#Jonathan: Nance I love you but that's not a real word. Nancy: Yes it is *pulls out the dictionary*

[musicalchaos07]

@jancyweek2022​ Day 6: Woven/Sweaters or Domestic Bliss

I find myself running home to your Sweet nothings

#jancy #jancyweek2022 #they deserve a soft epilogue #Also we all heard this song and were like hmm that's Jancy core right? #like you're in the kitchen humming that's Jonathan Byers #I also adore the idea of them playing drunk scrabble like #Jonathan: Nance I love you but that's not a real word. Nancy: Yes it is *pulls out the dictionary* #It's not a real word but she distracts him so she doesn't lose #Also she's def making fun of him for taking too many photos in that picture #nancy x jonathan #jonathan byers #nancy wheeler

[tfyoulookingatgiuxs]

Drunk with my friends

Nancy Wheeler x Reader

𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘: That evening, you and your friends had organized a girls' outing. The party was getting better and better and alcohol was playing a bad joke on you.

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: +18!! SMUT!! MDNI!!! Blurb, alcohol, toxic religion, fem!reader, use of Y/N, your surname is Williams, lesbian sex, fingerings, voyeurism, cheating, cunnilings, spanking, slight mommy kink, dirty talking, pet names (good girl, baby girl etc...), praise kink, begging, bad language, mention of drugs.

𝐀/𝐍: I love Nancy. Sorry for my english, this is not my native language. Please support and reblog! Hope you enjoy this one! (DIVIDER NOT MINE)

"Come on Nance! We're going to have fun!" You urged Nancy who still seemed unconvinced.

You, Robin and Chrissy planned to go on a girls' outing and of course, Nancy was the mom of the group. Meaning she's always hesitant about partying and staying up late at night.

"That's right, nothing will happen" Robin chimed in "I don't know girls, are you sure? What if we drink too much?" Nancy said worriedly. You rolled your eyes as Chrissy watched the scene in silence a little lost in Robin "We'll be at my house. No danger, no boyfriends, no drugs, just alcohol and even if we drink too much nothing too bad will happen" You said walking closer to her placing your hand on her shoulder, she smiled at you "Alright..." She said making a big smile from you and Robin.

In your house. The evening was truly crazy. You having fun to the music while laughter filled the living room.

In the last period, you felt stressed and it had been a short time since the last time you had a night out just for you girls. But let's not talk about boyfriends! You were dating a boy you met thanks to a friend of your mother. He seemed very kind and helpful towards you, your mother wanted at all costs for you to find a meeting point with him. He was also strongly religious, as your father liked, so both of your parents took the opportunity to introduce you to him and find a way for you to get together. Real shit. Yes. As forced as it was, you liked him at first and so when he reciprocated you got together, but lately things were getting worse and worse.

He only thought about reading and barely said hello to you. He also specifically told you that acts such as sexual pleasure were not to his liking, so he would not have sex with you until you both make the decision to have a child in the future. You couldn't blame him if he had been raised badly by his mother. He barely knows what it means having fun. You would have left him, for sure, even if you were afraid of disappointing your parents.

Nancy was engaged to Jonathan. For now she didn't have many problems about it but the only thing that was wrong was the distance which made her insecure.

Chrissy was engaged to Jason, the most popular boy at Hawkins High. Lately the two have done nothing but argue, and the little cheerleader would like to have some time to have fun and be carefree.

Robin on the other hand...has no one. She's a lesbian in love but not engaged, so she's the quietest one of all.

It was ten in the evening and you could still hear your screams as you were putting a large quantity of alcohol in your stomach.

From speaking you began to play spin the bottle, in a certain sense... it was spin the bottle but with the words 'truth' or 'dare'.

“Come on Y/N, it's your turn” Robin told you and you flipped the empty Coke bottle onto the board. The tip of the bottle ended up on the yellow segment where 'dare' was written.

“Now you have to dare someone to do something,” Robin explained. You looked at the three girls to decide and set your sights on Nancy, who was also dead drunk by now.

“I dare Nancy to show me her tits” You said shamelessly. Ever since you started your evening you can't take your eyes off her breasts. You didn't know if it was the effect of the alcohol or what, but damn did you want to see them. Robin and Chrissy were speechless but they seemed to enjoy this ambiguous dare.

Nancy, throughout all this she looked at you with wild eyes "You're a pervert Williams, you couldn't wait to look at a pair of tits" She told you and you followed the divine movement of her lips while the two spectators remained watching without saying anything, curious how it would end. "Exactly, I'm curious to see yours" came a surprised noise from the lips of Robin and the cheerleader.

Alcohol was playing tricks on you, but this was not a joke...

You don't remember how, or rather, you two don't remember how. But you both ended up licking each other's tits, while Robin and Chrissy watched and cheered you on.

Nancy let out a few moans as you sucked on her hardened nipple.

The atmosphere had heated up and Nancy was the center of your attention. She was beautiful and her curious look as she looked at you was even better. Robin couldn't believe her eyes. In an instant two of her straight friends had become lesbians or any other sexuality in a matter of minutes. Was it the alcohol? Very likely in Robin's view. But not from yours. Sure, you were drunk, but you never denied yourself the attraction you had for Nancy. She was a beautiful woman, but not only in the aesthetic sense, but in everything. She was tough and she could stand up to you, she was responsible and when she ordered someone to do something...God you couldn't help but fantasize.

What were once fantasies were becoming reality and you couldn't miss this opportunity. You lifted your face and pressed your lips against hers kissing her. Robin and Chrissy, looking at you, started to warm up too, and after various comments, they too let themselves go. All four of you were a couple kissing sitting on the living room floor. Nancy reciprocated by adding tongue and you couldn't help but moan, wrapping your arms around her neck.

Fuck you. Fuck everything. Boyfriends, parents, friends and problems. Fuck you. All of you were now free as lust crawled between your legs. You in particular wanted to make bad decisions and bring down every perfect thing you had half-heartedly created.

Now you would have shouted the worst swear words at your shitty life. Fuck religion or any other shit, pussy was your religion now.

Sure enough, Nancy made you lie down on the floor and broke away from the kiss "Nance..." You said panting. She didn't say anything, just watched as you tried to catch your breath. You gave her a pathetic, submissive look, and Nancy couldn't help but giggle in your face "Poor thing..." her hand slid down your dress until it reached your skirt. Her left hand held your thigh tight making you keep your legs open, while with the thumb of her right hand she touched the wet part of your panties making you moan softly “I knew it Y/N, you are a dirty pervert, what should I do about you?" She said grinning as she pulled off your underwear.

You didn't answer and Nancy slapped your ass and you groaned "I said what should I do with you?" She repeated "Anything you want..." you blushed "Good girl..." she told you and then touched your wet folds with two fingers.

You also took a look at the other two. Both were definitely without clothes and Chrissy was making circular motions on her clit while Robin placed a few kisses on her neck, praising her and urging her to continue. You let out a moan as you felt Nancy's fingers enter your pussy. She didn't even give you a second, she started moving her fingers in and out making you moan pleasantly.

To think that in a few weeks you would have to go for confirmation. You will not be able to pray well if you have a guilty conscience and know that you have sinned so much. But you didn't care.

You had always been a devil with a halo.

Being still one would have changed little in your life.

You couldn't help the pornographic sound your pussy made as Nancy's fingers went in and out faster and faster. The living room had become a mass of moans from all four. Chrissy was about to come again, for the second time, while you were ready to reach your orgasm.

It was a beautiful feeling, and you rolled your eyes to the back of your head as her fingers were hitting that sweet spot inside you "Ohh- mommy, please..." You begged, not realizing what you called her. Nancy, the nickname didn't bother her and she didn't say anything about it "Shut up and cum" she just told you, and you didn't have to be told twice. You came screaming her name, wetting her fingers while tears ran down your face.

“Very good sweetie...” she praised you and saw your luxurious look. She pulled her fingers out of your pussy and tasted your juices “Mmhh…” she looked you straight in the eyes and sent shivers down your spine, making you close your legs.

"Ah-ah-ah, no no Y/N. Open these legs" she grabbed your thigh and you obediently did so "Good" was the last thing you heard and you looked again at the other two girls. Both were on the sofa, now tired and asleep. Of the two, Chrissy was the truly exhausted one.

You arched your back as you felt Nancy lick your clit. She continued sucking and licking until you came. Her whole face was now full of your cum, but Nancy didn't seem to mind, in fact, this allowed her to continue more wildly, torturing your poor clit "Ugh- mommy..." You repeated that nickname as your moans they increased more and more "It's too much, please...-" You begged but Nancy didn't want to listen to you, she slipped her tongue inside your hole making you tremble more than usual. You were about to come once again. Tears continued to fall down your face as you felt your third orgasm approaching “NancyNancyNancyNancy-” You repeated her name until she pulled away making you come “Fuck...” she said, wiping her lips of your cum.

You gasped and your vision went blurry.

The next day you woke up in the living room. It was early in the morning and the way you found yourself definitely shocked you. You and Nancy were half naked while Robin and Chrissy were completely naked on your couch. You immediately understood what had happened, and above all who you fucked last night. Nancy lay next to you, eyes closed as she was in dreamland. You got drunk with your friends. And that led to you fucking each other.

From that day on you decided to plan another girls night out.

#stranger things #spotify #nancy wheeler #nancy wheeler x reader #nancy wheeler x fem!reader #stranger things nancy #nancy x reader #ashnikko #pride #lgbtqia #lesbian

[florallylly]

my PERSONAL OPINION on ro//nance: 

so a disclaimer: feel free to ship whoever you want to ship. these are just my thoughts and my perspective on the explosion of ro//nance since season 4. it’s not my intention to condemn or tell anyone to stop producing their content, i just want to scream into the void before it festers. 

your wish fulfillment is valid, but so is my opinion. so if that’s not smth you want to see feel free to skip !! 

diving straight in… i wanna talk about nancy wheeler. 

to be clear: i don’t hate nancy. i think she is headstrong and determined and knows what she wants. she sticks to her guns and definitely has the potential to be a truly good person. that being said, she is extremely selfish in canon. 

from season 1, my interpretation of her is that she’s infatuated with the concept of steve harrington and the status that he could bring. he’s a fantasy that’s suddenly become attainable to the nerdy miss wheeler. of COURSE she’s going to relish his attention. 

note: i actually don’t think anyone else except barb, mike, and steve himself, ever called steve an asshole. so . do with that what you will. 

anyway, nancy and jonathan act like steve suspecting that nancy is cheating is SO unreasonable. which honestly? it’s not. catching your girlfriend alone in her bedroom with a guy who TOOK NONCONSENSUAL ILLICIT PHOTOS OF TWO UNDERAGE TEENAGERS… that’s suspicious. perhaps his reaction wasn’t the best, but he’s also like 17 years old and protecting himself the way he knows how to. and of course his friends aren’t going to take that laying down either. 

i don’t know if any of the supporters of ro//nance have ever been cheated on, but it’s not just heartbreaking… it’s HUMILIATING. and such a hit to the self esteem. and i don’t care what the circumstance is, unless it’s nonconsensual. cheating is cheating and i firmly believe that a cheater will always be a cheater. 

in this case, it’s also reasonable for nancy to be pissed when she sees the movie theater because she didn’t actually cheat at that time. both of them had bad reactions but they also both had good reasoning behind their actions. 

YES steve called jonathan a queer, but keep in mind it’s a common insult in the 80s, especially with the AIDS epidemic going on. don’t use modern standards to condemn him, but also don’t excuse his behavior. YES he was wrong, but he grew (obviously what with his friendship with robin). and do you really think he’s not going to go for the throat when he thinks that jonathan slept with his girlfriend? 

it’s a classic case of everyone’s the asshole but everyone’s not the asshole. 

moving onto season 2. BULLSHIT. nancy was projecting. like she felt so guilty about barb and associated that night with the first time she had sex with steve, so she associated steve with barb’s disappearance/death. she was processing her trauma which is totally fine, but also not an excuse to treat steve like that. to be fair, drunk words drunk words. 

what she forgot was that steve also experienced the same thing. maybe not the grief and loss that she felt, but it’s HIS house. he has to stare out at that pool every night and know that it’s a murder scene and a grave site. he may be processing his trauma by trying to forget and be a “normal kid.” and that’s fine. 

and to be SO clear: they didn’t technically break up. you could say that they did, or take that as your interpretation, but in my opinion they’re not broken up until they have a conversation explicitly discussing ending things. couples fight all of the time. it’s not uncommon to want a little space afterwards before apologizing/making up. 

so yes. nancy cheated. and she never thought about the consequences of her actions, especially regarding steve. imagine how he felt. in season 3, he admitted to being IN LOVE with her. and she called him bullshit and cheated on him. be so real, if this happened in real life, you wouldn’t be as kind as steve. he stayed friendly with BOTH nancy and jonathan, and continued to babysit their brothers. 

steve called himself a bad boyfriend, but did we ever see evidence of that? he was constantly wooing her and romancing her. like if she didn’t want that, she could have communicated that throughout the YEAR they were together. the only possible way that steve could be a bad boyfriend was regarding their difference in trauma response. which is not being Bad. it’s having different personalities and perspectives. so ??? just a gripe. 

SEASON 3…. so YEAH nancy is selfish. her and jonathan’s job at the hawkins post … like YES fight misogyny and feel infuriated because of your treatment. however, don’t strong-arm jonathan into supporting you when he NEEDS that job. unlike miss picket fence upper middle class nancy wheeler, the byers don’t have a lot of money. they’re living on a single income and jonathan works too. like he doesn’t have the ability to just drop the job. of course, he follows her in the end though. honestly, that only validates nancy’s perspective that she’s always right and her crusade for whatever is righteous. 

but she doesn’t care about collateral damage. she never took into account jonathan’s feelings. she never took into account the effect this could have on future jobs. employers DO check references sometimes fyi. (also i KNOW that it was due to a lot of misogyny, but irl new hires are often the company mule. like she could have tried to work her way up. she hasn’t even been working there that long, and she a high school student expects to be published within months?? just be a little realistic here) 

i honestly commend her because she’s bold and she’s brave. she makes a GREAT reporter. but she makes a bad friend and a bad girlfriend. from what i observe, she takes things for granted and gives too much credit to herself. these are just character flaws and that’s human to have flaws. it’s possible to be a good person and also do bad things. i actually like nancy a lot, but it has to be acknowledged that she rarely faces consequences for her actions, and has never been confronted with the fact that she constantly puts herself first with no regard for other people. 

just a quick note for season 4 bc this is getting SO long: when nancy told steve he “almost deserved” to get shot in the face. okay bitch. now i’m mad. bc? what did he do? and like. tbh WHO deserves to get shot in the face. i don’t care if it was supposed to be a flirty statement, it was SO out of pocket. 

it’s also clear that nancy takes credit for steve’s “transformation.” if i’m being honest, the only thing she really pushed him to do was to drop tommy and carol. STEVE made the decision to run back in to fight the demogorgon. STEVE made the decision to help dustin and fight the demo dogs. STEVE made the decision to stay behind to watch the kids while they stormed the lab. show me one instance where nancy influences his actions, and i’ll acknowledge it, but i just don’t see it. and i think she gives herself way too much credit. because she wasn’t there by his side working through it with him. she was dealing with her own problems (which is okay), but she can’t act like she completely transformed him and made him a heroic babysitter. think on that. 

into my thoughts on ro//nance: 

robin is steve’s best friend. she’s not JUST his best friend. he’s her platonic soulmate. when they were conceived, they were a being with four arms and four legs. but they were Too Cunt and Powerful so they had to be separated. they are literally two parts of one soul. 

now imagine: ur best friend admits he’s IN LOVE/HAS BEEN IN LOVE with his ex. and she broke his heart. that in itself already has me livid, but if i found out about the “bullshit” spiel, i would have to start throwing punches. 

i believe in season 4 that the reason why robin is so curious about nancy is because she wants to know what type of girl steve fell in love with. like what’s so appealing about nancy that she’s the only one he said he fell in love with? and i also believe she didn’t know about the cheating at this time because NO WAY would she have been nice to nancy if she knew. 

maybe you guys can forgive cheating, but i sure can’t. and especially when it happens to my best friend… it’s over. like sorry i treasure my best friend…. 

reiterating that nancy isn’t a bad person, but she just Doesn’t work with robin. putting aside robin’s opinions, nancy fucking hates her LMFAO. like she is So cold to robin out of? jealousy (a cheater is a cheater is a cheater). so it only really proves me right that nancy doesn’t actually care about the people she’s with. does she think that flirting with steve is okay after playing around with his heart before? has she ever taken into account the fact that steve may have been healing or emotionally unavailable? did she ever consider how steve felt after they broke up? 

robin did. and she’s ride or die. 

and a rebuttal to a post i’ve definitely seen before: yes, lesbians do tend to have a small dating pool which leads to a lot of friends dating exes. (i, a lesbian, have experience with this). HOWEVER, a cheater is different. because you have to acknowledge that a lot of lesbians stay friends with their exes. steve and nancy are AT BEST friendly in canon. if you would date someone who cheated on their friend, FULL OFFENSE, you’re not a good friend. that’s just a fact. 

you’re not only completely disregarding their experience, but you’re also forcing them to be in the same space as someone who betrayed them. and that’s more of a betrayal than the actual cheating imo. sorry but IN MY OPINION, i’d never want to be friends with anyone who ships ro//nance lol. it just shows me that you don’t care about your friends’ feelings like that. 

this is kind of a rant and totally nonsensical, but i have to yell about this bc i feel like it’s not even talked about. nancy is always characterized as a perfect girl, but she’s not. and that’s OKAY! but you can’t erase her history just to have two cute girls kiss. 

it’s also completely ignoring CANON love interests (vickie). which i get because she didn’t get a lot of screen time, but god can’t we find another alternative. 

and be honest: a lot of people ship ro//nance so that jonathan/argyle can get together too. or they act like it’s okay bc steddie get together and steve is happy now. 

THOUGH steve would approve of the relationship bc he’s a GOOD guy and KIND, i think that robin would have rejected it. she’d defend that man to the DEATH. 

so when you ship ro//nance, you’re erasing stobin. because robin would want someone who loves steve just as much as she does. someone who understands that he’s her soulmate and she can’t live without him. and nancy just isn’t that person. their history and nancy’s perception of steve just stand in the way of that kind of relationship. 

not to mention that steve and robin are One. like this is more conjecture but they are Literally the Same Person. and if steve wasn’t compatible with nancy, what makes you think that robin would be?  honestly, the whole concept of ro//nance just completely bamboozles me. i’m confused and i’m irritated. because it’s almost like none of you have actually had a REAL relationship. or YOU don’t care about other people’s feelings. nancy kin i guess. 

again again, my personal opinion. i choose not to consume ro//nance content, but somehow it keeps cropping up so i do have to put in my two cents. by all means, keep shipping and supporting them, but it would be nice if you read through this and thought about the characterization. 

#steve harrington #robin buckley #nancy wheeler #ro//nance #stobin #this isn't nancy wheeler hate #it's just my opinion and how i interpret her character #so take from that what you will #also would just LOVE for steve to have someone in his corner (WHICH ROBIN SHOULD BE CHARACTERIZED AS BEING THERE 24/7) #just like. just like think #get cheated on and then see how it feels #my fist is literally clenched bc some people will say anything to rationalize this #and that's your personal opinion but i'm also entitled to mine #kind of sick and tired of ro//nance though

[lonesome-witching]

Is This What It's Supposed to Feel Like?

Sorry for the wait. I really got caught up with this one and kept changing stuff. But a big thanks to @zoomcleric for the prompt. I hope you like it.

You can always send me prompts here. If you've sent one already I am working on it.

The Tom Cruise poster was teasing her. She couldn’t take staring at that smug smile any longer. She wanted to pull it off the wall and rip it to shreds. But she couldn’t. Not with her boyfriend sitting two feet away from her, a can of coke in his hands and a frown on his face. He looked nothing like Tom Cruise, especially not with his hair slightly too long and the heavy bags under his eyes. 

Tom Cruise wasn’t even the real issue. The real issue was that whenever she looked at that poster she could hear Robin’s teasing remark. You have a Tom Cruise poster. 

It was too easy to conjure up her voice and her smile and the way it felt when she grabbed Nancy's wrist in the Upside Down. It was even easier to conjure up the way her heart had skipped a beat when Robin fell down on one knee to help Nancy up. That image was spinning around in her mind at every given moment. 

Downstairs someone rang the doorbell. Someone else rushed to get it. Nancy could imagine her mother greeting a hesitantly smiling Steve or her brother pulling Lucas into the house. It was another D&D night. Jonathan had dropped his brother off before climbing the stairs to his girlfriend. At nights like these there were no excuses to not hang out. Yet every time it got harder to fake the excitement in her voice. 

“I’m just gonna say hi.” Robin’s voice seeped through the door. She must have been about halfway up the stairs already. 

Nancy held her breath. Willing Robin to walk away. Willing Robin to open that door and hold her. Willing Robin to make the first move like she had done every time. 

Someone shouted something Nancy couldn’t understand. 

“Oh, okay then.” Robin replied, her voice fading away as she continued speaking to Mike or Dustin or Steve or Lucas or El or Will or someone. Someone who should have been Nancy. Shouldn’t have. Should have. Fuck!

Her heart was beating fast. Too fast. She vaguely remembered her heart beating like this the first time she had kissed Jonathan. Although it hadn’t been quite like this. 

She shouldn’t compare what she had with Robin to what she had with Jonathan. It was completely different. Friendship and romance shouldn’t be compared. 

But then why couldn’t she remember who was supposed to be her friend and who was her lover? 

Why did she want to run down the stairs now that she knew Robin was within reach? 

Why hadn’t she said a word to Jonathan since he knocked on her bedroom door? 

Why did she want to tear that Tom Cruise poster off the wall? 

“Are you okay, Nance?” Jonathan asked from the other side of the room. 

“Huh?” Nancy turned toward him. She’d almost forgotten he was even there. For all she knew he could have left without saying a word. It wouldn’t have been the first time. “Yes, of course.” 

“Good.” 

Robin would know she was lying. Robin would nod before probing, before saying it would be okay if she wasn’t. Robin would reach out and touch her shoulder or if she was feeling bold she’d pull her into a hug. Robin would know what to do and she wouldn’t shuffle in the corner of her room, avoiding any real conversation. 

Nancy thought back to spring break. She couldn’t get Robin’s speech at Pennhurst out of her mind. Robin with Nancy’s clothes on, her hair styled exactly as Nancy used to style her own and the words just flowing out of her mouth. She wanted to drown in those words. Was that a normal thought to have about your friend?  

Was it normal that she wanted Robin to hold her through her nightmares? 

Was it normal that she couldn’t stay away from Robin while she had to force herself to spend time with the boy she was supposed to be in love with? 

Her heart skipped a beat as the thoughts in her mind formed the picture she had been refusing to see. Because it wasn’t normal. None of it was normal platonic behavior and deep down Nancy had always known this. Her breath quickened. 

“Nance?” Jonathan took a step forward but she held out her arm, begging him to stay away. 

“I can’t do this, Jonathan.” She sounded breathless and tired. 

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I can’t… I can’t do this.” She couldn’t look at the way his shoulders fell. 

“Is this-”

“Please just leave.” Nancy interrupted, raising her voice. She should have been worried about the crowd downstairs hearing her but she couldn’t be bothered. Not right now. Not when this life altering realization finally dawned on her. 

“Nancy.” Jonathan whined, standing frozen in the pink room. 

“Please, Jonathan. Leave.” She begged. She couldn’t breathe with him standing so close. Her hands grabbed at her throat, imagining the veins she watched crawl up Robin’s body. The fear that had gripped her heart at that moment numbing her senses. 

Jonathan finally stepped away, leaving her to wallow in her own emotions. She vaguely registered the front door banging shut. She flinched at the sound. Yet somehow the silence that followed was so much worse. 

“Are you okay, Nance?” 

She looked up at Robin’s gentle features. “Yeah, I’m fine.” 

Robin nodded, before stepping into the room. “You know it would totally be okay if you aren’t.” She sat down on the bed next to Nancy, putting an arm over her shoulders and pulling her into her side. “I’m not okay half of the time.” 

“I can’t talk about it.” Nancy crawled into Robin’s warmth. She closed her eyes, shutting the tears in. She couldn’t cry right now. 

“You don’t have to.” Robin’s fingers were stroking over Nancy’s arm and she instantly felt the chaos in her mind settling down. If she didn’t know any better she’d think that Robin possessed powers as well. Just like El and Henry. That her power was comforting people, making them feel at ease. Because whenever she was close to Robin she couldn’t help but feel at ease. 

“I don’t like the silence.” Nancy admitted. Maybe that was why she loved being near Robin. It was never silent. 

“Okay.” Robin smiled softly before jumping into a story about Steve and Family Video and Keith and Nancy tried to listen, she tried so hard, but her eyes caught Robin’s lips moving and she couldn’t focus on anything else. 

“Robin?” The name slipped out unwillingly. 

“Yeah?” Robin didn’t seem at all phased by the interruption. 

“Uhm.” Nancy looked away, it was dangerous to keep looking at Robin like that. “Thank you for being here.”  

“Anytime, Nance.” 

“You should be downstairs having fun.” 

“Your brother is being a tyrant with this new D&D world or something, I’m honestly glad I got out when I could. You are much better company.” Robin pulled her arm back and laid down. 

“He gets like that sometimes.” Nancy’s hand crawled towards Robin’s knees, her fingers pushing into a hole there. She heard Robin inhale sharply. 

“I guess so.” 

Her fingertips brushed against Robin’s skin. “Do you believe in soulmates?” Nancy wasn’t sure where the question came from or where she was going with this. All she knew was that her judgment was clouded the second she felt Robin’s soft skin. It should have been bruised, rough, cut but it wasn’t. It was perfectly smooth. 

“I don’t know, me and Steve joke about it sometimes.” 

“Oh.” Nancy pulled her hand back. Robin had said they were platonic. Platonic with a capital P. Had something changed in the limited time since that conversation? 

“I guess I kind of started it. We’re both idiots when it comes to asking people out. Although he is still marginally better than me.” 

“Have you been asking out a lot of guys, Robin?” Nancy was shocked at how easy it was to pretend the answer didn’t matter. As if her entire wellbeing didn’t depend on what would come out of Robin’s mouth next. 

A laugh. A laugh was good. Hopefully. “No, no. Definitely not. It’s already hard enough for Steve.” 

“What is that supposed to mean?” Nancy’s hands ached to return to their previous position. 

“Just that, you know, it isn’t really a girl’s place to ask out anyone. Especially guys, with their macho behavior. They want to do the asking out and all that.” Robin’s cheeks were a bright pink. She nearly matched Nancy’s wallpaper. 

“Especially guys? Who else would you be asking out?” 

“Oh, no one. Of course. Just guys. Like every girl. Especially here.” She was stammering and stumbling over her words.  

“I think I may have broken up with Jonathan.” 

“Oh.” Robin sat up again, ready to get back to comforting Nancy. 

“Robin, I- I don’t know how to explain myself.” 

“You don’t have to. After everything that has happened I don’t think you need to explain why you can’t be in a relationship right now. Frankly, I kind of saw this coming after our conversation in the library.” 

“Right, the flinch or wince or something.” Nancy smiled to herself. The memory alone enough to get her sidetracked. 

“Right.” Robin confirmed, sporting her own matching smile. 

“I’m kind of hoping I found someone better for me.” Nancy’s voice sounded as fragile as ever. 

“Steve is going to go crazy when he finds out. Or is it him? Are you into him again?” 

