#Mike is one of Steve's kids | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sp0o0kylights · 1 month

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There were a lot of things Mike hated in life.

The demogorgon, and how it had essentially destroyed his life.

Brenner, and the madhouse laboratory El had survived.

How each and every one of his friends now did something weird--were weird, because flashing lights or fireworks or some stupid tune a toy horse played dragged up memories that made their eyes flat and faces hollow.

Most of all though, Mike hated how much they relied on Steve.

There was no reason he should be the person to call when it started pouring and no one wanted to bike home from AV.

Steve wasn’t Nancy, or Jonathan, or a parent--he wasn’t even dating anyone related to any of the Party anymore so what excuse did he have to keep hanging around?

(Even if Jonathan was always working, and Nancy was always busy with some club or homework, and everyone’s parents all seemed to be in a race of who could get back to normal the fastest…)

They should at least try to get a hold of other people, instead of constantly going to Steve first.

“Why?” Dusitn had scoffed at him the last time this had happened, feeding quarters into a phone and staring at Mike like he was the one being unreasonable. “I’m not gonna waste money just to hear your sister tell us no again when we all know Steve will do it.”

Which was perhaps the most infuriating part of it all.

That Steve would do it.

Show up and help them, even if he bitched the whole time.

Hell, Steve Harrington knew more about Mike’s life offhand than Nancy did, and that made him want to punch a wall more days than it didn’t. Why the hell was Steve so involved?

It was stupid.

Weird, even! They weren’t friends, (even if Dustin and Max and El of all people said the opposite) he wasn’t being paid to babysit, (Mike had double checked; going round to ask Ma Henderson and Mrs. Sinclair, only to get an earful of how wonderful Steve was from both.) he had no reason to hang around!

It didn’t make sense that Steve could be harassed into picking them up from school.

Would take them to get ice cream, or hand over extra quarters for the arcade. He even gave out advice like some kind of--brother that Mike had never wanted.

Above all?

Mike hated that when he needed someone, the number he punched in on automatic was Steve’s.

“I need you to come get me.” He said into the receiver, mad at himself and the world, but mostly mad that beyond the normal amount of squawking Steve did, he shut up and came.

Drove up in his rich boy car, stepping out and herding Mike into it like the rain hadn’t already seeped into his bones.

“You wanna tell me why you snuck into a bar two towns over?” Steve asked, long after Mike had slung himself into the passenger seat, arms crossed defensively over his chest.

“No.”

One of Steve’s hands went right to his hair, running through it before adjusting the mess he’d just made.

It was a nervous habit, and Mike hated that he knew that too.

“Okay, well.” Steve’s hand fell back to the steering wheel, clenching tight around it. “Next time you want to do something dumb could you at least come talk to me about it beforehand?”

“What the hell would that do?” Mike bitched, staring firmly out of the window.

“Not waste my gas for starters.” Steve bitched right back. “But I dunno man, we could have taken some bats and gone and wailed on cars in the junkyard and talked or some shit, not--whatever this all was.”

‘This all’ was accompanied by a wave of his hand, indicating not just the bar Mike had been standing in front of, but his general sopping wet state.

“You’d actually go to the junkyard with me?” Mike challenged, doubtful.

Steve made a face. “Did you lose your hearing in there? I just said--.”

“Why?” Mike interrupted. “Why the fuck would you come out with me?”

Matching his entire aggressive tone, Steve said; “Because it’s better than trying to sneak into the one local gay bar when you’re barely fourteen, Michael.”

And that?

Steve being oddly aware of shit he really shouldn’t have?

Mike hated that too.

“You knew what the bar was?” He asked, his voice coming out much smaller than he intended.

“Everyone knows what that bar is, except it’s more of a biker bar than a gay bar.” Steve shot back--which did actually explain about ten different questions Mike had about the place. “Also, language you little shit.”

Under his breath, Steve continued in a muttered; “I swear I’m going to start carrying around soap.”

“You cuss more than we do.” Mike responded, and if his own voice was a little strangled as he fought back the sudden swell of tears, then that was between him and God.

He was not crying in front of Steve Harrington, he outright refused.

“The point I’m making is that there are way better bars to sneak into. That one’s not nearly as welcoming as people make it out to be, probably because they’re sick of all the rumors.”

Steve seemed to realize what he was implying because he quickly added; “Not that you should be sneaking into any bars at all!”

“You’re not my mom.” Mike’s voice turned wet as he lost his battle with his throat, voice cracking as he failed to choke the tears back.

“No shit Wheeler.” Steve said, and at least he was good enough not to call attention to Mike’s crying.

If he had, Mike was pretty sure he’d just up and die of embarrassment, right there.

“I don’t get why you care.” He muttered, angrily swiping at his eyes.

“I didn’t keep you alive this long just so you could die of something stupid.” Steve countered easily.

Which was kinda fair, if you thought about it.

Mike very much did not want to think about it.

Any of it.

Ever.

“Are you gonna tell my parents?” He asked after a painfully long moment.

Long enough that Steve had begun fiddling with the radio, trying to find a station as they drove back that wasn’t wailing country or gospel music.

“I’m not a narc, so no.”

“Not about the bar.”

Now Steve just looked confused.

Probably because he was, because he was without a doubt the stupidest almost adult Mike knew.

(Not that he could say that out loud--last time he had, Max had made one of her pissy faces and then El got mad because Max was, which led to a break up, which led to Mike having to beg his way back into his girlfriend’s good graces while explaining that he hadn’t meant it like that.

“How did you mean it then?” Max demanded, and Mike wasn’t sure how he managed to dodge that entire conversation but he had, on grounds that untangling his own emotions regarding stupid Steve made him want to pull his hair out and scream.)

“What about then?”

“You know. Don’t make me say it.” Mike absolutely didn’t plead, even if it did sort of, kind of, sound like pleading.

Steve flicked his eyes away from the road to give one long, weird look at Mike. The same one he gave Dustin when he went off on a rant about Cerebro or Lucas when he started discussing the stats of different D&D weapons.

Unlike those times, Steve’s face cleared.

“Oh.” He said, blinking, and Mike could practically see the light bulb flash above his head.

Then;

“Nah.”

Mike waited.

And waited.

And kept waiting as Steve went back to searching through radio channels, as if that was the end of the conversation.

It couldn't be the end of this conversation.

Not when this was the part that was eating Mike alive.

He didn’t know if this was Steve repressing it on purpose or if this was what he had to look forward to for the rest of his life if he kept trying to figure his own head out, but either way, he knew he had a choice to make.

To let the unspoken part of today die quietly. Go unsaid, and remain unsaid, for all eternity--or he could let it out.

Shove the “gay” part of “gay bar” in Steve’s stupid, jock face.

Make him acknowledge it, even if it got Mike kicked out of the car, and who cared if it did?

Steve wasn’t the person who should have picked him up anyway.

The anger climbed higher and higher in his chest, tears and rage combining until Mike spat it all out, furious.

“You’re not going to ask if I’m gay?”

Steve didn’t turn to face him, but Mike saw his eyebrow cocking anyway, given how he was currently glaring a hole in the side of the older teen’s head.

“Do you want me to?”

“No.” Mike bit out automatically. “Yes. I don’t know!”

Steve’s hand found its way back into his hair.

“Okay then.” Steve paused, clearly fishing for something to say.

Gleefully, Mike watched him struggle.

