#the wheelers and the byers always stick together | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cubicle-eyes · 2 years

Text

How I think the characters on my write list (+a few) would react to you falling asleep on them! (HCs)

This post is a semi-filler. I'm taking a break from my Eddie fic to work on this because my motivation is going DOWN. Rest assured at least two new fics ( not including this one) are coming very soon!

--------

Steve Harrington

- He is stiff as a board.

- He does everything in his power to gently lay you down (if possible) without waking you up.

- He has so many photos of you when you're in deep sleep

- even one where he put yourfinger up your nose

- Dustin liked that one.

--------

Billy Hargrove

- He is also very still.

- He quite likes it, actually

- You're like a weighted blanket to him

- He's not to worried about waking you up

- but he's always sad when you do because he loves you lying on him.

- He has a photo of you asleep in your dinner. Deffo.

-------

Jason Carver

- shoves you to the floor.

- jkjk

- no, he does slide you away though

- it makes him uncomfortable when someone is sleeping on him, so dont be upset if you wake up to him sneaking away

--------

Eddie Munson

- He is also probably asleep

- you not awake = boring

- so, his solution is to sleep too.

- on the rare occasion he isn't sleeping, he often is holding your back/waist

- If he starts getting sore he pinches the end of your nose to wake you up, and always apologizes for doing so but never stops.

- He has a video recording of you sleepwalking and singing to "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" while you sweep the couch. You woke up because of how hard he was laughing.

--------

Chrissy Cunningham

- She's always suprised, though it happens quite often

- Usually she sleeps on you, so it's nice

- Her shoulders are a little bony though, so usually you end up cuddled up in the crook of her neck <3

- she holds you very tightly, but not enough to wake you. Shes honestly worried you'll fall off of her!

- (she puts a variety of hats on your head, if she manages to get up without waking you)

- She has a poloraoid wall, and most of them are you and her together, or you sleeping with a bunch of hats stacked on your head

--------

Jim Hopper

- hahshshaha

- He's the best cuddler EVER

- hes so STRONG and holds you in PLACE!

- he has his arms around you and you'd die if you moved

- he loves affection okay he's just mean about it sometimes

- if he has a coat/flannel/OUTERWEAR he takes it off and lays it on you instead of a blanket

- it's nice because it's warm and smells like him, which is sweet

- Will murder if someone wakes you up. There is no joke here. Eleven was grounded for three days.

--------

Joyce Byers

- MAMA

- MAMA ILY HOLD ME TOO PLS 🥺🥺🥺

- Mama bear! MAMA BEAR!

- She is the best cuddler on this LIST!!

- She has three kids, she has EXPERIENCE in CUDDLES!

- Massages your scalp while your sleeping and if she pulls away you wake up, which leads to hilarious interactions between her and Will when she needs something.

- " Stop laughing Will. Just hand me the remote."

- "It's literally beside you!"

- "Shhh! Hand the remote to your poor old mom!"

-------

Dustin Henderson

- hahassddjshs

- when you fall asleep on him he cries.

- not really but he's killed by the pure trust and kind of wants too

- gives you kithes 🥺

- mostly on the top of your head, but the forehead and your cheeks (depending on the way your head is laying) are hotspots too

- its way to quiet when you're asleep so he falls asleep too

- Which leads to the both of you waking up with a huge bright camera flash as his mom cooes at the both of you

- (bottom left drawer of his dresser, there's a collection of photogrpahs where he's put makeup on your face in your sleep. Also includes you sleeping in his hat, you sleeping cuddled up with him, and you literally sleeping face-down on his bed.)

--------

Mike Wheeler

- Sorry people but you never sleep on him.

- Have you seen him? He's a stick and bony and lanky and ADORABLE but not to sleep on

- to sleep with, however, when you're the first asleep...

- He just likes to rub your arms through your shirt (or not, if you arent wearing one, duh)

- Sleeping together like this is a really intimate thing to him, so he finds it very special to watch you sleep

- his hands are naturally freezing, so he finds clever ways to sneakily twine your fingers together to warm them up

- His most creative way to do so is to put his hands behind your neck.

- you always wake up, laughing and gasping for him to move them, but he keeps them there till they're warm, and then you're both asleep again with your foreheads touching <3

--------

Nancy Wheeler

- notice me senp-

- Now in my honest opinion..

- She has never had someone fall asleep on her until you

- Always unprepared and silently freaking out as she sits stiff as a board, hands in her lap twitching slightly as she stares at the wall or TV

- usually when you move around she takes the oppurtunity as well, making sure you're both comfy before settling

- Awkward! With! Her! HANDS!!

- Always everywhere! They're constantly moving

- Her feet do it too as she's also a restless sleeper and very fidgety

- always feels bad if it wakes you up

- sometimes its nice, one hand petting your head and the other rubbing your back..

- but sometimes her feet kick your ankles and sometimes it hurts, okay.

- also she sleeps with socks on. Didn't know how to fit this in. But she does.

- ( in preperation for you falling asleep on her on the couch, she has a basket of blankets next to the cushions, and theres water bottles and a secret stash of chips hidden under them >:} )

--------

Will Byers

- usually doesn't know you're asleep until you stop answering his questions

- and then which he adjusts to hold you and continues talki g to himself.

- sometimes you'll mutter sleepy 'mmm's when he's said something interesting enough, but he shushes you because you're supposed to be asleep

- very good cuddler, but can never fall asleep

- when he gets tired he passes out, yes, but to get tired he'd have to run around the world four times

- well, he'd have to be mentally tired to fall asleep. No matter how sleepy his body is, he can't fall asleep without talking about anything aad everything until the words turn into whispers and then quiet nonsense.

- he has a photobook, and theres a picture of you sleeping so weirdly that it always gets a laugh (peter griffin fall 💀)

--------

Jonathan Byers

- probably high

- so he just keeps on doing what he's doing.

- he probably asks you stupid questions, regardles of if you answer or not.

- "would you still love me if i was a worm?"

- "..cutests fuckin... mm.. worm.. "

- "*sobbing*"

- "woah holy shit, jon, you okay-"

- "Im a CuTe WoRm! *more sobbing*"

- honestly I love him so much idk how to write abt him zhshahah

- if he's asleep too he's probably resting his head on yours, arms lazily wrapped around tour neck as you bury your face in his neck and chest, holding his torso.

--------

Eleven Byers-Hopper

- freaking out verbally

- "Do not laugh at me, Will. They are not dead, right?"

- probably shaking bc sjes so scared that if she accidentally wakes you up you'll be upset with her

- eventually she relaxes, and moves your head (which has undoubtedly fallen to her shoulder) to her lap

- very gentle and sweet

- once she gets even more comfortable, she probably pets your head and baby-talks to you in a one-sided, lovey-dovey conversation.

- "Whos the most adowable S/O? Y/N is. Yeah he is. The best sleeper in the west."

--------

Max Mayfeild

- literally just wakes you up.

- if you DONT wake up she tries to literally "push your buttons"

- squeeze ur cheeks, poke ur nose, poke ur forehead

- She doesn't want to be trapped all day!

- (she really does though. If you don't get up soon she cuddles right up to fall asleep. Pretend to be asleep long enough and you get to hear Max snore. Loudly.)

--------

Robin Buckley (f.reader)

- " :0 omg ive been chosen"

- treats you like a cat, puts you where you need to be so youre both comfy

- couch sleeping >>>>

- lies with her back against the couch and your back pressed against her chest, holding you in place so you don't fall and kissing the back of your neck gently and ajdvrkdvej

- Robin's head > Pillow

--------

Argyle

- bro argyle >>> hottest person alive

- who am I kididng theyre the same person

- anyways (;´༎ຶٹ༎ຶ`)

- this man doesnt let you sleep whatre you even talking about???? U joking??? hes high you're comin' down with him.

- "...What color is a mirror..?" "Why is pizza round... cut into triangles... and served in a square box?" "Why is it nail polish and not nail paint?" etc etc

- he always falls asleep very quickly. But he also cries really easily when high off his balls. Over everything. He cried yesterday about the color of his shirt. It wasn't yellow enough. He told me himself

- hes the best pillow. Lay on his chest, kiss his face, let him hold ya

- hes very soft and gentle with you at all times, and since most of the time the both of you are high as skyscrapers, it's a bit more wacky but a lot more sentimental.

- lots of "was drunk and fell asleep like this 😤" pictures in the back of the van

- the funniest being the one of argyle standing on the roof of the van with you and attempting to push you onto the hood "long live the king"style, but you were held on tight

- usually jonathan doesn't quite get as high so he taks a lot of pictures

- got off track but oh well lol

--------

Fred Benson

- He probably has prepared for this moment and lured you into a trap :)

- he had music on softly in the background and blankets and everything all planned out

- once he just gains enough actual courage to ask for cuddles it'll be less odd when he asks you to watch the most boring show on the planet with him

- he kithes your head a lot bc he really loves you, but doesn't voice it a whole lot

--------

Peter Ballars

- he moves you, despite how much he wants to stay and make sure you sleep well

- he doesn't move you very far. Usually you fall asleep in the rainbow room, so he just puts you in your own room to rest

- he always sneaks and checks on you, though, because you're still as graceful as a dying baby bird and vunreable all alone

- 4/10 not a good rainbow room cuddle buddy

- (alone, however, he's very sweet, apologizing for dumping you in your room all alone. Kisses all around, gives you a shoulder rub, you know, usual guilty boyfriend tendancies. Will always cuddle before he has to go back to his own room. He may be a lil' evil but you're his sweetheart <3 )

EXTRA/BONUS: OBSCUREISH CHARACTERS

Dr. Brenner/Papa (child reader, around 5-6)

- he isn't quite sure how you ended up so close to him in the rainbow room as he sat and observed the other children, but when he felt the pressure on his upper arm from you, he couldn't help but grinned

- he woke you up gently, offering you a quick nap in your assigned room, and you accepted by yawning and rubbing your eyes, nodding.

- he walked you to your room with an orderly, and tucked you into bed.

- totally down to tell you a story tbh. Just ask.

- the orderly is assigned to wake you up in exactly two hours, so you better get to sleep quick.

- but no matter. Papa is sure to lend you an extra hour if you need it.

--------

Ted Wheeler 👹 (Holly's fraternal twin)

- he's asleep. He fell asleep first. You were just to scared to change the TV channel and fell asleep too on top of him with your sister.

- (he wakes up first too, and puts you both in bed, making sure you're covered and comfy before heading back to his chair. If you wake up in that time, he'lm tell you both some sort of a story, though it's a "tired dad" version. Usually you're the cool dragon, while Holly's the princess in fantasy stories.

-------

Karen Wheeler 👹 (also Holly's twin)

- she was suprised, of course, when you appeared across from her on the couch and shoved your way into her lap, cuddling close and instantly falling asleep.

- she lets you sit there for awhile, patting your back, before she brings you to her room to let you nap up there. When Holly gets tired she'll join you, but for now you get the big bed!)

Barb Holland

- havfuubeakdvehx

- Hi barb *waves fingers like an idiot*

- she loves cuddles. There's never a time you ever "accidentally" fall asleep on her. Oh no. Youre her hostage now.

- Smooches. Smoochy poochy bwa bwbajettiwvd

- Push her glasses up her nose while you're barely awake, and then proceed to pass out. She will cry of cuteness. No jokes.

--------

hope you enjoyed! Also I need to add Barb to my write list 👹

958 notes · View notes

rebelspykatie · 1 year

Text

Clueless Steddie AU where Steve is Cher. His dad is a big hot shot lawyer who isn’t around much and can be pretty mean at times. He cheated on Mrs. Harrington with Eddie’s mom. Mr. Harrington felt guilty about it when both Steve’s mom died and Eddie’s abandoned him so he had to go live with his uncle, so he started financially supporting Eddie.

Even though Wayne didn’t want to take any kind of charity, Eddie of course vows to take this rich douchebag for all he’s worth. He butts heads with Steve at every turn because Steve’s figured out what Eddie is up to. Eddie doesn’t expect to care about Steve or feel bad about his dad basically leaving him alone in that big mansion.

Eddie holds onto the idea that Steve is a stuck up brat who’s self obsessed, even as he sees Steve helping others. He watches Steve (and Robin) get their gym teacher Jim Hopper and their art teacher Joyce Byers together. He knows that Steve is responsible for helping Will find his confidence and the dnd kids having a place to play when everyone thought they were playing a devils game. His blanket of protection has extended to people like Robin Buckley, the local lesbian who never gets bullied, even though she’s a little weird and a lot loud about her relationship with Nancy Wheeler. In fact, they all seem to be at the top of the social pyramid.

Still, Steve and Eddie don’t see eye to eye. When Jonathan Byers shows an interest in Argyle, Steve makes it known he can do better than the local skateboarding pothead, even though Argyle is the nicest guy on the planet. Eddie takes personal offense to the connotations behind the sentiment and sides with Argyle, inviting Jonathan over to console him and tell him the exact opposite.

It backfires in Eddie’s face when Jonathan blows up at Steve and tells him to stay out of his personal life because they’re not even real friends. Steve gets quiet after that, keeping to himself and hanging out less with his friends, outside of Robin. The house seems even emptier, even though Steve’s there more. He tries dating a few people that never come home with him at the end of the night.

Eddie watches him in the halls, eyes following Robin and Nancy, Mike and Will, Lucas and Max, and Jonathan and Argyle (once they do eventually get together). He always has this pained wistful look that never gets easier to look at head on. Eddie knows how much Steve craves intimacy. It’s written all over his face.

And yeah, Steve has some flaws, but he doesn’t understand why these people keep turning Steve down. He takes care of the people he loves, even to his own detriment. He’s kind, but with a fun mean girl streak that’s more entertaining than harmful to anyone. Every time Eddie sees Steve, he’s tempted to run his fingers through his soft hair. Eddie’s pretty sure Steve spends hours grooming himself to look as perfect as he does every day.

Meanwhile, Steve thinks there’s something wrong with him. At the end of Steve’s most recent failed date, Eddie was of course staying in their mansion while Wayne was working night shifts and came down the stairs at the exact moment Steve was coming home, like he was waiting for the opportunity to make fun of Steve.

They’ve gotten closer over the past few months, less biting remarks and more time watching dumb cartoons or mtv on the couch. Steve had to call Eddie for help once, when his phone died and his car was stolen. Eddie had left band practice to come pick Steve up in the middle of nowhere, much to the chagrin of his band mates. He hadn’t heard the end of it from Gareth about being the knight in shining armor rescuing the little rich boy. Eddie sticks up for Steve when Mr. Harrington’s coworkers bash Steve’s intelligence and tell him he’ll never be as smart as his father.

Still, Steve’s surprised when Eddie meets him halfway on the stairs to talk about the failed date. Some guy called him a pretty face with nothing going on upstairs and tried to get into his pants without a thought to how his words affected Steve. Eddie reassured Steve he wasn’t an idiot and listed off all the nice things Steve had done for others recently. He didn’t realize Eddie was even paying him any attention, let alone committing those moments to memory. Eddie starts ranting about how dumb all these people Steve’s dated are and how Steve deserves better. So Steve leans over and kisses Eddie, pulling away to tell him he’s someone better.