“No, it’s definitely not Steve.” 

“Okay good. Or not good. I don’t know what to say to that. Bad for Steve but I’m sure it’s good for you.” 

“Robin, do you think that…?” Nancy noted the curious look in Robin’s deep blue eyes. The slight quirk of Robin’s lips into an almost smile. The blush on her cheeks. 

Before she realized what she was doing, she was already leaning in, closing the distance between the two of them and softly pressing her lips against Robin’s. Her eyes were closed, blocking the beautiful sight in front of her. If she had kept her eyes open she wouldn’t have doubted herself when Robin’s lips didn’t mirror her own movements. 

Nancy started to pull away, the blush on her cheeks represented her own embarrassment. How could she have been so wrong? What if Robin no longer wanted to be her friend? She had just ruined everything and for what? 

“I’m sorry.” Robin muttered softly. “I haven’t really kissed anyone before.” 

“What?”

“I don’t know what to do. I’m sorry.” 

“Would you like to try again?” 

Robin nodded shyly. Nancy giggled in return, leaning back in and once again kissing Robin Buckley. This time she waited longer, giving Robin the chance to mimic her movements. When Robin’s lips finally started to slip in between her own, Nancy whined softly. It felt like a final piece of the puzzle was slotting into place. 

She’d beat herself up for the clichés later.

#prompts #ronance #nancy wheeler #robin buckley #my work #stranger things #fanfic #robin x nancy #nancy x robin #ronance fic

[psychiatristreturning]

four times steve harrington knew he loved you and the one time he told you (steve harrington x henderson!reader)

a/n: for anon. this is my longest fic so far. i worked real hard on this. i really like it.  word count: 2.6k warnings: violence, language

5. 1975

Steve didn’t know what love was. All he knew is that his parents didn’t have it. Crushes were a different story, but Steve wanted to know what love was. 

You knew what love was, it was your mom making you your favorite meal after a big test. It was your brother smiling at you, even though he was toothless. Love was your cat purring when you pet her. But you never knew romantic love, not with your parents or yourself. 

Moving to Hawkins had changed your life. You had some friends back home, but this place? No one wanted to be friends with you. Nine-year-olds were brutal. Though at school there was one boy, who, even at nine, had established himself as quite the ladies man. But he seemed sweet, no matter how much of a jerk he could be sometimes. 

At recess one day it all changed, for both of you. 

The swing set creaked in the wind, it’s cold metal seat under you, bending under your weight. A group of rowdy boys ran past you, and one, ran directly into you. Tumbling face forward into the concrete you yelped in surprise, your face stinging. Blinking back tears you suddenly become aware of the boy behind you, who wanted to help. 

“Are you okay?” his oddly timid voice sounded.

“Yeah, I’m good.” you turned to him, “Is it bad?” you questioned as he grimaced. 

“Um, I think you’ll be okay. But I’ll take you to go get some band-aids.” he kicked a loose rock on the concrete, “I’m sorry.” 

“No worries.” you stood up, realizing your knees were cut too. 

Steve quickly stuck his arm out and wrapped his hand around your bicep, helping keep you steady. A teacher who was wondering haphazardly around called over, “Mr. Harrington! Where are you taking  Ms. Henderson?” 

The young boy looked at the teacher, dumbfounded, “To get some band-aids.” Couldn’t he see all the blood? 

“No, she can do it herself. It’s not a man's job to care.” all Steve heard was his dad, and he didn’t have the courage to stand up to his dad, but he did to his teacher. He knew what was right. 

“She needs help.” he stated, flat out. Steve didn’t understand what was wrong with helping you. 

Now, you were uncomfortable in this stare off with the teacher, Steve’s grip becoming tighter. The teacher locked eyes with Steve, “You help her I’ll give you detention.” 

Steve gulped knowing his dad would yell at him, but you, a person, needed help. Leaning over you whispered, “Go,” to him. He shouldn’t get in trouble for helping you. 

“No.” he said firmly, helping you walk inside, the teacher screaming about his detention or whatever. The boy seemed unbothered, you admired it. 

“Okay, well thank you.” you squeaked out. You knew he was probably only helping you because he bumped into you, but part of you wanted it to be different, and maybe it was. 

He helped you into the school and into an empty bathroom, Steve was not the smartest per se, but he knew to clean the cuts. Which there were a lot of. “Steve,” he looked down at you from where he was cleaning a cut on your forehead, “Why did you do this?” 

Steve looked adorably confused at you, “Do what?” 

“Help me. Was it because you bumped me?” 

He took a deep breath, thinking, “No, you deserve to be helped, you’re nice Y/N. And, yes, I hit you, but, you shouldn’t have to help your self up.” 

You stared ahead, feeling something, feeling loved. 

Steve wondered what this was. Why did he help you? Maybe, just maybe, because he loved you. 

4. 1983

Who knew what was going on anymore? You had no idea where your brother was, and some reason you were with Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers, trying to summon his brother or something. Not that you would ever admit it, but you were truly terrified, lights flashing around you, yelling, fake bodies. You didn’t know what to do. The world was coming apart at its seams. Nancy, Jonathan, and you sat in the Byers house on the couch, shaking, worried about what would happen next. The weapons in your hands were clutched tightly, ready for action. 

No one dared speak, when a knock came at the door. Startling all of you out of your skin. Nancy jumped up pointing her gun at the door. The banging on the door continued, when you heard, “Jonathan, man! I’m sorry! And I feel terrible! I wanna help!” 

“Steve!” Nancy hissed quietly. 

Jonathan walked up and swung open the door to stop the incessant banging. Steve practically falling into the house, but he quickly straightened up, seeing Nancy point her gun squarely at him. Steve raised his hands quickly above his head, “Hey, Nance, I’m sorry! You don’t have to kill me-” 

“Steve get out.” 

“I’m just here to talk to Byers.” 

“Nancy, put the gun down!” you shouted at her. 

Steve’s head whipped to you, his eyes widened, “Y/N! What are you doing here? Holy shit!”

No matter what Steve said to you, you didn’t look at him, knowing you’d get distracted by his stupidly perfect hair and crooked grin. Instead, you continued to walk slowly toward Nancy, “Put the gun down.” she was shaking, conceivably using every muscle in her body to get Steve out. To help him. 

The lights started flashing irregularly, that’s when Jonathan started yelling. “Nancy! Stop it!” almost like she was in a trance, she snapped out, “He’s here.” 

Steve’s eyes widened, “Who’s here? What’s here? What’s going on?” 

At that moment it burst through the walls, the same thing you and Nancy saw in the Upside Down. They went to run to the back room, but you tripped, Nancy and Jonathan were already running, and Steve who was behind them stopped, and looked at you, and without hesitating, ran back to you. Grabbing your arms and lifting you up, helping you off the hard floor and clasping your hand, guiding you quickly into the back bedroom. 

He kept holding your hand in the dark, your backs pressed against the door. Once you realized you were holding his hand, you hastily let go. Looking across the room at the blank wall, you remembered years ago, Steve helping you up, selflessly. And once again he was ready to save you. 

Steve looked at you, shoulders pressed against each other, you looked amazing, and you were brave. But, Nancy, he had slept with Nancy, and they were something, hopefully. And at the moment, he realized there was something he felt for you that he didn’t feel when he thought of Nancy. But, now was not the time for that. If he told himself he loved Nancy, he would feel that eventually. So sure, he loved Nancy, he didn’t care about you. Never would. But part of Steve knew he was in deep shit.

3. 1984 

Oh boy, you were a part of this mess from the start. You should’ve known it wasn’t going to go well from the second Dustin said that he had found a ‘lizard’. But that wasn’t even the weirdest part of it all. It wasn’t Billy. It wasn’t Eleven suddenly showing up again. It was, at least for you, Steve Harrington. Not him, but the way he was acting. He was acting, sweet? Steve was attempting to give your brother shitty dating advice which you had to cut into, saying “Just don’t ignore her. I mean, girls like some attention.” 

Dustin looked back at you and questioned, “How many boyfriends have you had?” 

You slapped his shoulder, “Shut up.” you grumbled. 

Steve shrugged, “I mean, you are the girl here.” 

“Thank you for the acknowledgement.” 

“But are you?” 

“Dustin shut up!” Steve looked at you with a face that if anyone saw they could only categorize as lovingly. But as soon as he saw Dustin smirking at him, he turned away, flustered, tripping over a stick on the path. Steve was confronted with remembering  thinking, that he couldn’t care about you. Nancy was there. And while, yes, he grew to love Nancy, she didn’t love him. And that’s not her fault, but Nancy had broken his heart, and for the first time in quite sometime, his heart felt complete, and it was because of you. Not that he would tell you. Steve was content, for the first time in a long time, to sit back, and fall in love slowly. But, truly, deeply in love. Farther than he thought he could ever feel.

2. 1984

You had all recovered, somewhat, from what had happened. And life returned to a sense of normalcy. But that morning Dustin woke up, practically bouncing around the house, for the Snowball dance that night. You were chaperoning, so you had to look marginally good. But, what you weren’t prepared for was Steve Harrington coming over to help your brother get ready. 

Hiding in your room getting ready, you heard a knock at the door, Dustin racing downstairs, and the unmistakable voice of Steve. While it was definitely nice to hear Dustin this happy, you realized that Steve would see you like this and that was not ideal right now. 

You could hear the two of them walking upstairs and the voices getting closer, then a loud bang on your door, “Steve’s here! And we’ll have to go soon!” 

You could hear Steve say quietly behind him, “The dance is in an hour and a half.” 

“Okay and an hour and a half!” 

“Alright Dusty!”

You turned your attention back to the mirror, and you heard Steve say, “Dusty? I’m gonna use that one.” the smirk was evident in his voice. That was followed quickly by a loud “Ow!” guessing Dustin hit him. 

As you finished your makeup you couldn’t help but wonder why you had a new pit of anxiety in your stomach now that Steve was here. Why did that change the dance so much? What was it about him? 

~~~~

Sure enough, an hour and a half later, as promised, Dustin was banging on your door. You could hear Steve hyping Dustin up, telling him how great he looked, and how all the girls will dance with him. And taking one last deep breath, you opened your door and walked downstairs. Steve was absolutely in awe of you. Steve knew he was over Nancy Wheeler, you were so wonderful, smart, and beautiful. God, he thought you were the most heavenly creature, and he didn’t believe in God. You walked shakily on the godforsaken heels to Dustin where you smirked at him. “Nice hair.” 

“Thanks, it’s pretty cool.” he nodded slowly trying to be cool. 

Steve was still gaping at you, “Uh, you, um, ready to go?” 

Dustin giggled at Steve’s red face, and you answered, “Yeah, thanks by the way.” He just awkwardly nodded, shoving a free hand in his pocket, the other opening the door, you called out to your mom, “Mom we’re going!” 

“Alright kids, have fun!” she called back from the kitchen. 

You guys shuffled out of the house and began the awkward drive to the school. 

~~~~

Once you guys arrived you and Steve began the final pep talk for Dustin. “Alright, now remember, you want to care but not to much.” 

You stopped Steve, “But do care.”

“Not to much.” 

Leaning forward you retorted, “He’s not going to by her a house or something.” 

“I’m just saying!” he threw up his hands in defense, “All the girls are gonna love you, I mean,” he stopped for a minute, “you look great!” 

“Yeah! Looking great!” you attempted to back him up. 

“They won’t be able to resist me with these pearls.” he purred and both of you began a chorus of ‘No’ and ‘Don’t do that’.

He got out of the car and looked back at you, “Are you coming?” 

“I’ll be in a minute.” Steve’s eyes widened realizing he was in a car, alone, with you. “Thank you, Steve.” 

“Oh it’s no problem-”

You cut him off promptly, “I mean for everything. This year, last year, you’ve really changed. In a good way,” looking into his sweet, brown eyes, you smiled, “I really appreciate you.” 

“It’s the right thing to do, plus, I was an asshole. It was a real low bar.” 

You laughed softly, “I’m going to go, but I think you should come in and dance with me.” 

Steve’s stomach flipped when you said to dance with you. You wanted him to come. With you. “I wouldn’t want to-” 

“Please.” he couldn’t resist your pleading eyes. 

“Sure.” Steve was very busy trying to hide his smile while stepping out of the car. 

You slid out of the backseat the Dustin had forced you into, and as soon as you stepped out onto your heels you tripped and began to fall. But someone's arm wrapped around your waist and pulled you back up. Steve.

“Thank you.” you replied breathlessly, “I’ve gotta stop falling around you.” you made a lame attempt at a joke. 

He let go, and you walked in a little bit ahead of him, and under his breath he whispered, “I’ve already fallen for you.” no matter how cheesy he might sound. 

Steve Harrington loved you. 

1. 1985

All you wanted was ice cream. You didn’t want to end up taking care of two teenagers high on Russian truth serum. Trying to keep Robin and Steve collected when they’re not high is difficult enough. Robin was at the absolute goofiest you’ve ever seen her and Steve, oh, Steve. Over the past year you had harbored an extreme crush on the idiot. However, this was just sad. You were glad they were alive, but this was definitely the finale of any part of his old personality. You sat with Robin and Steve in the movie theater, Steve bopping your nose continuously. “Boop!” you grabbed his hand and moved it away from your face. 

“Shush.” 

He dropped his head onto your shoulder, and he looked up at you with his chocolate brown eyes, “You’re pretty,” he whispered, smiling like an idiot. 

“Thank you.” you whispered back, trying to act stern even as your stomach erupted in butterflies. All of a sudden Robin rushed out of the theater, mumbling something about water. You followed, Steve stumbling after you, he gripped your arm again and leaned into your side when he said to you;

“I’m in love with you.” 

You stopped in your tracks, Steve going on without you, a stupid smile on your face. Then it hit you, he’s high. It’s not him. You shook your head to rid the idea of Steve loving you. And you walked after him. Steve and Robin were drinking water manically when you got out of the theater. Both talking nonsense about Back to the Future. 

You stood, leaning against the wall. Looking lovingly at Steve. In their haze they stared nonsensically at the ceiling. Suddenly running to the bathroom, you ran after them. 

The two of them were curled over toilets, throwing up. You sat back, feeling horrible for what they had to endure. 

After what you can only describe as traumatic sickness, the three of you sat on the floor in stalls, Robin leaned her head onto your shoulder, and you spoke to Steve, knowing you couldn’t say it to his face. “Do you mean what you said, Steve?” 

Somehow in his mind, Steve knew what he admitted, “Yes.” he answered quietly. “Yes, I love you.” Robin smiled at you. And you felt hopeful, “Did I overstep?” 

“No,” Robin nodded her head quickly telling you to keep talking, “I, uh, I love you too.” 

Steve slid under the wall and next to you in the stall, “I would kiss you right now, but I just threw up.” 

“I got that.” 

“I’ll make it up to you soon enough.” 

“You two are disgusting,” Robin said, smiling at the display of two people obviously in love next to her.

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

[yikesharringrove]

hello !! may i request billy trying to "woo" steve but hes oblivious to it ? and it gets to a point where nacy is Tired of billy looking like That when steve plays offs his advances and she just decides to help him out with a relucent jonathan ? robin is there too but she isn't gonna say anything bc she loves a good show. thank you !!!

Ao3

-

Jonathan was sitting on the counter, Nancy leaning on his legs when Billy walked in.

He smiled sheepishly at them, heading towards where Steve was behind the counter, chatting as he rewound tapes. He ducked over into the horror section, re-emerging quickly, obviously knew what he was comin’ in for.

“Oh, Exorcist. I haven’t seen this one. Steve was all smiles as he stood up to help Billy.

“It’s pretty good. Lots a’ gore, and stuff.” Billy side eyed Jon and Nancy, leaning a little further over the counter. “We could watch it together, if you wanted.”

Billy had gotten a nice studio apartment in downtown Hawkins with the government cash out he had gotten from the whole Starcourt ordeal. Steve had helped him move in, hadn’t been back since.

“Sorry, man. Don’t really like horror movies.”

Nancy noted how dejected Billy looked when Steve looked down to punch in the amount on the register. Billy left with a small wave and Nancy reached over to whack Steve in the arm.

“What the hell was that for?” He was pouting at her, rubbing his arm.

“You’re an idiot, Steve Harrington.”

“What’d I do this time?”

“Billy just asked you out!” Steve’s eyes were wide.

“No?”

“Yes.”

“No, he just invited me over. He does that a lot. usually he rents movies I don’t think I would like, though.”

“He wants you to come over and get scared so he can protect you, or whatever.”

“N-no.”

“Yes. He wants to sit on the couch, and put his arm over you, and he wants you to hide your face in his chest when you’re scared literally all guys use that move.” She considered Jonathan for a moment. “Current company excluded.”

“I still don’t think he was asking me out.”

-

“Billy!” Nancy just so happened to be loitering near his apartment building as Billy was returning from his weekend job at the garage near family video.  Billy started when she called his name.

“Uh, hey Nancy.” He was fidgeting with the buttons on his coveralls.

“Look, Steve is sweet, but he’s the most oblivious person on the planet.” Billy tightened his jaw, a shadow of his rough self, his rough pre-Starcourt self.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He tried to push past her, but she just followed him up the stairs.

“I know you were trying to ask him out yesterday.”

“Wasn’t tryna do shit.”

“I don’t care that you’re into him. I want to help you.” She rolled her eyes.

“Help me?” He raised one eyebrow as they crossed into his little apartment, appraising her. “Help me do what?” She turned to him, grinning wide.

“I’m going to help you get him.”

-

“He likes movies with a lot of adventure. A steady rise and fall of events. So, Indiana Jones, or Conan, or James Bond, all of those. And he loves westerns. He made me watch so many fucking westerns.”

“Sounds like he just likes hot guys.” Nancy rolled her eyes.

“He likes Barbarella, too. He doesn’t have much in the way of an attention span, so things need to be constantly happening. He took me to see Gremlins three times when it came to the Hawk.”

“Okay, so action adventure. Easy enough.”

“Well, he’s also got a big soft spot for sappy romances. And I’m talking the real sappy ones, not like Sixteen Candles, I mean Gone with the Wind, and Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and Cleopatra. He’s a big mushball, and he loves love.” Billy kinda felt like he should be taking notes at this point. “He has all these Italian films from the forties, and he says that’s what he grew up watching, and they’re all very romantic. He loves watching those, because then he’ll translate the whole time, and I think that makes him feel romantic, it’s a whole thing.”

“Wait, he speaks Italian?”

“His mother was born in Italy somewhere. It’s his first language.”

“Shit, I didn’t know that.”

“He’s quite proud of it. He was raised by his grandmother, his nonna, and still knows all of her recipes.”

“That’s cute.” Billy thought for a second. “So, I should invite him over for a movie he’d like, and if I conveniently had all the ingredients for some complicated Italian dish, just like, around, he could be into that?”

Nancy stared at him.

“Wow. You’re just as mushy as he is.”

“Don’t hate.”

-

“You need to help me.”

“Nance, I just don’t feel like we should get-”

“Of course we should get in the middle of this! Our friends have a chance to be happy, together.” Jonathan huffed.

“Nancy, be honest with me. Are you just trying to do this because you genuinely want Billy and Steve to be happy, or because you still feel guilty about everything that happened with Steve?” Her mouth dropped open.

“I, I don’t-no.” She shook her head. “Of course not.” Jonathan raised an eyebrow at her. “No, Jon. I want them to be happy.”

“Okay, but I still don’t think we should interfere.”

“Of course we should. You saw them the other day, they cannot do this themselves. I’ve already talked to Billy.”

“You already-Nancy.” He gave her a look.

“What? I’m helping.” He rolled his eyes.

-

“Nancy’s making me talk to you.” Jonathan kept his voice monotone.

“Um, about what?” Steve was reshelving tapes, Jonathan following behind him with the box full.

“About Billy.”

“What about Billy?”

“She wants to help you two get together.” Steve laughed.

“I know she means well, but he does not like me like that.”

“She seems to think he does. Apparently, she’s already talked to Billy. They’ve got a whole plan.”

“A plan? What do you mean?”

“She told him all of your favorite movies and they’re idea is that you’ll go to his place and you’ll cook dinner together and watch a movie.”

Steve’s eyes were big when he looked up at Jonathan.

“Wait he, there’s actually a plan?” He was picking at the peeling sticker on a Cinderella tape. “What are we gonna cook?”

“I don’t know. Billy said he’s just gonna get a bunch of vague Italian shit, his words, and he’s hoping you’ll take over from there.” Steve smiled to himself.

“Um, you think you could get him a list? So he doesn’t just have to buy stuff.” Jonathan furrowed his brows.

“Wait so, you’re good with this?”

“I mean, it’s kinda, it’s kinda sweet.”

“So, her plan worked?”

“Well, I still gotta go on the date.” Steve returned to shelving tapes.

“But, you’re going?”

“Yeah. If he asks.”

“Get me a grocery list. And believe me, he’ll ask.”

-

Steve had picked one of his favorite recipes, giving Jonathan a list to casually slip to Billy.

He had been waiting all week for Billy to come back, rent some movie he loves, and ask him over.

But it had been days since he had spoken with Jonathan.

And he was losing hope.

“What’s up, Mopey?” Robin was fake pouting at him.

“Billy hasn’t been in in a while. Is all.” Steve shrugged, tried to act all casual.

Robin rolled her eyes.

“Missing your boyfriend?”

“Shut up.” His face was red as he mumbled. “Nancy and Jonathan kinda, they kinda made a plan, and I think he’s just, I think Billy’s not actually gonna go through with it.” She sighed.

“Look, I told Nancy I was not gonna get mixed up in this, but, he likes you, Dingus. He’s not backing out, he’s not blowing you off. Take a breath.”

“I’m just, I care about him, you know? He’s been through a lot. I don’t wanna fuck it up.” Steve was scuffing his foot against the ground, watching it intently. “I always fuck it up.”

“Hey, it’s just one date. And maybe there’ll be a next, and a next, but for now, take the date. Have a good night.”

-

Jonathan was back on the counter, watching Billy psych himself up outside.

He was hoping from foot to foot, obviously practicing everything he was gonna say.

Steve was being very good at not making eye contact with everyone.

The bell above the door made a loud sound as Billy shoved it open.

He stared at his feet as he hid himself in one of the aisles.

Steve gave Nancy a panicked look.

“Breathe,” She hissed at him. He took a few deep breaths in and out of his mouth, his eyebrows scrunched together.

A few minutes later, just as Steve had calmed himself down, Billy came back out of the aisle, a few different tapes in his hands.

He set the tapes down, giving Steve a nice smile, a real smile.

“Hey, Bill.” Steve wasn’t even looking at the tapes.

“Hi, Pretty Boy.” Steve flushed. “What’re you up to tonight?”

It was painful, watching the two of them dance around one another. Billy didn’t know Steve was in on the plan, didn’t know Steve was fucking vibrating and the speed of sound for Billy to ask him out.

“Um, nothing much. Just gonna go home.”

Nancy slapped Jonathan’s leg, pulling him into one of the aisles, spying on the two from around the shelf. Robin stayed sitting behind Steve, snapping her gum.

“You could come over, if you want. Watch one a’ these.” Steve finally looked down at the tapes, brightening up right away.

“I love Barbarella.”

“That’s ‘cause you’re a human.” Steve laughed as he punched in the amount. There were beginning to fall into a rhythm, Steve picking up the next tape.

“Oh shit.” He was holding the Sound of Music tape like it was made of gold. “I used to really love this movie.”

“We can watch it, if you want. I’ve never seen it.” Steve looked at him like he had an extra head.

“You’ve never seen it? Billy, what the fuck? We’re so watching this tonight.” He picked up the last tape.

“That one I got for me.”

“I uh, I didn’t even know this movie existed.” He was staring wearily at the mutant on the front, tracing the font spelling out Forbidden World.

“Oh Pretty Boy, you’d hate it.” Steve laughed. He took Billy’s neat bills, practiced hands made quick change.

Their hands brushed as Steve passed over the coins.

“You want me to bring anything? Tonight?”

“Just yourself.”

“Nothing for dinner?”

“I mean, I got some stuff. If you wanna, like, make something.” Billy was fidgeting with the tapes.

“Yeah, I, uh, I really like cooking. We could, like, cook together.”

“I’d like that.” Steve gave Billy one of his sunshiniest smiles. Made Billy melt a little. “What time you get off?”

“Five.”

“Be over as soon as you can, then.”

“Okay. Yeah, I’ll be there.”

“It’s a date then, Stevie.” Steve was grinning like he had won the fucking lottery. Billy gave him a stupid little two finger salute, nearly ramming into the glass door on this way out.

Steve waited until Billy was safely out of view of the storefront windows before he lost his shit.

He was wiggling around like the happiest little worm, Nancy coming out of hiding to give him a hug.

Robin snapped her gum at him when he tried to get near her, so he hugged Nancy again.

“Hey, thank you guys. For, for everything.” Jonathan clapped him on the back.

“No problem, man. Just do us all a favor, and get laid.”

#I almost never write post season 3 that isnt a #they burned it out of Billy au #cause I lowkey fucking hate most of that season lol #yikes writes #steve harrington #billy hargrove #steve harrington x billy hargrove #billy hargrove x steve harrington #harringrove #harringrove fic #harringrove ficlet #harringrove drabble

[curiositydooropened]

Self-Isolating Together

“No.” It was a good thing Steve had the reflex to catch the door before Robin slammed it in his face. “No way, shitbird. It’s called self-isolating for a reason, and it’s the same reason I got a one bedroom apartment without you. This isn’t happening.” 

“Come on, Rob,” Steve whined, sneakered foot trapped between door and jam, fingers wrapped tightly at eye level. She grimaced at his touch. “Work booted me for two weeks, and you know I can’t be alone that long.” 

“Go back to Hawkins then.” 

“It’s like a ten hour drive by myself, and my parents are stuck in Europe.” 

“Shit. Are they okay?” The sudden sympathetic switch to her voice signaled her surrender, and Robin stepped backwards into her apartment.

Steve shrugged, pushing the door open to let himself in. “As of eighteen hours ago, Mom sent a text and said they’re fine. Just stuck.” 

“Jesus.” Robbin hugged her upper half, chewing on her plump bottom lip to weigh her options. He was in now. Not like she had the strength or willpower to kick him out. Well, she could, but he knew she wouldn’t. She rolled her eyes.

“I love you, best friend.” He waggled his eyebrows.

She scoffed. “Just don’t touch anything until you wash you hands. Dump your bag by the door.” 

He did as instructed, dramatically holding his hands upward and avoiding obstacles on his path to the kitchen sink like a surgeon between sanitation and the Operating Room. He washed with soap and water, loudly humming Happy Birthday to appease his new roommate.

“Ha ha,” she spoke dryly, leaning against the counter beside him. “You aren’t staying for two weeks, you know. I’ll murder you before then.” 

“As soon as I’m a nuisance, I’m out,” he agreed, rinsing suds down the drain with nearly scalding water.

“Okay. Get out.”

He flicked water at her as it dripped from his fingers, and she squawked, snapping the hand towel to his arm. He yanked it from her, drying his knuckles before tossing it aside and leaning beside her. He’d let a little spill over the sink and he felt the water slowly dampen the waistband of his jeans. He sighed. “So, what do you wanna do, roomie?”

“I actually can’t stand you.” She groaned, bumping his elbow with her own.

— — —

They’d settled on an Alien franchise marathon, which Steve would have never agreed to without Robin’s coaxing. And yet halfway through Aliens, he was nodding off at one end of the couch and Robin was texting on the other. He nudged her with his toe.

