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kaypeace21 · 3 years

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Crash-course for all the evidence of Will creating the mindflayer/upsidedown

* Honestly I’ve talked about this stuff in my did theories- where I explained how the upsidedown/mf/ the lab subjects/ and russians all connect back to Will creating them. But since so may people assume that Will got his powers from the upsidedown/mf rather than Will creating it all subconsciously (with his powers). Thought i’d do a short analysis of just that connection (without boggling it down with those other plot lines that are interconnected) . *So I’m not mentioning the lights -because it interconnects with the numbers/lab.I’m just going to list every example in short succession from every season for brevity’s sake (so it won’t be structured as eloquently as prior analyses).

refresher of how Will influences the mf/upsidedown ...

S1)

Will ( in s1e1) says to Dustin if he could have any comic it would be the xmen. Dustin later says "do you think - el was born with her powers like the xmen? " Will plays a d&d game saying the demogorgan got him -so it does irl. Will writes stories where bad guys weakness are fire so the mf/ demogorgans are lit on fire in s1-3 (and it's their weakness). Will watches poltergeist so Will is forced to be the child character in that film- who was trapped in a alternative dimension and could only speak to their mother through tech. The demogrgan is said to resemble a shark by nancy-mathcing Will’s Jaws movie poster in his room. in s1 Mr clarke describes the vale of shadows (later the upsidedown) as being created by “necrotic” (’dead’-zombie boy) and “shadow” (shadow monster/mf) “magic”. In d&d the Vale of Shadows, is as a lush valley hidden in the mountains that holds a sacred pool with the power to make dreams reality. In d&d the demogorgan is literally called the "deep father" in d&d Nancy also says the demogorgan is like a “lion” the meaning of the name Lonnie- is literally “lion”. We see it attack Will when using lonnie's gun (in lonnie's shed). And it knocks the bat out of Jonathan's hand too. (Baseball/hunting were taught by their dad lonnie). The demogorgan also hurts a deer- mirroring Jonathan's story about how Lonnie forced him to kill a rabbit and how this upset him as he was a fan of the rabbit character from the film bambi.. El when she first sees the demogorgan also sees it eating it’s own eggs-aka symbolically the father hurting his own children. Will's password for cb is rhadagast a wizard who protects Wildlife (the opposite of Hunter-lonnie/the demogorgan).

Duffers cited as inspo the silent hill videogames): And in s1 Hopper named dropped the character Alessa’s last name. “The bad guys faked Alessa’s death. Kaufmann prepared a substitute body of alessa; and performed the fake autopsy (like Will) . Alessa had precognition (future/intuition-like will the wise is said to have in s3) and pyrokinesis (firepowers mentioned Will the wise has in s1). Alessa’s latent psychic abilities are triggered and she shrouds Silent Hill in fog and an altered reality to prevent her ab*sive parent’s schemes from advancing. Many of the drastic changes that befall the town in the game, such as the horrific creatures that come to inhabit it, are conjured from her imagination and delusions. “

Will also says in s1ep1 he wants xmen 134-about the dark phoenix saga. ‘dark phoenix’ - has pyrokinesis ( fire powers-like Will the wise). And the dark phoenix also “was able to warp reality on a universal scale”. One of the phoenix’s host was even the god Thor (god of lightning-an element Will is associated with a lot in s2)

(in s1 Will also spit up a slug- in d&d putting a slug in a humanoid can create/turn that humanoid into a mf. foreshadowing Will being posessed/becoming the mf in s2. ).

S2)

Will plays digdug (a videogame about underground tunnels) so the mf creates tunnels. Will's dog dies so demogogans become demo-dogs. He also watches Ghostbusters- where a character is possessed by the ‘gate keeper’ and can control demon dogs. So this happens to Will too -similar to s1 with poltergeist .In s1 , Hopper even mentions the book Cujo about a violent dog, who is replaced by a new dog named ‘Willie’ (to allude to this).In s1 we see Mike holding a drawing of Will’s- where Will's wizard has lightning powers (coming from his hand). everytime Will uses tech in s1, the phones explode and lighting appears out of them- hopper makes a BBQ joke about the burned phones.later in s2 the mf has these same lightning abilities and the lab technician makes the same BBQ joke.Joyce even describes the tunnels of the mf/ that Will’s draws as “like lightning.” We also see the russians eviserated by lightning next season too.

A lab tech calls Will a wizard-and they monitor his brain waves, record him on video, just like they did to El .(when the mf first appears at Will’s house- the lab techs even notice ). The drawing of the mf is next to a baseball (Lonnie ref) and Will says it was a drawing for a story he wrote. In s2 Nancy describes the mindflayer (but she’s actually describing Will).“So this thing is like a brain that’s controlling everything.”Because it’s not the mindflayers’ brain - it’s Will’s brain controlling everything. ( a “hive mind” aka the mf/WILL share a brain ). Owens in s2e1 (BEFORE the mf possession) says Will's ‘anniversary affect’ would make him remember “tra*matic memories” and “OPEN the neurological flood GATES” (aka Will’s neurological GATES are the gates between the real world and upsidedown - which are connected to the mf).

Owens in s2e1 (after mentioning the “gates”) even says Will's ‘anniversary affect’ / “tr*umatic memories” would cause temporary “personality changes”for Will (the later mf possession) . I mean... Owens wasn’t entirely wrong was he? Will even feels the back of his neck in s2 and says it has to do with “memories” ...and in s3 feeling the back of his neck meant Will was sensing the mf. Similarly, before his possession-mr clarke mentions phineus gage who after an accident had a “complete change to his personality” (and the shot pans to Will).

Nancy even calls the mind flayer the “mind-flamer”- hinting at it’s connection to Will the wise who has fire powers). And Dustin says the mf “takes over minds with it’s highly developed psyionic abilities “ And to “summon an undead army... cause the mindflayer loves brains ” ( and in s3 the mf creates a undead army by taking over people’s brains). Hopper even says “So how do we kill this thing shoot it with fireballs ?” (which destroys the flesh-monster in s3) ”

S3)

Will (the “zombie boy”) writes a story about juju zombies after watching a film about zombies at starcourt in s3 - then the mf creates a undead army -which was also foreshadowed in s2 (and similar to Will’s s3 d&d story). We also see Will wrote this d&d story in front of "the thing" poster. So the mf creates a flesh monster resembling the creature in that film too. We also see someone get bit (el) like in Will's story and when his friends retcon his ending to be about “sacrificing themselves via explosion (Hopper).” Will just says “fine you win” (so it ends that way).Also, the shadow monster is now called the Mindflayer - and mimics the mf from d&d (both can control rats with their powers in the show/game).

Will in s2-3 grabs the back of his neck and he attributed it to “memories”, “dreams”, and sensing the mf. Will created castle byers after his dad left and he grabs the bat in cb which was next to the Will the wise drawing (similar to how the baseball was next to the mf drawing in s2) and destroys cb with said bat . Then Will touches his neck and admits the mf has returned. EVERY moment Will senses the mf can be loosely connected to Lonnie. Lonnie used to call him h*mophobic sl*rs so anytime he subconsciously thinks of his feelings towards Mike the mf appears-1st time it’s on one of their ‘movie dates’, 2nd time when Mike and El walk off together down the hill to make-out, 3rd time right after he smashed castle byers after Mike says “it’s not my fault you don’t like girls”, 4th time (after the fight with Mike) when Billy is yelling to open the door (a trigger) and confides in Mike, 5th time when Mike asks him to go away so he can talk to El in the hospital waiting area, and 6th time when Mike says he loves El. The 7th time is when Jonathan is fixing up a car -something Lonnie used to do.Lonnie fixes up cars as a hobby-showing his remodeled car to Jonathan in s1 . Will then senses the mf and grabs his neck-which he said are connected to old “memories”. max and Mike are silent until Jonathan says says “got it (the distributor)”. Then Mike screams for his older sibling. We also see in s1 Jonathan checked to see if Lonnie threw Will in his trunk- something the mf does to some of his victims in s3.

Dustin and susie sing “never ending story”- which is literally about a seemingly normal boy named Sebastian with a bowl cut (from a single parent home) subconsciously making a fantasy world being invaded by a dark force (representing the loss of hope/dreams) that only his imagination powers can fix . “make believe i’m everywhere ... what you dream will be...Rhymes that keep their secrets Will unfold behind the clouds.And there upon a rainbow Is the answer to a never ending story” . Cough-Will’s rainbow ship he CREATED.Both times the lyric plays “Rhymes that keep their secrets WILL “ ( it pans to Will).

The film also follows a false chosen one who everyone says is supposed to save fantasia- named Atreyu (el). Specifically, for that plotwist that Sebastian (Will) has to be the one to do so , not Atreyu (who sebastian subconsciously created). In the novel/film-Atreyu ( the child who was deemed the ‘chosen one) is knocked from Falkor’s back, and into the sea of possibilities. There he wakes on the shore of abandoned ruins.

“There Gmork (The Mindflayer) reveals himself, having been lying in wait.And then latches his jaws onto Atreyu’s leg.”

-Before the duet, Susie tells dusin she’s reading “ a wizard of earthsea” and says ged is about to save his world. The book is about a boy-wizard named Ged (Will) who casts a powerful spell, but the spell goes awry and instead he releases a shadow creature! The new Archmage, Gensher, describes the shadow as an ancient evil that wishes to possess Ged. But the ‘shadow’ turns out to be a representation of the darkest aspects of his personality. And the only way for the world to be saved is for the 2 to merge and for Ged to accept himself .

-Will says he’s a wizard ( writing on a music tape in s3 “will the wise-wizard mix’ and having his password for castle byers be ‘rhadaghast’- a lotr wizard). The way they describe d&d Wizards matches Will/mindflayer perfectly “Wizards are adepts and magicians who combine according to the type of their spells. Relying on the subtle weaves of magic that permeate the universe, wizards are able to create spells of explosive fire, sparking lightning, subtle deception, and gross mind control. Their magic summons monsters from other planes of existence, predicts the future, and turns defeated enemies into zombies. Their most powerful spells can transform one substance into another, summon meteors from the sky, and open portals to other worlds” (all these powers Will the wise/mf are implied to have)

- Stranger things d&d comic (published post s3) : Will creating a illusion army of monsters -as Will the wizard.

- stranger writers twitter reffed several movies which discuss artist/writer WILLiam Blake who helped make the art exhibit “worlds turned upsidedown”

possible reason for the flayed eating chemicals& fertilizer (in s3)

full link/credits here. Lonnie’s gf has a biker shirt from Harley davidson- with the eagle logo and their saying “live to ride’. Which would imply lonnie is also in such biker circles. Harley davidson in the 80s had dr*g gangs too (primarily m*th).

One reason m*th is so prevalent in rural areas is that it can be formulated, or “cooked,” by small producers and one of the ingredients is readily found on most farms – anhydrous AMMONIA fertilizer. Both farmers and chemical suppliers have experienced thefts of anhydrous particularly in the Midwest.“

WHICH REMINDS ME OF the FLAYED EATING FERTILIZER AND CHEMICALS IN S3 . Nancy even says farmers/chem suppliers are having fertilizer stolen! And she later thinks flayed tom was on drugs- “A mysterious case of the missing fertilizer- a Nancy Drew Mystery”. This is also in the same season one character (who looks a bit like Lonnie) is a biker is corrupting the town.

Will creating /basing the supernatural from suppressed memories -means it’s from a very young child’s perspective . young Will would equate people eating chemicals, ammonia fertilizer, and ammonia... to using those SAME chemicals to create m*th and then physically consuming them . Why we see mrs driscoll eating fertilizer & Billy drinking ammonia.

The reason the flayed started behaving differently is probably because in s2 Will was forcibly injected with a needle & woken up with ammonia by Hopper-jogging some of those old memories.

EVEN Nancy’s proof Tom is on dr*gs is a symptom of m*th use or withdrawl from it-excessive sweating (like all the flayed in s2-3). M*th causes hyperthermia (body is at a higher temp than usual)-so they like it cold!!!!! Even clammy hands that she mentioned is a symptom of m*th use. in children it can even cause seizures- like Will :(

And when m*th is made via fertilizer it first is made into a highly corrosive liquid which is sometimes green-like the Russian lab.“six pounds of toxic waste is created for every pound of m*th manufactured. The waste is often dumped on farms, in rivers and and is harmful to the environment.” Like all the chemical leaks relating to Hawkins lab/mf that affected the crops in s2/this pic of water in s3.

m*th was even called ‘bathroom crank’-which is sketchy given the bathtub is what mf fears and how the sensory deprivation tank is also called a ‘tub’ by el . Becky even said Brenner would get terry high and throw her in the tank/tub.

It also does take some chemisty knowledge to COVERT various substances (including fertilizer and other chemicals) to make m*th- which reminds me of the kids saying they can convert one substance into another (when explaining why the possessed are eating chemicals)- they say they’re making a new chemical “in themselves”

other hints

Will’s b day is march 22 . Which is when “fire burns most brightly” and his ‘birthday number is number 7′ (”it was a 7 the demogorgan it got me′) . The number 7 is specifically associated with “wisdom and psychic abilities”. His b day even adds up to 7 (3+2+2).His horoscope is also influenced by the shadow god-ketu (who is also associated with wisdom and psychic abilities too).

* There’s way more details/depth/ other st inspirations in my DID analyses -specifically pt 2. (where i discuss how the mf/upsidedown connects to the numbers/russians- and also specifially Will).But this is just a crash course about the flayed/upsideown/it’s creatures connect to Will.

People will dismiss all of this as just the Duffers liking to reference random things they like/ and foreshadow via d&d without any in universe reason. but I really think that’s a disappointing explanation/outcome. Especially the predictable cliche theory that the mf is just experiment #1. Not only is it boring, cliche, and predictable af- but it doesn’t line up as well with the mental health themes mentioned in ever season.Will created everything via tr*uma cause of his dad- and overcomes this: is not only a “twist” that will make rewatching more enjoyable given all the hints- it’s more narratively sound given how much the series touches on themes such as overcoming tra*ma, mental health, and problematic fathers. The #1/ex experiment=mf theory doesn’t explain why they made the supernatural connect to Will in this way . And with such a boring cliche ending it would quickly be forgotten like other big sci-fi/fantasy shows that quickly lost relevancy after being popular: like heros, g.o.t, etc.One makes the show cliche another makes it remembered for decades (ex: jacob’s ladder).

#will byers #stranger things #byler #byeler #stranger things theory #did theory

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chloelucia13 · 3 years

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Chapter 18: E Pluribus Unum

Pairing: Jonathan Byers x female!Henderson!reader

Prompt: You always thought Hawkins was the most boring town of all, stuck in a vacuum void of excitement and entertainment. Well, it seems that way until the world decided to flip upside down, literally.

Chapter Summary: The horrid night at the hospital brought up many worries about you, especially for Jonathan. With the party’s advice, Nancy and Jonathan devise a plan to hopefully get you back to normal.

Word Count: 3720

Warnings: pretty angsty, a little fluff, language, violence, gore, discussions of possession and lack of autonomy, mentions of death, different perspective in italics

A/N: We’re getting close to the end of season 3! I’m thinking I’m gonna space these episode rewrites between some extra scenes I couldn’t fit into the story and some individual one shots, but let me know what you think! As always, my in box and tag lists and requests are all open! Love you!

Tags: @just-my-fandom @nightbu-g @neemonroe

As Nancy and Jonathan watched the creature shift form and trickle through the vents in the door, panic flooded through their veins.

Jonathan contemplated running back to you and waking you up, to beg for you to take control of that thing and save Nancy. But as he thought about it, the image of your panicked face flashed in front of his eyes. He saw how fearful you were that you were losing control, that you might put everyone at risk.

Ultimately, he decided that you being asleep was for the better, but that didn’t make this situation any easier.

He heard a thud from inside the room as he gripped onto an oxygen tank and began to ram it into the door handle to try and break it off. After that proved fruitless, he shifted his efforts to the glass window in the door, watching the webbing cracks grow longer and longer but the glass still didn’t cave.

The creature let out a blood-curdling roar as a herd of footsteps approached Jonathan. Defeatedly, he stumbled back and tried to heave in a few breaths as Eleven stepped up to the door and tore it from its hinges. As the door crashed to the ground, the creature turned to screech at the group that was herded in the doorway.

“Jesus,” Mike gasped as Max hissed out a hushed “what the fuck” under her breath.

The creature rushed towards El, who was now a few steps inside the room, and she quickly swung her hand to the side, effortlessly tossing the creature against the wall. Then another wall. And then the ceiling.

Screams fell from El’s lips and the monster’s pincer-like jaws as it collided with the floor, though it quickly gained its composure and scrambled to its legs. It began to crawl forward with a vengeance, but Eleven threw her hands forward and sent the creature flying out the window.

As soon as they heard the splat of the creature hitting the pavement, Jonathan rushed into the room to check on Nancy while the party rushed down the stairs. Once she gave Jonathan a reassuring nod that she was, in fact, okay, they followed the party down the stairs and out to the parking lot where the creature laid.

The creature dissolved into that strange coagulation of guts and gore once more before inching over to a storm drain and dripping down into the tunnels.

Once there was to remnants of the creature lingering on the asphalt, Jonathan’s worry shifted to you, who was still on the abandoned floor of the hospital.

“Y/N,” he spoke, quickly turning on his heel and heading back inside.

“She’s in there?” Max asked incredulously, her eyes tracking Jonathan as he nodded quickly before disappearing behind the hospital doors.

His footsteps echoed throughout the stairwell as he rushed up the stairs two at a time, pushing through the door to the third floor. Panic was clouding his brain, hoping that you were still there and you hadn’t slipped away before he could try and help you. God, he just wanted to make you okay again. Make you you again.

As he rounded the corner to the room where you laid, he could barely even feel his feet from how overused they were. Nevertheless, he pushed forward, calling your name as he entered the room.

Luckily, you were still on the floor, and the inky veins seemed to have faded from your skin. You were so still, so motionless, though, as you laid on the cold linoleum that it worried Jonathan.

He gently knelt beside you and rolled you onto your back, one hand cupping your cheek while the other felt for a pulse on your neck. Once he felt the stead thrumming under his fingertips, he let out a sigh of relief. His hand left your cheek to brush a few strands of hair away from your face, letting his eyes soak in your relaxed features for only a moment before pulling you into his arms and lifting you off of the floor.

***

Your eyes began to flutter open from the movement, a small sigh falling from your parted lips. “Jonathan?” you whispered, panic beginning to seep into your veins.

He glanced down at you as he walked, each limping step making your head loll slightly. “Hey, it’s okay,” he hummed, clearly sensing the anxiety that had took hold.

Your gaze flickered over every bruise that marred his face. “I’m so sorry, Jonathan. I couldn’t take control. I couldn’t stop it.”

He shook his head. “It’s okay. We’re gonna get this thing out of you.”

You shook your head fervently, gripping onto his shirt. “Jonathan, you can’t. I’m gonna hurt you. I don’t have enough energy to keep the flayer at bay.” To say that you didn’t have enough energy was a sever understatement, though. You felt as though you’d been awake for days and had just run a marathon. Your body was screaming for sleep, your eyelids already beginning to droop.

“It’s gonna be okay.”

“Jonathan, I don’t want to hurt you. Please.”

As he stepped out of the stairwell and through the exit of the hospital, he softly shushed you. Your mouth opened to argue, to beg for him to leave you and protect himself, but it fell shut along with your eyelids as the gentle rocking of his steps and his voice lulled you to sleep.

***

The drive to Hopper’s cabin was tense and silent, everyone in shock of what had just occurred. That, and the fact that they were harboring the leader of the flayer, the creature that was on a mission to kill.

Jonathan had volunteered to sit in the back of Nancy’s car with you on the ride there so that he could keep an eye on you, and though Nancy gave him a look of worry, he proceeded with his plan.

He sat with your limp body leaning against him, your head resting against his shoulder and your open mouth fanning your warm breath on his neck. With his girlfriend in the driver’s seat, his mind wandered back to the night before when your lips were pressed against his. He thought about the many times he had woken up with you in his bed, when both of you had fallen asleep to a mixtape that was still in the tape deck by morning. When the sunshine fell perfectly on your face that had a ghost of a smile lingering on it. When your legs were tangled with his and your head was resting on his chest, warm huffs of air falling from your lips and mingling with his breath due to the close proximity.

He squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt at ridding himself of the thoughts, though all he could see was that rare glimpse of peace that he’d witness when you slept.

With a huff, he looked down at your sleeping form and watched your shoulders rise and fall with steady breaths.

He wished he could see the flutter of your eyelids as you dreamt, but they were hidden behind a scrap of fabric as a precaution in case you had awoken.

Once Nancy parked in front of the cabin, Mike assisted Jonathan in carrying you out of the car and into the house. Gently, the two boys laid you on the bed of the spare bedroom that was tucked away in the very back corner of the cabin.

As Jonathan slowly closed the door behind him and locked it, Mike gave him a look. “What?” Jonathan whispered, tucking the key into his back pocket.

“You should probably tone down the heart eyes a little bit,” Mike advised, arching a brow at Jonathan.

Jonathan’s brows furrowed in bewilderment, glancing around quickly before stepping close to Mike and lowering his voice. “What are you talking about?”

“Dude, are you that oblivious?” Jonathan shrugged, and Mike let out a sigh. “It’s super obvious that you’re in love with Y/N-”

“I am not!”

Mike stared at him silently with a look of extreme doubt, and Jonathan’s shoulders slumped. “Just try to tone it down a bit, dude. For Nancy.”

Guilt washed over Jonathan’s features at the mention of Nancy. “I just... I don’t know what to do.”

Mike gave him a look of sympathy. “Whatever you do, just don’t hurt either of them.”

Jonathan nodded silently and the two boys parted ways.

***

You woke with a start, searching around the room with wide eyes and a racing heart. You shoved the heavy comforter off of your body and scrambled to the carpeted floor. “Hello?” you called out as you balled your fingers into fists.

The floor creaked with each step, but everything else was silent. “Hello? Where the fuck am I?” you called out once more, stepping up to the door and trying the doorknob. The door didn’t budge, and your breath new fell from your lips in short bursts as panic took over your body.

Your fists collided with the door a few times, letting out a scream of frustration when the wood didn’t give. “Goddammit, let me out!” You threw your body against the door, but the door still held strong. “What the fuck are you going to do with me! Let me out, you son of a bitch!”

***

On the other side of the door, everyone who had fell asleep in the living room woke up from the pounding and the screams. Each person glanced to someone else in the room, silently communicating their panic from the adverse reaction you were displaying to being confined into an unfamiliar room.

Jonathan and Nancy quickly rose from their spot on the couch, Jonathan signaling at everyone to stay quiet while Nancy grabbed onto the rope that they had found the night before. Silently, both teens approached the door with caution and light footsteps.

*** Your outburst easily tired you, and you stumbled back onto the bed with a huff, your gaze fixed in a glare on the door.

It seemed to be only moments later that the door creaked shut, two figures slipping through the opening before slamming it shut once more. The two people slipped into the crack of sunlight that shone through the blinds, revealing themselves to be Nancy and Jonathan.

“Get away from me,” you hissed, shuffling back into the furthest corner of the bed. The two exchanged a look before Jonathan turned his back and headed over to the desk in the room that was accompanied by a wooden chair.

Nancy gripped onto your ankles and pulled you out of the corner, dragging you against the sheets and causing them to bunch up underneath you. You let out a growl and kicked with all your might, but she had already tied a quick knot around your legs. With another harsh tug, she yanked you off of the bed and onto the floor. You let out a gasp of pain, feeling all of the air escape your lungs and leave you winded.

