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jjwantsme · 1 year

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Dear Billy,

s.h

Pairing: steve harrington x mayfield!exgirlfriend!reader

Summary: y/n never had an easy life- and vecna certainly has no intention to make it any easier.

Warning: basically the reader goes through everything in ep4 instead of max, i changed a few details, max doesnt exist in this!!, wayyyy too long, not proof read, cussing, mentions of death, mentions of trauma, mentions of suicidal thoughts, angsty angst angst!!!,sad steeb, depressed reader, lmk if im missing anything!!!

authors note: i rlly love this :,) lmk if ud like a part 2. I was rewatching season4 and this idea hit me like a fucking truck. Also sorry if this is ass😭

masterlist

Nancy and Robin ran into the closed high school, quickly making their way to the counselor office steve mentioned.

They didn’t know exactly what was going on, or how to fix it, but they knew y/n was in trouble; and that was enough to make them worry.

Y/n had been Robin’s best friend for years now, she was the first person to know her sexuality and the first person to validate her identity as whole. Knowing she could be in danger made Robin’s hands shake, and it wasn’t a feeling she could get used to.

“It was here. Right here!” Y/n testified to the friend group as they stared at a brick wall, trying to imagine what she might have seen. “A grandfather clock?” Nancy raised her eyebrows at the girl, her tone indicating that she was having some trouble believing the story.

Y/n and nancy had a…complicated friendship- if you could even call it that. Both of them being ex-lovers of steve definitely rose tension between them, unspoken tension, which happened to be the worst possible kind. Y/n hoped that maybe things would change after she left steve, maybe nancy would stop side-eyeing her in class and purposely ignoring her when the group met up. But, same as always, there was no truce. What more could she possibly want?

“it was so real,” y/n’s voice shook, “and then when i got closer, suddenly it just-…i woke up.”

“It was like she was in a…trance, or something.” Dustin cut in, “Exactly what Eddie said happened to Chrissy.”

Steve stayed quiet, just looking at the back of y/n’s head. He met her in the fall of ‘84, much to dustin’s assistance. He introduced the two of them when they needed her help creatinf a trap, and he swears he could immediately see the hearts in ole’ steve’s eyes.

Y/n, on the other hand, didn’t give in as quickly. She came from a broken home, didn’t trust people as easily. It wasn’t until Christmas that she let him have her number. And it wasn’t until all the way in spring of ‘85 when she finally let the poor boy be her boyfriend.

Even when they broke up, steve still cared way too much for her- and he would do anything to prove it…even if it meant having to kick vecna’s ass.

“Okay, be honest, uh,” Steve sighed, “do you guys understand any of this?”

Him, Dustin, and Lucas had been studying old articles for hours now, desperately trying to find clues on how to avoid y/n becoming the next victim.

Steve would be lying if he said this was his ideal morning routine, but, it was worth it to save his girl.

“No.” Lucas exasperated, obviously exhausted.

“Pretty straightforward.” Dustin shrugged.

Steve scoffed, “Oh, straightforward? Really?”

“Well, what’s confusing to you?” The younger boy sat up, “So far, everyone vecna has cursed has died- except for this old Victor Creel dude that Nancy found. He’s the only known survivor! If anyone knows how to beat this curse, it’s him!”

“Okay, yeah well that’s assuming he was cursed, Henderson, which we don’t even know. How can vecna have existed in the ‘50s? It doesn’t make sense.” Steve rubbed forehead in distress.

Dustin looked at him like he was an idiot, which wasn’t too far from the truth, “Far as we know, Eleven didn’t create the upside down- she opened a gate to it.”

Steve looked at him now, starting to piece the puzzle together.

“The upside down has probably been around for thousands of years!”

Steve just shook his head, sitting in a chair as he was too emotionally and psychically exhausted to have a scientific debate with Dustin Henderson.

Dustin leaned over a little to get a better look at y/n, before looking over at the other two boys, “any idea what she’s writing?”

Steve turned around to get a better look at her.

“Did she sleep?”

“I mean…would you?”

Steve looked down before turning back around, looking down at the newspaper and pretending to flip through the pages just to distract himself.

He felt useless. His angel was going to die. His angel would be taking her last breaths, and he had absolutely no idea how to stop it. Hell, he didn’t even know if it was possible to stop it!

He promised her he’d her safe when they were dating, and he swore to keep that promise even after they broke up. But now that promise was slowly being broken into pieces, and no matter what steve did, he couldn’t put them back together.

Y/n quickly finished the sentence she was writing, before pausing her movements as she felt glares on her. “I know you guys are staring at me.”

“What, sorry?”

“You said you needed something?”

“Just hanging out.” Steve fiddled with a tennis ball in his hands

Y/n sighed, collecting all of her letters, “How you think your eyes boring into the back of my head is protecting me from vecna? I don’t know.”

Y/n stood up and walked towards them as she shuffled the envelopes, her eyes shifting towards them when she noticed they were still dilly-dallying. “You can look at me now.”

“Thank you, sorry.”

“Sorry.”

“For you,” she handed an envelope to dustin.

“For you,” she handed another to lucas.

“And, um…you.” She handed one more to steve, trying her best not to meet his eyes., “Oh, and uhm, gives these to mike, el, and will- if you can ever get ahold of them again.”

Her eyes went wide as she watched dustin begin to open his, “hey, no, what are you doing?! No, don’t- that’s not for now, don’t open it now!”

Dustin slowly nodded, “Okay…i’m sorry, what is this?”

“It’s um…it’s a fail safe. Y’know, for after…if things don’t work out.” Y/n sniffled as she explained.

Steve immediately shook his head, placing his gifted envelope on the coffee table, “wait, woah. Y/n…things are gonna work out,”

“No.” She cut him off, “No, okay, i don’t need you to reassure me right now and tell me that it’s all gonna work out, because people have been telling me that my entire life and it’s almost never true. It’s never true!

Steve deflated into his seat, feeling like another part of the promise had just been broken off in front of him.

“I mean, of course this asshole curses me.” She looked at steve then back at the floor, “I should’ve seen that one coming.”

Steve couldn’t help but feel like her little rant was directed more towards him than anyone else. He was the one who told her that everything would be okay, that billy would be saved and their family would stay secure. He didn’t even know it, but he had lied to her.

It wasn’t too long after that when she broke up with him. It was too much- the grief, the depression, watching her step-dad leave them with nothing. Her life was falling apart, and even steve couldn’t fix that.

Steve was never cold to her, even after everything was said and done. He still tried to say hey to her when he they ran in to each other on the street, invite her to basketball games when he knew robin would be there. She turned him down though. Every single time. But he didn’t really care.

He couldn’t give up on her. He just couldn’t.

Y/n looked at the walkie-talkie and picked it up, “hey, if we go to East Hawkins will this still pick up Pennhurst?”

“Yeah, of course.”

Steve shook his head, “wait, why are we talking about East Hawkins?”

Y/n moved her eyes to him.

“No.”

She ignored his decline and started trotting up the stairs. Steve groaned and followed after her, the boys not far behind him.

“Y/n! Y/n, seriously, i’m not joking, okay? I’m not driving you anywhere!”

She just huffed in reply, “Steve, if you think i’m going to spend what is likely the last day of my life in the armpit that is Nancy Wheeler’s basement, then you’re out of your mind.”

They followed y/n all the way outside and to steve’s car- and by this point it was evident that she won the argument.

She went to open the door but frowned when she discovered that it was locked shut. She turned to her ex-boyfriend, “Open the door.”

“Uh, no.”

“Please, steve.”

Steve looked at her for a second. Those eyes. Those goddamn doe eyes. Lord, he gives in every time.

He sighed and unlocked the car before getting in, “Henderson, that little super-walkie of yours, better reach Pennhurst.”

Steve stopped his car at the graveyard, as y/n requested, and she wasted no time getting out of the car.

“Y/n!” Steve got out to chase after her.

“Steve, please, just stay in the car!”

“Y/n, just wait,” he caught up to her, “just listen to me, just, please!”

Y/n stayed in her place and looked at him, indicating that he was allowed to speak.

“I…I know you’ve something happened back there with your mother…was it vecna?”

Y/n sighed and looked away. He was right. It was vecna. And it wasn’t a very pleasant visit, either.

“I told you, i’m fine. Okay? I mean, as fine as someone who’s hurtling towards a gruesome death can be.”

“Y/n…” he grabbed her hand, “you know you can talk to me, right?”

“Yeah, sure, i know that.”

“Okay, then why do you keep pushing me away? Y/n, I love you,”

Y/n shook her head, “Stop saying that.”

“I do, y/n, I do love you! I don’t need a letter- I don’t want a letter, just talk to me. To your friends. We’re right here…” he paused and sighed, intertwining their fingers, “I’m right here. Okay? I’m here.”

Y/n let a tear slide down her cheek and looked back into his eyes, “Just…wait in the car, this won’t be long.”

Steve felt another piece break as she let go of his hand and continued walking in the other direction, leaving him behind.

Y/n sat cross-legged in-front of her older brother’s grave, and opened his envelope as more chilling tears flowed down her cheeks.

“Dear billy,” she took a deep breath.

“I don’t know if you can even hear this. Two years ago i would’ve said ‘That’s ridiculous, impossible’- but that’s before I found out about alternate dimensions and monsters, so I’m just going to stop assuming that i know anything. So much has happened since you left. Your dad was a total mess. He and my mom started getting into fights…b-bad fights. I don’t think he could stand being here without you, so he left. And he didn’t leave mom much. She’s taken an extra job, and we moved to that lovely trailer off Kerley. I broke up with Steve, and started avoiding him like the plague. Basically, ever since you left, everything’s been a…total disaster. And the worst part is, I can’t tell anyone why you’re gone. I play the moment you died back in my head all the time, and sometimes I imagine myself running to you and pulling you away.” She took a breath to wipe away her tears with her sleeve.

“I imagine that if i had, you would still be here, and everything would be…” she let out a sob, “everything would be right again. We would’ve become friends- good friends, like a real brother and sister. I would still be with steve and y’all would become close, and you would be his best man at our wedding. And I know that’s stupid. You hated me, I hated you. But I thought that maybe…maybe we could try again. But that’s not what happened. I just stood there and I watched.”

She let out another sob, “For a while, i tried to be happy, normal. But I…I think that maybe a part of me died that day too- and i haven’t told anyone this, not even steve. I-I just can’t. But I had to tell you, before it’s too late. If you can even hear this. I really hope that you can. I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry, Billy. Love, your annoying shitty little sister, Y/n.”

She began putting the envelope back, when suddenly she saw dark cloud crowd above her and a wicked chuckle, wind blowing through her hair.

“Y/n.”

Steve impatiently tapped his finger against his car door before checking his watch and getting up, “Alright, it’d been long enough,”

“Steve, just give her some time,”

“I have, alright, Sinclair?! I’m calling it, if she wants to yell at me, she can.”

Steve jogged towards where he saw her sitting, “Y/n! Time to giddy-up, yeah?”

His breath shook when he noticed how she didn’t move an inch, “Y/n…”

He felt tears in his eyes and shook her shoulder when he saw her eyes white-out, “Y/n, y/n!”

“I’ve been waiting to hear those words, y/n. Waiting so very long.”

Y/n gulped as she watched her deceased older brother walk towards her, “But it wasn’t the full truth, was it, y/n?”

He wiped a tear from her cheek, “Y’know, I think there’s a part of you, buried somewhere deep, that wanted me to die that day. You were maybe even relieved, happy.”

“B-Billy, no, that’s not true,”

“That’s why you stood there, isn’t it, y/n?” He tilted his head, “It’s okay, you can admit it now. No more lies. No more hiding.”

“Billy, that’s not true, I swear, I swear it’s not true,” She kept shaking her head.

“That is why you feel such guilt, why you hide from steve, from your friends, from the world- and why, late at night, you have sometimes wished to follow me. To follow me into death. That is why I am here, max. To end your suffering, once and for all.”

“No!” Y/n cried, breathing heavily as she ran the other way, as fast as she could.

She didn’t get very far, though, as she felt something wrap around her ankle and pull her towards an evil being, one that she assumed was vecna himself.

“Shit!”

It pulled her until cornering her onto a pillard, wrapping around her arms and legs until she couldn’t move.

Suddenly, she felt confusion as she heard her favorite song fill her ears.

She looked in the distsnce and saw the boys, yelling at her to come down.

“They can’t help you, y/n,” vecna’s deep voice startled her, “there’s a reason you hide from him, a reason you left him. You don’t belong with him. You belong here with me.”

“You’re not really here,” y/n struggled to rasp out, her throat closing due to the pressure around it.

“Oh, but I am, y/n. I am.” He rested her hand above her face.

She let out a cry as her life began flashing before her eyes.

Moving to Hawkins.

Meeting dustin and lucas at the skatepark.

Meeting steve.

Teaching eleven how to braid hair

Her first kiss with steve, in the front seat of his car.

Steve asking her out, sealing their relationship with a kiss.

Steve holding her while she cried, kissing her head.

Y/n processed it all as she noticed her left arm being freed, and she didn’t think twice before ripping out one of his tentacles, making him wince and let go of her.

She let out a breath and quickly got up to run, going as fast as she could as she tried her best to avoid obstacles as she headed towards the hole where she could see Steve and the boys.

She didn’t think she would make it.

But then, she was back, she opened her eyes and she was back in Steve’s arms.

“Y/n!”

“Y/n, oh my god!”

Steve wrapped his arms around her tightly as they both panted, “I thought we lost you, I thought I lost you.”

“I’m still here!” Y/n cried out in between breaths, grabbing one of his hands, “I’m still here.”

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rightbrainboredom · 8 months

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Steve Rogers Fanfic

Hello new friends! It's been recommended to me that I start posting my Steve Rogers fic here because here is where all the potential new friends are. So I'm gonna post the links for the first chapter, I post on Quotev and Archive of Our Own (AO3), and then I'll make update posts whenever I post a new chapter. Feel free to message me or comment any questions or thoughts you have. I'd love to hear from any and all of you.

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taylorgrace-writes · 2 years

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Make Out Session

Pairings: Steve x Reader

Warnings: None

Word Count: 599

AN: Just a short lil something I wrote in like 15min cuz I haven’t posted in a hot sec. Based around S1E1 -T

You head into Hawkins High, wading through the bustling hallway. Your two best friends Nancy and Barb fall into step beside you.

“So did he call?” Nancy asks you.

“Will you keep your voice down?” You hiss at her, a playful smirk on your lips.

“Well did he?” Barb speaks up beside you. You shake your head no, walking up to your locker.

“I’ve told you before, it's not like that,” you tell them as you work to open your locker, Barb shooting Nancy a knowing look. “Okay, I mean, yes, fine, he likes me, you both know that, but not like that. We’ve only made out a couple of times.”

“We only made out a couple of times.” Barb mimics you as Nancy giggles beside her.

“Jesus, you’re gonna be so cool now,” Nancy tells you as Barb nods along in agreement.

“No, I’m not!” You retort back.

“You better still hang out with us, that’s all I’m saying,” Nancy tells you.

“Yeah, if you become friends with Carol and Tommy H…” Barb trails off.

“Ew, no. Gross. And I’m telling you guys again, this was just a one-time… two-time…thing.” You tell them as your open your locker up to have a folded slip of paper fall out. You pick up the small slip of paper and open it.

Meet Me. Bathroom. Steve.

You look to Nancy and Barb as they read the note over your shoulder.

“You were saying?” Barb comments.

Before you know it, you're in the girl's restroom at Hawkins High, full-on making out with none other than Steve Harrington. As your lips continue to clash as the kissing becomes more and more intense, a bell rings, indicating the 5-minute warning before the first period starts. You crash into reality, no longer lost in lust for Steve. You reluctantly pull away from Steve and he tries to chase your lips with flushed cheeks.

“Okay, I, have to go.” You tell Steve as he continues to kiss your neck.

“Just one more minute.” He murmurs against your hot skin. You enjoy his lips on your neck for a few more seconds before calling him again.

“Steve…”

“Yeah?” he asks in between kisses.

“I really, like seriously, have to go.” You gasp out before finally tearing your body away from his and pulling your backpack on.

“Let’s do something tonight, yeah?” Steve asks, doing the same.

“I can’t, I have to study. For Kaminsky’s Chem test.” You stutter out as Steve pulls you close to him again.

“What’s your GPA again? Three-point nine?”

“Kaminsky’s tests are impossible.”

“So let me help you.”

“You failed chem.”

“Oh come on, it was only a C minus.” You look at him sternly, shaking your head and giving a little laugh.

“So, should I come over, say, eight?”

“Uh, are you crazy? My mom won’t allow that, no way.”

“Who says she needs to ‘allow’ anything? I’ll just climb through your window, she won’t even know I’m there. I’m stealthy, like a ninja.”

“You are crazy.” You tell Steve, turning away from him towards the door to go to class.

“Okay, okay, forget your place, we’ll just chill in my car, find a nice quiet place to park.”

“Steve, I have to study, I’m not kidding.”

“Why do you think I want it nice and quiet?” You can’t help but smile at him.

“You’re an idiot Steve Harrington.” You tell him before pushing the bathroom door open. “I’ll meet you at Dearborn and Maple at eight. To study,” you tell him at the last second before the door closes on him.

#stevexreader #stevefanfic #fluff #makeout #joekeeryxreader #joekeeryfanfic #strangerthings #steve #joekeery #flufffanfic #fanfiction #stevefluff #joekeeryfluff #joefluff #strangerthingsfanfic #strangerthingsxreader #strangerthingsfluff

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sangue-dolce · 1 year

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going through the tag for the movie Angst 1983 just to end up with a bunch of Stranger Things fanfic posts.... enough!

#I do NOT want to read the StevexReader fics I will never want to read that leave me alone #txts

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chelseeebe · 10 months

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come pick me up.

part one to do you think i have forgotten (about you)

summary: it had always been you and eddie. but one night and a whole lotta unexplored feelings leave you both reeling and you’re not sure if it ever really was you and eddie.

a/n: ermm this is so so long i’m so sorry already LOL i’ve had it in the drafts for so long but i reread it n rlly liked it so i wanna post hehe! side note: there are ZERO pictures of eddie not in that fuckin hellfire shirt D: i can’t have a grown man wearing that now …

loosely based off of the cook/freddie/effy storyline from skins uk if you’ve seen it you’ll know.,,, they’re like in their early twenties n it’s set sometime in the 90s ish tho it’s not rlly mentioned

no use of y/n! smut, 18+. this is more so stevexreader than eddie but they do have a relationship of sorts n it’s a lil’ complicated.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ❤︎ ❤︎ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

the sound of a high pitched alarm screaming jolts you awake. still partially in last nights clothes, the grubby feel of makeup on your face. leg slung over eddie’s torso.

you groan, shoving his arm as he’s still very much asleep, ‘shut up,’ grimacing as the noise continues.

he mumbles something, wildly slapping his arm about to turn off the damn thing.

you run a hand over your face, remnants of your black eyeliner on your hand. that horrid taste in your mouth only found after a night of drinking. which seemed to be just about every night at the moment.

‘why’d you set an alarm, you freak?’ rolling over onto your stomach, perched on your elbows, watching as his eyes slowly open, obviously feeling as shit as you did.

‘i have- had class, you freak,’ he grumbles, looking up at you from the pillow, curly hair fanned out around him.

you scoff, ‘like you were gonna go,’ attempting to rub the rest of your mascara off, sure you looked similar to a wild raccoon.

he hums in response, shuffling under the covers to tangle his leg with your yours, ‘you gonna sort this out for me?’ referring to the obvious morning glory tenting the blanket.

‘you gonna ask nicely?’ you respond, snarling at his crudeness.

whatever he was about to say was interrupted with a knock at the door, ‘we’re coming in, you have five seconds to not be naked,’ robin’s voice echoes.

you look up as robin walks into the room, hand over her eyes until steve gives her a small nudge, indicating the coast is clear, ‘oh good-,’ she sniffs, ‘it smells like weed and sex in here, you’re fucking disgusting.’

‘thanks for reminding me,’ eddie leans over, retrieving the half-smoked spliff from last night and lighting the end.

steve’s eyes are firmly on yours, kinda sad and defeated. he had that same look on his face whenever you and eddie were together, which was often.

you’d sort of always had this.. thing with steve. encapsulated by his presence. there was always something unspoken between you and you were never sure if it was because he hated you or not. small glances and touches that seemed to linger just a bit too long.

you’d sorta taken his best friend from him at one point, coming between their friendship suddenly and with no warning.

steve was intrigued by you too. this mystical, unobtainable persona you presented to the world. something he couldn’t crack. just couldn’t quite understand it.

‘we’re getting breakfast, i was going to ask if you wanted to join but i assume that won’t be happening,’ she raises her eyebrows, noticing your severely hungover state.

they liked to party too, just clearly not as much as you and eddie. both of you had no understanding of when to call it a night, egging each other on til the point of no return.

‘i think we’ll give that a miss,’ eddie’s answers for the both of you. steve’s eyes immediately look down, suddenly interesting in the burn marks in eddie’s carpet.

you’d actually met steve first, on the first day of classes in freshmen year. you went over to a sheepish steve, who looked slightly scared, and obviously lost. offering him the directions to his room.

he’d smiled back, introducing himself to you on the way. appreciative of your kindness. you probably wouldn’t have helped if he didn’t look like that, but still, it was nice.

that’s when eddie had bounded over, all hair and denim. loudly taking over your conversation, introducing himself with a smirk, hand already creeping onto your lower back. that’s when steve had nodded towards him and informed you of their already established friendship.

you weren’t really sure when it became you and eddie. well, it wasn’t. not officially. god, you didn’t want official. he was fun to fuck and even better to party with. maybe the fact he dealt had been a factor in solidifying your strange relationship. maybe not.

robin rolls her eyes, ‘right, well you boring fucks can rot in bed all day, suit yourselves,’ ushering steve out of the door, slamming it behind her.

you blink, hating this awful, guilty feeling steve always left in your stomach. you’d tear a guy like him to shreds, maybe it was for the best.

whatever self-wallowing, steve-centric thoughts you had are interrupted when eddie’s arm snakes around your back, pulling you onto him.

‘i still need a little assistance here,’ he grins from beneath you, running his hand down your back, firmly grasping your exposed ass as you clamber on top properly.

you try your damn hardest to push the reflecting image of steve from your mind. though it doesn’t quite work until eddie’s calloused palm softly taps against your cheek, ‘anyone in there?’

you frown, returning the playful slap as you grind mindlessly against him, his fingers digging into the pliant skin of your ass.

‘you can do that again.’

eddie hadn’t shut up about his birthday for weeks. you’d all planned to go to the same bar you went to most weekends, except this time everyone had to go and he got to be centre of attention.

he’d been pissing you off all night. obviously far too drunk, jaw clenching from the copious amounts of shit he’d sniffed. hanging from your shoulder, speaking over you and splashing beer down your top as he slurred through his words.

‘i think we’re gonna head home,’ steve speaks up when you exit the bar, eddie already looking for the next place.

‘whaat? you’re fucking boring,’ he pokes a finger into steve’s chest, far too intoxicated, ‘you’re staying out, right?’ he looks over to jonathan, argyle and nancy who also shared an apartment not far from yours.

‘nah man.. it’s late, it’s been fun though,’ jonathan shrugs as nancy finds a taxi to take them home.

‘fuuuck you guys are really ditching me on my birthday? at least you won’t let me down,’ his arm hooks around your shoulder, yanking you into him.

you pull back, which wasn’t particularly hard in his state, ‘get off of me.. can i get a ride with you?’ looking over at steve, his hands cautiously poking out of his pockets.

he nods sheepishly as eddie practically erupts, ‘it’s my fucking birthday, and you fucking losers are going home?’ he’s screeching, throwing his arms around, making a royal scene in the middle of the street.

robin finds a cab willing to take the group of you home, calling you over to the yellow vehicle, ‘eddie let’s just go home, it’s late,’ attempting to coax him into going with you. you’d deal with his shit in the privacy of his bedroom.

he laughs, turning away from you and walking up the dimly lit street, ‘you.. you can get fucked,’ he slurs, disappearing into a nearby bar.

steve stands at the cab door, watching as you frown at eddie’s back. internally deciding whether to give in and follow him or to leave like you’d originally planned.

you let out an exasperated sigh, ‘he can go fuck himself,’ you spit as you slide into the back of the cab. steve follows, shutting the door behind him, flashing you a small cautious look as the cab pulls off.

you collapse onto the sofa the second you set foot in the apartment. completely at your wits end with eddie and his the way he spoke to you.

