#I can't not write platonic stobin now

[afewproblems]

WIP Wednesday

I'm actually posting on WIP Wednesday, the stars have finally aligned in my favour!

Thank you to @outpastthebrakers for your tag today and @steves-strapcollection for your multiple tags before - its finally lined up today!!

Here is Part Two of my follow up to this Post (Steddie Breakup) hopefully with a Steddie makeup/fix-it future!

(Also! Important to note, season four - specifically the stuff with Vecna- Never happened in this AU)

***

Two Years later - 1987, Chicago, IL

Steve picks up another box from the back of the beemer. This one has, 'Steve's Obnoxious Hair Care,' neatly printed on the side in bold black sharpie --Steve snorts at the sight and vows to never let Robin help him pack ever again. 

He walks up the three flights and through the propped open front door to the two bedroom apartment.

It's small, just barely enough for two people, but in downtown Chicago, it's a steal at the price. 

And it's theirs. 

"Hey Birdie," Steve calls out from the kitchen, he sets the box down on the counter, turning his head to the left slightly to listen for her shuffling. The dull ringing in his right ear makes it more difficult, present ever since he left his parents house for good.

It had gotten even worse since their Russian encounter, but if he's weighing the pros and the cons of that night, he's glad he got Robin out of the deal.

Steve steps into the living room just off the kitchen, "Robin?"

Bright sunlight streams through the curtainless windows bathing Robin in a warm yellow glow. 

She stands in the center, facing Steve, with a pensive expression, her eyes scanning the space around her. 

"Hush Dingus," she mutters, holding up her pointer finger to her lips, "I'm visualizing". 

"Ah, of course," he concedes with a fond smile as Robin walks towards him slowly counting her steps. She lines her feet up as she moves, touching the toe of her right foot to the heel of her left. She wobbles slightly as she makes it to where Steve is standing, he reaches out to steady her with a laugh.

"I told you the living room was more than ten feet!"

"Robin, do you think that a 'foot' is literally your foot?" 

Robin sucks her teeth and rolls her eyes, before plucking the measuring tape from where it was clipped to her back pocket, "you have no concept of joy, you refuse to let me live".

"Yeah, yeah, so hard done by," he snorts as she sticks her tongue out at him and leans down to pick up one of the empty boxes.

She sighs and looks around the space again with a contented expression before looking at Steve, "well, Dingus, I think we did good".

Steve nods and tries to smile back but the expression doesn't quite meet his eyes, Robin tilts her head, turning the box over in her hands at the corners.

"What's wrong?" She says softly, anxiously, her blue eyes dart over his face, "is it a migraine? Do you need your meds?"

Steve shakes his head, wincing before he can stop himself, he knows Robin's brain would come up with the worst case scenario first. And, to be fair to her, she had seen the worst case scenarios and after effects of the Russian interrogation, she'd held his hand after spilling his guts from the nausea and halos in his vision, she'd insisted he buy blackout blinds for his room because, 'you never know when you'll need them Dingus, you won't always get one of these at night'.

Steve shakes his head, "no, it's not a migraine, relax Robs," he huffs as she levels him with a disbelieving stare.

"I just," Steve chews his lip for a moment as he drops his gaze to the floor. Robin steps closer, tilting her head to the side as he struggles to find the words.

"I love that you came with me, that we get to be here, but," Steve sighs and runs a hand through his hair. It's longer than it had been two years ago, the gold and copper from his time in the warm summer sun slowly fading back to brown.

"Eddie always talked about leaving Hawkins someday, and I always thought it would be with me".

"This was our plan," he says softly, lifting his eyes to meet Robin's own, her brows pinched in a small frown.

"And I managed to screw that up like everything else," he trails off softly.

***

"I just don't understand why you have to go to this thing, you aren't even interested in his stupid job?" Eddie growls as he tosses the pencil up at his bedroom ceiling, it stays for just a moment before falling back into his waiting hands. Pock marks litter the tile from previous throws and Steve is sure Wayne's told him to knock it off more times than he can count.

"It's complicated," Steve says lowly, he pictures his dad's thunderous face, the same square jaw and straight nose that Steve has, they could be identical but for their ages and the cold grey eyes his father has. 

Steve took after his mother in that area, inheriting her large hazel eyes and long lashes. 

"No it's not," Eddie says stubbornly, he throws the pencil with more force this time and it hangs in the ceiling between them, "you could tell him to stuff his job up his ass".

"Eddie--"

"No, no, you know we had a show tonight, and you're choosing to go to your dad's fundraiser instead?"  

Steve sighs and bites the inside of his cheek, tamping down the urge to argue with his boyfriend.

But, they've never really had this talk before, Steve's never told anyone about his father and his homelife. 

Right now he wishes he had.

"It's not like I have much of a choice," he huffs as Eddie rolls his eyes and scoffs, "and not all of us have someone like Wayne to encourage us to do whatever we want".

"That's such bullshit and you know it," Eddie hisses ignoring the slight flinch from Steve, "you always do this". 

What?

"You never want to come to our shows, you never want to sit in on Hellfire--"

"That's not true," Steve growls, crossing his arms over his stomach, he hunches in on himself slightly but Eddie shakes his head.

"Yes it is! When was the last time you came to a show?"

Steve wracks his brain, trying to remember the name of the bar they had played at, it wasn’t the Hideaway, it had been a bit of a drive to get there. It was a dive bar that had sounded like it was straight out of Robin Hood, The Red Lion?

"See!" Eddie takes his silence as victory and throws his hands up in the air, "what did I tell you?"

"Jesus, it was a bar show just like all of them Eddie, it's not like you guys were playing on MTV or something," Steve snaps, the last threads of his patience wearing thinner and thinner. 

"Oh fuck off, MTV is part of the problem, do you not listen when I talk?"

"I always listen to you!" Steve cries out, his voice climbs in volume and his hands shake as adrenaline spikes, "sometimes you just talk and talk and talk and you say nothing important but I always listen to you!"

"Woooow, fuck you," Eddie scoffs as he turns on his heel and opens his bedroom door, Steve follows him, fuming but wary.

"Since everything I say is bullshit, apparently, and you don't want to come to our shows or spend time with me then maybe you should just go!"

Steve halts in his tracks.

Eddie stands by the open front door to the trailer, his cheeks are red and his mouth is a flat line carved in the middle of his face.

Steve feels his heart rate tick up as he stands there frozen.

They've had disagreements before, small petty arguments but this feels big. Much bigger than any fight they've ever had. 

"Eddie-"

"Nope, unless you tell me you're coming tonight, we're done".

Oh.

And just like that, it hurts just as much as when Nancy had told him she didn't love him the previous year. It's too much, he needs to leave.

"Yeah, you know what Eddie, I don't need this," Steve says so softly that Eddie leans forward to hear before reeling back as though struck, "I don't," he shakes his head and walks past Eddle towards the open door. 

Eddie's hands twitch as though he wants to reach out to Steve, to pull him back into the trailer, but they remain at his sides.

"You're right," Eddie yells after him as Steve walks down the gravel drive to his car, "you don't need us, we don't need you, go crawling back to daddy just like always".

Steve stops walking and looks back at Eddie. The metal-head's wide brown eyes are shiny with angry tears. 

Steve feels his own angry tears pooling along his lash line.

He gets in the car and drives away, ignoring the tightness in his chest as he heads home.

***

"Okay, first of all," Robin says sharply as she drops the box at their feet and pokes him in the chest with a rigid pointer finger, "you're damn right you're happy I came with you, I am a catch!" 

Steve rolls his eyes as Robin clears her throat imperiously until he raises his hands in surrender.

"Second, he found out about your dads shit, saw you beaten to hell and back, and didn't even want to have a conversation? Fuck that noise".

"Birdy, you weren't there, and you don't even know Eddie--"

"I know you though," she continues, staring him down, "and I know if the roles were reversed, you would have at least heard him out".

Steve holds back a wince, attempting to keep his expression as neutral as possible. He knows she isn’t right, he knows he made a mistake that night walking away, they should have talked, they should have had it out. 

Steve should have told Eddie the truth. 

Then again, Eddie dropped him like it was nothing so maybe he was better off in the long run.

Strangely enough this thought doesn’t make him feel better.

"Robin," Steve sighs wearily, crossing to the wall of the living room before leaning his back against it to slide down to the floor. 

"Tell me I'm wrong," she says softly, walking towards his spot on the floor, she settles beside him and nudges his shoulder with her own.

"Tell me I'm wrong and I'll drop it," she says again, firmly this time.

Steve breathes out a sigh and brings his knees to his chest, looking towards the window. 

The view isn't much, just the street and other buildings, but the Chicago skyline seems to stretch for miles ahead of them.

"You’re not wrong," he says eventually, ignoring the crow of triumph Robin makes, "but you're not right either".

She scoffs and leans her head against his shoulder, the soft waves of her hair tickle the skin on his bare arm but the weight and warmth of her is comforting.

"Besides, it was years ago," Steve mutters, "I'm sure he's forgotten all about me by now".

tagging: @strangersteddierthings @flowercrowngods @steddierthings @steddie-there @henderdads and anyone else that would like to participate! (Please tag me with your wonderful creations! Also I apologize if you've already been tagged - feel free to ignore this!)

#steddie #wip wednesday #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #afewproblems writes #steddie breakup #steddie slowburn makeup #lets go get these boys back together people #I can't not write platonic stobin now #how can I write steve without his robin #thats right I cant

[devondespresso]

i was reading a scoops era steddie au where eddie visits scoops often and one thing i noticed i alway want but have yet to see (bear in mind my fic pallette is basically just shit i see on Tumblr and occasionally reading every fic a certain author has written) is a specific scene of eddie noticing stobins missing when he goes to visit them at scoops the day theyre stuck in the bunker. cause they entered the bunker after a shift one night and didn't get out until at the soonest the next afternoon right before the mall closes so if either or both of them were scheduled to work then they'd be just... gone.

and how characters around them handle that depends on how soon (if at all) they're declared missing. did robin think they'd be in-and-out in their snooping and tell her parents shes be back a little late or did she think they'd be out kinda late fucking around and just lied to her parents telling them shes sleeping over at a friend's like how we know tina was going to cover for erica? did mrs Henderson freak out when Dustin didn't bike back home (knowing what happened with will) or did she know he was with steve and trusted that they were goofing off or something?

and usually i see Steve's parents not being home but what if they were?? they could panic because steve always has some sort of excuse for why hes gone or maybe just his mom starts worrying because while his dad never really asks about him she does and she knows hes probably not at some girls house right now because he at least would have told her. or maybe mrs harrington doesn't know her son as well as she thinks she does and assumes he is out at some girls house and is relieved hes finally getting to be more like himself.

maybe just one or two people in scoops troop are reported missing that night and maybe the search started for them is enough for the other's parents or friends to realize they're all missing. maybe none of them are because they each already had a coverup with the people who'd notice. maybe they spent a good few hours in that elevator regretting lying about where they'd be because now no one knows they're in danger and by the time they start looking it could be too late (obviously erica didn't seem to grasp this yet but shes literally 10 and it's definitely her fist severely traumatic life or death experience. for the others tho it could definitely be on their minds and i have seen a few fics where robin wonders about how steve and Dustin are reacting like they've done scary shit like this before together)

then morning comes and id give it until lunch with no calls or anything before parents who believed their kids were sleeping over to start worrying seriously. maybe they call the friend their child's supposedly with and get a confused parent saying they haven't seen them or maybe they get the friend picking up and confirming they're fine (like tina). but if Mrs Henderson gets worried and calls steve she'll either get the harringtons saying he isn't home right now or she won't be able to reach him. and knowing steves like a big brother and a best friend to dustin knows that if steve missing too he's probably at least missing with him and goes to the station worried about them both

and then theres the fact that scoops has to open in the morning, probably sometime around 10am. maybe steve and robin were scheduled to both work again and as 10am comes and passes scoops ahoy hasn't been touched. maybe some mall manager calls the scoops manager (forgive me ive never worked in a mall but i do work in a store-within-a-store and we have our own manager plus the big store manager) and asks where their employees are. if missing persons reports were filed that last night then the manager would be really worried while frantically trying to find someone to cover for them. but maybe no one knows they're missing yet and their manager is grumbling about their no-shows, maybe considering firing them for both disappearing without even calling out. depending on how much they know and if the reports were filed, whoever has to cover their shifts is either worried about their coworkers (probably moreso robin than steve because of his reputation) or utterly pissed that they both didn't show and they have to open scoops ahoy with a few hours delay and probably a good few karens bitching about being closed. or maybe one or the other was scheduled and while their no-show is really inconvenient at least someone's there to open and ask for backup

and then theres steves car still parked in the back where it was the day before. a bike left behind at the mall is less eyebrow-raising but a fancy car? Steve Harrington's car? Steve Harrington who was scheduled to work today but somehow isn't in scoops right now? is he skipping work while simultaneously wandering around his workplace? and whats worse is despite evidence being there *no one can find him*. maybe thats what it takes for people to realize hes like actually missing. maybe they think he was kidnapped, hopefully he just went home with some girl and lost track of time.

and then theres eddie. eddie whos been stopping by scoops for a while now. maybe he still doesn't really like Harrington but likes teasing him with Buckley or maybe they've gotten pretty close. maybe they're already dating. maybe eddie walks up to scoops one morning to find it closed or to find that one or the other didn't show up for work this morning. maybe he hears from the worker that ones missing or maybe they get a rant about how pissed the worker is to be opening alone. maybe he's the one to go to a mall manager or security officer worried about scoops being closed because he *knows* the people that are supposed to be there right now and they don't just abandon work at the same time with no explanations.

or maybe eddie visits in the afternoons and learns they're missing from their coworkers or maybe hes there because he saw it on the news and went on his our hunt. either way it'd probably end with Eddie looking around the mall for them because he knows steve isn't going to just abandon his beemer in a busy public parking lot. maybe he finds them high out of their minds while checking the movie theatre (this one i do see a lot and am obsessed with its so good) or maybe he doesn't find them at all (its a big mall and they are actively hiding from Russians who know they escaped. sure stobin are not being very secretive while high but dustin and erica are at least keeping them in less-discoverable locations). maybe he goes home knowing hes looked everywhere in that damn mall and assumes they're probably kidnapped and taken somewhere else (if he did find them tho that opens a whole can of worms for if, how, and how much eddie gets involved and while my brains gone down sone of those rabbit holes i don't think i will today)

and then they see the news about the mall fire. and eddie knows damn well that he looked everywhere in that mall but didn't see a trace of his friends but there they are on the news and apparently in the fire. maybe eddie assumes he didn't look hard enough. but maybe he sees how steves the only one with more than a few bruises on his legs, how despite them claiming he was trapped in rumble that also allegedly killed billy hargrove he looks like hes carrying himself on adrenaline alone and hovering around robin and the kids like something more than falling support beams could get to them. maybe its the fact that he look as shit as he did but wasn't laying down on a hospital stretcher like he would be if he just got those wounds.

