#Strangers to lovers sort of
Text
Enchanted
Pairing: Taehyung x Reader
Au: Strangers to lovers (sort of)
Genre: Fluff.
Word count: 4.6K
Summary: Let's just say it's based on enchanted by ts.
A/N: this was requested a long time ago but then it stayed in my drafts and never saw light of the day. Until now, ofc.
As an event manager, you've had to plan for a variety of occasions. From birthday parties for kids to promotional events for companies, all sorts of events. But never have you arranged for something this big.
It isn't a special occasion, but rather a party for and of the wealthy people.
You weren't expecting to get such a huge project any time soon, considering it's only recently that you've joined this line of business. Thus, when your assistant informed you about this particular client, you started laughing and even complimented him saying "good one." Your laughter, however, died when your assistant opened the mail and you simply gaped at it like a fool.
You were to arrange a party in one of the most prestigious halls in the city. Not only that, the money that you were offered had your head spinning in disbelief.
Needless to say, you'd have been a fool to not take up the project.
And so you did, you took the project, worked your ass off for it and now you find yourself in front of the hall, the party has been arranged in.
You knew you were going to be here, but you thought you'd be here as the event organiser and that you'd be behind the scenes, just in case any problem arises. You weren't expecting your client to put your name on the guest list and then formally invite you as a guest.
When you received the card in your mail, your first reaction was that of disbelief. You knew that there will be many-list celebrities here, and for you to spend a night amongst them, is something that made you feel jittery yet excited.
Your second reaction was that of panic. What are you going to wear? Do you even have proper clothes for the party? Even if you do, do you have matching heels with that?
After much searching in your closet, you settled for the red gown that now adorns your body with silver heels and matching earrings. It took you a fair amount of overthinking but you finally were able to make a decision and stick with it.
Right now, you just hope you are looking good enough to be a part of the crowd inside.
You take a deep breath and head towards the entrance. The guards open the gigantic doors for you with a smile, which you return albeit nervously.
However, once you're past the entrance the sight that greets you has your heart beating a little faster.
The halls look stunning. Royal, even. There's just something so classy and elegant about everything around you, that it's quite simply indescribable through words.
Yesterday, you had come here to survey everything for one last time but now that it's filled with people it somehow looks even more beautiful. Although you're the one who is behind all the arrangements, you somehow can't believe that it turned out this great.
Your eyes then drift from the decorations to the people around you. You watch from a distance as people chat with each other, suddenly feeling too nervous to walk any further when you spot some familiar faces you've seen on the television.
To dissolve the bubble of insecurity that is floating in your stomach, you eye the drink counter. When your eyes move back to the crowd, you know there's no way you'll be able to enjoy yourself without some liquid courage.
Hence, without further ado, you walk straight towards the bar.
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Three-four shots and half an hour later, you find yourself sitting around a table with a businessman, his wife, a well-renowned music producer and a news show host. Weird mix but somehow the conversation keeps flowing effortlessly.
They make sure to include you as well. Asking you questions about yourself and your job. Despite that, you feel like the odd one out. You can't relate to more than half of the things that's been spoken.
You simply feel out of place.
Putting up smiles, you try not to show your discomfort.
Adjusting to new people and making conversations with them, is a must for running a business. That way you have a better chance of landing yourself a deal. You have been trying to do the same here but somehow the introvert in you has decided to make an appearance today, making it a tad bit more difficult than it usually is.
"Miss Y/L/N," A voice startles you. "Can I please talk to you for a minute?"
"Mr. Henry," you greet your client and politely excuse yourself before leaving your seat to talk to him. "Is something wrong?"
"No, not at all. Everything is perfectly fine." He quickly reassures you with a smile. "I just wanted to inform you that a friend of mine asked for your contact information. They have an upcoming event and want you to organise it. I hope it's okay with you that I have given him your card."
"That's absolutely fine." You respond with a controlled smile, in an attempt to hide the fact that you feel like a giggly child. "I hope you liked the decorations and all the other arrangements."
"I absolutely love it. I know who to go to from now on for every event."
His words make you grin wider.
Mr. Henry is a man in his mid-sixties and from all the times that you have conversed with him, he has been extremely patient and kind, compared to a majority of your clients. He's rich and a well-known person in the business world but somehow he has managed to stay grounded and humble. Which admittedly, is very rare to find.
You both chat for a little while until he excuses himself to welcome a guest.
Now left alone, in the middle of the hall you take a subtle glance at the table you were sitting at, a few minutes ago. Now that Mr. Henry has possibly landed you with another project, you find yourself not wanting to go back to the table anytime soon. Not that the crowd you were chatting with were anything like the obnoxious rich people you'd expect to meet at these kinds of events but still you just don't feel like it. It's not your crowd, as some might say.
Deciding to get yourself another drink, you head towards the bar and on your way, bump into someone.
"I'm so sorry." You exclaim, your eyes automatically checking their suit just in case they were carrying some drink and you made them spill it on them. Isn't that what nightmares are made of? Spilling a drink on some random rich dude and spoiling their suit?
"It's okay." A deep husky voice speaks, causing your wandering eyes to freeze.
His voice is kind of attractive.
When your eyes move up to look at the man, your breath hitches. He is simply the most gorgeous man you've ever seen. Not finding it in yourself to form a coherent sentence you simply nod.
Gosh, what's wrong with you, have you not seen handsome men before?
Trying but failing to say something suitable, anything to perhaps be in his presence for a little longer, you decide the smart choice is to just leave. Because anything is better than looking like a fool who doesn't know how to speak.
Awkwardly shaking your head, you clear your throat and flee from the spot.
As soon as you have reached the bar, you order a drink and sigh. That was embarrassing.
But that doesn't mean your eyes don't try to sneakily catch a glimpse of the man. When you have calmed your racing heart, your eyes scan for him. Your gaze moves across the hall and a part of you wants to make sure that you really did see someone that gorgeous.
When you do spot him, he's conversing with a couple in their mid-forties. He smiles big as he chats with them and although you don't have the full view of his face, you can tell his smile is just as beautiful as he is.
Your eyes then slowly move and take notice of the suit he's wearing. It's probably silly but when you were looking for any possible stains that you might have caused, your mind was too focused on stains to notice his suit. But now that you do, you realise even his suit stands out. It's forest green in colour with floral prints. Not to be that person, but not everyone can look that stunning in a floral suit. But he undoubtedly looks spectacular in it.
You watch as he starts explaining something. From his ministrations, you assume he's probably talking about the event. At some point, his eyes, along with the couple's, start looking for something in particular and it's then that his eyes suddenly meet yours causing yours to widen in horror before you look away.
So subtle of you.
Fuck, had you not embarrassed yourself enough? Why did you have to stare at him like a weirdo? You bet he thinks of you as a creepy human being with the way you were watching him, as if you were in a trance. As if this is the first time you are seeing someone as gorgeous as him.
Cursing yourself, you order another drink in hopes of swallowing down the embarrassment and forgetting this whole ordeal.
All your hopes, however, go down the drain when moments later you hear the same deep, husky voice right next to you.
"I'll have what she is having."
Fuck. You didn't think he would just walk up to you. You try and look anywhere but in his direction.
"What's the name of the drink, by the way?" He queries and it takes you a few seconds to realise that he is asking you and not the bartender.
Unable to avoid him anymore, you acknowledge his presence. "Screwdriver."
The smallest of frowns appears on his face. "The drink is called screwdriver?" Seeing you nod, his interest piques. "I haven't heard of it before."
"It's very common." You swirl your straw, pretending to be interested in the way the liquid moves in a whirling motion, in an attempt to pretend that you aren't affected by his gaze.
"I'm not very fond of alcohol," he shrugs, finally removing his gaze from you to receive the drink. You watch from your peripheral as he takes a sip and you find yourself anticipating what his reaction might be. For some reason, you want him to like it.
He hums after gulping down the liquid. "It's sweet."
"Good sweet or bad sweet?" You query, somehow grabbing the courage to look at him.
"Considering that I like sweet drinks, I'd say good sweet."
His words surprise you. For whatever reason, you assumed he would be the kind to like strong drinks, the kind that causes you to scrunch your nose with each sip. Nevertheless, a part of you feels delighted to know that he likes your choice.
"Sweet drinks are underrated," you comment. Although you can still taste the embarrassment on your tongue, you feel slightly at ease around him than you were moments ago. If he's willing to chat with you, why shouldn't you just go with it?
"They are," his eyes brighten up hearing your words, feeling excited that someone shares the same unpopular opinion as him.
You chuckle at the absurd topic of conversation but nod.
He clears his throat and takes another sip. "So, what brings you here?"
"I am actually the event planner."
His eyes flash with understanding. "The event has been organised pretty well, I must say."
"Do you like it?"
He hums. "Yes, it has got an aesthetic vibe, plus the decorations have a classy yet cool touch to it."
Amused at his response, you smile. "I wasn't expecting to hear those two words in the same sentence."
"Cool and classy?" He raises a brow and looks at you for clarification.
When you nod in reply to his question, he hums.
"I think, everything that's classy should have a bit of coolness to it and everything cool should have a bit of classiness to it," he explains why he chose those two particular words to compliment your work. "That adds to the balance, you know? And you did an excellent job at it."
You shoot him a smile that shows that you're thankful for his kind words but at the same time entertained by his line of thinking. "Never wondered about the balance between cool and classy, but thank you!"
He rests his glass on the table and looks at you as if he knows you're not getting the point he's trying to make.
"I'll give you another example," he begins with a concentrated frown. "If the royals from ancient times had a bit of coolness to them, they probably wouldn't have a stick up their asses."
You snort in a very unladylike manner, causing the liquid to enter the wrong pipe and you break into a fit of coughs.
"Are you okay?" He queries, a concerned and regretful look appearing on his face.
You wave his concern off with a motion of your hand and try to slow down your breathing to get rid of the coughs. After a minute or so when you finally get rid of the irritation in your windpipe, you chuckle. This time, thankfully without the liquid in your mouth. "Why would you put it that way?"
Seeing that you are fine, his features relax before the question registers in his mind causing a smirk to appear on his face. "As someone who comes from a royal family, I always have this urge to make fun of them."
That catches you off guard. The majority of people in attendance are indeed important in one way or another but you could have never guessed that the man you're talking to comes from a royal family. "You belong to a royal family?"
He nods, his smirk morphing into a smile. A sweet one, if you may add. And it might just be sweeter than the drink you hold in your hand.
"That explains a lot," you mumble to yourself.
"Huh?" He queries, unable to catch your words.
You shake your head realising you spoke the words out loud. You do not need to embarrass yourself any further, Y/N. "Nothing. So is that what brings you here?"
His smug smirk disappears and he looks at you with surprised eyes as if to make sure that you are not joking. Noticing that you are not and that you are being hundred per cent serious, he smiles cheekily. "Well, let that be a secret."
"Hey!" You say in a tone that clearly shows displeasure. "This is not fair, I told you who I am and what I do for a living and all that shit."
He chuckles, amused by how you actually look like someone has offended you. "Well, it's not like we had a deal."
You scoff. "Is this how the royals are?"
He laughs with his head thrown back and you relish at the sight. He's so fucking pretty. "Maybe it's just nothing worth mentioning and that's why I am avoiding telling you what I do for a living. Otherwise, this whole charming facade of mine would completely get ruined."
Squinting your eyes, you suppress a smile. "Who said you are charming?"
"Hmm," he hums and pauses for a few minutes as if thinking. "I don't know, maybe those red-tinted cheeks of yours?"
Well, shit.
The smile you were trying to hold back disappears at the speed of light and your cheeks get a shade darker. You would have felt even more flustered had it not been for the soft chuckle he lets out.
You try to come up with something witty, anything that makes up for how shy you are feeling. But the sudden change in music catches your attention and the only thing you end up saying is oh they changed the song, pretending to be fascinated by it.
But if you thought that your faux pretence of being really into the music that's currently being played would allow you to have some time for your brain to return to its normal state, you were wrong.
"Would you like to dance with me?" The deep, husky voice speaks, causing a shiver to run down your spine and causing your brain to turn into mush, yet once again.
You look at his outstretched palm and think. Here stands a man, so gorgeous that you think you may be dreaming. What's more? He's here talking to you and asking if you'd like to dance with him as if it wouldn't be a moment straight out of a fairytale for you.
At the back of your mind, there is a nervous voice that seems to be worried about you making a fool out of yourself. But then, what's the point of not living in the moment? You know if you don't enjoy and let yourself be, you'll regret it.
"I'd love to but then I don't dance with strangers," you respond with a little sassy curl to your lips. If he wants to dance with you, he has to tell you his name. Because, boy oh boy, do you want to know it so badly. Want to put a name to the face that won't be leaving your mind anytime soon.
He seems impressed with your words and hums, "Fair enough."
He takes a step towards you causing you to panic. Fuck you weren't prepared for this. You weren't prepared for this at all. Too bad for you he doesn't stop there, he bends down and comes close enough such that you feel his warm breath hit your ear. "I go by Kim Taehyung."
Fuck, there goes your heart doing somersaults as if it's the Olympics.
Gulping, you blink at him as he retracts a step. The smirk on his face makes you double-check. This motherfucker knows what he's doing.
You clear your throat before you try to put up a facade of not being affected at all. You know there is no point in it but then, if you were to let your body express how you're feeling on the inside, you're pretty sure you'd collapse on the ground. Right now, butterfly legs have more strength than yours.
"I guess I wouldn't mind dancing with you, Mr. Kim Taehyung," you put your hand forward for him to take.
And so he does and with a wide charming smile, guides you towards the dance floor.
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Dancing with Taehyung is nice.
With his hands resting on your waist and yours resting on his shoulders, the two of you sway gently along with the music. It's relaxing, calm and enjoyable.
And you don't even realise it consciously but you feel more at ease with him.
"Here's a question for you," he speaks for the first time since the two of you have stepped on the dance floor. "Back then, were you perhaps looking for some sort of stain on my suit?"
