#Do not ask me where Steve & Robin are from it's not hawkins maybe it's Chicago | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

endless-summer-soldier · 8 months

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something like that - part one [Steve Harrington x Reader]

pairing: Steve Harrington x Reader

summary: Steve eyes a beautiful stranger at the country fair and he has a feeling she's going to end up being someone special. little does he know, his mysterious stranger is Robin's cousin.

word count: 7.8k

a/n: I have been completely obsessed with Steve Harrington recently and this idea just popped into my head. there will be part two coming soon!

part two

Steve ran a hand through his luscious locks before putting on his wayfarers and stepping out of his BMW. The smell of kettle corn hit him square in the face as he walked into the fair. He felt a little old to be at a kids fair as a rising Hawkins senior, but it was a tradition and the perfect way to send off the summer.

Steve didn’t get very far before being nearly assaulted by his long-haired friend. Eddie wrapped his elbow around Steve’s neck and pulled him close to his chest, threatening to give him a nuggie.

“Don’t do it…” Steve warned.

“Or what?” Eddie challenged. Steve couldn’t see his friend but he could picture the cheshire cat grin spread across his face. Eddie yielded and Steve straightened, instinctually reaching for his hair.

“Relax man, you still look like an adonis.”

“The hair doesn’t just happen naturally, it's a process,” Steve explained.

“Oh I bet,” Eddie teased.

He continued talking but Steve missed every word because in that moment he was distracted by the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She was wearing a stone-washed denim mini skirt, a navy Chicago Bears T-shirt that was cut at the collar and fell off her shoulder, and a pair of pristine white Keds sneakers. Her hair was teased up in a half up, half down style tied with an orange scrunchie.

“Wow,” Steve said to himself, mesmerized.

“Earth to dingus,” broke his trance. He turned back towards Eddie and saw Robin had joined them.

“What’s that?” he asked, returning to reality.

“Did you hear anything I just said?” Robin asked.

“No,” Steve responded candidly.

Robin sighed and rolled her eyes, “I said my cousin’s visiting from Chicago so be cool.”

“I’m always cool,” Steve responded. He turned back to the ticket line to see if the mysterious Bears fan was still there and was surprised to see she had joined their group, sliding in between him and Robin.

“Hi…hi…hello,” Steve said awkwardly, completely negating his previous claim. Eddie smirked at him and Robin tilted her head and looked at him bemusedly.

“Hey,” she said normally. “I’m Y/N.”

“Yes, this is my cousin Y/N. These are my friends, Eddie and Dingus,” Robin said, providing an introduction.

“Dingus?” she said, looking curiously at Steve.

“It’s Steve,” he said, shooting daggers at Robin.

“Pleasure to meet you Y/N. Shall we?” Eddie asked. He took charge toward the Tilt-a-Whirl and Y/N followed as Robin hung back with him.

“Very cool back there,” Robin teased.

“Shut up.”

“Since when does you freeze up around a pretty girl?”

“She took me by surprise. I saw her from afar before I knew who she was and…I don’t know I just got these butterflies in my stomach. It was like time stood still.”

“You are such a cliche,” she commented.

“I like to use the word romantic.”

“Well don’t waste your time. She’s way out of your league.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It’s really nothing against you. She lives in the city where there’s a lot more going on. Her life is completely different. Meanwhile we’re stuck here in the middle of nowhere and everyone knows everyone’s business.”

He considered her point, but wasn’t giving up that easily. He just had this feeling that she was…special. Maybe a city girl was what he needed. Someone who had other things on her mind than small town gossip. Maybe she could be his ticket out of Hawkins.

“Does she have a boyfriend?” he asked Robin.

She shook her head, “Not right now.”

A smile spread across his lips, “Then I’m giving it my best shot.”

She knew there was nothing she could say to change his mind. They caught up with Eddie and Y/N at the line for the Tilt-a-Whirl. Y/N was eyeing the ride skeptically.

“I might sit this one out, I don’t do well with spinning,” Y/N announced. Steve knew this was his chance.

“I can wait with you,” Steve volunteered.

“You love the Tilt-a-Whirl,” Eddie commented.

“Oh, you don’t have to wait with me. I’ll be fine,” she protested.

He shrugged, “I’ve been on it a million times. I can sit this one out.”

“Are you sure?” she asked him.

“One hundred percent.” He nodded at Robin and Eddie and they got in line.

“Thanks,” she smiled at him.

“Of course, I wasn’t gonna leave you by yourself when you don’t know anyone here.”

“That’s very sweet of you.”

“And you’re in luck.”

“Oh I am?”

“You are, because now you have a personal tour guide for the Hawkins Fun House.”

“Wow, are you certified to give that tour?”

“Not to brag, but I have lived here my whole life.”

She let out a small laugh and Steve had never heard a more beautiful sound.

“Lead the way,” she smiled. It was a short walk across the fairgrounds to the fun house. Y/N looked with intrigue at every ride and booth that they passed.

“You have fairs like this in the big city?” he asked.

She shook her head, “Not really, not like this. There are some ferris wheels around but nothing as expansive as this.”

“I’m sure the city has a lot of things to offer though.”

“Oh definitely. I love Chicago, but it is nice to come out here every now and then to get away from it all. There’s something appealing about small town life.”

“It gets old quick. I’ve been dreaming about leaving this place since I was kid.”

As they approached the fun house, Steve pulled out his bundle of red tickets and ripped off four. Y/N reached into her pocket for her tickets when Steve placed a gentle hand on her arm.

“I’ve got you,” he said, tearing off two tickets and handing it to her.

“Thanks,” she smiled up at him.

“I wouldn’t be a very good tour guide if I made you use your own tickets.”

“I’ll be sure to mention that in the review at the end.”

“I’d appreciate that,” he joked back. The line was non-existent so they cruised right to the entrance after placing their tickets in the collection bucket.

“Now I should let you know that this is the actual fun house at the end of Grease,” Steve said, doing his best Vanna White showcase.

“Really?” she asked, suddenly interested.

“Well…no. I may have embellished a little,” he smirked as they entered the house. The first obstacle was simple: a portion of the floor that moved up into a slight peak, and then back down. The two navigated it with ease.

“Steve, you’ll make a great lawyer someday,” she commented.

“God I hope not.”

“No? I can see it though. You in an expensive plaid suit, talking your way out of your clients’ problems.”

The next section of flooring moved in two different directions, the left side sliding forward and then back while the right side slid back and then forward. With a few quick steps across they were through.

He scoffed, “My dad would love that but I don’t know if it's for me. I haven’t quite figured out my calling yet.”

“Me neither. I’m just trying to focus on getting into college right now.”

By now, they were walking through a bunch of giant foam cylinders that were hanging from the ceiling. They pushed them aside as they walked through to the next obstacle.

“I don’t even know if college is in the cards for me. It’s like my whole life I’ve had all this pressure put on me to do what my parents want me to do and I never really got to make my own choices. This is the first time when I’ll get to figure things out myself. It’s a little scary,” Steve admitted.

“But it’s also very exciting. Going outside your comfort zone is kind of thrilling.’

He pondered her thought for a moment, “Yeah, I guess that’s true.”

“I think the best thing you can do is go with your gut and make the best out of every situation.”

“That’s very good advice. You should think about being a therapist.”

She let out a small chortle, “My mom is a therapist. So that is probably years of listening to her counseling wearing off on me.”

They paused at the next obstacle, a set of small spinning discs that they had to walk across. He checked on Y/N, knowing she didn’t like spinning, but before he could hold out a hand to help her across, she was jumping along the discs like they were stepping stones across a creek. She turned back toward him and said, “You coming?” He followed her lead, navigating the discs with ease. Next they reached a jungle of bungee cords, arranged in a way that forced them to climb and duck through to the other side. Steve led the way, pushing aside some of the cords for Y/N.

“So I have to ask, are you a Bears fan?” he asked her.

“Huge Bears fan,” she replied, “I don’t miss a game.” They emerged from the bungee jungle and she added, “If you tell me you’re a Packers fan, I don’t think I can talk to you anymore.”

He let out a laugh, “Don’t worry, I was born and raised a Bears fan.”

“Good answer,” she smiled. “How do you feel about the Colts moving to Indianapolis?” He was impressed with her football knowledge. Most of the girls in Hawkins couldn’t even name an NFL team.

“I’m all for it. I’m certainly not becoming a Colts fan, but if it means I can see some more games in person, I’m happy about it.”

They looked at the next obstacle ahead of them, which appeared to be a normal walkway. As they started walking across, a jet of compressed air went off. The noise and rush of air startled the two of them. Y/N instinctually grabbed his hand and pulled him across the walkway.

They stood there on the landing, flushed and giggling. Y/N had realized she had grabbed this near stranger’s hand and casually dropped it, changing the subject to avoid any further awkwardness.

“Have you been to a Bears game?” she asked.

“Just once, I was probably seven or eight. My dad surprised me one day with tickets. We drove the few hours up to Chicago and had pretty good seats near the sidelines. The Bears played the Vikings and ended up winning in the last few minutes. It was one of the best days of my life.” Despite sharing this happy memory, Steve didn’t seem to recall it with fondness.

She picked up on his facial expression, “Is there more to that story?”

“Am I that transparent?” he asked.

She shrugged, “I’m good at reading people.”

He sighed, feeling this strange compulsion to open up to her. “Years later, I found out that my dad only took me to that game because one of his clients cancelled last minute. So I spent years thinking my dad planned out this whole day for me, when I was just his plan B.”

“That’s really shitty,” she said, empathetically.

He let out a laugh at her comment. “It is, isn’t it.”

“I’m really sorry that happened to you.” The look in her eyes was genuine and he could tell she meant it.

“I can’t believe I just opened up about my dad to someone I just met. Are you sure you don’t want to be a therapist.”

She let out a laugh, “I’ve been told I’m a good listener.” The next section of the fun house was a mirror maze. You had to navigate through, finding the correct pathway while being surrounded by mirrors that caused confusion.

“Now this is the hard part,” he said, putting on his tour guide voice. “You don’t want to go through too fast because you might run head first into a mirror.”

“Do you speak from experience there?”

“It’s possible,” he laughed.

Y/N walked into the mirror maze first and Steve followed behind her. She navigated with a sense of precision, analyzing all her options before making a route decision. As she continued through, she gained more confidence and started walking faster.

“If it’s any consolation…” she started, turning around to finish her statement. She zigged when she should have zagged and Steve wasn’t paying attention to their route, too focused on the sparkling green eyes looking up at him. Y/N walked backwards into a mirror and Steve didn’t have time to react. He ended up pinning her to the mirror, his hands placed on her shoulders out of reaction.

There was a moment where their eyes connected in such close proximity and Steve almost leaned in further. But he caught himself, not wanting to come across too strong. He took a step back, but left his hands on her shoulders, searching her eyes for any signs of pain, which he didn’t find.

“What were you saying?” he asked, hoping this would keep them moving through the maze. It was difficult to be this close to her, to take in the scent of her perfume, without acting on his impulses.

She shook her head, as if bringing herself out of a daze. “Oh, um, just the next time you’re in Chicago I’ll take you to a game. As a first choice.”

He smiled at her, “I’d like that.” He took his hands off her shoulders and she walked past him in the other direction. He let out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding and followed her out of the maze.

The final section of the fun house was dedicated to a section of curved mirrors. When Y/N reached the last one, Steve stood next to her and they laughed at their distorted reactions. The effect of the mirror inflated Y/N’s head but emphasized Steve’s lower half.

“What a cute couple,” Steve commented.

“It’s perfect, your ass distracts from my nose,” Y/N added, referring to their exaggerated reflections. Still, hearing her talk about his ass made him blush ever so slightly. They walked towards the exit of the fun house which was a giant spinning cylinder that you had to walk through.

“Now this is the barrel of love. It’s tradition to hold hands when you walk through.”

“Oh yeah?” she asked, slightly skeptical of his assertion.

“Yeah, my mom always held my hand when we walked through it.” While this fact was true, he knew she wouldn’t be able to turn him down.

“Do you use that on all your dates when you take them through the fun house?”

“You’re the first girl I’ve taken through here.”

She studied him, trying to figure him out, “Do you honestly expect me to believe you have hair like that and haven’t dated anyone?”

“Oh I’ve dated girls, but no one who I’ve deemed worthy to share the fun house with.”

“So you brought me, some random girl you just met?”

“You’re special.” She squinted, trying to figure out what he meant by that. So he added, “You’re a Bears fan,” as if it was obvious. That elicited a smile out of her and she warmed back up.

He walked toward her and held out his hand, which she eventually took. They walked through the barrel of love, hand in hand, smiles on their faces, and Steve thought if he died in this moment, he would die happy.

Once they were back on the grass, Steve turned to her and said, “How did you like it?”

“I loved it. I’ve never been through a fun house before.”

“Just like Grease, right?”

“Pretty close. You could definitely convince some future dates that this is a famous Fun House.”

“Oh, I can’t take any other girls in there,” he added.

“Why not?”

“Because it’ll always remind me of you.” They were still holding hands and he looked towards her as he said this. A faint blush crept up her cheeks, and she looked away but kept a firm grip on his hand.

“You barely know me,” she deflected.

“But I want to.”

“I don’t even know your last name.”

“Harrington. And are you a Buckley?”

“I am not. My last name is Y/L/N. Robin’s mom and my Dad are siblings.”

“Are you two close?”

“Yeah, considering we really only see each other a few times a year. I grew up with brothers so Robin is the closest I’ve had to a sister.”

As they passed several food stands, Y/N eyed the menus, realizing now how hungry she was.

“Are you hungry?” he asked.

“Actually yes.”

“Then I know just the place.” Steve led the way, Y/N’s hand clutched tight in his. He never wanted to let go of her. They wove through the crowd as Steve navigated to the food stand he was looking for.

“Have you ever had a corn dog before?”

“I haven’t. We have a pretty specific formula for hot dogs in Chicago.”

“That settles it. We’re getting corndogs.” Steve walked up to the window and ordered them two corn dogs. He didn’t want to let go of her hand, but he had to grab his wallet from his back pocket. Once he paid, he handed the first corn dog over to Y/N and then took the second for himself. He led her over toward the condiment table where they took turns zig-zagging mustard over the breading.

Y/N grabbed a few napkins and they found a table to sit and eat for a minute. Steve opted for the seat next to her as opposed to the bench across from her and she didn’t seem to mind. He watched as she took her first bite, waiting for her reaction.

She nodded, “Okay, I see the appeal. This is pretty good.”

“It’s classic fair food, I had to give you the full experience.” As Steve took his first bite, he didn’t notice when a glob of mustard fell onto his perfectly clean white shirt. Y/N spotted it immediately and grabbed one of her napkins.

“Can’t take you anywhere,” she joked, as she wiped the mustard off his right pectoral.

“You’re one to talk,” Steve said, he brought the edge of his thumb to the corner of her mouth, where a smudge of mustard was waiting to be wiped.

“Thanks,” she grinned at him. She wasn’t sure when she got so comfortable with a complete stranger. He had this magnetism and she felt herself constantly wanting to be near him. She was intrigued by this small town boy and she wanted to know more.

She was pulled from her thoughts when she saw movement coming from the bench across from them.

“There you guys are! I should’ve known you’d be by the food.” Robin and Eddie had found them. Steve didn’t even realize how long they’d been gone.

“Sorry, I had to introduce Y/N to her first ever corn dog.”

All that Y/N had left remaining of the corn dog was the stick. “I hated it,” she joked.

“Well, Eddie and I were just talking about hitting up some of the games. Care to join?”

Steve looked to Y/N, letting her respond to the question. The smile on his face grew even further when she agreed. All he wanted to do was win her a prize.

The quartet made their way through each booth, partaking in ring toss, balloon darts, and carefully selecting a rubber duck from a flowing makeshift river in the hopes there was a star sticker placed on the bottom. Despite the countless tickets that were forfeited, the group had yet to collect any prizes, and Steve was not having that. Eddie and Robin were challenging each other in the shooting gallery, the competition rising with every round, but Steve had his sights set on another booth.

He lightly tapped Y/N on the shoulder and signaled for her to follow him. She did without question and they landed at the milk bottle stand. There was a pyramid of three milk bottles on a platform and three baseballs placed in front of the structure.

“Alright, what prize do you have your eye on?” he asked her.

She studied the border of the stand and pointed to an aquamarine stuffed bear with a shooting star on its white belly.

“The Care Bear?” he asked for clarification.

She shrugged and said, “They’re cute.”

He held up his hands and said, “No judgment here.” Steve called over the teen manning the booth and handed over his tickets, receiving three baseballs in the exchange.

“Steve, isn’t this game like notoriously rigged?”

“It is, but I know the strategy to win.”

“Oh you do?”

“I can’t tell you what it is, but I can show you.” Steve took the first baseball in his hand and threw it up a few inches in the air, getting a feel for the ball. He wound up and released, easily knocking the right hand bottle off the platform. The top bottle fell and landed on its side, still sitting on the platform in front of the bottle on the left. Steve picked up the second projectile and didn’t hesitate as he pitched it straight at the horizontal bottle. The resting bottle spun with force as it slid off the pedestal, taking the upright milk bottle with it.

“And that’s how it's done,” Steve smiled at Y/N. The booth attendant rolled his eyes before pulling down the Care Bear in the top corner. He handed the prize to Steve, who immediately handed it to Y/N.

The two looked at the stuffed bear, realizing it was some sort of knock off Care Bear with the eyes sewn crookedly, giving it a somewhat deranged appearance.

