DON’T USE ANY OF MY WORK FOR AI OF ANY KIND!
Steve Harrington x Powered!Fem!Sinclair Reader (she/her)
Childhood best friends to Lovers
You just wanted to be a normal teenage girl: annoying siblings, teen drama, even a crush on your charming best friend, but life has other plans when nightmares from your past come back to haunt you, plunging your friends and family into a world of fighting chaos and monsters.
Prologue: The Vanishing of Y/n Sinclair
Season one
Chapter 1: Back To Normal...Right?
Chapter 2: Sometimes I Only See A Stranger
Chapter 3: The Impossible Reunion
Season Two
Chapter 4: MADMAX
Chapter 5: Trick or Treat
Chapter 6: What's The Verdict: Cat?
Chapter 7: The Case of the Horrified Butcher
Chapter 8: Before I Never Get The Chance To Tell You
Season Three
Chapter 9: Amateur Code Crackers
Chapter 10: Free Ice Cream For Life
Chapter 11: Does Anyone Copy? This Is A Code Red!
Chapter 12: The Adventures of Bloody Boy and Puke Girl
I thought Mrs. Sinclair's name was "Sue". In your 'TTTBU' series you have her as 'Diane'. Am I wrong? Idk, I just wanted to comment on that. You don't really have to respond. 😅
Your story is amazing and I'm trying to binge read it to catch up!
It is and I didn’t know until I saw it under a picture on pintrest like 2 weeks ago💀💀💀 i genuinely thought her name was Diane like she was giving Diane to me so I ran with it cause I rembered their dads name off the dome. Also thanks for reading and I’m so glad you’re enjoying it🫶🏾
Summary: The final battle is on the horizon and your trip to the Upside Down revealed more than you ever expected.
A/N: The end is close and I'm so fucking sad guys. We only have a couple chapters left ;( What if just never write the finale...kidding, but maybe...Like always I hope you you enjoy and I'm super proud of this.
Childhood Best friends to Lovers
Steve Harrington x Powered!Fem!Sinclair!reader (she/her)
WC: 8k
Series Masterlist
Dividers by @reevesoc
lmk if you want to be added to the taglist
“You guys heard that, right?” Robin immediately asks after the sound rang out.
“Unfortunately, yes.” You were the first to respond.
“Does that mean our theory is correct?” She asked with a grimace.
“I think so.” You reply, mirroring her face.
“Theory? What theory?” Dustin questioned.
“We…well we think someone might be in here with us.” You reply.
“And you didn’t say anything?!” He brought his voice down to a whisper.
“One we weren’t sure. That’s why we asked if you guys were making noise earlier. Two, we found some stuff in the med bay and before we could bring it up, you were screaming bloody murder.” You explain.
“Wait, if the sound came from up here, that means they’ve been following us, right?” Nancy surmised.
“Great, there’s some freak following us around.” Steve sighs, running a stressed hand through his hair.
“Unfortunately.”
“Military maybe?” Jonathan asked.
“If it was, we would probably be dead by now.” You answer. Before you could say another word, cautious, retreating footsteps could be heard.
“Ok, screw this.” Steve sighed, creeping down the hallway. You were quick to follow. “Honey, you might want to stay back.” He heeded a warning that he knew you were going to ignore, but it would never stop him from trying.
“Yeah, right?” You scoff.
You pressed further on together, your pace picking up when the person had.
“Enough asshole,stop!” Steve commanded as you chased them through the floor riddled with debris and half melted items due to gray sludge.
“Yeah, we aren’t gonna hurt you, maybe.” You whisper the last part as the two climb over a tipped cabinet.
The person was finally forced to stop when they tripped over a pipe that had fallen through the ceiling.
“Jesus Christ!” A voice hoarsely screeched as they fell to the floor. It was a voice that never left your mind. The two of you rushed to tower over the person.
“Holy shit! You’re seeing this, right?” Steve asked, with wide eyes.
“Yeah.” You nod, your gaze unmoving from the person.
“Does this mean Robin’s right and we’re actually dead?” Steve said with eyebrows knitted in concern.
“I hope not. Let me see.” You pinch your hand as hard as you could manage, leaving a deep indent of your nails on your skin. “Ahh!“Yep, we’re definitely alive.” You yelp before soothingly rubbing your skin.
“So he’s-”
“Yep-”
“Shit.”
“And if I do this-” You kneel beside him, pressing a shaking finger against his cheek. “Oh my god.”
“Now fucking way.” Steve stammers out in utter shock.
“Hey, Mage.” Eddie replies, managing a smile. He was almost unrecognizable. His hair had gone flat and grown down his back and a long beard had grown in. His eyes were sunken and accented with dark, heavy bags underneath them. His lips were cracked and his cheeks gaunt. He had become paper thin and the smell was hard to ignore but you did anyway.
“Oh my god.” You released a sharp breath before launching yourself at him, pulling him into a hug. You could feel his bones pressing against you. Eddie goes rigid for a few seconds, before squeezing you tightly, his body shaking as he cried into your shoulder. When he pulled himself away, you and Steve helped him to his feet. It was incredibly easy considering how much weight he’d lost. To make things easier on his body, you and Steve supported him as he walked, his arms slung over each of your shoulders.
“Jesus, you stink man.” Steve grimaced.
“Try not showering for over a year and get back to me.” Eddie shook his head despite cracking a slight smile
“Y/n?! Steve?!” Robin screamed your name when she hadn’t heard anything for almost five minutes.
“Robin, wait!” You shouted when you saw her approaching light on the wall, but it was too late. As soon as she hit the corner, the light shining on both of you, she dropped the heavy flashlight.
“What the fuck? What the fuck? What the fuck?!” She repeated, causing the anxious group to rush to her.
“Are you ok? What ha-” Dustin’s words died on his tongue when he shined his flashlight on you. The tears from his eyes immediately began to flow as he barrelled towards the three of you, nearly tackling all of you to the ground as he hugged Eddie as tightly as he could.
Robin took slow steps forward while Nancy and Jonathon hung back still in shock at the “dead” man.
“Hey, Henderson.” He squeezed back the best he could manage with his malnourished body.
“I thought I was a goner, man I guess I went into shock or something. When I woke up, everything hurt. I realized that Vecna’s plan worked ‘cause everything was falling apart and shit. My trailer was destroyed, so I just started walking. I thought about the hospital, but it was too far away, so I came here. I figured that was the next best thing. I patched myself up and started popping those painkillers I found like Tic Tacs. At first it was for the pain, but then I just couldn’t help myself.” His eyes welled, remembering the brief moments of relief, followed by the agonizing withdrawal after he completely ran out. “They were the only thing that helped me cope. When I needed to eat, I would go out and catch those bat things. They’re disgusting, but I gotta eat right? Knowing that I was like Ozzy helped a little though. When the military rolled in, I was able to swipe a couple big cases of rations when they were distracted by all creepy crawly shit their first couple of days. I’ve been going through them slowly, but I’m almost out. I figured once they were it would be…it would be my time, then you guys came.”
“Why didn’t you say anything when we got here?” Nancy asked.
“At first I didn’t know if you were military. Then I thought maybe Vecna was fucking with me or something so I followed you guys to make sure I haven’t completely lost my goodman mind till I realized that maybe you guys moved on without me and what’s the point in fucking all that up? I mean I fucked up my uncle’s life too. His satanic serial killer nephew? How the hell is he supposed to come back from that?” He replied, his knee bumping as more tears somehow fell from his eyes.
“He never believed what they said about you.” Dustin tried to assure him.
“H-how is he?” He asks, releasing a worried sigh.
“He got a new trailer after the gates destroyed it. He lives at the trailer park on the other side of town now. Everyone makes life hell, but he refuses to leave you.” Dustin’s words made Eddie’s tears fall faster.
“H-he did?”
“Yeah.” Dustin nods. “You wouldn’t have fucked anything up, Eddie. We missed you. I missed you.” Dustin cried.
“Yeah?” A course of yeses came from each of you. The confirmation hit him like a ton of bricks.
“Sorry…” He apologizes when he’s unable to control his tears. “I just…it’s been a long time since someone’s missed me. It feels good.” He confessed.
“Welcome back, man.” Steve piped up, patting him on the shoulder. The moment felt bittersweet. Of course he was happy that Eddie was alive, but he was worried that Dustin would throw him away again, especially after they just made progress. He missed his brother and he was scared of losing him all over again.
“Wait, what were you guys doing in here?” He finally manages to ask.
“We have so much to catch you up on, but right now, we’re looking for Nancy’s sister.” Dustin explained.
“Why would she be in here?”
“Vecna took her.” You inform him.
“Shit.” He sighed, dropping his head into his hands.
“Yeah. We thought the key to finding her could be in here, then Nancy shot it.” Dustin snapped his head over to her.
“You said we needed to destroy it.” She shrugged, defending herself.
“No, I said we need to find it. Where in that does shooting it come into play?”
“Alright, children. No more fighting!” You chime in, breaking the argument up. “We have bigger things to worry about right now.”
“Y/n’s right. This isn’t getting us any closer to finding Holly.” Jonathan agrees.
“What does the journal say?” Steve asks, prompting Dustin to whip it out of his pocket.
You all peek over his shoulder as he skims through it, looking for anything that would help.
“What was that?” Nancy piped up when she heard what she thought was screaming.
“What was what?” Steve asked.
“That.” She repeated when it got louder. Each of you trained your ears, your eyes immediately growing wide when you realized what it was. “Holly!” She broke out into a sprint, trying her best to retrace her steps back to the roof.
When you made it, you saw Holly falling from the sky, rightfully screaming her head off between calls for Nancy.
“I got her!” You shout, holding your hands up, trying to pull her to you. Her screams only increase as she’s pulled in by your unfamiliar force.
“Nancy! Help me!Please, Help me! Nancy!”
“It’s ok, Holly. We got you!” Nancy shouted up to soothe her sister. You had her halfway to the building when you felt something trying to pull her back. Vecna. You grunt as you begin to pull harder.
“Get behind me and pull.” You command. They quickly formed a line, pulling back as hard as they could like you were the rope in a game of tug of war. You could feel your blood trickle down your lips until you got a strong hold of the screaming girl.
“Reach for me hand, Holly.” You instruct her. “Reach for my hand.” You repeat. As soon as she makes contact, you pull her into you, dropping your other hand to hold her tight. Without your powers to counter balance, the group fell back on each other. Nancy was the first one up, rushing to Holly’s side.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” She cried, pressing Holly’s head into her shoulder, letting the girl sob on her sludge-covered sweat while she rubbed her back.
“I GOT HER YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!” You stand to your feet and shout into the sky, raising your middle finger, hoping that he was watching.
“Thank you. Thank you.” Nancy looked up at you as fat tears rolled down her cheeks.
“Of course, Wheeler.” You nod. You feel tight arms hug you from behind, before turning you to face him.
“Are you ok?” Steve asked, pulling the tissues from his pocket that he started carrying for situations like this.
“Yeah, yeah.” You nod as he swipes the blood from your nose, before placing a kiss to the top of your head.
“That never gets old.” You heard Eddie pipe up. His throat was beginning to warm up, but it was still gravely and all the crying was certainly not helping.
“I know right.” Robin smiles.
“Ok, we need to get the fuck out of here. I’m sure being a kid short, royally pissed Vecna off and we need to get Eddie out of here.” Dustin urged before raising his walkie to his lips. “Is anyone there? This is Dustin. I repeat, is anyone there? This is Dustin!” He called out.
“Dustin, it's Mike. Holly escaped from Vecna and she’s on the way to my house from the Upside Down. I need you to get there as fast as you can and rendezvous with her. Do you copy?” Mike’s frantic voice crackled through the walkie.
“No need. We found Holly. I repeat, we found Holly!” Dustin replied with a wide smile.
“Holy shit! We’re on our way to you, do you copy?”
“I copy.” Dustin replied.
Nancy kept a tight hold on Holly as all of you navigated your way out of the lab.
“Steve?! Y/n?! Nancy?!” A mix of voices screamed your names.
“Come on!” Steve urged the group ahead of him as he and Dustin helped Eddie.
“Here! We’re here!” Jonathan calls out as you run towards the bright shine of the flashlights.
“Erica?!” You call out when your flashlight hits her face.
“Why am I always here saving you and your dumb ass boyfriend?” She asked when you ran to each other. “Where’s the sailor man?” She asked when she didn’t see him in the sea of faces.
“I’ll explain in a second.” You reply which didn’t soothe her worry.
“Vickie?! What the hell are you doing here?!” Robin questioned, running up to her. She was fighting every instinct in her body to kiss the girl.
“Uh, you’re friends kind of dragged me into this mess, but I don’t know if I preferred thinking you were a drug addict or this.”
“Drug addict?” Her face scrunched in confusion.
“You were stealing benzos from my patients. What else was I supposed to think?”
“Well trust me it was for a good cause.”
“This?”
“Yes. In a big roundabout way. Yes. I know that this is a lot to take in and we will explain it the best way we can.” She assured her.
“Holly?!” Mike called out.
“Mike!” She screamed back as she and Nancy ran as fast as they could to him.
“Holly!” He repeated, hugging the girl. “I’m so, so sorry.” He apologized, holding her close.
“What the hell is Mr. Clarke doing here?” You ask the group when you notice your anxious former teacher.
“Nice to see you too, y/n.” He waved.
“Where’s Steve and Dustin?” Hopper asked when he didn’t spot the pair.
“Yeah, about that…we have something very, very important to tell you guys and I just need you to all be prepared.” You begin.
“Are they injured?” El asks.
“She would be a mess if they were.” Erica chuckled.
“Thank you, Erica.” You say through gritted teeth even though everyone knew it was true. “No, but it’s major and maybe Mr.Clark shouldn’t be here for this part.”
“We can’t just send him off by himself.” Mike piped up.
“Fuck! Ok, Mr. Clark, you need to promise that you won’t freak out.” You plead.
“More than I am?” He swallowed thickly.
“Yeah. A whole lot more.” You nod.
“Ok, I-I’ll try.” He nods despite his thundering heart.
“Holy shit!” Mike said, from over Holly’s shoulder as Steve, Eddie, and Dustin emerged. The rest of the group stared in utter shock like the rest of you had.
“Is that-is that, Eddie Munson?” Vickie questions, her hand instinctively reaching to clutch Robin’s jacket.
“Suprise.” You say with weak jazz hands and an awkward smile.
“No fucking way.” Erica was next.
Mike passed Holly back to Nancy before he broke into a sprint towards Eddie. When you glanced over at Mr. Clarke, he looked like he was short circuiting. His lips moved to speak, but nothing came out.
Steve released Eddie, allowing for Mike to have his moment. He also knew that for the foreseeable future Dustin would be glued to his side.
“It’ll be ok. You were making progress.” You assure Steve, hugging him and rubbing small circles on his back when you notice the green eyed monster creeping up on him.
“I know.” He mumbled, hoping with every fiber of his being that you were right.
“Kid?” Hopper called, waving you over. You pressed a quick kiss to Steve;s cheek before rushing over.
“What’s up?” You ask, pulling El into a hug as he spoke.
“I want you to meet someone.” He replied, forcing down his animosity.
“This is Kali.” He stepped to the side so that you could see the woman. You went stiff in El’s arms when your eyes landed on her. Her hair was nearly shaved all the way down and she was almost in the same state as Eddie with sunken and heavily bagged eyes.The clothes she wore were far too big for her small frame. An awful familiarity washed over you.
“Are you ok?” El asks, pulling away to look at you.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.” You reply, forcing a smile on your face despite how dry and tight your mouth and throat became. You flicked your eyes to Hopper who already had his trained on you.
“She’s our sister.” El explained. “She is like us.”
“Nice to meet you. El told me about you a few years ago.” You try your best to maintain a calm front at the nearly bald woman.
“Nice to meet you too. El told me a lot about you too.” She smiled at you, her voice made goosebumps breakout over your skin.
“Really?” You reply, your eyebrows shooting up before you could control them.
“Yes. I don’t remember seeing you in the lab.”
“Yeah, I think you escaped before I got there.”
“Got there?” She questioned.
“Yeah, they brought me to the pound like I was a lost puppy.” You explain, gesturing toward the building.
“I understand.”
“Yeah, um I’m gonna get back to Steve. Hop I need to talk to you later about some stuff we found.” You explain, sparing a glance at Kali as subtly as possible.
“Steve.” You pull him into you to whisper in his ear.
“What?”
“It’s her.”
“Who?” He asks, whipping his head around.
“Stop looking!” You chide in a whisper. You reach up to grab his cheek, placing a kiss to it to make his movements seem intentional.
“Ahh.” He groans when you make contact with the bruised area.
“Sorry. It’s the girl with Hop and El. She’s the one working with Vecna.”
“I thought you couldn’t see her face.”
“I couldn’t. But as soon as I saw her I just knew and then she started talking and it’s her voice.”
“Ok, ok… how are we supposed to tell everyone without her getting suspicious?”
“I don’t know, but we have to be careful. I’m gonna talk to Hop later.”
“Shit.” He sighed.
“I know.” You dropped your head into his shoulder. “This is so fucked up.” You whine in frustration.
Your heart stopped when you made the flip into the real world. Seeing your brother standing next to your favorite red head.
“Max.” You whisper, running to the wheelchair bound girl, still dressed in her hospital gown. “Holy shit.” You squeeze her tight.
“Hi.” She hugs you back weakly.
“I can’t believe I missed you waking up.”
“It’s ok, your mom was looking out for me.”
“What?” You looked between her and your brother.
“Mom fried some demodogs at the hospital. It was badass.”
“Holy shit.” You chuckle.
“Now I see where you get it from.” Eddie pipes up from behind you, still being supported by Dustin and Mike. His skin was near white in the sunlight.
“What the fuck?” Lucas muttered with wide eyes.
“What the hell happened to you?” Max asked, shocked by his transformation.
“I died Red. What the hell happened to you?” Eddie asked, also shocked by hers.
“I died too.” She shrugged and gave a light chuckle. “But El and y/n kept her promise. She wouldn’t let me die.” She looked over at you with a slight smirk.
“It felt like I didn’t. I missed you, Zoomer.” You hug her again.
The group split up from the lab. You, Hopper, Dustin, and Eddie piled into Murray’s car to get food for Eddie and the group.
A slight frown formed on your face when you pulled into the diner parking lot. It had been so long since you and Steve had been here and it broke your heart that you weren’t here under better circumstances.
“Hey, Muriel.” You beam at the woman, leaning against the counter.
“Look at what the cat dragged in. Hi sweetheart, it's been so long.” Her face brightens when she lays her eyes on you.
“I know I’ve been super busy lately.” You sigh, accenting it with a pout.
“I know. I hear you on the radio. It’s the best part of my day.” She replies as she refills an elderly man’s cup of coffee.
“Awe, you’re just saying that.” You place a hand over your chest.
“I would never lie to my favorite customer. Speaking of which, where’s Lover Boy?” She wiggled her eyebrows at you.
“We’re having this kids over for a little get together so he’s preparing for that.”
“Oh, how lovely. You want your regular?”
“Yeah, I actually need fifteen orders.” You say with a grimace.
“Of course, sweetheart. It’s pretty dead in here and I’m not the one making the food so I don’t care.” She chuckled. “Cedric might though.” She continued pointing to the line cook inside the open kitchen.
“Thank you, Cedric.” You call out.
“Don’t make it a habit.”
“I won’t. I promise.” You assure him.
“It’s ok. It’s good to see your pretty face.” He smiled.
Once you paid, you dropped them a hefty tip in the jar as an apology for your time between visits and for the massive order before sitting down on one of the red diner stools. You tapped your fingers rhythmically on the counter as you waited.
“How have you been, sweetheart?” She asked, leaning across the counter after refilling another customer’s coffee.
“I’ve been getting by. Just waiting for this whole quarantine mess to be over.” You sigh. “How bout you?”
“Same as you. You know how Earl and I have been saving up the past few years?” You respond with a nod. “Well, we decided that once this is all said and done, we’re gonna take a trip to Ireland for a couple weeks.”
“That’s awesome.” You cheer, knowing that after thirty years of serving Hawkins, she deserves a break. And one way longer than just two weeks.
“And I think this will be over soon.” You reply cheekily.
“God, I hope so.” She sighs. The two of you continue to chat until Cedric dinged the little bell on the expo counter.
“Order up!”
“Don’t be a stranger sweetheart.” She patted your hand before sliding the large box holding your food and drinks across the table across the counter to you.
“I won’t. I promise.” You smiled at her before taking a sip from your milkshake.
Hopper drove nearly a mile before Eddie sat up straight in the backseat.
“Give me, give me, give me.” He was practically salivating when you passed him back his meal.
“Beef. Oh how I’ve missed you.” He moaned after sinking his teeth into the burger.
“Ok, kid knock it off.” Hopper huffed after Eddie’s third almost pornagraphic moan.
“I haven’t eaten real food in over a year. Cut me some slack, man.” Eddie argued with a mouthful of fries.
You climbed out first after Hopper pulled into Steve’s driveway. You craned your neck around to search for watchful neighbors. When the coast seemed clear, you beckon Dustin and Eddie out of the car. You draped Dustin’s trenchcoat over the man for good measure as you jogged to Steve’s porch. You fished your key out of your pocket, letting in the three of you. You poked your head out, doing another quick sweep of the neighborhood before closing it behind you.
“I hate to do this to you but, you’re on house arrest for a little bit.” You say as you close all of the blinds.
“As long as I’m not eating bats and drinking their blood,I don’t care.” He replies
“Great. In the meantime there’s a bathroom upstairs so you can shower or take a bath. Actually a few baths. I just bought some tomato soup so you can bathe in that.”
“Isn’t that for dogs who get sprayed by skunks?” He asked.
“Yeah, and it smells like you’ve been sprayed by a whole family and then they all took a shit and died on top of you.” You gave him a tight lipped smile.
“I never told you this, but you have such a way with words, Mage.” He replied sarcastically.
“Thanks.”
“So, does Harrington have a razor or something? I need this shit off my face.” He sighed, pulling at his overgrown facial hair.
“He has plenty of stuff for spa a day. The bathroom is upstairs three doors to the right. All you need is either in the shower or in the cabinet next to the bathroom. Just don’t touch the Fabergé Organics.” You instruct.
“Or the Farrah Faucet spray.” Dustin began to laugh.
“His mom’ll flip or something?” Eddie asked.
“No.” Dustin doubled over as his laughter intensified. “It’s his!”
“Holy shit, really?” He cackled, nearly choking on his milkshake.
“Yeah.” You finally broke, breaking into your own fit of laughter.
Once the fit passed, you ran upstairs. Not only to close the curtains, but also to grab a set of clothes that Max would keep here when she couldn’t sleep or just needed a break from her mom.
“We’ll be back when this is over.” Dustin assured Eddie.
“What if Harrington’s parents show?”
“They won’t. Trust me.” You sigh, the fact making your blood boil. The pair of assholes were vacationing without him in Italy (Steve’s dream vacation destination) when they got word about the “earthquake.” They didn’t even send for him. “Just keep a low profile. Eat whatever you want and let the t.v. melt your brain until we get back.
“Aye Aye Captain.” He gave you the two finger salute.
“Perfect.”
Dustin gave Eddie another strong hug before the two of you left the house.
“Hi, y/n.” The two of you stopped dead in your tracks. You and Dustin looked at each other, your hearts skipping a beat before turning to face the voice. Fuck, fuck, fuck!
“Hi Mrs. Crane.” You wave at the elderly woman, who was watering her flowers.
“It’s good to see you sweetheart. Have you and Steve been fighting? I haven’t seen you around in a few days.”
“No, no fighting. I’ve just been home having family time.”
“Well that’s very important dear.”
“Yep.” You nod, trying to make a break for the car.
“My word! Is that Dustin Henderson?” The woman gasped after adjusting her bright red glasses.
“Yeah, it’s me, Mrs. Crane.” He gives her a wave and a smile.
“Dear god, boy. What happened to your face?” She clutched her nonexistent pearls.
“I hit a rough patch and fell face first off my bike.” He explained.
“Well I hope the other kid fell off his bike harder.” She replies, with a denture assisted smile.
“See, even she didn’t believe that shit.” You lean over to whisper.
“Shut up.”
Getting food wasn’t the only reason you chose Hopper and Dustin to accompany you.
“Rember when Dustin told you about my mini nightmare?” You leaned forward from the backseat to ask.
“Yeah, but shouldn’t we wait till we get to the station?”
“We can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because Kali’s working with Vecna.”
“What?!” Hopper’s head whipped over to look at you.
“Hopper!” Dustin screamed when the man almost veered into the other lane.
“Shit! Sorry.” He breathed heavily, steering the car back into the right lane. “Just back up kid. What do you mean Kali’s working with Vecna?”
“When we crashed into the Upside Down we all passed out for a bit. When I was out, I woke up in this weird desert place. It felt all…wrong. I started wandering around until I saw this rocky kind of egg thing. When I got close I could hear a voice talking to Vecna. It was a woman’s voice, but I couldn’t tell who it was. I’ve never heard it before and I couldn’t see her, but as soon as I saw Kali I knew it was her. I could feel it.
“Jesus.” Hopper sighed, pinching the space between his eyebrows. “I thought she was suspicious when I called you over, but I think it was this bad. I mean I should’ve known. She’s been in El’s ear ever since we rescued her.”
“What has she been saying?” Dustin asked.
“I don’t know, but as soon as she came into the picture, El’s been hiding something for me.”
“A secret plan?” Dustin suggested.
“It has to be.” You nod.
“How do we tell the other’s?” Hopper questions.
“We can’t, at least not until we have a plan. If everyone knows then it will be obvious we figured her out. It needs to stay between us. Well us and Steve.”
“What do we do?”
“Make a bad but believable enough plan and I will sell the shit out of it. Once we nail it down, we create an opportunity for Kali to get El relatively alone. Like a piece of the plan they could do alone. While they’re distracted, we fill in the group and whip up a real plan. After they get back we fill them in on their part. Nothing else. We can win this thing if we stay a step ahead.”
The party was gathered in the station’s lounge when the three of you arrived.
“Delivery.” You announce as Hopper drops the box of food on the coffee table.
“Babe, you didn’t.” Steve gasps before beaming in excitement when the all too familiar scent hits his nose.
“I did.” You nod with a wide smile.
“You are the best girlfriend ever!Have I ever told you that?” He pecked your lips not caring about the crowd.
“Yes, many, many times.” You chuckle before presenting him his milkshake.
“Somehow she finds ways to make me love her anymore.” He muses to the sky.
“Alright, you goof.” You chuckle.
“How’s Muriel?” He asks after a long sip from his shake.
“Good, but just as tired of the scenery as the rest of us. She and Earl want to go on vacation when this is over.”
“They have the right idea. We deserve one after saving the world for the millionth time.”
“Couldn’t agree more, love.”
With full stomachs, your now sizable group began to theorize with Dustin leading the charge.
“So this is Hawkins, and this is the Upside Down.” The boy began, drawing a diagram on the dividing window between the sound booth and the lounge as a whiteboard. “We always assumed the Upside Down was another dimension opened by Brenner, but as it turns out, it’s actually a bridge. More specifically an interdimensional bridge that rips through space time. It is wildly unstable, but it’s held together by exotic which we found dead center, right above the lab. In theoretical physics, they call this type of bridge a-”
“Wormhole.” Erica and Mr.Clark cut him off in unison.
“Yes. And this wormhole connects Hawkins to here. It’s a new world that I’ve coined the Abyss.”
“Any particular reason?” Robin asks, leaning forward. “I’m not expecting sunshine and rainbows, but that name is not the most comforting.”
“A realm of pure chaos and Evil.” Mr.Clark answers, leaning forward.
“I’m sorry?” She replies, regretting her choice to ask the question.
“D&D.” The boys, Erica, and Mr.Clark reply in unison.
“Jesus Christ.” Hopper sighs to himself.
“Anyway, I believe this is where El banished Henry and when Brenner forced you to find him, you made remote contact with the Abyss and the bridge formed. Ever since then, Henry and all his monsters have been using it to cross right into Hawkins. After we almost took down Vecna, I think he fled back to the Abyss to lick his wounds.” The boy explained.
“What a pussy.” Erica jeered, earning a chuckle from you and a side eye from her favorite teacher.
“So all this time, Vecna’s been hiding in the sky?” Joyce tries to clarify.
“Explains why every crawl led to a dead end and why Holly fell from the sky.” Nancy surmised.
“And probably why I can’t find him in my bath.” El nodded along.
“But why is he taking kids?” Jonathan piped up.
“I think he’s using them to amplify his abilities.” Will responds.
“Amplify his abilities to do what?” Joyce asks.
“He wanted us to help him draw the worlds together.” Holly answered.
“Why?” Her older sister questions.
“What if we were wrong. Vecna didn’t go back to the Abyss to lick his wounds. He went back to do what he did to Hawkins. He’s been creating rifts for the merge…” Will leaped from his seat to add to the diagram. “And once those rifts collide with the ones he made here, all he needs is the kids to take it all the way. He probably realized he couldn’t complete it by himself.”
“He’s remaking the world.” El nodded in understanding.
“How long do we think this is gonna take? Are we talking like…” Steve asks, pancaking his hands together. “Or will Y/n and El have enough time to kick this bastard's ass for good this time?” He continues, looking around the group.
“We better hope we have time because if all of this is correct, we need to get two thousand feet up in the air, cross into the Abyss, save the kids, and kill Vecna before the merge.” Mike answers.
“And if my theory’s right, he’s gonna try to move worlds tonight.” Lucas pipes up.
“Have I mentioned how much I hate your theory?” Robin leaned over to ask.
“Me too.” Erica raised her hand.
“Me three.” Steve followed next.
“I hate all of this, but at least we know what we’re going up against and what we need to do.” Hopper stepped forward, taking the marker from Will’s hand. “At the military base, in the Upside Down, there’s a chopper ready for the taking.” He began, drawing a helicopter on the window. You and Dustin lock eyes from the other side of the couch. How the hell are we supposed to defend this? “We can fly it up into the Abyss. It gets us there quickly, that way we have more time to save the kids and kill the freak.”
“Who do you expect to fly this thing?” Robin questions.
“It’s a helicopter. They got pilots, right? We force one to fly us in.”
“Another kidnapping plot. Love it.” She sighs sarcastically before getting up to pace behind the couch.
“How is this pilot gonna fly a chopper into the rift?” Mike inquired.
“What do you mean? We just fly through it.” Hopper shrugs.
“Just fly through it?” Lucas was the next to poke a hole in the plan.
“Yeah, the rotors are like forty feet wide. It’s too big. It’s not gonna fit.” Mike points out.
“Steve hears that all the time and still goes in anyway. Don’t you?” Robin said with a light chuckle.
“What the fuck, Rob.” You mutter before dropping your head into your hands.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Steve asks her, bouncing his eyes between her and your siblings.”
“Shit. Sorry.” She grimaces before hiding her face in her top.
“It’s funny.” Murray shrugs beside him. Steve immediately smacks the man hard in the chest.
“Everybody, shut up!” Hopper claps, regaining attention. “Unless any of you have some magic beanstalk we can climb, this is the best plan we’ve got.”
“You know what, I kind of like it.” You stand up from your place beside Steve.
“What?!” The group looks at you like you grew a second head.
“I do. I think we could tweak it a bit but yeah, I think it’s solid.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Lucas looked up at you.
“Y/n’s right. I think we can find some gold in this.” Dustin nods along.
Your eyes find Robin’s across the room who had already been staring at you, trying to figure out what the hell you were up to. Trust me. She gives you a slight nod before forcing a sigh.
“If y/n thinks it’s a good plan maybe we should go along with it.” Robin shrugged.
“I’m sorry, are you guys taking crazy pills or some shit?” Erica asks, looking up at you from the couch.
“Look. I need you guys to trust us on this. I saw this in my mini nightmare thing after we crashed into the Upside Down. Based on everything I saw, this plan is the winner. Have I ever steered us wrong?”
“No.” The group scatteredly replied.
“Then trust me. This is our final stand and we have to win this. We have manpower to get this done.” The group finally begins to hesitantly nod along.
“How do we get to the Upside Down? Steve’s car barely made it.” Nancy asked.
You just grin and point out the window towards Murray’s flipped big rig. “Get that thing flipped and see if it still runs.
“We can do it.” El volunteered her and Kali.
“Perfect. Go with Murray.” You nod towards the door. “If it’s shot we need to know as soon as possible so we can work on a plan B”
“Let’s go ladies.” Murray stands, beckoning them to follow. You kept a watchful eye on the trio until they made it out the station door and it clicked shut behind them.
“All of you need to shut the fuck up and listen!” You, Dustin, and Hopper stand in front of the group like it was a class presentation. “We need a real plan. Now!”
“Thank god, that plan was atrocious.” Erica sighed in relief.
“What about Kali and El? Shouldn’t they be on this?” Will asked.
“Absolutely not.” Dustin shook his head.
“Why?” Max asks.
“Kali’s working with Vecna.” Hopper explained.
“What?!” The group lit up with shock.
“Are you sure?” Will asks.
“A hundred percent. When I was out in the Upside Down, I heard her talking to Vecna. We can’t risk her knowing that we know.”
“We? Who else knew before us?” Jonathan questioned, prompting Steve, Dustin, and Hopper to raise their hands.
“That’s why you were pushing for that shitty plan.” Nancy nodded in realization.
