#Episode 353

[stevie-petey]

episode eight: the gate

“Drop me and die.” Your knuckles are white as they clutch the rope, your body shaking with exhaustion as you try to ease your way down without further injuring your ribs.  Steve laughs and tightens his grip on your waist, steadying you as you finally inch the rest of the way down and land with a gentle thud onto the ground. “Like I’d ever dream of letting you go.” This time, you know it’s his words that cause you to shiver, not the exhaustion and pain.

Summary: you encourage nancy to take your place (everyone is shocked), you and steve are the newest babysitters in town, billy ruins things as always, tunnels are weird when youre concussed, you remind jonathan of an old promise, and when the snowball comes you make your own promise with steve that you know you can keep.

Rating: general, although very violent

Warnings: use of y/n, fem!reader, intense violence and blood, weapons, monsters, probably more im forgetting

Words: 20.1k (no one speak to me)

Before you swing in: this is it ,,, the final episode of season two <3 this chapter was both the easiest and hardest one ive ever written. there are scenes in here that i put so much into, and im so proud of where everything landed. handling so many relationships and dynamics was so incredibly difficult, but i adore where they ended up. i hope you guys do, too :)

-

“Eleven,”

“Mike.”

The two kids embrace, Mike holding desperately onto El as if he’s afraid she’ll disappear again any second, and she’s holding onto him just as tightly as their tears mix together. 

You watch them with a hand over your heart, your own tears spilling over. You can’t believe this is real, that El is standing in Mike’s arms alive and real.

The way they cling to each other brings more tears to your eyes. It’s obvious to everyone how much they love one another. You think about the endless batches of brownies you baked for Mike, how many nights you spent in his basement standing watch, looking for any sign of grief, in case he needed you there to remind him that it’s okay to cry. 

“Is that…?” Max asks Lucas, and he nods. 

“She’s back.” You exhale, feeling Dustin’s fingers slip between yours. He knows how much you missed El, he’s spent just as many nights keeping watch over you, reminding you to cry as well. 

Mike pulls away, his eyes shining with tears. “I never gave up on you. I called you every night. Every night for–”

“353 days.” El finishes for him, you’ve never heard so much emotion in her voice. “I heard.”

You think about the nights you found Mike huddled underneath the fort he once built for El in his basement, clutching the radio to his chest, passed out from exhaustion. You never mentioned it to the boy, knowing he’d simply deny and tell you it was nothing, but hearing El confirm what you already knew still hurts. 

“Why didn’t you tell me you were there?” 

You look around the room now, wondering the same as Mike, and then your eyes land on Hopper. While everyone looks surprised or confused at El’s reappearance, Hopper’s face is one of resignation. 

Everything clicks. 

He knew.

Hopper sees that you’ve pieced it together and steps forward. “Because I wouldn’t let her.”

You step forward as well so that you’re next to Mike, knowing that this will only upset him more. “You knew.”

“What the hell is this?” The chief ignores you, now speaking only to El. “Where’ve you been?”

“Where have you been?” El’s eyes darken, but she immediately melts when Hopper pulls her into a hug. By watching their body language, you can tell that they love each other dearly, and distantly you remember hearing about the daughter Hopper once had. 

Though you’re angry he hid El from you, you’re thankful they found one another in the end. You’ve never seen Hopper so tender with someone, and El seems to feel safe within his embrace, far from the skittish girl you found in the woods last year. 

“You’ve been hiding her!” Lost in your thoughts, you momentarily forget about Mike, who launches himself at Hopper and punches the man’s chest. “You’ve been hiding her this whole time!”

Hopper flinches away. “Hey–”

“Mike,” you grab his shoulders, knowing his anger will only do more harm than good, but he struggles against you as he tries to continue hitting the man. “We can all talk about this–”

“Let’s talk,” Hopper grabs at Mike’s shirt, finally forcing the kid to stop. Then, looking directly at you, he adds. “Alone.”

You look at Mike, silently asking him what he needs from you. You know the two of them need to settle their differences, that he feels Hopper’s betrayal the deepest and you trust him to make his own choices. However, with one headshake from him, you would prevent Mike from being alone with Hopper in a heartbeat. 

Mike knows this, he doesn’t have to even have to ask what you mean when you gently nod your chin at him. Taking a deep breath, the boy sighs and nods at you, indicating that he’ll talk with the cop. 

You let go of Mike and gently push him towards Hopper. “He’s all yours, but try not to kill him, please? I unfortunately like the kid.”

Hopper doesn’t play into your words and promptly grabs the back of Mike’s hoodie and marches him towards Will’s room. The door closes behind them, leaving you to deal with El.

Her nose is bleeding and she looks upset having Mike taken from her, there’s an exhaustion behind her eyes that you’re all too familiar with. You wrap an arm around her waist and pull her into you. “C’mere, sweetheart.”

El leans into the kiss you press upon her cheek and closes her eyes, relishing in the tenderness after the night she’s had. “Missed you.”

“And I missed you.” You place another kiss on her head. “The hairstyle suits you, by the way.”

This seems to lighten the girl up a bit, who giggles and quietly thanks you as she wraps her arms fully around you now, securing you into a hug. You allow her all the time she needs to collect herself. 

When you hear Mike’s heartbroken screams at Hopper, calling him a liar, you squeeze your arms tighter around El. “They’ll be fine,” you promise her, feeling the need to reassure her of this, though hearing Mike’s screams breaks your heart.

You understand why Hopper hid El, it wasn’t safe for anyone to know about her being alive, but Mike spent the entire year grieving for her. He lost a year of his childhood mourning the loss of a close friend, of someone he loves, and it isn’t fair to expect him to accept this. 

El nods at your reassurance before you’re suddenly shoved away from her. 

“You’re hogging the former dead girl, Y/N!” Dustin exclaims as he engulfs El into a hug. 

Lucas flashes you an apologetic smile before hugging the girl as well, focusing his attention on her. “We missed you.”

“I missed you too.” She responds, squeezing both boys tight. 

“We talked about you pretty much every day.” Dustin pulls away before pointing at you. “Y/N usually just cried.”

You elbow your brother, causing him to wince. “You say that like I don’t normally cry over things.”

Dustin opens his mouth to argue, but suddenly El’s fingers are pinching at his lips as she pries his jaw open. Your brother looks at you in alarm, and you’re too stunned to do anything besides watch in bewilderment. 

“Teeth.” El finally says,

You giggle, while Dustin simply stares at her as if she’s insane. “What?”

“You have teeth.”

Dustin breaks into a smile. “Oh, you like these pearls?”

When he makes an obscure purring sound with his mouth, you scoff at your brother and roll your eyes alongside Lucas. “Please, never do that ever again.”

“Eleven?” Max now approaches with a warm smile on her face, the most open you’ve ever seen the girl, and extends her hand for El to shake. “Hey, um. I’m Max. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

El looks at you and tilts her head, which you assume means she’s unsure what to do, so you step in. “Max is a friend, sweetheart.”

She eyes Max’s hand, looks up at her again, before bypassing the girl completely and going straight into Joyce’s arms.

You frown, confused by El’s unusual dismissiveness, and look over at Max. Her head is ducked down, embarrassed, and you make a mental note to remind yourself later to ask El what happened. Max is a good girl, they deserve to be friends and you know they’d get along if given the chance.

Joyce cradles El’s head and greets her with tears, and the girl responds the same. After they’ve hugged, El pulls away, her tears now ones of worry. “Can I see him?”

Joyce’s eyes flash to you, and the two of you seem to realize the same thing: it’s no coincidence that El arrived when she did. You think about what Dustin and the kids deciphered in morse code, Will’s hidden message. 

Close the gate. 

El is the only person you know can do it. 

“Go take her to him,” you tell Joyce. “I’ll catch everyone else up.”

The woman nods, her eyes appreciative, before gently guiding El towards Will’s room. 

“I’m assuming I’m ‘everyone’.” Steve says as soon as Joyce and El have left. 

You laugh, finally rejoining his side. “Yeah, pretty much.”

“Alright, catch me up then. Who was the girl and why does she have a bloody nose problem?”

“Her name is Eleven, or El. Besides the Demogorgon, and Demodogs, did we ever discuss El?”

Nancy speaks up from the corner, timid. “I, uh… Didn’t tell Steve a lot. We kinda just, we–we didn’t ever really–”

“I never let Nancy explain, and I was too afraid to ask.” Steve kindly saves Nancy, and something both you and Jonathan take note of. 

“Well,” you clap your hands, dispelling away any remaining tension for both your sake and the kids’ sakes. “El has these powers, she can make things move with her mind, and when she uses them she gets nose bleeds.”

Steve stares at you. “Okay…”

“Mhm. It’s just as insane as it sounds. Remember the whole Upside Down story Dustin and I told you about yesterday? Well, she can travel there and has a connection to it. With her mind. Somehow. I don’t actually know the logistics of it.”

“You’re doing great, bug.” Jonathan’s voice drips with sarcasm, but Dustin hits his chest to shut him up. 

“Thanks, Dustin. Anyways, El has these insane powers and she’s the sweetest, softest person I’ve ever met. We…” your voice trails off now, still getting used to the fact that she’s alive. “We thought we lost her last year, when she killed the Demogorgon and helped bring Will back.”

“But she’s alive.” Steve concludes. 

You nod, a natural smile spreading across your face. “She is.”

“If you say she’s the sweetest person you’ve ever met, then I definitely believe you.”

Steve’s words make you blush, the pure and honest way he says them, and both Dustin and Jonathan cringe. The two boys share a look, both for once on the same page in a long time, and make gagging motions. 

You see this and flick both of their heads. “I know where you both sleep.”

Both boys stick their tongue out at you, and for a moment everything feels normal. Jonathan and Dustin are teasing you, Jonathan’s eyes are lit up, and your brother is carefree again. 

Then Joyce returns to the living room with El and the mood becomes somber again. 

They stand over the kitchen table, El stares down at the piece of paper with the “close gate” on it, and Joyce asks the question you’ve all been wondering. “You opened this gate before, right?”

“Yes,” the girl responds as you and everyone else now join her and Joyce. 

“Do you think if we got you back there, that you could close it?”

El looks between you and Joyce, her gaze stony and resigned. You wonder what else she’s gone through to put such a void within her; like all the other kids, she no longer has a sweet naivety to her.

Then, slowly, El nods. 

– 

“It’s not like it was before. It’s grown. A lot.” Everyone stands in the kitchen, circling around Hopper as he explains exactly what the gate now is. “I mean, that’s considering we can get in there. The place is crawling with those dogs.”

You grab Dustin’s shirt and yank harshly at it. “Don’t you dare–”

“Demodogs.”

Hopper looks at him, sighing. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Please just ignore him.” You plead with the officer, knowing he’s already in a bitchy mood. 

Dustin doesn’t pick up on the anger, though. “I said, uh… Demodogs. Like Demogorgon and dogs.”

“Oh my god,” you groan, rubbing at your temples. You’ve heard this explanation of the word play a million times within the last twenty-four hours. If you have to hear Dustin explain what Demodog means one more time, you think you may murder the kid.

Dustin, unfortunately, continues. “You put them together… it sounds pretty badass–”

“How is this important right now?” Hopper snaps at the boy, which only makes you more annoyed. 

You put your hand up at the old man, closing your fingers together to mimic a mouth being shut. “One more aggressive comment to the thirteen year old and I will show you that Nancy isn’t the only one who can shoot a gun.”

“Uh, Y/N…” Jonathan nervously mumbles, unsure what Hopper’s reaction may be. 

However, the chief simply raises an eyebrow at you, stares you down for a few seconds, before finally seeming to decide that he’s impressed with your bold comment. “I’ll make sure to remember that.”

“I can do it.” El suddenly voices from the other end of the table.

“You’re not hearing me.” Hopper’s shoulders slump. You can tell by his now defeated stance that he has yet to win an argument against El, something that you’re incredibly proud of her for. 

“I’m hearing you. I can do it.”

“Even if El can, there’s still another problem.” Mike speaks up, looking around the table to ensure everyone is listening. “If the brain dies, the body dies.”

Max frowns. “I thought that was the whole point.”

“It is, but if we’re really right about this…”

“Will,” you breathe out quietly with dread, understanding where Mike is going with this.

Mike continues explaining. “I mean, if El closes the gate and kills the mind flayer’s army–”

“Will’s a part of that army.” Lucas finishes as he looks over at you, now knowing why you’ve just exhaled the boy’s name with grief. 

“Closing the gate will kill him.” 

Jonathan tenses at Mike’s words, and you place your hand against the back of his neck in a grounding manner. You can feel his rapid heartbeat against your hand, even from this position, and you play with his hair to try and soothe him. 

He’s terrified of what may happen to his little brother, once again struck with pure terror that he could lose him. You’re not sure how many more times Jonathan can grieve his brother without losing a piece of himself.

Steve, standing on your other side, sees the way your fingers intertwine in Jonathan’s hair. The same way they did earlier with his own hair as you hugged him.

He frowns, looking away. 

Everyone else falls silent as well, Mike’s words hang in the air. Your gaze shifts to Joyce, who has a deep frown on her face, and before you ask her what she’s thinking, she stands up from the table. “Follow me.”

No one says anything as you all follow the woman to Jonathan’s room, where Will lays motionless on top of the bed you’ve slept in for years. His body is stiff, the hospital gown swallows him, and the sight disturbs you. 

You walk over to the boy and kneel next to the bed. It’s in your nature to take care of Will, you do this without even thinking about it. Stroking his forehead, you place a kiss against it as you watch his mom in the doorway.

“He likes it cold.” Joyce mumbles, eying the open window in the room. 

“What?” Asks Hopper, standing behind the woman. 

Joyce looks over at her son now. “It’s what Will kept saying to me. He likes it cold.” Then, as her voice grows stronger, she walks over to the window and slams it shut. “We keep giving it what it wants.”

Nancy and Jonathan walk over to you now, the girl remains standing while Jonathan kneels down next to you. The two of you take turns caressing Will’s forehead as Nancy starts to speak. “If this thing is a virus, and Will’s the host, then…”

“Then we need to make the host uninhabitable.” 

You turn to Jonathan, not at all liking what he’s saying. “What does that even mean? He’s a kid, how do you make a child’s body uninhabitable?”

“He likes it cold.” Nancy says, as if that explains everything. 

“But–”

Joyce clenches her jaw and spits out, “We need to burn it out of him.”

Everything about what Joyce has said makes your stomach twist. You look down at Will’s body, at how small he still is despite a year of trying to get him to recover, and his pale skin is almost translucent in the bedroom’s lighting. 

You hate everything about what’s happening, but you hate the way Will looks lifeless even more. 

If making his body uninhabitable can save him, then you have to try; you’ll simply be there to pick up the pieces when it’s done, as you always are. 

The kids begin planning now.

“We have to do it somewhere he doesn’t know this time.” Mike says. 

“Yeah, somewhere far away.” Dustin adds on. 

“Last I checked, none of us have a hidden hut in the woods.” You say, at a loss for where else to possibly take Will. Then, Hopper clears his throat and shifts his weight. “Oh, no fucking way. You would have a hidden hut in the woods.”

“It’s a cabin.” Hopper corrects with annoyance, though there’s a slight glint in his eye as he looks at you. “Joyce and Jonathan will take Will there.”

“Well, go show them the cabin, then.”

Jonathan grabs your hand. “You’re not coming with?”

As if there’s a string tugging at the back of your head, you turn around and catch Steve’s eye. He’s standing in the doorway, eyes alert yet sad, and you know with everything within you that you can’t leave him behind. 

Not when he was shaking in your arms only twenty minutes prior. 

Steve doesn’t want to be alone, especially not when you’d be leaving him behind with Nancy after it’s become clear that she’s with Jonathan now. 

Now, as Jonathan’s open and expecting eyes stare into yours, you do something you’ve never done before. Something you’ve needed to do ever since you were twelve and grabbed the boy’s hand on the Wheeler’s porch that fateful night.

You let go of Jonathan. 

“I can’t,” you tell him, the words of denial feeling foreign on your tongue. You’ve never told him no before, never left him behind, but saying the words isn’t as difficult as you once feared. “I’ll stay with the kids, I’m better with them anyways.”

Jonathan watches you, his eyes trace over your face again and again as if drinking it in for the very last time. When he seems to find what he’s looking for, he takes a deep breath and nods. “Yeah, okay.”

His understanding of everything you don’t say almost makes you take it all back, but you don’t. Instead, you squeeze his hand and nod towards Nancy. “Why don’t you take Nance?”

Something shifts when you say this, you know Jonathan feels it as well. There’s an ease within the shift, almost akin to a soft exhale in December’s cold. It parts you with a gentle farewell, strokes your cheek as it departs, and you can faintly see its outline as it floats away. 

A thread, one that has tugged within your chest in a painful ache since last year, finally loosens. 

Nancy looks at you, her eyes wide. “Me?”

“Mhm,” you nod at the girl, a kind smile on your face. 

It’s a monumental shift, you’re willingly encouraging Nancy to be next to Jonathan’s side rather than you. It’s an exchange of powers, trusting her to take care of the boy you love so dearly. 

For once, it doesn’t feel like you’re tearing off a piece of yourself. Instead, you’re simply sharing the weight of it, of this trust, rather than losing it.

“I… I think I’ll stay here.” Nancy finally says, looking away in shame.

You don’t blame her, you know she carries a weight of guilt within her for things she couldn’t control. There’s a lot you want to say to her, a lot you have to say to her, but for now you simply nod at her, understanding. “Then I’m happy you’re here.”

And you mean it.

Steve, still quietly standing in the doorway, sees everything. He felt the shift, too.

– 

“You should go with him.” Steve picks up a spare heater, he and Nancy have been sent outside to retrieve whatever they could find from the Byers’ yard. 

The shift weighs heavily upon him. Your words ring in his ears. 

Nancy spares Steve a glance. “What?”

“With Jonathan.” He bends down to dig through some old Christmas lights, and seeing them reminds him of you. Everything reminds him of you. “Y/N’s right. You should go with him.”

“No, I–” Nancy scoffs, uncomfortable. “I’m not just gonna leave Mike.”

Steve thinks about you, about how you’re always the one who stays. “No one’s leaving anyone.” He walks over to Nancy and helps her with a radiator she’s struggling with. “I may be a shitty boyfriend, but… I realized I’m actually a pretty damn good friend and babysitter.”

Though he never says your name, Nancy can feel it hang over the two of them. The unspoken confession that it’s because of you that Steve now accepts what has happened between them. It strikes her then, how different he is now. How differently you and the girl came to know Steve.

Nancy stares at him, her eyes are filled with more remorse than he’s ever seen from the girl. It hurts, seeing her so upset, and he wishes that things could’ve been different. He recognizes now that they didn’t stand a chance, though he’s happy they tried anyways. It was always going to end like this between them.

Steve doesn’t hold any anger towards her, he doesn’t hate her, because he still loves her. 

How could you possibly fault the person you love for finding their own love?

“Steve…” His name comes through as an apology.

“It’s okay, Nance.” Steve means it, he gives her the same blessing that you did. She’s allowed to be happy, you both want her to be happy, and you have each other to lean on now. “Y/N and I will be okay.”

He leaves Nancy standing there.

– 

You’re waiting to say goodbye to El, standing patiently behind Mike as the two of them make promises about coming back. It’s sweet, watching them, until they slowly start to lean in for what you fear is a kiss, so you intervene. 

“Hate to ruin the moment, but I’d like to say goodbye to El, too.”

Mike glares at you. “Couldn’t wait five seconds?”

“A five second kiss is shameful, Wheeler.”

El giggles softly and pulls you into a hug. “I will be careful.”

You kiss her cheek. “Come back this time, okay?”

“I will.” 

Hopper calls the girl over to get in the car so they can leave, and you quickly run over to Jonathan’s car before he can get in. 

When he sees you approaching, he extends his arms out and pulls you in as he always does. No words are needed, he simply holds you so that you’re chest to chest and he can feel every breath you take. “I’ll come home to you.”

You bury your face in his neck, inhale the scent you’ve come to associate with your childhood and warm, sunny days. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” 

The words ease between the two of you, finally warm after months of being cold. 

Nancy then appears, and when you notice her you break away from Jonathan. “I see you’re joining?”

“I am.” She nods. “Seems I have you to thank.”

You smile and grab her hand. Your grip is firm, but sincere. “Don’t make me regret it, okay?”

Your words are teasing, but Nancy senses the undertones of a warning. Jonathan is your best friend, she has always known this, and she knows how much weight has gone into your trust for her. Nancy understands that you’re giving her something precious to you, and she will forever be indebted for it. 

“I won’t.” She promises. “And good luck with Steve and the kids.”

“Oh, I’ll need it.” You laugh, and any remaining tension that has hung over you and Nancy finally disappears. 

Once Jonathan and Nancy get into the car, you stand on the porch with Steve and everyone else as you watch the cars drive away. 

– 

 You poke around the Byers’ kitchen for some food; your stomach has been rumbling for hours and you’re sure the kids are hungry, too. However, like usual, you come up with nothing. As you dig through a cabinet, Dustin walks into the kitchen and starts clearing out the fridge. 

“What are you doing?” You ask, knowing that this can’t be for anything good. 

Dustin doesn’t answer, continuing to carelessly throw racks of food onto the floor.

“Hey, stop!” As you walk over, Steve suddenly comes rushing in, holding a very dead, and very disgusting, Demodog. 

“Is this really necessary?”

“Absolutely not.” 

Dustin groans at you. “C’mon, Y/N! This is absolutely necessary, it’s a groundbreaking scientific discovery.”

“It is a dead creature, from an alternate universe–” 

“We can’t just bury it like some common mammal, okay? It’s not a dog–”

“Oh, so now it’s not a dog after you’ve stated a million times that it’s a Demodog–”

Steve steps in between you and Dustin. “Alright, alright, enough!” He begins to shove the Demodog into the fridge before you can stop him. “But Dustin, you’re explaining this to Mrs. Byers, alright?”

“You both are idiots,” you mumble, watching as Steve and Dustin pathetically try to make the giant Demodog fit into the fridge. “I’m leaving.”

You’re seriously starting to regret their friendship. 

However, you know when to pick your battles, and as you watch the two boys try to maneuver the body into the fridge, you know that this is not a cause worth fighting for. 

Instead, you exit the kitchen and instruct the rest of the kids to start cleaning the house. It’s a mess, glass shattered everywhere from the dead Demodog and papers thrown haphazardly around during the morse decoding. 

The mess will only add more unneeded stress to Joyce’s life, so as Lucas and Max groan at you for making them do work, you stand your ground and shove a broom into their hands. 

“You suck, you know.” Lucas grumbles, but Max hits his shoulder and holds the dust pan as he sweeps.