Also posted on twitter.

#steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #stranger things #clueless au #clueless #background #ronance #jargyle #byler #max x lucas #katie writes

149 notes · View notes

hawkinsharlot · 2 years

Text

How they show affection

This is meant in a romantic context, as if you were dating the characters :)

characters included; jonathan byers, steve harrington, argyle, nancy wheeler, robin buckley, eddie munson, and billy hargrove

cw/tw; slightly suggestive in some parts, nothing explicit, and mentions of weed

Jonathan Byers

Quality time and words of affirmation. He doesn’t have a ton of time to spend one on one with a person, so whenever he does get that time, he’s quick to spend it with his partner. It doesn’t have to be extravagant dates either! He’s completely fine with sitting down together and he does his own thing and you do yours, just together in a comfortable silence. As for the words of affirmation, he’s always been good at comforting people, but he’s never entirely had it done for him. If you wanna make the poor boy melt, tell him how much you love and appreciate him

Steve Harrington

Acts of service and physical affection. It’s no secret that Steve is pretty touchy with whoever he’s dating. He’ll always have an arm around you, be holding your hand, or always surprising you by picking you up whenever he greets you. It definitely doesn’t stop when you two are alone either! He’s practically all over you all of the time. Even when you’re doing something that’s like, super boring to him, he'll still stick around and help you as much as he can. Sometimes, it comes off like he's trying to just whisk you away as fast as he can, but he does have a genuine intention to help you in any way he can.

Argyle

Physical affection and gift giving. Even with friends, Argyle does both of these things to express his fondness for anyone he likes, platonic or romantic. In a romantic sense, that affection is almost always in the form of constant cuddling, kisses, and just being close to you. He's definitely one to greet you with a quick peck, and even gets excited when you lean in first for a kiss. With gift giving, it's normally in the form of weed, honestly. If you don't smoke though, he'd definitely be one to get you random trinkets he comes across and "picked up because it reminded me of you, and then i never put it down, so here you go!"

Nancy Wheeler

Quality time and acts of service. Oh, this poor girl is always so busy, it seems. It's one of the less desirable traits in someone who has their life together and is always planning for the future. Not only does Nancy spend what little free time she has with you, but she’d almost make time for you. She wants to, so she does. She enjoys just sitting in a comfortable silence with you most of the time. Working on school work, reading, drawing, any of it can be done together. And when the work load gets to be too much on your end, Nancy is always there to step in and help take some of the strain off of you.

Robin Buckley

Physical affection and words of affirmation. She’s naturally a more touchy person, even just with friends. Combine this element with a partner and a nervous little lesbian and you get some of the sweetest moments between you two. While you can’t be outwardly a couple in the public, Robin often wants to make up for lost affection when the both of you are finally alone and can love on one another without fearing anything. While she will stutter and stumble over her words, they’re always 100% genuine when she tells you how much she loves you

Eddie Munson

Quality time and physical affection. If you share the same nerdy interests, spending time together comes as naturally as breathing to the both of you. You could spend hours upon hours talking about all the nerd shit between the both of you. He might even ask for you opinions on his campaign he’s planning. All of this wouldn’t come alone though, the entire time, he’d be completely all over you. It’s the little things Eddie does that tends to drive you crazy, like resting his hand on your thigh or putting an arm around you when you’re sitting next to him.

Billy Hargrove

Physical affection. Because of his childhood, Billy doesn’t entirely know how a healthy relationship is supposed to look or feel. It’s not his fault, it’s simply what happened. His way of feeling and giving love is the same, physical affection. He’d spend a lot of time showing off his partner to whoever was looking in his direction. It doesn’t stop when you’re alone either. Honestly? He’s just barely getting started with you when you two are finally alone. Lots of very bold moves coming from his half, but if you ask him to slow down he’ll listen.

836 notes · View notes

fanficfanatic000 · 2 months

Text

(Handmade for me) E.M

Eddie Munson x best friend plus sized friends to lovers

reader 18+ don't read if a minor

Trigger warning ( read if you dare )

(Summary)is a plus sized young adult female Who lived in Hawkins her whole life was a outcast in school only has three friends Robin. Steve and eddie. But your best friend is eddie munson. Just your friend right???...You work at a bar as a bartender usually serving drinks from rugged bikers to just turned twenty one first drinkers... until that night.... when it all when wrong......)

•

You just stepped out of the shower and walked to your room to grab some clothes to change into. "so what should we do tonight y/n we could go get some snacks im kinda feeling snackyyy" you walked toward your drawer in your little white towel searching for your favorite loose t-shirt. Ripped jeans and bra and underwear.The dorky metal head laying on your bed throwing his arms in the air staring at the ceiling. "Well we could walk to the store after i get dressed since your snackyyyyyy" you giggle and his eyes shift towards you in that white towel your skin silky and your hip stretch marks slightly visible on your lower thigh then he quickly averted his gaze. Focusing on the ceiling instead of your curves. You pulled the clothing items out of your drawers and walk to your bathroom and got dressed. half dried your hair with a towel "ya ready edds?" He got up quickly. "Yepp! Letz gooo!"• He opened the front door for you and you started your short walk to the small store. Eddie walking next to you bumps into you slightly once and a while due to the small sidewalk him on the outer rim of the sidewalk remembering what he said the first time you two walked together -"look i would rather be hit by a truck then see you get hit because if you got hit id drop dead" his hand clenched his chest if he were dieing in a playfulness- "and we have arrived you first m-lady " he held the door his eyebrow crooked with his cute dimple smile the evening light making his eyes sparkle you walk through and he followed behind you. "So what type of snackys were you thinkin? Eddie" he hums thinking about what he wanted "slurpys and spicy chips! What do you think sweetheart?" You nodded yes "sounds good." Eddie and you make way to the slurpy machine waiting for Nancy wheeler and her little sister Holly to fill theirs. Eddie rocked on his heels waiting and looking at you he sticks his tongue out and then you do too. You and eddie were always dorks but dorks together ever since middle school. Nancy and Holly moved walking towards the counter to pay. Eddie hands you a large slurpys cup and you filled it with cherry and cola. And he filled his with the same and you stood there putting the lid on tightly when a hand hit the fat of your ass And a rough smooth voice says "well well well y/n Mickelson ya still look smoking!"You turn gritting your teeth "billy fuck head is that you?" Billy Hargrove this man child always made you uncomfortable in high school and when he sees you obviously he always asked you out then when you declined he'd call you a slut or bitch. eddie turns "Hargrove leave her the fuck alone man!." He says fist clenched stepping between you and Billy "maybe next time y/n" he flashed his stupid cocky grin as he threw cash on the counter and went out the door with his pack of cigarettes. "What an asshole.... thank God you're here edds or he wouldn't have left me alone that fast..." he puts the lid on his slurpy grabs the chips and two straws "yeah im glad i was here. Stupid asshole"You walk up to the counter to pay "doing anything fun tonight you two?" Joyce byers the mother figure of the town she watched you and eddie grow up since you two came there quite frequently and eddie has dnd campaigns that she drops will off at. "Mm we havent thought that far ahead yet.. eddie was just soo snackyyy. And here we are" you smile. And eddie laughs slightly "cmon i know you wanted some snacks also y/n " you giggle sliding the money towards Joyce "well dont have tooo much fun you two " she smiles and handed you the receipt.

Part two is out soon or now

just look under hash tag > handmade for me em<

#Handmade for me em #fandom #eddie munson #eddie x fem!reader #eddie x you #eddie munson lives #eddie munson x reader #eddie stranger things #eddie #fanfic #stranger things 4 #Eddie Munson fluff #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson fanfiction

23 notes · View notes

havecourage-darling · 2 years

Text

You’re slipping through my fingertips

The one where Eddie breaks his arm crowd surfing at his concert and the doctor at the ER is his ex-girlfriend he left behind when he got the hell out of Hawkins.

pairing: Rockstar AU! Eddie Munson x ER Doctor Adopted! Hopper Female Reader

wc: 9.5K

warnings/tags: cursing, lovers to exes to strangers to lovers?, post-break up, make up, everything pre/in s4 happened but eddie munson lives because I said so.

A/N: I don’t know why I’ve clung to adopted hopper reader but here we are. I have very little knowledge of how medical field works (my ten thousand nurse/doctor friends would be endlessly disappointed in me!) and bent it a little to fit the plot. Sorry!

Masterlist || AO3

When you were fourteen, you met Eddie Munson.

You were the new kid, first day of high school, and the cherry on top? The new deputy’s kid. Your dad had gotten a job offer in his hometown, Hawkins, and your mom hadn’t wanted to leave New York. After Sara…they fought all the time and when you’d chosen to go with your dad in the divorce, your mom had taken it as a betrayal. You’d begged him to choose anywhere else but he was adamant you’d love it. So here you were, a small, nosey, town in the middle of nowhere.

To your utter mortification, despite your student tour guide’s – Nancy Wheeler – multiple instructions, you couldn’t open your locker.

Anxious, pressure building behind your eyes, you tried for the tenth time. Suddenly, the locker next to yours slammed open and you jumped. A boy with bright wide eyes, a shaved head, and a nice smile blinded you. He’d taken the lock gently from your hands and with a kick to the door, it opened.

“The hinges stick. Jack, the guy who had it before you, always kicked it open.”

“Thanks,” you stammered.

“Yeah, anytime.” He shot you his own shy smile before disappearing around the corner.

And that had been all it took really. You had almost all your classes together that year and he got a kick out of your stories of New York. Eddie was constantly in motion -- hands flying, feet shuffling, head nodding – it was enticing.

After being assigned partners for some English project you couldn’t remember anymore, a few days before thanksgiving, he’d asked you out on a date.

You’d said yes.

And that was the beginning of everything.

Then – a few years later – Will Byers went missing. You got a little sister. Your father died. Eddie was accused of murder. You beat Vecna. Eddie almost died. Your father was alive. The town was too. You’d helped save the world.

And that was the end of everything.

When you were twenty, Eddie Munson left Hawkins - and you - behind.

“How many fucking times have I told you not to do that?” Claire hissed, her cellphone cradled between her shoulder and her ear. She’d been on hold for a few minutes, making sure everything – as always – was being fixed.

“A thousand times,” Eddie sighed, grunting when the EMTs tightened the sling around his neck. To be fair, Eddie hadn’t crowd surfed in a long time. It was something about being back in Indiana – to where it had all started – that made his skin itch. Hey, he never said he wasn’t reckless.

“This should hold it. We don’t know how bad the break is until you’ve gotten some x-rays so please refrain from moving it as much as you can. How’s the pain level?”

Eddie had experienced worse. A flash of demonic bats clawing at him and your shaking hands covered in his blood danced across his memory before he shoved it to the back of his mind. “It’s not too bad.”

“Is there a chance we can unload in the med bay?” Claire asked, finally putting down her cell phone. “We left the guards back at the arena and they won’t be here for a few minutes due to traffic.”

The EMTs assured his nervous manager that they’d be able to get him into the ER with discretion. “Thanks guys,” Eddie said, remembering the covert look of awe in the driver’s eyes. Corroded Coffin had only recently started selling out arenas and stadiums but Eddie knew what a fan looked like. “If you want me to sign anything, I can do it. My writing hand is still good.” He wiggled his right hand.

“For fuck’s sake Munson,” Claire muttered, her brick of a phone creaking in her grip. She watched as the technician sheepishly handed him three random scraps of paper to sign.

Eddie waited as the doors to the ambulance opened and he was wheeled into a chaotic emergency room. An older nurse walked up to him with a smile and a clip board. “Hello, I’m Nurse Johnson and I’ll be taking you over to one of our private rooms down the hall.”

Claire scrambled to introduce herself and Eddie, mentioning his bandmates who were likely to be by soon.

“Unfortunately, we’ve had a pretty big accident a few hours ago so we’re a little slow tonight. Our senior resident will be by to assess the situation shortly. Here’s the paperwork we’ll need and please rest assured Mr. Munson, we know how to be discreet. The journalists outside are not allowed anywhere inside,” she said, tone firm like she’d beat them herself if she had to.

“Thank you,” Eddie said, shooting the nurse a smile. She patted his good hand and finished setting him up in his bed.

“I can’t believe you’re this much of an idiot,” Claire said, settling in the comfy looking chair next to his bed. Her brows furrowed as she started filling out his paperwork. Eddie tried not to smile; Claire had been there with him since the beginning – the only manager willing to represent Corroded Coffin. “I had a date after the concert you know, life isn’t only centered around you.”

He clutched his chest, groaning when it pulled on his bad arm. “You’re telling me, that this tiny chunk of rock in this universe, does not revolve around the lead singer?”

“I hate you,” she said dryly. “She was really cute too.”

“Yeah?” Eddie quirked a brow. Claire always had dates – he wasn’t worried for her. “What’s her name?”

“Rain.”

He snorted, seriously? “Sounds like a dud.”

“You always say that!”

“And am I usually wrong?” He asked.

“Yes!”

“What about Brittany? Or Jacob?”

Claire glared at him and Eddie grinned, knowing he had her. “We promised never to say their names out loud again!” Her chair screeched painfully as she stood, clip board clutched to her chest and eyes narrowed in his direction. “I’m taking this to the nurse, you shithead, don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.”

Eddie laughed as she walked out and shook his head. His arm really didn’t hurt much but he knew it was broken. Sighing, he knew he wouldn’t be able to play with it but he’d probably be fine to sing. What was their next city? Dallas? Chicago? They still had a few more national dates before their break. After those two weeks they were on to London.

Who did they have on standby for guitar? Jimmy? Fiona? Maybe Helene if she wasn’t busy…

“Claire?” Eddie called out. If they wanted to get Helene before she was booked for the year, they’d have to call soon.

The door opened and Eddie suddenly wasn’t sure he hadn’t actually hit head. His chest tightened, his lungs seemed like they didn’t want to work, and he was almost positive the ground shook beneath him.

“Hello sir, I apologize we’re a little short staffed at the moment. I’m Dr. Hopper, I’ll be taking care of you this evening. Let me just grab your chart Mr…” your voice trailed off, and Eddie watched as your hands tightened on the clip board in your hands. Then finally, finally, after almost ten years – your eyes darted back up to his.

“Eddie?”

Jesus Christ did he forget how he loved the way you said his name. “Hey Cap’,” he said, flashes of you in your soccer uniform bubbling to the surface. He’d once lost his voice during the championship junior year – it’d been your first year as captain and he knew how much you’d wanted to win. The image of you hoisting up the trophy in your arms, smile beaming and blowing him a kiss, was not one he’d be likely to forget.

