited until she was in the comfort of her home before pulling out of her driveway and driving back to the Harrington household, then she was met with Steve staring her down like their disappointed mother “Now whaaat?” she groaned out, taking her shoes off and entered the kitchen.

“Why are you hanging around Hargrove?” she smirks at Steve.

“Psh, you sound like a jealous girl mad at her friend for spending time with the guy she likes.” she rolled her eyes when Steve threw his head back while throwing his hands up “Jesus, calm down. Billy and I have established a neutral but nice friendship… after I beat the shit out of him, and him doing the same to me that ended us both at a stalemate.” she then nods her head to him and proceeds to grab a drink from the fridge, watching as the shock in his face grow.

“Was that the reason you looked beat up weeks ago?” she shrugs, closing the fridge and opening the drink in her hands.

“No comment.” he groans, she then snickers “You never told Buckley we were siblings?” he gave her a confused look, sitting at one of the chairs by the counter.

“No? I thought you would have.” she laughs again.

“I figured, you know what she asked me this morning?” he raised a brow “She asked if I was single, when I asked why she was asking me, she told me that you told her to ask me.” now it was his turn to freeze up before bursting out into laughter, his laughter was contagious enough to get her to start laughing as well.

“Really? Ew!” she nods her head “Maybe we should bring this up?” they then look at each other, sharing the same devious smirk as they both shook their head.

“Nah,” they said in unison, the both of them laughter aloud once more “Oh! That just reminded me, I believe Robin was talking about you earlier this afternoon. If you dropped her off this morning, she was in a ridiculously happy mood to the point she was telling me that she might have a crush on this “cute dude that’s just perfect”, aka, you.” Steve chuckled softly when he noticed his sister’s face grow bright, leaning forward.

“Really? What else did she say?”

“I asked if she liked this guy, and she said yeah.” he hums when he saw [F/N] fall back against the fridge “But she’s afraid that you don’t like her the way you do, to which I understand, because she doesn’t know you’re a lesbian like her.” this caused her to smile at him.

“Ah, so you agree she’s a lesbian despite her describing that it was a guy that made her happy?” he nods.

“I saw the way she was looking at you, the way she thought about you. She’s definitely in love, [F/N].” between the two Harrington siblings, [F/N] was the more wilder sibling of the two. The moment their parents knew that there was no controlling her from her random spurs of violence (never at them or her sweet brother), they gave up on seeing her as anything more than a problematic troublemaker. She in turn loved to run free and do whatever she pleased, but she still thrived to be the best at Hawkins High School and going so far as to getting accepted in a top of the notch university in a different state. She was chaotic and always held her head high, a look of cockiness and pride seen on her face, but that was just merely a facade she puts up. Under all that arrogance was the sweet elder sister of Steve Harrington that loved him like any other sister would, the kind girl that grew up a little to fast when their parents did mother but neglect them from a young age. Steve saw that rare soft smile on her face when she thought of the fact that Robin liked her just as much as she did, it made him happy that his sister has found someone that makes her smile like that “You’re smiling.” that smile only grows as she raised her hand to cover her face.

“Shut up…!” she managed to say through a soft laugh.

[time skip: a few weeks later]

[F/N] was now trying harder, flirting with her at any given chance she could take, going so far as to taking her out to different places instead of driving her home. Robin wasn’t complaining at that, she was having fun spending more time with [F/N], heat rose to her cheeks when she remembered the time when a chill ran up her spine when a gust of wind blew past them. [F/N] obviously noticed this and removed the jacket she was wearing and offered Robin to wear it, she hesitantly took the jacket from her hands and put it on, reviling in the way it brought warmth to her body but also the way she could smell [F/N] on it. She was definitely not getting her jacket back any time soon, besides, it looked better on her anyways. Steve and Robin also had to put up with the fact that [F/N] and Billy always came by the store, whether it be to terrorise them through merciless flirting or just being straight up annoyances, it didn’t matter.

“Robin~” she all but jokingly groans at the sound of [F/N] singing her name, she turned her head to look over her shoulder and there she saw her, resting her elbow on the counter with her chin laying on the palm of her hand “Yoohoo, sailor~ you’ve got a customer in dire need of assistance.” she adds, twiddling her fingers in her direction to get her attention before dropping it down to her hip, Robin chuckles softly before striding over to her, resting her own hands on the counter and leaning forward.

“Why ahoy there, straggler. How can this sailor be of assistance?” [F/N] all but coos at Robin, she then pushed herself up so that she and Robin were eye to eye with each other.

“Are you busy this Saturday?” Robin perked up slightly.

“Why?” the woman opposite her takes a breath, lacing her fingers together and pressing the pads of her thumbs against each other.

“There’s a fair going on in the state over, I was wondering if you wanted to join me on Saturday. If you’re not busy, that is.” she gets a little nervous, rubbing the back of her neck the calm her down “I know it’s a bit of a drive, but I heard that it’s where the fun is at! I’d love to go with you, but if you can’t, I’ll just ask someone el—” she was cut off when Robin grabbed her hand, pulling her forward with an excited look on her face.

“Yes! I’d love to go with you, [F/N]! I’d love nothing more than to go with you!” she shakes her hand up and down, the bright shine in her eyes never disappearing “I’m not busy on Saturday, so I’d be happy to go with you!” [F/N] honestly didn’t think Robin would be this enthusiastic enough to go with her, so she lost her composure a little after Robin accepted her invitation before clearing her throat.

“W-Well, I’m glad you agreed to go with me! There wasn’t really anyone else I’d rather go with.” that’s a bit of a lie, she would have liked to go with Steve or maybe even Billy if Robin didn’t agree, but she was glad she did so she can have fun while being alone with her, maybe even pretend it was a date between the two of them “I’ll swing by your place around nine, alright? So be ready by then or else I’ll be honking in your driveway.” Robin laughs at that, shaking her head.

“Don’t! My parents will kill me.” she pulls Robin’s hands towards her and presses her lips on the back of her hand, lips still against her hand while he eyes glanced up at the red face girl.

“Then don’t make me wait, pretty girl.” she winks before skipping out of the store, thankful that she didn’t trip over her feet in the process. She glanced back at Robin and grinned when she saw her jumping up and down on her feet with the biggest smile on her face, [F/N] in return pumps her fist with a victorious grin on her face “Nailed it.” the day [F/N] was taking Robin to the fair came a lot faster than she anticipated because now she found herself standing in front of her full body mirror, wearing her best outfit and styling her hair in a similar fashion to Steve’s. She caresses her cheeks as she continues to stare at her reflection, she was quite nervous to spend a day with Robin instead of an hour or two, honestly, she was very excited. She now sported a big smile on her face, tugging on her jacket then turning to grab her keys from her nightstand and out the door “Stevie! I’m gonna be gone for the whole day, so don’t expect me to be home until really late or maybe tomorrow!” she called out as she sprinted past Steve’s room, only to stop and back step and lean back to peek into his room.

“That’s alright! I won’t be home either.” she raised a brow when she saw he was also getting ready to go out, sporting on a nice outfit that looked similar to her own while he was spraying on some hairspray and lightly pushing his hair into place “Have fun, [F/N].” she continued to stare at him, raising a brow when she saw him smiling softly.

“You getting for a date, Steve?” she noticed him flinch a little, he glanced at her through his own mirror and saw her raising a brow, now leaning against the doorframe while crossing her arms “Did you finally find someone that would give you the time of day?” he lets out a hum, looking up in thought.

“Somewhat?” she was even more curious, she would have pressed for more information but she didn’t want to be late picking up Robin so she raised her hand, waving him goodbye.

“Well, have fun on your date!” she exclaims then rushed downstairs and out the door, sliding over the hood of her car to get to the drivers side and hopping in. The drive to Robin’s house was a cruise as she now parked by the curb outside her house, drumming away on her stirring wheel as music blasted through her cars speakers once more. She perks up when she sees Robin kick open the door to her house and rushes over to where [F/N] was parked, her heart hastened when she saw Robin hurriedly trying to tug her arm through the sleeve of the jacket she gave her.

“I’m not late, am I?” [F/N] shook her head, smiling softly as Robin took her spot in the passenger seat.

“Not at all, you ready?” Robin nods.

“Totally!” she and Robin share a big grin before letting out loud cheering as [F/N] drove out of Hawkins, Robin was rambling about different little things they could do while they were are the fair as music played in the background. [F/N] let Robin make her own cassette tape so she could play music that she liked whenever they went on little drives together, sometimes she would blend in songs they both liked and they would often sit in silence as music played. It was a three hour drive to the state over but they didn’t mind how long it was going to take, they were enjoying the sight seeing that was better than the boring old bland Hawkins. After a few stops to get gas and some snacks, they finally found themselves at the fair.

“And the worst part about all this was finding a parking spot.” Robin pats [F/N] on the back when she finally managed to find said parking lot, slamming her head into the stirring wheel after nearly fifteen minutes of no luck, almost getting out of her car to cuss out a guy who nearly rear ended her when she had to abruptly slam on the breaks when some other douchebag stole her spot.

“Well, all that matters is that we’re here.” she calmly said, [F/N] pushed herself up and took a deep breath to calm herself, she then faced Robin and smiled at her “Now that you’ve calmed down, let’s get out there and have some fun.” [F/N] chuckled and nodded her head.

“Alright, you’re right!” they smile at each other before getting out of the car, Robin closes the door and goes around to stand beside [F/N] after she locked her door, she starts walking off but paused when she saw [F/N] extend her hand out to her. She stared down at her hand then back up at her face and saw she had a sheepish look on her face as she rubbed the back of her neck, her own hand twitched before it settled down into [F/N]’s, who looked more than relived that she took her hand. The two of them were blushing as they walked hand in hand into the fair, sure they got a few funny looks here and there, but that didn’t matter to them at the moment. [F/N] laughed when Robin rushed ahead, dragging her along with her as she pointed at the few attractions with a big smile on her face. She nods to herself, bringing Robin here was definitely the right decision. Neither one of them were paying attention to the time and they spent most of the day going on the rides, playing some games while winning prizing or just simply lazing around eating food and talking about anything that came to mind.

“I’m glad you invited me to this, [F/N].” she looks at her before snorting when said girl was stuffing her face with a hotdog, she laughs as she hands her a napkin and her drink to help her swallow it down, when she calmed down she beamed at the taller girl “I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy myself as much as I did if I were with anyone else, but I had the most fun I’ve had in ages because I’m here with you.” [F/N], who’s face was still stuffed with food, blushed softly at the confession but smiled.

“Oh, I-I’m glad you’re having fun!” she internally face palms, cringing at herself. I’m glad you’re having fun? Jesus fucking christ! You could’ve said anything else, and you went with that. Wow, way to go, nice one, she shakes her head at herself then swallows her food before speaking “A-Anyways, I was wondering, in the near future, would you like to do something like this again? Just the two of us together? Whether it be hanging out by the quarry, or maybe eat out at the diner. I don’t know, and I don’t care, you can pick if you want. All I know is that I want to spend more time with you, Robin.” she then reaches down to take Robin’s hands into her own, rubbing the pads of her thumbs over her knuckles, smiling softly when she felt Robin tighten her own hands around hers, blushing a soft shade of pink.

“I would love nothing more than to do something like this again.” her smile grew bigger and Robin mirrored her expression, Robin then moves slightly to suggest something but [F/N]’s gaze went to a familiar face that was lingering in the crowd. She tried to keep her eyes on Robin but whoever caught her eye made her glance back so she tilts her head to the side to look past Robin and her brows shot up when she saw Steve, she would have left it at that but her eyes widened in shock when she saw Billy fucking Hargrove walking beside him and the two of them were laughing together, going so far as to Steve leaning into his side to calm himself. Steve’s sister wasn’t too far off when she questioned if he was going on a date, it was just a little hangout between him and Billy when the latter invited him to go out of state to some fair. He didn’t think much of it, he totally didn’t put a lot of thought into his appearance, not at all. He totally wasn’t having a great time having fun with the guy that beat the shit out of him the previous yeah, no way. So why is he laughing his heart out with the blonde to the point he had to hold his arm from collapsing to the floor, even Billy had to hold him up.

“Whoa there, pretty boy, can’t have you falling on me.” Steve rolled his eyes as Billy helped him up, he runs a hand through his hair but stiffened up a little when he felt like he was being watched. He looked around to find the gaze that had him frozen in place and when he did his face fell, there he saw his sister staring right back at him with her eyes widened and jaw dropped. She raised her hand and pointed at him while he shook his head and mouthed “this isn’t what it looks like”, Billy noticed his silence and looked at him to see him staring at someone, so he followed his gaze and he himself paused when he saw [F/N]. She looked at the two before shrugging and giving them a thumbs up, Steve’s face fell into his hands while Billy let out a laugh.

“Isn’t something wrong?” [F/N]’s gaze snapped back to Robin when she spoke, noticing she had a concerned look on her face and she was beginning to turn around, her face flushed up when [F/N] quickly grabbed her by the side of her face and turned her eyes back onto her, her hand still resting on her cheek.

“No, no! There’s nothing wrong, don’t worry about it.” when she realised her thumb was caressing into her cheek she yanked her hand back, Robin in turn placed her hand on her cheek to feel the lingering warmth of what was left of [F/N]’s touch “There’s still a lot of things we’ve yet to do, Robin. Lets go enjoy the rest of our day before it’s over.” Robin wanted to say more but was quickly yanked onto her feet and dragged off to ride the rest of the fair rides they have yet to try. A few hours later [F/N] was found leaning against a post as she waited for Robin, who had left to go to the bathroom, she laced her fingers together and cracked them over her head while letting out a yawn.

“[F/N]!” she nearly falls over when her name was called, she looked over and laughed when she saw that it was Steve speed walking over to her “What you saw before… there’s nothing going on between us, alright? We’re just hanging out like two friends!” she rolled her eyes, crossing her arms and clearly not buying.

“Uh huh, that’s not what the Steve from before was saying.” he scoffed, crossing his own arms then stared down at him.

“What do you know about the Steve from before?” she rolled her eyes, pushing herself off the post to reach up and grab the collars of his shirt, neatly folding them out when they were messy.

“I know that in his eyes that he was having the best time of his life with the guy he previously hated. I know that he was smiling ear to ear like he used to when we were just children. I know that he’s slowly falling in love with Mister Billy Hargrove because he has the same look in his eyes like mine whenever I’m looking at Miss Robin Buckley. But I also know that he’s afraid to admit it because he hasn’t properly processed his sexuality like his dearest older sister.” she sighed softly when she noticed he was slowly processing her words, sigh, he always was a slow thinker. She takes a step forward, reaching up so one hand was on his shoulder while the other gently cupped his cheek and offered him a soft smile “I know it’s hard Stevie, I know, but you have me and maybe even Billy to help you through this crisis. I’ll be right there with you, to help you, every step of the way.” he weakly nods his head, leaning his cheek into the palm of her hand.

“I know, you were always there for me when I needed you most.” her smile grew  at the memories. She remembered the time when she was teaching him how to ride a bike, terrible decision on both of their parts, because it ended with Steve falling off and crying because he scrapped his knee. [F/N] carried him on her back to a neighbours house, to which said neighbour stood in slight concern because both children were crying. She remembered the time when he called her while she was in university and over the phone she could hear him trying to talk through tears, it was incoherent that she could barely make any words out but heard him blubber how his girlfriend Nancy Wheeler broke up with him. Oh, she could just imagine the look of heartbreak on his face when he poured his heart out to her, saying how he thought she was the one he was going to marry and spend the rest of his life with, only for her to rip his heart out and spit on it. How she wanted to go back to Hawkins that very moment just so she could comfort her brother, how he wanted to be held in her arms as she comforted him, how she wanted to beat the fuck out of that fucking Wheeler for breaking her brothers heart, but she held back for Steve “I know you would do absolutely anything for me.” she nods her head.

“That’s right, my sweet little baby brother.” he rolled his eyes at that but didn’t stop her when she pulled him down to press a kiss to his cheek “I love you, I love you very, very much! Don’t you forget it.” he laughs at her before proceeding to press his own kiss to her forehead then wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her up into a hug.

“And I love you too!” she laughs as she wraps her arms around his neck, letting him twirl her around before putting her down, but neither sibling let go just yet until they hear a soft gasp. [F/N] lightly pulls away, her hands slipping down to rest on Steve’s chest, and her eyes widened when she saw Robin standing a little ways away from them, a look of heartbreak on her face as tears swelled up in her eyes “R-Robin!” Steve stuttered out, knowing that look all to tell when he saw Jonathan and Nancy together in her room, and he knows the exact thoughts and feelings that were going on in her head right that moment.

“Robin, I swear, it’s not what it looks like!” [F/N] shouts out and reaches for her but the girl broke down into tears and quickly ran away, [F/N] didn’t hesitate to shove her brother off of her and quickly run after Robin. She usually would have apologised to people if she shoved past them or pushed them aside, but she could really give a rats ass at the moment as she ran after Robin, her heart breaking at the sight of tears running down her freckled cheeks “Robin, please! Wait!” she called out, this only made the other girl shake her head and let out a sob.

“No!” being a little athletic than the other, [F/N] easily caught up with Robin, wrapping her arms around her so she couldn’t get away. Robin obviously fought against her hold but couldn’t do much as the other was much stronger than her, so she was dragged into a more private part of the fair “Let go of me, [F/N]! Let go!” not wanting to hurt her, [F/N] does let her go but when she tried to leave she would move in front of her so she couldn’t leave.

“Robin, please let me explain myself! What you saw with me and Steve? There’s nothing go on between us, please, I swear there’s nothing going on.” she tried saying, but Robin wasn’t listening to her words and instead just shook her head,

“No! I heard you say “I love you” to Harrington! I saw you kiss him! In return, he did and said the same thing you did!” she raised her hands and pressed the heels of her palms against her forehead, gritting her teeth at the scene she stumbled upon. She was coming back from the bathroom, ready to enjoy the rest of her time with [F/N], only to find fucking Steve Harrington and [F/N] together. She didn’t think anything of it, she thought that it was nothing but a mere coincidence but then she saw the soft and tender look on her face as she coddled Steve like any other girlfriend would do when their boyfriend was upset. Her heart dropped into her stomach when she saw [F/N] press a kiss to his cheek and him doing the same thing, what hurt the most was hearing them say I love you to each other, nothing hurt more than watching the one you love very much look at someone else “Steve, that motherfucker, he was right! I wouldn’t know if they’re the one until it’s too late, and I guess that applies to right now!”

“No, Robin, it’s not too late.” [F/N] reassures, taking a step forward and wanting nothing more than to hold her but kept her hands back “Steve and I, we’re nothing more than—”

“The prettiest couple? Yeah, I’ve heard people talking. How about you and Billy? You said there was nothing between you two, but I’ve seen how touchy the two of you get. Sometimes you’re hanging off of him whenever I see you two together, or maybe when you and Steve are holding hands. I’ve seen all the signs, but I ignored them because of the way you looked at me, the way you talked to me! You were just leading me on this whole fucking time, and I fell for it! I fell for you, and this is what I get for trusting someone as beautiful as you…!” she takes a breath, threading her fingers through her hair and nearly yanking at them “I want to go home now.” [F/N] lets out a breath, shaking her head.

“How will you get home, Robin? We’re three hours away from Hawkins, I drove us here and you can’t drive! It’s also getting late and I don’t want you taking a bus all the way back to Indiana.” Robin scoffs.

“I’ll do what I want, so don’t try and stop me!” she yells “Maybe you can go spend the rest of the night with Steve, I bet he’ll love that very much.” she scowled when Steve suddenly appeared, clearly out of breath, behind [F/N] and placed his hand on her shoulder “Oh, look! Here he is now!” Steve shakes his head.

“Robin, please, you’re misunderstanding the whole situation.” he tried saying, he flinched back when she glared at him, tears rolling down her cheeks as she points at him.

“Shut up, Harrington!” she lets out another sob, holding her arms in her hands “I hated the thought of you stealing [F/N] from me! You’re just so perfect, you two are just perfect for each other! Steve Harrington who got all the ladies, who was the King of Hawkins High School that everyone wanted! I was so afraid that I’d lose her to you, and I guess I did, because I can’t fucking have anything!” her fingers did into the fabric of the jacket, her jacket, and she wanted to tear it off her body but didn’t want to lose the one thing close to her “I can’t have anything because I’m just fucking different!”  “Robin!” they both shout but she ignored them both, shaking her head but that didn’t stop them “Look at us!” she sneered at them when she did and through the tears she looked at them, she didn’t understand why the said that but as her vision cleared up she saw a bit of a resemblance that she never did see before. Now that they were standing together, the little moles and beauty marks Steve had along his neck and face, [F/N] had a few on her as well. They had a similar jaw line and nose, even their hair looked similar, but what was a dead give away were their eyes. She remembered when she first met [F/N], she remembered that her eyes reminded her of someone, and she couldn’t believe that that someone was Steve.

“Y-You…” [F/N] let out a breath when she noticed Robin was finally calming down.

“Robin,” she says softly, taking a step forward but not moving any closer when Robin flinched back “Steve and I, we’re siblings. Steve is my younger brother.” Steve waved his hand, nodding his head.

“Yeah, she’s my older sister that went to university.” Robin remembered hearing Steve mentioning that as well in a passing conversation but thought nothing of it, not really giving a shit about Steve at that point of time.

“My name is [F/N] Harrington.” she gently says, she and Steve look at each other and smile softly “We were the Harrington siblings, don’t you ever remember hearing people talking about us?” she scoffed, sniffling as she tried wiping away her tears.

“Y-Yeah, but I never got to see who the female Harrington was, all I knew was that she was a wild child that couldn’t be controlled.” [F/N] chuckled weakly at that, remembering being called that as well “B-But if you guys are related, why didn’t you mention this to me?” they both respectively wince.

“Honestly…” Steve starts, pausing for a second “we both kind of forgot.” Robin gasped and looked at [F/N], who guiltily glanced down at the ground while nodding her head, pressing her lips into a thin line.

“Yeah.” she mutters under her breath, Robin scoffs, throwing her head back along with her hands.

“Then what was going on between you two?”  “Steve was going through a crisis so as his sister I was comforting him.” this earned her a smack on the arm, she growled at him and smacked him back “I’m being honest! It’s the least we can do after we bamboozled her for as long as we did, dipshit!” he just rolled his eyes, Robin then watched the two of them bickering like siblings. Argh, how could she not see it? Now that she’s watching them, seeing them together side by side, it’s as clear as day that they’re brother and sister. She then starts to panic, remembering everything she was saying when she thought that Steve and [F/N] were secretly a couple.

“U-Uh, [F/N]…” he stuttered words caught their attention, Robin was now crying for a different reason, now at the thought that the friendship—the relationship she had with [F/N) was going to be damaged because of her foolish mistake of not hearing them out “what I said before, can you forget everything I said? I-I was being foolish and clearly I wasn’t in the right state of mind. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you guys, and I’m sorry for my outburst. But just please, forget everything I said.” Steve reached forward, ready to apologise to himself but held his tongue when he saw his sister step forward. Robin was shaking her head, lips trembling and body ready to collapse at any given moment. God, she wished she could have just heard them out, now the both of them knew. They knew that she wasn’t like them, that she was just some queer that neither of them wanted to be associated with. She flinched, letting out another sob when she saw [F/N]’s shoes in front of her, and when she stuttered out another apology, she gasped when [F/N] grabbed her by the forearms and pulled her into a much needed kiss. Steve let out a huff, turning around and making sure no one was peeking in on them, but glanced back when he saw Robin’s eyes widen in shock before they gradually calmed down and fluttered shut. [F/N] was the one to pull away and though Robin wanted to avert her eyes from her gaze, she reluctantly met her eyes and saw nothing but love and reassurance swirling in those pretty [E/C] eyes.

“Why would I ever want to forget you ever calling me beautiful?” she shook her head, her hands sliding up from her arms and resting on her face so she could cup her cheeks “I’m so sorry that neither of us told you that we were siblings, I’m sorry I had you thinking so awful thoughts, I’m sorry that I made you cry. I’ll make it up to, I promise you that I won’t ever make you cry, that is unless they’ll be of tears of joy.” she says, wiping away the tears that stained her pretty little face, going so far as to leaning forward to kiss away the few stray ones.

“[F/N]…”

“I love you, Robin.” she confessed, reaching down to grab her hands once more “I love you and I want you to know that I would love it if you would be my girlfriend, that is if you’ll allow me to be your girlfriend?” she held her hands softly, not in a way that’ll keep her from jerking away, just enough to ground them both. Robin’s lips trembled once more, she then let out a weak laugh as she lifted her hands, that were still being held in [F/N]’s grip, and pressed them against her forehead and nodded her head.

“Yes! Yes, yes, yes! A thousand times, yes!” Steve smiled fondly upon seeing his sister let out a loud cheer, throwing her arms up then wrapping them around Robin and lifting her up, twirling her around in a similar fashion he did to her. Hah, the two of them really are sibl— his thoughts were cut off when he felt an arm wrap around his shoulder.

“There you are, pretty boy.” twas Billy, having looked nearly everywhere for Steve, only to find him along with his sister and that Buckley girl in a corner away from prying eyes “What’s going on here?” he asked, Steve chuckled and cocked his head over to them, Billy hummed then raised both brows when he saw [F/N] and Robin share a kiss, a sweet and loving kiss.

“My sister got herself a girlfriend.” he nods his head, smiling softly.

“Good for her, now I don’t have to hear her bitching about freckles.” Steve rolled his eyes, smacking Billy’s arm with a laugh, the blonde pursed his lips, the way he did it was in a similar fashion to [F/N] doing it “Wow, like sister like brother. You two are so alike.” hearing this, [F/N] turned her head over to look at them and gave them a cheeky grin.

“You can say that again.” [F/N] now ignored the two boys in favor of her new girlfriend, she finally put her down and she stared down at her with nothing but love in her eyes. Robin blushed and didn’t hesitated to throw her arms around [F/N]’s neck, who couldn’t held by wrap her own arms around her waist, and together they held each others tight, as if they were going to disappear if they let go for just a second “I love you, Robin. Do you love me?” Robin giggled, moving just slightly kiss her temple.

“I do love you, female Harrington.” the both snort at that before pulling each other into another kiss, clearly the two of them were in love with each other.

Headcanons:

the rest of that night was spent with the four of them on a double date.

[f/n] and billy were being menaces all night long, shamelessly flirting with steve and robin with no remorse.

the two of them together were the biggest flirts and sometimes they said the most unhinged things of existence that earned them the cutest and most flustered reactions out of the two.

they high fived each other.

steve and robin started getting along better now that robin was basically dating his sister. she hated it mostly because now that she’s seen the resemblance in the two of them, she can’t be that big of a jerk to him because a. [f/n] loves her brother and b. it’s like she’s staring at [f/n] whenever she looks harrington in the eyes for more then five seconds.

she hates it.

nothing too drastic changed between [f/n] and robin.

she still picked her up and dropped her off at work.

she still took her out on nightly drives.

the big thing that changed was that [f/n] no longer had to hold back all the affection and love she was storing up in her heart that was meant for robin.

robin had to sometimes tell her no or calm down when [f/n] was expression a little too much pda, but the harrington didn’t care. she loved her girlfriend to bits, and she didn’t give two shits what this shitty little town had to say.

steve and [f/n] were now officially the disappoints of the harrington family.

they didn’t give a shit, not one.

what made it funny was whenever billy or robin mentioned they were dating a harrington, especially not mentioning which one, people would always assume the other one.

when robin told one of the few friends she had she was dating “harrington” they immediately thought she managed to hookup with steve, to which they congratulated her for such a success.

to which she just nodded her head and silently nodded with a “yeah, totally”.

she later told steve, [f/n] and billy and they all had a laugh about it. though it was definitely for the best for the four of them.

[f/n] goes out of her way to express her undying love for robin.

sometimes she gets a little insecure that she might be overdoing it, but seeing how robin never pushed away each gift she’s given her, or shied away from her affection, she believes she’s doing a great job.

the four of them would also often have double dates or shared date nights at the harrington household.

it was the biggest house and definitely better than their own rundown, shithole of a house they live in. and besides, billy and robin just love that harrington siblings give them so much attention.

[f/n] has totally threatened billy about being with steve.

steve is her brother. her brother that’s been neglected by both their parents to the point she’s had to fill in that role as somewhat as a parental figure so she knows just how touch starved and desperate for love he is.

billy understands where she’s coming from and wishes for her to have done faith in him, and though she does by how much her brother now sings praises about billy, she can’t help but give him a lecture.

to which billy listens carefully.

anyways-

sometimes billy and [f/n] would be arguing about who’s girlfriend/boyfriend was cuter. better. sweeter. and list every single detail that just made them perfect and why they love them so much.

said girlfriend/boyfriend are in the background telling them to shut up, sporting a nice little blush on their cheeks as they tried to stop themselves from smiling.

sometimes things would get physical but the two never had hard feelings and always laughed it off.

this earned them a smack across the head.

steve and robin, in the end, just love their wild, hotheaded, temperamental, violent lovers that will only be soft and gentle with them around.

billy and [f/n] in return love their sweet, quirky, fun loving lovers and would do just about anything to keep them from feeling anything but the amounts of love they have for them.

and when I mean anything; I mean anything.

hah! I’m kidding.

but don’t get me wrong, billy and [f/n] will fight anyone that makes their cuties cry.

Monster

word count: 6395

Fandom: Stranger Things  Pairing: Chrissy Cunningham x Male!Monster!Reader  Pronouns: He/Him  Relationship: Familial Occupation: Protector Ability: Cursed Spirit

The character is a monster that has attached itself to its victim, posing as a sort of imaginary friend that only the victim can see. In the eyes of the victim, they have the appearance of an average man with a gentle expression and looks overall normal. To everyone else that they willingly let themself be visible to, they are nothing more than a ghost like wraith. They have the ability to let out a shriek like that of the wailing spirit banshee, and morph themself into a monstrous state.

Keys:

[M/N]: Male Name  [L/N]: Last Name  [N/N]: Nickname  [H/C]: Hair Color  [E/C]: Eye Color

Warnings: vulgar language, violence, mention of drugs

got this idea after reading this story by @skinnywalker​ of their chrissy cunningham x male!reader, go check their story out cause I liked it.

there is going to be a part two.

that is all.

“Chrissy, what did I say about watching what you eat?”

“T-That it messes with my performances.”

“No, if you’re not careful you’ll end up fat and ugly. Nobody likes a fat girl, Chrissy.” she felt her lip tremble, hands fisting her sweat shirt around her stomach as her eyes start to water “I hope you remember that next time before helping yourself to seconds.

“Yes, mother.” glancing up at her mother, she noticed a jagged hand on her mother’s shoulder as a monstrous figured loomed above her. Its eyes were pitch black with a sort of liquid bleeding out from it, pale purple skin with its jaw snapped open and ready to bite her mothers head off. Chrissy lets out a sigh with a shake of her head, this motion caused the monster to momentarily freeze then retreat back to wherever it came from “May I go to my room, mother?”

