Latest Posts by queen-honeybee-stories - Page 4

steve’s house in the show vs. steve’s house in my head

i’m literally so in love with nurse stevie !! he and his clumsy girl are so sweet 🤍

i was thinking, what if she was having a pregnancy check up and it happened to be at a time where steve was on shift so he like races down to where she is and does the ultrasound himself and gets to see the baby and she asks why he ran down here or something and he accidentally says “i missed my girls” and she’s like “wait it’s a girl?”

idk just him doing the ultrasound himself and accidentally telling her it’s a girl is just asjsueked ahhh so fkn cute

AN | Okay but stop! This is the cutest and with how much of a loveable disaster these two are, I could totally see this happening 🥺 This can be read as a companion piece to the below but also as a stand alone!

Warnings | Mild Language, Pregnant!Reader

Pairing | Nurse!Steve x Fem!Reader

Word Count | 2.6k

Masterlist | Steve, Main, Nurse Steve

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Despite your best efforts, a small sigh escaped your lips as you looked at your watch. Steve should have been off by now - he realistically should have been off about an hour ago, but you were used to that by now. There was a still small part of you that had hoped he would be here for the ultrasound. You knew you could just take home the photos, but it wouldn’t be the same. There was always next time, but today you were halfway through your pregnancy and it felt like a milestone. 

When you heard your name being called by the ultrasound tech, you stood up and made your way over. You suddenly felt very pregnant with how long it took you to properly stand up and make your way over to her. At least you weren’t waddling just yet.

“Hello there,” Mary was sweet with a kind face and gentle smile. She’d been the one to help you out since the beginning and had always made you feel better, especially when you had a million and one questions, “no Steve today?”

“He was going to try and make it,” you explained and she made a small sound of understanding, “but it appears he got stuck past his shift.”

“The ER has been pretty busy today,” at least that confirmed your thought that he got stuck working late, “and you know how he is. Always going above and beyond for everyone and everything.”

“Trust me,” you grinned as you set your stuff down and moved to lie on the table which had become a friend the past few months, “I’m well aware. He’s being even more cautious than normal these days. I can barely lift a finger before he’s offering to do it or helping.”

“Well…” she was grinning in spite of yourself as you sighed dramatically, already knowing where this was heading, “remind me how the two of you met again? Something about a broken ankle?”

“Very funny,” you snorted in amusement, “I’ll have you know that nothing bad has happened in months! I’ve been very careful.”

“Mhmm,” she shot you a wink as you laid back and slowly began to undo the button of your jeans. Before she could say anything else, a frantic knocking came at the door, causing you both to pause, “do you want me to check who it is or let them know we’re busy?”

“You can check,” you shrugged, “don’t want to keep you from something potentially more important.”

She gave you a small smile before slowly opening the door. Mary almost laughed out loud when she found Steve on the other side, a panicked expression on his face as he tried to catch his breath, “hey! Hi, sorry I’m late - is she still here? Please don’t tell me I missed it!”

“We were just getting started,” she stepped aside to let him in, and as soon as he spotted you, he gave you a huge grin and visibly relaxed, “better check with your wife to make sure she wants you to stay.”

“He’s alright, I guess,” you teased, but Steve wasted no time before gently talking your face in his hands and leaning down to kiss you. You almost melted into his tender touch and the feel of his soft lips on yours. When he pulled back he was practically beaming, “on second thought, he can absolutely stay.”

“As if you’d ever say no to him,” you looked at your husband and shrugged, giving both of them a sheepish grin. She was right - you couldn’t fathom any situation in which you’d turn him down for anything, “ready to get started and see your baby?”

“Definitely!”

“Actually, Mary, I have a request,” you raised your eyebrows, trying to fathom what it could possibly be. He turned towards her so you were looking at his back and spoke softly under his breath, “I know we don’t usually do this, but do you think I can do the ultrasound today? I’m trained on how to do them and thought it might be cool, you know? But I understand if you say no…”

“You’re something else, Harrington,” there was nothing but playful affection lacing her words as she shook her head in amusement. He gave her the best puppy dog eyes he could muster up, which all things considered were pretty good, “alright, I’ll let you have at it. But this stays between us and if anyone ever asks, I was here doing it and you were just watching. Yes?”

“Yes,” he cheered softly, “you’re the best, Mary.” 

“Don’t forget that the next time I need a favor,” she shot him a wink before turning back to you. You hadn’t heard their hushed conversation and looked at them in confusion, “well, I gotta get going but I’ll be back in a bit. Good luck!”

“You’re going…what? I don’t-” but she was gone and out the door before you could say anything else. You looked at Steve and raised your hands in confusion, “wait a minute, what are you two up to?”

“Nothing at all,” he smiled innocently before reaching to grab something off the cart, “but I’ll be conducting your ultrasound today, Mrs. Harrington. Now, whenever you’re ready.”

“Oh Steve,” you laughed at  him, rolling your eyes playfully, “well then, I’m ready whenever you are, my love.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

It was a strange feeling to be lying on the hard examination bed, with your belly out (which seemed to have grown overnight out of nowhere) and covered in the cold jelly. You’d already learned that it was definitely not your favorite thing in the world. But the moment was perfect with Steve right next to you. As ever, he was calm and patient, treating you with such gentle reverence that made you weak in the knees. Good thing you were lying down or your clumsy self might have actually fallen. 

“Let us see what we have here,” Steve brought out the wand and settled it on your stomach, causing a shiver to run down your spine. At first there was nothing for a few moments, which caused your worry and anxiety to spike, despite the fact that you knew the baby was one - definitely in there and two - had been moving around in the day. You waited with bated breath until you heard the sound of the small heartbeat over the monitor, “just as I suspected, we have - a baby!”

He turned to you with an amused little grin and you couldn’t help but laugh at him, “really? I thought we were getting a puppy! Is it too late to exchange it?”

“Ahh, sorry honey,” he shook his head before kissing your cheek, “I think it’s too late. We’re going to be stuck with a small human.”

“I guess I can live with that,” your eyes were glued to the monitor where you could see the blob that was your baby. They were moving around and you couldn’t help the tears that sprung up along with the wave of emotion that washed over you. It all seemed so surreal; you were having a baby. A baby with your wonderful husband. What a crazy world it was, “look at that blob. That’s our blob!”

“Oh honey,” he turned to look at you, a soft smile on his pretty features as he tenderly wiped away the tears that had pearled up and rolled down your cheeks, “it’s okay. Baby’s looking great!”

“I know,” you leaned into his touch, letting his large, warm palm engulf your cheek as you offered him a teary smile, “it’s just all so overwhelming, and I’m already all emotional, you know this by now. I just…I’m really happy, Steve.”

“Me too, sweetheart,” he kissed you, not minding the salty of your tears, and you sighed wistfully against his lips, “I love you, so much.”

“I love you too, Steve,” you teasingly poked at your belly, “and you too baby blob.”

“They’re going to come out of the womb thinking their name is Blob!”

“Tell them to stop looking like a blob then,” yeah, it might have been a blob, but you were already so enamored with it, “does everything look okay? Honestly?”

“I would never lie to you,” he wrote down a few things in your chart as you tried to peek over his shoulder as if you would understand any of it, “you know that. Yes, everything looks good. Strong, steady heartbeat, measuring around the perfect size. It all checks out - that is a healthy baby, and mother.”

"Good," you let out a nervous sigh of relief, "I can't wait to meet you little blob."

"Halfway there."

"Halfway there," you repeated, suddenly feeling like that was coming on way faster than you wanted, "slow down there little one!"

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Steve knew you almost better than you knew yourself. You were already tucked up in bed, half-heartedly watching some movie on TV, but mostly trying not to fall asleep by the time he came into the bedroom.  He had a glass of chocolate milk and a plate with some cookies in his hands. Your face lit up with excitement - you'd just been thinking about a sweet treat.

"Is this alright?" He asked, setting everything down on the bedside table before pressing a kiss to the side of your temple, "I had a feeling you'd been wanting something sweet right about now."

"You are my hero," you looked at him with big, wide doe eyes, leaning up to press a kiss to his lips. He tasted sweet; you just knew he'd already snuck a few cookies, "thank you, my love."

"No need to thank me," he pulled up the big fluffy comforter and crawled under it. He made himself comfortable before pulling you into his side. You rested your head on his chest and sighed wistfully, "how are you feeling?"

"Good," you promised, taking his hand in yours and lacing your fingers together, "today was good. I'm just tired, but that seems to be the new normal. But it's worth it - it was amazing getting to see the blob today. Thank you for coming, Steve. You didn't have to rush and leave work though, I know how hard you always work …there'll be plenty of other appointments."

"Are you kidding?" He scoffed playfully, "I wasn't going to miss it. I was already missing my girls too much."

"I - wait," you sat up and moved across from him so you were looking directly at him, "your what? Your girls?"

"Oh honey," a guilty, sheepish look crossed his features, "I-I didn't mean to…say that."

"We're having a girl?" and cue the waterworks. You most definitely couldn't help it at this point, emotions like a live wire as the tears rolled down your cheeks, "Steve?"

"Yeah," his smile was breathtaking as he nodded softly, "we're having a girl."

"Oh Steve!" you threw your arms around his neck and held onto him tightly, burying your face in the crook of his neck. He was surprised by your sudden excitement but melted into your touch as he pulled you onto his lap, "we're having a girl!"

"I'm sorry," his cheeks flushed a pretty shade of pink, "I know we said we weren't going to find out, and then I realized today at the ultrasound. I didn't think that one through. But I also didn't plan on telling you…it sort of slipped out. Sorry, honey."

"I know that's what we said," you pressed a big, excited kiss to his cheek, "but I've been dying to know too. I'm not upset, Stevie. I'm just…so happy."

"Yeah?" There was a dopey, lovesick smile on his face as you nodded fervently, "me too, sweetheart."

"It just makes it feel more real," you looked down at your bump, running your hand over it. Holy fuck. There was a baby girl growing there. A small gasp escaped your lips as you felt a flutter of movement, "oh!"

You grabbed Steve's hand and placed it on the spot you had felt the movement and watched his face light up as he felt her move. You placed your hand on his and gave it a gentle squeeze. You could see his pretty brown eyes glittering with unshed tears as, "Hey, baby girl. We're going to meet you really soon. Your mama and I love you so much already."

She moved around some more, clearly wanting to make herself known, and that left the two of you both emotional fools, "she likes you, likes your voice. She's totally gonna have you wrapped around her finger."

"Well, her mother already does so it's only natural," he touched your face, brushing his thumb gently over your cheek, as he studied you, “you know, some days none of this feels real. Like…how did I get my dream girl and get all of this, huh? Seems more like a lucid dream.”

“Dream girl?” you rolled your eyes affectionately before lightly pushing his cheek, “you’re so dramatic. I highly doubt your dream girl ever was the fool that trips over her own feet, manages to dislocate her elbow…among other things. It was a happy circumstance that we met!”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” he insisted, pressing his forehead against yours and letting his lips brush over yours, “you are my dream girl, and you were worth waiting for. You might be my clumsy girl, but you’re also my dream. I mean it - you are everything to me.”

“You’re not playing fair,” your voice cracked as you wrapped him up in your arms, clinging onto him like a koala. You were lightly crying again, unable to control the hundred of emotions that were coursing through your veins right now, “you’re taking advantage of my fragile state.”

“Oh honey, honey,” you could feel the rumble of his chuckle in his chest, but you refused to loosen your grip on him, “it’s okay, just let it all out. I’ve got you - I love you so much.”

“I love you,” you were pretty sure that there was no better spot than right there in his arms, “you're the best thing that’s happened to me. I’m so glad I broke my ankle and got to meet you.”

“Baby,” he sighed softly, rubbing soothing circles on your back, “that’s…we would have met some other way, I swear it. But I guess…I’m glad you did too.”

“And now you’re my husband,” you pulled back and gently took his handsome face in your hands as he nodded softly, “and we’re having a baby.”

“Yeah,” he agreed softly, turning his face so he could press a kiss to your palm, “we’re married and having a baby.”

“Steve?” he never loved his name more than when you said, always so sweet and soft. He made a small sound, encouraging you to go on, “you’re my dream too.”

And he practically melted in your arms as he leaned in to kiss you, “glad we’re on the same page, sweetheart. But now, the important question is  - are you ready for cookies and a back rub?”

“Oh yes,” you practically groaned at the thought, “best husband ever.”

“I try,” he reached over and grabbed a cookie, taking a bite before offering you half, “I love you so much, my girls.”

“We love you too, Steve.”

Learning to Love Again

Steve Harrington x reader

Inspired by this post @forevermoreharrington

Steve had always been the life of the party. With his charming smile and quick wit, he could make anyone feel at ease. But behind that confident exterior, he was hiding a deep insecurity that he had never quite been able to shake.

Steve had always been a romantic at heart. He loved the idea of being in a relationship, of sharing his life with someone special. But every time he tried to get close to someone, it always seemed to backfire.

In his early relationships, Steve would try to be affectionate and attentive, showering his partner with compliments and gifts. But he quickly learned that not everyone appreciated his brand of romance. Some of his partners would pull away, telling him that he was being too intense or that he needed to give them space.

This rejection hurt Steve deeply. He couldn't understand why his efforts to show his love were being met with such resistance. As a result, he began to hold back, to keep his feelings to himself for fear of scaring his partner away.

But even that didn't work. His partners would accuse him of being distant, of not being emotionally available. Steve couldn't win. It seemed like no matter what he did, he always managed to push his partners away.

But then he met you.

From the moment you first smiled at him, Steve felt something shift inside of him. It was a small gesture, just a quick flash of teeth, but for Steve, it was like a bolt of lightning had struck him. He couldn't explain why, but he felt an instant connection to you. Maybe it was the way your eyes crinkled at the corners, or the way your hair fell in soft waves around your face. Whatever it was, Steve was hooked. It was as if all of his insecurities melted away in your presence. You were so warm and open, so eager to be close to him, that he couldn't help but be drawn to you.

At first, it was scary for Steve. In the early days of your relationship, Steve was almost overwhelmed by the sheer amount of affection you showed him. It was like a dam had burst, and suddenly he was being showered with love and attention in a way that he had never experienced before.

At first, he was a little unsure of how to respond. He would feel himself tense up when you reached for his hand or leaned in for a kiss. He wasn't used to this level of physical intimacy, and it took him some time to get comfortable with it.

But you were patient with him. You could tell that he was struggling, and you didn't want to push him too hard too fast. So you started small, with gentle touches and soft kisses. You let Steve set the pace, always waiting for him to take the lead. But as time went on, he began to relax into your touch, to let himself be vulnerable with you in a way that he never had before. He found himself craving your touch, yearning for the warmth of your body next to his. He loved the way you would run your fingers through his hair, tracing lazy patterns on his scalp. It was like all of the walls he had built up around himself were starting to crumble.

And then there were the kisses. Steve had never been much of a public display of affection kind of guy, but with you, he couldn't resist. He loved the way you would pull him in for a kiss in the middle of the street, not caring who saw you. It was like you were telling the world that he was yours, and he loved the possessiveness of it.

You would stay up late talking, laughing at each other's jokes and sharing stories about your lives. You would hold hands as you walked down the street, fingers intertwined in a way that felt like you were meant to be together.

And whenever Steve would start to feel that old familiar pang of insecurity, you were always there to reassure him. You would tell him how much you adored him, how much you loved being close to him, how you could never imagine being with anyone else.

It was one of those nights, lying in bed together, that you finally said the words that Steve had been waiting to hear.

"I love you," you whispered, your voice soft and sweet.

Steve's heart skipped a beat. He had wanted to say those words to you for so long, but he had been too afraid of scaring you away. Now, as he looked into your eyes, he knew that he had nothing to fear.

"I love you too," he said, his voice filled with emotion. "I've loved you since the moment I met you, but I was too scared to say it. I didn't want to mess things up."

You reached out to stroke his hair, your fingers trailing softly over his scalp.

"You could never mess things up with me," you said, your voice filled with sincerity. "I'm here for you, always."

And as Steve held you close, he knew that he had finally found the person who could chase away his insecurities, who could make him feel loved and cherished in a way that he had never thought possible. With you by his side, he knew that he could face anything that life threw his way.

could I request modern!steve surprising reader at college? maybe she has been super homesick and it’s all fluffy?

Steve frowned at the maps on his phone, ‘cause the estimated time told him the journey would take three hours, but he was certain he could do it in less. Two and a half, maybe, if he didn’t stop. He grinned as the group chat pinged with notifications, Robin asking you if you were still planning on staying in tonight.

He breathed a sigh of relief when you replied with a ‘yeah, too tired to leave the dorm.’ How was he supposed to surprise you if you weren’t there to open the door for him? So the rest of your friends sent messages back, saying how they missed you as much as you missed them, how they hoped exams weren’t stressing you too much and would you be home soon?

Steve knew your exams were taking a toll on you, he could hear it in your voice when you called each night, cheek pressed to the pillow and voice soft with sleep and longing. When it got particularly bad, he could hear you get a little watery, words splintering in the middle when you told him you really just wished he was there to give you a hug.

So Steve was gonna do just that. Drive two and a half (three) hours to your college to wrap you up in his arms in the hug he so desperately wanted to give you. Robin was the one who convinced him to surprise you, who told him the sneaking around and white lies would be worth it.

‘Cause Steve had already had to reject your call by the time he reached the outskirts of Hawkins and it pained him. You knew he was off, why wouldn’t he take your call? His phone pinged through with a message from you.

