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cherrylimeadebabe · 2 years

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hi!! i've got a lil request for a oneshot: fake dating steve???

he's tired of robin & the kids laughing about his dating life and also wants to make clear he's over nancy so he asks reader (the cute girl who used to go to school with him and now works there as a TA) to be his fake girlfriend. she's all in bc how fun!! (and she's not shy so doesn't care about pda, iykwim) and is great at 'pretending' because she is actually into him. finally steve falls hard for her and asks her out for real.

❤️‍🔥

Just For Show: Steve Harrington X Reader

Word Count: 3.8K

Warnings: Underage Drinking

A/N: Hi love! Sorry this took me a little while, I really hope you enjoy it, any feedback is appreciated. <3

Steve pulls into the Hawkins High School parking lot, tapping his thumbs against the steering wheel in time with the music lightly humming through his radio. He waits outside of the school entrance as droves of students emerge from the double doors, and after a few moments he can see Dustin coming out towards his idling car.

“What’s new Henderson?” Steve questions, looking at Dustin through the rearview as he slings his backpack into the car and situates himself in the back seat.

“Well, I’ve got a Geometry test this Friday, so aside from Hellfire I can look forward to inevitably bombing that! unless Suzy can coach me through my study guide.” Dustin shoots back in an ironically chipper tone.

Steve lets out a breathless laugh as he turns around “Hey man, at least you have a smart girl in your life to help you with stuff like that,”

Dustin playfully raises his eyebrows at him, “Oh…You mean someone like Nancy?”

“Cut it out Henderson, I just meant that you’re lucky is all. Nancy and I barely-”

Steve is abruptly cut off by Robin poking her head into the open passenger window,

“Oh, we’re talking about Nancy again?”

“-Jesus Robin, maybe a hello or something first?!” Steve scolds, startled by her abrupt appearance.

“Oh, I’m Sorry! it just seems like every time I see you the first thing I hear about is Nancy this, Nancy that-“ Robin teases, knowing how easy it is to get a rise out of him.

Steve quickly shuts down Robin’s heckling, starting to get irritated and slightly raising his voice, “seriously? you’re gonna join in on this with him now? I’ve moved past it. Are we clear on that? Now get in, I don’t want to be late for work.”

Robin looks over at Dustin, the both of them grimacing, silently communicating that they both knew they set Steve off for real this time.

The drive to Dustin’s house is uncharacteristically silent. Steve hits the brakes just in front of Dustin's driveway, saying nothing, but promptly unlocking the car.

Dustin tries to cut through the tension, “Thanks for the ride man, I’m-uh sorry for bringing her up...just joking around y’know…” Letting out an awkward laugh as he opens the car door.

“Don’t worry about it, I know you and Robin aren’t being serious, and I’m sorry for kind of acting like a dick about it.”

Steve pursed his lips, pulling them into a half smile. He felt obligated to apologize despite the fact that his friends' constant teasing was starting to take a blow at his confidence. The second Dustin enters his house, Steve hits the gas, eager to get to Family Video. Robin looks over at him to notice he now has a concentrated expression. Although curious, she decides it’s best to save any conversation for when they get to work, when things have simmered down.

It’s a fairly slow shift for both Robin and Steve, having very few customers to attend to. The only responsibility left for them to focus on is stocking the shelves with new inventory. Steve hovers over the horror movie section, mindlessly holding a tape as his thoughts wander. Robin and the kids making his love life a punchline had him considering all sorts of ridiculous schemes, literally anything to prove to them that he was over Nancy and still in fact, had game. He already had his sights set on someone, but he would keep that to himself until he knew he could convince her to agree to his heinous plan under the guise of a “joke”. His contemplations are cut short by the chime of the store entrance, looking up to see (Y/N) walk right in, as if he manifested her presence at this exact moment.

Steve’s eyes light up the second he sees her, quickly stepping over to the register, “(Y/N)! Long time no see! In the market for some movies?!”

She was startled by Steve’s intense greeting, although happy to see him outside of the school parking lot for once.

“Well, people come here to rent movies, right Harrington?” She chuckled, looking at him with a bright smile.

“Uh-yeah, usually. You know I was hoping I’d run into you actually.” Steve admits, looking down, rubbing the back of his neck. (Y/N) didn’t think anything of what he had just said, assuming it was a typical favor a distant acquaintance might ask.

“Oh yeah? You looking for a new job or something? I mean I could put in a good word for you at the high school-“

“No, I’m not asking for any favors like that! Well, it kind of is a favor but-oh geez, this is going to sound extremely idiotic at best….”

Steve leans over the counter lowering his voice, so Robin won’t overhear his outlandish proposition, “I was thinking that maybe you could help me out with this sort of…prank I have planned out. I would need you to pretend to be my girlfriend for it to make sense...” Steve trails off, looking up at her, brows scrunched as he chews on his lip. He thinks he’s already blew his shot, but before he can dwell on his nervousness, (Y/N) leans into the counter, inches from Steve’s ear,

“Really? Well tell me, what’s in it for me if I play along with this so-called prank of yours?”

Steve’s face grew hot from the closeness and playful tinge in her voice.

“Whatever you’re comfortable with really, I mean I’d take you out of course, buy you dinner…you name it.” He held his breath, waiting for some sort of response. (Y/N) straightens back up, arms crossed, looking him up and down. a few moments of silence floating past.

“Eh, what the hell, you’ve got yourself a deal Steve Harrington!”

Steve’s eyes widened in shock at the lack of convincing it took for her to oblige him.

“Wait, you’re actually agreeing to this?”

She shrugged at him, trying to hold back the grin forming on her face.

“Why not? Sounds like free entertainment to me. You and I would look pretty good together I think. Also while I’m here can you like, actually help me find a movie?”

She motions him to follow her over to the horror section, and he trails closely behind. Robin peers over from the edge of the sci-fi aisle, confused as ever after eavesdropping on the entire interaction the two of them had just had. Biting her tongue, she continued to organize the tapes, not sure whether to be embarrassed or impressed at Steve’s boldness. He sends (Y/N) off with a copy of Body Double, feeling giddy that his stupid plan went over so well. As the night came to a close and he was finally home, Steve found himself tossing and turning in bed. His head is filled with potential scenarios between (Y/N) and him. He pondered over how much she would be willing to commit to this act…How much would be allowed. Eventually he is able to silence his somewhat salacious fantasizing, and knocks out for the night.

Friday rolls around in a flash, and yet again Steve is driving Robin and Dustin home from school. He has to contain his excitement for the “date” he has planned with (Y/N) as well as the satisfaction of finally telling the gang he’s won the affection of someone new, or so it would appear.

“A girlfriend?! No way! Well good for you man.” Dustin commends Steve, Robin side-eyeing both of them.

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that yet Dustin, if my guess is right I think this would be their first date.” She smirks, knowing Steve will inevitably clap back.

“No! We’ve been talking for like, weeks. I even met her parents already! This is a sure thing, I’m telling you.”

Steve cringes at his own haphazard defense but figures Dustin is trusting enough not to question it, and he knew Robin would hyper analyze him no matter how solid of a story he had. After dropping them off, he starts heading toward (Y/N)’s neighborhood, the anticipation making his heart skip. Steve pulls into the driveway, quickly getting out and marching to the front door, ringing the doorbell right away. He steps back in awe as (Y/N) opens the door, wearing a white three quarter sleeve scoop neck top that hugged her figure, tucked into a black silk skirt. Her hair cascaded around her face that was adorned in a bright blush and cherry stain on her lips. Steve doesn’t bother hiding his blatant ogling,

“Wow…you look amazing.” His compliment earning a smile from her.

“You’re pretty easy on the eyes yourself, Harrington. ” (Y/N) closes the door behind her and grabs Steve’s hand, leading him back to the car.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see,” He hints, backing out of the driveway.

(Y/N) is quite surprised when Steve ends up taking her to a little dive bar just outside of town, the brick building looking aged but brightened by the neon signs surrounding the entrance. She turns to Steve, eyebrows raised and curious,

“Although this is a fun idea, you know I don’t have a fake, right?” Steve chuckles, “What? You nervous? Look, I’ve been here before and they don’t card, you’ll be fine! Besides, I brought you here to dance, not just for drinks.”

(Y/N) gives Steve a skeptical look, but figures there’s no harm in trying.

“Whatever you say, baby,” she says in a saccharine tone, Steve taken aback by the pet name. The two of them exit the car and (Y/N) grasps Steve by the hand as they enter the bar. From the looks of the rather youthful clientele, it seemed like no one would bat an eye at the two of them up by the bar. Still, (Y/N) decided to look for a less populated corner for them to sit. She finds a small round table to situate herself and a few moments later Steve sits down, two cans of Miller Lite in hand. Although she wasn’t much of a beer drinker, she went with the flow. She scoots her chair closer to Steve, grabbing the beer.

“So what made you decide to work at the high school? It feels like we were students there just yesterday.”

Steve asks, leaning back in his chair, one leg crossed over the other. (Y/N) puts an elbow on the table and rests her face in her palm, sipping her drink with the other hand, “Well, you don’t need a degree and the pay is a little better than most of the work we have around here. I like it a lot actually! The days go by pretty fast since I’m always running errands. I will say though, it is a little weird being on the other side of it after just graduating.”

Steve chuckles at her confession, “Well I think it’s admirable, definitely a step up from scooping ice cream or working at a video store!”

His self deprecation striking a chord with (Y/N),

“Cut yourself some slack Steve, you’re doing just fine. I mean, you’ve been through so much more than most people our age and…”

She stops, worrying that bringing up what happened last summer at the mall would make things tense. Steve looks up at her with vulnerable eyes, feeling a sudden wave of emotion. He was surprised that she was willing to hear about that side of him, the parts of his life that most people brushed off. It was strangely disarming.

“Hey, it’s okay. I appreciate that you don’t pretend it never happened like everybody else. Even my parents act like nothing has changed, but…I’ve moved on from it for the most part.”

He reassures her, trying to put on a brave face and hoping things segue back into something more lighthearted.

The conversation starts flowing more easily as the night goes on, a few drinks in. They discuss movies, (Y/N) being very well versed in the subject, Steve a more casual movie goer despite the fact he worked at the video store. Although their tastes differed, Steve would be more than eager to watch some obscure giallo film or grindhouse shlok if it meant he could spend more time with her. He felt his stomach flutter every time his ludicrous movie theories got a laugh out of her. Suddenly, (Y/N)’s eyes go wide as “Drive” by The Cars comes on, other patrons making their way to the dance floor.

“I love this song! You are gonna dance with me right now, Harrington.”

She gleefully rises from her seat, a hand outstretched to Steve. He obliges, fingers intertwining as she raises their joined hands in the air, leading the way. She playfully twirls around to face him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. Steve’s breathing hitches at the contact, slowly lowering his arms to her waist. They gently sway back and forth to the music, their faces inches from each other. Steve’s eyes trail down to her lips, desperately wanting to bridge the gap between them, but his thoughts are halted at the sound of a familiar voice. He looks over to see Eddie Munson, third time senior, strolling into the bar with a few of his goons. (Y/N) turns to look at them, a lightbulb going off in her head. She looks back up at Steve with a smile on her face, ”Hey, Steve?”

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to get distracted, I can be a terrible dance partner sometimes-”

He’s cut off by (Y/N) grabbing his face and pulling him into an intense kiss, making sure there were plenty of eyes on the two of them. It was an electric shock to his senses, something he had wanted to do himself all night. His grip on her waist tightened as she pulled away. He had to remind himself it was simply for show now that they had a familiar audience, but he couldn't help wanting her to do it again.

“That’ll get them talking, huh?”

(Y/N) laughed, her eyes glistening and reflecting the glow of the green and purple colored lights above the dance floor. They kept on dancing, Steve absolutely mesmerized by her face in the dim lighting. Perhaps it was his slight drunkenness, but he couldn’t stop thinking of kissing her all over right then and there on the dance floor.

He thought about that kiss for the rest of the night. Once the bar died down and he had sobered up, they began the drive back to Hawkins. The ride was rather quiet aside from the sound of the radio and engine. (Y/N) had her head leaned against the window, visibly tired after an exciting but long venture. She smiled to herself, thinking that she could get used to sitting pretty in Steve’s car all of the time, even if it was just to keep up his act. Steve had thoughts of his own, feeling foolish as ever for finding himself under her spell. It felt irresponsible, he told himself that he only wanted to get everybody off of his back, that he didn’t actually want to get this close to someone again, and that despite her playing the part perfectly, there was no way that (Y/N) would be interested in actually dating him. He turns up the radio, trying to drown out his self doubt. A few miles later, they pull into her driveway, Steve making sure to shut off his headlights so he doesn’t disturb her family inside. They both look over to each other, Steve still gripping the steering wheel with one hand. (Y/N) can see the thoughts racing through his head from the look on his face alone. She leans in to give him a light peck on the cheek, quietly opening the car door and whispering,

“I had a wonderful time tonight. Drive safe, okay?”

Steve watches her unlock the front door of her house, pulling out of the driveway once she was inside. He kept replaying the moment in his head on the way home. Was she just being polite? She didn’t have to kiss him goodnight, but she did, even when there was no one to see. Was she just fully committed to playing the role? If only (Y/N) knew how oblivious he truly was, perhaps the coming weeks would have been a lot less confusing for both of them.

As the weeks went by, almost everyone in Steve’s social circle was convinced that the relationship was legitimate, and he had no plans of telling his friends the truth. He took (Y/N) on movie dates, roller skating, and even attempted to make dinner for her. He may have been a subpar cook, but (Y/N) was very flattered by his efforts. Their public displays of affection weren’t slowing down either, (Y/N) finding any reason she could to steal a kiss or have his hand in hers. Every time she was around Steve, she could feel herself wanting to get even closer to him. She felt like their “relationship” was becoming something real, and tangible, but she wondered why he hadn’t made a move yet….surely her hints were coming through? She knew that she wasn’t imagining the new level of intimacy between them. The way their kisses lingered, how he looked at her with longing eyes, listening to every word she said when she spoke of her passions and fears. She desperately wanted to know that he felt it too, but something was pulling at her within, telling her to wait it out. It all came crashing to a head later that week.

Another Friday, another date night. This one more casual than the usual, Steve renting a tape of After Hours and ordering a pizza. As he’s tidying up the living room, the doorbell rings and he drops everything to answer it, knowing it’s (Y/N). He was practically vibrating from his nerves, but he tried his best to mask it when he opened the door.

“(Y/N)! I think you’re really gonna like the movie I picked for tonight,”

She flashes a soft smile at him as she enters his home, the two of them heading over to the living room. (Y/N) makes herself comfortable on the couch, Steve going into the kitchen to grab two plates and dimming the lights in the living room when he returns.

The faint glow of the television lit their faces as Steve popped the tape in, taking a close seat next to (Y/N) on the couch.

“Have I influenced your taste in movies, Steve? Or did you just happen to know this is one of my favorites?” She questions playfully, knowing that it probably wasn’t a coincidence.

“I may have asked around for this particular occasion aha, I-uh I actually did wanna see this one though,” Steve confesses, shuffling around on the couch, trying to get comfortable. He felt a lump forming in his throat as he tried to contain what he wanted to say, stalling for the moment to feel right. His plans to wait it out would be quickly thwarted by (Y/N), as she could sense that he was on the cusp of finally saying what they were both thinking, if she could work it out of him. She could admit to herself that she was just as, if not more stubborn than Steve, but she was going to get it out of him first, regardless. She turns to face him,

“What does this particular occasion happen to be?”

Steve Freezes. She puts him on the spot, and he realizes he’s already been caught. There’s a few beats of silence between them, Steve taking a deep breath before letting everything spill out.

“(Y/N)....There’s been something on my mind a lot lately….I um, I just don’t want to freak you out or anything, but it’s been driving me crazy hiding it from you. I know that this whole thing we’ve been doing is just for show, and maybe you just agreed to it purely for entertainment, or maybe to have a crazy story to tell later on, but-”

(Y/N) grips him by the shoulders, looking him dead in the eyes,

“Steve! Please, for the love of god, just say what you really want to say! You can tell me anything, really.”

“I don’t want to pretend anymore!” He blurts out, looking away for a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose between his index finger and thumb.

“I just-I don’t want it to be pretend anymore, okay? The time we’ve spent together has been so wonderful, I can’t remember the last time I’ve had so much fun with someone. I know at first it was just to make me look good to my friends, but somewhere along the way I let myself get so caught up in it….so obsessed with you, that I forgot you aren’t actually my girlfriend.” Steve drops his hands to his thighs, lowering his head in embarrassment. (Y/N)’s hands trail down from his shoulders to clasp his hands,

“Steve….I stopped pretending a while ago.”

He looks up at her, mouth half open. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Wait, so you’re telling me that I’m not crazy?! You feel it too?”

“Yes, Steve. I thought it was obvious. I was just waiting for you to say something!”

Steve’s hands release from hers to dramatically smack his forehead,

“Why didn’t YOU say something?! I was over here thinking you had no interest in actually pursuing me!”

(Y/N) laughs at Steve’s revelation, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms.

“Oh, come on! Was making out with you every chance I got not clear enough? Or, you know, hanging out with you….ALONE! The whole point of your “prank” was for people to see us! I just wanted to hear you admit it first.”

Steve can’t help but laugh and shake his head at his own cluelessness.

“Wow, and I thought I was hard headed! You are something else (Y/N).”

(Y/N) smiles, suddenly pushing Steve down on the couch to hover over him,

“And that’s exactly why you’re….what was it you said? Obsessed with me?”

The two of them laugh into each other as Steve cups his hands around her face to kiss her. They were all over each other for what seemed like the rest of the night into dawn. Any doubt Steve had of (Y/N)’s feelings towards him melted away, and (Y/N) herself was ecstatic that they were finally on the same page. Everything seemed to fall into place, and for the first time in what felt like an eternity, Steve wasn’t afraid to give himself to someone again, to let someone see every part of him. He wanted that someone to be (Y/N), always.

#steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #stranger things #st4 #fanfic #oneshot #imagine #writing #request #requests open #fake dating #stranger things 4 #fanfiction #cher writes #pls send in more requests this was so fun to write!!#mine #original writing

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eddiernunson · 1 year

Text

Trapped | Eddie Munson | Part 9

Prev part | Master Post | Next Part

All parts are listed on all other parts. I'm tired.

Pairing: Eddie x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 17.9k

Warning: Cringey writing in which you are now written into the canon of the show. I gotta admit, it was a weird balance to wonder where the character would take a line from someone else, and when to give the character their own. Sorry, no smut. I tried to write one scene but it felt so out of place.

Authors Note: I desperately tried to capture the essence of the scenes. If you're wondering why you would read something you have already watched, that's fair. But if you want to see how she would fit in to the season 4's storyline then stay tuned!

I added one or two of my own scenes but it was only for it fill in those plot holes.

(There's not much Eddie in this part, it only goes up to the end of Dear Billy. Get fuckin ready next part.)

Chapter 9

Chapter One: Hellfire Club

In the middle of the cheerleaders dancing and the crowd’s loud cheering and show of school spirit, somehow Dustin and Mike had managed to get into another argument based on who’s girlfriend is better. Eddie would interject and decidedly win their argument each time, but he wasn’t there to claim you for the title.

“Look, I’m not saying that my girlfriend is better than yours. It’s just that Suzie’s like, a certified genius.” Dustin continues, yelling loudly over the band music.

“You do realize El saved the world twice, right?” Mike retorts, referring to his most used argument, attempting to somewhat pay attention to the cheerleaders.

“And yet you still have a C in Spanish.” Dustin answers, and Mike glares at him annoyed.

“Shut up.” You tell the two of them, done with the argument for the millionth time. “Both your girlfriends are cool. Just watch the pretty cheerleaders like normal people.”

Just in time, the music ends and one of the male cheerleaders ends with a final flip. The announcer comes on the speaker, yelling, “And let’s hear it for your Tigers!”

A group of teenage boys run through the giant banner lead by the ever-resented Jason Carver. You roll your eyes as he charismatically looks around the gym, putting on a show.

Mike and Dustin politely clap, attempting to show some inkling of support for their best friend. Anyone who was watching would be able to tell their hearts weren’t in it. They weren’t; they still didn’t understand why Lucas was on the team in the first place.

“Good morning, Hawkins High!” Jason yells into the microphone placed in front of him. He saunters from the stand, successfully putting all the attention onto him. “First off… hey. First off, I’d like to thank each and every one of you. Without your support, we wouldn’t be here. Give yourselves a big hand.” He starts. And the crowd is eating it up already. As always, you’re left wondering how no one can see right through him.

You see Lucas waving awkwardly, and watch his eyesight to Max, who decidedly ignores him. Ouch.

“And of course, of course, I have to give a special shout-out to the best and the prettiest fans of all time, the Tiger Cheer Squad.” Jason continues and creepily makes eye contact with who you supposed was Chrissy. The two have been dating longer than you and Eddie were, but somehow the idea of Jason with someone as sweet as her made you feel nauseous. “Chrissy…” he pats his chest twice, ugh, “Chrissy, I love you, babe.”

Your eyes meet the back of your head and you didn’t realize going to support Lucas would be this painful. Maybe you should’ve gone to Eddie’s house for the morning.

Jason starts backing off away from the Squad and a serious aura radiates off him. Not because he seems sympathetic or genuinely serious, but because he made such a big show of it. “You know…” he starts, looking down, as if seriously considering how to approach whatever bullshit he was about to say. “I think I can speak for all of us when I say it’s been a tough year for Hawkins. So much loss.” The air of the gym becomes heavy with the unspoken in Hawkins. “And sometimes I wonder, ‘How much loss can one community take?’ In dark takes like this, we need something to believe in. So, last night, when we were down by ten points at half to Christian Academy, I looked at my team, and I said, ‘Think of Jack. Think of Melissa. Think of Heather. Think of Billy.’”

Oh, this asshole. You look at Max, and it seems the crowd around you and her had decided the same. You bump into her, letting her know you were right there, and she offers you a fraction of a smile.

“’Think about our heroic police chief, Jim Hopper. Think about every one of our friends who perished in that fire. What did they die for?’” You, Dustin, and Mike were all shooting daggers at him for making light of a fucking tragedy the four of you had to face. “’For us to lose to some crap school? No!’”

Several people around you shout No back to him, all eating this right up. “’For us to return home with our heads hung low in defeat? No!’”

“NO!” More people in the crowd shout back to him.

“’No. Let’s win this game. Let’s win this game for them.’ And that’s exactly what we did!” The crowd goes wild, as if he didn’t just name and use the tragedy of the mall fire to get them going. You sit in stunned silence next to Mike and Dustin, neither of whom had anything to say about it, either. “We embarrassed those candy-asses in their own house, and now tonight, tonight, we’re gonna bring home the championship trophy!”

The crowd roars, and it’s a very successful prep rally, all thanks to Jason’s ability to make a compelling speech.

“Tonight?” Mike asks, leaning into Dustin.

“How is that possible?” Dustin adds, also in dismay.

“They call it a tournament. You win one game, you go on until there’s only one team left.” Max speaks over you, knowing what Dustin was asking but still answering it, nevertheless.

“You really don’t pay attention, do you boys?” You ask, seeing this coming a mile away. “I warned you Lucas would need to find a replacement, but no one listens to the girlfriend.”

Mike watches as Lucas excitedly high-fives his teammates, getting pumped for the nights game. You stretch your neck out next to him, excited to leave the evil clutches of Jason Carver.

You made your way from the gym to your classes, being lightly annoyed as the day seemed to crawl on by. Eddie picks you up from your third period, arms crossed and bent at a slight curve against his new favourite locker to wait for you at. You smile at him as the hustle of the crowd engulfs you, the Friday seeming more busier than normal. You wondered if you were imagining the excitement on his face and the energy running through him.

You made your way to the cafeteria, being some of the first students to sit down. As Eddie sits, he pulls out a magazine with “D and D: The Devil’s Game” on the opened page of it. “Doing another dramatic reading?” You ask, hiking your arms bent around his neck from behind him.

“Oh you know it, sweetheart.” He smiles up at you maniacally, and puckers up for a kiss. You lean down to kiss him, and he pulls away suddenly. “Oh shit, you’ll never guess who asked for a deal after school today. Like, never. In a million years.”

You narrow your eyes at him, wondering how far fetched his new customer could’ve been. “I give up.”

“Chrissy Cunningham.” He states, and your eyes go wide. “I know. I fucking know.”

“Holy shit. Please tell me how it goes. Like I want to know everything.” You ask, knowing Chrissy usually tends to stay away from anything remotely unwholesome.

“Don’t even need to ask, sweetheart.” He comments, starting to dig in the raisins sitting in his tin.

You give him a kiss on the forehead as some band members start to arrive at the table. “I gotta go, baby. I asked for extra help because chemistry is biting my ass this semester.”

