#remember when mike and lucas were supposed to be The best friends what happened to that

[demobatman]

nah because max becoming lucas and el’s best friends and essentially replacing the hole mike left in both of them LOL

#same fucking character. max and mike. #remember when mike and lucas were supposed to be The best friends what happened to that #crazy #i love you max mayfield #ramble #stranger things #max mayfield #lucas sinclair #el hopper #mike wheeler #oof #he left a sarcastic golden hearted hole and max said alright #im the spackle lets go

[bookshelf-dust]

the ones in red are always the prettiest.

gareth emerson x fem!henderson!reader.

word count: 4,215

warnings: swearing, pining, mentions of smoking, eddie playing matchmaker, the sweetest most disgustingly adorable fluff

a/n: i’m kind of in love with this, which doesn’t happen often. it felt easy to write too, if that makes sense. i hope you like it as much as i do!! <333

————

You don’t have friends. At least not really. Not anymore. You keep to yourself: go to class, study as best as you can, try and take care of yourself sometimes even. But you have got Dustin.

Dustin may be three years younger than you, but he’s remains your best friend. You tell him everything, and he knows you better than anyone. He is your one confidant.

Yeah, there may be some things that you don’t tell him, but he sort of knows, in a way. He’s always been smart as a whip. Like how lonely you are. How hard things can get. But he notices. Notices when you shy away from him, sink into yourself.

Yet he’s always there. Always. So when he started high school with you—his beginning, your ending—and found the Hellfire Club, it was like a dream come true. He’d found more kids like him to nerd out with, not that he didn’t nerd out with you, because he did. But he’d found his people. His own little group. And you were over the moon for him.

But that did take him away from you a bit. What with the initiations at the beginning of the year, new members and whatnot, the numerous and lengthy campaigns, Dustin simply making friends and having fun, you just didn’t see him as much. Didn’t have as much time to talk to him. But you were okay with that, because he was so happy.

————

Dustin was sitting at the Hellfire table, today sandwiched between Eddie and Lucas. You’d packed him a lunch this morning when you packed yours, because he’d said he was staying after school for a club meeting, and you wanted to make sure he had enough food, what with how late they could sometimes run.

The cafeteria food wasn’t always the best, and if he was going to be there extra long, he needed some snacks. Seeing Gareth and Mike sit down with trays full of whatever that was supposed to be, he was grateful for your gesture. Dustin dug around for the cookie he wanted, and snagged it, realizing you’d accidentally thrown two in there. So of course, being himself, he wanted to give it to you.

Dustin’s head shot up from where he’d been looking down, his eyes locating you sat at the table he’d been taken away from at the beginning of the year. Your neck was bent, nose buried in a book, and you were occasionally picking through your lunch pail. She needs this cookie, Dustin thought to himself. He hopped up, not thinking anything of it, ignoring the “Where’s he going?” and “Hey! You almost knocked my drink over!” that followed his change in seating.

You resisted the urge to flip your shit over the way Mr. Darcy was treating Elizabeth at the moment. Not that it was necessary, seeing as you'd read the book more than was healthy. Your page flipped with the gust of air that followed Dustin's aggressive flop as he sat down on the bench across from you. "How's Fitzwilliam today?"

"Prickish," you told him. "As al--" "As always," Dustin interrupted and finished for you. You grinned at him, closing the book, but keeping your thumb in to mark the page. "Need something, Dusty?"

He held out the cookie with both hands, bowing his head. "For you, my liege."

"Why, thank you kind sir." Dustin giggled at you, always willing to indulge him, and held his hand out for a high-five, which you reciprocated, before he scrambled back to his table.

"What was that all about?" Eddie inquired, shoving the last of a half-assed turkey sandwich in his mouth, wiping the crumbs on his knees before remembering that was where the holes in the denim were, making him steal Gareth's napkin. Gareth flipped him the bird.

"Just being a kind sibling. Figured she could use a nice gesture." Dustin adjusted the hat on his head. "I don't see how the two of you are related," Gareth started, "She's so quiet, and you're so—"

"Enthusiastic," Eddie finished.

"She's always been shy, but I think the quiet thing came after she got to high school."

"How's that?" Gareth popped the tab on his Dr. Pepper. "She had a pretty tight friend group in middle school, but they sort of grew apart. They got boyfriends, became cheerleaders, clones of one another. She didn't. She likes to read and doesn't give a shit about being popular—that's how we're related—and so I think the more independent she's become has made her eternally quiet. But she's kind of like us, actually, like when she gets excited about something. She's quite the nerd." Eddie smiled genuinely at Dustin, admiring the way he spoke about you, since most people didn't talk about their siblings like that. Mike certainly didn't.

Gareth glanced at you from where you finished off a bag of Ruffles, tipping the dregs into your mouth. Yeah, you were definitely related to Dustin. You dug around in your bookbag, pulling a red flannel on over your t-shirt. It was the same red as Gareth's vest. He pretended like that didn't affect him and went back to the Goldfish he'd gotten from the vending machine.

————

Dustin futzed with his hair in his bedroom mirror while you adjusted his makeshift 'X' belt buckle. He then tugged his hoodie down down, tucking the front into his yellow sweats to display the black emblem. "Here." You handed him his costume glasses.

You'd even sprayed a little blue in his hair for effect. He was the best Hank McCoy you'd ever seen. Dustin and his friend group had decided to go as assorted X-Men this Halloween, and the two of you had worked very hard on his costume. He'd begged you to join in, and you couldn't say no to him, so here you were with a huge white streak of hair on your head, attempting to be your very best Rogue.

You'd made your hair as big and curly as possible, and even spent a little extra on your temporary white hairspray so that it would last, a black headband pushed up your forehead to top it off. Your yellow top was tucked into green corduroy's, which matched the green bomber jacket you'd found at the thrift store. You'd dug out some worn in yellow converse, and Dustin had helped you make 'X' patches for your jacket and shirt.

Lucas and Max were supposed to be Scott and Jean, with Mike having chosen Sean Cassidy. You'd heard he'd been slaving over his Banshee 'wings.'

Some might think that all of you were too old for trick-or-treating, but none of you gave a shit. The plan was to hit the rich neighborhoods, traumatize tiny children, and then you were driving the group to Jeff's house for a Halloween party. Eddie had warned that if you didn't show up in costume, you weren't allowed in.

With a successful haul, you pulled into the driveway, nervous. "Are you sure it's okay for me to be here?" You looked at your brother in the passenger seat.

"Are you kidding? They invited you! They think it's cool that my sister likes Halloween as much as they do. You're gonna be great!" He smiled at you, adding an aggressive thumbs up for encouragement.

————

"Holy shit! You guys look great!" Jeff shouted as he opened the door, ushering all of you in. Jeff was covered in various makeshift nuts and bolts and stitches, opting for a very well albeit lazily crafted Frankenstein. When Eddie appeared, he was draped in a red and green sweater, and turning his cheek, he had some fake scar wax adorning the skin of his cheek. Although his knife fingers were only on his left hand as he waved at the lot of you. "Ladies first," he drawled.

"Thanks, Fred." You wandered into the kitchen in search of a drink as Dustin and his friends mingled. You didn't want to be the obnoxious older sister tonight, especially since he'd invited you to hang out with him and his friends.

You poured your drink, and were digging in the candy bowl when a voice interrupted you. "Wow, things must've really downhill with Xavier if Rogue is hangin' out with us." You looked up to find Gareth grinning at you.

You snorted. "I'm just here for the candy. Hank doesn't like to share." You let your eyes wander over his Dracula costume. His curls were extra defined tonight, and he'd clearly had the same idea as you, with a good bit of black spray weaved in with his natural brown. He was wearing all black under his cape, the red of the underside a stark contrast. Just looking at his cape, you could tell it was well-made and probably expensive. Given the boy, this probably wasn't the first time he'd used it.

He had rings on almost every finger, a dangly stake-like object hanging from one ear. But his fangs were the best part. They weren’t the plastic ones you bend and shove in your mouth, or comically oversized canines. They were small attachments on either of his own teeth, and were just big and sharp enough to be convincing. Honestly, he looked hot. You'd let him suck your blood.

Gareth laughed in response. It was hearty and sweet, and you hadn’t heard nearly enough of it. “Well, I like the costume. Looks good on you.” Oh shit. You were blushing now, weren’t you? You totally were.

“Thanks. I like yours too. The cape is very nice.” You popped a Dum-Dum into your mouth, and Gareth almost choked on his drink watching it move around in your mouth.

“Really? I’m glad you said so because I spent way too much money on it. I’ve been Dracula for the past like, four years, so I decided to at least make it look like I tried.”

“Well I think it’s very cute. It suits you,” you told him, popping candy in your pockets for later.

“Would you like to play a game? I think someone’s setting up Monopoly and you can see Eddie get mad when he loses.” Gareth grinned at you.

“Sure. I’d like that a lot.” He held out his hand, which you took, trying not to think about how nice the calluses felt against your skin, and lead you down to the basement, which you realized was where everyone else had gone off to.

————

The Monopoly game ended up being much shorter than intended because Eddie got pissed that he was broke ten minutes in and flipped the board with a “I hate this shit!” and laugh.

You were now playing Guess-Who? with Gareth, Max sitting beside you and Dustin sitting beside him, both of whom were finding great joy in the shitty descriptions either of you offered—you trying to make them as vague as possible.

“Do they have red hair?” Gareth asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe more of a chestnut.” You grinned at him and he slapped his hand to his forehead.

“You’re an asshole,” he told you, smiling whilst he did so.

“Yes, they have red hair Mr. Emerson.” You watched him flick down a couple of panels, eyes lingering on his fingers for probably too long. You heard a cough, and turned your head to see Max smirking at you, and then you were blushing again. “Fuck off,” you whispered to her. She shook her head at you.

It was your turn again. “Hmm. Is it Andrew?” You looked up from your board at Gareth, who was already looking at you. He had a look of betrayal on his face. “Yes, Y/N. It’s fucking Andrew.” You clapped your hands in triumph, sitting up on your knees to give Max a high-five.

“You’re a pain in my ass, you know that?” He flicked down all of the panels on both of your boards, putting them back in the box. “‘S not my fault you suck at this game.” He scoffed playfully at you.

“What do I win?” You inquired.

“What do you think? Jack shit.” You rolled your eyes and pulled a 3 Musketeers out of your pocket and tossed it at Dustin. He caught it, thanking you, and then he and Max went off elsewhere.

“I don’t get any candy?”

“Get your own, Emerson.”

“No, I don’t think I will. What’ve you got in there, huh?” You stood, trying to fend off the candy thief.

“Nothing. I ate it all.” You continued to back up as he stood. Nothing about this was serious, though, considering the shit-eating grins on either of your faces.

He was on you in a second, gently pushing you onto the couch, tickling your sides to coerce your hands from your pockets. It worked, and you raised your hands in surrender, ready to give up your candy stash to him. He tickled you for just a minute longer, realizing he’d never heard you laugh like this before, realizing how much he liked it.

He gave up, searching your pockets, pulling free a handful of Kit-Kats and peanut butter cups. “Thanks, princess.” He tickled your side again and planted a kiss on your forehead before plopping down beside you and throwing a leg over yours.

Across the room, Eddie looked at Jeff. “You seein’ this?” Jeff nodded.

“I think our boy’s in deep,” Eddie told him, snubbing out his cigarette.

————

You pulled into the Hawkins High parking lot driving around to park outside of the doors where Dustin usually came out. You pressed the light on above your head so you could see your book, considering Dustin was always late no matter what time he told you to pick him up. A little while later, you heard the doors open, but didn’t look up, knowing he’d find his ride eventually.

Turns out, that was everyone else leaving. Gareth and Dustin had stayed to clean up, and when they finally got outside Dustin followed Gareth to his car so he could pick up some extra dice from him.

Gareth hopped in the driver’s seat, leaning over to open the glove box, but he decided to turn the car on first and let it warm up. And nothing. It wouldn’t start. Dustin asked him if it was something or other, but Gareth stopped him. “No, man. I know exactly what it is. The fuckin’ battery has been on its last leg forever. I guess tonight it decided to depart for good.” Gareth mumbled a “Shit,” under his breath as he grabbed the dice, but when he turned around, Dustin was gone.

The thud of hands on the window startled you and made you jump. Dustin yanked the door open. “Gareth’s car won’t start! You’re the only one left. Think we can give him a ride home?” By that point, the boy in question had made his way over looking for Dustin.

“Dude! Don’t just offer that up to her! She’s probably got shit to do.” He stopped in front of the two of you. “I’m sorry. You don’t have to. I can call Eddie or my mom or something.”

You shook your head. “No, it’s totally fine. I’m right here and there’s no reason for you to do that. I can take you home.”

“You sure?” You told him you were, and told Dustin he had to sit in the back, ignoring his protests.

It really wasn’t a problem, he only lived a little past you and Dustin, and it didn’t bother you to drive an extra five minutes. Not for him. You were about halfway there when Dustin exclaimed, “That son of a bitch! Piece of shit!” from the backseat.

“What?” You asked, confused, but used to his antics.

“We have to stop at Mike’s. He’s got my folder! The one with all the character sheets! I think my math homework is in there too. Can we please? It’s on the way!” It wasn’t. You’d have to take a detour.

Eventually, you stopped the car outside of the Wheeler’s, Dustin hopping out and barreling towards the door, leaving you and Gareth alone in the car. You’d never been properly alone with him before.

When you turned your head to look at him, he was already looking at you. He really had to stop doing that. You grinned at him and he grinned right back, eyes creasing, cheeks reddening.

“Okay, I’m gonna tell you this now before he gets back. You’re so pretty. So pretty. I’ve been thinkin’ about you since Halloween.” He started messing with the rips in his jeans, obviously nervous.

“You think that? That’s really sweet. I think you’re pretty too, Gareth.” His head jerked up to you.

“You think I’m pretty?” You nodded at him.

“Prettiest boy I’ve ever seen.” He leaned over the center console and smacked a sweet and noisy kiss on your forehead, then another on your cheek.

“Sorry. You deserved that.” You burst out laughing, finding it hard to believe he could feel this way about you, but deciding to welcome it anyhow.

The two of you just looked at each other for a few minutes, and he went to say something, just as Dustin burst back into the car. “Alright! Let’s blow this popsicle stand.”

————

Dustin was eating lunch a few days later when Eddie asked him, “Why don’t you invite your sister to sit with us? She hangs around enough, feels weird to have her sit alone.” He was kinda confused at the offer, even though it made sense. Dustin just guessed maybe you liked being alone during lunch, that you wouldn’t be able to concentrate on your book with them. But he took Eddie up on the offer, pattering over to you and presenting the situation at hand.

“Dustin, I’m not going to do that and interrupt you and your friends. You don’t need me in your life like that.” He quirked a brow, realizing that you thought he didn’t want you around like that.

“What? Come on, Y/N. I want you to sit with me and my friends. Let’s go. You can bring Mr. Bingley with you and everything.” He picked up your lunch box and book for you, leading the way.

When you made it to the designated Hellfire table, Eddie pulled out the seat between him and Gareth, bending at the waist. “M’lady.” You snorted and thanked him. Dustin set your lunch down in front of you and then your copy of Pride and Prejudice, fondly patting the cover, before plopping down across from you.

Eddie smirked at himself for getting you over here, having specifically chosen your seat. He was determined to help his boy out.

“What are we reading?” Eddie asked, leaning over to read the cover. He hummed in interest, but you were positive he was just humoring you. “Would you recommend it?” You laughed.

“Only if you’re willing to explore a period romance. But you might like it, you never know.” He grinned at you, smile lines appearing around his mouth. Eddie Munson was too charming for his own good.

“It’s actually pretty good,” the voice to your right said.

You turned to look at Gareth. “Don’t take this the wrong way, Gare, but why do you know that?” He laughed.

“My sister is fond of a bedtime story and wanted me to read it to her. But when I started she had all these questions and I couldn’t answer them, so we put it on pause and then I read it so she could have the full experience.” He shook his hands for emphasis. That was so sweet you felt like you could throw up.

“What?” He was looking at you and you were looking right back, but you realized you must’ve looked how you felt: practically fucking in love.

You straightened. “Nothing. That’s just kind of lovely?” His knee bumped yours under the table, his cheeks getting increasingly more rosy by the minute. You felt like reaching out and brushing your thumb along the spattering of freckles on his nose.

“Okay, now I’m feeling left out. Would you lend it to me?” Eddie asked you, feeling properly scandalized.

“Sure, Edward. You can have it in a few days. I’m almost done anyways, but I’ve read it a hundred times. If there are crumbs in the pages, no there aren’t.”

“I don’t mind. My copy of The Hobbit is missing half of the back cover.”

For the remainder of lunch, you gladly put Jane aside to indulge the boys in all their queries addressing the so-called interests you shared with Dustin.

“Daredevil? Really?” Gareth and you had started to slip into your own conversation, the rest of them arguing over some minuscule campaign detail.

“Yeah, you don’t like him?” You finished off a bag of grapes, offering Gareth your last two.

“No, no I do! Just guess I figured you’d like Captain America or Iron Man. Didn’t have you pegged as a sucker for vigilantes.”

“Oh, I do like Cap and Iron Man. Very much so. I guess I just like the color red.” You looked down at your hands, trying not to make eye contact with him following your attempt at a flirty comment.

Your nail picking was interrupted as Gareth’s hand slipped into yours. You’d been thinking about the warmth of his palm against your own since Halloween. The way his fingers rubbed over your knuckles. How reassuring it was to be in his grasp. You looked up at his gesture. “Is that so?” He squeezed your hand, moving your clasped fingers to rest on his thigh.

