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urdearestmom · 3 years

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Home Is Whenever I’m With You

hello y'all yes i'm back again with another one shot about the wheelers. the duffel bags do not give me enough content so i have to make it myself

this was inspired by the scene from s3e7 where Holly notices the trees moving and karen tells her to ignore it but we know that it's the damn monster headed to eat her siblings and their friends!! i thought it would be interesting to explore what might've happened if she had actually seen it given that she also almost got SNATCHED by the demogorgon in s1... holly seems to have the ability to notice the supernatural without getting involved in it. her siblings could learn from her

eventually it evolved into a bit more of something else, which actually ended up being the larger portion of this lol but this was mostly just an excuse for me to write wheeler sibling bonding anyway

hope you enjoy and please let me know what you thought!!

Sometimes she dreamed of monsters. A lot of the time they kind of looked like the purple man from McDonald's commercials, which was only a little scary. But sometimes they were very scary, because they looked like a giant spider.

A really, really big spider that wasn't really a spider. She had been the only one to see it even though her parents were right there with her. It made her even more scared to see the tiny spiders that appeared inside her house.

The first time she dreamed about the spider monster she had told her mother, but her mother said that it was only a dream and all the spiders where they lived were very small. She could go back to sleep.

She did, but Holly knew it wasn't only a dream. She saw it, even if her mother didn't believe her.

The second time she dreamed about the spider monster, Mommy came back to bed with her and told her a story about a princess locked inside a tower and it made her forget all about it.

After that, Holly didn't think about the spider monster for a while, until one day when she was watching TV by herself in the living room while her brother made sandwiches for them in the kitchen. Mommy and Daddy and Nancy weren't home. The episode of Jem and the Holograms she was watching was just getting to the good part when she saw a little spider with very long legs crawling across the sofa towards her.

She screamed and scrambled away from it. "There's a spider!"

Her brother came running in with a piece of paper towel. "Where is it?"

Holly pointed nervously at the sofa and watched as Mike stared at it for a moment before smacking the paper towel down really fast. He lifted it away and Holly shrunk further into the corner of the room.

"Why are you so afraid of them? They're just spiders," he said.

"They're creepy," she replied. Then she remembered what she saw at the fair in the summer and shivered a little bit. "And scary."

"Well, it's ok, I got it," said Mike. "I'll catch all your spiders for you, Hol."

He went back to the kitchen but Holly sat on the floor and thought about what he said. Mike was a big kid but he wasn't big like Mommy or Daddy yet, so maybe he knew about spider monsters too. Plus, he always liked to tell her stories with magic people who fought monsters. Maybe there was one where the magic people beat all the spider monsters in the world.

The next time Holly dreamed about the spider monster, she dreamed about it coming to her house. It didn't come by itself this time, there was another monster that wanted to come out of the wall. She didn't see it because she ran away but she knew it was the bad one from her other dream. The spider monster was walking in the trees outside, just like she saw it walking in the trees close to the fair, waiting for her family to come out so it could eat them. Her sister Nancy had a big stick that she was going to hit the monster with, and Mommy and Daddy wanted Holly to hide with them where it couldn't see them. She didn't know where Mike was, and she was afraid the monster had already eaten him.

Right as the spider monster was about to smash the window of the room she was hiding in, Holly woke up. Her heart was beating fast and she felt scared. She was cold under her blankets and her room was full of shadows that she didn't like, so she got up and went to the door. The hallway wasn't as dark because there was a little bit of light from a streetlight outside that came through the window, so Holly was able to see where the door to her brother's room was.

She looked down the hall and thought about Mommy again, but Mommy had already told her that the spider monster wasn't real. Mommy wouldn't understand. But Mike said he would catch all the spiders for her. Maybe he would believe her about the monster.

Holly pushed open the door across from hers and tiptoed in, holding on tight to her teddy. Mike's room was full of shadows too.

"Mike?" She whispered. "Are you 'sleep?"

"No," answered his voice from the darkness. Suddenly, light filled up the room and Holly had to block her eyes. "Holly?"

He had turned on his lamp and now he was looking at her like he didn't know why she was there. "What's wrong?"

Holly looked back at him. He looked very tired; she noticed. Maybe she should go away and let him sleep. She played with her teddy's ear.

"I had a bad dream," she announced.

His shoulders slouched and Holly thought he looked a lot smaller like that. "Do you want Mom?"

She shook her head.

"You want me?"

She nodded quickly and dragged her feet across the carpet to stand next to him.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" He asked. "It's ok, you can sit up here," he added, patting the spot next to him.

Holly sat. "It's about the spider monster."

Her brother was quiet for a second. "The spider monster?"

She looked up at him and nodded again. "I dreamed about it before but Mommy told me it wasn't real. Spiders here are small."

Mike seemed to agree. "They are. But you said it's a monster, right?"

"Do you think monsters are real?"

He was quiet again, but Holly wanted an answer. If even Mike didn't think monsters were real, she didn't know who else would believe her.

She squeezed her knees up to her chest, squishing her teddy. "Are they real, Mikey?"

He made a strange noise. He almost sounded like he was going to laugh. "I think a lot of monsters aren't real, like zombies. But some are. Real scary ones, too. Do you think the spider monster is real?"

Holly thought about what she'd seen. It was very real. "Yes," she said. "I saw it."

Mike made a face. "Hold on, you saw it?"

"It was really scary," she told him. "I saw it in the trees and Mommy didn't believe me. She told me to look at the fireworks, but now I dream about it coming to eat us."

"Fireworks…" Her brother's eyes widened. "Where were you?"

"At the fair," she said quietly. "Did you see it too?"

Mike got up and went to his desk. Holly stared at him as he got a pencil and paper and started drawing something. Why didn't he answer? A few seconds later, he came back to his bed.

"Holly, I don't want to scare you, but you have to tell me, okay?" He held the paper in front of her. "Does the spider monster look like this?"

The paper had a bad picture of it, but it was a picture of the spider monster. How did he know what it looked like?

Holly looked at her brother again. He looked like maybe he was a little bit scared too.

"Yeah," she said. "You saw it?"

He took the paper back and covered his face with a hand.

"Yes," he replied. "Nancy saw it too."

Even Nancy knew the spider monster was real? But Nancy was a big girl like their mommy!

Holly slipped off the bed. "Can we go talk to her?"

Mike looked at her. "I mean, she's probably asleep but we can go see."

The two of them went out quietly and opened Nancy's door down the hall. Nancy was asleep, so Mike told Holly to be quiet while he woke her. He turned on her lamp.

"Nancy," he whispered, and poked her. "Nancy."

When she didn't move, Mike turned around and made a funny face at Holly. It made her forget about why she was awake for a little bit when she almost laughed.

"She's really asleep."

"Can we pour water on her face?" Asked Holly.

"What? No. Why would we do that?"

"To wake her up!"

Nancy shifted on her bed and they both looked at her. Mike poked her again.

"Nancy! Wake up." He started poking her faster, and then she sat up.

"What?!"

"Shhhhhhh!" Said Holly, holding a finger to her lips like she learned at school.

Nancy scrunched her eyebrows. "Holly?" She looked at their brother. "Did something happen?"

"Kind of," he said.

"I had a bad dream," Holly told them. "About the spider monster. Mike said you saw it too."

"The spider monster…?"

Holly watched as a look passed between Mike and Nancy, and then Nancy said, "Oh. The spider monster."

Holly walked closer and then her brother picked her up and sat her between himself and Nancy.

"Can you tell us about your dream, Holly?" He asked. Nancy rubbed her eyes and sat up straighter.

Holly didn't like to think about the spider monster, but she had to tell them. If they knew about it too, maybe they could help her not be scared of it. Besides, Mike had said he would catch her spiders for her and Nancy was even bigger than he was, so Holly knew they would keep her safe. As long as she stayed with her big brother and sister, she would be okay.

"It was outside," she started. "Hiding in the trees. And it wanted to eat us, and Nancy had a big stick to hit it and Mommy and Daddy wanted me to hide with them."

"Where was I?" Asked Mike.

Holly shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it ate you already."

Nancy wrapped an arm around Holly. "Did it get you?"

She shook her head. "No. I woke up."

Her siblings shifted around her, the three of them sinking further into Nancy's soft mattress. "Well, that's okay then," said Nancy. "You're safe here."

"Yeah," added their brother. "We saw the monster get killed, okay, Holly? It can't hurt you."

Holly looked up at him in wonder. "You killed it?" He was really telling the truth about catching all the spiders if he did.

He shook his head. "We helped," he said, looking at Nancy. "It wasn't just us, but the monster is gone now, so you don't have to worry about it anymore."

With that explanation, she felt better. Maybe she could go to sleep now. She snuggled into her brother's side, sandwiching Nancy's hand between them. "Can I sleep with you?"

Nancy sat back on her bed again, moving her hand as Mike stood up with Holly, keeping her tucked close to him. "Yeah, of course," he said to her.

They looked at their sister from where they stood in the doorway. "Good night, Nance," said Mike.

Nancy had a strange look on her face. "Good night." She stopped. "I love you guys."

Holly didn't look at him but she thought Mike's voice sounded funny when he said it back, and then he shut the door behind them and led her back through the darkness to his bedroom.

_______________________

For some reason, Holly had always looked up to her brother. She wasn't sure why because as she got older, she came to realize that he was a hardass a lot of the time and also about the nerdiest person she'd ever met and the only cool thing about him was his wife. She was miles cooler than him, but then Holly guessed maybe she felt that way because El had been around for as long as she could remember and she thought of her as a sister. In many ways, Holly was closer to her sister-in-law than her actual sister.

Nevertheless, there was always something exciting about hearing that Mike was going to come visit. He went away to college when she was nine and never moved back, but her entire childhood was filled with memories of him. She didn't have a lot of friends when she was little, and she adored her brother because he told her stories and played house with her and took her out for milkshakes and candy whenever he could. Maybe she wouldn't voice it right in front of Nancy, but if asked Holly would say without hesitation that Mike was her favourite sibling.

It was difficult to be close to either of them given their age gaps, but Nancy had always seemed less like her sister and more like a cool aunt or something. The one you only saw on holidays, and even then only sometimes. Mike and El visited pretty frequently since they didn't live too far away and El liked to see her parents often, but Holly couldn't recall the last time she had seen Nancy. Honestly, Holly barely remembered her, so it was a bit shocking to hear that both of her siblings were coming to Hawkins at the same time. She figured it was probably so their parents could tell all three of them at once about the divorce she was sure they were getting.

Her mom liked to pretend everything was fine and her dad was pretty much always asleep, but Holly was fifteen years old and she was more perceptive than she let on. Her parents could avoid it however they liked, but it didn't mean she didn't pick up on the constant tense atmosphere of their house. Sometimes she wished she could disappear off the face of the Earth like her sister seemed to have done, and other times she wished she was seven again, so her brother could take her away for an afternoon of sweet treats where she could forget about everything that worried her.

It was with trepidation that she answered the door when the bell rang, her mother occupied in the kitchen and her father, as usual, asleep in the living room. Her brother and sister stood awkwardly on the other side, having arrived together.

"Hi, Holly!" Said Nancy, stepping forward to hug her. It was a little stiff but Holly let her do it, figuring it was best not to start this visit with more tension between members of the family than necessary. She stared at Mike over their sister's shoulder, finding him staring back at her and fiddling with his wedding band. Holly knew he did that whenever he was thinking about his wife when he wasn't with her, but she thought it was strangely ironic given what the night's dinner was clearly about. She wondered if he had seen it coming, not having lived in the house full-time for the last six years.

Did either of them know or would it be a shock? No, she thought, all three of them had a penchant for knowing things. Wheelers didn't fake it 'til they made it; they saw the truth all along and avoided it until they couldn't anymore.

"Dinner's almost ready," was what she chose to say, stepping back to let her siblings into the house.

Nancy set down her purse and walked into the kitchen, leaving Holly and Mike by the door. She could tell he wanted to say something, but was having trouble making his voice work.

Finally, he said, "This is what I think it is, isn't it?"

Why else would they have asked Mike and Nancy to come together but leave their spouses at home? Holly shrugged passively. "They haven't told me anything, but probably."

And she was right. Over the familiar meal of chicken and potatoes, in the familiar setting of a family dinner that felt anything but, their mother announced to them that their parents were getting a divorce. They had never been the picture-perfect, wholesome family that Karen Wheeler had wanted, and somehow Holly had always known it. She was something like twelve when she realized she had been a last resort, a final shot at making her parents' marriage work, and her existence had failed at doing its intended job. It made her wonder whether it had ever worked at all when her siblings were young and it was her fault for not being good enough, or if it had always been this way.

No one at the table acted surprised or seemed upset by the news. Nancy only asked if anyone was moving away and to where, and Mike asked if the house would be sold and when it would be finalized. Holly stayed quiet and picked at her food, her father's stoic silence as he chewed his dinner glaringly obvious. Ted Wheeler was never one much for words, and she honestly wasn't sure how she had expected him to behave. Maybe he could have said something; his life was completely changing, after all. But no… Wheelers saw the truth and avoided it until they couldn't. He'd been a silent presence all her life, why should he change that now?

After the extremely underwhelming dinner and kitchen cleanup duty, Holly was surprised when her siblings informed her they were going for a drive and asked if she wanted to join them. Again, Nancy was the first to leave, confidently strolling out the front door while Mike remained behind for a moment to assure their mother that they would bring Holly back soon.

Holly got into the back of her brother's car, but somehow wasn't shocked that Nancy was the one in the driver's seat. Mike would usually bristle at his older sister taking charge when he was perfectly capable himself, but Holly could see something was bothering him tonight as he let it go without protest. None of them said a word as they backed out of the driveway. The radio remained low.

They were near the outskirts of town before Holly spoke. "Where are we going?"

"I don't know," said Nancy at the same time as Mike replied with, "Somewhere."

The two looked at each other for a moment before Mike turned back to the window and Nancy to the front. "Always one step out of sync, aren't we," he muttered.

Holly didn't like the atmosphere in the car. "So I think none of us is surprised they're getting a divorce."

"I've been expecting it for years," Nancy responded, turning onto a random sideroad. "Their marriage was never… the most solid, I think."

Mike didn't say anything.

"How are you holding up?" Nancy continued.

Holly stared at the back of her sister's head, wondering when she became a stranger. When was the last time anyone asked her how she was feeling?

"I think Mom thought she hid it but I could tell," she said. "It's not hard to notice if you actually spend time around them."

For a second, Holly worried that that had come across as accusatory, but then decided she didn't care either way. It wasn't like she had that much to lose at this point, anyway. Instead she turned on their brother, who was once again fiddling with his wedding band. "Mike, what's wrong with you?"

He didn't react. "Nothing."

Holly frowned. "Right. You're just like them," she said bitterly, and this time it was definitely accusatory. "Acting like I can't see through your bullshit. I'm not a baby."

She pushed herself back into the cushions and stared daggers at the side of his face. When had he stopped being her protector and started lying to her instead?

Nancy sighed. "You're really shit at lying, Mike, you know that? The only reason you hid El in the basement for as long as you did is because Mom and Dad are the two most oblivious people on this planet."

Holly frowned again. Hid El? What was that about? "What do you mean, he hid El?"

Mike had hidden his face in his hands as Nancy gasped. "Shit, I shouldn't have said that!"

"Well you fucking did," said Mike dryly. "Now we have to explain it, don't we?"

The two of them shared a look and Holly knew she'd been left out of something.

"When I was twelve, Will went missing for a week and a lot of shit happened," started Mike. Holly vaguely recalled somebody named Will; a kind and quiet boy with green eyes. He liked to draw.

"I've heard that story before," she said.

"Yeah, okay, so… my friends and I went out looking for him and instead we found a girl. That girl was El," he continued. "She needed help so I took her home and hid her in our basement for that week."

Holly was silent for a moment. "That's gotta be the weirdest first meeting story I've ever heard."

"Well you have to take my word for it since you don't remember," Mike replied.

She shrugged. "Seems like the only way a girl as cool as El would fall in love with you," she teased, trying to lighten the mood. Maybe if she got him in a better mood he would spill.

Instead, it seemed to dampen his spirits. "I guess."

And suddenly, something clicked in Holly's brain. He'd been playing with his wedding ring all night, meaning he was thinking of El all night, and he also looked vaguely like he wanted to throw up.

"Is something wrong with her? Is that the problem?" She asked.

Nancy made another turn and they were somewhere in the woods now.

"El's fine," said Mike quickly. "It's me."

Holly furrowed her brows and she knew instinctively that Nancy had reacted the same way. "What do you mean, you?"

Mike sighed. "You won't get it."

"Try us," said Nancy. "We're your sisters, Mike, what's the worst we can even say?"

He closed his eyes. "You know me. You can say the worst."

Holly almost rolled her eyes at his dramatics. She'd nearly forgotten that he could be like this. She punched his shoulder.

"Stop being stupid and tell us," she demanded. "Don't be like Mom."

He was silent for a few seconds as he rubbed his shoulder, glaring at her. "That's exactly what I'm afraid of," he said finally. "Not of being like Mom, but Dad."

Nobody said anything as Nancy seemed to have reached a destination and threw the car into park.

"In what way are you like Dad?" Asked Holly incredulously. "Why would you even think that?"

He didn't reply and got out of the car instead, his sisters following. Nancy had taken them to Lake Jordan, for some reason. Holly walked beside her sister as they trailed after their brother. His posture looked tense.

"I'm just scared it'll happen to me too," he finally said, after the three had settled into a spot on the sand. "She's been distant lately and I don't know if it's something I did, or…"

Nancy patted his shoulder and Holly moved to settle her head under his arm like she used to when she was little and he would watch cartoons with her, and she felt him relax a bit. Neither of them said anything, knowing that with Mike sometimes it was best to just let him talk until he cut himself off.

"I don't want to be like Dad in that he never noticed when something was wrong with Mom, or with us," he continued. "But sometimes I really don't notice things and I'm scared I'm turning into him."

Nancy stretched herself out. "I never told this to anyone but Jonathan, but I don't think Mom and Dad ever loved each other," she said, looking up at the dark sky. "That's the difference between you and them. Your marriage wasn't one of convenience."

Holly felt Mike tense again. "It's not enough to care, Nance, I have to know what to do. I don't know how to be a husband when the only example I had was our dad, and look where that got him."

Holly snuggled closer. She wasn't anywhere near being married herself so she didn't have any insight to offer, but she could try to comfort him in other ways. Mike had always asked her for hugs when she was small.

Nancy turned her head to look at him. "It's not about that either," she answered. "You have good instincts, and you know El better than anyone. She's always wanted you in a difficult situation."

He shrugged, sliding his feet across the sand.

"Have you tried talking to her about it?" Suggested Holly. "Maybe she hasn't noticed how you feel either."

"No."