“Speaking of biting your ass,” Eddie starts as you pull away, pinching your butt as you walk passed his table, saying hi to the Hellfire members sporting their matching shirts on the way. You roll your eyes at him, mouthing the words I love you, and start to make your way to the chemistry classroom.

As you make your way down the hallway, Dustin and Mike corner you and you blink at them awkwardly. “Make Eddie move Hellfire club.” Dustin starts, his tone not asking but demanding.

“I, hi to you too?” You ask, switching your eyes between the two of them.

“Yeah, whatever. Make him switch the days. We tried to reason with Lucas, but he wouldn’t budge.” Mike complains, attempting to persuade you.

You laugh, purely out of pity. “Oh, you poor things. You really think he’s gonna move the finale he’s been rambling on about to me for months for a basketball game? You know how he loathes literally anything Jason is involved with and that now includes basketball. He won’t budge.”

“Which is why we thought you could do it” Dustin explains unhelpfully.

“Yeah, I got that part.” You whisper, squinting your eyes at them. “I’m not cleaning up your mess. You do it.” You move passed where they’re blocking you off, smirking at their stunned faces. “Besides, I’m going to the game.”

After you walk to an empty classroom with your teacher gone to lunch you make your way back to the cafeteria, where you’re greeted by your boyfriend tossing yet even more fruits to the poor soul that had suggested he postponed the Cult of Vecna. Not that you saw it coming from a mile away, but again, no one listens to the girlfriend.

Rather than interrupt them, you watched as he seemingly couldn’t sit still, waddling around the cafeteria and claimed he was gonna flip Principal Higgins off. You rolled your eyes in adoration, knowing the bullshit that Gareth and Josh had called had some truth behind it.

“Yeah, yeah, and I was full of shit. This year’s different. This year is my year. I can feel it. ’86, baby.” He claims, and your breath hitches out of excitement to get the hell out of there with him. Eddie then crouches down next to them, letting them know they were the future of Hellfire. Hell, you knew he was planning on giving the head role to Dustin since October. As he effortlessly manhandles them by their shirts and pushes them to go find a replacement for Lucas, you gulp at the demonstration of his strength.

You finally walk up to him as he watches them stutter their way through a table, the group all denying the invitation off the bat. “You really needed to be that rough with them?” You ask him, watching the two with him.

“No. It certainly got the depth of the situation in their hands, and this way we’ll actually have a replacement for him.” Eddie says quietly, placing his arm around you.

“Always have an answer, don’t you?” You ask, leaning up for a kiss, much to the negative jarring of the members behind you.

“Always.”

As the day passes, Dustin and Mike run around like headless chickens asking people from every club if they would join. You meet your boyfriend after school right by your locker to give him a final kiss as you wouldn’t see him until tomorrow. “Hey, call me tomorrow morning, won’t you?” You ask, grabbing his hand as he starts to leave.

He gets tugged back to you, albeit a bit more dramatically than necessary. “Of course. I’ll come pick you up and spill all the dirt, don’t you worry, love. Now, I am a bit late to meet her and I don’t need her thinking I ditched.” He gives you a kiss, and there’s some finality to it.

“Love you!” You call to him, and he turns around and shouts it back before running out the door to catch Chrissy.

You make your way home to get ready for the big game and you wonder who Dustin and Mike had managed to get, or if they were truly fucked.

Your phone rings as you finish getting ready for the game, starting to get everything you needed together to leave the house. “L/N Residence.” You answer half-heartedly, barely paying attention to your phone call.

“Hey, sweetheart.” Eddie replies, presumably using the payphone at the school. “She wanted something stronger, and I don’t usually carry Special K at school, ya know? She’ll be stopping by my place after the game tonight.” Great, there goes any hope you had of spending the night over at his place tonight.

“Oh, okay.” You try to hide your jealousy of Chrissy going to your boyfriend’s house, despite knowing there’s a zero percent chance of anything happening. “Wait, why does she want special K?” You ask, wondering for what reasons she could have other than partying after the big game.

“She asked me if I ever felt like I was going crazy. I don’t know what’s going on with this girl, but I think she’s going through something.” Eddie admits, and you can hear the seriousness of his voice.

“Has to be, to date Jason Carver,” you mutter under your breath.

“Be nice.” He tells you, and it feels weird to be on the other side of this statement, something you usually have to tell Eddie.

“I just wanted to be the girl over at your house tonight, is all.” You joke, and he laughs before letting you go with an I love you.

You and a good portion of Hawkins make your way back to the school to cheer on the basketball team in their attempt at the Championship.

You sit by yourself but at a position where you can clearly see both Robin and Steve, something they have chosen to do to give each other side eyes at the games, and you only just joined their escapades, complaining you felt left out as they joked about it at work.

The band’s final song comes to the end, and Mr. Higgins comes to the front of the microphone, saying “Everyone now please rise for our national anthem. Singing us tonight, we have a very special guest. All the way from Nashville, our very own Tammy Thompson!”

As the crowd goes crazy the three of you catch each other’s eyes, incredulous at the random appearance of Robin’s old crush. The crowd goes to silent, and Tammy starts singing into the microphone off-key.

“Told you. Muppet.” You watch Steve mouth to Robin.

Robin switches her glance down to you, and you barely hold your laughter in, your mouth just holding back a smile. You nod in agreement, finally hearing the similarities.

“Okay she does sound like a Muppet.” Robin finally admits.

Little did you know in the drama club Eddie refuses to take Erica as a suitable sub, only accepting her for days they have all their team members. It only takes moments of Erica ripping him to shreds to formally welcome to her into the club as a member, immediately seeing her potential.

The game kicks off and the Tigers are really having a rough time staying on top of the opposing team, Jason yelling at his team to stay on top of them. Finally when one of their members end up falling to the floor injured Lucas is called to play off the bench for the first time since he joined the team and things get exciting from there.

Life imitates art and both Hellfire and the game were in their homestretch, being a matter of every decision counting.

Every one was on edge in the gym watching as the two teams remain neck in neck, neither one of them able to gain a strong enough lead to take a breather. Tigers need a time out.

Lord Vecna in Eddie’s carefully constructed finale is taking out members of Hellfire one by one to where only Erica and Dustin are left over, and they need their own time out.

Eddie offers an out, knowing damn well when given the offer it just puts fuel onto Dustin’s fire of spite. “There’s no shame in running. Don’t try to be heroes. Not today, ‘kay?” His challenge hits the right spot, and they land perfectly into his trap.

As the team takes a time out, you look up at Steve, curious to how his date is going. He solemnly shakes his head, letting you know it was not going well.

The team shoots, and the balls misses, creating the crowd to call for rebound. Lucas grabs the ball, making a three pointer at the last second, and everyone watches in baited breath as the ball hits the rim, the backboard, and finally into the net. The crowd goes wild, and you’re reminded why it’s cool to attend a game every now and again.

Across the school, the members of Hellfire are celebrating their unforeseen success against Eddie’s long awaited finale to a semester long campaign, a natural 20 landing when they needed it the most. You run up to the group, asking all of them how it went. “Dude, Erica slayed him!” Josh exclaims, high fiving her with much more ferocity than he intended.

As the night ends, your mom asking how the game went and asked why you weren’t at Eddie’s like you thought you might’ve been. You tell her you were both too tired to really hang out, and it’s a lame enough excuse but she doesn’t press on.

You go to sleep after a shower, refreshed and ready to see him in the morning before work, wearing one of his t-shirts that still had his strong scent on it.

Across town, Eddie was snapping his fingers at a girl who’s eyes had whitened over, seemingly unaware of her surroundings. Like she was already on something.

As she was lifted into the air, Eddie stared up at her, mind empty in fear of something he couldn’t see.

Her bones snap. Her eyes get pulled, and Eddie can’t get the sound of his head as he runs to his van.

His life would never be the same, and neither will yours.

Chapter 2: Vecna’s Curse

Your alarm snaps you out of a deep sleep, and once you gain your bearings and finally wake up, your mind is clouded in confusion as to why you weren’t woken by your boyfriend calling as he promised. He barely forgets to call, and when he did it was for a good reason. You rub your eyes, stretching from head to toe and you figure you’re just overthinking it and he probably fell asleep, and you prepare yourself to get ready for work.

As you make your way into work, already decently busy due to the Saturday before break, Robin and Steve are in the middle of a squabble which you can feel yourself getting dragged into. You put your hands as if to surrender yourself from the conversation, and it works only momentarily, leaving you to work on the big ass return pile in peace.

Your peace lasted about all of ten minutes. Robin practically skips to where you’re stationed at the counter doing rewinds, asking if you had wanted to hear how Vicki and her finally said more than a simple hello to one another on the bleachers after an agonizing semester of hearing her pluck up the courage.

Steve often called you a hypocrite for making fun of Robin for it, but you had to admit it was so much fun on the other side of it.

“Then Vicki laughed. And it wasn’t like a cheap, fake laugh either. It was like…It was a real, genuine laugh.” She emphasized, barely leaving Steve alone for two minutes as she explained it to the two of you.

“Of course. It’s my Muppet joke. It’s hilarious.” Steve mutters, claiming all the responsibility for their first genuine interaction, as per the norm.

You laugh out loud, causing Robin to shoot a glare back to you and it dies in your mouth as soon as she makes eye contact. She turns back to face Steve, and you suddenly don’t feel like she’s telling you anymore. “My point is that Vicki laughed, and everything was just like…it was just perfect.”

“But?” Steve asks, egging her on.

“But I’m having this problem, where it’s like I should stop talking. I have said everything that I need to say. But then I guess I get nervous, and the words keep spilling out, and it’s like my…my brain is moving faster than my mouth, or…or rather my… my mouth is moving faster than my brain.” Steve positions himself against one of the shelves, witching a look back at you as the two of you watch her unravel. “And I’m digging this hole for myself, and I want to stop digging, I’m trying to stop, but I can’t. And I’m doing it right now, aren’t I?”

Steve and you share another look, fond and non-judgemental. “Yeah, you are.” He says, gentle.

“Oh, I’m hopeless.” Robin stares, backing up into the light up poster.

“Eh.” Steve shrugs, backing up next to her. “We both are.”

You watch them, leaning on the counter right in front of them, both pitying and emphasizing with them. How was it possible that the two that give you the most advice are the two that are the most lost?

Robin looks over, and you can tell she has a crazy idea. “If only we could just, like, combine.”

“Combine?” You ask for Steve, and they didn’t even realize you had still been listening.

“Yeah!” She and Steve make their way back to the counter. “Think about it. I know exactly what I want. I have found the girl of my dreams but I can’t get the courage to ask her out.” She places a hand on Steve’s shoulder both speaking about him and to him. “Meanwhile, he goes out on a million dates, and he has no idea what he wants.”

“Am I not still right here?” Steve asks to you, shaking his head.

“So if we just combined,” Robin continues, ignoring him, “all our problems would be solved. Because, I mean, alone, let’s face it…”

“We totally suck.” Steve finishes for her, blunt and in acceptance.

“Totally and utterly.” Robin agrees, the same sentiment.

“I mean I wasn’t gonna say it but as long as you two are aware I think that’s a good first step.” You smirk, moving back to your tasks.

“Ooh, I think I know our morning movie.” Robin perks up, going to grab it. “Doctor Zhivago.”

“Ugh. You know I don’t do double VHS.” Steve dismisses it off the bat.

“But it’s about doomed love.” Robin says, holding the tape like a teddy bear.

“Oh well, that’s relatable.” Steve sighs, starting to push the return cart more.

“Precisely.” Robin concludes. “Put ‘er in, there, sweetheart.” She hands the tape to you, and you roll your eyes as they have insisted on using Eddie’s nicknames for you lately. You start to look for the remote and can’t seem to find it. “Also, Julie Christie is b-b-bonkers hot in this. Like, seriously, the most beautiful creature I have seen in my life. Hey. Movie?” Robin asks you, pointing to the screen.

“Remote?” You ask her in the same tone.

“Oh right.” She yanks it out of her pocket, forgetting she had placed it there after misplacing the damn thing all morning.

The tv is turned on and you’re immediately greeted by the morning news broadcast. “We’re in the Forest Hills trailer park in east Roane County.” You were listening to the tv report, reading the back of a movie you hadn’t heard of yet. You just miss as Eddie’s trailer leaves the background of the news reporter, but your ears perk up at his trailer park.

“Shit, that’s the park where Eddie and Max live.” You comment, moving up next to Robin and Steve.

“We don’t have a lot of details now, but we can confirm that the body of a Hawkins High student was discovered early this morning. Police have not released the name-”

“Holy shit.” Steve comments, and the reporter continues.

“although we are told they’re currently in the process of notifying the family.”

Your breathing grows shallower, as you take in the crowds at the trailer park and you swear up and down you hope it was one of his neighbours, but it looked. It looked like Eddie’s trailer.

“Fuck.”

As you’re internally freaking out, you fall dead silent at work with Robin and Steve barely able to yank out about what’s got your jeans all jangled up, Max is ringing on Dustin’s doorbell, out of breath, and panicked.

“Chrissy Cunningham?” He asks, in disbelief. Eddie was barely seen dealing to the cheerleaders, they seemed to steer away from him. “You sure it was Chrissy?”

“She was in her cheerleader outfit. Same thing she was in when I saw her with Eddie.” Max responds, backing her evidence.

Dustin continues to pace, “Did you tell any of this to the cops?”

“No. No, but I…I can’t be the only one who saw them together. Eddie and Y/N were weird at first, but now they’re just together. These two stood out.”

“Eddie the freak, with Chrissy the cheerleader?” Dustin clarified, still wrapping his head around it.

“Exactly. You know, his name’s not in the news, yet or anything, but I guarantee you Eddie is suspect one now.” She informs him, trying to make Dustin understand the gravity of the situation.

“That’s crazy. Eddie didn’t do this. No way.” Dustin claims, and he knows for a fact you would’ve fought Max on it. “No. Way.” Dustin repeats when Max gives him a look of disbelief.

“Well, we can’t rule it out.” Max claims, having seen the scene and knowing being the only last witness to see them together doesn’t look good for them.

“Yes, we can.” Dustin interjects.

“Dustin!”

“You don’t know him like I do, Max. Okay? When we got to high school, Lucas made all his sports friends. Mike and me? No one was nice to us. No one except Eddie. Besides, you really think Y/N would willingly date him for months if she thought there was a chance he could murder someone?” Dustin argues, making a case for Eddie.

“Okay. Well, they said the same shit about Ted Bundy. Yeah, he’s a super nice guy, but then he’s murdering women on the weekend. Plus, he had a girlfriend.” Max retaliates, and she’s only pointing out how bad it looks for him.

“So, you’re saying Eddie is like Ted Bundy?”

“No, I’m not saying- I’m saying that we can’t presume anything, okay? But it doesn’t look good for Eddie.”

Dustin sighs, falling onto his bed. He thinks about this for a second, and a thought occurs to him. “Why haven’t you told the cops this?

“I-I don’t know.” Max says, crossing her arms defensively.

“You don’t know?” Dustin asks, egging her on for more answers.

Max sighs, and the final thing she had witnessed that has been haunting her finally has to come out. “After I saw Eddie and Chrissy go into the trailer…something else happened. Nothing that weird or anything. I mean.. Eddie always drives like a maniac and the power goes off at my place all the time. It’s a piece of shit. But..this morning, I started to think back, and… I don’t know. The look on his face. He was scared, Dustin. Really scared. Maybe he was scared because, you know, he had just killed someone, or, maybe he um.. maybe… because… I don’t… I don’t know, maybe…”

“Something else killed her.” Dustin finishes off the sentence she was too afraid to admit out loud.

Max nods to him, confirming what she was hypothesizing. “But that’s impossible. Right?”

“I don’t know.” Dustin admits. “It should be. Only one person knows what actually happened.”

“Eddie.”

“Have you talked to anyone else?” Dustin asks, heading out the door with Max to figure out a plan.

“No. I can’t find Lucas or Nancy and Mike’s in-”

“California, shit, shit, shit.” Dustin’s mom calls for them as they leave, and Dustin shuts the door on her anyway, letting her know they’ll be safe. “Million-dollar question.” Dustin adds as they both grabbed their bikes. “Where is Y/N?”

“Her mom said she was working this morning. I don’t think the police have stopped by her house to ask her questions yet, or even if they have gotten that far. I don’t know if she even knows.” Max answers, holding her bike as they discuss the pros and cons of telling you themselves.

“We need to stop by to see if she might know where he would be hiding, anyways. If she doesn’t know, we can use their phones to call around and ask.” Dustin figures and they finally figure a plan as they hop on their bikes.

Dustin goes over the scenario in his head. On one hand, if Eddie didn’t do it, it means the Upside Down wasn’t destroyed and they have another war to win. On the other hand, if Eddie did do it, he didn’t think that was any better.

As Dustin and Max arrive to Family Video, the news is still running in on the background and you’ve gone dead silent, silently wishing for any sign of Eddie, a phone call, a mid-shift visit, anything that will tell you you’re just losing it.

Robin and Steve have given up on getting you to speak, unsure of what’s got you so unsettled and wondering if they should send you home.

“Hey, guys. Y/N here?”

“You see this?” Steve points to the news, still watching.

“Is she here?”

“Someone was murdered.” Steve interrupts.

“Y/N. Is. She. Here?” Dustin emphasizes, and Robin points down the store to where you’re silently working on restocking the returned movies and fighting an anxiety attack.

“Wait, guys she has been silent since the news broke out you won’t get much out of her, what do you need out of her anyway?” Steve asks, following them to where they have crowded you.

You look up to see Dustin and Max, and you can already tell the gut feeling has been correct. “You saw the trailer the police are at?” Dustin starts tentatively, and you nod your head at him and your stomach plummets into the depths of the earth. “Do you know where he might be?”

Your head shakes no, and Steve feels like he had just heard you speak two languages at once. “Wait, what is going on? Who?”

“How many phones do you have?” Dustin asks, interrupting his questions.

“Two, why?” Steve answers, confused to how this was relevant.

“Technically three, if you count Keith’s.” Robin adds.

“Three works.” Max comments, and Dustin runs back to the front counter, Steve annoyed as he seemingly chases him around the store. Curiously you follow them, still silent but somehow the confirmation making you feel both better and ten times worse.

“What are you doing?” Steve asks, watching as Dustin throws his backpack off and over the counter. “Whoa, what are you-”

“My pile!” Robin yells.

“No, no, no! My tapes! Dude.” Steve yells as Dustin’s maneuver to throw himself over the counter meets some casualties. “What are you doing, man?”

“Setting up base of operations here.” Dustin answers, instantly starting on the computer.

“Base of operations?” Robin asks.

“Get off.” Steve attempts to shoo him.

“I need it.” Dustin claims.

You watch from the counter, not quite understanding what it had to do with Eddie or his trailer yet.

“For what?” Steve demands.

“Eddie’s friends’ phone numbers.” Dustin answers, not actually telling a single lick of his plan. You start to understand, walking around to where he’s sitting and watch him work through the computer.

“Ah, what do you have to get it from here, why can’t you get it from him?”

“Seriously, you guys, maybe on a Monday you can play around, but it’s a Saturday. It’s our busiest day.” Robin answers, cleaning up the mess Dustin tore up on his way into the counter.

“Robin, I emphasize, but this cannot wait.” Dustin drones out, starting to write down numbers of the other club members from Hellfire.

“Oh my god.” Steve mutters, rubbing his hands on his face in stress.

“Calling Eddie’s friends is an emergency?” Robin sarcastically announces, annoyed.

“Correct!” Dustin yells, not having explained anything but still annoyed they haven’t understood yet.

“Want me to strangle him or you want to?” Steve asks Robin, sharing the annoyance.

“We could take turns.” She jokes.

Dustin turns to face Max, body tense and erratic. “Can you fill them in while I do this?”

“Fill us in on what?” Robin asks, still mad confused.

“I think I get it.” You mutter, leaning up against the counter.

“She speaks.” Robin peeps out, and suddenly they’re all facing you.

“You’re looking for him, aren’t you?.” You pipe out, pleading with her by staring directly into her eyes.

You look up to Steve’s eyes and finally tell them what had you dead silent. “It was his trailer they were at. Either Chrissy is the dead student and he’s a person of interest, or worse, much worse, he is.” You look to Max for confirmation, and she neither confirms nor denies.

“Well, more or less.” Max starts and goes into what she had told Dustin not half an hour before.

At family video, after hearing Max’s recount of what she had seen the night before, it made you feel both miles better and worse. Underneath the hope that Eddie was just sleeping in for the morning you knew it was unlike him to not at least get a hold of you. Somehow this tiny bit of knowledge whisked you back into shape, realizing it does no one, especially Eddie, any good if you freeze up now.

Three of you were manning the phones while two manned the shop to make sure it still ran smoothly.

“Have you seen or heard from Eddie recently?” Was the most common question being asked, and as you made phone calls to his friends, they were all confused to why you were calling them but were sympathetic when they all answered no.

“Reefer Rick? No. Does this Reefer Rick have a last name? I mean, it’s kind of…” Max is on the phone, and as you over hear the conversation while crossing off another name, you wonder why you didn’t think of it yourself.

Rick was in jail; it was the perfect hiding spot.

“Hey guys, I might have a lead.” Max says, seemingly optimistic.

“Seriously?” Dustin asks, almost ready to give up.

“Yeah, apparently Eddie gets drugs from a guy named Reefer Rick, and sometimes Eddie crashes there.” You laugh without humour, hearing the musings of someone who didn’t know Eddie at all.

“That sounds promising where does Reefer Rick live?” Robin asks, and their eyes all turn to you, standing off to the side as you watch almost as a bystander.

“Y/N, you know where Reefer Rick lives?” Dustin asks, carefully approaching you.

You shrug, smiling sadly. “No idea. I just know he had a place on Lover’s Lake. Eddie got his supplies from him until he got arrested last month. It would be the perfect place for him to hide.”

“Cool. Does he have a last name?” Dustin asks, seeking a possible solution.

“No one knows.” You say, and Max nods her head in agreement, the same thing Gareth had told her on the phone.

“Bet the cops know the last name.” Steve comments, working with the discount bins and reorganizing them.

“What?” Max asks.

“Cops.” Steve states, still working. The four of you look at him in disbelief to see if Steve was actually suggesting what you had thought he was. “I mean, listen, if this Reefer Rick is actually a drug dealer, and was arrested last month, then he’s in the system.” Steve states, leaning onto the counter.

“The cops?” You ask in disbelief, and sometimes you remember how dense Steve was at times. “Really, Steve? That’s your suggestion?”

“I think they should be filled in on what we know, what’s going on.” Steve admits, and got a fraction of a point. None of you knew it was anything supernatural at this point, but if it were, then going to the cops would be bad news.

“Oh, you think Eddie’s guilty, don’t you?” Dustin asks, and your eyes widen, that doesn’t even occur to you that Steve might be thinking along those lines.

“Whoa. I believe in innocent until proven guilty, all that constitutional shit. I just, you know. Don’t think we can rule it out.” Steve admits as he casually rubs his arms together.

Your jaw locks and you give Steve a hard look. “If you think for a second that he is capable of this then you clearly aren’t as much as I friend to us as I thought you were.” You state, and there’s a guilty flash across Steve’s face. “Ruling it out is precisely what we’re trying to do.”

“And maybe we’d have a little bit more luck if you spent less time trying to find a girlfriend and more time trying to find Eddie.” Dustin adds.

Max looks at you in concern as you continue to grovel in anger at Steve. You shrug half heartedly, but the anger would sit with you for a minute.

“Somebody has to attend to the customers.” Steve obnoxiously states.

“Especially if they’re babes right?” Robin jokes, winking.

“Hey, that’s not fair, alright. I attend to all the customers equally, babes and non-babes alike.” you watch him with raised eyebrows behind him as someone literally walks in the door, unnoticed by him. “We have a very big selection in here.” Steve starts on a rant, and you, Dustin, and Max share a look of disbelief as he bullshits his way through defending himself. “It can be super overwhelming for people.”

This sets off bells in Robin’s head, and you love when she gets the light up in her eyes in a crisis. It’s always a good sing. “Yeah, it can be.”

Robin moves to the computer, taking the lead.

“What are you doing?” Max asks, wanting to know how much of an idea Robin had.

“Maybe we don’t need a last name.” You and Steve both join her at the computer, both aware of how your workplace’s system managed. She types it in and a bell dings as a list of Ricks cross on the computer. “Twelve Ricks have accounts here.”

“Lot of Ricks.” Max deadpans.

“So, let’s narrow it down. Rick Alderman’s latest rentals are Annie and Dumbo. Chances our drug dealer has a family?” She asks, sarcastic.

“Not likely.” Max comments the obvious.