‘Missing you ♥️’

Steve stepped on the accelerator a little harder.

He did in fact make it sooner than his sat nav told him, a smug feeling of pride mixing with anticipation and nerves in his stomach. It wasn’t like he rarely got to see you, no, you came home all the time, the train ride back to Hawkins even faster than the drive but exams had you holed up in either your dorm room or the library most weekends this month. Steve parked his car in the lot, felt his stomach flip when he saw your bedroom window from the sidewalk, cracked open for some autumn air, curtains tangling in the breeze. If he squinted enough, he could just make out the photo frame on the sill, the one he knew held a photo of you and him last vacation, you on his lap in front of a campfire at the cabin at Sugar Creek, taken by Jonathan.

He counted the doors to yours, each footstep echoing almost too loudly in the narrow corridor, blurred with the sounds of too many different spotify playlists, chatter and someone yelling about a grade they got. Steve sucked in a breath before he knocked on your door, your name along with your two roommates written in red pen on the whiteboard pinned to the wood. He hoped they’d gotten Nancy’s Instagram message, that they knew the plan and would let you open the door.

Sure enough, you were the one behind it when it swung open, the movement making the hair falling over his eyes lift and he grinned at the sight of you, rucksack over one shoulder, a bunch of peonies in one hand.

“Surprise,” Steve managed, the last syllable knocked out of him in a soft oomph, as you launched yourself at him, pink petals crushed between you both, your arms around his neck and he laughed as he held you to him, your toes barely on the ground at the exuberance of it all.

You were crying, he could feel them on his neck, where you’d buried your face and sniffed. “Happy tears, I hope,” Steve murmured, letting his bag and the flowers drop to the hallway carpet so he could hug you a little better.

You nodded, making a small sound, a watery pleased noise that made Steve laugh even more.

“You’re such a dick,” you choked out on a sob, pulling back to smile at him to show you didn’t mean it. You usually weren’t one for surprises, and your boyfriend knew this, but god, you’d never been so grateful to open the door to the person you least expected. “You didn’t answer my call. Thought you were sick of my whining.”

“Missed you too, babe,” Steve quipped but pushed a thumb to your cheek, pouting at the tear he caught there, your flushed cheeks and wet lashes. “Nah, me? Sick of you? Unheard of. Illegal, actually, to even think of such a thing.”

You sniffed again, lip wobbling and Steve couldn’t stop his grin. “Christ, woman, c’mere.”He pulled you back to him, hand cupping the back of your head so you could cling to his shirt and pretend that you were definitely not crying.

“I missed you,” you told him, words pressed to the skin of his throat, along with a kiss, tear soaked and soft. “A stupid amount.”

You got a proper kiss in response, sticky with fondness, a little salt from you but it was still Steve. It still tasted like home.

…

Hi Emmy! Did you remember the trend that went viral on tik tok two years ago (I think) where when a person want to kiss their best friend put the song “eletric love”? Okay so imagine this with bestfriend!Steve 🥹

You felt absolutely sick as you set up your phone, the camera already recording, the shiny back of it partially hidden by a cheese plant you’d barely managed to keep alive.

The last thing that had flashed across the screen before you’d pressed the red button was a text from Robin, the notification making your stomach tumble as you read the words: ‘you better not chicken out. I ✨PROMISE✨ you, it’ll work.’

Her use of emojis didn’t make you feel better, but you gave one last look to the camera before settling back onto your sofa, legs folded underneath you, fingers picking at your nails in your lap. Steve came in only a few seconds later, popcorn bowl placed on the table before he flopped down next to you, too close like always. His knee knocked yours before his thigh was squished against your own, shoulder to shoulder, the aftershave you’d bought him two Christmas’ ago lingering on his sweater, along the line of his neck.

Your heart was screaming at you, a thudthudthud that rattled your bones and you wondered if Steve could hear it, if he could feel it vibrate through your body and into his. There wasn’t any music playing, just the trailer of the movie he’d set up to play on Netflix, the same two minutes repeating over and over until he’d returned with the snacks.

But Robin and Nancy had shown you the tiktok almost a week ago, a blur of couples kissing, friends leaning into more, lips meeting, eyes widening, all shot to the soundtrack of BØRNS hit single, Electric Love. The song played in your head like your own private concert, the bass a beat that matched your heart.

‘And every night my mind is running around her. Thunder's getting louder and louder and louder.’

You were going to throw up, you were sure of it. You looked at Steve, his strong profile you knew so well, the line of his jaw, the slope of his nose, the smattering of freckles that had reappeared over his cheeks now that summer was back. He’d not long had a haircut, the curls at the nape of his neck no longer, the top still a misbehaving mess but you could see more of his throat, the strong column of it, the moles that were scattered below his ear.

“You’re staring,” he said.

You startled, eyes wide and you swallowed hard before you answered. You wanted to glance at the camera, you wanted to up and run. But instead you shook your head and tried to smile, a little bashful but warm all the same, ‘cause Steve wasn’t really teasing you. He did look curious though, like he could sense the tension, the kind that was always there but this time, tenfold.

“You’re acting weird. More so than usual. Are you ok—”

‘Baby, you’re like lightning in a bottle…’

You heard the swell of the song in your head as you pushed your lips to Steve’s, eyes closing on instinct, his bottom lip caught between yours and he tasted like candy and popcorn, cherry sour and caramel butter. You were a little clumsy with it, hands pushed to the soft of the sofa cushions as you leaned over to him, head tilted to the side and up so you could meet your mouth to his. It lasted a second or two, three at most, before you were pulling away, already feeling the overwhelming sting of tears in the corners of your eyes, because oh my god, you’d just kissed your best friend, and surely you’d fucked everything up—

But then Steve was chasing you, only after a moment's pause, his eyes wide and lips still parted. You watched him lick over his bottom one, like he was finding the taste of you before he was leaning back in, a hand catching the nape of your neck to keep you there this time.

It was sweeter than the first, noses pressed to each other's cheeks, lips moving together liked you’d done it all the time, for all the six years you’d known each other. Steve’s thumb pushed at your jaw, titled your head the way he wanted you so he could kiss you a little deeper, cheeks pink and hearts crashing against each other's chests.

The tiktok went viral, after you’d admitted to it and shown Steve. He’d only grinned and shrugged, muttering something about how you both looked good and the internet should see it. The comments mainly consisted of keyboard smashes and forlorn girls asking “when is it my turn.” And there were several who demanded an update, asking questions about what had happened next and “please tell you guys are dating now?”

So Steve made his own account, asked you for help to stitch your video with his, a montage of sorts that showed you and him from when you were teens, hair too long and messy, tongues popsicle stained and skateboards under your feet, to now, just last week, you on Steve’s back, snapped by Eddie at the lake.

He was shirtless, his top on your frame, stolen to hide your bikini but his hands were wrapped possessively around your thighs as he held you to him, your arms clinging to his neck in a similar way. The sun was in your faces, causing you both to squint, your lips were pressed together, smiles biting through and well, that video went viral too.

…

hi! i don’t know if you take requests/fic suggestions (if not feel free to ignore), but i love your writing (where the heart is ruined me in the best way!!) and thought you would write this idea super well. basically i saw this instagram reel (and watched it on repeat like 10 times) where a dad tells a waiter that his daughter thinks he’s cute and i thought it could be a cute meet-cute-scenario for eddie (or steve if you write for him)! that’s pretty much it lol, i hope you’re having a good day!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmXJ1_zL9F7/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

This may just be the cutest request I've ever gotten. I enjoyed writing this so so so much. I have to thank @munson-blurbs for suggesting I make the reader Hopper's daughter and adding another layer of hilarity to it for me. Fun fact, this scenario happened to my brother once. Only he was like, 11, so nothing was going to come from it and it was just purely my dad trying to embarrass him lol. Anyway, I really hope you enjoy this!

Words 2.2k

“Hey, welcome to Breadstix. My name is Eddie and I’ll be your waiter.”

You look up from your menu and do a double take at the beautiful man standing there. He’s tall and thin, his black t-shirt showing off his tiny waist and the light jeans showcasing the length of his legs. He has brown curly hair tucked in a bun at the nape of his neck, with a few loose frizzy pieces framing his face. The tattoos that are scattered along his arms catch your attention; your eyes being particularly drawn to the colony of bats taking flight on his forearm. But it’s when you look into his eyes that you get lightheaded and forget your own name, let alone what you were going to order for dinner. 

Going out for a family dinner with your dad and sister was never something that was particularly exciting, but it just got a hell of a whole lot better. 

“The special today is the brown sugar pork chops with a sweet potato on the side.”

“Huh,” your dad hums, eyes scanning over the menu once more. “That sounds good. I’ll take the special and a coke.”

Eddie takes down the pen that’s tucked behind his ear and scribbles down on the pad in his hand. He looks at your sister next and she gives him a sweet smile.

“For you?” Eddie asks.

“I’ll have the mushroom and Swiss burger, please,” El says. “And a water.” 

He jots that down as well then turns to you. When his eyes land on you, your mouth goes dry. Eddie shoots you a smile and you swear your stomach is too full of butterflies to eat any food. 

“And what can I get for you?” Eddie asks.

A cold shower? A date? An orgasm? 

“Um, I’ll have the spaghetti and meatballs. A-And a Diet Coke,” you manage to get out.

“Ah, my favorite,” Eddie says with a wink that nearly kills you as he writes your order down. “I’ll put those right in for you.”

He walks away from the table, and you feel your body deflate, letting out a breath and finally relaxing. You drop your head down on the table to hide the smile spread across your lips.

“What’s with you?” your dad asks.

“Hmm?” You lift your head up and look at him. El is giggling in her seat next to you, clearly knowing why you’re acting strange and bubbly.

“What’s with this sudden…mood change?” Your dad waves his hand around in front of your face, gesturing to your dopey expression. 

“I know,” El snickers and you reach over to playfully shove her. Your dad leans back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest as he watches the two of you. He raises his eyebrows at you girls as you nudge one another back and forth with your elbows.

“Well shit, someone slipped something into your Wheaties this morning,” he says.

But your dad isn’t dumb. As chief of police, things rarely escaped his notice. He’s just waiting to see if you’ll cop to it or not.

“No, it’s just…” You trail off, shaking your head.

“It’s what?” 

A red flush comes to your face and El covers her mouth as she lets out another giggle.

“He’s so cute.”

“Who?” Hopper asks, just flat out playing dumb now. 

“The waiter!” you say in exasperation.

“Eddie.” El says his name, leaning in towards you and wiggling her eyebrows. 

“Ah,” your dad says with a laugh. “That’s your type, huh?”

“Dad!” you admonish, face becoming even redder. 

He lifts his hands in surrender as El dissolves into laughter. Before, you wouldn’t have described yourself as having a “type” but after seeing Eddie, you can’t imagine having a type that didn’t look like him. It was hard to pick out one thing that turned you on about him the most. The package of Eddie as a whole was so overwhelming that you could practically feel the sharp stab of Cupid’s arrow jammed in your back.

You spot Eddie approaching with the drinks, so you swat at El to get her to behave. She bites her lip and stares down at the scuffed wooden table in front of her, so she doesn’t lose it again.

“Here we go. Water, coke, and a Diet Coke. Your dinner should be coming out soon,” Eddie says. “Everything okay here?”

You’re praying your dad keeps his mouth shut as you smile and nod your head at Eddie. When he gives you a smile in return, El covers a laugh by pretending to cough into her hand. You’d throttle her when you got home. Hopper seems to pay Eddie no more mind than he would any other waitstaff that his oldest daughter didn’t find absolutely beautiful.

After Eddie leaves again, conversation thankfully steers away from your romantic inclinations and into the topic of ridiculous calls that came in at the station today. El also tells you about a school project that’s coming up and tells your dad she needs to get a book for her next book report at the library. It’d be easy to think that your father forgot all about your attraction to your waiter, but when Eddie comes to deliver your meals, it’s obvious he didn’t. Sometimes the universe just liked to pull the rug out from underneath you.

“Alright,” Eddie says. He’s balancing the large tray carrying your plates on one hand, muscles rippling under the skin of his arm as he holds it up. The only thing that tears your eyes away from his bicep is when he places your dish down in front of you. “Anything else I can get you guys?”

“I think we’re all set,” your dad says. Eddie nods and tucks the tray under his arm. As he goes to turn away from the table, Hopper lifts his hand and swivels towards Eddie. “Oh, one thing.”

Eddie licks his lips as he spins back towards the table, a friendly smile on his face. “What can I get you?”

“Oh no, nothing,” your dad says with a shake of his head. “It’s just that my daughter here thinks you’re very cute.” He reaches over and pats you on the back so there’s no mistaking which one of his children he’s talking about. 

“Dad!” 

El bursts out into laughter as you raise your hands to cover your face, wanting to die on the spot. The heat in your cheeks is enough to make sweat break out along your hairline, only made worse by how fast your heart is pounding. The adrenaline rush flooding your veins is real. Being a high school student, you’ve been embarrassed plenty of times before in your life, but you think this takes the cake. Having the police chief as a father also came with its own moments of teasing and joking, but this seemed extreme even for him. Somewhere deep inside, you find the courage to peek at Eddie from between your fingers. There’s a shy smile on his face as he looks at you, his own cheeks dusted in a light bit of pink. 

“Well, that’s very sweet,” Eddie finally says, resting his hand over his heart. He opens his mouth again, but nothing comes out and you realize that not only did your dad put you on the spot, but Eddie as well. “I’m flattered.”

Slowly your hands fall from your face and into your lap. Peering up at Eddie from under your eyelashes, he dips his gaze quickly before meeting yours again. The smile on his pretty mouth makes you feel as if there’s an animal jumping and banging around inside your heart, trying to break free. 

“Let me know if there’s anything else I can get for you,” Eddie says before walking away.

Part of you feels a bit disheartened. But what did you expect? Eddie to ask you on a date because your father told him you’re attracted to him? Right in the middle of his shift? God, your dad better give him a big tip on the check. 

“You’re the worst,” you mumble as you twirl some spaghetti onto your fork. But there’s a fond smile on your face as you shoot a glare at the chief.

Eddie comes by twice more while you’re eating to see if everything is okay, and both times you can barely meet his gaze. El thinks it’s all hilarious and has a grin on her face for the rest of dinner. 

Once everyone is finished and your and El’s leftovers are boxed up, Eddie comes over with the bill. You expect him to put it down on the table right in front of your father, but he walks around him to come up behind you and reaches over our shoulder to lay the check down right in front of you.

“I figured you’d be taking care of this,” he says. You can’t see him from where he’s standing behind you, but El catches sight of the smirk on his face and her expression lights up in glee. 

It’s hard to concentrate on anything with Eddie standing so close to you that you can smell the trace of cigarettes under a spicy cologne wafting over you. When he speaks, the scent of mint is added into the mix, so you assume he’s chewing a stick of gum and you’ve never been more jealous of a piece of candy in your life. 

When Eddie walks away, you have to fight the urge to reach out and grab onto him and make him stay. El moving the check in front of you snaps your attention back to the task staring you in the face. You give El’s hand a light smack so she drops the slip of paper. You’re able to snatch it up and hold it up to your face so El can’t read it from where she’s sitting. 

I hope your dad is currently unarmed since I’d like to say that I think his older daughter is very beautiful. And inquire if she might like to go on a date with me? 555-0527 xoxo - Eddie

Your wide eyes can’t believe what you’re reading. It takes a minute for it to click in your brain what you’re actually looking at. The smile spreads across your lips next, making your cheeks ache from the intensity of your grin. 

When the paper gets plucked from your fingers you whine and furrow your brow at your father. 

“What, you going to pay?” he asks as he digs for his money in his wallet. 

“No. But I was reading that,” you say.

“Well hang on, I gotta know how much to leave don’t I? You can kiss his phone number once I’m done.”

The blush flares up on your face at his words. You weren’t going to actually kiss the paper. But the fact that said paper could lead to a kiss is what’s got you so wound up. Hopper slaps some bills down on the table and hands you the precious check back. You securely fold it and clutch it in your hands, afraid to let it out of your sight for even a moment. El grabs the takeaway boxes and the three of you head towards the door. As you take one last look over your shoulder into the restaurant, you see Eddie coming out of the kitchen. His eyes lock with yours and he gives you that smile you swear could stop time. 

“Maybe I should embarrass you more often, huh?” Hopper says from behind you. 

“No!” you and El answer in unison. 

“I’ll be right back,” you say, glancing back at your family. 

“We’ll be outside,” your dad says.

“Have fun,” El adds with a smirk before she follows your dad out the door. 

Taking a deep breath to relax your system, you start to walk over towards Eddie. 

“Hey,” he says once you’re standing in front of him.

“Hi. Look, I’m sorry if you felt embarrassed or put on the spot. He can be a bit much sometimes.”

“No, no,” Eddie assures you with a shake of his head. “First thing I thought when I walked over to your table tonight was how beautiful you are. The Chief kind of did me a favor, actually.” 

“Oh. Well, I’m glad then,” you say, face glowing from his compliment. 

“I take it you got my note?” Eddie asks, reaching up to scratch the back of his head. 

“I did,” you say, still clutching it in your hands. “And I, uh, would like to go on a date with you. So, I’ll definitely call.”

“I get off work at nine,” he tells you. 

“You’ll hear from me soon after that then,” you say with a shy shrug of the shoulders. 