“Aw, he’s so ugly. I love him,” Y/N, squeezing the cheaply stuffed creature. “Every time I look into his crossed eyes, I’ll remember the moment Steve Harrington defied the odds of the milk bottle stand.” She looked up at him with a smile and he thought maybe this was his moment to make a move, but he was interrupted when Robin and Eddie found them again.

“What a creepy looking bear,” Eddie declared.

“He’s an original,” Y/N defended.

“We’re thinking one more ride and then we’ll head to the lake,” Robin offered. Y/N nodded her head in agreement and Steve had to hide his smile. He was glad Y/N wasn’t planning on leaving them after the fair.

Steve scanned around the fairgrounds, thinking through what the best last ride would be when his eye caught the Tunnel of Love across that way. How could he get her there? Eddie and Robin would never go for it, but could he sneak away from them…

“Don’t even think about it,” Robin whispered in his ear, as if reading his mind.

“Ferris wheel?” Eddie suggested. They all nodded in agreement and headed toward the center of the park. There was a bit of a line, but it always moved quickly. Steve noticed the sun was just about to set and he thought if he played his cards right, he could time this out perfectly. As they moved through the line, Steve tried to position himself near Y/N so that they would end up in the same car. But as soon as they got to the front of the line, Robin foiled his plans. She slid past Steve and grabbed Y/N’s hand, dragging her into the next cart.

Steve let out a frustrated sigh and watched as his friend stole away his perfect moment. Y/N looked back toward him with a sorry smile.

“Looks like you’re stuck with me,” Eddie commented, as they walked into the next cart.

“I don’t know why Robin is hell bent on cock blocking me.”

“She’s just trying to protect her cousin. You’d do the same thing.”

“Yeah but it’s me. She knows I’m harmless.”

“Well then maybe she’s trying to protect you.”

“Me? From what?”

“From falling in love,” Eddie suggested.

“I think it might be too late for that,” Steve admitted.

“Such a hopeless romantic,” Eddie tsked. They were moving up toward the top of the wheel and the sunset painted the sky a beautiful watercolor of pink, purple, and orange.

“You ever met someone you just instantly connect with? Someone who is so easy to be around and who you want to spend every second with? Someone you want to know everything about?”

Eddie pondered for a moment, “No. But I believe that it happens.” Steve looked out hopelessly at the sunset, thinking of nothing but the beautiful girl in the Bears shirt.

“Can I give you some advice?” Eddie asked.

“Sure. But no promises that I’ll follow it.”

“That’s fair,” Eddie agreed. “Just enjoy tonight. Don’t think about what happens when she goes back to Chicago. Be appreciative that you get to spend time with her now. And trust that if things are meant to be, they’ll happen.”

Steve considered his words carefully and realized Eddie’s advice was surprisingly high quality.

“That’s actually not a bad idea.”

“See? This is why you keep me around.”

The ferris wheel completed its last lap and started slowing down, allowing the riders ample time to unload, and soon they were off the ride. They circled up at the exit and walked together back toward the field of parked cars.

“You guys need a lift to the lake?” Eddie offered to Robin and Y/N. Steve shot daggers at him, slightly annoyed that he was losing even more time with the out-of-towner he fancied.

“Yeah, that’d be great!” Robin exclaimed.

“I’ll meet you guys there,” Steve commented, diverting from the group.

“Oh shit, I just remembered I took out the back seats of the van to make room for Gareth’s drum set. Harrington, do you mind driving Y/N?”

Eddie gave Steve a knowing look and Steve made a mental note to thank his friend later. “Yeah, no problem,” Steve replied, hoping he played it cool.

Eddie and Robin took off down the row of cars while Steve started walking in the other direction with Y/N.

“Thanks for driving me,” she smiled, accidentally grazing her shoulder with his bicep as she walked next to him.

“Well I couldn’t let you roll around in the back of Eddie’s van. You’re probably better off with me anyway. Eddie’s van always seems to be a few miles away from its next breakdown.”

They approached Steve’s car and he unlocked the doors and quickly ran to the passenger side to open the door for her.

“Oh yeah, I think I’ll be much more comfortable in the beemer.” Steve was suddenly embarrassed by his flashy car. It wasn’t his first choice, he would’ve much preferred something a little more…normal.

“It used to be my dad’s. He decided he wanted a new car and he gave me this one.”

“Seems very generous,” she commented.

“Eh, I think it was just another way for him to flash his money. Giving his teenage son a BMW.”

“Well at least you have a car. I don’t even know how to drive. I have to take the bus everywhere.”

“I’ll teach you how to drive,” he immediately offered.

She scoffed, “You’re gonna teach me how to drive in the next…sixteen hours?”

“Sure, come take the wheel and I’ll walk you through it.” Steve got out of the car and walked around to the passenger side. Y/N was still sitting in the front seat when Steve opened the door.

“Steve, I am not driving your BMW,” she laughed.

“Why not? This is the perfect place to learn. It’s a small town, the roads aren’t that crowded. And I’m a great teacher.”

“I don’t even have my permit,” she protested.

Steve shrugged, unfazed. “So? You’re not gonna get pulled over here.” She looked like she was debating things in her mind. “Come on, live a little,” he nudged. She looked up at him and sighed, knowing she couldn’t say no to him.

“Okay,” she said in disbelief. She climbed out of the front seat and walked around to sit behind the wheel.

She sat behind the car and Steve told her how to move the seat up so that her feet could reach the pedals.

“Now, before we get started, what sort of driving experience do you have?”

“None?” she offered with a tight smile.

“Bumper cars?” he suggested.

She shook her head, “Okay, no problem.” He started on the basics, explaining the difference between the gas and the clutch and how to operate the stick shift. Y/N sat there, mesmerized with the ease in which he explained everything. It all made sense but understanding the theory of driving and doing it were two separate things.

“Okay, you’re going to gently tap on the clutch as you turn the keys to start the car.” She nodded her head and followed his instruction. The car started humming with ease and Y/N turned to Steve with a brilliant smile on her face. He could have melted right then and there. “That’s perfect. Now keep your foot on the clutch and move into first gear. We’ll start slow until we get out of the lot.” She did as he instructed and the car was slowly moving as she pressed the gas. Steve talked her through her first turn, which took more effort than she was expecting. Once she was on the road, he talked her into a gear shift and she drove faster. She seemed nervous but exhilarated and Steve calmly talked her through all the motions, giving her more than enough time to follow his instructions. Before they knew it, they were pulling into the gravel lot that led to Lovers’ Lake. He talked her through how to put the car in park and once she cut the engine, she turned to him with a look of pure joy.

“I did it,” she smiled.

“Of course you did.”

She turned and looked at the steering wheel, “I was sure I was going to crash into something.” She fixed her gaze back on Steve, “You really are a great teacher.”

“You’re a really great student,” was what came out of his mouth. It wasn’t his finest comment but it didn’t seem to matter. She was looking at him with a sense of wonder. He leaned in a bit, thinking this could be his opening when he was interrupted by an insistent knock on his window. Robin’s face was pressed up on the glass and he could hear her say “What took you so long?”

Y/N let out a sigh and got out of the car. “Steve let me drive,” she provided as an explanation.

“But you don’t know how to drive,” Robin commented.

“She does now,” Steve smiled, sending a quick look Y/N’s way. Robin snaked her arm through her cousin’s and walked her toward the lake, filling her in on what she needed to know about the lake crowd.

“I owe you one,” Steve said, patting Eddie on the back.

“You owe me nothing. I just like to see my friends happy.”

“When did you become such a sap?” Steve teased.

“You must be wearing off on me.” The two boys approached the edge of the lake where their peers were already sipping beers and starting a bonfire.

Robin was introducing Y/N to a few of her classmates and Steve made his rounds and grabbed a beer from the cooler. He wanted to go scoop Y/N up again, but he decided to wait until Robin had a few beers in her and would be distracted by her crush on Vickie. So he hung back with Eddie.

He wasn’t sure what they talked about or how long they stayed there, but Steve hit the point when he needed another beer so he left Eddie in favor of the cooler. As he cracked a fresh can of Budweiser, he felt a chill go up his spine and he scanned the crowd, looking for his dream girl. Sure enough, she was still here but Robin was no longer by her side. She had been cornered by Billy Hargrove and he knew nothing good would come from this. He took a big sip of his beer for courage and walked over there.

“This guy bothering you?” Steve called over to Y/N as he approached the duo. Y/N looked at him with relieved eyes and he knew he interjected at the right time.

“Harrington, what a lovely surprise,” Billy said sarcastically, turning to face Steve.

“Leave her alone, Billy. She’s not interested,” he said, standing in a protective stance in front of Y/N.

“And how would you know?”

“Because there is no way a girl that beautiful is single,” he said.

“It’s okay if you’re not single. It can be our little secret,” Billy whispered the last part.

“I know this might come as a shock to you, but some of us have morals. So go take your lingering gaze somewhere else,” Steve asserted. Bucky stared him down, calculating if it was worth his time to stay and fight back or if he had a better chance getting laid elsewhere. The latter option seemed to win out as he crushed his lit cigarette under his boot and left them with “Your loss.”

He wandered off, in search of his next target and Steve turned around to face Y/N.

“Did Robin not warn you about him?” Steve asked.

“She did, but he sort of pulled a sneak attack and before I could get myself out of it, you saved me.”

“I’m sorry you had to deal with that douchebag.”

“It’s okay. It wasn’t that bad.”

“Do you need another one of those?” he asked, signaling to her empty beer. She nodded and the two of them walked back to the supply of alcohol. Steve grabbed a beer for her and another for himself and they cracked them together and took long sips.

“Um, Steve,” she called, getting his attention, “I don’t have a boyfriend. Just so you know.”

He nodded at her, “I know, but Billy doesn’t need to know that,” Steve grinned. She felt the need to clarify her relationship status. That had to be a good thing, right? By this point, the sky was dark and the only light was coming from the bonfire. He noticed a quick shiver run through Y/N and he knew it would only get worse as the temperature dropped.

“Are you cold?” he asked. Her face told him she was but she struggled to respond. “I’m fine,” she said.

“I don’t believe you,” he commented. He nudged his head to the right, where his car was parked, and started walking over there. She followed in his wake and as soon as he reached the car, he opened the door to the backseat and pulled out a light gray Members Only jacket. He shook it out before wrapping the jacket around her shoulders.

She considered protesting, but she was grateful for the extra layer and the smell of Steve’s cologne surrounding her.

“Thanks,” she smiled. She easily slid her arms into the sleeves, and hugged the jacket around her. Steve started back towards the group of teens when Y/N lightly grabbed his arm to stop him. He felt tingles shoot up his arm at her touch and instinctively turned around to make sure she was okay.

“Um, is there somewhere else we could go. Maybe a little more…quiet?”

“Yeah, yeah. I can, uh, I’ll show you my favorite spot.” He held out his hand and felt butterflies in his stomach when she took it and leaned in close to him.

“Sorry, it’s just been a lot of new people and I feel like I’ve been repeating myself all night.”

“No worries. I can only imagine. We don’t get a lot of outsiders here.” They walked to the edge of the lake and away from the noise of the party.

“It’s so pretty out here,” she sighed, looking out over the moonlit lake.

“Yeah it’s sort of become our spot this summer. People come to hang out on the weekend and the cops kind of turn a blind eye to it.”

“That’s awesome. We have Lake Michigan but it's nothing like this. And we definitely couldn’t drink like this out there. We usually just cram into someone’s basement, which gets old really fast.”

“I would kill to experience something like that,” Steve said, imagining growing up in the city.

She chuckled, “The grass is always greener right?”

“Do you want to leave the city?”

“Eventually. I’ve always had that dream of a house in the suburbs with the white picket fence. Just somewhere nice and safe to raise some kids.”

Steve smiled and nodded at her, having a similar goal. “I feel the same way. But I’d love to spend a few years in the city.”

“You should. It’s fun. There’s always something going on.”

“Maybe I’ll figure my life out and get there someday,” he suggested.

“You will,” she encouraged. Steve skimmed the rocky shore, searching for a flat stone that he could skip across the water.

“You ever skip rocks?” Steve asked.

She smiled and nodded, “My dad showed me when I was little.”

“I come out here to skip rocks sometimes. It helps me think.” He picked up a smooth rock and side armed it so it skimmed across the water, skipping four times. Y/N followed his lead, tossing her own rock that skipped five times, landing just past his. He looked at her with an impressed smile.

“What do you think about?” she asked.

He skipped another rock and said, “Life. Where I want to go to college. What I want to do with my life. How I’m gonna be a disappointment to my parents.” He hung his head at that last part.

She turned her gaze to him and placed a gentle hand on his arm, “Hey, you don’t know that.”

“I just don’t see any world where I’m good enough.”

“Steve,” she said gently, saddened by his words. “I don’t know you very well, but in just a few hours I can tell you succeed in anything you put your mind to. Hell, you taught me how to drive in about 20 minutes.” A small smile squeaked out. “Don’t be so hard on yourself,” she added.

“Spoken like a true therapist,” he joked.

“Hey, I don’t know. I might have a future in rock skipping.” She tossed another stone across the water and counted seven jumps before it sank to the bottom.

“I know, you’re embarrassing me here,” Steve skipped another stone, only landing four skips. “You probably could’ve won yourself a Care Bear.”

“Yeah, but then I wouldn’t have the opportunity to tell my friends about the cute Indiana boy who won me a teddy bear.”

Steve was blushing and fighting the smile creeping up his face. Y/N looked up at him with another smile.

“Can I ask you something?” she said, turning towards him.

“Yeah, anything.”

“Are you gonna make a move?” She asked bluntly. The beer had definitely given her a little more confidence and Steve was surprised to be called out.

“Do you want me to make a move?” he asked. He stopped looking for rocks and focused his attention on her.

“I thought I made that pretty clear,” she said, taking one step closer to him.

“Well I didn’t want to make any assumptions,” he said, moving even closer. They were inches away and he couldn’t get enough of the smell of her perfume.

“I only ask because I will make the first move, but guys don’t always take well to that.” She was looking up at him, their faces inches away.

“Those guys are morons. There is nothing sexier than a girl who goes after what she wants.”

A mischievous smile spread across her face. She grabbed the collar of his white T-shirt and pulled him slowly into her. When his mouth was millimeters away from hers, she angled her head up ever so slightly and leaned into him, her lips softly grazing his in an extremely sensual kiss. Steve could’ve sworn he imagined the whole thing. Her grip on his T-shirt was the only signal to him that this was real. Sure, he had kissed girls before, but never like this. The kiss was tender, yet filled with so much tension and yearning. He felt tingles down to his toes. She teased his lips with a quick brush of her tongue and then she carefully pulled away, much to his dismay. He kept his lips pouted and his eyes closed, hoping she would pull him back in again. After a second, he opened his eyes and saw her standing in front of him with her bottom lip nestled between her teeth. She was awaiting a verdict before she progressed any further.

“I’ve been waiting all night to do that,” he grinned like a child.

“Really?” she cooed.

He simply nodded his head and said, “From the moment I saw you. And then I talked to you and found out you’re an amazing person and I knew I was doomed.”

She blushed and smiled up at him. Her hand dropped from his shirt and Steve scooped it up into his before it brushed along her side.

“Can we do that again?” she asked.

“Absolutely.”

This time, he took the lead. He placed his free hand on her neck and leaned in close, connecting their lips with a careful urgency. He took her hand he was holding and guided it to his shoulder, so that he could place his hand on her hip. He deepened the kiss, seeking access to her pretty mouth which she granted. The second his tongue entered her mouth she let out an unconscious moan and Steve immediately felt his jeans get tighter. All the build up and sexual tension throughout the night was worth it for this very moment.

He wanted nothing more than to keep this going, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to control himself, and she wasn’t a girl he wanted to have hurried sex with in the woods. Steve tried to slow things down, not wanting to rush into anything. And as much as he wanted to kiss her forever, he also wanted to treasure the little time he had with her and to get to know her better.

He slowly pulled away, planting small pecks on his lips as he did.

“As much as I would love to continue kissing you all night, we should slow down before I lose control of myself.”

She blushed and peered down at her shoes, before making eye contact with Steve again. She nodded, agreeing with his sentiment. He gave her another peck on the lips and ran his hand down her cheek as he said, “You are so beautiful.” They stood there for a moment, just standing in their shared bubble and baring into each other's souls.

“Wait here, I’ll be right back.” Steve ran back to his car, and searched through his trunk, hoping to find what he was looking for. He smiled when he located his beach blanket and pulled it out of the back. He ran back to Y/N on the shore of the lake, laid out the blanket and sat down, ushering her toward him. He laid back on the blanket and guided her head to his chest. Then he pulled out his walkman and turned the volume all the way up. The music played out of his headphones but it was loud enough for the two of them to hear it.

They laid there together, looking up at the stars and making easy conversation. Steve didn’t want this night to end. He took Eddie’s advice to heart, and enjoyed the present moment, doing everything he could to commit her smell to memory. She ran easy fingers over his chest as he played with her hair, planting the occasional kiss on the top of her head.

Their bubble broke too soon, as Robin called for Y/N, letting her know their ride was there. She let out a sigh as she sat up, not wanting this moment to end.

“I think that’s my cue,” she said sadly. Steve stood and helped her onto her feet.

“Thank you Steve. This is truly a night I will remember for the rest of my life. I’m really glad I met you.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight hug and he gripped her waist and picked her up off the group ever so slightly. As he returned her to the ground, she placed her hands on his shoulders and looked up at him with the biggest smile. He leaned in to give her a deep goodbye kiss, one that he hoped evoked all the emotions he was feeling. Their dramatic goodbye was interrupted yet again by Robin, calling out the two love birds.

“Can I, like, get your number or something?” he asked her.

She sighed and looked down, “Tonight was absolutely perfect. But I don’t want to complicate it or ruin it. If things are meant to work out between us, they will. For now, let’s just see where we end up.”

