trying on a metaphor
todays bird
oozey mess
Claire Keane
occasionally subtle
Cosimo Galluzzi
wallacepolsom
will byers stan first human second
DEAR READER
KIROKAZE
Origami Around
Aqua Utopia｜海の底で記憶を紡ぐ
ellievsbear
JBB: An Artblog!
d e v o n
@theartofmadeline
⁂
shark vs the universe
styofa doing anything
Kiana Khansmith
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Burkina Faso
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Germany
seen from Thailand
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
@akire-echo
Wracking my brain to try and find a Steve Rogers X Reader series that I thought I had saved and now can’t find.
Reader is enhanced, having sparky powers and is a vigilante. She loses her memories and Steve has to take care of her until her memories return because he thinks the bad guys are after him(but they are actually after her)
Can anyone help me find it?
The Lodger-Chapter 1
(My first Bucky fic! Un-beta’d, my mistakes are my own. It shall be a multi-chapter fic, warnings will appear before every chapter but it’s mostly just fluff. Please Enjoy!)
Fic Synopsis: After the events of TFATWS, Bucky is just looking for something normal, something familiar. Will he find that by renting a room in a Brooklyn townhouse?
Reader was just looking for someone reliable and trustworthy to rent out the room that’d been vacant for far too long. The last thing that she ever expected was an Avenger, especially one who was so good with her son.
Sunlight filtered in through the gap in the curtains cascading over the long unused furniture. Dust particles danced along the soft sunbeams, a reminder of just how long it had been. For six months the spare room in your house had gone vacant. It was closer to seven by the time you’d realized it. In your opinion, the room was a steal. The price point was fairly reasonable, given what you were offering versus other properties in the area. But for some reason you weren’t able to keep it rented for more than a few week or so, each lodger only using it for a transition space and some of them stiffed you on the rent. It wasn’t the price, it certainly wasn’t the look of the place.
For a moment you thought it was the other house occupant who was causing the problems but for the life of you, you couldn’t dare blame him. After all, he was your son. Max was a precocious and inquisitive 8 year old, with a love of space and all things cosmic. He might’ve been a little chatty with the lodgers but never annoyingly so. He knew when someone wasn’t interested in conversation and respected their boundaries. You’d taught him well and were proud of him. He definitely wasn’t the problem.
Yet, the room remained unoccupied.
You weren’t sure how long you could keep the house if the room wasn’t brining in revenue, eventually you’d have to sell and move somewhere else. You really didn’t want to do that. You didn’t want to leave the beautiful townhouse your late husband had chosen with you, it held too many wonderful memories that you couldn’t imagine parting with. You could only wait and pray for the right person to fill the vacancy in your home.
With a sigh you closed the door and prayed to the universe for someone good to see the sign in the window.
——————————————————————
He let out a sigh as he closed the door to his apartment. He’d chosen it for the location more than anything, somewhere near where he used to live. He could afford it but it just wasn’t the same as he remembered. The city itself wasn’t the same anymore, but he knew it wouldn’t be. Too much time had passed and he no longer recognized Brooklyn anymore. He thought the problem was the busier parts of the city, there were just too many people now and threats felt like they were everywhere. He couldn’t relax enough to not be on guard at all times.
Instead of staying close to the main hub he ventured further out to more suburban areas, hoping to find something different. A place to really call home in this century.
He walked for quite some time rather aimlessly, wondering if there would ever be a place that would feel like he wanted it to. It would be nearly impossibly in this day and age to find somewhere with actual postings. Most things like this happened on the internet, according to Sam. Finding one in real life was highly unlikely.
He considered turning back, heading to his empty apartment until he came upon a small townhouse. It was a beautiful building in a quieter part of Brooklyn. His Ma would’ve never been able to afford a place like that back in the day, that’s for sure. Especially not with the wonderful way the lush ivy draped over it. The brickwork was even in pristine condition, honestly it was a gorgeous house.
As he observed and appraised the building, the most amazing thing happened. In the bottom window was a neat sign in cursive writing.
“Room for Rent. Serious inquiries only.”
There was a number underneath and for some reason Bucky wanted nothing more than to call it immediately. He could envision himself in a quaint home like that, somewhere not too close to the city but close enough. What were the chances they would accept him as a tenant? Most people were scared of him, or rather the person they thought he was. Still, he wrote the number down. It wouldn’t hurt to try…right?
——————————————————————
Your phone rang as you stirred dinner.
“Max, can you keep an eye on the soup while I get this?” You asked your son, who was sitting at the table finishing his homework. He nodded and got up, taking the spoon from you. He smiled at the contents of the pot, his favourite soup that he’d been smelling since he got home.
The number on your phone was local but unknown, most likely an inquiry for the room. You sent a silent prayer to whatever deity could help you with this before picking up the call.
“Hello?” You asked, hopeful.
“H-hi hello,” A distinct and deep male voice said back. “I am calling about the room for rent? Is-is it still available?”
“It is.” You said calmly, even though you were too excited that you had an actual inquiry. “Are you interested in seeing the place before you commit?”
“I-yes.” He said back, sounding nervous. “Is that okay?”
“Of course! I work from home so whenever works for you. Any day between 9-2 would work for me, except weekends.”
“Oh I uh…yeah, does tomorrow work?”
So soon? He must really need a place. Hopefully he wasn’t a bad person, you couldn’t have that around Max.
“Yeah, you know the address so just give me a time.”
“Noon?”
“Sounds good. I’m Y/N, by the way.” You said.
“I’m Bu-James, I’m James.”
You nodded at the name. “Well, I will see you tomorrow, James.
“See you then.”
He hung up and you looked to your son, who was now nearly drooling over the soup.
You shook your head and chuckled.
“Give me that, weirdo.”
He laughed. “Can’t help it Ma, your French onion is the best!”
The comment warmed your heart as you wrapped your arms around him. It was his Dad’s favourite too.
“Well then, we should finish it and get it in your belly. Whatcha think?”
“Yes please!”
You kissed the top of his head before checking the thickness of the soup.
“You’re in luck! It’s done.”
Max clapped happily and got out the bowls, waiting to be served. He took his hot bowl to the table carefully, eager to eat. You watched him fondly as he tasted that first spoonful. Letting out a noise of happiness, he began eating with gusto.
You couldn’t help think about the lodger, would he fit in with what you had here or would he just be another person who kept to themselves? Would he even want to be in the place?
You’d just have to wait and see.
——————————————————————
Bucky was nervous. He hadn’t been nervous just to look at a place since the first time out of cryo. He really needed this place, he just hoped he would be accepted, he didn’t even care what the interior looked like. As long as it had a locking door and they didn’t mind his nightmares, it would be ideal. Maybe even perfect. He adjusted his stupid tie, the one that Sam insisted he wear. But he felt so stupid, his hair was even slicked down a bit, like the old days. It made him look professional but again, didn’t help him feel less like a fool. He rung the doorbell, hearing it not fully ring the whole way.
“Coming!” A voice said from behind the wood.
He tried not to let his heart beat too fast, but the female voice from over the phone sounded so warm that previous day. He was wondering what kind of person she would be.The door opened and he was floored, the most beautiful dame he’d seen in a long time was standing in front of him. He’d seen many beautiful women before but the one now standing on the other side of the door put them all to shame, effortlessly so.
“James?” She asked after a moment, breaking him from his thoughts. He was there to see a room, not ogle a stranger.
He coughed. “Yes, that’s me.”
“Come on in.” She stepped aside, making enough room for him.
He gulped and made himself as small as possible, entering her home.
——————————————————————
You weren’t sure what you were expecting when you thought of the potential lodger, but it was certainly not him. James was an extremely handsome man with the brightest blue eyes you’d ever seen. His chocolate brown hair looked to have been styled haphazardly but it suited him quite well. He seemed to be made of solid muscle but was purposefully hunched over to seem small. He was trying to make you feel comfortable, and you appreciated it.As he walked past you into the hallway, you could smell the scent of him and damn if it wasn’t completely intoxicating. It’d been a while since you’d interacted with any man, let alone one as attractive as James.
You cleared your throat to stop thinking about it, to maintain some sort of professionalism. “So, uh, the room is this way. It does have a separate entrance which is very secure.” You explained.
He nodded and followed you to the extra room.You opened the door with a key and showed him.
The room itself was already furnished, as you’d hoped it would attract renters. It used to be your husband’s home office, but you’d converted it after he had died. You needed the extra income. It had its own ensuite bathroom for convenience and had good access to the kitchen without traipsing through the entire house.
“You can go in if you’d like.” You prompted.
He nodded and walked in, eyes searching around the space.
“How…how soundproof is the room?”
You were a little nervous at the question, unsure of what to answer. Was he a big partier?
“It’s just that I uh-” he looked uncomfortable. “I have nightmares sometimes.”
“Oh.” You replied, that wasn’t so bad. Better than you were expecting really. Many people had nightmares and by the looks of him, James probably had some nasty ones. “Well, it’s decently quiet down here. I’m sure we could look into a long-term solution if it becomes a problem. That is if you’re a good fit.”
He nodded again, understanding what you meant. It would suit him well if it worked.
“There is…a small matter before you make any decision, and me too I suppose.” You told him, hoping it wasn’t a deterrent and praying he was a trustworthy person.
He looked at you questioningly.
“Any one who lives here needs to be safe around kids.” You stated.
He thought for a moment. “Y-you uh-”
“I have a son. He’s 8.” You said. “If you can’t legally be around kids or they make you uncomfortable, you can tell me now and this tour can be done. I won’t put my son in danger just for the extra cash.”
“I-I understand.” He said. He had noticed some small items in the hallway that looked to belong to a child and his mind went back to the photos on the wall. Could he really do it? Stay in a home with a mother and child? He wouldn’t be a danger to them, he would never hurt a civilian. Plus, with the locking door and extra entrance he could avoid them as much as possible if need be.He would be an idiot to turn the place down. With all utilities included in the rental price, it was a steal in Brooklyn even with his residual army payments he’d been getting since the pardon. But before he agreed, you’d have to know who he was. Maybe you’d say no to him. It was a possibility and he didn’t want to be out of the running just for who he was.
“I’m not dangerous.” He said to you. “But you should…you should know who I am.”
You raided a brow, a little apprehensive.
“Do you know who Steve Rogers is?” He gulped, nervously.
You just nodded a little.
“Well I’m…My full name is James Buchanen Barnes…”
“Oh.” You replied simply. You knew that he meant, you knew who he was. The former Winter Soldier used to be all over the news before the Blip.
“I understand if that takes me out of the-”
“I have no problem with it.” You cut him off. “As long as you don’t bring any aliens around and put my son in danger, I’d really like having an avenger around.”
“Oh-I’m not…not really.” He blushed, hun hunching over more.
You held out your hand to him. “All of this is dependant upon Max’s opinion and a checking of your references but I’d like to offer you the room.”
He looked at your hand and then back up to your eyes. He took your hand softly and shook it.
“I’d like that.”
“Great, I will call you later with the final opinions and we can go from there.”
The Lodger-Synopsis
Bucky Barnes x Single!Mom Reader
After the events of TFATWS, Bucky is just looking for something normal, something familiar. Will he find that by renting a room in a Brooklyn townhouse?
Reader was just looking for someone reliable and trustworthy to rent out the room that’d been vacant for far too long. The last thing she ever expected was an Avenger, especially one who was so good with her son.
Legacy-Synopsis
Mob!Bucky x MobBoss!Reader
Two years ago, reader was sent west to build her own criminal empire. Suddenly, she is called back home under unfortunate circumstances to be the New Boss. It’s a duty she won’t take lightly. Will she be able to live up to expectations or crumble under the pressure?
Bucky never thought he’d see her again, the only woman he’d ever truly wanted. Now she was back and had become the Boss, with him directly at her side. She was off limits to him before, but now does he have a chance?
Working on my Bucky Barnes X Reader WIP’s. Which one do you want to see first?
Bucky X Stark!Reader
Bucky X Enhanced!Reader
Bucky X SingleMom!Reader
Mafia!Bucky X MafiaBoss!Reader
Omega!Bucky X Alpha!Reader
40’s!Bucky X Nurse!Reader
Looking for a Bucky x Reader fic
I read some time ago, it was a Reader insert on Bucky Barnes, alt universe where he was a detective (partnered with Sam) and Reader was being stalked (I think) by Rumlow.
It was an Alpha/Omega/Soul Mark fic, where Steve Rogers was mated with Tony (who was handling the case with Reader).
It involved smells, where Reader smelled cayenne Peppers (I think!) and chocolate for Bucky.