“I’m really looking forward to it, uh…”

He trails off and you realize it’s because he doesn’t know your name. You introduce yourself to him and extend your hand. Instead of shaking it, like you expected, he takes your hand in his and leans in to press his lips against your knuckles. You’re pretty sure you’re going to spontaneously combust. Or have an aneurysm. Or just flat out melt into a puddle on the floor. 

“I’ll talk to you tonight then,” Eddie says.

“Tonight,” you repeat, slowly backing away from him. You don’t want to go, but you know your dad will come in and say something even more embarrassing than he already did if you make him wait too long. 

“Bye, Eddie.”

“Bye, beautiful.”

𝐄𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐞 - 𝐞.𝐦.

eddie munson x fem!reader

warnings anxiety, description of a panic attack, fluff, comfort, an overuse of nicknames (sweetheart, baby, etc.), general warning for heavier content (2k+)

authors note today was a bad day for me, so i wrote this little blurb about eddie helping you through a panic attack and comforting you afterwards. i hope it can be a small piece of comfort to someone <3

You were at Eddie’s, both of you sprawled lethargically across the length of the couch, your legs over his lap and your head resting on the arm of the couch. The lights were all turned off as the television played some film Eddie had picked up from family video the other day. His hands ran absentmindedly over your bare legs in a gentle pattern, whilst his attention was wholly on the film.

You had felt relaxed, calm, safe. Of course you had, you were with Eddie. But soon enough, for no apparent reason, you’re heart had started racing and your hearing had gone muffled and you didn’t know what to do.

You didn’t want Eddie to see you like this. He couldn’t see you like this.

You made a split-second decision to pull your legs from his lap and drag your body, heavy with panic, from the couch and make your way to the bathroom. Away from him.

If it wasn’t for your hazy state, you had have realised just how flustered you looked. You tried to tell Eddie what you were doing but no words came out when you opened your mouth.

The bathroom door slammed behind you, and in your rising panic you didn’t remember to lock the door.

It was as if your brain had shut off, perhaps it was trying to protect you from how overwhelmed you were. But before you had any time to process what was happening you found yourself sat on the cold tile floor, your back resting against the bathtub and the palm of your hands pressed flat to the floor, trying to use the coldness to ground yourself.

Your heart felt as if it could beat out of tour chest and your face and arms felt tingly. There was no other way of describing it apart from it feeling like tv static had taken over your body. One of your hands went numb and you couldn’t move it. This happened every time too, you would lose control of your own body and you had never felt as isolated as you did when this happened - your own body betrayed you.

There were tears running down your face, silent cries that you didn’t even realise were happening until you felt the salty tears land on your lips. You couldn’t slow your breathing down, you couldn’t move your arms, you couldn’t-

“Sweetheart? Are you okay?”

Eddie.

Oh thank god-

No.

No, he couldn’t see this.

“Baby, talk to me. What happened?”

Come here. Go away.

I need you. I don’t want to need you.

You couldn’t speak. You wanted to but you couldn’t.

When Eddie didn’t hear anything he felt a fear he hadn’t felt before. He needed to know you were okay. You had to be okay, right? You were just with him. But what if you weren’t? What if you were sick? Or upset? He needed to help you.

Your hearing had gone muffled so you didn’t hear the knock on the door or the click of the door handle when he pushed the door open and was met with the sight before him.

He was lent down in front of you within a second. His heart broke just looking at you, he didn’t know what was going on, but the sheer panic and confusion on your face was enough for him to feel like the world had just been ripped away from under his feet.

“Hey, hey, okay baby. You’re okay, huh?” His voice was small, cracking on those last words because the truth was he didn’t know that you were okay.

Eddie was smart. He knew you struggled with anxiety. You had never told him, but he had picked up on it. He never confronted you about it or asked questions, he simply held onto that knowledge in case he ever needed it. Like now.

He had seen someone have a panic attack before.

His mom, when he was seven years old.

“Can I touch you sweetheart? Can I hold your hand or do you not want to be touched right now?”

You shook your head and he felt his heart shatter all over again.

You didn’t want to be touched. Not yet. You didn’t feel safe in your own body, how were you meant to trust someone else.

“Okay can you just listen to my voice, baby? Just listen to me, okay? Shh shh shh, you’ll be okay.” Eddie dropped his voice so it was soft like silk. His calming tones washing over you.

“I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”

Your breathing started to pick up again and Eddie was genuinely worried about you passing out.

“Hey, sweetheart you’ve gotta breath okay. Or you’re gonna pass out- come on just breathe for me.”

Eddie took exaggerated breaths and you finally met his eyes, watching him. He nodded his head at you when he realised you were focused on him, continuing to breathe in and out.

“That’s it. Just copy me, okay? Just in and out, you’ve got it baby”

You tried to copy him. Your breaths were uneven and shaky and occasionally you lost your way again. Your cries would get harder and your breaths would be lost on you again.

But Eddie was in front of you and you found yourself reaching a hand out for him.

He took it hesitantly, whispering out a yeah? this okay? when his fingers intertwined with his. You still couldn’t talk, or nod, but you hoped he knew you were trying to tell him that yes, yes that was okay.

Eddie held your hand and placed your palm flat over his heart, covering it with his own. His chest was rising and falling with his breathing, and being able to feel it felt… calming. It felt like he had brought you back down from where you felt like you were floating before.

After a while, your breathing started to match his. Your hands were shaking and you still didn’t feel okay. But you felt a little safer.

“Good, that’s good angel. Keep doing that for me, I’ve got you.”

It might have been five minutes or half an hour. But your heart slowed and your breathing evened out. Your classy eyes met Eddie’s and the pain you saw behind them made you feel sick.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, I don’t-”

Eddie cut you off, rubbing his thumb in circles over the back of your hand, “Don’t apologise. Just take your time, okay?”

You nodded and relaxed even further back against the bathtub.

“My face feels bad.”

“Bad? What- baby, what does that mean?”

“It’s tingly.”

You thought you sounded like a small child. Eddie thought you sounded like the bravest person he had ever met.

Eddie moved closer to you, dropping your hand down to rest on his leg as he raised his hands up to your face.

He placed one on either on of your cheeks and rubbed his thumbs into small circles over your soft skin. “You’re body just freaked out a bit, it’s okay. It was doing its job, trying to protect you.” Eddie whispered in front of you.

Eddie’s touch on your face made more tears fall. You weren’t sure why you were crying anymore, but he let you get it all out.

“How’s that feel?” Eddie asked you with a small smile on his face.

“It’s better, thank you.” Your voice was scratchy, but the words weren’t getting trapped in your throat anymore.

“Of course.” You saw a small flash of uncertainty paint his face for a second. He wanted you to tell him what you needed, but he wasn’t sure you could do that right now; you still had a distant look in your eyes and your whole body had gone cold. He knew it was just you coming down from the shock and hyperventilating, but nonetheless it killed him to see you like this.

“Baby, do you want to- shall we get off this floor?” Eddie did what he did best, he tired to make you laugh, “I love you more than I love myself, but this floor is really cold.”

You didn’t laugh, but that was because toy felt so tired, and he knew that.

You nodded your head and let him help you up off the floor, leading you back to the lounge and sitting you down on the couch. He disappeared for a minute but soon came back with a glass is water for you.

“Drink some of this for me, okay? Just small sips.”

You did what he asked of you and he breathed a gentle thank you when you passed the glass back to you.

He sat down next to you and you clung to him. You never wanted to be around anyone after a panic attack, but with Eddie in his arms felt like the safest place in all the universe.

Eddie gently moved you both so you were laying with your head tucked under his and his arms wrapped reassuringly around you.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I- I don’t know. I don’t know what happened.” your voice was small but he slowly started to recognise it again.

“That’s okay, you don’t have to know why.” he gently kissed the top of your head and you fought to get even closer to him, letting your hands wrap around him and under slide under his jumper, so they were resting against his back.

Eddie took a steadying breath before he said, “You know I’m always here for you, sweetheart. I love you, and I don’t want you to ever go through that alone again, okay? I know you’ve done it alone before, but you should never have had to.”

You felt small tears form in your bloodshot eyes and you turned your head so it was pressed against his neck. He realised what you were doing and he mimicked your earlier actions, slipping his hand under your top to feel your skin and rub his hands up and down your back.

“I’ve got you,” you nodded against him and tightened your grip on him, which he took as a sign to carry on talking.

“You don’t need to hide from me. I love every part of you. I even love it when you wake me up in the middle of the night because you want to tell me about the dream you just had. I mean baby, if anyone else tried to wake me up I’d kick them out of my room so fast they’d get whiplash.”

You let out a very small laugh and the sound of it was the best thing he had ever heard.

“I’m serious angel. Don’t run from me again, huh?”

You lifted your head slightly and Eddie was floored with a flood of emotions when he saw your face. He truly loved you more than he could explain or even understand.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

You lay back down against him, chest to chest with your head buried in his neck and Eddie settled into the couch below him. No words were exchanged between the two of you, but you both fell asleep in the comfort of being wrapped around each other.

When you woke up, you found a blanket had been gently placed over the top of of both of you, someone had tucked the blanket around the both of you and turned the tv off.

Not someone.

Wayne. His shoes and coat were by the front door, and you saw that the light in the kitchen was on.

Eddie woke up soon after you, and you whispered l something against him that had him sitting the both of you up, still not letting you stray far from him, keeping his hand resting against you constantly.

The three of you sat around the small table and ate dinner together that night, talking about everything and anything. Eddie let his hand rest against your leg under the table, like an anchor keeping you next to him.

Soon enough the day ended with all of you crashed on the couch and watching one of Wayne’s favourite films. He spoke through the whole thing, explaining his favourite things about it. You loved it.

You lay resting against Eddie and closed your eyes to the sounds of the film and gentle conversation between Eddie and Wayne.

You had never felt like you could call somewhere home before, you never truly knew what that meant. But you thought you might know now.

.

.

.

(defense against tumblr deleting anything <3)

panic attack

Pairing: Billy Hargrove x Reader

Summary: When you have a panic attack at one of your movie nights with the party, you ask them to call the one person who can help.

Word Count: 1.4k+ words

Warnings: panic attack, soft,protective!Billy, concerned!party, fluff

a/n: okay, so this one is another from the old account. i wasn’t really sure if i was going to repost this one, just because i’m not as fond of billy as i used to be, but a lovely anon asked me to repost this one so here it is! i made a few edits and billy is definitely very ooc but i hope you enjoy nevertheless <3

NOT MY GIF! CREDIT TO THE OWNER!

You let out an amused snort at something Steve had said as you sat on one of the couches in Mike’s living room. Max and El were tucked under each of your arms, snuggled into your side as they shook against you with laughter. 

You were having your bi-weekly movie night with the party, Steve and Robin. You were currently on your third movie and, surprisingly, everyone was seated and watching the movie instead of running around or arguing like usual. 

You looked around the room, smiling at the people you got to call family, however your smile faltered slightly as you wished your boyfriend could be here too. You and Billy had been dating for a few months, secretly, and contrary to popular belief, he was a real gentleman. He treated you like a princess and he’s been there for you through tough times, especially your frequent panic attacks.

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....but her - Billy Hargrove one-shot

billy hargrove x fem!reader

warnings: 18+ (minors dni), swearing, fluff, soft!billy, allusions to smut, mentions of violence.

summary: based on this request sent to me: okay but listen...I sudden thought hit me. Billy has this reputation of being mean and scary to basically...Everyone. But what if the gang meets the one person he's utterly doting and loving. Hugs and kisses with tight snuggles that possibly break her spine. Maybe he's about to get into it with Steve/whoever and she just says his name and he calms down and trots right back to her with a stupid smile on his face.

Billy didn't necessarily introduce you to the group on purpose. It was a pool party at Harrington's house, and you went along with him. All their eyes widened when they saw you walk in with Billy. He never bought any of his girls around, keeping that life separate from the group, plus they were never around long enough for them to be introduced.

Their eyes all widened when you walked in behind Billy. There was still some contention within the group. Most still getting used to Billy being a part of their party- particularly Steve, there was still the underlying competition between the two boys.

They thought nothing of you, figuring you were simply meant to go on a date somewhere, but Billy had decided to come along to the pool party instead. The only one not being shocked to see you was Max, she'd gotten somewhat used to being around the house now.

Max offering you a small wave when you walked in and you returning it, clearing your throat awkwardly as Billy introduced you to everyone.

They were even more shocked by his behaviour towards you during the party. The way he would place a gentle kiss on your forehead as you handed him a drink or the way his arms wrapped tightly around your mid-waist and squeezed you tightly, you giggling and pushing him away and shaking your head at him.

"I think Hargrove's on drugs," Steve muttered as Dustin nodded in agreement, watching with wide eyes as you splashed Billy playfully in the shallow end of the pool. The way he picked you up and threw you carefully over his shoulder as you squealed and attempted to break free from his strong grip.

They were used to Billy being all jagged edges, harsh words and surly looks, but he seemed carefree with you, like an actual teenager. Someone who wasn't fighting a constant battle with himself, haunted by the memories of Starcourt or what his father was like.

It's only towards the end when Billy overheard Steve making a comment about how he was acting.

"Got something to say, Harrington. Say it to me." He growls out as Steve rolls his eyes.

"It's a good thing, Hargrove." He snaps back.

"Don't appreciate you bitching about me behind my back," Billy taking a step towards him, his fists clenching at his side as the rest of the group get quiet, watching the event with wide eyes.

They'd seen Billy like this numerous times and knew there was no taming the savage beast. Steve already preparing himself for the fight that was inevitably coming.

"William!" Everyone turning and staring at you as walked out from the kitchen, holding the two drinks and seeing the fight starting.

Everyone turned back to Billy, watching as his body relaxed slightly, his fists unclenching.

"Come and help me bring these chips." You say softly.

Everyone still watching the back-and-forth. No one ever told Billy what to do without reaping the nasty consequences.

They were ready for verbal sparring between the two of you instead, they watch with wide eyes as Billy relaxes completely, smiling and following you into the kitchen.

Turning to face everyone before disappearing. "I just want to be clear. I still hate you shitbirds, all of you.. but her." He snaps coolly before following you into the kitchen completely.

"What the fuck just happened?" Steve asked in disbelief, his own fists unclenched as everyone looked at Max, waiting for an explanation.

"It may seem cute but you haven't heard the gross sounds they make in his room." She mutters, shuddering at the unfortunate memories.

"Happy screams?" El asks softly as Max nods.

"Happy screams."

damn shoes

summary: being pregnant and putting on shoes don’t usually mix well.

pairings: Steve Harrington x Pregnant!Reader

warnings: pregnancy, uhhh its pretty fluffy ngl

a/n: hello! so i haven’t written for the stranger things fandom though i’ve been in it for many a years, so this is a first! plus this is the first time writing in quite sometime, so it might be a little rusty. but i do hope you enjoy! 1.1k words

Pregnancy was, in theory- weird. Growing another human from your own body. Said human living inside your womb for nine months, completely moving each and every organ in your stomach to make room. The ‘morning’ sickness that was actually all day sickness that would be triggered by the most random things. Things you once enjoyed eating suddenly became the worst, and yet enjoying such an odd combination of food.  

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This is my first time writing for Steddie, so sorry if it's shit! Based on this post.

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No one had ever seen Steve cry, and at this point they weren’t sure it was even something he was capable of. So, as he stood over Eddie’s open casket with the only dry eyes in the room, no one really batted an eye.

It had been 3 weeks since Steve had carried the metalhead’s body out of the Upside Down, with Dustin leaning heavily into a misty eyed Robin and Nancy as he limped alongside them, tears still streaming from his eyes. Steve hadn’t shed a tear then, and he didn’t shed one now. It wasn’t because he didn’t care for Eddie, in fact he probably cared for him far more than he’d admit to even himself, but something just didn’t feel right. It was hard to grieve for someone when it didn’t truly feel like they were gone.

Eddie’s uncle had arranged the funeral to be a quiet affair, hoping to minimize the chances of any angry hicks’ gate crashing. So it was held in a small room at the morgue, with only close friends and family in attendance.

After a short speech from Wayne, everyone filtered through to say their own goodbyes. Mike and Lucas both stood by the casket momentarily, gripping the sides and saying their own quiet goodbyes. Erica didn’t say much, just placed a small black dice beside one of his hands before nodding down at him. Nancy went up with Johnathan and whispered a quiet thank you, letting her hands brush a stray lock of hair from his face. Dustin stood there in silence just staring down at Eddie’s still form before choking out a promise to look after Eddie’s ‘little sheep’. And then it was just Steve and Robin left in the room. Robin tugged on his sleeve, looking up at him with big pleading eyes until he nodded and walked up with her, he stood beside her as she whispered a soft goodbye, eyes then looking to him to do the same.

“Could I… I just need a moment with him, if that’s okay?” he said quietly, smiling gratefully as Robin just squeezed his hand and nodded before also exiting the room.

Eyes doing a quick check around the room to make sure there was nobody left to witness what he was about to say, Steve let his hands rest against the wood of the casket and leant down towards the long-haired man.

“Okay, you listen here you little shit, I know you’re not dead.” Steve whispered; eyes firmly trained now on Eddie’s face. His grip against the wood only getting tighter as the silence stretched on.

“Fuck.” he breathed, hanging his head at the lack of response, before turning to start walking away.

“Yeah, no shit Harrington.” Came the gravelly response from behind him, stopping him in his tracks.

As he slowly turned on his heel, he watched as Eddie pushed himself up into a sitting position, an almost familiar grin on his face had it not been for what looks like two fangs pushing down over his lower lip.