As they get to work on the shattered glass, you figure it’s best that you call your mom before you forget again. You know she’s probably worried sick about you and Dustin for disappearing so suddenly without a word. 

However, when you walk over to the wall where the phone normally is, it’s gone. 

“Hey, uh. Where did the phone go?” You ask Dustin, who has finally left the kitchen. “I need to call mom.”

“Oh, Nancy threw it when it rang. She went kinda berserk.”

You look towards where Dustin is pointing and see the phone, in fact disconnected, on the ground across the room. The sight makes you snort. “Guess she really likes throwing phones, huh?”

Your brother doesn’t understand the joke. “What?”

“Nevermind,” you shake your head. There’s no use explaining to the boy about a quick, five second moment from last year. Nancy had done the exact same thing when Steve had tried to call the cops when the Demogorgon originally attacked you. 

Dustin mumbles something about your blood loss making you delusional, but you ignore him and begin sweeping the hallway. You order him to help, and soon the two of you are cleaning the Byers’ home. 

You’ve just finished sweeping when you notice Mike pacing around the room. He’s anxious, that much is obvious, and whenever he begins to pace: trouble soon follows. He’s brewing up a plan, you can feel it. 

After the fifth time the boy has paced the room, Lucas has finally had enough. “Mike, would you just stop already?”

“You weren’t in there, okay Lucas?” Mike stops pacing. “That lab is swarming with hundreds of those dogs.”

“Demodogs–oomph!” Dustin corrects, only to be cut off by your hand clamping over his mouth. 

“Say it again, I dare you.” You warn him before turning towards Mike. “Look, I know it’s nerve wracking, but all we can do right now is trust El’s abilities and wait.”

Lucas nods. “Yeah, the chief will also take care of her.”

“Like she needs protection.” Max quips from the floor, dustpan still in hand.

You feel a hand place itself on the small of your back. The weight of the palm is starting to become familiar to you, the length of the fingers and the way they splay across the span of your back are slowly becoming recognizable. 

Without turning, you know that Steve has joined you. 

“Listen, dude,” he says in a placating voice to Mike. “A coach calls a play in a game, bottom line, you execute it. Alright?”

You wince. While you’re impressed that Steve is trying to intervene and reason with Mike, you know immediately that his approach will fail. Trying to reason with the kid using a sport analogy is like trying to explain magic to a mathematician. 

“Okay, first of all, this isn’t some stupid sports game.” Mike rolls his eyes, which you expected. “And second, we’re not even in the game. We’re on the bench.”

“RIght! So–so my point… My point is…” Steve stumbles over his words and Mike’s unwavering insistence. When he can’t think of a better response, he lets out a defeated sigh. “Yeah, we’re on the bench, so–uh, there’s nothing we can do.”

You pity Steve, honestly. It takes years of careful analyzing and strategic planning in order to prepare yourself for an argument against Mike Wheeler. 

Patting his shoulder, step in to help. “What I’m sure Steve means is that while we may be benched, that doesn’t mean we can’t keep the homefront secure.”

“That’s not how sports work, Y/N.” Steve whispers obscenely loud, but quickly shuts up when you glare at him.

“Stupid sports analogy aside, there’s nothing we can do besides keep watch here and wait for everyone to return.” Even though you know you’re saying the right thing, that it’s best you follow Hopper’s order of staying put, even you don’t believe the words you’re saying. “We may not be able to help right now, but later, I promise we will be the best damn homefront ever.”

Dustin clears his throat. “That’s not entirely true.”

You turn to him and a sigh escapes you when you see the plan already forming behind his eyes. “I can’t argue with you, can I?”

“Nope.”

“Great, go on then. Share with the class what you’re thinking.”

“I mean, these Demodogs, they have a hive mind.” Dustin begins. “When they ran away from the bus, they were called away.”

Lucas thinks about this. “So if we get their attention…”  

“Maybe we can draw them away from the lab.” Max concludes, and you take a second to marvel at how seamlessly she’s integrated herself into the party.

However, you then remember what Lucas said. “Wait, what do you mean by ‘get their attention’? Why do those words scare me so much?”

Mike talks over you. “We can clear a path to the gate.”

You have a multitude of questions and Steve seems to be thinking exactly what you are when he loudly exclaims, “Yeah, and then we all die!”

“That’s one point of view.”

“Dustin, that’s quite literally the only way to look at it.” You flick his hat and he swats your hand away.

Steve points at you, nodding in agreement. “That’s a fact.”

“Thanks, Steve–” Mike’s body slams into yours as he runs past you. “Christ, Wheeler!”

“I got it!” The boy shrieks, running out of the room as he wordlessly instructs everyone to follow. He kneels in front of the fridge and points wildly at one of the pictures Will has drawn. “This is where the chief dug his hole, this is our way into the tunnel.”

“Into? What do you mean into?”

Mike shoves past you again and runs into the living room. “Here, right here.” He stands in the middle, where all the pictures have interlocked together to form a center. “This is like a hub. So, you got all the tunnels feeding in here. Maybe if we set this on fire…”

“Fire?” You shriek as Steve quickly follows with, “Oh, yeah that’s a no!”

Dustin, however, is on board with what Mike is planning. “The mind flayer would call away his army.”

“They’d all come to stop us!” Lucas waves his arms madly at you, as if saying this will get you to agree to the plan that’s forming.

You throw your hands up in surrender. “Look, I recognize that we could maybe do something–”

“Hey!” Steve looks astonished that you’re even considering this. 

“I mean, if we can help then I don’t see why we can’t just–”

Mike shakes your arm now, deciding that your hesitation is an agreement. “We then can circle back to the exit! By the time they realize we’re gone–”

“El would be at the gate!” Max now also is looking at you. “C’mon, Y/N. You have to admit that it’s a solid plan.”

You bite your lip. It is. That’s the problem with the Wheelers. They come up with these insanely dangerous and insane plans, yet they’re also always brilliant. You know it’s risky, Hopper could barely even explain the tunnels to you without shaking in fear, but… Who’s to say that the Demodogs won’t simply go after Will and Jonathan at the cabin? Or kill Hopper and El before they even reach the lab.

It’s obvious you can’t just sit here and wait. 

El has to close the gate, that much is certain, and because of this: you have to help her. You have to help everyone, keep them safe. 

“It’s a solid plan,” you finally breathe out, and all the kids start to cheer.

“I knew you were my favorite sister!”

“Dustin, I’m your only sister–”

“Hey! Hey–” Steve pushes himself in between you and the kids, clapping his hands to break up any further conversations. “Hey! This is not happening.”

Mike tries to argue, “But–”

“No, no, no!” Steve places his hands on his hips like a disgruntled father. “No buts. I promised I’d keep you shitheads safe, and that’s exactly what I plan on doing.”

You don’t like the way Steve is speaking to the kids, commanding them as if he’s their parent. “Hey, no. We aren’t doing that.”

“Doing what?” He looks at you, eyes wide as he quickly gathers that he’s upset you. The fight in his voice is gone, replaced with quiet guilt.

“We don’t ever command the kids, not like that, anyways.” You step away from them and pull Steve aside with you to give the two of you some privacy. “Look, I know you promised Nance you’d take care of them, but I also promised Jonathan. We have to help, Steve.”

His face twists with confliction, and the two of you are caught between what Nancy wants and what Jonathan wants. They both want the kids to be safe, but they have different viewpoints of how they expect you and Steve to do so.

Nancy wants to keep her brother out of it, Jonathan wants to save his brother’s life. 

“Y/N…” Steve breathes out, begging you to change your mind. 

The confliction on his face hurts to look at, you hate that you’ve made him feel this way, but you can only shake your head at him. “I’m sorry, but we’re doing this.”

“Yes!” Mike rushes over to you and surprises you with a hug. “This is why I keep you around!”

“Okay, no.” You push the kid away and hold him by the shoulders to ensure he listens to you. “That doesn’t mean I think we should all go down into the tunnels. I’ll go, and Steve will stay here with you guys–”

“What? No! You’re not going down there by yourself, Y/N.” Steve doesn���t understand how you would expect him to ever let you do that. “We’re all on the bench, okay? We’re waiting for the starting team to do their job.”

“This isn’t a stupid sports game.” Mike groans in annoyance before focusing his attention back to you. “And no one in the party gets left behind. If you go, we all go.”

The sincerity in Mike’s voice warms you. He’s defending you, protecting you how you’ve always protected him, and you’ve never been more impressed with his bravery; it’s because of this, his bravery and admiration for you, that you know you have to go into the tunnels alone. 

It would kill you if Mike got hurt, if any of the kids got hurt. 

Steve sees the way your eyes shine at Mike’s words and his stomach twists. He knows he can’t change your mind about going alone, he knows you’d never, ever let anyone get hurt. That you’d lay down your life for these kids and those you love. 

The bloodied cloth wrapped around your rib cage reminds Steve that he’s a part of it all now. You have laid down your life for him.

And he’s never, ever going to let you get hurt because of him again. 

Steve steps forward and gently grabs your arm, he needs you to understand how much your selflessness terrifies him in this moment. “Y/N–”

The revving of an engine cuts him off. 

It’s a familiar sound. You’ve heard this car before. The sound of it has seared itself into your memories. The hair on your arms stands up, and within seconds Max is at the window, looking out in fear. 

“It’s my brother.” Max’s voice is terrified. Not even in the junkyard, when Demodogs had been raining down on you and the kids, had you heard such terror in the girl’s voice. “He can’t know I’m here.”

You’re at her side in a heartbeat, tugging her away from the window. You’ve seen the way Billy acts around Max, you remember the harshness he displayed in the parking lot. The same harshness that left bruises on your waist when he had you pinned against the wall on Halloween. “I won’t let him touch you.”

Your words have a bite to them. Max hears the oath within them, she has never believed anyone when they’ve told her this. “He’ll kill me. He’ll kill us.”

“He won’t.” You promise her, trying to control the pure rage you feel because of her brother. He can do whatever the fuck he wants with you, but he’s hurt Max for the last time. 

Steve watches your exchange with Max and feels his hands clench into fists. Anger fizzes through his body. As you console the girl, your eyes meet his and he nods. With one simple head movement, the two of you have silently agreed to do whatever it takes to ensure that Billy never hurts Max ever again. 

–

“Am I dreaming or is that you, Harrington?”

You’re standing behind Steve. 

Billy hasn’t seen you yet. 

“Yeah, it’s me. Don’t cream your pants.” Steve’s hand tightens around your arm as he guides you further behind him. He doesn’t like that you’re here with him. He hates the way Billy’s eyes roam over your body without any shame. 

But you insisted on coming outside, and Steve has never been able to tell you no. 

You step out from behind Steve and force your hands to rest by your side in nonchalance. “God, I was hoping you’d be allergic to milk.”

Billy raises his eyebrows when he sees you; you’ve surprised him. “Why, it’s always a pleasure seeing you, sweetheart.”

Steve’s clenched fists only tighten when he hears Billy’s nickname for you. He hates the implications behind it, the way he says it with such sickly sweetness that leaves Steve’s stomach feeling raw. 

He can’t imagine how you feel whenever you hear it, and it only makes Steve hate Billy more. 

“It’s never a pleasure for me.” You cross your arms as Billy now stands in front of you and Steve.

The teen laughs darkly and eyes Steve up and down. “What are you doing here, amigo?”

“I could ask you the same thing… Amigo.” His voice carries an air of indifference, but you know that tomorrow there will be indentations in Steve’s palms from his fingernails. 

“Looking for my stepsister.” Billy lights a cigarette and smirks at you. “A little birdie told me she was here.”

“Huh, that’s weird. I don’t know her.”

Billy smirks at Steve’s words and motions over to you. “Yeah, but this little lady does.”

“Max isn’t here.” You say, forcing your anger down to play along with Steve’s indifference. “Have you checked the quarry? A lot of kids like to hang out there.”

Smoke surrounds you as Billy responds, “Don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, Henderson.”

With every dodged question, you’re only angering the teen more. If you and Steve keep this up, you’ll only make everything harder to manage. You try to think of something to distract Billy, but all you know about him is that he’s a sleazy pig with a cigarette addiction. 

Then, it hits you. 

His weird fascination with you. 

If you use it against him, maybe you can get him away from the Byers’ house long enough for Steve and the kids to leave. 

You step closer to Billy, ignoring every part of you that screams in rejection. You’re covered in blood and your hair is probably a mess, but you bat your eyelashes anyways and quirk your head up at Billy with an innocent smile. “I could show you, if you want.”

Just as you hoped, your sudden interest in him catches Billy’s attention. He presses his chest against yours and looks down at you, a pleased smile on his face. “And what would you be showing me, sweetheart?”

“The quarry, silly.” You giggle, trying not to gag at the reek of cigarette smoke. “It’s secluded… No one really goes down there. It’s, well–this is embarrassing.”

You duck your head down and act as if you’re blushing. Billy takes the bait and uses his fingers to lift your head up to look at him again. “Go on, tell me.”

You make a show of biting your lip. “Well, it’s where every teen in Hawkins goes to… Be alone.”

Billy’s eyes darken again, even more interested in what you have to say. He leans down, his lips inches from yours, and you know you have him right where you want him. 

Please, you think. I just want to protect the kids.

His breath fans across your face and he’s about to agree, to have you lead him away and forget all about his bitch of a sister, when Steve roughly pushes him away from you. 

“Max isn’t here, man.” He spits out, his once controlled anger now spilling over the edge. 

You want to scream at him, you almost had Billy. He was seconds away from agreeing, and the stupid idiot pushes him away from you? 

Billy looks between you and Steve and lets out a low chuckle. “Sorry, Harrington. Forgot that she’s yours.”

Steve moves as if to hit him but you quickly grab at his jacket, stopping him. Billy sees this and laughs again. 

“You know, I don’t know… This whole situation, Harrington.” He shrugs, exhales more smoke. “I don’t know. It’s giving me the heebie-jeebies.”

“Oh yeah, why’s that?” 

You’re silent, hand still clutching Steve’s jacket. 

Billy exhales more smoke. “My thirteen year old sister goes missing all day, and then I find her with you in a stranger’s house, alongside Y/N Henderson, the town’s darling, all bloodied and bruised. And you lie to me about it.”

From an outsider’s perspective, you hate how much Billy makes sense. 

To anyone else, this would look incredibly incriminating against Steve.

Yet, Steve still tries to deny it all. “Man, were you dropped too much as a child, or what?”

“I’m assuming he was.” You voice, looking nervously at Billy as he seems to grow more and more volatile. 

“I don’t know what you don’t understand about what Y/N and I have told you. Max isn’t here.”

Billy leans in close to Steve and points with his cigarette towards the house. “Then who is that?”

You and Steve turn, and your heart drops when you see Max and the boys all quickly duck their heads out of the window.

“Shit,” you breathe out, knowing it’s over.

You really hate those kids sometimes.

“Listen,” Steve tries to make up some excuse, but Billy roughly shoves him to the ground.

“I told you to plant your feet.” Bully sneers as he looms over him. You try to help Steve up, but you’re pushed aside as Billy then stomps on Steve’s ankle with a sickening crunch that makes your own wounded ankle sting.

As he storms towards the house, you quickly help Steve up, He pushes you away. “I’ll be fine, go help the kids!”

“But–”

You can’t just leave Steve while he’s hurt, but every time you try to help him up, he bats your hand away.

“Go!”

From inside the house, you hear the kids start to scream, and you reluctantly leave Steve behind and run inside. When you enter, Billy already has Lucas pinned against the wall as all the kids scream at him to let the boy go. Lucas is hitting at the teen’s chest desperately, but nothing is working. 

“Stay away from her.” Billy spits in the boy’s face, who is paralyzed with fear.

“Lucas!” You all but throw yourself onto Billy’s back as you begin hitting and pulling his hair. Anything you can think of, you try, but it’s no use. With Billy’s size and build, you’re nothing but a fucking bug to him. 

“I said get off of me!” Lucas kneels Billy in the groin, sending you and the teen flying back, but at least he’s let go of Lucas. 

You let go of Billy and place yourself between him and the boy, your breath comes out ragged. You don’t know what you’re supposed to be doing. All your mind can think of right now is protecting the kids, but in the midst of screaming and exhaustion and blood loss, you can’t think of anything. 

Billy tries to get to Lucas again, his teeth bared with fury. “You’re so dead, Sinclair. So dead!” 

In your exhaustion and fear, you call out for the only person you can think of. “Steve!”

He’s at your side in a heartbeat, quickly looking at you to make sure you’re okay, before he flings Billy away from you and Lucas. “No, you are!”

Steve’s punch lands perfectly, with a precision far from his pathetic punches thrown last year against Jonathan. It’s incredibly hot.

Billy begins to laugh in a manic manner that frightens you, but all of his attention is now on Steve, so you use this opportunity to drag Lucas over to the rest of the kids and make sure everyone is okay. 

You trust that Steve has everything else handled, but you make sure to keep an eye on him anyways while you take care of the kids. 

“Are you okay?” You check Lucas over for any injuries, who numbly nods as he’s still in shock, while Billy screams something about always wanting to meet King Steve. 

“Get out.” Despite Steve’s leveled voice, his tone is vicious. 

Billy swings again, but Steve manages to duck just in time before he lands yet another punch to the boy’s face. 

“Yes!” Dustin shouts with glee, but you remember the fight from last year. How Steve had lost miserably against Jonathan. A boy half of Billy’s size. 

While you’re impressed with Steve’s fighting improvement, you’re not sure how longer he’ll be able to keep this up. When more punches land on Billy and all he does is laugh menacingly, you know you don’t have a lot of time left.

You’re fucking terrified. 

The kids are still cheering Steve on when you turn to them, panicked. “You guys need to leave. Now.”

“What? But Steve’s winning!” Dustin says as Steve’s fist connects with Billy’s jaw. 

The sound makes you feel sick. 

You’re pleading now, terror clawing at your throat as you do so; your words slur together. “Leave, sneak out, and–and go through the front door and hide. Get help, okay? Just, go and find someone while Steve and I handle this–”

The sound of glass breaking against Steve’s head alerts you that your time is up. 

Billy hadn't been fighting back before. But now? He’s angrier than you’ve ever seen him. 

As Steve stumbles back in pain, you try pleading with the kids again. You don’t want them to see any more of this, of what might be about to happen. This isn’t just some fight between two teen boys. You know Billy better than that. 

He’s out for fucking blood. 

“Dustin, take everyone outside now!”

“We can’t just leave you!” Mike shouts and the others all nod. 

You want to cry. “We don’t have time for this, just–”

“Shit!” Dustin knocks against you as he dodges a punch meant for Steve. 

Steve crashes into the Byers’ bookshelf and you’re practically shoving the kids out of the door so that you can go and help, but they refuse to leave you and Steve behind. 

Billy has Steve by his jacket. “No one tells me what to do.”

With a sickening thud, he bashes his head into Steve’s and sends him flying to the ground. 

“Steve!” There’s blood pooling from his head and you’re gripped by fear so intense that you’re afraid you’ll pass out any second. 

Billy is relentless, now standing over Steve as he lands punch after punch. Every time his fists slam against Steve’s face, you feel them land against yours as well. Billy’s screaming like a fucking maniac and none of the kids are listening to you and Steve is getting bloodier by the second.

You’re torn. 

Dustin and the kids are staring at you, eyes wide with fear, and the front door is open; you could take the kids and run, but Steve is lying motionless on the ground.

It’s either him or the kids.

And yet it’s the easiest decision you’ve made all night.

“Get off of him!” You throw yourself onto Billy’s back for the second time tonight. 

You yank at his hair and try to scratch his face, but within seconds Billy throws you over his shoulder. “You demented bitch.”

Your head catches on the edge of a coffee table and you land with a thud on the ground. Almost immediately you feel blood drip from your eyebrow and you groan. Fuck. Definitely another concussion, but when you look over at Steve, he looks worse than you feel, and you force yourself to get up. 

Billy watches as you pathetically try to stand, and he laughs with cruelty. “What, want some more, sweetheart?”

More blood drips down your face and you feel the scratches on your rib cage re-open. Every bone in your body aches, but you pull out your switchblade and extend its knives. Your fingers skim over the engraving on its handle, reminding you to use the weapon with love. 

“This is your last chance.” You clutch at your side, hoping you look more intimidating than you feel. “Leave my family alone.”

Billy sees your knives and laughs at you. “Am I expected to believe that you’d actually hurt me?”

Your grip tightens around your switchblade. No one ever believes that you could be so cruel, so vicious. Billy is looking at you as if you’re some pathetic little girl, as if you haven’t killed Demodogs and Demogorgons. He’s looking at you as if you aren’t the sole reason everyone you know and love is alive.

You were once told to use the switchblade with love, that there was never any room for love when it came to violence. 

Now, as the kids are screaming at you to run and the pool of blood around Steve continues to grow, the onslaught of love that is always within you overtakes the fear. 

“I warned you.” With one quick movement, you swat at Billy and cut deeply into his shoulder.

He lets out an enraged scream and instinctively his fist goes flying. Pain erupts in your left eye and you know that you’ll have the worst time ever trying to explain to your mom later how you got a black eye. 

“Fuck!” You groan, dodging every other punch that Billy throws your way as he starts to approach you. With one eye quickly swelling up and the other blinded by blood, you do your best to stumble away from Billy, but it’s no use. 

Your foot catches on the carpet and almost as quickly as you fall, Billy is right there to wrap his hands around your throat and squeeze. You inhale sharply and panic overtakes you as you claw at his hands, drawing blood from him as well, but his fingers only tighten. 

“Y/N!” Dustin’s vocal chords strain from how loud he screams your name.

Billy seems to get a kick out of hearing your brother plead for your life, and he squeezes even tighter as you flail. “Not so tough now, are you?”

You struggle to free yourself, to do anything, but you can’t. 

For the first time since Will went missing, you truly believe that you’re about to die.

Steve is practically dead on the ground below you, he’s bleeding so much from his head that you’re terrified he’ll never wake up, and the kids are defenseless as they scream with tears in their eyes. 

Your baby brother is about to watch you die. 

Spots begin to form in your vision and it’s getting harder and harder to move your limbs. To make them do as you command. 

You know it’s your brain shutting down from the lack of oxygen. 

I hope Jonathan doesn’t blame himself.

Your world fades to black. 

Billy screams.

And you feel your body drop to the ground.

– 

The first time you wake up, it’s to Dustin huffing as he tugs at your arm. “God, you’re heavier than you look.”

You promptly pass back out. 

The second time, it’s dark outside and you register that you’re cold, but your eyes sting and you’re out again.

You wake up a few more times, always in a daze, and never more for a few seconds at a time, before the feeling that you’re moving wakes you up for good. 