“Alright, Rick Conroy. Sixteen Candles, Teen Wolf, Romancing the Stone.” All of you collectively agree No before she can even finish the list. “Okay, Rick Joiner. Mask, Footloose, and Grease.”

“Nah.” The group groans out, still a definite no.

Robin moves down the list of Ricks. “Rick Kimbrough. The Blue Lagoon and Splash.” You all laugh at it, a hell no.

“Definitely not”

“No way.”

“Okay, Rick Lipton. Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie, Cheech and Chong’s Nice Dreams, Cheech and Chong’s Up in Smoke.” The list just got better and better, and you remember Eddie describing Rick’s heroes being Cheech and Chong.

“Bingo” you laugh, and narrowly avoid Steve as he laughs next to you.

“Lipton?” Max confirms.

“Spelled like the tea. 2121 Holland Road.”

“That’s out by Lover’s Lake, right where you said it was.” Dustin comments, making eye contact with you.

“Middle of nowhere.” Max adds.

“It’s a perfect place to hide.” Robin concludes, and you all pack up shop, locking the door behind you, to take off because if you didn’t leave by now, you wouldn’t be there until midnight.

As they all pack into Steve’s car, he catches your arm, and you attempt to angrily get out of his grasp. “Hey. What I said was fucked up.” You blink at him, waiting for him to elaborate. “Of course he didn’t do it. How could I think otherwise.”

“I don’t know.” You answer, still in disbelief. “I already know I’m going to have to defend him from everyone else in town. I didn’t think I would have to defend him from his own friends. Especially you. That’s why it hurt.”

“Are you ok? It’s a lot to process.” Steve replies, seeing the look on your face when Max had told her part of the story.

You sigh, and it’s starting to feel like last summer, or Halloween of 84, or the November of ’83. “When isn’t it? C’mon, we gotta get going. If he’s not there then we’re back at square one.” You get into his car, and hope time goes by much faster.

It was lucky the three of you left out the store when you did, and lucky the phones were busy for the better part of two hours. Police were coming to ask you questions after finding Jason, and they had tried your home address first. Your mom was calling to ask you to come home, as she recognized the trailer and was driven into calling after police came to your door. They had arrived when Steve’s car was long gone, but yours still in the parking lot. It didn’t look good for Eddie or you that his girlfriend had seemingly made herself unavailable to the police.

After seemingly hours Steve finally pulls up to the address, and your heart is in your stomach in anxiety. What if he’s not here?

What if he is? How the hell are you supposed to help him?

Dustin rings the bell, and only waits half a second before it escalates into multiple rings in a row followed by loud knocking. “Okay. Well, that’s settled. I guess he’s not here.” Steve opts out, giving up a little too easily.

Dustin continues to loudly knock, shouting. “Eddie! It’s Dustin!”

“Great.” Steve adds when Dustin so loudly calls out the wanted fugitive’s name.

“Look, we just wanna talk, okay? No cops, I swear. We just wanna help.” Dustin knocks again. “Eddie!”

“Shh” Robin shushes him, peering into the house with a flashlight. You peered in with her, and it looked empty, no sign of life.

“Eddie!” Dustin calls, ignoring her. “Rick!” He bangs more, starting to grow increasingly more desperate. “Reefer Rick!”

“Don’t scream that.” Steve chides him, looking around for any curious neighbours.

“He’s not there.” You state, walking back to the front door.

Max starts to wonder around the property, taking a look herself. Dustin is still yelling at the door, Steve attempting to get Dustin to stop yelling out the words “Reefer Rick.”

“Hey guys?” Max yells, catching all your attention. You all peer to where she is looking at, a big metal boat house, a great place to hide.

Your flashlights appear into the windows, first glance to see if any silhouettes pop in. “You go first, Y/N.” Steve whispers, pushing you lightly.

You push back, not wanting to be the first one to walk in a spooky boathouse at night. “What? Why me? Let Robin do it!”

“Oh, you big baby.” Robin chides you, slipping through the big metal door. “Hello?” She calls out, looking around. You follow right after her. “Is anyone home?” No answer, and neither of your flashlights reach anything.

Max, Steve and Dustin make their way into the boathouse, the multiple flashlights eluding creepy shadows on the wall.

“What a dump.” Steve unhelpfully comments, not adding anything to the search.

As the group continues their search for any evidence that Eddie could’ve been there at one point, (you’re hopelessly looking for his jacket), Steve reaches on the wall and grabs an oar, and starts using it against the tarp covering the boat.

“Whoa, what are you doing?” Dustin asks, incredulous.

Steve stabs the boat again, not answering.

“What are you doing?” You ask him, repeating Dustin’s sentiments for emphasis.

Steve continues stabbing with the oar. “He might be in here.”

“So take the tarp off.” You tell him, hesitantly reaching out to rip it off yourself.

“If you guys are so brave, you take the tarp off.” Steve snaps back, continually stabbing at the boat.

You’re still looking around aimlessly as Max points out some wrappers on a table. “Hey, look over here. You peer over as Robin goes to investigate, keeping an ear on the two idiots. “Someone was here.”

“Maybe he heard us.” Robin offers, and you want to cry at that idea. “Got spooked and ran.”

“Don’t worry”, Dustin offers sarcastically. “Steve will get him with his oar.”

“I know you think you’re being funny, but considering everyone in this room has nearly died a hundred times, personally, I don’t find it funny in the slight-” Steve doesn’t get a chance to finish his sentence, the tarp moving up and Eddie popping out of the boat he was prodding, with a broken glass and backing Steve up to the wall armed and afraid.

“Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!” Steve shouts, and Eddie doesn’t even listen, holding the glass up against his jawline in a defense position.

“Whoa, whoa, woah, Eddie! Eddie! Stop!” Dustin calls out, and for some reason you’re frozen in place, stuck watching the man you loved have an expression you’ve never seen before. He places himself in between you, Robin, and Max as they attempt to get the threat disarmed. “Eddie! Eddie! It’s me. It’s Dustin. This is Steve. He’s not gonna hurt you, right Steve?”

“Right, yeah.” Steve whispers, barely given any choice in the matter.

“Steve, why don’t you drop the oar?” Dustin offers, and Steve complies, but the sound startles Eddie into using the bottle against Steve’s jaw even harder.

Steve groans in pain, the bottle starting to break skin. Somehow the action brings you out of shock, and you’re understanding Eddie is technically a threat to Steve for the moment. You step to Dustin’s side, holding Robin back.

“He’s cool, he’s cool.” Dustin continues attempting to calm him down.

“I’m cool, man. I’m cool.” Steve whispers, using his humour as a coping mechanism to distract from the slight pain at his jawline.

“What are you doing here?” Eddie asks him, interrogating, rather.

“We’re looking for you.” You answer, and it turns his attention onto you, the slight recognition on his face, hiding behind fear.

“We’re here to help.” Robin offers, also having calmed down a bit.

“Eddie, you know us.” Dustin answers, and you’re relieved tension is starting to ease in Eddie’s shoulders. “Robin, from band.” She plays a pretend instrument to fuse the tension, and you suddenly wonder if Dustin knows they know each other a bit more than that. “This is Max, the one who never wants to play D&D.”

You step a bit further from where Dustin is, unable to help yourself.

“And of course, you know Y/N. Your girlfriend? The only person I have seen roast you and not get dried up grapes thrown at them for it?” Dustin says, and from the look on his face you can tell it’s working. “Eddie. We’re on your side. I swear on my mother. Right, guys?”

“Yes, yes. We swear.” Max agrees.

“On Dustin’s mother.” Robin awkwardly adds.

“Yeah…Dustin’s…Dustin’s mother.” Steve manages out, a last effort to get out of his sticky situation.

Eddie hold his place for about one second longer, before letting Steve go finally, and sinking to the floor. You watch pathetically, the expression on his face distant and afraid. You crouch down next to him, getting him to look you in the eye, and seems to see right passed you, and it scares you to imagine what he saw that affected him this much. You rub his arm comfortingly, not even attempting to take his safety, his weapon away from him.

Dustin lets you have the moment before crouching down in front of him. “Eddie. We just want to talk.” He reaches out to grab the bottle from Eddie so he can’t attempt to use it again, and you shoot daggers at Dustin when Eddie whimpers and grabs it out of reach. “Okay?”

Robin crouches down next to you. “We want to know what happened.”

Eddie sniffs, and it takes everything you can not to instinctively reach out and cradle his face in comfort. “You won’t believe me.” His voice breaks, and he sounds sure of it.

You make eye contact with the friends around you, all afraid of what this sentence implied to the five of you.

“Try us.” Max insists.

Eddie looks at the group in front of him, in disbelief that you were all giving the benefit of the doubt.

“Her body just, like, lifted up into the air and uh. And she just, like, hung there. In the air. And her bones. Uh she,” Eddie whimpers, and your grip on his arm tightens, unable to do anything but listen to him struggle through telling his side. “Her bones started to snap. Her eyes, man. It..it was like there was something, like, inside her head, pulling. I..I didn’t know what to do, so I… I ran away. I left her there.” The guilt was plain in his voice, and you’d wish you’d realized something was wrong when you woke up that morning. Maybe he wouldn’t have felt so alone.

His retelling is haunting, and you have to catch his breath after he finally manages to look at his audience. He immediately breaks away, scoffing. “You all think I’m crazy, right?” Eddie leans his forehead into his hand, wondering how he managed to get himself stuck here.

“No. We don’t think you’re crazy.” You answer, still offering affection even when he wasn’t leaning into it.

“Don’t bullshit me, I know how this sounds.” He shouts, and you try not to take his tone too harshly.

“We’re not bullshitting you.” Max says, her voice confident.

“We believe you.” Robin adds.

Eddie exhales, and you weren’t sure if it was in relief or disbelief, but his broken face was enough to keep you on track to try and soothe him as he struggled.

“Look. What I’m about to tell you might be a little… difficult to take.” Eddie makes eye contact with you, and you can almost recognize him.

He looks up at the rest of them, processing what Dustin had just offered. “Okay…” Eddie says, opting Dustin to continue.

“You know how people say Hawkins is…cursed?” Dustin starts, and one of your nightmares comes to fruition, Eddie finding out about the Upside Down and getting involved. “They’re not, way off. There’s another world. A world hidden beneath Hawkins. Sometimes it bleeds into ours.”

“Like, ghosts and shit?” Eddie asks, wondering if he was being bullshitted.

“There are some things, worse than ghosts.” Max whispers.

“Those monsters, from this other world, we thought they were gone. But they’ve come back before. That’s why we needed to find you.” Dustin explains.

“If they’re back again, we need to know.” Max adds.

“Ahem.” You mention, drawing attention to yourself. “Not to be selfish but that’s not even in my top three reasons to come and find you.”

Eddie lets an inkling of a smile cross his face, connecting his forehead to yours for a second.

Robin interrupts it, but you knew it wasn’t the time nor the place. “That night, did you see anything?”

“Dark particles, maybe?” Max adds, giving an idea to what Eddie might’ve been looking for.

Eddie shakes his head, very confident he didn’t see anything.

“It would almost look like dust, swirling dust.” Dustin describes, giving a pretty good description.

Eddie continues shaking his head, insisting. “No, man, there was nothing you could see, or uh, or touch. You know, I tried to wake her, man. She couldn’t move. It was like she…she was in a trance or something.”

“Or under a spell.” Dustin offers a different word.

Eddie seems more brought down to earth as he understands he is believed and there is now a theory to as what he had seen. “A curse.” He adds, thinking of the creature that uses these same abilities from D&D.

“Vecna’s curse.” Dustin helps, remembering the abilities and how it lined with what Eddie had said.

“Who’s Vecna?” Steve asks speaking for the first time in a long time.

“An undead creature of great power.” Dustin answers, afraid of what the implications could be.

“A spell caster.” Eddie answers, all the hours reading up on lore suddenly useful in real life.

“A dark wizard.” Dustin finishes, and he and Eddie make eye contact as the gravity of the situation hits the entire group.

“Shit.” Steve unhelpfully comments, and the group dissipates, discussing their plans for tomorrow.

As they move into a corner to talk about plans you know you will have to catch up on, you catch his attention, offering a weak smile. “Fuck.”

“Should’ve known something was up when you didn’t call this morning.” You answer, tentatively raising your hand to brush his face. He leans into it, eyes closed and tension seems to leave his body like a deflated balloon.

“I was thinking about it, but I figured the police would be looking for me, and in case you were brought in for questioning I didn’t need you telling them I called you this morning. That looks bad for the both of us. Did they?” He asks, and you can tell his mind is still going at a mile a minute.

“No, but if they went to my house my mom would’ve directed them to the store, and we closed up shop early to come see if you were here.” You answer, and now it hits you that you’re probably being looked for by the police, as well. “Are you okay?” You ask him, knowing the answer but still needing to hear it.

“No, but if they believe me, hell if you believe me I think I’m doing much better than before.” He admits, and squats up to give you a proper hug, tugging you into his arms. “So you knew about this other world?” He asks, making sure you weren’t just along to find him.

“Unfortunately, yes. I tried to keep you from it in hopes I would never have to deal with it again, and you would never have to see it.” You admitted, annoyed and thinking if you had told him maybe he would’ve come to you instead of being alone the entire night.

“Do you have any idea what you are gonna do?” He asks, unsure where you would even go from here.

You laugh, and it feels good to see him break out in a wider smile. “No, but we have Dustin, and I can tell you he already has three or four ideas cooking in that brain of his. He’s a genius.”

“Guess I’m in good hands.” He mutters, watching as the other four make a sizeable plan, and before you know it, you’re tugged away from him and you kiss Eddie for good measure and you’re basically dragged to the car, Robin explaining their plan for tomorrow to you.

The start of something was brewing, and at this point, you were convincing yourself you ready to face the world ending yet again.

Hopefully.

Chapter 3: The Monster and the Superhero

Neither one of you get a decent night’s sleep. The moment you got home your mom asked if the police got a hold of you, and you shake your head, fighting the tears that threatened to fall. She sighs, informing you that you should go the next morning to keep their benefit of a doubt that you or him were at all innocent.

You peered up at her, meeting her eyes for the first time. “You don’t think he did it?”

“No one is that good at hiding who they are.” She comments, letting you go upstairs, figuring you were just stressed about the whole thing. Who wouldn’t be?

As agreed, the group meets up at the grocery store, grabbing some snacks for Eddie before they give share any updates of news they had. Somehow you and Dustin end up arguing over some ridiculously trivial idea over which cereal he’d prefer, until Steve yells for you to shut up. “Just a pick a damn cereal, time is a-wasting.”

Steve pulls up to Rick’s lake house, and when you burst through the door, Eddie is by the window, prepared again with his broken bottle. “Delivery service.” Dustin announces, and Eddie visibly exhales in relief.

You waste no time running into his arms, inhaling his scent as if to burn it into your memory. He gently kisses the top of your head, and it takes all your self discipline to let go of him. Eddie kisses your temple again, as he walks past you to grab the bags, flinging them haphazardly as he sits down in his makeshift bed to begin eating.

Dustin exchanges a look with the rest of the group, and they all give him the go ahead to start the rundown. “So we got uh, some good news and bad news. How do you prefer it?”

“Bad news first, always.” Eddie replies, mouth full into a swig of pop.

“Alright, bad news. We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they’re definitely looking for you. Also, they’re uh, pretty convinced you killed Chrissy.” You gulp, remembering the helplessness of listening in with them, biting back tears as the police chatter with an unearned amount of conviction about Eddie.

“Like, 100% percent, kind of convinced.” Max adds, and you had to admit now wasn’t the time to sugarcoat it.

Eddie glances to you, and you nod solemnly. “And the good news?” Eddie asks, needing the pick me up.

“Your name hasn’t gone public yet.” You answer, thanking the fates.

“But if we found out about you, it’s a matter of time before others do. And once that gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother is gonna be gunning for you.” Robin states, blunt, but true.

Eddie stares off, a bitter disposition that he usually reserved for behind closed doors. “Hunt the freak, right?” You wince at the sentence, gritting your teeth.

“Exactly.” She confirms, and you make eye contact with her as she apologetically shrugs her shoulders. You shrug back, knowing it was only a matter of truth, one you instinctively knew yourself.

“Shit.” Eddie curses.

“So, before that happens, we find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence.” Dustin lists off, as if any of your misadventures with the upside down have ever been so easy.

“That’s all, Dustin? That’s all?” Eddie asks, voice hard.

“Yeah, no, that’s pretty much it.” He confirms, voice growing softer at the end of the sentence.

“Listen, Eddie, I know everything Dustin is saying sounds totally delusional, but we’ve actually been through this before. I mean, they have a…a few times,” Eddie looks up for confirmation and you and Steve both casually nod your heads as she rambles, “and..and I have once. Mine was more human-fleshed-based, theirs was more smoke-related, but bottom line is, collectively, I really feel we got this.” You were glad Robin was confident, because you weren’t as sure as she was.

“We usually rely on this girl who has super powers. But uh, those went bye bye, so..” Steve adds, and Eddie side eyes you as to ask why hasn’t heard a single word of knowing someone with superpowers.

El, you mouth to him, and Eddie sits on it for a moment.

As you exchange this information Robin continues, “So, we’re technically in more of the-”

“Kinda..” Steve rolls off it, now thinking out loud.

“Brainstorming phase.” Max says putting the concept into words.

“Brainstorming.” Steve snaps his finger, thanking her for finding the word he needed.

“There’s.. There’s nothing to worry about.” Dustin offers, and doesn’t seem to believe it himself.

Steve scoffs, also not believing it either. You hadn’t even attempted to assure him, knowing he could see right through you, and in turn, your lack of confidence in the group’s lack of plan.

Eddie looks at the group, raises his eyebrow as if to ask if you were all joking. You truly wished you were.

Sirens pass, and Steve curses under his breath as you jerk yourself out of your seat, as if it would do anything, but unable to sit from the mere anxiety the police gave you.

“Tarp. Tarp. Tarp.” Robin repeats, telling him to hide. Eddie gets the message, and he’s hiding in the boat again, mean while you all run to where the sirens are coming from as they increase in proximity.

Multiple police cars pass by, and a fire engine, and an ambulance. It was a dead giveaway that something was off again.

Assuming that the numerous emergency vehicles meant an update to the case, you all hop into Steve’s car, and pull up to another scene surrounding resembling the one on the news from yesterday, this time Nancy speaking to the police officers. As you all pop out, Robin lightly pushes you back in. When you nearly ask why she whispers harshly, “You are still being searched for by them, too. You are technically someone wanted for questioning. Stay out of sight.”

Nancy offers a small wave, her tiny stature frigid with anxiety, and you’re not sure how much of a coincidence it all is.

The six of you sit down at the picnic table you at the trailer park, and you station yourself in a way you aren’t forced to see the crime scene tape surrounding Eddie’s trailer. You all tell Nancy what you have learned in the last 24 hours, getting her up to speed.

“You’re saying that this thing that killed Fred and Chrissy, it’s from the Upside Down?” She confirms, and dread fills the air.

“If the shoe fits.” Steve confirms.

“Our working theory is that he attacks with a spell or a curse. Now, whether or not he’s doing the bidding of the Mind Flayer or just loves killing teens, we don’t know.” Dustin says.

“All we know is that this is something different. Something new.” Max says, and there’s no arguing that.

“Doesn’t make sense.” Nancy pipes out, annoyed.

Dustin attempts to negate it. “It’s only a theory.”

Nancy realizes she has to explain herself. “No, Fred and Chrissy don’t make sense. I mean, why them?”

“Maybe they were just in the wrong place.” You had hoped that was wrong, because it was chilling to think how close it was to being Eddie in that case. “They were both at the game.”

“And near the trailer park.” Max points out, both cases surrounding the area.

“We’re at the trailer park.” Steve points out as well, making a decent point. “Uh, should we maybe not be here?” You all look around, spooked by the idea.

“I’d like to leave.” You admit, turning to face the plot that has been haunting you.

Nancy extends a hand to comfort you, adding on what Steve said. “There is something about this place. Fred started acting weird the second we got here.”

“Acting weird as in..?” Robin asks.

“Scared, on edge, upset.” Nancy lists, remembering his scattered brain.

Dustin recalls what Max had told him the day before. “Max said that Chrissy was upset, too.”

“Yeah, but not here. She was crying in the bathroom at school” She says, and it doesn’t seem to be only at the trailer park.

“Eddie said Chrissy wanted something strong. He said it was like she was losing her mind.” You add, voice small as you finished.

“Serial killers stalk their prey before they strike, right? So, maybe Fred and Chrissy saw this Vecman-”

“Vecna,” Dustin interrupts Robin, correcting her.

“Dunno bout you, but I saw some freaky wizard monster, I would mention it to someone.” Steve says, and you’re not sure you would’ve done the same.

“And? Say what? To who? If you don’t know about the Upside Down, like Eddie, chances are you would ignore it and hoped it went away.” You answer Steve, making a good point of Eddie not completely understanding what he saw with Chrissy.

“Well, maybe they did.” Max admits, and Steve give you a ‘see? Told you’ look that you roll your eyes at. “I saw Chrissy leaving Miss. Kelley’s office. If you saw a monster, you…you wouldn’t got to the police. They’d never believe you. But you might go to your-”

“Your shrink.” Robin finishes, and Max nods in agreement.

You all make your way to Steve’s vehicle, manning a plan to somehow get a hold of any information on Chrissy or Fred they might’ve shared with Miss. Kelley. Steve notices Nancy making her way to her own vehicle, and calls for her. “Whoa, whoa. Nance. Nance!” Nancy turns around, still on edge. “Where you going?”

“Oh, there’s just something I wanna check on first.” Nancy attempts to negate from the truth.

“Something you wanna share with the rest of us?” Dustin asks usually wanting the whole picture to solve the problem.

She looks down sheepishly, “I don’t wanna waste your time. It’s a real shot in the dark.”

“Yeah, okay. Are you out of your mind? Flying solo with Vecna on the loose? No, it’s too dangerous. You need… You need someone to…” Steve stutters through his sentence, and you’re confused to what the energy has been brought to them. “Here. I’ll stick with Nance.” Steve offers, tossing the car keys to Robin. “Take the car, check out the shrink.”

“I don’t think you want me driving your car.” Robin yells.

“Why?”

“I don’t have a license.” Robin barks out.

“Why don’t you have a license?” Steve asks, annoyed.

“Because I’m poor.” Robin deadpans, and it’s dropped.

“I can drive.” Max offers, half joking.

“No, no! Never again. Please. Here, you drive.” Steve hands you the keys, and you stare at them as he shoves them into your hands before glancing up at him in disbelief.

“Yeah, I’m not driving.” You say, shoving them back to him.

“What? Why not?” Steve asks, his frustration loud in the eerily quiet park.

“The police are looking for me, too. They have been driving around town all day. If they see me driving your car, something they wouldn’t know if I had permission to use, I’m toast, and so is Eddie. Not happening.”

Dustin makes a face, offering to drive, and Steve shuts it down.

“All right. Okay. This is stupid. Us ladies will stick together.” Robin takes charge, grabbing one of the long range walkies and tugging you to where Nancy was. “Unless you think we need you to protect us.” Robin jokes, and it’s decided.

“Be careful.” Steve yells, watching the three of you walk to the station wagon. Robin holds out a peace sign, both humorous and condescending.

Dustin watches Steve, amused. “Just gonna stand there and gawk?”

“Shut up.” Steve whines.

“Why don’t we go, okay?” Dustin offers, sweet talking him.

“Just get in the car.” Steve barks, unamused. “Wipe your feet.” Dustin does, on the fabric of the inside of the car, intentionally showing Steve. “On the outside, not the inside. Always the babysitter. Always the goddamn babysitter!”

The two different vehicles take off, and you’re feeing fortunate to drive away from Eddie’s place for once, the place now giving you the creeps.

You, Nancy, and Robin walk up the steps of the public library after she quickly explains her shot in the dark. The bells ring, indicating another hour passing by and creating a feeling of unease in the pit of your stomach. You glare at the clock as Robin gets the story straight, time isn’t your friend. “Help me get this straight.” She is continuing, still confused. “Eddie’s uncle, Wayne, thinks that Victor Creel escaped from Pennhurst Asylum and that he’s the one running around committing these murders?”

As you’re walking fast paced Nancy shoots a glare to the two of you, signifying she knows she sounds crazy. “Pretty much.”

“But Victor committed the eyeball murders, like, way back in the ‘50s.” Robin points out.

“Well, ’59.” Nancy corrects her.

“So that means these murders predate Eleven in the Upside Down by about 30 years?” Robin continues.

“Yeah.”

You enter the library and make your way up to the front desk, and while you didn’t think it was a lead that would help the case in anyway, you had reason to trust Wayne. “Which makes spooky Victor Creel like 70 years old.”