There it was again: Wheelers, masters of not seeing what they saw.

"I'm scared it's something I never noticed, that she wants to leave, or something," he continued. "Did you see how Dad looked like he didn't even give a shit that Mom's leaving him?"

Holly met Nancy's eyes, somehow knowing they were both thinking the same thing.

"That's bullshit," said Nancy. "I agree with you on Dad's part, but El wanting to leave you? Are you crazy?"

"She dumped me before."

Nancy groaned. "When you were fourteen, Mike! You don't even want to know what a disease you were when you were that age, I don't blame her."

Holly let out a laugh at the description. "Disease," she squealed. In retaliation, Mike pushed her off of him and she fell backward, filling her hair with sand. She didn't mind and laughed at him some more when he crossed his arms and pouted like a moody toddler.

Eventually she calmed down enough to say, "You're married now anyway, she decided she didn't want to dump you ever."

Neither of her siblings seemed to have anything else to contribute, so Holly kept talking. "And she's been obsessed with you since like, forever. I don't remember a time when she wasn't your girlfriend."

Mike decided to join his sisters in lying down on the sand. The sky was pretty that night.

"Thanks," he said. "I didn't want to talk about this, but… you guys have helped."

With that, a peaceful silence overtook the trio for a few minutes as they gazed at the stars. There was something reassuring in knowing that even if everything else fell apart and changed, the stars were permanent.

"Hey, actually," Mike started, making Holly and Nancy look over at him. "What are your earliest memories?"

Holly wasn't sure if the thing she thought of was a memory or a dream, so she didn't answer right away.

Nancy hummed contemplatively. "I think mine is the day you were born," she responded. "I remember Dad dropping me off at the Smiths next door and getting in the car with Mom, and I was mostly excited about playing with Abby instead of getting a baby brother or sister. He picked me up at night and we went to bed like normal, and then the next morning I know we went to the hospital, but I don't remember that part."

"I was clearly too ugly a baby for your brain to want to create a memory," joked Mike.

"You're still ugly," she retorted, and Holly almost laughed again. This was what having siblings felt like. "What's yours?"

"Just an image of the kitchen," Mike answered. "There's a jar of jellybeans on top of the microwave and that's it. After that I think it's my first day of kindergarten."

They both turned to Holly, who stared back at them. "Oh!" She exclaimed. "Um, I'm not sure if it's a memory or something I made up, actually."

"Maybe we'll remember it too," Nancy reassured her.

She couldn't say why, but Holly was nervous. Something about this particular image in her brain made her feel… off. "It's this hallway. Brown carpet, brown walls, looks old… And there's Christmas lights everywhere for some reason?"

At the mention of the lights, Nancy furrowed her brows, but Holly continued. "I'm walking down and then I'm in a room and it's full of lamps, and now this is the part that sounds made up."

She paused to gauge their reactions. Nancy still looked like she was suspicious of something, and Mike seemed oddly a little too interested. "The wall starts stretching all weird, like something's trying to come out of it, and I think the lights are going crazy but I can't remember all of it. I think I used to have nightmares about it."

At that, Mike sat up and whipped around to look at Nancy. "Doesn't that sound like-?"

Nancy nodded. "And remember that time she woke us up in the middle of the night about-?"

"Yeah."

Holly frowned. "What are you guys talking about?"

They both turned to look at her. "Do you remember when you were little, you used to be really scared of spiders?" Asked Mike.

"Yes?" She was still freaked out by spiders to this day.

"Do you remember why?"

Holly thought hard about it, and stumbled across something else she had forgotten long ago. "... I thought I saw a monster. A spider monster."

Her siblings exchanged a look. "You did see it," Nancy stated. "And this other memory you just told us about… that was another monster."

She said it as if it was nothing. As if monsters were real. Holly didn't know her sister well, but she never thought Nancy was the type to be on drugs.

"What are you on? Monsters? Seriously?" She burst out.

"She's telling the truth," asserted Mike. "I told you shit happened the week Will went missing. That's his old house you described."

"Both of you are insane."

"We're not!" They protested. "Remember the stories I used to tell you when you were little, about the magic people who banished monsters?" Mike went on.

Holly crossed her arms. "Don't tell me those were true, too."

"They were," he insisted. "They're what happened."

He looked too honest to be faking it, and either way everybody knew Mike Wheeler was a horrible liar. Holly decided to believe. "Why have I never heard about this before?"

"You were too small to be involved," said Nancy. "And nobody who knows what happened likes talking about it."

"It's also a giant government conspiracy so we're technically not supposed to talk about it at all," added Mike. "If you investigate a little, you start to find details that don't make sense and they'll shut you up."

"Who knew you guys were so mysterious?" Holly said jokingly. "Can I know the rest?"

The two of them shrugged at each other and launched into their story. They had already given themselves away in any case, and Holly had been directly affected even if she barely remembered it. It made her feel proud that they trusted her to keep the secret.

By the end of it, a bunch more things made sense: why El had always been so quiet and reserved, how come she and her husband were so attached, and all those weird nightmares and strange atmospheres Holly felt as a kid. She never knew Nancy was such a badass, either, or that Mike was actually clever enough to be the mastermind behind more than one spur-of-the-moment attack plan. It gave her a new lens to see her siblings through, and it made her feel closer to them.

It also explained why they'd chosen not to move back to Hawkins after they'd had the chance to get out, and now Holly appreciated the fact that they even visited. She wasn't sure she'd want to ever see their town again if she'd gone through all of that. As they walked back to the car, Mike's skinny arms slung around both his sisters, Holly felt grateful they were there.

"I love you guys," she said simply.

"Me too," said Mike without hesitation.

"I do too," added Nancy. "You two can be annoying, but I do miss you sometimes."

"Is it weird that I feel close to you after all this? Never thought I'd like having sisters this much."

Nancy reached up and slapped the back of Mike's head and Holly lightly punched him in the side. "Hey!"

He started to laugh, and Holly was reminded of why she had adored her brother so much in childhood. She was glad they'd made him feel better.

As for the matter awaiting them at the end of Maple Street… Holly felt much more secure about it. She knew now that her brother and sister weren't as far removed as they seemed, and that they hadn't forgotten about her. She could always talk to them if she needed to.

Now, only to convince her sister-in-law to start a career as an extremely talented and mysterious magician…

fun fact: my earliest memory is an image of the kitchen in an apartment i lived in when i was 2 that has a jar of jellybeans on top of the microwave. my mother has corroborated this story

ALSO I hope y'all enjoyed sibling banter?? we never see it in the show but I think Mike and Nancy are exactly the type of siblings to call the other ugly with no qualms lmaooo their vibes just remind me of me and my middle brother

something interesting too is that i'm the nancy in my family being the older sister of 3 with a near 12 year gap to the youngest, but my personality is very much mike and it's why he's my favourite character. was cool to project myself into both of them when i was writing this

uhh hit up my ask box if you wanna ask me questions?? i’ve started being more active and would love to talk to any readers!! <3

#stranger things #stranger things 2 #stranger things 3 #stranger things fanfiction #wheeler family #mike wheeler #Nancy Wheeler #holly wheeler #this is LITERALLY just an excuse for me to write wheeler sibling bonding #urdearestmom

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readyplayerhobi · 5 years

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So You Wanna Be The Best

; Pokemon Trainer!Jungkook x Pokemon Trainer!Reader

; Genre: Fluff, crack

; Word Count: 8.1k

; Synopsis: Every Pokemon trainer has a rival, and it’s just your luck that you got stuck with your hometown nemesis Jeon Jungkook. As any good rival, he’s determined to beat you to the title of Pokemon Master and he might have a chance at both that and you...if he wasn’t so dang inept.

; A/N: So I finally hit 10k followers and I’ve had this floating around almost finished for months...so I finally finished it to say thanks! It’s nothing serious...and it’s probably not even good but...I hope you get some enjoyment out of it anyway! :) slight spoilers for Stranger Things season 2 and season 7 of Game of Thrones lol

Groaning quietly, you pull out the water bottle from your bag and take a deep pull. It’s a little warm from being stuck in your bag for so long and you’re beginning to run low, making you vow to drop by the PokéMart when you next get chance.

The next Mart isn’t for another half a day’s walk, though you could definitely shorten that distance if you used the fold away bicycle you’d finally invested in the other week. Blinking up at the blazing hot sun, you chew your lip lazily for a few minutes as you place your bottle firmly back onto the side of your bag.

It’s too hot to bicycle, you decide to yourself and begin to trek forward once more. Your shoes are getting a little worn out, the rubber thinning and you resolve to hit up Goldenrod City when you next get chance. The magnet train would take you there, but you’d have to reach Saffron City first.

And you’re nowhere near there.

It only takes another half an hour of walking before you’re tugging at your blue vest top, grimacing at the sight of it slowly turning transparent around your sweaty areas. Looking down at the ridiculous amount of boob sweat you’re generating under your bra, you decide to finally do something about it to try and cool down a little.

There’s no-one on the path, so you grasp the third Pokeball on your belt and press the button to expand it. “Come out Starmie!” You call and watch as a purple, multi-pointed star Pokémon appears. Letting out a little noise, it jumps around and leans backward to look up at you, red jewel glinting in the hot light.

“Hey girl, it’s really hot. Can you help me out and give me a little spray? Little! Not water gun please.” You warn, reaching a finger out to warn her. She had a mischievous temperament and was as likely to knock you flying with a water gun as she was to give you some spray.

Thankfully, she must be in a pretty happy mood as her second set of arms spins frantically while she makes a high pitched noise. Moving away from you, she leans forward slightly and a gentle spout of water erupts from her in an arc, tiny droplets falling and creating a rainbow curtain.

Grinning, you dash between the arc and giggle wildly, tugging your black and white cap off and letting your hair go damp with the cool water. Dancing around under the spray, you laugh and sigh happily as the water cools your hot skin to a pleasant temperature.

“You know, if this was Jurassic Park then you’d be the first one to get eaten by the T-Rex doing that.” A deep voice suddenly calls out, making you shriek in surprise and jump away from whoever it was. Almost immediately, Starmie reacts and shoots a high powered jet of water in the direction of whatever had made you scared.

A loud yelp sounds out around the quiet area as the young guy gets thrown backwards from the force, his white shirt immediately going see through and sticking to his defined abdomen while his navy jeans darken even further.

“Starmie, stop!” You call out, running over and running a soothing hand along her top arm. She lets out a frustrated sound before stopping, her second arms spinning to show her agitation. You pat her gently and give a smile. “Thank you girl, I really appreciated it. I’ll make sure to give you a Poke Candy when I get one, okay?”

She makes a happy sound at that and jumps, going back into the Pokeball without complaint as you turn to face your rude interloper. Striding over to where he lays on the ground, you stand next to him with hands resting on your hips while looking down at him with a brow raised.

He gasps on the floor, wiping at the water on his face before brushing the wet strands of his dark hair away from his forehead. “That Starmie is a menace.” Is all he says for a moment as he lays there, before groaning and sitting up on his hands.

Your eyes graze his figure, noting the defined abdominal muscles on show along with delightfully thick thighs in the tight jeans. He really must be a sucker for pain because those jeans must be chafing anyway in this heat, nevermind now that they’re wet.

“My Starmie just doesn’t like you because you’re always mean to her. And it was the Lost World, not Jurassic Park. Loser.” You mumble, rolling your eyes as he glares up at you with those pretty eyes that has everyone else thinking he’s sweeter than sweet. And okay, maybe he is sometimes,

Since you were little, Jeon Jungkook has always been the boy that has needled you in the worst way. When you’d gone to Professor Oak’s lab to choose your starter Pokémon, he’d proudly stood to the side and waited until you’d picked yours. Your Chikorita had seen him pick Cyndaquil, cackling at how fire beats grass. Probably the only time he’d ever got a type right.

Ever since, he’d been your official Pokémon rival trainer. You might respect him more as a trainer if he wasn’t a giant buffoon who was about as good at training Pokémon as you were at ballet dancing. And consider you fall over if you turn too fast, you’re really not good at dancing. But he wasn’t a terrible friend in fairness, just overly competitive.

“You’re a loser.” Is his quick witted reply and you sigh deeply, rolling your eyes. How did you get stuck with him again?

“Why are you here anyway? I thought you were supposed to be heading over to Kanto?” As much as you make a lot of noise about him, you actually kinda miss Jungkook when he’s gone for long periods. He may say some of the dumbest stuff you’ve ever heard, but he wasn’t the worst travel companion you’d ever had.

And travelling across the world could get a little lonely sometimes.

He sits and stares at you for a moment before standing, grimacing and sticking his tongue out in an ‘ick’ face as he peels his wet shirt off his chest. “This is gross. Actually disgusting. You need to train your Starmie better.”

Spluttering at his outrageous words, you viciously rub what hair of his you can reach until it’s going in a million directions while he whines at you and tries to dodge. “You take that back you little shit! Do you even have a water Pokémon? I know that when it comes to types, you become as useful as a chocolate fucking tea kettle.”

He slides out of reach and raises his hands in a karate gesture, causing you to fling your head to the side. Honestly, for a 21 year old man he’s incredibly immature. And he turns you just as immature.

“Anyway, I was gonna go to Kanto but then I found this sick Pokémon and I just had to show it off to you. He looks freaking awesome, I bet you have nothing like it.” He goads childishly, crossing his arms over his chest, almost transparent under the wet fabric, and smirking. You’ll admit, you’re distracted by the way the muscles in his arms bulge at the movement and you curse the fact that Pokémon gyms aren’t the only kind of gyms he goes to.

“You’re such a fucking kid. You’re like that kid in Stranger Things that finds that baby demogorgon and thinks it’s cool when everyone else is screaming that it’s dumb. I swear, you’d destroy the world if it involved something you thought looked cool.” You scoff and he glares at you.

“SPOILERS. Oh my fucking god, you know I haven’t seen season 2 you bitch! Keep it up, and I’ll fucking spoil that Viserion dies in Game of Thrones.” He hisses, pointing at you in anger and you scream while running at him, hands clawed to his throat.

“YOU JUST DID YOU ASSHOLE!” For a moment you’re both fighting with each other, neither of you realising how ridiculously dumb you look. It’s only when you hear a soft cough that you both freeze, glancing over at a youngster stood there with wide eyes. Jungkook is bent in half, his head firmly underneath your arm as you push at his head.

Immediately, you’re both jumping away from each other and looking away innocently. Coughing yourself, you tap at the ground awkwardly before grinning at the young girl. “Hey, don’t do drugs. You’ll end up like this guy.” You point at Jungkook.

The words have him jumping at you, teeth bared before they turned into a clenched smile at the girl. “Ignore her, she’s just angry that I got a cool Pokémon and she didn’t.” You stare at him in disbelief, ignorant of the way the girl nods slowly before quickly skating away.

“You’re a fucking idiot.” You curse, hands flailing in the air. He stands by and rolls his eyes, sticking his tongue out immaturely.

“Whatever. Wanna fight? I wanna show you my Murkrow.” Jungkook grins, his face practically radiating excitement at his new Pokémon. Sighing, you shrug before dropping your bag to the floor.

“Sure...why not. It’s not like it’s a boiling hot day or anything. Of course, let’s fight with our Pokémon, because that makes sense.” You grumble to yourself, grabbing the Pokeball that you want to use as you watch him send his new acquisition out.

Immediately, a Murkrow appears out of the ball. You watch as the dark Pokémon flies around for a few moments before landing on the ground, giving you an evil glare from underneath his hat shaped feathers.

He does look pretty cool, but Jungkook has more knowledge about video games than he does Pokémon. So you send out your Pokémon with a tiny smirk, knowing he’ll immediately ridicule it. Which he does.

A tiny pink flower floats in the air while a white Pokémon with a green lower half clutches tightly onto the flower. It gives a little chirp at the sight of you before zooming to face the rumbling Pokémon in front of it.

At the sight, Jungkook cracks up and his cackling laugh is probably all that can be heard for a mile around. He laughs for about a minute, arms wrapped around the still damp top of his middle half as he bends over before wiping away the tears.

“A fucking flower? You sent out a flower? What even is that? Murkrow is dark and flying Y/N, oh my god. And you tell me I’m useless with types.” He snorts, rolling his eyes. Smirking at him, you watch as he orders his Murkrow to use pursuit, the dark type move causing it to fly with purpose towards your Pokémon.

“Flabébe, avoid it!” You call out and immediately she darts out of the way, floating gently away from the Murkrow which squawks with outrage. Grinning, it’s with a glance to your Pokémon that you call out. “Okay Flabébe, use moonblast!”

Flabébe squeaks cutely and spins in a circle, looking up into the sky. Today, the moon is just barely visible in the sky as the sun outshines everything else, but it seems to glow a little as your tiny Pokémon draws on its power. As she gets brighter, she suddenly spins in a circle before a glowing, pure white light erupts from her in a direct beam.

It hits Jungkook’s Murkrow head on and you both have to cover your eyes at the blinding light. Once it finishes, Flabébe is left floating happily while Murkrow is collapsed on the floor, having fainted from the instant KO. Smirking, you watch as Jungkook’s jaw drops.

“What the fuck!” He curses, running over to his Murkrow and drawing him back into the Pokeball while he looks up at your Pokémon with wide eyes. “It’s a fucking flower, what the fuck was that?!” Jungkook sounds outraged and you giggle, walking over and letting Flabébe rest on your hand gently.

“You’re still useless with types. Murkrow is dark, Flabébe is fairy. Fairy has a type advantage.” You grin brightly as his disgruntled look, the gentle pout on his lips as he scowls at losing adorable.

“I’ll beat you one day.” He grumbles to himself, cheeks tinging pink with embarrassment at losing. You laugh and pat at his chest lightly as you give Flabébe a tiny stroke of thanks, sending her back into her ball and picking up your bag.

“Sure thing Jungkook, and I look forward to it. I also look forward to the day Michael Bay makes a film without one of those stupid slow mo scenes with an explosion in the background but I doubt that’ll happen soon so...keep hoping! Everyone has to have a dream right!” You call out, waving to him as you begin to make your way down the path.

“Michael Bay’s movies are great! Transformers is fantastic!” He shouts out and you smile despite yourself, shaking your head.

“That right there, is why I never take you seriously. That and you consider Batman & Robin to be the best Batman film!” He curses you out as you walk away from him, causing you to chuckle to yourself. Jungkook might annoy the hell out of you, but you sure do enjoy beating him time after time. Everyone needs some experience right? And he makes it so easy for you.

Especially when he looks that good.

You reach Violet City by the end of the day, just as the sun begins to creep past the horizon and the sky erupts in swashes of pinks, purples and oranges. It’s with more than a little happiness that you situate yourself on a grass verge outside of your hostel and munch down on a kimbap and some lemonade that you’d bought from the local store.