‘i’m going to bed,’ robin announces, slinking into her own room, leaving steve to awkwardly linger in the living room.

you didn’t want to worry about eddie. he was a grown man who could definitely handle his own. besides, why should you when he’d explicitly told you to fuck off?

steve clears his throat before taking the empty seat beside you, ‘he didn’t mean it.. it’s just drunk talking,’ he nods, attempting to reassure you.

it wasn’t as if you were really upset about it all. more so annoyed that you’d let him treat you that way. continually. over and over again.

whatever the fuck was going on between the two of you had started to wear thin. there were only so many times you could put up with his shit before it got tired.

eddie could be a horrible drunk. it wasn’t often but when that version of him came out you’d prefer to be far far from it. he was cruel with his words, venomous as they rolled off his tongue. then you’d get into a screaming match and then either end up hate-fucking or you’d just both never bring it up again.

‘no, he did,’ you sigh, kicking the shoes from your feet with a thud, ‘i don’t care.. really.’

‘right,’ he nods, not totally believing you, ‘y’wanna smoke?’

a small smile creeps onto your face as he reaches for the small black box eddie kept on the table, pulling out a small baggie of weed, something eddie definitely wouldn’t miss. he didn’t even need your reply, beginning to roll up.

perhaps you’d smoked a little too much, sputtering on the final toke of your second or third spliff before handing it back to steve. he sits on the other side, an awful lot closer than he’d been originally.

it was quiet, but comfortable. not awkward at all.

‘y’know..’ he speaks up, looking over at you, ‘actually.. nah,’ changing his mind almost immediately.

‘no.. what? what were you gonna say?’ you furrow your brows, vision hazy, the room full of grey smoke.

he sort of chuckles to himself, stubbing the end of the joint out in the glass ashtray before looking at you again, ‘it’s stupid,’ he warns.

‘even better.. tell me,’ you nod, encouraging him to go on.

he pauses for a moment, a tiny smile on his pink lips, ‘i always thought.. well, that you and me were gonna end up together, i thought you liked me for the longest time,’ shaking his head as he looks down.

your heart thuds. a mixture of your high and the unidentifiable emotion coursing through your veins. there was no questions to being with eddie. it was simple, sex and parties. no complicated feelings involved.

but within a second, steve had completely changed everything. a feeling you’d suppressed since your situationship with eddie had started. completely convinced that the odd relationship you had with steve was just because you were banging his best friend.

‘i didn’t.. i didn’t know you felt like that..’ you manage to get out quietly, watching as he slowly stands up, he doesn’t look at you once. too ashamed, embarrassed that he’d just admitted everything to you so easily.

‘well, now you know,’ he says quietly before disappearing into his room.

you linger on the couch for a moment. unsure of what to think of anything he’d just said. whether you should knock on his door and tell him you’d felt the same or just go off to your own room and wait for eddie to crawl in.

it wasn’t as if you felt nothing at all for eddie. you did, of course. but you didn’t love him. not the way you maybe should’ve. not the way you felt about steve, his gentle nature and soft caramel tinted eyes.

you stand from the couch, feet taking control as you walk to his door. a small slither of orange light peaking from underneath. raising your fist to knock but stopping, arguing with yourself. this couldn’t be a good idea.

before you can even convince yourself to knock, the door opens. steve stands on the other side, his own chest heaving as your eyes meet.

‘i-,’ he croaks, but you cut him off with your lips, pulling back just as quickly as you’d moved forwards.

you stare at him for a few moments, swallowing all the courage you’d just worked up.

‘..now you know,’ giving him a meek smile before walking back to your room. you lean back against the door, heart beating a million miles an hour.

a repetitive banging sound forces you awake in the morning. hissing as the sounds of an extremely dramatic moan get louder. high-pitched and obviously put on.

it takes a moment for you to realise just where the noise is coming from. eddie’s room backs onto yours. the headboard colliding with the wall at an alarming pace.

you stumble out of bed, throwing on an old dirty sweater and groggily making your way into the living room.

steve sits slumped over the table, looking particularly miserable this morning. despite what had happened last night. you wondered if he’d told robin who sat scowling at the door. steam practically coming out of her ears.

her eyes widen as you appear in the doorway, rubbing the residual sleep from your eyes, eyes flitting between your frame and the wooden door.

‘well shit, i was about to cuss you out,’ she remarks, astonished that you were stood in front of her.

steve’s whole face brightens when he realises you’re stood in front of him and not in the room making those god-awful, oscar worthy noises.

‘if that’s not you.. who the fuck is in there?’ robin gasps, now utterly bemused by the entire situation.

you shrug, choosing the seat opposite steve, making brief eye contact and flashing him a small smile. would he bring up last night? or was it never to be spoken about again?

relief is written all over his face. obviously under the impression that you’d made up with eddie at some point in the night. not once checking that you were in your room.

‘jesus christ i’m gonna kill him,’ robin fumes, sipping on a mug of coffee. her eyes are narrowed, attempting to set the room ablaze with her mind.

‘it won’t last long,’ you add, reaching over to steal a slice of steve’s buttered toast. he lets you, obviously. letting out a soft snort at your joke.

‘nothing is that good,’ robin shakes her head.

the noises quieten, a shrill giggle coming from the hallway as a scantily clad blonde appears in the doorway, closely followed by eddie, sporting a pair of boxers that hid absolutely nothing.

‘that way,’ he groans, guiding the smiling woman away towards the bathroom. his eyes momentarily meeting yours, total venom behind his glare.

robin jumps up, splashing coffee over the floor, ‘don’t you dare think about fucking in my bathroom,’ she warns, chasing after the odd couple.

you can hear an altercation as presumably eddie slams the bathroom door on robin, her fists pounding against the wood, hollering about her new bath mat.

steve glances at you, searching your face for any type of reaction. he doesn't find anything, instead you smile softly as robin re-enters the room, cursing at the bastard freak. she grabs her bag, slinging it onto her shoulder before stomping over to the door.

'i'm going out, let me know when he's done with his weird exhibitionist routine,' slamming the door as she exits, the poorly built walls shaking as she does.

there's a faint sound of running water, obviously coming from the bathroom, closely followed by a series of questionable grunts and groans. you choose to try and block it out, though engaging in conversation with steve at this very moment seemed almost too awkward.

'did you tell robin?' you pipe up, playing with your fingernails as you just about meet his gaze.

'uh.. yeah,' he grimaces slightly, 'i-i just thought.. well i thought that was you this morning, i was.. confused,' apologetic for his blunder.

you nod, 'i don't care.. i just wanna prepare for the inevitable grilling i'm gonna get,' chuckling in an attempt to ease the tension. it works as his lips curl into a small, playing with the discarded crusts on his plate.

the god-awful noises from the bathroom worsen and your eyes are pulled from steve, looking towards the cause. perhaps this was eddie's way of making you jealous. revenge for choosing to go home and not put up with his drunken assholery.

you’re sat tracing patterns into the velvet fabric of the sofa, practically shaking as you wait for steve to get back from campus.

he was your friend for fuck sake. why was this so nerve wracking? ask him to hang out, if he says no then so be it. you’ll deal with the awkwardness of your shared kiss alongside eddie’s misguided anger.

he’s later than you’d expected. becoming far too engrossed in the random soap opera on the tv when he does eventually get back. almost forgetting about what you’d got yourself so worked up over.

‘hey,’ waving his fingers as he comes in.

christ, he almost seemed more nervous than you were.

‘hey,’ not wanting to jump down his throat the second he walked in the door, turning the tv off and running your palms down the sofa.

‘spoken to eddie?’ he asks curiously, slinging his bag from his shoulder and slumping down next to you on the couch.

‘nah.. he went out this morning and hasn’t been back,’ you shrug, wishing that he wouldn’t have just bought that prick up.

he nods, looking down at his jeans, finding a loose thread to play with.

‘would yo-,’

‘d’ya wanna-,’

you both start at the same time, stopping to let him continue except he’d done the same thing. sitting in the silence for a brief moment.

you chuckle nervously, ‘sorry, what were you saying?’

‘i was just gonna ask if you wanted to.. maybe do something tonight? if- if you’re not busy,’ shrugging it off, trying his hardest to play it cool.

‘oh,’ laughing softly, the pair of you were like nervy teenagers, comical, ‘i was gonna ask you the same thing.. yeah i’d love to.’

steve grins, transported back to freshman year of high school, trying to find the gall to ask tammy thompson to the fucking movies. it all seemed so childish, innocent, the way you melted around each other.

‘okay.. i’ll get changed, give me five,’ he nods, leaping from the sofa and speeding off to his room.

you bite down onto your bottom lip, trying to contain your smile. kicking yourself for the adolescent excitement it gave you.

the bar was packed for a wednesday night, steve shouldering his way through the crowd with you following closely behind. not brave enough to cling onto his hand, wrapping your fingers around his forearm instead.

‘jesus christ,’ he exclaims when he finds a spot just about big enough for you both to stand. you were close. closer than you’d ever been. at least in public.

you hold onto the glass bottle he’d passed you from the bar, ‘d’ya wanna go somewhere else?’

‘what?’ he shouts, the music too loud to hear you properly.

you lean in closer, lips brushing against his ear, the feeling makes your heart pound, ‘you wanna go somewhere else?’

placing his hand on your arm so he could shout back, the mixture of his cologne and beer filling your nose. it was intoxicating, making your head giddy.

‘i’m good if you are,’ wisps of his hair sweeping against your cheek.

you nod, beaming up at him as you take a swig of the harsh beer. the crowd seemingly disappearing from around you as his eyes focus on you, his own smile overcoming his face.

okay, perhaps you’d had a little too much to drink. but a little dutch confidence never hurt anyone.

you’re definitely not complaining when you grab his hand on the way out of the bar, quickly intertwining your fingers as he weaves his way to the door. still as packed as when you’d got there.

you giggle as he trips over the step coming into the bar, sending you flying into his back as he regains his balance.

his hand is quick to steady you, resting on your waist. the street light illuminating the gleam of his eyes, slightly glossy from the multiple beers he’d sunk inside.

a drunk student roars past you, snapping you out of the moment, steve’s hand still lingering on your waist. something that would’ve never happened if he were sober.

‘shall we go home?’ you ask, not breaking from his gaze.

he nods, moving his hand to offer it out for you to grab. leading you over to an empty cab, leaning through the front window to talk to the driver.

the drive home is heavy with tension. sitting in silence as steve makes polite conversation with the driver, fingers still wrapped around yours. heart thumping as you near your street.

the apartment dark and silent when you get in, the only light coming from the old fairy lights robin had hung around the room. there’s no hesitation, your hands grabbing his cheeks, smashing your lips to his the second the front door closes.

it takes a moment for him to realise what was happening, hands quickly finding solace on the small of your back when it clicks properly. it’s greedy and desperate, tongue sliding into his mouth, wanting to touch every inch of him.

hands sliding down his chest, grabbing at the fabric, his leg slotting between yours, guiding you backwards. straight into the coffee table with a bang.

you spring apart, eyeing eddie’s room cautiously, saying a silent prayer and hoping he didn’t come out.

steve’s eager to resume, eyes hungry as they flit between eddie’s door and your face.

you pull back completely, taking your lip between your teeth and hooking your finger around his pinky, leading the way to his bedroom. it was the furthest away from eddie’s and made the most sense.

he shuts the door gently, flicking the small bedside lamp on, illuminating the obvious tent in his jeans. your mouth falling open at the sight of it, rubbing your thighs together to try and satiate the growing throbbing.

you’re quick to resume the kiss, moving on him swiftly, connecting your lips in a passionate kiss. he collapses backwards onto the bed, your body falling on top of his chest, hands caressing his cheeks.

the next moment you find yourself underneath steve, pressed into the mattress as he holds himself above you. eager hands finding the short hem of your skirt and sliding underneath on the soft skin of your thighs. you had never seen him move with such confidence before, normally a little shy in the way he carried himself.

his finger hooks into the waistband of your lacy panties, tugging them down to your thighs. his growing erection digging into your core with every movement. moaning into his mouth when his finger begins circling your sensitive clit. this had definitely killed any and all assumptions that he was a virgin.

it’s as if he had been waiting for this very moment for his entire life, sliding his fingers between your folds and into your already soaking hole, your mouth falling from his as your head rolls back onto the pillow.

‘oh my god,’ a breathy moan escaping from your lips as his fingers pump in and out, his other hand causing a dip in the pillow next to your head.

his fingers slip out of you and begin to unbuckle his belt, barely getting them down and around his legs before his cock springs up. bigger than you ever could’ve imagined, mouth hung open as your peer down between your bodies.

your shirt is pulled off over your head so quickly you weren’t sure if you had blinked, landing on the floor alongside his with a soft thunk.

you draw your eyes back up to meet his once more, ‘you’re sure?’ he reaffirms, pupils dilated, wetting his lips with his pink tongue.

‘so sure,’ nodding encouragingly underneath him, readjusting your legs to loosely wrap around his torso. you’d never been more sure of anything in your life.

he returns the nod, positioning himself at your sopping entrance and without breaking eye contact he slides in with a sharp intake of breath. you can’t contain the whimper that collects in your throat, the stretch of his cock taking you by surprise. the sting felt good, like he was always supposed to be there between your legs.

he’s still, waiting for your encouragement to move. you give it in the form of a squeeze on the back of his neck, clinging on to the skin as his hips move slowly. low, hungry grunts roll from his lips, the bed frame creaking in time with his thrusts.

‘fuck,’ you breathe out, taking your bottom lip between your teeth acutely aware that eddie was only a few doors away and could definitely hear the happenings in the room. even if you could manage to stifle yourself, the undeniable sounds of skin against skin would expose you.

‘is that- is that good?’ steve mumbles, moving slow but hitting deep, nudging against your soft spot, already hurtling you towards your orgasm.

‘jesus christ.. yes, yes,’ beginning to buck your hips back against him, feeling the familiar knot in your stomach. finger nails leaving crescent moon shapes in his skin as tears prick in your eyes.

steve groans as his heavy balls slap against the back of your thighs, pushing himself fully inside, ‘i’m not.. hmph.. not gonna last long,’ arm beginning to buckle with the weight of him.

you clench around him as your high topples over at his words, burying your face into the pillow next to you. unable to withhold the high pitched wail from leaving your mouth, barely managing to muffle the sound.

his rhythm falters, hips slamming into yours for the last few desperate pumps before he pulls himself out. thick ropes of cum spurting out and onto his hand. and the bed. and your thigh. crying out as his chest heaves above you.

‘holy shit,’ his arm gives way and he ends up next to you on the mattress, panting for air as he reaches for a dirty shirt on the floor, using the first thing he could find to clean off his hand.

you turn your head to face him, a lazy smile on your face as he offers the shirt out to you, mouthing a small sorry.

he throws it to the other side of the room, running a hand over his damp face, ‘i uh.. i last way longer normally,’ bashful and doubting his performance. it was only because it was you.

‘steve,’ you smile, grabbing his blanket to pull over your body, ‘don’t do that,’ seeing the shy boy from once before, you much preferred the steve from earlier.. confident and sure of himself.

‘yeah.. sorry,’ his lips curling into a soft smile, turning his body towards yours, arm snaking out to pull you closer, clammy palm resting on the small of your back.

you giggle quietly in response, settling in to your new position, sharing the blanket with him.

your eyes don’t leave each other’s as he begins to babble about something from the bar, clinging onto your skin as if you were somehow going to slip away.

you hadn’t even realised that you’d fallen asleep in steve’s room.

so when eddie comes in unannounced in the early morning, you thank your lucky stars that you’re facing the wall with steve’s body hiding yours. shoving your face into the pillow to hide yourself, hair sprawled around you, helping your case.

‘yo.. bro,’ he whispers, stepping into the room and over a pile of clothes, ‘good night?’ he cocks his eyebrow at steve as he turns around, glaring at the interruption.

‘uh.. yeah yeah,’ steve panics, realising what eddie had walked into and the chaos that’d ensue if he figured it out, his arm tightens around your waist, pulling you flush against his chest.

‘sounded like it,’ eddie chuckles, shaking his boot to rid it of the discarded shirt on the floor, ‘look, have you got ten bucks? i can give it back tomorrow,’ he bargains, smiling at steve.

‘yeah.. yeah, my wallet’s on the desk,’ steve nods towards the desk, adjusting himself to make sure he was covering you when eddie stomps over to the desk.

ten dollars was a worthy sacrifice to not have to deal with eddie’s temper tantrum in the morning. it wasn’t like he’d never find out. just not now.

‘thanks bro.. i’ll get it back to you tomorrow, hey,’ eddie rubs his stubbly face, ‘d’you know if dickhead’s in? i knocked but, uh.. no answer,’ quite obviously referring to you.

you have to resist the urge to sit up and cuss him out.

‘uhh.. no, no idea sorry,’ steve shakes his head apologetically, lying through his teeth.

‘alright well, have fun,’ wiggling his eyebrows as he exits, closing the door softly.

you exhale when the door clicks shut, though you stay in the same position, not entirely convinced he’s not stood outside the door listening.

‘don’t speak,’ you mouth to steve, who looks wearily at you until the front door closes and you fully turn to face him.

‘jesus christ,’ you breathe, ‘he doesn’t knock?’

‘usually he does.. i bet he wanted to see who was in here,’ his arm twitches, unsure of whether to keep clinging on to your waist or to remove it.

‘i mean,’ you shrug, ‘he’ll found out eventually, right?’ it was inevitable, especially as you were living together.

‘i s’pose.. you don’t care?’ taken aback by your nonchalance towards the situation.

‘not really.. i just don’t think he needs to know, not yet,’ you croak, he had literally just banged another chick practically right in front of you. any guilt you may have felt about the situation had disappeared.

‘yeah,’ he gives you a tired smile, nuzzling his head into the pillow, all soft and sweet.

‘i dunno about you but i’m going back to sleep, until at least lunch,’ your hand running along the curve of his bicep, mere inches away from each other.

he hums in response, his lingering arm pulling your waist closer, eyes drooping as sleep takes over.

you’re awoken again by the slam of the front door, robin leaving for work. letting steve know that everyone in the apartment could hear your late night activities.

steve grumbles, complaining about her heavy-handedness. you leer over at the alarm clock, wanting to get out of steve’s room before eddie gets back from work, making sure there were no possible chances of awkward questions this afternoon.

‘shit,’ you hiss, climbing over his still half-asleep body and grabbing whatever t-shirt you could find, pulling it on over your head, ‘eddie’s back in like five.. i’m gonna get out of here now, saves the aggro..,’ slipping into your discarded underwear.

‘right.. good idea,’ he mumbles, one arm folded underneath his pillow as he comes to fully.

you sprint out of there and into the kitchen, pouring a bowl of cereal when eddie strolls through the door, whistling some tune to himself. he glances at you before taking a seat at the cluttered dining table.

you don’t say a word, discarding your plan to sit at the table and instead tucking in to your cereal on the counter, pretending to read some flyer.

‘where were you last night?’ he asks, leaning back on the chair to get a full view of you, ‘i knocked on your door but..’ narrowing his eyes.

‘i was probably fuckin’ asleep,’ shoving another spoonful of cereal into your mouth, making brief eye contact with the man.

he squints, trying to figure out why that shirt was so fucking familiar. was it his? were you wearing his shirt in some weird goading way?

steve emerges from his room, shirtless and running a hand from his messy hair. eddie’s eyes flit between the shirt and steve. cogs slowly turning in his brain.

no. no the shirt wasn’t his.

it was the fucking shirt he’d kicked off of his foot when he’d stormed into steve’s room this morning. same boring design printed on the front.

on you.

from steve’s floor.

the night after steve had, very loudly, had a female friend over.

you’re oblivious, focussing on your bowl of soggy cornflakes as steve clatters around behind you. making his own bowl. neither of you looking at each other, making everything ten times more obvious.

‘you’re fuckin’ joking,’ he loudly proclaims, standing from the table, nearly sending the chair flying backwards.

your head shoots up, confused by what he had seemingly angered himself over now, ‘what?’ eyebrows knitted together as he storms over, mouth hung open in disbelief.

‘you fucked him?’ jabbing his finger at steve, ‘my best friend?’ arms flying around in anger.

you look to steve for some help, eddie positively fuming, his jaw clenched at your lack of an answer. in fact, your reaction, or lack thereof, had only solidified everything.

‘no,’ you eventually croak, ‘i- we-, that wasn’t me,’ stuttering for some excuse, though you know he didn’t buy a word of it.

eddie’s face twists up in a mix of anger and hurt, eyes glossing over as his lips tremble, ‘eddie-,’ steve begins, cut off as eddie storms out of the tiny kitchen, grabbing his wallet from the table and pausing when he opens the front door.

‘you deserve each other,’ he snarls before disappearing, shaking the walls with his violent slam of the door.

you stare at steve in silent disbelief, dropping the spoon into your discarded bowl. you’d predicted his reaction to go something along the lines of that, just not expecting it so soon. hoping to have prepared a solid speech in the meantime.

‘shit.’

‘it’s okay.. h-he was gonna find out eventually.. he’ll calm down,’ steve tries to soothe you, well aware that eddie held onto his anger, let it simmered until it all bubbled over and some poor soul got the brunt of months of rage.

you want to feel bad, feel guilty but when steve’s hand sits on top of yours, giving it a reassuring squeeze, it vanishes. his chestnut eyes providing a sense of comfort you’d never felt before.

you were used to eddie being out. missing in action for days on end. but by the fourth day of him not coming back to the apartment, the pit in your stomach starts to worsen.

the guilt had caught up to you, as if you were the one who had shoved him out of the door. you had, in a metaphorical sense.

the first few days were, nice. though you felt worse for even feeling that. but, you’d been hanging out with steve more. it was different to before, getting to know his personal quirks, the things that made him tick. something you would’ve brushed off before.

you were friends, sure. you hadn’t really had the opportunity to get to know him like this before. it would’ve felt like some sort of betrayal to eddie. even though in some ways the way it had come about now was much worse.

on the fifth day, you’re sat on the couch with steve. picking the hangnail from your finger, wincing as it started to bleed.

‘d’you think he might’ve gone home?’ you ask, looking up at steve who was spaced out next to you.

they were from the same small town, had started out sharing classes in high school and had since been friends. admittedly growing apart when you’d come into the picture. you’d heard stories from the others about how close they used to be, never apart, according to jonathan.

‘i dunno.. he hates hawkins,’ steve shrugs, seeing the worry spread across your face, ‘but i could call his uncle? see if he’s there?’

you nod, thumb in your mouth trying to pull off more of the sore skin. he gets up to grab his phone, already dialling the number when he comes back into the room.

‘hey! wayne.. it’s steve- yeah yeah, i’m good man.. i was just wondering if eddie was there? oh no, uh- well.. we haven’t heard from him in a few days, y’know what he’s like… sure, thanks man,’ clicking the button and ending the call.

he looks over at you, a pitying look on his face as he shakes his head no.

‘i’m sure he’s alright.. he’s dramatic, you know that,’ he collapses onto the couch, this time closer than before, nudging your elbow with a weak smile.

you were well versed with eddie’s dramatic personality. having dealt with his temper tantrums and storm outs for years now. though, it had never seemed this bad before.

realistically, you knew he was probably crashing on a friend’s sofa. overstaying his welcome and partying too much. he was likely coming down from some insane party as you sat thinking about him.

‘i just.. feel bad,’ you whisper, leaning into steve’s side. his arm reaches around to your shoulder, rubbing softly against your arm.

‘i know..i do too,’ he admits, you and eddie hadn’t been a romantic thing. not even really a thing, if you were being honest. it was sex and partying, getting completely trashed and using each other in an attempt to fill the void inside of you both.

but steve and eddie had been friends for years now. they’d argued over the stupidest shit but never something like a girl. steve had had to genuinely weigh up whether his friendship with eddie was worth losing.

if eddie couldn’t get over it, would steve be able to repress his feelings for you? or would he be fine with losing eddie if it meant that you were together?

when robin gets back from work, she narrows her eyes at the two of you curled up against each other, ‘is this gonna be a regular thing?’

‘would you have a problem with it if it was?’ you ask, watching as she dumps her back and slumps on the empty seat.

‘oh no, i’m just thinking about how much peace and quiet i’ll get if you and eddie aren’t screaming at each other every day,’ kicking her doc martens from her feet and leaning into the cushions.