Please help me find it🙏🏻🙏🏻
Sounds like Heart and Soul by @all1e23
It’s Simply a Henderson Thing-Season 2, Chapter 8
(Here it is! The final chapter of season 2, after all this time. Season 3 will only be in mentions so won’t be by chapter at all, probably just one post with different characters lamenting reader’s absence. Anyways, without further ado, enjoy the final chapter below the cut.)
For a moment, you couldn't comprehend what you were looking at. You knew it was Eleven, of course, but you didn't know how in the world she was here. Looking towards Mike, you could tell he was just as shocked to see her after the events of last year. In fact, disbelief showed on everyone else's face too. Mike took a careful, tentative step towards her, as if afraid she would vanish at any moment.
“Mike.” She gasped out his name before he stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her. She held on tight.
“Is that-“ Max began to ask.
Dustin and Lucas nodded their answer.
“I never gave up on you.” Mike told the girl in front of him.”I called you every night. Every night for-“
“353 days.” She cut him off.”I heard.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were there? That you were okay?” He asked her.
“Because I wouldn’t let her.” Hopper piped up.
Your turned your head to look at the Chief. What was going on?
“What is this? Where you been?” Hopper asked Eleven.
“Where have you been?” She asked him back. They shared a small hug, which seemed odd to you.
“You’ve been hiding her.” Mike stated, then got angry.”You’ve been hiding her this whole time!”
He shoved the officer.
“Hey!” Hopper grabbed him by the shirt.
“Let’s talk. Alone.”
They went off to one of the empty rooms to have a conversation. Dustin and Lucas went to El immediately, hugging her and telling them how much they missed her. It was completely adorable, seeing friends reunited after a year thinking she was gone for good. Eleven completely side-swept Max in favour of hugging Joyce.
As they spoke, you reached out to grab Nancy’s hand, needing to ground yourself. She looked up at you and smiled a little.
“Close call.” You said.
“Didn’t have to use this again.” She chuckled, motioning to the gun in her other hand.
“We’ll definitely need to catch up after all this.” You suggested.
She blushed a little.”Yeah, there’s a lot to catch you up on. And you too apparently.”
“Oh, you have no idea.” You smirked.”It’s certainly been..interesting, to say the least.”
A roar sounded in the distance, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.
“Might want to hang on to that gun.” You suggested.”This isn’t over yet.”
———————————————————————Gathering around the Byer’s table, much like you all had several times before, you all began to form a plan. Hopper explained about the gateway, the one Eleven was supposed to close. But it was different now, not as accessible as it once had been. Plus apparently now it was crawling with every little demo-dog.When Eleven volunteered, you felt your heart squeeze. She had just gotten back to all of you and there was no telling on what would happen down at the Gate.But she was adamant. Yet, you all knew the consequences of closing the gate. Will was connected to it, connected to the weird hive mind that seemed to exist in the upside down.
Dustin looked over at you, worried.
Luckily, there was a collective idea. As Joyce reminded, the thing liked the cold and you were all just giving in to its demands. It needed to get much hotter, so Will could sweat out the virus. Hopper began to coordinate a new location, hidden from anyone else and not known to Will.
You stayed with Dustin as Nancy went out back with Steve to find supplies.
“You gonna be okay out there?” You asked her before she headed out the door.
She sighed.”Yeah, I just…I’ve been pretty shitty recently, especially to him.”
“He’s…tougher than you think Nance. Believe me.” You reassured her.
She nodded.
A few minutes later Steve came back in alone, looking at you.
“She’s gonna head out and stay with Jonathan’s group.” He informed you.
You clenched your jaw a bit but you understood, and you were even a little proud of Steve.
“You cool with that?” You asked.
He shrugged.”I kind of have to be.”
“Yeah, not many people in this town have been through what we all have, makes it kind of hard to find those who understand.”
“Exactly. Commonality.”
“Fancy vocabulary there Harrington.” You teased.
“Gotta keep up with you, smarty-pants.”
“That you do. Now let’s gather the others, we’ve got to hold down the fort.”
You headed outside with the others and watched as the cars pulled away.
It was up to you and Steve to make sure that Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Max were all safe and out of the danger. You didn’t mind hanging back but you knew your skills would be better utilized defending El or even making sure demo-dogs didn’t get to Will.
———————————————————————
“Y/N, can you help me gut out the fridge?” Dustin asked as you were cleaning your knives.
“Uh, what? Why?” You asked.
“For the demo-dog.”
“The dead one?”
“Yeah. We need to preserve it.”
You sighed.”I am not really following your thought process here but there’s nothing better to do. And if Joyce asks, it was your idea. I ain’t taking the rap for you.”
“Noted.”
You got up and began taking things out while Steve wrapped the dead beast in a blanket to place it in the empty fridge.Steve manoeuvred the gross demo-dog into the fridge with a little help from you and Dustin. When it was closed he sent you a pointed look.
“Yeah yeah. He’s my brother, I know.” You rolled your eyes.
As you rounded the corner you could see Mike pacing.
“That lab is swarming with hundreds of those dogs.” He reasoned.
“Demo-dogs.” Dustin corrected.
“The chief will take care of her.” Lucas responded to Mike, trying to offer hope.
That’s when Steve interjected.
“Listen, dude, a coach calls a play in a game, bottom line, you execute it. All right?”
“Okay, first of all, this isn’t some stupid sports game. And second, we’re not even in the game. We’re on the bench.”
Mike had a point on the first thing, it wasn’t a game. But you took offence to inadvertently being called a benchwarmer.
“So my point is…” Steve began. He stammered for an answer as you looked upon him, waiting for whatever bit of stupid was about to come out of his mouth.
“Right, yeah, we’re on the bench, so, uh, there’s nothing we can do.”
“On the bench?” You levelled back.”Really Steve?”
“That’s not entirely true.” Dustin pitched in.”Y/N surmised that the Demo-dogs have a hive mind.” He looked at you to explain with him.
“Right.” You snapped your fingers.”They ran away from the bus because they must’ve been called away.”
“So if we get their attention…”Lucas thought aloud.
“Maybe we can draw them from the lab.” Max finished his thought.
“Clear a path to the gate.” Mike nodded.
“Yeah, and then we all die.” Steve raised his voice.”
“That’s one point of view.” You scoffed.
“No, that’s not a point of view, Y/N. That’s a cold hard fact.”
“Really? You don’t think you and I can take a few of those demo-dogs? With my skills and your…I dunno, self-preservation?”
He glowered at you before Mike had an idea and rushed passed you.
“I got it!”
He pointed at a place on the underground map, the tunnel system. His suggestion? Set a fire in the main hub to draw all the dogs away, ensuring an empty lab.
Steve was still protesting even as they formulated a plan quickly.
“Hey. Hey! Hey!” Steve clapped to get their attention.”This is not happening.”
“It’s a good plan Steve.”you offered.
“But-“ Mike began.
“No, no, no, no, no. No buts. I promised I’d keep you shitheads safe, and that’s exactly what I plan on doing.”
“Steve, we can keep them safe and kick ass at the same time.” You crossed your arms, annoyed at his sudden ridiculousness.
“No, Y/N. We’re staying here. On the bench. And we are waiting for the starting team to do their job. Does everybody understand that?”
“Starting team?” You growled.
“I said does everybody understand that?” Steve repeated himself, looking pointedly at the kids.”I need a yes.”
He had been doing so well, but damn he was strict.
An engine revved outside, cutting off all conversation.
Max rushed to the window and gasped.
“It’s my brother.” She said.
Your face paled. Oh god, you were supposed to be on a date with him right now, but instead you stood him up and were with his little sister. Yeah, this wasn’t going to be fun.
“He can’t know I’m here. He’ll kill me. He’ll kill us.” She panicked.
You shared a look with Steve.
“He can’t know I’m here either.” You whispered to him.
“Yeah. Yeah, I’ve got this.” His chest puffed up a bit.
You nodded and looked at the kids.
“Get down and stay away from the window, we must be quiet.” You instructed, sitting next to them on the floor while you all listened to the exchange outside.
“Am I dreaming, or is that you, Harrington?” Billy asked, with his cocky little voice. God, why’d you ever agree to go out with that vile man?
“Yeah, it’s me. Don’t cream your pants.” Steve retorted, nearly making you laugh at his sarcasm.
“What are you doing here, amigo?” Billy asked.
“I could ask you the same thing. Amigo.”
“Looking for my stepsister. A little birdie told me she was here.”
“Huh, that’s weird. I don’t know her.”
“Small? Redhead? Bit of a bitch.”
You frowned at that. Sure she had a little attitude but who wouldn’t with an asshole of a brother like Billy? In your opinion, she’d be much more pleasant if she didn’t have to hang around him.
“Doesn’t ring a bell. Sorry, buddy.”
“You know, I don’t know, this…This whole situation, Harrington, I don’t know. It’s giving me the heebie-jeebies.”
“Oh, yeah? Why’s that?”
“My 13-year-old sister goes missing all day. And then I find her with you in a stranger’s house. And you lie to me about it.”
Steve had to get Billy off the scent soon or you’d have to intervene and you really didn’t want to, you could really hurt Billy.
“Man, were you dropped too much as a child, or what?” Steve scoffed.
You tried not to smile as you looked over the kids. They were raptly paying attention to the conversation, just as you were.
Steve continued.”I don’t know what you don’t understand about what I just said. She’s not here.”
“Then who is that?” Billy asked.
You gasped when you looked over to see all the kids at the window.
“Seriously?” You whisper-yelled and pulled them down.”You can’t listen to me for five minutes?”
“Did he see us?” Dustin asked.
“Of course he did, dummy!” You hissed.
Now you were really gonna have to intervene.
“Stay here.” You demanded as you got up and opened the front door. It was just in time to see Billy kick Steve in the stomach as he was already on the ground.
Billy’s eyes met yours.
“Ah, so this is what you ditched our date for.” He sneered.
“Billy, I can explain but you need to-“
He pushed you back into the house and pushed the door open along with you, looking for Max.
You’d fought tougher assholes than him, but he was a human so you couldn’t rely on swords.
“Well, well, well.” Billy slammed the door closed behind him.”Lucas Sinclair. What a surprise.”
“Don’t touch him.” You breathed.
He ignored you.”I thought I told you to stay away from him, Max.”
“Billy, go away.” Max stood up to him.
“You disobeyed me. And you know what happens when you disobey me.”
“Billy…”
“I think you should listen to her, Billy.” You strongly suggested.
“I break things.” He grunted with effort as he grabbed onto young Lucas.
“Billy!” You screamed and ran to follow him.
He had the kid pinned to a corner when you reached to pull him off.
“Get him off of me, Y/N!”
“Stay away from my sister-“
You pulled Billy’s arm away from Lucas and punched the older boy straight in the nose.
Damn that hurt, you were pretty sure you’d broken a bone in your hand with the amount of blood produced from Billy’s nose.
He reared back in pain and Lucas kneed him in the groin, a double whammy.
“You’re-you’re so dead.” Billy was still doubled over, looking at the two of you.
Just when you thought you’d have to get your swords, Steve was back.
“No.” He stated.”You are.”
And he punched Billy in the face, much like you had done.
Instead of taking it, Billy laughed.
You urged Lucas to stand with the other kids so that you and Steve could handle Billy the bully.
“Looks like you’ve got some fire in you after all, huh? I’ve been waiting to meet this King Steve everybody’s been talking so much about.”
“Get out.” Steve said calmly.
“Leave, Billy.” You added.
Billy looked over at you, scoffed, and then swung to punch Steve back.
Harrington ducked and reared back with another punch, sending Billy back. He got in a few more swings before Billy grabbed a bottle and smashed it over Steve’s head.
“Steve!” You gasped and grabbed the kettle off of the Byer’s stove.
As Steve held onto his head you smacked the back of Billy’s with the heavy kettle.
He stumbled momentarily but was up again to hit Steve, following the man.
“No one tells me what to do!” He head-butted Steve, making the other man fall to the floor.
“Billy! Fucking stop this!” You yelled.
Billy got Steve on the ground and was going for punch after punch.
“Screw this.” You couldn’t just sit around and do nothing, so you went for your knives. You didn’t want to do this but you were left with little to no choice.
Before you could move to stop Billy, Max was running towards him.
“Max!” You tried to stop her but she had already stabbed Billy with something.
He stopped hitting Steve and stood up.
You could see him swaying.
Ah, she’d stuck him with sedative.
“What, what the hell is this?” He asked, words sounding slurred.”You little shit, what did you do?”
Before anyone could answer, he collapsed.
You were left with a sedated Billy and a completely beat up Steve, plus four kids.
You sighed.
Billy was chuckling on the ground, so Max grabbed the nail-covered baseball bat and held it up to jinx
“From here on our, you leave me and my friends alone. Do you understand?”