Jonathan pulled the chair away from the desk and set it behind you and Nancy before rushing over to Nancy and assisting her in lugging you onto the chair. With your free hands, you gripped onto Jonathan’s shirt and tugged with all your might in an attempt to pull him to the ground, but to no avail.

The two sat you in the chair, and Nancy quickly freed Jonathan’s shirt from your grip. A huff left your lips as Nancy yanked your arms behind your back, tying them together before knotting it to the chair. “Let me go,” you said simply, showing no emotion whatsoever. Jonathan clenched his jaw, handing Nancy the other set of ropes for your legs. “Oh, I’m getting the silent treatment now?” You shook your head, leaning forward as much as your binds allowed you. “I said. Let. Me. Go.”

“Just ignore her, Jonathan. It isn’t her,” Nancy said, finishing up the binds on your legs before pushing herself to her feet. “I’m gonna get the heaters.” With that, she left.

“Isn’t her? Hell, I’m just voicing her concerns, her needs. And what she needs is for you to let her go. You don’t wanna break her heart, do you, Johnny? Not like all the other times you had?”

“Shut up,” he hissed through his teeth, eyes trained on the blank wall behind you.

“Oh, he speaks!” You flashed him a sinister smirk. “And why exactly should I shut up? I’m just speaking the truth-”

“You don’t know the truth-”

“Oh, but I do. I have access to her thoughts, her memories, everything. Like I said, I am her. And god, did you hurt her. When you saved Nancy from the Upsidedown but not her. When you ditched her for Nancy all those times, so you could ‘help Nancy,’ when little miss Y/N was the one needing help all along.”

He gulped, clenching his fists.

“All the times she let you run off to do god-knows-what with Nancy while she watched the kids. Watched your own brother.”

“I said, shut up-”

“You know she wished she died that night, in the tunnels. She didn’t want to be the sad damsel in distress anymore, didn’t want to be saved.”

Tears began to cloud his vision, and he turned on his heel to face the opposite wall.

“She wished she was with you. Wished she was in Nancy’s spot, helping you and your brother. But no, she had to go with the kids and Steve, had to be on the brink of death. She had to wait for you to help her, the thing she dreaded the most. You seeing her weak.”

“You’re lying. S-She doesn’t feel that way-”

“Then why do you feel so guilty? It’s tangible, I can almost taste it.” You leaned back, eyes trained on the back of his head. “And then you got a job at the Post with little Miss Nancy, leaving Y/N to work at the public pool with Billy. Leaving her to get possessed by the flayer. By me. Can’t you see, Johnny boy? This is all because of you. All her pain, her aching, because of you.” You chuckled softly, a sinister sound that reverberated in your chest. “Because of you, she was left vulnerable, open to being taken by me. I could tell, no matter how many times she cried for you, for anyone to help her, she needed this. She needed this little… Boost of confidence, let’s say. A lack of a filter.”

He sniffled, shaking his head softly. “Why should I believe anything you say?”

“You don’t have to, but I know you do. Because you know it’s all true.” You wiggled your fingers and toes, trying to get some circulation back into them. “You know that saying, sober thoughts are drunk actions? Think of me as the alcohol. I take her over, get rid of her filter, and let the truth run wild.”

He spun back around and stepped towards you, crouching down so he was eye-level with your face.

“That’s it. Look at what you did to her. Look at the scars.” You pursed your lips, smirking slightly. “She scares people. She doesn’t want to go outside, doesn’t want to be a spectacle, a walking freak show.”

“She’s not-”

“Did she ever tell you that she has to wear glasses because of her eye?” He shook his head. “She’s too scared to wear them around you. Doesn’t want to seem weird. She has constant headaches because of it, because she can barely see out of her one eye without them.”

His lower lip quivered slightly, his hand inching up to cup your face.

“She can hear you, Johnny. She can see you.” Another bone-chilling laugh. “She’s begging me to stop, but what’s the fun in that?”

“Screw you.”

The door squeaked open and shut, Nancy stepping in with a couple more heaters. “Sorry it took so long, I had to dig them out,” she explained, stopping when she took notice of the odd scene in front of her.

“Good. Let’s get this out of her,” He sighed, standing up straight and helping Nancy plug everything in.

You sat silently, a near-pout on your face as the pair worked on plugging in the multitude of heaters that Nancy had found. “I didn’t know you wanted me gone so badly,” you sighed, giving Jonathan a puppy-dog-eye look as he risked a glance at you.

The room already began to feel at least ten degrees warmer as all of the heaters got to work, and you glanced down in disdain at the sweater and jeans you wore. Nancy and Jonathan took a seat on the bed, their eyes trained on you as if you were a caged animal.

“So what did you guys do the last time you watched someone get exorcised?” you hummed, that fake smile settling on your lips once more. “Did you makeout, maybe sneak off to do god-knows-what together? It seems that that’s what you both are best at when people need your help.”

Nancy’s brows furrowed in confusion. “What?” she whispered, clearly bewildered by your bold statement.

You cocked your head to the side, feigning innocence. “Don’t you remember? Last year, you and Jonathan had gone off and disappeared while little Will was basically on his deathbed. All he needed was an older sibling, someone to comfort him, and Y/N, had to take up that role because you two were too busy.”

“We were trying to get justice for Barb-”

“And as a result you almost got everyone killed.”

“Shut up!” she screamed as she shot up from her seat and leaned close to you, close enough for you to see the sweat beginning to bead on her forehead. “If you say another word, I’m duct taping your mouth shut.”

You clenched your jaw and stared her in the eye, your chest heaving with heavy breaths. Jonathan reached forward and gripped onto Nancy’s forearm, prompting her to look back at him. They exchanged a glance and she contemplated their silent conversation for a moment before settling back down onto the bed.

The room grew warmer and warmer and the tension grew thicker and thicker. Everyone had stayed silent during that time, but that didn’t mean that you were shooting glares at the pair the whole time.

But that heat definitely began to worm its way between you and the flayer, acting like a knife between flesh and meat as it slowly cut away the flayer’s vicelike grip on you. However, as the flayer’s hold on you began to slip away, the days of sleep you’ve missed started to catch up with you.

Your eyelids drooped as sweat trickled down your face, your breaths ragged and hitched from the dry heat and lack of water. “Jonathan, Nancy, please just let me go,” you cried, weakly wiggling your hands and feet in their restraints.

“Y/N, you know we can’t,” Nancy answered, looking away from you so she wouldn’t feel guilt from the state you were in.

Nancy and Jonathan were suffering too, sweat making their clothes cling to them like a second skin. But they knew that if you were stuck in this miserable heat, they had to be too. They had to save you, no matter what it took.

Tears welled in your eyes and you let out a tired cry of frustration. “Please! I-I can take control of the mind flayer again and I can keep it from you guys! I can kill it! Please, just let me go!”

Nancy could tell that Jonathan was weighing the outcomes of each option, clearly caving in from the guilt and the heat. “Y/N, we need to get this thing out of you,” Nancy spoke up. “You only have so much control. We can help you.”

“You can’t help me!” you screamed, startling the pair and making them recoil slightly. “Just let me go! Let me go, you sons of bitches!” You began to violently thrash in the chair, prompting the two to get up and try to hold you down. Your screams grew louder when the attempted to restrain you, and they shared a horrified look when those familiar inky veins began to snake up into your skin.

Your strength grew as the flayer slowly slipped into power as a last ditch effort to continue inhabiting its host, and with one quick yank of your arm, the binds snapped from your wrist. Nancy scrambled to pin your wrist down, but once your other hand freed itself from its confines, both Nancy and Jonathan knew that their efforts were fruitless.

Jonathan rushed to help Nancy, both of them wrestling to keep you restrained while you fought against them with all your might. Your sweat-slicked skin seemed to prove advantageous as you quickly slipped from their grip, yanking the binds around your ankles and breaking them free.

The pair shared a panicked glance as you rose from the chair and shoved them both off of you. “Leave me alone,” you growled, your voice uncharacteristically deep as those black veins protruded from your skin. “Or there will be consequences.”

Jonathan hurried over to you and gripped onto your wrist, giving one last effort to try and help. That clearly was a mistake, though, as you snatched your arm back and landed a quick right jab to his jaw. He stumbled back and clutched his jaw, but as he looked up at you, a flash of guilt and fear could be seen in your eyes. It left as soon as it came, and he hopelessly watched as you slammed your fist into the window and escaped through the newly made exit.

***

Your eyes drooped with exhaustion as you sat on the landing of the stairs, head leaning against the railing as you stared out at the crowd of the flayed that were neatly lined up in single file rows.

“That-that girl,” he spat, pacing back and forth behind you. “She caused all of this.”

You nodded slowly, your face blank and emotionless.

“But we’ll win. Soon, we’ll talk control. We’ll end her, them, everyone. Everything will be ours.”

“When?” you hummed, slowly lifting your head from the railing to look up at him.

“Soon.”

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upsidedowncastle · 3 years

Text

Chilly Night

i came across a byeler draft i wrote shortly after 3rd season (but it’s set after s2) and decided to finish it

edit: ao3 link

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It was autumn 1984. It was the end of November and winter was getting closer. One could already feel the slowly falling temperatures. If one wakes up early, one could even see the breath taking shape of a light fog. But right now it was evening. It wasn't cold enough for the moisture to condense, but it was cold enough to believe the winter is already here.

With the sun disappearing behind the horizon, the warmth slowly left Mike's basement too. Mike and Will did get to feel the dropping temperature themselves, as many times before when Will stayed over at Wheeler's house.

It was more usual for them to meet up as a whole party, but today, Lucas and Dustin both had other stuff to do and couldn't join the two boys. After the recent events, Mike started to invite El to their meetings too, but most of the time Hopper didn't allow her to leave the house. This led to a great amount of fights between them in the past month. Lucas also invited Max to join them time to time, but Max was genuinely not interested in their Dungeons and Dragons meetings, so she rarely came over.

As a result, only Mike and Will met up at the basement today. They couldn't hold a DnD session by themselves though, and spent most of the day discussing stuff. School stuff, comic stuff, everything-what-has-happened-lately stuff.

Mike especially was very interested in talking about El, which Will didn't particularly mind, since he never really got to hear a lot. When he was brought back from the Upside Down, noone wanted to talk about her much. And Will never asked about her. In fact, he didn't want to remember that horrible week at all. But he got the basic information - she had cool superpowers, helped them saving him and was gone after that. If the explanations weren't filled with such enthusiasm, Will would be sure she was dead. Now, with her return, it got suddenly much easier for everyone to talk about El. And Mike talked about her much more than anybody else. Will believed that it must be because Mike always thought about her, and now, he can just say his thoughts out loud without reminding everyone that she's gone. And now, it was also easier for Will to listen to it. Even though all the memories about Upside Down were brought back to him due to recent events, and the Mind Flayer made it even worse, when everyone talked about El and what cool things she can do with her mind, Will somehow felt better. Maybe safer? Definitely distracted.

By now, Mike stopped talking about El, and they were about to go to sleep. Whenever someone stays over at Mike's, they all sleep in the basement. The main reason for it was because all four of them just wouldn't be able to fit in Mike's room. But even now, when there are only two of them, Mike brought the mattresses for them in the basement, to keep up the tradition. Maybe it was also because Mike wouldn't want to sleep in his nice bed, while his friend needed to settle with a mattress on the cold floor. So now the two boys were lying, side-by-side, on their mattresses two inches apart, with large duvet sprawled out over them.

The lights were already out and after wishing each other good night, Will turned on to his stomach and shut his eyes. Lying a couple of minutes like this, Will could not relax. In spite of having a bed cover over him, he still felt the cold and it forced him to stay awake. He started shifting, partly to warm himself up by moving, partly to curl up a little and that's when he accidentely touched Mike's hand under the cover. Will instanly pulled his hand away a couple of inches and stoped moving, afraid of waking up Mike, who might have been dreaming already. In this short moment he got to feel how Mike's hand was basically burning, compared to Will's cold one. Will hold still, settling with the pose he ended up with. Suddenly, Will felt the heat back on his hand. Mike appeared to stretch out his fingers, slowly brushing over the back of Will's hand.

That made his heart flutter. Will buried his head in the pillow, and reached out a little bit more, so that their hands could overlap. He loved feeling the warmth of Mike's hand, it slowly spreading onto his own. Mike slowly moved his fingers, stroking other’s hand and shortly after, he interwined his fingers with Will's.

Will knew Mike liked Eleven. It was obvious by now. But somehow he catched himself thinking, that maybe, Mike actually likes him. Will understood it's stupid, he shook off the thought as soon as it crossed his mind. Mike always was like this to him, never shying any contact. This doesn't mean anything he wanted it to mean. It is simple as that. Will concentrated himself on the feeling of his own hand in Mike's palm. Who knew when Mike stops being this close to him, when he realizes that he shouldn't do that.

When he starts doing this with Eleven.

Will's eyes suddenly flung open. He stared onto his pillow for a moment, before he realized his eyes aren't closed anymore. He wanted to close them and go back to trying to fall asleep, but he couldn't. The thought of Mike holding hands with Eleven instead of him was just as effective as a nightmare. And knowing it might be the last time they are this close, Will just couldn't end this moment and fall asleep.

His eyes got used to the darkness by now. Giving up on his sleep, he turned his head to the side. And then he saw Mike's face. Will was sure Mike was about to sleep too, but now he saw that Mike was watching him back. He did look at Will, but somehow it also felt like he looks right through him, lost in thought. They didn't say anything, and kept staring at each other for several seconds. It was dark, but Will still could see all Mike's characteristics. The dark hair, pale skin overflowing with freckles, his big eyes and bright lips. He just couldn't avert his gaze. But then, suddenly, Mike's expression changed from his gentle, a little bit sleepy look to a surprise. He turned his face away, to his pillow and closed his eyes, as if trying to sleep now. Will was taken aback by that. His eyes widened as he tried to understand what just happened. Did he see a blush? No, it is too dark too see anyways.

Will let out a small sigh, and closed his eyes again. He felt that Mike squeezed his hand a little stronger. Will, not opening his eyes anymore, pressed his hand a little in response, and slowly dozed off.

#byeler #byler #my art

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xfandomwritingsx · 4 years

Text

Long Time Coming

-gif source-

Description: You and Hopper finally give into each other.

Warnings/Labels: Sexual themes.

Approx. Word Count:

A/N: This is my first Hopper fic and frankly I have so many ideas for Hopper fics in my head that my full attention was not in this specific one and my mind kept wandering and jumping so, forgive me if it’s not the best. EDIT I DON’T KNOW WHY THIS DISAPPEARED BUT HERE IT IS AGAIN

It’s shortly after midnight and you’re standing at the Jim Hopper’s counter completely unable to sleep. You had come over early in the evening to cook him dinner, having always joked that he needed something that didn’t come out of a box every once in a while. El was staying the night at Max’s house and once the storm rolled in, you both decided it would be better if you just stayed the night at the cabin. That storm, however, also kept you from falling asleep on his couch.

“Can’t sleep?” You saw his dark form out of the corner of your eye just a half second before he spoke, but you still jump, hand coming to your chest and body tightening.

“Jesus, Hop,” you breathe out, trying to make it sound like a bit of a laugh. “You scared the shit out of me.” Thunder roars outside and a flash of lightning illuminates the room for a moment.

“Sorry about that.” He’s in sweatpants and a large, pastel colored robe. You recognize it as the one you’d given him for his birthday, mostly as a joke. Something about the big, burly chief of police wearing a delicate robe made you giggle. Seeing him in it now though, you realize he can make anything look good. He has it tied at the waist but it’s still open in front, leaving most of his chest on display. You look down at the counter instead.

“I’m not the biggest fan of storms,” you admit, shifting your gaze to the curtain clad window in front of you. You can hear the wind howling behind the glass. “Bad things always seem to happen in storms.” His footsteps are heavy on the old floorboards of the cabin as he approaches you. You’re not one to show fear often. Too many people take it as a sign of weakness and it makes you feel too vulnerable. It’s different with Hopper though. He doesn’t belittle you or mock you. If anything, he makes you feel validated and safe. Sane even. After all you’ve been through, some of the things that make you jump are stupid to other people. Hopper at least relates. “Thanks again for letting me stay tonight,” you say, loosening up your shoulders and easing your grip on the counter edge.

After last year, you and Jim have been together a lot. He started frequenting the coffee shop you worked at and the checking up on you had morphed into conversation and friendship. Light flirting made its way in shortly after. You knew the town talked; the chief spending time with a woman 15 years younger than him? You both saw the side-eyed looks you got when you strolled down the street standing a bit too close, but neither of you mind. Going through everything you had, there was a bond between you, between everyone involved, that no one else would understand. What did Nancy call it? Shared trauma?

“How’s your hip been doing?” His voice is concerned, but firm, completing ignoring your unneeded thanks.

“Hip’s fine,” you assure him. “Scar’s a bitch though, which you would know if you ever came down to the pool with me.” You smile and give a playful, teasing tug on his robe. He chuckles and rolls his eyes.

“Chief of police doesn’t lounge at the pool.” It’s the same line he’s given you since it was warm enough for the pool to open. At first, you’d tried to bribe him with the prospect of hot moms, but with a smile and an undertone you couldn’t quite place, he’d said he wasn’t interested in them. “How bad is it?”

You turn to face him and pull the bottom of your shirt up just slightly. You slip your thumb into the waistband of both your sleep pants he’d lent and your panties and tug them down over your right hip to show him the scar. The pants are baggy and they slide down a little more than what is probably appropriate, but you don’t particularly care.

He steps closer, his frame towering over you as his eyes dip down to the puffy scar. It’s nearly the length of your finger, slicing through the junction at your thigh and teasing up your waist, all just to the inside of your hip bone. It’s ugly and always angry looking, forever bumpy and red. You watch as his hand reaches out to you, fingers hovering in the air in front of you, hesitant.

“It’s okay,” you assure him softly, nearly a whisper. You lift your head to look at him, his gaze intent on your hip. His large fingers start to trace up and down over the length of the scar, barely touching you. “It doesn’t hurt.” He uses the pad of his fingers, feeling it more fully. It’s a foreign feeling having someone else touch your scar, but it’s not unwelcome. In fact, the warmth of his touch is making you want to lean into him.

“No pain?” His voice is quiet, but gruff, fingers still roaming back and forth.

“Not anymore.” You keep your eyes on him, watching the way his eyes barely shift away from the scar to where your pants had slouched down, showing him more of your skin than even your skimpiest swimsuit would have. “The scar itself is numb. Most likely will be for the rest of my life.” With a blink, his eyes are back to his fingers.

“So, you can’t feel this? Feel me?” You swear there’s something that sounds like disappointment in his voice. You have to stop yourself from reaching out to him, from touching his hand or his waist or his chest.

“I can feel you.” It sounds more breathless than you intended, more intimate somehow. He breathes deeply and you’re not sure if you leaned in or if he did, but he’s closer again. “The surface of the scar is numb, but you’re so big… Your fingers are so big,” you quickly correct yourself, but not before his lips twitch up in the smallest smirk at your words and a blush tints your cheeks. “They touch the edges and the skin around it.” He presses a little more firmly. “So yes, I can feel you.”

His hand shifts, thumb staying on the scar while the rest of his fingers slip along your hip until his palm is cradling you. Your breath hitches and when his thumb inches just past the scar, your body tingles. When his eyes meet yours, they aren’t filled with a hazy lust as you secretly hoped they would be. Instead, they’re soft and glazed with regret. Immediately, you shake your head and bring your hand up to press it against his cheek.

“No,” you tell him. “Don’t say it again.” He opens his mouth to say the words he’s been whispering to you for the past few months when it gets dark and quiet and raw feelings creep out. I’m sorry. He doesn’t say it this time, instead chooses to close his mouth and hold your hip a little tighter. “You saved my life. Walking away from a Demodog attack with a just a scar is not something to complain about.” He sighs and leans his face into your touch. You’d given the speech before and you had no doubt you’d do it again. “So, I won’t win sexiest woman in town or anything. Oh well,” you joke. It has the desired effect. He chuckles and straightens out a little, making you realize just how much he had been leaning down to you. Your hand slides away from his face and his slips away from your hip.

“I think you still have a damn good shot.” He runs his hand over his mouth and jaw with a chuckle and puts a little distance between the two of you. You look down to the floor to try to hide the blush and laugh with him. Both of you turn away so you can lean back on the counter.

“Want to try for sexiest man?” you joke back at him. He barks out a fuller laugh and crosses his arms over his chest.

“Nah. I’m not the type. No one wants a big, old guy like me.” He says it with a smile on his face which makes you shrug all too casually as you respond.

“I do.” Thunder rolls outside again as your breath stops and you feel like you could just fall through the floor. The air is suddenly very still and you can feel him looking at you as you try like hell not to look back.

“That so?” he drawls slowly. You can hear the smirk he’s wearing and you crunch your face as your brain fumbles for recovery.

“I just mean,” you start as you try not to fidget anymore than pinching the bridge of your nose. “I didn’t mean you. I’m just not into the young type.” That sounds better, right? His scoff implies he doesn’t agree.

“You realize guys your age are the young type, right?” Your brief glance at him reveals an amused scrunched up look on his face and a bounce in his shoulders. You shoot him a pointed stare and tilt your head just slightly.

“Clearly you haven’t seen the way those women gawk at newly graduated boys. I am not that young,” you tell him. “Even so, I’m just not into guys my age.” He raises his brow in question, waiting to hear you say it. “I like my men older.” His eyes dip down your body, coming back up with that darker look you had been wanting earlier.

“Is that right?” You caught the way his hands tightened underneath his crossed arms and you’re betting he’s wishing he had a cold beer to take a long drink from right about now. You don’t answer verbally, but bite down on your lower lip and nod slowly. “Got your eye on anyone?”

“I might.” It’s a safe answer you can shrug with, one you can brush off in the morning if, like so many others, this conversation doesn’t actually lead anywhere. “What about you?” You spin the attention to him before he can ask anything else. “Anyone catch your interest in town lately?” He drops both his arms and his head as another chuckle rolls out of him.

“Am I a complete creep if I’ve got a thing for a younger woman?” You find it hard to swallow.

“I suppose that depends on what kind of thing it is,” you answer, words suddenly breathless again. He doesn’t look up at you yet, hands toying with the tie around his robe.

“Depends on the day,” he says. “Sometimes I just want to see her, talk to her. I enjoy her company. Somedays I want to take her to a nice restaurant or out dancing or whatever the hell it is the young people do on dates now.” A soft smile comes to your lips as you imagine Jim Hopper dancing. “But then other days,” he finally lifts his head and turns his body to face you. “On the days where she’s being irritatingly stubborn or running her smartass mouth,” His voice dips down a bit lower as he steps closer to you. You look over your shoulder at him, head tilting back to watch his eyes train on your lips. His hand comes up and brushes a few strands of hair behind your ear. “Those are the days I just want to bend you over my desk.”

The air in your lungs dissipates. Your chest tightens and you feel like you can’t breathe, all while heat is flooding through your veins. You want to throw yourself at him. You’d imagined a confession so many times and you always threw yourself at him in your mind. Instead you’re frozen, unable to move or even look away from his teasing eyes.

“Me?” It comes out as an embarrassing squeak. He squints his eyes a little and feigns innocence.

“Did I say you?” There’s a moment of internal panic in which you frantically wonder if you misheard him. But then there’s a twinkle in his eye as he softly cradles the side of your neck. “I didn’t mean you. I just meant… ya know,” he mocks your earlier babbling with a teasing smile that eases your tension.