You’d clearly grown up in the last decade. Your uniform in school had been something similar to his, jeans, band t-shirt, and chucks. Seeing you with your hair pinned back, a white coat, and scrubs underneath was…different. A pair of glasses were balanced on the top of your head and he itched to see what you looked like with them on. While the surface of you had changed, the shocked expression on your face sent a pang through his chest – you’d always been easy to read. At least to him. Clearly, not anymore.

“What the fuck?” You said, breaking the spell he’d been under. With a wince he tried to straighten up on the bed but hissed when pain shot through his arm.

He glanced back up at you and he watched a wall fall into place. Your face smoothed, your eyes blank, and you shook your head. “I – uh, I’m so sorry Mr. Munson. That was entirely inappropriate. I was…surprised.”

Mr. Munson? That was Wayne – or shit, his dad – he’d never been called Mr. Munson in his life. Not unless you counted teachers screaming after him.

“Please don’t ever call me that again, I think that hurt more than the arm,” Eddie said, fighting everything within him not to beam when your brow twitched. A little bit of amusement bled into your eyes before they darted down to his chart.

“Do you want me to see if another doctor can treat you?”

“What?” Eddie sputtered. He knew you hadn’t stayed friends but did you hate him that much? “No,” he said, stubbornly.

“Eddie, we dated for six years.”

And goddamn if those hadn’t been the best six years of his life.

“So? Doesn’t the code of ethics or whatever only extend to immediate family members?” He frowned. “If you’re here, I know you’re the best one of the bunch. So, I want you.”

Eddie ignored how the words sounded, the small hollow spot in his chest expanding in your sudden presence.

He watched you swallow visibly, your fingers clenching. “I see it says here you’re in for a fracture? We won’t know the extent of the damage or injury until we’ve gotten x-rays.” At his blank look you sighed. “If it needs surgery, I won’t be the one to do it anyway. You’ll be referred to a specialist I assume, considering the importance of the use of a musician’s arm.”

Wait, surgery? Holy shit, he hadn’t even thought of that.

“Hey, hey, we don’t know how bad it is. It could be a small fracture, a clean break, nothing indicates surgery yet,” you said, hand reaching for him like you were going to touch his good arm but remembered and avoided it at the last minute.

“That’s okay,” he said, eyes on yours. He didn’t know what he was saying at this point. You could suggest that he take of his clothes and run naked in front of the paparazzi outside and he’d do it.

In fact, it took every ounce of energy he had not to reach out and grab your hand. He’d thought about seeing you so many times over the years, he never thought it’d be in an emergency room. Eddie had been back to Hawkins – of course he had – but you’d never been around. Dustin and Eleven told him you were at school most of the time. Eddie wondered if your smile was the same. Suddenly, a thought bubbled up to the surface, shit – he’d do anything to hear your laugh again.

Instead, you were staring at him like he was something you’d found in the forest. Something interesting to look at but not worthy of too much attention.

“Alright, uh – I’ll put in an order for the necessary scans and I’ll be by to go over the results. If you need any pain management or anything, please let Nurse Johnson know.”

This was wild. You were in his room talking about scans and x-rays when you’d saved the world together. He’d lost his virginity to you. You’d been this entire world and…he was supposed to be able to concentrate on anything else?

“Yeah, alright, thanks,” Eddie breathed, eyes still taking you in. He was working up the courage to ask you to stay, it felt like if you left his eyesight, he’d never see you again. A loud bang startled you both, popping the bubble, and he watched Gareth storm into the room.

“Dude, you’re fucking insane! Claire and Warren are going to hang you by the ba-” his voice got struck in his throat, choking, as he did a double take. “Hopper?”

The tightness in your face smoothed out and your eyes lit up when they turned to Gareth. “Oh my God you haven’t changed a bit!” You accepted his hug. Why the fuck did Gareth get a hug and a smile and he got tense silence?

Because he’d broken your heart. And you’d broken his. His mind reminded him painfully.

“We need to catch up, dude, I can’t believe you’re here. It’s like, kismet!” Gareth said, giving you another hug. You beamed up at him and Eddie bit down on his cheek so hard, he tasted blood. What the fuck? Since when did he ever get jealous of Gareth? “Is this where you ended up doing your residency?”

Wait, what? Gareth knew you’d gone into medicine? Your eyes darted to Eddie’s before skirting away. “Uh, no I did most of my residency in New York. I’m a traveling doctor for now, as a senior resident, I’m only in Indianapolis for a month before I’m going back to Hawkins’ Hospital for a bit. I still haven’t made a decision what offer to take.”

“That’s so cool, I’m happy for you,” Gareth said, giving you another hug. You smiled at him – again! – and tapped your clipboard.

“I’m going to get these orders processed and someone will be by soon to come get you, okay?”

Eddie nodded dumbly, watching you as you all but ran from the room. Gareth turned his head towards Eddie, shit-eating smile widening, and crossed his arms.

Claire walked in, midway through hanging up her phone, and sighed when she saw Gareth. “I don’t even want to know how you got passed security.” She turned to Eddie. “Everything is under control. John is doing damage control at the venue and we’ve got additional security set up to keep the reporters under control. Warren’s outside in the waiting room waiting to slap you for doing something so stupid. I’ve apologized to most of the staff for the disturbance and ordered a bunch of food so they don’t hold it against us.”

“Thanks, C,” Eddie mumbled.

Shooting him a weird look, she turned to Gareth who sighed. “What the hell is wrong with him?”

“Did you, uh, see his doctor?”

Claire nodded. “I introduced myself to her on her way out.”

Eddie glowered. “That’s my ex.”

“So? We run into your exes all the time,” Claire joked, not entirely a lie.

“That’s Hopper,” Gareth said quietly, knowing you were different.

Claire’s eyebrows disappeared into her bangs. “That’s Hopper? The Hopper? Shit, Munson, you let that go?” Claire shook her head, eyes darting to the door like she could see you through it. “Even I was checking her out. Did you see her hips?”

“You check anything out with a pulse,” Eddie snapped, pathetically glancing at the door for a glimpse of you.

She pointed one long nail at him. “Hypocrite.”

“Alright, so I’ve got your scans back Eddie…” you walked into the room and your voice immediately trailed off at the sight of three sets of eyes on you. “Oh, I’m sorry Mr. Munson,” you stammered, “I didn’t know you were with visitors.”

Something in Eddie’s chest wanted to crack in two at the sound of your voice calling him Mr. Munson again. Like you hadn’t spent a whole life together. Like at one point you hadn’t been the woman he thought he’d spend the rest of his life with.

“Did she just call you Mr. Munson?” Warren asked, eyebrows quirking in a way that Eddie knew meant he wanted to laugh.

Your face immediately looked flustered and uncomfortable. Eddie jumped to defend you, not wanting to alienate you. “Ignore him, he’s a jackass. He’s the eldest of seven, it’s in his DNA to take the piss out of people.”

Warren chuckled, nodding and extending a hand out to you. “I’m Warren Hudson. Mr. Munson’s head of security.”

“Ah,” you nodded, clutching the folder in your hands tightly to your body. Eddie’s stomach flipped uncomfortably and he turned to glare at Warren when he realized Warren was checking you out.

Discretely, Eddie reached out to pinch his inner forearm and Warren jumped. “Alright, alright, message received.”

Claire, never one to not seize an opportunity to introduce herself, walked straight up to you. “Hi, I’m Claire – Corroded Coffin’s manager. I’ve heard a lot about you, it’s nice to finally meet the Hopper.”

Jesus Christ. Did no one on his team have any sense of decorum? Warren had just spent the last hour in his room refusing to leave because he wanted to meet the girl that ‘had Munson on his knees.’ Claire just flat out told him she wasn’t leaving until they’d finally met.

“For fuck’s sake Claire,” Eddie grumbled.

You, however, seemed to realize his team was fucking with him and smiled widely. “All good things, I hope? I’m Dr. Hopper. Nice to meet you both.”

“Of course! You can’t know Eddie for as long as I do without knowing about you!”

“Really?” Your eyes slid to his and he wanted to sink into the floor.

Before Eddie could get a word in, Claire lit up like a Christmas tree and Eddie groaned. Warren laughed, like the asshole he was, and shook his head. “You’re going to have enough with Claire on your case. I’ll be in the waiting room down the hall if you need me,” Warren said, leaning in to – mercifully – lower his voice. “I see why you’re so hung up on her now.”

“Get out,” Eddie hissed, narrowing his eyes at him.

Warren just laughed, head thrown back and fist bumping you on the way out.

After what felt like an eternity, Claire finished her verbal assault and turned back to him. “I like her Munson, why’d you keep her away for so long?”

You choked, coughing not covering up your amused laughter.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m being unprofessional on all accounts tonight,” you said, shaking your head and holding up an x-ray to the light. “The break is clean - it doesn’t even need to be set. I believe the EMTs in the ambulance said you’d managed to knock back into place? How you managed that I don’t even know…”

Claire turned to glare at him. “Because he thought crowd surfing despite the hundreds of times that I have told all of them not to do it would be good. I hope this teaches you a goddamn lesson Munson.”

“Probably not,” you muttered, gathering up the necessary supplies towards Eddie’s bed.

At Claire’s snort and Eddie’s indignant huff, he watched your head snap up. “Oh my God, I said that out loud.”

“Please, tell me how you really feel,” Eddie said, not able to help from goading you.

Your eye widened and hands came up in defense. “I swear, it was like a knee jerk reflex. Like that time you thought diving off your roof was a good idea – I’m pretty sure the only reason you and Jeff didn’t break your ankles was because-”

“- we fell on the garbage Paula had left out the night before,” Eddie finished, remembering. He grinned at the memory. The band had finally had a bigger than normal crowd and they’d gotten stupidly drunk. You’d been the designated driver for that weekend and had complained endlessly how you’d never do it again if they didn’t stop doing stupid shit. Somehow that had ended up with a discussion about the dumbest things they could all do – which is how they’d ended up on the roof.

You’d yelled at them for hours after, freaking out the entire night. To be fair, you’d been right – you usually were. But after you’d tired yourself out – and he’d spent hours apologizing – he’d managed to get you to admit it had been pretty cool.

It was stupid, but the way you’d grinned that morning, admitting that their impromptu concert on the roof of his trailer was amazing – was seared into his memory. Especially considering you’d kept him in bed the entire weekend.

Eddie resurfaced from his memory of you in his old room, bra strap falling from your shoulder and your head thrown back in laughter, as your gloved hand came to undo his sling.

“Sorry, what?”

Claire rolled her eyes so hard he shot her a look. You, on the other hand, just smiled patiently. God, he’d forgotten how easy it was with you.

“I’m going to feel a little just to make sure everything is okay, then I’ll start wrapping. Once we get through that, considering the nature of your job, I’ll have the nurse explain your physical therapy schedule for post-removal. This is your non-dominant hand, right? That’s good.”

“Yeah,” he said, shifting and wincing when the pain shot up his arm. You leaned in close, trying not to move his arm much and your fingers examined the swelling. Claire, hovering behind your shoulder, shot him a look he didn’t understand before pointing to the door.

“I’ll go…talk to the nurse from earlier about the therapy schedule,” she said, completely unconvincingly. Without preamble, she disappeared out the door.

You hadn’t moved, your eyes clinical and mouth set in concentration. “She’s subtle.”

Eddie wanted the ground to swallow him. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be,” you said, sitting back onto a small stool and finally smiling. “I like your manager, I’m glad you have someone to keep you grounded.”

The pain was starting to ricochet up and he felt himself start to sweat. He knew it wasn’t incredibly cool but he had a notoriously low pain threshold. He was pretty sure that’s the only reason why they’d given him some pain meds. Even Claire had mentioned how she’d torn her ACL in college and hadn’t been that big of a whiner.

“Hey,” you said, touching his good hand. “Tell me about the concert tonight. Are you guys on tour? What’s your set list?”

Eddie knew what you were doing, eyes darting towards the tools on the platter to your right. Still, he took the bone you’d thrown him. “Do you…listen to any of our music?”

You shot him a deadpan look and he smiled. “Of course, I do Eddie, you’ve always been an amazing musician.” He didn’t know why but the resolution in your voice and the confirmation that you hadn’t avoided anything to do with him like the plague after he’d left – it…made him happy.

So, he told you about the tour they were on – the stops they had next and how they were going over to the UK, Spain, and a few other countries before ending it in New York City.

“I heard,” you said, shaking your head in awe, “Madison Square Garden, Munson.”

“I know,” he said. It’d be their first time – and the sales were so close to being sold out it felt like the entire band were holding their breaths for the news. Claire kept assuring them they’d be sold out by the end of the week. “If only the people of Hawkins could see me now, huh?”

Your eyes came up to his and he was surprised by the emotion in them. “They never saw you, Eddie. They didn’t deserve to anyway. I knew you’d make it here eventually and I honestly can’t say I know anyone more deserving.”

To Eddie’s horror, he felt undeniable pressure behind his eyes. Shit. Why had that hit him so hard? You know why, his mind supplied. Your support had been present, unwavering, and constant for so long that when you’d broken up, its absence had left a hole in his chest that nothing could fix.

“Thanks,” he said, voice thick.

“I know this may not mean much but,” you grabbed his other hand and squeezed tightly. “I am so proud of you, Eddie.”

If only you knew.

“It means a lot, it always does with you,” he admitted, eyes anywhere but on you.

“Yeah?” Your eyes were on packing up your supplies. His gaze fluttered over to his arm, realizing you were done. Damn. You were good. Wait, wait, were you leaving?

Say something, his mind shouted. “Will you sit with me for a bit? Just until I get used to the feeling?” He lifted his now heavy arm.

Your brow raised and you glanced down at a small black thing on your coat. “I don’t know…”

“Come on, we can play a game.”

“A game?”

Eddie’s mind scrambled for something, anything. “Yeah, twenty questions – to help break the ice.”

You sat down in the chair closest to his bed and smiled. “Ten questions, I do have a job Eddie, and we don’t have ice to break.”

“Deal. I go first!”

Nose wrinkling endearingly, you crossed your arms. “Why do you get to go first?”

“Because it was my idea!”

“Fine,” you sighed, rolling your eyes. The lightness in your expression letting him know you were teasing.

Not wanting to ask something he already knew the answer to – Eddie decided to jump for the second time that night. “So, who was the poor sucker that came after me?” He asked.

Your eyes darted up to his, surprised, and a small, familiar, ember of mischief in them. His heart flipped, the poor bastard. “Of all the questions you could’ve asked, that’s what you’re using to break the ice?”

“So there is ice to break?” He said, grinning.

Not one to back down, you shook your head at him with a determined expression so familiar it sent a pang through his chest. Eddie stomped on the urge to reach out and kiss you senseless.

Your teasing expression morphed into something he couldn’t name. Something that looked a little like regret. “The first serious one? His name was Brad.”

“Brad?” Eddie forced a smile, not prepared for the surge of jealousy that shot through him. “He sounds like a tool.”

Smacking his leg, Eddie pretended like your touch didn’t brand him. “He wasn’t. Brad was…Brad is a good guy. I met him my first day of med school.”