“You may.” she turns on her heel and quickly rushes to her room, closing her door behind her and throwing herself onto her bed. She cries into her pillow at the endless cruel words that continue to fly out of her mothers mouth, berating her for not being skinny enough for her cheerleading career, not being beautiful enough in her eyes. What was the point of beauty if she had to go through all this pain to meet those shitty beauty standards?! She sniffles to herself, pushing herself up, hugging her knees close to her chest as her blanket was draped around her. She felt the room get darker and that same jagged hand from before came out from under her bed, reaching for her and grabbing her by the ankle.

“Chrissy…” the voice moaned out, hoarse and deep that would make the average person tremble in fear, but she didn’t. The mere presence of this monster under her bed made her feel safe, she smiled softly as she reached down to caress the hand.

“Hello, [M/N].” said man pulled himself out from under her bed to reveal not a monster, but a kind looking man with short/long [H/C] hair and soft [E/C] eyes, he smiled up at her from where he was sitting then opened his arms up for her. She didn’t hesitate to move from where she was situated, throwing the blanket off of her to embrace the monster posed as a man. He hummed softly, gently rubbing circles into her back as she cried into his shoulder, though that insatiable rage for his Chrissy’s mother started to take over his mind.

’How could that foul woman talk to her own daughter like that? Why can’t she see the way she’s talking to her hurts her? Why can’t she see the damage she’s done to her daughter? Why can’t I just kill her? My Chrissy would be better off if that bitch would just die.’ sometimes he would find it difficult to control his thoughts, sometimes he would act impulsively and not realise what he’s done until it’s too late.

[M/N]. He was a monster that attached itself to Chrissy at an early age of her life, when she was nothing more than a mere child. At first, she was food that he would feed off of but was startled when she started looking forward to seeing him. She was a weird one. He had the appearance of a revolting monster that would make even adults cry, but this child laughed and cheered whenever she saw him. The first time he did see her cry was not because of him, but because of those despicable words her mother would fill her head with. Saying she wasn’t good enough, pretty enough, skinny enough. That moment he wanted to kill that woman, kill the bitch that caused his favourite human to develop an eating disorder and resort to liking him, a monster that wanted to eat her. But Chrissy pleaded with him, begged him not to hurt her mother because of her? That girl was too kind for his liking, she was kind enough to give him a name.

[M/N], her imaginary monster.

”Chrissy…” he moaned out again, she pulled away with a sniffle, laughing weakly when he reached forward to wipe away the tears she missed. He pulled back again and she watched as he dropped numerous snacks in front of him, he then pointed at her mouth and did biting motions with his own mouth ”Eat.” he didn’t like the smile she forced onto her lips, it looked bitter and sad, not the one he used to see.

“Thank you, [M/N], you’re always so sweet to me.” he watches her silently, eating the food that he stole for her to fill her empty stomach. He was fully capable of swiping things here and there, sometimes even pulling small tricks and pranks that would make her laugh. One time, when she and her family were getting ready to eat, he pulled her mothers chair out so she fell to the ground. Another time was when he swapped the sugar for salt so her mother was in for a salty surprise when she drank her morning coffee, he did all that just to see his Chrissy smile.

”Performance tomorrow…?” her head perked up at the question, lighting up in remembrance about the pep rally tomorrow for Hawkins basketball team, she nods enthusiastically.

“Yes, yes! My girls and I have been practicing vigorously, I believe you’ll enjoy it very much.” he smiles, reaching forward to pat her head.

”Anything you do… I like.” she smiled.

“I know.” she looks at the time and takes his hand from a top of her head, pulling it down while caressing his knuckles with her thumbs “It’s gotten late, [M/N]. I think I should go to sleep.” he slowly nods his head, reaching to pat her head once more then pulling away, allowing her to lay her head onto her pillow whilst he grabbed the end of her blanket and pulled it up to tuck her in.

”Sweet dreams…” he waves her goodbye and retreated back under her bed but she knew he was still there, he was always around until she fell asleep. When she did fall asleep, his monstrous figure loomed over her body once more, his jagged fingers reaching forward to gently caress her face while removing a few loose strands of her hair off of her face. He then peeks over towards her door, his figure drops into the shadows and shoots out to where Chrissy’s mother was sitting in the living room watching T.V.  It was so easy. He could kill this woman and make Chrissy’s life a little easier. What stood in his way was the love Chrissy had for her mother, she would hate him if he were to take her mother from her. But he just couldn’t understand the young girl. This woman was no mother to treat her daughter the way she does, and what about the rest of her family? Have they done anything to stop her from doing it? No, they didn’t. All Chrissy had was him, he was the only one by her side that would do anything for her. He would die for her. He would kill for her. He would destroy the goddamn world if he needed to. All he wanted was for Chrissy to be happy, her happiness was his everything, and he was going to be damned if he’d let anyone take that from her.

[time skip: the next day]

”Wonderful…” [M/N] murmured softly with a tired smile on his face, standing at the very back of the gym as he watched Chrissy’s performance, clapping his hands while swaying side to side. His smile brightened when he saw her look through the crowd in search for him, her own smile growing bigger when she finally did find him, he then gives her a thumbs up ”You’re doing… great.” [M/N] always reminded Chrissy of one of those parents that always came to their child’s performances, being that person that cheered the loudest, and though no one else can hear or see it, she really appreciated it.

“How was it, [M/N]?” she asked him, taking a seat on the floor after they finished the routine. She glanced to her side when she felt his fingers roll onto her shoulders then pulled himself out from behind her, his head hovering a few inches away from her face “Did you like the performance?” he nods his head, leaning his head onto hers.

”Very flashy…” she only giggled at that, soon Hawkins’ basketball team came running into the gym and the crowd went wild once more.

“Good morning, Hawkins high!” Jason Carver, the captain of the basketball team and unfortunately Chrissy’s boyfriend, greets into the microphone with a big grin in his face “First off, I’d like to thank each and every one of you. Without your support, we wouldn’t be here. Give yourselves a big hand.” [M/N] had to admit, this guy had quite the charisma to get the crowd in an uproar like he does “And of course, of course I have to give a special shout-out to the best and the prettiest fans of all time, the Tiger Cheer Squad. Chrissy… Chrissy, I love you babe.” this caused the crowd to aw at the confession while she in turn blushed, blowing a kiss to Jason. She then had to keep a straight face when [M/N] glanced at her then turned away, making gagging noises while pointing into his mouth.

“Stop it…” she whispered, though it was funny. [M/N] could give less of a shit about the rest of his speech, spouting out some bullshit from what happened the year prior and how they haven’t won a game in the past twenty two years or something along the lines of that, he wasn’t listening. Whenever Chrissy is at school, [M/N] makes sure not to interfere and lets her go on with her day unless she calls for him. Those times are rare but they’ve been becoming more frequent ever since she’s been seeing that woman, um, Ms Kelly or some shit, he can’t remember. As of recently, he had been noticing how Chrissy was suffering through nightmares, one’s terrible then from before, causing her to have trouble sleeping and her headaches how been getting worse. He was always there to help her through it, cooing soft words of encouragement into her ear or being that shoulder she needed to lean on. 

This was one of those times she needed him, she was getting spewing her breakfast and most likely lunch into the toilet. He was holding her beautiful hair back while rubbing circles into her back in a comforting manner, he made sure the door was locked so no one would disturb her but the door to the bathroom opened and a small red haired girl entered. He briefly left Chrissy’s side to see what that girl was doing, phasing through the bathroom stall door to take a peek at what that girl was doing. His presence was unknown to her as she took her bag off to grab a small container of pills, he furrowed his brows when he recognised them as pills that Chrissy takes to help lessen the pain of her headaches, they both then glance back when Chrissy starts coughing.

“Hey, you alright?” she called.

“Yeah—yes, I’m… I’m fine.” the girl glanced back towards the bathroom door then at the stall Chrissy was in before approaching.

“Okay, um… you’re sure?”  “Please just go away.” this was enough to get the girl to leave, Chrissy lets out a groan when she heard [M/N] let out a sigh from outside the stall. She chose to ignore him for the time being and reached over to flush her vomit down, she then groans when she heard pounding on the door “Are you deaf? I said go away.” [M/N] raised a brow in confusion, looking over at the stall where he heard Chrissy speak, but who on earth was she talking to?

”Chrissy…?” he called out, reaching forward to phase through the door but his hand flinched back. He looked around in confusion when he felt a presence but he just couldn’t see it, his head then immediately whipped back towards the door when he heard Chrissy scream. He didn’t hesitate to phase through the door and there he found Chrissy pressing her back to the wall in the very corner of the stall, eyes squeezed shut as she covered her ears.

“No! Go away! Go away! Go away!” she shakes her head, repeating the phrase over and over, pleading for whatever was causing her these hallucinations to just disappear. She let out a scream when something grabbed her, shouting her name while shaking her back and forward.

”Chrissy! Chrissy! Chrissy!” she gasped, eyes snapping open when she recognised the voice. In front of her now was [M/N] looking distressed and concerned, she looked around and saw that the lights above her were no longer flickering and the pounding on the stall door had ceased.

“[M-M/N]…?” she whimpered out, he lets out a relieved sigh.

”You’re back… I’m glad.” his mouth opened slightly to speak but stopped when she quickly threw herself onto him, she held onto him so tightly she preyed that he didn’t disappear under her hold. He looked down at her in concern then raised his arms to wrap around her, pulling her closer into him then rested the side of his head against hers, rocking back and forward as she sobbed into his shoulder ”I’m here… I'm here, Chrissy.” he glanced around him before tightening his hold around her, a dark aura radiating out of him. Whoever or whatever did this to his Chrissy, it wasn’t anything he’s ever seen. He knew Hawkins was a fucked up place ever since that kid went missing a couple years back, he knew because he was one of those fucked up things, but this was something different.  This isn’t good. [M/N] now made sure not to leave Chrissy side, instead of lurking in the shadows or the depths below, he was now directly over her shoulder watching for anything else that could potentially harm his Chrissy. She felt more at ease knowing that he was there, reaching for her shoulder. The people around could only see her patting her shoulder and squeezing it but she was actually patting his hand and giving it a light squeeze, in return he would soothingly rub her shoulder and continue to tell her that he was right behind her and that he wasn’t going anywhere. [M/N] now found himself and Chrissy on the outskirts of the school, in the middle of the woods where a lone lunch table sat in the opening.  “Hello…?” she called out uneasily, looking around for someone but saw no one. [M/N] glanced at her and saw her look off, he followed her gaze and saw she was staring at a tree, he looked at her once more and saw that her unease grew as she approached the tree.  ”Chrissy…? What are you… looking at?” he questioned but didn’t get an answer as she got closer to the tree, he looked between the two and concluded that she was seeing something entirely differently to him so he quickly floated over to her, grabbing her shoulder and snapping his fingers in front of her face “Chrissy, there’s nothing there…” she snapped out of her daze as she looked up at him in shock.

“B-But, there was a clock…! I swear I saw it.” she starts shaking her head as she backed away, he called out to her to stop but couldn’t when she backed up into the chest of the man she was meeting.

“Whoa, hey, hey, hey.” [M/N] quickly returned to her side, floating behind her as they both stare at the newcomer “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. You okay?” she wordlessly stared up at him then back towards the tree, the man followed her gaze then glanced back at her, he then saw the way she raised her head to her shoulder and squeezed it. The two now sat on the abandoned bench, [M/N] had come to recognise this young man as the Hawkins freak, Eddie Munson. He never paid too much attention to this gentlemen, he never paid attention to anything that wasn’t Chrissy, but he knew that he wasn’t well liked “There’s, uh… there’s nothing to worry about, okay? No one ever comes out here, we’re safe. I promise.” Eddie reassures, taking off his jacket and vest then opening his lunchbox to reveal his stash of weed.

“So,” Chrissy starts, clearly nervous as she couldn’t meet Eddie’s gaze “how does this work exactly?”

“Oh, just like any other old sale, except, uh, cash only, and, uh, for obvious reasons,  or receipts.” she slowly nods her head “I’ll do you half an ounce, for uh, twenty. What do you say? Plenty of bang for your buck. Should last a while.” Chrissy lets out a gasp, whipping her head around when she heard a noise but only saw a squirrel run up a tree. Eddie watches her then soon lets out a sigh, putting the bag of weed back into his lunchbox then closed it “Hey, uh, we don’t need to do this. Just give me the word and I’ll walk away. Okay?” she quickly shakes her head.

“It’s not that. I don’t want you to go.” he raised a brow at that “Its just… do you ever feel like you’re losing your mind?”

“Um, you know, just… on a daily basis. I feel like I’m losing my mind right now doing a drug deal with Chrissy Cunningham, the Queen of Hawkins High.” [M/N]’s brow perked up slightly when he saw a subtle smile appear on Chrissy’s face but it went away just as quickly “You know, this isn’t the first time that we’ve, um… hung out. No? You don’t remember?” she shakes her head apologetically.

“I’m sorry, I—” she glanced at [M/N] to see if he remember but he shrugged his shoulders with a shake of his head, Eddie just chuckled.

“That’s okay.” Eddie had a blank look on his face, soon both himself and Chrissy let out a startled noise when Eddie fell back onto the ground while pretending to stand himself. Chrissy immediately stands to her feet to see if he was alright while [M/N] hovered above him, seeing that he was fine he let out a sigh.

”What an… oddball.” he murmured, hearing Eddie laugh as he pulled himself up and onto his feet, [M/N] was going to say another comment but was taken aback when he saw the bright smile on Chrissy’s face as she laughed herself. It was a genuine smile that he hadn’t seen in a long time as she watched Eddie he himself.

“I wouldn’t remember me neither, Chrissy. Honestly, do I have stuff in my hair?” she continued to laugh as he smiled at her, shaking his hair to pull the leaves from out of his hair “You don’t remember me?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Middle school, talent show. You were doing your cheer thing. You know, the… the thing you do.” he tried to explain, waving his hands around to mimic the way she does with her pom-poms “It was pretty cool, actually. And I— I was with my band.” her face then lights up in remembrance.

“Corroded Coffin!” she exclaims, his smile grows as he clapped his hands.

“Corro— you do remember.”

“Oh my god! Yes, of course. With a name like that, how could I forget?” 

“I dunno, you’re a freak.” she chuckled softly, giving [M/N] a sharp look when she heard him growl softly, how dare this frizzy haired bastard call his Chrissy a freak?

“No, you just… you look so—”

“Different? Yeah, well, uh, my hair was buzzed, and I didn’t have these sweet old tatties yet.” she nods softly.

“You played guitar, right?”

“Uh huh. Still do, still do. You should come see us. Uh, we play at the Hideout on Tuesdays. It’s pretty cool. We… we actually get a crowd of about five drunks.” she laughs again, shaking her head softly “It’s not exactly the Garden, but you gotta start somewhere, right? So…” he shuffles over to a tree and starts lightly punching it, [M/N] returns to Chrissy’s side and watched that big smile on her face grow.

“You know, you’re not what I thought you’d be like.” Eddie hums, grabbing a few of his locks and pulling them in front of his face.

“Mean and scary?” she nods.

“Yeah.” he smiles.

“Yeah, well, I actually kinda thought you’d be kinda mean and scary too.” she gasps softly.

“Me?”

“Terrifying. Um, so, in other good news, flattery works with me, so… twenty five percent discount for the half. Fifteen bucks. You’re robbing me blind here, you know.” [M/N] frowned when that beautiful smile that adorned her face dropped as she stared down at her lap, he reaches over to caress her cheek as she fidgeted with her fingers.

“Do you have anything, maybe… stronger?”

[time skip: late at night]

”What a dump…” 

”Stop it.” [M/N] and Chrissy soon found themselves at the trailer park with Eddie to find said something stronger for Chrissy to take, Chrissy steps out of his van and he was kind enough to hold the door open to his trailer for her to enter first before walking in after her. She stood nervously in the middle of his trailer, rubbing her arms with her hands as she looked around, [M/N] doing the same but soon floating around Eddie to watch his movements.

“Sorry for the mess. Uh, the maid took the week off.” he apologised, cleaning up some rubbish that was left lying around then shuffling over to the other side of the room.

“You, um… you live here alone?” he shakes his head.

“With my uncle. But, uh, he works nights at the plant. Bringing the big bucks.” she nods softly.

“How long does it take?”

“Sorry?”

“The Special K. How long to kick in?”

“Oh, uh, well, it depends if you snort it or not. Uh, if you do, then, uh, yeah. It’ll, uh, kick in pretty quick.” he explains with a jar in his hand, he opens it and takes a peek inside but then lets out a sigh “Oh, shit.”

“You’re sure you have it?”

“No, no, I got it. Um, somewhere.” he raises his finger, signalling for her to give him a minute before turning away and scurrying off to his room to find the drug she was needing to relieve herself of her hellish realities. She takes a deep breath, bringing her hands to hold her arms once more then smiled softly with closed eyes when she felt [M/N] behind her, she leaned her back into the warmth of his chest as his arms wrapped around her gently.

“I’m so glad I still have you by my side, [M/N].” she whispered softly “I probably would have lost my mind a long time ago if I didn’t have you.” she felt slightly uncomfortable when he didn’t say anything back, he always had something to say because he loved talking to her even though he couldn’t really say much. She tried to turn around to get a look at him but let out a choked noise when his grip around her tightened, she lets out a gasp as she looked down at his arms that were around her “[M/N], you’re h-hurting me…!”

”I always try so hard to please you. Chrissy.” [M/N] spoke, but it wasn’t in the way he usually spoke. [M/N] spoke with a slow and slurred speech, not being able to finish his sentence properly without pausing, she started to tremble when the presence behind her became more ominous than comforting ”I only want what’s best for you. Chrissy. You know I’ll do anything for you, so I just don’t understand why you don’t want me to get rid of that eyesore that is your mother. That fucking bitch that hurts you. Don’t you trust me? Don’t you love me? Why won’t you just let me do this for you, Chrissy?!” glancing down at the arms that were holding her, she lets out a scream when she saw that they were slimy looking.

“Ah! Le— Let go of me!” she quickly elbows whoever was holding her and they let go of her, this gave her the chance to see who it was and scream when she saw that it wasn’t her [M/N] but some disgusting monster. She shakes her head and runs towards Eddie’s room, she pushes the door opened to try and find him but was instead met with the sound of a sewing machine and her mothers back “Mum?”

“Just loosening this up for you, sweetheart. You’re going to look absolutely beautiful.” her face dropped when her mother turned around, her face was completely grey with only the whites of her eyes visible. She didn’t take any chances as she left the room, closing the door behind her but instead of being in Eddie’s trailer, she somehow found herself back in her house “Chrissy!” she gasped when the door behind her opened but she quickly grabbed the doorknob and pulled it shut.

“No!”

”Chrissy, open the door!” she screamed no as the door slipped from her grip and flew open, she immediately turned tail and ran as far as she could. She hurried downstairs and searched for a way out but then her attention went over to the figure watching T.V, a breath of relief leaving her lips at the familiar figure.

“Dad?” she mumbled out before rushing over “Dad! Dad!” turning around, she screamed at the sight of his mouth and eyes sealed shut with blood seeping out of the wounds. She shakes her head and backs away, she looks around as tears ran down her face, lips trembling in fear “[M/N], please! I need you! Please, [M/N]!”

[outside of chrissy’s mind]

[M/N] was staring at a discarded album of sorts abandoned on the floor when he realised Chrissy had gone a little too quiet for his liking, he pulls back from out of Eddie’s room and peeked over his shoulder to see if Chrissy was alright. He furrowed his brows when he realised that she hadn’t moved from the spot he left her in so he floated over to her, that was when he finally realised something was wrong with her. She was standing uncomfortably still and was twitching now and then, but what scared him was the fact that her eyes rolled into the back of her head and only the whites of her eyes were seen.

”Chrissy…?” he called softly, snapping his fingers in her face in an effort to get her attention but nothing happen so he clapped instead, and yet nothing happened ”Chrissy, what’s wrong…? Chrissy… Chrissy!” he now resorted to grabbing her by the shoulders and violently shaking her back and forward but even that didn’t work, his hands then hovered over her head and there he felt a trace of some sort of power coming from her. His lip trembled, he didn’t delve in mind type attacks on his victims, that took a lot of concentration and focus to pull off, but whoever the fuck was doing it was a powerful one. He needed to wake her up, and he needed to wake her up now. He heard Eddie shuffling around and his face briefly lit up in remembrance of that human man, maybe someone alive could wake her up. He quickly grabbed an empty glass bottle and threw it against the wall, it shattered upon impact but at least he got Eddie’s attention.

“Chrissy? Was that you?” Eddie lets out an awkward laugh, grabbing the drug that he was planning on selling to Chrissy and came walking out of his room “I know I took my time, but I found it. Beautiful bliss, just moments away.” [M/N] watched in anticipation to see if Eddie could do anything, to which the young man waved his hand in Chrissy’s face as he slowly approached the possessed girl “Chrissy…? Hello? Chrissy! Hey, Chrissy, wake up. Hey, hello! Chrissy, hello! Hey, Chrissy!” he then started waving his hand while snapping his fingers in her face to get her to wake up, soon the lights started flickering about, this caused [M/N] to exhale sharply.

”Oh, no…” he then looked back and saw Eddie clapping his hands in front of her before grabbing her shoulders, shaking her back and forward while tapping her shoulders.

“Time to wake up. Hello? Can you hear me? Wake up, Chrissy. Chrissy, wake up! I don’t like this, Chrissy! Wake up!” [M/N] takes a deep breath, slapping his hands against his cheeks and quickly goes back over to Chrissy. Eddie still couldn’t see [M/N] but he could definitely feel him, he felt a shiver run up his spine when something cold passed him but when he looked around to see what it was, there was nothing there, so he shook his head and returned his attention back to the girl in front of him, cupping her cheeks and gently slapping them “Chrissy! Chrissy! Chrissy! Chrissy, wake up now! Chrissy!” [M/N] grabbed her discarded bag and searched through it, finding a cassette tape inside. This was a song that she had been listening to for a bit, “Moi Je Joue” by Bridgette Bardot, an old French song from the 60s. He nods to himself and quickly rushes to Eddie’s room to throw it into his stereo, to which the young man was too preoccupied with Chrissy to notice but flinched when the disoriented music started playing. He glanced back at his room in confusion, hearing a song that he knew didn’t belong to him, but shook his head in favour of waking Chrissy up. [M/N] returned back to Chrissy and stood behind her, hands cupping her cheeks as he closed his eyes.

’I haven’t done this in the longest time, I had no need to when I had you. But now you need me, so I’ll come in there and rescue you from that nightmare whatever piece of shit pulled you in to.’ and so with a deep breath, he leaned down and pressed his forehead against the top of her head.

[within chrissy’s mind]

“Please…” she whimpered out, a tear running down her cheek as she pressed herself into the boards that sealed her way out of this hellish nightmare. This… thing in front of her, this fucking garbage was the thing that’s been giving her those hallucinations and pushed her beyond her limits. She knew [M/N] wasn’t the prettiest thing to look at it, even in his human form he still looked beyond human, but his presence was something she had long gotten used to. But whatever this monster was in front of her, god, she wanted to get as far away from it as possible.

”Don’t cry, Chrissy…” the voice spoke, she whimpered as she leaned away when it reached forward and wiped away her tears, god she really needed [M/N] right now ”It’s time for your suffering… to end.” she shook her head, pressing herself further into the boards when it raised its hand once more, it outstretched over her face.

“[M/N], please!” she cried out, tears rolling down her face “[M/N]!!” the monster jerked backwards when Chrissy was suddenly pulled backwards and instead he was met with a creature as monstrous as he was, it lets out a grunt when he roared at it as he held Chrissy close to his chest, his arms wrapped protectively around her.

”Don’t touch my Chrissy!!” he shouts at the top of his lungs, jaw splitting open as he roared at the bastard to get away from his human. She cried from within his chest, wailing into his chest as she wrapped her arms around the ghostly figure that’s been following her since she was a mere child.

“[M/N]!” she cried out, bringing her hands up to cup his cheeks to make sure he was real before burying her face into his shoulder “You came for me…! You actually came!” she sobbed out, he nodded his head but didn’t take his eyes off the thing in front of him but he did reach down to place his hand on her head, gently rubbing it to soothe her. She whimpered when he removed his hand from atop her head, instead, he glared at the monster in front of him and let out another roar.

”Get away from her!” he pushes Chrissy behind him then flies towards it, wrapping his arms around its torso and sent them both through the house. He had come to recognise this monster as the type of attacker than didn’t deal physical damage but had a strong control over the mind as he witnessed outside of Chrissy’s, so he knew he had to upper-hand. He was just throwing him around like he was some rag doll, holding him by the ankles and slamming his against the ground and walls before throwing him into the kitchen ”You thought you could target my Chrissy, my human that I’ve been haunting for nearly two decades?! I’ll make you fucking regret it!” he charged forward once more but was stuck in place when a force stopped him, he lets out a grunt as he tried to break free but was thrown back by said invisible force.

“[M/N]!” she cried out, she wanted to rush over but quickly backed up when that other monster started approaching her again.

”That guardian of yours won’t stop you from meeting your fate, Chrissy.” she shakes her head.

“No, I want to live.” it reached towards her once more but she kicked it back, just as [M/N] came flying over and tackling the monster in its side and into the wall “[M/N]!” he shakes his head, punching and clawing at the monster underneath him.

”Get out of here, Chrissy! Get out while I have him distracted!” she shakes her head.

“I-I… I don’t know how!”

”This is your mind, Chrissy! Think of your happiest memories to hide, and listen for the music! The music should help you find your way out of this nightmare!” he saw that she was still reluctant to go so he quickly threw the bastard away then rushed over to her, cupping her cheeks and giving her a reassuring smile ”Don’t worry about… a thing. I’ll take care… of this and be right back…” that slur in his speech calmed her down, she weakly nodded her head and that was enough for him to pat her head, kiss her forehead then gently push her along.

“You promise?” she whimpered, he nodded.

“I promise…” her lips trembled as she stared at him before finally turning on her heel and running away, with her finally gone, he took a deep breath and let his true emotions and form show. The monster before him let out an impressed hum, watching as his human disguise melted away and he was met with the abomination that was him ”I am going to enjoying tearing you apart, freak.”

“That’s quite rich coming from you.”

[outside of chrrisy’s mind]

Eddie had stumbled backwards when Chrissy started floating in the air, he didn’t know what the fuck he was watching as the Queen of Hawkins High was floating in the middle of his goddamn living room while some French song played in the background as the lights flickered about like he hadn’t been paying the power bill for months. If he thought talking to Chrissy that morning was crazy, this definitely took the fucking cake and he wished he was on something so this didn’t have to be fucking real. He didn’t know what to do, he wanted to turn tail and run but he just couldn’t leave Chrissy alone, before he could do anything, her eyes rolled back into place and she fell to the ground.

“Chrissy!” he shouts, quickly rushing over to see if she was alright but then jumped when she threw her arms around him, hugging him close and crying into his shoulder.

“Eddie! Oh god, I was so scared!” she cried out, burying herself deeper into his shoulder, fearing that he wasn’t real and that she was still trapped deep inside her mind. Eddie looked down at her before slowly reaching down and wrapping his arms around her, pulling her into his chest and letting her bawl her eyes out. It took her some time to find her way out but she followed [M/N]’s advice and listened out for the music, faintly hearing “Moi Je Joue” when she was running for her life, but now she was out and away from that thing that was trying to kill her.

“… Chrissy, what the fuck was that?” Eddie muttered out, she let out a shuddered breath.

“Me losing my bloody mind.” now she was worried about [M/N], she left him alone with that thing and she was concerned something happened to him while she was gone but she felt a sudden cold weight on her shoulder, this was enough for her to relax into Eddie’s embrace.

Tyrant

word count: 11,246

Fandom: Stranger Things Pairing: Eddie Munson x Male!Reader Pronouns: He/Him Relationship: Romantic Occupation: Student Ability: N/A

Keys:

[M/N]: Male Name  [L/N]: Last Name  [N/N]: Nickname  [H/C]: Hair Color  [E/C]: Eye Color

Warnings: vulgar language, violence, alcohol consumption

might make a part two, you never know, you never know.

that is all.

“Look, there he goes again.”

“You’d think the teachers would expel him by now.”

“Did you hear? Apparently he jumped Thompson on his way to school and robbed him of all his shit.”

“What an asshole.”

“Oh shit, here he comes.”

The once bustling cafeteria came to silence when Hawkins Highschool delinquent stepped foot inside, those intimidating [E/C] eyes glared at anyone within a five foot radius. Grabbing his own tray of food, he sat down at a random table that was still full of people, but the moment he looked at them they quickly departed from the table in hopes of not being his new punching bag. There wasn’t a single redeeming quality about [M/N] the people of Hawkins could think of, he was rude, dangerous and ruthless, regardless of gender. People remembered a time when some prissy girl tried getting in his business, the type of girl that had a the mindset of “I can change him” or what not, she ended up missing several weeks of school because he beat her black and blue, tearing out some of her hair and knocking some of her teeth out.

Unlike Steve Harrington and Billy Hargrove, both being dubbed as the King of Hawkins, he was called the Tyrant of Hawkins. Billy was scary and intimidating in his own way but he had charisma and a charm to him that made people like him. Steve was just a pretty face with just the charm and no intimidation, all [M/N] had was the intimidation and demanding aura around him that people couldn’t help but obey his every word in hopes on not getting on his bad side. Whether they were the losers, the jocks or the popular people, there wasn’t anyone within Hawkins High that didn’t know the full extend [M/N] will go to keep what he calls peace.

And then there’s Eddie Munson, the freak of Hawkins. Lover of metal and D&D, a man who failed his last year of high school and was repeating the year in hopes of graduating that year. Eddie Munson, the man who wasn’t afraid to express who he was, regardless of who was in attendance. Most people find him downright annoying, some find him surprisingly endearing, but most people just think he’s a lost cause. People just thought he was bound for failure, there was nothing good about interacting with Eddie. Dustin, who was busy eating his food, glanced up from his meal to spare Eddie a look and soon noticed he was staring across the cafeteria.

“Eddie?” at the call of his name, the others sitting at the table, stop what they were doing and look at Eddie “What are you looking at?” he asks and soon they’re all following his gaze, a few of them turning pale when they saw that he was staring at the back of [M/N]’s head.

“Dude, why are you staring at [L/N] for? If he catches you staring, you’re dead meat.” Gareth whispered to him “And I am not up to watching you get beaten to a bloody pulp.” Eddie just lets out a laugh, brushing some of his hair back while waving them off.

“You guys worry too much, I’m not gonna do anything.” they all sweat a little, it totally looked like he was gonna do something, but despite knowing how reckless he was, he wasn’t someone who would poke a sleeping lion. Eddie would describe [M/N] as a person with a button you shouldn’t push instead of having a short fuse, he had a short temper as is and chose to speak with his fists instead of his words, they seem to get the point across better than an explanation “… do you think he listens to Iron Maiden?” Jeff gave him a look.