You start to laugh and give his chest a gentle, playful smack. He laughs with you and brings the hand on your neck down to rest on your shoulder. You turn on the balls of your feet to face him and lift onto your toes in half-assed attempt to even yourself with him.

“You shouldn’t tease a lady,” you tell him lowly.

“Is the implication here supposed to be that you’re a lady?” A roll of thunder punctuates his joke, startling you. Your back tenses and straightens as you press yourself into him, forehead leaning on his chest. “Hey, I got you.” His arm slides around your shoulders, the other snaking around your waist, holding you close.

There’s a comforting silence between you for a few moments as your heart rate comes back down. Hopper is patient, content to hold onto you until you’re ready. You can still hear the rain pounding down on the cabin and you take a deep, steady breath.

“I’m a lady,” you mumble, turning to press your cheek into his skin instead, afraid of brushing your lips against his bare chest when you speak.

“What was that?” he asks with a chuckle, looking down to you.

“I am a lady,” you say a little more firmly. “Unless you’re trying to lay claim to being the lady in this relationship?” You tilt your head back, looking up at his eyes and give a another little tug on the edge of his robe. “You do have some delicate features.” A smile breaks out onto his lips.

“There’s that smartass mouth I mentioned.” He shifts his weight as you shrug at him.

“Too bad we’re not anywhere near your desk.” You blush even as you say it, your boldness surprising you tonight. He hums lowly, a rumble you can feel through his chest and you watch his eyes darken through the dim light of the room.

“Maybe you’re the one who shouldn’t tease.” His hold on you loosens, as if he’s about to pull away and you feel it in your core; it’s now or never.

“I wasn’t teasing.”

He stops pulling away and there’s an actual surprise in his eyes at the way your tone of voice drops and the seriousness in it. He watches you carefully, weighing your words and your tone, trying to decide if you’re serious about what you were implying.

“Careful, babygirl.” His voice is gruff and deep as he shifts, both hands now gripping your hips with a new purpose. He’d only ever used that nickname on you once, but you know the bastard isn’t oblivious to the effect it has on you.

“I told you,” you breathe out, wrapping your fingers around both edges of his robe this time and lifting up as high as you can on your toes. “I like older men.” You feel a part of him twitch against the lowest part of your belly and you see his eyes darken as the smallest, dirty-tinted smirk reaches his lips.

“In that case…” He lifts you suddenly, palms smoothing down to cradle your ass and guide you up to his frame, your legs winding around his hips, pulling his robe further apart as your hands trace up to wrap around his neck. “Last chance,” he warns. If you wanted, he would put you back down and you’d laugh it off later. Or you could finally take the plunge that the look in his eyes is desperately asking you to take.

You give the slightest pull on him and his mouth meets yours in a sharp hiss of breath, his mustache and stubble scratching against your skin. Your stomach flips like you’ve just plummeted off a cliff and your skin heats at his touch, his fingers digging into the flesh of your rear as he holds you up.

You moan into his mouth when he turns on his heels, spinning to place you on the nearby counter. Lightning still flashes outside of your closed eyes, but it doesn’t bother you anymore. His hands roam up your sides all the way to your neck and face, roughly padded fingertips gentle on your skin. He slows the kiss, thumb stroking your jaw and making you whine when he pulls back just slightly.

“Been waiting a long time to do that,” he whispers gruffly, only a hair’s breadth away. You dig your heels into the backs of his thighs, trying to keep him close.

“What took you so long then?” You run one hand along the back of his neck, the other slowly teasing his robe further open, pushing it off one of his shoulders as the loose tie finally gives way and undoes itself.

“Wasn’t sure you were interested, sweetheart.” You have to chuckle. It’s not like you had been very subtle, or at least you thought you hadn’t. You lean forward and pull him into another heated kiss. Using your heels on his thighs, you scoot yourself to the edge of the countertop and grind your hips against his. The groan that slips out of him is filthy and delicious.

“Any doubts now?” you tease. He smirks as his hands dip down again, one coming to your thigh and one to the hem of your shirt.

“I’m clearly not good at taking hints, darling,” he whispers, taking his mouth from yours and leaning in to put his lips by your ear. “Think I’m gonna need to hear you tell me what you want.”

You groan his name, body practically melting underneath his touch and his husky voice. You snake your arms underneath his and reach up behind him to curl your fingers over the collar of his robe, tugging it down. He pulls his hands off of you just long enough to let it fall away.

“I want you,” you whisper back to him as his nose tickles your neck, a teasing touch that leaves you craving for more.

“A little vague there, baby.” His lips press a feather-light kiss to your neck.

“You’re such as ass,” you laugh lightly, grinding against him again and dragging your nails lightly down his back which causes his lips to press down a little harder, giving you some satisfaction. “Maybe you need to tell me what you want.” He chuckles darkly against your neck before bringing his lips back to his ear.

“I want to be buried so deep inside of you that the only thing you can say is my name.” You’d imagined that scenario before but hearing him saying it makes it so much more tangible. You’re left with an emptiness in you aching to be filled with him. You give a little tug on his hair to pull his face back so you can see him.

His lips are are red and puffy from your fevered kisses, mustache hairs just slightly astray. His cheeks are tinted in pink and his eyes are dark, hazy. You lick your lips before smirking back at him.

“Then what are you waiting for?” He smiles before scooping you up in his arms again, capturing your lips in an open-mouthed kiss, and carrying you off towards his bedroom.

#jim hopper #hopper x reader #hopper x you #jim hopper imagine #stranger things imagine #stranger things

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finnyboywolfhard · 3 years

Text

Song That The Morning Brings (Chapter Twenty Four)

Steve Harrington x Henderson! Reader

catch up here

summary: the final battle is fought and the time following brings them together

warnings: angst, FLUFFFF, violence, cursing, spoilers ig

A/N: this is the final chapter, but there is an Epilogue coming your way :)

word count: 5.3k

“Do you remember where to go?” Y/N said shouting to Steve as he started to rush to start the car.

“Yeah, yeah I do.” He said as he pressed hard onto the gas pedal. He was going nearly thirty over the speed limit. The three were silent during the ride, through every corner they turned and beyond. They were speeding towards the mall when Y/N saw the stalemate that was ahead of them. There was Nancy standing outside the car with a gun and Jonathan trying to get that car to start, whilst Billy was reving his Engine a bit farther away.

“Fuck, Fuck that’s bad.”

“Y/N, when you said stupid for the promise, what exactly does that entail?”

“Not almost killing yourself.”

“So, purposely hitting Billy’s car might be stupid.”

“I say do it.” Robin chimed in from the back seat.

“If we’re being stupid, we might as well all be stupid together. Let’s do it.” He pushed his foot to the gas, watching to see exactly were Billy was going. Y/N squeezed her eyes shut as they slammed against Billy’s car causing it to spin out a little bit.

Once the car stopped moving, they all looked up to where the other group was. Steve turned towards Y/N and Robin saying,

“Are you guys okay?”

“Ask me tomorrow.” Y/N said, shrugging off the concern at the moment. Her adrenaline was pumping far too hard for her to fully come to terms with how she was feeling, both emotionally and physically. The sound of the monster snarling from inside the mall startled them all back to reality. The Toddfather group stood up in the car to look ahead, before jumping out and getting into the back of Nance’s oldsmobile. The crew began speeding away from the mall, the monster not far from them. The radio crackling once more, gaining the attention of the group awoken everyone back from the nightmare for a moment.

“Dusty bun, you copy?”

“I copy Suzie poo. It sounds much better now thanks.” Y/N and Steve locked eyes for a moment, both showing full shock that Suzie was real. The two lovebirds began discussing, Dustin asking her if she knew Planck’s constant.

“Do you know the Earth orbits the sun?”

“Okay, so I know it starts with two sixes, and then a…what is it?” He asks, losing track of the number.

“Okay, let me just be clear on this. I haven’t heard from you in a week, and now you want a mathematical equation that you should know so you can…save the world?” She asks, clearly pissed off. Y/N giggled a bit before saying,

“I think someone is in trouble.” This made Steve laugh to himself.

“Suzie poo, I promise, I will make it up to you as soon as possible.” He pleaded with her.

“You can make it up to me now.”

“What?”

“I want to hear it.” This caused confusion for everyone in the car. They looked around at each other, looking to see if any of them knew what was up, most of the attention going to Y/N.

“Not right now.”

“Yes, now, Dusty-Bun.”

“Suzie-poo this is urgent.” This is when Y/N got nervous as to what she meant. She knew her brother and he sounded like he was attempting to distract her from whatever she wanted. Either to save himself from embarrassment or anger.

“Yes, yes, you’re saving the world, I heard you the first time, but Ged is also having Earthsea and he’s about to confront the shadow, so this is Suzie, signing off.”

Y/N let out an anguished “No!” from the back of the car. They needed that number, and now they weren’t gonna have it. There is no way that they were ever going to figure it out in time to save them all.

“wait, wait, wait, wait! Okay! I’ll do it, okay okay!” Dustin yelled, gaining Suzie’s attention back. They all began waiting in anticipation for what he had to do. Dustin’s singing voice began to flood through the car as he sang The Never Ending Story. They all shared estranged look with one another while they continued the song, eventually turning it into a duet. They sang the entire song together, before she finally gave in and said the number.

“Planck’s constant is 6.62607004.” She said before expressing how much she missed him. They went back and forth before they were cut off. Steve, Robin and Y/N were all sitting facing backwards, watching the monster. Yet, for some reason the monster was turning itself around, heading back towards the mall.

“Uh..It’s turning around!” Steve yelled towards Jonathan and Nancy.

“What?”

“It’s turning around!” Y/N yelled once again, becoming flush with the glass.

“Maybe we wore it out!” Lucas said hopefully.

“I don’t think so. Hold on.” Jonathan spoke before turning the wheel as hard as he could to the left in order to turn the car around to follow the monster back to the mall. As he did so, Y/N got propelled backwards into Steve’s lap, her body lying flesh against his, faces less than an inch apart. Once the car had found its center once again, Y/N pulled herself off of Steve and back to her original seating position. She stared ahead, watching the way the monster moved around, ready to go back to the mall.

“What are we even going to do when we get there?” Robin yelled towards the rest of the group.

“We’re going to need to distract it from both El or the gate closing.” Will spoke up for the first time in a while.

“Isn’t there fireworks on the roof?” Y/N said towards all of the group.

“Yeah, why?”

“We all take some, we light them and torch the fucker.” Y/N said.

“Is that really the best idea?” Steve said mocking how she usually sounds.

“No, but if you all trust me it will be.” They all looked around the car at one another. Jonathan and Nancy grasped hands in the center console.

“Let’s do it.” Jonathan said as they pulled harshly into the mall. They separated into three separate groups, each of them taking a box of fireworks.

“Stay safe.” Jonathan said to everyone. They all muttered their ‘you toos’ and went to their dedicated areas. Y/N watched as Steve set down the box and Y/N lifted a lighter from the pocket of her now battered uniform. All at once, every single group was throwing their fireworks to the creature standing in the center of the mall. It was almost beautiful. Ironic really, how there could be beauty found in this chaos. All of the glowing bright colors, ricocheting and scorching the monster at hand. The rainbow was exploding from every angle, as each group threw firework after firework. Smoke started to fill the room.

“Hey asshole! Over here!” Steve yelled, throwing a firework making direct impact to the monster. They continued throwing until they had run out. Eventually, with each firework thrown, both the monster and Billy grew weaker and weaker. Everyone’s screams echoed around the room as they watched the monster begin to fall closer to the ground.

“Dustin! We’re out of time!” Y/N yelled into the walkie talkie to her brother. She placed the walkie down, ignited her final firework and threw it at the flayed monstrosity. From the balcony, Y/N looked down to where Billy was hovering over El. She couldn’t quite tell if he was still going to hurt her. For a moment, he looked more human than ever. El touched his face gently, as he rose to his feet and faced towards the flayed monster. The monster looked forward onto him, all of its limbs attacking Billy from every angle. Starting with his hands, eventually moving to his torso. Billy let out one more large scream before the monster shoved its largest limb to the center of his torso. Y/N watched as Billy collapsed to the floor. The monster began flailing around, as it’s life began to slip slowly away. The monster’s body flung itself towards the railing where the remaining members of the Scoops Troop stood. Steve pulled Y/N to the floor with him, making sure she wasn’t injured by this now dying monster. When they heard the final thud, they rushed over to the balcony to look down upon the monster. Now dead, they looked at it for a few seconds, before Y/N decided to run down the steps to check on El, Max and Mike who were down below. They all congregated for a moment, before rushing their way out of the smokey building. Dr. Owens and multiple other guardsmen guided them all out of the building. Y/N ran through the back of scoops to get out, grabbing the keys she had left there as she was going. She ran outside just as the ambulances and first responders were coming up to the entrance of the mall.

A few of them came up to her to ask questions, mainly the EMTs who checked for any extreme injuries. They walked her over to an ambulance that was sitting a bit away, just so she could ground herself for a moment. She sat on the edge, wrapped in a fire blanket, wishing and hoping that this was the end of their problems. Wishing and praying that everyone was okay.

“Y/N/N?” Steve’s voice woke her from her trance.

“Oh, hi Stevie. What’s up?”

“I just came to check on you. Are you okay?”

“I’m just trying to figure out what in the hell just happened. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, they cleaned up my face a bit and gave me some water, I honestly don’t think all of …well this will hit me until tomorrow. Why are you just sitting over here by yourself?”

“ I’m waiting to get cleared to drive home. I don’t think my mom has a clue what’s happening.”

“I forgot about that, my keys were taken by the Russians, how am I gonna drive?”

“I can take you back if I’m cleared, I’m gonna take Robin home. I’ll have to pick up Dusty and Erica first, but I assume the Sinclairs will rush to get both of them.”

“Oh sweet thanks.” A silence formed between them. Y/N’s focus was pulled away from Steve and over to where Joyce was standing, giving Will a big hug.

“Y/N/N, the reason I actually came over here was-“

“Steve wait, where’s Hopper? He’s not with Joyce.” She started to panic, watching as Will and his mom stood there hugging. Joyce’s eyes shifted over to El, her eyes brimming with tears. She shook her head a gentle no. Y/N felt her heart drop to her stomach. He was gone. Hopper was gone. Y/N ran over to Eleven as quick as she could, catching her before she fell to the ground in tears. Y/N kept whispering “I’m so sorry” to El over and over and over again. Joyce walked over and took control of the situation. Y/N walked back over to where Steve was standing and fell into his arms, letting a few sobs escape for Hopper. They stood for a moment in tears, before one of the responders gave them the good to go symbol. Y/N, Steve and Robin piled into her car, immediately going to get Dustin, who was alone after the Sinclair’s picked up Erica. Dustin apparently refused a ride, knowing that she was going to come get him.

The car was overwhelmingly silent. Everyone sat in their own denial and pain. Once they pulled up to the Henderson’s Claudia ran outside, pulling her children into her arms. Quietly whispering in their ears how much she loved them and how glad she was that they were safe. After a few minutes, her attention was pulled away by an introduction.

“Robin my dear, I don’t think we’ve met yet. “

“We have not; it’s lovely to meet you Ms. Henderson.”

“Please, call me Claudia.” The woman gave the girl a sweet smile. “It’s nice to see you again Stevie, I think the last time I saw you was Graduation. Wasn’t that such a good night?”

“Uh, yeah it was a pretty good night. How have you been, by the way?”

“Same old, same old. Too much work for not enough money. But I can’t complain, I didn’t have to escape fires at my job!” Claudia said with a cackle.

“Mom! Oh my god!” Y/N said with shock and laughter both appearing in her voice.

“What?! This is just as scary to me as your mother! I’m trying to add some levity to it! I’ll stop.” She leaned closer to Y/N, but barely adjusted the volume of her voice. “Have you told you know who about you know what?”

Y/N let out a sigh, realizing that her mom can tell something went down between her and Steve over the course of the mess. Which, had yet to be reconciled.

“I have not, but I will.” She couldn’t help but let her mind wander back to Hopper. He was gone. She would never get to have a Hopper hug ever again. She was never going to listen to his awful advice and his sage fatherly wisdom. She was never gonna get to hear him jokingly flirt with Flo. She was never going to ride shotgun in his truck while he complains about Hawkins again. She was never gonna see the day where he finally wore Joyce down enough to go to dinner with him. She was never gonna have Hopper again. Knowing how much this hurt her, she couldn’t imagine how much pain El was in. This wasn’t gonna be something that will go down lightly.

Claudia kept talking to the three others in the yard for a while. They all told her about all of the events from the past few days, from all perspectives. And not just the already news formulated truth, the REAL events. They stood around before Y/N’s focus came back onto the night.

“Do you guys mind if I change quick before taking you home?” Y/N said in a reserved tone.

“No, I don’t mind.” Steve said gently.

“You’re both welcome to come in while she does so.” Claudia voiced.

“Oh yes! Can I come see your room?” Robin asked with excited curiosity.

“Yeah sure.” The group moved quietly into the house.

“Dusty, say goodnight to Robin and Steve, you need to shower and go to bed.” Claudia said looking to Dustin with pleading eyes. He did as he was told, bidding them goodnight with long hugs and sad eyes. He wandered into his room and came back out moments later with clothes for after his shower.

“Okay, Robin are you coming back?” Y/N said pointing her finger while she started to leave the room. Robin quickened her step slightly while she followed Y/N back to her room. Robin began wandering around her room looking at all the trinkets, pictures and items she had scattered around the room. Y/N hastily got out of her Scoops uniform and into a pair of sweatpants and the hoodie from Steve. She grabbed a makeup wipe and wiped as much gunk off of her face as she could. She would shower when she got back from taking them home, but this would do for now.

“Hey Y/N?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you actually okay with me?”

“What about you? That you like girls? Robin, I love you for who you are, nothing could ever change that.”

“Thank you Y/N, really. I’m so thankful for you.” Robin said with a broad smile. “What’re you gonna do about Steve? That was pretty heavy in the bathroom.”

“Yeah, I figured I would let that go until I take him back. It’s not like it’s gonna be a bad conversation. Anyway, you ready to go home?” She looked back and saw Robin stretched out nearly sleeping on her bed.

“Ugh, I guess so. Your bed is cozy. I think I may have to come back and sleep in it sometime.”

“Are you asking me to have a sleepover Robin Buckley?”

“That’s exactly what I am asking.” She said as Y/N helped lift her from the bed by her hands. They began walking out before Y/N replied.

“You absolutely will have to come back.” The two girls let out a few giggles while walking into the living room only to see Steve with his arms wrapped around Claudia in a comforting embrace.

“Thank you Claudia, thank you so much.” He looked up from her shoulder and saw the two walking in. He started to pull away from the mother’s embrace.

“You ready to head out Stevie?” Y/N broke the silence.

“Yeah….Uh, yeah. I’m good to go.” Steve glanced between Y/N and her mom a few times.

“I call shot gun!” Robin said, running to and out of the door, yelling goodnight and thank you to Claudia. Steve rushed after her in attempts to race her, saying the same things as Robin.

“I’ll be back in like an hour or so. Head to bed, I’ll be okay, I promise.”

“Y/N, I love you so much. Please be careful, come back head right to the shower and then right to bed. Okay?”

“Okay, I will do that. I love you mom. Trees, Leaves, Needles.”

“Trees, Leaves, Needles.”

Y/N grabbed the keys from the side table and found her way back to the car. Robin and Steve were bickering about Robin getting shotgun.

“Why are you guys fighting? Haven’t you had enough for the night?”

“Settle it for us, who are you taking home first?” Steve asked from the back seat.

“I’m taking Robin back first, then you. Now buckle up.”

The three keep lighthearted conversation until they get to Robin’s house just a little outside of town. Y/N pulled the car to a stop in front of Robin’s home. Y/N puts the car in park and unbuckles her seatbelt. She walks to the other side of the car and wraps Robin in a warm and tight embrace.

“It was fun almost dying with you.” Y/N said in a completely dry tone.

“That’s one way to put it. Goodnight Y/N.”

“Night Rob!” Y/N said while getting back in the car, watching Steve and Robin say their goodbyes from the drivers seat.

He climbed into her car and looked at her gently, she signaled him to buckle up and he did as he was told. They began driving.

“How are you hanging in there Y/N/N?”

“I’m barely hanging by a thread. I just…I can’t believe that I watched Billy die and now Hopper is gone. I also can’t believe all the Russian shit but that will take a lot longer to unpack.”

“I get it, I am so sorry about Hopper. I know how much he means to you, and how much you meant to him.”

“He’s just…” Y/N took a long deep breath to ensure that she wouldn’t cry. “He’s just the closest thing I’ve ever had to a real dad. Same for Eleven, I just worry about her. Ya know? But anyway, how are you? How are you hanging in there?”

“I’m doing alright, feeling a little disgusting from the drugs but vomiting it all up and confessing my love for you helped wake me up a bit. Is it bad that I’ve gotten used to being so scared that this hasn’t even sunk in yet?”

“It is bad, but I’m the same way. I feel…numb.” The car became drowned out by the music playing on the radio. Y/N kept driving, letting the music fill the air rather than rambled thoughts. She knew she needed to tell Steve that she felt the same way, especially because he has apparently known for longer than she has about how he felt. But for some reason, she couldn’t do it. Each moment that felt like it would be the moment, fell flat. She just couldn’t do it.

As she pulled into the Harrington household, all of the emotions of tonight came rushing to her.

“Goodnight, Y/N/N. Promise me you’ll drive safe. Call me tomorrow?”

“Yeah, of course. Right when I wake up I’ll call.” She smiled at him. He started getting out of her car and she couldn’t move for some reason. “Goodnight Stevie.” He started walking across her lawn, and that’s when her body took over. She hurriedly unbuckled her seatbelt and jumped out of her car. She ran across the yard.

“Y/N/N, what’re you do-“ Steve was cut off by Y/N kissing him. Like clockwork the two worked in perfect sync and harmony.

Her hands worked their way to his cheeks, hand squishing his cheeks together. Her hands reached back to the nape of his neck, pulling him closer to her. This kiss felt different. Instead of the hungry, lustful kiss that they had previously shared, this one was gentle, soft but rushing with passion. Steve’s hands found their way to her waist, pulling her body as close to him as he physically could. Y/N began to pull her face away. The space between them stayed tight, but she opened her eyes slowly to look at the boy in front of her. There he was smiling like a dope, looking in her eyes deeply.

“In case you couldn’t tell, this is me saying I love you back.” She said with a giggle.

“Nah, nope. I didn’t catch that.” His eyes never left hers the entire sentence.

“Steven Joseph Harrington, I am wildly, deeply, crazy in love with you.” Huge smiles were mirrored on both of their faces.

“When did you know?” Steve asked. Y/N gave a timid smile. “Come on! I told you when I knew!”

“My dead honest answer is probably Graduation night. I think that there were feelings before that, but grad night kinda slapped me in the face.”

“Unbelievable!” Steve said with a sarcastic scoff.

“What?!”

“I knew SIX whole months before you? That’s baffling.” He said, pushing her away softly before turning right back to her.

“You’re the one who waited so long to kiss me.”

“What do you mean?!”

“You could have kissed me the moment we met and I would have fallen in love. But you waited until AFTER we graduated.” She mocked his jokingly angry tone. He softly grasped her chin, pulling her in for more kisses. He was kissing her lips longingly at first, but quickly started wildly pecking her all over her face. She cried out for him to stop a few times, breaking through her raucous laughter. Once he finally let her alone she cracked one final joke. “Oh my god, my brother got a girlfriend before I even got a boyfriend.”