He leaned his forehead against hers in disappointment, “You’re killing me, you know that?”

“I’m sorry, it’s just not our time yet.” He knew she was right, a long distance relationship wouldn’t be enough for him. He wanted to see her every day and talk about nothing. So for now, he would look back on this night with fondness.

“Goodbye Steve. Thank you for making my trip to Hawkins memorable.” She gave his hand one tight squeeze and then she ran off to her cousin. Steve watched her go, hoping he didn’t regret not fighting harder for her. When he returned to his car, he smiled when he had to adjust the seat of his car back to its normal position. As he drove home, he replayed every minute of the night, wanting to remember every single second. He was glad he waited until the end of the night to initiate anything. He didn’t want to make her uncomfortable and rush her into anything.

When he pulled into the driveway, he didn’t even feel close to tired. It was like he just left a concert, the buzz and adrenaline rush running through him as his ears were gently ringing. He kept thinking about how special she was and he sincerely hoped he would see her again. As he turned off the ignition, he reached into the back seat to grab his jacket, only to find that it wasn’t there. It registered that his jacket was still wrapped around Y/N’s shoulders when she departed. What he did feel in the backseat was a stuffed animal. He turned around and was pleasantly surprised to find Wish Bear sitting in his backseat. He let out a small laugh and shook his head, before grabbing the stuffed animal to bring inside.

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington #steve harrington x you #steve harrington fanfiction #steve harrington fluff

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palmtreesx3 · 11 months

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GET OFF - The V-Card

The V-Card

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Summary: (3.7k) Everyone is nervous for their first time, right? Steve and Robin are busy tackling a lot of their firsts - first day in the shop, first week in the city, first friends (or something) in the city. It’s all a little intimidating and both quickly find that old habits die hard - particularly for Steve. It’s going to take more than just a new city to really give these two a new life. Be sure to read the Prologue before reading!

Warnings: it's a sex shop, guys - so it's generally just NSFW 18+. In this AU Hawkins is weird and cannon events happen to some extent, but not to all familiar characters. If they are present in Chicago for this AU, they have no ties to Hawkins. Absent parents, excessive drinking, poor coping mechanisms, M/F hookups and implied/light smut, mentions of female oral, our boy on his King Steve shit, one night stands, careless hookups, and a coming out.

Shout out to @loveshotzz for the blatant Whatta Man nod in this chapter. IYKYK.

Chicago: That Saturday, 1993

The sun was beating in through the front apartment window as Steve sat on the couch with a can of High Life, taking a breather from all of the unpacking. He has been hyper-focused all weekend on getting settled and unpacked - a complete 180° from Robin's settling in approach, which looked more like making sure her sheets were on her bed and simply ignoring the rest of the boxes stacked up inside her doorway than anything else.

For a split second Steve considered picking up the phone and calling home just to check in, let his parents know they've got their bearings and are all safe in the city, but as that thought settled, he realized how absolutely ridiculous it was. They never cared where he was and what he was doing before, so there's no reason for them to actually start caring now that he's finally gone. Worming it's way deep in his brain another thought occurs to him - if he just would have packed up and left, it probably would have taken them months to even realize it.

Plus, the second he talks to either one of them he knows they're going to ask about a job, and he's not quite ready for how that conversation might go. Yeah Dad, we're all set, start at the sex shop 10am on Monday! He shakes his head and laughs to himself at the thought before throwing his head back letting the beer, just starting to warm and lose its crispness, run down his throat. It's tasting a bit bitter now…and Steve can relate.

Pulling him from his self-deprecating thoughts, Robin swings open the door with the sound of jangling key chains being shaken like maracas, the soundtrack to her grand entrance.

"Got your keeeeys, Dingus! It's officially official now!" She tosses the key ring over to Steve, who has his eyebrows raised as they land about 5 ft to his left on the other side of the couch.

"Nice one, Robs. Maybe one day we'll find you some aim."

"Long shot, buddy. Better chance of me confidently shooting my shot with Stevie Nicks than that ever happening. But good on you for thinking I have any potential whatsoever."

"S'wat friends are for, Robbie." He grins at her sideways before leaning over to pick up his new set of keys. "The hell is this?" He asks, dangling the keys up in the air.

Hopping up and down with incredibly youthful glee, Robin beams at the boy and exclaims "A TAMAGOTCHI. I got one too. Orange for you. Blue for me. Pretty sure even if we could have a pet in this building it wouldn't end well, so I got us these!"

"This is ridiculous. I can't believe you got us a toy." Robin slips on the couch nestled up close to Steve, pressing the button on both to initiate their hatching as she presses her shoulder into his side. A beat of silence goes by before he throws his arm over her shoulders and says, "Show me how to do it, Robs. Can't wait for mine to outlive yours." He smiles down at her.

"Eat shit. Whoever kills theirs first buys the other a drink."

The twinkling sound signaling the hatching of each of their eggs echoes through the apartment as they eye up their pets and glare back at one another.

"Oh, it's on. Never been more confident about a deal before in my life."

"Speaking of drinks … " Robin muses. " Whaddya wanna do tonight? "

Steve's not quite sure how long it's going to take for him to get used to the sheer quantity of people here in Chicago. He's pretty sure there's as many people in this club right now than there is in the whole of Hawkins.

When they arrived, Steve was feeling a lot. It was overwhelming and nothing in Hawkins flashed so bright and shook so loud… except maybe the 4th of July Carnival and their fireworks on the outskirts of town, but that was nothing compared to this.

One drink in and finding a place to hunker down near the bar at a table, he felt more comfortable. He was enjoying Robin's running commentary while she spent the better part of an hour people-watching, still passively feeling the heat radiating off of the dance floor, when he decided to switch over from the lukewarm beers to a sweet and sharp whiskey and soda.

Three drinks in and sufficiently loose, Robin is fluttering around the edges of the bar and the dance floor - now making friends with some of the people she's been eying up all night with her inhibitions down as far as Steve has ever seen them. He's drunkenly grinning at his friend, happy to see a kind of social side of her that feels new, even though he knows the roots of it have been buried deep inside her for her whole life, interwoven through her heart and her brain stem, just waiting for permission to come out and untangle itself.

"Steve! STEVE!" She shouts over the thumping bass of the music, wildly gesturing for him to come over to where she now stands, in the center of a group of people who look friendly enough for him to oblige.

Four drinks in and now the group is laughing, hollering and leaning in hard to catch an ounce of what the others are saying. Steve's eyes are squinting trying hard to read their new friends lips as they try and converse over shots and the loud music in the dark. Turns out Robin found a whole group of people that live in the same building as they do and, as one does when they're absolutely shit faced, they all immediately began talking about how they're all new best friends, curling arms around one another's necks and slurring "I love you guys" over drinks number five and six.

Steve is feeling a familiar twinge. It's not his fault that he has no idea that there are ways to make friends other than people pleasing or trauma bonding. Now relishing in the ease of finding city-friends over an open drink and the immediacy of acceptance that comes with puffing out his peacock feathers and playing the delicate social hierarchy game he mastered in his teens, he barely even notices that he's dusting off his King Steve party tricks. The stress of the last few years that have him wound up tighter than a watch melt away as the coy and flirty remarks start flowing like a waterfall and the locker room talk comes back like riding a bike.

Six drinks down the hatch and Robin can't find Steve. Any other time, and Robin would be absolutely losing all the marbles in her basket worrying over Steve. Especially in this new city. She'd assume he was dead. That someone finally came to whisk him away and lock him up for all the things that he's not supposed to know. Sure, Steve can handle things. He's definitely the most capable person she knows and he quite literally raised himself, and saved himself more than once, but none of that even matters right now because she's just swaying to the beat of Janet Jackson pumping through the club speakers with her new soulmates who live on the top floor.

Instead Steve is at the bar, queuing up drink number seven for him and drink number who-knows-what for the absolutely smoking girl at his side named Melissa, who apparently lives just up the staircase, too. She's reminded him three times so far that he can just call her Missy, but not without leaning in close, just next to his ear to make sure he hears just how sweet she sounds. And boy does he want to know more about how sweet she sounds.

Steve's eager hands are hooked in her belt loops, the girl's bright red tube top riding up her stomach as she pushes herself into him. Her fingers are tangling through his sweaty hair and his are ghosting over her collarbone and down her arm. His lips are on hers before drink seven is even delivered, so he caps off his night with her tongue down his throat instead.

He has no clue what time it is as they tumble through the apartment door, Melissa Missy still giggling at his orange Tamagotchi keychain as his lips chase hers once again and the door slams shut. Perfect. Robin's not home, he thinks. Completely forgetting he was there at the club with her in the first place, he tugs at the girls long blond hair at the roots, runs his hands over her glistening and glittered shoulders and shoves her down into his plush comforter the second they reach his bedroom.

He's so caught up in this big-city hottie he managed to get into his bed on his first weekend in town, he doesn't hear Robin come in the door, nor does he notice her clanging around the kitchen to chug down a few huge glasses of water in hopes of being at least a little conscious tomorrow morning. Robin, however, does notice Steve clanging around the bedroom, especially after she hears a deep and throaty moan that is unmistakably female.

"Ha. Fuck yeah, Stevie. Losing that Windy City V-Card." She says quietly while wobbling to her room. Meanwhile, Steve's got his head buried deep under the sheets, blindly grasping at the girl's perky tits while he lavishes at the thought of this being the kind of opportunities that present themselves here in Chicago. His first time in this big sprawling city made him feel like he was on top of the world.

The confident bubble he found himself in all night popped when he later woke to feel the warm summer breeze from the open window tickling his now exposed back, comforter slipping down and exposing his hips along with a peek of his ass to the girl who was accidentally pulling it off as she stood up from the bed. Unabashedly naked, she stretches her arms in a yawn, Steve rolls to peek at the clock. 4:36am. "Where are you off to?" his raspy, sleep laden voice cuts the silence as she finds herself caught gathering her things. "Are you try'n't sneak out on me?" He mumbles with a smile, thinking he's being flirty and cute.

"That's exactly what I'm doing, hon." She winks, as she snags her cheeky hot pink thong off the back of his desk chair and shoves it in her pocket on the way out the bedroom door. "I'll be quiet on my way out. Don't worry. Maybe I'll see ya around. Maybe I won't. It was fun though. You were a KING with that tongue so I wouldn't be opposed…but it's honestly unlikely."

And Steve is there, left tangled and alone and feeling stone cold sober after that dose of honesty from Melissa, left wondering if this is how all the girls back in Hawkins felt after he dipped out on them. Having his fun but knowing it wouldn't go any further than that. Getting off under Skull Rock, in the back of his BMW, atop their pink frilly pillows with their parents in the room next door - all hanging on to the hope of just a little more - the potential of being needed and wanted and good enough for the likes of King Steve, but waking up empty and disposable instead. If he didn't already hate himself before, he definitely does now.

"Sooooo." Robin sings out, while twirling her spoon through her milky cereal. "We gonna talk about that little Bedroom Rodeo last night or what?"

"Robin. Please. It's too early for this." He presses his palms into his eyes, trying to stave off the pulsing just beyond his sinuses. "and did you just say Bedroom Rodeo? The fuck?"

"Well, yeah. Bedroom Rodeo… ya know. Crushing the buns? Two person pushups? Horizontal Tango? Please tell me with all that racket you at least got off?"

"Ew Rob, where the fuck are you coming up with these?" He looks at her as she shrugs, slurping the last of her sweet cereal milk straight from the bowl as she did it. "This may be shocking, but… probably the most annoying thing you've ever said. Crushing the buns? Are you serious?" he says as he walks over and face plants dramatically onto the couch.

Rolling over to his back and sliding on the wire rims of the glasses he never lets anyone but Robin see him in, the apartment comes into focus and so does his best friend, sitting at the counter grinning from ear to ear while tugging up her eyebrows to him in a taunt, chomping on her cereal and looking far to comfortable in his own goddamn yellow sweatshirt. His hand jutting out abruptly and gesturing to her morning attire with a furrowed brow and a questioning look, she says absolutely nothing in response. "Are you serious? Get your own clothes!"

"Eh, yours was already unpacked and my box of cozy stuff is on the bottom. I didn't get to it yet." She says casually.

“Yeah okay. The box pile huh? Well don’t think we’re going to be sharing everything around here.”

To which he watches her lips curl up in a Cheshire cat grin as she responds “Aw man, not even the ladies?”

He hates this already.

"Need some coffee, tiger? Probably a little sluggish after testing out that mattress."

His groan was loud at that one. "ROBIN! "

"Fine, I'll leave you alone…for now. But we're gonna talk about some rules for when we're Jamming the Clam later over a smoke, ya got me? Roommate ground rules at all." She winked as she sauntered down the hallway to her room.

"Sure Robbie. Whatever you want. But do me a favor… if you're so goddamn chipper this morning maybe you can unpack a freaking box from that mega-pile. Won't be bringing back some hot piece to your room to Jam the Clam in that fuckin' disaster zone!" He shouts at her back.

Throwing up a peace sign and swaying her hips a little more (albeit awkwardly) she makes a show of acknowledging her friends request before shutting her bedroom door behind her.

"Robin, right? And… " Murray looks at him up and down.

"Steve" the boy scowls.

"Wow. Okay then. Cheer up Rico Suave. Robin! You didn't tell me your friend had this much charisma when you stopped by last week."

Murray Bauman is the manager of The Hideout. Maybe he owns the place, it's not entirely clear, but what is immediately crystal is that Murray is always ready to dish it out. "Alright then, welcome to The Hideout. I wanted to name it Murray's Pleasure Emporium but that got shot down pretty fuckin fast by my partner, so it is what it is."

With his salt-and-pepper hair, neatly groomed yet slightly disheveled, and a well-maintained beard framing his jawline, Murray's appearance hints at a man who has seen his fair share of adventures. Despite his brash exterior it's quickly clear that Murray effortlessly creates a comfortable atmosphere, so it's no wonder he finds himself successful in an environment where he can push boundaries and help others to explore their fantasies and fulfill their desires.

"So here's how this is gonna work. You two are gonna work retail. You'll need to run the register, oversee the displays, manage the inventory and help the customers. Peace-a cake, right?" He spurts off while simultaneously counting the money in the register for the day.

Robin and Steve spit out a garbled acknowledgement while Murray looks back and forth between the two. "Red, did you say you two were... roommates?"

"Uh, yeah. Why?"

Eyes knocking back and forth to look between the two friends, Steve can already see where this is going. Been there a thousand times. So he cuts off Murray's silent analysis and offers up the information needed to satisfy his curiosity. "No, we aren't dating. And .. ah ah. Wait." He cuts him off as Murray starts to open his mouth, ready to counter back "...and NO, before you go there, we aren't fucking either. Didn't happen. Won't happen. Platonic."

"With a capital P." Robin finishes the end of Steve's sentence. "We can't promise we won't be weird, but we can one hundred percent promise there will not be any lovers quarreling with us."

"Well alright then. Loud and clear." Murray says in response. He claps his hands loudly and rubs them together before continuing on with his sex shop monologue.

"Back to business, then. Covered the retail bits - Ah, yeah here we go. As you can see, the shop offers an extensive selection of adult toys, lingerie for the ladies…or the men, sensual massage oils - a personal favorite - and other products that cater to a wide range of tastes and sexual preferences. I like the good stuff, because I have taste. So that's what I sell. I also like to have all the latest shit because I'm progressive. Call me sexually innovative, if you will. If it's new, we're gonna have it."

Steve and Robin follow dutifully behind him taking it all in. Robin's eyes are as wide as saucers and she's distracted by all of the things she does not yet understand as Murray continues to spout out information on products, business and his own personal sexual philosophies. Steve poked her shoulder and she grimaces, and returns to planet earth to hear the rest of Murray's great new hire speech.

"The people who come in here are not sex freaks. You got that? They're normal people. Don't gotta be some pervert to want to get off and feel good, so if you can't be open-minded and nonjudgmental then you might as well not even clock in after this. Got it?"

Both nod in agreement and the edges of Murray's lips curl up in a smirk. "Perfect. Come." He directs as he walks to the register and it's adjoining display case where a wide array of colorful dildos stand spread out for selection.

"Not that it's a job requirement or anything but, I'm assuming if you're wanting to work here and my pleasure palace your… ahem.. sufficiently experienced. Cause you're gonna need to sell the product if you get my drift. People have way more questions than you could imagine. Just yesterday I had to tell a kid that Anal Beads are, in fact, for your anus..."

Robin's mouth is aghast. Steve looks around again taking it all in and he finally laughs at Murray, who is looking them over as if he can't believe these two kids standing here in front of him know anything about the kind of sex he sells. "Listen, Murray. I didn't set out to move here to this city and work in a shop full of dildos. Surprisingly, my incredibly inexperienced friend here signed me up against my will to hawk condoms like morning coffee. Robin doesn't know shit - sorry Robs, but you don't." She shrugs her shoulders, looking at Murray and nods in agreement at her friends words. "And while I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that I'm not what you might consider all that adventurous, I've got more notches than I'm proud of and unlike most guys I can find a girl's clit. SO… I'd appreciate it if you stopped talking to me like this is 6th grade health class and let us get to work."

"I have very little to add." Robin says, "and after what I heard the other night, I'll attest to what Steve says. He sure can make 'em moan."

Murray stands behind the counter looking Steve up and down. He lets out a loud, boisterous laugh into the still air of the shop before he starts again "Well then, Steve. I can respect that. I think you both are going to be a mess, but I can work with it... So let's hop to it."