‘if he comes back,’ you remind her.

she hadn’t really seemed too fazed when he’d stormed out. thankful for no more early morning wake up calls from his wooden bed frame. but you can tell that even she was beginning to feel at least a tiny bit worried.

‘he still not called?’

you shake your head, ‘no one’s seen him, he’s not home.. i guess we’ve just gotta wait til he’s calmed down,’ shrugging, more so trying to convince yourself rather than her.

no matter what, eddie had a special place in your heart. even if it wasn’t love in the romantic sense, there was too much there to disregard that. he was your best friend at one point, how could you?

it’s another five days of fretting and concern before you hear a word from him. your phone rings in the middle of the night and you sit up, feeling along the nightstand for the buzzing plastic. an unrecognised number.

‘hello?’ you speak into the receiver.

steve stirs, waking up at the sound of your voice. admittedly, you’d been sleeping in his bed. sharing kisses and late-night chats about just about everything. it all felt very quick, but just right. like now that’d you’d both realised that you could have this, that anything other than this felt wrong.

‘hi,’ eddie’s voice rings out, recognisable even through the phone.

‘eddie? you’re okay? where are you?’ you babble, steve sits up at the mention of his name.

‘i’m uh- with my dad, i just, listen.. i need you to bring me some shit.. we’re going away and i’ve got nothing with me,’ his voice crackles and you can hear him shift around in the payphone box.

‘what? you’re going where? where are you?’ baffled, unsure if you were still asleep and not understanding him.

‘away, i’m staying in porter.. look, can you do it?’

‘eddie that’s-,’ but you stop yourself, ‘yeah, sure.. when?’

‘tomorrow, i just need some clothes, my watch and my savings.. they’re under my mattress.. tiny box, you’ll see it,’ he rushes, running out of minutes.

‘o-okay, where shall i meet you? i don’t know it well,’ you garble, nodding at steve when he mouths a confused porters?

‘little bar called sam’s.. i’ll be in there, i’ve gotta go, this thing’s running out,’ he sighs, muttering a small, ‘thank you,’ before the line goes dead.

‘he’s at the fucking beach.. wants me to drop some shit for him.. he said he’s with his dad? i-i thought his dad left..?’

‘he did,’ steve looks puzzled, taking the phone from your clutch and looking at the withheld number, trying to figure out if he could call it back, ‘he left years ago..’

eddie’s smile falters when he notices that you’d bought steve and robin along. steve dropping your hand the second his eyes meet eddie’s.

‘what the fuck are you doing here?’ the chair scraping the wooden floor as he stands abruptly.

the man you can only assume is his dad looks over, gripping onto the beer bottle, eyes flitting between his son and your trio.

‘eddie.. i asked them to, we wanted to know if you were okay,’ your voice shakes, frowning when he scowls at you. you’ve pissed him off, again.

‘i called you because i trusted you, not him,’ he spits, walking over to where you were stood by the door, ‘where’s my shit?’

‘it’s in the car,’ quickly coming up with a lie, trying to keep him talking for as long as possible, ‘i need to talk to you.. before you.. leave,’ you pout, trying to get him away from his dad.

‘about?’ he hits back harshly, still upset that you’d even dared to bring steve along.

‘about.. everything,’ you exhale shakily, ‘give me five minutes, please.’

he looks back at his dad who checks his watch before shrugging. he couldn’t give a less of a shit as long he got this promised money.

‘fine,’ he says through gritted teeth, storming past a gormless steve and robin and exiting the restaurant.

you glance at steve before following him out, not sure how much longer you could convince him you’d bought everything he’d asked for.

he’s already lighting up a cigarette when you reach the street, perched against the windowsill in days-old clothes. he looked a mess. even worse than his usual gritty self. eye-bags and a sunken face to match.

you breathe out, how do you even start a conversation like this? sorry i fucked your best friend but i actually really like him was probably not the best way to go about it.

‘i’m sorry,’ seemed like the best place to start, ‘it wasn’t fair to you.. what i- we did.. i can’t tell you how shit it makes me feel.. to know that i hurt you.’

he blows the smoke out of his mouth, expressionless, ‘okay.’

is that it? after his great big performance that was all he could say?

‘what?’

‘i said, okay.. what d’you expect me to do? start crying and begging you to love me?’ scoffing as he takes a long draw of the cigarette. his eyes cold, merciless as he glares at you.

‘you ran away.. made everyone worried sick about you.. and all you can say is okay?’

he shrugs, ‘i’m over it.. you’re welcome to each other,’ stubbing the cigarette out on the brick wall, stepping closer to you.

your mouth opens and shuts, flabbergasted by his stinking attitude, ‘shout at me, scream.. fuck- hit me if you want to.. stop pretending like you don’t care.. because i know you eddie munson and i know you do.’

his eyes narrow, intimidating as he towers above, ‘i don’t give a shit, you’re only upset because you want me to.. that’s too bad,’ his adam’s apple bobs, a tell-tale sign that he was lying.

your eyes search his for anything. a glimmer of weakness.

but his eyes are stern, emotionless as his brows thread together.

the door to the bar creaks open and his dad stomps out, muttering to himself, ‘c’mon son, let’s get the fuck out of here,’ replacing eddie’s spot on the windowless ledge and lighting his own cigarette.

he doesn’t break eye contact, ‘i’m gonna take a leak and then i want my shit,’ jaw tense as he barges through the door.

you squeeze your eyes shut, biting onto your bottom lip before cricking your neck. that hadn’t gone exactly to plan. now what the fuck were you gonna do when he realised you hadn’t brought the one thing he’d asked for.

‘i know what women like you do,’ his dad speaks up, taking a long drag on the cigarette, ‘you don’t get to fuck up his life and then happily move on.’

eyes springing open when you realise he’s talking to you, ‘what the fuck did you just say?’

he laughs, a deep belly-laugh, ‘you heard.’

you’d love to smash the smug look from his dirty face. knock his head into the brick wall and drag eddie kicking and screaming back to steve’s cat whether he liked it or not.

‘women like me? the only person who cares enough to drive all the way out to this shithole to save your son? is that what you meant?’ stepping up towards him, as if you were even capable of doing anything.

‘you came to rub it in.. flaunting in with pretty boy there,’ his lips snarl, ‘pathetic really, shouldn’t have bothered.’

eddie comes back out, robin and steve trailing behind, trying to converse with him but being completely blanked, ‘where’s my shit then?’

‘uh.. steve’s car,’ beckoning to where you’d parked somewhere in the distance.

steve flashes you a worried look knowing damn well there was nothing eddie could want in his car. luckily eddie doesn’t pick up on it and instead starts walking in the direction you’d motioned, expecting you all to follow.

‘why’re you in such a hurry?’ you call out from behind, trying desperately to bide time. he was certain to flip his shit the second you reached the car and he figured you’d lied to him.

‘because i want to get the fuck out of here,’ he snaps back, charging on ahead.

you walk in silence to steve’s car, nervously glancing over at steve as eddie and his disgusting pig of a father walk on ahead. steve reaches over and gives your hand a reassuring squeeze though it doesn’t really do much.

eddie’s spots the car first, striding over and peering into the windows, ‘where’s my shit then?’ turning to glare at you with a disgusted look on his face.

your mouth opens and closes, no viable excuse coming to mind, ‘eddie.. i didn’t bring anything-,’ swallowing as you gain some slight confidence, ‘i’m not letting you go with him.’

his dad completely flips, turning to his son, ‘you’re fucking useless, you know that? how the fuck d’you manage to mess this one up?’ practically foaming at the mouth.

‘dad i told her! this isn’t my fault.. we can still go.. i’ll find the cash somewhere,’ his eyes pleading with the estranged man, he had shrunk back into a scared little boy right before your eyes.

his father shoves him away, snarling at his son, ‘you think i actually want to go anywhere with you? my colossal fuck up of a son? you’re dreaming,’ positively fuming.

‘but.. dad,’ he’s almost begging now, regressing back to the night he watched his father walk out on his mom, feeling the heartache all over again.

steve steps up, getting closer to the pair, ‘you should go,’ placing his hand on the man’s arm.

he jerks his arm from steve’s grip, scoffing at you all, ‘don’t bother trying to find me again.. i don’t wanna know,’ poking his sausage finger into eddie’s chest before pulling himself away and trundling off back to the bar you’d met in.

your eyes immediately turn to eddie who was watching the man leave for the second time, tears pricking in his eyes. your chest pangs with hurt, you’d never meant for it to happen like this.

eddie speeds off in the opposite direction and you have to pull on steve’s arm to stop him from going after the boy, ‘he’ll come.. just.. give him a few minutes,’ nodding reassuringly.

steve sighs before turning to face you, ‘okay, you should go anyway.’

‘yeah.’

deciding that it had probably been enough time, you follow eddie’s path and eventually find him perched on a crumbling stoke wall, aggressively wiping his cheeks when he spots you walking over.

you sit in the empty spot next to him, staring down at the grey concrete. not wanting to break the silence and potentially piss him off more.

‘fuck,’ eddie finally breathes, sniffing and wiping his nose on his filthy sleeve. he clearly hadn’t showered in days and you wonder what on earth they could’ve possibly been doing.

‘i’m sorry,’ you croak. you weren’t just sorry for not allowing him to run off with that wretched man but for the fact that you and steve had quite obviously betrayed him.

you hear him swallow and then a rustling from his pocket. looking up to find him with a cigarette hanging onto his lip. he offers the box out to you, as he usually would.

delicately taking one from the pack and placing it in your mouth, waiting patiently for the lighter.

you sit smoking your cigarettes in the calming silence for a few minutes. gazing out at the horizon, the sky awash with all sorts of moody greys. fitting.

‘are you coming home?’ you ask quietly, standing from the wall with your hands shoved in your pockets.

eddie exhales, his eyes closing briefly before he stands, ‘yeah.. yeah let’s go,’ admitting defeat as he lets go of his dad forever, ready to put an end to his reckless escapade.

robin and steve are leaning against his car when you walk back. there had been a silent agreement to not mention it. just get in the car and go.

you sat in the back with eddie, watching as he stares out of the window, pressing his forehead against the cold glass. you move over into the middle seat, resting your head against his shoulder.

things would be alright.

things had been actually sorta alright. eddie had seemingly come to terms with you and steve becoming a thing. at least, if he hadn’t, he’d been keeping it to himself.

you tried to keep things respectable of course, jumping apart when he’d enter the room or going off to your own room and creeping into steve’s when eddie had gone to bed. but he wasn’t stupid. and you knew he wasn’t stupid. it just seemed better than rubbing it in his face.

things were completely different with steve and you’d felt a sense of pressure that hadn’t been present with eddie. steve was soft and kind but you couldn’t be so laidback about everything with him.

when you’d disappear at parties to split a bag with someone, he’d want to know. or when you were upset and stressed out, he’d want to know why, how he could help.

which was fair enough, obviously. it was just different. before, eddie would offer some generic advice and a spliff and be done with it. now, you were expected to actually address your issues head-on, not just bury them with sex and drink.

finals week had been harsh on all of you. the apartment in disarray as you were all working overtime to save your grade and not get kicked out of college.

you’d, perhaps a bit unfairly, taken your stress out on steve. arguing with him about menial shit that you didn’t really care about, just finding any excuse to shout and push him away.

he’d sit there and take it, offering sensible solutions and trying to resolve whatever bullshit you’d made up that day. a stark difference to eddie who would’ve screamed straight back at you.

come friday night, you’d all finished exams, sitting around the table when eddie swanned in, flapping some flyer for a party, going on about how you should all go.

‘we’re finished, free,’ he argued, pleading his case to the three of you.

robin flat-out refused, said she needed to sleep for a solid week and then she’d be ready to party. steve umm’d and ahh’d, settling on staying in but he was down to go out tomorrow.

‘i’ll go,’ you speak up, eyeing eddie from across the table, you hadn’t hung out alone yet. this would be a new feat.

‘alright,’ he shrugs, looking at steve for his permission or straight up denial of you two going alone.

steve just nods, ‘alright, call me if you need anything,’ glancing at you with an assured smile.

he wasn’t worried. not really. you’d shown him plenty of times that you loved him even despite your incessant attempts to push him away. even in the bad arguments, he’d kept his cool and waited for you to come to him, keeping everything on your terms.

you’re nervous though. you and eddie partying together had never been a good idea, egging each other on, getting utterly trashed just because he’d dare you to.

not tonight. you swore to yourself before leaving. pressing a tender kiss on steve’s lips, leaving traces of your sticky lipgloss behind.

eddie’s pov

it’s a little after midnight when steve gets a phone call from eddie, asking him to come and pick you up. still waking up as he walks across campus, passing countless drunk students as he finds the thumping party.

you’re incoherent on the couch, steve’s eyebrows raising expectedly as he walks into the room. eddie stood to the side watching as your arms instinctively wrap around steve’s neck. even in your drunken stupor you went straight to steve.

it fucking stings.

he looks on worriedly as steve hoists you from the couch, ‘hey man.. uh, she said some pretty weird things tonight, i dunno.. i don’t think she’s okay,’ recalling your earlier slurred words.

you hadn’t meant to, but you’d spilled everything to eddie. a tequila fuelled rant about how steve was so perfect and how bad you felt that you just weren’t. how you didn’t know how to stop pushing him away, even when you didn’t want to.

steve nods, it wasn’t like he didn’t already know you were on this self-destructive warpath. he just wasn’t sure how to tell you that you didn’t need to do this without sounding like a dick.

your arms lazily flop around his neck, laying your head against his chest as he carried you bridal style through the party and right across campus back to your apartment. eddie trailing behind in silence.

‘thanks.. for calling me,’ steve smiles as he nudges his bedroom door open just as eddie was about to disappear into his own room.

‘course,’ he nods, melancholy as he watches your fingers curl around steve’s jacket, pulling him down onto the bed with you, babbling a chorus of steve’s and love you’s as his door closes.

cursing himself for never being that soft with you. never providing that level of safety.

he lies awake for hours, staring at the ceiling. at some point he hears you tumble out of steve’s room, rushing to the bathroom and subsequently throwing up into the toilet. debating whether to hop out of his own bed and help.

but then the padding of steve’s feet make their way through the hallway, his soft voice helping you brush your teeth and get cleaned up. eddie’s assistance was unnecessary. damn, he wouldn’t have a clue what to even do.

on the occasions that you’d thrown up in the morning, eddie would’ve led in bed and laughed. called you a pussy and waited for you to crawl back to bed in a mood. he wasn’t gentle like steve. that shit came as a second nature to him but to eddie? not a touch of it.

he even hears the soft kiss he gives you on the way back to his room, your appreciative little murmur and the click of his door shutting again.

and he wants to kick himself. scream and cry and throw a tantrum because in an ideal world, that would’ve been him.

but he can’t blame you, no matter how much he tried. it’s his fault he’s such a colossal fuck up. not yours. not steve’s. his.

he eventually gives up and moves to the couch, not getting much luck at sleeping in his bed. the suns rising when he hears snippets of your hushed conversation.

it didn’t sound angry. or even upset. just barely audible speaking’s about your feelings.

‘i know.. i don’t mean to,’ he can hear, a twinge of sadness in your tone.

‘you don’t need to.. not with me,’ steve mumbles and the blankets rustle, snapping him out of his trance.

he can hear small i love you’s and the sound of lips smacking. but then your muffled breathy moans start and the bile rises in his throat. undeniably he knew what was going on in there, everything being confirmed by the rhythmic creaking of the mattress.

and he knows what you look like. he can see it. feel it. hell, he lived for it at one point

pushes himself from the sofa and straight out of the door. not wanting to hear a second more.

you don’t feel as bad as expected in the morning, rough but not as bad as you should be feeling.

robin’s now ready to celebrate, steve agreeing and you almost want to hurl at the mention of going out. eddie sits in silence at the end of the table, he’d been pretty strange this morning and you’d wondered if you said something to upset him last night.

you could vaguely recall the self-pitying spiel you’d forced him to listen to. physically cringing at the fact you’d started crying and wailing about steve to him.

robin suggests having some people over, just a small thing with close friends. maybe if everyone was up for it you could all go out afterwards. that you could agree to.

she rounds the troops, calling the friend you all shared. who all agreed to get there at eight. something small and casual she repeats down the phone.

there’s a few tag-alongs, people you’d met briefly at parties or friends of friends who had been dragged along. so it wasn’t the small gathering you’d pictured with just the gang. but it was okay.

the speaker being turned to max and the living room full of people. everyone in high spirits because finals had finished and were relatively confident that they’d at least scraped a pass.

you edge through the crowd, waking over to steve who was splayed out on the couch, spliff hanging from his fingers. he grins when he sees you, opening his arms.

‘hey pretty girl,’ beckoning for you to climb onto his lap, arms snug around your waist as he passes the spliff to you, still giggling at his pet name.

eddie glowers from behind the couch, huffing before pushing himself up and storming into the kitchen. he hadn’t realised how much he’d already drank, liquor coursing through his veins.

‘watch it,’ someone exclaims when eddie barges into their arm, subsequently spilling his beer onto the boys shirt.

eddie sees red. turning to the boy and snarling as he shoves his chest, sending him to the floor.

‘what the fuck did you say?’ grabbing the boy by the collar before smashing his fist into the side of the poor boys face.

steve hears the commotion, leering over the sofa to see what the fuck was even going on. he shoves you off of his lap, running to go and grab eddie from on top of this boy.

you finally see what everyone had crowded around, watching as eddie’s fist pummels into his now bloody face. only easing when steve grabs onto his arms, gasping for breath as he’s thrown back into reality. realisation setting in about what he’d just down.

people rush to the unconscious boy, somebody screaming to call an ambulance. the music cuts out harshly, silence echoing around the room as you stare at eddie, wide-eyed. terrified.

you’d never seen him like this. so brutal, covered in someone else’s blood. his chest falls and rises, staring back at you with an equally as horrified expression. steve is saying something to him but it’s not registering. a ringing in his ears as the world crashed and burned around him.

the police turn up alongside the ambulance crew. taking statements from whoever hadn’t left and eventually cuffing eddie. muttering about crazy fucking kids and quite forcefully pulling him from the apartment.

his eyes lingering on yours as he’s guided out. steve’s arms wrap around your shoulders, pulling you into his chest, resting his chin on the top of your head. you’re still in disbelief, tears welling in your eyes as you remember how unforgiving and downright cruel he’d been.

‘you wanna go to bed?’ steve asks, chest vibrating with his low voice. fingers combing through your hair, in your own corner of the living room as robin and nancy attempt to clean the floor.

jonathan and argyle are picking up tiny shards of glass, not an ounce of conversation between them. all still reeling from eddie’s outburst. you were sure he was going to jail, there wasn’t any way he could possibly wriggle out of this one.

‘we should-,’ the words getting caught in your throat, ‘we need to help clean,’ pulling back to look at the state of the room, discarded cups and splatters of alcohol on the walls.

‘we’re nearly done.. you should go to bed,’ robin nods, wringing the cloth out into the sink.

even they had come to the conclusion that this was something to do with you. you and steve in particular. the way eddie’s eyes had locked onto you the second steve had pulled him off of the boy.

you knew it. he’d been frosty and unusual with you all morning. with everyone in fact.

eddie emerges from his room for the first time in days. looking worse for wear and feeling just as shit. the tag on his ankle restricting him from leaving the apartment freely.

he peers down at the blinking red light, mentally cursing the plastic as he drags his feet along the carpet. he can hear you and steve chatting quietly, not really able to make out what was being said.

not expecting you both to be sprawled out on the couch, your leg draped over his waist as your delicate fingers combed through his hair. the last few days had been so bleak, that he couldn’t really find it in himself to hate that you were sharing these moments with steve.

he sighs loudly, hoping to let you know he’d entered the room. not wanted to be involuntarily including in whatever may have happened next.

you sit up slightly, gazing at him stood behind the kitchen counter, ‘hey,’ it’s quiet, but he hears it. almost deciding to ignore until he remembers how much you’d doted on him and helped him recently.

‘hi,’ but he doesn’t look back, staring into the empty fridge, waiting for something to materialise. but it doesn’t.

‘when’s your court date?’

the words sear in his ear, an unwelcome subject.

‘next tuesday,’ deciding upon a swig of milk straight from the carton, not exactly the five-course meal he was hoping for.

‘okay well, we were.. we’re gonna come, y’know.. for support,’ your eyes are unrelenting, following him around the kitchen.

‘don’t bother, i’m pleading innocent,’ completely monotonous in his response.

he’d already argued with the state provided lawyer about this. a shoddy man who could not care less whether eddie went down or not, just wanting to cash his cheque at the end of it all.

the balding man had called him stupid, ‘there are multiple witnesses.. plead guilty and they’ll probably pity you n’ slap you with some community service or summit.. don’t be stupid son.’

you scoff, using steve’s chest as leverage as you sit up properly, ‘you’re joking? right?’

his eyes finally meet yours, thumping his fists on the marble counter, ‘i am innocent,’ no one could understand where he was coming from, not even the man who was being paid to at least pretend to care and understand.

‘you beat the shit out of him, eddie.. you broke his fucking jaw,’ your eyes are wide, looking at him like he’s an idiot- which he was, but not about this.

‘i was provoked, self defence,’ he says in all serious. he was frustrated, lashed out but at the end of it all, the guy had bashed him first.

‘wh- because he accidentally knocked into you? you really must be fucking stupid.. what are you thinking?’

eddie notices steve, or what he could see of him, tense up, obviously not wanting to anger the violent monster eddie had become in so many people’s eyes.

‘it’s my choice.. i was fucking provoked, saw some stupid shit.. that’s not my fault,’ relinquishing the blame to you.

in his eyes, if he hadn’t seen the disgusting display of affection, he probably wouldn’t have fucked up that boy. but he had, and that wasn’t his fault. so how was he guilty?

‘you’re ridiculous.. i actually can’t believe you,’ your eyes full of disappointment.

the way your face falls, eyes narrowed and sharp as knives makes his heart twist. genuine hurt flashed on your face. almost paralleling the horrified expression you’d held as he was cuffed and dragged away.

‘it’s my decision, i wouldn’t expect you to know a thing about what it’s like to be me,’ kicking the fridge door closed with a loud thump.

you disappear from his sight, flopping back down onto steve’s chest with an exasperated sigh. he rolls his eyes before stomping off into his bedroom. his mood probably wouldn’t be so terrible if he could just leave this godforsaken apartment.

actually, why shouldn’t he? if you were so certain that he was going to jail anyway, what harm was there in going out? fuck it.

so he gets dressed, pulling his denim jacket on and spritzing himself with aftershave. he’d worry about the tag later, surely one of his buddies would have something to hack it off with. hopefully with minimal damage to his leg.

you don’t even look up from steve’s eyes when he comes back out, having had enough of his idiotic attitude for the day.

‘woah, where are you go-,’ steve starts before being cut off with the front door shutting, he was gone, without so much of a look back.

jogging down the stairs and out of this suffocating hellhole.

it doesn’t take long for the police to show up, banging their fists on the door and red in the face with anger.

they grilled you and steve for what felt like hours. making sure you hadn’t helped in his escape. tearing his room apart for some sort of clue to where he’d gone.

‘we found the tag at a location not far from here.. could anyone be hiding him? he’s in serious trouble.. we need anything you’ve got,’ the officer pleads, frustrated with having to deal with this bullshit on a thursday night. you don’t blame him.

you shake your head, ‘no.. i-i mean, there’s a few bars down on main but our friends aren’t stupid enough to help him.’

any previous feelings of worry had disappeared, replaced with frustration. you weren’t prepared to spend your whole life trying to find eddie every time he decided to run away. he so obviously didn’t give a shit about what you thought, it was a waste of energy at this point.

the officer sighs, ‘right, well you let us know if he gets in contact or comes back here,’ rummaging in his pocket for a small bit of card, ‘that’s my personal number.. call me straight away.’

you nod, thumbing the glossy card and flopping back onto the couch. steve shows them out, closing the door softly after they leave. he gives you a look, full of pity. he doesn’t say a thing but you know what he’s thinking.

‘i’m done,’ holding your hands up, ‘he can get himself out of this one.. i don’t care anymore,’ surrendering completely.

he nods, looking as just as tired as you felt. sometimes you forget that this isn’t just between you and eddie, steve is right in the middle of it all too, staying quiet and holding back for eddie’s sake.

you’d tried to be courteous and thoughtful with eddie. pulling away from steve when he’d enter the room, trying not to be so overly affectionate in front of him. you felt like maybe you owed him that for how you’d gone about it, but why?

not once had he ever shown interest in being with you romantically, he was the one that’d explicitly said that you and him were friends with some added benefits. screw him.