“Yep.” Nancy agrees through gritted teeth, dinging the bell when the librarian wasn’t anywhere to be found.

“So he’s a grandpa murderer who can turn invisible and lift people into the air.” Robin concludes sarcastically, resting onto the front desk.

“It doesn’t make sense. I know. That’s why I said it was a shot in the dark.” Nancy explains, a little annoyed.

“Y/N, no concerns?” Robin asks you, looking passed you to where you’re stood on the other side of Nancy.

You shrug, absentmindedly looking at the pattern on the adjacent wall. “I trust Wayne. I also trust her gut.” You elbow Nancy lightly, and Nancy gives you a thankful look as she dings the bell again.

“Look, I know you trust her, it’s just that I thought by ‘shot in the dark’, you were being modest or hiding something super solid up your sleeve that you were gonna wow us with later.” As Robin continues on her tangent, Nancy starts dinging the bell repeatedly, seemingly done with her theory torn up. “But this is really, truly a shot in the dark. Like, we are snipers with blindfolds on who’ve been spun around fifty times.”

Nancy dings the bell more rapidly.

Robin stares at the bell, wondering what it could’ve possibly done to offend Nancy so much.

“Coming!” the librarian finally calls, holding a stack of books on her hip with a bright smile on her face.

“Hi. Sorry, we’re in a bit of a rush.” Nancy sheepishly says, turning on her good student tone. “Could we get the keys to the basement archives?”

“Of course! Give me one sec.” she answers, and you knew this was Eddie’s favourite librarian.

“Did I come off mean or condescending?” Robin asks abruptly, and you look at her inquisitively.

“No.” Nancy answers, and you’re not sure it’s all that true.

“Right. Sorry. It’s just, you seem annoyed. You don’t know me well.” After the many afternoons they have spent teasing you collectively you weren’t sure that was true, either. Although, Robin may be talking in terms of crisis. “I don’t really have a filter or a strong grasp of social cues.” That was true.

“Okay.” Nancy comments, clearly uncomfortable.

“If I say something that upsets you, just know that I know it’s a flaw. Believe me, my mother reminds me daily.” You think o the times you have guided Robin in a conversation where the lack of a grasp on social cues were clear and saved her from herself.

“Got it.”

“All right, ladies.” The librarian comes back holding the key. “Here you go. Have fun.”

“Thanks.” You take the key, the girls still ravelling after an awkward conversation. “We’ll try. C’mon.” You lug the two girls after you, unsure of the conversation that occurred and for the first time in a while you wonder if there’s some unresolved issues with those two.

Two of you sit in front of screens, scrolling through the archives as you continue to grab articles containing Victor Creel for the two of them. The tension is suddenly rough, and you wished you had also been a babysitter for today.

Robin interrupts the silent air, asking, “Anything…juicy over there?”

“Nothing new.” Nancy answers, her voice overly polite.

“Yep. Same here. Victor seemed like a normal guy. Dead family, missing eyes, took a plea deal, sent to Pennhurst. Blah, blah, blah, blah.” Nancy rolls her eyes deep into her head as Robin continues, and you wonder off to see if you could find any more articles to get you out of here.

Suddenly, as you’re moving through the archives, Nancy comes down the stairs to the drawer next to you, purposefully searching for something you’re not even sure she knows. “You know that Steve and I are like, totally not a thing, right?” Robin asks suddenly, and you jerk your head, wide eyed, wondering how this came up.

Robin shrugs, and gestures vaguely. That helps you understand nothing.

“What?” Nancy asks, turning to face her as well, and you share the same sentiments.

Robin moves around to the files, talking animatedly. “So, I figure you and Jonathan are still going on strong ‘cause you guys are going to college together. You’re one of those unstoppable power couples, but I..I just…I just wanted to make sure that Steve and I are just friends.” Robin moves to where you’re standing, and you decidedly move over a couple of slots. “Like platonic with a capital P.” Somehow this whole adventure just gotten more awkward as Nancy has no idea how to respond to either of this, and you’re almost ready to admit maybe they were right and you should’ve stayed behind with Eddie. “Just in case that’s adding any tension between us.”

“It wasn’t” Nancy answers, and she’s convincing as a fifteen year old with a fake ID.

“You look down to where you’re skimming, and your eyes catch a familiar magazine. “Holy shit.” You mutter. “The Weekly Watcher. Can’t believe they have this.”

“Didn’t they write about, like Bigfoot and UFOs?” Nancy asks, skeptical.

“First of all, UFOs are absolutely real.” Robin interjects, moving next you to look through the drawer as well. “Bigfoot, I’m still on the fence.” Holy shit, you think. She would get along with the members of Hellfire more than you’d realized.

“We are looking for information about dark wizards.” You add, considering what Robin has been saying.

“Exactly!” Robin says. “If someone’s gonna write about that, it’s gonna be these weirdos.”

“Those weirdos have kept Hellfire entertained for lunches on lunches.” You comment, now missing how mundane that feels in comparison.

“Case in point.”

Nancy glances down at the film and suddenly realizes you two may have a point.

You all gather around the screen, scrolling slowly passed each article, each one more ludicrous than the last. “Ah. Elvis Cloned by Aliens.” Nancy reads, and suddenly all hope is lost.

“You never know.” Robin lightly offers, and continues scrolling through the articles as she walks off.

She only goes past two more articles before landing on the exact one the three of you were looking for. “Holy shit.” You mutter under your breath.

“Victor Creel claims vengeful demon killed family.” Robin declares dramatically, and you stifle in laughter. “The murder that shocked a small community.”

“Ha, ha. That’s very funny.” Nancy sarcastically answers, apparently thinking it’s a cruel joke.

“She’s not kidding.” You answer for Robin.

“Get over here.” Robin calls her, and Nancy joins in-between the two of you. “According to several insiders, Victor believed his house was haunted by an ancient demon. Victor allegedly hired a priest to exorcise the demon from his home. Pretty novel for the ‘50s, Exorcist wasn’t even out yet.”

You shudder at the title, the film by the same name when Robin turned it on one night, you only lasting the first half of the film before you begged for it to be shut off.

“Keep..keep going.” Nancy urges, and the look on her face gives you a small sense of relief that this might’ve been successful.

“So, Victor clamed this exorcism failed but it angered the demon, which then murdered his family, removing their eyes. Victor believed he was spared as a punishment.” You continue reading the article for them, not that Robin needed it, just attempting to help.

“That’s pretty convenient for Victor.” Nancy comments.

“Yeah, or super inconvenient.” Robin bites back lightly. “Victor was declared legally insane by the court, right? What if this is why? It sounds insane. Just didn’t go public because—”

“The plea bargain. The records were sealed.” Nancy finishes.

“What if demon did invade Victor’s home?” You ask, and you’re almost sure you’re on the same track as the two of them, having not read the articles with them. “It’s just. This demon wasn’t any old demon.”

“It was Vecna.”

The three of you head out the library, daylight now gone and a sense of urgency filled the air. “Dustin, do you copy?” You ask on the walkie, following behind as Robin and Nancy go down the steps.

“Yeah, I copy.” Dustin answers.

“As always, Nancy is a genius. Venca’s first victims date back all the way to 1959. Her shot in the dark was a bull’s eye.” You answer, the three of you arriving to the Station Wagon.

“Okay, that’s totally bonkers, but I can’t really talk right now.” Dustin answers, sounding out of breath.

“What are you doing?” You ask, afraid to know.

“Breaking and entering school to retrieve confidential and extremely personal files.” Dustin answers, matter of fact.

“Can you repeat that?” You ask, wondering if you heard him correctly.

“Just get your ass over here, stat. We’ll explain everything.” He answers very vaguely.

“I thought they were talking to Ms. Kelley.” Complains Nancy.

“We leave them alone for two hours.” Robin sighs, and the three of you get into Nancy’s car to head over to the school.

Chapter 4: Dear Billy

Nancy drove with more urgency and less care than normal, pulling up to the parking lot of the high school with an abrupt screech of her brakes. The three of you burst through the double doors of the school, flashlights shining every which way as you run through the hallway to meet the rest of the group.

It leads to Max leading the group down the hall, the flashlights shining Max’s silhouette on the wall as she stares blankly. “It was here. Right here.”

“A grandfather clock?” Nancy asks, and Max shakily nods her head.

“It was so real. And then when I got closer, suddenly I just…I woke up.” Max says, her voice thick.

She sounded scared.

Real scared.

“It was like she was in a trance or something. Exactly what Eddie said happened to Chrissy.” Dustin comments, and you can’t help but notice the look you get as his name is mentioned from Steve.

You ignore it, observing as Max’s breathing grew shallower. She turns around, her eyes wide. “That’s not even the bad part.”

When asked to elaborate, she emphasizes that it would be easier to demonstrate by showing you, and the five of you follow her back into Ms. Kelley’s office. “Fred and Chrissy, they both came to Ms. Kelley for help. Uh, they were both having headaches, bad headaches that wouldn’t go away. And then… then the nightmares. Trouble sleeping. They’d wake up in a cold sweat. Then they started seeing things. Bad things. From their pasts. These visions, they just they kept on getting worse and worse, until eventually… everything ended.”

“Vecna’s curse.” Robin diagnoses.

“Chrissy’s headache started a week ago. Fred’s, six days ago.” You glance around the office, staring at the writings of Miss.Kelley’s notes on both Fred and Chrissy. “I’ve been having them for five days.” The admission makes your eyes shot up to hers, and the serious threat of Max’s life is now an added stake in the case.

How fucking inconvenient.

“I don’t know how long I have. All I know is that,” Max gulps, “for Fred and Chrissy, they both died less than 24 hours after their first vision. And I just saw that goddamn clock, so” Max exhales shakily, “looks like I’m gonna die tomorrow.” She admits, and her tone is shaky.

As her heavy words hang in the air, a distant sound in the hallways catches all your attention, each of you whipping your heads towards it in sync.

Steve turns his head to face the group, makes eye contact with each person and makes a quick albeit impulsive decision. “Stay here.” His sneaker squeaks as he stumbles, and he pauses by the door to glance back for something. He finds it, grabbing an adjacent lamp and continues to make his way to the hallway.

The four of you remaining glance at one another, exchanging a look and sharing the same thought. Dustin says it out loud, “We just gonna let him…” Without another moment’s hesitation, you all saunter to the hallway behind him, deciding you weren’t gonna let him face it alone.

Another bang down the hall, and you all hold your breath as the sound of quick paced footsteps echo in the hallway, coming at an unprecedented rate, the sound growing faster.

As you prepare yourselves, you holding your breath, Steve preparing to swing, Robin scrunching her face up, Lucas comes wildly around the corner, resulting in a screaming bursting out of most of you.

After nearly colliding it takes a moment to understand who is standing in front of you, the group backing off instinctively once realizing their ‘intruder’ is no longer a threat. “It’s me!” Lucas shouts, his face illuminated by flashlights.

“Lucas?” Nancy asks, still catching her breath.

“It’s me.” Screaming, now bending over to catch his own.

“Jesus, what is wrong with you?” Steve yells at him, on edge.

“I’m sorry.”

“I could’ve taken you out with this lamp.”

“Sorry guys. Sorry.” Lucas pants, still completely winded. “I was.. I was biking for eight miles.” Lucas walks around in circles, holding a finger to indicate he still needed a minute. You glance at one another as he does, knowing there was some news you had to drop onto him. “We’ve got a code red.” Lucas says, finally seeming to caught his breath.

“What?” Steve asks, hands on his hips, the lamp somewhat forgotten.

Lucas walks passed Steve right to Dustin. “Dustin. I’ve been with Jason, Patrick, and Andy, and they’ve gone totally off the rails.”

At the mention of this Steve glances to you, knowing something about Jason you still haven’t told Nancy or Robin. Jason added to the equation was an unwanted and unwelcome extra.

“Wait, Jason?” You ask, needing to know what he meant by it.

“Uh yeah,” Lucas says, now talking to the both of you. “They’re trying to capture Eddie and they think you know where he is.” Lucas says the last part mainly to Dustin, but you had a feeling they were also on the lookout for you as well. “You’re in terrible danger.”

The feeling of dread from being sought out by him only came second to the feeling of how your heart sunk to the words ‘they’re trying to capture Eddie’. Jason knew Eddie was the person of interest and of course, he didn’t doubt it for a second.

“All right. Yeah, that definitely sucks, but we’ve got bigger problems than Jason right now.” Dustin answers him, and glances back towards Max. You glance with them and you feel humbled as you gain some perspective.

Right. Max might die. Jason isn’t even on the top five right now.

But fuck, Eddie didn’t know and you still fucking worried for him.

You, Nancy, and Robin spend the next morning coming up with a plan, and it took all the fighting in the world to convince them you shouldn’t have been involved. As Nancy was on the phone with one of her newspaper workers, letting them know the final details the two of you hashed it out and Robin finally interrupts it. “C’mon just give us one good reason why.”

“Cause my boyfriend is wanted for fucking murder and I don’t have it in me to go undercover and play pretend for some lunatic. I’m sorry, but I just can’t.” You admit to them finally, and Nancy uncovers her phone’s receiver as she answers the numerous calls to where she had gone on the other end, confirming they only needed two fake files.

“Do you need to talk about it?” Robin asks hesitantly as Nancy hangs up and grabs her keys to drive to pick them up.

You sigh, following them and gulping as you can feel her watching you, you leant up against the Wheeler’s kitchen counter. “I mean it sucks, but I feel like being in either of their position would suck more. I feel selfish when I want to whine about it.”

“I mean, it does suck.” Robin tells you, and you follow Nancy to her car. “There’s no doubt about that. You’re allowed to think it sucks. Don’t you think it would be nice to pretend your biggest problem is talking to a loony bin doctor about his patients?” Robin gives it one last try to convince you to go with them, and you glance up at her and shake your head silently.

Robin seems to accept it, and you feel Nancy’s eyes on you as the corner of your head bounces against her back window of her car and you let it go.

Nancy’s worker was ridiculously fast with a typewriter. All papers were ready by the time we got there. She gleamed at the papers, and glances up her lackey. “Aren’t you curious to why we want these papers?” Nancy asks, a light mischievous smile dancing on her face.

“No. I’m on spring break. I’ll ask questions later.” The girl admits, and she shuts the door in your faces before Nancy could even thank her. Cool. You had everything you needed and they seemingly had a plan in place.

You got back to the house, making your way down the steps to the Wheeler’s basement. Dustin, Steve and Lucas all on the couch while Max is still at the desk writing, just as she two hours ago when you had left.

“Okay so…” Nancy starts, and you’re all out of breath. “we have a plan.”

“Thanks to Nancy’s minions, we are now rock-star psychology students at the University of Notre Dame.” Robin explains to them as they go through the indoctrinated files.

“There’s only two.” Dustin comments.

“Uh, she’s sitting this one out.” Robin says, a finger casually pointing towards you yet still resting on her knee.

Steve glances up curiously at you, and you sigh. “I can’t. I’d rather stick with you guys.” You stop there, refusing to sound any more trivial in comparison to what Max is facing.

“Anyway.” Nancy says, and you silently thank her for bringing the attention off you. “I’m now Ruth.”

“And I’m Rose.” Said Robin.

“Ruth?” Steve asks, somewhat teasing, and you glance at the exchange he has with Nancy, eyebrow raised.

Whatever, you ignore it for the sake of your sanity.

“Nice GPA.” Dustin compliments, admiring the handiwork of the fake files.

“Thanks” Nancy takes it, and you glare at her, it was fake.

“So we called Pennhurst Asylum and told them we’d like to speak with Creel for a thesis we’re co-writing on paranoid schizophrenics—”

“To which they outright denied.” You commented, cross legged on the carpet, picking at a loose thread.

“But we landed a three o’clock with the director.” Nancy adds, adding some good news.

“Now all we have to do is charm him and convince him to let us talk to Victor.” Robin finishes.

“Then maybe we can rid Max of this curse.” Nancy says.

“Yeah, about that.” Steve says, glancing back to her. “We’ve been doing our Victor Creel homework, and uh…we got some questions.”

“Lots of questions.” Lucas says, emphasizing.

“So do we. Hopefully, Victor has the answers.” Nancy says dismissively.

“Wait…wait…wait a second uh…where’s mine?” Steve asks, and Nancy glances up at you, scoffing. Did he just miss where Dustin did the math? How there were only two? And that was assuming you were going with them. Nancy looks at him, smiling tightly.

Steve angrily follows Nancy up the stairs, asking questions that are all going unanswered. As you sat picking at the carpet, Nancy goes back halfway down, calling for you. “C’mon.” She says, and you reluctantly follow them.

Nancy pushes passed Steve waiting outside her room and straight to her closet. “Nancy, you’re outta your mind if you think I’m babysitting again.” Steve complains.

“First, they’re not babies anymore.” Nancy answers, and you walk over to her bed, lying on it. “And Max is in real danger. She needs people around her.”

“I know. But why me. If Y/N is staying behind, then why can’t she do it? Why can’t I go?” Steve gestures to where you are lying there, and you lift your chin up, raising one eyebrow at him.

“We already have the papers!” Nancy half snaps, and Robin bursts into Nancy’s room.

“Oh my God, you have a Tom Cruise poster.” She glances back at her, smug. “You have a Tom Cruise poster.”

“Shit, you haven’t been in Nance’s room?” You ask, absentmindedly as Nancy goes through her closet.

“Nope.” Robin says, squatting as she unashamedly checks out Nancy’s cassette tapes on her bedside table.

“Can you please not touch anything?” Nancy asks, and Robin ignores her altogether, and you choose not to intervene, it’s far too entertaining.

“I can’t do anything here, Nance. Maybe I can be helpful with this asylum director dude.” Steve still attempts to make his case. “I don’t know. I could turn on my” Steve pops his lips animatedly, “my charm.”

“Not the charm we need.” Nancy shuts him down, incredibly smug about it.

“Ouch.” Steve says, and turns away from her.

Robin continues to dig through her room, you’re sat up watching her like a monkey in a zoo.

“No, it’s just. I did a little digging last night, and it turns out that his Dr. Hatch is a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a Harvard visiting scholar, okay? This is a lifelong student of the world. If we’re gonna win him over, we’re gonna have to convince him that we are too,” As Nancy explains this to a defensive Steve, Robin gleefully opens Nancy’s music box, all too excited about the knickknacks she is finding, “academic scholars.”

As if on her cue, Robin whispers, “Holy shit. There’s a little ballerina in here,” holding up the music box.

Steve nods bitterly, wondering how he lost to Robin. “Academic scholar? She’s giving you an academic scholar vibe? Yeah.”

Robin rolls her eyes, offended at the mere suggestion of her low intelligence.

You sit cross legged on Nancy’s bed, watching it all go down. It was entertaining, and it proved to be distracting. “No, but…” Nancy pulls out an outfit from behind the closet, holding it up to Robin. You have to bite back laughter at the ruffles and wait for Robin to turn around. “she will.”

Robin’s jaw drops, and she forgets all about mocking Nancy through snooping through her things. “Oh, please, tell me you’re joking.”

Nancy smiles, holding it up for her, and you are suddenly very glad you opted out of the undercover student plan.

You and Steve make your way back down the stairs after the two girls leave, Robin pulling on her neck level blouse, and wearing makeup for the first time since you’ve met her. Max stays quiet in her corner, writing and sealing envelopes.

You, Dustin, Lucas and Steve attempt to make quiet conversation but it eventually leads to looking after her, concerned no matter how hard you try.

“I know you guys are staring at me.” Max says, not even looking back.

You all move into action, as if she had pressed play and you grab at the nearest item to make you look busy.

“What sorry?” Steve.

“You said you needed something?” Lucas.

“Just hanging out.” Dustin.

“They really should be dusting down here.” You.

“How do you think your eyes boring into the back of my head is protecting me from Vecna, I don’t know.” Max says. She gathers her things and walks up to face you, but you’re all anxiously avoiding looking at her.

“You can look at me now.” She says, and you all instantly relax into it, putting your activities aside and mumbling your sorry’s to her. Max sighs, jerkily handing out an envelope to Dustin. “For you.” She does the same for Steve, Lucas, and surprisingly, you. “Oh, and um, give these to Mike, El, and Will.” She says, handing three envelopes to Lucas. “If you can ever get a hold of them again.”

You peer into your envelope, wondering what might be on it. “What are you doing? No, don’t. That’s not for now. Don’t open it now.” She rambles.

“Don’t…Okay.” Dustin stutters, staring blankly at his envelope. “I’m sorry. What is this?”

“It’s um… it’s a fail-safe. For after. If things don’t work out.” Max admits, and the air grows heavy and thick with tension.

“Wait, whoa. Max, things are going to work out.” Lucas says, reassuring both himself and her.

“No. No, I don’t need you to reassure me and tell me it’s all gonna work out. People have been telling me that me entire life and it’s almost never true.” You make eye contact with Steve and Dustin, and you feel eyes glossing over as you listen to her. “It’s never true. I mean, of course this asshole curses me. Should’ve seen that one coming.” Max admits, and you’re watching someone too young trying to grapple with the idea that her life is over. She exhales shakily, glancing around the room. “Where’s a walkie?” She asks, and you hold it for her.

When Dustin gives you a questioning look, you mouth ‘Eddie’ to him, having talked to him last night when you managed a minute alone. It was only a minute, and you barely managed to continue talking after the sound of his ragged voice tugged a tear out from you, but it counted, and you held onto the walkie in case he would reach out again.

“If we go to East Hawkins, will this reach Pennhurst?” She asks, holding up the walkie.

“Of course, yeah.” Dustin nods, knowing it could reach California if he had really wanted it to.

“Why are we talking about East Hawkins?” Steve asks, and he knows the answer before she even says it. “No. No. No!”

Max doesn’t even pay him any mind, grabbing her bag and booking it to the outside, and you all struggle to grab your things and follow her. “Max, Max. Seriously.” Steve yells, finally catching up to her. “Seriously, I’m not joking. I’m not driving you anywhere.”

“If you think I’m going to spend what is likely the last day of my life in the armpit that is Mike Wheeler’s basement, you’re out of your mind. Either take me where I need to go or tie me down, which is technically kidnapping of a minor. And if I live to see another day, Steve, I swear to God, I will prosecute.” Max ends her threat with a failed attempt to open his car, and they have a stand off. “Open the door.”

“Uh, no.” Steve dismisses her.

“I know a good lawyer.” She threatens him. Again.

Steve looks at her in disbelief, glancing up at you, sitting at the other side of your car with your hand on the roof. “Gotta be honest, Steve. I don’t really want to sit around all day waiting for something to happen, either.”

He looks back down at Max, who is staring him down, and reaches into his pocket, scoffing. “Henderson, that super walkie of yours better reach Pennhurst.” He threatens and the five of you finally crawl into his car. “Henderson, back seat. The adults sit in the front,” he says, wondering why you were sitting in the back.

“Cops.” You say to Steve, and he rolls eyes.

You sit on the other side of Lucas, and Max hesitates before climbing in. Hallucination? Hesitation?

Or just fucking scared? Cause even if was just the latter you wouldn’t have blamed her, regardless.

Even with the police on your tail, listening in on their radio hearing the reports of retrying your house and keeping an eye out for you to bring you in for questioning you wished you had sat in the front. Max slouches in her seat while Lucas does his best not to watch her, but fails miserably. It was far more awkward with you stuffed in with them.

You slouch your head back as well, catching Eddie’s trailer as you look out the window, and it feels as if your breath is caught in your throat. Steve pulls into Max’s parking lot, the dust settling around the car.

Steve puts the car into park with gusto. “This better be fast, Mayfield.”

“Twenty seconds.” Max promises, and the door is shut hard before you can even register she left the car.

You are left to wait for her, and Steve’s brow furrows. “That thing’s got batteries in it, right?” He asks, gesturing to the walkie in Dustin’s hands.

Dustin tilts his head to face forward, shaking it as he sighs. “I’m not even answering that question.” Steve grimaces, looking confused until Dustin responds, exasperated, “Yes, it has batteries.”

“Yeah, I got it.” Steve barks, and your eyes roll to back of your head as you let it heat the leather softly, closing your eyes.

If you had a nap right now, would shit be normal when you woke up?

You wake up to Steve yelling “Hey, that was longer than twenty seconds” at Max as she gets back to the car, in a hurried pace and worried disposition. Steve notices it, attempting to cut her off. “Hey. Whoa, whoa. You all right?”

Your eyes open to see all three boys now stood outside the car, no wonder since it was fucking blazing hot inside it. “I’m fine, just drive.” Max says dismissively, waiting for Lucas to get back to the middle seat before slamming the door shut behind her.

“Did something happen?” Dustin asks, his voice worried.

“Can we please just go?” Max asks, and avoids eye contact with every one of you.