“Yeah. The ones in red are always the prettiest.”

————

The noise carrying down the hall was predictable, but starting to annoy you still. You were almost finished with your English essay, but you couldn’t concentrate. Not with the loud voice of the dungeon master or dice clattering or Dustin’s ear-piercing shrieks. You didn’t want to be a dick, but you were going to have to sneak out of your room.

You opened the door, following the sound. You took in the party and all it’s glory as you weaved around the table that had been put up in the living room. They were all too immersed in the game to notice you anyhow. You made it into the kitchen, opening the cabinet and reaching up to grab medicine for the headache you now had. You’d just downed the pills when you glanced over at the table again and met Gareth’s eyes. “You okay?” He mouthed.

You tapped your head in response, finishing the last of the water in your cup before setting it in the sink. You didn’t miss the way his eyes traveled down your bare legs as you escaped back to your room.

Safely back in your place of refuge, you grabbed your keys and slipped on shoes, deciding that maybe a milkshake would help you concentrate on the rest of your homework.

You made it down the hall again, walking to the door. Your hand was on the knob when a voice said, “Where do you think you’re going? You’re supposed to be babysitting me.”

You turned around to face Dustin, everyone’s eyes on you. “None of your business, dusty bun. There are plenty of people to babysit you here anyways.” You flipped him the bird when he rolled his eyes and hurried out the door.

Sitting in your room, milkshake—which you’d snuck back into the house—almost finished, there was a knock at the door. You knew it wasn’t Dustin because he’d never knocked a day in his life—only ever shouting before busting through an entrance. “Yeah?”

The door gently pushed open, and you saw his curls before you saw the rest of Gareth. “Am I interrupting?” You nodded your head. “Yeah, but it’s okay.”

You’d finished your essay and were now doing homework for your science class before you called it a night. Gareth wandered into your room, closing the door behind him. He leaned against the desk next to you. “Need something?”

“Just wanted to see if your head was okay. I know we get loud.” You laughed at him.

“It’s better now. Besides, I’m used to it. Just couldn’t concentrate.” His eyes met your milkshake cup, and he was suddenly aghast.

He looked at you, feigning betrayal, “You snuck out to get a milkshake? I’m hurt.” Shit, his eyes were so pretty. Too pretty.

“You contributed to the headache, Gare. You want to try some? There’s a little left.”

“Sure.” He said. You took another sip and then offered it to him, but he shook his head. “Not like that.”

And then he was leaning down to meet you, fingers lifting your chin. Gareth planted his lips on yours, grinning, obviously proud of himself. His lips were softer than you expected, assuming they’d be a bit like his hands, but either way they were gone much too fast.

“Pretty damn good milkshake.” You knew you were beet red, but you didn’t care. You stood, putting your hands on his cheeks and kissing him again, smiling the whole time. When you pulled away, you ran your thumb along the freckles on his nose, like you’d been wanting to.

“That’s what I was thinking too.”

————

please let me know if you liked this! feedback is always appreciated!! comments and reblogs mean more than you know. <33

#gareth emerson #gareth stranger things #gareth emerson x you #gareth emerson x female reader #gareth emerson x fem!reader #corroded coffin #gareth emerson fic #dustin henderson #henderson!reader #eddie munson #gareth emerson fanfic #gareth emerson fanfiction #savannah’s fics

[messrsbyler]

the letter mike never sent to will

dear will

will,

what’s up, will?

hi, will.

this is mike. though you probably know it’s me since you saw my name in the envelo-

how are you? it’s been a while since we last talked. i’ve been trying to get you on the phone but the line is always busy. how are things over there? here in hawkins nothing much has happened since you guys left. school is still there. high school sucks, by the way. it would’ve sucked a lot less if you were here with me. or maybe it’s this town that sucks, you know? all of hawkins. maybe it’s always sucked and i am just now realizing just how badly it sucks. well, you get the point. hawkins sucks. and i think… i think it’s because you aren’t here

i hope lenora is better than this shit hole. yeah.

so, what do you

how has school

do you have any new friends?

okay, you know what? fuck this. fuck this letter because i know i’m never going to send it to you because it’s fucking weird and i just… i won’t do it. so, i might as well just get this shit done with and say whatever i want to say.

i miss you, will. i miss you like crazy. and yes, it sucks. all of hawkin sucks because you aren’t here and damn it you were supposed to be here with me. we were supposed to leave this place together, that was the plan, remember? but now you are gone and i’m still stuck here and i hate it. and you know… dustin and lucas and max… they are good, they are. i would’ve gone insane without them these past months. but fuck will, they aren’t you. no one can be you, not to me. i need you, okay? i need my best friend back i don’t care how selfish that makes me.

it’s just… for the first time it feels like you are completely out of reach, and i hate it. when did that happen? how did that happen? it’s always been us against the world so when the hell did the world get in between us?

i wished you would pick up the phone. i wished we could talk and that your line wasn’t busy all the damn time. i wished you would call me back because writing you a letter is just… it’s not us. i don’t know what to write. i guess i could tell you about my week, about what it’s been like since you are gone, but what’s the point? it just feels wrong to tell you about such small things because i… i’ve never had to because you’ve always been there to know how my week has been. so i don’t know what to say anymore.

i don’t know. i don’t… this doesn’t feel good. this distance. when you were here everything was just… simpler and easier. everything was always easy with you. being with you, playing with you, talking to you, listening to you. it just came natural to me. but now? writing this letter must be one of the hardest things i’ve ever done and yeah, that’s up there with all the upside down bullshit we’ve had to deal with. and i don’t like it. things aren’t… supposed to be hard with you. i hate it. and i… maybe i hate myself a little because maybe this was my fault too.

the past year i was an asshole to you and honestly i’m not surprised you aren’t calling me back. what i said… what i said that night of the rain… that was messed up. and i’m sorry. i… i would never want to hurt you, will. i’m sorry i was so busy with el that i left you aside. and i’m sorry i realized too late what an idiot i was being. if… if that pushed you away, if that’s why you are okay with this distance between us then… i can only say that i’m sorry and promise you i mean it from the bottom of my heart. please… just please don’t hate me, will. i… i don’t think i could take that.

because… because i

no, no, you know what? fuck it. you’ll never see this so what the hell.

i don’t want you to hate me because i love you, will. and that scares the shit out of me. i love you in a way that i… i’m not supposed to. i love you in a way i can’t stop fucking thinking about you, day and night. i can’t stop replaying our last hug when we said goodbye thinking that maybe… fuck i don’t know maybe if i had hugged you tighter you wouldn’t have left which is stupid but just… i don’t know. i don’t know many things, will. my head is a mess and you are all over it and i don’t know what to do without you.

and i’m sorry but i don’t hope things are good there in lenora. because i’m selfish and i suck and whatever but i need you back. i need you to want to come back. for… for me. for us.

anyway. there’s more i want to say but my hand is cramping and there’s no point to it. you won’t ever read this because i won’t let you, because i’m a coward.

but i miss you, and i love you, like crazy.

crazy together, remember?

love, mike

[this turned into a short story. here is part 2]

#i’m proud of this one to the point i would post it on ao3 but also not bc there’s no story just this letter #byler #byler tumblr #mike wheeler #will byers #stranger things #byler endgame #byler ao3 #cleradin #mike x will #byler fic #will x mike #byler ficlet #byler canon #byler letter #messrs writes #love mike #my ficlets

[loverforstrangerthingsfics]

The stages of dating ...... eddie munson[This is long]

[ I just think the song matches the vibe so I suggest listening ]

The meeting

:you had met eddie through the party because you were just like eleven but older and you understood the world more than her

:you had the same story plot as el because you escaped together

: you guys together were unstoppable so while you stay in Hawkins while the byers were in California you stayed with the wheelers

:befor you meet eddie you had a crush on Steve so it took a while for him to peek your liking

:people thought dnd was weird and you were one of the people

:so when most of the party met him you met him to

:so when lucas was busy with basketball mike ran to you so you can fill in

:[Mike out of breath] ed-eddie I found your sub for dnd

:"sup I'm y/n .... let's cut to the chase you obviously need me sooo in return I want my homework done for the rest of the week by you munson because I am supposed to be with nacy right know stuffing my face and binge watching horror movies so do I have my self a deal"?

Eddie:every day beside friday I have stuff to do

Yn: so deal ?

Him:.....deal

:it only took you a few minutes to learn because you scammed through your powers and got any information about dnd there is

:and ofcorse you won the game and that impressed him

The asking out

:he was formal ,came to you because you were friends so he wasn't so scared to ask you out

:so eddie asked you at lunch

"So y/n what about you and me Sunday at the movies "

Y/n:eddie who the fuck goes out on Sunday that's me day how about this Friday?

"Of course babe"

"Were not there yet munson "

:the date went great you both ate till you couldn't and laughed at the stupid movie that played

The dating

:hanging out in his trailer

: playing dnd together

:stealing his clothes

:getting a hell fire shirt

:you got to spend more time with Dustin and the boys and you got more closer to Erica

:using your powers for easy stuff

"Ed's I just read there mind and there definitely talking about us"

"Those ass holes"

:binge eating

:being lazy

:going to school and rocking your grades [with cheating of course]

:random drives at night and I love yous

:doing everything together

:him teaching you how to play guitar

:modeling for eachother

:showing him your powers

:random singing matches

:making mistakes for eachother

:laughing at each other

:being confident within eachother

Pictures and videos of you guys

You telling him his hair isn't all that

You being drunk at 2 in the morning and saying this

Playing a game of dnd

You after using your powers [Imagine your race and gender]

Id like to add one more stage .... grief

:you always thought why not you why did I not use my powers to save him then you realize el , Mike, hopper, max, Lucas, all of them... they all need you alive well.. you needed your eddie alive you were not even living when he dead

:the guilt took over you, you changed you weren't the same withought him

:you did the best you could for him trying to live life the way he would

:people say sooner or later it gets better it didn't kinda

:but your family and the people around you made life worth living again

:you would visit his grave and play the guitar for him

:you would tell him all the good and bad news

"Yeah and then they walked away like nothing happened "

: u tried to move on really

:but you did move on ... to steve

: you always felt bad like you shouldn't move on but then you would remember

A month ago...

"Hey y/n what would happen if you passed like would you want me to move on "

I think it depends..... on the person and how much you loved them I would want you to because you deserve happiness like I do so yes I would want you to because I would never want to see you hurt and not happy I'm not saying you have to or need to but you would know when the time is right

"Yeah I guess so y/n I would want you to move on to and if you do I hope they treat you good you deserve happiness so I would want you to move on "

And that's why I love you

"Come here gimme a kiss "

End of flashback

:know you remember why you loved

The " freak" eddie munson

"All my tears have been used up......... on another love "

And that is the start of the stages series

#Spotify #jonathan byers x reader #the party x reader #will byers x reader #eleven x reader #eddie munson #eddie munson x sinclair!reader #eddie munson x black!oc #eddie munson x female oc #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x male oc #eddie munson x male reader #eddie munson x me #eddie munson x gn!reader #eddie munson x gender neutral reader #eddie munson x trans reader #eddie munson x reader #stranger things x you #stranger things x trans reader #stranger things x y/n #stranger things headcanons #stranger things x black reader #stranger things x gn reader #stranger things x gender neutral reader #stranger things x plus size reader #sinclair!reader

[purpleangelsele]

I knew you milevens don't even watch the fucking show and just solely jerk off to your mileven scene packs but girl that post you made is so embarassing idk where to begin seriously💀

'Mike can't lie for shit' - there's literally multiple scenes in the show (which you didn't watch) showing how good of a liar he is compared to the rest of the party wtf are you on. Him easily lying to Mr Clarke about El in s1 while Dustin and Lucas act strange, him easily lying to Suzie along with Will juxtaposed with the party being absolutely shitty liars when talking to the police, HE IS A GOOD LIAR WHAT SHOW WERE YOU WATCHING?💀

'Will is pushing Mike to say his love confession and Mike is grabbing Will’s words for inspiration?? HUH?? Doesn’t make any fucking sense' - IT LITERALLY HAPPENED??? IT LITERALLY WAS FUCKING SHOWN ON SCREEN????? I'M?????? Mike couldnt say 'i love you' until Will confessed to him and pushed him to not stop and do something, Mike's entire speech was bouncing of Will's words in the van (were you actually listening holy shit???) IT LITERALLY WAS SHOWN PLAIN AND CLEAR ON YOUR FUCKING SCREEN??????? THERE'S NO ROOM FOR ANY DEBATE AND DISCUSSION HERE IT LITERALLY HAPPENED LIKE THAT FOR EVERYONE WITH EYES AND EARS TO SEE AND HEAR. I'm actually speechless.

'Why assume that Mike is this terrible person that would lie for the whole monologue' and for what?' - first of all WHO ever said Mike is a terrible person for lying? It's YOU who believes it would make him a terrible person not us, you milevens don't understand shit about Mike's character and his arc and are so proud of it it's crazy. Mike was watching his friend, the girl he obviously loves and cares for (yes, he loves her, not romantically but he loves and cares about her and nobody ever fucking said otherwise) choking to death not knowing what to do and how to help but still refusing to say the words El begged in tears for him to say, because he doesn't love her that way and doesn't want to lie about it. His boy best friend is the one who pressures him to do it, Mike being in an extremely desperate high stakes situation has no other choice but to lie to El because he believes it's what he needs to hear, He literally looks like he's in pain and has to brace himself before saying ' i love you' (while Will is in frame.... for what reason i wonder?) He looks pained the entire time he talks BECAUSE HE IS LYING, HE DOESN'T FEEL THOSE THINGS AND HE KNOWS HE IS LYING, El looks pained the entire time he talks, she does not fucking believe him! She knows he's lying!!!! She knows he doesn't love her!!! She heard Will call Mike the heart and push him to start talking!!! Mike WAS LYING and his lies can be debunked WITH SCENES FROM THE FUCKING SHOW???!!!! (which you didn't watch yeah). She remembers how Mike kept pusing her to find Will constantly, she knows he was planning to send her back to asylum immediately.

YES MIKE DID LIE IN HIS MONOLOGUE. HIS LIES GO COMPLETELY AGAINST WHAT WE'VE SEEN IN THE SHOW SINCE S1. NO MIKE LYING DOES NOT MAKE HIM A TERRIBLE PERSON. Again, you're the one who thinks it would make him one because y'all don't understand shit about Mike's character yet keep confidently yapping complete bullshit. WHAT THE FUCK ELSE WAS HE SUPPOSED TO DO IN THAT SITUATION UNDER SUCH PRESSURE??? He is a kid with a shit ton of trauma suffering with feeling worthless and unneded and dealing with his sexuality and self-acceptance yes, in the fucking 80s, the fact that you're trivializing and undermining just how horrible that time was for LGBT people in every fucking way is fucking disgusting and you shouldn't open your mouth about this ever. It'a a fucking serious thing. Internalized homophobia is a fucking serious thing. Mike is going through A. FUCKING. LOT and you bitches want him to be a stupid one dimensional idiot who can't lie apparently and whose entire fucking arc is simply 'can't say ily to his cool gf'.

Stranger Things is a really cool and layered show, you should try and watch it sometime! ACTUALLY FUCKING WATCH IT.

.

#mileven #anti byler #…… #hate anon #selanswers

[erikiara80]

favorite/least favorite Byler and M!leven scenes?

Ciao, anon. Thanks for the ask.

If you follow my blog I hope you know that I'm not a fan of Mike and El as a couple. I like a few scenes, but I don't think their relationship is good for them or that they're actually in love.

Ok, if you're still reading, let me explain.

I never found them cute, not even in S1. When I watched it I didn't understand why the writers were writing such a good story set in the 80s, but with El and Mike it felt like I was actually watching an 80s show with the typical story, boy and girl kiss/end up together because... boy and girl must date. It felt wrong to me. It wasn't what ST was about. Now I understand that I was supposed to feel that way.

That being said, El and Mike are beautiful, complex characters, so these are the scenes I like.

1. El would (understand). Ok, not saying this is a Mlv scene, but Mike can be vulnerable with Will and say how he really feels. And I love what he says about El. He's right. She would understand. The funny thing, is that I think she would (and will) understand Will much better than how she understands Mike.

2. I feel for them here. El's been isolated for so long, and Mike misses her and feels guilty for what happened to her. Interestingly, Castle Byers is playing here...

3. From one look you can see the joy, the relief and all the pain this kid must've felt. Amazing (one of Finn's best performances)

4. If I remember correctly, this was actually Millie being exhausted, not El, and Finn helped her. But it's in the show, and I love it.

This s pretty much it.

My least favorite mlvn scene: 3x01. How they left their friends on Weathertop, and them making out and laughing at Hopper's face. Lol, those little shits.

With Byler, it's the opposite. There's only one scene I don't like. The dnd campaign in S3. I know it's important and even foreshadowing of events in S5, but like the rain fight it reminded me of something that happened to me. That's all I'm going to say.

Now, my favorite Byler scenes...

1. Probably my favorite scene of the show, imo one of the best and also Finn's best perfomance. The shed scene is such a pivotal moment, when we learn, along with Will I'm sure, that asking him to be his friend was the best thing Mike has ever done. It all started with Will and Mike. Their bond is special, and it's forever. They were the ones who started the first party and they will start a new one together.

2. You can feel how much they need each other and want to be close again. A precious moment that almost made me cry.

3. He's quiet today. Four words that mean so much. The fact that Lucas says He's always quiet informs us that Will and Mike's relationship is different. That Mike knows Will better that the rest of the party and that Will opens up to him. And Mike does the same, as we see in the Crazy together scene.