‘you hungry? i wanna get out of here,’ pushing yourself from the couch and throwing your arms around steve’s waist, cheek squished against his chest.

‘i could eat,’ returning the hug, swaying slightly as his hands roam around your back.

eddie’s pov

eddie checks his phone for the umpteenth time.

no new notifications

he was anticipating at least something from you by now. hell, even a pathetic hi would’ve sufficed. the man wasn’t dumb, choosing to hole himself up in gareth’s basement with a six-pack rather than hitting the main spots.

he questions whether the dinghy, dark basement was any better than the confines of the room he’d escaped. supposing that you and steve weren’t next door, anything would be better.

he debates just calling you first. curious to know why you hadn’t called. maybe after the next beer. or maybe now. fuck it, it’s already dialling.

it rings and rings, becoming increasingly concerned with your well-being.

‘what?’ your voice rings out after the fifth or sixth ring.

he’s taken aback, ‘hello to you too,’ taking another swig of beer, his knees pulled up to his chest.

‘what d’you want?’

christ. you really weren’t falling for it this time.

‘nothin’.. just expected to hear from you by now, that’s all.’

he can hear the eye roll through the phone, your tiny almost inaudible little tut, ‘i’m not saving you this time.’

‘i didn’t ask you to.’

‘so why’d you call then? i’m busy.’

‘you with steve?’ he doesn’t even know why he asked, of course you were.

‘yeah, i am.. is that what you wanted to hear? or were you hoping i was out searching for you with the police?’

ouch. you’d called him out. figured out his silly game and threw it straight back in his face.

‘i didn’t- you just had to rub it in, didn’t you?’ anger rising in his throat, ‘you always do.’

‘you think i’m doing this to make you jealous? this isn’t about you anymore.. you need to get over yourself,’ you sigh, empathetic about the harsh words that’d just spilled out, ‘i love him, eddie.. you’re gonna have to deal with that.’

and with that the phone clicks. you’d hung up. you had hung up on him, no grovelling or pleading for him to come back home. that was it. the harsh truth and now he had to just sit with it.

his head falls back against the cold brick, staring up at the damp covered ceiling, weighing up his options. he knew he’d fucked up. best case scenario, he’d get a couple extra months on his sentence. worst case, they’d throw the book at him for wasting their time.. not to mention the already hefty sentence for the assault.

you had completely and utterly exhausted yourself trying to support him and even you had had enough. he only had himself to blame for that. maybe jail would be a good thing? he could get his head straight.. get over you, maybe even find some purpose in his life.

he pulls another beer from the pack, cracking it open and taking a long swig. exhaling as the bitter liquid seeps down his throat. there was only one way out of this fucked situation and he knew that.

eddie perks up when he hears your key in the door, sat on the couch for what seemed like hours waiting for you both to get back.

your face drops the instant you see him, gripping onto steve’s hand as you walk into the dimly lit living room.

eddie stands, holding up his hands, ‘i’m gonna hand myself in.. i just-,’ he exhales deeply, ‘i wanted to say goodbye,’ jaw tense as he looms between you and steve.

‘you are? do you want me to call the sheriff? i- he gave me his number..’

‘no, no.. i’m gonna go down there.. it’s easier,’ eddie motions towards the door, shaking his head.

you stand dumbfounded for a second before nodding slowly, chewing on the inside of your cheek, ‘it’s the right thing to do..’ the lump in your throat growing as you look back at the pathetic man in front of you.

steve gives him a weak smile, patting his hand on your arm. there’s a brief moment of silence. the three of you all staring back at one another in awe of the fucked up mess you’d wound up in.

‘c’mere,’ steve motions to eddie, walking over to the boy with arms outstretched. he pulls him into a bear hug, clapping his palm on eddie’s back.

from the look on eddie’s face squished against steve’s shoulder you can tell he needed it, ‘i’ll miss you man..’ he breathes into his best friend’s sweater.

‘we’ll come and visit.. you’re not getting rid of me that easy,’ his laugh is shaky as he pulls away, smiling proudly at his friend.

you stand slightly behind steve, watching on with tears brimming in your eyes. even though steve had tried to reassure you, you couldn’t help but feel so guilty that this had ultimately all happened because of you.

eddie walks over slowly, throwing his arms around your body, gripping his fingers into your arms knowing that this may very well be the last time he ever got to hold you like this.

your arms cling around his waist, cheek pressed against his chest, ‘i’m proud of you..’ was all you managed to croak out, tears wetting his dirty t-shirt.

he sniffs, swallowing the lump in his throat, ‘thank you.. for everything,’ because truly, you were the only person to never give up on him, even if he had made it incredibly difficult for you.

you lift your head off of his chest, staring up at him with sodden cheeks, bottom lip quivering as you let go of him. both physically and emotionally.

he puffs his cheeks out, wiping his face with the back of his hand before clearing his throat and nodding at the pair of you, ‘you take care of her..’ eyebrow raised.

‘aye aye captain,’ steve gives him a tight lipped smile and a half-assed salute, watching as the man he had grown up with walked out of the apartment, head held high and a newfound spring in his step.

the end of the beginning.

#steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #steve stranger things #steve harrington angst #steve harrington x y/n #stranger things x you #steve harrington fic #eddie munson #eddie munson angst #eddie munson x reader #eddie stranger things #steve harrington smut

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eddiemunsons80sbaby · 5 months

Text

Never Say Never

Chapter 1

Pairing: SingleDad!StevexReader

Summary: You are a 32 year old single mother, raising your seven year old son on your own. After being widowed at 30 and going out on awful dates with disgusting men for the past month, you have decided that you're giving up. You already had your great love. One person can't possibly get lucky enough to have two in their lifetime. But then your son starts playing baseball and the coach might just change your mind about that.

No posting schedule. With also writing Everybody Hurts, I don't want to make promises and fall behind. I'm a working mom with a hectic life and don't always have time to write every single day. I've been wanting to write this Steve book forever and once I got the first chapter down, I couldn't wait to share it.

18+ only for eventual smut

Word Count: 4.3K

“No, Janice, it’s absolutely hopeless. I am telling you. I’m done with dating,” you sighed as you wiped the crumbs off the table and into your hand from Eli’s after school snack.

Making your way to the garbage can, you brushed them in. Grabbing the empty cup of chocolate milk, you popped it into the dishwasher, trying to stay on top of things so you didn’t have to do a last minute clean-up when all you wanted to do was go to bed.

“You can’t just give up,” your friend urged. “Come on, girl. You’ve only been on a few dates so far. I know they’ve been duds but the right guy is out there. I know he is.”

“I really don’t think he is. I’ve been on four dates in the last month and they have all been awful. And I only went on those dates because you’ve been pushing me to put myself out there, might I remind you. I was perfectly content with my life the way it was. The only guy I need in my life is my son. I’m telling you. Good guys don’t exist.”

“Except you know that’s not true because you had one.”

Your heart stuttered in your chest at the reminder. That familiar pain that tightened its hold until you felt you couldn’t breathe. It didn’t matter that it had been two years. Any mention of Justin’s name and you were instantly sent straight back there, struggling, fighting for air you couldn’t find, descending into the pitch black of despair that had swallowed you whole for far too long.

But you couldn’t let it consume you, not anymore. You knew what you needed to do. Remembering your therapist’s words, you didn’t fight it back, letting the pain wash over you for a moment. Accept your emotions. It’s okay to feel them. Let them come, acknowledge them, and then move on. Don’t get stuck. Forward motion. Always forward motion. Remember the 3-3-3 rule when it gets overwhelming.

Your eyes roamed through your kitchen, searching for three objects. The box of Scooby snacks that Eli had, the smiling face of his favorite cartoon dog looking up at you. The tulips on the table that you'd picked from your garden two days ago, bringing a little spring into the house. The bright painting to the left of the fridge that Eli had made for Mother’s Day last year, his handprints creating bright yellow and orange flowers, with the words If mothers were flowers, I’d pick you.

You felt yourself returning from the dark, your chest loosening as you closed your eyes, focusing on sounds now. Your son’s feet moving across the floor of his bedroom, a lawnmower running a couple houses down, the low rumble of a motorcycle driving down the street.

It was working. You wiggled your fingers, rotated your ankle, rolled your head around on your shoulders. 3-3-3. Three sights, three sounds, and three movements. And just like that, you were back. Hand on the table, you slowly sat down in one of the wooden chairs you'd so lovingly sanded and refinished the summer after you and Justin bought this house, opening your eyes. You were centered. You were okay. You were moving forward whether you wanted to or not.

He was gone. There was no changing that. And as much as you'd wanted to curl up and die after it happened, you knew you couldn’t. You had Eli, this sweet little soul who depended on you, who was hurting too, and you had to be what he needed. You had to pull yourself out of your grief to be the stability and strength he needed. Fake it until you make it, right? That had worked for a while until it didn’t.

“Hello?” your friend’s voice called through the receiver. “Hey, are you okay? Is it happening again? Do I need to come over? Come on. Just say something, honey.”

“No. No. I’m okay.” Your fingers pressed gently against your forehead, wondering if it would ever get easier. Everyone said it would and sometimes you could even go hours without thinking about him but when you did, it would all come crashing down around you. He’d left you alone, alone to care for your son, alone for eternity based on the dating pool out there. “Sorry. I just…I’m fine.”

“You sure? Because I’ve already got my keys in my hand and I can be there in ten minutes.”

You smiled. Of course Janice already had her keys in her hand. She was your lighthouse in a storm, your safe harbor, your source of encouragement and support. She’d been there to pick you up when you could barely lift your head. She’d been the one to convince you to go to therapy. She’d been the one to come over and cook dinner for Eli, playing games with him, amusing him so he wouldn’t notice that mommy was falling apart in your bedroom on days when you just couldn’t find the strength. Janice was your lifeline and you had no idea where you would be without her. You certainly wouldn’t be the functioning human being you were right now.

“No. Really. I promise you, Janice. I am fine.”

“Okay…but you know I’ve always got you. Just say the word, girl and I’m there. Anytime. Anything you need.”

“I know. And I love you so much for it.”

“I love you,” Janice stated. “You’re my soulmate, you know.”

You laughed, “What about Matt? I don’t think he’d appreciate hearing you say that.”

Your friend snorted, “Oh, he knows. It was part of our vows. Didn’t you know that? He took this woman and her best friend on the day we got married. He’s aware of his place in my life and he’s okay with it because he loves you too. Also, he doesn’t have a choice because he knows I’d get rid of him before I’d ever let go of you if he tried to make me choose. You’re always my first choice.”

Matt would never make her choose. Janice had met Matt a little over a year ago and they had just gotten married in July. It had been a beautiful outdoor wedding on the beach. You'd been the maid of honor. Janice hadn’t even asked you, not really, just rolled her eyes when you asked if she planned on it and said she didn’t have to ask because it should have been assumed. Eli had been so handsome in his little tux as their ring bearer. You had fought back tears throughout the day, memories of your own wedding day ripping you apart. But you'd held it together, reminding yourself that this was your friend’s day. You were supposed to be overjoyed for her, not wallowing as you tripped down memory lane.

You loved Matt and the feeling appeared to be mutual. He was perfect for your best friend. He was the rational to Aly’s crazy, the simple to her complicated, the organization to her chaos. He was absolutely crazy about her and every single one of her little quirks, including her intensely close friendship with you and Eli. He’d been openly accepting of you being their third wheel from day one.

They’d only gone on five dates when he offered to take Eli to the batting cages for a few hours so the girls could enjoy an afternoon. When Eli got back, red-faced and shiny, a huge smile on his face, you had given your friend a look that said everything without you having to speak. It said hold onto this one. And your friend had been smart enough to do just that. They were already talking about trying for a baby and you couldn’t wait to plan a shower and shop for all the cute little baby things. To be Auntie, to cuddle a sweet little one against your chest again, to inhale that delicious newborn smell.

Everyone always said it went by too fast. You'd thought they were crazy when you were in the midst of sleepless nights and a screaming baby, feeling it would never end. But they were not joking. Your sweet little baby, with his head of downy blond hair, just like his father’s, had somehow become a little boy in what felt like a span of seven minutes instead of seven years. You found yourself willing time to slow down, to let you keep him little for just a while longer, but it just kept racing ahead, leaving you frantically trying to catch up.

“So, anyway, what was so awful about this one?” Janice asked, bringing you back to the present moment.

“Ugh…what wasn’t awful? He showed up to the restaurant already drunk. He kept trying to touch me, stroking my arm and placing his hands on my thigh. He kept slurring about how he was going to show me the night of my life. He ordered spaghetti and was eating it with his fingers, just picking up the noodles and dropping them into his mouth. It was disgusting. His hand was in a cast and when I asked what happened, he told me he broke it punching out the car window of his ex because he caught her cheating on him last week.”

“Holy shit!”

“Seriously! I can’t make this stuff up, Janice. It’s so bad out here. I don’t know why women even bother trying. From the guy who seemed okay until I walked into his place and he had the pile of toenail clippings on his coffee table to the guy who asked for the barista’s number while I was standing next to him to the guy who invited his ex so she’d see him with me to this guy, I’m just done. Maybe we only get one shot at real love in our lives and Justin was mine. Maybe that’s all I get. I mean, it was only ten years but a decade of happiness is more than some people get. Shouldn’t I be happy with that?”

“No. I refuse to believe that,” Janice argued. “You are far too amazing to spend the rest of your life alone.”

“I’m not alone. I have you and Eli.”

“Yes, but one day, Eli will be all grown up and move out and start a life of his own. And yes, you will always have me but do you really want to live in that house all by yourself? Don’t you want someone to fall asleep next to, someone to wake up next to, someone to rub your feet after a long day, someone to be your person?”

“You’re my person. Justin was my person.”

“Oh, honey…”

“Janice, I just…this dating site thing isn’t for me.”

God, it was so awful. With the birth of the internet, online dating was a fairly new thing. But when you weren't getting e-mailed dick pics or getting asked if you were looking for a booty call, then you were getting tricked by guys who acted like they were normal until you met them and found out they were anything but.

“Okay. So, ditch the dating site. Honestly, it probably wasn’t the best idea but Lauren was going on and on about these hot guys she’d met on there. She said it was like a pond full of fish and any woman could have her pick of them. I figured it would be worth a shot. At least, it would be a good place to start. I should have known better. It’s Lauren. She’ll hook up with anybody and gets bored way too easily. I am sure a different guy every night is exactly what she’s looking for. Maybe you just need to meet someone more organically?”

You sighed, “And how exactly do you think I’m going to do that between work and Eli? I don’t have a lot of down time.”

“No, I know, but maybe try to pop into the coffee shop more or the bookstore? I mean, you could do the bar but you’re more likely to find a sleaze who’s just looking for a one night stand or the guy with the tan line where his ring should be. Lord knows I’ve made that mistake more than once. But a bookstore, a coffee shop, the library? You might find a nice guy there, an intellectual who reads and writes poetry in his spare time. Oh! Maybe find your own Mr. Coulson.”

“Except I’ve actually been kissed and I am not a reporter and I definitely am not passing for a high school student,” you laughed, remembering how in love you and Janice had been last year in the theater. “And trust me, Michael Vartan is not teaching at the local high school.”

“Okay, fair enough. But don’t give up. You deserve the world, my friend. You deserve a man who looks at you like you’re the moon and stars because you are. I know he’s out there.”

“Janice, I…”

“Mommy! You have to take me to baseball practice, remember?”

Your eyes shot over to your son and then up to the clock. You'd completely forgotten. After Matt had gotten him into baseball, he’d begged you to let him join the little league team this year at school. You'd dreaded having to lug him to practices and games, giving up what little free time you had, but you could never deny your son anything. Their first practice started in fifteen minutes and now you were going to be late. Just one more reason for the mothers in this town to judge you and your inability to do it all as a single mom.

“Shit! Janice, I have to go. Eli has baseball.”

“Okay. Ohh, maybe you’ll find a hot single dad.”

“Oh my god. Good bye,” you huffed, hanging up. Your brain raced, thinking back to the paper that had come home with him about practices. What did he need to bring? “Okay, okay. Eli, go grab your mitt and I’ll fill up a water bottle for you.”

Your son raced off up the stairs and you groaned, knowing he’d probably be yelling down to you in two minutes that he couldn’t find it. You grabbed his bright blue water bottle, quickly filling it with tap water. Was there anything else? You smacked your forehead loudly. Cleats! You were supposed to buy him baseball cleats and you hadn’t.

“Mommy! I can’t find my glove!”

You closed your eyes, inhaling slowly through your nose before making your way to the stairs, “I’ll find it. Just change into your athletic pants and a long sleeve shirt. And grab a sweatshirt, honey. It’s kind of chilly out today.”

Eli sat on the floor, pulling his pants on, when you entered the room. Your eyes did a quick scan, instantly finding the glove, lying on the floor right next to his bed. With a small smile and a shake of your head, you bent down and grabbed it, tossing it to your son just as he stood up, all dressed and ready.

“Ready to go?”

“But my shoes. I don’t have baseball shoes!” he yelled, pointing at his feet as if you weren't aware.

“I know buddy. I’m sorry. Mommy forgot but I will stop tomorrow right after work and grab you a pair, okay?”

“But then I won’t be ready for baseball! All the other kids are going to have the right shoes and I won’t!”

“Eli, we don’t have time to stop at the store right now or you’ll be late.” You walked up to your son, cradling his face, your favorite face in the world. Cobalt blue eyes, so like his father’s gazed up at you, anxious about not fitting in, not having the right things. “Look, I will explain to your coach. I’m sure he will understand.”

“He’s really nice. He’s Jeremiah’s dad. I like Jeremiah. He’s my best friend. We play superheroes at recess all the time. He’s Superman and I’m Batman. And sometimes we swap lunches because his dad always packs peanut butter and jelly and you always pack bologna and sometimes we like to switch. I asked you if he could come over and play and you said maybe but he’s never come over. Remember?”

You winced at your son’s words. It came back to you, months ago, Eli asking if his new best friend could come over to your house. You'd said maybe, the answer you gave when you didn’t have one or you were too busy to stop and really answer him. Being a single parent was hard. It was exhausting, often leaving you feeling like there wasn’t enough of you to go around.

“I’m sorry, buddy. I shouldn’t have said maybe and then forgotten about it. I’ll talk to his parents about it after practice today, okay? Now, come on. Let’s get going so you’re not too late.”

__________________________________________________________

You barely had the car in park before Eli was jumping out, racing across the pavement, eager to join his teammates on the diamond. You made your way over, taking in the gathering of young players, the air full of energy and excitement. Bringing a hand up to cover your eyes against the glaringly bright spring sun, you watched as Eli ran up to a young boy with a full head of caramel brown hair.

That must be Jeremiah. Wow, that kid was going to be all the girls could talk about when he got older with a head of hair like that. Eli pointed at him with a huge grin and you gave your son a thumbs up, letting him know you'd seen. He would never let you forget it if you didn’t follow through on setting up a playdate.

“Aly! Hey! Eli’s playing this year?”

“Oh, hi Tracy,” you replied with a smile as Jackson’s mom walked up with a coffee in hand. “Yeah. Janice’s husband, Matt, has really gotten him into baseball and he was so excited to play.”

“It’s so good that he has someone to stand in as a strong male role model in his life. You know, with his dad gone and everything.”

Your teeth gritted, the smile you were working so hard to keep plastered on your face now painful. Of course. You couldn’t possibly be enough for your son. He had to have a man in his life to be whole. It didn’t matter that you worked your ass off to make sure that your son never went without. It didn’t matter that you'd had to step up and work even harder, take on the job of two people. It would never be enough.

“Yeah, we’re really grateful for Matt. He’s really great. Eli just adores him.”

Tracy leaned in, looking like the cat who got the cream, your faults as a mother forgotten. “Have you seen the baseball coach?”

“No. I…I just got here but I do need to talk to him. Eli’s become best friends with his son this year and he’s never going to let me live it down if I don’t don’t talk to him about Jeremiah coming over to our house to play.”

“Lucky you. I’d do anything for Jackson to come play at our house if it meant his dad would come over to play too.”

“Umm…aren’t you married?”

Tracy laughed, shrugging, “I mean, what Tom doesn’t know won’t hurt him, right? Seriously, wait until you see this guy. I am talking about grade A beefcake, honey.” She rolled her eyes, her head following, over to the right where a man was bent forward, pulling baseballs out of a bucket. “I just want to take a bite out of it. Have you ever seen anything so delicious?”

“Ooh! Are we talking about the coach?” asked Lilian as she idled up, her tongue running along her upper lip. “Have you ever seen such a delectable slice of cake in your life?”

You grimaced. No, they weren’t wrong. The ass that was currently up in the air, making it impossible for you not to notice, was quite nice. No. That wasn’t fair. There wasn’t a Georgia peach in existence that could outdo the one in front of you. He filled out a pair of jeans better than most women did. However, the way these women were drooling over him was pathetic. They were married. They were moms. And this guy, no matter how great his ass was, was a person. He wasn’t some piece of meat to be ogled.

“Well, thanks for pointing him out to me. I think I’m going to try to talk to him before he gets busy,” you said, eager to get away from these bored, spoiled housewives who were looking for excitement to fill their monotonous days. Striding over to him, you paused, realizing you had no idea what his name was. “Uh…excuse me? Coach?”

He straightened and turned and you gasped. Oh hell. The front view was even better than the back. Two eyes, the color of honey, peered down at you, coating you in their sticky sweetness, filling your mouth, making it impossible to speak. Jeremiah came by that head of hair honestly, this man's caramel locks falling effortlessly around his face. He smiled and it was even worse, lightning striking you where you stood. His entire face was pure sunshine, warming you from the inside out.

“Yeah?” he encouraged when you hadn’t said anything.

“Uh…oh…I’m so sorry,” you stammered, eyes closing, shaking your head. What the hell was wrong with you right now? “I’m Eli’s mom, Y/N.”

His eyes lit up with recognition, his hand running through those beautiful locks. Another lightning strike, but in an entirely different place, when you realized how large his hands were. Long thick fingers that had you thinking things you really should not be while standing at a child’s little league practice. Shame filled you as you realized you were no better than those moms you'd just judged. You simple weren't saying your thoughts out loud.

“Oh! Of course. Jeremiah talks about Eli non-stop. He’s been bugging me for months to have him come over.”

“Well, that’s actually why I came over to talk to you. Eli’s been bugging me too and I promised him that I wouldn’t leave practice without setting up something with you. So…is there any time over the next week that works for Jeremiah to come play?”

“What works for you?”

“Any afternoon or evening is okay, as long as there’s no practice. But of course then Jeremiah would be unavailable too so that would be silly. And obviously, you’d be coaching so you know when there’s practice. But I, yeah, anyway, I work in a pediatrician’s office and I get off at three every day so that I can get Eli from school. So, I am available for a date. I mean, for the playdate. For the kids. To have a playdate. At my house.”

The corner of his mouth curved into an amused smile and you just wanted a hole to open up in the dirt and swallow you. Why were you tongue twisted like a fifteen year old girl who was trying to talk to the cutest guy at school? You were a thirty-two year old woman. You'd been a wife. You were a mother. You were a nurse. You were educated. You'd gone to college. You should be able to string words together to make a coherent sentence.

“How about tomorrow?” he asked and you noticed how his eyes flitted down to your left hand, your recently bare ring finger. You'd removed it a month ago when Janice had kindly urged you it was well past time. “I actually have a meeting tomorrow night and my best friend is busy so I have no one to watch Jermiah. If you wouldn’t mind him coming your way for a couple hours, it would really help me out.”

“Oh, no. That would be fine. What time?”

You did not focus on the fact that he needed a babysitter. You did not think about how it sounded like Jeremiah’s mom wasn’t in the picture. You definitely did not feel a thrill that made your stomach flip at the thought of what that could mean for you. Nope. No reason for you to care if he had a woman in his life.

“Four thirty? My meeting is at five. It shouldn’t take more than an hour so I should be there by six thirty.”

“Four thirty is great. I’ll make the boys dinner and I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to have a couple hours to play. No need to rush or anything.”

His head tilted, tongue tracing his bottom lip, one eyebrow lifting, “Or I could grab a pizza on my way over. You know, as a thank you for helping me out and everything.”