“Eddie, don’t even think about it. You’ll be met with a fist before he even agrees that he likes listening to them.”

“So you’re saying there’s a possibility.” they all let out a groan, a few of them slapping a hand to their foreheads or squeezing the bridge of their nose. The sound of shouting and gasps caught their attention so they all look over and in horror saw one of the jocks from the basketball team dump their food on top of [M/N]’s head, he looked like a freshmen because he was laughing aloud while the rest of the basketball team watch in disbelief at what the new guy just did.

“AH HAHAHA!! Come on guys, that was funny!” he continued to laugh, missing the way everyone backed away as [M/N] slowly stood to his feet “I don’t see why you guys are so scared of just one gu—” he couldn’t finish his sentence when a fist connected with his jaw, causing him to tumble to the floor as blood sprayed out of his mouth. Each time the punk tried getting up his face was met with [M/N]’s fist, he laid no waste to him as he continued punching his face until he collapsed onto his back by Eddie’s table. The brunette watched as the [H/C] male grabbed him by the collar to lift him up and continue beating his face in with no remorse, by the time he was satisfied, he let out an exhausted sigh, sweat and chunks of food bleeding down his face as his fist was drenched in blood, regardless if it was his or not.

“Carver.” Jason flinched at the call of his name, [M/N] didn’t raise his voice to call him, his voice was scary enough that he could bend anyone to his will “What have I told you about controlling your dogs?” he swallowed thickly from where he stood, shrinking down when [M/N] stood up.

“T-That if they get out of line… you’ll put them down.”

“That’s right.” he starts, looking at the table beside him and grabbing Mike’s tray of food then proceeded to dump all its contents on top of the unconscious jock “I hope you remember this the next time you decide to act like a bitch.” He growled as he threw the tray down, his eyes then wandered over to Eddie, who was staring at him with wide eyes and jaw dropped “The fuck you looking at, freak?” he snarled at the brunette, who in turn swallowed thickly, raising his hands up defensively.

“N-Nothing! Nothing, I swear.” he got a scoff in response as [M/N] turned away, kicking the jock one last time then stormed out of the cafeteria, kicking the doors open and disappeared to probably clean the food off of him. The cafeteria sat in silence and watched as the basketball team hurriedly dragged the unconscious player to the sickbay, when they were out of sight, the students all bustled into chatter at the turn of events that just occurred.

“God, that no good [L/N] is so terrifying.”

“He’s even got the jocks listening to him.”

“I can’t believe that dumbass did that.”

“Nobody warned him?” Dustin and Lucas pat Mike on his shoulder, watching as he took deep breaths to calm his beating heart. He wasn’t going to lie, watching him beat his ass was so satisfying but once he turned those anger filled eyes in his direction, he couldn’t help but pray that he wasn’t next, that didn’t mean he wasn’t sad that his food was now on the floor.

“You good Mike? You look like you’re at the verge of fainting,” he raised a thumb whilst trembling slightly.

“And there he goes.” Dustin says, watching as he revved his engine and drove out of the schools parking lot “You’d think the teachers would have dealt with him at this point, but to think he’s even got them to listen to him.” Lucas lets out a sigh, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“I-I’m good.” now with Eddie, his heart was beating just as fast as Mike’s, but for a different reason. The way he watched [M/N]’s face scrunch up in rage, the way he watched his bicep bulge with each swing, the way he watched the sweat run down his neck as he beat his face in. He couldn’t deny the fact that he felt something when those [E/C] eyes glared in his direction as he sneered at him, called him a freak. It was just that tone in his voice and the way he presented himself that made his heart race. 

“That was so hot…” he whispered under his breath. At the end of the day, all Eddie could think of was [M/N] and no matter how hard he tried to think of anything else, his thoughts of the tyrant would just come rushing back. The moment he and his friends stepped out of school they heard the roar of an engine, and there was the man in all his glory starting up his motorcycle, a Kawasaki Vulcan 750. He treated that thing as if it were his child, people said that his bike was the only thing that ever made him smile, and the one time someone made the foolish mistake to mess with his baby, he paid them back by totally their car to the point of recognition.

“Yeah, unfortunately, he does not discriminate.” they each shake their head.

[family’s video store]

“Yes sir, yes I understand… have you ever tried checking to see if the VHS player is plugged in?” Robin Buckley, who was currently on the phone with a customer that recently purchased a movie from the store, had called up complaining that it wouldn’t play “So it wasn’t plugged in? Then that’s probably the reason why it wasn’t working, sir.” Steve walked behind the counter after putting the returned movies back on shelf and saw the look of mild frustration on her face.

“Old man again?” he mouthed to her, to which she nodded while making the finger gun gesture and pressing it against her temple, he snickers softly when she pulled the trigger but continued to speak in way that she’s sympathising with said man. Steve’s head perked up at the sound of a motorbike, leaning back on the counter to take a peak outside and there he saw the infamous [M/N] [L/N], the Tyrant of Hawkins, pulling up into their parking lot. He couldn’t help the bead of sweat that rolled down the side of his cheek as he reminisced the past when they attended high school together, he was the one person Steve knew not to mess with or look at the wrong way. He had a reputation that preceded him, they both did, so they had a neutral relationship between each other. He takes a deep breath when he saw [M/N] get off his bike and start approaching the store, jumping slightly when the doors opened and he came right up to the counter.

“Harrington.” he says, voice uncaring for the man in front of him as he stared at him with that same neutral and unbothered expression he always wore when he wasn’t angry.

“[L-L/N].” he cursed under his breath for stuttering, embarrassed that he was still afraid of the man in front of him “What brings you here? I don’t suppose you’re here to rent a movie?” he swallows his saliva when [M/N]’s gaze hardened on him before ignoring him and looking at Robin.

“Buckley, I need to talk to you.” finally looking at them, she acknowledge [M/N]’s presence but held up her finger, telling him to give her a second.

“I’m in the middle of something.”

“Can’t it wait?” she gives him a look then goes right back into what she was doing before she was interrupted, Steve took a glance at [M/N]’s face and saw he was slowly but surely losing his patience, the way his eyebrows scrunched up as he hand formed into a tight fist. Steve all but recognised this was what [M/N] would do before he completely lost all rationality and started throwing hands, he took a step forward when he saw [M/N] raised his hand but was surprised to see he only pressed the hook set to hang up the phone.

“Wha— hey! You can’t just hang up the phone when I’m talking to customers, [M/N]!” she shouts at him, he just shrugs.

“Yeah, well, that’s not as important as to what I have to tell you.” she raised a brow, they stare at each other in silence until she let out a groan, his face lighting up slightly when she caved.

“Alright, fine,” she gestured for him to follow her into the back room and he nods, jumping over the counter and going in before her “Steve, you can handle things alone up front, right?”

“Y-Yeah, but—” he was ignored, he lets out a sigh as his hands slapped against his hips when he dropped them “Alright, I’ll be here.” Robin Buckley, lover of women, would never call herself anything special. Still in high school, she was just like every other average joe that walked those halls, though she was in band, that was probably the only thing cool she’d say about herself. So, never in a millions years would she have found herself in a sort of friendship with the cold and ruthless [M/N], however, right now he was anything but what his reputation says about him.

“I actually managed to talk to him this time!” he squealed out, hands cupping his cheeks as a bright red blush flushed across his cheeks. There was no trace of the Tyrant of Hawkins, all she could find was your typical high school teenage boy thinking about the love of his life, and his so happened to be Eddie Munson, the freak of Hawkins. Ah, now she can remember why the two of them got along, they both had that sense that neither liked the opposite gender and they became friends from then on. Most of the time it was Robin ranting on and on about a girl that’s caught her eye, but never actually having the courage to speak about her feelings, all [M/N] ever had to talk about how his feelings for Eddie continued to grow since he first saw Eddie.

“Oh yeah, and what did you say to him?” he then slumps forward, a dejected look on his face.

“I asked what the fuck he was staring at, then called him a freak.” she let out a defeated sigh, slapping a hand onto her forehead “I couldn’t help it, I was still angry that that fucking prick dumped his food on me.” his face turned sour at the memory, hand clenching into a fist but softened when she placed her hand on top of his.

“You really need to work on your anger management issues, dude.”

“I’m trying, I swear I am.” he lets his head hang a little, hand clenching and unclenching, showing that he was trying to calm himself “But my therapist is a pain in my ass, telling me shit that I already know is the problem and ain’t really helping me. I’m ready to throw hands!” he shouts as he stands to his feet, to which she quickly grabbed him by his shoulders and pushed him back down.

“You can’t hit your therapist, you could get into serious trouble for something like that.” he grumbles at that, soon that lovesick expression found its way onto his face again, he was probably thinking about Eddie again.

“I really want to be about to talk to him, Buckley, but I’m scared that if I approach him, he’ll take it the wrong way. He might think that I’m trying to beat him up, but I don’t want him to be scared.” she rolled her eyes, planting her hand on her hip.

“Well then, I don’t know, give him love letters.” he looked up at her.

“Love letters?” she nods.

“Yeah, if you can’t find the right words to talk to him to his face, write that shit down and put it in his locker.” she then smacks his arm with the back of her hand “Isn’t English your best trait? I’ve read some of the stuff you’ve written, and let me tell you, that shit hits harder than you think.” he looks a little flustered at that, rubbing the back of his neck.

“You’re just saying that because you’re my friend.” she shrugs.

“Whatever floats your boat.” he seats there for a couple minutes before nodding his head.

“Okay, I’ll give your idea a try.” she nods when he stood up “I'll tell you how it goes.” she grins and gives him a thumbs up.

“Go get ‘em tiger.” they then fist bump and he walks out of the room, he glanced at Steve and mentally rolled his eyes when he saw him almost fall over. He was totally eavesdropping on their conversation, but he could give less of a shit, he was busy thinking of what to write down to give to Eddie. Robin walks in after he drives off on his motorbike, leaning down to rest on the counter as Steve gives her a look of disbelief.

“Since when were you friends with [L/N], Robin?” she shrugs.

“Since high school man, learn to keep up.”

“Wha— but he had no friends!”

[next day: hawkins high school]

In the early morning, [M/N] was at school with a letter in his hand. Taking Robin’s advice, he poured his heart and soul into what he wrote down that he wished he could say to Eddie. He had a faint blush on his face as he pressed the letter to his chest before finding Eddie’s locker and slipping it in, not before checking that there was no one there to catch him in the act. With his mission accomplished, he laid in waiting for Eddie to arrive, just to catch his reaction. He really hoped that he didn’t take it the wrong way, he didn’t think the letter was a joke and that someone was playing with his feelings.

“Hey, Eddie!” [M/N] quickly fell back behind the wall he was leaning on to hide, peeking out ever so slightly to see that it was Dustin calling Eddie’s name, who had just arrived with that cute little smile spread across his face.

“Hey Henderson! You ready for tonight’s campaign? It’s gonna be a real spectacle!” he cheered, to which Dustin’s face lit up immensely and nodded his head.

“Totally! Mike, Lucas and I can’t wait!” he chuckles softly.

“Well, it’ll be worth the wait, I promise.” Eddie soon opens his locker to get a few things but blinked when something fell and landed on his feet, kneeling down, he raised a brow in confusion to see a letter “Hmm? What’s this?” Dustin peeks over his shoulder then backs away as Eddie stands up straight, flipping the letter to get a look at the front and back.

“There’s no name.” [M/N] scoffed at that, of course he wasn’t going to write his name on it, it’d be even more unbelievable and he’d probably take it as a threat and not read the letter at all “Think it’s a love letter?” both himself and Dustin laugh at the possibility.

“Yeah, I highly doubt it. Don’t get my hopes high like that.” he jokes, he then tears the envelope open and pulls out the letter. Dustin tried to read it as well but couldn’t when Eddie would pull it closer to his face, [M/N] wished to see his face just to see if what he wrote was good or not. His wish was answered when Eddie lowered the letter and there he saw Eddie’s face turn bright red, all the way to the tips of his ears.

“Eddie…?” Dustin softly called out, reaching forward to grab his bicep and shake him “You good?” he stuttered out words, raising his hand to cover his mouth.

“I-It was a love letter…” 

“What?! Let me see.” he exclaimed and snatched the letter from his hands to read it himself, [M/N] wanted to punch the shit out of that little bastard for taking the letter that was meant for Eddie alone, but couldn’t help but feel a little grateful, because there he got to see his flustered and bashful reaction to reading the contents of his letter “Whoa! Whoever wrote this, they’re batshit in love with you.” Eddie bites his bottom lip, shaking his head in denial.

“No, whoever wrote it is probably fucking with me.” he replied, this answer was exactly what [M/N] feared.

“No, no Eddie, I don’t think so.” he then waves it around a bit and hands it back to him “If this was really a joke, I highly doubt it would be written with this much care. Whoever wrote it, they definitely had something they’ve been wanting to say to you for a long time. If this was a joke, I believe it wouldn’t have been written like it was a goddamn novel.” Eddie takes a breath, lifting the letter to read through it once more before pressing it against his lips.

“A-Alright.” he pulls it away and smiles softly at it, making sure to fold it up then tuck it nicely in his front pocket. [M/N] turned so his back was pressed against the wall and the look of joy quickly spread across his face. He internally squealed to himself, hands pressed into his face to hide the huge grin on his face that he couldn’t suppress. Robin’s advice worked and it wouldn’t have worked as greatly as it did if it weren’t for Dustin, he must thank him in some way for clearing up the misunderstanding. He nods to himself, taking one last glance at Eddie before leaving for his first class of the day.

“A mixtape?” he slowed his pace.

From that day on, [M/N] would continue to write letters and leave them in his locker, finding new things about Eddie that had him falling in love with him, it was his favourite thing to do, especially when he got to see the little reactions Eddie would have upon reading the letters. He would always turn a shade of read, sometimes he would twirl a few strands of his hair around his finger as he read through the letters, maybe fidget with a few of his rings, but just seeing him smile was all that made his day. At the end of his day he would always rush to Robin to tell her that it was working, telling her that her advice worked wonderfully and that it was slowly building his confidence to talk to Eddie face to face. Yeah, about that. There were a few times [M/N] managed to build up some of that confidence and was planning on talking to Eddie a few times but at the last minute chicken out a end of sulking about his failures. 

[M/N] was sitting in the cafeteria now, some bit of food hanging loosely on his lips as he stared at his notebook. He twirled his pencil around his fingers then tapped it against his forehead, rubbing the end of it into his temple as he tried to think of other things to put into his next love letter but his mind went blank. He groaned and fell forward with his head hitting the cafeteria table, he was running out of things to say, he needed to think of something quick. He sighs to himself and lifts himself up, closing the notebook and tucking it away then decided he was done in the cafeteria. He swings his legs out and starts walking out that he just so happens to overhear something from Eddie’s table.

“Yeah! I’d appreciate something like that, means they actually took the time of day to make something sentimental, you know?” Gareth scoffed.

“Just as long as they put in songs that actually mean something, if it’s just random songs, it won’t really matter.” Mike raises his hand.

“I second that.” Eddie rolled his eyes.

“Whatever. I’ll remember what you guys said when I get a mixtape.” [M/N]’s face lit up, now that’s something he could do. With a new goal set in mind, he was going to ditch his last class in favor of making this mixtape when somebody slammed into his chest.

“What the?!” he exclaims, growling when whoever bumped into him spilt their food onto him “Fucking— again?! Watch it punk!” he shouts, grabbing the next victim by the collar of their shirt and pulling them forward, raising his fist to punch them across the face but stopped when he saw that it was Dustin.

“W-Wait, man…! I’m sorry, I d-didn— didn’t see you.” his friend group immediately stood to their feet to defend him, but what could they do against the tyrant, he could easily beat them all after tearing Dustin a new one. [M/N] took a glance towards Eddie, something Dustin didn’t miss, and saw the way he glared at him if he were to even leave a mark on him “I’m sorry, I-I’m sorry…!” he apologises once more, [M/N] looks back at him then closed his eyes, letting out a sigh as he let Dustin go.

“Accidents happen.” he says, grimacing when he looked down at the spilt milk all over his jacket “Just watch where you’re going next time, Henderson.” the cafeteria was brought to silence, absolute silence when [M/N] walked out. Did the tyrant just spare someone? Everyone was sent into an uproar just as Dustin collapsed, Lucas and Mike were immediately by his side.

“Dustin!”

“Dustin! Are you alright?” he was shaking, trying to calm his breathing but he nodded nonetheless.

“Y-Yeah… god! I thought I saw my life flash before more eyes just now.” he runs a hand through his hair as his friends helped him to his feet, what he couldn’t get out of his mind was the way [M/N]’s face showed annoyance but the moment he took one glance over at Eddie his face softened. He seemed to have been the only one to notice because they were all asking if he was alright and how lucky he was to have survived against [M/N], his eyes narrowed at the possibility.

‘He couldn’t possibly be…’

[with [m/n]]

“Mum! Where’s the cassette recorder?!”

“In the garage!”

“Thank you!” he dumps an array of different cassettes onto his desk, sorting them out by genre and splitting them up then grabbed the cassette recorder and player, plugging them with headphones so the residents of the [L/N] household didn’t have to suffer through the array of different songs throughout the night. A cigarette hung loosely in between his fingers, flicking the ashes into an ashtray as he listened to each song, bobbing his head while swaying softly “I hope he likes these.” he muttered softly, by the time he was finished it was two in the morning, but it was totally worth it. He laid on his bed, headphones in and listened to his final product, smiling ever so lightly. The next day felt like any other day, arrive to school early with barely anyone around and slip in a letter for Eddie but this time a mixtape, everything was fi—

“So it is you!” he let out a gasp, throwing himself against the lockers at the unexpected voice. Looking behind him, his face paled when he saw that it was Dustin “I can’t believe you’re the secret admirer!” he quickly slapped his hand over Dustin’s mouth, bringing his other hand up to press a finger to his lips.

“Would you keep your voice down?!” he snarled at him, he takes a quick look around to see if anybody heard, when he saw nobody he dragged Dustin into a supply closet and slammed him against the wall “Henderson! Don’t you know when to mind your own business? I thought you’d think twice about bothering me after yesterday, but I see you’re just as stupid as the rest of this fucking scho—”

“You’re in love with Eddie, aren’t you?” [M/N] sputters over his words, his tough guy façade slowly beginning to crumble when his previous threats went to deaf ears as Dustin smirked up at him “I saw the way you looked at Eddie yesterday, and after all those love letters I thought of the possibility that it could be you. I was really taking a huge gamble on that small little detail, but I guess I was right. You, [M/N] “the Tyrant” [L/N], is in love with Eddie “the Freak” Munson. Just admit it, it’s written all over your face.” [M/N]’s face was twitching as he fought to keep that glare on his face, but in the end let out a defeated sigh as he crumbled to his knees, hands holding a fistful of Dustin’s vest.

“I-Is it that obvious…?” Dustin’s jaw dropped immediately as soon as [M/N]’s true feelings revealed itself, he pushed himself back and saw his bright red face as he pressed his hands to his face “Yeah, I’m really in love with him it’s crazy.” even his voice sounded soft and meek, not a trace of that psycho from the day prior.

“Since when?” he was taken aback when a lovesick grin spread across his face, a look of complete adoration in his eyes as he tried to recounter the first time he saw Eddie Munson.

“Where do I even begin? It was probably during my freshmen year! He’s a year older than me but the moment I set my eyes on him, watching him be himself… ah, I was over the moon.” he then cups his cheeks, leaning into the palm of his hand “I fell in love when I saw him performing one night at a shitty gig that were  willing to let him and his band, Corroded Coffins, play. It was so mesmerising watching him play, I loved every second of it.” Dustin pursed his lips, raising a brow when he heard [M/N] let out a sigh as he leaned his back against the wall.

“Well, if you like him so much, why don’t you just tell him? You’ve shown him just how much you like him, so I don’t see the harm in just saying it to his face,” this caused the older one to let out a groan, throwing his head back then hiding his face in his knees.

“That’s the thing. I’m afraid I might say the wrong thing, I’m scared that I might scare him off. Don’t you remember who I am, Henderson? I’m the tyrant, the school delinquent that isn’t afraid to throw hands with a fucking teacher.” he runs his hands through his hair “I’m afraid when he finds out that I’m his secret admirer… he’ll think I was playing with his feelings as a new way to torture people.” Dustin placed his hands on his hips.

“Eddie always looks forward to seeing those letters.” this caused [M/N]’s head to perk up and look up at him “It’s his favourite part of the day, seeing what new things you love about him.” this caused him to grin sheepishly, closing his hands together and kicking his legs a little.

“Really?” he giggles softly. If Dustin where to mention [M/N]’s true personality to his friends, they would probably laugh in his face and tell him he’s ridiculous. That there wasn’t a single person in this world that the tyrant had a soft spot for, but that was where they were wrong. He’s seen the way Eddie’s face lights up upon reading the letters and now that he knows that they are really truthful— he lets out a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I’d like to consider myself a good friend of Eddie’s, like, really close.” [M/N] lets out a hum at that, acknowledging that fact by the fact he’s always seeing the two of them together acting like idiots “So… how’s about I give you a hand?” he gave him a wary expression.

“… what do you mean by that?”

“I think Eddie’s starting to like you, erm, the secret admirer.” [M/N]’s face lit up immensely at that “Eddie also has an interest in you, the tyrant, but it slowly turned sour after yesterday. He probably would have hated your guts if you actually hit me.” he groans.

“I know, that’s why I didn’t.”

“And I still thank you for that, [L/N].” this earned him an eye roll “If I were to have Eddie see you in a better light, and potentially boost up your confidence in talking to him, maybe I can help you two hook up.”

“Really? You’d do that?” he stands up but then stops, looking down at Dustin cautiously “What’s the catch?” Dustin smirks a little.

“Just your protection.” this caused [M/N] to quirk a brow “My friends and I are still losers, meaning we’re still targets in the jocks eyes. We by no means can protect ourselves from those assholes, so, I was hoping you’d keep an eye out for us in return for my services.” he let out a groan at that, why did he have to play babysitter. He genuinely wanted to refuse, but having Dustin as his inside man to help him get with Eddie… dammit, it was an offer he just couldn’t refuse.

“Alright, Henderson, you’ve got yourself a deal.” this caused him to grin, reaching forward to grab [M/N]’s hand and shake it enthusiastically.

“Pleasure doing business with you.” he rolled his eyes. Now, outside the supply closet was Eddie. He arrived a little early to school in hopes that he could potentially catch his secret admirer but upon opening his locker and finding the letter and a mixtape, all was for naught and he woke up early for no— wait, a mixtape? He felt giddy, taking the tape into his hands and opening the case and there he saw a little note written in it.

’I happened to overhear that you’d love to receive a mixtape. Thought I’d give you one as a gift. I hope you enjoy it, Eddie.’

~ secret admirer.

“Oh, what a sap.” the sound of a door opening caught his attention, he leaned back from out of his locker and narrowed his eyes when he saw [M/N] and Dustin walk out of the supply closet. He thought maybe [M/N] was threatening the younger one but was surprised to see Dustin laughing when the other grabbed the end of his cap and shook it a bit before pushing his head back and walking away “What was all that about...?” Dustin raised his head upon feeling he was being stared at, he jumped upon seeing that it was Eddie.

“Hey, Eddie! W-When did you get here?” he asked while approaching him.

“A couple minutes ago.” he then eyed the back of [M/N]’s back before he disappeared “Why were you in the supply closet with [L/N]? Was he threatening you again?” Dustin’s eyes widened before he raised his hands while shaking his head.

“Oh, no, no, no! I just needed advice for... intimidation?” he mentally slapped his forehead, even Eddie looked at him as if he were an idiot.

“Seriously? I’m surprised he didn’t give you a black eye.” Dustin waved his hand to dismiss him.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. We just let bygones be bygones, alright? He’s actually a pretty chill dude.” Eddie rolled his eyes, tucking the mixtape and letter into his front pocket, intending to listen and read through them later.

“Sure, I’ll believe it when I see it.”

And see Dustin kept his end of the deal, Eddie would ramble about anything that came into mind and he would later report it to [M/N], because of this, it gave him more material for his letters. Sometimes he would think of new gifts to give to Eddie, a few times they got a little too big so [M/N] had to break into his locker just to get it in there. But also keeping his end of the deal, whenever [M/N] would catch Dustin and his group of losers getting ganged by anyone with ill intentions, he just stands behind them and give them that infamous death glare. Mike and Lucas have been starting to notice the lack of black eyes they’ve been receiving, and Dustin has been weirdly confident for some reason.

“Dustin, what did you do?” Lucas asked, eyeing him weirdly as he walked beside him.

“Lucas is right, you did something.” Mike agreed, Dustin just gave them a cheeky grin. 

“I’ve gained us, boys, immunity.” they both stare at him weirdly “At first I thought he wasn’t doing his job right, but in the end, it worked out just fine.” Mike and Lucas share a look with each other.

“Oh yeah, how?” they enter the cafeteria, Mike and Lucas intending to sit down with Eddie and the rest, but were confused when they saw that he was walking somewhere else “Dustin? Dustin! Where are you going?” their jaws literally dropped when he confidently walked over to where [M/N] was sitting, dropping his tray of food in front of him then taking a seat across from him, practically startling the poor soul who was reading.

“What the-- Henderson?” [M/N] questioned, looking over at him in confusion, he rolled his eyes when the brunette grinned at him “What the fuck are you doing over here?” he merely shrugged his shoulders, taking his bag off his shoulders and putting it under the table.

“Eating lunch with you.” he scoffed, making sure to bookmark his page before closing his book.

“Shouldn’t you be eating with your friends?” he asked while gesturing with his heads over to them, to which Dustin shrugged “I still have a reputation to up hold here, Henderson. I can’t just let these dorks see me going soft, all because of you--” he stuttered back his words when Dustin raised his finger, he was greatly offended that he was shushed.

“And they won’t, but I think it’ll help Eddie see that you’re not such a bad guy.” this caused him to calm slightly “Like I said before, Eddie was interested in you before and I think you’ll gain his interest again if he see’s you’re not that hard to talk to. And by doing that, you have me.” [M/N] rolled his fingers along the table as he eyed Dustin before letting out a sigh.

“Fucking, fine.” with that Dustin happily ate his food, [M/N] picked at his food “... does he like the mixtape?” the younger one let out a hum at that, he quickly swallows his food and nods.

“Mm hmm, he listens to it all the time.” this caused a rare smile to raise to his cheeks,

“I’m glad.” those who were staring that managed to see that smile were in complete shock, the only face he ever wore was a scowl or sneer, but this was the first time anyone has ever seen him smile like that at something that wasn’t his bike. Eddie, who was watching the entire interaction, felt his eyes widen at how charming that smile was. He couldn’t help but snort softly when he saw Dustin say something and in return [M/N] threw some of his food at him, but there was a smile nonetheless.

“Since when was Henderson friends with [L/N]?!” Gareth exclaimed, Eddie chuckled softly.

“Actually... I remember seeing the two of them together one morning, I thought it was nothing, but I guess not.” at the end of lunch he was hounded for answers by his friends, though they backed off a little when [M/N] walked by them but not without ruffling Dustin’s head.

“Later Henderson.” he happily waved his hand.

“Bye, [L/N]!” he then smirks at Lucas’ and Mike’s dumbfounded face.

“Since when did you gain [M/N]’s favor? I thought that was impossible to do!” Mike exclaimed, hands in his hair and ready to be torn off “Was this during the time you bumped into him?” Dustin just grinned cheekily at them, shrugging his shoulders.

“Maybe, maybe not. Hey, Eddie!” said man looked at him “He does like Iron Maiden.” Eddie’s face lit up.

“Well, if he likes Iron Maiden, then he can’t be all that bad.”

“No, Eddie, just no.”

[time skip: a few weeks later]

Dustin continued to sit at [M/N]’s table, must to the other’s displeasure, and just straight up harassed him because he had the power to do so. Dustin’s time with him actually got him a few ups rather than downs, mostly because he started to learn more and more about him. He learnt that [M/N] was actually really smart and the reason he never put in any of the effort to the schoolwork was because the teacher’s thought he’d end up as a lost cause, so he just gave up trying so hard. But the one thing he did put a lot of effort into was English, Dustin would often ask for his help for his English work and though he thought it was a hassle, the younger of the two could tell that [M/N] was having some fun with it. 

Sure Dustin promised [M/N] he would help him with telling him everything about Eddie, but Eddie wanted to know more about [M/N] as well. Eddie learnt that though the delinquent enjoyed listening to a variety of different heavy metal songs, he quite enjoyed listening to classical music as well via vinyl's. It was a shocker, but it did help calm him down when he was having trouble with his anger issues. The school also noticed the way [M/N] was starting to soften up and act less impulsive, they all had Dustin to thank for that, making the tyrant less tyrannical.

“Whatever you’re doing, Henderson, keep at it.” Eddie said, patting his shoulder and looking up in thought “You think he knows how to play D&D? I’d love to ask him to join Hellfire personally, but I’m afraid he’ll think it’s boring.” Dustin rolled his eyes, recalling the time [M/N] told him that he self taught himself how to play D&D so he could play alongside Eddie one day during one of his campaigns.

“I’ll ask him.” Eddie grinned.

“You’re the best.” he shrugs.

“So I’ve been told.” with [M/N], he was sitting just outside the parking lot reading the Lord of the Rings Book: The Return of the King. He was always a fan of J. R. R. Tolkien’s works, it was one of the many reasons he ended up loving English a lot, but he took up reading the books again when Dustin told him Eddie tended to make references from the books a lot. He closed the book and chuckled to himself at the amount of page tabs he had on them from the time he marked down the best parts of the book, he believed he believed he read enough and was planning on going home but stopped when he heard shouting.

“Hmm?” he glanced over and saw what he believed was Eddie’s Hellfire Club huddled around, he thought it was nothing until he saw a couple of jocks “Well shit, and here I thought I was going to have a quiet Friday evening.” he puts his book in his bag and leaves it by his bike before marching over to see what ruckus was all about, the students immediately parted upon seeing him and when he saw what was going on his blood ran cold. 

[a few minutes before [m/n] arrived]

“You think you and your lot of freaks are untouchable, huh, Munson?” Eddie laid on the ground, blood running down nose and black eye slowly forming on his left eye as he stared up at the bastard who punched him “You think just because Henderson is in good graces with the tyrant we can’t hurt you? Well guess again, bitch, there’s nothing he will do.” Dustin glared at them from where he stood.

“You’re wrong, you asshole!” he flinched back when another jock took a step forward.

“Oh, yeah? That asshole doesn’t care about anyone but himself! You’ve gotten arrogant because of the fact that you can talk to him, Henderson. But remember this, the moment he sees no more use in you, you’ll be the next punching bag on his list.” Eddie spits out the blood in his mouth and stands to his feet.