Beyond the merchandise, the pair learn that Murray hosts educational workshops and events at The Hideout for its patrons and the community and often has specials and promos going inside for shoppers. After the first half of their day, it's clear that Murray runs a business that he is proud of and his customers are loyal. Steve decides that when people ask, he's just going to tell them he works retail. Because he in fact… does.

As their training winds down, Murray comes out of his back office carrying a giant tray and welding some embarrassing dance moves as he delivers it delicately to the counter. "Hey, hey, hey assholes! Before we head out, we have to set up this display for tomorrow. Let's rock and roll my friends!" Robin scans the contents of the tray curiously, not so sure how all of the items fit together to make anything that resembles a display. "Uh, okay but like… what is it?" She says.

Steve snickers as he takes in the tray full of cupcakes, bananas and condoms. "Well Robbie, despite what it looks like I don't think Murray is letting us set up snack time. I'm not sure what the cupcakes are for, but these here look like they're to practice getting the condoms on the banana."

"Bingo! Rico Suave gets the points! We're doing a condom demo tomorrow, so he's right on that. What he's wrong about though, is that the cupcakes ARE for a snack." Murray fist bumps Steve and turns to see Robin's gears turning at maximum speed.

“What’s the matter, first time, Red?” Murray spits out, through a wide gleaming smile that Steve swears sparkles in the light, like some goddamn cartoon.

"Actually.. ." She draws out "while I don't have the clit-finding prowess of my friend Steve here, I only strive to one day be able to eat pussy as well as he apparently can. So yes, this is my first time sliding on a condom, thank you very much."

Murray nods and his grin never ceases, although now there's a bit more approval and admiration than taunt behind it. "C'mon then, lemme show you how to slide these on like a fuckin pro."

Steve is beaming watching his friend speak so casually about it. Murray really is good at what he does and making people feel comfortable, or this city really is just what Robin needs, either way, the way Murray doesn't skip a beat and starts teaching Robin the art of rolling on a condom like it's just any old day makes Steve think about how many wild things they're going to get into here. And honestly it's all fine, because there’s a first time for everything.

Divider by @firefly-graphics

🏷️ TAGLIST: @livsters @katie-tibo @johnricharddeacy @angywritesstuff @k-k0129 @tisthedamnseason69 @middle-of-the-earth @thebrazilianatheist @mochminnie @micheledawn1975 @falling-throughthe-hourglass @rafaaoli @ash5monster01 @gabessock @onyxslayss

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atimeofyourlife · 1 year

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@steddie-week Day 6 misunderstanding

Steve was making the most of the evening with Eddie, as he would be away in Chicago for a week with family obligations.

"So, I'm driving up tomorrow, the day after is some big family dinner thing, the day after that is the wedding. And god, I am not looking forward to it. Weddings in my family are just about showing off, it's black tie, so I know I'm just going to be uncomfortable the whole time. Maybe I should be thankful that my aunt was able to talk her down from white tie, a different cousin on the other side had a white tie wedding two years ago and honestly, it was one of the worst things I had to wear in my entire life." Steve rambled as he leaned against Eddie's shoulder.

"What the fuck is white tie?" Eddie replied.

"Even fancier than black tie. Black tie I have to wear a tuxedo. White tie includes a fucking tailcoat, and my mom basically forced me into a top hat. It's ridiculous and over the top, which is why my family loves it. If we are ever able to get married, I want it to be nothing fancier than semi-formal."

"You would marry me?" Eddie asked quietly.

"In a heartbeat." Steve pressed a kiss to Eddie's cheek, before continuing. "I'll be wanting to ditch as soon as possible, so I will be driving myself no matter how much my parents protest, but I know they will kill me if I ditch too early. Then there's two days where I've got nothing, other than recovering from however much I drink at the wedding. Then it's my Nonna's birthday, so I've got to stick around for that. And then the day after that, I'm coming home. While I'm there, I'll probably spend most of my time with Danni."

"And who's Danni?"

"My favorite cousin. The only person in my family that isn't insufferable and stuck up."

The week away went mostly as Steve had predicted. He got constantly reminded by his parents how much of a disappointment he was. Constant questions from other family members about college, or what he wanted to do as a career, when he was going to join his father's company. If he had a girlfriend. When he was going to get married. It was draining.

But Danni was the shining light. He spent every spare minute with her. Ditching the wedding a little early, and ending up in a McDonalds in their formalwear, with her wearing his tuxedo jacket over her dress. Spending as much time as possible out in Chicago together on the days they had nothing to do. Talking and sharing stories, and gaining a deeper understanding of each other when talking about their partners, Steve mentioning Eddie, Danni bringing up her Laura.

Danni had more time to spare than Steve, so decided to join him in returning to Hawkins, to meet the friends he'd spoken so much about, especially Eddie.

After getting home, it all seemed to go downhill for Steve. As soon as he got in, he called Eddie, like he had promised to. But Eddie was unusually cold and dismissive on the phone, as if he didn't want to talk.

"Yeah, ok. I've got to go." Eddie hung up, and the call had barely lasted a minute. Steve felt worried, as Eddie was usually much more interested in talking to him, at any chance they got.

He called Robin next, and that didn't put his mind at ease. After a brief catch up, he brought up Eddie. She mentioned he'd been fine until a couple of days before, then had started to become a little distant, without telling anyone why.

"Maybe head over there after work tomorrow, if you've not heard from him. He's probably just throwing a hissy fit because you were away for a week without speaking to him and he thrives on attention." Robin said as the call came to an end.

"Yeah, maybe. Thanks, Rob."

Steve tried to make the most of the evening, hanging out with Danni. He felt a little bad that he would be leaving her alone for most of the next day.

"Dude, I'll just take advantage of your pool. I knew you have work, if I wasn't cool with hanging out by myself, I wouldn't have come with you." She assured him.

By the end of the next day, Steve felt more worried. He'd tried calling Eddie a number of times, but the calls were never answered. He drove over after he'd finished work, Eddie's van was missing from the spot next to Wayne's truck. He still went to the door, hoping Wayne could put his mind at ease.

"He's out with Gareth and Grant. He's fine, and whatever's bugging him, he'll get over it soon."

"Oh. Thanks, Wayne. Could you let him know I came over, and ask him to call me?"

Steve tried to put it out of his mind, taking Danni out to breakfast the next morning before hanging out with Robin.

As they walked into the diner, he noticed a very familiar back in the corner. He felt lost, conflicted. Unsure if he should ignore it, or confront him.

"I'm just going to the bathroom before we order." Danni said to him before they reached a table.

"I. I'm gonna be over-" Steve gestured vaguely to where Eddie was sat.

"Is that-" Steve nodded before she could finish the question. "If you need me to, I can kick his ass."

Steve nodded, before making his way over to Eddie, feeling a little nervous. The what if. He had never been good at seeing the end of a relationship, or knowing where he'd gone wrong.

"Eddie?" He said hesitantly.

Eddie looked up, and his face was unreadable. His friend's expressions varied from disgust to glee.

"Harrington, you here to confess? Tell us all about what you've been up to?" Grant asked, looking him upside down.

"What?" Steve was confused, unsure about what was going on.

"Oh, I said he would play dumb. How could he think he did anything wrong?" Gareth mocked. "We know what you've been doing."

"Seriously, what the hell are you talking about? Eddie, can we talk?" Steve asked, feeling desperate and wanting to get it over with.

"Go ahead, Harrington. We're waiting for your excuses." Jeff added.

"Can we talk outside, alone?" Steve pushed, not wanting to have to deal with Eddie's friends' comments. He knew they didn't like him, and would put the wrong ideas into Eddie's head.

There seemed to be a moment of silent conversation between them before Eddie got up. "I'll tell you guys how pathetic his excuses are."

Steve clenched his jaw, unsure of what Eddie thought he'd done wrong.

"Ok, what the hell, Eddie?" Steve demanded once they were outside.

"That's exactly what I want to know, Steve. Try telling the truth about what you were really doing this week." Eddie sneered.

"I told you what I was doing. Family wedding in Chicago and hanging out with family until my Nonna's birthday. That is exactly what happened. I mean I know I didn't call as much as I would have liked, but I was busy." Steve replied.

"But who were you busy with, huh? Because Gareth was in Chicago for a college tour and he told me everything. How he saw you out, repeatedly, and all over the same girl. Her wearing your tux jacket in a Mcdonald's late at night, looking all cosy over the table. Then seeing you out in Downtown Chicago. Holding hands, hugging, you lifting her up as you were laughing together. Then you show up here with the same slut." Eddie leant into Steve's face, spitting the final words out.

Steve was stunned for a second, unable to believe what he was hearing. "Don't fucking call her that." He burst out. He was aware of the door opening and closing nearby, but didn't pay attention to who it was that came out.

"What should I call her then? Homewrecker? Sidepiece? Whore?" Eddie drew out each word.

"She's my fucking cousin. You know, the favorite cousin I told you about that I was planning to spend all my time with. The one person in my family that isn't insufferable." Steve was fighting against his emotions.

"You said his name was Danny." Eddie accused.

"Yeah. Danni. As in short for Daniella. She's basically my best friend, and there is nothing I do with her that I don't do with Robin. Or are you going to start accusing me of cheating with Robin?"

"Well, I know Robin, and she's a lesbian anyway, so I know I don't have to worry about her." Eddie dismissed what he'd said.

"But you really think I would cheat on you?" Steve couldn't keep the hurt out of his voice, and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to hold back the tears.

"Steve?" Danni's voice cut through the tension as she moved to Steve's side.

"How much of that did you hear?" Steve asked softly.

"Everything after this asshole calling me a homewrecker," Danni replied, venom clear in her voice. "Let's do first things first. Even if we weren't related, Steve wouldn't be anywhere in the realm of someone I'd be interested in. Because he's a man. I've got a girlfriend in New York that I'm very happy with. So I'm not happy with that accusation of me being the other woman."

"I didn't-" Eddie started to backtrack on what he'd said.

"You know, Steve had really talked up his boyfriend. Telling me how amazing this guy was. But, it seems like his taste in men is as bad as his taste in women, at least with how they treat him. Because it's real interesting that you accuse him of cheating when he has told you about his parents, about how his mother has to follow his father around on business trips to curb his affairs. When his only other serious relationship involved him getting cheated on after they'd been together for a year."

"Steve, I'm sorry, I just-" Eddie trailed off, unsure on what he was going to say, how to dig himself out of this hole.

"I can't believe you didn't just ask me. You know your friends don't like me. That they could twist things to put me in a bad light. When I called you to say I was home, you could have said that Gareth had seen us out and asked me about it. I would have told you and invited you over to meet her. But you had to assume." Steve winced as his voice cracked.

"Stevie, I can make it up to you. Let me-" Eddie hurried over his words, and stepped forward to try to comfort him.

"I think you've done enough." Danni moved so she was between them.

"You can go back in there and tell them just how pathetic I was." Steve walked away, with Danni right behind him, heading for his car without letting Eddie respond.

They'd picked up Robin before heading back to Steve's house.

"I can't believe that he'd just accept from Gareth that you were cheating on him. Without even talking to you about it. He could have asked me or something." Robin rambled from where she was curled up against Steve's side. "I feel like going down there and tearing him a new asshole for that. He knows how much cheating fucks you up."

"I'm with you on the tearing him a new asshole thing. Maybe we should steal Steve's keys and head over to his, I'll drive, you can direct." Danni replied.

"Can you guys leave it? At least now I know what he thinks of me. That he doesn't trust me around girls that he doesn't know. That he trusts his friends words more than he trusts me." Steve sighed, running his hand through his hair. "I love him so much, but he obviously doesn't feel the same, or he doubts how I really feel about him."

It was a few hours later when there was a banging at the door. Steve moved to get up, but Robin beat him to the door.

"Munson." Robin's tone was cold, closed off.

"Robin, I. Is Steve here? I need to talk to him. I know I fucked up." Eddie pleaded.

"Damn right he fucked up." Danni shouted from the kitchen.

"I just need to apologize to him. I feel like shit for this. It was a total misunderstanding, and it's all on me."

"Apologize? You need to fucking grovel. You accused him of cheating on you, when you know that cheating is one of his biggest insecurities. Based on what? The word of a guy that has never liked Steve. A guy that has repeatedly tried to convince you to break up with Steve. Why the hell would you believe anything he said about Steve?" Robin's voice got louder, agitation evident.

"I know. I just got caught up because Steve wasn't here and I guess I just wanted someone to blame. I need to make this right?"

"Make it right for what? So next time you hear about him hanging out with someone you don't know you can accuse him of cheating on you again?"

"Rob, it's ok. Let me speak to him." Steve came to the door, knowing he looked a mess.

"Stevie. I am so fucking sorry. I know I fucked up by listening to Gareth, I shouldn't have let him get into my head like that. I'll do anything to make it up to you. I know you wouldn't cheat, I know you're not like that. And I love you. I've never loved anyone like this, and I don't want to lose you over this. Please, give me a chance to fix this?" Eddie begged.

"I know you're sorry, but I can't forgive you. Not yet. You hurt me so much by ignoring me and assuming I had cheated on you. I was open and honest about what I was doing and who I was going to be with. And you chose to listen to Gareth. I need time to know that you'll come to me when you hear something and not just blindly take your friends side. I can't be just waiting to see if you're going to hurt me again. And I'm not the only one you need to apologize to. What you said about Danni was unacceptable. What if someone said that about Robin or one of the kids?" Steve's voice was a little rough with the emotion of the day.

"It would have been fucked up. I was wrong, I know that. I assumed something about someone I didn't know. Please? Stevie, I can't be without you."

"You don't get to choose when someone forgives you, Munson. And you're not the only one who needs to apologize. Your friends need to own up to being wrong and accept that their view of Steve is wrong. That their treatment of him has been cruel." Robin replied.

"I need time alone, Eddie. I'll call you when I'm ready to talk." Steve walked away from the door, allowing Robin to shut it in Eddie's face.

I'm sorry I am considering making a second part to this, but I don't know if or when that will happen! Also on ao3 Now with a part 2!

#steddieweek2023 #steve harrington #eddie munson #steve x eddie #steve harrington x eddie munson #steddie fic #steddie #steddie angst #robin buckley #atimeofyourwrites #oh wow how surprising im leaning into the angst again

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ataliagold · 9 days

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Under July Stars That Would Glow Like Sparks

For @astrangersummer week 5 prompt 'fireflies'. Title from I Wonder by Gabe Quinn.

Pairing: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson

Rating: General

W/C: 1242

Tags: Established Steddie, post-Vecna, everyone lives, fluff and minor angst, bittersweet, summer nights, catching fireflies, soft Steve, soft Eddie, Dustin being Dustin

Summary: At the end of summer, Steve and Eddie spend the evening with Dustin on a familiar hill. Soon, they'd have to tell the kid they were about to leave Hawkins, but not tonight. Tonight was for catching fireflies.

___

Eddie cackled, leaping around in the field, doing his utmost to catch fireflies in clasped hands under the moonlight.

Steve sat nearby. A beer beside him, Eddie’s thin hoody rolled up under him, protecting his Levis from the grass. He watched fondly as Eddie scuttled around with all the grace of a newborn deer, clapping his hands together as he tried to catch the little bugs between his fingers.

Dustin was having much more luck with the net, swooping it high in the air and then twisting off the top of it to keep his catch inside it.

“Eddie, you gotta use the torch like I said, remember?” Dustin huffed, net in one hand, the other on his hip – a mirror of the ‘mom’ pose Steve was so often teased about. “Mimic their light pattern, turn the torch on and off, it helps draw them -”

Eddie scoffed, reached out and flicked Dustin on the edge of his cap – why he was still wearing that thing at night time, Steve wasn’t sure.

“Yeah, yeah, Henderson,” Eddie teased. “Just admit you’re inferior at catching them, you gotta use the damn net after all -”

“You haven’t even caught one yet!” Dustin spluttered, indignant.

“I’m integrating myself into their group!” Eddie argued. “They’re just…getting to know me. Just wait, I’ll have that jar full within the hour.”

Steve smiled, chuckled lightly into his beer, took a sip and set it aside again.

They were on the hill where Dustin’s Cerebro had once stood a few years ago. It was long gone now; dismantled by a quiet Dustin with Steve standing off to one side, the kid barely able to look at it after hearing the screams of his friends, the roars of a monster that had sounded from it.

They’d helped save the world from this very spot once.

Now, it was just a hill.

Steve turned away from Eddie and Dustin for a moment. Looked down at the twinkling lights of Hawkins down below, at the little town that was slowly getting back on its feet after enduring literal hell.

They were leaving soon. He and Eddie.

They hadn’t told the kids yet. Steve knew Dustin would take it the hardest, that maybe he wouldn’t fully understand, wouldn’t be able to grasp the fact that Hawkins no longer felt like home for all of them.

Soon, they’d tell them. In the next few days, in fact, now that they were nearly ready to leave. They’d tell them about the apartment in Chicago close to Robin’s college, about the part-time course Steve had been accepted into, about the several promising job listings Eddie had interviews for.

But before that, they’d decided to let them have one last summer.

They’d take the kids to Lover’s Lake, watch as they splashed around and shrieked with laughter, hang back on the side of the shore and shake their heads when the kids asked them to join them in the water.

They’d go for barbeques at the Hopper-Byers house, sip beer with Hopper and Wayne. Steve would sit with the former Chief when he went quiet at the end of the day, when he nursed a cigarette that had long burnt out and watched the kids with a faraway look in his eyes.

They’d help Lucas with his basketball – or rather, Steve would help, flushed and sweaty but happy as he bounced a ball around the court with the boy, gave him tips and encouragement while Eddie sat on the sideline, barely hiding the way he was leering at Steve in his short shorts.