You immediately know what he's talking about and your cheeks heat up. "Um, yes. That was my instinct."
A smirk appears on his face as if his assumptions have been just proved right. "Do you happen to bump into people and spill drinks on them a lot?"
"No, that's just what happens in movies and stuff and that's the first thing that came to my mind," you retort, defending your line of thinking. Isn't it just natural to look for possible damage you may have caused to the other person's clothing if you happen to collide with them in an event where almost everyone has a drink in their hand?
"Do you watch movies a lot?"
You may be wrong but you detect an undertone of confusion in his voice and it makes you feel confused.
"Yes, I do," you affirm.
He pushes away whatever confusion he may be having and smiles cheekily. "Then you must know that such bumpings always take place with the hero, who's dashingly handsome and cute."
Well, he definitely can be a hero of a cliche rom-com. It would suit him."Or someone who's middle-aged and rich and creepy and thinks they own the world."
Taehyung chuckles at your words, enjoying how you seem to have gotten comfortable enough to challenge him. "Well I'm not sixty, not creepy and I definitely do not think that I own the world."
"So you don't deny being rich?"
"I shouldn't be lying, now. Should I?"
"Huh, would you look at that, I'm suddenly very interested in you."
A boxy grin appears on his face and he pulls you closer by the waist. "I'm glad to know that."
A part of you feels like looking away from his eyes but the other, much more dominant part of you, just wants to keep looking into them. So you do. You stare into his eyes and find yourself mesmerised by the intensity they seem to hold. His orbs are simply the prettiest shade of brown and you feel like you may just get lost in them.
The music changing into something more upbeat, thankfully breaks you out of the staring contest you had started out of nowhere.
Both of you start moving a little faster to keep up with the music and erupt into a fit of chuckles every time one of you steps on the other's feet by mistake.
You two dance for three more songs until a man who looks about the same age as Taehyung, approaches him and whispers something into his ears. Taehyung's expression changes into something remorseful.
"I'm sorry but I'll have to leave," he informs you with a small frown.
His words make you mirror his expression and you feel disheartened at the thought of him leaving. But it's not like you can ask him to not leave.
"Sure," you speak with a smile that you hope looks genuine. You don't want him to know that somewhere you feel sad that the time you two had has come to an end.
He squeezes your waist lightly before letting go and with one final parting smile, he's gone.
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You are glad that the event has finally come to an end.
You have been feeling incredibly bored and nothing has been appealing to you. You have been wanting to go home and finally, you can do that.
It's odd but you're sure that your sudden lack of interest has something to do with a certain man named Kim Taehyung. The way he caught your attention and left you mesmerised has made everything else seem dull in comparison.
There is a tiny part of you that feels disappointed thinking that this might be the first and the last time you met him. It's not like you have any contact information of his, all you know about the man is his name. It's also not like you provided him your contact details and neither did you express that you'd like to know him beyond this evening.
Heck, he was so enchanting that all you were focused on was him. There was hardly any rational thinking, only nervous butterflies and shy smiles.
But now you wish you had just asked him for his number, his insta handle, his Snapchat, just anything. Anything is better than wanting to rewind time so that you can relive the moments with him.
You're so lost in your thoughts that you don't notice the man who's heading in your direction. It's only when they collide with you that you realise how mindlessly you were walking.
The collision takes you by surprise, making you yelp and you drop the purse you were holding. Somehow the clutch of the purse is loosened on coming in contact with the ground and all the belongings you were carrying get scattered.
"I'm sorry," the man in question apologises and bends down to collect your stuff.
"It's alright," you say, before doing the same.
It hardly takes a minute for the both of you to put your things back together. When it's done, the man apologises once again before leaving.
You sigh, not thinking much of the interaction and exit the hallways and ultimately get in your car.
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By the time you reach home, you're exhausted.
How you manage to take a shower and freshen up, is beyond your understanding but somehow you do.
You sit on your bed and go through your phone to respond to some texts. Once done, you open your purse to get the charger with the intention of plugging your phone to it and going to sleep.
However, while your hands look for the charger, it comes in contact with something that makes you frown. Confused, you take the object out only to realise that it's a card.
Your confusion increases even more when you read the details of the card. It's of some manager of some agency.
Huh? What is it doing in your bag and whose is it?
You flip the card and on the backside, there's another number but this one is handwritten. Below the number are the initials 'KTH' and next to it is a small hand-drawn smiley face.
You try to think who 'KTH' could stand for but nothing clicks in your brain. Not having a clue as to whose number this is and what this card is for, you decide to Google the agency name.
As soon as you get the results of your search, you are shocked to your very core. The very first picture that pops up is that of Taehyung.
And then it clicks.
Taehyung. Kim Taehyung. KTH.
This is Taehyung's number.
As soon as the realisation clicks, you type his name on the search bar. After all, if his picture is the first one that Google shows you when you search for a particular agency, it must mean he's someone famous.
And your assumptions are proved right when you read the results. Apparently, he's a very famous actor who has been part of many films and is a favourite amongst the fans. No matter what article you click on or what review you read, everyone only has to say good things about him.
With the new information about him, a few things start making sense to you. Why he was surprised when you said you had no idea who he was or why he looked confused when you said that you do watch a lot of films.
Once your little search is over you close the search window and with big surprised eyes think to make sense of the situation.
You met one of the most gorgeous men on earth. You spent time with him. There mayhaps was some flirting involved. You danced with him. And this man turns out to be a world-famous actor who has a huge fan following.
What. The. Fuck.
Not only that, you currently hold the said world-famous actor's number in between your fingers.
When this particular thought occurs to you, a question comes to your mind. How did this card reach your purse?
You skim your brain for the events of the night and the only possible explanation that comes to you is the man you collided with just before leaving the hallways. It must be him.
With that question being answered, the only thing that's left for you to do is to text him. You don't even sit and wonder about what to text and whether you texting him at this time would come off as you being extra eager. You just text him.
You: hello?
Kim Taehyung: is this y/n?
You: yes
Kim Taehyung: geez finally
Kim Taehyung: i thought you wouldn't text
His words make you grin wide and suddenly all your exhaustion is gone. Your fingers get to work as you type out a witty response. His response comes instantly.
It's fair to say, you spend another hour chatting with him and go to bed with a sweet good-night text from him.
Good night, it is.
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#Taehyung x reader#Taehyung drabble#Taehyung fluff#Taehyung au#Taehyung first meet au#Strangers to lovers sort of#Flirting#Lol#Actor Taehyung
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PSEUDO DADS WAYNE AND HOPPER/BEAT TO SHIT STEVE HARRINGTON A03 LINK
S3 AU wherein Hopper calls in a favor and Wayne ends up hiding a beaten and battered Steve Harrington in his house.
Eddie's not happy about it.
SEPERATE POST FOR ANYONE WHO JUST WANTS THE A03 LINK
First chapter has all three parts together.
#steddie#pre steddie#Wayne as a BAMF#wayne and hopper are psuedo parents to Steve#s3 Starcourt AU#the blue collar workers of the town know some shits up#beat to shit steve harrington#protective wayne munson#protective jim hopper#eventual#protective Eddie Munson#and of course Steve who cant figure out why these people care so much#hurt/comfort#sort of#enemies to lovers#stranger things#0o0 fanfics#stranger things fanfic
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sort of a fantasy/ angst scenario i’ve been thinking about… (I love your writing so much - maybe this is something?)
When Steve goes through a misunderstanding and breakup that has him socially exiled, everyone is mad, and feels justified when he disappears - they assume the worst of him and that he just up and left without telling anyone.
Years later - on the tail end of a series of unexplained natural disasters around the world stopping miraculously, he shows up - surrounded by a small group of people with a similar haunted look in their eyes and littered with more scars, maybe a hand that too metallic to be real.
Aka Steve is visited by a group of strangers, claiming he’s some sort of prodigal son of a Prophecy - disappears to end the apocalypse and shows up, years and a full hero's journey later, changed - and the others have the grapple with the fact that they’ve been wrong the entire time.
Or bonus - he never ends up showing up at all - a stranger shows up at their door during a party family gathering, battleworn, letter in hand about a burial taking place at the edge of town at dusk.
This was an INSANELY GOOD request. Like this could easily be a 100k fic, so I hope you're okay with me having very little backstory. I want someone to run with this ASAP. I didn't do the bonus part, but I stuck with a lot of the first part of it. Again, this was so hard to keep short, so I do hope someone makes this AU really deep and really solid. I don't know if you took ideas from a bunch of different fantasy novels or what but man this is gooooood shit. I hope I was able to do at least some of this justice! - Mickala ❤️
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Steve Harrington did not give up. He didn’t. He couldn’t.
Which is why he was leading his battleworn group back home.
It’s been years since he stepped foot in Hawkins, years of war, disaster, and pain. But walking through the gates of Hawkins was the scariest and bravest thing he’d done in five years.
Dustin limped along next to him, his leg hurt, but not broken. Max was on his other side, left eye blind and left arm broken, but in good spirits overall.
Lucas and Erica fell behind him, both physically fine, but mourning the loss of their parents in the latest earthquake.
Steve had given them an extra day before making the journey back, made sure they had a way to lay their parents to rest despite the chaos surrounding them.
Robin had gone ahead of them to announce his entrance, wanted to make sure that the town was prepared.
When Steve left five years ago, the only people who knew were the people currently with him. They followed him, without question, the moment he said he had to go. They were children when they left, could barely offer anything but their support at first, but over the years grew into the type of soldiers anyone would be lucky to have on their side.
He broke Nancy's heart, he broke his promise to his parents to stay in Hawkins until he turned 21, and the world broke around him.
He made a choice that day, a difficult one, but one he hoped gained him the respect of the people he left behind.
“How are you feeling, Steve?” Dustin asked quietly as they approached the outskirts of town.
“Could be better.”
“Could be worse,” Max added.
That was their answer to everything.
“Steve, wait!”
Robin was running towards them, nearly tripping and falling on her face every few steps. She had incredible aim when it came to shooting and throwing, but ask her to take more than five consecutive steps without tripping or otherwise hurting herself and you would be shit out of luck.
“What is it?”
“You have to wait. It’s bad. It’s real bad.”
She was out of breath, which was odd since she was in surprisingly good shape for someone who couldn’t run.
Steve looked past her, watching as a small group of people on horseback approached.
She turned to see them, then turned back around and let her head fall.
“Shit. Okay. So your parents are dead. Everyone who was ever in power before? Dead. Hopper? Dead.”
Hearing this should have been more upsetting, but Steve was used to losing people. He was used to losing nearly everyone. And to hear that his parents were gone was more a relief than anything else.
He could hear the people talking in the distance, could feel the ground shaking with the efforts of their horses.
There weren’t many, maybe only six or seven, but enough to keep Steve feeling a bit protective of his group.
They were tired. They’d been through enough.
He didn’t want to fight, but he would if he had to.
“Who are they?”
“Soldiers. Everyone that’s left are soldiers or farmers.”
“Steve Harrington! It’s been a while!”
He knew that voice. Not well, and obviously it’s been five years since he’s heard it, but he knew it.
Who was it?
“Interesting that you choose now to show your face again! We survived the worst of everything without you, I’m not sure why you expect us to welcome you with open arms.”
Eddie Munson.
Steve would know those long, curly locks anywhere.
Steve didn’t recognize anyone else with him, but that was probably for the best.
Eddie got up close to his group, but didn’t pull any weapons.
He didn’t want a fight either. Interesting.
Steve lost his hearing in his left ear nearly three years ago, at the same time he lost most of his left arm. He tried not to let it show as a weakness, especially to people who could be a threat, but he was having trouble hearing over the wind blowing.
“I’m sorry for coming somewhat unannounced. We ran out of supplies to write over a month ago, and money to send a messenger even further back.”
That wasn’t entirely true.
They had money. Not much, but enough to get by. Certainly enough for a messenger if needed. Steve just didn’t want them to know that, not if they were desperate for things like he suspected.
He wanted to help, not give away everything he had.
“If I let you in town, you’ll be dead by morning.”
“Why’s that?”
“Everyone blames you for everything. You left and we had a flash flood the next day that took out half our crops. A week later, half the town fell ill with an unknown plague that killed almost everyone who caught it. The earthquakes took what little we had left and that was before the looting from surrounding towns attacked us for months on end. You were nowhere to be found. Our “golden child” couldn’t bother to come help us. Forgive me for being hesitant to want you around now,” Eddie snarled.
Steve could see the way everyone behind him reacted to Eddie’s words, could feel the worry coming from his own group.
They didn’t deserve this.
“All I ask is you allow my soldiers here back to their families. I’ll be on my way by morning and won’t use any resources. Lucas and Erica lost their parents and will be staying with Dustin.”
Eddie looked them all over, frown on his face.
“Dustin? Henderson?”
“That’s me,” Dustin piped up, always braver than people expected him to be.
“Claudia’s son? She thought you died.”
Steve could hear the emotion in his voice, like he’d had to say that too often, like it was true too often.
“I almost did many times, but I’m here.”
“She’ll be pleased to see you,” Eddie said, though his voice sounded different, a bit more emotion behind the words. “And you?” He turned to Max.
“Only her mom is alive as far as we know,” Steve supplied the bare minimum.
They heard a lot of things, but didn’t know how old the news was by the time it reached them.
“Mayfield?” A man from behind Eddie asked. “I recognize the hair. Your mom’s been workin’ at the pub. Serves beer to the soldiers at the end of their shifts.”
“Sounds like her.”
Max wasn’t all that fond of her mom, never had been, but she still wanted to be reunited with her, even if only temporarily.
Steve had been telling the truth about only staying until everyone in his group had found their home. He knew even before coming that he didn’t want to go back to his own.
“Robin wishes to find work here, settle away from her own home. It’s not safe for her there. She’s a fantastic shot and knows many languages, could be useful as a soldier or a teacher,” Steve hadn’t let Robin know ahead of time that he didn’t plan on staying. She was under the impression before now that they would settle here together, maybe find wives and share a farm. “All I ask is that she gets a fresh start and is not associated with my name.”
