#background steddie

[loveinhawkins]

The birthday gift Robin gets from her parents is that they’re gonna help her fund a three month solo trip to Paris. Steve thinks she should be delivering this news with much more excitement than she currently is.

“Okay, but you’re going, right?” he says, as she bites her nails for the third time. When she doesn’t reply, he lifts his eyes to the heavens, despairing. “Oh my god, are you kidding? Robin, you’ve wanted this for—”

“Years,” she confirms, so quietly. “I want—” She swallows. “I want it so badly, Steve.”

He pauses, drops their usual teasing schtick. “Okay,” he says, a little softer. “What’s going on?”

“It’s just…” She moves her hand away from her mouth, tugs on a hangnail. “What if—what if something… happens. And I’m not…” She gestures vaguely. “Not here.”

Steve slings an arm over her shoulder. “Rob,” he says, “nothing’s gonna happen.”

Robin nods. “I know, I know.”

But then she sighs, and Steve understands: it’s one thing to know something objectively, another thing to feel the certainty in your bones.

He has a wave of gratitude for Robin’s parents, for them knowing that she needs this, for letting her have a year out, maybe even two, without judgement. It’s something they all need, really, in different ways: some time to let the weight of everything settle, to catch their breath.

Steve’s honestly been relishing the mundanity of it all, the comfort of routine—easy days where the biggest ‘disaster’ is him being late for their opening shift at Family Video.

“Keith’s keeping your job open for you, right?” Steve asks, just in case that’s a sticking point.

Robin nods again, laughing. “Yeah, mom arranged that all before she even booked the flights. Well, I think she just basically told him that—”

“So it’s gonna be a super long vacation.” Steve gives her knee a reassuring little shake, before tickling the back of it. “Jesus, Robin, if you don’t go, I’ll go for you.”

Robin snorts and wiggles out of his grip. “Shut up.”

“And I’ll speak French so badly that I’ll just get banned for life, like, right outta the gate, it’ll be tragic—”

“I’ve got the picture, dingus,” she says, and she’s smiling—finally, finally there’s a spark of excitement in her eyes.

And that excitement only grows as her flight date gets closer, as she calls Steve the week before, begging him to be the one to take her to the airport, because, “My dad took one look at my suitcase and burst into tears, please Steve, the man can’t do this.”

And then Steve’s pulling up to her driveway, and she’s already waiting for him, perched on her suitcase. She’s wearing a cobalt blue beret, and Steve loves her so much he thinks his heart might burst with it.

For a while, it’s all grins and laughter, Steve giggling every time he edges out of the driveway, and Robin’s mom stops him, frantically waving, asking if Robin’s got everything, did you pack that other coat, honey?

Then it feels like time rushes forward—they’re at the airport, and Steve gets out of the car to fetch Robin’s case from the trunk, but she’s already got it, is already standing in the parking lot, eyes wide.

“What’s gonna happen now?” she whispers.

Steve’s heart clenches; the last time she’d asked that had been as they sped to the hospital, Robin gripping his hand so tightly as Eddie lay unconscious.

Steve puts both hands on her shoulders. “You’re gonna have the best time,” he says, deadly serious, “and then you’re gonna come back and tell me all about it.”

She laughs, right on the edge of becoming tearful. “O-okay.” She blinks several times.

“Don’t,” Steve says, faux-warningly, “or you’ll set me off, too.”

And it’s only partly a joke.

“Okay,” Robin says again, and then she’s hugging Steve tight, pressing a damp kiss to his cheek. “I’ll miss you.”

“God, me too. Every day.” Steve rocks her back and forth, makes sure her beret doesn’t get dislodged with the force of the hug.

When they break apart, Robin picks up her case—she pauses, then grins.

“Now, if you’ll just point me in the right direction…”

Steve chuckles. He spins her around so she’s facing the airport, then pats her on the back.

She starts walking.

Steve stays right where he is; he knows she’ll look back right at the last second—ah, there she goes. He shakes his head, laughs. Waves.

He drives back alone.

When he gets home, he barely has time to even think about it, because the kids have biked over after school, clamouring for him to order pizza from the moment he opens the front door, and Eddie’s shrugging apologetically with a grin, and it’s only later that Steve realises that the whole thing was probably coordinated beforehand.

And he’s fine, really, he’s absolutely fine until he steps into the hall to use the phone, and he unthinkingly orders the pizza him and Robin usually share: one half with pepperoni, the other half with mushrooms.

And then he has to finish the rest of the phone call with a lump in his throat, and when he hangs up, Eddie is watching him with a sad kind of smile.

“Oh, sweetheart.”

“Don’t. Don’t be nice to me, goddamn it.” Steve shuts his eyes. “I was fine, I was fine.”

“Hey, it’s okay.” Eddie knocks their foreheads together gently. “I’ll miss her, too.”

And God, missing Robin does hurt, but it’s nothing compared to the joy Steve feels whenever he receives a letter from her. He laughs himself stupid the first time, because instead of just using sheets of paper, she’s sent multiple postcards wrapped in an elastic band, her handwriting all squished so she can fit everything in.

She writes like she talks, all rambling enthusiasm, and Steve cherishes every word.

He can tell she’s having so much fun. She enthuses about little cafés she’s found, a bookstore near Notre Dame; she spends multiple pages on art galleries, how she has the time to wander, to look at a painting again and again until the meaning reveals itself, it was like when I solved that ‘crossword’ in the mall, it suddenly just clicked, you know? I need you here next time, you’ll look at it from another angle, I wanna know what you think.

She sends Polaroids, too. There’s one of her in a white shirt with a trilby hat at a jaunty angle—Steve can tell she’s been in the sun, because there’s freckles all over the bridge of her nose. On the back of the photograph, she’s written Had a carefree kiss!

And Steve cries when he reads it, because he knows what it means: that Robin’s often spoken wistfully about how she’s never got to have that fleeting summer kind of love, where nothing is all that serious.

But she’s still so young, and life is finally light, and she gets to have it now.

Other photographs are sent to Eddie, with instructions that he should translate the French Robin’s written on them, à force de pratique, on y arrive, mon cher Édouard!

“I said literally once that French at school wasn’t, like, the worst,” Eddie says, pouting. “Didn’t realise that meant she was gonna torture me from across the world.” He frowns at a picture of Robin petting a grey cat, a bowl of food at its little paws. “And I tried translating whatever the fuck she’s written here, but I can’t work it out.”

“Not even a guess?” Steve says.

“I mean, yeah, but it sounds so stilted, man, I know it’s wrong. Like, who actually says where the silver cat feeds—you dick, stop laughing! What’s so funny?”

Two months pass, and Robin’s back soon, but not soon enough to catch Steve’s birthday. It’s not like he wants to have a huge party, anyway—he goes to Wayne and Eddie’s for dinner, and discovers Dustin leading a not-so successful ‘secretly bake a birthday cake,’ meeting at Max’s.

Everyone’s on their second slice of cake when the phone rings, and Steve knows instantly who it is from the way Eddie shouts, “Huh? What?”, like there’s a delay on the line. Then he beams and shouts, “Steve! Got a long distance call for you.”

Steve’s over in a flash.

“I promise I’ve got you something,” Robin says, slightly muffled—every so often a word will cut out, but Steve gets the gist. “I swear, I’m not awful, I was gonna post it, but then I had no idea how many stamps I’d need, and I didn’t wanna risk losing it forever to, like, the nightmare limbo of customs, so I thought when I come back, I can—”

“Oh my god, shut up,” Steve laughs, “you didn’t need to get me anything. This is the best present ever.”

“Oh, gross,” Robin says cheerfully. “You’re all sentimental in your old age. Happy Birthday, Steve.”

“Thanks,” Steve says, and the lump in his throat is back, but it’s not so bad; he can breathe through it. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

And then there’s a sound that Steve at first thinks is just from the bad quality of the line, but then he realises it’s Robin trying to stifle a yawn; “Wait, Jesus, isn’t it, like, two in the morning over there? Go to bed!”

She doesn’t listen, of course—they keep chatting, everyone in the room wants a turn on the phone, Robin teasing Eddie relentlessly for his French pronunciation.

And as Steve ends the call, he finds that the hurt of missing her has faded away into something else—knowing that there’ll be comings and goings in their lives all the time, adventures they’ll share and adventures they won’t. But they’ll always, always find their way back to one another.

Steve sets the phone into its cradle, pictures Robin doing the very same so many miles away.

Yeah, we’re gonna be just fine, you and me, Steve thinks, and feels the certainty of it right in his bones.

#steve and robin #steve and robin fic #steve and robin ficlet #robin buckley fic #steve harrington fic #eddie and robin #steddie #steve harrington #robin buckley #eddie munson #background steddie

[sapphic-bats]

“I don’t want kids.”

Nancy blurts it like she’s guilty, and the stress is plain on her face. She’s leaned over her lap, hands folded, eyes shut and brows furrowed. Robin’s never seen her so distressed, and that’s saying something.

Her wife blinks. “Okay.”

And Nancy lifts her head to Robin, the strawberry-blonde appearing confused. Now Nancy blinked in shock. “You’re not mad.”

It sounded like a statement of the obvious. Perhaps because it was.

Robin furrowed her brows. “No?” She shook her head slightly. “Of course not.”

“But-” Nancy tried. “You- you want kids, don’t you?”

The woman shrugs. “Not particularly.”

Nancy gapes at her for a moment. “But- you and Steve always talk about kids.”

“Yeah, but that’s me and Steve. Just because he and Eddie are gonna adopt soon doesn’t mean that we have to.” She offers a smile. “I honestly don’t care. I mean, sure, I’ve considered parenting before, but I think I’d rather be an aunt.”

Robin grins, waving a hand slowly through the air, as if to present a masterpiece before her. “Picture it now: the cool, lesbian aunt who takes them out for ice cream and has complete leeway around their dad.” She shot Nancy a knowing look. “I’m obviously talking about Steve. Eddie’s gonna have absolutely zero discipline over his kids.”

It drew a laugh from Nancy, agreeing and amused. “And what about her girlfriend?”

“Her wife, you mean? Just because we can’t legally get married doesn’t mean we aren’t. It’s a mindset, you know?” Robin taps her temple, beaming. “Their cool, bisexual aunt, who’ll actually understand how to deal with crushes on boys, and’ll teach ‘em how to shoot their very first guns. She’ll be the first person they think of when someone pushes them around, and they’ll be nearly as witty as her when any dangerous situation befalls them. Aunt Nancy, cool and collected, fast and funny.”

And Nancy feels like she’s falling in love with Robin for the first time again, heart beating harshly in her chest, smile reaching from ear to ear. She leans forwards, pressing a kiss to her wife’s cheek. “And auntie Robin, who’s sweet and hilarious, who’s eviscerated the notion of boredom when she’s around. Half as mischievous as their father, but twice as sarcastic.”

Robin’s face reddens out of habit, and she pulls Nancy in for a hug. “And they love each other.”

Nancy laughs. “And they love each other.”

#ronance #robin buckley #nancy wheeler #robin x nancy #nancy x robin #future ronance #steddie #background steddie #eddie x steve #steve x eddie #stranger things #stranger things 4 #st4 #lesbian #bisexual #ronance skit

[angeldreamsoffanfic]

part two of this original ficlet

-

It’s a couple days later when Robin Buckley is in Steve Harrington’s bedroom when it fully hits her. That this boy, not much older than she is- is her best friend. There’s a million universes out there, Robin is one of the ones who believes in that fully and completely. Every little change splitting off and dividing, creating and creating and creating.

