#jim hopper centric

[imfinereallyy]

Father Figures

pt. 2 here, and full version on ao3 here

The first time James Edward Hopper meets Steve Harrington is when Steve is thirteen years old. It is back when he is still pushing everyone to call him Chief Hopper, or at the very least James to sound more professional. It is mostly a lost cause, as he has just returned to Hawkins after his daughter Sarah's death and most people can't help but call him Jim and Hop in familiarity, in sympathy.

It didn't mean they didn't take him any less seriously though. In fact, his cold, grieving demeanor gave him quite the reputation around town. Made assholes like Lenny Byers and troublemakers like the little twerp Munson turn in the other direction when they see him. So Jim doesn't try to push the professional name too much. He knows people around here respect him.

They respect him enough to follow his word, they respect him enough to turn a blind eye when he takes an extra pill or two.

Jim doesn't think too deeply about his reputation until he meets Steve Harrington for the first time.

He gets a call from Benny. It's directly to his line at the station, instead of a general 911 call. He doesn't think much of it when he answers, most likely it was a non emergency from an old friend from high school. That's the only reason people call him most days.

"Chief Hopper. Make it quick."

"Jimmy." A deep, worried breath comes from the phone.

Jim immediately straightens. "Benny, what's wrong?"

Benny usually only calls for a laugh, or to invite him out for a drink. The guy doesn't care about too much, or ask too many questions. Hearing concern in his voice was alarming, to say the least. "Listen, Hop, there is a kid here. And normally I don't care, cause business is business, but it's two in the morning, Jimmy. And despite the kid wearing the most expensive pair of sneakers I have ever seen, he only has two dollars on him for a meal. He got all skittish when the plate landed too loudly. And I don't know..." Benny takes a deep breath before he continues. "...I just don't want to be at fault if this kid's trouble and some fancy parents come looking for him."

Jim can tell Benny wants to say something else, he doesn't push though. Jim Hopper tries to never ask too many questions.

"Alright Ben, I'll be there in ten."

———

When Jim arrives at the diner, Benny notices him and nods in the direction of the corner booth. And there, sitting with his head low and scarfing down a plate of fries is Steve Harrington.

Jim has never met the kid personally, but he knows his parents. Cold, calculating, and pretty much owns half of Hawkins. Jim is starting to understand why Benny has called him.

Jim slides into the booth across from the young boy. He's prepared to take the kid by the back of his shirt and drag him out of there. He doesn't need these kids to be causing hard-working people any trouble. But when Jim makes a thump in the booth, the Harrington kid's face snaps up in fear, and Jim's plan for an angry monologue just drops.

Because there, on Steve Harrington's jaw, is a bruise the size of Indiana itself. Jim's face remains gruff, but his body language softens. "Hey, kid. What are you doing here so late?"

Steve's posture remains stiff and small. "Sorry sir, I was just hungry and it was the only place open. I wasn't—I wasn't trying to cause trouble."

It's then, for the first time, Jim thinks that his reputation isn't one of respect. Instead, his reputation might something worse. Fear.

"Didn't think you were. Just wondering what a rich kid like you, is doing on this side of town, at this time of night." Jim doesn't say it like a question, just fact. He tries not to take it too personally when Harrington turns his bruised side in on himself.

"Would have uh—gotten something from home but we—I didn't have any food left. And by the time I was able to eat, everything else was closed."

"Able to eat—kid what are you rambling about. Let me call your parents to pick you up." Jim makes his way to stand but Steve grabs his wrist to pull him back.

"No! I mean—" he clears his throat "—not necessary sir. My parents left for a work trip tonight. I uh—don't have a number for you to call them anyway. They call me instead, they never have a solid line to contact. Nothing bad happens in Hawkins anyway, so it isn't something to worry about." The last line sounds practiced, like it is something repeated to Steve religiously enough it's become his own mantra.

Jim is starting to put it together. The waiting all day to eat. The bruise on his jaw. The lack of money for food. God, the kid probably walked six miles to get here.

Jim isn't stupid, he can connect the dots. But Jim also knows when not to push things. When not to rock the boat. When sometimes, even if it pains him, helping someone would be a lost cause. He thinks of Sarah briefly.

It's even worse when that lost cause is just a kid.

Jim decides maybe the best thing he can do for Steve at that moment is to ignore the obvious problem and offer him a bit of kindness. "Well, I can't have ya here this late. Could look bad for Benny. And we don't want to get Benny in trouble do we?"

Steve shakes his head immediately. "No Sir."

"Didn't think so. Why don't I drive you to the station? Don't worry I'm not arresting you. But we got a nice cot there, and you can get some rest. Then I'll drive you back in the morning when I clock out. Cause I'm still on duty and all. Can't be driving you back Loch Nora quite yet." Jim doesn't mention how he can see bags under Steve's eyes. He doesn't mention how it would be quicker to his house than to the station either. Jim maybe, just a little bit, wants to keep an eye on him. Even if it's only for a short time.

"It's okay I can walk—" Jim levels Steve with a look "—actually that sounds great. Thank you, Sir."

Jim nods with finality and starts to stand. "Oh and kid? Enough with that sir crap. I ain't Mr. Harrington." He almost says I'm not your dad. But that felt wrong somehow, giving Harrington senior that title.

"Okay, sir—I mean Hopper. Okay, Hopper."

---

As the years go by, James Edward Hopper keeps an eye out for Steven James Harrington (Yes he looks at his file for his full name. Yes, it makes him feel some sort of way he has his name as his middle name and not his father's. Richard would make a horrible middle name anyway). At first, it's drive-bys to see if anyone's home. Giving the kid a ride if he sees him walking. Swinging by a basketball game or two, to see how he's playing.

Then it turns into busting his ragers. Hauling him in for the night not to arrest him but to sober the kid up. Pulling him over for driving while intoxicated with that dumb Hagan boy.

Jim wants to be mad, he does. He even yells at Steve sometimes. But he can't find in him to be mean to him, not really. Not when he's pretty sure the only thing Steve has consumed in days is alcohol. Not when even though he has gotten much bigger, and the bruises are less visible, Steve never ceases to flinch when Jim grabs him.

So mostly, Jim either just drives him home or brings him in, giving him a sandwich and bed for the night.

Around when Steve is sixteen though, things get worse for Jim. He becomes more frustrated, with Steve, with his job, and with this town. He takes more pills. He neglects his job. He forgets Steve.

Then the Upside Down happens for the first time. Jim tries to better himself for Joyce and the kids. He mainly though does it for El. His second chance, his new reason for trying, his daughter.

Jim knows it's okay to get a little lost in taking care of her. That it's a good thing, and she deserves his full attention.

He does feel a bit of guilt though, after round two of the Upside Down. When Steve Harrington sits in Joyce Byer's living room, looking like he went ten rounds with a semi.

The kids are all over him (including Mike which shocks the hell out of him). Dustin is trying to stop the bleeding on his face, Lucas is holding ice against his head and even El, who Steve met for all of five minutes, is sitting beside him on the couch, holding his shoulder up. There is a look in El's eyes as she stares up at Steve. Like she can see through him, like she knows him. Like she understands him.

Jim feels his heart break a little.

He approaches Steve in a crouched position. "Hey kid, I think we better take you to a hospital. You look like shit." He is sure there is a better way to say it, but Jim Hopper is a blunt man and that was never going to change.

The redhead, Max, snorts. "That's honestly the nicest way to put it."

Steve glares, Jim can't decide if it's at him or the kids. "No. I'm okay."

Dustin shouts, "Steve you are most definitely not okay. Hop's right you look like shit—"

"Language."

Dustin ignores Steve, "—and that's just externally. Who knows what's going on internally."

"C'mon kid, I can drive ya." Jim moves to help him stand.

Steve bursts with anger and pushes Jim away. "I said no. And you're not my dad."

Jim's jaw tightens and he resists the urge to scream back: and thank god for that.

El speaks before he can yell back. "You're hurt." It's soft, it's demanding and it's so very El. Jim watches Steve crumble back into the couch.

His voice is rougher than before, but much more gentle, "No hospitals."

"Okay. At least let Joyce look at ya. She used to be a nurse." Jim puts a hand on his shoulder, careful not to jostle him.

"Okay, Hopper. Okay, Hop."

———

After that, for a little while, Jim tries to look out for Steve again. It's harder this time though. He's more independent and harder to catch sight of. When he does see him, one of the gremlins is around him, and he can't check-in. And Hop has El, and he can't neglect her in favor of Steve. He tries to balance it out, but in the end, Steve isn't his kid.

Jim finds a small loophole though, which is El herself.

He worries about her every she since she ran away and he didn't even notice. And he knows Steve, like him, has a soft spot for the kids. So under the guise of babysitting, Jim gets Steve in his cabin once a week. So someone other than Joyce or Jonathan (or horribly, mike) is spending time with her. Sure, he's not there to keep an eye out for Steve himself, but it's the closest he's going to get.

Besides, biological daughter or not, El is just like Jim. She has a habit of collecting strays. If it's not going to be him looking out for Steve, he can't think of anyone better for the job than his little girl.

———

After Starcourt, somewhere in a Russian prison, Jim thinks of Steve.