“Yeah. We need her to feel like she’s part of this if we don’t want her to suspect anything.” You continue.
“So what are we supposed to do?” Joyce asked.
“Let’s go over what we know.” You suggest.
“We know that wherever he’s keeping the kids, it’s in the Abyss. When you escaped Holly what did you see?” Nancy asked, placing a hand on her sister’s shoulder.
“I-it looked like I was in the desert.”
“Did it look like the Grand Canyon a little bit?” You ask the girl.
“Yeah, but it was all wrong.” She nods.
“Perfect.” You cheer.
“How is that perfect?” Mike questioned.
“That’s where I woke up. I thought, like Holly, that I was in some sort of desert, but I was in the Abyss.”
“Do you think you can direct us when we get there?” Dustin leaned forward
“I can try. It all looks kind of the same, but there are demodogs so I’m sure there’s demogorgons too.”
“How many?”
“I only saw a few, but Vecna won’t let us through that easily. We need to be prepared and that’s not even the worst part.”
“What do you mean?” Steve asks, his face scrunching in worry.
“That thing that I saw is way bigger than Vecna. It’s like his boss or something.”
“Boss?”
“Vecna always uses “we” and “us” when he talks about his plans. There’s a bigger player and I think it’s the mind flayer or at least a part of it.”
“How did they get a hold of Kali then? From what she told me and El, she was living a relatively normal life until the military hunted her down.”
“Through her mind, probably when she was locked up in the base. He infiltrated it and recruited her just like the mind flayer did with Vecna.” Dustin explained, following your train of thought.
“I think she’s doing the same thing to El.” Hopper huffs.
“What? No way! El would never turn on us.” Mike was quick to defend her.
“That’s not what I’m saying, kid. I’m saying that Kali is getting in her head, maybe suggesting things to get El out of the picture. With El and y/n we have a super team. If you can take out one of your opponents starting five, why wouldn’t you?” Hopper theorized.
“No offense, but why El?” Mike asked.
“Because she trusts Kali. If she tried whatever she’s doing on me, there would be no way in hell I’d go along with it.” You answer.
“And Henry clearly has a vendetta against her. I’m sure he wants to take her down himself.” Dustin continued, pointing at you.
“I’m sorry I'm lost. Why does this Henry/Vecna man hate you?” Mr. Clark piped up, raising his hand.
“That is also something I would like to know about.” Vickie raised her hand as well, concerned with how much danger Robin is in when she’s with you.
“I thought you caught them up.” You look between Mike and Lucas.
“We did on some of it.” Lucas defends the two of them.
“You didn’t think this…” You hold your hand out, eyes not leaving your brother as you break a glass on a nearby table. “Was important for them to know?” Mr Clark's eyes became saucers as he looked between you and the glass.
“We were a little preoccupied finding you.” Mike explained.
“Can we get back on track please.” Hopper huffed. “We got eleven kids to transport and we’re on borrowed time.” He continued, pointing out to the window. Murray and the girls were almost to the flipped rig. Eleven, eleven, eleven…the number repeated in your head.
“You ok over there, honey?” Steve asked, with curious concern, drawing the group's attention back to you.
“Yeah, it’s just…something is off.” You reply.
“What do you mean?”
“Shut up. I’m thinking.” You bring your finger to your lips like an overwhelmed teacher trying to shush a group of rowdy kindergarteners. Eleven, eleven, eleven… You continued to think, leaving the group on the edge of their seats. You began to pace, remaining silent until your thoughts slowly began to click into place.
“Holly, Vecna told you and the other kids that you would help him move worlds, right.”
“Yeah.” The girl nods.
“How could I be so stupid?” You say, sliding your hands down your face when it finally clicked in your brain.
“What do you mean, kid.” Hopper folds his arms.
“Henry was right when he told the kids they would help him move worlds, but not in the way any of us thought.”
“I’m not following, honey.” Steve pipes up.
“It’s a trap.”
“Trap?” Joyce’s eyebrows knit in confusion.
“Yeah, for me. It was never about the kids. Think about it. If he needed twelve kids to enact his master plan, why is he not sending more demos after Holly or coming for her himself. No, this whole thing was about getting me to go to him by choice. What's my biggest regret in life?”
“Not saving the kids in the lab.” Robin answered.
“Exactly! He knows that so if I have a chance to save those kids, right my wrongs I would come running and I did to save Holly. Why wouldn’t I do it for the others? Holly was a test run. She was bait and I fucking fell for it. When we kicked Vecna's ass last year, he said I would help create a new world and bring earth’s destruction. He's using those kids to draw me in so that I would help him. If Will is right and he uses the kids to amplify his abilities and he still can’t make it happen, then he and his dark overlord need me to complete their plan. Why drag me kicking and screaming into the Abyss when they can bait me?”
“This is bad. Like really, disgustingly bad.” Robin grimaced. Hunching over to red her head on the back ledge of the couch.
“I know. It was right in front of our faces and I didn’t see it.” You shake your head at yourself.
“No, no. This is good. “ Dustin muses.
“How could this possibly be good, nerd?’ Erica sneered.
“It’s good because we just leveled the playing field. Now we just need a plan.” He replies.
“Yeah, how are we actually supposed to get there?” Robin asks. “Not that I don’t love the chopper idea, but something more practical would definitely be nice.”
“Like a beanstalk.” Steve speaks, still processing the thoughts racing through his head.
“How is a beanstalk more practical, dingus?” She asks, receiving no response.
His eyes widened as his brain ran a million miles a minute. He scrambled from his seat on the arm of the couch, racing to the soundbooth and back, now with his red slinky in hand.
“Steve?” You cautiously call out to your boyfriend, but he ignores you as he frantically searches the shelves.
“Got ya!” He celebrates, gently slamming it on the table before waving all of you over.
“I know you were kidding, Hop, but what if we actually had our own beanstalk. This flashlight is the Squawk radio tower and this slinky is the bridge.” He demonstrates, dropping the slinky down the flashlight before stretching it up towards the top. “We’ll never reach the Abyss, but if Vecna and his boss get it as close as they can without y/n, we let them. We wait until it’s hopefully close enough for the radio tower to poke just enough through the rift. That’s when we make our move. While El does her meditation mind thing and enters his mind, we “give” Vecna what he wants…” He points at you. “We go into the Abyss and we attack him in the physical. It’ll be a total ambush. In your face, dickhead. We kill the freak, reverse the spell and we’re home in time for dinner. Wham, voila. We’ve got a beanstalk…” He releases the slinky. “It’s perfect.” He shrugs, earning slight nods from the group and wide, proud smiles from you and Dustin. Smiles that meant everything to him.
“I like it.” You and Erica co-sign in unison.
“It’s not totally insane.” Mike shrugs before beginning to nod along.
“Thank you.”
“But there’s one big problem.” He continues. “El can’t reach Vecna’s mind in the Abyss. He’s too far away.”
“Well can’t she just load up on junk food or something?”
“Or we can get her closer. The Upside Down lab is under his lair and it’s still frozen in time. That means Brenner's old experiments there too. There has to be something in there that can help her.” Nancy surmises.
“The bath. A real one. It’s like a massive dunk tank. You want to amplify your abilities, that’s a great place to do it.” You inform the group.
“Yeah, and if she makes it into his mind, I can walk her through it. I know his sick mind inside and out.” Max offered.
“Me too.” Holly piped up.
“Absolutely not, Holly. It’s too dangerous.” Nancy immediately shot the idea down.
“But I can help. I know where my friends and Derek are. I have to help them. It’s what Holly the Heroic would do.” She argued, clutching the charm Mike gave her on her necklace.
“Ok.” Mike co-signs his little sister.
“Are you out of your goddamn mind?!” Nancy seethed, smacking him on the shoulder.
“If there’s one thing I know, Max and El will keep her safe. And we need as much help as we can get.”
“And we’ve made it out once. We can do it again.” Max continued.
“I can watch them.” Vickie volunteers.
“Fine.” Nancy finally relents. “But if anything goes wrong, pull her out and go to the basement. We have a small alcove behind a sliding cabinet you guys should be able to fit in.”
“I can show her. I need to get in contact with Stinny anyway.” You offer.
“What about the mole?” Erica asks.
“Let her help. Max, Holly, when you get into Vecna’s mind, make sure you stay in control. She’ll probably try to keep you away from Vecna the best she can without blowing her cover. Use it and make a plan before you go in and trust your instincts. You guys got this and we got your backs from the outside, yeah.”
“Yeah.” Max nods, prompting Holly to follow after.
“One more thing.” Dustin chimes in, standing beside Steve with an egg timer in hand. “I think of it as a cherry on top at its best and a contingency at its worst. On our way out, we drop a bomb next to the exotic matter and we set a timer so we can get out before it blows. Either way, Game. Set. Match. In your face, dickhead.”
Summary: The impromptu trip to the Upside Down revealed far more than any of you expected.
A/N: This chapter is quite the behemoth I think. I am incredibly proud of how this turned out,, but each chapter feels bittersweet. the closer we get to the end ;(
Childhood Best friends to Lovers
Steve Harrington x Powered!Fem!Sinclair!reader (she/her)
CW: Jealousy, Torture, attempted murder, death/ fear of death, arguments, fighting, survivor's guilt, upside down shenanigans, yummy breadcrumbs...
Chapter Outfit w/this jacket (same as last chapter)
WC: 8.6k
Series Masterlist
Dividers by @reevesoc
lmk if you want to be added to the taglist
You woke up with a start, your eyes shooting open. You immediately regretted it, raising a hand to shield them from the light beating down on them. You slowly sat up when you felt jagged pebbles digging into your back.
“What the fuck?” You muttered to yourself when your eyes finally adjusted, realizing that you were in the middle of what seemed to be the desert. When you looked up at the sky, you were met with sun, only it was a deep red, almost the color of blood. The heat had been sweltering. You never experienced anything like it. You knew that wherever you were, you were definitely in danger.
That fact was only confirmed when you heard a familiar screeching in the distance that made your blood run cold. When you scanned for the source, you spotted a demodog standing at the edge of a rock face, howling with an open face. Oh fuck!
You forced yourself to your feet, deciding that calling out for the others would definitely draw its attention. You quickly shrug off your jacket, tying it around your waist before beginning to walk aimlessly, unsure of where to go.
Your trek felt endless as you passed cliffs and rock faces that all looked the same. You still hadn’t seen a sign of the others or Steve's beemer.
You began to believe that you were going to die due to the conditions before you would even be confronted by the demodogs or demogorgons that were surely lurking around.
That’s when you saw it. A massive fleshly yet rocky looking egg. It was bigger than anything you’ve ever seen. It struck a fear so deep in you, you thought you would collapse from a heart attack at any moment. Your steps became cautious as you marched forward. You got closer to it than you thought possible until you were able to make out a pair of silhouettes through the slightly transparent layer of the monstrosity.
You heard a pair of muffled voices, one that you quickly realized was Vecna, but the second voice that definitely sounded feminine, yet hard to place, responded to him. She didn’t seem scared or nervous. They seemed familiar and that worried you. Who else in this town could possibly know about Vecna, let alone feel comfortable around him. You took more cautious steps, attempting to make out more of her features and distinguish the voice, but right before you could take more than two steps, you were ripped away.
Your eyes shot open, now looking at a frantic Steve who was trying his hardest to shake you awake.
“Come on, honey! We’ve gotta go!” He urged, forcefully pulling you from your seat before you could adjust.
You landed on top of Steve, whose heart you could feel hammering in his chest.
“Are you ok?” He asked through exasperated breath. Without answering, you looked around, seeing Robin, Dustin, Nancy, and Jonathon, looking at the two of you with worried eyes.
“Yeah. Yeah.” You finally let out, rolling off of your boyfriend.
“You scared the shit out of me.” He huffed, pulling you into a tight embrace once the two of you were back on your feet.
“I’m sorry. I’m ok. I’m ok, but… I saw something.” You were quick to inform the group.
“Is it bad?”
“It’s definitely not good.”
“Ok, we need to get in touch with Hopper and figure this shit out.” Dustin asserted, pulling up the antenna on his walkie. “Y/n, do you think you can get the car out the wall?”
“It hurts you even have to ask.” You reply, placing a faux wounded hand over your chest. While Dustin tries to pick up Hopper’s signal, the group gathers around as you raise your hands towards the vehicle.
“You got this, honey.” Steve said, mostly to convince himself. Betsy was one the most important things to him and losing her would break his heart.
The beemer began to rattle, the taillights beginning to flash. A slight grunt left your lips as you pulled against the force of the wall trying to pull the car back in. As soon as you began to make headway, a wisping sound could be heard. That’s when Dustin realized that small debris in the area was beginning to launch itself forward. He snapped his neck over, following the moving objects. His eyes immediately went wide.
“Stop!Y/n, Stop!” He implored running over.
“She’s almost out, Henderson!” Steve shot back, refusing to let the boy stop him from getting his car back.
“Pulling the car out will create a vacuum. It’ll suck everything up! Look!” Dustin quickly explained.
“Shit!” You panic, immediately dropping your hands. It only took moments for the wall to draw Steve’s car back in, stopping the flying debris.
“So that’s it?” Steve sighed, his voice growing froggy as tears pricked at his eyes. You would be lying if you said you weren’t in the same boat as him. Betsy had been the place where so many of your memories occurred. You remembered the morning of Steve’s sixteenth birthday when his father gifted her to him. When you greeted him at your front door, he was grinning from ear to ear, bouncing with pure excitement. You’d never seen him so happy.
“Happy birthday, you goof!” You cheered, blowing a party blower straight into his face.
“Come look! Come look!” He ignored your words, opting to drag you down your steps and to his shiny new car.
“Oh my god! Is this yours?”
“All mine! My dad was in the giving mood or some shit this year. I woke up with a little note and the keys on my nightstand. She’s beautiful isn’t she!” His eyes gleamed like he was head over heels in love with her.
“Absolutely.” You nod, walking around the car to examine it.
“Come on, get in.”
“Where are we going?”
“Anywhere we want.”
His birthday marked the day that your duo would now become a trio. The late night drives around town. The mixtapes you and Steve made each other, blasting as he whipped it down the long stretch of road. Long nights at the drive-in. All the ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ kisses. Prom night. Every laugh. Every cry. Every argument. Betsy held such a strong presence in you and Steve’s relationship. Both of you knew that it was stupid to cry over a car, but to the two of you she was family.
“I guess so.” You sigh sadly in return, your hand reaching for his. You were so wrapped up in your grief that you hadn’t yet realized that Betsy was taking parts of you with her. The photobooth reel of you and Steve that he kept pinned to his visor, your favorite pair of sunglasses, and of course all those special mixtapes. “We’ll miss you.” You mumble, giving the car a weak wave. You were sure that your friends would give you shit, but neither of you cared.
“Hopper, do you copy? We have a situation here. Hopper!? Do you copy, it’s Dustin.” The boy spoke into the walkie as he paced back and forth.
“Yeah, yeah. I copy.” Hopper’s gruff voice finally breaks through from the other side.
“Holy shit! Ok!They’re alive!” Dustin screeched, gaining all of your attention.
“What about El?” You ask as the four of you gather around him.
“El! Is El with you?” Dustin was quick to ask.
“Yes. I’m here. Over.” She replied, making all of you let out deep sighs of relief.
“Ok! Terrific!” Dustin cheered. “I don’t know if you’re caught up in something important-”
“Dustin, come on.” Jonathon cut him off, begging the boy to get on with it.
“Meet us at Roane Cemetery Church. We have something very urgent to talk about.”
“Roane Cemetery? How the hell are you contacting us from there?” Hopper question, confusion clear in his voice.
“Right, you don’t know. We’re in the Upside Down.” Dustin explained like he was telling his child he and their mom were getting divorced.
“What?!”
“Long story short, we’re here tracking a demo using a telemetry tracker only to hit a wall. Literally. Steve’s Beemer is stuck and we can’t move it without disastrous consequences. Silver lining y/n saw something really important while we were all knocked out.” The boy rushed out all the information.
“You hit a wall?” Hopper questioned.
“Out of all the things I just said, that’s your first question?” Dustin asked in exasperation.
“One thing at a time, kid. What kind of wall exactly?” He pressed further.
“Uh, it’s a bit hard to describe. It’s sort of huge… and… disgusting.” He struggled to find the best descriptor for the behemoth in front of you.
“Smells like Henderson’s armpits.” Steve quipped, trying to bring some levity to the fucked up situation you found yourselves in.
“Yeah, we hit the same thing but not at the cemetery. We hit it about a quarter mile southeast of the old Hagen Bridge.” Hopper informed you.
“Fascinating.” Dustin simply mused, knowing that the bridge was on the other side of town.
“We don't know what it is, but we think Holly’s behind it.” Hopper briefly explained the theory he and El were bouncing around.
“I hope not.” Dustin shot down immediately.
“Why, kid.”
“Uh, the best way to describe it is a big vacuum.”
“What?” Hopper repeated, still not catching on.
“When y/n tried to pull Steve's car out it started sucking everything in. If that’s the case, Holly could be lost in some random dimension or floating through space.” Dustin theorized.
“Jesus.” Hopper sighed, his exhaustion clear over the walkie.
“I know.” Dustin nodded along as if the man could see him.
“Ok, then I need you guys to sit tight for a bit. We’re working on a solution.”
“Solution? What kind of a solution?” Nancy asked, yanking the walkie away from Dustin. He clamored to get the device back, but the girl paid him no mind. “What kind of solution? Hopper?! Hopper?!” She repeated when there was no answer.
“Listen, we’ve gotta keep the airways clear, alright. We will come get you when we get done. Just stay put.” He instructed before slamming down the antenna on his walkie.
“What the hell?!” Nancy complained, whipping her head around in annoyance.
The six of you settled into the church. You felt like a pastor delivering a sermon as Steve, Robin, Dustin, Nancy, and Jonathon stare at you, waiting for you to recount what you’d seen.
“There’s someone working with Vecna.” You begin with the most vital piece of information. The group's eyes immediately went wide. Fear and utter shock bloomed across their faces.
“Who?” Nancy was the first one to ask.
“I don’t know. I couldn't see her.”
“So, it's a woman.” Robin concluded.
“Sounded like it.” You confirm.
“Jesus…how? Who else knows about him. I mean the military is so hellbent on catching El, there's no way they know about Vecna.” Jonathan surmised.
“I hate to accuse, but what if it's Stinny?” Robin threw out. As much as she’s grown to like the woman, she knew there would never be a day where she fully trusts a government agent, especially considering the circumstances.
“No, I would've recognized her voice. It’s someone else.”
“Maybe she knows where Holly is.” Dustin proposed, knowing that this was the most tangible lead at the moment.
“Holly never mentioned seeing a woman though. It was always Vecna as ‘Mr.Whatsit’. Nancy replied.
“Still, even if she never saw her doesn't mean this mystery woman doesn’t know anything. If she’s working with Vecna then she has to know something.” Jonathon tried his best to reassure her.
“Great so our best shot is some random lady.” Steve sighed.
“At the moment, yeah.” You give him a tight lipped smile.
“We need to get out of here asap.” Robin stated.
“How are we supposed to do that?” Steve questions.
“I have an idea.” Dustin cracks a smile before rushing outside. All of you follow him, eyes filled with worry as the boy carefully climbs into the backseat of Steve’s car.
“Are you out of your mind, Henderson?! You have a death wish or something?” Steve berates him, yanking the car door open. No matter how pissed he was with the boy, there would never be a time where he wouldn’t be concerned for his safety.
“Jesus, be careful Steve! We can’t move the car too much and I need the satellite. I need to get an idea about what’s on the other side of that wall and see if I can contact the others.” He quickly explains.
“Do you really think this will work?” Nancy steps forward to ask.
“I really hope so.” He huffed, reaching for the crank.
“Dustin, if that car so much as rattles you get out.” You command.
“Y/n-”
“I’m serious.” You cut him off sternly, leaving no room to argue.
“I promise, ok. Now please let me figure this out.” He pleads.
Being without answers, understandably made Nancy increasingly frustrated. If Dustin finds nothing with the satellite, all you have now was Hopper and his words did nothing to soothe her.
“Working on a solution? I mean if Hopper has a solution to get through this and to get to Holly, he should share it with us, right?” She ranted, pacing back and forth in front of the church’s pews.
“I say we ignore the old man. We keep moving, maybe look for a door or something.” Steve proposes.
“Yeah, and just curious, this door of yours, is it soft like a Peanut Butter Bopper?” Jonathon questions, giving Steve a pointed look.
“If you have something to say, Byers, just say it, man.” Steve prompts, tired of his antics. After the argument the two had in the van and learning the advice you had given him, he couldn’t take the insecurity any longer.
“I’m just saying that maybe you shouldn’t be the one making the calls from now on.” He huffs.
“What was I supposed to do? If I didn’t follow, we would’ve lost the demo, so I made a call.” He defended himself.
“Well, I’m not seeing the demo anywhere.”
“At least I did something. You haven’t done a goddamn thing, so if you want to call the shots, then call the shots. We can sit here and wait for Hopper all day or we can actually do something. You choose.” He argued back.
“I agree with Steve. I mean we can’t just sit here.” Nancy piped up to agree, which made Jonathon’s eyes bounce between her and Steve. Your immediate reaction was to drop your head back in annoyance at him. Your head was saved from a hard bump against the wooden pew by Steve’s arm that was slung around your shoulder.
“And that wall can’t go on forever. If we can’t go through, then there at least has to be a way around it, right?” Robin piped up.
“There isn’t.” Dustin shoots the notion down as he pushed through the sanctuary’s swinging door. “This wall is a circle.” He explains, unfurling the map in his hand. “It’s a circle that completely surrounds the Upside Down.”
“Oh, yeah? And how’d you figure that out?” Steve asked, looking at the boy unamused.
“Because unlike you, I didn’t sleep through Algebra 1.” The boy shot back.
All of you gather around Dustin, peering over him to look at the map his flashlight was shining down on. “My telemetry tracker picked up a weird frequency coming from the wall and it took me a bit to place, but we’ve heard it before. Remember when we were out looking for Hop and you heard that sound on Erwin Road?” He aimed his question at Jonathon.
“Yeah. You said it was interference.”
“It was, but this interference wasn’t coming from a military broadcast or an EMI. It was coming from this wall, which is important because that gives us three known locations.”
“Which means what?” Robin asked.
“Which means, I was able to connect the dots.” He began, pointing down at the map with a large circle with converging lines that had been drawn in the middle of it. “I measured the midpoints, drew the perpendicular bisectors-”
“All right! We’re not your teachers, no need to show us your work.” Steve cut him off. He believed you all understood the concept and all the extra words were just wasted time. “We get it. You think that it’s all a big circle.” He huffed like a child, sitting down in the front row of the pews.
“I don’t think. I know. I triple checked and my calculations were correct.” Dustin defended himself.
“Jesus, whatever! I still don’t see how this gets us any closer to finding Holly.” He replied brazenly.
“Steve.” You replied shortly at his response. You knew that the boys were at odds but the way they treated each other wasn’t helping the situation at all. In response he just gave you a childish shake of the head and a shrug.
“It’s not about the circle. It’s about the center.”
“The Department of Energy.” Jonathon read from the small circled location where all the lines intersected.
“Of course.” You sigh, throwing your hands up. You shouldn’t have been surprised. “Please stop.” You quickly demand of the group when you feel their eyes on you just at the mention of the lab. You received scattered “sorry”s in apology.
“But you see what I’m saying, right? What are the chances that this happens to be the place where all of this started.” Dustin explained.
“So the lab created the wall?” Robin asked.
“I have no idea, but I think we should find out. Don’t you” He responds.
Red cracking lightning lit up the lab as you stared up at it. Memories came rushing back, just as they had a few years ago. You’re not sure if you would ever be able to look at the building without getting a shiver down your spine.
“You ready?” Steve looked over at you. You could feel the not so subtle glances of everyone else at question. You were trying to be tough like always, but he knew that you were freaking out on the inside by the way you had been squeezing his hand tighter than he thought possible.
“Yeah.” You nod, though he wasn’t convinced. None of them were.
Stepping into the lab only bolstered your unease. It felt like you stepped into the past. To the moment your bare feet slapped against the linoleum as you ran out the door to freedom.
“Where are we going exactly?” Robin inquired.
“Yeah, like what are we supposed to be looking for?” Jonathon was next to ask.
“You‘ve all seen Return of the Jedi, I hope.” Dustin began.
“That’s the one with the teddy bears, right?” Steve asked.
“Ewoks.” Robin and Dustin corrected him at the same time.
“Whatever. It was the best one.” Steve proclaims.
“Is it?” Nancy asks.
“No, but every child loves it so it tracks.” You felt Steve’s hand clinch around yours at Dustin’s jab.
“Anyway, if you remember, the rebels need to destroy a second Death Star, but it’s surrounded by a protective energy shield, which is created by a shield generator.
“Yeah, cool. Thank you for the summary of the movie we’ve all seen.” Steve bit back as you led the group to the stairwell.
“It’s an oddly relevant movie, Steve.” Dustin replied. “I think that this circular flesh wall is Vecna’s version of an energy shield. It’s what is preventing us from finding him and saving Holly. But if my math is correct, then this generator is in here somewhere.” The boy surmises.
“What do we do when we find it?” Jonathon questions.
“I assume we destroy it, right?” Robin shrugged.
“Based on my conclusion, yes.” Dustin nods.
“Ok, this is great but again, what does this thing look like?” Steve asks.
“How would you expect me to know that, Steve?” The boy shrugs in annoyance.
“Y/n, would you know maybe?” Nancy asks.
“I was a little preoccupied downstairs at the time. Outside of tests and training, I had no idea what else was going down.” You answer, wishing that you had more information to give.
“Up or down?” Dustin asks when you enter the stairwell.
“I say both. Split into teams so we can cover more ground.” Nancy suggests.
“I agree.” You nod.
“That’s cool with me, but can we switch up the teams?” Steve pleaded, knowing that with Robin in the picture, he’d be stuck with Dustin. “Nance, you and I go up?”
“Are you serious?” Jonathon shot daggers at him.
“Me and Henderson need space.” He explained to the insecure man. The last thing he needed was another fight.
“Yeah we need space.” Dustin was quick to co-sign.
“Fine. What about me and you?” Jonathon presents.
“I think we need some space too.” Steve quickly shot him down, reminding him of their previous argument.
“Oh my god, do the three of you ever shut up? Here’s how this is going to go. The lab is massive, it’s gonna take more bodies down there to cover it. We’ll keep our original pairs and I’ll be a buffer. How’s that sound? Great.” You lay out, leaving no room for argument as you grab both Steve and Dustin by the back of their collars and force them down the stairs. Robin could hardly contain her laughter as she trailed behind you.
“I never expected this place to have daycare.” Dustin observed, picking up a Rubik’s Cube after the four of you walked through double doors of the rainbow room.
“Yeah, well it's way more depressing than it looks and that’s without all this Upside Down shit.” You reply, walking around the familiar space.
It didn’t take long for the boys to start bickering. It was a rinse and repeat argument that was only heightened by your surroundings. It had become sound pollution at this point, but that didn’t make it any less annoying.
You released a deep sigh, before walking over to them, intending to break them up. That was until your eyes snagged on the stuffed brown bear laying on one of the small tables. They began to when you picked it up. It was the one that 015 would play with. Sure it was communal, but everyone knew that it was his favorite toy. He carried it around constantly like it was his best friend. You remembered the day he introduced the bear, but also himself to you.
“Hi!” The small boy walked up to you with a wide smile. He couldn’t have been any older than five. He was so young and innocent. He had no idea of the life that he was being deprived of.
“Hey!” You returned with warm kindness. “What’s your name?” Instead of answering, he held his wrist out for you to read.
“015?” You read aloud earning a nod from him. A frown formed on your face. He didn’t even have a name. He could’ve been Alexander or Jaime or Anthony, but he was doomed to never be known. “What about him?” You shifted your eyes to the bear.
“His name’s Beary.” He introduced in that childlike whimsy the lab has yet to completely steal. It reminded you of Erica. How often she would come into your room to introduce you to the fifth Beanie Baby your father had bought her that week.
“Beary the bear. I like that.” You declared with a smile.
“Me too.” He nodded in agreement.
You liked to remember him that way. Not the little boy who died only a few feet away from where you stood, clutching Beary tightly to his chest, before his limbs snapped.
“Hey.” You nearly jumped out of your skin when you felt Steve’s hand on your shoulder.
“Woah, are you sure you’re ok being down here?” He questioned when your eyes met his. He caught that flicker in your eye you tried to hide when you were scared because you didn’t want to worry him, but you should’ve known by now that he would always catch it.
“Yeah, I’m ok, just…memories you know.” You explain, holding the bear up for him to see.
“Yeah, I get it. I just want to make sure that this isn’t too much for you.”
“Thank you for your concern, love.” You press an appreciative kiss to his cheek. “I’m just gonna start looking, ok.”
“Yeah.” He nodded, reaching for your hand.
“Oh, I was gonna go with Robin.” You grimace.
“What the hell happened to being a buffer?”
“All the arguing was stressing Nancy out so I took charge and worked it out. Me, Nance, and Rob need a break from this.” You wave your hands abstractly through the air.
“So this was just a convoluted plan to ditch us?”
“Pretty much.” You shrug.
“You are evil.”
“Sorry, love.” You kiss his pout.
“You’re forgiven, just please be careful and radio us if anything happens or you find this field generator shit.”
“I will. And look out for each other, ok?”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ve got it all under control.” He assures you.
“It’s my job to worry about you, love.” You give him a quick peck.
“You ready, Rob?” You ask, breaking away from Steve.
“Mhmm…yeah.” She replies distractedly. When you look over, you find her playing with a handheld ring toss toy. “Do you think it would be disrespectful to take this with me?” She asked.
“Uh, take whatever you want. I don’t care.” You assure her.
“Yes!” She cheered, stuffing it into the inside pocket of her leather jacket.
“What are we doing at Records?” Robin asked, reading the placard on the heavy metal door.
“I need to look through my files.” You explain, forcing the door open.
“Why?” She asks, following behind you as you walk into the stale room.
“Because I need to know why Vecna chose me. He keeps saying I’m special and all that cryptic bullshit, but there has to be a reason. A real reason why he’s doing all this and I figure the best bet of finding out what that is, is in here. This way I can hopefully use it against him.” You explain, scanning the shelves.
“That’s actually genius.” She compliments, following your lead.
“Thank you.” You reply in a sing-song voice. “Now, just look for anything that seems even remotely related to child experimentation or shit like that. You start up here and I’ll start in the back.” You instruct.
“I think I have something!” Robin called out to you after about twenty minutes of searching. You raced through rows of box filled shelves until you made it to her.
“Project Phoenix” You read the label.
“I only skimmed the folder headers, but they seemed to be what we’re looking for.” She informed you. You went back and forth to the shelf, carrying all the boxes labelled with the project’s name to the abandoned clerk’s desk. The two of you sat on the edge and began your research.
“Woah… this was your friend, right?” Robin asked, reading the header labelled ‘Subject 005 - Project Phoenix’ before holding it out to you.
“Oh, shit. Yeah.” You reply, taking the folder, cracking it open. The first file was just a record of his birth. It wasn’t even a true Birth Certificate.
“Record of Birth - Project Phoenix - Subject 005
Date of Birth: February 27, 1962
Weight: 7lbs 8oz
Sex: Male
Mother: Elizabeth Burg
Father: Sample 85c1
Report: Subject 005 born in breach position, but showing strong signs of health. Mother ready for out-patient treatment in the next 48-72 hours.
Supervisor Signature: Dr. Martin Brenner - February 27, 1962.”
You read the report aloud, ending with a disgusted sigh at how clinical the report is. You continued to thumb through the file until you landed on one marked with a red asterisk.
“Oh no.” You mutter when you read the header.
“What?” Robin asks without looking at you as she continues to rummage through the box for your file.
“It’s an incident report.” You explain.
“Shit. What’s it say?”
“Incident Report*
Date: April 16, 1962
Filer: Dr. Richard White
Report: On April 14, 1962, the lab was breached by Elizabeth Burg, mother of Subject 005. Ms.Burg entered the building, waving around a pistol. She then threatened members of staff for information regarding Subject 005’s whereabouts. When staff refused to comply, she fired into the ceiling and began to call for Subject 005 by the name of ‘Miles’. She was subdued by sedation soon after and brought to patient holding.
More investigation is required to find faults in the amnesic therapy process for surrogates before release to prevent another such situation.
In terms of Ms. Burg’s treatment, I recommend an intensive regimen of electroshock therapy before being sent to Pennhurst.
Supervisor Signature: Dr. Martin Brenner - April 15, 1962.”
“Oh my god.” Robin muttered from behind the hand covering her mouth, unsure how to comprehend the disturbing words.
“He had a name.” Was the first thing you were able to say as you tried to reckon with the fact that Miles had a chance to make it out. He had the chance to lead a normal life. Instead he died at the age of seventeen in a cold sterile lab. He would never know about the woman who risked it all to save him and his mother will never know what happened to him. At least in El and her mother’s case they were able to meet even if she was no longer the woman she was. Elizabeth and Miles would never get that chance to reunite and it broke your heart.
“That said she’s at Pennhurst, right?”
“Uh…yeah.” You reread the end of the report to confirm.
“What if we see her after all this is done? We could tell her about him. We could give her closure.” She suggested.
“Yeah. I think they both deserve tha-” Your words were cut off by a distant clang, causing both of you to jump.