_._._._

hi if you saw any typos no you didn't UNLESS theyre funny or actually concerning then you should tell me and i can react appropriately

also i swear i feel like doctor strange looking through every possible reality when i go on tangents like this. idk whenever i come up with little fics in my head or come up with different ways my favorite unfinished fics could end im always exploring as many different versions of the same scenario as i can and coming up with as many what-ifs as i can.

also i pressed the poll button by accident while making this and idk how to make it go away to we're trying just ignoring it and not writing anything in it to see if it goes away

actually fuck that it probably wont work so im adding a poll question as a treat for the people who read this far

#writing this was an experience except i don't remember any of it and i didn't even reread it to check spelling #i love thinking like this tho and coming up with all these different things that could happen with this one scenario #and following canon and trying to fill in the gaps gives just enough room to fuck around but still keeps me in the right direction #with just a couple deviations that are too good to ignore like eddie finding stobin while theyre high and getting water #im also writing my own little steve henderson au universe in my head loosely inspired by those steve henderson posts by that one person #i can't remember their user rn but if i ever actually share ill tag them as inspiration inlike the first post #but mostly its me taking steve right after s2 events and letting him get help from the hendersons because dustins his new best friend now #(regardless of if he agreed to it or not) #so uh yea if anyone wants to hear about it you should totally let me know because i will do a lot for external validation #im just an 8 year old girl playing barbies but morbid things are happening #stranger things #steve harrington #steddie #eddie munson #platonic stobin #steve x eddie #robin buckley #dustin henderson #erica sinclair #steve and dustin #steve and robin #platonic soulmates stobin #scoops ahoy #stranger things season 3 #stranger things s3 #stranger things rambles #claudia henderson #steve has bad parents #mrs harrington #stranger things thoughts

[steddieas-shegoes]

always you

wanted to wish @rozzieroos a very happy birthday! you've been so supportive of me since the beginning and it makes a world of difference to someone who is always just a bit nervous to share the things they write. i am unfortunately not a very crafty bitch, so i can't return the friendship bracelet favor right now, but i hope this is a nice little sappy gift for ya! sending you big hugs and all my love 💕 - mickala

rated t | 1,324 words | no cw | tags: fluff, established relationship, the most miniscule hurt and almost entirely comfort, boys in love, side platonic stobin stuff but robin isn't technically there

💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

Steve always had an adrenaline crash after a visit from Robin. The first time it happened, Eddie was convinced they would have to move to Boston just so Steve could get out of the funk. Luckily, they figured out what to do after a couple of days.

And every time it's happened since, they manage to get him out of it pretty quickly.

But this time seemed worse, and Eddie wasn't sure why.

As far as he could tell, everything about the visit was normal. Robin came for a long weekend, they all went to dinner together the first night, Eddie had to work on Saturday so Steve and Robin had their fun together. Sunday, they all went to brunch together before dropping her off at the airport.

And Steve was fine! That evening he was cooking dinner and dancing to music while Eddie wrote some notes for a campaign he was running with work buddies. They ate together and Eddie did the dishes while Steve went through his nightly routine of locking up.

They even gave each other blowjobs in the shower.

But this morning, as soon as Eddie opened his eyes and smelled the bleach, he knew it was bad.

He sat up and looked out the open bedroom door.

"Fuck."

He got up quickly, throwing on the closest pair of pants he could find, probably Steve's since they felt baggier than his own, and made his way down the hall to the bathroom.

Steve was on his knees, scrubbing the shower like it personally offended him.

"Hey sweetheart, everything okay?" He asked hesitantly.

"Fine," Steve answered, clearly very far from fine.

Eddie sighed and sat on the closed toilet lid. "Stevie, it's okay if you wanna have a sad day. I know it's hard when Robin goes back home. I'm off today so we can just relax in bed if you want."

Eddie would never tell Steve that the reason he was off was because as soon as he knew when Robin was going back home, he'd requested the day off to be here for Steve.

"I don't need a sad day. I'm fine."

"Yeah, that's why you've scrubbed the shower until it's literally sparkling at way too early in the morning," Eddie reached out and covered his shoulder. "It's okay to miss her. I know it's hard."

Steve stopped scrubbing.

Eddie prepared for what was likely to be a very ugly and loud sob.

Steve turned to him with his lips quivering and eyes watery.

"Oh, sweetheart," Eddie said as he got on the floor with Steve and pulled him into his lap. "It's gonna be alright. We're gonna visit her next month, remember?"

"I know," Steve said against his shoulder, voice wobbling like he was still holding back tears. "I just don't wanna keep doing this."

"What?"

"I hate being so far from her. We were supposed to live close enough to see each other every weekend and have sleepovers and now she's in Boston with her girlfriend who is amazing, and I'm here with you and you're amazing, but I miss her. And I know she misses me." Eddie could feel tears soaking his shirt. "And it's stupid that we're so codependent still, and I feel bad that you probably feel like you're not enough."

"Sweetheart, I don't ever feel that way. I've never felt that way. Have I made you feel like I feel that way?" Eddie tightened his grip around Steve.

"No, not really," Steve shrugged. "It's just I know we're a lot. And I know it sometimes probably seems like I need her more than I need you, but I don't."

"Sweetheart, I know that." Eddie kissed the top of his head and smiled. "You're a package deal. I knew that the moment you kissed me in the hospital room. I was getting Steve and his platonic soulmate Robin, or I wasn't getting Steve at all. I know how important she is to you. Don't you think she's important to me too?"

"I guess," Steve shrugged again, sniffling against Eddie's shirt.

"Well, how could she not be? She helped make sure you stayed safe before I was there to protect you. She knows exactly what to do when you have nightmares, taught me everything she could so I could be there for you. She sends me tapes she thinks I'll like when she sends you care packages. She was the second person I ever came out to! "

"Wait, I thought I was the second person you came out to."

"You were the third. She was a practice run when I saw her staring at the young nurse who checked my vitals the day I woke up. She's the one who told me I should tell you," Eddie nudged him away for a moment so he could look down at him. "I wouldn't be on this floor with you five years later if not for her. She's kinda important to me."

"I just hate that I get like this!" Steve finally said. "I hate that this happens every time. It's not fair to you."

"Love, it's okay. I know how to help." Eddie kissed his forehead. "Go ahead and wash your hands and go get back in bed. I'm gonna grab a book and we're gonna cuddle for a bit."

"But-"

"And then!" Eddie continued, louder. "We'll get pizza delivered for lunch even though we shouldn't. We'll call Robin. We'll take a bath. I'll wash your hair. I'll make us that roasted chicken stuff you like for dinner. It'll be perfect."

"Okay."

"And then-"

"There's more?" Eddie could hear the smirk in Steve's voice even though he'd buried his face against his neck again.

"Of course there's more." Eddie poked his side. "And then we're gonna start talking about moving closer to Boston so we can visit her more than three times a year."

"Eds, we can't afford Boston."

"I know. But we can afford New England if we find the right spots. We'll have her send us some ads for places for rent. I can transfer within the company. You're a teacher, you can work anywhere."

"You make it sound so easy."

"It is so easy. Making you happy is the easiest thing I'll ever do."

"But you have to be happy too."

"I will be. You wanna know why?"

"Why?"

"Because I'll still have you. And let's be honest, it's way more likely that one of the New England states is gonna let us get married before fucking Illinois."

Steve chuckled. "Married? Who said anything about getting married?"

"Oh, did I forget to mention? I planned on spending the rest of my life with you."

"I know that, goofball." Steve let out another genuine laugh. "I just didn't think you'd ever wanna actually get the law involved if they ever let us."

"Steven, I don't involve the law, the law involves me."

"I don't think that's how it works, babe," Steve kissed his neck before pulling away. "I think all that sounds nice though."

"Then hop to it, Harrington! We've got a bed to get back into."

Once they settled in their bed, Steve curled into Eddie's side while he opened the book they'd been reading for a week now, he looked up at Eddie with a soft smile.

"I love you a lot, you know?"

"I know, angel. I love you a lot more," Eddie replied, leaning down to kiss his lips softly.

They'd spend the day exactly as Eddie said they would.

They'd find a place only two hours from Robin and move less than a month later.

They'd get married as soon as it was legal for them to do it.

They rescued a dog.

They even adopted twins.

And every single time Steve wanted to see Robin, they packed up the car and went to visit her.

Because Steve had Eddie, and Eddie had Steve, but they both had Robin.

#steddie #steve harrington #stranger things #eddie munson #fluff #established relationship #idk i just think we should appreciate robin's place in THEIR relationship more #like you're tellin me she doesn't latch onto eddie too??? #you're tellin me eddie and robin aren't thick as thieves??? #please

[shutuperce]

your fall 2023 byler reading list 🍂🍂

BIG BYLER FIC REC DUMP cause i haven't been writing a lot but i HAVE been reading and y'all need to read these! hope u enjoy as much as i did <3

got your spell on me, baby - @astrobei -Stranger Things (TV 2016) [Archive of Our Own]

Words: 7,919

TW: none

'To be fair, Will’s costume is great, now that Mike knows what it is. And, okay, wait-

“Oh, this is so good. This is so good.” Max points at Mike, wheezing. “Because you’re dressed as-”

Will’s still looking straight up at the sky. The length of his neck is very, very flushed. Mike can feel his entire face going redder than Vader’s lightsaber. He clenches his hands into tiny little fists, and says, around a groan: “I’m not Han Solo, guys.”'

THE halloween byler fic. the party at college, bi lucas sinclair content, halloween party shenanigans.

these nerds, using star wars to flirt 🙄

background lumax & their amazing couples costume, el & will power sibling duo!!!

bowie references to heal the soul

all in all one of my favourite getting-together fics for this time of year :)

what a match: i'm half-doomed and you're semi-sweet - @perexcri - Stranger Things (TV 2016) [Archive of Our Own]

Words: 28,150

TW: guns, blood, gore (just demodogs though no human gore)

'One month ago, if you had asked Will Byers what he’d do if Mike Wheeler threaded his fingers through his hair, looked him dead in the eyes, and started leaning in for a kiss, he wouldn’t have said this.

He wouldn’t have said he’d be staring right back into those yawning dark eyes, one hand on Mike’s waist, the other against his cheek. There wouldn’t have been any lightning in his veins or blood rushing in his ears.

He wouldn’t have said that Mike Wheeler would be tilting his head in the opposite direction, eyes widening just the slightest as if asking permission, his mouth slightly parted.

He wouldn’t have imagined it at all.'

SO SO GOOD. apocalypse post s4, background jancy and platonic stobin, interruption trope x10000 so it's SO SATISFYING at the end.

WILL WITH A GUN.

jonathan & mike solidarity <3

all in all amazingly well written mike and will being blushing messes. love them. fluff in the apocalypse.

take my hand, wreck my plans - @parkitaco - Stranger Things (TV 2016) [Archive of Our Own]

Words: 6,297

TW: discussion of past trauma

'"I am not taken," he says out of habit, even though he kind of is. He and Will aren't together - he blushes at the thought - but they do spend an awful lot of time together, and Mike doesn't ever find himself wishing he was anywhere else. "Will and I are-"

"Ooh, I didn't even say anything about Will!" Max crows. "Oh, this is excellent."

Mike hides his face in his hands even though she can't see him. "Oh my God. Can you put Lucas back on, please?"

Max cackles in to the receiver, the sound fading as Lucas presumably wrenches the phone out of her grip. "We gotta go, Mike," he says, laughing a little. "Max has class and I'm driving her."

"Tell her she's the worst," Mike grumbles, fiddling with the phone cord.

"Say hi to Will for me!" Lucas sings, and hangs up before Mike can protest.

Mike groans and flops back on his mattress. It's going to be a long year.'

part of a series!! byler college au, friends-to-lovers, background party friendship, AND THEY WERE ROOMMATES. OH MY GOD, THEY WERE ROOMMATES??

taylor swift title... do u really need any other persuasion

the whole series is just AMAZING. mike & will getting a break, living together at college and figuring shit out <3

i might be hoping about this - @astrobei - Stranger Things (TV 2016) [Archive of Our Own]

Words: 15,321

TW: none

'Will lets out a small squawk as Mike’s hand— his very cold, very freezing hand— finds its way around the blankets and under his sweater. “I’m sick, you weirdo,” he says, half-laughing into the side of Mike’s head, “I have a fever.” 

“I don’t care,” Mike mumbles, “you’re warm and I’m cold. This is nice.”

“You’re going to get sick,” Will tries, for the umpteenth time, but it’s pointless. Mike Wheeler is stubborn and hardheaded and he never does anything halfway— not even this.'

established byler at college!! so yeah i have a love of college byler and this is one of my top fics for sure. 2nd astrobi fic on this list because i love their writing <3

will gets sick, mike takes care of him. need i say more?

silly goofy guys living together & doing silly goofy domestic shit

this fic makes me SOFT.

accidentally on purpose - @itsromeowrites - Stranger Things (TV 2016) [Archive of Our Own]

Words: 5,019

TW: none

'It starts out with a kiss. An accidental kiss. Because Mike is sleepy and Will is pretty, and who can really blame him? And then there's another one, just as accidental. But the third? Well, that may be a little more on purpose.'

literally smiling so hard at this fic. like hello. soft secret boyfriends and loads of party content, all the kids are okay <3

established byler, how the party finds out. all fluff all the time. jonathan attempts the Talk. mike has no idea what's going on. et cetera.

background lumax, lucas & dustin being lil shits together, and el using her powers to cheat at splashing games. all in all a good time!

and if I get burned, at least we were electrified - anonymous - Stranger Things (TV 2016) [Archive of Our Own]

Words: 14,958

TW: none

'“I’ll leave you be until lunch,” Max starts negotiating, nodding at him as if that’s a good deal. Which—considering it's Max, it is, but Mike doesn’t want to give in just yet. She sighs. “I won’t laugh about the sweater anymore. Or the weak disposition that gives you stupid allergies all the time.”

Mike’s frown deepens, but she wasn’t as mean as she could have been, so he’s gonna take it. He needs to get this out anyways, or he’s going to keep running in circles as if stuck in a hamster wheeler—an accurate representation of his brain when it comes to Will, really. He presses his lips together and tries to figure out a subtle, non-funny way to say it, but he comes up blank.

Fuck, whatever: “I almost kissed Will. Again.”

Max actually has to cover her mouth with her hand, disguising a worryingly loud snort with a cough. The teacher turns their way and stares, then goes back to explaining the exercise on the board. Mike scribbles it down while Max gets herself under control.

Screw his life.'

senior year, post-vecna. the party being friends but also little shits to each other.

madwheeler bandmates!!!

will steals mike's entire closet

they are Dumb Idiots who are mutually pining from afar

and other lovable tropes. takes place in november so good fall vibes :)

#perce reads #byler #byler fanfic #fic recs #byler fic recs

[thisapplepielife]

Written for the @steddieholidaydrabbles December challenge.