“You going to spend time with your houseguest or what?”

“Hm?” She continued to stare at her screen, tapping away, the soft blue light illuminating her freckled face. 

“Earth to Robin,” Steve toed her again. “I need attention.” 

“You need a girlfriend.” 

“I have you.” 

“You need a real one. One who likes boys.” 

“Yeah?” He sighed, puffing up the pillow under his head. “And where am I going to find one of those?” It seemed to be Robin’s life purpose to try to set him up with someone. Maybe she thought he was still attracted to her and needed a distraction, but any semblance of a crush faded the day he saw her wolf down fifteen hot dogs in a competition and immediately vomit them back into the tin bucket beside her.

“The inter, I’ve told you a million times.”

He groaned. “You know I hate those dating apps. It feels so objectifying.”

As much as the woman race appreciates your fall from grace as Slimeball of the Century, you have to suck it up and get yourself back out there. Because this pathetic, whiny Steve wouldn’t exist if you finally got laid.”

“Well unless you’re offering, we’re supposed to be self-distancing. So I don’t see that happening for at least two weeks.” 

Robin shot him a sly grin, wagging her phone in his direction. “There are other ways, my dude. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to bed.” She leaned forward and turned up the volume on the television.

“You’re disgusting!” He yelled in her general direction, chucking a throw pillow at her. It hit her bedroom door where her smug face had been.

He rolled over and pulled out his own mobile device. Maybe she was right. His thumb hovered over the Tinder logo. He had several matches in the city, and a few DMs he hadn’t replied to. It just felt icky, for lack of a better term, like he wasn’t really trying to get to know these women. They definitely weren’t trying to get to know him. No one actually cares what his favorite cereal is. They’re just trying to figure out what to stock for the morning after. 

His brain overrode his finger and he ended up on TikTok instead, scrolling through endless videos of the nerds dancing with their siblings and trying to keep entertained during their own quarantines. Dustin posted a video an hour, documenting his day in a night vision filter, like a data log in a found footage film. Only he hadn’t done anything more interesting than eat four Snack Packs. So it was a typical Friday for him.

Steve checked Snapchat next, an app next to no one used, but the familiar notification from Nancy sent a familiar little flutter to his stomach. She’d sent a selfie in a face mask filter. It gave her thick, black eyeliner above a black leather mask, very much the contrast from her bubblegum pastel aesthetic. 

He smiled, using the same filter to respond. He retook it a few times, getting the right angle to illuminate his face from the glow of the television. bitchin’

He typed El’s new favorite phrase. She’d recently discovered the punk subculture of the 90s and used phrases like “bitchin’” and “gnarly” on every Insta story and TikTok caption.

He was shocked at the immediacy of Nancy’s response. Her next photo was dark, her soft features lit only from her phone screen. She lay on a fluffy pillow, curls tickling her cheekbones. A concerned look furrowed her brows and puckered her lips. Are you at home?

He snapped a photo of Robin’s television. nah. convinced rob to take me in.

Again, she responded quickly. This time, she was smiling. Good. Glad you aren’t alone.

His heart swelled. He knew it shouldn’t, knew he should be over her by now. It had been two years, and she was with Jonathan, and they were happy. 

He sent a photo of the dark room around him. me too. nite nance.

Nancy’s eyes were closed, nose scrunched around a smile. Night, Steve. Miss you. xx

He shut off his phone and rolled over, letting the sounds of flame throwers and machine guns drown out the dull ache and gaping voice in his chest.

— — —

Steve didn’t anticipate accidentally starting a fight on the first full day, but there he was, gangly legs tucked under him on the couch, mindlessly scrolling when Robin went in on him. All he’d done was offer to PostMate Mediterranean from their favorite place down the street, half-jokingly. Robin did not find him humorous, and he jumped at the slamming of her refrigerator door.

“No, dingus, we cannot just ask a random stranger to handle our food in his disgusting car two blocks just so we can eat.” 

“Great, so we’ll go pick it up.” 

“What is wrong with you? Can you take nothing seriously ever in your entire life?” Her tone, though always vaguely insulting, held no such understanding or humor. Instead her words felt cold, piercing.

He turned to look at her, nostrils flared and fists clenched on the edge of the linoleum countertop. “Whoa, Jesus, Rob, I was joking. Thought I’d lighten the mood. What’s your deal?”

“My deal? My deal, Harrington, is that I’ve somehow managed to confine myself to this tiny shithole with someone like you, who is constantly trying to ‘lighten the mood’ when the rest of the Goddamn world is going through something traumatic.” 

Steve fought back an eye roll. Robin Buckley, ladies and gentlemen, drama queen, people’s rights activist, extraordinaire. He really should have anticipated this. Instead, he stood from his crumpled position on the couch and stretched his limbs over his head. “Alright, alright. If it’s bothering you that much, I’ll leave.”

Robin harrumphed, hands on hips, bare foot tapping against beige tile. She didn’t respond, or stop him as he shut his laptop lid and shoved it into his bag by the door. He pretended to ignore her as she let out a dramatic sigh and crossed to her pantry cupboard.

“We have pita and hummus. Is that going to be enough for you, princess?” She scoffed.

“Ooh,” he shrugged. “I was hoping for falafel.” 

She reached into the cupboard and extracted a can of chickpeas before tossing it across the room. “Start blending.” 

He caught it and joined her in the kitchen to help place vegetables and pita on a serving platter for the both of them. Four carrots in, he bumped her with his hips. “Is everything okay though? End of the world aside?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?” She avoided eye contact.

“Robin. It’s me, Steve, your best friend.” 

She sighed and shrugged under his knowing gaze, and she shot a displeased look at her phone charging near her keys and wallet on the counter. “Francesca’s pissed at me.” 

“Ah,” Steve nodded, slapping a hefty dollop of hummus onto her pita and then his own. “And Francesca is...?”

“The girl I’m... I don’t know. Seeing, I guess. Texting, calling, FaceTiming.” Robin threw her hands in the air for dramatic effect. He supposed you could take the girl out of drama club, but it never really left the girl, did it?

“Why is she pissed?”

“Because,” Robin spoke through a mouthful of pita. “She saw you being an idiot on my Insta story earlier.”

“And?”

“And I’ve barricaded myself from the world with you and I have committed to only communicating with her via the internet, dingus.” 

Steve picked carrot out of his molars with his tongue, contemplating her predicament and ways to fix it. He supposed he would also be pissed if let’s say Nancy was dating him but decided to hole up with Byers, before they were dating, of course. But that was a totally different ball game. “She knows you’re gay, right?”

“Yes, Steve, she knows I’m gay, but like... it doesn’t look great on my part to tell her countless times it’s safer to stay indoors and then let you waltz in like you own the place.” 

“Okay, well, do you even like her?”

“Yes!” Robin sighed, dipping her half eaten pita directly into the hummus. So much for the spread of germs. “I do, I really like her. Like, really, really like her.” 

“So invite her over now.”

“No, God no. Jesus, no wonder you’re single for life.” 

“Hey!”

“I just mean, if I invite her over now, she’ll think it’s just because she wants me to, and it won’t feel genuine. And I’m really not prepared for her to meet you. I can’t scare her away.” 

“Okay, unfair,” Steve prodded her hand with his carrot. She swatted him away. “Have you told her how you feel?”

Robin stared at her plate, shaking her head like a guilty five-year-old asked to apologize to a classmate. 

“That’d probably be a good start.” 

“Yeah? And who are you to give me relationship advice, Harrington? I saw you Snapping Nancy shirtless pictures this morning.” 

Steve had been caught in the act. He tried to played it off so smoothly too, also posting fresh-out-of-the-shower thirst traps on his Instagram to make sure Nancy wasn’t suspicious of his lack of wardrobe. His snaps to her were all smiles and dribbled toothpaste, relatable and modest, asking her how quarantine was going and if she had any book recommendations for the long haul.

She did, Don Quixote. And she shared her suggestions in a perfect powder blue camisole, makeup free, with her hair clipped up on the sides and out of her face.

“Steve,” Robin scolded. “You’ve got to get over it. Nancy’s happy, and she’s far too nice of a person to cut the cord and break your heart. So you’re going to have to be the one to stop contact.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled into his hummus.

— — —

After a long day of mutual sulking and watching various garbage content on their separate devices, Steve and Robin decided to open the bottle of Stoli at the back of Robin’s cupboard. She had some cranberry juice in her fridge left over from her last UTI (“TMI, Rob!”), and they decided to pour a couple of glasses and toast to Mother Russia.

It was a habit they’d been out of for a couple of months, trying to separate Hawkins life from life in the city. The vodka was reserved for particularly bad nights, long car rides, and the middle of cattle pastures. The night of Billy Hargrove’s funeral was one of those nights. Seeing Max that beat up over her dick of a brother was hard for all of them to watch. Knowing they’d had a hand in it was somehow more difficult to deal with.

Now though, they seemed to be celebrating the end of the world and being bad at girls and things, Steve couldn’t really remember. His head felt fuzzy, and his entire body was warm enough to strip off his sweatshirt by the collar.

“Why are you always naked, Harrington?” Robin cackled, tossing a tv remote in his direction. 

It bounced from his chest and thudded against the concrete floors, and the two of them howled in laughter. 

“Okay, okay,” Robin breathed, clutching at the stitch in her side. They’d gone drink for drink, and she was easily further gone than Steve, lacking experience and body mass. “Truth or dare.” 

Steve sighed, running a hand through his hair. He shrugged. “Are we five?”

“Truth or dare, dingus!” 

He laughed with her. He couldn’t help it. She was infectious, hyper and annoying, but endearingly so. “Fine, truth.” 

“Are you... still in love with me?”

It was her control question, like in a lie detector test. He thought she used it to see his mood, to gauge whether or not he was really going to play the game. 

“No, freak,” he responded, toeing at her exposed thigh across the couch. “I’m not still in love with you.” 

“Fine,” she threw a dramatic hand to her brow, giggling to break the fourth wall. “Your turn.” 

He sighed. “Alright, truth or dare.” 

“Dare.” She shot him a look with that fire in her eye, the one he’d seen time and time again in the face of real danger. Only now, the only danger was the world outside those four walls, a world without toilet paper.

“Okay, I dare you...” He looked around the apartment for something she could do that would feel mildly entertaining at this point in time. 

“I dare you to let me infiltrate your Tinder.” Robin cut him off, grasping his direction with tired movements.

Steve snorted through an eye roll, pulling his phone from between the creases of his legs for her to use. He supposed there wasn’t too much harm. He’d never speak to those women again, best case scenario, and worst case, she’d say something awful and he’d have a girl at a waitress if this self-distancing thing ever let up. Robin wouldn’t say anything awful anyway, being hyper-aware, hyper-“woke”, as they say.

“Yes!” Robin cheered, crawling closer so he could see over her shoulder. He’d gotten yelled at about proximity earlier, but apparently drunk Robin was blissfully unaware enough. He was just happy he didn’t have to think of a dare.

She spent a few seconds swiping, matching a handful of times, but she quickly grew bored of scoffing at girls she didn’t seem fit for her dingus. She switched over to the messaging function.

“Oh my God!” She squawked upon entry.

“What?” Steve laughed, picking apart the names to see what had her so shaken. None of the names sounded familiar or at all remarkable, just a lot of Jens and Jessicas and Stephanies.

“You haven’t responded to any of these women, dingus!” With a sigh of disapproval, she started her journey to find Steve Harrington love, like a virtual set of the Bachelor. 

“It looks like you had some rapport with Dana a couple of weeks ago. What was wrong with her?”

Robin scrolled through Dana’s profile. She was hot, curvy, short hair, kind of a badass. She was a hairstylist, it looked like. Her opening line was even about how great Steve’s hair was. He shrugged. “Nothing, I guess.” He wracked his brain to remember their interaction. He supposed it was during a particular Snapchat dry spell. Was it Valentine’s Day? That was a busy Tinder weekend for him.

“Well, I’m messaging her again.” 

And it went like that for a half hour, Robin scolding him at poor love life decisions and quickly trying to patch up broken contact with strangers. He was shocked to have received a few responses. People must really be bored. 

A few of the women responded “Hey, ghost”, which prompted Robin into drunken lectures about why Steve needs to be kinder to the women he communicates with. He agreed. It’s shitty to ghost people, but he knew Robin would be just as disappointed if he told every woman on the app he wasn’t interested because his heart was still wrapped up in his high school sweetheart, the love of his life.

Finally, Robin had connected with a girl named Roxanne, who owned a parakeet and happened to follow Steve on Insta after their last encounter around Christmas. Roxanne was still single, appreciated his (Robin’s) apology, and was happy to chat about life through the messaging function on Insta. Robin tutted Steve’s head with her hand and sent herself to bed, hiccuping. Her job was done.

— — —

Robin woke him up at 6AM because he was screaming in his sleep. He didn’t remember his dream, though nightmares usually rotated between five set situations. He was either with Byers and Nancy and the lights, or his pool, or the junkyard, or the secret base, or the mall. According to Robin, he was screaming for “Hargrove” to “watch out”. Ah, the mall then.

He was dripping with sweat, and Robin fetched him a large glass of water while he traipsed to the bathroom to towel off. He didn’t look hot, pale skin slightly green, normally lustrous hair clinging to his forehead like rats fighting their way out of the sewer. He splashed cold water over his face, ignoring the lingering doom that tickled at his spine and hung out just over his shoulder. 

“There’s pain meds in the cabinet,” Robin called softly.

He swung the mirror toward himself, ducking in the cramped bathroom. The generic brand bottle sat on the lowest shelf. It rattled it his hands as he removed the child-lock lid.

“Grab me some, will ya?” She groaned.

He popped two in his mouth, palming two more to meet Robin on his makeshift bed, covers tangled and strewn on the floor. They traded pills for water, and the cool condensation of the glass felt nice in his hand.

He collapsed in the spot next to her.

“You okay?”

He shrugged, staring blankly at the various liberal paraphernalia on the wall behind her television. “I guess. I don’t really remember my dream.” 

“I didn’t know you were still having them.” 

“I’m not, really. Just when I like... drink. I think that might be the trigger.” 

“Shit. I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t be,” he kicked at her ankle. “I’m the one that pulled it out of the cupboard.” 

After a long silence, Robin spoke with the least conviction he’d heard from her... ever. “You know you couldn’t have done anything, right?” 

Steve turned to her with furrowed eyebrows, wondering what the hell she was going for here.

“With Billy.” Her voice broke on the boy’s name. “He was long gone. I mean, the shit that was in his system. He wouldn’t have made it anyway.” 

Steve felt his face flush, and he ducked his head. He supposed they’d never really talked about it, about Billy, even on their most open of nights. They talked about being tortured, drugged, barely skating back with their lives or at least minimal brain damage. Robin never knew the extent of guilt that Steve harbored for his high school rival, how responsible he felt for the kid’s death. If only they had more fireworks, if only they closed the gate faster, if only he’d hit his car a little harder.

“I know, Rob. It’s just weird. I’ve never seen anyone die before, and I knew him. You know? We partied together. He kicked my ass once. Like, we had lockers next to each other in the locker room.” 

“Okay, we might need to unpack that one later.” Her tone was teasing, but soft, gentle with him. 

Steve snorted and shook his head.

Robin reached across and pulled his hand into her own. It reminded him of that time on the roof in the rain, before all of the trouble unfolded. 

“I love you, dingus.” 

“Love you too.” 

— — —

Work started the next morning, leaving the two of them propped against the countertop, staring at their laptop screens and sipping matcha from handmade mugs. Steve had been “fortunate” enough to work customer service for his dad, which typically involve emailing people about their various issues with finances. Last week’s stock market plummet had been a fun one. Steve felt overjoyed when Mom convinced Dad to force him to work remotely in order to avoid getting sick. 

Robin was a sort of jack of all trades. She did a lot of translation online, transcriptions and whatnot, headphones heavy and covering both ears. She couldn’t hear Steve talking to himself. He might as well have been alone. Occasionally, during the week, she’d hop into her bedroom to Skype her students. She taught private lessons for kids with various woodwind instruments. That alone made her pretty decent money.

Steve found himself drained within the first few days, unable to concentrate and needing an out. Luckily, Robin made up a grocery list and sent him out. She told him to be very careful and only touch the essentials. And that she’d be waiting by the door with soap and water upon his return. 

So, he shoved a beanie over his mess of hair and went out. It was cold, for March, and he didn’t appreciate the chill of frost pulling at his nostril hair and giving him the sniffles. One little inhale was enough to send a woman gasping with terror as she crossed the road. 

He made it to the corner store and soon realized he’d have to abandon his list. The shelves low of stock, and by the looks of it, they’d be wiping their asses with their hands in a few short days. He got what he could, piling it into Robin’s reusable bag, only touching the essentials. And he made sure to use the self check out on his way out. 

He made it back out the cold streets, bags slumped over each shoulder, and his phone started ringing from the buds in his ears. Hands full and incapable of reaching his phone in his back pocket, he struggled to press the tiny headphone in his ear. “Hello?”

‘“Steve? Hey.” Came the soft response of a voice he’d never forget. 

“Nancy?”

“Yeah, sorry, is this a bad time? Are you working?”

“No, no, no, no. This is fine. I’m just uh... getting groceries.” A bag slipped down the crook of his arm and he wondered how the hell women carried purses on a daily basis. 

“How was the grocery store?”

“Practically a wasteland.”

His heart did a backflip at her chuckle. Nancy’s voice was like a breath of fresh air in the stale, eery climate of a city under quarantine. It was like, as soon as she started talking, he could smell flowers blossoming in the park, feel the spring breeze roll by. She lifted the bitter cold.

“Have you been keeping yourself busy?” She asked.

He shrugged. “I’ve hunkered down with Robin, so we’ve just been watching old movies from the 80s and eating a lot of hummus. How about you?”

“Also 80 movies marathons. What a coincidence.” 

“Anything good?”

“Jonathan forced me to watch The Evil Dead finally, and it actually wasn’t bad.” 

Steve scrunched up his nose. He wasn’t sure if it was to block the wind or the scent of Jonathan’s name lingering in the air between them. “You turning into a big horror fan then?”

“God, no,” she cackled on her line. “I still prefer staring out the window looking longingly at empty streets. Feels like the end of the world, doesn’t it?” She snickered.

“A little bit, yeah.” He chuckled. “But, nothing we haven’t dealt with before.” 

She went quiet then, well, quieter. A knowing...something passed between them. She thought of Barb, he knew, and he thought of her, back to him, arm outstretched with a gun. A pitter of panic surged through him.

“Steve,” she barely spoke.

“Yeah, Nance?” He hadn’t realized he’d stopped walking. He picked up his pace again.

“Do you think this has anything to do with...?” She didn’t need to finish her thought.

“No,” he spat out before he had a proper answer. It terrified him, the idea that people were trapped in their homes, waiting for the world to crumble in vines and flower-mouthed faces. He glanced across the road at a woman delivering groceries to her neighbor. “No, Nance, I don’t.” The two women turned to smile and wave. He feebly attempted to wave back.

“How can you be so sure?” There was the stubborn Nancy he knew and loved.

“Because,” he smiled softly to himself. “If he was taking over, we’d be alone, isolated, sure. But something about this feels like it’s pulling us all together. Don’t you think? I mean, people are bringing their neighbors groceries. Have you seen the amount of instagram lives this week? Dozens. And did you watch that video of Italians singing from their balconies?”

Nancy chuckled. “Yeah, I did.” 

“See? If the world was ending, we wouldn’t be so supportive of each other.”

She paused for a moment, soaking it all in before her soft response. “You’re an idiot, Steve Harrington.” 

He grinned, struggling to lift his arm enough to push the button for entry into the apartment building. Robin buzzed him in without question. “Well, I’m back, and I’ve got to put the groceries away.” He climbed the stairs a few at a time. 

“Okay. Stay safe. I’ll snap you later.”

“Please do. Thanks for calling.” He wrapped his knuckles on Robin’s front door. 

“Tell Robin hi!”

“Tell Byers hi.”

Robin shot him a confused look, giving him a wide berth to dump the bags on the counter and wash his hands. With hurried goodbyes, Nancy clicked off the phone. 

“Longer than that!” Robin scolded when he turned off the faucet. 

Smiling to himself, he turned the water back to hot and scrubbed for a second time, loudly singing the chorus to Toto’s Africa. 

“I hate you.” Robin grinned, unloading the groceries into the pantry. 

Steve sprinkled her with water from his fingertips and dried his knuckles with the towel. 

---

First, I'd like to preface this by saying my heart goes out to those effected by the CoronaVirus/COVID-19. This fic is in no way making light of this week, I just wanted to write the story stuck in my head. If you would like to learn more about the virus and dealing with quarantine, please head over to my post, where I will drop several links with information including how to sew masks for health care professionals and where to send them in. Thank you and please enjoy!

#stranger things #stranger things fic #stranger things fanfiction #steve harrington #robin buckley #nancy wheeler #stancy #au: modern setting #quaratine fic #just two friends chillin during lockdown

[darkdevasofdestruction]

Chapter 5: Fear and Loathing in Hawkins

(( Before I begin, I want to say that I found nowhere Billy’s canon birthday, so I’m just using my best friend’s as a reference.

“You did it, babe! You did it! Congrats!” I jumped up and down, hugging Billy as he got 87% for his 5th test and his grades kept getting better and better. “At this rate you’re gonna get an A, not just a B!” I grinned widely, taking his test and putting it in my archives portfolio. “Say, are you tryina steal my scholarship, love~?” I teased with a poor excuse of a smirk. “I did it thanks to your help, Kitten. And thanks to you, we got an A+ at the project, so there’s only the exams to take and we’re settled for life.” he chuckled, leaning in to steal a kiss. “Do you…Do you wanna go back to Cali? It is one of the states we can study in with our scholarship, and the Uni is super close to the beach.” I jumped on the desk, dangling my feet back and forth, imagining how it’d be. “If that gives me an excuse to see you in a bathing suit, then sure thing.” he laughed, sitting down on the chair in front of me and putting his head on my thighs. “So soft…” he muttered, closing his eyes. “I’ve never been to the beach before. Could you teach me how to swim?” I asked, my eyes gleaming with stars imagining the cool water and the hot sand. “Anything for you, babe. It’ll be fun, I assure ya.” he smiled, most likely imagining as well. “Well, there’s only like half a year until we go there. It’s already April 1st and the exams are in June…Have you thought about what you wanted to study?” I asked, playing with his hair soothingly. “Mhh…I was thinking of Engineering…I’m no genius like you, babe, but I ain’t stupid. I think I could handle that.” he muttered, almost as if he didn’t want to think about the future. “That sounds lovely! Engineers are very well paid and nicely seen in society! We’ll be so cool together!” I clapped a bit in excitement, earning a chuckle. “You’re so adorable when you’re happy.” he smiled slight, looking up at me.

Things were looking promising for us and everything seemed like a real life Nirvana…But as usual, the good stuff doesn’t last too long and there’s always something that completely ruins everything and reminds you that life is cruel and maybe you shouldn’t trust anyone…Maybe not even yourself.

—

When I went to put some books in the locker, I notice something shiny, which proved to be Billy’s ‘K’ necklace that I gifted him at Christmas, only, the latch was broken. I wonder how did it get here…? I thought nobody else knew my locker combination. I put in the necklace in my pocket and closed it, making a mental note to change it soon before anything weird happens again and I walk to my next class. On the way there, I see Billy on the bench with two girls on either side of him, shamelessly flirting and he seemed to be enjoying it. Huh…

“Hey…Billy…” I go in front of him, ignoring the glares from the girls. “How are you?” “Pretty damn good, to be fair.” he smirked up at me. “Why you askin’?” “Uhm…I found this in my locker. Thought you might want it back…But the latch is broken.” I explained, showing him the necklace, and yet, he was barely paying any attention. “Oh, yeah, I took it off for Basketball practice today and then forgot where I put it. Can ya repair it for me?” he asked, leaning back on the seat. “Yeah…Sure. See you later.” I muttered, walking away to the class, holding the necklace tightly in my fist, a very dark feeling overflooding my heart.

Just…What the hell is going on…?

This kept repeating more and more with each day, sometimes outright ignoring me, or giving me empty answers, going to stay with his 'friends’ and so on…And I kept asking myself what did I do wrong. I kept trying to call him every night, but he either ignored it, or picked up the phone and then closing the call the next second. And trying to talk to him at highschool seemed to be close to impossible nowadays… But at least Nancy, Jonathan and Steve were okay with me staying with them, and they made me feel slightly better. After all, it was nice to have friends…I guess.

I kept myself busy with studying and I didn’t even realise that I didn’t speak to the kids in quite a long time. It’s just…Everything was making me get in such a Vertigo state that I forgot that I was alive.

It all just felt like a never-ending nightmare from which I found no escape… Until April 12th. Billy’s birthday.

It was a fine Friday and I was going to put his gift in his locker, then give him the necklace I managed to repair. I was looking down, walking down the corridor, holding the neatly wrapped package in one hand, while in the other I gripped the necklace really hard, until I saw a sight that made me wish I wouldn’t have woken up that day.

Billy and Tina were making out like there was no tomorrow, her pressed on his locker.

My face was shocked, but my heart felt stabbed and betrayed more than Caesar with Brutus. I let out a breath of amusement and disbelief, making him realise someone was there, and upon seeing me, he pushed Tina off him and tried walking towards me. I just shook my head in disgust, throwing the package in the nearest trash room and letting the necklace fall to the ground, not realising that I kept gripping it so hard that the sharp edges broke skin and let a few droplets of blood escape.

“Don’t even dare get closer to me. I don’t want to ever see you again. You’re nothing more than a liar, and fuck, your asshole of a father was right about you. Hell, maybe everyone was right about you. You’re just a fucking jerk and a whore with no morals or cares in this world. I regret the day I got to talk to you. I was so wrong to trust someone again…” I gritted my teeth before rushing out of the building, wanting to drive back home already. “Wait! Kitten, wait up! I can explain! It’s not as it looks like!” he tried to yell after me, but I turned around with such a poisonous glare, despite tears already escaping my eyes, that it made him rooted to the spot. “Explain WHAT, Hargrove?! That you cheated on me when you promised you’d never leave me? That you betrayed me, when you promised never to hurt me?! Really? What about 'Respect and Responsibility’? What about 'I’m a man of my words’? Are all of those lies too? Tsk…You’re just a spoiled brat, that’s it! Never speak to me again! And don’t call me Kitten! My name is Katrina Black, a name you will never get to speak again in your life!” I sneered at him, about to leave, but then I remembered the accessory around my neck, which made my roll my eyes in annoyance and go in front of him. “Oh, and one more thing…Give this to your next hook up, so they’ll feel good that you claimed them.” I growled, ripping off the necklace from my neck and hitting his chest with it. “Wait, don’t do that, you’ll get hurt!” he tried to say before seeing me rip the necklace, but it was too late. “Not more than what you did to me.” I said in a low voice before getting on my motorbike and stopping by the nearest market on my way home.“Happy Birthday, fuckass!”

As soon as I got home, I changed in only my AC/DC Tshirt and went to sit on the bathroom floor with the cassette next to me, putting music at max volume and staring at the many bottles of vodka and cigarette packs surrounding me. Well…Here goes nothing…

5 hours later, my head was spinning like crazy, the bathroom was smokier than London’s great smog and I kept screaming the lyrics to the songs that kept playing on repeat, not even realising that anymore, nor that tears kept wetting my face. I was a mess because honestly, I really couldn’t take this betrayal. I hate liars so much…

After I finished the 2nd Vodka bottle, I got up somehow and wanted to get a 3rd, but the phone ringing in my room made me groan in annoyance as I gripped the walls and fell on the bed, picking up the phone.