“Why do you think you’re in any position to ask for favors?”
“I’m not. I realize that asking for any favors is asking too much. I’m just doing what I can to help the people who have helped me for years.”
Steve watched as Eddie considered, clearly taking into consideration the fact that everyone surrounding Steve had someone waiting for them in town, whether they knew it or not.
“You’ll all come with us. Including you, Steve. But you will stay with me for the night so that no harm comes to you. Many people in this town wish you dead.”
“Including you?”
“To be determined.”
Eddie turned on his horse, and the rest of his group followed.
Steve nudged everyone forward, hoping that by putting them first, he could avoid questions from them.
But that was easier said than done.
“You didn’t say you were only planning to stay one night!” Dustin whisper yelled.
“You were going to leave us?” Erica asked, arms crossed over her chest.
“What if something bad happened when you left?” Lucas added.
Robin was busy helping Max along the rocky path, but she kept sending glares at him over her shoulder.
“I knew I wouldn’t be welcome here. You all deserve to be here with your family and friends. I can find a new place.”
“What about us?”
He ignored the question.
They would be fine, and he would be…well, probably not fine, but alive.
They followed Eddie and his group in silence after that.
When they got closer to the main road, Eddie stopped and hopped off his horse.
“The guys will take the rest of you into town. Steve will need to sneak in. This is not up for discussion and if you don’t agree, you can leave.”
Steve gave everyone a look that said if they tried to argue, he would cut their arms off. He wouldn’t, but the look must have been convincing because no one said a thing.
“You all can come to my house tomorrow to say goodbye to Steve. The guys will tell you where it is. Do not come together and do not bring anything with you. Understood?”
Everyone nodded, giving Steve quick nods before they were led away.
“Hop up,” Eddie said from right in front of him.
When did he get that close?
“I’m sorry?”
“It’ll be less suspicious if you look like a guard. She’ll lead you to my home and I’ll walk a bit behind. If you run for it, we’ll find you.”
“I’m not dressed like a guard.”
“Everyone is off duty sometimes. But you’ll wear my cape to cover your clothes. You look like you lost a few fights.”
“I did.”
Eddie grimaced.
“I think we all have.”
Steve didn’t push, didn’t want to test how far Eddie’s patience and kindness would go.
He hopped up onto Eddie’s horse, settling into the saddle quickly.
Eddie didn’t give him much of a chance to get acquainted with the beautiful horse he was on before he touched her neck and she was off. Eddie laughed at Steve’s shocked face.
He hadn’t ridden a horse since he lived in Hawkins.
It was freeing.
He arrived at Eddie’s cottage much faster than he thought he would, surprised to see that Eddie lived along the outskirts of town, just past the first few rows of trees in the woods. It was solitary but still had easy access to the main road.
And it was cozy.
Steve could tell Eddie liked his quiet time to himself, just from the entrance to the cottage.
A small shelf held his weapons, though probably not all of them, and a table that looked hand carved held letters and drawings.
Steve made his way further inside, trying not to be nosy, but needing to know more about Eddie before he arrived.
The cottage was small, almost entirely all one large room. No couch, only a single rocking chair in the corner and a small stack of pillows next to a bookcase filled with books. The kitchen area was just enough to get by, only a small table and two chairs to sit at.
He walked into the only bedroom of the house, where the only bed was messily made, and clothing was strewn across the floor.
If he intended to keep Steve here all night, was he expecting him to sleep on the floor?
Steve had slept worse places, he supposed.
“Have you gotten all the information you need from snooping or shall I come back later?”
Steve jumped. He hadn’t been snooping, just looking, but Eddie snuck up on his left side and he hadn’t heard a single hint that he arrived.
When he turned, Eddie did look slightly apologetic, but didn’t say so.
“I managed to snag some fresh bread for us to have with the soup I made last night. It’s not very flavorful, but it’ll do,” Eddie said as he took off his boots and threw them into the corner of the bedroom.
“I won’t eat your food. I told you I wouldn’t use any resources,” Steve reminded him.
“You look like you’re one missed meal away from collapsing. You need food. I have food. You’ll eat.”
Eddie walked out of the bedroom and Steve had no choice but to follow.
They ate in silence. Steve didn’t even feel like he should be sitting at the same table as Eddie, but he didn’t have much choice when Eddie set a bowl of soup down and gestured for him to sit.
Steve didn’t know what to make of him.
—--------------------------------
Steve cleaned up, insisted on doing that much to show his appreciation. Eddie decided not to argue, told him he was going to change and wash his face in the bucket of water he had in the bedroom.
Steve waited for him to be done.
“Are you tired?” Eddie yelled from the room.
“A bit.”
That was an understatement.
Steve hadn’t slept more than a couple of hours at a time for five years. His body was constantly exhausted, and now that he was in an actual house, he could feel his body giving up.
Safety usually did that.
But he couldn’t really know for sure that he was safe, couldn’t know that this wasn’t a trap.
“I have something you can change into for bed. It’s not quite clean, but it’s not dirty either. Come change, I’ll get the fireplace going.”
He’d almost forgotten that the night would be much cooler, that without a fire, he would likely have caught a cold or spent the entire night shivering.
Another reason to be grateful for Eddie.
He didn’t want to be in this position though, owing someone. Especially not someone who could ruin his life or those he loved.
He seemed like a higher ranked soldier, like someone most people listened to and liked, and one order from him could end Steve’s life.
Steve was good at defending himself, but he was tired.
He changed, ignored the way Eddie was staring at him as he did so, not wanting to answer any questions about his arm or the scars littering his body.
He was willing to repay Eddie in some way, but not with answers.
“I’ll take this side,” Eddie mumbled as he started moving the blanket on the side of the bed closest to the door.
“Um.”
“The bed’s big enough, just get in.”
Steve watched as Eddie got on his side, moving around until he was comfortable.
“I can sleep on the floor.”
“Steve. Get in the bed before I send you to the stable.”
Steve wouldn’t have really minded that, maybe even preferred that, but he decided to listen to Eddie.
He got in on the other side of the bed, laying on his side facing the wall, taking up as little space as he could.
“Steve, just get comfortable.”
So, he tried. And surprisingly, he found a very comfortable position on his stomach. He used to sleep that way as a child, never having to worry about if someone would sneak up on him in the woods.
He figured the only person who would try to kill him probably already would have tried by now. Maybe he could actually get some sleep.
He sighed into the pillow, drifting off before he heard Eddie turn over and face him.
—-------------------------
Steve woke up slowly, his body warm and not sore for the first time in years.
He’d forgotten what it was like.
And then he started to take inventory of his surroundings.
He was cuddled into Eddie’s side, his face buried against Eddie’s stomach and hand wrapped around his waist. Eddie’s hand was in his hair, not moving, just holding the strands.
Steve was stuck like this.
Surely, Eddie would wake up and push him away and then he would be sent away as planned.
Surely, Eddie didn’t know this happened in their sleep.
He felt Eddie’s legs shift, then his hand.
A groan.
Steve tried to pretend he was shifting away in his sleep. He closed his eyes and started to turn away.
The hand in his hair gripped harder, kept him where he was.
“You ‘wake?” Eddie whispered.
Steve had two options: pretend to be asleep or say he was awake and possibly die.
So he stayed quiet, let his breathing stay slow despite his nerves. He kept his eyes closed in hopes that Eddie wouldn’t think he’d been awake at all.
“Good.” Eddie whispered. The hand in his hair gently carded through his fingers. “Sleep as long as you want. You need it.”
Steve couldn’t cry like this, it would give him away, but the softness of Eddie’s voice, the gentle way he was holding him, it was all too much.
He bit back the tears, and adjusted himself slightly so he could hopefully fall back asleep.
—-------------------------------------------
When he woke up screaming, Eddie was holding him, rocking him back and forth to calm him down.
“It’s okay, you’re safe. You’re okay,” Eddie was saying quietly against the top of his head.
He was shaking, and crying, and had to get away from Eddie. He couldn’t show any more weakness.
He tried pulling away, but Eddie wouldn’t let him go.
“Steve, wait. Calm down first, okay? You’re barely breathing.”
He knew that. But he needed to get out.
“Air.”
“Okay,” Eddie said.
And then Steve was in Eddie’s arms as he got up and walked over to the window.
Steve knew he wasn’t as big as he should be, often only ate what was absolutely required to stay alive. But Eddie lifted him like he was lifting a small bag of food, and put no effort into carrying him across the room.
He adjusted Steve in his arms, until Steve was wrapping his legs around his waist and one of Eddie’s arms supported him. His other arm worked open the window, and he let out a small grunt when it got stuck about halfway.
Steve was too busy crying to worry about anything else that was happening.
Eddie held him next to the window, the cool air slowly filtering through the room and into his lungs, waking him up all the way and helping him focus.
But once he could focus, he realized where he was. He realized what he was doing.
He started to drop his legs down, but Eddie didn’t let him.
“Darling, you need to relax. Take some more deep breaths.”
Darling.
Steve looked at Eddie.
Eddie Munson had called him darling before.
”Steven! Come say goodbye to Wayne!”
Steve made his way downstairs to say goodbye to his family’s personal guard. Once a year, he left for two weeks to visit with his cousins in a town nearly a day’s travel away. The second in command usually covered for him, but this year would be Wayne’s nephew, Eddie’s, first time taking his place.
He was the best of the best, and not just according to Wayne.
And he was only two years older than Steve.
Steve loved Wayne, had considered him to be more of a dad than his own dad most of the time.
He crashed into Wayne, face buried in his chest.
At 16, Steve was too old to act like this, but Wayne didn’t believe that anyone was ever too old to give or get a good hug.
“Alright now, it’s alright. It’s just two weeks, son.”
Steve hadn’t noticed that Eddie was standing to the side, serious face to represent his very serious job.
“I’ll miss you,” Steve said.
“You know I’ll miss ya too. But Eddie will take care of you all just fine.”
Steve looked over at Eddie and then back at Wayne.
“He won’t bring me a cup of mead after my parents go to bed, though.”
Wayne laughed and looked over at Eddie, who was refusing to look at them.
“I’ll be sure to bring you two when I get back.”
And then he was gone.
Steve’s parents left the same day for a trip to visit the farms up north.
Steve was alone in the house except for the help and guards. And Eddie.
He hated being alone.
He woke up from a nightmare that first night, shivering and crying silently.
There was a knock on his door, and he felt like he might still be in the nightmare.
But Eddie peeked around the door and Steve relaxed slightly.
“I brought you mead,” Eddie said as he came into the room holding a mug. He paused when he saw the state Steve was in. “Are you okay? What happened?”
Eddie was next to him in a heartbeat, setting the mug on the table by his bed. His hands were cupping Steve’s face, checking him for injury.
“Just a nightmare,” Steve breathed out, still trying to center himself.
“Darling, you’re barely breathing.”
Steve’s eyes looked up at Eddie’s, searching for something, anything that would tell him why he just called him darling.
“I’m okay,” Steve finally said.
Eddie’s hands were gone, but the concern on his face remained.
“Do you need anything?”
“Could you stay?”
Steve hated asking, he hated being vulnerable with anyone. But he hated being alone more.
“I’ll stay, darling.”
“Why are you being nice to me?” Steve couldn’t help asking.
Eddie hadn’t been unkind before, but he certainly hadn’t made it seem like he wanted to be friendly.
“Because I know you don’t deserve to be treated poorly.”
Steve watched as Eddie contemplated what he was going to say.
“I know about the prophecy. Your parents told me when you left. They sat me and Wayne down, explained how important it was to find you, to keep you here so that our town and the world wouldn’t suffer. I didn’t believe it, but then the flood happened, and everything happened, and we’ve spent years just trying to survive. And the only thing that made sense was that you left and this started.”
“They didn’t tell you the part of the prophecy that I knew, though.”
“I figured it out though. I learned the part they didn’t tell anyone. That if you stayed in Hawkins, Hawkins would be safe, but the rest of the country would burn. But if you left, you had a chance at saving everyone.”
Steve nodded.
“Darling, you’re so good.” Eddie cupped his jaw and smiled sadly at him. “You went out into the world to save it, risked your life to help all of us. It came at a cost, but so does everything.”
Steve was crying again.
“What happened to your arm?”
“I lost it when I lost the hearing in my left ear,” Steve started, but paused when Eddie’s finger started tracing along his left ear. “We were stuck in a town that wasn’t prepared for anything. I could feel an earthquake coming, it’s just the way the ground feels under my feet. I tried to warn everyone, some people listened, but. There was a little girl. She was alone in a shop. I couldn’t leave her there. I misjudged how far off the earthquake was, misjudged how bad it would be. Managed to push her out of a window before the building collapsed. I got stuck under a counter that fell on my head, knocked me out cold, then more beams fell on my arm. By the time Robin and Max got to me, they had to cut it off or leave me there.”
“And the prosthetic?”
“Got it about a year ago. Helped a family escape from a tornado, managed to save most of their possessions even, and one of them was the prototype for this. The man had it built in a week for me. It isn’t perfect, but it does what I need it to do.”
“You can’t hear anything out of your left ear?”
“No.”
“That’s why I scared you earlier.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry that you’ve had to do this, darling.”
Steve shrugged.
“No, you should have never had to do this. I don’t know what changed in your mind to make you leave, and I’m glad you were able to help, but it should’ve never fallen on you.”
“I broke up with Nancy. I just had a moment when we were together, I realized she didn’t even know I liked having mead in bed. We were together for nearly a year, planned to marry, and she didn’t even know I liked drinking mead. It sounds stupid, but it just. It reminded me that on the first night you had to protect me, you brought me mead because you overheard me tell Wayne about it.”
Eddie looked at him with something like awe on his face.
“So you left because you broke up with her?”
“Yes and no. I broke up with her because I needed to for a lot of reasons, but I left because she was the only thing keeping me here. I knew I couldn’t ignore what my future was, and ignoring it would only make it worse for everyone outside of Hawkins.”