Max lets Steve where-else she would like to go, and the car ride is dead silent. You can’t help but notice as Steve’s brown eyes look into his rear view every minute or so, and you know it’s not because he’s being a careful driver. He’s concerned.

The car radiates with concern for her from all of you, and she rejects it outright. She didn’t want it.

“Turn here.” The only things coming out of Max’s mouth has been directions, and this was the first one in over five minutes.

Dustin assesses their location to where she’s requesting, and it’s surprising, to say the least. “Here?”

Max says nothing, just nodding her head so lightly it was like she barely did it.

You, Dustin, and Steve share a look as you pull in the cemetery, and Lucas has barely stopped watching Max the entire ride. The car pulls into a long windy road and Max tells them to stop at the newer tombstones, leaving the car without a word and with conviction.

“Shit.” Lucas mutters, and he’s out of the car, he couldn’t stop himself another minute. “Max?” He calls for her, running to catch her.

You scooch forward in your seat, reaching across the centre console to Steve, “Hey, roll the windows down.”

“Already on it.” Steve mutters, the window already on it’s way, and you work on the back.

“Lucas, please, just wait in the car.” She pleads him, continuing her tread.

“Max, just wait. Max, please.” He continues anyway.

“Lucas, just wait—”

“Max. Just listen to me. Just, please.” Lucas begs, and she reluctantly stops in front of him. “I know something happened back there with your mother. Was it Vecna?”

“I told you, I’m fine.” Max insists, with a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. “Okay?” Max sighs, adding, “I mean as fine as someone who’s hurtling towards a gruesome death can be.” Her voice drips in sarcasm, and it’s a coping mechanism, but it’s not helping her case in anyway. She loses her nerve, breaking her eye contact with Lucas as his face shows the genuine concern he’s feeling for her.

“Max…you know you can talk to me. Right?” Lucas starts, not believing her smile for a second.

Max takes in the expression, and it’s full of care for her enough where she feels uncomfortable. “Yeah, I know that,” she smiles awkwardly.

“Okay, then why do you keep pushing me away? Okay, look, I don’t need a letter. I don’t want a letter. Just talk to me. To your friends. We’re right here. I’m right here.” It was what Max needed, someone to take her and the situation seriously. She jerks her head towards the car, and back to Lucas, taking him in. “Okay?” He asks her, soft. “I’m here.”

Breaking up with him in January was the start of her closing herself off, and if this was the first conversation they’ve been able to genuinely have since then, then it was a long time coming. “Wait in the car. This won’t be long.” Max dismisses him, walking fast paced to the headstone in question.

You all watch her, worried and anxious.

Max sits crossed legged in front of Billy’s grave for a for a bit, and not much is said as she’s so far away. “Hey, Dust, that thing is on like all the time, yeah?” you ask, not hearing much of a peep from anyone for a while.

“24/7.” Dustin answers, staring after her, standing at the passenger side door.

You don’t answer back, anxious due to Eddie not reaching out all day.

Steve has been checking his watch frequently, his fingers anxiously tapping the window ledge of his car. When you were about to tell him to cut it out, Steve gets out. “All right, it’s been long enough.” He comments.

“Steve, just give her some time.” Lucas argues, now sitting on the hood of Steve’s car.

“I have, all right, Sinclair? I’m calling it. She wants to get a lawyer, she can.” Steve says with finality, running off to where Max is still sitting.

You get out of the car, relaxing onto the roof next to Dustin. Lucas glances back anxiously at the two of you, mostly at Dustin, and exhales sharply.

Steve is talking to her in the distance, and suddenly he bends down to face her. As he starts clapping, the three of you still waiting by his car realize she was back in a trance, your bodies tensing up as Steve yells at her to wake with no avail. “Max! Wake up!” He calls, voice carrying across the cemetery.

“Oh, something’s wrong.” Lucas mutters, and the three of you slowly start to make your way off the car.

“Guys!” Steve calls to you, and it pushes you into running straight toward her. While Dustin and Lucas don’t hesitate, your first instinct is to grab the walkie, something telling you that you would need it, and follow them as fast as your feet could carry you.

You spend an uncomfortably long time surrounding Max, calling to her, begging her to wake up. You stared at her, eyes white, not even flinching at you yelling at her face and wondered if this was how Chrissy had looked.

Steve pauses his yelling to direct it at Dustin. “Call Nancy and Robin! Go get ‘em! Call Nancy and Robin! Go!” Steve releases his hold, and Dustin makes a run for it.

“Dust!” You call, running after him. “Dustin!”

“What?” He asks, gesturing to you to let you know now was clearly not the time.

You toss him the walkie, and Dustin’s face lights up in understanding. “Oh, shit. Ok.” He starts calling for them, repeating the code red with the occasional use of curses in between.

It takes minutes of Dustin begging in the background, pacing back and forth on the grassy path as he keeps repeating the code red signal, until it’s met with Robin’s answer, “Dustin, it’s Robin, we copy.”

“Holy shit. Finally!” Dustin yells, and there’s nothing you can do but continue to beg for her to wake up. “Please, please tell us you guys have this figured out.” Dustin begs, and his voice isn’t just desperate, it’s borderlining on hopeless.

Dustin takes a sudden run off to the car as Robin is explaining, and makes a quick return holding a bunch of tapes and Max’s Walkman. He trips into the circle where you’re still attempting to wake her up, the tapes all clumsily landing onto the grass. “What, what is this?” Lucas yells, voice hurried.

“Her song! What’s her favourite song?” Dustin yells.

The question is understandably met with confusion, both you and Steve giving Dustin a weird look. “Wh-why?” Lucas asks, exasperated.

“Robin said if she listens…it’s too much to explain now. Whats. Her favourite. Song?” Dustin stumbles through, and suddenly it’s the most important thing in the world right now.

Four pairs of hands fumble over the tapes, fingers shaking as you all ask the same question. What was Max’s favourite song? Lucas holds a tape, fingers gripping against it desperately. “It’s right here! Got it!” Lucas yells, and it’s put into the Walkman and pressed play, you place her headphones on her, telling whoever had the Walkman to press play now. The matter of who did what was unimportant, as long as Max didn’t suffer the same fate.

Your shouts to wake her up continue, calling after her. You were running out of patience, but it didn’t matter. This was working. It had to be.

As you were clinging onto this thought, you find yourself falling stuttering backwards onto your ass as Max starts to levitate. She rises higher, and you are finding it harder to breathe as you stared at her in horror and heartbroken disbelief. Max finally stops rising at nearly twenty feet, and all of you can do nothing but shout after her and hope Kate Bush was working.

It felt as if you were yelling for forever, jumping up and down, calling for her, your arms bent as your hands hold your heads in a mutual incredulity of what you were seeing.

The desperation.

Her name was being repeated like a mantra, over and over when her eyes open, she gasps out sharply as she drops to the ground. You all crowd around her as she sits up, her voice shaking and sobbing, and you can’t make anything of what she’s attempting to say but thank god she was okay.

Lucas holds an arm around her, and she clings onto him just as much as he attempts to calm her hyperventilating. You reach out for them, comforting in any way you can, and you can’t explain the need to reach out for them like you did but it was all anyone could do.

“I thought we lost you.” Lucas croaks out, his voice cracking yet didn’t hold a candle to how desperate he felt.

The sentiment is echoed by all of you, and you look up from where you zoned out onto the back of Lucas’ jacket to see both Steve and Dustin clutching onto them as well, a sign of solidarity and unity. The relief you had felt was over whelming, and there was nothing any of you could do but sit there.

“I’m still here.” Max says, and it’s both for him and her, as Max nearly lost her life. She was telling herself this as well.

She was still here.

#stranger things fanfiction #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson fanfiction

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tjmystic · 1 year

Text

And another snippet that will eventually go into my Steddie fics.

(Under the cut for length):

He can’t believe he’s doing this. He cannot believe he’s doing this. This is a new low, even for him, he should just hang up and—

“Henderson residence, Claudia speaking!”

Steve rubs his fist against his eyes. “Heeeeeey, Mrs. Henderson!” he says, drawing on every ounce of charm he has and hoping he doesn’t sound drunk. “It’s—”

“Steve! How are you, sweetie? We missed you at Sunday dinner last week, you know you’re always welcome.”

“Thanks, ma’am. And sorry, I had some, uh… stuff. Come up.” He clears his throat. “Is Dustin around?”

“I think so. Just a moment.” He hears the staticky sound of her hand covering the receiver, but he’s done this before, he’s no stranger to Claudia Henderson’s voice. He manages to yank the phone from his ear just in time for her to scream, “Dusty, phone for you! It’s Steve!”

There’s some vague noise in the background, some slamming and stomping as Dustin probably puts away whatever dork project he’s working on at the moment. Steve usually finds himself smiling about that kind of shit, but not right now. Right now, all he can focus on is the pounding in his head, the way Dustin’s voice gets closer as he tells his mom thanks, the sound of him breathing heavily into the receiver.

That weight over his head gets heavier. He knows that sigh. It’s not the one where Dustin’s irritated and about to bitch about something, it’s the sigh he uses when he’s taking a deep breath because he’s about to launch into some nerd spiel. Which means he’s got two options: wait till the kid finishes, by which time he’ll have totally sobered up and definitely lost his nerve, or bite the freaking bullet.

As always, he does the stupid thing: he bites the freaking bullet.

“Dustin, I need to ask you some questions, and I need you to, like, not ask anything back or read too much into it. Okay?”

“Uh, not okay,” Dustin says, and Jesus Christ, Steve hates how he just chimes right in, like it’s normal for Steve to interrupt him before he can get the first word in. “Also, hi, Steve.”

Fuck, this kid’s attitude. “Hi, Dustin. Now, seriously, can I ask the goddamn question?”

“Technically, you did just ask a question.”

Steve groans and knocks his head into the wall. He should hang up. It’s not too late. He’ll just hang up, unplug the phone, and turn off the walkie so the kid can’t get ahold of him, and then he’ll say he was just drunk and talking out of his ass when Dustin comes over to investigate. It’s not like that last part’s a lie.

But he’s made it this far. And he’s gotta know.

No running, says a voice in his head. One that sounds like a weird combination of Eddie and his own younger self.

It doesn’t help at all. But he opens his mouth anyway.

“Dustin, I’m serious. And I really, really need you to not talk back.”

“‘Talking back’ is kiiiiiind of how a two-way conversation goes, Steve. And I can’t promise anything cause you still haven’t told me what any of this is about.”

“Can you just—pretend that you’re a decent person instead of an annoying little shit for once and try! Please, man! This is important!”

Fist clenched, he waits for the inevitable argument. He’s too tipsy to put up much of a fight, and he knows it. Dustin’s just gonna keep on and on and on like he always does, and Steve’s gonna cave, and then everything’s gonna be weird—

“Alright. What do you need to ask?”

Steve opens his mouth, then shuts it right back. Did… did Dustin just agree? Without arguing? Like, yeah, there was the initial thing, but that’s practically nothing for Dustin. This is… Steve doesn’t know how to… what—?

“Steve?”

Oh. Right. The kid’s still on the line.

He clears his throat, readjusts the phone.

“Yeah. Sorry. Still here. So, uh… you really like Suzie, right?”

“‘Like’ is an understatement, I adore her, I worship the very ground she—”

“Okay, got it. And—and before you met Suzie, you had a crush on Max, right?”

The answering groan is so loud Steve has to rip the phone from his ear again, suddenly reminded of just how much Dustin resembles his mom. “We’ve already gone over this, Steve, we don’t talk about that, it was a momentary lapse of—”

“Just answer the question!”

“Alright, yeah, fine, I had a little crush on Max for, like, a week! Happy now? And stop interrupting me!”

No, actually, he isn’t happy now. He keeps that part to himself, though. If it didn’t feel wildly irresponsible, he’d be throwing back scotch right now. Something about drinking in front of the kid, though, even over the phone, just feels… wrong.

“Yeah, sorry,” he sighs, rubbing at the wrinkle between his eyebrows. “So… so you definitely like girls. But, uh… you, like… you notice guys, right?”

Silence.

Steve swallows. “Not, like—like, all guys. Just, you know, some guys. Like, the ones who are attractive, or whatever.”

More silence.

“In—in movies, and stuff. Like that thing you guys weren’t supposed to see that I rented for you, the, uh—it—St. Elmo’s Fire, that’s the one! You ever just, like, stare at Rob Lowe in that scene where he’s got the saxophone, and the earring, and the—the tight shirt with his arms and—I mean, like—you know—Henderson?”

A door snaps shut. Steve’s stomach does a backflip. Or a front-flip. A stomach flip? Great, even in his head, he’s turning into Robin, it’s not enough that he has to do it out loud, too, this was such a stupid—

“Is this about Will?”

The phone drops from Steve’s hand. He thanks his quick reflexes for being able to catch it before it clatters to the ground. Granted, he fumbles it twice, but still.

Palms shaking, he pushes it back to his ear and hisses, “Will? What does this have to do with Will?”

“Nothing!” Dustin’s voice cracks on the second syllable, a sure tell that he’s lying. “Nothing at all, nope, who said anything about Will?”

“Uh, you did? Why—”

“So Rob Lowe! We were talking about Rob Lowe!”

#both sides of the story #steddie fanfic #steddie #steve harrington #dustin henderson #dustin is unapologetically a little shit and that is why we love him

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fedorah-the-explorah · 6 months

Text

Buenos Aires Ghoul :3

#carmen sandiego 2019 #carmen sandiego netflix #carmen sandiego #autism law states that once an autist finds a new interest they MUST combine it with their special interest #im just following orders guys #shut up suzie #my art #yes I have extensive world building thought up #no im not actually going to write this #yes this is going to consume my every waking thought for the next 48 hours #thank you for your understanding 🙏#seriously shut up suzie #suzie's aus

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theowritesstuff · 2 years

Text

Head Over Heels

Book 3 - Chapter Three: The Case of the Missing Lifeguard

Steve Harrington x gn!reader

Head Over Heels Masterlist

Summary: You and Robin crack the Russian code.

Warnings: guns

Robin sat on the back counter holding Dustin’s tape in her hands. A pair of black headphones sat over her ears as she listened to the message over and over again. You leaned against the wall next to her holding the translation book, waiting to see if she heard anything new.

A group of young girls stepped up to the counter staring at Robin expectantly. One of them hit the bell, waited a moment, then hit it again.

“What do you guys need?” You ask them.

The girl in the front turns to you. “Ice cream. Which you don’t serve.” Then she continues hitting the bell waiting for Robin’s attention.

You nudge her and nod to the group of girls. Robin pulls the headphones down to her neck and hops off the counter.

“I’d like to try the peanut butter chocolate swirl please.” The girl says with a smile.

Robin smiles and shakes her head. “No. No more samples today.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re abusing our company policy.”

“Where’s the sailor man?” She looks around for Steve.

“Sorry, he can’t help you. He’s busy.”

“Busy with what?”

Robin turns to you and smirks, then looks back at the girl. “Spycraft.”

Steve and Dustin had left you and Robin to go search for anyone that, in the words of Steve, “gives an evil Russian vibe”. Dustin had brought a pair of binoculars from home so that they could get a closer, but no less inconspicuous, look at the people in the mall.

The two of them ducked behind some greenery in the concourse. Steve had the binoculars’ strap around his neck, and held them up to his face to look around.

“You see anything?”

“Uh, I guess I don’t totally know what I’m looking for.”

“Evil Russians.”

“Yeah, exactly. I don’t know what an evil Russian looks like.”

“Tall, blonde, not smiling. Also look for earpieces, camo, duffel bags, that sort of thing.” Dustin tells him.

“Right, okay, duffel bags.” His eyes scan the mall again, and make it up to the entrance to the active wear outlet. “Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me.”

“What?” Dustin sits up straighter, trying to see whatever Steve sees.

“Anna Jacobi’s talking with that meathead Mark Lewinski.”

Dustin sighs. “Dude, if you’re not gonna focus, just give me the binoculars.”

Steve ignores Dustin, instead continuing to watch Anna and Mark. “Aw, Jesus Christ, whatever happened to standards? I mean, Lewinski never even came off the bench!” He groans.

“Dude, you are the worst spy in history, you know that?” He tugs the binoculars away from Steve, then holds them up so he can look through them. “Besides, I don’t even get why you’re looking at other people when you have the perfect person right in front of you.”

“Seriously, if you say Y/n again-”

“Y/n. Y/n, Y/n, Y/n.”

“No, stop, no! No man, Y/n’s… Y/n’s not my type, alright?” Steve tells Dustin trying to keep his face from heating up.

“What’s your type again? Not awesome?” Dustin asks him, rolling his eyes.

“Thank you.” Steve shakes his head. “For your information, Y/n is best friends with Nancy. My ex. So, that’s not a good look.”

Dustin glances over at Steve who’s still looking around, then back through the binoculars. He hums and nods. “Plus, I’m pretty sure Y/n’s kind of got a thing going with the guy at the record store. Eddie?”

Steve scoffs. “Yeah, right. Y/n could do so much better than Eddie ‘the freak’ Munson.”

Dustin raises an eyebrow at him.

“Shut up.” Now it’s Steve’s turn to roll his eyes.

“Now that you’re out of high school, which means you’re technically an adult, don’t you think it’s time you move on from primitive constructs such as your public image. You know, most people date someone they actually enjoy being around. Like me and Suzie.”

“Oh, Suzie. Yeah, you mean ‘hotter than Phoebe Cates’. Yeah, that Suzie. And uh, let’s think about it, how exactly did you score that beautiful girlfriend? Oh yeah, with my advice. Because that’s how this works Henderson.”

“Actually it was Y/n’s advice. Turns out it’s easier when the other person actually knows you care.” Dustin argues.

Of course Steve cares about you. He cares about you more than anything, and that terrifies him.

Robin continues reading through the translation over and over, until you’re pretty sure you have it memorized.

The week is long. The silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west. A trip to China sounds nice if you tread lightly.

She flips through the translation book when you hear a knock on the door in the back.

“I’ll get it. You keep working on that.” You gesture to the notepad on the counter.

You walk to the back room and open the door to see a delivery man with a box. You take it from his hands and set it on the counter.

“Thank you.” You tell him, scribbling a near-unreadable signature on his notepad.

Your eyes glance up at his shirt. A red logo sits on his chest. Lynx Transportation. You hand him back the the notepad.

“Have a nice day.” He says, as he starts to leave.

“You too.” You tell him.

You step out into the hall once he’s left, and catch sight of the logo on the back of his shirt. A silver cat. Your mind starts racing, repeating the message to yourself quietly. You practically run back into the parlor.

“You guys are never gonna believe who Dustin thought was a Russian.” Steve says as he and Dustin walk back in.

“You did too.” Dustin points out.

You race past them, slightly bumping into Steve’s shoulder, then run back to the concourse. Robin chases after you, eager to learn what you’ve found.

You jump onto a bench and look around. “A trip to China sounds nice. A trip to China sounds nice.”

“Imperial Panda.” Robin points at the food stand.

You point to the notepad in her hand. She quickly writes down the name under the message.

“If you tread lightly.” Robin says now looking around as well.

“Kaufman Shoes.” You tell her.

She smiles and writes it down.

“When blue and yellow meet in the west. When blue and yellow…” you trail off.

Robin grabs your arm, and points to the large clock on the wall. The hour hand is blue, and the minute hand is yellow.

“When blue meets yellow in the west.” She says.

“Nine forty-five?” You ask her.

“I think so.” She grins at you.

“Hey, what are you guys doing?” Steve asks as he and Dustin walk up to the two of you.

“We cracked it.” Robin answers, a proud smile on her face.

“Cracked what?”

“The code.” You tell them, a small smile starting to form on your face.

You explain what you’ve figured out to Dustin and Steve, who quickly devise a plan to stake out on the roof tonight, watching for any deliveries.

You thank god you brought your raincoat with you today, as the dark clouds start to roll in the closer you get to the evening.

The four of you are ducked on the roof, attempting to watch the lynx trucks deliver boxes. You’ve got Robin laying to your left, and Steve to your right. Dustin lays on the other side of Steve, looking through his binoculars.

“Keep an eye out for Imperial Panda and Kaufman Shoes.” You tell them.

Dustin points. “They’re with that whistling guy, ten o’clock.”

“What do you think’s in there?” Steve asks.

“Guns, bombs-” Dustin starts.

“Chemical weapons.” Robin adds.

“Whatever it is they’re armed to the teeth.” Dustin says.

Steve wipes some of the water out of his eyes. His hair falls flat from the rain, a few strands falling in front of his face. “Great. That’s great.”

“What’s in there?” You ask as the large metal doors open for the delivery man.

“It’s just more boxes.” Dustin answers.

“Let me check it out.” Steve reaches for the binoculars.

“No, I’m still looking.” Dustin tries to pull them away.

“Lemme see it.”

“Hang on!”

The binoculars hit the metal frame of the roof, creating a loud clanging noise. You all lay further down, now on your backs in an attempt to hide from the view of the men guarding the deliveries.

Your heart races in your chest as you pray they didn’t see any of you. You feel a soft squeeze on your left hand, and look to see that Steve is holding it, your fingers interlocked together. He looks at you, clears his throat, then lets go of your hand.

He shakes his head, attempting to clear his thoughts. His mind told him “Protect Y/n.” His heart practically leapt out of his chest as he reached out for you.

Dustin smirks at him and wiggles his eyebrows. Steve simply kicks his leg, telling him silently to stop, then turns back over to watch the guards.

HOH Taglist: @nptnewr @rishlurh @scoobiessnacks @wisdomcrys @parker-natasha @missbunsworld @eddiemunsons-lover @lilyhw1 @mrsjaderogers

#stranger things rewrite #stranger things x reader #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington #stranger things

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ttuesday · 2 years

Text

It’s a Date - Chapter 2

~link to chapter 1 here~

Summary: After agreeing to go on a date with him, Eddie promises you the best night of your life... but will it all work out according to plan?

Word Count: 4k

Disclaimer: Reader identifies as female and goes by she/her pronouns!

Eddie can’t remember the last time he was this nervous. Hell, he wasn’t even this nervous when he performed at the Hawkins Middle School talent show.

His earlier interaction with you now seems like a far off dream and yet he can’t stop thinking about it, replaying the incident over and over again in his head. Eddie thought it would take him at least another 2 months to work up the courage to talk to you, so to be taking you on a date already feels completely surreal.

Glancing down at his watch, Eddie mutters a curse to himself and pushes his foot down on the accelerator, his hands firmly on the steering wheel in the hopes of picking you up on time.

Strangely, this all feels new to him. Sure, Eddie’s been on dates before but it’s been a while and he can’t remember the last time he’s felt this way about someone.

As much as Eddie won’t admit it, the worry he may fuck up his chance with you gnaws away at him. In fact, it worries him so much, Eddie reluctantly thinks back to the unwarranted advice Dustin gave him in preparation for tonight.

Ever since seeing Eddie talking to you today, Dustin has pestered him with love advice, most of which Eddie rolled his eyes and scoffed at.

But nearing your house, he begins to take the self-proclaimed love guru’s advice seriously, hoping it’ll ease his nerves.

“Oooooh so you’re bringing her to your show to impress her,” Eddie recalls Dustin saying, wiggling his eyebrows as he did “damn, that’s pretty smooth… well, it’s probably better than taking her to a Hellfire session, I’d probably save that for date number five”.

“Will you shut up about it for five minutes?” Eddie huffed, feigning annoyance as Dustin continued anyways.

“C’mon, we both know you need some guidance… and maybe a hairbrush too” Dustin squinted at Eddie’s hair, examining it for any knots.

Batting his hand away, Eddie shot him a quick glare.

“Well, don’t forget to be yourself but don’t be too weird, be a gentleman!” Dustin listed out his advice “maybe call her a pet name! Yeah, Suzie Poo loves pet names”.

He beamed proudly to himself, completely contradicting the bewildered look on Eddie’s face.

Catching sight of Eddie’s expression, Dustin cleared his throat “Or don’t use pet names… but dear God, Eddie if you’re not going to give her any pet names, don’t use any for your guitar either”.

Eddie shivers in his seat, regretting his decision to reminisce on the recent memory. Turning down his blaring radio, Eddie pulls on to your street and takes a deep breath, hoping he doesn’t fuck this up.

Every few minutes you peer through your curtains, eagerly watching the road below and waiting for Eddie’s truck to pull up. Seeing no sign of him yet, you walk across your bedroom to your mirror, running your fingers anxiously through your hair as you make sure your outfit looks okay.

Questions swirl around your head; Are you seriously about to go on a date with Eddie Munson? Is he fretting this much too? Does he even care? What if he doesn’t show up?

Shaking your head, you try to shove your daunting questions deep down and focus on fixing your hair one last time.

A sudden honk of a car horn makes you jump. Without a second thought, you hurriedly leave your room and dash down the stairs, calling out that your ride’s here as you go.