It takes a moment for your eyes to adjust to the dark, your left eye barely even opens, and the pounding in your head is blinding in itself. Blinking a few times, you look down and finally notice that Steve is sprawled on your lap. You’re in the backseat of someone’s car. 

Your head is resting against someone’s shoulder. When you try to lift it to see who it is, you feel someone gently guide your head back down. “Shh, it’s okay. Don’t move too fast, alright? Don’t want you yacking on us.”

“Dustin?” You immediately regret trying to speak. Your voice comes out hoarse and raw and the pain is so intense that it only makes your head pound more.

“Right here, sis. Try not to speak, you sound like a frog.”

You try to sit up again, forgetting that Steve is sprawled on top of you, and your movements cause him to wake up. When his eyes manage to blink open, he tilts his head at you and mumbles, “Nancy?”

“Wha–” Again your voice cracks and you feel so delirious. Are you Nancy?

Steve attempts to wipe away the blood on his face but Dustin stops him with a gentle chiding. “No, don’t touch it.”

Steve brings a shaky hand up to your face and carefully rests it against your cheek. “You’re… You’re bleeding.”

Dustin puts the hand down. “Hey, buddy. Y/N is bleeding, good job. You’re bleeding, too. It’s okay though, you put up a good fight. I mean, he kicked your ass but you put up a good fight.”

Your brother’s words ring in your ears. He’s saying so much and you’re trying to swallow down the vomit that threatens to spill out. 

“Okay, you’re gonna keep straight for half a mile, then make a left on Mount Sinai.” A voice rings out, one different from Dustin’s. 

Was that Lucas?

“What’s going on?” Steve slurs, trying to process everything happening. He blearily looks back up at you. “Who’s driving?”

“Not me,” you manage to croak out.

A beat of silence passes. 

Then, at the same time, you and Steve realize: Max is the one driving. 

You’re more awake now and you try to say more, but your throat has swollen shut from speaking and it feels like it’s on fire. 

Thankfully, Steve is here to say everything you can’t. “Oh my god!”

“Just relax, she’s driven before.” Dustin reassures, slapping your hand away when you try to reach over to the driver’s side. 

“Yeah, in a parking lot.” Mike says, and you notice he’s also here now. 

“That counts.”

You want to scream at Max to pull over and demand the keys from her, but your bruised throat prevents you while your bleeding rib cage traps you in. While you can’t say anything, all Steve can say is, “Oh my god.”

“They were gonna leave you guys behind–”

“Oh my god.”

“But I promised that you’d be cool, okay?” Again Dustin slaps your hand away and all but shoves his leg over you so that you remain seated. 

Max then presses down on the gas pedal and the car increases its speed, which only makes the entire situation worse. 

Steve, rightfully, freaks out. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! What’s going on? Stop the car, slow down!”

You twist in your seat and blindly grab at Steve’s hand, both thanking him for voicing all that you can’t and also to try and prevent the poor boy from passing out again. 

“I told you he’d freak out! At least Y/N shut up!” Mike shouts over at Dustin. 

While you’re flattered that you’re officially cooler than Steve in Mike’s eyes, if you had a functioning throat right now, you’d be letting out some very choice words. 

“Stop the car!” Steve screams again, but the little rainbow bandaids on his cheek take away from his commanding nature. 

You hope that Dustin at least chose some pretty bandaids for your face. 

“Everybody shut up! I’m trying to focus!” Again, Max doesn’t at all help the situation at hand. 

“Wait, that’s Mount Sinai. Make a left!” Lucas points to where Max needs to go and you wonder why they trusted the girl, who just moved to Hawkins a week ago, to know where to go. 

“What?”

“Make a left!” Lucas screams, and Max quickly yanks the car to the left.

You, Steve, and the kids all scream as she hits what you hope is a mailbox. As the car jerks, you topple onto Steve and let out a painful, weird mix of a croak and shriek as the car continues to turn. Dustin tries to steady himself against you as he screams and Steve fully grabs your waist and uses you to shield himself from danger.

What a hero. 

Then, you almost go flying out of the windshield as Max suddenly stops the car. 

“Hello!” Steve exclaims, gripping you tightly still. 

Dustin giggles. “Whoa!”

“Incredible,” Mike breathes out. 

Meanwhile, you think your heart fell out of your ass about five blocks ago. 

“I told you. Zoomer.” Max smirks with pride. 

“She terrifies me,” you whisper, and Steve nods in agreement. 

The kids begin getting out of the car and seem to have some unspoken plan being set into motion. Dustin pats your shoulder before leaving you behind with Steve as the others go towards the trunk. 

Not knowing what the fuck is happening, you kick Steve so that he falls off of you and onto the grass so that you can follow after your brother. When you get out the car, you march over towards where all the kids are standing and silently demand an explanation. 

Mike notices you first. “What? Cat got your tongue?”

You refrain from shoving his face in the mud and point towards the goggles he’s holding. He sighs and hands it to you while Dustin ties a bandana around your neck and Max grabs a gallon of gasoline. 

Seems like they’re sticking to the plan from earlier, then.

When Steve realizes this, as he is gripping onto the car for dear life, he whines. “Oh, no. Guys.”

Everyone ignores him and he continues to try to stop what’s happening. You hobble over to him, a new wave of nausea and pain washing over you, and lean against him helplessly. There’s no use trying to explain to him that the party won’t listen. For now, you simply relish in his presence and enjoy how he feels against you. 

“We are not going down there right now!” Steve, though gentle to not jostle you around too much, waves his hands in the air as he screams at Max. “I made myself clear. There is no chance we’re going to that hole, alright?”

Similar to last year, Steve begins to spiral in his fear. He wraps his arms around you and places you against the car before he runs over to Dustin and throws that backpack that’s in the kid’s hands. “This is not happening!”

You slowly walk over and grab the thrown backpack, hoping that Dustin can reason with the teen. 

“Steve, you’re upset. I get it, but the bottom line is that a party member requires assistance and it is our duty to provide that assistance.” When you join Dustin’s side, he helps you put the goggles on and brings your bandana up over your mouth. “Now, I know you promised Nance that you would keep us safe. So keep us safe.”

He hands Steve the backpack you retrieved. 

Steve looks between you and your brother. You both look absolutely ridiculous in your get up, and he knows he has no other choice but to agree. His eyes meet yours and he silently asks if you’re sure about this, he will always look to you for the answers. 

You nod, hoping that the small head shift is conveying what you physically cannot say.

I’m here, the kids need us, and I need you with me.

Steve hears it, sighs, and grabs the backpack from your hands. 

“Well, let’s get going.” He motions for you and Dustin to lead the way. 

– 

“I got you,” Steve’s voice is soft as his hands graze your waist. He’s standing below you, already having jumped into the tunnels so that he can help you climb down the rope safely. You’re not sure if it’s his touch, or the way his voice drips with promises to protect you, or the simple fact that you’re bleeding and bruised that makes your body weak. 

“Drop me and die.” Your knuckles are white as they clutch the rope, your body shaking with exhaustion as you try to ease your way down without further injuring your ribs. 

Steve laughs and tightens his grip on your waist, steadying you as you finally inch the rest of the way down and land with a gentle thud onto the ground. “Like I’d ever dream of letting you go.”

This time, you know it’s his words that cause you to shiver, not the exhaustion and pain. 

“Ahem.”

Turning around, you see Dustin glaring at you and Steve while Lucas is stifling laughs. You roll your eyes at them and step away so that you aren’t standing so close to Steve, and he seems to think the same and distances himself as well. 

“Holy shit,” Steve breathes out, now finally examining the tunnels. 

It takes your breath away as well. The tunnels are terrifying, but oddly kind of cool. There’s a dim light within them, almost ghostly, and yet it’s beautiful in a way that you can’t quite describe. Small particles float through the air, and you reach your hand out to feel them against your skin. It tickles, akin to snowflakes, and the reminder makes you yearn for winter again. 

Mike’s flashlight distracts you as he shines it towards a random section of the tunnel. “Yeah. I’m pretty sure it’s this way.”

“You’re pretty sure, or you’re certain?” Dustin asks, doubtful. 

“I’m 100% sure, just follow me and you’ll know.”

As soon as Mike’s declaration of leading leaves his lips, you and Steve share and look and immediately stumble towards the boy. 

Like hell you’re letting him lead. He’s a child, and he’s also incredibly horrible at navigating. Last time you let him guide the way, you ended up finding El in the middle of the woods. 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Steve flashes his light at Mike. “I don’t think so.”

“What?”

“Any of you little shits die down here, I’m getting the blame. Got it, dipshit?” Steve takes the map from Mike’s hands and then looks over at you. “I guide, you take the rear?”

You nod. “Good luck.”

Steve smiles, his sarcastic bravado now gone, before he suddenly clears his throat once more and shouts. “From here on out, I’m leading the way while Y/N makes sure none of you idiots get lost. Come on.”

The kids groan and roll their eyes at him, but they fall into line and do as they’re told. 

Dustin walks in front of you and offers you his hand. He knows the uneven terrain will only increase the chances of your ankle acting up. “How’s the ankle?”

“Hurts,” you rasp, accepting his hand as you hobble along. He hums and helps you navigate, the goggles covering his nose makes him sound nasally. “Did I put up a good fight at least?”

Your throat strains to get all the words out, but Dustin seems to understand what you’ve said and laughs. “Yeah, you did a much better job than Steve–What the hell?”

Dustin stops walking and suddenly looks up. Unsure what he’s seen, you look up as well and gasp. Above you rests a giant flower-bud looking thing, except it’s pulsing in a very concerning and gross way and is the size of a car. When it starts to expand even larger, you realize before your brother does what it’s about to do; you tug at his hand and try to run away, but Dustin doesn’t move.

Then, in one grand blow, the bud explodes and releases what you can only imagine are pollen spores, and they spray all over Dustin. “Shit!” He falls to the ground, screaming and rolling around as if he’s just been shot, and all you can do is stand there and silently wait for him to calm down enough for you to talk to him. “Help! Y/N, help!”

You motion to your throat, but Dustin gags and scrambles to stand up before promptly falling back down again in his haste. 

Steve and the others have now joined and everyone is crowding over your brother with worry. “Dustin? What happened?”

“Pollen.” You croak, and Steve looks even more confused now. 

“It’s in my mouth!” Dustin spits onto the ground and coughs, wheezing every few breaths. “Some of it got on my mouth. Shit!”

Mike points his flashlight at you. “Any more useful insight from Kermit the frog?”

You glare at him, although the nickname is funny and you hate that it’s clever. You clear your throat, cringe at the sting it sends down your body, and respond, “Rose-bud thing. Exploded. He’s fine.”

Everyone tilts their head at you, not at all understanding what you’re trying to say, and you groan. It’s incredibly frustrating that Billy left you unable to say a goddamn thing without immeasurable pain. You honestly would’ve preferred that he stab you or something, because your intelligence and wit are so crucial to who you are as a person. 

Plus the whole Kermit the frog thing kind of sucks, regardless of how funny it will be later. 

“I’m fine.” Dustin gasps out. “As Y/N said, a rose-bud thing sprayed me.”

“You guys serious?” Max shakes her head, at a loss for why she’s even here. 

“Very funny, man.” Steve looks at you and teases, “And Y/N, I expected more from you.”

You give him the finger. “Dustin, not me.”

“Mhm,” he’s starting to walk away again, resuming his leader position through the tunnels, but he sends you a wink. “C’mon, Hendersons.”

The rest of the kids follow after him while you help Dustin up and wipe him off. He’s a mess, and he’s clearly still frightened, but he seems reassured by your presence and begins to calm down. When he’s ready, you and Dustin follow.

The tunnels are long, windy, and incredibly disturbing to be in. You can’t believe that something this intricate and vast has been laying underneath Hawkins for god knows how long. The ground beneath your feet is squishy and it takes both Dustin’s hand and immense concentration to not trip. 

Steve leads, his flashlight serving as a beacon to focus on despite the pounding in your head. The bandana tied over your nose only makes the ringing in your ears worse, but you’ll leave inhaling mysterious Upside Down particles to your brother. 

After a few minutes of walking, you’re starting to fear that the poorly drawn map from Mike really is just a poorly drawn map. Then, Steve stops. “Alright, Wheeler. I think we found your hub.”

You flick your flashlight around and your eyes widen. It’s huge. In the center lies a mound of what you hope is just mud, but you see a bone or two stick out from it and look away. To your left, there’s easily five or six more tunnels, each varying in width and height, and to your right is the same. 

Seeing how vast the tunnel system is, you’re thankful for Mike’s genius little brain. 

“Let’s drench it!” Except the vigor in his voice frightens you and you consider that he may be the world’s next mad scientist. 

However, a plan is a plan and you’ve already made it this far, so you set to work on spraying the area with gasoline. Between you, Steve, and the kids, within minutes you’ve created the world’s most flammable labyrinth. 

When you’re done, Steve guides the kids back towards the exit and you make sure everyone’s behind the two of you. He kneels, flicks out his lighter, and turns to everyone. “Alright, you guys ready?”

“Ready,” Max and Lucas say.

Dustin tightens his hand around yours, preparing to help you run as fast as you can with your ankle. “Light her up.”

Steve flicks his lighter open. “I am in such deep shit.”

“Together.” You nudge him with your shoe, and even though his face is hidden, you know he smiles. 

He takes a deep breath, winds his arm back, and flings the lighter into the center of the hub. 

Immediately everything bursts into flames. In the blaze, the strange roots that had been lying dormant on the ground now come to life as they flail against the heat. They twist and whip around, writhing in pain. The tunnels themselves almost seem to come to life as it writhes in pain. 

“Go, go, go!” Steve yells, pushing everyone back to start running. 

You stay behind with him, making sure all the kids have started to run before you finally let Dustin tug you along as well. The boy is screaming, hopping and dodging roots as best as he can while squealing, “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!”

Steve takes the lead now, having somehow memorized the way out. “Let’s go!”

You’re disoriented. Dustin’s hand is gripping yours so harshly and it’s taking everything within you to keep up, but your ankle throbs and your left eye has only continued to swell from the punch earlier. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to follow along, and in your disorientation you lose track of Mike. 

When he falls, everything within you snaps back into focus. You tear your hand from Dustin’s and you’re at Mike’s side in a heartbeat, but already the roots have started to wrap around his leg; he screams. “Help! Y/N, help me!”

Your hands shake as you reach for your switchblade, adrenaline runs through you so violently that you feel lightheaded. Mike’s screams are the only thing keeping you grounded right now. As he panics, you roughly grab his shirt and force him back before you start to hack at the root with your knives. 

“Pull him back!” Steve instructs the kids, who have now joined. “Y/N, watch out!”

You have just enough time to cut through one root before dodging Steve’s bat as he hits at the other. It takes a few swings, but with one final blow, you and the kids are able to pull Mike free and help him stand back up. 

“You good?” Lucas pants, patting MIke’s shoulders for any injuries while Dustin asks, “You okay?”

You pull Mike into you and quickly hug him, damning whatever time constraint you currently have against you. Your hands are still shaking, which Mike feels, and he gives you a quick pat before pulling away. “Glad you care, but–”

“We gotta go!” Steve steps between you two, bat still in hand, when a growl erupts from behind him. 

Dustin shoves everyone behind him before you can stop him. He’s recognized the growl before you have. “Dart.”

The Demodog growls again. He’s bigger than ever before, now practically fully grown. His growth distracts you long enough to miss Dustin slowly starting to approach him. When you do, you immediately try to stop him. 

“Dustin–” Fear overtakes you.

“Steve, hold her back.” He orders. “Just trust me, okay?”

Steve’s arms wrap around you and you try to fight back. “No–”

“Y/N,” he whispers into your ear, keeping an eye on your brother as well. “If you freak out now, Dustin will get hurt.”

He’s right, you know he’s right, but your brother is only a foot away from Dart now and he’s now smaller than the creature. One wrong move, and he’s dead.

Dustin kneels in front of Dart and you feel your heart drop. You don’t dare breathe as he takes off his goggles and mask and leans in closer to the creature. “Hey, it’s me. It’s just your friend, it’s Dustin.”

Dart slowly inches forward as Dustin continues to talk. “You remember me? Will you let us pass?”

This time, Dart’s entire mouth opens as he snarls at Dustin.

Again you struggle in Steve’s arms, but he only tightens his hold on you as you watch your baby brother, terrified, face off against the Demodog. 

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry.” Dustin lowers his voice, unwavering against Dart’s malice. “I’m sorry about the storm cellar. That was a pretty douchy thing to do. I blame Y/N, she’s always the one who makes me do the right thing.”

The little shit has you scared out of your fucking mind, and yet he has the nerve to somehow make this your fault.

If he gets out of this alive, you’re never, ever letting him go again. 

Dustin reaches into his backpack, eyes never leaving Dart. “You hungry?

“He’s insane,” Lucas whispers in awe. Both you and Steve tell him to shut up, scared that any noise will cause Dart to attack.

“I’ve got our favorite.” Dustin waves the candy in front of Dart’s face. “See? Nougat.”

As soon as the Demodog sees the candy bar, his demeanor shifts and he happily approaches Dustin. Within seconds, your brother has managed to re-tame his weird Upside Down pet, and for a brief second you feel bad that Dustin can’t keep him. 

“Look at that. Yummy!” He places the candy on the ground as a peace offering and he starts to motion behind him, waving for you and everyone else to start moving. “Eat up, buddy.”

Steve guides Lucas, Max, and Mike past Dart and through the tunnel that was previously blocked by him, but you stay behind. Your knives are drawn; you’re not leaving your brother’s side. 

“There’s plenty,” Dustin coos to the creature, placing down one last candy bar before standing up. When he sees that you’re still there, he grabs your hand and starts to walk away with you. Feeling his hand, warm and alive against yours, is enough to calm you down enough to follow. Before the two of you leave, however, Dustin turns around one last time to look at Dart, a sad smile on his face. “Goodbye, buddy.”

Dart doesn’t show any reaction, too busy devouring the candy he’s been given, and you gently tug Dustin along to safety, albeit with some guilt. He really loved that little lizard thing. 

As soon as the two of you are out of danger, you pull Dustin into a bone crushing hug. “You’re stupid.”

“Stupid brave,” he mumbles against you, though his arms are tight against your waist. He had been scared, too. 

You snort and pull your bandana down so you can kiss the top of Dustin’s head. “Just stupid.” 

“Guys, we gotta go.” Steve whispers, feeling bad for interrupting your moment with the kid. He can still feel the way your body shook in his arms, how he could hear your terrified heartbeat as he held you back. He felt horrible for doing it, but he promised Nancy he’d keep the kids safe, and Steve knows that she also wanted him to protect you, too.

At Steve’s urgent whisper, you reluctantly nod and pull away from Dustin. With one last shoulder squeeze, you pat his back and tug at his hand to start running. As you run, the ground trembles beneath your feet. You’re the first one to fall, Max and Lucas not far behind. “Fuck!” 

Steve has your hand within his in seconds and he gently pulls you up. His face is obscured from the goggles and banana, yet you can see the concern when he looks at you. When he stands you back up, he pulls you close and whispers, “You okay?”

You nod, about to tell him to keep running, when you hear the first screech of the Demodogs. 

“What was that?” Max inches towards your side, now long familiar with what the screeches mean. 

As if almost in response to the girl, more screeches follow as they echo through the tunnels. Only this time, there’s more of them; more than you’d even want to imagine. The hair on your arms stands up as the screeching continues. You know that if you don’t run now, none of you will stand a chance. 

“They’re coming.” Mike realizes. “Run! Run, let’s go!”

You snatch Dustin’s hand and practically throw the kid forward with how harshly you begin running. Lucas and Max run past, while Mike follows after Steve. Your footsteps fall harshly against the tunnel’s earthy ground and it takes everything within you to keep going. When you round the corner and see the rope, you almost sob with relief. 

“Kids first!” You shout, damning whatever further damage it’ll do to your vocal chords.

Steve understands immediately and kneels beneath the rope to give the kids a boost up while you hold the rope taught and help lift them. Max is the first up, both you and Steve more so throwing her rather than helping her.

“C’mon!” Steve encourages her, and with one final shove from you, she makes it over the edge and is safe. 

Everything happens so fast, it’s a blur as you help Lucas start to climb out, then Mike, and as you’re hauling Dustin up next, you hear the Demodogs drawing near. 

“Oh, shit!” Steve hears them as soon as you do and he grabs for his bat and starts to place himself in front of you and Dustin, but you stop him. 

“No!” You yank him back and then grab your brother, shoving him underneath the rope. The shadows of the Demodogs cast against the wall, you know you only have seconds before they’re here. “Throw him up!”

Dustin realizes what you’re about to do. “Y/N, no–”

But Steve already has a grip on him. “You’re going home.”

“No!” Dustin screams and tries to stay behind, wriggling and thrashing, but with Steve’s help, you’re able to lift him to safety before the first Demodog appears. Dustin, now safely above ground, sees this too. His heart stops. “Y/N!”

“Steve! Y/N! Climb up!” The kids begin to shout now, urging you and the teen to get out of the tunnels, fear alive in their voices. 

You look up at them, see their faces alive with youth, and then turn to Steve. He seems to be thinking the same thing as you. You’ve both run out of time. He nods, you do as well, and together you’ve accepted your fate. Steve draws his bat as you raise your knives. 

“Y/N!” Dustin’s voice rings through clearer than the other’s, the despair evident. You close your eyes for a second, wishing that there was more you could’ve done, but at least he’s safe.

Jonathan will take care of him, Nancy will, too. 

He won’t be alone, and you have Steve with you, who is holding your hand as if it contains all the secrets of the world.

It’ll be okay. 

You open your eyes. 

The Demodogs, miraculously, start to run right past you and Steve. They weave between you two, not at all paying any attention. You stand as still as possible, not wanting to wake them from whatever trance they seem to be in. 

However, one particularly large Demodog crashes against your leg and sends you into Steve’s side, who wraps his arms around you with a fierce protectiveness. You duck your head down, unaware just how desperately you’d been craving his presence, and he buries you further against him as the monsters continue to run. 

The two of you cower, curling into one another, steadying the other, waiting for something to happen. Steve has his feet firmly planted and stands his ground as more monsters run past, and without him you would’ve fallen minutes ago, trampled by the creatures. 

When you can’t hear any more Demodogs, you slowly lift your head from Steve’s chest and look around. 

They’re gone. Each and every one of them has left. 

You’re still in Steve’s arms, your chests are pressed tightly together and you’ve never been this close to him before. When you look up at him, you can feel his breath against your skin. There’s an odd look in his eyes, he’s studying your face as if seeing it for the first time, and his gaze makes something deep within you stir. 