They’d sit with El and Max, Steve doing El’s hair just the way she liked it, sitting quietly in front of the TV while Eddie and Max laughed loudly at whatever terrible horror movie they’d decided on.

They’d have one last campaign, Eddie making it extra special without ever telling the kids why. Steve even joined in briefly, playing the role of a heroic NPC, Eddie making sure to impart all the DM knowledge he could onto Will and Mike.

And, on a clear, warm evening, they’d catch fireflies with Dustin.

“Steeeeeeve,” Eddie called, pulling Steve from his thoughts.

“Yeah?”

“Come help me? I’m not sure these bugs like me after all.”

“I told you!” Dustin said loudly. “If you just use the torch like I suggested, you’d have heaps!”

Steve huffed out a laugh, stood up with a slight wince as the scar tissue on his sides pulled, and dusted dry grass off himself.

He approached Eddie, shaking his head at the way he was swiping at the air. Reaching out, he clasped his larger hands over his boyfriend’s.

“Slowly,” he murmured, guiding Eddie’s hands gently around the nearest little glowing bug. “Don’t scare them, just…gentle.”

Eddie watched, wide-eyed, as Steve gradually squeezed his fingers together, trapping the firefly inside.

His hands shone, warm and orange, and he grinned as he felt the bug zapping about against his palms.

“We got one,” Eddie whispered. “Look, Steve.”

Steve chuckled, kissed the top of Eddie’s head because he couldn’t not. “Yeah, Eds. Dustin, hand us the jar, will you?”

Dustin brought it over, held it up to Eddie’s cupped hands.

Eddie paused. Glanced over at Steve, then back to the jar.

“What are you waiting for?” Dustin asked, raising his eyebrows.

Eddie shifted from foot-to-foot quickly, scrunching his face up, but keeping his hands gentle around the bug. Steve recognized the signs of him being caught in indecisiveness, brought a hand to his lower back.

“Eds?”

“I think I wanna let it go,” Eddie said firmly.

Dustin rolled his eyes. “Seriously? After all that?”

“Hey, it’s my bug,” Eddie shot back. “I can do what I like with it.”

Dustin groaned, stomped away, picked up his net to get back to work.

Once he was out of earshot, Steve stepped in closer to Eddie.

“You ok, Eds?” he whispered, because the other man’s face had fallen a bit as he stared down at the still-trapped bug.

Eddie blinked, and a silent tear tracked down his cheek.

Steve hummed, quiet and soft, reached up to brush it away.

“What’s the matter, baby?”

“I don’t…” Eddie paused, took a breath, started again. “Should we let it go?”

Steve took Eddie’s clasped hands in his again, knew he wasn’t really talking about the bug.

“Do you want to?”

“I think so. But we put so much work in, does it make sense to just…let it leave?”

Steve kissed him. Brief and sweet. “I think it makes all the sense in the world.”

Eddie’s face twitched as the firefly batted against his palm again, seeking an exit.

Slowly, he opened his hands.

The two of them watched as the bug slowly emerged then zapped into the air, their eyes following that small point of light until it faded into the night sky.

Steve took Eddie’s hand, held it tight as they watched Dustin swing his net around, cursing or laughing depending on how successful he was.

Steve would miss that kid. God, he’d miss him.

But he was ready to put Hawkins in his rear-view mirror, ready to wake up next to Eddie every day in a town that wasn’t permanently tainted by so much horror for them both.

He looked at Eddie. Smiled sadly, squeezed his hand tighter.

Together, they lay back in the grass to watch the moon glow down on Hawkins, perhaps for the last time.

___

#a stranger summer #stranger things #steddie #steddie fic #steve harrington #eddie munson #steve x eddie

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artiststarme · 1 year

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What If Steve Were To Leave Hawkins? Part 3

Part 1 Part 2

I'm still surprised that people are interested in this but hey, if you want more, I'll keep writing more! Thanks again for all of your nice comments. I think I managed to tag everyone that wanted to be tagged. If not, let me know and I will tag you in the next part!

~*~*~*~

Steve called his mom on his fourth day of being in the city. He had already used his charm to secure a job at a preppy coffee shop in downtown Chicago. And he had put her name down as a reference in an effort to secure the studio apartment located above the shop. She seemed surprised that he had stayed in touch, despite him telling her he would. Regardless, she remained engaged throughout their admittedly short conversation and told him about his friends visiting the house. And wasn’t that a baffle. He hadn’t expected anyone to notice his absence, much less go to look for him at all. Maybe that meant that he could still be of use to them despite him acting hastily.

Later that day, he called Dustin from his motel room phone. Mrs. Henderson answered and told him that Dustin was at the Wheeler’s house playing DnD. She asked if Steve wanted to leave a message but he declined and said his goodbyes. He didn’t want to bother Dustin if he was going about his typical routine. Maybe his mom was wrong about them worrying about him?

He called Family Video next to speak to Robin. Steve was not mad at his best friend, he was happy for her. She was finally in a happy relationship, she was spending time with family, and she was aiming to go away to college in the fall. Even still, their growing distance stung. She had better things to worry about than some dumb jock that dragged her into the nasty Upside down business. But man, talking to his best friend after being entirely alone for a little while sounded pretty damn good.

“Hello, Family Video, how can I help you?” Robin answered with bored inflection.

“Hey Robs, it's Steve.”

He heard a clatter over the phone before she hurriedly responded, “oh my god, Steve? What the hell, Steve. Where are you? I leave town for four days and you fall off the face of the planet. Jesus Christ, are you okay?”

Steve smiles at her familiar rambling and lets out a happy sigh. “I’m alright. How was your grandma?”

He hears an angry grumble and hardly has time to brace himself before she releases her worried wrath. “We are not talking about my grandma, Steve! We’re going to talk about you. About how you left town without telling anyone after avoiding everyone for months and getting kicked out by your parents. What the fuck, Steve! Why wouldn’t you come to one of us? We could’ve helped you.”

“I’m fine.”

“Bullshit Steve!” He full-body flinched at the venomous word. “People that are fine do not run away from town without telling any of their friends!”

Steve rolled his eyes and huffed, “I’m surprised anyone even noticed.”

There was a moment of silence in which Robin stared at Eddie with the phone held between them. Thinking she may have hung up, Steve pulled the phone away from his ear to look at it before asking quietly, “hello?”

Eddie spoke then in a subdued and quiet tone, “why wouldn’t we have noticed, Steve?”

Steve blinked in shock. He hadn’t realized that Eddie was there. This was too much, too quick. Apparently his friends had noticed he was gone and were offended he left without telling them. What the fuck.

“No one has wanted me around for weeks! I’ve been alone for months and the only time someone reached out, it was for a ride or to borrow money for the arcade. No one even talked to me unless I reached out first. So, I didn’t think it would be a big deal if I left. I didn’t realize anyone would notice.”

Robin or Eddie made a strange keening sound before Eddie spoke into the phone. “Steve, you’re our friend. Of course we noticed, man. Where are you now?”

Steve let out a derisive laugh of disbelief, “some friends, man. You don’t even like me. I have to go. Bye.”

He placed the phone back in its cradle and laughed humorlessly. How dare they say they cared now that he was gone? Their actions certainly didn’t show it. Some revelations have been made since Spring Break. He knew they were his friends but he definitely wasn’t theirs. So much for staying in touch. That’s on him for being hopeful he mattered to someone.

~*~*~*~

“No, no, no, Steve!” Robin yelled into the phone but Steve had already hung up. Tears bled from her eyes as she realized just how much she had messed up with her best friend. She cried as she watched the phone, waiting for Steve to call back.

Eddie looked stricken on the other side of the counter where he held the phone in front of him, unseeing eyes clouded and looking into the distance. He set the phone back on the cradle and settled his elbows on the counter before letting his face fall into his hands. Of all the things Steve could have said, Eddie had not been expecting him to say he thought Eddie didn’t like him. He might love the guy. He had blown things out of proportion though and his attempts at protecting his own heart had broken Steve’s.

Robin looked up at Eddie through her eyelashes, tears still dripping down her face. “How are we going to fix this, Eddie? He’s my best friend. He can’t just be gone.”

Eddie stressfully ran a hand through his unruly curls as he sighed. “I don’t know. How did we not realize it had gotten so bad?”

“I don’t know, it’s Steve! He’s always there, he’s just… Steve. He’s never not okay,” Robin said, gesturing as if to motion to Steve’s ‘okayness’.

“Apparently not! But what do we do now? The Chief said he couldn’t file a missing persons report because he left of his own damn free will. What else can we do?”

Robin just shook her head and turned to help a customer ready to check out at the counter. Both her and Eddie made a silent promise to themselves. They were going to fix this somehow.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20: Epilogue

Taglist:@nickavalens@conversesweetheart@themostunoriginalpersonever@swimmingbirdrunningrock@eddiethegreatteddybear @call-me-big-eyes @cornwallisandkerley @moonshadows-13 @glittergluekintsugi @cpidcupk @doubleb11 @mentalcyborg @amoris-no-smut-allowed @purple-lemonade @labels-are-for-the-weak @thebrazilianatheist @rajumat @livelaughlexa @5ammi90 @colorful565 @marvelousforlife @chaoticcoffeequeen @gregre369 @suddenlyinlove@thegreatmistake @stillfullofshit @nburkhardt @batxsignalsx @newunknowns @thosemessyvibes @tailsfromthecrypt @luciana-rowan @batxsignalsx

#stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson #robin buckley #dustin henderson #steddie #fanfic #I hate writing dialogue #how angsty should I make this?#so far the party is all talk #so much miscommunication #poor Steve is going through it

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futuredilfharrington · 2 years

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Girl-Dad! Steve Harrington Part 2

YOU GUYS :') If you don't follow me and didn't see my other post I want to thank everyone who interacted with part one of this!!! Special shoutout to those of you who reblogged, you have my heart <3. The previous part of this literally got more than double the notes of any other post I've ever made in LESS than one day!

IDK how many parts this will have, I'm just going where the wind takes me lol.

Part One

~As soon as you're recovered from giving birth (both mentally and physically) you get pregnant again... We're talking Irish twins babey.

~Steve is so excited and you always hear him on the baby monitor and from the other room talking to Rose about her new sibling

~He'll be doing tummy-time with her and just babble on and on about you and how she's going to be a big sister soon

~This time around Steve has "no preference," although from the way he's not buying many new things you can kind of tell he's hoping to use all of Rose's hand-me-downs for the next baby

"Pink could be both genders, y/n" "I know, Stevie, it's just a little suspicious, don't you think?"

~You don't do a gender reveal this time around. It's your second baby and it feels weird to force everyone into doing the whole nine yards less than a year after the last time.

~Instead you and Steve go to the bakery in downtown Hawkins and give them the sealed envelope the doctor wrote the gender in and ask if they'll bake a reveal cake just for the two (three if you count Rose, but she's not quite eating cake yet)

~A few days later the three of you eat dinner, Rose happily babbling away, and bring out the little white cake for dessert

~Steve slides his chair over to your side of the table and you hold the knife together as you cut out a little slice of the pink sponge.

~Immediately Steve whoops and grabs Rose from her spot kissing her forehead and telling her she's going to have a baby sister before turning to you and pressing a kiss onto the top of your head

~If Steve's "Man Friends" weren't grumbling to him before, they sure are now.

~Some of his relatives will call to congratulate you after sending out your pregnancy announcement and when you pass the phone over to Steve and leave while they finish talking he always comes to find you and Rose with a sour look on his face that only softens when he has you both in his arms

~One night when you're laying in bed he finally tells you that they keep telling him his "swimmers" must not be very strong, that he needs to have a boy to carry on the Harrington name, that he's going to be in hot water being outnumbered by all the estrogen in the house

~The second one is the thing that bothers him the most...

"Maybe I don't want to carry on the Harrington name... I'm fine if our branch ends with me"

~You kiss him and tell him that the only people who have any say over how your family runs are you and him and you fall asleep tangled together

~This time around Steve refuses to leave you alone anywhere NEAR your due date.

~You wake up one morning to gentle contractions and don't tell him so he doesn't sweep you to the hospital hours too early only to get sent back home.

~(You do call Dustin, your driver now since Robin moved Chicago, and let him know to be on deck)

~Steve is eying you suspiciously all day, it's Sunday, cleaning day, and what better way to distract yourself than making sure the house will be clean when you bring the new baby home.

~When you keep excusing yourself every so often to have a contraction in the other room Steve finally figures it out and sounds the alarm

~Dustin drives Will, El, and Joyce to your house to watch after Rose, and Max and Lucas are set to relieve them from babysitting duty depending on how long you're gone

~Steve is beside himself with Dustin driving. He insists that you make a mad dash to the hospital but you tell Dustin that he can take his time and that the baby isn't coming out anytime soon.

"Shithead, she needs to get to the hospital NOW!"

"Given that y/n is the one actively giving birth right now, I think I'm going to listen to her and not you, Steve"

~This baby does NOT want to come out.

~It's a rough labour, you spend most of the time either breaking Steve's hand or cursing him, vowing that you'll never let him touch you again

"I hope you're happy with two, Harrington. You'll be lucky if I even let you in the same room as me again"

"I won't even look at you, baby, I swear"

~There's lots of shouting from you, and even more apologies from Steve

"You can do it y/n. You're so strong and beautifu-"

"Really, Steve? I'm really beautiful right now? Fuck off!"

"You've given me two daughters, you're a wonderful wife and moth-"

"Not now, Steven"

"Sorry, baby"

~ At the end of it all, you and Steve get to welcome your youngest into the world: Victoria Alice Harrington

Bonus content:

~You and Steve are sitting on your hospital bed together watching as Torie grabs at his fingers in her sleep...

"Doesn't this just make you want another one?"

"Get out of my bed right now, Harrington"

#steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #dad!steve harrington #girldad!steve harrington #Steve harrington headcanons #st headcanon #domestic!steve harrington #tw: pregnancy #pregnancy #pregnant!reader #steve harrington x pregnant!reader

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salamandergoo · 1 month

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STWG Prompt: Dragonflies

It was hot in Family Video as Robin worked a boring midweek shift. She’d come home to Hawkins for the summer, planning to catch up with friends and work for some extra money, but it was a lot of the latter and not much of the former. She was wondering how much longer it would take before she started to literally melt behind the counter when the bell over the door dinged. “Welcome to Family Video,” she drawled. “Let me know if- Carol?” She perked up at the sight of Carol Perkins. “Hi! I didn’t think you’d be back from Chicago yet!”

“Yeah, well. I am.” Carol approached the counter and leaned against it, blowing a bubble at Robin. “I didn’t miss this town as much as I thought I did.”

“Ugh, same.” Robin nodded. “Boston is awesome, there are places open after 7:30 at night.” She grinned.

“Right? God forbid a bitch wants a snack after 8, you’re shit out of luck around here.” Carol grinned. “You’ve gotta visit me in Chicago, girl. The only way I’m going to get to see Steve, anyway.”

It was weird how the mention of Steve had Robin’s face twisting for the first time since high school. She didn’t want to talk about Steve right now, just wanted to talk to Carol. “Where uh, where’s Tommy?”

Carol raised an eyebrow, manicured nails tapping against the counter. “Where’s Wheeler?”

“Huh?” Robin’s frown deepened. “Nance is staying in Boston for the summer. Why?”

“So you understand that not all of us are attached at the hip with our exes! Great!” Carol’s grin sharpened.

“Okay, okay, I won’t ask about Tommy.” She giggled a little.

Carol sighed. “He’s in New York. Some summer internship. I kept telling him fighting monsters out in the sticks would be more exciting than his finance bullshit, but demo-whatevers don’t go on resumes. You get it.”

“Hopefully there won’t be any democreatures to fight this summer.” Robin shrugged before noticing a flash of color on Carol’s wrist. “Hey, what’s that?” She reached out to cradle the other girl’s hand in both of her own, pulling her arm closer. Inked on Carol’s wrist was a dragonfly with its wings spread, looking delicate and beautiful like stained glass. “Wow…”

Carol flushed, though her expression got all soft, an unusual look for her. “There’s this cute girl in my dorm building who does these really cool stick and pokes. She’s got a ton of colors and exchanges them for stuff other than money sometimes. I got her the answers for a few tests, she gave me this. Dragonflies remind of summers, good summers with Stevie and Tommy. When we were kids and would spend hours at the lake, get sunburnt and eat popsicles… when everything was good and easy, you know?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I do.” Robin’s eyes flicked up to Carol’s face as she stroked a thumb over the tattoo. “…a cute girl, huh?”

“What, are you jealous?” Carol smirked and leaned in a little closer, grabbing for Robin when she tried to pull back. “Oh, you’re totally jealous, oh my god!” She let out a delighted laugh. “You know… she’s not cuter than you, Buckley.”

Robin felt her face flush, but couldn’t help her own pleased grin. “Yeah… maybe I could… recommend a few movies. And we could watch them together?”

“Maybe. I think I’d like that.” And Carol looked just as pleased.

#stranger things #stwgdailyprompt #robin buckley #carol perkins #bubblescoops #my first time writing these two :)

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swiftietartt · 1 year

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i don’t really blame you for being dead (but you can’t have your sweater back)

a little dead!eddie fic i wrote in my feels. read on ao3.

roughly 4.1k. future universe. title from straw house, straw dog by richard siken; inspired by the song into the great wide open by tom petty.

March 21st, 1992. Chicago, IL.

“You know,” Robin is saying as she lines her lower lash line in the hotel mirror with a practiced precision and a steady hand, “when I told Keith I was going to change my availability so I could take some classes at RCC in the Fall he laughed at me, like, fully laughed in my face and he said, ‘Why would you want to do that ?’”