“Oh…” Your stomach twisted at his words, the drop on the roller coaster, plunging fast, fear and excitement colliding within you at the thought of him hanging out at your house. The two of you sitting at your kitchen table, sharing food, talking. Those warm eyes, like the earth when the sun comes up in the morning, staring into yours. “That would be nice. I mean, Eli will be ecstatic. He would eat pizza every night if I’d let him.”

“Great.” He flashed you that smile again and you swayed on your feet, completely dazzled by that flash of white teeth, the way his eyes crinkled in the corners.

“Daddy! Come on! Stop talking! We’re ready for practice!”

“Duty calls,” he joked, wiggling his eyebrows as he leaned in, his mouth so close to yours that you could smell the peppermint gum on his breath. “We’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah…see you tomorrow.” You stood, frozen as you watched him make his way toward the group of second graders eager to start running around the bases. No, you definitely were not checking out his ass again. Nope. Definitely not. It suddenly hit you that you still didn’t know his name. Cupping your hands around your mouth, you yelled, “I didn’t get your name!”

He turned, grinning, “Steve! Steve Harrington!”

Chapter 2

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runninguplenorahills · 9 months

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I really gotta unfollow all tags that are stranger things related because tumblr keeps recommending me posts about Steve and Eddie even though I have their character tags blocked🫡.

And don’t get me wrong, I do actually quite enjoy Steve and Eddie as characters but the hardcore fandom has The most atrociously out of character takes Ever. And they’re all clapping each other on their backs for how “canon” and “in character” their takes are💀.

Especially Steve also invades every single other character tag because 1: Steve stans don’t know how to fucking tag, and 2: Steve stans will find a way to make Everything about Steve.

And if that wasn’t bad enough already tumblr also constantly recommends me stevexreader/eddiexreader fan fictions and very bad takes revolving around the characters’ sex lives.

NO TUMBLR, I DO NOT WANNA SEE THAT!

#on this blog we like steve and eddie #but we don’t love them #and we actually absolutely fucking hate fanon steve and fanon eddie #and every fanon version of every character #all trash #on this blog we love canon #lenora’s random stuff

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arrow-guy · 1 year

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Within the Ashes (2/??)

Summary: You’ve spent your life working for someone else. You watch their back, you protect them, but you’re left feeling empty and unfulfilled at the end of the day. What happens when a freak accident transports you to a different dimension, very nearly identical to your own?

A/N: Hi guys! Chapter two is here and it’s time to learn more about the reader and what’s happened to them. If you’re squeamish about burns/injury, please please please read the warnings. I didn’t hold back with the Ick with the reader’s burns and I don’t want you to either read something that’ll make you feel sick or uncomfortable. That said, please enjoy!

Page dividers by @carryonmyswansong

Pairing(s): StevexReader, background Spideytorch

Word Count: 2.2k

Warnings: Graphic descriptions of burns (fresh and healing), disorientation, interrogation (not intense), different realities

Part 1

“Are they actually alive?” Tony asks.

Steve inches closer and faintly hears the body whimper.

“For now.”

“Christ, that’s gotta be painful.”

“We need to get them to medical.”

“They could be trying to kill us.”

“They can’t do much of anything right now, Tony.”

Tony rolls his eyes and gestures to a set of drawers. “Third down, there’s fresh sheets. Grab one.”

“You keep sheets in the lab?”

“Sheets, drop cloths, same thing at the end of the day. Doesn’t matter, just grab one.”

Steve does as he’s told and they work together to bundle the body up in the soft fabric. The pink-ish ooze of freshly healing burns immediately soaks into the sheet anywhere it touches the wounds. Steve only notices when he scoops them up in his arms. He frowns and turns to Tony.

“Does it look like they’re healing?”

“What?”

“It looks like they’re healing, Tony.” Steve pulls back a corner of the sheet to reveal their shoulder. “That’s not what fresh burns look like. Especially ones this bad.”

Tony’s expression is a mix of disgust and fascination as his eyes flit over the body. The burns on their shoulder slowly, very slowly, skin over with a milky white ooze that could easily be mistaken for infection. It’s not yellow enough, though. Whoever this person is, they heal inhumanly fast.

All Tony says is, “They’re probably in a lot of pain.”

Steve nods and hurries out into the hall, unmoving body clutched to his chest. Tony follows close behind, issuing commands for F.R.I.D.A.Y. to pass along to their medical team.

Steve barely has one foot in the door before someone whisks the body away and someone else places their hand squarely on his chest to stop his momentum. He tries to protest, but his arms are already empty.

“We’ll take it from here, Captain,” they say. “If they heal as fast as Mr. Stark says, we have to move quickly to ensure they’re not permanently stuck in the fetal position.”

Steve nods numbly. “Alright.”

“Any updates we have, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Ah-thank you.”

They nod and quickly move to the bed where the body was placed moments ago. The medical team begins moving their limbs and Steve can’t hear his eyes away out of morbid fascination with the sight. Only when they whimper again does he remember what he’s watching. He averts his eyes and turns back out into the hallway. Tony’s leaning against the wall to Steve’s right, tapping away on his phone.

“They’re in good hands, Steve,” he says. “They’ll heal before you know it and we’ll get our answers.”

“I’d hate to be them right now.”

“Any sane person would be.” Tony pushes off the wall and walks off down the hall. “Lemme know if there are any changes.”

Steve scrubs his hands over his face and slowly walks back to his office.

(Y/N) doesn’t know where she is. Can’t really move her limbs or open her eyes. She’s tired enough that she doesn’t really want to try. She does know she’s in a hospital of some kind. There’s the distant, pulsing beep of a heart monitor and she can occasionally hear the sounds of pen scratching on paper.

The bed she’s lying on is anything but soft and the sheets make her itch all over. She’s cold, initially, but she’s not awake enough at any given time to complain anyway.

Eventually, when she finally feels herself coming back to her body, she’s moved to a different bed. A smooth garment is slipped onto her body and she’s placed on top of sheets significantly softer than before. She’s still sore and pain occasionally flares up around particularly tender areas, especially where her skin is thinnest, but she finds that she’s more comfortable. It’s easier to let herself rest.

When she can finally open her eyes, it’s not for very long. Staying awake takes too much energy. She rolls over, ignores the way her left arm won’t move and the pressure around that wrist, and goes back to sleep. She can worry about it when she’s more lucid and the steadily growing pressure behind her eyes dissipates.

Unfortunately, she wakes up with a pounding headache and something about the bright, buzzing fluorescent lights only serves to make it worse. So, she attempts to cover her eyes with her left arm, only to be stopped short. (Y/N) frowns and tugs against the resistance on her arm. Same distance, but it's followed by a feeble, metallic rattle. Her frown deepens and she cracks one eye to investigate while rubbing the other with her free hand.

She finds her left hand bound at the wrist to the hospital bed railing with a length of gray fabric. The material has very little give and the knots at either end are tied well. Even knowing this she tries to pull at the loop around her wrist. She puts a little extra strength behind it. Even so, unsurprisingly, it does nothing.

"Huh."

She's looking a little too closely at the knot at her wrist and thinking about using her teeth on it when a man appears at the foot of the bed. Startled, she jumps and accidentally smacks herself in the face with her left hand. She makes a small noise of disappointment and rubs at the point of impact.

“Sorry,” the man says. “Did I startle you?”

“A little,” she mumbles.

“I need to ask you a few questions.”

(Y/N) watches him fold his arms across his chest and wishes she could poke his biceps. She might have super strength, but she’s never had the resting muscle definition to prove it. Johnny always teases her for staring at Jen Walters for a little too long. She sighs and briefly wonders if he knows where she is.

“Miss?”

“What? Sorry. I’m a little spacy.” She moves to run her hand over her hair, but only finds the stubbly peach fuzz of regrowth. “Weird.”

“With the state you were in when you showed up, I’d say you’re lucky to even have hair.”

“Was it really that bad?”

“It was pretty grotesque.”

“Oh. Sorry.” (Y/N) clears her throat and sits herself up. “You have questions?”

“Right.” He squares his shoulders. (Y/N) thinks it’s to make him more intimidating. It doesn’t work. “Who sent you?”

“Sorry?”

“You appeared out of thin air in our lab. It’s hard to believe that would just randomly happen. So, who sent you?”

(Y/N) shakes her head. “No one.”

“I don’t believe you. So I’ll ask again; why are you here?”

“Okay, well I don’t know where here is, so you have me at a distinct disadvantage.”

“You don’t know where you are?”

“No.”

“Where did you plan to be?”

“At home, in my bed, reading a book.” She looks around the room. “Where am I?”

“Avengers tower.”

“Tower?” Confused, she frowns. “I thought the Avengers operated out of a mansion somewhere in the city.”

“What mansion?”

“Y’know, that posh mansion with a bunch of floors below the ground that too many people know how to get to.” The man doesn’t give any indication that he does, in fact, know. “Tony Stark funds everything? Captain America is the figurehead?”

“Sounds right, but the location is wrong.”

“How would you know?”

“Because I’m Captain America.”

The corner of her mouth quirks up. “No you’re not.” The man raises one eyebrow. “Are you?”

“I am.”

“But you’re so…” Handsome, soft, almost approachable, her brain supplies. “And he’s so righteous, buzzcut, quarterback.” Her eyes go wide with realization and her hand flies to her mouth. “Oh God, Reed. What’d you do?”

Had Reed’s transport actually worked? Even with chunks flying off, even after exploding, had it sent her to a different dimension? It seems like that’s what happened. This man claims to be Steve Rogers, but he doesn’t look like the Captain she knows. Well, that’s not entirely true. He does look like her Steve Rogers, but not enough for her to think they’re the same person. But who’s to say anyone’s equivalent in a different reality would match them perfectly?

“Who’s Reed?”

“My boss. Reed Richards.”

“Am I supposed to know who that is?”

“You don’t know him?”

“Can’t say that I do.”

“He’s lauded as one of the smartest humans on the planet. Right up there with Stark and Banner.” The Captain just shakes his head. “What about the Fantastic Four? Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, Human Torch, the Thing?”

“They don’t sound familiar, no.”

She presses the heels of her hands to her eyes. “I must sound like a lunatic.”

“Yes, you do.” A man with dark hair and perfectly groomed facial hair strides into the room. “But I have heard of Richards, and I’m particularly offended that you’d compare the two of us.”

(Y/N) would know that goatee anywhere, but the face is wrong. “You’re-”

“Tony Stark.”

She nods. “Right.”

“Why don’t you explain what’s going on here.”

(Y/N) presses her fingers to her temple. “I’m Reed’s lab assistant. He’s been working on interdimensional transportation for months now and finally settled on something he was sure would work a few days ago, but when we went to tests, the entire thing malfunctioned. Thing literally blew up. From what I can remember, I was caught in the blast. Now I’m here.”

“Hilarious. Tell the truth.”

“I am.”

“That technology doesn’t exist yet. Not to mention the fact that your entire body was one massive third degree burn. Yet you’ve miraculously healed. Explain.”

“I have a healing factor that’s just a smidge weaker than Wolverine’s. I wouldn’t survive a nuclear blast, but full body third degree burns are manageable, I guess.”

“Wolverine?”

“Nigh unto immortal Mutant? Legendary X-Man?” Both Rogers and Stark shake their heads. “Seriously? He’s been alive since before the civil war.”

“Doesn’t ring any bells.”

“Great, you don’t have the X-Men.” She drags her hand over what little hair has grown back. “The only explanation I can come up with, and I apologize for my limited knowledge, I’m just the muscle, is that I was transported to a universe or reality adjacent to mine. Which… would only serve to prove Reed’s theory about a multiverse.”

“Seriously? A multiverse?”

“I don’t know, ask Doctor Strange. I’m not an expert by any means, but I know that this is one of the many intersections of science and magic.” She pauses. “Stephen Strange is the Sorcerer Supreme here, right?”

“He might be.”

“Okay.” She nods, mostly to herself. “Okay.”

“What’s your name?” Rogers asks.

“(Y/N).”

“Last name?”

“(Y/L/N),” she answers. “There might be another me in this reality, but I don’t know how closely realities mimic each other, so… who knows.”

Rogers hums and turns to look at Stark, who just shrugs and says he’ll look into it. He then leaves with the promise of contacting Strange and (Y/N) is suddenly alone with Rogers.

“I’m sorry,” she says. “I know this is a lot for all of you to deal with.”

“It’s fine.”

“Okay.” She bites her lip. “How long was I out for?”

“About four days.”

“Oh shit. That’s way longer than I’ve been down in the past.”

“You were barely recognizable as a human being when you appeared. I think that gives you a pass on healing a little slower than usual.”

“Mm, you’re probably right.” Rogers nods absentmindedly. “Wild question; could you untie me?”

“Hm?”

“Could you untie me?” she repeats. “I know it’s for everyone’s safety, but I'm not going anywhere, and I’m pretty sure I’ll accidentally break the railing if I fall asleep like this again.”

"It's pretty sturdy."

"Could you break this pretty sturdy railing?"

"We'll, yeah-"

"Then I'd be able to break it." He raises his eyebrows and she gestures to herself. "Pretty-sturdy-railing will meet pretty-strong-burn-victim, and the burn victim will win."

“So you heal quickly and you’re super strong?”

"Yes, exactly."

"How?"

(Y/N) shrugs. "Luck of the draw, I guess. I mean, how does anyone get their powers, if not by chance?"

"In my experience, through a lot of scientific experimentation."

“Mm, I guess so. You said you don’t know about the X-Men, right?”

“Right.”

“Hm, then I guess you don’t really have anyone who’s genetically predisposed to having powers, then.”

"Maybe we do and we just haven't met them yet."

"Maybe." She stifles a yawn. "The government likes to beat back anyone they see as a threat with a stick, so I wouldn't blame anyone for hiding their powers."

"They do that where you're from?"

"Mhm." Rogers quietly approaches and unties the knot around (Y/N)'s wrist in one smooth motion. "Thank you. It's cyclical, sometimes."

"Can't say it's much different here." (Y/N) yawns again and tries to sit up a little straighter. “You should get some rest.”

She shakes her head and absentmindedly rubs her left wrist. “I’m sure you have more questions.”

“Nothing that can’t wait till tomorrow.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.” He pats her shoulder and heads for the door. “I’ll make sure some food is sent up for you.”

“Thank you, Captain Rogers.”

He nods and disappears into the hallway.

--------

Part 3

Alrighty, so the reader character isn’t dead, huzzah! But now they’re stuck in an alternate reality. Could this prove to be a Bad Thing? Or maybe it’s just a brand new adventure. You’ll have to tune in next time to find out.

As always, I’d love to know what you thought of this chapter! Are you surprised by how careful Steve was with the Body? How do you feel about the Reader character being tied to their hospital bed? Was Steve as intimidating as he thought he was? Be sure to reblog, comment, and/or shoot me an ask and tell me all about it!

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This fic:

@brattymum96

#steve rogersxreader #readerxsteve rogers #steve rogers x reader #reader x steve rogers #captain america #steve rogers #steverogersxreader #readerxsteverogers #the other boi #reader insert fanfiction

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hellfiremunsonn · 2 years

Text

Steve Freaking Harrington.

AN: ALRIGHT WELL I SAID I WAS WRITING A STEVE FIC AND I REALLY FUCKIN DID. It’s a slow burn so if you just want the smut part you’ll have to scroll for quite a while. I got a little carried away. I’m gunna call it “Part One” for now until I know what or where I'm going with it but I really hope you all enjoy it. Please let me know if there is anything I didn’t tag, or if you have any feedback.

I do not allow my writing to be republished anywhere other than my own blog without my consent

18 + IF YOU ARE NOT 18 OR OLDER DO NOT READ OR INTERACT WITH MY WRITING. IT IS NOT INTENDED FOR MINORS. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MEDIA YOU CONSUME.

Word count: 7705

Warnings: blood, talk of self harm, mentions of past self harm scars, fem reader, Dom Steve if you squint, unprotected sex (please always use protection), p in v, m oral receiving, fingering, m an f orgasm

StevexReader

It was another long and boring day at Family Video. One of those days where I often just stood at the counter shifting my weight from foot to foot staring at the clock and trying to ignore whatever shitty move was playing on the tv behind me. Robin scribbled doodles on a scrap piece of paper and Steve hung around on the other side of the counter, leaning on his elbows with his head in his hands. "This is brutal" Steve said sighing.

"At least you don't have to go to school tomorrow" Robin muttered, still doodling.

I smiled a little. It became so familiar to listen to them bicker back and fourth. They were like an old married couple. "Ahh yes the young child complains about getting her education while not having to pay rent" I said side eyeing her.

"Okay I'm eighteen, which means legally I'm an adult so" she said raising her eyebrows. Steve and I shared a look before laughing.

"Just because you're eighteen doesn't mean you're not a kid, believe me" I thought back when I thought everything would change when I turned eighteen. It's a big deal for no real reason other than legally being an adult. You still can't drink, you're still in high school, and for most people, still living under their parents roof with everything paid for. But in the end you still were a kid who was clueless about the world. I wouldn't go as far to say that about Robin considering how mature she really was despite being as goofy as she is.

"Were you the one who got stuck in a Russian lab, or dungeon? Basement maybe? I'm not even sure what is was, but was that you? No it wasn't" she said crumpling up her doodle filled paper and throwing it at my head.

"Hey!" I sad rubbing my forehead where the crinkled ball had poked me before landing on the floor. "Listen I was probably laying in bed states away blissfully unaware, so no, I can't relate to that" I grabbed the paper ball and threw it into the trash, glancing at the clock again groaning I made my way over to the shelves and started spacing everything way too neatly just to pass time.

About an hour later I was now sitting on the floor still spacing each movie apart but now on the opposite side of the store when Robin came out of the back room loudly swinging her backpack over her shoulder. "Well see ya later losers, have fun closing up" And with a wink she was out the door. I gave her a quick wave and continued my spacing.

"(Y/N)?" Steve called.

"Over here!" I said peaking around one of the shelves.

"Why are you on the floor?" He said standing next to me.

"Because why would I stand up to do the bottom shelf?" I said back. Looking up at him. He was so beautiful. And he knew it, which made him more unbearable because he knew what to do, and when to do it, and who to do it too, so he could get the right reaction out of them. We became friends quite quickly when I started working at Family Video mainly from how much time we spent alone in the empty store, but also because Robin forced him to train me when I started so she wouldn't have to. I definitely don't blame her for that because training the newbie is always kind of boring. Although I had to thank her for that because if it wasn't for her distaste in training I don't know if I would have ever gotten as close to Steve as I have if he wasn't the one spending all that extra time training me.

After a few short months of getting to know Steve and opening up to him. I told him about how my home life wasn't exactly ideal and offered to let me stay in one of his spare bedrooms. His house was massive and his parent's rarely home, not that they minded me. They really liked me actually. I tried to deny Steves offer until one fairly rough night at home got just a little too much. So at two am he drove to my house, helped me pack up my belongings and took me 'home'. I refused to stay there without paying rent, and although Steve was very against it I kept sending the money to his parents so he couldn't stop me. All he had to do was give me that 'Steve Harrington' look and I would have caved and not payed him or his parents a single penny.

I always felt like he could see right through me. Like every time those brown eyes made their way to mine that he was reading every thought that entered my mind and could tell how I was feeling. Maybe it was just because he was supposedly good with women, or maybe he just started to figure out how to be good with me? It was a thought I had often of him and I together, not always rated G and I would never admit it to Robin let alone him. Robin picked up on my crush rather quickly and would teased me about it often but it was our little secret and Steve really hated that we had a secret. He hated not being apart of it especially with two of his closet friends but I just couldn't tell him.

I wasn't really part of his crowd, even with all the fourteen year olds, and I never wanted to push my luck and force myself onto them or into their group. I knew they were all super close and that Steve cared for each of them as if they were his own children. It was cute seeing him take on this paternal instinct around them, like it was so natural and he had been doing it his whole life. Maybe it was because his parents weren't really around and he kind of had to parent himself.

His parents being MIA would definitely explain his old reputation I heard so much about from Robin. "King Steve" they would call him, and apparently he was a bit of a dick, but that changed, and he never went back to being that person. I'm glad I got to know him as the Steve he is now otherwise I'm not so sure we would get along, but together were just a couple of goofs who "Share one brain cell" between the two of us as Robin often tells us.

"Hellooooo" Steve said waving a hand in front of my face snapping me from my thoughts.

"W-what? What's up?" I said trying to act casual.

"You were day dreaming about me again weren't you" He said teasing.

"Again? Bold of you to assume I've day dreamed about you at all, let alone multiple times Harrington" I teased back. Finally standing up from floor, pulling my shorts back down my thighs from bunching I wiggled slightly and sighed. Steve eyed me suspiciously.

"Can you come help me move that big table in the back? A new shipment of snacks and shit should be here in the morning so Keith want's space for it" He said shoving his hands deep into his jeans. Which I didn't even think was possible, considering how wonderfully tight they were.

"Yes sir!" I said giving him a salute and making my way to the back. "I hate this table" I said standing at one end of it, my hands cuffed around the metal edge ready to lift. "Why?" Steve questioned going to the other end. "It's just a table" he said and laughed as he lifted his end. Nodding his head to tell me I was good to lift my end. As I lifted it pain seared through my palm and I gritted my teeth as we slowly shimmied to get the table to the other side of the room. Dropping my end of the table abruptly I grabbed my hand quickly noticing blood dripping from it. I hopped up and down muttering profanities until Steve asked me what was wrong.

"Fucking stupid table, I told you I didn't like, and it fucking cut me!" I said holding up my hand while still holding it with my other hand attempting to keep the bleeding at bay not knowing how bad the cut actually was.

"Jesus Christ (Y/N) you're bleeding everywhere!" Steve said rushing to the bathroom to retrieve the first aid kid. "No shit Sherlock" I said following him.

"Sit on the toilet" He ordered, closing the lit and gesturing to it with a nod of his head while he kneeled in front of me rummaging through the tiny red box. I tapped my feet frantically up and down while I waited for Steve. "Okay so, we have to clean it, and that's going to hurt a lot even if it isn't as deep of a cut as it looks" he said glancing up at me. I guess he could see the concern on my face and rubbed my knee briefly. "It'll be over before you know it"

I groaned leaning back into the toilet, a few whimpers escaping my mouth as the pain continued. I watched Steve as he carefully set everything up, and even washed his hands before returning to the floor in front of me. Tipping the bottle of rubbing alcohol onto one of the pieces of gauze he steadied himself between my legs and held out his hand. I hesitated clutching my hand a little closer to my chest fearing how bad the alcohol was going to make it sting. Steves eyes softened and his mouth turned up into a small smile. "We gotta get it clean" He said softly. I slowly sat up straight and cautiously gave him my hand finally letting go of it with my other hand. He held it gently in his as he rested it on top of my thigh. "Do you want me to count to three or something?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"No- Wait! Yes, please. Please count" I said.

"Okay" Steve said taking a deep breath. "One-"

He never made it to three before patting the wet gauze onto my hand and I yelped out but he held my hand in place. "You fucker!" I spat. Tears threatening to spill over.

"Oh you're fine" He said giving my hand a final swipe. "Look it's not even that bad! Just a little cut" Cutting a smaller piece of fresh gauze he placed it onto my palm and used medical tape to keep it in place. I watched as his fingers worked delicately around my hands, cleaning off the excess blood. I could feel my heart beat in my ears, and my skin get hot.

"You're looking a little pale there. You alright?" Steve asked. Resting his hands on my knees.

"I think I might pass out" I said weakly, feeling the tips of my fingers go numb and the room spin slightly.

"Not on my watch, come here" He said as he lifted me off the toilet and onto the floor, positioning my arms and legs so I was sat with my head between my legs. "Alright I need you to take some slow deep breaths okay? In through your nose and out through your mouth"

I did as he said and only lifted my head when the heart beat in my ears faded and the room stopped spinning. Taking a final deep breath I leaned back resting my head against the bathroom wall.

"There's that colour coming back to that pretty face" Steve said rubbing my cheek lightly with his thumb. I hummed, closing my eyes and leaning into his warm palm. Realizing what I was doing I cleared my throat and moved away from his hand. "Thank you for uh" I said raising my hand. "Fixing me" I let out an awkward laugh.