“Barely, my parents thought you were my girlfriend the entire time.” She slapped his arm and pushed herself away, realizing how late it was and how bad she wanted to go home.

“Goodnight Stevie, I love you.”

“Goodnight Y/N/N, I love you.”

A week had passed before they held Hopper’s funeral. They organized a public wake for him but a private burial. Y/N dreaded the day as it had come closer and closer. He was really gone. They had never found his body, but it was no shock considering how the weapon exploded. The morning of the burial, when she got up, her legs felt weak and her heart was racing a mile a minute. She got dressed in her loose fitting black dress and didn’t dare put a touch of makeup on knowing how much she was going to cry. A knock on her door snapped her attention.

“Y/N/N?” Steve said, cracking the door a little bit. She looked up at him with a sad gaze. He walked a little further into her room, scooping her into his arms for a hug. Her rest his head atop of hers, making sure was encased in comfort. “Are you almost ready to go my dear?” His voice was softer than usual, showing how deep his care for her was.

“I’m ready. Did you tell Dustin it was time?” She said pulling herself away from his chest to look in his eyes. They were sad, but they were nothing compared to her eyes that were flooding with loss. She looked like she was becoming lost.

“Yeah, he’s already out in the car.” He said reaching down to grab her hand.

The drive to the cemetery was quiet, all of them mourning to themselves, yet also together. Steve’s hand rest against Y/N’s thigh, rubbing soft circles as he drove. Her hand sat on top of his forearm, just to make one more point of contact between them. They arrived at the cemetery, meeting up with the remaining members from that night. Y/N barely dropped Steve’s hand the entire time. Pastor Charles asked if anyone would like to speak about Hopper, Y/N instinctively raising her hand.

“When I moved to Hawkins, it was at a time where I needed a father the most, yet I was escaping my own. It’s already hard enough moving to a new school, but moving right at the edge of pubescence is even harder. The moment I met Hopper I knew he was going to help me. And he did. With everything. After all of the events over the past few years and everything in between, there was no one else I wanted to turn to for support, care, advice—well—pretty much everything.” Her voice started to shake, she coughed to cover it up. “Over time, Hopper took up the role of father for me in a way. Obviously, not to the same extent as El, but he was still there. Hopper, if you can somehow hear this. I need you to know how much I love you, and how much you have changed my life. I’m forever thankful for you. Goodbye.” She let the last word fall out, immediately rushing over to Steve to sob into his shoulder. He rubbed her shoulders as she let out more sobs, not once letting go. El and Joyce also decided to talk, but everyone else couldn’t bring themselves to speak over the other three women. The group started to dissipate but Y/N stayed with El for as long as she needed. She told the others to go, and that she’d bring El to dinner in a few hours. The two and cried and talked and bonded for a while, finding comfort in the pain.

For a few months, being jobless was okay. They got some compensation for the loss of the mall, and they needed time to grieve and relax from the trauma they had endured. But eventually it reached a point, where they needed to get jobs and they needed them quick. So, Steve, Robin and Y/N decided, why not work together again? They had all agreed on Family Video and ran for the hills with it. Steve took them all there on a cooler morning, ready to get the jobs. He pulled in front of store and they all piled out of it.

“You put your mom down as a reference?” Robin asked reading over all of their applications, specifically questioning Steve’s

“Yeah, Why not? She’s like super well respected.”

“Why not? Maybe because she would be biased.” Y/N mocked her boyfriend as he held the door open for her and Robin.

“You are such a dingus.” Robin let out as she trailed past.

They walked up to the counter where Keith was working, handing him the applications as he examined them intently. They all just kind of stood there as he read over them again and again.

“Uh, just to be clear, we weren’t fired, you know the mall burned down and like, killed a bunch of people.” Y/N winced at the thought of all the death. Keith set the papers down for the first time and glanced across all three people.

“Thanks for sharing. Didn’t know.” He threw the papers back towards Robin before pointing at Robin and asking “Three favorite movies. Go.”

“Uh…The Apartment, Hidden Fortress, Children of Paradise.”

“You go!” He snapped towards Y/N’s direction, demanding her to answer.

“Girl Friends, The Graduate and Taxi Driver.” She said swiftly, having already thought about them as Robin was answering. He leaned his head slightly before shoving his finger towards Steve’s face, signaling his turn to answer.

“Favorite movies?” Steve said nervousness evident in his voice.

“Did I stutter?”

“uh… Animal House, for sure. Um…” Steve let his focus drift around, trying desperately to think.

“Eyes on me Harrington.” Keith said, pointing to his own eyes.

“Yeah…Uh, Star Wars.”

“A New Hope?”

“A new what now?” Steve said, Y/N groaned a little bit. They had just watched them all for Dustin a few days ago.

“Which Star Wars?”

“The one with the teddy bears, duh.” He said before mimicking the sound of an Ewok. “No, uh, Oh the one that just came out! The movie that just came out. The one with the DeLorean and Alex P Keaton, and he’s trying to bang his mom.” He let out a laugh as he finished his sentence, both Y/N and Robin sighing, knowing exactly where this was going. “The time…Yeah, those are my top three. Classics.”

Keith had his eyes wander around them a few times, examining them once more.

“You two start Monday.” He said pointing in between Y/N and Robin. “You start never.” He said with dead seriousness in his voice as he pointed at Steve. Y/N felt her hand go to rub his shoulder a bit, watching his head fall in disappointment.

“Will you just, um…Will you give us a minute?” Robin asked gently towards Y/N and Steve.

“Yeah, um, yeah. Come on Stevie, let’s look around.” Y/N began to pull Steve towards the section of the video store closest to the exit. They stood there for a second.

“God, why couldn’t I think of any movies? I looked like an idiot.” Steve said angrily.

“It’s okay Stevie, you were nervous, you couldn’t help it.” Y/N looked towards the counter, where Robin was leaning close to Keith, talking pretty seriously. “Plus, I think Robin is gonna help you out. Do you want to look for a movie to watch tonight? That seems fun!” Y/N said trying to get Steve out of this mood.

“I don’t know, I think that I might hold a grudge against them now.”

“Come on Stevie, we can watch a movie…and cuddle…and….” Y/N said leaving her flirtatious message on the table.

“Are you serious?” Steve looked at her as she shook her head slowly and gently, winking at him as they never broke eye contact. The boy stumbled backwards, letting out a harsh breath falling right into the cardboard cutout of Phoebe Cates that was right behind him. He spun around in attempts to catch it, ending up being successful. He looked over to where Robin and Keith were and let out a chuckle while saying, “Oh! Fast Times, Fast Times! Ever heard of it? Top three for me, Keith!”

They all laughed a little bit. Keith said one more thing to Robin before she waved them to follow her as they left. The group piled back into Steve’s car to head back to go back to the Henderson’s.

“Guys, just so you know, you might not want to show a lot of PDA at work.” Robin said from the back seat.

“Oh?” Y/N said turning around to look at her.

“I may have pretended like you guys weren’t dating and claimed that Steve would bring in droves of ladies that he would share with Keith.”

“Robin, did you just hoe out my boyfriend to get him a job?” Y/N asked sarcastically.

“I may have, yes.” Robin said with an upturned smile.

“Hey, at least I got the job.” Steve said before reaching over and grabbing Y/N’s hand.

taglist: @mochminnie @queen1054 @prettysbliss @voidnarnia

#steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington x you #stranger things #stranger things x reader #stranger things x y/n

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ghostspideys-moved · 4 years

Text

All For The Best

Chapter Ten

A/N: So, I haven’t updated this in weeks, and for anyone who’s been reading, I’m sorry. I’ve simply had no motivation or reason to believe that updating mattered, but it’s here now. And hopefully I can get back to writing again.

Word Count: 1.8k

Pairings: Steve Harrington x OC, Nancy Wheeler x Jonathan Byers x OC

Summary: Just as the night comes to a close and everything seems to go back to normal, it gets a little worse first.

There was a split second where Hawthorne still hadn’t felt the effects of River’s powers hit him yet. But the moment it kicked in, he felt like he had a splitting headache. He wasn’t used to it, of course. Before now, he’d never had to handle the kind of powers his sister had. And with the chaos going on around them, he could hear everyone’s thoughts hitting him constantly. He couldn’t even pick anything out of the noise, which made it worse.

Hawthorne tried as hard as he could to block it out and drag River away to safety. By now, they were out of fireworks and had nothing else to defend themselves. Save for Hawthorne, though he knew he’d only be able to do so much when he couldn’t totally control these new powers right off the bat. His main concern, though, was keeping River safe now that she was unconscious. It was overwhelming, especially with El in trouble.

From a safer spot on the upper level, close enough to everyone else if they needed help, he could see Billy hunched over El. Something was clearly happening, and he knew better than to interfere, but he kept an eye on them just in case Billy tried anything.

Any attack the Mind Flayer threw at them, he fended off the best he could. While he had a decent idea of River's powers, he still wasn't quite sure how she could handle them so well. But he was slowly getting the hang of it. Admittedly, if you took away the telepathy part, he was enjoying this. For once, he was actually being of some use and not totally wanting to run away. Something about it gave Hawthorne just enough confidence to keep up the defense. With no other plans and their firework supply depleted, he had to be brave long enough in the hopes that El might be okay. And since he could tell El was using her powers to try breaking Billy from his possession, he thought interfering might be a bad move.

To his amazement, though, Billy stood, seemingly snapping out of whatever hold the Mind Flayer had on him. Not far from them, Max and Mike came running in. Hawthorne was relieved to see them. In the chaos, they hadn’t had time to look for them, so it saved him some stress. He spotted a few injuries on both of them, but they weren’t dead, and that might as well be a win for them.

Hawthorne handed River over to Steve as he rushed over to the rail, watching as Billy fended off the Mind Flayer. That was the last thing he’d expected to see tonight, but he supposed stranger things had happened. Though Hawthorne hated Billy, he was relieved to see that El was fine and out of harm’s way because of him. That was all that really mattered to him.

Even from the other side of the room, it was easy to sense Max’s distress as it became clear Billy wasn’t making it out of this alive. The Mind Flayer had him caught as he took one final hit straight to the chest. Knowing River would be safe here with Steve and Robin, he raced down to the lower level of the mall. He ran as quick as he could, and he could already hear Max’s thoughts. They were a mix of concern, confusion, grief, and anger. He wasn’t even sure she knew what she was feeling.

The Mind Flayer collapsed as Hawthorne reached Max, who collapsed in El’s arms. He knelt down and pulled them both close so they wouldn’t have to see Billy’s lifeless body splayed on the floor. Both girls were sobbing messes, but he didn’t mind at all. They’d been through so much, and they deserved to let it out.

He only tried to get them standing when a hoard of soldiers charged in, hurrying them outside to safety. Outside, it was raining, and the fluorescent lights of the Starcourt sign painted the asphalt with bright pinks and blues. Hawthorne tried to focus on small details like that to keep himself grounded. He was a little better at drowning out the thoughts of everyone around him enough to keep his head from pounding.

Ambulances and firetrucks waited outside. They were given medical attention while the soldiers and Dr. Owens did a sweep of the building. Hawthorne wasn’t too badly injured, all things considered. Only drained and ready for a nap. He wiped at the blood dripping from his nose as a paramedic looked him over.

It was hard to think he’d made it through another world-ending catastrophe when he’d been so convinced the first time was pure luck. Maybe he had it in him after all. Hawthorne kept an eye out for Joyce and Hopper, hoping they both made it out just fine. Clearly they’d been able to close the gate if the Mind Flayer had gone down, but there was still worry lingering in the back of his mind. Anything could have happened to them after closing it.

Once Hawthorne was patched up, he went to check on El. He knew she’d probably been the most physically and mentally taxed of them all. But she seemed okay. As okay as she could be, anyways.

Thankfully, Hawthorne spotted Joyce coming out of Starcourt. She was greeted by Will rushing over to hug her. Though she seemed relieved to see her son, something was wrong. Even without River’s powers, he could sense it. For just a moment, he let down the mental walls he’d put up in the hopes of figuring out what was troubling her. He mostly caught glimpses of images, probably her memories as she recalled what happened in the base, but he got the gist. Hawthorne wished he hadn’t looked because his anxiety took over the moment he realized what was wrong.

Hopper was gone.

All the hope he had of everything going back to normal was instantly crushed. Grief settled in, like he’d been punched in the gut. Which might have been preferable to this. This was so much worse.

Hawthorne caught Joyce’s gaze for a second, and she gave him an apologetic look. One that made his heart ache and twist. In that one look, he could tell she was just as grief-stricken as him.

It wasn’t long before River came to, and his hold on her powers finally gave. She had them back, and it felt like a weight was lifted from his shoulders. How she controlled that much power was beyond him. For once, though, he was glad he didn’t have to deal with that everyday.

Steve was sitting with River in an ambulance, a shock blanket wrapped around them as she was getting her arm set in a sling for now. Though she was clearly still in pain, she looked relieved to be outside. Though he didn’t want to ruin that, Hawthorne knew he had to tell her about Hopper. Someone had to.

Hawthorne tried not to let his grief show as he walked over. River’s arm was a bit swollen, but it looked better than he thought it would. “How’s your arm doing?” he asked.

“Not too bad,” she said. “Could be a lot worse.”

He wasn’t sure if it was because she had her powers back or if she just knew him that well, but her brows furrowed, and she seemed to sense something was off. She looked him over, probably checking for injuries, before finally asking, “What happened?”

Hawthorne opened his mouth to speak, but it took him a few tries before he could say anything. He was worried about how horribly she was likely to take it.

“Hopper didn’t come back,” he finally said. As he expected, River’s entire demeanor shifted drastically. Before, she’d at least appeared to have some hope, but now that was gone.

“What do you mean?” He was sure she knew the answer, but he’d expected her denial.

“He’s gone. Joyce came back, Murray came back, but no Hopper.” It felt way too real the more he had to say it.

River finally seemed to be processing the weight of the reality. Tears welled up in her eyes, and his heart sunk. Hawthorne hated to see her like this, but he knew he’d done the right thing by telling her. She curled up into Steve’s side, and he took that as his cue to let her be.

Despite the loss tonight brought, everyone else was intact physically, if not mentally. Hawthorne let Rex out of Jonathan’s car. The poor dog mostly seemed shaken by all the noise and people, but he was otherwise okay. Naturally, though, his instinct seemed to be checking on River, because he found her rather quickly. Noticing her saddened state, Rex hopped up with some help and curled up next to River. Hawthorne knew she needed the comfort, so he let Rex stay with her. Tonight felt like the longest night of his life.

Joyce let Hawthorne stay at the Byers house for the night since the rest of the kids were staying. Besides, River took Rex and went with Steve, and he wouldn’t be able to sleep in the cabin alone. He’d never sleep if he did. And he was sure El shared the same sentiment. Being around their friends might be for the best.

Nancy even stayed, which he’d been hoping for honestly. He was glad to see her and Jonathan were doing better. It gave him some peace of mind among everything else that was going horribly wrong in his life.

The kids were working out sleeping arrangements, though they all seemed content to sleep in a pile to keep each other close and comforted. Hawthorne would have been fine taking the couch for himself, but Jonathan insisted he join him and Nancy in his room. It was probably for the best. He was a tall guy, and curling up on the couch wouldn’t have been comfortable.

Jonathan’s bed was big enough for the three of them when they piled together. Hawthorne had Nancy laying on his chest and his arm wrapped around Jonathan as he held him close. He felt much better being able to hold them. It grounded him, and he knew they were safe now.

Surprisingly, Nancy was the first to pass out, though neither of them blamed her. That left Hawthorne and Jonathan, who tried to keep their voices low for her sake.

“How are you feeling?” Jonathan asked, looking up at him with concern in his eyes.

Hawthorne didn’t want to lie to him. He felt awful. “Tired,” he answered. “But I don’t think I’ll be getting much sleep after this.” He didn’t think he really could when his mind kept drifting back to what he’d seen from Joyce.

“That’s okay. You lost your dad today. I don’t think anyone will blame you for feeling like shit for a while.” Coming from Jonathan, it was oddly reassuring. He always had a way of making Hawthorne feel like the world wasn’t totally against him.

Though he didn’t feel his best, it was enough for him knowing that he had both of them to help him through his grief. He kissed Jonathan’s forehead and relaxed for now. Even from here, Hawthorne could just make out the kids hushed voices, clearly unable to sleep just as much as him. It comforted him knowing he wasn’t alone. Especially once Jonathan fell asleep, his breath becoming even and tension leaving his body.

He wasn’t sure how long he was awake, but the silence, interrupted only by the occasional whisper from the kids, was starting to lull him to sleep. Though he wasn’t sure he wanted to sleep, not knowing what might await him in his dreams, Hawthorne felt himself giving in. He deserved some rest after such a long night. Tomorrow, he could worry about everything else. Even when he finally fell asleep, his protective grasp on Nancy and Jonathan didn’t loosen.

Taglist: @charmedtenderness @nxncywheeler @koibecomedragons

#steve harrington #jonathan byers #nancy wheeler #steve harrington x oc #steve harrington x original character #steve harrington x reader #jonathan byers x oc #jonathan byers x original character #jonathan byers x reader #nancy wheeler x oc #nancy wheeler x original character #nancy wheeler x reader #stranger things #stranger things 2 #stranger things 3 #stranger things fic

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cherrybracelets · 5 years

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i need my girl [j. hopper x reader]

song inspo | hopper playlist

word count: 4k / warnings: swearing, age gap, alcohol mention, smoking mention

an: this takes place about a year after the events of s3, but this version hop came home safe and sound!!!! this was hella emo and i sobbed a lot. anyways, please leave feedback, feel free to send me a kind message or two. whatever. and as always, listen to the song inspo and check out my hopper playlist i worked very hard on

When you thought about what your life was like a few years ago, before you accidentally saw too much while taking the trash out one night and got sucked in to an entire government conspiracy, it was honestly quite boring. You didn't remember what you did with your days when you weren't hunting shadow monsters and protecting a kid with supernatural abilities. You also don't remember what life was like before you met Jim Hopper. Although, you knew things were definitely much easier.

You had spent most of the last year at his side, you two always being in the right place at the right time to save each other, always reaching for the other first in times of danger. At first you chalked it up to coincidence, sure that you were both just fighting the same battles (literally). But, after a few months of constantly finding yourself in his presence, you realized you couldn't quite live your life without him (again, literally).

Even when you weren't saving the world together, you loved to be by his side. You loved how much he made you laugh, and no matter how many times he heard a song, he still couldn't get the lyrics right. You were starting to have serious feelings for him, and before you knew it you were head over heels crushing. And he felt the same way. He hadn't felt romantic feelings towards someone in a long time, especially someone who was significantly younger than him, and it scared the shit out of him.

He tried for a long time to ignore it, push it deep down inside, but before he left for Russia, he left you a detailed letter explaining how he felt. It broke your heart, especially because you didn't know if you'd ever see him again. But he came home, and as soon as you saw him, he asked you if you had read his letter, and for some reason you said no. You had convinced yourself that things would never work with you two , and you were terrified to hurt him. He had gone through so much, he didn't deserve to be with someone with just as much trauma. With everything you'd been through together, it seemed impossible to have a healthy, light-hearted relationship, and that's what he deserved. He never asked again about the letter, and you just figured he came to the same conclusion when he was away.

But despite it all, he was still your best friend, and that's why almost every day around lunch time, you found yourself waiting outside his office to bring him his lunch. He wouldn't eat healthy unless you literally sat and watched him eat every bite of his salad. He was a dad now, he had to take care of himself for her. That's what you always said to him, but also, you wanted him to be around as long as possible, because you couldn't imagine a world without him.

You sat eagerly on a shitty chair, looking around the station for the millionth time, staring at the same posters and flyers. You held his salad, and your own, in a small paper bag on your lap. The scent of grilled chicken filling your nostrils and making your stomach rumble. You threw your head back in frustration, hoping whatever was keeping Hop from letting you in his office was worth it. Whenever he was late to anything, though, you got a twinge of fear deep inside of you, that somehow he had gotten hurt- or worse, killed. You shook the thought out of your head, knowing he was probably just stuck on the phone listening to Dan complain about the neighborhood kids cutting his flowers again.

Hoppers office door swung open, and he greeted you with a large smile. "Hey, sorry I'm late- some crazy lady called about 'evil' birds at the park," he said, chuckling slightly. He motioned for you to come in, to which you quickly hopped up and walked over. He closed the door behind you, taking his hat off and letting out a large sigh.

"Listen, I'm not saying I would rather be fighting Russians, but God this job can be boring sometimes," he groaned, grabbing his salad from the bag and opening the container grumpily.

"Don't say that, you'll jinx yourself. How much you wanna bet a huge emergency is gonna come in soon?" You responded, laughing to yourself.

"I highly doubt that." Hopper poured a cup of dressing onto his salad and mixed it around a bit, playing with the lettuce. "What are you up to tonight?" He asked, taking a bite of chicken.

"Oh, I didn't tell you? Joyce set me up on some blind date with the pharmacist at her job," you answered in between large bites. You were too hungry to wait and make small talk with Hop today.

"A date?" He asked, shocked. His eyes were wide, eyebrows raised, an overall look of surprise covering his face.

"Yeah, according to her he's a great guy. We'll see, though, she set me up with some loser last month." You were staring at your food intensely, but looked up quickly to catch a look of disgust in Hoppers face.

"I didn't realize you were dating," he said in a hushed tone. He had put his fork down and crossed his hands on his desk.

"Sorry, it didn't seem like the type of thing I needed to run by you," you responded, sarcastically. You rolled your eyes at him, and continued eating. He just shook his head silently, picking up his fork and playing with his food again.

"I just figured it would be something you would've talked to me about, considering..." he trailed off.

"Considering what, Jim?" You looked up at him, his eyes locked on yours. You knew what he was thinking, what he so desperately wanted to say, to yell to you. Because you two loved each other. Although, it would never be said. It would never be said, because it couldn't happen. It wasn't supposed to happen.

"Nothing, never mind. Sorry." He stammered a bit over his words, and took a large bite of food to shut himself up. You two ate in silence for a few seconds, a thick fog of tension and awkwardness hanging between you. "Where are you guys going?" He asked.

"Enzo's. Six-thirty."

"Sounds good. Sounds really great..." He took another large bite and sighed. The two of you finished eating, only making light conversation through the rest of the lunch. You could tell he was upset, he wasn't doing a good job at hiding it. A part of you wished you'd never told him, but you knew he would have to know some day. You left pretty quickly after you finished eating, telling Hop you had to get back to work. But in all honesty, you just wanted to get out of there.

You walked back to work slowly, suddenly feeling very overwhelmed with life. You were getting that feeling in your chest and gut again, the same feeling you had when you read Hoppers leader for the first time. This feeling of intense love, not caring about anything else in the world except seeing him and holding him, protecting him from everything this world could throw at you. You wanted to run back into his office, wrap your hands around his face and kiss him, not let a single thing come between you.

But you shook it away, burned it out of your brain. You tried to think about what you were going to wear tonight, and how you were going to do you hair. Hopper really liked this blue dress you had, you wore it to El's birthday party this year. But it didn't matter what Hop liked, because this wasn't a date with him. So fuck the blue dress, you'll wear something else, something for you.

You continued walking quickly, back to your office, your mind sweeping your closet to find an outfit for tonight. For the first time since making the plans, you were actually kind of exciting. It would be nice to have a normal conversation with someone, for once. You had almost forgotten what it was like to talk about the weather, gossip about the locals, just be a normal adult. It kind of sounded boring, but safety was boring, you'd learnt that very well over the past year. There was suddenly a cold breeze of autumn air that rushed past you, raising goosebumps across your body. You felt yourself shiver as it passed you, a familiar dark feeling crawling over you. You shook it off, knowing you were perfectly safe in Hawkins, now. At least, that's what you had hoped.