“Screw you.” He answered.
She swung the bat to land right between his legs. You were honestly impressed at her bravery.
“Say you understand!” She yelled.”Say it! Say it!”
He took a moment, still falling under the sedation.”I understand.”
“What?” She asked for clarification.
“I understand.” He repeated.
Then he was out like a light.
You put a hand on Max’s shoulder, making her flinch a little before she turned her head to see it was you.
“Proud of you, kid.” You offered a small smile.
She smiled a little too, before dropping the bat entirely and going over to her brother.
She fished out his keys and sent you a look.
“Y/N, Steve is out so you’re in charge.” She said.”What do you think?”
You looked around at their young faces and then smirked.
“Off the bench, boys, we’ve got a tunnel to set on fire.”
———————————————————————You piled the kids in the car and Steve as well.Against your better judgement, you had Max driving her brothers car. You were the responsible one but you really needed to take care of Steve, so you put your trust in her.
“Don’t crash us.” You had said before she got in.
“I won’t. I promise.”
So that’s how you had Steve’s head in your lap, pressing ice to his temples while Max raced off to the hub.Lucas was in the front seat giving Max directions as you tried your best to clean Steve’s bruises just a bit. He was coming out of it faster than you wanted. Ideally you wanted him to wake up as you got to the tunnel, that way he couldn’t protest.But he was slowly becoming lucid.
“Oh my god, what’s happening?” He grumbled.
“You’re okay. Well, you got the shit kicked out of you but you’re okay.” You told him as softly as you could.”Everything is fine, you protected us, Steve.”
But it wasn’t working. He was freaking out.
“Oh my god; oh my god! Why aren’t you driving?”
“Max, step on it!” You urged.
“No, slow down!” Steve begged.”Stop the car!”
“Calm down, Steve!” You held him down.
Everyone was screaming, you could barely hear yourself think.
“Max! Turn left! Now!” You shouted.
“What?!”
“Now!”
More screaming ensued as she made the correct turn, albeit sharp.
You sighed in relief and looked down at Steve.
“See? Everyone is just peachy.” You assured him, earning you a bitch face.
Luckily you weren’t too far from the dig site so in minutes you were all pouring out of the cramped car.
You helped Steve out as he groaned, leaning on your shoulder.
“Tell me again why you weren’t the one driving?”
“Someone had to take care of you, Steve, and Max did a fine job.” You looked at Dustin.”You got my babies?”
Your brother nodded, handing over your prized Kukris. You set Steve against the car while you got ready.
Steve was protesting the entire time but you thought it best to just ignore him, it was too late to turn back on the plan now and you would leave him above ground if he didn’t agree. Dustin explained the situation to him while you went ahead with the other three, needing to be at the head of the pack in case something was down there. You went first, climbing down the rope before doing a quick search with your flashlight.
“Coast is clear.” You called up to the gang and kept watching out for any unwelcome guests. Mike made his way down after you, and you were ready to stabilize him. Lucas was next, followed by Max, Dustin, and finally Steve.
“Holy Shit.” Steve let out as he landed in the cold, dark tunnel.
“Yeah.” You looked at him.”Holy Shit is right.”
Mike had the map but Steve stepped up.
“Any of you little shits die down here, it’s me and Y/N who get the blame. Got it, dipshit?”
You blinked behind your goggles. He cared. Not just about the kids not dying, but about you too. It was a side of Steve you hadn’t seen before, not even when you thought he was at his best with Nancy.
“From here on out, I’m leading the way. You cool with that, Y/N?” He asked you.
You smiled underneath the cloth covering your mouth.
“Yeah, it’s completely fine with me. Lead on.”
“Come on then, let’s get going. Hold up the rear.”
You nodded and motioned for the kids to follow. This, this was real teamwork.
———————————————————————The tunnel went on and on, it was quite the little hike under the town of Hawkins. Even with all the layers too, you were still a bit chilly. You all got to a more open area and looked up.
“What even is this place?” Max asked you.
You shrugged,”Probably just an easy way for those creatures to get around.”
“They’re called Demo-dogs.” Dustin said.
“I know what you’ve named them, Dusty, but they are still evil little creatures.” You sassed back.
“I swear to god, Hendersons. Keep moving.” Steve said.
Dustin wasn’t following you anymore, he had stopped to look at the tunnel’s ceiling.
“Dusty?” You asked before something exploded from above him, showering him in some kind of particles.
“Dustin!” You yelled.
“Help! Help me!”
He got some in his mouth. You scrambled to pat the particles off of him and then he seemed fine.
“What the hell, dusty?”
“I’m fine.”
The others grumbled. Various “oh my gods” and “stupid idiots” were exchanged as they continued down the tunnels.
You sighed at Dustin and punched his arm softly.”Don’t scare me like that.”
“Won’t happen again.”
“Keep close to me. I’d never hear the end of it from Mom if something happened to you on my watch.”
“I know, I know.”
So he went ahead and you brought up the back again, that way none of them would be left behind.
A few minutes later you were at a bigger open area. Steve seemed to think you’d made it to your destination.
It certainly looked that way, what with the multiple tunnels branching out and a weird thing on the ground.
“Right. Let’s torch it.” Lucas clapped.
“Flame on.” You chuckled, reaching for a gas can.
It was simply a matter of dousing the whole place in gasoline and setting it on fire. It would make sure that all the demo-dogs would be sent your way. If each team played their part, Will would be free of the Mindflayer, El would have her best chance to close the gate, and the demo-dogs would either be burned to a crisp or die when the gate was finally closed. A lot of moving parts, but you believed in your rag-tag group.
“You good?” Steve asked.
“You kidding? Who doesn’t want to blow off a date for this?” You smirked.”Would rather torch a tunnel than have to spend any time with that asshole ever again.”
He chuckled.”Yeah. I know what you mean. Why’d you agree to one anyways?”
“Oh my god, this is really not the time for that, Steve.”
“But you’ll tell me later?”
You shrugged.”If all goes according to plan? Sure.”
“Okay, we’re finished.” Lucas told you.”Pretty sure we’ve covered every inch of this place.”
“Nice work.” You said.”Then it’s time.”
You all stood back, far away from the areas you’d doused.
Steve threw his lighter and you watched as the vines shrivelled and died.
“We need to go-now!” You rushed.
“Go! Go!”
Everyone began to run from the fire, heading back to the entrance.
“Keep going!” You encouraged, not knowing if what you did made any difference at all. Did Nancy and the Byer’s manage to save Will? Were Hopper and Eleven close to the gate yet?
You couldn’t think about that stuff yet, you all needed to make it out of the tunnels.
“Run, Dustin!”
“This way!” Steve urged.
Mike was just behind you when he fell, yelling out for help.
You saw a vine try to crawl up his body.
“Help! Help!”
“Not today!” You chopped it and it shrieked. Mike scrambled to get up but you held out your hand.
“Go, Mike!” You pushed him away.
Steve came back and smashed another vine with the bat.
That’s when you heard the distinct growling of a demo-dog. You turned to see that is was Dart. You all froze.
Dustin began to move.
“Dustin…” you said slowly.”Don’t you even dare to-“
He stepped forward.”Dustin, get back.”
“Trust me, please.” He said as he made his way closer to his former pet.
“I swear to god, Dusty.” You said, holding up your swords in case Dart tried to attack. You’d already let too much happen to your baby brother. You weren’t about to let him get hurt down there.
Dart walked over to Dustin as Dustin spoke to it, placating the demo-dog.
Your brother offered it candy and it was definitely placated. The others passed by quietly and you had to hand it to Dustin, it was quick thinking on his part. You were just relieved that it even worked, yet not relieved enough to let your guard down.The creature ate candy while you walked away, scot free. When you were far enough away you began to run back for the entrance again. Roaring sounded from behind you, causing you to turn momentarily.
“What is that?” Max asked.
“Oh hell.” You panicked.”Run!”
“Let’s go! We are nearly there!” Steve hurried the kids along.”come on, come on!”
He began to lift them up to the rope, one by one.
But it was too late for you. Dustin, Steve, and you were all still in the tunnel with demo-dogs right on your tail. You breathed and held up your swords, waiting for the onslaught, just praying you’d be able to protect your brother.
Yet, the onslaught never came. It was like someone you were Moses and the demo-dogs parted on either side of you like the Red Sea.
You looked up to the kids.
“Eleven.” Mike said.
She was doing it. She was closing the gate. Which meant Will must’ve been saved.
“No time to dwell.” You said.”Let’s get out of here.”
You and Steve grabbed Dustin, lifting him up so the kids could grab him.
“Your turn.” Steve told you and slid his hands together to make you a step.
“You sure?” You asked back.
“Get up there.” He nodded.
Once above ground, you turned to offer your hand to pull Steve out, which he accepted.
Finally out of there, you had to squint as the lights on Billy’s car got impossibly brighter.
Eleven. She was getting close to closing the Gate, you could tell.
And when the lights dimmed you let out a breath you didn’t know you’d been holding all this time.
“It’s over.” Mike said.”It’s over.”
You grabbed Dustin and held onto him tight, nearly smothering him.
“Thank god.”
———————————————————————-A month passed and things were getting back to the new normal. Nancy had filled you in on what she was doing with Jonathan, sparing no detail as she recounted everything from the Halloween Party to when she had seen you back near the lab. You, in turn, had filled her in on the whole Steve situation plus the Billy thing. She wasn’t too proud of you for that but understood when you explained how you were trying to protect the kids. Thanks to her efforts though, the Holland’s finally had answers for Barb’s death. Even though a small amount of people knew the real story of Barb, everyone else would have closure for her death.
You attended the funeral with Nancy, holding her hand the entire time. It was nice to put it behind you. You’d never forget Barb.
The night of the middle school dance was upon you. The Snowball was really fun, you’d remembered attending it when you were in middle school. You volunteered along with Nancy and Jonathan, figuring it’d be a good way to keep an eye on your siblings. Plus it was a chance to dress up a bit, seeing as you hadn’t worn a real dress in a while.
When you were finished getting ready, you helped Dustin get ready for the dance while your mom did what she usually did, sat on the couch and pet the cat.
“Son of a bitch! Son of a bitch!” He cursed as he stormed out of the room.
“Dustin, I swear-“ you had just finished tying his bow tie.
“Where did you see it last?” Your mom asked him.
“Right here. Where I put it.” He showed her the empty space on the counter where a bag was supposed to be.
“What’s so important about it anyways?” She asked him. To be honest, you weren’t so sure yourself.
“Yeah Dusty, you look great. Although part of it is my doing.” You tried to make him smile.
He found the bag and ran back to his room.
“Don’t need you to help anymore, Y/N.” He told you from the other side of the door.
“You sure?” You asked.
“I’m fine. You should head out, Steve is coming to pick me up.”
“Alright. I’ll be there when you arrive.” You said and stopped by your mom before you headed out.
“Take care of him, okay?” She asked.
“Always do, Ma.” You smirked.”Someone has to.”
You gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before grabbing your bike keys. Who said you couldn’t drive it in a dress?
“Hey, I’m going to go go see if Dustin is here yet.” You told Nancy, stepping away from her side near the punch bowl.
She nodded, but her thoughts were far from it as she was staring wistfully at Jonathan. You chuckled at her but headed outside before you could dwell more on your love-struck best friend.
When you got outside you saw Steve’s car at the drop off, Dustin in the front seat.
You smiled, seeing his cool new hairstyle as he got out of the car. His hair was up and sprayed to high heaven, a Harrington special if you had to guess.
You headed towards him, patting his shoulder instead of his now perfectly quaffed hair.
“Looking pretty cool, kid. Head on in, I’ll just be a minute.” You told him.
He smiled back, looking a little nervous.
Steve hadn’t left yet, so you leaned up against the open window.”
“Just wanted to say thanks.” You told him.
“It’s fine; I was on the way.” He shrugged.
“No, not about the ride. You really came through for Dustin and everyone. You’re not such a bad guy, Harrington.”
He smiled.
“So thanks for everything.” You said.
“Yeah, no problem.” He shrugged.
A smile graced your face before you turned around with a wave.
“Oh, and Y/N?” Steve said.
“Yeah?”
“You clean up nice.” He commented.
You could only chuckle.”Keep it in your pants, Harrington.”
Nancy was running the punch station while Jonathan took pictures for the kids. Your were helping Mr.Clarke with tickets at the entrance, smiling and talking to him while the kids were inside having fun.
But when you looked back into the gymnasium Dustin was by himself on the bleachers, looking dejected.
That was until you saw Nancy walk over to him, holding out her hand and pulling him to the dance floor.
You smiled widely. You loved Nancy dearly, and would thank her profusely for helping him out. He looked happy dancing with her, and you just knew he was going to remember this.