Robin, however, can’t even begin to imagine the universes where she doesn’t know Steve. Doesn’t know him fully and completely and as absolutely wholeheartedly as she does. Can’t imagine that there are galaxies where she doesn’t know him as well if not better than herself sometimes.

But he’s hers here.

“Do you want to move in?” Steve’s question is soft spoken, and Robin is quick to turn to catch his eyes in her own. He’s leant up against his desk, a Rubik’s cube in between his fingers. His head is cocked slightly, eyebrows furrowed as his eyes and Robin’s meet. “Rob?”

“Yeah?” Robin allowed herself to grin, a shy and slow curve of her lips, even as she pushed her statistics homework off of her lap. Steve nodded once then twice, a sharp bob of his chin that was so firm it almost caused his chin to make contact with his chest. “You want me to move in with you, dingus?”

“Yeah,” Steve murmured, soft and sweet, before he tossed the Rubik’s cube toward Robin. She didn’t catch it, she never could really, but it did land in her lap- completely solved. Robin plucked it into her hands, set about messing it up again, so Steve could solve it. “I wanted to ask, since I know you’re eighteen now and-”

“And since my parents still think all of this was an earthquake?” Robin supplied knowingly, before she threw the Rubik’s cube back to Steve. He caught it from the air with his left hand and shyly nodded, before he set about solving the puzzle cube once more. Robin is quiet for a second, just before she continues on. “What about yours?”

“My parents?” Steve asked with a slight furrowed brow, his head cocked slightly to the side. Robin let out a soft hum, though nodded when she saw that Steve hadn’t heard her well. “They uh, aren’t coming back to Hawkins, Rob.”

Robin felt her heart lurch as she rubbed her palms along her jean clad thighs, brow instantly taut as she eyed Steve. He had diverted his eyes, eyes now focused on the way he moved the Rubik’s cube. She had never been good at those, really, and had doubted Steve’s ability in solving them when he first brought the thing into the back of Scoops A’hoy.

That was, of course, until she saw this.

The modes where Steve’s brain whirred by him too fast, his past of dealing with the Upside Down heavy on his shoulders. No matter the jokes the kids tended to make in Steve’s expense, he really wasn’t an idiot. Not when it came to puzzles, at the very fucking least.

Robin shook her head, wiggling further onto the carpet to be able to extend one of her legs. She hooks her ankle around Steve’s, smiling a little bit softer when he immediately eased into the touch. His shoulders stopped being tense and up by his ears, easing down to their natural resting point. Robin let’s it stay quiet for a beat, then two, before she starts to speak again.

“I love you.” Robin let herself murmur the words easily, even when Steve’s eyes are immediately glassy and soft. His brows furrow and she let her own furrow back, a mirror image to his. “Like this all-consuming aching love that I’ve never felt for anyone. Not like this.”

“Robbie-”

“No, let me get this out there.” Robin shook her head quickly as she scrambled forward, coming to kneel at Steve’s side. She cradled his cheeks in her hands, thumbs curled against his cheekbones as she tilted his chin up so his eyes would be met with her own. She knew what she must look like, like she’s on a warpath. (And in her mind, she is.) “I don’t think I have ever loved someone as much as I love you, dingus.”

“You are it for me, Steven Richard Harrington. You are my soulmate, and you-” Robin let herself sniffle, let Steve cradle her own cheeks in his palms. He mimicked the way she held him, hands gentle and thumbs cradling softly against her cheekbones. His thumbs brush even softer under her eyes, sweeping away tears Robin knew had managed to come out. “You deserve someone to tell you that every fucking day, and if it has to be me saying it to you for it to sink in… then so be it.”

“I love you, Robbie.” Steve’s own voice is wet and almost muffled sounding, brows still taut as his eyes shimmer with his own unshed tears. Robin makes sure to be gentle as she pressed her fingers harder into Steve’s face, squeezing his cheeks as she meets his eyes intently.

A beat passed. Then another. Robin let Steve stare unabashedly into her eyes, even when his own softened at whatever he had found inside of them.

“What?” Robin is almost scared to ask the question, even as Steve’s smile twitched at the very corner. Steve hummed softly, thumbs doing a final swoop up Robin’s cheeks, before he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Dingus?”

“You like Nancy.”

The statement is enough for Robin’s hands to fall off of Steve’s face, and she could feel the way her jaw slackened slightly. Steve is smug, almost, in the way he leaned further against the base of his desk as Robin scrambled backwards. He’s even quicker though, catching her ankle with his own- and causing her to land with a thud onto her butt that’s only minimally softened by his carpet.

“How did you-”

“You’ll find, that I’m one of the ones that knows what being in love with her is like.” Steve’s voice is soft, but there’s an edge on the back of it that caused Robin to swallow. Robin isn’t sure what fluttered hard in her stomach and chest, an ache of a feeling that caused her mouth to go dry and her brows to furrow. Steve licked at the corners of his mouth for a second, fingers flying faster as he turned and twisted at the Rubik’s cube. “And I just… let me say this, yeah?”

“Yeah.” Robin heard her voice croak, and she couldn’t help but feel as if she’s swimming in molasses as she watched Steve. His shoulders are up closer to his ears again, before he seemed to make the conscious decision to lower them. After a beat, the Rubik’s cube is solved, and Robin lets him toss it into her lap again.

“I don’t care that you like her at all, really.” Steve’s voice is soft and his words are spoken with a slow tilt to them, brows still furrowed as his bottom lip is pulled between his teeth. Robin watched him worry at it for a bit, before he let it go and began to speak again. “I was in love with her, I know, and she broke my heart in two-”

“Dingus-” Robin tried softly, but she let herself be cut off when Steve shook his head sharply. She instead, tossed the once more scrambled puzzle cube his way- and watched as he began to solve it again.

“If she…” Steve shook his head once, then twice, before his eyes met hers. There’s something there that’s lurking in them, a steel glimmer to them that Robin hasn’t seen before. He’s never really like this with her, not pulling on his King Steve persona like a personal shield again. “If she hurts you, Rob? Whatever friendship between her and I that’s somehow been salvaged? It’s… There is… I don’t care for a lot, not really anymore.”

Steve paused for a beat, shaking his head as he sniffled. He continued, speaking quieter and focused on his hands as he let the Rubik’s cube fall to his carpet.

“But if I ever have to chose between you and her? Rob, I’m going to pick you every time. And I want to be selfish and ask if you’d pick me too.”

Robin felt the tears then, hot and almost burning against her cheeks. Steve scrambled forward almost immediately, and Robin let out a gross even to her ears sounding sniffle as she let him cradle her to his chest. Robin reached up then, fingers searching and digging, pulling Steve closer to her. They entwine easily, and Robin can’t help but immediately think of Greek mythology.

There’s a story, one her mother used to tell her in place of fairytales. Of how the Greek philosopher, Plato, believed that humans used to have four arms and legs, and had two faces. Her mother always told it best, of how Zeus had deemed humans too prideful and split them as a form of punishment. Humans destined to walk the Earth searching for their other half, for their soulmate.

When she was little she used to think it would be romantic.

She knew better now.

She knew better because here she had Steve. And she may never get the chance or even the balls to tell Nancy Wheeler how she feels.

(That there are times where Robin looks at Nancy, and envisions a life where they are incandescently happy. Times where Robin can remember the burn and ache she felt for both Tammy and for Vickie, but that even together they don’t amount to what she feels for Nancy. That there are times where all Robin can do is just fucking wish and—)

She may never have a romantic soulmate.

Maybe it’s not in the cards for her in this reality, maybe that’s only something she can have in a different universe. Strangely, a part of her is okay with that.

Because here she has Steve. Here Steve has her.

And they’re SteveandRobin and RobinandSteve.

Two halves of a whole split by a God in a fit of rage, but somehow against all the odds they have managed to find each other and conjoin again.

Robin kept her voice soft as she pressed a soft kiss to Steve’s chest, and she left her lips there as she mumbled her next words. They’re the only words that fit, even though she wished she could bare her soul and mind completely, let him read and take his fill. Let him be comforted by her love.

As complete and unconditional as it is.

“I’d chose you in every fucking lifetime, Steve.”

It’s quiet for a moment, and Robin squeezed her fingers more intently against Steve’s shoulders. Steve is quick to mimic her, giving Robin a few quick pulses of his fingers, before he spoke up after a beat.

“I think I have a crush on Eddie.”

Robin can’t help but explode into laughter.

Steve followed with his own shortly after.

—

hope you enjoyed! here’s the link for this fic if following along with it on ao3 is more your jam <3 more parts to come soon!

taglist:

@wonderland-girl143-blog @bxlthazar @estrellami-1 @plutoshelm @stevesbipanic @mackdaddyofheimlichcountyy @plyerice27 @justforthedead89 @nuttychaosface @princess-eddie @daydreaming-mood @anaibis @marsbars97 @messrs-weasley @beckkthewreck @he-she-steveharrington @practicallybegging @trashcanniballecter @theluckyalien @chaoticvictorianspirit @fantasyfr3ak @newtstabber @mightbeasleep @idontgetpaidenoughforthisshit @songbird-garden @thisisallicouldthinkof @emma-elsa-0000 @leather-and-freckles @shinekocreator @alex-whitley-187 @gay-little-bitch @pluto-pepsi @silentiumdelirium @kitchen-spoon @bossyknow-it-all

#angeldreamsoffanfic #steddie #steddie ficlet #steddie fanfic #platonic stobin #steve harrington and robin buckley are bffs #robin would die for steve #and steve for robin #steve harrington has bad parents #also my personal headcanon is that the Rubik’s cube from fv is steve’s can’t you tell? #steve harrington is smart #also yes sorry i do think this is how steve would act when robin told him she likes nancy #bc nancy already broke steve’s heart once #and steve forgives nancy but loves robin more #platonic stobin month #background ronance #background steddie #sorry

[apuckishwit]

With a Capital P

Saw this post about Stobin having no boundaries, by @grimmfitzz and oops, my hand slipped.

By all rights, there should be some awkwardness. A little lingering strangeness, an adjustment period, if you will. After all, only a few days ago, he fully thought he had feelings for Robin. Well, obviously he does have feelings for her...but he'd thought they were entirely different than the ones he has.

He's maybe a little more concussed than he'd convinced the paramedics he was. To be fair, they had a lot going on.

The point is, he feels like there should be more weirdness. A time period in which he awkwardly shuffles Robin from a box marked 'possible girlfriend?' to the one marked just 'friend'--the one Tommy and Carol used to occupy before things went so sideways (though he's still too afraid to really examine the spaces those two left, too afraid it'll just confirm that he wasted so much time with people who were never his friends at all). Maybe even slot her into the box he's slowly constructing for the kids...something not quite labeled 'friend' and not quite labeled 'family' and quickly coming to take up the biggest chunk of his battered, lonely heart (oh, wow, yeah...definitely more concussed than he let on).

Turns out, though, that being drugged and tortured together, and then launching an assault on a gigantic flesh beast from another dimension with nothing but fireworks and nerve lets you skip over a lot of the beginning phases of a relationship (romantic or otherwise). Also turns out there's a secret, fourth box he didn't even know about. One that's just marked 'Robin' that he has apparently been just waiting for her to come along and fill.

Robin ends up spending most of the rest of the summer at Steve's house, more often than not. He doesn't know what she tells her parents. Doesn't particularly care. He's always had a weird relationship with parental care and authority, so he's not sure he's really in a position to have an opinion about if Robin is lying to her parents about where she is, or if they don't care that she's hanging out at his place so much.