Every day, Jim thinks of El. Misses her. Longs to hear her laugh even longs to hear her yell back at him. Every day, Jim thinks of his daughter and mourns what could have been. But Jim knows she's being taken care of. Knows Joyce and the boys will love her, and take care of her. Make sure she knows nothing else but kindness.

He worries though, between those moments, about how there is no one there for Steve.

———

Months later, in Hawkins Memorial, Jim Hopper finds Steve Harrington in a hospital chair next to Eddie Munson's comatose body.

Jim has a lot of questions but doesn't get any of them out because suddenly Steve Harrington is right in front of him, sucking in a harsh "Hop," and then collapsing in Jim’s arms.

Jim holds him close, says nothing, and cries silently with him.

———

During the summer that follows, James Edward Hopper notices a change within Steven James Harrington. Despite the obvious PTSD the boy suffers, and the scars that litter his body, Steve is visibly happier than Jim has ever seen him. He laughs more, he openly cries more, and he loves more.

Steve's now living with Robin in a tiny two-bedroom downtown. He comes to family dinner with the entire party every Sunday. He shares a cup of tea (no more beer for either of them) and a cigarette every Thursday evening on the Byers-Hoppers front porch.

Most noticeably, the biggest difference Jim sees in Steve is Eddie Munson.

Jim once again isn't stupid. And despite being an ex-cop isn't a bigot (he couldn't find himself back at the force, the corruption is too much for him. And he himself, was never very good at his job). So he can easily come to the conclusion that Steve has a massive crush on Eddie Munson.

Dear. God.

It's not that he has a problem with Eddie being a boy, but it's the fact that out of all people he can choose from, Steve had to go and fall for the twerp who used to trip over his laces when running away from Jim for the third time.

Jim feels, after all the years of neglect that Steve faced, he could do so much better.

Steve is happy though for once, and Jim doesn't say anything at first. But it becomes so painful to watch. The lingering touches. The longing gazes. The nicknames (sweetheart, honey, dear god did he just say big boy—).

Nothing ever comes of it though, it's August and neither of them has done anything but pine. And Jim seems to be the only one who notices.

At first, he thinks it's cause everyone is being kind, and giving them room to explore themselves. But with everyone making jokes about Robin and Steve (from the kids) or Steve and Nancy (from Eddie), it seems like no one notices the excruciating flirting between the two.

(Except for maybe Robin, but Jim isn't quite sure Steve and she aren't one organism. He doesn't count her)

Still, Jim ignores it though. He has learned his listen from Mike and El. Getting involved makes everything worse.

That is until, the second week in August right before family dinner, when he finds Steve and Eddie early, sitting on the couch, with Eddie dabbing the blood off of Steve's face.

"What happened?" Jim is over on Steve's other side in an instant.

"Nothing Hop, it's stupid." Steve tries to shrug off, and he looks towards Eddie briefly.

Jim's vision, for a brief brief moment, is filled with unclear rage. It's enough to consume him and makes him impulsive. Jim can't help but think he got it wrong. Maybe the two are together, and Steve had fallen into a bad relationship. He knew that Eddie was trouble, but he didn't think about it being that kind.

And though he is being irrational, and being for once a little stupid, no one can really blame him when he hauls Eddie up by the collar and into his line of vision.

"Munson, did you put your goddamn hands on my kid?"

Jim can hear Joyce, El, and Will (the only other people in the house) all run out into the living room at the sheer volume of Jim's voice.

Steve sits frozen, Joyce and El yell at him to "put him down, oh my god."

And Munson? He starts to ramble.

"No. No! I would never, ever hurt anyone. Haven't we learned this by now? I can barely kill a spider. I have to put them in a cup and put them outside." Eddie chuckles nervously, waving his hands around frantically.

Jim's grip tightens and pulls him closer. He's pretty sure his vibrating at this point.

Suddenly though, Eddie becomes deathly serious. As if he just realizes what Hopper has said.

"Hop, I would lay down my life before I ever hurt Steve. There is no one in this world that deserves kindness more than him. And if I ever do hurt him, whether it be emotionally or physically, I give you full permission to beat me up. Hell, I'll probably throw myself at your fist."

Jim doesn't let go but stays silent as he listens.

"You see, Steve here decided to pull a you when some jerks wouldn't leave me alone at Family Video today. They were throwing around a bunch of slurs. Nothing I haven't heard before. And even though I could handle myself—“ Eddie gives Steve a look “Steve here always has to be the hero and decided to defend my honor. And of course, it just had to turn physical. And Steve decided to take on three guys on his own. Got to say though, he held his own. It was kinda hot honestly—"

Jim hears Steve choke a little beside them, startling him out of his frozen state.

"—And he only got a cut on his forehead from one of the dickwads class rings. I'm a little worried he has another concussion though. Believe me, Hop when I say, I am just as pissed at those guys as you."

At the end of his speech, Eddie calms down and even holds eye contact with Jim. He still doesn't let go of the twerp, despite being considerably less angry. Well, at least at Eddie.

It's Steve though that finally gets him to let go. "Dad, please put Eddie down."

Steve says it like it's nothing. Steve says it likes its the easiest thing in the world. But to Jim, to Jim it's the best thing he's gotten since El.

Instantaneously, Jim drops Eddie back on the ground and scoops Steve into a bone-crushing hug. "You got to stop scaring me like this kid. Can't lose you again."

Steve's almost his height now, so he tucks Steve's head into his shoulder and lays his head on top of his hair. He hears a muffled, wet "I'm sorry" against him.

Jim chokes back tears as he says, "No, no you got nothing to apologize for. Just be more careful. Okay?"

Steve releases himself from his hold and looks at him. "Okay, Hop. Okay, Dad."

Jim ruffles his hair without jostling his head too much. He thinks he would do anything for his kids. Including pushing along this nightmare of a pining contest.

"And if you like him I like him too."

"Huh?" Steve says confused.

"Eddie here. If you like him, then he's okay by me."

Steve goes to stop Jim, but he's already one step ahead. "But if he hurts you even in the slightest, you're watching me dig the grave I'm going to bury him in. Understand?"

Steve blushes from head to toe and nods frantically, knowing if he protests it will only make the conversation longer. The room is silent until Eddie speaks.

"Don't worry Hop, I'll dig the grave for you." Eddie's voice, despite the threat, is filled with delight, wonder, and hope.

My work here is done Jim thinks as he gives the boys one last nod and leaves the room.

And if later, if Jim sees Steve and Eddie holding hands at the dinner table he doesn't comment on it. And if he sees Eddie give Steve's knuckles a light kiss, and whisper something that almost looks like "I love you", he only smiles at the two boys. Because if one more person loves his boy, it's a win for him.

Because James Edward Hopper, thinks his son Steve deserves that and so much more.

———

okay I spent waaaay too much time on this (as per usual) but I wanted to dive in a little more on Steve and Hoppers relationship (and how it impacts Steve and Eddie). I feel like a lot of fics makes them distant friends (which is canonically correct I guess) or surrogate family with no explanation. And I like the idea of them slowing building a father son relationship. Really leaning into you choose your family. I know people have mixed feelings about Steve calling him Dad (honestly sometimes I too think it’s cringey) but sometimes I love it and that boy deserves a good father figure. Even though steddie doesn’t come in until the end, I think it all really blends together nicely. Also in my head either the boys are both out to each other, is at least it’s heavily implied or is a known safe space they are in. We do not support outing people in the house. It’s probably a one-shot, but maybe I’ll add more snippets later on. For now it felt like a good place to stop.

As always I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I just zoned out for like two hours as I wrote it. It kinda made me emotional I’m not going to lie.

part 2 here and the full version on ao3 here

#steddie #jim hopper #there is steddie I promise #cw: implied abuse/child neglect #Jim hopper is Steve’s dad #steve harrington needs a hug #Steve Harrington #POV Jim Hopper #stranger things #el hopper #the party #eddie munson #father son bonding with the two most emotionally repressed people #father figure #ficlet #my writing #steddie fic #ao3 #steve harrington centric #jim hopper centric #pre steddie #pre relationship #angst with a happy ending #angst #happy ending

[bigboysteveharrington]

Argyle and Jonathan talk on the phone almost every day after the Byers move back to Hawkins

They talk more often than Jonathan talked to Nancy and are better at keeping in touch long-distance, but that’s really more a testament to Argyle’s dedication than anything else

Jonathan expects their friendship to drift away the longer he’s gone, but Argyle’s calling him all the time… Slow shift at work? Better call Jonathan and catch him up on what’s been going on in his life (and get the second hand scoop about people in Hawkins from Jonathan when he runs out of new things to tell him about because it’s only been 20 hours since their last phone call)… Argyle has very important high thoughts that are as deep as they are urgent to share? Better call Jonathan and share every last one of them that exact moment… Someone insults pineapple on pizza? You can bet Jonathan’s going to hear about it

The only problem is Argyle keeps forgetting about the time difference between California and Indiana so he regularly calls when it’s not that late in California, but it’s 3 hours later for the Byers

When Joyce is the one to answer the phone, she tries to politely tell him that it’s nice that he and Jonathan are still so close but maybe he could call back in the morning and try to keep his calls to earlier in the day from now on and Argyle always promises will do, Mrs. B only to forget all over again within a few days so she tries to work on getting Jonathan to convince him to call at more reasonable hours instead