“A doctor? Fancy.” Definitely a tool.

You grinned, like you could tell what he was thinking, and picked at the skin around your nails. “Yeah, he went into pediatric oncology.”

Well shit, he was saving sick kids. “He sounds like a ray of sunshine.”

Laughing, you shook your head at him, eyes fond. “He was, he wants to change the world. Helping kids and underprivileged people. It’s been his dream since he was a little kid.”

“Sounds boring,” he joked, squeezing your hand to assure you he was kidding. “Where is this amazing Brad? Was he an idiot like me and let you go?”

“No,” you said, almost ruefully. He watched your mouth twist to the side before sighing. “We were engaged. For a few years.”

Eddie’s heart dropped to his feet. You were engaged? His eyes darted to your hand and he realized your ring finger was bare.

“I’m not married,” you snorted when he, likely, turned bright red at his lack of subtlety. Not married doesn’t mean single, his brain supplied helpfully. Not that that mattered. Doesn’t it? Jesus, didn’t his mind ever shut the hell up? No.

“Is it too rude to ask what happened?”

You shrugged, fingers going to your ring finger. “I was tired of trying to keep up with all his ambition. We had different dreams and I didn’t want to hold him back.” A flash of determination darted across your face. “He said he was tired of always feeling second best. I believe his words were, I can’t compete with a ghost.”

“Second best?” Eddie frowned.

Wide, pointed, eyes shot to his and he realized. Another pang hit his chest and Eddie was sure that if he hadn’t been lying down, he would’ve dropped to the floor.

“What about you?” You asked, like you hadn’t just knocked the air out of him with your admission. You cleared your throat and wrung your hands together. You were uncomfortable, he noted, realizing he still knew pieces of the new you.

“What about me?” He parroted, brain still coming back online.

Eddie caught your eye roll and fought his smile. Shit, how could it have been so many years and after a few minutes it felt like no time had passed? What fucking magic did you possess?

“Hey,” you said, nudging your foot with his, “I told you about me.”

Embarrassment flashed through him. “As sad as it sounds, uh, there hasn’t really been anyone after you,” he said, eyes darting away from your face.

Surprising him, he heard you snort. “Yeah, okay, the lead singer and guitarist of Corroded Coffin never had a girlfriend after his high school sweetheart.”

“Well, no, I’ve had shorter relationships and uh…well, um,” he stammered, remembering flashes of drunken stumbling into hotel rooms across the country.

“Bed warmers?” You suggested with a sparkle in your eye.

This time, he rolled his eyes and nodded. “Yeah,” he huffed, “but no one really serious. Not really.”

“Why not?”

Because he couldn’t give his heart over to someone when the memory of you felt like something he was continuously chasing. Because it wasn’t fair to anyone else. Because no one ever measured up to you. Because…that’s just the way he worked.

Your eyes caught his and the air became charged around you both. Eddie tried to think of an answer to your question but only one crossed his mind.

“Why didn’t you come with me?” He blurted.

“What?” You blinked, surprised. Eddie swallowed around the lump in his throat.

“The week before we’d decided to leave…and I told you – I asked you if you’d come with me. You looked at me in a way I’ll never forget, ever.”

The silence in the room felt like it was suffocating. The clock on the wall was loud and echoed in his head, bouncing around as he waited for you to say something. Anything.

“In my head it’d always kinda felt like you left me behind,” you said with a small, devastatingly sad smile. “It felt like you needed to grow and I wasn’t ready yet.”

Left you behind? “I asked you to come with me – I didn’t…I never wanted you to feel like I was leaving you behind,” he said, realizing.

“I know. It still stung though,” you admitted with a small shrug. He could tell you were trying to find the right words, taking your time to put them together before speaking.

“You didn’t ask me to stay,” he said, remembering how it felt. Standing in front of his half-destroyed trailer and your hiccupping tears echoing in the air. He’d been waiting for you to ask – because he would’ve stayed. He would’ve done anything for you.

You blinked, eyes coming up to his again. “How could I have? In Hawkins? After everything that town had done to you? I knew you’d stay if I asked and you were always too good for that town.”

That was fair. “Why’d you stay?”

“You know why,” you said without hesitation. Your eyes went to the closed door and sighed. “The same reason why I didn’t go when you asked. Eleven had gotten her powers back – we didn’t know if Max was going to live. My sister needed me. My dad was alive – Eddie, it was a lot. We’d been through a lot. I never blamed you for leaving, it was the right choice. Clearly.”

He had figured that was why but he’d always still wanted to ask one day. “We had something good though, right?”

“Eddie,” your face softened into a version of you that he recognized. “What we had, that shit was once in a lifetime. It didn’t matter that we were kids for half of it. Six years is a long time. We…we were good together.”

“Yeah?”

You smiled at him, reaching into his chest and pulling his heart right out of it. “Yeah. Somehow, that seemed to hurt more.” It was like Eddie had poked at a wound he thought had healed and was surprised to find it bleeding.

Eddie let himself fall down the rabbit hole for a second and he really thought about the years that had passed. He’d had something special and he threw it away, for what? To run away? Again? He wanted to chase his dreams, yeah. But a big part of it was running from Hawkins.

“I can hear you thinking from here,” you teased, bringing his spiral to a pause. “Don’t…don’t overthink it. I spent the first two years after you left overthinking ever tiny piece of what we’d said. Should I have gone with you? Would we be married by now if I had? Kids? Would we have even made it? Would I have become a doctor? The what if, that’ll kill you. Or, it almost killed me.”

You’d opened up a drawer in his mind and dusted off the cobwebs off the questions he’d tortured himself with for almost half a decade. Gareth and Jeff had suffered through a long, long time of finding him drunk in a hotel room wondering what it would’ve been like if you’d come. The fact that you’d also thought about it, hurt twice as deep. It also pulled a painful truth from underneath multiple layers of delusion. He’d really never fallen out of love with you. Eddie had always been a stubborn idiot. It seemed his heart, back in your palms, had never really had any intention on giving you up.

He blinked, dumbstruck, and was only pulled out of his tornado of misery when he felt your warm hand on his hand. “Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah,” he croaked, unbelievable even to himself.

You smiled softly, like you knew the truth. “We were the right people but wrong time. Timing is everything.” And you were right. You’d had the timing before demons and other dimensions stole it from him.

Eddie nodded like that simple fact didn’t crack his heart further.

Clearly trying to change the subject, you cleared your throat. “I told myself if I ever saw you again, I’d never be stupid enough to ask - but…”

Grasping at the second bone you threw that night, he nodded. “You can ask me anything,” Eddie said, his tone a breath too honest even to his own ears.

The smile that bloomed on your face made his stomach flip. Mouth twisting, eyes mischievous, you ducked your head. “Is the song about me?”

Wanting to keep the smile on your face, Eddie pretended like he didn’t know what you were talking about. “What song?”

The look in your eyes told him you knew what he was doing. “You’re going to make me sing it?”

“If you want an answer,” he said, shrugging innocently.

You narrowed your eyes at him and glanced around before nodding. “You never know how good you have it, until you're staring at a picture of the only girl that matters. I know what we're supposed to do. It's hard for me to let go of you, so I'm just trying to hold on.”

Eddie’s soul felt like it’d left his body and was hovering above you both. It’d been years since he last heard you sing along to his music and Jesus fuckin’ Christ had his memory not done you justice. “I still think you could’ve joined us and been lead singer.”

You laughed, smiling a little self-consciously. “What? And steal the spotlight from you?”

“Oh, sweetheart, that light always belonged to you.”

Eyes flashing, you ducked your head but Eddie still caught sight of your pleased smile. “You didn’t answer the question.”

“You really need to ask?” You had to know, especially for one of their more popular songs, everyone knew. It was still one of the questions he got most in interviews – who the song was about. Not that he ever said it, even to his friends. But to the people who’d known, they didn’t have to ask.

“Validation is nice,” you teased.

Eddie took a moment to really take you in. Hands intertwined on your lap, ID badge around your neck, and despite looking utterly exhausted, you were still the most beautiful person he’d ever had the sheer dumb luck of knowing.

“Yeah, Hopper,” he heard himself say, your eyes darting up to meet his, “none of my songs could be about anyone else.”

Well shit -- he’d never admitted anything that vulnerable in years.

“Even now?” You joked, trying to alleviate the sudden tension around you both. But Eddie hadn’t ever lied to you and he wasn’t going to start now.

“Yeah, even now.”

At that, your head whirled towards him and he saw something flicker behind your ten-foot castle walls. Something familiar.

The device on your hip beeped loudly and you jumped to your feet. “Sorry,” you scrambled for the tiny thing. “It’s my beeper, I’m being paged for a new patient. I’ll try to see how your paperwork is going and if we can speed things along. I…um, I – this was nice.”

Nice? He could work with nice! You smiled at him, hesitating with your hand on the door knob.

But, like the idiot he still was, Eddie nodded dumbly and said nothing while he watched you walk out his door.

“Nice? That was nice? What the hell?” You said out loud to yourself, taking another inhale of the cigarette between your fingers. Like the wimp you were, you’d taken your break on the last floor, crawling out to the shitty makeshift terrace the west wing had. The night shift rarely came out here, but you loved the view – downtown Indianapolis was beautiful. High-rise buildings with their scattered lights and the sharp wind from the corner usually helped you decompress. Clearly, tonight, you needed nicotine reinforcements.

If your roommate could see you now, she’d smack you. In your very well mounted defense, you hadn’t expected to see Eddie Munson of all people in your emergency room tonight. You hated that your first instinct, after your shock, had been to check your reflection in a mirror.

It’d been more years than you could count – being around Eddie should not affect you as much as it clearly still did. He was in your past, you reminded yourself, taking another drag. Max and Robin had always had an ongoing agenda to remind you that Eddie was always an option now that you’d both grown into yourselves.

At the reminder of Max, you needed to remind yourself to strangle her. Just this morning she’d said she had no idea where they were playing next – clearly, that had been a lie.

You felt off balance and you hated it. The past few years you’d spent making sure you had all your ducks in a row. You had studied hard, travelled around the country, and learned from the best of the best. Despite feeling intimidated by Brad’s confidence in his career, almost two years later you knew what he’d meant now. You were meant to be a doctor – and you were a damn good one. While you didn’t want to stay in the ER, you knew you had a reputation for being unshakeable.

And your ex-boyfriend walks in and it throws you for a loop? What the fuck. You needed this shift to be over, for him to leave, and a bath with some wine as soon as possible. Checking your watch, you groaned when you realized you had more than half of it to go.

Replaying your last interaction on a loop, you groaned again. Why had you let him convince you to stay in his room?

You knew the answer.

His dumb big, wide, brown eyes had always been your weak spot. And look at where that had gotten you – rehashing things that didn’t need remembering. Not with him. Or maybe? You took another long drag and pinched the bridge of your nose. Why was this so complicated? And why the hell did it feel like you had a swarm of pterodactyls in your stomach every time he looked at you…with those stupid eyes. Like you meant something to him.

“Aren’t doctors always telling people not to smoke?” A voice asked, startling the shit out of you.

Almost dropping your mostly finished cigarette, you whirled around and gaped when you saw Eddie standing there. “How the fuck did you get here?”

He grinned, the sight immediately warming you. “I asked a nurse for you; she said you always took your breaks out here.”

“You need an ID to get into the room that leads here,” you said, dumbly.

“Turns out, she’s a Corroded Coffins fan,” he said, grinning shamelessly. “After a photo and an autograph, she let me through.”

Scowling at the unprofessionalism, you guessed. “Emma?”

He nodded and waved a hand. “It happens all the time, don’t worry. Besides, you never came back.”

“I – I had a gunshot wound to the leg and it took a while to change,” you said, motioning to your new black scrubs.

Eddie took a few more hesitant steps towards you. “I didn’t know you smoked, last I remembered you hated that about me,” he said, nodding towards the cigarette in your hand.

“It’s a horrible habit,” you admitted immediately, deciding to be honest, “I only do it when I’m stressed.”

The city around you buzzed with life. “ER doctor feels like the wrong profession then…”

You hated the fact that you laughed. Not even able to stop it, you brought a hand up to your mouth, surprised. Not knowing what to say, you offer him one from the carton in your hand.

To your utter surprise, he shook his head. “Haven’t smoked in years,” he said and you noted that he made sure to stay upwind of the cigarette. “The love of my life once told me she hated it and well, I stopped.”

You quirked your brow, deeply ignoring how your heart skipped. “Stop moving that arm around so much, once the meds wear off it’ll hurt,” you said, changing the subject because what the hell did you say to that? Taking another drag, you exhaled the smoke.

He smiled at you like he knew what you were doing. Shit, he probably did. “I can’t help it, you know that.”

“I didn’t ask before but…doctor huh? Last I heard you wanted to be a teacher,” Eddie said, scuffing his shoe against the gravel.

You couldn’t help the way your brows raised. How had he known you’d considered being a teacher? “Keeping tabs on me?” He smiled and when he didn’t answer you shrugged. “After what happened, seeing you…”

The memory of Eddie on the floor, scratches and gouges all over his body while he laid unnaturally still in your lap haunted you. Sometimes, after bad shifts, you’d still have the same nightmare where you weren’t able to get him out in time. You could hear the sound of him choking on his own blood, your own voice screaming at him to stay awake. Steve’s frantic hands as he hauled Eddie through the gate.

“Almost bleed out?” He prompted, tone light.

“Yeah,” you cleared your throat and stubbed the cigarette out. “I never wanted to feel that helpless ever again.”

At your confession, he quieted. The silence wasn’t uncomfortable, not like you’d expected. It wasn’t charged like earlier…it was nice. “Yeah,” he said, “I knew you were a doctor. Dustin told me, sent me a Polaroid of your graduation.”

“That little shit.”

Eddie laughed. “I asked for it, don’t blame him.”

“Why?” You asked, shocked. Everyone had assured you that he’d reach out eventually – he had to. But he never did. In all fairness, neither had you.

His eyes came to yours, stare serious and the air shifting from light to something heavier. “You know why.”

Electricity crackled between you. Eyes drawn to his you had to curl your hand around the railing to avoid the urge you had to reach for him. “I started smoking in college. It helped take the edge of every once in a while,” you shrugged. “The scent reminded me of you. Helped me, I don’t know, calm down? It’s soothing, I guess. I had a tangible part of you that I could keep with me.”

Surprised at your own candor, you bit your cheek. You had never admitted that to anyone. Everyone assumed you’d picked it up after having snuck one off your dad or Joyce. You risked a glance up at him and your heart jumped to your throat. If the electricity was on high before, the look in his eyes made it palpable.

Like magnets, you both took a few steps towards each other. His hand reached for yours and your heart slammed against your rib cage, revving like an engine. “Hopper…I-”

The door behind him slammed open, surprising you again. Gareth stumbled in and you bit a smile back at the death glare Eddie shot him. “I think I just promised one of the nurses my first born to get here.”