“Thank you,” you whisper, needing to say something. He’s once again saved your life, and your eyes can’t seem to leave his. 

His fingers dig into your side, it’s the only way he can respond. The sensation causes you to shiver and your eyes slowly drift down to his lips. They’re a lovely shade of pink, flush and full. You wonder what they’d taste like, if he’s wondered the same about you. 

Steve stares down at you and feels every breath you take, the rise and fall of your chest matching his. The two of you stand like this for a moment, hearts beating together as you cling to one another, until Dustin clears his throat. 

“Ahem,” he draws your attention. “There are kids here, ya know.”

Lucas, Max, and Mike all snicker when you frantically pull away from Steve in embarrassment. Both of your faces are red, the air between you still hangs with something you’re not quite sure how to name. 

“We’re coming.” Steve mumbles to your brother before turning to you. “Ready?”

You take a deep breath and nod, your nerves still shaky from being so close to him prior. When you’re ready, you grab onto the rope and feel Steve’s always gentle hands grip your waist. You’re slow climbing up, being the most injured out of everyone, but he’s patient with you and murmurs encouragement as you climb. 

Once you’re safely up, you help the kids with Steve. The moment his feet touch solid land, he lets out a low whistle and claps his hands. “Well, I’d say that went well–”

Suddenly, Billy’s headlights begin to shine obnoxiously bright. The light increases in its intensity, glowing brighter and brighter, so much so that you and everyone else have to shield your eyes. Then, just as suddenly as it began, the lights shut off. 

It’s quiet. No one says anything, unsure of what’s just happened, but you know.

“El,” you whisper, somehow knowing it’s her. Mike nods, understanding as well. 

She did it. 

She closed the gate. 

You pull the kids into you, dragging them all in your arms in a giant hug. All you feel right now is disbelief. The plan worked. You’re all somehow still alive. 

Steve stands behind you, his chest firm against your back, and you allow yourself to gently lean against him. To accept all that he’s silently providing you; there’s no point in fighting it any more. He’s here, offering you anything you need from him, and you’re exhausted from pretending that you don’t see it. 

After a few moments of silence, you finally release the kids and nudge them towards the car. 

It’s time to go home. 

– 

“So what exactly did you guys do with Billy?” Steve’s driving and you’re in the passenger seat, waves of exhaustion crashing upon you. From the rearview mirror, Steve sees Lucas, Dustin, and Mike all turn to Max slowly. He frowns. “Why are you all looking at her?”

Max shifts uncomfortably in her seat. “I handled it.”

“She sedated him and we left him on the floor at Will’s.” Dustin fills in the information that Max opted to omit, which she elbows him for. 

Steve blinks, turns to you, and asks, “You heard that too, right?”

“Mhm.”

“Cool.”

When you get to Jonathan’s, Billy is sitting hunched over on the porch, waiting. He looks rough, his eyes bleary and his hair matted. When you see him, you feel your throat constrict in pain and a sense of panic builds within you. You look towards Steve, see his bruised cheek, then notice the way Max squirms in the backseat being near Billy, and the panic is replaced with anger. 

He’s caused enough pain and turmoil to those you love. 

Steve parks the car and turns in his seat so that he’s facing everyone. “Alright, we all see that Billy is awake, so you guys stay here while I go and–”

“We.” You correct, swallowing down the pain you feel. 

Steve inhales and looks as if he wants to argue, but he just shakes his head and continues. “Okay, we go and talk to the guy.”

“I want to come.” Max says, though she still refuses to look in Billy’s direction. 

You rest a hand on her leg. You understand what she’s asking for, to handle her brother herself, take her life into her own hands. Max is a brave kid, she’s shown you that much tonight, and while you trust her to make the right decision, you’re still hesitant. “Are you sure?”

She thinks for a second before nodding. Her eyes harden and she juts her jaw out. She’s made up her mind, and you get a kick out of seeing the fire within her. Max Mayfield is an incredible young girl, and you’re honored to know that she trusts you. “I’m sure.”

“Then let’s go.”

You, Steve, and Max walk side by side towards Billy, though you make sure to place the girl slightly behind you in case her brother tries anything. 

When Billy notices you approach, he lifts his head up and waves lazily at the three of you. “Back already?” His words slur together and his eyes are glossy; the sedative must still be wearing off. 

Max steps forward. “Take me home.” 

Billy eyes her, looks between you and Steve, and then sighs. “Fine. Any other demands?”

The girl shakes her head. “I’ll wait in the car.”

And then she’s gone, leaving you and Steve alone with Billy. 

He eyes you, sees the bruises on your neck, and a languid smile drawls across his face. “Seems I left a mark, sweetheart.”

Steve steps forward, but you put your hand out and stop him. You appreciate him, you do, but this is something you have to do yourself. You swallow again, feeling the tender flesh within your throat constrict, and try to make your words come out as neutral as possible. “Seems I did, too.”

Billy looks down at his shoulder, the wound from your knife is still bleeding. “So you did.”

Lucas and the other boys stand off to the side now, having left the car alone for Max. When Billy notices them staring, he sighs and wipes his hands off on his jeans and slowly gets up. “Well, my bitch of a sister awaits.”

As Billy leaves, Mike runs up the steps and unlocks the front door. “Y/N, think you could make those cookies again? I’m starving.”

You glare at him and Steve laughs. “I’m not sure she can even walk up the steps, dude.”

“Yeah, look at her.” Dustin waves his hands in front of you. “She looks like a zombie.”

Lucas makes zombie sounds and pretends to eat Dustin’s brains before Mike joins in. The three of them chase each other into the house, screaming “brains” and “die” as they mess around, leaving you and Steve alone outside. 

He steps in front of you, his back towards you and he crouches down. “Care for a ride?”

You want to argue, but it’s becoming harder and harder to keep your eyes open. It’d be a miracle if you even manage up the first step on the porch. Hesitantly, you place your hands on Steve’s shoulders and jump onto his back.

“Atta girl,” he laughs, standing back up so that he can carry you inside and join the boys. You wrap your arms around his neck and nuzzle your face as you close your eyes. You’re seconds away from falling asleep. Steve seems to sense this and slows down his footsteps so as to not disturb you. 

He navigates the home, remembering where to go from his time here last year. You’re warm against him and Steve’s fingers draw lazy circles onto your ankles. The boys are in the kitchen, scurrying around for any food, and Steve relishes in this small moment with you.

You’re placed down into a soft bed and the smell of Jonathan overwhelms you; you open your eyes and realize that Steve has taken you to the boy’s room. The bed is warm beneath you, the scent soothes your wounds. 

“Jonathan’s?” You ask, confused as to why Steve would take you here.

“Figured it’s where you sleep when you’re here.” He shrugs, as if it’s no big deal, before grabbing the blankets and tucking you in. His movements are careful and he makes sure your head is resting on a pillow and that he takes off your shoes. 

The gentleness of his touch soothes you. You’ve never let anyone take care of you like this before. You let him play with your hair, wrap the blanket around you so that you won’t get cold, and when he finally seems pleased with his work, he flicks your nose and smiles. “Get some sleep, dork.”

“Everyone is safe?”

His eyes melt. “They are. They’ll be home soon. In the meantime, I’ll rustle up some grub for those heathens outside while you sleep. Doctor’s orders.”

You giggle and grab his hand to bring to your lips. They linger against his knuckles, you inhale and breathe in his scent, and Steve’s breath hitches at the touch. “Thank you,” you whisper against his skin before placing another kiss. 

There’s such a lovely buzz within your chest, holding Steve’s hand fills you with this syrupy warmth like honey, and you’ve never felt it before. It drips down your skin and into your bones, healing wounds both old and new with its kisses. 

Steve squeezes your hand with his. He feels it, too. You both do. 

–

A body slides in next to yours, rousing you from your sleep. A hand wraps around your waist and the fingers, long and lithe and familiar, skim your skin lazily. The sensation almost lulls you back to sleep, you know whose touch this is, whose body lays next to yours. 

You open your arms and engulf Jonathan into a hug. His body lays atop of yours, reminiscent of the night a few days ago when he snuck into your room before he left with Nancy. Your body has long since come to anticipate his weight against yours, it’s become accustomed to how he lands upon you. 

“What time is it?” You rasp, stroking Jonathan’s hair with your fingers as he breathes steadily against you. You’re not sure how long you’ve been asleep, but the pain in your throat has lessened, your voice is slowly returning to normal.

“Early morning,” he mumbles, pressing a kiss against your shoulder. “Steve took Dustin home, no one wanted to wake you. Apparently you had a rough night.”

You laugh, then wince at the pain it draws from your throat and ribs. “You could say that.”

Jonathan places another kiss upon your skin, this time against the base of your throat. He litters kisses up and down your neck, his breath tickling as he does so. “I’m sorry,” he says in between each kiss, as if his words will make the bruises fade faster. 

Rather than respond, knowing nothing you can say will make him believe that none of this is Jonathan’s fault, you simply hum at his kisses and lean into them. “Will?”

“He’s okay, he’s safe. Mom is with him now.”

You hum again, relishing in the knowledge that Will is okay and that Jonathan is once again here with you. The house is quiet, everyone else asleep, and the two of you lay like this for a while. No more words are said, Jonathan presses kisses against your skin as your fingers interlock through his hair and you run your hand up and down his back. 

Somehow, you know this will be the last time you ever have him like this. 

Just the two of you, uncrossed in any boundaries. Skin against skin, kisses to wounds and fingers intertwined. You hope that your body never forgets the weight of his. You hope that it will always anticipate his impact, welcoming it after a long day. Jonathan’s touch will soon become ghosts lingering on your skin, and selfishly you never want this moment to end. 

Uncrossed boundaries, threads and strings and lines. 

They’re here. You can see them now, they almost glow faintly within Jonathan’s room, the same room in which you grew up in. 

“Bee?” You whisper, nudging him gently to get his attention. He lifts his head from your neck and looks at you, eyes open and listening. “We have to talk about it.”

The early morning light streams through the curtain and illuminates Jonathan’s face. His eyes are a mixture of browns and reds and ambers and you try to remember what they look like now, before the words are said and nothing will ever be the same again. 

“I’m scared,” he admits. You’ve made him into who he is today, with all of his quirks and humor and love. Jonathan doesn’t know who he would be without you, and he’s terrified that he’ll say the wrong thing and lose you forever.

“I know,” you stroke his cheek. “I am, too.”

“I don’t want to–I can’t lose you.”

“You’ll never lose me, Jonathan Byers.” You’re firm in your words, now grasping at his face with your hands. “We’re connected, remember? String theory, you and me.”

Jonathan has tears in his eyes. “But I slept with Nancy.”

His confession only makes you sigh. “I know, bee.”

“I–I think… I think this time it’ll turn into something more. I… I think I love her, bug.” His voice cracks, terrified of his own words. He recognizes now, far too late, all that he’s missed. “But bug… I know there’s–that there’s some things we should’ve talked about. A long time ago… but I just…”

“I know,” you know everything he’s trying to tell you. There’s no hurt in your voice, only resignation, but you knew this would happen eventually. “We missed our chance a while ago.”

“Did we ever really have a chance?” He asks, thinking back to the day the two of you met. How easily you accepted him into your life, the role you unknowingly assigned to him as your best friend. How, for years, he’d been so in love with you but terrified it’d scare you away. 

You play with his fingers, thinking for a moment. “I’d like to think that we did. I think we just… We missed each other, along the way.”

He smiles, bittersweet and somber. “We would’ve been something great, huh?”

“You’re my person,” you tell him, a certain sadness creeping into your voice. It’s the truth. No one will ever know you like he does, no one can unravel you the way he can. The love you have for Jonathan is unyielding, it transcends everything else you’ve ever felt. “Of course we would’ve been something great.”

“And now?”

You bite your lip, unsure. “Now we just… We let go.”

Jonathan tightens his arms and presses himself further against you. “I’m never letting you go, Y/N Henderson.”

You feel tears beginning to form in your eyes, both from grief and acceptance. “You don’t have to, but we have to let go of our claim to one another. You’re Nancy’s, now. It wouldn't be fair otherwise. To anyone.”

“And you’re Steve’s?” He asks, hesitant to bring the boy up. While you watched Jonathan fall in love with Nancy, he’s watched you fall for Steve. 

“I think I could really love him,” you admit, breathless. “I think I’ve already started to fall for him.”

Jonathan’s heart twists at the breathlessness in your voice, though he knows he’ll have to get used to this. To no longer being the reason for your bashfulness. It’ll take time, but he knows in the end that it’s for the better. “You deserve to go for it, bug.”

“Really?”

“Of course,” he playfully pokes your side. “Nancy fucked up with him, and I fucked up with you. The two of you deserve better than us, and I… I want you to be happy, you know that.”

“I know, but…” you turn to him now, needing him to understand all that you still don’t know how to voice yourself. “Remember our pinky promise from last year?”

Jonathan wiggles his pinky at you, unsure where you’re going with this. “I do.”

“We’ll always stay like this, right? You and me?” You know it’s selfish to ask, to expect everything to stay the same between you, but losing Jonathan would be the one thing you’d never recover from. He’s in your bones, now. He’s grown up alongside you, patched up your wounds as a child and now holds your hands through the nightmares you face together. 

It doesn’t matter how you and Jonathan end, whether you’re lovers in this universe or simply the best of friends. Regardless of what’s happened, he’s the most important person in your life. He always will be.

Jonathan presses a kiss upon your forehead, his lips warm. “Always, and I’ll always love you the most, bug.”

“I’ll always love you the most, bee.” The words come easily to you, an exhale after being inhaled so long ago. 

The world stills. Then, as slow as the sun rises after a harsh winter’s night, the strings and lines finally settle between you two.

“Let’s go to bed.” Jonathan whispers, wanting to hold onto you for at least a few more hours. 

In the late morning hours the two of you will wake up, and it will be the last time you do so in each other’s arms. 

– 

When Jonathan drops you off at home the next day, your mom freaks when she sees you. Dustin had tried to prepare her, making up some lie about how you’d fallen down at the Byers’ house and that’s why you couldn’t come home for a few days. However, your mom still had a heart attack when you walked through the front door with a split head, black eye, bruised neck, and a bloodied side. 

“My baby!” She took you into her arms and immediately set her eyes on Jonathan. “What, did you have a bear in the house or something?”

Jonathan looked over at Dustin with a helpless look on his face and your brother had sighed. He figured he’d have to be the one to take over. “Like I said, mom. Y/N just got really into our campaign and fell. She’s fine, I mean, look at her!”

You did your best to appear very fine and healthy, despite your concussion forming a horrendous headache. You forced a smile on your face, all teeth. “All fine and dandy, mom.”

Claudia Henderson hadn’t bought it.

You were placed under house arrest for two weeks. 

During these two weeks, you were only allowed to leave the house to either go to work (somehow Mrs. Waters still hasn’t fired you despite missing three days of work), and go to school. It wasn’t so bad, though. You had needed the rest, and Nancy visited you a few days into your house arrest.

You’re not sure when she officially began her relationship with Jonathan, but the first time she came to see you, she had brought a giant basket full of baked goods and comics she had asked Jonathan about. 

“You didn’t have to get me anything, Nance.” You had informed the girl when you saw her struggling to carry the basket. 

“I stole your boyfriend, it’s the least I could do.” You stared at her, eyes so wide that your black eye almost fully opened, and Nancy had let out a loud laugh. You’d never heard her laugh so openly before, and it was a beautiful sight. “It was a joke, Y/N. It’s okay to laugh.”

“Ha, ha, Wheeler.” You took the basket from her and inspected its contents. There were more comics than you could count and the muffins smelled delicious. “This is a good haul.”

Nancy had smiled, relieved that she’d done something right. She had bugged Jonathan all day yesterday, anxious to do something nice for you because she felt this crippling need to make you like her. He had reassured her a million times that you did already like her, but Nancy has never been the best at making friends, and she knows the history between you and her is tense. 

“You really like it?”

“I love it, dude.” You saw the way Nancy’s body relaxed, as if she had been terrified you’d burn the basket in front of her face. It’s only then that you realized why she was there. “You and Jonathan finally seal the deal?”

Nancy blushed, still unused to how well you perceive others. “We did.”

“Took you guys long enough!” You squealed and threw your arms around her, elated for your friends. Sure, it still stung a bit, but Nancy was trying, so you were too. “But can I say just one thing, and then we’ll bury the hatchet for good?”

“Of course, Y/N.” Nancy said, though you felt her body tense underneath your hold. She had been bracing for impact, and it broke your heart to imagine how she was feeling in that moment. 

You grabbed her hand and looked her in the eye. “I’m happy for you two, I really am, okay? You know my history with Jonathan, and I’m sure he’s told you everything, but I need you to listen very carefully to what I’m about to say.”

“I’m listening,” she whispered, gripping your hand tightly. 

“If anything, and I mean anything, bothers you about my relationship with him, I need you to tell me. Don’t let anything simmer, don’t swallow down any hurt. I need you to know that I will always respect your guys’ relationship, and if you ever feel that I don’t, please tell me.”

Nancy, to your surprise, had laughed. “That’s it? Geesh, Y/N. I was expecting you to threaten me with your knives or something. I understand your connection with Jonathan, I know what I agreed to.” She paused, and then added with a sly smirk, “Besides, I know you wouldn’t cross any boundaries because you’ve spent practically all year pining after Steve.”

“I did not!” You gaped at her, shocked that she would say such a thing, and Nancy laughed so hard that it took both you and her another ten minutes to say anything else. It was lovely, laughing alongside the girl you once held so much resentment over. Now there you were, rib cage aching with glee.

And that’s how Nancy Wheeler became your best friend.  

After that, things seemed to settle down during the month that followed the events of Hawkin’s Lab. 

While you healed your wounds at home, Jonathan and Nancy came to visit you whenever they could. It was weird, at first, being in the same room as them now that they were together, but within minutes the three of you formed your own dynamic. You and Nancy teased Jonathan while he simply shook his head at the two of you and did whatever you asked. 

It was a good dynamic, really. 

A week into house arrest, your mom let you finally return to work.

Of course, on your first day back, Steve was standing inside of Bookstrordinary, waiting for you. 

Seeing him there, hair messy and smile warm, felt like coming home. 

“Back so soon?” You had teased, walking slowly up to him. 

His smile widened and he grabbed your hand and tugged you closer, impatient with how long it was taking you to come to him. “Like I could wait any longer.”

“I stack and you sort?”

“Let’s get to work, Henderson.” He winked and spun you around, causing you to giggle, a sound he’d come to adore, and the two of you set off to work. 

Steve becomes a regular at Bookstrorindary again, and one day you come home from school to find him sitting at your kitchen table with Dustin and your mom. They were eating an after school snack together, chatting as if they were old friends. Your mom was even blushing as Steve charmed her. It was a disorienting sight, to say the least. 

“Is this going to be a thing now?” You’d asked, setting your backpack down to grab your own snack and join. 

“I invited him.” Dustin said with a mouth full of apples. “He’s cool, and mom likes him, so. Yeah.”

Your mom pinched Steve’s cheek and giggled. “He’s just so charming!”

Steve sent you a wink, basking in your mother’s praise, and in that moment, seeing him with the two people you loved most in this world, you knew.

It hit you like a warm, soft summer breeze. It swirled around you, kissed your skin the way only the sun can do, and you could almost smell the fresh summer honey that your dad used to buy for your birthday. The feeling was serene, it felt as easy as exhaling.

You were in love with Steve Harrington. 

Only this time, the realization made you smile; you accepted it with open arms. You walked over to him and ruffled his hair before sitting next to him at the table. Biting your own apple, you winked at your mom, agreeing with what she had said. “He is indeed very charming.”

Dustin gagged while Steve draped an arm across your chair and stole your apple. “That I am, Y/N.”

Maybe love wasn’t so bad after all.

The following week, both Steve and Nancy asked you to attend Barb’s funeral, and of course you went. 

It was a small service, and Jonathan held Nancy’s hand throughout all of it. While it hurt to see her cry, you can’t help but think about how incredible Nancy is. She’s the reason that Barb is even getting a funeral in the first place, having brilliantly exposed Hawkin’s Lab and giving her friend the justice she deserves. 

Steve stood next to you, stoic and guilty, and after the service ended you had to pull him aside and remind him that none of it had been his fault. He listened, but you know he hadn’t necessarily heard you.

It’s similar to how you feel with Will, and how Jonathan feels with you, and Nancy with Barb. 

You all hold a heavy weight within you, of guilt and shame and despair. There’s nothing that specifically can be done to lessen it. All you can do is allow the ones you love to carry the weight with you, to share it and accept the help that they offer. 

Time can’t heal all wounds, you recognize this now, so you do things for those you love and see the good that’s still there, even if it’s hard sometimes. 

And that’s what you do.

You start stopping by Hopper’s cabin to see El.

He hated it at first, but when you showed up one day with a box of nail polish and comics, El had been so overjoyed that he simply sighed and let you in. 

You teach the girl how to read, having her say words out loud as you paint her nails, and it’s lovely. It’s rare to get the girl all to yourself, so spending time with her is always the favorite part of your day. Plus, she starts to get really into Spider-Man, so you’ve done your job as an avid fan. 

As for Will and the boys, you start to make it a point to partake in their DnD campaigns whenever possible. While it’s hard balancing work, school, El, and the party, you don’t regret it for a single second. It’s exhausting, but a good kind of exhaustion. One that leaves your bones aching in a rewarding way at the end of the day.

You’ll never tell Jonathan this, but he had been right a few months ago. You’d been burning yourself out, running away from everything you didn’t want to confront, from your feelings to your crippling worry for the kids. You’re not sure how much you had left in you, looking back now.

You had been drowning for a long, long time. 

But as you pick up Dustin and Will from Mike’s, Jonathan by your side as always, your nails painted a messy shade of blue thanks to El, and Steve waiting for you back at your house, you’re finally able to breathe. 

– 

It somehow takes you the entire day to get Dustin ready for the Snowball. 

He’s running around the house, frantically trying to find his bowtie that he’s misplaced, and you’re currently digging through the endless supply of hairspray that Steve dropped off yesterday. There’s so much hair products within the bag that he delivered, and it actually scares you a little. 

No way this much chemicals can be good for a kid. 

“Did you find the bowtie?” You yell from the bathroom, finally managing to open the bottle of hairspray that Steve specifically told you to use first. 

“Yes!” Dustin runs back into the bathroom and throws the piece of fabric at you. “Quick, put it on while I spray my hair!” 

You roll your eyes at him but do as he asks, securing his bowtie to his baby blue button shirt. However, as he sprays his hair, he almost blinds you in the process. “Christ, Dustin! That’s practically a weapon.”