They spend days abusing the central air, or watching movies they swipe from Family Video, or eating snacks out by the pool (he tells her she's welcome to swim, she notes that he never gets in the water himself and doesn't ask questions...but also doesn't move from his side). At first, he makes up a guest room for her when she spends the night, but after the fourth or fifth time one (or both) of them wake up screaming (goddamn, goddamn, goddamn it, he'd just gotten a handle on the nightmares about impossible creatures bursting from the wall, now he gets new material to deal with?) Robin just groans and collapses onto Steve's bed, burrowing under his blankets with him.

"Your room is hideous," she grumbles, grabbing one of his hands and bringing their joined fingers to rest in the small space between their bodies.

"I know," he shrugs. He squeezes her hand. She squeezes back. He listens to her breaths in the dark, feels the warmth radiating off of her. It's comforting. Grounding. He's not alone. Whatever terrors the night brings for them, they'll face it together.

He wakes up hours later, sunlight streaming into his room and the beautiful girl he'd thought he was falling for snuggled right up against his side, the two of them having moved in the night. It should be the stuff of adolescent fantasies but all he feels is a distant sort of confusion that they actually slept so long. Robin's face is smashed into his shoulder and he realizes he's been drooling into her hair, and the first thing she does when she wakes up is shriek about it.

"Ewww, gross! Seriously?!"

"I didn't do it on purpose!"

"Spit, Steve! My hair is covered in your spit!"

"Well I'm pretty sure this giant booger on my shirt isn't mine, Buckley!"

"Are you accusing me of--oh, wow that is big." Robin starts rubbing at her nose as she stalks into the bathroom and the shower starts running a moment later. He opens the door long enough to toss a clean towel onto the sink and then wanders down to the kitchen to start coffee.

She makes fun of his bedhead when she comes down the stairs, he goggles at the amount of milk and sugar she puts in her coffee. And he never makes up the guest room for her again.

*

"I am telling you, Johnson is trying to kill us with his exams! It's barely October and we've already had three!" Robin stabs angrily at the chicken cutlets in the pan with her fork, holding one up so Steve can see how brown it is on one side. At his nod, she starts flipping them over. She ducks her head without looking when he reaches over her to snag the basil out of the spice cabinet, still stirring the tomato sauce with his free hand.

"Yeah, Johnson's a dick. Glad I'm done with his class for good." He dips the spoon out of the sauce and blows on it for a moment before tasting, then holds the spoon out for Robin to lick the rest of it off.

"Mmm, more red pepper. And I know! You're so lucky. How did you even pass? Cheryl Mackey was crying in the band room after she got her test back, and she's like, straight a student all the way." Robin finishes flipping the chicken and goes back to chopping carrots for their salad.

"Oh, Robert O'Connell--the guy that works down at the Snack n' Go?--he saved all his tests from when he had Johnson a few years ago. Johnson never writes new ones. You give Robert 20 bucks, you can get any of the answer keys."

Robin sets the knife down and reaches into Steve's back pocket, pulling his wallet out. "Couldn't have told me this earlier?" she grouses, yanking two tens out and shoving the wallet back in his pocket.

"Hey, that's my gas money for the week!" He grabs the pot with the noodles off the stove and takes it to the colander waiting in the sink, sticking his ass out expectantly.

"You look like a hooker trying to pick up johns."

"Well give me at least half my gas money back so I don't have to sell my body to drive you and Henderson to school this week."

"Ugh, fine." She grabs his wallet again and stuffs one of the tens back into it. Then winds up one of his dish towels and smacks his rear end hard enough that he jumps about a foot in the air.

He dumps the drained noodles back into the pot and turns around to bring it back to the stove only to find that Robin is right behind him with the pot of sauce, apparently having been bringing it over to the sink. They collide, hard, and Robin screams bloody murder as hot spaghetti sauce gets dumped all down her front.

"Hot, hot, hot, fuck, hot!"

"Shit, hold on!" He all but tosses the pot of noodles back into the sink and snatches the sauce pot out of her hands. As soon as he does she's whipping off her shirt and grabbing the dish towel she hit him with, wiping off the smears of sauce that got onto her arms. "Did it burn you?" he asks, searching her torso for blisters, even though he knows at the back of his mind that the sauce was only on a simmer.

"No...no, I think I'm good. Damn, I liked that shirt, though." She straightens, glaring down at the sauce pot he slammed onto the counter.

"You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

He holds his tongue for approximately zero point three seconds.

"Okay, then can we talk about this whole situation, cause I feel like I just got a major piece of the puzzle of why you don't have a girlfriend, yet. What the hell are you wearing?"

Robin's bra is so faded it's unclear what color it was originally, two large tears right above the elastic band.

Robin looks almost comically offended. "Excuse me? I'm sorry, are you commenting on my very comfortable and perfectly functional underwear?"

"Functional, yeah, if the function is 'never get laid ever'."

Robin crosses over to the doorway that leads to the laundry room. "We can't all exclusively wear Calvin Klein, Harrington!"

"How do you know what underwear I wear?"

"Am I wrong? Also, Jesus Christ do you own any normal shirts?"

"What's wrong with my shirts now? Hey, I'm not taking fashion advice from a girl in a, a grandma bra!"

"Hey!" She steps back out of the laundry room, wearing one of his old basketball team shirts.

They keep bickering back and forth as Steve tries to salvage dinner, eventually ending up just sitting on his kitchen counter dipping pieces of breaded chicken into the remains of the pasta sauce in the pot, having decided they really didn't want to eat spaghetti that had to be fished out of the sink.

"I'm not buying a bunch of frilly, sparkly lace just to wear under my clothes," Robin informs him. "That shit itches."

"Not saying you have to, but at least get something that doesn't look like it came out of the bottom of my gym bag."

"Eww, don't talk about your gym bag while I'm eating!"

*

It is a slow day in Family Video, and Robin has been casting him strangely intense looks since she came on shift. He restocks the shelves, picks through the candy to take home the almost expired shit to give to the kids, and is halfway through the rewinding before it finally gets to him.

"What?!" he demands. Robin blinks at him, immediately shrugging. A little too fast, actually.

"What, what?" she asks. He narrows his eyes at her and she ducks her head, pretending to find her biology textbook extremely interesting. He knows she's pretending because she hates biology. They're making her dissect a frog this quarter. After a few seconds, she slams the book shut and straightens up, determined look settling on her face.

Steve has just enough time to get a little nervous before she says, "How do you do the tongue thing?"

He blinks at her. "Uh...can you be more specific?"

She rolls her eyes. "You know...the thing! The thing with your tongue."

"I promise you, I do not know. What're you talking about?"

She looks around the store, as if some customers that they somehow haven't noticed in the last three hours might suddenly appear. Then she lowers her voice. "Like, sex things. With your tongue." She huffs a frustrated sigh. "They had to combine gym periods today 'cause Mrs. Hornby had to sub for Janson's history class, and Maryanne Greene was talking about how her boyfriend wouldn't go down on her and then Sue Rennet--you remember Sue? Apparently you dated her for, like, two weeks at the end of her Sophomore year--started talking about you and how you used to do that to her and it's the best sex she's ever had."

And oh...okay, he remembers Sue. Nice girl, a little ditzy, but she hadn't wanted to get more serious, and then Nancy had caught his eye. He can't help but puff up a little. Sure, Hawkins isn't exactly a big city overrun with choices, and judging by the talk he remembers from his own locker room days, he's a little bit of an outlier as far as being concerned with making sure his partners are having as good a time as he is...but to be called the best someone has ever had is nice.

"Don't let it go to your head," Robin says, because she can read his mind quite a lot of the time. "Just...tongue thing. You know, in case I ever do get a shot with, literally anyone."

He softens at that, reaches across the counter to ruffle her hair because it annoys her as much as it annoys him when someone does that. "You will," he says softly, and thinks that he would give almost anything, would probably happily trade any shot at happiness for himself if he could make sure Robin had someone to love her the way she deserves to be loved. He grabs one of her school notebooks and tears a sheet out, grabbing a pen out of the cup beside the computer.

"Okay, so, first things first, you can't just dive right in--gotta get the motor warmed up a little first--"

"Please don't talk in car analogies the whole time," Robin says, leaning in as he draws a crude (heh, see what he did there?) sketch of what he's going to be talking about.

"Noted. So what you're gonna do is start with a little massage around this area," he points with the end of the pen, "really take your time, get things nice and slick..."

He talks, Robin listening intently and occasionally asking questions.

"No you don't--flutter your tongue, flutter it. Here, like this..."

"Okay, vibration is good, but you're not, like, trying to blow a raspberry on her clit--"

"I said flutter!"

And that is how Lucas and Dustin find them about forty minutes later: Steve with his mouth held open wide, demonstrating what he means by fluttering his tongue while Robin stares at it like it holds the secrets of the universe, pen in hand as she takes furious notes.

In retrospect, he supposes he should be grateful that Lucas didn't immediately join Dustin on the 'Steve and Robin are totally dating' train.

*

"Shit! Steve! Wake up, it's Wednesday!"

Steve's eyes shoot open and he's vertical before he's fully awake, reaching for the nailbat propped up by his bedside table, but it's not there. It's...his bedside table isn't there either.

What the fuck, where's his bed?

"Steve!" Robin shouts, and he blinks rapidly, his surroundings resolving themselves into his...living room?

"What...Rob, what the hell? You're on winter break! You don't have school today?"

Ugh, why does his mouth taste like something died? He looks around the room, at the piles of dusty boxes that look like they came from...

Oh.

Oh yeah.

He and Robin had spent yesterday dragging the Harrington family Christmas decorations down from the attic because Robin said his house looked like a sad capitalism museum and she refused to spend the holidays in a place that didn't have a single Christmas light up. And then they'd found Steve's grandmother's recipe for homemade eggnog. And he'd maybe experimented a little bit with the liquor ratios...they must have fallen asleep on the couch.

"We don't have school but we both promised Keith we'd open all this week!" Robin shouts.

Oh.

Oh fuck.

They're still dressed in their clothes from yesterday. And they smell like a goddamn distillery. Without thinking about it, he grabs her hand and starts hauling her upstairs. "Shit, shit, shit."

"Fuck, shit, fuck!" she agrees as they rocket into the bathroom. Steve starts the water while Robin yanks clean towels out of the linen closet. "Do you have pants I can wear?" she asks, tossing the towels onto the sink and stripping out of her shirt.

"Yeah, I've got those jeans from, like, three years ago. Those fit you pretty well, right?" He tosses his own jeans and boxers towards the laundry hamper, followed by his shirt, and jumps into the shower, adjusting the temperature hotter than he likes it, because Robin's a weirdo who likes to boil herself in the mornings.

"Good enough!" Robin leaps in after him and they squeeze under the spray just long enough to get hair and body wet before separating somewhat so Robin can start scrubbing herself and he can get started on his hair. "Why didn't you set an alarm?"

"Me? Why didn't you set an alarm? You're the one who wanted to take the shifts!"

"Like you're gonna turn down holiday pay."

"It's Keith! Holiday pay probably means a buy one get one coupon to Pizza World up the highway!" He sticks his head under the water again to rinse his hair out and they switch places.

"Are you saying you wouldn't take a buy one get one coupon to Pizza World?"

"I mean...no?"

They switch places again so that Steve can rinse the soap off his body and then it's a race to get dried off, teeth brushed, dressed, and out to the car so they can get to the store in time. It's only as they are piling out of the BMW in front of Family Video that it seems to occur to them both at the same time what they just did. They both pause, mid-step and turn to each other wide-eyed.