“But it was a suicide mission.”
“I had help.”
“The children?!”
Steve smirked and patted his cheek.
“Every single one of those children can outwit and outmatch you any day of the week. I guarantee it.”
“Whatever,” Eddie blushed. “So you’ve been out there for five years, basically alone, saving the country?”
Steve nodded.
“I-” Eddie shook his head. “And the nightmares, those are memories?”
“Mostly. Some of them take it a bit too far and go from memories to worst case scenarios.”
“You have them often?”
“Pretty often. Robin usually wakes me before they get too bad.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize what was happening until you were already screaming and crying.”
“It’s okay. Next time.”
“Next time?” Eddie smiled.
“If you’d like. I’m not in a rush to go. I don’t really have anywhere to go.”
“You seemed pretty set on leaving tomorrow.”
“I didn’t exactly feel welcome.”
Eddie kissed his forehead softly, letting his lips linger for a moment before he whispered.
“Do you feel welcome now?”
“I suppose with a cup of mead, I might.”
#steddie#steve harrington#eddie munson#stranger things#the party#robin buckley#fantasy au#hurt/comfort#sort of enemies to lovers#anon request#ficlet
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There's No Place Like Hawkins
pairings: steve harrington x oc, steve harrington x henderson!oc
warnings: nothing beyond anything that happens within the canon of the show, slow burn?? they don't get together for a while
word length: 5k
Chapter Two (episodes: S1.Ep2)
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The Weirdo On Maple Street
After running into the small girl in the woods, the group had collectively decided to bring her back with them to the Wheeler’s house, where they were now all gathered together in the basement. The boys and Catherine stood by the coffee table in front of the couch, staring at the mysterious girl, who in turn stared up at them in fear. “Is there a number we can call for your parents?” Mike asked the girl, breaking the silence between the group.
"Where's your hair?" Dustin questioned her, confused as to why her hair was buzzed. "Do you have cancer?"
Catherine hit his arm. "You can't just ask people that, dude." She scolded, pulling the blanket closer around her shoulders.
"Did you run away?" Lucas queried.
"Are you in some kind of trouble?" Mike spoke again.
“Is that blood?” Lucas inquired, pointing at the stain on her shirt that was poking out from under the coat she had borrowed from Mike.
"Stop it! You're freaking her out!" The Wheeler boy exclaimed.
"She's freaking me out!" Lucas retorted.
"Shut up! All of you!" Catherine pushed them away from the frightened girl. "You're all scaring her." Cat knelt down in front of her. "Hey, sweetie." She smiled softly at the girl. "My name's Catherine, or you can call me Cat for short." She received a small smile from the girl in response. "Now, I know you're scared. But we aren't going to hurt you. We just want to help you. Okay?" The girl nodded slightly, beginning to feel like she could trust the older girl. "Now, I bet you're cold." Catherine turned to Mike. "Do you have any spare clothes."
Mike nodded his head, moving to grab a spare jumper and a pair of sweatpants from the basket of clean laundry. He handed them to Cat, the older girl passing them gently to the quiet girl sat in front of her. "Here you go, sweetie. These will keep you warm. You wanna go put them on?" The older girl slowly reached out a hand to which the younger girl hesitantly took.
Catherine stood up from her kneeling position on the floor, gently pulling the younger girl with her. The quiet girl took off the jacket she had borrowed and followed the older girl to the bathroom. "You can get changed in here, okay?" The girl frowned, slightly confused. "It's called privacy, okay?" Catherine went to close the door but was suddenly stopped as the small girl grabbed the door. "You don't want me to close the door?" The girl let out a quiet 'no' and Catherine heard one of the boys say, 'so she can speak' from behind her. "Okay. Well, how about I close it, just not all the way so it's still technically open?" Catherine said, her actions mimicking her words. "Is that better, sweetie?"
"Yes." The younger girl gave her a small smile.
Catherine returned the smile. "I'll just be outside if you need me." She turned back to the boys just as Dustin exclaimed, "this is mental!"
"At least she can talk." Mike pointed out.
"She said 'no' and 'yes'." Lucas interjected. "Your three-year old sister says more."
"Guys. Shut up. She's scared. She's not gonna want to talk to some strangers who found her in the woods." Cat told them, picking up a spare towel from the basket of clean laundry. She wrapped it around the ends of her hair, attempting to dry it.
"There's something seriously wrong with her." Lucas said to them, ignoring Catherine who just sighed and hoped that the girl wasn't listening to the boys' conversation. "Like, wrong in the head." Lucas pointed to his own head to make it clear to others what he meant. "I bet she escaped from Pennhurst."
"From where?" Mike asked.
"The nuthouse in Kerley County." Lucas explained.
"You got a lot of family there?" Dustin joked as Cat rolled her eyes.
"Bite me." Lucas snapped. "Seriously though, think about it."
"Think about what, Sinclair?" Catherine asked from where she stood leaning against the stairs, arms folded across her chest.
"That would explain her shaved hair and why she's so crazy."
"She's not crazy. You're just being rude." Cat snapped at him, running her fingers through her damp hair.
Lucas ignored her words. "She's an escapee is the point. She's probably a psycho."
"Like Michael Myers." Dustin interjected.
"Exactly!" Lucas agreed, pointing a finger at the boy. "We should've never brought her here."
"So, you just wanted to leave her out in that storm?" Mike asked.
Catherine stepped closer to the boys. "It's probably safer for her to be here than it is for her to be alone out there." She argued at them, waving her arms around in frustration.
"We went to find Will, not another problem."
"I think we should tell your mom." Dustin said to Mike.
"I second that." Lucas agreed as they all turned to Cat to see what she thought they should do.
“You know I’m gonna tell you that at least one of you should tell a parent. That way we can make sure that this poor girl is safe.” Cat spoke with a sigh. “But I know you guys too well to know you’re not gonna take my advice.”
“Lucas, that’s crazy!” Mike exclaimed, turning towards his friend.
"How is that crazy?" Lucas argued.
"’Cause, we weren't supposed to be out tonight, remember?"
Catherine started at the new information. “Excuse me?!” She turned sharply towards them, pushing herself off the wall where she had been leaning. She took in a deep breath, trying to not yell at the boys. They had been reckless, yes. But they were only trying to help find their best friend. Catherine had to remind herself of that.
The boys looked at her sheepishly, knowing the older girl was not impressed. “I cannot believe you kids!” She exclaimed, finding herself at a loss for words. “I know that you’re trying to help. I get it. But you can’t put your own lives at risk.” She reached down, picking up her backpack and slinging it onto her back. “I swear to God, if I you kids do anything like this again, I will personally ground you myself. Got it?” Cat asked, looking at each of the three boys.
“We just wanna find Will.” Dustin told her, his voice quiet.
Cat’s face fell as she looked at her brother. “I know. I know. Just… Just maybe talk to me first. Okay?” She paused, eyes flickering over to where the young girl stood just behind the bathroom door. “I’m gonna go home, I’ve got a test in the morning I still haven’t studied for. Dusty, make sure you call before you come home, and I’ll meet you.” He nodded his head, watching as Cat left through the basement door.
***
The next morning Catherine had cycled to school on her bike, not wanting to bother Jonathan by asking for a lift. She walked down the halls of Hawkins' High School next to Barb who was reading Nancy's flashcards aloud to help them prepare for their upcoming test. Cat huffed out a frustrated sigh as she rushed to catch up with her friends, knowing full well she was going to fail the test. Being out with her younger brother and his friends as they looked for Will had left her with no time to go through her science notes. It didn’t help that once she was home, she had laid awake all night worrying about the safety of the younger boy.
"When alpha particles go through gold foil, they become..." Barb prompted, reading off one of the revision cards
Catherine shrugged. "I honestly can’t remember.” She answered honestly.
"They become unoccupied space." Nancy spoke, answering correctly.
Barb nodded her head and began to read the next card. "A molecule that can-" She was cut off by Steve Harrington snatching the cards out of her hands, his two friends Tommy and Carol right behind him.
"Hey!" Nancy called out to him, reaching her hands out in attempt to retrieve the revision notes.
"I don't know. I think you've studied enough, Nance." He replied, shrugging his shoulders as he flicked through the cards.
“Well, I haven’t, Harrington. So, give them back.” Cat snapped, moving to grab the cards from the boy’s hands. As she did so, Tommy stepped forward and shoved her away, Cat tripping over her feet and stumbling backwards into Nancy and Barb.
"Steve-" Nancy tried, helping her friend stabilise her footing.
“I’m telling you, you know, you got this.” Steve spoke, shaking his head slightly at her. “You too Henderson, you doubt yourself too much.”
Cat scoffed at him, taken aback by the words coming out of his mouth. To go from not talking to her properly in years, to giving her something that could almost pass as a compliment caught her off guard. “Thanks.” She mumbled, making sure to roll her eyes.
“Now, on to more important matter.” Cat raised an eyebrow at Steve, wondering what he could deem so important to interrupt their mini studying session. "My dad has left town on a conference and my mom's gone with him, 'cause, you know, she doesn't trust him."
"Good call." Tommy interjected with a laugh. Cat couldn’t help but roll her eyes again. She was desperate to step away from the conversation, but Steve still had hold of the revision notes and she didn’t want to leave without either of her friends.
"So, are you in?" Steve asked, looking only at Nancy.
"In for what?" She asked, not quite understanding what the others were getting at.
"No parents? Big house?" Carol vaguely explained.
"A party?" Nancy guessed.
"Ding, ding, ding!" Carol said as Tommy laughed.
"It's Tuesday." Nancy pointed out.
"It's Tuesday!" Tommy mocked her and Cat had to stop herself from punching the boy in the face, as the others laughed.
"Come on" Steve said, lightly tapping her arm. "It'll be low key. It'll just be us." He tried to convince his girlfriend to come along to his party. "What do you say? Are you in or are you out?"
"Um..." Nancy trailed off, unsure of her answer.
"Oh, God. Look." Carol said, looking past Cat at someone at the end of the hall. The group turned around to see Jonathan hanging a missing poster on the noticeboard.
"Oh, God, that's depressing." Catherine rolled her eyes at Steve, not believing how he could be so rude. Barb grabbed her arm, stopping her in case she decided to punch Steve in his pretty face.
"Should we say something?" Nancy asked the group.
"I don't think he speaks." Carol told her, disgust laced in her voice.
"How much you want to bet he killed him?" Tommy laughed.
Barb looked down at her friend to see her seething with anger. "Don't." She whispered softly, sensing that her friend was going to cause a fight. Cat shook her head in anger, handing her books to Barb.
"What's wrong with you Henderson?" Tommy asked her. "You got something wrong with you or something?"
"Yeah. You." She stepped forward, ignoring Barb's warnings and punched Tommy in the face. She continued to punch the boy while she yelled at him. "You don't think for once that maybe, just maybe, what you say isn't at all funny and that maybe you're just a complete asshole." She stopped punching him for a second, having him pinned up against the wall. She was breathing heavily, not believing that she had just stood up to the guy that had endlessly bullied her for years.
Tommy laughed in her face. "Wow, you're psycho. You're an absolute psycho." Cat pulled back her fist, ready to punch him again, when a hand wrapped around her waist pulling her away from the boy. Her mind barely registered that it was Steve Harrington who was the one to wrap an arm around her and pull her away from the boy everyone was certain she was going to end up killing.
Still seething with anger, Cat shook herself out of Steve’s grip and grabbed her books back from Barb. Storming away from the group, she held up her middle finger over shoulder in Tommy’s direction. “Get fucked, Tommy!” She shouted, passing by Nancy and Jonathan who were having their own small conversation in front of the notice board.
Steve couldn’t help but stare at his ex-best friend as she walked away, shocked at how much she’d changed since the last time they properly spoken. “You’re invited to my party too, Henderson.” He called after her without thinking.
“Dude, what?” Tommy hit his arm. “You’re inviting that psycho freak?”
“She’s Nancy’s friend. She’d probably be there anyway, man.” Steve answered, covering up the real reason he’d invited the girl. The truth was that until now, he hadn’t realised how he’d missed having her around. And now that he was going out with Nancy, one of Cat’s best friends, there was more opportunity to try and get her back into his life.
Cat shook her head at his words, turning the corner into the next corridor. The bell rang, signalling that she would be late to her chemistry test, but she’d rather be late than walk alongside next to Carol and Tommy. Besides, she needed the longer route to clear her head.
***
That evening, Cat found herself back at the Wheeler’s house where Nancy had dragged her to get ready for Steve’s party. Before she could even step foot into Nancy’s room, she was pulled away by her brother while the boys muttered something about D&D and babysitting. Catherine shrugged her shoulders in her friend’s direction, not understanding what the kids wanted. “Tell you what, I’ll give Barb another ring.” Nancy told her. “See if she’ll be up to driving us to the… the special assembly.” She chose her words carefully, not wanting to reveal their true plans for the evening in front of her younger brother. Cat nodded her head, unable to get out a verbal response before Mike hurried the group into his room, making sure to close the door.
"Are you out of your mind?" Lucas blurted out, the group turning to face the sight of the small girl from the previous evening sitting cross-legged on Mike’s bed.
"Just listen to me." Mike replied, trying to keep his friend calm.
"You are out of your mind!" Lucas responded, clearly irritated. Cat sent a comforting smile at the girl who sent the older girl a quick but small smile in response. She wanted the girl to be able to feel safe as it was obvious how scared she was.
"She knows about Will." Mike's statement caused Cat to whip her head in his direction, her eyes widening.
“Excuse me?”
"What do you mean she knows about Will?" Dustin asked, turning his gaze from the girl to Mike.
Mike went over to the table near the door, picking up a picture of all four of the boys with their science fair trophy. He held it up in front of the others so they could see it clearly. "She pointed at him, at his picture." He explained to them. "She knew he was missing. I could tell."
"You could tell?" Lucas questioned, not quite believing his friend.
"Just think about it." Mike began. "Do you really think it was a coincidence that we found her on Mirkwood, the same place where Will disappeared?"