You try to leave as quickly as you can, hoping to avoid any intrusive questions from your parents.

You practically run out the front door, shutting it behind you as your gaze meets Eddie’s. Getting out of his truck, Eddie makes his way to the passengers side, a pep in his step as he opens the car door for you.

He gives you an endearing smile that you mirror, tentatively approaching him.

Eddie doesn’t break eye contact, his smile growing wider the closer you get. “Thanks” you mumble, feeling hot under his gaze as you try to gracefully clamber into his truck.

“Why of course, m’lady” he replies, closing the door behind you and briskly getting back into the driver's seat.

Settling behind the wheel, Eddie lowers his voice dramatically as he asks “Are you ready for the night of your life?”.

You look at him skeptically, a curious grin playing at your lips. “That’s a big statement,” you challenge “you sure tonight’s going to meet those high expectations?”.

Eddie doesn't know what it is about you but you immediately put him at ease, your playful tone giving him all the assurance he could’ve ever asked for.

Eddie scoffs, pulling the truck out onto the road. “Tonight’s going to be unforgettable,” he answers confidently “seriously, I kinda feel bad for anyone who takes you out on a date after this cause it’ll never live up to tonight”.

You relax into your seat, laughing softly as you do. Although Eddie’s promise is big, you surprisingly have faith in him and believe that tonight will be one to remember.

“So where do you usually play?” you question, only realising now that you have no idea where Eddie’s taking you. He hesitates for a moment, debating how to word his answer. To put it blunt, the bar his band plays at isn’t the most aesthetically pleasing place in Hawkins.

“It’s a bar on the outskirts of town, I don’t think it’s a place you’d usually hang out at but it’s endearing in its own unique way” Eddie chooses his words carefully, hoping the condition of the bar won’t scare you off.

“And what kind of places do you think I usually hang out at?” you pry, curiosity peaking your interest.

“I don’t know, lounging around by the community pool? Or Starcourt mall… well, when there was a mall…” he mutters the last part, internally damning himself for bringing up a subject that’s sensitive for the entire town.

You sigh, thinking back to the days you spent in Starcourt mall, eating heaps of ice cream at Scoops Ahoy and browsing the shops for an abundance of new clothes.

“I really liked the mall but I never went to the swimming pool” you reveal. Of course you wanted to go to Hawkins Community Pool but it was always overcrowded which was enough to put you off visiting.

“You never went?” Eddie furrows his brow, astonished by this revelation. He remembers when it felt like all anyone did was go to that goddamn pool. Well, everyone except Eddie. It wasn’t his kind of thing but to hear you didn’t go either isn’t what he was expecting.

You two have much more in common than he could have ever anticipated.

“Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to go, especially when I was a kid but the idea of being crammed into a pool full of screaming toddlers and snobby adults always made me hesitate” you explain.

“Yeah, I get that,” he agrees “well, don’t worry, the bar is anything but crowded. The biggest crowd we ever played to was about 10 people and that’s because it was happy hour”.

“Sounds like a fun place” you flash him a quick smile, excited to see what the night will bring.

***

The bar is exactly what you imagined; dishevelled, gloomy and with only a handful of drunks for an audience. Eddie studies your face for a moment. He knows it isn’t an ideal place for a first date but he has some tricks up his sleeve for later.

“I know this isn’t Live Aid but it’s better than playing in Gareth’s garage all day” Eddie gives a small laugh, leading you over to the bar.

“Oh- no, it’s nice!” you reply, not wanting him to think you’re uptight “it’s very… you”.

Eddie hums at your answer, leaning against the bar as he thinks “Very me… hmmm… so it’s extremely handsome and charismatic?”.

Warmth floods your cheeks and you look away, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing you blush.

“Eddie!” someone calls, making you both turn to look. Gareth pops his head out one of the staff only doors, his eyebrows quirking upwards at the sight of you.

Clearing his throat, he says “C’mon man, we’re on in t-minus 4 minutes”. With his eyes flicking to you one more time, Gareth disappears again.

“Alright, this is where I must bid you farewell,” Eddie sighs “but don’t worry, I’ll just be over there, rocking out and getting swooned over by a couple of drunks so try not to get too jealous”.

You laugh, resting against the bar. “I’ll try my best to stay composed” you promise.

Eddie rolls his eyes fondly before assuring you “But seriously, I’ll be able to keep an eye on you all night so if anything happens or if anyone tries to bother you, don’t worry, I’ll be there in a flash”.

“Eddie, I’ll be fine,” you try to convince him “don’t worry about me”.

He opens his mouth to say more but he stops himself, not wanting to seem overbearing. Eddie nods, knowing you’re fully capable of handling yourself.

“Enjoy the show,” he goes to walk away but stops “and don’t get into too much trouble”. With that, he leaves, giving you a sly wink as he makes his way to the others.

You’re unable to stay still as you wait for the band to play, butterflies swirling around your stomach as you hear the first few chords, signalling the start of the show.

Although Eddie and his band only play for half an hour, it’s the most exhilarating 30 minutes you’ve had in a long time. The thunderous beat of the music brings the once dead bar back to life, drunks swaying to the music as the glasses on top of the bar vibrate along to the beat.

The music rattles your bones, booming through the speakers. After each song, you excitedly clap and holler, encouraging some of the drunks to do the same. It’s captivating to watch Eddie, to see how much care he puts into knowing each song flawlessly and how determined he is with each guitar solo, his tongue poking out of his mouth as he concentrates.

Master of Puppets is where Eddie truly shines, nailing the guitar solo effortlessly and looking to you afterwards, a proud smile plastered across his face. You cheer him on, adrenaline pumping through you as his gaze meets yours.

After the show, your ears buzz loudly but it doesn’t dampen your high spirits. When you see Eddie again, your face lights up as you rush over to him.

“Oh my god, you were amazing!” You praise “I knew you’d be good but that was absolutely incredible!”.

“I- thanks” Eddie shifts his weight from foot to foot, completely flustered by your compliments. The other members of his band emerge too, all of which you recognise from Eddie’s infamous Hellfire Club.

They each give you a nod of acknowledgement, unsure what to say or why you’re here with Eddie. Of course they have their suspicions, knowing Eddie’s had a crush on you for a while but none of them expected this.

You go through the generic introductions of everyone before chatting about the gig. As you gush about how great they were, Eddie gives you small glances, a mixture of relief and pride simmering within him.

It doesn’t take long for Eddie to cut the conversation short, casually putting his arm around your shoulders as he tells the others you two best get going.

Bidding goodbye to the others, Gareth gives Eddie an approving nod, impressed that he actually managed to bag himself a date with you.

As you both head out to his truck, you continue to ramble on about each song and how impressive his guitar skills are. Eddie listens intently to each compliment you give him, not used to hearing someone speak so highly of him.

He doesn’t know what he did to deserve this much good luck, I mean not only did he get the opportunity to be your knight in shining armour in school today but to take you out on a date that you’ve enjoyed?! As Eddie starts his truck, he wonders if this is all a dream and that he’ll wake up just before the best part.

The conversation eventually dies down, leaving a comfortable silence between you both. Normally you find gaps in conversation awkward, scrambling to think of something else to say but it feels different with Eddie. You can relax and enjoy each other’s presence without unnecessary babbling on.

As Eddie focuses on driving, you watch the dim street lights attempt to illuminate the night sky, feeling a sense of peace… that is until you realise Eddie missed the turn off to your house.

“Oh, that was the turn for my place” you tell him, gesturing back to it.

“I know,” he replies casually, keeping his eyes on the road.

You tilt your head in confusion “Huh?”.

“What?” he smirks “I promised you the best night of your life”. Eddie gives you a wink, making sure to keep his answer vague as to not spoil his surprise for you.

You try to get more out of him, prodding him with questions but Eddie remains ambiguous. You’re not worried, in fact you feel the opposite, excitement engulfing you as you try to figure out what the hell is going on.

Turning into an empty parking lot, the large sign for Hawkins Community Pool comes into view. This is not what you were expecting. “Eddie?” you scrunch up your face in confusion “What’re we doing here?”.

The building is dark, sinking into the shadows of the night with the pool out of sight, guarded by a large wired fence. The truck crawls along the parking lot as Eddie shifts in his seat, peering out the windshield to get a better scope on the place.

“Well, you did say you’ve always wanted to come here” he shrugs, his eyes flicking to you for a moment.

“But at night? Besides, how are we supposed to get in?” a thousand questions flood your mind “And even if we do, isn’t that breaking and entering?”.

“Woah, woah, woah,” Eddie calms you, stopping the truck near the wired fence “you’re not breaking into anything… we’ll just enter through a convenient hole in the fence”.

Lifting yourself up off your seat, your eyes search the fence, scanning for the supposed hole.

“But there isn’t any hole” you point out.

Giving you a mischievous look, he corrects you “There isn’t a hole… yet”.

Not quite believing what he’s insinuating, you sit there in a stunned silence, watching in pure bafflement as Eddie hops out of the car and goes to the trunk.

You follow him, though by the time you get out of the truck, Eddie already has the trunk open and some bolt cutters in his hands. He surveys the fence carefully, looking for the best place to cut.

“Eddie, I’m not sure this is a good idea,” you fret “What if someone sees us? Or if this place has some kind of security?”.

Eddie chuckles fondly “We won’t get caught, besides I’ll leave the truck right here, ready and waiting in case of any emergencies”. You’re still not sure, a twist of excitement and anxiety making you shiver.

Before you can say anymore, Eddie expertly places his bolt cutters between some of the wires and begins snipping away, creating a gap just big enough for the both of you.

“Oh my God, we’re actually going to do this?!” you blurt out, the initial shock still setting in.

“It’s fine, we’ll be in and out in a flash” he assures you, tossing the bolt cutters near his truck. With a cheeky smile, he pulls back some of the fence and slips through the gap. You stay where you are, a small part of you hesitant.

This isn’t something you ever pictured yourself doing but going on a date with Eddie Munson is also something you didn’t think would ever happen.

Holding his hand out to you, Eddie’s smile softens “C’mon, I promise I’ll protect you from any security or any evil inflatable swans some kid probably left behind”. Goddamn his charming personality.

You take his hand, feeling a surge of excitement as Eddie’s fingers close around yours, his grasp strong yet comforting. Taking a deep breath, you shimmy through the fence.

Everything inside the perimeter of the fence is still. You know this is technically wrong but it’s not like you both broke into the actual building where the dressing rooms, gym and sauna is. Surely that doesn't make it as bad, right?

Gazing around at the motionless space, you have to admit this isn’t how you imagined the greatly admired Hawkins Community Pool.

A large blue tarp covers the pool, protecting the water from any debris. There are no sun loungers out, all pieces of furniture packed away indoors and patiently awaiting the Summer months. The only thing left outside is the tall chair for lifeguards. It’s weird to see everything so motionless, especially since everything you heard about the pool was surrounded by how popular it was during Summer.

“So? What do you think?” Eddie squeezes your hand, acting as a reminder that you’re yet to let go of his grasp.

“Well, it’s uh… it’s definitely something” you reply, trying not to get too flustered by his touch.

Giving your hand another quick squeeze, he lets you go and walks closer to the pool. Crouching down, Eddie begins to undo the ties holding down the tarp and says “No point in keeping this on, I mean what’s the point of going to the pool and not seeing the actual pool”.

You creep closer as Eddie tears back the tarp, revealing the shimmering blue water underneath. “Ta-dah” he beams, throwing the tarp on to the ground and opening his arms out as if he’s just performed a magic trick.

Planting your feet firmly at the edge of the pool, you peer into the water, the bright reflection of the moon bringing the pool to life.

As you both begin to walk along the perimeter of the pool, Eddie asks “Can you swim?”.

“I guess so” you shrug, somewhat surprised by the sudden question.

He nods for a moment, lowering his head to hide the smirk on his lips. Squinting suspiciously, you nudge him as you press “Why?”.

Instead of giving you a straightforward answer, Eddie rolls his shoulders in reply, taking off his jacket and throwing it near the lifeguard’s chair. “What’re you do-” before you can finish, Eddie turns and playfully pushes you.

For a second you balance on the edge of the pool, arms flailing as you try to regain some stability. But it’s a lost cause, only prolonging the inevitable as you ultimately fall into the pool with a big splash.

Water rushes around you, seeping into your clothes as you scramble to get your bearings. Breaking the surface of the water, you grit your teeth from the abrupt change in body temperature. “Eddie! What the Hell?!” you chastise.

Eddie laughs in response. He knew you’d react like that but he also has a feeling you’ll forgive him… eventually.

“What’s the point in coming to the pool if you’re not going to get in” he takes a few steps back, his tongue poking out of his mouth as he tries to calculate the perfect distance. Taking a deep breath, Eddie runs, shouting “Cannonball!”.

You open your mouth to protest but before you can say anything, Eddie dives into the pool, a wave of water splashing against your face in response.

Well, if your hair wasn’t ruined before, it certainly is now. A few seconds later, Eddie pops up from the water and shakes his hair like a wet dog.

Never in a million years did you ever expect to find yourself in a situation like this; just you and Eddie floating around Hawkins Community Pool in the dead of the night.

It’s a surreal feeling that you can’t help but grin at. “Who would’ve thought Eddie Munson would be the one to make my childhood dream come true” you think out loud, your heart growing fonder for him by the minute.

“You know me,” he replies, flicking his wet hair away from his face “making dreams come true since… uh, well, since five minutes ago”.

A giggle escapes your lips, though your laughter is cut short as you shiver, cold drops of water running down the back of your neck. Eddie raises an eyebrow, his voice a smooth purr as he asks “You cold? Cause, I might know a way to warm you up”.

Holy shit, is he flirting with you? Oh my god, he’s flirting with you.

A fresh pang of excitement hits your chest, your gaze fixed solely on Eddie as he makes his way closer to you.

If you weren’t in the middle of a pool, you’re sure your hands would be clammy by now, the sudden eagerness to have him even closer swelling inside of you.

Fuck, he asked if you were cold and you haven’t even replied yet. Forcing yourself to speak, you stumble over your words “I, uh, w-we are in a pool and y’know the water is pretty cold so um, yeah, yeah I’m kinda cold”.

Your cheeks flush red though it’s hard to tell if that’s because of Eddie or if it’s the embarrassment from how badly you fumbled your answer.

Eddie likes it when you get flustered around him, it gives him some hope that you like him just as much as he likes you. Standing directly in front of you, his eyes slowly trail down to your lips.

Your breathing hitches. Oh my god, it’s going to happen. You stand still in the water, frozen in place and waiting for Eddie to finally kiss you. You’re just about to inch closer to him when he moves again... but it isn’t to kiss you.

With the swish of his arm, Eddie splashes you with some of the water. You scrunch your face involuntarily, the surprise attack truly catching you off guard.

Eddie laughs heartily, hoping you won’t be too annoyed at him. You’re drenched, the water dripping from your hair and running down your face.

“Munson… you’re such an ass” you mutter, closing your eyes and wiping away as much water as you can.

“I know, I know” he admits, his voice sounding nearer than before.

Curious, you open your eyes again and that’s when he kisses you. Although Eddie is hasty to press his lips to yours, he manages to keep the kiss soft. He gently leans into you, the desire to be closer to you taking a hold of him.

His hands make their way to your back, tenderly pressing you flush against him. You reach up and cup his jaw, deepening the kiss as you both begin to fully relax, any nervousness Eddie felt melting away the more you reciprocate.

As you wrap your arms around his neck, Eddie sighs blissfully, only breaking the kiss momentarily before hungrily capturing your lips in another fiery embrace.

The urgency in his kisses makes you yearn for more, completely enthralled in his touch.

You wouldn’t change anything; what happened in school earlier, the lead up of the night, the dishevelled bar. Everything feels perfect. Hell, you wouldn’t even change being in the chilly water that’s giving you goosebumps or the bright light by the main gates

…wait, what?

Breaking away from the kiss, your eyes go wide with realisation. The gates creak open as the silhouettes of two security guards become more defined with each step they take.

“Shit” you blurt out, your stomach suddenly clenching in fear.

Eddie gives you a worried look, wondering if he’s messed everything up by being too forward. But then the glare from the security’s flashlights catches his attention. His throat tightens as Eddie gulps. “Shit” he repeats.

Spotting you both, one of the guards yells “Hey, you two! Stay where you are”.

You instinctively clutch onto Eddie’s arm, the panic of getting into trouble with the law surging through you “W-what do we do?”.

Giving you an uneasy look, he places his hand on top of yours “The one thing we can do… Run!”.

#stranger things #eddie munson #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson fanfic #stranger things fic #st4 #eddie stranger things #writings

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dxncingwithastrxnger · 2 years

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Mileven AU WIP For WIP Wednesday!!!!

Hey, guys!!! I've been slowly working on this story for a few months. I took a break from it for a couple of months but just recently started working on it again. I know it's not much right now, but that's what a WIP is supposed to be, right?? First time I'm showing anyone this that isn't @obeymeh03 (yes, I'm tagging you, deal with it) so I'm curious what y'all think 👀👀 Lemme know, please!!! Any and all feedback is appreciated!! I know El isn't directly in what I have so far, but she's mentioned if you look closely 😌😌😌

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Mike sighs as he shuts off the engine and slips out of the car, closing the driver's side door behind him. He locks it and slips the keys into his jeans pocket, walking right up to the front of the line for the club, ignoring the curses and exasperated looks people send him as he does. He flashes his ID to the bouncer and he's let in right away. Being best friends with the owners of the place has its perks, of course. He ducks through the door and heads straight to the bar first.

"Heeeeyyyy, Wheeler! Fancy seeing you here tonight. Honestly, I wasn't even sure if you were gonna show." Steve exclaims as he spots Mike, setting down the bottle he was holding and walking over.

"Hey, man. Sorry 'bout that, got caught up. Had a long shoot this afternoon and I slept too long afterwards. But I'm here now, no need to send out the search parties." Mike says as he grins at the bartender.

Steve grins right back. "Good to see you, man." He says, reaching into his pocket. "And, uh, that favor you asked me about?" He continues as he hands Mike a piece of paper. Mike takes it quickly, holding onto it as if it'll disappear if he isn't gripping it like his life depends on it.

"Shit, man, thank you so much for this. Seriously, you have no idea." Mike says gratefully.

Steve gives Mike a sad, knowing smile. "Yeah, I know, that's why I did it." Steve says sincerely.

The expression Steve is giving him starts to make Mike uncomfortable, hating the sympathy he sees in it. No, that's not for tonight. He clears his throat as he slips the paper into his pocket with his keys, that way he'll remember that he has it.

"Thanks, Steve. I think I'm gonna head up to the group. I'll see you up there, yeah?" Mike asks.

"Yeah, I'll definitely be there." Steve tells him as he gives a mock salute and then turns away to continue working.

Mike chuckles and shakes his head as he turns away, heading for the stairs leading up to the second floor of the place. He climbs up the transparent spiral staircase and heads to to the middle of the second floor, slipping past the curtains in the doorway of the room he knew the rest of the group would be in. He has eyes on him as soon as he enters and he grins.

"Mike Wheeler! My man, welcome! Glad you could finally make it. Though surprisingly, you're not the last one here." Dustin greets him as Mike rolls his eyes playfully.

"You say that as if I'm always late." Mike retorts.

Eddie snorts as he sets his beer down on the table. "Oh hush, little Mikey. We all know you avoid being on time like the plague."

Mike sighs, exasperated, as he slides into the booth next to the curly-haired man.

"Yeah, yeah. So who are we waiting on?" He asks, switching topics.

Suzie pipes up then. "Nancy and Robin, and Steve's gonna head up right before the clock strikes midnight. Well, Lucas and Max aren't here at the table, but they're downstairs mingling and waiting for Robin and Nancy to get here so that we can kick things off." She states.

"Oh, and I think Max mentioned some new friend of hers when they were up here earlier, so she might be coming as well." Chrissy told Mike.

Mike nods, grabbing one of the beers from the middle of the table. "Okay, cool. Hopefully everyone gets here soon, it's almost time." He says as he takes a drink, closing his eyes and relishing in the familiar taste.

"Yeah, man, we didn't all come here just to be late." Dustin says.

For a good few minutes, they all just talk and laugh and have a good time, catching each other up on the past week and watching as the clock ticks closer to midnight. At 11:57, the rest of their group arrives. Robin and Nancy enter the room first, Max and Lucas close behind.

"We're here, everybody, we're here!" Robin announces as her and Nancy grab chairs from a different table in the room and pull them close up to the table, taking a seat. Max and Lucas stay standing, still in the roles of gracious hosts, as always.

"Took you long enough!" Eddie exclaims, sliding two glass beer bottles towards Nancy and Robin as he does.

Nancy takes hold of hers as she rolls her eyes. "You know we were out of town, Eds. It's a long drive and we underestimated how long it would take." She tells him, leaning her head on Robin's shoulder.

××××××××××

This has also not been beta'd or proofread at all recently 💀💀💀

I'd also like to add that this story is very, very angsty and will be labeled as either mature or explicit, for many reasons, so if either of those aren't your thing, I'd highly recommend you not read this story. But you can make your own choices, of course! I'm just letting you know ahead of time!!

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haleigh-sloth · 2 years

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Okay, thoughts on Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2:

I've seen.....nothing good on tumblr here about it.

Personally for this series in particular, the tumblr takes bothered me to no end. Soooo maybe this site is only good for certain types of media, for me personally. Idk.

I don't really care about tiny not-affecting-things-that-matter plot holes. So I'm not even going to worry about those.

I was never sold on the Byler stuff. Will being gay was pretty obvious. And I will go ahead and assign blame where blame is due, to the Stranger Things media accounts. They were.....really unnecessary with that stuff. But Mike and El not legitimately breaking up is not surprising. I didn't see it happening.

I'm not convinced Max is gone. In fact, I feel like a good chunk of season 5 will be dedicated to getting her back. Getting her body out of the upside down or something. Idk, but I think she'll be fine.

I think Will is due for some serious action, so I'm foreseeing that in season 5. Will being able to feel him, oh yeah. Will's time is coming. I'm super hype about it.

Eddie dying was sad but I was pretty ready for it. And I am more so glad that it was him and not Steve, which imo would have actually been seriously cruel.

Eddie playing Metallica had me screaming.

Argyle is amazing. Never change.

I hope and assume we will see Suzie next season. Maybe include her in the shenanigans even more.

Everybody saying that main characters need to die to make it interesting need to shut up. Y'all are so annoying.

I don't mind Steve and Nancy going back to being a couple, but please make the break up with Johnathan...cordial.

El leaving the door open 3 inches at the cabin in the woods....I almost cried. That one small little gesture.

El and Hopper seeing each other, I literally cried. Real tears. I will always love Hopper so much. El seeing that Joyce got Hopper back. I just. I love this found family so much.

El trying to talk-no-jutsu Vecna gave me hope for season 5. I still think the Mind Flayer is the final boss. I hope the number theory 1(Henry)+8(Kali)+11(Jane/El)= 20 to defeat the big bad is true. Bringing Kali back would be cool, especially since we touched on some of season 2 this season. So I'm foreseeing her comeback in season 5. I hope.

Anything that wasn't tied up this season can easily be tied up in season 5 so....yeah.

That's literally all I'm gonna say because I'm not a fan of the Stranger Things fandom on tumblr lol. I like the memes and stuff but.....jeez. The complaints I saw.

#btw i'm not really interested in debating #i enjoyed the season #i cried at the end #it left on a good cliff hanger #season 5 is absolutely gonna star Will #it's gonna be badass #stranger things

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ratbutmakeitfyodor · 2 years

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I know how many of byler shippers are annoyed that will's crush and basicaly every conversation he had with mike (where he was kinda lying because he was talking abt himself) made mike and el got back together. Look i get it im annoyed too. But its not bc i think that will having crush on mike is a bad scenario choise or the way they made him handle the situation is bad. No i think that wills character is one of the best of them all. S4 made me fall in love with him.