“You heard that, right?” Robin asked in a panicked tone.
“Yeah. I think it was the boys.” You tried to remain calm.
“Go check.”
“Why me?”
“Because you can defend yourself. The only weapon I have is paperwork and I’m sure bureaucracy isn’t going to kill whatever or whoever is out there.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, alright? Pass me the walkie…Dustin, do you copy?”
“I copy. Are you ok?”
“Yeah, we’re good. I was just wondering if you were still on sublevel three?”
“We are but we’re about to go down a level, why?”
“Nothing, we just heard a noise and got spooked. We wanted to make sure we weren’t going crazy.”
“Nope. It was just your boyfriend dropping his flashlight like an idiot.” He replied.
“Dustin.” You reply coldly.
“Sorry.” He muttered out like apologizing went against every fiber of his being. You gave each other a quick goodbye before singing off.
“See, nothing.” You shrug. Both of you tried to accept the information, but in the back of your minds, you could still feel that something was off as you resumed your rummaging.
“Shit, I found it!” You gasp, pulling out your stack of files. You split the load between the two of you in order to divide and conquer.
“Y/n…” She sadly sighs as she stares down at the first report.
“What?”
“Do you feel comfortable with me reading this?” She asks, not even sure if she could stomach it herself.
“It’s ok, Rob. That’s the whole point of this.”
“But what if it’s retraumatizing you know? I mean the first one is labeled ‘Acquisition Report’ you know what that means, right?”
“You can read it, Rob I promise. Plus exposure therapy might be good for me.” She released a deep breath, trying to prepare herself for what she was about to read.
“Subject 009 - Phoenix Project
Acquisition Report
Date: September 22, 1977
Birth Name: Y/n Sinclair
Age: 11
Filer: Dr. Samuel Owens
Report: Subject 009 was incredibly hard to subdue on the day of acquisition. Subject 009 caused severe bodily harm to Simon Riley and Oscar Adams of the Acquisition Team. (Refer to patients' diagnosis provided by their physicians). The team was finally able to move in once Subject 009 succumbed to their body’s limit.
Upon arrival at the lab, Subject 009 continued to fight against staff, nearly destroying Med Room 1. Nurses saw fit to subdue 009 with an intravenous anesthetic. Upon review of footage, I agree with such conclusion.
I recommend postponing physical numerical assignment as well as extremely close monitoring of Subject 009 until proper acclimatization occurs.
Supervisor Signature: Dr. Martin Brenner - September 22, 1977”
“Are you ok?” She immediately asked when she finished. Her own eyes were welling, she couldn’t even imagine what it did to you.
“If I say ‘yes’ will you believe me?” You ask, blinking back your tears as you try your hardest to push down how sick the sterile nature of the words made you feel. The worst day of your life was written down as if it were nothing, because to them it was just that. Nothing.
“Only if you believe me when I say it too.”
“I’m ok.” You lie.
“Me too.” She parroted. No matter how much it hurt, you both knew that stopping now wasn’t an option.
You continued to thumb through the files, stopping when a specific date jumped out at you.
“Subject 009 - Phoenix Project
Disciplinary Report*
Date: October 1, 1977
Filer: Dr. Mallory Stone
Report: During today’s observational training, Subject 009 once again refused to perform simple tasks. When instructed to manipulate the presented objects, 009 instead stared ahead, ignoring staff’s attempts to communicate. After almost an hour of no response of any kind, I requested controlled shock therapy to be delivered through the fingertips to force compliance. We delivered a round of 20 volts due to Subject’s continued refusal to cooperate. In response, Subjects 009 launched the objects at the observation window, causing a surface level crack in the plexiglass. The erratic behavior continued as the Subject screamed expletives and gave lewd gestures to the staff behind the glass. It took four orderlies to sedate 009.
As a disciplinary measure, I recommend Subject 009 be placed in solitary confinement for the next 48-72 hours.
Supervisor Signature: Dr. Martin Brenner - October 1, 1977.”
“This was my first time in solitary.” You say through a sniffle.
“How…How did you live like this?” She asks with a trembling voice. Both of you swiped at your leaking eye as she tried to reckon with the cruelty that was done to you.“I don’t know…I just…I thought about the people I loved the most and I knew that I needed to see them again. I knew if I gave up then I would die here and I couldn’t…sorry…I refused to let them win. I refused to let them break me. I mean there were so many times when they almost did, but then I would think about Lucas and Erica. Or Steve and my parents. And if I knew you then, I definitely would’ve thought about you too.”
“You don’t have to say that.”
“I’m not. There are plenty of Robin Buckley rambles that I could replay to pass the time.”
“If anything I would’ve driven you crazy.”
“You already do.”
“Shut up.” She shot back, reaching across the desk to weakly punch your arm.
“I think I’m on your last report.” Robin muttered, drawing your attention.
“What’d I do this time?” You ask, prompting her to read your file.
“I think it’s the report for your attack against Vecna.”
“Read it.” You urge her to continue.
“Date: November 13, 1979
Incident Report*
Filer: Dr. Samuel Owens.
Report: After faking symptoms of a headache, Subject 009 lured Subject 001 into the medical bay. Once the two were alone, Subject 009 attacked Subject 001 via telekinetic strangulation in an attempt to end Subject 001’s life. Fortunately, orderly Jason Ito happened to pass by. He immediately alerted higher ups to the situation. When I arrived at the scene, Subject 009 was being restrained on the ground by four orderlies. Subject 009 was screaming that Subject 001 was a danger to everyone in the lab. The Subject continued to plead to be let go and pleaded to be allowed to kill Subject 001 before it’s “too late.” A paralytic anesthetic was required to subdue Subject 009 who screamed about the threat 001 posed until it took effect.
Despite Subject 009’s absolute certainty of the threat Subject 001 imposes, due to the blocker placed in the Subject’s neck as well as the extensive therapy program Subject 001 completed, we have no reason to believe the threat is credible.
I believe that there is no suitable punishment this lab can provide to curb Subject 009’s behavior, especially for an action as severe as attempted murder. Despite all of the invaluable data we have been able to gather about Subject 009’s extreme cognitive function during both resting rhythm as well as during states of erratic emotion, the positives no longer outway the negatives.
To avoid escalation in behavior, I recommend…I recommend the term…the termination of Subject 009.
Supervisor Signature: Dr. Martin Brenner - November 13, 1979.”
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she fought to finish off the last sentence. The fact that she almost missed knowing her best friend hit her like a ton of bricks. Knowing that every moment the two of you shared together never would’ve existed if Vecna didn’t strike when he did, made her stomach churn.
“Y/n…?” She gently called out.
“They were gonna-” A chuckle forced its way out of you. “They were gonna-” You repeat, only to be cut off by another laugh. Every time you tried to speak, an uncontrollable laugh would force its way out of you. Robin watched you stunned. She’d never seen you like this.
You sounded like a hyena as you sank to the floor. You were on your hands and knees, one arm clutching your ribs that were screaming for relief. Pained tears fell from your eyes and your lungs burned for oxygen, but your hysterical laughter was unrelenting. “They were gonna-” You collapse into the fetal position. “They were gonna-” Your mantra now began to devolve into uncontrollable cries. “They were gonna kill me.” You finally managed to finish through a broken sob. “They were gonna kill me.” Your cries finally shook Robin from her stunned stupor. She dropped to the floor beside you, placing your head in her lap. She ran a comforting hand up and down your arm until your crying became sniffles and the mantra faded out.
“Ar-are you ok?” She finally manages to ask you.
“No.” You sit up. “But things could be worse. I could actually be dead.” You chuckle, wiping your eyes.
“Please don’t do that ever again.” She begged after flinching at the sound.
“Sorry, I have no idea what that was.” You confess.
“I think you just snapped.”
“I’m surprised it took me so long.”
“Me too…Can we ditch our research project now? I don’t know if we’re cut out for it.”
“I definitely have to agree with you, Buckley.”
You decide to go to the Medical Bay next.
“Do you think the boys have been here already?” Robin asks when you arrive to find the main door propped on as well as its glass pane broken enough for an arm to fit through.
“I think if they broke the glass we would’ve heard it.” You reason, but that only fills the two of you with unease. That feeling was only furthered when the door to the pharmaceutical room was in the same condition. “Military maybe?” You suggest.
“No way. They would’ve had this whole place locked down pat.” She replies as the two of you step inside, illuminating the room with your flashlights.
“It not being the military freaks me out worse.” You sigh.
“Me too.”
As you skimmed the wall of medication, a pattern clicked in your brain. Almost every row of pain killers were wiped out. Before you could alert Robin, she called for you.
“Hey, check this out.” Robin waves you over.
“I don’t get it...” You say as your eyes trace over the medical textbook in front of you. “This place was crawling with nurses and doctors, why the hell would they be reading about simple sutures?”
“My thoughts exactly.”
“Let’s add that to the list of shit that is totally freaking me out.”
“Ew, it gets worse, look.” You shine your flash light on the silver tray not too far away.
“Oh, god.” Her face scrunches in disgust at the mountain of antiseptic wipe wrappers and gauze soaked with dry blood. Beside it were medical instruments required for stitches.
“Well, this explains that.” You reply, shining your flashlight in the direction on the medication wall.
“Tha-” Robin was cut off by a clang like you’d heard earlier, causing both of you to jump. “Ok, someone is out there.” Her panic was kicked into full force.
“Shit! Ok, stay behind.” You bring your voice down to a whisper as you inch out of the Med Bay doors.
“That was the plan.” She whispers back. You barely made it a few steps when she released a gasp, cutting through the eerie silence.
“What? What did you see?” You ask.
“I saw a figure run by at the end of the hallway.”
“Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure.”
“Fuck!” You panic. “If we go this way we can get to the stairwell and find the others.” You explain.
Right when you were about to round the last corner, you bumped into someone, causing all three of you to yelp.
“Jesus!” The other person cries.
“Dingus?Steve?” You and Robin berate once you realize it was him.
“You scared the shit out of us!” You lightly smack his shoulder.
“I’m sorry, honey. I’m sorry.” He apologizes, pressing a kiss to your forehead before pulling you into him.
“Where’s Dustin.” Robin interrogates him when she sees no sign of the boy.
“Uh, it’s a long story.” He replies, placing his hands on his hips
“Woah, what the hell happened to your face?” You question with concern when you notice the bruise forming on his cheek.
“Aah!” He winces when your fingers gently trace over it.
“Sorry.” You grimace. “What happened?”
“It’s also part of the long story.”
Before you could press him on it further, you heard Dustin screaming in the stairwell.
“Listen to me! Don’t touch anything!” Dustin continued to screech into his walkie, ignoring the three of you, even when he bumped full force into Steve.
“If you touch it, you’ll die! If you can hear me, don’t do anything!” The three of you immediately chased after the boy up flight after flight of stairs until the boy finally had to stop. He clung to the railing, sitting down on the steps, but still continued to scream into his walkie. “It’s not a shield generator! If you destroy it you will die! We will die! Holly will die! Everyone will die! Do you copy?!” Unfortunately, his warnings would go unheard as the entire building rocks, sending the four of you flying in separate directions.
“Ah!” You grunt when the back of your head bumped the wall. Out of reflex, you managed to catch the end of Steve’s jacket, preventing him from falling face first down the stairs.
“Is everyone ok?” You ask when the shaking stops. You receive a ‘yes’ from Steve and Robin, but nothing from Dustin. Out of instinct, Steve scrambled up the stairs to the boy who had a long off stare.
“Henderson! Dustin!” He kneels in front of the boy. “Are you ok?” He asked, receiving a slight nod.
“What the hell was that? Was it the generator? Did they find it?” Robin’s questions flew as the two of you joined the boys on the floor.
“I was wrong.” Dustin admits for the first time in what feels like centuries. “ I was terribly, catastrophically wrong.”
“What?” Steve asked, eyebrows knitting together.
“After you left, I found Brenner's journal. The key to destroying the wall is here in the lab, but it's not a shield generator. It’s not dark magic and Vecna didn’t make it. Science did. Theoretical physicists call it exotic matter. It’s the single source of energy that’s holding the giant wall together and…I think Nancy just shot it.” Dustin huffed in defeat, pointing upwards.
“So we’re fucked?”
“Fucked is nowhere near strong enough, because the Upside Down is nothing like we thought. It’s not another dimension or another world. It’s a bridge between time and space. Between our world and another.” He explained.
“Like a wormhole?” Robin piped up.
“Exactly.” The boy nods.
“What if the bridge collapses?” Steve asked
“I think it would take us all with it.”
“If she destroyed it, shouldn’t we be dead by now, then?” You question.
“I don’t know. Maybe Nancy didn’t completely destroy it or it’s not instantaneous like I thought.”
“Or this is the afterlife and we’re all spirits.” Robin suggests.
“What does the journal say?” You ask.
“Screw the journal. We need to find them before it’s too late, come on.” Steve commanded, leading the charge up the stairs.
“Steve, wait!”Dustin called after the man who was jogging up the stairs to the next level. You and Robin followed. “We don’t know if it’s safe up here.”
“You said the exotic matter wasn’t destroyed.” He argues.
“No, I said that it wasn’t completely destroyed. But it is very clearly disturbed. We have no idea what effect this will have on matter, space-time, or gravity. This whole building could very well be a highly physics-defying, unstable death trap.” He tried to explain, but Steve refused to listen.
“It seems pretty stable to me.”
“Listen to him, Steve. This place could fall apart at any moment.” You tried to reason with him.
“Which is exactly why we need to find them.” He shoots back, leading all of you out to a small courtyard in the center of the building, hoping to pick up a better signal on the walkie.
“I’m not saying we don’t go after them, but maybe if we have a pl-” You words die on your tongue when his face becomes cast in a bright red glow.
“Mother of God.” Dustin mutters when the four of you look up at the source. It was a massive bright sphere, with deep red exotic matter swirling around it. It had been so captivating, you didn’t even notice the gray sludge slowly running down the building like melting icicles.
“Please tell me they’re not up there.” Steve pleads.
“Guys, if you can hear us, we’re coming. I repeat, we’re coming.” Steve shouted through the walkie as the four of you trekked up the stairs. Running was out of the question due to the gray sludge coating the stairs. Every step was a battle to not slip as you moved as fast as you could.
“Steve, slow down! The higher we go, the more dangerous it gets.” Dustin continues to plead with your boyfriend, who was moving with absolute tunnel vision.
“All the more reason to speed up.”
“We’re no use to them if we’re dead! Steve!” Before Steve could even register what the boy said, he felt a strong tug on his collar. The action saved him from the sludge that was milliseconds away from falling on him. “As I was saying, we need to slow down. Please!” The boy begged. You noticed the way he trembles as he slowly lets go of Steve’s collar.
“We don’t have time to slow down, man. They could be drowning up there.” Steve shoots back, not noticing what you had.
The race to the top continued until the next staircase was dissolved in the middle, making it impossible to bridge naturally.
“What do we do now?” Robin asked, peering over the ledge. Her flashlight illuminating exposed beams of the floor that the sludge had been eaten away.
“Hey! Steve, where are you going?!” Dustin screeched when he barged out of the stairwell door. Steve simply ignored him.
“I’m gonna fucking kill him!” You proclaim angrily at your boyfriend's brazen behavior. You were about to run after him, but stopped in your tracks when he barged back into the room holding a ladder. “Are you out of your fucking mind, Steve?!” You berate him when he tries to bridge the gap with the ladder.
“Y/n’s right. That’s never gonna work! Stop! Stop!” Dustin pleaded, trying to pull the ladder away from him. “I’m serious, Steve. Stop,it’s not safe! You’re gonna fall!”
“It’s unstable. I got it already, ok?!” Steve snapped. Letting the words go in one ear and out the other as he began to step onto the ladder. Before his foot could make contact with the first rung, Dustin pulled him back as hard as he could, almost slamming him to the ground.
“NO,DON’T! STOP BEING AN ASSHOLE!” He screamed louder than you’ve ever heard.
“I’m not. I’m trying to get to them!” Steve argued, trying to pull himself away, but Dustin refused to let him go.
“You always try to get yourself killed, and I can’t let it happen again.” The boy began to crumble, his eyes filling with tears. Steve’s features began to soften at the sheer terror on Dustin’s face. “Stop being so selfish, please. If you go on there, you’re gonna die, and I can’t deal with it again. You can’t die, cause I can’t deal with it again. Don’t let it happen again. Please. Please don’t let it happen again.” He sobbed before weakly hugging Steve. Steve immediately wrapped his arms around him, using one hand to keep the boy’s head pressed against his chest. “Not you.” His words came out muffled. “I’m sorry.” The boy mutters, releasing the anger and resentment towards Steve he thought he had to cling onto in order to save himself from future hurt.
“No, no, no.” Steve shushed the boy. “I’m sorry.” He apologized as stray tears fell from his eyes.
His arms tighten around the boy when the gray sludge and gravity worked in tandem to send the ladder plummeting down floor after floor. His glossy eyes snapped down to Dustin, then up to you and Robin who had been crying at their display.
You continued up until you heard Nancy and Jonathon’s distant calls for help. You exited the stairwell, arriving on a floor that seemed like an office space. The now hardened gray sludge made the walls look like they were made of concrete.
“Nancy?! Jonathan?!” You shouted out to them.
“Here! We’re here!” They screamed back. The four of you rush in the direction you believed they were in. You all let out a collective sigh of relief when their voices got increasingly louder.
“Stand back!” You warn the pair on the other side. You raise your hands, making quick work of the wall, bursting a large hole through it.
“Sorry we’re late. Traffic was crazy.” You smile. Their bodies immediately relax at the sight of you on the other side. Steve quickly helps them through.
“You guys ok?” You immediately ask.
“Yeah we’-” Before Nancy could finish, all of your attention was stolen away, your heads snapping and hearts stopping when you heard something.
Liked by: ConnorStorrie, readerusername, Djotime & 1 million others
AlexiaDemie: It's my best friends birthday, I am so lucky to be by her side through it all, Happy 31st baby!
View Comments
readerusername: Gonna make me cry!!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCHHH
ConnorStorrie: where would we be without her
-> AlexiaDemie: I would be dead on the floor...
User1: OMG JOE LIKED
User2: Happy Birthday reader!
User3: I yearn for a friendship like theirs
---
Instagram Direct Messages
Djotime
Djotime: I had a great time talking to you the other day at the MET
Reader: I'm so glad you reached out, I had the best time with you
Djotime: I was wondering, if you're not that busy....
Reader: What is it??
Djotime: If you want to hang out more, maybe we can go to a coffee shop or to dinner some time soon
Reader: Of course, I would love to... I'm free for dinner tomorrow
Djotime: Sounds good
Djotime: Happy birthday by the way
Reader: Thank you!
----
iMessages
Group text: Besties
You: Joe Keery. Just asked me. to hang out!
Alexia: you aren't serious
Connor: No way! when??
You: For tomorrow.. for dinner!!!!
Alexia: I've been praying for this!!!
Connor: And on your birthday, you didn't even blow out the candles yet
You: This is the best birthday ever
Connor: We have to go out to celebrate this momentous occasion, and for your birthday of course!
Alexia: Meet up at my place!
You: I'll see you in a sec!
----
readerusername
Liked by: Djotime, Timotheechalamet, and 900k others
readerusername: Birthday Celebrations!
View Comments
Djotime: Happy Birthday
-> reader: Why thank you, kind sir
-> User4: OMGG HELLOOO
AlexiaDemie: You're so aesthetic
-> reader: It's the thing I live for
User5: How do I get to be this cool? also happy birthday queen
ConnorStorrie: rumor has it that glitter will never get off my body
-> reader: I will find it in my hair 100 years for now
-> AlexiaDemie: Anything for the gram
User6: Djo liked and commented, I am so parasocial for them!
---
Deuxmoi
Liked by 20k people
Deuxmoi: Joe Keery and reader were spotted out last night in New York out to dinner.
view comments
user7: After that interview, he got on that
user8: wait, they look so cute together!!
user9: Why can't we leave people alone?
user10: Why would Joe be with reader anyway??
user11: A love story for the ages
---
a/n: I am SO SORRY this took so long to get out.. I didn't know where I wanted it to goooo.. plus I just graduated and I was super busy these last few months but I'm back now!! I want to try and do more like fluff and more smau's tell me who you want me to post about..
p.s. dean di laurentis smau in the works..
taglist is open, don't forget to comment and repost!
Summary: Christmas day has finally arrived and it's left all of you a bit down in the dumps. Good thing Jim Hopper's heart grew ten sizes bigger and decided to make the day as magical as he could.
A/N: Christmas in June anyone? Also sorry for the long hiatus. I've been completely wrapped up in my rewrite series, but this series is always in the back of my mind and I got super inspired to pick up where I left off so I hope you enjoy. :)
CW: Child death/ mention of cancer, mentions of parent death, a fuck tone of Merry Christmases and I think that's it.
King!Steve Harrington x Fem!reader
Enemies (ish) to lovers/ Forced proximity
Series Masterlist
WC: 7k
December 25, 1984
Hopper was the first one up Christmas morning. It would be a first for him in a long time. He supposes it’s because he didn’t drink himself to sleep like usual. He had been so preoccupied with caring for Joyce that once he was ready to turn in for the night, he was too exhausted to partake in one of his favorite pastimes.
Despite the cold, he forced himself out of bed. He quickly threw on some clothes and brushed his teeth before heading out of the door, hoping that he would make it back before the rest of you woke up. He knew that Joyce wouldn’t be too much of a problem considering she drank her weight in alcohol, but it was you and Steve that concerned him. He just hoped that the two of you wouldn’t burn the school down while he was away.
He drove for almost twenty minutes until he found an open tree lot.
“What can I do for you, chief?” The burly man, dressed in multiple layers and thick beanie asked.
“I need a tree and I was hoping you’d still have something.” He answered.
“I don’t have much but I’ll give you fifteen percent off whatever tree you choose.” The man offered.
“Thanks.” Hopper sighed in appreciation before casting his eyes over the slim pickens.
Steve woke to the sound of your muffled sounds.
“Y/n?” He calls out slowly sitting up, the bed creaking under him as he did so. His heart broke when he found you sitting on your bed, your knees to your chest, sobbing. He made quick note of the picture you were clutching tightly. When you didn’t respond, he climbed out of bed to sit beside you. “What’s going on, honey?” He gently asks, the nickname slipping out naturally.
“This is the first Christmas that I’ve ever been away from my mom.” You explain through sniffles, resting your head on his shoulder.
“Shit. I’m sorry.” He replies, wrapping an arm around your shoulder.
“I thought I was gonna be fine, then I remembered that I brought this picture with me. I just wanted to see her face, but once I started crying I couldn’t stop.” You continue, passing the photo you had been clinging onto over to him. The photo was of you and your mother when you were a toddler. Both of you wore lopsided Santa hats as she helped you unwrap one of your gifts. Even though you couldn’t remember it, you tell by the smiles on your faces that it was an amazing day.
“I get it. The first Christmas without my mom sucked too.” He empathized.
“Shit, I’m so sorry. Here I am crying over my mom, and you don’t even have yours.”
“It’s alright. It gets easier every year, I promise.” He tries to reassure both of you, but he’s betrayed by the tears welling in his eyes and the sniffle he makes in an effort to hold them back. He knew he was lying to himself with the sentiment. With every year that passes without her, the elephant on his chest only gets heavier.
“Hey are you kids alright in here?” You hear Hopper ask from the doorway. Both you and Steve are slightly taken aback by how gentle his tone was.
“We’ve been better.” Steve replies, releasing another sniffle.
“Well, I have something that might cheer you guys up.” He replies.
“What is it?” You ask, lifting your head from Steve’s shoulder.
“It’s a surprise. Throw on some clothes and meet me in the dining hall.”
When you arrived at the dining hall, Joyce much like you and Steve were confused about why Hopper seemed so chipper.
“How are you feeling, Mrs. Byers?” Steve asked the woman standing beside you who held a cup of coffee in one hand and a cigarette in the other.
“Just a little hungover, but I’m ok.” She replied. He wanted to press further, but he could hear in her tone that she didn’t want to talk about last night so he let her be.
“How about you guys? Rough morning?” She asked, taking in both of your puffy and red eyes.
“Yeah, but whatever Hop wants to see is supposed to fix it so it better be damn good.” You replied.
“Alright what do you guys think?” Hopper asks as he drags out the Christmas tree he selected.
“Wow.” Joyce replies unamused before taking a drag from her cigarette, Steve opted to whistle.
“That's it?” You ask, taking in the small tree that was tilting in its stand he sat on the dining table.
“What do you mean that’s it. It’s a Christmas tree.” He defended.
“It’s not even decorated.” Steve replied.
“I’m sure we can find some lights and ornaments around here.” When the three unamused faces stared back he released a sigh. “Look, I know that none of us want to be here and we’re all missing people, but I thought it would be nice to do something. I think we all deserve it.” He explained.
“Yeah, what the hell.” You shrug. “Let’s give it a chance.”
When you finished decorating, the heavy air in the room brightened. Sure it wasn’t the biggest, brightest, or the most extravagant, but it was still special to the three of you.
Both you and Steve were with Joyce in the kitchen, helping her with the sides while Hopper ran out to the store to get a ham for dinner.
“How are you holding up, Joyce?” You hesitantly ask as you peel a stack of potatoes.
“I wish I could say good, but I can’t stop thinking about my boy. We used to cook dinner like this all the time. He was the best little sous chef.” She mused, cracking a wistful smile.
“Sounds nice.” You reply, picking up a new potato.
“It was. He would always…he would always try to sneak a taste of the food, but I always noticed. I never said anything because he had the funniest smirk on his face when he thought he got away with it. How about you kids? I know this can’t be easy you guys.”
“It’s not but I think we can survive it.” Steve answers while peeling a carrot.
“I suppose you’re, honey. We’ve got each other and that’s what matters.” She replied sweetly as she blanched some green beans.
“Ham’s here!” Hopper announced as he sauntered into the kitchen, bags in hand.
“Perfect timing. You kids can scoot now if you like.” Joyce offered as she unpacked the paper bags Hopper sat down on the counter.
“Are you sure?” You ask, catching the large bottle of wine peaking out of the bag.
“I’m positive. You guys have done plenty.” She replies, her hands shooing you out of the room.
Once out, you and Steve decide to sit with Hopper by the tree. The twinkling lights cast a colorful glow over your face as the three of you become embroiled in a tense game of poker with you also as the dealer.
“I raise you twenty.” Hopper says around the cigarette hanging from his lips, pushing the plastic chips in front of him into the center with the other wagers.
“Hmmm…” Steve hums examining his cards. “I’ll double it. I raise you forty.” He finally responds, pushing in his chips. You could tell by the quick flare of his nose that he had a shitty hand and he was bluffing.
“I’ll do the same.” You say, pushing in your chips.
“Wow. You kids are bold.” Hopper smirks. Before he’s able to make his next play, the distant ring of a phone could be heard. “Shit…” he sighs. “I’ll be right back. Don’t look at my cards.” He demands, pointing between the two of you.”
“Yes, sir.” You reply.
“You got it, chief.” Steve follows.
He should’ve known better than to trust two two of you because as soon as he left the room, you were reaching over to thumb through his cards.
“We’re so fucked.” You sigh as you hold the cards out for Steve to see.
“Shit.” I thought I had him.
“You weren’t even close.” You chuckle as you shake your head.
“What do you mean? You can’t even see my cards.”
“I didn’t have to. I saw your tell.”
“Tell? What tell?”
“The way your nose flares. It’s pretty cute.” You answer.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about and if you want to talk about tells, yours is pretty obvious.”
“I don’t have a tell.”
“Yes you do. You pucker your lips a little. You wanna talk about cute, that's it.”
“Maybe I just want you to kiss me.” You shrug.
“I guess I can arrange that.” He smirked, leaning over to give you a peck.
Before your lips could meet, you heard Hopper call your name as he entered the room.
“Someone’s on the phone for you, kid.” He informed you as he sat back down at the table.
“I don’t know a friend or something.” He answers, looking down at his cards. Both you and Steve caught the slight twitch his right eyebrow made when he realized that his cards were slightly out of place. You locked eyes with Steve, knowing that you’d been caught. “Go before she hangs up, kid.” Hopper urges, pretending like he didn’t notice the cheating.
“Right.” You reply before getting up to make your way to the teacher’s lounge.
“Hey, Rob.” You greet as soon as you raise the phone to your ear.
“Not quite.” A sing-song voice replies.
“Mom?” You ask, immediately tearing up.
“Ding, ding, ding! Merry Christmas, sweetheart.”
“Merry Christmas, mom.” You reply through a sniffle.
“Hey, hey, hey. No crying, it’s Christmas.” She says, despite the tears welling in her own eyes.
“I’m sorry. I just really miss you.” You say through a broken sob.
“I miss you too, but we’ll see each other soon.” She assured you. “I got you something special to make up for all this.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a surprise.” You could hear her smile through the phone.
“Wow, I’m having a lot of surprises this week.”
“What do you mean? Is everything ok over there?” Her smile faded into a face of concern.
“Yeah, yeah. Everything’s good. I just…I’m having more fun than I expected.”
“Really? And here I was thinking you were being tortured over there.”
“I was and then…”
“Oh, I get it. There’s a boy, isn't there?” You could hear her smile.
“What? No. No.” You scoffed.
“What’s his name?”
“Steve.” You reply slightly embarrassed with the conversation.
“Is he cute?”
“Mom.”
“That’s a yes.” She chuckled.
“Fine. Yes, he’s cute and he’s nothing like I thought. He’s actually really sweet.”
“When do I get to meet him?”
“Slow your roll. We are nowhere near that.”
“Good.”
“What do you mean good?”
“I mean that young love is sweet and all, I just don’t want you getting your heart broken. I don’t want to have to kick his ass, but I will if I have to.”
“I promise I can handle him myself.”
“I’m sure you can, but I’m your mom. It’s my job to buy you ice cream and hug you and tell you everything will be ok, then kick his ass cause no one hurts my baby.” Her threat makes you chuckle.
“Aww, how sweet.”
“I know, mom of the year, am I right?”
“Definentely.” You reply, nodding your head.
The two of you continue to talk for what feels like hours, catching each other up on your week until Steve ran in to tell you dinner was ready.
“Thanks, I’ll be there in a minute.” You reply. “Sorry.” You apologize to your mother for the interruption.
“Was that him?” She immediately asks.
“Yeah.” You reply, not even realizing your face broke into a smile.
“Wow, he really must be cute. I can hear you beaming over the phone.” She replies with a chuckle. “Anyway, I should let you go before your dinner gets cold.”
“I can stay a little longer.”
“It’s ok. I have some paperwork I need to catch up on. Plus I’m starving and I kind of need the phone to order room service.”
“Are you sure?”
“I promise and remember that I love you more than life itself.”
“I love you too.” You reply, your eyes beginning to well again.
“Good night, sweetheart.”
“Night, mom.” You mumble out before hanging up the phone. You release a deep sigh, swiping your tears away with your sleeve before joining the others
“Sorry for holding you guys up.” You apologize as you took your seat at the table.
“It’s no problem, dear. We wouldn’t want to start without you.” Joyce replied.
“Thanks.” You say, flashing an appreciative smile.
“Of, course. Now dig in.” She urges as she refills her glass of wine.
“It looks really good, Mrs. Byers.” You complimented as you reached for the dish of mashed potatoes.
“Thank you, honey. I just hope you guys like it.”
“Of course we will. It looks amazing, Joyce.” Hopper was next to compliment, making the woman blush. You and Steve immediately locked eyes, giving each other knowing smirks.
“Yeah, it smells great.” Steve continues the chain of compliments as he loads his plate with green beans. “I haven’t had a home cooked meal like this since…since my mom passed.” He fights to get the last part out. You quickly place a hand on his upper back, rubbing it in gentle circles.
“Oh, sweetheart, I’m so sorry to hear that.” Joyce sighs, placing her hand over his.
“I know how you’re feeling, kid and I promise it gets better. I lost my daughter a few years ago. Her name was Sarah. She was the sweetest little girl on the planet. It’s always hard this time of year without her, but at least I know she’s not in pain anymore.” He empathized, feeling his throat go dry as he spoke.
“Pain?” Steve questioned.
“She had Leukemia.” He answered.
“Shit, Hop.” You sigh.
“Yeah…I miss her everyday, but I just imagine her in a field somewhere riding horses and playing with puppies. She could never decide which animal she liked more.” He cracked a smile as he reminisced.
“She sounds great.” You say with a slight frown.
“The greatest. That’s why I always wear this…” He rolled his sleeve up just enough to reveal the blue bracelet around his wrist. “It was hers. As long as I wear out I feel like I’m carrying a piece of her wherever I go.” He explained, not bothering to roll his sleeve back down to cover it. “The point is, we’re all missing someone and we’re all feeling a little shitty, but at least we’re not completely alone, because that’s when it sucks the most. Trust me.”
“Thanks, Hop.” Steve piped up.
“Anytime, kid. And I kind of figure that since it’s Christmas we could do something special. Anything you want.” The man offered. Despite you needing a second to think, Steve was swift with his answer.
“I wanna go to Chicago.” You were a little surprised that he was swinging this big, but you were immediately on board with the idea.
“No, anything, but that.” Hopper shot the notion down as soon as the words left his mouth.
“What? You said anything.” Steve argued.
“Anything but that. We’re not supposed to leave campus and I already broke that rule enough.”