You’d swung by the PokeMart as well to buy some potions to heal your wounded while also stocking up on rare candies to treat them all. For half an hour, you simply enjoy the time to yourself. No other trainers are staying at the hostel apparently, so the street is quiet and peaceful with the scent of the nearby flower garden dancing through the air lazily.

Swallowing the last of the kimbap, you dust off your hands before pulling out the packaway bowls and pouring a small amount of Pokémon kibble inside each one. There’s six bowls to go with your six Pokémon, and each one is well aware of which is their bowl. It makes feeding them easy as they all require different amounts as well.

Pouring out water for them as well, you take out your Pokeballs and call them all out, balls popping open as each one of your beloved team emerges. Starmie lets out an excited scream and begins to eat eagerly, which makes you feel bad as you’d asked her to help you so much earlier.

Flabébe chirps softly before floating down to rest at the edge of her bowl, tiny hands grasping a piece of kibble and little mouth taking the softest bites. You have to stop yourself from cooing at the sight before turning your attention to your others.

An annoyed snort lets you know that your Rapidash is irritated and his diamond hard hooves cause sparks to erupt every time he paws at the ground. Walking over to him, you pat the soft, white fur on his neck before running your hand through the blazing hot flames. His trust in you means that it just feels a little warmer than normal and you grin as he noses your pockets, nostrils flaring.

“Okay big guy, okay. Let me heal you first okay?” You murmur, tugging the potion bottle off your belt and heading to his back hooves. A cut from the fight you’d used him in today is prominent and you sigh, running fingers over the top as you crouch down to get a better look. “I’m sorry Rapi, you did good though!”

He’d won the battle for you though, charging forward in a blur of speed to become what looked like a flaming meteor. But he’d suffered before, the Pidgeotto hurting him before it eventually fainted. Spraying the potion on the cut, you watch as it bubbles slightly before healing right up, causing you to smile.

“Good boy, anywhere else hurting?” You ask, running your hand along his back before coming back to his head. Big, bright and kind eyes stare back at you, filled with love and affection. For a moment, you’re left breathless as they remind you of a certain rival trainer. Rapidash shakes his head and you smile, rubbing his silky soft nose before pointing at his bowl.

“Okay, good. Go eat.” Soft clomping is heard as he heads over to his bowl and you cross your arms, watching them all eat. Your Meganium, the final evolved form of the Chikorita that had started your whole journey years ago, has finished eating and is happily playing with your Raichu.

Sitting down next to them all, you sigh deep and let your head fall, the content noises of your Pokémon all you can hear. A soft nose bumping your hand causes you to look down, spying the black body with yellow rings of your Umbreon. Grinning at him, you cross your legs and watch as he purrs happily before jumping into your lap, his big body taking up way too much space.

Running your fingers through his soft fur, you simply watch as his breathing begins to deepen and he slips into a quick nap already. Sometimes, you remember back to when he was a tiny, fluffy Eevee and nostalgia grips your heart. But you love your little dark Pokémon so much, so you know it was the best decision to evolve him.

“Hey butthead, thanks for just leaving me.” Your peaceful moment is interrupted by the voice of your rival, causing you to groan out loud as your head rolls back. There’s silence, before your looking at the upside down figure of Jungkook’s face only inches away from your own.

Letting out a cry, you shift forward and mumble an apology to Umbreon as he grumbles at being jostled around. “Christ Jungkook, what do you think this is? The Spiderman movies?” You grunt at him, fingers getting a little tighter on Umbreon’s fur until he growls at you softly.

The guy sits down with a flop, letting out a deep and long groan as he extends out his long legs and relaxes. Starmie begins to make irritated noises and you make a negative gesture to her, shaking your head. You really don’t want to hear Jungkook’s whines if he ends up wet again. Especially as he’s obviously staying the night at the hostel too.

He surprisingly stays quiet for a moment before he interrupts it as usual. You swear the boy has never spent more than five minutes being quiet or not moving except when he’s sleeping. Even now, his feet are slowly rocking from side to side in a rather childlike movement.

“Your Pokémon are such girly Pokémon, you know that?” He says before getting into a crouch. His own bag, army camouflage and ridiculously big, opens up and he begins to pull out his own Pokémon bowls and food. You sometimes forget that he is actually a trainer too, despite how bad he is at it.

Raising an eyebrow at his words, you watch as he releases his own Pokémon and instructs them to eat. Your own watch warily before you smile at them and gesture. “It’s okay, you can play.” Almost immediately, his Pikachu runs over to your Raichu and they both begin conversing intently.

“Since when did Pokémon have gender norms you butthead? Besides, you’re one to talk. Overcompensating much?” You state wryly, pointing to his ominously large Gyarados that has taken over the fountain in front of the hostel before gesturing to his Arbok that is coiled up.

Jungkook gives you a droll stare. “Yeah, your shitty attitude.” He’s obviously visited the Pokémon Centre as his Murkrow is back, squawking happily as it chows down on kibble. His Typhlosion, the evolved form of Cyndaquil, is sunning himself lazily on a flat rock nearby.

The Scyther he’d caught in the Safari Park in Kanto is currently glaring at everyone from afar. You don’t know why he keeps it around, as it has to have the grumpiest disposition you’ve ever seen in a Pokémon.

“Weird, didn’t know I meant that much to your life to make you revolve your whole team around me. Besides, if you didn’t like this shitty attitude, why do you keep following me around?” Taking a sip of the now warm lemonade from your side, he simply watches for a moment.

His clothes have dried again but there’s still something rather appealing about the way he sits next to you, one arm resting on a knee while his other leg rests on the floor. Scoffing at you, he tugs out a granola bar and chews down on it, making soft noises of annoyance at the bland flavour.

Rolling your eyes at his behaviour, you reach into your bag and throw him the remaining kimbap, trying to ignore the way his face lights up in an adorable bunny-esque smile. “Because of that. You’re too kind-hearted to turn me away yeah?”

Watching him through narrowed eyes, you scoff lightly and push at his broad shoulder. “More like your mom would ream my ass out worse than Mrs Weasley if I let you die.” He glares at you at that, giving you the finger before taking a huge bite of the kimbap.

“Fuck you too.” He gets out, voice muffled as his cheeks are stuffed full of seaweed, rice and spicy tuna. “Anyway, you’d be so lucky to see my dick and see if it stacks up.” At that, he nods to his Gyarados that is now napping in the water, giant body breathing softly despite the permanently angry look on its face.

“Are you...are you seriously comparing your dick size to your Pokémon? Wow Jungkook, I don’t know about being a Pokémon master but if you’re being serious then maybe you should consider a role in PokePorn. They’re always looking for...well endowed folk.” You glance meaningfully down at his crotch then and miss the slight flushing of his cheeks.

“You are the worst person. How do you even know that exists? It’s...it’s a bad place okay? The internet is a wonderful place but that...that is a dark place. You must never go there young Padawan.” His face is blank as he stares out, raises his hand as if he’s showing you some grand painting or something.

It’s with a heavy sigh that you simply roll your eyes at him. “You mixed up two films dumbass. It’s from the Lion King, not Star Wars.” You finish your lemonade and simply go back to stroking Umbreon’s long ears, smiling softly as his back leg begins to shake as you itch at a troublesome spot for him.

You don’t see the fond way that Jungkook watches you quietly, nor the way he jerks his head away when you bring your eyes back up to the human sized pain in your butt. “I didn’t mix two films up. Mufasa is voiced by the same guy who does Darth Vadar...ergo Star Wars!” He exclaims, raising his hands wide while his eyes go big endearingly.

Laughing softly, you shake your head and point at him. “That’s like saying that because Liam Neeson plays both Qui-Gon Jinn and Aslan the lion, then Aslan is a Jedi master badass.” A smile plays on your lips as you watch Jungkook nod enthusiastically, shuffling around to face you as he sits cross legged with a childlike look of happiness.

“Exactly! Have you ever listened to Aslan? He could easily be a Jedi. Everything is connected, I tell you.” He nods sagely at that, pretty pink lips pouting adorably and you get the bizarre urge to reach out and poke that soft, rounded cheek of his.

Humming lightly, you tap your lips to your fingers. “So by your logic, then Xenomorphs are real in this world right?” He pales slightly at that and you giggle, remembering how freaked out he got when you both watched the Alien films at the hostel in Celadon City when it had been raining too hard for either of you to leave. Jungkook had whined at you for weeks after that, too afraid to sleep.

“Well...no.” He mumbles, fingers playing with the grass.

“Yes! Natalie Portman was in Star Wars and also in Thor: The Dark World. Chris Hemsworth was in Thor: The Dark World and also The Cabin In The Woods….and Sigourney Weaver was in that. Which leads me to...Alien.” Sitting back on your hands, you smirk at him with a raised brow as his mouth simply opens and closes a few times.

“You ruin the fun sometimes.” Is all Jungkook mutters, carding his fingers through his hair and leaving it styled rather attractively. It’s hard not to focus on just how attractive Jungkook is sometimes, especially when he unleashes his forehead like now. It makes you want to reach other and ruffle his hair back.

Stupid Jeon Jungkook and his stupid good looks. Who did he think he was?

Silence falls between the both of you and it kind of surprises you. Umbreon shifts in your lap and lets out a little content sigh, causing you to look down and give a tiny smile as you run your fingers through his soft black and yellow fur.

Looking back up, you note the sun is even lower to the ground now and it’s almost blinding at eye level. The sky is now a stunning painting of stark colours, as if the sky Pokémon have decided to become artists in their free time and smear an abundance of colours together in a work of art that could grace any museum.

Turning your eyes over to Jungkook, your breath stutters as you capture the sheer beauty of him. He’s turned his head to watch the sunset as well, pouting lips parted ever so slightly. The softly dying rays cause his golden skin to almost glow while the gentle breeze blows soft strands of dark hair across his forehead.

The bridge of his nose extends out before rounding off softly while the sculpted line of his jaw is even more prominent than before, making you swallow quietly as it really, completely strikes you that Jungkook really is no longer that obnoxious young boy you knew who dreamt of being a Pokémon Master. He’s still obnoxious of course, but he’s grown into himself so much.

Strong biceps peek out from under his shirt while broad shoulders fill it out in a way they hadn’t only 3 years ago. The tightness of the shirt simply magnifies his tiny waist, a waist you already knew was hiding a spectacular pair of abs from the many times he liked to waltz into your hostel room shirtless.

The blue jeans are currently clinging for dear life to his spectacular thighs, truly they’re a work of art that would look wonderful next to the sky painting, and you can almost imagine the seams of his jeans screaming from the strain. Where he gets the time to end up buffer than a Machamp is beyond you. It hits you square in the face then though - the realisation that Jeon Jungkook is quite possibly the most beautiful man you’ve ever seen.

When he turns his attention back to you, your eyes track over his stunning face. Buck teeth that are endearing peek through his open mouth while his eyes, so achingly wide with innocence right now, watch you in turn.

“Don’t you think the sun looks like the yolk of an egg from the side?” He muses to himself, brow creasing in concentration while his lips pucker out. Almost immediately, the moment is lost and you internally sigh. Right there is why you can never take him seriously, no matter how beautiful he is.

Groaning, you let yourself fall backwards onto the soft grass and ignore the protest from Umbreon as you do so. “I swear, you’re like...the biggest moron ever.” You whine, pushing his hand away as he moves to poke your side.

“What? It does! A big ball of yummy yolk. Mmm, I want ramyeon now. Do you wanna go get ramyeon?” He asks idly, humming to himself as he taps his chin lightly. Your face creases in a combination of awe, disgust and confusion - impressive the emotions he can pull from you at once.

“You literally just ate a roll of kimbap...and you want to eat a whole bowl of ramyeon? God...do you have a bottomless pit there or something? If I stare into it, will it stare back at me?” He ignores your sarcastic remarks as he begins to call his Pokémon back, securing them safely away in their Pokeball homes.

“Come on! I walked so far today! And you beat me so like...you owe me.” At that, you stand up abruptly and press his chest your finger to his chest firmly, causing him to whine as he moves back.

“Are you fucking kidding? Since when does the winner buy the loser the meal?” You swear, it’s like he lives to annoy you. But then, you remember when he got asked if you were his girlfriend when you were 13 and he’s staunchly answered that you weren’t his girlfriend, you were his opponent.

Both of your parents were forever convinced that you were going to get married one day. You know, the usual ‘childhood-friends-to-lovers’ thing and honestly? You agreed. There was only two routes for Jungkook and you realistically. You either killed each other after an epic Battle Royale, which you would win because he’d be the one stuck with a frying pan from his backpack, or you fuck and eventually get married.

And given that you really enjoyed being alive and weren’t particularly interested in seeing him dead, you knew it would be the second option. Plus, the idea of someone else getting to fall in love with Jungkook annoyed you. He may be as annoying as Ashley in Resident Evil 4, and lord was she annoying, but he was your annoying.

No one could accuse you of not being a realist. Besides, you occasionally acknowledged that he was attractive and there had been more than one occasion where you had dreamt about doing something other than pushing at his abs casually.

“You’re bitching at me...but I’ve noticed you haven’t said no.” Jungkook sings sweetly, his voice pure as he spins in a circle slowly. You glare at him before pushing at his back, the solid muscles giving in easily as he lets you push him forward.

If you didn’t buy him a meal, he’d just whine at you until you eventually did. So you may as well just get this over with.

“Fine...let’s go. Everyone,” You call out, voice slightly louder as you look over your team with fondness. They all stop what they’re doing and turn to look at you in varying stages of alertness and you feel a twinge of sadness that they have to go back into their Pokéball’s. Your Pokémon are tired and haven’t had a lot of time to have fun lately so you sigh and point at them. “Stay here okay? Don’t run away, we’ll be back soon.”

They’d be fine within the area of the hostel, a common sight for trainers who were making their way through the world and they were all well behaved. All of them make an affirmative noise to you as you walk over to your Rapidash, smiling and patting his soft, milk coloured fur with affection. “Hey boy, will you take us into town please? I’ll make sure to get you the spiciest treat!”

His large eyes narrow slightly as he takes in Jungkook, who stands behind you paling slightly at the sight of the fiery mane and tail that dance lazily in the cooling breeze. A slight dip of his head lets you know he’s willing and you smile brightly, petting him harder before kissing his solid cheek and turning back to the young guy behind you.

“Come on, he’ll let us ride him there.” Jungkook looks over Rapidash warily and you laugh lightly, moving over to him before smirking. “What? Are you scared of him?”

“Errr...yeah. He’s got fire for a mane, he could give me fire crotch. Like...real life fire crotch. And he’s huge! And really fast!” The excuses fall from his lips easily but you can also see the curiosity in his eyes, causing you to smirk and poke his chest lightly.

“Yes, he does have fire for a mane and tail. Very hot fire. But he’s said he won’t hurt us, so he won’t. He loves me, so he’s definitely not hurting me.” At that, Rapidash slams a diamond hard hoof down onto the floor, the flames on his fetlocks flaring slightly. “Come on, you’ll enjoy it. He won’t go too fast, right boy?”

Rubbing at the base of his horn, Rapidash nickers quietly as he shakes his head before nodding exaggeratedly and you chuckle in amusement. You do love the personality your Pokémon have sometimes and you’re beyond thankful that they’re just like you.

Jungkook moves up quietly, for once no longer cracking any wise jokes and you smirk as you lift a leg to him. He looks confused until you gesture towards your Pokémon and his mouths opens in a small ‘o’. Rapidash is almost as tall as Jungkook, and there’s no way you’re getting on top of him without leading him over to something.

He gives you a lift up and you sit on Rapidash’s slim back with happiness, letting your fingers run through the odd sensation of his flame mane. It just felt slightly warm, which really did feel strange at your crotch.

Hopping up behind you, Jungkook lets out a small noise of fear as Rapidash begins to move towards the town centre and his arms wrap tightly around your waist. Your recent realisation that you might actually genuinely like the guy behind you makes his pseudo-hug feel like he’s lighting you up from the inside and you wonder if maybe you should have just walked instead.

But he feels nice pressed against you, so you don’t say anything. In fact, you just enjoy it.

How you’ve managed to end up falling over the years for the dumbass who thought he’d picked up a bottle of ketchup once only to discover it was actually chili sauce was beyond you. But opposites attract and all that you guessed.

“So err...why don’t you ride him more often? I mean...he’s fast right? You could’ve gone everywhere by now...left me behind.” Jungkook’s voice is so close to your ear that you jump, looking back at him with wide eyes before your cheeks heat slightly at how his plush lips are so close to your own.

“He’s my Pokémon, not my ride. You gotta treat them like friends, they’re your partner not your workhorse. Like the girlfriend or boyfriend who’ll never let you down.” You give him a raised brow at that and he whines quietly.

“Hey...it’s not my fault that everyone I’ve dated has been about as solid as half the MCU at the end of Infinity War.” Snorting, you shake your head and look back towards the slowly approaching town centre.

“Wow, too soon man. And you ever notice there’s something that links all these particularly flaky people together? Namely...you know...you?” He doesn’t respond to that for a moment before sighing, his hands almost subconsciously stroking your stomach and your abdominal muscles tense at the sensation.

“I know I act an idiot...and that I failed most classes, I’m aware you don’t need to point that out, but I’m not actually one. I just...don’t like educational environments. I like being out here, in the real world. Learning out here with people and Pokémon. And maybe I just didn’t want proper relationships with any of them. I’m only 21, there was no need to go full on Notebook with someone yet.” He sounds serious for once and you give him the respect of taking him seriously too, humming lightly.

“I know you’re not stupid Jungkook, even if you act very odd sometimes. You’re...not a terrible Trainer. Definitely need to actually do some studying on your types, which I’ve been telling you for years but whatever. And no, you don’t need to be in a proper relationship yet. There’s a lot of life out there.”

It’s Jungkook’s turn to hum this time, only he sounds slightly reluctant. Reaching the centre, you both dismount from Rapidash and pet him while he goes to graze on the public grassland in the centre, underneath the overhanging branches of the blossoming tree while the pond ripples when a Goldeen swims to the surface.

You sit on a bench facing the pretty scene, smiling at two Pichu as they chase each other around in the longer grass surrounding the pond while a Girafarig bends awkwardly to drink.

The sudden tapping of your shoulder brings you back and you turn to see Jungkook offering you a cup of ramyeon, steam rising off the spicy noodles and you smile a thanks as you take it and dig in with the chopsticks he gives you too. How he’d managed to bring them over you have no idea as he’s got two cups for himself, his lips already swelling and going red from the spice of them.

“How do you eat that much? Seriously, don’t you like...want to vomit?” You query, watching him with wide eyes before scooping a helping of noodles into your own mouth. The spice makes your nose run already a little and you scowl at him, wondering why the hell he got the extra spicy version.

Jungkook just gives you a gross smile, noodles dangling from those spice-inflamed lips before he slurps it down happily. “I get the shits, what do you expect? And I get a bit bloated too but...it’s filling and I like the taste.”