“What makes you think we need [L/N]’s protection, huh? I can handle myself pretty well!” he lets out a laugh when he was grabbed by his vest, yanked forward and standing eye to eye with the jock “You guys are just as scared of him as we are, you just hate that he’s close to him.” he winces when the jock reeled his arm back but paused when it didn’t come, he opened his eyes and noticed that the jock was looking down so he followed his gaze and his eyes widened when one of the newest love letters fell out of his pocket.

“What’s this?” Eddie sputtered out his words but let out a gasp when he was thrown back, Gareth and Jeff caught him before he could fall just as the jock bent down to pick up the letter.

“H-Hey man, give that back!” he shouts out desperately, heart dropping when the letter opened and the jock looked at the writing inside it, he soon laughed at what it said.

“Well would you look at that? The freak seems to have an admirer!” he shouts, reading through more of it then looked at Eddie with an amused expression “Do you really think anyone has any feelings for you, Munson? It’s probably nothing more than a joke. Nobody loves you, there’s nothing to love.” Eddie’s hands closed into a tight fist, those words really damaging his heart.

“Y-You’re wrong!” this response made him laugh.

“Wow! You really believe these feelings this person wrote for you are actually true!” he then drops the letter, raised his foot and stomped on it, making sure to twist his foot on top of it “You don’t deserve to be loved.” those tears that were threatening to fall finally fell, though Dustin couldn’t help but feel fear run through his veins. [M/N] always treated those letters with care, and seeing someone stomp on them means that they have a death wish. 

“You’re dead...” he whispered to himself, though the jocks seemed to have picked up on what he said and turned their attention on him.

“The fuck did you say, nerd...” they trailed off when someone stepped out from behind Dustin, he glanced up and there he saw that enraged look in [M/N]’s face that he hasn’t seen in a long time. Eddie also looked up when someone pushed passed him and saw that same expression that charmed him, [M/N] couldn’t see anything but red. He grabbed the piece of shit that had the balls to insult him; to insult his Eddie and stomp on his letter, and pulled them forward “H-Hey, now wait a minu-- minute!” [M/N] pulls his arm back, glaring at the poor unfortunate soul.

“Clench your teeth.” was all the the warning he got that was laced with venom, and for the next couple of minutes, [M/N] was laying waste into him. There was nothing that could stop him now, not the countless of students that were yelling at him to stop, not the people who were trying to pull him off as he beat his voice to the point he laid there unconscious and unable to defend himself. He ignored the way the jock clawed at his face and arms for him to stop but couldn’t, he made his Eddie cry... and he was going to make him pay with his blood.

“[M/N], stop!” Dustin shouted, grabbing at the arm that he was swinging with all he could and pulled it back “You’ve done enough... please, you’ve done enough.” [M/N] glanced back at Dustin and saw the sheer fear in his eyes, he then looked down at the poor unconscious sap and the blooded mess he was in. When Dustin saw his fist loosen up he finally let go of his arm, [M/N] took a deep breath then stood to his feet and looked over at Eddie. The two of them just stared at each other until [M/N] looked down at the dirty and crinkled letter, bending down to pick it up.

“H-Hey, wait--” Eddie was cut off when [M/N] slapped it against his chest as he walked past him.

“Next time, take good care of your valuables, Eddie.” nobody said a word as [M/N] walked away, hopped onto his bike and drove away. Eddie’s hands held onto that note like it was his lifeline as his friends surrounded him, asking him if he was okay, but he couldn’t help but shiver at the way his name rolled off of [M/N]’s tongue. 

’He said my name...’

[time skip: a few days later]

“... wanna talk about it?”

“Shut up, Buckley.” Robin snickered from beside [M/N], the two of them laying outside on the grass at school, though [M/N]  was drinking alcohol out of a flask. [M/N] told Dustin to stay away from him for a couple days because he was afraid he was going to have another outburst and take it out on him if he couldn’t control himself. He really went too far this time, that was on him, but he just couldn’t control himself when he saw Eddie crying; when he saw that motherfucker step on his fucking lett--

“You’re balling your fists again, [M/N].” he lets out a defeated sigh, hands relaxing.

“I think I’ve gone and done it this time, Robin. I think I officially scared him off.” Robin watched him sit up, face in his hands as he shook his head “I just couldn’t stop myself, Buckley. Just-- jesus, I lost all rationality and let out the anger I hadn’t realized I was bottling up all out on him.” Robin rolled her eyes and sat up.

“You’re overreacting, dude.”

“I don’t think I am.” he whispered to himself, she shakes her head and places a hand on his shoulder.

“If you’re so worried, just go talk to Dustin. He’s your inside man, remember?” he spares her a glance and saw she was giving him a look of reassurance “I can even talk to Dustin, that little twerp and I became friends sometime last year.” he makes a face.

“... nah, I think it’d be better if I talked to him.” she grins, punching his arm.

“There you go.” he scoffed with a laugh “Now hurry up, and sick and tired hearing that kid miss talking to you.” he scowls at her.

“Right, I was quite enjoying my peace and quiet.”

“No you weren’t.” he pouts. He was now at his locker, getting a few things out of it, ignoring the people moving around him and whispering bullshit about him again. He stopped caring about what others said about him, some rumors were true while others weren’t, they just put the blame on him because it was easier that wa--

“Hey.” he slammed his locker shut at the sudden voice, turning his head, he started screaming internally at who it was “You think we could talk for a bit?”

’Oh my god, Eddie! You’re talking to me! I can’t believe you’re talking to me! Is this a dream? If this is a dream, I hope I never wake up! What a dream come true! Eddie, the love of my life!’ he had a straight and neutral expression but his thoughts said otherwise.

“Sure.” he cried on the inside at his short answer, fuck sake.

“W-Well, um-- I’ve been meaning to say thank you.” this caused [M/N] to raise a brow.

“Huh, for what? I don’t remember doing anything for you.” this is where Eddie nervously twirled a strand of his hair then moving it so that it was hiding the lower half of his face, something that [M/N] found adorable whenever Eddie felt nervous.

“No. When those assholes took that letter from me...” he trailed off, a pained look on his face “I couldn’t do anything, and their words really stuck with me. But you, you stood up to them. You could have just looked the other way, but you didn’t, and for that I’m really grateful.” [M/N] swallowed thickly.

“Yeah, well-- don’t expect me...” [M/N] stopped himself before he could finish his sentence, shaking his head when he realized he was going to come off as an asshole “No, I-- fuck! I mean, it’s no big deal, Munson. You’re Dustin’s friend, so I couldn’t just turn a blind eye.” he internally fist bumped, nailed it.

“Well, thanks, tyrant.” [M/N] chuckled.

“No problem, freak.” they both laugh. Robin had confronted Dustin and told the young boy to talk to [M/N], he was already way ahead of her and was making his way to his locker but stopped in the middle of his tracks when he saw him talking to Eddie. Wow, what a turn of events. He froze up when [M/N] saw him and before he could say anything, Dustin backed away but gestured for him to keep talking.

“So, [L/N],” Eddie cleared his throat, his little DM persona surfacing up as he gave the taller male a confident grin “you know the Hellfire Club, right?” he nods his head.

“Yes?” Eddie then tugs on his battle vest, a smirk raising to his face.

“So then you know how we play D&D, right?” he was given another nod in response to that “Cool! I-I mean-- ahem. As the Dungeon Master, as a thank you for your services for protecting my friends and I, I would like to formally invite you to Hellfire. Now I hope you understand how valuable this invitation is, [L/N], because not just anyone can be invited into Hellfire. You should feel really grateful.” looking up at him, he was expecting to see an unimpressed expression and was going to be brushed off, but what he got was a look of excitement as [M/N]’s cold eyes sparkled while a red hue flushed to his cheeks.

“Really?” his voice reminded him of that of a child, he wished he could stare at that face a little longer but it quickly disappeared as it came when [M/N] shook his head to knock some sense into himself “I-I mean, uh, sure. I’ll take up your invitation, Munson. No take backs.” Eddie couldn’t help but laugh at that childish sentence.

“Haha, alright.” he then takes a step back, waving his hand goodbye “Tomorrow, at Hellfire after school. Be there early, okay? I need to show the ropes and recap on our last campaign.” [M/N] nods his head, giving Eddie a thumbs up as the metal head walked away.

“R-Right, totally!” Eddie flashes him a bright smile before finally disappearing, [M/N] stood in the hallway for what felt like hours at what just happened. Eddie came up to him. Eddie was the one that talked to him. Eddie thanked him. Eddie smiled at him. Eddie invited him to Hellfire. He couldn’t fight back that huge smile and when he saw there was no one around, he let out a biggest squeal, jumping in the air while pumping his fists then punching his locker “Fuck yeah! I did it! I did it!” he then crouches down, pressing his hands together as he continued to smile.

I did it.

[time skip: the next day]

Eddie wasn’t in the greatest of moods that day. Sure, he was happy when he woke up that morning. Why? Maybe it was because he was finally going to be able to interact with [M/N] [L/N] for the very first time instead of watching him from afar and hearing new things about him from Dustin, he could finally talk to him and look at him from up close. Maybe he was also excited to get a new letter from his secret admirer, things were looking great for his end of the week. He arrived at school with a big smile on his face, he approached his locker and opened it but... there was no letter. He looked through every nook and cranny for it but there was nothing, his heart dropped and he couldn’t help but feel heart broken. The words of those bullies coming back to haunt him. 

“Nobody loves you.”

“There’s nothing to love.” 

“You don’t deserve to be loved.” 

What made things worse was that he didn’t see [M/N] throughout that entire day, he tried asking Dustin but the kid didn’t give him any concrete answers to go off of. When everything was finally looking good for him, it all just went away as fast as it came. Was [M/N] even going to come to Hellfire? God, what was he even thinking? Of course he wasn’t. That guy probably has better things to do than come to some stupid roleplaying game with Eddie “the Freak” fucking Munson! He collapsed onto his chair within Hellfire, the end of the day came faster than he would he have wanted and now he was going to have to do this campaign in a shitty mood.

“Eddie?” a soft voice called out, his head shot up and there he saw the man he hadn’t realized he was aching to see. [M/N] looked nervous where he was standing, he stepped into the room and rubbed the back of his neck, there Eddie noticed [M/N] was holding something behind his back but didn’t question it and stood up in a slightly better mood.

“You actually came, [L/N]! I kind of thought you were going to pull a no show.” [M/N]’s eyes immediately widened, a look of shock evident.

“W-What? Why would I do that?” he then winced when he remember that he hadn’t shown his face to Eddie that entire day, going so far as to not tell Dustin what he was doing, what he was doing had to do with what he had behind his back “I-I was busy this entire day, there’s something I need to tell you.” Eddie fixed his posture at that.

“Yeah?” [M/N] could feel how fast his heart was beating, an eruption of butterflies bursting in his stomach as he thought of countless scenarios in his head. Eddie continued to look up at [M/N], seeing a new expression on his face, one of anxiousness. Before Eddie could say anything [M/N] finally pulled his arm out from behind his back and handed Eddie an envelope, an envelope with his name written on the front of it with a very familiar penmanship “W-Why do you... why do you have that?” he questioned as he snatched the letter out of his hand, did [M/N] steal this out from his locker? Was that the reason why this fucker didn’t show his face the entire da--

“I thought it would be better to give it to you now.” this caused Eddie to pause, what? “I know you might have been confused as to why you didn’t get one this morning, but I've been needing to tell you something face to face. I've always been better at writing down my feelings rather than verbally saying it, so...” he then gestured for him to read it, so Eddie did just that, tearing the envelope open and pulling the letter out.

‘to eddie,

this will probably be my last letter to you. I’ve constantly told you how much I’ve adored you, from the way your eyes sparkle whenever you’re happy, to the way you always have this passion in your voice every time you speak. there isn’t a thing about you that I don’t love. 

the moment you spoke to me, it felt like I was on cloud fucking nine. I nearly blew it and told you to fuck off, but I’m glad I was able to pull my head out of my ass. you have no idea what you do to me, you have no idea what I would do for you.

I love you, eddie munson, and there’s nothing in this god forsaken world that could ever change my mind about that. I just hope that you can feel the same about me now that you know who your secret admirer is. I was always so scared that you wouldn’t like me.

I promise you, I will give you all the love that you want and need. I will give you everything so long as I live, and I promise you that I will always be by your side loving you.

~ [m/n] [l/n].

Eddie looked up from the letter and there he saw [M/N] looking so small, averting his eyes from Eddie’s as he laced his fingers together, twiddling his thumbs while trembling. [M/N] thought Eddie wasn’t going to buy it, he thought Eddie was going to accuse him of stealing that letter from out of his locker and saying that it was from him. He was expecting Eddie to reject him, there wasn’t a single positive outcome to come out of this situation, and when he was going to accept that reality he suddenly felt a pair of arms around his shoulders and pulling him into a hug.

“Thank god it was you, [M/N].” his eyes widened slightly, taking in a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding in “I’m so glad that it’s you, [M/N].” he whispered, the latter swallowed thickly at that as he looked down at Eddie.

“W-What?” Eddie pulled away and [M/N] saw he had an expression that mirrored his “D-Do you mean you— you feel the same way?!” he exclaimed, Eddie laughed and nodded his head.

“I always felt a slight attraction towards you, [M/N], and I was quite torn whether or not I should fall in love with my secret admirer or the hot tyrant. I’m so glad you two are one in the same.” he then gently jabbed [M/N]’s side with his elbow “But who’d a thought you’re nothing more than a giant teddy bear. I’ve seen the way you act with Dustin when you think no one’s looking, you’re not very discrete.” this caused the taller of the two to let out a whine of sort, an embarrassed blush rising to his cheeks as he hid his face behind his hands.

“Stop it…” he mumbled.

“You’re really adorable.” Eddie sets the letter down on the table then reaches forward and grabs both of [M/N]’s hands, he rubs his thumbs along his knuckles. [M/N]’s was beating abnormally fast to the point he was surprised he hadn’t fainted from how happy he was, still not believing that Eddie felt the same way about him.

“C-Can I…” Eddie lets out a hum, smirking softly at the flustered man in front of him “… can I kiss you?”

“Hmm, can you, big boy?” he laughed when [M/N] pouted, wearing a face that resembled that of a kicked puppy “Alright, okay! I was kidding, you big dope.” Eddie watched [M/N] slip his hands free from his grip and raise his hands to his face, they gently cupped his cheeks and his thumbs caressed them. He probably would have purred at the affection but instead let out a hum when [M/N] finally pressed his lips against his own, it was a short and sweet kiss but it had Eddie craving for me. So when [M/N] was pulling away he let out a muffled gasp when Eddie wrapped his arms around his neck to pull him back into another kiss, next thing they knew [M/N] was laying on his back with Eddie on top of him pulling him into deeper kisses.

“Eddie… Eddie, please…!” each time [M/N] got a word out he would be silenced by another kiss, he later gave up and just pulled Eddie into a kiss that he poured his heart and soul into “I love you, Eddie…!” he smiled at that, briefly pulling away to rest his forehead on his.

“And I love you just as much.”

Headcanons:

the other members of hellfire came in to find [m/n] and eddie making out on the floor.

eddie sat on [m/n]’s lap with a triumphant smirk on his face while the other continued to lay on the ground, hands covering his face as he wallowed up in embarrassment.

dustin came up to them and held out his hand, [m/n] side eyed him but gave him a high five.

mission accomplished.

[m/n] immensely softened up after finally getting together with eddie, he didn’t mindlessly get into fights with people anymore and just eddie or even dustin’s mere presence is enough to get him to calm down.

robin was happy for [m/n], he literally came running up to her with the biggest smile on his face and hugged her; twirling her around and everything.

this scared the ever living shit out of steve.

[m/n] started sitting with eddie and his lot during lunch, this was enough to get the bullies to back off.

sometimes [m/n] would help eddie with any of his homework, that being eddie openly complaining how hard it was and that he needed help from his hunky and gorgeous boyfriend to assist him.

whenever eddie got an answer right he would be rewarded with a kiss.

most of the time they would get distracted and not even be able to finish the homework.

bike rides are a must.

eddie loved the feeling of the wind breezing through his curly brown locks, often cheering as [m/n] drove down the streets of hawkins.

the first time eddie tried getting on his bike without a helmet [m/n] would just give him a blank expression with his arms crossed and just gave him the most disapproving glare he could muster.

safety first.

when playing d&d, eddie would incorporate [m/n]’s tyrant persona into the campaign.

the others loved it. [m/n] was a barbarian goliah who was a tyrannical king in their latest campaign and they had to strategise how to overthrow him.

they lost epically before he swooned the dungeon master.

they called him a cheater.

he called them sore losers.

dustin believes he’s the greatest wingman because of the fact that eddie and [m/n] are together, the two of them definitely favor him a lot. this sometimes causes the others to get jealous, but all he does in return for their retaliation is hide behind [m/n].

they all though have access to [m/n]’s scary dog privilege.

however, they all know that [m/n] would absolutely do anything for his eddie.

they remember a time they absentmindedly told [m/n] when eddie was being harassed by a few of the jocks in the past. they didn’t see him for the rest of the day until they saw the same guy that harassed eddie run away blooded and crying.

[m/n] turned the corner with blood on his knuckles.

he didn’t see anything wrong with it.

eddie is always flattered, but his heart is always over the moon because [m/n] continued to write him love letters and make him more mixtapes.

they would end up in eddie’s van laying together, listening to the music through his stereo as [m/n] read a loud all the new things he loved about eddie.

he loved eddie.

eddie loved him.

the tyrant and the freak.

For real, I totally forgot

Why do gay guys use this kind of shorts

and this kind of shirts?

Mun here

Y'all wanted Steve x quentin?

No?

Too bad.

Mun here

I OFFER QRT

so i was going through the upside down tab and netflix keeps reblogging steddie posts like

??? bestie whatre you tryna say

Steve after seeing a lonely child:

My boys🤓

Тгк: https://t.me/Evannzz0

My boys

тгк: https://t.me/Evannzz0

Idk, I just think it would be cool au

I don’t really like this art..😕

I love them💋🥺

YIPPEE STONATHAN😎📸

I’m cheating on stonathan with steddie🦇💔

I love them🥺🥺

Steve Harrington in Season 4 😍😍

More Pfps:

Stranger Things Masterlist

If you would like to show your support: ☕️ Thank you!

Requests are open! Will write for the following x reader:

Fluff 💖

Angst 🖤

Smut ❤️‍🔥

GIF by miqrated

Glassy Eyes {Eddie x fem!reader} ❤️‍🔥

Good Use {Steddie x fem!reader} ❤️‍🔥

Polaroids {Steddie x fem!reader} ❤️‍🔥

Eyes Up {Eddie x fem!reader} ❤️‍🔥

Reincarnation {Steddie x fem!reader}

Eddie Munson

Steve Harrington

Steddie

If you would like to see a different character, please ask and we shall see.

Main Masterlist

Drabble from this head canon.

TW: blood, angst, mention of death.

He could faintly hear the screaming around him, sobs erupting over him. He felt arms wrap around his body, the pressure of them lifting his aching limps, cradling him against another, but he felt no warmth from the touch. His eyes felt so heavy, his head was pounding. He hears voices, and can faintly understand that they were speaking, but the words were lost in translation. It takes everything he has just to peak an eye open, stare up at the two sets of eyes on him. He sees their lips moving, watches as the tears fall from their face, but he can’t feel the droplets land on his skin. He can’t move his head to look down at his torso, but he knows there is blood, knows that there’s more on the ground than in his body.

“Steve…Steve…you…can anyone please…Steve? We need backup! Steve’s hurt, he’s…Steve…Steve!” Dustin…That was Dustin’s voice, wasn’t it? “You gotta be okay, man!”

“Dustin…” That was Robin’s voice. Was she holding him? She sounded like she was in pain. Did he not do enough? Was she hurt?

“No!” He suddenly screams, his voice ringing in his ears, or maybe that was from the blood rapidly pumping in them. “No, he has to be! I can’t lose anyone else!” Dustin pulls the walkie-talkie up to his mouth once more, pleading, “Can anyone hear me? This is code red! I repeat, code red! We need someone, anyone! Please! Hopper…Mrs. Byers? Anyone?”

“Henderson?” He didn’t mean to speak, but despite the lack of intent to talk, the word was still so difficult to form.

“Yes, Steve, I-we’re here, buddy,” he rushes out, the sentence tumbling from his lips as if the faster he speaks, the quicker that Steve would heal.

“Robbie?” His voice is fading as he continues to speak.

“Shh, I’m right here, dingus,” she whispers. “But try not to talk, alright? You’re banged up pretty bad.”

“Oh.” His mind was getting foggier, but it was something he was grateful for because he couldn’t feel the pain. He just felt tired. “Are you guys okay?”

“Yes, yes,” Dustin answers, his voice cracking under the weight of a humorless laugh bubbling up past the lump in his throat. “We’re okay. Thanks to you, buddy, we’re all going to be okay.” Steve tries to nod but his head just lulls into the bend of Robin’s neck and shoulder.

“Good, good,” he mutters sleepily. “I just need to close my eyes for a bit longer.”

“No, Steve, please,” Robin whimpers, clutching him closer to her chest.

“It’s okay, Robs, everything’s okay.” And Steve believes that as he smiles up at the pair that are pleading with him to keep his eyes open just a bit longer. “I’m just happy you’re both safe.”

He can’t hear their voices anymore. They’re muddled, as if he’s underwater. He sees nothing in front of him, just waves of darkness for eternity. He feels nothing. He isn’t cold or warm, there’s just nothing. No more pain. And then he hears the gentle, broken, “Steve?” behind him from the last voice he expected to hear, yet it was one he desperately wanted to listen to again. Turning around he finds Eddie, his previously shredded and bloodstained Hellfire T-shirt now spotless underneath his leather jacket and battle vest. Wait, Steve thought that he had that vest in his room, tucked under his bed so no one would take it from him. It was greedy, he knew how much the boys wanted a piece of their Dungeon Master to remember him by, but he couldn’t part with it. He was allowed to be selfish just this once. But it seems that it was unnecessary as Eddie was standing right in front of him. He reaches out and touches his shoulder, making sure this wasn’t some sick dream or illusion, but he felt the heat from his body, the first sense he had of his own touch, and he throws his arms around Eddie, feeling the warmth spread in the embrace. But something felt off as Eddie gingerly wrapped his own arms around Steve’s frame, acting as if he were fragile, or like he was scared. Pulling back, Steve looked over Eddie again. He didn’t see any injuries. Shouldn’t he still be healing? He looks unscathed.

“Eddie, how are you alive?” Steve asks confused.

“I’m not, Steve,” he rasps out, choking on a small sob as Steve finally notices the tears streaming from his face.

“But then…”

“I’m sorry, Steve, but neither are you.”

I am going absolutely feral for them both😩

Steddie X Babysitter!Reader

So I may or may not have become obsessed with a few older!eddie and older!steve x babysitter fics, and it inspired me to write this 🖤 didn’t intend for it to be quite so long but I couldn’t stop myself once I got going!

Warnings: age gap (reader is 20, Eddie & Steve are mid-late thirties), smut - oral m & f receiving, fingering, unprotected p in v, masturbation, mentions of smoking and mild alcohol use

A/N: This fic is my baby it’s honestly taken me forever so I hope u like it 🖤 this is a modern AU, lots of fluff, slow burn vibes, friends to lovers (more like employers to friends to lovers I guess?) feedback is very much appreciated! 16.5k

Find Part 2 here!

————————————————————————

The wrought iron gates tower above you, the metal twisted at the top in elegant spirals finished with sharp points. Behind them a long winding driveway leads to an impressive home, all ebony black wood and enormous shining windows.

Pressing the button on the intercom you wait anxiously until a voice cuts through the static.

“Hello?”

“Um hi. It’s Y/N.”

“Oh hi Y/N! Come on in.”

A loud buzz makes you jump, and slowly the gates begin to pull open. You climb back into your car, making your way up the drive. You park next to a very expensive looking BMW, cringing at the sight of your own vehicle besides it, marked with dents and scrapes, the bumper held on with duct tape.

Slinging your bag over your shoulder, you bend down to check your reflection in the wing mirror, smoothing your hair in place to make you look more presentable. You approach the front door, reaching for the bell but before you can ring it the door swings open, revealing your potential new employer.

You weren’t sure exactly who you were expecting, but it certainly wasn’t someone like him. When your Mom had come home from grocery shopping the day before, she called you down to the kitchen to help unpack the bags.

“I met someone interesting at the store today.” she said as she loaded fresh vegetables into the fridge.

“Oh yeah?” You teased playfully, wiggling your brows at her.

She scoffed, rolling her eyes at you.

“Not like that. Someone interesting for you.”

You groaned then.

“Mom no offence but I really don’t need you trying to set me up with someone.”

“Not like that for you either!” she swats at you with a cucumber, and you laugh as you dodge the assault.

“He was stood behind me in the check out line. I could hear him on the phone, he was cancelling some plans, said he didn’t have a babysitter. So when he got off the call I started talking to him, telling him about you. Apparently his previous sitter just left for college, and he was struggling to find someone to replace them. I told him you’ve looked after loads of kids in our neighbourhood over the years, and he seemed pretty keen so I gave him your number.”

“So now you’re just giving my number out to random men at the grocery store huh?” She rolled her eyes at your teasing.

“Yeah well I thought it might be handy for you to make a little extra cash. He said they need someone fairly regular, so you might even be able to cut down your hours at Enzo’s, I know you don’t like it there much.”

She was right about that, you didn’t much care for waitressing. And you had to admit you’d always been a good babysitter, you’d spent so much time over the years looking after the kids on your street you were like the honorary big sister of the neighbourhood. So maybe this could work out.

Your phone rang later that afternoon. Steve Harrington had introduced himself, and asked if you’d be willing to come over the next day to meet him and his family properly.

“Don’t you want to ask me some more questions first? You don’t really know anything about me, I could be a crazy murderer for all you know.”

A deep throaty laugh played out through the speaker held to your ear.

“Your Mom told me plenty about you earlier, so I think I’ve got enough information to go off. Besides, what are the chances that we’d both be crazy murderers?”

You giggled then, agreeing to come by his home the next day.

And that’s how you found yourself here, standing on Steve Harrington’s doorstep with your jaw hanging open in surprise. He was tall and broad, subtly defined muscles showing under his tight white shirt. His frame could’ve easily made him intimidating, but the crooked grin spread across his face put your mind at easily immediately. Bright hazel eyes twinkled at you from behind thick lashes, creases at the corners of his eyes deepening when he smiled. A mop of thick chestnut hair flopped across his forehead, and he pushed it back with a large hand. It gave him a boyish charm, but if you had to guess you would have put him in his mid thirties. He was gorgeous.

He chuckles, and you realise with horror that he’s said something that you’ve been too dumbstruck to hear.

“Uh, sorry. W-what?” you stammer, cheeks warming with embarrassment.

“I said aren’t you going to come in honey?”

You nod, trying to ignore the way your stomach flips at him calling you honey. Keep it together you think, getting a crush on your new employer isn't a good start.

You nudge off your sneakers by the door and follow him through the grand open hallway down to the kitchen. It’s huge, sleek marble countertops and a matching island in the centre, endless white cabinets, and a large stainless steel fridge. Steve motions for you to take a seat at the island, and as you hop up on the stool you watch as he grabs a couple of glasses, filling them with ice water from the dispenser on the fridge door. He slides one across to you and you squeak out a thank you, taking a small sip to try and calm your nerves. He takes a seat beside you, and you try to ignore the way your heart thumps as his knee knocks against your own.

“You have a beautiful home.” You say as you take in your surroundings. A large window above the sink shows an equally impressive garden, so big you can’t see the end from where you sit.

“Thank you. I promise it’s never usually this neat though, I had a quick tidy before you came this morning.”

“Well it’s hard to keep things perfect all the time when you’ve got kids.” You offer.

He smiles. “Yeah the little rascals make a mess wherever they go. They should be back in a few minutes, my partner took them for a walk to try and tire them out.”

He takes a sip of his water, and you notice a thick gold band shining around his ring finger.

“So how old are you Y/N?”

“20.”

“You always lived in Hawkins?”

“No. My Mom and I moved here from Indianapolis when I was 12.”

He grins. “So you went to Hawkins High?”

“Yeah.”

“Me too. How come you’re not in college?” There’s no judgement in his tone, he just seems genuinely interested.

You shrug your shoulders. “It just never really appealed to me. All my friends went, but I wanted to stay here with my Mom. So I’ve just been working odd jobs for the last couple of years.”

“What do you do?” you ask, wondering what kind of jobs pays a salary large enough for a house like this.

“I have my own business. Well it’s more of an organisation really, we offer support and opportunities for less advantaged kids in the area.” He reaches for his glass again.

“And your wife?” you say, with a nod of your head to his ring. “What does she do?”

Steve’s eyes widen and he chokes on his water, face blushing a deep merlot as he splutters.

“My w-wife?! Um well-“

“Dada!”

You both turn in surprise at the high pitched voice ringing down the hallway. The patter of tiny bare feet slapping on the tiled floor follows as a small girl runs into the kitchen. She stops in her tracks when she sees you.

“Hey baby!” Steve coos, sliding off his stool. “Come say hi to Y/N.”

The girl doesn’t move, just stares at you. Her round doe eyes the deepest shade of burnt umber, it’s hard to see where her pupils begin and irises end. She blinks slowly, black lashes kissing her cheeks with every sweep. You give her a small wave and your most reassuring smile, and you’re relieved to see she relaxes, a shy smile forming on her pouty pink lips.

Louder footsteps echo from the hallway along with the soft clink of chains. A tall slender man, probably a similar age to Steve stands in the doorway. The chubby baby balanced on his hip grabs handfulls of the man’s long curly hair in his pudgy fists, pulling hard enough to elicit a wince.

‘Move out the way stinky butt.” he says to the girl, nudging her with his foot as he tries to gently untangle his hair from the babies grip.

She turns to him with a playful scowl.

“I’m not a stink butt! You a stink butt Daddy!” she shouts.

Daddy. Oh.

Steve clears his throat, getting the attention of the curly haired man who’s yet to notice the total stranger sitting in his kitchen.

He looks up at Steve, then across at you. The same dark eyes as his daughter, and the same thick black lashes. He smiles broadly at you, small crinkles by his eyes the only giveaway of his age, he could easily be mistaken for someone much younger.

“Ahh the new babysitter.”

“Yeah, Y/N.” Steve says.

The man takes a few steps towards you, the silver chains hanging from his jeans clinking again. You stand quickly, extending your hand to shake his own, but you’re surprised when he thrusts the baby boy into your arms instead.

“Hold this for me babe.” he says with a wink. You nod, incapable of speech. He’s devastatingly handsome, so much so it feels like your brain is short circuiting just from him standing so close. He makes his way across the kitchen, pouring out a cup of coffee and leaning back against the worktops, arms crossed as he looks over you from head to toe. You squirm under his gaze, and turn your attention to the child nestled in your arms.