When Will answers the phone, he rolls his eyes at how often he’s calling (while he’s also a little jealous that Jonathan is getting way more calls from Argyle now than he got from all his friends combined while they were in California) but he listens for a little bit as Argyle excitedly jabbers away at him and asks him questions until Will decides it’s getting annoying and either hands the phone over to Jonathan (or if it’s too late, he doesn’t listen to him at all and just says to call back tomorrow and hangs up before Argyle had a chance to respond)

El doesn’t answer the phone, but she’s not so bothered. She thinks it’s nice that Argyle calls so much and doesn’t see why Will rolls his eyes about it so often

When Jonathan answers, he stretches the phone cord as far away from the bedrooms as he can and stays up talking with Argyle with his voice low to try not to wake anyone else up

But Hopper? Hopper cannot stand losing sleep because some idiot from California can’t remember that it’s 2 in the morning for them (and honestly why is he trying to call to talk for an hour and a half at 11 pm his time anyway???) Every time, he forces his exhausted ass out of bed, whether he’s the first to the phone or not because it could be official police business and there could be a crime scene he’s needed at or some other kind of emergency putting them all in danger, but nope it’s just Argyle calling to catch up again

Hopper grumbles about it to Joyce when he gets back to bed and ends up unintentionally making sure that she’s just as awake now as he is with his tired bitching and Joyce is getting a bit fed up with it too, but she plays devil’s advocate and says I know the times he calls aren’t always great, but I don’t know. I think it’s kind of sweet he wants to keep in touch so much. It’s nice that they catch up on everything going on, even while they’re living so far away and Hopper gets back in bed as he grumbles how much could they possibly have to catch up on? They talked for hours two days ago

Argyle unintentionally and unknowingly becomes near Mike Wheeler levels of annoying to Hopper and Hopper grumbles nearly daily about how the phone line is always busy and he can’t get any consistent kind of sleep to save his life and could Jonathan please tell his friend to stop calling so late at night

From the moment it becomes clear that the long (and often late night) phone calls are going to be such a regular thing, Hopper is a little passive aggressive and huffy whenever he’s the one who answers the phone, but Argyle doesn’t mind and just brushes it off

It takes until one night when Hopper’s particularly sleep-deprived and grumpy and he gets to the phone first and full on yells into it that the time zones aren’t that hard to remember and that if he’s going to call, he can’t do it after 8 pm his time for Argyle to finally stop calling so late (but that doesn’t stop him from calling at a reasonable hour and him and Jonathan staying up talking until an unreasonable hour)

#This is going to be a plot point in the multi-chapter Hopper-Byers centric fic I haven’t started posting yet #The one related to my Steddie fic (which also btw that’s not just going to be El and Will‘s POVs anymore it’s going to be Jonathan’s too #Nancy’s a busy woman with things to do and she doesn’t have the time to sit around and talk on the phone that Argyle carves out for himself #Jargyle #Argyle #Jonathan Byers #Stranger Things #ST4 #ST #Jim Hopper #Joyce Byers #Will Byers #Eleven #Hopper-Byers family #Stranger Things headcanon #Jargyle headcanon #Spicy Six #Mine

[ellewritesandrants]

Okay so, I’m not the most knowledgeable about punks/metal heads vs. preps but I would wager that they didn’t get along especially in California where there’s a literal melting pot of different cultures that would be discriminated against for being weird and not typical. I’d guess that the stereotypically popular, rich, preppy kids didn’t like the scary, leather jacket wearing, crime breaking kids like Billy so imagine if stuck to the crowd he knew instead of getting mixed up in all of the popularity bullshit.

Imagine Billy practically skidding into a stop in the parking lot, blaring Rock you like a Hurricane ready to be an outcast and alone since he didn’t even think anyone knew what good music was in this hick town. He was practically ready to be judged by the popular kids for being into punk/metal and he was gearing for a fight. He’s not helped by having preppy princess Nancy Wheeler be the one assigned to show him around school and judging him at first glance even though they were in the exact same honors classes. Imagine Tommy sidling up to him at lunch, genuinely inviting him to the popular kids table only for Billy to scoff and walk away, thinking it was a prank.

Imagine Eddie passing by, wearing his vest decorated with a Dio patch and Billy immediately latching onto him after confirming that Eddie liked real music , declaring he only hung around people with a good music taste before going over to Eddie’s table and meeting all of his friends. The entire cafeteria would break out into whispers of the new kid snubbing Tommy and the popular kids only to latch onto the Freak. Tommy is humiliated and made fun of because being snubbed by Steve was bad enough but being snubbed by the new kid made him lose whatever remaining cool points he had scrounged up after Steve broke their friendship. Weirdly enough, this only raises Billy’s cool points and that of Eddie and all of his friends.

It doesn’t help that Billy’s also athletic and he shows up Tommy in the basketball court when Tommy tries to get revenge for embarassing him in front of everybody. Tommy gets embarassed again and it spreads like wildfire and for the first time, being punk/metal seems cool because of Billy. Steve can’t help himself but to introduce himself after Billy humiliates Tommy for the second time and Billy’s mildly crushing on him but he laughs Steve off since he’s even preppier than Tommy, guessing that Steve listens to Madonna and shit. When Steve confirms that he does and asks what’s wrong with it, Billy just pats him on the shoulder and wishes him good luck, amigo.

Billy immediately gets folded into the Hellfire Club, which he finds hilarious because they’re just nerds who are thought of as Satanists because of the music they like. Eddie even convinces him to give D&D a try and he falls in love with it, thankful that it had the same schedule as Max’s AV Club thing. He’s a lot more chill and mellow since he found people like him and Eddie keeps him stocked with the good stuff so he isn’t as high strung. Eddie notices he smokes whenever he’s anxious so he gives him little things to fidget like a few pins to add to his denim jacket and a 20-sided die keychain for good luck.

Imagine Billy becoming really good friends with Eddie and his friends and him convincing Max to go to the Arcade so he can hang out with his friends, even supporting whatever friendships she forms because the more she’s out of the house, the more he’s out of the house so it’s a win-win for them. Billy usually just drops Max off at the arcade, telling her he’d drop by later to pick her up, giving her enough money to bribe her to keep quiet that he didn’t stay with her. It worked out really well for them and Max found herself somewhat fixing her relationship with her brother. He does warn her about Neil’s racist views because he has to be careful and so does she. Neil might beat him for running around with some freaks after leaving California but Billy doesn’t give a shit because his friends are the only thing making this shithole be somewhat decent in his eyes.

Imagine Billy becoming Corroded Coffin’s number 1 fan, even helping them out when they need a backup keyboard player or guitarist. He also sings later on once Eddie discovers he has the voice of an angel. He’s practically an honorary member by the end of it and when they play a gig on Halloween night, he’s definitely invited. They later on plan to crash Tina’s party, all high off their asses when Billy flirts with Steve after Nancy calls their relationship bullshit.

Since Billy would leave the house more frequently, he notices when Max snuck out and he hurries to find her, leading to him being involved in the upside down. He sees the weird alien dogs and without hesitation, runs a couple over before pulling out a crowbar and finishing off a few more before they run off. He sees Max with her friends and Steve who tell him all about the Upside Down and the demodogs and Billy’s just confused because aren’t those just in D&D? Cue Dustin thinking Billy’s the best thing since sliced bread for knowing about D&D and saving them from the demodogs and Billy flirting with Steve because he likes seeing the pretty boy flustered. Billy does come up with very smart plans though and he helps them get through everything safely albeit with a few more injuries than before on both him and Steve which was preferable than the kids anyway.

With Billy involved, they manage to come out of it all with everyone living, even Bob who’s injured but manages to live. They all head to the Byer’s house to get a clear idea of everything that happened. When arrangements are made about the kids being dropped off, Hopper offers to come with them to give the parents a vague explanation about what happened so they don’t get into to trouble. Billy doesn’t argue since he’s resigned to his dad beating the shit out of him for keeping Max out past curfew. Hopper surprises him because he threatens Billy’s dad, claiming he knew men like him and he liked his town without them, even going so far as to pin Neil to the wall and threaten him that if sees a single bruise on either of his kids or hears about him mistreating them in any way, he’ll make him disappear the law be damned because in this small town, he is the fucking law.

All of a sudden, Billy’s more free than he ever thought he could be and he doesn’t hesitate to take advantage of it. When the kids ask him to join a campaign when they teach Max about D&D, he agrees to it happily, even going so far as to tell the kids he’ll introduce them to the Hellfire Club and that he’ll ask Eddie if the kids can join a campaign. This catapults him into the party’s favorite teen category, something Steve tries to win back by giving them arcade money and free pizza but it doesn’t hold a candle to Billy showing them the tricks he taught Max to get the high scores on the machines in the arcade.

He even gets around to introducing Max to his friends as his little sister, showing her how to play a little bit of the instruments during a practice for Corroded Coffin. She doesn’t exactly like the music but she likes how calm and happy Billy looks so she doesn’t mind if her ears ring for a bit. She even gets to drag the party with El and Steve to one of their more PG friendly gigs and Steve finds himself weirdly attracted to both Billy and Eddie. El absolutely loves the music and calls it bitchin’.