Coughing slightly, you wave your chopsticks at him and note the red tint of the ends of them with amusement. “You like your ass feeling like Mordor and your tongue disintegrating?”

Snorting, he shakes his head and stuffs another mouthful in before letting out a content noise that’s borderline disgusting. “Mount Doom you mean. Mordor’s just the place, Mount Doom is the volcano. And no, I don’t like my ass feeling like that but here we go. Did you know that your ass feels like that when you’ve eaten spice because it has the same nerve endings as your mouth?”

Pausing with your noodles halfway to your mouth, your brow turns in before you shake your head. “You’re impossible you know that. How do your Pokémon stay with you?”

“Because I may not be the best Trainer, and I may never be the best when you’re around, but I love them. Even if they’re not the Pokémon everyone thinks is cute.” God dammit, why did he have to go and say something adorably sweet like that? You’d almost got over that weird little crush you’d realised earlier only for it to come flooding back at his words.

You should’ve realised long ago that it was all futile...that you’d long been fighting a losing battle and that your parents were right. It was a good measure of a person with how they treated their mom and how they treated their Pokémon.

Jungkook adored his mom, he called her every night for at least half an hour to update her on all the cool things he’d done that day, and despite his lack of common sense when it came to battles, he really did love his Pokémon. He’d even adopted some who’d been abandoned because they were considered ugly or scary, like the Houndoom he’d sent to go live with his parents when no one wanted it because it scared people.

You’re not entirely sure what takes over you, but you place your cup of ramyeon to the side and shuffle up to him. He’s so unused to you being this nice to him that he gives you the side eye before looking you over suspiciously.

It’s almost hilarious how he almost hugs his last cup of ramyeon to him closer, as if you want that.

“Hey...Jungkook. Has there ever been like...a reason why you never take dating seriously?” You want to laugh at how he tenses up so suddenly, his shoulders almost to his ears as he instead focuses determinedly on the Totodile that waddles up to him. Giving it a sweet smile, he reaches down and strokes the Pokémon’s head before it walks off with happy eyes.

“No...no reason.” His Pikachu suddenly arrives out of nowhere, slightly out of breath before jumping up into arms with a sweet ‘Pika’ before he begins berating Jungkook with quick sounds that have you laughing. Jungkook seems to be happy that he’s got a distraction and he makes soft soothing noises before his Pokémon lets out a sleepy yawn, blinking at you blearily before crawling out of his arms and into yours.

Watching as the yellow and black electric mouse Pokémon falls asleep, Jungkook’s lip kicks up in a smile before he’s shaking his head. “Even my own Pokémon like you more than me.”

You cringe slightly and shrug as best you can, looking apologetic. “I’m sorry.”

He lifts a hand up to stop you before giving a soft smile, looking way too sappy at you as his eyes practically shine while he watches you with his favourite Pokémon. In fact, he’s rather watching you in the same way that he watches his favourite Star Wars movie and your stomach twists slightly, your hand stroking Pikachu’s head before you finally ask.

“Do you like me? Is that why you never dated properly?” You’re pretty Jungkook wishes that he could burrow into the ground like a Ditto and just...never emerge or something. Become a legendary Pokémon that’s only spoken of in hushed whispers.

“So you’re just gonna ask it like that, huh? Really confident of yourself there?” He says, eyes wide and you just smile at him so softly that he practically deflates.

“On a scale of one to the ending of Red Dead Redemption 2, how obvious was it?” Biting your lip, you try hard to stop your smile but fail as you watch him squirm about awkwardly with what is possibly the sappiest look you’ve ever seen him give you. Honestly, how he ever thought he was subtle was beyond you.

“Jungkook...you’re a terrible liar. I’m pretty sure anyone with eyes has probably noticed.” His cheeks are bright red now before he covers them with his hands, his normally confident self collapsing in embarrassment and you place a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

“You can let me down easy, I mean...please. Don’t be mean, not now.” Jungkook mumbles into his hands, refusing to look at you and you roll your eyes at his dramatics.

“Why do you think I’m going to turn you down?” The question is legitimate, and you watch as he rolls his eyes in turn at you before holding out a hand and counting down the reasons.

“You think I’m an idiot, you always bitch at my types because I never remember, you always beat me so I’m weak and I don’t think I have any redeeming qualities for you. You’re gonna be a Pokémon Master one day and I’ll...I dunno...be working in a PokéMart or something.” His words are practically silent by the end but you let out a soft tut before pushing at his shoulder, wiggling your body across the bench to keep Pikachu asleep until you can comfortably rest your head on him.

You’ve done this before, and it always felt nice. It feels nice now, but slipping your hand into his feels even nicer.

“You’re smart where it counts and you’ve stopped me making stupid decisions out here, like that time when I was going to buy a Love Ball until you pointed out how dumb it is and that it’s just a waste of money. And you’re totally right on that. You don’t care about types and it’s stupid for fights...but it’s because you just pick Pokémon that you like and stick with them, even if they’re not the best. You’re loyal, because you’ve stayed with me all these years. And PokéMart’s are important to the economy so don’t knock them or the people that work there. They’d be privileged to have you.” Jungkook is suspiciously quiet and you try to get a glimpse of his face, curious to see if he’s crying.

“Are you crying?” He’s shaking his head furiously and you chuckle, pushing your face into his arm. “Is this like that time you totally weren’t crying at Endgame and it was just popcorn dust in your eye?”

“This is exactly like that. I’ve just got...ramyeon dust in my eye.” He mutters, using his free hand to wipe at said ‘not-crying’ eyes.

“I don’t think it works like that, but okay.” You shrug and quieten down, focusing on the little tuft of hair his Pikachu has on top of its head, almost like a super tiny mohawk.

“Do you mean that?” A nod is his silent response. “Would you...consider it a privilege to have me?”

Your heart practically clenches at his soft words and you grin, shifting until you’re both looking at each other. He’s nervous, his eyes glancing everywhere until you finally pull his attention back to you. It’s weird to see him like this, but you find it endearing either way. For once, he’s being serious about something, and it’s you of all things.

“I would. And I do, hence why I’ve never quite properly gotten rid of you.”

Before you can do anything else, your face is suddenly smashed against his awkwardly and you both let out a surprised noise, your mouth against his cheek and nose against his eye. It’s not even slightly comfortable, or romantic, and you both push away to spy your Rapidash standing behind the bench, an almost mischievous look in his eye.

“Did your...Rapidash just smash your face against mine?!” Jungkook asks, eyes wide as he watches the Pokémon in suspicion. Smirking, you turn back around to look at him with a raised brow and shrug.

“Well...I do pick smart Pokémon right? He’s just trying to tell us to get a move on already.” He goes to ask with what, you know him that well, but instead you take both hands and cup his cheeks gently.

Almost immediately he shuts up, eyes going wide as you slowly lean into him. You give him plenty of time to back away, but he just lets his eyelids flutter shut before his lips purse into a sweet pout, waiting for the kiss you’re about to give him.

And you really are, until a sudden blast of icy cold water causes you both to go flying off the bench with a loud shriek. Sitting on the floor, your shirt soaked to your skin, you spot the culprit and let out a groan of frustration.

“Starmie! He wasn’t hurting me! Why are you even here?!”

“I told you! That Starmie is a menace! I can’t believe she just...ruined the best moment of my life!”

“She isn’t a menace, she’s just protective! You just don’t lik-”

“Can you just shut up and kiss me please? I’ve waited years for this.”

“Oh...okay. Yeah...Starmie, don’t you dare!”

#armiesnet #networkbangtan #btscreatorsnet #kkreationsnet #jungkook fluff #jungkook crack #jungkook x reader #jungkook x you #bts fluff #bts crack #jungkook one shot #bts one shot #pokemon jungkook #pokemon trainer jungkook #jungkook fic #bts fic #jungkook fiction #bts fiction

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platypan · 5 years

Text

Strangest 6/?

In the wake of the Demogorgon, Steve is absolutely normal, relaxed, and fine in every way, though he has started keeping track of actions in his life a responsible adult would probably kill him for. One of those recurring actions is letting Billy Hargrove take over the corner of his couch.

Steve stumbled back from the door to the garage, waved aside the general shape of Max, and grabbed the doorknob to the bathroom. The door didn’t quite latch behind him, but he rattled around with the hook clasp until it caught, and sank down against the wall. If the room is gonna to whirl so much around me, he thought, maybe I shoulda staggered closer to the toilet.

On the other hand, sitting next to the door put him about four feet from the door to the garage, where over and around the sounds of his own pounding heart he could hear Max hissing at Billy through the door. It was a nice reminder that although he had brought someone into his house who threatened a child to make a point, she was okay. Billy hadn’t actually burned her neck. Billy Hargrove, he groaned into his arms, the person I was using to tell myself no kids were in danger. He didn’t actually hurt a kid to fuck with me, he just made it clear he...might.

“That’s all,” he yanked his shirt over his head, wiping the sweat off his face with it, and let himself slump to his side against the door. The painted wood felt cool and good against his shoulder. “That’s all he did. How could I have known, right, the dude that almost beat my face in. He beat some of his own stupid into my face,” he mumbled, listening to Max pounding on the door to the garage. Glad she doesn’t have a cigarette burn on her neck now, he huffed a laugh. Hope she doesn’t have cigarette burns anywhere else.

His hands shook, and he clenched them together, trying to breathe slowly. “I-I know she’s afraid of him,” he leaned his head back against the wall, his vision blurring. “I know she’s afraid of him. And I fucking brought him in here. He attacked Lucas, he tried to hurt Max, he’s a--he’s a fucking grenade. He’s a land mine that I brought in my house.”

This is why Nancy’s too smart for me. She probably saw this bullshit coming a mile away. “My bullshit,” he snorted, feeling his lungs seize, and braced himself between the door and wall, as it felt like it was spinning away from him. “Because I’m bullshit, she’s right, I’m bullshit.”

His breath wheezed through his teeth, and he muffled the noise with his sleeves. “Fuck, Billy, what the fuck.” He let his head thud back against the wall, and resisted the urge to do a Billy, and thump it a few more times. Sure isn’t helping his head any. He concentrated on the burning pain in his lungs, and eyes, and tried to breathe. Billy still hadn’t responded to Max--he could hear her banging get louder, the rhythm a little slower than the blood pounding in his ears. “Shit,” he mumbled into his sleeves. “Shit. Shit. Bullshit. Bullfuckingbullshitbastardfuckheadshitface.”

He leaned there for a long time, letting his brain haze out. For once he welcomed the way his vision swayed, and particles fell from the ceiling, and imaginary blue mist rose from the floor. He could smell the earth of the tunnels again, and the metallic mud where blood had soaked in the ground.

It felt like hours later when Steve finally stomped out, grabbed a plate, and thumped one of Nancy’s nasty vanilla candles in the middle of it. Max was sitting at the kitchen table writing out columns of math, her left hand clenched around her skateboard, and her foot tapping at the ground. She glanced up, but kept her head lowered. “That candle smells like shit clear over here,” she said hoarsely.

“At least it doesn’t smell like the Upside-Down,” he leaned back, folding his arms, and she barked with laughter, leaning against the table.

He couldn’t tell whether she was laughing or crying with her hand over her face, but her voice when she finally said “Light it, then,” was thick-sounding and wet.

He reached over and rattled around in the drawer of flashlights, clothespins, rubber bands, and, apparently, easter egg colors, and found the matches. “Want me to take you home?”

At that, she shoved back from the table and stomped in a circle around the kitchen, drawing shaky breaths, and wiping her eyes and nose on her sleeves, before dropping back in her seat. “I, uh. I let Billy out.” Her voice was husky. “He’s home by now.”

Steve clonked the plate down on the table. “Shit. Damn it. He went home?”

“Yeah, he fucking went home!” she shoved the table at him, and he grunted as the leg of it slammed into his knee. “You left me in here! You--” she smacked her hands on the table. “You grabbed him and threw him and fucking locked him in there! We thought you were calling Neil, until you--” she waved a hand, “--stumbled off to the bathroom like a goddamn drunk. The hell is going on, asshole!?”

“I have no fucking clue,” he winced, rubbing his knee, and took a shaky breath. His lungs seemed to have showed up for their shift, so that was something, anyway. “He just--he came over to make bread and he--he’s out of his goddamn mind, I don’t--I don’t even care, come on, we gotta go get him back.”

“What the fuck do you mean, get him back?!” She followed him to the hook where he hung his keys. “Don’t give me that crap, what the hell were you fighting about?! You--you didn’t get that mad at him lighting up in your house. You--if you’re gonna fucking--if you’re taking your bat, I’ll walk.” She bit her lips together, and her grip tightened on the edge of her skateboard where her hand had been resting. “I don’t wanna watch you get your--revenge, or whatever, come on, Steve, nobody got hurt.”

“Fuck,” he watched her set jaw, and red eyes, and swallowed. “...no, that’s--it doesn’t ma--I mean, come on. We can yell in the car, Max, I’m not trying to--I’m not bringing--” he waved his empty hands. “--I’ll be mad at him when he’s not around his dad, I can’t be mad at him if he might be getting his face broken.”

“I’ll--I’ll come, I guess,” she grabbed a paper towel and blew her nose. “If--if you’re not gonna--do anything. Like that. But tell me what he fucking did.”

“He, uh. He was fucking with me. By threatening you.”

“What.” She kicked the table again. “What?! What in the hell. Damn it. Fucking. Fuckhead. What the fuck. So what, he--” her homework crumpled as she shoved it in her bag, then shoved her books in on top.

“I’d told him he couldn’t--if he was--if we were--” Steve pulled his coat on, waving around, then at himself. “Just leave my goddamn kids alone, fucking christ. Just leave ‘em the fuck alone.”

“That didn’t even make sense.” she accepted a Ziploc for her bread, breathing slowly, and wiped her eyes. “What, that was your deal, he could stay here and do--” she waved a hand, wrinkling her nose, “--whatever, and he wasn’t supposed to hurt us, and he managed to fuck that up? The fuck, Billy.”

“How the hell do I know,” Steve ran his fingers through his hair. “He was--he was fucked up all day, but usually like. If he wants to fight he just--” he waved a hand. “He just does. I thought he was doing better, I’m so goddamn--” he took a breath as shaky as hers. “I’m so fucking sorry, Max. Shit. I--I didn’t mean--”

“Shut up. Shut the hell up, Steve, we’re mad at Billy.”

“Yeah, but I brought him home. To my house, where a bunch of fucking middle-schoolers come to feel safe.”

“Yeah, that’s probably why he wanted to be here,” she sidled closer, punching his shoulder. “You and your hot chocolate and blankets. You did a fucking nice thing and the asshole shit on it. That’s what he fucking does. He’s a fucking piece of shit, everyone knows this.”

Steve nodded, blowing out the candle. “...jesus, that reeks.” He opened the door to the garage for her, glancing around to see what kinda of wreckage he had to clean up. It looked suspiciously tidy. “It smells as shitty as Billy,” she growled, and he snickered.

“Sometimes he’s worse.”

“Because he’s shitty.” She waited for him to open the car door, nearly crushing the bread in her grip before he tapped her hand to remind her.

“...yeah.” Steve sighed. “Yeah, he really is.”

As he drove Max home, and listened to her saying she was fine, it didn’t make any difference to her, he tried to think. “I don’t know whether to tell anyone.”

“What,” she looked over.

“I mean, what if Neil’s actually gonna kill him. He needs someplace to go, and. I mean, nobody trusts him anyway--”

“You’re still gonna--what? Pull the hell over, Steve, what’s--you just wanna yell at him, or--”

He did, leaning his head against the steering wheel.

“He threatens me all the goddamn time, so--” her fingers on the bread pan were turning white. “Steve. Did he hit you in the bathroom?”

“No! No! He hit the wall. He flipped out and punched the wall.”

She let her head fall back against the seat, closing her eyes. “Something, anyway.”

“Shit. I just want him--I don’t want him here, but like--I don’t want him, want him--”

She groaned. “Christ, leave me out of it, if you’re gonna have, like, make-up sex, I don’t wanna know--”

“No! No. I don’t want--I just don’t--I don’t wanna say the wrong thing and make him worse--”

“You can’t fucking make him worse, you fucking moron,” she punched his leg. “You saying you don’t want me to say anything to anyone? You want me to keep a secret so Billy doesn’t get butthurt that everybody knows he’s exactly like he damn well is.”

“Noooo,” Steve groaned into his arms.

“Fine. I won’t tell anybody.” She swallowed. “Take me the fuck home, asshole.”

“I’m not saying--Max. Just--go ahead and tell people he’s a shithead. Just maybe don’t...tell them he was doing it at me? I don’t want, like, Dustin or Nancy trying to--”

“Ohhhh,” her eyes widened. “Christ. Yeah. They’d fucking. Dustin would die. You could just have Nancy shoot him in the dick, though. Nobody’d think it was her fault.”

“I don’t want him to get shot.”

Max was cackling. “Fight of the exes! Fight! Fight!”

“I’m taking you the fuck home.” He pulled back onto the street, his lungs feeling a little less weighted. “Thanks, Max.”

“...what’s one more secret,” she grunted.

“Sorry,” he sighed. “You can come over too, y’know. Bring Lucas. Watch a movie, I’ll--I’ll haul Billy upstairs to do homework.”

“Gross. ...you offering some kinda big brother trade-in?” she punched him again, in the apparently universal incomprehensible Hargrove language of knuckles. “Same number of years on you.”

“Less mileage, maybe. Ow.”

“You’re so weird--ew, wait, am I Dustin’s sister now?”

“Yeah.” He smirked over. “Welcome to the family.”

“Ew, then is Billy your brother then? Gross, Steve.”

“Oh no, you’re right!” he clapped his hands to his face, then grabbed the wheel again. “The babies we won’t have will have three heads!”

She cackled. “Make Billy carry them around. Like a possum.”

“He’d probably drop them.”

“Oh no, your dickbabies!” she echoed, snickering. “I am gonna hurl, shit. Three heads. Too much fucking screaming.” It wasn’t even funny, really, but as he pulled close to their block, slowing in trepidation, they were both smiling. “Steve, wait,” Max smacked his arm. “Stop. Let me out here.”

He pulled over again, frowning over. “We gonna walk in the snow?”

“He’s already seen your car a couple times and talked to you on the phone, let’s get out here, or he’ll want to talk--what’d he say on the phone, anyway? You sounded like a robot.”

Steve sighed, gripping the steering wheel. “Probably the usual bullshit. Billy’s worthless and if I talk to him I’ll end up in jail. Did he like...get arrested or something? In California? Why’d you have to leave?”