“Ye…? Who dere?” I slurred out, not even sure what I was saying was coherent or not. “Hey, Kat? Are you alright? I heard what happened today with that jerk and…Well, he went livid. He kept beating up anyone who dared to say anything about you…It was quite the sight.” Nancy’s sweet and worried voice called out, making me sigh. “Ye, ’m fine, j'st super drunk. Fuck tha’ asshole. He ain’t worth shit. F'kin cheat'r.” I managed to blurt out, making Nancy sigh as well. “Do you want me to come over and take care of you? Or I can call Jonathan or Steve if you feel more comfortable with them? I know you and Max were very close, but at this hour, I doubt she’d be able to come over…” she tried to suggest, but I only shook my head, forgetting that she can’t see it. “’S fine, Nance, thanks a lot fo’ worryin’ 'bout me. Appreciate it. I’ll be fine, ’m jus’ super pissed off. T’ll go 'way soon.” I declared, clearing my throat. “Okay, Kat…I hope you know what you’re doing. Please take care of yourself…Sweet dreams.” she told me before she hung up, making me groan as I put back the phone and went to get the vodka bottle and sit back in the bathroom. “Mhh…Wonder how long till I pass out…” I muttered, forcing myself to open the 3rd bottle.

—

It was now Monday, and please, nobody ever leave me next to alcohol and cigarettes 'cause I swear to God I’m gonna go crazy. I puked so much that I thought my guts were out and my lungs exploded from the smoke. And the fact that I’m still exhausted like hell was understandable.

Everything went as it usually did, classes and then lunch, where for some reason or another, Billy decided to sit down next to me, making me groan and leave without a word. Of course he followed me to the courtyard, where he just had to stop me and spin me around to look at him.

“First of all, what the hell do you want?! Secondly, who gave you the right to TOUCH me?” I yanked my wrist from his hand and glared at him. “Can we please talk?” he tried to say, but I only tsked in annoyance and looked away. “Why would we? We have nothing to talk about. You fucked up, it’s all on you. I’m leaving.” I shrugged, ready to leave, but he stopped me again. “I…I’m sorry. I fucked up, you’re right. I hurt you, I broke my promises and I did exactly what I promised I wouldn’t do. You didn’t deserve any of that.” he confessed, looking at me. “Funny you should say that…Considering that you’re almost quoting what I said a few days ago…When you were too busy fucking Tina.” I scoffed, giving him a sarcastic smile. “Yes, I know, I fucked up, and I can’t ever ask you to forgive me. I deserved the phone call from two days ago where you cursed me into oblivion-” he started, making my eyes go wide in shock. “I did WHAT?!” I asked in horror, making him look confused at me. “You…Don’t remember that? It lasted for about an hour. You were crying, cursing and insulting me. It really broke my heart…” he muttered, looking away, but my face of horror was still there. “Fuck, I must have been really drunk to remember talking to Nancy, but not calling you to randomly curse you…Great.” I slapped my face in annoyance. “You hate alcohol.” he stated, but I only shrugged. “I hate cigarettes too, but that didn’t stop me from going full auto-destruct mode for 3 days before getting back to normal when I didn’t care about anyone. Bye, Hargrove, I have nothing more to say to you.” I turned to leave, but for the millionth time, I got stopped. “On the phone…You said…You said that you loved me. Did you, really…?” he barely breathed, making me stop dead in my tracks. “What, you thought I’d stay with you out of pity or something? 'Cause I felt lonely by myself? OF COURSE I DID, DUMBASS! Use that stupid brain of yours once in a while and maybe you’ll answer your own questions!” I threw my hands in the air in exasperation. “You…You also said you wanted to beat the hell out of me…So, you deserve to let your anger out on me. Do what will make you feel better.” he said in resignation, looking at the ground with a pitiful look. “I deserve everything and I will take anything. I hurt you…And I really suck.” he said in such a godamn pitiful voice that in made anger boil in me like never before. “What the FUCK do you want?! Do you want my pity? Do you want me to forgive you? THAT’S NEVER GONNA HAPPEN! You just want to fuck, that’s all you want! I was always just another girl on your stupid list, just another name and another challenge! I HATE YOU!” I turned to slap him, but…But just as my hand was about to collide with his face, I stopped and I started shaking and crying. “Fuck’s sake…I can’t do it…” I muttered with a sigh as I gritted my teeth in annoyance. “You can’t hurt me even now, after how much I hurt you…You still love me, and all I did was throw away your love like a spoiled brat…The truth is, I…I realised my feelings for you…I realised how much I care about you, and it was all so foreign and intense that…I got scared. And I tried to make those feelings go away by doing the same things that have been shielding me for all these years.” he explained, holding my hand as he made me touch his face, leaning into my touch. “Shut up…J-Just…Shut up! I don’t want to hear any more excuses! We’re done for, anyway! Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t possible trust you again. You…You just…You can’t even imagine the damage that you’ve done to me.” I shook my head, feeling my heart in pain like never before, making me take back my hand and jog away, having spotted Nancy and Jonathan going in the highschool to their next class. I needed a distraction, and studying/doodling always helped. “Hey, Kat, how are you holding up?” Nancy asked worriedly, hugging me. “I’m fine, all cool. Ready for Physics, I guess.” I shrugged, trying to play it cool. “Oh, I remembered. Next weekend there’s gonna be some charity party or something at our highschool and all students are asked to sign up and participate with anything interesting they’ve got. Mostly singing, as far as I know, but it works. Wanna go? I have to go there to take pictures for the event, so I can get you girls really good seats.” Jonathan suggested, making me and Nance look at each other and smiling simultaneously, and clearly agreeing. “Sure, that should be fun, right? I’m looking forward to it.” I smiled at them, feeling quite better, as if I finally belonged somewhere. “Hey, guys, hold up!” a familiar voice called out, making us 3 turn around and spot Steve. “Hey, so, uh…This weekend our basketball team has the 2nd last match and I wanted to ask if you’d come cheer on us. It will help a lot if I were to see some familiar faces…” he chuckled awkwardly. “I don’t know, Steve…With that git, Hargrove there, Kat might feel bad…” Nancy mumbled, looking at me, but I only grinned at them. “Nahh, who cares about him? My friend needs support? Then, Harrington, I will be there to support you. Just…Don’t steal my book again, please.” I winked at him, making the both of us laugh. “Thanks a lot, Kat, I really appreciate it. Jonathan, Nancy? Are you coming?” he asked as he put his arm around my shoulder. “Yeah, sure, man, why not.” Jonathan shrugged and we all agreed and made plans for these two following weekends.

Should be fun, huh?

—–

“Okay, Steve, so like, how do you want me to cheer? 'KING STEVE!’ or 'GO! GO! HARRINGTON!' ? ” I laughed as I rubbed his shoulders, the anxiety radiating off him. “That’s bloody awful, Kat, what the hell.” he grinned in disbelief, making me laugh at his reaction. “Okay, okay, I’ll just read my book until I see everyone screaming and I will do the same, how does that sound?” I tried to hype him up for the match the best I could. “Just…Just act natural and do what you want, okay?” he rolled his eyes and shook his arms a bit. “I have faith in you, Steve. GO FUCK THEM UP!” we high fived and I jogged on the bleachers, almost missing Billy’s lingering eyes on me and my friendly actions with Steve…Almost, being the key point. “Think they’ll win?” Jonathan asked, making me shrug. “I honestly have no idea what this game is about, but for everyone’s good, I hope they do.” I declared, paying attention to the game as soon as the first whistle blew.

It was a bit difficult properly paying attention and following the game since I honestly had no idea what was going on, but what I noticed was that Billy wasn’t really the same, while Steve was energetic like never before and managed to easily score like 4 times.

The points were tied and our team scored very rarely, which made me mess around a bit with the game, making sure Steve scored every time he threw the ball in the basket, or that the enemy team would randomly trip.

Hey, we won, what a surprise! Time to celebrate!

“KING STEVE! KING STEVE SCORED A GAZILLION TIMES! GO, KING STEVE!” I laughed as I jump-hugged him as a congratulations, but he only shook his head, grinning. “Thanks, Kat. Thanks a lot for the help.” he smirked, looking at me with a mischievous look in his eyes. “What ever could you mean by that, Harrington?” I chuckled, looking away. “I’ve been around you, El and a bunch of monsters enough to know when the ball moves anti-Physics law.” he laughed, ruffling my hair. “Jerk, not my hair! And come on, you played really well! What I did was just a bonus!” I tried to fix my hair a bit. “Hey, seeing the enemy team fall like idiots made my confidence boost like never before. I’d have laughed like an idiot if we weren’t mid-game. Come on, I’ll treat you to ice cream.” he proposed. “Oh, I won’t refuse free ice-cream! Go take a shower and I’ll take Jonathan and Nancy to the car, okay?” I asked, earning a nod. “Nancy! Steve is getting us free ice-cream! Let’s go!” I waved the two over, completely ignoring Billy coming over and looking crestfallen. “Did you just call him King Steve?” Billy’s soft voice asked from behind, making me turn at him with a bored look. “Yeah, I did, 'cause he won the game.” I shrugged, waiting for Nancy and Jonathan to come over. “Do you like him?” he asked again, his voice barely audible, somehow heartbroken. “No, we’re just friends…Not that it should concern you in any way. You see…He’s not a fuckass like you…Well, not anymore, that is. Bye now, free ice cream is waiting me and my friends.” I smiled fakely at him before hooking my arm to Nancy’s and going towards Steve’s car, where I got so much ice cream that I thought my brain would freeze, making the other 3 laugh at me.

We had such a nice time together, celebrating Hawkins’ victory and not having any worry in our heads… Except, maybe, the fact that Billy’s broken voice kept echoing in my head, making my heart cry…Stupidly weak heart…

It’s been already about 3 weeks without letting Billy talk to me more than necessary and I hate to admit to myself that it just keeps hurting more and more seeing him going down the way of self-destruction like never before. But tonight I was supposed to have fun with my 3 friends, right? Watch random students pretend they have talent and everyone to make fun of them 'cause they can’t sing, dance, or do anything really.

One guy completely butchered one of Michael Jackson’s dances, a girl hit all the wrong keys while playing a Beethoven piece another guy sounded strangled while attempting to sing “Stayin’ Alive” by Bee Gees… Okay, I mean, some of them were actually pretty good, I won’t deny, but I and Steve loved to make fun of the fails…It was just TOO hilarious!

It was all nice and giggles, until a very familiar instrumental started playing in the background, making me gasp in shock. “No…Way…” I barely managed to breathe out before snapping my head in the direction of the stage…

And there he was.

Billy Hargrove stood on the stage, holding the microphone with both hands, looking down, before up to scan the audience, before somehow managing to spot me, and we connected, neither of us daring to break the eye contact.

And he began to sing, in a soft voice like never before, earning hundreds of cheers and screams of excitement and adoration.

But I knew better than anyone else what this meant.

He wasn’t here for charity, or to impress anyone with his singing skills…

He was here to apologise.

He was here to try to reach my heart just like he used to before, and try to win me over again.

Time, it needs time to win back your love again I will be there, I will be there

His voice was sweet and warm yet sorrowful, like that of an angel, and I could feel dry sobs threatening to escape. “Kat, are you okay? What happened?” Steve asked, concerned at my sudden change of behaviour, but I wasn’t sure I could trust my voice much. “He…He’s…Apologising…And saying that he loves me…” I managed to choke out before covering my mouth, trying to control myself.

Love, only love can bring back your love someday I will be there, I will be there

He didn’t break eye contact even for a split of second, and I didn’t even realise tears were already going down my face until Nancy pulled me into her arms and offered me her napkin.

Fight, babe, I’ll fight to win back your love again I will be there, I will be there

“Go closer, it’s going to be okay. It will be okay, Kat.” Nancy reassured me, patting my head, but I was a bit scared that my legs would fail me from the intense emotions bursting in my heart.

Love, only love can bring down the wall someday I will be there, I will be there

Clutching my heart, I took a sharp breath and stood, holding the banister with dear life, afraid that I might collapse, as he started smiling, seeing me approach.

If we go again all the way from the start I would try to change the things that killed our love Your pride has built a wall, so strong that I can’t get through Is there really no chance to start once again?

I’m loving you

I quickly managed to climb down the stairs and started walking towards the stage, and as soon as those last words were so lovingly dragged out, I started crying, hugging myself as my heart was completely weak for him and him alone, and he extended his arm out toward me slightly, proving once again that he was trying to reach out me and my heart.

Try, baby, try to trust in my love again I will be there, I will be there

I started smiling and looking at him with such adoration on my face that it seemed to give him some sort of confidence as well to keep on going.

Love, our love just shouldn’t be thrown away I will be there, I will be there

I couldn’t contain myself and I started mouthing the lyrics to the song along with him, which made him put his hand to where his heart would be, in a way to match my action.

If we’d go again, all the way from the start I would try to change the things that killed our love Your pride has built a wall, so strong that I can’t get through Is there really no chance to start once again?

I nodded at him with a soft grin on my face, telling him that yes, I forgive him, and that I could feel he was being genuine with each word he’d sing and each emotion he’d express so openly.

If we’d go again, all the way from the start I would try to change the things that killed our love Yes, I’ve hurt your pride, and I know what you’ve been through You should give me a chance, this can’t be the end

By this time, I wasn’t sure if I just wanted him to stop singing so I’d be able to hold him close to me, or if I wanted him to keep singing because oh god, it did so many things to my heart that I couldn’t believe it was me who felt all these things.

I’m still loving you I’m still loving you I’m still loving you I need your love I’m still loving you

Still loving you, baby

He kept singing, so much force and emotion in his voice, that I started wiping the tears from my eyes as I kept repeating the same lyrics with him, confessing our undying love for each other over and over again.

Still loving you I need your love Still loving you I need your love, oh Still loving you I need your love, oh I need your love I need your love…

The song ended soon, making everyone stand up and cheer wildly, but he only had one thing in mind- He did a fast bow before walking down the stage and throwing his arms around me and holding me close to his chest, as tight as he could without leaving me breathless.

“I love you so much, Kat. I’m so sorry for letting trauma get the best of me. I was weak, I was a shithead and I hurt you. I was scared. I didn’t even realise that I turned back to my back habits until I saw you again…When I got the courage to actually look AT you, not THROUGH you. I don’t know what I was so scared about…What I still am so scared about…Maybe I am afraid that I will turn into my father and I will drive you away, like it made my mum leave me…I’ve been so afraid of fucking up…That I did without realising…I’m sorry, Kat, I really am. And I love you with all my heart.” he confessed, letting only one stray tear fall down his cheek, his eyes red from trying not to let his emotions get the best of him in front of the whole highschool. “I love you, Billy. I forgive you…And…Call me Kitten. I’m not leaving you.” I smiled softly, wiping away that tear before kissing him gently, before pulling away, earning a happy, almost choked out laugh from him. “I really don’t deserve someone like you…” he shook his head, but I paid that no mind, and instead, I trailed my fingers down his face, down his neck and to his chest, touching the 'K’ necklace that shined so beautifully. “I thought you’d throw it away.” I managed to say barely above a whisper. “No…Truth it, I started hyperventilating that day in the locker room, alone, thinking about everything going on, and I was suffocating. I tried to take it off carefully…But that didn’t work very well. I’m sorry I lied…I was embarrassed to tell you the truth.” he admitted, biting his lip. “It’s okay…I forgive you. I wasn’t expecting you to do what you did today…I…I never realised I could feel so many things at once…I thought I was gonna faint or something…It’s…It’s so weird…But I wouldn’t have it any other way. I appreciate the effort and sentiment you put in everything…Even if it took you quite a long while.” I let out an amused breath, making him take out something from his pocket…The 'B’ necklace. “Do you…Do you want it back…? I fixed the latch.” he asked softly, putting it on as soon as I put my hair on the side. “It’s funny, don’t you think? We keep breaking things, but we repair them for each other. We’re a bunch of idiots.” I laughed, making him put his forehead to mind. “Maybe from now on we’ll only fix each other and nothing bad will happen. I know I promised before, but this time, I am a new man and I am not afraid to brave any storm, if I have you by my side. Will you have me back…Kitten?” he smiled at me, making me roll my eyes. “I just said I will, silly! It will be as if none of these bad things happened. And we will be happy. We…We ARE happy.” I grinned, but he shook his head. “No…I hurt you, you shouldn’t forget that. It was my fault. Instead, I will make sure none of that ever happens again and I will focus solely on your happiness…Because Kat, if you are happy, I am happy, and that’s all I need from life. I love you.” he confessed once again, making me bury my face into his chest and hug him tightly. “Billy…Y-You’re doing that thing wh-where you’re stirring t-too many emotions i-in my heart a-and I can’t take it. C-Can you, like, s-slow down? I-I-I’m feeling faint.” I stutter out, hiding my face in his shirt, making him chuckle in amusement and kiss my head. “Oh, baby, you have no idea what YOU do to me every time you’re being so cute and adorable…And only I can make you so flustered. It’s doing lots of things to me and you’ve no idea.” he smirked lightly, but before he could say another thing, he started groaning in annoyance. “Who the fuck thought singing this stupid song was a good idea? Fuck The Police and this song.” he grumbled, making me laugh at his reaction. “Hey, Billy…I’m SO not kissing you on this song!” I grinned in amusement, barely managing to stifle my giggles, both of us having the throwback from the Snow Ball where everyone kept kissing on The Police’s “Every Breath You Take.” “Got me there, babe. And as if the song wasn’t stupid enough, his voice makes it even worse…” he pouted, resting his chin on the top of my head. “I had no idea that was possible…Until now.” I declared, holding him close to me and swinging back and forth to the soft and somehow broken rhythm of the music.

—-

“Billy! Hey, Billy! I’ve got news!” I ran to him, panting, out of breath since I had 0 physical endurance. “Huh? What happened?” he straightened out on the bench, not paying any attention to his stupid buddies anymore. “The exam results JUST appeared! And…Well, hope you don’t mind, but I peeked a tiiiiiny bit at yours before I even looked at mine and…Haha, don’t be mad!” I grinned sheepishly, making him roll his eyes and let out an amused breath. “Okay, Lady Scholarship, I’m sure you got all the good grades and snatched away the Studies Scholarship, right? How much did you get at Biology? 100%? ” he asked with a knowing smirk, making me blush at the confidence he had in me and look down, nodding, the grin on my face never faltering for a second. “That’s my Kitten! See, I told ya! You really need to trust yourself more, you’re a smart babe!” he got up to hug me tightly and kiss me on the lips with much passion. “Okay, okay, enough of this! Now, sit down and let me tell you about your results, okay?” I made him sit down again, trying to look as passive as possible. “Fine, babe, shoot.” he kept bouncing his leg up and down, trying to relax himself, but to no avail. “So, uhm…You got all the good grades…But uhm…At Biology, you didn’t get a B…” I trailed off, making his face fall into complete horror, before realising the smirk on my face that I couldn’t stop. “You got an A, babe. You got 97%! The Scholarship is yours!” This made him and everyone around his jump on their feet and roar in happiness, clapping and cheering for 'King Billy’, he bent down to my level and kissed me with so much passion that I thought my face would be worse than a tomato and that my heart would leap out of my heart from embarrassment, shock and all other emotions at a time. “WE’RE GOING TO CALI, BABY! WHOOOOO!!” he screamed as loud as he could to the sky, feeling like nothing else could go better for him in life. “Yessss! It’s gonna be so cool!! We did it, Billy! We really did it!!” I cheered with him, making him pick me up and wrapping my legs around his waist. “We’re gonna move in together, and it’s gonna be just us and nobody else to pressure or fuck with us. I’m so not letting you go, babe. The things you do to me, Kitten, you’ll never understand.” he smirked as he whispered that against my lips before shamelessly making out with me in front of everyone which made me blush like I was gonna die in the next second, but, well…They’re not gonna see us ever again so…So I just put my arms around his neck, pulling him closer to me and smiling into the kissing. “You’re gonna be the death of me some day, honey.” I said in between kisses, softly and playfully biting his bottom lip, making him smirk widely. “Oh, Kitten, you naughty girl, you’re doing things to me and you are fully aware of that. You’re so lucky I love you.” he confessed before capturing my lips again, with just as much fire as before. “Oh, yeah, I really am lucky~.” I giggled softly, trying to tune out any new person passing by.

—-

“So, uhm…First of all, I wanted to thank all my teachers for being incredible moral, emotional and intellectual supports for me all these years of highschool…I want to thank my friends, Nancy, Jonathan and Steve, for being there for me when I needed them the most…I want to thank a bunch of 13 year olds for accepting me as their Party Nerd Leader…I want to thank my boyfriend, Billy Hargrove, who loves me so much and whom I love endlessly…” I trailed off a bit, looking at Billy, who already did his diploma acceptance speech, as a Scholarship winner, and I smirked widely. “And also, I want to thank all of you for being a bunch of dumbasses and for letting me steal your Scholarship and Loverboy so easily from right in front of you! You suck, guys! Toodles! See you in Cali!” I laughed, taking the diploma from the hands of Mrs. Green and I ran off the stage, jump-hugging Billy and kissing him deeply. “Now, babe, THAT is what I call a real badass speech. I’m so proud of you for showing them who’s the real Queen here.”  he smiled proudly at me, kissing my forehead. “WE’RE GOING TO CALI, BABY!” I couldn’t stop radiating with glee, just like a sunshine, and before ending the Graduation ceremony, we all threw our caps into the air and cheered that highschool is finally over.

And the best thing?

Well…

HARRINGTON IS TREATING US TO ICE-CREAM AGAIN!

Success~!

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8

#stranger things #stranger things imagine #billy hargrove x oc #billy hargove x reader #billy hargove imagine #billy hargrove #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #steve harrington #robin buckley #mike wheeler #dustin henderson #lucas sinclair #will byers #max mayfield #jim hopper #joyce byers #bob newby #katrina black #the blood moon #eleven #jane hopper #el stranger things

[insideoutstory]

Inside Out → Chapter Five

summary: School turns out to be a special torture all its own after a tough weekend. word count: 5.1k warnings: n/a [ masterlist ]   [ FF.net ]

“You look better today.” 

Dustin was waiting in the driveway when Christine came out the next morning. She stuck her tongue out at him as she collected her own bike, which made him grin. 

“Mom made you lunch,” he added, offering her a brown paper bag. “Just in case your power went out last night.” 

“Power? You guys too?” 

“Yup. Killed everything in the fridge. Which sucks but means we get to have fluffernutters.” 

“Sick.” Christine took the bag, stowing it away in her backpack. “My fridge is still going, but I don’t say no to a fluffernutter.” 

“Man, brown outs are so lame,” Dustin complained. “Blackouts are fun. That shit’s exciting. Not being able to do some things is just dumb.” 

“Language, Dustin.” 

They set off together down the street. Dustin always pedaled faster than Christine, and had to loop around at every stop sign waiting for her to catch up. He’d tease her about being a slowpoke from time to time, but it was something they were both used to. They didn’t bike to school together every day, but the ride was nicer with company. 

“Did you talk to Nancy?” asked Dustin, pulling up beside Christine. 

“Nope. Did you talk to Nancy?” 

“Nope. I told you I wasn’t gonna say anything. You might think bards are all show and charisma, but my word means something. Besides, she was being a real jerk yesterday. I offered her the last slice of pizza and she just slammed the door in my face.” 

“Don’t take it too hard,” said Christine. “It’s me she’s mad at, not you.” 

“Why is she mad at you? She’s the one who kissed the guy. You should be mad at her.” 

“No, I shouldn’t. She’s my friend, and I love her, so I should be happy for her.” 

“But you liked him first, didn’t you?” 

“That’s not how it works, Dust,” she sighed. “You can’t call dibs on people. They make their own choices.” 

“Yeah, but I thought your friends are always supposed to come first.” 

It took her a minute to come up with a response to that one. Christine pushed down the remnants of her rage, and steeled her resolve. 

“They are. Which is why I’m not mad at her.” 

“You’re not?” Dustin asked, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. 

“Nope.” 

“Not even a little bit?” 

“Absolutely.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“One hundred percent.” 

“So if you biked up to the high school right now, and Nancy and Steve were sucking face in the parking lot…” 

“Oh my God, shut up, Dustin.” 

She flipped him off, and Dustin raised a warning finger. “Hey, watch your language! Your—Your hand…language. Shit.” 

Christine smirked at his fumble, and took the opportunity to change the subject. 

“Hey, Mike said the new ham shack should be in soon. He wouldn’t say if I was allowed to see it. You gonna put in a good word for me?” 

“Oh shit! That’s like today! Yes! Oh, hell yes!” 

Dustin spent the rest of the ride gushing about the new radio, all the features it was supposed to have, how much it cost. Christine listened intently, trying to focus on his rambling instead of the trouble waiting for her on the horizon. 

They split ways on the main road—Dustin going to meet up with his friends while Christine turned toward the high school. It was annoying having to weave through all the speeding cars of the upperclassmen, and she got honked at more than once for cutting someone off. Almost no one rode their bikes to school anymore. On the bright side, that meant she never had to fight someone for a spot. There was always space at the bike rack.

Christine kept her head down as she walked to her locker. No one looked her way, and there were no waves of whispers floating around her. She allowed herself to relax just slightly. Part of her had worried that after the scene she’d caused with Tommy, the halls would be echoing with the words “psycho bitch.” But to everyone else, it just seemed like another teenage party. People drank, people hooked up, people cried—and the world kept spinning on. 

She dropped her bag in her locker, and out of habit headed down the hall toward Nancy’s. She stopped short when she realized what she was doing. She hadn’t thought at all about what she wanted to say. What if Nancy flipped on her for bailing on the party? What if she really was with Steve, sucking face in the hallway like Dustin had said? 

Christine gripped her books tighter, and forced herself forward. She couldn’t avoid Nancy forever. It was better to get it over with and just move on with her day. 

Nancy was already at her locker, but thankfully, Steve was nowhere in sight. Instead she was talking to Barb, who was smirking at something Nancy had said. Nancy laughed, but stopped abruptly when she spotted Christine. She had to rush to cover her shock with a smile. 

“Morning,” Christine said, casually as she could muster. “What are we laughing at?” 

“Oh, nothing!” Nancy’s words were rushed, and Christine didn’t miss the side glance she shot to Barb. “Uh, hey! How are you feeling?” 

“Better. I was…pretty wrecked yesterday. Hungover, I mean. That punch was stupid strong.” 

“Right. No, yeah, I figured that was what happened.” 

“I’m sorry I bailed. I was just like…puking and nauseous and…” 

“No, it’s totally fine! I—I caught a ride home so…it’s cool.” 

They nodded at each other in silence. Nancy averted her eyes to the books in her arms, and Christine inspected a ripped sticker on a locker two doors down. But Barb caught her eye, giving her a painfully pointed look, and Christine struggled to bite down her sigh. 

“So. You and Steve. Congrats.” 

Nancy’s head shot up like a bottle rocket, her eyes wide. “No, no! It wasn’t like that. I don’t know how much you heard or—or what you saw, but it wasn’t like that. Really.” 

“Nancy, it’s fine.” 

“I mean, he kissed me, yes. And it was great. But it’s like you said, right? It’s not exactly a marriage proposal.” 

“Nancy,” Christine said firmly. “It’s fine. I’m really happy for you.” 

She wasn’t sure if the words sounded convincing. They certainly didn’t seem so to her. But Nancy’s shoulders sagged in relief, and Barb nodded approvingly. 