4. Mike's head on Will's heart. Adorable

5. Another little moment that is so important. Just a Not possible, a flirty look and Mike's smile. They don't need anything else. Steve would've felt it, the electricity.

6. Speaking of Mike's smiles, the ones in the van are something beautiful

7. Crazy together. What else can I say?

8. I love Will's sweet voice here: "It was you guys who saved me. It was you guys." Mike tries to hide a smile (he's so happy that Will is saying that he helped save him) Then Will's flirty: It always is, isn't it?" And Mike melts. It was too much for him.

Honorable mention:

And this (Gif credits to Celebslive)

#byler #will byers #mike wheeler #anti mileven #stranger things

[vecnasrevengerp]

welcome home DUSTIN HENDERSON (dev patel fc)

hope you brought your tissues with you! be sure to check in at home or to your hotel and don’t forget to always look over your shoulder. this is hawkins, after all.

basics

[DEV PATEL, CISMALE, HE/HIM] When’s the last time anyone heard anything about [DUSTIN HENDERSON]? Old friends remember them as [INVENTIVE and ENERGETIC] but also [SARCASTIC and PETULANT], no wonder they’re still known as [THE ARTIFICER] around town. Today, in 2006, they are [35] and some people say they remind them of [talking so much that everyone tunes out, an unintelligible collection of gadgets and keyboards and batteries that make sense only to him, two kids on a leash, Star Wars sheets and “vintage” sci-fi t-shirts still tucked away in the linen closet, grief thinly veiled under sarcasm and enthusiasm]. [nikki, 25, she/her, ctz].

biography

Last one in, first one out. That was always Dustin’s fear– that his status as the “most recent” add to The Party would one day betray him. So, he focused on earning his keep. Keeping things fun, solving the mystery, being loyal to a fault! Dustin’s not really sure he breathed until El was added to the group. Other than the… obviously fucked up other shit going on, maybe now Dustin wouldn’t be the odd one out! That pipe dream was quickly dismissed when Mike started dating El; but at least he’d always have Will and Lucas! Max was a wild card. A girl as good as him (better than him) at video games who could also kick is ass should’ve infuriated Dustin. And she did, like… 75% of the time. The other 25% of the time, though, he was lost in thought about how she wasn’t bad looking. In the end, Dustin convinced himself it’s for the best that Lucas and Max were together, that it didn’t sting at all to be overlooked. He’d gotten close to Steve, and would go on to date Suzie! If anything, he made out in spades.  

 Dustin thought that Will moving away was the worst thing that would ever happen to him. The Upside Down stuff was bad, sure, but there was nothing they couldn’t get through together. Will and El left, Lucas joined the basketball team, Max pulled away… and nothing was the same. Even Mike was distant, like half of him had moved to California, too, with El and Will. Enter: Eddie. Their D&D group was the one place Dustin felt fully comfortable to be himself. He’d never been very good at adapting his personality for others, and the traits that were borderline acceptable in middle school– his penchant for being right, his passion for scifi and fantasy, his collection of unapologetically nerdy t-shirts– did him no favors in high school. Of course, none of that really mattered when Vecna came back. In the corner of his mind, Dustin was hopeful that this resurgence would mean Joyce and Will and El moving back to Hawkins– a reminder that every bad thing could be worked out together! It felt like part of all of them died with Will and El that September day. 

 Dustin, who had forever been immune to any attempts to change him, was dull. Quiet. For months, he didn’t say more than six words a day, just moved like a phantom from one place to the next, retiring to his room to stare at the Walkie on his desk like it had been bit by a zombie. He didn’t answer Suzie’s calls for months, until she eventually stopped calling. He didn’t know what to say– how was anything supposed to be normal ever again? If Mike and Lucas hadn’t paved the way, Dustin might’ve laid under his Star Wars sheets until he was forty-five, knocking on death’s door. He wanted to resent them for how easy it seemed to move on, but Dustin was smarter than that. He knew where Mike had disappeared to after the funeral (because he’d tried to visit Castle Byers, too)– he’d eyed the letters stacked in the corner of Lucas’ room. Honestly, if Dustin couldn’t run away like Max, he would’ve. Seeing the ghost of Will in his Snow Ball suit at Hawkins Middle and the ghost of El at in the Melvlad’s frozen section was no easy task, but it was the hand he’d been dealt. 

 Like most things, it got easier with time. Whether that was genuine healing or distance and numbing, Dustin for once didn’t investigate, just accepted. Dustin bounced back by the time they graduated high school, not fully, but enough to finally put his mother at ease. Enough to be a friend to Mike and Lucas again, and to go toe-to-toe to Erica at Hellfire. Of course, several dreams had died. There was no way Dustin was going to MIT now. He told everyone it was because of the money, but really? He didn’t know who he would be outside of Hawkins, and Dustin was equally afraid that he’d be just as miserable or that he’d be completely okay. The grief had become part of him, indistinguishable from every other part of him. So, Dustin enrolled in Hawkins Community College to study Computer Science. After his first few classes, he got a job at the library as an IT Consultant, and though it wasn’t the big world-changing technology that he’d dreamed of, it was something that he could fix. A question he could answer, and what did he need now more than control? 

 Meeting Heather Blake felt like a stroke of luck, and when Dustin proposed after six months of dating and she said yes, he thought that maybe every bad thing that was going to happen to him just happened in the first sixteen years of his life; Now it’d be smooth sailing. Heather was really something– a scientist in her own right, an environmental researcher who’d come to Hawkins to research the natural phenomena of 1986. The earthquake. It was easy for Dustin to lie to her, to say he’d never really thought much about what caused it. Vecna was dead, there was no reason to go resurrecting him, lest Dustin ended up locked up like Mike. Instead, Heather’s research inspired a project of Dustin’s own, a seismograph hooked up to a ham radio (a descendant of Cerebro) to not only measure earthquakes, but detect subtle seismic shifts. Maybe predict them. More accurate than probabilities and forecasts, the “Seismro” (name forthcoming) would pick up on the tiniest shifts in the tectonic plates and send evacuation warnings to the immediate impact area. 

 His project was put on hold when Heather got pregnant. The news awoke something in Dustin, a long-held dream that he’d suppressed– the desire to be a dad. It didn’t matter that he never knew his (other than a singular weekend bender where Mike and Lucas heard all about how Dustin was convinced his dad had destined him to a lifetime of being a horrible father). He threw everything into preparing their house for the babies, to serving Heather hand and foot– and when they found out it wasn’t one baby but two? Dustin was ecstatic, his excitement only matched by Gammy-extroidinaire Claudia Henderson. Willa and Ward Henderson were born on October 11, 1995. Dustin smiled the entire drive home from Chicago, looking from his sleeping wife to his two fresh babies strapped in the back seat. Things were going to be okay, they just were! 

 Heather never really recovered from the birth. They always thought it had been physically taxing because they were twins, that she would just be weak for a while. She wasn’t ever really good at resting anyways, and was eager to get back to work. Dustin encouraged it, thinking that she had a spot of postpartum and needed the routine of work to help her stabilize. He’d readily agreed to being a stay-at-home dad, and on days when he went into the library, there was no shortage of librarian or local mother eager to help him watch the babies. When the kids were four, Heather collapsed at work and was rushed to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer. The doctors gave her six months to a year. Of course, Heather didn’t accept that answer. She held on for another two years; two years of Dustin and Willa and Ward driving back and forth from Hawkins to Chicago, sleeping in Heather’s hospital room, arguing with doctors. The grief should’ve been easier this time; he’d had time to prepare. But it wasn’t. Two of his best friends, his wife. Dustin wondered what more he could lose, if he was cursed forever– worse, if he’d passed the curse onto his kids who were too young to understand any of it.

 But Dustin couldn’t slip underneath his Star Wars sheets and sleep the grief away this time. Willa and Ward depended on him, and what better reason was there to pick up and carry on than them? So he split his time between the library and his home. As much help as Gammy was, Dustin still felt like he was drowning– his body was begging for a break, for any down time at all to release everything he was carrying. So when reprieve showed up in the form of Katherine O’Hannon, a longtime friend from the library. Within five months, they were married and she was dedicating all of her time to Will and Ward. They loved her, they were happy, so surely Dustin should be too! He finally got the break he so needed, and spent more hours at the library and in his workshop (a shed he’d built in the backyard for all of the gadgets the kids weren’t allowed to touch). Dustin even started working on Seismro again, though to his disdain, he was stuck– unable to find a balance between a radio sensitive enough to pick up on such distant rumbles while also giving it the capacity to notify the user. 

 That’s the only reason he called Suzie Bingham. Her number wasn’t exactly hard to find, she’d gone on to be a hotshot at MIT and a guest lecturer at Harvard and had won more fellowships than Dustin could keep track of. She was one of the greatest minds of their generation, so of course she could help him troubleshoot Seismro. But, their conversations quickly became less about the projects and more about their lives– Dustin’s kids, life in Hawkins, Suzie’s life in Boston, her globetrotting. They fell into an easy rhythm, and talking to Suzie quickly became the highlight of Dustin’s day. Sure, he had a picture of her on his desk, but only because of the attached article! It was strictly business, and just coincidence that when she helped him fix Seismro and he sent it off for a patent, he had another idea that he needed her help on. And then another, and another, and another. It was his passion for science that kept him in the workshop for hours on end after work. Thanks to Katherine, Dustin even had the freedom to fly up to Boston for a weekend for a conference (and, of course, a visit to Suzie– but Katherine didn’t need to know about that!)

 Though she wasn’t a scientist, Katherine knew something was up. When Dustin returned from Boston, she’d collected his phone bill, the photo of Suzie, the notes he’d written in the workshop, and spread them out on the kitchen table for him. He didn’t have the heart to lie to her, and everything came pouring out. Ever the class act, Katherine moved out the next day, and they drew up an amicable arrangement so she could still care for the kids when she wanted. Dustin expected Katherine to hate him, to be angry and bitter– but she just seemed to be sad for him. He didn’t know what to do with that, and it’s not like he could tell Suzie about it because she didn’t know he was even married. So he held onto it, and adjusted to the new normal, forced himself to do less inventing and more parenting, because the kids needed him around physically and mentally. He’s still got a shed full of unfinished projects, and calls Suzie from time to time, but most of his time cycles between work, kids, awkward hand-offs in the McDonald’s parking lot, and throwing back beers with Mike and Lucas. It isn’t perfect, but it’s better than miserable. That had to count for something. 

  time capusle

In 1983– Dustin finally rescinded his his Farrah Fawcett hairspray into the time capsule. Some guys could pull off the coif, and it was time to admit that Dustin wasn’t one of them. 

In 1984— Dustin stashed his lucky quarter in the time capsule, the quarter he used to secure the high score in Dig Dug (before someone came around).

In 1985– Dustin put a prototype of Cerebro (and a copy of the blueprint) into the time capsule, fully convinced that it would be immortalized as an early work of by-then the world-famous inventor Dustin Henderson. 

In 1986–  Dustin had stolen Will’s wizard costume from Mike’s basement some months back. He’d planned to mail it to Will in California, as sort of a joke and a reminder of the good old days. Now what the fuck else was he supposed to do with it?

stats

Please distribute up to fifty points among the following stats! Click here for more detailed instructions on stats. Athletics (How Athletic are they?) - -3  Burglary (Can they swipe stuff?) - 0 Contacts (Do they know people with information?) - 1 Deceive (Are they a good liar?) - 0 Drive (like, actual driving ability) - 2 Empathy (On a scale of 1-10 how much of an empath are they?) - 2 Fight (Do they have hands?) - -3 Investigate (Can they sleuth?) - 3 Lore (Kinda like knowledge) - 3 Medicine (First Aid Essentially) - 1 Navigation (How good are they with a map/getting around?) - 3 Notice (Is your character observant?) - 3 Provoke (Are they a shit stirrer?) - 2 Rapport (Are they charming? Can they do it on command?) - 0 Resourcefulness (MacGyver scale) - 3 Stealth (Are they sneaky?) - -1 Will (Tenacity) - 3

extras

playlist & pinterest TBA if i’m accepted…

#submission #accepted #dustin

[eddiebillysteve]

a/n: this came to me at 4am last night and i had to write it and now i'm posting it because i think it's low key funny af if i do say so myself?? find it on ao3 here.

tl;dr: max gets her period for the first time while hanging out with most of the party and chaos ensues bc three 13 y/o boys not knowing what periods are?? good god. steve harrington has to be called in for backup (as always).

***

Max had scoured the Byers bathroom, had dug through every drawer, but there was nothing. No pads, no tampons. She momentarily debated on stuffing her underwear full of toilet paper and making a run for it, but she was supposed to call Billy to pick her up and there was no way in hell she was risking bleeding through it and onto the seats of his car. 

Shit, shit, shit. 

With no other option, she opened the bathroom door a crack. “Lucas? Can you come here?”

School had only been out for a couple of days and they’d already broken up and gotten back together once. They were currently on a high spurt, but they weren’t overly obsessed with each other like Mike and El were, either. She hadn’t even seen either of them since the last day of school, the two of them always holed up in El’s bedroom. 

“You’re being summoned,” Dustin giggled, half pushing Lucas as he got up from the couch. Lucas waved him off and made his way to the bathroom door. 

“What’s wrong? He raised his eyebrows at max through the crack of the door. 

“Can you, like, ask Will where his Mom keeps her pads?” Max murmured to him. 

“Pads? Like, notepads?” Lucas’ eyebrows furrowed in confusion. 

“No, you idiot. Period pads,” Max rolled her eyes. “I just started. I don’t have anything.” 

“What’s a period pad?” Lucas didn’t sound any less confused than he had two seconds earlier and Max let out a huff. 

“You cannot seriously tell me you don’t know what a period is? Do you even listen in biology?” 

Lucas shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe I was sick that day.” 

“Just go and ask him, would you? And be quiet about it. Don’t let Dustin hear.” Max shook her head and slammed the door shut again. 

Will and Dustin were bent over a book when Lucas returned. Dustin had originally meant to go away to camp for a month at the beginning of summer, but he changed his mind. Wanted to spend more time with the party and Steve, who had quickly become his best friend. 

They glanced up when Lucas returned; he went straight to Will, leaning to cup his hands around his ear to whisper to him. 

“Whoa, hey!” Dustin immediately reached out to shove at Lucas’ hands. “You can’t just go and tell Will a secret when I’m right here, asshole. You have to tell me too!” 

It was Lucas’ turn to roll his eyes, but he didn’t fight him on it. “Will, she wants to know where your mom keeps the pads.” 

“Pads?” Will had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, either, and it made Lucas feel a bit better. 

“Yeah. Like, for periods.”

“What the hell is a period?” Dustin asked then, just as confused as the other two boys. 

“I don’t know. She said we should have learnt about it in biology?” Lucas’ answer came out as a question. 

“Uh, yeah, no. I’d remember if we did,” Dustin got up. He had to know what it was now; there couldn’t have been something science related that he didn’t know.

Lucas and Will got up and followed him to the bathroom. Lucas was the one to knock, though. 

“Where are they?” Max called out. There was some shuffling, and then Max opened the door a crack again. She should have known she’d be greeted with all three of them. “Oh, for God’s sake.”

“What’s a period? I would remember if we learned about it,” Dustin immediately asked. 

“Jesus, this is not happening right now,” Max sighed heavily. “You know, it’s when you bleed every month? Every girl gets it.”

“Bleed? You’re bleeding?” Lucas immediately asked, concerned as ever. 

“Are you okay?” Will’s voice was next, laced with worry. 

“You have to put pressure on it to stop—“ Dustin started, but Max cut him off. 

“God, the three of you are useless. I’m bleeding from down there. I just need a pad or tampon or something to use until I get home, okay? Just—“ Max didn’t even know what to tell them. They were more clueless than she was. 

“You’re bleeding from your vagina?” Dustin burst out, voice higher in his panic. “That can’t be normal.”

“Should we call an ambulance?” Will added. 

“Oh, God. She can’t die,” Lucas’ hands went to his forehead, holding his head for a moment.

“I’m not dying!” Max said, but their panic was making her panic. Maybe it wasn’t her period, maybe she was dying. 

“Lucas, stay with her. Put pressure on it. Make sure she doesn’t bleed out,” Dustin’s voice shifted into a very no-nonsense one, ready to take charge. “We’ll find something.” He grabbed Will’s hand to yank him back towards the kitchen. 

“Don’t think you’re coming in here. You can wait out there,” Max said to Lucas before shutting the door again. 

In the kitchen, Dustin scrambled to get out the phone book. 

“What are you doing?” Will burst out. 

“What do you think? I’m calling Steve!” Dustin flipped through the pages in a hurry, looking for the Scoops Ahoy number. Steve was working, just like he did most days, but it was always just with this girl that was pretty cool, so Dustin didn’t think he’d get in trouble for calling. 

A woman’s voice picked up on the second ring. “Ahoy there, you’ve—“

“Robin,” he cut in, voice frantic. “Put Steve on. It’s a red alert. 9-1-1.”

“Which kid is this?” Robin immediately asked, startled by the panic.

“It’s Dustin! Put him on!”

There was a few seconds of waiting before Steve was answering the phone. 

“What’s wrong? Where are you?”

Even though Steve knew very well that most of Dustin’s emergencies were never actual emergencies, he took every single one seriously. He had to after everything that had happened; any day there could be a hellish sequel beginning.

“It’s Max,” Dustin nearly panted into the phone. “She’s bleeding out. All over the place.” 