Steves crush on nancy is forced and unrealistic as well as nancys idk supposed feelings for him? Guys its the biggest bullshit ive ever seen. Nancys and johnatans fight is also very random created only to give some place for stancy. Im sorry but i didnt care much about jopper this season this ship was kinda cute in s1 and s2 (a little) but later on it was just jeah they'll end up together at some point and i dont care its ok. I also dislike hopper a bit - his anger outbrusts are too much for me despite his huge heart and stuff. Dustin and susie - i dont care. Dustin is amazing suzie is a boring character used only whan theyre having trouble. Max and lucas - they are nice s4 made me like max more and this scene in hounted house was awesome and cute. But they are lacking the tension bc we know somewhere in back of our heads that they'll end up together and drama is needed to build up both of their characters and it works (not like this s3 painfull drama to teach mike a lesson about beeing posesive - i didint learn much abt max and lucas then)

I think that finally will's character is treated seriously in s4. In s1 and s2 he was just in danger and everyone tried to save him. In s3 he had some place to be annoyed and sad but again all of his problems vanished as soon as they found out about mind flayer. In s4 noah shnapp is doing AMAZING job making will constantly on werge of crying (and it somehow isnt too much which dropped my mouth on the floor. Dont underestimate that! Usually characters that cry everytime theyre having a convo with anyone are annoying and you just wish they shut up but not will)

If we look at all those small details and clues the show kept giving us about wills sexuality (like people bulling him and laughing at him in s1 calling him homophobic slurs, him looking at mike before dancing with a girl on a snow ball in s2, mike saying is not his fault that will doesnt like girls in s3, that weird ass feet flirt? (gross) and wills presentation about alan truing in s4 for example) it gives us a good amount of reasons that it isnt just a part of his character like it was with robin in s3. The coming out scene wasnt like a confirmation of some obvious clues or shit. Her character wasnt about beeing gay it was about beeing a person and beeing gay. Which is huge difference. As a fan of casual representation i was very satified with steves and robins thread in s3 because i already loved them before the coming out scene (and its also a reason why im disapointed with it in s4 because they threw away the importance of their friendship and focused on romance instead which has been done wery poorly) But will also isnt just gay. He's a very confused child focusing on figuring out who he is. Its more like a heartstopper kind of storyline but he has no one to talk about it no one to support him like openly without just guessing what he is going throught. He doesnt have 'am i gay quiz' or any kind of people like him he can talk to. Instead he has a crush on an absolute asshole (I will get to that soon) and mindset of puting others before him. So it shouldnt be a surprise that he does everything he can to support and help mike. And look at him HE CRIES ALMOST EVERY TIME the emotions inside are taking him over. The problem isnt the plot isnt the crush isnt will's character its mike

What in the fucks sake happend to him over the seasons? In s1 and 2 i belived that he is nice he is caring that he is a heart of a group. He was a GOOD FRIEND. But now show has to desperately remind us about all this stuff because he himself isnt. Since s3 he is just revolving around el. All the time no place for anyone else there. Well maybe they are buliding up like a sudden realisation scene where mike will realise what this relationship was doing with him or something. But guess what HE WON'T why? BECAUSE HE IS UNABLE TO FIGURE OUT HIS FLAWS HIMSELF or read basic signals from his friends that he's hurting them. So maybe in s5 someone (probably Will) will have to put some sences into that oblivious mind of his (i hope will will be yellig) and honestly that is the only rational reason i can see for watering down his character this much (rational where its not just a poor writing) i hope it will happen i would enjoy it i would forgive using wills feelings for ending mikes and els fight. But if nothing like this happens mileven is doing perfectly 'fine' as always will is coming out but it has no impact on anything than im throwing that show away other threads arent enough to make me invest in it as much as this one is (im not saying that i need byler to come true what i need is a logical explanation on why mike is such an asshole and REAL character development this time) Every time show is fucusing on mikes flaws (its always just one flaw - like mike beeing possesive or not caring about will at all) other characters confront him making him realise what he was doing wrong he apologises and everything is fine again exept its not. Because he fixes this one single flaw they were taking about every other out there is left untouched. He doesnt grow as a person (one good thing about him - he doesnt make same mistake twice) actually hes beeing even a bigger asshole. So theres no surprise for me that all he takes from wills advices are ways to make up with el bc thats all he is focusing on. He doesnt look at bigger picture of situation - at wills emotions at ways his voice sounds like at reasons why he took that painting for that trip or why he painted him in that contects in the first place.

I dont know what elese to write to clarify my point (i hope its somehow understandable) I am a huge byler shipper but as i said it doesnt even have to be canon for me because if it was with mike left the way he is it could be even more painfull for will. What im really hoping for in s5 is explainging mikes horrible begaviour and fixing it for real this time (this scenario in case they made him this bad on pourpose) or fixing his character generaly (in case it was accidental) and a satisfing wills coming out scene. I cant specify exactly what im expecting but im counting it will be as good as robins

#stranger things #stranger tgings s4 #mike wheeler #will byers #byler #rats trash talks

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alwaysahiccupandastrid · 2 years

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Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 1 - Live Thoughts + Reactions

I wrote all of my thoughts and feelings in a notebook down and copied them here in case anyone is interested in my thoughts and feelings on S4 so far. It’s taken me a while because 1) the season is LONG AS FUCK, 2) I’ve been ill and 3) I’ve been at work, so… anyway, here it is!

SPOILERS BELOW FOR SEASON 4 VOLUME 1 (MEANING EPISODES 1-7)!

Episode 1 - The Hellfire Club

Oh damn, that opening 8-10 minutes though :O They made it look like Eleven straight up slaughtered all the other “numbers” (the kids at the lab) as well as all the orderlies

My theory at this point: Eleven was possessed by Vecna and he killed the kids/orderlies through her

It showed Will painting and I was like “oh that’s so for Mike” even though it didn’t show what it was exactly

I love Eleven, Will and Jonathan being siblings

“We’re all time travelers if you think about it”

Her visual aid for her school project was Hopper and the cabin :’)

Eleven saying Joyce enjoys her new job (seems that she’s a telemarketer???) and it showing Joyce just shouting “PRICK” down the phone

JONATHAN IS A FUCKING STONER

Let’s be honest, “California Dreamin’” may be the obvious music choice for this but it’s the perfect song so I ain’t mad

NO BUT I CAN’T BELIEVE THE BABIES ARE IN HIGH SCHOOL I FEEL OLD

Eleven saying she’s good at maths but “grammar is getting good also” kind of just proves that no, it’s not XD

NO BUT WHY ARE THEY BULLYING ELEVEN WHAT THE FUCK >:(

Not Dustin getting Suzie to change his Latin grade :’)

*looking at Jesus statue* “... I will repent later” LMFAO

STEVE AND ROBIN BESTIES CAN I GET A FUCK YEAH

As soon as they mentioned Vickie, I was like “that’s Amybeth McNulty’s character” and “SO SHE IS ROBIN’S LOVE INTEREST”

“You ask out a girl, she says no - big deal. Nothing happens. Maybe your ego’s a little bruised.But I ask out the wrong girl, and BAM! I’m a town pariah” - OOF TRUE

BOOBIES! B O O B I E S! BOOOOOBIES!

“I like boobies, you like boobies... Vickie likes boobies” - I WAS WEEPING WITH LAUGHTER

Nah but I ship Robin and Vickie already ngl

Max seems so depressed, which I wasn’t actually expecting. It makes sense given that she saw Billy (her stepbrother) die in front of her, but at the very end of ST3 (which was 3 months after his death), she and Lucas were laughing and joking around and teasing Dustin over the Never Ending Story thing, so I guess I’m still kind of surprised

I was trying to figure out why Jason Carver, the basketball captain, seemed familiar... turns out it’s because he was Chris Dollanganger in Flowers in the Attic in 2014... aka the guy who slept with his sister

My first impression of Jason is that he seems cute but like he’s probably gonna be a douche

Max wasn’t happy at all watching Lucas play :(

Is... Is Jason seriously using the mall disaster AND Barb AND Hopper to pep up the team/game???

“You’ve been on the bench all year” OOP

Me: *sees a box* // also me: WHAT’S IN THE BOX?!?!

A Russian Doll??? That’s all that was in that big ass box??? A creepy Russian doll?!?

The presentations El/Will are doing at school are on heroes... :( HOPPER IS ELEVEN’S HERO I’M CRYING-

NOT THAT GIRL TRYING TO PLAY FOOTSIE WITH WILL 💀 HE’S GAY HON HE AIN’T INTO IT

No but STOP BEING FUCKING MEAN TO ELEVEN WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS LITTLE BLONDE BITCH’S PROBLEM

Also, Will’s presentation board was on Alan Turing... 👀

Oh Max went straight up full on depressed emo :(

Chrissy came out of the counselor’s office looking super upset... interesting

Max says that her mom is drinking and working 2 jobs, also Billy’s dad has fucked off and left them... On the one hand, that’s actually good because Billy’s dad kind of came off as an abusive dick bag. On the other, this poor family is broken :(

The counselor really said “it’s okay to not be okay”, she really used that line

“Maybe you should find something you care about too” - LUCAS SHUT UP BRO

“It’s like you’re not even here” “a ghost or something” - she’s literally depressed dude

Max and Lucas broke up?!?! Bad time for LuMax fans...

Oh no, she’s taking pills as well

A theory I had was Chrissy the cheerleader was pregnant because Max sees her being sick in the bathroom, she was upset coming out of the office, she’s in a relationship with Jason... IDK

WAAAAIIIIT WHO THE FUCK IS THAT WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT WITH THE GNARLY ASS FEET

Not people trying to say D&D is the devil’s game and a cult

I won’t lie though, the Hellfire Club kinda scares me

So Eddie keeps flunking his senior year, am I right?

I love that Joyce and Murray are still in touch, that’s nice

WAIT NOT MURRAY STRIPPING

Joyce: *looking at the doll* Jesus... she has nipples // Murray: *sliding into the bath* *cheering and whooping* — I’M-

So... Jonathan thinks Nancy isn’t coming for spring break, but she was hoping to go but hadn’t told him?

Okay so it seems that Jancy still really love each other but they’re not communicating and it’s driving them further apart :/

Nahhhh, newspaper dude (Fred) is fucking WEIRD. He gives me a weird creepy rich preppy boy incel vibe

WHY DOES NO ONE WANT TO PLAY FUCKIN DND >:( I WOULD LOVE TO PLAY DND BUT NO ONE WANTS TO FUCKIN PLAY IT WITH ME

Now why is Chrissy wandering into the woods???

... why is there a clock in a tree???

NOT THE SPIDERS FUCK THIS SHOW I HATE FUCKING SPIDERS

Oooooohhhh okay, it’s a vision, that makes sense

Eddie and Chrissy in the woods together... he was straight up selling her weed I think

No but they seem cute, they apparently knew each other when they were younger and they had a nice little scene together

“...Do you have anything stronger?” - at this point, because I was convinced she was up the duff, I was like, “is she trying to get super high or terminate a pregnancy???”

Not El getting an F :( I couldn’t see what subject the paper was on but I think it was Math?? Meaning she was lying to Mike about being good at math as well as having friends and her grammar getting better

NO, STOP BULLYING EL I’M BEING FUCKIN SERIOUS NOT THE DIARAMA

THESE FUCKING HIGH SCHOOL ASSHOLES MAN

El is still missing her powers but she seemed to forget because she tried to use them on Angela and just ended up looking weird

Ooooh Angela’s in trouble :D Good on El for not saying “nothing happened”

“We’ll fix it together” - Will is such a good brother to El, oh my god

Okay but did Joyce REALLY need to drop a fucking bucket on the doll from a tree?!?

We already knew this but HOP IS ALIVE

Not Steve dating high schoolers after he’s graduated

TAMMY THOMPSON??? THE MUPPET SINGER??? THE GIRL WHO WANTS TO BE ALL NASHVILLE AND SHIT???

Steve: “Told you... muppet” // Robin: “Okay, she does sound like a muppet” - THEIR FRIENDSHIP URGH I LOVE THEM

VICKIE AGREEING WITH ROBIN I’M-

Vickie: “Totally sounds like Kermit” // Robin: “I was thinking more like Miss Piggy” - I FUCKING CAN’T

“I used to think she sounded good ‘cause I had this massive crush--” OOP ROBIN CAREFUL YOU NEARLY OUTED YOURSELF THERE

Brenda (girl Steve is with): “Wow, she sounds AMAZING, doesn’t she??” // Steve: O_o

Robin, sweetie, you have always been able to do better than Tammy Thompson, gurl

No but the Tammy Thompson thing is ten times funnier after reading the Rebel Robin book that’s set before S3 XD

ERICA YESSSS QUEEN JOIN THE NERD CLUB

Erica wearing the America flag is an iconic moment... “You can’t spell America without Erica” in-fucking-deed

Damn, Erica did NOT come to play around

Oh no, Lucas is playing in the final game but Mike and Dustin aren’t there to see it because they’re playing D&D, and Max didn’t show :(

MAX WAS LISTENING ON THE RADIO THOUGH ASDFGHJKL;

I just know Will would have been in the Hellfire Club and living his best life

Dustin and Erica team up for the win!

Jason missed bUT LUCAS SCORED THE WINNING BASKET JUST AS ERICA ROLLED A 20, SINCLAIR SIBLING EXCELLENCE

Max seeing Eddie and Chrissy... O_O

Is Special K cocaine or...?

Is Vecna making her see things again???

NOT THE MOUTH STITCHED TOGETHER WHAT IS WITH TV/MOVIES THIS YEAR AND STITCHING MOUTHS TOGETHER????

Is Vecna trying to possess Chrissy or...? Like, playing mind games with her to weaken her? Because in reality she’s standing in Eddie’s trailer just staring/blinking but in her head she’s seeing everything else???

NOT THE NIGHT KING LOOKING MOTHERFUCKER

SHE LEVITATING NOW

WHAT THE FUCK HER LIMBS JUST TWISTED AND HER EYES LEAKED BLOOD WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCKING FUCK

NAH MAN THIS IS FUCKING HORROR I’M NOT OKAY

Episode 2 - Vecna’s Curse

I knew Hopper was still alive because he was in trailers etc, but it’s interesting to see how he somehow survived

Ah hell, they all gonna think Eddie fucking killed Chrissy now

So... IS Chrissy dead? She’s not gonna rise as a zombie or some shit?

I feel like Will is excited to give Mike the painting but Mike is only gonna have eyes for El.... :/

No but why does Mike look like a fuck boi in that outfit?

I have no idea why I don’t like Mike anymore, I like Finn but Mike kind of irritates me and I don’t know why

“Just this painting I’ve been working on” - GIVE IT TO HIM WILL.

Why is it so awkward :(

Also Nancy didn’t show up to California for Jonathan :(

Argyle hugging Mike though lmao

“I heard a lot about your sister” - LMAO

I’m just convinced Will is in love with Mike :O

MURRAY IS IN CALIFORNIA TOO

“But I’m having this problem where it’s like, I should stop talking. I have said everything I need to say. But then I guess I get nervous, and the words keep spilling out, and it’s like my brain is moving faster than my mouth, or... or rather my... my mouth is moving faster than my brain. And it’s like I’m digging this hole for myself, and I want to stop digging, I’m trying to stop, but I can’t. And I’m doing it right now, aren’t I?” - Robin is a fucking MOOD I LOVE HER

Not Lucas drinking and being hungover, you’re like 15 dude

This town truly IS fuckin cursed, jesus christ

Dustin: Mike and me, no one was nice to us - no one except Eddie // Max: Okay, I mean, they said the same shit about Ted Bundy. Yeah, he’s like a super nice guy but then he’s murdering women on the weekends. // Dustin: So you’re saying Eddie is like Ted Bundy???

Oh no, not the Russians! 👎

“the elephant” - NO, I wish it was a real elephant THAT MASK IS FUCKED

Poor Will third-wheeling :(

Not El lying about having friends and partying

Ewwww Mike put some damn socks on ffs

Oh no not Angela turning up

Not the basketball team using Benny’s to drink and party tho >:(

Jason has got some anger issues like holy shit

Not Dustin and Max using the video store computer as their base of operations though

Fred was really sitting there dunking on Jonathan and I’m not here for it

FRED KILLED SOMEONE?!? IN A CAR CRASH????

Ooop, Fred’s about to get posessed, I can tell

JONATHAN GOT INTO THE SAME COLLEGE AS ARGYLE

.. but he hasn’t told Nancy :/ TELL HER DUDE!

I feel like Jancy are about to break up tbh

“Got me stressed and it ain’t even my girlfriend” - lmao I like Argyle

Oh no not Angela interrupting the date :(

WHY DIDN’T MIKE AND WILL HELP HER IMMEDIATELY AS SOON AS THE BULLYING PRANK STARTED-

NOT THE DUDE FUCKING FILMING IT

At least Mike tried to get them to turn the music off I guess?

NOT THEM THROWING THE MILKSHAKE ON ELEVEN I’M SO FUCKING ANGRY

How do these Russians know Hopper has a trust fund for Eleven? But also it has $40,000 in it??? Damn, Hop

Who the hell is this “Enzo” dude???

What the fuck is Kamchatka? They said “hell”??

NOT CHRISSY’S BODY LOOKING LIKE SOMETHING PUT A DAMN HORROR FILM

Lucas pretending he only knows about D&D because of Erica >:(

“LET’S GO HUNT SOME FREAKS! FOR CHRISSY!” - I can promise you that she wouldn’t want that, my dude

Steve: Someone has to attend to the customers // Robin: Especially if they’re babes, right? *winks* - LMFAO

Robin is a certified GENIUS, of course she found Rick through the video store computer

No but if anything happens to that trailer park dog, I will be suing Netflix

Yes for Nancy telling the uncle’s side of the story!

Oh I just know Fred about to die

Victor Creel, hey?... sounds like lore time!

So apparently Victor Creel lost his mind, killed whole family, took their eyes/cut them out... and he’s in an asylum. Interesting

Kamchatka is basically a Russian concentration camp?

It’s the prison guard who sent the package to Joyce?!?

“I’ve been a total third wheel all day, it’s been miserable, so sorry if I wasn’t smiling” - poor Will :( I’m sick of seeing him third-wheeled by Mike and Eleven tbh, like if they want to date then fine, but stop third-wheeling literally anyone around you

Basically since S3, Mike has been kind of a shit friend to Will and he’s still a shit friend

Poor Eleven :( I wanna punch the kids who did this to her

I need Eleven to actually beat them up, especially Angela

OH SHIT, ELEVEN SMACKED THAT BITCH IN THE FACE WITH A ROLLER SKATING SHOE

Angela fucking deserved that lmfao, fuck that ratched raggedy ass bitch

No but Eleven has been SUPER violent this season, even without powers??

I SCREAMED WHEN EDDIE POPPED OUT BEHIND STEVE HOLY FUCK I LITERALLY DID SCREAM

Robin and Eddie were in band together???

Dustin: I swear on my mother // literally the entirety of the rest of the gang: yeah, we swear on Dustin’s mother -- LMAO

So... did Fred get in a car accident that killed someone, and he ran away instead of getting help, and then someone died? Is that what happened?

I DID NOT NEED TO RESEE CHRISSY’S BONES SNAPPING OR HER EYES POPPING AWAY

.... yeaaaaah, Hawkins is definitely fucking cursed, my god

This season is just one big fucking horror film, holy shit

So... is Vecna Victor Creel or is Victor another victim?

Oop Fred levitating, not again-

NOT THE LIMBS AGAIN NO NO NO

Sooo... Vecna is in the upside down world, right? Not ours?

Episode 3 - The Monster and the Superhero

... Now we’re in Nevada??? We’ve got Hawkins, California, Russia, and now Nevada??? We sure are travelling this season

OH IT’S DR OWENS, THAT DUDE FROM S2

“Everything that’s happened in Hawkins has been due to Brenner’s little pet” - NOOOO NOT THEM BLAMING ELEVEN

No but that makes ZERO fucking sense, the thing with Victor Creel was in the 50s??? And Eleven was born in the 70s I think???

LMFAO I GOT NO FUCKING SYMPATHY FOR ANGELA FUCK THAT BITCH

JONATHAN IS FUCKING HIGH MAN

Yeah, I don’t think Jonathan and Argyle were helping with the situation tbh

Jonathan waving, “Hi Murray!” :D

“...Why? What’s going on?” Oh, he’s fucking baked like a cake

Mike: She didn’t look fine -- oh fuck you, Michael

DEMOBATS NOW??? DEMODOGS AND DEMOGORGONS AND MIND FLAYERS AND RATS WEREN’T E-FUCKING-NOUGH

Not the fuck boi basketball team -__-

NOT LUCAS HELPING THEM

NOT FRED’S BODY FUCKING HELL I’M HAVING NIGHTMARES FOR WEEKS NOW I CAN TELL

Oop Nancy about to team up with the Dustin-Max-Steve-Robin gang

Mike put eggos out for Eleven at breakfast :(

El thinking she doesn’t belong anywhere kind of broke my heart, I won’t lie

On the one hand, I get where El is coming from, Mike seems super aversed to saying he loves her... on the other hand, these kids are like 15??? They’re fucking kids???

Not the police arresting El :( All she did was slap a bitch smh

Jonathan and Will being protective brothers of El is GOD tier content and I wish we had more of it

The guard is actually helping Hopper... but for a price of course

“Serial killers stalk their prey before they strike” - God, Robin is so smart

Robin: I don’t have a license // Steve: Why don’t you have a license? // Robin: I’m poor. -- LMFAO MOOD

Max: I can drive! // Steve, clearly thinking about waking up in S2 in the car whilst Max was driving: NO. NEVER AGAIN. ANYBODY BUT YOU

RO-NANCY RIGHTS I’M HOLLERING

I ship Robin with both Nancy and Vickie, she has two hands after all <3

Steve: ALWAYS THE GODDAMN BABYSITTER - and you’re always amazing at it, bby <3

Ohhhh there was some DARK shit going on in Hawkins when Vecna was choosing his next target; “I’ll tell them I slipped again” as a woman puts make up on over a bruise, “I can’t say no, he’ll leave me” as two teens get it on... jesus

NOT VECNA TARGETING PATRICK, ONE OF THE BASKETBALL BROS

Not Lucas lying again and being all anti-DND, smh you’re better than this Lucas

JASON IS AWFUL FUCK

They can’t seriously arrest Eleven just for smacking a bullying bitch?!

You know, I think El is a little too honest with some of her answers, and yet she’s not admitting that Angela was torturing her

NOT EL BEING SENT TO JUVIE?!?!

Murray being the worst airplane seat neighbour tho

Nahhhh Airplane food looks fucking NASTY, I’m glad I haven’t used a plane in like 20 years 💀

How’s Hop supposed to get away if he’s got a broken leg though???

NOT THE LEG BREAKING SCENE

“I don’t really have a filter or a strong grasp of social cues” - Robin is giving off that autistic vibe this season and I’m here for it

Do NOT tell me Steve has still got a thing for Nancy for fuck sake

Also, said it before, I’ll say it again: STEVE HASN’T TOLD ANYONE ROBIN IS GAY. He knows if he told people, it would upset her and lead to people harming her because it’s the 80s and Hawkins is homophobic. He could have because Dustin thinks he’s a coward/refusing to ask Robin out, and Nancy thinks he’s dating Robin, but he hasn’t. It’s a super low bar but given how Steve USED to be... we love to see the character development.

Lucas coming through and radioing Dustin to warn him

Max: Lucas you’re so behind it’s ridiculous - LMFAO

NO LUCAS DO NOT TELL THEM FUCKING SHIT I SWEAR

OH NOW WHAT THE FUCK-

Dr Owens again??? And they’ve taken El?

Murray and Joyce arriving in Alaska: “OH GOD, THIS IS SPRING???” LMFAO

Oh god, was Hopper trying to force his broken leg out of the cuff???

Is Nancy seriously jealous of Robin, thinking she’s dating Steve???

“ELVIS CLONED BY ALIENS” - LMFAO I NEED TO SHOW THAT HEADLINE TO MY MUM

Robin is a fucking genius for pointing out that ofc conspiracy theorists would have been the ones to document Victor Creel / Vecna

ROBIN CALLING NANCY A GENIUS??? <3

Robin: “We leave them alone for TWO HOURS 🙄”

So both Chrissy and Fred were seeing Ms Kelly... is he targeting kids in counselling? Is she working for him??? Or is he just using her and she’s totally unaware of any of this???

Of course they could make the rollerskate incident go away...

Wait, did Lucas misdirect the team to Hopper’s cabin?!?

YES, Lucas, leave the frat boys!

A way to bring Eleven’s powers back??? How??? But if it fails, she’ll never see her friends again???

So symptoms pre-Vecna-trance are headaches, nightmares, past trauma... MAX HAS HAD THOSE SYMPTOMS TOO :O

Noooo she heard Vecna’s voice????

AND THE TICKING CLOCK IN THE WALL???

If ANYTHING happens to Max, I’m sueing Netflix for emotional damage

Episode 4 - Dear Billy

So Eleven wrote a note to Mike but NOT her adoptive family???

Stop showing the twisted eyeless bodies, I’M-

They’ve got less than 24 hours to save Max??? No, Ma-am-

It took me a while to realise but is Jason’s name a Friday the 13th homage?

Not Jason stopping Erica from shutting her own front door and Erica calling Jason and Lucas boyfriends

Robin teasing Nancy over her Tom Cruise poster lol

Also Robin geeking out over Nancy’s stuff is so cute

Robin: *sees blouse* Please tell me you’re joking -- no but sAME

“It was you guys who saved me” - AND BOB! DON’T FORGET BOB, WILL

Max wrote a letter to Billy

SHE WROTE ALL OF THEM GOODBYE LETTERS, EVEN STEVE

“the armpit that is Mike’s basement” - LMAO

Max threatening to prosecute Steve if he stops her XD

Robin struggling to walk in high heels and hating her blouse/skirt is a fat ass mood lmfao

“This bra is pinching my boobs” - SHE’S WEARING NANCY’S BRA???