After everything you’d all been through, they’d remember the quiet moments like this. And so would you.
The Demigod From Asgard - Steve Rogers x Reader Masterlist
The Demigod From Asgard - Steve Rogers x Reader Masterlist
A/N: ITS FINALLY HERE AFTER 6 YEARS OF WORKING ON IT!!!
This is an insanely long series as it will follow the events of the entire Infinity Saga from The Avengers to Endgame and a little further. Therefore it will contain MAJOR SPOILERS for the infinity saga!
Pairing: Steve Rogers x Odinson!Reader
Summary: After being taken from earth as a baby by your father Odin, you finally get the chance to visit your home planet. To save it from your older brother Loki. Using your powers over the elements you help the Avengers defeat him, finding a new home and friends.
Warnings: Torturously slow slow burn! Language! Angst! Fluff! Alcohol Consumption! Canon typical violence! Description of Blood and Injuries! Character Deaths! SMUT 18+ ONLY! More detailed warnings will be given with each chapter.
Status: Complete
Dividers by @firefly-graphics
Follow @secretswiftymarvelfanlibrary for update notifications
Part 1: Fell straight from heaven
Part 2: Galaga and Flying Monkeys
Part 3: Lack of Conviction
Part 4: The Battle of New York
Part 5: Some Shawarma and a See You Later
Part 6: Time to Catch Up
Part 7: Visiting Some Old Friends
Part 8: Back to School
Part 9: Everyone needs a hot lunch
Part 10: The First Mission
Part 11: A Lot Of Thanks To Give
Part 12: Reality Gone Haywire
Part 13: A Hesitant Hello and Sad Goodbye
Part 14: Imitation Games
Part 15: Not an Illusion
Part 16: Converge on Greenwich
Part 17: Coney Island
Part 18: Modernisation and a couple of tricks
Part 19: Freeze The Room
Part 20: Even Gods Get Sick
Part 21: Not my idea of a cruise
Part 22: Get with the program Cap
Part 23: Ears and Eyes Everywhere
Part 24: Kinda Feels Personal
Part 25: Honeymoon Planning
Part 26: Return of the Dead
Part 27: Everything Goes
Part 28: Making Room
Part 29: Moving Day
Part 30: Follow the trail
Part 31: Scary Big Brother
Part 32: Camp Harmony
Part 33: The Wrong Hostage
Part 34: Things that go bang in the night*
Bonus Chapter: Scary Good Time (Takes place at the same time as Part 34)
Bonus Chapter: Slow Mornings *
Part 35: A Trip Back In Times*
Part 36: A Year On*
Part 37: A Field Trip To Sokovia
Part 38: JARVIS, We got a buggy suit
Part 39: Firecracker Girlfriend
Part 40: They Have To Evolve
Part 41: That was Strange
Part 42: Son of a bitch
Part 43: You need to rest
Part 44: The Princess of Asgard*
Part 45: A bit of planning and some broken tiles *
Part 46: Fighting your double
Part 47: A big day and long night*
Part 48: The List*
Part 49: Hot and Bothered*
Part 50: Magic Mistletoe
Part 51: The rat that didn’t drown
Part 52: Your Buddy, Your Bucky
Part 53: Electromagnetic Headache
Part 54: Honourable Discharge
Part 55: Making Things Worse
Part 56: Mission Report: December 16th 1991
Part 57: Battered and Bruised
Part 58: Prison Break
Part 59: Night Terrors
Part 60: Welcome to Asgard
Part 61: Not Inadequate*
Part 62: A Skeleton In The Closet
Part 63: Chicken Noodle Soup
Part 64: A New Home*
Part 65: Out of the Ice*
Part 66: Steve the Goat*
Part 67: Pink or Blue
Part 68: Shred Of Hope
Part 69: Dramatic Arrival
Part 70: It’s all a bit too much
Part 71: A Big Day*
Part 72: We Don’t Trade Lives
Part 73: Get This Man A Shield
Part 74: Battle of Wakanda
Part 75: The Ones Left Behind
Part 76: The Garden
Part 77: The Five Stages to Moving On
Part 78: Finding Scout
Part 79: First Day Nerves
Part 80: Up In The Stars
Bonus Drabble: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story
Part 81: I Don’t Like Bullies
Part 82: A Chance
Part 83: A Bigger Brain
Part 84: The EPR Paradox
Part 85: Time to Brainstorm
Part 86: The Time Heist
Part 87: A Soul For A Soul
Part 88: Time Messed Back
Part 89: The Aftermath
Part 90: Bigger Than The Whole Sky
Part 91: One Last Mission
Part 92: Teething Problems
Part 93: Back To Work
Part 94: Birthday Boys
Part 95: Last To Leave The Party*
This fic has been sitting in my likes and I just have to re-blog because every time I finish it I just restart it all over again!
Alright, some good news coming your way, my dear followers.
I will definitely be continuing “It’s Simply a Henderson Thing” soon, just needed to get my head back into Stranger Things mood. So the next chapter (last chapter of season 2) will come out sometime next week.
And a super big announcement!
I’m starting Marvel Fanfics! I’ve got 6 Bucky Barnes fics in the works, outlines and all! Hoping to show you some of that in the upcoming weeks here.
Plus, I realized I haven’t been reblogging my fave fics so I’m gonna go through my likes and re-blog the ones I’ve come back to time and time again so that you all can enjoy them as much as I have. They are mostly Marvel recs, but they are fantastic!
It’s Simply a Henderson Thing, Season 2, Chapter 7
(Happy New Year dear followers. Coming at you with probably one of the most bulky chapters of season 2. Been dealing with life stuff and didn’t queue this one up but here it is now. Please enjoy the latest chapter under the cut!)
You followed the train tracks back with Steve and the kids, trepidation in every step.
“You’re positive that was Dart?” Lucas asked Dustin.
“Yes. He had the same exact yellow pattern on his butt.”
“It did look like him.” You answered behind you, taking stock of the two who joined you.
“But he was tiny two days ago.” Max said in disbelief.
“Well, he’s molted three times already.”
“Malted?” Steve asked.”like chocolate?”
“Molted.” You corrected, smacking him on the arm.“Shedding skin to make room for growth.”
“Like horn-worms.” Dustin gave as an example.
“When will he molt again?” Max asked.
“It’s gotta be soon.”
“Based on the rate of growth, I’d say a few hours, most likely.” You said.
“When he does, he’ll be fully grown, or close to it. And so will his friends.”
“Yeah, and he’s gonna eat a lot more than just cats.” Steve said darkly.
Lucas stopped Dustin, causing the rest of you to stop as well.
“Wait, a cat?” He asked. “Dart ate a cat?”
“No, what? No.”Dustin lied.
You sighed. “Dart ate Mews.”
“Mews?“ Max asked. “Who’s Mews?”
“It’s the Henderson's cat.” Steve clarified for her.
“Steve!” Dustin yelled, like it was some huge secret.
Apparently it was a secret, because Lucas was smacking Dustin.
“I knew it! You kept him!”
“You didn’t tell them?!” You almost shouted at your brother.
“No!” Dustin tried to deny it. “No.”
He was stammering. You loved the kid but sometimes he was so dense.
“No,I…No,I…” He breathed. “He missed me. He wanted to come home.”
“Bullshit!” Lucas called him out on it.
“I didn’t know he was a Demogorgan, okay? Not even Y/N did, either!”
“Hey, don’t lump me in with you.” You responded.
“Oh, so now you admit it?”
“Guys, who cares? We have to go.” Max urged.
“I care! You put the party in jeopardy! You broke the rule of law!”
Knowing the boys, he kind of did break the rule of law.
“So did you!” Dustin leveled back at his friend.
“What?” Lucas sounded confused.
“What’s going on?” Steve asked you specifically.
“It’s DnD stuff, you’re probably too cool to understand.” You whispered.
“You told a stranger the truth!” Dustin shone his flashlight at max when he said stranger.
She scoffed. “A stranger?”
“You wanted to tell her too!” Lucas defended his actions.
“Yeah. But I didn’t, Lucas, okay?” Dustin was full on yelling at that point. “I didn’t tell her! We both broke the rule of law, okay, so we’re even. We’re even.”
You stopped. You could hear something…it was faint but something. Steve was heading off, maybe he heard it too. Behind you, Lucas was still arguing with Dustin.
“No, no! We’re not even. Don’t even try that. Your stupid pet could have ate us for dinner!”
You followed along with Steve instead of listening in to the kids drama.
“You hear that, right?” You asked Steve.
He nodded to you.
“That was not my fault!” You heard Dustin in the background.
“Guys?” Steve asked, signalling them.
They weren’t paying attention in the slightest.
“Guys! Cut it out!” You yelled at them, making them shut up immediately.
“Sorry, Y/N.” Lucas said.
“Yeah. Sorry, Y/N.” Dustin said too.
You motioned them with your head, and followed the noises. Following it, you all ended up across the tree line, looking out over the town. Lucas lifted his binoculars, searching for the source of the screeching.
“It’s the lab.” He said, slowly lowering the spy glasses. “They were going back home.”
The group ran to Hawkins Lab, hoping to get there in time to at least try and help the situation. You knew you were all woefully unprepared but at least you had weapons and had seen the enemy up close. As you got close you could see Jonathan Byers’ car just outside the gate. And you saw Nancy. Oh god, Nancy!
“Steve?” Both of them said in unison.
Then Nancy, breathing in relief, said your name.
“Nancy.” You had been so worried about her, so you wrapped your arms around her tight.
“Sorry I didn’t call.” She looked to you then said “What are you doing here?” to Steve.
“What are you doing here?” Steve asked back.
“We’re looking for Mike and Will.” She explained.
Definitely didn’t explain her absence for the last few days though.
“They aren’t in the lab are they?” You asked.
“We’re not sure.” Nancy answered.
“Why?” Jonathan asked, concerned.
And just in time, there was a telltale screech of one of the demogogran dogs.
They had to know…
———————————————————————
The Lab’s lights came back on as the kids tried to piece together information with Jonathan.
“The power’s back.” Nancy noticed and informed you.
“The gate!” You sprung to action, running back down to the car with the gang.
The gate wasn’t opening, not with whatever Jonathan was going in the booth.
Dustin got in his way, which he did quite a lot. But to his avail, the gate didn’t move an inch.
“Come on, come on.” You pleaded.
“Son of a bitch.” Dustin said in defeat.
Just as you were tying to figure out another way in, the gate began to slide open.
“Hey! I got it!” Dustin cheered, chuckling.”I got it!”
You stood at the gate with the others, holding Nancy’s hand between her and Steve.
You hung back while Jonathan grabbed whoever survived the attack. It was nerve wracking to say the least. You didn’t know who was in there or if there was even anyone who wasn’t dead in the Lab.
“Guys?” Max alerted the five of you to look towards the lab.
Two cars came screeching and honking down the road. One passing you quickly, the other stopping to reveal Hopper.
“Let’s go!”
You didn’t need to be told twice, hopping in the car in the only available seat, the one between Steve and Hopper in the front.
Hopper sped off quickly, driving as fast as he could.
———————————————————————
You weren’t sure what to say once you’d all gotten to safety at the Byers’ house. You weren’t even sure what to do, either. All you could think of was to sharpen your knives as the kids waited at the table.
“Think we will have to fight again?” Steve asked.
“I think…it’s a genuine possibility and I want to be ready.” You shrugged. He nodded and looked away. The pause gave you a moment that you needed.
“Look, about the bus.” You started.
He looked back at you.
“Thanks.” You stated. “Probably saved my life back there.”
He searched your eyes for a moment before saying. “No, yeah. No problem.”
You gave him a sincere smile.
“I should uh-check on Nancy.” You said.
“Right.” He swallowed while you walked away.
“Hey.” You put a hand on her shoulder as she looked over Jonathan and Will.
“Hey.” She said back.
“You okay?”
“I will be. What about you? Knives back again, I see.”
“Yeah, well…better safe than sorry.”
She nodded with understanding.
“I will…I’ll tell you about all this. I will.”
“I know. And I’ll tell you about uh-“
You didn’t know how to approach the conversation. How you ended up hanging around with Steve, her recent ex.
“I know.” She said. “And I’m sorry for not telling you about any of this…”
You smiled softly at her. “All I care about is that you weren’t in that lab. That I still have a best friend.”
“Yeah.” She nodded. “We’re both still here.”
You hugged her, letting her feel the relief it was to have her with you again.
———————————————————————
You leaned on the counter near Steve as the kids wallowed a little. It was solemn, of course. Will was a victim of the upside down yet again and Bob…poor Bob had just been killed. Then Mike got up.
“Did you guys know that Bob was the original founder Hawkins AV?” Mike asked.