"Huh," Steve says quietly.

"Yeah," Robin answers.

Then they shrug and continue towards the store entrance, making it in with exactly three and a half minutes to spare.

*

"Steve I really think if you're worried about this, you should be talking to a doctor, not me," Robin says, peering at a medical journal she checked out from the library spread out over her lap. "Has it changed color or shape recently?"

"I don't know, maybe? I've got so many moles, it's hard to keep track."

"Any pain or tenderness?" She reaches out and taps his hip so that he turns a little more towards the light cast by her desk lamp.

"No, definitely not. I was just having, you know, private time in the shower and it looked weird to me when I looked down."

Robin hums thoughtfully and pokes at the weird-looking mole on Steve's groin. "I mean, it doesn't look like any of these pictures of bad moles, but if you think it looks different to how it used to, you should probably get it check out regardless."

"Damn it, I was afraid you'd say that," he sighs. She shuts the medical journal and props her chin on one hand as he pulls his pants back up.

"Should I call and make the appointment?"

He huffs and flops back down onto her bed. "Yes please," he grumbles. He never remembers to write down all the appointment details.

"You want me to book something over spring break so I can go with you?"

"Nah, just whatever's available soonest. I'd rather not sit around and stress about it."

It turns out to be nothing to worry about. But three weeks later, Dustin and Max come bursting into Family Video while he and Robin are watching a new report about a brutal murder, and Steve is wishing all he had to stress about was a maybe-weird mole on his dick.

*

It's not like no one was aware that Steve and Robin were...perhaps unusually close friends. It was just never much of an issue (except to Dustin, who was obsessed with the idea of the two of them getting together) before the events of the spring of '86 and after...

Well.

Who cared how weirdly codependent Steve and Robin were when Max and Eddie had nearly died and the Upside Down was bursting up into the real Hawkins? Honestly, if that was the weirdest thing about them after all they've been through, he'd count that pretty lucky.

After everything, though--after they put Vecna/Henry Creel/One/Whatever in the fucking ground, after they do what Steve was beginning to think was impossible and seal the Upside Down away from them forever, after Max is as recovered as she's ever going to be (she's probably never going to be able to get a driver's license even with glasses, and her doctors tell them the leg braces and crutches might have to be permanent, but she's alive...she's alive, she's alive, she's alive), after Robin finally feels safe enough to come out to the group at large, after Steve spends an entire week holed up in his room screaming into his pillow while Robin patted his back consolingly before marching down to Eddie's new (government-funded) trailer and announcing that it turns out he likes both and would Eddie please go on a date with him...

He thinks maybe Eddie didn't quite understand what he was getting into when he agreed almost before Steve was done asking him out.

"Uh...hey guys," Eddie says slowly, taking in the picture he and Robin present in Steve's kitchen. There's a bag of cucumbers, a few eggplants, and several bananas spread out on the island in front of them. Robin has a tape measure and a homemade pamphlet acquired from a very exclusive shop they traveled to Indianapolis to visit last weekend. Steve is holding up two of the cucumbers for comparison. "What's, uh, what's going on here?"

Steve and Robin exchange a look. Then Steve jumps up and snatches the tape measure out of her hands. "Perfect! Here, Eds, lemme measure you." He reaches for Eddie's belt, only to freeze with a look of annoyance when his boyfriend jumps back with a yelp.

"Whoa! Whoa, hey, baby, I have no idea what you're talking about and also Robbie's right there!"

"What? Oh it's fine, Rob and I have seen each other naked plenty of times."

"Ask me about the time we accidentally showered together," Robin pipes up with a grin.

"Wait, no...wait, what? How do you accidentally shower together?" Eddie asks incredulously. Then he shakes his head. "Wait, no! No, not important. Robin has never seen me naked, and I am not whipping my dick out in front of your best friend so you can measure it! And why do you want to measure it?"

"Well I was trying to just guesstimate how big you are," Steve says, gesturing to the array of produce on the island, "but it'll be easier if I can just get the numbers from the source."

"Why do you need exact measurements of my dick?!" Eddie's eyes have gone wide as dinner plates, his voice reaching an octave usually reserved for his female NPC's in his nerd game. Steve huffs.

"Babe, you said you want to fuck me, but like, all these guides say we should work up to it." He jerks a thumb back over his shoulder at the pamphlet that Robin is now helpfully holding up. "So I'm gonna figure out exactly how big you are, and then Rob and I are gonna go up to this shop we found in Indy and get some of these toys. It's supposed to help me get used to things being, you know, up there."

Robin nods seriously.

Eddie looks at him. Looks at Robin. Looks back at him.

Steve has never seen someone look touched and horrified at the same time. Eddie rakes a hand back through his hair and sighs.

"What...what measurements do you need, exactly?"

#stranger things #stranger things fic #steve harrington #robin buckley #platonic with a capital p #platonic soulmates stobin #eddie munson #steddie #at the end though this is definitely focused on Steve and Robin's friendship #background steddie #my writing

[italiansteebie]

steve is like... really good at laser tag.

it was supposed to be a fun double date that wasn't really a date because the kids were all with them too, but steve. he really took it seriously.

it was a wonder he was such a bad fighter, based on this, maybe they should give him a gun? no...

robin, nancy, and eddie watched in curious amazement as steve bobbed and weaved through the dark course. (eddie's not proud to admit that he may have drooled watching steve hop over one of the foam obstacles). "agh! steve, no!" they heard dustin whine in the distance, smiling when steve only cackles in response.

"oh! fuck you steve!" there was mike, "cmon man, i thought we were friends!" lucas, "you're really just gonna stand there and shoot me? im not even playing!" and max.

it was definitely comedic, and a little scary.

they heard his footsteps, "oh shit. he's coming, run!" robin squealed, grabbing nancy's hand and dragging her after her. eddie kept his place in the corner, it was fun but he wasn't really into all that... running or "exercise."

soon enough he was face to face with steve. "hey baby,"

"hey ed's."

"rob and nancy ran that way," eddie said pointing towards their direction. steve grinned, "thanks ed's." he said pressing a kiss to his lips before running away.

distantly, eddie heard nancy and robin shout, and he shook his head. soon enough the lights came back on and the game was over.

now steve wasn't a competitive person, however, he knows when he's good at something, so it wasn't a surprise to eddie when they all trailed out of the arena, a huge smile on steve's face.

the bored employee started, feigning excitement, "okay! the winner is steve ahoy, congratulations steve. yay." steve whooped, doing a stupid little dance, smacking a celebratory kiss on eddie's face, laughing at the kids disdain.

"that's not fair! steve didn't tell us he was super good at laser tag!"

"ha ha!" steve teased, smiling when eddie grabbed his hand. "don't worry, next time he's not allowed to play. only normal people." robin assured, smirking at steve. "oh, so you're not playing either?" he retorted. robin scoffed and rolled her eyes. "what ever laser rambo."

#steve harrington #eddie munson #robin buckley #nancy wheeler #dustin henderson #steve harrington headcanon #best friend robin #steddie ficlet #best friend robin buckley #steddie fic #steddie #steddie brainrot #background ronance #background steddie #brotherly steve harrington #steve is good at laser tag for some reason #stranger things

[gaytoru]

robin, gay panicking: SHE TOLD ME SHE LIKED GIRLS, STEVE. GIRLS.

steve, unbothered, making his coffee: yeah, and what else?

robin, freaking out: she looked so, SO genuine. i-i didn’t even know what to say. like, like- my THROAT was cut off. my throat went DRY, STEVEN. she was embarrassed? or something, there was like - a red hue on her face. it looked so pretty though, SHE looked so pretty and— steve. ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?

steve, drinking his morning coffee: bleugh— this is way too bitter. i gotta get a different type of coffee at the store next week, why’s this one so bad??? and why does eddie like this??? anyways, yes i was listening, robin. nance already told me about this ages ago.

robin:

robin, grabbing steve by the shoulders: what do YOU MEAN SHE TOLD YOU?

eddie, walking past the room: she told me too, by the way! took you long enough to realize by the way she stares at you.

robin: she— wait— LONG ENOUGH— HUH?

eddie: OH GOD SHE’S GONNA BLOW—

nancy, walking to the room, waking up & rubbing her eyes: what’s the problem, guys?

in unison: nothing.

#incorrect stranger things quotes #stranger things #ronance #nancy wheeler #robin buckley #background steddie #steddie if you squint #steve harrington #eddie munson #fruity four #MY fruity four #don’t ask #gay #bisexual #lesbian #valid

[gloomysoup]

okay yes i know i have 800 wips i should be working on rn... HOWEVER i've had another plot bunny pop up and i'm subjecting all of you to it

so hear me out:

steve has an older half-sister from his mom's previous marriage (maybe divorced, maybe widowed, who cares not important rn). she's not that much older than him, but she left home for college and never looked back. she occasionally calls to check up on steve, especially around the time the upside down happens bc of everything in the news. they were never super close as kids, but they cared ab each other. she was the first person he called after starcourt, and she was also the first person (besides robin of course) that he came out to. she's always supported him no matter what.

they don't talk ab her very often tho. conversation usually stays on steve and how he's doing, how his friends are, what his life is like. he doesn't know much ab her life at the time, just that by the time fall of 1986 hits, she's graduated college and starting a career (what, i don't know. maybe teacher or literary publicist? something steve's dad wouldn't approve of)

and then things change. steve gets a call from his sister, and she asks if he can come visit for a while here in the next month or so. he asks questions. it takes her a bit to answer. finally, she rips off the bandage. she's pregnant. she doesn't think she's ready for a baby, but she still wants to be in their life. she knows steve loves kids, that he's always wanted to be a dad. she asks if he'll come up for the birth, and adopt her baby. she wants him to raise the kid, but she doesn't try to pressure him. she knows it's a big ask. she just wanted to offer. she says she'd feel better knowing they're in a good place, that they're loved. she knows he would be perfect.

steve is obviously shocked, and rightfully so. it came out of nowhere really. he hadn't known this whole time. he isn't sure what to say. his sister tells him to think on it. there's still a little bit of time before the due date. he agrees to at least come visit and be with her for the birth. he doesn't promise anything more than that. he isn't sure what he's going to do yet, just that he wants to be there to support her.

he talks to robin that night, sitting on the living room floor of the small house they rent. it isn't much, but it's home. he tells her everything his sister said. robin stays quiet the whole time. when he finishes, all she asks is, "what do you want to do?" steve doesn't know. he isn't sure he'd be ready to raise a child on his own. so robin offers to help.

they decide to coparent. they're both there when steve's niece is brought into the world, and they don't hesitate for even a second when signing the adoption papers and birth certificate. everyone lives happily ever after.

this is fully centered on platonic stobin, with maybe a dash of background steddie and buckingham bc i make my own rules. would potentially end up being a big blended family all living in one house and coparenting all of their children (yes more kids) together and everything works out.

#stranger things #steddie #steve harrington #background steddie #eddie munson #steddie fic #stranger things fic #stranger things fanfiction #platonic stobin #platonic soulmates stobin #bffs stobin #coparenting #coparents stobin #steve stranger things #steve and robin #buckingham #background buckingham #dad!steve harrington

[theupsidedownsrealestateagent]

Robin lying on the carpeted floor of her bedroom playing with one of the fraying ends of her comforter. Steve sat next to her trying to catch her eye, which she has been expertly avoiding for the past forty five minutes. It wasn’t until Steve grabbed her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, that Robin finally looked at her friend.

“I’m scared Steve. This could go absolutely horrible.”