“Please, Hop, it’s Christmas.” You joined in to beg.
“Back me up here, Joyce.” He pleaded with the woman who was taking a big sip from her glass.
“I don’t know, Hop. You said anything they wanted and I think we could all stand to get out of here for a little bit.” She reasoned.
“Come on. You can’t go back on your word, man.” Steve pressed.
“Fine.” He finally relented. “We leave tomorrow morning.”
“Yes!” The two of you cheered before profusely thanking the man.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don’t mention it.”
The drive to the city had been pleasant. Christmas music quietly poured from the radio while snowy scenery moved by slowly as Hopper drove at a leisurely pace. The light conversation that flowed between the four of you would only be disturbed when either you or Steve would notice a Volkswagen drive by, prompting you to punch each other in the arm.
You could feel the excitement radiating from Steve’s body as the city skyline came into view.
“Woah.” You stared wide eyed when Hopper decided to pull into the lot of the Sheraton Commander hotel. Sure it wasn’t the Ritz Carlton by any means, but if you were being honest, you were expecting a ratty motel.
“You kids wanted to come to Chicago so I figured we do it with a little style. I can afford to cover a couple rooms here. Plus I don’t think my back can take another shitty bed. I need a good night of sleep at some point.”
After foregoing breakfast in order to get to the city as soon as possible, the four of you were starving once you unpacked your bags in your rooms.
You decided to walk to a diner you had spotted on the drive to the hotel. On your way you saw a small second hand music store. You thought nothing of it until you passed by the store front, doing a double take when you noticed the blue Fender Strat displayed in the shop window. Your eyes quickly shifted to the store name before shifting to the street name, keeping a mental note of both.
After breakfast, the four of you found yourselves at an outdoor bookstore/library only a couple blocks away from the diner. The small shop was nestled between an apartment building and a row of storefronts. Stocked bookcases were lined against the alley’s brick walls while short arranged rows of smaller bookcases occupied the center. There were even a few shelves filled to the brim with vinyl records.
You felt like a kid in a candy store when you walked through. You immediately wandered to the bookshelf lined walls, pulling out books that piqued your interest. Steve couldn’t help but smile at your utter excitement.
“Hey, uh, Hop.” Steve asked as the pair mindlessly looked through books that they weren’t really interested in.
“Yeah?”
“What kind of things do girls like?” He asked the man.
“I heard how you get around, kid. Why are you asking me?” Hopper questioned in return.
“Because I’ve never gotten something for a girl I actually like. I want to get y/n something really nice for Christmas, but I don’t know where to start.” He confessed.
“Well, do you know what she’s into? Hobbies, shit like that?”
“Uh…she’s into photography.” Steve remembered.
“There you go. Get her some film or something.”
“What if I get her the wrong thing?” Steve sighs.
“Then return it and let her get the right thing. It’s the thought that counts, right? At least you remembered she likes photography in the first place.” He reasons.
“Sure, but I would like to get it right the first try. I mean I don’t even know what kind of camera…Oh! I’m so stupid. How could I forget? I know exactly what to get her. Thank you, Hop!”
“You’re welcome?” Hopper slowly replied at the boy's sudden shift in attitude.
“Do you think I could cover for me for a bit?” He asked.
“Cover? What the hell are you talking about?”
“I think I saw a camera shop across from the diner. I wanted to swing by and see if it has what I’m looking for and if we all go together she’ll get suspicious.”
“I can’t let you walk around by yourself like that.”
“Please, Hop. It’s for a great cause and I swear I’ll be back in an hour. Hour and a half, tops.” Steves pleaded.
“Fine, but if you’re not back by then, as soon as I find you we’re going straight back to the school.” He threatens.
“I promise I’ll be back by then…and I also need the room key.”
“You’re killing me, kid.” He sighed, digging into his pocket.
“I know, but if I come back with a bag she’ll know something’s up.”
“I get it. I get it, alright.” He assures him, dropping the key into his hand.
“Thanks, man. Just stall until I get back.”
“I don’t think that’ll be too much of a problem.” Hopper says, watching the way you seemed to be in your own world, absolutely enamored with the shop. “Now get out of here, kid. Clock’s ticking.”
It took you about twenty minutes to realize that Steve had left. WHen you finally noticed, you walked up to Hop who had been flipping through Johnny Cash’s discography.
“He forgot his wallet in the hotel. He should be back any minute.” He explained, hoping that you wouldn’t push further. Luckily for him and Steve, you were satisfied with the answer.
You were a row behind Steve, both of you skimming through the collection on vinyl records when a middle aged ginger woman with large gold hoops and a heavy (faux) fur jacket walked up to Steve.
“Hey there, handsome. You got a cigarette?” She asked, her voice slightly grating. When you raised your head to watch the interaction, you immediately caught on to what was happening.
“No, ma’am. Sorry.” He simply replied.
“How about a date then? You want a date?” She hurriedly asked him.
“No thank you, I’m seeing someone.” He declined the offer.
“That’s never stopped a man before.” She pressed him further, taking a step closer to him.
“Well it’s stopping this one. Maybe you should ask him. My dad gets a little grumpy without a cigarette so I’m sure he’ll let you bum one.” Steve replied, pointing towards Hopper.
“Well, thank you, sugar.” The woman gave him an appreciative smirk at the new business opportunity that she hoped would pan out.
“Of course. Have a good one ma’am.” He smiled back.
“Hopper is gonna kill you.” You chuckle, making him turn around to face you.
“Maybe, but that doesn’t mean this won’t be hilarious.” He replied, dragging you towards the row of books so that you could watch the interaction.
“Hey, handsome. Your son told me you might have a cigarette.” The woman says when she saunters up to Hopper the same way she did with Steve.
“Son?” His eyebrows knitted before looking up to find the two of you watching him. Both of you quickly tried to turn away, pretending to be busy , but of course it was too late. He lightly shook his head before focusing back on the woman. “What the hell, here you go.” He sighed, fishing the carton of cigarettes out of his pocket to give her one.
“Thank you, sugar.” She accepted, placing it between her lips, keeping the tip pointed towards him so that he could light it. You could see the way her body relaxed when she took a long drag. “What if we found some place warm. Somewhere I could pay you back for the favor.” She propositioned in a sultry tone.
“Oh, no I’m good. I’m pretty busy, lady.” He shook his head, his eyes darting back to you and Steve who were trying to hold back your laughter.
“Well, I’m sure your son wouldn’t mind.” She tried to persuade him.
“Yeah, dad. Go ahead. We have no problem waiting here.” Steve egged on the situation.
“See. He can wait here, read some books. He doesn’t mind if daddy gets a little candy cane.” The woman pressed, her sultry tone now having a hint of desperation.
“Thank you, but I’m…married.” He landed on an excuse. His words made the woman immediately deflate. “Joyce!” He called to the woman who was skimming through the titles of books lining the shelves against the wall.
“What?!”
“Just come over here. I want you to meet someone.” Joyce released a sigh and rolled her eyes before walking up Hopper.
“Joyce, I’d like you to meet…”
“Amanda.” The woman flatly supplied her name.
“Amanda.” He parroted.
“Ok? Nice to meet you.” Joyce replied, confusion lacing her voice.
“Diddo. It was nice meeting you. You have a lovely husband. Very loyal.” She replied before walking away, her high heels clicking with every step.
“Husband? What the hell was that about?” Joyce asked once the woman was no longer in eye sight.
“That lady propositioned Hop.” You explain, fighting to contain an entertained smile.
“Really?”
“Yeah, she wanted to thank him for being such a gentleman for bumming her a cig.” Steve continued.
“You think you kids are so funny for that, huh?” He shook his head, despite he himself cracking a small smile.
“It was a little funny.” You answer.
“No, it was really funny.” Steve wholeheartedly defended his prank.
After the bookstore, you spent the next few hours walking around the city. It felt like you were home, even if you couldn’t go to your house. You missed everything about the city. All the taxis, the tall buildings, and the streets teeming with life, but the thing both you and Steve missed the most about the city was the Millenium Park Ice Rink. It was absolutely beautiful in the winter and even more so at night. The bright lights that were wrapped around every post lit the ice with an array of colors, but that wasn’t even the best part. What brought it all together was the massive Christmas tree put up by the city. The sight almost made you cry, reminding you of all the winters you spent with your mother or your friends on the ice having the time of your lives as the cold air whipped across your cheeks as you chased each other around the ice.
Joyce and Hopper had no other option but to smile as they watched you and Steve glide across the ice. It was the first time all week that they had seen either of you smile so bright and it warmed their hearts.
“I told you it would be good for them.” She reminded the man after taking a sip from her hot chocolate Hopper bought her from a nearby stand.
“When you’re right, you’re right Joyce.” He nodded in agreement. His smile only grew wider when Steve spun you so fast you almost fell over, only to catch you before you hit the ice, sending both of you into a fit of laughter. “They needed this.”
“All of us do. Come on.” She prompted, standing up on her skate clad feet.
“I only put these on to humor the kids. I don’t know how to skate.” He confessed.
“Well good thing I do and I can teach you.” She replied, not letting him weasel out of trying so easily. “Come on, Hop. Tis the season.” She tried to persuade him when she sensed his hesitancy. He wanted to refuse. He really wanted to, but he couldn’t fight the need to please the woman when she looked at him with her big brown eyes.
“Fine, but as soon as I fall on my ass, I’m done.”
“Sure.” She chuckled, latching onto his hand.
“Woah, woah, woah. Slow down. I would like to make it to the ice before I embarrass myself.”
“Sorry.” She apologizes, letting him go at his own pace. WIth every step he took, he morphed more and more into Bambi.
After recovering from your near fall, you and Steve decide to race to the end of the rink, deciding that the winner best out of three would pay for hot chocolate.
“Nice skating, dad.” Steve teased when right before the start of your second race, Joyce and Hopper skated by in front of you.
“Still not funny.” He grumbled as his hands clung to Joyce’s hips as she slowly towed him across the ice as he glided far less gracefully behind her.
“Young love, how sweet.” You coo.
“Beautiful isn’t it?”
“Absolutely…anyway, three, two, one, go!” You counted off quickly, hoping to catch Steve off guard as you raced down the ice.
“Hey!” He shouted behind you as he tried his best to catch up to you.
“Guess cocoa’s on you, babe.” You smirk mischievously when he finally meets you at the other end of the rink.
“Absoluetly not. That was not fair.” He shook his head.
“Didn’t you ever learn that all’s fair in love and war?”
“There’s still rules.” He argued.
“Fine. Rematch?” You offer.
“Yes, thank you. But I get to count us off this time.”
“Whatever floats your boat, Harrington. I’ll beat you either way.”
“It is so cute that you think that.” He pouts, leaning over like he was about to peck your lips but instead he stopped short muttering “Three, two, one, go!” Before taking off.
“Jerk!” You shout now that you got a taste of your own medicine.
“See, now we’re even.” He beamed, finally giving you the peck he denied you.
It wasn’t lost on you and Steve the way Hopper and Joyce were leaning into each other as you walked back to the hotel. You weren’t sure if the switch happened on this ice or before they stepped foot on it, but to you it didn’t matter. Whatever was laying under the surface was beginning to bubble up and you were so happy that it was.
When you made it back, the pair decided to continue on with their night in Hopper and Steve’s room, leaving the two of you time in the comfort of the hotel room together. Before they could shut him out and crack open a bottle of wine, Steve reminded Hopper about the special something he needed to run inside and grab.
“What’s that?” You ask Steve when he flops on your bed, bag in hand.
“It’s, uh…it’s for you. Merry Christmas.” He smiled, handing you the bad.
“Steve, you didn’t have to do this. I mean I didn’t even get you anything, ho-”
“Don’t worry about it. Just open it.” He urged you, beginning to anxiously tap his dangling foot against the carpeted floor.
“Ok, I’m going. I’m going.” You chuckled as you began to pull the decorative tissue paper Steve had piled into the bag. Steve’s heart was pounding in his chest with every piece of tissue you plucked out, just waiting for the moment you see it.
“Steve.” You squeak, your throat immediately going as dry as the desert when you read the Canon logo on the box nestled in the bag. “You didn’t.” You shook your head in disbelief.
“Keeo going.” He smiled widely. WIth shaking hand, you follow his instructions, pulling the box from the bag.
“No, Steve you didn’t.” Tears sprung from your eyes when you got a clear view of what you were holding in your hands. It was your dream camera. A Canon a1 with a 50mm lens.
“I did.” He nods.
“No, no, Steve, this is too much. How’d you even get this?” You ask, from behind the hand you brought to your mouth.
“When I “forgot” my wallet. I knew I wanted to get you something so I figured why not give you the thing you wanted the most.”
“But how, Steve? This costs seven hundred dollars.” You remind him.
“My credit card.” You feared that answer the most.
“You have to take this back, Steve. I mean what about your dad? He’s gonna kill you for buying this. You can’t go through all of that for me.” Steve refused to hear your concerns, opting to bring his thumbs up to swipe away your tears.
“You’re worth it. You deserve this camera and I will be damned if I let my dad crush someone else’s dreams. I’ll deal with him, ok? I want you to have this.” He assures you, pressing a soft kiss to your forehead.
“I don’t even know what to say.” You sniffle, wrapping your arms around him to squeeze him tight. “Thank you.” Is what your short circuiting brain finally lands on. “Thank you.” You repeat, placing a soft kiss to his lips.
“Merry Christmas.” He says, resting his forehead against yours.
“Merry Christmas.” You repeat, breaking into a wide smile.
The following morning, you were up before the others. You spent the whole night switching between utter excitement with your gift and figuring out how to sneak out of your hotel room and getting back in without anyone noticing.
You tried your absolute hardest to be as quiet as possible. You were moving at a snail’s pace as you tiptoed around the room to get dressed and brush your teeth. Before leaving, you jotted down a quick note on the hotel stationary just in case Joyce woke up so that she wouldn’t be worried that you were gone.
Emergency period situation. Be back soon!
The morning was beautiful when you stepped out of the hotel. Snow was lightly falling as you walked in the direction towards the thrift shop you’d seen yesterday. You released the biggest sigh of relief when the guitar still sat pretty in the shop window.
“Welcome, let me know if you need any help, ma’am.” The older man behind the counter greeted.
“Thank you…I was actually wondering how much the guitar in your window costs.” You ask, leaning against the counter.
“She’s a beauty isn’t she?” He mused.
“Yeah.” You nod.
“She’ll run you about $275.”
“Wow…I can do that.” You nod.
“Great, let’s test her a little bit, shall we.” He beamed.
“So, what drew you to this guitar?” He asked as he plugged the guitar into a small amp.
“Oh, it’s not for me. It’s for a guy that I’m seeing.” You answer.
“Wow. Must be some guy.”
“Yeah, he’s pretty great.” You smile.
“Alright, she’s plugged in. Give her a spin.” The man prompted you. Following his instructions, you began to play a few chords that Steve taught you.
“I think this is it. I’ll take it.”
“Great. Let me get you checked out.” On your way to the register, you spot a guitar strap with a striped pattern you figured Steve would like. Once out the counter, you fished a pick out from the small bowl filled with them that sat there.
“Alright, all together that’ll be $300. I can throw that guitar case in for you too.” He nodded towards a case close to the store’s entrance.
“Oh, I can’t afford that.” You lightly frown. You had seen it when you entered. You thought about it but when you read the price tag, you immediately recoiled.
“It’s on the house.”
“Really?” You replied with wide eyes.
“It’s the giving season. Why not.” He shrugged. “Plus, it looks like you walked here and I don’t think you want to ruin a guitar you just spent three hundred dollars on.”
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart.” You reply, placing a hand on your chest.
“It’s my pleasure.” He assures you.
“Merry Christmas.”
“Likewise. Have a nice day, darling.” The man waves as you exit the store.
“Period emergency, huh?” Joyce says when you slowly enter to find her lounging on her bed, watching the small t.v. in your room with a cup of coffee in her hand.
“Yeah.” You nod, placing the case on the ground as you shrug your coat off. “I’m sorry for lying. I just needed to pop out to get Steve’s gift.”
“A gift for Steve, huh? Show me what’s got you up so early.” She sat up.
“Ok…”
“Jesus Christ.” She mutters with wide eyes when you open the guitar to reveal the guitar.
“I know. He’s gonna lose his mind.”
“You kids must really crazy about each other.”
“Yeah. The same way you and Hop are crazy about each other.” You tried to tease, expecting her to deny it, but she didn’t. She didn’t necessarily confirm, but the light smile that tried to break on her face told you everything you needed to know.
“Room service!” You heard the voice behind the door announce as he knocked on the door. You immediately recognized it as Steve making you scramble to put the guitar back in its case and shoving it in the closet.
“Where’s my eggs benedict?” You ask when you open the door.
“Shit, I must’ve misplaced them. Ah, I'm sure they’ll turn up somewhere.” He shrugs. “Mind if I come in?” In lieu of a verbal response, you just step aside, giving him the space to enter.
“Thank you ma’am.” He smiles, placing a quick kiss to your cheek before stepping inside.
“Morning, Mrs. Byers.” He greets the woman who sipped from her cup.
“Morning, Steve. Is Hop up?”
“Yeah, he’s on our balcony having his morning cigarette.” He informs her.
“Perfect. I think I’ll join him.” She replies, quickly excusing herself to leave the two of you alone so that you could give him his gift.
“What the hell was that about?” He asked you assuming that you would also find her behavior strange.
“No idea.” You shrug. “Now stand here and close your eyes.” You demand, leading him to the front of your bed.
“Ok?” He replied in confusion, but followed your instructions anyway.
“Don’t peek!” You point at him despite the fact that he couldn’t see you.
“Eyes are closed. I promise.” He reassures you. He did have to fight every instinct in his body to keep them closed when he heard you rush to the closet, creating a bit of noise before rushing back over.
“Ok, open them.” You instruct once the guitar case is sitting on the end of your bed.
“Merry Christmas!” You beam.
“Oh shit, a guitar case! How’d you know I needed a new one?” He asked with genuine excitement before his face slightly faltered. “Wait, you didn’t get this for me just because I bought you the camera, right?”
“One, no I saw this yesterday before I knew you were getting me anything. Two, your gift is inside the case.” You clarify.
“You didn’t.” He asks, with wide eyes like yours had been the previous night.
“Yeah, I did. Open it up.”
“You really, really didn’t have to do this.”
“I know, but I did.”
“Holy shit!” Steve felt like he got the air knocked out of him in the best way possible when he unzipped the case to reveal the used, but still shining blue Fender.
“I saw you eyeing yesterday and I could just tell it was meant to be yours.”
“How? How did you afford this?”
“Me and Robin work at this ice cream shop every summer. I've been saving it up for my camera, but I don’t need to do that anymore, so I figured I could take the hit.” You explain.
“Honey, you really didn’t have to do this for me.”
“I know, but I wanted to.”
“Thank you, really this is amazing. Really, really amazing.” He felt himself begin to tear up as he placed a soft case to your lips.
“Merry Christmas.” You say through the kiss.
“Merry fucking Christmas.” He chuckles.
The heartfelt morning continued when all of you decided to go to the bowling alley. After a few frames and watching Hopper put his moves to the test while he guided Joyce through proper bowling technique, you arrived at the movie theater.
You rested your head on Steve’s shoulder, while his arm was slung over yours. The two of you shared a bucket of popcorn as you stared at the massive screen play Starman. When you flicked your eyes over to the seats beside Steve, you found Hopper and Joyce in a near identical position as you and Steve.
“Come with me.” Steve whispered to you.
“Where are we going?” You whisper back.
“Don’t worry, just trust me.”
“Ok?” You hesitantly agree.
“We’re gonna get a refill of popcorn.” Steve whispered to Hopper whose eyes were trained on the screen.
“Mmhmm.” He hummed in response.
“Let’s go.” Steve said, grabbing hold of your hand, as he guided you out of the theater.
“Where the hell are we actually going, Steve?” You ask as you stand on the curb, Steve trying his best to hail a cab.
“We’re going to visit my mom.” He replied shortly.
“Then let’s tell, Hop. I’m sure he’ll take you when the movie’s over.”
“I don’t want to wait for Hop, ok? I just…I really need to visit her and I want to go now, so just please let me do this without Hop or Mrs. Byers. Just us.” He pleaded.
“Yeah. Yeah.” You nod in acceptance, noticing the way his palms were sweating.
“Taxi!” He shouted, waving his hand. “Fucking finally.” He sighed in relief when the yellow car stopped. Steve held the door open letting you in first before climbing inside. Right as he was about to shut the door, it was flung open.
“Hey! What the fuck are you doing!” Hopper interrogated, pulling him out of the car by his coat.
“Let go, man!” Steve shouted back, pushing the man off of him. “Relax man! I just need to do something. We were going to come back. It won’t take long and it’s nothing bad. We can meet you back here or at the hotel.”
“No fucking way. Y/n get out!” He shouted at you, making you slowly climb out. “Was this a little plan the two of you’ve been cooking up? As soon as I’m not on it, the two of you take off?!”
“We weren't running away, ok? There’s just something that I need to do before we go back to school.”
“He just wants to visit his mom, Hop.” You finally confess what Steve wouldn't, hoping to calm the fuming man down.
“Jesus.” He sighed, dragging a hand down his face. “That’s what all this about? You didn’t have to run like this, kid. I don’t mind taking you to the cemetery to see her.” He assured him, feeling guilt in his chest when he noticed Steve’s glassy eyes. “Come on, get inside.” He nodded towards the taxi, prompting the four of you to squeeze into the backseat.
I love love love your dad!joe fics, could you do one where the three of you are out and then the paps turn up and Luke’s confused and y/n isn’t feeling great and joes like over it (the paps)
Or
Luke waking up on his birthday to the front room being completely decorated with balloons and banners and joes there with his little camera and Luke just kinda stops mid way in the hallway like huh wow this is all for me
“birthday movie”
☆ dad!joe keery x mom!reader ☆
i couldn’t decide whether to keep it as just a birthday fic or add the paparazzi part too… so i ended up combining both into one story <3 i hope you guys enjoy it as much as i enjoyed writing it. requests are open btw !!
summary: it’s Luke’s fourth birthday, and Joe is determined to document every second of it with his little handycam. Between dinosaur decorations, pancakes, toy stores, an unexpected run-in with paparazzi, and a family dinner filled with laughter, the day doesn’t go exactly as planned—but by the end of the night, Luke falls asleep exactly where he wants to be: between his mom and dad.
word count: 5.2k
warnings: fluff, dad!joe, mom!reader, toddler!Luke (4 years old), paparazzi, brief anxiety, family dynamics, happy ending, no use of y/n
Joe had been awake for forty minutes before the sun fully came up, which would have been impressive if he had not spent at least ten of those minutes standing barefoot in the kitchen of your brownstone, staring at a bag of balloons like it had personally offended him.
The house was quiet around him, still and sleepy in that early morning way that made the West Village feel softer than usual. Outside, the street was barely awake, only the distant sound of a delivery truck and someone’s dog barking once before being pulled along the sidewalk. Inside, though, the living room looked like a birthday party had exploded in the best possible way. Blue, green, and yellow balloons floated along the staircase railing, a crooked banner hung above the fireplace, and the coffee table was covered with wrapped presents, dinosaur plates, and the little paper crown Luke had insisted he was going to wear the second he turned four.
You stood in the doorway with your arms crossed, watching Joe try to tie the last balloon to the banister while holding his little handheld camera under one arm.
“You know you can put the camera down, right?” you whispered.
Joe looked at you like you had suggested something deeply offensive. “Absolutely not.”
“You’re tying balloons.”
“I’m documenting history.”
“You’re about to document yourself losing a fight with ribbon.”
He looked down at the ribbon twisted around his fingers, then back at you. “That would also be valuable footage.”
You laughed quietly, stepping closer to help him before the balloon could slip away again. Joe let you take the ribbon, but not before lifting the camera and pointing it at you, the little red light blinking in the dim living room.
“It is currently six thirty-eight in the morning,” he whispered in his dramatic documentary voice. “The birthday boy is asleep upstairs. His mother has already reorganized the presents three times and pretended she wasn’t emotional about a wooden train set.”
“I wasn’t emotional,” you said.
Joe zoomed in slightly.
“Joseph.”
“You touched the box and said, ‘He’s going to love this,’ in a very watery voice.”
“That is not evidence.”
“It will be when I edit in sad music.”
You reached forward and covered the lens with your palm, smiling despite yourself. “You’re the worst.”
Joe lowered the camera just enough to look at you over it, his smile softer now. “You love me.”
“Unfortunately.”
He leaned in and kissed your cheek quickly, careful not to make too much noise. “Happy birthday to us.”
You blinked at him. “To us?”
“Yeah,” he said, looking around the living room. “We survived four years of being parents.”
Before you could answer, a tiny creak came from upstairs.
Both of you froze.
Another sound followed, softer this time: the slow shuffle of little feet against the hallway floor, then the faint thump of something being dragged down the first step. Joe’s whole face changed in half a second. The teasing disappeared, replaced by that bright, helpless look he got every time Luke did anything remotely adorable, which was unfortunately all the time.
You stepped back toward the edge of the doorway, half-hiding behind it so Luke would see the room first. Joe lifted the camera properly, trying very hard to look like a serious filmmaker and not like a dad seconds away from crying over pajamas.
Luke appeared at the top of the stairs a moment later.
He was still in his blue moon pajamas, one side of his hair flattened and the other sticking straight up. His stuffed dog was tucked under one arm, dragging slightly against the steps as he made his way down, slow and sleepy and completely unaware of the living room waiting for him. Halfway down, he rubbed one eye with his fist and yawned so big his whole face scrunched up.
Then he reached the bottom.
He stopped.
For a few seconds, he didn’t say anything.
His eyes moved from the balloons to the banner, then to the presents, then to Joe standing with the camera. His little mouth opened slightly, his stuffed dog slipping from under his arm and landing on the floor with a soft thud. He blinked once, then twice, as if he thought the room might disappear if he moved too quickly.
“Daddy?” he said, voice raspy with sleep.
Joe’s voice went warm immediately. “Yeah, buddy?”
Luke pointed at the living room. “What happened?”
You bit the inside of your cheek to stop yourself from laughing.
Joe crouched a little, still filming. “What do you mean?”
Luke looked around again, suspicious now. “There’s balloons.”
“There are balloons,” Joe agreed.
“And dinosaurs.”
“Mhm.”
“And presents.”
“Big morning for noticing stuff.”
Luke’s eyes landed on the banner. You could practically see him trying to work it out, his eyebrows pulling together in concentration. Then his whole face changed at once.
“It’s my birthday?”
Joe laughed softly. “It is your birthday.”
Luke gasped, even though he had been counting down for a week. “I’m four?”
“You’re four.”
“All day?”
“All day.”
Luke stared at the room one more time, then turned around and looked for you. The second he saw you in the doorway, he ran straight into your legs with so much force that you had to grab the wall to steady yourself.
“Mommy!”
You bent down and scooped him up, pressing a kiss to his messy hair while he wrapped himself around you like a koala.
“Happy birthday, baby.”
“I’m not a baby,” he mumbled into your neck.
“Sorry. Happy birthday, big boy.”
He leaned back, satisfied. “Yeah.”
Joe made a quiet noise behind the camera. “Tell future Luke how old you are.”
Luke lifted four fingers right in front of the lens. “Four.”
Joe zoomed in on his hand. “Perfect.”
Luke leaned toward the camera until his face probably filled the whole frame. “Hi, future me.”
You laughed. “What do you want to tell future you?”
Luke thought seriously for a second. “Don’t eat the green marker.”
Joe lowered the camera slightly, already laughing. “That’s good advice, actually.”
The morning unfolded slowly after that, in the kind of chaos that felt like home. Luke insisted on wearing the paper crown immediately, even though it kept slipping down over one eye, and Joe insisted on filming him eating birthday pancakes even though Luke ate exactly two bites before deciding the whipped cream was the real breakfast. The kitchen smelled like butter and syrup, the morning light came through the tall brownstone windows, and somewhere between Luke getting syrup on his sleeve and Joe pretending to interview him about turning four, you realized the tight feeling in your chest had nothing to do with sadness. It was just too much love in one place.
Before the presents, Joe insisted there was “one very important birthday appointment.”
Luke frowned curiously as Joe carried the laptop into the living room and set it on the coffee table between the balloons.
“Who’s that?” Luke asked.
“You’ll see.”
A few seconds later, the screen lit up.
“Happy birthday!”
Luke practically jumped.
“Nana! Grandpa!”
Joe’s parents filled the screen from their kitchen back in massachusetts, both wearing ridiculous dinosaur party hats that immediately made Luke burst into laughter.
“You have hats!” he giggled.
His mom adjusted hers proudly.
“Your grandpa said we were too old for them.”
“I never said that,” his dad protested. “I said mine didn’t fit.”
“It definitely fits.”
“It definitely doesn’t.”
Joe laughed quietly from behind Luke, already recording the whole thing with the handycam.
“You guys look great.”
“We dressed up for the birthday boy,” his mom said. “Obviously.”
Luke moved so close to the laptop that only half his face was visible.
“Look!”
He held his paper birthday crown toward the camera.
His grandparents gasped dramatically as if it were the greatest thing they’d ever seen.
“A real birthday crown!”
“I know,” Luke said proudly.
Joe’s dad leaned toward the screen.
“Did your dad make the pancakes?”
Luke nodded.
“They’re good.”
Joe looked offended.
“That’s the review?”
“They’re very good.”
“Better.”
A notification popped up a second later.
“Oh,” Joe smiled. “Looks like someone’s joining.”
The call expanded as another face appeared.
“Happy birthday, Lukey!”
Luke grinned immediately.
“Auntie!”
Joe’s oldest sister waved enthusiastically from her living room, one of her kids climbing onto her lap while another bounced excitedly in the background.
“We wanted to call before school,” she explained. “The cousins refused to miss your birthday.”
“Happy birthday!” they shouted together.
Luke laughed so hard he nearly dropped the laptop.
“I got a dragon!”
“We saw!”
“And pancakes!”
“We saw those too!”
Joe quietly leaned closer to you while Luke spent the next several minutes showing every single decoration in the living room to the camera, proudly giving everyone a full tour of the brownstone as if he owned it.
“He definitely gets that from you,” you whispered.
Joe looked genuinely offended.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You’ve been filming this house since six thirty.”
“…Fair.”
Nearly twenty minutes later, after singing Happy Birthday over the video call, promising to FaceTime again when Luke opened the rest of his presents, and listening to three different reminders from Joe’s mom to “give our birthday boy one extra hug from us,” Joe finally closed the laptop.
Luke sighed happily.
“They called me.”
Joe ruffled his hair.
“Of course they did, buddy.”
“It’s your day.”
“Current birthday review?” Joe asked from behind the camera while Luke sat at the table with whipped cream on his nose.
Luke looked up. “Good.”
“Any notes?”
“More pancakes.”
“You didn’t eat the ones you have.”
Luke looked down at his plate, then back at Joe. “For you.”
Joe nodded very seriously. “Generous.”
After breakfast, Luke sat on the rug in the living room while you and Joe handed him the first few presents. Not all of them, because dinner later would bring a whole new pile from your families, but enough to make the morning feel special. He opened the wooden train set first, gasping like you had personally invented transportation for him, then a dinosaur sweatshirt from Joe that he immediately wanted to put on over his pajamas. When he opened the toy camera from you, the whole present-opening process stopped because Luke stood up and began filming Joe filming him.
“Say happy birthday,” Luke ordered, holding the toy camera backward.
Joe leaned toward it. “Happy birthday.”
“No, to me.”
Joe corrected himself immediately. “Happy birthday to you.”
Luke nodded, satisfied, then turned the camera toward you. “Mommy, say I love Luke.”
You smiled. “I love Luke.”
He lowered the toy camera and beamed. “Good movie.”
By late morning, the living room looked destroyed. Wrapping paper covered the rug, a plastic dinosaur had somehow ended up inside one of Joe’s sneakers, and Luke had changed into jeans, his new dinosaur sweatshirt, and the birthday crown, which he refused to take off even when you gently explained that walking around New York in a paper crown might get uncomfortable.
“It’s my day,” he said.
Joe pointed at you like Luke had made an excellent legal argument. “Hard to fight that.”
“You two are impossible.”
“We’re birthday boys,” Joe said.
“You are not a birthday boy.”
“I’m birthday boy adjacent.”
Luke giggled, because even when he didn’t fully understand the joke, he knew Joe was being ridiculous.
The plan was simple: take Luke to his favorite toy store, let him pick one thing, maybe walk around for a little bit if the weather stayed nice, then come back to the brownstone before dinner. Emma, Joe’s sister, had organized a family dinner at a restaurant nearby because, in her words, “my nephew turning four is an event.” Kate and Lizzy, Joe’s other sisters who lived in New York too, had already texted three times asking what time they should arrive, what Luke was wearing, and whether he still liked dinosaurs or had changed his entire personality overnight.
“He still likes dinosaurs,” Joe had texted back while Luke roared from the floor beside him.
Now, walking down the front steps of the brownstone, Luke held Joe’s hand in one hand and his toy camera in the other. He paused at the bottom step, lifted the camera toward the street, and whispered, “Movie.”
Joe crouched beside him. “Remember the rule?”
Luke nodded. “Ask first.”
“That’s right. We don’t film strangers unless they say it’s okay.”
Luke frowned. “But you film Mommy.”