You walked into your office building and took the elevator to your floor, trying to figure out what you could talk about tonight. You finished up your work for the day fairly quickly, it was slow at the office this time of year, and you were exceptionally bored today. When five o clock rolled around, and it was time to go home for the weekend, you happily walked out to your car and took in the fresh air. You didn't get much of it, closed away in your cubicle.

You drove home, enjoying singing along to the radio, windows rolled down and the crisp smell of pumpkins and changing leaves filling the space of your car. Fall was your absolute favorite time of year, there was something about the way nature felt so welcoming, so forgiving, during fall. The warm colors of the leaves felt like you were being wrapped up in blankets and a warm fire crackled away in front of you. The smell of crisp apples and the excitement of kids picking out their Halloween costumes. Your mind suddenly fell to El, remembering a few weeks ago when you promised you'd help her pick out a costume this year.

You loved El, and you loved whenever you got to make dinner for her and Hopper, renting girly rom coms and forcing him to watch while he just sat silently, rolling his eyes and grunting at every cheesy line. And after El would go to bed, you and Hop would sit on his deck, smoking and sharing a six pack of beer, watching the stars travel above you. There was one night, back in July, Max had invited El over for a sleepover, and it was just the two of you that night.

Hopper was off his ass drunk, trying to tell you about the stars, despite knowing absolutely nothing. He was pointing them out, giving them all names of people he knew, dying laughing as he mocked Steve and Mike.

"Do you see that one, up to your right?" He pointed to a large, glowing star, cigarette butt hanging in his fingers.

"Of course." You watched the way the moonlight brightened up his eyes, and you could see deep inside his soul. Perhaps you had had a bit too much to drink, as well. But to this day, you swear he had completely opened himself up that night. You had seen all of him, no rough shell protecting him, no grumpy exterior. Just... Hopper.

"That star is you."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because it's the most beautiful one. The biggest, brightest. No matter what, I can't look away from it. Despite the thousands- no, millions of other stars up there, that's the one I will look at for the rest of my life." Hopper stared wide-eyed at the star, a smile growing on his face. You watched him, not sure what to say, wanting to know so badly how his lips would feel pressed against yours. What it would be like to love him.

"I gotta pee," he said, loudly, giggling as he stood up and walked inside. You sat on the porch, taking another sip of beer and a long drag of a cigarette. You stared at the star, burning in into your memory.

You were brought back from your thoughts when a car horn broke through your memory. You were sitting at a light that had turned green, and the people behind you were getting pissed. You waved your hand to apologize and began to drive, pulling onto your street. You finally got into your driveway and parked your car, taking a moment of silence before getting out and going inside. You were greeted by your dog, who was happily barking at the window as he saw you pull in.

You headed to your bedroom and began scouring through your closet, determined to find something incredible for tonight. Luckily for you, buried deep in the back was a forgotten dress from your sisters wedding. You pulled it out, smiling at the find. It was a deep plum that looked beautiful with your skin and hair color, and perfectly accented your curves in all the right ways. You couldn't believe you forgot about this! It was perfect!

You quickly curled your hair and freshened your makeup, doing your best to make yourself look somewhat together. You slipped into your purple dress and put on a pair of cute black heels. You did a double check in the mirror, flattening out the sides of your dress and flipping your hair a few different ways before settling on a style. You took a deep breath, feeling a rush of different emotions as you walked out your door and to your car. You drove slowly to the restaurant, keeping the windows rolled up to avoid the wind messing up your hair.

When you pulled up to Enzos, you handed your keys to the valet, and walked shyly inside. You stood at the podium, waiting for the hostess to come back from seating another couple.

"Hello, welcome to Enzos, how can I help you?" She smiled kindly at you, turning her head slightly while waiting for your response.

"Hi, I'm meeting someone here on a date. We had reservations, should be under Matt..." you trailed off, peaking down at her list.

"Oh, yes, those reservations were cancelled earlier today." She frowned at you, and double checked her list a few times.

"Uh, I'm sorry, that can't be right. Matt Palmer?" You shook your head in confusion, crossing your arms and letting out an annoyed sigh.

"Yes, miss, I'm sorry... He called around three to cancel. I spoke with him directly."

"Well, that's just great. I'm glad he called to let you know," you responded, angrily. You rolled your eyes in frustration. "Do you guys have a phone I can borrow?"

The girl looked slightly annoyed, but smiled through it and handed you their landline. You started dialing Matt's number, ready to scream at him for standing you up. Who cancels at the restaurant, but doesn't even have the decency to call his date himself?

Matt picked up, and cheerily said, "Hello, Matt speaking."

"Matt, hey, good to hear from you. It's (Y/N)... what the hell, dude? Did you seriously cancel our date and not tell me?" You were talking quite loudly, and were getting obvious stares from the elderly couple waiting to be seated. The hostess was staring at you, and awkwardly smiled when you made eye contact.

"Woah, (Y/N), I didn't want to cancel. I just talked to Joyce today, and she told me you didn't want to go anymore?" Matt sounded genuinely confused, his voice in full defense mode.

"What?" You whispered, shocked. "I haven't even talked to Joyce today... why the hell..." you trailed off, racking your brain as to why she would say that.

"Listen, I can meet you there in thirty minutes if you still want to go? I'm sorry for all the confusion, honest... I was excited for tonight! I bought new cologne!"

"Matt... I'll call you soon, okay, we can reschedule. I'm pretty sure I know exactly who pulled this shit." You angrily hung up the phone, stomping over to the hostess and handing her the phone.

"So, should I not put your name on the waiting list?"

"I think you know the answer to that," you responded, rolling your eyes and walking quickly out of the restaurant. You waited on the sidewalk for the valets to bring your car back around, fuming with anger. When your car got there, you hopped in quickly and sped off towards Hoppers house. You drove in silence, pushing your car way over the speed limit, fingers digging into the fabric of the steering wheel. When you pulled into his driveway, you got out of your car without even taking the keys out of the ignition, running to his front door and slamming on it, loudly.

"Hopper!!" You yelled. The door swung open, and a confused and sleepy looking Hopper answered, a cigarette hanging between his lips. "What the fuck, Jim? I know you told Joyce to cancel my date."

"What? Why would you think that?" He took the cigarette out and threw it in the ash tray next to him.

"Because, I know you were pissed about me going in the first place. I'm not stupid." You crossed your arms and raised your eyebrows at him, ready to hear his next excuse.

"Fuck, okay, I know. I'm sorry... I just... couldn't have you dating him." Hopper put his hand over his eyes and rubbed them, a frustrated groan escaping his lips.

"Why would you do that?" You watched him, watching his body slightly tense up, his hands balled into fists.

"Because, oh for fucks sake... I wrote it in that damn letter that you never got... I just..."

"I got the letter!" You yelled, interrupting his thoughts.

"You... what? Are you kidding me? God, that's fucking great, (Y/N), if you didn't feel the same way, you could've just told me instead of lying to my face about it for a year!" Hoppers lips were pursed, and he was screaming only inches from your face. You could feel the warmth of anger radiating from his body, and the slight smell of his tobacco and vanilla cologne.

"But I do feel the same way, Jim. I fucking do! But I can't... we can't... you deserve something normal, and someone normal... something without baggage, and trauma. Not me... you are a thousand times too good for me, Jim. I need to get out of here..." you mumbled, fumbling back to your car as tears started to rush down your face.

"Wait, don't go!" Hop yelled, slamming his front door behind him and crawling in his truck, turning it on to follow you. You began speeding away, Hopper not far behind you. He turned the lights and sires on in his truck, speeding up to get right on your tail. You shook your head angrily and pressed down on the gas pedal. He did the same, staying close to you.

"Pull over, (Y/N), please!" You heard through his megaphone. "It's illegal to run away from a police officer, ya know, I could have you thrown in jail for this!" He yelled again, laying on his horn a few times. Although you knew he would never actually put you in jail, a wave of nervousness flooded through you, and you pulled your car over into the shoulder of the road. Hopper pulled up behind you, stopping his car and turning off the sirens. Silence flooded around you for a moment, only able to hear the sound of your tears and heavy breathing.

Hopper walked up to your window, tapping on the glass with the butt end of his flashlight. You rolled your window down, and wiped the tears off your cheeks with the back of your hand.

"Do you know why I pulled you over today, miss?" He asked, crouching to meet you face to face. You let out a small laugh, although you tried not too.

"Hopper..." you muttered between breaths.

"(Y/N)... can you step out of the vehicle?" He motioned for you to come outside.

"Are you serious?"

"Are you ignoring a direct order from the chief of police?" He asked. You rolled your eyes, opening your door and standing outside, arms crossed and avoiding his eyes.

"There hasn't been a moment of my life in the past four years that has been normal. Not a single god damn thing, (Y/N). And I love it... the chaos, the adventure... I've saved people. I've saved you... El... I don't want a white-picket fence, golden retriever, apple pie life. I want you... I've wanted you since the first time you jumped in front of a Russian spy to save me... you are the most bad ass, beautiful, intelligent... amazing person I have ever met. You are my star, you are all I see." He pointed behind you, and you turned around to see the same bright, shining star that he compared you too only months ago.

You turned back to him, standing on your toes and cupping his face in your hands. "Hopper... I would spend the rest of my life protecting you if I could... when I read that letter, the first time, I didn't know if I would ever see you again. Every time I'm not with you I feel this large, emptiness sitting inside of me. And a fear... I am so scared without you. You make me feel safe... and loved."

"That's because I am so unbelievably in love with you. I don't want you on any fucking dates with any dumb ass pharmacists," he laughed, wrapping his arms around your waist. "I don't think I would be half the person I am today if you weren't by my side through all of this... you, El... you are my girls. In all honesty, a few years ago, I never thought I would be capable of loving anyone again. In a father way, or a romantic way... and then I met El... and I knew I had to protect her, be the dad I couldn't be with Sara. And then... you... I felt love again for the first time with you."

A single tear had fallen from Hoppers eye, and you wiped it away with your thumb. You pressed your face to his, and kissed him slowly. The first time you had ever kissed him, and it was just how you imagined it. Although his lips were just on yours, you felt it through your whole body, felt his love coursing through your veins. Being held by him was the most amazing feeling you had ever felt. His lips moved with yours, pouring out months of locked-up love, finally being himself, flooding all of his feelings into you.

You broke the kiss and pulled your face away, wanting to see him. Wanting to look at the man in front of you, opening himself up on the side of the highway. His eyes were shining brightly in the moonlight again, open portals to his soul, you seeing deep into him. And you felt yourself opening up, too. Everything you had felt, everything you had wanted to say, was finally all out in the open, hanging around the two of you, completely barricading you from the rest of the world. All you had was love, all you had was each other in that moment.

"Will you come home with me, please?" He whispered to you, holding your body close to his.

"That's all I want, Hop. I'll go anywhere you go." He kissed you on the forehead and pulled you even tighter, the coldness of the night finally settling on the two of you. Your star hanging in the distance above you, illuminating the darkness surrounding you. Now that you had each other, there was no longer any darkness. Your love would always illuminate the world around you, always keep you protected.

#jim hopper #jim hopper x reader #jim hopper fanfic #stranger things #stranger things 3 #fanfiction #fanfic #david harbour

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jakey-beefed-it · 5 years

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finally got around to watching stranger things season 3.

no spoiler-impressions: yeesh. 4.5/10

spoilers under the cut

Things that were terrible:

The russians. Everything to do with them. The whole plot of the season tbh. Cartoonish and bad.

A better reference to Red Dawn would have been having the kids or someone comparably imaginative and gullible think there were Evil Russians behind things, but then no, because that’s not how real life (or plausible facsimilies therof) works.

I know I said it was all bad but special ‘holy shit bad’ award goes to the Terminator Russian. There’s homage and then there’s pastiche. ffs.

Hopper’s... entire characterization. Somebody take the 40 oz can of toxic masculinity juice the writers were chugging away from them please. And don’t let them near Hopper again until... just don’t let them near scripts again at all actually.

There was a way to handle Hopper/Joyce well and it was... literally the exact opposite of this (absent the last like... thirty seconds they shared)

Also just... Hop as a guy with a mean right hook and the ability to take a punch pretty well is plausible and highly enjoyable. They really did turn him into Rambo this season and it was... neither plausible nor enjoyable.

The entire tone-deaf jingo yay capitalism bullshit. This is a show where two whole seasons set up the US government as, at the very least, complicit in this world-shattering bullshit.

Erica you had two cool minutes in season 2 and they turned you into a corporate shill. Oh, well, guess those two cool minutes are all ya gonna get.

Having Alexei declare of the carnival games capitalist system “It’s not rigged!” was particularly onerous. If Russkinator hadn’t shot him he should’ve shot himself for allowing that kind of Eagleland propaganda past his lips.

Alexei was likeable but not part of the main main cast so he was doomed. See: Barb, Bob. At least his name didn’t start with a B. Guess it would’ve been too on the nose even for these hacks to call him Boris.

The newspaper was also cartoonishly sexist. Like, I’m sure such things absolutely do occur in real life which has license to be as ridiculous as it wants but in a fictional narrative such things take us out of the moment. Like, you could’ve told the same story in a much more palateable AND relevant way by loading up on microaggressions rather than paint the newsboyz as cardboard Sexist Villains.

Am... I supposed to care about Billy “I’m going to run over literal children because I am a racist shitbag” Hargrove (and I confess I had to google his last name there oops)? Because I don’t. He was more than just a ‘mean guy’ he tried to murder. Children. last season. because he is racist.

I do not like Murray Bauman and his creepy meddling in other people’s sex lives, but at least this time it was two adults instead of fucking teenagers. God! Ugh!

Apparently this is also going to include some beefs i had with season two, oops.

Things that were meh

The gory horror this season meant the whole tone of it was much more Cronenberg than Spielberg. Could work but kinda felt like it shook up the established tone in the wrong way.

There was a whole... icky slasher misogyny feel to the way Billy abducted Heather. I think it was intentional, so I’m not calling it ‘terrible’, as it was effective at conveying that, but I personally hated it, just as I personally hate slasher movies.

Russian demogorgon looks entirely more... man-like than the Hawkins one. Splicing thing? Maybe just clearer lighting? Less convincing than the s1 demogorgon, less disturbing for the most, but not without potential so it goes here.

I’m all for Hopper having miraculously survived and wound up in Siberia somehow if they fix his goddamn characterization next season otherwise just let him have evaporated along with all the Russkies.

Oh hey, maybe the ‘Russian demogorgon’ is actually mutant Hopper somehow. That’d be kinda horrible. Hope they don’t do that. But logging that here for posterity in case the brothers Duffer are even bigger hacks than I thought.

Things that weren’t terrible:

We stan two teenagers now instead of just one: still don’t care about Nancy or Jonathan but Steve’s still rad and now Robin is too.

Their entire friendship was just... *chef’s kiss*

Max and Eleven’s friendship was also pretty great. El needs more friends, or at least more time to just hang out and be friends with people who just want to hang out with her. Which, yeah, the whole gang, but having the two only girls their age be FRIENDS is a huge improvement over last season when Max was introduced as the Rival. Just, ugh.

I do enjoy watching the kids be kids. Mostly that meant Dustin this year because the others were too caught up with Teen Angst(TM) (ps- don’t we HAVE teenage characters for that very purpose? older teens i mean? let the kids be kids!)

Murray’s interactions with Alexei were generally fun and witty. Please more of this and less being a goddamn creep if he hangs around.

the last 30 seconds with Hopper and Joyce together on screen, when he turns to her, they say nothing at all to one another but both convey lots with facial expressions. They’re both grown ass adults, saving the world and the kids they love, even at the cost of (one of) their own lives. Both of them know what this means, and they go through with it, because both understand what’s really important isn’t either of them, but the kids, and that the kids have someone to look after them. Kinda wish you could just throw out... like the entire rest of the season of their interaction, and have their relationship be built on that level of understanding and common cause. Let them be adults.

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sulietsexual · 5 years

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Could you elaborate why you were dissapointed in season 3 of Stranger Things? I haven't seen it yet but feel free to spoil stuff, already saw tons of gifsets on here.

royalweirdonj said:Thoughts on Stranger Things 3?

Okay, so I have some mixed feelings about this season, so I’ll talk about both the good and the bad and why I was ultimately disappointed with this season (at least in part). So we’ll start with …

What I Liked

First and foremost, I absolutely loved what they did with El’s character development and characterisation this season. El is a character who hasn’t really had the chance to grow or develop because she’s always so isolated and/or going through so much trauma. In Season 1 she was basically just a traumatised child and in Season 2 Hopper kept her very isolated and her weird sojourn to find her mother and her sister didn’t feel authentic to me. But this season finally gave her the opportunity to start to develop her own sense of self and I loved that, especially the medium through which she did so, ie her friendship with Max.

We’ve all wanted this friendship since Season 2 but I don’t think that any of us realised how glorious it would be. El is a reserved and unsure character (when she’s not being pushed to save everyone) and so she really needed someone like Max in her corner, someone who was loud and assertive, who would stand up for her when she couldn’t stand up for herself and who could show her how to be more dominant and make her own boundaries and rules. I loved the shopping montage, particularly the part where Max helped her pick out clothes that felt like her (”Not like Hopper or Mike, but like you.”), as well as their sleepovers, the way they investigated everything together and the bond which formed from them being the only girls in a group of boys who didn’t always understand each other. It was a really sweet and organic friendship and I’m so glad that the Duffers decided to develop it.

And speaking of friendships, I also adored the dynamic between Steve and Robyn, the way the show turned what we all thought would be a romantic relationship on its head and instead turned it into a sweet and snarky friendship between two people who genuinely liked one another. Robyn herself was a great character and her presence on the show greatly improved the overall tone. I loved how smart and quirky and snarky she was and Mia Hawke really made the character feel authentic. And I really loved the subversion of her and Steve’s relationship and her coming out scene. Steve Harrington proved what an absolute cinnamon roll he is with his reaction to her coming out; I loved that his only response was to tell her that she needed better taste in women and I loved that in the Three Months Later sequence they were still besties looking for jobs in the same place so they could stick together.

Steve Harrington remained the awesome character he’s always been. Loved that his and Dustin’s friendship is still so intact and that they still care about one another so much. Also loved him sneaking the other kids into the movies on a regular basis. And I liked how the series demonstrated that while he isn’t book smart, he’s smart in other ways, such as figuring out where the music on the recording came from or using the vial of green substance to jam the elevator door open. It shows that he knows how to think on his feet and that he pays attention to his surroundings and is street-smart. I love what they’re doing with his character, allowing him to continue to grow into a more kind, smart and compassionate character with every season.

Also, I loved seeing Science Teacher Scott Clarke again! I missed him in Season 2, so seeing his epic reappearance was amazing! Wish he’d been in more than just one episode.

Characters aside (although, I should mention that I love Joyce Beyers more with every season, her “Mom Voicing” the Government was brilliant and I liked that they touched on her grief over Bob’s death) but that aside, the season felt really well-paced. Only having eight episodes meant that the story progressed quickly and there wasn’t a lot of filler, which was good. There was also so much excitement and action going on that it was very easy to binge-watch the whole season. That being said, I feel like the season changed direction mid-way through, which brings me to …

What I Didn’t Like

Following on from the previous paragraph, I feel like Season 3 started as a character-based season and then quickly switched to a plot-driven season (and on an added note, I was kind of annoyed that the plot this season was literally the same as last season ie the Mind Flayer has taken over someone close to one of the party members and they have to close the gate to stop them - again. Also, the subplot with the Russians was kind of lame).

There was so much characterisation laid down in the first half of the season which was then kind of forgotten about in the second half once the action got underway and then was never resolved. Will spends most of the first three or four episode lamenting his lost childhood and desperately trying to re-connect with his friends. It’s heartbreaking to see how much he craves the days before everything, the days where he felt safe, where his friends were there for him and not concerned with their romantic entanglements. It was actually a really interesting look into Will’s character and how he’s desperately clinging to the old days but once the Mind Flayer comes into play, this is pretty much dropped. Aside from a half-hearted attempt from Lucas to bridge the gap, Will’s disconnect from his friends and the fact that they’re growing up faster than he is and therefore growing apart from him is never addressed again, leaving this particular thread unfinished.

Hopper’s characterisation and his storyline regarding being a parent to a thirteen-year-old was also left unresolved. Overall, I didn’t love Hopper’s characterisation this season. He seemed overly aggressive and I really didn’t like that he got so drunk when Joyce didn’t turn up for their date. He’s obviously having communication issues with El, and the opportunity to resolve these issues died along with him. His jealousy over any man who even talked to Joyce was irritating and I didn’t like that he essentially threatened a fourteen-year-old kid and seemed pleased with himself when said kid then hurt his daughter (because it meant that he got his way and that’s all that mattered). I understand why he was so alarmed with El and Mike spending so much time together but the fact that this never got resolved in an adult manner irritated me. And his death, well, we’ll talk about that soon because that pissed me off beyond belief.

Billy’s character needed more depth. I did feel a bit sorry for him this season and he definitely felt like a better character than the previous season, but any development he had (including his relationship with Max) happened offscreen, so it was hard to believe that Max would grieve for him so much after everything we saw him do to her in Season 2. Obviously things have gotten better between the two of them and Billy himself is nowhere near as gross as he was (although he’s still a dick) but we never got to see this growth/development, so it was hard to really empathise with his character or feel grief over his passing, even for Max.

Nancy’s character felt (once again) kind of useless this season and her storyline was (once again) so separate from the main storyline that I really feel that it could have been removed entirely and it wouldn’t have made a lick of difference. Also, I get that we were supposed to feel that she was being treated in a sexist manner by the men at the newspaper but, I mean, she was only an intern. She wasn’t there as a reporter, she was working as a intern and it’s an intern’s job to run menial tasks such as getting coffee, picking up lunch and doing boring tasks like photocopying and filing and the bad treatment she received seemed to be based more off her intern status than her gender. Also, what did she think, that she would become some groundbreaking reporter based off a summer job with zero experience or writing credentials? Lastly, Jonathan barely felt like a character this season, his sole reason to exist seemed to be to prop up Nancy’s storyline and I hated that after Jonathan delivered that epic (and entirely true) speech about how Nancy didn’t understand the lower class and how he needed the job and wasn’t born with the same silver spoon in his mouth that she was, he then turned around and apologised and said that he was wrong (which he totally wasn’t). Yet another example of Nancy treating a boyfriend like crap and getting away with it, but hey, “feminism”!

I also didn’t really like the dynamic they wrote between Joyce and Hop. It was good at first, with him going to her for advice on how to deal with El and Mike. But once she “stood him up” and they developed that weird snarky “banter”, I found myself growing tired of the dynamic. Also, bringing back the creepy conspiracy theorist from Season 2 to tell them they needed to bang (like he did with Nancy and Jonathan) was, again, so annoying. I hate when characters are told that they have feelings for one another, rather than developing naturally. So yeah, never been much of a Jopper shipper and this season made me even less so. Bring back Bob!

Oh, and lastly, Erica Sinclair is the most annoying little snot of a character. I didn’t find her entertaining at all. She was rude, obnoxious and mean, horrible to pretty much every character, took advantage of Scoops tasting policy while acting like an entitled brat and I just honestly could not stand her. I wish they’d left her out of the Steve/Robyn/Dustin dynamic, she was just such an unnecessary addition.