Crumb Together

Prompt Day 27: Coffee Shop AU | Word Count: 1000 | Rating: T | CW: Language | Tags: Modern AU, Meet-Cute, Platonic Stobin, Coffee Shop/Bakery AU, Fluff, Steve POV

Steve is carefully filling the bakery case. He's been here since three a.m., and it's still a half-hour until opening, but at least he's on time and not behind schedule for once. 

"Hey dingus, do we need more muffins?" Robin hollers, banging through the double-doors from the back to the front. 

"No, I have enough, thanks so much," he snaps. He's snippy this morning, pretty mad she ever talked him into this whole coffee shop scheme. Sure, they're retail pros, but small business owners? He should have said no fucking way. But she was excited, and he wanted her to be happy. That’s always his downfall.

He's definitely re-thinking that now that they’ve completely lost their social lives by keeping these insane working and sleeping schedules. They only see each other, which isn't the worst thing in the world, other than the fact that he doesn't know the last time he's touched boobies. Or dick. He's not picky. 

He needs to get laid, and he can’t do that stuck inside this coffee shop slash bakery hell with his best friend.

He's about to turn and sass her, when someone taps on the front door and he jumps, throwing a chocolate muffin up into the air, fumbling it around, before finally regaining control. 

He didn't drop it, but it looks a little worse for wear. He can't sell it like this. 

Well, fuck.

If he was a hired hand, he'd ignore the annoying tapper until the official opening time. Which is twenty-nine minutes from now. But as the owner, he puts down his tray and walks towards the door. They could use the paying customer, even if they’ve shown up way too early, like a rude asshole.

He looks, but he can't see anyone out there in the dark. Maybe he should ignore it.

He doesn't, instead he unlocks the door, and there's a guy standing there. 

"Hey, nice catch," the guy says, smiling. 

Steve forces a smile in return, "How can I help you?" 

"I know you're not open yet, but I saw you in there juggling the muffins, and I'm on my way out of town and really need a cup of coffee. My coffee maker decided this was the morning to croak," he says, slashing his whole hand across his neck, making a throat-slitting motion. 

He's rambling, like Robin.

Steve finds it a little cuter on him, than he does when Robin does it at this ungodly hour. 

Steve sighs, and opens the door wider to let him inside, "You just want black coffee?" 

"Please," the guy says. 

"I'll have to brew it. It'll just take a minute." 

"Thank you, you're a lifesaver," he says, and Steve can see that he's looking at Steve's chest, looking for a name tag. But Steve's not wearing one. Because as the owner, he finally doesn't have to. 

Robin is booting up the point-of-sale system, "Black coffee?" she repeats. 

The guy nods. 

"For?" 

"Eddie," the guy answers. 

"Good thing you asked him, I'd never know who to hand it to," Steve snarks at Robin, starting the coffee machine.

Eddie laughs.

Robin doesn't.

When it's done, Steve places the cup on the counter, and Robin immediately picks it up and writes Eddie's name on it. 

Which, that's stupid. They all know it's Eddie's coffee. Then, Robin sacks up the slightly banged up muffin and hands it to Eddie.

"You scared him and caused him to squish it. So, it's yours. On the house!" she says, far too chipper for this time of morning. 

"Thanks, I'll try to drop by and scare him more often," Eddie says, reading his name on his cup, grinning. Then Eddie slides a ten dollar bill across the counter, waving off his change. 

As soon as the bell on the door jangles, signaling Eddie's departure, Robin turns and slaps Steve on the arm. 

"What the hell? That cute boy wanted to flirt, and you totally dropped the ball, dingus!" 

Steve scrunches up his forehead, "Huh?"

Robin just shakes her head, annoyed, and heads back towards the kitchen.

Is Steve so rusty that he missed flirting? Goddamnit. 

Steve has just turned the front door lock, and flipped the sign to closed, when he hears his cell phone ringing somewhere in the distance. He follows the sound, and when he picks it up, it's a number he doesn't recognize. Great. More telemarketer bullshit. 

He goes to swipe the decline button, when Robin shouts, "You better get that!"

He looks back at his phone and cautiously accepts the call, not knowing what the hell she's done now.

"Hello?"

"Is this Steve? From the coffee shop?"

"Yeah, this is Steve," Steve says, suspicious. He has no idea who he's talking to.

"Good, good. This is Eddie. From this morning. The coffee jerk that made you open early."

"Oh, uh, okay. Um…"

"How did I get this number?" Eddie asks, laughing.

"Yeah, that was what I was thinking," Steve admits.

"Well, somehow it ended up written on my coffee cup this morning, with your name and a time to call."

Steve shakes his head, Robin is such an asshole, but Steve smiles.

"Well, I'm not sure how that happened," Steve says, teasing back. Flirting. 

"Big mystery," Eddie teases, "but since I've got you on the phone, would you like to grab dinner or drinks. Coffee?"

"No coffee," Steve laughs, "but yes. To the other two, for sure. But be forewarned, I eat really early. Like an old person. Early bird specials are my jam. And I go to bed by nine. Eight-thirty if I can get away with it. I gotta be here by three to get ready to open this place."

He's learned to get that info out of the way, early. 

"Well, that sounds perfect. I get up at four to get to my jobsite. I'm in construction," Eddie says.

Steve smiles, it's been a while since anyone has understood his schedule.

"So, dinner? Four-thirty or five?" Eddie asks, and Steve laughs.

If you want to write your own, or see more entries for this challenge, pop on over to @steddieholidaydrabbles and follow along with the fun! ☕

If you want to see more of my entries into this month-long challenge, you can check them out in my Steddie Holiday Drabbles tag, right here!

#steddieholidaydrabbles #coffee shop au #bakery au #modern au #meet cute #steddie #steddie ficlet #eddie munson #steve harrington #robin buckley #platonic stobin #stranger things #thisapplepielife: short fic #thisapplepielife: steddieholidaydrabbles

[dreamofbecoming]

here we are at last! there have been a bunch of posts lately about how neither eddie nor robin have any gaydar to speak of, but steve canonically does, and also vickie definitely left fast times paused on purpose as a flag, and frankly all of you are just so objectively True and Correct that i had no choice but to write about it. parts 1 and 2 not strictly necessary for context but definitely set in the same universe

part 1 part 2 ao3

platonic stobin, rockie, steddie

rating: t

wc: 8.4k (holy fuck it got away from me)

---

Robbie isn't drunk yet, but she's getting there.

Honestly, Steve should probably slow her down, but what the hell. They're celebrating, after all. He'll cut her off in a bit, but she deserves to have some fun. They all do.

It's been three weeks since Eddie got out of the hospital, one since he was finally let off bedrest. Or, not exactly bedrest, but enough restrictions that he was basically confined to the trailer (brand new, courtesy of Owens and his goons), and from the way he complained the whole time you'd think they had him chained to the bedposts.

Hm. Maybe thinking of Eddie chained to bedposts isn't the best use of Steve's time. Not here, anyway. That's a Later activity.

It's the first house party any of them have been invited to since Spring Break, thrown by one of Robin's band friends. None of them planned on going, except that two days ago a frantic call came over the All Hands channel on the walkie that El had finally broken through, Max was awake, and the doctors thought her arms and legs would eventually, almost, make a full recovery, granted with lots of physical therapy.

Apparently the only useful thing Vecna ever did was break her bones at right angles so they could set them cleanly. Her vision will probably never fully return, but she's alive. She's alive, and she's awake, and she's apparently being a complete menace to the nurses, which is more comforting to Steve than any of the rest of it, so how could they ask for anything else?

Steve still feels like he's taking his first real breath after drowning every time he inhales. He's not sure he'll ever stop feeling this relief. It's so sharp it's almost painful.

So they're at this party, and they're celebrating. There's a real celebration planned, of course, with the whole Party and assorted extras, Murray (ugh) and Jonathan's California friend (who seems nice), Joyce and Hopper (and isn't that a trip) and Eddie and Wayne (Eddie read him in immediately, to no one's surprise) and everyone else. They've got plans to descend on Steve's house as soon as Max is allowed out of the hospital, where they'll presumably trash his mother's nice white carpets and eat through his snacks like locusts and enrage his neighbors with their shrieking in the pool. Hopper and Wayne will fight over who gets to work the grill until Joyce gets fed up and takes over and Eddie will commandeer the sound system and Robin will laugh at Steve for frantically switching between Host Mode and Lifeguard Mode until she finds someone big enough to sit on him and make him eat something. He can't wait.

But for now, they're at this party, and they're celebrating. With someone else's alcohol, which is a nice treat for Steve.

He's leaning against the wall by the kitchen doorway, sipping something Robin made him that tastes like paint thinner and looks like undiluted red food dye. He's surprised it hasn't eaten through the bottom of the cup like that green gunk from the elevator. He doesn't quite feel like joining the crush of people in the living room. He's felt a little off since Spring Break, a little lost inside his head. He knows Robin can tell, but she hasn't pushed him, other than dragging him here tonight. He's so grateful for her he thinks he could cry.

He doesn't, though, he just watches her from the kitchen doorway, squished on a couch between Vickie and who he thinks might be one of Eddie's bandmates. He recognizes him from those nights he would pick the kids up from Hellfire at the school, and also from Eddie's hospital room. He's got fluffy hair and a flannel shirt around his waist. Gary, maybe? Garth? Steve's not sure. He'd introduce himself and find out for sure, but apparently, carrying Eddie's bleeding not-quite-corpse on his back into the hospital and throwing around his father's name until someone agreed to treat him before collapsing in the lobby from his own injuries wasn't quite enough to erase the contempt for King Steve, so Steve's been mostly avoiding those guys. Eddie swears he's working on it. Steve...should maybe care more than it feels like he does. He thinks maybe a lot of things should feel more...more, than they do. But that's a problem for Later Steve. It's fine. He's fine. He's handling it.

He watches Robin, and she's laughing, and she's not quite drunk yet, and he's glad for her. This is what he wanted. This is what he wished for, on that flipped over bucket, in that field. That they'd all get through it. That they'd all get to keep smiling and doing stupid teenager shit. He maybe wishes he felt a little more like someone who wanted to do stupid teenager shit and a little less like someone watching his friends have fun from behind a plate-glass window, but he'll take it. Whatever he can get, he'll take it.

He looks back at Robin, and, huh. She's still laughing, but now she's between Eddie and Maybe-Gary-Maybe-Garth. He follows Robin's less-than-subtle (crimeny, this girl, he's gotta teach her a goddamn poker face) longing gaze and sees a flash of red heading for the back door.

This feels like a chance to do something useful. Robin will be ok, Eddie will keep an eye on her.

He follows Vickie out the back door. He finds her leaned against the back of the house, her eyes closed, her head tilted back. She's smiling. She really is pretty, Steve can see why Robin likes her. God, he hopes he's right about her. Either way, he's determined to find out. It's what Robin deserves.

"Hey, Vickie. Come out for some fresh air?"

Her smile gets bigger when she turns to him. He really hopes he's right about her, she's a fucking sweetheart. He hopes he isn't about to do something hugely stupid. Knowing him, he probably is, but also knowing him, he's gonna do it anyway.

"Hey Steve! Yeah, I was just getting a little warm in there. How about you? Smoke break?"

"Nah, I'm trying to quit. Robin hates them, she keeps stealing them out of my mouth, so it's somehow more expensive and I don't even get to smoke them. Easier to just stop. Which is probably her goal," he laughs.

"You and Robin are pretty close, huh?"

"Oh yeah, platonic soulmates. With a capital P!" He makes an incredibly dorky gesture with his hands, and has to stop himself from facepalming. Great going, dingus.

Still, Vickie's smile gets a little wider, which he thinks is probably a win.

"That's why I came out here, actually. I wanted a chance to talk to you." Her eyebrows go up. Always with the goddamn eyebrows around here. "Not, like, in a creepy way! Or, well, I guess that's what a creep would say, but I swear I'm not! I just meant, because Robin really likes you," shit, too much, "I mean, she likes hanging out with you, and she's my best friend and all, so I wanted to. Um. Get to know you better. You know. For Robin."

"...For Robin."

He groans. "I swear I didn't used to be like this. I used to be able to talk like a normal person. I didn't know that was a skill you could lose! I would have worked harder at it!" She's laughing at him now, but at least she's polite enough to hide her giggles behind her hand. That's something.

He sighs, and throws his head back to take a deep breath and try and come back to his body, like Robin showed him. Having therapist parents sounds like a nightmare to Steve, but it has its uses, he guesses.

He looks back at Vickie, who is watching him with what seems like more amusement than concern, so he's taking that as a win. If she's laughing, she's not running away. He sticks his hand out.

"Hi, I'm Steve. You're really important to the most important person in my life, so I'd really like to be your friend." He tries to give her his most winning smile, but honestly he's a little worried his teeth are still red from that godawful drink.

She grins at him, still definitely laughing at him a little but more genuine than before, and shakes his hand. "I'm Vickie, and you're really important to someone I hope will become really important to me, so I'd love to be your friend."

He doesn't breathe a sigh of relief, but it's a close thing. King Steve decided to stay in tonight, apparently, so he's on his own, and boy oh boy is he worse than he remembered.

"So, new friend, what do you want to get to know about me?"

Thank fuck Vickie's carrying so much of the weight here, honestly.

"We could, uh, talk about movies?" Jesus Christ, where did all the goddamn Harrington Charm go, anyway? Did Vecna eat it?!

There go the eyebrows again. He's cursed, he really is. "Movies?"

"Yeah, you know, I work at a movie store. Or I did, anyway. With Robbie. Pretty sure it went under in the quake though. That or Keith just fired us and didn't bother calling to let us know." He laughs awkwardly. He's doing fucking everything awkwardly, honestly. He hasn't even asked the question yet and he's already sweating bullets. No wonder Bobbie was so scared to confront this head-on. "Anyway, it can tell you a lot about a person, you know. Their favorite movie."

Come on, take the bait. Take it.

She nods seriously at him. "Oh I get that for sure, you can learn a lot about someone by their favorite book. I used to volunteer at the library and there was always gossip about who checked out what romance novel and whether that meant their marriage was on the rocks, you know?" She giggles, hiding behind her hand for a second. "I guess it was kind of mean, but we never said anything to anyone outside the library, and never to their face, you know? It was just something to keep us entertained on slow days."

Fantastic, he can work with this.

"Oh totally, I completely get it. Robs and I did the same thing at Family Video, making up stories about what we imagined people's lives were like that they were renting Casablanca and Gremlins on the same night, you know? Like, what does that evening look like? Which one do they watch first?"

She laughs. Perfect. She took the bait, now he's just gotta reel her in. Or something. He's never been fishing.