He continues to spray. “You’re the one who insisted on helping me get ready.”

“I wanted you to look handsome,” you coo at him, straightening his bowtie one final time before stepping back and admiring your handiwork. “All done, and look at you!”

Dustin sprays even more product into his hair and tries to shove you out of the bathroom, but he secretly preens. “Am I really handsome?”

You admire him and you can’t believe how grown up he is now. He’s grown another three inches since last month and with the way he’s styled his hair, he looks like a teenager. Your heart stings a bit, seeing him no longer look like the little brother you know and love. He’s changing, growing up. “The handsomest.”

He smiles at you. “Thanks, Y/N. Now go get dressed while I finish my hair. Steve will be here any minute!”

You salute him and run to your room. Nancy had asked you to chaperon alongside her at the dance, and you figured it’d be fun watching Dustin and the party failing miserably with prepubescent girls, so you agreed. However, because it somehow took five hours helping your brother get ready, you run around your room in a hurry.

You’ve just finished applying some mascara when the doorbell rings, and your heart skips a beat.

“Y/N, Steve is here!” Your mother calls, a slight glee in her voice. She’s quickly come to adore the boy, something that Steve milks whenever he can. He’s incredibly proud of it, honestly. 

You run to the door and open it, Dustin is still spraying his hair to death in the bathroom. 

When Steve sees you, he forgets how to speak. You’re dressed in a soft white dress and you’ve pinned the front two pieces of your hair back. You’ve dotted your lips with a berry-red lipstick and your cheeks look more flushed than usual. 

You see the blush that immediately forms on Steve’s cheeks and you giggle, suddenly shy. It’s awkward, but a nice awkward between you two. “Hey.”

“H–hi.” His voice squeaks and he clears his throat. “I–I mean, hey. You, uh… You look. Wow. I mean, not wow, but also wow–”

“Dude,” Dustin now joins and looks disappointedly at Steve. “Get it together, man.”

He pats his chest and starts heading towards the car, and you can’t help but snort. “He’s so lovely, isn’t he?”

Steve holds out his arm for you to take, the momentary awkwardness now gone. “The Henderson charm is a fascinating thing.”

During the car ride, the closer Steve gets to the school, the more you see Dustin fidget in the back seat. He had been so excited earlier, but now you notice the doubt in his eyes and the way he keeps patting his hair, unsure. 

You tap Steve’s hand to get his attention. When he looks over, you motion towards the backseat and he realizes what you’re trying to tell him. He nods, and the two of you silently agree to give the kid a pep talk once you get to the school. 

“Alright, buddy. Here we are.” Steve parks the car and tries to give Dustin a reassuring smile, but your brother looks out the window and exhales nervously. “Remember, once you get in there…”

“Pretend like I don’t care.”

You interrupt. “Okay, no. I thought we abandoned that idea last month.”

“Technically you abandoned it, I didn’t.” Dustin responds, and Steve shrugs his shoulders at you. 

“Dustin, I really want you to be yourself, okay?” You turn to face the kid. “What did I tell you last month, huh?”

“That we Hendersons are charming people.” He grumbles. 

“Exactly, and I meant that. Use your charm, buddy.”

Dustin isn’t listening, instead he tries to look at himself in the rearview mirror to once again fix his hair. Steve sees this and stops him. “Hey, listen to your sister, alright? You look great, okay?”

“Such a handsome lad.”

Steve puts his hand up to stop you. “Okay, ignore her and listen to me. Now, you’re gonna go in there…”

Dustin nods. “Yeah.”

“Look like a million bucks.”

“Yeah!”

“And you’re gonna slay ‘em dead.”

“Like a lion.”

You cringe. “I’m not at all liking this language use in relation to women.”

Dustin purrs, just to spite you, but now Steve cringes and shakes his head, “Yeah, don’t do that, okay?”

“Okay.” Dustin deflates, but when Steve offers him his hand to shake, his face lights back up and he accepts it. 

Steve winks at the kid. “Good luck.”

“You got this!” You shout as Dustin exits the car. He gives you a thumbs up and starts to walk towards the school, leaving just you and Steve alone in the car. 

With Dustin gone, a tension creeps within the car. You look over at Steve and he catches your eye, and your stomach flutters. You can’t deny that there’s nothing there, and it’s… it’s nice, honestly. 

You don’t feel the same fear you did with Jonathan. You can look at Steve and admire his beauty and all you feel is warmth. His smile doesn’t hurt you, and the way he’s looking at you so unabashedly no longer scares you. 

“You look beautiful, Y/N.” Steve says, his voice honest and dripping with honey. 

You blush, and he wants to kiss the pretty red until it colors his own lips as well. “Thank you.”

There’s more you both want to say, but for now you simply enjoy each other’s presence. It’s too soon, you know this. He’s still in love with Nancy, and you don’t blame him. Instead, you bask in his gaze and he admires how lovely you are. How lovely you always are.

He feels it, too. He knows what you’re thinking, and for once he feels comfortable with where he is. You’re here, next to him, expecting nothing but what you know he’s ready to give you. 

You press a kiss to his cheek, and Steve’s heart aches. “Drive home safe, okay?”

As you pull away, he catches your arm and stops you. You look up, confused, and Steve’s gaze softens. He doesn’t know how else to say it, how else to ask you to stay. “Be patient with me, okay?”

You don’t have to ask what he means; you know. 

Whatever he needs, you’ll give it to him. You place a hand on his face and stroke his cheek, he leans against the touch and closes his eyes. This is the easiest promise you’ve ever made. “Take all the time you need, I’ll be here.”

The words cause Steve to sigh, you’re too good for him. You’re everything lovely and beautiful and kind, and Steve can’t believe how lucky he is to know you, to have you in his life the way no one else does. That you’ll wait for him, trusting him with your heart, and he can’t believe that you’re real.

“You’re an angel.” He breathes out, feeling everything constrict within his chest when you smile. 

“And you’re sweet honey.” You press one last kiss to Steve’s face and get out of the car. No other words are needed. 

Steve watches you as you leave, your kiss still burning his face, the same burning warmth he’s come to love about you. He watches as you walk up to Nancy inside the school and she hands you a drink, the two of you laughing. You both look so different standing side by side. 

A girl Steve loves and the girl he knows that in time he’ll come to love more than anything else. 

He’s already falling for you, he thinks he has been ever since he first saw you all those years ago when you were twelve and he was thirteen. He’s falling for you, but he won’t rush it. It wouldn’t be fair to you, not after everything you’ve been through. 

So Steve admires you, he watches the way your hair dances as you laugh and the way the kids around you smile in admiration. He forgets that Nancy is even there, his eyes only on you, and for the first time in a long time, Steve smiles a real smile. 

Your kiss on his cheek lingers, and he presses his fingers to it and feels his body warm. You’ll be waiting for him, and that’s more than enough for now.

Take your time, I’ll be here.

And Steve believes you.

[END OF SEASON 2]

-

⌑ series masterlist

⌑ if you would like to be added/removed from my taglist, just let me know :)

⌑  taglist: @siriuslysmoking @sheisjoeschateau @thytorturedpoet @innercreationflower @juhdoche @frostandflamesfanfic @goosy-goose @quinnsadilla @munsons-queen @stefansring @rice-elephant @bex22109 @bitchkeery @bex22109 @officerrrfriendly @kazunish @idkitsem @emilieluckwood @ryoujoking @criesinlies @tagakalat @dcnerd98 @sucker-4-angst @kitdjarin1 @onecojg @innazra @areiofhope @spaghetittied @cultish-corner @g8sstuff @videogamesandpoorlifechoices @hsllfirescoops @l0ve-0f-my-life @newyorkangelbaby @aliceespector @chervbs @poppet055 @bookkeeperlove @bellenotthebeast @swiftieblyth @​ladyobscurus @moon-flowerss @estaticheart

#steve harrington x henderson!reader #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #stranger things #steve harrington fanfic #stranger things rewrite #slowburn #angst #wtlws #m's writing #behold: the nickname reveal #i told yall itd take till the end of season 2 #muahahahaha #also im so sad its done omg

[love-byers]

it’s been a year, mike. (MAJOR BYLER REVELATION INCOMING---MUST READ)

mike and will constantly saying "a year" or "all year" when talking about the time since the move when it's only been six months keeps me up at night

i saw people talking about how they say a year when it was only 6 months because they’re idiots in love and are being dramatic. as cute as that is, i didn’t really buy it until RIGHT NOW. i just saw it as a cute headcanon, but now i see that the writers could be enabling you to make this realization by use of subtext.

allow me to explain

^ these are the three times they say it

at first i thought the writers may have just used year because that’s less confusing for the audience because 1 year time jumps have been used before in stranger things and are super popular in books/movies/tv shows. BUT, it clicked for me that that doesn’t make sense. the timeline in stranger things has always been acknowledged. throughout s1 we hear the amount of time will has been missing several times (as far as i remember). in s2, mike counted the days el had been gone. he called her every night for 353 days. when el and hopper argue in s2, el uses specific numbers to tell us how long she’s really been with him. in s3 hopper specifically says ‘6 long months’ when talking about how long he’s been dealing with mike (lol). that's the same amount of time between s3 & s4, yet mike and will don't say 6 months, they say year. there’s a date at the start of every season. and in s4, el says this in her letter to mike. 

185 days = 6 months (almost on the dot)

the writers have specifically told us how long it’s been since they moved, down to the amount of days. and it’s 6 months, not a year. this makes it very hard for me to write off mike and will saying ‘year’ as just the writers slipping up. also in el’s letter, she says this:

this is INSANE. 

mike and will are saying the wrong amount of time. the writers aren’t stupid, they know how much time has passed since season 3. THEY WROTE IT. i’m a writer as well, and i know how much time is passing between what im writing because I CREATED IT. IT CAME FROM MY BRAIN. and like i said, the stranger things writers have proven to be very keen on dates and time. all of this happening in the same season is not a slip up, its on purpose. stranger things 4 had a 30 million dollar budget PER EPISODE. do the math--that’s 270 MILLION DOLLARS. and yes, i know they supposedly forgot will’s birthday, but that’s different. his birthday is a date that was mentioned one time and served no purpose aside from creating emotional tension in that one scene. none of their birthdays are important to the plot, hell, will’s is the only one mentioned in the show and it wasn’t even on his birthday. one date that was mentioned one time and never brought up again is NOT the same as continuous attention given to timelines/time jumps over the course of all four seasons. and some fans theorize that they’re lying about forgetting his birthday anyway. either way, its not the same.  

so....the writers want us to know that emotions can make time speed up or slow down....and that el’s week has felt very fast because of her emotions....and then show us mike and will SPECIFICALLY deviating from the timeline established in the SECOND LINE OF EPISODE ONE “yeah, but you knew she was having problems for months and didn’t tell me.” “its been six months, mike.”, or “it’s been months, mike.” or not even including that line at all, or “the past couple months have been weird” would’ve worked and stayed in check with the timeline we’ve already established. but when writing those scenes, they chose to say year. which is flat out wrong and way off from the actual time they’ve been apart. 

and what did el say makes time speed up or slow down? emotions? oh, okay got it 

the first two times mike and will say it’s been a year are in the same scene: the rink o mania fight. emotions are high. they’re in a pretty serious fight. its not about something dumb, it’s about their ten year friendship and how they’ve grown apart. their friendship is VERY important to both of them. (remember when mike said asking will to be his friend is the best thing he’s ever done?) the third time it’s said is when mike is opening up to will in episode 4. it’s a very emotional scene. mike is being honest and vulnerable with his feelings. in this conversation he apologizes and admits that will didn’t deserve how mike had been treating him, which mike never does to anyone else. he admits his relationship with will is different and home isn’t the same without him, and that he feels like he lost will and wants to be best friends again. 

and the obvious: emotions making time speed up or slow down doesn’t just apply to in the heat of the moment occasions. (in theory) mike and will are in love. the six months they’ve been separated felt like a year to them because of their emotions, just like el said in the letter. and mind you, will is canonically in love with mike, yet they’re both acting the same way about this. it’s not just will. it makes sense for six months to feel like a year to will because of his emotions, because he is in love with mike, right? well, mike feels the exact same way. this isnt even about the characters as people. narratively speaking, mike and will both doing this doesn’t make sense if it’s unrequited. one way writers show how characters aren’t on the same page about something, a relationship for instance, is whether they’re on the same emotional page about different plot points. something major and emotional happens to all the characters---now we watch how they react to it. and i don’t mean small disagreements & such, characters are allowed to feel differently about things. i mainly mean when whatever happened is painful and important to one or more of the characters. for example, steve and nancy. steve and nancy didn’t feel the same about barb, barb’s parents, and everything that happened in general. steve wanted to keep on like nothing happened while nancy was literally eaten up with grief, guilt, and trauma. jonathan was the one who was on the same page as her and made her feel better about carrying that baggage around all the time. they understood each other. and who was nancy in love with? jonathan. narratively, that makes perfect sense and even further sways the audience into understanding they’re in love.

so...what? the emotions that made mike and will’s six months apart feel like a year to them is....friendship? not a fucking chance. mike and el are a couple, and according to mileven fans, they’re the main couple of the show who are in love and are going to be an endgame couple. why save this incredibly romantic coded trope for will and mike, the best platonic bros? idk, you tell me. and the fact that the line about emotions came from someone in the love triangle?? and it was said to someone else in the love triangle?? not a coincidence.

edit: someone reblogged and pointed out how el said 185 in her letter to mike that we SEE him reading. there is no reason for him not to know how long it's been. so either he isn't paying attention to a damn thing el says in her letters or he is just extremely in love with will

another edit: i keep seeing reblogs of people saying they're probably referring to the time since mike and el started dating, which i used to think too. but the context when mike and will say a year makes it hard for me to believe.

"but you knew she was having trouble for like a year and you didn't tell me"

here mike is specifically talking about el's bullying problem which has only been going on since the byers have been gone and she enrolled in school. what he's talking about is something very strictly related to the time since they moved, and it's been six months, not a year.

"you called maybe a couple times. it's been a year, mike. meanwhile el has like a book of letters from you."

will is again, very specifically talking about something that strictly happened between the time since the byers left and the start of s4. he's saying how crazy it is that it's been a whole year and mike has barely called. but it hasn't been a year, it's only been six months.

"the last year has been weird, you know? and you know, max and lucas and dustin, they're great, they're great, it's just..it's hawkins it's not the same without you. and i feel like maybe i was worrying too much about el...i don't know maybe i feel like i lost you or something."

this one i will cut some slack, i think he could be talking about literally the last year, as in since the beginning of 1985. but immediately after he starts saying how home hasn't been the same without will (and separates his relationship with will as being different than his relationship with max dustin and lucas and even el), something specific to the time since they byers have been gone, six months, not a year:

in conclusion: mike and will referring to their time apart as a year when it’s only been six months is not a mishap on the writer’s part. they go out of their way to make sure you know exactly how much time has passed, down to the number of days, and they put this much attention on time in every season. and in the same season mike and will do this, there is a line in the SECOND LINE OF THE OPENING SCENE OF THE SEASON about emotions making time go by faster or slower.

byler is going to be a s5 surprise, but its not coming out of nowhere. there’s piles of subtext in every single season---enough that when you look back, it all makes sense. small details like this aren’t outlandish because this is without a doubt the length writers will go to keep something hidden, and in byler’s case and many other tv show plots case, to keep something a surprise. and for christ’s sake, WATCH THE SHOW! the amount of attention to even the TINIEST details in stranger things is insane. they put so much thought into everything---not just ships, and not just byler. idk how many times the writers are going to have to say details matter and that there are no coincidences until people believe them. 

anyways, byler is endgame. thanks for reading :) 

#another day of proving byler endgame done #all in a day's work #they are in love and they are dramatic #byler #will byers #mike wheeler #byler s4 #byler s5 #byler endgame #byler is endgame #byler is canon #mileven is bones #milkvan is bones #stranger things #byler analysis #stranger things analysis #stranger things 4

[risequotes]

Daily Rise Quotes: DAY 353

Donnie: To lose one pizza place is just New York real estate, but to lose two pizza places is... a conspiracy that goes all the way to the top!

(Season 1, Episode 11B - Pizza Pit)

#rottmnt #rise of the tmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #quote #risequotes #day 353 #pizza pit #donnie #tmnt #alt text

[canonizzyhours]

Whenever I see "fix it fics" that involve Izzy being alive (or even being a ghost) and living happily ever after with Ed and Stede at the Inn, I'm just like, "Wow! Congrats on not understanding ANY of those characters."

Ed doesn't want Izzy to come live with him and Stede. Like, I think it's completely fair (and actually very much factual in canon) to say that Ed didn't want Izzy to die. They had more or less made amends with each other prior to the final episode, and Ed did consider Izzy to be family. But Ed considering someone to be family still comes with a lot of baggage for Ed. Izzy was the other half of Blackbeard and Ed wanted to put Blackbeard completely behind him. We know that Ed was different when he was with Stede on the Revenge. We know that he was different when he had support and friendships with the crew. We know that he was different when he had Stede. We know that Ed could have been himself on the Revenge, but he still chose to be an innkeeper. He still chose to leave all that behind, and if Izzy was still alive, Ed would have chosen to leave him behind too. He wanted a clean break with Piracy. The only thing he bothered to take with him after that break was Stede - the guy who made him believe that he could be more than just Blackbeard.

And Stede also doesn't want Izzy there. Sure, they had managed to find some common ground this season, but Stede just left everything behind to be with the love of his life, the man he has been single mindedly searching for for months. He wants to spend his time with Ed. He's not going to want a third wheel. I don't care if they managed to strike up the bitchiest of friendships in the end. You don't want your bitchy friend to tag along on your honeymoon.

And of course, if Izzy had survived, he wouldn't want to be there either. Did none of these people listen to the speech he gave to Ricky? Izzy had finally figured out how to make a crew into a family. He finally figured out how to find meaning in the crew instead of just obsessively following around a reputation. Season 2 finally allowed Izzy to find a purpose for his life that wasn't Ed, so why the hell would he want to leave that new purpose to follow Ed around all over again? Izzy likes being a pirate. After everything he went through, he still sees value there. He still sees a new path towards happiness in that life. He has no reason to want to leave it.

I get people wanting a situational comedy and dropping all 3 characters into those circumstances, and I'm sure there's good, comedic fics out there that accomplish that. But to claim that this scenario would be a happy ending for any of them just seems so completely divorced from reality.

#353.

#ofmd #izzy hands #edward teach #stede bonnet #blackbonnet #steddyhands #canonizzyhours

[miieven]

Byler is Not Happening in Season Five of Stranger Things

Part 1

First and foremost, it would be implausible for the show to abruptly shift Mike Wheeler's love interest after several seasons of build-up. Since Eleven (Jane Hopper) was introduced as a character, the show has consistently highlighted the romantic attraction between her and Mike. Initially portrayed as middle school puppy love, their relationship has evolved over the seasons. Whether through comments from Mike's best friends, Lucas Sinclair and Dustin Henderson, or remarks from his sister, Nancy Wheeler, it has been clear that Mike has romantic feelings for Eleven, despite his attempts to hide it as a typical middle school crush.

The Duffer Brothers effectively depicted the growing romantic tension between Mike and Eleven throughout the first season, culminating in their first kiss in the cafeteria after Mike invited Eleven to the Snowball dance. While the main focus of season one was finding Will, Mike's showed that same dedication to finding Eleven , who went missing, and was evident when he tried to contact her for 353 days via walkie-talkie, as revealed in the last episode of season two and seen once or twice throughout the season. Basically what this means is that Mike would go to extreme extents to help out his friends... not just Will.

Although season two includes several scenes centered on Byler (Mike and Will), it is crucial to understand that the affection they show towards each other stems from their deep friendship. Best friends naturally comfort each other during difficult times. For example, in the "crazy together" scene, Mike comforts Will after a traumatic experience, sharing his own struggles with missing Eleven. This scene emphasizes their bond, as they both feel like they are going "crazy" for different reasons. Contrary to some interpretations, Will is not upset by Mike's mention of Eleven; he actually appears glad to share a connection with Mike, despite their differing problems.

Part 2

The fight between Mike Wheeler and Will Byers in season three of Stranger Things has been widely misinterpreted by some fans. During their argument, Mike's remark, "It's not my fault you don't like girls," was not intended as a bait against Will's sexuality. Instead, Mike meant that Will was not interested in dating, unlike the rest of their group at that time. This comment, while harsh, was a reflection of Mike's frustration with the changes in their friendship dynamics as they grew older.

It is essential to note that Mike's statement had no bearing on his own heterosexuality or his potential romantic involvement with Will. Mike's established romantic interest in Eleven has been a central narrative element throughout the series, and this moment of conflict with Will was more about their diverging interests and the strains of adolescence than any latent romantic tension between Mike and Will. Misinterpreting this scene undermines the depth of their friendship and disregards the broader context of their character development.

Moreover, suggesting a romantic affair between Mike and Will would disrupt the foundational narrative built around Eleven's character. Mike's relationship with Eleven is pivotal to the storyline, and introducing a romantic subplot with Will would not only feel forced but also undermine the carefully constructed dynamics that have been developed over multiple seasons. The show's continuity and emotional resonance depend on maintaining the integrity of these relationships.

Part 3

Just because Will Byers is a canonically queer character does not mean that Mike Wheeler must also be queer to create a new ship within the show. Representation is important, but forcing a character into a particular sexual orientation simply to satisfy a subset of the fanbase would undermine the authenticity of the show's narrative and character development. Mike's feelings for Eleven have been consistently portrayed throughout the series, and there is no substantial evidence to suggest that his romantic inclinations extend beyond her.

Moreover, the conflicts and arguments between Mike and Eleven are a normal part of any teenage relationship. It is unrealistic to expect their relationship to be "smooth sailing" all the time. The challenges they face and the disagreements they have are typical of young love, where both individuals are still learning about themselves and each other. These conflicts add depth to their characters and make their relationship more relatable and realistic. They reflect the natural ups and downs that come with growing up and navigating romantic relationships during adolescence.

Part 4

Many of the fanbase's theories regarding Byler are not only incorrect but also delusional when subjected to even a little fact-checking and research. For instance, some fans interpret every close interaction between Mike and Will as romantic, ignoring the context of their long-standing friendship. Scenes like the "crazy together" moment are often misrepresented to fit a desired narrative, despite clear evidence that they showcase platonic support.

The theory that Mike is secretly in love with Will disregards the multiple seasons of character development and explicit expressions of Mike's feelings for Eleven. A thorough review of the show’s episodes, interviews with the creators, and official materials confirms that Mike's storyline is deeply intertwined with Eleven's. The Duffer Brothers have repeatedly emphasized the importance of Mike and Eleven's relationship as a core element of the series.