What I Hated

So, characterisation issues and weird bait-and-switches between it and plot aside, there were a couple of aspects to the new season which I truly hated.

First of all, this season was unnecessarily violent. Like, I get that there’s been violence in this show before, but it’s always been stylized violence, usually aimed at bad guys and quite subdued. But this season? Wow. Starting with that horrible imagine spot where Billy envisions bashing Karen Wheeler’s head in, it just never let up. Having grown men savagely beat up teenagers was way more than I needed to see and the violence often seemed really gratuitous and unnecessarily drawn-out. Steve’s torture at the hands of the Russians was really hard to take, especially because it went on for so long. I hated having to watch them punch Robyn in the face. Jonathan’s brutal beat-down from the Flayed Editor of the paper was horrible to watch and, once again, went on for way too long. Also, watching Flayed!Billy literally choke, punch and smack thirteen-year-old El around was horrifying. Also, his taking of Heather (and later on his attempt to take El) was incredibly rape-y, what with him leaning over them while they were incapacitated and telling them “Don’t move/struggle”, “It will be over soon”. Totally uncalled for and incredibly hard to watch. Maybe I’m oversensitive but I honestly don’t think that the show needed to display that level of violence.

The character assassination of Karen Wheeler continued, with her and her creepy middle-aged mom friends sitting poolside to perv on a eighteen-year-old kid. Imagine if the genders were reversed and it was four middle-aged men perving on a young girl? Also, why would she even consider sleeping with a teenage boy? Sigh. Remember when Karen Wheeler was a concerned and caring parent, who was strong enough to yell at government officials when they wouldn’t tell her what was going on and dropped by a grieving friend’s house with food and comfort? At least she and Nancy had that sweet scene in which she was encouraging to her daughter, but the rest of the time she was just useless and didn’t even know where her kids were.

Speaking of which, why did this show separate Joyce and Hop from their kids for so long? And why on earth would Joyce and Hop be willing to be separated from their kids for so long, after everything they went through the previous year? It felt so OOC for them to not even be suspicious that they hadn’t spoken to either of their children for at least three days, just taking the word of other parents that their kids were alright.

And lastly, the thing which pissed me off the most and actually made both me and my husband instantly switch off from the show and feel like we had just wasted eight hours watching this season, the death of Jim Hopper.

I know, I know, the Stinger maybe hinted that he was still alive. I know we didn’t see a body. I know that there were hints of time travel in future seasons and that Jim Hopper possibly isn’t dead. But you know who doesn’t know this? The characters. And I hate that. I hate that El has now lost her father, less than two years after finally finding one. I hate that she’s now alone, separated from Mike and while, yes, Joyce will take care of her the best she can, it’s never going to be the same. I hate that Joyce now has to suffer through the heartbreak of losing yet another man she had feelings for, less than a year after she lost the first. I hate that she made the decision to move away (even though I understand it) which separated her kids from their relationships and removed El from the one person who still loves her with all his heart. I hate that the season ended on such a downer, with such loss and tragedy and sadness. It really brought down the whole season for me and left me with a horrible, sad and empty feeling and not at all looking forward to more seasons because of all the crap the characters have gone through.

Whew. That got really long. Hope this was coherent!

#psychoticdelena #royalweirdonj #stranger things #stranger things spoilers #stranger things season 3 #answered

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mysteryartisticwriter · 5 years

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A Strange Thing // Stefan Butler X Reader X Stranger Things

A/N: I’m going to have the third and final part of ‘Reality’ out this weekend, since I took a little break from it to write this. I was at a writing block for a while so I wrote this little one shot for some practice. This one is a cross over between ‘Stranger Things’ and ‘Bandersnatch’ because I love them both so much! But don’t worry for those who are waiting for their request or for the third part of ‘Reality’! Those will be out by at least this weekend!

REQUESTS ARE OPEN BTW

Requested: Nope

Warnings: Nothing really, just some plain ol’ FLUFF AT THE END

Not my gif!! (Please tell me if you, the owner, would like me to take the gif down!)

Your Saturday morning of ‘85 started out pretty normal and happy. Being the older sister of Dustin Henderson, as well as being the Party’s main babysitter, you were given the job over the weekend to watch the kids while they had a sleepover at your house. Your mom was out for the weekend and the parents allowed you to watch over them. The boys’ sleepover at least, they knew they needed someone for them.

The girls, being Max and Eleven, were coming over for breakfast then hang out with the boys. Lucas and Mike were ecstatic to see their girlfriends, while Dustin and Will were just happy to hang out with their friends.

Steve, Nancy and Jonathan were going to come over around noon to help watch them, but for now, you made the Party’s favorite breakfast; Eggos, bacon and pancakes. You weren’t for sure it was their favorite, but they always asked you to make it every time you looked after them.

The reason for Steve and the others to come over was because you were waiting for an important call. A very important, life changing call.

Your dream, since you were a kid, was to work as a game developer or creator. You had several projects started, but your most recent one was by far the best. Over the years, you saved up enough money to help you get to England, where your favorite game company took place; Tuckersoft.

One of your favorite games was from Tuckersoft. The game ‘Bandersnatch’ had recently come out on Christmas and it was already the 3rd of January. You loved the game so much and you wanted to meet the creator himself, Stefan Butler. But unless you get this job, your dreams were going to have to wait.

“(Y/n)! Can I have more Eggos?” You heard El call out to you. You smiled at her.

“Sure thing kiddo. But don’t eat so many, alright? I don’t want Hopper on my ass because you got sick from too many Eggos.” You and the gang laughed. It was special moments like these that made you happy to be their babysitter.

“Can you adopt us so we can have your breakfast everyday?” Mike asked.

“Dude, (Y/n)’s already our babysitter. She’s basically already adopted us.” Lucas pointed out.

“I like (Y/n) just as our babysitter.” Will said, unable to hide his grin.

“She’s my sister so—“ The phone on the wall made a large ringing that interrupted Dustin.

You went over to the phone and answered it with a friendly greeting. The gang all quieted down to hear the conversation.

“Hello there! Could I talk to (Y/n)?” The person over the phone asked, their clear British accent thick.

“This is she.” You replied.

“Ah! Well I called you to tell you regarding around the game you’ve submitted to us.”

“O-oh! Yes! What-what about it?” You anxiously played with the telephone wire as you waited for the response.

“Congratulations! Your game was spectacular and we would love if you came to Tuckersoft to fully promote it!” The person told you. Your jaw dropped and you lost the ability to speak for a few moments.

“Y-Yes! Of-of course, I would love to! When should I come in?” You were holding onto the phone so tight, you thought it might break.

“Well considering you live in another country, we could have you fly in at least by next week. Don’t worry, we have your ticket and flight already planned out for you!” You almost squealed out of excitement.

He gave you the details on your flight and the location of the new company building and where you would stay for the time being, which you had written down on a sticky note, and then ended the call. You were so excited! You couldn’t wait to tell the kids and your mom! You went back over to the kitchen table where the gang was eating and smiled continuously.

“What was that all about?” Max questioned.

“Yeah and could you not smile anymore? It’s freaking me out....” Your brother said. Finally, all of your feelings burst out.

“Guess who’s going to England!”

“Are you sure you have to go?” Your mother asked, her eyes full of tears. You patted your mom’s back in comfort.

“Yes, mom. This is my dream! I’m finally going to become a computer game developer!” Your hands tightened around your backpack strips. You could hardly wait to get onto the plane to fly over to England.

You, the Party, the teens and all the parents (being Joyce, Hopper, Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler, and your mom) were at the airport, saying their farewells.

“I’m proud of you, (Y/n). The little girl we knew before is all grown up!” Joyce and Hopper held each other as tears were coming into their eyes. Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler were holding each other as well, as they’ve already said their goodbyes to you and wished you luck.

“Come on mom, not you too!” Will and Jonathan protested, although they were starting to tear up as well.

“Ignore them, (Y/n). They just don’t want to be embarrassed.” Nancy giggled, hugging you tightly.

“We’ll miss you, (Y/n). It won’t be the same without our favorite babysitter.” Max said as she hugged you.

“I am offended that you think she’s better.” Steve says dramatically. You knew he was joking, but you couldn’t help but roll your eyes.

“I’ll miss you too, Harrington.” You friendly kissed him on the cheek, causing him to smile.

“Hey! Don’t we get one?!” Your brother and the others whined.

You laughed before giving everyone a proper goodbye hug and kiss on the cheek before you heard your plane starting to board. You walked over to the doors of the entrance and looked back at the big family that you had formed over the years. You’re going to miss them of course, but now, you were forming a new life.

“What if they don’t like me?” Your boyfriend of five months asked. You rolled your eyes at him then placed his hand in your own. Both of your other hands held the suitcases the two of you had.

“Stefan, they’ll love you! You don’t need to worry.” You reassured him, a light British accent showed itself from which you picked up over in England.

It’s been about six months since you’ve left Hawkins, Illinois. But now you were coming back to visit your family, and you brought your current boyfriend along with you. You won’t be there for long, just about a week or so since Mr. Thakur wanted you both to come back and work again soon.

You met Stefan when you had to work on a video game together. Almost immediately, the two of you clicked. Colin Ritman, another game developer at Tuckersoft, as well as your idol and good friend now, introduced you two. You were at first shy to meet Stefan, as well as he. You thought that because he was now a well known creator, he wouldn’t be interested in you. But you were wrong.

Stefan admitted to you about how he felt everyday. How he felt controlled, how he almost wasn’t able to submit ‘Bandersnatch’ because of his problems. You helped him through it and was there for him when he needed you the most. Almost a month after being in England, Stefan finally worked up the courage to ask you out on a proper date.

Right now, you were standing in front of the doorstep of your house. It was weird coming back to see everything, but it was all mostly the same.

“Are-are you positive?” Stefan asked once more, looking down at the cemented doorstep. You kissed him on the cheek, lovingly, and grinned.

“Positive, love.” You watched as his shoulders relaxed a bit and his cheeks lit up red from your affection.

You opened the door with the spare key that you always kept with you and the moment you stepped into the house, you were tackled with hugs, questions and cheek kisses.

“We missed you!”

“You have so much to catch up on!”

“You missed so much of our D and D!”

“How was England?!”

“Did you eat a crumpet??”

Many questions were bombarded at you at the same time before you had to yell out to give yourself some air. All of the kids got off of you and Stefan came from behind you to held you up. You gave him a thankful smile in return.

“How are you guys?” You asked them, turning to them.

“We’re fine. We missed you, though.” Mike said.

“Did you pick up a little bit of an accent?” Lucas said, hearing your voice.

“Yeah I did. When you live somewhere for a while, you tend to pick somethings up a bit.” You answered, chuckling a bit.

You answered some of the questions that the gang asked you and Jonathan and Steve put yours and Stefan’s bags away, giving you hugs and cheek kisses while doing so. You giggled as you saw your boyfriend stiffen up a bit at their actions, before gently rubbing his hand with your thumb. Of course, you told Nancy that you were bringing Stefan, who ended up telling the boys. You guessed she just didn’t tell the Party.

“Um..(Y/n)? Who’s that?” The redheaded girl, Max, questioned you.

Everyone’s head turned toward Stefan who was standing shyly behind you. You pushed him in front of you and interlocked your hands again.

“Everyone, I would like you to meet Stefan Butler. My boyfriend.” The gangs’ mouths flew open and then started to attack Stefan with questions that he struggled to answer.

“You’re the one who made ‘Bandersnatch’ right?” Will curiously asked.

“Y-yes.”

“And you’re her boyfriend?” El wondered, her eyebrows furrowed.

“Y-yes...”

“Do you have any criminal history?” Dustin asked, trying to get up close to your boyfriend’s face, as if to intimidate him.

“Alright! Alright! Questions later! We’re both really tired and we would love to sleep!” You called out to everyone, not even bothering to hold in your chuckles.

While you greeted the rest of the people in your home, Stefan was constantly followed by the Party as they watched him with close eyes. After finally talking to everyone and catching up a bit, you kissed your mom on the cheek before telling everyone you and Stefan were going to your room to sleep. Considering you had a fairly large room and bed, it wasn’t going to be hard to fit the both of you.

As you showed Stefan around your home, your boyfriend looked out of the corner of his eyes and saw the kids peeking around the corner.

“The kids do love you, don’t they, love?” Stefan said, just as the two of you entered your room. You shut the door behind you and ran your hand through your (h/c) hair.

“Yup. They’re like my own children. I babysat them all for so long that it seems abnormal to me if I don’t see them for long.” You replied, sitting on your bed.

“Speaking of children...do you think we could have some in the future?” Your boyfriend pondered, his voice grew quieter with every word. You laughed a bit and lied flat on your bed.

“We’ll see, Stefan. We’ll see.”

Stefan laid beside you on your bed and wrapped his arms around you. You faced him and placed your foreheads together. Stefan let out a big sigh and started into your (e/c) eyes. The same eyes he was always entranced in.

“I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” Stefan blurted out. Your expression at first was shocked, but then it gradually formed into a grin.

“I do too.”

Stefan largely smiled before bringing you into a soft, tender kiss. He held your right cheek in his hand while his other still wrapped around your waist.

It was a strange thing. Bringing your new life into your old, but it was worth it. As long as you waited for the future.

TAGGED:

@creativedogs

@sugarfloss

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kaypeace21 · 3 years

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People seem to misinterpret what I’ve said in the past about mike “projecting his feelings for Will” on to El. So I’ll clarify.

When I say mike is “projecting his romantic feelings” for Will on to el. That doesn’t mean mike doesn’t care about El (at all) as a friend. Or sees El as Will (that’s not even how projection works -or what I’ve said). Although Mike isn’t perfect, he’s naturally empathetic and grateful for all El has done to help him and his friends. And he does see Will & El as 2 different people- despite the romantic projection. And unlike Will, he sees El in a more familial way- rather than romantic (despite him trying to force it to be romantic) .More on that later.Heck, Mike has already incorrectly projected his NON-ROMANTIC emotions on to 3 other characters other than El (it’s a pattern of his to project his feelings about one person on to another)- which yes I’ll also discuss.

I guess I have to specify what projection is -like i’ve already inferred in prior posts .There’s a difference between projecting “feelings” you have for one person on to another VS thinking those 2 people are literally the same person with no differences between those 2 people/or not acknowledging the unique personal relationships you have with both. This misconception is used as a popular counter-argument/strawman argument -rather than just debating the points i’ve made) . Ex) It’s like if you’re anger at your boss- but you can’t yell at them so you (subconscious or otherwise) are (unfairly) angry/irritable to your romantic partner later. It doesn’t mean you literally think your romantic partner and boss are 1 in the same - or there is no distinction between those 2 relationships. The same goes for how Mike views El and Will, despite “projecting” his “romantic feelings for Will” on to El (although Mike does so poorly).

Mike most likely projects his romantic feelings for Will on to El

In s3) he kisses El with a drawing of Will behind her head -that he can look at as he kisses her ... that should be an obvious hint he’s projecting (subconscious or otherwise) .

That’s Will -light brown hair/bowl cut, has fire powers like ‘Will the wise’.There’s also the fact that multiple characters in s1 mistook El for a boy (specifically Will) . Benny saying to El, “trying to steal from me boy?” Another man at Benny’s place mistook her for Will and said she could be “the byers boy... same height”. Hopper tracked El for most of s1 thinking it was Will. Homophobic Troy who harassed mike / talked about Will being gay said about El “ her head’s shaved she doesn’t even look like a girl”, officer callahan said “what’s Will doing with a shaved head?” The writers of ST are trying to tell you to pay attention to the fact el had a “ boyish /Will-like” appearance (and despite this- Mike was supposedly into her in s1). Then we had s2 byler parallel s3 mileven to show him fail to project his romantic feelings of Will on to el: Crazy together vs blank makes you crazy, , shed scenes: most important thing vs it was the best thing, Will & El calling for mike in the upsidedown (and mike coming for Will only), “they’re not in love they’re not even from the same planet” vs “welcome to my world”, Will having pics of Mike smiling on Halloween looking at him vs El having a pic of Mike glaring on Halloween, mileven paralleled to luke/leia & byler to king tristan/Han, byler paralleled to Venkman/Dana a ghost busters couple vs El just being a ghost and mike a ghost hunter, the s3 fight vs breakup and the various contrasts between all 3 (showing Will upset and El happy - and mike caring more about resolving his fight with Will than El- and never apologizing to El for lying ). I went into more detail here about the parallels between mileven/byer, mileven,stancy,Karen/ted , etc here.

And when he tells El “I can’t lose you again” It’s supposed to be ambiguous-cause Mileven like stobin is a straight bait. The fact is 2 prior times in season 2 (when mike was in the center of the group) he sadly watches Will as Will gets in a car and drives away.

Hinting to the viewer he’s actually thinking and worrying about losing Will (that 3rd time in s2 when he’s talking to El and seeing the cars with El/ Will drive away) . He once again is in the center of the group like the prior 2 scenes. And he already lost Will before and Will (like el) also had a fake d*ath. So yeah...we hear mike tell el that line and mike watches both El and Will leave in cars (and starts to cry) since mike knows that Will (unlike superpowered El) may d*e from his possession and he may never see him again. And it’s not like he can tell Will that line when he’s unconscious/possessed (especially in front of his friends) .

Just like in s2, when mike watches El and Will drive away .... he does so again in s3. And it’s similarly ‘ambiguous’, on who he’s upset seeing drive away. But, Mike turns to looks at the byers house, and tries to catchup with his friends (which has identically framing to an earlier scene in s3 of Will sadly turning to look at mike leave with El and then turning back to rush and catchup with the gang). Will turned around cause of Mike (not El) just like Mike turned around thinking of Will (not El). Just like s2,s3 uses earlier scenes in that particular season to give us hints about who he’s actually sad about driving away .

And in that moving away montage - it only pans to mike and Will .

And has Mike hug his mom in the same way he did in s1. Both represent moments representing him ‘losing Will’ (through his fake d*ath/moving away). Mike both times storms into the house and Karen rushes to him nervous and unsure why he’s upset , but goes into hug him when mike reaches for her (needing comfort). Unlike the mileven hug that’s outside and he doesn’t reach for her at all- she hugged him because she was worried (was he upset -sure but it’s not a parallel to the s3 hug). And they played “we can be heroes” for both hugs - cause both times mike lost Will.

And that s2 car scene where he talked to El (just like the prior s2 car scenes) was indicative of his fear of losing Will (not El). Which happened at the end of s3. It all ties together. Cause again , he was thinking of Will!

They even had several movies on the st list (altered states / children of paradise) have this concept of projecting romantic feelings of someone they’re in love with on to someone else. Altered states -has a guy just like Will hallucinate flashing to another dimension . People say about him and his wife “he’s crazy and she’s crazy about him”. And when they weren’t together she says she had to pretend everyone she dated was him (but that it only made her feel worse cause it wasn’t him) .And she says about doing so “’it’s crazy”. And her friend says “i think that’s how it’s supposed to be.” CAN THEY GET MORE CLEAR with the projection?

Heck, even El projects on to Mike. While mileven is separated between s1-2 she watches the soap opera (’all my children’) and pretends to be Erica kane (who in the episode El was watching) got into a rushed elopement to MIKE ROY (who was a writer).Aka she projected romance from soap operas/her possible crush of MIKE roy onto MIKE wheeler.And Erica/Mike weren’t endgame- even had a lot of st*liking after the break up (similar to El’s spying)

Mileven and Byler are very different- much to Mike’s annoyance. And Mike projects this anger of not being able to love El romantically on to Max,Will, & Hopper.

Mileven and byler are very different even if mike wishes he had romantic feelings for El (like he does for Will). Mileven is paralleled to hopper/el cause mike truly sees her in a familial way- both teach her the definitions of compromise vs promise (and make promises to her), say to eat “real food” and not eggos, keep her hidden away and safe. Both say her new look is “cool” and El in response to both says it’s “bitchin” and both say back “yeah bitchin”. Both claim someone is “corrupting” El (when trying to dictate her romantic decisions ) and Joyce/Max tell both guys they don’t respect El’s ability to make her own “decisions”. And El says to both of them “you lie” while Max says El should figure out what she likes and not simply listen to Hopper and Mike. Also similar to what she does with kali /Max (a sister/friend) El copies expressions from all 4 of them ( bitchin, i make my own rules , not stupid, mouth breather/friends don’t lie). Mileven is also paralleled to Luke/leia, and multiple people say El is like a “sister “ (lucas) and “cousin” (dustin) in s1. Even El asks before he first kisses her if Mike will he be “like (her) bother.”

In s2, Max (with the gang at Will’s house) asks how mike can still trust Will despite being possessed and in s3 max (with the gang at El’s house) calls out mike for not trusting El. “El has saved the world twice. And Mike still doesn’t trust her!”And instead of Mike admitting that truth -that he doesn’t trust El who he doesn’t know well (who spied on him) he projects all the blame/distrust wrongly on to max saying “you want to talk about trust ?REALLY?! After YOU made eleven spy on us!” And when max says it was el’s idea he yells exasperated into Max’s face “guess girlfriends don’t lie they spy!” He shows he’s aggravated with the fact El is so against lying but had no qualms with spying. But only yells at Max (not El) and he even tries (incorrectly) claiming Max is “corrupting” El and making her do things she didn’t want to do . Cause he’s still in denial and wants to fall in love with El- and doesn’t want to see any of El’s flaws that would make it harder to do so ( so he just projects that anger on to max instead).

And we know during the byler fight: Will calls El “stupid” but he was just projecting his own feelings about himself on to EL-since right after this he calls himself “stupid” 4x. So it’s likely when Mike yells back “El’s not stupid. It’s not my fault you don’t like girls!” Like Will, It’s AGAIN Mike PROJECTING his insecurities about himself (aka not liking girls) and his relationship issues with El - on to Will. Rather than an actual statement on Will’s se*uality. Sort of like Mike lashing out and projecting his anger about his failing romantic relationship with El on to Max .

The simple fact is el is mike’s safe option (she physically resembles Will but is a girl and thus he’s allowed to be attracted to her- in conservative 80s America). However, we see the more El develops into her own person and differs from Will in personality (plus , the fact puberty is making the distinction between genders more apparent) the harder it is for Mike to fool himself and project.The writers in s3 make a telemarketing joke just to have mike say “el, no, not interested” (aka his true feelings).Mileven in s3 was called “b*llshit” like stancy (which have multiple parallels and weren’t in love ). And nancy admitted to Jonathan (a byers ) she wanted to be with him the whole time. But ,despite that, got back with Steve (and continued to kiss Steve all the time, and even lied saying she loved Steve for an entire year) essentially mileven. Karen /ted also is paralleled to Stancy & mileven- who were “never in love” . Then , Max says friends don’t lie but “boyfriends (mike) LIE all the time” (aka he’s lying about his romantic feelings), and when lucas asks WHY he lied to el -it pans to Will (the real reason he lies to El about his feelings for her). When El asks “why do you lie” (he just is silent and stares up guilty). Lucas says about mileven (right before Dustin says they’re “bullsh*t” that “they’re lying”.And when he tries confessing to El, he never apologizes for lying and just used the similar ‘crazy’ line he used on Will (in s2). Cause if he actually stopped lying - he couldn’t continue to use her as a beard and date her/try and get back together. Plus he also fought with Hopper in s2 (’about El’) in WILL’S ROOM . He wasn’t actually calling Hopper the liar he was PROJECTING and calling himself “a stupid disgusting liar”out of self hate . That scene was foreshadowing his lying to El in s3 (about his feelings for her). He blamed Hopper for his feelings for Will cause he told himself it wouldn’t have escalated if El had been around to ‘fix him’ . “I BLAME YOU! NOTHING ABOUT THIS IS OK! NOTHING ABOUT THIS IS OK. YOU STUPID DISGUSTING liar, liar, liar, liar”.starts crying. And then it zooms to Mike’s crying face and pans to El (who he would lie to constantly the next season).