"It was my pleasure" He said smiling and standing up. For a moment I thought his cheeks might have been a slight pink but maybe I was just seeing things. I did almost just pass out so I don't know if I fully trust my own brain right now. "Take a minute to take breather, I'll clean up the blood while you do that"

I got up slowly after a few minutes of extra sitting just to make sure I wasn't going to topple over and fall unconscious and hitting my head off of something and then bleeding out in the Family Video bathroom. definitely not how I want to die. Eventually I made my way back out into the store and to the counter where Steve was counting the till whispering the numbers slightly as he flipped through the money.

Scribbling, he ran a hand through his hair before noticing me. "Hey, I grabbed a few accident report papers for you to fill out" He said pointing to them on the counter next to him.

A small laugh bubbled in my chest as I reached for them, folding them into a square and shoving them into my bag knowing I would never actually fill them out. As if reading my thoughts like I always thought he was, he said. "I already filled one out, so don't lie and tell me you're going to fill it out and then never do it"

A blush rose to my cheeks. I don't know how he knew me so well. Maybe I was just really predictable. "Alright, double check this for me and then we are good to go" He said holding his pen out towards me. I grabbed it and stood on my tippy toes, leaning against the counter as I tapped the numbers into the calculator. "Still can't do the math in your head?" Steve whispered, not wanting to disrupt my counting. "Shut it Harrington" I mumbled giving a final check and my signature to the paper. Throwing the pen down onto the counter I raised my good hand for a high five which Steve reciprocated with a dramatic wave of his hand before slapping it against mine and giving it a light squeeze.

After locking the door behind us I followed slowly behind Steve to his car, waiting at the passenger door for him to unlock it before sliding into the seat. I tucked my knees up to my chest, resting my chin on them and wrapped my arms around them tightly. It was hard being around Steve all the time and I knew that living with him was going to be even harder, but I had only been there for a few weeks. Sitting in my room with my door always open out of habit, he would walk by fresh out of the shower, a towel hung low on his waist, his happy trail sparkling with drops of water still stuck to it. He never caught me staring in those moments thankfully, but it didn't stop me from wanting to kick down his door and kiss him.

"You okay?" Steve said breaking the silence.

"Yeah, just in my own head" Which wasn't a lie, I just couldn't tell him what exactly was going through my mind.

"What's going on in that pretty little head of yours" He asked turning down his street.

"It's nothing you need to worry about" I said forcing a smile. When he pulled up into the drive way I got out quickly, almost too quickly as I heard Steve hiss from behind me when I opened the car door before it was fully stopped.

I silently cursed at myself when I got to the front door realizing it was locked and that once again I had to wait for Steve. We still hadn't gone out to get a new copy of the house key for me, so I had to rely on him for another fucking thing.

"Please don't do that again, I could have ran over your foot or something, and I do not think I could deal with that complaining" He said walking in front of me, my shoulder slightly brushing his arm in the process, causing goosebumps to raise on my skin. He unlocked the door and opened it, gesturing with his arm for me to enter first which I did quickly. I sped up the stairs, the sound of my converse slapping against the hardwood as I went. Reaching my room I belly flopped collapsing onto my bed, breathing in the familiar scent of Steves laundry detergent on my blankets. I kicked off my shoes still laying on my stomach and heard them hit the floor with a thud. What the hell was I going to do? This crush is getting worse by the minute and I think I might actually explode. I felt like a bottle of unopened coke that had been shaken so severely that it might just burst without the seal of its plastic lid ever breaking.

I was growing annoyed with myself and obviously Steve. Because why did he have to be so fucking nice to me? No one was this nice to me, not even my parents. The people around town, knew me as that 'drunk dudes daughter' and even though I don't go to school with them, those preppy teenagers bullied me as if they had known me for years. As if I didn't have enough of my own thoughts to bully me. I pulled one of my sleeves up looking at the thin white raised scars along my wrist and forearm. Tracing them with my fingers I sighed and pulled my sleeve back down over them. It was a habit I finally recovered from, but still sometimes I found myself yearning for that familiar release. No one in I knew Hawkins knew about it. The weather had still been cold enough when I first moved here that I could always wear sweaters and long sleeves without it being questioned. I dreaded the warm weather that had started to creep in weeks ago and I forced myself into a pair of shorts today before going to work. But it was always chilly inside the store so again the sleeves weren't questioned.

A soft knock from behind me is what broke me out of my thoughts. Rolling my head to the side and out of the corner of my eye Steve stood leaning against the doorframe of my room not daring to enter it without permission like a vampire. "Hi" I said quietly. "Come in" I rolled over and sat up crossing my legs.

Steve came in and sat in the chair at my desk. "What's going on with you?" He said looking at me.

"What do you mean?" I said pretending to be confused.

"I don't know you've been weird all day, and the getting out of the car before it was stopped?" He shrugged leaning back. "It's not like you, you usually talk to me" his eyes were soft and a worried expression slowly formed in his face.

Without telling him exact details, I took a deep breath and said. "I have a crush..." My cheeks felt hot and I avoided eye contact by picking at a loose thread in one of my socks.

"You have a crush" Steve repeated. I nodded. "It's been consuming every waking moment of my brain, and I don't know how much longer I can cope with it, I want to like" I stopped furrowing my brows thinking of the words. "-Like peel my skin off"

Steve stifled a laugh as I finally looked up at him. "Don't laugh it's not funny!"

He held his hands up in defence trying his best to suppress his laughing. "Okay I'm sorry, it's not funny. Does he have a girlfriend or something?" He questioned.

"Or she, don't be so quick to assume Harrington" I said smirking. "I mean have you seen women?"

"I have actually yeah" he laughed. "Okay so why can't you confront this 'crush'" he said using air quotes around the word crush.

"Because it's just one of those things, it would ruin everything, especially if he didn't like me back" I said the last part more quietly than intended. "I'm just waiting for it to fade, but its hard, and there's only so many cold showers I can take"

Steve choked, coughing into his fist. He shifted, seeming a little uneasy. "So why don't you... You know..." he trailed off.

"The word is masturbate Steve" I said laughing.

"Yeah I know" he said annoyed. "Its just hard to imagine you doing that"

"I don't think it's that hard" I stated leaning my back against my wooden headboard.

He stood up abruptly. "Alright I'm leaving, I'm tired" he said walking towards the door.

"Can't handle the thought Harrington?" I said teasing, getting up to rummage around for some comfy clothes.

"I really can't" He said giving me slow side smile as he walked down the hall to his bedroom and shut the door.

I stood up frozen, an old pink tank top held tightly in my hands wincing a little at my bandaged palm. What the hell was that? I glanced towards my door where he no longer stood with my mouth open in confusion. Shaking my head I walked into our shared bathroom, brushing my teeth and washing my face. I could feel the summer heat invading the house already and frowned. Lastly I cleaned my hand taking off the bandage giving it time to breathe and finally made my way into bed.

I woke up to heat. So much heat. Sitting up in my bed I felt the back of my tank top cling to me and the skin of my thighs that had been touching were slick with sweat. Why was it so fucking hot? Stumbling out of bed even my bare feat stuck to the floor as I made my way down stairs. Steve stood in the middle of the kitchen, tools splayed out all over the counters, a bead of sweat dripping down the side of his face and onto his shoulder, his naked chest slightly shiny as the sweat clung to his chair. A pair of old basketball shorts hanging just a little lower on his hips than they should be. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand before noticing me standing in front of him.

"AC is broken" He said frowning.

"Fuck me" I said running my hands through my hair. Only now realizing I was stood in front of him in a very short and tight tank top and a pair of pink pajama shorts. His eyes glanced down and back up quickly before clearing his throat and continuing his search for whatever specific tool he was looking for. "What are you even doing? Do you know how to fix it?" I questioned.

"No I don't have a fucking clue how to fix it (Y/N)" He said clearly annoyed, while planting his palms flat onto the counter with a light smack to look up at me.

"Sorry" I said shrinking into my shoulders a little. I didn't mean to upset him.

"No, no" He wiped his forehead again. "I'm sorry, I'm just hot and frustrated, I didn't mean to snap"

"It's okay" I said giving him a sly smile. "it was kind of hot?" I admitted.

"Hot? What being rude?"

"Yeah a little" I said biting my lip to stifle a laugh. "I mean I'm sure you've been mean, like sexually to girls in bed right?"

He scratched the back of his head. "Well I mean yeah" His cheeks turning a little more pink than they already were.

"So then there you go" I said clapping my hands together. I walked towards to fridge opening the freezer grabbing a red popsicle from the box at the back.

"Breakfast?" He smirked. I saluted him with the popsicle in hand. "I'm getting in the pool" I stated, walking past him and out the back door sitting down on the ledge of the pool sticking my feet in. Ripping the plastic off of the popsicle I popped the end of it into my mouth swirling it around. The water was cold and I shivered as it touched my skin but it felt so good. I moaned a little, leaning back onto my hand letting my head fall back. The sun wasn't high enough in the sky yet to burn me just yet, and I watched as it sprinkled through the leaves of the trees. A slight breeze came and went every so often and it really helped along with my nearly melted popscile. It was better than the stale hot air from inside the house. Sliding the last bit of it off of the wooden stick I gave my hands a quick rinse with the pool water.

I heard some loud banging and then the back door open aggressively and Steve stomped out, clearly still frustrated. Sitting down next to me he sighed, the cold water very obviously instantly calming him.

"I called my parents, they said someone will come to fix the AC tomorrow" He said quietly.

"Okay" I said softly while swinging my feet back and fourth in the water, listening to the rippling noises. I leaned back so my back was now flat against the concrete and rolled my tank top until it sat right under my boobs. If I was going to be out here I might as well try to work on my tan. I traced patterns lazily along my stomach and felt myself relaxing into my own touch.

The phone ran from inside of the house and I squinted, only opening one eye to look over at Steve who sighed before getting up to go answer it. Leaning back up onto my elbows I decided to finally just get into the water. Getting up and walking to the shallow end and walked down the few steps until I was waist deep, my hands swaying around me in the water. I would have put on a swim suit but I had no intention of going back into that hell hot house unless absolutely necessary. Taking a deep breath I dipped my head under the water standing back up gasping lightly at the cold temperature against my chest. It was almost euphoric how good the water felt.

Steve emerged again from the house and resumed his position at the edge of the pool. "The children want to come and use the pool, and because I can't say no to those little shit heads, they'll be here in fifteen"

I laughed lightly while continuing to swirl the water around me with my hands. "You and those tiny children"

"You can't call them tiny, most of them are taller than you" Steve said kicking water towards me. "You're literally in the shallow end of a pool and it's almost at your boobs"

I rolled my eyes and attempted to splash him back but the water didn't reach him as much as I wanted to. "Will you ever let me live it down that I'm short?"

"Never" he said smiling. I watched his eyes glance down clearly at my chest and then back up, craning his neck pretending to look at the sky.

Blushing I looked down, realizing the tank top I was wearing was almost see through. Panicking I covered my chest crossing my arms and hooking my hands into my armpits for maximum protection. Before I could speak, I heard the loud voices of the young gang approaching the backyard. "Shit" I mumbled and sunk down into the water so it would cover my exposed chest.

"Steve I need you to get me a different shirt" I said quietly.

"Oh why?" He said jokingly. "Don't want a bunch of teenagers seeing your nipples?" He glanced down again quickly.

"Stop flirting and go get me a different shirt please" I begged through gritted teeth.

The kids stumbled into the backyard yelling, laughing, and pushing each other. "(Y/N)!" Max yelled running over to the edge of the pool closet to me. "I was really hoping I wasn't going to be the only girl out here, because if I spend one more minute with them, my brain might actually start losing IQ points"

I let out a small laugh, still keeping my shoulders below the water. The boys instantly jumped into the pool, and began beating each other with pool noodles they brought along with them. Max sat at the edge of the pool, sunglasses on and a book in her hands with a small towel hung over her freckled shoulders, probably preventing herself from getting sun burnt.

Eventually Steve finally returned, one of his t-shirts in hand, and a bunch of towels tucked under his arm. I swam back over to the edge of the pool and held my hand out so he could pass it to me, and he almost did, but instead hesitated and stepped back with a smirk on his face. He walked back a bit and placed it on one of the lounge chairs. "Shirts here if you still need it" He said pointing down to it.

"Steve can you bring it to me please?"

"Nah I think you can come and get it"

I groaned. "Steve can you please just bring it to me, I don't have time for your stupid mind games right now"

That caused a few chuckles out of the boys and I smiled.

"What's the problem?" Max asked. "Why won't he give you the shirt?"

"Because he's annoying" I said matter of factly.

"Why don't you just go and get it?" Dustin asked.

"Because she doesn't want everyone to see her boobs" Steve said laughing slightly.

The boys all groaned and I even heard one of them mutter "Gross" turning their attention back to each other, and although I wanted to laugh at them for being so immature I held my glare at Steve.

What game is he trying to play right now? I stared at him mouth agape not knowing what to do, or what was going on in that big head of his. And then he slowly licked his lips, his tongue darting out briefly and then I knew. He was coming onto me. But why? And why now? Was this is normal friendly flirting that he does with me and Robin all the time, or was this actual flirting, because if he is actually flirting right now, the heat that is barreling down onto my back from the sun is not helping the rising temperature growing throughout my body.

So mustering all the courage I had, I walked slowly over to the steps dunking my head under the water again one last time before beginning to walk up and out of the pool while smoothing my hair back out of my face. I walked towards Steve, and squeezed the water out of the side of my tank top knowing he was watching my every move. I stood in front of him, looking up at him through my wet lashes and reached for the bottom of my top before lifting it over my head leaving me completely bare chested in front of him. His breath hitched and I watched him swallow hard, his Adams apple bobbing as he did so. Reaching down for the shirt, still not breaking eye contact I pulled it over my head.

"Don't forget to blink there big boy" I said patting his chest and walking past him back into the house.

Once I was about halfway up the stairs I let out a breath I was apparently holding. "Holy shit" I whispered. I shook my head and headed to the bathroom to wash the chlorine off of my skin, and to maybe cool down a little extra, away from everyone. Stripping myself of my wet clothes I turned the shower on, making the water just barely warm enough to not overheat me while in there.

I stood there for a moment, just letting the water fall over me trying to compose my thoughts but the sound of the bathroom door opening distracted me. Leaning around the shower curtain I saw Steve who was shutting the door behind him and locking it before turning to face me. "Uh I'm in the shower?" I stated but it came out more like a question. "Yeah I can see that" He laughed and began to start taking off his shorts.

I quickly avoided any sort of eye contact with him and leaned back into the shower, my hands covering my face. "Steve what the hell, what are you doing?" Eyes still covered I heard the shower curtain move again and felt Steve brush against me.

"I'm showering" He said as if he's done this a million times before, and maybe he had, but not with me.

I stood there, awkwardly silent, unsure of what to say, or what to do next. Steves hands came up, and he placed them gently over mine encouraging me to take them off of my face and I let him but still kept my eyes closed. His thumb rubbed gently over one of my scars and I flinched slightly at the thought of him knowing. He brought my wrist up to his lips and placed a gentle kiss to it. "I'm not going to bite (Y/L/N)" he said softly still holding my hands.

Slowly I opened one eye, peaking out of it slightly to look up at him. "I mean I only bite if you're into that" A small smirk forming at the sides of his mouth.

Instinctively I rolled my eyes and laughed finally looking up at him. He kept his eyes on my face, never once looking down at my naked frame, as if he didn't just see my boobs ten minutes prior to disrupting my shower. "Shouldn't you be watching the kids?"

"They basically left as soon as you did, talking about that board game they play with Eddie Munson"

I nodded slowly and bit my bottom lip.

"That was a bold move back there" he said moving a piece of wet hair that clung to my face, his hand lingering ever so slightly on my cheek.

"I agree" I said turning my head. I didn't know where to look, and looking at him this close to me, would only make things worse, so instead I settled on a tiny crack in the tile just to the left behind him. "Um Steve?" I said quietly, hesitantly glancing at him.

"Yeah?"

"Why are you in the shower with me?" I watched him this time as he was the one to avoid my gaze. His cheeks turning pink, he scratched the back of his head.

"I honestly wasn't thinking straight, I just- I just started walking, and then I couldn't stop seeing you standing in front of me topless in the back of my mind, and so here I am..." He said trailing off. "I think because you finally noticed"

"Noticed what?"

"That I was hitting on you"

"Well yeah it was kind of hard to miss, you've never done that before"

He chuckled, his head leaning back slightly. "I've been hitting on you since the day I met you (Y/N)"

My mouth opened slightly in shock and I stared at him for a moment. "Wait a minute" I said taking a small step back to get a better look at him. "You waited until you were inches away from me, NAKED" I said emphasizing the word naked. "To tell me you've been hitting on me"

"I'll admit it wasn't the best decision I've made, but I had to act quick, I didn't want to go a second more without you knowing, especially with this crush you keep talking about" He sounded almost jealous and now it was my turn to laugh.

"S-Steve" I said in-between laughs. "It's you. You're the one I have a crush on"

We both stared at each other for a moment before bursting into a fit of laughter. I clutched my sides in pain from laughing and Steve held onto one of my shoulders.

"How long has Robin been coaching you?" I asked, still giggling.

"Oh everyday, every fucking day"

"She's been helping me!" I said laughing a little harder again. "Well we can never say she's a bad friend because she didn't tell either of us that we were crushing on each other this whole time"

"I think she might actually be the best after this" He said looking back at me. Finally looking into his eyes I still felt like he could see right through me.

"Can I kiss you?" he asked quietly.

I nodded my head a little too eagerly but he smiled, holding both sides of my face in his hands and kissed me gently on the lips. They were slow, sweet kisses, like we wanted to savour every moment, every feeling, every taste. He lowered his hands to my waist pulling me closer to him, and I wrapped my arms around his neck sinking into the kiss. Breaking the kiss slowly he smiled, "You taste like cherry"

He began to place light kisses along my jaw and down my neck. I tilted my head back slightly to give him more room. Kissing both of my collar bones he stopped looking at me. "You can touch me Steve" I said blushing. He continued kissing my chest, going lower and lower until his tongue quickly grazed my nipple. One hand holding the other boob squeezing lightly, his thumb brushing over my nipple, while he kissed, licked, and sucked onto the other one before returning his mouth to mine.

I felt his hard erection brush against my leg, and I looked down reaching for it and wrapped my hand around it. He groaned into my mouth as I began to jerk him slowly. "We don't have to keep going" He said breathlessly. "I don't want to rush you- Fuuuck you're good at this" his head tilted back and the water ran down his muscular chest. Please with myself I smiled and pepper kisses all over his torso. "I don't want to stop" I said mumbling between kisses against his chest. "I've been thinking about this for far too long to stop now Harrington" I said shifting so I was now knelt in front of him. He didn't notice until I wrapped my mouth around him. A hearty gasp leaving his lips as his head fell forward, his hands instantly going into my hair. I bobbed my head back and fourth swirling my tongue around the tip every so often causing the grip he had in my hair to tighten. "You thought about this?"

"Mhmm" I said still wrapped around him.

"Get up" He ordered tapping me on the shoulder. I pulled back from him, drool rolling down my chin. He pulled me back up kissing me until my back hit the wall of the other side of the shower. "Leg up" He said grabbing my thigh, instructing me to put my foot on the edge of the tub. He turned around, reaching up and pulled down the detachable shower head, changing the setting to something a little stronger. A setting I had used many times before. He stood close to me, as close as he could without ripping the shower head off of the wall, and slowly raised the water up and against my leg until the water rippled against my clit. I jerked back, my ass hitting off the wall and I leaned forward holding onto his bicep. "Holy fuck St-Steve" I said leaning my head against his chest. "If I cum like this, it'll be too much to have sex" I said quickly, finally feeling my orgasm slowly grow.

"No sex, I just want to make you cum" he said shifting beginning to shake the shower head side to side so the water rolled back and forth lightly against my clit.

"No, I want you to fuuuuu-uck. Fuck! Please fuck me Steve" I whimpered my legs beginning to shake. Putting the shower head back in it's place he turned back to me "Don't have to tell me twice"

I clenched my thighs together tightly catching my breath in the brief moment of relief until he slid his hand in between my legs rubbing my clit a few times more. I whined, my mouth falling slack when he added a finger into me curling it upwards. "Please" I begged. "Please, I need you to fuck me, please" He continued to curl his finger into me harshly before abruptly removing it, sticking the finger into his mouth, cleaning myself off of him with his tongue. I reached a hand towards him and whispered "Please" one more time while batting my eyelashes. "I could get used to you begging" He hummed, while bringing me into him, turning me around and trailing kisses down the back of my neck and to my shoulder.

"Steveeee" I breathed and pushed my ass into his dick. He smacked it lightly and I squealed, laughing a little.

"You poor sweet thing" he said opening my legs and positioning himself behind me. I bent over as best as I could and held onto the wall. Swiping the tip of his dick against me, my eyes rolled back and I moaned loudly. "So desperate" his chuckled halted as he slowly inched his tip into me. A small cry left my mouth.

"You okay?" He breathed.

"Never been better" I huffed. "Keep going" I instructed. "I'm okay, it feels good" I reassured him, reaching behind me to pat his hand that held onto my hip.

He nodded furrowing his brows as he slipped the rest of him into me. My knees locking together, pleasure filling my stomach.

"Fucking hell (Y/N)"

My name sounded like honey coming out of his mouth like that. Slowly he began thrusting into me, picking up speed only after reaching down between my legs rubbing light circles. "You feel so good pretty girl" He cooed into my neck, just below my ear. I continued to whine and moan, writhing against him, pushing my ass back into each thrust. He smacked my ass again, my orgasm building more. "Keep fucking yourself on me like that"

And I did. I rocked back and forth attempting to keep my balance as sturdy as I could with the floor being slick with water and the edge of my orgasm trying to burst. I slowed down, unable to keep fucking myself on him with the fast heavy circles he made on my clit. My stomach began to tighten and my breath quickened. "I'm going to cum, don't stop, please don't stop, oh my god, just like that, yes, fuck" I leaned up slightly and he pulled me into him, my arched back against his chest as he continued rubbing. "Cum for me, cum on my cock"

My legs began to tremble and head rolled back as I loudly rode out my orgasm with the most ungodly moans and whimpers. He started to fuck me again holding almost all of my weight. "Cum in my mouth" I slurred, still in the euphoria of my orgasm. Pulling away from him I got back onto my knees in front of him opening my mouth and sticking my tongue out. "Fuck you're so goddamn pretty" He said leaning down to kiss me briefly, jerking himself. The tip of his cock rested on the flat of my tongue as his cum shot out into my mouth. A loud groan leaving his lips in the process. Giving the tip a gently lick up the back I brought his cum to the back of my mouth and swallowed and smiled back up at him.

"Come here beautiful" he said reaching his hands out to me so he could help me stand. I wobbled slightly. Wiping whatever cum was left off of my face with his thumb he kissed me. Slow and gently, just like the first one. "Lets get washed up, and then go watch a movie or something yeah?"

I smiled lazily blinking slowly. "God you're already so fucked out of your mind for me" he laughed.

"What can I say, you did a good job"

He kissed me on the nose before reaching over to grab a loofa and lather it with soap.

We gave ourselves a proper shower, stealing kisses from one another often. When we got out, Steve instructed I stayed in my room until he told me I could come out. I got dressed in a baggy shirt, and some boy short underwear keeping minimal clothing on as the house was still very hot. I heard lots of groaning and shuffling outside of my door. "Are you okay?" I yelled.

"I'm fine!" He huffed.

Another ten minutes later, I was almost falling asleep at my desk when Steve knocked and opened the door. "You can come downstairs now" A large smile spread across his face.

Following him down the stair and into the living room, he stopped motioning his hands towards the floor while saying "Ta-da!"

he had set it all up for a movie night. His mattress laying in the middle, with every pillow in the house, and a couple of thin blankets. Two fans blew cool air towards the bed, and my small stuffed fox and childhood blanket were tucked into one side of the 'bed'. Different snacks were placed onto the coffee table and a few different movies were stacked on top of each other on the floor in front of the TV. Smiling I hopped down onto the bed, cuddling my fox and blanket to my chest, sighing softly into the pillows. Steve came and joined me under the blankets pulling me into him. "I couldn't leave your little buddies all alone in your bed" He said poking the small fox on the head and I stifled a giggle. He kissed the top of my forehead and attempted to pull me closer to him.

It didn't take long for both of us to fall asleep. The sounds of the oscillating fans humming lulled us to sleep quickly before we could even discuss which movie we wanted to watch.