Steve gives a small hum indicating he was thinking hard, one of those Steve noises Robin has perfected as if it was another language she was studying. In a way it is she thinks to herself. “It’s okay to be scared,” he says after a beat. “I’m scared and it’s not even my parents. And if you don’t want to do this right now or ever, we don’t have to. We can back out right now, and enact Plan B.”

Robin gives a sarcastic snort, “Plan B is grabbing Nancy and Eddie, fleeing to Chicago and living out of your boyfriend’s van until we freeze to death.”

“I’d make it work, I’d do anything to keep you safe you know this babe.”

She sighs and rolls her eyes affectionately, “Yeah yeah ditto dingus.” She playfully shoves his shoulder and squirms as he turns the shove into an aggressive hug.

“No matter what we’ll be okay.” He smacks a kiss on her head.

“Let's do this,” Robin breathes out.

Robin had been sitting in this same seat for the past fourteen years give or take, eating dinner, agonizing over math homework, and having a million pointless conversations with her parents. Tonight the familiarity of a family dinner table was shriveled up and dead. From today on their family would never be the same. There would be the extra unsaid barrier between them. And that was best case scenario. Worst case scenario this would be the last dinner she’d ever have in this house, hell probably in the whole town. The thought made her stomach sink, she pushed her peas around her plate. Every bite she took tasted like flavorless mush. She chanced a glance at Steve, if she didn’t know him she would think he was acting perfectly normal, but she did know him. Better than anyone. She could tell how he was almost as nervous as she was. His shoulders tense, smile tight, and his hands had the slightest tremor, Robin gave his knee a squeeze in solidarity.

“Mom, dad, I– we. We have something to tell you.” Robin shakily revelas. In an instant she can feel her parents eyes, going back and forth between her and Steve, small smiles tugging at their lips. She’s going to be sick.

“Oh?” Her mom asks, wiggling her eyebrows and bringing the glass of cheap red wine to her lips. “I think we have an inclination, don’t we Rich?”

“Mom no, it’s not like that, actually I mean it is but not in the way you guys think– Okay, so– Oh my god okay I’m just going to say this. And please wait until we’re done to ask or say anything. Please don’t hate me.” Fuck why are there tears falling from her face? Robin had promised herself she wasn’t going to cry through this.

“Oh sweetheart, there’s nothing you could say that would make us hate you. You’re our little bird.” Her dad softly said, reaching across the table to give her a reassuring touch, until he saw her flinch away. Hurt flashed in his own eyes, before tucking his hands back by his side.

Her mom looks nervous now, and nearly breathlessly asks, “Robin Buckley you aren’t pregnant are you?”

Steve nearly chokes, Robin’s eyes are wide and now as big as plates, her mouth gapes open looking to Steve, wondering what the hell she was going to say to that accusation. She settles on the articulate, “Jesus Christ, Mom unless God themself has chosen me to be the bearer of their next miracle child or whatever that’s not even in the realm of possibilities. Maybe it's a possibility you guys would prefer to the actual truth but alas I am not with child. I’m just. I’m– Fuck! I’m gay okay? Just gay. That’s my big terrible secret, and why Steve and I aren’t dating, well except we are but we aren’t.” Tears are flowing down her face now, she can hardly even make out the shape of her parents, she’s just realizing how tight Steve is squeezing her hand now. That grounding pressure is enough for her to be able to clear her watery eyes, and get a good look at her parents’ facial reactions.

And huh, that wasn’t what she expected. They were…calm? Small, almost shy smiles. What the hell? Where was the yelling, the hatred, anything? Robin had expected nearly every reaction but this one. If it wasn’t for Steve’s continuous pressure in her hand, she’d be sure she was hallucinating.

It was her mom who broke the silence first, “Oh Robby.” She says with a sad sort of pity. “It’s okay baby. Dad and I would never, ever, hate you for who you love. Robin Lynn Buckley, I mean what kind of parents are we that you didn’t trust us to tell us this?”

“It’s not like that mom. It’s not you I guess, it’s like society. Society tells us we’re broken, and disgusting, I couldn’t mom, I couldn’t tell you guys and be completely one hundred and ten percent sure I’d still have a roof over my head if things went wrong.” Robin lets out an exhausted sigh. Her mother does this, makes everything about herself even when she means well. And the fact that she does mean well about her only daughter being a dyke, then she certainly isn’t going to point that out to her mom in this moment. It’s too monumental for a potentially petty argument. Which leads her to her next question, “So what? You and dad are just fine with it? No questions? Completely parent approved?”

It was her dad who piped up next. Good ole Richard Buckley known for his poise and tact, “Well actually I do have some questions. What does that mean, you and Steve are dating but also aren’t? That doesn’t seem conducive to your lifestyle.” Of course he’d say lifestyle, it's those tiny phrases like that, where Robin knows deep in her soul her dad knows it isn’t a choice, but lacks the verbiage to fully get it. She smiles at that a little, her parents are cool, but at the end of the day, they’re still her straight, old, lame parents they’ve always been.

Wait, her dad definitely asked her a question that she absolutely does not remember. Right as she started floundering a half assed non answer, Steve was talking. Oh she could kiss him, but she’s pretty sure she’d be sending her parents even more mixed signals. “Robin and I are not dating, and obviously we never would. We love each other though, more than anything, and I hope you know by now I’d do anything to keep her safe– ‘

“And I’d do anything to keep Steve safe,” Robin interjects. Not necessarily for her parents’ benefit, but because she knows that Steve should hear that this dynamic goes both ways as often as possible. And she’s glad she said something, because the bright, adoring look on his face is enough to calm her twisted guts, just a smidge.

Steve continues, “So no we aren’t dating, but to the general public we will be. Just to make it look like we are deemed acceptable to society. My partner is doing the same thing with one of our other friends.”

One of our other friends. That phrase sits in Robin like a giant slab of cement. Nancy Wheeler is so much more than another one of their friends. Steve had just been so brave then admitting he had a partner first, and she’s eternally grateful he didn’t up and say she has a girlfriend it has to be her to say it. “My partner actually, Steve’s boyfriend is pretending to date my girlfriend.

“Jesus, how many queer kids are there in Hawkins?”

Steve laughed earnestly, “I think Hawkins might be the most gay town in America. That’s why Reagan won’t visit.” Which in turn makes Richard Buckley laugh. Robin thinks not for the first time in their friendship, having their dad’s be so completely different with the same name, only adds to her and Steve’s soulmatism.

“Nancy?” Her mom asks apropos fucking nothing! “Is that the girl you’re going steady with?”

“H– How did you know that?” Robin sputters.

“Honey I mean now that, that I know it’s kinda. Not obvious! But the subtle signs are there. You look at Nancy the same way Aunt Anita looks at Aunt Rachel.” She says simply, as if that means anything.

“Why would Aunt Anita’s roommate–” The realization hits Robin like a Russian soldier with a mean slap. “Oh my god! I’m the most oblivious person on the planet, and I know Michael Wheeler!” Steve barks out a surprised laugh at that.

“You really didn’t know?” Her father asks with amusements written all over his stupid face. “I’ve known about my sister since we were in elementary school Birdie and I never loved her any less. Just like I’ll never love you any less and Steve for that matter. You kids are safe with us always, although you and Miss Wheeler are no longer permitted to sleepovers, unless one of you takes the couch.”

Well that was an unexpected side effect she hadn’t considered before, but she’ll take it, and just shrugs in agreement.

“Now son,” And Rich turns to Steve. “I know your folks aren’t the” he pauses and Robin knows he’s looking for the right words not to scare Steve off, “aren’t the most open minded, so I’ll say two things that I hope you listen to. First, please know that you always, always have a home here in case you need it, and honestly if I had it my way you’d already be sharing Robin’s room.” Steve nods his head at her dad, and she can tell if he were to say anything it would probably come out a little wobbly, then her dad continues and the mood sombers, “And secondly.” He takes a deep breath, “It’s a scary time for you boys right now, I know you know that, but Steve we love you like you’re our own little Buckley, just be safe and smart. Okay?”

Steve nods again more firmly this time, and lets out a quiet, “Okay.”

So that’s it. Robin and Steve are both out to her parents. They know about Nancy. This isn’t some Upside Down science/magic? Now that she thinks about it she never got the rundown on how all of that works, and frankly as long as it stays gone, she’d rather not think about it.

***

After their emotional conversation, the dinner went back to being business as usual. As if nothing changed, and in so many ways it didn’t, but it felt a little off, there was a little less pressure sitting tight in her chest. She felt loose in a way she hadn’t in years with her parents. And to top it off they were able to convince her parents to skip out on their weekly movie night, so they could be with Nancy and Eddie.

Nancy and Eddie had decided to wait for them at Steve’s house, either to relax, or to better be prepared if they had to ditch town. They were both crowding the door right as Steve pushed it open. Eddie was bouncing his feet, and twisting his hair, while Nancy was putting on a brave face, but Robin caught her tapping her foot with pent up anxiety. So they told them everything.

Eddie sags with relief, and before she can even look at Nancy to gauge her reaction, she’s being enveloped in a tight and somehow tender hug. Nancy starts whispering praise into her ear. Robin’s legs go nearly weak at them. She lets Nancy take hold of her face, they are both beaming at each other, and then they’re kissing. Like really kissing. Nancy has her pushed back up against the closed front door, and Robin gets lost in it. Lost in the way Nancy perfume smells, in the way her lips are a little bit chapped from nervously chewing on them tonight, lost in the way she was completely, head over heels in love with Nancy Edith Wheeler.

They break apart, and Robin notices thankfully they’re alone. Doesn’t matter much when Eddie yells from the kitchen, “If you two degenerates are done fornicating in the foyer you’re more than welcome to some cheesecake and wine.” Robin hears a dull oof come from the kitchen and she knows Steve smacked him in the chest.

Nancy scoff’s and starts walking to the kitchen, “You’re one to talk Munson, hands where I can see them, and not stuck to Steve’s ass all night.”

Robin sees Steve’s eyebrow shoot up knowing that this now is a competition they all need to destroy each other in, and that’s when Robin knows that they’re going to be okay.

#platonic stobin #robin buckly #my writing #stranger things #background steddie #background ronance #cross posted on ao3

[menaceadored]

if i write ronance, there will be background steddie and its mostly because i refuse to deal with straight steve and his unrequited feelings for nancy. no thanks. that’s weird

#steve can and will and has moved on #the six little nuggets speech was a delusion in a near death situation and can and will be overlooked #he likes eddie now #robin and nancy are in love #or whatever dynamic i’m writing them in #i say this as if i am actually going to finish writing anything anytime soon #haha me? #no i couldn’t possibly #robin buckley #nancy wheeler #ronance #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #stranger things #background steddie #where is the other half of platonic soulmate stobin? oh he’s busy being queer himself #the focus here is ronance

[bifuriouswaterbender]

It Sends You Spinning

Will/Gareth - 4,325 Words, Rated T

Gareth’s been staring at the Google Form for over twenty minutes now, and he’s starting to feel a little ridiculous. He can do this. He absolutely can.

The university hosts this event every year in collaboration with a local queer activism group. He knows it started as a way to raise awareness about HIV prevention, and while the info packet mentions that testing will be available at one of the booths, it’s grown much larger, and the drag show is the major draw. There will be actual professionals in the second half, but it’s the amateur competition at the beginning that has him preoccupied now.

Gareth could. He should. He can. He just needs to fill out the stupid form to enter.

Eddie picks up on the third ring. “What do you want?”

Gareth starts with a joke, partially for the mood and partially to stall. “I didn’t interrupt sex with your boyfriend or anything, did I?”