“Well he’s Billy.” She snorted. “So probably. Neil hates California, though,” she put on a growly voice, “‘Everyone there only wants money and sex!’ Hawkins, Indiana is a ‘traditional American town full of hard working people.’ I guess Billy was going out a lot, like, getting phone calls? Neil never lets people talk to him here, hardly. I don’t know.” She kicked the floor mat.

“...he’s not allowed to use the phone?”

“I mean, he can use it, but Neil always wants to know who he’s talking to, and he’ll grab it away from Billy and talk to them, and if somebody calls for Billy he usually tells them not to call again and hangs up.”

Steve felt his fury rising again, and blew out a slow breath. “How the hell is he supposed to get a job, then.”

“Who’d want him,” she opened her door, and he opened his, stepping out into the snow with a deep breath.

“Yeah, but you don’t know anything he actually did? He didn’t have a parole officer, or anything?”

“Mostly he just acts like an asshole all the time,” she rolled her eyes. “He’s not the mafia, Steve. So. What are we doing. You’re gonna call him out?”

“...not sure if I want your dad to notice.”

“He won’t care, he doesn’t want him having friends anyway, go ahead and scream your head off.”

“No, I’m--I’m not--” Steve stared at her. “I don’t wanna fight him. I just want him to come back.”

“Okaaaaay,” she was squinting at him. “Why, though? I mean, you could get him alone later. Like, at school?”

“Your dad might actually fight him,” he hissed, flailing. “You saw what he was like tonight!”

“No,” she frowned, biting her lips. “They don’t fight, really, I mean he just kinda dishes out, and Billy takes it--”

“Jesus god fucking bastard,” he spun around, tromping towards their house, and nearly slid off the sidewalk on a patch of ice. “Send him outside when you get back.”

“...he’s not gonna listen to me, what--”

“How do I get him out here,” Steve stopped, facing her.

“You locked him in the garage,” she had her eyes narrowed. “Tell me what the fuck is going on, or I’m not helping.”

“Do you seriously think I’m more dangerous than his dad,” Steve flailed. “I just pushed him in the garage, I didn’t hurt him!”

“You’re mad at him! Neil won’t even notice him at this time of night! He’ll go to school tomorrow! It doesn’t fucking matter--what’d he even do--”

“He f--he almost burned your goddamn neck off,” he pinched the bridge of his nose, swallowing. “I--I got him away from you, and the--then I had to go--breathe. For--just--help me get him. Out of there.”

“Jesus, Steve, breathe,” she squeezed his elbow, eyes wide. “Damn, Steve. Go home. Don’t just shake your head, go--he’s fine, he’s been okay for years--”

“He’s not okay,” Steve rubbed his face, taking deep breaths. “He’s an alcoholic asshole bag of shit, but I am taking him home. Help me. How am I--doing that.”

“Go around and bang on his window,” she set her shoulders. “I’ll keep everybody talking in the kitchen. Get him to climb out. Just--tell him you’ll tell on him if he doesn’t,” she shrugged. “He’ll come.”

“...I don’t want to tell him that,” Steve grimaced.

As they walked closer, Max lifted her head like a bird dog, and then Steve heard it--he wasn’t familiar with the guitar riff, but it definitely sounded like Billy’s music. “Well, that’ll make it so he can’t hear you, but I dunno how Billy’s gonna hear you either.” Steve nodded, and she shoved him onward. “Go get him. Blessings, I guess, I sure don’t want him back. No returns.”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Oh. Max, you got a ride in the morning?”

“...I can just walk, there’s not that much snow. But--I’ll call, if--if anything.” He nodded, and she took a deep breath. “Uh, Steve. Thanks. For getting so mad. For me. And.” She stopped there, glaring at her bread, and he reached over to do a gentle push at her shoulder with his fist.

“Weak,” she snorted, and turned towards the front door, juggling her pack, skateboard, and bread through the snow.

Steve crunched around the back of the house, feeling a bit like he was on patrol, and watching for shadows in the darkness. The sides of the Hargrove house were somewhat lit by the neighbors, but he followed the music around to the back, and there was the forest. Even knowing nothing had happened, Steve took a deep breath of relief when he saw Billy’s window set in the hill, a bit higher up off the ground--not that demodogs couldn’t climb a bit, but at least they couldn’t casually hiss against the glass. And after tonight, Billy wouldn’t be sleeping in there, and it wouldn’t matter. He hoped Max was the window set next to it, and not one of the ones around the front, where anything could just smash in, no effort required. I hope if something does, it eats Neil Hargrove.

Behind the snowy windowsill, the light in Billy’s room was glistening off his muscles as he lifted weights, and Steve stared for a long second, licking his lips. The song was blasting about somebody who was only seventeen, and Steve braced himself.

He ran scared, he reminded himself, jogging in place, and blowing on his fingers. Sorry, Nancy, Hopper. Finally get rid of the asshole that tried to murder me with fists, and here am trying to talk him back in. He hadn’t considered his idiocy murder tally in a while, and he tried not to. His dad wants him to die. He blew through his cheeks. I’m here because his dad wants him to die.

At least ten on the deserving-of-a-mercy-killing-by-smart-people tally today, he figured, giving himself three for staying in the restaurant bathroom after Billy chucked a bottle at his head, two for not calling Hopper when he had Billy locked safely in the garage, and a generous five for driving over and standing under his window, planning to convince him to come back and wreck more of his house.

When Steve tossed a snowball at his window, a dumbbell crashed to the floor. He cringed, but tossed another one, and Billy came to the window. He was yelling something over his shoulder, but he looked freshly showered and un-made-up. He squinted out the window, and Steve grabbed another handful of snow, throwing it while it was still mostly fluff, so it sprinkled the window more than thumping it. Billy stood, frowning down, long enough that Steve bent and hucked another snowball.

When the snow fell away from the glass, Billy was gone. The music got quieter, and he came back and threw the sash up. “Hey, King Steve,” he folded his arms on the sill, leaning awkwardly under the wood with his back bent. His cigarette hand was shaking.

“God. Are you okay? Climb out and come back,” Steve stage-whispered up.

“The fuck would I do that?” Billy glanced over his shoulder, taking a long drag on his cigarette. “You said we’re done.” His eyes were red, and his hands shook, and Steve wondered if he was still cold from his trek through the snow, after Max had thought Steve was more of a danger than their dad.

“Yeah, done fucking,” Steve hissed up. “I’m not sucking face with somebody that’d hurt a kid, jesus, you fuckhead.”

“I didn’t,” Billy rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, what if she’d stepped back, asshole. Get your ass back in my house so I can be mad at you.”

“The hell does that mean?” Billy crouched, rubbing his arms.

“I can’t fucking be mad at you if I’m afraid he’s gonna--hit you with something!” Steve waved towards himself. “Come the fuck on. Come back and drink hot chocolate and we’ll--we’ll figure this out, come on.”

“--figure what out,” Billy leaned further out, shirtless and shivering. His cigarette fell, and he told either it or Steve to fuck themselves, and dug out a new one.

“Christ, put a shirt on, it’s freezing. Throw me a bag, man, pack some clothes, come on.”

“...you want me to come back with you why?” Billy hugged his arms, leaning his chin on the windowsill, and looked about twelve years old. Steve wondered if his dad had hit him then, too.

“I can’t be mad at you until I know you’re safe,” he blew on his hands. “You’re not safe here--”

“You’re the one who’s pissed off,” Billy snorted. “Marched me out of that bathroom like there was a firing squad.”

“...after we made out for like ten minutes,” Steve frowned up, then around. “I wasn’t that mad.” Was I even mad? He’s like a natural disaster, I don’t even think to get mad, I’m just counting the sandbags and bottled water. I’m not even--“God, you’re exhausting. You guys should have a garden chair or something out here.”

“...it’d be covered in snow,” Billy hissed back, leaning further out. “If you’re cold, go home, idiot.”

“I’m the idiot? Get a blanket or something, asshole, there’s snow on the ground, if you didn’t notice. Your arms are in the snow.”

“There’s some stranger in my yard trying to get me to run away with him,” Billy leaned away, then came back, pulling on a sweatshirt. He brushed the snow off the windowsill.

“You should definitely go with the stranger,” Steve called up, wishing Neil Hargrove was away, so he could actually yell. Or climb in, and drag him out the door. “The stranger has candy, and he’s getting really fucking cold--”

Billy glanced over his shoulder, smacking his hand over a laugh at Steve’s shivery growl.

“Come on, Hargrove. It’s the goddamn balcony scene, what are you waiting for, like a song, or a swordfight--” he spread his arms, feeling like he was challenging the other boy to a duel.

“Yeah, why is the most popular boy in school under my window,” Billy rested his chin on his arms. “You bring your bat?”

“No! No, swear to god, Hargrove, I’m not trying to--to trick you, or--I just--”

“Fuck off, Harrington, I’m not that fucking--impaired. I’m not coming down.”

Steve took a slow breath, rubbing his face. “It’s not a joke, to you, about the bat. Is it.”

Billy laughed, looking away. “It’s hilarious, the fuck do you mean. Nice guy Steve Harrington and his blood-soaked nailbat. Sounds like a kid’s book.”

Shit, he seriously thinks--“Kinda does,” Steve stomped his feet, face screwed up in thought. “Something Mike’s mom would read. ‘I will not hit you with the bat. I do not care where you are at,’” he smirked up, but paused, frowning at his hands. “Uh, ‘Do drugs, drunk drive, do this, do that, I will not hit you with that bat.’ ”

Billy stared at him for a long second, before making a noise that sounded like he might be starting to cry, but turned into cackling giggles. “That was so bad, christ, no wonder Nancy dumped your ass.”

“I know, right?” Steve wrinkled his nose, and blew into his hands. “Your dad is such a fucking asshole. Chill out, Hargrove, I’m not a serial killer. What if I leave it at Dustin’s house? Or Mrs. William’s.”

“...what?” Billy wiped his nose, frowning.

“You were scared of me all day,” Steve squinted toward the front of the house, trying to figure out how they got from Billy beating his skull in on the Byers’ floor to Billy flinching into the grocery store salsa display.

“Shut up, you were fucking pissed off all day,” Billy’s snickering had turned wet again. “The fuck did I even do, thought you were gonna slam my head in the fucking car door. I hadn’t even been a goddamn disgrace in the restaurant yet.”

“Jesus fuck, Hargrove,” Steve whispered.

“Didn’t know you’d be so pissed Max called. I coulda walked in, jesus--”

“Wait, what?” Steve bounced on his toes, rubbing his arms. “I wasn’t mad, that was fine. I’m trying to get your ass in my car right now, dude, I like it way better in there than--”

“You said you wanted to run my dad over,” Billy blew a smoke ring. “Fucking...wrong side of the bed this morning?”

“No,” Steve blinked up. “He was being an asshole. I wouldn’t actually run someone over, not unless he was like...shooting at people.”

“Like you didn’t hit anything with the bat,” Billy sighed, leaning his forehead on his arms, then waved the cigarette. “What’s the blood from, your royal majesty?”

“It wasn’t a person,” Steve almost rolled his eyes, then remembered Billy’s urgent whispers in the kitchen, asking to apologize, the way he kept insisting Steve had let his head fall against the bolt of his door, and Max’s shaky voice on the phone saying “I think he, uh. I--I think he slammed him into a few other things,” she’d said. “The tub makes a noise.” Steve rubbed his face. We showed him the bloody nail bat as a threat, and here I am, expecting him to know I’m different. “Okay, yeah, I gotta tell you, or you won’t know, right. Something got out of the Hawkins Lab--”

“Yeah, you said that,” Billy leaned out further, almost close enough for Steve to jump and grab his arm, yanking his legs into the sill, his body upside-down through the window, and dumping them in a tangle of limbs in the snow.

He elected not to grab for him. Billy’s got enough head trauma. “It wasn’t--they’re fucking hard to describe, the Scooby Squad calls them, uh, ‘demodogs’. Billy mouthed it, head warily cocked. “Like these--blue Chuck Norrises--but their heads open like fucking banana peels with teeth--”

“What,” Billy cocked his head, squinting.

“They did!” Steve heard how loud his own voice got and bit his lips, and they both listened for a long second. He dropped back to a stage whisper. “I knew you wouldn’t believe me--”

“I believe you believe it,” Billy took a long drag on his cigarette, eyes narrowed. “What’d the drugs do?”

“Drugs? I didn’t--”

“The shit you shot me up with. That help you see blue monsters?”

“That--that was a--that made you sleep, dipshit, I didn’t have any of that. Anyway, they were just wandering around, tunneling--”

“Tunneling,” Billy raised his eyebrows.

“All these goddamn tunnels, man, it was like huge--evil--maneating--gophers--”

“Oh my god,” Billy snorted into his arms. “Gophers, what the hell.”

“Yeah, okay, I’m not fucking--word wizard Billy Hargrove, shut up.” Billy’s head jerked up, cocked. “Anyway, they killed Nancy’s friend--Barbara Holland--and, oh, some hunters, Mrs. Williams’ dogs, Bob Newby--he ran the Radio Shack--”

“Holy fuck,” Billy’s mouth dropped open.

“Some police officers, some soldiers--” Steve resisted the urge to count on his fingers, watching Billy’s frown deepen. “--some techs from the lab--oh, Dustin’s cat--”

“...we’d have heard about it,” Billy sat back further inside, but kept his eyes fixed on Steve’s.

“Well, I mean, everybody did, they just weren’t real specific about what happened. Exactly.”

Billy leaned away to rummage around, returning with another cigarette. “Exactly?”

“Yeah, they said something leaked into the ground, a chemical leak. An asphyxiant. Lots of closed-casket funerals.”

“Some kinda hallucinogen,” Billy rolled his eyes. “On lab specimens? Like...dogs? Or something? Apes? Something big.”

“This is why I didn’t wanna tell you,” a droplet of icy water rolled off the gutter and down the back of Steve’s ear, and his shivers turned into a full-body shudder. “Fucking hell.”

“--and in the middle of all this bullshit,” Billy paused to light up from his stub, “--you were at the Byers house, with a--with a fucking bat, and a bunch of kids, and--and ‘monsters’ everywhere?! Who the fuck are their parents? A bat? Doesn’t anyone in this shithole town have a gun?!” he stood, and stomped away from the window, then clomped back to flick the stub of his cigarette at Steve. Not being very aerodynamic, it missed by several feet. “A fucking bat, they gave you.”

“Don’t fall out the window,” Steve snorted. “Uh,” he bit his lips together, taking a deep breath, and considered how to explain Eleven. Billy raised his eyebrows.

“Gonna lie now?”

“No. No, just--they were all trying to get rid of--there’s just a lot, shit. They were luring them away from us.”

“‘Luring them,’” Billy repeated, “Where?”

“Back to the lab. They had a way to kill them--”

“Better than a baseball bat,” Billy ran his fingers through his hair, sighing. “What the hell was the syringe about, then.”

“Oh,” Steve cringed. “That was for Will. He was really sick, like, hallucinating, he drew all those pictures everywhere.”

Billy rubbed his shoulder. “You shot me up with some...medicine?”

“We doped you up with what we had to knock him out,” Steve accepted the blame for Max’s syringe-grab. “Saved my life, probably, you shithead. Come on.”

“Probably thought I was King Kong that whole time,” Billy stared down at him. “What, that’s all I get?”

“I’ll answer all the questions you want when I’m not kinda afraid your dad will walk in and do--whatever you thought I was gonna do, christ. Come on, Hargrove,” he unclenched his hands to beckon. “More horrified than mad, here.”

“...you drove over to get me back in your car ‘cause you’re worried,” Billy raised an eyebrow, snorting.

“Look, you’re--you’re a goddamn human--person--being, I can’t just leave you for him to--whatever, christ. I had to let you out of the trunk, I couldn’t let you drive away drunk, and I can’t let him--the hell did you think I was gonna do, anyway?”

“Like I know,” Billy huffed, leaning his head against the window frame. “Wouldn’t let me apologize. Thought I might as well get it out of you with Max there.”

“What,” Steve walked up to lean back against the side of the house, and closed his eyes, pressing his hand hard across them until he saw lights.

“You wouldn’t wanna scare Max,” Billy’s voice came from above. “Hardly gonna cave my skull in with Max there. You don’t wanna scare kids.”

“You thought I was mad this morning, so as soon as she was gone, you got out of the car and ran,” Steve said slowly, feeling like he was in one of those airplane safety videos, waiting for the oxygen mask to drop, only his was defective. Maybe I’ll get sucked out of the plane.

“Harrington. Shit,” there was a knock against the wall over his head. “I had my fingers between her and the cigarette. She was fine, fuck, Steve, come on.” Steve looked up to see Billy’s hand flat against the siding, a couple inches above his head. He reached up and held his next to it, and Billy took a shaky breath. “...don’t just yank me out. Break my fucking neck.”

“I won’t,” Steve waggled his fingers, and let his eyes fall shut again at the feeling of Billy’s warm calluses against his nearly-frozen hands. He squeezed.

“Christ, you’re gonna get hypothermia,” Billy mumbled.

“Standing in the snow ‘cause some stupid asshole took Stranger Danger to heart,” Steve let his head fall against the siding. “Come back, okay?”

Billy yanked his hand away at the sound of a knock, and Steve smacked the side of the house, stepping away to see inside.

“Come on, come on,” he hissed, and Billy frowned at him, glancing between him and the sound. The door creaked.

“What the hell, you didn’t go? Jesus fuck,” Max slammed the door again, and Billy yelled after her to get the hell out, then came to the window again, rubbing his face.

“So you...you fucking told Max you’d get me to leave.”

“She knows I’m trying,” Steve rubbed his arms, stomping his cold feet. “She’s supposed to be keeping them in the kitchen, but she probably thought one of us would give up by now.”

“She’s--she’s a goddamn--I’m fucking allowed to live here too,” Billy bared his teeth. “He drug me here all the way from California. Until I can get a job, I have to live here, she can’t--” he stomped away.

““...Hargrove. Come to my place,” Steve whispered back. After a few seconds, he threw another snowball, and heard muttered swearing from inside. “Billy. You know you don’t wanna be here, throw your school shit out. Pack some clothes.”

“What, as a favor to Max? Get her dumbshit drunk brother…” he disappeared again, and Steve leaned under the window, whispering his name. After a long four minutes of silence, Billy stuck his head out again. “Fine. I’ll--I’ll disappear. Fine. Fucking--whatever, I’ll go--I’ll find a fucking way back to California. Just a goddamn minute.”

“Hey, Max didn’t ask me to get you.” Steve waited, and caught the bookbag before it dumped over in the snow.

“Then it’s to fucking protect her, isn’t it,” Billy leaned his head out to snarl. He tossed his gym bag, and peeled out of his sweatshirt to toss it down too. “From the fucking--fucking rabid dog,” he laughed unevenly, lifting the sash further to swing a leg out the window. “Gonna take me out to the corn crib and shoot me in the head?”