“I said, ‘I don’t know, Keith, maybe because I don’t want to work at Family Video for the rest of my life?’ I mean it’s been, like what—” she pauses, working out the math on her fingers, “—like five or six years now; not withholding those two years we spent saving the world, of course, it’s just I think…maybe we’ve overstayed our welcome?”

Halfway through her rant, Robin sighs, shaking her head, and she moves to rifle through her travel bag in pursuit of her mascara. “I don’t know. It’s like I’m finally ready to go back to school, you know,” she continues, waving her mascara wand through the air as she speaks, “and I don’t hate it at Family Video, right? It’s just that I cannot possibly keep entertaining every single self-proclaimed film snob in Hawkins.”

“I mean, Steve, you know better than probably anybody, save, like, Keith—not that he really counts, ‘cause he’s the manager and everything—but…it’s exhausting ,” she laments as she packs her makeup away; and she finds herself toying with the zipper on her travel bag as she delivers her final thoughts, “it really is; and, you know, reasonably I know I shouldn’t say anything about the brat-pack given that Vickie was practically a dead ringer for Molly Ringwald and all—so, it’s like, who am I to judge, really—but if I get trapped in one more conversation about Rob fucking Lowe, I swear to God, Steve, you’re going to see my picture on the evening news.”

There’s an awkward silence; a beat in which Robin is left waiting for one of Steve’s witty and semi-annoyed quips that never comes. Instead, she turns away from the vanity to find Steve staring catatonically at the popcorn ceiling, his legs swung haphazardly over the side of the plush hotel bed—and even despite her innate ability to hold conversations with even the most inanimate of objects, for as long as the two have been friends, it’s always been Steve’s sudden silences that are perhaps the most worrisome.

“Steve?” She tries tentatively as she settles down beside him on the duvet, “I think I’ve lost you?”

“I’m here.” He promises in a whisper and Robin turns to study him in profile; noting the slight kink in the slope of his nose—where he’d broken it one too many times, or perhaps, more aptly, where someone else had—and she takes stock of the two little freckles that sit right at the base of his jaw.

She watches him swallow, can see the gears in his head working overtime as he studies the hotel ceiling with such an intensity that you’d have believed he’d been asked to commit it to memory, and she knows—knows that if the silence that stretches between them is any indication, there’s still some part of Steve, even four years later, that’s frozen in time at Eddie Munson’s funeral.

Eddie Munson, of all people, who’d captured Steve’s heart in the short time they’d known one another, and whose death had fucking destroyed him; whose funeral had been put off for two years until they’d finally bested Vecna, and the one crush Robin doesn’t think Steve will ever quite get over.

“Where’d you go?” Robin presses gently in a whisper, and Steve inhales sharply, almost as if coming back to himself.

He blinks, in a secondary attempt to will away the tears that sit, poised and ready, their pressure mounting behind his eyes, and he promises, again, only more assured this time, “I’m here.” Then, scrubbing at his eyes with the palms of his hands he adds, “I was just…thinking.”

“Well,” Robin starts hesitantly, worrying her teeth over her bottom lip, weighing the consequences of joking at a time like this, “don’t think too hard…you might hurt yourself.”

Steve huffs a single laugh in return, shaking his head against the duvet as he rolls his eyes. Still, he can’t help the smile that tugs at the corners of his mouth.

“I’m serious.” She needles, feeling better now that Steve seems to be grounded to their present reality, “I don’t know how much more ‘ thinking ’ that brain of yours can handle.”

“So, what I’m hearing you say,” Steve hums, his eyes trailing after Robin as she pushes herself away from the bed, “is that you don’t want me to follow you to RCC in the Fall?”

Robin huffs a laugh of her own this time, her hands held out before her in a silent offering, “You say that like there’s anywhere in this world I could go where you wouldn’t follow.”

“What can I say, Buckley?” He teases, taking Robin’s much smaller hands in his own as he allows her to peel him away from the bed, “You’re stuck with me.”

Robin smiles, and she smooths her hands across Steve’s shoulders, reaching to give the side of his face a playful, albeit somewhat patronizing, pat. “You clean up well, Harrington.” She compliments, pinching the fabric of his shirt between her fingers, and well, it’s not his shirt exactly…

It’d been a gift from Mike and Dustin at Eddie’s funeral:

“We managed to salvage this from Wayne’s trailer.” Dustin had said, holding out the neatly folded Damage Inc. shirt in offering, as they’d reconvened with Steve at his BMW following Eddie’s burial, “It was in a box of Eddie’s things and we figured…he’d probably want you to have it.”

“It reminded us of you.” Mike had agreed, twisting his hands anxiously in the pockets of his leather jacket, “...because of the spike-y bats.”

“I think they’re clubs, actually,” Dustin had amended, “but, yeah, it reminded us of you. I know you aren’t super into Metallica, but, you know…”

What the kids didn’t know, however, was that following Eddie’s death, Steve had driven a couple of towns over, to a record store where he’d bought his first Master of Puppets cassette, and then he’d spent the hour’s drive home just trying to decipher the fucking lyrics. His auditory processing disorder had made the entire endeavor an absolute nightmare, but he’d run that tape into the ground anyway.

It’d been roughly two years after that initial purchase, around the time of the burial, just as things had started to ‘get back to normal,’ when the tape had come unraveled in his car’s tape deck on his way into work; and Robin had left the store unattended just long enough to find Steve crying in his car.

“Steve.” She’d said softly, slipping into the passenger seat with every intention of trying to salvage the tape.

“It’s stupid, Rob.” He’d sobbed, “I’m stupid, it’s--”

“Hey.” Robin had interrupted firmly, “Accidents happen, you’re not stupid, Steve.” Then, turning over the sleeve, the ball of tape strewn across her lap, she’d marveled, “Jesus Christ, Eddie, all of these songs are, like, seven minutes long…”

This, of course, had only made Steve sob harder with the realization, “He played the longest song he knew to give us a fighting chance and we still failed him, Rob.”

Eddie’s shirt is faded now, six years after his passing, weathered by time and wear (and perhaps by Steve’s tears), but it’s still arguably one of the most important articles of clothing Steve owns; next to Eddie’s battle vest, of course, and while neither he nor Robin had been able to salvage the tape, Steve had gone out the next day to buy a replacement.

There’s a knocking at the hotel door that rips Steve from his thoughts and puts a momentary pause on Robin’s gentle preening, and it’s she who leaves his side to answer the door with a perfunctory, “I’m coming!”

“Room Service!” Mike Wheeler greets with a shit eating grin, and beside him, his now boyfriend, Will Byers, rolls his eyes.

“Oh,” Robin teases, already edging the door closed, “we didn’t order anything, thank you.”

Mike, however, is quick to wrap his hand around the door before she can fully shut it in their faces, even in jest, and Steve can see Eddie’s ring—the boar’s head—banded around his middle finger.

They’d all taken pieces of Eddie after he’d died, just simple things to remember him by, one way or another.

In fact, the night of Eddie’s funeral, most of them had filed into Hawkins’ sole tattoo parlor and gotten one or two of Eddie’s bats permanently inked into their skin.

“You know,” Gareth had joked, just as Steve had sat down for his tattoo—opting for only two of the bats inked across his inner forearm, “this would be ten times more authentic if we were all high as shit right now in the middle of Reefer Rick’s kitchen.”

“Reefer Rick did Eddie’s tattoos?” Steve had asked, somewhat numbly as he’d tried to distract himself from the pain—both of losing Eddie, and that of the tattoo gun hammering minutely against his skin.

“Nah, Rick and Eddie knew a guy.” Gareth had shaken his head, and then he’d laughed, “I mean, everyone knew the guy was shit, but…”

Jeff had laughed then too, “Eddie never cared. Do you remember how many times that zombie skull thing got infected?”

Then, Dustin had frowned, his arms wrapped around himself in a sort of self soothing hug on one of the parlor’s benches, “And those bats just…bit them all off.”

There’d been a silence then, that had seemed to stretch between all of them for miles and miles as they’d been forced to remember the sudden gravity of losing their friend, and then, Nancy Wheeler, of all people—who’d gotten the smallest bat tattooed on the outside of her ankle where it was easily covered by a sock—had said, a little distantly, “It’s almost Promethean in punishment.”

“I mean, it’s kind of metal if you think about it…” Mike had hummed, but Steve didn’t want to think about it.

Still doesn’t, if he’s being honest.

“You wore the shirt.” Mike’s saying, as he and Will push into the hotel room, and Steve looks down, his tattoo peeking out from beneath his oversized sleeves, and he doesn’t recognize himself.

“I was trying to be on theme.” He says, ignoring the ugly way his stomach twists at the sight of himself—trying so hard to hang onto the memory of a guy he’d barely had the privilege to know, and never had the privilege to love, even despite all of their ill-fated flirting.

“We’ll have to get you a Corroded Coffin shirt.” Mike says, and he’s got his hand on Steve’s shoulder, gently toying with the fabric like he can still feel Eddie in there somewhere, even underneath all of Steve’s detergent and fabric softener.

“I’d like that.” Steve says, and he means it.

Behind them, Robin pipes up, “And what am I, Wheeler?”

“Chopped liver, I guess.” Mike teases with a lopsided shrug, and Will offers a gentle laugh and a second eye roll beside his boyfriend, as he promises, “I’ll make sure he gets you one too.”

“Are you excited?” Steve asks as he stands, and Mike’s smile only wavers for a second.

“Yeah,” he says, with a false air of confidence, “I mean, it’s bittersweet, you know? It’s our first big gig and…he’s not here.” With that, Will reaches to squeeze his boyfriend’s hand, and Mike laughs awkwardly, like it’ll lessen the sting of Eddie’s absence, “I just…feel like a fraud sometimes, right, like, who am I to get on stage in his place?”

“No.” Robin shakes her head, “Are you kidding? Eddie would be so proud.”

“Eddie is proud.” Will promises, and Steve sometimes wonders if he has a supernatural sense about these kinds of things, or if he’s just the party’s unwavering optimist.

“Those guys wouldn’t let just anyone in the band.” Steve agrees, because he’s gotten to know Gareth, Jeff, and Brett in the wake of Eddie’s passing, and they’re all just as passionate about the music as Eddie had been, if only a smidge less intense.

“I know.” Mike concedes, and Steve hopes he knows his worth.

He hopes all the kids do, even if he can’t always recognize his own.

“The guys are really excited to see you two, by the way.” Mike adds, “They’ve been talking about brunch, like, all week.”

~*~

Halfway down Michigan Ave., right before the Art Institute, they’re stopped by a hawker on their way to brunch, trying to push a handmade bracelet on Mike who slows to listen, even despite Steve and Robin’s gentle herding.

“What did I say? Let’s keep moving.” Steve chastises in all of his motherly glory, waving Mike forward as he steps between he and the hawker, ever protective of the kids, grown as they may be.

“I like your shirt,” the hawker says over Steve’s shoulder, “you a big Metallica guy?”

Steve’s jaw clenches.

“Can you name five songs, pretty boy?”

It’s then that Robin grabs Steve’s hand, pulling him away from the conversation as she waves Mike and Will on ahead; and she snipes back over her shoulder as they go, “Can you?”

Steve’s quiet the rest of the way. He’s angry, and he’s upset, and he can name five songs.

He can name more than five.

Amidst everything that had happened with Vecna, when Steve had first heard that Metallica’s tour bus had crashed in Sweden, killing their bassist, just six months after Eddie had passed, he’d broken down on the side of the road in his BMW.

“We weren’t even that close,” he’d cried to Robin one night, after a couple of beers, “but what am I supposed to do with this—this knowing and then the knowing that comes with the realization that I can’t even call him up? I want him to be here and I want him to fucking laugh at me for not knowing that Megadeth was formed after Metallica ousted Mustaine.”

Robin, still, to this day, doesn’t really know what any of that had meant, but she’d held Steve anyways as he’d cried.

And when Metallica had dropped their next album in ‘88, …And Justice for All , Steve, initially, had hated it. He’d hated that Eddie would never hear it, and for a long time, he’d hated that he could never properly articulate that there were just too many lyrics serving as mirrors that had reflected his own grieving.

The first time he’d listened to Dyers Eve in its entirety, he’d taken his bat to the woods behind his house, and he’d just swung. When the nails had finally embedded themselves in one of the trees, he’d given up, a little embarrassed by his temper tantrum, and he’d called Dustin to help dislodge the bat.

They’d had a bonfire that night, and Steve had confided, for the first time, in Dustin just how much Eddie’s death had broken him.

“I think I had a crush on him.” He’d said finally, his eyes glassy with tears as he’d stoked the fire. Then, he’d sniffled, and amended, “I don’t think, I know …and I should have done more.”

“You couldn’t have.” Dustin had replied, his voice broken, “I think about that every night, Steve, there was nothing any of us could have done. He was just…a hero.”

‘ Don’t try to be cute. ’ Steve remembers telling him, and still he wishes he’d said something more, something that would have let Eddie know he’d be waiting for him across the finish line, whatever that was.

~*~

When they get to the restaurant, Steve steals a moment to himself in the bathroom, hoping to set himself straight before the rest of the band arrives.

Gareth, and Jeff, and Brett had all warmed to Steve in their own time, and the last thing he needs is for any of them to accuse him of throwing himself a pity party on one of the biggest (and potentially most pivotal) nights of their lives.

Not that any of them would ever say that, of course, but Steve holds a certain amount of anxiety in matters concerning Eddie’s friends. He can’t possibly compare, in a way, to the time and the years they’d spent with Eddie, so much so that it’s like Mike had said, he feels like a fraud in his own grief.

How should he be allowed to grieve, even six years later, when others had known him better, known him longer, known him more fully than Steve would ever have the privilege? It’s not fair, but then again, death seldom is.

When he returns to the table, a shell of his former self, save his hair, the only remnant of the person he’d been in high school, there’s a waitress taking down drink orders.

“We’re still waiting on three.” Robin says politely, as she looks over the menu.

“Are you guys celebrating anything today?”

Mike opens his mouth; tomorrow is Will’s birthday.

“No.” Will says gently, as he reaches for Mike’s hand under the table, “We’re just…remembering someone today.”

Steve nods quietly, and as the waitress takes her leave, he pretends he isn’t jealous, pretends it doesn’t hurt sometimes that Mike and Will got everything he and Eddie never would.

Sometimes, Steve thinks, he can’t help but be jealous of Mike and Will’s relationship. He’d never openly admit to that though, in fear of hurting their feelings, and so he buries his head in his menu, hoping it’ll dull the pain.

He’s done a lot of that in the past six years, just hoping the pain goes away, and sometimes it does, if even just for a moment.

“I know you guys got in kind of late last night,” Will starts, conversationally, “did you do anything touristy?”

“We got hotdogs.” Robin says with a shrug, “There was a stand right across from the hotel, and…Steve had no idea that ketchup was practically illegal here.”

“Oh, yeah.” Mike laughs, “That’s kind of a big no-no here, but…rookie mistake, you know now you know for next time, right?”

“Right.” Steve hums, settling on a skillet for his breakfast, and hoping that ketchup isn’t illegal for all of Chicago’s food items, but rather just the hotdogs.

“How long are you guys in Chicago?” Robin asks.

“Oh, we’re only here for the weekend.” Mike explains, “We’re gonna do a memorial show in Hawkins later this week and we’re hoping, you know, that maybe Dustin, Lucas, Max, and El can make that one.”

“Don’t worry.” Robin smiles, “If there’s anyone who can rally the troops it’s Steve.”

She reaches to squeeze Steve’s shoulder and he smiles, echoing a second, far away, “Right.”

Then, just as he’s reaching for his water, in an attempt to to ground himself to the present, he hears it, Tom Petty’s voice crooning over the restaurant’s speakers:

“Eddie waited ‘till he finished high school, he went to Hollywood, got a tattoo...”

“Steve?” Will frowns from the opposite side of the table, and that’s when Steve realizes just a moment too late that he’s spilled water down the front of Eddie’s shirt.

“Fuck.” He breathes, and he sets his glass down on the table as he takes to the water spot with a napkin.

“...she had a guitar and she taught him some chords, the sky was the limit…”

“I’m sorry.” Steve frowns, pushing himself away from the table, and he gestures loosely towards the bathroom, “I’m just gonna--”

“Steve?” Robin frowns, trying to catch his wrist as he goes, but he’s in too much of a hurry to put as much space between he and Tom Petty as he possibly can, despite the way the music follows him through the crowded cafe. At the last second, Steve bails on the bathroom, barreling straight through the entrance and onto the city street, and even then, he can still hear Petty sing:

“...the papers said Ed always played from the heart, he got an agent and a roadie named Bart, they made a record and it went in the charts…”

Steve’s chest is tight, and there’s an ugly sob crawling its way up his throat he can’t quite break. He’s pretty sure he’s gathered several onlookers in the past twenty seconds, but his fingers are going numb and he can’t catch his breath.

“Steve?” Gareth asks, appearing seemingly out of nowhere as he steadies the older boy on the unfamiliar sidewalk.

“I’m going to pass out.” Steve returns by way of greeting, and Gareth’s eyebrows knit together in concern as the music rings in Steve’s ears.

“...his leather jacket had chains that would jingle…”

“There’s a bench right over here.” Gareth says, taking a step backwards in the hopes that Steve will follow, and he does, until the dam breaks, and Steve finds himself emptying his stomach into the nearest trash can as all of Eddie’s bandmates look on.

“...into the great wide open, under the skies of blue, out in the great wide open, a rebel without a clue…”

“Why don’t you guys go in?” Gareth says softly, ushering Jeff and Brett towards the cafe as Steve dry heaves over the trash can a second time, Gareth rubbing gentle circles into his back.

“I’m so sorry.” Steve whispers, thoroughly embarrassed, and it feels, for the first time in six years, like all of his grief is coming to an ugly head.