In conclusion, the notion of Byler happening in season five is inconsistent with the show's established narrative. Mike and Eleven's relationship, with all its complexities and growth, has been a central theme. It is important to appreciate the story as it unfolds, recognizing that not all characters need to fit into every fan theory or ship. Fact-checking and a deeper understanding of the characters’ arcs reveal that many fan theories are simply wishful thinking rather than plausible plot developments.

#stranger things #stranger things five #stranger things leaks #mike wheeler #will byers #elevenhopper #janehopper #jane byers #vecna #lucas sinclair #dustin henderson #hot take #mileven #mileven endgame #byer isnt happening #st5 #st5 speculation #st5 spoilers #st5 leaks #st5 production #stranger things s5 #stranger things season 5 #eleven stranger things #mike wheeler x eleven #mike wheeler x will byers #opinion #bite me #anti byler

[mapsontheweb]

The Lower Empire

« Atlas historique Larousse » sous la direction de Georges Duby, édition revue et corrigée, 1987

by cartesdhistoire

In the 3rd and 4th centuries, the Empire faced a triple threat: to the north, the Germans, numerous, unstable, and warlike, pressed on its borders; to the east, the Sassanid Persians, victorious over the Arsacid Parthians, constituted the only organized state opposing Rome; in the south, the Saharan nomads posed the least dangerous threat. The crisis reached its peak from 256 to 269, when these enemies coordinated their attacks. However, from Claudius II (268–270) to Diocletian (284–305), the Illyrian Emperors managed to stabilize the situation, despite significant challenges (such as the Alamanni and Franks invading Gaul in 275). At times, they negotiated deals, notably with the Sassanids. In 332, the Goths from the lower Danube, defeated, agreed to an unequal alliance treaty with Constantine. In exchange for subsidies and the right to trade with Rome, they pledged to provide troops to the Emperor upon request. They remained loyal to the Constantinian dynasty thereafter, supporting Constantius II against Magnentius in 351-353 and backing the attempted usurpation of Procopius against Valens in 365.

Constantine organized the first universal council in 325 at Nicaea, bringing together bishops to achieve theological unity within Christianity. Some external bishops (Persians and Goths) attended, and Constantine, as Roman Emperor, presented himself as the natural protector of Christians worldwide.

Constantine's establishment of Constantinople as the second capital shifted the empire's center of gravity (331). Constantine's three sons succeeded him, and after several episodes of civil wars, Constantius II (337-361) emerged victorious from the conflicts. He imbued power with a hieratic, sacred, and Christian character.

However, stabilization primarily came from the reorganization of the army (stationing fixed units at the borders and maintaining a mobile reserve at the rear), leading to victories over Persians, Goths, and Franks, ensuring half a century of tranquility. This peace was reinforced thanks to the resolute character of Valentinian I (364–375).

#maps #cartesdhistoire #igsourced #roman empire

[harringtonstilinski]

Always The Babysitter - Chapter Seventeen: The Gate

Author: @harringtonstilinski​ Characters: Steve Harrington x Olivia Henderson(OC) Word Count: 6,766 Warnings: canon violence, angst, lil' bit of fluff, steve unfortunately getting his ass kicked.. again, ...billy Smut: no | yes; A/N: Hi, friends! We get Billy in this episode, and we get to see more of Liv's protective side with the kids!! If you like this chapter, please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox. As always, read at your own risk and enjoy 😊

prev | current chapter | next(s3)

season masterlist

series masterlist

series playlist 

Mike and El walked towards each other, saying each other’s name before embracing in a hug. 

Grabbing Steve’s hand and moving impossibly closer, I looked up at him, not knowing what I would do with myself if I were ever in Mike’s shoes.

“Is that…” Max asked. I looked around Steve, looking at Max while nodding my head, whispering, “Yes.”

Once he pulled out of the hug, Mike said, “I never gave up on you. I called you every night. Every night for–”

“353 days,” El said, shaking her head before looking in his eyes, saying, “I heard.”

“Why did you tell me you were there? That you were okay?”

“Because I wouldn’t let her,” Hopper said. 

Mike turned to face him, Hopper walking towards El as he said, “The hell is this? Where’ve you been?”

“Where have you been?” she asked, the two of them embracing in a hug. I saw the crown of her head go back like she was looking at Hop before her voice said, “Is she here?” He moved out of the way, El’s eyes meeting with mine.

I let go of Steve’s hand to walk towards El, giving her a hug that I only reserved for the most important people in my life.

“You’ve been hiding her,” Mike said, realization hitting him like a bus.

El turned to look at Hop and Mike, keeping her arm around me, my own still around her shoulders as we watched Mike and Hop’s small altercation.

“You’ve been hiding her this whole time!” Mike added, hitting Hop at the end.

Turning around to face Mike, Hop responded, “Hey. Hey!” He grabbed Mike’s shirt, saying, “Let’s. Talk. Alone.”

Before a door shut, I heard Mike say, “Protecting her! Protecting her?!”

A couple of moments later, I rubbed her back, saying, “Well, uh…” Looking at El, I said, “I’m digging the new look.”

A throat clearing had me looking at the owner; my little brother, Dustin.

El walked over to Dustin and Lucas, giving them both a hug, Dustin saying that they missed her and that they talked about her pretty much everyday. She noticed Dustin’s teeth, touching them. “Teeth.”

“What?” Dustin asked.

“You have teeth,” she said, a subtle duh tone to her voice.

“Oh,” he smiled. “You like these pearls?” He then proceeded to make a sound that resembled Chewbacca.

“Oh, my god,” I whispered, resting my forehead against Steve’s arm. I had moved back to stand next to him, lacing our fingers together before I had, basically, hugged his arm.

“Eleven?” Max asked, causing my head to shoot up as she walked over to El and the boys. “Hey, uhm, I’m Max.” She put her hand out for El to shake, adding, “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

El wanted nothing to do with Max, so she pushed her way through the three younger teens to move to Joyce, the two of them embracing.

“Don’t worry,” I whispered, Max’s head moving to look at me. “She’ll come around.”

“Can I see him?” El asked.

Joyce took her to Will’s room, leaving Steve and I with Dustin, Max, and Lucas for a moment before they both came back out, Joyce whispering my name.

I went into the kitchen with her and El, looking at the words Nancy had written earlier. “Wait a second,” I whispered. Pointing to the notepad, I asked, “You’ve opened this gate before, right?”

“Yes,” El replied.

Putting a hand on her back, I asked, “If we got you back there, do you think that you could close it? Put all this behind us?”

She looked at me for a moment, determination in her eyes. When Hop and Mike came out of one of the bedrooms, I told him what El and I had thought as everyone else gathered into the kitchen; getting El back to the lab to close the gate.

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

“Demodogs,” Dustin said, turning to face Hop.

Placing my forehead once again on Steve’s arm, I muttered, “Oh my god.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Hop asked.

“I said, uhh, demodogs,” Dustin said. “Like Demogorgon and dogs. You put them together, it sounds pretty badass–”

“How is this important right now?” Hop and I asked.

“It’s not. I’m sorry.”

“I can do it,” El said.

“You’re not hearing me,” Hop retorted.

“I’m hearing you. I can do it.”

I looked at her, impressed at her biting back at Hop.

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

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

“It is,” I said, all eyes turning to me. “But if we’re really right about this, and El closes the gate and kills the Mind Flayers army, Will’s a part of that army, and closing the gate means… Will dies.” I watched as Joyce got up after my explanation.

She walked by all of us, going into Will’s room, where we all followed her. “He likes it cold.”

“What?” Hopper asked.

“That’s what Will kept saying to me. He likes it cold.” She went over to his window and closed it before turning around to us and saying, “We keep giving it what it wants.”

“If this is a virus and Will’s the host, then…” Nancy said.

“Then you need to make the host uninhabitable,” Jonathan and I said. 

“So if he likes it cold–”

“We need to burn it out of him,” Joyce said, looking at her youngest son.

“We have to do it somewhere he doesn’t know this time,” Mike suggested.

“Yeah, somewhere far away,” Dustin added.

I looked at Hopper, as he thought about where. 

He told them about his cabin in the woods where he was keeping El hidden. They gathered Will and bundled him up, moving through the house as Hop was giving directions to Jonathan as they did.

Steve and Nancy went out back to look for something to help with burning the Mind Flayer out of Will. He came back inside a couple minutes later, looking at me like I held the stars as I looked back at him.

“Is there something on my face?” I asked, brushing my face.

“Liv!” Dustin called.

I looked at him and walked towards him, hearing the papers on the floor rustling under everyone else’s shoes before the young teens and I walked outside to stand on the porch, watching the scene before us.

“Just be careful, okay?” Mike said to El. “I can’t lose you again.”

“You won’t lose me,” El replied.

I felt fingers going in between mine, knowing they were Steve’s.

“Do you promise?” Miked asked.

“Promise,” El said.

They stood there for a moment before Hop said, “El, come on, let’s go. It’s time.”

She got into Hop’s truck, Joyce, Jonathan and Nancy getting into Jonathan’s to do their part of this mission.

The kids, Steve and I stood and watched them all drive off, my thoughts starting to… well, start up.

Going back inside, I looked at the Demodog laying in the corner, asking Dustin what was the plan for dealing with that dead thing.

He asked Steve to pick it up and bring it into the kitchen, where I was sitting on the counter. Dustin opened the refrigerator, emptying out a space.

“I-it should fit now,” Dustin said, pointing to the empty fridge.

“Is this really necessary?” Steve asked.

“Yes, it is,” Dustin said, matter-of-factly. “Okay, this is a ground-breaking scientific discovery. We can’t just bury it like some common mammal. Okay, it’s not a dog!”

“Alright, alright, alright.” Steve moved to the fridge as Dustin moved out of the way, saying, “But you’re explaining this to Mrs. Byers, alright?” He moved his arm to put the Demodog’s head into the cold space, hitting the head against the side of the fridge.

“Christ,” Steve whispered. He looked back at Dustin, saying, “Help me out.”

“What am I supposed to do?” Dustin asked.

“Get the door, man. Get the door.”

“Aright, I got the door.”

I couldn’t help but snort before laughing while watching the two of them as I sat up on the counter. Once they got the creature in and closed the door, Steve patted Dustin on the top of his head, moving his hat some.

Steve started coming over to me, but I put my leg out and said, “You wash that alien slime off of you before you touch me, Harrington.”

He chuckled, moving to the sink to wash his hands. Once he was through, he came over to me, putting his wet hands on my cheeks, causing me to laugh. When he placed his hands on my outer thighs and placed a smiling kiss on my lips, I welcomed it.

I pulled away when Dustin said, “Demodogs!”

“Give it up already, Dustin!” I said, before giving Steve a chaste kiss and jumping down off the counter, giving him a dish towel to use to finish drying his hands.

“The chief will take care of her,” Lucas said as I walked to stand next to Dustin.

“Like she needs protection,” Max muttered.

“Listen, dude, if a coach calls a play in a game, bottom line, you execute it, alright?” Steve said.

I looked at him, confused, before saying, “First off, babe, this isn’t a basketball game, and second–”

“We’re not even in the game, we’re on the bench,” Mike interrupted.

“Right,” Steve stammered. “So my point is…” He was silent for a moment before I said, “Care to share that point?”

“Right, yeah, we’re on the bench, so, there’s, uh, there’s nothing we can do,” he said, putting the towel over his left shoulder.

“That’s not entirely true,” Dustin said. “I mean, these Demodogs, they have a hive mind.” He looked at me and Steve, eyes bouncing between us. “When they ran away from the bus, they were called away.”

“So, if we get their attention,” Lucas said.

“Maybe we can draw them away from the lab,” Max added.

“And clear a path to the gate,” Mike finished on their train of thought.

“And then we all die,” Steve and I exclaimed.

“Well, that’s one point of view,” Dustin said.

“No, that’s not a point of view, man,” Steve said. “That’s a fact.”

“Excuse me, Liv,” Mike said, causing me to move out of his way. “I got it.” He moved around to the kitchen, finding the spot he needed on the map, squatting to say, “This is where the Chief dug his hole. This is our way into the tunnel.” He got up and moved into the hallway, standing and then kneeling by a spot on the map that was bigger than the rest. “So, here - right here. This is like a hub. You got all the tunnels feeding in here. Maybe if we set this on fire–”

“Oh, yeah, that’s a no,” Steve said, pointing down towards the kids while looking down at them.

“The Mind Flayer would call away his army,” Dustin said, jumping on Mike’s theory.

“They’d all come to stop us,” Lucas added.

“Hey,” Steve and I said, trying to get their attention.

“Then we circle back to the exit,” Mike said.

“Guys.”

“By the time they realize we’re gone–”

“El would be at the gate,” Max said.

“Hey,” we tried again, Steve clapping while saying, “Hey, hey, hey!” Gesturing to the ground, he said, “This is not happening.”

“But–” Mike tried.

“No, no, no, no, no! No buts!” I said.

“I promised I’d keep you shitheads safe, and that’s exactly what I plan on doing. We’re staying here on the bench and we’re waiting for the starting team to do their job. Does everybody understand that?”

“This isn’t a stupid sports game!” Mike said.

Taking the towel off his shoulder, Steve repeated, “I said, does everybody understand that?” He looked at the kids then at me before looking back at the kids. “I need a yes.”

We all turned to look at the front of the house upon hearing an engine revving. I instantly recognized it after hearing it on his first day of school.

“Oh, sweet shit,” I muttered.

Max and Lucas moved the couch, looking out the window. “It’s my brother,” she said. “He can’t know I’m here. He’ll kill me.” She looked at Lucas as she added, “He’ll kill us.”

I looked at Steve, seeing that look on his face that I knew all too well. “No.”

“Stay in here with the kids,” he said. “I’m gonna go talk to him.”

“Steve–”

“Just stay here,” he said. He looked me in the eyes, waiting for me to answer, so I just nodded before feeling his lips on my forehead. He went outside and stood at the door on the front porch. I only knew this because I moved to the couch with the kids, looking out the window.

Billy turned his car off, the lights shutting off as he did. I was thankful because I was getting blinded by them. He got out and put his hand on the top of the car, taking a drag from his cigarette. “Am I dreaming, or is that you, Harrington?”

“Yeah, it’s me, don’t cream your pants,” Steve replied. 

The walls were thin enough for me to hear their conversation.

Billy took off his jacket, putting it in his car before shutting the door as Steve walked towards his car, Billy doing the same towards Steve. “What are you doing here, amigo?”

“I could ask you the same thing, amigo,” Steve said.

“Looking for my stepsister,” Billy said, looking towards the window. “A little birdie told me she was here.”

“Shit,” I whispered.

“Huh, that’s weird,” Steve said. “I don’t know her.”

“Small? Red-head? Bit of a bitch.”

“Doesn’t ring a bell. Sorry, buddy.”

Billy took another drag from his cigarette, before saying with some weird hand motion, “Ya’know, I don’t know, this… this whole situation, Harrington, I don’t know. It’s giving me the heebie-jeebies.”

“Oh, yeah, why’s that?”

Another drag before Billy says, “My 13-year-old sister goes missing all day,” before looking me dead in the eyes for a second before adding, “And then I find her with you and Henderson in a stranger’s house,” another look, “and you lie to me about it.”

“Shit, shit, shit,” I whispered with every look.

Chuckling, Steve turned his head towards the window before turning back to Billy, saying, “Man, were you dropped too much as a child, or what? I don’t know what you don’t understand about what I just said. She’s not here.”

As Billy pointed to the window with his cigarette, I put my hands on two of the kids' heads as he said, “Then who is that?”

Steve turned to face us as I pushed their heads down, exclaiming, “Shit!”

“Did he see us?” Dustin asked.

“Oh, shit,” Steve said. He turned back to Billy as I moved away from the window, moving the kids off of the couch towards the hallway.

A couple seconds later, Billy walked in the house, saying, “Well, well, well,” slamming the door behind him. “Lucas Sinclair, what a surprise.” He took a few steps to us, stopping when I crossed my arms.

“Touch these kids and you’re dead,” I spit.

“Max disobeyed me,” he said.

I scoffed. “Like she has to obey you.”

“She knows what happens when she disobeys me.”

“What?” I chuckled. “You go to your room and cry like a little baby?”

“I break things,” he said, shoving me out of the way.

I landed on the floor on my back, hearing the door open. 

“Liv,” Steve said, helping me to my feet.

“Billy’s gonna hurt Lucas,” I breathed, both of us walking towards the kitchen.

“You’re so dead, Sinclair,” Billy exclaimed. “You’re dead.”

Steve moved him away from Lucas, saying, “No. You are!” before punching him square in the jaw.

Dustin chuckled, while Max said Steve’s name. Lucas ran over to me, so I had my arms wrapped around him, trying to protect him. I think Mike was just too stunned.

Billy laughed as Steve shook his hand out and fixed his hair before he looked in my direction for a moment before looking back at Billy as the asshole said, “Looks like you got some fire in you after all, huh? I’ve been waiting to meet this King Steve everybody’s been telling me so much about.”

Steve put his fingertips on Billy’s shoulder, pushing him back a little as he growled, “Get out.”

Billy stood there for a second after Steve put his hand down. He swung his fist, but Steve ducked, hitting him back and sending him towards the kitchen sink.

“Yes!” Dustin and I said.

“Kick his ass, Steve!” Dustin said.

“Get him!” Mike said. 

Billy just stood up and laughed, but Steve hit him again, myself and the kids cheering him on.

Steve landed another punch, as Dustin and I exclaimed, “Murder the son of a bitch!”

I watched Billy grab for a plate as he laughed, the kids still cheering Steve on.

“Steve, watch out!” I said, but was too late, as Billy had shattered a plate on Steve’s head. I let go of Lucas to put my arms around Steve. He looked at me for a second before I bolted away from him, giving Billy my own punch to his face.

“Olivia, baby,” Steve said. “Move.”

I was pulled back by one of the kids, as Billy walked toward me, Dustin’s voice in my ear yelling, “Shit!” before both of our bodies went down, Steve’s groans sounding at the same time.

I watched Billy follow Steve into the living room, where he grabbed Steve’s jacket, saying, “No one tells me what to do,” before headbutting him.

“Steve!” I exclaimed, seeing my boyfriend’s body slide against the floor.

Billy hooped and hollered, telling Steve to get up.

I was fighting against Mike, Lucas and Max, the three of them helping Dustin keep me back from putting myself in the middle of the two teenage boys.

“Billy, you’re gonna kill him, stop!” we all said at different times.

“Steve, baby, you have to get up!” I said.

Billy got a few hits in, the boys and I telling Billy to stop and for Steve to fight back. I felt hands let go of me before I saw Max move towards Billy, sticking something in his neck.

The boys and I stopped our protests to Billy, said boy standing up and facing us, taking what I now know to be the needle for Will sticking out of his neck.

Looking between the needle and Max, Billy said, “The hell is this? You little shit, what did you do?” He went down to the ground, hard, laughing once he landed on his back. 

Feeling hands lightly push me, I made my way quickly over to Steve, elevating him by placing the back of his head on my knees as Max got Steve’s bat, holding it up.

“From here on out, you leave me and my friends alone, do you understand?” Max said.

“Screw you,” Billy slurred.

She brought the bat down, mere inches away from Billy’s junk before picking the bat back up, the nails having dug into the floor a little. “Say you understand. Say it. Say it!”

“I understand,” Billy mumbled.

“What?”

“I understand,” he said, a little more loudly before passing out.

Max moved to his left side, taking his keys from his pockets. She held them up, saying, “Let’s get out of here.”

“Wait,” I said. “We can’t just leave Steve here. We need to patch him and take him with us.”

“What do you need?” Dustin asked.

“A warm washcloth, some Neosporin and band-aids, please.”

The kids got into gear, Dustin bringing me a warm, wet washcloth. He knelt next to Steve as I gently started cleaning as much blood as I could without hurting him, even though he couldn’t feel it in his passed out state.

When he was all cleaned and patched up, Dustin helped me carry Steve to Billy’s car where Mike opened the driver side door, leaning the seat forward and letting Dustin climb in first.

“Dustin, how the hell am I gonna get him in the damn car when I have his arms?” I groaned. 

“Uhhh,” Dustin said.

“Hurry your big brain up, he’s heavy.”

“Switch on three,” he said. “One… two… three.”

I moved out of the way so that Dustin could wrap his arms under Steve’s, dragging him in the car as Max, Mike and Lucas brought all of the gear they gathered while I had patched up Steve.

“Careful,” I said. Once Steve was in, Mike got in. “Where–?”

“Liv, over here,” Lucas said, opening the passenger side, pushing the seat forward. It was awkward getting in the back with Dustin, Mike and Steve, but we somehow made it work. Lucas got in the front seat with Max in the driver.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive?” I asked, leaning forward, turning my body a little so as to not scrunch Steve’s neck too much.

“I got it,” Max said. “You need to be with Steve.” I leaned back, looking at Steve’s beat up face. As Max started driving, I ran the backs of my fingers over the parts of his face that weren't bloodied and bruised. I heard him wake up a few moments later, watching as he turned his eyes to Mike, saying, “Nancy?”

Mike and I looked at each other like, what?

Steve groaned, going to touch his face. I moved his hand out of the way as Dustin said, “No, don’t touch it.” He tilted his head a little to look up at Dustin.

“Hey, buddy,” my brother said, shushing Steve. I rolled my eyes at his antics. “It’s okay. You put up a good fight. He kicked your ass, but you still put up a good fight.”

“Dustin,” I groaned.

“Well, he did.”

A pained look on Steve’s face had me petting his forehead into his hair. He might kill me later for touching his hair, but I didn’t care.

“Okay, you’re gonna keep straight for a half a mile, and then make a left on Mount Sinai,” Lucas said.

I watch Steve turn his head towards Max, seeing her driving.

“What’s going on?” he asked, before the kids’ plan came back to him. “Oh, my god!”

“Babe, relax,” I said.

“She’s driven before,” Dustin said.

“Yeah, in a parking lot,” Mike added.

“That counts!” Lucas and I retorted.

Steve started freaking out more as Dustin said, “They were gonna leave you behind.”

They really did. When I patched him up with the supplies they all found, Lucas, Max and Mike wanted to just leave and go with their plan, but Dustin and I didn’t wanna leave him with Billy when they both woke up.

“Liv and I promised that you’d be cool,” Dustin said. 

“I didn’t say jack shit!” I exclaimed.

Max sped up more, Steve repeating whoa a few times before asking, “What’s going on?” I even felt the force of the car speeding as Steve said, “Whoa! Stop the car. Slow down.”

“Don’t puke on me.”

“I told you he’d freak out,” Mike said.

