#steve and nancy breakup

[afewproblems]

Eddie downs the last of his beer and tosses the empty red cup into the kitchen sink, right between a couple who were clearly gearing up to claim one of the spare rooms upstairs. 

Eddie snickers and winks as the girl tells him to fuck off while her boyfriend flips him the bird, god he loves highschool parties, and this one is no exception.

It's Halloween and business is booming for Eddie Munson.

He imagines Dian Fossey felt similarly, wandering through the Congo studying the great apes' behavior patterns and social structure from within rather than observing from afar. 

So far Eddie's observations have paid off in spades and he's managed to sell out most of his stash by targeting the basketball team and their girlfriends. No one wants to get high all by themselves after all, it's almost too easy the way these sheep all flock together. 

Eddie leaves the kitchen behind him, but not before snagging a can of something cold from a nearby cooler of half melted ice. With a decent buzz going, what's one more? He's done working for the night after all. 

Eddie climbs the stairs, dodging drunk teens left and right as they make their way past him, shirts ruffled and hair messy. Eddie snorts, ignoring the wistful pull in his chest as a tall boy on the swim team pulls his girlfriend closer to press a chaste kiss to the top of her head before smoothing her curls away from her forehead. 

Unfortunately no one Eddie would be interested in would accept him brushing their hair like that without punching him in the face.

He shakes his head and continues forward, he's an observer, nothing more. 

Eddie passes a closed door on the second floor and pauses as a raised voice splits through the wood.

"It's bullshit, you're bullshit," the voice slurs out and Eddie feels a wide grin pull at the corner of his mouth. 

He takes a step closer, nearly pressing his ear to the flat of the door.

"Like we're in love?" Another voice says softly, a guy, "you don't love me?" 

A small part of Eddie knows he shouldn't be listening to this, he can hear the waiver in this guy's voice like his heart is slowly cracking in his chest. Shit, he almost feels bad for this guy. 

But the people that go to these stupid parties, the Hawkins elite, the gorillas in the mist, deserve their bullshit --to use this girls turn-of-phrase.

The only reason they didn't mess with Eddie was because he was these highschool shit-heads main source of weed. 

Its karma, plain and simple, Eddie reasons as he presses even closer now.

"It's. Bullshit". The girl hisses emphatically and for a second Eddie hears nothing.

It happens so quickly after that. 

The door swings inward, causing Eddie to stumble into a tall firm chest as the bathroom guy collides with him.

"What the fuck?" The guy says as he pushes Eddie away from himself and --no way.

"Harrington?"

Steve blinks once, his wide hazel eyes red rimmed and shiny in the dim light of the hallway, the tip of his nose is pink as he reaches up to pinch it roughly before swiping across his eyes as well.

Even though Eddie's fairly certain that he and Steve are the same height, he seems smaller like this, deflated, standing in the hallway while a party rages down below them both. 

A cheer rings out, startling Steve into action.

He steps widely around Eddie, enough that his shoulder connects with the wall in his haste to take the stairs down, two at a time, as though Hell is hot on his heels. 

And Eddie should leave it, go back to the party, see if there are any snacks left before calling it a night, but something pushes him to follow the path Steve took.

It's like he's possessed, the haunted look in those hazel eyes forcing him forward until he's outside on the lawn.

A few other teens are outside, including a couple making out on the porch, Eddie steps over them and jogs to the end of the driveway.

He spots Steve down the street sitting on a large rock at the end of another neighbor's lawn with his face in his hands.

He looks up as Eddie gets closer and curses softly.

"Seriously? It wasn't enough that you were listening, you're following me now?" His voice cracks on the last word as he wipes his eyes again, he can't quite hide the way the moonlight catches the tear tracks running down his cheek and neck though.  

"Oh come on Harrington," Eddie says, walking up to Steve. He sits on one of the other rocks and takes a crumpled pack of smokes out of his vest pocket, "it's no fun if you're sad".

"What is?" Steve mumbles after a beat, wiping his eyes again as he stares at the ground. 

"Making fun of you," Eddie shrugs as he takes a cigarette and puts it between his lips, he smiles at the startled bark of laughter from Steve.

"You're a prick," he huffs softly, the barest of smiles slowly blooming across his face.

Eddie can count the constellation of freckles and moles across his face, giving the blanket of stars above them a run for their money. His hand twitches at the thought of touching the ones on Steve's throat.

Eddie coughs once, mentally tallying the number of drinks he must have had for those kinds of  thoughts and shifts on the rock to adjust his pants. 

He holds out the pack to Steve who looks at the nearly empty sleeve before his eyes shift to the house behind Eddie. 

"Nance hated cigarettes," Steve murmurs as the corner of his mouth twitches into a terrible frown. It's gone in an instant as Steve blinks once and reaches out for the pack.

"I got something stronger if you want?" Eddie offers, he shrugs when Steve looks up at him with suspicious eyes. 

"Come on Harrington, I'm not gonna keep kicking you when you're down, you need a pick-me-up and then I can get back into it," Eddie stands up and without thinking, holds out a hand towards Steve, "what do you say?"

Steve stares up at him, his eyes flick once to the outstretched hand before he snorts dryly and slowly takes his hand. 

It's warm in Eddie's own. The fingers squeeze gently as Steve uses it to hoist himself up until he's once again eye level with Eddie. 

From this close Eddie can see the way his eyelashes have clumped together with leftover tears and the flecks of gold in his hazel eyes

Oh…this, this was a bad idea. Eddie swallows roughly as Steve finally nods.

"Lead the way Munson," Steve says with the barest of smirks as he wipes his face one last time, "and if you tell anyone about this, I'll slash your tires".

Eddie cackles at that, "there he is!"

He claps Steve on the back as he leads them towards where he parked his van down the road, "our chariot awaits!"

Eddie ignores the small voice that whispers in his ear, the one that sounds remarkably like his uncle, as it asks him just what the hell he thinks he's doing with Harrington of all people? 

It'll be fine, he tells himself.

Besides, what's the worst that could happen?

Part Two

#stranger things #stranger things season 2 au #steve harrington #eddie munson #steve and nancy breakup #what would have happended if eddie had been there #let me know if yall want a part two #eddie took one look at this pathetic sad man and said #I will love him and squeeze him #steve cried when nancy called him bullshit you cant tell me otherwise #afewproblems writes #steve x eddie #steddie au #getting back into writing after not being able to for weeks #cw drinking #cw smoking #i will never get tired of the halloween party au

[withacapitalp]

(Okay I saw a post about a premise similar to this but I cannot find it for the life of me. Anyway I loved it so much that I had to write a version of it myself. A post s2 AU!) Now with Part Two

Steve was never exactly the most perceptive person in the world. 

He missed all of the signals that Nancy had given him, every sign that had pointed to their failing relationship. He hadn’t seen the moments that proved she was right about everything going on in their town either. Steve overlooked important details in his college applications, and took shots in basketball that almost always missed. He even sometimes walked right into walls these days, because his spacial awareness had kinda been shot since Billy smashed a plate over his head fifteen days ago. 

A lot of that could be forgiven, but, this…

Well this was a little bit obtuse, even for him. 

“You know you’re sitting at our table, right, King Steve?” 

Steve looked up from his Tuna Surprise, resisting the urge to flinch at both the blinding light from the windows in the cafeteria and the nickname he hated so much. Eddie Munson stared back, carrying a lunch tray in one hand and his signature metal lunch box in the other. 

“Your humble court is awaiting you on the haves side of this blessed cookery. This side is where the dweebs and the nerds parlay. A single place we get a reprieve from the endless bombardment of the average” Munson continued, flinging his arms to and fro, gesturing to the group of teens behind him who were staring at Steve like he was dirt under the bottom of their shoes. 

He hadn’t understood the majority of what Eddie had just said to him, but those looks were enough to give Steve the gist. He was not welcome here. 

“Sorry,” He muttered, grabbing his tray and sliding it to the other end of the table. He took a deep breath the second he was alone again, letting the tension melt away from his body as he collapsed back in his seat. 

Even though he was no longer welcome to sit at his old table, Steve probably could have gone and eaten in the library with Nancy and Jonathan. They had awkwardly invited him to join them a few times since everything had gone down, but he always said no. 

It was better this way. Better to be alone. Better to not have to watch the two of them try and hide how much happier they were now that they could be together. They deserved that happiness, Nancy deserved that happiness, and Steve refused to be the one to make her try and stifle any of that. 

He had hurt her enough already. 

“What happened to your face?”

Once again Eddie dragged Steve out of his thoughts. He was standing over Steve’s head, nearly hovering on top of him, watching Steve like he was trying to work him out. Like Steve was a particularly complex puzzle that he could solve just with his eyes. 

Nancy had always looked at him that way. Steve had hated it when it was her, and he hated it even more coming from Munson now. 

“Got into a fight,” Steve grunted, stabbing at his shitty cafeteria food and hoping that his abrasiveness would be enough to get Munson to leave him alone.

He wasn’t exactly sure what he could say now that they had all signed another round of NDAs, but he was pretty sure even talking about this was toeing the line. It was safer all around to get Eddie to go away as quickly as possible. 

It wouldn’t be all that hard. Usually all it took were a few well placed bitchy comments to get people to see the picture and give up on him. The only group of people who hadn’t been perturbed by Steve’s spikiness was the kids. They had shown up at his house pretty much daily since the gate had closed, and had even taken to begging on him for rides to and from school. 

Dustin in particular seemed determined to stay latched onto him like a barnacle, but Steve found that he didn’t really mind their clinginess.

 It was nice to be needed, even if it was only a group of pre-teen smartasses. 

“With who?” Eddie asked, leaning his hip on the table next to Steve and crossing his arms over his chest, “Cause Billy Hargrove is telling everyone he can that he beat your ass for messing with his sister,”

“I would never do something like that,” Steve shot back instantly, feeling the fading bruises on his face twinge as his jaw clenched in fury. He couldn’t help the words spilling out of his mouth, unable to stop them, “Billy’s a racist jackass who tried to put his hands on one of my fucking kids,”

Shit. 

“There is…so many confusing parts of that sentence,” Eddie stated, blinking in shock.

“Whatever,” Steve murmured, biting his cheek to stop himself from saying anything more and hunching his shoulders up around his ears. They weren’t exactly his kids, per say, but Steve was invested in keeping them safe now. The idea of doing anything to hurt any of them was painful, and the thought of Billy spreading that kind of rumor made bile rise up in his throat. 

Fuck Billy. Fuck this. Fuck his life honestly. 

“Look, Munson, I’m really not in the mood right now,” Steve sighed, hating how weary he sounded. It would have been better to fight his way out of this. Steve was crappy at fighting though, and there wasn’t much spirit left in him. Not after two weeks of perpetual stress and tension. 