"You know, I usually rent my movies from Family Video. Did you guys ever look up my rental history?"

Aaaand, got her!

"You know, I think we did, actually, not that I'm helping the creep allegations," he winks at her. She slaps him on the shoulder. There we go, there's the Harrington Charm. Jesus fuck, where has it been all night? Sleeping?

Moment of truth, here we go.

"Fast Times At Ridgemont High, right?" He keeps his eyes on her face while he says it. He needs to see how she reacts.

She's been watching a raccoon rummaging through the neighbor's trash, but as soon as he mentions the movie, she whips her head around and looks at him sharply.

She studies his face intently in the glow from the floodlights above the garage. Whatever she finds, the fear in her eyes fades just slightly to caution. All good signs.

Fuck, this is harder than he remembers. Talking in code and reading all the subtle little shifts in body language involved in this conversation is stretching muscles in his brain he's forgotten he had. His friends these days all just sort of...say whatever they mean, straight out. He thought it was weird and off-putting at first, but now that he's doing this dance again, he's realizing he hasn't missed it.

The things he does for Robin, honestly.

He can see the moment she decides to trust him, even though she's still tense. She takes a deep breath, like she's gearing up for something. "That's a good one, for sure. You know, I think I maybe forgot to rewind it the last time I returned it? I paused it at my favorite part, but I think I got distracted and never finished it. I hope that doesn't cause too much trouble for you guys at your job. I'd hate to be one of those customers."

Jesus, this chick is brave. She's basically just coming right out and saying it! Holy shit, he's about to get Robbie a girlfriend! Ok, ok be cool. Bring it home, nice and easy.

"Nah, not a problem at all. Besides, I think I remember that tape, and we have the same favorite part, I think. All three of us." Fuck he hopes this isn't a mistake. If he just fucked up and outed Robin for no reason he'll- fuck, he doesn't know what he'll do. Ask El to open the gate back up so he can throw himself into it, probably.

Vickie's eyes go wide. "Robin too?" There's something like hope in her voice. He thinks. He hopes, anyway. Maybe he's just projecting, but he really thinks he's been right on the money from the start. He just needs to prove it to Rob and give them both a push.

"Yeah, Robin too. Now me, I like Fast Times a lot, but I also really like The Outsiders, you know?" A truth for a truth. Nothing is free, he remembers this dance. Trust is always earned.

He didn't realize her eyes could get any bigger, but somehow they do. Slowly, a grin spreads across her face. "Really? Uh, me too! Those are...both...really good movies, you know?"

"Totally!" He's grinning now too, he can't help it. He's so excited for Robbie he might explode. This is the most alive he's felt in weeks!

"Not Rob, though, she loves Fast Times, but not so much The Outsiders. She can be, uh. Pretty nervous, you know? To talk about her taste in movies. I think she might be worried you don't like Fast Times as much as she does, but I know she really wants to, uh, watch it with you. So you might have to be the one to, you know, tell her how much you like it, and maybe ask her to watch it together?"

He's getting lost in the metaphor here. That's clear enough, right? Robbie isn't going to believe him about Vickie liking boobies unless she walks up to her and tells her "I like women, go out with me," in very small words, so he really hopes he got the message across. He needs Vickie to take the wheel on this.

Luckily Vickie is nodding enthusiastically. "For sure! I can do that!" She's halfway back to the house, almost tripping over her feet, before she looks back at him sheepishly.

"Oh no, I'm sorry, that was so rude of me, I just got so excited and I wanted to-"

"Hey, no worries, that was the goal, right? This is what I was hoping for when I came out here to talk to you. She, uh..." He shouldn't. He should stick to the code, just in case, he should be careful, it's Robbie's life on the line here.

But it's also her happiness.

"She didn't believe me. About the Fast Times thing. And then we ran into you at The War Zone, and she was totally convinced I was wrong, but I knew I had to ask. Just in case. I just really want her to be happy, you know?" There. He hasn't actually said the words. If it goes sideways, they still have plausible deniability.

And then, well. There's always Plan B. He doesn't exactly want to burn Vickie's house down, but he will. For Robin, he'll do anything.

Vickie is smiling softly at him. She really is sweet, she and Bobbie are gonna be so cute together. He can't wait to tease them into oblivion.

"I'm glad she has a friend like you, Steve."

He scrubs a hand across the back of his neck, feeling weirdly self-conscious. "Yeah, well, you know. You've got a friend like me, now, too, right?"

There's that bright smile again. "Right!"

"Alright, go on. Go get your girl."

Good lord, redheads sure can blush, huh?

He waits a couple of minutes before heading back in himself, enjoying the night air. It's not quite the height of summer yet, so the evenings aren't as muggy as they'll be in a month or so. For the first time since he crawled out of that gate with Eddie lashed to his back with the remains of the rope ladder he cut to protect Dustin, he's feeling the breeze on his skin without feeling like he's wrapped in plastic, like there's a wall around him, keeping from being part of the world. He wants to savor it, in case it goes away again.

When he does make his way back in, he almost trips over Robin, who's grabbing what should probably be her last drink. At least it's just a beer this time, if it was more of that awful concoction from earlier he'd probably take it away from her, pouting be damned. They could have flambéed Vecna with that shit, nobody should be putting it in their bodies.

Her face lights up when she notices him, and she flings herself into his arms.

"Oof, shit, Buckley, doing ok there? You having fun?"

"Sooooo much fun, Stevie!" She nuzzles her face into the crook of his shoulder. Yeah, if she's this cuddly in public, this should definitely be her last drink, especially if Vickie wants to make any kind of move tonight. She's not usually this touchy outside of the really bad nightmare nights. "Missed you though. Where'd you go? My bubba disappeared."

"Aw, Bobs, I was just outside getting some air, I promise. I didn't go anywhere."

She shakes her head stubbornly, her nose dragging along his collarbone. "Noooo, you left. Not now, before. After. In the hospital. We all came back but you left. You went inside your big stupid fluffy head and you don't come out anymore. I miss you."

It's a good thing Robin's face is still hidden in his shoulder, because he can't quite keep his expression from crumpling. He hasn't meant to hurt her, he hasn't meant to hurt anyone, he swears. He's trying, he wants to come back, wants to be normal again, he just...he feels like part of him is still stuck at the bottom of Lover's Lake, watching everyone above him on the surface moving on and living life, but not able to reach them.

He holds her tighter to his chest, petting her hair. It's a mess, like when she first wakes up in the morning. Maybe she fell off the couch or something while he was outside.

"I'm sorry, Bobbin-bird. I didn't mean to go away. I'm working on it, ok? I promise," he murmurs reassurances into her hair, trying to erase the sadness he can hear in her slurred words. He's shit at talking about feelings, especially his own, but not with Robin. Never with Robin. Saying true things to Robin isn't any harder than thinking them to himself, and honestly that's basically the same thing. They pretty much only have the one brain between them.

She pulls back, studying his face closely with bleary eyes, squeezing his cheeks between her hands. "Promise?"

"I promise, Bobbie." He tries to project as much sincerity as he can muster. She's edging past tipsy, but not actually drunk yet, so she should remember this moment just fine tomorrow, and he won't have to do it again.

Who he is kidding? They're definitely having this conversation again tomorrow. Maybe he can distract her with teasing about Vickie. Where did she go, anyway?

Robin grins, apparently satisfied for now. "Good!" She smacks a kiss to his forehead and finally lets go of his face. Thank god. He loves her, more than anything in the world, but she's a goddamned sweaty drunk.

Before she can say anything else, a redheaded streak comes stumbling into the kitchen.

"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!" Vickie leans on the kitchen counter, trying to catch her breath.

Steve looks to Robin to see how she'll respond, and, oh. Well, shit. Robin is...frozen, apparently. She's very obviously focused on Vickie, which is good, because otherwise Steve would be having trouble with flashing back to Nancy's thousand-yard stare in the Upside Down, or the whites of Max's eyes, but the part of her brain that lets her, you know, say and do things, appears to have shut down.

Looks like it's Steve's turn with the communal brain, lucky him. Time to step in and save this, if he can.

"Vickie! Hi, you know, I was just wondering where you ran off to? I was about to tell Robin to track you down, to talk about that movie we talked about earlier, but it looks like you found us instead!" He jams an elbow into Robin's side as subtly as he can, but she still doesn't move.

Vickie is looking between them, still breathing a little heavy. "Yeah, I went looking for you as soon as I came back in, but Gareth said-" Gareth! That was it! "-you went to the bathroom, and did you know there are six bathrooms in this house? Who needs that many bathrooms? I think Angela only has one sibling, why would anyone need six bathrooms for four people? That's so crazy! Anyway, I'm glad I found you, Robin. I'm, uh, getting a little overwhelmed with all the people out here, so I was hoping you might want to find a room that's maybe a little quieter, so we can talk a bit? Just the two of us?" Damn, this girl's got guts. Steve likes her.

Robin continues to stand in front of the fridge like the world's prettiest scarecrow. Come on, babygirl, you can do this! He elbows her again.

"Vickie! Hi! Steve, Vickie's here! Hi!" Steve and Vickie both startle a little because, wow, ok, volume, Buckley, damn. Still. Progress.

"Sure is, babe. Tell you what, why don't I take this-" he plucks the unopened beer out of her slack hand, "-and you and Vickie can go sit down somewhere quiet and talk about movies, huh?"

Robin blinks at him owlishly. "Movies?"

He's about to make another veiled reference to the boobies conversation when Vickie blows all of her air out of her nose and stomps one foot like that one girl in the Chocolate Factory movie who reminds him of his cousin Shauna.

"I'm sorry, I can't take it! I just spent ten minutes outside talking to Steve in ridiculous codes and another ten minutes running up and down the stairs in this insane house and I'm exhausted. I can't take the metaphors anymore. Sorry, Steve, no offense."

"Hey, none taken. It's pretty exhausting, you're not wrong. I just had to be safe."

She shakes her head. "No, totally, I completely understand. I appreciate it. I'm just secret coded-out tonight, you know? Robin, do you want to go upstairs with me and talk? I have something to ask you and I'd really rather do it in private, I don't really want any of these people listening, you know?" She waves her hand at the open doorway to the living room, which is still packed with people.

Robbie's head has been bouncing back and forth between them like she's watching a tennis match, eyes wide.

"Huh? Me? What?"

Oh geez. She's shorting out.

"Bobbie, look at me." She meets his eye, and he can see the nerves threatening to overwhelm her. "Trust me?"

She nods. "Uh huh. 'Course, bubba."

Well that warms him right up, but it's not about him right now. "Good. Go with Vickie, babe. It'll be good, I promise." He hopes he can promise that, at least. He's pretty sure he can. And if it goes bad, they always have Plan B.

Vickie holds out a hand, and Robin stares at her like it might bite her, before taking it gingerly. Both girls immediately burst into bright red blushes, and under any other circumstance he would laugh at them, but this is a delicate moment. They need him to be cool. He can be cool. He can be so goddamn cool.

Vickie leads Robin out of the room and towards the stairs, both of them still blushing like crazy and refusing to meet each other's eyes, and Steve can finally let out the breath he's been holding in a whoosh and slump back against the counter. He snags a bottle opener off the fridge- neat, it's got a magnet on it!- and pops the top on the beer he stole off Robbie.

“Well I hate to break this to you, King Steve, but she’s definitely about to steal your girl.”

Steve freezes with the bottle at his lips.

He sets the beer down on the counter and very carefully turns around. Munson is alone, thank fuck. This is fixable. He can deal with a single person. If it had been a crowd, or fuck, god forbid, someone like Gareth, who hates him, and might try and use this? Hurt Robbie to hurt him? Well, he's got his nailbat in the trunk, and he isn't afraid to use it, but he doesn't think Hopper would be thrilled to have to bail him out of jail.

"Whatever you think you heard, Munson, if Robbie gets hurt, it won't matter that you're one of us now. I'll finish what those bats started. I won't be happy about it, because you're a pretty cool dude and I like hanging out with you, but I'll do it for her if you make me." He makes sure his voice is low and even, and he meets Eddie's eyes head on. He wants to be very clear, this is not a joke. He will defend her if he has to.

He doesn't think he'll have to, not from Munson, but he isn't 100% sure, and he's taken enough risks with Robbie's safety tonight. He doesn't trust his luck enough to count on it working out a second time in less than an hour.

Munson's eyes go wide with shock- he clearly wasn't expecting Steve to meet him with quite that much aggression. He puts his hands up in surrender and leans back away from Steve.

Steve fights not to be distracted by the way his torso curves, graceful in a way he has no right to be with his wounds still scabbing over. Not the moment, Steve. Get it together, for fuck's sake.

"Hey, whoa, easy big guy. We're cool, man. Stand down."

There's a tense moment where they just...stand there, sizing each other up, unsure where to go from here.

Eddie tugs a lock of hair in front of his face, nibbling on it nervously. It's cuter than it has any right to be, honestly.

"I didn't- uh. Fuck, man. Please tell me I didn't just tip you off to flirting you didn't notice. It would suck so, so bad if I exposed Birdie without her knowing."

Steve takes a moment to consider this, frankly absurd, situation. He holds up a finger for Eddie to wait a minute, and checks both ways down the hallway outside before closing the kitchen door and leaning back against it to keep it shut. At least now it'll definitely just be the two of them, which is one more than should be having this conversation, but he doesn't see a way out of it, so this will have to do.

When he turns back to Eddie, he looks even more nervous than before.

"I'm perfectly aware of the flirting, considering I'm the one who went out of my way to set them up tonight. You didn't out anyone, and I should have been the one to make sure the door was closed before I got them in a room together, so it's not your fault for finding out. You understand you can't say anything to anyone, ever, though, right?"

Because he's apparently doomed to be accosted with eyebrow raises from everyone around him anytime he says anything at all until he dies, Eddie's are lost somewhere under his bangs. He looks...impressed. Huh, that's kind of nice. Steve resists the urge to preen.

"'Course, man, I'm well-versed in the code of silence." Something in his face softens, and Steve can feel the sincerity in his next words. "Birdie's a friend, and Finnegan seems like a real sweetie, I wouldn't ever want to hurt them like that. Cross my heart." He does, in fact, draw a cross on his chest with one long, ringed finger. What a dork, holy shit. Steve wants to put that finger in his mouth.

"I have to admit, I didn't expect you to be so cool with something like that. In general, but also especially since you and Buckley are, y'know." He waves his hand expansively around his head, the kitchen lights glinting off his rings, and Steve has to fight the urge to bat at it like a cat with a laser pointer. Jesus Christ, Harrington, focus. The man just called you a homophobe, get your shit together.

He decides, very magnanimously, he thinks, to ignore the homophobe bit, honing in on the rest. "Me and her are...what, exactly?"

"I mean, aren't you guys like, a thing?" Oh Jesus fuck. Not again.