El gets Billy to teach her how to play music and he does it with Max’s help so that he could help them bond more. He soon regrets it when the girls become best friends and they get him to drive them everywhere so Max can teach El what it means to be a girl in the 80s. Meanwhile, Billy’s a lot less worried about being seen as gay since his dad can’t beat him anymore and he’d brought it up to Hopper once in a fit of rage when he was trying to push away everyone in his life during the start. Billy talks to Hopper a lot after Hopper tells him his dad was like that and he’d always wanted someone to save him from it but he’s happy he got to do it for Billy and be the hero he’s always wanted. Hopper kind of hints that Billy can talk about it to Joyce if he wants a mother’s perspective and Bob was also very progressive since he’d heard his sister was a lesbian and he still loved her.

Somehow, Billy ends up with two replacement fathers and a mother and a whole lot of new little siblings. Sure, he still didn’t really get along with the Wheelers but everyone else, he had no problem with. Jonathan was a genuinely cool guy and he had pretty decent music taste unlike some others cough* Steve cough*. It also helped that he liked weed and Billy could always count on either Jonathan or Eddie having some whenever he needed to destress. It was fun because while Eddie and Jonathan knew each other, they weren’t really that close until Billy got them all together. His most memorable memory of the two bonding was when the two of them, high off their asses, were reaming Steve for his taste in music while Billy kept laughing until tears formed in his eyes.

Strangely enough, Eddie falls into their weird friendship dynamic just as easily and Jonathan, Steve and Billy soon becomes Jonathan, Steve, Billy and Eddie. They get into all sorts of shit together but they have fun doing it. When Steve graduates, they’re happy to support him and when Eddie is held back again, they’re also there to support him with Billy promising to help him graduate next year or die trying. Strangely enough, their group of boys becomes weirdly the popular group by virtue of Billy and partly by Steve. With Billy’s influence on academics, Steve gets accepted into college but he decides take a gap year to wait for the rest of them.

While all of the girls still kept trying to get Billy to go out with them, he’s kind of become too busy with the kids to worry about dating. He kind of becomes oblivious to any attention he gets because he’s naturally flirty and it’s not like it’ll ever go anywhere until suddenly, Eddie’s asking him if he wants to go out, Steve’s giving him random little gifts and Jonathan’s starting to flirt back. Oops.

#billy hargrove #mungrove #harringrove #ellewritesandrants #billy deserved better #billy hargrove deserved better #billy and max #billy hargrove au #billy hargrove redemption #jim hopper #stranger things rewrite #billy hargrove is good with kids #billy and the party #byergrove #harringroveson #stilldie #steddilly #eddie munson #jonathan byers #billy centric #tommy hagan #Billy is a punk who deserves friends #hellfire club #the party #tw child abuse

[italiansteebie]

Guess Who's Back

Also on ao3

------

It has been decided that Steve Harrington is an enigma. 

He tells people everything, yet somehow the boy still has his mysteries. He’s moved out of his parents house, and his roommates are constantly learning new things about him. They’ve kept a running list of things Harrington’s said, either in passing, or while drunk, because it seems... It seems that is the only way they find anything out about him. 

He’s constantly on the phone, with many different people, Joyce and Hopper are the main ones, Ray (one of his roommates) has a sneaking suspicion they are his parents, but Devon reminds them that if they were his parents, he wouldn't necessarily call them by their first names. Would he? And other times, Ray thinks Richard, the guy Steve speaks to, quite briefly, in harsh, hushed Italian, may be his father. From the way Steve’s face screws up in distaste at the demanding tone coming through the phone, he can see that if this is Steve’s dad… He’s definitely an asshole. 

And that’s just the beginning of the list his roommates have been keeping. 

Crue, which is just a nickname for a government name nobody's ever heard, is the keeper of this list, and they have trouble skipping over any details. So when Steve wakes up screaming, from terrors that plague him in his sleep, they try and carefully weasel out the reason, while still comforting him. They’re never successful in this quest, and it seems each time any of them ask, he only gets more standoffish. 

—--

There's a storm in the area. And their apartment isn’t the greatest, and Ray has a habit of falling asleep with his eyes open, and when he falls asleep, he falls asleep like a brick. So when Steve shuffles inside, groceries in hand, catching the lights flickering and Ray’s still body, with open eyes flickering about the room, it really ruins his day. 

“Ray? Ray!” 

There’s a bit of a commotion, but Devon is tired, and commotions are common here, with Ray and Crue being siblings, so she ignores it. That is, until Steve bursts in her room, flicking through her tapes, muttering incoherently, with trembling arms. She watches as he grabs a tape, snatches her walkman, and runs out of the room. “Steve?” She calls, but to no avail. 

She gets up, begrudgingly, and what a sight it is to see Steve in the living room, sobbing over Ray’s sleeping body, trying to get the tape into the walkman as his hands shake uncontrollably. Crue saunters out not much later, Steve’s crying turning into wailing. The two bystanders make eye contact, to which Devon shrugs her shoulders. “Steve?” Crue asks gently, his head whips up, and he sniffles, tripping over his words, a jumble of sounds falling out of his mouth. “Should we call someone?” They ask, and Steve nods, “Please, p-please. Uh. Joyce. Ho- Hopper, call- The. Tell them he’s back.” 

“Who’s back?”

“He is.”

And the shaking has gotten so much worse, Crue’s afraid his heart is going to fall out of his butt, so they jog over to the phone, dialing the number labeled “Joyce,” that has been tacked to the wall, with a note under it that says “Call anytime, Steve. Love, Joyce and Hop” with a heart next to it. 

—--

At the Byers-Hopper household, it is peaceful. They had just finished dinner when the phone rang. Hopper groaned, considering just letting it ring, but Joyce smacks him lightly on the stomach, “What if it’s Steve?” She reminds him gently, she stands to grab it, but Will beats her to it. 

“Hello?”

“Uh. Hi. This is uhm. This is Crue. Steve- Uh. Steve’s roommate. He’s really kind of freaking out. Uh. Something about ‘He’s back?’” 

Joyce watches as the color drains from her son's face, “Will, Honey? What's wrong?” He drops the phone in response and she watches as his nose tinges red with tears. She gets up quickly, sending Will to sit down, and grabs the phone.  

She can hear the other person asking for someone faintly, and she puts the phone up to her ear, “Hello, is everything alright?”

“Oh! Thank god. An adult. Well, you sound like one anyways.. Uhm. This is Crue, Steve’s roommate. He’s like. Having a freak out. Uh he said he’s back.”

Joyce takes a deep breath, “Who’s back?”

“We asked him that. All he said was ���He is.” 

“Shit. Okay honey, listen to me. I want you to play some music, I know Steve has a record player in his room, so take that and turn it up loud, play something everyone likes, okay? I’ll be over in a second.”

She hangs the phone and looks at Hop, who is already standing, shoes on and gun in holster. The kids are standing too, El and Will looking scared but determined, and Jonathan with car keys in hand. The group walks quickly to the car, and drives to Steve’s, only breaking a few laws. 

—---

“Steve, please. Tell us what's going on? Can we help?” Devon practically begs, watching from the corner of her eye as Crue runs to Steve room, coming back out with his record player. Ray, still dead asleep, not picking up on the chaos surrounding him. 

There’s pounding on the door, and Steve moves quickly, grabbing his bat, and approaching the door with caution. “Steve. It is us.” A small voice says, young, but determined in tone. Crue and Devon watch as the relief quite literally washes over their roommate. He opens the door, stepping aside, letting the family in. 

“Has he started floating yet?”

“I don’t feel him,”

“Are you okay, Steve?”

The overlapping words seem to settle him just a bit, but the shaking is still there and Crue feels like he might collapse any minute now. “He- He won’t wake up, a-and I. I got his favorite song! I kept a list, just like you told me to, and I-.” His chest is heaving and tears are streaming rapidly down his face. Crue guesses the woman that pulls him into her arms is Joyce and the burly man standing beside them his Hopper. However, the little girl with short hair,is standing over Ray with her eyes closed but moving, searching, under her eyelids. Well. Neither Devon nor Crue know who that is, and the boy with the awful haircut that is inspecting light bulbs is a stranger too. The girl smiles gently, before smacking Ray across the face. 

He sits up rapidly, “What’s going on? Who slapped me? Who are you guys? Why am I wearing headphones?” The words came out rapidly, and slurred with sleep. “I am El. Steve’s friend. You are okay. You just sleep bad.” She says simply, moving over to Steve and wrapping him in a hug. “I? What? I sleep, bad?” The girl, El, nods. 

“He was asleep, Steve. Henry is dead.” She says, and with that he crumples to the ground, Joyce and Hopper following him, until the whole family is in a heap on the floor. The roommates watch in curiosity, and Crue thinks this is another thing that needs to go on the list, but pushes that thought away. “Not the time,” they think to themselves.

The roommates move to the kitchen, giving the family some semblance of privacy, but still staying close. Devon decides to make Steve some tea, something they see him drinking often, and hopes it helps him. 

“I couldn’t. I couldn't do it again,” they hear Steve say shakily from the living room. 