Joe looked over at you with a grin. “Mommy is used to me being annoying.”
“Barely,” you said.
The toy store was loud, bright, and perfect. Luke moved through the aisles like a tiny museum curator, stopping in front of every shelf to carefully inspect things before deciding they were either “cool,” “too loud,” or “maybe for later.” Joe followed him with the patience of someone who would gladly spend five hours discussing the emotional life of stuffed animals if Luke asked him to. You watched from a few steps behind as Luke picked up a dragon, put it down for a fire truck, abandoned the fire truck for a box of magnetic tiles, then returned to the dragon with a serious expression.
“This one,” he announced.
“You sure?” Joe asked.
Luke hugged it to his chest. “He needs me.”
Joe nodded solemnly. “Then we can’t leave him.”
By the time you stepped outside again, Luke was glowing with happiness. The dragon was tucked under one arm, his toy camera hung around his neck, and he was talking nonstop about how the dragon looked mean but was actually “a nice guy.” Joe had the shopping bag looped around his wrist, and you walked close beside them, fingers brushing Luke’s shoulder every few seconds out of habit.
The first camera flash came from across the street.
You noticed it before Joe did.
It was quick, easy to mistake for sunlight reflecting off a window if you weren’t used to noticing things like that. But you were. You had learned to notice, slowly and unwillingly, because being with Joe meant understanding that privacy was something other people sometimes treated like a game. Most days it was manageable. Most days people whispered, or asked Joe for a photo, or tried to sneak a picture from far away. Most days Luke didn’t notice.
This time, he did.
Another flash went off.
Then someone called Joe’s name.
Joe’s hand tightened around Luke’s.
Your stomach dropped.
At first, there were only two photographers. Then three. Then more, appearing near the curb and across the sidewalk, cameras lifted, voices overlapping. Joe shifted instantly, stepping slightly in front of you and Luke without making a big show of it.
“Keep walking,” he said quietly.
Luke looked up. “Daddy?”
“It’s okay,” Joe said, calm but firm. “We’re just going to the car.”
But then one of the photographers called Luke’s name.
Luke turned.
It happened so fast you barely had time to react. He saw the cameras, heard his name, and smiled. Because of course he did. He was four. He had spent the whole morning being filmed by Joe, told it was his birthday movie, praised every time he waved or made a silly face. To him, a group of adults calling his name with cameras didn’t mean headlines or privacy or danger. It meant attention. It meant a game.
He lifted his hand and waved.
“Hi!”
Your heart nearly stopped.
“Luke,” you said quickly, reaching for him.
The flashes came faster.
Luke giggled, delighted by the reaction, and then—before you could stop him—he stuck his tongue out at them, making the same ridiculous face he made whenever Joe pointed the camera at him at home.
A few of the photographers laughed.
You felt panic rise hot in your chest.
“No, no, honey,” you murmured, stepping closer and gently turning him toward you. “Come here.”
Luke frowned, still smiling a little. “What?”
You pulled the hood of his sweatshirt up without thinking, trying to angle his face away from the cameras. Luke squirmed, not upset, just confused.
“Mommy, I’m playing.”
“I know,” you said, your voice tight. “I know, baby, but not with them.”
Joe heard that.
You saw the exact second his patience snapped.
Not loudly. Not recklessly. He didn’t scare Luke, didn’t shove anyone, didn’t turn the sidewalk into a scene. But his face changed, and so did his voice.
“Hey,” Joe called, sharp enough that the closest photographer lowered his camera slightly. “Don’t call his name.”
Someone kept shooting.
Joe stepped fully in front of Luke then, blocking him from view as much as he could. “I said don’t call his name. He’s a kid.”
The voices kept going, asking about the birthday, asking for one picture, asking if Luke could look over one more time. The words ran together, each one making your grip tighten around Luke’s shoulders. He looked up at you now, finally starting to realize something was wrong, his smile fading into uncertainty.
“Mommy?”
You crouched quickly in front of him, blocking his face with your body as you fixed his hood. “You’re okay.”
“Did I do bad?”
That almost broke you.
“No,” you said immediately, cupping his cheek. “No, baby, you didn’t do anything bad.”
Joe looked back at you, and even through the tension, his eyes softened when he heard Luke’s question. He reached down and lifted him in one smooth motion, settling him against his chest with Luke’s face turned inward.
“Race to the car, birthday boy,” Joe said, forcing lightness into his voice.
Luke blinked. “Race?”
“Yeah,” Joe said, kissing the side of his head quickly. “We’re winning.”
Luke, reassured by the familiar tone, wrapped one arm around Joe’s neck and held his dragon with the other. “We’re fast.”
“The fastest.”
Joe looked at the photographers one more time, and this time there was nothing playful in him at all.
“Back off.”
Then he moved.
You stayed close, one hand on Joe’s back and the other gripping the shopping bag so tightly your fingers hurt. The car wasn’t far, but it felt impossible to reach with the cameras following, shutters clicking, voices calling. Joe kept Luke tucked against him the whole time, his body angled so that every shot would get mostly his shoulder, his jaw, the side of his head, anything but Luke’s face.
When you finally reached the car, Joe opened the back door and bent slightly to put Luke into his seat. You climbed in beside him for a second, hands moving too fast as you buckled him, checked the straps, pulled his hood forward again. Luke watched you with big eyes.
“Mommy,” he said softly. “Are you mad?”
You stopped immediately.
“No,” you said, gentler this time. “I’m not mad at you. I promise.”
Luke looked toward the window, where Joe was standing with one hand against the open door, shielding the view from the cameras. “But Daddy is mad.”
Joe’s jaw was tight, but when he looked down at Luke, he softened instantly.
“Not at you, buddy,” Joe said. “Never at you.”
Luke held the dragon closer. “At the picture people?”
Joe hesitated, choosing his words carefully. “A little.”
“Why?”
Joe glanced at you. You knew that look. He was trying to explain something unfair in a way that wouldn’t make the world feel too scary.
“Because they forgot to ask,” he said finally.
Luke’s eyebrows pulled together. “Ask first.”
“Exactly,” Joe said. “You remembered. They didn’t.”
Luke thought about that, then nodded slowly. “That’s rude.”
A surprised laugh escaped you before you could stop it, shaky and relieved.
Joe smiled too, just a little. “Yeah. It was rude.”
Luke leaned back against his car seat, apparently satisfied. “But I did a funny face.”
“You did,” Joe said, his voice gentle. “It was a very funny face.”
“Did you see?”
“I saw.”
Luke smiled again, small and proud. “I’m funny.”
“You’re the funniest guy I know.”
Joe shut the door carefully, then got into the front seat. For a few seconds, none of you moved. The photographers were still outside, but the car muted everything, turning their voices into dull noise. Joe kept both hands on the steering wheel, looking straight ahead, breathing through his nose like he was trying very hard not to carry the anger into the car.
You reached forward and touched his shoulder.
He turned his head slightly.
“I’m sorry,” you said quietly.
Joe frowned. “For what?”
“I don’t know. I should’ve—”
“No.” He cut you off softly but firmly. “Don’t do that.”
You looked back at Luke, who was now making his dragon bite the edge of his sleeve, already drifting away from the moment because childhood was merciful like that sometimes. You lowered your voice even more.
“They got his face.”
Joe’s expression tightened, but not at you. Never at you.
“I know,” he said. “We’ll handle it.”
“I hate that he thought it was a game.”
“He’s four,” Joe said. “Of course he did.”
You swallowed hard, nodding even though the guilt still sat heavy in your chest.
Joe reached back with one hand, palm open. You took it immediately, threading your fingers through his over the center console. He squeezed once.
“He had a good morning,” Joe said quietly. “We’re not letting them take the whole day.”
From the back seat, Luke suddenly kicked his feet.
“Can we still have cake?”
Joe and you both laughed.
Joe started the car. “Yeah, buddy. We can still have cake.”
Back at the brownstone, the three of you took a quiet break before dinner. Luke spent most of it lying on the living room rug with his dragon, explaining to it very seriously that “picture people need manners.” Joe disappeared into the kitchen to make coffee, then came back with a mug for you and a look that told you he was still thinking about it, still angry underneath, but trying not to let it bleed into the rest of the day.
You sat on the couch while Luke played by the fireplace, your legs tucked under you, watching Joe check his phone and then put it face down almost immediately.
“Anything?” you asked softly.
“Nothing I want to deal with right now,” he said.
You nodded.
Joe sat beside you, close enough that his shoulder pressed into yours. “Hey.”
You looked at him.
“He’s okay.”
“I know.”
“And you’re okay?”
You breathed out slowly. “I think so.”
Joe leaned in and kissed your temple. “Good.”
Luke looked up from the rug. “Are you kissing?”
Joe didn’t move away. “Maybe.”
Luke made a face. “Ew.”
You laughed, and just like that, the room felt lighter again.
By the time evening arrived, Luke had somehow regained all his energy. He changed into a little sweater you had laid out for him, insisted the dragon was coming to dinner because “he’s family now,” and made Joe film him walking down the brownstone stairs like he was on a red carpet.
“Who are you wearing?” Joe asked from behind the camera.
Luke looked down at his sweater. “Clothes.”
“Iconic.”
The restaurant was warm and full by the time you arrived, the kind of place tucked into a quiet street where the staff knew Emma because she had called three times to make sure the table would have enough room for gifts. She was already there when you walked in, waving dramatically from a long table near the back.
“There’s my birthday boy!” Emma called.
Luke let go of Joe’s hand and ran straight into her arms.
Emma lifted him with a laugh, kissing his cheek before immediately adjusting his sweater like only an aunt could. Kate and Lizzy were beside her, both already smiling, both with gift bags tucked under the table. Your parents were there too, along with a few relatives from your side, not everyone, but enough to make the table feel loud and full and loved.
Luke spent the entire dinner being passed between people, showing everyone his dragon, his toy camera, and the tiny paper crown you had brought in your bag because he refused to leave it at home. Emma made a dramatic toast about him being “the coolest four-year-old in Manhattan,” Kate pretended to be deeply offended when Luke said Joe was funnier than her, and Lizzy kept sneaking him fries from her plate even though you definitely noticed.
Joe filmed little pieces of it all. Not constantly, not in a way that pulled him out of the moment, but enough. Luke blowing out the candles. Luke getting frosting on his nose. Emma wiping it off with a napkin while he giggled. Your mom hugging him a little too long. Joe’s sisters singing louder than everyone else just to make him laugh.
At one point, Luke climbed into Joe’s lap, full and sleepy, his dragon tucked under his chin.
“Daddy,” he mumbled.
Joe looked down. “Yeah?”
“My birthday is big.”
Joe smiled. “It is big.”
“Tomorrow I’m still four?”
“Tomorrow you’re still four.”
Luke nodded, relieved. “Good.”
By the time you left the restaurant, it was late enough that Luke had started blinking slowly, fighting sleep with the determination of someone who believed closing his eyes would make the day end faster. Joe carried him to the car while you balanced leftover cake, gift bags, and the framed photo Emma had given him at dinner: a picture she had taken months earlier on the brownstone steps, Joe sitting with Luke asleep across his lap while you rested your head on Joe’s shoulder.
Luke had stared at it for a long time before whispering, “That’s us.”
Now, back home, he woke up the second Joe tried to carry him upstairs.
“My presents,” Luke mumbled into Joe’s neck.
Joe froze on the staircase. “Oh, no.”
You looked up from the bottom step, arms full of gift bags. “What?”
Joe turned slightly, Luke half-asleep against him. “He remembered.”
Luke lifted his head, eyes barely open. “I didn’t open all of them.”
Joe looked at you.
You looked at Joe.
Then you both sighed at the exact same time.
Ten minutes later, all three of you were sitting on the rug in the main bedroom, changed into pajamas, surrounded by gift bags from dinner. The house was quiet again, the kind of quiet that only came after a long day. Downstairs, a few balloons still floated around the living room, the birthday crown sat abandoned on the kitchen counter, and the dishwasher hummed softly in the background.
Joe appeared from the hallway with the handycam.
You laughed immediately. “Seriously?”
He looked offended. “This is essential footage.”
“It’s almost eleven.”
“It’s archival material.”
Luke clapped sleepily from between your legs. “Movie.”
Joe pointed the camera at him. “Birthday movie: final chapter.”
Luke waved. “Hi again.”
He opened Emma’s gift first, struggling with the ribbon for so long that Joe had to zoom in on his concentrated little face.
“Need help?” you asked.
“No,” Luke said. “I strong.”
“You are.”
Two minutes later, the ribbon finally came loose.
Inside was a dinosaur excavation kit, and Luke gasped so dramatically that Joe nearly dropped the camera from laughing.
“No way,” Joe whispered.
“It has bones,” Luke said, amazed.
“I’ve heard dinosaurs have those.”
Luke ignored him completely.
Kate’s gift was next: a little camera strap with Luke’s name stitched into it for the toy camera you had given him that morning. Luke insisted Joe put it on immediately, then held the camera against his chest.
“Now I match Daddy.”
Joe lowered the handycam for a second.
“You do, buddy.”
His voice had gone softer, and when you looked over, he wasn’t joking anymore. He was just looking at Luke, taking him in: the messy hair, the sleepy eyes, the tiny camera strap, the fact that your baby was somehow four.
Lizzy’s gift was a small green backpack covered in embroidered dinosaurs. Luke put it on over his pajamas, sat back down, and frowned.
“It’s heavy.”
“There’s nothing inside,” you said.
“Oh.”
Joe laughed so hard the camera shook.
One by one, Luke opened every present. A coloring book. Tiny rain boots. A stuffed triceratops. A children’s cookbook from your parents because he had recently become obsessed with “helping” Joe make pancakes. Every gift became his favorite for at least thirty seconds before the next one took its place. By the last bag, he was yawning between words, leaning back against you while you helped him pull tissue paper out with slow, sleepy hands.
When everything was finally opened, Luke sat in the middle of the mess looking completely satisfied and completely exhausted.
Joe turned the camera toward him. “Final birthday thoughts?”
Luke blinked at him.
“Cake.”
“Great thought.”
“And presents.”
“Another strong thought.”
“And Mommy.”
You smiled.
Luke reached one hand back and patted your arm.
“And Daddy.”
Joe’s face softened completely behind the camera.
“Good list,” he said quietly.
You started gathering wrapping paper into one of the empty bags, but Luke suddenly looked up, worried.
“Where do I sleep?”
You paused. “In your bed, honey.”
His face fell a little.
Joe noticed immediately. “What’s that face?”
Luke hugged the dragon to his chest. “It’s my birthday.”
“It is.”
“And birthday boys can sleep with Mommy and Daddy?”
You looked at Joe.
Joe looked at you.
For half a second, both of you pretended to think about it.
Then Joe nodded, very serious.
“Birthday rule.”
Luke’s eyes widened. “Birthday rule?”
“Birthday boys get whatever they want.”
You raised an eyebrow. “Within reason.”
Joe ignored that. “Tonight, you can sleep with us.”
Luke’s sleepy smile spread across his whole face.
“Really?”
“Really.”
He scrambled onto the bed before either of you could change your minds, dragging the dragon, the stuffed dog, and the framed photo with him.
“The photo is sleeping too,” he announced.
You laughed. “The photo needs a pillow?”
Luke thought about it, then carefully placed it on the nightstand. “No. Its own table.”
“Of course.”
Joe set the camera on the dresser, still recording for a few seconds as he climbed into bed. You turned off the main light, leaving only the warm bedside lamp on, and slid under the covers beside Luke. Joe got in on the other side, and without saying a word, Luke wiggled until he was perfectly wedged between both of you.
One of his hands found yours.
The other reached for Joe.
“I’m squished,” he whispered happily.
Joe smiled. “The good kind?”
“The good kind.”
You brushed his hair back from his forehead. “Did you have a good birthday?”
Luke nodded, already half-asleep.
“The best?”
He nodded again.
“What was your favorite part?” Joe whispered.
Luke took a long time to answer.
You thought maybe he had fallen asleep.
Then, with his eyes closed, he mumbled, “You.”
Joe went still.
You felt your chest ache.
“Me?” Joe asked softly.
Luke squeezed his hand. “And Mommy.”
You blinked quickly, looking at Joe over Luke’s head.
Joe’s eyes were soft, tired, a little glassy in the lamplight.
He leaned forward and kissed Luke’s forehead.
Then he reached over him, found your hand beneath the blanket, and intertwined your fingers together.
“Best birthday we’ve ever had,” he whispered.
Luke was already asleep by then, breathing slow and even between you. His dragon was tucked under one arm, his stuffed dog was half falling off the pillow, and one of his socks had somehow disappeared again. Outside, the West Village had gone quiet. Inside the brownstone, surrounded by forgotten balloons, wrapping paper, and a whole day saved forever on Joe’s little camera, the three of you stayed exactly where Luke wanted to be.
Together.
thank you so much for reading!! 🤍 i had so much fun writing this one 😭 i love writing dad!joe and little luke so much, and i thought combining the birthday request with the paparazzi idea made the story even cuter. i really hope you enjoyed reading it as much as i enjoyed writing it <3 if you have any requests, feel free to send them in!! i read every single one, and they’re honestly my favorite part of running this blog. don’t forget to like, reblog, or leave a comment if you enjoyed this one—it really means the world to me. see you in the next fic!! 🫶
Summary: A tragedy hits extremely close to home leaving all of you reeling. The only hopes you have now is to save Holly Wheeler and stop Vecna before he could take another child or ruin another family.
A/N: Heyyy....hey....how ya'll doing? Sorry for the time between chapters. I was having minor writer's block and I git my wisdom teeth removed. Yay! But I'm back and with a long ass chapter, so I hope you enjoy this cause I really enjoyed making it. I also think I'm going to rename all my chapters and give them proper titles so look out for that if you're interested and I figured I should start here.
Childhood Best friends to Lovers
Steve Harrington x Powered!Fem!Sinclair!reader (she/her)
CW: A lot of blood/ gruesome injuries, fear of dying, hospitals and all things hospital related, canon-level violence.
Chapter Outfit w/this jacket (post hospital)
WC: 9K (yikes)
Series Masterlist
Dividers by @reevesoc
lmk if you want to be added to the taglist
“Will someone tell me what’s going on?!” You ask the pair in the front seat, tossing the walkie down next to you after informing Steve and Jonathon that Nancy picked you up.
“Will said a demogorgon is after Holly. We’re on our way to my house to stop it. Mike and Lucas are meeting us there.” Nancy explained, with white knuckles tightly gripping the steering wheel.
You felt the world still around you at her words. Your heart began to hammer and tears began to well in your eyes.
“No, no, no. Holly's at my house.” You say with a trembling voice.
“What?!” Nancy’s head snaps around to look at you, despite her speed remaining the same.
“Y-your parents went out for date night and they couldn’t find a sitter so my parents offered.” You reply, your throat now dry as the desert.
“Shit! Hold on!” Nancy instructed, making a sharp U-turn. You immediately scramble for the walkie you had tossed aside.
“Lucas?! Lucas pick up!” You screamed, not having it in you to do call signs and follow the proper walkie etiquette. “Lucas, pick the fuck up!”
“What? What’s going on?” He finally answers, breathing heavily as he continues to pedal on his bike as fast as possible.
“The demo’s going to our house, not Nancy’s!” You frantically inform him.
“Fuck!” He shouts before muttering something to Mike that you couldn’t make out.
“Get there as fast as you can! Do you know where Erica is?!” Your heart somehow pounding harder than it had before.
“Uh…Uh…She’s at a sleepover!” He scrambled to answer.
“Oh, thank god.” You sigh, feeling the smallest wave of relief to crash over you. The feeling is quickly stolen away when you hear El speak from the front seat.
“It’s inside.” She says as your house came into view, eyeing the rapidly flickering lights.
“I see it. Get ready.” You instruct them both, not wanting to waste a single second.
The car barely came to a stop before you climbed out of it. You broke into a sprint, throwing your hand out to unlock your front door without a care for who saw you. Nancy and El weren’t too far behind you once Nancy grabbed her shotgun from her trunk.
“Mom?! Dad?!” You call out to them as soon as you enter your house. An eerie quiet now settled in. The lights were no longer flickering, signifying that the demogorgon had run off, but that didn’t ease your concern one bit. “Mom?! Dad?!” You call out again, but the lack of response made your body begin to tremble.
The three of you inched through the house until you arrived at the kitchen. Nothing could’ve prepared you for the horrific sight when you entered. Almost every surface was covered in blood, but that wasn’t the worst part. Your parents had been laying in a pool of their own blood. Their clothes soaked crimson from their deep wounds that ran across their stomach and chest. Despite being barely conscious, they still held the other’s hand.
“No, no, no,no.!” You sobbed, kneeling between the two of them. Their drooping eyes became more alert when they saw you leaning over them.
“Y-y/-” Your mother tried.
“Shh…shhh. Don’t try to talk, just stay calm.” You instruct her as you shrug your jacket off to apply pressure to her slashed chest. Nancy and El followed suit. Nancy focused on your father while you and El kept pressure on your mother’s wounds who had seemed to be worse.
“You guys are gonna be fine. You’re gonna be ok.” You tried to convince them as well as yourself as you looked between them.
“El come hold this. I’ll call 911.” Nancy waved the girl over.
“I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” You repeatedly apologized to them, but you knew the words would never be enough.
“911, what’s your emergency?” The dispatcher on the other line answered once Nancy finished punching in the number.
“My friend’s parents are bleeding out! We need help!” She yells into the phone, now tucked between her cheek and her shoulder as her now free hand rejoins El’s.
“Are you with her right now?”
“Yes! That’s how we know their bleeding out!”
“I understand ma’am. I just need you to calm down for me.” The woman spoke calmly. You knew that it was her job to try to remain as calm as possible so that you in turn would remain as calm as possible, but it only frustrated all of you further. “Do you know how this happened?”
“No!” She shouts, your blood beginning to boil. All you wanted was help.
“Where are you right now?” She asked.
Nancy quickly rattled off your address before pleading for them to come as fast as they could.
“They’re on their way.” She informed you, letting the phone clatter to the floor.
“You hear that guys, help is on the way. Just hang on for me, ok? Think of Lucas and Erica. They need you. I need you.” You encourage through ragged breaths.
“H-holly.” You heard your father mutter from beside you. Your head shot up to look at Nancy who’s eyes were beginning to well.
That’s when you heard it. The distant growl that drew your attention away. Your eyes snapped over to the wall that had a closing gate burned into the wall.
“Go!Go!Go!” You yell at El to go after it before it’s too late. El is the best bet of getting Holly back and both you and Nancy knew that.
Your heart felt like it was repeatedly being ripped from your chest then stomped on when your father let out pained whimpers, like the last that he had was being choked out of him.
“No, no, no. Stay with me. Stay awake please, dad! Please!” You shout when his eyes begin to droop. It felt like another punch to your chest when your mother fought to turn her head to look at him. The tears in her eyes no longer seemed to be those of pain, but those of fear and heartbreak at the fact the man she had built her life with, had three amazing children with, may be leaving her far too soon.
“Y/n?!” You heard the winded but panicked voice of your brother call.
“Don’t come in here! Just stay where you are!” You shout, knowing that he shouldn’t see them like this. You knew he would never forget it.
Despite your pleas, he followed your voice anyway. He froze in his spot when he stepped inside. The utter fear that coursed through him at the sight of his dying parents and his sobbing sister covered in their blood.
The approaching wailing sirens of the ambulance snapped both him and Mike back to reality. He was quick to his knees, applying pressure to your father’s chest with Nancy, while Mike joined you with your mother.
“They’re almost here. Just hold on a little longer. Everything will be ok.”
“Vitals. Talk to me.” You, Lucas, Nancy and Mike trailed as closely behind the medical team that they would allow as they worked on your parents.
“Female, forty-two years old. Heart rate 120. BP 103/67.” The nurse who was squeezing your mother’s bag of saline informed as they rolled the pair down the hallway. “Got a male, forty-five, Multiple blunt impact. Weak abdominal. Pulse is thready and weak. Lacerations to the right anterior chest and penetrating neck trauma.” She continued.
The four of you were prepared to follow as the staff pushed them through the wide double doors, only to be stopped by the nurse who had been spouting off their vitals.
“I’m sorry. You have to wait outside.” She pushed against you as you tried to force your way through.
“Let me stay, please let me stay with them.” You plead with the woman, not ready to leave their side until you knew they would pull through.
“We have to let the doctors do their job. We’ll update you as soon as we know anything, ok?” She replied receiving a despondent nod from Lucas and only pleading sobs from you before she went back to work, leaving the four of you to watch as your parents were lifted onto operating tables.
“Cross match, get to the bag.” One of the surgeons instructed.
“Where’s my X-ray cart?” Another asked.
“Maybe four broken ribs.” A nurse rattled off.
“Stand by to intubate.” All the voices began to overlap as your mind became static and your body went numb.
The four of you finally left when a doctor looked up, happening to see the four pairs of terrified eyes staring at him through the operating door’s small window.
“Someone get those damn kids out of here.” He barked, prompting the nurse who had stopped you from entering, to usher you to the waiting room before running back into surgery.
You stared at yourself in the mirror. Your eyes were bloodshot and the skin around them became puffy. You even thought that you could see the headache that was thrumming in your head as you continued to stare.
The tears that became light sniffles started up again when you looked down at your hands. They were the reason you were in the restroom in the first place. They were caked in your parents dry blood. Your heart was heavy with guilt and fear. This never should’ve happened. How are you supposed to tell Erica? If you were faster, smarter, more courageous, this wouldn’t have happened. The words repeated in your mind as your shaking hand reached for the hot water knob, turning it all the way on. You didn’t even bother to cool it to a comfortable temperature, because at that moment you felt like you didn’t deserve it. You didn’t deserve comfortable. Steaming hands that felt like they were on fire is what you deserved. You fought every instinct in your body telling you to pull your hands away from the water as you rubbed them to wring the blood out. Even when the bathroom lights began to flicker, you still refused to stop. Only when they felt completely numb did you reach for the soap.
You left a bloody handprint on the dispenser when you pumped it. The small amount that came out was nowhere near enough, but you tried to use it anyway. When you went back for more, the same amount still came out, so you did it again and again and again. Harder and harder and harder, but the same amount came out every single time. No matter how hard you tried it was never enough! No matter how hard you try, you’re never enough!
You were only snapped from your spiral when the dispenser exploded sending the soap all over yourself, the wall, sink, and mirror.
“Fuck!” You scream at your reflection, almost hyperventilating before resorting to wiping the soap off your clothes to finish washing your hands in the scalding water.
Despite the blood being gone, your hands still felt dirty. Everytime you looked down at them or blinked you would see your parents. The fear in their eyes. The way your mother looked at your father when she thought he had taken his last breath. The horror on Lucas’ face when he walked into the kitchen. You never thought you would stop seeing them.
“This is all my fault.” You finally speak, breaking the thick silence that settled over the waiting room as you waited for any updates on your parents’ condition.
“You got there as fast as you could.” Lucas tried to reassure you.
“I’m not talking about tonight we could've acted yesterday, last week, last fall. We could’ve tried to make them evacuate or at least told them the truth.” You got up from your seat beginning to pace.
“You said it yourself, they didn’t believe you when you told them you had “superpowers.” Mike tried to reason, whispering the last part.
“Then I should’ve tried again. I could’ve floated my dad his coffee or flipped a car or something. It doesn’t matter what, just anything to make them believe me.”
“Mom and dad would’ve never left you alone.”
“I’m not alone Lucas! I have Steve and Robin. You and Erica and mom and dad, shouldn’t be here. You should be as far away as possible because nothing good ever happens when I’m around. Not until Vecna is dead and you know what. And maybe we would’ve found him already if we stopped doing crawls in Zone G1!”
“You think I wanted this to happen? A demogorgon just kidnapped my sister!” Nancy stood up to defend herself.
“Of course not, but we have been telling you G1 has nothing. We could've tried something else. Anything else!”
“I stuck to the plan!”
“What plan? Five times is a plan, but G1 thirty fucking times in not a plan. It’s routine. We’ve become predictable and Vecna knows that. He showed Steve all of this shit. He wants to destroy Hawkins and make us suffer before the final blow. We knew something was coming and we've been wasting our time! So when it’s your dad in an induced coma and your mom in surgery fighting for her life then tell me you want to do another crawl in G1.” You huff pushing past the girl to march towards the elevator.
“Where are you going?” She asked, throwing her hands up in frustration.
“Who else would I be going to see in this hospital?!” You shout back, your finger repeatedly jamming the elevator ‘up’ button.
“I’ll go after her.” Lucas said to the two siblings before running to catch the elevator before the doors closed on him.
Kate Bush filled the room on a low volume as you and Lucas sat by Max’s bedside.
“I wish…I wish I had better news.” Lucas said as he gave a recap of everything that had happened over the course of the night. This was nothing new for him. He came to see Max almost everyday. He always told her about his day, the crawls, the good and bad. He knew that she was still in there somewhere and he needed her to know that he would never give up on her. “Hopefully my next update will be something like our parents are ok, and El found Hopper and saved Holly, and we kicked Vecna’s ass, then we all celebrate and everything. But if I’ve learned anything over the years, it’s that it’ll never be that easy. I have this deep feeling that the final battle started tonight and if we’re gonna do this, then we need the full party…” The tears in Lucas’ eyes rolled down his cheeks as he squeezed Max’s hand tighter. “Max, we can’t win this without you. If my theory is correct, then we are running out of time. So, if you’re planning on resurrecting anytime soon, now is the time. I know that you’re still in there Max, just please…please give us a sign…I miss you.” He cried, placing a kiss to the back of her hand. He knew it was a long shot for her to suddenly wake up, but it didn’t stop him from pleading.
“Sorry to interrupt, but I need to turn her and flex her joints.” A nurse said gently as she entered the room.
“It’s ok. We’ll come back later.” You forced a gentle smile as you stood up.
“Sorry, again.”
“It’s fine. I promise. We need to check on our parents anyway.” You reassure the woman while Lucas reset Max’s tape of Kate Bush.
“We miss you, Zoomer.” You whisper, placing a soft kiss on the girl’s forehead before exiting the room.
You wrapped an arm around your brother as the two of you made your way to the elevator.
“How are you holding up?” You ask your brother, the two of you leaning against each other as the floor number ticked down.
“Everytime I close my mind they’re all I see.” He confesses as he swipes at his eyes.
“Me too.”
“Do you think they’ll make it?” He asked the question that hadn’t stopped running through your mind since the moment you found them.
“They have to. I know death is inevitable, but not like this. They don’t deserve this.” You shake your head feeling your tears well up again
“What about Erica? How are we supposed to tell her about this?”
“I don’t know, but we at least need to wait until mom’s out of surgery.”
“Do you think they’ll tell us anything, now?”
“We won’t know until we ask.” You sigh.
“Hi, um…I was wondering if Diane Sinclair is out of surgery.” You ask the woman at the front desk who seemed disinterested in answering your question.
“Give me a second.” She replied, adjusting her glasses before focusing on her computer screen. You were close to ripping your hair out as she typed with one finger at a time. “It says here that Diane Sinclair got out of surgery about an hour ago.”
“Why didn’t anyone tell us?” In lieu of a verbal answer, the woman shrugged her shoulders.
“What do you mean…” You mimicked her shrug before continuing. “ We’re her kids. We just want to know if she’s ok. Is there at least a doctor that we can speak to?”
“Fine. I’ll see what I can do.” She finally relented, getting up from her desk.
“Any news?” Mike asks when you and Lucas sat down with him and Nancy.
“Uh, I practically had to sell my right kidney just for that lady to even attempt to find out how our mom’s doing.” You sigh, dragging your hands down your face.
“How about Max?” Nancy questioned.
“Still the same, but she’s still in there. I know she is.” Lucas asserts as he leans forward, resting his elbows against his rapidly bouncing legs.
“We’re you guys able to get in contact with the boys?” You ask.
“Yeah. They finally got a jump and they’re on their way.”
“Thank god.” You sigh, knowing that Steve would arrive soon.
“I don’t get it, you know?” Lucas piped up.
“What do you mean?” Mike asked.
“Holly. Why Holly? She seemingly has nothing to do with this.” He began to explain.
“Maybe he’s trying to torture us. Maybe he’s trying to make us suffer, like y/n was saying.” Nancy reasoned without the bite you had expected after your argument.
“That’s the thing, though. If that was his goal, why take Holly? Why leave our parents alive? Why didn’t he come in person and make it obvious that it was him. Why would he send one of his pets instead?”
“Wait, so you’re saying it’s not Vecna?” Mike asked.
“What I’m saying is that I don’t know. None of us do. All I do know is that I’m getting a serious case of deja vu, because this feels a lot like what happened to Will and it’s happening at almost the same time.” When he got confusing faces from all of you, he continued with his explanation.
“You guys know what day it is, right?”
“I think it’s the third.”
“Exactly. Will was taken on the sixth. That means we are less than three days away from the day that changed everything. I don’t know about you guys, but after everything we’ve been through, I don’t believe in coincidences. So, whatever’s coming, it’s soon and we need to be ready. And I know that we are going to get Holly back because she’s not alone. El is in there with her and if there’s anyone who could get her back, it’s El.” He surmised.
“So then what do we need to do?” Nancy asked as she sat down, mirroring your brother’s position.
“We need to think about everything. No matter how small it may seem, we need as much information as possible.” Lucas answered.
“Great. I’ll get us coffee.” Mike offered, heading to the machine down the hall.