You laughed, feeling Eddie’s eyes on you.

“Claire sent me to find you, she’s on a rampage. You can’t just run off dude,” Gareth said good naturedly.

Eddie sighed. “Sorry.”

“S’all good, she’s getting the paperwork for you discharge. She found a nurse on the second floor and I’m pretty sure he’s already asked her on a date.”

You snorted and Gareth grinned at you. “So, Doc, is he cleared to go? We’ve got a plane to catch in the morning. Helene said she’d cover for you for the rest of the tour if we needed to. Claire and Warren think you can sit and sing if you’re feeling up to it.”

Reality crashed into you. Of course. They were on tour. You and Eddie were in the past - a fond memory that stung a little still but was fond nonetheless.

“Uh yeah, he should be fine. Make sure he keeps the sling on for at least two weeks. No guitar playing but singing is fine. The nurse should explain in detail to Claire.”

“Great!” Gareth clapped his hands, glancing between you both. Your fingers itched to grab another cigarette as your stress climbed. “Helene’s on her way to Chicago.” Gareth added when no one spoke.

Eddie grunted and it spurred you into action. You reached out and rested your hand on Eddie’s arm. “It was nice to see you both,” you said, smiling at Gareth. Gathering up all the courage you had available, you reached up and kissed Eddie’s cheek. His breath hitched and you scrambled back towards safety. “Be careful, okay? Take care of the arm.”

Eddie’s stare felt like physical touch but you tugged Gareth into a hug and ignored him. The beeper in your scrubs screeched and you almost sighed in relief. “That’s my cue,” you said, waving the flashing screen in the air, “have a safe flight.”

Whirling around, you’d made it three steps before Eddie’s voice stopped you. “Hopper!”

“Yeah?”

He blinked at you, as if surprised you’d stopped. “When’s your shift end?”

You smiled at your first love and decided to indulge yourself for the moment. Eyes trailing down him, taking in his features and how little he’d changed. His hair was still wild and curly, his hands still waved in the air as he spoke, and he still chewed on his bottom lip when he was nervous. You still knew him well enough to know what he wasn’t saying. “You were my first patient of the night. I’m on until morning, probably a bit past that since we’re short-staffed.” The beeper screeched again and you winced. If it was an attending, they were going to be on your ass for the rest of the night. “I gotta go, I’m sorry.” Sorry that’s all you had, sorry this didn’t magically fix everything, sorry for not going with you. Sorry for…still loving you? “Bye.”

Before the door closed behind you, you heard Gareth’s unmistakable laughter and voice boom. “When does your shift end? That’s the best you got? Dude.”

A muffled groan made you smile and you shook your head. This night was going to be a wild, crazy, memory. That’s all. You had patients to see.

You were dead on your feet, squinting at the offending sun as you walked towards your car in the parking lot. “See you Monday, Hopper!” A coworker called out. You waved a hand towards them. The next break in your schedule had managed to line up with the weekend. Despite the miracle, you were already planning on spending most of it sleeping and catching up on your notes. Stifling a yawn, you dug through your bag to try and find your keys.

Where the fuck were they? You groaned, blindly feeling around for the key ring. As you rounded the corner you froze. What the hell? Eddie was sitting on the hood of your car. His hair was tucked into a beanie, sunglasses perched on the bridge of his nose, and his green cast in a sling.

Your feet carried you towards his smiling figure. “Hey? I thought – you…a plane?” Exhaustion scrambled your brain but Eddie seemed to understand what you meant - he always had.

“I can take a later one,” he said, squatting to pick up a coffee cup off the ground. “I don’t know if your order has changed but I got you this from the shop down the street.”

“Oh my god, I love you,” you said. Exhaustion and desperation drove you to practically dive for the cup. Taking a long gulp, you curled your fingers against the warmth.

Eddie froze as you continued to gulp it down. “Never thought I’d hear those words again.”

What? You thought, realizing a beat too late. Flustered, you didn’t know what to say to his teasing.

“I’m going to say something and if I’m reading too much into this or way out of line – feel free to slap me.”

“What?”

“Just…I need to say it. I have to – I can’t keep going on through life wondering what if.”

“Don’t overthink it…The what if, that’ll kill you. Or, it almost killed me.”

You swallowed around the sudden lump in your throat and nodded.

“I want to give this a shot,” Eddie said, inhaling deeply, “I still love you, sweetheart. I think I always have. I know that it’s different and it’s been far longer than it should have been but I want to try. Seeing you again tonight, I…I don’t think there will ever be anyone else but you for me.”

Emotions overwhelmed you, eyes tearing up. “Eddie,” you breathed, hands coming up to his as if by instinct.

His eyes didn’t stray from you and he continued. “I let this go because I thought - I thought it was what was best at the time. I’m not making the same mistake twice.” Eddie leaned forward, eyes darting between yours and you knew he was giving you the chance to back away – to say no.

Did you want to say no? Wasn’t this chasing the past? What if you both ended up hurting each other all over again? It was clear you’d both never moved on from your break up.

And yet…the soft look in his eyes reminded you of leaning against his locker, his body caging you in. His hair would hide the halls, the entire world, and you’d be pinned in place by his stare. Eddie would kiss his way up from your neck and one of your friends would always manage to find you two. They’d give you shit for it but, Eddie would flip them off before pressing his lips back down to yours. Their jeering fading into the background while his hands trailed down your body.

Just because it’d been years ago didn’t make it any less important. Any less crucial. And most importantly, the years hadn’t wiped the longing.

Without overthinking it, for once in your life, you surged up and pressed your lips to his. Eddie’s right hand trailed around your hip and pulled you into him. Mindful of his sling, you cradled his face and kept him close.

His teeth nipped at your bottom lip, making familiar heat pool in your stomach, and you were almost embarrassed by the harsh exhale you let out. You felt his smile against your lips and not one to be left behind, you let your lips find that spot you knew like the back of your hand. His scruff tickled your skin as you worried at the skin on the underside of his jaw and you grinned when he let out a quiet moan.

Your bodies slotted into each other like two puzzle pieces and they rekindled the flame that had somehow seemed to never have gone out. After a while, you needed to calm your breathing before you both managed to get arrested for public indecency. Taking a huge step back, you brought your hand up to your lips – afraid this had been a fever dream.

“Where are you going?” Eddie whined, chasing after you.

Grinning, you held his good hand between yours and brought it up to your lips. Brushing a kiss against his knuckles, you watched his eyes darken and smiled. His hair looked wilder than normal, his lips swollen and red. He looked happy. You were sure you looked a similar.

“How do you know I’m not dating anyone? I could be,” you teased, arms trailing down to rest comfortably on his waist.

“First, if you’re going to kiss me like that – if you were dating someone, I’d be appalled,” he joked, shooting you a knowing look. “Dustin told me. I called him an hour ago to ask for his advice. He likes to remind me periodically that you won’t be single for long. He really didn’t like the last guy uh-”

You reared back. “Jared? He was nice!”

“If it makes you feel any better my last quasi-relationship was like a year ago and Dustin wouldn’t even look at her when she tried speaking to him,” Eddie said. You bit back your laughter because that was definitely something you could see Dustin doing.

“The little asshole.”

“Right?”

“We can’t tell him about this. Not yet,” you said quickly. God, especially not Dustin – he’d be unbearable. He spent almost all of your trips home screaming Eddie’s praises.

Eddie’s entire face lit up. “So there is a this to tell?”

How could you have ever thought you could’ve fooled yourself into thinking this night wouldn’t have mattered? That Eddie was someone you could move on from? “I mean, I let you kiss me, didn’t I?” You teased.

“That’s true, you would’ve decked me if you wanted me off,” he said, nose coming down to your neck, teeth nipping at the skin there.

“I do have mean right hook,” you said, breathless.

“Oh, I remember,” he laughed and you knew he was picturing you decking Tommy at a party senior year for harassing Steve and Nancy.

After beat, your insecurities started to creep into the bubble. “What are we doing? I still…I still love you. I don’t think I ever really stopped but we’re different people now. We don’t really know this version of us anymore. Not the way we used to.”

Eddie’s hand came up to cradle your face softly. “Trust me, I haven’t changed much,” he said and you snorted. “It doesn’t matter. We can love each other and take it slow. We can learn the new stuff and enjoy the things that stayed the same. I’ll do whatever you want because, honestly, I don’t know what we’re doing either. But I do know that I’m not letting you go. Not a second time. I know my schedule is hectic – my career is chaotic - and all over the place for months on end but…”

You smiled, tightening your arms around him and finally feeling like the earth had snapped back onto its axis. “But we can try?” Because wasn’t it worth it? For him? Without question.

Eddie’s eyes closed and he leaned his forehead against yours. “We can definitely try.”

As the sun warmed you both, you glanced up at Eddie’s beaming smile and you nodded. It wouldn’t be easy, you’d both stumble and have to adjust to the new things, your careers, and living in different cities but…the timing was right. Again. Didn’t people always say lightning never struck twice? And yet, timing was everything.

A/N2: There's also no way in hell a metal band would be singing something as slow as When You're Gone but yolo, I'm the captain now.

#eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson y/n #eddie munson fic

585 notes · View notes

hawkinsp0st · 2 years

Text

in my head this is mike’s realization scene:

joyce and hop are engaged. it’s byers-hopper moving day, and the wheelers are helping them transfer everything from hop’s cabin and the byers’ moving van to the blended family’s new, more size-accommodating house in hawkins.

in the commotion, with everyone else on their way to bring a load to the new house, mike is able to get a private moment with el, sitting on her bed in the cabin.

the breakup is amicable. she leans her head on his shoulder and says, “thank you for saving my life in the woods, and bringing me to my new family.” she pauses. “and especially for not lying. about your feelings for me.”

mike gives a soft smile. “friends don’t lie.” he thinks for a moment. “so, friends?” he sticks his hand out playfully for a handshake, and el laughs, extending her hand, shaking his and then pulling him in for a hug. she smiles. “friends.”

they pull away from the hug and mike moves to stand up from her bed, so he can head out and give el some space, and go meet the others. but first, he remembers something, and sits back down.

“oh, el!” she looks at him, surprised at the urgency in his voice. “el, i totally forgot. thank you so much. for the painting.”

“the… painting?”

“yeah, the one, you know, that will painted. from you, for me. the one where you told him… what to draw? he gave it to me when we went to get you from NINA.”

“mike... i don’t understand. will was very secretive about his painting. he never told me what was on the painting or who it was for.”

“so you didn’t—never said anything about… me being the heart of the group?”

el shakes her head no, equally confused.

mike looks down at his shoes. there’s no way el could be lying, he thinks. she’s probably the most sincere person on the planet.

el senses how perplexed he is by her answer and elaborates. “remember, in my last letter to you? i told you that he was painting something and was keeping it private.” she took a breath. “i thought he was painting it for someone he…”

mike doesn’t hear the rest of her words because something has shifted and his ears are ringing and now it’s a perfect game of tetris inside him, mismatched pieces that were once clunking inside his chest now sliding together perfectly and releasing the immense pressure he’d no idea had been building.

everything falls into place perfectly and paints a picture that isn’t, can’t possibly be, real.

“el… i don’t…” mike swallows. “he told me that you asked him to paint it.”

el simply shakes her head and continues to let mike process verbally.

“i think he lied to me.”

“i’m sorry to hear that,” el frowns, heartfelt.

“it just doesn’t make sense. he draws me things all the time… or, he used to, before you guys moved to lenora. why wouldn’t he just tell me the painting is from—“

realization hits mike in the fucking throat.

i think there is someone he likes.

these past few months, she’s been so lost without you.

you make her feel like she’s not a mistake at all… like she’s better for being different.

so yeah, el needs you, mike. and she always will.

mike feels tears begin to prick at the corners of his eyes.

“he lied to me.” his breath is starting to come in sharply, like his body is struggling to adjust to the new homeostasis created by this information.

el looks out the window, thinking. she looks back at mike and shrugs. “that’s strange. will is a good friend. and friends don’t lie.”

mike sighs, trying to take deep breaths and not show el how distraught he is, his brain still catching up with what his heart, pounding violently against his ribcage, has already pieced together.

but el is perceptive as ever. “mike?”

he looks at el. she blinks at him, like she’s unsure if what she’s about to say will help at all, but she still wants to try.

el continues. “friends don’t lie. but max told me…”

mike is confused at what max has to do with this. “huh?”

“max told me that boyfriends do.”

mike’s eyes widen and an invisible force within him pulls him into a standing position.

“fuck,” he breathes.

“fuck?”

“fuck. fuck.” he turns toward el. “el, i’m sorry, i have to…”

“go to him. tell him i’ll be there in a few minutes with the last of my things.” she smiles, knowing.

mike storms out the door and toward his bike. it’s pouring rain but it couldn’t possibly matter less. he has to get to will right. fucking. now.

part two

#anyways #sorry this is so long i’m on mobile and couldn’t do a read more #mike wheeler i know what you are #byler fanfic #byler ficlet #byler #duffers

867 notes · View notes

ed-mnsn · 2 years

Text

byler dating headcanons

mike wheeler x will byers

warnings: none

content: fluff

will loves mikes voice, whether it’s listening to him sing along to the radio or read will his favorite book

he always bikes home with him, makes sure he gets inside safely

“radio me when u get home safe”

“mike you’re about to watch me walk through my front door.”

mikes love language is physical touch and will endulges this by always just having a hand on him

around his waist, holding his hand, playing with his hair

they stay up all night talking on their walkies

will grounds mike, makes him less jumpy, less manic

mike tries to cook will dinner but fails horribly

will slips love notes in mikes locker at school

mike sitting on his basement couch with wills head in his lap, talking about their futures and their fears

they confide in each other about literally everything

both of them trust each other immensely

being best friends for so long built this connection between them and they genuinely just feel most comfortable around each other

they take turns watching each other’s favorite movies

mike kissing all over wills face

and will acts like it annoys him but he loves it

will picking out mikes outfit for school sometimes, just cuz its fun for him

and wills heart swells when he sees him in school the next day wearing exactly what he picked out

holding hands under the dnd table

mike makes will mixtapes all the time and writes a little note about why he chose each song

them kissing when the rest of the party isnt looking but they see anyways

they wrestle ??

fondly though

will draws absentmindedly while they’re just hanging out, what he doesnt know is that mike saves every single one

mike actually has a box under his bed full of wills drawings, his notes, movie ticket stubs from dates they went on, receipts, really anything that has to do with will

joyce loves them together and lets mike stay over probably when mikes parents arent being the greatest

hopper surprisingly handles mike dating will much better than when he was dating el

will tells mike all his secrets

mike draws circles into his knee, his thigh, his back, wherever, just to comfort him

i think they have hilarious banter

sticking their tongues at each other

walking so close to each other that they trip over each others feet

will knows how to make mike blush

compliments his eyes in front of literally everyone else

later when everyone goes home and its just mike and nancy he’s all like “did u hear that!!”

and nancys like ???

and mike is all “he thinks my eyes are pretty :(“

nancy rolls her eyes but her heart grows knowing her little brother gets to feel true teenage love

they argue rarely but when they do it’s mostly because mike sometimes has trouble communicating his feelings

but will is good at getting him talking and being honest with him

things are resolved rather quickly

will says i love you first

mike almost faints i think

but he says it back once he can think straight again and he means it with every ounce of his heart

kissing in mikes basement, giggling whenever they hear someone walking around upstairs

they are just so in love with each other

best boyfriends in the world

bonus: robin gives them little pride flag pins

243 notes · View notes

ronweasleysleftnut · 2 years

Note

angst prompt 9 with jonathan pls 🥺

Prompt:

I need to be with someone who actually wants me. And I know that's not you.