“Hardy har,” Eddie says, and Gareth can practically see him roll his eyes. “It’s cute you think I’d let you interrupt that by answering.”

“And here I thought I was special,” Gareth coos.

“I’m assuming you do have a reason for calling, though.”

Gareth hesitates. The silence must speak for him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Gareth starts, then cuts himself off again. “I’m being stupid, and I need you to tell me that.”

“What did you do?” There’s a teasing lilt to Eddie’s voice, like he knows he isn’t about to scold Gareth, just verbally knock some sense into him.

“It’s what I haven’t done.” Gareth bites his lip, staring at the computer screen for a few seconds before admitting, “I’m looking at that drag show signup, and I can’t bring myself to do it.”

“Why not?”

“Because,” Gareth says, “that involves getting into drag in front of people.”

Eddie snorts, and okay, fine, Gareth can admit it’s funny even though he doesn’t appreciate that he’s the joke here.

“What’s so funny?” he asks anyway.

“You literally performed for people all the time in high school. You’ve been up on stage plenty of times!”

“Yeah, but the drummer’s at the back.” Gareth knows he’s arguing just to argue, to stall, but that doesn’t stop him. “And that’s with others, not by myself.”

“You’ve been practicing your intricate little makeup looks for months.”

“And only let like three people see it.”

“You wore a dress out in public last month when we went clubbing! That has to take more courage to go out on the street confidently in a dress than up on stage.”

“I didn’t even have a bra and padding on, though.”

“But you tucked,” Eddie points out. “You did the most awkward part and proved you can be around people without thinking about it constantly.”

“I’m starting to be sorry I told you that,” Gareth grumbles.

[Read the rest here]

#greatwise #gareth emerson #gareth (stranger things) #will byers #background steddie #st fic #stranger things fic #my writing #my fic

[every-aj-needs-an-angel]

Based on this incredible post that inspired the worms. Sorry it's not exactly right @flowercrowngods I just finished this and went to find the post only to realise it went in a different direction, I'm so sorry darling!

I'm sorry in advance if this is rubbish, this is my first time writing clarkson I just hope I did our beloved Uncle Wayne proud 💖

It all started with Dustin Henderson. Didn't everything?

The kid stopped by, trying to bribe Eddie into doing something with the creatures in the campaign or something. Poor boy still hadn't worked out that the only way to bribe Eddie to do anything was through Robin; because since the day Steve Harrington, of all people, had stepped through his front door, the three of them had been as thick as thieves. Wayne didn't question it, just accepted it as one of the eccentricities of the universe, especially when he saw just how happy the ex jock made his boy.

So although Dustin was way off in trying to find the way to Eddie's heart; he'd easily found Wayne's, he'd do anything for good coffee and homemade baked goods.

Especially flavourful, rich coffee and mouthwatering baked goods. Bribery through fresh ground coffee beans and handmade delicacies would always win him over, even if it was a hit and a miss for the little genius. More for me, he'd thought gleefully to himself as he'd pilfered the treats, sneaking out the front door to sit in his rocking chair on the porch, enjoying watching the world go by and listening to his kids bicker with a satisfied smile plastered on his face.

Wayne was a man of simple pleasures. He'd always been happy with his store bought instant and the kind of pastries that pop out of a can, but the delicacies Dustin had brought by just wouldn't leave his mind. He was having cravings, zoning out at work just thinking about them. And then one morning as he was driving home from a long shift, Someone Like You blasting from the speakers, the slow beat easing the tension in his shoulders. The traffic lights switched from green to red as he rolled through town, not that he minded, the only thing waiting for him these days was his bed but as he slowed to a stop, tapping along to the beat on the sill of the rolled down window, he spotted the new bakery the kid had bought them from.

The lights flipped back, and suddenly he found he was pulling into an open parking spot outside Clarke's. He's pretty sure the building had been an ice cream parlour before the quake, but most of the buildings in town had been refurbished and reopened in the last few years; sometimes with the same business, sometimes with something new. The sign above the door was painted in red and white stripes, with Clarke's Bakery written in pretty maroon calligraphy. The notice in the window was flipped to Open, it surprised him, given how early it still was, most of the town was still in bed and there wasn't a soul to be seen when the little bell above the door jingled as he entered, he would've been worried that the building had been left open by accident if it wasn't for the luscious smell permeating the air and the "Be right with you," that someone called from the back room.

Waiting was fine with him, it gave him a chance to familiarise himself with the quaint, little place. The chalkboard price lists, the display cases were so shiny they were obviously brand new, and unfortunately disappointingly empty, but he supposed it wasn't surprising given how early it still was. The smell coming from the back more than made up for it though, it was making his mouth water, and he just knew whatever they were making was going to be delicious in the way that store bought anything just wasn't any more.

Behind the counter was one of those fancy coffee machines, the ones with all the buttons and the levers; Wayne had less to deal with at the plant, but the best thing of all was the array of cups sitting on top of the shiny machine. They were all different shapes, sizes, colours and characters; it reminded him of his old collection, the one he lost to the "quake" but honestly he couldn't be too sad about it, after weeks at Eddie's bedside he was just glad that was all he'd lost.

The whole place just felt really comfortable, the tables and chairs had all been picked for comfort rather than style, most of it was mismatched, but it was the type of furniture that invited you to sit, even the rug under the sofa in the back corner looked like the type you wanted to take your shoes and socks off and sink your toes into.

Homely was the word that came to mind, unlike the kids who'd called it cute, whatever that meant; how anything inanimate could be cute was beyond him. Puppies, you betcha, babies, absolutely; the man who'd just appeared behind the counter wearing a shirt and bow-tie under a flour covered apron, icing sugar splotches on his face and mischief dancing in his eyes, yep, 100%, definitely cute.

"Wayne! Hi," Scott greeted with a wide grin that slowly slipped from his face as Wayne's brain came up with nothing but static, "Scott Clarke, remember? I taught your Eddie. We were paired up together when little Will went missing," he continued, looking less and less sure of himself.

Wayne hated it. He knew all that, he knew Scott, of course he did, but it was like his brain wasn't connected to the rest of his body and all he could do was blink and breathe. It felt like it took a Herculean effort just to breathe out a dreamy "Hi."

Scott blushed and looked down at the counter, glancing up at Wayne through his lashes, a smile pulling at one side of his mouth as he drew delicate patterns on the notepad sitting beside the register that Wayne's pretty sure he recognised from attempting to help Eddie with his homework once upon a time.

"What can I getcha?" Scott asked, pen poised over the paper.

It was like the connection snapped back into place as he thought about the coffee and pastries Dustin had brought.

"Dustin," Wayne started, raising his hand to his shoulder, "curly hair, logo t-shirts," Wayne did his best to describe. Scott taught a lot of students, just because he remembered the class disrupters like Eddie didn't mean he remembered them all.

But Scott just chuckled jovially, "I know Dustin," he admitted fondly.

Wayne smiled softly, anybody who held any affection for one of his kids was good in his book, "He brought something over for Eddie last week, coffee and a-"

"An Americano and a Yum Yum," Scott finished for him with an affectionate smile, pushing himself off the counter to start filling components and pressing buttons before disappearing into the back.

Wayne sighed heavily, leaning bodily against the counter. He was glad for the breather, he didn't know what was wrong with him; an old man with butterflies and a lead tongue, cheeks flushing crimson as his mind played him a loop of his lovesick greeting. He scrubbed his hands roughly over his face, wanting the ground to open up and swallow him whole. Finding a bloke attractive wasn't new to him, he'd been in a committed relationship before Eddie had been dropped on his doorstep by his deadbeat brother, but John had asked him to choose between them and hadn't liked that Wayne didn't even need to think about it, of course he would always choose Eddie.

What was new was being so obvious about it. 

Maybe he'd spent too much time around Steve and Eddie, they were careful in public, of course they were, but at home, with their loved ones, they were never ashamed to let their love and affection for one another shine through; no matter how much the kids would moan or mime gagging, they didn't care. Most of the time, the pair only had eyes for each other anyway. Maybe he was overtired. Or maybe he was just tired of putting up barriers. 

When he'd first met Scott, it was the excuse that he was Eddie's teacher. When they'd been paired to find Will, he'd admittedly enjoyed being with Scott, the man was pretty and smarter than half the town put together but searching the town for a potentially dead kid wasn't exactly conducive for romance. But now, he found he couldn't find an excuse, especially now that he knew Scott was the one behind those heavenly pastries and rich coffee.

Scott came out the back carrying two trays, one filled with glazed doughnuts and the other with the pastries he liked, and Wayne felt his mouth salivate. The smell alone was amazing, but they looked incredible too, and he was hungry enough he felt like he could easily eat everything on both trays and still have room for whatever was still baking. The trays were slid delicately into the display case, Scott's tongue poking adorably out the corner of his mouth as he concentrated. Wayne couldn't stop himself from smiling, no matter how much he pulled his bottom lip into his mouth, Scott looked up and caught his eye, the two men smiling gently at one another over the counter before Scott turned back to the coffee machine.

"Sorry about earlier," Wayne apologised sincerely, "I just pulled a double at the plant and all I've been able to think about for the past two hours have been your pastries," Wayne admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. He glanced up when Scott didn't reply immediately to find he still had his back turned to him, but that didn't mean Wayne couldn't see his beaming smile in all the shiny surfaces surrounding him, or the blush slowly creeping from his cheeks to the tips of his ears.

Wayne finds himself wanting to witter endlessly like Eddie does when Steve makes him all shy and giggly. He wants to start talking about his day and the weather and how he can picture Scott in his rocking chair at home, maybe sharing the chair or maybe Wayne could picture building him his own, so they could sit together; eating pastries hand in hand, watching the world go by. He doesn't say anything though, just rocks on the balls of his feet ducking his head, unable to keep the smirk off his face at making a pretty boy blush.

"I guess that means you're taking this to go," Scott finally says over his shoulder, steam clouding around him and turning the icing sugar splotches sticky. Wayne could be mistaken, but he would say Scott sounds a little disappointed.

He doesn't trust himself to speak, the chances of something inappropriate, like "Marry me?", coming out of his mouth are far too high, he is a Munson after all; so he just hums affirmatively.

"I'd say it's a shame, but I have to get to work as soon as I've got the kids set up for the day," Scott admits, his whole ears are beat red, the blush spreading quickly up the back of his neck.

"Maybe we could continue this another time," Wayne says as Scott hands him a warm cardboard cup and a paper bag, their fingers brushing and sending sparks up his arms; it was supposed to be a question, but it didn't sound enough like one.

"I'd like that," Scott replied with a dazzling smile that Wayne can't help but mirror. He nods once, walking backwards towards the door, not quite wanting to break the connection and not really wanting to leave, but not wanting to overstay his welcome or make Scott late for his day either. "Bye," Scott chuckled as Wayne fumbled with the door handle letting himself out with a little paper bag filled wave, floating back to his truck on a cloud as Scott disappeared back into the back.

And that's how it goes for a while, Wayne stops in every morning on his way home from work, they chat about the kids or work or the latest article Wayne read in his copy of UFO. They chat a lot about the children's book Scott is writing, about six kids who all sound suspiciously like the ones Eddie and Steve have practically adopted. A genius with a floppy head of curls who recruits his friends into discovering the secrets of the universe that the adults have been hiding from them. A ginger haired girl with an attitude big enough to fight anyone who gets in their way. A sportsman and an artist who use their unique skills to their collective advantage, and a grumpy kid who always puts himself between his friends and any kind of danger. He nearly laughs when along the way, the little group meet a girl with dark, cropped hair who happens to have superpowers; she can move things with her mind, which she uses to help and protect them along their journey of discovery.