“Sweetie, it’s like El, said. Your roommate just sleeps with his eyes open. Everything is okay.” Joyce says gently.

The roommates feel a little guilty for listening in but. Steve’s their roommate, and they care. Even if he doesn't want them to. Devon finishes the tea, and starts walking towards the family that’s still sitting together on the floor near the front door. She hands the tea to Steve with a gentle, “I hope everythings okay.” To which Steve nods and scrubs a hand over his face. 

Yeah, sorry guys. I uh-” He’s cut off by Hopper gently pushing him over.

“We talked about you apologizing for having feelings, Steve. It’s okay.” 

The group of roommates quickly nod, and rush to reassure him. Steve sighs, “Okay. Well. I guess I should introduce everyone, now that I'm… Not freaking out.”

 He stands, and so does everyone else, “This is… My family,” He starts shyly, to which El and Will smile brightly at. “Uh. This is Hop, and Joyce. And the awkward guy standing over there is Jonathan… And these guys are Will and El.” They all wave to the roommates standing in front of them. “And well. That’s Ray, the one I thought.. Yeah. And Uh. Crue is who called you guys. And that’s Devon.” He says pointing to each of them, before moving out of the way and letting them finish their own introductions. 

“Wait. Why do you call your mom and dad by their first names?” Ray asks, filter non-existent, often reminding Steve of Robin, Crue smacks him on the shoulder to which he responds with and exasperated, “What?!” Crue gestures vaguely, “You can’t just ask that,” they stage whisper. 

Steve laughs, “They’re not actually my parents,” he says lightly to which Hopper gruffly responds, “Yeah, but we’re better than the dick heads he got stuck with for 18 years.” He cracks a small smile after that, and Steve laughs softly, nodding in agreement. 

“Yeah. They’ve been better parents to me in the last 2 years than my biological parents have been since I was born,” He shrugs, eyes brightening as he looks around at his family, and the roommates smile. It wasn’t often they saw Steve this happy. And after everything they’ve witnessed today, and well… The whole time they’ve been living together, they’re happy that Steve has this found family to hold on to.

“Wait. Okay.” Ray says, with a groan from Crue, “Dude. Ruin the moment why don’t you.” To which Ray responds by shoving them over. “As I was saying,” he pauses to glare at Crue, “If you guys aren’t his parents, then am I right in assuming that the asshole that Steve talks to in Italian is Steve’s dad?” 

“Yeah, that’s. That’s Richard. Technically my father, but he never fucking acted like it. Hop’s better in my book anyways.” He says, knocking a shoulder into the gruff man. 

“Well. We should let you guys catch up,” Devon says, pulling them back to Crue’s room, giving the family some actual privacy. And if they take out the list and do some major revisions, well. That’s their business.

And if Steve goes back to his family’s house for the night, then. That’s his business.

#italian steve #found family #good mom Joyce Byers #Steve Harrington #joyce byers #will byers #eleven hopper #el hopper #jim hopper #Steve Harrington angst #steve harrington centric #good parents Joyce and hopper #steve harrington #the hopper-byers are Steves family #scared Steve Harrington #Steve Harrington has ptsd #Steve Harrington has anxiety

[afterschoolcrewz]

Hard Times | 1.1k words

tw: implied / referenced child abuse

“He hadn’t even meant to drop by Hopper's old cabin, but noise complaints from the neighbors lead to calls to 911 and apparently the chief had run out of monsters to fight, stopping by the house long after everything had died down and Steve was already bruised on every part of his body.”

link to work

#steve harrington #jim hopper #eleven #jane hopper #steve harrington centric #hopper best dad #angst #hurt/comfort #stranger things #stranger things fic #fanfic #writing #pripripro

[sarahk4]

Stranger Things Fanfic- Concrete Angel

Nobody knows the abuse Max deals with until it's too late to save her. Based off the song Concrete Angel by Martina McBride. Kind of out of character Billy at one point cause Max deserved so much better.

(The lyrics to the song are in bold)

⚠️WARNINNG: MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH, CHILD ABUSE⚠️

She walks to school with the lunch she packed

Nobody knows what she's holding back

Nobody knew. Max let nobody know what she was actually going through. Sure, she now had friends that she should go to but for some reason, she couldn't.

She couldn't tell them that her stepdad and her mom fought constantly. She couldn't tell them about how Billy's death led to her stepdad being harsher to her. She couldn't tell them about how her stepdad hit her nearly every night.

Wearing the same dress she wore yesterday

She hides the bruises with linen and lace

Her friends knew about her family's financial state. Only a month after Billy died, Neil had lost his job which led to the family having to move into the trailer park. Due to her situation, the boys never said anything if the redhead turned up to school wearing the same clothes two days in a row.

They didn't need to know that that was because Neil had gotten so carried away hitting her that she hadn't had time to do the washing or because her mom had been too drunk to remember to bring the clothes in from the washing line before it rained.

The teacher wonders but she doesn't ask

It's hard to see the pain behind the mask

Max had perfected her mask. Years and years spent pretending to be okay had made sure of that. Other than the odd wince or flinch, there was no outward sign of the pain she experienced at home.

She knew that some of the adults in her life were suspicious. She could tell her teachers had noticed the odd splashes of blood on her clothes. She knew Joyce had noticed the bruises on her when she had been helping the older woman bake a cake. But none of the adults knew how serious things were for her and they certainly didn't know how to help her. Or how much their silence would cost them all.

Bearing the burden of a secret storm

Sometimes she wishes she was never born

Keeping what her stepdad did to her a secret was hard on Max. Constantly having to drop out of plans last minute and distancing herself from the others hurt both Max and her friends. The party couldn't understand why Max was acting so differently. Max herself wanted to tell them about what Neil did to her. She never felt as safe as she did with the party. But no matter how much she wanted to tell them, she couldn't. She couldn't drag the people she loved the most into Neil's warpath.

Sometimes Max wished she wasn't here. If she'd never been born, life would be much easier for everyone who knew her. Billy would probably still be alive and likely living in California still. Her mom wouldn't have to deal with having such a disappointing daughter, maybe she'd be happy. Neil probably wouldn't be as miserable or as angry as he was all the time.

Through the wind and the rain

She stands hard as a stone

In a world that she can't rise above

To her credit, Max tried not to let anything Neil did faze her. She took every punch or insult he threw at her on the chin and refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry. While she may not be able to escape her situation, she could remain strong and hold on as long as she possibly could until someone saved her. She was praying someone could save her.

But her dreams give her wings

And she flies to a place where she's loved

Concrete angel

Max's home life may have been hell but her friends made up for it. Every moment the redhead spent with the party she felt loved and appreciated. They were her world and she was so grateful to all the light they had shone into the darkest parts of her life.

Somebody cries in the middle of the night

The neighbours hear but they turn out the light

The night it happened was exactly a year after Billy died. The rest of the party had gone up to the hill to watch the fireworks but Neil had forbidden Max from going. She had had a bad feeling about the night but had decided against telling the party. After all, nothing too bad could happen, right?

It started with Neil having one bottle of beer which quickly turned into six beers. Max had been keeping to herself in her room, knowing that this day was undoubtedly just as hard for Neil as it was for her and she wanted everything to be as easy as possible for everyone. Neil, however, had different plans.

"MAX" Neil yelled as he entered his stepdaughters room, several empty beer bottles tucked into his arms "It's your fault. You're the reason my son is dead"

Max stood up and held her hands out nervously in front of her, whether in an attempt to placate Neil or protect herself she wasn't sure. Tears began to well up in her eyes as Neil continued screaming at her.

Before she could say anything, glass rained down on her as her stepdad hit her as hard as he could with the beer bottles. Max crashed to the floor with a thud and screamed as Neil kept attacking her. She screamed as loud as she could manage, desperate for someone to hear her.

Max soon felt an intense sharp pain in her stomach as something was plunged into her. She knew nobody was going to save her in time.

Her thoughts shifted to her friends. El, Mike, Will, Dustin, Erica, Steve, Robin, Nancy, Jonathon and Lucas- especially Lucas- had become her family. They loved her more than anything and she loved them. She prayed that they'd all be alright without her. Then Max saw a flash of white.

Then everything went dark.

A fragile soul caught in the hands of fate

When morning comes it will be too late

It was Steve and Robin who had found her, too late to be able to save the young girl. Max had been supposed to meet up with the rest of the party at the Wheelers house two hours prior but Max had never shown up and wasn't answering anyone's calls. Steve and Robin had convinced the rest of the kids to stay with Nancy and Jonathon while they went to make sure everything was okay. They had no idea what they would be walking into.

When they arrived at the Mayfield/Hargrove residence, the pair were shocked to see that the door was wide open and there was no immediate sign of Max, Neil or Susan. The two teens entered the house and made their way into the redheads bedroom.

As soon as they had entered the room they knew what had happened. Max was lying on the ground covered in cuts and bruises with blood and glass surrounding her. Steve had immediately told Robin to call Hopper while he ran over to Max.

Steve cradled the girl in his arms and knew straight away that they were too late. Max's skin was ice cold, her chest wasn't rising and falling and she had no pulse. The teen sobbed as he clung to the girl he considered to be a little sister. He had sworn to protect all of the kids but he had failed.