#Stranger things #stranger things 4 #Steve Harrington #Steve #Harrington #AU #Steve Harrington au #Stevexreader #Steve Harrington smut #stranger things smut #Steve Harrington imagine #Steve Harrington blurb #Eddie Munson #Eddie #Munson

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ashes-writing · 2 years

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wanna be yours pt I | mcu ; p. maximoff

A/N: There will be a few parts to this and I will post them sporadically whenever the mood strikes -kind of in the same vein as my eddiexreader, stevexreader, jonathanxreader from stranger things, and this is also a reader fic BUT... reader/you is the daughter of Tony Stark and an unknown/deceased mother. Look, I had to do it, alright? This was begging to be done. Even if I'm the only one who reads this, it's out there and I had fun.

That said, the more people bother me for continuations to any of the reader x character things I've written lately, the more likely I am to post follow up stuff so... I guess what i'm saying is if you think you wanna see more of this, by all means, scream at me about it pls.

Pairing ; Pietro Maximoff x Stark!reader

Timeline ; we're scrapping the fact that Pietro died, okay? Also, we're scrapping Tony's death too. I'm pretty sure this takes place somewhere after Age of Ultron and the other movies and Pietro/Wanda are Avengers. So, this is kind of an au written in it's own damn timeline that probably makes zero sense but I like it.

Warnings ; for the time being, nothing. Just a lotta father/daughter fluff, mentions of a breakup, Pietro being a hothead and being very very... seductive without saying a word and that's it. As this one goes up in parts, it'll likely have other more important warnings tacked to it.

Other Stuff ; tag list doc || rules + fandoms and some of the characters I write for || requests ; open.. pls pls pls... any fandom/character but wrestling and any headcanon / filth alphabet letters / fluff alphabet letters you have. Anything goes as long as it fits within the above perimeters but no pro wrestling because I'm not writing for it right now. anything else would be greatly greatly appreciated. pls.

Tag List ; @beardedbarba is the only person on my actual tag list for MCU. However... I wanna tag @readingandwritingandreading because I just feel like they'll get a kick out of this as it goes on. If you don't wanna be tagged bb, please feel free to ignore.

Lastly, I do not consent to have my work reposted here. I also do not consent to having it reworded/reworked/copied and reposted anywhere else.

After keying in your specific keycode to the compound, you waited -humming along to the radio as you watched for the wrought iron gates to swing open. When they finally did, you parked the red second hand Porsche that belonged to your father next to his muscle car of choice for the week.

“Friday.” you hold your wrist up to your mouth to dictate a text to send to the old man. “Yes?”

“Tell my father Tiny Dancer is incoming. So I won't catch him in a meeting or something.” you lowered your wrist and reached into the passenger seat to grab the grease-stained bag and the tray containing two large chocolate milkshakes.

This has been a tradition since you were old enough to sit in your father’s lap when he’d ride you around the block at your old place in Upper Manhattan. The tradition didn’t just end because you were a college girl now and when you spoke to your father the night before you could tell that something was bothering him. Something was stressing the normally calm and laid-back Tony Stark out and as his daughter, as the one person who’d always tried to take care of him -despite his insistence that it should always only be the other way around instead, you were making it your mission to stop by. Check in and hopefully, take his mind off of whatever had him all stressed out with nobody to choke.

Almost as soon as you got halfway across the parking lot of the compound, the storm that had been holding off all through the drive up let loose and you were soaked to the bone in literal seconds. The rain was cold. Wet as it soaked through your thin Rob Zombie concert tee and you could feel the little makeup you happened to be wearing as it ran down your face. The doors leading into the compound’s lobby slid open with a quiet hiss and the blast of cold air from above had you hugging yourself as you stopped in the middle of the drab, military grade concrete room to get your bearings.

Pepper caught sight of you and hurried over, grinning. Laughing softly at your drenched state which had you sticking out your tongue and laughing right back. “How hard is the old man workin himself?” you question before she can even ask you about college or your new roommate or the boy you were dating but have since broken up with.

She frowns. “They’ve been chasing this answer for months. Even with Bruce’s help he’s no closer to a solution.” You cringe at her answer and take a deep breath. “Do you think he’d be talked into taking a break? Just a little one, I uh…” you held up the tray with the two milkshakes and the iced coffee you’d gotten for Pepper as a little treat. “I kind of missed family dinner because stupid rehearsals last weekend and I wanted to make up for it.”

“Are you sure it was just rehearsals? Or did this happen to have anything to do with a certain little jerk that your father and I don’t happen to like?”

“Oh, the little jerk isn’t going to be a problem anymore. I dumped him on Monday. Yeah, apparently he was sleeping with one of the girls in the chorus line, that’s probably the only reason he bothered coming to watch my rehearsals all the time.” you sigh and shrug because there’s not much else to say about the end of your most recent relationship.

Nothing that your father would want to hear because for as long as you or him can remember, since the night your mother went into labor and passed just minutes after safely giving birth to you, it’s been you and your father against the world.

And Tony Stark is nothing if not fiercely overprotective. Especially since his near death experience in the Middle East.

So he tends to turn into a big ol’ baby when you even hint that you might be interested in somebody. And he hasn’t liked any of the guys you’ve dated since at least junior high, give or take a very small and select handful.

Pepper winced and slipped an arm around you. “Hey.. It’s his loss.”

“I know.” you sigh and take another deep breath as you hold out her iced coffee to her and she takes it, taking a sip, “It’s just the usual. Disappointment because so far, any guy I happen to show just a sliver of interest in is either a huge dog, an asshole pretending to be a nice guy or they’re rushing to check off some stupid mental checklist.”

“Maybe you just need a break. Stop looking. Take down the Tinder profile, stop letting your friends set you up with these idiots.” Pepper advised, giving you a soft smile. “Just focus on yourself and sooner or later, the rest will happen.”

You can only nod. Give her a smile because you know she cares about you as much as she cares about your father and she’s only trying to help. And her advice does make a lot of sense. If you stopped looking for the fairytale, for the prince charming or the rare knight in shining armor that doesn’t seem to exist anymore, you’d probably get a lot further in Nursing and maybe you could even open more doors for yourself with your dancing.

Without your stupid side quest for a dream guy who probably doesn’t exist, you could definitely focus more on your upcoming Fall Solo for the dance troupe you managed to get into and attend two days out of the week. They’re not a big deal, they’re local to the area your college campus happens to be located, but… At one of the last Solo shows, there were some pretty big names from Broadway in the crowd.

“Yes ma’am. Yeah… I think I’ll do that.” you smile at Pepper again just as Rhodey makes his way over. He’s all grins and hugs but he does pout when you tell him you didn’t bring food in for him. You laugh soft as you pull away from the man’s bear-like embrace and look up at him. “Has he thrown any chairs out of the lab yet, Uncle Rhodey?”

Rhodey chuckles and shakes his head no. “Banner almost hulked from sheer frustration earlier, damn near caused an incident.”

“Oh no!” your eyes widen and you laugh softly. Somehow, it never fails to make you laugh, picturing your father’s new close friend Bruce -a very quiet and very mild mannered, meek man, getting angry and turning into his alter, Hulk.

Your father tells you some things about his work with the Avengers and the US government. But he won’t tell you everything and as far as the world outside of the team, Pepper, Colson, Fury, Hill and your uncle Rhodey know, you’re not connected to Tony Stark at all.

It’s something that bothered you for quite a while until you realized your father was doing it solely for your sake. To keep you out of danger and the spotlight.

“And there comes the old man now, lil ballerina.” Rhodey nods in your approaching father’s direction and your entire face lights up in a grin as you race towards Tony Stark. He picks you up and spins you around and then he’s solemn. Thick brows knit in concern. “It’s not the weekend, little bit.”

You shrug and shuffle your trusty black leather boots against the speckled concrete flooring of the lobby. “Yeah, well… You sounded like you were verging into code red, old man. So here I am.”

Tony grinned, reaching out to fluff at your hair. You pout up at him a little and Pepper makes her way over to the two of you, holding out the milkshake to him. “Take a break, Tony. She came all this way.”

He chuckled and nodded. Then he turned his attention to you, searching your face with eyes filled full of concern. “Everything okay, little bit?”

“Yeah. It’s just what I said. You sounded and looked stressed out when we had our video call last night.”

His eyes settle on the grease stained bag and he grabs for it, making Pepper laugh as he unwraps the all american cheeseburger you’d gotten for him and nearly inhales it.

You and Pepper share a look.

Commotion from a set of massive and heavy looking double doors nearby has you glancing in that direction and when your gaze settles on the muscular platinum blond you seem to keep bumping into at the gym lately, you try not to stare. You look away and you’re smart enough to do it quick. The blond is being dragged one way by Bucky Barnes and the other guy, a trainee you recognized as security detail from your father’s New Years Eve party, he’s being dragged the opposite direction by Sam Wilson.

Neither Sam nor Bucky look particularly thrilled to be wrangling the hot-headed younger men and the younger men are still shouting, mostly obscenities with the platinum haired male almost feral with rage as he lapses into another language entirely.

Tony chuckles. “Eyes over here, little bit.” and he shakes his head. “It’s the fourth time today those two have tied up. Wilson says it’s over some girl they’re both into. Bucky’s solution was to let ‘em go in and spar a few rounds. Only now we can’t get ‘em to knock it off.”

You laugh softly. And despite knowing now that the platinum haired male is probably worlds away from in your league, there’s just something about him that makes you keep staring. Intently. Not as intently as you were the past few times you found yourself sneaking down to watch him box down at the quiet little gym you both go to, but intently.

,, Your father literally just said the man has a girlfriend… Or a girl he’s interested in.” your mind taunts and this prompts you to focus less on the confrontation in the background and more on what you originally came to the compound to do in the first place. You follow your father and Pepper into your father’s massive private office and you flop down into one of the big leather rolling chairs and promptly recline your feet on the desk as you dig into your own food. Pepper grabs her usual grilled chicken salad and applies her dressing to it and digs in also, the three of you eating in mostly silence.

“So that kid.. Dylan.”

“Hm?” you question.

“Did you ask if he wanted to come out this weekend?” your father asks. You can tell he’d really rather not deal with your former boyfriend. You laugh softly. “Nope. And I’m not going to, either.”

“Why not?”

“We broke up. I don’t move fast enough for him or something. Either way, he was sleeping with Marina, that chorus girl.”

Tony winced. Gazed at you in concern. “Are you alright? Do you wanna talk? Hug it out? Go somewhere and smash something together?” and his choices to help you get over the little bit of hurt you do feel make you laugh softly and shake your head. You take a sip of the thick milkshake through your straw, blowing noisy bubbles. You shrug as if it’s nothing because if you really stop and think about it, it kind of is.

You have standards. You weren’t feeling the connection required to even consider giving yourself to your former boyfriend.

“I think I’ll be okay. I can just focus on the nursing program and dance now. I mean..” you pause to take a bite of your own burger, grimacing when tomato drips down and onto your shirt just above the red lettering, “The fall solo is coming up. This just means I can work harder.”

Your father nods. Then gazes at you with a gentle look of concern. “Just not too hard, kid. You started dancing because you love it. It starts to feel like work, you won’t anymore.” he says it in a gently firm tone and you nod, quick to reassure him that you’d never do that to yourself.

You can feel him relaxing the longer you stay but you also know that you need to get back into the city and it’s a good two hours drive. Your father’s never particularly liked you driving at night and honestly, you’ve never cared for it either.

As you hug him goodbye, you catch a glimpse of platinum hair and dark gray under armour as the platinum male speeds around a corner down the hallway, disappearing through a door and into a room. You want to roll your eyes at yourself.

He’s a fucking Avenger. So not only is he off limits for other reasons but if your father even thought something was going on between you two... oh my god.. And you’re just the typical garden-variety college girl. Sure, you’re Tony Stark’s daughter, but your father’s always been more of a normal, down to earth -and slightly eccentric, guy who just happens to have gotten lucky and made his way in the world.

You’ve always just seen him as Dad and yourself as a normal girl.

You convince yourself again that finding out the platinum blond male you’ve been eyeing at the gym for weeks now is definitely out of your league and you make yourself focus on saying goodbye to your father and Pepper. And you walk out of the compound into the fading sunlight.

As your hand reaches for the handle to the red sports car you drive, you catch sight of him lurking behind you in the reflection of your driver side window. You turn abruptly and this puts you molded tight against firm muscles and you have to try really hard to bite back any number of unholy noises threatening to fall from your lips as a large and rough hand settles palm down against the curve of your hip and his fingers dig against the thin fabric of your favorite shirt while he takes several long and deep breaths. He’s got icewater eyes locked on you, his gaze lingering heavily on your lips. You gulp because suddenly the air is thick and it’s hot; heavy enough you’re almost choking.

Some hair falls into your face and his other hand raises, catching softly against the side of your face as he pushes the fallen strands back behind your ear. His hips dig against your lower body.

He still hasn’t said a single word. But there’s something so territorial and yet so soft ; slow and gentle and yet somehow, slow doesn’t seem to fit him at all, about the touching, the look in his eyes. You swallow hard again and he bites his lip as he stares at your mouth.

You can feel the way he’s straining against dark gray sweatpants and before you can stop it, a whimper does fall from your mouth. The whimper makes him smirk ever so slightly.

And then, without a single word from either of you, he’s gone, leaving behind only a literal dust trail and the ghost of his scent to linger in the air just a little.

You lean back against the car and take several deep breaths.

“But of fucking course I want the one guy I know I can’t have. What happened to giving up on the fairytale?” you laugh aloud at yourself as you mumble the words in fading light, “Because that was… Not doing it.” you tug at your shirt and use it to fan yourself because your body feels hot all over. Especially the places his hands were against your skin or on you at all.

“Jesus christ.” you mutter as you finally calm down enough to unlock your sports car and get into it. As you drive away, all you can do is replay the whole thing in your mind.

And wonder why it felt like the little impromptu appearance he made while you were in the parking lot was him, staking his claim.

#pietro maximoff #pietro maximoff fanfiction #pietro maximoff fanfic #pietro maximoff x stark!reader fanfiction #pietro maximoff x stark!fem reader fanfiction #pietro maximoff miniseries

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hotchfiles · 4 months

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the amount of stevexreaders ive read without watching one single second of stranger things--ijust

HES HOT AND TAKES CARE OF HIS FRIENDS WHO ARE LITTLE KIDS OK THATS ENOUGHhhh

#lari talks a lot

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rightbrainboredom · 5 months

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New Chapter Posted

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taylorgrace-writes · 2 years

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Study Time

Pairings: Steve x Reader

Warnings: None

Word Count: 564

You’re probably sitting at a small desk in your bedroom, studying your textbook, preparing for some big test.

Let’s assume you suddenly hear a dull tapping and turn to find Steve outside your bedroom window.

You stare at him in shock before trying to wave him away but he just knocks again, more urgently so you hurry over and open the window.

“What’re you doing? I told you I have to stay in tonight.” You whisper to him. “I know, so we’ll study here.” “No, I told you, absolutely not, go away!” “I don’t want you failing tomorrow,” Steve tells you before climbing in through the window anyway.

Or at least he tries to.

His foot catches on the window frame and he stumbles through, nearly toppling over a bedside lamp. He catches himself, turning back to you and striking a dramatic pose.

“What’d I tell ya? A ninja.” You shake your head at him. Unbelievable.

You and Steve sit down on your bed a few feet apart. Steve reads off of your homemade flashcards as you answer them.

“Which polymers occur naturally?” Steve asks you. “Starch and cellulose.” Steve nods in agreement before switching to the next card. “In a molecule of CH4, the hydrogen atoms are spatially oriented toward the centers of a regular…” he trails off, waiting for your reply. “Tetrahedron.” He switches to the next card.

“Jesus, how many of these did you make?” Steve asks, slightly annoyed by how many cards there are. “You said you wanted to help!” You protest.

“How about this, every time you get something right, I have to take off an item of clothing. Every time you get something wrong…” “Uh, pass.” “Come on, it’ll be fun.” Steve wines. “No!” Steve rolls his eyes before moving on to the next card.

“During fractional distillation, hydrocarbons are separated according to their…” “Melting points.” “Wrong, boiling points.” “That’s what I meant.” “But it’s not what you said. Take your shirt off!” “No. No!” You tell him, eyes wide. “No? You need help?” Steve asks with a smile before pushing you down onto the bed and kissing you.

Soon the two of you are going at it, hot and heavy. After a moment of making out, Steve starts to unbutton your top but before he can, you stop him.

“Steve, come on.” “What?” “Are you crazy? My parents are here.” “Weird. I don’t see them.” Steve remarks, looking around your room.

“Was this your plan all along?” you ask Steve, sliding out from under him. “Get me in my room then get another notch in your belt?” “What? No! Jesus, no.” “I’m not like Laurie or Amy or Becky.” “Yeah, I know Y/N, your not a slut.” “That’s not what I’m saying.” “You’re cute when you lie,” Steve tells you, smiling. “Shut up.” You say, smiling.

Steve smiles at you before walking around your room and picking up a doll, making it shakes its head in disapproval, before speaking in a high squeaky voice. “Bad Steve, bad, stay away from Miss Y/N!” You can’t help but laugh at his behavior.

“You’re an idiot Steve Harrington.” “And you’re beautiful Y/N Y/L/N.”

You blush before Steve reaches over to once again pick up the flash cards. He clears his throat before asking you another question.

“Compared to the rate of inorganic reactions, the rate of organic reactions generally is…”

#stevexreader #stevefanfic #fluff #joekeeryxreader #joekeeryfanfic #strangerthings #steve #joekeery #flufffanfic #fanfiction #stevefluff #joekeeryfluff #joefluff #strangerthingsfanfic #strangerthingsxreader #strangerthingsfluff

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andvys · 5 months

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We should stop reading because… what do you mean with there will be more eddiexreader (please let it be platonic) or because stevexreader? Sounds like nobody is safe, regardless thank you for letting us know that we should stop reading cause won’t have a happy ending 😩

i mean there will still be a happy ending for reader and one of them 🫢

#andy’s asks

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chelseeebe · 8 months

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do you think i have forgotten (about you)

a part two to come pick me up.

summary: eddie finds himself out of jail and right back on your doorstep. running from his past while trying desperately to fix the mess he had left you in only leads to complicated situations.

a/n: so this is actually not what i had expected to post lmfao but similar to part one i reread this in my drafts and literally fell in love.. like it needed to be posted.

18+. smut, smoking, drug and alcohol use. mentions of jail and creepy therapists. angst.. sweet sweet angst. as before, this is stevexreader however this part is way more about eddie and r.

you can’t lie. the last few months had been pretty tough, on both you and steve. through no fault of his own though.

you were just.. unwell. perhaps you always had been and the process of seeing someone you regarded as your best friend beat the shit out of someone and subsequently be jailed for it had brought all those feelings up.

‎♡‧₊˚

not to mention the emotional toll of him dipping in and out of your life and the countless other reckless shit he’d pulled you into before.

currently things were stable, yours and steve’s relationship was good, you were going to work and succeeding in being mostly sober. a little help from a short stay in a psychiatric ward and some nice new pills had you feeling semi-okay again.

it had started not long after eddie was sentenced, you’d sat in the docks of the courtroom and watched the judge bang the gavel down as he was sentenced to twenty four months. it stung knowing that he’d gotten himself in this position because you’d dared to kiss your boyfriend in front of him.

nevertheless, a few short weeks after the horrid court date you’d suffered a complete breakdown at a party. throwing anything you could get your hands on, sobbing hysterically as steve tried his best to calm you. right in front of everybody, their gawping eyes prying as you were escorted out by the police who had then issued a caution and had recommended to the judge that you needed some sort of mental health intervention.

at the time it was humiliating. the worst part being that it felt like everyone around you was walking on eggshells, trying to coddle you and tell you that it was all okay. you’d known it wasn’t. maybe it could be, but for right then, no.

coming back into the apartment and the real world had been quite frankly, awful. missing the safety of the ward, you couldn’t hurt anyone in there.

steve had been your saviour through it all. making sure he was there for every visit with a great big smile on his. he was gentle, giving you your meds, making sure you were eating and he’d even found you a job, helping you apply, christ he’d even ran through a mock interview with you, putting on a deep voice and asking you silly questions.

and do you know what?

eventually things got back to some sense of normality. braving your first gathering, trembling as you walked through the door, terrified that everyone would hate you only to find that all anyone had really cared about was making sure you were well again.

and that lands us here, finally finishing a dragging shift and traipsing home to collapse into bed to wait for steve to get home.

except, nearing the front door you notice it’s cracked open slightly. the door handle looks busted and you’re ninety percent sure that either someone was currently in your apartment or had been in and ransacked it.

you push the door open with one finger, it freaks loudly as it opens slowly, startling the intruder who curses and drops whatever they were holding.

‘you have five seconds to get the fuck out,’ you warn, creeping from behind the door frame nervously.

there’s a figure stood in the middle of the room, back turned to you who very slowly puts his hands in the air, surrendering.

he turns to face you, a shit-eating grin on his face and you finally recognise the cocky face staring back at you.

‘eddie?!’

he breathes a sigh of relief, ‘holy shit i was startin’ to think you’d moved out and i’d just broken into some strangers apartment,’ cackling as his arms outstretch to hug you.

‘what the fuck- what are you doing here? you’re supposed to be in jail!’ in utter disbelief that he was stood before you, debating whether pinching yourself would wake you up from this strange dream.

‘i got out! duh,’ he grins, making his way towards you, arms still outstretched.

‘you.. you got out? what? you’re not supposed to be out for like another year.. i don’t- i’m not understanding,’ carefully wrapping your arms around his shoulders as he pulls you into a hug.

he felt stronger, sturdy as his arms wrap around your waist. the hug lasts for what feels like an eternity until you back to properly examine his face and to once again check that you weren’t hallucinating.

‘i can’t believe you’re actually here.. how are you? i’m sorry i’ve been.. busy,’ trying to recover over the last few months had meant that you’d sorta neglected eddie, his last letter still in the clutter on your desk somewhere.. unanswered.

unfortunately for him, you’d had a few more important things to focus on. like trying not to break down and keep your relationship with steve afloat.

‘i’m good, i’m always good.. what’ve you been up to? i missed your letters,’ it was a simple statement but you’d never truly comprehend just how much receiving anything from you had meant to him, how much it kept him going.

you let go of him fully, motioning for him to take a seat, ‘it’s a super long story..’ sighing as you jam the bursted door shut, steve would have to look at it on his day off.

‘well it’s a good thing i’ve got time,’ collapsing into the cushions, making himself right at home.

you and eddie are sat on the couch smoking when the key turns in the door and steve walks in, looking just as exhausted as he did when he left this morning. the tiny shadow of a smile that was on his face is dropped the second he see’s eddie, replaced with a state of pure confusion.

‘what the fuck?’ he exclaims, dropping his bag onto the floor as eddie clambers off of the sofa to greet him.

steve’s face is a picture, eyebrows knitted together as eddie’s hand claps his back, ‘you’re supposed to be in prison?’

eddie pulls back, holding onto steves shoulder’s, ‘and you’re supposed to be happy to see me,’ faux-offended by steve’s confused stature.

‘no.. i am, what? why are you out?’

eddie shrugs him off, coming back to the couch, ‘ehh it’s a long story.. come.. sit, how was work, big boy?’ taking the spliff from your outstretched hand to offer to steve.

steve plonks himself down next to you, placing your legs over his thighs instead of the couch, ‘yeah.. it was alright, i’m sorry- why the fuck are you in my living room and not in federal prison?’ taking the burning joint from eddie’s fingers.

‘i got out,’ eddie offers back, the exact same thing he’d said to you. you had come to the conclusion that his departure from jail had perhaps not been entirely legal but it was way easier to brush it off rather than trying to probe him.

steve narrows his eye’s, obviously also not buying his bullshit but decides instead to smoke whatever had been handed to him, humming as he exhales a thick cloud of smoke.

‘i said that he could stay here.. just for a few days, if that’s okay?’ you ask, looking up at your boyfriend with hopeful eyes.

he pauses, contemplating if harbouring a, presumed, escaped convict was really a great idea, ‘uhh.. yeah i’m sure a few days is fine..’ he didn’t sound so sure himself.

‘thanks man,’ eddie nods, eyeing the door to his old bedroom.

the thing is, when eddie was convicted, his uncle had come to collect most of his stuff, taking it back to hawkins in his van. you’d thought he’d be locked up for at least two years so sending his things back to hawkins was the smartest idea. that meant when you guys moved out, you weren’t left to deal with his mountains of crap.

you catch him looking, feeling a tad guilty that he’d come back to nothing, ‘the bed’s still in there but.. it’s mostly storage now,’ scrunching your nose as you grimace.