Wayne falls a little bit more in love with every detail, it's like Scott knows, but Wayne knows he doesn't, he's just heard what he'd assumed to be fantastical tales from the kids and pieced it all together with his brilliant imagination.

Then one day, Wayne pushes open the front door and there's no beautiful smells, there's just crashing and cursing coming from the back room then deadly silence other than the jingle of the bell, followed by a cautious "Wayne?"

"Yeah, it's just me," he calls back, flicking the lock on the front door, only noticing that the sign on the door was flipped to Closed when he goes to change it himself.

As he heads behind the counter, he can hear Scott dashing around, the overpowering smell of flour nearly choking him as he wanders into the back. The kitchen looks like a bomb has gone off, there's bowls and packaging and ingredients everywhere. Scott looks beyond stressed, darting between three different bowls and trying not to slip in the flour he's spilled all over the floor. He's not even wearing an apron, so his shirt is covered in flicks of batter; he'd look adorable if he didn't look so distressed.

"What happened?" Wayne asks, picking up the dropped bowl and finding the broom from the closet, sweeping up the flour, careful not to trip Scott up.

Scott sighs heavily, "Power cut killed my alarm clock," he mutters, beating the ingredients in the bowl he's holding, simultaneously pressing buttons and flicking switches on the ovens.

Wayne looks around a little bewildered, he hasn't baked anything other than a box cake since he and Al would stay over at their grans, but he isn't useless in the kitchen, especially with a little instruction.

"What can I do?" he asks, rolling up his sleeves and washing his hands thoroughly in the sink, he'd already washed up at the plant, but it wouldn't hurt to do it again, he doesn't want to give anyone food poisoning. Scott doesn't say anything but as Wayne turns around to find a drying towel, he finds it's because Scott is frozen in place gawking at him, Wayne can't keep the endeared grin from his face, "Scott?"

It seems to snap him out of it, he immediately begins stirring again, blush spreading over his cheeks, pulling the towel off of his shoulder to hand it to Wayne. He steps towards the island where most of the chaos lies and points to one of the bowls, "Could you stir that one? Just until the butter goes a creamy colour," he asks tiredly, flashing Wayne an appreciative smile when he picks up the wooden spoon and starts combining the ingredients.

Wayne glances at the clock above the ovens, Scott has to leave for school in the next hour and nothing is even close to being baked yet. The kids would help, sure it's early, but he knows they all adore Scott; Steve and Eddie have done nothing but talk fondly about him for weeks. And Wayne isn't stupid, he knows they've seen the array of coffee cups and paper bags that he's brought home recently, he just wishes they'd stop trying to goad him already.

"You got instructions for each of these?" Wayne asks, wandering around the room looking into each bowl with his bowl tucked under his arm. Scott just nods, counting to himself under his breath, grabbing a binder from the corner of the room and flicking it open on the one spare bit of counter space. It's filled with laminated pieces of paper, ingredient lists and instructions for each of the pastries that usually live in the display cabinets. "You got a phone?" Wayne asks next with an impish grin on his face.

One quick call to Steve's and twenty minutes later the kitchen is filled with the kids, each with their own bowl and recipe. Eddie's in the corner moaning about how early it is, Max is threatening Dustin for bumping into her for the sixth time in as many minutes, Steve and Mike are bickering, Steve hands on his pyjama clad hips as Mike wags his finger at him. It's loud and hectic, but everything is getting done and if they're lucky Scott might only be a few minutes late for work. 

It isn't anything like the peaceful mornings they're used to, chatting amicably as Scott potters, but as Wayne catches Scott's eye over the kids heads, he finds his own besotted smile mirrored back at him.

Dough is rolled and stretched and shaped and placed on baking trays. Robin's in charge of timings, perching herself on a stool with everyone's wristwatch in her lap, shouting out when a pastry is finished. Lucas and Steve are in charge of cooling, mainly because they're the least clumsy and Mike, Will and El are in charge of decoration, most of it only involves dipping the pastries in bowls of icing but the kids all quickly settled themselves into their preferred roles and who are Wayne and Scott to argue when they've collectively got the job done faster than they ever could've alone.

There's only four pastries to finish baking by the time Robin's yelling that they're going to be late. The kids who run the bakery during the day are already set up and dealing with customers, Wayne's agreed to stay behind and pull the remaining trays out of the oven, luckily nothing needs decorating, just cooling and taking to the display cabinets. There are implements piled high in the sink, even though Eddie and Dustin were supposed to be washing up. Wayne thinks they spent more time flicking bubbles at one another and joking around, but he doesn't mind; he's always found cleaning the dishes to be relaxing.

He finds he's exhausted as the adrenaline rush dissipates, but none of that matters as Scott dashes into the office to grab his briefcase and flies back into the kitchen, kissing Wayne quickly but firmly on the cheek, only seeming to realise what he's done after the fact. 

The kids all stop dead in their tracks, the kitchen going eerily silent for a second before Steve and Eddie start rounding up the kids, shooing them out the backdoor, dragging Robin along with them, leaving he and Scott alone in the suddenly quiet space. Scott flushes, panic flaring in his eyes, so Wayne just grabs him by the wrist and pulls him closer to plant a kiss on his flour covered cheek, dusting the ingredients off with his thumb as he wishes him a good day. Scott just grins vibrantly, heading for the exit, pausing briefly in the doorway, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

Wayne isn't sure whether it's supposed to be a statement or a question, "Tomorrow," he promises with a nod. Scott's grin turns infectious then he's gone, disappearing into the alley, the door falling shut behind him, leaving Wayne alone for the first time since he left his truck. 

He pulls the first two trays out of the oven as the timer buzzes, letting the pastries cool on the rack. Then he makes a start on the dishes, letting the gentle buzz of the bakery and the warm soapy water sooth him, he hasn't felt this way since he was a teenager; sneaking kisses and sharing cigarettes with Tony behind the bleachers. 

He finds it isn't as terrible as he assumed it'd be, to fall in love again; to let someone into his life because it's easy with Scott, so, so easy. Even when they talk about what Scott calls his theories, Scott just gives him this look that almost says "God, it's a good job you're handsome" like Wayne can hear him projecting that thought into his head with his amused smile. Even when Scott lays out logical arguments that seem to prove to him that the supernatural doesn't exist, it's so easy to just give him a look of his own. They almost remind him of Eddie and Steve when they start up a discussion about sports or the game Eddie likes to play with the kids, each with their own look that says "I love you, but you're wrong" and the thought only makes him smile wider.

It doesn't take him long to finish up in the kitchen, and he feels a calm acceptance by the time the ovens are off, all the pastries cooled and on trays and all the implements clean and dry. He's always been able to do that, have his world shifted on its axis and within the hour just be able to understand within himself that that's his new normal now.

He feels almost content as he drops off the final trays out front, giving a cheerful wave to Claudia when she shouts his name from the line of people waiting for their chance to get their hands on Scott's pastries.

Seeing how busy it is out front, he turns to head out the back door, pausing as he passes the office with this overwhelming need to just leave something for Scott. He wanders in and sits down at the desk, pulling a piece of paper from the notebook on the tabletop; pen poised as he contemplates the soundness of his decision and throwing caution to the wind as he envisions Scott's smile as he'd left for work.

Wayne's never been much of a wordsmith, not like his Eddie, but he's been listening to a lot of his favourites lately, the cassettes in his truck switching regularly between Cash, Clapton and Williams. It'd been Williams this morning, and the lyrics had been circling in the back of his mind since he'd walked into the bakery's chaos. He puts the pen to the paper, hearing Don's voice in his mind as he writes, trying his hardest to make it legible.

Well I don't believe that heaven waits, for only those who congregate. I like to think of God as love, he's down below, he's up above. He's watching people everywhere, he knows who does and doesn't care. And I'm an ordinary man, sometimes I wonder who I am. But I believe in love. I believe in music. I believe in magic. And I believe in you. Pausing, he makes his choice and adds on, Love, Wayne.

#clarkson #coffee shop au #kinda? #maybe just post s4? #idk anymore #someone like you eric clapton #don williams i believe in you #scott clarke #wayne munson #wayne munson x scott clarke #background steddie #background platonic stobin #wayne's pov #aj writes

[loveinhawkins]

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 ao3

They’re barely five minutes away from Eddie’s place. As they draw closer, Dustin wants to shut his eyes against the sight of the trailer park; there’s right where he stumbled, there’s where he heard Eddie scream, there’s where… where…

His foot starts to ache all over again, chest tightening like he’s just leapt right through the Gate.

Steve doesn’t speak as he parks the car next to Eddie’s van.

He’d crammed Dustin’s bike in the back, didn’t seem to care that the tires scratched the seats, staining them with mud.

He shakes his head slightly as Dustin opens the door.

“Wait, don’t… I’ll come round.”

He takes Dustin’s weight, so it feels more like Dustin isn’t really walking at all—which is so stupid, he’s hardly hurt, he can manage a few steps—

Steve’s gripping his shoulders, voice low like he’s trying to stay calm, but Dustin can hear the shake in his words; he knows, he knows.

“Can you walk on it?”

Dustin nods—maybe, he’s not sure. He feels weird, wrong, like he’s existing just outside of his body, like a puzzle piece that’s not been slotted in enough. “Yeah. I can’t… can’t feel it.”

He can’t feel anything. Will never feel anything again. Eddie. Eddie is—

“Woah, easy. I’ve got you.”

Steve’s grip tightens around Dustin’s shoulders. Dustin stumbles, sways. They’re at the front door.

Steve knocks in a specific pattern—a triplet, followed by one slow beat—then opens the door like he already knew it would be unlocked.

Eddie’s on the phone; as he turns, the plastic still pressed against his ear, Dustin is witness to the exact moment Eddie sees him, relief shining in his eyes, followed immediately by deep concern.

“Oh, thank God,” he breathes into the phone. “Sorry. Yeah, he’s here, he’s here.”

He glances to Steve, and Dustin is far too tired to try and deduce whatever silent conversation they are having.

“Yeah,” Eddie says again. “Of course. We’ve got him.”

Eddie talks some more before hanging up, but Dustin can hardly hear him.

Everything seems faint and far away. Even his own thoughts.

He only realises when Steve cautiously waves a hand in front of his face that he must’ve been trying to get his attention.

There’s some space cleared on the kitchen counter, and Dustin awkwardly lifts himself up onto it by his arms.

It feels like he just blinks for half a second, if that, but he must lose some more time, because Steve’s suddenly right in front of him, pressing a couple of clean dishtowels against his knees to stop the bleeding.

“I can do it,” Dustin says.

Steve looks up at him. “I know,” he says simply. He doesn’t move away.

Eddie’s reaching up to a cupboard, bringing out thick padded bandaids.

“Gotta clean it first,” Steve says without looking at him.

Eddie hums. “Yeah, I know.”

He’s wetting another cloth, and they’re both looking at the cuts with such severity, like it’s worth all of that worry.

It’s so stupid.

Dustin bites down hard on his tongue. Stop it, he wants to scream at them.

They’ve seen so much worse.

Even before Eddie, before the end of everything, Dustin remembers when Steve first climbed out of The Upside Down, when the focus was drawn to Nancy, her face pale and drawn after Vecna had rooted around her head.

He watched Steve fall onto the mattress like it was nothing, an arm wrapped around his stomach as if to hide it.

Dustin could still see the makeshift bandage. The bloodstains.

He pushes himself off the counter, lands with a wobble.