Jonathan byers x female!reader.

Jonathan likes someone else, and y/n can tell.

Liar Liar

It was 3am in the middle of winter. Y/n had her window open, looking out at the now falling snow. She hadn't been able to sleep, so instead she sat up in bed and read. When she saw the snow fall however, she wanted to watch.

Her elebows rested on the windowsill as she looked out past her neighborhood. It was cold enough for the snow to stick to the ground, and so in no time outside stayed to turn white. She had been up restless that night due to Jonathan. They had been together for 2 years now, since their Freshman year, but lately he's been acting different.

He's been distant, and he's been hanging around Nancy Wheeler, a lot. Y/n didn't think anything of it at first, Jonathan was allowed to have his own friends, but as time went on, she started to worry he liked her more than just friends.

She hadn't confronted him about this, she was too scared. She didn't want to be wrong, and end up jeopardizing their relationship even more, but at the same time this feeling gnawed at the pit of her stomach.

She took a deep breath before shutting the window in front of her and turning to her bed where she climbed back in and tucked the covers around herself. She closed her eyes, willing her body to finally fall asleep, to turn off these thoughts that went in an endless circle and just sleep. And eventually, it did.

She woke up the next morning at 6am to her mother calling from downstairs. She got up groggily from bed and slipped on some warm clothes for the now 2 inches worth of snow that accumulated while she slept.

School wasn't called off, it almost never is. And so when she went downstairs her mother had breakfast made, and after she finished, she heard Jonathan's car horn signaling his arrival outside.

He drove her to school every morning, despite anything else that may have been happening between them that always stayed consistent. "Morning", he says quietly, and Y/n can tell he's been experiencing his own insomnia. "Good morning" she says with a small smile and leans over to kiss him. He turns his head however, and she kisses his cheek instead.

"Let's go" he says with an awkwardly and Y/n nods, buckling her seat belt before Jonathan drives down the road slowly.

She sits through school as usual, her and Jonathan only had their last class of the day together, social studies. Despite that however, she can't help but have thoughts of him all day. She tries to confide in her best friend Robin during lunch, but it doesn't go to plan. "I don't know how mens minds work!" Robin said, her shoulders scrunching up as they do when she talks about this type of stuff. "I like women, I don't bother understanding the opposite gender" and with that, Y/n was left hopeless.

And to top it all off, when she went to history, Jonathan was no where to be seen.

After school she went out to the parking lot to Jonathan's car, ready to confront him about his absence, but when she got there she saw that Jonathan wasn't alone.

Nancy was standing with Jonathan by the back of his car, and before they could see her, Y/n went to the car over and listened in on their conversation. "Thank you for today, Jonathan" she hears Nancy say, and she can see the reflection of her smile in the glass. "It was no problem, really" he replied flustered, that smile Y/n loved so much flashing across his face. "So... I'll see you tomorrow?" She asks, and the boy nods.

Just as Y/n thinks she's about to leave however, Nancy goes on her tip toes and plants a kiss on Jonathan's cheek, causing his face to burn a shade of bright red.

Y/n feels tears come to her eyes, but she holds them back. As soon as Nancy is gone, she walks over to where Jonathan stands. He's still so awed by the kiss that he didn't even realize she came from the wrong direction. "Y/n" he said, smiling down at her, although she knew it wasn't a smile for her, it was from Nancy.

"Hey" she replied quietly, and Jonathan took her hands in his own. "Wanna come back to mine tonight?" He asked, and she looked up at him. Maybe she was wrong, maybe Jonathan did still love her? "I'd love to" she says with a smile, and Jonathan bends down and kisses her lightly on the lips before moving to the passenger door and opening it for her.

She gets in and watches as he goes around to the front of the car where he enters the driver's side. He starts the car and turns on the radio, tapping along to the beat on his steering wheel as they exit the parking lot.

Y/n still has hope as they pull into his driveway, however her dreams are crushed soon after.

They get into the house normally, Jonathan taking her coat at the door and telling her to sit while he gets them food. She takes her normal seat on his couch and turns on the TV, waiting for the boy to come back.

When he does, he's holding 2 sodas and a bag of chips. When he sits down, he places the bag of chips between them.

They switch through the channels until they land on some random game show, and Jonathan sits back ready to watch. Y/n however, turns to face him "So, what did you do today? You weren't in History..." she finally brings it up, and he looks over "Oh, uh.. I had other stuff to do" but Y/n isn't going to let go of it that easily.

"Oh" she says, "Like what?" And Jonathan takes a moment before turning his head towards her again, clearing his throat before speaking "Uh... I went out with Nance" he says. Nance. Y/n bites her lip to prevent the tears from forming in her eyes "Oh, so you and Nancy are good friends? Thats nice" She asks as casually as she can, but it seemed as though those were the magic words to make Jonathan open up.

Apparently he took it as an opening, that y/n was okay with it, because he opens up like a book and starts talking about Nancy like it's a middle school crush. "Yeah I mean she's just... she's really cool. And she knows what she wants, and she's determined and so thoughtful of the people around her, and when she's concentrating she does this cute thing where she bites her thumb" he imitates the motion and laughs, however when he looks over at Y/n, tears are openly coming down her face now.

"Y/n" he starts, moving immediately to comfort her. "Are you okay?" But she pulls away, wrapping her arms around herself. "You like her, don't you" she says, and Jonathan hesitates for a moment before responding "what, I no" he says, trying to touch her again but she pulls away and gets off the couch.

"Jonathan I saw you two together earlier!" She says, and his mouth drops "I saw her kiss you, and I saw the way you looked at her and I know that look Jonthan that's how you used to look at me" the tears are coming more than ever now, and Jonathan recollects himself, however he doesn't move to comfort her this time.

"Y/n, this is crazy" he says, motioning towards her "You're not denying it though, Jonathan! Because you know it's true" she responds, wiping the tears from her eyes as she recollects herself. "I love you" she says sincerely, walking towards him and looking him in the eye "But I need to be with someone who actually wants me. And I know that's not you."

Jonathan is left speechless as she moves away from him and towards the door, but at this he finally gets up to follow "Y/n, this is insane just come back we can talk about this" he tries but she shakes her head, pulling on her coat "There's nothing to talk about" she says with a sad smile, "I hope you're happy with her, Jon" and she exits the house, making new steps in the snow as she goes.

78 notes · View notes

depravity-n-savagery · 2 years

Text

Billy Blurb - Max and Steve FINALLY understanding why Billy's so persistent about bringing her home.

cw: abusive parent, mild violence, lots of cursing

"Max! Get your ass out here. NOW!!"

Billy's car door slammed behind him as he got out. For once he couldn't bring himself to cringe about the damage to his precious vehicle. He was too concerned with the damage to his face. His aching ribs. His ego. It was all part of a continuous cycle, and he planned on putting a damn stop to it today.

Why was he always getting the shit end of the deal? Ripped away from his home, so they can make a better life for her. Forced to immediately respect and obey her mother, even though he barely knew the woman. Hell, she couldn't even be bothered with stepping in to protect him like a real mother would. Like his mother would. And now? He was made to be a personal chauffeur and brat wrangler. Beaten and kicked out of the house every time she decided to sneak out and stay away past curfew.

Did she care about the consequences she didn't have to suffer through? Of course not. No, she was the one being wronged. She'll run, hide, cuss, and even DRUG HIM to continue getting her way. Well not tonight. Not one more fucking night.

Billy pounded on the Wheeler's front door. Karen be damned, he didn't care about ruining his charming image. To make matters worse - or better, in his borderline violent rage - Steve Harrington was the one opening the door. Glaring down his nose at him. Here we go again.

"How many times do I have to kick your ass, Hargrove? Take a hint."

"Kick my ass?" He scoffed, running his tongue over the inside of his cheek. Blonde curls swaying as he shook his head. "Try it without having a little girl come to your rescue, and then we'll talk. Now either step aside or bring her out here. I don't give a fuck. But I'm not leaving here without her."

Steve must've been feeling like hot shit today, and it was about to get his face caved in. Again. Billy's patience was beyond thin, and if he let all this rage go... there's no way he'd be able to stop. Flashes of that night in the Byers's house were still fuzzy. Waking up dazed, sore, and alone. Just abandoned in this kid's house, without his car. No, there wouldn't be a repeat of that. So Billy took a deep breath, and tossed his cigarette down onto the pavement. "Look Steve, I get that you're Mary Poppins to these kids, but this has nothing to do with you."

The steadiness in his tone almost threw Steve out of his 'mood'. Chest puffed out and arms crossed. He was ready for Billy to do his worst. Still, he had to protect Max. He had to protect all of them. So he kept blocking the doorway. Planting his feet just as Billy always instructed him to. "It has everything to do with me. I'm not gonna let you hurt Max."

"Hurt MAX?! I never laid a fucking hand on Max! What about-" Reel it in, Billy. Reel it in. He put his palms together in front of his nose, in self-restraint. Mentally binding his hands as he took another deep inhale. Oh fuck was the urge building. Rattling inside his chest like a beast in a cage. Itching to punch that scowl off Steve's pretty face, until he knew where and where not to stick his nose. "I don't have time for this." He mumbled, choosing to yell past Steve once again. One more attempt at a peaceful extraction before he went nuclear. "MAX!!"

He hasn't prayed in years, but he'd consider picking it up again if things went right. If he wasn't too far gone, and able to leave this altercation without bleeding knuckles and a syringe in his neck. A small voice echoed throughout the Wheeler's house, coming up from the basement. "Alright, alright! Stop!!" Max said, walking up behind Steve. Hiding behind him like she always does until he finally stepped to the side. Finally. Maybe she was finally getting it. Understanding that they both had to play by Neil's fucked up rules for the time being.

"What do you want, Billy? I told you last time... to leave me and my friends alone. I'm not going anywhere with you."

Excuse me? Of course... she didn't get it. She didn't care. Not unless it concerned her. Just like her mother. Just like Neil. "Like hell you aren't. I'll drag you out of here if I have to. Neil and Susan want you home now. You can do whatever the fuck you little shits do tomorrow."

Steve inched closer to Max's side. Cute of him to assume he'd be able to stop Billy if he really wanted to yank her away by force. Truthfully that was the last thing he'd ever resort to. "I- Just go home, Billy! Tell them where I am, and that I'll be home later or something."

You know I can't do that.

"You want me to tell Neil that?" Billy gave her a knowing look, making her freeze up. Neil wasn't shy about hitting him in front of Max. He liked having an audience. It amplified the humiliation. "Really? Tell me, what's so goddamn important huh?"

As always, Steve chose the wrong time to interfere. "Look, she said she doesn't want to. Just-" His words warped and halted around Billy's quick fist, taking knuckles to the teeth in a sickening snap. It was quicker than either of them could register. Both pulling away from the collision. Billy froze with his fist still held in the air, while Steve stumbled backwards holding his mouth. Shitshitshit!! He was trying to avoid this!

"NO!!" Max stood between them, holding her hands out to separate them. Tears welling up in the corners of her eyes as she looked back to check on Steve. A type of sympathy Billy would never receive. "God, Billy why do you always have to do this?!"

If she wanted to know why, then he'll show her. Shove it in her face until it was impossible to deny. Billy pulled off his leather jacket, throwing it to the ground so he could tear at his shirt. It was buttoned just enough to hide what he wanted to. To hide what had him wincing in pain. A cluster of bruises along his side, over his ribs. Fresh and looking worse than they did a half-hour ago. Max stared with wide eyes, taking in every detail of the damage until it twisted her stomach. She wanted to look away, to turn away and run back into the safety of Mike's basement. Anything but this.

"Don't you dare look away." Billy's voice made her skin crawl. The raw emotion was overwhelming, but she obliged. Returning her gaze to the darkening blotches on his skin. "This is what you're telling me to go back to. Now, you tell me. What is so important, that I should go back there empty-handed?"

There it was, laid bare for Max - and apparently Steve - in uncensored clarity. Fucking Steve, who had the nerve to look at him now with an expression he couldn't quite understand. All he knew was, for once, the infamous King Steve was awestruck. Shocked maybe? Maybe he pitied him... Being under Steve's gaze like this suddenly felt more exposing than he was ready for.

"Holy shit, Billy." He finally spoke, still covering his mouth with his hand.

"Yeah, yeah... eat your heart out. Got nothin' smart left to say?"

Silence once again. What else did Billy expect? Steve knew what would happen whenever he got hurt. His circle of supportive friends will come to his aid. Cooing and coddling, tending to his wounds. Max couldn't even stand to look at Billy's. Defeated, and riddled with guilt, she apologized and shuffled off toward the Camaro.

Finally. She understood.

Just as Billy turned to follow, eager to get as far away from this place as possible, Steve called out to him. "Wait!" Jogging up to them with something clutched in his hand. Another flash of memory... Of the syringe... and Billy was immediately ready to fight for his life if need be.

"Here..." Steve huffed, slowing to a stop just a foot away from him. Extending his arm to Billy with a large bag of frozen peas in his grip. "For your-... Y'know.."

It was as good as Steve could manage on such short notice. And more than Billy's ever received before.

"Thanks."

#stranger things #billy hargrove #steve harrington #max mayfield #harringrove #if you squint

94 notes · View notes

deeseelovez · 2 years

Text

the cheerleader 3

part 1 part 2 part 4 part 5

aged up! mike wheeler x cheerleader reader! reader is a slightly cry baby. reader is very feminine and girly fyi.

also! this chapter does include some person information on y/n and her home life! so yeah🙏🏼

summary: mike drops off reader and they officially started to 'date'.

"Add me on snap, insta, and tiktok, would ya?" Y/n asks as Mike stops the car on the corner of the street.

"You live there?" Mike asks, pointing up at a big house. One of the biggest houses he's ever seen. It had a big garden and a stone gate around it.

"Yes," Y/n says with a shrug.

"Of course, you live here." Mike rolls his eyes and Y/n wanted to slap him upside the head but she took in a deep breath and snatched his phone that was connected to the aux.

"I don't hate your taste in music," Y/n tells him as she looks down at the Metallica song that was lowly playing in the car.

"You like metal?" He asks.