“Stop the car!” Steve exclaimed.

“Everybody shut up!” Max yelled. “I’m trying to focus!”

“Oh, wait, that’s Mount Sinai,” Lucas said. “Make a left!”

“What?”

“Make - turn left!”

Max effectively ran into a couple mailboxes before sharply turning left, everyone in the car screaming and holding on to something or someone; Steve grabbed my leg, Dustin grabbed the front of my shoulders, I grabbed the seat in front of me as well as Mike’s shoulder, Lucas… well, I have no idea about him. She stopped once we got to our destination, Steve yelling out, “Whoa! Hello!”

“Incredible,” Mike said.

“I told you,” Max said. “Zoomer.”

The kids piled out of the car, followed by myself and Steve, who leaned against the opening of the passenger door. The kids went to the trunk to get their gear on and to grab their backpacks, while I stood at the back near the back window.

“Oh, no,” Steve groaned. “Hey, guys.”

Mike, in full gear, walked past me and Steve to the front of the vehicle, the older teen asking, “Hey. Hey, where do you think you’re going?”

Dustin handed me my gear; a bandana to keep my nose and mouth protected as well as some goggles to keep my eyes protected as well.

“What are you, deaf?” Steve said. “Hello?”

I think everyone was ignoring him at this point, myself included. I didn’t want the kids to go through with the plan, but I wouldn’t have been able to stop them anyway.

“We are not going down there right now,” Steve continued. “Liv and I made ourselves clear.”

Turning to face him, I said, “You made yourself clear. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to stop them.”

“Whatever,” he said. “There’s no chance we’re going to that hole, alright?”

Dustin had a bag ready on the side of the trunk to grab it when he needed it, but Steve grabbed it and slammed it back in the trunk yelling, “This ends right now!”

“Babe!” I said at the same time Dustin said, “Steve!” while turning him around.

“You’re upset, I get it,” Dustin said while I shouldered my bag. “But the bottom line is, a party member requires assistance, and it is our duty to provide that assistance.”

“Now, we know you promised Nance that you’d help me protect these kids,” I said, grabbing his bag from the trunk, holding it out to him. “So, help me keep them safe.”

We looked at each other for a moment before he lightly nodded his head and grabbed the bag from my hand, putting on the bandana and goggles.

Mike, Lucas and Max had already walked to the hole, gas cans, rope and map in hand, so when Steve put on his gear, he, Dustin and myself walked to the hole, the kids going down the rope first before Steve went down.

He looked up at me, holding his arms out to catch me as I slid in, my hands landing on his shoulders.

I looked around, seeing what looked like flecks of snow floating around. “Holy shit.”

“Uhh,” Mike said. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s this way.”

Steve helped me put on my bag as I had dropped it first before I turned around and helped him as Dustin asked, “You’re pretty sure, or you’re certain?”

“I’m 100% sure,” Mike said, turning to face the party. “Just follow me and you’ll know.”

He turned back around right before Steve and I said in unison, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey, hey, hey, hey, I don’t think so.”

“What?” Mike asked.

I walked towards him, saying, “Any of you little shits die down here, Steve and I are getting the blame. Moreso me. You got that, dipshit?”

Hearing the paper map Mike had in his hand rustling, I looked at it in Steve’s hand as he turned and said, “From here on out, I’m leading the way.” 

With an eyebrow raised, I watched as he put the paper in between two of his fingers that were holding his flashlight before he grabbed my hand and led me down the tunnels, as I said, “Let’s go! Hustle!”

I’m not sure how many tunnels we went through; it could’ve been one, it could’ve been 100, I wasn’t sure. Only thing I was sure of was that the part of the tunnel we were in looked like a giant nest of some sort. Very hard to describe.

“God,” Lucas said.

“What is this place?” Max asked.

“Can we keep moving, please?” I asked. “This place is freaking me out, and making me want to scrub my skin off in the shower.”

“Come on, guys, let’s keep moving,” Steve said, leading the way out of this… nest?

I heard screaming a few seconds later, followed by a “SHIT!” Stopping my steps, I said, “Dustin?!” Running back to him, I knelt down next to him, asking him, “What the fuck happened? Are you hurt? Dustin, talk to me!”

“It’s in my mouth! Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!” Dustin said before he started coughing.

I was breathing heavily, anxiety and worry filling me up fast.

He spit before looking at me. “I’m okay.”

Small bit of rage filled me as I hit his arm, yelling, “Don’t fucking do that again, Dustin Wade!” Standing, I let out a frustrated growl, pushing my way past Steve and the kids.

“Are you serious?” Max asked.

“Very funny, man,” Steve said. “You almost gave your sister a heart attack.” 

I could see the flashlight trail beside me as I heard Steve tell me to wait up. When he caught up with me, I was walking down what seemed like steps within this tunnel.

“What the hell?” I whispered, looking around the… I guess, room we were in.

“Alright, Wheeler,” Steve said. “I think we found your hub.”

Looking around, I grossly underestimated how big this hub would be. I breathed in a deep breath, releasing it as confidence took over.

“Let’s drench it,” Mike said.

The four younger teens started drenching the hub in gasoline while Steve and I watched. I felt him rub his hand up and down my back. “I’m so ready for this shit to be over with. I want my boring life back. I wanna be able to sleep and not have nightmares.”

“Once we burn this place, it’ll go back to normal,” Steve said. “I promise.”

The kids came back to Steve and I when their cans were emptied, all of us squatting down.

“Alright, you guys ready?” Steve asked, the kids echoing, “Ready.”

I grabbed the lighter from my pocket, holding it up to Steve, saying, “Light her up.” He grabbed it from my hand, his eyes looking into mine before he said, “We’re in such deep shit.”

Steve flicked the lighter, the flame appearing immediately before he tossed it into the gasoline. Flames instantly started burning the hub, the vines almost dancing around as Steve said, “Go, go, go!”

He didn’t have to tell me twice as I got up and started following him and the kids back through the tunnels. Map in hand again, he was at the front of the line, Dustin behind us repeating oh my god like it was a mantra or something.

We made it to the little room where Dustin had his freak out just a few minutes before, Mike’s muffled, “Help! Help! Help!” making me grab Steve’s jacket and telling him Mike needs help.

All of us went back to help save Mike, a vine wrapping around his ankle when we got back to him. “Pull him out, pull him out!” I yelled.

The kids and I grabbed on to him, playing tug of war with Mike and this vine.

“Back, back, everybody back!” Steve yelled before he started whacking at the vine before it split, releasing Mike. 

I looked at Steve with heart eyes, I’m sure, saying to him, “If we weren’t basically in the Upside Down, I’d kiss you stupid.”

“You can do that later,” he said. “Now, come on.”

A growling behind us made everyone turn to face it, the growling coming from Dart. I grabbed onto Dustin, not wanting him anywhere near Dart.

“Dart,” Dustin said, taking a couple of careful steps towards the creature.

“Dustin, no,” I said, trying to pull him back.

He gently pulled himself from my hold, turning to face me. “Liv, trust me. Please.” Turning back to face Dart, Dustin walked forward at the same time Dart did. “Hey. It’s me, it’s me. It’s just your friend. It’s Dustin.” He knelt on one knee in front of the creature, asking, “You remember me? Will you let us pass?”

When Dart opened his face at Dustin, I jumped, ready to save my little brother as Steve wrapped his arm around my waist to keep me in place.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” Dustin said. “Liv and I are sorry about the storm cellar. That was a pretty douchey thing to do. You hungry? Yeah?” He took a strap off his shoulder, reaching into his bag.

“He’s insane,” Lucas said, all of us shushing him after.

“I’ve got our favorite, see?”

“Nougat,” I whispered as Dustin said aloud to Dart.

I could tell he was opening it just by the way his arms were moving. “Look at that. Yummy. Here, alright? Eat up, buddy.” He moved his hand for us to move past him and Dart, the creature now distracted. “Come on, come on.”

After Max moved first, I felt Steve lightly push me to move forward, him and the other two boys following.

“There’s plenty more,” Dustin said. “I’ve got more.”

I stopped a few feet away to turn and watch my baby brother say goodbye to his interdimensional pet. “Goodbye, buddy.”

“Let’s go, let’s go,” Steve whispered.

We made it through the tunnels, probably about three quarters of the way back to the rope before the ground beneath us started rumbling, almost like an earthquake for a couple seconds.

I stood from having fallen over at the rumble, hearing the unmistakable Demodog roar.

“What was that?” Max asked.

We turned from the direction we just came from, hearing them roar again as Mike said, “They’re coming. Run! Run!”

He did not have to tell me twice. I just ran, not caring if I was going the right way or not, but thankful I turned down the right tunnel when I saw the rope. “There! Come on!”

I stopped at the rope, waiting for Steve to help me get the kids up to safety.

We got Max up first, then Lucas, followed by Mike and Dustin. Steve went to bend to hoist me up before I started to protest.

“No, no,” I said, watching him stand. “I’m not leaving you to die alone.” He tried to protest, but I just put my hands on his chest, saying, “No! I just got you, I can’t lose you already.”

I heard the monsters before I saw their shadow, Steve standing in front of me a little with his bat out to protect me, the kids shouting above us, “Liv, Steve, come on!”

I screamed a little as one came charging at us, closing my eyes, ready to see nothing but black, but… nothing came. As I opened them, I watched as they all passed us, Steve grabbing onto me as I leaned back a little to dodge the Dogs.

I was breathing so hard, my goggles started to fog up before I breathed, “Eleven.”

Steve and I made it up the rope after the Dogs ran past us, the headlights on Billy’s Camaro getting brighter and brighter before they dimmed back to their normal brightness.

Grabbing Dustin, I gave him the biggest hug ever, thankful that I still had my little brother with me. “I love you, Dusty,” I whispered. When I pulled back, I looked him in the eyes and said, “If you tell anyone I said that, I’ll deny it.”

He smiled. “Same.”

Turning to Steve, I smiled at him before wrapping my arms around his middle, just holding him for a moment, feeling him do the same with his arms around my shoulders. I looked at him after a few moments, saying, “I really thought I was going to lose you.”

He shook head. “You’ll ever lose me. I promise.”

I smiled at him, ready to kiss him stupid like I said earlier, but didn’t, not wanting to hurt his already swollen lips from getting the shit knocked out of him by Billy. Lightly touching them, I said softly, “When these aren’t swollen, I’ll kiss you stupid.”

He smiled a little before wincing at the pain.

A throat being cleared made me turn around, seeing Max with Billy’s keyring on her finger.

“I’ll drive,” I said.

~~~

After I had dropped Steve off at his car, I took the Camaro back to the Byers, Steve following me. Billy was still passed out on the floor, so I just dropped his keys on his abdomen before getting into the driver seat of Steve’s BMW, driving the kids back home. 

I gave Dustin the option of staying at home alone or staying with Mike. He opted to stay with Mike. Steve also gave me options; go home or go with him. I chose the latter. I didn’t wanna stay home alone.

When Steve and I made it back to his house, we took our showers before I cleaned him up some more and patched him back up. We cuddled in his bed that night, talking about anything and everything; fears for the next few weeks, goals, what we wanted out of… us.

I sighed. “I don’t want a comparison relationship. I don’t want us to be compared to you and Nancy.”

Running his fingers lightly on my arm, he said, “We won’t. And if anyone tries to say it in front of us, I’ll kick their ass.”

I chuckled, looking up at his jawline, cupping the right side of his face. “Need I remind you why that would be a bad idea?”

He chuckled a little, resting his hands on my arms before he sighed. All I could hear was his heartbeat under my ear as I closed my eyes, silence following. 

I wasn’t sure what this thing between Steve and I would hold… if it even held anything.

All I wanted was Steve… and I got him.

~~~

One Month Later

It was sad officially saying goodbye to Barbra Holland, but her parents and Nancy needed closure. I had told Steve that it felt right and respectful to be at the services for Barb, and he agreed.

Steve took me home after the funeral services, promising he’d be back to take me on a small diner date later. As I was getting ready, I heard Dustin stomp around the house, saying, “Son of a bitch! Son of a bitch!”

I walk out of my room as my mom and I asked, “Where did you see it last?” She was sitting in her chair holding our new kitten, Tews.

Pointing at a spot on the counter, Dustin said, “Right here, where I put it.”

“What’s so important anyway?” I asked, crossing my arms.

He picked up a brown paper bag, turning to us and smiling. “Got it.” After running past Mom and I, the doorbell rang.

“That’s your ride, Dusty!” Mom said.

Eyes wide, I realized I wasn’t fully ready. Turning to bolt back to my room, I said, “Son of a bitch!”

~~~

“Why am I always in the backseat?” I groaned as Steve pulled up to the Middle School gym.

“Because I’m more special, that’s why,” Dustin replied.

Leaning in between the front seats, I glared at my brother. “I’m his girlfriend, I think that makes me more special.”

When Steve stopped the car, he said, “Stop bickering, please. We’re here. So, remember, once you get in there…”

Dustin turned his head to face Steve, confirming, “Pretend like I don’t care.”

I facepalmed as Steve said, “You don’t care.”

“I don’t care.”

“There you go. You’re learning, my friend. You’re learning.”

Dustin checked himself in the rearview mirror, making sure his hairstyle was still in place.

“Dusty,” I said.

“What?”

“Come on, dude. You look great. I mean, you used half that can. I could smell it down the hall.”

“Really?” 

“Yes.”

“Okay,” Steve said. “Now, you’re gonna go in there–”

“Yeah,” Dustin said.

“Look like a million bucks.”

“Yeah!”

“And you’re gonna slay ‘em dead.”

“Like a lion,” Dustin said, before proceeding to growl.

“Uuuuuuhhhhh, don’t do that, okay?”

“Okay.”

Steve stuck his hand out, Dustin wrapping his own around Steve’s as the older teen said, “Good luck.”

Dustin and I got out before I gave him a hug, whispering, “Care,” before I lightly shoved him away from the door, telling him to have fun as I got in and shut the door.

I looked at Steve, and him at me before we leaned towards each other, smiles on our faces. Our lips connected in a sweet kiss before we pulled apart, Steve driving off with his hand on its normal spot; my thigh.

I was so happy with Steve. Nothing could destroy it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

prev | current chapter | next(s3)

season masterlist

series masterlist

series playlist 

~~~

A/N 2:  hi, friends! pls be kind and reblog! it really helps us content creators out <3

Additional Note:

~~~

Forever / Everything Taglist: @stiles-o-dylan24​​ @stixnstripesworld​ @fandom-princess-forevermore​​​ @quanticobae​​​ @mischiefandi​​​ @kellyashcroft @lauren-novak​​​​

Steve Harrington Taglist: @madaboutjoe

If you’re tagged and didn’t want to be, please let me know.

~~~

*Please don’t post my writing anywhere else without my consent. The author of this work will always and forever be @harringtonstilinski​.

All characters, story lines, and plot aside from y/n and her storyline & plot, are all of the work of The Duffer Brothers.

*These works contain material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited.

No part of these works may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.

Posted on February 19, 2023

#steve harrington x olivia henderson #steve x olivia #steve harrington x oc #steve x oc #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington #olivia henderson (oc) #stevia #always the babysitter #atb #dustin henderson #will byers #lucas sinclair #eleven hopper #mike wheeler #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #max mayfield #billy hargrove #joyce byers #chief jim hopper #season two episode nine #original character #home slice olivia was all me #stranger things fandom #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington fandom #steve harrington fanfiction

[ilhansens]

(☞ﾟヮﾟ)☞ click on the source link of this post to find #353 gifs of hafsanur sancaktutan from episode 2 of the television series darmaduman (2022), as well as the rules you must abide by in order to use them. all gifs included were made by me and are size 268 x 170. content warnings include: medication, drinking, kissing. ☜(ﾟヮﾟ☜)

NOTE: this fc is turkish, please name them accordingly or don’t use my gifs. anyone i find using my resources while breaking my rules WILL be blocked.

#hafsanur sancaktutan #hafsanur sancaktutan gif pack #gif pack #turkish fc #turkishfcs #thegifpackreblogs #gifsociety #fcxdirectory #supportcontentcreators #tessgifs #user-dee #userdevon #usermina #usernare #mgp* #* #happiest birthday to the other loml !!!! #my darling dearest sam ❤️

[allonsybadwolf]

Okay so I was responding to this post in the tags and I may have gone a little off the rails in listing TV shows but anyways here's the main point:

So one of my special interests is TV. Just in general. Watching it. Tracking it. Trying every new show that looks vaguely interesting to me. I have an app where I track the shows I watch and I currently have:

353 shows tracked

10,760 episodes watched

That's 269 days, 14 hours, 38 minutes

Not including rewatches

This is over many many years

And I watch shows while I am doing other stuff so don't worry lol

60 finished shows

110 shows still currently airing new episodes

115 shows that have ended but have episodes I haven't watched

SO here is a list of my favorites. They might be my favorites because they are objectively good, or they are just comfort watches from my past, or they are objectively bad but there's just something about it that I love.

If there's stuff you like on here maybe our tastes align and you'll like the other stuff!

#tv #television #media #strike #wga strike #writer's strike #sag strike #entertainment #allonsybadwolf

[chirpsythismorning]

Today is Day 185: What This Line Means for El's Letter to Mike at the Start of Season 4

I know a lot of fans are convinced that the Duffers are careless since they 'forgot' Will's birthday. But I assure you… they’re not.

There's zero doubt in my mind that the writers have a calendar which they refer to religiously, especially when making decisions about the timeline for the story. 

Literally every season starts with a date to establish the setting. Do we think they just settle on a date, without referring to any sort of notes?

There’s a basic responsibility there, at the very least, to be aware of what the characters would be doing at that moment in time, based on what generally happens during that time of year. This would require research beyond just picking a date and slapping it on the first episode of the season. 

Is it Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter? What events are likely to take place during that time of year and how do they plan the expectations of the setting around the characters and the story itself? That's all intentional and well thought out. There’s a reason every season is surrounding some sort of holiday/event at some point, and it’s because time is very very important in the world of Stranger Things.

Think about the various times they’ve had characters literally countdown events?

Mike with El in s2? El with Mike in s4? Suzie when referring to Dustin’s birthday in s4? They wouldn’t throw out lines like that if they didn’t do the math at least once themselves.

The ‘353 days’ line is one perfect example of the Duffer’s proving to us that they have access to calendars, calculators or even simply, google.

Look at that! It appears when Mike used the walkie to call El on Halloween of 1984 (October 31st) in s2, it had indeed been 353 days!

What makes this detail so so so so so fucking important, is that this might hold the answer to the murkiness of the s3 ending going into s4.

Because as of now, we don't really know when s3 ended exactly.

But the similarities of s3's ending to previous seasons, might help us figure out that answer...

Every season ends with a vague timestamp for the literal ending; the epilogue. They only offer up the date at the start of the season, but when it comes to the ending, they never do. It's always months or days if we're lucky.

For s1-2 we got a vague 'one month later', for s3 we got an even more vague 'three months later' and for s4 we surprisingly got something more specific, with 'two days later'.

I think the reasoning for this seems complicated, but it's fairly simple.

While it is quite commonplace to give exact dates at the start of stories, to set the scene and everything, there's this agreed upon understanding in film and even books arguably, that also providing an exact date for the epilogue feels a little cheap? Or maybe a bit too 'handholdy' is a better word? I could see that being something an amateur would do without realizing it looks tacky.

I also think it allows the writers to be more vague in what exactly the date is for the end, according to the audience at least. Because they 100% know what the date is on their end, but that doesn't mean they have to reveal it to us.

We don't know when s3 ends exactly. We know that the battle at Starcourt ended on July 4th-5th (respectively). Though we also know that based on s1's timeline, Mike's countdown considered El's death to be the morning of November 13th, and so we can presume perhaps that s3 technically ended on July 5th.

And so the s3 epilogue being 'three months later' would bring us to October 5th, 1985 right?

Well, not exactly.

You see, when the Duffers give us their vague epilogue scenes, they're not saying that it's exactly one month or three months later, to the exact day. They're being intentionally vague.

Season 1 ending says one month later, but it's actually been 25 days.

Season 2 ending says one month later, but it's actually been 40 days.

Season 3 ending says three months later, but it's actually been... well we don't fucking know!!!

BUT I don't think it really matters, because if the Duffer's made an effort to do the math correctly for their 353 days line in s2, then it's probably safe to assume they'd do math for their 185 days line in s4 as well? And to also give us the answer to that question somewhere in the show already, as opposed to throwing out some random date seasons later?

Otherwise why have countdowns like that at all? It literally makes no sense for them to give us an exact number, like 353 or 185, without checking that the days match up with the exact countdown they're giving us.

I'm just one fan, and it only took me maybe 3 google searches to figure this out in a matter of seconds. They are however literal experts in their profession, and for that reason I do feel comfortable giving them some credit here.

So now, let's try to apply this logic then to s3.

Perhaps it's safe to assume that El's countdown didn't start when the Byers moved to Cali in the s3 epilogue, just like Mike's countdown didn't start at the end of the s1 epilogue either.

It's believed that the Byers, but El specifically, had to go into hiding after the battle at Starcourt. And so, could this mean that El's countdown started on July 5th?

The day that Hopper died? The day she lost her powers? The day she had to go into hiding and probably couldn't properly communicate with Mike for about three months?

Honestly, I think it would make a lot more sense to have their countdown's (Mike's 353 vs. El's 185) parallel in how they started.

And it would be weird to restart that countdown simply because they reunited for one afternoon to move, again because there was obviously so much significance to everything that happened on July 5th, that it does make sense to me that El's countdown would have started there.

Also, I want to be thorough by mentioning that, the main reason we can easily rule out the Byers move date being the start of El's countdown, is that it doesn't add up whatsoever.

El saying it has been 185 days since the Byers moved, would mean she was writing the letter on April 7th, 1986, which is impossible. (Also Mike's birthday, which is hilariously ironic).

Even if we spread out that three month window, we still have to take into account that if it was closer to two months or four months, they would've just said that instead. So either the Byers moved on October 4th, or sometime between September 5th at the earliest and November 5th at the latest.

And so where do we go from here? 

Basically, from what we understand in canon on the show, there isn’t much to go off of besides that. And I think that’s the intention.

Over the seasons, the obscurity of the time jump between the epilogues has allowed for them to say obscure comments between seasons, such as, Yeah for like a month (Jonathan in s2) and It’s been a year, Mike (Will in s4) and so they obviously like this appeal of the audience not knowing for certain. But that doesn’t mean they don’t know for certain.

I would argue they have to know for certain, and have very likely done the math at least once or twice or ten times, especially because as I mentioned, there would be no reason to have characters countdown to the exact day, on multiple occasions, if the creators/writers or literally anyone involved with the show wasn't checking to make sure those numbers added up correctly.