“Harrington-”

“I moved down, I’m not in your way, isn’t that good enough?” Steve bit out, halfway to just grabbing his tray and throwing it in the trash. He was barely eating anyway, might as well go to the gym to shoot some hoops instead of sitting here being interrogated by drug dealing  extraordinaire, Eddie goddamn Munson.

Couldn’t he just let Steve eat in peace? Everything else was already so goddamn difficult these days. Could Steve at least manage to eat a mediocre meal without the entire world demanding something from him? 

By the grace of whatever god was potentially out there, Eddie took the hint, pushing off of his resting place and stalking back over to his group of weirdos on the other side. Steve let his eyes slip shut and dragged in a heavy breath, utterly exhausted. 

He was contemplating skipping the rest of the day and going home to sleep when a blue plastic tray identical to the one in front of him bumped his right hand

“What are you doing?” Steve wondered aloud, raising his eyebrows and fixing Eddie with a confused look as he sat down right next to Steve and began to dig into his meal. 

“Eating lunch alone sucks?” Eddie offered, shoveling Tuna Surprise into his mouth and shuddering, pushing the rest of the disgusting concoction to the far side of his tray, “Plus I’m hoping that if I get in your good graces you’ll give me your pudding cup,”

Steve stared at him for a few more moments, waiting for whatever prank was about to be pulled. But Eddie didn’t budge, continuing to eat around his main dish with strange efficiency and ignoring Steve’s gaze. 

“Go nuts,” He finally said, offering the plastic container over to Eddie who grabbed it and gave Steve a big smile

“Mazel Tov, Eddie said, hoisting the pudding aloft and tearing into it, “So, you have children?”

“I- I babysit,” Steve stammered out, completely perplexed by the strange set of circumstances that was playing out in front of him. Eddie paused with his spoon midair in front of him. 

“You babysit,” He repeated, turning his head towards Steve. The younger teen nodded and Eddie hummed. He put his pudding down and licked his spoon clean. When he was done, he hefted it aloft, bringing it down on the back of his right hand with a smack that echoed all around the cafeteria. 

“Ouch!” Eddie yelped, flapping his hand around in the air to try and get rid of the sting. Steve looked frantically to and fro as the rest of the room stared at them, whispering behind their hands. 

“Why would you-” 

“Had to make sure I wasn’t dreaming,” Eddie explained, interrupting Steve’s furious whisper with a breathless little laugh, “Because I just heard the words ‘I babysit’ come out of King Steve’s mouth,”

“Would you cut it out with the King stuff?” Steve snapped, beginning to lose his appetite, “It’s been a while since I was King of anything, and it was a stupid fucking idea to begin with,” 

There was a beat of awkward silence as Eddie gave him another one of those soul searching looks. 

“What are you doing Thursday afternoon?” He finally asked when he found whatever he was looking to find. Steve startled, dropping his fork. 

What kind of question was that? 

Was Munson asking him on some sort of date?!

“I’m…benched from basketball ‘cause of my concussion. So nothing, I guess,” Steve said cautiously, carefully picking his words and trying to avoid the spike of hurt that shot along his chest as he said them. 

It wasn’t much, but basketball was one of the only things Steve really thought he was genuinely good at. Not having it was kind of pure torture. 

Almost as bad as not having Nancy in his life anymore. 

“In that case, come to Hellfire,” Eddie offered, glancing at the clock on the wall and grabbing both of their trays. Steve scrambled to grab his backpack, hefting it onto one shoulder and jogging to keep up with Eddie. 

“What?”

“Hellfire?” Eddie repeated, dumping their trash into the bin and stacking the trays next to it, “It’s the club I run,”

“What is it?” Steve asked, curious but unwilling to commit just yet. There was still a part of him that was kind of convinced all of this was some elaborate ruse to fuck with him. 

But before Eddie could say anything the bell chimed all around them. The rest of the student population moved as one, and the sound in the lunchroom immediately went from dull roar to cacophonous mess. Steve’s left ear started to ring again, and he winced, shying away from the sudden noise. 

“You’ll have to come and see,” Eddie said, waggling his eyebrows, completely ignorant to Steve’s pain. He turned on his heel, raising a hand in a wave behind him as he loped towards the rest of his friend group.

“Thursday after school! In the drama room, don’t be late!”

#Steve harrington #Eddie munson #steddie #steddie ficlet #Steddie au #Steve joins hellfire au #post s2 #st #stranger things #stranger things ficlet #Nancy wheeler #post stancy breakup #Liam speaks up #Writing(withacapitalW)

[the-case-book-of-fanfiction]

Bob Seger

Ship: Steve Harrington x fem!reader

Summary: Is there a handbook for what to do when your crush walks into your store to buy a gift for his girlfriend? There should be!

Word Count: 5,432 words

Warnings: Stancy, Steve being deeply in love and then getting his heart broken, brief mention of Steve's asshole dad, pining reader, hurt/comfort, Tommy & Carol, language, innuendo

Note: Inspired in part by Steve's rendition of Old Time Rock & Roll.

☟ Continue below the fold ☟

Nancy hadn't been herself, not since Barb disappeared, and her mood had only been getting worse every day. Steve could feel her retreating into herself, hiding from the world and from herself and from him. He could feel Tommy and Carol getting progressively more frustrated with her (and with him for putting up with it) with every passing day.

And it's not like Steve blamed Nancy. Her best friend had gone missing while Nancy hung out with people Barb wasn't the biggest fan of. And, to rub salt in an open wound, Nancy had been having sex with Steve while Barb disappeared.

Steve felt a little guilty, to say the least. He'd had the thought of If I hadn't wanted to sleep with Nancy so bad, she would have gone home with Barb and they'd both be safe. But after a while, he wasn't so sure about that. The longer he thought about it, the more he became convinced that if Nancy had gone with Barb, they both would have gone missing.

Whether it was through his own guilt or because he wanted to make Nancy feel better, he wasn't quite sure, Steve found himself driving to the record store just off Main Street after school got out. He'd blocked out the noise of Tommy and Carol bickering, Tommy in the passenger seat and Carol leaning forward from the back seat, too busy trying to remember which bands had played from the radio the night he was studying at Nancy's house, and whether or not Nancy had actually liked them. He didn't want to screw up his little surprise by getting her music she wouldn't listen to—or a vinyl she already owned. Maybe he should have discreetly snooped through her pile of records before he'd made up his mind to do this...

Tommy sharply elbowed Steve in the ribs. Before Steve could snap at him, he said, "You're overthinking this, man. She's either gonna pretend to love it and not actually care, or she's just gonna not care."

Behind them, Carol giggled. It sounded far more sinister than it should have.

Steve glared at him for a second before he made the turn into the store's parking lot. "You're no help, you realize that?" He parked the car and turned to the two of them. "You're gonna stay here and wait, got it? And don't do anything stupid, I'll make you clean the back seat this time."

Carol grinned. "What if it's the passenger seat?"

"Or the driver's," Tommy added, leaning back to kiss Carol, before Steve could snap that the passenger's seat was Nancy's seat. Steve felt his throat constrict.

"Do not get it on in my fucking car," he warned, "or I'm never driving you anywhere ever again."

He got out, slamming the door behind him, and sent a warning glare back over his shoulder. Tommy flipped him off through the windshield. Beside Steve, an elderly woman gasped in offense and Steve winced.

"Sorry about him," he muttered, but the woman was already scurrying off into her own vehicle. Steve sighed and pushed open the front door to the record shop.

A little bell above the door chimed once as he swung the door open, and then again as it closed behind him. Steve had only been in the store a handful of times, but he loved it more and more with every visit. The walls were plastered in old vinyls, displayed so that the name of each band was readable. No vinyl was the same color, some of them blue, some red, some multicolor, but all of them were different. A small gold plaque designated the oldest vinyl the store had on the walls, which was a reddish Vocalion from 1922 and was positioned directly above the door.

Rows and rows of alphabetized vinyls spread throughout the store, which was bigger than it looked from the storefront. In the lefthand corner nearest the door, a cashier's desk was set up, though there was no employee behind it. A plastic sign read I'm in the back! I'll be back soon!

Steve headed for the aisles of vinyls, then recognized what was playing over the speakers—Bob Seger's Night Moves.

Humming as he flipped through the stacks, Steve didn't notice the door to the back open, or you walk out of it and back to your desk.

"Mmm, sweet summertime, summertime," Steve sang, keeping his voice low, still embarrassed by his voice, an instinct his father made sure he would never shake.

But you heard it, even with the volume of the radio. You looked up from the desk, gaze scanning the rows. You spotted the back of Steve's head and recognized him immediately. That hair was unmistakable.

Heat burned in your belly. Suddenly, you really wished your coworker hadn't gone home just ten minutes earlier, complaining of nausea. If she'd just stuck around a few more minutes...you wouldn't have to face your long-time crush who was absolutely not available, happily dating Nancy Wheeler and unlikely to leave her any time soon.

You resisted the urge to hide your face in your hands. Sure, you'd liked him since middle school, long before he'd become part of the popular crowd and back when his hair was still a mess that hid his eyes from the world, and yes, you had two classes with him, but it's not like he'd know who you were, right? You'd keep relative anonymity and he would remain none the wiser of your long-standing admiration of him.

But then the song changed to The Fire Down Below and Steve was shimmying where he stood, singing the line "Here comes hot Nancy, she's steppin' right on time" with the hugest grin on his face.

You sighed. The school, your best friends, the entire senior year was right—Steve Harrington was down bad for Nancy Wheeler.

The tiniest bit of hope that he might one day notice you was dashed every time you heard that loving croon of his voice every time he sang Nancy's name.

This is why we don't get our hopes up, you told yourself, echoing a sentiment your best friend had drilled into you ever since Steve became the ladies' man that made him so popular in high school. Not that it erased the previous middle school years of drooling over Steve, back before anyone else had really considered him attractive.

You watched as Steve meticulously went through every record in the store, clearly searching for something specific. You normally would have gotten up and approached a customer taking this long, but it was Steve. You knew the instant you got up from your stool, your legs would give out underneath you. And if that didn't happen, you'd walk into a shelf on your way over to him. And if that didn't happen either, you'd start stuttering the moment you tried to talk to him. And if that didn't happen, you'd turn bright red and combust on the spot when he either asked for your help or turned you away.

Too stuck in your head, you didn't even realize the record had stopped playing until you heard Steve's singing stop. A pang went through you at the sound of silence—Steve's voice was almost more soothing than the music itself.

You turned around and dug through your pile of vinyls the store let you play until you found another Bob Seger—the album he'd released last year. Steve had been singing Bob Seger, and you desperately wanted him to keep singing.

You cleaned off the record before placing the needle down. A few bars into Even Now, you turned back around and squeaked, jumping in surprise.

Steve was standing at your desk, a pleasant but awkward smile on his face.