Surprisingly, he seems fine with being shoved into the arms of a stranger. He blinks up at you from where his head rests back against the crook of your elbow, soft tufts of chestnut hair tickling your skin. You coo to him softly, stroking your finger across the perfect skin of his cheeks, smooth and unblemished. You rock your hips slowly from side to side, the gentle motion causing his lids to grow heavy. You smile to yourself before looking back up at the two men.

“So who’s this little cherub?” you ask quietly.

“I’m Eddie.”

You giggle, and Steve scoffs.

“Don’t laugh, you’ll only encourage him Y/N.” He comes to stand in front of you, gently stroking the hair of the now sleeping baby.

“This is Ben.”

“Aaaaand this-“ Eddie says, picking up the little girl and swinging her upside down as she squeals, “is Isla.”

“Daddy! Down!”

Eddie relents, placing Isla back on her feet. You lower yourself down to a crouch in front of her.

“It’s nice to meet you Isla. I’m Y/N.”

“Y/N” she repeats back softly.

“Y/N is going to help look after you and Ben.” Steve says as you stand back up.

“If - if you want to, I mean.” He looks at you nervously, his plump bottom lip caught between his teeth. For a second you’re confused by his anxiousness but then the penny drops. He’s unsure if you’re comfortable with their family dynamic. With him and Eddie.

“Of course I want to.”

————————————————————————

The Munson-Harrington residence quickly begins to feel like a second home. They offer you enough hours for you to give up waitressing at Enzo’s completely (you got a great satisfaction from handing in your notice to your dickhead manager). They also pay you far better than any job you’ve ever had, and you try to protest that it’s too much, which they both dismiss quickly.

It’s not like they can’t afford it. Despite Steve’s work being non-profit you learn over coffee in the kitchen one morning in early fall that his parents had a lot of money, and he’d invested what they’d given him wisely, allowing him to focus on his charity work. Eddie was hugely successful too, a hot shot music producer. He’d proudly showed you around his home studio, laughing as you gawped at the gold records hanging from the walls, and the photos of him alongside some of the huge bands he’d worked with. The nature of their jobs meant they both spent a lot of time working from home, but they needed you to keep an eye on the kids so they could both have some peace and quiet while they worked.

You quickly fell into a routine, spending most of your days there. You loved every minute of it, you adored both of the children instantly. Ben was an exceptionally happy baby, he rarely cried, just content to bounce around on your hip while you fussed over Isla. She was a sweetheart, but she had a lot of energy, clearly inheriting Eddie’s inability to sit still. In the first few weeks you’d play with her for hours out in the garden, trying to tire her out enough to go down for a nap in the afternoon. As the children snoozed in their bedrooms you’d find odd jobs to do around the house, tidying up toys or wiping down the kitchen worktops.

“You don’t need to do that you know honey.” Steve said, leaning in the doorway to the utility room.

Eddie had just got back from a few days in New York, and you’d unpacked his suitcase, loading his worn clothes into the washing machine.

“I don’t mind.” you replied as you fiddled with the settings on the machine. “I just like to make your lives easier in any way I can.”

“You definitely do. I don’t know what we’d do without you around here.”

You smiled up at him, his praise making your heart flutter. It was almost embarrassing how desperate you were to please them both, bursting with pride at every compliment they’d give you.

“Come on, I just made coffee. I’m taking a break and Ed’s is going to catch us up on his trip.”

You take Steve’s outstretched hand, walking with him back to the living room as your skin tingled at the contact. The two men were surprisingly affectionate with you, not that you were complaining. Whenever Steve would put his hands on your waist to manoeuvre past you in the kitchen, or Eddie would pull you in for a hug when you arrived in the morning your heart pounded in your chest. It was stupid, you knew that. You’d never seen two people more in love than Eddie and Steve, their adoration for one another obvious in their every interaction. But there was a lot of love in this happy home, and you were more than willing to take whatever was left for you.

Eddie sat sprawled at one end of the sofa, his feet propped up on the mahogany coffee table. He grinned when he saw you enter the room, hand in hand with his husband, and he patted the empty cushion beside him. You sank down onto the soft leather, wedged between the two men. You sipped your coffee while Eddie gave you and Steve all the gossip from his trip, the frontman of the band he was working with having some big diva tantrums. You were doing your best to concentrate, but you were accurately aware of Steve’s arm draped across the back of the couch behind you, his finger tips delicately brushing your sweater clad shoulder. You were just relaxing back into his touch when the baby monitor crackled with static, and a soft cry played out, Ben letting you know he was awake. You jumped up, smoothing down your skirt.

“Duty calls.” You smiled. Steve’s arm hovered awkwardly in the space you’d just left, and he quickly pulled it back to his side, forcing a smile and nodding at you. You suddenly felt like you’d done something wrong, he looked tense. Ben’s wails increased in desperation, so you left the two men sitting alone, heading up the large spiral staircase to soothe the baby.

————————————————————————

A few days later you sat in the kitchen, Isla happily munching on a PB&J while you spooned a jar of what could only be described as green mush into Ben’s gummy mouth. Steve was out at work, and Eddie had been in his studio all day, clearly absorbed in whatever he was working on, you’d noticed the coffee pot hadn’t been touched since breakfast and he’d usually be on his fifth cup by now. You glanced up at the clock, realising he wouldn’t have eaten since this morning either. You wiped Ben’s face with a wet wipe, before grabbing a couple of slices of bread and slapping on a generous dollop of peanut butter.

“I don’t want more.” Isla mumbled through a half chewed mouthful, crumbs spraying across the island in front of her.

“I know baby,” you said, ruffling her silky dark curls, “I’m going to take this to Daddy.”

With Isla cuddled up on the sofa watching Alice In Wonderland (for the third time this week) and Ben snoring softly in his Moses basket, you picked up the sandwich and steaming mug of coffee, making your way to the studio. After a few soft knocks with no answer you gingerly opened the door, peeking round to see Eddie at his desk. His hair was tied in a loose bun at the nape of his neck, music bleeding through his headphones as he clicked on his laptop. Seeing you step into the room he slipped off his headphones, spinning in his chair grinning.

“Sorry to interrupt.”

“No no sweetheart, you’re fine. What ya got there?”

“Thought you might want some lunch” you said, placing the sandwich down on the desk.

“You always look after me so well princess.” Your face heats up, and Eddie grins at your squirming. His eyes turn to the sandwich, and he raises his brows.

“You cut the crusts off.”

“Y-yeah. Well I didn’t think you liked them.” You reply, remembering how he always leaves the crusts from his toast in the mornings, a habit that Isla had picked up.

He smiles at you softly, the butterflies in your stomach fluttering madly at the way his doe eyes gaze into your own.

“What are you working on?” you ask.

“Come here, have a listen.” You take a step towards him, and he winds his arm around your waist, pulling you down firmly until you’re perched on his lap. He feels your body stiffen.

“You okay?” he murmurs, his eyes full of concern that maybe he’s crossed a line.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine.” You squeak.

“Good. Get comfy sweetheart.” You do as your told, leaning back against his chest, trying to relax.

He lifts the headphones from around his neck, placing them over your head and clicking on his laptop, thrash metal filling your ears. You listen for a minute, tapping your fingers on the desk in time with the drums.

“What did you think?”

“It’s good. Really good!”

He nods in agreement, “Yeah it’s getting there.”

You don’t know if you should get up, but with his hand resting on your hip a part of you wonders if he wants you to stay. You look around, taking in all the tech laid out in front of you, so many buttons and dials you wonder how on Earth he knows what to do with them all. Your eyes land on a small framed photograph, next to a picture of him, Steve and the kids. You pick it up to get a better look.

A younger Eddie and Steve are smiling at the camera, surrounded by a large group. There’s two pretty girls, a similar age to the boys, and a bunch of younger kids.

“Ah, our high school days.” Eddie murmurs, resting his chin on your shoulder.

“You had a lot of friends.”

“Hmmm. I did in my senior year, but it wasn’t always like that. I was a bit of an outcast at school. I used to get a hard time from a lot of people.”

“Because you’re gay?”

You feel Eddie’s chest vibrate against your back as he lets out a booming laugh.

“No, no. Just because I was a freak, dressed weird, had weird interests. Also, I’m not gay. Neither’s Stevie.”

You shift on his lap so you can see his face, and he laughs again at your confused expression.

“Back in the day, before I met him properly, Steve was King Steve. He probably banged more than fifty percent of Hawkins High’s female population.” You couldn’t be too surprised at young Steve having a successful love life. He looked every inch the high school heartthrob.

“Were you together when this was taken?”

“No, we were friends for a little while first. Just figuring things out I guess.”

You nod, looking at the younger Eddie in the photo. He’s as stunning as he is now, just a little skinnier, no stubble along his angular jawline.

“What about you? Get much action before Steve?”

“Not much. A few hook ups here and there, but never anything serious.” He hooks his knuckle under your chin, turning your face back to him. “Wouldn’t have had a chance with a pretty girl like you when I was your age.”

You feel your cheeks warm again, cursing yourself for how easily you get flustered around Eddie and Steve. You can’t formulate a response, your mouth agape at his words and your brain short circuiting from trying to tell if he’s actually flirting with you or poking fun. As you shift on his lap again you think you might have got your answer, something hard pressing against the back of your thigh.

“Anyway,” he smiles, patting your leg with his large hand, “I should probably get back to work. Thanks for my lunch.”

You nod dumbly, slipping off his lap.

“Good girl.”

How your head doesn’t explode you don’t know. Eddie gives you a knowing smirk before turning back to his desk, headphones blaring again. You make your way back down the hall, trying to ignore the fact that your legs feel like jelly and there’s a growing damp spot between your thighs.

————————————————————————

You know there’s something odd about the dynamic, about the way the two older men treat you. At first you’d just assumed it was all in your head. You could admit to yourself that you had a crush on the pair of them, and initially you figured that maybe you were just reading too much into things. They were friendly, that’s all. Tactile, warm, not afraid to show affection. And you didn’t just work for them, you’d grown to be friends. You easily forgot about the age gap when you were lazing around on the couch watching a horror movie after putting the children down to sleep. Eddie talking the whole way through the film, while Steve hisses at him to be quiet, and Eddie retaliating by throwing popcorn over your head into Steve’s face. You’d spent hours talking with them, eager to know all about their lives before you met them, and they were just as interested to hear about yours. On days off your phone would buzz periodically, Eddie sending you some stupid meme to make you laugh, or Steve replying to an idea you’d sent him for an activity to do with the kids at his organisation. You whole life was beginning to revolve around them. At night laying alone in your bed your mind wandered, recalling their touches, the way they seemed to share a knowing look when you’d stammer in reaction. You tried to fight it at first, feeling embarrassed and ashamed when you’d wake in the middle of the night, skin damp with sweat and the bed sheets tangled between your legs. Your heart still pounding from your dreams, your unconscious mind letting you imagine what it might feel like for their touches to go a little further. Innocent hands on your waist quickly turning to harsh grabs, fingertips pressing enough to leave bruises. Lips brushing your ear when they whispered to you during a movie dipping down to suck the sensitive skin of your neck. A gentle pat on the thigh becoming more, hands sliding up under your skirt, reaching to where you wanted them most. The first night you came with your fingers buried deep in your cunt and their names on your lips you’d been so wracked with guilt the next day you could barely look either of them in the eye.

————————————————————————

On a cold evening in early December Steve and Eddie were getting ready for date night. They’d be out late, so you were staying the night, neither of them happy with the idea of your driving home so late in the snow.

“Eddie! Have you seen my glasses?” Steve calls from the top of the stairs.

“No! Are they on your head?” Eddie shouts back, laughing when he hears a huff in response.

“They’re on the counter in the downstairs bathroom!” you yell, bouncing Ben up and down on your knee. Isla sits by your feet, felt tips scattered across the carpet next to her colouring book. Her pink tongue pokes out of the corner of her mouth and she furrows her brows in concentration.

Eddie leans forward from the couch, flicking her tongue with his finger tips.

“Daddy! Stop it!” Isla shrieks.

“You shouldn’t stick your tongue out of you don’t want me to poke it silly.”

“Maybe we should start doing that to Daddy when he makes that face.” you say, earning a giggle and a nod from Isla.

“I don’t do that!”

“You absolutely do Eddie! Who do you think she gets it from?”

Steve walks into the living room, glasses now perched on his aquiline nose.

“Got em, thank you honey.” he says, tapping the side of the frames.

“No problem. Looking good Steve.” And he really does. His light wash jeans fit snug against his thick thighs, and the crisp white shirt you’d carefully ironed for him looks perfect against his permanently sun kissed skin, the top buttons undone to reveal a hint of his dark chest hair. Steve blows you a kiss in response as he slips his gold Rolex onto his wrist.

“Hey! What about me?” Eddie whines. You roll your eyes at him.

“Handsome as ever.”

“Still got it.” he says with a wink, standing up and heading to grab his coat from the closet in the hall.

“So once we’ve had dinner we’ll be going for a few drinks, so I’m not too sure what time we’ll be back.” Steve says.

“It’s fine. Once the kids are asleep I’ll just watch a movie or something. If I go to bed before you get back should I leave the front door unlocked?”

“Nah, I’ll take my keys, so you can lock up.”

“Uber‘s here babe.” Eddie says, handing Steve his coat and scarf.

“Okay my loves! Time for goodnight kisses!”

You hold Ben up to Eddie, who places a kiss on each of his cheeks, one on his forehead, and a final peck to the tip of his nose. It’s a routine that they go through every night, one of the first things that they’d told you when you started working for them. Isla refused to go to sleep until you’d given her her kisses. Steve lifts their daughter to her feet, giving her the necessary smooches before they swap children.

“Be good for Y/N Isla. Remember she’ll tell Santa if you’re naughty!” Eddie teases. As him and Steve turn to leave Isla calls out.

“Wait!”

“What is it baby?” Steve asks.

“What about Y/N?”

“What do you mean honey?”

“You got to give Y/N goodnight kisses.”

The tips of Steve’s ears turn red.

“I- I uhh, don’t think that. Well Y/N probably doesn’t want-“

“No you’re right Isla,” Eddie interrupts. “Y/N does need goodnight kisses!”

He leans over the arm of the couch, cupping your face in a large hand. His chapped lips press four chaste kisses onto your skin, his warm breath fanning across your face, you can smell his last cigarette. He pulls away with a smile that you can’t help but return.

“Now Dada.” Isla prompts.

Steve seems frozen in place until a firm pat on the back from his husband shakes him out of his daze. He steps in front of you, bending at the waist to quickly kiss you. His lips are soft and smooth, and he smells like spearmint. When he stands up he doesn’t meet your eye.

The car waiting outside honks impatiently.

“We better go. See you later!” Eddie says, taking Steve’s hand and leading him down the hall.

————————————————————————

You tiptoe out of Isla’s bedroom, closing the door slowly, afraid to make too much noise and wake her. You creep down the hall to the spare room that you’d put your stuff in, quickly changing out of your clothes into a small pair of cotton shorts and an oversized T-shirt. Back downstairs you scroll through Netflix, trying to find something decent to watch. It’s not so fun to watch movies alone, you’re missing having Eddie and Steve either side of you. Halfway through you give up, shutting off the TV and climbing the stairs up to your bed. As you pass Ben’s room you take a quick glance inside. He’s flat on his back in the middle of his cot, his stomach rising and falling with each deep breath. You reach in, gently stroking his palm, smiling when he curls his fingers around yours even in his sleep.

When you get to Isla’s door you pause, hearing soft whimpers from inside.

“Isla, baby?” you whisper as you push the door open. The warm glow of her nightlight illuminates her enough to see she’s sitting up in her bed, teddy bear clutched to her chest. Fat tears pool in her wet doe eyes, spilling down her cheeks and soaking the neck of her nightdress.

“Oh no honey! What’s wrong?” you ask, sitting on the edge of her bed. She takes in a shaky breath, choking as a sob rattles her tiny body.

“M-monsters.”

You pull her onto your lap and hold her tight to your chest as you rock slowly from side to side.

“Did you have a bad dream?” She nods, burying her face into your neck.

You hold her for a few moments, stroking her curls and pressing kisses to the top of her head as she calms down. When her crying stops you make a big show of checking her bedroom for monsters, looking in the closet, her toy chest, under her bed. Satisfied with your search, she lets you pull her damp nightdress up over her head, dressing her in dry pyjamas.

“You ready to get back into bed?”

“Not yet.” she says in a small voice.

“Okay. Well why don’t we just sit together for a bit?”

You scoop her up, taking a seat in the rocking chair and holding her close. You softly hum a lullaby you’ve heard her Dads singing to her, and soon the motion of the chair and the sound of your voice has lulled her back to sleep. She looks so peaceful, her petal pink lips pouting slightly, stray curls falling across her forehead. You should put her back in her bed, but you love holding her, knowing that she feels safe with you. So you indulge for just a little longer, closing your eyes as you snuggle into her.

————————————————————————

The warm weight pressed against your chest shifts, slipping from your grip.

Isla. Someone’s taking her out of your arms. Your eyes snap open as you instinctively pull her back to you.

“No!” You protest.

“Shhh, shhh. It’s just me honey, it’s okay.” Steve coos, his voice soft like silk. You relax, blinking rapidly in the dim light of the bedroom as your eyes adjust. Looking around in confusion, your neck clicks as you turn your head and you wince.

“That can’t have been very comfortable to sleep on Y/N.” Steve says, gently laying the little girl down on her bed, tucking her in.

“She had a nightmare. I must’ve fallen asleep with her, sorry.” You mumble.

“Don’t be sorry. I almost felt bad for waking you, you both looked so cute curled up together.”

Steve takes hold of your hands, pulling you up slowly and holding you as your body sways, still half asleep and unsteady on your feet.

“Let’s get you tucked in now honey.” he whispers, giving you that smile that makes your tummy flip over. He leads you down the hallway to your room, fingers interlaced.

“Where’s Eddie?”

“Probably passed out on our bed. He’s had a few.” Steve chuckles.

He pushes open the door to your room, letting you go in first. He hovers in the door way until you trip over your discarded jeans from earlier, then decides to help you get into bed. You clamber in, body feeling heavy with exhaustion. Your head flops back against the fluffy pillows and he pulls the comforter up under your chin as your eyelids droop.

“Night Stevie.”

“Goodnight honey.” Soft lips brush against your cheeks, your forehead, and the tip of your nose before you fall asleep again.

————————————————————————

Every Christmas Eve the boys throw a party. It’s not a huge event, just friends and family, not that you’d be able to tell from the amount of effort Steve puts in. He takes a lot of pride in hosting, he’s been stressing for weeks to make sure every detail is perfect. When you step in the front door the towering tree is dressed to perfection, gold and crimson baubles glittering in the light cast by the chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The scent of pine fills your nostrils as you add your presents to the large pile of gifts beneath the tree. Most are wrapped in smooth emerald paper, gold ribbon centred just so, the bows neatly knotted. The pile labelled “Steve” are less expertly wrapped, too much sellotape and wonky bows, clearly Eddie’s handiwork.

“What are you doing?”

You look up at Eddie, making his way down the stairs, Ben held to his chest.

“Just putting the kids gifts under the tree. I didn’t want Isla to see me with them, I won’t be able to resist letting her open them now if she bats those pretty lashes at me.”

“I’ve taught her well, puppy dog eyes are a Munson speciality.”

You reach out with grabby hands for the baby, and Eddie hands him to you with a grin. You kiss the top of his fluffy head, breathing in the clean scent of baby powder.

“I hope you didn’t go overboard, the kids have got plenty of presents, you don’t need to waste your money on them.” Eddie says, peering down at the pile you’ve put under the tree. You nudge them further under with your foot.

“Don’t be stupid, it’s not wasting money. I love them, I want to spoil them.”

“Ed! I need your help in here!” Steve calls from the other side of the house.

Eddie rolls his eyes.

“Speaking of going overboard. He’s in full party-zilla mode. Driving me crazy.”

“Don’t be such a grinch. Go give him a hand.” Eddie gives you a playful salute, marching down the hall dramatically. You’re relieved that Steve had called him before he’d looked too closely at your presents, knowing he’d complain if he saw the ones labelled for him and Steve. They definitely wouldn’t want you spending your money on them, but they’d been so good to you over the last few months you wanted to do something nice for them.

You’d spent hours in the mall trying to find the perfect gifts. You’d finally settled on a sweater for Steve, a cashmere blend in mustard that you just knew he’d look great in. It wasn’t as expensive as the designer brands he usually wore, but you hoped he’d like it all the same. Eddie had been a little trickier, but just as you were about to give up you passed a jewellery store, with a selection of men’s bracelets in the window. Three thin strips of woven leather, held together with a heavy silver clasp. It was perfect.

You wander into the dining room, following the sound of Eddie and Steve bickering.

“Higher Eddie, for gods sake!”

“I can’t reach any higher Steve!”

“But it’s lopsided!”

“Soooo… how’s this going?” You grin. Eddie was balanced on top of a step ladder, attempting to hang tinsel while Steve admonished from below. Isla was busy trying to unwind the extra tinsel, making more tangles in the process.

“It would be fine if Ed could follow basic instructions.”

“You know Harrington, I’m about to tell you exactly where you can stick this tinsel!”

“Anything I can help with?” you ask.

“Isla’s been asking for a snack, but the caterers are busy setting up in the kitchen right now.”

“Caterers? Seriously Steve?”

He turns to you with his hands on his hips, his go to pose when Isla (or Eddie more often that not) are getting on his nerves. It’s the first time you’re on the receiving end and you can barely stifle your giggles, he doesn’t exactly look intimidating, more like an angry mother hen.

Exasperated, he throws his hands up in defeat.

“You know what? I’ve had enough. Go, go on!” he makes a shooing motion at you as Eddie scrambles down the ladder. “I’ll do this myself, it’ll be easier without you all getting under my feet!” Eddie presses a quick peck to Steve’s cheek who does his best to maintain his serious face, then grabs your hand and Isla’s to give Steve the space he needs.

————————————————————————

You manage to bribe Isla with a chocolate Santa Clause into taking a bath before the party. She still whines throughout, particularly when you wash her hair, but she does let you get on with it, and as a reward you let her play mermaids, which just involves her thrashing around in the tub until most of the water has sloshed out onto the tiled floor.

While you wrap her in a fluffy pink towel, Eddie walks into the bathroom, tutting at the soaked floor. He leans over the tub, turning the taps back on to run enough water to bathe Ben next.

“Isla, do you want me to do your hair and Y/N to bath Ben? Or the other way around?”

“Want Y/N to do my hair.” She winds her arms around you neck. You hold her tight for a hug, she smells like her strawberry toothpaste and apple shampoo.

You leave Eddie with Ben, carrying Isla into her room. She sits as still as she can on the edge of her bed while you comb your fingers through her curls, gently separating the tangles and spritzing them with leave in conditioner.

“Up or down?”

“Both.”

You chuckle to yourself, pulling back the top layers and securing them with a red silk ribbon, leaving the rest of the curls to hang down her back. When her hair is to her liking you help her get dressed in the outfit you’d helped her and Steve choose at the mall last week. Thick white tights under a red tartan dress, with a tiny white bow at the neck. You slip on her black patent shoes, securing the gold buckle for her, then get her to give you her best twirl.

“Beautiful!” you cheer, clapping your hands. “The most beautiful girl in the world!” She smiles at you, holding your hand as you head out to show Daddy.

“Wow Isla, look at you!” He coos while he wrestles Bens kicking chubby legs into his little trousers.

“Y/N said I’m most beautiful in the world!” she exclaims proudly.

“She’s right Isla. I think I’m looking at the two most beautiful girls in the world.” You scoff, giving him a playful swat on his shoulder while he grins broadly. He scoops Ben up, extending his free hand to his daughter.

“Come on honey, why don’t we go downstairs and get some more chocolate. We can let Y/N get ready for the party.”

You let them go before heading back into the spare room that had basically become your own. You’d started to leave some essentials in the en suite bathroom and some clothes in the wardrobe, you stayed so often it seemed pointless taking everything home each time. You get out of your clothes, pulling your new dress from its hanger. You step into the black velvet, pulling it up over your body and smoothing it down over your curves that it clings to just right. The neckline was low enough to just show a little cleavage, but still being appropriate enough that you could bend down to pick up the kids without spilling out. You look in the mirror as you adjust the off the shoulder straps, then twist your hair up into a loose bun, pulling a few tendrils free to frame your face. You didn’t bother with much make up, just a few coats of mascara and a swipe of cherry gloss across your lips, then slip your feet into your heels. Satisfied that you look good enough to not show the boys up in front of their guests you head out of your room, slowly descending the staircase, gripping the banister tight incase you wobbled in your new shoes.

A low whistle came from the bottom of the stairs where Eddie stood, now dressed in smart black pants and a white shirt.

When you step off the last stair he took your hand, holding it above your head so you could spin slowly for him.

“Will I do?” you ask sweetly, already knowing his answer.

“You’ll more than do. You look fine as fuck.”

“Eloquent as ever, thank you.” You laugh. “Need some help with your tie?”

He nods, watching your face intently as you took hold of the tie hanging loose around his neck. You knot it quickly, smoothing it down his chest when you’re done.

“Eddie did you give Isla another chocolate Santa? She’s gonna have no teeth left soon!” Steve whines as he steps into the room. He stops when he sees you, his eyes widening.

“Wow. Y/N you look… wow.”

“Put your tongue back in your head Harrington.” Eddie quips.

Steve shakes his head quickly, like he was trying to shake whatever thoughts he was having out of his brain. He rakes his hand through his chestnut locks, smoothing them back into place as he steps towards you. Your heart thumps in your chest when you’re sandwiched between the two men, Steve pulling you by the waist so you are flush against him, with Eddie pressed to your back.

You can hear your heart beat in your ears, skin tingling with anticipation at the way they held you so close. With Eddie’s warm breath on your bare shoulder and Steve’s face just inches from yours it felt like you were all stood at the edge of some invisible line of resistance. You wonder if they are as desperate to cross it as you.

“I think we should give Y/N her gift now Ed.” Steve whispers. Behind you Eddie nods, and Steve turns to squat down besides the tree. He moves a few presents aside, pulling forwards a large gift bag from the back, full to burst with parcels.

“Jesus guys. Please tell me they’re not all for me.”

“What?” Steve grins. “They’re from the kids!” He plucks a small box from the top of the bag, pressing it into your hands.

“Except for this. This ones from the two of us.”

“You didn’t need to get me anything.”

“Yes we did. And don’t think I didn’t notice the presents you slipped under the tree for us naughty girl.” Eddie teases. Your face grows warm at his words.

“Open it honey.” Steve encourages.

With a slight tremble in your hands you carefully untie the ribbon, pulling away the green paper to reveal a ruby velvet box. You gingerly lift the lid, gasping when you see what’s inside.

A thin delicate silver chain rests on the cream satin cushion within the box. From it hangs a teardrop shaped milky white stone, flecks of pink and turquoise glinting in the lights from the tree. It’s beautiful.

“It’s an opal. They’re your favourite, right?”

You nod, too stunned for words, your mind racing back trying to recall when you’d mentioned that, giddy at the thought that they’d remembered such a small detail.

“Do you like it baby?”

Your eyes flick up to the two men before you, both looking hesitant.

“I- I love it. Thank you. Thank you both so much. It’s too much, really. But it’s perfect.”

Eddie grins while Steve exhales a sigh of relief. Eddie takes the box from you, slipping a finger under the chain and lifting it out.

“Turn around.” You do as he asks, holding your breath as he loops the necklace around your neck, his warm fingers brushing the skin at the nape of your neck while he fiddles with the clasp. The cool metal erupts your skin into goosebumps, and you trace a finger across the smooth stone where it rests on your sternum. You face them again, their eyes taking in the jewellery hanging across your collarbones.

“Beautiful.” Steve breathes.

The sharp sound of the doorbell echoing through the room snaps the three of you out of the tenderness of the moment.

“Guess it’s time to get the party started.” Eddie says, heading to the front door. The soft clack of Isla’s shoes on the tiles floor approaches, and as the door swings open she let out an excited squeal.

“Unckie Wayne!” She flies passed you and Steve, jumping up into the open arms of the older man bopping down in the doorway. He holds her in a tight hug, burying his face in her curls.

“There’s my best girl!” he coos as he lifts her up, stepping in from the cold.

Eddie pulls Wayne in for a hug, Isla squished between the two of them. Steve approaches, clapping his hand down on Wayne’s shoulder.

“Good to see you man.”

“You too son.”

Wayne’s eyes drift over Steve’s shoulder and land on you where you’re stood awkwardly by the tree.

“I see I’m not the first one here.”

“Wayne, this is Y/N.” Eddie smiles.

Wayne puts Isla down, stepping towards you with a kind smile on his lined face.

“Nice to finally meet you Y/N. I’ve heard lots about you.”

You extend your hand to shake his, “all good I hope.”

He laughs, moving your hand away and pulling you in for a hug.

“All very good. I don’t know who’s more fond of you, Isla or the boys.” You grin at Eddie who rolls his eyes.

“Okay okay. Let’s not stand around in the hallway all day, we’ve got drinks in the kitchen.”

————————————————————————

Over the next half hour the rest of the guests begin to arrive. You smile as you make your way through the group of people, allowing Eddie and Steve to introduce you to all their friends as Ben babbles away happily on your hip, chewing on his chubby hands and drooling everywhere.

“Rob, Nance, this is our friend Y/N.” Steve beams to the two women, who you recognise from various photos around the house.

“Nice to meet you Y/N.” Nancy smiles.

“You too! And who’s this little cutie?” You ask, waving at the dark haired boy hiding behind Robins legs.

“This is Charlie. Come on kiddo, don’t be shy.” Robin says. Charlie looks down at the floor, a small smile on his face as he rocks back on his heels.

“Hi Charlie. I think Isla is in the living room, do you want to go play with her?”

He nods, and you hold out your free hand to him which he tentatively takes. He glances back at his Mom’s who give him a reassuring nod, and he lets you lead him to where Isla is twirling around in the living room to Mariah Carey.

“Y/N! Dance!” Isla shouts, her arms raised up. You put Ben down in his bouncer seat before picking her up, spinning her around and bopping her from side to side.

“Those are some killer moves you’ve got there Y/N.”

“Shut up Munson.”

Eddie steps into the room, sipping a glass of champagne and holding out another to you. You put Isla down despite her protests, leaving her to dance with Charlie as you sip your drink.

“Having fun?”

“Yeah! All your friends are so nice!”

Eddie chuckles. “Yeah they’re pretty great.”

He’s a little tipsy already, his shirt rumpled and untucked, and the tie you’d so carefully knotted now loose and lopsided. You tut, adjusting the tie and smoothing his collar.

The doorbell rings again, distracting you from your fussing.

“Oh, that might be my Mom!” You say, heading out to the hall. Eddie and Steve had been quite insistent that your Mom be invited along, and she’d been so pleased when you told her they wanted her there.