“Why the hell are you calling me instead of 9-1-1?” Steve burst out. 

“She said not to!” Dustin’s voice shifted into a whine. “She said it’s her period, but—“

“Her period?” Steve blinked.

“Yeah, she said she’s—“

“Dustin,” Steve covered his eyes with his hand, his heart starting to slow back down to a normal rhythm again. “You’re calling me because Max got her period?” 

“She could be dying, Steve!” Dustin’s voice was almost a shout. “She said she’s bleeding! It’s internal! That shit is serious!” 

“Henderson, listen. It’s not serious. It’s not internal bleeding,” Steve tried to sound as serious as he could but he so badly wanted to burst into laughter. It wasn’t their fault, they were four kids home alone and he was glad they thought to call him, but it was just a funny situation. “Just— calm down and hang on. Alright? I’ll come with some stuff. Stop freaking out. She’s fine.” 

“But—“ 

“No, no buts. She’s fine. It’s normal,” Steve insisted. “Seriously, Henderson. Chill out. Give me, like, twenty minutes. Are you at Mike’s?”

“No, Will’s. Mike’s too busy sucking El’s face off to hang out with us anymore, remember?”

“Right, yeah,” Again Steve had to try not to laugh. “I’ll be right there.”

When he hung up, he headed back out to the front of the parlor where Robin stood, though there were no customers, thankfully. “What the hell was that? Kid sounded like he’d run a frickin’ marathon.” 

“Max got her first period and Dustin is convinced it’s internal bleeding. You wouldn’t happen to want to deal with this, would you? It’s a girl thing, and you’re a girl,” Steve waved his hands around a little as he spoke. Robin would know what to do, what products to buy. He knew enough about periods after being with Nancy, but he didn’t know anything about first periods and what you were supposed to buy specifically for that occasion. 

“Uh, no,” Robin laughed. “This is all you, dingus.”

“Well, can you tell me what to buy, at least?” Steve pulled his hat off, flinging it at her before reaching for his bag.

“I think it’d be funnier to hear what you get when you come back. Don’t take long, I want to go on my break,” She snickered at him and Steve rolled his eyes before leaving.

Luckily, Starcourt had everything inside of it, including a pharmacy, which was where he went. He had bought tampons for Nancy once before, had no shame in buying it like other teenage boys, but she’d given him the exact brand and size and it’d been a matter of finding the packaging and getting out of there.

This time, he had absolutely no idea what to get. His solution, he decided, was to buy one of everything. One of every brand and every size, both pads and tampons. The total came to nearly fifty bucks and he had two bags full of boxes, but he didn’t care. 

Dustin was waiting outside for him when he pulled up. “She’s weak, man. I don’t know if she’s going to make it.”

“You’re an idiot,” Steve rolled his eyes and moved past him to go inside. Dustin trailed after him like a puppy. “Max?”

Lucas was still outside the door, the two of them talking through the crack and giggling over something, but it stopped when Max heard Steve’s voice and his footsteps coming up the stairs. “You called Steve?” Her voice was a screech. “I could have just called my Mom! Why the hell would you call Steve?”

“Woah, hey. Rude,” Steve scoffed. “I know about this shit, alright? I dated Nance for ages. Here. Look through these and figure out what works. I’ll show Lucas how hot water bottles work.”

Max shifted behind the door, hiding herself, and opened it enough that Steve could slip the bags in. She let out a groan over how mortifying the entire situation was. 

“Is she going to be alright? Will that stop the internal bleeding?” Dustin asked when the door clicked shut.

“Dude, it’s not internal bleeding. I mean, I guess it is, but it’s not that kind of internal bleeding,” Steve ushered the three boys downstairs. “It’s like… shedding. The girl parts inside, they shed, and then it comes out as blood. It’s all about eggs and shit. Did they not teach you this in bio?”

“What biology classes did you and Max go to? Jesus!” Dustin shook his head. “Because it sure as shit isn’t the same as mine!”

#max mayfield #steve harrington #stranger things #stranger things fic #stranger things fanfic #slice of life #my writing

[storiesofthenight]

@upsidedownx​ asked: 💌 - Mike to Will [X]

Dear Mike,

These words are heavy to write, but I had to get them off my chest one way or another and since I would never speak it out loud ... this felt like the best way I could do it without ruining our friendship. Of course this letter will never reach you, it is not meant to anyways, but it is a relief I guess to write it down. 

For the longest time,  you have been the one thing in my life that mattered. Other than of course my mother and brother, and yes I do care greatly about Dustin and Lucas, and Max. They’re friends, they’re very good friends. And El, ... she is like a sister to me, not only because she moved in with us when we left for California, but I have always felt connected with her. She is part of my family, and always will be.

But then, there is you. 

I didn’t really realise it at the time, but you gave joy. Even beyond our friendship and dnd campaigns, you were the one that always seemed to be there for me. But, despite that, you fell in love with El. I get it, she is amazing and she’s practically the first girl we got to know that is our age so it was a matter of time for any of us to fall in love with her. 

But I ... I never cared much for girls, my mind was always on you. And I didn’t get it, I was too young to really get it. But when the Mind Flayer returned and El broke up with you. I .. kinda hoped that you would stop talking about her. There was a part of me that wanted you to see me. Like, really see me, like you used to. 

At that moment I realised that I was never going to like girls, that I liked ... you. And I also realised I would never have you. 

I’ve had moments where I’ve been jealous of course, but ... like I said, El is my sister. And, if you can’t be with me, then I hope you get to be with her and that you’ll treat her right. She’s been through too much pain already. 

A dark time is ahead of us. I don’t know what is coming, just that it’s bad and I don’t think we’ll all make it out of it alive. I can only hope that most of us do. Either way, I hope you get through, and El too. And I hope you’ll be able to experience a normal relationship, without monsters trying to kill us. 

I don’t remember where I was going with this, I suppose I got carried away. Either way, while I have hoped at some point that El would fall for someone else, and you might fall for me, but I am content however way it goes. And if we all make it through this, I just want you to be happy, with whoever you need for that to happen. And I want El to be happy. And perhaps, perhaps one day I will be too.

#Will:[Answers] #Will:[Headcanons] #I had intentions for this and Will grabbed it and ran off with it ... ah well

[yikesharringrove]

We’re Us

A little commishy for my bxtch @thinger-strang.

Read on Ao3

This shit is SOFT

-

“Dustin, we all saw that fireball hit you,” Will said accusatorily, gesturing to the red bean bag on the ground at Dustin’s feet.

“Okay, first of all, you’re supposed to call a pause of play before using my real name,” Dustin said, all in one breath. “And second of all, the fireball only hit my lute, therefore I sustained no physical damage.” Dustin gestured to the cereal box that was taped to a jump rope, slung over his shoulder like it was a prized instrument.

“No, it didn’t. We all saw it hit your shoulder. You’d lose that arm at least, and take probably, like, fifty damage points.” Lucas pretended to aim a bow and arrow at Dustin while he spoke.

Dustin was getting dangerously close to huffy territory.

“Fine. Whatever. I’ll take the stupid damage points. Can we resume play yet?”

Everyone nodded, and they fell right back into battle.

It wasn’t often they took the game off the DnD board, but the weather was perfect, summer beginning to make itself known a little earlier than usual, giving them April days that were clear and perfect and made for the best LARP sessions known to Indiana.

Will aimed a fireball at Max, and launched it right as she darted out of the way. It sailed past her, missing her left hand by less than an inch, and she laughed wildly, raising her pool noodle sword and aiming blow after blow at him.

The bean bag hit the fence and went spiraling awkwardly into the small alley between the house and the old wooden fence

It was Will’s last fireball, and he hurried to retrieve any he could reach, dodging as best as he could around Max’s wild sword-wielding.

She tended to wallop them as hard as she could, somehow knocking the wind out of them with her soft excuse for a sword.

Will scrambled to pick up his bean bag from the overgrown grass and curling weeds, catching his breath quickly in the alley where he couldn’t be seen.

And then a sound drew his attention away from the battle.

It was a soft sound. He wouldn’t have heard it if the rest of the party had been so quietly focused on battling one another less than twenty feet away.

But he did hear it, and his head whipped around to find the source of it.

Steve and Billy.

Against the house.

Kissing.

It was like time stood still.

Like Will had been hit by one of Mage El’s freezing bombs.

Steve had Billy pushed up against the side of the house, their bodies pressed flush together.

Steve was clearly propping up Billy with his body, Billy’s mobility cane, the one he had let them cover in stickers, was laying forgotten on the ground.

Billy’s arms were wrapped around Steve’s shoulders, his hands curled in the fabric of Steve’s t-shirt. Steve had his arms wrapped around Billy’s waist, half holding him close, half not letting him fall without his cane.

They were kissing like they were trying to devour one another, and Will realized that the sound he had heard was a moan.

It wasn’t like seeing Lucas and Max kiss, or Mike or El, or even Nancy and Jonathan.

Seeing Billy and Steve,

Will knew he shouldn’t be seeing them.

He knew this was wrong, and people said two boys kissing was foul and bad.

But this didn’t look anything but, well, loving.

The way Steve was making sure Billy didn’t fall while they kissed, the way sometimes they would pull back and smile, their faces never moving more than a few inches away from one another.

One of Billy’s rough hands left its place clawed in Steve’s t-shirt, reaching forward to brush one thumb clumsily down his cheek.

They pulled back from one another, smiling stupidly, still staring into each other’s eyes.

Billy brushed his thumb down Steve’s cheek again, and Steve moved like he was nuzzling into the touch, turning his head to the right, pressing a kiss to Billy’s rough, scarred palm.

It made Will feel like he was floating in space with nothing keeping him down.

Steve pressed a kiss to Billy’s cheek, then his nose, then his other cheek, and Billy’s cheeks flushed and he giggled, a sound that was so foreign to Billy Hargrove it almost made Will rub his eyes to make sure he was seeing the right person.

And Billy smiled, so calmly and easily.

It made his whole face change. He looked like a completely different person.

And Will realized, he’s never actually seen Billy smile like this.

The only times he’d come close, we tight tiny things that never reached his eyes and were dropped within a second or two.

This was a genuine smile, full of genuine happiness, and god -

They’re in love.

They’re two boys, and they’re standing right in front of Will and they’re in love.

They went back to kissing, moving their heads slowly side to side, their mouths opening and closing and Will was so aware of having never kissed anyone before.

“Will, seriously! I’ve been yelling for you-”

Mike stopped talking the second he rounded the house.

He was stalk still, his mouth hanging open like a dead fish at what he saw.

Will’s heart was thundering against his ribcage, and he tried to push Mike back towards the game, pleading quietly at him to move.

And then the rest of the group was joining them. Faces mirroring Mike’s dead fish expression as they stared, open-mouthed, at Steve and Billy.

Will had his back to them, but in the quiet, he could hear. He could hear the soft sounds and the moans, and even the giggles that made his face go hot and his stomach do a whole gymnastics routine inside of him.

Will was staring at each of his friends in turn, pleading with them to just turn right around, and continue on with play as nothing had ever interrupted their battle.

Like they haven’t just stumbled on a huge and dangerous secret.

He went as far as to push Lucas, gently shoving him backward saying go! Go! Under his breath.

The last thing he needed was for Steve and Billy to notice them here. To realize what they had seen. What they know.

And then-

“What the fuck?”

Billy and Steve broke apart, looking towards the entrance of the alley, and seeing all six of the party, staring at them.

Max had been the one to speak, and she was looking at Billy oddly, almost like she didn’t know who he was.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She asked, her voice quavering slightly.

Billy looked like he wanted to ground to swallow him right up.

Steve scrambled for the forgotten cane, keeping one hand on Billy’s elbow as he crouched down.

The movement made Will’s stomach flop over.

It was practiced.

Once Billy was standing on his own with the cane, Steve approached the kids calmly, his hands raised up like they were all wild animals that might attack at any moment.

“Look, I know how this looks, and you guys can’t-”

“It looks like, you guys were making out .” Dustin’s tone was hollow, and he looked as struck dumb as the rest of them.

“I know, and I mean, yeah. We were, but you need to listen -”

“Steve.”

Steve whipped right around when he heard the murmur.

Billy was standing slumped over against the house, one scarred, shaking hand covering his face, the other clutched so tightly to his cane his knuckles were white.

“Bill, I’m here, okay? I’m not going anywhere. You’re okay.” Steve rushed to Billy’s side, holding onto his elbow again, brushing his fingers softly through Billy’s short hair, winding his fingers through the wild curls that were just long enough to form. “I’ll deal with this. It’s okay. They’re not going to tell.” Steve glared at the kids when he said that, as if daring them to argue.

Billy kinda, fell forward, leaning against Steve once again, his face going into Steve’s neck.

Steve didn’t react, still brushing his fingers through sandy blond curls.

“You all know what could happen to us if people found out?”

Nobody answered him.

Truth is, they did know.

They knew the stories about young men being beaten nearly to death. Being run out of town or put in the hospital over nothing but a rumor.

Being gay wasn’t something that was tolerated in Hawkins.

Hell, Will himself has been pushed around and called queer as long as he could remember.

Even by his own father.

“We won’t tell anyone.” Will felt like how Billy looked. Like he was shaking apart right in front of them. “I promise. We won’t. Not anyone.” He could barely get the words out. It was like his jaw had locked up with the rest of his bones.

He thinks it would kill him if anything happened to Billy and Steve over this. They needed to keep them safe.

He needed to keep them safe.

“Yeah. I promise,” El parroted. Steve beamed at them.

Will knew El had been very confused the first time she heard about Ryan Anderson, the high school sophomore that had been humiliated and beaten so badly his family had to leave town six years ago.

She didn’t understand how a boy that liked to kiss other boys was something that merited violence.

Hopper had surprised them all by saying that it didn’t, but some people felt like it did.

Who you kiss doesn’t matter as much as who you are. If you’re a good person, it’s all just extra fodder. But some people like to they’re better than anyone that’s different than they are.

El had called those people bad and that was the end of it.

“Billy, I won’t tell.” Max didn’t take her eyes off Billy while she spoke. “I swear. I’ll never tell anyone. Not even mom.”

Billy’s hand flexed on the handle of the cane, and his knees gave a wobble. Steve kept him upright, leaning over to murmur into his ear.

Will could just barely make out the words I’ve got you.

“I promise, too.” Dustin’s cereal box/lute was forgotten on the grass at his feet. “The party protects each other. It’s one of our laws.”

“Yeah, we stick together. This isn’t different.” Max gave Lucas a watery smile when he spoke up in turn.

Mike was quiet.

It was well-known how much he disliked both Steve and Billy.

All of the kids had some trouble trusting Billy after everything that had happened last summer. Billy didn’t seem to blame them. He kept to himself, even when he moved from his cold room in the military hospital into the Byers’ spare bedroom seven months ago, he was like a ghost moving through the house.

Only Steve could make him come out of his shell in those early days. Only Steve could make Billy join them for dinner and movie nights, take slow walks around the yard with his walker, and later with his cane. Only Steve could make Billy’s shoulders relax from their defensive position up around his ears, and now, it was finally dawning on everyone why.

The kids mostly left him alone, only Max and El bridging the gap and actually speaking to him. Max had been determined to see Billy through his recovery, glaring at him and watching like a ginger hawk while he did his physical therapy, practicing his grip and moving buttons from one bowl to another.

El would sometimes talk to Billy in a hushed voice. She would get him on his own and hush words like Papa and Mama and bad and Billy would have to retreat to his bedroom for slowly decreasing amounts of time.

Nobody but Joyce and Hopper knew what she saw in Billy’s head. They were just informed that he wouldn't be returning home after his two-month stint in the military hospital. Max hard clenched her jaw and nodded jerkily and nobody dared ask any further questions.

He and Will traded a lot of good mornings and tended to generally avoid eye contact when they came across one another in the house.

But none of them hated him, they were just a little weary.

Mike, on the other hand, had some unexplained vendetta against both Billy and Steve and Will found himself willing Mike to be kind in this moment. To not see this as some power over them, or something.

“Okay,” he said slowly. “Dustin’s right. We protect each other.”

Steve gave them a smile that was so dazzling and bright, it almost gave off its own light.

His eyes were shining and he gave a watery laugh.

“They really meant it when they said children are the future.”

“Who said?” El asked him.

“I don’t know, actually. Just people, I guess.” Steve shrugged, jostling Billy who was still nestled in his shoulder. “Look, seriously guys, thank you. I can’t even imagine how I would’ve felt if-nevermind.” He cut himself off quickly, shaking his head. “It just means a lot. To both of us.” Steve smiled at them one last time, this time much softer and thoughtful. “You’re good kids.”

Nobody said anything else. They didn’t know what to say to Steve.

“I came back here to get my fireballs. I, uh, I got ‘em.”

Everyone looked back at Will, and, almost like they were coming out of a trance, began picking their makeshift weapons back off the grass, and chattering idly as they went back to the yard in order to continue their battle.

Will lingered for a second, looking over his shoulder at Steve and Billy, who were still wound together.

They were talking softly, and Will was pleased to see Billy lift his head back up, still looking pale and nervous, but smiling at Steve.

He leaned back down and planted a kiss on Steve’s neck, right above the edge of his t-shirt.

Will felt his face go hot, and tugged himself away, going back to the game.

It wasn’t until well after dinner, when everyone else had gone home, that they spoke about it again.

Will. Will! Do you copy? Over.

The static rasping of Mike’s voice through the walkie-talkie was coming from under Will’s bed where he had stashed it.

He quickly turned down the volume dial on the side before answering.