Cat raised an eyebrow, glancing over at the quiet girl. Was it a coincidence? She still wasn’t sure why she was a part of all this.
"That is weird." Dustin agreed as he and Lucas shared a look.
"And she said that bad people are after her."
Cat's eyes widened again. "No wonder she's terrified if she's got bad people after her." She took a seat on Mike's bed next to the girl and gently rubbed her back, but not before checking that the young girl was okay with the physical contact.
"I think maybe these bad people are the same ones that took Will." Mike explained to them. Catherine shook her head slightly, trying to push down the guilt she had for not cycling Will home. "I think she knows what happened to him." Mike added.
"Then why doesn't she tell us?" Lucas asked, his arms crossed over his chest. They were silent for a moment as they all looked at the girl sat next to Catherine. Lucas took a few steps forward until he was right in front of her. "Do you know where he is?" Lucas snapped, clearly frightening the girl, who moved closer into Cat’s side. The boy suddenly grabbed her shoulders loudly repeating his question. Catherine let out a gasp, prying Lucas's hands off of the young girl. She stood up and pulled Lucas a few step away from the girl and scolded him for scaring the frightened girl. As she did this, Mike yelled at Lucas to stop, stating that he was scaring the girl.
"She should be scared!" He yelled back as Cat walked back over to the girl and slowly pulled her in for a hug, trying to not scare her any more than she already was. "If you know where he is, tell us!" The young girl stared up at Lucas from over Cat's shoulder.
Cat, who was knelt in front of the young girl turned to Lucas. "She's not going to tell you anything if you're scaring her. I thought you were smart, Sinclair." Cat scoffed, turning back to the young girl. The young girl sat in silence, wrapping her arms around Cat's neck.
Lucas walked back over to Mike and Dustin. "This is nuts. We have to take her to your mom."
"No!" Mike responded, his voice just as loud and defensive as Lucas'. "Eleven said telling any adult would put us in danger." Cat raised her eyebrows yet again at the mention of what appeared to be the young girl’s name.
"What kind of danger?" Dustin asked as Lucas questioned, "Her name is Eleven?"
"El for short."
"Mike," Cat turned her body away from Eleven for a moment, worry lacing her words. "You said telling anyone else would put us in danger. What kind of danger?"
"Danger danger." Mike snapped and Cat ran her spare hand through her hair. It wasn't a very helpful answer. Mike moved his hands to Dustin's forehead, his fingers imitating a gun before moving his hand towards Lucas, who slapped the boy's arm away.
"No, no, no!" Lucas yelled as Catherine's face contorted into one of worry. She cared deeply for the kids and would do anything to keep them safe. "We're going back to plan A. We're telling your mom." The boy made his way to the door as Cat stood up from where she had been kneeling on the floor. As he opened the door it closed. He did this a couple of times, each time he opened the door it shut, leaving the boys and Catherine confused as to what was going on. They watched as the door locked itself. All three boys turned to Eleven and Cat turned to the girl too, her eyes glancing down at the blood leaking from the girl's nose.
Eleven stood up from the bed, moving to stand next to Cat as she simply told the boys, "No."
***
The two girls sat round at the dinner table, as did the boys. Cat was sat in between Nancy and Mike as Dustin sat at the end of the table between Mike and Lucas who was next to Mr. Wheeler. Mrs. Wheeler was sat next to him with little Holly between her and Nancy. The group were quiet as they played around with the food on their plates. Karen noticed that the children and two teens had barely touched their food. "Something wrong with the meatloaf?" She asked.
Cat looked up at the lady and smiled politely. "No, no. It's lovely Mrs. Wheeler. I'm just not that hungry." She had eaten very little of her food, having barely eaten a quarter of the food that sat in front of her. Normally she had a healthy appetite, but her guilt over Will’s disappearance had begun to affect it. She couldn’t eat as much as normal.
"Oh, no, I had two bologna sandwiches for lunch." Dustin told Karen Wheeler. "I don't know why."
Lucas let out a small chuckle. "Me, too."
"It's delicious, Mom." Nancy smiled at her.
"Thank you, sweetie." Karen smiled at her eldest daughter.
"So, there's this... special assembly thing tonight..." Nancy began. "For Will at the school field. Barb's driving."
"Why am I just hearing about this?" Karen asked her.
Nancy's eyes widened. "I thought you knew."
"I told you, I don't want you out after dark until Will is found."
"I know, I know, but it'd be super weird if I'm not there, but Catherine is." Nancy told her mother. "I mean, everyone's going." Karen looked over at Catherine to see if what Nancy was saying was true as Cat just nodded her head silently.
Karen let out a sigh. "Just... be back by 10:00." Karen told her, not liking the idea of her daughter going out late with everything that was going on. Nancy nodded going back to her meatloaf. "Why don't you and Cat take the boys too?" Mrs. Wheeler suggested to the two teens.
At that all three boys looked up from their plates as they collectively disagreed. Karen had a confused look on her face as the two teens stared sharply at the boys. "Don't you think you should be there?" Karen asked them. "For Will?"
Mike suddenly choked on the glass of milk he was drinking, and Cat shot him a weird look from across the table. Karen went to look at where Mike's eyes were staring when Dustin banged his hands on the table causing the older woman to jump in her seat, letting out a gasp at the sudden noise. Cat looked past both Nancy and Mrs. Wheeler to see Eleven walking down the stairs, everything clicking inside her head. The boys were creating a diversion so El wasn’t discovered.
"Sorry." Dustin apologised. "Spasm."
Holly started whimpering in her high chair and Karen let out a small 'oh' turning to attend to her youngest child. "It's okay, Holly. It's just a loud noise."
***
After getting changed into what Nancy deemed as more appropriate party clothing, hidden under their jackets so that Karen wouldn’t sus out their real plan for the evening, they found themselves in Barbara’s car driving down the road towards Steve’s house. Barb, of course, was in the driver’s seat with Nancy next to her in the passenger seat. Cat sat behind them, gaze fixed on the passing trees as she fiddled with the hem of her ‘Bon Jovi’ t-shirt. Truth be told, she didn’t want to be spending her evening at Steve’s and surrounded by people she wasn’t fond of, even if it meant Steve was putting in the effort to talk to her now. She’d rather be using her evening to help look for Will with the rest of the town.
"Barbara, pull over." Nancy's voice grabbed Cat's attention and she pulled her gaze away from the window, now directing it instead to the two girls sat in front of her.
"What?" Barb asked her, confused.
"Pull over!"
Barb pulled the car over as Nancy had said. "What are we doing here?" The redhead asked. "His house is three blocks away."
"We can't park in the driveway." Nancy stated, as if the information was obvious.
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah, the neighbours might see." Nancy responded.
"So?" Cat asked her, furrowing her eyebrows as she leaned forward in her seat. "I'm not walking three blocks. Do I need to remind you that it's dark out? It’s not exactly safe right now.”
"This is so stupid." Barb spoke, nodding her head in agreement with Catherine. "I'm just gonna drop you two off."
"Calm down, Barb. Come on." Nancy reached into her bag, putting away the lipstick she had just put on. "You promised that you'd go. You're coming." Catherine rolled her eyes at her friend. "We're gonna have a great time."
"Okay, sure." Cat mumbled sarcastically.
"He just wants to get in your pants." Barb argued. And as much as Cat didn't want to think about that being true, she nodded her head in agreement, because it was true. This was Steve Harrington of all people. Of course, that was the reason as to why he'd invited Nancy over when his parents were away.
Nancy chuckled. "No, he doesn't."
"Nance... seriously." Barb tried. "He invited you to his house. His parents aren't home." Nancy simply just looked at her, not believing what her friend was saying. "Come on, you are not this stupid."
"Tommy H. and Carol are gonna be there." Nancy said as if that meant anything.
"Tommy and Carol have been having sex since, like, seventh grade." Barb pointed out, shaking her head. "It'll probably just be, like, a big orgy." The three girls in the car chuckled at Barb’s statement.
"Gross." Nancy shook her head, undoing her seatbelt.
"I'm serious!"
"All right, well..." Nancy started pulling her jumper off over her head. "You and Cat can be like, my guardians. All right?" Cat sighed. She did not want to be responsible for another person her age. She could deal with being responsible for the boys but having to look out for Nancy? She wasn't sure she'd enjoy that. And it definitely wouldn’t make the evening fun, not that she was expecting it to be if she had to hang out with Tommy and Carol. "Make sure I don't get drunk and do anything stupid." Nancy added, taking out another top from her bag and placing it on her lap.
"I'm not a goody-toe shoes, Nance." Cat pointed out. "How can I make sure you don't do something stupid when I'm likely to have a drink or two? And I definitely need one after the week we’re having.”
"Is that a new bra?" Barb questioned, glancing at Nancy as she pulled on her new top.
"No." Nancy denied, face flushing slightly as she lied.
***
The three girls walked up to the massive doors that marked the entrance to the house of Steve Harrington. Cat slid her hands in the pockets of her jeans to stop them from twitching due to her nerves. She hadn't visited the Harrington household in quite a few years, though she could still remember the layout of the building. Music could be heard from inside the house, although it was too faint for Catherine to be able to make out what it specifically was. Nancy and Cat stood either side of Barb as the former girl reached forward to ring the bell. They waited for about a minute or two before the big red doors swung open, revealing Steve Harrington himself.
The boy smiled at the girls and stood with one hand holding onto the door and the other on his hip. "Hello, ladies."
Cat smiled politely at Steve as he glanced over each of the girls, eyes landing on Cat’s shirt. “Loving the top, Henderson.” He grinned.
“Thanks.” She mumbled, face flushing at the attention he was giving her. It felt strange, having Steve talk to her as if he hadn’t ditched their friendship two years prior. Steve stepped to the side, allowing the girls to enter his house.
They walked through to the pool, greeted by the sight of Tommy trying to throw Carol into the water. The girl was shrieking, and Cat couldn’t help but cringe at the sound. The three newcomers to the party sat down on chairs around the pool, Cat sitting in the one next to Barb. The girl watched as Steve sliced a can of beer open and started drinking from it. Cat looked over at Barb, the two sharing an unimpressed look at the boy’s actions. Steve exhaled, sitting down in the chair next to Nancy who asked, "Is that supposed to impress me?"
Steve placed a cigarette between his lips, and Cat sighed as she realised, she’d left her own packet back at home. They were good for easing her nerves, and if there was ever a time, she needed to calm them, it was now. "You're not?" Steve asked, shrugging his shoulders at Nancy.
"You are a cliché, you do realize that?" Nancy told her boyfriend.
"You are a cliché." Steve responded, lighting his cigarette. "What with your... your grades and your band practice."
Nancy laughed, "I'm so not in band."
"Okay, party girl. Why don't you just, uh, show us how it's done, then?" Steve handed her a can of beer and a pocket knife to slice it open with. Both of her friends rolled their eyes and while Nancy was chugging the drink, Cat leaned over the girl's seat and snatched both a cigarette and the lighter from the table next to where Steve had been sat. Her hands were shaking a tad as she brought the object to her mouth and lit it, burning her hand slightly in the process. She let out a small wince, throwing the lighter back onto the table as she took a drag of the cigarette. As she breathed out a cloud of smoke, her nerves beginning to calm down little by little, she watched on as Nancy finished the drink with a laugh, chucking the empty can onto the ground at her feet.
"Barb, you wanna try?" Nancy asked the redhead, who sat in her chair looking and feeling bored.
She raised her eyebrows at the girl. "What? No." Nancy walked over and grabbed a can from beside Cat. "No, I don't want to. Thanks."
"Come on." Nancy spoke, trying to persuade her friend to try.
"Yeah..." Steve also tried to convince Barbara. "Come on. Yeah."
"Nance, I don't want to." Barb told her friend firmly.
"It's fun! Just give it a-"
Barb cut her off. "Nance..." She trailed off as Nancy handed her the beer.
"Just... Just give it a shot."
Barbara took the can from Nancy. Cat sighed, letting some more smoke pour out her mouth. "You don't have to if you don't want to." She told her best friend, irritated at Nancy for trying to force their friend into doing something she clearly didn't want to do.
"No, it's okay." Barb held Cat's arm for a moment, trying to reassure the worried girl that she'd be fine, before standing up from her seat. She held the can in her left hand, bringing the knife down. However, her hand slipped and instead of the knife piercing a hole in the beer can, it sliced a fairly deep cut down her thumb. Catherine stood up immediately, throwing her cigarette on the ground and stomping it out, before grabbing the beer can and knife from her friend and throwing them onto the chair behind her. She pulled Barb's hand closer to her so she could inspect the wound, making sure it wasn’t as bad as it seemed.
"Gnarly." Tommy commented with a snicker. Cat ignored him, pulling her flannel sleeve over her hand and pressing it to her friend's wound.
"Are you okay?" Nancy asked, taking a few steps towards the two girls. Cat lifted her flannel from the wound, wiping the blood from her friend's hand with her sleeve. "Barb, you're bleeding."
"No shit, Nancy." Cat snapped, annoyed at her for peer pressuring Barb. She was here to forget her problems, not have more thrown at her.
"I'm fine." Barb insisted before turning to Steve. "Where's your bathroom?"
Steve stood up from his seat, pointing towards his house. "Oh, it's... It's, uh, down past the kitchen, to the left."
"Okay. Thanks." Barb told him, turning away from the group and heading inside. Cat quickly followed after her, worried.
"Hey, hey. Barb?" She placed a hand on her shoulder. "Do... do you want me to come with you?" The redhead shook her head and continued to the bathroom, leaving the shorter brown haired girl alone in the hallway, feeling horrible for what happened. She walked back outside, stealing another cigarette from the packet on the table and grabbed the lighter, lighting it. Her hand was still hurting from where she burnt it slightly, but she didn't have the energy to care.
Shoving one hand in her pocket, the other one held the cigarette while she took a drag. Turning away from the group, she let the cloud of smoke escape her lips as she began making her back towards the house.