"Uh...hi," he said. "Sorry if I scared you."

You blinked at him and cleared your throat, hoping your voice didn't come out squeaky. "It's...it's fine. Can I help you with something?"

"Uh, please, I'm looking for—" He snapped his fingers. "You're in my chemistry class, aren't you?" You nodded, meekly adding that you were also in English together, and he beamed. "I knew I recognized you from somewhere!"

"Yeah, uh... Hi, Steve," you said. "You said you were looking for...?"

Steve shook himself out. "Oh, yeah, um... I'm trying to find a record for Nancy, my girlfriend, because I want to cheer her up after...everything. I'm sure you've heard about it."

The tiredness in his voice surprised you. But you nodded without bringing it up. "I have. How's she holding up?"

Steve sighed. "Not...fantastically. That's why I'm doing this, I want to get her something to take her mind off things."

You raised your brows. "So you decided on a record?"

Steve shrugged, his cheeks turning a soft shade of pink. "I thought it would be something we could dance to, and that that might make her feel better."

Your heart squeezed. How are you so sweet? "Alright, makes sense. What does she like to listen to usually?"

Steve shut his eyes as if thinking for a moment, then said, "She likes ABBA and Michael Jackson, she has a Fleetwood Mac tape but only ever listens to Rhiannon, but she sings under her breath every time Journey comes on the radio, doesn't matter what song it is. She's got Madonna, Bowie, Blondie, and The Beatles already as tapes and vinyls, so I don't want to get her those."

You blinked at him. "You really do pay attention to everything, don't you?"

Steve smiled shyly. "I...I guess so, when it comes to Nancy."

You left the back of the desk, hoping you weren't visibly shaking too much. "Let's go find you a Journey vinyl, okay? They just released a new album a few months ago, I'm pretty sure we've got it on vinyl..."

Steve followed you to the J section and the two of you started flipping through, both of you softly singing along to Love's The Last To Know as you did.

Halfway through the song and completely through the Js section, you interrupted the song with a gasp.

"I know where it is! Wait here," you told him, and hurried into the back room. You dug through the most recently delivered box of records until you saw the familiar blue album cover of Frontiers, letting out a victory cry as you grabbed it.

Steve was leaning on the shelf, still singing "We lost our way and our love's the last to know" so mournfully you wondered what heartbreak he'd been through before.

"I got it!" you said, grinning and holding the record aloft.

Steve beamed. "Thanks! I really appreciate it. I know I was kind of...out of my depth for a bit there."

You shrugged. "Eh, that's nothing. I've had people come in here demanding records we don't carry from bands that only just released music." You rolled your eyes. "'No, sir, we don't carry Metallica, and even if we did, the album came out last week, so we wouldn't have it yet anyway!'"

Steve snorted with laughter, handing you cash to pay for the vinyl. "Let me guess, it was the Munson kid."

"The Munson kid," you confirmed.

"Thanks again," Steve said, though he didn't seem inclined to head out the door.

"Any time," you said, instantly regretting the words because if you saw Steve at your workplace more than this, you were going to have a heart attack, but you paired the words with a kind smile anyway.

"See you in class tomorrow," he said, stepping out the door and waving goodbye. You watched him go, putting the record in the back seat, snapping at Tommy and Carol in his car, and pulling out of the parking lot.

You let go a tense, nervous breath. The pain in your chest eased. Well, at least Steve knew of you now. And even if his dedication to Nancy was unfailing, at least you might get to talk to him now, even if it only worsened the ache in your heart.

~❊~

Steve skipped third block.

The entire school seemed to be talking about why—or at least, his entire gym class, who had told a story about Billy Hargrove getting in his face the entire basketball game, and then Nancy dragging him out of the class to "talk" about something. At first, everyone had assumed they were banging in the locker rooms, until somebody reminded them Nancy hadn't been in first block, and she never skipped, and that Steve usually drove her to school—but he hadn't missed first block. Then when he'd come back, upset and angry, from his talk with Nancy, people started to put a story together.

You weren't sure you wanted to believe the story, or the many versions of the story, that were floating around you chemistry class. It didn't line up with what you knew of Steve, or what you knew of his relationship with Nancy, most of which you heard straight from him.

But then again...

You shook yourself out of your head, your gaze straying back toward Steve's empty seat. You sighed, pulling your notebook toward you and copying down the notes on the board as neat as you could—undoubtedly you'd need to give them to Steve when he decided to come back to class.

But when your best friend came into the class, handing your teacher a doctor's note, her wide eyes already told you Steve wasn't coming back today.

She sat down beside you, hissing your name. You looked at her. "What? What's wrong?"

"Is there a reason I just saw Steve Harrington crying in his car?" she whispered to you.

Your eyes went huge. Whatever had happened between him and Nancy, it wasn't good. "Keep your voice down and don't tell anyone else about that," you said.

She flipped her notebook to a blank page and started writing. "You better fill me in on everything I missed today," she said.

"Obviously, but only once I know exactly what happened," you said. "Which means only once Steve tells me what happened. However long that takes."

~❊~

It became painfully clear that Steve didn't want to talk—to anyone. He snapped at anyone who tried to bring it up with him, and his mood was waspish. The situation was made worse by the rumors spread by Tommy and Carol—that Nancy had only been with Steve for his money and the sex; that she left because Steve wasn't good enough for her; that she was cheating on him with Jonathan.

You knew that the jibes about Jonathan hit Steve a little too close to home. The same rumor had circulated last year when Will and Barb went missing, but this time, you were almost positive they were true.

Nancy was entirely unbothered by the whole thing. Seeing her prance around with Jonathan, not caring that doing so was hurting Steve more than anything, made your blood boil.

On your way to the record store for another one of your slow closing shifts, a week after Steve skipped chem class, you saw the two of them walking together along the sidewalk. You rolled your eyes at them. You had once thought Nancy to be the luckiest girl in the world: smart, pretty, and dating the hottest man Hawkins had to offer. Now you were certain she was the most careless, throwing it all away for a mediocre man.

Steve's car was in the store's parking lot when you arrived. You parked next to him, looking over to find him in the driver's seat, staring into his lap.

You got out and knocked on his window. "Steve? You okay?" He looked up, sporting red-rimmed eyes. You could hear Bob Seger's Comin' Home playing quietly on his radio. "Oh, Steve..."

Steve got out of his car. Voice quiet and rough, he asked, "Can I hang out for a while?"

"Yeah," you said. "Whatever you need."

His lip trembled. "A...a hug?" His voice as meek and barely there. But you heard it and the request made your heart break. You enveloped him in a tight hug, letting him soften into your hold. You remained that way until Steve decided he was done, not caring how many of your classmates walked by, staring in wonder at Steve clinging to you, new gossip already burning on their tongues.

~❊~

A good day meant boppier music at the record store as soon as you started your shift and shoved your coworker from the mid-afternoon shift out the door. So you swapped out all the mellow music in the stack of records beside your record player with music with a good beat that you could dance to while you restocked and reshelved.

Not even half an hour into your shift, the Naked Eyes record spun into Always Something There To Remind Me. You turned up the volume as high as you could without destroying the speakers and being chewed out by your managers, singing along and dancing by yourself while you worked.

"Well, how can I forget you, girl? When there is always something there to remind me!" You finished stacking your records in the aisle and turned back for a new pile. "Always something there to remind me. I was born to love her, and I'll never be free, you'll always be a part of— Steve!" You careened into his chest, grateful you weren't holding anything, because it all would have dropped to the floor. Steve's arms looped around you, stopping you from falling. "Don't sneak up on me, you scared me!"

"The doorbell rung!"

"Well, I didn't hear it!" You finally looked up at him, heart beating wildly out of your chest at the feeling of his chest against yours, his arms around your waist. You realized he looked downright miserable. "What happened?"

He sighed. "Remember how I said I was gonna try and patch things up with Nance?"

"Yeah..."

Steve's lower lip started to tremble. "It...it didn't go well."

Your heart dropped to your feet. "Oh, Steve, I'm...I'm so sorry."

He sniffled. "It's, uh, it's over. She...she doesn't love me, has never loved me, I'm still bullshit, and she's been sleeping with Jonathan. So..." He heaved a heavy sigh. "It's over. Completely, totally, officially over."

"Steve," you whispered. "I'm so sorry, honey. Is there anything I can do?"

He smiled, lips trembling and eyes watering. "Change the song?" The words came out with a little hiccup and a laugh.

You realized what the song was about. "Oh! Yeah, sure, right—sorry. It's such an upbeat song in the actual music, I didn't even think about the words!" You untangled yourself from his arms to change the record. "What are you in the mood for?"

"Nothing romantic, please," he said, sitting down on your stool. "And, after you're done..."

You looked at him, sensing his hesitation. "Yeah?"

"Can I have another hug?"

You smiled at him, looping your arms around his back where he sat. He fell into you, burying his head in your shirt. "Of course, Steve."

You held onto Steve as tightly as he held onto you, praying he wouldn't notice the fast beat of your heart while he wallowed in his grief. It was a strange feeling, for Steve to be hiding from the world, form Nancy, from his broken heart in your arms, all while you harbored a horribly deep crush on him and a secret, guilty delight that it was over with Nancy.

"I just..." Steve huffed, clearly trying his best not to sob into your shirt. "I don't know where I went wrong. I don't know why I wasn't good enough."

Without really meaning to, you put your hand in Steve's hair. "Does there need to be a reason? Some people just aren't meant for each other, Steve."

Steve looked up at you with his red rimmed eyes, tears on his lash line. He hesitated a moment and then said, "If I tell you something...promise me you won't just...laugh at me."

Your heart broke for him. How many times had he told Tommy or Carol or, what the hell, even Nancy something, only to be laughed at, for him to ask that of you? "Of course I won't laugh at you, Steve." You squeezed his shoulder. "Why would I laugh at you?"

He didn't answer your question. "I know it sounds...ridiculous, but...I just—" He sighed. "I thought Nancy was the one. I've never been happier with a girl before, and she was honest, she was smart, she was determined, she had goals, she was nothing like the girls I was with before, and she made me feel alive! I thought for sure that I was... That I was maybe gonna spend the rest of my life with her."

You bit your lip. "There was no maybe about it, was there, Steve?"

He sighed, letting his head fall back into you. You muffled your grunt as he hid his face in your stomach, his arms sliding up your back and hold you closer to him. "No," he mumbled into the fabric of your shirt.

You smoothed your hand through his perfect hair and kissed the top of his head. You froze, hearing his tiny intake of breath. "Oh, I'm...I'm sorry, that was kind of...automatic, I guess?"

Steve peeked up at you and tugged you closer to his body until your feet hit the legs of your stool he was perched on. "It's okay. Um... Can you...keep doing that? With my hair?" Pink tinged his skin. "If you don't mind."