“Yeah, Mike. I copy. Over.”

“We need to talk about today,” Mike said through the walkie. “I mean, did you have any idea? Over.”

“No. I didn’t,” Will said, truthfully. Finding out had made a lot of things clunk into place, but that doesn’t mean Will knew. “Over.”

“It’s just, neither of them seem the type. You know? Over.”

Something about that statement didn’t sit too right with Will.

Before he could respond another voice crackled through the channel.

“This is gold leader joining the conversation to let Mike know he’s being a dick. Over.”

Will laughed. Trust Dustin to listen in on the conversation and come forward to defend Steve.

“Lucas, do you copy, too? Over.” Will waited a moment after he asked.

“Yeah, I copy. I wanted to hear what you all were saying first. I don’t really know what to think about all this. Over.”

“I don’t think there’s much to think about. Steve seems happy. Billy too, I guess. Over,” said Dustin.

Will’s heart swelled with a pride he didn’t quite understand at Dustin’s words.

Outside in the hall, the phone rang.

Will heard his mom scramble to pick it up, calling softly down the hall for Billy, and the unmistakable thumping of Billy and his cane coming to take the call.

He heard his mom scrape a chair over for him and retreat to her room, giving him some privacy.

“It’s just scary, you know? Like, something really bad could happen to them if anyone else found out.” Will thought for a second. “You think anyone else knows? Over.”

“Robin. She was making comments to Steve a few days ago about his secret relationship and I kept asking him about it until he punched me in the arm. She knows. Over.”

“I’m just confused,” Mike sighed down the line. “Steve dated my sister for like, a year. And Billy is always disgusting and flirting with my mom. Or at least, he would do that. You know, before. Over.”

“Yeah, that’s just Billy being Billy,” Max chimed in.

“You have to say over when you’re finished. Over.”

“ Fine, dickheads. Over.”

“That makes sense, but Steve and Nancy doesn’t. Over.”

“Lucas, it doesn’t have to make sense. David Bowie says he likes guys and girls. Billy has, like, three different magazines where he says that. Over.”

“Max is right. We don’t have to understand any of this. They seem happy, and good together, and that doesn’t really concern us. Over.” Will was hoping he could speed through the rest of this conversation. He could hear Billy in the hall, shifting and murmuring something Will couldn’t make out but was dying to overhear.

He had a feeling he knew who was calling.

“But, now it does concern us. We know. And as we’ve previously established, the more people that know, the more danger they could be in. Over .” Dustin almost sounded as though he might cry.

“Then, we can’t talk about it. Not unless we know for a fact that we aren’t going to be overheard. And maybe we should give them codenames. Only call them something like Han and Leia when there’s a chance of someone listening in. Over.”

“I like Lucas’s codename idea, but I’d rather die than call them Han and Leia. Over.”

“Okay, Mike, it was the first thing that came into my head! What, you think you have a better idea? Over.”

“I don’t know. Harold and Maude? Over.”

“That’s stupid, Mike. Clearly, they’re Bert and Ernie. Over.”

Will snorted at Max’s suggestion. He heard Billy coughing wildly in the hall. He listened carefully to him until it died down and he knew it wasn’t a bad one.

“I think we’ve come to an agreement. If we need further discussion, codenames: Bert and Ernie. Okay, my mom wants me to spend time with her tonight. So this is gold leader, signing off. Over and out.”

“I’m going too. Over and out,” Mike said.

“Over and out,” said El, not surprising any of them that she was listening in. She did that a lot. Simply listen to her own walkie, and when asked why she didn’t say anything would shrug and go nothing to add. They only asked that she sign off so that they knew she got whatever information they had discussed.

Everyone followed with their own sign-offs, and Will twisted the top knob on his walkie, shutting it off.

There was a moment of silence out in the hall, and then three beats on Will’s door.

He found Billy on the other side, slumped in the chair under the phone, his cheeks going red.

“Can’t get up,” he grunted. “Can’t reach the hook.”

Will didn’t say anything, nodding quickly and avoiding eye contact as he took the phone, placing it carefully back on the hook.

Billy got stuck in chairs fairly often.

His core muscles had been slashed up worse than anything else, and sometimes he just needed a good pull up.

Will took hold of his wrist, leaning his body weight backward to yank Billy to standing.

Billy kept his weight heavily on his cane, patting Will once on the upper arm in thanks.

“You guys know Steve has one of your little walkie-talkies, right?”

“ What ?”

Will genuinely didn’t know that.

“Dustin gave him one. I don’t know when, but he’s got it.”

“So, uh, so he heard. Everything.”

“And relayed it all to me through an embarrassing amount of tears, by the sounds of it.”

But Will could see that Billy’s eyes were brighter than usual in the dark, and suddenly Will remembered that there had been a wet spot on Billy’s sleeve.

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine. I mean, well, you’re good kids. All of you.” Billy patted him on the shoulder again. “I was shitting myself out there when you found us. Thought for sure one a’ yous would go squealing.”

“Maybe we would’ve. Before.”

“Never thought I’d be grateful for nearly being turned inside-out.”

“And I never thought I’d be grateful for being found dead in the water, but here we are.”

“Yeah, shit’s pretty weird if you stop and think about it for a few minutes. Near-death experiences really put your sexuality in perspective.”

“Is that why you two started dating? Perspective?”

Billy huffed a breath, looking up towards the ceiling. He coughed twice, and Will could pretty much hear his lungs rattle and crackle.

“Yeah. ‘S why we started dating. Both of us kinda realized there’s no sense in feeling like shit about the things that can actually make you feel not like shit.”

“So, you’re in love? Both of you?”

Billy’s cheeks were flooded with color, the deep red spreading all the way back to the tips of his ears.

“I think so. We’re both a little too fucked in the head to say it, but,” he shrugged lamely, not bothering to finish his thought, and looking anywhere but at Will.

He gets it, though.

Fucked up parents make for fucked up kids.

Will considered himself the luckiest person on Earth, and any kinda parallel universe, that he had his mom to stop, and later heal, all the damage his dad had caused.

“Well, I’m glad that you have it. Both of you. I mean, we saw you guys. And after everything, it's good that you’re happy.” And Will meant it.

Even before last summer, he had never seen Billy look the way he did when he was kissing Steve. Look that calm, and relaxed, and that goddamn happy. It really meant something.

Especially to Will.

Because he had never thought of someone looking that happy when they kissed someone else.

He had never thought of a boy looking that happy when he kissed another boy.

Billy surveyed Will for a moment, still leaning heavily on his cane in the hallway.

Will had the suspicion that Billy could see right through him.

“He came to visit me a lot when I was in the hospital. Steve, I mean. I don’t know why he did. It’s not like we were friends or anything. But one of those days, when I was barely awake he started talking about everything that happened those couple days.” Billy shifted closer to the wall, bracing himself with one hand as he lowered himself back into the chair. “The Russians. I don’t know what he’s told you kids, but it wasn’t pretty.”

“He hasn’t said anything. I mean, we all saw how he looked after, so we figured maybe he got in a fight.”

Billy chewed on his bottom lip.

“Look, you gotta swear not to tell any of the others this, but, uh, it was a bit more than a fight.”

Billy was giving him a meaningful look and something churned around in Will’s stomach.

“Torture?”

Billy gave a tiny, shaky nod.

“He started talking about it. Said after that, he started thinkin’ about shit different. Said he thought he was gonna die down there and that nothing would change without him. It was heavy, and I was mostly feeling the same way, and I think that’s why he told me. Knew that I could get it. After that he kept visiting, and I noticed that I didn’t hurt as much when he was there. Or maybe I did, but having him there, squinting at the t.v. ‘cause he can’t see worth a’ shit, or making some stupid comment about a nurse on the floor just made it easier. He makes a lotta shit easier.”

“I think that’s what it should be like. I don’t think love should make things harder.” Will thought of his mom and dad, and how different she acted with Hopper.

Like she didn’t hurt as much when he was there.

“It was hard in the beginning. I mean, before we got together. I thought that he didn’t feel the same way, you know? That I was just being an idiot, feeling like that for my best friend. But then he told me. He’s always been a lot braver than people give him credit for. Anyway, he told me, and it should’ve been fucking terrifying. And I was scared of people finding out. Still am, but it’s like, even if we get run outta town, and everyone we care about turns against us, it’ll be fine because we’re not just me an’ him, we’re us .”

Billy blinked quickly, almost as if he was surprised by his own words.

They clanged around in Will’s head.

We’re not just me an’ him, we’re us.

“You don’t have to be scared, though. I mean, of people finding out. Of turning against you both. We won’t let that happen. Not about something like this.”

Billy gave him a weak smile.

“I guess it makes sense. I mean, you all took me in after killing half the town. Tracks that you wouldn’t throw me out for. Being gay.”

“There are worse things to be than gay.”

“Psycho killer not one of them?”

Will gave Billy as unimpressed of a stare as he could muster.

“That wasn’t you. You forget, I know what it was like to have him controlling me. I know what it’s like to not do anything to stop him, even when you are fighting with everything you’ve got. I nearly killed my mom. I even might have, if I’d been stronger. You fought against him, and in the end, you won. I never could’ve done that.”

Billy just stared at the wall slightly above Will’s left shoulder.

“I killed people, too. When he had me. Led a whole group of people right into a trap. And it still scares me what he did. But I know that it wasn’t me that did it. It wasn’t you that did any of that, Billy.”

“I tell myself that. Hell, Steve tells me that about every five minutes. Just hard to watch yourself doing that awful shit and not be able to tell your body to knock it off.”

Will didn’t know how to respond, so he didn’t.

Billy was right. It was a nightmare watching yourself hurt people around you, feeling like you were in the backseat, screaming at yourself to stop.

But Billy had done what Will couldn’t’ve.

Right at that last moment, he stood up to the thing controlling his every move.

Stood up to that horrific flesh monster, adn died rather than let it kill El.

El, who he didn’t even know.

And then Billy’s bedroom door down the hall opened slowly, and Steve poked his head into the hall, swearing under his breath when he saw someone in the hall with Billy and trying to duck out of sight, knocking the back of his head into the doorframe and swearing again.

Billy laughed, a low wheezy laugh that ended in a short coughing fit.

“Real fuckin’ subtle, Harrington,” he choked out.

The door opened once more and Steve stepped out into the hallway, trying to look casual.

“I didn’t realize it was you there, Will. How’s it goin’?”

Billy laughed again, and gestured for Steve to come and help him stand up.

Steve did so quickly, smiling warmly at Billy when he had righted him on his feet, and keeping hold of Billy’s arm.

“Why are you sneakin’ in my window like some kinda perv?”

“Because I wanted to talk. I have a lot of emotions today.” Steve turned to address Will. “You kids are gonna be the death of me. And I mean that in the nicest way I possibly can.”

“Yeah, well. You guys are family.” Will shrugged, feeling very awkward when both Steve and Billy. Looked as though their eyes were overbright. Will panicked, trying to think of an exit strategy before he saw either of them cry.

He had seen them both in too many intimate moments today.

“Um, I’m pretty tired, so I think I’m gonna go to bed. Let me know if you need, uh, help tomorrow. You know, heading of my mom or anything.”

Will turned on his heel and slipped back into his own bedroom.

“Alright, Bert. It’s been a long day and I’m gonna need some help getting into bed. My legs have gone totally stiff.”

“Oh, in no way am I Bert! I’m totally Ernie. You’re Bert. Think about it: you’re surly, and rude, and-”

“Gonna dump you if you don’t shut up and help me go to bed.”

“Spoken like a true Bert.”

#the big schmoop #yikes writes #steve harrington #billy hargrove #harringrove #i thinkg this was for #harringrove for palestine #but i really can't remember #idk merlin donated some money somehweere and i wrote this 💕

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

COSMIC - S1:E1; Chapter One, The Vanishing of Will Byers - [Pt. 1]

A Will Byers x Male!Reader Series

𝘖𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥'𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥.

𝐍𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝟔𝐓𝐇, 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟑

𝐇𝐀𝐖𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐒, 𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐀

𝐇𝐀𝐖𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐒 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐋𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐔.𝐒 𝐃𝐄𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐆𝐘

The night is quiet, as it always has been in this small corner of Indiana, and yet this night is unlike any other. The halls were especially bare, occupied only by the melody of the generator humming as it struggled to pump light throughout the twisted maze of halls. That was, until...

BAM

The steel door rips open, colliding fast and hard with the walls withab fantastic thud. Swallowing all remaining silence along with it, was the cry of alarms that flood the hallway as he runs for his life. The man finds himself at the elevator, furiously slamming his hand against the elevator button hoping just maybe it might make the elevator come faster. As he does so, the man continues to look over his shoulder in a panic.

He knows its after him.

BOOM

He knows its close.

The man is thrilled to hear the soft ding of the elevator signaling it's arrival. Before the doors are even opened all the way the man quickly ducks through and proceeds to frantically hit the UP button inside the elevator.

The doors begin to close.

For a second he believes he just might make it. But that doesn't completely cast away the fear as he can't seem to take his eyes off of the eerie hallway, expecting it's arrival. The man attempts to calm his breathing. His hopes of escaping are growing stronger as things quiet down.

That's when he hears it.

That... Thing.

It takes every remaining ounce of courage for the man to slowly look up, but on some level, he already knows he is done for.

A low growl is heard above him followed by an unusual yet terrifying squeak.

The man's screams were cut off with the shut of the doors as he is yanked up towards the ceiling of the elevator. The man is no more.

|| 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕 ||

It's quiet. The faint sound of sprinklers outside can be heard as we wait for Mike to continue. We are all on the edge of our seats. It's already hard enough they still can't find proper seating for me since I officially joined the party, so, for now, I'm wedged between my best friend Will and my brother Dustin.

"Something is coming. Something hungry for blood," Mike says, his voice barely above a whisper. "A shadow grows on the wall behind you, swallowing you in darkness."

Subconsciously we all slowly lean in waiting for whatever happens next.

"It is almost here."

"What is it?" Will asks suddenly, no longer capable of containing his curiosity.

This time it's Dustin who cuts in, "What if it's the Demogorgon?"

I take a deep breath in suspense. Out of the corner of my eye, Will practically throws himself back in his seat.

"Oh, Jesus, we're so screwed if it's the Demogorgon." Dustin rambles on.

Lucas speaks up, "It's not the Demogorgon." He sounds very sure of himself which gives me more confidence.

We all jump a little in our seats when Mike slams one of the game pieces down in front of us suddenly as he shouts "An army of troglodytes charge into the chamber!"

I sigh in great relief as Lucas gives a very smug and quite frankly, sassy look to Dustin as he props his elbow on the back of his chair which earns a soft chuckle from me.

"Troglodytes?" Dustin asks in disbelief.

"Told ya," I roll my eyes at Lucas despite the smile that grows on my face.

Everyone shares a good laugh, all of us relieved when my eyes meet Will's and we share a smile and a shake of the head as if silently saying 'I can't believe we were so worried for nothing'.

Simultaneously all of our smiles melt away when Mike starts looking around as he says "Wait a minute. Did you hear that?"

"That...That sound," he says softly.

"Boom... Boom," his voice is getting slightly louder with each 'boom'. We all stare at Mike expectantly, hanging on to his every word.

"BOOM!" Mike is shouting at this point as he slams his hands against the wooden surface making the table as well as all of us jump.

I always get too into these games, I realize. My heart is racing as adrenaline courses through my veins. I look over and it seems when I jumped I grabbed on to the nearest thing next to me which happened to be Will's arm. Sheepishly, I retract my hand and look back at Mike in anticipation.

"That didn't come from the troglodytes. No, that... That came from something else." Mike continues.

We all look around at each other as we wait for Mike.

In an instant, Mike slams down the next figure on the board and exclaims, "The Demogorgon!"

'Yep. We're screwed.'

The silence is replaced with all of our defeated groans. Dustin sighs and says, "We're in deep shit."

Mike suddenly says, "Will, your action!"

"I don't know!" Will sounded desperate.

We're all on edge, but the boys are completely panicking.

"Fireball him!" Lucas shouts.

"I'd have to roll a 13 or higher!"

"Too risky." Dustin cuts in. "Cast a protection spell!"

Lucas turns to Will and says "Don't be a pussy," I roll my eyes. "Fireball him!"

At this point, Lucas and Dustin are just yelling at each other.

"Cast protection."

Our attention is quickly brought back to Mike when he shouts, "The Demogorgon is tired of your silly human bickering! It stomps towards you."

"BOOM!"

"FIREBALL HIM!"

"Another stomp. BOOM."

"Cast. Protection."

"He roars in anger!"

At this point, everyone is yelling over one another; it's utter chaos, and finally I snap.

"Oh, come on, I'M tired of your silly human bickering, just let the boy roll!" It's hard to be heard over all the yelling but, by some miracle,, they manage to hear me and it's quiet for a split second as Will gets a chance to speak.

"And, FIREBALL!" He throws the dice on the table out of excitement and they go flying onto the floor.

"Oh shit!"

We all jump to our feet, scrambling to find the dice in anticipation.

"Where'd it go?" Lucas asks. "Where is it?"

Will almost sounded defensive, "I don't know!"

"Is it a 13?"

"How are we supposed to know if we haven't found the dice yet, Dustin?" I retort.

"Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" Dustin chants as he paces back and forth. I roll my eyes as I continue to search on my hands and knees.

"Mike," It was Mrs. Wheeler.

"Mom we're in the middle of a campaign!" Mike exclaims.

"You mean the end? Fifteen after."

Mike sighs, exasperated and runs up the stairs.