“Jesus.” Steve grimaced up at Billy’s grin. “I’m taking you somewhere safe because you think worrying about that shit is normal. The fuck are you doing? Put a shirt on.” He shook out the sweatshirt, waiting for Billy to stop watching him and decide.

After grabbing a skinny little tank top and yanking it over his head, Billy finally got his other leg out the window, tight jeans flexing over his ass as he lowered himself quietly from the sill and dropped. He smacked a hand into Steve as the snow gave way unevenly, then jerked back, crossing his arms. Steve drug his gaze up from the jeans to the naked shoulders and biceps, swallowed, and cleared his throat. The snow crunched under their sneakers, in a small cloud of panted breath. Billy stood in the snow, the reflected light from the streetlights gilding his hair and biceps, and Steve stepped in close.

“You look okay. Are you hurt--worse?”

“The fuck are you doing,” Billy allowed himself to be turned around, but his skin was rapidly reddening as Steve ran fingers along his side, then over his shoulder, looking for new bruises.

Steve reached up and tucked the soft curls back again, narrowing his eyes at the bruises he’d seen after gym, in the shower. He ran his thumb along the marks Neil’s fingers had left, and Billy licked his lips. “Did he hit you some more? Did anything happen? Shit, you’re bright red, come on, why didn’t you keep your shirt on,” Steve handed him the sweatshirt, and zipped it up when Billy left it open. “C’mon, man. You’re gonna freeze solid.”

“Shut up,” Billy said hoarsely, and Steve handed over the gym bag.

“If you freeze solid, I will flip my shit again,” Steve grabbed his hand again, tugging him along back to the car. “I’ll carry your icicle back and throw you in a hot tub and then yell at you, so help me god.”

Billy snorted, but allowed himself to be drug along.

At the car, Steve had to let go of his hand, and Billy raised his eyebrows at the hesitation. “...seriously thought you might be dead, Hargrove,” he let go. “...you’re such a fuckhead I want to keep track of you--get in the car before your dad brings his--chainsaw, or something.” Once they tossed his shit in the back seat, and Steve had the heat cranked, he looked over again. “You look about the same,” he set his jaw. “You okay? He didn’t do anything before I got here?”

“The fuck do you care?” Billy curled away from him, leaning his head against the window. “Talked to him long enough earlier. Tell him about Max, he’ll fuck me up for you.”

“...cared enough to come chase you down, you fucking...dickhead,” Steve held his hand over the heating vents on Billy’s side, and cranked them open, turning the heat on full. “I can’t--shit. I had to get your ass back and--I’m so--I’m so fucking sorry about. Everything. Shit.” He took a long, shuddering breath, and he saw Billy’s dark gaze fasten on him in the light of passing cars.

“What. What the hell are you sorry for.”

“Sorry. You--you fucking told me. You kept saying you were gonna get beat, I saw you covered in glass from that cooking sherry--he fucking--he broke a bottle over your head?”

“The hell do you wanna hear,” Billy hunched in his hoodie.

“I guess,” Steve waited to turn his headlights on until he’d turned the car around, “I just--there’s a lot going on, with me, I didn’t--you punch shit all the time, you punch me--”

“Look, you win, I’m fucking leaving already, what do you want,” Billy rolled his head against the headrest, blinking rapidly at the ceiling.

“No! No, I’m just saying, Max is punchy! You--you fucking punch each other--I didn’t get it. I didn’t know he said that shit to you, he doesn’t let you use the phone--you’re really fine?”

“He lets me use the phone,” Billy muttered.

“Yeah?” Steve raised his eyebrows, and Billy looked away to watch the road, biting his lips.

When they pulled into Steve’s garage, Billy grabbed his stuff, swearing under his breath. The house smelled of gross bathroom candle and fresh bread. Billy frowned around, wrinkling his nose, and flinched back as Steve grabbed his hand again, leading him up to the other bedroom. The door opened on a king-size fourposter with a fluffy, flowered down comforter and matching walls, and Billy stopped in the doorway, dragging on Steve’s hand.

“I can’t sleep here.”

“Sure you can,” Steve let him go, threw open the empty closet, and yanked on a few drawers in the matching dressers, ignoring Billy’s quizzical glare. “Once we get your car fixed, you can bring your shit here until you get things figured out.” He pointed to the beige rotary phone. “It’s a different line, you can use that number for job stuff...IIII need to remember to make a phone call.”

“Until you throw me out, you mean,” Billy snorted.

Steve scrabbled at his hair. “I’m--I’m still fucking pissed. You’re--you’re an asshole, you were screaming at me in my kitchen earlier, you--” he took a deep breath, “--all that--happened. But I’m kinda...more pissed off you thought you were gonna fucking die, you thought I was gonna kill you or something because--” he cocked his head, frowning. “I don’t even know, dude. He’s got you convinced nobody’s safe. But you can stay as long as you want.”

“Oh, sure,” Billy stepped closer to the bed, frowning around, and crossed his arms.

“No, I’m serious,” Steve flicked the latch at the top of the door. “Look, it locks from in here. If you’re freaked out about something, I can’t get in. Nobody can get in.”

“I mean, you could break the door,” Billy pointed out, but he sat cautiously on the bed, listening. The comforter poofed up around him, smelling like flowers, and a bit like dust.

“Okay,” Steve frowned around. “You’d hear it, though. You could...lock yourself in the bathroom, or go out the window and drop down.”

“...spend a lot of time planning escape routes from your house?” Billy raised his eyebrows, and Steve dropped next to him, huffing a laugh, and groaning into his hands.

“Yeah, I fuckin’ do, actually--oh,” he waved down. “Mind if I sit down?”

“...nooo,” Billy squinted at him. “It’s your--”

“Your room.”

“Really not.”

“Really is.” Steve fell backwards across the bed with a pwoof of comforter, groaned, and reached over to prod at Billy’s elbow.

Billy leaned back alongside him, turning on his side to prop his head up with his hand and watch Steve. “Thanks for adjusting your schedule,” Steve sighed. “I couldn’t’ve slept knowing you were back there.”

“You don’t anyway,” Billy shrugged.

“And I’d have gotten really cold yelling at your window all night. Sorry I wasn’t really--paying attention,” Steve frowned at the ceiling, then looked over. “Okay, you keep talking about rules and what I want. I want my shitheads to be safe.”

“Yeah, I fucking get it,” Billy growled, tugging at his earring.

“I’ll tell ‘em to leave me alone while you’re here. I can hang out other places.”

“What? I’m not a fucking--junkyard dog.” Billy pushed himself up, glowering.

“I can’t trust you, Hargrove,” Steve rubbed his face, groaning. “I’ve got no fucking clue what you’ll do. You don’t have any goddamn idea yourself! Shouldn’t have tried the first time, holy shit, Steve, you fucking moron. Hopper said he didn’t much like you around the kids, and of course dumb Steve Harrington here, no, sure, sir, I got this, he listens to me, what the fuck could go wrong--he just attacked Lucas because he was pissed off, obviously he kissed me so he’s totally changed--”

Billy leaned his head back, looking away towards the door. “So all this handholding, it was just to get me in the car, you still think I’m--I’m a fucking--danger zone.”

Steve reached over and ran his thumb over the clenched fist Billy was leaning on. “Sorry I...said some shit,” Steve folded his arms over his face. “I’m still fucking pissed, but I shouldn’t have--made it sound like I--I give some shits,” he snorted. “I do. Give tons and-- just--tons of shit whether you’re dead. Jesus.”

“...you sweet-talking me, Harrington?” Instead of snickering, like Steve anticipated, Billy shifted closer. “You’re shit at it.”

“I knoooooow,” Steve groaned, rolling to sprawl sideways across the bed. “I’m shit at a lot of things.”

Billy shifted behind him, his breath warming Steve’s ear. “Let me--lemme apologize, my liege lord. Come on. Your Majesty. King Steve.”

“Yeah, that’d be fantastic, actually--” Steve’s exhausted mutter turned into a “What the jesus, Hargrove--” as Billy spooned up behind him, sliding a hand around Steve’s waist and unbuttoning his jeans. He elbowed back, scrambling away from Billy’s tongue on his neck, and landed on his butt next to the bed. He tucked his chin back up over the edge of the mattress to glare, and Billy started sniggering. “Who the hell have you been apologizing to?!”

“Doesn’t matter--”

“The hell it doesn’t. Use your goddamn words, asshole.”

“What do you want me to say?”

Steve glowered over the edge of the bed at him, suspecting sarcasm, but Billy was just waiting, plucking at the bedspread like his fingers wanted something to do. “Fucking--fucking apologize for--the kitchen, you asshole--”

“I’m sorry I burned you,” Billy watched his face, and Steve blinked, remembering. In the mess over Max, he’d forgotten.

“Yeah, okay, you didn’t mean to,” Steve raised his eyebrows. “Right? It wasn’t some huge stupid plot to burn my knuckles off.”

Billy huffed a laugh. “Yeah, no. Didn’t mean to.”

“I don’t care, it was an accident, I’m not mad about that.” Billy bit his lips, nodding. “Say it sooner next time, and I’ll be like ‘no problem’. Well, go on.”

“Yeah,” Billy nodded again. “...gimme three tries. I’m in the slow class, y’know,” he laughed. “I’m sorry I tried to--to trick you, to control you, it’s your house, I don’t make the rules, I can’t--I can’t make you do anything--”

“What the fuck,” Steve glared up, resting his chin on the edge of the bed, and Billy swallowed. “Max, Hargrove.”

“I’m an irresponsible and disrespectful brother, and I’m sorry. I was rude all afternoon, Max deserves better,” Billy rattled off, then took a shaky breath, watching Steve’s face. “You both deserve someone better. I’ll be--I’ll try harder. I won’t fuck up, I’ll stop fucking up--you look like a goddamn prairie dog sitting down there. I’m still fucking up, aren’t I, shit, I’m a fucking idiot, Harrington, tell me what you wanna hear. Tell me what to say.” He crawled over to drop off the bed onto the floor, facing Steve, and crossed his legs. His eyes and eyelashes were wet, and his voice was getting hoarse again. The vacuum-marks in the white carpet vanished, then returned as he ran his hands over them, breathing shakily, and Steve reached over and caught his hands, narrowing his eyes.

“...I meant the cigarette and Max’s neck,” he squeezed Billy’s fingers.

“No,” Billy shook his head at their hands, mouth quirked. “You wouldn’t get so pissed off you’d want me to die for something I didn’t even do. If I’d done it, yeah,” he glanced up, and his eyes widened. “Shit, no, that was it.” he grinned, the water in his eyes shining. “I’m--I’m so fucking dumb I don’t get it, but I’m sorry--”

“Shit,” Steve yanked a hand free, and held Billy’s mouth shut with his thumb. “Shush, it’s--shut up a minute, lemme think.” Billy nodded, closing his eyes, and the tears he’d been holding back ran down his cheeks. Steve took a long breath. “You thought I was already pissed off,” he tried, and Billy nodded against his hand. “You wanted me to just...get mad already, so it’d be over, with Max there so I wouldn’t kill you.”

Billy opened his mouth to run his tongue around Steve’s thumb, and Steve ignored the heat in his cheeks. “Come on, get off the floor, back on the bed.”

“You gonna let me apologize the other way now?” he pulled Steve up after him, crawling to lie in the middle. “My mouth knows what it’s fucking doing with a cock in--”

“No, shut up,” Steve sat next to him, taking his hand. “Okay. You haven’t been--that Billy that beat my face in. That attacked Lucas. Lately.”

“Fuck,” Billy rolled his face against Steve’s knee, and Steve felt an urge to punch his shoulder for interrupting, but decided it was absolutely not the time.

“Shut it, asshole. You--you’ve been somebody I kinda…” Billy was quiet, listening, and Steve slid his fingers into the soft curls, only to feel Billy’s shoulders shaking. “Stop laughing--I kinda want you around. All the time.”

“Fuck,” Billy muttered again.

“I saw you with Max and I just--I thought you--I let a fucking monster in my house, you were gonna burn her, acting like your fucking dad--I thought I was gonna puke up a lung--” Steve got all out in one breath, and closed his eyes.

“No, I didn’t even scare her, I did good with little Will Byers, right. And Eleven. It hasn’t--it hasn’t even been two weeks,” Billy rolled onto his back, frowning up, and wiped his eyes. “I’m gonna fuck up,” he grinned again, tears leaking out of the corners of his eyes. “Again. You’re gonna wish I was dead.”

“Shit, no, fuckhead. You’re not, not--” Steve ran his thumb along Billy’s cheek, wiping the tears away, and leaned to smack a kiss on his forehead. “You’re not gonna do that shit again. Not if you know I wanna protect you too, you stupid asshole. You don’t have to--get all--I don’t know, do chess exercises on me, I want you safe. If you start to get crazy, you can go for a run or something, or lock yourself in here, or--” he frowned around, ignoring Billy’s muffled giggles. “I don’t have any ideas. You’re smart, we can think of a plan. Keep Billy Hargrove feeling safe so he doesn’t burn the world down,” he shrugged, and Billy curled around him again, his laughter wet and panicky.

Steve frowned at the phone in his hand, looked up and met Billy’s eyes, and blew his cheeks out. He leaned against the headboard and dialed, and Billy leaned close, so the phone was pressed between their ears. Eleven answered.

“Hopper residence,” she growled, and Steve could hear Hopper shouting something in the background. He felt Billy swallow.

“Hey, El, it’s Steve, could I talk to your dad?”

“What the hell, Harrington,” Billy hissed, but shut up as she dropped the phone, or something. They winced in unison.

Over the clunking and feedback noises came her muffled yell, “I WON’T TELL YOU UNTIL YOU AGREE,”came her muffled yell, and then scrabbly noises, and Hopper’s voice.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right. You’re right. Hello?”

“H-Hopper,” Steve cleared his throat. Billy was rigid with tension against him. “Do--do you have a minute?”

“It’s pretty late, is this Steve Harrington?” he sounded amused. “Yeah, kid, what’s going on?”

“Uh,” Steve slid an arm around Billy, squeezing him. He didn’t relax. “If--can--can I tell you something, and you just--just believe me? I’m sure, it’s not--I’m not being stupid, or--”

“Yeah, of course, kid, what’s going on?” A scraping noise came through like he was pulling out a chair.

“Uh. Billy’s dad. Billy and Max’s dad, he’s--I know he’s told you--stuff--” Billy’d turned his face into Steve’s shoulder, swallowing repeatedly.

“He’s done that, yeah,” Hopper waited.

“He’s--” What, Steve tightened his hold on Billy, feeling hot skin where his sweatshirt had rucked up. Evil? Hitler? “It’s--it’s not true, what he’s said. He’s--he scares them with nail guns, he--” Says mean things, he...makes them...act...bad?

“Not gonna matter,” Billy whispered, taking another shaky breath, but pressing his ear closer to the phone.

“Nail guns?” Hopper’s voice had gone appropriately grim, and Steve took courage, and a deep breath.

“Yeah. He’s--he’s violent. He hits him--hits him in the head all the time. He broke a bottle over his head. Please don’t--don’t take him back there. He’s staying here--if you--if you see him around, don’t take him to his dad.”

“Not gonna matter,” Billy whispered again, his nails scraping Steve’s skin through his shirt as he tightened his grip.

Hopper could probably hear him, but he was quiet for a second. “...I will pass the word on.” it felt like Billy’s lungs seized--he made this high gulping sound, and Steve drew him in tighter. “Are they both okay? Do I need to send a car around?” Billy’s face was in a wet spot against Steve’s shoulder and neck, and Steve could feel him shuddering, even though he was nearly silent.

“Max is still home,” Steve cringed at Hopper’s soft “Shit.” “I--I mean--he always--he focuses on Billy. I told her to call me if anything--I can pick her up, or bring her here, she says she’s fine--”

“Did something happen today?” Hopper asked, his voice extremely even, and Steve flinched back from the phone.

“I--I realized some things,” he ran his free hand up to tangle his fingers in Billy’s hair. “I hadn’t--I didn’t think, I didn’t know how bad it was. I went and got Billy, I set him up here.”

“Is that putting you at risk? Do you want me to come talk to him?”

Billy huffed a wet laugh, and Steve lifted the phone to lean their heads together. “I--I--no, I don’t think so? We--get along, pretty much.”

“He’s gonna wanna talk to me,” Billy swallowed, but didn’t try to take the phone.

Hopper was quiet again. “I’ll take your word for it. But if you need anything--”

“I’ll let you know,” Steve felt his own throat closing up at the sound of someone willing to come save him from his own stupid decisions, like the homocidal classmate currently most of the way into his lap. “Maybe--don’t let his dad know he’s here, I mean, he’ll probably figure it out, but--”

“Yeah, kid.” He muttered something vaguely obscene, and Steve grinned. “And you believe Max is okay?”

“I mean, for now? I don’t--he’s not--it’s not Billy’s fault his dad’s like that,” Steve growled, and Billy went still for a second, like he was holding his breath. “He’s fu--uh, he’s--he’s crazy, it’s not like if Max is perfect he’ll never do this shit to her. I think--I think it might take him a little while, though.”

“El, hon, come here,” Hopper called. “Okay, I need to get on this from my end. Anything else I can do?”

“Don’t think so,” Steve repeated the good night, and let the cord pull the handset off the bed, wrapping his arms around Billy. “Jesus, I can feel your heart pounding.”

“Can’t believe you came and talked me out of the window, you’re--you’re a goddamn lunatic,” Billy nuzzled against his neck, pulling away so his breath warmed Steve’s jaw. He smelled like Billy, his cologne mostly worn off but still faintly good, some kind of alcohol behind the cigarettes he’d been chaining in the window, warm and just a little sweaty. “The fuck did you do,” he laughed under his breath, ducking his head. “Fucking--how did--I had to call in a fire, to get cops to come. Never fucking believed me.” Up close, and shining with water, his eyes looked like the glowing blue-green water in travel photos of Hawaii. Steve resisted the juvenile urge to lick under Billy’s wet eyelashes, half compelled to break the weirdly sincere eye contact, and half wary of his probable flinch. “Told me to stop making prank calls.” Billy’s eyes flicked to Steve’s mouth, then up to his eyes again, and he grinned, licking his lips and leaning in to nearly brush lips. Steve’s head thudded back against the headboard, but as he opened his mouth ask whether this was another apology, or whether Billy actually wanted to kiss him, or if it was something new and horrible, like payment for room and board, Billy shoved away.

“Shit. Damn it.” He flopped back against the comforter, staring at the ceiling. “Fine, I know, we’re done.” His foot thumped against Steve’s knee.

“No, not--I didn’t get--shit.” Steve rubbed his face, feeling his brain wanting to go home, and ready to switch off the lights. He punched his thighs, taking a deep breath, and felt microscopically more awake. “Hargrove. You--you just tried to fuck me out of being pissed off. You...threatened a kid to make me attack you.”