“Do you like guys?” He managed finally, looking like he was navigating a minefield more than just talking.

“I don’t know.” Mike stressed, sinking lower in his seat. “Why do you think I was at the bar? I was trying to figure it out!”

“Honestly I assumed this was some sort of stupid dare--but!” Steve held up a finger, before Mike could interrupt, “But let’s--shit, hold on, I had a speech for this but I kinda wasn’t expecting to use it this soon. Um.”

“You have a speech for me being gay?”

“Not for you.” Steve rolled his eyes. “For--in general! It was an in general, just in case speech!”

He rounded on Mike, for longer than the younger was comfortable with given Steve took his eyes off the road to do it. “Okay--you can like boobies, you can like, uh--not boobies, and that’s fine! It’s all totally fine!”

“You are not making it sound like it’s fine.” Mike said, feeling like he’d been taken out by hearing Steve say the word “boobies.”

Gross, gross, gross.

“Well it is.” Steve said, in a tone that felt like he was two seconds from adding in a smarmy ‘so there!’ at the end.

“But I’m dating El.” Mike whined, which really, was both the heart of the matter and the eye of the storm that had been growing in his head for months now. “I can’t be gay if I like her.”

“Don’t you guys break up and get together like four times a week?”

“No, that's Max and Lucas, El and I are stable.” Mike scoffed. “Or we--we were stable.”

Before he started to have thoughts about people that weren't his girlfriend.

Or women.

“Stable for being in middle school, sure.” Steve snorted. “You don’t just have to like one or the other you know. You can like dudes and chicks at the same time.”

Which Mike did not know, on account of being fourteen.

He did his absolute damndest not to show that realization, instead adding that to the list of reasons why he hated Steve Harrington too.

Steve shouldn't be the one teaching him about who you could like!

“The point is that who you end up loving isn’t a problem.” Steve finally looked back to the road. “Other people might be an issue, and those people we can punch in the face so long as the cops aren’t looking, which isn’t part of the speech so let’s not tell people I said that part, but whatever you do choose, there’s nothing wrong with you.”

Steve’s voice went firm, as he apparently recalled his speech or something close enough to it because his next words sounded a little rehearsed. “You have people who are here for you, no matter what. Okay?”

Oh God, Mike was crying again.

He wanted to punch Steve in his stupid face.

Wanted to hold onto the fury he'd built inside himself. Thrash around, throw himself out of the car, get away from the emotions that felt too big for his chest to contain.

Instead he felt it all break on Steve's acceptance. On word's he didn't know he needed to hear until they'd been spoken, and sniffed out a quiet; “Okay.”

Steve of course had to take it too far by reaching over and patting his knee, which they both regretted judging by how quickly Steve took his hand back and the face Mike made at his hand--but it…

It was appreciated, even amongst all Mike's rage.

Steve was appreciated.

Not that Mike would ever, on pain of death, tell him that.

Neither said a word for a while, Steve finally landing on a radio that was playing some Top 40 hit, Tears for Fears singing about ruling the world while Mike found himself trying to rebuild his own once again, tired of it having shattered so many times over.

At least he finally felt better, even if he refused to admit Steve was the reason for it.

He wasn’t quite done though.

There was a piece Steve had skipped over, that Mike felt was critically important, if only because it was partly the reason he was having thoughts about being gay in the first place.

He had to know if Steve saw it too.

That it wasn’t just him and his stupid head, making up things that weren’t there.

“Hey Steve?”

“Yeah?”

“Who was the speech for?”

Steve sighed.

“Rule one of the whole queer thing Wheeler, you don’t out other people.”

Like there were written rules or something.

(Maybe there were, it wasn't like Mike knew.)

“Was it Will?” Mike asked, and pretended like he didn’t desperately want the answer to be yes.

Steve didn’t say a thing, but the fact he nearly took the car off the road was a pretty solid answer in itself.

“We’re not playing guessing games about other people’s sexualites!” He yelped, hands gripping the steering wheel as Mike felt a wave of relief crash through him.

Will was--maybe, possibly, also--queer too.

Which didn’t make this any better but it--wasn’t the not preferred outcome, either.

(It wasn’t just Mike struggling alone, trying to figure out if his best friend wanted to be more than that, if El was breaking up with him and more and more because she wanted to be less than a girlfriend, if things were changing and he would have no one--)

“I’m not out here picking Will up from a gay bar dipshit, I’m picking you up, and this is your reminder that next time, you should just come talk to me!” Steve ranted.

Mike snorted.

He absolutely hated Steve Harrington, but--

“Fine.” He said, talking so low he could barely be heard. “I will.”

--maybe Mike did have someone in his corner after all.

Even if it was just Steve.

xXx

Bonus:

“Between you and me, that kid is gayer than a two dollar bill.”

“Wow Robin,” Steve teased, “Isn’t that like, a slur or whatever?”

He snickered when she rolled her eyes and threw a roll of stickers his way.

“I’m just saying. Did you see the way he was looking at you when you were showing off your stupid biceps?” Robin said, nudging her shoulder into Steve’s. “Will’s gonna have a rude awakening later if he hasn’t already.”

Steve nudged her back, but kept his gaze on the Party as they trooped their way from Family Video to the arcade next door, the realization that they now had connections for free rentals making them downright gleeful.

Will was the last one in, and Steve watched him hurry so as to not be left behind.

He didn’t like to worry about the dipshits, but Robin was just putting voice to a thought Steve knew he wasn’t the first person to have.

And if he noticed it, then it didn't exactly bode well as being kept a secret.

“Should we like…talk to him about that?” He asked after a long moment, turning to face Robin.

“Us?” She pointed at herself, before turning her finger on Steve. “Why us?”

“Well you’re into girls.” He gave her a pointed look, glad that the store was empty of everyone but them so he could actually voice all this. “And I’m fine with it.”

“Yeah I’m sure he wants to know you’re fine with it.” Robin taunted, but she had her thinking face on, eyes out to the middle distance. “I barely know him. You barely know him--he’s the quietest out of all your kids.”

“They’re not my kids.” Steve argued automatically. “They're like a weird cross between shitty siblings and that kid in your class who never leaves you alone.”

A fact Steve no longer took for granted, even if he made it sound like the worst thing ever.

“I just think it’d be nice if he knew that he had people in his corner, you know? Who supported him and shit.”

“Steve, you compared my crush to a muppet, that wasn’t supportive.” Robin countered, but it too was on automatic.

Softer she admitted; “You’re right though. If I had known other queer people, if I had known people would accept me...it would have made things a lot easier.”

A very long pause, in which both of them stewed for a moment, before Robin abruptly slapped her hand down on the table.

“Okay, you got me. We're doing it, and I'm making us a speech.”

“A speech?”

“Yes dingus, a speech. I know you, you’re terrible when you’re put on the spot with this kinda thing, and trust me with things like this the moment will be spontaneous.”

“It’s Will, how spontaneous can it be?” Steve challenged back. “Getting a dinner order out of him is a chore.”

“Stop whining and hand me that notepad. Im telling you its gonna happen when you least expect it and then you're gonna thank me later.”

“It better not happen without you.” Steve sighed, but passed the notepad over.

God the things he did for those stupid kids.

Bonus x2

Steve would later go on to use the speech on himself, in a gas station bathroom mirror, eyes wide and freaked out after Eddie Munson called him Big Boy in a van they stole, while Robin snickered behind him.