You open the door as though it was your own home, pulling your Mom in for a hug.

“Honey, you look amazing!” She smiles, stepping back to admire your outfit.

“So do you! Eddie this is my Mom!”

“Pleasure to meet you.” Eddie says. He takes her coat, eyeing up the figure hugging red dress she wears beneath it.

“Wow, Y/N. You never told me your Mom was such a fox.” Your Mom giggles like a school girl at his charm while you roll your eyes and groan.

“Ed, stop it.”

“Absolutely not. Are you single?”

“I am actually.” Your Mom laughs. Eddie grabs her hand, pulling her towards the kitchen.

“Good. Then I want to introduce you to my Uncle Wayne.”

————————————————————————

The party was great, everyone laughing and joking together, drinking a lot of champagne and nibbling on the canapés the caterers had prepared. You’re dancing with your Mom when you see Isla yawning widely from her spot on the couch.

“You tired honey?” You say, scooping her up into your arms.

“No.” She mumbles, although her drooping eyelids give her away.

“I think it’s time for bed sweetpea. You need to go to sleep so Santa can come and bring your presents!” You’re surprised that she doesn’t offer more protest, her body heavy with exhaustion as she buries her face in your neck.

“Let’s find Daddy and Dada so you can say goodnight.”

“Mom I’m just going to put little one to bed. You okay here for a few minutes?”

“Of course honey, maybe I’ll go talk to Wayne again.” she says with a wiggle of her eyebrows. She gently sweeps a curl out of Isla’s face.

“Goodnight Isla. It was nice to meet you.”

The little girl gives a small wave of her fingers in return before you carry her out in search of her Dads.

You find them on the back patio, shivering in the cold as they talk to Will and Mike. A cigarette hangs between Eddie’s teeth, and you can’t help but admire his neck as he tilts his head back, blowing a large cloud of smoke up into the freezing air.

Steve spots you in the doorway, holding Isla closer to protect her from the chill breeze blowing in.

“Hey, is she ready for her bed?” he asks. You nod.

“I was going to take her up now, she just wants her kisses.” The boys all smile as they step inside, shutting the sliding doors behind them. Will places a peck on Isla’s cheek as him and Mike head back to the others in the living room.

“Do you want me and Daddy to put you to bed baby?” Steve whispers, stroking his large hand across his daughters back.

“No. Y/N do it.” He chuckles, tilting her head back to kiss her cheeks. Eddie does the same, ruffling her curls after.

“Night kiddo. See you in the morning. I love you.”

She just about mumbles a love you back, before her head lolls against your shoulder.

When you get her upstairs you lay her down on her bed, manoeuvring her limbs so you can get her out of her party dress and into her Christmas PJs. You really should brush her teeth given the amount of chocolate she’s eaten, but she’s almost passed out, so you tuck her in tightly, giving her your own goodnight kisses.

“See you in the morning.” She mumbles.

“No baby, I won’t be here in the morning.” She whines in protest and you shush her softly.

“It’s okay, you’ll have Christmas with Dada and Daddy, Ben and Uncle Wayne. And I’ll come see you in a few days, you can show me all your presents.” She nods, her head flopping back on the pillow. She’s sound asleep before you’ve even closed her bedroom door.

The party starts to wind down, Robin and Nancy carrying a passed out Charlie back to their car. The others filter out gradually, all hugging each other tight and calling Merry Christmas as they head out the door. Eventually it’s just you and your Mom left. Wayne says goodnight, making his way up to one of the spare rooms (not before you spy him and your Mom exchanging numbers, much to Eddie’s amusement). Eddie and Steve both hug your Mom goodbye, helping to carry your gifts and clothes from earlier out to the car.

“I’ll get the car warmed up while you say goodbye.” your Mom whispers to you with one last wave to the boys before she closes the front door behind her.

You’re alone with the two men. You suddenly feel an anxiousness you can’t explain, like you don’t know what to say.

“W-well thanks for a lovely evening. Have a nice Christmas both of you.”

“You too honey. And get home safe.” Steve smiles. There’s a pause. You eyeball Eddie who shifts uncomfortably, wringing his hands in front of him, chunky silver rings shining in the light.

“You could stay you know. Both of you, it’s pretty late, and it’s icy out.” he murmurs.

“It’s okay Ed. We should get home, and let you guys enjoy your Christmas with your family.” He frowns slightly then.

“You’re part of our family y’know. I-I mean. We think if you like that.”

Like what, you wonder. How exactly do they think of you?

You step towards him, looping your arms around his neck as you hug him tight. His arms snake around your waist, holding you so firm like he could keep you here if he just held on enough. You breathe in deeply, losing yourself in his scent. The same apple shampoo you used on Isla, lingering cigarette smoke, his cologne a heady mix of bourbon and cedar. It makes you feel safe.

“I’ll see you in a few days.” You say with a smile as you pull back from him. He maintains his hold on your waist.

You hear a soft chuckle, and you look across at Steve. His face is turned up, grinning with amusement at the decoration hanging above your heads. You follow his eyes to see it for yourself. A few sprigs of soft leaves, with shining white berries, hanging from a golden ribbon. Mistletoe.

It was a moment that passed in mere seconds, but the time felt sluggish, each movement deliberate and slow like moving through thick treacle. Your eyes lowered from the mistletoe, meeting Eddie’s obsidian orbs. His hands on your waist trembled slightly. You could see the exact moment that he lost the last of his resolve. He leant into you, tipping you both over that invisible line that had blurred with each longing look and touch over the last few months.

His lips pressed against yours, and your eyelids fluttered closed as your forgot yourself for a moment. You weren’t thinking about where you were, who else was present, the million and one reasons why you shouldn’t be doing this. All you could focus on was the feeling of Eddie’s warm chapped lips brushing against your own. It was heart achingly sweet, months of feelings poured into the most chaste meeting of mouths.

Then reality hit.

You pull back with a gasp, pushing firmly against Eddie’s chest which sends him stumbling back a few steps. His eyes widen in panic, instantly wet with tears.

“I-I’m sorry. Fuck. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t done that. Y/N please I’m so sorry.” He runs his fingers through his hair, tugging at the knotted curls in frustration.

“No, n-no. It’s okay, I just-“ the words die on your tongue. You’re so confused, your body so tense you begin to shake. He was sorry, he shouldn’t have done it. He regretted it. He kissed you and instantly regretted it. You feel your heart shatter in your chest, the ache knocking the breathe out of you. Of course he regrets it, he’s married, he- fuck. Steve.

You dare a glance across at him, terrified of his reaction. You just kissed his husband, right in front of his face, in his own home. Your friendship was done for, that much was a given. You blink rapidly, trying to shake the tears that blur his features.

“Steve?” Your voice comes out a broken whimper, the lump in your throat threatening to entirely close your airway.

Hazel eyes meet yours. There’s no hatred, no fury. Instead, there’s the same tenderness you always get from Steve, along with something else. Something you’ve caught glimpses of here and there, but now it had risen to the surface, the copper flecks in his eyes burning with an intense flame. Longing.

Warm hands cup your cheeks, calloused thumbs gently swiping away the tears that spill over your lash line. Steve’s eyes bore into you, searching, pleading.

You’re panicking, breathing too fast while your brain screams a thousand thoughts at once. You wrap your fingers around his wrists, not to pull his hands away, but to ground yourself. You feel his pulse fluttering under your finger tips, as quick as your own. You see his eyes, kind and warm as ever. You smell his aftershave, pine and vetiver, and the expensive champagne on his breath. And you hear your name, falling from his lips in the sweetest whisper.

Steve kisses you with a firmer pressure than Eddie. One hand moves to cup the back of your head, the other still cradling your cheek. You melt at his touch, shoulders relaxing as a quiet sigh parts your lips. It’s over all too quickly, his hands dropping to his sides. The three of you stand in a tension filled silence, the realisation of what’s just occurred weighing heavy. Maybe you should stay, talk about what’s happened, there’s clearly a lot that needs to be said. But fear seeps into your bones, and you step back on wobbling legs.

“I’m gonna go.” you whisper, not meeting either of their eyes. Neither man makes a move to stop you. You turn without another word, slipping out the front door and walking to your Mom’s car in a daze.

“You okay honey?” She says as you sink down into your seat.

“Fine.” You lie. “Just tired.”

————————————————————————

Christmas has always been your favourite holiday. The quiet home that just you and your Mom share suddenly a hive of activity, your Uncle cracking corny jokes, your Aunt bustling around in the kitchen with your Mom, Grandparents watching fondly as you play with your young cousins.

Today is different. You feel like you’re on the outside looking in, watching some movie of a happy family enjoying the holiday, while you sit alone on the couch, grey clouds swirling around your mind. You’d barely slept last night. Hot tears spilling from the corners of your eyes, rolling down your cheeks and soaking the pillow beneath you. Your blood ran hot with shame, stomach twisting and churning as guilt wrecked you. You’d had some fuck ups in your life but none like this. The simple fact that both men had kissed you was lost on you, too embroiled in your own self loathing at potentially destroying their happy family with your selfish want.

The clattering of cutlery and tinkling of your mothers best glasses echos around you as you aimlessly push food around your plate. You’re zoning out, watching with listless eyes as your Aunt desperately tries to convince her youngest to eat their carrots when your phone vibrates in your pocket.

You sneak a glance down, slipping the phone out and sucking in a sharp breath as Steve’s name flashes on the screen.

With a swipe of your thumb his message opens.

Hey honey, Merry Christmas! Isla wants to speak to you, you free to FaceTime?

Your eyes flicker across the table, making sure no one’s paying you any attention, the last thing you want is another lecture from your Grandpa about phones at the dinner table.

Merry Christmas! Sure, will call you in a bit

You reach for your wine with a shaking hand, taking a small sip as the screen illuminates in your lap again.

Can’t wait ❤️

All it takes is a tiny collection of red pixels for your heart to soar with hope again. Maybe they don’t hate you after all?

“Y/N!”

Your head snaps up, all eyes at the table on you.

“Grandpa just asked you three times to pass the gravy.” your Mom huffs.

“Oops, sorry!” You lock your phone screen with a click, sliding it back into your pocket.

“She’s on that damn phone that’s why!” Grandpa starts, “See this is what’s wrong with this generation…”

After lunch you sneak away upstairs to your room, wanting the peace and quiet while you call Steve. You quickly check your reflection in your vanity mirror, fluffing up your hair and applying a quick swipe of lip gloss. A glint catches your eye, your new necklace twinkling in the open velvet box. You hadn’t wanted to put it on this morning, not needing a reminder of last nights events hanging like weight around your neck. But now you feel differently, and you know they boys will want to see you in it. You slip the chain around your neck, fiddling with the clasp, smiling to yourself remembering how Eddie had fastened it for you before.

Sitting cross legged on your bed, back nestled against the cushions by your headboard you pick up your phone and call Steve. It rings a few times before Isla’s face fills the screen. Well, the bottom half of her face, all you can see is her pouty lips and pointy chin, the phone held so close her breath fogs up the camera.

“Merry Christmas!” She shouts.

“Merry Christmas Isla! Honey you need to hold the phone back, I can’t see you!”

You hear Steve’s voice in the background.

“Isla let me hold it.”

“No Dada! I do it!”

“But Y/N can’t see your pretty face!” You laugh at the scuffling sound of them fighting over the phone, and Steve eventually wins, holding it in a steady hand so you can see Isla sitting on the couch in the Princess dress you bought for her.

“What do you say?” Steve whispers.

“Thank you for my presents!”

“You’re very welcome baby! Do you like your dress?”

She nods, small hands smoothing the layers of pink tulle covering her legs.

Eddie thumps down on the couch beside her.

“Did you like your gifts Y/N?” he asks.

“I haven’t opened them yet. We don’t do gifts until after lunch.”

“What?!”

“Not everyone tears through them all in under 5 minutes like you Ed.” Steve teases.

“Where’s Ben?” you ask, and Steve moves the phone so you can see the baby happily bouncing on Wayne’s knee.

“Hi sweetie!” You coo. “And Merry Christmas Wayne!”

“Merry Christmas to you too darlin’.” He replies in his gruff voice. “You and your Mom having a good day?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Wish her well for me.”

“I will.” You nod, giggling as Eddie wolf whistles off camera.

Steve turns the phone back to Isla, letting her chatter away to you for a while, showing you some of the presents she got from Santa.

“Y/N! We’re going to open gifts now!” Your Mom calls up the stairs.

“Okay, be there in a minute!” You shout back.

“Isla, say goodbye to Y/N.” Eddie instructs. She pouts.

“Noooo. Not yet.”

“Baby she has to go see her family.”

“I’ll talk to you soon though! When I come over next we can have a tea party with your new set!” That cheers her up enough, and she smiles giving you a wave.

“Bye honey.”

“Bye Eddie, enjoy the rest of your day!”

Steve turns the camera on himself, a shy smile on his lips.

“You mind if I keep you for just a minute longer?” He asks.

“Sure.”

He stands, walking through to the kitchen, leaning against the island when he speaks again.

“How’re you doing?”

You pause, sensing his anxiety through the screen.

“I’m okay.”

He sighs. “Good. I - we were worried. You know, that we upset you last night.”

“I’m not upset. Just.. confused I guess.”

He nods, tugging his fingers through his hair.

“Yeah, I know. Look, we understand if- if you don’t want to come around here anymore.” Your heart sinks at the pain evident in his voice, the fear in his eyes.

“No, no. I still want to come around, if that’s okay?”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Steve’s shoulders sink as he relaxes, exhaling deeply like he’s blowing out all the tension he’s carried since last night.

“Great. Well, what are you doing tomorrow?”

“Nothing. You need me to watch the kids? Are you going out somewhere?”

“No, we’ll be here. Just want to see you, that’s all. I mean the kids. The kids want to see you.”

“The kids huh?” You tease, raising your eyebrows.

He gives you that crooked grin that gives you butterflies.

“I’ll be there.”

“Cool. Come over anytime.”

“Okay. I really have to go now Stevie. Bye.”

“Bye honey.”

————————————————————————

You let yourself into the house, kicking off your snow covered boots by the door. You slowly shed your layers, hanging up your coat and unwinding you cashmere scarf (one of your gifts from the boys) from around your neck. The house is unusually quiet, and you drift down the hallway, listening out for any signs of life. As you approach the living room you can hear faint music, so you push through the door, peering round and smiling at the sweet sight before you. Wayne sits dozing in the plush armchair, his head dropping to the side. Eddie and Steve sit on the couch, Isla snuggled in the middle under a fluffy pink blanket. Ben lies sleeping on Eddie’s chest, a large ringed hand gently stroking his back that rises and falls with each breath. The two younger men turn their heads at the sound of the door, smiling when they see you.

“Y/N!” Isla squeals in delight, trying to kick the blanket off her legs so she can jump up to greet you.

“Hey, hey easy.” Eddie warns, trying to keep Ben from waking at the sudden movement.

“It’s okay Isla, stay there.” You whisper, making your way to the couch. Steve shuffles up, making just enough room for you to sit between him and his daughter. You lean back, pulling the blanket over your legs and lifting your arm for Isla to nuzzle into your side.

“Missed you.” She says, voice muffled by your sweater as she buries her face in.

“Missed you too sweetie.”

She turns her attention back to The Polar Express playing on the large flatscreen.

“Hey.” Steve says softly.

“Hey” you smile back. “You’re wearing the sweater I got you!”

“Yeah, I love it. Thank you sweetie.” Eddie clears his throat and when you turn to face him he raises his free hand, the leather bracelet you gave him sliding down his wrist.

“Thanks for this too angel. You spoil us.”

You scoff then. “Please, one sweater and a bracelet is nothing compared to how overboard you guys went.”

“Hey we just wanted to show you how much we appreciate you.” Eddie grins.

“Well thank you. It was too much, but I’m grateful really.”

You sit in a peaceful quiet watching the rest of the movie together, your head resting on Steve’s shoulder. When it’s over, you spend the rest of the day playing with the kids, making good on your promise of a tea party with Isla. It’s lovely, all of you enjoying a lazy day together pottering around the house, laughing and joking, nibbling on left over party food.

In the early evening Wayne makes his way upstairs to pack his things, Eddie following behind him. He returns a few moments later with a small pink suitcase and a bag packed with Ben’s clothes and diapers.

“The kids are going for a sleepover tonight at Wayne’s.” He explains.

“That’s lovely! Are you excited honey?” You ask Isla. She nods, holding out her small arms as Steve slips her coat over her princess dress.

Wayne carries the bags out to the car, then takes Ben from your arms.

“Nice to see you again.”

“You too Wayne.” you smile.

Isla says her goodbyes, demanding extra kisses from the three of you before she leaves.

“Be a good girl for Uncle Wayne!” Steve calls from the door.

“I always a good girl!” She shouts back over her shoulder.

Once they’re gone you step towards your own coat hanging by the door.

“I guess I should get going too.”

“Actually,” Steve says, stepping between you and the coat rack, “we were hoping you’d stay and have dinner with us.”

“Oh.” your stomach knots at the thought of being alone with the two men. You want to stay of course, but you’re hesitant, knowing that eventually you’ll all have to address the elephant in the room.

“You don’t have to.” Eddie whispers, his large eyes boring into yours.

“I know. But I’d like to.” you reply, deciding you’ll have to face it eventually. Might as well be now.

————————————————————————

Perched on a stool by the island in the kitchen, you sip on a glass of expensive wine, watching Steve start the dinner. He shoos Eddie away when he offers to help and you giggle, knowing that he’s worried about the inevitable mess Eddie will make. The curly haired boy takes a seat beside you, pouring himself a large glass from the bottle in front of you.

With the sauce simmering away, Steve starts to heat the water for the pasta. While he waits for it to boil, he turns and leans against the counter beside the hob. He takes a large gulp of wine, and you notice the tremble in his hand as he lowers his glass.

“So.” he begins. “Maybe we should talk about.. you know. Christmas Eve.”

The wine in your own mouth turns bitter on your tongue, anxiety bubbling up inside you.

“Sure.” You’d hoped your voice would sound casual, but it comes out as a small squeak.

Eddie fidgets in the chair next to you, his fingers tapping a nervous drum beat on the island.

“We’re sorry Y/N. For making you uncomfortable. It was never our intention, I guess we just- just got carried away. Misread the signs.”

You look up at the man across from you.

“I told you Steve, I wasn’t upset, or uncomfortable. I’m just.. confused. I don’t really understand.”

Steve nods, chewing on his lip.

“I get that. It’s fair. M-maybe we should just explain a bit, about what we’ve been thinking.”

You don’t say anything, just give him a small nod of permission.

He sighs deeply, rubbing the back of his neck as he shifts his weight.

“Well, we. We uh- Ed help me out here man.”

You glance across at Eddie, who won’t look at you, his eyes locked on his wine glass.

“We like you Y/N. A lot. We kind of hoped you liked us too, in the same way.”

“What way?” You whisper. You know, it’s obvious now, but you need to hear them say it before you make a fool of yourself.

“We like having you around, you’re so good with the kids, they love you. B-but we like having you around for us too. You make us both really happy. We didn’t feel like anything was missing before, our lives were perfect. But when you came along we realised maybe things could be better, w-with you.”

You can’t speak, can’t think, the weight of Eddie’s admission crushing you. You’re still confused. Do they just want to mess around with you, or is it more than that?

“Please say something honey.” Steve pleads.

You wring your hands in your lap, trying to find the right words.

“Is this - fuck. Like, is this something you’ve done before? Did your last babysitter..?”

“No! Christ no! We haven’t - it’s not like a thing that we-.” Steve stammers, stumbling forward to the island, large hands splayed out on the cool marble.

“This hasn’t happened before honey. There’s been no one else before you.” Eddie says quietly.

“So, you two have never, y’know. With a girl, together?”

Steve and Eddie exchange a quick glance.

“We have, a couple of times.” Eddie admits. A viscous jealousy twists your guts, acid rising in your throat. “But when we were younger, and it was only ever a one night thing. Never anything serious.”

That calms your irrational fury somewhat. You’d never given much thought to the two of them with another girl before, and the image of it in your mind had sickened you. But you felt relief knowing it hadn’t happened for a long time, and it never meant anything to them. You still couldn’t help but wonder though, would this be the same? Were they just looking to satiate some curiosity, using you for a one night stand before shutting you out.

As though he read your thoughts Steve moves quickly to your side, holding your cheek in his hand and tilting your head back to look up at him. The spotlights in the kitchen ceiling cast a warm glow around his head, he looks like an angel.

“That’s not what we want with you though Y/N. This is different. We - we want more. We care about you a lot honey.”

“You’re important to us. Special.” Eddie confirms.

“You’re important to me. Both of you.” Your voice is barely above a whisper, but they both hear you. Steve smiles down at you tenderly, smoothing his thumb across the warm skin of your cheek. He cups your face in both hands, his touch light enough that you could pull away if you wanted to, not that you do. He bends down, his lips hovering above your own. You don’t dare breathe, chest tight with anticipation.

“Steve. Please.”

His eyelids flutter shut as he presses his lips against yours. It’s gentle, chaste, just like the first kiss you shared under the mistletoe. But you’re determined for more, tracing your tongue along the seam of his lips until he parts them, allowing you to tentatively explore his mouth. His tongue meets yours, gently pressing past your lips until he’s moaning softly at your taste. Your lungs scream, and you realise you still haven’t taken a breath, going lightheaded. You pull away with a gasp, dizzy from the lack of oxygen and drunk on Steve’s kiss. His plump lips are swollen and pink, shining with spit in the soft light. His eyes flick to Eddie, who stands and spins your stool until you’re turned to face him. Taking your hands in his he pulls you to your feet, a strong arm looping around your waist and pulling you flush against him. The other hand rests on the side of your neck as he kisses you deeply. He’s not as gentle as Steve, an eagerness taking over, his nose pressed against your cheek as he holds you tight enough to crush you. Your fingers grip his curls, pulling just enough to have him moaning against your lips. Steve’s hand rests over yours, and Eddie breaks your kiss, turning to the man now pressed against your back. They share a kiss with no hesitation or uncertainty, they’ve kissed each other for years, knowing every corner of each others mouths like their own. You watch in awe, listening to their soft grunts and sighs, your thighs clenching together searching for any kind of friction. Eddie pulls away from Steve with a smirk, looking down at you sandwiched between them.

“What’s with all the wriggling honey? Are you feeling a little needy?”

You nod dumbly, pouting up at him.

He kisses you sweetly, murmuring against your lips.

“Do you want to go upstairs?”

“Yes. Please.”

Eddie tugs your hands, pulling you out into the hall while Steve quickly kills the flames on the stove, the meal he’d been preparing now the last thing on all of your minds. The three of you race up the spiral staircase, giggling as you go, until you burst into their bedroom at the back of the house.

Eddie’s hot mouth meets yours again, his tongue licking into you as he walks you back to the bed. You lay down, the weight of his body pressing you into the plush mattress while his hands roam across your body, gripping your waist, your hips, your thighs.

“God, I’ve been dreaming about this.” He groans between kisses.

“Yeah?” you ask breathlessly. “What did you dream about?”

He sits up, eyes blown with lust so his pupils almost entirely swallow the chocolate brown.

“Do you want me to tell you sweet thing? Or can we show you?”

“Show me. Please.” Your voice sounds foreign to you, a high pitched lilt you’ve never heard come from yourself before.

Eddie shuffles off the bed, standing and pulling his shirt up over his head. You take in the new areas of skin now exposed to you, smooth alabaster littered with dark ink, silky hairs trailing from below his belly button down into his sweatpants. He comes to sit behind you, pulling you firmly so you lay with your back against his chest, head resting on his shoulder. Steve removes his own shirt, slowly undoing each button until he can slip it off, revealing his muscular torso, thick hair spreading across his chest that has your mouth watering. When he crawls across the bed towards you you spy a tattoo he’d kept well hidden, elegant black lettering across his wide ribs.

Eddie

Isla

Benjamin

Goosebumps raise on his flesh where your fingers trace the lettering. He nuzzles into your neck, nipping and sucking at your skin until he makes his way down to the top of your sweater.

“Wanna see you baby. Can we take this off?”

You nod eagerly, and Eddie grips the bottom of your sweater, pulling it up quickly and dropping it down beside the bed. He motions for you to lay back against him, but first you unhook your bra, shimmying the black lace down your arms and discarding it. You feel a smug sense of pride at Steve’s reaction, his jaw hanging open at the sight of your bare chest.

Ringed hands slide up your stomach to cup your breasts, cold metal biting into warm flesh as Eddie kneads you gently in his large palms. His calloused fingers brush your pebbled nipples, rolling them between his finger tips which has you mewling. Steve watches the show unfold before him, eyes darting from your chest, to your face, to Eddie.

“Jesus Christ you two are going to be the death of me.” He mutters, pressing his face into the valley between your breasts, leaving hot open mouth kisses on your skin. Eddie removes one hand so Steve’s lips can envelop your nipple, your back arching as you try to suppress a moan.

“No no honey.” Eddie scolds lightly. “We want to hear all your pretty sounds.”

With a firmer squeeze of your breast and a flick of Steve’s tongue you have no choice but to give in, whining loudly, the sound filling the large bedroom.

“Good girl.” Eddie says, turning your face up to him. You see the mischievous glint in his eye, he knows exactly what he’s doing, his words threatening to have you soaking right through your panties.

Steve works his way down your body, kissing your chest and your stomach until his mouth arrives at the waistband of your leggings. His fingers hook beneath the material and you buck your hips up in a silent invitation to remove them. He slides them slowly down your legs, tossing them behind him and leaving you almost naked before him, just a thin layer of white cotton keeping him from where you want him most.

“These are pretty.” Eddie hums, his finger pulling the elastic of your panties and allowing it to snap back to your skin with a small sting.

“They are.” Steve murmurs in agreement, his hands on your knees parting your legs until your thighs fall apart.

“And they’re soaked too.” Steve’s grin is devilish, a look you’ve never seen from him that has you blushing to the tips of your ears. You cover your face in your hands, but Eddie tuts, pulling your hands away in his firm grip.

“Don’t go shy on us baby”

Steves long fingers dance up your inner thighs, making you squirm. He stops at the edge of your underwear, looking at you with an intense stare.

“I want to taste you Y/N. Is that okay?”

“Yes Steve! Please.” you whine, hips wriggling as your pussy throbs in anticipation of his touch. He slips your underwear down, and your legs fall apart again, exposing your most intimate parts to him. You’d feel vulnerable, if it wasn’t for the adoring look on Steve’s face, and Eddie arms wrapped tight around you, soft kisses pressed to you cheek.

Steve lays between your legs, his face so close to your aching core you can feel his hot breath on your skin. His thumbs gently part your lips, slick with your arousal, causing you to shudder. When he flattens his tongue against you, licking a broad stripe from your entrance up to your clit you cry out his name, hips bucking desperately to chase his tongue.

Eddie chuckles behind you, releasing your hands and pressing against your thighs, pinning you in place. Steve kitten licks at your clit, and you know already you won’t last long, months of wanting this moment leaving you sensitive and shaking. He buries his face into you, lapping at your entrance, his nose brushing your bundle of nerves. You slide your fingers into his hair, the soft tresses held between your fingers as you keep him where you need him. Eddie’s hand lands across you own.

“You can be a little firmer Y/N. Stevie doesn’t mind it a little mean.” He says, scrunching your fingers until you’re pulling hard on Steve’s hair. He groans loudly in response, the vibrations rocking through your core.

“Fuck. Fuck, please Steve. Don’t stop, please.”

He eats you like a man starved, his tongue pushing into your entrance as your walls clamp down on the wet muscle. The room fills with lewd sounds, Steve slurping at your wetness as you whimper and moan. When he replaces his tongue with two fingers, curling inside you and pressing on a spot no one has ever reached before your muscles tighten, your orgasm washing over you as you cum with a loud cry. Each pump of his fingers causes another wave of pleasure to hit you, and he suckles your clit hard enough to have you seeing stars.

As you come down from your high you feel Eddie stroking your face, wiping away tears you didn’t realise had spilled. Steve sits up, his mouth and chin glistening with your release. He crawls up your body, peppering kisses on your sweat dampened skin, finally reaching your mouth. The kiss is slow, passionate, and you can taste yourself on his lips. His mouth leaves yours and he tilts his head back to kiss Eddie, who hums as he captures your taste for himself. While they kiss you snake a hand down, cupping the hard bulge pressing against the zipper of Steve’s jeans.

“Fuck.” He gasps.

“Wanna make you feel good now Steve.” He kisses you sweetly, then pulls away, pushing your hand back to your side.

“That’s sweet baby, but I think Eddie needs some attention, don’t you?”

You tilt your head back, looking up into Eddie’s dark eyes. You’re suddenly aware of his hard length digging into your back, he’s clearly got worked up watching Steve devour you.

“Is that okay with you Y/N?” He asks, a hint of insecurity in his voice.

“Mmmhmm. Want you Ed.”

It’s all the confirmation he needs, standing from the bed and hurriedly shoving down his sweatpants and boxers, his hard cock springing free. He’s long and thick, the head flushed deep red and leaking already. Steve manoeuvres himself into Eddie’s previous spot, pulling you to lay back against him, his hands massaging your breasts. Eddie digs through their bedside table, a frown forming as he shoves various items aside in his search.

“Shit.”

“What’s up?” Steve asks.

“We don’t have any condoms.”

“I’m on the pill.” You offer in a small voice.

Eddie turns to look at you, eyes round with concern.

“Baby, w-we. We can’t- we don’t have to if-“

“It’s been a long time,” you say meekly, eyes falling down to your lap. “I-I don’t have anything, y’know..”

“God baby, no, it’s not that! I just don’t want you to feel like you have to. W-we can wait.”

“I know I don’t have to. But I want to.” You reach out to hold his hand, pressing a kiss to his palm. “I want to feel you.”

Eddie groans, dragging his free hand down his face.

“Shit baby, you can’t say things like that, I’ll blow my load just standing here.” You giggle then, pulling him to you. He clambers back onto the bed, positioning himself between your spread legs, kissing you softly, as his calloused fingers swiping down your slit. Your thighs tremble from the lingering sensitivity.

“Christ you’re so wet Y/N. Stevie made you feel real good huh?”

“Mmhmm.”

Mixing your slick with the precum leaking from his tip, Eddie lubricates his length with a few firm pumps, his eyes never leaving yours. He leans forward, capturing Steve’s lips in a soft kiss above your head, before his mouth drops to the shell of your ear.

“I’ll go slow okay? And I’ll stop if you want. Just tell me what you need okay baby?”

“Okay.”

The fat head of his cock presses against your clit, your hips canting up eagerly to take him. Eddie chuckles to himself, guiding his length down to your entrance, pressing forward just enough to have the tip breaching. Letting out a soft gasp your eyes drop to where your bodies meet, the two of you watching in awe as he slowly sinks into your sopping heat. The stretch is intense, a sting causing tears to prickle in your eyes. Steve’s bear paw like hand wraps around your own, fingers interlacing as he gives you a reassuring squeeze. He mumbles praises and sweet words into your ear as you relax enough to take Eddie to the hilt, his pelvis flush with yours when he bottoms out. You look up at the boy looming over you, his brows knitted and jaw slack, beads of sweat already forming at his hairline. He’s still, his hands massaging the doughy flesh of your hips, giving you the time you need to adjust.