“What the hell, man?” Steve exclaimed, almost storming back over to the casket and taking Eddie’s face in his hands and tilting him from left to right to get a better look.

“Nice to see you too, Stevie.” Eddie murmured; cheeks being squished slightly by Steve’s grip on him.

“How long have you been, well not dead?” Steve huffed; brows furrowed as he let his gaze roam over the other man’s body.

“Honestly man, I have no clue. I woke up a couple of times, but this has been the first time I was actually able to move. Fuck, it really hurts dying y’know.” Eddie groaned, stretching all his limbs out and rolling his shoulders as he let his hands pick at the tight material of the black jacket he was dressed in, “Of course Wayne would take this opportunity to get me in a suit, I love the old man, but shit.”

“Really? I don’t think our biggest problem right now is your style choices, you’ve literally come back from the dead man.” Steve grumbled with a hand nervously running through his hair.

“Ooo, now that’s where you’re wrong Stevie boy, it’s always about the style choices.” Eddie grinned, loosening the tie that was around his neck with a grimace, "Anyway, what's the plan for breaking me out of here? Cus I don't know about you man, but I don't exactly love the thought of being buried alive."

“Look, you’re not meant to be being buried until tomorrow, can you just hang tight for a few hours? I can come by later tonight and sneak you out when there's nobody around” Steve said, hands landing like a disappointed parent on his hips.

“Harrington. You cannot be asking me to, what? Play dead?” Eddie scoffed, the realization slowly showing on his face as he realised that Steve was deadly serious. “Nah man, come on, there’s gotta be a better way than that?”

“Well, unfortunately for you, I don't think there is. You’ll get recognized the second you step out those doors, and I don’t know about you man, but I’m not exactly in the mood for a lynch mob right about now.” Steve said, raising an eyebrow as Eddie visibly deflated.

“Fine. Fine, but you better come back for me Harrington!” Eddie sighed, pointing an accusatory finger at the other man as he lay back down with a huff.

“Always, Munson.” Steve replied, knocking his knuckles against the side of the casket with a soft smile, missing the slight pink that rose in Eddie’s cheeks as he slipped out the room.

I'm just gonna go crawl under my covers and cry like the baby I am after reading this 🥺😭🥹

Meet my mom

Pairing: Eddie x F!Reader

Summary: Eddie wants to introduce you to his mom, so you go to the graveyard with him.

Warnings: angst, fluff, death of a parent

It was late evening and the sky was starting to darken when you sat down on the ground, in front of the stone with Mrs. Munson's name engraved on it.

"Hi mom, this is Y/N," Eddie said as he crossed his legs and stared at the faded photo of the smiling woman on the tombstone "my girlfriend."

He had been wanting to take you there for some time, he said that since he knew your family he wanted you to get to "know" his too, only if you wanted too, of course.

"I've talked about her so many times before, I do it every time I come here actually, but I've never brought her here before." He added pulling his hands out of his jacket pockets and playing nervously with the rings on his fingers.

He kept talking without ever meeting your gaze as if he was afraid of what he might read in your eyes.

"She's here because she's really important to me and I wanted to introduce her to you too. Uncle Wayne has already said that she likes her a lot, they're basically best friends, sometimes I think she loves him more than me." He said the last part with a slight laugh but from his expression he didn't look amused.

"You two have a lot in common, you know?" He asked before pausing as if he was really waiting for an answer.

In return you only heard the rustling of the leaves of the trees caused by the wind.

"She's as kind as you were. She always lets me copy her homework even though I should probably start doing it myself if I wanna graduate. Sometimes she brings home-cooked food for me and Wayne, she and her mom make really good chocolate cakes, you would have liked them a lot." He explained, his voice low.

"Sometimes we cook together like I used to do with you. But Y/N and I always end up making a mess or fighting with flour. But it's fun, so we keep doing it even if we have to clean the trailer from top to bottom afterwards." A sad smile appeared on Eddie's face, probably remembering his days spent with his mother when she was still alive.

"And she's as funny as you, she can make me smile with a simple joke even though my day has been shit and I just want to sleep for three days straight." He added and your heart squeezed in your chest.

"She's caring. That's another thing you both have in common. Once I didn't go to school because I had a fever and she missed an important test to come and check if I was okay. Actually I wasn't very okay, she had to keep my hair back as I threw up. I told her she could go anyway but she stayed with me until Wayne was back, at night. She stayed there all those hours, making me rest my head on her legs and running her hands through my hair just like you did." At this point you just wanted to cry. You never thought that all those simple gestures that were part of your relationship with Eddie could mean so much to him.

You reached out to him and grabbed his hand which had started to shake slightly and definitely not from the temperature. He fliched at first, then hold it as if his life depended on it.

"She's also a good listener, she never judges when I talk about my problems and always listens when I talk about things I'm interested in . She says she likes to hear me talk about what I like, Dungeons & Dragons, the band and music in general, books. Once I even started reading the Hobbit aloud to her, but she fell asleep after half an hour with her head on my chest. I didn't get mad, she was too pretty. And I could never be mad at her, she makes me happy." If he was talking about being happy, then why did his voice sound so broken?

"When I'm with her I feel good, mom. It doesn't matter if I'm at school, in the trailer or on a bench in the woods, when I'm with her I feel at home. And it feels good. It feels great." He added as a tear rolled down his cheek.

"She's one of the best people I know." He breathed as you reached up to him and wiped it away with your thumb, slowly caressing his cheek.

"You would have loved her, mom." He said finally, before wrapping an arm around your waist and pushing you against him, resting his head on your shoulder and sniffling.

"It's okay." You said caressing the fabric of the denim jacket covering his back.

"I love you." He whispered.

"I love you too. And I'm so sorry I didn't get to know your mom. If she was even half as amazing as you are, then she really must have been great." You said leaving a kiss on his forehead.

"She was." He murmured as his arms still held you.

Your lips brushed his temple leaving a light kiss there too, then you turned towards the tombstone.

"Mrs. Munson, I promise I will take good care of your boy."

"And She's is my blessing."

Their relationship is really like that of Ellie and Joel in the game 😭❤️

“bella ramsey plays ellie, i call her bellie and she’s my blessing”

please pedro thats so fucking cute

𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 | 𝐣𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐡 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐧 𝐱 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: at london comic con, naptime for joe’s son interferes with joe’s panel. luckily, joe has a fix for the situation. 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: dad!joseph quinn x um!reader 𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐬: fluff fluff fluff ab dad joe bc lcc is giving so much kid content it’s driving me wild, joe’s son’s name is anthony 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: listen, @moonlit-void-to-the-far-unknown and i have this longstanding au going where you and joe have a son and i NEEDED to write it, especially with all the pictures of babies and kids that we’re getting this weekend :)

By now, everyone on Twitter knew that Joe had brought you and his son to London Comic Con. You and Joe had been spotted entering the convention center on Saturday, tiny 4-year old Anthony in tow, and everyone was waiting for some sort of content with the three of you. Joe didn’t share too much about Anthony online, only the spare picture to his new Instagram every so often, updating his eight million followers on Anthony’s antics, but little Anthony was known and beloved. 

So far, the day had gone well. You stood off to the side and entertained Anthony as Joe took pictures with fans, stopping during every break to get the snuggles and kisses in— Anthony required many Daddy snuggles and kisses, and every twenty minutes, two minutes were allotted for Joe to kiss Anthony’s head, inquire about what he was watching (the answer was always Bluey), and promise more time in the future. You hated how hectic the convention was and how quickly-paced it was, but that was the nature of the event. It was fun to watch your husband interact with all of his fans, and some even spotted you and sent waves and coos towards you and Anthony. 

Eventually, time for Joe’s lunch break came, and he held Anthony in his lap as they both ate their sandwiches that you had made (the upside of a con in London meant no hotel rooms, and your boys got to sleep in their own beds), peanut butter dotted on Anthony’s little mouth as he babbled away at Joe. “So big, Dada!” he exclaimed, stretching his hands wide. 

“Yeah, lots of people, aren’t there?” Joe chuckled, smoothing down Anthony’s thin curls. Anthony resembled Joe to a tee, some baby photos that Joe’s mother had showed you a dead ringer for your son, and Anthony’s big brown eyes widened as he nodded. 

“And they’re all here to see you,” you told him, and Joe scoffed and rolled his eyes. 

“I don’t know about that,” he said. “I think they’re here to see you.” 

“Me?” you asked. 

“Yeah, my fans love you,” Joe told you. “Everybody today has told me to say hello to you and Anthony. And some people asked about Wes too, actually.” 

You smiled and leaned forward to kiss Joe’s cheek, and your husband blushed under your lips. “I’m so proud of you, Joey,” you told him softly. “You’ve worked so hard for so long, and now… It’s all happening.” 

“And I get to do it with you,” Joe said with a watery smile, and he looked down at Anthony in his lap, still watching Bluey on your phone. “Both of you.” He ruffled up Anthony’s hair and smoothed them down again, an anxious habit that he had picked up recently, and Anthony looked up from your phone and smiled a big, toothy grin at his father. 

“It’s almost naptime,” you said, looking down at your watch, and both of your boys whined and grumbled in protest. Anthony usually didn’t make a fuss over naptime and gladly settled in bed with his blankie and fell asleep for at least an hour, but you knew that the energy and excitement from the con would interrupt his schedule. You had anticipated this, and you pouted as you tugged your son up into your arms. “I know, baby, I know,” you told him. “But you’ll get all sleepy and cranky later if you don’t nap.” 

“B-But Dada!” Anthony said, and he wriggled in your arms, reaching out for Joe. You willingly transferred your son into his father’s arms, and Joe kissed Anthony’s wiggly little head as Anthony added, “Wanna stay with ‘ou, Dada.” 

“I want you to stay with me too,” Joe said, his bottom lip pouting out. “But you need to nap, and I have stuff I’ve gotta do.”

“What?” Anthony asked. 

“Well, I have a panel in a few minutes,” Joe told Anthony. “People ask me all sorts of things, and I answer them. It’s usually very fun. But I can’t bring you, bud.” 

“I mean…” you started slowly. “You could. Just hold him in your lap and let him sleep while you answer the questions. If you want, that is. Or I can just take him back home to nap and we can come get you at the end of the day.” 

“I can hold him,” Joe said, rubbing Anthony’s back. “We’re just gonna cuddle while you nap, aren’t we?”

“Cuddle?” Anthony asked, and Joe nodded. “Okay. Blankie?” 

You nodded carefully and slung off your backpack, opening it and searching through all of your stuff, Joe’s phone and wallet and keys and snacks and all of Anthony’s various accessories, and you finally extracted his fluffy blue blankie. It certainly had been fluffy at one point but, after four years, the fluff had been matted down and it was a little off-color, no matter how many times you washed it. But it was Anthony’s favorite blankie, the only one he slept with, and Anthony cuddled it up to his chest instantly as soon as he got it in his hands. “Thank you, Mummy,” Anthony mumbled, nestling his head under Joe’s chin, and your heart skipped. 

“Of course, baby,” you told him. “Are my boys ready for the panel?” 

“Anthony’s first panel,” Joe chuckled. “We’re ready.” 

Joe carried Anthony (and his blankie) to the stage, smiling and waving at fans as he passed them, and he seemed calm and cool. It was only once you got backstage, in the wings of the stage, that he started to seem nervous. “Is this a bad idea?” Joe asked. Anthony had his head rested on Joe’s shoulder, his brown eyes flagging with after-lunch sleepiness, and he yawned and cuddled up closer into Joe’s chest. “I-I mean, is it unprofessional?” 

“He’s your son, darling,” you told him, adjusting Joe’s jacket to lay right and settling his curls right. “Everyone will understand. And anyway, it’s super cute, and nobody will care if it's unprofessional if it’s cute.” 

Joe nodded, and he rubbed Anthony’s back as his name was announced by the moderator, and you watched Joe walk out onstage, holding his microphone in one hand as he held Anthony in his arms. Instantly, the auditorium was met with coos and aws and cheers, and Joe waved at everyone before he sat down on the small sofa that was provided for him. He mumbled something to Anthony and kissed his head, and your son turned to look at everyone. He waved for a moment, just long enough for everyone to cheer back at him, and he turned back and buried himself in Joe’s chest. 

The crowd died down, and Joe brought the microphone to his mouth. “It’s naptime,” he said, his voice echoing around the room, and he added, “We’ve got our blankie, I think Ant’s gonna suck his thumb, and he’ll be asleep in no time. But I’m excited, let’s begin.” 

Everything Anthony did was met with applause and aws, every moment and wiggle and cuddle into Joe’s warm chest. Joe answered every question with poise and humility, laughing when someone said to say hi to Wes, and Anthony mumbled something that was half-caught by the mic. “Unca Wes?” he mumbled, and Joe frowned, shaking his head. 

“No, no, Uncle Wes isn’t here right now,” he said softly. “But we can see him when we’re done here... It cracks me up that you guys know who Wes is.” 

True to his word, Anthony popped his thumb in his mouth and was asleep within twenty minutes, and Joe noticed it. “Oh, bless him,” he said. “And we’re asleep here. If we’re very quiet… maybe he’ll stay asleep…” Joe paused for a second and kissed Anthony’s head, and the boy didn’t stir, and Joe said, “Yeah, and he’s knocked out. He can sleep through anything at this point. He gets that from me.” Joe laughed a little, making sure that Anthony stayed asleep, and he said, “I’m sorry, what was the question?”

That happened often. Joe would be too distracted watching Anthony sleep and have to have the question asked again, and he flushed and mumbled, “I’m sorry, you guys, he’s just… Parents will understand, he’s only this little for so long. Sorry, I’m sorry, what was the question again?” 

Finally, the time for the end of the panel came, and the last question took Joe a second to respond: “What are you most proud of in your life?” 

“Well,” he started. “I’m proud of myself for a lot, if I can say that without coming off as a douchebag. But my own accomplishments pale in comparison to my wife, she… She’s amazing. I’m constantly in awe of her and all that she’s done for me, all of the late nights she spends with our son while I work, supporting me and loving me and… But this little guy. He blows my mind every day. Even as he’s sitting here, napping, he’s so much more than I ever could have imagined my son to be. I never anticipated being a father, and now I am, and even though it’s been four years, I’m still not used to him and I don’t think I ever will be. He is so smart and beautiful and… Yeah. I’m proud of Anthony. He’s the best thing I’ve ever done.”

You smiled and, as soon as Joe came offstage, you pulled him into a kiss. You felt Joe’s hands twitch underneath Anthony, obviously wanting to embrace you as he kissed you, and you pulled Anthony into your arms to allow Joe to hold you tenderly as he kissed your lips. He sighed into the kiss and touched his forehead to yours, and he mumbled, “I love you so much. Thank you for sticking around.” 

“Of course,” you told him. “I love you too, darling.” 

“I wonder if my mum can take Ant tonight,” Joe mumbled, pulling you back into another kiss. “I need some time with you.” 

“You have more con tomorrow,” you said. “Is tonight good for that?” 

“Any night is a good night for that,” Joe chuckled, and you smiled at his naughty cheek. “I think it’s time Ant has a little sister.” 

“You think so?” you asked. “Whatever you say, Mr. Quinn.” 

“And I do say, Mrs. Quinn,” Joe said. “Let me call Mum and see if she can take the little monster. He was so good for me, he just slept the whole time.” 

“He’s not a monster,” you said with a smile, bouncing Anthony as he yawned and started to wake up. His thumb was popped in his mouth and you carefully pulled it out, and Anthony whined and sucked the corner of his blankie into his mouth. “He’s the most special little boy in the world.”

“He sure is,” Joe said, and his big eyes were full of love as he looked at the two of you, his wife and son. “The best boy ever.” 

hii! i'd like to request a steve x fem!reader fix please :> so it's a soulmate au fic and i've seen an idea about the first sentence they're going to say to you is written on you. maybe it will turn into gold when it's said to you with a tingling feeling so you know he's your soulmate. and as steve works at family video, for reader, it's a spoiler of a movie line about a character dying maybe, but she doesn't know that, so she says that that's what the death or dying part in her line said. so like a meet cute maybe thank youu <33

This is such a cute concept! I hope you liked it! This is the second time attempting to post this so hopefully it works this time

Requests are open

Word count: 600

When a person turns ten years old, the first words their soulmate will ever say to them appears on their wrist. Once those words are said, they turn gold. Some people say they got a tingling feeling shoot up their arm, others say they feel a warm feeling settles deep in their chest. But everyone always says they feel a massive amount of relief when they find their person.

Though some people never find their person and are destined to be alone. And that’s what Y/N thought for herself. She never thought she would find her person. Until one hot day in Family Video

~*~

Y/N walked into Family Video, sighing in relief to be out of the blistering head. July in Hawkins was like walking on the face of the sun. In short, it was hell. Wiping sweat from her forehead, Y/N walked further into the fantasy section, hearing a girl yell out,

“Welcome to Family Video. Let us know if we can help in any way.” Y/N continued on her way, picking up movies every now and then to read the description, only to put them back down. She wanted to find the perfect movie she can watch over and over so she doesn’t have to leave the comfort of her A/C-cooled apartment until this heat wave passes Hawkins, which wouldn’t be for another week. So Y/N was on a mission to find the best movie this store had to offer.

Across the store, Steve and Robin stood behind the checkout counter, each fiddling with their own fan, Steve out of anxiety, Robin out of boredom.