He would turn on her, snapping that she; “Help me with this dammit!”

In return she’d remind him that Tammy might sing like a muppet but Eddie was the guy who stepped on lunches while giving speeches at lunch and sticking his tongue out, and “Really Steve, I think I won best gay awakening, here.”

Which would promptly start an argument regarding how it wasn’t a competition, which would continue for another fifteen or so odd years before finding its way as a reference into both of their speeches as each other’s best man.

Nancy and Eddie wouldn’t get it at either wedding, but Mike would.

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rottenaero · 1 year

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Ao3

Part 1

Part 2

Part 4

Part 3 of the roommate idea

Steve declines the hellfire invitation from Dustin, making up a pretend date, because otherwise he was not getting out of that one. He checked the time on the wall.

2:27

Yeah, alright.

He waited a few hours before getting ready and heading to the school.

The game starts in thirty minutes so they should be-

Steve grinned as he watched the back of Dustin move into the drama room.

Perfect.

He waited a minute, listening into their conversation before deciding that he didn't need to wait for them to stop because if they stopped that meant they were starting.

He slammed open the clubs door, making a couple people in the room jump.

“Steve! What are you doing here?" Eddie asked from his place on the throne. "DnDs over, pack up your shit.” He stated, leaving no room for argument.

Well, apparently a little room.

“What!! Why?! Last campaign of the semester, Mike leaves for Cali tomorrow!"

Steve furrowed his brows, and put his hands on his hips, Gareth, Grant, and Jeff weren't arguing, they knew he was serious, good.

“It can wait till he gets back, why would you even plan this a day before he leaves?”

“Why do we need to pack our shit?!”

Steve pinched his nose, "We're going to Luca’s basketball game.”

“What?!?”

“That traitor-"

“Stevie, darling, you can't be-”

“Why?!”

“You two know each other-”

Steve grimaced, a migraine starting at the fore-front of his mind.

“Please shut up, Christ.”

Eddie winced and immediately shushed everyone.

“We're going to this game, because even if Lucas doesn't get to play, we still gotta support him. Dustin, Mike, you guys have only gone to one of his games, his first one.”

He turned the other group, "Grant, Gareth, Jeff, fuck Eddie. None of you have gone to a game, I know it's not your usual shit but you gotta come. Hell, Erica, you're his sister, I mean, you’ve done an amazing job at showing up at the rest, so I can’t really complain about you.”

Dustin winced, “ Sorry Steve, but why does this matter so much to you? It's not the end of the world.”

Steve rubbed his arm, “ He needs someone to be there for him, even if he doesn't win. You can just do the damn campaign at Eddie's when Mike comes back.”

Mike, in question, scoffs, “And since when do you make the rules.”

Steve ignores him, reaching forward and grabbing Eddie's arm, and Erica’s shoulder. "Suit yourselves, but kinda hard to play DnD without the Dungeon Master, and Eddie and Erica don't have a choice.”

They make their way to the gym, a reluctant group of Hellfire in tow, and sit across the top of the bleachers. Steve waves at Robin from where he sits and then turns to Hellfire. “ Thank you guys for being reasonable."

Gareth scrunches his nose, “You cannot just keep stealing Eddie randomly.” Steve purses his lips, and leans into the man in question.

"Not stealing if he's okay with it, right Eds?” Eddie looked between the two, “ I'm sensing I should say yes?"

Steve grinned and patted his cheek. “Good boy."

Dustin turned to them, "Was Eddie the date you were talking about earlier? You tell seem awfully friendly."

Eddie flushed, and let's out an awkward laugh. " Steve wishes he could date me."

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grandwretch · 3 months

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i so badly want one of those fic examinations of steve's relationship with joyce and hopper but solely through eddie's pov like hear me out

steve and eddie chat a lot in the upside down (and later in the hospital, when they learn hop is alive). steve has taken charge of filling eddie in on the rest of their of-age crew without the kids butting in. he never mentions his own parents, but he talks about the rest of the party's a lot, especially joyce and hopper. eddie knows what it's like to desperately want someone to be your parent and trying to hide it from his own childhood, when he would try to be cool about wayne dropping him off at his dad's house. steve obviously adores joyce and hopper, thinks the world of them and legitimately looks up to them.

eddie isn't sure what he expects from a cop who came back to life and the world's most determined housewife, but he's excited to meet them as someone steve loves.

cue eddie's horror when he realizes that neither of them really feel much for steve rather than annoyance and vague distrust. that joyce trusts will with eddie, an accused murderer, in a heartbeat and still hesitates to leave him with steve. that hopper brushes off every ounce of steve's hero worship and joy.

he tries to broach the topic with steve, gently, and is heartbroken when steve genuinely has no idea what he's talking about. and not because he's oblivious, but because steve thinks that's what he deserves. he thinks that's the parental love that someone who was an asshole in high school needs, because that's what would make him a good person. he needs people to call him out constantly, obviously, because why else would they keep doing it? why would nancy? at least they're here. at least they're not ignoring him. at least they're not forcing him into a box. they just want him to be better.

like, this is the man who thanked a girl for calling him bullshit and telling him she never loved him. he doesn't Know that's not how you're supposed to handle things. no one ever taught him that.

and now eddie's gotta figure out how he can teach steve how to be loved the right way without outing himself and his huge crush on his love-starved dork of a friend.

#shut up az #steddie #i just had the flash of eddie in a hospital bed staring up at hopper and the way he talks to steve in horror #like hopper saying something off the cuff about how he's not surprised there was so much collateral with steve in charge #and eddie thinking about steve always putting himself in harm's way #and the way steve got mauled by bats way before eddie did and then KEPT. GOING. but no one is mentioning that #no one is mentioning that steve was the first one of their group physically hurt by this.#and steve is just nodding like he agrees and eddie doesn't want to be rude bc these ppl are obviously Important to his friends #and then Mike comes in later and says something Mike-y and Eddie snaps at him #then he has to apologize because Mike is a stupid kid who loves Steve in his own way #and Eddie shouldn't blame him for the behavior of adults who should no better just because Mike is an easier target #anyway Eddie doesn't know how to have parents right either so he ropes Jeff and Lucas and Gareth and Robin into OP: Teach Steve Self-Worth

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reineydraws · 1 year

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i have a soft spot for fics where billy sort of ends up adopting el and will alongside max. like, these are the kids that get dibs for rides in the camaro haha.

also im unfortunately not participating bc prev commitments but #harringrove for turkey is happening right now if yall want to donate to the earthquake relief funds for turkey & syria and get some art/fic back from harringrove fans! :) check out the tag if you're interested!!

#stranger things #stranger things fanart #billy hargrove #max mayfield #will byers #jane hopper #st eleven #eleven #eleven stranger things #obviously the ones where the party as a whole adopts billy are also very good #but i think it's cute when they end up getting split like this #it's precious when will asks billy for gay advice and maybe has a tiny crush on him #where billy and el bond over bad papas and containing anger and billy learning to find childish innocence again through her eyes #where max finds out about neil and stubbornly decides to get through to billy and when billy starts reaching back that's it.#theyre ride-or-die now.#i like those kinds of fics :') and steve gets the other half and then they co-parent together #billy's all right w the other kids too but whenever i interpret his relationships with lucas & mike #it always comes off more to me as 'these are the significant others of my kids so they are automatically on thin ice'#and with dustin it's always 'this is my boyfriend's little brother'#but will and el and max are billy's directly #i digress!#sometimes i dont post at all and then i post two things in a week! consistency who???