‘that’s alright.. anything’s better than prison,’ he jokes, offering a saddened chuckle.

‘yeah.. exactly,’ not that you had much idea what prison was like, but from what eddie had told you, your living room floor would be an improvement.

the three of you spend a few hours right there on the couch, listening to eddie’s tales from jail, entangled with your stories of all the thing he’d missed. steve nudges you at some point, muttering something about bed which you agree with, rushing around to find eddie a spare blanket.

‘you’ll be okay in here?’ you ask, poised in the doorway.

‘yeah it’s great.. thank you,’ he smiles, sitting down on the edge of his old bed, peering around the now mostly empty room.

it felt a little suffocating if he was honest, the sheer amount of memories these blank four walls held. he swore he could hear echoes of your laugh from the times before, remembering the nights where you’d stumble back here and subsequently pass out in a heap on his bed. he shakes his head slightly, ridding himself of the thought before it got too deep.

‘okay, well.. goodnight,’ flashing him a tight-lipped smile before closing the door and making your way to your own room.

steve is stood facing the window, already stripped out of his clothes, ready for bed. he spins when he hears the door click shut, walking over to where you stood undressing with a grin, hands finding their place on your waist.

you hum at the feeling of his palms on your skin, ‘what’re you doing?’ shimmying out of your horrendous grey work trousers.

his lips softly press against the back of your neck and maybe it’s the weed or maybe it’s spite but he can’t help himself, fingers coming down to mess with the waistband of your panties. placing your hand over his to stop him from going any further.

‘we can’t,’ you hush, acutely aware that eddie was just a few doors down and would most certainly hear.

‘we can.. you’ll just have to be quiet,’ murmuring against the back of your neck, your hand doing absolutely nothing to really try and stop him. ‘can you do that for me?’

he travels further down, past the flimsy waistband, feeling his smirk widen against your skin as you sigh softly, sliding your hand onto his forearm, using it for leverage while his middle finger begins to circle your already sensitive clit.

your sex life hadn’t been what it was in the beginning, both of you busy with work and mental health crises that it was now more of a rarity to find the time. it’s not really lost on you as to why steve is so eager for it tonight but you couldn’t help but to feel at least a little turned on by this sudden bout of possessiveness.

your eyes flutter closed as he adds another finger to the equation, letting your body lean back against his bare chest, ‘my god,’ you moan softly, leaving crescent moon shapes indented in his skin.

‘hmm? is that good, baby?’ his plump, pink lips pressing gentle kisses to you neck and shoulders, teeth grazing the agile skin. he’s unforgiving and really not trying to be quiet at all.

it was definitely spite.

you can feel his erect cock against your ass, unknowingly writhing around, brushing up against him. his fingers hastily leave the safety of your now sodden underwear, manoeuvring your body to face him.

‘you’re such an asshole,’ you hush, gripping onto his arms for balance, walked backwards towards the bed.

a menacing smirk plastered on his face as he falls on top of you, knowing full well that eddie could definitely hear your soft pants and the way your lips echoed his name. stevestevesteve.

his fingers are brushing the hair from your face, making sure you were looking at him. it’s disgusting how attractive you find this. steve wasn’t usually one for such outward jealousy but you couldn’t say you hated it. legs wrapping around his torso after he had slipped your underwear off.

you don’t even attempt to conceal the whimper that ripples through your throat when he slides into your cunt. gripping onto his shoulders as the bed begins to creak, headboard knocking into the dry wall, unapologetic with his movements.

completely unashamed.

you’re eternally grateful that eddie doesn’t mention anything the next morning though he avoids steve’s eye and keeps his head low until he leaves for work. breathing an almost undetected sigh of relief when the door clicks shut.

the pair of spend most of the day lounging on the couch in front of the television, watching the overdue videos steve had neglected to return. the darkness eventually creeps up on you. the moon shining through the windows.

‘c’mon.. let’s go out,’ eddie nudges your knee with his, a devilish grin plastered across his face. he’d been bored shitless all day, as much as he enjoyed the mundane with you.. he wanted to go out. feel that rush through his veins as you got into something you shouldn’t.

‘i shouldn’t.. i’ve been doing good lately, it’s.. i can’t,’ sinking further into the sofa. you wanted to go out, really. but you and eddie going out alone together was a recipe for disaster.

‘and that’s why you deserve a treat.. c’mon, i know you want to,’ egging you on, now poking your knee with his finger, his other hand gripping onto the warm beer can.

you ponder for a second, pursing your lips as you weigh up the pros and cons. you don’t have to get wasted.. you could go out with eddie and be back before steve got home from work. yeah. you could do that.

‘where?’

eddie’s smile widens, he’d anticipate a hell of a lot more nagging and pleading than this, ‘fucking.. anywhere, the night is young and so are we.’

‘okay.. but, we’re having a normal night.. nothing crazy and i wanna be back here before steve is, got it?’ raising your eyebrows as you down the last sliver of wine.

‘absolutely.. whatever you want,’ eddie chuckles, slapping his knees as he stands from the couch, ‘c’mon.. get dressed.’

you stare up at him for a moment before getting up from the couch and slinking into yours and steve’s room. he wouldn’t be happy about this but if you were home and in bed before he was, he wouldn’t have much to complain about and if he did, he’d get over it.

and hey, maybe you could prove to him that you were okay now. that you were ready and able to handle things on your own.

everyone goes absolutely crazy when eddie walks in, almost as if he’d been locked up for a year. there are a few unhappy murmurs, worried onlookers who had been there that night.

but he doesn’t seem to care, shaking hands and chatting to everyone that came up to him. people handing him cups of mystery liquor which eventually got passed onto you.

you’re perched next to him on the couch, drinking the vile tasting liquid without a second thought. the odd person still coming up to him in shock, asking all sorts about what life was like on the inside.

and he just laughs and tell them the same generic story about earning his way and how eventually people listened to him. you doubt much of it is actually true but let him continue nonetheless. what did you know about prison?

bedsides, you’d seen the scars that now littered his knuckles and forearms. how his muscles had grown and the way his nose now bent slightly to the left. he must’ve done something to earn them.

your head is pretty fuzzy the first time the plate full of mystery white powder is passed around. respectfully declining and mumbling about sticking to drink.

but by the second time it comes your way, you’re glancing down at the porcelain with eager eyes. one tiny line couldn’t hurt, right? you still had plenty of time to sober up and get home before steve.

so you pick up the rolled up note, eddie’s eyes watching like a hawk, ‘hey.. you sure?’ his own jaw clenching from his previous line.

‘it’s fine,’ you nod reassuringly, holding one nostril and sniffing the pre-cut line, sniffing harshly. you’d forgotten how much it stung, making your eyes water as you pass the plate onwards.

you sit back into the couch, watching as the conversation roars around you. waiting for that sweet, sweet feeling when it finally hit.

and oh boy, does it.

one second you’re sat on the couch and the next you’re pulling eddie up onto his feet, trying to make him dance along to the pounding music with you. it all sounded so good. your body warm and loose. heart pounding in your chest as the beat vibrates through your limbs.

you’re not sure how long you’re dancing for, keeping your eyes closed while other people start getting up to join you.

not even questioning the second line when it re-emerges. still slowly sipping on what was now a dark liquor, bitter in taste, burning your throat on the way down.

eddie’s hand gingerly touches your waist causing you to pull your eyes to him. he’s dancing too, clutching onto the beer bottle, pupils dilated as they cling to you. cling to your body. moving in time with his.

everything’s a little blurry but you keep your eyes steady on eddie, smiling as the music distorts in your ears. it sounded robotic and weird but still had you wiggling your hips in time with the odd beat.

his other hand meets your waist, more confidently this time, pulling your body towards his. you think nothing of it, focussed on moving in time to the music.

eddie’s hand moves up to cup your cheek, the party bleating on around you as he tips your chin up towards his. a soft smile on his face as your eyes meet his fully.

the next few seconds happen so quickly that you’re not even sure if it actually happened.

his lips crash against yours, pressing himself to your chest, hand clinging to your cheek. he’s desperate with it, hungry and insatiable.

the magic dust you’d just inhaled must have softened your inhibitions because you’re kissing him back. palm pressed against his chest, fingers curling into his t-shirt.

until you finally realise exactly what you’re doing.

pulling yourself away from him, stumbling backwards as you blink up at him. had you actually just kissed him? no, why the fuck had he kissed you?

‘what the fuck are you doing?’ you exclaim, mind still hazy under the influence of whatever narcotics they were passing around.

your stomach twists. steve was probably sat at home waiting for you to get back, worried sick about where you’d gone. all the while you’re kissing his best friend at a party he had no idea was happening. it makes your stomach twist, guilt coursing through your chest.

you back away from eddie, tripping over another party goers outstretched legs as you go. head pounding, hands tingling. everything surrounding you had become a massive blur of flashing lights and distorted faces.

‘fuck.. wait!’ eddie calls out from the living room but you’re already gone, pushing past the gaggle of people in the hallway as you fumble for the doorknob.

the cold air hitting you the second the door is open, you hadn’t brought a jacket. or had you? you can’t really remember.

there are people strewn across the front yard, watching as you stumble down the path, fumbling for your phone in you pocket. the letters all jumble into one as you click through searching for steve's contact. slamming the green button the second you recognise the slight curve of the s.

he answers on the first ring, ‘hello? where are you?’ you’d missed the tens of missed calls from his number.

‘i’m.. i don’t know,’ sobbing into the receiver as one of the onlookers from the party approaches you, ‘where are we?’

from what you can make out, it’s a young girl, she looks worried as she takes the phone from your hand and places it to her ear, telling steve whatever street you were on. her spare hand reaches out to rub your back, keeping you close to her body as steve fucking sprints from your apartment to the address.

eddie makes absolutely zero attempts to try and find you, assuming that you’d already run off home. fuck it, he was out now. might as well prolong the inevitable argument with steve for as long as possible.

when steve arrives, he’s practically frantic, taking you from the kind girl as he leads you off home. his arm keeping your body held upright as you wail the entire way home.

‘steve..’ you sniffle, being guided into the empty apartment, ‘we kissed- eddie kissed me.. i didn’t mean to, i promise,’ clinging onto his neck as you’re lead into your bedroom.

he’s weirdly silent, placing you gently onto the bed, taking off your shoes before sitting down on the edge of the mattress.

‘have you taken anything?’ he questions, choosing to ignore your confession, for his own sanity mostly.

you nod into the pillow, sprawled out on the mattress as the room spins around you. it’s dizzying, and not just the room spinning but the fact that steve was still so gentle even after your admission.

‘what? what d’you take?’

‘i don’t know.. coke i think.’

he nods, swallowing the growing fury in his throat, ‘i’ll get you some water, try and sleep yeah?’

he goes to get up but you’re already grabbing onto his forearm, keeping him firmly on the bed, ‘don’t go.. please,’ your voice hoarse from the party.

god, you thought. you sound utterly pitiful, ashamed that even after all he had done for you, you couldn’t hold your shit together on your own and were still relying on steve.

‘okay,’ he whispers, kicking his shoes off and swinging his legs over and onto the bed, sitting up on the pillows rather than joining you properly.

his arm snakes around your back, lifting your body ever so slightly to slide his arm under, pulling you onto his warm chest. stubbly chin coming to rest atop of your head.

you nestle your head into his cotton shirt, ‘i love you,’ head rising with every breath he took, closing your eyes and attempting to fall asleep despite the fact it felt like there was something stabbing into the side of your brain.

steve’s sat, deadpanned on the couch when eddie attempts to creep back in. startled by his presence in the darkened room. by this time, the birds had begun to chirp as the first rays of sunlight crept through the blinds.

‘shit man..’ eddie clutches his chest, ‘you scared me,’ he fumbles his way through the room, still pretty intoxicated, lips sore from chewing on them all night.

steve blinks, scrunching up his face as the other boy takes a seat next to him. eddie’s sure he knows. you had definitely told him. jesus christ, why wouldn’t you? he fucked up. again.

‘you can’t stay here anymore,’ steve states, stoic.

he wasn’t letting much on here. eddie almost wishes he’d just beat his ass and get it over with at least it’d be better than this creepy shit he had going on.

‘bro.. i’m sorry, i was fucked up.. i don’t know what the hell i was doing,’ he’s staring wide-eyed at steve who’s staring straight ahead, jaw tense, ‘shit, punch me if you want.. god knows i’d deserve it.’

‘i don’t care,’ steve presses his tongue to the back of his teeth, ‘you come back and you fuck everything up.. do you know how hard i’ve tried to help her.. all these meds and doctors appointments,’ steve’s shoulder’s slump, ‘fuck man, i even had to take her to this creepy ass therapist and try not to beat the shit out of him every time i dropped her off.. d’you know how hard that was?’ he sounds desperate now, dropping the weird, unsettling facade, turning to eddie with a genuine look of hurt upon his face.

eddie’s mouth opens to reply, but he has nothing to say. hasn’t a clue how to answer that because he didn’t know. yeah, you’d told him about it and how steve hadn’t left your side throughout it all but he had no idea that this was how steve had felt.

‘no,’ steve scoffs, ‘no you don’t know.. because you weren’t there,’ he sighs before continuing, ‘you didn’t have to watch the love of your life be dragged away because some judge had deemed her crazy. you weren’t there week in, week out in that hospital.. helpless.’

steve wouldn’t ever think of you as a burden but fuck, he needed to tell literally anyone the shit he had bottled up and eddie was now the (un)willing participant to catch the brunt of his frustration.

eddie swallows, staring out into the dark room, ‘i didn’t know.. i’m sorry,’ he’s scrambling now, trying to think of something, anything to say that could help, but he can’t. in steve’s eyes, he’s the one who continually seems to ruin shit for you. ruin you.

‘so no, i don’t want to hit you because you kissed my girlfriend but i do want to fucking kill you for coming in here and messing her up all over again,’ steve spits, his words like venom as they hit eddie square in the face.

any traces of intoxication had been pummelled from his body, head beginning to pound from the impending hangover, chest heavy under the weight of steve’s words.

his eyes squeeze shut. he was a fuck up and he knew it. he wasn’t sure why he’d even done it. you just looked so pretty and blissful and.. and you’d smiled at him the way you used to and he’d thought that maybe that had meant something. the few seconds that you’d kissed him back had felt like euphoria, for the first time in so long everything felt right again.

steve interrupts his train of self-pitying thought by standing from the couch, turning to walk away but pauses, ‘i’ll help you find somewhere tomorrow.. maybe nance n’ all will let you stay,’ and even through all of this steve couldn’t help but be kind to the man.

that’s what hit eddie the hardest, that even though he had hurt his best friend.. he was still stood in front of him throwing him a line and offering a sense of patience and understanding that eddie hadn’t felt in far too long.

he watches in silence as steve slinks off to your shared bedroom, head hanging low in utter shame. he’d never admit aloud, and especially not to steve, but the thought of you was the one thing getting him through his sentence.

the first few months were pretty rocky, having to prove himself time and time again, resulting in a multitude of different injuries but at the end of the day, he’d climb into his bunk and re-read the letters you’d sent. thumbing the pages until they were yellowed and worn. the mere thought of you still thinking about him was enough to make him get out of bed each morning.

he peers down at his scarred hands, tracing over the glistening white indentations. they all told their own individual story, the big one that ran across the large part of his hand was the worst after being slashed with a makeshift shiv during a fight. he was quite lucky really, his hand had taken the majority of the damage and had meant he wasn’t left to bleed out on the floor.

so he’d gotten stitches, kept his mouth shut and things had started to change. and yet still, every night he’d go to bed thinking of your face, telling himself that it wasn’t long to go.

you were his saving grace. the only thing that had stopped him slipping into darkness. he’d thought about it plenty, hurting himself or one of the douchebag inmates he shared the small space with. at least that way he’d get moved into solitary, maybe he’d even prove himself to the other guys.

you keep quiet when steve comes into your bedroom, unsure of whether to let him know you had practically heard their entire conversation. the mattress dips when he gets into bed, exhaling softly and making sure the blanket is covering both of you.

he sits in silence for a moment, you can feel his eyes burning into your face before he eventually settles in and lies back on the pillow.

‘are you mad at me?’ you squeak, gazing at him from tired eyes.

your voice startles him, so sure that you were still asleep but he answers quickly, ‘no, never,’ turning on his side to face you, inches from your face. it felt so intimate like this, vulnerable.

‘i heard what you said.. i’m sorry for..’ your bottom lip wobbles and you try hard to blink away the brimming tears, ‘for putting you through that.’

he’s immediately comforting you, placing a warm hand on your sodden cheek, ‘you’re okay.. it’s okay, you didn’t do anything,’ steve’s gut twisted, he hadn’t meant for you to hear any of it and the thought of you feeling guilty for eddie’s sake pricked at his heart.

you nod, not completely believing his words but for the sake of not causing a problem so early in the morning, deciding to just accept it. no matter how much it had been parroted to you, there was no accepting that none of this was your fault.

‘it’s just the way your brain is wired,’ dr. foster had said during one of your sessions, ‘but i’m here to make it all better,’ his eyes were narrowed, carefully watching you from his leather chair.

the memory alone makes you shudder, he’d been all for this authentic, organic approach.. hosting the sessions in his home and perhaps at times, becoming a little too familiar. his hand patting your knee as you spoke, asking creepy questions about your relationship with steve and overstepping a shit ton of boundaries. he had these icy blue eyes that lingered on yours for too long, there was something deeply unsettling about the way they narrowed when steve was mentioned. the utter anger they held when you brought up eddie. oh no, he really didn’t like eddie.

he’d been the one to suggest that you slow down with the letters to eddie, telling you that focusing on recovery was more important. it had worked in his favour anyway, the letters becoming the least of your concerns as you navigated recovery.

nonetheless, he didn’t last long. you were still in that mellow adjustment period, getting used to the meds when steve had informed you that dr. foster was no longer going to be your therapist. something about a conflict of schedules but you weren’t sure how true that really was.

it had been a few weeks since you’d last seen eddie, unsure of where he was or what trouble he’d gotten himself into. maybe even a minuscule part of you was hoping that he’d got himself arrested, at least that way you’d know he was safe inside and not wrecked in a ditch somewhere.

for the most part, you’d managed to put him to the back of your mind. it was only when things got quiet did you worry about him. deep down, you knew it was for the best. you couldn’t be around him without that niggling voice in the back of your head creeping back up. there was too much history there.

and steve had been so wonderful. you’re not sure you’d ever felt love like this. so transparent and pure, so void of expectations that he could see you at your worst and still be just as content to love you.

it all makes your heart ache, were you enough for steve even when you were like this? he had bore witness to the most horrific times of your life and yet, he’d be there everyday with a smile on his face and an open heart prepared for whatever that day may bring.

he’d taken the day off of work to purely spend it with you. granted, you’d only wanted to sit on the couch and watch a bunch of terrible movies with him but it was good enough. you’re not sure how long you’ve now been on this couch, but you knew it was late as the street lights glimmer that harsh orange through the blinds.

this film has you falling asleep, steve’s pick, obviously. you’d slid down the couch to rest your head on his lap, eyelids weighing heavy as sleep threatens to take over.

until you’re both startled by the incessant banging on the door, fist pummelling into the already brittle wood. your head snaps upward towards steve, pouting at the rude awakening. who on earth could find the need to pound the door at this time?

‘you expectin’ anyone?’ steve asks curiously, sliding your head from his thigh, very cautiously getting off of the couch to answer the door.

‘no? robin, maybe?’ unless robin had turned into a rabid zombie, you were sure it probably wasn’t her on the other side.

steve peers through the peep hole, seemingly taken aback but what or whoever he sees on the other side, ‘shit..’ cursing under his breath as he slides the chain from the door, opening it just slightly.

‘what?’ petrified by his reaction, sitting up on the couch to prepare for the impending insanity on the other side.

‘jesus man.. what are you doing here?’ he’s pushed aside as what looks like one eddie munson barges through the door, gasping for air and looking worse for wear.

he’s clutching his knees, doubled over as he tries to catch his breath, ‘i fucking.. ran the whole way here..’

if you’re being honest, he looks terrible. hair limp as it hangs around his face, clothes dirtied and you can’t see his face properly but you’re sure there’s a shiner of a bruise on his cheek.

‘what are you doing? what’s wrong?’ you fret, swinging your legs over the side of the couch as steve closes the door, bolting it up again in hopes that whatever eddie was running from was not following him.

he exhales before standing up straight, wiping the sweat from his forehead, ‘i need your help.. both of you,’ looking to steve who was stood with his hand on his hip, concerned about the inevitable mess eddie had just welcomed back into your lives.

‘why? where have you been?’

the last you’d heard from him, nancy had, very reluctantly, agreed to let him stay in their couch for a few days until he got himself sorted. but they’d woken up the next morning to find that he was no longer on said couch, not a trace of him left behind. he was completely unreachable, no phone, no idea where he had escaped off to and absolutely no one had seen or heard from him.

initially it had been a frenzy to try and find him until you collectively realised that he didn’t want to be found this time. and you had to mourn him all over again.

‘steve, d’you still know how to make fakes?’ completely ignoring your question, blinking at a puzzled steve.

your eyes flit to steve, unaware that he apparently had a history in counterfeit goods. perhaps a crucial bit of information he’d glossed over there.

‘not anymore.. what the fuck do you need that for?’

‘you know anyone that does? i’m desperate man.. i- i’ll pay,’ eddie pants, ‘name your price,’ chest heaving as he stands in the middle of your living room. he felt out of place here now, stuck out like a sore thumb.

steve ponders for a second, ‘uhh.. i dunno, maybe.. what’ve you done?’ sighing softly.

‘i need to leave the country.. i fucked up.. big time,’ eyes flitting to you with a certain sadness. even now, he didn’t want to disappoint you yet it seemed to be all he could do.

‘what’ve you done?’ you press, chewing on the inside of your cheek. mind running to the worst possibly conclusion. murder wasn’t out of the equation if you were honest.

eddie runs a dirtied, ringed hand over his face, ‘you know how i’m kinda s’posed to be in jail right now?’ it was already glaringly obvious that he hadn’t been released early.

‘yeah..’

‘well, i uh- i paid some guys off, they said they could get me out.. get me away from here,’ only now is he realising how fucking stupid that sounded.

‘eddie.. what?’ you exclaim, astonished by the sheer stupidity he constantly displayed. you’d thought that maybe he’d have learnt something from jail, that was the point of it, wasn’t it? learn from your mistakes and better yourself.

‘look, it doesn’t matter.. they’re asking for more money and i don’t have it,’ he says exasperated, ‘i need to disappear.. just for a little while, til they forget about it,’ eyes steady on you, as if to seek your approval.

you blink, where was he even planning to go? were you just never going to see him again?

‘i can’t get you outta the country but.. i might have a friend that can help,’ steve’s voice pipes up, tearing your eyes from eddie to look at him.

‘how?’ you exclaim, wondering what other things he had kept secret from you.

‘my friend’s out in california.. i think he’d put you up there,’ nodding at eddie, he probably didn’t deserve this kindness but steve couldn’t just leave him stranded. there was too much history to ever turn his back on his friend, even now, after everything, he was still holding his hand out for eddie.

‘that’d be.. fuck, that’d be.. good,’ eddie nods along, appreciative of anything you could do for him. turning to meet your gaze once more.

he knows this is it.

there wasn’t any coming back from this. no next time. it was california or it was death. and he sure as shit wasn’t a fan of the second option.

you think, deep down, that you know it too.

the likelihood of seeing him again is next to nothing. if he didn’t get himself killed, he’d certainly never be coming back here. this wasn’t for him, never had been really. well, maybe once upon a time when you looked at him without that sadness in your eye it had been.

when he thought back to it, he was sure the he knew you’d never loved him, he’d just been pretending for so long that his mind had played tricks on him, made him believe it. that’s why he’d lashed out that night, he’d convinced himself that you were in love with him. but you weren’t, and his heart had realised that fact quicker than his head had.

steve disappears into your bedroom in search of his phone, leaving you two alone in the living room. everything you want to say stays unsaid. heavy as it lingers between you. there’s not really much you can say in this moment that wouldn’t make things worse.

instead, you just nod.

as if to say that he could go. he could let you go.

eddie understands. but he’s not sure he ever will.

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