“Let me do it.”

Steve moves backwards on his knees, giving Dustin space. His hands twitch like he can’t help it, like him trying to help is a deep-seated instinct, but he visibly stops himself from getting close.

As Dustin turns, grabbing a clean towel, his eyes catch on the living room. It’s like he can still see it hanging there. The rope.

Maybe it is. Maybe he’s back there, and it’s not too late, Eddie hasn’t cut it yet, he can still—

Time… slips.

Bandaids on his knees. Standing in front of the kitchen sink, gripping onto the counter. Breathing harsh and heavy, ringing in his ears.

Whispers in the hall. Door opening and closing—Steve’s in the bathroom.

But no, that’s… that’s not right. Steve’s gone to the Creel House, it’s just Dustin and Eddie, they’re alone, they’re—

Eddie choking.

No, you’re gonna be fine. Just gotta get you to a hospital, okay?

Blood on Dustin’s hands.

Water running.

Cold, cold, cold—

Flash of lightning. Vines. Dead bats.

Dustin falls to the ground.

“Steve! Steve, he can’t breathe, he’s—”

Eddie. Eddie’s right in front of him, his clothes ripped, drenched with—

“Dustin, Dustin, oh my God. Can you hear me?”

Dustin slams his hands onto Eddie’s chest, as if he could stitch him back together from sheer force, but he can’t, he can’t remember what to—he doesn’t know what to do, he—

“What the—Dustin, hey, hey, please. Stop, stop—”

A hand around his wrist.

Dustin screams.

“Jesus! Oh shit, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Fuck, fuck, fuck. O-okay. Okay. Dustin? Dustin, it’s me, it’s Eddie, just—”

“H-help,” Dustin whispers. “You’re dying, you’re dying, I don’t know what to—”

A panicked breath. “Dustin. Tell me where you are.”

Dustin shakes his head. He knows where is, feels the cold in every ragged inhale, the sickening warmth of Eddie’s blood on his hands—

“Please, please. Tell me where you are.”

Camera flash.

The Upside Down disappears like smoke.

“K-kitchen,” Dustin gasps.

And suddenly, like surging up from underwater and breaking through the surface, Dustin has the utmost clarity as to what he’s done.

He’s on the floor. He’s on the floor in the kitchen of Eddie’s trailer, and his hands are pressing hard on Eddie’s chest, and Eddie’s frozen under his touch, shuddering through great heaving breaths.

Dustin jolts backwards, slams his back against a lower cupboard.

Eddie makes a wounded noise. His hand reaches for him, but stops mid-air.

The creak of movement.

Steve.

He’s standing, watching over them. Very still.

Dustin opens his mouth. “I-it doesn’t make any sense.”

Silence.

“What doesn’t make sense?” Eddie whispers. He sounds close to tears.

Dustin wishes he couldn’t hear it; he can’t bear it.

He hurls the words out, the shame of it bitter on his tongue.

“Nothing happened to me.”

“Dustin,” Steve says, in a tone of voice Dustin’s never heard before: something raw and devastated. He gets down to Dustin’s eye level, reaches out with one hand, slowly, slowly.

For a moment, there’s particles from The Upside Down in his hair, like snow. Then Dustin blinks it all away.

“Dustin,” Steve repeats, and his voice is all low again, but there’s a tremor underneath. “That’s not true.”

His hand falls on Dustin’s shoulder. It cuts through the cold. Cuts through everything.

Dustin takes a wet, gasping breath—

And breaks.

#dustin henderson has ptsd #dustin henderson fic #henderfam #steve and dustin #eddie and dustin #steddie with dustin’s pov #eddie and claudia #steve and claudia #dustin henderson #steve harrington #eddie munson #background steddie #implied steddie #next & probably final part will have enough steddie for main tag again imo

[morganski-19]

Bought This Dress (so you can take it off)

Rated: E

Relationship: Robin Buckley/Nancy Wheeler

Tags: Porn with Plot, Valentines Day, Date Night, Established Relationship,

Word count: 5,271

Chapters: 1/1

Summary:

It isn’t meant to be anything suggestive, and it shouldn’t have the effect it does on Robin, it’s not even about them for Christ’s sake. But with the way Nancy dressed and the way it kept coming back into her mind without even thinking, it was going to be hard for her to sit through dinner.

“Is that our cue to leave?” Robin responds, drinking in Nancy all over again.

“Before we even said hello, that’s a little rude, don’t you think.”

Robin’s sure that one day Nancy is going to be the death of her. But if death was a woman in a red dress that she got lucky enough to call hers, she might be ok with that.

#ronance #stranger things #robin buckley #nancy wheeler #steve harrington #eddie munson #background steddie #ronance fic #valentines day

[heartandflowerball]

Nancy Wheeler's camera roll (ronance edition) (modern au)

Headcanons, backstory and close up under the cut

~~~

The first photo was probably taken by Nancy during one of Robin's concerts ( she does the first part of Correded Coffin's gig )(she was playing Our Song by Taylor Swift). Nancy was at the gig with Steve (who wanted to see Eddie , his boyfriend) and Mike because their mom asked her to do the baby-sitter for his brother.

The second is a selfi that Steve and Nancy took, waiting for the next song. She probably sent it to the groupchat they have with the kids.

After the concert, they all went to Robin house and Mike literally adopted Robin's cat. Nancy sent the pic to Will and he reacted with "OOMG he is so cute".

The platonic best friends worked at Scoops Ahoy, and they send a selfi to Nancy every hour.

Robin took that photo. Nancy was invited to some show to write an article about and she took her girlfriend with her. This is was in the backstage.

Just Nancy and her love for books.

Painting Date with Rob (who took the photo, again)

This photo was taken by Nancy, she was sat with Robin and Steve on a banch , after their work, waiting for Eddie. And then Eddie came, and Steve RUN for hugging him.

Robin was with Nancy at her house and Will call her for telling her all the new gossip about Mike.

~~~~

robin's version (ronance)

Tanks for reading this, sorry if I have done grammatical mistake, english is not my first language.

this may become a serie.

Fell free to comment and reblog, I would love to know your opinion <3

#ronance #stranger things #stranger things s4 #nancy wheeler #robin buckley #modern au #background steddie #background byler #background mike wheeler #they are so precious #they're in love your honor #they're gay your honor #stranger things modern au

[maxineholtzmann]

just fall in love with me (this Christmas) - complete on ao3

Rating: Mature

Relationships: Robin Buckley/Chrissy Cunningham, Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Hallmark AU, References to Sexual Content but this fic is not explicit, Misunderstandings, Healthy Communication, Platonic Soulmates Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Platonic Soulmates Chrissy Cunningham & Eddie Munson, Hawkins is a Christmas Town, Christmas Store Owner Chrissy Cunningham, Robin Buckley's Parents Are Dead, Car Crash Discussions, Parent Death Discussion, Mild Angst, Happy Ending, Christmas Parade, Background Steddie

Word Count: 7,102

Chapters: 1/1

Snippet:

Robin woke up naked–which was not completely unusual but it was unusual for it to happen in a stranger’s bed in Hawkins, Indiana. She stretched out her arms and legs, the bed empty but still warm–clearly whoever she was had only just got up. What was her name? They’d had a lot to drink the night before and Robin was a bit fuzzy on the details other than that the woman was probably the most beautiful woman Robin had ever seen and her name was something with a “K” maybe. Kristine? Keri?

Robin sat up, her head swimming. Going out last night had been a mistake. She had to meet Steve and Eddie in– oh shit. Robin looked at the clock. It read 8:30 am. She had less than an hour to meet Steve and Eddie at her parents’ house and she had no idea how far away from it she was.

She started searching the room for her clothes. They had had some very enthusiastic sex the night before which had apparently involved her bra ending up on the other side of the room from her shirt. She was unfortunately not able to find her panties, so she was going to have to just put her jeans on sans underwear– yikes –and hope for the best. Maybe that was her punishment for being a horny idiot in her hometown at Christmas.

She pulled on her socks, hopping on one foot as she opened the bedroom door to see the woman from the night before running around her apartment in sweats and a tank top, clearly panic-cleaning.

“Oh good, there you are. I’m so sorry to do this and I swear I’m not usually like this but you have to go. Like, now,” the woman said, her strawberry blonde hair pulled up in a messy bun,blue  eyes wide in panic. She had hickeys all over her neck, courtesy of Robin.

“That’s totally fine, I actually am late to meet someone. Have you seen my jacket?” Robin asked, casting her eyes around the living room of the small apartment.

“Yes, here,” the woman said, thrusting Robin’s jacket, bag, and shoes into her hands and subtly pushing her towards the door of the apartment. “Again, so sorry but I have friends coming over in like, an hour, and this place is a mess and I’m a mess and I had a great time last night uh…”

“Robin,” Robin supplied.

“Right, of course. Robin. So fun, so great to meet you, great sex, thanks for the orgasms, et cetera,” the woman said as she opened the front door of her apartment, depositing Robin in the hallway.

“Right, uh–” Robin said, standing in the hallway, shocked at how efficiently she had been ushered out of this woman’s apartment.

“I hope you have a Merry Christmas!” the woman said, smiling brightly as she shut the door in Robin’s face. Robin heard the lock click as she stared at the wreath on the door.

read the rest here

written for @thefreakandthehair's Spicy Six Winter Fanworks Challenge! Prompt was: "All the movies make this look so much easier."

#spicysixwinterfanworkschallenge #buckingham #hallmark au #robin buckley x chrissy cunningham #robin x chrissy #stranger things #stranger things fanfic #robin buckley #chrissy cunningham #background steddie

[hexiewrites]

you can keep your boots on baby (I'm a woman not a lady)

explicit | robin buckley / chrissy cunningham | read it on ao3

inspired by @riality-check's brilliant "save a horse, ride an ex-jock"

“Okay, Eddie,” Chrissy says, for probably the hundredth time that night, as she paces Eddie’s apartment. “So, you know the plan-”

“Chris,” he says, with a sigh, as he reaches out to grab her shoulders to stop the pacing. “I know the plan. And I’m telling you, if everything you’ve told me about this coworker of yours is correct you aren’t going to need a plan at all. You just need to show up and make a few flirty remarks and she is going to be putty in your hands.”

Chrissy nods, because as much as she hates when this happens, Eddie’s probably right. “Okay,” she says, with an exhale of breath. “You’re totally right. I’ve got this. It’s not like I don’t know how to flirt, right? I mean, hello, I’m Queen Chrissy. Right? It can’t be that much harder just because she’s a girl. Right Eddie?”

Eddie nods back, sagely, completely false bravado as Chrissy well knows. “You got it, doll!” he teases, his accent starting to slide back the more they talk, and claps her on the back a few times. “Now, how’s this?”

He steps back and turns to show off his outfit, and it’s definitely… country adjacent. For Eddie, it’s probably the best it’s going to be, with combat boots instead of cowboy and black jeans instead of light wash, and he’s torn the sleeves clean off his flannel.

“Very good,” Chrissy says with a nod. “If country-metal was a genre, you’d be at the very top.”

“That’s the worst thing you’ve ever said to me,” Eddie grumbles, as he gestures to her. “Now you.”

keep reading on ao3

#buckingham #robin buckley #chrissy cunningham #robin buckley x chrissy cunningham #this is just #look #its 4k of line dancing and 10k of smut pretty much #which is like #a Choice that i Made #i always get so nervous writing wlw smut like #i don't know WHY #i just want it to be PERFECT OKAY #so i hope yall enjoy this one #background steddie #stranger things #hex writes stuff