"I don't mind," you whispered, rubbing your fingers across his scalp. He sighed, pushing into your touch. Heat bloomed across your body.

"Sorry," he whispered. "I know this is...weird. But, um, Nancy never... Never really touched me or— Or held me or anything, so..."

"You don't have to explain yourself," you whispered. "Not to me, not to anyone. Okay?"

"Okay," he agreed, slowly relaxing in your arms.

"I've got you, Steve," you assured him. "I've got you."

~❊~

Before he'd even pulled into the parking lot, Steve was mentally apologizing to you. You'd told him time and time again when he visited you while you were working that you enjoyed your slow closing shifts. It meant there was no one to bother you while you were in the middle of a restock, making you forget where you were; it meant there was no one to complain about the music you played, so you could listen to whatever you wanted; it meant your final hour was spent just closing up shop instead of shooing customers out the door—except for Steve, who had become a regular and always stayed until you left, sometimes to give you a ride home and other times just to have a friend around.

But today, he wasn't coming alone. His car was full to bursting with young children: Dustin, Max, Lucas, Mike, and Will, all of whom he'd been tasked with picking up from their after school activities for the day. He had tried to get them to go home quickly, but his attempts to rush them out of his car had led them to discover that he was seeing a girl, which they all took the wrong way, of course.

Sort of.

Now that Steve was prowling the world alone again, he'd realized his initial estimation of you—pretty, smiley, shy with new people but confident with your friends—was right, but it was a muted reality compared to how you really were. It was like he'd been looking at you with sunglasses covering his eyes this whole time. Now that those glasses were gone, the record shop girl had become more than just his best friend.

And he was really hoping the kids were not about to point that out.

As per usual, you were playing Bob Seger when Steve pushed the door open. He'd yet to figure out if you played Bob Seger so much when he came to visit because you loved Bob Seger, or if you had (correctly) pinned Steve as a fan.

(Not that Steve had ever told anyone he was a fan; he let them think the only reason he even knew about his music was because of Carol's obsession with Risky Business.)

You weren't at your desk like Steve had expected; you were carrying a huge stack of records in your arms, shelving them as you walked along the rows, singing along to Sunspot Baby without a care in the world.

"Sunspot baby," you sang. "She sure had a real good time."

"I looked in Miami, I looked in Negril," Steve joined in. You turned with a grin, heading back to your desk. "The closest I came was a month old bill."

You noticed the kids as you put down your stack. "You brought company today, I see."

Steve gave you a look while the kids were still behind him. You stifled a giggle. "Uh, yeah, these are the kids. Dustin Henderson, Lucas Sinclair, Max Mayfield, Will Byers, and Mike Wheeler."

Dustin walked straight up to your desk. "So you're the girl Steve talks about all the time?"

"All the time, huh?" you said, smiling in a way that suggested you were sure Dustin was exaggerating.

"Every time we see him," Mike groaned. You stared at the younger Wheeler in surprise.

"Oh, really? Is that so, Steve?" you teased.

He rolled his eyes, unable to stop his blush. "Sorry to interrupt your quiet shift. They wanted to stop in and grab some records."

"No we didn't—we just wanted to meet you," Lucas said. Steve's calm expression became painfully forced.

The young redhead snorted. "Speak for yourself." She looked up at you expectantly. "Do you have any David Bowie?"

You grinned. "I like you, you have good taste. Back side of the first row."

Max grinned and dragged Lucas with her.

You looked back at Steve. "Do you have enough room in your car for one more?"

"Need a ride when you leave?"

You nodded.

"Yeah, I've got room. I'll just make the kids rearrange."

You laughed. "You don't have to do that," you insisted.

Steve leaned across the counter. "Don't worry about it—I want to. I'd feel terrible if I left you to get home on your own."

You smiled at him, noticing Dustin nudging Mike and Will and pointing in your direction out of the corner of your eye.

~❊~

Somehow, the kids' presence lightened up the rest of your shift. Time passed quickly with them there, adventuring through the store and asking you question after question about the vinyls lining the walls.

You waved off Steve as he tried to get the kids to leave you alone. "They're fine, Steve. It's okay. You wanna help me get everything packed up? I've gotta lock up soon."

"Oh, yeah, sure." Steve took the vinyl off the record player and slipped it back into its case. He glanced over his shoulder and called to the kids, "Hey, guys! We're gonna head out soon."

You ran through your closing tasks as quickly as you could, anxious to head home for the night.

"Alright, everybody out. Got everything?" you asked, ushering the kids to the door and taking out the key. You set the alarm system for the building and locked the door behind you.

Steve put a hand on your back. Warmth bloomed through you from where he touched you. "You're all ready to go?"

You nodded, not trusting yourself to speak.

The kids opened the doors of Steve's car, jumping in quickly. Dustin made his way to the passenger's seat. Steve stopped him, gently shoving him toward the back seat with everyone else.

"Hey—move it, Henderson, she's got the passenger's seat."

You stared at Steve. "No, no, it's okay, he can—"

Steve shook his head, holding open the door for you. "Come on, it's fine, just..." He gestured into the car. The kids whispered and giggled at him. He sent them a glare and Dustin's annoyed face shifted into a gleeful smirk.

You got in the front seat, unaware of the glances being exchanged in the back or the glare Steve was giving them.

"Seat belts!" Steve said as he got into the driver's seat. You giggled at him as the kids groaned. You caught the way his face lit up when he looked at you, and butterflies tickled your insides.

Once the kids had listened and all were buckled, Steve pulled out of the parking lot and started his way through Hawkins, dropping them off one-by-one: Will first, on the outskirts of town, his mother waiting at the door; Max, who was relieved the Camaro wasn't in the driveway; Dustin next, his new cat sitting on the front step; Lucas, who was immediately met with his snarky young sister; Mike last, Nancy already at the door—saying goodbye to Jonathan.

You glanced at Steve. "You alright?"

Steve looked at you, releasing a deep sigh. "I'm okay," he said. "I...I'm doing better now."

"Good," you said. "You deserve it."

Steve gave you a curious look before he said, "Let's get you home, right?"

"Right."

And if Steve drove slower the whole way back to yours compared to driving the kids home, you weren't going to say anything.

When he got back to your house, Steve pulled into the driveway and sighed. "Well. Home sweet home," he said.

You looked at Steve with a smile. "Thanks for the ride home." You picked up the bag you had put on the ground. You got out, then stopped yourself before you could close the door. You crouched to look at him in the car. "Hey, Steve?"

"Yeah?" Was it just your imagination, or did he sound nervous?

You took a deep breath. Now or never.

"I talk about you all the time, too."

For a moment, Steve processed your words. Then his eyes went wide. Hope bloomed on his slack-jawed face. "You..." He bit his lip, holding back a smile. "You mean that you..."

"Yes, Steve," you said, voice quiet. "Always have. Just ask my friends—they'll give away my secrets just as quickly as Dustin gave away yours." You drummed your fingers against the roof of his car. "Do with that what you will. It's up to you if...you want to even acknowledge it or not." You closed his door and started for your front door.

A door squeaked and then slammed shut moments later; running steps approached you.

"Wait!"

You turned as Steve's hand fell on your shoulder, pulling you close to him. He yanked your body close to his, his arms sliding around you, his hands gripping your shoulder blades. For a split second, you reveled in his hug, noticing the difference in it, relishing in the love in his arms instead of the misery.

Those few seconds became nothing as Steve pulled back. You gave a sound of protest, quickly squashed by Steve's lips.

Your heart had stopped beating, but was simultaneously pounding. You moved on instinct, looping your arms around his shoulders, yanking him down to you. Never once did your lips part from his as the two of you grappled to hold each other in the best way possible.

Thunder boomed overhead. You gasped, pulling apart.

"Was it supposed to storm?" you asked.

"I didn't think so," Steve said.

You kissed him again. Steve smiled into the kiss.

"You should get home before it pours," you whispered against his lips. But neither of you made any move to let go of each other.

Steve adjusted so that his head was against yours, his mouth at your temple. "See you tomorrow in class, then?"

You hummed. "Yeah. Tomorrow."

Steve pressed a kiss to your forehead. "I don't wanna leave."

You looked up at the sky, watching the already-grey skies grow darker as storm clouds rolled in. "We're going to get soaked if we stay out here, Steve."

Steve squeezed you tightly. "Tomorrow, then." He kissed your forehead again. "I'll see you tomorrow...sweetheart."

You beamed at the nickname while Steve blushed while he gave you the moniker.

"And to think," you whispered. "You'd known me all this time, but this? This happened all because you stopped in my store one day."

Steve hugged you tight to his chest. "I wish I'd noticed you before, sweetheart, really I do."

You kissed him. "Well, you've noticed me now." Light rain started, dusting Steve's hair until it sparkled. "Now go, before that pretty hair of yours gets ruined."

He grinned, brushing his hand through it. "I knew you liked my hair."

"Always have." You pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. "Always will."

☞ ❊ ☜

Stranger Things // Steve Harrington

part 2? lmk!

Taglist: {comment and let me know if you'd like to be added to the S.H. taglist!} @ohatropa@nix-rose@live-the-fangirl-life

#stranger things #steve harrington #steve the hair harrington #king steve #season 1 steve #stranger things season 1 #nancy wheeler #stranger things au #stancy #stancy breakup #stancy angst #steve harrington x nancy wheeler #steve x reader #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington x you #steve x y/n #joe keery #tommy and carol #carol stranger things #tommy h stranger things #record store #80s music #record store romance #poll fic #poll results #season 1 #season 2 #friends to lovers #mutual pining

[imthursdaysyme]

past relationship stancy

#stranger things #drawing #art #steve harrington #digital art #nancy wheeler #nancy wheeler fanart #steve harrington fanart #stancy #i’m not a romantic stancy girl #i am tho a #we had a absolutley devastating soul crushing past relationship and wr both still love each other but not romantically #that’s my love #i love divorced stancy with a kid #i love past stancy where they’re nervous around each other bc they both crushed each others hearts #i just love the way you can see their relationship change and grow past the romantic #and see what might happen if they let themselves be friends later #and then they still have such a softness toward each other in later life after the breakup bc they need to be delicate with each other #overcompensate even with softness and kindness #bc they both look at each other and see what they used to be and what happened between them #anyway #comic #stranger things fanart

[lunar-years]

The obvious time jump happening in stranger things 5 makes the teenage love triangle plot even wonkier and terrible like you’re really trying to convince me Steve continues to pine after Nancy for THREE MORE YEARS? Get a grip 😭 why on earth did they ever reintroduce it in the first place

#it does in fact make me worried for offscreen jancy breakup #they’re going to get the Roy-keeley treatment I fear 😭 #stranger things #nancy wheeler #anti stancy #jonathan byers #steve harrington