Once Robin had finished on the phone, she came back to Steve and Max and wrapped her arms around both of them, crying just as hard as Steve. Soon enough, Hopper walked through the door, tears shining in his own eyes as he approached three of the kids he'd grown so fond of. Paramedics followed behind him, ready to take Max away for good.

Once Hopper had managed to pry Steve and Robin away from Max's body, he gave them a lift back to the Wheelers home. He found Karen Wheeler and Joyce Byers in the living room and gestured for the two women to follow them. The five of them headed down to the basement where everyone else was waiting cheerfully. The atmosphere changed drastically upon their arrival.

From that day onward, Hopper would always say that one of the hardest things he had ever had to do was tell Max Mayfield's best friends and boyfriend what had happened to her. But he did it. He was the adult and though he couldn't make it to Max in time, he could be there for these kids.

As expected, they didn't take the news well. By the end of Hopper's speech, everyone in the room was sobbing and the five kids had wrapped themselves around eachother, desperate for comfort as the older teens and the adults tried desperately to soothe them while grieving as well.

The day Maxine Mayfield died, twelve hearts broke and five young lives were forever changed.

Through the wind and the rain

She stands hard as a stone

In a world that she can't rise above

But her dreams give her wings

And she flies to a place where she's loved

Concrete angel

When the darkness faded, Max opened her eyes and found that she was stood on a beach. Her body was clear of cuts, bruises, blood and glass and her clothes were clean too. She heard a familiar voice calling out her name and turned to see Billy running towards her.

"I'm sorry" Billy declared tearfully, gathering her into his arms and holding her tightly "I'm so sorry I wasn't there to save you. I'm so sorry for how I treated you. I'm here now"

Max smiled softly as she clutched her brother. She was devastated that she wasn't going to be able to see her friends and Lucas anymore but she knew that she was going to be okay now.

A statue stands in a shaded place

An angel girl with an upturned face

The remaining five kids stood bunched together in front of the grave with the older four stood a little bit away from them. All five of them looked tearfully at the beautiful angel statue that marked the place where the girl that had been like family to them would now rest. Their hearts were broken as they thought of the cruel injustice Max had faced.

One kid in particular struggled to cope with the grief and guilt of what had happened. Lucas blamed himself for what had occured. He believed that as her boyfriend, he should of noticed what was happening to her. He should of been able to save her. But he hadn't and now he had to live the rest of his life without the girl he loved more than anything.

Lucas wasn't on his own though. Mike, El, Will and Dustin were there to support him and eachother every step of the way. They vowed that they wouldn't fail eachother the way they all felt they had failed Max.

A name is written on a polished rock

A broken heart that the world forgot

Maxine Mayfield

1971-1986

A brave fighter until the end

Forever in our hearts

The five fifteen year olds stepped forward and took turns to place their gifts down at the statue with teary eyes.

Dustin had carefully arranged a bouquet of light blue tulips with a small photograph of himself and Max embedded in it. The photo had only been taken a few weeks ago by Jonathon at El's birthday party and was now one of the last pictures ever taken of Max. Dustin kept a copy framed in his bedroom and Max had this one in her flowers. It made Dustin feel like she was still with him.

Will had made a painting of the party sat on top of the hill, looking out over Hawkins. Himself and Max were sat in the centre and his arm was slung around her shoulders. There was a halo floating above Max's head and faint angel wings on her back. Lucas was on Max's other side with his hand over hers and El was next with one hand on Lucas' shoulder while she pointed at something in the distance. Mike was at Will's side and the two were hand in hand while Dustin was shoulder to shoulder with Mike and, like El, was pointing at something in the distance. All six party members were smiling and happy.

Mike left Max's skateboard. He knew that Neil had broken the board and he also knew that the board was incredibly special to Max as it had been a gift from her dad before he left. So he had gone over to the Mayfield/Hargrove's home, which was now vacant as Neil had been arrested and Susan had moved away, and had taken it over to Steve's and the older teen had helped him mend it. Once it was good as new, Steve had helped Mike engrave a message on the back: "Dear Madmax, we all love and miss you so much. You'll always be a part of our party. Love, Mike"

El had brought the wonder woman comic that her and Max had read at their first sleepover. The comic symbolized the beginning of her friendship with Max. She also had a pair of rainbow scrunchies and Joyce had helped her with sewing names into them. Max onto one and El onto the other. Max had always loved rainbows and the two best friends always bought matching scrunchies. El didn't see why that should change, Max was still and always would be her best friend.

Lucas had brought a heart shaped locket he had been saving up to buy for Max's 16th birthday later in the year. On one side, he had put in the first ever picture taken of the two at the snowball. The snowball would always be one of Lucas' favourite memories. Although really, any memory that included her would be his favourite. On the other side, he put in the last ever picture taken of all six members of the party, taken just days before she died. All of them were tangled up together, asleep on the floor in the Wheelers basement. On the front of the locket, it had 'MM & LS forever' engraved on it.

The gifts stayed at Max's concrete angel statue for two days before the party came back and collected them. They took the things back to the Wheelers basement and arranged them neatly in the corner that had been affectionately dubbed 'Max's Corner'as it was where she used to sit whenever she came over. That way, she could still be with them. Always.

Just a few years in the future, the party were eighteen and preparing to go off to college. They all carefully packed the gifts they'd put together for Max all those years ago and took them away with them.

Max wasn't with them physically, but they would always be carrying her with them in their hearts.

Through the wind and the rain

She stands hard as a stone

In a world that she can't rise above

But her dreams give her wings

And she flies to a place where she's loved

Concrete angel

#stranger things #max mayfield #lucas sinclair #will byers #eleven #dustin henderson #mike wheeler #steve harrington #robin buckley #jonathan byers #nancy wheeler #jim hopper #stranger things fanfiction #Max Mayfield centric #major character death #child abuse

[steddie-fanfic-recs]

And Death Stands So Small In The Face Of Love

by writersagainstwritersblock

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington & The Party, Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler (past) Characters: Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington's Parents, Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley, Dustin Henderson, Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Lucas Sinclair, Mike Wheeler, Will Byers, Eleven | Jane Hopper, Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers, Jim "Chief" Hopper, Joyce Byers Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Platonic Soulmates, Romantic Soulmates, Steve Harrington-centric, Steve Harrington Character Study, Steve Harrington is a Sweetheart, Steve Harrington Needs Love, Eddie Munson Loves Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington Loves Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington Loves The Party, The Party Loves Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington Has Bad Parents Words: 14,531 Chapters: 1/1

Summary

“I think I’m stuck.” Eddie laid his hand over the strings of his guitar to stop the cord, leaning over the edge of the bed to look down at him. “Metaphorically,” Steve clarified. “I’m gonna need a little more than that, baby.” Steve sighed, leaning back against the edge of the bed. “I don’t want to work minimum wage or climb the corporate ladder or whatever, I want… I want something that makes me feel the way you do when you’re on stage. I want to feel like it means something that I’m still kicking.” “What do you want to do?” “You’re gonna laugh.” “You planning on becoming a comedian?” “Eds.” “Stevie.” Soulmate AU where soulmarks don't turn until the person actually loves you, rather than upon meeting. Unturned marks are just ink until the person who loves you touches them and turns them into bright, colorful tattoos. Or a character study on Steve, the people he loves, and the people who love him.

#steddie #steddie fic rec #oneshot #10-25k #au soulmates

[littlechivalry]

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016)

Relationships: Steve Harrington/Eddie MunsonSteve Harrington & Jim "Chief" Hopper

Additional Tags: Post-Season/Series 04Italian Steve HarringtonHurt/ComfortEmotional Hurt/ComfortEverybody LivesAngstSteve Harrington Has Bad ParentsSteve Harrington-centric

Words:3,163 Chapters:1/1

Summary:

Henry. Or Vecna. Or One -- is gone.

They've confirmed it in every way they can and while Steve knows he will never stop looking over his shoulder or flinching when lights flicker and that there will always be easy access to a baseball bat well-studded with nails, he can almost sort of maybe imagine a future where sleeping won't be so difficult.

But he's not there yet.

-

Title is from a song by The Used

#fanfiction #fanfic #littlechivalry #my writing #steddie #eddie munson #steve harrington #stranger things

[mrs-steve-harrington]

Tell Me You're Mine

Read on AO3

Rating: E

Relationships: Steve Harrington/Jim "Chief" Hopper

Characters: Steve Harrington, Jim "Chief" Hopper

Additional Tags: Post-Season/Series 04, Future Fic, Soulbond, Dubiously Consensual Mating Bond, Rough Sex, Self-Esteem Issues, Steve Harrington Has Self-Esteem Issues, Protective Jim "Chief" Hopper, POV Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington-centric

Word Count: 2,700

Summary:

The night before Steve is set to go on a mission he likely won't come back from, Hopper comes over for one last night together—or so Steve thinks.