“I was just telling Nancy that she better not be too cool to hang out with us anymore. If she becomes friends with Tommy H or Carol, I swear…” 

“Oh, that’s gross,” Nancy scoffed, turning back to her locker. “Okay, I’m telling you it was a one-time…two-time thing.” 

Barb raised her eyebrows, and Christine laughed politely. It wasn’t as hard as she’d expected. Nancy might be lying through her teeth about the whole ordeal, but as long as she did, the venomous shred of hope in Christine’s chest still had a tiny spark. There was plausible deniability. Until, of course, Nancy opened her locker. 

A small rip of paper fell onto Nancy’s books, which she unfolded without a second thought. The big blue words would have been impossible to hide even if she’d tried to. 

Meet me. Bathroom. –Steve 

Christine’s tiny spark spluttered out. 

“You were saying?” Barb asked slyly, and Nancy flushed scarlet. 

“I—I should probably go. I might have left something in his car, or maybe he wants to…” 

“To ravage you before class,” Barb finished, waving a hand. “Go, Nance. We’ll see you in homeroom.” 

Nancy gave a nervous look to Christine, who luckily still had the polite smile stuck on her face. 

“Yeah, go. We’ll catch you later.” 

Nancy nodded, quickly collecting her books from her locker. Then she darted down the hallway toward the nearest bathroom, her excitement already beginning to burst through her face. 

“Well, that was painful,” said Barb, once she’d disappeared. “But nice job.” 

“Hey, I’m trying, okay?” Christine huffed as they headed in the opposite direction. “I know I should be supportive. I’m just still…” 

“Heartbroken?” 

“Bummed,” she corrected flatly. 

“Well, it definitely could have been worse,” said Barb. She bumped Christine with her shoulder, gently knocking the shorter girl off track. “I just wish you two had done it over the phone so I didn’t have to witness it.” 

“I tried calling her, seriously. But after I called you, the connection just went completely out of whack. All I could get was static.” 

“Yeah, me too. My parents had the news on this morning? Apparently it was county-wide. Some people still don’t have power.” 

“Seriously?” Christine furrowed her brow, thinking back to her bedside lamp, Dustin’s fridge. “Power lines down or something?” 

“Well that’s the thing,” said Barb. “They’ve got no idea what caused it. Scientific anomaly.” 

“Great. That’s real comforting.” 

“For sure. Especially when my dad starting going on about the Russians.” 

They were two of the first to arrive for homeroom, and took seats in the back so they could gossip in low voices. Barb forced Christine to recount everything that had happened on Saturday, from Steve’s clever convincing at the movie theater to the disastrous party itself. It didn’t seem so bad now that she was twenty-four hours removed. It actually felt nice to get it all out. And as much as Barb had teased and egged on Nancy in the morning, she still offered a sympathetic ear to Christine’s complaining. 

For this, Christine was eternally grateful. She didn’t want to stick Barb in the middle of some stupid, petty fight. It wouldn’t be fair to her, not after all the times she’d put up with their daydreaming and giggling. At the same time, she knew it wouldn’t be easy. Especially when the final bell rang fifteen minutes later, and Nancy still had not joined them in class. 

“Alright, everyone settle down,” their instructor, Ms. Snider, called. “Faster we get through this, the faster you can get back to your lives. Gina Atwood?” 

“Here!” 

“Ana Bently?” 

“Here.” 

“Jonathan Byers? Jonathan? No? Alright. Warren Chadwick?” 

“Here!” 

They combed farther and farther down the list, and Christine’s eyes stayed glued to the door. She was one minute late, two minutes, three… 

“Christine Walcott? Christine?” 

Barb had to kick her under the desk, and Christine jolted upright. “Uh, here! Sorry.” 

“Thank you, Miss Walcott. And Nancy Wheeler? Nancy?” 

Christine looked at the door, but it remained firmly closed. 

“Alright, then,” said Ms. Snider, clapping the front of the podium. “Announcements. Hawkins Elementary is still looking for volunteers to help in their annual field day. If you’re interested in that, make sure you stop by the front office to look at the sign-up sheet. If you’re not interested in that, may I remind you that it does count as extra credit toward physical education. So those few of you who are so keen on skipping gym might want to think twice. The honor society is also hosting…” 

A loud creak interrupted as the classroom door inched open. Nancy squeezed inside, then froze when she noticed that every single person in the room was looking at her. A few students giggled, but Snider didn’t bother quieting them. 

“Miss Wheeler. Thank you for joining us. If you’ll find a seat, so we can continue.” 

Nancy’s flustered blush was visible from the other side of the classroom. Her tousled hair was a bit subtler, as were her swollen lips. But to Christine they stuck out like stains on a white carpet. She gripped her pencil a bit tighter, grinding the graphite into a fine powder against her desk. 

After homeroom, Christine decided to change her strategy. She couldn’t avoid Nancy forever, but she could damn well avoid her for now. She hurried out of every class they had together, and used her queasy stomach as an excuse to duck into bathrooms wherever possible. She knew Nancy was suspicious, but there was little that could be done about that. Avoiding her was better than completely losing it in the middle of the hallway, wasn’t it? In the end, it would all be for the best. 

Christine could avoid Nancy to the best of her ability. But there were some things she just couldn’t run from. 

Steve slid into his seat just as the bell rang, his physics textbook in hand. Christine watched him out of the corner of her eye, but did not raise her head. The plan was to deny him the satisfaction of her attention. He had Nancy for that now, and Christine was putting her foot down. 

“Okay, people,” called Mr. Austin, propping his feet up on his desk. “First thing’s first, place your lab reports in the hand-in bin, and then back to your seats to read the intro to chapter eight. Lecture starts in ten.” 

“Reports?” Steve echoed. “We have…? Shit. Christine, did you…?” 

She wordlessly slid the paper over him, focusing intently on her textbook. 

“Oh, thank Christ. You’re a freaking angel.” 

She only listened as he scribbled his name next to hers on the paper, and hurried up to the front of the class to hand it in. She would not look up from her work. She would not, she would not, she would not… 

Steve collapsed back into his chair, peeking over at her book to check the page number. It even seemed like he was able to read a couple sentences before he got distracted. He ran a hand through his hair, and traced a few lines of the first paragraph. She watched his hand drift to the edge of the book, where his thumb stroked down the corner a few times. Then he reached over and tapped Christine’s page. 

“Hey,” he said softly, ducking his head to avoid the teacher’s gaze. “How are you feeling?” 

“Fine.” 

“Oh, good. Tommy said you ran out of the party on Saturday. I thought you might’ve been sick.” 

“Nope.” 

Steve’s hand flinched in the corner of her vision, but Christine ignored it. She wasn’t even reading the chapter at this point, just glaring down at the fine print. She was not going to look at him. She wasn’t going to do it. 

“Hey, did your power go out last night?” he tried. “My dad was yelling about the TV for like an hour. It was nuts.” 

“Yeah, wild.” 

She winced. She knew she was being short. But he deserved it, right? After everything he’d done, she shouldn’t care if his feelings were hurt. She should probably celebrate. Serve him right for… 

Steve reached over before she was prepared, brushing the back of her hand. It was just one finger, barely ghosting over her skin, but her body reacted like it was a thousand-volt shock. She looked up instantly, meeting his gaze. 

“Chrissy, you sure you’re okay?” 

He looked concerned, truly and honestly. And God, did she want to believe that he was. But he’d given her looks like that before. It hadn’t meant a damn thing. 

“I’m fine, Steve.” Her voice was feebler than she’d intended, which was infuriating. She snatched her hand away from him. “Seriously. Now look at your book and read the chapter before Austin gives you detention again and I have to write your notes on this too.” 

Steve gaped at her, eyebrows shooting up in surprise. “Wow. Bossy.” 

Christine rolled her eyes and went back to her book, prompting Steve to let out a low whistle. That, unfortunately, caught the attention of Mr. Austin. 

“Harrington, do I need to come back there and hold your hand through the reading?” 

“No, sir,” Steve replied, giving him a thumbs up. “Just read something super interesting. Sorry, sir.” 

Laughter rippled across the classroom, but Austin let him off the hook. 

Steve left her alone after that, for the most part anyway. Occasionally, Christine could feel his eyes lingering on her. On any other day, it would have been thrilling. Today all she wanted to do was burrow into the floor and disappear forever. 

As soon as the bell rang, she was out of her seat. She swiped her books into her arms all at once, grabbed her backpack, and rushed out of the door as fast as she could. It was easier to breathe in the hallway, away from the lingering smell of expensive cologne and hairspray, but only until she heard the footsteps rushing up behind her. 

“Hey, Christine, wait up!” 

She did not want to wait up. If it wouldn’t have caused a scene, she would have sprinted down the hallway like a track star. But she didn’t need that kind of attention. So she slowed down her pace to a normal walk and waited for Steve to catch up to her. 

“Damn, you’re in a hurry,” he laughed. It faltered a bit when she didn’t join in, but it didn’t stop him from continuing. “You heading to lunch?” 

“Yes.” 

“Alright, cool. I just wanted to know if you guys wanted to join us.” 

“…What?” 

“You know, me, Tommy, Carol, a couple other people. I figured you could eat with us. You, Nancy, and uh…that other chick you’re always hanging around with.” 

“I can’t,” Christine said instantly. 

Steve stared at her. “You…can’t?” 

“Yeah, um…my fridge died last night cause of the blackout. Brown out. Whatever.” 

“O-kay? So what, you’re buying?” 

“No, uh…my neighbor packed lunch for me. She’s super sweet, and wanted to make sure I had something, but I have to go pick it up from her son at the middle school, so…yeah. I gotta go. Thanks, though.” 

He was still squinting at her, and she had run out of things to say. Without any real choice, Christine turned on her heel and fled down the hallway, cursing under her breath as she walked right out the door and into the parking lot. She didn’t dare stop. She walked all the way around the building and back into the school through a different entrance. Then she headed for her locker, where the lunch from Mrs. Henderson was safely tucked away. 

She twisted the paper bag in her hands, deliberating. Then she slammed her locker shut and walked in the opposite direction of the cafeteria. 

She didn’t really have a plan laid out. The only objective was staying as far away from her problems as she physically could. 

She wound up by the gymnasium. Satisfied that no one would come looking for her here, she sank to the ground, leaning her back against the giant tiger mural splayed across the wall. She fished her Walkman out of her backpack and slipped on her headphones. The smooth vocals of “Careless Talk” by Billy Joel filled her ears, and she cranked up the volume. On the highest setting, she could almost drown out the sounds of the basketball game going on inside. 

Christine opened her lunch bag, smiling morosely at the squished fluffernutter. She’d have to thank Claudia for thinking of her. There was no telling what kind of emotional trauma she’d prevented by giving Christine an out. 

The rest of the day stretched on, a war on Christine’s nerves. She’d had to bullshit her way through a conversation with a very concerned Nancy after lunch, explaining that Steve must’ve misunderstood what she’d told him. Her fridge hadn’t died. Dustin’s had, and she had to bring him his lunch because he left early for school. It was a much better lie than her previous one, but Nancy still didn’t believe her. That wasn’t a surprise, but things were still too awkward to push the issue. 

In fact, almost all the conversations she had with Nancy were turning out to be painful. They were either over complimentary to each other, or so short they were barely talking at all. It hurt, and Barb was clearly growing exasperated with both of them. At the same time, Christine found it comforting that Nancy didn’t know how to handle the situation either. 

It was a relief when the final bell rang at the end of the day. Christine collected her things and escaped out a side door, taking the long way to the bike rack so she could avoid any unwanted interactions. She even went the extra mile to bike to the middle school instead of heading home, just so she wouldn’t pass Barb and Nancy on the road. 

Hawkins High School let out about twenty minutes before Hawkins Middle, so she had to wait a while before the students rushed out. She finally spotted Dustin’s hat among the masses, where he was walking with Mike and his friend Lucas. She waved, but the boys were deeply involved in their own conversations. They didn’t notice her until they were right on the curb, and she cleared her throat behind them. 

“Hello? Earth to the Dungeon Squad.” 

All three boys jumped, wheeling around clumsily with their bikes. 

“Christine!” Dustin complained, laying a hand on his chest. “Don’t do that! And don’t call us that!” 

“Sorry. Dungeon People?” 

“Oh, ha, ha. You’re hilarious.” 

“Uh…hi, Christine,” said Lucas, smiling brightly. 

Dustin and Mike both rolled their eyes, and Christine contained her chuckle. 

“Hey, Lucas. How ya doing?” 

“Great. I mean—I’m cool.” 

“We’re not cool,” said Mike, glaring pointedly at Lucas. “And we were kind of in the middle of something.” 

“Yeah, you know,” Dustin added. “Places to go, people to see. Later Chrissy!” 

“Woah, woah, woah,” said Christine, watching as they climbed onto their bikes. “Where are you rushing off to? And aren’t you missing one? Where’s Byers?” 

The boys froze, and all exchanged downcast looks. Christine stood up a little straighter, inspecting them closely. 

“Guys? What’s going on?” 

It was Mike that answered her first. 

“He’s gone.” 

“Gone? Like, he skipped?” 

“No, he didn’t skip,” he snapped. “I said he’s gone.” 

“Chief Hopper came down to talk to us,” Dustin supplied. “Will’s mom can’t find him anywhere. He’s just…gone.” 

“Gone?” she echoed, again. “What do you…? When was the last time you saw him?” 

“Last night,” said Lucas, “after the campaign. We left Mike’s at eight.” 

“I biked home with him,” Dustin continued. “We raced to my house and then he kept going. No one knows what happened.” 

Christine bit her lip. She didn’t know Will very well, but he was a quiet kid. Not the type to skip town for kicks, especially without his best friends. And if the cops had come down to question them, it sounded serious. Her mind flashed back to homeroom, and the empty desk where Jonathan Byers usually sat. 

She did her best not to let the worry show on her face. 

“I’m sure he’s fine,” she said supportively. “And if he’s not, the police will find him. Hawkins isn’t that big.” 

“If he’s still in Hawkins,” said Mike. 

“Well…one thing at a time. Come on. I wanna make sure you all get home okay.” 

“NO!” 

All three boys began clamoring at once, supplying various excuses and trying to inch away before she noticed. But Christine simply held up her hands, unfazed. 

“Listen, if Will’s really in trouble, I’m not letting you guys go off alone. You can talk on the walkies when you get home, but I don’t think you should be wandering.” 

“We’ll be fine,” Mike insisted. “It’s like you said. Will’s probably uh—completely okay. Nothing to worry about.” 

“And we won’t wander off,” added Dustin. “Cross our hearts.” 

Christine stared down the boys. Mike and Dustin maintained their poker faces, smiling innocently until she looked away. She zeroed in on Lucas, who was repeatedly adjusting his grip on his handlebars. After a few seconds under scrutiny, he cracked. 

“I don’t know, guys,” he sighed. “Maybe Christine is right. You heard what the chief said.” 

Mike smacked him, and Christine raised her eyebrows. 

“Oh? What exactly did the chief say, Lucas?” 

Both Mike and Dustin were glaring at him now. Lucas squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the inevitable impact. 

“He made us promise not to go looking for Will.” 

“What the hell, Lucas?!” 

“Asshole. You are so whipped.” 

“HEY!” 

The arguing stopped abruptly, and the boys turned to stare at Christine. She stepped forward, and jabbed a finger at each of them in turn. 

“Listen up. I have had a really shitty day, so the last thing I need is to listen to the three of you arguing all the way home. I’m biking each of you to your houses, and if I find out you didn’t stay there, I tell your parents. End of discussion. Got it?” 

They nodded reluctantly, though Dustin was still giving her a pissy look as she hopped back onto her bike. 

“You’re crabby. If you had such a bad day, why didn’t you just go home?” 

“I made the mistake of thinking hanging out with you might make me feel better. My bad.” 

“Lay off, Dustin,” said Lucas, and he stepped up to her side. “Sorry you had a bad day, Chrissy.” 

“Thanks, Lucas.” 

“You’re way too good for Steve Harrington anyway.” 

Christine turned deadly slow toward Dustin, who already had his hands up in the air. 

“Lucas made me tell him!” 

“What? I did not!” 

“Yes, he did! I told you! He’s crazy about you!” 

“You’re dead, Henderson!” 

Dustin was off like a gunshot, Lucas right on his tail as they raced for the main road. Christine screamed for them to slow down, but it was no use. She huffed, sitting back on her bike, and Mike snorted next to her. 

“You still want to bike home with us?” 

“Nice try, Wheeler. Get pedaling.” 

They stopped at the Wheeler’s first—“stopped” being a rather loose term, as Christine barely stayed long enough to see Mike make it to the door. Then they dropped off Lucas, before circling back around to their own street to head home. Dustin whined obnoxiously as Christine parked her bike in his driveway, insisting on walking him all the way into the house in case he tried to make a run for it. Judging by all his complaining, it was exactly what he’d been planning to do. 

“Dusty? Is that you?” Mrs. Henderson came shuffling into the living room, one arm around her overweight cat and the other on her hip. “You’re late! I was getting worried!” 

“Blame Chrissy,” he scoffed, walking straight down the hallway to his room. “She wouldn’t let us bike home alone.” 

“Well, that is because Christine is the best babysitter in Hawkins.” 

“She’s not my babysitter, Mom! She’s my friend, and she’s annoying!” 

The door to Dustin’s room slammed shut, and Mrs. Henderson huffed. “I don’t know what’s gotten into him! He’s been so rude lately.” 

“It’s fine, Mrs. Henderson,” Christine said with a shrug. “He’s just worried about Will. All of them are.” 

“God, that poor thing.” She pressed a hand to her cheek, shaking her head. “You know, Joyce Byers called me this morning at wit’s frayed end. I can’t imagine what’s she’s been through. If it had been Dusty, I don’t know what I’d do.” 

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that. So long as he doesn’t climb out a window to go look for Will, I think he’ll be okay.” 

“What are we going to do with him?” she asked, shaking her head. Christine almost answered, but Mrs. Henderson lifted her cat’s face up to her nose instead. “Huh, Mews? What are we going to do with him?” 

Christine laughed awkwardly, taking a step back toward the door. “Alright, well I’m gonna head home…” 

“Are you sure, sweetheart? Do you want to stay for dinner? I’m making lasagna!” 

“No, no. No worries. I don’t want to be a bother.” 

“Oh hush! You’re never a bother, Christine. I can’t thank you enough for taking care of Dusty. You could even stay here for the night, if you’d like. I don’t like the idea of you alone over there, especially with everything going on.” 

“I’ll be fine, really. I’m not planning on heading out anywhere. Besides, if anyone tries to get in the house, I’ve always got my dad’s shotgun.” 

Mrs. Henderson did not seem to find that as funny as Christine did. She pursed her lips, and hugged her cat a little bit closer. 

“Alright. If you’re sure. But I want you to call me before you go to bed tonight. I don’t want to have to worry about you vanishing too.” 

“You got it, Mrs. Henderson.” 

“Christine, you’re nearly sixteen years old. ‘Claudia’ is fine.” 

“Right. Sorry.” Christine waved goodbye, but hesitated for a moment at the front door. “Claudia? Thanks for the fluffernutter. It…kinda saved my day.” 

Mrs. Henderson smiled. “Anytime, sweetie. I figured you could use it. Dusty mentioned you had a rough weekend.” 

“Ugh. Did he tell everyone?” 

“Probably,” she laughed lightly. “But it’s only because he worries about you.” 

“Yeah, well. I guess I worry about him too.” Christine bit her lip, tapping on the edge of the doorframe. “If you want, I’ll take him all the way to school tomorrow. Just to be safe.” 

“Ah! You’re the sweetest.” Mrs. Henderson placed her cat on the floor, hurrying over to Christine to give her a kiss on the cheek. “You’re like my own little angel.” 

“Yeah,” Christine muttered to herself as she stepped out onto the porch. “So I’ve been told.”

#stranger things #stranger things fanfiction #ocappreciation #steve harrington x oc #steve harrington x reader #inside out #chapter 5 #chapters #steve harrington #steve harrington/oc

[jancys-blue-bayou]

Hi, I just wanted to say that I loved your stuttery Jonathan fic! Do you think we could have a followup fic at some point where it's years later and showing how Jonathan has progressed with Nancy at his side? Maybe even Jonathan asking her to marry him (and some engagement night smut after?) Tysm!

A/N: Thanks for the prompt, it was really fun revisiting this story, I’m so happy people liked it! So here comes 5000 words more on it, though no smut (sorry) because I wanted to keep the rating down.

Also on Ao3 and FFNet (and don’t miss chapter 1 there)!

”Ready for this?” She asks him on the porch to her house.

”Your dad will kill me,” Jonathan deadpans.

”No he won’t. He’d have to go through me first. And mom, frankly. And Holly. Maybe even Mike,” she smiles back.

He’s still nervous around her family, mostly her dad, even though they’ve been together for over a year now. She can’t blame him, really. She thinks of her dad as harmless and to be honest a pretty useless jaded guy with seemingly only a passing interest in his children’s lives. But she gets that his suffocating silence, stony gaze and dry tone puts Jonathan on edge. He’s sure her dad hates him, she herself wouldn’t go that far but it’s hard for her to deny that he at least doesn’t care much for Jonathan. She doesn’t get why, since Jonathan is the best. But then again her dad is the most boring person she knows so maybe it’s natural he doesn’t like the funniest. But to be honest maybe Jonathan’s right in his suspicions that it’s because of his stutter (”he thinks I’m an idiot”) and/or that he’s ”too poor and not good enough for you”.

”Plus, he’ll hear about me being accepted by Columbia first. That’s gotta put even him in a good mood, his eldest being accepted into a great school,” she continues.

”S-sure, but then your mom will ask me and I’ll tell t-them about NYU and then we’ll have to tell them about our plans of l-living together in sin and that’s where I see this going south,” he continues in his slightly sarcastic tone.

”Listen to me,” she begins and puts her hands on either side of his face, drawing him in close. ”Demogorgon. Mind Flayer. My father. We’ve battled well against two, I think we can take the third too.”

That draws a chuckle which is all she wanted. She gives him a kiss before they head inside.

”Oh honey I’m so proud of you!” Her mom positively beams over the dinner table. ”That is wonderful! Congratulations!”

”Thank you,” she smiles.

”Yes, congratulations honey,” her dad says. With… well his voice is at least not completely devoid of emotion for once. ”What happened to Northwestern? Or IU?” He then asks in his ’neutral’ tone which is really not neutral, she knows by now.

”Northwestern was just a backup, Columbia was my first choice. And I didn’t apply to IU,” she calmly explains.

”Hm. Nothing wrong with IU. I went there, you know.”

”I know, I never said there were? I wanted to go to Columbia, and I got in!”

”Yes, that’s great.”

”It is great! So great,” her mom chimes in. ”We’re so proud of you honey.”

”Yeah, congrats I guess,” Mike butts in using his patented I-don’t-really-care-that-much tone.

”Thanks,” she says again.

”Oh Jonathan, how about you then? Heard anything?” Her mom turns to Jonathan with a smile. She grabs his hand under the table for support.

”Oh, y-yes actually. I g-got into NYU,” he answers with a polite smile.

”Oh congratulations! That’s great! Oh Joyce must be so proud, as she should be!”

”She is,” Jonathan smiles.

”So, Tisch?” Mike asks.

”Yeah.”

”Cool. Congrats.”

”T-thanks.”

”Well, congratulations,” her father says, curtly.

”T-thank y-you,” Jonathan politely answers and she gives his hand a comforting squeeze.

”So, New York,” her father continues in a short tone.

”Yes,” she answers. ”We’ll both be in New York, isn’t it great?” She throws out there, gauging the reaction.

”Of course it is,” her mom smiles. Her dad just gives off a grunt.

”We think we’re gonna try and find an apartment together, off-campus. Cheaper, plus we’d just constantly be in each other’s dorm anyway,” she ploughs on now that she’s started. She can feel Jonathan grow more nervous. For real, his knee’s touching her knee and he’s tapping his foot like he does when he’s anxious, she can feel.

”That sounds lovely,” her mom continues to be enthusiastic, which is no surprise. She adores Jonathan. Her dad just grunts in response again but then opens his mouth.

”You know, you shouldn’t pick your college just because of a boy.”

”What? I’m not!” She’s flabbergasted by his take.

”Really? Seems to me there’s a lot colleges you could go to, but you’re set on the one that happens to be in the same city as his.”

”Now, Ted…” her mom admonishes.

”T-that’s n-not h-how it h-happened,” Jonathan says, nervously but right to her dad’s face. His stutter has really become much better in the last year, but it becomes prominent when people make him nervous or anxious.

”I’m going to Columbia because I want to become a journalist and they’re the best at that! Don’t you listen?”

”Hm. Just seems like you’ve already made all these plans together. Hm. Just saying, high school romances are all well and good but they don’t usually last now do they?” Her dad bluntly continues and she’s exasperated.

”W-with all d-due r-respect Mr. Wheeler,” Jonathan starts instead, and ignores all eyes, including her dad’s condescending gaze, falling on him and powers forward. ”T-that’s a p-pretty stupid n-notion.”

”Excuse me?” Her dad challenges and glares at Jonathan.

”N-nance is g-gonna be the b-best j-jou-journalist in the w-world and that’s why she’s g-going to C-columbia. She told you s-so. She d-didn’t pick it for me.”

Her dad scoffs condescendingly at Jonathan’s stutter. She has to hold herself back from going at him for it. It infuriates her. But Jonathan ignores it and just continues.

”A-a-and… I l-love Nancy and t-this,” he gestures between them, ”i-isn’t just a high school th-thing and i-it wouldn’t end just b-because of d-dis-dis-…” he’s heated and gets stuck on the word so she squeezes his hand again and jumps in before her father can with more condescending bullshit.

”Distance, it wouldn’t matter if we went to college in different cities, I love Jonathan and he loves me and that’s what matters and thankfully it just so happens that our dreams happen to match up nicely like this which is great, why can’t you just be happy for us?!”

Her dad has no response to that. She’s had it, she’s done with this. She gets up from the table and Jonathan follows. With his hand clutched in hers she marches out to the hall with him right behind her. They can hear her mom giving her dad some choice words and then come their way. They halt in the doorway.

”Oh you don’t have to leave like this,” her mom pleads.

”Please mom, I just can’t with him tonight,” she pleads in response.

”Oh well. You guys go, enjoy your evening. Ugh, I can’t believe him sometimes. I’ll talk to him. I’m so happy for you, both of you! And I think living together sounds like a great idea!” Her mom responds.

”Thanks,” she says.

”T-thanks. And thanks for d-dinner, it was delicious,” Jonathan adds.

”Oh thank you,” her mom smiles and pulls first Jonathan and then her into hugs.

”Thanks for standing up for me,” she tells him when they’re alone outside, walking in the nice spring evening.

”You’d have done it yourself I just c-couldn’t help myself. Your dad can be a real idiot,” he replies, stutter less noticeable now when it’s just the two of them.

”I know. But anyway, thanks. And screw him, doesn’t matter what he thinks. What matters is this, she tells him and gestures between them like he did earlier.

”Right,” he says and presses a kiss to her temple.

Four years later…

”S-sometimes, people don’t say what they’re r-really thinking.”

Jonathan takes a pause after saying it and looks right at her. She smiles and nods to him. They’ve worked on the speech for weeks. He’s worked on the exhibition for months. The nod means good start and good length on the dramatic pause, continue now.

”Capture the right m-moment, it says more.”