[devondespresso]

writing my silly little fic and again im struck with how much opportunities they missed by pretending the s2 stancy breakup wasn't messy, specifically for Nancy's guilt about barb and forcing herself to grow up too fast

like s1 Nancy spends one night being a stupid teenager goofing off at her boyfriend's party and staying over to get spicy while Barb goes home. then she later realizes Barb disappeared and died that one night she was letting go and having fun. this is widely recognized trauma for her and informs a lot if not most of her actions through the rest of the show

in season 2 she's feeling the weight of it more around the first year anniversary. steve trys to help by taking her to a party to forget for a little while and 'be stupid teenagers' for a night. a perfectly set up parallel already

the way the show wants it to go, we get the bullshit argument, they fight, allegedly break up at some point, and nancy sleeps with Jonathan. later steve tells her to go with him and we're supposed to read it as Steve stepping back so jancy can happen. we're supposed to be seeing this as a happy ending.

but with the material we're given this would have been the perfect place for an emotional repeat of season 1 for nancy. she and steve go to the party and pretend to be stupid teenagers for the night. but oh no! nancy lets lose too much, lets herself relax and drink and dance, and the next day her boyfriend's pissed. hes saying she said things she never remembered saying and its hurt him and she doesn't know what to do. and kids around school are talking about them breaking up at the party, and that fits with Steve's anger she saw, so they must've broken up right? it sucks, even if she wasn't in love with him, that'd be the worst way to break up with someone (especially if she's confusing platonic and romantic feelings or convincing herself it has to be romantic when she really just values him as a friend)

and then she doesn't have time to work it out, she needs to go with Jonathan to avenge barbs 'disappearance' to give her family closure. She's got a lot of conspiracy shit to do and its stressful. so when murray starts going off about how she's not really in love with steve, how she actually likes Jonathan and he seems to like her back. they finished a lot of the hard work with the conspiracy stuff, she can let her guard down and have a quick good night.

then the next day is chaos. demodogs and labs and will being possessed. It a rough fucking day. Steve tells her to go with Jonathan while they get the mindflayer out of Will, civil like they're on good terms so she does (and thank god she did because that was rough and they needed all the help they could get)

and then everything's fine again, with the upside down. and it looks like she handled things better this time, was about to relax occasionally and still made it through.

except apparently she and steve didn't break up. he thought it was just a few fights, that they put their shit aside for the apocalypse and now they can work things out.

and it could ruin nancy. a year later and she's still hasn't learned her lesson, that letting her guard down hurts the people she cares about, that relaxing and having fun makes her lose people. its her fault for the messy breakup with Steve and its her fault that barb is gone. she's the reason she's lost friends close to her, 2 for 2, and now she only has Jonathan left (and what do you know, season 3 has her conflict with Jonathan and in season 4 she's not let anyone else get truly close to her and fred still dies)

you see what i mean?? by having conflict magical resolve itself in the background we loose so much powerful, painful character drama for her. our girl who thinks she has to keep the world around her up solely on her shoulders because she can't handle the loss of her best friend in season 1. Nancy who desperately wants to be normal and have people she loves but keeps losing them, through factors both in and out of her control, but feels like everything has to be her fault just because some things were.

and to be fair, that story is still present in the show. its there and definitely compelling, but it could've been even more so. i feel like if maybe there was less 'nancy has to be a strong independent girlboss' in there (abd it's definitely there, they want to make a point of making her a Strong Woman Character so bad) and she was allowed to have mistakes acknowledged by the narrative, this is the direction it would've gone. She could've been an excellent example of well written women who are strong and awesome through their own right instead of the narrative trying to make us like her

#nancy wheeler #stranger things meta #stranger things thoughts #platonic stancy #stranger things #platonic stancy because while this could definitely be used in a jancy breakup then stancy fic #my personal theory is that she thinks she should like him romantically because he sees her like that but she actually likes him as a friend #and the bullshit scene was just the worst way for her to say it because she waited so long and refused to when she was sober #also didn't tag anti-nancy because i don't think it is really? like its anti-canon-depiction-because-i-think-they-did-her-dirty #also this is kinda nancy pov so its not like she's actually at fault for everything but in her mind she blames herself anyway #so yea #the fic is my Steve Henderson AU btw for ppl who've never seen me before #stancys not the focus (its steve pov with the Hendersons being main characters) but i want to do a serious platonic stancy workthrough in i #so this is just my headcanons (technically canon compliant based on what we see on screen but not following the narrative direction y'know) #devon's steve henderson au #steve henderson au rambles #hoping praying to god this doesn't make people angry but if it does feel free to block me i don't mind and i really dont want to argue #no disc horse for me just silly little thoughts and headcanons thanks for understanding #devon thinks sometimes

[dreamfinder83]

It makes me so happy that in season 1, pretentious Jonathan told Nancy she would end up like her parents in a loveless boring marriage if she ended up with Steve, even though he didn’t know either of them personally, but then in season 4 Jonathan believes his relationship with Nancy is the one that will lead to both of them being miserable. You love to see it.

#stancy #just let Stancy be endgame #let jancy breakup already #hopefully Jancy will have broken up some time during the big time jump before the start of season 5 #nancy x steve #steve harrington #nancy wheeler

[unfinishedslurs]

steve gets vecna'd (stancy)

“Favorite song!” Nancy cries, shaking Steve by the shoulders. “Robin, what’s—“

“I-it’s, shit, uh.” Robin’s hands are shaking, terrified. “Careless Whisper! His favorite song is Careless Whisper!”

“George Michael? Fucking George Michael?!” Eddie shouts, scrambling through tapes. 

“Is this really the time for your music snobbery?” 

“It is when I don’t have any George Michael in my fucking trailer!”

“I’m never gonna dance again,” Robin sings. “Guilty feet have got no rhythm! Though it’s easy to pretend—“

“I know you’re not a fool,” Nancy joins. Her voice isn’t the best, but it’s better than nothing. 

She and Robin harmonize the best they can, trying to keep a rhythm amidst the panic. Then Robin has to break off. 

“Nancy, do you know all the words?”

She doesn’t stop singing as an answer. Of course she knows the words, she and Steve had listened to it together over and over again when it first came out. Neither of them are particularly good singers, but they gave it their all. Enduring more than a few disgusted looks from Mike when they had to give him a ride somewhere. 

She still can’t hear the song without smiling. It wasn’t the same without Steve’s rough voice in the mix, but that’s her own fault. She doesn’t get to miss what she gave away. 

Her voice rises above the noise of their friends, practically shouting when she reaches the crescendo. “Tonight the music seems so loud! I wish that we could lose this crowd.” His feet start leaving the floor, and she grips his arms desperately enough to leave bruises. “Maybe it’s better this way, we’d hurt each other with the things we want to say! We could have been so good together, we could have lived this dance forever, but now who’s gonna dance with me?” There’s tears streaming down her face, and her voice breaks when she sings, “Please—“

He falls. 

“Nancy?”

“Yeah?” She gasps out on a sob. He’s alive, her heart sings. He’s alive, he’s alive, he’s alive—

“You’re kind of on my bites.”

“Your…oh!” She scrambles off of him. God, how could she forget he’d been eaten alive? She pushes the vest aside, examining them with a single minded determination that has no room for the embarrassed flush on her face. 

They’re bleeding again. Shit. 

“Do you think you can make it up the rope?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” he says. She can hear the waver in his voice, and she knows he’s not sure at all. She can’t do anything about that, though. He’s got at least fifty pounds on her, she doubts she could help him up. 

She almost calls for Eddie, but Steve’s already heaving himself up the rope. 

He groans when he lands on the mattress, and everyone surrounds him instantly. Dustin throws himself down on top of him, and Steve lets out a pained yelp. 

“Bites!” Eddie exclaims, waving his hands. “The man’s been chewed on by hell beasts, Henderson, be careful!”

“He what?” Dustin shrieks.

#steve gets vecna'd au #stancy #steve harrington #nancy wheeler #i made a whole stancy breakup mix for this one #of songs steve would listen to facedown on his bed after s2 #stranger things fanfic #this could also be read as platonic stancy or pre-stoncy

[jonathanssweatercollection]

you still resent nancy and jonathan for getting together???? for “hurting steve’s feelings”??? despite the fact that he verbally supported their relationship like 2 hours after seeing them together. this from a season that released 6 fucking years ago. a season prior to him saying that he was NOT in love with nancy anymore. do you want me to call shawn levy and tell him of your dilemma. bestie do you need to rewatch the source material

#ppl will use ANY excuse to hate nancy and jonathan to prop steve* up #their flanderised ‘pwecious little babygirl’ steve who is a delicate little flower who’s still butthurt over his high school breakup #albeit s4 did completely surrender to this bs characterisation bc the duffers don’t know how to write a storyline for steve that doesn’t #involve him being a lovestruck loser nowadays. SAD #get me in that writers room i could give him something good thats not egregiously repetitive #funny that the post that sparked this was an ANTI MURRAY FANFIC?????? in 2023. bc him suggesting jon+nancy should be together was unfair to #fuckin STEVE?????? #1) murray is literally a jokey funnyguy character. he’s a little guy it’s his birthday he makes risotto studies martial arts is a conspiracy #theorist who daydrinks and snores on airplanes. he’s SO unserious #if u want to hate on him thats fine good for u whatever but do it for. normal reasons. like encouraging teenagers to drink and have sex in #his bunker. like he was not normal for that i get it i used to kinda dislike him for that too but like. its literally not meant 2 be #that big of a deal. nothing matters there’s no point the show hasn’t been genuinely good for six years nothing matters go outside go to bed #anyways. happy 3 AM everyone im going to sleep love and what have you on planet earth #stranger things #nancy wheeler #steve harrington #jonathan byers #mine

[harringroveera]

Max: Like your family’s perfect. Your sister’s a pervert!

Mike: Don’t talk to me about the sexual habits of family members. What about your brother?

Max: …

Max: My brother has been through a lot

Mike: Of dick

Max: *gasp*

#billy hargrove #cant tell me max and mike never argued like this lmfao #harringrove #bc i said so #nancy wheeler #max mayfield #mike wheeler #source: the breakup #incorrect billy hargrove quotes #billy hargrove imagine #billy hargrove headcanon #billy hargrove au #harringroveera #billy hargrove meme #billy hargrove text post #billy hargrove tag #billy & max #billy x steve #incorrect harringrove quotes #harringrove textpost #harringrove ship #harringrove + text posts #harringrove meme #harringrove memes

[heavencasteel420]

I don’t ship R*nance, but, man, it’s wild seeing people go “um, why would you ship that, Nancy is so mean to Robin” when they ship H@rringrove. Shouldn’t they be bored because Nancy’s not mean enough? She doesn’t even pop up when Robin’s gazing longingly at Vickie to go “huh, guess your crush is getting porked by Mr. Mullet tonight,” let alone break crockery over her head.