"Ugh, no, where the hell do people keep getting that? Robin and I are just friends, ok? Platonic soulmates. Capital P!" He throws his hands in the air in frustration.

"-capital P," Eddie choruses with him, "I know, I know, I just, shit, man, I dunno, I figured you were..."

"Were what?"

"...Lying? Shit, that sounds worse out loud, sorry! I just mean, because, you know, Henderson keeps saying-"

"Oh, well if Henderson says it, it must be true," Steve rolls his eyes.

"Well fuck me for trusting the kid who calls you his best friend, I guess!"

They glare at each other across the room for a minute, before the ridiculousness of this moment catches up to Steve and he drops his chin to his chest, huffing a laugh.

Eddie looks confused, and still nervous, and a little incredulous. Also a lot adorable, but that doesn't feel relevant. "Ok, I'm so lost, man. I just came in here for a beer, and this has been an emotional rollercoaster I was unprepared for."

Yeah, that about sums it up.

He hasn't spent much time with Eddie since he woke up, spending those weeks juggling babysitting duties and his own injuries and helping with the relief effort and sitting vigil at Max's side. He popped in on Eddie when he was in the building for Max, but the Munson room always had someone in it- Wayne, or Dustin, or Mike, or one of the Corroded Coffin guys- and Steve always felt a bit like an intruder. So he hasn't had a chance to feel out the suspicions he formed during that surreal week when everything was still in the process of exploding, and honestly he's been feeling a little too distant to work up the energy to bother. Robin's bugged him about it once or twice since March, but he shrugged her off each time and she hasn't brought it up in a while.

Ah, what the hell. It's already been such a weird night, and Steve is honestly feeling better than he has in weeks, and he wants to ride this high wherever it'll take him.

Emotional rollercoaster, huh? Well, Steve can make that worse.

At least Eddie hasn't seemed homophobic, kind of the opposite, actually. That's a good sign if Steve's ever seen one.

He pushes off the door, stalking toward Eddie with intent and digging deep inside himself for whatever remains of the person he used to be, who could drop panties with a single look. Eddie's eyes go very round, and he stumbles back a little into the counter.

"You know, Munson, I've had a question I've been meaning to ask you for a while now. Haven't found a good moment."

"Oh yeah?" Eddie's voice comes out in what can only be called a squeak, and Steve feels powerful. That rush of confidence he hasn't felt since BN (Before Nancy) fills his chest, and he can feel his grin turn sharp. "Ho- uh." Eddie clears his throat. "How long's a while?"

Steve purses his lips, relishing the way Eddie's eyes drop down like he can't help it and his cheeks flush, and pretends to consider the question. "Oh, since Skull Rock, probably."

"O-oh? That's. Um. That is a long time." He's still staring at Steve's lips. Good. "Well, shoot, Stevie-boy. Ask away."

Steve lets his smile spread across his face slowly, keeping Eddie's eyes where he wants them. Yeah, he's still got it. Like riding a bike.

"Do you wear this bandana on purpose, or is it just a fashion statement?"

Eddie's eyes snap up to meet his own, shocked.

"Wh-what? Bandana? I. Um. What?"

"Are you flagging, Eddie?" Steve doesn't back up, toe to toe with Eddie as he reaches out and tugs lightly on the hanky trailing out of his back pocket, as always.

He may not have had the energy to talk to Eddie about it yet, but his curiosity did get the better of him after the "earthquakes," and he did dig out that zine where he originally learned about the code. He knows what a black hanky in the back left pocket means now. It's...a little daunting, but not a turn-off. Not at all. Kind of the other thing.

God he hopes Eddie knows what it means.

Eddie seems floored by this line of questioning. He's bright red and sputtering, his mouth opening and closing without saying anything. Steve lets himself stare. This'll go however it goes, but he's not ashamed. He's no more embarrassed to want Eddie than he would be to want a girl, which is to say, not at all.

"I- you- what? What? You- you know what flagging is?" He hisses the end of the sentence in a harsh whisper, so much like Robin did when he first told her about his crush that he can't stop himself from giggling.

Wrong move, since Eddie clearly takes this personally, and his expression shutters closed. Whoops.

"Hey, hey, no no no, none of that, hey. I'm sorry, I wasn't laughing at you, I swear."

"Right, sure, I believe that, considering there's nothing goddamn else to laugh at in this kitchen, Harrington." Eddie is glaring at the floor, arms crossed defensively across his chest.

Alright, maybe he gets what Vickie was saying earlier. Fuck the codes, fuck the metaphors. He can take Eddie in a fight if he has to. He's a simple guy, ok? He just wants to use his goddamn words.

Robin would be so proud.

He goes slowly, telegraphing every move so Eddie can stop him if he wants. He reaches for his hands where they're tucked into his elbows, gently easing them out until they're clasped between them.

He takes the opportunity to finally feel those rings he's fantasized about, seeing if they're as cool as they look. They aren't, they're warm from Eddie's skin. He spins one of them around Eddie's finger with his thumb, transfixed.

Eddie still looks tense, but now instead of hurt and distrust on his face, he looks like Steve hit in him in the head with something heavy. His pretty eyes are so big, blown completely black as he stares at their joined hands.

"I'm sorry I laughed. I was remembering the first time I told Robin I had a crush on you," Eddie's head snaps up again, "and she sounded exactly like you did just now, with that angry whisper voice. It made me laugh, that you guys are so alike. It makes sense, I guess. She's my favorite person, so of course I'd like you, when you're like. Not the same, I guess, but kinda a similar flavor of weird. She says I have a thing for nerds, y'know?"

Eddie blinks at him for a minute, apparently speechless. Some nerves start to creep back in, since the brief miscommunication scare burned out most of that white hot King Steve confidence in his chest. They must show on his face, because Eddie visibly shakes himself and finally opens his mouth.

"You have a crush on me?"

"Yeah, man, since the Upside Down, pretty much. The first time."

"Don't call me man when you're telling me you have a crush on me!"

Steve has to laugh at the comically offended look on Eddie's face. "Sorry. Do you prefer Eds? Baby? Big Boy?"

Eddie is so red Steve is surprised his face isn't steaming. He yanks one hand out of Steve's grip to smack him in the chest. Steve laughs and lets him, dropping their still-joined hands down between them and tangling their fingers.

"You're a fucking dick, Stevie. Can't believe I like you."

Steve grins at him, big and hopeful. "Yeah? You like me, Munson?"

Eddie shoves at him with a groan, but doesn't let go of his hand. "Pretty sure everyone in this town likes you, King Steve. It's like a rite of passage, or something."

Steve feels like he could walk on air, he isn't even going to get fussy about the King Steve thing. They can talk about that later. Eddie likes him! Eddie has a crush on him! He could fight a demogorgon with his bare hands right now, that's how powerful he feels.

Eddie gets quiet after a second, tugging a curl in front of his mouth again. Seems like a nervous tick, maybe. Steve notes that for later. He may not be much of a reader, but he's going to learn to read Eddie Munson like a book if it's the last thing he does.

"I thought, um. I kinda...hn. Ugh."

"Gonna need more than that, baby, I'm not fluent in Munson yet." That glow in his chest picks up a little again at the way Eddie flushes so pink and pretty at the petname.

"I thought you were straight." It comes out all in a rush, the words mumbled and slurred together through his hair.

Finally, it's Steve's turn to raise an eyebrow. Take that, universe! "You meet a lot of straight guys who know what the Hanky Code is?"

Eddie shakes his head in wonderment. "Still can't believe The Steve Harrington knows what flagging is."

He's about to reply when the kitchen door flies open with a bang that sends the boys leaping backwards away from each other. Steve finds himself braced between Eddie and the door, brandishing the bottle opener from the fridge in front of him like a knife. He doesn't even remember grabbing it.

Robin is standing in the doorway, eyes wild and hair frizzing out around her head in a way she would despise if she was sober and not obviously preoccupied with something else.

"Jesus, Robs, you about gave me a heart attack, what the hell?"

"Sorry bubba, not important right now!"

He rolls his eyes. Of course not. Just his trauma that could have made him stab her if he hadn't caught himself, nothing major. This girl, he swears.

"Dingus! Focus!"

"Focus on what, Bobs?"

"She wants to kiss me, Steve!"

His eyes go wide. Thank fuck the door bounced off the wall and swung back shut behind her. That's not something to shout to a party full of gossipy strangers.

Still. This is a big moment! "Bobbie! What'd I tell you, huh?" He picks her up around the middle, swinging her around while she cackles wildly and bats at his shoulders.

"Put me down, you lunatic! Steven Elizabeth, you put me down right now, or I swear I'll never speak to you again!" She's laughing too hard for him to take her seriously, though.

He does take pity on her and set her back on her feet, stealing one more tight hug. He's so happy for her he could scream. This night has turned out better than he could have imagined.

"Tell me everything! What happened! What did she say? What did you say? How was the kiss?"

"Well we didn't actually kiss yet, exactly."

"Wait, then how do you know she wants to kiss you?"

"She told me! She said she thinks I'm really pretty and funny and smart and she's like you! She likes both, and she says her and Dan are done, like for real for real all the way done, and she held my hand, Steve! And she wants to go on a date! And she said she wanted to kiss me!"

"That's awesome! I'm so happy for you, Bobs. What did you say when she said she wanted to kiss you?"

"I came down to tell you about it, obviously."

Oh, Bobbie, what the fuck. "Robin James Buckley. Do not tell me that a pretty girl tried to kiss you and you ran away and left her upstairs!"

The situation finally seems to register, and Robbie's hands go flailing around her face the way they do when she's overwhelmed.

"Oh no! Steve! Oh no!"

"Go, you insane person! Go back upstairs right now and kiss her this minute! Go!"

He physically herds her to the door, at which point she finally notices Eddie, who has been standing in the corner where Steve shoved him behind him when the door crashed open, watching them like he's wishing he had popcorn.

Fuck. Steve was so excited for Robbie he totally forgot he was here.

Robin's body goes rigid and all the color drains out of her face all at once.

Steve grabs her by the shoulders. "Hey, Bobbin, eyes on me, ok? Eyes on me." She finally drags her eyes away from where she's been staring at Eddie in horror, and Steve's heart breaks at the fear on her face. "It's ok, Bobbie, I swear to god it's ok. I was right, alright? I was right about him, we were talking before you came in. He's safe, I swear. We're safe, Bobbie, I promise I'll keep you safe."

"I promise I won't say a word, Birdie. Friends of Dorothy gotta stick together, right?" Eddie pipes up from the corner, stepping forward slowly and carefully, hands out front like he's approaching a skittish animal.

"You're- you're like u- me?" Oh, he loves her so much. Still protecting him, just in case.

"It's ok Bobs, I told him about me. I was about to get a kiss of my own before you came in, I think, actually."

Eddie jumps on the opportunity to cut the tension, ever the showman. Steve likes him so goddamn much. He grins impishly at Steve, that wide pretty mouth stretching out until those dimples Steve can't wait to kiss appear on his cheeks.

"Oh, you were, were you? Pretty presumptuous, Stevie-boy. Who says I kiss on the first date? Maybe I'm not that kind of boy."

"Oh, wow, ok, this is gonna be a lot to deal with, huh? Alright, I'm glad I'm not getting hate-crimed, and I'm glad you're finally doing something about your big gay crush, Dingus, but if you'll excuse me, I have a girl to kiss, and also I want to be far away from," she waves a hand between them, "whatever this is. Good luck boys, don't kiss in unlocked rooms! Vickie says she can give me a ride home, so I'll call you in the morning, bubba. Love you bye!"

She's out of the room like a shot, hopefully back up to Vickie, who he hopes is prepared to get used to this kind of thing. There are so many things to love about Robin Buckley, and honestly, this is one of them, but he can see why she might be an acquired taste. He thinks anyone who doesn't acquire that taste is a moron and not worth knowing, but he can see how those people might exist.

"Love you too, Robs!" he calls down the hallway, closing the door behind her and leaning back against it. It's not a lock, but as long as he doesn't move, it'll do. And given that Eddie appears to have found his confidence and is leaning over him, bracing his arms on either side of Steve's head, he doesn't think he'll have to move any time soon.

Unless someone needs the kitchen, but they've been doing just fine so far, so they can burn that bridge when they come to it, or whatever people say.

He reaches down to toy with Eddie's belt loops, tugging him close and grinning up at him through his eyelashes, privately thrilled at the novelty of being shorter than his partner for once. Granted, he's slumped down the door a little, but still. It's nice. He can see why girls like it.

Eddie comes closer easily, resting their foreheads together. He reaches down to fiddle with a lock of Steve's hair and Steve feels like leaning into it like a cat getting its ears rubbed.

Lot of cat feelings tonight. He's not sure what to do with that.

"So.”

“So.”

“Steven Elizabeth, huh?"

Steve can't help but laugh, the tension broken once more. "Yeah, Rob's idea. We switched. Steven Elizabeth and Robin James. So we always have a piece of each other."

"Jesus H Christ, you guys are fucking adorable. This shit is why everyone thinks you're dating, though, you know that, right?"

"Ugh, yeah, I know. I don't actually mind, I mean, I should be so lucky, you know? And she's like. My person. My most important person. And we're probably gonna get married someday just so we can be each other's next of kin, and because it's not like she could marry whoever she ends up with anyway, or me if I end up with a guy, so it's like, why not, you know? I'd be building my life around her anyway, might as well make it legal.

"It's mostly just annoying when our friends don't believe us, because like, we're honest with you guys. Maybe not all of it, like Robbie isn't ready to be out and that's fine and she shouldn't have to be, but it kinda sucks that, like, Dustin thinks I would lie to him, you know? Because I wouldn't. Not about something real. Not when it matters. But he doesn't believe me, and that just. I dunno, man."

"It hurts."

"Yeah."

"I get that. You've been through a lot for these kids, you've put yourself on the line for them, you've given up a lot for them, and when they don't believe you about something like this, it feels like they're saying they don't trust you. Of course that hurts."

Steve swallows down the tears that want to fall. Now isn't the time for vulnerability like that, not in a stranger's crowded house. Still.

"How'd you do that?"

"Do what, sweetheart?" Oh, sweetheart does something to him. If this is how Eddie felt when he called him baby earlier, the blush makes more sense.

"Figure out exactly what I'm trying to say, and make it make sense. Usually only Robbie can do that."

"I dunno, maybe Birdie and me share a brain. Or maybe you and I just make sense to each other."

Steve flattens a palm against Eddie's chest, feeling the soothing thump beneath his hand. He did that. He put his hands on Eddie's chest and his mouth on Eddie's mouth and broke Eddie's ribs and didn't stop until that rhythm started up again. And now Eddie's here, and Eddie's heart is still beating, and Eddie hears him when he talks, and Eddie is looking at his lips again, and Steve suddenly can't go another second without kissing him.