“Really?” Lucas asked back.
Mike turned. “He petitioned the school to start it and everything. Then he had a fund -raiser for equipment. Mr.Clarke learned everything from him. Pretty awesome, right?”
He walked back to the table. You smiled sadly. Mike placed the small blue block on the table.
“We can’t let him die in vain.”
“What do you want to do, Mike? The Chief’s right on this. We can’t stop those Demo-dogs on their own.”
You rolled your eyes a little at the semi-clever wordplay. Dustin was always doing stuff like that.
“I don’t know Mike…when it was just Dart, probably.” You shrugged.
“But there’s a whole army now.” Lucas added.
“Precisely.” Dustin agreed.
“His army.” Mike said softly.
He looked as if he had an idea.
You looked at him, curiously.
“What do you mean?” Steve asked.
“His army!” Mike repeated. “Maybe if we stop him, we can stop his army, too.”
You all looked at each other before following Mike to whatever plan he was clearly formulating. He grabbed a drawing.
“Is that the shadow monster?” You asked.
“It got Will that day on the field.” Mike told Max and the boys. “The doctor said it was like a virus, it infected him.”
“And so is this virus, it’s connecting him to the tunnels?” Max asked.
“To the tunnels, monsters, the Upside Down, everything.” He confirmed.
“Whoa. Slow down. Slow down.” Steve raised his hands.
“Keep up, Harrington.” You said.
“The shadow monster is inside everything. And if the vines feel something like pain, then so does Will.”
“And so does Dart.” Lucas surmised.
“Yeah. Like what Mr.Clarke taught us. The Hive Mind.”
“Hive mind?” Steve asked.
You could punch him for being so stupid but it wasn’t the time.
“A collective consciousness. It’s a super-organism.” Dustin explained to your peer.
“And this is the thing that controls everything. It’s the brain.” Mike pointed.
“Oh shit, like the Mind Flayer.” You realized suddenly. Thank god for your DnD knowledge.
Dustin’s eyes went wide. “Y/N! You’re a genius!”
They all looked to you. “I have my moments.”
“The what?” Max and Steve asked.
“Oh please tell me Will’s got a few books-” you started to say.
“I’ll get them.” Mike nodded.
———————————————————————
“The Mind Flayer.” Dustin began, pointing to the picture.
“What the hell is that?” Hopper raised a brow.
“In layman’s terms? A monster from an unknown dimension.” You turned to him.
“And so ancient that it doesn’t even know it’s true home.” Dustin kept going.
“It enslaves races of other dimensions by essentially taking over their brains using its highly-developed psionic powers.”
“Oh, my God, none of this is real. This is a kid’s game.” Hopper complained.
“No, it’s a manual. And it’s not for kids. And unless you know something that we don’t, this is the best metaphor-“
“Analogy.” Lucas corrected mid-sentence.
“Analogy? That’s what you’re worried about? Fine. An analogy for understanding whatever the hell this is.”
Nancy piped up. “Okay, so this mind flamer thing-“
“Flayer, Nance, Mind Flayer.” You said.
“Right, what does it want?”
“To conquer us, basically. It believes it’s the master race.” Dustin explained.
“Like the Germans?” Steve stammered.
“The Nazis, Steve?” You asked back.
“Uh, yeah yeah. The Nazis.”
“If the Nazis were from another dimension, totally. Uh, it views other races, like us, as inferior to itself.”
“It wants to spread, take over other dimensions.” Mike continued.
“We are taking about the destruction of our world as we know it.” Lucas said.
“That’s great. That’s great. That’s really great. Jesus!” Steve had to walk away, clearly overwhelmed.
Nancy leaned in to see the book.
“If this thins is like a brain that’s controlling everything, then if we kill it…”
“We kill everything it controls.” Mike finished her thought.
“and we win.” You nodded.
“Theoretically.” Lucas responded.
Hopper came over and took the book.
“Great. So how do you kill this thing? Shoot it with fire balls or something?”
Dustin chuckled incredulously. “No. No, no fire-No Fireballs. Uh, you summon an undead army, uh because…” he stammered. “…because zombies, you know, they don’t have brains, and the mind flayer, it…it…It likes brains.”
You pinched the bridge of your nose in embarrassment.
“It’s just a game. It’s a game.” Dustin said.
“What the hell are we doing here?” Hopper slammed the book down.
“I thought we were waiting for your military backup.” Dustin called after the Chief.
“We are!”
“How are they going to stop this?” Mike genuinely asked. “You can’t just shoot this with guns.”
He had a point, these things were resilient.
“You don’t know that! We don’t know anything!” Hopper replied.
“We know it’s already killed everybody in that lab.”
“We know it’s going to molt again.” You said.
“We know it’s only a matter of time before those tunnels reach this town.”
“They’re right.” A voice said.
You all looked over to see Joyce coming into the room.
“We have to kill it.” She said, her voice slightly ragged. Hopper made his way over to her. “I want to kill it.” She told him.
“Me, too.” Hopper agreed. “Me, too, Joyce, okay? But how do we do that?we don’t exactly know what we’re dealing with here.”
“No.” Mike interrupted. “But he does. If anyone knows how to destroy this thing, it’s Will. He’s connected to it. He’ll know it’s weakness.”
“I thought we couldn’t trust him anymore.” Max questioned. “That he’s a spy for the mind flayer now.”
“Yeah, but he can’t spy if he doesn’t know where he is.”
———————————————————————
You helped Hopper throw things out of the shed, cleaning it out so that it could work as a place to house Will. The work was quick with many hands and you focused on the task at hand.
Once it was empty, all of you put up blockers on every surface. Every square inch of wall was covered in a mismatch of random materials. It was the safest way to ensure that the mind flayer wouldn’t be able to tell where Will was. Sure, it didn’t look all that functional but it would hopefully work for your purposes. Then it was time to get Will into position.
Only a few of them went in to do the interrogating, it would be easier that way.
Then you had to just wait in the house, wait and see what happened.
You stood with Nancy, just holding her hand again.
The lights began to flicker, prompting you to look at her. She looked scared.
“Will.” You said, going to the window.
You hated not knowing what was going on in there.
The flickering stopped after about a minute.
Your managed to get your heartbeat back to normal, but you were running on pure adrenaline at that point.
When this was over you were going to sleep for a whole week.
Nancy breathed beside you.
“Hey, it’s gonna be okay. We will get through this.” You told her.
“I hope you’re right.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The door opened, Hopper stepping through with purpose.
“What happened?” Dustin asked as the Chief got to the table with paper and a pen. You gathered around him.
“I think he’s talking, just not with words.”
He was writing lines and dots.
“What is that?” Steve asked.
“Morse code.” The boys all said in unison.
They were your lovable nerds, of course they knew Morse code.
“H-E-R-E.” Hopper read.”Will’s still in here. He’s talking to us.”
Finally, some hope.
And you had a plan.
Someone would relay the message through a hidden walkie, the boys in the house would translate it with Nancy’s help and you’d write it down.
“Okay, what does it say?” Steve asked.
Nancy held out out.
“Close Gate.” You all said at the same time.
Then the phone rang. Oh god, the phone!
Dustin went to hang it up. But it kept ringing so Nancy unceremoniously ripped it off the wall.
“Do you think-“ you asked.
“Just a phone. Could be anywhere.” Steve said.
It was just a few moments before you could hear screeching in the distance.
“That’s not good.” Dustin said.
“Y’think!?” You nearly shouted.
The others came back into the house.
“Hey, hey! Get away from the windows!” Hopper instructed.
Hopped held a gun out to Jonathan.
“Do you know how to use this?”
“What?” He asked back.
“Can you use it?” Hopper asked again.
“No, but she can.” You pointed to Nancy.
Hopper tossed her the gun, she winked at you.
Then you joined the front line with your Kukris, the kids standing behind you.
The screeching got closer.
“Where are they?” Max wondered.
There was thudding on the other side of the house, causing you to spin to the side.Then snarling at the front again, making you even more jumpy.The noises were unbearable, you didn’t like being toyed with.Then the screeching stopped and a dead demo-dog flew through the window. It crashed against the wall and slumped to the floor.
What the hell?
What had killed it?
“Holy shit.” Dustin breathed out.
“Is-is it dead?” Max asked.
Hopper nudged it with his boot, it’s body lifeless.There was movement by the door.The lock turned quickly.You got in battle stance as the chain lock slid.The door slowly opened, someone stepping inside.
Your jaw dropped as did your knives.
It was her.
It was Eleven.
It’s Simply a Henderson Thing-Season 2, Chapter 6
(Alright, moving along again as I get the motivation to do so. There is a lot going on in this one so I apologize in advanced, but please enjoy!)
You sat in the back seat, making sure you could see the both of them from your vantage point. After Dustin had explained about his new little pet, the conversation went silent. All that could be heard were crappy songs on the radio, which said far too much about Harrington’s music taste.
Steve finally broke the tension.
“Wait a sec. How big?” Steve asked.
“First it was like that.” Dustin motioned with his fingers. “Now he’s like this.” His arms went wide.
“Is he for real?” Steve turned to look at you.
“Saw it with my own eyes Steve.” You replied, hoping he would be smart enough to realize you weren’t joking.
“I swear to God, Hendersons, it’s just some little lizard, okay?”
You scoffed, there goes the notion of him being smart. Same old Steve.
“It’s not a lizard.” Dustin argued.
“How do you know?”
“How do we know it’s not a lizard?” You asked.
“How do you know it’s not just a lizard?!”
“Because his face opened up and he ate our cat!” Dustin’s voice raised.
Steve got quiet at that.
“And you couldn’t just deal with it?” Steve asked you.
“What do I look like? Wonder Woman?” You rolled your eyes. “Obviously I could use my knives but I’d rather some assistance from someone who isn’t a child.”
He just gave you a tired nod.
You got back to the house and Steve got his bat out. You stared at it for a moment, thinking about how ridiculous and unreal it was that you had to fight monsters again.
———————————————————————
You waited with Dustin while Steve approached the storm cellar. With a flashlight and a bat in hand, he leaned in.
“I don’t hear shit.” He looked to you.
“He’s in there.” Dustin assured.
“We saw him go in.” You pulled out your kukris slowly.
Steve tapped the metal. Softly at first, then another, louder bang.
“All right, listen. I swear, if this is some sort of Halloween prank, or revenge for something, you’re both dead.”
“It’s not.” Dustin said.
You believed the severity of your face would convey the seriousness of the situation.
“All right?” He asked again.
“It’s not a prank, Steve.” You sighed. “Can you just-“ motioning to the cellar with the tip of your knife.
“Get the light out of my face.” Dustin squinted.
“Got a key?” Steve asked.
You nodded and grabbed it out of your pocket, holding it up.
Steve opened the cellar doors, one at a time.
You had your knives out, just in case the little bugger decided to fly out at Steve.
Dustin pointed his light into the room, all the way down the stairs.
There was no sign of Dart.
“He must be further in.” Dustin suggested.
“Stay here in case he tries to escape, okay?” You told Dustin.
Steve looked at you, incredulously.
“What? You know it’s safer for everyone if he stays up here and I go with you.”
Steve sighed and began descending the stairs with you, holding out the light.
You followed closely, eyes searching in the dark to no avail.
You clicked on the main light.
That’s when the both of you noticed something on the ground, something squidgy.
When Steve picked it up with the bat you made a disgusted face.
“What the…” you tried not to gag at the look of it. It was like skin, but viscous and see-through.
“Look.” Steve motioned with his head.
You followed him to the back wall.
Steve motioned to Dustin from the bottom of the stairs, showing him the skin.
Dustin came down for a better look.
“Oh shit.” Dustin swore. “He’s gotten bigger then.”
“That’s not all.” You said, nodding to Steve.
He pointed the light towards the wall.
“Oh, shit!” Dustin said again.
There was a huge hole in the concrete.
You all got closer, shining the light through what seemed to be a large tunnel. But there was no end.
Dart had escaped.
———————————————————————
You helped Steve unload the buckets of meat from his trunk. The plan was to try and lure Dart back to the junkyard somehow and eventually kill it. You weren’t thrilled you’d have to fight again but maybe this was your life now. You didn’t get peace, you didn’t get a normal teenage life, you got monsters and mayhem.
Still, it was kind of metal in a way.
Dustin’s radio cracked to life, Lucas had gotten back to him finally.
You grabbed a bucket and began walking with the two boys along the old train tracks.
“All right.” Steve piped up. “So let me get this straight. You kept something you knew was probably dangerous in order to impress a girl?”
“I tried to tell him.” You said to Steve, shrugging at your little brothers antics.
“That’s grossly oversimplifying things.” Dustin defended.