“I’m telling you, Rob, I’m destined to be alone for all my miserable life!” Steve said to his platonic soulmate. Steve thunked his head down onto the counter, Robin wincing at the force of the smack, running her hand through Steve’s hair.

“And this is why you’re a dingus. You’re only twenty years old, Steve. You have plenty of time to find her.” Robin replies, sighing again when Steve grunts. “Well, I’m going on break, help this customer out please.” Robin says, walking to the back.

Y/N walks up to the counter, setting her movies down and smiling up at Steve. He gives her a smile back, looking at what movies she picked out.

“Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while.” Steve says, smiling at the tapes in front of him.

“W-what?” Y/N asks, a tingle shooting up her arm. Steve’s smile falters, looking back up from the counter.

“It’s from the movie.” Is all Steve replies with. He gets a warm feeling settling in his chest, prompting him to look down at his soulmate words, seeing them glowing gold, a slight glow lighting up his face. “It’s you! You’re my soulmate!” Steve exclaimed happily. Y/N’s smile widened, flinging her arms around Steve, and pulling him into a hug.

“I never thought I would find you. I’m so happy I finally found you!” Y/N cried, burying her face in Steve’s neck. Steve let out a joyful laugh, pressing a kiss to the crown of Y/N’s head.

“Hang on, wait right here. I’m going to see if Robin will cover the rest of my shift so I can stay with you. Get to know each other.” Steve smiled, letting go of Y/N to go find Robin and tell her the news.

Y/N thought she would be leaving Family Video with only a few movies, not with her soulmate.

Funny how life works somehow…

Little ficlet for anyone having a tough time right now 🥰 Joe wants to look after you and make it better 💗

RPF - don’t like, please scroll past

Warnings: talk of depressive episode/fragile mental state/medication. Other than that just lots of gentle, loving Joe being there for you 🥰

You Got Me

Sitting on the floor of the living room, knees clutched close to your chest, you lean your head sideways to rest on the small coffee table. It’s uncomfortable against your temple, but you haven’t got the energy to care enough to move.

Every ounce of strength you have left is being used not to fall apart.

It wasn’t that anything awful had happened to trigger your episode, more that a succession of small upsets all seemed to tumble down on you at once. The weight of the continued sadness and bad feeling became crushing. You could feel the black clouds creeping in, slowly darkening the edges of your vision and seeping into your skin. It tainted everything until it dulled your senses and made you numb to things you would have ordinarily found comfort in. By the time you’d made it home from work on Friday, your chest was tight, heart heavy as a stone from a pain you couldn’t understand, let alone explain.

You feel nothing when keys jangle in the lock. Normally you’d be bouncing with excitement at Joe’s return, running down the hall to pounce on him the moment he stepped through door to shower him in all the love you couldn’t give while he was away.

He toes off his shoes and chucks his bag to one side while calling out your name. You hear him enter the room, and as soon as he spots you Joe’s on his knees in front of your legs. Reaching forward, his hand cups your face, you close your eyes as his thumb strokes tenderly up and down your cheek.

“Oh, sweetheart. It’s happened again?” His voice is whisper soft.

You nod silently.

“How bad, love?”

You’d long ago arrived at a number system to easily express how you were managing. ‘One’ was a bad day but nothing a good cuddle and a talk couldn’t help with, however a ‘five’ meant things were really bad and you were barely keeping it together.

Without looking up, you lift your hand and show him all five fingers. You hear him suck in a deep breath.

He’s only seen you this low once before, and that was a while ago. It’d scared him so much he refused to leave your side for days, until you’d been to see the Dr and finally got some different medication.

Without a sound, Joe shifts down on to the carpet and moves behind you until he’s resting up against the front of the sofa. He reaches forward and holds either side of your hips.

“Come here…”

Encouraging you backwards, he slides you between his legs, spread wide and bent at the knees so you can slot right into the gap. He twists you ever so slightly so your shoulder just presses into him, your head nuzzling his warm, solid chest.

The tears fall then, wave after wave, and you let them. His arms wrap firmly around you, hugging you tight, soft lips rest gently on your temple as he holds you through the sobs.

He doesn’t try and talk you through it, because that’s not what you need right now. He lets you bare your deepest darkest emotions to him without judgement, without expectation of reason, without needing justification. And when the suffocating fog lifts eventually, you know you’ll always love him that little bit more for it.

Joe leans over and grabs the remote, switching on one of your Spotify playlists that you save for days like this. A song comes on, and you instantly cry harder, because it both breaks you and pieces you back together every time you hear it.

When the fear takes you down

When the doubt takes you under

When you sink like a stone

And you can't breathe

When the tears take control

When the demons take over

Won't be in this alone

You got me

Joe lowers his head to yours, and he hums along to the words that mean so much to you. The sound reverberates in his chest, and you feel it seep into your skin, sinking into your bloodstream with every note. He murmurs along to the next verse…

When the walls all cave in

When the nights all get colder

When you hang by a thread

Of sanity

Rest your head on my heart

And your pain on my shoulders

Make your way to my arms

'Cause you got me

As the song ends, your breathing finally settles, and the tears ease. You feel yourself being rocked slowly in his strong arms. The movement is repetitive, predictable, soothing.

A hand reaches down to play with your fingers, thumb tracing lines and patterns on your skin to ground you and connect you to your anchor. He brings your knuckles to his lips and kisses each one as tenderly as if they were made of glass and he’s scared of making you shatter.

“I love you, baby” Joe murmurs into your hair, stroking away the strays that have broken free.

“I know…” You whisper back, because it’s all you can manage, but he knows in his heart that’s your way of reciprocating his words.

He squeezes you tight and you breathe him in. He isn’t going anywhere, and neither are you.

•••

The song referenced in this fic is called You Got Me, by Gavin DeGraw and I highly recommend listening to it. It’s been a favourite of mine for years 💞

Steve Harrington x Reader

Summary- Reader's first time meeting Steve

2.2K words

REQUEST ARE OPEN

Y/N scanned the halls for Nancy Wheeler, trying her best to keep her anxiety at bay. When she caught sight of her, she quickly shut her locker, walked up to the tiny girl, and waited for her to finish her conversation with Robin Buckley and Eddie Munson before she would say anything. She kept her eyes down on the floor, looking at the shoes the others were wearing.

"We'll catch you at Steve's tonight, Nance. Bye, Y/N!" Eddie said sweetly to Y/N, bringing said girl out of her head. She looked up just as the other two were leaving, flashing a tiny smile at them before turning to look at Nancy, who was already looking at her.

"Hi, Y/N. Did you need something?" Nancy asked her in a kind tone, looking into Y/N's eyes. A small smile graced her beautiful face, easing Y/N's nerves slightly. A small smile of her own fell onto Y/N's face just as she began to talk.

"Y-yeah. I was wondering if you would be willing to tutor me in math and chemistry? I'm just really having a hard time with everything since it's getting closer to midterms and I'm so worried I'm going to fail them and which would not look good on my applications to college, and I could just really use your help. I-I can pay you, if you want, too, probably not much but it would be better than not paying you because I'm taking up your time-" Y/N rambled but was cut off by a chuckling Nancy.

"Y/N, slow down! I'd be more than happy to help you out. You don't need to pay me. Do you want to start tonight?" Nancy asks, pulling out a piece of paper to write something down.

"Oh, um, I thought I heard Eddie say you were busy tonight. We can start tomorrow if you're free. I don't want to take you away from your friends if you already had plans." Y/N said, looking down just enough not to make eye contact with the other girl across from her.

"It's totally fine! Steve won't mind someone else coming along. It was just dinner and a couple games tonight anyway. We do this every Friday night, it's nothing special. I can go ask Steve right now if it would make you feel better?" Nancy asked, the same small smile from a few minutes ago coming back onto her face.

"Um, yeah. That would make me feel a lot better." Y/N said, following after Nancy on her walk to her station wagon in the parking lot.

Nancy unlocked to door, sliding in and grabbing a walkie-talkie from the glove box, pressing the call button down, and talking into it.

"Steve? It's Nancy. I have a question for you." She said. The radio crackled a few times before a voice was heard through it.

"Yeah, what's up, Nance?" The voice, Steve, Y/N was assuming, said on the other end.

"Y/F/N asked me today if I could help with her midterms, I said I could tonight but she doesn't want to impose on our family night tonight. Is it okay if I bring her along? I told her you would be fine with it but she just wants to make sure." Nancy explained into the radio, releasing the button when she was done talking.

"Of course it's fine! The more the merrier! What kind of pizza does she like? Or if she doesn't like pizza I could pick something else up for her. Does she have any dietary worries I should know about?" Steve asks in a cheery voice. Nancy looks over at Y/N with a big smile, asking her the same question. Y/N answers quietly for Nancy to tell him, then they're saying their goodbyes to each other. Nancy gets out of the car, smiling at Y/N again.

"Well, that settles it then! You'll come and hang out at Steve's house with us tonight and we'll study together. I'm helping Eddie with his midterms tonight as well so this works out great. I'll pick you up at, say, quarter to six at your house?" Nancy asks, getting a nod in return and a slip of paper with Y/N's address on it. "Great! I'll see you tonight Y/N!" Nancy says in a sweet voice before walking back into the school for her last class of the day.

~*~

Y/N switched her sweater out for the third time tonight, deciding on a simple Hawkins High Swim sweatshirt just as she heard Nancy honk her car horn from the driveway, telling her she was waiting for her. Y/N quickly checked her outfit one last time, deciding it would have to be good enough now. When she had gotten home, she quickly took a shower to wash the day off of her and changed into a pair of light wash, baggy jeans, and now, after changing so many times, a sweatshirt. Her hair had been towel dried so it had a little bit of curl to it, falling over her shoulders and down her back. Y/N threw her backpack on and rushed out the door, telling her parents not to wait up for her tonight.

"Hey! We just need to make one stop before we head to Steve's place, I hope that's okay." Nancy said when Y/N got into the car. She nodded her head, putting her bag down at her feet and putting her seatbelt on. 

Once the car stopped at the Henderson's place and said boy made it into the car, Nancy directed them to Steve's house, Y/N could feel her anxiety ramping up slightly. She had never been to Steve Harrington's house before. She had no reason to be at his house in the past. She wasn't really a party type of girl, she preferred to stay at home, reading a book or watching a movie. Not to mention the major crush she had on the Harrington's only child. I mean, who didn't?

Nancy slowly pulled into a large driveway, cutting the engine off before getting out of the car and following the boys up to the door. Y/N took a deep breath just as she got to the front door, following after Nancy into the house and slipping her Vans off, setting them next to Nancy's shoes. 

Y/N could hear loud talking and laughing coming from the living room, which she slowly walked into. The laughing and talking cut off when she walked in, everyone staring at her. Y/N could see Eddie and Robin smile brightly at her, making her feel only a tiny bit better, but not much considering eight other sets of eyes on her. Y/N's eyes gravitate toward the ground until she hears a familiar voice come into the room.

"Okay, I just ordered the pizzas, guy said it would be about half an hour before they got here. What are you all looking at?" Steve asked, turning his head toward the entry to the living room from the front door and stairs. "Oh, you must be Y/N?" He asks, smiling gently at her. 

"Y-yeah, that's me. Sorry to crash your party, Nancy said it would be okay for me to come. But I'll stay out of everyone's hair, I'm just here to study with Nancy." Y/N said quietly, trying her best to hold eye contact with Steve, but failing miserably.

"No, you didn't crash anything! I told Nancy that you're more than welcome to hang out with us!" Steve said with a sweet smile on his face. "Oh, um, I'm Steve, you already know Robin and Eddie, but that's Johnathan. And those gremlins are Max, Jane, Erica, Dustin, Mike, Will, and Lucas." Steve introduced everyone in the room to the newcomer, turning back to her when he finished. Everyone gave a small wave and smile, then went back to their earlier conversations. "You're welcome to come in and make yourself comfortable. I've set up the far end of the dining table for you, Nance, and Eddie whenever you're ready to start studying." Steve said, pointing in the general direction of the dining room. Y/N nodded her head, walking further into the room, only after Nancy walked in.

"Eddie, I think Y/N and I are going to start studying if you want to join us. I know how much you love to play the games with everyone so it would probably be a good idea to study before dinner gets here so you can still play after. That sound okay?" Nancy asked the metalhead, to which he nodded his head, grabbing his bag from next to him and walking off to the dining room. Nancy and Y/N followed him, seeing where Steve set up a place for them. He had pens, pencils, and highlighters sitting in the middle with a pencil sharpener off to the side slightly. Y/N smiled at the thought that Steve made sure they had everything they needed before they got started. "Okay, why don't we start with math? You're in the same math class, I believe, yes?" Nancy asked, earning a nod from the other two.

Y/N pulled out her math notebook and textbook, flipping to the page the teacher assigned them to, and started on the problems on the page.

For the next twenty minutes, Y/N, Nancy, and Eddie worked on the math problems their teacher had given them for the weekend, Nancy occasionally helping the two of them when they asked for it. Just as Y/N was getting to the second page of math equations, Steve walked in with several boxes of pizza, setting them on the dining table, and yelling for everyone to come and get it. Before Y/N could even put her pencil back down on her paper to keep writing, everyone came rushing into the room, throwing the pizza boxes open and grabbing their slices of dinner, Nancy and Eddie among those getting food.

"Are you going to come get some Y/N?" Nancy asked, looking over to said girl, raising her eyebrows.

"Oh, uh, yeah just give me a few minutes to finish this problem." Y/N said, giving the others a small smile. She looked back down at the textbook once she got a nod from Nancy.

Half an hour later, Y/N was still working on her math, with no food on a plate in front of her. She was startled from her concentration when Steve sat down next to her, placing a plate in front of her with three pieces of pizza on it, a smile on his face.

"I noticed you never got up for dinner and wanted to save some for you before the gremlins picked over everything." He said, pointing to the plate between the two of them.

"Oh, um, thank you." Y/N said quietly, blushing slightly.

Steve just gave her a big grin before looking down at her sweatshirt. "Are you on the swim team? I was the captain for three years including my senior year." Steve said with a proud smile.

"Oh, um, no. My older brother was on the team all four years of school. His name was Carter, he really thought you were cool. Looked up to you a lot." Y/N explained with a smile of her own on her lips.

"Oh, yeah I know Carter. But I thought your last name was Y/L/N. The back of the sweatshirt says Wentworth." Steve says, a confused look taking over his face. Y/N couldn't help but chuckle slightly at how cute he was.

"It is. He took our stepdad's last name when our mom remarried, I kept my dad's name. Never liked my step-family much."

"Ah, makes sense. Your brother was pretty cool. I knew he had a little sister but I had no idea she was so cute and shy." Steve said, the same smile from before gracefully falling onto his face once more. Y/N smiled down at her homework again, a fierce blush taking over her cheeks.

"I'm not so much as shy, it's just my anxiety. And I'm not cute." She said, the last one more to herself than to Steve.

"Oh come on. You're very cute. Don't sell yourself short there, sweetheart." Steve said, trying to convince the girl in front of him. "Well, everyone is getting antsy to start playing a few games so why don't you come join us? Take a break from your work and have some fun, get to know everyone." Steve said, standing from his spot at the table.

"Oh, no that's fine. I don't want to intrude on your game night. It's enough that you're feeding me. I don't want to step on anyone's toes." Y/N said, shaking her head and dropping the easy smile that was on her plump lips.

"I already told you that you didn't intrude or ruin anything. Max and Jane were pestering me to come in here and get you to play some games with us. They're excited to meet you and pull you into this little rag-tag group we have," Steve said, a blush starting to creep up on his face. "And I was hoping to get to know you a bit better, maybe ask you out on a date?" He asked, the blush fully taking over his face by now. It was pretty cute.

"Okay, but only because I was promised a date from Steve Harrington. I'll hold you to that, I hope you know that." Y/N joked, smiling as a grin broke out on Steve's face.

"Yeah! We can hash out the details before you leave tonight!" Steve said excitedly. Y/N smiled up at him, following him out of the dining room and to the packed living room.

Steve walks into the Munson trailer like he does every Saturday morning; it’s apart of his and Eddie’s new routine after the Upside Down. They meet up there and have breakfast (or more likely lunch) and just chill together. 

Music was blasting from Eddie’s room, which is pretty normal, but what wasn’t normal was that Steve recognized what was playing. Elton John. Ok, what?

Steve brows furrow as he walks down the short hallway to the source, and pokes his head through Eddie’s open doorway. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it wasn’t this. 

Sat on the floor with his legs criss-crossed, was Eddie. 

Only that wasn’t the weird part. 

Eddie was wearing a feather boa and those joke glasses with the fake nose and mustache, and he was rummaging through a shoebox. The chorus of the song starts to play, and Eddie is singing along with enthusiasm. “BENNY! Benny! BENNY! Benny! B-b-b-b-b-b-Benny and the JETS!” He was headbanging along now, and Steve’s jaw drops. 

Steve tears his eyes away long enough to look around the room. There were piles of stuff everywhere, more than usual, and the closet looked like it had been ripped apart. 

Eddie is completely absorbed in what he’s doing, so Steve decides to lean on the door frame and see how long it takes for Eddie to notice him. 30 minutes later, Eddie finally looks up, sees Steve, and screams, “What the fuck?!" 

"Me? What the hell happened in here, Eddie?” Steve says in between cackles. Eddie’s face of pure horror is diluted by the Groucho Marx glasses. Oh, Steve is never going to let Eddie live this down. 