Notes: Inspired by a tag (A Forcing Mating Bond on B to Prevent B From Taking Suicide Mission) in the Made Them Do It Flash Exchange tag set. Written for @urisarang and @stevethehousewife

#stopper #steve harrington #jim hopper #chief hopper #stranger things #fanfiction #my fic #my writing

[ao3feed-byler2]

you're on your own kid.

by wldstdreams

"The roll, it was a seven," Will paused, maintaining the staring contest that commenced between them hours and hours ago when they all arrived at the quaint, yet familiar, house on Maple Street. The house where a certain Mike Wheeler, resident best friend of one Will Byers, lives. It really made the brunette boy wonder how different life would've/would be had Ted and Karen chose anywhere but Hawkins to live. "The Demogorgon, it got me," he added on soon enough.

Will isn't sure if anything about this, about what happened to him, was real or some sort of experiment that he had been unknowingly signed up for. But he does know that this wasn't the "teenage roadblocks" his mother always told him about.

Words: 3464, Chapters: 1/2, Language: English

Series: Part 1 of Stranger Things

Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: M/M

Characters: Will Byers, Mike Wheeler, Eleven | Jane Hopper, Lucas Sinclair, Dustin Henderson, Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Joyce Byers, Jim "Chief" Hopper, Jonathan Byers, Nancy Wheeler, Steve Harrington, Stranger Things Monster Ensemble, I don't feel like tagging all those grotesque interdimensional things

Relationships: Will Byers/Mike Wheeler

Additional Tags: Will Byers-centric, Will Byers Needs a Hug, Will Byers Can't Catch a Break, Protective Mike Wheeler, Good Sibling Jonathan Byers, Good Parent Joyce Byers, Protective Joyce Byers, Stranger Things 1, Stranger Things Spoilers, Thinking, a lot of it, minimal dialogue, Implied Crush, Canon Related, Canon Rewrite, Title from a Taylor Swift Song, Song: You're On Your Own Kid (Taylor Swift), I'm Bad At Tagging

from AO3 works tagged 'Will Byers/Mike Wheeler' https://ift.tt/dkeTJim

#byler #michael wheeler #will byers

[saltyseagoat83]

Sometimes I write things

I'm currently only publishing on AO3, but here are the links. This list will be updated periodically. To cut back on nastiness/toxicity, while anyone can read them only registered AO3 users are able to leave comments directly on the fics.

In-Progress Series:

Running Away, Running Toward - Eddie Munson x Chrissy Cunningham; Season 4 AU (Smut starts happening in chapter 11)

Extroverts and Introverts - Eddie Munson x Female OC; Season 4 AU (No smut yet, but it's on its way)

How It Should Have Been - Eddie Munson x Chrissy Cunningham centric overall series fix-it fic, with a side of Stancy and mentions of other pairings (Allusions to smut but nothing particularly explicit at this time)

Holding Out for a Hero - Steve Harrington x Female OC (Robin Buckley's cousin); Season 3 AU (No smut yet)

Life Is Ours, We Live It Our Way - Eddie Munson x Nancy Wheeler; Season 3 AU (No smut yet)

I Think I Dreamed You Into Life - Steve Harrington x Female single mom!OC (Jim Hopper's niece); post-season 4 AU (No smut yet)

The Unnamed Feeling - Billy Hargrove x Female OC; Season 2 AU (No smut yet; Mentions of the r-word/SA, general abusiveness; Storyline includes murder but I tried not to be too graphic on that front)

One-Shots:

Afternoon Delight - Librarian Eddie Munson x Unnamed female OC (Smut with liberal dashes of fluff)

I Was Born to Love You - Modern Steddie AU (Lots of fluff, a little angsty, allusions to smut)

Planned stories:

Gareth x Eleven series

Steddie series

Billy x Chrissy series

Steve x Chrissy series

Medieval Times!Eddie one-shot

Rockstar!Eddie joining a Christian protest march against Corroded Coffin one-shot (Inspired by Ozzy having done this)

Steddissy (Steve x Eddie x Chrissy); Likely going to be at least a small series

Stedancy (Steve x Eddie x Nancy); Likely going to be at least a small series

Henry/001 x Female OC series

Argyle x Single mom!OC

Eddie, Steve, or Billy x older female OC series (or a series for each of the 3 boys with an older woman)

[wrenniebaby]

!¡ DNI !¡

minors, idc if you’re almost 18, you’re not. racist, homophobic, transphobic, sexist, terf, blank/ageless blogs.

if you’re gonna send hate. if you’re drama-centric, gonna start unnecessary drama/problems

!¡ BYF !¡

I will post/reblog dark and sometimes unsettling content, please read all warnings before interacting if you’re easily triggered. it is your own job to only interact with content you like. hate, harrassment, or bullying will not be tolerated by any means.I am free to block people as I see fit, if that bothers you, go away :) I can decline any request as I see fit

REQUESTING !¡

requesting blurbs !¡

please send at most 2 prompts per request. do not be rude. do not send me the same request, you've sent other writers. do not ask for a character that I do not write for.

I write angst, smut, fluff, and dark, feel free to ask for any of these, but please note I'm allowed to deny any request I feel like I'm not able to write.

I will not write : parents walking in on you. pegging/rimming. male reader. abuse, self harm, eds. fuck/neglect. if you do not know whether I will write it or not, ask and I'll tell ya!

requesting ships !¡

you may ask for a moodboard with it. if you want a moodboard I need physical descriptions to make it fit you. feel free to include as much information as you want, the more information makes it easier to ship you. please make sure you include the fandom and gender of your person in your requests. you can give me your mbti, astrology (up to big six), gender, sexuality, any facts you wanna add and the fandom

ex req. I'm a 5'7" nonbinary, I'm bisexual, and I want both a female and male ship from teen wolf. I'm a taurus scorpio cancer and a istp. I like baking and smoking weed , I'm also a teacher. (not my information)

requesting moodboards !¡

ship moodboards (reader x character). please include what race you'd like the reader to be, if you don't include that I will put both white and woc. feel free to include any things you'd liked to be included for the moodboard, the character you want, and an au if you want one of those.

ex req. asian!reader x vampire! eddie munson (enemies to lovers au)

astrology moodboards. you can give your big three or big six. your gender and race is preferred so I can make it fit you personally.

ex req. aries sun gemini moon scorpio rising white girl.

aesthetic moodboards. please include aesthetic such as dark academia, and anything else you'd like for me to include such as a specific race for the aesthetic, colors, and gender.

ex req. fairycore black girl with pink

who I write for !¡

stranger things.

eddie munson. steve harrington. nancy wheeler. robin buckley. jonathon byers. jim hopper. joyce byers.

teen wolf.

stiles stilinski. scott mccall. lydia martin. theo raeken. derek hale. malia tate.

the vampire diaries.

jeremy gilbert. kai parker. elijah mikaelson. klaus mikaelson. rebekah mikaelson. kol mikaelson.

outerbanks.

john b routledge. pope heyward. jj maybank. rafe cameron.

criminal minds

aaron hotchner. penelope garcia. spencer reid. emily prentiss.

#writing rules !¡ #wrennie.txt

[bixxelated]

Chapters: 1/?

Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper & Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson & Lucas Sinclair & Mike Wheeler, Karen Wheeler & Mike Wheeler

Characters: Mike Wheeler, Eleven | Jane Hopper, Lucas Sinclair, Dustin Henderson, Nancy Wheeler, Barbara "Barb" Holland, Steve Harrington, Jonathan Byers, Joyce Byers, Jim "Chief" Hopper, Karen Wheeler

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, or rather several canon divergences ;), Mike Wheeler Has Powers, Stranger Things Season 1, alternating povs, Mike Wheeler-centric, with B plots, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Additional Warnings In Author's Note

Summary:

What are you willing to trade for the sake of your loved ones’ well being? What do you do if the cost might be higher than you can bear? For all of his deep-rooted fears, it's not a question that Mike ever thought he would be facing in boring old Hawkins. But when Will goes missing at the same time as a strange girl appears, one with whom he shares an even stranger affinity, it's a race against time to get his friend home without revealing too much to the wrong sort of people.

ITS HEEERE!!!

im super excited to finally be posting this fic! hope yall have as much fun reading this as i do writing it 🥰💕

EDIT: due to the confirmation that certain companies scrape data from archiveofourown fic to train their AI, all fics including this one will be set to be seen only by ao3 users for the forseeable future

#tp #blogger writes fic #wavelength #stranger things #fic recs

[italiansteebie]

“P-please,” Seven croaked. The man hovering over him gave a sick smile, “Papa, I’ll be good.” He pleads. No mercy is shown to the boy, and the door to the solitary room begins to shut. “No! Please! Please, I’ll be good…” His shouts don’t bother the man, and the door slams, and the lock clicks. Seven breaks down in hard sobs, “I’ll be good. I swear. I swear.” he whimpers, as he slides down the wall. 

Steve is shaken awake by a soft hand, “Steve honey, are you okay?” He recognizes the voice as Byers’ mom. He comes to the realization that after Starcourt, Joyce coerced him into sleeping on their couch. The battle had awoken some old trauma, and the only person who knows of it is his sister. Eleven. When they were reunited, Steve took her aside when Mike was distracted and made her promise that she wouldn’t tell anyone. She replied at first with “Friends don’t lie,” but Steve was able to convince her to keep this secret. Steve returned his attention to Joyce, “Yes ma’am, I’m okay, just… Weird dreams.” She hummed in response, “Will gets those often, would you like some tea?” Steve considered this offer as he observed his surroundings. It is still dark outside, he turns to look at her, “What time is it?” Joyce answers, a yawn interrupting her, “It’s about 4:30, you were making an awful lot of noise. I was concerned.” The guilt rushes to him, “I’m fine, please go back to bed Ms. Byers. I’m sorry that I woke you up. I’ll try to be quieter.” 