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s-wordsmith · 3 months

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Something I really need Stranger Things fic writers to know is that no one in rural America was locking any doors in the eighties apart from the government and businesses. I remember when there was a big stink about "we gotta start locking our doors now how am I supposed to remember that every time I leave the house." People didn't lock the doors when they were home until at LEAST the mid-aughts, a lot of people STILL don't. "Oh we can't get into so-and-so's house/car because we don't have the keys!" You do not need the keys, just open the door. "I'm alarmed because I went over to so-and-so's house and their front door was unlocked so I instantly knew something was wrong." It would be much weirder if it was locked. If I showed up at my friend's house and the door was locked I would immediately assume something was wrong. If I lived in a town regularly invaded by monsters and patrolled by mobs of government agents/Russian spies/jocks with guns, I would assume my friend was currently being hunted.

#stranger things #pretty sure Will just walked into his house in the first episode #I know Mike did when he brought Eleven home #None of these doors are locked #Please stop including it as plot points because it takes me right out of the story and leaves me staring into space #Also while we're at it:#VHS tapes will not fit in Steve's back jeans pocket #That's not happening #And it is completely normal for the Wheelers to not know where their two oldest kids are #Parents in the eighties expected you to show up for breakfast and for dinner and that's it #Sometimes you bike to the other side of town to get up to trouble with your friends and that's just how it is #If you were inside they were concerned about your health #And no one was particularly stressed about being able to reach anyone because that was the usual state of things #Sorry for the rant #So many of you are too young to have known the carefree days of the height of serial killers lol #Kids rarely went missing and most people had only ever heard of murders and other serious crimes in the big city #No one in Hawkins is concerned except the people who have dealt with the monsters

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lesbiabrobin · 2 years

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I need a scene where the scientists are talking about the creatures from the upside down and they have given them scientific names and then one of the main characters is like wtf that’s a demogorgon and they’re like ???

cue the nerdy scientist in the background being like,,, you mean from d&d???

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kurokoros · 2 years

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“Steve is the mom friend of the party” shut the fuck up, Steve Harrington is a lonely only-child who suddenly gained the responsibility of keeping a gaggle of half a dozen idiot children alive when they insist on throwing themselves into danger at every possible opportunity that presents itself. He calls them dickheads. Most of them don’t respect him at all. If anything happens to any of said children he’s the one that’s going to get into trouble, not them. He’s disgruntled about watching them and constantly on the verge of wanting to kill them himself but dammit if he’s not going to put himself between those kids and anything that tries to hurt them. That’s not mom energy, that’s exhausted oldest sibling energy and baby he is thriving.

#'mom this' 'mom that'. shut up. you're wrong. steve is not nurturing #he gives these kids advice that end in threats against their lives if they ever share his secrets #one time he used mike's toothbrush to clean the toilet because he pissed him off #he loudly tries to embarrass max in front of anyone she wants to date #he now has several younger siblings and a decade of loving terrorizing to make up for #steve harrington #fandom.stranger things

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roosterbox · 1 year

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Random Steddie thought that needed writing down again, lol.

Imagine Eddie teasing Steve while they plan their wedding.

“Don’t worry, babe - I’ll have the tissues on standby for you,” he says, grinning.

Steve, who already knows he’s probably gonna cry, just rolls his eyes like “yeah yeah, laugh it up. Hardy har har.” But he’s smiling too. How can he not? He’s marrying the love of his life.

The ceremony happens. And for what it’s worth, Steve is actually pretty okay. Sure, he might have let a few tears escape, but nothing major. Not enough to even redden his eyes or cheeks. He’s fine.

Eddie, meanwhile, started bawling his eyes out as soon as he saw Steve in his tux, and did not let up even after they were pronounced husbands. How could he not? He married the love of his life.

(catch Wayne in the front row, alternating between rolling his eyes and wiping the tears away from them. He loves his boys, but damn are they silly sometimes.)

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sincerecinnamon · 4 months

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Something I noticed

There's a Stranger Things parody in the show Henry Danger, and the three main teens are parallels to Mike, Dustin, and Lucas, the main adult is Hopper, and the Mike parallel's sister (shown next to him in the photo) is the Eleven parallel.

Mike and Eleven as siblings.. with a sibling dynamic, not a romantic one...

Interesting, huh.

#byler #< target audience #may be thinking into this but idk #i just find it ironic #i don't think there's a will parallel #but still #and i decided Henry (pictured above) he is a mike parallel and not a will parallel because he is the one directly responsible for El #and one of the main kids is clesrly meant to be a dustin parallel with the wig that they make him wear and they make him make a lisp #and the other kid is black and this is a Dan Schneider show so I feel like #he'd decide that's parallel enough 😒#and there's also a steve parallel but he isn't important enough lol

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midweastindigo · 1 year

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steve and eddie dressing up as gomez and morticia, respectively

#steddie #the getting ready process just consists of nancy yelling at eddie because he woNT STOP MOVING EDDIE IM GOING TO BURN YOUR EAR OFF #SIT #DOWN #the photos jonathan takes are priceless and brought out every halloween to shame eddie #eddie thought the straight hair was glorious but steve missed the chaos #robin is uncle fester because reasons #the kids join in too #max claims wednesday and forces dustin to be pugsly #el watches one episode of the original series #and declares she's going to be cousin itt #lucas is lurch because he's the tallest and because mike really wanted to be lurch #will is thing because he's actually dressing up as will the wise to dm their halloween campaign #and mike is grandmama #because the rest of the party thought it was hilarious and it was #the addams family #stranger things

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sp0o0kylights · 11 months

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S4 Starts with the Demobats Attacking the School / Rejected Stobin Time Travel AU Bit

Eddie's hunched over the table, fingers held up in wicked claws. His hair hangs down as he tilts his head, voice pitched to the maniacal tone of the villain he's finally unleashed on his players.

This is it. The big reveal, the prelude to the boss fight. His players have worked hard to get here, and they stare raptly, caught up in the rising horror of betrayal and terror that Eddie's been weaving around them.

This whole campaign took months to reach this point. His glee cannot be contained and so he channels it into his villain instead; cackling madly before throwing himself upwards, one hand covering his face but with his fingers splayed to showcase one wide eye.

"Now you see your fatal flaw!" Eddie crows. "Pick up your weapons and--"

He slams one hand down on the table.

"--fight --"

He slams his other hand down.

"--for--"

A third bang, far louder than Eddie's own echoes through the room.

Hellfire as a whole jumps --Dustin screaming and Jeff shouting--as Steve fucking Harrington bursts through the drama room's door.

"Why the hell don't you have your walkies!?" He thunders as he flies in, face furious.

Fury bolts through Eddie like lightning, so fast it leaves him temporarily light headed.

"Steve!" Dustin yelps at the same time Mike pissily shouts his name. Both leap to their feet, as Harrington, chest heaving, slams the door behind himself.

"We have a code red!" Harrington spits, eyes focused on the younger Hellfire members. He fumbles with the door for a moment, long enough for Eddie to realize he’s trying to lock it, before the ex-jock strides into the room.