He’s so amazing. So talented, so hardworking. He graduated top of his class from Tisch this spring. He couldn’t decide between artistic or journalistic photography – so the genius built a course-load consisting of both and aced all of it. And now… boy have the two of them both been on a roll these last few months. Especially him. They both graduated this summer. With honors. He’d already been headhunted by this art gallery to do this autumn exhibition even before graduation. And one day in the summer she came home to their apartment to tell him she had applied for a position as junior staff writer at the New York Times. Amazingly, he had smiled his crooked smile and told her he’d just gotten off the phone with one of his old professors who’d encouraged him to apply for the position of junior photographer because the professor could put a good word in. And did. And even more amazingly, they both got the jobs. They’re a team, ready to take the world by storm. Ready to get to the truth of everything.

”Street photography is all about t-the moment.”

They’ve both worked their asses off. Especially Jonathan, using his free time to work on the exhibition. But it’s fun. They’re both doing what they want to do. And they’re together. He’s capturing moments in time. But they’re both in motion.

”I don’t claim to know what p-people are thinking, or saying. I don’t know if anyone of us knows. But I think photographs gives us a chance of working it out.”

Ms. Lacroix who owns the gallery caught sight of Jonathan’s photographs at a Tisch exhibit and it all started there. Now they’re here, opening day. Jonathan came home to the apartment one day in a slight panic because ”Ms. Lacroix wants me to ’say a few words’ at the opening”. All these years later public speaking still terrifies him, even though he’s gotten so much better at it. Even though his stutter overall has gotten extremely better, it’s barely even noticeable anymore when he’s just speaking in normal every day situations. When it’s just the two of them it’s near non-existent because he’s completely at ease with her. It’s mostly noticeable when he’s stressed or anxious. Such as when he’s speaking in front of a group. She managed to calm him down. Pointed out that he’s done this before, that he’ll crush it and that she’ll help him.

”I think these photographs says something about the people in them, about the streets they were taken on, about the city they were taken in. And maybe also about me who took them. I hope t-they say something to you too.”

She told him that less is more really is a good strategy for speeches. She told him it was time to go back to basics, strip everything else away. So they started off with what he told her in the red hue of the Hawkins High darkroom many years ago. And then took it from there.

”Thank you all for coming.”

Nailed it. Short, simple and sweet. Letting his photos speak more. She enthusiastically claps like the rest of the room. Jonathan blushes slightly and humbly bows his head. He can’t wait for the applause to stop so he can get off, she knows and smiles at him. Next to her Will and Joyce stand, just as enthusiastic as she is. Will is at Tisch himself now – though not in the photography department. Joyce came out to visit now for the exhibition. ”I am not missing my eldest first big solo exhibition” as she told them. Joyce is beaming with pride. She’s so proud of her boys. Nancy’s heard from Holly that Joyce has had Jonathan’s photographs and Will’s artworks up by the register at Melvald’s and has been telling anyone and everyone who will listen (or not even that) about ”her Jonathan’s big exhibition at a gallery in New York”. She relayed this information to Jonathan who went completely crimson upon hearing it, while she thinks it’s the sweetest thing ever.

The applause finally peters out as servers steps forth with trays filled with champagne glasses, and Jonathan gets to step down and heads straight towards them.

”You did awesome babe,” she tells him as soon as he’s reached them. ”And congrats again, I’m so proud of you,” she continues and gives him a quick kiss.

”Thanks,” he answers as she naturally tucks herself into his side.

”Honey I’m so so proud of you,” Joyce says and gives him a quick hug and kiss on the cheek.

”You’ve said that f-five times already today,” Jonathan notes through a crooked smile.

”Well I am!” Joyce throws back.

”This is so cool!” Will exclaims. ”All these people came here to see your pictures!”

Jonathan bashfully looks down at the ground instead of up at the packed room full of people now milling around looking at his photographs, his art. She bumps his hip and beams at him when he looks at her. He mirrors her smile.

”Jonathan! Humble boy, that was great!” Ms. Lacroix calls out as she swoops down on them, beckoning a server with her and swiftly passing out champagne glasses to them all before taking one herself. The gallery owner is eccentric, unapologetic and a big fan of Jonathan, which makes Nancy a big fan of her.

”T-thanks, Nancy helped me,” Jonathan answers.

”It was your words! You did awesome, there’s a lot of people here just to see your photos, stop being so modest,” she smiles at him and bumps his hip with hers again.

”Yes, it’s a great turnout!” Ms. Lacroix agrees and looks around the room at the mumbling mess of people wandering around along the walls. ”Compared to other opening nights this is great, good amount of people, good mix of people and hear that sound?” She continues and dramatically pauses. They all listen. They can’t hear anything, just the murmur of the room as people look at Jonathan’s photos, mumbles about them and talks among themselves.

”What? I just hear a lot of noise of people,” Will is the one to say it.

”Yes but it’s a good noise! Trust me, I’m a great judge of these noises. You don’t want it to be too loud – that means people are talking amongst themselves more than looking at the art, but you don’t want it too quiet either, that means people look at it and don’t have anything to say about what they see. This is the perfect level. I can already tell you’re gonna be hit, Jonathan!” Ms. Lacroix explains. Joyce looks even prouder.

”I don’t know,” Jonathan mumbles and looks down at his shoes. ”Feels awkward to be s-standing here while everyone walks around looking at my photos,” he continues. She puts her hand on his back, rubbing it in soothing circles. She gets that feeling. She could only wish to be as Jonathan, but even if she was, she’s not sure she’d be brave enough to display it to the world like this, displaying a part of yourself as the art is.

”Oh that’s normal,” Ms. Lacroix waves it off while reaching out to shake Joyce’s and Will’s hands. ”Louise Lacroix, nice to meet you!”

”Joyce Byers, proud mother,” Joyce beams.

”Will Byers, uh, proud brother,” Will says.

”Will’s an a-artist,” Jonathan quickly says.

”No come on-” Will protests, as modest as his brother.

”Ooh, that’s interesting! Are you based here too?” Ms. Lacroix asks.

”Uh, I guess, I go to Tisch…”

”Ah, you too? It’s a great school. What’s your preferred mode of expression? Do you paint, draw, sculpt, photograph…?”

”Uh, draw… and paint some.”

”Wonderful! Do you-” Ms. Lacroix cuts herself off as she spies someone across the room. ”Excuse me, lovely meeting you all and I’ll see you all later but I just spotted Mr. Francis over there and he’s loaded with cash and a friend of the gallery, I’ve got some schmoozing to do,” she finishes and hurries off in the direction of some old guy in an expensive suit.

Friends and some of Jonathan’s old professors take turns coming up to them to gush about the exhibition. Jonathan is continually flustered by all the praise, he’s so modest and uncomfortable in the spotlight, and it makes his stutter a bit more noticeable. No one else seems to care, or even really notice it but she knows he himself is infuriated by it which just makes him stutter more. So she helps him in the way that’s become second nature to her, to them when carrying conversations when he stutters. She takes some of the load off of him by finishing his sentences when she can tell he’s about to get stuck on a word, she fills in gaps, butts in and adds on to his sentences, to give him time to breathe and collect himself. They’ve found it’s a good way to cope with it. They know each other so well they can finish each other’s sentences all the time, usually she doesn’t because she loves to hear him speak but in situations like this she does, to seamlessly alleviate him without anyone else thinking twice about it, she knows no one bats an eyelash at it, it’s really not surprising to anyone that they are ”one of those couples” as her friend Amanda once said.

Soon as she gets the chance though, when there’s a brief lull in people coming up to talk to them, she leads Jonathan outside, to get some much needed fresh air. They sneak out the back and finally find themselves alone. He leans back against the brick wall and she can tell how he’s instantly relaxed when it’s just them, him and her. That makes her happy, will always make her happy.

”How’s New York’s best photographer doing?” She smiles softly and steps in close in front of him, fiddling with his shirt collar.

”Better now,” he smiles down at her.

”This is a great night,” she tells him.

”I know. It’s just a-awkward to be in there with everyone coming up…”

”I know, I get that.”

”I’m happy mom could come out.”

”Me too. She’s so proud of you.”

”I know.”

”I’m so proud of you,” she tells him again.

”You’ve said that.”

”I know, but I really really am. So proud. You’ve worked so hard, you’ve put your heart and soul into this. And it has turned out amazing, as I knew it would. You’re great Jonathan. You’re so talented, so hardworking and so brave. No, don’t roll your eyes, I’m serious,” she pokes him in the chest. ”You are. And you need to know how unique that is. To be this talented and combine it with your work ethic. There’s lots of talented people, and there’s lots of hardworking people. But it takes both to succeed and you have it both in bunches. And you’re the bravest person I know. You’re brave in every way. Obviously in the going face-to-face with a monster way-”

”You did too,” he interrupts, blushing.

”Don’t interrupt, yes I did but whatever, we’re both brave but this is about you. You’re incredibly brave in that regard. But also in whole other ways too, like this. Displaying your photos, your art, displaying pieces of your soul like this. That’s brave. I sure haven’t done that. And on top of it you face your fears of public speaking and stand in front of the whole crowded room and speak from the heart. I know you don’t like it when I go on like this about you and you always try to turn it around on me but I need you to get that you’re amazing.”

When she’s finished he looks at her for a half-second. Then his lips are pressed against hers, his hands are pulling her in close and then go into her hair. She eagerly responds to the kiss, deepening it before they pull apart. He rests his forehead against hers.

”I love you,” he tells her.

”I love you,” she tells him.

”And fine. We must be an awesome couple then since you’re even more amazing than-”

She silences his him with another kiss.

”Hush, can we call it a tie?” She smiles.

”Fine,” he answers before capturing her lips again.

Six months later…

Jonathan’s been a bit odd lately. It’s nothing major, she can’t quite put her finger on it. When she asks him he says he’s fine. It’s just… he’s been stuttering more around her than he’s done for a long time. As their relationship grew and he grew more confident in it he just became more relaxed around her and stuttered less and less. Because ”You make me comfortable”. He barely stutters at all anymore when it’s just the two of them unless he’s particularly stressed about something. But he says he’s fine. And there’s no reason for him to be particularly stressed now. Sure there’s a lot going on at work but not like it’s worse than last fall. But for the past week he’s been stuttering like he hasn’t done around her since high school really. But then again, maybe it’s nothing. It’s up an down with this stuff, sometimes he has a good day and sometimes a bad day and it’s no big deal. It’s just odd… usually doesn’t last for a week like this.

Maybe it’ll pass. It’s Saturday morning and they both have the whole weekend off, maybe that’s all he needs, to relax, she thinks as she stretches out in bed and rolls over to cuddle into him. Only to find emptiness beside her instead of the nice warm cuddle-bug she expected. Huh, he must already be up, she thinks and listens. Yep, she can hear him in the kitchen. She silently wishes for him to be standing there making pancakes right now. Jonathan and pancakes, that’s all she needs this morning she feels. Yawning, she swings her legs over the edge and rises from the bed. She heads to the bathroom for a shower.

Stepping out of the shower she just throws on panties and one of Jonathan’s t-shirts before venturing into the kitchen, she’ll hear from him if he’s thought of any special plans for today but as far as she’s concerned she’d be content to just basically snuggle up with him on the couch the whole day.

She finds him in front of the stove, more properly dressed in pants and a shirt.

”Yes!” She calls out, startling him a little. He looks up. She points to the frying pan he’s occupied with. ”I was hoping for pancakes,” she smiles. He breathes out and chuckles. ”Hey,” she continues, walking up to him and wrapping her arms around him from behind.

”H-hey,” he responds. She leans up and kisses his cheek. ”S-slept well?”

”Yeah, you?””Yeah,” she answers while setting the table,

He stutters like before, she notes. Odd.

”W-what do you want t-to do today?” He asks.

”I don’t know, what do you know want to do?” She answers while getting juice, maple syrup and jam from the fridge as he’s finishing the last few pancakes.

”I t-thought maybe we could go for a walk, later? I d-don’t feel like going out tonight. I was t-thinking I could c-cook instead?” He nervously suggests as he comes over with the stack of pancakes and sits down opposite her.

”Sounds great, I didn’t feel like going out either. I just want you,” she tells him.

”A-and pancakes,” he smiles.

”True,” she grins and digs in. ”Luckily it’s a package deal.”

They sit and enjoy breakfast, enjoy each other’s company. But his slightly odd behavior keeps gnawing at her.

”Hey, you okay?” She finally asks.

”Y-yeah, why?”

”You sure you’re okay? You seem nervous.”

”N-nervous? Why w-would I be?”

”I don’t know, but you seem like it. You’re stuttering like you just do when you’re stressed now, you haven’t stuttered to me like this since high school. I don’t mind it, I’m just wondering, is everything okay?” She lays out.

”Yeah, a-all good. Are you good?”

”I’m fine! Also you keep tapping your foot like you do when you’re anxious,” she further observes. His foot immediately comes to a halt, she can tell. ”Why are you anxious? It’s just us, you and me. What’s eating you?”

He’s quiet for a second, thinking. Then he breaks into a grin, smiling and shaking his head.

”Damn y-your observation s-skills…”

”Sorry, can’t help it,” she grins back. ”But seriously, what’s up?”

He gets up and starts clearing the table. She remains seated, waiting. She knows he’ll tell her when he’s ready. He takes his time putting the dishes in the sink, pensive, thinking. Then he turns and looks at her. Looks at her with so much love and adoration it puts a big smile on her face. A smile takes form over his features too. He seems to make his mind up. He steps forward.

”N-nance… I love you. I l-love everything about you. H-how brave you are, b-bravest in the world. How s-smart you are. T-the smartest in the world. How k-k-kind you are. How f-funny you are. How b-beautiful you are. I-inside a-and out,” he begins, stopping himself to silently berate himself for stuttering and stumbling, she can tell. His words makes her heart swell. He’s standing in front of her now. She takes one of his hands in hers, rubbing her thumb in gentle circles over the back of it to calm him, let him know it’s okay. She wonders where he’s going with all this. A passing thought that he’s working up to a proposal invades her brain but she quickly shoves it aside. Not think like that. Just listen. ”Y-you’re p-perfect. It a-amazes me that you are t-the bravest, smartest, k-kindest, funniest, most beautiful person in the w-world, all at once. A-and that y-you being that s-still want… m-me.” He stops again and looks her in the eye.

”You are, and I do,” she softly says. He nods and readies himself to continue so she doesn’t say anything else, she doesn’t want to interrupt him. The intrusive thought of where he could be headed returns. Blood rushes to her head and she feels butterflies in her stomach.

”T-that’s amazing to me. You’re amazing. You s-saved Will, saved my mom… saved the whole w-world… I’ve been in l-love with you since we were 16. You make me a b-better person. You make me h-happy, you make me s-stronger, b-braver. You support me. I w-want to always support you, I’ll do anything for you. I c-can’t imagine my l-life without you.” He pauses and lets out a deep breath.

Okay now she’s pretty sure of where he’s heading. She quells her instinct to just shout yes and jump his bones here and now because he’s obviously prepared his words and she knows how hard he must’ve worked on them, always struggling with his confidence in delivering speeches, but together they always get it. But this he’s done alone.

”I w-want to do everything with you. I want t-to always be with you. Seriously you m-make every situation b-better just by b-being there and b-being you. I w-want to see the world with you. I’d say I’d want to g-give you the whole w-world but I know you’d do a better job of t-taking it yourself. B-but I’ll do anything for you. I love you.” He drops to a knee in front of her where she’s still sitting on her chair and from his shirt pocket produces a simple but elegant ring. ”S-so, N-nancy Wheeler would you marry me?”

She can’t help but stare at the ring for a second. Then back to his eyes. He’s looking up at her with an earnest but nervous look. Like he’s somehow incredibly unsure of her answer and anxious for her reply.

”Of course!!” She finally bursts out and throws herself at him, tackling him to the kitchen floor. He somehow manages to catch her without dropping the ring and holds her close on top of him while she grabs his face and plants a big kiss on his lips. He lets out a deep breath she didn’t realize he’d been holding and smiles up at her. She beams down at him.

”Really?” He asks.

”Of course you doofus, what did you think?!”

”I don’t know!”

She plants about nine more kisses all over his face before he halts and moves his hand from her hip to grasp her hand and brings it up between their faces. She holds out her finger and he gently slides the ring on it with his other hand. They both marvel at it for a second. Then she captures his lips again.

”I love you, I love you, I love you,” she repeats to him. ”Everything you said, Jonathan everything… same back to you. You’re the bravest. The smartest, kindest, funniest best person I know and you make everything better and I never want to be apart from you. I love you I love you,” she giddily gets out, so amped to get her thoughts and feelings out after refraining from saying anything before since she didn’t want to interrupt him.

”I love you,” he responds and kisses her again.

She grins down at him, she can’t stop smiling from ear to ear. His change in demeanor is so clear, the nerves, the stutter has disappeared again. So this is what he’s been anxious about all week. Suddenly she’s very aware of something.

”I can’t believe you proposed to me when I wasn’t even wearing pants!” She exclaims. He chuckles.

”Well I wasn’t going to, I was going to do it tonight but then this relentless investigative reporter got me with her astute observations and I couldn’t keep it in any longer!”

”Oops,” she grins. ”I’m glad you did, now that I’m engaged to you I feel like I couldn’t have taken another second being not-engaged to you!”

”Me either,” he grins and pecks her lips again. Before turning serious. ”Sorry it wasn’t… eloquent, I wanted to do it better, but I just got nervous and…”

”Hey, it was great. It was eloquent. It was beautiful. Perfect,” she tells him.

”I don’t know…”

”It’s not how you say it. It’s what you say. But for the record you said it well too. Because it was straight from the heart. I knew.”

”It was.”

”I love you so much,” she tells him. She can’t stop saying it.

”I love you,” he responds. ”We’re still on the floor,” he then notes with a chuckle.

”Oh, right,” she laughs and gets up off of him before giving him a hand to get up. Not just any hand, the hand now adorned with a ring that promises to seal and confirm what she’s known for years now. That she belongs with Jonathan. Forever. ”Hey that walk you you mentioned before,” she continues. ”I don’t really feel like it anymore. I can think of another activity…”

He takes one look at her. With a glimmer in his eye he picks her up and carries her off to their bedroom. She giggles into his neck as she holds on to him. She’s had pancakes. Now Jonathan is all she needs.

#jancy fic #jancy fanfiction #jancy #nancy x jonathan #stranger things fic #stranger things fanfic #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #karen wheeler #ted wheeler #joyce byers #will byers

[wanderleave]

My contribution for @jancyficweek, which, in an extremely on brand move for me, is not finished, but! I wanted to get it up for AU day, of which this is most definitely. Parts two and three coming, hopefully, soon. I know my blog text is tiny, so if that isn’t your jam, you can also find this guy on AO3.

As always, this is @stoprobbers‘ fault.

Attending her ex-boyfriend’s wedding alone may not be the stupidest thing Nancy Wheeler has ever done, but it’s close.

It was meant to be a statement, attending the wedding at all, crossing out the plus one on the invite, traveling all the way back to Hawkins, where her parents don’t even live anymore. But as Nancy steps off the plane, she can feel the pit in her stomach, the one that says, this is the worst idea you have ever had.

She pushes the pit down, takes a deep breath, and goes to find her luggage.

For some inexplicable reason, she’s been invited to the rehearsal dinner, a tiny slip of a note in her invitation, perhaps by virtue of arriving early from out of town, or maybe Steve just wants to get the introduction out of the way before the actual wedding.

She’s never met his fiancée, but it’s a wedding. Nancy’s going to have to meet her eventually.

Might as well get it over with.

The first person she sees (of course) as she walks into the restaurant is Carol, who mutters something to Tommy before walking over with what Nancy knows to be a fake smile on her face.

“Nancy Wheeler, what brings you back to Hawkins? I thought you were too big for our little town?”

Nancy plasters a matching smile on her face, even as she remembers exactly why she left Hawkins in the first place. “I was invited, Carol. Although I didn’t realize you were close enough for the rehearsal dinner?”

Carol lets out a simpering laugh. “Tommy’s a groomsman, I’m just tagging along. Are you bringing anyone?” she asks, looking around, her tone implying she knows Nancy’s here by herself.

“Oh, um,” Nancy begins, but Carol cuts her off.

“I mean, it must be so hard finding someone who can live up to all of your demands, I mean, dreams.”

Nancy blinks, the smile on her face turning brittle. She knows Steve would have unburdened himself after the breakup, but she should have expected this, should have realized there would be an ambush. She shouldn’t have come alone.

“It was great to see you again, Carol,” she says, cutting off the conversation, only sort of trying to hide the sarcasm as she walks away.

It doesn’t end with Carol.

Steve’s mother, his grandmother, his cousins, everyone mingling, all incredibly interested in Nancy and how she’s doing, and if she brought anyone, Nancy stammering out vague responses.

She should have prepared for this. Made up a boyfriend sick with the flu back in New York, or in the Peace Corps, or Canadian, unable to cross the border for some reason. Anything would be better than having to admit that she came alone to her ex-boyfriend’s wedding, as a matter of principle, yes, but also because she hasn’t dated anyone since she broke up with Steve last year.

And then she sees Steve.

Their eyes meeting across the room, his arm wrapped around someone that has to be Robin.

It’s easier than she thought it would be.

And harder, all at the same time.

Nancy manages a weak smile, one that Steve returns. The hand resting on Robin’s waist lifts in a wave.

She needs some air.

It’s started raining.

Of course it has.

Nancy stands just under the awning to the restaurant, letting her hair frizz up, letting the raindrops splash onto her toes. Breathing in and out, wishing she hadn’t left her wine inside, or that she’d stopped after the fourth glass, she’s not sure which.

“Fuck,” she half-shouts, at life, at her choices.

Maybe she shouldn’t have come at all.

“Everything okay?” an unfamiliar voice asks.

Nancy turns to find a stranger tucked into the shadows, smoking a cigarette, looking at her with concern.

She blinks, flustered. “Oh, no, yeah. Everything’s . . . ” She pauses, trying to find a way to describe her situation. “Fine.”

The stranger smiles wryly at the emotion she packs into the word. “Anything I can do to help?”

Nancy begins to turn him down, then reconsiders. Nodding at his cigarette, she says, “Can I get one of those?” She’s not normally a smoker, but if there was ever a time, it’s now.

He frowns, his nose wrinkling. “It’s, ah, my last one. But?” He holds it out to her.

Nancy looks at him, considering.

Finally she breathes, “Fuck it,” and takes a drag. Lets out a deep sigh of relief.

The stranger laughs.

“Thanks,” she says, handing it back to him, and as he leans back against the wall, gestures to herself. “Nancy.”

“Jonathan.”

She nods at him, looking back out at the parking lot. The rain starts to fall harder.

“Should I ask?”

Nancy huffs out a mirthless chuckle. “Probably not.” She puts her head in her hands. “Oh god, what am I doing here? I shouldn’t have come, I should have never come back, I can’t believe I have to deal with these people all weekend.”

“Bride or groom?” he asks, and the perfunctory curiosity of someone who doesn’t know her history with Steve—with this town—is so refreshing that Nancy laughs out loud.

“Groom,” she tells him. “About as groom as you can get. What about you?”

“Neither,” Jonathan shrugs. “Or, both. Kind of? I don’t actually know anyone in there, except for the bride, and I’ve only met her once. I’m just waiting until they need me.”

Nancy tilts her head in confusion at the statement, but before she can ask him to clarify, she hears from behind her, “Nance?”

Nancy swallows. Turns.

“Hi.”

Steve looks good, better than the last time she saw him in person, although that wouldn’t take much—almost anything is better than tears and screaming.

He pauses for a second, a vague smile on his face, almost rueful. “I didn’t think you were actually gonna come.”

Nancy shrugs. “Here I am.”

Steve nods. “Yeah.”

They stand in silence for a few moments, Nancy breaking it before it goes on too long. “Everyone’s told me you’re doing really great—she’s really great—I’m . . . I’m really happy for you.”

Steve smiles, a real smile this time, one that lights up his entire face. “Yeah, she’s . . . yeah. She’s amazing.”

Nancy smiles back. “That’s great,” she says, meaning it, and even though it’s awkward, so awkward, it’s manageable. She thinks maybe coming back was a good idea, that the closure provided was, in the end, worth it.

Until Steve asks the question, the one she’s been asked too many times to count.

“And what about you, how are you? Are you uh, seeing anyone?”

Later, Nancy will blame many things for the words that come out of her mouth—the wine, Carol, her precarious emotional state—but even as she says them, she knows they will be impossible to take back.

“Actually yeah, I am.”

What has she done?

“Oh.” Steve sounds surprised. “My mom—she was saying . . . ” He shakes his head. “That’s great, Nance. I’m . . . happy for you too. I’d love to meet him.”

Just kidding, Nancy wants to say. Just wanted to see your reaction.

Instead, what comes out of her mouth, even as she thinks stop, what are you doing, is, “Well, you won’t have to wait too long.”

She watches as her hand extends toward Jonathan, the man she met literally minutes ago, hears herself say, “Steve, this is Jonathan,” makes herself meet his eyes as Jonathan’s head cocks in confusion, pleading silently, please, just go with it.

To his credit, Jonathan barely skips a beat. He drops the cigarette on the ground, grinding it out as he leans forward, placing his arm around Nancy’s waist in the same movement as his other hand extends towards Steve. “Jonathan Byers.”

“Steve Harrington,” Steve replies automatically, before his eyes narrow and flick to Nancy and then back to Jonathan, shaking his head from side to side, once, twice.

His eyebrows knit together.

“Wait,” he says, slowly, and Nancy holds her breath, sure the ruse will end before it even begins.

“You’re dating my photographer?”

Nancy feels like she’s going to faint.

She feels Jonathan’s hand tighten around her waist, almost like he can tell, like he’s trying to hold her up.

Or he’s warning her that he’s about to walk away, she’s not really sure.

Steve is still looking at her expectantly, and after the silence drags on for far too long, Nancy says, lightly, hesitantly, “Yes,” her tone landing somewhere between statement and question.

“That’s so crazy.” Steve shakes his head. “How did you guys even meet?” But before Nancy can even try to come up with a plausible explanation, Steve answers his own question. “Oh, New York, of course.”

Nancy presses her lips together, turning her head to meet Jonathan’s gaze, and this time Jonathan’s the one to answer, his “Yes,” even less confident than Nancy’s, his eyes locked on hers.

“Great, that’s great,” Steve repeats. He seems to mean it, and Nancy feels a twinge of guilt at her subterfuge, but her sense of self-preservation keeps her tucked into Jonathan’s side.

“So I’d better, uh,” he nods toward the door, “get back, but, uh, good to meet you.”

Jonathan nods.

Nancy does the same, counting the seconds until Steve leaves, even as she knows that the conversation she’s about to have will be one for the ages.

“And,” Steve turns back, hanging onto the door frame, saying to Jonathan, “I think we’re gonna start the speeches soon, so . . . “

“Got it,” Jonathan confirms, waiting for the last glimpse of hair to disappear, before turning to Nancy, stepping back, his steadying presence at her side disappearing, Nancy strangely finding herself missing it, even as she knows she doesn’t deserve to feel that way.

“Okay—”

“I am, so, so sorry,” Nancy breathes.

“Yeah . . . ” he trails off, and she blanches, her anguish swallowing up the rest of her apology. “I mean . . . so that’s clearly your ex, right?” he says, offering her an opening.

“Yes.” Nancy swallows. “And you’re the wedding photographer.”