#tbh my real hot take is that Steve’s stank attitude towards Eddie #(while not actually a big deal) #is less sympathetic than nancy being short with Robin right after seeing a dead body #st*ddie is fine to me #it’s a McDonald’s happy meal #unremarkable but good at the right moment #but I’ll be real with you all I don’t see what’s in it for Eddie based on the show dynamics #some people write it good though #I will be additionally real with y’all #the real reason I lost interest in r*nance #is that I read one too many fics where Nancy is disappointed in jonathan #for smoking weed when she taught him that poetry is just another way to rap #not literally but close to that #like. ugh. why make her so uncool and condescending #also—and I don’t think this applies to most people who ship it #just a subset of Steve stans #sometimes it feels like a way for Steve to win their breakup #it’s a bummer #okay. ship diss track over.

[afewproblems]

Season 2 Halloween AU Part Four

Part One, Part Two, Part Three

A very big thank you to @strangersteddierthings for chatting with me today and being such a great sounding board for the next update!

Synopsis: What if Eddie had been at Tina's Halloween Party in Season Two? Featuring Steve!Whump, Stancy Breakup, and Eddie just trying to keep up with all these new revelations about who King-Steve actually is...

***

"So…I have to ask," Eddie blurts out, cutting through the awkward silence that has fallen between them, "how were you gonna pick up your car before you ran into me?"

"I don't think it counts as running into you, if you were waiting for me Munson," Steve side steps the question expertly, flashing him a strange smirk that seems out of place. It falls after a second and twists into something pained.

"I was hoping Nance would take me," Steve says eventually, his voice soft, "which was pretty stupid in hindsight, 'specially cuz she was counting on me to drive her this morning, which--"

Steve cuts himself, snapping his mouth shut with a harsh click of teeth, he shakes his head and lifts his hand to run roughly through his hair.

"Doesn't matter anymore".

Eddie holds his breath, feeling the conversation begin to shift. It's as though he's stepped onto a tightrope and any wrong move could potentially send him over the edge.

He settles for nodding once, turning the key in the ignition.

Steve sighs and lets himself fall back into his seat, "I know you know already, the whole fucking school does, Billy saw to that," Steve gestures to his face, "say what you really want to ask". 

Eddie's fingers tighten around the wheel as he turns them out of the parking lot, fighting the immediate urge to say, 'why did Miss Priss throw it all away?' 

"You think I believe the rumours that come out of that shithole?" Eddie lies, keeping his eyes on the road this time.

He can feel Steve's unimpressed stare as they continue down mainstreet.

"Right, so you had no clue I was in detention?"

Eddie chews the inside of his cheek to fight the sly grin that begins to creep over his face, "Alright smart ass".

He hazards another glance at Steve as they begin to hit the residential area, he looks so different from the night before.

His limbs are loose, tension free, if it weren't for the heavy bags under Steve's eyes and the nervous tap of his fingers on the passenger door, Eddie would think he was finally relaxed.

"I knew a fight definitely happened, it's Hargrove," Eddie says slowly, carefully weighing his words, "but I typically prefer to hear the whole sordid story from the source before I pass any judgements, ya know?" 

Steve doesn't say anything as they continue driving through residential  the houses getting progressively bigger as they go.

"Did you," Steve pauses and breathes out slowly before shaking his head and lifting his face to meet Eddie's gaze, "is that offer for something stronger still open?" 

Eddie smiles, "I think that can be arranged". 

***

Eddie pulls over beside Tina Cline's house, wincing as the right front tire rolls over the curb and bounces the van as it lands on the street once more, startling a snort out of Steve. 

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up Harrington," Eddie huffs as Steve shoots him a grin.

"Didn't say a word," Steve hums, unbuckling himself from the seat. Eddie watches as he opens the door and hops out. For a moment Eddie worries Steve will pull the same disappearing act from last night but he simply stops beside his car door and motions for Eddie to roll down his window. 

Eddie cracks his door open instead, "window's broken, what?" 

Steve rolls his eyes, "whatever Munson, you know the way? It's north on 5th and--"

"Then two more rights, yeah man," Eddie says with a laugh in his voice, "I dropped you off remember?" 

"Fuck off," Steve huffs out, he's grinning though.

Steve swings the Beemer’s door open and slides in. He turns on the ignition and flinches at the loud burst of music from the stereo, the volume obviously set from the mood of the previous night. 

'I want to know what love is, I want you to show me--'

Steve slams his hand against the console, cutting off the song with a harsh crack. 

The van is parked just behind the Beemer so Eddie can't see Steve's face, but his head drops down onto the wheel for just the briefest moment before he slowly lifts it, turns on his signal and pulls away from the curb. 

***

Steve beats him to the house.

He's getting out of the car, which is parked on the long driveway as Eddie pulls up to the street. 

Eddie hops out of the van, hiking his backpack higher up on his shoulders, not bothering to lock it. Who would even want his shitty van among the BMWs and Mercedes parked down this street --hell, Eddie could have sworn he saw a Jag three houses down.

Eddie stops short of the lawn. The Harrington house is so different in the light of day, the strange emptiness that seemed to ooze out of the dark windows the night before has disappeared, leaving an ordinary house in its wake. 

"Well?" Steve calls out as he pulls a pair of keys from his back pocket and spins them once on his finger, "you coming or what Munson?" 

Eddie rolls his eyes and jogs to catch up to Steve who turns on his heel to stride up the walk. He stuffs the key into the deadbolt and swings one of the double doors inwards before shucking off his sneakers.

No shoes? Fucking rich people man.

Steve must notice Eddie's expression because he blushes and shrugs, "I know, I know, but my parents will be home for Thanksgiving this year so…may as well…"

He gestures around the sterile foyer with a tight smile, as though it explains everything. 

If anything, Eddie has more questions. 

Steve cuts off the thought by clearing his throat, "we should smoke outside, last thing I need is for you to burn a hole in the couch or something".

Eddie steps over the threshold and has to stop himself from whistling, were the ceilings always this high in this place?

He lifts his foot to unlace his left chuck, snorting at the strange little table in the middle of the foyer. A giant vase sits atop it filled with a mixture of what have to be silk flowers --no way they were real. He pulls the shoe off and tosses it to the side before lifting his right foot. 

Eddie never had the greatest balance so he hops back and forth with his right foot in the air before hopping as close as he can to the wall of the foyer and leaning back against it.

He finally gets the knot in his laces undone and throws the sneaker to the floor, dropping his right foot to the hardwood.

Eddie looks up to find Steve staring with a bemused expression on his face, he ignores the wide hazel eyes and removes the backpack from his shoulders -which can't have been helping the balance issue. 

Eddie unzips the top and yanks out the trusty metal lunchbox, sliding a wicked grin into place.

"You said something about outside?"

***

By the time they've settled, facing one another on a couple of pool loungers, the sun has begun to dip low, painting the patio and empty pool a warm glowing copper. It catches Steve's hair, which shines like gold in the dying sunlight, like some Autumnal Fae King--

Eddie wants to slap himself, suddenly thankful for the November wind that cuts through the backyard, forcing him to chillout.

He picks up the grinder from his lunchbox, unscrewing the cap to open it.

"You good with a joint this evening my good King?" 

He pours a handful of a new strain Rick let him try the other day into the grinder and starts twisting. It's not something he would typically share with anyone other than Jeff, but Steve seemed like he could use something a little more special tonight.

Eddie looks up after a beat of silence, "yo, Major Tom, you with me?" 

Steve's face is pinched, tilted towards the empty pool, "please don't call me that," he says quietly.

"Major Tom?"

Steve raises his eyes to meet Eddie's gaze, his mouth cuts a hard line across his face, the typical easy grin it usually houses is gone. 

"King-Steve," he runs a hand through his hair, letting the fingers linger to grip and pull, "I just, that's not who I am anymore, I don't--"

Steve swallows harshly, "that's all anyone could talk about this morning".

He drops his voice and octave, "oh, King Steve is so pussy whipped he let his girl fuck Jonathan Byers before she dumped him".

"Is that what Hargrove said?" Eddie asks quietly as he pours out a portion of weed onto a paper.

Steve shakes his head, "that was Tommy, but that wasn't why I hit him". 

Eddie nods, and lifts the joint to his mouth to run his tongue along the edge of the paper. Steve watches him from the lounger, his eyes follow the movement before he blinks and continues.

"Tommy and I had been best friends since we were five, he uh, he knows a lot about me," Steve lifts his hand to his mouth and chews the nail of his thumb briefly before dropping it back into his lap.

"Stuff I don't tell anyone, stuff he knows will hurt". 

Eddie nods, twisting the joint closed, he can kind of understand that, although the only person in his life that knew him like that was Wayne.  

And Wayne would never hurt him. 

Did Steve really not have anyone else like that in his life, someone he could tell anything to that wouldn't look at him weird or judge him. Someone safe.

"Anyway, Hargrove started in on me after that, but he's been fucking with me for awhile so," Steve shrugs again, "he saw his big opportunity here".

"Hargrove's been messing with you?" Eddie asks sharply as he pours more weed onto another paper. He lifts it and runs his tongue along the edge of the paper before twisting it into shape. When he looks up, Steve's ears have gone slightly pink and he's sitting strangely, slightly hunched and twisted.

"Yeah," Steve says after a moment, he clears his throat and straightens his back, "yeah, it's just been at practice so far, and I thought it was just because he wanted to one up me for my spot but," he shakes his head, "it's getting worse". 

"You know, I have a bit of a reputation around school," Eddie says slowly, carefully, watching as Steve freezes and looks at Eddie with wide eyes.

"The Hellfire club is more than just the game we're playing, it's also kind of a sanctuary for kids that don't have anyone to lean on, we look after each other," Eddie continues, ignoring the way Steve relaxes slightly, "you wouldn't need to play or anything but if you need somewhere to sit at lunch now…" 

Steve looks at Eddie for a long time, his expression blank, guarded, "really? Just like that?" 

"Yeah man, besides I get to use my 'Mean and Scary Guy' persona on these fuckers so it's a win-win for me".

Steve grins, raising one skeptical eyebrow, "mean and scary?"

Eddie bristles a little bit at the questioning tone in Steve's voice and can't quite swallow the urge to snarl, "yeah I mean you looked plenty scared of the town freak yesterday". 

Steve winces and immediately starts to shake his head, inching forward in his seat so he's even closer to Eddie, their knees are almost touching.

"That's not, I wasn't," he stops and takes a deep breath, "I was upset about Nancy and it was so dark outside, the trees--"

"You afraid of the dark Harrington?" Eddie cuts him off, the lingering irritation still simmers in his voice as he coos. 

Steve just looks at him, there's something strange about the haunted expression on his face that makes the hair on the back of Eddie's arms stand on end. 