"Oi, Henderson!" Steve called out, grabbing the girl's attention. "Where are you going?"
Cat glanced over her shoulder as she reached the garden door, placing Steve’s lighter on the side table. “Home.” She shouted back to him, shutting the door just as Tommy loudly called her a collection of awful names for leaving the party early, and without even having a drink.
She sat on the front door step for a while, waiting for Barb to finish up in the bathroom. But when the girl didn’t appear after several minutes, Cat decided she was better off walking home, though not before stealing a couple of bottles of booze from Steve’s kitchen.
#stranger things#steve harrington#steve harrington x oc#there's no place like hawkins#stranger things season 1#steve harrington fanfic#steve harrington x henderson!oc#nancy wheeler#barbara holland#dustin henderson#mike wheeler#lucas sinclair#will byers#jonathan byers#joyce byers#friends to lovers#sort of enemies to lovers??? i guess#ex best friends to lovers
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You’re kookoo bananas if you think Eddie doesn’t watch the Super Bowl. Wayne, like most middle-aged men in the Midwest, is a football fiend. In fact, his love of football is second only to his love of racing. So, ever since Eddie first moved in with Wayne, he’s been implicitly obligated to participate in the Super Bowl Sunday festivities.
Usually, his role was just to help make the snacks and, eventually, to help you keep the little ones busy while your dad and Wayne focused on and bonded over the game. However, in February 2005, you and Eddie were blessed by the TV gods when Animal Planet premiered its first Puppy Bowl. Gone were the days of you two mindlessly waiting for the halftime show to finally start because, now, you two have your own game to keep you occupied. While Wayne and your old man shoot the shit before the game, you, Eddie, and your little family can be found huddled around the TV, cooing at and fawning over the adorable little adoptable puppies as they play rambunctiously. All the while, your own animals are participating in Puppy Bowl of their own, adorned in the appropriate team jerseys and playing with just about every toy they can get their grubby little paws on; chew toys, stuffies, tennis balls, it doesn’t really matter, you’re little hellions will play with them all.
#eddie munson#dad!eddie munson#or rather implied dad!eddie munson#also…#animal lover!eddie munson#sort of a sequel to my disney princess!eddie munson headcanon#happy super bowl sunday to my fellow sinners (americans)#the puppy bowl is gods greatest gift to humanity#wayne munson is both your stereotypical midwestern dad and also so much more than that#this is a wayne stan account#eddie munson x reader#eddie munson thoughts#older!eddie munson#eddie munson hc#eddie munson x reader fluff#eddie munson fluff#eddie stranger things#eddie munson headcanon#stranger things#stranger things 4#stranger things vol 4#family man!eddie munson#older!eddie#wayne munson#aunt robin and uncle steve are definitely there too#uncle dustin would be there if he wasn’t off inventing the newest version of the mars rover or some shit like that
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I need to revisit my control fics
#I was replaying the foundation dlc and I had this thought#very Rey/the force adjacent#cause Jesse has known Polaris for so long#I’m such a sucker for entities and humans as a Thing™️#also been thinking of an Emily as the antagonist thing#strangers to friends to enemies/lovers of some sort#yanno what I mean?
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A and B live in the same apartment, only in two different dimensions. As their worlds begin to drift into each other and overlap, A starts seeing "ghosts" of B going about their day, and effecting A's apartment as well as their own.
What happens when their dimensions get even closer together? Do they start talking to each other? Can they touch? Does one fall through?
Like my prompts? Leave me a tip!
#otp#otp prompts#imagine your otp#writing prompts#ship prompts#story prompts#character prompts#dimensions#scifi au#scifi#strangers to lovers#roommates#sort of#roommates to lovers#supernatural#apartment#interdimensional travel
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im half awake bc mornings suck, but i had another idea ;w;;
so u know like the baby projects and stuff where ur paired up with someone and have to look after a simulated fake baby for a few months together, right?
well as i was just brushing my teeth i was thinking how fun of a concept that would be with alhaitham, ayato, diluc and dain ಥ_ಥ
#sophie talks : concepts <3#modern au kinda parenting shenanigans bc the fake baby keeps u both up at night and so u bond over hot coffee and market runs :'>#alhaithams and ayatos would both be academic rivals of sorts to tired parental figure lovers 😭#dilucs would be seatmates to lovers#and dains would be strangers (possibly loner/popular???) to lovers ;w;;
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Prompt stranger things Eddie edition:
Listen, so here’s the idea
Eddie getting rescued pre Chrissy preferably
(so like just kidnapped and held hostage and so adorably confused)
And whoever is saving him
(OC self insert crossover idgaf)
Just straight up letting him listen to their iPod/smart phone/Spotify
And eddie just absolutely losing
“I’m listening too the next Metallica album before Metallica learns the lyrics”
“If you wanted to marry me I would have taken the low ball offer of 1 bj, you didn’t need to go so hard.”
“Music videos??? On this!”
Eddie literally on his knees begging to go to the future with them when they leave
*Bonus points for Jason todd cause I do actively need a HellBat thing to happen one day*
Please tag me if this ever happens y’all
#sides4peace#love#sideswipe4peace#fanfiction#fanfic#stranger things#eddie munson#jason todd is red hood#jason todd#batman#strangers to lovers#otp prompts#writing prompts#writing ideas#i’m beggin y’all#please#time travel#fix it of sorts#chrissy deserved better#eddie deserves better#save Eddie Munson#kentucky#fanfic challenge#the red hood#eddie munson hellfire
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YO GUYS JUST IMAGINE FOR A SECOND OKAY
Imagine being like a history student or mythology student and you’re reading this book on a country’s different rulers and what have you and then you just drop the book in shook.
Why?
Because one of the rulers had a lover that had a name eerily similar to yours. AND the image provided is similar to you!!
At first you’d laugh it off as a funny coincidence, maybe you were that person reincarnated or something but nothing too serious right? Funny story to tell if your friends were into that thing.
ONE DAY HOWEVER you encounter someone who looks to be in either cosplay or some sort of costume. When you meet up with them it turns out they’re ACTUALLY a ruler from a different time and they have no clue how to get home.
SO YOU LET THEM STAY IN YOUR HOUSE WITH YOU AND EVENTUALLY YOU FALL IN LOVE RIGHT
AND IT FINALLY TURNS OUT THAT YOU’RE THE LOVER IN THE HISTORY BOOKS WHEN YOU ACCEPT THE OFFER TO GO BACK TO THEIR TIME WHEN THEY FIND A WAY TO GO BACK
PLEASE I NEED THIS STORY SO BADLY IM FERAL FOR IT
#movie ideas#romance movie ideas#strangers to lovers#some sort of prophesied love thing#idk what to call this trope#inspired by ai chat bot conversations
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There's No Place Like Hawkins
pairings: steve harrington x oc, steve harrington x henderson!oc
warnings: nothing beyond anything that happens within canon of the show, slow burn?? they don't get together for a while
word length: it's a long first chapter, 5k
notes from the author: I picture Catherine Henderson as a mix between Saoirse Ronan and Alyson Hannigan (specifically her Buffy era), but feel free to picture Catherine as whoever you would like :)
Cast of Stranger Things as themselves, unless stated otherwise
Chapter One (episodes: S1.Ep.1)
prev. chapter | next chapter | series masterlist
The Vanishing of Will Byers
November 6th, 1983
Hawkins, Indiana
Catherine Henderson was sat in the basement of the Wheeler's house, watching her brother, Dustin, and his friends play their game of Dungeons and Dragons. "Something is coming." Mike Wheeler, the younger brother of Nancy- one of Cat’s best friends- announced, leading the game as the dungeon master. "Something hungry for blood. A shadow grows on the wall behind you, swallowing you in darkness. It is almost here."
Cat focused her attention back on her book, hardly paying attention to the game. Despite having babysat the majority of the boys’ games, she still didn’t have a clue as to how it worked. She would rather be hanging out with Nancy upstairs while she waited for her brother to finish his game, but the brunette was busy talking on the phone to the third friend in their group, Barbara Holland. This didn’t upset Catherine too much, she wasn’t Nancy biggest fan when the girl spoke about boys, Steve Harrington in particular. It just reminded her of bittersweet memories.
"What is it?" Will asked quietly. He was also the younger sibling of another one of Cat’s friends, Jonathan Byers.
"What if it's the Demogorgon?" Dustin suggested.
"The what?" Catherine asked, lifting her head from her book to look over at the group. She hadn’t heard them mention this particular creature in previous games.
The boys ignored her, continuing with their game. "Oh, Jesus, we're so screwed if it's the Demogorgon." Dustin added, shaking his head.
"It's not the Demogorgon." Lucas told him.
"An army of Troglodytes charge into the chamber!" Mike yelled suddenly, placing a mini figure onto the game board. Cat sighed, turning back to her book. She understood very few of the words that the kids spoke during their Dungeons and Dragons sessions.
"Troglodytes?" Dustin questioned.
"Told ya." Lucas chuckled, smug as he had been right about the monster not being a Demogorgon.
The boys chuckled for a moment before Mike whispers, "wait a minute." He paused. “Did you hear that? That… that sound? Boom… boom…” He yelled again, slamming his hands down onto the table. "That didn't come from the Troglodytes. No, that... That came from something else." The boys all looked at Mike expectantly before he slammed a figure onto the table and exclaimed, "The Demogorgon!" He yelled as the others all groaned in annoyance.
"We're in deep shit." Dustin pointed out.
"Language!" Catherine chided her brother. Dustin simply responded by sending her a glare, knowing hers was always a lot worse.
"Will, your action!" Mike told the small boy.
"I don't know!" The young Byers cried, shaking his head.
"Fireball him!" Lucas suggested.
"I'd have to roll a 13 or higher!" Will pointed out to him.
"Too risky. Cast a protection spell." Dustin suggested.
"Don't be a pussy. Fireball him."
"Cast Protection."
Mike slammed his hands down onto the table. "The Demogorgon is tired of your silly human bickering!"
"I'm tired of your bickering too." Catherine muttered. "But at least the whatever it is isn't real and gets a break from hearing your voices." She rolled her eyes.
"It stomps towards you." Mike continued. "Boom!"
"Fireball him Will!" Lucas yelled.
"Another stomp, boom!"
"Cast Protection." Dustin yelled.
"He roars in anger!"
The boys all continued to yell over one another, telling Will what to do.
"Would you all shut up!" Catherine cried out, having had enough of the racket. At the same time, Will yelled, "Fireball!" and rolled the dice. They all watched as it rolled off the table and onto the floor.
"Oh, shit!" Mike exclaimed as they all stood up to look for the dice.
"Where'd it go?" Lucas asked as they began to search on the floor. "Where is it?" Catherine sat back on the couch, content now that they'd finally stopped yelling.
"I don't know!" Will spoke, answering Lucas's question.
"Henderson, help us look for it!" Lucas yelled, turning towards the eldest Henderson.
"Nope. I wasn't playing and therefore I don't have to help you." Cat retorted, not even bothering to spare a glance from her book.
"Kit, please help us." Dustin begged, pausing his search to look over at her. "Please, please help us look for it."
Cat rolled her eyes, sitting up in her seat. She looked down by her legs, peering at the small area of floor by her feet. Upon seeing nothing, she sat back on the sofa and turned back to her book. "There, I've looked, and I can't see it anywhere near me. You're welcome."
The younger Henderson rolled his eyes at her behaviour. "Is it a 13?" He asked, turning back to his friends.
"I don't know!" Will replied, shrugging his shoulders. “I didn’t see it before it disappeared.”
"Where is it?" Lucas asked again, becoming increasingly frustrated.
"Oh, my God!" Dustin repeated over and over again while he paced the floor of the basement.
"It's just a dice." Cat snapped. "You're panicking over nothing."
"Nothing?! This isn't nothing, Henderson." Lucas shouted at her. "It's a life-or-death situation."
"It really isn't, Sinclair." Cat retorted, just as Mrs. Wheeler yelled Mike's name from upstairs.
The boys continued panicking about the dice while Mrs. Wheeler opened the door to the basement. "Mike!" She called and the boy looked up at her from where he was stood at the bottom of the stairs.
"Mom, we're in the middle of a campaign!" He complained her.
"You mean the end? Fifteen after." Mrs Wheeler told him, pointing to the watch on her wrist before walking away from the basement, Mike running up the stairs behind her to try and plead for more time to finish their campaign.
"Oh, my God! Freaking idiot!" Lucas yelled to no one in particular. After a few more minutes of searching, Will announced to the group that he’d found the dice.
Cat dramatically threw her head backwards against the sofa. “Finally!” She cried, throwing her arms up into the air. “Does that mean we can leave now?” She asked, watching her brother start to grab his jacket.
"No!" Lucas snapped, to which she just rolled her eyes.
"Does the seven count?" Will asked, looking to Lucas.
"It was a seven? Did Mike see it?" Will shook his head. "Then it doesn't count." Lucas told him.
"I believe that's called cheating," Cat stated, marking the page of her book with her bookmark, and putting it in her backpack.
"No one asked you, Henderson." Lucas snapped at her.
While the boys gathered up their belongings and started to head up the basement stairs. Dustin stopped, noticing the pizza box only had a couple of slices left. "Yo, hey, guys." Dustin called to them, and Will and Lucas stopped on the stairs for a moment. "Does anyone want this?"
"No." They both responded, shaking their heads and hurrying up the stairs.
Dustin turned to Cat who had just finished zipping up her backpack and had started putting her arms through the sleeves of her jacket. "You want this, Kit?" He asked, holding the pizza box out towards her.
“No, that’s alright. Thanks though, Dusty. Just leave it here or throw it in the trash." She finished putting her jacket on and started to walk up the stairs, Dustin following behind her.
“I’ll meet you outside. I’m gonna see if Nancy might want it.”
Cat shrugged her shoulders at him. “I doubt it, but that’s sweet of you Dusty. Just make sure you hurry up, alright? Mum wanted us home…” She looked at her watch. “Oh shit. She wanted us home at least an hour ago.”