“Why would a girl like some nasty slug anyway?”
“Exactly my point, Dusty.” You said to your brother who was walking in front of you.
“It’s an interdimensional slug! It’s different and it’s awesome.”
“Even if she thought it was cool, which she didn’t-“
“She definitely wouldn’t.” You added.
“I…I just. I don’t know. I just feel like you’re trying way to hard here.” Steve assured Dustin.
“Well, not everyone can have your perfect hair, all right?”
Your face fell a little at that. Dustin had clearly been going through something with his first real crush and you’d been so busy with Nancy that you hadn’t even noticed. You didn’t even know who he was crushing on!
“It’s not about the hair, man.” Steve sighed.
You looked to him, curiously.
“The key with girls is just…just acting like you don’t care.”
You scoffed loudly. “Are you kidding me, Harrington?”
“What? It works.” Steve levelled back.
“But what if I do care?”
“You should!” You disagreed with Steve.
“Nah, it’s exactly the point. Ignore them, Drives them nuts.”
You rolled your eyes. “That is just-”
“Well, then what?”
“You just wait until uh, until you feel it.”
“Feel what, Steve?” You pressured him for an answer.
“It’s like before it’s gonna storm, you know? You can’t see if, but you can feel it, like this, uh…electricity, you know?”
He wasn’t exactly wrong on that but his advice to your brother was not sound in the least, especially not for a middle schooler.
“Like the electromagnetic field when the clouds in the atmosphere-”
You chuckled to yourself, adorable and naive.
“No no no no. Like a…like a sexual electricity.”
“Steve!” You smacked his arm. “Inappropriate.”
“No no, if he feels it then he makes his move.” Steve told you.
“Oh.” Dustin seemed to get it, which you didn’t want. “And that’s when you kiss her?”
“Absolutely not!” You yelled at the same time Steve said,“No, whoa whoa.”
“Slow down Romeo.” Steve added.
Dustin apologized.
“Some girls, yeah, they want you to be aggressive. You know, strong, hot and heavy, like a…I don’t know. Like a lion.”
You cocked a brow at the man. “Seriously? Does that ever work for you?”
He shrugged. “Sometimes.”
You shook your head at his ridiculousness.
He smiled a little at you.
“Others, you gotta be real slow, you gotta be stealthy, like a…like a ninja.”
“A ninja?!” How absolutely insane was Steve?
“What type is Nancy?” Dustin asked.
Steve stopped. Then he looked to you.
You cocked a brow, daring him to categorize your best friend who up until recently he had been dating. He gulped a little.
“Nancy is different. She’s…she’s different than any of those types.”
“She’s pretty special.” Dustin said. “I guess.”
“Yeah, yeah she is.”
You took a moment, watched as they went up ahead.
Out of the entire year of hanging out with him and Nancy, you really hadn’t gotten to know him that well.
You didn’t know how much he felt for her…
And now you felt bad that she’d gone off who knows where and left him behind.
Maybe…maybe he wasn’t all that bad.
You caught back up to them after shaking those thoughts out of your head. You had a job to do.
“You’re not falling in love with this girl, are you?” Steve asked.
“Wait, are you?” You asked.
Dustin looked between the two of you.
“Uh, no. No. I’m not.”
“Good, don’t.” Steve said.
“I won’t.” Dustin held up his hands.
“She’s only going to break your heart, and you’re way to young for that shit.”
Finally something you could agree on.
You kept tossing meat on the tracks.
There was a small silence.
“Y/N, can you hang back a sec?” Steve asked you, motioning to Dustin.
“What? Why?” You asked.
“Just…please?” Steve nearly begged.
You squinted suspiciously at him. “All right, but if you fill Dustin’s head with nonsense I will kill you. I am capable of it, you know that.”
“It’s not like that, just-please?”
You sighed but agreed, hanging back while they went ahead. They talked for a little bit and you started a slow pace behind them.
———————————————————————
You made it to the old junkyard easily, piling the last bits of meat in the centre.
“I said medium well!” You heard, turning to see Lucas along with the young redhead.
“Who’s that?” Steve asked Dustin.
You looked at Dustin, whose face had just fallen dramatically.
Oh no. Was this the girl he liked? Had you completely screwed things up for him by being so accommodating for Lucas? Had you agreed to a date with Billy Hargrove for no good reason?
“I have to talk to Lucas.” He said.
“Fine. Steve and I can start on setup.” You replied.
So you got to work moving things in the yard, grunting with the effort.
Barrels and sheets of metal were moved strategically around the bus and placed to form a trap for whatever you would encounter.
Steve poured gasoline over the meat pile, stepping back to create a line from it to the bus.
Fire had been your idea, seeing as it worked fairly well on the monster from last year.
You holed up in the bus until it got dark enough.
Steve sat down, playing with his lighter while Dustin paced.
“So you really fought one of these things before?” Max, as you’d found out the redheads name, asked you.
You nodded. “Yeah, bigger but yeah.”
“And you’re, like, totally, 100% sure it’s wasn’t a bear?”
“Shit, don’t be an idiot. Okay? It wasn’t a bear.” Dustin piped up.
“Dustin.” You chided.
“Why are you even here if you don’t believe us?” Dustin asked Max.
She stared at him, offended.
“Just go home.” He told her.
She got up. “Geesh. Someone’s cranky. Past his bedtime, huh, Y/N?”
Oof, that was rough.
She headed up the ladder to the bus’ roof.
“That’s good. Just show her that you don’t care.” Steve encouraged.
You shot him a look and smacked him up the back of the head.
“What the hell was that for!?”
Steve held his head, rubbing the sore spot.
“You give terrible advice, that’s why.”
He looked past you to wink at Dustin.
“Don’t.” Dustin shook his head.
Before you could even try and offer better advice to your growing brother, you heard a loud growl outside.
Your head whipped to the window, your body inching closer to get a look.
Steve and Dustin joined you, peaking out between the metal.
“See anything?” You asked.
“No, what’s going on?” Steve asked.
“Lucas! What do you see?” Dustin raised his voice.
“Hold on!” Lucas yelled back.
You waited, with baited breath.
“I’ve got eyes! Ten o’clock.” Lucas suffered.“Ten o’clock!”
You could see it if you squinted. Coming through the fog.
“There.” Steve pointed.
“What’s he doing?” Dustin asked.
“Don’t know.” Steve replied.
It wasn’t really coming closer, your plan wasn’t working.
“Guys, he’s not taking the bait.” You pointed out.
“Why isn’t he taking the bait?” Steve asked.
“Maybe he’s not hungry.” Dustin offered.
There was a pause before Steve said. “Maybe he’s just sick of cow.”
“Now that’s a lovely thought.” You gulped.
Steve stepped back, heading to the door.
“Steve? Steve, what are you doing?” Dustin sounded worried.
Steve grabbed the bat, breathing heavily and holding up his lighter.
“Just get ready.”
“Not without me, you don’t.” You unsheathed your weapons.
Steve nodded and tossed the lighter to Dustin.
Steve went first, cautiously. You followed close behind like you had in the cellar, knives out but not pointed at him.
He whistled, getting closer to Dart.
“Come on buddy.” He said, holding up the bat.
You scanned the area, eyes watching for more danger.
He whistled again.
“Come on, buddy.”
“Dinner time, Dart.”You added.
“Human tastes better than cat, I promise.”
Your stomach churned at the thought of that.
Steve had made it right to the flammable meat pile.
He swung the bat as the creature finally came into view.
“Oh god, that’s not-” you gasped quietly.
Steve got into attack stance.
You got ready too.
Lucas yelled from the top of the bus.
“Y/N! Steve! Watch out!”
You looked to see more than one of the creatures slowly making their way to you.
“Little busy here.” Steve called back.
“No, Steve, look!” You smacked his arm.
“Three o’clock!” Lucas called again.
You both looked to the lizard dog who jumped on top of a car.
“Oh shit.” You said, turning your back to Steve’s.
Dustin opened the bus door.
“Abort! I repeat, abort!” He yelled, worry in his voice.
Suddenly there were attacking. You went low while Steve went high, rolling over a car to escape and then getting one with a bat. You ran to the bus, slicing one of the things in the process.
You ran as fast as you could, but there was one jumping right at you and you didn’t have enough time to stop it.
It flew back before it reached you, rather had.
Steve grabbed your arm and pulled you into the bus, you ended up landing on him.
You blinked at him before rolling off and grabbing something to hold the door closed.
The kids were screaming as one creature made its way in.
You and Steve beat it with your weapons, blood splattering on the walls of the bus.
The whole vehicle was shaking.
And then it wasn’t. It went silent.
It was quiet, eerily so.
Claw-like footsteps sounded on the metal roof of the school bus, slow and menacing.
Max screamed, causing you to run to her aid.
It wasn’t needed though, the creature ran away. It just up and left.
You looked back at Steve. He had probably just saved your life…
He looked at you too.
“We should uh, just double-check, yeah?” You asked him, gulping.
“Y-yeah.”
The five of you headed out slowly. But the coast was clear.
“I don’t think they just ran off.” You said.“That’d be too…easy”
“No. They’re going somewhere.” Steve posited.
And you had to agree, it was the only thing that made sense.
It’s Simply a Henderson Thing-Season 2, Chapter 5
(Moving right along to the next chapter! The action only ramps up from here! Please enjoy!)
Mews was missing, of course she was. Nothing could go right in your life and now your family cat was missing. You spent the whole morning with your mom, searching in and around the house to see where the little feline had run off to.
“Maybe we should look outside some more.” You suggested.
“Good idea. Mom, head outside and Y/N can join you after she checks her room again.” Dustin said.
“My room?” You asked,“But I’ve already-”
“Just once more.” He pleaded at you.
Sighing, you headed down the hall.
You checked again, even though you knew your room was so well organized that no animal could hide in there.
When you got back to the living room Dustin was on the phone.
Funny, you hadn’t hear it ring.
Mom came back inside.
“Dusty, baby, you’re sure she’s not in your room?” She asked as he held the receiver to his ear.
He shushed her. Then you could only hear Dustin’s side of the phone conversation.
“Uh-huh.” He said into the phone.“Thank you so much, Mr.McCorkle. Thank you so much. You are a true lifesaver. All right, this was great. Thank you. All right. Have a good one. Bye-bye, now. All right. You, too.” He hung up.
Yeah, something was fishy about this, you could tell.
“All right, great news.” He smiled at mom.
“They found her?” She asked, hopeful.
“No. But they saw her wandering around Loch Nora.”
She got a little upset. “How did the poor baby get all the way out there?”
“How indeed.” You eyed Dustin suspiciously.
“I don’t know. Lost, I guess. But they’re gonna look for her.” Dustin assured her. “And we will stay here, just in case they call again.”
“Surely I should be-” You began.
“I need you here with me.” He said to you, not elaborating on anything.
“You should go help look, yeah? Yeah?” Dustin asked mom.
Your mother, god bless her, was an emotional woman. Loved her kids and her cat fiercely, but she had a tendency to cry quite a fair bit.
She sobbed a little in relief as she hugged Dustin. She’d learned by now that you didn’t like that much affection so it was easier to give it to your brother.
“Give me a hug.” Dustin smiled.”Now go get her. You’re gonna find her.”
“Okay.” She smiled, heading out the door.
“I love you.” He said and gave her air kisses.
Now you were definitely suspicious of him.
“I love you.” She said back.
As soon as the door closed you turned to him, crossing your arms and waiting for some kind of explanation.
When none was offered, you tapped your foot and raised a questioning brow.
“Follow me.” He said, cryptically.
“Nu-uh. No way. You’re acting completely weird. What the hell is going on?”
“I can explain everything just..follow me.”
You rolled your eyes but did as he asked, following him outside where he opened the storm cellar.
“I’m sorry to tell you this but Mews is dead.”
“Dead?! How!?” You nearly screamed at him.“You know mom loves that cat like a third child, probably even more than she loves me! What on earth happened and why are we-”
“Dart. He’s uh…he ate her.”
You stopped.“Your little…lizard creature is tiny. It couldn’t…”
He didn’t say anything.
“Okay…so he was tiny, then?”
He nodded.“But uh…now he’s in my room and we’ve got to get him out.”
“And into the storm cellar.” You finished the thought.
This whole thing was insane, but familiar.
“Do I need my knives again?” You asked, warily.
“Bring them, just in case…but I want him unharmed.”
He told you the plan to lure Dart out of the room so you helped him set up.
You placed food along in a line for the lizard to follow, like breadcrumbs.
And then Dustin got into protective gear, bulking up.
You grabbed your knives from their secret hiding place and met Dustin at his bedroom door.
“Got my back?” He asked.
“Even though I’m thoroughly pissed at you…Always, kid.”