"Things happen in the dark, in the woods," Steve says softly, his eyes drift to the empty pool again. 

Eddie opens his mouth to ask Steve what the hell he means by that, when a voice shouts across the yard.

"Steve? STEVE?!" 

The sound of someone running through the grass has them both of their feet, the joints forgotten on the pool loungers. 

"Dustin?" 

A kid, he can't be more than twelve or thirteen, skids into the porchlight that has replaced the last copper rays of evening light, the sun fully set by now. The kid's blue eyes are wide underneath a mop of curly hair and hat, he's breathing hard.

"I need your help".

Tag List: @eriquin @luvinthefreaks @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @goodolefashionedloverboi @ellietheasexylibrarian @bambibiest @sadboislovebeans @howincrediblysapphicofyou @coleys-a-nerd @whycantiuseunderscore @airconditioning123 @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx @corrodedbisexual @starman-jpg @ilovecupcakesandtea @yoriposts @clumsiluni @pelinelin @phantomcat94 @lololol-1234 @anaibis @airconditioning123 @steveshairspray @hellfireone @sunswathe @eddielives1986 @tentativeghost @robin-not-batman @estrellami-1 @manda-panda-monium @tinyplanet95 @perseus-notjackson

Part Five

and for some peeps that I think may be interested! @steddierthings @steddie-there @steves-strapcollection @outpastthebrakers @henderdads @stevesbipanic

#stranger things #stranger things season 2 au #steve harrington #eddie munson #steve and nancy breakup #what would have happened if eddie had been at tinas halloween party? #this fic is going places apparently #eddie is having all sorts of complicated feelings about steve here #i will never get tired of halloween party breakup aus #you can pry them from my cold dead fingers #afewproblems writes #cw marijuana #crossing into the canon upside down stuff now #lets goooooooooo #dustin meets eddie early #eddie is listening to steve talk and just thinking ??? #like what is wrong with this boy there are too many things to count #cw bullying #billy hargrove is his own warning #I might rename this Castles Crumble based on that TSwift vault song #such a steve song am I right?

[withacapitalp]

How to Rehabilitate a Jock Pt 15

Part One Part Fourteen Link to ao3. Part Sixteen

Not exactly in love with this one but I just needed to move past it at this point RIP

“Jonathan, how are you so bad at this? It’s literally impossible that you are this bad at decorating.” Nancy proclaimed exasperatedly as the two of them watched the garland slip away from her boyfriend and fall to the ground for the fourth time in a row.

Steve snorted at Nancy’s loud declaration, hiding the bright smile on his face behind a hand. The couple had come early to help him set up for the party, but most of their time had been spent choosing various records to listen to throughout the night and making fun of Jonathan’s absolutely abysmal decorating skills. 

“I’m Jewish!” Jonathan protested, his cheeks burning a soft red as he began to climb down the ladder once more, “I don’t know how this works!”

“You guys celebrate Christmas too,” Nancy shot back, walking over to grab the garland from the ground and hand it up to him so he didn’t have to come all the way down again. 

“Will and my mom do,” Jonathan argued, gearing up for round five with the decorations, “I refuse on principle,”

“Principle,” Nancy huffed, rolling her eyes and turning to Steve with a look. It was a look he knew well, the one that said ‘can you believe him?’. 

It was fun to be on the other side of that look

Steve shrugged at her silent question, staying out of the debate as he reached for another glass bauble. His mother was very particular about where on the tree each ornament had to go, and even if she wasn’t going to see it this year, Steve still wanted it to look perfect. 

He had no idea why he cared when she obviously didn’t anymore, but maybe Jonathan was right. Sometimes it was about the principle of things.  

Speaking of Jonathan, Steve looked away from the tree just in time to see the garland slip out of his hands for a record fifth time. There was no hiding his laughter this time, and Nancy joined Steve in unstoppable giggles as Jonathan gave them both a spiteful scowl. 

“Okay, I give up. Decorations are stupid, and impossible, and not worth the effort,” Jonathan grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and pushing out a short irritated sigh. 

“Byers, the night we became friends your house was literally covered in Christmas lights,” Steve joked, scooping up the garland and hopping up onto the other side of the ladder, “I think you can handle it.”

Steve held the decoration up in place, raising his eyebrows and briefly making eye contact before looking at the hammer in Jonathan’s hands. 

”Yeah, and do you remember how the house looked, Harrington?” Jonathan asked rhetorically, a wry grin overtaking the grumpy look as he picked up the hammer and began to position the first nail. 

“That was the night you guys became friends?” Nancy interjected before Steve could reply. 

Steve hummed in consideration, turning his head down to look at her. She was standing just below them, arms crossed as she raised one slim brow in their direction. 

“Sure. Why not?” Jonathan shrugged, smacking the nail right on the head. 

“Yeah, Nance. Everyone knows that the best way to make friends is killing interdimensional monsters together,” Steve announced, like that was completely common knowledge that she obviously should have known. 

There was a brief silence as Nancy and Steve stared each other down, and then she cracked, snorting out a soft huff of laughter and shaking her head. Jonathan snickered from the other side of the ladder, and Steve indulged himself in a slightly cheesy grin.

It was nice, the easy way of things now that they had finally talked. There was nothing hanging over the three of them-

Well, there was nothing hanging over them that they had created. Sure, Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan still had secrets, but they were shared secrets, and that made the weight all the lighter. 

“I didn’t know you were Jewish,” Steve said idly as they went back to focusing on the garland. 

“On my mom’s side,”Jonathan explained, grabbing the last nail, reaching into Steve’s space to hammer it in, “Now that my dad finally took off for good we can actually talk about it without it starting a fight,”’

Yet another reason to hate Lonnie Byers. Steve didn’t really understand being Jewish or anything, but this obviously mattered to Jonathan, and it didn’t seem like it would be that hard to include some Hanukkah things in with Christmas. 

Wait. 

“Should I have gotten like a menorah too? Or some kind of special food?” Steve asked as they began to climb down, suddenly worried that he might be acting just like Lonnie by not including something special for their holiday too. 

“Hanukkah was almost two weeks ago, Steve,” Jonathan deadpanned, “Don’t worry, all the being Jewish is done for the year,” 

Shit. He didn’t even know that. Here he was trying to claim that they were spontaneously friends now, but this was just another reminder of how little Steve actually understood about Jonathan. 

He knew Nancy as much as Nancy let anyone know her, but Jonathan was still an X factor. Even after their moment in the Wheeler’s basement, it still felt like there was this fortress around him, a big heavy wall built by years of being jaded and fearful of the way the rest of the world treated him. Jonathan’s mindset seemed to be permanently stuck in hurt before you get hurt- a spikey, reactionary way of living that made him use his words as weapons 

Steve understood it, but he wanted to be able to find a way to get around it. 

He didn’t want walls. Not with them. Not anymore. He just didn’t know how to start climbing. But apparently Jonathan was going to throw him down a rope. 

“But…I appreciate the thought,” Jonathan added in a softer tone when he saw Steve’s wince, awkward and unsure as he carefully avoided eye contact, “It’s nice. That you care. You know?”

Steve didn’t reply because he wasn’t exactly sure what to say, but he gently bumped his shoulder against Jonathan’s, hoping that would say everything he wanted to. Judging by the blush on Jonathan’s cheeks, it had at least had some effect.

Progress was progress. Steve would take it.  

He walked back over to the tree, both of the others following him like ducklings, looking slightly lost now that most of the other decorations were up. Steve had smoothly avoided having them by the tree, but now there was no way to keep them back without it seeming weird. 

“Okay,” Steve sighed, hating the way his shoulders were automatically starting to tense up, “So Nancy if you want to do the blue ones, they go in a full circle at the bottom, and then a clockwise diagonal spiral up to the top. Clockwise like to the left and up. Jonathan there should be two red ones on every level, so you can do those. Well, up until you get to the last five, then it’s just one red one on every level, because there isn’t enough space. Make sure you space them out enough to leave room, but not spaced out in the same places. When we’re done with the basic ones, we can add the special ones.”

It was the instructions his mother gave him every year, the ones Steve knew by heart. He was an expert in tree decorating by now, and he was used to directing whoever was helping him with a deadly efficiency. 

But instead of just starting the way Tommy and Carol might have, Jonathan and Nancy gave Steve a shared look of confusion. 

“They’re ornaments, Steve,” Nancy said, slowly, like she was talking to one of the kids, “Wherever we put them should be fine, right?”

No. It wasn’t. 

This was the way the tree was supposed to look, the way Steve had decorated it every single year of his life. His mother would get upset if the tree looked wrong, and then his dad would be irritated that she was in a mood, and it would be all Steve’s fault for just not making the tree look the way it was supposed to. 

But…

“Hello darling! I guess you’re out with Tommy and Carol right now, but I hope you get home soon. Even when we aren’t there your curfew is still midnight. You know I worry if I don’t know where you are.”

But did she still worry about him? Did his mother know that Steve hadn’t paid attention to curfew since he was about fifteen? She didn’t know he hadn’t spoken to Tommy and Carol in almost a year. 

“Listen, Steven, I’m so sorry, but there’s been a slight change of plans. Your father and I were supposed to be home on Christmas Eve, but one of his partners invited us to a Christmas party in New York. We really can’t miss this, not when they’re still considering that merger with Smith and Kinsey. I know you understand.”

But he didn’t. Not really. He understood his father, but why did she have to go with him? Why couldn’t just his mom come back home? 

“We’re going to try and come back for a few days between Christmas and New Years. I’ll try to call in the morning on Christmas.”

But she wouldn’t be able to come back. They would find some excuse. Some party, some work event, some reason to not have to be here. They always did. 

Ah! Alright, Richard, I’m coming! Sorry, your father brought the car around and he’s honking up a storm. I love you Steven!” 

But…

But his mother wasn’t going to see the tree this year. 

“Yeah,” Steve agreed, knowing that he had already waited too long to reply and they had caught on that something deeper was at play, “I guess it doesn’t matter.” 

Ring. Ring.

Saved by the bell. 

“I’ll get the door,” Steve said, relieved for a reason to take away the ornaments. He carefully covered the box and placed it on the table, watching to make sure not a single bauble was jostled out of place. When they were safe, he turned to Nancy and Jonathan, shooting them a winning KingSteve smile. 

It was fine. He was fine. 

“Nancy, put on some music and Jonathan… you make us some Hanukkah decorations to add in here,” Steve directed, giving them jobs that were far away from the tree. 

Rinnnnnnnnng. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. 

“How am I supposed to-“

“I believe in you!” Steve called out behind him, already walking away before Jonathan could finish his questions. Steve had no idea what a Hanukkah decoration would be, but if it mattered to the Byers, then it mattered to him. 