"Once again, you don't know anything about me, darling. I am full of surprises. Now, pass code." She smiles and Mike snatches his phone, typing in the six numbers and giving it back.

she adds herself on all of his social media and gives it back, "Now, take a picture of me on your snap." She says and he does as he is told.

"Good boy," She giggles as she grabs the phone, she captions it, 'see ya tomorrow @y/n_y/l/n'

"Now," Y/n took a picture of Mike with almost a small smile and she captioned the same thing with his at.

"There that will get people to talk." Y/n smiles, "Now, Wheeler. I'll see you tomrrow."

"Should I pick you-"

"No!" Y/n shouted, "No. But you can drop me off."

"Why-"

"I'll talk to you later, Wheeler."

"Yeah, see you around, y/l/n."

"None of that, sweetheart. You are a part of this family and we will always take care of you and your siblings."

"Thank you, Mrs. Li."

"Now, come here and have some dinner before you get home."

Y/n didn't protest like usual and just went in for some dinner with Millie and her husband, Robert.

After she ate and did some homework, Carmen took her and her three siblings home.

"So, you told him you lived at my house?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry-"

"Stop with the apologies." Carmen insisted.

Carmen Li and Will Byers were the only people in the world that knew where she truly lived.

Will knew because they lived across the street from each other and Carmen because that was her best friend.

The younger kids grabbed Y/n's house keys to get inside their house.

"So, are you getting a job with me?" Y/n playfully asks Carmen.

"I will," She says, "We can say our parents cut us off because we were living too fabulously." She says with a over-dramatic voice

"Sounds great," The two friends did a one armed hug.

"Picking me up tomorrow?" Y/n asks to sticking her head in the window.

"Always," Carmen says starting the car and Y/n walking over to her door.

“y/n/n!"

"Hey, Will!" They both came up to each other and doing their own handshake together and then hugged.

"So," They both sat on her front porch, "I saw you were with Mike." Will says with a prying tone.

"Yep, we're very new." She tells him.

"Oh my gosh, You and Mike Wheeler. Who would have thought? My two best friends."

"We are officially boyfriend and girlfriend now, but I understand if it's weird for you."

"No, it's just weird because he hates popular kids. No offense, Y/n/n. I love you but he hates jokes, cheerleaders. The only popular he likes is,"

"Jane Hopper, your future step-sis."

"Yeah," Will says, "Mike's a good guy and all but he's kind of an asshole."

"Will!" Y/n laughs.

"I love the guy but he is."

"I remember when you had a big fat crush on him," Y/n says in sing-song tone with a giggle.

"I hate that I ever told you that.".

"Your secret is safe with me, you know that Will."

"I know, I know," Will smiles.

"Hey, Will!" Jane's voice came from his house, "What are you doing-"

"y/n/n?" Jane says, "What are you doing over here?" Y/n cringed. She looks over at Will, silently pleading for help.

"She lives here," Will says, "This is her house. She isn't filthy rich like everyone says." Y/n didn't look at Jane, her eyes looking at the ground.

"y/n, is this true?"Jane asks and y/n nods her head.

"Yes." She says, her eyes finally looking up at her, "I'm not ashamed, Janey. I just, I don't want everyone to know my business."

"No. No. Don't explain yourself. I like your house." Jane smiles.

"Thanks," She smiles, wiping a tear from her face. Jane sat down next to her wrapping her arms around her.

"You can tell me anything, y/n/n. We are best friends, or did you forget?" She says.

"Well, in that case I have a few other things to tell you."

No one knew about her father leaving when she was 10 or that her mother could barely afford the house, bills, and groceries.

Y/n wasn't embarrassed of her living situation. She didn't want anyone's pity or anyone to look at her differently so she would sew on labels to her clothes that she bought from the Goodwill or the clothes that Carmen would give her.

Jane and Will both listened to talk for a little while. Will and Carmen both had been there for her when her father had left or when her mother started to drink, but Jane didn't have any idea of anything and she was shocked by y/n’s confession.

"I'm really not trying to make you feel sorry for me, I'm-"

"Don't you dare apologize." Will says. Will says hugging Y/n from the other side. Y/n had been there for Will, no matter what it was. She was the first person he came out too and the person he would go too when his father would hurt him.

“i love you guys,” y/n says putting her head on top of Will’s.

"We love you," They both said.

Y/n then started to feel bad for what she was doing. Fake dating Mike so he could win the heart of Jane.

y/n looked at jane her eyes closed and a smile. but maybe mike and her would both get what they wanted.