Eddie regains his composure and crosses his arms. “I’m… cleaning." 

Steve’s eyebrows shoot up and he takes a very pointed look around the room. Eddie realizes he’s still wearing the stupid glasses and tears them off, throwing them into a seemingly random pile. "it’s a process, Steve." 

"Does this process include gasoline and a lighter?” Eddie levels him with a bored look. The feather boa still around his shoulders isn’t helping at all.

“Hardy har har, you’re hilarious, Steve. I just got a little distracted." 

"When did you start cleaning, Eddie?”  Eddie squints his eyes and looks like he’s thinking, then looks at the light coming through the window. “Sometime around 2am." 

Steve’s eyes widen and he puts his hands on his hips. "2am?! Why would you start cleaning at 2am?" 

Eddie stands up then, feather boa still around his shoulders, and mimics Steve’s stance, squaring his shoulders across from Steve. 

"Because I noticed the shower was dirty." 

Steve runs a hand over his face. "How does the shower being dirty turn into a tornado coming through your bedroom?" 

"Shower was dirty, so I needed to clean it. I needed some gloves and goggles because, let’s be honest, a hazmat suit would’ve been the best choice. So, I went to my room to look for something to use, and I found those glasses,” Eddie says gesturing in the vague direction he threw them, “but then I also found a notebook I lost two years ago. After that it all gets a little fuzzy." 

Steve just stares at him, jaw hanging again. He looks at Eddie for a moment before asking him, "So, is the shower clean?" 

"It is not." 

"Jesus Christ.”

No one knows why Eddie and Nancy call each other "my dear" and "honey" respectively. Not even Steve and Robin, who only give a brief pause (and sometimes a confused, "huh?") before going back to whatever nonsense. Even though it is absolutely, one hundred percent, their fault.

It’s all because Eddie and Nancy are dating two people permanently attached at the hip. "Platonic soulmates" they say, repeated ad nauseam. Two people who should be siblings. A pair of bickering sisters who are also sometimes gross brothers. A brother and sister duo so chaotic they give the Sinclairs a run for their money.

Platonic soulmates who act like two silly drunk girls when they are out at a bar. Two losers who cackle with laughter and sing along far too loudly to the radio on the way home.

A pair of idiots stumbling up the stairs in Steve’s house, gradually discarding jackets, bags and accessories.

Eddie is relatively sober, having played with the band and Nancy is tipsy, never one to entirely shake her sensible and put-together self. So Eddie follows behind, closing the front door, locking it and turning the lights off, while Nancy scurries along picking up the tossed attire.

"You're my best friend!" Robin shouts, squishing Steve's cheeks together as they hang off each other, wobbly at the top of the stairs.

"Love you, Robbie!" Steve says, voice cracking as he sniffles and kisses her on the cheek.

He takes her hand and they disappear up the hall.

By the time Eddie reaches Steve’s bedroom, Steve and Robin are passed out on that plaid bedspread, all curled up together like two creatures huddled together for warmth and companionship.

Nancy grumbles as she straightens up the shoes scattered at the foot of the bed.

"I swear they forget we exist sometimes," she says, huffing as she tugs off Robin’s left boot that she’d only managed to unzip.

"Oh absolutely," Eddie agrees.

He can’t help but walk over to Steve’s bedside and brush his fringe from his face. Steve produces a gross snorting nose at the movement, cuddling in closer to his best friend.

"Stop… snoring… di…" Robin mumbles, not getting out her favourite nickname before drifting back off to sleep.

Eddie steps back and folds his arms, resigning himself to spending his Sunday tolerating two hungover platonic soulmates in their worst and most annoying form.

Nancy rolls her eyes. "Get your bag and come into the spare room."

They make quick work of changing, Eddie in an oversized band tee and a pair of Steve’s checked pyjama pants he had taken ownership of. He looks in the mirror as he stands side-by-side Nancy in the upstairs bathroom, both brushing their teeth in silence. He looks over her pale pink nightdress, embellished with embroidered flowers and can’t help the huffed laugh that escapes him.

"What?" Nancy smiles and spits out her toothpaste in the sink.

"We look like an old married couple who have run out of things to talk about."

Nancy giggles, quickly moving to a washcloth to wipe her mouth before she bursts out laughing. She zips up her cosmetics bag and makes a sharp turn to face Eddie, her brow quirked.

"Honey, did you enjoy the soiree this evening?" she says in an uptight, snooty voice, cocking her chin and giving a sly smile.

"Splendid, my dear!" he replies, toothbrush dangling from his mouth as he bows with a flourish. "Although the band was an absolute bore."

"Don't say that!" Nancy chides, breaking character as she playfully slaps his shoulder.

He snorts a laugh as he finishes up and rinses his mouth out, dripping water everywhere.

"Wheeler, there were like seven people there, including you, Steve and Rob," he laughs, dropping the facade too.

"Shall we retire for the night?" she says, changing the subject and slipping back into character. She offers her hand.

"To the bedroom!" he declares, pointing to the door.

The spare bedroom is, unsurprisingly, similar to the rest of the house. Sparse and low-lit with heavy dark curtains that make Steve’s plaid drapes look light and airy in comparison.

"I hope you don’t snore as much as Steve, Nancy," Eddie warns without any heat behind his words as he punches his pillow into a shape that isn't flat and solid.

"He does snore, doesn’t he?" she wonders aloud as she slips under the covers, huffing a laugh. "Robin talks in her sleep. Nothing serious or anything. Total nonsense."

Eddie rolls his eyes. "Of course she does."

"Last week she woke me up," she starts as she pokes at his shoulder. "Tapping on my shoulder saying, ‘Nance, tell the fish it’s time to get ready for school’."

"Di-did you have… fish children?" he asks before doubling over, cackling.

"I think so," Nancy ponders, speaking slow before snorting a laugh.

"Goodnight, my dear."

"Night, honey."

At that, they turn away from each other, snuggling under the covers for a restful night’s sleep.

The following morning, Steve and Robin swap out his bed for cocooning themselves in blankets on the Harrington's gigantic couch as Eddie finishes up making their breakfast. They’d stirred fairly early in the morning, moving into the guest room and not-at-all subtly waking Eddie and Nancy to demand breakfast, all the while complaining about their whereabouts the night before.

Nancy enters the kitchen, freshly showered and laughs at the state of their counterparts. But they do not surface. If anything, Eddie swears Steve’s snoring is getting louder with every passing minute.

"Breakfast is all set, my dear," Eddie says, flinging a teatowel over his shoulder and offering her Steve's plate.

She hesitates but he gestures to the others on the couch. Robin is now babbling something incoherently as she taps Steve on the shoulder.

"Thank you, honey," Nancy giggles as she takes the food.

Such a great little story 😊🥺🥰

the hurt is good

part i part ii part iii part iv part v part vi

billy hargrove x fem!reader

word count: 5,163

warnings: swearing, cops, talk of jail/billy's abuse, neil, fluff and love

a/n: well, here it is. this is the very last part of my very first series. i am very proud of the ending i've created for these two. i like to think i've given billy what he deserved. i'm so grateful for all of the feedback and support you've given me on the previous parts. also, a part of this relies heavily on hopper’s letter from season 3, so that’s that, and then some of his other dialogue. i’ve found that it fit billy effortlessly. i really hope you enjoy this and maybe find some solace in it. i love you all <333

before you read, listen to: time after time by cyndi lauper and/or the promise by when in rome

————

The first night without Neil, Hopper sits in his car outside the house. He promised no one would hurt them. He means it.

Nicky went to high school with both Hopper and Joyce. In fact, she was suspended for dealing them weed under the bleachers at one point. She regrets nothing to this day.

Because of that, it really wasn’t too difficult to have a heart-to-heart with the man, to get him to sit down with Billy. And Max and you. Susan.

Hopper had shown up at the house to speak with Neil. When he arrived, he told you to keep Billy in his room, though that hadn’t mattered. The second Billy realized he might actually get out of this, that he might live without fear of his own father, he buried his face in your chest, tears wetting your collarbones, your t-shirt.

You’d let him get it all out, stroking his loose and frizzy curls, occasionally laying your hands over his ears to muffle any shouting. Billy squeezed you each time you did so.

Even if he was a little hopeful this might work, Billy couldn’t help but think about that night when he was a kid. When his mama left him with Neil.

He’d sat on his bedroom floor, trying to be quiet while his dad showered, pleading with her.

“Please mom, don’t do this. Please come home.”

“How long? How long?”

“I miss you.”

She was the last person he felt safe with, before you. And she’d gone, leaving her boy with him. Trapped. Part of him wasn’t sure this would work out. He’d hoped for so long that his mother would return, and she hadn’t. Neil had dictated everything in Billy’s life so far, so how was it possible for anything to change?

Hopper had given Neil Hargrove one option.

“You’re gonna sign these papers,” he’d said, gesturing at the divorce packet lying on the table, “and I’m going to quietly take you down to the station and expose you for the piece of shit you are. Lock you up for abusing your child.”

Neil had started screaming about how Hopper had no right to do any of this, to barge into his home claiming all of this.

“Sure, yeah, pitch a fit. Like that’s gonna change anything,” Hopper said, entertained by the fact that Neil was acting like the victim.

During one of the intervals where your hands were pressed to Billy’s ears, the hoop in the left one biting into your palm, you’d caught something Hopper said.

“I suggest you shut your mouth before you give me something else to report.” By the tone in his voice, you could imagine that he was inches from Neil’s face.

“You’re a coward,” Hopper had said. “Beating on your kid because your life didn’t turn out right. Well let me tell you something, that’s not his fault. It’s yours.”

There’d been a knock on Billy’s bedroom door followed by Hop’s gruff voice. 

“Y/N, kiddo can I have a minute with you?”

Billy had looked up at you, eyes puffy. “I’ll be right back baby, I’m not leaving, I promise.”

You’d pressed a kiss to his forehead, and he’d held onto your hand until it was too far out of his reach.

Shutting the door carefully behind you, you’d looked at him. “We’re taking him away,” he said.

You blinked. “Really?”

“Really. He signed, so Susan is good to go.”

Hopper considered letting Neil run away, making him just disappear, but he didn’t want to chance him doing this to someone else. He’d already done that once though, hadn’t he?

“I’m really proud of you for helping him through this, kid. You remind me of your mom.”

His hand had been warm on your shoulder.

“If you want me to be honest, he’s lucky this prison isn’t very big. But that doesn’t mean nothing will happen if others figure out what he’s in for.”

You nodded, knowingly.

“Powell and Callahan just got here. We’re gonna be quiet. No lights, nothing. I don’t want to make this worse for Billy. But if he wants to see, we’re going soon.”

“Thank you, Hopper,” you’d said, hugging him. He’d let you. He’d had his fair share of a shitty father as a kid. Helping someone like Billy is something he’d always wanted to do.

Back in Billy’s room, you’d taken his face in your hands.

“Baby, they’re taking him now. Do you want to watch or stay inside?”

His back had straightened. He knew what he wanted, and he told you as much, so you led him through to the back steps, holding his hand the whole time, Max behind you, resting her chin on her brother's arm.

Billy got to watch them shove his father in the back of a police car, hands behind his back.

He was finally free.

————

Susan pawned most of Neil's more expensive things, that way she'd have money to cover bills for a while and have something to put towards the house payment. She hadn't really been trusted with the financials when Neil was around, aside from basic spending. Now that she had two children to look after, she really didn't want to be in a bad spot.

She had a feeling most newly divorced women would use the money to buy themselves something nice, but she didn't see any point in that. This wasn't about her. This was about making a life where Billy and Max could feel safe.

Even if Billy had whined about it to you at first, having dinner with Max and Susan at least three times a week to start was helping. And he would never admit this, but Susan was actually a pretty damn good cook. Whenever she'd prepared food pre-inmate Neil, they'd been kind of shitty. Billy supposed this had been her tiny form of protest.

It's pretty late now, but Billy is sprawled on the couch watching reruns of whatever. He's really not even entirely sure what's happening on tv. He thinks this might be Cheers. It's the fact that he can be on the couch that he's doing it. He doesn't have any particular reason to hide in his room unless he wants to.

He's missed this couch. It's the same one he's sat on since he was a kid. Since his mother was still around. It was one of the few items that made it to Hawkins when they moved.

Susan has the day off tomorrow. She said so at dinner. Hence why she's still up.

Billy hears her footsteps and looks up when she walks into the room. She gives him a gentle smile.

"I'm making Max some hot chocolate. You feel like some? I have marshmallows too, if you want those."

"Uh, yeah, sure. Thanks."

She smiles again and then disappears for a while before returning with a mug that has a six-year-old Max's hand print on it.

Billy sits up and takes a sip. He can't remember the last time someone made him someone other than you or Nicky made him something like this.

Susan sits down a little ways away from Billy in an oversized chair that Max usually claims as her own. The only time anyone else gets to sit in it are in times like these when she's being forced to do science homework with Dustin yapping in her ear. She'd asked for help, not an entirely new lesson. Dustin did not care.

Susan starts to read a book, and Billy almost forgets she's in the room when she speaks.

"Billy?"

His eyes rove across from the television to her over the top of his mug. She sets the book down.

"I just wanted to apologize. For not doing anything to protect you from your dad. I don't really have a reason other than selfish ones, like I was afraid he'd start on me, or Max. I guess I just thought if he got it out things would be okay." She buries her face in her hands.

"God, I'm so sorry, Billy. This is your home, and I came into your life and took you away from where you'd grown up, and I never stopped to think about what it was doing to you. I was only thinking about myself."

“I should’ve helped take care of you. You were just a kid. You’re still just a kid. And I’ve done nothing but let you down. I want to be better. I’m not saying I want to replace your mom or anything, but I don’t want you to feel unsafe or unwelcome here anymore.”

Billy keeps drinking his hot chocolate but he has to hold it with both hands because they’re shaking now.

“I feel like I don’t even know you. And maybe that’s because you didn’t want to know me, or maybe because I just avoided you.”

“I’m just so sorry, Billy. I want to try. I am trying. The both of you deserve so much better and you don’t have to accept this. I just wanted you to know that and that I care about you.”

Billy is quiet and for a moment it scares Susan, but she understands he might not have anything to say. He might not want to say anything. He might be waiting until he can afford to move out of this fucking house.

But Billy finally sets his mug down. It’s empty. He looks at Susan and he nods.

“It’s okay,” he tells her. “I understand. I don’t blame you and I appreciate that you want to try. I want to try, too.”

Susan nods back, a sweet smile on her face. It’s gentle, the look she’s giving him.

Billy does understand though. His being the target of Neil’s abuse prevented both Max and Susan from it. He understands that Susan was afraid of her husband and the man that she might not have known he’d unveil to be. She was scared. He understands.

He’s willing to try. To let her in.

She stands and picks up Billy’s empty cup. “Was it okay?” she asks, “It’s just the store bought kind.”

“Yeah. Yeah it was great.”

When she grins at him she looks young. She looks tired and upset, but maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe it means change. Maybe it means she’s learning. She’s trying.

————

“Wear mine.”

Billy looks at you through the mirror in front of which he’s been primping. He claims he doesn’t like it when you say he’s “getting pretty.” His blush says otherwise.

“Yours?”

He rolls his eyes and puts down the hairspray he was holding. “Yeah. It’s fuckin’ cold tonight. Just put mine on. I don’t want you to walk all the way back to your house just to get something I have.”

You snort, making for his closet door. “All the way back?”

He bumps your hip with his, a common you-little-shit gesture.

“Because I live so far away.” You greet the pornstar taped to the thin wood before sliding it open.

“Should be on the right,” Billy says, ignoring your comment and shoving cologne down the front of his pants while you aren’t looking. It’s a habit at this point. Shit, he doesn’t even think about it, and he knows he doesn’t have to impress you.

You push around the clothing hanging in his closet, a couple button-ups, leather, a sweater you’ve never seen him in. It’s this cream color, thick and cable knit. You pull it out. 

“How come you don’t wear this?” you ask, holding it up to him. He unsnaps another button from his shirt and your eyes follow the movement even though you don’t mean to ogle. 

Billy looks the sweater up and down like it’s grossing him out. “I wore it once,” he tells you.

“Once,” you mock playfully, putting the shirt back into his closet.

Billy’s hands are on your hips in an instant, spinning you around. “I thought you were getting a jacket, not raiding my belongings.”

You stick your tongue out at him. It’s childish and you know it, but you do it anyway. He smacks your ass in retaliation, and you go to squeeze his but he grabs your wrist, pulling it to his mouth so that he can kiss your pulse point.

“Barf.” The voice makes you turn your head, and Max has pushed the door open fully where it had been cracked. 

“Hi, Max,” you say, pulling your hand from Billy’s grasp, even if he pouts, and moving to actually retrieve the denim jacket you’d been instructed to wear. 

You can feel Billy and Max staring at each other. “What do you need?” he asks her. 

“Just came to see if we were planning on leaving today or if I should maybe hitch a ride elsewhere.” She enters the room and sits down on the edge of her brother’s bed. 

Billy glances at his watch. “You said to have you at El’s by seven-thirty. We’ve got time.” 

She crosses her arms and Billy faces the mirror again. He thinks he’s finished. “Did you even finish packing your bag, shithead?”

You shove your arms through the jacket sleeves, looking at Max. She raises her eyebrows. No, she definitely did not. There’s a flash of red hair as she hops up, and then she’s gone, the sound of dresser drawers being yanked open and shut echoing down the hall. 