It's not until Steve gets closer that Eddie registers the bat with nails in it. There's a dark, tacky liquid leaking down the sides, little bits of something rancid clinging to some of the nails.

A metallic scent that screams 'wrong wrong wrong!' and oh God.

It's blood.

Real blood, not the fake stuff Eddie once bought for his Dracula costume.

"The Party--" Dustin hisses, head flying comically between Steve and the rest of the table (but most noticeably, down at Eddie’s end, where the older Hellfire members reside.)

"I suggest you read them in or whatever Nance calls it, Henderson, because they're involved now." Harrington says, deadly serious.

Sinclair’s face scrunches up in confusion. "What do you--"

Something screeches outside. The noise raises every hair on Eddie's neck, and temporarily stuns the room into silence.

An echoing scream answers, just as inhuman as the first.

Harrington winces. "Give em the cliffnotes version man, there's a bunch of bats outside."

"Bat bats or--demobats?"

"What do you think, Mike?"

"Fuck." Sinclair hisses under his breath.

"Anyone besides me have any weapons?" Harrington asks and he sounds like he's not hopeful for a yes but is asking anyway.

"Yes Steve, we all brought guns to school. Mines in my locker!" Mike snips, and Harrington levels him with that annoyed look mothers everywhere somehow seem to know.

"I've got my slingshot." Lucas chimes in, patting his backpack. "I uh, I don't go anywhere without it anymore."

Harrington nods, once. His faze ticks up, sweeping across the room to the older members.

"Alright. Anyone else?"

"A knife." Jeff admits after a long pause, his own eyes trained on Harrington's nail bat.

Grant shakes his head, and Gareth, usually the loudest of them, is silent.

A static crackle makes everyone jump, before a tinny voice comes through. "Steve, are you there? This is Nancy."

"Hey Nance. We have an Upside Down situation at the school."

A pause then; "it's not just the school."

"Shit." Dustin hisses. Then adds; "Scale of one to ten, how many bats would you say are outside?”

“Too many.” Harrington answers, running his free hand through his hair. It’s a soothing motion, Eddie has watched Steve enough to know that, but this time something’s different.

Less “shit I flunked my chemistry final” and more frantic, “we’re losing the baseball game and also Hargrove’s being weirdly aggressive again.”

Not that Eddie witnessed such events, just that he had….heard about them.

Sure.

He’ll go with that.

xXx

Wheeler Jr yelps, sliding as a demobat swoops down and beats at him with its wings. Teeth snap close to his head, missing his ear by inches.

He twirls, arms waving madly, until Harrington grabs him, keeping Mike's head down with one hand and jamming his nailbat toward the creature with the other.

The two of them manage to make it into Eddie's van, half falling half jumping, Gareth and Grant slamming the door behind them as demobats dive at them.

"Gun it!" Gareth calls and Eddie does so, the lurch sending Henderson and Jeff tumbling to the floor.

Eddie watches in the mirror as Mike, the most antagonist of the freshman when it comes to Harrington, clings to the ex-jocks shirt for a moment.

Steve's hand has left the back of his shirt, though now Eddie can see his grip has changed to more of a tender hold on the kid. Something familiar and comforting.

"I got you." Steve says quietly and it's only because Eddie's got his attention split between him and the road that he catches it, and the way Mike presses his forehead against Steve's shoulder for a moment before finally sitting up.

Which just confirms what Eddie already knew--for all his bluster and guff, Mike was one of Harrington's too.

xxx

--This is where It turned into the “failed time stobin time travel AU- but I like this part and you need the above for it to make sense so TWO IN ONE--

xxx

Speed running the beginning is starting to become the easiest part, if only because Steve finally knows exactly what to say.

"They're not a part of the party." He mimics Dustin's voice before pointing a finger at him. "We have exactly sixteen minutes before the damn demobats attack you can fill them in in Eddie's van."

The very same Eddie who looks positively aghast. "You actually believe this?"

"Oh absolutely." Dustin says, scooping his nerd crap into his backpack. "Trust me, Steve's not creative enough to come up with something like this on his own."

"Hey." Steve says in warning.

"Also he only gets bitchy like this when something’s gone really wrong." Dustin ads with a look that might have been apologetic--if one squinted and looked at his face sideways.

Lucas, Steve's new favorite, slides slowly next to him. "You sure you're okay?" He asks quietly and Steve pats him on the shoulder for being the only one to care.

“Not at all.” He answers because fuck, he really, really, isn’t. “In the meantime, I need you all to listen very carefully.”

Mike already has his mouth open, patented bitchy look on his face and nope, no, Steve is not letting him derail this conversation.

He let that happen by accident once and Steve’s learned his lesson since.

Pointing at Mike, Steve starts firing instructions. “Do not, under any circumstance, try to fight the bats. They can and have lifted you right off your feet and I will not be jumping for you again.”

Steve’s finger ticked right, to Lucas. “Luc, I know you have your slingshot and a handful of shit to fling in it. You need to sprint to Eddie’s van, then get set up to start shooting so the rest of us have cover. Got it?”

Lucas, Steve was pleased to see, had already dropped into ‘shit’s fucked’ mode. He nods, his own nerdy gear long packed away. He digs through his backpack now, looking no doubt for the slingshot.

Steve was baking him a damn cake when all this was over.

“Gareth.” He continues, pointing at the next guy down the line, watching as he jumps out of his skin (and then looks mad about it, as if it was Steve’s fault he’d flinched.) “You’re weirdly good at counting the bats, so I’m gonna ask you to keep doing that man. As well as keep an eye out for anything ground level, we got surprised by a demodog last time.”

“Shit, really?” Mike groans, throwing his hands over his eyes in frustration.

He was ignored.

Steve skips over Eddie entirely, knowing all too well how much of a trap addressing him could be. “Grant, you’re best on the radio. Once we are securely in the van I need you to call for Nancy and give her an update on what’s happening.

Grant at least, comes onboard immediately, nodding his head and standing.

He got an absolute look of betrayal from Eddie and Gareth for it, but hey that was yet another thing to be addressed later.

Here, Steve slings his own backpack down and off his shoulders, taking the first thing he has in it, out. “Jeff,” He calls, before holding up the box he’d pulled out. “This is a medkit. You know how to use it, so you get it.”

Steve doesn’t toss the box to him this time, instead putting the kit on the table and sliding it over.

Hesitantly, Jeff takes it, eyes darting between Steve and Eddie.

“And Dustin--” Steve says with an air of finality, yanking the second item he’s been looking for out of his backpack, “take off that damn Weird Al abomination and put this jacket on. For some reason the bats keep locking onto it.”

“They want my shirt?” Dustin asks, but does as told, seeming far too delighted at having been given Steve’s old swim team jacket.

“Uh.” Eddie starts, rising to a hunch over the table, head partially tilted.

Steve was pretty sure he did that because he thought it was intimidating (or at least, perhaps was a bad habit because he did it way more often then he didn’t, but that was a thought for Not In The Beginning of The Mess Steve.)

“We have five minutes left before they attack.” Steve says, right over the second (and far more aggressive) “Uh.”

“The van isn’t locked, which is just so safe considering all the drugs in it, Munson.” He can’t help himself, throws the pissiest, most disapproving look he has in his arsenal at a now gaping Eddie.

“No matter who gets to it first, one but Eddie or myself drive it, understand?”