Joyce sighs, now sitting next to him on the couch, and places a warm hand on his back. The affection brings tears to Steve’s eyes, and he sniffles softly. She rubs his back, “Steve, you have to remember I invited you here. Me, Will, Jonathan. We all want you here. You are not a burden.” She says. Steve shakes his head, ‘If only you knew,’ he thinks. With her statement, Joyce stands, and places a soft kiss on his forehead, and walks back to her bedroom. Steve rubs his face roughly and sighs, he wishes he could just disappear. 

The sun rises, and the day passes slowly, El and Hopper come to visit, and they lounge for most of the day. When night comes, Steve ends up on their couch again. El and Will are having a sleepover in the living room, and Hopper and Joyce are holed up in eachothers arms. It took a while for Steve to convince all of them that he was fine sleeping in the living room with Will and El, but at least he would be in close proximity and be able to keep an eye on them. 

It’s late by the time Will and El finally pass out, and Steve lets sleep come to him. Unfortunately it does not come peacefully, and memories of the lab plague him once again. This time, he is being lowered into the bath, being forced to find someone, and translate. He cannot, and he knows that this made Papa very mad. He is pulled out of the tank, shaking and cold from the water. He is grabbed roughly by the arm, and dragged to the solitary room. He spent so many nights there, cold and wet, not being allowed a change of clothes, or food for at least 24 hours. Tonight, he was sick of it. As Papa handed him over to the guard his anger builds. He snaps his head toward the guard and forces him back into the wall. Blood trickles down his face, Seven although proud of his work, is shocked at his power, and cries at the sight of the body before him. He gathers his emotions and sends a wave of electricity towards Papa, shorting the electrical circuits in his brain, and he promptly collapses to the floor. He focuses hard, and is suddenly transported to the forest. He begins trudging along, but the exhaustion takes over his body as he collapses. Steve is pulled out of his memory by a hand shaking his shoulder. He cracks his eyes open, weakly trying to shield them from the sun. He is expecting to see El or Will, wanting him to make breakfast, instead he sees Jonathan looking at him, very strangely. “Did I sleep-walk to your room?” Steve asks goofily, trying to make a joke out of what he thinks just happened. Jon tilts his head, “I think we need to have a talk, Steve.” Understanding he’s been caught, he nods his head, and walks to the living room. He wants to tell this story as many times as possible, so he asks Jonathan to round up Joyce and Hopper to join them in the living room, along with the kids who are now awake. 

The teens make their way to the couch, and Steve tries to get comfortable, El has a knowing look on her face. The adults walk into the scene, pulling chairs from the kitchen table close to where Steve and Jonathan were sitting. “Steve, Jon said you have something to tell us?” Joyce asks softly, Hopper grunts in agreement, wanting just to go back to sleep. Steve sighs and launches into his story. He stands and turns around, moving the hair from the back of his neck. Three small numbers are imprinted there, they read “007.” There are four collective gasps, and he feels a small hand slip into his. “Brother,” El says, and the understanding starts to flood in. And so do the questions he assumes, “I’m guessing you all have questions. Please let me tell my story, and then I will answer all the questions you have.”

He begins by explaining his current home situation, an elderly wealthy couple had found him the night he escaped, they were too old to ask questions, and offered to let Steve live there if he’d keep up with the house. He agreed, but soon after that the couple died. First the old woman, Maria Harrington, died of old age, and then the man, Oscar Harrington, who died of a broken heart after the loss of his beloved wife. Lucky for Steve, this elusive couple had chosen to have kids, and their homestead and everything in it was left to him.

He then explains his birth mother was a young mom, who died during his birth, Dr. Brenner was the first to claim this newborn child. Brenner’s first intentions were to make him his replacement, but as the baby grew older, Brenner noticed his peculiar behavior. He would place the baby into his crib, then later, he would be three stories up. Brenner began to record these actions, and suddenly he had a new plan for the baby. 007 was created, and no longer was this abandoned baby treated as a son, but now rather a pet. Much like the other children Brenner had kept in his “care.” He explains his escape, and the energy it took for him to travel from the lab to the woods, as a boy it was much harder for him to move out of buildings than it was to move inside of them. The memory of this caused his brain to go into fight or flight mode while he was sleeping, creating enough energy to teleport into Jonathan's bed. 

He finishes his story and El squeezes his hand to show her support of him. Everyone else is still taking in the new, heavy information. Once they have processed, Joyce gets up and wraps him in a tight hug, “Thank you for telling us, that was very brave of you.” Hopper nods, not caring about his sleep anymore. Will laughs, “I knew you were cool. Mike can’t hate you after this!” he cheers, and Jonathan lightly smacks him on the back of the head. “Not the time Will,” He scolds and Steve laughs, assuring him that it was okay.

A new weight was taken off his shoulders, finally feeling free from the lab, he has no more secrets. 

#soft steve #Steve has powers #experiment!steve #joyce byers #will byers #eleven and steve #Jim hopper #found family #stranger things #Steve centric #steve harrington #joyce and hopper #Joyce and Steve #non romantic #motherly Joyce Byers #Jonathan x Steve #Dad hopper #good dad hopper #Steve is from the lab

[juicinmyjams]

baby you're a wreck

baby you're a wreck (16618 words) by lemonbarz Chapters: 3/? Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson Characters: Steve Harrington, Dustin Henderson, Will Byers, Nancy Wheeler, Jonathan Byers, Lucas Sinclair, Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley, Jim "Chief" Hopper, Joyce Byers Additional Tags: Spiderman AU, SpiderMan!Steve, Sort Of, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Superheroes, Underage Drinking, Crime Fighting, Post-Stranger Things 2, Not Canon Compliant, Steve Harrington-centric, Steve Harrington Is a Mess, Good Parent Jim "Chief" Hopper, Slow Burn, Steve Harrington has super powers for like two months and doesnt notice, depiction of downward spiral, Steve Harrington Has Powers, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Hurt/Comfort Summary: Henderson tells him about everything. Because yeah, last time Steve had gotten the whole interdimensional low-down in a face to face, trial by fire way. But no one had said anything to him about the Super Girl and the lab that made her. He didn’t know you could make super powers. It’s the sort of thing he would have dreamed about as a kid, back when he and Tommy H would sit in Steve’s living room, in front of the big TV and watch Super Heroes on the News. Never when his dad was home because Steve learned pretty fast that if someone in spandex was on the screen, his dad would get all mad and talk about stuff Steve didn’t care about. It would usually end with him turning off the TV, so it was a loss for everyone. -- Or, the world has a lot more going on than secret alternate dimensions.

#steve x eddie #steddie #eddie x steve #stranger things #steddie fic #my fic #steve harrington #eddie munson #spider steve #my writing #juicewrites

[steddiefanfictionforbillylovers]

"Where do we go from here? (quietly fading away)" by allandmore

"What’s scarier than saving the world? Figuring out what to do afterwards. I get it,” Eddie turns on his side, one shoulder on the wall, and grips the front of Steve’s shirt. His face is so close Steve can feel the warmth of his breath. “But we’ve got time now. Right, Steve? We bought us all time. Time to figure all our shit out. Isn’t that what matters?”

or

Steve Harrington struggles to find purpose after the Upside Down.

(But maybe purpose doesn't have to be big. Maybe it's helping Dustin navigate Sophomore year. Maybe it's reminding Robin to send in college admission letters. Maybe it's Eddie Munson. Maybe).

Tags under the cut:

Relationships:

Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson

Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington

Steve Harrington & Dustin Henderson

Steve Harrington & Nancy Wheeler

Steve Harrington & Jim "Chief" Hopper

Eddie Munson & Wayne Munson

Characters:

Steve Harrington

Eddie Munson

Robin Buckley

Nancy Wheeler

Dustin Henderson

The Party (Stranger Things)

Wayne Munson

Jim "Chief" Hopper

Additional Tags:

Steve Harrington Needs a Hug

Angst

Steve Harrington-centric

Eddie Munson Lives

Bisexual Steve Harrington

Gay Eddie Munson

Slow Burn

Anxiety

Swearing

Friends to Lovers

Angst with a Happy Ending

Friendship

Family

Implied/Referenced Child Abuse

background vickie/robin

supportive Nancy

Hurt/Comfort

Steve Harrington Has Bad Parents

Internalized Homophobia

Non-Graphic Violence

Good Parent Jim "Chief" Hopper

Good Uncle Wayne Munson

The Party as Family (Stranger Things)

Everybody Lives

Note: The tropes/Tags/Kinks in these fics do not always represent my personal likes/dislikes. I will post fics that are Friendly/Neutral or Critically Positive to this site regardless of my own opinion of the fic.

#Billy Neutral #Steddie #Steve Harrington #Eddie Munson #Stranger Things #6-10 Chapters #60k+ #allandmore #Mature #Angst #Slow Burn #Friends To Lovers #Hurt/Comfort #Steve Harrington has shitty parents trope