I hear Lucas accuse Will. "Oh, my God! Freaking Idiot!"

"Lucas," I ease. "come on, it's not his fault. We were all caught up in the game. Let's just focus on- OH! Found 'em!"

I jump to my feet, pointing down at the D-20 for my friends to see and not wanting to tamper with the roll. The boys come running over and practically trampled me in the process.

"Shit, it's a seven." We all groan in frustration, especially Will.

"Does a seven count?" Will asked hopefully.

"Did Mike see it?" Lucas counters.

"Well, no."

"Then it doesn't count."

I sigh, beginning to pack up my bags and tidy up my mess knowing it was time to leave. The others do the same.

"Why do we have to leave?" Will asks sadly as we head up the stairs. "It was just getting good,"

"I know," I swing my arm off his shoulder dramatically with a sigh as we head up the basement stairs and for the garage door. "I know. But hey, just think how awesome the next one will be, eh?" I tease trying to get my best friend to smile.

|| 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕 ||

Y/n has always been so good at cheering people up, I have no idea how he does it.

"Hey, guys. I'm sorry we had to end it so soon." Y/n and I turn around looking at Mike.

"No sweat, Mikey." Y/n shrugs, with a smile.

I love that smile. Suddenly his arm leaves my shoulder, and I frown a little.

I sigh inwardly, I've had such a bad crush on Y/n since he and Dustin moved here in the 4th grade. He has no idea... I hope. I always admired him from afar, that is until he finally convinced Dustin to let him into the party. We were all glad to have him, Dustin can be a little overprotective is all. I'm not sure about Dustin, but as for Mike and Lucas, they know I like him. Those guys can read me like a book, and once they caught on there was no convincing them otherwise.

I'm really lucky to have them as friends. They've never made me feel bad for who I am.

"Hey, Mike? Where is Dustin?" Y/n asks.

That's a good point, I realize. He was right behind us but he hasn't come outside yet.

"I think he went upstairs to give the leftovers to Nancy."

"Oh okay. I'll just wait here then. Uh oh, your plant is dying" Y/n said suddenly, kneeling down by the withering plant by the patio.

"Yeah, that's my mom's tomato plant. That thing is hopeless. She basically gave up on it."

"Well, I might be able to help," he said thoughtfully, beginning to scan the garage. "Where do you keep your gardening- Oh, never mind!"

He quickly runs over to the shelves, retrieving some old packets and ran back over to the plant, kneeling beside it.

You can always tell when he is concentrating; he always does this cute thing where he furrows his brow and chews his lip. My stomach does a little flip when i realize I was staring again and I quickly refocus my attention on my vest zipper. I still manage to see Y/n fiddling with the the packet tonget it open, finally sprinkling the contents into the dirt before mixing it in with his finger. All the while, he mutters words of encouragement towards it. I remember him telling me one day about a study conducted on plants and how it was proved that they respond well to positive feedback, and the memory makes me smile. He was so fascinated by it; it was hard not to be as excited about it as he was when he told us about it.

Y/n stands up, brushing himself off and smiles at Mike and then me.

I kinda froze, not in panic but in awe. He just radiates warmth, and positivity effortlessly.

"What?" He chuckles as he smiles at me.

I shake my head in embarrassment and look away, zipping up my vest and getting on my bike.

Lucas just rolls his eyes at my behavior. He's always telling me to just go for it but it's not that easy. I think he's tired of my bashfulness but still understands why I'm scared.

We all look to the door when we hear it slam. It's Dustin.

"There's something wrong with your sister." He grumbles.

"What are you talking about?"

"She's got a stick up her butt."

"Yeah," Lucas joins in. "It's because she's been dating that douche bag, Steve Harrington."

"Yeah, she's turning into a real jerk."

"She's always been a real jerk!" Mike interrupts.

"Nuh-uh. She used to be cool, like the time she dressed up as an elf for our elder tree campaign." With that, Dustin headed off on his bike, followed by Y/n but not before sending me a smile and thanking Mike.

"It was a seven," I tell him, thinking back on the campaign.

"Huh?"

"The roll, it was a seven. The Demogorgon, it got me."

Mike seems a bit shocked at my truthfulness, but ultimately shrugs it off, nodding. I nod back.

"See you later!" I say as I start peddling away.

I catch up just in time to see Lucas bid his goodbyes.

"Good night, ladies!" He chimes.

"Kiss your mom 'night for me," Dustin calls before looking over at me.

"Race you back to my place? Winner gets a comic?"

Before I can respond Y/n speaks up, "and am I included this time, like at all?"

"Course not," he says nonchalantly. I shake my head, feeling kinda bad for him, but I know it's just sibling banter.

"Well then," he scoffs. "Don't be surprised if your bike tires mysteriously deflate one day, Dustin. There's all kinds of weirdos out here,"

I laugh, and Dustin just ignores him.

"Any comic?" I ask.

"Yeah!" As we are about to start we both look back when we hear Y/n frantically yelling, "Shit! DUSTIN HELP!"

I look back to see him winking at me with a smile on his face. Automatically realizing what he is up to, I booked it.

Fortunately for me, Dustin wasn't so quick. I could hear his frantic cries, "Jesus, Y/n what's wrong-? HEY, WHAT THE HELL?!"

There it is. Although, I was already far ahead.

"DAMMIT Y/N, IF I LOSE YOU OWE ME A COMIC BOOK!"

I can hear Y/n's laughter from here and it makes me smile. As the laughter grows more and more distant, I hear "GO WILL, GO!"

Somehow my smile gets bigger, and my legs go faster.

"Hey! Hey! Get back here! I'm gonna kill you! BOTH of you!"

"I'll take your X-Men 134!" I shout as I pass his house and take the shortcut to my own.

As I slow down my mind starts to wonder; It wanders to the campaign today. It wanders to how Y/n helped me win the race and my new comic book just moments ago. It wanders to Y/n grabbing my arm during the campaign and how I don't think I've ever blushed that hard... My mind wanders to Y/n.

Sometimes I really hate how much I like him. How I can't get him out of my head. He just has always been such a good friend to me and I just don't get how someone can be so nice, and thoughtful and-

My thoughts are cut short when I notice my bike light flickering. I look down at it in confusion. Just then it comes back on. I look back at the road and I see a disturbingly tall, ominous figure staring me down. My heart practically stops in the figure's wake.

My body reacted before my mind could; I yanked my bike right and as I cruise down the ditch, my bike topples over and I'm sent to the muddy ground. It takes me a second to gather my senses as I warily pick myself up and try and get a glimpse of what I just saw. My heart starts racing faster as I hear an alarming and indistinct growling. I'm whimpering at this point but I don't care. I ditch my bike without a second thought and book it as fast as I can in the direction of my house.

I'm sniveling and panting as I make it through the fog that covers the road in front of my house. I make it on to the porch, throw open the door, and slam it shut just as fast. My fingers fumble to secure every single lock on the door and for the first time in my life I wonder why we don't have more. All the while, Chester is barking like crazy.

"Mom?" I'm running through the house looking in every room for any sign of my mom or Jonathan.

"Jonathan? Mom?"

'Crap they must be working. Crap! No No No!'

I run back into the living room and throw the blinds over my head, wincing as it hit the back of my head. But I waste no time in cupping my hands up against the glass to get a better look at the yard to see if I can spot the figure.

My stomach drops what feels like ten stories.

I can see it in the distance right between the sheets that were hung out to dry.

It's just standing there. Menacingly. (a/n: If you understood that reference, and actually thought it was funny let's be friends please 😂)

It starts stomping towards the house.

I gasp and start running for the phone.

I hastily pick the phone up from the mount and my fingers are shaking as I try and dial 911 as fast as possible.

I can hear it ringing. I can hear the click as if someone picked up. I waste no time, "Hello? HELLO?!"

All I can hear over the phone now is static, and then a disturbing, yet familiar screech-like growl. Chester's barking is getting louder and more frequent indicating that It's right outside. I slowly peer around the corner to look at the glass window on the door and I can barely make out the menacing shadowy figuring looming outside the door. I can hear it growling from outside.

Chester's barks quickly turn into whimpers as he backs away towards me.

Then the unthinkable happens.

The chain lock on the inside of the door starts unlocking itself.

'Shit!'

At this point, I realize I'm never going to be able to outrun it so I'm going to have to at least try to defend myself. I remember the gun we keep in the shed out back and make a run for it, not even bothering to hang up the phone. I nearly trip on my own feet as I run for the shed. I make it inside and slam the shed door behind me in the process. I quickly but carefully take the gun off the wall and set it on the shelf as I scramble for the ammo. My fingers are still trembling as I fumble to put the bullets in the magazine.

Once I finally get the magazine in, I pick up the gun and aim it at the shed door waiting. It seems as though I can't even keep the gun steady since my entire body is completely tremoring, even my unsteady breaths.

It has to be close by now.

As if on cue I hear the deep growling that I've already heard twice tonight and for a couple of moments I think it's outside. But then I realize why it sounds so close.

It's in the shed with me.

It's behind me.

The fear is nearing paralyzing, but I still manage to command my body to turn around to get a look at this relentless monster. When I see it I just stand there in utter disbelief, the gun slowly and subconsciously lowering to my side in shock. I'm completely frozen in place as I stare at the beast in front of me. The hanging light bulb above me glows intensively brighter with every passing second. The last thing I see before I'm cloaked in pure white light and an unbearable chill is the monster's long arm reaching out for me.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

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#you'll float queue #cosmic #cosmic 1 #m!cosmic #will byers x reader #will byers x male!reader #reader insert #stranger things #x male!reader #y/n henderson #will byers #dustin henderson #lucas sinclair #mike wheeler #the vanishing of will byers

[claraswritings]

I fell in love (with you) in stages - CH20- FINALE

Pairing: Steve Harrington x HendersonReader

Warnings: Series typical violence, language and spoilers for all seasons

A/N: Sorry for the delay. I have just been through a break up (my choice but still a hard choice) and it kind of put everything else on the back burner for a while.

**

Tags: @hannarudick @felicityofbakerstreet @sledgy14 @kiara-uwu @lookalivesunshine-x @loulouloueh @loco-latte @mikariell95 @queenofthehairharrington @lovelydaydreams15 @anonymousonion23 @mochminnie @prettysbliss

**

A few seconds later and the car collided with the side of Billy’s Camaro t-boning it and stopping it in its tracks before it reached the others. You felt yourself lurch forward then slide sideways into Steve.

The car came to a halt and Steve looked up, loosening his grip on the steering wheel

“You okay?” he asked, concerned turning to you almost immediately. He reached over to push your hair back. The worry over you was evident , the last thing he wanted was for you to be hurt due to his crazy idea.

“Never better,” you gave him a wry smile. “Are you?”

“Are you sure,” he asked again

“Steve.” you pressed. “I promise i’m fine, i’m just glad your idea worked, you are...amazing” You cupped his face with your hands and gave him a quick kiss.

The two of you sat for a second, catching your breath, before the smell of smoke coming from the Camaro, diverted your attention. Jonathan pulled up beside the now immobile Toddfather and gestured for you and Steve to get in. You didn’t even hesitate, scrambling in with your boyfriend following. He’d barely pulled the door shut before the creature leapt down with a roar and took off after the car, advancing after you.

**

You had barely taken your eyes off that...thing in hot pursuit of the vehicle. It was only the crackling of the radio made you jump and the sudden sound of an unfamiliar girls voice and your brothers perky tone told you it could only be one person.

“Wait. She’s real?” Steve turned to look at the radio too, clicking on at the same time. “Huh...gotta say I thought he was making her up,”

“I wish,” you rolled your eyes “He’s got some imagination but not enough to go on about her for as long as he did,”

If Steve thought hed had to listen to Dustin’s “Reasons why Suzie is great” monologue, he was in for a surprise. He had only heard the start of it. In the car journey back from the camp, you’d had hours of it. Not that you’d begrudge him, his first ever teenage romance. You were happy for your brother, after Max and Lucas had got together and Mike and El, you’d worried he’d be left behind.

Steve looked to be considering your reply “Eh yeah makes sense,” he shrugged. As a surprisingly melodic voice began floating through the radio. Steve wondered for a second if he was still drugged. It wasn’t until you spoke that he realised...nope, that really was Dustin singing.

“Is he singing? The song from Neverending Story?” your jaw was slack at the sheer madness of the situation. Being chased by some huge monster, in a car with your best friend who’d become your boyfriend in the past hour, his ex and your brother who had chosen now of all moments to start serenading his girlfriend over a radio.

“Is that one with the big white dog?”

“I think it’s supposed to be a dragon, Steve” you bit your lip, pointing out his mistake quietly. He was adorable when he was oblivious.

“Really” his brow knitted as Suzie began to join in with the singing. “They’re still going,”

“Are they going to do the whole song,” you remarked. “Don’t know if Dustins forgetting it’s kind of urgent” your face pulled into a grimace, and for a second your eyes flickered back to the monster.

Stomach churning, you looked away again, deep down, you feared the car would run out of fuel before you reached your destination and there was absolutely no way you’d outrun it on foot.

“Do you want me to sing to you” Steve offered casually. He sensed your discomfort and worry and even though he was freaking out himself, he hoped his lame attempt at humour would make you smile.

You snorted “Absoutely not...If you even try I’m throwing myself out of this car,”

“Even with that,” Steve gestured at the creature from the back window, pulling a face, as the love struck duo finished their song.

“I’ll take my chances,” you teased.. as Steve took his turn to scan out of the back window.

“Erm....” he poked you in the arm after a second “Why is it stopping, why is it turning around?” Before you could speculate, Steve leant forward tapping the others and sticking his head through to the drivers side to alert Jonathan.

“Guys that thing is turning around, It’s stopping, it must be going somewhere else,”

Jonathan eyed you both in the rear view before sighing, spinning the car, making a lurching U turn and following it back

“I can’t believe we’re actually going back, we must be dumb” You remarked under your breath

“Yeah i’ve been coming to that conclusion myself” he replied

“We should take Dustin to see her,” you commented as Jonathan began tailing the monster being careful to keep a reasonable distance from it. “We can make a road trip out of it, we’ll stock up on the nougat for Dustin and we can get a big bag of sours for us, we’ll get a motel along the way, obviously we’ll get a room to ourselves, i’ve got enough from working at the video store flat out, we can take your car, it’s nicer than mine and it’ll make Dustin look cool in front of Suzie. He’s probably told her all about you, y’know”

You were aware you were rambling but it was anything to take your mind of the idea that you might not have a tomorrow to think about as soon as you got to where that thing was going.

Steve nodded, he couldn’t quite say how much he liked the idea of getting a road trip with you, about how much he’d love to drop Dustin at Suzies for the day to let the young love birds catch up and for you and him to go out somewhere just the two of you, maybe even stay in a motel, order room service and make out. Instead he just leant over and gave you a kiss. In that moment he decided, If you were about to rush into probable death he wouldn’t let it happen without telling you.

He didn’t care anymore that Nancy or Jonathan could see if they glanced over their shoulder.

“I love you, I’ve been in love with you for ages” his tone was low, just enough for you to hear.

“I love you, Steve,” you kissed him again. The way you said it was different to how Nancy used to say it. You didn’t hesitate to return the sentiment, your eyes met his when you said it and you gave him a smile in spite of the beyond dangerous situation you were barrelling towards.

“We go together right,” you asked.

You didn’t need to ask. Steve knew.

“What? The road trip or certain death?” he quirked his eyebrows.

“Both,”

**

Lucas had briefed you all outside of Starcourt on his plan, and handed you all a fair amount of fireworks each. You’d break into sections; and surround the creature on the top, meaning El, Max and Mike wouldn’t be stuck fighting from the lower mall. His plan was basically “light, throw, grab another, throw again”.

Being completely to the point, you weren’t sure it would work but hell. It was the best you had.

Together you’d crept up the metal stairs of the fire exit, trying hard to stop your legs shaking. You could hear the low frequency roars of the monster from where you stood. It sounded like it was coming from all sides.

Once you made your way out of the door and on to the top level, there’d be no turning back.

You took a breath before resting your shaking hand on the door handle. The others had headed to the other entrances to the upper floor.

“Hey, we’ve got this” Steve who was only one step behind you, sensed your apprehension “Remember what you said. We stick together. You’ll have me with you the whole time, I promise I won’t let anything happen to you,”

You nodded and as you pushed open the door and crept to your positions, you could see the monster climb down through the wide open ceiling and advance towards El, who was trying to edge away from it as Billy watched expressionless.

Steve caught Lucas’ eye and nodded. The monster stilled, it’s mouth expanding.

“Okay [Name.]. Now” Lucas called over to you both, standing up and lobbing the firework directly into its side.

The creature let out a pained growl

“Flay this, you ugly piece of shit,” the younger boy called, his next firework hitting it directly in the mouth as it snapped around to the source.

“Nice aim” you called over

The mall lit up in a series of greens, yellows and reds as you broke away from taking turns throwing from different sides to bombarding from any direction.

“Erm guys,” Steve shouted over the crackling of the fireworks “We’re almost out over here,”

“I know” Will shouted back, his voice loud over the exploding “So are we!”

You threw one of your last large fireworks, and whipped around to Steve “It has to be now,” You told him, tossing your radio over before turning back to the dwindling pile. “I’ll keep throwing, call it in,”

Wasting no time, Steve forgone the call signs and scrambled for the radio “Dustin! We’re out of time!”

You could only vaguely hear your brothers reply. The crackling and banging from all ends plus the blood thumping in your ears was overwhelming everything.

Beneath you, you could see Billy had wrestled El to the ground and despite her struggling, hed gained the upper hand.