I also discussed in detail here how the bathroom stobin confession paralleled the mileven grocery confession- and again 1 in each of the couplets is gay. Heck, the “first i love you” plays only 2x in s3: when steve confesses to gay-robin and when el confessed to mike and kisses him and Mike doesn’t kiss back or say he loves her back. When she kisses Mike- it’s in WILL’S ROOM room AGAIN, Will’s old teddybear between them, as they kiss in front of Will open closet door) . in s2ep1 the lyrics are “just a little more time can open closing doors” (as Mike kisses El and it pans over the ‘Will the wise’ drawing & a rainbow-heart-Mike drawing, that blend together). But , In the same ep- when Will says he won’t fall in love the lyrics are “love that is new to you, you open up the door.” Later in the song it even mentions the “wheeler house”. So yes- after “a little more time” (3 months) mike and El kiss once again like ep 1- but it’s in front of Will’s open door and Mike is not feeling it- and it shows what is going to begin in s4 (byler). That after some time- despite the byler-doors appearing to ‘close’ they open up again after the mileven breakup/mike realizing the depth of his feelings and the fact he can’t ‘fix himself’ and be straight.El saying she loved him- and him not feeling any different after... was probably the catalyst for that realization.

Before this, we saw him project “his feelings” for Will on to El in romantic situations. But, he refused to integrate her into his friend group like his straight friends did with their gfs-unlike lucas with max, or how dustin tried to do so with Susie) . Cause he’s unfairly used El as a beard and wanted to compartmentalizes his friends and romance as much as possible (since faking it all the time not only with El-but with his friends would be exhausting).

Does he care about El- sure in his own flawed way. But, sorry (in my opinion) to act like mike” loves Will and El equally “ is kind of ludicrous . His actions show the opposite. And he’s only known El for 9 months as opposed to knowing Will for 9 years. And he’s known all of his other guy friends and the Byers much longer. What do they have in common?Are they friends ? Sure... technically but “friends don’t lie”. And mike has done plenty of that to her - so until they sort that out- and are honest to eachother- they can’t really have a strong foundation of friendship in my opinion. It’ll only improve once they start being honest and respect each other’s autonomy (aka stop dating and actually establish a friendship... and stop lying /spying on eachother). At the moment- Mike stunts El’s character growth and tries isolating her from the outside world, doesn’t respect her autonomy/ability to make decisions, doesn’t trust her in general, lies to her, and treats her like he’s her overly controlling dad. The relationship isn’t balanced or healthy (like byler or Mike and his other peers). In s1 he called her “a weapon” they could use to save Will (a lesson he appears to have learned from).But Max has to yell at Mike in s3 “she’s not yours! she’s her own person-fully capable of making her own decisions!” And EL says Mike treats her like “a pet” and “garbage”. So yeah... I don’t get people being ‘offended’ by me pointing out the romantic projection he does- and saying it supposedly ‘destroys’ the ‘beautiful relationship/friendship’ they have. Before I can consider mileven a “beautiful/loving friendship’: Mike needs to stop projecting and seeing El as a perfect beard to ‘fix him’- AND see El as her own person and NOT someone he needs to ‘take care of’ (cause he wrongly infantilizes her) . I think the 2 will eventually become good friends- and Mike will see he was wrong. But they’re not there yet- in my opinion.

#byler #byeler #anti mileven

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urdearestmom · 5 years

Text

long distance (mileven week)

February 1990, Hawkins, IN

Jane “El” Hopper is the last one out of the library tonight. At first, Marissa had been reluctant to give her the job given she was Hopper’s kid and Marissa didn’t exactly have the highest opinion of the town’s chief, but she took a chance and El is quickly proving herself worthy. She loves being in the library, surrounded by words. She didn’t have them for so long that being somewhere full of words is still a wondrous thing. It probably always will be.

Anyhow, she’s got to lock up before she heads home for dinner, and even though it’s only just after six o’clock, it’s already dark out. It’s as cold as a Midwestern winter usually is, which is to say very cold. El wonders if it’s as cold where Mike is.

She almost drops her keys in the snow as she goes to open the Blazer she’d inherited from Hopper after the station bought a new one (Hopper had helped her repaint it a nice blue so she didn’t have to drive around in a truck with “HAWKINS POLICE” emblazoned across the sides), but she fumbles and catches them. The radio’s playing that one Phil Collins song as she pulls away from the library in the direction of her house.

Hopper’s not coming home until late, El knows he isn’t, but it doesn’t help to make her feel less lonely when she pulls up outside the dark house. It really sucks not having any of her friends in town. They’ve all spread out across the country: Max went back to San Diego, Will and Dustin to New York, Lucas to Seattle, and Mike to Connecticut. God, did it really have to be so far? Sometimes the only thing that keeps her from plunging into “the depths of despair”, as Dustin used to call it, is the fact that she’s going to see him soon.

Max and Lucas are the farthest away, but El has a totally different relationship with them than she does with Mike. Her need to see them and be with them is so much less pressing. That’s why, with Hopper’s help planning, El’s been saving money to take a trip to Connecticut. The thing is, Mike doesn’t know about it. And although it’s very hard to keep a secret from him, El promised herself she wouldn’t give it away.

She’s about to start washing dishes when the phone rings, and she knows exactly who it is. Mike always calls around this time. They usually only speak over the phone once a week because long distance calls are expensive, and even though El could just talk to her boyfriend over the psychic link she can create, she doesn’t like doing that. It’s draining.

They mostly send each other letters but Mike insists he’ll go insane if he can’t listen to her voice, so he calls once every Wednesday.

“Hello?”

El keeps the cordless phone Hopper bought recently hovering by her ear as she starts to wash her plate.

“Hey, El.”

“Hi, Mike.”

“What are you doing?”

El sighs. “Washing dishes. I’m home alone tonight.”

“That sucks. Hopper’s late again?”

“It’s winter. Lots of accidents.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Mike agrees. “I miss you,” he adds somberly.

El scrubs harshly at a stain on the plate. “Me too. I’m lonely all the time.”

“Valentine’s is next week. I wish I could be there with you, it’ll be our first one we haven’t spent together.”

Mike sounds upset, and it’s this kind of thing that makes El just want to spill her secret surprise plans. She’s going to get there on Valentine’s Day, which is the Wednesday, but she’s got to leave on the Friday because Yale only allows guests for three days.

Which is better than nothing, El supposes, but she wishes it didn’t have to be like this at all.

She hears another voice in the background ask an unintelligible question, to which Mike responds, “My girlfriend, dumbass. I call her every week, you should know this by now.”

The voice laughs and says something else. Mike sighs. “I am so done with you. Can you believe my roommate still doesn’t think you’re real, El?”

El snorts. “You’re on the phone with me, how am I not real?”

“I mean he doesn’t believe the person I’m talking to is my girlfriend. He doesn’t think I could get one. Lack of faith, if you ask me!” He says the last part louder, clearly directed at the other person in the room with him.

El wants to laugh. He’ll be proven wrong next week. “Mike, I think we gotta go. Long distance, remember?”

“Right, right,” he says. “I just posted my letter this afternoon, so hopefully you’ll get it soon. I love you.”

“Love you too. Have a good night.”

There’s a click and Mike is gone. El sighs again and focuses on her dishes. Long distance sucks.

Wednesday morning dawns bright and early. It’s Valentine’s Day and there’ve been paper hearts and lovey-dovey shit stuck everywhere in the buildings on campus for the last few days. They make Mike feel like a middle schooler with no one to be his Valentine again. The only person he’d want to be his Valentine anyway is about 850 miles away, so he’s kind of screwed on that front. He just really misses her. He saw El at Christmas, but it’s been way too long already. He doesn’t know how he’s supposed to survive the rest of college with her so far away.

His roommate, Eric, wakes him with a pillow to the face, poking fun at him for not having anyone to go to the off-campus party with later. Mike wasn’t going to go anyway, considering it’s Wednesday, but whatever.

“Where’s your girlfriend now, huh Wheeler?” He teases.

Mike almost wants to punch him in the face. Today’s already going to be shitty, he doesn’t need this. “I told you she’s at home. Can you stop?”

Eric grins. “What was her name again? Eleven?”

Mike groans. “Yes, but she doesn’t like it. We don’t call her that.”

“You totally made that up! Who the fuck names their kid Eleven?” Eric has sat down on his bed again, kicking his feet up into the air.

“It’s a long story that I’m never going to tell you.”

“Yeah, because it doesn’t exist!”

Mike turns over and buries his face in his pillow. “Eric, I swear to god. Just because I only have, like, one picture of her doesn’t mean she’s fake.”

Eric snorts. “The girl’s obviously real, I just don’t think she’s your girlfriend. Girls like that don’t date guys like you, man.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence. Can you leave me alone now?”

“You probably write those letters to yourself, don’t you?”

“Why would I go to all the effort of doing that just to convince you that I have a girlfriend? I don’t care that much about your opinion, you know,” Mike retorts, turning his head to allow himself to breathe and glare at his roommate.

Eric was an okay guy at the beginning of first semester, but Mike had quickly gotten tired of being teased about his apparent singleness. Eric absolutely refused to believe that his nerdy roommate (who also wasn’t exactly conventionally attractive) could possibly be dating someone. Even after being shown the picture of her that Mike always kept in his wallet, and being witness to phone calls between them on more than one occasion, and seeing Mike writing letters, Eric could not and would not be convinced that El was really Mike’s girlfriend.

Mike thinks it might be because the fact that they’ve been dating since they were thirteen is kind of surreal, even to him sometimes. Especially to someone like Eric, who goes through girls like nobody’s business. Mike has seen him “date” five girls since they started school in September.

Eric narrows his eyes. “I wouldn’t be surprised. I’ve seen people do the weirdest shit just because they’re embarrassed about something. You know, I haven’t wanted to say this, but I suspected it from the beginning. You just don’t want to admit you came to college a virgin, right? ‘Cause I’d be embarrassed if I were you.”

And he’s crossed the line. “Eric,” Mike says, finally sitting up, looking crazed with his hair sticking up every which way, “I literally could not give less of a fuck what you think about my virginity. It’s not any of your business, nor is it anyone else’s.”

Eric’s still looking at Mike as he gets out of bed. He shoves on the first shirt he sees and aggressively pulls on a pair of socks, not changing out of his pyjama pants. He only has one class today anyway, and he’ll have time to come back and change before he goes to work.

“Listen, man, I’m sorry if that offended you, I just think you might be going a little too far with this whole charade,” says Eric quickly. And wow, Mike just loves when Eric pretends to be concerned about him. He can’t fucking wait for next year so he can get a new roommate who is hopefully better than this one.

He can feel the anger rising and has to take several deep breaths in order to not blow up. Come on, Mike, you’re better than this… Mike grabs his key and shoves it in his backpack along with his wallet and the binder he needs for his class before rounding on the meathead behind him. “At least I’m not going around messing with girls the way you do. That’s what’s going too far. You treat them like shit and then you just dump them like they’re nothing. They’re people, asshole, and so am I. Watch what you say.”

He wrenches the door open and, noting that there’s no one currently in the hall, turns back to his dumbass roommate. “And for the record, not that it matters, but I’m not a virgin. Thanks for the concern, though.”

Mike makes sure to close the door as threateningly as he can without slamming it too hard. That ought to get the message through.

El decides that if she ever does this again, she’s flying. Driving from Hawkins to New Haven has been so tiring it’s ridiculous. The trip itself takes about thirteen hours, but she stopped every three for breaks, so she’s actually been on the road for closer to about fifteen hours and she’s hated every minute of it since hour four. She left at five in the morning, six in the time zone Connecticut is in, and it’s nearing nine at night. The sole thing that has kept her going all day is that at the end of it all, she’s going to get to surprise Mike.

El knows he works at a bookstore on campus, so she’s going straight there, hoping to arrive before he locks up and leaves. The store closes at nine, after all. But there’s traffic.

After much deliberation and the passage of the nine o’clock hour, El changes course and heads to the residence buildings instead. She doesn’t know which one Mike lives in, or what floor, or which room, but she has something almost like an inner compass that always leads her to him. He’s the magnetic north to her Earth. God, we’re such nerds.

It’s like an actual game of hot and cold, but instead of hot and cold it’s more of a pull. The pull is stronger when she’s close to Mike and weaker the further away she is, but it’s always there if she chooses to pay attention to it. They discovered it playing hide and seek when they were fourteen and have occasionally made use of it since, like now. El follows the pull to an old-looking building and sits inside the Blazer contemplating it before killing the engine.

Inside is much warmer, the yellow lighting casting a cozy glow over the stairwell. There’s a door on the other side leading to the ground floor, but El’s instincts are telling her upstairs is the right way to go. She stops in the third-floor hallway for a second before going left. A door opens and shuts behind her and she hears footsteps make their way to the main door and disappear down the stairs.

Two doors down from the end of the hall, El comes across a door with the names Eric & Mike written on the chalkboard hanging on it and she knows it’s the right one. She can hear muffled voices from inside, but she’s too excited to wait for them to stop talking. The door swings open almost immediately after she knocks, revealing a young man who is decidedly not El’s boyfriend. This must be Eric.

He gives her a sleazy grin. “Hello, pretty lady,” he says, raising an eyebrow in what El’s sure he thinks is an attractive way. In all honesty, it probably would be if El wasn’t strictly Mike-sexual. “What brings you here?”

El doesn’t have time to respond before she hears the most beautiful voice in the world speak instead. “Can you take her to the party with you? Don’t stay here.”

Even when his words are sharp, Mike’s voice is calming. It washes over her like a warm bath, steadying her nerves. She still has a hard time speaking to people she’s not familiar with. El just wishes Mike had already seen her standing there, but he’s rooting around in the closet space by his bed.

She clears her throat lightly and smiles. “I’m actually looking for my boyfriend,” she says, and she sees Mike pause.

Eric shoots a look at his roommate. “You won’t find him here,” he answers, followed by a derisive snort.

El smiles again. “I think I might. Mike?”

At this, Mike removes his head from his closet and turns around, and the look on his face is priceless. He looks so shocked that El almost wants to laugh at him, but she’s also so happy to see him herself that all she can do is allow her face to mold itself into an ear-splitting grin.

“El?” And it’s almost like that night all over again, except without the overwhelming stress of the situation they’d all been in the time. But all the same, El can feel tears build in her eyes and spill down her cheeks as the stupidly huge amount of love she feels for this boy threatens to have her implode on the spot.

She laughs wetly and holds her arms out. “Surprise?”

“Oh my god,” he says, tripping over himself to get to her. When he does, he envelops her in a hug so tight she almost can’t breathe. “I can’t believe you’re here!”

El wraps her arms around Mike just below his shoulders and buries her face in his chest, inhaling the familiar scent of the detergent his mom uses (that he’s taken the habit of using as well to college with him). It’s the most wonderful feeling in the world to have him close and be able to hug him like this. Hearing his voice over 850 miles of cables and hearing it in person are two very different things.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” Mike asks breathlessly, pulling out of the hug but keeping his hands on her waist. They’re in their own world now, Eric forgotten in the corner.

“I wanted to surprise you for Valentine’s Day,” El replies, and she smiles.

Mike moves his hands to cup her face before he kisses her, and she’s melting. She hasn’t kissed him in two months and it’s like a thirsty man finding water in the desert. She needs this. She needs to be able to touch him and feel that he’s there, to know that he will be there when she needs him, just like she wants to be there when he needs her. That’s what their relationship has been since day one; being there for each other is the basis of how they care for one another.

El pulls away when she’s out of breath, her lips aching to be back against Mike’s, but she remembers that someone else is in the room. Eric is standing awkwardly behind Mike with wide eyes.

El smirks. “Do you believe him yet?”

Eric’s mouth works but words don’t come out. Must be quite a shock, then.

Mike wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her into the room, falling back onto his bed with a thump. “You can leave now, Eric. Have fun at the party,” he says, and then he does a sarcastic little wave and Eric quickly walks out the door, shutting it behind him.

A sigh escapes Mike. “Fuck him, ugh,” he remarks. “This morning he accused me of making you up because I didn’t want to admit that I’m a virgin. Which I haven’t even been in like, over a year, but okay, I guess.”

El wrinkles her nose and cuddles up to Mike’s side. “Why does it matter?”

“It doesn’t, Eric’s just a fuckwad who doesn’t understand when things don’t go the way he thinks they should.”

Mike leaves a feather-light kiss on the tip of El’s nose and smiles lovingly when he looks at her again. “I still can’t believe you’re actually here. How long are you staying?”

A yawn forces its way out of her. “Friday, ‘cause you said if I ever visited it could only be three days. My stuff is in the Blazer, I was trying to get to the bookstore before you finished work but there was traffic so I just came here instead.”

“Well,” says Mike, a yawn escaping him as well, “I need to go take a shower, but you can just stay here, you’re probably dead tired.”

El nods. “Driving all day.”

He kisses her again, more intimate than by the door because Eric had still been in the room, but still just so simple and beautifully amazing that El can’t help but sigh and chase after his face with her own when he moves away. She doesn’t catch him, though, because he gets up.

“Where’re your keys?” Mike asks. “I’ll go out to the truck and get your stuff when I’m done showering.”

“Here,” she answers, pulling them out of her back pocket and throwing them for him to catch as she sits up and removes her coat.

“Okay,” says Mike, sweeping his stuff and her keys into a towel and wrapping it all up, “I’ll be back soon. You can go to sleep.”

He’s about to go into the hall when El calls him back.

“What?”

“...can I just have one more kiss?”

Mike rolls his eyes but walks back over to her and grants her wish. The press of his warm and familiar lips against her own is gratifying after so long without it. “I love you so much,” he says. “But I need to shower and you need to sleep.”

El pouts. “Okay.”

Mike frowns. “Don’t give me that face, it’s making me want to kiss you more.”

She grins. “I’m not complaining.”

He rolls his eyes again. “Of course not. Go to sleep. ”

“Fine, dad.”

El lies down and tucks herself under the covers of his bed, watching as he waits to make sure she’s alright before flipping the light switch and heading out.

“I love you,” she whispers through the dark.

“I love you too,” Mike whispers back.

“Love you more.”

“Oh my god, El, not this again!”

“But it’s true!”

“Is not!”

“Is too!”

“We love each other equally!”

“Do we, though?”

“You know what? This isn’t happening. Good night.”

#MilevenWeek2018 #mileven #mileven fanfiction #mileven week #long distance #mike wheeler #eleven #jane hopper #el hopper #stranger things #stranger things fanfiction

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elshopper · 6 years

Text

Secrets

... aka my contribution to Stories From Summer, spearheaded by the lovely @mikeweezers!! Thank you so much for all your hard work in organizing and including me in this incredible group of writers!! And yes, I know this is one day late, but I scheduled it before midnight the night of so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Prompt #30: Girls Night, in which Max and El attend their very first sleepover.

wc: 3,009

summary: Honestly El and Max have a sleepover and bond and stuff. Need I say more??? It’s cute I promise.

Read below or on ao3 here!!

Max was a little reluctant at first.

Actually, she was a lot reluctant at first.

It all started at the lake behind Dustin’s house… if you could call a snake-infested pond a lake. All the summer blockbusters at the theatre had been watched three times over. All the hikes up the quarry had been made. All the ice cream trucks had been chased down. It was late July, and now, all that was left of summer was the horribly sticky heat. Max hated to admit it, but she almost wanted to go back to school.

After mentioning on occasion how she totally took summers in California for granted (what with the beaches and the nice weather and the lack of snake-infested ponds), her friends had been gracious enough to plan a picnic by the water. Except the water was a really funky shade of green and their meal consisted of greasy burgers from McDonalds smashed in the bottom of Will’s backpack.

Everyone was pretending to enjoy it. For her. She appreciated the gesture, but was it really worth it to sit and suffer while risk getting eaten alive?

“I’m calling it,” Dustin said, reading her mind. He pulled his back pack towards him and started to unzip the front pocket. “This blows.”

The cicadas screamed in agreement.

“It’s, like, one million degrees out here and – oh shit!”

Out of the front pocket of his backpack, Dustin pulled out what used to be a bag of gummy worms. Instead, they were now a hot, sticky bag of rainbow-colored goo.

“I’m sorry, El. I really am. I’m gonna bring you double next time, I swear.”

His apology was sincere, but El still glared at him while twiddling a blade of grass in between her fingers. She had really developed a major sweet tooth over the past few months, heightened by the fact that she only got to leave the cabin every once in a while. In fact, every time they chased down an ice cream truck, it was because Mike told them that she wanted some.

El rolled her eyes and sighed, her expression softening.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to bring me double.”

“I really can! It’s no big deal…”

Their chatter continued until Max finally spoke up.

“Can we get back to the part where this blows?”

She had their attention now, and she could tell each one of them was trying and failing to find another alternative.

“Yeah, but what else are we going to do?” Lucas said, fiddling with a twig he found in the grass.

“Why don’t we just watch a movie?” Mike asked.

“We’ve seen them all already,” Dustin replied. “I don’t think I can go see European Vacation again.”

“We can just watch one at my house,” Mike suggested.

“What movie do you have that we haven’t seen a thousand times?” Lucas asked.

“None,” Will answered, “but I bet he has some El hasn’t seen a thousand times.”

That seemed to perk everyone up. They just loved showing El normal people things in the same way they loved to show Max all of the reasons why Indiana sucks.

“El what movies have you not seen?” Dustin asked, but Mike and Lucas shot him a how on earth would she know look. Sure enough…

“I don’t know,” El replied.

“I don’t think she’s seen Raiders of the Lost Ark,” Will supplied.

“Um yeah, she has. In June,” Mike said, as if everyone should be keeping track.

“Well guess what?” Dustin said, mocking Mike’s tone. “There’s a sequel! El have you seen Temple of Doom?”

Before she could reply, Dustin kept on, “… because if you haven’t you’re really gonna lose your shit when they get past the –“

“How is she going to lose her shit when you already told her what happens?”

“There’s something to be said for cinematic storytelling, Lucas.”

“Dustin, that makes no sense.”

“What do you mean it makes no sense?”

As they bickered on, Max met El’s gaze and she discretely rolled her eyes. Max stifled a giggle. El had really come to enjoy eye-rolling too. When there was a break in the argument, El reminded them gently.

“I’ve seen Temple of Doom.”

“Well, damn.”

“El, it’s your first summer. What do you want to do?” Max asked, trying to get the ball rolling again. El was always a big fan of the burger place with the name she was always forgetting, but they just finishing up their gourmet meal of Quarter-Pounders and soggy fries. There was a candy shop down town that was likely already closed. Their options really were running low.

“I want to have a sleepover.”

Silence. Even from the cicadas.

“You know, like they do on TV.”

It was times like these where everyone turned to Mike to do the explaining, but it was also times like these where Mike turned beet red and had no idea what to say.

“Well, I mean… you know… we can’t all…”

“I know that,” El snapped, offended. She was trying to act like she didn’t already ask and receive painful explanation from the chief a few weeks prior. “I mean me and Max.”

Besides the occasional smile and shared eye rolls, Max was positive this was the first time El had showed any intention of actually being friends. Although she wasn’t positive about the reason, she assumed it was something to do with the feeling of being replaced. A feeling Max knew a little too well watching her mom’s attention shift to her idiot step-brother the minute she married his dad. So, she stayed back, let wounds heal, and tried not to take it too personally. Lucas said she didn’t really like new people anyway.