Jonathan nods at her, an expression on his face that could be apprehension or amusement. “So, what—”

Nancy cuts him off. “I’m so sorry,” she says again, because she can’t say it enough times. “I don’t know what I was thinking, it’s just that his mother, and everyone in this fucking town, it’s like they were all waiting for me to come back, tail between my legs for dumping him, and I just . . . with everyone else I could fake my way through it, but then he was right there . . . and you were right there, and I’m so sorry and if you give me five minutes I will march in there and pretend you dumped me because I didn’t tell you about Steve, just give it a second for it to spread around so people won’t get confused, because it will, I promise you, and then you can spend the rest of the evening taking truly awful pictures of me, which I absolutely deserve.”

Jonathan blinks as she catches her breath. His gaze is sympathetic, and Nancy hopes against hope it means the photographs taken of her won’t be too unflattering.

“I think you would have told me about Steve, though, right?” he muses. “If we’ve been dating for—how long have we been dating?”

Nancy’s mouth drops open. She stammers for a second, before finally choking out, “What?”

He shrugs. “I did offer to help.”

“Yeah, but this is—this is beyond . . . are you serious?”

Jonathan laughs at the expression on her face, shrugging again. “I’ve been there, trust me. And like I said, I don’t know anyone here, so it’s not like I’ve got anything to lose—and it seems like you do.”

Nancy feels tears prick at her eyes, perhaps from the wine, or perhaps because someone she just met is being kinder to her than all of the people inside the restaurant, people she’d grown up with, people who, before she left, she’d considered almost family.

“Plus,” he goes on, hurriedly, as Nancy blinks the tears away, “weddings are boring. I could use someone to talk to.”

She frowns at him. “Is there lots of time for conversation? Shouldn’t you, I don’t know, be taking pictures or something?”

“My contract doesn’t officially start until 8, and it is,” he checks his watch, “7:55 on the dot. So, no.” His head tilts. “I’ve got nothing better to do for the next five minutes. Except talk to my girlfriend of . . . five months? Seven?”

Nancy eyes him warily, but his face is open, genuine, and she thinks he may actually want to help her, for no other reason than she needs it. For the second time that evening, Nancy says, “Fuck it,” but this time it’s accompanied by a grateful smile. “How about six?”

Jonathan grins. “Six months it is.”

They stand in silence for a few moments, Nancy letting the enormity of what she’s about to embark on wash over her. She’s going to lie to everyone she knows. And she’s going to have help doing it. She thinks about telling Jonathan forget it, I changed my mind, but the thought of having to walk back her lie to Steve, to his entire family is far too daunting.

Better to just have a fake boyfriend.

Nancy sees the door to the restaurant opening and moves toward Jonathan, almost instinctively. He frowns at her sudden movement, but picks up on her intentions quickly, wrapping his arm around her once more, solid, steady.

Tommy’s head appears around the door.

“Hey Nance, heard you’re banging the photographer.”

“Hello, Tommy,” she says dryly.

If Tommy knows, everyone knows.

“Anyway, best man duties mean I’m here to tell you to get your asses inside. Speeches, and all.”

Nancy frowns. “I thought you were just a groomsman?”

“Whatever. Just . . . get in here so he can take the pictures.”

“We’re on our way,” Jonathan says pleasantly, as Tommy rolls his eyes and disappears inside.

“Sorry about him,” Nancy apologizes, “he’s always been—”

“A dick?” Jonathan guesses.

Nancy shrugs, “I was going to say asshole, but, yeah.”

Jonathan laughs, and then walks away, back to the shadows. Nancy feels a sharp stab of alarm, but he’s only slinging a large bag she hadn’t noticed before onto his shoulder.

Photographer. Cameras. Of course. He’s not just here to prop up her ruse.

“Hey,” she says, waiting for him to turn to her, giving him one last chance to back out. “You’re really sure you want to do this? Because I can—”

“I’m sure.” He looks at her sideways. “Six months?”

She lets out a grateful laugh, and instead of answering, says, “Thank you.” Nancy tries to put everything she’s feeling into the words, the gratitude, the relief, and as he looks back at her, she thinks he understands.

He raises his eyebrows. “Don’t mention it. Literally. Or everyone will know.”

“Right,” she says, nodding solemnly. “Six months.”

He nods back at her. “Exactly. Shall we go in, honey?”

Nancy makes a face at him.

“No pet names. Got it,” Jonathan says with a grin, and offers her his hand.

Nancy takes it, and holds on for dear life.

#jancy #jonathan byers #nancy wheeler #jancy fanfic week #fake dating au #idk idk idk what this is other than self indulgence of the most ridiculous sort #so like i said #super on brand #anyway enjoy #bonus points if you can identify the gif #fanfiction

[florallylly]

I don't agree that Nancy hated Robin at the beginning of s4. She was extremely stressed at the library after finding out her friend died, and then this girl she doesn't know wouldn't shut up. She was more irrated by Robin than hating her. Tho, she should have clarified and communicated with her after Robin told her about her struggles. Or at least Nancy should have apologized after the library. Idk if it's on the show or if it's Nancy characterisation at this point, but she has a pattern for not apologizing properly. If you compare her to Steve, who immediately clocked that he went too far when he insulted Dustin in the car and apologized right after, it's quite the difference. Tho Steve always has to atone for his character from s1, the show never lets us forget he was an ass in hs. Meanwhile, Nancy gets a free pass for everything. People still love her despite her treating them like shit

Anyway, s4 Robin was so ooc. If Steve would have had this attitude towards her in s3 (even in s4), she wouldn't have let it slide, let alone still wanting to talk to him or trying to befriend him. They butchered her character in order to avoid conflict.

What's also annoying to me about every Nancy ship is that she's the important part. It's always the question of who is the best for her, esp in the fandom. R//nance is the best for her because she's finally free from men, and Robin is the only person who gets her. J//ncy is the only real ship because Jonathan gets her as they are trauma bonded, or St//ncy is the best ship because Steve loves so much, more than Jonathan. Her romantic partners are always reduced to options. There are no questions about Nancy being the right one for Robin, Steve, or Jonathan. It's partly the shows fault because nobody has any negative feelings towards her and they all seem to be obsessed with her but ugh I wish at least in fandom they would also look at her potential partners as actual characters for once. Like no she wouldn't be right for Robin because Robin needs someone who can communicate clearly and who would understand her quirks. And no Nancy wouldn't be the right one for Steve because Steve wants to be loved unconditionally, that's something Nancy can't give him because there is still Jonathan and the trauma of losing Barb. And Nancy isn't even that great for Jonathan either because she can't understand his financial struggles and trauma from being parentified at a young age, which was shown in s3 after her nonpology. (Tho I'm also not a J//ncy fan because Jonathan isn't a catch either for Nancy.) It's like the post you reblogged, we need more episodes in the show so that the characters can develop and we see actual personal conflicts. But because there is no time, everyone has to be best buddies to be united against the main villain.

YES you word it so well. nancy is always put first in fics AND in canon, and all her love interests are just options. they've definitely become more like set pieces or props in her story, which is such a shame. what i hate about fandom spaces and interpretations of canon is that it can be so hard to try and introduce nuance to a character that is beloved to fans. which!!! makes no sense to me bc the duffers wrote a multifaceted flawed character, but nancy is often reduced to the perception that she's the Good Girl.

and yes, i admit i was pretty hyperbolic in saying that nancy HATED robin, but i also think that what with the st/ancy flirting, there was also a hint of jealousy. i think nancy thought in the back of her mind that steve would always be her fallback.

AND YES to robin being so ooc in s4 bc she's literally a jackass (affectionately) and so snarky and a BITCH. like she's steve and steve is her and they are both mean girls at their cores. your entire analysis about the different nancy ships is just MWAH <3

[oneshots-heaven]

“Would you forget?“

To got your heart broken at a party is one of the worst kinds of heartbreak, and Steve Harrington just got to know that feeling.

Warning: swearing & underage drinking Steve Harrington x Reader Gif credit: (x) 

The music was blasting through the filled living room of Tina’s house. People were dancing close to each other, holding their red plastic cups filled with alcohol in their hands. Ever since the eighth grade, Tina held the most amazing Halloween parties as everyone got too old to still go trick or treating. It was a shame if you missed her parties in general.

The others started slow dancing to the music of ‘The Police‘ as you excused yourself and walked over to the little buffet and bar that Tina had built in her kitchen. 

You swung your hips to the beat of the music. Halloween was special in Hawkins as it was the only time where everyone truly had fun but after all what happened to that poor Byers boy, it felt wrong at first to even celebrate Halloween. You didn’t know why, it was just a weird feeling in your guts like something was still not right in your hometown. However, instead of worrying yourself the whole night, you still decided to come and enjoy the night, to be oblivious and just live your teenage life to its fullest.

Tina suddenly joined you, looking over the crowd of people in her house. Your parents would never allow that but her parents were kind of known to be… quite relaxed in such things. “Oh god, Y/N,“ she laughed while being obviously drunk, “have you seen that new boy? What’s his name again? B.. Bobby?“

You shook your head yet smiling you replied, “His name is Billy. I’m in the same history class as him.“

She laid her arm around your shoulders, pointing outside the big window where a smaller crowd of boys were standing around Billy, shouting his name with pride followed by cheers. “Isn’t he hot?“ Tina slurred in your ears.

“Doesn’t he have a shirt?“ you asked instead.

“Oh buh, Y/N, don’t you realize that that’s exactly what makes him so hot?“

Tina let go of you, trying her best to push herself up on the kitchen counter. You watched her ultimately fail doing it but she was giggling to herself. Good god, sometimes you forgot that drunk people were the funniest and most annoying at the same time. 

She glanced over to you, frowning. “What’s up with Nancy Wheeler and your Steve?“

Your eyes widened slightly but you tried to cover it up, although you believed that she wouldn’t even get it. She was too drunk for that. “Tina, you know he’s not my Steve. He’s just Steve, without anything.“

“Yeah, but you liked him before Nancy even knew him. You’ve literally liked him all your life!“

“Steve and I are just friends, and we never were and will be anything other than that.“ you assured her.

The next second, things started to get confusing. Nancy and Steve appeared in the wrong moment while you were still talking with Tina but Steve was too invested to keep Nancy from drinking more. She was slurring her words, trying to dip her cup in the punch while Steve was trying to take it from her and then the punch landed straight onto her white shirt. Everyone stopped dancing and starred instead at the young couple.

“The hell,“ Nancy murmured, looking from her shirt over to her boyfriend before she turned around walking to the bathroom.

“Nanc,“ Steve tried to stop her to calm her down, yet she was already running away from him and like Steve was, he instantly followed her. 

Your heart sank. 

“See,“ Tina said as both went away, “if you were being honest, you would admit that there is trouble in the air. And I don’t believe it’s coming from Steve’s side.“

She left you alone in the opened kitchen with her words that confused you and on top of that, Eddie Money’s ‘Think I’m in Love‘ had to be blasted. Tina knew Steve and you ever since junior school. Somehow the three of you always had been befriended but it was different between Steve and you. Ever since year seven, he and you had been friends and got the other’s back. Perhaps it was the most pure platonic friendship you ever had in your life, right until high school came around and Steve decided to grow out his hair. He looked like one of those boys from the movies your mother liked to watch and it was weirdly fascinating for you to see how many girls suddenly paid attention to him. In some ways, you had always liked him but back then it felt different than what it felt like now.

It was inevitable that you would end up falling for him.

You frowned as you noticed Steve grabbing Jonathan Byers rather harshly by his shirt, almost yanking him to the side. He told Byers something quickly before he turned away from him, walking outside. In the same moment, your empty cup felt down on the kitchen counter as you followed him outside, pushing yourself through the crowd and past Jonathan. You had no idea what was going on but it had been a long time since you saw Steve like that.

The coldness from the ending fall season hit you as soon as you were out of the house, looking around for a second to find him again. He walked past Billy and all the other guys from your year, ignoring everyone who called after him and before you knew it, you were already following him again. You had to run in order to catch him.

“Harrington,“ you called after him but he didn’t listen. He just kept on walking straight toward his car.

“God dammit,“ you murmured under your breath before calling out again for him, “Steve!“

You slowed down as he stopped and turned around with his hands in the pockets of his black jacket and his sunglass hanging around the neckline of his shirt. At first, he seemed surprised that it was you who was calling after him but then his mood took over him again. “What do you want, Y/N?“ he questioned.

“What the hell happened?“

“I don’t want to talk about it.“ he answered, turned around and started walking again.

You sighed and started to run after him once again. There was no way in hell you would let him drive home like that. Even if you didn’t want to admit it because facing the truth hurt only more, you knew him still well enough. You knew what he was like when he was truly hurt and no matter what just happened between Nancy and him, it had hurt him. It had hurt him badly. 

Steve’s hand was already on the handle of his car door, ready to open it up as you slammed it close, causing him to look up. “What the fuck do you want?“ he asked you again, this time more aggressive but his tone didn’t scare you. You knew his reactions all too well.

“Do you really believe I’m just going to let you drive now when obviously something fucked up happened between Nancy and you?“ you asked back with the same tone. He wouldn’t listen to you any other way.

Steve shook frowning his head. “Just leave me alone, Y/N. I’m not in the mood for talking.“

“I don’t care if you are in the mood to talk or not. You’re upset and you do stupid things when you’re upset and I don’t want to hear tomorrow that you crashed your goddamn car into the next crash barrier!“ your voice raised at him, until you realized how harsh you were being.

You pressed your lips together, looking around for a moment before you mumbled, “Just talk to me, Steve, to calm down. You know me. You can trust me.“

Steve let go of the handle to step back away from you. You couldn’t deny that that little move hurt you in the chest. “This isn’t about if I trust you or if I don’t. Yes, some fucked up shit just happened and I really don’t want to talk about it, can’t you get that?“

“No, in this moment I really can’t—“

Suddenly Steve groaned deeply, interrupted you within seconds, “Nancy doesn’t love me. She just thought that it might was the right time to break it to me. Are you happy now?“

Your hands clutched onto his car as your body stiffened, glancing speechless at your childhood friend. For the first time after years you saw him truly hurt. Steve Harrington wasn’t someone who got easily his heart broken and his head messed up but it only took minutes for Nancy Wheeler to destroy the boy you loved. And there it was again, the weird, empty feeling in your chest and the begging feeling in your lungs that screamed after air.

Tina was the one who broke it to you that Steve started dating Nancy. The whole day you had no idea what to feel or how to feel, what was right and what was wrong. You were so confused. Somehow, you were happy for him because he deserved it to be loved by someone and at the same time you hated Steve for running after that junior girl, instead of going for you. You were quick to realize that it always had been platonic between him and you. How on earth should he knew that his childhood friend might had feelings for him?

You felt a mixture of anger and frustration, and now… now you maybe should be happy to hear that Nancy didn’t love him but that was lie. Maybe it broke your heart just as much as his did. He didn’t deserve that, not after all what he had done for her and how hard he tried to be a good boyfriend for her. You weren’t angry, instead you felt sorry for him.

“She is drunk, Steve. She probably didn’t mean it.“ you managed to say but you knew that that wasn’t helping at all.

You gasped after air as Steve suddenly stepped closer to you. He couldn’t focus on what was happening. His body was trembling, while his hands shook so heavily that you instinctively grabbed them. 

He shook his head, over and over again, pressing his lips together and blink the tears to stop himself from sobbing. “You don’t forget that you love someone when you’re drunk. Tell me, Y/N, you wouldn’t forget that you love me if you were drunk, would you?“

His words hit you harder than Tina’s. This felt more real than your conversation with her. It was easy to deny your feelings in front of her, it was easy to lie straight into her face to keep your feelings hidden and safe. But in front of Steve, you were vulnerable like never before. He knew you better than anyone else yet he never figured it out and still you believed that there was always a chance that someday he will.

You couldn’t lie to him.

You could never lie to him.

“No… no, I wouldn’t.“

Possible a second part if you want? — Here you go: Part Two!

#steve harrington #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington oneshot #stranger things #stranger things imagine #stranger things steve #stranger things oneshot #joe keery #joe keery x reader #joe keery imagine

[strangerthanthingz-blog]

Longing

Pairing(s): Steve Harrington x Female Reader, Nancy Wheeler x Jonathan Byers, Slight Steve Harrington x Nancy Wheeler, Slight Billy Hargrove x Female Reader

Warnings: Language, Slight Violence, Mentioned smut

Summary: Y/N and Steve were best friends before Steve’s involvement with the Upside Down caused them to drift apart. When things go back to normal, he takes notice of the fact that she’s now dating Billy Hargrove. This discovery not only causes Steve to lose his relationship with Nancy, but he realizes that he may have been in love with his former best friend this whole time.

This is very fluffy and angsty folks! Also it’s v long, sorry, but the second I got the idea I sort of just ran with it!

Chocolate milkshake, extra thick, light whipped cream, hold the cherry, fries on the side.

That was Y/N’s order at Hawkins local, and only, diner.

Her favorite color was black, she prefered Thanksgiving to Christmas, and she made amazing grades despite acting like she didn’t care about school.

Steve Harrington knew all these things and more about his longtime best friend. Some might say he was like a walking Y/N Encyclopedia. But that would be inappropriate because Steve was in a relationship. And, apparently, so was Y/N.

The first time Steve saw Y/N walking down the hallway and into the arms of Billy Hargrove he thought he was going to throw up. Not only was Billy his arch nemesis, but a total slimeball, and he sure as shit didn’t deserve his best friend.

“What’s wrong?” Nancy had asked before she followed where his eyes were trained.

“Are… are Y/N and Billy together?” Steve practically choked out.

Nancy had laughed, “Well, yeah. They’ve been going out for a few months now. Granted, we were a bit distracted with everything that had been happening with,” she lowered her voice, “the Upside Down. Monsters and all that.”

Steve could only nod in response before he slammed his locker unnecessarily hard, earning the attention of the couple several lockers down. Y/N raised her eyebrows in concern as she looked to Steve, but it was brief as Billy grabbed her chin to turn back to him and capture her lips in a kiss.

Steve shook his head in disgust before he slung his arm over Nancy’s shoulders and walked out to the car lot, ready to get in his car and drive the hell away from that school and the scene he just witnessed, even if it meant holding the steering wheel with shaking hands.

The worst part about it was that Nancy had been right. Steve had been so distracted that he hadn’t even noticed, or bothered to check in enough to know, that Y/N was dating the most disgusting person he could think of. And he felt like complete shit for it. Had he been such a terrible friend that he really let the fact that Y/N was falling into Hargrove’s greasy hands slip past him?

After that day, he became obsessed with the subject. No matter what the conversation was, he managed to somehow slip in his disgust at Y/N’s new relationship. And if he thought his friends were getting tired of it, that was an understatement for how Nancy felt.

“Why do you always talk about her?” Nancy asked one night just as she was about to get out of Steve’s car after a date.

“Huh?” Steve frowned, not entirely sure what Nancy was referring to.

“Y/N,” Nancy continued. “No matter what we’re talking about, you find a way to slip her in.”

Steve shook his head, “No Nance, it’s not like that. I just can’t stand her with Hargrove, you know?

“Yeah,” Nancy snapped. “I know. Tonight at dinner I was talking about where I want to go to when I graduate school next year and your response was ‘Gee, Nancy, that sounds great. Some people won’t even get into college, like Billy Hargrove. God, I don’t know what Y/N sees in him’.”

Steve bit his lip as he looked down into his lap, ashamed. He wished that he could argue that he never said that, but he most certainly had. In fact, he was pretty certain that he’d made quite a few more comments regarding his best friend’s boyfriend that night.

“Steve,” Nancy sighed, “I think… I think your real problem is that you’re jealous.”

Steve’s head snapped up, his heart dropping into his stomach.

“Jealous?” He managed to ask despite his throat suddenly going completely dry.

“Yeah,” Nancy said, swallowing thickly. “And honestly, I just, I can’t do this anymore. Whatever these feelings you have for Y/N are… you need to address them before we go any further.”

Steve felt like he was going to throw up. Nancy was leaving him because she thought he liked Y/N? As in more than friends?

“No, what? No. Nancy, listen, please, I definitely don’t have any kind of feelings for Y/N that go beyond platonic-”

“Yes you do,” She interrupted. “A-and I think that I have feelings of my own to sort out.”

Steve was physically taken aback, his head snapping back as if Nancy had actually punched him in the face.

“F-for who?” He stammered.

“Jonathan Byers,” Nancy admitted quietly.

Steve felt utterly destroyed to hear her speak his name. He’d always been worried about Jonathan, but Nancy had always assured him that there wasn’t anything to worry about. He felt so betrayed by her that he didn’t even want to speak with her any further.

He simply nodded once before he turned his attention back to the road and waited for her to get out. She sat still for a moment before she finally left the car. It was after she left that Steve let the tears fall down his face.

A couple months passed by after Nancy and Steve’s break up, and it was finally the day that Steve was dreading. It was the talk of the school since the moment Steve entered homeroom.

Nancy and Jonathan were officially together.

But the thing that alarmed Steve the most about it all was the fact that he didn’t even care. Not really. He even saw Nancy kiss Jonathan quickly at her locker before they parted ways, and he felt… nothing.

Yet, as his eyes followed Jonathan down the hall, he got distracted by Y/N standing outside of Billy’s locker, her books hugged to her chest as she talked to him, her eyes bright and smile wide. When Billy leaned down and kissed her, Steve felt his whole body run cold with realization.

The feeling of disgust was nothing knew, but he now recognized it for what it truly was: longing. Longing to be the one standing in front of Y/N, longing to be her boyfriend, longing to be the one kissing her for everyone to see.

Nancy had been right; he was jealous.

And now he’d wasted the last two months waiting for Nancy to come back to him when he should’ve been doing what Nancy had - gone after the person he truly loved.

That weekend, at Tina’s St. Patrick’s Day party, Steve got more hammered than he’d ever been in his life. Between watching Y/N dance on Billy in ways that caused his mind to cloud over in sin, and avoiding Nancy and Jonathan as they tried to befriend him and encourage him to go after Y/N, he wasn’t sure what drove him to this point of intoxication more.

Then, as Steve drank what had to be his twentieth beer, he watched Billy leave Y/N’s side for the first time that night to go do a keg stand with the other idiots of Hawkins High. Before he knew it, Steve’s legs were carrying him towards where she stood. When he reached her, he tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned around to face him. When her eyes locked with his, her face practically lit up.

“Steve!” She exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight hug. “I’ve missed you so much!”

Steve’s body was filled with warmth at her words, and he relaxed into her embrace. Over her shoulder, he saw Nancy and Jonathan grinning at him, but he just glared before pulling away from Y/N and looking down at her smiling face.

She was still the most beautiful woman in the entire world to him. How had he ever mistaken all these feelings for anything less than romantic love?

“I’m sorry,” The words fell out of his mouth before he could stop them. “I’m sorry I’m such a shit friend. I missed you, Y/N. I miss you right now, and I’m standing right in front of you.”

Y/N’s smile faltered a bit, but she managed to keep the tiniest hint of happiness on her face, even though her eyes grew unmistakably sad.

“I miss you too Steve. I feel like you disappeared off the face of the Earth last October.” She told him.

“I almost did,” Steve scoffed, and Y/N raised her eyebrows in questioning, but Steve was miraculously able to realize his fuck up before going any further.

“Well,” Y/N laughed when she realized he wasn’t going to say anything else. “Maybe we can catch up sometime, and you can tell me about it? I don’t have any plans after school on Wednesday. We could go to the diner like we used to!”

Steve’s eyes lit up, and his face hurt he was smiling so wide. His body felt light and airy, like he could just float away.

“I would love that more than anything, Bug.” He told her, the old childhood nickname slipping out.

Y/N’s face changed, and her expression became unreadable to him. Her smile lifted higher on the left side of her mouth in wonder, and she took a tiny step towards him.

“Steve, I can’t believe you still remember that-”

She was cut off as a large hand clapped her on the shoulder and pulled her back, and soon Steve’s vision was crowded with the distasteful image of one Mr. Billy Hargrove.

“Wow, Harrington, I’m surprised you’d even bother showing your face here after the last couple months you’ve had. I’m even more surprised, actually, that you have the fucking nerve to talk to my girl.” Billy snapped as he leaned his face dangerously close to Steve’s.

Steve rolled his eyes, “She was my best friend before she was ever your girl.”

Billy glared at Steve’s words, his nostrils flaring, “Well you’re some best friend huh? Haven’t even paid attention to Y/N since last September, but hey, who’s keeping track? I’ll tell you one thing, though, no matter how my girlfriend feels, I want you to stay,” he reached out and shoved Steve, hard, causing the drunken boy to trip over his feet and fall to the ground, “the fuck away from her.”

Y/N grabbed onto Billy’s arm with both hands, desperately trying to pull him away.

“Come on babe,” She pleaded, and Steve’s heart clenched at the pet name. “Let’s go home, I’m tired anyway.”

Billy just chuckled and shook his head at Steve before turning and following Y/N out of the party. Steve didn’t know how long he laid there on the ground, but his eyes were frozen to the spot where Billy had walked out with who he was now fairly certain was the love of his life.

Eventually, Nancy and Jonathan helped him up before offering to take him home, to which he was too drunk and upset to refuse. As Steve was climbing out of Jonathan’s car that night, Nancy stopped him by grabbing his wrist.

“You’ll get her back, Steve,” She said, her tone of voice telling him that she really believed it. “The way she looked at you tonight… you’ve got this.”

Steve simply nodded, hoping that her words were true before he stumbled into his house, up the stairs, and into his bed.

School that Monday was no different than any other Monday. Well, up until lunch that was. Not only did Jonathan and Nancy make their home at the table where Steve usually sat and ate alone, but halfway through the period Y/N came walking up to them.

“Steve, can we talk for a minute, please?” Y/N asked, to which Jonathan and Nancy shot Steve smug looks.

Steve glared at them before accepting Y/N’s request and following her out the cafeteria doors and into the deserted courtyard. They decided to sit on the stairs the led into the school’s auditorium and it was Y/N who spoke first.

“Honestly, I just wanted to apologize for Billy’s behavior on Saturday. He gets jealous easily. Especially when it comes to you…” She trailed off, and her words caused Steve’s head to snap up.

“Wait, when it comes to me?” He asked.

Y/N sighed and placed a stray hair behind her ear, something Steve knew she did when she was nervous.

“Yeah, I mean, Steve, I used to talk about you to him all the time. You’re my best friend and we have so many great memories together. That being said, even though Billy acted like a total ass at Tina’s, he had a point. You ditched me for Nancy, Steve.” She confessed.

Steve bit his lip and hung his head, running his hands through his hair, before he found the courage to look up.

“I promise that I didn’t mean to, Y/N. Last year, things happened that weren’t just Nancy related. I guess I got too caught up in all kinds of crazy shit and somewhere along the way… I lost you.” He tried to explain.

“You mean you forgot me,” She replied, her voice shaky.

Steve shook his head and reached for her hands, but she pulled them away, shaking her head and standing up.

“Steve, whatever the hell it was that happened to you, you know you could’ve told me about it. We used to tell each other everything, no matter what. But you got a new girlfriend and a new group of friends and I guess I just… didn’t fit in with your life anymore.” She said, a tear running down her cheek.

Steve hadn’t realized how badly his secrecy and distance had hurt her, but now that he was fully aware of his love for her, her crying because of him hurt even more than he could comprehend.

“No, Y/N, please,” He tried, but she wasn’t finished.

“And the worst part is that it was so sudden. You didn’t even give me any hints or warnings that you were pulling away; you just stopped talking to me one day. And there wasn’t a day after that that you even tried to come back to me and explain why you left in the first place.” She was shouting now, and he was glad that there was no one around to hear it.