“For what?” Gareth asks, “Being human?”

“For…appropriating your friend.” Steve amends, pulling away from the trash can to survey the damage, hoping the only thing wetting Eddie’s shirt is indeed the water he’d spilled.

Gareth laughs softly then, “Dude, Eddie’s memory doesn’t belong to any one of us, and I can’t claim to know what happened between you two, I still don’t fully understand all of it myself, but…what you’ve done for us, perhaps without even realizing it, Jeff, Brett and I couldn't be more grateful. I mean, Eddie would be floored, probably.”

“I’m serious,” Gareth continues at Steve’s look of confusion, “I mean, Eddie probably wouldn’t have even done half the things you’ve done. All of the rides to gigs, cold-calling venues, we never told you not to do it because…you were keeping Eddie alive, but, man, Eddie and I would get in a tiff over something stupid and he’d make me drive myself , or, before I had a car, he’d make me walk, just for the drama of it all, and we put up with all of the theatrics and the bullshit ‘cause we loved the guy, but…he wasn’t without fault. We might’ve never made it out of Hawkins if it weren’t for you…when the Hideout split in two and Eddie died, we figured, you know, we’d had a good run, and then you—as Eddie would say— shepherded Mike into becoming our front man, and you gave Will a place in Hellfire. You didn’t have to do any of that. I know it’s not your scene, man.”

Steve’s crying again, his lower lip trembling and his shoulders shaking as he tries to keep a full-bodied sob at bay and Gareth’s hugging him, even despite his having just vomited on the streets of Chicago, “You’re a good guy, Steve.”

“I miss him.” Steve admits into Gareth’s shoulder, “And I never really got to know him.”

Gareth pulls away, hands still holding Steve’s arms as he looks him over, “Didn’t you, though? Maybe not in the way you would have liked, but…”

He moves, gesturing loosely towards Steve, “You listen to his music—and not just the music he liked, but the stuff he wanted the world to hear—and you wear his clothes, and you have his shitty tattoos. I mean, that’s how I remember Eddie.”

Steve’s eyes are wet as he sniffles, “I think I had a crush on him.”

“I know.” Gareth admits, and he blinks away tears of his own, “I think everyone who knew Eddie probably did at some point, but…the things the kids say Eddie said about you, those couple days that you guys grew closer, I think he probably did too…the two of you are kind of magnetic like that.”

Steve lets out a wet laugh and Gareth hugs him again, and as they stand there, holding one another on the streets of Chicago, Gareth whispers in his ear, “It was Petty wasn’t it? Song came out a couple months ago and it gets me everytime.”

#steve harrington #eddie munson #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington ficlet #eddie munson ficlet #stranger things #stranger things fic #stranger things ficlet #stranger things fanfic #dead!eddie #dead!eddie munson #dead eddie munson #steddie fic #steddie fanfic #steddie #steddie ficlet #will byers #mike wheeler #corroded coffin

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kaypeace21 · 3 years

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"Rebel robin" easterggs

- Robin's friend is a horror movie fan whos fav movie is evil dead (jonathan has a poster of it in his room)

- Robin's parent's car is the " dodge dart" a ref to Dustin's demodog-dart

-robin and her friends make analogies to zombies (like Will- the zombie boy).

- robin faints. And her friend milton says "blink once for yes twice for no". A ref to what Joyce said to Will in s1.

- robin's other friend has a little sister named el-ie who pretends to be a squirrel. A ref to el killing a squirrel in s2. This is also reminiscent of a scene from the st prequel novel ' suspicious minds' where young-kali pretended to be a tiger (the Hawkins school mascot) & a rabbit (Jonathan's hunting story).

- robin reminds me alot of the byers: she is into photography and rock like jonathan and even worked at the movie theatre like jonathan did in the og pilot. They both like David bowie and cook for their families. She also is poor and wears hand-me down clothes from relatives (like Will). She also is into existential philosophers. Which is also similar to jonathan who had a poster of the poet rimbaud in his room.

- robin is almost run over by a car by a bully while riding her bike: similar to Mike, Dustin, and Lucas in s2

- robin says the best accessory for a girl is her middle finger. Cue max giving the middle finger to billy in s2 XD

- robin (before Will dissapears) sees the quarry and gets uncomfortable and thinks of metaphorical monsters

- similar to how billy had baseball references (along with Will). Robin wears a baseball shirt

- her fav flavor of pie is cherry (like alexi and cherry slurpies). She also gets pissed at a guy sipping a cherry flavored drink- similar to hopper in s3 with alexi

- she cuts her hair and she describes it as looking like a lion. El and Will owned lion plushies in s1.

- robin refs Chicago (kali lives there) and NYC (hopper used to live there), and California (where max and billy used to live).

-tammy's fav song is total eclipse of the heart: the song Robin and Steve sang in s3. Tammy would often sing the song in robin and Steve's class.

- they make references to the hellfire club: she describes a time where she dresses like a cross between a nerd and a rebel. And a mom yells at her appearance saying she looks "goddless' . And another of Robin's friend (kate) is told ' what demon is possessing you, kate?" (hinting at the satanic panic). Meanwhile someone describes Mike and his friends as "hellions' as another hint to this. We also see how alot of parents got paranoid and a bit crazy when Will and barb dissappeared- prob foreshadowing the chaos that will happen if more kids dissappear in s4. Along with the satanic panic

-Robin is visiting her friend Kate at her house. Kate wanted to listen to Madonna together. Max and el listened to Madonna at el's.

- Robin's friend (kate) says "I dumped his ass" in reference to her cheating bf. A little nod to the m*leven breakup

- robin (like Will) felt excluded during the summer cause her friends kate and dash (Kate's now ex bf) were always making out . Sound familiar- cough m*leven

- robin annoyed says " makeouts, breakups and declarations of love all in the span of a week". Wow if that ain't a diss to certain pairing we know in s3 XD

- kate (like mike) says to Robin dating the opposite sex is a part of growing up . Which scares Robin (and Will in s3).

- robin has a nightmare of running down the school hallway with short hair (like el in s2 via the upsidedown)

- robin contemplates shaving her head (like el)

- robin says she likes to sometimes dress androgynous . And found a cool suit. Which we saw in s4 bts pics I assume.

- robin watches a music video where there are duplicate indianna joneses (could be a ref to all the billy duplicates in s3?)

- robin says " I stare at the ceiling. The ceiling stares back. I'm stuck and don't know what to do" a ref to the s3 song with robin called "the ceiling is beautiful"

- a character named Sheena reminds me a bit of Will or el . She is very quiet, queercoded, and is often bullied. And she finds mean notes and other things in her locker- placed there by bullies. A bit like how Will found the zombieboy note in his locker. But sheena can be another name for Jane so ...maybe foreshadowing of el/jane being bullied in highscool?

- when robin hears a hom*phobic comment on tv- she describes the anxiety like a ' thundercloud in a big open sky' and a "chill". Which reminds me of the mf being associated with clouds, thunder, and lightning. And the mf liking it cold.

- robin constantly describes the monster or shadow in her life- whether it be her talking about conformity or the problems of consumerism while she is poor (themes of s3).

- robin before realizing she was gay/crushing on tammy just says " I don't get crushes' which reminds me a bit of Will saying " I'm not going to fall in love" (as the lyrics are " love thats new to you, you open up the door')

-robin on her bike hears something (demogorgan) and runs back to her house , locks the door, and calls her friend- and the phone gets electrocuted. The next day Will is said to be missing. (Another Will paralllel).

- i was right about robin being in theatre. So we most likely will see robin in theatre in s4 (she also auditioned with a friend in the book). So for s4 my guess is she may be in the drama club with dustin- cause in s1 he had a drama shirt

- one of her friends is named milton. Since the documentary 'paradise lost' was on the s4 movie list. Its prob a ref to John milton who wrote the fictional 'paradise lost'. The character Sheena may be a ref to the 80s film/movies *where sheena (jane) was psychic

-Robin's gal pal (kate) and Robin eat m&ms and candies together. Kate jokes m&ms and candy bars are 'foods of the gods'. El ate m&ms in s3. They joke how talking about plural gods (instead of 1) would get them in trouble. In case you are unaware- kali (is the name of a Hindu goddess) and el (is the name of a cannanite god) .

-Robin also mentions hopper's car smells like eggos.

- robin tries running away (like el in s2, max in her novel, and jonathan also wrongfully assumed Will ranaway in s1 too).

-robin tries to get a job at Joyce's, than Bob's, and later gets a job where jonathan used to work

-bob newby describes the byers family as his "home" . Similar to how El describes the Hawkins gang as "home".

- robin says she was friends with barb before nancy. Suspiciously right after she says this- barb grabs Robin's hallpass that says ' glitch in the time space continuim. " the teacher who wrote this called robin a "glitch". Which makes me wonder if my did theory is right- but ...that certain powers at be may also alter memories or things so people assume said people have always been around.Mentioning it cause it seemed suspicious.

-not an eastegg but robin can't believe how nice Bob is. And Bob says the byers filled a hole in his life 😭 . She also felt an instant connection with Will and saw alot of herself in him.And asked if Joyce ever thought of moving like everyone suggested . One of the reasons Robin didn't like steve was because Steve never mentioned how Jonathan took innapropriate photos of Nancy. So everyone at school just knew jonathan as the quiet kid who takes pictures. So to everyone it just seemed like- wow you're bullying the quiet kid who's brother is missing and take away the one thing still left in his life that makes him happy. Which is why everyone assumes jonathan beat up steve later. Interesting to know how general Hawkins (not in the loop) viewed things

- the book referenced alot of previously mentioned movies on the s4 list or from prior duffer interviews...along with a few NEW movies ,books, plays, singers, and songs that I have to analyze for another day ...

#robin buckley #rebel robin #jonathan byers #steve harrington #will byers #el hopper #mike wheeler #dustin henderson #barbara holland #max mayfield #jim hopper

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plistommy · 3 years

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Alrighty so @lovebillyhargrove tagged me into this awesome Harringrove ask game they made, so let’s do it! 💕💕 (I won’t tag anyone but feel free to do this! It was fun!)

1. Do they get together BEFORE MF possessing Billy or AFTER shit goes down? (Or maybe DURING😲)

I always like to think the guys would sleep around before the whole MF thing, but aren’t in a relationship. So maybe after? 👀 Them falling in love while they’re both recovering from the whole 4th of july shit? Sign me up.

The first time they’d have sex after everything, it would be gentle instead of rough like they used to have. Like Steve slowly riding Billy and they both can’t keep their eyes off of each other.

2. Who kisses who first?

Billy. I think they’d both be really nervous to make the first move, but Steve seems the type to give the other their time and honestly, it’s so new to him too and he’s still learning about Billy! He doesn’t wanna mess it up. So when Billy does kiss him, Steve can’t get enough of it!

He loves kissing!

3. Where do they have their first sex? (Location) (HJs and BJs count)

Steve’s bed is my fav, but honestly I think in their cars?? Probably Billy’s.

4. Who says 💖 I LOVE YOU 💖 first?

I GOTTA GO WITH BILLY AGAIN…. I think after Nance Steve’s too afraid to say it first. He doesn’t want to be rejected again.

5. Bottom!Steve or Bottom!Billy?

Has been bottom Steve since day one! ;)

6. Do they give gifts to each other?

YES!! they’d 100% spoil each other

7. Where do they end up living? California, Chicago, Hawkins... Idk .. Alaska??)))) Any other location?

I love to think they’d grow old together at Cali!!! Or somewhere else, but not Hawkins. I think it would be good for them both to leave it behind once things calm down there.

8. What are their future jobs?

I HAVENT EVEN THOUGHT ABOUT THIS 💀💀 I already have a hard time deciding what I wanna work LOL! But hmm… I love teacher Steve, but I honestly think he wouldn’t wanna go back because school wasn’t easy for himself either, but not sure what the pretty boy would be up to! I’d love to see him doing something with animals. Billy on the other hand would probs do something with cars or surfing! (these are kinda bad but I seriously have no idea LOL)

9. Who’s a better cook?

Billy! He learned to cook whenever he had to look after Max (But Steve’d learn too!)

10. Steve Hargrove or Billy Harrington?

Steve Harrington is so iconic so gotta go with Billy Harrington!

11. What’s Max’s reaction when she hears they’re together?

Honestly she’d probably be like ”wtf??” at first but 100% support them and would smile at them whenever they aren’t looking at her. She has never seen Billy so happy!

12. Describe in ONE SENTENCE Hopper's reaction when he hears the names Hargrove and Harrington mentioned together?

He’d simply just be like ”Don’t even tell me” when he hears the guys names LOL

13. Does Robin like Billy OR does Robin hate Billy?

Hmm… I do think she likes Billy, they could have pretty similar humor, but at the same time she keeps an close eye on him so he doesn’t do anything to the precious little Stevie LOL!

14. What about Dustin?

OH he’d be terrified at first, shocked even, but he’d come around eventually. Slooooowly. He’d also keep an eye on Billy. But I get it since he beat Steve up, so he has that little brother protective mode going on.

15. Fav Harringrove AU?

AHHH S1 HARRINGROVE!!! best stuff when Billy wrecks that bratty Steve

16. Billy+Camaro=…???

He’d never get rid of it! It was his first ever car and he just loves the way he always feels free when he drives it, even when he already is. It just makes him feel good and he loves to hear the little gasps and whines from Steve who tells him to drive slower even when he’s laughing.

#I DID IT #LOL #sorry for kinda short answers for each one! i’m sleepy #but I hope this is good enough!!! <3 #tag game #ask game #harrringrove #steve harrington #billy hargrove #billy x steve #writing #text #txt

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scottishaccentsareawesome · 3 years

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Tagged by @lovebillyhargrove to do this harringrove ask (THANK YOOOUUU!!!)

1. Do they get together BEFORE MF possessing Billy or AFTER shit goes down? (Or maybe DURING😲)

I may be one of the only people who think that it happens after - more officially, anyway. Like beforehand, they did a lot of flirting, but nothing really got farther than that. But then after Billy was free of the Mindflayer, they both get their heads out of their asses and decide that they don’t want to wait anymore, because creepy shit happens all the time in Hawkins and neither of them want to die without finally taking a chance with each other.

2. Who kisses who first?

Steve kisses Billy after Billy wakes up in the hospital after the Mindflayer.

3. Where do they have their first sex? (Location) (HJs and BJs count)

Billy surprises Steve one night by showing up at his bedroom window. Steve lets him in, calling him a dumbass because his parents aren’t even home so he could’ve just knocked on the front door, but Billy thought being sneaky was more romantic...and hotter, dont’cha think, Harrington? (things get sexier from there) . :)

4. Who says 💖 I LOVE YOU 💖 first?

Steve. Billy has been avoiding him, and when they do see each other, Billy starts arguments. He’s been in emotional hell for days because he’s been scared that his dad will find out about them, and he’s scared that he can never have anything good that will last, and Steve will realize that he’s just trash and he’ll leave. Steve finds him at the quarry one day, and they fight again, but Steve doesn’t leave, and he doesn’t let Billy leave either. When Billy tries to, Steve pushes him up against the hood of his Camaro, and holds him arms against his sides in an extremely strong grip, so Billy can’t get away, or hit him. Steve looks him right in the eye and says “I love you.”

5. Bottom!Steve or Bottom!Billy?

It depends on the situation. If Steve instigates it because he knows Billy’s had a bad day, he wants to take care of him. But sometimes Billy wants to take care of Steve too..

6. Do they give gifts to each other?

Billy gives Steve small things, like keychains and magnets for the fridge at his new apartment. Steve gives him little things too (he gave him a flower once and Billy snorted and said, “I’m not a chick, you idiot”, but he takes the flower anyway). Steve tries to give Billy bigger gifts, like offering to pay for him to get new parts for his Camaro, but Billy won’t accept those kinds of things and gets angry when Steve offers. So Steve sticks to small things, too.

7. Where do they end up living? California, Chicago, Hawkins… Idk .. Alaska??)))) Any other location?

California. Billy loved it there, and Steve has always wanted to go, especially because of the way Billy talks about it. So one day, after the kids have all graduated. Steve hugs everybody (Billy hugs max), and they get in Billy’s Camaro and go. (And Steve insists on going to Disneyland the first week they’re there - he even buys mouse ears for both of them to wear).

8. What are their future jobs?

I can see them maybe both working at a car dealership. Steve is a salesman and Billy is a mechanic.

9. Who’s a better cook?

Billy is better at breakfast (pancakes, bacon, french toast), and Steve is better at dinner. They cook together sometimes, but that just ends up in either an argument or a food fight (both lead to them having sex on the kitchen floor).

10. Steve Hargrove or Billy Harrington?

I feel like they’d keep their own last names.

11. What’s Max’s reaction when she hears they’re together?

“Well, DUH.”

12. Describe in ONE SENTENCE Hopper’s reaction when he hears the names Hargrove and Harrington mentioned together?

No words, just a really big sigh and a swig of Pepto Bismol.

13. Does Robin like Billy OR does Robin hate Billy?

Robin is protective of Steve at first. But eventually, she and Billy start bonding over favourite movies, and some music (Billy grimaces at some of the songs she wants to listen to on the radio, and says when she’s in her own car, she can listen to her chick music).

14. What about Dustin?

Oh, Dustin is APPAULED at first. It takes him quite a while to trust Billy, but he eventually sees that Billy’s feelings for Steve are genuine, so he becomes...okay with it.

15. Fav Harringrove AU?

I’m a sucker for Modern!AU’s. I also like the idea of Monster!AUs, like when Billy’s a werewolf or something.

16. Billy+Camaro=…???

Billy’s first love. “Don’t make me choose between you, Steve! That’s just not fair!”