You fumbled back to the bag at the same time as Steve and you both reached inside, but your hands only found one firework left.

Shit.

His eyes met yours. “You or me,” he asked, a little breathless.

“You. You’ve got better aim” you rushed back, grabbing the lighter and lighting the fuse for Steve to lob the final firework.

From your glance over to Jonathan and Nancy you could see they had also ran out.

“What now?” you shouted, over the noise. The smoke trails of the fireworks were clearing and through the wisps and sparks, you could see Billy grapple with El as the monster inched forward.

“It’s not enough, we haven’t done enough,” you pressed your hands to your face. “Shit we need to do something,”

Steve glanced over at the floor below, he could see Billy stand up, as the creature let out a deafening roar.

“Come on come on come on, close the gate already” he muttered.

Billy’s arms shot out in an attempt to stop it, only to scream out in pain when it latched on to him.

“Fuck” you cursed. “What the hell is he doing? Should we help him?,” you turned to the others, your eyes wide. Jonathan looked pale white and Nancy shook her head

“I don’t think we can,” she bit her lip. “I don’t think we can do anymore,”

The monster took one last stab at Billy before dropping him, leaving him bleeding heavily on the floor of the mall. Max let out a loud scream that you could hear from your positions above even over all the chaos and you felt your heart break for her. Billy had never been the nicest brother to her but he was her brother nonetheless and he’d clearly sacrificed himself to save El. In spite of everything, he’d given himself up to save one of the kids.

Only a moment later and you heard an almighty screech and saw one of the many limbs flailing towards you, careening into the railing beside you.

“Get back” Steve turned towards you and pulled you back towards one of the walls and away from the edge, just in time.

With a groan and a thud that shook the whole mall, it fell to the ground with a weak snarl.

“Did...they? did they...” Steve couldn’t get the words out, as they fumbled over his lips unable to quite form a full sentence. One hand was still gripping the radio so hard you were surprised it hadn’t cracked, the other holding on to yours.

You could hear your brother and Erica on the other end but your ears were still ringing, and you could barely make out what they were saying.

You could only nod. “I think so”.

**

By the time, you were checked over, things had slowly started to set in, you’d been asked by about three men in uniform

what the hell had happened, and given the same version of events each time.

After that they’d given you a blanket and you’d joined Steve on the back of the ambulance, who wrapped in his own blanket had rested his head on your shoulder.

The two of you sat in silence, watching everyone mill around in the wreck that once was Starcourt. The skies had opened to rain for what felt like the first time in ages and you couldn’t help but turn your face up to the cool mist.

“I think I’m ready to go home,” you muttered to him, after a few moments. “We should get some sleep”

“Don’t. I... uh-,” Steve paused “I don’t want to be alone, not after all that,” he grimaced. “My dads out of town and...l”

“You won’t be alone, silly, you’ll be with me...and Dustin,” you reached for his hand in a small comforting gesture. “You didn’t think I’d leave you alone after all that, did you,”

Steve lifted his head off your shoulder and looked at you, taking in every detail of your face, the way the rain had plastered your tussled hair to your face, the wide eyed gaze focused on him, the curve of your nose and the tweak of your lips. You were without a doubt, in his mind, the best person he had ever known.

“What?” you eyebrows piqued.

“What did I do to deserve you?” he leant in pressing his forehead to yours.

Your heart broke a little at that. Your brave, bright, upbeat Steve didn’t even see how wonderful he was. How sweet he was, how kind he was to the kids, how dorky he was and how much you loved when he just embraced it. He looked completely drained.

You moved your hands up to cup his face. His cuts had been cleaned by one of the paramedics but he still sported a fairly nasty black eye. You kicked yourself mentally for having left him and Robin to the Russians, even though you knew if you’d attempted to take on a Russian soldier, you’d likely have gotten into a lot worse.

“Steve...”

“I seriously don’t know what I’d do without you,” he carried on.

“You’d be fine,” you traced his cheekbone, softly as not to put pressure on the bruises. “You’re better than you give yourself credit for”

“I really wouldn’t,” he broke your gaze for a second before you tilted his face back up to place a kiss on his lips. “Even still I wouldn’t want to ever be without you,”

“Well you don’t have to be without me, I’m not going anywhere,”

Steve offered his hand up only holding up his pinky “Promise?,”

“Forever and ever,” you kept one hand on his cheek before linking the pinky on your free hand with the one he had held up to you.

#steve harrington x henderson!reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington #steve harrington imagine #stranger things x reader #stranger things imagine #stranger things

[lesbianrobin]

What are your thoughts on stancy in S2? More specifically the Halloween party scene?

Alright, so. St*ncy overall is... a very rough part of S2. To this day, I can’t understand why the fuck they chose to handle it the way they did. The whole thing makes Nancy look bad, it makes Jonathan look kind of bad too, and it absolutely beats Steve to an emotional pulp. This post is going to be so long I’m so sorry dklnckn...

It’s canon that Nancy wanted Jonathan the entire time that she was dating Steve. Almost a full year! Steve is planning his future around Nancy, talking about how he wouldn’t mind not going to college if it meant he could be around for her senior year. It’s clear that Steve thinks he and Nancy are in it for the long haul, which is reasonable considering that they’ve 1. Been together for a year and 2. Fought a monster together. Steve loves her, and he thinks that she loves him too. 

He goes to dinner with Barb’s parents for her every week, even though he doesn’t know them and barely knew Barb, even though he’s incredibly uncomfortable, but he does it to support her. When she has a rough moment in the library because of her grief, he pulls her into a private space, reminds her that talking about it in public could literally get them killed, holds her and comforts her, and then basically tells her that he knows it’s stupid to go to a Halloween party and act like normal teenagers when they know what they know, but it’s all they really can do, and he thinks they might as well try to be normal. He’s not belittling her feelings. He’s not ignoring her trauma. He’s just focused on making sure they don’t attract government attention and on trying to enjoy their lives as best as they can. 

Now, the party comes in. Nancy is being kinda shitty to Steve before she gets drunk. Billy and some other guys come up to Steve and start insulting him about the whole “King Steve” thing and how he’s a loser now, and Nancy just... walks away. She doesn’t even try to pull Steve away, tell them to knock it off, anything. Steve’s getting bullied, and she just leaves. Fine, whatever. Steve’s a big boy, she doesn’t have to try and fight his battles. Then he follows her over to the punch bowl, realizes that she’s chugging that shit like it’s going out of style, and he’s like “Hey, slow down.” Nancy, still sober, says something along the lines of (can’t remember exact words) “You wanted to get drunk like stupid teenagers!” before chugging down her cup of punch. 

This is why I brought up the dinners with Barb’s parents. Steve’s been doing this thing for Nancy every single week for a year. He’s kind to Barb’s parents, he does his best to make conversation and be polite, even when Nancy isn’t around. Then, he asks her to go to one party with him (that she wanted to go to as well, indicated by the fact that she enthusiastically pleaded with Jonathan to come and the fact that she and Steve had been working on their costumes for a long time). She responds by throwing his words back in his face, intentionally getting drunk at least partially to spite him. What the fuck?

Nancy’s grieving. She’s a teenager. She feels guilty about Barb’s death and blames Steve for it as well as herself, and she tries to suppress these feelings until she just can’t anymore. I understand that. All of this stuff honestly makes for an interesting plot! However, it falls apart the second she goes off with Jonathan, and it stops being the story of a girl struggling with complex survivor’s guilt and starts being the story of a girl who dated a boy she never loved for a full year while harboring feelings for someone else.

Steve and Nancy have an argument outside of the gym. He’s bitchy, tells her to go ask her other boyfriend what happened last night, and asks her to prove that she didn’t mean their love was “bullshit” by telling him she loves him. She can’t say it, and he tells her that she thinks she’s bullshit. Did they break up? I personally think it’s a bad argument and not a breakup, seeing as nobody actually said “we’re over” or anything, but you could argue that Nancy interpreted it as a breakup if you’d like to be charitable. However, I’m pretty sure that later on at Murray’s, Nancy and Jonathan refer to Steve as her boyfriend, so... Nancy cheats on Steve. Perhaps the cheating would be understandable as a result of her suppressed trauma and emotions surrounding Barb and Steve and everything, a moment of weakness, EXCEPT for the fact that she confirmed to Jonathan the night before that she waited for him and has essentially liked him the entire time. That, in my opinion, pushes it from “mistake made as a result of heightened emotions after a bad fight” to “opportunity taken that she’s wanted for a long time.” It’s a fucked-up writing decision that makes Nancy and Jonathan both look bad, as not only do they both know Nancy has a boyfriend, they also both literally owe said boyfriend their lives, and they still choose to sleep together.

The whole “thing” with J*ncy is shared trauma, right? They have the matching scars. Shared trauma, that’s “the real shit” according to Murray. But... what trauma do they share, exactly, that isn’t also shared by Steve? Steve was just as much “as fault” for Barb’s death as Nancy (of course neither of them were remotely responsible, but they were both there and they both had sex while Barb was dying out back in the pool, so). Steve fought the Demogorgon with them. Steve actually stood in front of both of them and held the Demogorgon off, protecting them! Is the “shared trauma” meant to be losing someone to the Upside Down? Will survived, but even if you do count him as a “loss,” then Joyce, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin all share that trauma, too. 

None of that really even matters, because the concept of shared trauma as the basis of a relationship is a mess that the show literally dismantles themselves in the form of, you guessed it, St*ncy!

Steve and Nancy both know about the Upside Down. Steve and Nancy both ignorantly had sex as Barb died, and now have to live with that knowledge. Nancy lost her best friend, and Steve has to wake up and go to sleep right next to the place Barb died every single day. They both fought the Demogorgon. They were both told by the government that they absolutely cannot tell anyone about what happened, and they will most likely be killed if they do. This shared trauma is what makes Nancy lash out at Steve, it’s what makes her get wasted, it’s what makes her blame him for Barb’s death, and it’s presumably what prevents her from loving him even though she clearly wants to (why else stay with him for a year?). So why should we, the viewers, accept that J*ncy’s shared trauma will provide the basis for a healthy relationship when the very same thing caused St*ncy to crumble?

So Nancy and Jonathan sleep together. They come back, Steve can tell what happened, and he says that it’s fine. I think that we’re supposed to take this as character development, or something? When he first thinks that Nancy has cheated on him with Jonathan, he responds by publicly shaming them and insulting Jonathan, but now, when Nancy ACTUALLY cheats on him, he takes it lying down, says that it’s fine when it clearly isn’t, and... this is a good thing?

We already know Steve is a better person now. We knew it back in S1, when he cleaned off the movie theater sign, went to Jonathan’s house to apologize, and then literally risked his own life to save Nancy and Jonathan! We knew it when he went to dinner at the Hollands’ with Nancy. We knew it when he ignored Billy’s jabs during basketball and at the party and let the insults roll off his back instead of allowing himself to be goaded into a fight. We knew it when he went to Nancy’s house with flowers to apologize, when he helped Dustin look for Dart, when he fought off the Demodogs, etc, etc.

I’m getting off topic, but my point is that St*ncy is a mess in S2 for a lot of reasons, but the way it ends is the worst part. Steve, for whom infidelity is a big fucking deal due to his parents’ strained relationship as a result of his own father’s cheating, gets cheated on by Nancy. Nancy never properly apologizes to him. They never really talk about it. Steve says it’s fine, his heart is broken, and Nancy and Jonathan are happily in love and never have to own up to the fact that their relationship began as infidelity.

The whole S2 St*ncy narrative essentially functions to grind Steve’s heart into the dirt while making Nancy and Jonathan, protagonists who we are presumably intended to like and root for, seem like terrible people. I have so many more thoughts about St*ncy, but most of those are already up in some other posts, so this is it, I guess! Thanks for asking!

#em talks #asks #stranger things #long post #steve harrington #nancy wheeler #stancy #lesbianrobin.canon

[viewmasterfeeling]

Mike realizes he is big gay

Thanks for the request! (this is longer than i intended it to be... oops)

(fyi, it starts at Mileven goodbye, which is when I hc Mike’s Gay Realization)

Here on ao3!

A Realization

Mike stood in Will’s empty bedroom, across from his ex girlfriend, mind buzzing.

“Mike…”

El approached him, love in her eyes. Mike felt trapped, cornered. But mostly, he was frozen. He didn’t know what to do. The only thing he did know was that he didn’t want to kiss El.

Which was weird. She was his girlfriend , he was supposed to…

“I love you too.”

He was supposed to love her.

El just said ‘I love you’. I should be happy, I should be full of emotion, I should…

But the words didn’t make Mike feel anything at all. Except for confusion, maybe. Mike didn’t remember ever saying he loved her. He didn’t remember ever being in love with her.

He froze again as El closed her eyes and pressed her lips on his. Like she’d done so many times before. Only this time, Mike didn’t make an effort to kiss back. He didn’t want to. He didn’t even close his eyes, but kept them wide open in confusion, discomfort, and panic.

Will.

What? No no no. He wasn’t supposed to be thinking about Will when he was kissing El…

Oh.

Oh my god.

El broke apart and gave Mike such a soft smile that Mike felt bad for her. She deserves someone who can give her what she wants.

Because… Mike couldn’t.

No, no, no. I’m not supposed to. I’m straight. I’m in love with Eleven.

But he wasn’t . That was the problem.

He didn’t want to kiss El.

He… Oh, god… He wanted to kiss Will.

Mike watched El and the last of his heterosexuality walk away. He had so many questions, and he didn’t want to answer any of them.

Later.

-----

The rest of the day passed in a haze of bittersweet goodbyes. The hours dragged out but also passed in a millisecond.

Mike sat in the basement, flipping through the binder of Will’s drawings. Smiling at some of the older ones, where Will was still discovering his style, and laughing at a picture of Will The Wise shooting green fireballs.

When he reached the end, he felt a pang of sadness. Will had stopped giving him drawings a few months ago, and Mike never really understood why. It hurt even more now, thinking about all they’d been through that summer…

“It’s not my fault you don’t like girls!”

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why did Mike even say that?

Who was he really talking to when he said that?

Mike pushed the binder away, frustrated. Why was he such an idiot? Why did he feel this way? Why couldn’t he just be normal?

Why is this happening? This… This is crazy.

A different memory forced its way into Mike’s head.

“Hey, well… If we’re both going crazy, we’ll go crazy together, right?”

“Yeah. Crazy together.”

Mike couldn’t help smiling at that.

But then Mike remembered that that was a while ago, and times were different then, and now Mike had ruined everything.

He picked up the binder again, and this time, he didn’t want to let it go. In a way, it connected him to Will.

Will .

I just want to think about Will.

Will Byers, the boy with bright eyes and a soft smile, an infectious laugh. He was patient, he was kind, he kept everyone on track. He was always, always there for Mike. Even when Mike was dating El and treating Will like a jerk, he was still there. He was always there to listen to Mike, always willing to make time for Mike.

He was perfect.

Oh god. It’s just supposed to be a crush. (Well, it’s not supposed to be anything.) I’m not supposed to be in love with him!

But Mike reconsidered everything. Every day he’d ever spent with Will. Every moment they shared. From meeting him on the swings, to laughing through Elementary school and sneaking off to the trees at recess, to meeting Lucas and then Dustin, to first learning to play Dungeons and Dragons, and naming their friend group “The Party”, to…

To losing Will in the Upside Down.

That was the worst week of Mike’s life. He’d always known that as a fact in his mind. Even worse than the time he got sick on vacation and kept throwing up on Nancy. Even worse than any of the 353 days without El. Mike held the binder close to his chest, shutting down his thoughts for a moment and reliving the fear and desperation and finally, indescribable amounts of relief.

After Will came back, things were different. But Will was still Will. He was still the one who was kind, patient, and Mike’s best friend. They were still close, probably even closer than before. Mike helped Will through the Mind Flayer’s possession (the second worst week of Mike’s life), and in the end of it, he got Will and El back.

Mike felt a little selfish for claiming Will’s week in the Upside Down and Will’s days being possessed as the worst times of his life-- he knew it must be so much worse for Will. But losing Will meant losing part of himself.

Maybe… Maybe I am meant to be in love with him. Maybe I always was.

It was the same now. Now that Will was leaving. Mike was losing a part of himself that he might never get back.

Well, at least I have this, he thought, flipping through the binder again. Reliving all the moments where Will would show up to a D&D campaign with a new work of art.

Mike smiled at the sight of Will. A split second after, he noticed a paper in his hand. “Hey, what’s that?” Mike asked.

“Oh, it’s just a thing I drew for your campaign.”

“Wow, is that the party?” Mike asked, getting a closer look.

“Yeah. Do you like it?” Will’s eyes were nervous.

“Like it? I love it!”

“You can keep it if you want.”

Mike grinned and took the drawing. Will smiled softly, and Mike felt so proud…

That scenario, so many times… And Mike always wished he could give something back.

Hey… maybe he could. Mike was never an artist, but he could put words to a page.

And Will deserved something. Something special from Mike. Maybe not a fantasy story, though… A letter.

An apology.

Mike stood quickly and grabbed a stack of paper and a pencil. And intently, the boy began to write.