He trails his hand up Eddie's chest, over his neck, savoring the way his breath hitches and the pulse under his palm speeds up. He keeps going, pushing his fingers into that thick riot of curls, already making mental notes of the products he's going to buy for Eddie because Jesus Christ, they're dry.

He tugs, and again, Eddie comes easy. It's not an earth-shattering kiss. There's no tongue, and their noses are a little smushed, and the angle is a little off, and he's kissed enough people that he can tell Eddie probably hasn't, but none of that matters.

He told Robin, back in that field, that he was holding off feelings he knew he would have for Eddie when all was said and done. He knows now he was right, and he's done holding them off. Has been done for a while, maybe.

He doesn't know where this is going, or what Eddie wants, or how they'll manage being two guys in a town like Hawkins, or what their friends will think. If they'll even tell their friends. What he does know is that he wants to find out the answers to all of those, and he wants to find them out with Eddie, and he wants to keep kissing Eddie, and also that he can't keep kissing Eddie here.

He pulls back, pecking that dimple finally, partly to reassure Eddie that he isn't running away and partly because he's wanted to for weeks, and pulls the kitchen door open, checking that the coast is clear before grabbing Eddie's hand and dragging him towards the front door.

"Where we going, Stevie?"

"You drove here, right?"

"Sure did. You want a ride somewhere? I thought you drove Birdie."

"I did, but you've got your van, don't you? Your van with doors that lock and a big open back seat?"

Eddie's eyes go wide, and he flails a little, just like Robin. It makes Steve smile.

"Yep! Yes, yeah, hell yeah, I do have my van, my van with those things, let's go! Chop chop, time's a-wasting! Your chariot awaits!" And he's off, doing that dorky little run for the driveway.

Steve grins, and puts his hands in his pockets, and follows his boy out into the night.

#stranger things #platonic stobin #steve harrington & robin buckley #rockie #rovickie #robin x vickie #robin buckley x vickie #idk what their ship tag is sorry lol #steddie #steve harrington #robin buckley #vickie stranger things #eddie munson #bisexual steve harrington #(eddie is bi too fyi but it doesn’t come up) #my writing #i believe with all my heart that steve’s strategy for nicknaming robin is just a handful of b’s and whatever vowels he finds in his heart #gareth absolutely interrupts them in the van when he wants to go home #and he’s so goddamn annoyed that now he’s going to HAVE to learn to like king steve #because it was one thing when he saved eddie’s life and they were friends now #that could be a one off #but if he likes eddie enough to make out with him in the driveway of a crowded party #he’s in this for the long haul #and that means gareth has to get used to him and learn to get a long #godDAMMIT eddie! #did i make steve go through a depressive episode because i took a break between this part and the last one and lost his voice? #how dare you insinuate such a thing (yeah lol)

[ddejavvu]

Congrats dude! it's finger lickin' good

How about besties platonic stobin, who just so happen to share reader relationship wise. It actually works out pretty healthy. They even take their breaks one after another at family video, so they can just swap who’s making out with you in the storage cupboard. Besides, they’re kind of enjoying the feeling that they’re slowly becoming some sort of weird family... <33

join my 20K celebration!

'it's finger lickin' good.' - send me a request for a baby blurb! give me a character, and a plotline, and i'll write you a little fanfiction :)

--

At Steve's third frantic series of knocks, you tap Robin's cheek, pulling away from her lips with a shallow inhale.

"No fair!" Steve groans, probably about to bruise his knuckles from how hard he's knocking to be let in, "Rob, your break ended twelve minutes ago. It's my turn now!"

"Sorry, can't hear you!" Robin shouts lazily, ignoring the way your hand reaches behind you to turn the lock on the break room door. She captures your lips in another kiss, eyes shutting before Steve can barge in a ruin her moment, even if it's not rightfully hers.

You manage to wrestle the door open, half-focused on that and half-focused on licking over Robin's lower lip, and she breaks away with a final huff when Steve rushes in.

"You little shit," He snaps, wrapping his hand around your waist and using it to tug you away from her, "I thought we agreed we'd do this fair."

"Like you two didn't make out in the car last night," She rolls her eyes, "I know there's a reason you always let her carpool with you, Steve, I'm not dumb."

Steve decides to ignore her accusations because she's correct in them. He turns to you instead as she readjusts her flimsy vest over her shoulders, giving you a teasingly incredulous look before doing the very thing he's accused of, "Can you believe her? She thinks we kissed last night."

"It's okay, Stevie. We can tell her we did, 'cause she came over last night and brought me ice cream." You confess, toying with the hem of Steve's shirt as his face deepens into a confused frown at your words, "We kissed then, so we're even."

#steve harrington x reader #robin buckley x reader #steve harrington imagine #robin buckley imagine #steve harrington fluff #robin buckley fluff #steve harrington fanfiction #robin buckley fanfiction #steve harrington oneshot #robin buckley oneshot #steve harrington blurb #robin buckley blurb

[strangertheories]

the biggest reason I don't rlly like romantic ronance is because I don't really ship nancy with anyone - I am a firm believer in Single Nancy Supremacy! I think that the two romantic relationships we see her have (with steve and with jonathan) both struggled because of her grief in relation to barb - its much clearer with her relationship to steve as it literally breaks down as a result of her grief and guilt and that idea of faking happiness, and I think that may also be the case with her relationship with jonathan as well, and we know that she's been questioning things about the relationship and hiding that she feels unfulfilled, though in her eyes she feels like she wants steve, but i think she just remembers how easy things were with steve before all the upside-downy stuff and wants to go back to how things were back then. I feel as though she struggles in those relationships because the type of companionship she is searching for is the easy, comfortable, platonic love and closeness she had with barb back then, and its clearly a huge part of her character arc, since losing barb is what caused her to become actively involved in all the upside-downy stuff and piqued her interest in journalism through her work with murray (alongside her clear desire for solving mysteries and the like). what nancy needs right now isn't a romantic relationship, but a platonic female friendship, a connection that is not fueled by anything sexual at all - hence my stance as a Platonic ronance truther!! we already see the closeness and trust the two of them have with each other as they scheme to break in to see victor creel and as they work together later on, and I think that kind of platonic connection between two women will be wonderful for the both of them, and robin as well deserves a platonic friendship that isn't just with the guy people keep thinking she's in love with. I really hope the show does take it that way, especially since platonic relationships have played such a key role throughout the show (the party's dedication to each other (excluding byler and their romantic love for each other but thats a whole other thing), dustin's relationships with steve and eddie, platonic stobin ofc, jonathan and argyles friendship (this one is so important to me as well as robin and nancy because of how dedicated they are to each other), and especially the friendship between el and max (I could write a whole nother essay about that tbh)) and I think it would be a wonderful ending for both robin and nancy to find that friendship with each other!!

This is completely fair and valid, plus a good analysis. For me personally, I prefer Ronance to single Nancy. Firstly because I just like their dynamic being 80s sapphic enemies/rivals to lovers. Secondly, I think Robin dating an established character is easier writing wise cause the show adds too many people and has less time to flesh out Vickie because of it. However, I also like it because of Nancy's character arc.

I think her character is very male centric and the writers seem to abandon her life goals to push her into the box of being Steve's suburban wife or in other words, her canon worst nightmare. Despite being the badass feminist character, she feels so focused around men and Steve and it's really odd to me. Especially how weirdly confrontational she was to Robin because she assumed she was dating Steve. They broke up two years ago and Nancy never even loved him, it's so odd.

Anyways to circle back to my point, I like the idea of Nancy's ending not being her settling down with Steve. I'm very anti-St4ncy if you can't tell. I'm less opposed to Jonathan and Nancy but even then, she's still at risk of falling into her nightmare with him. I think this is part of the reason why single Nancy is good and canon wise, I think that's her best outcome.

However, Nancy says right from the start that she wants to truly rebel. She dates Steve as an act of rebellion but because she's rebelling in the way everyone else does, it's ultimately a way for her to safely fit in and tell herself she's doing something radical as Jonathan points out. She hides her true feelings because whilst she knows she won't be satisfied by the life she's heading towards, she's scared to do anything otherwise.

I think 80s badass sapphic feminist Nancy dating a woman would both act as her embracing her true feelings and rebelling away from the trap of being a suburban housewife that her mother fell into. Single Nancy can work for that too, but I think having Nancy canonically like girls would perfectly fit into her framework of actually truly rebelling against expectations instead of seeking safety in a boy she tried to force herself to love.

I think these two opinions can coexist but that's just why I think romantic Ronance is great for Nancy. I do agree that platonic relationships would be good for her, but I also think that this relationship romantically would work with her character arc too. Thanks for the ask!

#ronance #anti jancy #anti stancy #nancy wheeler

[skepsiss]

I can't wait until the Stranger Things Reverse Big Bang starts because I HAVE OVER 60k WORDS IN TOTAL TO SHARE WITH Y'ALL. I've been writing so much and I haven't been able to post about or share ANY of it, and it's KILLING ME. But please... please enjoy the writing I've created.

I've got 1 Platonic Stobin (Robin centric) piece. One Max Mayfield (Medieval AU) piece. And one Steddie with Platonic Stobin piece (this one is 43k right now).

#stranger things #stobin #steddie #platonic stobin

[sourw0lfs]

Fox ☠️ 31 ☠️ They/she ☠️ Stranger Things ☠️ BBC Merlin ☠️ AO3 Last updated: April 27 2024 Requests: Closed

Current WIPs

you're on your own kid | E | 6/? | 14.1k | Steddie

can't breathe whenever you're gone | T | 2/? | 3.1k | Gen

dance with the devil Tumblr AO3 | E | 2/? | 7.6k | Steddie

untitled | unposted | unrated | 3.9k | Steddie

untitled | unposted | unrated | 5k | Merthur

Tumblr-only Drabbles

bad blood | M | 1/1 | 311 | Steddie

tangled up in you | G | 1/1 | 311 | Steddie

now we got problems | M | 1/1 | 548 | Steddie

put your lips close to mine | E | 1/1 | 480 | Steddie

go save the world | T | 1/1 | 329 | Buckingham

floating away | T | 1/1 | 400 | Gen, MCD Warning

we found wonderland | G | 1/1 | 404 | Steddie

donut thief | G | 1/1 | 404 | Steddie

you've got stars in your eyes | G | 1/1 | 382 | Steddie

on edge | G | 1/1 | 509 | Steddie

my heart won't start anymore | G | 1/1 | 442 | Steddie, NHE Warning

into the fire | T | 1/1 | 473 | Steddie

a rude awakening | G | 1/1 | 502 | Jargyle

One-Shots

just you and me | G | 1/1 | 2.2k | Merthur

next to you | T | 1/1 | 1.1k | Merwaine

wear me (like your favorite clothes) | M | 1/1 | 7.9k | Steddie

lovin' you's second nature | E | 1/1 | 2.5k | Steddie

i've got a lot of sins (but you're my favorite) | E | 1/1 | 4.6k | Steddie

you would break your back (to make me break a smile) | E | 1/1 | 5.2k | Steddie

write this down | T | 1/1 | 1.7k | Steddie

as the lights go down | T | 1/1 | 1.2k | Steddie

like ribbons in your hair | T | 1/1 | 1.3k | Buckingham

even if it's a false god | G | 1/1 | 1k | Steddie

life is a fever dream | G | 1/1 | 877 | Platonic Stobin, Platonic Stancy

your electric touch | T | 1/1 | 1k | Steddie

remember when you hit the brakes too soon | M | 1/1 | 1.2k | Steddie

caught in a whirlwind | M | 1/1 | 1.4k | Steddie, Ronance

nothing but a monster | M | 1/1 | 1.3k | Gen, MCD Warning

down for the count | T | 1/1 | 848 | Platonic Stobin, Platonic Stancy

but no one heard a thing | T | 1/1 | 902 | Platonic Stobin

stood on the edge | T | 1/1 | 1.4k | Steddie

you slipped away | M | 1/1 | 1k | Steddie, Platonic Stobin, MCD Warning

i want to watch wisteria grow | M | 1/1 | 1.1k | Steddissy

frosting the snowman | T | 1/1 | 2.1k | Steddie

drive until the engine just gives up | E | 1/1 | 13k | Steddie

Series

right where you left me | T | 2/? | 1.4k | Steddie

a monster on the hill | M | 2/? | 3.2k | Steddie

bleeding me dry | T | 2/? | 2.5k | Steddie

i don't wanna lose you | T | 2/? | 2.2k | Platonic Stobin

Completed Multi-chapter

let the fire breathe me back to life | M | 9/9 | 25.3 | Steddie

no body, no crime | E | 5/5 | 21.3k | Steddie, Drumcheer

the very first night | M | 6/6 | 7.1k | Hellcheer

in the nick of time | T | 5/5 | 11k | Steddie

we made quite a mess, babe | E | 5/5 | 15.3k | Steddie

what doesn't kill you (makes you wish you were dead) | M | 16/16 | 59k | Steddie

#fox writes things #fox makes a masterlist #steddie #merthur #hellcheer #steddissy #merwaine #stobin #buckingham

[domsaysstuff]

(ronance, robin(/a lil bit stobin too)-centric, side steddie fic idea)

So I'll probably at this point will never write this idea but I still wanted to share it with the fandom so I'll just dump my ramblings abt it here

I've been toying with the idea of actually nancy falling for Robin first and also Robin's queer adolescence and how Robin's trauma goes into her relationships

Specifically her relationship with Vicky

I just want her to care? To feel like the world is breaking because it's her first relationship??? like i want her to try and try to make this relationship work and still it doesn't because vicky wanted a clumsy cute normal girl and robin is all of that but also, also she wakes up in the middle of the night screaming, there are days where she needs to keep holding steve's hand to be okay, to remind themselves that they are real and here and alive and she has a group of people that she's very codependent with, a group of people that vicky will never fully be absorbed with and like all of this is fine if it's something vicky could take but she doesn't want and she doesn't have to!! but like it still hurts robin deeply because vicky is kind and she likes her back and she's her first love and to lose that slowly, to see vicky get overwhelmed with all of this is killing robin, it's making her feel even more broken and it hurts but also, it's just how things go

sometimes you fall in love and you get loved back and it still doesn't work out

it doesn't mean it doesn't hurt tho

so i just want her to care i want her to be hurt deeply in a way only first relationships hurt

Like I want Vicky and Robin to be cute and together and I want Robin to like her so fucking much and I want it to fail anyway because that's how it sometimes is no matter how smitten Robin is, how much they want it to work and it hurts, it hurts because it's unfair and it hurts because it's just how it goes and there is also just nothing special about it

And like Robin understands, but it hurts and it feels like there is just one more wrong thing with her, before she couldn't connect with people because of her being a lesbian and now when she found a girl that likes her she can't connect with her because of her trauma and it feels unfair, so fucking unfair

And at the beginning from Robin's side Ronance is platonic because she's preoccupied with Vicky and also because Nancy is Robin's first female friend