“I think I have something!” Mike said as he scrambled to sit the small cups of coffee down on the table in front of you.
“Shoot.” You prompt as you reach for a cup.
“When I was walking back I saw a copy of a Wrinkle in Time in the kid’s room.”
“Ok?” You reply with knitted brows.
“Did Holly ever talk to you about Mr. Whatsit?” He directed his question to Nancy.
“Her imaginary friend from the book?” She answered.
“Yeah. Well, in the book it’s Mrs. Whatsit, so this is her own creation. At least that’s what I thought. When I went to pick her up from school today, she said that Mr. Whatsit told her that there were monsters in Hawkins and he warned her that they were coming for her. Then on the same day, she’s actually taken by a monster? No coincidences, right?”
“So, what’s your theory, Mike?” You ask, taking another sip from your coffee.
“What if Mr.Whatsit isn’t a figment of Holly’s imagination? What if he’s real?”
“Then why have we never seen him?” Lucas pipes up.
“Maybe we have and we just didn’t know.”
“How have we never noticed a psychic pervert hanging around your sister?” You inquire with knitted brows.
“Yeah, and if he was so concerned, then why didn’t he tell us or mom or even the Sinclairs?”
“I don’t know and I know that my theory has holes, but if this Mr.Whatsit guy is real, then we need to find him.”
“And how do you propose we do that, Mike?” His sister asks.
“What if our parents know. What if she mentioned him to them before the demogorgon attacked. It would make sense if this Mr.Whatsit guy tried to warn Holly, right? Maybe my parents saw him. Right now, it seems like the best shot we’ve got.” Lucas answered.
“That would be great if this doctor would come already.” You seethed from your seat.
“Uh…I have a better idea…” Your brother began as he watched a pair of candy stripers emerge from the elevator. “You guys stay here.” He instructed Mike and Nancy before latching onto your wrist to pull you with him.
“What’s the plan, Goober?” You ask as he drags you to the elevator.
“Where’s mom?” Lucas asks, now dressed in a hospital gown.
“Give me a second…” You reply now dressed as a candy striper as you skim the list of names and room numbers from the clipboard you swiped. “Got it. Room 317.”
You follow the signs to the Post Op/Recovery wing, your eyes constantly darting around as you “escorted” Lucas down the hall.
“If we want the ruse to work I think you should limp or something.” You whisper.
“Limp?”
“Just do it, Goober!” You whisper, causing him to drag one of his feet against the floor. “What the hell kind of limp is that?”
“It’s a limp. It’s a regular limp. Beggars can’t be choosers.” He argues.
“Fine then ditch the limp. We’re almost there anyway.” You argue back, rounding the corner that started with 310.
“Jesus.” Lucas sighed from beside you when you entered your mother’s room. Your throat went dry and your eyes began to well again when you took her in. She looked so plugged in and unnatural. Her heart monitor beeped next to her as a morphine slowly funneled through her i.v. Her neck had been wrapped in a thick brace as she lay in bed motionless. It just felt wrong.
“Mom, can you hear us?” You gently ask as you softly run your hand up and down her shoulder while Lucas squeezes her hand tightly.
“It’s us, mom. We’re here.” He whispers, gently rubbing his thumb across her knuckle. The sensation made her stir, her eyes slowly cracking open.
“Hi, mom.” You squeak, a smile finally breaking across your face after what felt like a lifetime. Tears began to spring from her eyes, both from the pain in her body and the sound of your voice.
“Hey, mom.” Lucas greets after you, a smile also coming to his face when he feels her squeeze his hand back.
“Don’t try to talk, mom. Don’t try to talk.” You calmly instruct as she tries to force her words out.
“It’s your throat, it just needs time to heal.” Lucas softly explains, receiving a slight nod as she tries her best to relax.
“They put dad in a coma, but we think he’ll pull through.” You inform her, causing her tears to flow faster as she tries to nod her head in understanding.
“We just need to ask you a few questions, ok?”
“Mmhmm.” She managed to hum.
“Do you think that you can write for us?” She instead ops to nod, no longer sure if she could muster a hum again.
You gently pull one of her hands free from the blanket, placing the pen Lucas found in it before positioning it in front of the clipboard you were able to find.
ERICA? She wrote, her usually beautiful penmanship was now shaky.
“She’s ok. She’s still at her sleepover. She doesn’t know what happened.” You explained receiving a nod in return and a grateful smile.
HOLLY? She wrote next.
“That’s what we were wondering about. She’s uh…she’s missing mom.” Her heart monitor immediately beeped faster at your words. Hearing those words struck her deep. It placed her back all those years ago when she had to tell the police that her that her first born had gone missing on her way home from school.
“But, we have a chance to help get her back, ok? We know something took her and we think that there’s someone who might know why she was taken and where she is. We just don’t know how to find him. We’re hoping that somehow you might know something. Maybe something you saw or something you heard. Can you do that for us mom?” You ask, receiving a slight mom. “We’ll make it quick I promise.”
“Did Holly mention a Mr. Whatsit?” Lucas asked.
YES
“Did Holly talk to him?” You ask, alternating between questions.
YES
“What did he look like?”
SHE TALKED BUT NO ONE THERE
“Like an imaginary friend?”
YES
“Did she describe him?”
YES
“What did he look like?”
POCKET WATCH TALL VEST GENTLE KIND
“Ok, got it um…did she ever say his name, like his first name?”
HENRY
“Shit…sorry.” You quickly apologize despite the fact that you’re a full grown adult. You and Lucas locked knowing eyes. Your deeply unsettling suspicions were confirmed.
“Thank you mom. Thank you. We will be back as soon as we can, ok.” Lucas promised her, despite not being ready to let her go yet.
“Just rest now, ok?” We love you and we'll be back with Erica.” You assure her, placing a kiss to her forehead like she did with you when you were sick. When you pull away she motions for the clipboard which you promptly hand to her.
I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH BE SAFE PLEASE
“We will. We will.” You both reply, before reluctantly leaving her side.
When you made it back downstairs, Steve, Jonathan, and Dustin were now in the waiting room.
“Steve?” You call out when you step out of the elevator. He wastes no time running to you.
“I'm so sorry, honey. I'm so, so sorry.” He mutters as he pulls you into him, squeezing you as tight as he could. You did the same to him, finally feeling a moment of peace. “I got you, honey. I got you.” He repeats, rubbing a soothing hand up and down your back.
“Thank god you’re here.”
“We would’ve made it sooner, but our good samaritan isn’t the biggest fan of me.” He explained.
“I don’t care. I’m just glad that you’re here.” You reply, burying your face into him as deep as you could manage.
“How are they?” He hesitantly asks, worried that it was still way too fresh to ask.
“Mom woke up. She helped us with some stuff for Holly, but dad is still in his coma and they won’t tell us anything. We had to sneak around just to see my mom.”
“Is that why you’re dressed like that?”
“Yeah, I had to ditch my clothes in the basement.”
“Do you want me to get them for you?”
“They’re covered in my parents' blood, so that kind of ruins the outfit for me. Even if I could get the stains out.” You mumble.
“Yeah, that would do it.” He sighed. “Do you think maybe a bopper would help?”
“Boppers always help.”
“Well, good thing this one had your name on it.” He replies as he pulls one from his jacket pocket. “Told you I didn’t eat it.” He continues before pressing a kiss to your temple.
“I appreciate your restraint, but if I’m being honest I don’t think I can eat right now.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I could barely keep the coffee here down.”
“That’s because the coffee here is shitty.”
“I know, but the point still stands. This one and only time, you can have my bopper.”
“Nah, I’ll save it for you.” He declines, pocket the snack
“You don’t have to do that Steve.”
“I know that I don’t have to, but I’m going to because one, I don’t have a problem and two, I promised you that I wouldn’t eat it and I would be a pretty shitty boyfriend if I did it anyway.”
“Has anyone told you that you’re frustratingly amazing?”
“You say it a lot and I love it every single time.”
“Well I mean it.” You reply looking in his eyes, but something about the way he looked back at you made something inside you crack. In that moment you understood the look on your mother’s face. You realized that if the inevitable battle against Vecna didn’t fall in your favor, you and Steve might look at each other the same way.
Despite the sun coming out, it still felt like it was an endless stretch of night.
Robin was on you the moment you entered the station.
“Oh my god! Are you ok?” She asks, flinging her arms around you.
“I’ve been better but we have bigger fish to fry.” You explain.
“Sure, but the smaller fish still seems really big.”
“I know, it’s just that if I keep thinking about it then I’ll be a useless wreck and I can’t be a useless wreck especially when El’s in the upside down. So, I’m just clinging on to the fact that my mom is alive and that my dad will wake up eventually, because without that I’ll fall apart.” You ramble.
“Ok, but just know that I’m here for when you’re ready to be a useless wreck. You’re there when I am.”
“You’re not useless, Rob. If anything you’re a useful wreck.”
“You sure know how to make a girl blush.” You take a quick look around before lowering your voice to a whisper.
“Careful. I know where your girlfriend works.”
“I can see that. Why are you dressed like that?”
“I had to tap into our spy days so that I could see my mom. It’s a long story.”
“I can’t wait for you to tell me, but unfortunately Will and I have an even longer one.”
After Will explained his ability to see through Vecna’s eyes, and his without a shadow of a doubt belief that he knew who Vecna’s next victim would be, you all needed to figure out how you were supposed to protect Derek Turnbow. The kid was a bad apple in a family tree of bad apples. The Turnbows were infamous in town. The family ran Turnbow Realty which made its fortune by buying up as many cheap or decently priced houses as they could before gutting, flipping, and upselling them. Despite it raising the property value in Hawkins, it also forced out families like the Byers out of town and it drove you crazy.
You wish that was the extent of your relationship to the family, but unfortunately Erica’s bratty best friend just so happened to be Tina Turnbow. She’s a menace on her own, but her dipshit brother Derek was an entirely different beast. You definitely didn’t miss the days where you would babysit him before you landed a job at Starcourt.
Due to those facts, you weren’t too opposed to the fact that the best case scenario at keeping Derek alive was to kidnap him or as Joyce put it, you were merely “saving a child via kidnapping.”
All you needed to do was get the boy all the way out to McCorkle farm without him seeing where he is so that Vecna or his little minions can’t get to him. The place was abandoned and isolated. If all went to plan, it would be the best place to bring him.
“Though, I’m not morally opposed to any of this, I do have to say that there are quite a few holes.” Dustin piped up.
“Yeah, like what if Derek falls asleep before the Demogorgon attacks him?” Lucas raised his concern.
“Also, what if Derek wakes up before we grab him and he alerts his family. We could go to jail.” Nancy voiced her concern next, causing both you and Steve to let out a deep sigh.
“Yes, all of those are pretty bad, but even if by some miracle this plan even works, Holly’s still missing.” Dustin reminds all of you. “Hop and El are still MIA so all of this isn’t bringing us any closer to finding Vecna. This plan just buys us and Derek some time. That’s it.”
“Actually, there might be a way to save Derek and Holly.” Mike piped up when the lightbulb above his head went off.
“This is Derek.” Mike began to demonstrate the plan with his DnD figurines. “And this is the Turnbow family. We’re gonna need to recruit someone that the family trusts. Someone who can gain access to the house and they will knock the family out, then we’ll extract the family from the house.”
“Well, we got that one covered.” You raise your hand. “Tina Turnbow’s Erica’s best friend. We have an easy in.” You explain, making Steve sigh.
“Perfect.” Mike nods in agreement.
“Wait, wait, wait. Knock out?” Joyce was quick to question.
“Safely. We’ll knock them out safely.” Mike was just as quick to assure her.
“Uh…I might know where we could get some benzos. Those things could knock an elephant on his ass. Maybe he’ll assume Derek fell asleep.” Robin chimed in. Each new addition to the plan made Steve release a concerned sigh. Nancy mentioning jail time made him sick to his stomach.
“Yeah, then he’ll send his demos to grab him, only he won’t find Derek. He’ll find us and we’ll be ready. We can get trap supplies from Murray and once we trap the fucker we’ll send him home with one of these…” Mike presented as he pulled a telemetry tracker meant for Hopper from his pocket. “We can track it in the Squawk van, just like we do with Hop. If we’re lucky, the demo will lead us straight to Vecna’s lair. Holes?” Lucas finished. You had to admit this was pretty luck based, but as far as plans go, this is the best shot you’ve got.
You went with Mike and Lucas to talk to Erica. The three of you gathered around Mr. Clarke’s window silently waving like maniacs to get her attention, before pointing for her to meet you in the hall. She tried her best to ignore you, but you wouldn’t relent, begging her to just listen. You knew you got her when she shot her hand up, asking to be momentarily excused.
“You have sixty seconds to explain why you interrupted my favorite class, but I’ll grant you an extra ten to explain why you’re in that dumbass outfit.” She said as she set her timer.
“Ok, Erica. I need you to listen to me because this is very, very serious.” You spoke with a stern face that made her own slightly falter. “Mom and dad are in the hospital.”
“What? Why?” She asked, her folded arms slowly dropping to her sides.
“Things went really, really bad at the crawl last night. A demogorgon was looking for Holly and she was at our house. Mom and Dad fought to protect her but…”
“Are they…are they ok?” She asked, keeping her eyes down towards her sneaker so that the boys wouldn’t see the tears forming in her eyes.
“Mom’s out of surgery, she got it pretty bad, but at least she’s awake. But they put dad in an induced coma so we don’t-” Her tears began to flow like a faucet before you could finish. Even if she didn’t want to admit it, she was a daddy’s girl. Losing them both would be devastating, but losing your dad would absolutely destroy her.
“I know, I know…” You pulled her into you, letting her cry her eyes out.“They’re gonna be ok, though. I promise and we’ll take you to see them as soon as we get a chance, but right now, we need to find Holly and in order to do that, we need to protect Derek Turnbow and for that we need your help.”
“Why would I want to protect Dipshit Derek?” She asked through a sniffle, finally releasing you.
“Don’t think of it as protecting Derek. Think of it as saving Holly. That’s what mom and dad tried to do and we need to do the same, because we know what we’re up against. We know what Vecna can do and we need to stop him before anyone else gets hurt, ok?”
“What do you idiots need me to do?” She asks, using her sleeves to wipe her eyes.
“We need you to get us in the Turnbow House, tonight.” Mike answers. “We’ll provide everything. We just need you to get inside and knock them out.”
“Knock them out?”
“It’ll be quick ok. We have a back up if it doesn’t work, but what we have should be enough and I know that you have dreamed of knocking Tina out, especially now that you’re enemies. Just apologize for the Josh thing and I’m sure she’ll take you back in an instant.”
“But the Josh thing was an accident.”
“I know, but I’m gonna need you to take the high road just this one time. This is for mom, dad, and Holly, remember. And once this is all over, I’m sure that Tina is never going to talk to you again.”
“I’m already saying yes, no need to sweeten the deal.”
“Can you read this?” Steve asked as he squinted to read the instructions in the cookbook.
“It says ¾ a cup of flour.” You read off for him. “I know you hate me saying this, but I think you need to get your eyes checked, love.”
“My eyes are perfectly fine. Plus I would look totally lame with glasses.” He sighed, resorting to crushing up the benzos considering you had practically taken over his job of reading the pie recipe off.
“I think you would be very handsome with glasses actually. I can picture it now.” You mused, but he still wasn’t buying it. “At least get contact lenses, please. Remember what your doctor said. All the shots to your pretty face are damaging your optic nerves. And your eyes are too big and too dreamy to be completely destroyed so please, take care of them.”
“Fine, I’ll see the optometrist.”
“Yay!” You cheer, placing a quick peck to his lips.
“When we get to New York. I don’t feel like dealing with a paperwork headache. You know Archie is the most forgetful guy on the planet.” He sighs.
“Deal, but as soon we settle in you are getting your eyes checked.”
“I will, honey. I promise. I thought about it and I realized I couldn’t bear not seeing your pretty face.”
“Ok, you flirt, now you’re distracting me.” You lightly push him away.
“Me distracting you?” He shook his head at the notion. “You're the one kissing your sous chef.”
“Then no more kisses I guess, cause we need this sucker baked in about an hour and a half.” You reply, reading off the clock hanging in Steve’s kitchen.
“I can’t believe you’re making me do this.” You plaster on a fake smile as you wait for a Turnbow to answer the front door.
“I haven’t apologized to Tina after a fight in almost three years. If I start now she might get suspicious. And stop looking like you’re being held at gunpoint. I’m the one who’s supposed to be being forced to apologize here.”
“Fine, just stand here.” You grab her shoulders, forcing her to stand in front of you. You kept your hands in the same place, making it seem like you were forcing her to stay put. “Shit, she’s coming. Cue waterworks.” You prompted your sister when you saw the faint silhouette of Tina approaching the door.
“Hi, Tina. Erica here has something she wants to say to you. Don’t you Erica.” You say with a faux bite in your tone. Erica sucked in a deep breath as she let a single tear fall from her eye before beginning her rehearsed monologue.
“Listen, I know that you probably hate me right now, but I thought you might want your favorite pie.”
“And?” You prompt her.
“And I wanted to say that I’m sorry. I’m so sorry Tina.” Erica cried. You hated the satisfaction that was plasters all over the girl's face as your sister begged for her forgiveness. You had to fight the urge to roll her eyes at her as she hugged Erica before inviting the two of you inside.
“Aww, I’m so happy that you girls decided to make up. We’ve missed you, Erica. Haven’t we, dear?” Patricia Turnbow asked her husband as she brought a bite of pie up to her lips.
“We missed the pie, that’s for sure. You have to tell me y/n. What is your secret?” He replied.
“It’s an old family recipe. I’m not sure our grandma would be too happy if she figured out that word got around.”
“Protecting your patent. I like that. I always knew you were a smart girl.”
“Thank you Mr. Turnbow.”
“Did you do something different this time though? The pie has a little extra something to it.”
“Nutmeg. I added more nutmeg.” You quickly cover.
“Ah, of course. Brilliant.” The man compliments before taking a sip of his wine.
“I hate to bombard you with questions dear, but have you ever thought of babysitting Derek again?” Patricia asks.
“Unfortunately not. I have a job at the radio station now and I plan on going off to college after this quarantine mess is all over.” You explain.
“What a shame. We always thought you were the best sitter we’ve ever had.”
“I’m flattered, but I’m ready for my big girl job so…”
“Tina, aren’t you going to try some?” Erica pipes up to ask when she realized the girl’s portion had gone untouched.
“I wish. Looks super good, but gotta watch those calories you know.” The girl declined.
“Fatty McFatFat!” Derek was quick to insult his sister.
“Derek, remember what we talked about. If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it all.” His mother reminded him.
“This is how you alienate your spears, Derek.” His father continued. You immediately caught the slip and the way his words began to slur together.
“My spears?” Derek began to chuckle.
“Your spears. Sph…spher…peers.” The man fought to finally get out.
“Holy shit. Dad’s wasted again.”
“Derek, please. Language.” His mother chastised him before taking another bite of her slice of pie.
“Tina, I insist. Y/n used low-fat creamer, so you can enjoy guilt free.” Erica slid a plate over to her.
“Thanks, but I’m not hungry.” She replied, pushing the plate back.
“But we made it for you.”
“I said, I’m not hungry.” The girls continued to argue, pushing the pie back and forth until Tina finally exploded, accusing Erica of trying to make her fat on purpose as revenge for the Josh fiasco.
“Ken, where are you going?” Mrs. Turnbow asks when her husband stands from the table.
“I do-I don’t feel so good.” He informed her as he fought to keep his balance with every step he took. Your eyes subtly followed him as he staggered out of the dining room before collapsing in the foyer.
Derek broke into a fit of laughter at the sight.
“Ken?” Patricia rushed from the table to check on her husband, before collapsing next to him. Derek's laughter ramped up, his face now flushing red as he doubled over in laughter, until the medication finally kicked in, sending him face first into his plate.
“Mommy!” Tina was up next, rushing to her parents’ side. “Erica, call 911!” Tina screamed for help.
“Plan B?” She asked you.
“Plan B.” You nod in confirmation. You could almost see the excitement pouring out of her as she reached for the needle she hid in her pocket while you prepared to radio the others.
“Erica, I told you to call 911!” She marched toward the girl trying to wake her parents.
“And I told you to eat your damn pie!” Erica seethed before plunging the syringe into the girl’s neck.
“The Turnbows are down for the count. Move in.”
“This is some serial killer shit.” You grunt as you help Steve drag the body of Ken Turnbow into the van. This sight of the family with their heads covered in pillow cases felt icky, but you knew that it was overall for a good cause so you tried to push the feeling away.
“I know, but couples who drug entire families together, stay together, right?”
“Yeah, something like that love.” You reply.
“Ok. 1...2...3. Lift.” He instructed as the two of you lifted the final member of the family inside.
“Be safe you two. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t.” Robin instructed from the back of the van.
“Right back at you, Rob.” You reply, sending off a blown kiss before Steve closes the back doors, giving a quick knock on the glass as a sign to let Joyce know that she can drive.
“Let’s get to work, gang.” You instruct, prompting everyone to break out into teams to prepare the traps for the incoming demogorgon.
It had been tedious work setting everything up. Between rigging trip wires and nail traps and filling up gasoline balloons, the only highlight was Steve wielding a chainsaw to cut an enormous square hole through the first floor. You knew it wasn’t the time or place to ogle, but you just couldn’t help it. Especially when Robin wasn’t around to punch you before asking the two of you to “get a room”.
Once every trap was finally set, all there was to do was wait. You, Steve, and Dustin were sitting in Betsy, waiting for the demogorgon to show. As soon as it was trapped and the tracker was in place, Steve was prepared to follow it hopefully all the way to Vecna’s new lair.
“This is gonna work.” Dustin mutters, beginning to fiddle with his ring.
“It better work. It’s not like we’re conspicuous or anything.” Steve shot back, looking up at the dish that had been drilled through Betsy. “I still can’t believe you did that shit, man. It’s gonna cost a fortune to get this thing taken out.” Steve sighs, rubbing his hands down his face.
“It’s just a car, Steve. We have bigger things to worry about.”
“I know but this is my car. My memories. It’s important to me but I don’t know why I expected you to understand something like that.”
“Hey, guys, how’s it looking over there?” Robin’s voice broke through the walkie resting in your lap.
“Besides the two knuckleheads that I’m stuck with, it’s pretty boring. How bout the Turnbows?” You ask.
“Uh, they’re still in their “food comas,” but I swear to god, this demo better show. If we took out an entire family for nothing, my conscience will never recover.” She sighed.
“At least only your conscience will be affected. Erica and I showed our faces to these people. We’re lucky if they don’t remember us when this is all over.”
“I didn’t even think about that.”
“I know. If this goes to shit, goodbye future, hello prison.” You let out a humorless chuckle.
“Good thing dingus’ uncle is a lawyer. Actually I never asked. What kind of criminals does your uncle defend exactly? Is it white collar crime, because it does seem like a very Harrington thing to do. You know, defend right douche-bags, but I think in this case the rich douchebags would be coming for us so…”
Robin had been forgotten by the three of you as you focused on the flickering lights in the distance. They seemed to be following the signature flickering pattern but none of you could be completely sure due to the distance.
“Steve? Y/n, are you there?”
“Yeah, we hear you, just stop talking. I think we’ve got company.” Steve finally responds to her.
“Yeah, that’s definitely our guy.” Dustin says from behind his binoculars. “Moving south down Arlington. T-minus thirty seconds.”
Steve repeats Dustin’s words, tacking on a tagger and status check.
“In position and set. Launcher?” Nancy swiftly replied.
“Set. Catcher?” Lucas answered.
“Set. Trackers?” Mike followed.
“Set.” The three of you reply into the walkie.
“Let’s do this thing already.” Steve mutters as the three of you fasten your seatbelts.
“It’s inside. Minimize chatter.” Dustin observes as he follows the trail of flickering lights with his binoculars.
“It’s inside. Keep your traps shut.” Steve relayed to the team less than eloquently.
The house lit up like Christmas lights from behind the curtains as the fight jumped from the second to first to the basement then back up to the second as the party chased it around the house.
“It flipped! It flipped!” Mike shouted over the walkie. You quickly slid on the headphones, turning the mounted crank as well as the dials on the frequency device rested in your lap.
“Signal acquired. Headed our way.” You inform Dustin and Steve.
“How close?” Your boyfriend leaned over to ask as the numbers began to tick up.
“Give me a second.” As soon as the number began to peak, the car’s interior light began to light up just like the Squawk van. You immediately locked eyes with Steve worried that the battery would die again and it would be harder to lock back onto the demo.
“Let us in!” Nancy slaps the door making the three of you nearly jump out of your skins.
Steve was quick to unlock the door, letting both Nancy and Jonathan into the backseat.
“Where is it?” Jonathan immediately asked.
“Give me a goddamn second!” You shout, trying to regain your composure after the quick scare. “Baring northwest and fast.” You finally direct..
“Demo tagged and released.” Dustin informed the others as Steve tried to turn over the car but it kept stalling.
“Come on, baby. Not right now. Come on.” He pleaded with the car that was still reeling from the quick surge of power.
“I got it.” You say, reaching your hand out, giving the engine the quick shock that it needed.
“Trackers in pursuit! I repeat trackers in pursuit!” Dustin screeches into the walkie as Steve floored it down the street.
“Alright, signal holding. Just keep it steady. Ok…holding…holding…turn right!”
“Turn right?”
“Yes! Turn fucking right! Now!”
“Sorry, sorry, sorry.” He repeated as he drove through a wooden fence. The beemer took down everything its way whether it was garden gnomes or patches of fence.
“Wait!Wait!Wait! Stop the car!”
“What?!”
“Stop the car!” You shout, causing Steve to reach his hand across the seat to cover your chest before slamming on the breaks.
“Ok, where the hell are we going, honey?”
“We were going the right way I swear, but the signal started slipping. Give me a second.” You huff as you begin to turn the crank again.
“Ok…ok…I got it. It’s heading Southeast!”
“Shit!” Steve sighed, knowing that you were basically about to retrace your steps for the next few miles.
“Oh, shit. I know where we’re going.” Dustin sighed from the backseat, the further Steve drove.
“Where?!” Nancy questions, worried that she might already know the answer.
“McCorkle’s Farm.”
“Fuck me!” Steve sighed, pushing the gas pedal down as far as he could manage.
“Oh, shit.” You mutter when you make out the looming figure in the distance as you speed across the farm.
“Oh, shit? What’s oh, shit?”
“That!” You point out the demogorgon standing just outside the threshold of the barn.
“Alright, hold on!” Steve instructed everyone inside before steering straight for it.
“Watch out for Joyce!” You screech when you see the axe wielding woman prepared to swing at the creature. Before she could make contact, Betsy plowed through the demo, the car bouncing as it drove over its body.
“We got him! We got him!” Dustin whooped from the backseat. It was the biggest amount of joy and excitement that you had seen in him for far too long.
After a few donuts to minimize speed and regain control of the vehicle, the car finally stopped.
“Make way! Make way! Let me in!” You heard Robin’s voice as she ran to the car while the demo staggered to get up.
“There’s no room.” Jonathon observes.
“There’s no way she can make it back before the demo gets up. We have to let her in.” You object.
“Run, Rob let’s go!” Steve yells at the girl to run faster as Jonathon flings the door open for her.
“Come in hot!” She shouts, diving into the laps of the backseat just as the demo gained its composure.
“Are you out of your mind, Rob?!” You turn to look at her.
“Yes. I was losing my mind in there.” She points towards the barn.
“So you risked your life to be with us?” Steve asked
“Would you rather be here or watch the family you kidnapped all night?”
“Fair point.” You sighed.
“I know. What are we looking at here?”
“Uh…that.” Steve pointed out, now wide eyed at the screeching demogorgon. You were expecting it to lunge at the car and attack, but all of you were shocked when it decided to run instead, ripping open a gate through a grain silo down the long stretch of road.
“It flipped! It’s heading back towards us.” You inform Steve, who seemed to be mulling over options in his head.
“What’re you doing, man? We gotta turn around!” Jonathon urged.
“Wait. Gates are kinda like Peanut Butter Boopers, right?” A chorus of “what?”s rang out from each of you, prompting Steve to press forward with his explanation.
“The outside is like crunchy and tough. But then you bite down on it and gives way to a gooey, creamy core.”
“Please never say gooey, creamy core again.” Robin cringes.
“Dude, what the hell are you talking about?!” Jonathon shouts over her in the backseat.
“I mean that if I drive fast enough, the beamer could punch a hole into the gate and then we can track the demo on its home turf in the upside down.”
“If we’re gonna do it then we need to do it now. The gate’s closing and we’re losing the signal.” You inform the group as the numbers rapidly begin to tick down.
“We won’t be able to follow anything if we crash!” Jonathon argues, but Steve just shakes his head.
“Honey, do you trust me?” He locks over at you.
“Always.” You nod co-signing his plan.
“Then you guys need to hold onto something!”
“Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!” The group muttered out at every jolt of the car.
“I got it!” Steve tried to calm everyone, but it didn’t help that the gate was close to closing.
“It’s not gonna work! It’s not gonna work!” Dustin panicked, tightly holding into the grip handles to keep himself rooted.
“Slow down! Jesus Christ!” Jonathan yells again, but Steve doesn’t relent. This is going to work.
“Hang on to something!” Steve instructs. You use one hand to hold onto the grip handle while the other clings to the sleeve of Steve’s jacket.
Your heart was pounding as the car squeezed through the closing gate.
Betsy was taking quit the beating as side view mirror broke off against the glowing walls of the gate.
“You did it! You fucking did!” You cheered in relief once you passed through to the upside down.
“I told you guys it would work! I told you! Woo!” Steve boasted while all of you continued to celebrate.
“Signal?” Nancy leans forward to ask.
“Strong!” You cheer as you watch the numbers tick up.
“We got you, son of a bitch! We got you!” Dustin screeched in the back.
“Nice driving, Dingus.” Robin complimented.
“Jesus, does this thing ever get tired?” Robin grumbled from the backseat after you’d been following it for half an hour.
“Unfortunately it looks like the opposite. It looks like it’s speeding up.” You sigh, when the numbers start to decline again.
“What?” Steve’s head snapped over you you.
“I’m losing the signal.”
“You’ve gotta be shitting me.”
“I wish I was.” You reply as you began to turn the crank once again.
“Can you go faster?” Nancy leaned forward to ask.
“I’ll try.” He replies, shifting gears before slamming down on the gas and the clutch.
“Alright, honey. Tell me what you’ve got.”
“Shit… I’m picking up interference. I can’t hear the signal.”
“Fuck! What do I do?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do I keep driving?”
“I don’t know just give me second.”
“You can’t stop driving Steve!We’ll never find it again!”
“Then what do you want me to do, Henderson!” He shouted, his eyes now focused on the rear view mirror.
“It’s pretty obvious! Just keep driving! You do the driving, and y/n does the navigating it’s that simple!”
“You know, Henderson th-”
“Steve, stop!” You immediately scream, prompting the others to follow suit
“Steve, watch out!”
“Steve, slow down!” Your voices interlap, but by the time Steve registers it, it’s too late.
He drives the car headfirst into the solid wall in front of you. You could hardly make out what it was made of before the world around you went black.
issy talks: honestly i kind of forgot about this fic for a bit 😭 i wrote it just to try something new and i genuinely didn’t expect people to actually love it the way they did. there’s not really a “part 2” planned for this story, but since so many of you asked (like… a lot, even in my inbox), and because i am unfortunately a certified people pleaser, here it is. i’m really sorry it took me a while to come back to it, but thank you for waiting and for reading and for caring about it more than i thought anyone would
❈────────•✦•────────❈
May 2026
Your album exploded. One day you were trying to avoid your own reflection in hotel mirrors, and the next, every screen in the world had your face on it. Interviews stacked on interviews. Photoshoots that blurred together. Cities that started to feel less like places and more like checkpoints in a schedule you didn’t fully own anymore.
New York.
The city that never sleeps, now vibrating under your feet.
You stood backstage for a moment before going on—doing an opening act, fingers curled loosely around the mic, listening to the muffled roar of thousands of people who didn’t know you, but somehow knew your voice. Your manager said something in your ear—something encouraging, something you didn’t fully register, and you nodded anyway.
Because the truth was, your mind wasn’t in the room, you were taken back that night again. The stage lights hit before you could think too much about it. Warm. Blinding. Familiar in a way that made your chest tighten before you even spoke.
You stepped forward anyway.
“Good evening, New York!” your voice rang out, steady at first, then softer as a smile tugged at your lips. The crowd roared back instantly, loud enough to shake the floor beneath you.
You paused and took a breath. Then, you added, “It’s really cold tonight… and I think I might need a little help finding someone.”
A few cheers rose, some laughter scattered through the arena. You tilted your head slightly, eyes scanning the crowd not really expecting anything, not really believing in anything but still doing it anyway.
“I really, really need to find… the Man I Need.”
The band kicked in before the moment could turn into something heavier.
Man I Need
The music wrapped around you, steady and warm, pulling you back into your body. You moved with it—no hesitation, no overthinking. Just instinct. Just rhythm.
liked by sabrinacarpenter, hexyissy, ynupdates, and 846473 more
ynlovesu thank you so much, sabbie for having me. what a fun night!
After your performance, the backstage air felt different—thicker, louder in a way that had nothing to do with sound. The adrenaline was still in your veins, your chest rising and falling too fast, your smile refusing to leave your face even though your body was starting to catch up with reality.