Ladies, is it gay to share bras with other women? XD

Robin spitting straight up facts and bullshit to get the asylum to let them see Victor Creel

“My boobs hurt” “may I call you Anthony?” -- LITERAL TEARS

“Because nobody takes girls seriously in this field, they just don’t. We don’t look the part or whatever” - DAMN SHE ON FIRE

NO BUT THAT ACTUALLY WORKED

Robin and Nancy’s little secret Low-Five was ADORABLE

As soon as Yuri said bears got into cockpit, I knew he was joking XD

Is he seriously going to handcount $40,000

Russians in this show are either plain evil or pretty chill lol

Hopper blowing up the tool shed and stealing a snow plough is icon behaviour

“Things got batteries in it?” “... I’m not even answering that question” LMFAO

The scene between Max and her mom :(

NO NOT THE VISION

WAIT SO HER MOM WASN’T EVEN THERE SMH

Oh, Robin slipped up with the name of the professor :O

No but why am I so nervous about this omg

Why are these prisoners in fucking jail cells though

OH NO NO NO HIS EYES ARE GONE, HIS EYES ARE STITCHED, HOLY FUCKING FUCK

No, Will, you haven’t been a total jerk???

“Hawkins is not the same without you” - damn straight, Mike, maybe fuckin act like it

WILL BRINGING THE PAINTING

OH SHIT THAT’S NOT ARGYLE

“Oh my god, why’s that guy holding a gun?” “DRIVE!”

Hopper’s going round with no shoes on, how’s he not got freaking frostbite

OH YURI YOU DOUBLECROSSING LITTLE DICK HOLE

HE’S TURNING JOYCE AND MURRAY AND THE GUARD IN?!?

HE DRUGGED THE COFFEE FUCK

I KNEW IT COULDN’T BE THAT SMOOTH, FUCK THIS SHOW MAN

The cemetery... to see Billy, I assume

How is Max so chill about being close to death, omg

Creel: “Survived? Is that what you call this?” = ... Ooof.

FLASHBACK LORE TIME

So to sum up the bullet points I wrote in my book: Victor, his wife Virginia and their two kids - son Henry, daughter Alice. NOT THE SPIDERS AGAIN. Demon using a wheelchair??? What was up with the baby crib on fire??? Cursed home, town AND family. Killed wife first, so he tried to save kids; not the baby burning to death in his vision; both kids died?

So with his whole family dead, he tried to join them by gouging his eyes out and OH MY GOD NOPE NOPE NOPE NIGHTMARE FUEL

This season is so fucking dark omg

Interesting to note: all he said about Henry was he was a sensitive child and that Henry was in a coma for a week before dying, but the flashbacks show more Victor/Wife/Alice than Henry... hmmmm

Ooop Ronance have been caught

Max reading her letter to Billy had me crying

I’m still not sure how I feel about Billy because he kind of redeemed himself at the end of the last season, but also he was definitely abusive to Max... I feel sorry more for Max’s sake I think

“We could’ve become good friends like a real brother and sister” “maybe we could try again”

“for a while I tried to be happy... normal”

“love your shitty little sister, Max” - oh I was crying BAD

TELL ME MAX WON’T DIE PLEASE

NO NOT HER GOING INTO A TRANCE

IT’S NOT REALLY BILLY, RUN MAX

So music is the key/lifeline...

Also it makes sense that Robin, someone who’s in band and who’s said her ears are “little geniuses” was the one to figure that out

“It took me six months longer to walk than all the other babies” OMG ROBIN SAME I THINK???

All the people Vecna killed are in the upside-down-mindscape-place just rotting

Noooo he’s levitating Max

Max hearing the music and thinking about Lucas/Eleven/her friends :’( and it snapping her back/helping her

“Running Up That Hill” about to top the charts again, I can tell 👀

Max is okay thank fUCK

Me, seeing the credits: ROBERT ENGLUND??? FREDDY KRUEGER DUDE??? (he played Creel)

Nahhh not me crying over this episode

Again, Max’s storyline feels like a metaphor for depression/suicice/recovery and it made me emotional

Episode 5 - The Nina Project

“We’ve gotta get him to St Mary’s” “I don’t think a prayer is gonna help” “I MEANT THE HOSPITAL”

Who the fuck is Nina

Argyle: *panicking over dead dude in his van* // everyone else: GET OFF THE ROAD

Oh no they found Eleven’s note to Mike… why’d that idiot throw it away anyway, boyfriend of the year huh 🙄

I’m not sure if I trust Dr Owens or not tbh

Massive door in the middle of the desert is hardly conspicuous tho

Ohhhh Nina is a machine

DR BRENNER?!? That dude’s still alive???

Eleven rightfully running away from him, 🤦 also, not the “papa” “daughter” comment

Yeah no I don’t trust this plan of theirs to get her powers back, it might work but they’ll make her their puppet again

Wait were they using a mace on Hopper?!?

The gang all asleep :’)

Dustin fell asleep on “Max Watch”

Ted: Could try sticking together at a different house for a change — LMFAO HE’S RIGHT THO

Max and Holly having a crayon morning is so adorable though

Not Dustin scaring Holly by telling her about Freddy Krueger 💀

Max using drawings to show what she saw, just like Will has in the past

It’s the Creel house?!?

DID THEY RESHAVE ELEVEN’S HAIR? After she’s spent like 3 years growing it out?!?

(I’m aware MBB didn’t shave her head again, it’s probably something like a bald wig cap or whatever)

She’s clearly having a vision about being back in the rainbow room so maybe… ?

JAMIE CAMPBELL BOWER??? VOLTURI CAUIS I THINK??? YOUNG GRINDELWALD??? (I knew he was in it but I still got excited seeing him)

Yeah no this is a vision

Argyle panicking/flipping out is a mood

Will talking about how scary it is to open up to it if they don’t like the truth… he’s totally gay for Mike, I’m sorry-

The number was in the pen???

Everyone calling Joyce, Hopper’s “woman”

Hopper fought in a war… Vietnam? And he’s talking about how a bunch of guys he fought with went sterile or something because of the chemical agents??? “crooked spines, eyes popped out” - like Vecna victims, holy fuck

Hopper talking about Sarah :( And then also talking about El and Joyce :’(

“Everyone I love I hurt” - HOPPER STOP

Hopper saying he wasn’t cursed, he is the curse T_T

I’m not being funny but at this point I don’t trust any of the cops, agents, special forces, doctors etc.

Chrissy’s funeral :/

Ohh Patrick’s having visions now

NOT THE DND = CULT SHIT AGAIN

Steve: (at the Creel house) ...yeah, that’s not creepy

Robin just chucking a brick through the window of the door though

Dustin to Steve: Do you need to be told everything? You’re not a child.

Nahhh but why they all dunking on Steve :(

Murray fighting only kids in karate though lmfao

Tiny Eleven T_T

Oh the switching between current and baby El though

So the Nina project is named after an opera I think?

Sooo they’ve basically put Eleven in a giant sensory tank?

The only hacker they know... is Suzie

Come on, someone help Eddie :/

Dustin’s British Sherlock accent XD

NO NOT SPIDERS IN JARS AND ON STEVE I’M FUCKIN DONE

“Platonic with a capital P” :D

Bless Steve, he’s trying so hard

The chess set in the Creel house kind of looks like the chess set in the Rainbow Room

So there’s a “002″... What about “001″?

It’s honestly just depressing seeing all these kids aged like 3-18 with shaved heads and going “me me me” wanting to impress Brenner

WTF WHY ARE HER HANDS SO BLOODY

“She’s going into arrest” - SO FUCKING PULL HER OUT THEN JESUS H CHRIST

Not Murray doing a whole Kung Fu monologue T-T

Oof the plane fight scene though, Murray actually beat the shit out of Yuri omg

Oh no, the plane’s gonna crash?!?

Vecna’s in the Creel house but “on the other side”...

Steve is just so fucking done and I don’t blame him “we won’t be able to see if we turn out our flashlights???”

Robin: It’s an attic... of course it’s an attic

Eddie paddling on the boat to try and escape the basketball guys

Not Jason swimming to the boat???

Ooh the upside down transition from House to Vecna

Oooh he’s got Patrick!

And yep, NOT THE TWISTING/EYES THING AGAIN HOLY FU-

Eleven smacked Brenner, like he deserves

Wait, so they DID shave her head???

RIP Eleven’s hair

HER POWERS ARE BACK???

... Nevermind.

Noo not her going with him, not the “papa” “daughter” crap again >:(

Episode 6 - The Dive

Will Jason believe Eddie is innocent now or...?

“Eddie’s a vessel for Satan” - ... nevermind

DID VECNA JUST KILL A FISH

Now who the fuck they torturing- oh wait it’s the agent from the California house

Why is Brenner comparing El to a stroke victim? I mean I get his analogy but also the hell??

I feel so bad for El, guys, I wanna hug her - just let her live a normal life ffs

The gang don’t even know Eddie had to run :(

Noooo not them all blaming Eddie T__T Poor Eddie

Argyle: I can’t feel my butt

THAT KID FIRING AN ARROW AT MIKE LMFAO YOU GO TINY LUNATIC CHILD

What IS this place? Suzie lives HERE???

Argyle has a thing for Eden???

You know, when they said that Suzie comes from a super religious Mormon family... this wasn’t exactly how I imagined them

Welp, at least Joyce and Murray are still alive

LMAO they tied Yuri up

Murray mocking him XD

LMAO at them threatening to leave him to freeze to death/get eaten by animals-

“This is it, American, I hope you’re ready”- FOR WHAT?!

For...a meal? Is it poisoned??? Fattening them up???

Ohhh fattening them up for a fight (with a demogorgon?)

OH SHIT THEY ARE DESCRIBING A DEMOGORGON

Hop: So enjoy, boys. This is your last meal -- DAMN

Not Jamie Campbell Bower jumpscaring me AGAIN

“You remind me of someone I used to know”...001? Brenner said he didn’t exist but the orderly JCB is playing was with him...

THEORY: THE ORDERLY IS 001

Another Theory: 001 IS HENRY CREEL

Okay but why exactly is he telling Eleven all of this? What is he hoping to gain from this? I’m getting bad vibes from it

No but Steve saying he made Skull Rock a popular make out spot is so funny

Lucas said that Patrick was abused - Vecna is definitely targeting those with something in their lives haunting/traumatising them

Robin calling birds beautiful

Is Robin really trying to get Steve and Nancy back together? -_-

I still ship Robin and Nancy tho lmao

They’re “officially” friends :)

Hawkins getting mad at the police, fuck the police

Jason gatecrashing the town meeting with his cronies

Ohhhh he’s telling them it’s satan/cults/sacrifices and that Eddie is leading them, blaming all bad things on a cult

Erica: THAT’S BULLSHIT! THE HELLFIRE ISN’T A CULT, IT’S A CLUB FOR NERDS - YESSS ERICA

Mike, Dustin and Lucas’ parents seeing their kids in the club “cult” photo: O__o

That one dude leaving the town hall truly didn’t waste time, he went straight away

So they’ve told Suzie it’s a video game console...?

She knows Dustin’s birthday to the exact day/exactly how long it is until then 💀

Oh her dad took her computer away because she’s dating an agnostic

Erica: Yeah, no, they lied to you - lmao

Now why is Karen calling the cops on their kids???

Surge of energy = Vecna attacks

Steve: Cursed? No, he’s fine. Just mental.

Dustin: I was right, Skull Rock IS North! // Steve: ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW???

Oh, it’s the compass/magnet/field thing!

“So either there’s some super big magnet here, or--” “There’s a gate!”

“I say you’re asking me to follow you into Mordor... which, if I’m totally straight with you, I think is a really bad idea. But, ah, the Shire... The Shire is burning” - HE’S SO NERDY, THE LOTR REFERENCE ASDFGHJKL; I LOVE IT

Dustin’s excited bouncing XD

Steve: What is Mordor?!? - LMFAO

Damn, these number-kids straight up beating each other to win this game

So 002 is the big bad bully of the group - I’m assuming he’s the oldest (since 001 is “a myth”) and most developed powers-wise

Oh, Eleven kicked 002′s ASS

Murray: Oh Jesus // Yuri: Hey, not in a church

Joyce: You’re gonna be Murray... // Murray: And I’m gonna be Yuri -- OMG

Oh, a prison brawl! All so Hop could pick the guard’s pockets and get a fuel and lighter

“My ribs are broken, don’t make me laugh” LOL

Oh they snuck into Suzie’s Dad’s office

“Holy sh- HECK!” LOL

Jonathan: What’s the internet? // Suzie: Don’t worry, it’s just gonna change the world

Damn, Suzy’s parents got a lot of kids

Mike: Can you print this? // Suzy: No, my skills end at IP Geolocation -- LMFAO

ARE ARGYLE AND EDEN GETTING FUCKING STONED TOGETHER

Is the gate in the lake???

Dustin: Who put her (Nancy) in charge? // Robin: I did -- ICONIC

Steve done with being a babysitter lmfao

WTF WHO’S SCREAMING IN THE LAB- THE ORDERLY??? WHY THEY DOING THAT TO JCB ORDERLY

Why are they bullying her in the Rainbow Room??? 002 super nasty

Ohhh it’s the thing from the opening

I NEED to know what happened

“I killed them, Papa, I killed them all” - Jesus Christ

“Wonky with a Waaaah” - LOL

NO STEVE DO NOT RISK YOUR LIFE BRO

Not Robin smirking at Nancy looking at Steve stripping lmfao (same tho nancy)

Lucas: Urgh, since when did Steve get so hairy??? / Dustin: Right? I keep telling him he needs to tame that jungle but he claims the ladies dig it -- AND STEVE IS RIGHT, LET MEN BE HAIRY

Max going “let me see it” and taking the binoculars followed by the silence... SAME

Steve’s not even THAT hairy????

Dustin: You guys realise there’s a gate down there....it’s technically a watergate” - NOT THE PUNS

You know, I’m not sure Steve needed to be shirtless but... not complaining. Also, it would have made more sense to strip ALL his clothes, no?

Damn, how long can Steve hold his breath for

HE FOUND THE GATE GOOD FOR STEVE

NO NOT THE TENTACLE FOLLOWING HIM UP

Steve jumpscared me coming out of the water lol

JESUS IT DRAGGED HIM UNDER

NOT STEVE AND NOT IN THE UPSIDE DOWN

IF HE DIES THEN I AM ACTUALLY FUCKING SUING NETFLIX

Nancy jumped in after him :O

AND ROBIN TOO YES

AND EDDIE OMFG YES YES YES

DEMOBATS HOLY FUUUUCK

HE BEING STRANGLED AND ATTACKED

NOOOO YOU CANNOT END THE EPISODE THERE FUCK OFF FUCK RIGHT OFF

Episode 7 - The Massacre at Hawkins Lab

IF STEVE DIES I FUCKING SWEAR-

Yesss RoNancEddie to the rescue!

STEVE STRAIGHT UP PULLED THAT BAT APART JESUS IM FUCKING WET

“Only took like a pound of flesh” I’m-

Omg Steve ACTUALLY winning a fight???

Robin: Great... More running -- SAME

The episode title… 👀 also it’s 1hr40???

Who’s really the worst here - Americans or Russians? They’re both torturing people so 🤷🏻‍♀️

“Cause you missed your daddy-daughter time” - OOF YEP HE REALLY CAME FOR BRENNER LIKE THAT

At least Dr Owens feels bad and says she’s traumatised/frightened… ?

“You talk of monsters and superheroes… that’s the stuff of myth and fairytales” - I mean, she literally had superpowers and fights monsters, my dude

I want to know what happened during the massacre but also I’m sad, leave Eleven alone :(

I have to appreciate how bad the whole gang are at lying lmao they can’t get their stories straight even sitting next to each other

Erica calling them out for lying XD

Questioning them one at a time and they go for Max first when she isn’t even in the Hellfire Club :/

Is Steve going to stay shirtless because… I mean… I’m not complaining

Robin rambling when Steve collapsed and was losing blood 😂

Steve’s “Robin… I kinda wanna punch you” as she was rambling and saying shit about how he can tell her “shut up I wanna punch you” if she starts rambling 😂 Besties

I think Steve and Nancy were both enjoying her treating him a little bit too much… 👀

Steve: I highly doubt the Hawkins PD has grenades — 😂

Nancy: And a revolver // Steve: you almost shot me with one // Nancy: you almost deserved it — is this show really trying to push them back together I’m-

Not Eddie throwing Steve a shirt “for your modesty, dude” 😂😭

NO BUT HIS CHEST IS STILL SHOWING

“It must be hardwired into us to reject our fathers” - OOF

“That monster is part of something that wants to kill El” 😭

“Maybe I can still help El - even if it’s the last thing I do” — BRB IM CRYING

Murray pretending to be Yuri is comedy gold lmfao 🤣 he got the annoying “I’m joking” mannerisms down tho

“Anymore headaches? Nausea?” - VECNA SYMPTOMS ALL OVER AGAIN, and this is BEFORE, this is in the rainbow room???

Not a lesson about rules for the kids…

Eleven got a concussion from 002 and the others???

002: She must have fallen. You’ve seen her, Papa, she’s clumsy, stupid” - NAHHH KILL HIM

“Collar him” - the fUCK?!

Does the collar subdue their powe- IT ELECTROCUTES THEM?!?!

Oh shit Brenner keeps turning it up 😭

Eddie comparing Steve to Ozzy Osbourne 😂😂😂

DUSTIN WORSHIPS STEVE OMG OMG OMG

“These ladies came straight in after you” - of course, he’s worth it :3

Not Eddie also trying to set Steve and Nancy back up??? Saying it’s true love??? No thank you?!

Robin: “okay, second on my list of least favourite things: earthquakes! I’m unsteady on my feet as it is” - LOL

“Here’s the deal, either you tell me what’s happening - or I tell Dustin what I found under your bed” - WAIT WHAT DID ERICA FIND UNDER LUCAS’ BED-

Erica raised an essential question: who opened the gate? El opened one, the Russians opened another… who opened the water gate?

Also why does Vecna kill people? For what purpose?

He’s making a powerful psychic connection with each kill… enough to make more gates…

So Demogorgon = foot soldier, Vecna is 5 star general to mind flayer??? Who can open gates and shit???

“Might be time to get a maid, Wheeler” — OMFG

No but did Nancy REALLY think her guns from the normal world are in the upside down-

“There’s a six year old in the house, I know where I keep my guns” - I guess at least she’s careful but still…???? Maybe don’t keep guns in the house with a 6 year old running about

Her study cards from S1, the wallpaper, stuff she threw out…

November 6 1983… when Will went missing in Season 1! 🤔

So they’re not in the present, they’re in the past??? The upside down past???

Just like Will found a way to speak through the lights, the teens do too!

Ohhh Eddie knows SOS / Morse Code - it’s just pure luck that one of the gang in Mike’s house also knows morse code 💀

“Hey, remember when I said they wouldn’t be stupid enough to go through Watergate? I overestimated them” — LMFAO

“…and you have many screws loose” - I laughed more than I probably should have

JOYCE SEEING HOPPER

Not the other numbers glaring at El 🤨

Wait so 002 is in the infirmary but when he’s out, the numbers are going to kill El and “papa” will let it happen?!! “He wants it to happen” — yIKES

Not being funny but the Jamie Campbell Bower orderly giving me the bad vibes. “You must do exactly as I say” - ummmm???

No but did the lab security/CCTV not see him give her the damn keycard?!?

Not the kids stealing Holly’s toy to communicate with Steve/Robin/Nancy/Eddie 😭

Robin calling Dustin a “genius child”

There’s a gate at every murder site… so 1) Eddie’s trailer, 2) the road where Fred was killed, 3) the lake?

Steve (about Dustin): Jesus Christ, this kid’s got to get his ego in check — LMFAO

No but I kinda hate the current Hawkins police, especially Officer Callahan 💀

The upside down transitions are super cool omg

Nooo the demobat saw them 😶

Okay so now we’re on the day of the massacre… oof let’s go

Okay so 011 was colouring in that opening in E1, and I went back after this episode to see if you can see her colouring in the opening of E1 and there’s not focus on it obviously but yes, she’s in the background/briefly seen colouring!

The orderly said “still hurting her” — they hurt her before? Is this to do with Vecna choosing traumatised victims?

Nahhh Jamie Campbell Bower STILL jump scaring me 😭

He mentions lab vents that lead to the woods… is this how she escaped in season 1?

Wait, why would Brenner put a tracker inside the orderly???

“What if I made it go away? You help me, I help you” - OOF

Aaaand back to Hop and the Russians

DEMOGORGON TIME

Not Hop getting the fire and fuel ready… only for it to not work 💀

Dmitri(Enzo guy?): tElL mE tHaT’S nOt oUt oF fLuId

WHY DOES THE DEMOGORGON STILL MANAGE TO JUMPSCARE ME ARE YOU SERIOUS-

YESSS HE GOT THE FLAME LIT

Oh shIT THAT DEMOGORGON TOOK THE GUY’S FUKIN HEAD CLEAN OFF

THAT FIRE WONT LAST FOREVER THO WILL IT LETS BE HONEST

Joyce got the doors open!!!

Oh shIT ITS STRONG AND MANAGED TO STOP THE DOOR CLOSING WHAT THE FUCK-

HOPPER THROWING A SPEAR DOWN ITS THROAT JESUS CHRIST

The Jopper reunion 😭❤️ they hugged I’m-

Wait, isn’t the Upside Down air toxic??? How are the four of them still fucking alive???

Oh thank got it’s just Dustin on the other side, I thought the agents would be there in Eddie’s trailer

Eleven really pulled the tracker out of the orderly’s leg like she did that piece of mind flayer that was in her leg in S3

…oh, I don’t like the way the orderly suddenly just looked evil, like he was smirking almost

“Who knew something so small could cause so much trouble” — UMMMM 🚩🚩🚩🚩

THE ORDERLY HAS POWERS, HES FUCKING 001, I FUCKING KNEW IT

HES THE ONE WHO KILLED THEM ALL, I’M-

Eddie: Those stains are… I don’t know what those stains are — UMMM?!? O_o

OMG THE PHYSICS OF THE ROPE THROUGH THE GATE THATS SO COOL

The climbing up to sliding down is super cool omg that kinda looks like fun

NO NANCY FELL INTO A VOID/TRANCE ARE YOU SERIOUS

NOT BARB’S DEAD CORPSE

THE POOL FILLING WITH BLOOD

OOP massacre flashback time again

YEP, 001 really killed them all

All of the bodies look like Vecna’s victims’ bodies… is 001 also Vecna???

SOMEONE PLAY SOME DAMN MUSIC FOR NANCY

“How was old, dumb, blind Victor? Did he miss me?” - OH FUCK I HAVE CHILLS

WAIT WAIT WAIT… JCB’s Orderly = 001 = Henry Creel = Vecna???? DAMN

NOT THE BLACK WIDOW NEST FUCK THIS

NOT HIM WORSHIPPING SPIDERS, HES FUCKED, that’s immediately a sign he’s evil beyond help

So all the numbers at the lab - including 011 - are copies of 001/Henry Creel/Vecna???

So Eleven got blood on her outfit from being thrashed about on the floor, NOT from murdering other kids

He tried to kill her/twist her limbs/made her eyes bleed… Vecna victim signs AGAIN

ELEVEN SENT HIM TO THE UPSIDE DOWN JESUS

HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT

SHOWING HIM TURNING INTO VECNA IM-

So just to make sure I’ve got it right: Henry Creel (Victor’s son) didn’t die, he was the original (001) with natural born powers, he killed his family/did some weird spider-and-Satan worship, the doctors at Hawkins lab said he died but in actuality used him to create copies (002, Eleven etc), he ended up massacring the entire lab/including the children, he thought Eleven was going to join him but she was disgusted so he tried to kill her, but she’s so powerful that she sent him to the Upside Down where he became Vecna???

THATS WHERE VOL 1 ENDS ASDFGHJKL NETFLIX WHY IM DESPERATE

Overall, I love this season so far! I have a few continuity issues/gripes but other than that, I’m living for it! I love the horror turn this season has taken, it’s definitely a lot darker than the last three series I think. I think I need to see the last two episodes before I pass judgement though!

#stranger things #eleven #max mayfield #mike wheeler #steve harrington #robin buckley #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #will byers #lucas sinclair #erica sinclair #dustin henderson #jim hopper #joyce byers #eddie munson #I’ll add more tags later I’m exhausted lol

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