“Oh so now you’re fine with Eddie’s driving!?” Dustin doesn’t stomp his feet but Steve has known him for a while now.

The foot stomping behavior wasn’t one he grew out of until just last year.

“Considering what we’re about to face yes, absolutely I am.” Steve counters rapidly. “Eddie drives like a demon and that’s exactly what we need right now.”

And oh. He’s going to have to say things like this more, because the shocked look that overtook Munson’s face is delightful.

“I’m taking the rear, because I have the bat.” He holds his weapon, watches as the older members of Hellfire finally seem to register what it is. “Everyone got the plan down?”

“Harrington.” Eddie finally starts, voice positively frigid in fury, and Steve is prepared to mouth what is no doubt the line Eddie’s about to say (much like Dustin, he too rarely deviates lines in the beginning) “What kind of game do you--”

Right on cue, something inhuman screams outside.

The bats are here.

“Bicker later, Munson.” Steve says, locking eyes with Eddie. “Goal for now is to survive.”

xXx

The run to Eddie’s van consistently remains to be one of the worst parts of the entire day (minus the other various parts where someone inevitably bites it, thus resetting the entire damn time loop.)

The initial plan had gone smoothly. Lucas reaches the van first, then uses it as a shield while he provides cover with his slingshot.

The little group of Jeff-Dustin-Grant and Eddie all manage to reach it at about the same time, with Steve able to pull the bats off them with a couple of well timed whacks of the nailbat.

This is where everything goes to shit.

Once again, Mike tries to take the spot of “first to die” by swinging his fist at a low flying bat. The tail of the thing immediately catches his wrist, using the momentum of the movement to swing its teeth towards the freshmen’s face.

Steve reverses direction, and knows immediately he won’t be there in time to prevent an injury.

Curses hard, and winds up to swing, right as Gareth snarls out; “Hell no!”

He’s closer to Mike, and despite already having one bat swooping madly at his head, manages to grab the one attacking Wheeler right as Mike trips over his own feet and falls backwards.

A stream of yells and ‘fuck you!’’s follow as Steve bends to yank Mike up, then carries on as wings beat frantically around Gareth’s head.

The other bat dives, latching onto his hip right as Steve manages to grab the one Gareth’s holding. Takes it from him as Gareth screams, trying desperately to rip the demobat that’s gotten its teeth into him, off.

Practice makes perfect, and perfect in this case, is slamming the fucking demobat onto the concrete hard enough to stun it before slamming it to bits with two hard strikes of the nailbat.

Steve isn’t sure how long it takes him to do it, but between Gareth’s screaming and the shrieks of more incoming bats, he knows he doesn’t have much time.

He’s not losing someone. Not here, right at the start.

Not when he already knows how to play out this part.

Gareth manages to rip the creature off himself, and Steve takes it from there, snatching it out of the younger man’s hands and repeating the fling-and-smash move he killed its brethren with.

Does it fast enough that he’s back at Gareth’s side before the guy starts to collapse downward, tears streaming down his face.

“I’ve got you, you’re okay.” Steve tells him, pulling him close and forcing Gareth to wrap an arm around his shoulders. “Put hard pressure on it man, hard, then we’re gonna run for it.”

“Can’t--fuck---” Gareth pants between hard breaths. Blood’s soaked soaking into his jeans, and a glance at it shows it’s a bad bite.

“You can.” Steve tells him, already pulling them both forward.

It doesn’t go well.

Gareth almost goes down twice, leg buckling, and Steve grits his teeth. Knows neither of them are going to make it at this rate.

“Gary!” Someone screams. He can’t quite tell if it’s Jeff or Eddie, but either way, Mike and Dustin have leapt out of the car, flinging rocks and whatever else they can find into the air.

“Careful!” Steve yells as one nearly belts him, but at least it causes enough of a distraction that he manages to toss the bat ahead of himself, wincing at the sound it makes as it hits the ground.

It’s close to Dustin though, who thankfully, takes his cue and snatches it up.

“Stay!”

It’s a command, and Steve says it like a command. The last thing he needs is for Henderson to go charging into a hoard of demobats, especially not after Steve’s witnessed Eddie dying to them on at least five separate time loops.

If not here, then later.

He can’t think about that now though, not when Gareth’s hissing in pain, fingers clutching onto his shirt like a lifeline.

(He is, he realizes, Gareth’s lifeline. The younger man won’t make it unless Steve gets them to the van.

The bats would take him as their sacrifice and if there is one thing Steve was sworn to stop, it’s people sacrificing themselves--or others.)

“Take a breath.” Steve instructs, before bodily swinging Gareth in front of him.

Ignores the yelped cry he makes, and stoops down to get a good hold around his knees.

Grunts as Gareth, having figured out what’s happening, circles his other hand around Steve’s neck as he lifts the smaller man up into a bridal carry.

Ignores the choked sobs that escape Gareth as he does it. The fucking bat bites hurt and what they’re doing right now is no doubt jostling the shit out of the wound.

He’d be crying too if it were him, not that anyone can pick him up like this.

(Deliberately forgets to recall the two times he’s died precisely because of that.

The knowledge that if he’s injured, the amount of people who can drag him to safety solo is numbering close to zero isn’t a helpful one right now.

Neither is any other thought beyond pure focus on getting Gareth into the van.)

From there it’s a matter of running and not falling on his fucking face--or on the guy currently bleeding on him.

They make it though, a fact Steve is very grateful for.

Hands reach out, all of them pulling Gareth in while Steve hustles the rest, not slowing down until he slams the van door shut and yells for Eddie to gun it.

“Jeff, medkit!” he says, but Jeff, bless him, is already on it.

Grant’s speaking into the walkie he’d been given, Nancy’s tinny voice a soothing balm on Steve’s nerves as he, Dustin and Jeff get Gareth laid out in the van best they can.

“Where am I going, Harrington?” Eddie calls from the front, having floored the van the second the doors had slammed shut.

“He’ll be okay.” Steve soothed quietly, one hand going to squeeze Mike’s shoulder, the other looping around Lucas.

If there’s one thing he swears he will be, through every loop, it’s supportive of the damn kids.

They deserve to know someone is in their corner, even if they don’t always believe him.

#this was originally part of the stobin time travel au #but I couldn't make it work #also I think I posted the bottom half before about mike #steve harrington #eddie munson #hellfire #mike as one of steves kids #s4 au #0o0 fanfics

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dinitride-art · 1 year

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Have we ever seen Mike happy? Like, genuinely happy. Not worried about something else, or trying to fix something, or angry. I don’t think I can remember Mike being happy like that since the first time we saw them playing D&D in season one. Everything after that. He’s just been… angry. And worried. And trying to fix everything around him. And trying to be someone else.

#mike wheeler #byler #y’all #I can’t remember Mike just being happy because he’s with his friends #there’s always something wrong #with Eddie they were trying to get him to move the game #at the game everyone way dying #when he’s with Will it’s either supernatural horrors #or conflict because of their relationship #and he’s angry all the time #in a way that’s more than just being a teenager. that anger belongs to a traumatized kid with no one to talk to #Lucas has max #and El has hopper and max and the party #and Will #and the Byers #and Dustin has Suzie and Steve #and Will has Joyce and Jonathan #and everyone has someone that we see them happy with beyond everything that’s going on #and Mikes just.#I don’t know #have we really not seen him like that?#since the av club and the first episode of season one?#and even in season four it’s still #not just mike being happy. it’s always comfort after he’s been hurt or worried already

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mongoose-croft-main · 1 year

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I encourage everyone to have at least one family vacation/road trip HC, it does not matter if you have a ship that it fits or how realistic it is. Fluffy StrangerFam scenarios are good for the soul and for one's mental health. For instance:

Steddie would fight heatedly over who should have to sleep on the pull-out couch in a shared hotel room.