Dustin nodded, leaving up the stairs to the second floor of the house while Cat headed towards the front door. She made sure to stop in the kitchen and thank Mrs. Wheeler for allowing the boys to hang out in their basement, before heading outside to wait for her brother.
Catherine was just climbing onto her bike when Dustin walked out of the Wheeler's house. "There's something wrong with your sister." He grumbled to Mike who was standing outside while the others got their bikes together.
"What are you talking about?"
"She's got a stick up her butt." Dustin explained.
"Yeah." Lucas agreed. "It's because she's been dating that douchebag, Steve Harrington." He rolled his eyes.
Cat couldn’t help the scoff of agreement that left her lips. Ever since Nancy had started dating the most popular guy in school, Steve Harrington, she barely spoke to Cat about anything else. Every conversation ended up relating back to Steve and it had started to get on Catherine’s nerves.
Steve Harrington used to be her best friend up until he dumped her for popularity when they started high school, and unfortunately, he happened to be the guy that Cat was totally head-over-heels for. A fact that she wouldn’t admit to anyone except her best friend Barbara Holland, and that was only because the redhead had figured it out before she had.
"Yeah," agreed Dustin. "She's turning into a real jerk."
"She's always been a real jerk." Mike argued.
Cat shook her head. “Not true. We used to be able to have conversations that didn’t always involve talking about her boyfriend.”
"Exactly.” Dustin agreed. “She used to be cool. Like that time both she and Kit dressed up as elves for our Elder tree campaign."
"I told you never to speak of that again." Cat muttered as she started to cycle to the end of the Wheeler's driveway.
"That was four years ago!" Mike called out as the boys began to follow Cat down the drive.
"Just saying." Dustin called back as he cycled after his sister, who was now cycling quite fast down the road.
"Later." Lucas called back to Mike with a wave as he disappeared down the hill.
***
The three boys and Cat had been cycling for a short while before they approached Lucas' house. "Good night, ladies. And older Henderson." He called, starting to turn into his driveway.
"Kiss your mom 'night for me." Dustin called to him as they continued to cycle down the road. "Race you back to our house?" He asked Will. "Winner gets a comic."
"Any comic?" Will asked.
"Yeah." Dustin confirmed and the two boys began racing on their bikes down the street.
"You know I could just buy you both one?" Cat called to them, but she didn't get an answer and she began cycling faster to catch up to the two boys she was meant to be looking after.
She cycled as fast as she could down the hill, catching up to Will who was winning the race.
"You sure you don't want me to cycle with you to make sure you get home safely?" She asked him, slightly out of breath from the cycling.
"No thanks, Cat. I think I'll be fine." Will told her.
Cat nodded. "Okay then. Be safe." She called out to him as she stopped her bike next to her family's mailbox. She watched him cycle away, waiting for Dustin to catch up with her before the siblings walked their bikes down the driveway.
***
The next morning, Cat awoke with a bad feeling in her stomach. Deciding that it was probably just irrational anxiety about the upcoming school day, she decided to ignore it and instead just get ready for the day. She threw on a black and white stripped t-shirt and a pair of overalls that she had painted yellow stars onto the front of. Grabbing her toothbrush from the bathroom, she hurriedly squeezed toothpaste on it before shoving it in her mouth to brush her teeth. As she started brushing her teeth, she ran back out of the bathroom and ran down the stairs to the phone. She grabbed the phone off the wall and dialled, pacing back and forth while she waited for the other end to pick up. After a couple of rings, the person at the other end of the phone picked up.
"Jonathan!" Cat greeted her friend down the phone, although you could barely make out what she was saying as her toothbrush was still in her mouth.
"Hey, Cat. What's up? That is you, right?" He asked through the receiver.
Cat ran over to the sink to spit the toothpaste out of her mouth, phone still in hand before she answered. "Yes, it is me. Sorry." She placed her toothbrush next to the sink and begun to run the tap. "For the record, I was brushing my teeth. Also," She stopped running the tap and picked an apple from the fruit bowl, taking a bite from it. "Am I cycling to yours this morning?"
"Yeah sure. I'll give you a lift to school from mine, like usual."
"Sweet. I'll see you soon Byers."
"See you soon, Henderson."
Cat hung up the phone, took another couple of bites from her apple before throwing it in the trash and running back upstairs to her room so she could get her shoes. She grabbed her trainers, shoving her feet into them as quickly as she possibly could before running back out of her room, calling out a goodbye to Dustin and her mom. She shut the front door behind her and hopped onto her bike before racing down the street to the Byers's house, not noticing the porch lights flickering on and off behind her.
***
Roughly twenty minutes later, Cat reached the Byers' house and hopped off her bike. She leaned it against the wall next to the door. Her fingers pushed the doorbell, signalling her arrival. "Its open," called a voice from inside the house, which Catherine recognised as Jonathan's. She pushed open the door and saw her friend standing in the kitchen cooking breakfast.
"Well, that smells nice. What 'cha making?"
Jonathan turned around and smiled at his friend who had perched herself on the kitchen counter next to the back door. He was about to reply when Joyce Byers' voice rang through the house. "Where the hell are they?"
Cat looked at Jonathan in confusion. "Keys." He simply said and Cat nodded her head in understanding.
"Jonathan?" Joyce called out from the living room.
"Check the couch!" He suggested.
"Ugh, I did." It was silent for a moment before Joyce announced that she'd found her keys. She walked into the kitchen just as Jonathan started dishing up the breakfast he had made.
"Hi Mrs. Byers." Cat greeted.
"Oh, hi Catherine. I didn't hear you come in." Joyce walked over to the teen and gave her a hug. "And call me Joyce. You practically live here, anyway, might as well call me 'mom'." She chuckled and Cat let out a short laugh.
Joyce picked her bag up from the table, saying goodbye to her eldest. "Okay, sweetie, I will see you tonight."
"Yeah, see you later."
Joyce went to leave but stopped, realising that Will wasn't in the kitchen. "Where's Will?"
"Oh, I didn't get him up yet." Jonathan turned around to face his mom. "He's probably still sleeping."
Joyce sighed. "Jonathan, you have to make sure he's up!" She stressed.
"Mom, I'm making breakfast."
Joyce shook her head and walked off down the hall towards Will's room. "I told you this a thousand times." Cat heard Joyce say, "Will! Come on, honey. It's time to get up."
"I think it was pretty late when they left last night so he's probably still really tired. I think Dustin was, although I didn't really see him before I rushed out of the house this morning." Cat told Jonathan, raising her voice a little so Joyce could hear her too.
Joyce walked back down the hall to the kitchen. "He came home last night, right?"
"He's not in his room?" Jonathan asked.
"Did he come home or not?" Joyce asked her son.
"I don't know." He replied, placing the plates on the table.
"You don't know?"
"No." Jonathan stammered. "I got home late. I was working."
"You were working?"
"Eric asked if I could cover. I said yeah. I just thought we could use the extra cash."
"Jonathan, we've talked about this." Joyce told him.
"I know, I know."
"You should have called me. I wouldn't have minded babysitting him until you guys got back." Cat spoke up, quietly so as to not involve herself in the arguing.
"You can't take shifts when I'm working." Joyce continued at Jonathan. "Or at least ring Catherine and ask her to babysit. She wouldn't mind." She gestured in the direction of the girl.
"I honestly don't mind looking after Will. Or any of the boys, really." Cat added.
"Mom, it's not a big deal. Look, he was at the Wheeler's all day. I'm sure he stayed over."
Both looked over to Catherine who was still sat on their kitchen counter. “Um, well, not to my knowledge. I cycled with them all home. I even asked Will if he wanted me to cycle back with him to make sure he was okay. He didn't want me to, said he would be fine. But maybe he came back here and grabbed some stuff and headed back to the Wheeler's for the night." She shrugged. "I didn't see his bike outside this morning."
Joyce sighed. "I can't believe you." She mumbled; the words aimed at her Jonathan. She walked over to the phone and dialled the number for the Wheeler household.
Cat had another thought. "Or maybe he left extra early this morning and that's why I didn't see his bike out front." Jonathan shrugged in reply as Joyce started speaking into the phone.
"Hi, Karen. It's Joyce." There was silence for a moment as Karen Wheeler spoke on the other end of the phone. "Was that Will I heard back there?" She asked. "Will didn't spend the night?" She was starting to sound worried. Cat shared a look with Jonathan as if to say, 'I told you so'. "Um, you know what? I think he just left early for... for school."
Catherine threw her hands up in the air as she whispered to Jonathan, "That's exactly what I suggested." Joyce thanked Karen and hung up the phone. She looked really worried.
"I'm really sorry Joyce." Cat hopped off the counter and walked over to the woman to give her a hug. "If I'd just have followed him back here, you would know where he is."
Joyce wrapped her arms around the teenager, "It's okay. We'll find him. It isn't your fault."
Cat pulled away from the hug and looked at the clock. "Shit. I've got to go. Jonathan, are you still able to give me a lift today? I mean I could always cycle to school today. Or... or I could stay and help you look for Will?"
"You get to school dear." Joyce told her. "I'm sure if Jonathan drove you, you'd get there in time."
Jonathan nodded his head, grabbing his car keys and headed outside to his car, telling his mum that he'd be back soon.
"I'll come by after school. I'm sure Will's fine. He's got to be." Catherine gave Joyce one more reassuring hug before rushing outside and jumping into the passenger seat next to Jonathan. She pushed down any guilt that started to bubble up. She should have insisted on walking Will home, then they'd know where he was.
***
A little while later, Jonathan’s car pulled to a stop in the carpark outside Hawkin’s High. Catherine’s hand hovered over the door handle as she undid her seatbelt. “Thanks for giving me a lift, Jonathan. You didn’t have to. I know you’ve got a lot going on today.” She grabbed hold of her bag from between her feet, pushing the door open slightly.
“It’s no problem, honestly. Besides, it’s our routine and I was gonna drive into town anyway.”
Cat hummed, pushing the car door open further and placing one foot on the tarmac. “I take it you’re not coming into school today.” She turned her head to look at him and the boy shook his head. “Well, I’ll pass on any work that you miss.”
Jonathan smiled at her. “Thanks, Cat.”
Catherine nodded at him. “No problem.” She gathered her belongings into her arms and stepped out into the chilly November air.
“Hey, do you need a home this evening?” Jonathan called, just as she was about to shut the door.
“Oh shit, I left my bike at yours.” Cat sighed. “Yeah, I probably will. But if you can’t, I’ll get the bus. See you later Byers.” She waved with her free hand as she slammed the car door shut.
"See you later Henderson." Jonathan called, sending her a wave as he drove off.
Catherine took a moment to herself before she turned and began heading into the school. Spotting Nancy just a few feet in front of her, she called out for her friend. "Hey, Wheeler!" She called, shoving past people in order to reach the girl. "Hey, Nancy! Wait up!”
Nancy finally heard her and stopped walking, turning around to face Cat. "Oh, hey Cat. I didn't see you."
"Or hear me, apparently.” Cat chuckled.
Before either of the two could say anything else, Barbara fell in line with the two of them and began walking on Nancy’s other side. "So, did he call?" She asked.
"Did who call?" Cat asked them, not understanding.
"Steve. And keep your voice down, Barb."
“Ah, yes. Of course, Steve.” She sighed, rolling her eyes. When were they not talking about Nancy's significant other, Catherine's ex-best friend and secret crush?
"Did he?" Barbara asked, nudging Nancy’s arm.
"Yeah, Nancy, did your pretty little boyfriend call?" Cat asked, clearly mocking the girl. She didn't mean to, but it was becoming annoying with how often Nancy talked about Steve Harrington.
"I told you, it's not like that." Barbara gave Nancy a look, knowing she was lying. "Okay, I mean, yes, he likes me, but not like that."
"Then like what? How does he like you if it's not 'like that'?" Cat asked. "I've seen him look at you and it's very clear how much he likes you."
The three girls approached Nancy's locker. "We just... made out a couple times." Nancy told the two other girls as she opened her locker. Catherine leaned on the locker next to Nancy's, watching her friends.
"'We just... made out a couple times.'" Barbara mocked Nancy, using a dreamy voice. "Nance, seriously, you're gonna be so cool now, it's ridiculous."
"No, I'm not." Nancy disagreed.
"You are. You totally are, Wheeler." Cat told her, looking completely bored as she leaned on the locker next to her friend’s.
"You better still hang out with us, that's all I'm saying."
Cat nodded her head. “Yeah, I can’t afford to lose another friend to the popular asshole clique.” She half joked.
"If you become friends with Tommy H. or Carol-" Barb started, being quickly cut off by Nancy.
Nancy shook her head, waving her hand at the pair. "Oh, that's gross. Okay, I'm telling you, it was a one-time..." Both girls raised their eyebrows at Nancy. "Two-time thing."
Cat rolled her eyes as she watched Nancy pull a note out of her locker. "What's that you got there, Wheeler?" She teased.
Both Barbara and Cat leant over their friend’s shoulder to read the scrawny handwriting: “Meet me. Bathroom. -Steve.”
“You were saying?” Barbara asked, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. She smiled teasingly at the small blush forming on Nancy’s cheeks.
Catherine excused herself from the two girls. "I've got to go. See you two later." She couldn't help it, she couldn't help the feeling of jealousy that was bubbling up inside her. She hated it. She hated how jealous she was because Nancy got to date Steve Harrington, the guy Cat had been practically in love with since they started high school (even if he did dump her for popularity). It was ridiculous, feeling like this when her friend was just simply being happy. But, Nancy was getting a better status while Cat was still being picked on and bullied by everyone else except her three friends- Jonathan, Barbara and Nancy. And though Steve wasn’t one of the people that picked on her, he didn’t exactly stop his friends who did. Hell, most days he didn’t even acknowledge her existence.