TAGGING - @cigarettesandharringrove , @wint3r-b0y , @iridescent-idiot , @disdaidal , @gideongrace

#thanks this was fun #harringrove #ask game

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inthelonelycoolbeforedawn · 3 years

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Harringrove April Days 23 & 26: Picnic & Easy

Harrington & Holloway had a reputation as one of the best law firms in all of Indiana.

It was just as well-known for its annual company picnic.

The picnic was a tradition begun years ago, when Edward Harrington and Tom Holloway first started the firm. It had grown over time from a BBQ at the park to a full catered event at the Hawkins fairgrounds, complete with live entertainment and various activities for everyone from kids to adults.

As the boss' son, Steve was expected to attend every year. It was okay when he was a kid and spent his time playing with Heather, Tommy, and everyone else. But as he got older and friendships changed or disappeared, and the 'happy family' facade his parents insisted on in public became harder to maintain, the picnic became more of a chore, even something to dread.

Leaning against an oak tree at the edge of the fairgrounds, away from the crowds and music, Steve's thoughts drifted to last year's picnic. Last year he'd brought Nancy. She was his first serious girlfriend, beautiful and intelligent and fearless. She got into an argument with one of the junior partners about inequality in the criminal justice system and it ended with the man stomping off like a child throwing a temper tantrum. Steve couldn't quite follow the discussion but at that moment he knew he loved her.

Over the next few months, though, they'd drifted apart. Nancy was ambitious and sure of herself. Steve wanted to do good, to be something more than his father's son, handed everything as he drifted through life. He just didn't know what that 'more' was.

So he hadn't been entirely surprised when they broke up. They stayed friends, and when Nancy announced she was dating Jonathan Byers he was genuinely happy for them. They shared similar interests and were a good match, better than he and Nancy had ever been.

He just kept hoping he'd meet his perfect match, that his true love was somewhere out there, waiting for him.

"Steve!"

Heather's excited voice pulled him out of his thoughts, and he straightened up as she and Robin hurried towards him, hand in hand, both of them grinning.

"Oh my god, dingus, we were looking everywhere for you," Robin said.

"I just needed a break," Steve said. He rolled his eyes. "I can only hear 'why aren't you going to college this year', 'do you have a girlfriend', 'what about your career plans' so many times before I snap."

Heather and Robin exchanged a look, then their smiles became even wider.

"Hey, what's that?" Steve asked, noticing something on their faces.

Heather tilted her head to give him a better view of the rainbow painted on her right cheek. It matched the one on Robin's.

"That's why we were looking for you," Heather said, her dark eyes sparkling. "You've got to get your face painted, too."

"Nah, I don't think so," Steve said.

"No, you really do," Robin said, taking his hand and tugging. "C'mon!"

"Okay, Jesus," Steve said, letting himself be led.

He perked up a bit as they walked, buoyed by Robin and Heather's enthusiasm. Heather was like a sister to him, and he and Robin had become good friends in the two months Heather and Robin had been dating. Being around them never failed to cheer him up.

They dragged him to a tent where several people, mostly little kids and a few teenagers, waited to get their faces painted.

Steve felt awkward being the oldest person in line, but Robin and Heather stood with him. And when they reached the front and he got a good look at the face paint artist, he forgot all about the other people around him.

The face painter was a guy who looked about his age, blonde curls pulled up in a messy bun. He was wearing a red shirt with two buttons undone that showed off his muscular build. But he appeared surprisingly gentle as he drew a glittery flower on a little girl's cheek. Steve could see his tongue poking out between his teeth ever so slightly as he concentrated.

The guy finished and held up a mirror so the girl could see her flower. She grinned, then ran off to show her mother, waiting nearby. The guy looked up, a big smile on his face to greet his next customer.

So distracted by staring at the face painter, Steve didn't realize he was the next customer until Robin nudged him.

"Get going, dingus," she said, Heather giggling beside her.

Steve tried to glare at them and ended up almost tripping over his feet as he crossed the short distance and dropped unceremoniously into the chair near the face painter.

"Well, well, well," the guy said, aiming his blinding smile straight at Steve. His eyes were bright blue, almost the color of the summer sky, and Steve noticed he had a small gold hoop in one ear. "What can I do for you?"

Steve realized he probably should have thought of something. "Um...I'm not sure?"

"I've got some designs here you can pick from," the guy said, reaching for a photo album. "Or I can come up with something just for you."

Steve gulped.

"Uh, surprise me, I guess," he said. "Just, nothing too wild?"

The guy's grin turned softer. "Don't worry. I'll take good care of you."

He studied Steve for a moment, as if thinking, then picked up a brush.

"Turn your head," he said.

Steve obeyed, shifting in the chair so the left side of his face was exposed. He almost jumped at the first touch of the cool paint against his skin but as the guy worked, he relaxed. The guy's hand was steady but gentle, and occasionally Steve felt his breath against his cheek when he leaned in to touch up a spot.

He felt a twinge of disappointment when the guy set his brush down, sat back, and said, "All done. Ready to see?"

Steve managed a grin. "Yep."

The guy lifted his mirror. Steve was almost afraid to look, but as soon as he saw his face he couldn't tear his eyes away.

A dolphin in shades of blue and gray curled along his forehead, past his eye, and down his cheek. Dots and swirls of white and lighter blue created waves around it.

"Wow," Steve breathed. He looked at himself again, then back at the guy. "You're really good, man."

The guy's eyes widened slightly, as if he was surprised. "Thanks." The blinding, charming grin appeared again. "It's easy to work on a pretty face like yours though."

Steve blurted it out before he thought.

"Like mine? Have you ever looked in a mirror?"

The guy laughed, still watching him.

"Once or twice," he said, teasing.

Steve knew he should get going, find Robin and Heather and let the next kid in line have their turn.

"Well." He opened his mouth to thank the guy again, but instead he heard himself say, "You get a break or something, right? Do you wanna grab something to eat?"

"That'd be great," the guy said. "I'm Billy, by the way."

"Steve." Steve automatically held out his hand, years of polite introductions and handshakes drilled into him, and just as quickly wished he could take it back.

But Billy clasped it in his own hand, giving his fingers a gentle squeeze. "Nice to meet you, Steve. Let me just clean up here."

Steve waited while he set out a sign saying 'Back in 30 minutes' and put away his paints, brushes, and other supplies.

They set off towards the food tent, falling into conversation as if they'd known each other for years. By the time they sat down at a picnic table with ice-cold cans of soda and plates piled with burgers, salads, and potato chips, Steve had learned Billy had recently moved from California with his stepmom and stepsister.

"Susan's got family here," he explained. "So she came here to be close to them and away from my asshole father. I was lucky she got custody and brought me too."

"Do you miss it?" Steve asked. "I mean, coming from California to good old Hawkins - that's gotta be tough."

"Yeah, it is," Billy said. "I miss the ocean. Surfing in the early morning when there's not many people around - there's nothing else like it. Sometimes I'd even see dolphins. Once one swam right up next to me." His eyes shone with excitement. "That was the most incredible thing I've ever seen."

"Wow." Steve used his fork to poke at his potato salad. "So is that why you drew a dolphin on me?"

"That, and I just like them." Billy looked directly at Steve, a small smile on his lips. "They're smart, playful. Beautiful."

Steve stuffed a forkful of salad in his mouth and chewed while he considered what to say. When he'd swallowed he took a deep breath.

"I think there are some dolphins at the Indianapolis Zoo," he said, trying to sound casual. "Maybe we could go and see them sometime. If you wanted."

Billy's smile widened. "I'd like that, pretty boy."

Steve smiled back.

When the Harrington & Holloway company picnic rolled around the following year, Steve wasn't there.

He was lying on a beach with Billy, the two of them celebrating the end of their first year at UCLA with an entire weekend doing nothing but surfing, hanging out at the beach, and having sex on every available surface in their dorm room.

Steve still couldn't quite believe how easy it was being with Billy, how easily everything had fallen into place in the past year. After hitting it off at the picnic he and Billy began dating and were soon deeply in love. He'd picked up some pamphlets at the zoo the first time they went there, and that led to an interest in environmental issues and conservation. He'd applied to environmental science programs when Billy applied to art school, and they both got into UCLA.

Robin and Heather, who were both studying social work in Chicago, had been thrilled when Steve told them about his plans to move to California and go to school with Billy. The four of them had double-dated several times during the year, and they were excited that Steve had not only found a loving boyfriend but an academic and career path he was passionate about. They'd promised to come for a visit over the summer, and Steve couldn't wait to see them.

Even Nancy was happy for him when she heard the news. She'd hugged him and said good for you, Steve Harrington with a big smile that made Steve glow with pride. He talked to her and Jonathan once in a while, and he was glad they were happy at NYU, supporting various causes and fighting for what they believed in.

The only people who weren't happy with his decisions were his parents. But they couldn't stop him, and although Steve still loved them, he didn't want to live their life or the life they'd planned for him.

"What are you thinking about, baby?" Billy murmured, rolling onto his side to run his fingertip up Steve's arm.

"Us." Steve flapped his hand to indicate everything around them. "This."

He turned his head towards his boyfriend and pressed a kiss to Billy's lips, the action familiar from repetition and even sweeter for its familiarity.

They smiled at each other when they parted, then settled back onto their towels and laid there holding hands, comfortable and content.

#harringrove #ficlet #my writing #harringroveapril #robin buckley/heather holloway #face painter billy #that's not an innuendo #he is a face paint artist in this au haha

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thesaunatest · 3 years

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MY HUGE THEORY ON EL’S PLOTLINE IN S4

before you guys even start, YES I know that 99.9% of what I say is going to be wrong but this is literally just for fun.

its march 1986, middle of the school year and el HATES school

when we left her she was barely literate and had just started getting accostomed to speaking full sentences, NOWHERE NEAR a 9th grade level, so shes struggling in her classes to say the least

on top of that, she barely knows how to socialize with other people, so shes evidently getting picked on

with joyce and jonathan both working to keep the family afloat, will and el get left alone alot

but outside of the party, they socially have nothing in common

in fact, will is adapting to the new town a whole lot better than el. he fit right in with all the creative kids he met in class, but el didnt mesh with that crowd

anyway, our girl is sturggling

the only time she really has fun is when she visits hawkins, or when someone from the party visits them

which leads us to spring break

mike obviously comes to visit, and el doesnt want them to waste a single second so she begs mike and will to come explore the town with her

at this point joyce is already in her detective mode, hatching a rescue plan for hopper so she doesnt notice theyre gone

and jonathan is battling the heartbreak of nancy ghosting him when she was supposed to come visit

so the trio goes off on an adventure without anyone noticing.......... or so they think

because brenner is back, and he knows el is with the byers, but he cant go and snatch her because he doesnt have the resources all the way in california

in fact, he doesnt have the resources at all. his numbers experiment is seen as a catastrophic failure that lead to the deaths of hundreds of lab employees

the only way for him to redeem himself in the community, and gain his funding back is to present his peers with proof that the project can work, so he needs to get one of his numbers back

el is the only one he can track down, but he doesnt think he can do it himself. if she saw him, she could just kill him with her powers, he assumes because he doesnt know she lost them

so who does he employ to get el back to hawkins? lonnie byers

its almost too easy. it doesnt take much to bribe lonnie, and hey, its not like its his kid. so lonnie accepts the bribe, and goes all the way out to california to find el

he shows up at the byers house..... only to find it completely deserted. so he waits

and the trio finds him there after their day out (why are you here? what do you want? where are mom and jonathan?)

and lonnie, being as crafty as he is, comes up with a good excuse on the fly (hes craftier than i am because i genuinely have no idea what he would say)

anyway, he gets them in his car and on their way back to hawkins

jonathan shows up after theyve already left, and is too stoned tired to think anything of the empty house

and joyce is already halfway to russia

will knows his father. he knows that his father doesnt give a shit about him, the family, or anything about hawkins. he knows that his father wouldnt get involved in anything unless he had something to gain. so hes wraking his brain

maybe.... lonnie pulls over to take a suspicious phone call? maybe will figures out an inconsistency in his story? either way, the gang is onto lonnie and figures that they gotta get away from him and get back to joyce and jonathan

they tuck and roll out of the car. idk. all that matters is that they get out of there

as theyre rolling out of the car, el bonks her head a little and has a quick flashback to her time in the lab

since her intuition is always spot on, she takes this as a cue the breener is back and lonnie is working for him

she tells the boys it isnt safe to go back to california or hawkins, so they come up w an alternative plan, somewhere neither brenner nor lonnie would think to look for them

and while theyre on the road, they stop at a diner to eat (dont ask me where they got the money) and we get will leaving an emotional voicemail home, probably sobbing to jonathan about how much he means to will, which gives el an idea

because who has the resources to help her, as well as a desire for vengeance on brenner? kali

el uses her superb hitchiking skills to get them to chicago

maybe she just has some hints of her powers left, but it isnt too hard for el to find kali

she explains everything thats happened, and lets kali know that if she want revenge, the opportunity is hers

unfortunately, lonnie was hot on their trail, and called for reinforcements

theyre ambushed by the few employees brenner has working for him. initially, everyone is hiding, assisted by kali’s powers

but el knows they arent leaving empty handed, and would rather get taken away then have kali’s freedom taken from her

so el reveals herself, followed by mike because he wont leave her, followed by will because he wont leave mike

all three get taken away, back to hawkins lab, but now kali is even more motivated to bring down the lab once and for all

so kali and her gang get to hawkins, almost simultaniously with jonathan, who has been looking for his family in a frenzy since the morning he woke up to find eveyone gone, without even a note or a phone call, as well as argyle, who came along for the ride

the video store is being used as home base this season, so thats the first place they go, where they find steve, shortstaffed and not knowing whats going on because the whole team ditched him

they catch him up to speed on how EVERYONES GONE and steve catches them up to speed on how EVERYONE IS GETTING MURDERED

meanwhile, brenner has three predicaments

1) no matter what he does to el, what kind of torture he inflicts, she isnt using her powers because she doesnt have them. she tells him this several times. he refuses to believe it

2) lonnie byers is demanding his payment, which he didnt recieve because the deal was that he bring el to them, and he couldnt even do that

3) he has to find a way to dispose of mike and will, who he had no intention of bringing into the lab but theyre here and they know everything

and this is the moment where mike screws up by letting them know that people know theyre in the lab and people know about all the experiments and any second now, someones gonna come banging that door down to save us. nancy, jonathan, steve, robin max, lucas, dustin, kali-

and the second mike says her name he knows he screwed up

brenner decides in that moment that all he can do is round up everyone involved and get rid of them. conveniently, the string of murders occurring will serve as a good cover for what happened to them

and this is the part where joyce, murray, and hopper get back to hawkins

this is also the part where nancy and robin and the gang get back to hawkins

so nancy and robin immediately go to the video store armed with all the new information they learned from victor creel

..... and are met with jonathan, argyle, kali, and steve in pandemonium

they close the store for the day, and get ready to storm the lab

they realize that they need something from the school, so they head there to pick it up

and soon after arriving, theyre met with the all to familiar hawkins lab vans

they make a hasty escape, taking out some of the goons but they need to find a way to get the rest off their trail

they head for the woods, hoping to hide out in the cabin

meanwhile, the russia crew has taken the mostly demolished cabin as their haven to recover from whatever injuries they sustained

theyre all running through the woods, but they realize the people from the lab are closing in on them

and then nancy and jonathan pass a very familiar tree

they use whatever weapon they have on them to break through the bark, and head into the upside down

the lab people keep going into the woods, eventually finding hopper’s cabin

epic showdown between the russia crew and the lab people, joyce, murray and hopper win, they realize the lab is back, immediately head there realizing theyre gonna have to rescue someone

nancy and robin use the info they learned from victor creel to keep the gang alive in the upside down, max, argyle and eddie are freaking out because omg we’re in another dimention, we get some big reveal about the truth about the upside down and the gang makes their way out and head to the lab

and while this is all happening,we get some super emotional monologue between brenner and el (ala-the last 10 minutes of the truman show) and brenner realizes that el isnt going to be the naieve superweapn she used to be, and decides the best thing he can do with el is give her the standard punishment, time in the closet

and being in the closet triggers all sorts of flashbacks and emotions (mbb’s opportunity to show off her acting chops for an emmy)

joyce and hopper bust into the lab like they did in season 1, but this time they dont get caught

they decide to split up to cover more ground, and hopper finds el in the closet

and around the same time joyce finds mike and will and gets them out of there

here comes the REAL emotional performance

hopper sees her, we get a teary eyed “el!” “dad!”, and then hopper gets pulled away from el by lab workers

exactly the same way terry did

we’re watching this happen from el’s perspective, with a heart-wrenching “noooooooooo” from el, accompanied by cuts to every time el has had to be separated from someone she cares about (terry, the s1 ending, billy dying, her leaving kali in s2, saying goodbye to everyone on moving day, her being separated from mike and will when they got to the lab) accompanied by some terribly sad 80s song, then back to the present moment, she reaches her hand out and boom, the guards go flying. her powers are back

except she doesnt have control of them the way she did before, and now shes bringing the whole building down

her and hopper race to the the first floor, and meet joyce and the boys, they get out of the building at the very last second, and the whole thing collapses.

eventually they find the other group, the whole team is now together, they go and take down the big bad from the upside down, joyce almost KILLS lonnie

nancy and robin drop a huge bombshell that has to do with hawkins/the upside down, specifically pertaining to el, which they pieced together after talking to victor creel

we get a massive cliffhanger, season 5 starts like 10 minutes after the ending of season 4

#stranger things #yes i know half the stuff i said is going to be wrong #it would be really cool if it was tho #stranger things theory

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