And so, based on all of that, I think that El started counting down from the day they separated, just like the previous season, which would’ve been July 4th-5th (respectfully).

And so 185 days after July 4th-5th, 1985, would be January 5th-6th, 1986. 

Just work with me here. Because while there are several things that could work against this theory, I think those things could have intentionally been there to trick the audience into thinking this letter was written very close to spring break, even though the math for that doesn't add up. And so lets look at some of the details that might be telling us this letter isn't as recent as we're being lead to believe.

The main detail I want to mention, is that major projects like the one El describes in her letter, requiring a visual aid, is more likely to be assigned at the start of the trimester.

If you don’t live in the United States, or are unfamiliar, basically how it tends to work for most high schools is the school year get’s split into 3 trimesters. The 1st trimester goes from September-December, the second goes from January-March, and the third goes from March-June. It varies depending on the city/county/state. Though it may not seem very equal, it goes like this to accommodate the major holidays with extensive breaks. The first trimester has Thanksgiving then a brief return to school, followed by Christmas/New years. The 2nd trimester starts right after New Years, and ends with Spring break. Then once you return afterward Spring break, that’s the start of the 3rd trimester. It evens out to each trimester being about 3 months.

I think El would've mentioned this assignment to Mike closer to when it was assigned and not right before she was turning it in. And the reasoning for this is kind of obvious but understandably overlooked.

While most kids would probably not think about working on a project like this until the last minute, because most of us are expert procrastinators after almost a decade in school, El however is completely new to this experience. And so I imagine the moment she heard about this assignment, she was just like 'best get to it!!'! We even see her still working on it after the project was already graded because the significance of it was clearly important to her. And so if her and Mike were writing somewhat consistently as it appears, then this would have been mentioned a lot sooner than her most recent letter to him.

And when it comes to the rest of the letter, there are several clues that could also support this theory that it wasn't written as close to spring break as we're being lead to assume.

Like the mention of Joyce's new telemarketer job. It wouldn't really make sense for her job to have been like super new, within the last week from March 22nd, especially if it's intended to be this sort of deterrent for Mike getting ahold of Will on the Byers phone presumably since the move.

Also Jonathan's car, is looked like it had been deserted there for a long time, not a matter of days or weeks, but possibly months (since early winter)... And so Argyle driving them to school wasn't something that happened within the last week worth mentioning to Mike right before their reunion in her most recent letter, but most likely another detail she mentioned as an update, since Jonathan's car is being referred to as still broken.

Even separate from the letter, I wondered if there was evidence somewhere else that they could sneakily be trying to hint to us that this is actually being written early in the Winter trimester and not the very end. Then it hit me.

The lyrics in the background...

Although, there are some things that contradict this theory, again I think those details were put there for the sake of tricking us.

Like just think about it, if this was El's most recent letter, wouldn't it make more sense for her to mention both the countdown for when they last saw each other, and how many days until they'd be seeing each other if it was really that close? Unless of course that number of days until their reunion was still too high at the time for her to hype it up, assuming she was writing this letter, perhaps 1-2 months out?...

I also do think that it's likely Mike and El are quite active in their writing back and forth. After all, Will said El had like a book of letters from Mike, so they want us to think that they wrote a decent amount.

I'm guessing the conversation was casual and broad for this letter specifically, because El is still new at writing/reading obviously and because this letter was also being used to update the audience about the characters whereabouts since we last saw them.

This might not seem that groundbreaking, but what this theory boils down to, is that s4 opened with an old letter, not a recent one. It means Mike was reading a letter, possibly from as early as January, 2 months previous to present. This would mean Mike presumably had other, more recent letters available to him to look at, with countdowns like 20 days and 10 days or 5 days, with El gushing even more intensely over the fact that they're closer and closer to finally reuniting.

And yet Mike was fixating on this letter specifically the morning before their reunion, AN OLD LETTER!!

But why?

Let's again look at the vibe of El's letter. If you look really close, it comes off like a response to a questionnaire.

I've always said that although El's lied a lot in her entire letter to Mike, there's a reason they never let us see a letter from Mike to El, and it's because he probably wouldn't have faired much better.

I don't even think it's actually that Mike would've lied necessarily, as much as I think it was mostly a lie of omission situation.

He showed up in Cali as his inauthentic self, and so it wouldn't make sense for him to have given El updates on Hellfire in his letters, which was pretty much all he focused on back in Hawkins from what it looked like.

And so I think the letter he wrote, which El was responding to in that specific letter, was Mike focusing on asking her questions about how she was doing and how the Byers were doing. It's also probably the last time he asked about the others because of one specific detail he got that time, which he's been fixating on ever since... (you know the one...)

Regardless, Mike was reading an old letter, which makes the implications of this (and this)... astounding.

#stranger things #stranger things theory #stranger things meta #byler #timeline shenanigans #there's specific details that contradict this theory #i don't want to list them out because then i feel like ppl wont open their minds to this theory at all #but if you do want to discuss them in reblogs i would be happy to because i do think there are contradictions there #but i also think that all it would take is some context to explain it #or again the reasoning that they wanted to confuse us in the first place which is why certain spring elements are there to trick us #but all in all yes i think mike is rereading an old letter #bc like why couldn't he instead read a letter that says see you in 2 weeks or 1 week or 4-5 days? #but instead we get #it's been 185 days! #and that's it... #and so mike's probably choosing this letter specifically because of the will mention i'm guessing... #it's likely after getting a revelation like this mike refrained from mentioning will ever again in a letter to el #we know that he didn't even ask will about the girl when they reunited ever at any point #which means he probably fears knowing anything more because it will make it all more real #there's basically a shit ton of implications that come with mike reading an old letter and us not being clued in on that until later #what makes this theory even more funny is finn choosing #This Is The Day #for the song he would add to his 80s mixtape #the cast was asked this question during the puppy interview segment during s4 press #and that song.... is so early s4 mike wheeler coded #like finn is known for his knack for music and it's widely speculated he takes hinting at his character with music seriously... #and so yes i hate finn for that because he is a fucking icon #still just a theory! don't come at me!

[rikeijo]

Today's translation #353

Yuri!!! on ICE, DVD vol. 5, Hiramatsu Tadashi's interview

Part 3.

~New artistic expression born from the Director's difficult requests~

　There is a lot of crying scenes, so I was trying out different ways of crying. The Director's requests are difficult to fulfill! In the storyboards for the scene, where Victor's crying in the beginning of episode 12, I read: "tears don't flow down his cheeks, but fall down from his eyelashes", but I thought: that's impossible (because of his pose and the angle). Tears come out of the corners of your eyes and fall down, so this depiction of tears that stick to eyelashes and splatter around is something I haven't really seen before.

　And just like that, I'd say that the requests from the Director, who doesn't really think much about how to do something and just give you the request, gave birth to new artistic expressions. The Director is not an animator, so she just ask for what she wants, without thinking about whether it's even possible to do it or not, but it was good. I'm an animator, so when I'm directing, I always think about what I myself would be able to do and stick to that, but that was not the case this time, and because of that Yuri!!! is so rich in expressions. Well, but those who had to fulfill those requests had it hard (laugh).

[Notes: Reading once again yesterday's translation, I remembered this illustration by Hiramatsu-san! It's from Mappa's Staffbook. Like, he really likes drawing cute girls for sure~ ✨

#yuri on ice #yoi translations #yuri on ice translation

[sethcohnn]

For anyone with no patience, here are the captions of Jeronica in Riverdale 7x17:

WARNING: Spoilers for tonight’s episode

23

00:01:02,818 --> 00:01:05,121

So, how do you wanna do this?

24

00:01:05,155 --> 00:01:08,058

Wanna go in first

and I mosey on in

30 seconds later?

25

00:01:09,259 --> 00:01:10,492

Absolutely not.

26

00:01:10,526 --> 00:01:12,661

Veronica Lodge's signature

color may be purple,

27

00:01:12,695 --> 00:01:14,197

but she is no shrinking violet.

28

00:01:15,031 --> 00:01:16,199

So, come on.

29

00:01:16,232 --> 00:01:18,935

Let's give these cubes

something juicy to goss about.

30

00:01:18,969 --> 00:01:20,869

["Come On" playing]

—------------------------------------------------------

44

00:01:51,767 --> 00:01:53,003

Wowza.

45

00:01:53,036 --> 00:01:54,770

I've never had so many

peepers on me at one time.

46

00:01:54,803 --> 00:01:56,373

Well, if it's any consolation,

47

00:01:56,406 --> 00:01:57,873

I haven't gotten

this much attention

48

00:01:57,907 --> 00:02:00,243

since I arrived to school

wearing my sexy witch costume.

49

00:02:03,712 --> 00:02:05,382

Sexy witch costume?

50

00:02:05,415 --> 00:02:06,916

Jughead Jones.

51

00:02:06,950 --> 00:02:10,153

Do you have a thing

for sexy teen witches?

52

00:02:10,186 --> 00:02:11,388

Well, yes.

53

00:02:11,421 --> 00:02:12,621

[chuckling] Yes, I do.

54

00:02:12,654 --> 00:02:14,623

But I also know a boss idea

when I hear one,

55

00:02:14,656 --> 00:02:17,093

and sexy teen witch

is a very boss idea.

56

00:02:17,127 --> 00:02:20,863

Hmm. Well, glad to have

inspired something.

57

00:02:22,598 --> 00:02:23,799

Catch you later, alligator.

—----------------------------------------------

142

00:06:34,883 --> 00:06:35,918

[Veronica] <i>I have to tell you,</i>

143

00:06:35,952 --> 00:06:39,022

this is the bee's knees,

Jughead.

144

00:06:39,055 --> 00:06:40,890

I didn't realize

you could draw too.

145

00:06:40,923 --> 00:06:42,692

[Jughead] Well,

I'm no Ethel Muggs,

146

00:06:42,725 --> 00:06:46,262

but I think this brain egg

could be the thing

to save Pep Comics.

147

00:06:46,296 --> 00:06:48,965

Mr. Fieldstone is looking

for a fresh breakout character

148

00:06:48,998 --> 00:06:51,234

to get past the code

and bring in new readership,

149

00:06:51,267 --> 00:06:54,704

and I think it's

Veronica the Teenage Witch.

150

00:06:54,737 --> 00:06:56,205

[footsteps approaching]

151

00:06:56,239 --> 00:06:58,341

Veronica, you're not

gonna believe who's here.

152

00:07:00,677 --> 00:07:03,279

Miss Josie McCoy.

—------------------------------------

333

00:15:59,916 --> 00:16:02,919

[Veronica] <i>Veronica</i>

<i>The Teenage Witch</i>

<i>is too sexy, you say?</i>

334

00:16:02,953 --> 00:16:04,887

I mean, he's not wrong.

335

00:16:04,921 --> 00:16:07,157

I am cut from the same cloth

as Veronica Lake

336

00:16:07,190 --> 00:16:11,727

and therefore,

too provocative for

those feeble-minded censors.

337

00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:13,395

It's their loss.

338

00:16:13,429 --> 00:16:15,531

On top of which,

I have to figure out

a new name,

339

00:16:16,266 --> 00:16:18,068

something more magical.

340

00:16:18,101 --> 00:16:22,538

Hey, did you happen to see

that Audrey Hepburn picture

that came out last year?

341

00:16:22,571 --> 00:16:24,640

Her character had

a superb name in that.

342

00:16:26,309 --> 00:16:27,877

What was that movie

called again?

343

00:16:27,911 --> 00:16:29,212

<i>Sabrina.</i>

344

00:16:29,246 --> 00:16:30,679

Audrey played

the title character.

345

00:16:30,713 --> 00:16:31,747

Sabrina.

346

00:16:31,780 --> 00:16:32,815

Yeah.

347

00:16:34,251 --> 00:16:36,086

Yeah, that could be the ticket.

348

00:16:42,758 --> 00:16:47,330

"In the bloom of Eden's garden,

the first transgression.

349

00:16:47,364 --> 00:16:50,466

A simple apple,

Eve learned her lesson.

350

00:16:52,601 --> 00:16:55,537

Different garden,

same temptation.

351

00:16:57,439 --> 00:17:00,809

A young man

seeking an education.

352

00:17:05,315 --> 00:17:07,951

A teacher's pupil

brings her apples,

353

00:17:07,984 --> 00:17:10,653

and sinful thoughts

with which he grapples.

354

00:17:10,686 --> 00:17:14,124

While she teaches,

he sits through classes

355

00:17:14,157 --> 00:17:15,691

wondering how she looks

356

00:17:17,093 --> 00:17:18,194

without those glasses."

—--------------------------------------------------

590

00:31:42,125 --> 00:31:44,227

[Veronica] <i>I'm so</i>

<i>sorry, Jughead.</i>

591

00:31:44,261 --> 00:31:46,897

Sabrina The Teenage Witch

is a brilliant idea,

592

00:31:46,930 --> 00:31:49,331

and I'm not just saying that

because I inspired her.

593

00:31:49,365 --> 00:31:50,733

She's just ahead of her time.

594

00:31:52,969 --> 00:31:54,703

Give it a few years.

595

00:31:54,737 --> 00:31:58,507

Let the hysteria die down

and there will be

no stopping her.

596

00:31:58,541 --> 00:32:03,213

I just feel like Pep Comics

is sinking in quicksand.

597

00:32:03,246 --> 00:32:05,148

Listen, if you're down

in the mouth

598

00:32:05,182 --> 00:32:06,983

and not in the mood

for a premier,

599

00:32:07,017 --> 00:32:08,484

I'd completely understand.

600

00:32:08,517 --> 00:32:10,386

Are you kidding?

This is probably

the only chance

601

00:32:10,419 --> 00:32:13,756

I'll ever be invited

to a Hollywood premiere.

I'm not going to miss it.

602

00:32:13,789 --> 00:32:15,324

-The only thing is--

-You don't have a suit.

603

00:32:16,725 --> 00:32:18,929

I barely have any clothes

without an S on them.

604

00:32:18,962 --> 00:32:22,132

I thought we might

run into this predicament.

605

00:32:22,165 --> 00:32:27,103

So I may or may not have taken

some precautionary measures.

606

00:32:28,337 --> 00:32:31,908

Tailored exactly

to your measurements.

607

00:32:31,942 --> 00:32:36,246

I think you'll find nothing but

the best for my flutter bum.

608

00:32:36,279 --> 00:32:37,379

Yowza.

609

00:32:40,016 --> 00:32:42,118

Are you absolutely sure

you're not a teenage witch?

—-----------------------------------------------

#THEY ARE SO CUTTE #jeronica #riverdale #riverdale spoilers #jughead jones #veronica lodge #vughead #jughead x veronica

[night-heron-writes]

The World of Spy x Family: Spy Radios

We don’t see a ton of Twilight/WISE’s spy gear in the show, and even less of the SSS’s counterintelligence gear, but what we do see blows me away. The attention to detail in this anime and manga is impressive. I’ve been able to research and clearly identify everything except the WISE HQ set of screens/radios (mostly bc we only get a zoomed out perspective of that), and it all matches up to what would have been used during the Cold War and in West and East Germany.

Let’s start with Twilight’s own radio kit. In the manga it looks like this:

And in the anime it’s practically identical, with only a few knobs and things moved around:

Now, it’s not exactly identical to it’s real-world counterpart, but it’s astoundingly close. The Spy x Family version just looks a little sleeker.

This is an ESK-52/Type 41 Amateur Radio Set, produced by the West German company Telefunken for the West German Intelligence Service, or the Bundesnachrictdienst. It was first produced in 1952,and was primarily used during the Cold War.

The Type 41 is a type of stay-behind radio set, used by spies who stayed behind in other countries to gather intelligence. For secrecy reasons, spy radios were often marketed as “amateur radio sets” to make them seem less suspicious. The Type 41 comes inside a suitcase, and is fully capable of both receiving and transmitting morse code messages over radio frequencies. It came equipped with headphones that look very similar to the ones portrayed in Spy x Family:

And now for the SSS. In Episode/Chapter 1, when Anya accidentally sends the message with her location and a challenge. In the manga, we can barely see it because of all the speech bubbles, but here’s what we can see:

The anime gives us a much clearer shot:

This one looks pretty close to its real-world counterpart, the R-353. You can see that the anime/manga simplified things a little bit, but overall they look very similar:

The R-353 was a Soviet-manufactured spy radio set, also used by other Warsaw Pact countries, such as East Germany. In East Germany, it was used by the government, and by the Stasi in particular.

The R-353 was one of the most sophisticated Cold War Soviet spy radios, with the capability to receive and send morse code signals over radio frequencies, which  could be sent manually, semi-automatically with the numerical dial, or completely automatically by magnetic tape.

Now, on to the tricky part: WISE HQ. Here’s what it looks like in the manga:

and in the anime:

As of yet, I’ve been unable to concretely identify anything in these pictures, although I strongly suspect the the cabinets with rotors are Bombe Machines, which look like this:

Bombe machines were used to brute-force the Enigma machine during WW2, and i’m not sure how WISE would have got a hold of any, since every single Bombe machine the British had was destroyed after the war to maintain secrecy. Perhaps WISE got a hold of a Polish Bombe machine and are trying to break Ostania’s ciphers?

Trying to play I Spy with the radios and other equipment in these panels/screencaps of WISE HQ has been tricky. The shots are all zoomed out, making it nearly impossible to see any identifiers. My best guess is a combination of radio transceivers (transmitter/receiver combination) and Telex machines (teletypewriters - think telegraph but combined with a typewriter and outputting ASCII characters rather than Morse code).

Without more detailed and close-up shots of the equipment in WISE HQ, I can’t make any guesses as to the specifics of the machines.

In conclusion, I continue to be blown away by the attention to detail in this series, in both the anime and manga. Even things we see maybe once or twice are very well thought-out, and there are so many layers to dig through, from the geography all the way to the spy gadgets that have maybe ten seconds of screentime or one manga panel.

Edit: all info on the historical spy gear i talked about can be found at cryptomuseum.com. I highly recommend checking it out if you’re interested, they have done a very thorough job of documenting things.

#spy x family #spy x family meta #meta analysis #lea over-analyzes fictional stuff again #in all seriousness there's so much to dig into here #i'm not great at the politics/plot analysis #but hot damn can i analyze the language geography and spy stuff #just you wait until i post about the cryptography

[trainsinanime]

Cars and Trains in Spy x Family Ep. 1

Spy x Family is an excellent anime that is officially set in a completely fictional country in a completely fictional world, far outside of any of our actual histories and timelines. Except not really; it’s actually set in east Berlin of the late 1960s. They don’t call it that (instead calling it “Berlint”, of all things), but the amount of detail they put into portraying the setting and the time period is truly remarkable, considering that they didn’t have to at all. Let’s look.

The first car we see in the first few seconds already tells us that this show is going to be a delight if you’re into that sort of thing (it’s also a delight if you don’t care much). An important diplomat gets murdered in his car. And the car is this:

Americans might think that it’s a 1956 Packard Patrician, but it’s not, as the slightly different grill shows. It’s a ZIL 111, the soviet copy of that car. Here’s a real one:

Picture from Wikimedia Commons, by Max schwalbe, published under CC-BY-SA 3.0 license

This was a classic car for important people all over the east bloc, like state ministers and so on. It’s a beautiful rendition and it fits perfectly in this role.

Ignoring some background cars that we’ll get to soon enough, the next car is the coupé Agent Twilight drives away from the fake information trade set up:

That is a Wartburg 311/3, two-dour coupé version of the original Wartburg 311.

Picture from Wikimedia Commons, taken by Torsten Maue, published under CC-BY 2.0 license

I’ve been told that Wartburg sounds weird in english, but in case you’re wondering, it’s the name of the castle near Eisenach (where this car was built), most famous for being the place where Martin Luther was imprisoned for a while and translated parts of the bible. The Wartburg 311/3 was not a mass product, and the whole Wartburg 311 line was soon supplanted by a more famous boxy version, but this is still a classic example of east german car construction.

Then Twilight has to leave for Berlint on a train, and the engine is, of all things, this:

It’s even more clear in the manga:

This locomotive is an east german class 99.77-79 steam locomotive, built from 1952 to 1956. Here are two of them together in Cranzahl:

Picture by me, feel free to use under CC-BY-SA 3.0

These locomotives fit into the time frame and into east Germany as a setting, but they wouldn’t be hauling a train to Berlin. They were built for the 750 mm narrow gauge branch lines of Saxony, and can only run on these narrow tracks. They’re actually still in use today, now as tourist railroads, operated by a company called SDG. Check them out if you’re in the area, these lines are fun.

The passenger coach that Twilight is sitting in does not correspond to anything I know, so the next recognisable thing is the tram that Twilight and Anya use. 

This is a tram type “Gothawagen” T4-62. These were used in Berlin and not really much outside of it, and were built from 1961 to 1964 (with some prototypes a few years earlier). Newer types replaced them relatively quickly, but the last ones actually ran until 1996. Here’s a picture of one of them on the same exact line 86:

Picture from Wikimedia Commons, taken by Felix O, published under CC-BY 2.0

If you want, you can point out details that are different, e.g. windows, pantograph or the missing V shape, but the overall impression is very clear. Whoever designed this knew what they were doing.

As the episode concludes, we see a beautiful picture of east german road traffic, featuring two of these trams and in front a Wartburg 353, which I’ll talk about when discussing later episodes:

Beautiful. Yes, the show is made for people who like found family and silliness, and it’s lovely in that regard. But it’s also made for history nerds who get excited about old trams and cars, and in that regards it’s absolutely perfect as well.

Here’s the post for episode 2

#spy x family #trains in anime #cars in anime

[adoringjaredpadalecki]

The Hillywood Show

353 UHD[2160p] screen captures of Jared from his brief appearance on the 'The Hillywood Show: Supernatural Parody' episode in 2015 can be found in the gallery. Jared, Jensen & Misha all made cameos on the show. Love & Light - Saṃsāra xoxo

Link: The Hillywood Show: Supernatural Parody

#adoring jared padalecki #Jared Padalecki #4k uhd #screen captures #supernatural #the hillywood show

[dailyhermitdoodles]

[353] cat noir bdubs

I just binged season 5 of mlb and

WHY IS THE LAST HALF OF THE SEASON ACTUALLY GOOD

LIKE NO JOKE

I ACTUALLY ENJOYED THE EPISODES AND THE FINALE WAS alright I guess? Obviously the show is still FAAAR away from being an actually objectively good show, but still???

#daily doodles #hermitcraft #bdubs #mlb #cat noir #i can rant for hours about this show #i mean i did a tiny rant on twitter #i both hate and love this show #that was basically what i said on there