#byler #byeler #byler fic #byeler fic #byler ficlet #my fic #my ficlet #100 followers #friend carson

[just-my-fandom]

Brought Back Pt 2 (Billy Hargrove x Elevens Sister! Reader)

Pt 2; A year after the readers disappearance, Joyce finds a book at the library with the readers name as the author, and reunites the reader with her sister and boyfriend who she doesn’t know. The gang finds out that the reader has been living a new life in the city beside Hawkins

Tag list; @truthdaze @bandsandanimefreak @scarletmeii @harduy @kcd15 @superficialfeelings @writer-of-camelot @intheendyouwillalwayskneel @hanoil5 @meaganjm @isistersuck @sweetdayme4427 @noodlenerd101

Comment below if you’d like to be added to the tag list

Long A/N; I am SO sorry I haven’t updated this story. In all honesty I thought no one would like the plot, but reading through the comments I saw a lot of people wanted a part two, maybe three and four. Updating will come slow due to school and life outside of school, but I hope you like this part :)

Previously on Brought Back

“Get her in the van, check for a pulse,”

Dr. Brenner slams the van door shut, looking down at the girl laying in the floor of the van. Burns patterned on her face, blood stained under her nose,

“Alive,” The scientist across from him grunts, hand grabbing your jaw, “Just unconscious. Shouldn’t we take her back to those kids?”

“I lost one of my children,” Brenner looks down at you, “Not loosing another,”

“But sir,” The scientist frowns, “We need both experiments. One won’t help,”

“It’s a good start,” Brenner knocks the seat of the driver, “Drive. Let’s get out of here before those children see us,”

. . .

“I’m heading to the labs today,”

You look up from your book silently, curled against the couch of your two bedroom house,

Dr Brenner hands at the door, lab coat hanging over one arm, “Lock the door when I leave, double check the house for opened windows,”

“Yes, father,” You set your book down to stand, waving to Brenner as you shut the door behind him, quick to secure the knob lock, the slide lock above it, and the big lock above the second,

You move to each window in the living room, tugging for sure of their locks, and when you move to the kitchen, a swift knock hits the front door, your body spinning to stare at the door in confusion,

Had Brenner forgotten something? His keys?

You slowly step up to the door, eye peaking through the peep hole even to you, and you blink at the sight of a woman, with dirty brown hair and an aged look, holding a book tightly in her hand, your book,

“Can I help you?” You ask loudly through the door, watching through the peep hole as she faces the door, almost instantly recognizing your voice,

“Y/N? It’s me, Joyce? I came to talk,”

Joyce? Your brows pinch, fingers holding the top lock, “I don’t know anyone named Joyce,”

Joyce breathes out in disbelief, shaking her head, “Y/N, I’m Joyce, remember? I know your father, Hopper,”

You quickly unlock the door, swinging it open to reveal your figure, your eyes narrowed towards the woman, “Who’s Hopper?” Your eyes scan her form swiftly, “And my father is not Hopper. I live with my real father,”

“Your real father?” Joyce tilts her head, and you nod,

“My father, Dr Brenner. I’m not supposed to be talking to strangers, so please, leave before he gets home,” As you close the door, Joyce catches her hand to the door, stopping it from fully shutting,

“Listen to me,” She pleas, breathless as you crack the door to blink, “Dr Brenner is not your father. You have a sister named Jane but we call her Eleven, your real parents are gone, so you were adopted by a man by Jim Hopper, but after he passed,” She intakes a deep breath, “I was going to take you and Eleven in, but you disappeared the night everything happened,”

“How am I supposed to believe you?” You ask quietly, Joyce frowning through light tears,

“You really don’t remember me?” She asks through a small crack in her voice, and you frown when noticing; she’s severally distressed that you don’t know who she is,

“No, I’m sorry,” You mutter, “Last thing I remember is waking up in the labs,”

“Can I take you somewhere?” Joyce asks quickly, hands up again, “I have people that know you, we can remind you of who you are,”

“But I don’t know you,” You press, irritation in your voice, “Please go away. I’m glad you enjoy my book,”

“Y/N please,” Joyce pleas, and you inhale a deep breath from behind the door, before peeking your head out, nodding,

“Let me grab my jacket,”

“Thank God,” Joyce breathes, hand running through her hair as you move to the couch, lifting your jacket and sliding it on,

“Can I ask where we are going?” You ask quietly, as you move to the front seat of the car,

“There’s a small town just next to here called Hawkins,” Joyce explains, “I think it’d be best to take you to the kids first since you were closer to them,”

“Kids?” You press, and Joyce smiles sadly towards you,

“There’s a group of them, your sister, Eleven, her boyfriend, Mike, Mikes best friends Dustin, Max and Lucas, and my son, Will,” She continues, “Steve is one of your best friends, and Billy,”

“Is my boyfriend?” You question, Joyce smiling and nodding, but she frowns again,

“I don’t really know what to call you two now that you’ve been gone for a year, Max told me Billy hasn’t really been himself after everything with those monsters,” She shivers,

“What monsters?” You tilt your head, and look at the smaller houses that passed by that let you know you were now in Hawkins,

“Right,” Joyce sighs, “I think it’ll be best to explain it once the kids see you again,”

“Why?” You ask, Joyce frowning a third time and stopping her car in front of a small, three bedroom house,

“It’ll all make sense later,” She breathes, smiling, “Come on, everyone’s inside,”

“Shouldn’t I call my father?” You inhale, nervously stepping out of the car, “He’ll be so mad that I left without telling him,”

“Y/N,” Joyce places her hands on top of the car, “Brenner doesn’t care about you. What happened to you, you disappearing and you not remembering? He is the cause of that,”

“I don’t understand,” You whisper, Joyce rounding the car to take your hand,

“Come on,” She murmurs, “Lets get inside,”

When Joyce opens the door to lead you into the living room, your teeth had nibbled at your bottom lip, eyes instantly landing on a group of seven kids, who all turned to look at the Byers mother’s appearance,

“Oh my God,” The red headed girl drops her stack of cards so they flew out in front of her, the boy with black hair beside her gaping at you wordlessly before looking at the other girl across from him, who had only looked up at her friends gasp,

When the kids all stand up and begin shouting questions, Joyce throws up her hands as she steps in front of you, “Take it easy!” She demands, “She doesn’t remember, Brenner did something to make her forget,”

“Brenner?” The male your age, who you guessed was Steve, questions, “You mean the doctor who took El and Y/N to begin with?”

“It’s going to be a lot to explain to all of you,” Joyce calms, “But I think we should do introductions and maybe have Max call Billy,”

. . .

“So I saved everyone?”

You and Eleven sit cross cross in front of each other on the couch, your hands in your lap silently,

“With your powers,” Eleven nods, slowly, “You do know about your powers, right?”

You nod in mock, smiling, “I wish I knew everything Brenner did to us after I woke up in the lab again,” You mutter, “I’m so sorry I disappeared like that El,”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Eleven frowns, but smiles when you pull her forward into a hug,

“Billy’s here,” Max exclaims, sliding up to the door in her socks, “I honestly won’t be surprised if he starts crying like a baby,”

“From what El told me, Billy sounds like an ass,” You stand up, straightening your shirt self consciously,

“I mean, yeah,” Max shrugs, “But he really cared about you, Y/N. Seeing you again will change everything,”

“Let’s hope so,” Eleven takes your hand, when noticing you fidgiting, and Max opens the door to step on the porch, talking swiftly to her step brother,

“Why the hell am I here, Max?” A gruff voice has you looking down at Eleven, and she smiles reassuringly when Max steps back in, her step brother following close behind but stopping when he sees you, his jaw clenching as you release Elevens hand, putting them in front of you,

“Is this a joke?” Billy asks finally, Max pinching her eyebrows as you frown and look down,

“No, it’s not,” Max protests, “Like I told you I’ll explain everything once you saw her,”

“It was my father, Billy,” You speak, so Billy looked from Max to you, “Or the man who pretended to be my father, the man who tested me for my powers,”

“Where’d you go?” He asks, softer, and Max nods to Eleven so they stepped into the back hallway,

“The town over,” You explain, quietly, as he stepped up to you so he was nearly in front of you, “When I woke up I didn’t remember anything. My “father” lied to me and kept me locked in a home, locked doors, locked windows,” You swallow, “I couldn’t even remember you,”

“But do you remember me?” Billy asks, and you can see the pain behind his fiery blue eyes that makes your stomach turn,

“It’s slowly coming back to me,” You sigh, “Eleven had to explain everything with the Mindflayer and what happened to you,”

Billy’s sudden action of cupping your head causes you to inhale, lifting your eyes to his when his lips press hard against yours, and your mind becomes fuzzy when your eyes shut,

“Get away from her, or I swear to God I will fuck you up!”

Your eyes snap open at your distant shout in the sudden memory, your head pulling back to gasp in a deep breath, Billy’s hands now firm on your hips as you raise a hand to your nose, looking down at the red staining your fingers,

“What?” Billy asks, and you notice how he’s calm upon your sudden nose bleed, giving you the note that he’s seen your powers before,

“I saw something,” You exhale, holding a tissue over your nose, “It was us, we were in a mall, I think,” You pause, looking up at Billy a second time,

“I remember,”

#billy hargrove x reader #billy hargrove #billy hargrove imagine #stranger things imagine #stranger things x reader #eleven #eleven x reader #mike wheeler #max hargrove #max mayfield #dustin henderson #steve harrington #lucas sinclair #will byers #joyce byers #joyce byers x reader #joyce byers imagine

[im-not-a-joke]

The Soulmate AU Thing

Whoop I wrote it

Read it on ao3

based off this post (and the comments on it)

warnings: none, really, there’s a little cursing and like a tad bit of internalized homophobia but it’s very minor

Relationships: Byler, Stoncy (but like, once, and its vague), Dustin/Lucas/Max/El

Wordcount: 1,753

you can also read it below the cut

The realization hit Mike like a truck.

Will and I are soulmates.

He had been minding his own business, just going about his regular day when he remembered the lab and Will’s episodes and seeing his best friend lose control of his own body. He remembered the Mark that was left exposed after the doctors had taken Will’s shirt. The same Mark that matched Mike’s own. He hadn’t thought about it at the time, being more concerned about his best friend being possessed. And he had forgotten in the aftermath, too busy focusing on said aftermath and the quickly approaching holidays. 

Well, forgotten may have been a strong word. He didn’t think it ever left his mind, but he had pushed it to the side temporarily to deal with bigger problems. He had quoted it during his Big Emotional Speech, but that was beside the point.

Now it was January, and Mike was back in school and bored out of his mind, so he let it wander. And it wandered to the little black you said yes imprinted on Will’s side. Luckily for Mike, Will had been possessed during his speech and most likely didn’t remember him saying it. (But the look in his eyes when Mike said it told him otherwise. Oh God, what if he knows that Mike knows what if he hates him oh no oh no no nonononono-)

(Deep breaths, Wheeler)

Mike had never really considered his soulmate. Sure, he occasionally wondered what they would be like and when they would meet, but who didn’t? And yes, he had found himself thinking about his small friend a little bit too much, but that was just because they’ve been friends since they were five, right? Apparently not, he grimaced to himself, how are you going to deal with this one? 

But that would have to come later, for now he had to make it through the day.

It wasn’t until he got home that the other realization hit him.

I’m gay.

That one was less surprising. He had never really been interested in girls, and liked El significantly less now that she looked more feminine. He had realized after the Snowball that he felt like El was more of a sister to him, and they had come to a mutual agreement to be friends and nothing more.

He supposed that the gay thing made sense, but he worried about what everyone else would think if and when they found out. Nancy would probably be okay, she had never really agreed with their father on anything, and Mike doubted she would start agreeing when it came to gay people. His dad might be more of a problem, but he didn’t have to know. Not yet, at least. His mom was a wild card. He hoped she wouldn’t be disgusted by him, but there was really no telling. His friends would understand, he hoped. Lucas would. He had once confided in Mike that he had three Marks, so he would definitely not be grossed out by Mike being gay.  

But what about Will? His reaction would probably be the most important. He was Mike’s soulmate after all. He wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t want to be Mike’s friend anymore, especially with having dealt with Lonnie.  But, soulmates were supposed to work out, right? Maybe not, he was 90% sure his parents weren’t soulmates anyway, so maybe his Mark was broken. Oh God, what if his was broken? 

It couldn’t be. That’s not how things worked. He was just tired and overthinking, a good nap would help. But, he had homework to do first. Ugh, homework.

~~~~~~~

Do you remember the first day that we met?

“Nancy, can I talk to you?”

“What did you do?”

“Nothing, it’s just,” come on, Mike! You can do it! “I like boys and not girls,”

Nancy’s face softened, she pulled the collar of her turtleneck down to reveal two soulmarks, one, a camera, the other, the nailbat.

“Oh.”

It was.. It was the first day of kindergarten. I knew nobody.

“Lucas, we’ll always be friends, right?” They were sat on Lucas’ bed, and Mike was reminded of Lucas’ angry, confused confession just a year prior.

“Yeah, unless you like, murder my soulmates,” Lucas had made a lot of progress, part of which was finding out that Max was one of his soulmates, and that, he didn’t hear it from Lucas but, she also had three soulmarks. Mike was 90% sure it would turn out to be Lucas, Dustin, Max, and El but never mentioned it.

“I’m gay. Will is my soulmate.” Lucas looked shocked for all of three seconds before he smiled at Mike.

“I’m glad you could tell me, dude.” He didn’t ask how Mike knew the Will thing, he just patted him on the back and went back to talking about the last family movie night he had to suffer through.

I had no friends. I just felt so alone and, and so scared

“Guys, I have to tell you something important.”

“What’s up, Mike?” He had four pairs of eyes on him. Two curious, one annoyed, and one knowing.

It was one of the few days Hopper would let all of them visit El in the cabin, but Will had a doctor’s appointment. Mike missed him, the group wasn't the same without Will there to offer his typically cheerful input. Mike also felt like he was third-wheeling the four other kids.

“I’m gay, I like boys.” El’s expression didn’t change, Dustin looked somehow, relieved? Max softened, but tried to keep up the annoyed flair. Lucas wore a proud smile.

“Doesn’t everyone like boys?”

“No, El, usually boys only like girls and girls only like boys.” That made it sound bad, fuck, backtrack backtrack backtrack-

“It’s not a bad thing, you can like whoever you want.” Thank the lord for Lucas Sinclair, saving Mike’s ass since first grade.

“Oh, well, in that case, I like boys and girls,” El looked pleased now, and the other three went red. Definitely soulmates.

But I saw you on the swings, you were alone too. You were just swinging by yourself.

“Steve, I need your advice”

“I swear to all things good and holy Dustin, if this is about any of your little- oh hey, Mike. What’s up?”

“You like boys and girls, right?” Mike barely knew where he wanted this conversation to go. But he knew Steve was definitely the one to go to.

“Yeah, why?” 

“How did you tell people that you weren’t sure about their reactions?”

“Hey uh, are you, are you bi?” Mike had never seen Steve this reserved before, it felt like he was trying to approach a scared animal, well, he may as well have been a scared animal at this point.

“No, no, I’m gay, i just, I want to tell my mom and Will but I’m worried about how they’ll react.” Mike had to cut himself off. He could feel himself start rambling and he didn’t want to say too much.

“Oh, ok then, uh,” he paused to think, “I think Will will be fine. As for your mom, probably sit her down and just rip the bandaid.” If he thought Will was going to be fine, he probably would be, Mike trusted Steve, he usually knew what he was doing.  

“Thanks, Steve.”

“No problem, big guy,” and Steve wrapped him in a hug.

And I just walked up to you, and, I asked. I asked if you wanted to be my friend

“Mom, I have to talk to you.” There was a rare moment of peace in the Wheeler house, and he was going to take advantage of it. He sat himself next to her on the couch, avoiding eye contact.

“Mike, sweetie, what’s wrong?” The concern in her voice gave him hope.  Things would be okay, she would love him no matter what.

“I know who my soulmate is, and uh, he’s a boy. And I really like him.” Mike had retracted in on himself, but his mom just grabbed his wrists gently, pulling his hands toward her.

“Mike,” he finally made eye contact to see her smiling down at him, eyes brimming with tears, “thank you for telling me, I am so proud of you, and I love you.”

He collapsed into her for a hug and cried. It had gone well. 

And you said yes. You said yes.

“I’m gay.” He was finally telling Will, the most important person in his life, after a good three months since his realization.

“Me too.”

And that was that.

And it was the best thing I’ve ever done.

~~~~~~~~

It had been four months since Mike came out to Will (and vice versa), and Mike could barely hold it in anymore.  Lucas had been bugging him about telling Will the thing since he had come out. He wanted to do it, but could never find the time without making things awkward.

The six of them were walking up the hill to set up Cerebro, WIll and Mike trailing behind slightly. Dustin was rambling on, holding hands with El (the four of them had come to their realization and had been inseparable ever since). Mike was going to do it now. He had to.

“Hey, uh, Will?”

“Hmm?”

“Can we, uh, talk?” He grabbed his wrist, and turned to face him, they had both stopped walking at this point. Will looked confused, usually Mike was very forward.

“What do you need?” Mike’s brain was firing at a million miles an hour, he had no idea what he was going to do.

“I have something to show you.” He was doing it. It was happening, this was real. He lifted his shirt a bit to reveal the small lettering on his side in the same place as Will’s. Will’s eyebrows shot up into his hair.

“I saw yours back in November when we had to take you to the lab. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before but I didn’t want you to be mad and I didn’t know how to say it and I really really li-”

“Mike. It’s okay. We got there in the end.” Will was smiling wider than he had in over two years now, and Mike felt complete. Will grabbed his hand.

“Y’know, back in the shed in November, I heard you say it. I brushed it of but it took me by surprise, I’ve wondered ever since.”

“So that’s why you looked at me like that.”

#whooooo i did it #yay ok #time to tag this #byler #byeler #carson rambles #if yall enjoy this i can do more #i have more ideas