You were wiping sweat off your wrist when you heard it.
“Hey.”
When you looked over your shoulder, Joe was there, standing just far enough away that it almost felt intentional. His hands were in his pockets, posture slightly stiff, like he was holding himself back from something he hadn’t decided to say yet.
“You’re doing wonderful out there,” he said.
Then you let out a small breath that almost turned into a laugh. “Uhh… thanks,” you said lightly, adjusting your grip on the towel in your hands like it suddenly mattered more than your heartbeat. “Glad you enjoyed it.”
Joe shifted slightly, like he was about to step forward. “Are you free toni—”
“Hey, Y/N!” a voice cut in sharply from behind you.
You turned again, your friend you've made in Rome.
A bouquet in his hands, expression bright in a way that felt almost too loud for the moment. He walked right in without hesitation, handing them to you like the conversation he interrupted didn’t exist at all.
“People loved you,” he said. “Like, insane reaction tonight.”
“Oh…thank you,” you said, taking the flowers automatically, your mind still half stuck in the moment before. “What were you saying, Joe?”
Joe looked at you for a second.
Just one second too long.
Then he shook his head slightly, like he’d decided without saying it out loud. “Nothing,” he said quietly. “Enjoy your night,” and he left. No follow-up. No second glance.
The space he left behind felt louder than the entire concert. You stared at the spot where he had been until your friend's voice pulled you back. “That’s your ex, right?”
“Yeah,” you said, almost automatically. Then softer, after a beat. “I really thought he was going to ask me to hang out… or talk.” The words came out smaller than you meant them to; admitting them made them real again.
He looked at you for a moment, then sighed. “You’re not doing yourself any favors with that hope thing.”
You blinked. “What? Can’t two exes casually talk? It’s not illegal, you know.”
After the backstage moment, Joe didn’t go anywhere right away.
He ended up in his car without really remembering walking there. The engine was off. The night outside was quiet in that unnatural way cities get after loud things happen—like the world was trying to pretend nothing important had just shifted.
His hands rested loosely on the steering wheel, but he wasn’t driving. He wasn’t even really breathing properly yet. All he could see was you.
Just the way you looked at him for that brief second before everything got interrupted.
Are you free tonight?
He let out a slow breath, dragging a hand down his face. “No,” he muttered to himself, like arguing with his own thoughts might fix something. “No, that’s not—”
❈────────•✦•────────❈
Joe started showing up. Not every show. Not publicly. Not in a way anyone could easily prove if they weren’t already looking for him.
He had been telling himself he was just supporting you.
But it's enough that fans started noticing a figure in the crowd who didn’t quite belong there but also did. Enough that clips started circulating. Enough that the internet, as it always does, started connecting dots, but he never confirmed anything—didn’t need to
yn pov
❈────────•✦•────────❈
The private bar invited you back for its tenth anniversary. This was the same place where it had all started for you. Smaller stages. Softer lights. A younger version of yourself singing to rooms.
The room was different now—more polished, more crowded, more curated but the energy was the same in a way you didn’t expect. Close. Intimate. Real.
You sang like muscle memory, like the room still belonged to you in a way only you understood. And when your set ended, the applause didn’t feel distant.
You smiled. You bowed your head slightly. You said your thank-yous like you were supposed to. You stood behind the curtain instead of walking out. The exit was right there, easy, quiet, normal but your feet didn’t move.Hidden in the narrow space between fabric and shadow, where the light didn’t quite reach and no one was supposed to look.
You already knew who was coming next.
The room shifted again when the stage lights dimmed. Then they appeared. The crowd reacted instantly, clapping louder now, energy rising like a second heartbeat in the room. Joe stepped out with his guitar already strapped on, adjusting it once like he didn’t need to think about it.
❈────────•✦•────────❈
With speculations spreading everywhere, the media is eager to clear things up—especially for the fans who are constantly trying to piece together the truth. To address it all, they invited you and Joe to a joint interview—lie detector interview, to be clear. You could have said no, easily walked away from the spotlight if you wanted to. But you didn’t.
The studio lights were warm but too bright, making everything feel slightly unreal—a clean set. A couch angled just right. Two chairs facing each other casually.
You and Joe sat across from each other with small microphones clipped to your shirts and lie detector monitors attached, as if it was all meant to be fun and harmless.
The host clapped their hands once, grinning. “Alright, you two ready?”
Joe leaned back slightly in his chair, glancing at the machine, as it had personally offended him. “Uh… can I back out?” he asked, dead serious for half a second before the corner of his mouth twitched.
You didn’t even hesitate. “Me too.”
The host laughed immediately, shaking their head. “Too late. You’re already wired up.”
Joe looked over at you then, finally settling into it. “This feels like a terrible idea,” he muttered.
“It is,” you said. “That’s why we’re doing it.”
The first questions were light. Jokes. Rumors. Easy territory.
Joe went first, leaning forward like he was already preparing chaos.
“So,” he started, pointing vaguely in your direction, “there was a rumor online that you joined a cult during your hiatus.”
You blinked slowly. “A cult.”
“Yeah,” he said, completely serious-faced. “People were very concerned.”
The machine beeped once as you shifted your fingers. The polygrapher glanced at the screen. “She’s calm,” they said. “No spike.”
You nodded. “Because it’s not true.”
Joe tilted his head. “That sounds like something someone in a cult would say.”
The host laughed. The machine beeped again—but this time when Joe spoke, the polygrapher leaned in slightly.
“His heart rate increased,” they said casually.
Joe froze. “Because I’m interviewing her if she’s a cult leader.”
“Sure,” you said, smiling.
Then it was your turn. You leaned slightly forward, pretending to think carefully, even though you already knew exactly what you were doing.
“Okay,” you said. “Simple question.”
Joe exhaled slowly. “I don’t believe you.”
“What’s your favorite song on my album?”
The room shifted. Subtle, but real.
Joe blinked once. “That’s not simple.”
“It is,” you said softly. “You just don’t like it.”
Behind you, the polygrapher adjusted their screen.
Joe shifted in his seat.
The monitor beeped.“Heart rate increasing,” they said.
Joe immediately pointed at it. “That’s because I’m being cornered.”
“You’re fine,” the polygrapher said flatly. “It’s within normal range.”
He leaned back, but his eyes stayed on you for a second too long. “…the last track,” he said finally.
You didn’t react immediately. The machine registered a small change in your breathing. The polygrapher glanced over. “She’s reacting.”
Joe noticed instantly. “What does that mean?”
“Nothing,” you said too quickly.
The machine beeped again. The polygrapher raised a brow. “Slight spike.”
Joe turned toward you slightly now. “That’s interesting.”
“It’s not,” you said, smiling like it didn’t matter but your fingers curled slightly against your palm anyway.
The questions kept going, easy and safe.
At one point, Joe asked, almost casually, “Do you ever miss it?”
You didn’t ask what it was. Neither of you did. The room got quieter without anyone telling it to.
Your fingers shifted slightly on the sensor. The machine beeped before you even spoke. The polygrapher looked at the screen. “Elevated heart rate.”
Joe’s eyes flicked down immediately then back to you.
You swallowed once. “…sometimes,” you said.
The machine stayed active a second too long. “Truth,” the polygrapher added, after a pause.
Joe nodded slightly, like that answer had confirmed something he already knew. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “me too.”
yn pov
❈────────•✦•────────❈
2027
The message came when you were in the middle of doing nothing important.
Joe: can we talk?
A second message followed almost immediately.
Joe: about… everything
Joe: you, me, us
You: yeah, let’s talk
Central Park didn’t feel like New York in the middle of it. You found him on a bench off the main path, where the trees broke the light into pieces and the noise of the city turned distant.
Joe looked up the moment you got closer. this wasn’t the first time you’d met in a place like this emotionally, even if it was physically.
You sat down beside him. For a moment, neither of you spoke. Not because you didn’t know what to say because everything felt like it was already sitting between you.
“I can’t keep doing this,” Joe said finally. His voice wasn’t sharp. It wasn’t defensive either. It was tired in a way that felt familiar. “I can’t keep pretending I’m fine just… existing around you like this. Like nothing changed. Like there isn’t still something—” he stopped himself, exhaling slowly, shaking his head. “You know there is.”
You didn’t interrupt.
You didn’t need to.
Because you did know.
Not from this moment—but from everything before it. The interviews. The texts that started small and never stopped. The way he still showed up. The way you still stayed.
Joe leaned forward slightly, elbows on his knees, eyes fixed somewhere on the ground before he looked at you again.
“And I need to say this properly,, not on the phone,” he added, quieter now. “I’m sorry. For that night, for not being there when I said I would. I’ve carried that longer than I probably should’ve.”
A heavy silence followed. Like the air was finally letting the memory sit where it always belonged.
You turned toward him slowly. “Joe…”
He looked at you like he was bracing for impact but instead of pulling away, you reached up gently, like your body already remembered the shape of him, and touched his face.
His breath caught immediately.
“I forgave you that night,” you said softly. “I just didn’t know how to stay after it.” His eyes closed for a fraction of a second at your touch and when he opened them again, he didn’t move away.
“I should’ve handled it differently too,” you added after a pause, your voice quieter now. “I didn’t just leave because of that night. I left because I didn’t know how to love you and still feel like I was keeping myself together.”
Joe nodded slightly, like that answer made too much sense. A quiet passed between you both of you were finally letting the truth breathe without trying to shape it into something easier.
Joe let out a slow breath. “I don’t think I ever stopped loving you,” he admitted, almost reluctantly.
Your fingers didn’t move away from his face. “I know,” you said.
You both knew now. Not in theory. Not in nostalgia. In the way you kept finding each other again and again, even when you weren’t trying to.
“I just don’t want to keep doing this halfway thing,” he said quietly. “Being close, but not really. Talking, but not saying anything real. Showing up, but never fully staying.”
Your thumb brushed lightly against his cheek without thinking. “I know,” you repeated.
A small, almost humorless breath left him. “Yeah,” he said. “you always know.”
“I think we loved each other too much at the wrong time,” you said after a moment.
Joe nodded. “Yeah,” he agreed softly. “or maybe we just didn’t know how to carry it yet.”
“I don’t want you to disappear again,” he said quietly.
“I’m not planning to.”
❈────────•✦•────────❈
❈────────•✦•────────❈
liked by ynlovesu, mayahawke, sadiesink, westoledo, and 938754 others
djotime makes me roly-poly with her dada smile ❤️
liked by djotime, sabrinacarpenter, laufey, haleywilliams, 793987 others
ynlovesu the extra sentimental kind of chemistry.
💐END
issy talks: don't ask where fan 8 went, he's in the backrooms.
Summary: It has been a year and a half since all hell broke loose in Hawkins. The only hope of making it out of the town you once called home was finding Vecna and killing him before it's too late. The fact that you also had an ace up your sleeves didn't hurt your chances to much either.
A/N: OMG! I can't believe that we're here at the beginning of season 5. This truly feel like the beginning of the end. I've had so much fucking fun writing this series and having so many people enjoy it Here's to the last first chapter!
Childhood Best friends to Lovers
Steve Harrington x Powered!Fem!Sinclair!reader (she/her)
CW: Heavy one sided jealousy, brief mention of self harm/suicide, brief mention of addiction/ withdrawl sysmptoms, Ronald Reagan
Chapter Outfit
WC: 9K (yikes)
Series Masterlist
Dividers by @reevesoc
lmk if you want to be added to the taglist
~Eighteen Months Later~
A lot’s changed in Hawkins in the past year and a half. The small and cozy, yet dangerous town that you once called home had morphed into an utter monster.
When the military first arrived in order to provide relief for the “earthquake” now once in a lifetime natural phenomenon. You couldn’t help the subtle pit of suspicion that settled in your gut. When the Russians weasled their way in under Starcourt, they barely lingered then. They spent about a week in town keeping surveillance over the mall and combing through the underground base with fine-toothed combs, then they left. Not this time though. That subtle pit that sat in your stomach only grew as more soldiers funneled into the city with of course little to no aid in sight. Thanks Reagan. But the town was in too much distress to notice their home being invaded.
Once they did, it was too late. First came curfews, then mandatory check ups, then the surveillance cameras around every corner. Then the first big push happened. They took over downtown. A third of the town lost their jobs (including you, Robin, and Steve) and their businesses because of it. What made it worse was that downtown was finally bouncing back from the slight economic disaster caused by Starcourt stealing most of its customers during the summer of ‘86.
So now, instead of a thriving hub where the town poured into itself financially, it was now the Mac-Z. The massive and secure military base with a task force that took it upon themselves to open an enormous gate to the upside down in the heart of the city. It frustrated you and the party to no end. They had no idea the door that they were opening, they’re just lucky enough that so far nothing had stepped through from the other side, yet.
The second big push was the massive metal wall they put up, separating Hawkins from the surrounding areas. A heavy weight sat in your chest knowing that everyday the kids rode their bikes to school, men in a crows nest stared down at them, rifles in hand as if a bunch of kids were the biggest threats in town.
The third push, and arguably the worst of all, was convincing the town that all of this was because of a quarantine due to the “ash” that began to rain from the sky for about a week after your showdown with Vecna. You knew that the town wasn’t as informed as the party and you understood the need for their brains to protect themselves from the horrors that had been occurring under their noses for so long now, but it was clear to anyone who had eyes and a brain that this wasn’t a quarantine. This was Martial Law.
When Vecna said Hawkins was going to fall, you never thought it would be like this.
Through it all you had tried to find a sense of normality to things. After losing your jobs, you, Steve, and Robin applied to work at the local radio station. The gig seemed pretty sweet at first. You could be the ones to create the soundtrack of the town’s day. You could play the songs you wished were played instead whenever you were in the car going from place to place. Plus you and Robin could force the town to listen to you talk about whatever was on your mind between songs accented by Steve’s off the cuff sound effects. But of course there was a catch. You also had to be the friendly radio personalities that kept the town in check when they began to bend and break the rules the military had implemented. This unfortunately meant that either you or Robin would have to read off a long list of complaints at seven in the morning. A time that was way too early for either of you to even attempt to put your tongues anyway near the boots that had been trying to force their way into your mouths, despite the fact that you had a really good reason to “keep in line” without keeping in line.
“Good morning, Hawkins! I’m y/n…” You cheerfully announce, broadcasting to the town from your booth. You were quick to mute your microphone to take a much needed sip for your coffee as you fell into your usual ebb and flow.
“And I’m Robin! This is WSQK The Squawk!” Robin finished followed by Steve squeezing a screaming rubber chicken toy into his microphone. You turned in your chair to give him a quick smirk. He had brought up the idea of adding it to the introduction of the broadcast the night before, something to add a piece of himself into the greeting. You thought the idea was cute and the smile he gave you in return due to your support made it all the more special.
“It’s looking like a regular day in Hawkins, fifty-five degrees, low chance of rain, medium chance of arrest, and a high chance of helicopters, but general banality aside, it’s an exciting day for us isn’t it, Rockin’Robin?” You ask, calling her by her radio name.
“It very much is Singin’ Sinclair. And why is it a big day for us, you ask?” Robin jumps in as you mime to Steve to hit the applause button. “Well, It’s our five hundredth broadcast! Yup, you heard that right folks. Five-double-0!” She continues before you take back over.
“That also means it’s been even longer since you’ve heard the sultry voice of Jimmy “Fast Hands” Lee and trust me I know a thing or two about a guy with fast hands…” You once again turn in your seat to shoot Steve a quick wink, earning an uncontrollable smile in return. Robin rolled her eyes at both you and Steve in disgust as he pushed in the ‘woman screaming’ tape. The girl quickly decided to take over before both of you accidentally create radio porn.
“Well, while our old friend Jimmy was fleeing for his life, I, yours truly watched slack-jawed as the earth split open beneath her feet and coughed up that tsunami of mysterious dandruff. Now, I’m stuck here with you my fellow quarantine compatriots and if I can be brutally honest, I couldn’t be happier. Because when you really think about it, why would you want to live anywhere else?” Obviously both your words had been dripping in sarcasm, but when your eyes met hers, the cheerful lilt in her tone didn’t reach her eyes as the same images she was picturing flashes in front of your eyes as well. You were supposed to be in New York, living it up as young adults new to the city with the world as your oyster, but you were unfortunately still stuck here. Your dreams and goals put on the burner waiting to be ignited once you finally killed Vecna. Still, through all the grief of what could’ve been by now, she continues because at the moment what other choice do any of you have. “I mean what town on earth could match our very impressive military to civilian ratio?” Steve accented her statement with his slide whistle.
“You know, you are so right, Rob. I mean those free mandatory medical check ups? Very cool. Cause after we inhaled those springtime snowflakes I mean who knows what’s wrong with us.” You shrug as if the listeners could see you. “Maybe we’re fine, maybe we’re not.” Your statement was quickly followed by ‘man coughing’ queued by Steve. “After all, this was a “natural phenomenon never before seen by man.” ” You finished in a slightly robotic voice, handing the reins over to Robin.
“Yeah, a phenomenon now covered up by a giant metal Band-Aid. Quite the eyesore, but great for sledding. Though seriously, kids, stop sledding on the giant steel Band-Aid. You are going to kill yourselves. Also, the men with guns don’t like it. Not one bit.” Robin shook her head.
“Which reminds me, while we’re on the topic of things not to do, please steer clear of the Military Access Control Zone, aka the MAC-Z or as we like to call it the Big Mac. I have no idea what’s going on in there, but I have a gut feeling there’s a pretty good reason to stay away. But there’s still so much of Hawkins left to enjoy.” Your words are capped off by Steve dinging his bell.
“Yeah, and someday soon, they’re gonna let us out of here, so in the meantime, be thankful this is your home. SO, study for that test, enjoy that TV dinner, and go on that date.”
“Ooo, speaking of, don't you have a date tonight, Rockin' Robin?” You ask. You couldn’t help but feel warm inside at the fact Robin had gotten comfortable enough to say that she was dating someone on the air, even if she couldn’t say Vickie’s name. It honestly shocked you and Steve the first time it happened.
“That’s right, Rockin’ Robin has a date ladies and gentlemen.” She beamed before shooting quick daggers at Steve when he honked the rubber chicken instead of playing the ‘applause’ like she expected. “And who you may ask? Well, don’t be so nosy kids…” You and Steve looked at the sunshine radiating off of her like proud parents. “They know who they are, that is if you’re listening, which I hope you are because this next one is for you babe.” She finished off her sultry sentence by pressing play on Pretty in Pink by the Psychedelic Furs.
The song barely made it through the opening notes when the media board in front of you began to glitch and the song whirred to a stop.
“Whoa. What’s going on?” Robin asked, looking over at you with panicked eyes.
“What the hell?” You speak with furrowed brows as the two of you began to flip every switch and turned every dial in front of you, but nothing worked. “What the hell?” You repeated again.
“Woah.” Steve let out, causing you and Robin to snap your heads his way. His wide eyes told you that it wasn’t just your board, it was the whole system.
“We told you guys to stop thumbing your nose at the military.” Steve chided both of you as you rushed to the frequency controls outside of the booth.
“We were just reiterating their goddamn rules, encouraging compliance.” You defended as you and Robin messed with the dials, trying to switch everything back on.
“Without a hint of sarcasm, right, honey?” He gave you a tightlipped smile.
“Said the dingus with the rubber chicken.” Robin jumped in.
“These are very serious people, guys and Stinson is gonna be pissed.”
“I’ll talk to her ok, and I’ll apologize for the both of us. I mean I started it anyway, but first we need to get back on the air, ok love?” You assured Steve, before groaning in frustration when the new set of dials you turned, still did nothing.
“Shit, shit, shit, shit!” You and Robin began to pace. None of you weren’t sure what to do at this point. Of course you and Robin had gotten warnings before to rein it in on the air by all parties involved, but you couldn’t help it. It was disgustingly hard to be a friendly mouthpiece for the military.
“Henderson, you copy? Henderson?” Steve radioed Dustin.
“Yeah, I copy. God you sound swell. Let me take a wild guess. You’re not calling to wish me a good morning.” You didn’t even need to be facing him to know that his eyes rolled and his jaw clenched in frustration. He had been trying so hard with Dustin, but he couldn’t even have a simple conversation with the boy before he came out swinging.
“Well, it’s not exactly a good morning. We’ve got a situation at the Squawk. The signal, it’s gone all wonky. I think the girls finally pissed ‘em off.” He informed the boy as he ran his fingers through hair.
“Doubtful. They were encouraging compliance.” Dustin countered dismissively.
“Told you!” Robin shouted in vindication as the two of you continued to mess around with the system.
“The remote radio head’s the more likely culprit.” Dustin further explained.
“The remote what?” Your boyfriend’s brows furrowed in confusion.
“Just read the manual, Steve.” Dustin sighed.
“Come on man. That thing might as well be in Greek.”
“Then learn Greek! I can’t always be there to solve your problems for you, Steve.” The bite in Dustin’s tone pulled your attention away. You could hear the slight tremble in Steve’s voice when he called for the boy again only to receive no response.
“God! “Learn Greek” You heard that tone, right honey?” Steve asked you.
“Yeah, I heard it, love.” You nod, giving him a slight frown. You hated to see the way his shoulder deflated, but the strong mask he wore on his face. He felt his relationship with Dustin crumbling and he felt powerless to stop it.
“Dingus, do you remember the last place you put the manual?” Robin asked.
“No, I think Nance had it last.” Steve answered
“Great.” She huffed, making her way to the hidden stairs to the basement.
“They should be here soon, right?”
“Yeah, but it doesn’t hurt to start looking. Plus I have a very angry woman to apologize to.” You sigh as you make your way to the secret door to the basement the group had created.
Steve and Robin split to divide and conquer while you went straight for the blanket covered and locked trunk hidden under an unused desk in the corner.
You dug in your pocket for the spare station key ring Nancy had bestowed upon you. Out of the three options, she easily trusted you with them the most.
Once unlocked you pulled out the heavy radio stored inside, flicking it on.
“This is AC, over.” You spoke your codename into the small wire connected microphone, waiting for a response.
“I read you Antique Chariot, boss wants to speak with you.” The man on the other line responds.
“Of course she does.” You mutter under your breath as you wait for Agent Stinson to pick up.
When the boys and El made it back town, you all met up to debrief each other on how absolutely fucked up everything was, they filled you in on the sect of government that understood the real threat in Hawkins due to their close work and belief in Doctor Owens and Brenner. Despite the destruction of the bunker housing The Nina Project and the death of Brenner, the sect was able to rebuild and come back stronger.
Luckily the boys kept tight hold of the pen given to them by their security detail Stinson assigned to them when El volunteered for the Project. After being able to make contact, you were able to plan your defense against the military presence when the time came for you to say the word and they could move in.
“AC.” Stinson’s voice broke through in a parental tone.
“Hey…” You draw out. “And before you start, we’re sorry, ok?” You begin to defend yourself and Robin.
“Really, because when I told you to ‘stop’ before you said it was “the last time”, yet here we are.”
“Can you blame us? This shitty apartment sucks and we’re sick of it.” You complain, switching into coded wording. It was something you had all taken to once you started communications with Owens and Stinson’s team. They were sure that the frequency was secure, but just to be sure, you implemented coded speech.
“I know, but if we are going to help you move then we need to keep it quiet. We don’t need anyone knowing that we’re helping. I don’t want to become a moving service. And look, I know you hate me asking, but do you have any idea how close you guys are to finding an apartment?” She asks.
“I wish I could tell you, but we might be babysitting soon so maybe we’ll find something while the kid naps.” You sigh.
“Ok, keep me posted and until then keep the snark to a minimum, I’m sure you don’t want to risk losing your help.”
“Of course not. I’ll let you know tomorrow if we find a place.” You reply with a tightlipped smile as if she could see you. “AC, over and out.” You finish, putting down the mic. You let out a deep sigh before locking the radio away again.
“Any luck?” You ask, leaning against the wall closest to Steve as he’s closed a small cabinet he’d been rifling through.
“No.” He huffed, running stressed fingers through his hair once again.
“Ugh! I swear this thing doesn’t exist.” Robin sighed, leaning next to you once she came up empty-handed. “What about Stinny? Was she pissed at us?” She asked lolling her head to the side to look at you.
“Honestly not as much as I thought, but we have been instructed to “keep the snark to a minimum.” ” You quoted the agent.
“Guys!” Nancy’s muffled, but still clearly frustrated voice called.
“Maybe we should’ve been more worried about Nance.” Robin slightly grimaced before the three of you raced up the stairs.
“What did you guys do?” She asked with folded arms when you found her and Jonathon standing in the abandoned booth.
“Chill out. It wasn’t us this time, just dumb luck.” Steve was quick to defend the three of you. “Henderson said something about the remote radio head on the fritz or something. Told us to check the manual, but we can’t find it. You had it last, right?” He asked.
“Yeah, I think so. Just give me a second to check.” She replied, her eyebrows slightly knitting as she combed through her memories to figure out where she left it last.
“You good over there, Jonathan?” You ask the boy when you notice his earlier calm demeanor shift into one that seemed more on guard.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine…I just got lost in thought I guess.” He tried to explain away, shoving his hands deep into his front pockets.
“Ok…” You slowly nod before flopping onto the couch, despite not being fully convinced by his performance.
“I just don’t get it you know?” Steve sighed.
“What’d I miss?” You ask Robin and Steve who had been in the middle of a conversation when you dropped your head on his shoulder.
“Dustin. You heard his tone earlier. What the hell am I supposed to do with that?” He asked.
“I don’t know, love.” You slightly frown, bringing a hand up to rub gentle circles on his upper back, knowing how the tension between he and Dustin had been weighing heavy on his shoulders.
“I mean, it was not this hard with Max.” He shook his head. “I know it took a couple months but she came around.”
“That’s the thing, Steve. Max and Dustin are two different people so they grieve differently. What worked with Max is clearly not working on Dustin.” You explain.
“I know, but how am I going to figure it out if he won’t even talk to me and when he does he has a crazy attitude problem.” He counters. “It’s like he hates me all of a sudden and all I want to do is fix it.”
“Maybe this is the issue. The more you try to pull him in the harder he’ll push you away. Maybe you should ease up a bit.” You suggest.
“I can’t honey. He’s becoming completely reckless. What if he does something to hims-”
“I found it!” Nancy scrambled into the room, beaming as she held up the large operating manual. Her announcement stopping Steve from finishing his bone chilling sentence.
The four of you were quick to gather around the girl as she flipped through the pages.
“Wait, wait, wait. There it is.” Steve interrupted Nancy’s flipping, his chest almost flush with her back as he leaned closer to get a better look.
“Remote radio head.” He read off, tracing his finger over the diagram.
Steve meant nothing by the action. He didn’t even realize he did it really, but Jonathan did. His eyes hardened and narrowed in on Steve who had been too busy focused on the manual to even notice it. Jonathon then flicked his eyes over to you, assuming that you would wear the same expression as him, but he was in utter shock when he saw nothing on your face had changed. Your eyes were dead set on the manual, sparing glances at whoever was speaking at the moment. You looked unphased and he couldn’t help the frustration building up inside of himself at the fact Steve was “flirting” with Nancy right in front of you.
“And where exactly are we gonna find this remote thingimajig?” Robin asked.
“Probably about a mile up in the air.” You pipe up with a slight grimace.
The radio tower loomed like Godzilla as the five of you stared up at it from the ground.“Wait, I don’t see it.” Robin commented, squinting her eyes for a better look. It put a pit in all your stomachs when you realized the tower went up for so long it’s tip faded into the atmosphere.
“It’s up there somewhere. It’s gotta be.” Nancy replied, none of you taking your eyes away from the structure.
“So, I guess somebody’s gotta climb to the tippy top of this bad boy and…” She began to make maintenance sounds with her mouth.
“Yep, and without a harness or anything. It seems kind of dangerous.” Nancy stated the unfortunate truth.
“AKA a job for good ol’ Steve Harrington.” His ears perked up at the word ‘dangerous’ immediately stepping forward to volunteer himself.
“Hey, no third person please.” Robin immediately chastised. She was never too fond of the behavior before, but hearing Steve call himself ‘daddy’ was the nail in the coffin.
“Are you out of your fucking mind, Steve?” You were quick to ask as he spoke with no regard for his safety.
“Actually…” Jonathan rushed forward to catch up with him. “I,uh, actually think this might be a better job for Jonathon Byers.” He continued, immediately shrugging off his jacket.
You, Robin, and Nancy immediately locked eyes before rolling them. This was becoming yet another pissing contest between the boys. It was clear that it was to impress you and Nancy, but your patience for it wore incredibly thin. Every task began to take longer as the boys bickered about who could do it better and it put Steve in increasingly more dangerous situations, which you hated to no end.
“I’m like one quarter monkey, dude.” Steve shot back, beginning to shrug off his jacket as well. “I got this, Byers. Don’t sweat it. Take care of this for me, love.” He handed his jacket off to you, sending a wink your way before making sauntering to the shed doors that housed the voltage panel.
“Woah, dude? What are you doing?” Steve asked, scrambling out the shed at the sound of slight grunts and creaking metal.
“I got this, dude. Don’t sweat it.” Jonathan replied, nonchalant hanging one-handed from the tower’s service ladder.
“Son a…” Steve mumbled under his breath. He couldn’t believe this asshole was trying to steal his thunder. “Watch this.” He pointed at you before rushing to the second service ladder, but of course Jonathon didn’t see it that way.
“If you die, I’ll kill you!” You shout at your boyfriend as he steps up on the ladder.
“Wouldn’t dream of it, honey!” He shouts back before beginning his ascent as fast he could so that he could catch up to Jonathon.
“What is it about your presence that brings out their inner Neanderthal?” Robin asks, her eyes flicking between both of you.
“Questions, questions.” You sigh, watching as Steve and Jonathon become smaller and smaller as they race up the structure.
“Oh, shit.” Robin mutters, causing you to snap your head around.
“Woah, I thought grocery delivery wasn't till tomorrow.” You say, confusion laced in your tone as you watched a big rig pull up the long stretch of dirt road that ran by the field.
“Me too.” Nancy huffs, worried about what Murray’s early arrival could mean.
You turned back around whispering “Please don’t die.” To Steve under your breath one more time before the three of you ran off to meet up with Murray.
“Santa’s brought a full sack today!” Murray announced as he slid open the truck’s cabin door. Your faces immediately cringed as his phrasing.
“Please don’t say it like that.” You mumble under your breath as he climbed inside his truck.
“Ok…” He began to dig through his bag after jumping back out the cabin. “A fresh telemetry tag…” He pulled out, passing it over to Robin. “Scarcer than hen’s teeth, these things. Enough bullets and shells for Hop to start a small war if he should so choose…” He passed the heavy ammunition filled cases to Nancy. “Anyone order a salad? Grenade salad?” He asked with a giddy smile before replacing the large head of lettuce he held up first with a real grenade. “I, uh, hid the grenades under the salad.” He tried to explain his joke when he didn’t receive the laughter he expected. “Gatorade for you and El’s battery.” Murray presented to you. Right as he was about to toss the bottle your way, an out of breath Steve and Jonathon came jogging up.
“Did someone say Gatorade? Let me get one of those.” Steve held a waiting hand out at the man.
“No problem.” Murray was quick to redirect his throw, seeing as the boy clearly needed it. “But I don’t think it’s gonna go too well with…peanut butter.”
“Boppers!” Steve’s face lit up like a Christmas tree at the sight of the treats he asked for.
“Oh no, do you think he’s gonna do it?” Robin leaned over to whisper to you.
“He always does.” You barely got your sentence out before Steve’s little performance started.
“Bop, bop, peanut butter, butter bops, pop, pop, pop ‘em in your mouth, Pop!” Steve sang the product's jingle while doing a little dance. “Thanks man.” You did little work to contain the smile on your face as you watched the excitement from the snack that was radiating off of his body.
“And for the lady…” You turn your attention back to Murray. “I have the latest issues of Vogue and Harper’s BAZAAR.” He held the magazines out to you.
“Murray, you son of a bitch!” You squealed, snatching the fashion magazines from his hands.
Your eyes were wide in utter excitement as they traced over Cindy Crawford on the cover of Harper’s and Louise Vyent on Vogue which Robin’s eyes especially kept lingered on. Her gaze only being forced to break when you clutched the magazine’s to your chest like you were scared they would disappear if you didn’t.
Steve’s face began to mirror the excitement yours had for him. Seeing the way your face brightened and your smile became uncontrollable made him feel warm inside. He knew how much you’ve missed seeing the latest in fashion and all the inspiration you could take from them. You had read and reread all the issues from both publications you had saved over the years so having new issues felt like an immense wave of fresh air.
“I also got you a new sketch book. Steve said you filled up your last one.” He passed over the book in your favorite color which Steve specifically requested for. When you looked over at Steve, he was already staring with brown puppy-dog eyes.
A soft “Steve.” Was all you could manage to get out. Your heart felt like it skipped a beat when he sent you back a blown kiss and a wink.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Byers. I got you a present too. I know you’re allergic to jazz, but just giving it a whirl. I think you’ll find it quite engaging.” Murray not so subtly winked at the boy. The only saving grace was the rest of you fawning over your gifts.
Your focus was only stolen by Jonathon’s abrupt movement to swipe the cassette tape from Murray’s theatrical hands.
John Coltrane…huh. You think reading off the name. You couldn’t help but wonder if for some reason Jonathon had been hanging out with your father.