You start rolling up the cuffs, and Billy reaches for the collar, adjusting it for you. You’re focused on getting your hands free when you feel Billy’s finger lifting your chin up. He brings his lips to yours, kissing you once. He pulls away and you move back in, wanting one more. He obliges, albeit grinning at your eagerness. When you’ve gotten your fill, you kiss his cheek, and that’s the one that makes him blush. 

He moves away from you, pulling on his own jacket. “I’m gonna go start the car, okay?”

“M’kay.”

Max let it slip once that Billy always went out to warm up the car before taking them to school. She wouldn’t have assumed it was for her right off the bat, but when she realized he didn’t do that when it was just him in the car, she figured out it was him being nice. Now he just does it for the both of you. You won’t ever say anything about it. 

You look at yourself in Billy’s mirror, listening to his footsteps down the hall and out into the living room. You put your hands in the pockets of his jacket, and to your surprise you feel something. It’s not spare change, or a lighter–anything you would’ve expected to find. 

It’s a sheet of paper. You pull it out, thinking it might be homework he tucked away or a receipt or something. It’s not, though. It’s notebook paper, and it’s been neatly folded like it was done with purpose. 

You sit on the edge of Billy’s bed, and unfold it. To your surprise, it’s a page covered in his handwriting, that pretty, sometimes faintly cursive scrawl. There are some lines scratched out because he used a pen and couldn’t erase. But the thing that catches your eye is the very first line. It’s just your name. It’s a letter. A letter for you. 

Your heart starts to race and you find yourself beginning to read, sinking further into his mattress. 

There’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about, it reads. 

Feelings. Jesus. The truth is, for so long I’d forgotten what those were. I’ve been stuck in one place. In a cave, you might say. A deep, dark cave. And then I sat with you at lunch, and bought you a book, and suddenly you were part of my life. For the first time in a long time, I started to feel things again. I started to feel happy. 

But, tonight I’ve been feeling distant from you. Like I’m pulling away from you or something. I’m sitting here and I’m thinking about the way you looked at me that first night at the record store. The way you held on to me when I slept over for the first time. I’m not even sure if you remember it, but every time I tried to move throughout the night you whined like you were afraid I was going to leave you. Like you needed me. 

But you didn’t know about my dad or that I was falling in love with you then. And I can’t stop thinking about how I raised my voice at you when I came over today.

You pause, realizing when it was that he wrote this. The day he fought back. 

And I’ve been afraid for so long that I might turn out like him. That I might be just the same. And I’ve been scared that you might realize that too and leave me behind. But I didn’t feel that way today when you spoke to me like a human being and you wanted to work things out. I’m changing. You’re changing me. We’re changing. And I guess, if I’m being really honest, that’s what scares me. I don’t want things to change. Because there’s a part of me that worries you might still change your mind. The rest of me knows you won’t. 

So I think maybe what I’m saying is that when you didn’t know about how I felt or who I really am on the inside that it didn’t feel like I’d lose you. But now I’ve let you in and you can see all of me. And now that you’ve said you love me I really don’t want things to change. I don’t want to lose you or want you to go. 

But I know that’s naive. To think you’ll leave. That’s not who you are. I know you’d look at me and say that’s not how this is going to work. 

My whole life everyone has picked someone else over me. Left me behind. Left me on my own. And I know that’s how life works. It’s moving. Always moving and people change whether you like it or not. But you’ve taught me that change can be good. That it doesn’t always mean people changing their mind about me. About caring about me or that I’m good enough to keep around. 

And sometimes change is painful. Sometimes it’s sad and sometimes it’s surprising. 

Happy. 

So you know what? I don’t think change is bad anymore. I think I’m supposed to learn from it. I think that when life hurts, because I know parts of it are going to hurt and there will be things that always hurt, I should remember it. Because the hurt is good. It means I’m out of that cave. 

I just want you to hold my hand while I figure it all out. 

You finish reading and fold the letter back up, putting it back where you found it. You hadn’t realized you were crying, but you were, and you spend the next few minutes fixing yourself in Billy’s mirror. 

When he returns he thinks you’re the one primping. 

“Ready, baby?” he asks. “Max is in the car.”

You turn to him, and he smiles at you. That pretty, pretty smile. You kiss him on both cheeks and then shut off his bedroom light. 

“I’m ready.”

————

Billy pulls away from Hop’s cabin after dropping Max off, but he’s quick to stop the car again. 

You were quiet the whole way there. Sweet as always, no doubt, but it was clear something was bothering you. He doesn’t like it when things upset his girl. 

“What are you doing, Hargrove? We’re gonna miss the movie if you keep this up.”

He raises his eyebrows at you. “Well excuse the hell outta me, hon’.”

You slap your hands against your face, peeking through your fingers at him in hopes that he’ll go ahead and scold you.

“I want you to tell me what’s wrong, baby.” Billy doesn’t have to elaborate. You never seem to have to explain your feelings to him much anymore. It’s like he’s figuring you out, like he understands and knows when something’s bugging you or if you’re hurting. 

“It’s nothing bad, I promise,” you say.

“That doesn’t mean I don’t want to know.”

You nod, and reach into the pocket of the jacket, pulling free the paper. It’s seconds before Billy sees the striped sheet that he remembers what it is, what he’d left in there. 

It all comes back to him, his wrist hurting from pouring his heart out, the relief he felt at putting his feelings somewhere. 

You hand it to him. He unfolds it and scans it over. “You read it?” He knows you did.

“Yeah.” You smile shyly at him, and it’s the same smile you gave him that very first night that you came to check on him. Billy wants to kiss you, so he leans over the center console and does; he presses his mouth to your forehead, warm and sweet. His presence is all-encompassing: heady cologne, minty gum. So very Billy. So much like home. 

He hands the paper back to you. “Feelings, huh?” he says, his mouth pulling up at the corners. 

“Feelings.”

You sandwich your hands between your thighs, taking a deep breath. Your eyes start to water and you can’t help it.

“Billy, I would never leave you, okay?” You were hoping the tears wouldn’t spill over, but it doesn’t matter because your voice fails you. It wavers and you sound fragile, young. And then he’s taking your face in his hands, wiping under your eyes even though there isn’t anything to wipe yet, just soothing motions over the apples of your cheeks, calloused thumbs and warm skin.

He stares at you, his eye contact unbreaking. When he looks at you like that, blue eyes boring into yours, you can’t help but feel a little full. Because he’s looking at you like that. You. 

“I know that. I know.”

You nod, and he nods with you, so much that it looks silly, the both of you nodding, and you start to laugh. 

“I made you feel that way? Really?”

“Of course you did,” Billy says. “My whole life I’ve felt like I’m like a black hole or somethin’. You don’t make me feel that way.”

Your heart aches for him. For this boy who’s had no one tell him how good he is. Who’s finally let you in. Who’s finally realized he can have better, and that he deserves to. 

“I love you, Billy.”

He kisses you on each cheek, your face warm against his lips. He grins and you can feel it on your face. 

“I love you too.”

When you get to the movie theater, you do pay for popcorn, and you do hand him the snacks you kept in your bag after you take your seats. Your mother said movie candy was getting much too expensive. 

You pop a handful of Sno Caps in your mouth, and Billy opens his mouth. You sprinkle some in his, and then reach for his hand. 

He looks down at your clasped fingers while a kid almost faceplants with a bucket of popcorn on the way up the stairs. Thankfully their father caught them first. 

“You did say you wanted me to hold your hand.”

“I did,” Billy says.

—————

“Sit still, I’ll be right back, I swear.”

Billy crosses his arms, but it’s hard for him to look entirely brooding when he’s got plum shadow on his eyelids. You stand. “Here, Max, supervise.” You hand her the brush between your fingers, and she snorts at her brother from where she lays across your bed. 

You make for the living room, suppressing a grin at the sounds of laughter emanating from the area. Susan and Nicky sit on opposite sides of the couch, watching The Golden Girls and talking about whatever it is that mothers-of-dating-children talk about. 

“Mom,” you say, coming to a stop in front of her. 

“Hi, honeybee. What’s the matter?” 

“Can I use some of your makeup? There’s some things you’ve got that I haven’t and–”

She smiles at you, adjusting the well-loved pillow squished behind her back. “You know you can. Whatever you need.”

Her grin is contagious, and you find yourself smiling back just the same. “Thank you.”

She nods. “Playing dress up?” Your mother gives you a knowing look, thinking about the idea you’d had in mind ever since you watched Rocky Horror with Billy that first time. 

“You could say so,” you tell her, and then you’re off to raid her bathroom cabinet, pulling free the large and full bag of goodies. 

You start to rifle through the corduroy pouch, but decide it’d be easier to take the whole thing with you to your room, so that’s what you do.

When you return, you settle on your knees in front of your boyfriend, still finding it odd that you get to call him that now, even if that is exactly what he is to you. Your pretty, pretty boyfriend. Your boyfriend who’s letting you do his makeup. 

Max hands you your brush back, raising herself up on her elbows so that she can watch the show better.

“Hi,” you say to him, pressing a kiss on the tip of his nose. 

“Hi,” he responds, his voice showing all signs that he’s both enjoying this, yet also grumping about the fact that he let you do it in the first place. He settles back on his hands, legs spread so that you can sit in between them and reach him. You pull free both the pencil of thick liner you’d been looking for, and a pot of blush you know to be much pinker than the one you’ve got. Yours has also been broken on multiple occasions so that now it’s just little bits of pink powder sliding around in the pan. 

You uncap the liner first, a warm brown shade, clearly freshly sharpened by your mother. “Close your eyes, pretty please,” you tell him. He obliges, lids fluttering shut. 

You reach out, and starting to drag the tip of the pencil across his skin, you realize your hand isn’t as steady as you’d like, considering the fact that you’re also half-focused on not kneeing Billy in a place you’re quite sure he’d prefer to not be kneed. 

You let out a frustrated sigh, and Billy blinks up at you. “What’s wrong?”

“This isn’t working. Just–” You shove the eyeliner pencil into his hands, and then move from between his legs. You grip his calves and move his legs together, then crawl forwards a little and straddle his lap.

He grins up at you, a cocky and mischievous look. “Comfy?”

“Shut up and close your eyes again.”

“Well you don’t want much.” 

You pinch the squish of his side and he swats blindly at your arm. You take Billy’s face in your hand, resting the pinky of your dominant one against his cheekbone. This go around you’re able to drag the liner effectively across his eyelid. A tap at his face signals he needs to look up, and when he does, you do the same to his lower hip. Afterwards, you take a super small brush that Max found and use it to smudge the eyeliner out some, that way the lines aren’t so harsh.

You finish and take Billy’s face in your hands again, turning it to face Max. “Thoughts?”

She taps her chin, though smiling all the same. “Very nice.”

With a little more manhandling, you get some mascara on those lashes of his, though not without a little pleased squeaking in the process. It’s at the blush that you get excited enough to make him laugh. You swipe your brush heavily across his cheeks, and then the tip of his nose, where you’re probably much too generous. You don’t care. He looks so, so pretty, all blushy like this. 

“Part your lips.” You say, thumb tugging at his bottom one. You put a gloss on Billy’s lips and almost lose it for good. He’s so gorgeous. 

When you finish, you wipe your hands clean on a towel and back up a little ways from him to survey your work. 

You clap your hands. “Max, help me. Would you look at this?”

She does, laughing gleefully. “Oh my god, this is so good.”

You look Billy in the eyes, and Max hops up off of your bed to get a better look. “You look so gorgeous, my love.”

He’s thankful for the blush in that moment, because without it you’d see the effect your using that name had on him. 

“Thank you,” he says.

“Wanna see?” God, you look so happy.

“Do I have to?”

You bite your lip and Billy pulls it free, taking the little handheld mirror from you. 

And, honestly, he thinks he looks kinda hot. You picked a good eyeshadow color, one that makes his blue eyes stand out even more, and he just looks pretty. Just as you’d said. 

“Do you like it?”

“Yes. You did a very good job.”

He goes to kiss you, but you stop him. “Nope. You’ll mess up my work!”

Billy rolls his eyes and flips Max a bird when he sees her giggling at your enthusiasm and his compliance. 

“Can I take a picture?” you ask. 

Billy holds up his hands. “Oh hell no.”

“Billy, she needs to document her masterpiece,” Max says, though really she knows it’d make great blackmail. That and she loves how happy the both of you seem. She’d like to remember this too. 

“Please?” You give him your very best puppy dog eyes, making sure they’re watery and everything. You know he’ll give in. 

“Fine. But you show this to anyone, and you’re both dead.”

You laugh, grabbing for your Polaroid camera. “Who the fuck do you think I’m gonna show? Everyone I know is in this room.”

Billy’s smiles then, and you’re just quick enough to catch it. You get another after you kiss his sparkly forehead. And when you’ve finished, you stick them in the frame of your mirror so they’ll always be there. 

That night, after Max and Susan have gone home, you sit in the bathroom to help Billy wash the makeup off, but only when you’d let Nicky see, and she thought he looked stunning. Showstopping, she’d said. 

And it’s then, as you wipe the rosy tinge from his cheeks, revealing his freckles once again, that you realize months before this you’d been so alone. You’d ached for a moment like this. 

And here you were. So even if the journey to get here had hurt, even if it’d been hard and pushed you to your limits, it’s okay. Because that’s how life works. It hurts sometimes. And that’s okay. 

Because the hurt? The hurt is good.

————

please let me know if you liked this! feedback is always appreciated!! comments and reblogs mean more than you know. <33

Imagine Eddie catching you with your glasses on!!!

Why I am thinking about this? Because I wear glasses myself but I hate them sometimes. I don’t want to wear them outside but I have to because if I don’t I literally don’t see anything that far away. Funfact: when I‘ve met Grace, Joe, Gaten and Jamie at the GCC in December they said the loved my hair and glasses and that‘s the only reason I‘m ok with wearing them outside🥹🥹 Grace even took a picture of me because she said I looked cute and one day later we had the same hair cut💔

ANYWAY I imagining it like this:

You‘re never wearing your glasses outside. Never. If someone would see you with them you‘d dig your own grave because it would be so embarrassing for you. It just doesn’t fit into the whole "you“ concept. Always wearing black, looking like a Rockerchick, just matching with your boyfriend Eddie all the time. If you’d wear your glasses which have a slight golden frame, just to see what‘s written on the board, everyone would probably laugh at you. Not like you care what others think but you‘re afraid that your friends will laugh about it too. They love to tease you, so they‘d definitely tease you about you wearing glasses too.

The "Rockerchick" has to wear glasses, how funny.

And your biggest fear? Eddie finding out that you literally can’t see shit and he starts to make fun of you. Or even worse, what if he thinks you look stupid?

Eddie‘s probably the last person to judge someone because of their look. Especially if the other person is someone who’s important to him, and you definitely are. You know that but the fear of not being perfect for him is too big. So you just keep it your little secret.

One day you‘re lying in your bed, wearing nothing but one of Eddie’s tees and your panties since you’re home alone. A book lingers between your hands, you’re adjusting your glasses on top of you’re nose and you‘re about to turn to the next page when you hear a knock on your window. Mindlessly you turn your head to look at whoever decided to visit you in the middle of the night, completely forgetting that you had your glasses on. That’s until you see your boyfriend’s surprised face on the other side of the glass. Fuck.

It doesn’t take you a second to pull them off your face, throwing them somewhere into the bed before jumping out of it. You walk over to the window, letting your boyfriend climb inside before closing the curtains. "Eddie it’s literally 2am! Why are you here?" You look at him but he doesn’t respond. Instead he walks to your bed and picks up the "Accessoire" that was lingering on your nose just a few seconds ago.

You freeze. He definitely saw you wearing them, there‘s no way he didn’t. You were directly looking at him. Fuck fuck fuck.

"Are these…are these yours?" He looks up at you, still holding your glasses between his fingers,making eye contact which causes you to feel your cheeks burn like fire. His voice is calm, there‘s no judgement in it all only curiosity. A soft sigh escapes your lips and you slowly nod. "Why did you never tell me that you wear glasses Sweetheart?" He laughs softly and you can see how he lifts his hands up to his face, before putting your visual aid on his own nose, testing if he‘s able to see through them like a curious child. Now you‘re the one who‘s laughing softly, answering with a soft nod only.

He puts them down again as he walks over to you before he puts your glasses back on your face, a soft smile forms on his lips while doing so. "You look adorable with them y/n" his voice is barely above a whisper. "You think so?" You whisper back at him, your eyes closed because of how embarrassed you feel. He nods yes "Hell yeah. Even though they also look badass on you" he grins as he places a soft kiss on top of your nose, causing another chuckle to escapes your lips.

Turns out Eddie loves your glasses. He thinks they fit you so goddamn good and they make you look even smarter than you already are. He steals them every now and then to wear them, just to see your precious reaction. Every time he comes over he makes you wear them so your poor eyes can relax a bit.

Yeah, Eddie just loves you so much it‘s unbelievable.

Masterlist

🥺🥺

Billy's cremated. So that his body can't be examined, can't be looked at. So that no one can question how he looks, or why he's got these black veins on his body.

Ashes of him, in a small jar. A whole life, in something quite... well, ordinary.

Max is older now. When Billy had first died, she had conflicting feelings. Thought about those nights where she'd wished for his death. It's been years now. She's older than he was then. The thought is a painful one. Everything is over in Hawkins, but so many had lost their lives. So many would never get to grow old. Just like Billy.