Plus this would be a great distraction from the tree, and the ornaments, and all of the stupid emotions that came with them. 

Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. 

“I’m coming!” Steve yelled as the doorbell continued to obnoxiously chime. Someone was pressing on it over and over, and he had a pretty good idea of who was waiting for him on the other side. 

Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Ri-

“Do you know how annoying that is?” Steve said as he opened the door, looking down at Eddie who was bent at the waist, staring at the bell with laser-like intensity as he pressed it as quickly as he could over and over. 

Eddie popped up, giving Steve a gremlin smirk and scrunching up his nose in an oddly adorable way. 

“We’ve been waiting out here for ages,” Eddie replied, dragging out the word as he tilted his head back and groaned, “I thought you would have the butler standing at attendance waiting for our arrival, Sweetheart.”

“Gave him the week off for the holiday. Sorry, Babydoll,” Steve shot back, rolling his eyes as he looked at the rest of the group waiting on his doorstep and waved them in. 

It wasn’t the entirety of Hellfire, not even by half. Jeff and Frank were standing behind Eddie, and no one else. They were bundled up in coats and hats and scarves, a stark contrast to Eddie who was wearing only a long sleeve shirt and a beanie on top of his mountain of curls. 

“Just you guys?” Steve asked, trying and failing to hide some of his disappointment. He knew that asking them this late would probably mean that most of them had plans, but it was still a little bit of a let down that they couldn’t even find time to stop by. 

“Uh yeah,” Jeff said as he walked past Steve, taking off his scarf as he did and launching into explanations for everyone’s absences. Janet was in Chicago visiting family, Kaiden’s whole clan was out ice fishing for the week, and Rocky was semi-permanently grounded and thus unable to find a way to sneak out with his parents both home from work for the holidays. 

“And Gareth?” Steve asked, trying to ignore the way all three of them immediately winced. 

“He wasn’t feeling great,” Eddie replied, just a shade too fast. 

It was a lie, a really obvious lie, but Steve didn’t call him out on it. Truthfully he hadn’t really expected Gareth to make it anyway. Steve wasn’t the brightest when it came to school, but he was pretty great at reading people, and he knew well enough how Gareth felt about him. 

“Are we…early?” Frank asked hesitantly, looking around at the mostly empty house, deftly changing the subject. 

Steve furrowed his brow, taking a cursory glance at the clock on the wall just to be sure that he was right. 

“Uh yeah? It’s only five?” Steve questioned back, quirking his head to the side, not quite connecting the dots.  

Jeff and Frank immediately began to groan, and Eddie ducked his head, hiding his face behind his hair as his cheeks immediately darkened to a deep rouge. 

“I told you he said it started at seven!” Jeff shouted, throwing up his hands. 

“Dude, you never listen,” Frank snapped, shooting Eddie a fairly severe glare. 

“Sorry! I’m sorry,” Eddie sighed, pulling on his curls and giving Steve a sheepish little look, “We can come back later if you want?”

“No, it’s totally fine,” Steve quickly replied, wanting to erase the sadness from Eddie’s eyes as fast as he could. Something about seeing him this way was setting off every one of Steve’s instincts and that just couldn’t stand, “You guys can help us finish setting up,”

“Us?” 

“Jonathan and Nancy came early too,” Steve said with a grin. 

He was going to make a joke about the fact that they had been invited to come early, unlike the boys, but he hesitated when he saw the instant stormy look that had appeared on Eddie’s face the second he heard their names. His jaw was set tight, and there was a tightness in his shoulders that looked almost painful. 

Huh.

“If you guys wanna go through, we’re almost done. Just the tree and a few other things left,” Steve instructed. Jeff and Frank went in past him, but Steve caught Eddie’s sleeve as he walked by, pulling him into a short stop. 

“Everything okay?” Steve asked, pitching his voice softer so no one else would catch the question. He wasn’t exactly sure what had happened, but it felt important enough to mention. 

Eddie paused for a second before doing a complete one eighty. His eyes got big and wide, far too innocent to be real, and he pulled a thin smile that looked completely wrong. 

“All good,” Eddie chirped.

Another way too fast response. Eddie’s tells were so easy. Steve raised a single brow, waiting and seeing if Eddie would crack under the pressure and fess up to the lie. 

No dice. Eddie was good at putting up his walls when he needed to be, even if he was crap at lying. 

“Seriously, Steve, I’m fine,” Eddie insisted, holding out his hand. Steve sighed, taking it and immediately gasping at the sensation. 

It was like touching pure ice. 

“Eddie!” Steve exclaimed, reaching out and taking Eddie’s other hand, holding them both tightly in his own. He leaned his head down low, blowing hot air on the two frozen popsicles in his clutches, rubbing Eddie’s fingers to try and get some more blood flowing. 

“You need to wear gloves,” Steve lectured, continuing to warm Eddie’s hands, “Frostbite sucks, and it’s like negative two with wind chill! You need a coat to wear your coat too. I know you have one, so where is it? Huh? Just because you like to go against ‘the man’ doesn't mean you get to act dumb. Do you want to get sick? Because this is how you get sick, Eds. If you need gloves, I can lend you a pair. You at least need…”

Steve trailed off after a quick glance upward, his heart stuttering in his chest.  

Eddie was staring down at him, his eyes wide with something new that Steve couldn’t quite identify. He almost looked scared, but he wasn’t pulling away. The red was back in his cheeks, but there was no shame on his face, no guilt. 

Steve slowly straightened up, still holding Eddie’s hands tightly, his thumb continuing to worry against Eddie’s slightly thawed out palm. Steve’s stomach was doing weird somersaults and when he tried to speak, no words seemed to want to come.  

“Um-”

“HEY GUYS!” 

Frank’s shout startled them both into action. Eddie ripped his hands away, pulling them in close towards his chest, and Steve jumped about a foot in the air, knocking his shoulder painfully against the wall as he did. He dragged a sharp breath in, eyes scrunching up as a wave of hurt washed down his arm. 

“Coming!” Eddie yelped, and Steve opened his eyes just in time to see Eddie hurrying away from him and into the hallway. 

His heart lurched again, more painful this time than nervous. Eddie hadn’t even done anything, he had just walked away, but something about it hurt, and it hurt badly. Steve wasn’t sure why he couldn’t stand people walking away from him anymore, but it was even worse when it was Eddie. 

Then right at the entrance of the living room, Eddie paused, turning around and facing Steve. 

Another long look. Another silence that Steve didn’t know how to break. Even the ache in his shoulder had vanished in the pressure of the moment 

But then Eddie held out his hand, a tiny little grin overtaking his features as his eyes went soft and warm. 

“You comin’ Sweetheart?” 

The tension slid away from Steve’s body at the question, and he nodded. His anxiety melted away, and Steve walked forward, interlocking their fingers and dragging Eddie into the living room. 

Taglist: @paopaupaus @zerokrox-blog @surferboyzaza @whatever-is-a-good-name@minjintea @addelyin @5ammi90 @hagbaby420 @shinekocreator @bornonthesavage @starxlark @electrick-marionnett @resident-gay-bitch @ash-a-confused-enby @classicdinosaurdeathpose @valon-whomsttf @rotten-lil-goblin @thereindeerlady @love-ya-kash @kerlypride @sparkle-fiend @thefreakandthehair @flowercrowngods @milf-harrington @sadcanadianwinter @gothbat99 @hotcocoaharrington @henderdads @lightwoodbanethings @colorful565 @h0n3y-dw @craterbbox @sourw0lfs @lesliiieeeee @bidisastersworld @tinynebula @ravnlinn @bonescaro @mexmatch @cottagecoredreams @joruni @hellykelly @maegan1116 @farewell-wanderlvst @desertfern @due-to-the-fact-that-im-a-slut @anythingforourmoonyedits @eerielake @fandemonium-takes-its-toll @sidekick-hero

#Steve joins hellfire au #Steve harrington #Eddie munson #steddie #steddie au #steddie ficlet #st #stranger things #stranger things 2 #stranger things au #post stancy breakup #post s2 #Steve and eddie #st au #stranger things 2 au #steve harrington #Writing(with a capital W) #Nancy wheeler #Jonathan Byers #jancy #Jeff stranger things #freak stranger things #Eddie would be the type to not wear a coat #and you may quote me on that

[will80sbyers]

Steve & Nancy's breakup | back to the start

#stranger things #stedit #stancy #steve x nancy #strangerthingsedit #stranger things edit #stancy breakup #bullshit scene #steve harrington #nancy wheeler #will80sbyersgifs

[foxysoxes]

"Do you want to come have lunch with me and Jonathan?"

He stared at her for a moment, trying to decide if it was a subtle hint that there were Upside Down things to discuss. But no. Nancy was genuinely inviting him to eat lunch with them. His ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend.

He paused a second longer before saying simply, "No." To Nancy's apparent surprise.

She smiled tightly, "It's alright, Steve. We've been through so much, Jonathan too, we can still-"

"No, we can't, Nance. Or maybe we could but I don't want to."

She looked properly shocked now and went to speak again so he forged ahead.

"You're my ex-girlfriend Nancy, and Jon's the guy you-" left me for he almost finished, but that wasn't quite right. "He's the guy you're dating now. You're right, we have all been through a lot, and if," here he paused again to look around and lower his voice further.

"If it comes back then give me a call. But other than that, we're done."

Nancy was getting that wrinkle between her eyebrows that she always got when trying to understand something new.

"It doesn't have to be that way, we don't have to be just..." she paused and frowned even harder, "Just strangers to each other. After everything. "

He shrugged, "Sure. And we aren't strangers. But we aren't friends either."

Silence while she struggled to come up with another argument.

"We're good, Nance. You know where to find me if you need a boy with a bat again," he finally turned to leave.

"Steve-"

"See you around, Wheeler." And he walked away, doing everything he could to keep his mask of indifference up while his guts twisted.

#steve harrington #stranger things #nancy wheeler #stancy breakup

[friendsdontlieokay]

Can we talk about the fact that the Stancy break up was neither of their fault?

I know that Nancy labelled Steve as bullshit, and really hurt him with that one cause Steve loved her ever so deeply, but if you analyze closely, she was dealing with so much at that moment.

She lost her best friend, and kept accusing herself for ignoring her and thus accusing herself for "killing" her, yes she did blame Steve too, but that was only subconscious until she got drunk.

Listen, I'm not saying what she did was right but I get where she's coming from.

I'm not blaming Steve either, he loved her so so so much, and trust me he still does, and she didn't suggest Nance to go to Tina's party because he was bored, he did that to clear her mind for a while, so she can live like how a "stupid" teenager is supposed to.

So, basically it was just the circumstances that led to their breakup, not an individual person.

#I'm always gonna be a wheeler siblings defender #steve harrington #nancy wheeler #stancy #stancy breakup #analysis #stranger things