Cat pushed her way through the crowds of students to the bathroom on the opposite side of the school, not wanting to be anywhere near where Nancy was meeting Steve. She shoved open the door to the stall furthest from the entrance and sunk down to the floor. She locked the door before burying her face in her knees, forcing herself to not let the tears fall from her eyes. They would be stupid tears anyway. It’s not like Nancy knew of her crush on Steve, the poor girl wasn’t doing anything wrong. She was simply going after a boy she liked, and Cat was trying so hard to be supportive of her friend, but she couldn’t sit through any more conversations that circled back to being about Steve. It was becoming too much.
But the tears began to fall anyway, and pretty quickly she found herself crying in the girls’ toilet. Her thoughts drifted to poor, small Will Byers and she couldn’t help but feel guilty for his disappearance. She was supposed to have cycled him home. That was her job as the group’s unofficial babysitter. But she let him cycle home on his own against her better judgement, and now his family didn’t know where he was. How could she visit their house again, how could she show her face to the Byers knowing it was her fault that Will wasn’t there with them.
She let the tears fall until the bell rang to signal the second period of the day. She ripped off some of the toilet paper, making sure to wipe both her eyes and her nose, before picking herself up off the floor. “Pull yourself together.” She whispered to herself, hand hovering over the door handle. “There’s no need to be jealous of Nancy. They’re gonna find Will. He’s gonna come home. They’ll find him.” She repeated the last phrase in her head over and over as she unlocked the stall door and washed her hands. “Everything’s gonna be okay.”
***
“Ah, man. This is it.” Lucas sighed as the cycled down the hill towards the woods. After being pestered by the boys once they’d all arrived home from school, Catherine had agreed to come out and help them look for Will. It didn’t take much to get her to agree to help. The guilt was beginning to eat her up inside and she didn’t want any of the other boys to disappear while looking for their friend, especially not her brother. It would kill her. The only problem was that she had unfortunately forgotten to grab a jacket before Dustin had dragged her out of the house to meet the other two outside Mike’s house.
They came to a stop at the edge of the woods where there was a piece of police tape strung between the trees. Cat let out a sigh as she dismounted her old bike. "You three stay close. Okay? I'm not having any more of you kids going missing. Not while I'm around. You got it?" They all nodded. "Especially you Dustin.” She pointed to her younger brother. “Mom would kill me."
Dustin nodded his head at her, jumping off his own bike. "Hey, guys. You feel that?" He asked the others as thunder rumbled in the distance. "I think maybe we should go back."
"No." Mike said, determined to find their friend. "We're not going back. Just stay close, like Cat said. Come on. Just stay on channel six. Don’t do anything stupid." He parked his bike before starting to walk through the forest and the rest followed, leaving their bikes behind.
"Hey, Mike." Cat called out to him after a few minutes. "Did Nancy have any plans tonight? It's just, she rarely hangs out with me outside school anymore."
The younger Wheeler shrugged his shoulders, glancing back at her. "Um, all I know was that I saw Steve climbing through her window when I left." Cat couldn’t help the frustrated sigh that left her lips.
"Do you have a crush on him, or something?" Lucas questioned her. She simply rolled her eyes at him, deciding to give a verbal response.
"Kit's like totally in love with him." Dustin blurted out.
"I'm gonna kill you, Dustin." Cat muttered angrily, shaking her head disappointedly at him.
Mike pulled a face of disgust as he looked over to her. "You're in love with Steve Harrington? He's an asshole." He pointed out to her, rolling his eyes.
Catherine sighed softly. “Yeah, I know. I know he is.” She turned sharply towards her brother. “Dustin, you are so dead for telling them. That was a secret.”
"How was I meant to know it was a secret?!" Dustin argued back to her. “You never specified!” The two siblings began to bicker as the group walked further into the forest.
***
The rain had begun to fall a lot harder with the sound of thunder growing louder the deeper they walked into the woods. Drenched head to toe, Cat was cursing herself for forgetting to wear her coat. With each step the group took, they yelled out the name of their friend. And the more that their voices echoed around the dark trees, the more the that Cat’s worry grew.
"Guys, I really think we should turn back." Dustin spoke up after a while of finding no sign of Will.
Cat nodded her head, wiping drops of rain from her face. "I agree. It's not safe out here." She wrapped her arms around herself in hopes that she would be slightly less cold. She wasn’t.
"Seriously, Hendersons?" Lucas snapped at the siblings, annoyed they were already willing to give up their search. "You wanna be a baby, then go home already!"
"We're just being realistic, Lucas!" Dustin yelled back while Cat simply scowled at the younger boy.
"No, you're just being a big sissy!" Lucas shot back.
“No! You’re not being realistic, Lucas. It’s dark and it’s beginning to storm.” Cat shouted over the noise of the rain and thunder. “We’re not gonna have a good chance of finding Will like this. There’s more chance of us ending up like Will than finding him by wandering around the woods at night!” She stressed to him.
"Do you ever think Will went missing because he ran into something bad?" Dustin asked them out of the blue.
"Don't say that. God, please, just don't suggest that." Catherine pleaded, hoping that wasn't the case and he was just seriously lost. She didn't think she could live with her herself if something seriously bad had happened to him. If only she'd just insisted to walk him all the way home... She leant her back against a nearby tree, holding her head in her hands.
"And we're going to the exact same spot where he was last seen?" Dustin continued.
“This is a bad idea.” Cat muttered into her hands, shaking her head. “This is the worst idea any of you have ever had.” She straightened herself, grabbing hold of Lucas’ arm and beginning to turn around with the intention of heading back to where they’d left their bikes.
"Henderson, what the fuck are you doing?" Lucas shouted, yanking his arm out of her hold.
"I'm taking you guys back. And you're all going to go home." She ran a hand through her sopping wet hair. "I knew this was a bad idea. God, why didn't I stop you three? Why didn't I just cycle home with Will and made sure he got home alright? Ugh, this is all my fault. This is all my fault."
"May I remind you that we have no weapons, or anything. At all." Dustin pointed out as the boys ignored Catherine’s demanded to turn back.
"Dustin, shut up." Mike said to the curly haired boy as they continued to walk further into the woods.
"I'm just saying, does that seem smart to you?"
"Dustin’s right. This isn’t smart.” Cat voiced her opinion. “Why don’t we come back in the morning when it’s light out and hopefully not raining. Or, you know, let the police do their jobs and look for Will themselves.” She shrugged her shoulders sarcastically.
"Shut up. Shut up." The group finally stopped bickering and they heard what Mike had been trying to listen for. Somewhere nearby was the rustling of leaves. “Do you guys hear that?" More rustling could be heard, and the group quickly pointed their torches at the trees. Cat stood in front of the boys to make sure whatever was near them couldn't harm them. There was more rustling, and the group sharply turned to their right to see a girl stood in a long, drenched t-shirt, eyes wide with fear. At least, she looked like a girl- it was difficult to tell between the dim light and her shaved head.
#stranger things#steve harrington#steve harrington x oc#there's no place like hawkins#stranger things season 1#steve harrington fanfic#nancy wheeler#barbara holland#dustin henderson#steve harrington x henderson!oc#mike wheeler#lucas sinclair#will byers#jonathan byers#joyce byers#friends to lovers#sort of enemies to lovers??? i guess#ex best friends to lovers
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opinion: ro’s character might be a lot more useful narrative-wise if her being a microbiologist wasn’t just acknowledged, but explored.
in the books, we see her show the characters (and consequently, the reader) that she knows what she’s doing, and that ogres pride themselves on having a lot of knowledge when it comes to microbiology. particularly using that knowledge to make effective weapons, both almost harmless and lethal.
but there’s so much more potential w/ ogre microbiology than just them having good weapons because of it. ogres (authorities, at least, like ro) being interested enough in expanding their microbiology knowledge that they’d be willing to collaborate more with other species? like how they cooperated with lady cadence on figuring out how soporidine works? it could open so many doors!
we could have ro branching out to make ‘trial run’ alliances with other species (like elves, goblins, and most importantly, gnomes) to do joint studies of how certain things work on a microscopic and ‘normal’ scale. we could see that her being a princess doesn’t just mean she’s a good fighter and that she’s got connections, but she can also be a diplomat. it’d make her being in the lost cities a lot more important, plus, it’d be a great chance for shannon to flex some worldbuilding. ro could also flesh out connections she’s made in the lost cities (like with sophie’s bodyguards [i’m thinking of flori and sandor in particular] and elvin authorities she’s had to deal w/ like mr. forkle and the council) through sharing or gaining knowledge as a microbiologist.
using ro as a character-driven plot device, ogres could add ‘willing to cooperate even with creatures we have negative history with for science’ to their reputation among other enlightened species. it’d make ogres more nuanced, and maybe, if shannon decided to go this route, cause problems for elves who claim their interspecies role is being peacekeepers.
#i am having brainworms about the untapped potential of ro as a character ok#i wanna see her be more than the stand-in for wattpad sokeefe girlies!!#believe it or not this is the shorter version of what i originally wrote#like. she doesn't have to give up being an excellent warrior!! she doesn't have to give up being snarky!!#but she can be less 'oh look what i know and you don't hahaha LOSER'#and more 'listen if i give you this info will you tell me how this works?'#and it'd be so much more interesting!#also her maybe bonding with elwin over biology would be SUCH a win#strangers to 'you seem cool and we're also the closest keefe has to parental figures of sorts so we're bros now'#like. c'mon. it'd be so great man#also i keep picturing ro picking up flori and putting her on her shoulder#and walking around wildwood and going 'tell me how this works from your pov'#after pointing at some gnomish phenomenon#and then listening to flori ramble#and then when she's done going 'alright. that sounds funky in a good way. wanna see what science has to add?'#and then ro whips out a microscope she just has bundled up in one of her ten million pockets and runs a mini experiment with flori#manipulating the plant to do something and ro looking in the microscope and adding commentary on how that works on a cellular level#and them becoming friends!! perhaps. maybe even. because i have accidentally dug myself into a new rarepair hell. lovers#ogre queen ro being independent on the throne is something i love and is realistic#but it'd also be fun from a fanon point to have her just have a gnomish gf. or permanent fiancee. or wife#like. oh yeah i killed the guy my dad forced me to marry so i could get the throne after my dad died.#yeah i'm committed to this cute little gnome that i met because our charges were dating back when i was a bodyguard#pleeeeease. ro's snark + flori's genuine attitude towards everything?? them bringing out their main traits in each other??#plus the fucking HEIGHT DIFFERENCE?? it'd be so cute oh my god#as a lesbian of short stature i think flori deserves a tall buff lady to sweep her off her feet#also flori sweeping ro off her feet using a tree or something would be funny as FUCK#might ramble on ro and sandor tolerating each other better because of studying how transforming a corpse to gold works and then expanding#that concept to apply to other things would be cool to see#kotlc#keeper of the lost cities
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dark codependent buddie you say?👀
I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about Buck and Eddie being obsessed freaks who like to stab and cut each other and smear each other with the other's blood in the name of love
#Thematically I'm very intrigued by the idea of mutual consumption as an act of love (i.e. drinking your lover's blood/cannibalism/etc)#so I'd like to play with that with Buddie. Not as a proper fic but just a sort of exploration of what that would look like with them#and how the shooting STILL would have rattled them to the core despite their bloodplay because Eddie's blood was spilled by the hand of a#stranger rather than Buck or Eddie's own hand#ANYWAYS#dark codependent buddie au
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I really saw Thanatos and was like *points* I want that one
#it’s about the close friendship that I’d be fine with any sort of relationship as long as their friends!!!#this is a post i made#hades#like I looked up the romancable characters and it’s either strangers to lovers enemies to lover or friends to lovers and ftl is my jam
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emet-selch brainrot
#spoilers#tag later#still thinking abt when we first enter etheirys n#emet-selch as 'familiar voice' and hythlodaeus as 'familiar stranger'#I LOVE THEIR DYNAMIC SO MUCH AS WELL#UHH i'm an azemet shipper but#there's smth really comforting thinking about. emet-selch n hyth as friends to lovers. i think dynamics w that are cute#oh no#i'm in philosophy class rn n#i think i'm gna be overwhelmed#bcs i think about this sort of thing a lot n it's really hard for me to put into words bcs it's really complex in my head#i think a lot. i have a lot to write about.#it's. weird. bcs i can think both simply and complexly#more like i think my thought process is really deep & i have the self-awareness to yeah#but i can break it down to smaller bits#only when my mental health is good enough for that though lmfao#i wld consider myself on the way to becoming a wise person i think#i have the potential to reach great heights. but as young as i yet am i still have a lot more to learn and experience#that curiosity n desire i have to keep on learning n to understand more helps me forge ahead unto tomorrow#aaaa that aside as well tho i have realized that#most ppl i know my age don't think as deeply or introspectively or as reflectively as i do#n even for those who are. they lack a certain openness still#it's rather painful though for people like me bcs#i can't live simply. i can't force my mind on just a singular aspect of life#they say intelligent ppl are lonelier right? :')#i don't really know if i have a place where i really belong#in society or wtvr yes i have my family and friends to return to. i love them all. but it's still just lonely at heart#i love being alone but i think it just gets tiring when i feel lonely bcs i don't want to feel left behind :/#maybe if i just keep on writing more i'll gradually understand more
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Fan-Chosen BTS fics #3 - March 2024 - Day 3
to be loved (and to be in love)
AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30372618
Author: fdngfst
Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Relationships: Park Jimin/Kim Taehyung
Status: Completed
Chapters: 1/1 (10336 words)
Tags: Flower Shop AU, Tattoo Artist AU
Summary:
Jimin followed behind Yoongi inside but quickly stopped in his tracks when he saw who was at the counter—Kim Taehyung, the former love of his life, that broke his heart, that never thought he would see him again.
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or, Jimin's flower shop is finally doing better than ever until his former best friend and love of his life opens up a tattoo shop next to it.
AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30372618
#bts fic rec#bangtan fic rec#fan chosen bts fics#fan chosen bts fics 3#to be loved (and to be in love)#fdngfst#vmin#vmin fic rec#flower shop au#tattoo artist au#it's also kind of friends to strangers/enemies to lovers?#sort of#10k-20k
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