The thing is that Robin has grown up weird, it's like everybody could smell the queer on her before she could even understand it herself and so at first ronance from robin's pov is just a lot of being grateful for having a girl friend, for experiencing girl nights and sleepovers and Nancy doesn't make her feel like a freak and it feels safe and girly in a way Robin has never allowed herself to feel, always just too uncomfortable around girls even before she knew why, so she's kind of reliving her girlhood and honestly i think she deserves it

Meanwhile Nancy in the background is just working through her compulsory heterosexuality and figuring out she's a lesbian and she has been halfway in love with Robin since the Creel thing

Also I feel like Vicky would try to be supportive but she wouldn't get it but Nancy does

i have this scene

in my mind

like robin's nightmares are fine for vicky, it's when she's waking up all panicky and she needs steve in a way Vicky just doesn't get why, it's not that she doesn't try to be supportive but she doesn't get it

but one night when robin sleeps over at nancy's and she wakes up with steve's name on her lips, she gets nancy's hand on her back drawing small circles, little movement reminding her she's not alone and nancy calling steve on the walkie, not because robin asked but because nancy knew it was what robin needed, robin fell asleep again with nancy's arms around her and steve's voice on the walkie that night

and then in the morning nancy is like "don't mention it, sometimes i need to call jon, just to hear his voice, i understand the need" bc i'm a firm believer that jonathan is to nancy what steve is to robin and i will take no criticism (but i will accept that it might also be eddie and not jonathan but like also they are both her bestfriends you honor)

but robin is like feeling this queer dissonance bc she still doesn't know nancy isn't straight and it's like, yeah, but it's different. It's always different for me. you call jonathan because he's your boyfriend, that's what couples do, i call steve because he's an extension of me i didn't knew was walking outside of my body before i found him and suddenly i was whole again, i don't want to ever kiss him but i want to spent my life with him but she doesn't say that, because nancy might be kind and understanding, but she still was nancy the priss wheeler and robin doesn't want to lose girls' nights and sleepovers in one bed and this easy friendship because she's different again, so she just smiles and later when steve arrives to pick her up she cries in his shoulder

Like this scene is mostly a foreshadowing of how much Nancy fits and gets it

Also Steve and Robin platonic soulmates supremacy so a lot if this is also platonic soulmates stobin because Robin realizes she's going to leave for college soon and she doesn't want to leave without Steve, even if he won't be alone in hawkings bc he has the kids and Eddie (bc Eddie lives, ofc, i'm not killing my baby, lmao, also there is a steddie sideplot, imma talk abt it in a second)

But Steve is hers and she is Steve's first and she doesn't want to leave him, can't imagine, feels like leaving half of her body and it's not fair, but also can't take it upon herself to ask him to leave with her because she doesn't think she can handle it if he says no

And so like the fic would starts in late April/early may and Robin is trying so hard with holding the ones she has so close because she's going to leave and she's trying to grasp on the last crumbles of her teenage years and onto her relationship with Vicky and throughout all of this Nancy is this constant that just is there, steady, safe and becoming actually one of her best friends

And it surprises her, because it was easy to be friends with Eddie once they bonded over being gay and also caring for Steve, it was somewhat comfortable to have a budding relationship with Jonathan and Argyle, caring for the kids came with caring for Steve because they are somewhat also a part of him and he is part of her so they are also hers but Nancy always was so unreachable, so far away so untouchable, except she wasn't

Except she was there inviting Robin to sleepovers and over milkshakes and stupid diners and going over college application with her and talking about Steve and Jonathan and Eddie with fondness because these are their boys and somehow Nancy has become an integral part of Robin's life

And so a lot of the first part of the fic is Robin trying to hold onto all those things before she moves to college

And then Vicky breaks up with Robin in the middle of july, and it's a nice weather, Robin wishes it was raining and the thing is that even when breaking up with her Vicky is just so sweetly nice, so perfect and Robin wishes she could hate her, that she could be mad, but she only feels sad, so incredibly fucking sad, it feels like something that she saw coming, because she did, she knew it was going to end like this, but even when breaking up with her Vicky wasn't mean, was nice enough to tell Robin, to lie, she just doesn't want to do long distance

it's when Steve is comforting her abt the break up that Robin ask him to come with her, she already had her heart ripped out once today, it's a little bit self-destructing, it's maybe her punishing herself for her codependency that in her eyes cost her her relationship, but he says yes, is ecstatic, because wherever she goes he won't hesitate to follow, they are a package deal after all, somehow they also rope Eddie into it and it makes sense, it makes sense to leave with both Steve and Eddie that have become such vital parts of her, steve is an extension of her outside of her body, but Eddie is someone who understands and fits between the spaces that she and Steve leave behind seamlessly, it would make sense to leave and take them with her

quiet interlude to explain the steddie side plot because it's now kind of necessary

so i have this in mind that like steve knows he's bi before the whole vecna, he figured it out with robin after starcourt

and robin already feels like having one other queer person in hawkings is extraordinary but then vecna happens and eddie joins the crew, eddie with his bandana, eddie with his big boy and chains and jokes and attitude and robin and steve argue back and forth if he is queer or not, while also steadily forming a friendship with him and it's just robin wants him to be so bad, because a part of her feels like eddie understands the queer parts of her that steve bless him never could, bc steve somehow could hide behind the heteronormality but robin and eddie never had a choice, they were always too weird, too different for that, but robin is afraid, it's steve, brave steve that ends up coming out to eddie first in a comment that he plays of as nonchalant but robin sees right through him, he's afraid and yet, and yet he barrels through, holds himself under eddie's gaze and is brave because that what steve is, brave

and so they're my three queer best friends and i love them

Also this is once again me pushing Steve is a brave, beautiful boi agenda

and robin sees how eddie looks at steve and steve at eddie and she thinks that maybe steve just is oblivious (i mean after they all came out to each other, thanks to steve) but then she talks to steve about it

and the thing is that steve knows that eddie wants him, that he's attracted to him, but steve actually fucking likes eddie, might actually fucking love him

and after the whole being bullshit and all the girls that went out with him because they wanted king steve and not steve he doesn't know, doesn't trust himself to know if eddie likes him the same way

He doesn't trust himself to not be bullshit again

and eddie is a bit of coward, like let's face it, that boy is ready to pine his whole life for steve harrington if it gets him to just exist in his space

and so steve just doesn't let himself have this

because he would rather to have him as a friend than an ex-hookup and he couldn't have handled it if that's all what eddie wanted to be, so they're like tragically pinning, they're my idiots you honor

So then the summer is ending and so they organize a party to celebrate the last days they have together, the whole party and when there is only a spicy six left Robin, my baby comes out as a lesbian!! And she's so afraid of Nancy's reaction, but Nancy, beautiful, kind, stubborn Nancy just takes her hand and says with a smile that she's glad that she told them and her smile is beautiful, happy and Robin feels like a weight is lifted off of her because now, now she doesn't feel like she might lose her friendship with Nancy too, because she was so afraid that once Nancy will know, it will be the end of them, it's why she waiting until both of them are going away, until the pain of missing her won't be as visible because Nancy isn't supposed to be there with her anyway

So after that

Nancy ofc goes to NY

Robin, Steve and Eddie somehow land in Chicago and my boy Eddie is a mechanic for sure bc i love the idea, Robin ofc will be studying and I haven't decided what Steve will be doing

And Jonathan and Argyle will stay in Hawkins, taking their gap year

Robin thinks it's partly why Steve wasn't as afraid to come with her, knowing Jon will be there keeping an eye on Hawkins, on the kids, because it's not that Steve doesn't trust Joyce and Hopper but he doesn't trust them to call them when things go bad, and kids are always too preoccupied to call when things go wrong and he trust, trusts Jon to call when things go code red in Hawkins, also i think Jon deserves a gap year, let that boy relax please

And so Nancy calls, all of them do actually, the kids and Jonathan with Argyle, I kind of like to think that like sometimes all three Robin and Steve and Eddie are gathered around the phone talking with whoever calls, like Steve is painting Robin's nails while listening to Eddie and Jon arguing about some music thing on the phone while Robin keeps adding her opinion only to stir shit up even more and sometimes it's Eddie and Steve parenting Dustin while Robin just lays next to them doing her school assignments

But Nancy calls when she also knows Robin is just there alone, Nancy calls and asks her about Chicago and college and it's good, it's good talking with her

Also I have this scene in my head where Nancy and Robin talk about Barb, it's late and Robin is alone in the apartment, Eddie and Steve gone somewhere together and Nancy is talking about how sometimes she finds it hard, knowing that Barb probably wouldn't have recognized her now, that she changed, grew up and she isn't the same person that Barb was friends with anymore (my personal headcanon is that Nancy didn't even want to be a journalist before Barb's death, but after seeing how they covered it up, how the press twisted and manipulated the truth she wanted to be the one good one, for Barb, a sense of justice paid to her through others, it's why she wanted the facts for Eddie so hard)

And Robin asks her how she deals with it and Nancy says that she just has to, it won't go anywhere, she won't stop aging, "besides" she says "eddie recently told me something and, don't tell him that, but it was actually pretty smart"

"Impressive for him" Nancy giggles and it's good to know her giggles make her feel the same feeling of accomplishment even through the phone

"Anyway, he told me that we survived so we could change. That we are the lucky ones that get to change, dead people don't change. So it's good, to sometimes, become something new"

And it sticks with Robin and she somehow that leads her to asking Steve to cut her hair even shorter because hair holds memory and she wants to have space for new ones, the good ones, she wants to see them grow (one of this days I will think of a sapphic idea that doesn't involve hair, i swear, but today is not the day) also both Robin and Steve dye a strand of their hair pink, for platonic soulmate unity reasons

so anyway chicago is good, good for her and Steve and Eddie and they're thriving and they're finding queer bars and are growing up, becoming adults together and like Robin manages to hook up with a girl and meet more queer people, grow into herself and there a set backs and bad days, like once a girl started roleplaying a cop as a part of foreplay and asked "where do you work" in a voice that reminded Robin too much of the russians and the torture, she cried for an hour and a half on the girl's floor, before she managed to exhaust herself and only then she managed to give out their number so the girl could call Steve to pick her up, she cried in Stevie's arms the whole night after that because she just felt broken like yes she could move, she could grow up, she could experience new things but the trauma will always be a part of her

and so then! we have like two important seeing nancy moments

one where everybody comes back to hawkings for smh idk if will be holidays or smh or smh different, but even if nancy and robin called on a regular it's the first time she's seeing her since they went away for college and during that time robin finally catches up to nancy and realizes she's in love with her

But she thinks it's hopeless because Nancy hasn't yet came out to Robin (in my mind Eddie helped her in figuring it out during summer, she came out to Jon in the meantime after moving but before this coming home and during the stay in Hawkins she will come out to Steve but it will be unnecessary bc honestly Steve suspected that Nancy liked Robin since fucking the first words of the fic) and so Robin pulls away

Also during this visit is when she asks Wayne how he dealt with dating people after going to war, did he ever manage to separate his trauma and his dating life and he tells her that there are people who will understand and love her with her trauma not despite of her (with like a heavy look towards Nancy bc Uncle Wayne knows what the fuck is up)

Oh also per Chicago being good for the boys, it's where Steve finally allows himself to be loved, it's where they come home to each other, it's where they stay with each other, it's where they slow dance together in the kitchen, it's where Steve realizes that Eddie is here to stay, when Steve tells Robin he kissed Eddie over dinner, they both cry, simply because they are happy, Robin is so glad that Steve finally, finally is happy and healthy and is letting himself be loved how he deserves

and then we have a second time where the whole spicy six gather in New york to celebrate with nancy i'm thinking maybe new year??

and then nancy comes out as a lesbian and like than robin realizes what nancy was doing all this time, she realizes that they are steve and eddie (because eddie has waited, all this time until steve was ready, was right beside him when steve blossomed into someone who could trust that eddie wants him back, eddie waited and nancy... nancy waited too) and it's like the both of them go to bed together ofc and robin has this like feeling of, they had time, they finally have time, and they could take it in whatever pace they want, this like finality of feeling that they are finally on the same page and the rest is like fluff

Also something something Nancy belonging to NY and being even more beautiful somewhere where she is healthy and happy and thriving, something something about rosy cheeks and long coats and frosty kisses

So i guess i just want Robin to like grow into herself and who she is in relationships and have experience and grow comfortable in herself before she let herself love Nancy, i want them to be friends first and also i want the slow burn of it all

#i'm putting this here bc i kind of want attention but also i have so many unwritten fic ideas that i never shared here only with my friends #that its just #and like i said ill probably never write this one bc recently i have been distracted with a nancy-centric ronance fic idea in my head but #i still love this one a lot also i have still so many ideas abt it that i havent written out like the whole steddie side plot lives rent #free in my mind #btw if you follow me for a while you've probably seen me talking abt screaming fic ideas into my friends dms and if you ever wondered how #it looks like this is literally plugged from one of my dms with my friend sbsjsn so now you know #dom's au idea of the day #ronance #platonic stobin #steddie #fruity four #stranger things #robin buckley #nancy wheeler #steve harrington #eddie munson #fic idea

[angel-wings-and-tattoos]

i am, in fact, in a steddie mood today. however, if you look at my account for more than 2 seconds then you're aware that i'm incapable of writing anything without stonathan in some way, shape, or form so today! we will be looking at platonicbff!stonathan. i love stonathan with my entire heart and its to the point where i like literally any dynamic you can put them in. like i think i'm into platonic!stonathan equally as much as platonic!stobin. which is saying something bc i am actively head over heels in love with robin.

what i want to look at today is protective jonathan when it comes to steve. in a perfect world (correction-in a somewhat plausible perfect world bc, let's be honest, in my perfect world we actively get footage of jonathan and steve fucking but that's neither here nor there) season 5 develops steve & jonathan's relationship, him and nancy break up amicably, and steve and jonathan become best friends.

but back to the steddie i promised earlier.

----

eddie doesn't know how it happened. one day he's accused of murder, alone, and stuck in a boathouse and less than a month later here he is. staring at steve fucking harrington sleeping less than five feet away from him.

the very same steve harrington that apparently is the sole reason he's even awake in the first place. when the trio had stumbled onto dustin and eddie, steve had gone into full action hero mode. using his lifeguard cpr training he had managed to get eddie breathing long enough to haul his ass back top side, breaking one of eddie's ribs in the process.

eddie doesn't remember any of it.

that isn't for lack of trying on his part. eddie is approximately two seconds away from breaking into the hospital's security footage because, if robin's story is true, he wants to keep the video for the rest of his life.

according to her, it was awesome, munson, you should have seen it! he had you in a bridal carry like a godamn rag doll. he burst in the front entrance and started yelling at them like i've never seen him yell before, ever! even that one time dustin fucked up the paint on his car. the nurses recognized you and for sure didn't want to help but apparently there's only so much you can do in the face of steve harrington throwing the mother of all shitfits. the second he started threatening to call his dad they all kicked into gear. it would have been funny if i didn't actively think you were dead at the time. sorry! but you really were super still and you weren't groping steve, like at all, so i assumed that we'd lost you forever.