Her perfect grades and him with the girl of his dreams.

~~~~~

Like every morning, Y/n got up and put on an outfit from her closet. Applying her mascara and jewelry and then going out to Carmen's cherty red convertible, it was still in mid-august so the top it was almost always down.

Something that was different than every other morning was the faint smell of Carmen's new strawberry perfume and that Mike Wheeler in a black t-shirt and jeans was waiting for her at the front of the school.

"Mikey!" Y/n says, throwing her arms over his shoulders and placing a kiss on his cheek.

"No one is even watching," Mike whispers hugging her back.

"Someone is always watching, Wheeler." She says taking his hand.

"Why do you always were a million bracelets." He asks looking down at their intertwined hand.

"Because they are each special to me, if you're lucky. I'll tell you about it."

"Why do you dress like your emo?"

"I-" Mike looks down, "I am not. I just dress like me."

"Okay, do you have plans tomorrow?"

"No?"

"We are going to the mall and get a few outfits at the mall,"

"Starcourt, really? The malls lame."

"yes, really. I promise, it won't be as bad as it seems and I can look for a job."

"What Daddy cut you off?" Y/n's jaw tensed at his words,

"And remind me again, how that's your business?" She says with a sarcastic smile, "We have a football game today and it's a home game. So, you have to come."

"Well after the mall, you have to go a D&D meeting."

"Perfect. I've wanted to meet Eddie 'The Freak' Munson. I liked his music." Mike looks down at her as they walked down the hallway, hand and hand. Her other intertwined around his arm. He never noticed how she smells like vanilla and honey or how she always smiles at everyone.

"Y/n?" Olive says, "Who is this," Olive looks at Mike with a small amount of judgement. Y/n squeezes his hand subtly.

"This is Mike, my boyfriend."

"Is he new or something?" Olive says.

"No, Olive. He's gone to school here since kindergarten."

"We were partners last year for a science project." Mike interjects.

"Oh," Olive says, she laughs, "I remember. Well, bye." Olive turns the other way.

"She's kinda,"

"Yeah, she's not the brightest crayon in the box but she's sweet like sour gummy worms." Mike laughs, he genuinely laughs. That was the first time Y/n had heard him laugh.

He walked her too her locker and went across the hall to his, "Walk me to English?" Y/n asks.

"Um," He thought for a minute, "sure." Y/n held out her hand for him and he took it.

#mike wheeler x reader #mike wheeler #mike wheeler x y/n #mike wheeler fluff #stranger things #fake dating #enimes to lovers #kinda

133 notes · View notes

messrsbyler · 1 year

Text

always thinking how if in s5 the byers decide to stay with the wheelers (at least will and jonathan, maybe joyce too though probably hopper and el would stick together in hopper's lake motor house), then will is going to enter mike's room and see a bunch of his old art hung up on the walls and mike who was following close behind will realize it slipped his mind and now they are both blushing like idiots and refusing to look at the other in the eye

#byler #byler tumblr

29 notes · View notes

eclipsebyler · 2 years

Text

It's insane that most of Byler's heartwarming moments and quotes are initiated and said by Mike Wheeler and some people still think it's never going to be requited on his side.

"If we're both going crazy, we'll go crazy together, right?"

"Do you remember the first day that we met? .... I asked if you wanted to be my friend. You said yes. It was the best thing I've ever done." (This whole monologue, seriously)

"I've no idea what's gonna happen next. But whatever it is, I think we should work together. It'll be easier if we're a team. Friends. Best friends."

"Maybe I feel like I've lost you or something."

"It's Hawkins. It's not the same without you."

Notice how working together like a team is a present subtext to most canon relationships? It's not a one-sided give and take dynamic, not "I" or "You", but "Us". And Mike, when he talks to Will, always pertains to the both of them as a team- they need to be together, never dealing with things alone.

And thinking back to every moment in the show, Mike is always the first one to act and notice everything relating to Will.

Season 1 Mike who without hesitation initiated a search party for him and didn't give up on finding him, even when it's dangerous. Will being missing (and that fake death) affected him so much he shut himself off at first. He hangs and keeps a lot of Will's drawings, his admiration for his works evident. He's the first to defend him and wouldn't let Troy and the bullies badmouth him.

The entirety of Season 2 is just Mike's loyalty, care and thoughtfulness towards Will. It gives the impression that while the og party are all close friends, Mike and Will's bond is different and special. He stayed with Will all throughout the whole ordeal, always the first to notice when he was unusually quiet, gone, and acting differently. He trusts Will and is more open to him than to anyone else (and Will also trusts him the most). He's the one who pulls him out of his nightmares and visions. He literally never left Will's side and believed in him no matter what.

Season 3 Mike, even though he was mostly shown with El, never lost his soft spot for Will. He's still quick to notice whenever he isn't okay (at the cinema, during the Billy sauna fight, etc.). After their argument in the rain, he immediately went to apologize to him. It's like he can't take it if they're both upset at each other for too long. When the Byers were preparing to move, he got worried Will would move on from D&D or that he might find another party. He was the one lingering behind looking back at the house when they left, knowing how much memory it holds.

Season 4 Mike, despite their awkward and weird reunion (and prolonged tension), still notices Will even if Will just tried to fade in the background. After their fight at the rink, he also went and quickly reconciled with him the next day. He always found it the easiest to confide in Will with his feelings— his safe place—just like he is to Will. Will's monologue about him being the heart of the party meant the world to him. And by the end, when Will was clearly shown still being connected to the Upside Down, he sticks by his side again.

Whether it's platonic or romantic, no one can deny that Mike and Will share a long history and deep connection that they wouldn't ever have with anyone else. They've known each other for almost a decade.

It's not too farfetched that Mike can share Will's feelings and affection. He wouldn't reject Will when he finds out Will loves him. As a byler shipper, I may be biased to believe he already reciprocates it even. With how much he cares and initiates these moments with Will, I would even think he'll be the first to reveal he's in love with him and not the other way around.

But even from a non-shipper perspective, the 'they're-just-platonic-bestfriends' people: Mike still won't completely reject the idea of loving Will the same way. He just won't, not after his reaction to the veiled 'you're the heart' confession. And certainly not just judging by the way he holds the softest spot for this boy all throughout the show. If he does reject him though, we all know that's going to ruin their friendship and I don't think the writers would just do that?

Byler has such a great and high potential to be canon, whether you look at it in Will's or Mike's POV, and if they aren't, then that's a huge waste of building up such a beautiful bond.

And if they really didn't have a romantic subtext, why would they have so much focus with just the two of them? If they were platonic, why not include the other friends in their moments? Why would they have Will be canonically in love with him? If they did that just for another plot device and towards a rejection of all things, that would be so... I would never forgive them for that (less because they're my ship, but more on with how they handle Will's sexuality). It'll be such a harmful and disgusting narrative for many reasons.

So yeah, making them canon won't only wrap up both their character arcs beautifully, but also that would make better sense for the building up they've done throughout the show.

#byler #byler analysis #im a mike wheeler is bi truther #michael i know what you are

70 notes · View notes

ashyblondwaves · 1 year

Note

prompt list 61 jancy

Prompt: "hey... calm down, it's okay." Pairing: Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler Rating: T Word Count: 651

Jonathan sat on the couch tapping his foot anxiously. A tap for every second on the clock, moving faster and faster with each passing minute. He stood abruptly when he heard his car pulling up to the house. At first he started to pace back and forth, not knowing what else to do. Nancy's soft knock at the door reminded him that he'd, for some reason, locked it when she left.

He should have gone with her. What kind of boyfriend was he? But she'd told him it would be too suspicious if they were both spotted in the drug store, stealing, no less.

It had to be stolen, Nancy had said. She'd never get away with buying one outright. The town would know within hours.

"Get it?" Jonathan asked as he slowly pulled the door open.

"It?" Nancy scoffed. "I got three."

"What do you need three for?" Jonathan asked, following behind Nancy as she stormed through the kitchen.

"Reassurance!" she called over her shoulder as she disappeared into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. The lock clicked and all Jonathan could do was stand outside and wait.

When Nancy emerged a few minutes later, Jonathan look at her expectantly.

"Well?" he asked slowly. Like he'd scare her away if he said it at normal speed.

"It takes thirty minutes," Nancy replied with a sigh. She walked over to the couch and plopped herself down as though her body could hardly take another minute of waiting.

"Thirty minutes?!" Jonathan said, sitting down next to Nancy.

"You think I want to wait thirty minutes?" Nancy asked. She massaged the bridge of her nose and swallowed thickly.

"I don't think we have much choice," Jonathan said.

"What if I go in there and that stick is blue?"

"What if it's not?"

"What are we going to do, Jonathan?" Nancy muttered, dropping her head into her hands. "What about finishing school? College? What about leaving Hawkins? What about our plans?"

"Hey..." Jonathan said, wrapping an arm around Nancy. "Calm down, it's okay."

"It's okay?" Nancy said incredulously. " How is this okay? In twenty-five minutes we could go in there and our lives could change forever. Then what?"

Jonathan fell silent. He tried to think of the best way to reply, but nothing felt right. He'd already messed up by telling Nancy to calm down at a time like this.

"We'll get through this," he finally whispered. "We've dealt with worse."

Nancy's eyes filled with tears as she dropped her head to Jonathan's shoulder.

"How could this happen?" she asked.

"We don't even know for sure that it has happened," Jonathan reminded her.

Nancy rolled her eyes. "We always use protection."

Jonathan stayed quiet. Nothing he could say would change this moment. Nothing would fix it. No matter what color that stick was in twenty minutes, their relationship was already forever changed.

How would they afford it? Selling pictures to make ends meet was a dream, not a promise. He'd only be able to sell so many pictures of flowers to the local nursing home. That wouldn't pay the bills.

"Fifteen minutes to go," Nancy said, looking at her watch. "I'm not going to survive this."

"You can and you will," Jonathan said. The over enthusiastic lilt to his voice was not convincing anyone.

Fifteen minutes turned into ten, ten turned into five and finally, Nancy shot up like a bat out of hell and yelled, "IT'S TIME."

They walked to the bathroom side by side, squeezing through the hallway to get to the bathroom door that they'd never fit through together.

Nancy went in first, walking slowly to get to where the small kit sat on the sink, waiting for her. For them. As she looked down she gasped loudly, grabbing the results and turning to Jonathan with wide. eyes.

The stick was blue and nothing would ever be the same again.

#jancy #jancy fanfiction #stranger things #jonathan byers #nancy wheeler #nancy x jonathan #jancy drabbles #had to look up pregnancy tests in the 80s #cause i know damn well they weren't what they are today lol

17 notes · View notes

ollsonline · 1 year

Text

byler ask game <3

will: how creative are you? how do you use/convey this creativity?

mike: do you act on impulse? or do you think before acting?

byers: is your family close? if not, do you wish you were family was close?

wheeler: who do you have the most meaningful relationship with in your family?

yellow: are you a will or mike kinnie?

blue: do you have any habits you wish you could get rid of?

seven: when did you start shipping byler? (scene or season)

green: what’s your favorite byler scene?

childhood friends: in byler, who fell first? who fell harder?

mixtapes: what song always makes you think of byler?

van scene: did you ever lose hope in byler?

shed scene: who’s your best friend? (online or irl)

mutual pining: what tropes do you correlate with byler?

angst: whose personal struggles do you relate to more? will or mike?

modern au: do you prefer fics that stick to canon or aus?

season four: were you a mlvn at any point during your time in the st fandom?

season two: in your opinion, what is the byler season?

season three: when reading byler angst, what tropes do you like seeing?

season one: biggest pet peeve in the stranger things fandom?

literature: favorite byler fic? favorite fic writer?

painting: favorite piece of byler fanart? favorite fanartist?

comic books: what do you hc will and mike’s future jobs as?

stand by me: in your opinion, what is the most byler coded movie?

swingsets: what place (fictional or real) reminds you of byler?

forever and always: are will and mike soulmates? are they meant to be, in any universe?

mikhail: favorite byler gate?

boys don’t cry: what album do you correlate with byler?

smalltown boy: byler exchanging promise rings or byler running away together?

the cure: what do you hc will and mike’s music taste to be like?

twelve: what “crazy” byler theory do you believe in?

the smiths: sexuality hcs for mike and will?

the clash: random byler hc?

should i stay or should i go?: what song would save will and/or mike from vecna?

headphones: who do want to get vecna’d more? will or mike?

byers-hopper: if will and mike get married, what are their last names changing to?

pocket: are you a lettergate truther?

california girls: what artist has the most byler coded songs?

the party: cleradin, miwi, byler, or wiseheart?

byler: is byler endgame?

(made by @atbyler ) — ty for taking the time to read!

#byler #ask game #byler ask game #pls reblog!#this was rlly fun to make :D #will byers #mike wheeler #personal #st #stranger things #st2 #st1 #st3 #st4

22 notes · View notes

rogue-durin-16 · 2 years

Note

Okay, but consider? Eddie getting his shit rocked, but "King Steve" running in with a bat full of nails to get the basketball players to back off.

I can't help it, Eddie is too pretty when he's hurt and bleeding....

May I serve you a little long drabble about this?

Pairing: none intended (steddie if you wanna read it like that)

Warnings: violence, guns, language, blood if you squint

A/N: Takes place after Eddie survives the bats and is cleared of all charges bc Hawkins is a small town full of hicks that agreed to go on a fucking manhunt, you cannot tell me Eddie would have been safe. I feel like I only put Eddie through pain and punches in this account 💀 Eddie, my love, I'm sorry <3

It's friday night, 9:00 pm, which means yet another Hellfire club D&D session has just ended.

First weeks of May; the nights grow shorter and the days elongate, the Sun deciding it's time to grace the not so regular town of Hawkins with its warmth and light.

Despite this, 9:00 pm is still 9:00 pm, so when the boys of Hellfire leave Hawkins High, the only light in the parking lot is the one coming from the flickering street lamps, which cast menacing shadows on the D&D party's way to their homes.

In Hawkins, no one is ever truly safe, but these kids really got the short end of the stick this time; it's not interdimensional monsters the ones they fear— it's their own neighbors.

The law had forgiven Eddie back in the middle of April for those crimes he never committed, but the people... The people weren't as easy to convince.

They needed a Devil to blame just as much as they needed a God to pray, and Eddie just happened to be the loud, rebellious outcast.

To Hawkins' pearl-clutchers, Eddie Munson looked like he belonged to Satan. And those kids, those teens who wore the same shirt as him, those were... His acolytes.

Only ignorant people believe this, of course, but ignorant people tend to get violent really fast.

So that's why Nancy Wheeler is waiting for Mike at the parking lot, tapping her heel on the concrete with folded arms.

That's why Jonathan Byers awaits for the newest member of the Hellfire club right at the entrance of the building.

That's why Erica Sinclair, who has ordered her dad to drive her to Hawkins High School, clutches the passenger seat's door with the window down, eyes sharp, scanning the dark surroundings.

And that's why Robin Buckley bites her nails in Steve Harrington's car, her piercing blue eyes wide open. She wants to vomit words, but if she does that one more time, Steve will punch her straight in the face.

Gareth's mother is there too. He didn't talk much to her before the whole manhunt happened, but now she rarely lets him out without knowing where he's going and when he's supposed to come back.

Jeff doesn't have anyone, but it's alright because Eddie walks him to his shitty car every time.

Eddie makes sure everyone gets to walk to their cars without a problem every. Fucking. Time. Which is ironic, considering he's the one in constant danger of being lynched, or beaten up, or threatened, or worse.

Worse had happened. Yes, that one time he was walking Robin Buckley home from Family Video, because the least he could do after her and Steve managed to get him a job there, was to make sure she got home safe after a night shift, and since she didn't like Eddie's driving skills, they walked.

Someone had shot at him. Presumably. Robin had assured him it was just another drunk jackass playing with his gun because "Eddie, this is America.", but the bullet was accompanied by a loud 'FREAK', so it didn't take a lot of effort to put two and two together.

The point is, Eddie being the one to make sure everyone was safe before heading out wasn't the smartest decision, but it was what Eddie did.

9:10 pm, the kids were running out as carefree and excited as always. Another victory for them.

First one to leave was always Will, switching from Eddie's protective hand on his shoulder to Jonathan's in a matter of seconds.

Then it's Lucas, because he actually runs to his car. No one blames him— after beating up Jason, he's public enemy number 2.

Mike goes closely after, diving into his protective big sister's car to save her from frowning any longer.

Then goes Gareth. He wants to leave sooner, but pride overcomes him at the thought of sprinting to his mother's car before any of the freshmen, so he waits.

It always takes Dustin a bit of convincing and a couple of annoyed and quite worried shouts from Steve to walk to the car. In fact, most times it takes Eddie himself walking him all the way to Harrington's backseat for Dustin to leave.

He just doesn't want to leave Eddie alone.

Then Eddie says his goodbyes and he's off to walk Jeff, who, funnily enough, always leaves his vehicle at worst lit corner of the parking lot. It's because he's late to class and it's the only spot left, but it looks straight out of a horror movie.

Eddie is actually scared of walking back to his van, because by the time he gets there, none of the cars that came to escort the Hellfire members remain there.

He tries to zone out in order to calm his nerves, toying with his car key chain, or his rings, or his pick necklace while he hums a song. He tries not to be terrified while he walks alone in the night.

There's no cars left, as he suspected, and he thinks 'wow, isn't this like, the perfect set-up for someone to come after me?'

It's a joke. He's joking. He's just trying to get a kick out of it because laughing always helps, but he regrets the thought the moment he sees a jeep at the far end of the parking lot. Andy's jeep.

He really doesn't want to run to his van, he really doesn't. He knows those jocks are looking and he's supposed to be the scary one, not the other way around. It had been the other way around throughout his preteen years, he was not coming back to that.

"Hey, freak!"

Oh, but he really wants to run when he hears Jason's voice coming from behind him.

They're not even in the jeep. They're out, near the building, under one of those goddamn street lamps, and they look like an actual cult with those stupid jackets on.

"Where'd you think you're going?"

"Home." Eddie deadpans, as if he's not about to shit himself. "Why, you wanna come with me, Carver?"

The basketball team captain pushes himself off the wall he was leaning against with a scornful laugh, and Eddie wants to cry.

"See, I don't think you're going anywhere, Munson." Andy chimes, cracking his knuckles. "Not until we talk."

"I think I'll pass." Eddie gulps, deciding to slowly walk backwards to his mean of transport.

Oh, but two of the basketball boys are quite eager to throw hands; they're not about Jason's slow pace, so they just stalk to Eddie and shove them to the asphalt, and he curses them under his breath when he scratches his palms when they land behind him to cushion the fall.

He's so fucked. At least if he stands upright, he's a good couple of inches taller than all of them. Now, he doesn't even have that.

"Hey, Munson, you play guitar right?" Well, he doesn't even know that one boy. He's probably a junior, but he looks as scary as the 18 year olds when he circles him.

"Yeah, in that shitty band."

"Are you left handed Munson?" The supposed junior taunts him, and Eddie is pretty sure about what he's going to do, so he swiftly moves his hands off the pavement.

"Are you deaf, freak?" Jason's shoe knocks the air out of his lungs when he kicks his chest, making him tumble back aaaand his hands are back on the road. "Rob here," Jason crouches down to take a firm hold of Eddie's Hellfire shirt, "asked if you're a lefty." and Eddie tries to shake him away but Jason just... Toses him back to the ground like a rag doll.

Eddie screams when a heavy boot crushes his left fingers into the jagged ground, sending a sharp pain all the way up his arm that makes his eyes screw shut.

"I think he's right handed." Another one says, but they have no chance to step on his right hand too, because he's using it to pull his left one away from the basketball player's foot.

"Get off me!" The boy yells when Eddie opts to push his leg. A kick on the ribs makes him stop.

"Don't fucking touch him!" Then another boot lands on his stomach, and Eddie thinks that the best outcome of this is him in a hospital bed, because in the blink of an eye, the whole basketball team is kicking him.

It lasts approximately five seconds that feels like ages to Eddie, but they all seem to halt his assault once a car skids back into the parking lot.

"HEY, ASSHOLES!"

Eddie doesn't see this, but Robin pretty much threw herself out of the car while Steve pumped the breaks so she could open the trunk.

"WHAT THE FUCK YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Steve shouts loud enough for everyone to hear.

The younger members of the basketball team back away at Steve's confident strut, but the seniors stay in place, because they know King Steve hasn't won a single fight in his entire life.

Now, Steve Harrington isn't confident in his fighting odds, no; he's confident in the nailed bat Robin Buckley is pulling out of the trunk.

"Henderson, go to the payphone and call the cops!" Steve orders, not averting his determined eyes from Jason and his goons while he catches his reliable weapon when Robin throws it. "CARVER! ARE YOU FUCKING DEAF?!" He questions, lazily swinging his bat with a tired, pissed off visage. "I ASKED WHAT THE FUCK YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" He's not planning on using it on anyone, but if he has to, he will.

Jason seems to catch that, and he slowly walks back, putting distance between him and Eddie, only because he needs to put distance between him and Steve.

"STEVE! THEY'RE ON THEIR WAY!" Dustin yells from the payphone. He wants to run to Eddie desperately, but while Steve drove them back like a madman, he had told Dustin to stay put no matter what.

At the freshman's words, panic spreads amongst the basketball players, who run back to the jeep and yell for Andy to follow them, but Andy is stupid, so he sticks with Jason.

"You gonna answer me or not?" Steve has walked past Eddie and is way too close for the blond's liking, and he just keeps getting closer.

"Stay out of this, Harrington." Andy says.

And Andy's ass hits the ground, because Steve may not know how to win fights, but he does knows how to pack a punch, and in all honesty, he's having none of this.

He's tired of people running around with torches and pitchforks chasing literal highschoolers. Highschoolers who, mind you, saved their miserable lives more than once.

And this is a constant thing now —sometimes happens at work, sometimes at Dustin's doorstep, sometimes at the trailer park—, and he's tired of yelling at people like Jason, so it takes little to tick Steve off.

"Listen up, you disgusting piece of shit." He hisses, taking a fistful of Jason's jacket before harshly shoving him against the wall. "I'm gonna be as clear as possible." Steve begins, making sure Jason can't get away from his grip. "I don't care about whatever the hell you think Eddie did to Chrissy, and I don't care about your fucking religious agenda."

Jason is scared. He's genuinely scared because Steve is taller and angrier and has a fucking bat with nails near his face.

"If I ever see you near Eddie —near anyone from Hellfire—, not even your stupid mother will recognize you, alright, dipshit? 'Cause I'll ruin that squared, dumb face of yours with this." He pokes Jason's cheek with one if the nails at the front of his bat and oh my god is that blood? Did he actually attack someone with this?

The police car arrives soon enough. By then, Robin has pulled Eddie up and is checking his hand carefully. Yeah, it's definitely broken. Eddie's guess is that a rib or two have been fractured, too, but nothing too bad; at least he can breathe.

Well, not right now, but that's because Robin shoved a napkin up his nose to stop the blood from flowing out of it.

Steve doesn't let go of Jason until Hopper is by his side and tells him to head out, which he gladly does, calling for Dustin on his way to Eddie and Robin.

"Thanks, man."

"How many times do we have to tell you?" Steve response to Eddie's gratitude is a dose of his motherly instincts, hands on his hips while he scolds the metalhead. "You can't be waltzing around on your own, dude. You're lucky Erica spotted the damn jeep."

"I'm sorr—"

"Christ, shut up. C'mon," Steve motions the three people around him and walks to the car, pulling his keys from his back pocket. "we're taking you to the hospital."

"I don't—"

"No." Steve raised a warning index finger, peeking over his shoulder. "I don't wanna hear it. Get in." He commands, opening the backseat's right door for Robin to help Eddie in.

Steve awaits until the girl is in the passenger seat to bend over, forearms resting on both the edge of the door and the roof of the car.

"People here really fucking suck, man." he mumbles, loud enough for the young adults in the car to hear him. "How bad is it?"

"On a scale of one to ten?" Eddie asks in a quiet voice. Dustin is pacing outside the car until Steve tells him to get in. No one wants Dustin to see Eddie like this. Not even Dustin himself. "Maybe a six?"

"Head's okay?"

"Haven't had any complaints yet." Eddie wiggles his brows at Steve, whose frown eases at the comment. Yeah, Eddie's head is okay. "Head's fine."

Steve nods, giving a sympathetic look at the senior. "From now on, we're driving you home." He states, giving Eddie's shoulder a careful squeeze. "It'll get better."

"I know."

"Just... not yet."

"I know."

After a silent second, Steve retreats to his upright position. "Alright, Henderson, get in, we gotta get moving. I don't want your mother to kick my ass."

Dustin leaps inside at Steve's signal and automatically starts checking on Eddie while Steve circles the vehicle, throwing the bat back into the trunk before hopping in and driving straight to the hospital.

He's right, it will get better, just not now.

And with people like Steve, Robin and Dustin in his life, Eddie feels safe enough to wait for things to get better.

Permanent taglist: @elia-the-bibliophile @randomparanoid @karlthecat15722 @thebutchersdaughtersblog @amourtentiaa @just-here-to-escape-from-reality @comfort-reads

#eddie munson request #eddie munson #eddie munson headcanons #eddie munson drabble #eddie munson angst #eddie munson fanfiction #steddie #eddie munson fic #stranger things drabble #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things vol 2 spoilers #stranger things volume 2

96 notes · View notes