He gave you an uneasy smile before turning to the door.
“All right, Dart. Breakfast time.”
He opened the door slowly before running down the hall with you, heading to the shed.
You breathed as you looked through the slats of wood, wondering just how big his creature had gotten. Big enough to eat a cat, apparently.
“Come on, I know you’re hungry.” Dustin said to himself.
You squinted, looking at the door to see any movement.
The lizard had become more dog-like as it exited through the door.
You covered your mouth as to not gasp at it.
“What the hell, Dusty!?” You whisper shouted.
“Not the time. Focus!”
The thing slunk down the stairs as it ate sliced deli meat.
“Yes, yes yes yes.” Dustin watched it.
You had to hand it to him, the plan was working.
The creature got closer to the cellar as you tracked its movement.
“Just a little closer.” You begged silently.
It stopped.
Then it’s head turned violently towards you, making you flinch back.
When you leaned in to check again, it was heading towards the shed.
You held your arm over Dustin, kukri ready at your other hand.
He gave you a look. You knew if he couldn’t get the creature into the cellar, you’d have to kill it.
“Get the door.” He whispered.
“Are you crazy?!” You whispered back.“No damn way!”
“I’m going to rush it-”
“Dustin-”
“Now!”
You had no time to think, just opened the door as Dustin shouted a battle cry.
The little creature scurried away from him, allowing your kid brother to use his wooden hockey stick to hit it into the cellar.
“Dustin!”
You ran to get the doors closed in time, only just making it.
You took a few breaths.
“What did I say about keeping things from me?” You asked him.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know he was gonna eat the cat.”
“Not what I’m talking about, Dusty.”
“I know.”
You sighed.“We are gonna need more help.”
“Yeah, I know that too.”
You looked back to the shed, you’d need something to hold those doors closed.
You’d never thought you’d have to dig a grave before. It was only for a cat, but still, it was up there with the weirdest things you had to do since last year. It didn’t rank nearly as high as fighting off a demogorgan with fire and a bear trap but it was still weird.
Dustin had been trying to reach the guys all morning and you had tried to call Nancy but she definitely wasn’t at Stacey’s house and the Wheelers weren’t picking up, or they were busy on another call. You couldn’t really focus on Nancy at that moment, since you apparently had another monster problem to deal with.
Dustin placed Mews into the hole and grabbed the shovel again, beginning to cover the body. You’d both agreed not to tell your mother, knowing how devastated she would be if she found out.
Once the hole was filled, you began to help your brother clean up the evidence while he sent out a code red. But still, no one was answering.
“Could you please shut up?” A voice finally responded.
“Erica? Erica, is Lucas there?” Dustin asked hastily.“Where is he?”
“Don’t know. Don’t care.”
Normally you adored the little girl and her attitude, she was rather hilarious. But at the present moment you really needed all the help you could get.
“Is he with Mike?”
“Like I said, I don’t know and I don’t care.”
“Please tell him it’s super important. Please tell him that I have a code-“
“Code Red?” She asked back.
“Yup, code red. Exactly.”
“Mmm-hmm. I got a code for you instead. It’s called code shut-your-mouth.”
The radio turned to static.
You shook your head.“Oh I’m so remembering this the next time the Sinclair’s need me to babysit.”
Dustin suggested you take his pedal bike to the Wheeler’s house. You agreed, having him hop on the back. You really hoped Nancy would be home for once, you needed her.
You knocked politely on the door while Dustin rang the bell like madman.
Ted Wheeler opened the door after a while.
“Hey, sorry to bother you Ted. Your line has been busy for over two hours.” You explained.
“Do you realize this?” Dustin asked.
“Oh, I do realize.” Mr.Wheeler replied.
“Is Mike home?”
“No.” Ted replied.
“Do you know where he is, at least?” You asked.
The man turned his head to yell into the house.
“Karen, where’s our son?”
“Will’s!” You could hear her yell back.
“Will’s.” Ted relayed the message.
“They aren’t picking up there either.” You said to your brother.
“What about Nancy?” Dustin asked the man.
“Shouldn’t you know that, Y/N?” Ted asked.
“We uh…got separated after stacey’s place.” You lied.
“Karen, where’s Nancy?” Ted yelled back into the house again.
“Ally’s!” You heard her.
“Ally’s.” Ted relayed again.“Our children don’t live here anymore. You didn’t know that?”
“Seriously?” Dustin asked.
“Am I done here?“ Ted sighed.
“Sorry again, Ted.” You offered.
“You’re really no help at all, you know that?” Dustin walked away from the man.
You gave Ted an apologetic look before following your brother.
Before you could leave, you saw Steve’s car approaching the Wheeler’s house.
Dustin gave you a look.
“Oh no. No no no. We aren’t-”
“He’s all that’s available. And you said it yourself, he was helpful last time.”
You groaned, weighing your options. But you couldn’t fight this thing alone and you weren’t risking your brother.
“God, fine.” You rolled your eyes.
Steve got out, holding a bouquet of roses and muttering to himself.
You walked towards him with Dustin.
“Steve.” You said, stopping him in his path.
Steve looked to the two of you.
“Are those for Mr. or Mrs. Wheeler?” Dustin asked.
“No.” Steve said, confused.
“Good.”
Dustin grabbed the bouquet and walked towards the car.
“Hey. What the hell? Hey!” Steve tried to stop him.
“Nancy isn’t home.” You told the guy.
“Where is she?” Steve asked.
You opened your mouth to answer but clearly Dustin had other intentions.
“Doesn’t matter. We have bigger problems than your love life. Do you still have that bat?”
Steve looked to you, then back to Dustin.
“What bat?” He asked, even more confused.
“The one with the nails.” You supplied the answer, hoping he would understand.
“Uh why?”
“We will explain on the way.” Dustin got into the car, taking shotgun.
“Wait…what? Now?” Steve sputtered.
“Yeah, now!” You urged, heading to the car.
It’s Simply a Henderson Thing-Season 2, Chapter 4
(Sorry for the delay, had some not good times at home and couldn’t concentrate for a while but trying to get back into writing since I really want to get through this series)
Nancy hadn’t called you.
You thought maybe she was getting better with her communication skills, but apparently not.
She hadn’t kept her promise to fill you in, so you were once again in the dark about her whereabouts. Not only that but she was purposefully leaving things out.
You got up early the next morning, calling over to the Wheelers house before school.
“Hello?” A familiar female voice answered.
“Morning Karen, is Nancy around?”
“No actually, she’s headed to school and then spending the night with Stacey. Girls night. Aren’t you going?”
Nancy hadn’t said a thing, and it was unlike her to even want to be inherently girly. She didn’t even like Stacey that much anymore.
“Of course! Right, I was just wondering when she left.”You lied.
“She just left less than 5 minutes ago.”
“Thanks Karen.”
“Talk to you soon, Y/N.”
You hung up, wondering just what the hell your supposed friend was up to.
Nancy wasn’t at school. You checked her regular classes and she was just absent, which was definitely unlike her. You felt as each day went on you saw her less and less, you understood her less and less too. She wasn’t talking to you the way she used to.
You headed to your bike after school, still annoyed that you were being ditched by your best friend.
And your annoyance didn’t stop there, because parked next to your baby was that stupid Camaro. It really wasn’t the car’s fault, it had done nothing but be pretty. It was the driver you didn’t much care for.
“Hey Princess, when are you gonna let me take you out?” Billy asked, leaning on the hood of his car, a toothpick in his mouth.
You scoffed. He was far too full of himself.
“Clearly you haven’t gotten the fact that I’m not interested. Do I need to tell you now that you’re sober?” You inquired, arms crossed in front of you.
He played with the toothpick between his lips, moving it to the other side with his tongue.
“One date, I promise you’ll have fun.” He tried to convince you.
You rolled your eyes so hard you thought they’d fall out.
What would it take for him to leave you alone? This new kid was seriously getting on your nerves and you really didn’t have time for it.
Before you could respond with an adamant “No,” you saw his attention elsewhere.
You followed his line of sight to where he was glaring. Lucas was talking to the red headed girl, Billy’s little sister. And by the look on his face, Billy didn’t like it.
You were conflicted. Would you do your brothers friend a favour by making sure he got time alone with the new girl? That would mean spending time with the mullet-sporting Billy Hargrove, which you really didn’t want to do. Not only was he a complete asshole, but you were sure he only wanted to get into your pants.
That wasn’t coming out of nowhere. You’d seen him with several girls already just in the past few days. He had been flirting and pressing in close to them. He’d been completely showy and obvious with it.
His sister was quickly approaching on her skateboard and by the look on Billy’s face you could tell he was itching to yell at her.
“Fine.” You replied quickly,breaking him from his current line of thought.
His head whipped back to you, his annoyance and anger melting. It was replaced by his stupid cocky smirk.
“But-” You added,“It has to be the day after tomorrow.”
He seemed confused at that.
“I tutor a few people and don’t have much time, so you’ll have to take what you can get.”
You lied a little. It was very true that you were pretty busy with your tutoring schedule, but that wasn’t the reason. It was for Lucas. The kid had a crush and you were going to make sure he got to see it through.
“Good. Then meet me at the Hawk, 7pm.”
“Looking forward to it, Princess.” He winked before getting in his car.
You wanted to throw up and you instantly regretted your decision.
Lucas was so going to owe you for this.
It’s Simply A Henderson Thing Master-list
Season 1
Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Season 2
Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Season 3
Character Mentions
Season 4
Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
It’s Simply a Henderson Thing-Season 2, Chapter 3
(Moving right along to the next episode. This one is short but again, I love writing it. Enjoy below the cut)
You got home earlier than expected, fully intent on calling over to the Wheeler’s place to see if Nancy had come back home yet. But you were stopped by your mom as soon as you got into the house.
She looked up from her tv program. “I wasn't expecting you back for a while, Y/N. Didn't you have fun at the party?"
You didn't like lying to her but sometimes it was the only way to make her not worry. “It was fine, I just got sick of listening to monster mash on repeat.” You joked.
“Oh but it's so fun!” She hummed the infernal song immediately.
You flashed a fake smile “Dusty back yet?"
“A few minutes ago.” She confirmed, still silently singing and dancing to the song in her head.
You decided to check in on him, wanting to know how his night went and how big his candy haul was that year. You knocked on his door.
“I'm busy, mom!” He called out.
“Not mom.” You called back.
“Y/N!” A loud gasp was heard behind the wood of his door.
It open quickly, with Dustin pulling you into his room by the arm. You paused briefly to wonder why people were so comfortable with manhandling you lately.
“Geez, calm down.” You chided.
“I need to show you something.” He whispered.
“A secret something?” You whispered back, conspiratorially.
He nodded, pulling you along even further. “Watch your step!”
You nearly avoided his turtle on the floor. What was Yurtle doing out of his habitat? Dustin brought you over to the terrarium, lifting the blanket covering the glass.
You waited, looking around for what he was trying to show you.
“Come on out, Dart.” He said.
You looked closer into the glass, not seeing anything amiss. That was until a small creature came out from the faux rock cave. You leaned in, incredibly intrigued but sort of disgusted.
“What is that?” Your brows furrowed.
“I don't know, found it near the trash outside. Named him D'Artagnan. He likes nougat.”
You got a good look at the slimy thing. “Hold on, do you still have those reptile reference books?”
He nodded, cracking one open. “So far I think he might be some sort of frog.”
“Maybe juvenile?" You asked yourself out loud. The small thing made a noise.
“Don't tell mom.” Dustin pleaded with you “She already said I can't have another pet.”
“And you are sure you want to keep this…thing?” You asked, genuinely.
“Yeah, it's so cool!” He's nodded more. You shook your head in vague amusement.
“All right, all right. I sibling swear not to tell, but you have to find out what that thing is so you can take care of it probably, OK?”
“I will! Thanks, Y/N!”
“Yeah, yeah.” You chuckled as he hugged you around your middle.
“Can you drive me to the library tomorrow before school to find more reptile books?"
“Sure.” You replied, taking one last look at the odd creature.
———————————————————————
In the hubbub of Dustin’s new slimy friend, you’d almost forgotten about your own friend who had slipped your grasp for nearly two days.
Luckily you didn’t have to track her down. Nancy found you on break at school. She looked fairly upset. You’d get some answers from her eventually, but first you had to know why she was so upset.
“Can we talk?” She asked, rubbing her arm nervously and gesturing her head.
“Of course.” You replied, following her to a place you could talk in private.
She was looking anywhere but at you, seemingly trying to find the right words to say.
But then you spoke up.
“You gonna tell me what’s up? I’ve been worried…” you put your hand on her shoulder.
“I think-I think Steve and I just broke up.”