(eddie pretends to be offended by that last bit, but he also concedes that if steve picked him up right now he can't promise he would keep his hands to himself)

after eddie was taken away on a stretcher, steve had nodded, mostly to himself, and promptly passed out. onto the cold, hard, tiled floor of the hospital entryway. they hauled him on a stretcher as well and he was put up in a room somewhere down the hallway.

that lasted for about four hours.

or, more accurately, that lasted until steve woke up again. after throwing what robin called less a shitfit, more a temper tantrum this time, he managed, even in a pain-induced haze, to convince the hospital staff to put him in eddie's room.

that fiasco was 3 days ago.

currently, steve wasn't unconscious anymore but his injuries were pretty badly infected. turns out nancy's shredded t-shirt wasn't exactly the most sterile thing on the planet. they had him on a steady stream of antibiotics and pain meds. eddie himself hadn't been awake for more than 15 minutes or so at a time (each of those times, robin had excitedly looked up from her vigil at steve's side and recounted new things she decided he had to know at that exact second).

until now.

as eddie blinks awake, he is aware of three things.

he's never been this thirsty in his entire life. it feels like he decided to dive mouth first into a container of sand.

if he didn't know any better, he would say that jim hopper is standing by a chair near steve's bed. but he does know better, jim hopper is dead. so. great. now he can add hallucinations to potential side effects of evil upside down bat bites.

directly next to the mirage of a police chief, sits jonathan byers.

that last thing wouldn't be as weird if said byers wasn't holding one of steve's hands and sitting far closer to the bed than the nonentity behind him.

(eddie isn't sure why the hand holding is more distracting at the moment than the fact that robin is actively laying in steve's bed with him, burrowing herself into his side like she's attempting to meld them into one person.)

he blearily watches as jonathan softly tucks a stray piece of steve's hair behind his ear on the side of his head that's not currently resting on the top of robin's.

eddie decides that he is on far too much pain medication to be thinking this hard.

groaning, he attempts to sit up enough to reach the water pitcher next to his bed.

"whoa, munson. take it easy," the ghost of legal trouble's past shuffles over to help eddie by pouring some water into a small paper cup. eddie watches him, wearily taking the cup from him. the water was cold to the point that it almost hurt, but it still beat the hell out of having a dry throat.

"ar'n't you 'posed t'be dead?" eddie slurs. his tongue feels like it weighs about ten pounds. the (poltergeist? revenant? wraith? eddie's mushy brain can't think of a better word for a dead person that can pour him water) figure before him scoffs.

"nice to see that you're still charming as ever. it's a long story, kid, i'm sure someone else will fill you in later. besides i'm guessing you have maybe 5 minutes of peace before one of those kids finds out you're awake and, inevitably, starts screaming about it loud enough to break glass," hopper sighs, hands coming to his hips in a remarkably similar echo of steve. eddie has absolutely zero thoughts about that, thank you. the chief moves towards the door, placing a hand on the handle.

"however, buckley hasn't left harrington's side for the last 4 days. if anyone scares her awake now, i don't think she'll ever go back to sleep. i'll hold them off for the night, but the second the sun comes up, you're on your own."

hopper looks from eddie to jonathan, who nods in acknowledgement without looking away from steve for more than a second or two. eddie watches as he closes the door behind him and disappears from view, leaving jonathan and eddie sitting in silence.

eddie coughs.

fidgets.

looks at byers.

coughs again.

okay, let it be said that eddie isn't great with awkward silence. but, in his defense, what the fuck is he supposed to say to jonathan byers? he didn't even know that him and steve were friends, much less holding-hands-in-a-hospital-bed-friends.

"so," eddie starts, regretting opening his mouth the second jonathan looks at him.

"so," jonathan repeats quietly, looking like he's holding back a smile as he does, "you're eddie munson."

eddie doesn't like the way jonathan is saying his name. it has an odd tilt to it, like he's mimicking what someone else has said to him. eddie admits that it's not the worst way his name has ever been said, but it makes him swallow uncomfortably.

"gu'lty 's charged, man." eddie's voice comes out considerably clearer than before, shifting from sounding completely shitfaced to minorly tipsy.

there is an extremely awkward moment where eddie has no idea where this conversation is going. jonathan is back to staring at steve, still practically cradling one of his hands between the two of his.

"he talks about you a lot, you know," eddie doesn't know, but he also doesn't interrupt, "it's always 'eddie said this', 'this is eddie's favorite song', 'eddie rented that movie'. he talks about you almost as much as he talks about robin."

jonathan takes a breath, drumming his fingers on the back of steve's hand. his gaze stays on steve as he talks, still quiet enough to not wake up either of the teenagers sleeping next to him.

"he's a good guy, you know. underneath the whole asshole jock façade. i don't know if you remember, but he almost killed himself trying to save you. i'm not sure how he was even able to stand when you guys came in, much less march in here like he did carrying you in his arms."

still idly toying with steve's hand, jonathan's gaze moves back to eddie. his fond expression dims into more serious territory as he visibly contemplates the second part of his impromptu speech.

"i'm not the greatest at talking about my own feelings, i'm more than aware of that, but i won't hesitate in saying that steve is important to me. no idea how, why, or when it happened, but he just is. somewhere along the line he decided that your opinion is important to him and i need you to understand the weight of that. steve has been independent his entire life, sometimes to the point where it's detrimental to his own health. i don't know if he realizes it completely, but he's basically imprinted on you like a baby duck."

eddie swallows nervously as jonathan maintains steady eye contact. the two men are quiet for a moment before jonathan seems to mentally switch tracks, "you seem like a good guy. steve obviously adores you and it sounds like the kids do as well. from what i've heard, you almost died to save dustin's life. i appreciate all of it, i really do. that being said, if you do anything to hurt steve then none of that matters anymore. i think i'm speaking on robin's behalf as well when i say that we really do like you as a person, but steve's wellbeing comes first."

as stated earlier, eddie is on far too much pain medication to be thinking this hard. if his head wasn't so foggy, eddie would think he's getting a shovel talk.

by jonathan byers.

about steve harrington.

who apparently "obviously adores him".

yeah, it's definitely the pain killers.

eddie clears his throat again as he heavily sinks back against his pillows. "i'm not entirely convinced that 'm not hallucinating this entire conversation, byers. but yeah, i understand. kinda owe him my life now, i guess, so it'd be pretty shitty of me to hurt the guy's feelings or whatever ya think i'mma do," his speech was improving the more he talked, but it was getting harder to keep his eyes open.

jonathan seems content with that statement for the time being, if his attention switching back to steve and off eddie is any indication.

eddie falls back asleep shortly thereafter, leaving jonathan as the only person awake in the small hospital room.

________

i think i'm going to add more from jonathan's pov but for now just be aware that jonathan and steve both know that steve is practically in love with eddie. jonathan is very protective of the people he loves and steve is in that circle. as far as this little snippet goes, i don't think stonathan was ever a romantic thing, and there was never any hard pining involved but they do care about each other deeply. i like to think they kept in contact when the byers moved to california. it started with jonathan and nancy getting into a fight and the only other adult person he could call to check on things was steve. he wasn't sure if steve would even respond, but he ended up not only answering all of jon's questions but seemed to genuinely want to know how the rest of the byers' clan was doing.

this turned into weekly phone calls, which turned to twice a week, which eventually turned to calls at all times of day all week. they're basically besties who gossip and talk shit on the phone all the time. when the byers get back to hawkins it shocks everyone but robin when jonathan parks his ass next to steve's bed and refuses to move.

i just love stonathan ok!!!! i will die on this hill. steve deserves people who love him and care about him!!

Edit: now on ao3!! <3

#jonathan byers #steve harrington #stonathan #platonic stonathan #steve harrington & jonathan byers #stranger things #stranger things 5 #eddie munson #steve harrington/eddie munson #kinda #steddie #pre-relationship #robin buckley #jim hopper #hospital #stranger things au #platonic stobin #ali's ficlets

[wingedquill]

Okay I was able to briefly get on AO3 and download all of my Stranger Things fics. In case it goes down again and y'all would like some reading material, here's a drive folder with all of them!

Fics contained therein:

Count to thirty. Breathe twice. Repeat -- Steddie. Eddie saves Steve's life after Billy tries to kill him post season 2. WIP, 14 chapters, 40K words

I was born when they took my name -- Steddie. my take on the "Steve is from Hawkins lab" plot, set in season 4. WIP, 16 chapters, 45K words

writing a book on how to stay conscious (when you drown) -- Steddie. You know that brand of immortality-specific angst where they are put into a horrific situation where they can't die and left there? I.e. Quynh from the Old Guard? That happens to Eddie. WIP, 7 chapters, 21K words

and we sure as hell have nothing now -- Platonic Stobin hurt/comfort, Steve's house collapses in the earthquake. Complete, one-shot, 3.6K words

#stranger things #steddie #stranger things fic #my fic #ao3 backup

[smithsibsceo]

hi, Ive had. rough few days and have been scrolling through your blog for all of the incredible stobin content and it’s given me so much serotonin during a chronic pain flare so I appreciate it <3333 and also wanted to ask if you had any fave platonic soulmates stobin fic because it is so hard to wade through the steddie for the stobin on ao3 and on here! (said as a steddie lover but like Please i need more robin and steve becoming friends stobin being unhinged girlbestfriends etc etc u know

OH MY GOD YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HAPPY THIS ASK MADE ME!!!!!!!!!!! I FEEL SO HONOURED!!! i hope your pain calms down soon dude <333

and oooooooo fic recs!!! well first of all i ABSOLUTELY recommend to go and follow my incredible lovely mutual @blueskiesandstarrynights - they're as obsessed with stobin as me and you, and have amazing fics and drabbles on their blog and ao3!!!

as for actual fics, i have a few!!! obviously, the stobin glasses fic (aka 'yours is the first face i saw' by the INCREDIBLE placebythering on ao3), but i'm guessing if you're a stobin fan you might've already read it??? if not, PLEASE GO DO IT NOW. it's SOOOO incredibly angsty, but bursting to the brim with talent.

speaking of placebythering - i recommend ALL of their fics. they write stobin so beautifully - i especially like 'if the clouds are gathering, its just to point the way' - the plot twist is INSANE.

'take me with you' by ghosttotheparty is so so incredible. it deals with the trauma from starcourt, and is set directly after the s3 finale.

'and we sure as hell have nothing now' by wingedquill is so, so beautful and an amazing hurt/comfort fic. it's just - wow.

'love will tear us apart' by sapphirerays is a WONDERFUL robin-gets-vecnad-fic. it's so yummy and good and ARGHHHHGGH

theres SO many more fics i could add here that i can't find or don't know the name of, and these r just some of my faves!!!!

have an AMAZING day <33333 may it be filled with the love you deserve

#miz talks #stobin #fic recs

[moonchildreads]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love❤

aaaaaaa this one's hard!!! i've only written small town so far (which you can read here lol thank you for giving me the chance to shamelessly promote my work losty 🤎) so what i'm gonna do is share my fave five chapters instead!

chapter 3 - tonight she comes - this is when we meet our girlie dot, and it was my first time writing the hellfire club all together in the same room. here's where we start to explore their dynamic as a group and it's full of foreshadowing for things that haven't happened yet 👀

chapter 10 - that's what friends are for - this chapter has everything i love: the hellfire club spending time together, the gentle will they/won't they between eddie and dot, deep conversations with chrissy, dnd, and a lot of bickering. i consider this one to be one my best chapters and it was the longest i'd written at the time! 💕

chapter 13 - you give good love - another entry into one of the chapters i'm most proud of and, again, it includes a lot of the things i love about small town: wayne being a menace, chrissy being eddie's biggest supporter, dot and eddie realising that it isn't them individually vs the world. this was their first big fight, and i had been working on this fic for around a year by the time i posted this specific chapter so it'll always be special to me. got 3/3 laughs with the sponge bit amongst my friends so that's a win to me! 🧽

chapter 15 - don't you want me - the whole sleepover at gareth's will forever be one of the bits i've enjoyed writing the most about this fic. i adore that little gremlin and so much of him (and the rest of hellfire, really) is based on friends i've had throughout the years. there is something so very pure about a platonic friendship (stobin, am i right?) and if chrissy is eddie's steve, i wanted to give dot her very own robin in gareth. this was me officially confirming that both eddie and dot are bi/queer and bonding over rocky horror, which felt important to me as a queer girlie. it's my fic and i can do what i want, lol 💗💜💙

chapter 20 - self control - the moment everyone was waiting for!!! the love confession!!! it was messy, and so uniquely them, you can't take it and give it to anyone else because it's so dot and eddie that there's just no other way around it: if it had to happen, it was going to be like this. other things i loved about this chapter were allowing nancy to dip her toes into dealing with her grief over barb (more on that later lol), the hellfire class of '86 being there for one another, and finally getting to kick andy's bitch ass down!!!! 😈

honourable mention goes to chapter 14 - missing you, which is the mother's day chapter and deals with eddie and dot's mothers who passed away when they were children. i wrote this one while actively mourning someone i'm still thinking about every day and while i will probably be dealing with this for a long time, this chapter helped me purge a lot of my inner demons and helped heal more than i thought it would. it's my love letter to my person who isn't here anymore, and i know that she'd be proud of it because one of the last conversations i got to have with her was about me writing small town, and she was so happy and interested about it.

i'm in the process of writing chapter 23 right now and hopefully i'll get it out this week if i can stop crying at work for more than five minutes lmao. again thank you losty for giving me the opportunity to talk about small town, i love this fic, and i love writing it and talking about it. 🥰

#bunny answers #small town fic #losty's tag 🐟 #eddie munson x female character #eddie munson x ofc #eddie munson x oc #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson angst #eddie munson fanfic #joseph quinn #hellfire club #stranger things 4

[tangerinesteve]

I'm gonna admit this right now. "Song fics" were amazing. Pretty much every single one of my fics has somehow been inspired by a song or music in some way. And the way people used to mix lyrics into their fics as like, little fic breaks. That shit was my jam. I loved it. Ate it up. Still do. You pop a song mention in your fic and im like a little gremlin scurrying away to listen to it and add it to my playlist probably.

Anyway, all this to say. Im about to write a cute as fuck steddie fic, with heavy goofball platonic soulmate stobin, because I'm in love with a 60s song that i can't get outta my head for them so it's going in a fic. Not even hiding it this time. It's gonna be blatant, and silly, and sweet, and fun! IM EXCITED Y'ALL!!!

#im gonna do it!!!! #as soon as i charge my phone!!!! #mine #steddie