Eddie: You take it.

Steve: Absolutely not.

Eddie: Seriously? We've been stuck in the car all day, are you really going to be difficult right now?

Steve: I'm being perfectly reasonable.

Eddie: you paid for the room!

Steve: yeah and you drove us here

Eddie: Jesus H Christ Steve just take the damn bed!

Steve: I will not.

Eddie: well I'm not taking it.

Steve: then I guess we'll both just have to sleep on the pull out then!

Eddie: fine.

Steve: fine!

---------------

Dustin comes in from the adjoining room in the middle of the night because Max kicked him out of their bed so she could share with El and Lucas after Mike got up and quietly offered El to trade his spot next to Max for her spot next to Will.

Dustin came in expecting to ask if he could bunk with Steve cause he was not about to get in next to Mike and Will and Erica scares him a little.

What he finds is two grown men crowded onto a pull-out couch tangled together with Steve's face buried in Eddie's hair.

Dustin checks the queen-sized bed in the next room and finds nothing wrong with it. A part of him wants to wake them up and ask 'what the fuck?', but they look content to lie there so Dustin decides he'll ask in the morning and goes to sleep with the queen-sized bed all to himself.

He's woken the next morning by a string of curses aimed at him by Eddie followed by a shouted 'He's in here!' And a relieved, if disheveled, Steve who goes on to reprimand him for not waking them when he moved rooms. Apparently he and Eddie were woken by a gaggle of teenagers sheepishly asking if they knew where he was because they didn't.

And because Dustin is no snitch he lies and says he had a nightmare and wanted to be close to his pseudo-dads. Steve buys it and gives him a hug, Eddie seems to maintain a note of skepticism but says nothing.

A shared look had over Steve's shoulder tells him that asking questions right now would mean mutually assured destruction.

--------------

No one talks about it but Steve and Eddie continue to sleep on the pull-out and Dustin continues to stay in their room.

On the 3rd night, Dustin actually does have a nightmare and wakes Steve by accident when he elbows him in the ribs while he's climbing into bed between him and Eddie.

He whispers 'sorry' and tries to settle in without further incident. A very tired Steve just reaches over him and wacks Eddie awake.

Steve: Comfort your son, he's distressed.

Eddie *rubbing his eyes*: I keep a knife within reaching distance.

Steve: I said comfort him!

Eddie: that is comforting!

#Dustin: didn't you used to keep a bat by your bed?#i spent more time trying to fit the kids into one room then i did writing this.#it started with #the Sinclairs in one bed #El and Will in another #and Max Dustinf and Mike #cramped in another #then shenanigans #dustin's dads #steddie #eddie munson x steve harrington #steve harrington x eddie munson #eddie and steve #steve x eddie

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strangerwheelerthings · 4 months

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I know Hogwarts Houses are not the thing to do anymore, but I came across someone who called Nancy Wheeler a Slytherin, and my brain wouldn't rest until I figured out what she would actually be.

It's not that Slytherin wouldn't be a logical choice in some ways. Nancy certainly has a strong desire to prove herself and plenty of ambition. However, those things are not what drive her, what motivate her.

Nancy would think that she's a Ravenclaw. She highly values truth and knowledge, but it's a means to an end for her. It's not the end goal itself. Knowledge is important to her because of what it gives her, the power and ability to act, and to make a difference.

She is highly like Hermione in this way, but therein lies my reasoning for ultimately choosing Gryffindor. Nancy, for all her intelligence, can be the most reckless, dunderheaded ball of loyalty and courage in the world. She can be a straight-up battering ram when rules she usually respects get in her way. Her motivation ultimately ends up being centered on justice and protectiveness.

Her ambition comes from a desire to be someone who can make a difference in the world; who can be seen for who she actually is, but also just because she cares. She wants to help people, and she'll use any means she can think of to do so (legal or not, lol)

#hufflpuff also focus on loyalty #but Nancy’s brand of loyalty is more emotionally distant and more action based #than their type #she cares but she certainly isn't the cuddly let people in type #i actually think very few of the hawkins kids are Gryffindor aside from Nancy #so this isn't a they're all brave and therefore Gryffindor thing #dustin is 100% Ravenclaw #steve mike and will are hufflepuff #robin would be Ravenclaw #el... hmm maybe Slytherin #as weird as that sounds she's highly self centric focused just because of the way she was raised #she's not recklessly courageous or particularly friendship based #she cares about HER people and honestly thats about it #the boys are the ones who keep pushing her into the “Hero” role when she just wants to live her life #erica is 100% slytherin #lucas and max however a tricky #I could see them both as Gryffindors #lucas is the protector kind of loyal where as mike is the friendship glue kind of loyal #and max's upbringing taught her to value strength and the image of courage as a shield #she is loyal to any who prove their trustworthiness to her and will fight any monster that stands in her way #she's not out for truth and knowledge or ambition or power #just love #Jonathan is Ravenclaw #some people may be surprised by that choice when he is exceedingly loyal and brave #but look at what he's interested in when he takes photographs and think about how he limits his loyalty to his family and the few they love #he loves watching the world and dissecting it because he likes to understand things #not just to gain anything from it #nancy wheeler #stranger things #i do understand that my opinions on the characters are not the end all be all so if you have other thoughts and takes please share them

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artiststarme · 1 year

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The Kids Grovel for Steve's Forgiveness

Part 3 of the "The Party Forgets Steve's Birthday" fic! I hope you guys like it and please leave your thoughts in the comments!

~*~*~*~

There was something off with Steve and Eddie lately but Dustin couldn’t quite place his finger on what it was. They’d both been distant for the past few weeks for unknown reasons. Steve hadn’t been answering any of the Party’s phone calls and he’d refused to drive any of them anywhere. The times he did interact with them, Eddie would swoop in and take him elsewhere. He was acting as a blockade of sorts, preventing any member of the Party besides himself from getting close to Steve. The last time any of the kids had spoken to him uninterrupted was weeks ago when Steve refused to let them rent a rated R movie and if anything, the kids should be mad at him, not the other way around.

Perhaps most concerning about the whole situation was how Eddie was postponing sessions for the campaign. He’d canceled Hellfire club two weeks in a row, an action he once called “blasphemous and unjust”. Everyone was really worried about his change of heart and Dustin was determined to get to the bottom of it.

Everything came to a head at Friday’s session, the first one in weeks that Eddie hadn’t tried to postpone. He was unnecessarily brutal at this session and was doing his darndest to kill everyone like some sort of fantasy nerd serial killer. The session was supposed to continue from where they were recuperating at an inn in a small village and all of the boys were looking forward to some light humor in these confusing times. What no one was expecting was for the evil gorgons and their tamed serpents to attack the town in an effort to kill their group in an act of revenge.

They were supposed to be having a fun time playing a campaign for DnD but Eddie seemed more malicious, more hostile than usual. Only two hours in and half the Party was dead, the rest low on hit points, right on the verge of death.