“Y/N,” He tried again, standing up and successfully taking her hands in his this time, “I have so much that I want to say. That I need to say, but I can’t do it here. Wednesday, okay? At the diner? I promise.”

She took a deep breath and gently pulled her hands away from his so that she could wipe away her tears. Finally, when she let out a shaky breath, she managed to smile.

“Okay, Steve, I’ll be there. I promise.” She told him.

When Wednesday came around, Steve headed straight to the diner after school. Y/N wasn’t there yet, but he wasn’t surprised. She was often late for things, and he doubted she was as excited to be meeting him there as he was to be meeting her, and she was hardly rushing over as he had.

Steve walked to the back of the diner and took a seat at their usual booth. When the waitress came over he ordered Y/N’s favorite, along with a milkshake for himself. As he waited for the food, and for Y/N, he drummed his fingers along the table top.

Minutes passed, and Y/N still wasn’t there, and he was beginning to get anxious.

When the food arrived, and Y/N was still nowhere to be found, Steve found himself between heartbroken and furious.

She stood him up. He couldn’t believe it.

When the waitress came back around he asked if she could just pack his food to go, and she happily obliged as he put some bills on the table to pay, along with a tip.

As he gripped the food angrily in his hand, he stomped out to his car. And, just as he was attempting to unlock his car door with two milkshakes and a paper bag full of fries in his arms, he realized something.

He may have changed, but Y/N didn’t. And Y/N never broke a promise.

Something wasn’t right.

Finally getting into his car, he placed the milkshakes in the cup holders and tossed the bag of the fries to the floor before speeding off in the direction of Y/N’s. Her house already wasn’t far away from the diner, but at the speed he was going he was there in no time.

Forgetting about the food, he ran from his car and to her front door. He was happy to see her car in the driveway, but no one else’s, meaning she was home alone. He knocked quickly, but loudly.

After a minute or two, the door opened and he was shocked at what he saw.

Y/N stood in front of him, mascara smeared all under her eyes, and tears ran down her cheeks.

“Steve?” She questioned before she trailed off. Then, “Oh my fucking god, Steve, the diner! Oh I’m so sorry I completely forgot, it’s just that-”

But she didn’t finish her sentence as she broke out in sobs. Steve was frozen as first, but he quickly recovered and wrapped her up in his arms. She gripped his shirt tightly as she sobbed against his chest, and he stroked her hair softly in silence.

When she finally pulled herself together, she pulled away, wiping her eyes furiously.

“I’m sorry about that,” She whispered.

Steve shook his head, “Don’t be sorry, Bug. What happened?”

The corners of her mouth lifted lightly at the nickname.

“I’m not ready to talk about it just yet. Maybe… maybe we could go for a ride in your car? Listen to some music? You could tell me what you wanted to.” She suggested.

Steve was quick to accept and he walked her out to his car. Once inside, he handed her the milkshake and fries, and for the first time since he showed up at her door, her face lit up with a genuine smile.

“Steve,” She gasped. “I can’t believe you actually remembered my order!”

Steve chuckled, “I’ll always remember it.”

Then, she did something he’d never seen her do in his presence before: she blushed.

The flushing of her cheeks caused him to look away, flustered himself by the sight of it, and to break the awkward silence he launched into his story about Dustin Henderson, demodogs, and the Upside Down.

By the time Steve finished his story, the pair had parked in a field and were sitting on the hood of his car eating cold fries and watching the sunset.

“That’s the craziest thing I ever heard,” Y/N whispered.

Naturally, she’d believed the whole thing because she trusted Steve to tell the truth, had a pretty open mind, and she’d always found the Will Byers case to not add up all the way.

“Imagine living through it,” Steve chuckled.

Y/N simply shook her head in disbelief at the image of her ever going through such a thing before she sighed.

“I guess it’s my turn, now, yeah?” She asked.

Steve nodded, not wanting to speak, for he felt it might put too much pressure on her.

“Well, today after school I headed over to Billy’s to grab my jacket before I went to the diner because his house is on the way. When I got there, I decided to just let myself in like I always do. When I went inside I-I heard this noise,” She swallowed back another wave of tears. “It sounded like… moaning. I followed the sound to Billy’s room and without hesitating I threw open the door. There I found Henrietta Dugan, riding Billy like a mechanical bull, naked as the day she was born.”

She had to take a moment to wipe the tears that had managed to slip out, and Steve’s hands clenched into fists at the fact that Billy had done that to her. He wanted to yell in rage, not at Y/N of course, but he could tell her story wasn’t over.

“Naturally, I started screaming, throwing shit. Henrietta was freaked out; she grabbed her shit and got out of there. But Billy? Ha, Billy had the audacity to be mad at me. Telling me I had no business to just barge into his room uninvited and break his things. I told him he had no right to cheat on me. He told me I deserved it. He told me it was payback for talking to you at Tina’s.”

She had to take another pause, and Steve really wished she would just finish because it was getting harder to hold his anger in.

“He then started insulting my appearance and how I am in, uh, bed,” She added that part quickly. “He told me that he never loved me and that I needed to leave. So I did.”

Steve shook his head in disbelief.

“He - he,” He struggled to get the words out through his anger.

“He’s a fucking idiot. Billy Hargrove is the biggest fucking idiot in all of Hawkins. In all of Indiana. In the whole universe. Because, and I hope you can forgive me for saying this now, if I ever had the chance to have you as my girlfriend, I would cherish every moment. If a girl as kind, smart, and stunning as you ever even thought about giving me the time of day I would faint in happiness. You are as close to perfect as it gets, Y/N, and I would like to apologize on Billy’s behalf that men are pure garbage. And… and that includes me too because I never had the balls to say this to you until now.” Steve ranted, his chest panting as he finished and turned to look at Y/N’s shocked expression.

“Steve…” She whispered “What are you trying to say?”

“I’m trying to tell you that I love you, Y/N. That I’m in love with you.” He cried out.

“And you found it appropriate to tell me all this now? We’ve been best friends for years Steve! How are you just realizing this? I mean, you dated Nancy! You were so in love with her! Not me! It was never me. There were always other girls. I just… I’m so confused!” She shouted at him.

Steve ran a hand through his hair. “I know, Y/N. I know that I’m so stupid for this, and that it isn’t fair. I just always thought the love that I felt for you was platonic. But none of those other girls ever made me feel the way you do. Not even Nancy. Fuck, it killed me to see you with Billy.”

Y/N shook her head angrily.

“No,” she snapped, “you don’t get to do this. You don’t get to use my vulnerability and my breakup as your opportunity to tell me this shit.”

She hopped off the hood of his car and opened the door, climbed into the passenger seat, and slammed the door shut behind her. Steve scrambled to get in next to her, but she refused to look at him once he did.

“Just take me home, Steve,” She demanded.

Steve sighed, his heart breaking, but he complied.

Once they were in her driveway, Steve turned to look at her, and was surprised to see that she was already looking at him.

“Look, Steve,” she said quietly, “it’s not that I’m rejecting you completely. I just… I need time. I’m not ready. But when I am ready, I’ll know where to find you. Okay?”

Steve nodded and swallowed back tears, “Do you promise?”

She smiled sadly, “I promise.”

And just like that, she stepped out of his car, and out of his life.

The rest of the school year went by in a blur for Steve. Y/N hadn’t spoken to him since March, and before he knew it, it was June and he was gradating; leaving. The night after graduation, he sat on a pool chair in his backyard as the other students of Hawkins High partied hard around him.

He agreed to hold the exclusively senior, and their plus ones, party as a last hurrah. In all honesty he was hoping that it would distract him from the fact that he and Y/N’s relationship, whatever it had become, was well and truly over.

But, as he sipped on the only beer he’d opened all evening, she was the only thing he could think about. In fact, he was even beginning to hallucinate that she was there, for when he looked up he swore he saw her staring at him from across the pool.

Wait… that really was Y/N.

Steve bolted out of his chair and rounded the pool to her, stopping a few feet away from her, suddenly afraid that she wasn’t there for him, but for someone else. However, her shy smile told him otherwise.

She closed the gap between them and moved her hair behind her ear, a breathy laugh escaping her lips.

“Can we talk somewhere more private?” She asked.

He nodded quickly and grabbed her hand, leading her through the masses of people to his bedroom. Once inside, he shut and lock the door before turning to her.

“Steve,” She began.

At the same time he said, “Y/N.”

The pair laughed but she just shook her head, insisting that she go first. Steve agreed and moved to sit on his bed.

“Steve,” She started again. “We know everything about each other. We’ve known each other since you were in kindergarten and I would wait at home for school to be over so that I could come over here to see you. Our mothers have always said that we were destined to be together, and I always told them that there was no way we’d end up together. A long time ago, I realized that they were right. I realized they were right when you punched Tommy H in second grade for calling me ugly. I realized they were right when you asked me to the Snow Ball all three years of middle school, and each year I spent more time getting ready to impress you than the last. I realized they were right when you had my diner order memorized after you got your license and would drive us there everyday. I realized they were right when you started dating Nancy Wheeler and I cried myself to sleep over it. I realized they were right when everytime Billy kissed me, I would close my eyes and imagine that it was you. I realized that they were right when, during these last few months without you, I felt like I wouldn’t live another day without speaking to you.”

She took a deep breath.

“What I’m trying to say is I love you too, and I’ve loved you since the day you gave me the nickname Bug because I was never afraid to play in the dirt like the other boys. I was five. I’ve known you were the one since then. I’m sorry I made you wait so long to hear me say this, but I think it was only because I wasn’t ready to tell you.”

Steve was frozen, too afraid to move in case this was a dream and it would wake him up. The truth was, he had no words for the way her speech had made him feel. No words for how happy he was in that very moment.

So, he decided that he didn’t need words.

Steve shot up from his spot on the bed and grasped Y/N’s cheeks, pulling her face towards his and covering her mouth with his own. She sighed happily against his lips and wrapped her arms around his neck, tangling her fingers in his hair. The kiss was needy, but gentle, and it felt like time stopped when her lips danced in rhythm with his.

Back down at the pool, Jonathan Byers pointed out the scene in the window to his best friend and girlfriend, Nancy Wheeler. Nancy sighed, rolled her eyes, and shoved a twenty dollar bill into his palm.

Steve knows everything about Y/N. He knows that she wants to travel the world with him after she graduates college. He knows that she wants one cat and one dog. He knows that she wants four miniature versions of the two of them one day.

And most importantly, he knows that when he asked her to marry him after her own high school graduation, she said yes.

#steve harrington #steve harrington imagine #Steve Harring x reader #Steve Harrington x you #Steve Harrington x female reader #stranger things #stranger things imagine #stranger things fic #steve harrington fic #nancy wheeler x jonathan byers #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #billy hargrove #billy hargrove x reader #steve harrington x nancy wheeler #bill hargrove x you

[rhoeysama]

So, I was going to write an essay about Nancy Wheeler, self-acceptance and the undue hate that she receives, but it accidentally turned into so much more than that. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to share it at all, but seeing as I lost myself in writing this, and it feels like such a big chunk of my soul is in this, I will. I’m rambling about Nancy and Jonathan and getting my thoughts out, and it’s perhaps a bit messy, but I just wanted to share my thoughts on these two characters. Although some of the writing on the show is lacking, in my opinion, and doesn’t do Nancy and Jonathan the justice that I think they deserve, I really like them, and their relationship, and I just want to express that. 

It’s about the concept of self-acceptance and being true to oneself, and about Nancy’s journey to finding herself and how it connects to real life. It’s long and ranty, but if you want, you can read it and hopefully it wasn’t a complete waste of time. :) 

* * * * * * * * 

Nancy was quick to forgive Jonathan for his mistake because she’s a compassionate person. 

She was willing to give Jonathan the benefit of doubt; willing to believe that his heart was in the right place, that he’s not a bad person and didn’t have malicious intent with what he did. He just made a bad decision, at a bad time, when his head wasn’t screwed on just right, after his brother had went missing. And on top of that, he’s only seventeen.

She was genuinely curious about why Jonathan took her picture in the first place. 

“What was I saying [when you took my picture]?” 

She wanted to understand his reasoning behind it (to learn more about him, what's going on inside that head of his, what makes him tick), so much so that she brought it up again later and pressed him for an answer. He didn’t want to answer, because he had already said his sorry and acknowledgment of having overstepped a boundary and been “weird”. And when he finally gave in to her prodding and presented his observation, she became angry. It just happened to be very awkward when it came from a boy who appeared to like her, which is why she tried to chalk it up to him just being jealous of Steve. But that wasn’t the only reason. She got angry because he was right, and she knew it. After all, he wasn't the first person to vocalize that she was trying to be someone she isn’t.

Barbara: “Nance, this isn’t you.”

Dustin (to Mike): “There’s something wrong with your sister. She’s got a stick up her butt. (...) She’s turning into a real jerk. (...) She used to be cool.”

Jonathan (to Nancy): “I saw this girl, trying to be someone else. But in that moment, you were alone, or you thought you were, and you could just be yourself.”

Nancy was changing her behavior and making bad choices to be liked by a boy. But she never wanted to - or tried to - join in on the bullying and mocking of others just to be part of his group and be perceived as “cool”. Steve even pointed this out to Tommy and Carol: “Neither of you cared about her. You never even liked her. Because she’s not miserable like you two, she actually cares about other people.”     

The compassionate Nancy is the real Nancy. The Nancy who cares about others. The Nancy who's willing to listen to someone’s side of a story, and not simply dismiss them and believe the rumors about them instead. The Nancy who’d rather end the suffering of a wounded animal than leave it to die a slow, painful death. The Nancy who’d rather buy bear traps and a can of gasoline and go after and kill a monster than let it claim more victims. The Nancy who puts her own life in danger to get justice for her dead best friend and her parents. The Nancy who dances with the lonely adolescent boy who's crying because nobody wanted to be his dance partner, and cheers him up with words of encouragement. 

That’s the real Nancy Wheeler. 

Not the one who slams doors in other’s faces when they kindly offer her their left over pizza. Not the one who looks on when someone’s property is taken by force and destroyed as revenge. Not the one who tells her best friend - whom she dragged to a party she didn’t want to go to in the first place - to get lost while she goes upstairs to have sex. Not the one who drunkenly calls her boyfriend “bullshit”. 

Being young, especially a teenager, is hard. You have limited experience and knowledge about the world, but plenty of feelings and thoughts and you’re vulnerable and exposed and people can be so cruel, so relentless. Everyone is going through their own life with their own burdens, and deals with it differently. Some bottle it up, some lash out, some bully, some drink and do drugs or party and have plenty of sex to dull the pain. Some, unfortunately, commit suicide. But everybody deals in their own way, and most people wise up, mature, and grow into the people they were always meant to be. Not all, but most. 

And we all have an essence, an authentic self. Someone we were born to be, but the world tried to take it from us. And that is why the way we act when we’re alone is who we truly are. That’s when our walls come down and we drop our masks. 

This is why Jonathan is an interesting character to me. He saw Nancy as something more than she appeared to be. She was a genie in a bottle, and that bottle had become increasingly small as she was growing, but she was still trying to fit, even if it wasn’t in her own best interest. (And Jonathan saw in her what she saw in Will, and what he had told him as well: to just be himself.) 

There are many things we do in private when we’re alone that we would never ever do with others around. I, for instance, talk to myself. A lot. Like, have actual animated, heated debates, complete with all sorts of funny faces and voices, it’s almost like a performance, except I prefer mine not to have an audience. I also sing terrible “opera”, and laugh at myself for how bad it is, because it’s pretty bad, but that’s okay. It’s all in good fun. I also do a lot of voice acting, trying to imitate Eric Cartman, or Rick and Morty or any random Pokemon, but again, it’s awful (but I hear I make a very believable Bulbasaur!). It’s mine, and mine alone, and I’m not willing to share unless I’m 100% comfortable around someone. But it’s something I have accepted, and I’m content with it. It’s all a part of who I am. It’s valid, it’s authentic, it’s weird, it’s human. 

This is everyone. Every single person. And guess what? It’s okay. Because none of us learn how to be human, it’s not like it’s taught in school. Or on TV. And all of us are in this life, trying to figure it all out, and most of us don’t have much to go on except for what we absorb from the culture we happen to find ourselves in. And all that culture has to offer is this checklist of things you’re supposed to have, you’re supposed to do, supposed to be. And that’s not all; there’s a deadline for each of those boxes on the checklist! Also, there’s a shit ton of fine print and legalese, and people who will sneak a peak at your list and ask you why you haven’t checked the boxes yet and ostracize you for it, too. 

Nobody tells you that everyone does that weird or gross thing you’re doing when no one’s watching, except that others have their weird or gross thing while you have yours, and yes, everyone thinks they’re the only one doing it, and if anyone found out, oh dear lord have mercy. That’s why we don’t really talk about these things, either. So we shut up about it, think we’re alone in our weirdness, and try to emulate our surroundings, and everyone’s basically just a bunch of fakers wearing masks and creating these fictional personas of themselves to put out there in the world. It’s a defense mechanism, because people are cruel and judgmental and ruthless. They are ready to tear you down if you don’t behave a certain way, if you don’t fall in line and get with the program. 

People are messy and complicated; LIFE is messy and complicated. Nothing is ever straight-forward or obvious, because even adults don’t always know what to do and don’t always have their lives figured out. Sometimes everything looks idyllic and perfect on the surface, and they have all the boxes checked on their list, but they may still be deeply dissatisfied and unhappy. All of this comes from the lies we tell ourselves: if only I have this and this and this, I will be happy. 

The truth is, it’s the other way around: if you’re not happy and grateful for the things you already have, no amount of things and good happening in your life is ever going to make it any better. 

So, one of the hardest things you can do in life is to accept yourself for who you are, and learn to love yourself, just the way you are. It’s hard, in the face of reality, in which most people don’t share your sentiment, most people don’t like themselves and would much rather NOT accept themselves, and that’s why they won’t accept you as you are, either. Because the way our consumer culture has evolved is by constantly making sure that people feel dissatisfied and unhappy with what they have and who they are, so that they keep on buying more, buying more, consuming, consuming, consuming. And on the other side of the same coin is the religions and politics, the meddling authoritarians on both sides of the spectrum trying to put their ideological shackles on you and keep you in a shoebox (or the “magic lamp”/bottle), when there’s a whole limitless universe out there.

When you’re a teenager, you start waking up to these facts, and it’s ridiculously hard. Coming out of childhood, suddenly realizing what this world is all about. Realizing that there’s so much suffering in the world, and you feel it too, but there’s not much you can do about it. 

But there is, actually. You can start with yourself, and extend kindness to those who need it. Extend kindness to yourself first by not lying to yourself because it’s more convenient. The truth has a tendency to catch up to us, and it will sooner or later, and the longer one waits, the messier it will be. Once you learn to be kind to yourself and ask yourself “Who am I, really? What do I want?”, you will start embracing your true self, even if the journey there will be rough and ugly. You’ll lose friends along the way, and maybe family, too. People will get pissed at you and some will even try to ruin your life and your reputation.   

But no one can learn and grow unless they go for what they truly want, what they hold to be true, push their boundaries, and inevitably hurt others and themselves in the process. If we never do any of these things, our lives will stagnate, nothing will ever happen we get nowhere. When we stop learning, we’re dead. 

Being a teenager is hard, because life is hard. It’s especially hard when you know who you are, and you know that what you want in life, and what you like, and the very essence of your soul does not mesh well with what’s expected of you. 

Jonathan knows who he is, and he’s accepted that he’s a “freak”, and that’s okay. Nancy is still figuring things out, but starting to embrace her true self more, and thankfully she has Jonathan there to help her with that. 

#okay I'll shut up now #ramble #long rant #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #jancy #stranger things #Idk if this makes sense at all #I'm tired and I just wanted to get my thoughts and feelings out there

[nancyswhlr]

warm (jonathan x nancy)

You know what this fandom needs? More teeth rotting fluff. Since the writers will never give me it, i’m doing it on my own. Also this will never be seen on my ao3 (its too short imo) but if anyone has any jancy fic requests let me know in my ask & I can post them on here!

Nancy stretched her limbs, trying not to shiver despite the goosebumps already on her skin. This was ridiculous, it was late January in Indiana and she’d lived here her whole life. She should be used to the snow piling up outside and the heater generating less heat than she would like.

She groaned, quietly, as she looked over. Jonathan was asleep too, curled into her and his couch, the movie they weren’t really watching now rolling through its credits. But he had a sweater on, still in his jeans as well though. She tried to get back into a comfortable position, laying her head back down and to fall asleep again. She didn’t want to get up. Tried to ignore the scratch of her sweater and her involuntary shivering. But she was cold.

In her defense, the blanket they normally wrapped themselves in was missing from it’s spot behind the couch. And after a few minutes of trying and failing to fall back asleep, she gave up.

For a second she thought about if it was worth it to squirm out of his embrace and find something. Before she talked herself out of it though, she was untangling herself from his arms. Instantly even colder than she was before, she rose off the couch, still somewhat groggy.

“Jonathan,” her voice was thick. Still, she gently shook his shoulder and repeated until he finally woke up. “Finally.” She mumbled, grabbing his hand. “Bed.” She commanded.

He seemed to be slightly more aware as he sat up, going to turn the TV off. He didn’t say anything but just nodded as she lead them to his room though, and she knew it was because he was so tired. A tiny part of her was guilty for waking him up, considering he didn’t get a lot of sleep as is, but she knew they’d both sleep better in an actual bed. And they’d still wake up to each other, except without sore backs from the couch.

She remembered they were home alone too, and felt somewhat proud and lame at the same time they’d fallen asleep instead of taking advantage of that. It wasn’t like they didn’t get a good amount of alone time together though, considering Mrs. Byers’ was spending more and more time at Hopper’s cabin. And Will with Mike or one of the other boys, sometimes even with El.

Still, she treaded lightly to his room out of habit more than anything else. She landed herself in his room, Jonathan already pulling clothes out of drawers without thinking about it when she let go of his hand.

Nancy stood there, rocking on the balls of her bare feet on his carpet, waiting for him. If not to snap out of his sleep daze and offer her some clothes, than to at least move out of the way so she could grab them on her own. Just for a second, she thought the idea of keeping an overnight bag here wasn’t a bad one.

“Can I get changed now?” She asked after a moment, chuckling. Jonathan turned to her, seeming to take in her sweater and jeans combo before it dawned on him.

“Oh, yeah! Yeah, of course.” He turned back to the drawers, rifling a bit before pulling out a sweatshirt. “Are you cold?” He looked back up at her.

It earned him a shrug, the ever confident and stubborn Nancy Wheeler not wanting to admit she was, indeed, freezing. She didn’t answer for another few seconds before finally caving. “Fine. Yes, I’m cold.”

That seemed to make him laugh as he opened another drawer, pulling out pajama bottoms for her too. “Are these okay?” He handed them to her as she nodded. He didn’t miss when their fingers brushed though, hers feeling like ice against his. But she begrudgingly admitted it already, so he wasn’t going to tease her. “Want me to turn the heat up too?”

Nancy shook her head, changing quickly. She instantly pulled the hoodie over her head, feeling warmer despite the fact the clothes were cold. It was still thick and soft and just a little long on her but it smelled like him. And without a second thought, she was changing into the bottoms as well.

She felt a little like a ten year old playing in her parents clothes at how over sized they were on her, but still fit her better than she would’ve thought. At least she wasn’t swimming in them, she noted as she looked down at herself.  Then snapping her eyes back up to Jonathan, tilting her head.

“Do I look okay?” She was teasing him now, but it was gentle.

Jonathan, on the other hand, looked much more awake than he had a few minutes ago. His eyes were wide as he nodded, taking in her appearance. “Yeah. You look great. I mean, you always do.” he mumbled and Nancy cracked a smile at how genuine and easily he said stuff like that. 

He still looked somewhat nervous. A look on his face that screamed he couldn’t believe that this was happening. That Nancy Wheeler, his girlfriend, was standing in the middle of his room wearing his clothes. As if they haven’t been dating for months and she wasn’t wearing his stuff to bed with him because they were that adorable but grossly domestic couple. She’d almost bet money his hands were shaking.

But she knew he had nerves, that he’d never done anything like this before. She did too, but hers lay more along the lines of she’d never been in love like this before, and less about doing such intimate things for the first time. Deep down, she was selfishly glad she was his first everything though.

And if it were a little earlier or if she wasn’t so tired that comment might’ve sparked something more in them. But it was late and she was suppressing a yawn as she walked over to him, standing on her tiptoes before meeting his lips with hers. It didn’t last very long but, like every time before, it made her jittery with electricity and a small shiver she knew wasn’t from the cold now. She pulled away only a few inches. “Is this okay?” She asked, and he knew what she was referring to.

She was great at not pushing him with anything, even if he was eager to do every disgustingly in love thing couples do with her. This was no exception, but he was genuinely okay with all of this as he nodded.

“Good.” She nodded, pecking his lips one last time before trailing her hand down his arm to catch his hand. She lined up their scars before she pulled them to his bed, climbing on the soft mattress.

It gave him another chance to take in her dressed down state, her hair already a little messed up from when they first fell asleep. And Jonathan was against cliches and everything they stood for (something about him being pretentious rang in the back of his mind) but he found himself reciting words from a sappy romance novel, standing there wondering how she looked so beautiful in literally anything she decided to wear. He was too in love for his own good. It wasn’t long before she was tugging on his hand, commanding him without words to come to bed.

“Sorry,” He muttered, climbing under the sheets as well, even though she wasn’t moving to curl into him quite yet. To be fair, the lights were still on.

“Is’ okay.” She replied, sleepily. “What were you thinking about?”

He decided to answer honestly. “You.” He shrugged, bringing back his favorite look on Nancy, that flattered sort of shocked ‘I can’t believe you’ smile that lit up her features.

“Stop being so cute.” She mumbled against his lips now, causing Jonathan to flush a little now. “I’m too tired for this.”

“Fine, fine. I’m sorry.” He replied, still not lessening the distance or, in fact, even sounding that sorry. He killed the reply that was on her tongue with his, giving her one last real kiss before pulling away.

She didn’t look necessarily happy with this development, but didn’t oppose to him turning over to flick off the light. “What time is your mom getting back tomorrow morning?” She asked seeming to have no ulterior motive for such an innocent question. He could read her like a book.

Jonathan shrugged, facing her again. “You know my mom, morning is always right before noon.” It was true, but after the year they had no one dared to stop letting Mrs. Byers’ sleep till ten or eleven. Especially since she was always with Hopper, who Nancy idly wondered still took the couch when she did fall asleep over there.

Nancy just smiled, a small mischievous smile that allowed Jonathan to pretty much read her mind. “Good.” She said, innocent enough if it wasn’t for the glint in her eyes before she pecked his cheek.

He just laughed. At how cute she was and how in love with her he was. At how he couldn’t wait for tomorrow morning. He didn’t push it anymore as she pulled away, mimicking a yawn from him. “Goodnight Nance.”

She smiled, before wrapping herself in his embrace, and tangling his legs with her own. “Goodnight Jonathan.” It was barely a soft and she was curled into his under his comforter. But she was safe, and content, and happy, and now she was actually warm.

#THIS ! FANDOM ! NEEDS ! MORE ! FLUFF ! #jancy #jonathan x nancy #nancy x jonathan #stranger things #stranger things fanfiction #jancy fanfiction #jancy fanfic #otp: definitely you #my writing #sorry this is kinda cheesy & short for me but these two mean the ENTIRE world to me so i had to write something anyways enjoy! #jancy fic