“Dumb doing it in the kitchen. Kinda surprised Max didn’t knife me.” Billy snorted wetly, and Steve wrinkled his nose, reaching over to the bedside table for a Kleenex, and tossing it at his face.

“We just...you ran away from me a couple hours ago because you think I’m some kind of...baseball bat murderer.”

“Yeah,” Billy agreed again, sliding his toes under Steve’s t-shirt. He blew what sounded like half the contents of his head into the tissue, and Steve grimaced, tossing the box over. “Figured a straight guy wouldn’t mind a bunch of crying,” Billy laughed, sitting up to blow his nose again. He wiped his eyes. “Fucking figures. Never been so sexy, right.”

“I just--I don’t--” Steve couldn’t imagine Billy Hargove not being sexy. “Are you even--”

“Fine, I get it,” Billy grabbed the growing pile of used Kleenex, and stalked off to the bathroom. “Get out, I might--might fucking whine some more. Shut the hell up, Billy, nobody fucking cares.” he slammed the door.

Steve groaned, letting himself tilt, slide along the headboard, and faceplant in the pillows. After a short asphyxiation period, he went and knocked. “Hargrove.”

“Washing my face, Harrington, why does all your soap look like pink goddamn glitter seashells, what the hell--”

Steve burst out laughing, letting himself slump down to sit against the door. “Y’know.”

“I know what,” Billy growled, as the faucet turned on, then off, then on again.

“I just need--I want to--” he sighed. Billy’s footsteps came closer and smacked the door. “I don’t think you’re...”

“What, Harrington, the suspense is killing me.”

“Holy jesus, wait, I just realized you can cook,” Steve stared at all the matching furniture. “There’s fresh bread down there. Hargrove. Let’s go eat some goddamn bread.”

Billy opened the door and frowned down, and Steve leaned back against his leg, looking up at the now pink and fresh-faced Hargrove.

“You’re a little glittery,” he informed him. “Much sexier.”

“...you’re falling asleep, aren’t you,” Billy sighed, but put a hand down to haul Steve upright. “Is this when the weird Harrington rituals start? Do I have to watch singing mice?” he wrinkled his nose, and Steve held on to his hand, dragging him downstairs. Just as they came around the corner of the stairs, the phone started ringing, and Billy stuck his face right up next to Steve’s as he picked up.

“We do this now, right,” he whispered, his mouth quirked, and Steve stared at it until the “Hello? Hello?”s from the phone finally caught his attention.

“Yuh,” he cleared his throat. “Uh, hello, this is the Harrington residence.”

“Hi, hon, sorry it’s late, this is Joyce, Joyce Byers?”

Steve’s heart shot into overdrive. “Hi, Mrs. Byers, do you need help?”

“Oh! No, no! I’m sorry--” she sounded frazzled, and they could hear Will’s voice in the background shouting ‘Mom! Mom! Let me talk to him first! C’mon! Augh, Mom--’ There was a brief muffling of what sounded like several voices and a dog at the other end, and then she returned, breathless.

Billy covered a laugh.

“I’m so sorry--”

“It’s fine, Mrs. Byers,” Steve put in automatically, making bewildered faces at Billy.

“I only just heard about Will’s plans, I’m so sorry, are you absolutely sure your parents will be okay with it?”

Steve raised his eyebrows. “I am absolutely sure of that, yeah.”

“Oh, good!” she sighed. “He said he’ll just get a ride with you tomorrow after the game, then, if you’re sure you’re up for giving up your whole weekend.” They could hear Will in the background yelling ‘Moooooom!’ “I’m not supposed to tell you, but we went grocery shopping, and they had the valentine chocolates discounted--”

Billy and Steve were staring at each other as Will and his mom started giggling, fighting over the phone. Billy bit back a grin. “All weekend boyfriend, Harrington.”

Steve scrabbled at his hair. “Jesus christ.”

#harringrove #stranger things fic #fix it #platypan #platypan fic

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unfortunate-stranger-losers · 4 years

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Right-Side Up AU, Part Three: It’s the End of the World {AO3} {tumblr} {Part One} {Part Two}

Chapter Eight → The Normalcy is Gone

Max was still moping as they raced towards the pool. They’d stopped back at the Byers’ to grab raincoats, and she’d been unable to convince them to drop the whole thing. And now they were back at the pool, and she was pulling on El’s sleeve, saying, “Listen, he’s probably here, we’ll come back after it closes-”

“Then no one will be here.” El said. “But there might be some people left over as it closes, so we should ask who this belongs to.” She held up the fanny pack and bloody whistle.

“God, why didn’t you clean that?”

“It could be evidence.”

“We’re already in the rain, you might as well-”

“Please stop fighting.” Mike cried, and the girls shut up. The boys were trailing a little behind them, and the two of them had been even quieter than usual.

Max usually didn’t hope that people were upset- except on occasions when she was very mad at Billy and she hoped he felt her pain, but she hadn’t felt that way since before the Upside Down- but right now she really hoped the boys realized what a stupid plan this was and were going to suggest they leave. Maybe if there were three of them against El, she would turn back. If El wouldn’t listen to Max, no matter how much she knew about Billy, maybe she’d listen to her stupid boyfriend.

They reached the pool, and were just in time to see people start heading out. They ran up towards the front desk, past some disgruntled people in swimsuits waiting for rides home, and El said, “Excuse me?”

A manager and a lifeguard girl, flipping through magazines, glanced up at them, and the man recited boredly, “No one in the water until thirty minutes after the last strike. Don’t try and argue with me. If you wanna get electrocuted, go climb a tree.”

Lucas gave the man a glare, grabbing Mike’s arm. “Nobody should want to get electrocuted.”

Max stared hard at the ground, as El said, “We’re not here to swim. We found this.” She pulled out the fanny pack and whistle, placing it on the counter. “Does it belong to anybody here?”

The man, again, barely glanced up. The woman, sitting on the counter, was the one who answered. “Yeah, that’s Heather’s. We’ll get it back to her.”

Mike gave her a glare. “We could give it back to her.”

The manager, once again, looked dismissive. “You could. Except she’s not here. Bailed on me today.”

The kids gave each other terrified glances. The manager looked back to his book, and then back up. “What? You kids want a reward or something?”

“No, we…” El bit her lip. “Just wanted to help.”

Mike turned and wandered towards a wall, cocking his head to the side, and Max grabbed El’s arm. “Come on, let’s go.”

The lifeguard peered at her. “Hey, kid. Do I know you?”

Max’s eyes flared with panic. “No! No, El, come on, let’s-”

“Mike?” Lucas asked, turning.

Behind them, Mike was at a wall that held photographs of all the employees. As the others came over, he traced the edge of a photograph of a teenage girl, marked Heather.

Then, once he was sure nobody was looking, he ripped the photo off.

“I can find her.” he said.

“Mike-” Max began.

“Locker rooms’ll be empty. Let’s go.” El said.

They ran off, and Max felt her heart sink into her stomach.

Mike sat on the ground, Lucas’s bandana around his eyes, and the picture of Heather in front of him. Max leaned against the lockers of the boys’ locker room, really hoping that nobody came in and spotted the girls, but then again, nobody was here anyway… nobody… God, this was a horrible plan. She felt like throwing up. Maybe she should duck into a stall and puke. Not like the others would notice. Lucas glanced at her every now and again, sure, as he walked around the locker room and turned on all the showers to drown out noise, but El’s eyes were glued to Mike. Just like always.

Just like always, Max was being left behind.

Within moments, Mike was in the Void. He could see only a white mailbox, which he stepped towards, fear in his stomach. He hadn’t liked at all when Billy had seen him in the Void, he’d never… the last time someone had seen him in the Void, it had been the Demogorgon.

But it wasn’t like Max’s brother was a Demogorgon… right?

He finally got close enough to see a 1438 underneath the box. He slowly rubbed his hand against the metal, feeling only cold.

Then, out of a puff of smoke, a door appeared.

“Red door.” he said carefully. “Red door.”

For a moment, he considered leaving then. They had an address, they could send El’s Dad there. Hopper was a police officer, he could check it out for them. They didn’t have to do anything.

They hadn’t been doing anything for six months. Six long, perfect months. He could hold El’s hand and draw with Will and go to the mall with Lucas and Dustin. None of them were separate, none of them were hiding, and none of them were being forced into testing rooms or solitary confinement or alternate dimensions. Nancy wasn’t leaving him alone, and his only concern was making sure he didn’t meet his Mom before he was ready- which, fair, could be considered a pretty big concern, but not in the context of everything else in his life. She barely went out anyway, so it wasn’t like he had to hide forever. He could be in town, he could go in the woods and on the hills, he could do stupid shit.

He and El could have stupid couple fights and make up a day later, and they both cherished that; he knew that. A few months ago, after they’d “broken up” over her neglecting to tell him something or other, and they got back together when she came back with flowers Max had helped her pick out, she’d leaned on his shoulder while the others played Monopoly, and said, “It’s nice being normal. Having a normal relationship. Getting to hang out with you without the world ending.”

Hell, he and the boys could have stupid fights, too. In the Lab, they could only see each other when Dustin signalled they could sneak around, meet in a room for a spare few minutes, test together. So that Papa would love them. So that they would make everyone proud. They had to treasure every second of the only love they could get in their lives, there was no room for petty arguments. But now Lucas could flip him off for talking on and on about The Princess Bride, and Dustin could annoy the shit out of Mike to see what would get him to get so mad the popcorn would fly. Even Will, who was always kind and quiet and sensitive, would sometimes let slip something teasing, something he never would have dared to say in the Lab, even if he spoke back then.

And Mike loved it. There was no treehouse, there was no Lab, there were no woods or gang hideouts or places to hide, or people to hide from. Nobody was out to hurt him just for existing. Nobody was out to destroy his world. The adults could handle it. He could just… go back.

But he remembered the sounds of muffled screaming, just as he started to turn. The soft cries, as Billy stood over something. Billy’s eyes.

Whether Mike liked it or not, Billy saw him, and wanted to hurt him. Mike hadn’t seen that look, felt that hatred, in months. But it was here now. And he couldn’t just leave. Especially because Billy was hurting someone else. He couldn’t sit back while someone else was hurt.

It didn’t matter what he had to do, so long as he helped.

He walked forwards and pushed open the door. Behind it was only a white bathtub, a few feet away. Mike took a deep breath and pressed on, calling, “Heather?”

She won’t be able to hear me.

Please, don’t let her hear me.

Mike made his way to the tub, and felt tears start to flow as the horror set in, and he saw the ice piled inside. Nothing but ice.

Cold. Cold. He likes it cold…

At that moment, something burst from the ice water. Mike gasped, freezing over in terror, as Heather, still in her lifeguard uniform, her hair a mess, her eyes red and wide in horror, shot up before him. She was gasping for air, gripping to the edge of the tub, a sob in her throat.

She sat up, and turned, and saw Mike. She saw him, too. People were seeing him.

“Help me.” she gasped, and then she fell back into the tub, as if being pulled.

Mike screamed and leapt forwards, trying to grasp her hands, but he fell through the tub, watching as it turned to smoke around him. Something splashed on him, and his wet hair clung to his face, freezing his shirt, spraying into his mouth. He was on all fours, staring into the blackness, and beneath him, he could see Heather falling.

She was underneath him, pummeling beneath the damp floor of the void, reaching, begging. Her form was wavering, as if she was underwater, though there was no water to be seen, as if she was being ripped apart slowly. Mike reached, trying to break through the invisible barrier, a scream coming from his throat, calling her name, reaching and struggling.

“Heather!”

Heather was growing darker, and wavier, and then she was gone, and so were her screams.

Mike ripped his blindfold off, still screaming.

“Mike!” El was at his side, grabbing his shoulders, trying to calm him. “Mike! What happened? What happened?”

Mike was gasping, staring around, as if he didn’t know where he was. Lucas was suddenly there, too, and he waved his hand to brighten the room, in case that would help.

Max, meanwhile, thought she recognized that look, and she felt terror grip her.

She pushed herself forwards, and she grabbed Mike’s shoulders until he finally met her eyes. “Mike! Mike!” As soon as he turned to her, she said, “What did he do? Mike, did you see him? What did he-”

Mike slowly reached up, touching his bleeding nose, and then he just shook his head and collapsed onto Lucas’s shoulder, still gasping for air.

Max carefully got to her feet, shaking, and then she turned on El. “We have to go back to the Byers’.”

“No.” Mike gasped. “No, Heather… she… she needs help…”

“Then we call Hop!” Max shouted. “We’re getting the hell out of this shit-”

“Max, if Mike thinks we can-”

Max snapped, “El, I don’t give a shit!” And then, her mind made up, she said, “Good luck with your suicide mission!”

She turned, starting to run. But she only got to the door of the locker room, throwing it open to the pouring rain, before El caught up, grabbing her hand.

“Max, wait!”

“No!” Max yanked her arm back, whipping around, stumbling back so she was just outside.

El stepped out with her, letting the door swing shut. “Max, listen, Mike-”

“I don’t care!” Max screamed. “I don’t care what Mike saw or what he thinks my brother was doing or what happened to us last year or the year before that! I don’t want this bullshit again! I’m done!”

El’s eyes widened in horror, as if she was also reliving the fight in the gym. “Max, listen, I know you- you and Billy didn’t- but if it’s really something dangerous-”

“Then I want out!” Max shouted. “I don’t care if the world ends anymore, El, I want this shit to be over!”

“Max-”

“You don’t know, Jane!” Max spat. “You didn’t get possessed and exorcised! You didn’t get abandoned!”

“Max!”

“You didn’t fall into hell! You didn’t almost get killed by that thing!”

“Max, listen-”

“I’m not listening!” Max threw her hands to her ears. “Even before that shit, your Dad loved you! You didn’t have to deal with a brother who only sometimes likes you for eight years! You didn’t have a mother who only cared about you if you did the right shit!”

El gasped, stepping back, and then she dared to say, “I don’t have a Mom at all!”

“But you have a Dad!” Max screamed. “You have a Dad who wasn’t living in California and didn’t bother to care after his Zoomer came back to life! You don’t have a Stepdad who beats the shit out of everything and everyone-!”

El froze. Max had never mentioned that before. She’d never wanted to. But she did now. She needed El to feel everything she did.

“Your Dad didn’t- didn’t make your brother think that was the only way he could act.” Max gasped as tears started flowing down her face. “You didn’t have to think that maybe… maybe if you were… if you weren’t a problem, your brother would realize it wasn’t okay, and he’d… he’d act like before… but it won’t happen because your parents abandoned you and your brother wants you dead and the world wants you dead, and… and I don’t care anymore! I don’t care if it blows up tomorrow! I just want out!”

And at that, she turned and fled into the rain.

El tried one more time to call after her, but Max just turned and shouted,

“Fuck off, Jane!”

#stranger things #stranger things 3 #stranger things au #rightside up au #rsu3 #st fanfic #mine #my fanfic

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thesorceressyennefer · 6 years

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Should I Stay or Should I Come Out?

Summary: Will comes out to Jonathan after the Snow Ball. The girl Will dances is with is named Heather because I said so. Word Count: 1,978 AO3 Link

“So, how was the dance, boys?” Joyce asked, as soon as Jonathan and Will had gotten into the Pinto and buckled their seatbelts.

“Good,” said Will, even though he didn’t really mean it. He didn’t have a bad time exactly, but he would’ve rather spent the night at the arcade or in Mike’s basement, somewhere with just his friends.

“It was alright,” said Jonathan. “The kids really liked getting their pictures taken.”

“Aw, it was so good of you and Nancy to volunteer,” said Joyce, giving Jonathan’s hand a quick squeeze. “Did you have fun, Will?”

“Yeah, they played songs from Footloose and a ton of Cyndi Lauper, basically everything Jonathan hates,” teased Will. “It was great.”

“Hey, I’ll admit ‘Time After Time’ is a great song,” said Jonathan.

“What about ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun?’” asked Will.

“Ugh,” said Jonathan, cringing.

“Well, I’m glad you had fun with your friends tonight, Will,” said Joyce.

“Yeah, I did,” he said.

He felt like he should tell his mom about dancing with a girl. He had overheard Lucas telling his dad that his advice about Max worked when Mr. Sinclair picked him up.

“And... I also danced with Heather,” Will added.

He wondered if his paused too long because he thought he saw Jonathan’s shoulders tense for a second like Will has said something weird or surprising.

“Heather?” asked Joyce, wrinkling her nose a bit in confusion.

“Yeah, Heather Hewitt,” Will said, trying to sound excited.

“Oh, I didn’t know you were friends with the Marcy Hewitt’s daughter,” said Joyce, glancing back at Will in the rearview mirror.

“Well, we’re not really friends,” said Will, thinking about all the times she made fun of him. “It was just a dance… but it was fun.”

It wasn’t. But he knew it should’ve been. Heather Hewitt was popular-adjacent and Dustin said she was pretty, so he should have been ecstatic just like all his friends had been after “Every Breathe You Take” finally ended. But he hadn’t wanted to dance with Heather Hewitt. Or any other girls.

“That’s great, sweetie,” said Joyce, smiling at him in the rearview mirror.

Will nodded. It felt like he had said the right thing, but he felt unsettled by Jonathan not saying anything. It wasn’t unusual for Jonathan to hold back his opinion unless asked for it, but Will had hoped he would say something. Jonathan always told Will how it was okay to not be normal, but now he was dating Nancy Wheeler and volunteering to take pictures for the Snow Ball. Jonathan never used to show his photography to anyone, and he didn’t even go to his own dances when he was in middle school. It was like Jonathan was getting more and more normal, while Will was just getting weirder and weirder. He could be a freak if Jonathan was too, but he didn’t think he could handle being a freak alone.

As Will lay in bed that night, unable to sleep, it felt like the truths he had swallowed in the car were trying trying to climb out of his stomach. He kept thinking about how he felt like he did when he first came back from the Upside Down and he would throw up those disgusting slug creatures. He decided to get a glass of water, more to have something to do than because he thought it would actually help.

Jonathan was rummaging through the freezer when Will walked into the kitchen. Will paused in the doorway, while Jonathan pulled out a tub of ice cream and shut the freezer door.

“Jesus!” Jonathan jumped when he saw Will. “You scared me.”

“Sorry,” said Will.

“Couldn’t sleep?”

Will shook his head.

“Wanna eat this in my room?” Jonathan asked, gesturing to the ice cream. “I have ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ stuck in my head and I need to play something else to drown it out.”

Will nodded, got two spoons out of the drawer, and followed Jonathan to his room. Jonathan put on one of his mixtapes and the voice of David Bowie filled the air. Jonathan joined Will on the floor, leaning against his bed, the ice cream container in between them.