She's free now. Life, well it just moved on. But she never forgot about the ashes. Her mom didn't want them, and Neil hadn't been seen since. She had no idea where Billy's mom was, either. So they ended up with her when she moved out.

Sat up on a mantle, Max couldn't help but look at them everyday. They didn't feel right here. Billy wouldn't want to be some mantelpiece for the rest of his life.

So one day she picks up the vase, and goes out to her car. She's back in California now. She made the trip he always planned too. She made it here.

She'll make sure he does too.

She drives, with him in the passenger seat. Plays music he would've listened to. She hates that she likes it too. That hell, these are his old tapes she's playing on the radio.

She stops the car and gets out, taking him with her. She goes to the water, and carefully pops off the top. She shakes them out, right into the ocean.

He's free now. He's where he'd want to be. He's made it to Cali.

She can almost see him smiling beside her.

She pops the top back on, and now it's just a vase. Just an ordinary vase. The sea has him now, and the sea is anything but ordinary.

He's home.

Everyone jokes about Steve being the babysitter or the mom friend, but no one actually appreciates everything he does until he gets sick. Steve is the epitome of a doting parent; sure, he's only twenty and the seven kids he's adopted aren't actually his in any legal way, but those kids are his pride and fucking joy. Anyone who sees Steve with those kids can tell that he loves them deeply, which is why Steve is the only person in the Party that can convince their parents to allow anything- their parents KNOW that their kids will not only be well looked after, but they'll be genuinely enjoying themselves too.

Because he's a single mom except he's actually just barely out of his teenage years with no kids, he gets a lot of shit from everyone about it; he's known almost exclusively to the Party as Mama Steve (when he isn't in earshot of course). That's all fine by Steve, he always wanted a big family and now he has it. The problems start to appear when the Party realizes that Steve Harrington flat out ignores his own needs until they're so pressing that he's physically unable to do anything.

It all starts when Robin is told by Keith, of all people, that Steve has called in sick. Robin, of course, panics and calls him, and when he doesn't answer she calls Eddie to check on him. He and Steve had gotten closer since spring break, so it wasn't unusual for a member of the party to call either Eddie or Steve to check in on the other.

Eddie checks in to find Steve Harrington, badass warrior prince incarnate, sobbing from a blanket mountain on the couch in his living room. No one has ever actually seen Steve cry before, so Eddie freaks out, but it's just the result of a high fever and watching Old Yeller by himself. After calming the sick man, Eddie managed to coax some medicine into him and call Family Video to let Robin know that, yes, Steve is alive and no, he wasn't going to die of fever, but he only manages to get Steve to sleep by reading to him (Eddie finds it disgustingly adorable, even more so later when Nancy mentions that Steve loves stories but struggles with what he calls "moving letters"). And for the next two weeks, Steve is down for the count. Joyce and Claudia Henderson take turns making sure Steve is alright (Joyce because Steve is one of Her Kids, and Claudia because Steve is the Older Son she never had) while Eddie, Nancy, Jonathan, and Robin all try to take his place.

By the end of the first day, Nancy calls it quits: Mike is a bullheaded terror who only ever seems to like Will, El, or Eddie, and even then he doesn't always listen to them, so the Wheeler siblings fight even more ferociously than usual. She can't get El or Erica to listen, either; Erica is a force to be reckoned with, and El will only nod passively before doing what she wants anyway. By the end of day three, Jonathan is out. He won't say what happened, but he told Max to be nicer to the Party one time and, ten minutes later, he was tearfully saying that the kids were little monsters.

Robin lasts longer, almost an entire week, by chattering at the kids until they give up and listen to her. She meets her match when Dustin and Erica try to commandeer the Family Video computer again: Dusting sneaks past and almost breaks the computer just trying to get to it while Erica does Erica and argues until Robin the Rambler runs out of words. The morning of day seven is very dark for her.

Eddie, through what he believes to be the universe's acknowledgement of the depth of his affection for Steve and also sheer force of will, lasts the whole two weeks, but just barely. Mike argues over everything, no matter what; Will is skittish at the best of times and disappears constantly (thankfully, not like his Upside Down episodes - the boy just can't stop getting distracted and wandering away from the group), only to reappear directly behind Eddie and scaring him into an early grave; Lucas gets frustrated easily and can never seem to find the right words to communicate his thoughts and feelings, so he snarks and lashes out before awkwardly trying to mend the situation; Erica is so completely herself that it can be dizzying when the full force of that hurricane is directed towards Eddie; Dustin practically follows Eddie around like a little duckling, demanding updates on Steve or ranting about one of his many interests; El spends most of her time with the Party learning about how girls her age act through Max or practicing her braiding on Eddie. The worst of them all, though, is Max. Despite having healed up, she's still in physical therapy to rebuild her muscle strength and dexterity, and her eyesight is bad enough now that there's talk of her getting a service animal. It isn't that she needs a little extra attention that makes her the worst, though: it's that somehow, she still chases the most mischief. Eddie has only narrowly managed to keep her from assaulting no less that nine people in the two weeks that Steve is sick, and he knows she's definitely tried to commit arson at least twice that often.

Finally, after two weeks, Steve feels better enough to return to his usual activity, and Eddie begs him to never get sick again.

Billy Hargrove x Reader

Summery-Reader mourns the death of her love, Billy Hargrove after his death in the Starcourt Mall Incident

1.3k words

Billy stands from kneeling over Eleven, facing the Mind Flayer. Eleven starts to back up, Y/N reaching out to grab her and help her up, but is distracted by the long tentacle-like arm that comes out of the monster's mouth. Before it can grab onto Eleven, Billy takes hold of it, pushing back on it. More tentacles emerge from its body, slamming into the teen's body, first on his left, then his right. Another two to his back. Billy lets go of the first tentacle, screaming in pain. Y/N wills her body to stay put, knowing she'll only make it worse if she tried to make it release her boyfriend from its slimy grasp. 

Billy falls to his knees, looking at the monster head-on, almost as if he's asking if that's all it's got. Black goo and blood oozes from his mouth, rolling down his chin and neck, down to his white muscle shirt. 

The Mind Flayer opens its mouth once more, another tentacle arm coming from its mouth, shooting out and embedding itself in the center of Billy's chest. The troubled teen falls quiet, slumping down and to the side when the tentacles let go of him. 

Y/N is the first at his side, her hands falling to his blood and goo-covered cheeks. Billy sputters, spitting blood and goo onto her face, but Y/N couldn't care any less right now.

"I love you, Y/N/N." Billy whispers to her, giving her a gentle smile.

"No, no Billy, come on, we gotta get you out of here." She says, trying to get the boy she loves to move. Max falls at her side, telling Billy to get up. 

Billy looks at his step-sister once before uttering his last words, "I'm sorry." Y/N watches as his chest stops moving, his eyes becoming unfocused and glazed over as he looks at the ruined ceiling. 

Y/N's eyes shoot open the moment she wakes up. Her body is drenched in a cold sweat, soaking through the thin layer of clothing she has on and into the bed sheets under her and blankets around her. A harsh breath leaves her trembling lips, her eyes momentarily closing to try and fight off the tears filling them.

The shaking girl pulls herself out of her bed, throwing on a random sweatshirt from the floor and grabbing a pair of shoes. She treads lightly down the stairs and out to the driveway to the car awaiting her. She quietly slips into the driver's seat, pushing the keys into the ignition, listening to the engine's roar as it comes to life. The newly fixed blue Camero is quickly backed out of the driveway and tearing down the roads of Hawkins in a matter of minutes, driving to the only place the driver can think of.

The Quarry

Y/N steps out of the Camero, sitting down on the hood, looking over the cliff's ledge. The screams from her dream comes back, running through her head again. She closes her eyes again, trying to will the tears away, but it doesn't work this time. Salty tears roll down her cheeks, falling onto the sweatshirt she's wearing, which she just noticed was Billy's. The tears flow harder down her cheeks when she sees the police lights roll up behind her. It's only about a minute between the tires coming to a stop and the door of the Blazer being opened before Chief Jim Hopper is standing next to the hood of the Camero, letting out a sad sigh.

"Max call?" Y/N asks, looking out over the water instead of the chief.

"You know she did. She heard you start the Camero and drive off. She called for me to check on you, make sure you didn't wrap yourself around a tree." Jim says from next to her, taking off his hat and tossing it onto the hood in front of Y/N.

"Yeah, well you can go now, Chief. As you can see, I didn't wrap my car around a tree, so you're free to tell her I'm perfectly fine." Y/N said, a slight edge to her tone.

"Look, you and I both know you're not fine. Max, Steve, everyone knows you're not fine. We know you lost someone, but so did Max, Joyce did last year, and Nancy did two years ago. You're not the only one who has lost someone in this mess. You're not the only one hurting, so maybe you should stop looking at it like you're the only one hurting, 'cause you're not." Jim said but immediately felt guilty as soon as it left his mouth. A tear slid down Y/N's cheek when she looked down at her lap. "Y/N, I didn't mean it like that." Jim tried to backtrack, but it didn't work.

"Leave," Y/N whispered, still not looking at the chief.

"Y/N, c'mon, you know I didn't mean it like that." Jim said, reaching out to rest his hand on her arm. 

Y/N flinches away from the contact, raising her voice to get her point across. "I said leave! You can see I'm fine so leave me alone!" She yells, her voice echoing around the quarry. Jim lets his hand fall from her arm, backing up and back to his Blazer. Y/N watches as he drives back down the road, turning around when she can no longer see the large vehicle.

The mourning girl is quick to jump off the hood of the Camero, standing there and staring out at the blue water before she screams. And screams. And screams until her voice cracks and breaks, until her throat is raw. She falls to her knees on the rocks, letting sobs rack her body. She's uncaring of the way the rocks dig into her knees not covered by her pajama shorts. The pain shooting up her legs from the rocks is nothing compared to the pain of losing the one she loved the most. 

Y/N is unaware of the BMW pulling in behind the Camero, a concerned Steve and even more concerned Max step out. She has no idea how long she sits on the ground and sobs. It could have been minutes, hours, or even days, she doesn't know. All she knows is as she's crying, warm arms wrap around her from behind, pulling her off her knees and resting her butt on the ground. She begins to cry harder when she hears the sweet and soothing sound of Steve Harrington talking to her gently.

"I know, Y/N. I know you're hurting, I know. I'm so sorry." He says, repeating how sorry he is for her. Not long after Steve embraces her, Max is wrapping herself around her brother's girlfriend like a koala. Trying to soothe her cries.

Y/N is once again not sure how long the three of them sit on the ground in a tight embrace, but her cries eventually slow to small sniffles. They continue to sit in silence for a few more minutes before Max pulls away, looking at Y/N. "Let's go home Y/N/N. Billy wouldn't want us out here this late at night." Y/N nods her head, letting Max up first, then Steve, and finally, Steve pulls her to her feet. Max walks to the passenger back seat, sitting down in the car, waiting for the other two.

Steve pulls Y/N into one last bone-crushing hug. "You have no idea how sorry I am Y/N. I want nothing more than to bring Billy back, even if I hated his guts. I hate seeing you in so much pain. I wish there was something I could do for you." Steve says, ending his words with a kiss pressed to Y/N's hairline.

"I know, Steve. I just need some time." She says, squeezing his middle one last time before she lets go and walks over to the BMW. The Camero would be picked up later when Y/N was a little more stable.

The Camero would be just fine in Billy's favorite place. Just for one last time...

I'm just gonna go cry in the corner now...

Steve carries Eddie’s body through the gate, blood soaking his clothes where silent tears fail to wash it away. It feels like Eddie’s blood is going to seep into is body and stay there under his skin like a tattoo. A reminder for all eternity that happy endings were only ever an invention by people who didn’t know anything about life.

“He’s losing so much blood,” Robin keeps wheezing behind him, breathless with the weight of it all, and Steve wants to say something, wants to comfort her that it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t hurt him, he won’t need the blood anymore. But the words get stuck in his throat as more tears fall.

Eddie’s hand is cold in his, and it will forever haunt him. Still, he’s not ready to let go when they reach the remnants of the trailer, when his knees give out and he collapses onto the soiled mattress. But whatever stains they were, they’re history now underneath all that blood.

History is the thing with the bloodstained beds and lost, abandoned homes, is it not? History is the part where everything gets ripped from you and you’re meant to keep standing. Keep fighting.

History, right now, looks a lot like a future unwritten, with Eddie’s hand in his, cold and unfeeling.

Steve still doesn’t say a word.

The world has larger problems than his failed attempts at grief. Ripped apart at its seams, wilting and rotting and overcome with death and decay, Hawkins needs Steve Harrington to once again show a strength he shouldn’t have to possess.

He helps. Donates clothes, offers his home, his kitchen, his bedrooms to everyone in need. Donates his time, his smile, his thoughts to the people who have the fortune and the privilege to think nothing of him.

Funerals are a daily occasion — with or without the bodies — and so Steve doesn’t even think about it when Dustin approaches him about Eddie.

“He shouldn’t be put on public display like that,” Dustin says and Steve marvels, for a second, that he still has his voice. “He deserves more than a freakshow, and they’re so busy, but they said they could… They could come and—and prepare him. The body. Bring him over. Have a proper service for him, those who knew, those who cared about. Could we do it at your place? Please?”

His eyes sting as he nods and pulls Dustin into a hug that leaves his shirt wet. It’s fine. All his clothes have the memory of tear stains on them, and tear stains are better than blood; a kinder version of history.

It’s a week after… a week since… It’s been a week, when they finally have the funeral for Eddie. Steve doesn’t mean to be there, he shouldn’t be, he can’t be, not when he still scrubs at his skin where Eddie’s blood used to be and he wants to get it out of there because he knows it’s inside him, he knows it’s in there; he knows because he’s hurting all over. Everything, everything hurts. And he can’t wash it away, the memory, the stains, the part where past and future became history and present became nothing but pain. He can’t—

He can’t.

Eddie refused to run and it’s all Steve wants to do anymore. It’s not fair. It’s not.

He shuts himself away from the world in his room and tries to scratch it away, the memory of the blood. He wants to scream and to shout and to talk and to apologise, but he can’t, because there are no words.

And then Dustin is talking, and Steve stops tearing at his skin to listen. He can’t hear the words but he can hear the pain, he can hear the way Dustin is stronger than him, always has been, and he opens the door. Slips down the stairs slowly until he sees it. The open coffin with Eddie’s body, his hair glowing in the light of the afternoon sun.

“He was the coolest, kindest, bravest guy I know,” Dustin says, but Steve doesn’t want to hear it, so he stops listening as he reaches the foot of the stairs and keeps walking, closer to Eddie, always closer, always so, so close.

And he misses the touch, misses those dark brown eyes that were so kind, and he wants to see them again. They’re closed. They shouldn’t be closed; the world has to see. Has to see the kindness in those eyes, the beauty, the wonderful things they’d think of.

Silence falls around him but Steve doesn’t care, doesn’t really notice; not when those eyes are closed, not when he reaches out to open them as a way to right all the wrongs in the world now.

But then his eyes fall to Eddie’s bare throat, and everything is wrong once more, no chance to right it, because—

“Where’s his pick? He needs-Eddie needs his plectrum to play. He can’t play without his pick, he can’t— The bats will get him, please, you have to… He needs his pick.”

And Steve falls apart as he finds his words again, words that rip into his very soul, tearing at the fabric of the world itself and turning it upside down. There are hands on his shoulders, trying to pull him away from the coffin, but he clings to it even as his knees start to give out while sobs wreck through his body.

“It’s okay, boy,” someone tells him, and Steve falls back into Hoppers chest, strong arms holding him up instead of pulling him away from Eddie. “It’s okay.”

He’s shaking his head, vision blurry now, and maybe there’s a bit of irony in the way that Steve and Eddie will both have had their last visions of each other be blurred with tears.

“It’s not, it’s not okay,” he insists, trying to shake off the hands holding him up. He wants to fall apart; wants to break; wants to be gone. Don’t hold me together, let me shatter. “You— You all wanted me to talk. You wanted me to!”

He’s gasping for breath again, hiccuping through the tears and the words and the weakness.

“I’m talking. Eddie, I love you. I wanna love you, and now I’m gonna, forever, but I don’t want the sad kind of forever. I want… Please, please he needs his pick, he can’t play without it.”

And then he’s on the floor, sobbing, and the words are gone again. Robin, Dustin and Hopper go down with him, but even they can’t put him together now.

“Steve,” Dustin says, voice hoarse with the weight of his own tears. “It’s here, see? I’ve got his pick, it’s safe. Do you wanna give it to him? Make sure he has it forever?”

He does. But he can’t bring himself to let go. Wayne comes up and places a scratched up piece of plastic on Eddie’s chest.

“He used to leave ‘em all ‘round the trailer. I always keep ‘em with me the days. Found this one under the couch before we… He’ll have it now, see? He can play again, our boy can play again.”

Steve falls apart until he doesn’t remember what piece of himself goes where. But it’s fine. Eddie will play again.

@thefreakandthehair technically you didn’t do this, but you sure didn’t discourage me from writing this (inspired by the My Girl funeral scene)

Erica grows up to be the youngest Dungeon Master for Hellfire. She keeps Eddie’s dice to honour him, and makes her campaigns extra punishing just to honour him further. At the beginning of every new campaign, they have a moment of silence. The new recruits aren’t told why, but it’s custom, so they participate. Erica becomes the new shepherd, herding all the little lost sheep until a new one can take her place. Giving them a space to feel safe, to be themselves. That is Eddie’s legacy, and hers.