“Okay, what the hell?” Dustin shouted as Gary the Great turned to stone after being caught in a fire and cornered by a gorgon.

“What?” Eddie asked him, his expression a careful mask of neutrality.

“What’s your problem? We ended the last session safe at an inn, what the hell is this?” The other guys nodded their agreement with his outburst. No one was expecting to get their favorite characters murdered so ruthlessly, at least not so soon in the session.

“The inn burned down and the town is under attack by merciless gorgons. That’s not my fault,” Eddie told them all.

“Yes it is, you literally wrote this! This session was supposed to last ten hours. We’re two hours in and most of us are dead! Why are you doing this?” Dustin’s voice was embarrassingly shrill but it got his point across just fine.

“It’s not my fault your strategy sucks, Henderson! Maybe you should try a little harder to stay alive!” Eddie yelled back.

Will piped up then, “we should ask Steve for help, he’s good at strategy!”

“You will not! Do not bother Steve,” Eddie pointed at him.

“Why are you being so neurotic today? And why are you gatekeeping Steve? We want answers!” Dustin yelled again. The other kids voiced their agreement as well.

They heard a crash in the Munson kitchen and everyone jerked to look at Lucas standing in the doorway. He held up a small Polaroid picture dated from a few weeks ago with a small ‘Happy Birthday, Stevie-poo! I love you’ written in the corner. “What is this?”

Mike scoffed, “who cares about Steve right now? I want to know why Eddie’s been so weird lately.”

His comment must’ve thrown Eddie over the edge because he jumped up from his seat and started screaming at them. “You fuckers forgot his birthday! Steve’s been your friend for at least three years and you’ve never even done as much as tell him happy birthday! So now he’s hurt because he doesn't think you guys care and I think you’re all jackasses that shouldn’t get to be around him anyways! Nice going assholes, you pissed us both off.”

Jeff, Grant, and Gareth looked around the room before standing up from their spots on the couch. Jeff awkwardly clapped his hands and started moving towards the door. “Well guys, there seems to be some friction today so we’re just going to head out for now. We should probably just pick this up next week, that way we have plenty of time to make new characters.”

Eddie nodded at him before sneering at the rest of the Party. “That’s a good idea, Jeff. The rest of you can get the hell out.”

Then he dramatically whirled around and stormed into his room, slamming his bedroom door behind him. Jeff, Grant, and Gareth shook their heads at the kids before leaving, which left Dustin, Lucas, Mike, and Will to consider the gravity of what they’d done. None of them had ever even thought about Steve’s birthday, it had never come up in conversation and they’d never noticed a lack of celebration. Dustin felt particularly guilty as he picked up the DnD table in the Munson living room. Steve was practically his brother, he of all people should’ve known his birthday.

Nearly twenty minutes later, they heard the bedroom door down the hallway open and paused in their ministrations. Eddie was either coming out to apologize to them or to yell at them some more and while they were all nervous, they were prepared for either option. They deserved it. But to their utter shock, it wasn’t Eddie that came out. No, instead it was a sleep-rumpled Steve, shirtless, with glasses on and his usually immaculate hair in disarray.

He squinted his eyes at them in confusion before making a double take. “What the- what are you guys still doing here?”

“Steve! What are you doing in Eddie’s room and why are you shirtless?” Lucas asked him.

“Uh, I was taking a nap.”

“In Eddie’s bed? Why wouldn’t you just sleep at your own house?” Mike sneered at him.

“What’s with the interrogation?! Stop asking questions you don’t want the answers to and let me live!” Steve yelled at them.

So Steve was still mad. But now, Dustin understood why. “Steve, we’re so sorry! We didn’t know it was your birthday so we know why you’re mad and we don’t blame you. But-”

“Dustin, I’m not mad, I’m disappointed,” he said. Oh shit, that was worse! “But it’s fine. I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up, that’s on me.”

“Steve, we should’ve done something and we’re sorry. You’re one of our best friends and we’ll do better,” Lucas told him. He patted his bare shoulder to emphasize his point.

Mike nodded at his words but said nothing in further agreement. Dustin felt awful. After everything Steve had done for them, they’d forgotten his birthday. And then he had the nerve to say it was his fault?! What was wrong with this guy?

“Steve, you didn’t deserve that. We’ll make it up to you somehow. We’ll wash your car and bring you lunch when you work, and we’ll never forget another one of your birthdays, we promise.” He promised him earnestly.

Steve pulled him into a hug and messed up his hair despite his squawk of outrage. “I forgive you guys. Really, it’s not a big deal. I haven’t celebrated my birthday in years so it’s fine.”

“You will not forgive them!” Eddie stormed down the hallway to pull Dustin out of Steve’s embrace. He wrapped his own arms around his… Steve, and pointed an accusing finger at them. “He’s not just going to drop his hurt feelings to make you assholes feel better. You bitches better grovel if you want Steve and I to forgive you. Now scram, why are you still here?”

~*~*~*~

For the next two weeks, the kids made it their mission to prove to Steve how much he meant to them. Eddie told them to grovel and grovel they did.

Dustin brought him a homemade lunch from his mom to Family Video every shift he worked. He cleaned his car (technically he just bribed Nancy to drive it through the car wash but still, the thought was there). And he taught him how to play DnD so he could join the next campaign with his own character.

Lucas went over to the Harrington house to clean the pool every week and mowed the lawn while he was over there. Steve looked shocked when he came home to that but Lucas was reasonably sure he was happy. He also played basketball with him at the park and listened to all of Steve’s mostly helpful tips.

Mike just eased up on the glaring and brought him a Slurpee once. He also made sure to take his anger out on Nancy instead of Steve as he usually did.

When they told Robin shortly after their odd interaction at Eddie’s, she was horrified. She immediately ditched Vickie to devote all of her time and best friend-ness to Steve as she should’ve done in the first place. She bought him dinner, stole movies to watch at movie nights with him, and bit her tongue when she saw Eddie kiss him in front of her. She would be the best friend she should’ve been initially and wait for Steve to come to her (which he did a few hours later).

Needless to say, Steve was freaked out for a good month. People were being too nice to him and it was like he slipped into a parallel universe. Everything looked the same and the rest of the town seemed the same but his friends couldn’t be more different. After multiple panic attacks and burnouts, Eddie told the Party to ease up or deal with the consequences.

What finally got things back to normal was Hopper organizing and hosting a belated birthday celebration at the Hopper-Byers’ house. All of his friends came together to celebrate him turning 20. Eddie obtained another cake from the bakery and decorated it himself, as per usual. This time, he had more room and was able to write a grotesque “BIRTH STEVE, Another year gone”. The adults of the Party were of course horrified at the dripping red frosting of the lettering and the spattering of rainbow sprinkles but Steve had never felt so touched.

The Party sang him happy birthday in a myriad of too-flat notes and screeches but it was special nonetheless. Especially when Hopper threw an arm around Steve’s shoulder to tell him that it would happen every year. And from that point forward, it did.

The End

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#Eddie stays mad for months and whenever one of the kids tries to backtalk he brings this up #“oh yeah what are you going to do? Forget my birthday? Yeah you're doing that again huh?”#every year the birthday cake gets creepier #stranger things #steddie #steddie ish #fanfic #steve harrington #eddie munson #chief hopper #robin buckley #dustin henderson #lucas sinclair #mike wheeler #nancy wheeler

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