You cross your ankles behind his lower back, caging him in as you sweep loose curls out of his face and tuck them behind his ear.

“You can m-move now.”

Eddie rolls his hips back slowly, pulling out halfway before sinking back into you. You can feel every inch of him, your walls clamping down on his thick cock, each drag and press so delicious you’re both whimpering and moaning within seconds. Time slows as you get lost in each other, hips moving in perfect unison. Sharp fingernails dig into the rippling muscles in his shoulders as you try to pull him deeper and deeper. Eddie hisses against your neck, his cock twitching as the pain melts with pleasure. He speeds up in retaliation, knowing without words what you’re begging him for. Each harsh snap of his hips has the tip of his cock kissing your cervix, punching wanton moans from your chest as your struggle for breath.

“F-fuck. I can’t - I, I’m not gonna last much l-longer. Baby I’m sorry, are you close?” Eddie’s ragged breath mixes with your own, and unable to speak you nod desperately, kissing him sloppily as your hurtle towards another orgasm.

Steve presses wet kisses to the side of your neck as his hand that doesn’t hold your own moves down from your breast, dancing across the skin of your stomach and coming to rest on your mound. He expertly rubs tight circles against your clit with his middle finger, causing your pussy to clench even harder around Eddie. The combination of Steve ministrations and Eddie’s thrusts has you teetering on the edge, body humming like a live wire.

“Shit. Steve, Eddie- please. Feels so good, please.” you babble mindlessly.

Steve sucks hard on the juncture between your neck and shoulder. “Come on honey, let us have it.”

Electricity courses through your veins, each muscle spasming and pulsing with an intensity that has you gasping for breath. You writhe desperately, throat aching from the scream that tears out. Steve’s grip on your hand never falters, grounding you. Eddie’s movements become sloppy, his hips stuttering until he’s cumming with a deep groan, warm seed spilling into you. His body flops over yours but you don’t mind, enjoying his weight pressing you into Steve, as your hands smooth across his perspiration soaked skin.

Time loses all meaning, the three of you laying for what could be hours, hands wandering and stroking, lips finding new areas of skin to decorate with kisses. You and Eddie pant, basking in your post orgasm daze, until he rolls off of you, laying on his back and grinning across at you and Steve.

“You okay sweetie?”

“Yeah Ed, I’m okay.” You say with a small smile, sitting up and stretching out your sore limbs, joints clicking. You glance over your shoulder at Steve, watching as he lovingly strokes damp stray curls out of Eddie’s face. He must sense you watching him and he looks up at you, smiling shyly, which makes you giggle given the fact that he’d just had his head buried between your legs, then watched his husband fuck you senseless. Your eyes drop to his lap, the bulge in his jeans still present, pressing painfully hard against the fabric.

You shuffle up the bed to reach him, nuzzling your face across the stubble on his jaw, kissing his neck sweetly.

“Do I get to feel you now Stevie?” you breathe, nibbling at his ear lobe.

Steve tilts your face to his, kissing the corner of your mouth before resting his forehead against yours, tips of your noses brushing.

“Not tonight honey.” he whispers, just a hint of disappointment in his tone. “S’too much for you after all that.”

“But that’s not fair for you.” you protest.

“It’s okay Y/N.” Eddie says, rolling onto his front. “I can take care of Steve.” A wide grin spreads across Steve’s face as he looks down at his husband.

“Get those jeans off big boy.”

Steve doesn’t need to be told twice. With one more quick kiss to your lips he fumbles to undo his belt buckle, lifting his hips to shove his jeans and underwear down. You help him out, pulling the material off his long legs until he’s completely naked.

Eddie wasn’t kidding. Big boy was a nickname that Steve clearly deserved. As much as you were disappointed that you wouldn’t get to feel him inside you tonight, a part of you now was feeling grateful that Steve had decided you’d had enough, your cunt already ached after Eddie, you were sure that Steve would split you in half.

Steve notices your wide eyes taking him in and laughs not unkindly, snapping you out of your thoughts.

“Come here.” he says, holding his arm out to make space for you. You eagerly wriggle into his side, one hand splaying across his broad chest and stroking the silky hairs, your cheek resting on his shoulder while he kisses the top of your head.

You both look down as Eddie shuffles closer to Steve, laying on his stomach propped up on his elbows. One ringed hand wraps around Steve’s cock, pumping slowly as his lips leave a trail of kisses across Steve’s hips, thighs and stomach. Steve’s hips buck up when Eddie’s lips brush over the ruddy tip of his cock. Eddie laughs, pressing him firmly back down into the bed.

“Easy there big boy.”

“Fuck- Ed. Stop teasing.”

Eddie tuts and rolls his eyes, but gives in anyway, licking a broad stripe from the base up to the head. A deep groan vibrates from Steve’s chest, cutting off suddenly when Eddie takes his tip fully into his hot mouth, tongue swirling across the slit. You watch in awe as Eddie’s head bobs up and down, sinking lower each time until almost all of Steve’s cock disappears into his throat, his large hand working on the last few inches he can’t reach. He comes up for air, releasing with a loud pop as his hand continues to pump, his pretty pink lips glistening with pre and spit. His eyes leave Steve’s face for a moment, meeting yours as he gives you a wink and a devilish grin, before he turns his attention back to the task at hand.

You tilt you left head up to look at Steve, taking in his blissed out expression. His cheeks are flushed crimson, plump lips bitten and red, eyes rolling back as you hear a muffled gag from Eddie, pushing himself to his limits to bring Steve the pleasure he deserves. He looks beautiful like this, losing his composure, so lost in euphoria. You want to make him feel this good, want to watch him fall apart under your touch too.

Pulling away from his side you slip down the bed, mirroring Eddie’s position on the other side of Steve’s legs. Eddie releases Steve’s cock from his mouth, smiling over at you.

“Hey pretty girl. You want a turn?”

“Please.”

Eddie takes your hand, guiding you to wrap your fingers around the velvety skin of Steve’s shaft. He’s warm and firm under your touch, your fingertips just meeting around his impressive girth. You squeeze softly, giving a few experimental tugs, looking up at Steve for his reaction. His eyes are screwed shut, teeth clamping down hard on his bottom lip.

“Am I doing something wrong?” You whisper to Eddie, who just laughs.

“Don’t think so baby, I think Stevie’s just having a hard time keeping it together.” Eddie’s lips brush against your ear, his voice so low there’s no way Steve will hear it.

“Why don’t you put that pretty mouth to good use, really make him lose his shit.”

You lick your lips, wetting them just enough before wrapping them around the leaking head, your tongue tracing lazy circles against the hot skin. Steve moans loudly, fist flying up to his face as his bites his whitened knuckles.

You mimic Eddie’s movements from earlier, moving your head up and down the shaft, tears forming along your lashes when you take him a little further than intended, nudging against the back of your throat.

“Good girl, doing so good.” Eddie murmurs, swiping away the tears that spill. You press kisses up the side of Steve’s length and Eddie joins you, licking and sucking on the skin the other side.

“Fucking hell. You two really are gonna be the death of me.” Steve groans, repeating his earlier words.

You giggle, looking up at him as you and Eddie both suckle on his tip, sloppily making out with Steve’s cock pressed between your lips, tongues meeting and sliding. Eddie moves down, giving you space to take Steve fully in your mouth again, while he turns his attention to Steve’s balls, kissing and sucking the velvety skin.

You feel Steve’s cock twitch in your throat as his stomach muscles tense and flex, a tell tale sign he’s nearing his climax.

“S-shit. Shit. I’m gonna cum, Y/N, fuck baby.” Steve gently pulls on your hair, as if warning you to move before he loses it. You ignore him, pushing further until you’re gagging as your nose rests flush against the wiry curls at his base.

“Shit, shit!” Steve cries out, hot ropes of cum shooting down your throat. You swallow every drop he gives you, humming as the salty taste invades your senses. You keep sucking until he’s whimpering from overstimulation, and you pull back, allowing his softening cock to fall from your lips. A firm hand grips your hair, and Eddie crashes his lips against yours, an intense kiss as he licks into your mouth, chasing Steve’s taste on your tongue. When you part you’re both breathless.

“You still with us Steve?” Eddie teases, looking up at the panting, quivering mess of a boy sprawled out on the sheets.

“Just about.” Steve sighs, wiping sweat from his brow.

You laugh, collapsing against his chest, exhaustion washing over your body. His strong arms close around you, the warmth of his body making you feel like you’re cast in the soft glow of sunshine. Eddie comes to lay behind you, his hands placed over Steve’s on your waist. He nuzzled in, pressing sweet kisses to the nape of your neck as you hum contentedly.

“Will you stay?” He whispers, words muffled by his face buried in your hair.

“Yes.” you whisper back. “I don’t want to go home, I want to stay here, with both of you.” Both men grip you tighter, and you sigh deeply, letting your body relax into the safety of their hold on you. In the morning there’d be a lot to talk about, but for now you didn’t want to think about that, didn’t want to think about anything, except the feeling of their skin on yours and the soft sounds of their breathing.

————————————————————————

Find all other parts in my Masterlist!

if I had a nickel every time my favourite character in a horror TV shows about a small American town being haunted by supernatural creatures was a golden retriever jock and redeemed bully with great hair and a queer best friend and who happened to have lived in the 80's, I would have two nickels which isn't a lot but it weird it happened twice.

grrr i just wanna be the fruity fours chubby gf & have each of them lay on my tummy :(

like you wear a outfit that shows a little more skin than usual bc they’ve helped you gain more confidence. all their brains just completely short circuit. they all make different comments on your outfit, but each one makes you more flustered than the last.

I JUST WANT THEM TO WORSHIP ME AGHHH -🛸

PRRRRR!!!!

(cws: plus size!f!angelface, fruity four, body worship, a lil fluff, a lil spice, the four being soft and thirsty for their gf <3)

being fruity four's chubby girlfriend propaganda.....your tummy is the most coveted napping spot in the house. you'll be splayed out on the couch or the chair or in bed, and so often you'll have a fluffy-haired head (usually Eddie or Nancy) sinking down on your exposed belly to snuggle in and kiss before they fall asleep. Robin especially likes the spot on the floor at your feet while you're sitting up on the sofa, a movie playing on the tv while she sits back and gently rubs your calves, your thighs resting on each shoulder for her head to be squished between while she turns and nuzzles your soft skin. Steve purposely keeps the house warm so you'll be more apt to wear shorts when you're just relaxing inside, half because he loves seeing your bare legs and half because he wants to feel you shiver in delight when he squeezes them as you walk by.

and yes, please, please wear those outfits you like that show off your skin! they're so happy you're comfortable enough to do it, and to pull out those clothes that you've shoved into your closet because you liked them, but were too shy to wear them out. Steve and Robin will have conversations at length about your boobies, about how they look in those cute outfits and how flattering they are on your curves--and for once Robin won't clock him about using that particular word, because she's clearly lost in her own fantasy when they daydream together about the perfect items that would show off those goods, even though in reality you'd never wear them out the door before they'd be tearing them off of you. sometimes Nancy will come up behind you while you're looking at yourself in the mirror, and fix your clothes so they sit where they naturally do and not where you've adjusted them to try and cover certain areas you dislike. it just so happens that that usually means you've got your tummy out and you can clearly see those lines and curves and soft spots, and she just goes feral over it. like really feral, I'm gonna eat you out right here so you can watch your beautiful self cum kinda feral. Eddie does the same thing as well, except he's more apt to get on his knees and kiss your belly if you say bad things about it--cause c'mon, don't insult his favourite pillow! don't hide her all the time! let her out of containment!!

either way, if ever you wonder whether they're really sincere about liking your body type, just stand in front of a mirror or just have your tummy out and available--rest assured there will be someone sniffing you out like a bloodhound and descending on you to turn you into a human pillow or a cum dumpster cause they just can't help it

excuse me for being vile, but.....ehe......<3

(cws: perv!roommates!fruity four, f!angelface, modern au, voyeurism, noncon picture taking/sharing, nc somnophilia, masturbation)

the thought of pervy roommates fruity four having a secret, privated groupchat that you stumble upon when one of them leaves it open on the house laptop--and when you glance at it, you realize it's a chat full of photos and videos that detail every filthy thought they've had and every nasty thing they've done to you.

they've had huge, long conversations just thirsting over you or talking about something you did that they thought was hot, candid pictures they've sent of your ass or your tits in tight, short clothes around the house. Eddie has an ongoing video diary that he sends to them of every time he's jerked off over you while you're sleeping. every time he's cum on your face and wiped it off quick, before he chuckles quietly and slips out of your room. Robin's got videos of her fingers in your mouth as she sleeps in your bed, mindlessly sucking on them as she rubs one out under her panties. Steve apparently likes to cum into your food when he makes it for you, usually sweets or icecream that he brings home now and again, along with the whipped cream-topped drinks he brings you every morning. and the amount of times Nancy has humped your pillow or the clothes you've left out to wear the next day--you swear you see so much photo evidence and so many clips of it that she must be doing it daily. it's disgusting, and you spend hours touching yourself as you read through it all.

honestly, you should be furious, but it's too hot for you to get your fuzzy mind past anything else. they wanna fuck you so bad they're exposing themselves to each other with every gross thing they do, especially when you find the same pair of your panties in Robin's room that she took a video of herself cumming all over, or other hard evidence that proves they're completely genuine about their obsessions--like sticky photos of you tucked into Eddie's lunchbox and lewd love letters to you in Nancy's diary. even Steve, sweet Steve who pretends he's above casual sex or the filth of being a pervert, is recording himself fucking a fleshlight and crying out your name while he begs to cum inside you--at least once a week, no less, based on how many clips he's sent. they're all fucking perverts....and you just have to see where this all goes, if they'll ever end up making a move on the angel they can't help touching themselves over.

Okay but miscommunication trope is only super yummy when there’s a happy ending. Liiiike reader thinking they’re getting kicked out of their relationship in the fruity four, they’re not wanted anymore, maybe even bring replaced (ie with someone like Chrissy), and so every little sarcastic quip or ignoring is seen by them as the others not loving them anymore 🥺. Until one day it all comes crumbling down and I can’t decide with is more angsty, you breaking down telling the others they don’t love you anymore, or you trying to be brave by announcing you’re leaving and the fours hearts just dropping as they try to scramble to convince you to stay and why?! Why are you leaving!?!?! Please! But of course, happy ending when everything’s properly explained and angel is reassured they could never all fall out of love with them ❤️

oh.......miscommunication trope, you say? >:)

(cws: fruity four, gn!angelface, jealousy, post-s4, PTSD, huge miscommunication trope, domestic arguing, you have a tattoo + kinda shitty parents + bad home life, chrissy's a jealousy target, breakups, jopper appearance, you're childhood friends with jonathan, mentions of grief, an almost car crash, very mild head trauma, crying, angst with a happy ending--stick with me angels!)

Sometimes you wish Chrissy would just disappear. Just--poof--and she'd be gone.

It's awful of you to think, but you can't help it. She's just always around, ever since her breakup with Jason she's been by the house much more frequently. You were happy for her at first, because you liked her up until then, and she's always been nice to you. Plus, your partners saved her life back when all that crazy stuff with the Upside Down happened, an event you weren't privy to until after the fact, when you started dating them.

But she's always on Eddie, always chatting him up, always giggling at his attempts to cheer her up, and now she's attracted the attention of your other partners too. They're good friends, and that's good, but....why can you not shake this feeling that there's something more going on? That the arm touches over his jacket and the inside jokes aren't as friendly and harmless as they want you to think?

It's worse than that, though. The honeymoon phase is clearly over--cause all four of them just brush off your concerns, insisting that you're overreacting or just not addressing them at all. So you haven't been piping up when a joke hurts your feelings, and you've bitten your tongue when one of them has to reschedule something you've planned, and it's gotten to the point that they've wondered why you're so quiet all of a sudden. Why would they care? You think with a sour feeling in the back of your throat, rubbing the tattoo on your arm that Eddie gave you and wondering if that was just practice for someone else. You're not oblivious to the way Chrissy is slowly being invited into gatherings and dinners with everyone.....just like you were in the beginning. And after an especially heated fight with both Eddie and Robin, the worst one you've ever gotten into in your entire relationship, he got so pissed off that he just told you not to come to the dinner they had planned, and they'd take someone who actually wanted to go.

That was a couple days ago, and the air in the house has been strained for nobody else but you. You're equally as hurt by Eddie yelling at you as Robin silently going along with it, even though you slammed your bedroom door in her face when she tried to follow you, and waited until Eddie tugged her along to leave before you allowed yourself to cry. You're sick of the feeling that none of them really care for you, that you've been demoted to a piece of furniture in the house, because they've clearly lost interest. And they don't care when your things start disappearing from the house, when the clothes in your closet start dwindling, leaving behind nothing but the ones they've bought for you--no, they'd rather moon over Chrissy fucking Cunningham, and you've just taken all you think your heart can handle.

"I'm going out!" You call into the house from the front door, without any of their four voices responding. When you sigh, turn, and step out to turn the corner of the house, though, you bump right into one of them.

"Oh! Hey, baby." Steve steps back and readjusts the paper bag full of groceries he's got his arm around, keys halfway tucked into his pocket. "Where you off to?"

"Um....just, uh, gonna go visit my parents." You weren't really expecting him to pry, with how in your head you've been lately. But you're not gonna relent just cause one of the people who promised he'd love you forever, yet somehow can't be fucked enough to find the time to even watch a movie with you, asked you a question that remotely shows an ounce of concern.

"Your parents?" He blinks, shifting again to rest the bag on his hip. "You sure?"

That tone is so irritating. You used to love that almost parental sense of duty, the desire of his to know every detail of every problem so he can solve it. But now, you just feel suffocated, even though you're more distant from all of them now than you've ever been. "What, I'm not allowed to see my family?"

"Hey, that's not what I said! hold on," He moves to put the groceries inside, but you wave him off and start walking past him, your tone clearly frustrated as you encourage him to just forget it. But, in a tizzy, Steve hurriedly sets the bag down on the ground and runs to catch up with you, his hand descending on your arm only to be swatted away--but not for long, when he grabs it again and grips it tighter as he turns you to face him. "Jesus, wait! What's the big fuss? Did I do something?"

"Let me go, Steve." You refuse to look him in the eyes, but you can't break his grip. Why can't he just let it go, so it's less painful? "I don't wanna drag this out."

"Drag what out?" Finally, it dawns on him as his eyes dart from the keys clenched in your hand to the windows of your car parked in the driveway, boxes clearly piled up in the trunk and in the backseat that none of them seemed to notice you moving.

".....So that's it? You're breaking up with us?" Steve says it with disbelief, like he's expecting you to say something or anything different. It's almost a little satisfying when you respond in the way he never could have expected, even though he should've by now. Even though it feels bitter on your tongue as soon as it comes up.

"You know what? Yes. That's exactly it." You finally wrench your arm out of his grip, and each of those words sting as they come out, but you won't cry, you refuse to cry in front of Steve today. "I'm leaving tonight, and I'm never coming back to Hawkins again."

"Why?"

"Ask your new girlfriend."

"Who? Wait--Chrissy?" He shakes his head, and what comes out next is more cruel than you wanted to be--but he just won't get it, it won't happen unless you make them realize why they don't want you anymore.

"Wow, the jock has a brain! Well done, Stevie." He grimaces at once, and god, you wish it would all stuff itself back into your throat.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you being such a-"

"I know you're in love with her, Steve! For fuck's sakes, I'm not as stupid as you think I am!" You shout into the broken silence of the front lawn, wishing from the deepest reaches of your heart that this could all just be a horrible nightmare. Not reality. You don't want to be facing those big, soft eyes of Steve staring back at you in shock and pain, so you just turn your head and hope he doesn't see how much you're shaking.

"I get it, okay?! She's prettier than me, and nicer, and she doesn't have my fucking issues--and you guys clearly like her. It's like I don't even exist when she's around." You move aside to gesture towards your car, keys clutched in your hand so they won't fall or get taken from you, because you know Steve is reckless when he's upset. "None of you even noticed I was packing. Nancy fucking helped me put a box in yesterday."

Just then, both your heads turn at the sound of a car approaching--and just in time, you realize it's Eddie, his van's tires crunching the gravel of the long driveway as he pulls up to a stop beside your car. And lo and behold, sitting in the front seat with a smile on her face is her. Chrissy waves to you through the window, and as if your heart isn't in the process of shattering into shards that dig into your lungs, you raise your hand to acknowledge her back. You turn back to look at Steve one last time. Memorizing his face, because you know you won't ever see him again, as you take a few steps backward and hand him your parting words.

"Don't break her heart, Steve. It sucks."

With that, and with nothing but confliction reflecting back at you on his face, you turn on your heels and make your way around your car, bidding Eddie and Chrissy a stiff goodbye as they get out of the van and you get into your car. You reverse, roll back out of the driveway, and shift gears to start puttering down the road. And as soon as the house is out of your rearview mirror, that's when you feel those tears spilling out that won't stop until well after you pass the Leaving Hawkins sign on the side of the road.

A week into your new start in the city, you haven't gotten any more closure than when you left.

Living with your aunt isn't great, but it's something. The apartment is small, and you still haven't found a new job--you did call the Palace to inform them that you were quitting, though, to which you were greeted with nothing but indifference as you left a message on the answering machine. Figures that nobody in that town would miss me, you think, but you can't dwell on it for too long, because then you'll start thinking of them and it'll have you sobbing into your pillow again. Even worse is that you can't even fully express your pain to your family, your aunt, anybody--because they'll all think you're a freak, and it won't be surprising that your "relationship" ended so badly. You don't even really speak to your parents or your family in the first place, so you can't expect them to show you any sympathy. In fact, if they said anything to you, it would probably be that you should be glad it's over so you can live a normal life.

You don't want normal. You want your Robin talking your ear off about something gross for hours, you want Eddie burping into your ear and laughing, you want Nancy falling asleep on top of you and drooling on your chest, and Steve--you want Steve to come over while you're both on your breaks, talking with his mouth full and stealing bits of your lunch while kissing you in between each bite. You want that love back, you want it so badly it hurts, it hurts your heart every time something reminds you of them.

Maybe that's the worst part. That they don't want that anymore, they want someone that can share those memories with of that terrible tragedy, who knows how they feel and relates to those nightmares that wake them up in a cold sweat, who they can compare scars with and laugh with now that it's all over. They want someone scarred but beautiful, someone perfect, and you can never be that way no matter how hard you try. It explains why you haven't gotten a single phone call, or a letter, or anything since you left, and that treatment extends into your second week in Indy and right into the third. But it doesn't get any less painful, even when you get a job at a convenience store around the corner to busy yourself and help with the rent. Nor when you try going on a date or two, just to spend the whole dinner staring off into space as they talk and wondering what the people you loved are doing right now.

While you're behind the counter at work, your thoughts often drift back to that house by Maple Drive. The path around the back that leads into the woods, where Eddie would take you out for a smoke and to watch the stars for awhile--always with a walkie on hand, just in case, as Steve used to say. The pool that often sits empty, and sometimes you'd look out the window to see Nancy lifting up the cover on it to peek underneath, before breathing a visible sigh of relief and briskly walking away. Sometimes even in the middle of the night, creeping out the sliding glass door in her pajamas. And you remember that bed you often shared with Robin, who gets so clingy when she sleeps....and you wonder if she's sharing it with Chrissy now, if the cheerleader you always thought was such a nice girl is occupying the spot you thought would be yours forever.

Your brow furrows as you stock Camels on the shelf behind the counter, sliding each one into the perfect spot but feeling an itch of irritation when they don't line up. Is Eddie holding her right now? Is he coming up behind her every morning, and nuzzling his nose into her cheek as she stirs milk into her coffee? Is Nancy cuddling her and chatting her up about whatever project she has going on right now? Is Steve picking up her bag, and insisting she let her boyfriend hold the heavy stuff while she sits and looks pretty? They probably are. And they're probably much happier doing it with her, than they ever were with you.

Something thuds on the counter behind you, and you sigh without a sound as the gruff voice at your back asks for a pack while you're at it. Your fist squeezes around the box you've got in hand, and when you turn on your heels to toss it on to the tabletop and reach for the scanner, your eyes widen, and so do the ones on the moustached man that's towering in front of you with a petite woman at his side.

"Hop?"

You breathe out the name, trying to regain yourself as quick as you can--you're pretty used to keeping your tears back now, adjusted to having a straight face so nobody will pry or prod for your feelings. The former sheriff of your hometown that you used to duck out of sight from, laughing and hiding your goods with Eddie right behind you, is standing at your counter with a shocked expression, along with Joyce Byers who seems just as surprised to see you here. And with little else you can think of, you clear your throat and try to crack that tense silence.

"Uh...so, you two on vacation, or someth-"

"Are you fucking with me?"

Hopper cuts you off, hands bracing the edge of the counter as he looks you up and down, the two glass bottles of Coke getting shoved aside by him to fall over and roll across the counter as he reaches across the barrier to grab your arm. Without much struggle, because you have no clue what's going on, you allow the older man to yank your wrist up and turn it over, Joyce hurriedly pushing up your sleeve with her gaze pinned to your skin, like she's desperately searching for something that has nothing to do with your confused questions spilling out on top of each other.

When they've finally uncovered that patch of skin they were looking for, the two of them share a look between themselves, before finally looking back up to acknowledge how baffled and worried you are. It isn't until you scan down to see what they found that the pieces start coming together, the black ink of the tattoo Eddie gave you when you first started dating peeking out at you. It's just a thin, mid-sized black circle on your inner forearm, with five points reaching outward like a sun. But the detail of it has always enchanted you, Eddie's diligent stare as he inked it into your skin burned into your mind. You've considered getting it covered since then, but....you can't bring yourself to do it yet.

"I'll call it in," Hopper says cryptically, stepping back and turning away to bring out the walkie from his belt and start mumbling into it. In the meanwhile, you're left with his partner, and the lady you've practically grown up with since she babysat you a long time ago. You often forget that time, when you and Jonathan would run around her backyard with sticks and rocks to try and build your own castle, while his baby brother watched from the stairs and giggled at your antics. You were so young, and so carefree, it seemed....but it was a happy time, one of few before you met those four.

"Honey, you're alright?" Joyce's voice quivers, anxious for the answer, but you nod as soon as her question registers because you hate to see her like this.

"Ye...Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" She circles round the counter, coming right in for a hug that you return without question. The squeeze is tight, like a mother's embrace upon returning home from a long time away, and you instantly feel a pinch of guilt for neglecting to include her in your plan to leave Hawkins. Now that you think about it, you really didn't tell anyone, except....

"-Kid, relax, we're coming there. No, do not get in your car, sit your ass down so you're there when we get back! Jesus," Hop gets more animated as he talks over the channel, and your hug splits as your head swivels towards the sound of a familiar voice through the static. Steve.

"Are they there? Let me talk to them! Please, Hopper, let me hear their voice-"

It's so frantic, desperate. The first time you've heard one of their voices in what feels like your whole life, and you have to struggle not to cave, bringing a shaky hand up over your mouth as you whisper a "What's going on?" to Joyce. And with your ears perked up, you can distinguish the background noise in the transmission--there are three other distinct voices, talking just as fearfully amongst themselves as they also try to get through to Hop. Nancy, Eddie, and Robin, each with as much indignation as Steve, who must be holding the other walkie.

"We're coming down right now, kid. Just try to calm down in the meantime." With that, Hopper shuts the antenna and gestures for you to follow him, the sweet woman at your side holding your arm as you obey him, like she's afraid you'll vanish if she lets go. You're led out of the light of the fluorescent bulbs overhead to Hop's truck parked by the curb--you at least have the sense to fumble with your keys and lock the front door before you leave--you let him open the door and sit yourself in the backseat, and shakily buckle yourself in as they get in front with promises to explain everything. Still struck dumb with shock to the point that it hasn't really registered that you just left work in the middle of your shift.

But you get an idea of what's happening when you turn your head, and catch a glimpse of a scattered stack of papers on the seat beside you out of your peripheral. Tentatively, as Hop starts up the ignition, your fingers brush over one of the nearest pages--and when you lift it up to survey it closer, the two of them notice you and share another sobering look between them. What's staring back at you is undeniably, unmistakably, a missing person's ad. And the picture is one you recognize immediately, because it's yours. Your photo, details of your last sighting, a description of your tattoo, a list of things for people to look out for....

"You really worried everyone back home, kid."

Suddenly, a bitterness rises up inside you, and the paper crumples slightly as you realize what's really happening. "I'm fine. I just...decided to get out of Hawkins."

"Yeah, well, maybe tell your roommates that, first."

"Hop-"

"They didn't care! I told Steve anyways, so what's the big fucking deal?" Even though Joyce flinches at you raising your voice, you can't be quiet right now. Anger is something you've been almost too numb to endure these last few weeks, but now you could just put your fist straight through Hopper's window--they put up such a fuss for what? To drag you back to that shitty inbred town in the sticks, just to make sure they didn't want you in the first place? It's bullshit.

"They sure as shit care!" Hop shouts right back, casting his signature scowl over his shoulder as he drives through semi-empty streets. It's so late, and so dark, it's unlikely there'll even be many pedestrians. "Do you realize how many times Nancy Wheeler has shown up on my doorstep, begging me to go on another search and rescue for you?! They're worried sick!"

"Why?"

There's silence for awhile, very tense silence, before you repeat your question that says much more than just that one word.

"....Because they thought you were gone. They thought you were there."

There. That's what he means--the other world, the Upside Down. The place you've never seen, only heard horror stories about and snatches of descriptions of when you comforted one of them during a night terror. The missing people, the murders, the experiments....they're all so hard to believe, but then again, you can't deny Will's remarkable return from the dead or Barbara Holland's coverup death, both of which you've been close enough to to know that there's no way they're just elaborate lies.

So they were worried you had died. That your disappearance wasn't of your own volition. They're going to be in for an unfortunate surprise, but by the tightly shut locks on Hopper's truck doors, you know there's no getting out of this until he brings you right back to drop you in their laps.

"We came here to look for you. Your mom finally told us you had an aunt in the city." Joyce offers you another piece to the puzzle, but your mind is still stuck on the fact that your ex-partners seemed so desperate over the walkie. They....they wouldn't want you to die, but that doesn't mean they want you. Figures that your parents would make it more difficult for two of the only people that even remotely have any concern for you too, they're probably profiting off all that glorious attention of having a missing child.

"I have a life here, now. I don't want to go back." Lies. You know it's all lies.