Will ate small bites of ice cream, not really enjoying it. He wondered if telling Jonathan would make this queasy feeling go away. He knew Jonathan wouldn’t hate him if he told him that he was gay. He wouldn’t call him any of those things that their Dad or the bullies at school called him. But a small part of him wondered if Jonathan would be secretly disgusted. Maybe Jonathan wouldn’t stop loving him, but maybe he would love him less.

You’re being ridiculous, he thought to himself. You’d love him no matter what, right? He loves you the same way.

“Will, you okay?” asked Jonathan.

Will inadvertently let out an annoyed noise, not at Jonathan but at himself.

“Sorry am I babying you again?” asked Jonathan. “It’s just… if there’s ever anything you want to talk about, you can tell me.”

Will thought back to the way Jonathan had spoken to him after he came back from the Upside Down, all delicate and careful. What would change once Jonathan knew this?

“Do you still think you’re a freak?” Will asked because he couldn’t ask his real question.

Jonathan looked confused.

“Now that you’re dating Nancy, I mean,” said Will. “Freaks don’t get girlfriends.”

“I still think I’m a freak,” said Jonathan, smiling. “Except now, I’m a freak with a really cool girlfriend.”

Jonathan’s smile had grown even bigger when he said “girlfriend” and a blush had spread across his cheeks.

“Why do you ask?”

Will shrugged, then he said, “Sometimes you just seem so normal now. Dating a popular girl. Going to the mall instead of sitting in your room all day. You even joined Yearbook.”

“Only because I need some extracurriculars to get into NYU,” said Jonathan. “I’m still a freak who has no friends besides my little brother and my girlfriend. I still eat lunch in my car instead of in the cafeteria. I’m still way more into music than normal people. I think freak is something you’re born as. You don’t outgrow it.”

Will nodded, glad Jonathan still considered himself a freak.

“You and me, we’ll always be freaks,” said Jonathan, bumping his shoulder against Will’s. “And that’s good, remember?”

Tell him, said the voice in Will’s head. You survived an attack from a monster from another dimension. You can do this, Will.

Will was silent. He looked down and picked at the carpet.

He thought about how he only escaped the demogorgon because he was good at hiding. When it came to himself, maybe Will was too good at hiding. No one’s coming to save you this time, he thought. You have to face this one yourself.

“Will?” prompted Jonathan.

Will kept picking at the carpet, and he could tell Jonathan was still looking at him, but Jonathan didn’t say anything. Will finally looked up at Jonathan after what felt like an eternity. He saw Jonathan staring back at him, his eyes were kind, just like they always are.

Will got up and took the mixtape out of the tape deck.

“What are you doing?” asked Jonathan.

Will found the tape he was looking for, put it in the tape deck, and pressed play. “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” started playing through the speakers.

“When you played this for me while I was possessed by the shadow monster and you talked about the first time we listened to this, you left out the most important part,” Will said as he sat back down.

Jonathan was quiet for a moment; then, he guessed, “That you shouldn’t like things because people tell you you’re supposed to?”

“Yeah,” said Will, feeling his heart speeding up. “Do you think that applies to people? Like is it okay to not like people that you should like?”

“Of course,” Jonathan let out a laugh. “You’re not obligated to like anyone. I don’t like most people.”

“What about…” he struggled to find the right words and fell back on the the way people described crushes in the first grade. “What about like-liking someone?”

“Same thing,” said Jonathan. “And for the record, you should like the person you like-like.”

“I don’t like-like Heather Hewitt,” Will admitted. “I don’t really even like her.”

“Good, I know her brother and he’s a jerk.”

“But shouldn’t I? She’s pretty and kind of popular.”

“You know those aren’t very good reasons to like someone.”

“Yeah, but…” Will wasn’t sure where he was going with this. “But she asked me to dance.”

“You shouldn’t like someone just because they like you,” said Jonathan slowly.

“But Mike and Lucas like-like the girls they danced with.”

“And Dustin danced with Nancy,” said Jonathan. “Do you think I have something to worry about?”

Will rolled his eyes.

“You don’t have to like everyone you dance with,” said Jonathan. “Sometimes a dance is just a dance. Isn’t that what you said in the car?”

“It’s just that, if I don’t like Heather…” he said.

I’ll probably never like any girl, he finished the sentence in his head.

“Do you remember what else I said to you that day?” Jonathan asked.

Will shook his head, not sure what Jonathan was referring to.

“When you asked if I thought Dad would ever come back,” said Jonathan quietly.

Will felt a small rush of shame. He hated that a part of him had ever wanted his dad was in his life.

“You said whatever happened, you and Mom would always be there for me.”

“Yeah,” said Jonathan as he put his hand on Will’s shoulder. “And I meant it. I still mean it.”

“Even if…”

I’m gay, he thought. Why can’t I just say that?

Jonathan squeezed his shoulder gently and suddenly the words just came out.

“Even if I don’t like girls?” asked Will. His chest felt heavy. “Even if I like boys instead?”

Will felt the moment between his question and Jonathan’s response would last forever. The words that were so hard to get out were suddenly hanging in the air. The slug was out of Will and in the bathroom sink. Everything was in the open, and all Will felt was terror of what was to come.

Jonathan moved the ice cream from between them and gripped both of Will’s shoulders; he looked Will in the eye and said, “Of course we’ll still be there for you. Of course.”

Will couldn’t tell if he had pulled Jonathan into a hug or if Jonathan had pulled him into a hug. Maybe they had grabbed each other. This hug felt just like the one Will received after they had exorcised the shadow monster.

Why should saying you like boys be as difficult as fighting a demon from another dimension? Will wondered.

“Mom and I love you, no matter what,” said Jonathan, his voice shaking a bit. “You know that right?”

“Yeah,” said Will, realizing he was crying when his voice came out equally shaky.

Will pulled back from the hug. The boys wiped their tears on their sleeves, laughing a little bit, overwhelmed by the sudden onslaught of emotion.

“I don’t want to tell Mom, or anyone else, yet,” said Will.

“Okay,” said Jonathan. “I won’t say anything, but I’ll be there with you if you want, whenever you’re ready.”

I told Jonathan and the world didn’t end, Will thought and then felt silly. My family went to an alternate dimension to bring me home. They fought demonic monsters for me. How could I ever think they’d stop loving me for liking boys?

Jonathan put his arm around Will, and for the first time since that cold November night in 1983, Will Byers believed everything would turn out alright.

#will byers #jonathan byers #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things fanfic #maxmayfield #stranger things #coming out #my writing #mine #do you like the title?#i thought of it and i said to myself #'that's so dumb. i love it.'

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all-theimagines-stuff · 6 years

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When Love Breaks Down {Steve Harrington x Reader}

Requests are open!! Now including Stranger Things!

Prompt: Listen to this while you read :,)

Warnings: ANGST, sad, kinda steamy at one part but like it’s really nothing

The lights in your room were off but you were awake staring at the ceiling. It was too dark to read the clock but it must have been at least midnight. Your head replayed his car leaving your driveway over and over. Your heart ached as the taillights of that red BMW sped down your street, you doubt he ever looked back. It shouldn’t hurt this much, people leave all the time. It’s just sometimes they don’t come back.

Steve laid with his hands above his head and his face turned toward the roof of his car. You were staring at his serene face. His eyes were closed, he looked at peace. His thumb was rubbing the back of your hand. This was the moment you knew you were in love with Steve Harrington. That little moment in his car, where there was no noise but your breathing and the radio, you fell in love.

You fell for his smile, his laugh. The way his fingers ran through his hair when he was frustrated or how your head always fit perfectly in the crook of his neck. You never fell in love with the way someone looked, you fell in love with the way they look at you.

The look he gave you as he waved goodbye for the last time was apologetic. A look he used to try and explain himself. Explain why he has to stop loving you. You watched the scenes play out behind your eyelids as you were watching someone else’s life play. Clips played like a movie, if only it had been such.

A movie was on in the background but the two of you had stopped watching it ages ago. Your hands were tangled in his hair as his mouth moved with yours. Steve’s lips traveled down your jaw and peppered your neck. Between each, he whispered, “I love you.”

Your hands came to rest on his neck when you locked eyes with him. His gaze was loving and gentle. You wanted to tell you had been in love with him for so long, and even now, you didn’t know how.

“To say I fell in love over time would be a lie because the moment I knew I loved you hit me like a truck,” you told him quietly, your voice a whisper. “I love you, Steve Harrington.” His eyes were wide.

“(Y/N)-I-I love you so much it hurts me to know I have to leave so soon.”

“We’ll keep in touch though right?”

“I couldn’t live without it,” he answered and kissed you again, slow and passionately.

It seemed like your wildfire love would never end. You both seemed to be blind to reality. You were leaving for college and Steve still didn’t know what to do with his life. The two of you tried to stay together for a year. Maybe you couldn’t bring yourself to realize it wasn’t working out. Maybe it was because people find any excuse to stop the truth from hurting.

Steve held your hand as he walked you to the door. Dinner has been quiet, neither of you acknowledging the elephant in the room. Now Steve was standing in front of you, holding both your hands but refusing to meet your eyes. You let one hand go up the to cup his cheek. He lifted his eyes to meet yours.

You let out a curt laugh, “Guess we were never very good at keeping touch.”

Steve’s mouth turned into a small smile as he looked down at his shoes again. You looked down at your own shoes. This was it, deep down you knew it was over.

“Yeah…we…”

“Yeah,” you replied. You knew what he meant. You two weren’t working out and it was obvious. Your heart was breaking as your fears came to fruition.

“I just don’t think I can keep this up, (Y/N).”

“I know we’re in a rough patch but we fought demogorgons, we’ll fight through this too,” you pleaded.

“I’m so sorry,” Steve said softly. He dropped your hands. Steve cupped your face as if to give you one last kiss but he seemed to quickly regret it. He turned away and began walking down the sidewalk toward his car.

“I love you,” you yelled half-heartedly. He just stared before climbing into his car. He drove away without another word.

You rolled over to face the window. Steve had climbed through that windows many times before and now it stays closed. The flower box outside your window attached to the sill with zip ties because Steve stepped on it trying to climb out your window when he heard your dad coming home.

The memories made you roll away and close your eyes. Tears dripped down onto your pillow. It hurt to remember when you loved him. You thought love was supposed to be forever but love comes and goes, it’s just sometimes it doesn’t come back.

#steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #stranger things #stranger things imagine #stranger things x reader

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hairringtonsteve · 6 years

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Please Understand

Soo, I haven’t written in a relly long time, so I hope this is good. I was wondering about doing a smut-ish second part. Hope you guys like it :)

Sorry if there are gross grammar mistakes, english is not my first language

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Henderson!Reader

Word Count: 1553

Summary: You and your boyfriend have your first discussion. You know he’s hiding something from you, but you don’t understand why

Content: some swearing and some fluff as well

a/n added from hairringtonsteve: alright! so, i’ve never done this before, but i thought it’d be cool! someone submitted it to me (i’m not sure who, a name wasn’t left on it and it just said that it was submitted by “Me”) and i’m really excited to share it with you! i really like it, and personally, i vote that you start up a blog for fic because i’d read the shit out of all of your stuff! :) the only thing that i’ve added to this is a read more, just so the post isn’t super long on the dash!

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“I still don’t understand how you and my brother became friends…” – you say, laughing, while cuddling with your boyfriend, Steve Harrington, on his bed.

“I’ve told you, baby. It’s a long story. Let’s say he needed some help with, uhm, something…”- he replied, thoughtfully.

You have been together for a couple of months now. Seeing Steve around your house now and then helped get you two to know each other well. Secretly, you always had a crush on him, but never tried a move because, well, how in the hell would king Steve notice you? At least that’s what you thought, until getting close to him.

From the beginning on, he was always kind and sweet to you. The only problem was, you thought he was a bit mysterious sometimes, as if he was hiding something from you, what you certainly disliked.

“That’s funny because…”- you looked at him- “Usually Dusty comes to me when he has a problem. He never hides anything from me.”

“Well (Y/N), at some point he would need a male help, am I right?”- he smiles, but you think it’s suspicious.

“Hmmm, I don’t know. I mean, I guess it’s just weird to see him growing up and talking about these ‘boy stuff’ with someone older. Especially you. I remember when we used to fight for our toys when we were little…”- you took that moment to give him a kiss. Boy, those lips! You loved to kiss and bite those lips of his. You just didn’t like it more than playing with his soft fluffy hair.

“Yeah, you shouldn’t worry about it. Besides, let the boy in peace. I think you’re a bit over-protective at times. Looks like you’re being nosy…” –he stared at the ceiling. That last sentence sounded like he was jealous. You always thought Steve liked to take care of your little brother more than you did.

But damn, he shouldn’t have said that. You get really angry when someone tells you how you should act. Especially when it comes to taking care of Dustin. You loved that ‘shithead’ – as Steve liked to say – a lot and you’d do everything to see him happy and safe.

You roll over your boyfriend’s messy bed, sitting up. You were mad. Nosy? He had no right of telling you that. Plus, you still felt like he was hiding something from you.

“I’m sorry, what? You’re telling me I’m being nosy? And, to be honest I keep thinking you’re hiding something from me! Whenever I talk to you about you guys you just… I don’t know… give me excuses.”

Now Steve was the one pissed. He hated to talk about that. However, he had a reason, and a very good one. It couldn’t run through your mind, though. All you could focus on were “his lies”.

“Oh c’mon. Cut that bullshit (Y/N)! You know I am not hiding anything from you!” – you looked very angry and Steve hated that. Now he was pissed too. – “Seriously, you’re such a pain in the ass when you insist on that!” – he said, harshly.

Oh dear. He never talked to you like that. You could feel tears in your eyes and the urge to go away. And that’s what you did. You stood up, grabbed your purse and left, slamming the door. Steve’s eyes were wide open, he had suddenly realized what he had done. He muttered something like Shit under his breath and ran after you.

“(Y/N)! (Y/N)! I’m sorry, please, come back!”

It was too late. As he stood at his house’s door, you were already driving your car, leaving that place as fast as you could. His words were echoing on your mind. How could he say something like that? You never thought he could be that mean…

You parked in front of your house so furiously that the car made a screeching noise. Your mother went to buy stuff for the new cat, since Mews disappeared mysteriously, leaving Dustin by himself. He heard the noise and ran down the stairs to find you opening the door crying. He hated to see you like that. Actually, you both were very protective of each other, which was super cute.

“(Y/N)? What happened? Where’s Steve?”- he asked, while you walked in, as fast as you could to your room, your safe place.

“Please, don’t say that name!” – even though you were really angry, you still loved Steve and it really hurt to know that someone you love could make you feel that way.

“What? Did Steve do something mean to you? God, that motherfucker Harrington is SO dead!”- Dustin said closing his fist, as if he was going to punch Steve in the face or something.

“No, Dusty… I don’t know. Just leave me alone!”

You slammed your room’s door and in less than twenty minutes, you hear the doorbell ringing. You stand up and check the window, to see who it could be. There he was, Steve Harrington himself was standing in front of your door, with a beautiful rose bouquet on his left hand.

You ran back to your bed and decided you wouldn’t talk to Steve. How dare him call you names and show up five minutes later. At least, that’s what you told yourself. Deep down, you loved the fact that he was after you, wanting to clarify things and make up. Then, all good memories were running through your mind. The first kiss, the first time you held hands… That one time when you were caught making out inside his car… Your first time having sex… He was incredible and it would be awful to lose that man.

Suddenly you notice it’s taking quite a long time for Steve to reach to your room. You walk to the door and hesitate to open it. You think for a bit and when you get the guts to open it, you find Dustin, who was about to knock – he’s a very polite boy.

“Uhm, (Y/N). Can we talk for a minute? Steve’s down there and…”

“I know, tell him to go away, I don’t want to talk to him!” – you interrupt Dustin.

“I understand, I understand. So, listen. Let me talk to you then.” – he made a small pause to look right in your eyes – “He was just protecting you.”

You laugh, ironically.

“Protect from what? What the hell are you talking about, Dustin?”

Dustin takes your hand, leading you to sit on your bed. Then, he looks out to your room. He took a deep breath and turned back at you. You couldn’t help but let a little grin show. The kid knew how to be dramatic sometimes.

“So, do you remember, right when Steve and I started to hang out?”- he asked, smiling at those last words. He always felt so proud and loved to show off his friendship with Steve.

“Yes. Why? What’s the matter?”

Dustin took a deep breath and told you. Everything. Told about Will, D&D, all about Eleven, that weird girl who recently showed up at his class out of nowhere. Also, how they fought the Demogorgon, the demo-dogs and the mind flayer. He emphasized, however, on Steve’s help. How he handled the situation with Dart (and that it ate Mews), how he risked himself in order to protect your brother and his friends. He even told about that one time where Billy punched the hell out of Steven, but that he stood there for the kids.

You were shocked at all this new information. You couldn’t reply directly, you needed a moment to think. Especially when Dustin told about Hawkins Lab and how they could be watching you all and arrest you, if needed. It seemed like the most creative child’s scary story ever, but you had to believe him. You knew Dustin. You knew he wouldn’t mess up and lie to you like this. Your first reaction, however, was to shout at him.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WERE FIGHTING MONSTERS OUT THERE? ARE YOU INSANE? IF SOMETHING HAPPENED TO YOU, I SWEAR I’D KILL YOU DUSTIN HENDERSON!”

You were cut by a laughing Steve, who was standing at your room’s door. You didn’t notice him coming up, you were just too astonished by your little brother’s story. He came closer to your bed, and sat next to you, on the other side.

“See? I was lying, indeed. I’m sorry. But it was for a good reason.” – Steve’s soft voice were music to your ears at that moment. He places the flowers next to you.

“Oh, Steve, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have reacted that way” – you hug him, feeling one or two tears on the corner of your eyes.

“It’s okay, baby. I shouldn’t have said those mean things either.”

Steve then brings your face closer and kisses you. You kiss him back, passionately. You could simply not resist him.

“Eeeeew! Can’t you guys wait until I’m gone? Gross!” – Dustin said while standing up and leaving the room as quickly as possible. He couldn’t handle seeing you kiss a man.

Dustin shut the door while you and Steve were laughing hard.

“No more lying from now on. I promise. You?”- said Steve, holding you close to him

“Promise”

You close your eyes and find his lips on yours again.

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington imagine #stranger things x reader #stranger things fanfic #stranger things #stranger things 2 #steve harrington #reader insert #reader fic #fanfic #stranger things fic #dustin henderson #submission

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savedbyharrington · 6 years

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Please Understand

A/N: Yuup, I’m the one who submitted this to @hairringtonsteve and since it got so many likes and reblogs, I decided to make a blog dedicated to Stranger Things writings! I hope you guys like it :)

Soo, I haven’t written in a relly long time, so I hope this is good. I was wondering if I should do a smut-ish second part. If yes, please let me know! Hope you guys like it :)