To avoid any awkward situations or small talk (Max loathed small-talk), she could easily make an excuse. But the look on El’s face made her understand why Mike had made them chase after so many ice cream trucks. If the two were going to be friends, they were going to have to start somewhere.

“Um, yeah! We can have a… girls night,” Max said, her voice wavering.

Surprisingly enough, El actually looked a little relieved.

“Cool,” she said. “I’ll tell Hop you’re going to stay.”

Max arrived a little after 8:00 with her duffle bag tossed over her shoulder. With all the hype about El’s first sleepover, Max had almost forgotten that she’d never really had a sleepover either. She was just never the type of person to make friends with other girls. So, she had absolutely no idea what to bring. She didn’t have any nail polish or face masks or magazines – nor did she enjoy any activities that involved those things. She just brought her pajamas and her toothbrush. But just in case, Max did stash a tape of her very favorite movie – Grease – into the bottom of her bag.

She had never told a soul about it being her favorite. When her mom wouldn’t let her see it, she rode her skateboard to a video store down the street with her saved-up weekly allowance and bought it on tape. She would watch it when she was home alone. She had probably seen it a million times, but she knew someone who probably hadn’t…

“Hey kid,” the chief grumbled, trying to squeeze out a smile when he opened the door. “Do you want anything to eat?”

“No, I’m fine, thank you,” Max said as she stepped through the creaky threshold.

After a beat of painful silence, Max asked, “So where’s –”

“Oh, El’s in her room,” Hopper said, pointing toward the door to the right with white light flashing through the crack above the floor. “Some show is on, I don’t know.”

Max nodded and moved towards the door.

“I’m going to bed if you need me,” Hopper said, and laid back down on the couch.

Max creaked open El’s door slowly and was not shocked to find exactly what she had expected.

Illuminated by the soft white light of the television, El was wrapped in a cocoon of blankets with a bowl full of popcorn in her lap. Her eyes were wide and focused on the screen, as she mindlessly shoved popcorn in her mouth. Max shut the door behind her.

“You’re just in time,” El said, her vision staying locked on the TV. “Break just ended.”

Max dropped her bag at the foot of the bed.

“You’re watching that TV like it’s the president’s funeral,” Max teased. It was something her dad used to say to her when she watched cartoons as a kid.

“Who’s the president again?”

“Ronald Reagan.” Max sat down next to El on the bed, and El scooted over ever so slightly to make room.

“Right.”

Someone on TV pulled a knife out of a drawer, and El’s eyes grew even wider (if that were possible) and she sat up taller as if to get a better look. Max was okay with watching TV with El, even if soaps drove her nuts. Making friends took time and effort. Just hanging out with El while she watched her weird shows was just going to be the time part.

“Mike’s dad talks about him.”

“The guy with the knife?” Max asked in concern. El laughed.

“No. Ronald Reagan.”

“I’m shocked he has an opinion about anything since he never gives a shit where his kids are.”

After thinking about it for a split second, El stifled a laugh under her breath.

“Sometimes I think I’d kill to have parents who didn’t care where I went,” Max said wistfully. “You know, I had to make up this whole story about going camping with some girl from school so my mom wouldn’t try to call someone’s house.”

“You lied?” El’s tone was accusatory.

“Right, like you’ve never lied to your parents.” Max fired back, and as the words fell out of her mouth she felt her stomach drop. She wished she could grab the words put them back in. Of course El hadn’t lied to her parents before. She had never had any. Instead of being met with shit from any of the boys, the room was silent marking their absence. She had to fill the quiet with something.

“I mean… you know… you have to have lied to some…”

“I’ve lied to my parents,” El responded, totally oblivious to Max’s panic. “Parent,” she corrected herself. Even though he acted as one, Max had never heard El refer to the chief as one of her parents before.

“You lied to Hopper?”

“Yeah.”

“About…”

“About where I went.”

“Where did you go?”

El finally broke her gaze from the television (the guy with the knife had stashed it in his briefcase before the commercial break) and looked at Max. She took a deep breath.

“To the city.”

Max knew how easy it was to scare El into silence. Instead of taking a quizzical tone, she brushed the new information off.

“The city? Which city, El? There’s more than one.” Max asked casually, reverting her attention back to the TV and grabbing a handful of El’s popcorn. The guy with the knife had shown up on some woman’s doorstep looking awfully shady. She would be lying if she didn’t admit she was a little invested. El looked at Max, offended that she had stolen some of her popcorn, but she relented and moved the bowl in between the two of them. Max grabbed another handful.

“The big one.”

“Indianapolis?”

“No.”

“I’m going to keep bugging you until you tell me. Fort Wayne?”

“Chicago.”

Max raised her eyebrows.

“All by yourself?”

“Yes,” El said, shrinking down a bit.

“That’s badass,” Max replied.

She was missing key details, but Max didn’t want to press to hard. If she was going to guess, that’s where El was last November right before she met them at Will’s house. When she asked Lucas, he said that El would tell them when she wanted to. She figured that Lucas was referring to the rest of the group with the exception of Mike, since he was the one she did most of her talking to.

The show cut to a shot of a bloody knife on the ground and El tensed. That was the end of that. When the credits were finally rolling, El turned to her.

“Now you have to tell me something.”

Max laughed.

“What do you mean I have to tell you something?”

“A secret you haven’t told anyone.”

“You haven’t told anyone you went to Chicago by yourself?”

“No,”

“Not even – ”

“No,” El said, cutting Max off, her tone urgent. “Don’t tell him yet.”

“Um, don’t worry,” Max said. She picked up El’s pinky with her own. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

El smiled.

“He just gets so worried sometimes,” she said.

Max laughed again.

“Mike? Worried? Really?”

That one really set El off, and she began laughing so hard the popcorn spilled onto her bed spread.

“Shit,” El muttered under her breath. That made Max laugh, and then both the girls were laughing hard enough to drown out the Nair commercial playing on TV.

Once they picked the kernels off El’s quilt, she was quick to jump back to the secret thing.

“You still haven’t told me something.”

“Technically I don’t have to tell you a secret.”

“Yes, you do. Those are the rules.”

“This isn’t how truth or dare is played, El.”

“We’re not playing truth or dare.”

Max rolled her eyes.

“Fine. But you can’t tell anyone, okay?”

El nodded, sitting up and eagerly anticipating whatever Max had to say.

Max reached down into her duffle bag, rummaging around for the tape.

“This,” Max started, “is my favorite movie of all time. Grease.”

“Grease?” El asked, taking the tape and looking at the pretty people on the cover.

“Yeah, but you can’t tell anyone.”

“Why not?”

“It’s too girly. It’s a musical.”

“So?”

“So, I brought it because it’s right up your alley,” Max said. By the look on her face, Max could tell the idiom was completely lost on El.

“You’d love it,” she corrected.

“That’s not a secret.”

“Yes, it is! You said something I’ve never told anyone! You’re the only person on earth who knows I even own that on tape.”

“Well it’s not the secret I’m looking for.”

“And what type of secret are you looking for? Because I don’t have any –”

“Boy secrets,” El said. Max scoffed.

“You think I have boy secrets?”

“That’s what girls talk about at sleepovers.”

“Not it is not!”

“Yes, it is.”

Max knew exactly what was happening, and she was somewhat impressed. El was trying to be coy about trying to get some information out of her.

“Well, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment, because I don’t have any boy secrets because I don’t like any boys.”

El hummed and narrowed her eyes.

“You’re lying.”

“Um, no! I’m not.”

“You are.”

“Not!”

“Max.”

“What?”

“Friends don’t – “

“Yeah, yeah, I know okay?”

“So why are you lying?”

“I’m not lying.”

“So, we’re not friends.”

The playful tone from before was replace with something that sounded like hurt. Max took a deep breath. If she was being honest, she technically didn’t have a boy secret. Everyone pretty much knew. But that didn’t mean she needed to say it out loud. In fact, Max couldn’t remember a time she admitted out loud to anyone that she had feelings for a boy. She was easy to blush, and Max could feel it creeping up on her cheeks. El noticed, and her hardened expression melted a little.

“I mean…” Max started. Ugh.

El sat up and moved toward Max, looking at her with the same wide-eyed fascination that she was watching TV with just minutes earlier.

“Lucas is nice, I guess.”

“I knew it.”

“Well if you knew it, why was it such a big deal?” Max said, shoving El’s shoulder a little bit. She giggled and pushed back before grabbing Max’s pinky like she had before.

“Your secret’s safe with me.”

“It better be,” Max said.

El picked up the tape from her lap.

“Do you want to show me this?”

Max nodded, and shuffled over to the VHS, pushed it in, and pressed play.

El was mesmerized. So much was happening. People were singing and dancing and wearing such weird clothes. And Max was beginning to understand why Mike liked showing El new things so much. She was so funny to watch.

In the middle of the sleepover scene – one El was particularly excited to see – El tapped Max on the shoulder to ask a question.

“That brown bag has wine in it, it’s alcohol. It’s illegal to drink it underage. And I’ve heard it tastes like shit,” Max said.

“I know that,” El said back. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”

Max laughed, expecting a joke, but the look on her face actually looked remorseful.

“El, what are you sorry for?”

“You were new. I was mean to you.”

“Oh, yeah that,” Max said, shifting her gaze to her hands in her lap. “You don’t have to be sorry.”

“Well, I am,” El said.

“Well, thanks.” Max said. They both turned their attention back to the movie, both with smiles growing on their faces.

On the other side of the door, Jim Hopper was just trying to get some sleep. He had an early shift tomorrow. Just because all the kids are on summer vacation, didn’t mean that everyone else was. It was a Wednesday night for Christ’s sake.

He was seconds away from banging on the door and calling lights out when he heard El laugh through the door. He hadn’t heard her laugh – at least not at home, where she felt trapped and alone – in God knows when. He didn’t even know she was that close to the Mayfield kid. But it was a good thing, he supposed. He smiled to himself as he wrapped his pillow around his head, covering his ears.

What’s the harm in a girl’s night after all?

a/n: I have been super busy with life changes and all that fun adult stuff (!!!!!) and haven’t written in 5-ever... so I’m so glad I had this as an excuse to get the juices flowing again... 3k words???? Who am I right now. So much dialogue whew. Anyway, I edited this in a hurry so be forgiving, but I had so much fun writing it and being a part of this series!!!! It’s been so cool to read everyone’s work. I know it’s getting kind of boring around here, but the best is yet to come!!! <3 <3 <3 <3

tagging the sfs crew and praying these are all your correct users: [ @mikeweezers][ @el-and-hop ][ @summer-in-hawkins ][ @partwayhappy ][ @she-who-the-river-could-not-hold ][ @janeswheeler ][ @cstlebyrs ][ @formerlyjannafaye ][ @jane-el-hopper ][ @themikewheelers ][ @elizabthturner ][ @the-proud-princess ][ @itcouldbendoritcouldbreak ][ @scottsclarke ][ @the-most-beautiful-broom ][ @hannahberrie ][ @dancingskygreen ][ @mileven-and-contemplation ][ @eddieksgazebos ][ @mikeswheelers ][ @moodyandmoonyeyed ][ @jopper-chopper ][ @earlgreyteagirl ][ @janehoppers ][ @michael-hearteyes-wheeler ][ @stevemossington ][ @thezoomermax ][ @dustinhendrsn ][ @mothersnail ][ @writer-lia ]

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stydiamccall · 7 years

Text

Closing the Gate and Coming Home

Eleven tiredly leaned her head against the car window, while subtly wiping blood still running out of her nose.

“Hey you okay?” Hopper asked.

“Yes.” she replied in a quiet whisper. Even though she felt utterly weak, like all her power had been drained. She just needed sleep, wrapped in a cozy blanket on a warm bed.

Eleven sat up straighter in her seat, looking at the familiar surroundings and recognizable roads. She still felt the need to ask “where are we going?”

Hopper gave her a heartfelt look. “We’re going home kid.”

She leaned her head back as the streetlights reflected off her teary eyes. “Home” she smiled.

Waiting nervously in Hopper’s cabin, Mike paced back and forth across the room.

He caught Dustin’s attention ever since Steve's car ride back “Dude you seriously need to stop that! You’re freaking me the hell out.”

“Don’t you think El and Hopper should have came back by now?” Mike said, continuing to walk from one wall to another.

Lucas stepped forward “But the gate’s closed. You even said it had to be Eleven.”

Mike turned around to face both of them sitting on the couch. “Because it was El! But how do I know she didn’t get obliterated like last time? How do I know if she gave herself up to save us! To save all of us!” He felt tears starting to form under his eye. He turned away from them to wipe his watery eyes dry as he walked towards the bedroom with Will sleeping peacefully.

Mike sat beside Joyce across his best friend’s bed, along with Jonathan and Nancy.

“How is he?”

Joyce held his hand and smiled. “My boy’s going to be just fine. He’s going to be just fine.” she repeated smiling back to Mike.

Nancy leaned her head into Jonathan’s shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her and kissed the side of her head. She looked across the bed to see her brother’s uneasy face.

She didn’t need to ask to know what it was about. “Mike she’s okay. She’ll be here soon, just hold on a little longer.”

Mike gave a little nod and a half smile. He quietly exited the bedroom and joined Dustin and Lucas on the couch.

In the living room, Steve sat by the kitchen table while Max sat across from him, and the boys remained quiet on the couch. No one talked, the room just filled with absolute silence. It had been one hell of a night for all of them, but they were safe now. It was too hard to even talk about anything, especially when the two most necessary people in their group haven’t returned yet.

Mike remained staring at the front door. He couldn’t help let any pessimistic thoughts run through his mind, especially after living three hundred and fifty-three days without her. Thinking about what would happen if he lost her any longer than that devastated him. It’s almost like this soul crushing fear would now live with him forever, and it would always be about Eleven. He was far too young to feel such pain and agony but he couldn’t help it, he cared too much.

Steve glanced over to Mike for a little while. He wanted to say something to comfort him but the words couldn’t seem to come out. Mike was just a kid, a thirteen year old boy, yet he learned so much from him tonight. He realized heartbreak could mean various things, other than the person you love the most not loving you back. It could also mean two people who love each other so deeply, but never seeing each other again. A tear slid down his cheek thinking about what he would do if Nancy died. He trusted Jonathan to take care of her, he knew he was a good guy. He would never tell Jonathan that though because of the pain that came with the fact that Nancy chose him, and loved him over Steve. He couldn’t imagine how Mike was feeling right now, because he knew Nancy was safe in that bedroom cuddled in Jonathan’s arms. But as for Mike, his worry was left up to hope and destiny. If Eleven had come back once, she could come back again. He just wished he could tell the kid that without getting him riled up.

After a while Lucas and Dustin started rubbing Mike’s back. They knew what it was like to lose someone they cared about. They had lost Will before. But Mike was a bit different, he was more sensitive to the matter that this may have been the girl he loved and could be his forever. They were definitely both too young to understand what love was anyways. Dustin thought he knew a little bit since Max had crushed his heart into a million pieces. But he was also happy for his best friend.

Half an hour passed and Max fell asleep in her folded arms on the table. Steve began to read the newspaper, trying to turn each page with as little noise possible. Dustin had made five trips to the fridge and back for more chocolate pudding. Lucas had fallen asleep to watching the back of Max’s pretty red hair. And Mike still had his eyes glued to the door, not having moved one bit.

A sudden flash of lights peaked through the windows, and the sound of tires rolling over rocky gravel became louder.

Mike shot out of his seat and burst through the front door onto the porch. All the relief flooded his face seeing Eleven step out of the car. His eyes were nearly in tears as he began running faster and faster up to her. He was going in for a hug when her body collapsed right into him. He caught her right away, holding her securely with both his arms. She lifted her head to look up at him, not realizing they were inches apart. “Mike!” He saw how her nose was still bleeding, and he gently wiped it off with his sleeve.

He quickly looked at Hopper starting to panic “What’s wrong with El?! What’s wrong with her? Why is her nose still bleeding? Hopper? What’s wrong with her!?”

“Let’s get her inside first.” Hopper bent down and took Eleven’s fragile body out of Mike’s arms. He carried her inside to the second bedroom with Mike following closely behind.

Dustin jumped off the couch, spilling his pudding all over his shirt. “Holy shit! What the hell happened to her!”

Dustin slapped Lucas’ arm to wake him, and Max groggily lifted her head up from all the commotion. The three of them stood behind Mike through the doorway as Hopper started heating up some blankets and wrapping Eleven in them.

Steve dropped the newspaper and headed towards Eleven’s room as the door from the first bedroom opened, with Joyce, Jonathan and Nancy coming out.

Everyone entered the room and surrounded Eleven’s bed, Mike being the closest knelt down to her left side.

“Do you need some help with that?” Joyce asked, seeing that Hopper was trying to find more blankets.

“Yes, just those ones to your right.”

She got them and started helping Hopper heat them by the fire before placing them over Eleven’s cold body.

She curled in closer to Mike, as he held both her hands in his.

Nancy looked to Hopper when he placed the last blanket on her. “What happened to her?”

He straightened his back and turned to the group “When she closed the gate, she levitated. I think she used so much of her power it kind of drained her.”

“Will she be okay?” Jonathan asked.

“Yes” Eleven replied in a quiet voice from the bed.

Everyone looked down and faced Eleven. With the amount of pain she was feeling, she thought she would have been halfway happy. But she was surrounded by her friends, her family, and her home. She was fully happy.

Hopper ruffled her hair gently and smiled “Maybe we should all just let her rest.”

Everyone slowly left the room one by one. First Steve, who gave her a proud smile. Then Jonathan and Nancy with their arms around each other. Max, Lucas, and Dustin who gave her little winks. Then Joyce, who softly kissed her forehead and brushed her hair back. Hopper left shortly after her, closing the door behind him. Mike was the last one left.

He slowly got up from his knees and let go of her hands. He turned around and began to slowly walk towards the door.

Eleven sat up in her bed “Mike?”

“Yeah.”

“Stay.”

“Are you sure El? Hopper said you needed sleep.”

“Stay.”

He walked back towards her and pulled a chair next to the bed. He sat down, being surprised that the chair was a lot lower than he expected. He was at the same eye level as Eleven. He gave her a soft little smile and replied “Okay.”

She curled in closer to him again, holding his hands. “Mike, stay until I fall asleep.”

He brought himself closer to her, and held her hands a little tighter “I will. I'm right here.”

She nodded her head and sunk deeper into her pillow. She didn’t want to sleep though, she just wanted to stay and be here with Mike. Just to feel his hand hold hers, to actually see him and talk to him. That’s what she wanted to do all night long. “Mike?”

“Yes El?”

“Can we talk?”

“Of course we can.”

He leaned his head sideways on the chair, now seeing every inch of her pretty face closer to him.

“Mike I’m sorry.” she said as her chin began to tremble. “I’m sorry I didn’t talk back to you.”

A broken smile formed across his face. He held her hand with his right, but circled her wrist with his left. “El that wasn’t your fault! It’s no one’s fault- well maybe it’s the bad man’s fault.. But that doesn’t matter anymore okay? You’re here now, and you’re safe.”

She brought her eyes up to his “And I’m home.”

“Yeah and we’re all so thankful you're here now.” Mike’s eyes started to water “And it hasn’t felt like home for three hundred and fifty- three days, not until day three hundred and fifty- four.” His voice began to break, realizing he wasn’t talking about a house anymore, but in fact a person. “I missed you so much El.”

Eleven didn’t want to cry again. She already cried too much, and screamed and got angry. She just wanted to be happy, and she was, but she couldn't help a tear escape one of her eyes. “I missed you too.”

He stroked the top of her hand with his thumb. “You know I always felt your presence. I thought I saw you some days but then it was like I was chasing my imagination. It was really like you were there though.”

“I was.”

“What?” he turned himself in closer to her, confused.

“I saw that mouth breather making you smile. I got mad.”

Mike’s eyes opened wider. He knew Madmax was too good at skateboarding to just randomly fall off. “That was Max! Oh El there’s nothing to worry about, she was only trying to be my friend. I was being a bit stupid because I wouldn’t let her into the group. I didn’t want her to take your place. But she’s not a mouth breather, well I kinda thought she was until Lucas told me otherwise.”

“Until Lucas told you otherwise?”

“Yeah, they’re kind of a thing... I think?”

“A thing?”

“Yeah, like together. They both like each other more than friends.”

“Oh” Eleven blushed feeling this little piece of anger inside her drop.

“I can't believe that was you. I mean, I knew it! The guys thought I was going crazy. But I knew all along…” he said proudly.

She couldn't think of anything else to say so she just smiled. She always looked out for him even during times that he wasn't aware of.

Mike sat in the chair thinking about how their lives can go on in a normal way, finally. “You know, I was just thinking. Since there's no more upside down, things can go back to normal again.”

Eleven gave a simple nod, letting him continue.

“You can come over with the guys and we’ll teach you how to play dungeons and dragons. And I still have the fort you slept in a year ago with some of the toys you like so if you ever want to sleep over…”

Eleven continued nodding, listening intently to Mike talk.

“And I can show you all these cool science experiments I learned in Mr. Clarke’s class, and I can make you some really good egos… I've been practising new recipes.”

Eleven nodded her head eagerly at the sound of egos.

“And we could go to the snowball.” He said in a softer tone.

She lied there in bed giving him the softest expression she has ever made. Her eyes twinkled, and her dimples showed. “The snowball.” she repeated.

“We missed the one last year. I don't know how it turned out though because I didn't go…”

“I know. I heard you.” she reached to lay a hand on his shoulder and leaned in closer “But we’ll go this time.”

He felt so comforted and glad by her words. “Yeah, it's about one month away. I- I still need to learn how to dance.”

“Dance?”

“Oh yeah… well I'll explain that another time.” He brushed it off, not knowing what to say to her since he knew so little in that field anyways.

Eleven brought her chin closer to the edge of the mattress. “Mike?”

“Yeah El?”

“I’m happy you're here with me.”

“Well I’m happy you're here with me too.” He replied back, intertwining his hand back into hers.

“I don't ever want to leave you. Not again.” she said as her tired eyes could only reach his lips.

He looked down at her lips, then to her long lashes leaning in closer. “I'll make sure that doesn't happen again.”

She brought her head up from her pillow leaning in closer to Mike. Her eyes almost half asleep. “Promise?”

“Promise.” He replies.

Their eyes were so close, their noses almost touching. But he saw how tired she was, and to do what he wanted to do ever since the snowball last year had to wait.

He leaned back into the chair and curled his body the same way Eleven had. He smiled at her right before her eyes closed. “Goodnight El.”

He watched her peacefully sleep, for a couple minutes until he shut his eyes himself.

In the living room Hopper checked the time and Mike had been in her room for over an hour already. It was getting late, and Eleven really needed to sleep now. He figured Mike in her room would keep her up all night. Hopper tiptoed towards the bedroom, and gently turned the knob. He opened it to find Mike sleeping on a chair with his head on the edge of the mattress and Eleven sleeping close to him with both her hands intertwined with Mike’s. He froze for a second, and grinned. It looked like she was in good care.

“Goodnight kids.” He whispered even though they were already both fast asleep. He quietly closed the bedroom door and walked back over to Joyce smoking on the couch.

#stranger things #mileven #mileven headcanon #mike wheeler #eleven hopper #jim hopper #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #steve harrington #dustin henderson #lucas sinclair #max hargrove #joyce byers #will byers #team #mine

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