“Oh.” You said. That wasn’t where you thought this conversation was going to go. “So this doesn’t have anything to do with the dinner at the Holland house?”
“It does…kind of…”
She trailed off and looked into the distance.
“Nance, please talk to me.”
She sighed. “I just…it’s getting to me. The lying, the coverup, all of it! And Steve doesn’t even care! I just feel so…so..”
She couldn’t articulate it, but you could. You’d been feeling it ever since you left those woods just a year previously.
“Guilty.” You responded for her.
She looked up into your eyes, seeing that you got it.
“You…you aren’t alone in this, Nancy. I…god I wish we’d fought harder or moved quicker. And I wish…I wish I had gone to that party with you…maybe none of this wouldn’t have ever happened..”
“No, no, it’s not your fault!”
“It’s not yours either.” You reminded her. “There was no way to foresee a real life monster taking away our best friend.”
The both of you looked at each other.
“Yeah…still doesn’t help me feeling bad about the Hollands.”
You knew that feeling exactly, it’d been one you’d had to contend with too.
She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. “I think I have to go find Jonathan.”
“Oh?” You asked.
“Apparently I got drunk and he took me home after the fight with Steve. He might know more.”
“Ah.” He seemed to save her quite a lot. “You go find him and catch me up later, okay?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I will.”
It’s Simply a Henderson Thing, Season 2 Chapter 2
(Here we go! Another week, another chapter. I’ve been busy rewatching and writing along. Definitely having more fun writing this season)
“Y/N! Check it out!” Dustin jumped from his door, posing in the hallway in his Ghostbusters costume. The ghostbusters overalls were absolutely adorable on him.
You smiled widely at the kid. “Wow Dustin, you look great!”
You remembered taking him to see Ghostbusters in the summer, he and the boys had begged you to go because they needed a chaperone. Your mom thought it would be too scary but after all of you had been through, a movie wasn’t going to freak them out. It hadn’t. The boys had loved it, quoted it all the rest of the summer and for a while afterwards. You thought you’d get annoyed at the constant quotes and re-enactments but it was nice to see them actually having fun again.
“You’re a perfect Stantz!” You praised. “Absolutely perfect.”
He did a turn around. “I even have a proton pack and a ghost trap!”
“That you do. Come on, mom will want to see the completed look before you head to school.”
“You coming trick or treating with us later?”
“I would, kid, but I’ve got a party to head to tonight. But I guarantee to get you some discount Halloween candy tomorrow.”
“I’ll hold you to it.”
He smiled and the both of you headed to the living room where your mom waited with a camera.
“Pictures! Pictures!” She exclaimed. “Y/N? Where is your costumes?”
You raised a brow at her. “Yeah, unless you want me half naked dressed as Ripley, I am good in this.”
She couldn’t say much to that, you were the smart but difficult one while Dustin was the excitable and slightly unruly one.
But she was enthusiastically snapping pictures of Dustin in the next moment, eager to get as much out of the camera film as possible.
He, of course, was loving it.
“Ma, he’s gonna be late.” You chided her.
“Just a few more, Y/N.” The camera went off repeatedly.
“Well, I’m headed off. Later Dusty.”
“Later!” He called after you.
———————————————————————
You adjusted your vest and fake blaster as you got to Tina’s house. The party was in full swing by the time you got there, with rowdy teens in costumes drinking whatever they could get their hands on. You off-handedly wondered if Hawkins high resident drug dealer would be in attendance but shook the thought off.
Making your way through the throngs of already inebriated partygoers, you tried to spot Nancy. You hadn’t seen her all day and were desperate to find out how the dinner went the the night before. She hadn’t even returned your phone call.
Instead of Nancy, however, you found the new kid. The damn new kid who immediately rubbed you the wrong way.
“Hey sweetness, who are you supposed to be?” He smirked, clearly already buzzed.
“Take one guess you scruffy looking nerf herder.” You put one hand on your waist.
He looked confused.
“I’m Han Solo.” You sighed.
“Not Leia, Princess?” He asked in reply, rather incredulously too.
You rolled your eyes. “Nah, not really feeling like wearing a white dress and braids. Listen, have you seen Nancy?”
“Nancy?”
“Yeah, she is supposed to be here with Steve.”
“You mean that Steve?” He thumbed over his shoulder.
You followed his motion to see a very angry Steve storming out of the house.
“Shit.” You rushed after him.”Steve! Steve stop-”
“Piss off.” He didn’t even turn to look at you.
“Steve, wait, Jesus Christ!” You caught up to him, tugging on his wrist.
He snapped the grip away.
“What’s wrong?” You asked.
“Why don’t you ask your best friend, she clearly tells you more than me.”
You furrowed your brows in confusion.
“Steve, I haven’t even seen Nancy all day. Did something happen with the Holland’s last night?”
“They’re hiring a private investigator and leaving Hawkins.”
“What!?”
“I don’t have time for this, Y/N.” He shook his head and walked away from you.
You were even more confused.
Seeing as how Nancy was probably still in the house, you went back in to try and find her.
The house was still sufficiently packed, so it was rather difficult to move between sweaty dancing bodies and those too inebriated to stand properly.
You did run into Chrissy. She was there with her basketball playing boyfriend, Jason.
She had asked if you wanted to join them but you declined, instead asking her if she’d seen Nancy. Neither of them had so you politely excused yourself, telling them to have fun.
After unsuccessfully trying to find her for half an hour, you decided it would be best to leave. You could’ve stayed, it wasn’t like you didn’t have people to hang out with but you were looking forward to actually spending time with your best friend. Since she was nowhere to be found, you didn’t much feel like sticking around.
You made a stealthy escape, or so you had thought.
The new kid caught you by the door, hand around your forearm.
“Can’t stay away from me, can you?” He smirked, alcohol on his breath.
You groaned internally, not wanting to deal with him at that moment. That’s when you spotted Tommy.
“Find yourself a new best friend here, Tommy boy?” You asked.
The boy sneered. “Billy is cool, unlike some former friends I’ve had.”
“Billy, is it?” You turned back to the guy manhandling you.
“Yeah, and I know you’re Y/N, or do you preferred being called princess?”
You could have gagged. Sure, he was decent looking but his attitude was absolutely abhorrent to you.
“What I would prefer is if you let me go.“
Tommy scoffed a little, coming up to stand by Billy.
“Don’t even bother with her, Billy. No one is good enough for her.”
Billy’s grip tightened on your arm. “See now that just sounds like a challenge.”
You ripped your arm away from him.
“I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt here, seeing as you, one: don't know me, and two: are not quite sober. But I am not interested.” You said as politely as you could.
His smirk faded, instead his jaw clenched. "Told you." Tommy clapped his new friend on the shoulder. "Let's go back inside and find Munson, he's got the good stuff."
Billy said nothing but walked past you into the house.
Seeing your window of opportunity, you got onto your bike and headed out of there, determined to find out what exactly was going on with your best friend.
It’s Simply a Henderson Thing-Season 2, Chapter 1
(Yaaas! Finally we get to season 2. I’m having a lot of fun writing this little series, so posting it is mostly just for me to get it out of my notes. Let me know if I should make a master-list for the series.)
It was a riveting evening at the Henderson household. Your mom sat in her favourite chair watching the news, with Mews on her lap purring lazily. You were going over your tutoring notes for the week, seeing whose assignments were due next and who had tests they would need extra help studying for.
“Son of a bitch!” You could hear Dustin swearing from the other room. He was no doubt rifling through the house for quarters. You thought that after weeks of the same routine he would’ve saved up enough instead of scrounging for any amount of change you had in the house.
Dustin flew into the living room, checking under cushions.
“Y’know Dusty, if you actually worked for your money you'd have some to spend." You said, getting up so he could check under your cushion.
He made a face before continuing search “Another stupid penny.” He lamented before flicking it away in a huff.
“Dusty, watch it.” Your mother chided. “You almost hit Mews.” She pet the cat on her lap soothingly.
“Can I please check under your cushion?” He asked mom.
“Dusty.” She sighed.
“Mom, please? It’s an emergency!” He begged.
She reluctantly got up.
“I’d spot you but-“ you began.
“Senior year, I know!” He lifted the cushion, finding what he needed and exclaiming in victory.
“Love you mom, Love you Y/N.”
He said before running off to contact the other boys.
———————————————————————
Parking your bike next to Steve’s car, you got off and shook your bike-hair out just as a loud car sped into the parking lot.
The car itself was a gorgeous ‘79 Chevy Camaro, an absolutely fantastic car. The driver of said vehicle got out but you hadn’t seen him before. He was probably a new student if the California plates were anything to go by.
He noticed you looking at him and shot you a cocky wink. You raised a confused brow while he walked away.
“Who’s the mullet?” You asked Nancy, seeing her making her way from Steve’s passenger side.
“No idea.” She said, eyes tracking the other girls who seemed giddy at the fresh meat.
She shook her head and turned back to you.
“Coming to the dinner tonight?”
You wanted to. You had been going with Steve and Nancy almost every week since the last year. Going to Barb’s house and spending time with her parents was really the only thing you could do for them. The government had made it abundantly clear that you and the others weren’t to say anything. So there was no telling the Holland’s that their daughters body was in an alternate dimension because a real life DnD monster kidnapped and murdered her. It gutted you every time they just wished for closure. Still, the dinners were something small you could do.
You put your arm around Nancy’s shoulders.
“You know I would-” you started, preemptively apologetic.
“Tutoring?” She asked interrupted, knowing how busy your schedule was, even if it was only October.
“Yeah, meeting Chrissy at the library.”
“Cheerleaders.” Nancy almost rolled her eyes.
Steve rounded the car.
“So I have to go but Y/N gets a free pass?”
You sent him a subtle glare.
“I would be there if I could, Harrington. Some of us have college application deadlines to finish.”
“Emerson’s is next week, right?” Nancy asked.
“November 1st is the deadline for early decision.” You nodded.
“You’ll get in.” Steve rolled his eyes, like he was so annoyed you were smart and were already applying for college.
It wasn’t your fault you didn’t want to stay in a small town for the rest of your life.
———————————————————————
Walking around the halls you spotted Jonathan heading away from Nancy’s locker. You could name the exact reason he had left, knowing how uncomfortable it was when Steve and Nancy sucked face in public. You weren’t sold on Steve, either. He had been helpful in a pinch last year but before that he had been a huge dick for quite some time. And then there was how Nancy felt about him. She said she loved him but you weren’t so sure she did. Having been her best friend for years you knew something was off. She wasn’t telling you anything but you could put two and two together, there was something in the way she looked at Jonathan…
“Spare the eyes of the innocents, please.” You pleaded teasingly as you approached the lovebirds.
It was enough for the pair to break apart, Nancy blushing slightly.
“I’m sure if you had someone, you’d be all over them just as much.” Steve retorted.
You had to chuckle at that.”Yes, but I don’t think I’ll find someone here, even if I’ve already been asked.”
“Y/N shouldn’t just pick anyone, Steve.” Nancy told him.
You smiled at your best friend.”And I definitely won’t.”
“Suit yourself.” Steve shrugged.”But maybe you’ll find someone at the party.”
You were confused. “Party?”
Nancy handed you a bright flyer.
“Tina’s Halloween Bash, huh?” You asked aloud.”I guess, don’t really have anything else to do and I’m sure I’ve got a costume somewhere.”
———————————————————————
Chrissy was already at the desk when you got to the library. The adorable cheerleader seemed quite withdrawn, she got like that sometimes.
“Chris?” You asked, approaching.
She smiled up at you. “Hey, Y/N.”
You smiled back, she was really quite a lovely person despite the reputation of cheerleaders being vain and mean.
“Ready to start on your history essay?”
She nodded slightly. “There are a few options here, I’m just not so sure which one I should pick…”
“Let me see.”
You set down your bag and sat next to her, sliding the assignment in front of you.
It was simple enough, an assignment you’d enjoyed doing the last year.
“Which one appeals most to you?” You asked.
She looked at you and shrugged her shoulders, eyes not meeting yours.
“Chris.” You put your hand over hers. You knew what kind of mood she was in. “Listen, you’re actually pretty smart, you hardly need my tutoring. You just lack focus, and that’s easy to fix.”
”It is?” She asked.
“Oh definitely! I find I’m much more able to focus when I enjoy the subject matter. All it takes is a little passion and you won’t be able to stop writing.”
She seemed to think about it, think on your words.
“I think I can do that.”
“Good girl.” You clapped quietly.
You could see her blush at your praise.
“What about this one?” She pointed to the option.
“Oh that one is perfect for you!” You tried not to yell, it was a library after all. “Let’s find some books and get cracking on an outline before next session.”
Her smile stayed as you both got to work.