"Listen, kid, whatever happened with your friends, I promise it's not worth throwing in the towel. You've gotta see things through." Clearly it's not worth an argument, you'd rather save your energy at this point. You're gonna need plenty to face that hard conversation you know is coming, when you're gonna have to confirm to them directly that you're moving on. No more running away, or hiding from the problem. You have to face it.

"You don't know anything about me, or them."

The already long drive drags on even longer in the silence that follows, and you make a mental note to call your aunt when they get you back to Hawkins, so she doesn't freak out when she comes home to an empty apartment. You can imagine your manager's gonna call and cuss you out before firing you for leaving the store unattended, too, and you groan and let your head hit the seat behind you. Now you're gonna have to find another job, gonna have to explain to your aunt what you did....or maybe she won't even notice your absence, not until someone makes a fuss about it.

Your mind is left racing with so many thoughts and worries that the scenery passes by without note, the moon barely shining any light on the landscape, like it's all one huge plain with little dots for buildings and trees. Like one big hellscape, but it's numb and frozen over with nothing left but a mocking echo of the world that's no longer here. You don't even really recognize your surroundings until a couple hours have passed, and the Welcome To Hawkins sign zips by and has you sitting up in your seat. Just as you pass it, though, you think you see the glimmer of another set of headlights, a rarity on these quiet streets--and then your whole world shifts violently.

"Shit!" Hop curses as he swerves suddenly, and Joyce shrieks as you all nearly careen off the road and into the ditch, your head cracking against the window and bouncing off for you to clutch at it in pain. A groan is all you can get out when he calls back to you, the dizzy feeling making you a little sick, but as you lift your head and the truck rolls to a stop, you spot the culprit of that downright suicidal speed driving that nearly caused a head-on collision.

Your heart is pierced with a deep chill immediately. You'd recognize that van anywhere, and that curly mane of hair as the driver stumbles out his door even moreso. He's not hurt, just dazed--and for the moment, your brain doesn't immediately go to the question of why you should even care. As he stands there in the road, in the dark, Eddie's form is lit up by the headlights still shining without a flicker, but he doesn't flinch even when it must be glaring directly into his eyes, just holds a hand up to block it out. And when they meet yours as you lean over the console to see him, he doesn't wait a second, hurrying around the passenger's side of the truck to fumble for the handle of your door. With a click, and the light above you switching on as a beeping starts to emit from the vehicle, Eddie's suddenly cramming himself into the backseat with you--and there's tears already wetting his cheeks as he grabs you in a hug, gasping in a shaky lungful of breath like he's shocked he's really touching you. Crying and mumbling into your hair, Eddie buckles when you squeeze him back, falling victim to that desire in the deepest part of your soul that just wanted to hold him again.

"I didn't mean it, I didn't mean it baby, I didn't--everything I said, I swear, I was being such a fucking moron-" He starts babbling from nowhere, and his voice itself is a comfort, having not heard it next to your ear for so long that it aches now.

"Eddie-"

"You're mine, okay?! You're my everything!" He cries, burying his face even deeper into your neck and inhaling whatever scent he can get. You're stunned into staying limp, letting his hands grab and squeeze at you wherever they land--his curly hair tickles your cheek and sticks to it, and that sensation alone drags tears up to the surface, only allowing them to spill when you hear him whispering those croaked pleas of "I love you, I love you, I love you" until you're crying right along with him. It's been so long since you heard it, you'd started believing it was never really true.

It takes minutes that feel like hours for you to both calm down enough to look at each other, your face cradled in Eddie's rough hands as he sniffles and murmurs a "You're so beautiful" so innocently sincere, that it instantly makes you wish you had never left. He smiles, and the world that seems so dark grows a little brighter around you. You're not even privy to the looks Joyce and Hopper are giving each other in the front seat, clearly a little surprised at the passion you two share that nobody else has ever seen. But they know. And when Eddie starts pulling you out of your seat with the promise to take you back, Hop only reminds him to drive safely before he allows you two to shut the truck's door and circle round the vehicle with Eddie's arm clinging to your waist. The air hits you, cool and dry, just like it always is in Hawkins. And when he opens your door for you and waits for you to clamber in, before getting in on the other side and fumbling contently with his keys, you're not sure you really know what to expect. He briefly elaborates that he'd gotten worried, and that he's just glad he spotted Hop's truck before he'd sped all the way out of Hawkins and missed you--but it doesn't last, because soon he's grabbing your thigh and sighing out a breath of relief.

"We'll talk about everything when we get home. For now, I just want to hold you." Eddie offers his hand to you, giving it a grateful squeeze when you slip yours into it and interlace your fingers together.

They'll all hate me for real, this time.

That's exactly how the drive goes, Eddie's shoulders relaxed even as he steers with one hand, and navigates while stealing glances over at you with relief written all over his face, and brings your hands up to kiss your knuckles every so often. But he's just one. The other three....your heart sinks as you run over that last conversation you had with Steve, the way you'd ignored Robin completely, and how you pretended everything was absolutely fine with Nancy up until the moment you left. And it somehow dawns on you only then--they thought you were gone, that you had been taken to the Upside Down, and your heart sinks as you watch the trees pass by in clusters while that dread creeps closer down the road that's so familiar.

Not even the comforting warmth of Eddie's hand could drive that thought out of your mind, even less so when he turns and you hit that patch of gravel that leads up the driveway. He'll stop soon, and you'll be facing the music....and when Eddie shifts into park, you sort of float from your seat to the walkway where you threw your feelings back into Steve's face, and up towards the front door that Eddie opens for you before you cross the threshold into the house. It does feel like home, and you don't want to lose it right on the welcome mat, so you blink away any tears that threaten to spill before you quietly follow him into the living room.

Three heads turn to look your way, too inundated in conversation around the coffee table to hear the door opening, but that stops the second their eyes land on you. Steve and Robin are the ones sitting closest to where you stand, but Nancy's the one that makes her way to you first, her lower lip already quivering enough to break into a sob as she crosses the patch of carpet to throw her arms around you. She's strong enough to grip you tight enough to hurt, but too weak to keep herself on her feet, and you end up sinking to the floor with her as your name floods out of her lungs on repeat, getting louder and louder and louder until she's wailing. You could swear the walls rattle with the volume she cries at, completely coming apart in your arms like you've never seen her do before.

"Don't you ever do that to me again!" She shouts, yet her voice is like a child's, wobbling and whiny and so miserably pitiful that it pains you even to listen to it, especially when she's clutching you so close to her body--so afraid that you won't be there when she pulls away, so she refuses to. You don't have any right to cry when she's so distraught, but with your head over her shoulder, the other two watch your lips curve downwards and your eyes screw shut into a flood of tears that won't stop easily.

"I'm sorry, Nancy. I'm okay." You whimper, burying your face into her curls until your lips brush her jawline, and she shudders into each gentle, praiseworthy kiss that you press there. Up until her sobs subside, and she breaths a sigh of relief that you can feel from her chest against yours, each one sinking and rising into each other as you breathe along with her. "I thought you didn't want me anymore."

She shakes her head, and finally pulls herself back to look at you, a fresh wave of tears streaming down her cheeks when she gets a good look at you. Nancy touches your face, thumbs away your own tears--and you know she's not just looking at you, but the girl she lost so long ago, whose smile she sees in yours on those days she misses her the most dearly. "I never wanted you more when I thought you weren't coming back," She whispers back. "How could I not want you? I love you."

The kiss she lays upon your lips is breathtaking, shaking and sweet and just....everything. Everything you missed and craved like air and water and life.

You're already halfway into her embrace when she laughs out that half-hearted joke, walking back with you a couple steps when you throw yourself into it. And she squeezes you so tight, so hard, the kisses a flurry of needy, fluttering touches all over your face until she somehow finds your lips--and when she does, she makes that last one a kiss you won't shake off for days, the feeling tingling your lips even when she pulls away. Still rubbing that spot on your back that she knows is sensitive, Robin grips you in an even harder hug that nearly cracks your spine, and whispers into your ear: "I'm so happy you're here with me." before she kisses you one last time, last one, she swears, fingers crossed behind your back. But then, she takes notice to the man standing just a foot away--and she lets you go to turn you around, her fingertips grazing your arms as you finally face him.

"Yeah, she, uh....she cried, like, every night," Even as Robin says it and breaks the quiet, she herself is rubbing tears from her cheeks, trying to keep that smile going as you stand and Nancy loosens her hold. She moves aside for Eddie to lay his hands on her shoulders from behind, and keep her steady on her feet. "So did Steve. I told you he cries when we watch Princess Bride!"

"I-I....I didn't mean it, Steve. I never...I've never thought you were dumb." Your voice comes out as a whimper, fingers fiddling with each other as you endure that big, brown, wide-eyed stare.

"I know." He breathes, hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. He wants to move, he's antsy, but he won't take another step. "I know, baby."

"Can I hug you?" Steve just nods, but his lip quivers and his features gain that pathetic, sad puppy look, because he was hoping and praying you would say those very words. Your heart soars as he meets your step forward and flings his strong arms tight around your body, crushing you with his huge stature but never loosening up. He instantly brings his hand up to cradle your head against his chest, kissing the crown of it with so much firmness that you know he's reaffirming you're really standing in front of him again.

"I shouldn't have let you leave. I should've slashed your damn tires." He chuckles along with you at the lighthearted crack at breaking the tension, until he chokes up again into a sob. "Nobody could ever replace you. And I swear, I'll never break your heart again."

Steve holds you for a long time, squeezing you and kissing you and brushing strands of hair from your eyes to just look at you, surveying the face of the love he feared he'd never get to cherish again. It's a long time coming, and when he's done, there are three other warm bodies in the room that need attention from the sweet thing they've been killing themselves over these last few weeks.

From there, they catch you up with what had happened in your absence. Steve had walked off to clear his head after you left, and hadn't returned until late in the day--burst through the front door during an unusually quiet dinner and sent them all into a panic, when he realized you really had left and you weren't coming back. The four of them had jumped into action to split up and look for you, Nancy contacted your parents and other family while Steve and Robin tried to find some hint of your whereabouts in the house, cracking open your drawers and notes and realizing how much of your stuff was missing. Meanwhile, Eddie had driven in circles round Hawkins and the outer city limits, trying to find any trace of your car in the dark with the help of passing streetlights.

When those attempts had failed after stretching out into the next day to mid-afternoon, and with your very unhelpful parents insisting they had no idea where you could've gone, that's when your partners had started printing out missing person's flyers and put in an official report with the sheriff's office. And, seemingly having forgotten that you were really the only one who ever checked the voicemail at work, your message tendering your resignation had been errantly erased by your manager--worrying them even further when they questioned him, because if you were really planning on moving away like you said, how could you not tell your employer? It wasn't like you. Their fears had only gotten stronger from there.

The worst had yet to come, though. Because when your car had been found on the side of the road way out in the middle of nowhere, miles and miles away from Hawkins and completely destroyed, the four of them had reached the point of no return. The plates had been torn off, but it was your exact make and model of car, and what were they supposed to believe? That it was just coincidence? That's what Hopper had tried to reassure them with, tried to insist that plenty of cars get found gutted out in the bush, but they couldn't be convinced that it was just some freak happenstance and delude themselves to think that you were fine and dandy somewhere else. The same thing had happened to Max's stepbrother, and they all knew how that had ended.

So started the search parties, the nights spent staying up and studying maps by lamplight, the microwave meals in place of home cooking and sleeping in shifts by the phone, waiting and hoping for some kind of clue to your whereabouts to appear. Finding you had become more important than eating, proper sleep, showering, or attention paid to anything aside from looking towards the horizon to see if you would magically walk back into their lives.

And all that time, you had believed nothing but that they couldn't care less where you were, or what you were doing. When in reality, they could think of nothing but you. That was what had led Eddie to nearly crash into you as you re-entered Hawkins, having been pacing the living room for those long hours after Hop's call until he just couldn't take it anymore--despite the other three trying to stop him, he had dashed out to his van and peeled out of the driveway like a lunatic, just for the slightest chance that he might be there when you needed help. It was so stupid, so reckless, and you'll remember that moment he came rushing around the side of the truck to get to you forever.

Despite them reassuring you about Chrissy, too, when the tears have dried--promising you she's nothing but a friend, and they would have no problems limiting her interaction with all of you from now on--you wave it away, smiling off your stupidity and letting them know that it's fine. You were just being dumb, acting crazy, but you're fine now. And Eddie's eyes narrow at that.

"You're not crazy." He murmurs absentmindedly, and says nothing more until he can slip away from your reunion, and reach the phone in the kitchen. While you're busy dealing with your other partner's crippling absence of affection, he taps his blunt nails into each button, numbly dialing the number he's memorized until the ringing starts and stops.

"Hey, Chris. Angel's back home."

"Oh, that's great! Oh...Eddie, I'm so happy for you. You must be relieved-"

"Yeah. Yeah, I am. Listen, no hard feelings, but....you're my friend, so I'm just gonna be straight. Don't come by the house anymore."

"I--what? Really? I....Eddie, I'm sorry, if I did something to upset you-"

"No, no, nothing you did. Well, not really. But I know how you feel, Chris, and I can't really ignore it anymore." He swallows deeply, and sucks on his teeth as he tries to think of some better way to say it. "I don't want to hurt your feelings, but I don't feel the same. I never have, and I'm sorry if I made you feel like that might change."

"......So that's it?"

"That's it. We can still be friends, but we need space for awhile first, and I'm not gonna ignore you flirting with me anymore. I'm in love and it's not gonna change. Sorry."

"Can we at least talk about it, Eddie? Please? I'd rather talk this out in person."

"No. Bye, Chrissy."

He thuds the phone back on the receiver just a little too hard, and brings his hand up to rub at his neck and try and get the ache out. That didn't feel good, having to confront one of his very few friends with a truth he just wanted to ignore--but the sick feeling he has now can't even compare to how he felt when you were away, and it's an easy decision to make in that regard. He'd take you over her any day. It's a bit of a guilty feeling, but he knows it's the truth even if it hurts Chrissy's feelings, and he's happy even so.

"....Yeah, I missed you real bad, sweetheart. Don't you ever think I wouldn't....or else you are crazy."

"Eddie?" You call out from the living room, and following that sweet voice to its source, he feels himself light up at the sight of you settled back into the couch. Legs tucked up in Robin's lap, halfway into Steve and Nancy's, looking so comfortable and cute as you look up at him. You're where you belong. He's so distracted by the glee and relief of having you home, he didn't even realize how quiet it had been between you all until he came right back from his task. You say nothing more, just hold your arms out to him--and when he gets close enough, you capture him with those pretty eyes of yours, and melt away any ill feeling as you pull him into your chest.

don't leave me be, be with me - yandere fruity four

plot: regardless of how much you love your partners, their love for you grows stifling now and again. and the best way to remedy that is to be a little rebellious, which is what leads you to sneak out with Robin and go for a little joyride and on a quest for breakfast in the middle of the night.

cws: gn!angelface, yandere fruity four, st 4 spoilers, polycule, post s4, eddie lives arc, PTSD-related coping mechanisms (alcohol abuse, isolation, reckless behavior), drinking, robin and angelface are drunk, drunk driving, scars, hurt/comfort, implied sexual dynamics, softcore, very mild jealousy, mentions of violence, fluff.

word count: 3.6k

spice level: 0.5/5

"Where the fuck are they?"

Steve's pacing again, shoes heavy on the carpet as he tries not to lose his temper. There's music blasting in Eddie's room, but the door is shut, and Nancy doesn't even want to try and knock right now. She doesn't have any answers for him, and it would just stress him out more. While it's been months since he's gotten out of the hospital, he's still healing in…other ways.

"I don't know, Steve."

"Yeah, well, they have to be somewhere, Nancy! They can't just disappear, not unless-"

"Steve, don't go there. They took the van, they're probably off getting ice cream or something–you know how those two are. The only danger they're in is Robin driving without a license." Nancy bites her lip. She doesn't know if that's the truth, she just wants it to be.

"Oh, God, what if they got into an accident?" But Steve's practically inconsolable–he always gets like this, his brain is hardwired to sense danger even when there is none. Probably. But there's a chance, so he's sniffed it out and won't stop fussing until he has you in his arms again, she's sure.

"Steve-" That look on his face is definitely not a good one, that sudden realization that means he can't stay still any longer–even though he hasn't been, it's shocking that there isn't an indent in the floor from where he's been pacing back and forth for the last hour. He marches over to the couch and grabs his jacket, throwing it on one arm at a time as he slides past Nancy and heads towards the front door. "Where in the world are you going?"

"Gonna drive around town and look for the van." Typical. His solutions are largely straight to the point, if not a little over the top. The second she opens her mouth for a rebuttal, he holds up a hand to stop her. "I'm going, Nance! Don't try to stop me."

She knows how stubborn he is, it's a good if not occasionally frustrating quality. And in all honesty, he has every right to be as fretful as he is.

All four of them nearly didn't survive the horrors that Vecna brought to Hawkins, but Steve and Eddie definitely experienced a new level of physical torment that she knows she won't ever fully be able to sympathize with. You're the only one Steve's ever really told the full story to, the one he's cried to and held so close for fear that if he didn't, you'd be taken away yourself. They've all seen each other's scars, but you've taken care of each and every one of them–you know them intimately, know the pain and the story and the way they've healed but never gone away, and never will. You're what Eddie calls their "cleric", but he always refers to you as an angel. And you are one.

Speaking of Eddie, he hasn't been the same either. None of them have, but he's different–quieter. The hospital seemed to numb him after the demobat attack, barely alive and clinging to life for so long that even Nancy didn't believe he would really make it. But you did, you never gave up on him, and eventually he opened his eyes and smiled that sweet smile at the sight of you, and she'll never forget the wails you let out as you hugged him so tight the nurse tried to pry you off–the memory usually brings a smile to her face. Steve got kicked out of the visiting room for a week after locking her out of the room, just so the four of you could hold Eddie as long as you wanted and kiss him, stroke his hair, tell him you love him…they were hard days, but good ones. But now everyone is just trying to survive normal life, and that's mostly to your credit. You make life just a little more bearable…and when you're gone, like you have been for the last couple hours, they're all on edge.

Nancy hurries after him out the door to the trailer, knowing good and well that she can't let him run off on a rescue mission by himself. He's too reckless with himself and too tunnel visioned when it comes to you, and it's certain not to turn out well if he really freaks out without someone there to calm him down. And that's when the familiar sound of crunching gravel hits her ears and she stops to watch the sight before her, Steve having only gotten to the bottom step before he freezes too.

That familiar van pulls up slowly, slow like the driver is trying not to draw attention, and comes to a stop just about a foot off of the mark that carves out the driveway from the rest of the grass. The pause between the vehicle stopping and the passengers getting out is suspiciously long, but when the doors crack open and the two of them get a glance at you, they're sure they know why.

"Naaaaaancy!" You giggle, your footsteps so wobbly as you move around the hood that you have to use it for support, while Robin hops out from the driver's seat and throws it closed before stumbling towards you. The two of you have to cling to each other, your hands clutching Robin's arm, to even hope to make it up the driveway and towards the front door–and when you get close enough, Nancy's nose crinkles as the smell of liquor wafts over and hits her like a train. So does the realization–you two have been drinking, and drinking hard.

"Can I have a kiss, Nancy?" You cackle, tripping over your own feet and nearly hitting the ground, if not for Robin's surge of strength as she pulls you back up with a goofy smirk on her lips. One glance at Steve, and she can see it clearly–he is absolutely pissed, his scowl mean enough to burn a hole through concrete.

"Where the hell were you two?!" He didn't mean to yell, Nancy knows that, but you two don't even flinch. You're not even all there, too caught up in your own world and in each other's mouths as you capture Robin in a kiss instead.

"Pancakes! Errrr, and other stuff.." You giggle around a mouthful of Robin's tongue, your playful wink just earning you a furious huff from your big, strong protector.

"Oh nooooooo, I think we're in trouble!" The two of you can't contain your laughter as you break off and nuzzle against each other, Robin's arm clutched in your soft hands as she whisper-yells that into your ear. She even cups her hand to make it seem like she's trying to be subtle, and she probably is, she just doesn't realize how loud she's being and how late it is.

"You're drunk." Steve states bluntly. It's not a first for Robin since the Vecna incident, unfortunately, but it's surprising for you.

"Just a liiiiiittle," Robin pouts, her fingers pinched together to show just how 'little' you and her have been drinking. From the smell of you two alone, it has to have been at least a full bottle of straight liquor between you two, maybe more.

"Don't get mad, Stevie! We were havin' fun."

"You were being stupid. You were driving drunk! Without a license!" He's almost vibrating with anger and frustration. Robin's blasé tone pisses him off on a good day, and after putting your life and hers in danger, it does even more so.

"Bite. Me!" You share an even more girlish laugh at Robin's outburst, each word punctuated by a middle finger, like it's the funniest thing in the whole world. "You guys suck ass, you're suffocating us–you guys hate fun!"

Nancy would probably be grabbing Robin's tongue for that foul comment, but she's so out of it she knows that there's no use. She'd probably just laugh it off, or cry, and she doesn't want either of those two extremes to deal with right now. But there is something she has up her sleeve that always works.

"You two made Eddie very upset, you know." Nancy lays her hand on Steve's shoulder as she speaks, silently relaying to him that she's got it under control. A soft "Eddie?" passes your lips. It's incredible how quickly you both snap to attention when she mentions his name, sharing a look between you two before both turning back to listen intently.

"Mhm. He's been up all night worrying about you two. He doesn't like it when you're gone, it makes him scared. You know that." Her voice is stern, but still gentle enough for you two to take in. The 'mom voice' as you, Robin, and Eddie like to call it, which is largely reserved for when she really needs to get firm with one of you. Or all of you.

"Eddie? Where's Eddie?" Your tone wavers, giddiness turning to concern in a matter of syllables.

"Tell us, Nance!" Robin tugs at her sleeve, eyes big and wide with worry.

"He's in his room." Both of you rush past them, hurrying up the steps in a frantic bid to find your beloved boyfriend. You love them all equally, of course–but Eddie is sensitive. Sweet. He's always been that way, but it's increased tenfold since Vecna and caused you to be even more protective over him than you were before. You just want to protect that precious smile no matter what.

"Eddie! We're home, baby!"

It's when you both stumble through the front door that you see him at once. Frazzled, his curly hair mussed, dark circles under his eyes from worry. His nails are bitten down almost completely, bad habit he struggles to kick when he's anxious. He's standing in the living room like he heard the ruckus and had come to see what was happening, but his eyes are clear and set on one of you at a time, switching between like he's assessing that you're both here and both safe.

The two of you rush forward and knock him right off his feet, a startled shriek pulled from his lips followed by a grunt as his back thuds against the carpet, and the two of you collapse on top of him with your full respective weight in a hug so tight he couldn't squirm away if he tried. Even being taken off guard, Eddie squeezes both of you tight in a hug as best he can, a relieved smile flickering across his face as you press desperate kisses to his cheek.

Nancy and Steve step inside, and the sight at their feet just raises a sigh. They might not be happy, but they are glad you're unharmed and in relatively good spirits.

"We're sooooorry, Eddie! Soooo sorry!" You babble, pawing at his neck and his face to plant even more kisses on his lips. He turns only to ruffle Robin's hair and peck her on the forehead, but otherwise his mouth is occupied by yours, and gladly so, if his muffled little gasps and mumbles of "missed you" are any indication.

"What about us? You have an apology for scaring the crap out of us?" Steve asks, irritation still lacing his voice. Part of it is definitely a spark of jealousy, Nancy can tell better than most. It takes you some work and the aid of Eddie's hand, but you get up and stumble over wobbly feet, and throw one arm around Nancy's shoulder and one around Steve's to loosely hug them both.

"M' sorry, Nancy…sorry Stevie….I love you guys soooooooo much.." You maw on each of their cheeks as well, leaving wet kisses by their ears and down their necks as if each one is to make up for one of the many minutes you spent away from them.

"We love you too." Nancy squeezes you back, eyes screwed shut, a breath caught in her lungs as she tries to keep it all in, to keep it together. Breaking down and crying because she was so worried about you would only hurt you.

"I've been bad…"

"Yeah, you have been bad." Steve's hand is in your hair, and despite reaffirming your realization, he's still so gentle with you like you're made of porcelain. As frustrating as he can be, and as much of a dad as he acts like sometimes, he's still so softhearted when it comes to you that it's honestly comical.

"Sooooooo….you gonna punish me?" You pull away to look at both of their faces, and giggle when their eyes widen, and they share a look like they can't believe what you just said. They haven't really seen you drunk very often, so they're not used to the…mood you sometimes get in.

"Not now, baby. But you are gonna make it up to us, later." Nancy tenderly takes your arm off of her and rubs it, trying to be strict but it just comes out soft.

"Aww, Nancy…" Your eyes draw towards Steve, who still has some frustration lingering on his features. He'll never realize how sexy it is–how sexy he is when he's mad. You slide that free arm around his other shoulder, and lean into him for your lips to just barely brush his.

"C'mon, Stevie, wanna feel you inside me…" His shoulders stiffen up and his chest tightens, his lungs at a standstill at the sight of you rubbing your body up against his. And then you lean up, and your lips ghost over his ear, and you whisper that dreaded pet name that sends a shiver up his spine and has him tilting his head up that he wasn't ready for–not in front of the others, at least. "..Wanna be good for you. Promise."

Your little attempt to get him all worked up, and your teeth nibbling at his adam's apple, is interrupted by a soft groan, one that turns all three of your heads towards the two lumps on the floor. When Eddie sits up, he moves to clutch Robin's limp body as she lays against him, who is very clearly asleep and sighing quietly into his neck at the movement.

"Okay, bedtime! C'mon!" With a face still flushed and hot, Steve hups and squats down to wrap his arms around your thighs, before he lifts you up to throw you over his shoulder and starts walking towards Eddie's room. Every step is another bounce and your grin is still loopy and enthused as he does so, while Eddie hauls Robin up to her feet and Nancy supports her by her other arm to lead her the same way. Thankfully it's a short ride, and when Steve flips you back on to the bed and kneels to take your shoes off for you, Robin hangs off your other friends before collapsing into bed beside you. She's so pretty with that red flush to her face, warm and dizzy from the alcohol and laid out on her back, her breasts heaving as she breathes quietly before opening her eyes and turning them towards you.

Once Steve's hands are occupied with carrying off your shoes and no longer ghosting against your ankle, you find yourself moving up on your knees and throwing one over Robin's waist, her fingers lifting up to brace your thigh as you sit gently enough on top of her for it not to hurt. The words have left her vocabulary, but the pleased sigh that she emits at the feeling of you pressed up against her is enough for you to understand.

"Robbie," You lean down to kiss her, and moan the nickname into her mouth. "Wanna do what we did in the backseat…"

"Uh huh…" She whimpers, hands laid out by her head in total submission. Her hips are already rolling against you, mind clearly muddled by need that you apparently haven't satisfied quite yet. Your hands move to unbutton her jeans, your gaze set and tongue flicking out to lick your lips–when Steve grabs you by the wrist and your head tilts to look up at him.

"Prude," You stick your tongue out at him, annoyed at his familiar interruption. Robin wasn't totally wrong, sometimes Steve is such a stick in the mud. He looks genuinely hurt, though, and his eyes fall from yours like he's trying not to show you what he's really feeling.

"Noooo, not the puppy dog eyes…m' sorry for pissin' you off, baby.." His grip loosens on your wrist, but you just grab his instead to pull him close enough for your foreheads to touch. He can't look away now, not even if he wanted to.

"I wasn't really mad, I..I was just…scared." His voice is so rarely this shaky, unsure, that it almost doesn't sound like Steve. Not your confident, headstrong Steve.

"Why?" You smile so innocently, it's nigh impossible to still be mad at you. He knows that, and yet he can never, ever resist it. "I'll always come back, Stevie. Not going anywhere."

A tired smile tweaks at his lips, and he moves to turn away–but you don't let him, and you grab his face to hold it in place.

"I'm not going anywhere, Steve." You sound more sober in that one breath than you have since you got home. More than you ever have, maybe. And he has nothing he can say that can encompass his feelings in that moment, so he just simply nods, and shares a kiss with you that's so damn sweet even with the taste of liquor on your teeth.

Having been relatively quiet until now, Eddie crawls into bed beside you two, his sneakers kicked off but his clothes from the day still on. Nancy's busying herself with pulling up a blanket off the floor to throw over you three, nudging your arm for you to slide off of Robin and cuddle up between the two of them so she can do so. Eddie's breath hitches when your fingertips brush the scars beneath his shirt, the flesh of his belly torn up and only now having healed into what he thinks are ugly scars.

"Eddie's so pretty…" You mumble as you turn to face him, already nodding off with the warmth of both their bodies cushioning you like big, heated pillows. Robin snuggles up to your back and drapes her arm over your waist, and Eddie wedges his arm beneath you two so you can both use it as a pillow, his fingers laced in Robin's hair to help her fall asleep like it always does.

"You're prettier, angelface." His warm breath on your face draws a chuckle from you, and with your eyes closed he kisses your brow before finally settling in to drift off with you. And when Nancy's finished tucking you all in and Steve shuts off the lights, each of you sharing your "I love you"s and "good night"s, the two of them shut the door quietly behind them to leave the three of you in relative peace as you slumber.

It feels like the day has dragged on so long, and in some sense it has–the time is nearing three am if the clock in the hallway is any indication. She and Steve have been awake for far too long, but it doesn't look like he's in any mood to rest by the expression on his face.

"You think we were a little too-"

"Harsh? No." Steve cuts her off abruptly. He knows exactly what she's thinking, he usually does–but this time, for once, Nancy really has no clue what's running through his mind.

"I'm gonna make them regret that tomorrow. I'll slash the tires on that stupid van if it keeps them here." The sudden surge of emotion in his voice takes her by surprise. Almost always, your touch and a few gentle words in that beautiful voice of yours are enough to calm him from whatever is bothering him. He's infamous for falling for your reassurances, giving in to you so often that it's like you're a siren to him, his certainty so often falling to the wayside when you sway him into believing whatever it is you're telling him.

"They might just steal your car, Steve. You know Eddie's got those magic fingers." She waggles her fingers teasingly, she's trying to lighten the mood, and he does chuckle a little at the joke. But the way his face sets immediately after is…intense.

"Not if I break their legs first."

"Steve," Her hand reaches for his arm, but his eyes and his mind are somewhere else.

"Don't." He warns. There's not enough conviction in his voice for her to really be worried about that–at least not now, when not enough has happened for him to really think that's at all a good plan. You haven't scared him enough, but…it does frighten her to think that it's still a possibility, albeit a very small one. Even though it would work, she hates to see you in pain, to see you scared. "Wasn't even my idea. Eddie talks in his sleep."

He steps away with those words lingering on his lips, heading towards the front door to drop your shoes by the others–but not before he reaches over and grabs the bat he's kept since that first night he realized that the world wasn't as safe as he thought it was. He throws the door open, and leans back to call to her before he takes a seat on the step and waits to see if anyone–or anything–followed you two home. Like always.

"...So do you, Nance."