“And for the station manager…” Your eyebrows scrunched together and your face slightly dropped when Murray smacked Nancy on the top of the head with the large folder he was holding.
“Dude?” You sigh, shaking your head, but Murray continues on as if what he did was normal.
“This is the reason for my premature delivery.” Nancy snatched the folder from his hands, both in worry for its contents and in frustration at his gross action.
The four of you quickly gather around the girl, eyes skimming over the page.
“A burn? Tonight? But that’s-” She read off the small blue texts before being cut off by Murray.
“Too soon, I know.” He nodded. “Whatever they’re doing in the upside down evidently needs a serious injection of resources.”
“That’s a lot of cargo.” Robin commented as she read line after line of items ordered in the dozens.
“I know. I figured a supply drop this big takes two hours, minimum.”
“That would give Hop plenty of time for a crawl, right?” You pointed out.
“Maybe tonight’s the night we finally end this.” He asserted.
“At least I’ll have something to report back to Stinson. She’s been breathing down our necks a bit.”
“Oh! Speaking of which… I can’t believe I almost forgot…Reports from our favorite agent. She said they’re for you.” Murray passed the heavy envelope to you after he dug it out from the depths of one of the produce boxes. The reports had been part of the new system of communication between your two parties. Instead of hours long debriefs spoken entirely in code, you sent more in depth and less time sensitive reports back and forth with Murray as your little courier pigeon.
“Great. Homework.” You sigh, taking the envelope from his hands, slotting it behind your magazines. “Save me Louise Vyent! Save me!” You theatrically plead before releasing a deep sigh.
“Well, let’s go inform the masses.”
On the way back to the station, you were prepared to walk with Steve and Robin. You assumed that Jonathon would join Nancy and Murray who continued to go over the cargo delivery’s logistics. You were shocked however when he asked if the two of you could chat for a minute.
“Sure, I’ll catch up in a sec.” You inform Steve and Robin, deciding to slow your pace to talk to Jonathon.
“Is everything ok?” You ask, taking in his slightly shifty demeanor. Sure the two of you weren’t brother and sister, but you still considered yourselves friends, so it gave you slight pause at how unsettled he seemed to talk to you.
“Yeah, it’s just that I was wondering if what happened earlier bothered you.” He questioned.
“Did what bother me?” You counter with knitted brows.
“You know the weird macho shit Steve was doing at the radio tower.”
“Oh yeah. It’s very annoying.” You nod in agreement.
“See, I knew I wasn't going crazy. He’s always showing off whenever Nance is around.” Jonathan said, throwing his hands up in vindication.
“Is he?” You ask dismissively.
“Don’t tell you don’t notice it.”
“I don’t. I mean he’s been very energetic lately and jumping at the opportunity to do the dumbest shit. That’s what bothers me. Where’s the rest of this coming from?” You ask with winding hands. “ I hate to accuse, but are you jealous or something cause I’m not getting the point of this otherwise.”
“I just… look.” Jonathan slowly pulls the John Coltrane tape that he had just been gifted from his pocket.
“Jesus Christ!” You let out in shock when he opens it to reveal the ring stored inside.
“Shh!” he shushed, looking around to see if you drew any attention, which you luckily hadn’t.
“I know. And I want to make sure that things are good between us before I pop the question. I mean she told me about spring break and how confused she felt. I thought I was getting over it, but now seeing how Steve is acting I just can’t help but think…”
“Well, Nance and I spoke too and we worked it out. Everything is water under the bridge between us and last time we had a little heart to heart she only had eyes for you.” You try to assure him.
“Does Steve know that?”
“Know what? That you and Nance are dating. That’s pretty common knowledge, man. Besides that, what else is there for Steve to know? I think the bases are pretty covered.”
“It’s just that-”
“Ok, before you have a Buckley level spiral, let me stop you right there. Steve and I are doing great, right now. I’m not worried about him having a wandering eye or whatever your concern is, so I hate to say this but I think this might be a ‘you’ problem, Byers. I mean if my boyfriend showing off in front of his own girlfriend while Nancy happens to be in the vicinity, makes you worry that she won’t accept your proposal, then maybe you should reevaluate things.” You suggest.
“Reevaluate? What? No, I love Nance.” He was quick to defend himself.
“I’m not saying you don't. I'm just saying that maybe the love you have for her might not be secure enough to get married at the moment. And that's not even considering the circumstances. Everything is fucked up right now and I think we can agree that Nancy Wheeler deserves a bit more than Martial Law: Hawkins Edition as part of her proposal story.”
“So if Steve proposed you would say ‘no’?” He became accusatory.
“No, I would say ‘yes’ in a heartbeat because I know that when this is all over, things will be even better between us without the looming presence of Vecna and the military over us. Plus we talked about our future. Where we want to live, our careers, how many kids we want to have. Have you done the same with Nance?”
“We just…haven’t gotten around to it.” He replied sheepishly.
“Haven’t gotten around to it?! And you want to get married?”
“I figured we would figure it out. We always do.”
“Sure, but I feel like marriage and shit is something you should be on the same page about before the proposal.”
“Well I didn’t know you were a marriage expert.”
“I never said I was and I’m not trying to talk you out of anything. I’m just saying that before you take this enormous leap, you should think about what Nancy wants too.” You give him a tightlipped smile and a shrug before breaking into a jog to catch up with the others.
“What did Byers want?” Steve asked, his hand immediately finding yours once it was in reach.
“Uh, he wanted my thoughts on an idea he had.”
“And?”
“I don’t know if he liked my input very much.”
“Well, if he had half a brain he would listen to you.” He grinned, pressing a kiss to the back of your hand.
“Hey there, friends, this is Rockin’ Robin!” She announced herself back on air.
“And this is Singin’ Sinclair! Sorry about the abrupt departure. I hope you survived without us. We had some annoying technical difficulties.” You continue, followed by Steve pressing ‘power drain’ and ‘crying baby’.
“But to make it up to you, we have a very special treat for you guys, because we’re about to take a little trip with my Aunt Diana…” You trail off, pressing play on the queued track of Upside Down by Diana Ross. The song, how subtle, had become the secret code for the others to know when a crawl was coming, you just hoped that everyone was prepared for the onslaught of “random” facts that were about to spew from Robin’s mouth. “But, before you start bumping, here’s a few fun facts about the Boss. Take it away, Rockin Robin!” You handed her the reins.
“Well, for starters, she was born Diane in the North End of Detroit. Berry Gordy, that’s Gordy with a ‘G’ signed her to Motown in 1961…”
Once the message was out, all of you gathered in the basement. You sat with Steve at the end of the table housing the projector. Both of you had your feet kicked up as Nancy began to go through a quick run down of all the information she and Murray had gone over.
“So if Murray’s intel is correct, the supply convoy is set to hit Hawkins at ten sharp.” Nancy began to present. You couldn’t help but feel like you were back in school as she pointed at the scaled up map of Hawkins being projected on the wall. “Meaning, I want Hopper in the tunnels and en route to the MAC-Z no later than nine. Barring unusual traffic, I expect the convoy to reach the MAC-Z at ten-fifteen. Once the burn starts and we have sufficient cover we’ll signal Hopper and the Crawl will begin. I expect the convoy to take the same route as last month. Main to Cornwallis, one turn, but if you guys hit any red lights-”
“I’ll blow right through ‘em.” Steve was quick to hand wave away her concerns.
“Only if there’s no MPs around.” Nancy replied sharply. “Remember, if you guys get pulled over, we lose Hop. Then we’re toast.”
“I got it.” Steve held his hands up in lazy surrender.
“You’re gonna travel up Cornwallis for about six miles and once the convoy reaches this Shell station here, we’ll radio Hop to disembark. It’ll drop him off at the border of G1. This will give him two whole hours to search for Vecna, which is ample time. He’s cleared zones much faster, so all in all, signs point to a successful Crawl.” Nancy sighed as she made her way to the lightswitch.
“Is there a problem?” She interrogates when she received a less than enthusiastic response from the four of you.
“Um…no. No, I mean, I think it’s good.” Jonathan waffled for an answer.
“Yeah, yeah, it’s really good.” Steve jumped in when Nancy’s face scrunched in skepticism at her boyfriend’s words.
“It’s just that Zone G1 is not that exciting or Vecna-y.” You decide to say what you were all thinking.
“Exactly, what does it have? A Circuit City, a couple of houses, and a Big Buy? What are the chances Vecna’s shopping for Lucky Charms?” Robin asked with a slight shrug.
“We have to stick with what we know works. We go in under the guise of a controlled burn. You guys know this.”
“I know, and your plan is great, but Stinson has been riding me for new information. She is writing page after page of questions and information requests in the reports. I think if she got yet another report about zone G1 she would blow her brains out.” You reply. You hated to tear down Nancy’s plan, but all of you knew at some point something’s gotta give.
“Yeah, Nance. This is crawl what? Are we in the 30s now and not a single baddie in sight. We all know when the time comes Vecna is going to hit us with a heavy punch and I’m not sure if hitting the same spot again is worth it. I mean you heard what Vecna said. He wants to destroy the world and force y/n to do it with him. We have to figure out something else or this whole place will burn before Owens and Stinson’s team even makes it to the gate.”
“So then do you have another plan, Steve?!” Nancy snapped.
“No, I-”
“Then end of discussion. We do as many crawls as it takes until we find and kill this bastard.”
The group had been in a slight panic as the meeting time for the crawl approached. Dustin Henderson was late. Sure late was concerning, but he also wasn’t answering his walkie no matter who called and that caused panic. All of you knew that Dustin was flying off the handle recently and it worried all of you to your cores, but now you were in a rough position. This Crawl had to happen tonight. So, without Dustin, who’s going to monitor the signal while Steve drives the news van?
“I can do it. I can monitor.” Will was quick to volunteer himself, wanting to finally be able to join the action. Joyce had been smothering him for years now and he was getting to his wits end. He of course understood why, but he just wanted to stop being seen as a fragile little boy. A sentiment that you were all too familiar with.
“No, you're staying here.” Joyce was quick to shoot the idea down.
“Mom, I helped Dustin set up the antenna. I know how to work it.”
“Out of the question. It’s just a wheel.”
“It’s not just a wheel.” The boy sighed, but his mother wouldn’t hear a word of it.
“Jonathn, you can work it, right?”
“Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think so.” He slowly nodded along with his words.
“You better not think. You better know.” Hopper piped up. “You lose me out there, I’m not coming home.” Hopper handed down the brutal truth. You knew that it would be a clusterfuck if Steve and Jonathon were alone right now, especially after the conversation you had with him and that was the last thing any of you needed at the moment.
“Ok, how bout this. I’ll babysit the dinguses. It doesn’t hurt having an extra person who knows how to do this shit in case Dustin goes radio silent again.” You suggest. “Trust me, Hop. I can handle it.”
“I trust you, kid. Don’t let these idiots get me killed.”
“Wouldn't dream of it.” You released a slight chuckle.
“Do you guys have a signal?” Joyce broke through the walkie as you and Jonathon listened intently with your headphones. The three of you had been parked in an alley for almost fifteen minutes waiting for a ping off of Hopper’s tag.
“Snagged it.” You inform her as you slowly turn the ceiling mounted crank.
“Should I move?” Steve asked, looking back at the two of you with a half full mouth of bopper.
“No.” You and Jonathon replied in unison as you watched the red numbers fluctuate in front of you.
“Hold. Hold, Hold.” You repeat watching as the number finally ticked up to 90db.
“Go!” You both shout to him when they reach the desired number.
“Hold onto something!” Steve quickly instructed before flooring the van out of the alleyway. “Jesus.” You grunt when you fall back on your ass from the sharp and high-speed turn he took.
“Sorry, love.” He was quick to apologize as he still maintained speed.
“Oh, shit!” Jonathon shouted.
“What?!What?!” Steve asked, sneaking peaks to the back through the rearview window.
“We’re losing him.” Jonathon explained.
“He’s right. Steve, stop! Stop!” You yelled at Steve, who finally brought the van to a screeching halt.
“Come on, come on, come on.” Jonathan muttered under his breath as he turned the wheel trying to relocate Hop.
“What’s the reading?” Steve asked from the front seat.
“Not great.” You reply watching the number in the low 20s slowly tick up.
“Wait…wait…we got him.” Jonathan informed Steve, the three of you releasing deep sighs of relief when the numbers finally corrected themselves.
“I’ll radio the squawk. I’m sure they’re worried out of their minds.”
“This is Ground Crew, Squawk, do you copy?” You ask into the walkie.
“We copy loud and clear, Ground Crew. Any idea of what happened. We lost contact with Hop.” Joyce said over the walkie, a slight tremble in her tone.
“We fixed the signal, we should be able to get through now. Try him.”
“Alright. We’ll radio you back in a few, just hang tight.” Joyce finished, shifting her focus back to Hopper.
The three of you say with bated breath, waiting for an update on Hopper. You had this sinking feeling that something awful was happening. You began to wish you stayed behind so that you could help. You weren’t sure if you could stomach losing Hopper again.
You were broken out of your thoughts when you heard the splitting and crinkling of a wrapper.
“Another one. Seriously?” You ask Steve, crawling to the front seat.
“I can’t help it, they're delicious.”
“I know, I’m just saying that you’re blowing through your stockpile and by the end of the week you're going to have bopper withdrawal symptoms.”
“You’re saying that like I have an addiction. I can’t quit anytime I want.” He defended himself before taking a big bite into his treat.
“Then give me the bopper.” You smirk, holding your hand out to him.
“No, no way in hell. I can save you one though.” Steve bargained, placing a quick but sweet kiss to your cheek.
“See, you always say that, then you never do.” You remind him.
“Yes, I do save one for you, I just… lose count sometimes.”
“Because you have an addiction.”
“No I do-” Steve’s words died on his tongue when the radio as well as the interior and exterior lights turned on then back off.
“What the hell?!” You panic, scrambling back to Jonathon, who’d been staring wide eyed at the frequency device that was also fluctuating between on and off.
“What’s going on back there?!” Steve turned to shout from the front seat.
“How the hell am I supposed to know?!” Jonathan yelled back. You knew that it would eventually devolve into this, you just hated the fact that it had to be right now.
“Come on, baby. Come one.” You whispered under your breath as you closed your eyes. You placed your hand over the device, trying to use your powers to keep it on.
“Ow!” Your eyes shoot open as you jump back when the electrical current running through the device surged before cutting out completely with the rest of the power.
Jumping back with a shock.
“Honey!” Steve was quick to crawl in the backseat to get to you.
“Are you ok?” He asked with concerned eyes.
“Yeah, this piece of shit just shocked me.” You grumbled, lightly smacking the device with the back of your hand.
“Stupid hunk of junk.” Steve shook his head in agreement before pressing a quick kiss to your tingling hand as if his lips would ease the pain.
“Yo! Where the hell are you going, Byers?” Steve’s head shot out when he heard the back door creak open.
“What does it look like? To get this thing started. Without it we have no contact with Hop.”
“What do you know about starting cars, Byers?” Steve quickly scrambled out of the car behind him.
“My dad’s a mechanic. He didn’t teach me much, but at least the asshole taught me about cars.”
“That’s great and all, but I can get this thing started in like thirty seconds.” Steve argued as they raced to pop the head first.
“I see the problem.” Both boys said in unison as they stared down at the car’s inner workings.
They began to go through a list of possible culprits. Whenever one had an idea, the other would shoot it down to list their own idea.
“Or it could be solved with jumper cables.” You say now that you’ve gotten a better look under the hood, now that the boys were done fighting for dominance over the area.
“Since when do you know cars?” Jonathan asked with knitted brows.
“I don’t. I just know that my mom has a nasty habit of leaving the lights on in the car. Considering there's no smoking and shit, I figured it has to be the case.” You reason.
“Great, so where the hell are we supposed to find jumper cables.?” Jonathan huffed.
“I’ll try to flag down a car or something.” You shrug.
“I don’t think that’s safe, honey. I should come with you.”
“We are far from safe right now, Steve. Whatever happened is serious and we need to get back to the squawk. Plus I would love to take a break from the two of you arguing. Just think of it as me going on a walk with benefits. If a car comes before me and you can get the van up and running again just pick me up. I’m going this way, ok?” You point down the road.
“Just be careful, honey. You know how they get about curfew.
“I promise I will be as safe as possible. I love you.” You assure him blow a sweet kiss his way.
“I love you too.”
You had been walking for about fifteen minutes by the time the first car appeared. You were quick to tuck yourself behind a tree. You squinted your eyes trying to make out the size and the shape of the vehicle.
Despite the shine of the headlights, you were able to make out enough detail to determine that the car was not military issued.
You cautiously stepped out from the dark shrubbery, now feeling slightly less tense. You rushed to the roadside, throwing out and waving a hand for its attention. You expected for the car to either slow at a normal rate or just blow past you. Instead, the vehicle came to a screeching halt beside you.
“Y/n?!” You heard El call as she picked her head out the window.
“El?! What the hell are you doing out here?” You ask, bending down to her eye level, spotting a tense Nancy in the driver’s seat.
“We’ll explain on the way, just get in!” She urged.
“Yes, ma’am.” You agreed, quickly climbing into the backseat. “Wait since you guys are here can we jump the van real quick, it died.”
“No, time. Just radio the boys and tell them we picked you up.” She passed the walkie back to you. You noticed the way her hands trembled when they grazed yours when you took the walkie from her grasp.
“Ok, but so they know, where the hell are we going?” You ask.
hiii i love the way you write, could u do some cute moments between joe and reader with their baby boy?
awh this is SO sweet, dad joe has genuinely become one of my favourite things to write lately, so yes absolutely <3
i think i wanna make this one more like lots of little moments instead of one big plot? just soft domestic joe and tiny baby chaos pahah
tiny things
Joe Keery x reader
Summary: A collection of tiny moments between you, Joe, and your baby boy that slowly become a whole life together.
Warnings/tags: 18+ ONLY, minors DNI, no use of y/n, established relationship, parenting, domestic fluff (lmk if i missed anything)
W/C: 1.4k
Joe’s terrified of him at first.
In the deeply sincere way of somebody suddenly handed something impossibly tiny and precious and expected to keep it alive forever.
“Why’s he so small?” Joe whispers roughly six minutes after your son’s born.
You stare at him exhaustedly from the hospital bed. “Joe, he’s a baby.”
“I know, but-” Joe gestures vaguely toward the sleeping bundle in the nurse’s arms. “He’s, like… really little.”
The nurse laughs softly while bringing him over.
Joe immediately panics.
“No, no, I don’t-”
“You’ve got him,” you say gently.
Joe looks at you with pure betrayal. “You can’t say that with confidence when I’ve never held a newborn before.”
Still, he reaches his arms out eventually.
Carefully.
Tentatively.
Like somebody handing him live explosives.
Then the second your son settles against his chest, everything in Joe’s face changes at once.
Gone.
Every ounce of panic.
His entire body softens so fast it almost hurts to look at.
“Oh,” he whispers.
Your chest aches instantly.
Because suddenly Joe looks completely overwhelmed by love in a way you’ve never seen before. His thumb brushes carefully over your son’s tiny cheek while his eyes flick constantly over every little feature like he physically can’t believe this baby is real.
“He’s got your nose,” Joe murmurs quietly.
“He literally came out ten minutes ago.”
“And he’s perfect already.”
You think that might be the moment you realise fatherhood’s going to ruin Joe emotionally.
The first few weeks are mostly exhaustion.
Sleep deprivation.
Cold coffee.
Laundry.
Tiny cries in the middle of the night.
But underneath all of it sits something warm and soft and almost unbearably lovely.
You wake up one morning to silence.
Which immediately feels suspicious.
The flat glows gold with early sunlight while you shuffle sleepily into the living room still wrapped in one of Joe’s hoodies.
Then you stop.
Joe’s asleep in the rocking chair.
Your son’s tucked against his chest in one of those ridiculous baby carriers Joe spent three hours figuring out how to use because “the instructions were emotionally aggressive.”
Both of them are dead asleep.
Joe’s head tipped back awkwardly against the chair while one large hand rests protectively over the baby’s back even unconscious.
Your son’s tiny fist is tangled in the collar of Joe’s t-shirt.
Something in your chest physically folds in on itself.
God.
You don’t think you’ve ever loved anyone the way you love them.
Joe stirs slightly at the sound of your movement, blinking blearily up at you.
“…hey.”
“You fell asleep.”
Joe looks down immediately like he forgot the baby was there.
Then, softer, “Oh.”
You laugh quietly. “You say that every time.”
“He’s still kinda surprising.”
Your son makes a tiny sleepy noise against Joe’s chest.
Joe melts instantly.
Actually melts.
“Oh my god,” he whispers, horrified and emotional all at once. “Did you hear that?”
“You’re obsessed with him.”
Joe looks at you like that’s the stupidest statement ever made.
“Obviously.”
The first time your son laughs, Joe nearly cries.
Which would be less embarrassing if he wasn’t laughing at something objectively stupid.
You’d been trying all week to get a proper laugh out of him.
Funny voices.
Peek-a-boo.
Little toys.
Nothing worked.
Then Joe walks into the kitchen one afternoon holding laundry and accidentally smacks directly into the doorframe.
Not hard.
Just enough to make him yelp, “Jesus Christ-”
And suddenly your son bursts into hysterical baby laughter from his highchair.
You freeze.
Joe freezes.
The baby laughs harder.
“Oh my god,” you whisper.
Joe drops the laundry instantly.
“No way.”
He walks closer cautiously like approaching a nervous animal.
“Buddy?”
Your son looks directly at him.
Joe lightly bumps his forehead against the cabinet dramatically.
Another delighted squeal of laughter.
Joe’s face completely crumbles.
“Oh, I’m funny?” he says emotionally. “You think I’m funny?”
You’re laughing too hard to speak properly by this point.
For the next week, Joe keeps pretending to walk into things just to hear him laugh again.
It works every time.
By six months old, your son’s favourite thing in the world is Joe’s hair.
Which would be cute if he didn’t yank it with the grip strength of a grown man.
“Ow,” Joe says flatly one evening from the sofa. “Ow. Assault.”
The baby giggles happily from Joe’s lap while both fists remain tangled firmly in his curls.
You barely glance up from your book anymore. “He likes you.”
“He’s trying to scalp me.”
Your son gives another aggressive tug.
Joe winces dramatically.
“Oh my god, buddy. I need that.”
Still, he makes absolutely no attempt to move him.
If anything, he just shifts him higher against his chest while the baby continues grabbing fistfuls of curls with complete delight.
“You know,” you say casually, “most people would put him down.”
Joe looks horrified.
“He’s bonding with me.”
“He’s using you like a stress toy.”
Joe presses a kiss against the baby’s head anyway.
“Yeah,” he says softly. “I know.”
Around two in the morning, neither of you can figure out why he won’t stop crying.
You’ve checked everything.
Nappy.
Bottle.
Temperature.
Teething.
Nothing works.
Your son just keeps crying miserably against Joe’s shoulder while the kitchen glows dim and soft around all three of you.
Joe sways gently beside the counter, exhaustion written into every inch of him.
“You think he hates me?” he asks quietly after twenty straight minutes of crying.
You stare at him.
“Joseph.”
“I’m serious.”
“He’s a baby.”
“He’s a baby with opinions.”
Despite the joke, you can hear the genuine worry underneath it.
Joe’s been like this since the second your son was born. Every cry feels personal somehow. Like if he can’t fix it immediately, he’s failed.
You step closer carefully then, smoothing one hand gently down his back.
“Hey.”
Joe looks at you immediately.
“He doesn’t hate you.”
Your son hiccups sadly against his chest.
Joe’s whole expression caves in.
“I just wish I knew what he needed.”
The vulnerability in his voice nearly kills you.
You reach up carefully and brush tired curls away from his forehead.
“You know what he needs right now?”
Joe shakes his head slightly.
“You.”
Something soft breaks open across his face.
Then your son lets out one final sleepy sigh before settling suddenly against Joe’s chest.
Both of you freeze.
Silence.
Joe looks down slowly.
“…you’ve gotta be kidding me.”
You burst out laughing immediately.
“He just wanted cuddles.”
“I have BEEN cuddling him.”
Your son snores softly.
Joe looks deeply offended by this development.
Then quieter, staring down at him, “I didn’t know I could love somebody this much and still survive it.”
Your chest aches instantly.
You lean forward and kiss him softly beneath the dim kitchen lights while your son sleeps between you both.
Joe kisses you back carefully, one hand still rubbing absentminded circles against the baby’s back.
Never really stopping.
The first time your son says dada, Joe stops functioning properly.
“Dada,” the baby says proudly from the living room floor, surrounded by blocks.
Complete silence follows.
Joe stares at him.
Your son grins.
“Dada!”
Joe looks at you with genuine panic.
“Did he just-”
“Yes.”
“Oh my god.”
Your son claps for himself excitedly.
Joe looks seconds away from tears.
“You know he’s probably just making sounds, right?” you tease gently.
“No,” Joe says immediately. “He meant it.”
“Joe-”
“He knows me.”
You laugh helplessly while Joe scoops the baby straight off the floor and into his arms.
“Say it again,” he whispers hopefully.
Your son grabs his nose.
“Dada.”
Joe actually chokes slightly.
“Oh, I’m done for,” he mutters emotionally into the baby’s curls.
You don’t think you’ve ever seen anybody so happy.
Later that night, your son sleeps between you both in bed after refusing to settle in his cot.
One tiny hand curled into Joe’s t-shirt.
The other clutching your finger.
The room glows silver-blue in the moonlight while the baby breathes softly between you.
Joe’s been staring at him for nearly ten straight minutes.
“You okay?” you whisper sleepily.
Joe nods once without looking away.
Then, quietly, “Can you believe we made him?”
Your chest tightens immediately.
You look down at your son’s sleepy little face. Joe’s curls. Your nose. Tiny hands. Tiny breaths.
A whole person.
Made from both of you.
“No,” you whisper honestly. “Not really.”
Joe finally looks over at you then, eyes soft and tired and so full of love it almost hurts.
“I think this might be the happiest I’ve ever been.”
You kiss him softly in the dark before settling closer beneath the blankets.
Joe’s hand finds yours automatically over the baby’s stomach.
And somewhere between the quiet breathing, tangled sheets, and the way Joe keeps looking at both of you like you hung the moon personally, you realise this is probably what love’s supposed to feel like.
Summary: You pushed yourself further than you thought possible as all of you charged into battle to save Max and Hawkins as you knew it. All you could hope for was that everyone would make it through to the other side.
A/N: I can't believe we made it to the end of season four. It feels surreal to be so close to the end of this series. Also sorry for the long time between chapters. I wrote and rewrote several times until I got it to a place I'm truly happy with so I just hope you all enjoy!
Childhood Best friends to Lovers
Steve Harrington x Powered!Fem!Sinclair!reader (she/her)
CW: Broken bones, blood, major character death, mention of child death, mention of smoking/ smoking weed.
Chapter outfit (post Vecna/right)
WC: 7.2K
Series Masterlist
Dividers by @reevesoc
lmk if you want to be added to the taglist
The sun had set, casting Hawkins in a blanket of darkness when you arrived at Eddie’s trailer. The six of you stared up at the gate with weapons strapped to your back and bags of unlit molotovs slung across your shoulders. Your hearts pounding in your chests, knowing that through that gate was the biggest battle you had yet to face and you knew that there was no turning back.
“Be careful.” Dustin begged Steve when he stepped on Eddie’s mattress to take hold of the sheet rope dangling between dimensions.
“Thanks, buddy.” Steve replied, placing a loving tap against the boy's chest. He tried to keep a strong front, but you could see the way his hands trembled when he reached for the rope. The images Vecna burned in his brain, flashing in front of his eyes and he knew he would never forget the feeling of falling through nothingness. “Here goes nothing.” Steve exhaled sharply.
“What does he want us to do, applaud?” Robin asked as the two of you stared up at Steve who shrugged nonchalantly at his action hero entrance to the upside down. “Don’t encourage him.” She was quick to grab your hands when she noticed you raised your hands to jokingly clap for your boyfriend.
“Alright, let’s go.” Steve called up to the rest of you after he moved a mattress under the rope to create a new landing pad in the upside down. You went up first, boosting off of Eddie's interlocked hands.
“Fire in the hole.” You announce before flipping between dimensions. You let out a slight grunt when you hit the mattress below you.
“I got you, honey.” Steve smiled down at you, holding his hand out to help you up.
“Thank you, love.” You smiled back, promptly accepting his help so that you could clear the space for the others to come through.
“Still pretty fun.” Robin chuckled as you helped her up so that the others could swiftly follow behind her.
Eddie was the last one through, sharing the same sentiment as your best friend when Steve and Dustin hauled him to his feet.
When you stepped out of Eddie’s trailer, red lightning cracked in the sky followed by booming thunder. The intensity almost felt like a warning to turn back. Not from your gut, but from Vecna himself, but it was too late. You were in too deep. Too much was on line and running was no longer an option that you were willing to take.
“Listen to me…” Steve began before your group separated. “If things here start to go south and I mean at all, you abort, ok? Draw the attention of the bats. Keep them busy for a minute or two while we take care of Vecna. Don’t try to be cute or be a hero or something, ok? You guys are just-”
“Decoys.” Dustin finishes, cutting off Steve. Despite the fact that you had all gone over the plan ten times over, Steve knew Dustin could be hard headed at the best of times, so he didn’t care how many times he had to say it for the boy to absorb the information. He can’t lose Dustin, especially with you and Max at the top two spots of Vecna’s incredibly long kill list. Losing his brother, his sister, and the love of his life all in the same day would break him to a level he didn’t think he could come back from. “Don’t worry. You guys can be the heroes, Steve.” Dustin tried to assure him with a joking lilt, but Steve’s words struck him deep when he saw the seriousness swimming in his eyes.
“Absolutely. I mean look at us. We are not heroes.” Eddie was quick to agree with a smirk and a shrug of his shoulders. Steve gave him a slight nod despite his fears not being fully quelled by their responses. You had to admit they didn’t make you feel too good either. You knew getting a lesson about ‘Not Playing the Hero’ from Steve Harrington was sort of like a vampire telling you to drink blood.
“Seriously though. Don’t. Do. Anything. Stupid.” You said, pointing between the two after every word. You also knew that you weren’t the best person to be giving this advice, but you just hoped that they listened.
“Hey, Mage?”Eddie called out when your group was about to depart.
“Yeah?” You reply, meeting his nervous eyes, before the hardened in determination.
“Make him pay.”
Every vine covered tree seemed the same as the four of you walked through the dark woods. Aside from the darkness muddying the details, the leafless trees, and the fact that the scenery was frozen three years in the past, not being able to use a compass only made things worse. You knew that it would hurt more than it would help considering it would hone in on the closest gate and take you even further from where you needed to be.
“I don't mean to freak anyone out but I swear we’ve seen this tree before.” Robin piped up, shining her flashlight on a tree that was wrapped in way more vines than the rest.
“No, that's impossible.” Nancy shook her head, walking up to the tree Robin was referring to in order to get a better look. The girl wanted to stay positive, but you could see it in the way her eyebrows slightly knitted together that she was beginning to think it too.
“It would totally suck if Vecna destroyed the world, cause we got lost in the woods.” Robin groaned as she turned in place trying to find anything that would signal that you didn’t just walk in a circle.
“We’re not lost, Rob. All this shit just looks the same.” You tried to reason but you weren’t completely confident in your assessment either, considering you had a sneaking suspicion that you had seen that tree before.
“How convincing.” She replied sarcastically before, breaking into a slight jog so that she could explore the space further.
“Robin, hey! Watch out for the vines! Hivemind, remember?” Nancy called, chasing after the girl who took off into the woods with seemingly little regard to the way she was stepping.
“We’re lost aren't we?” Steve looked over at you.
“Yeah, I think so.” You nervously chuckle.
“Great.” He sighed before reaching for your hand. “Is that me shaking or is it you?” He asked as he tightened his grip on your hand.
“I think it’s both of us.” You admit. “Are you ok? I mean none of this shit is ok, but, you know?”
“No.” He chuckled humorlessly before continuing. “I’ve been up for almost forty-eight hours and we have to kill a psychopath hellbent on destroying Hawkins. You?” He answered, squeezing your hand tighter.
“Do you want me to be honest?” You ask, too nervous to meet his eyes. Sensing your hesitancy, he began to glide his thumb gently against yours.
“Always, honey.” He softly replied.
“I know that this is the worst possible time to be doubting myself, but I’m scared to death that I can’t do this, Steve. What if I’m not strong enough. I mean I promised Max that I could save her life, but what if I can’t. What if he’s too powerful?” You finally voice the concerns that have been running circles in your head.
“You wanna know what I think?”
“Always.”
“I think he’s the scared one.”
“You don’t have to say that just because you're my boyfriend and you’re legally required to say that I’m amazing at everything I do.”
“I’m not just saying it, honey. I’m being serious. Just think about it, ok? Vecna’s been lurking in the shadows for years, because he’s scared of what you can do. I mean you’ve been destroying every monster he’s thrown at you. You were sending a message and you didn’t even know it. So don’t let this bastard get in your head. That’s what he wants. He wants you to be that scared little girl again and you’re not gonna give him that, honey. We are gonna kick the bastard's ass.” He asserted, with determination deep in his voice. He believed you could do anything, he just wished you could see it in you the way he did.
“Damn, love. When did you become such an incredible motivational speaker?” You ask, wiping your eyes with your sleeve.
“Well, it’s kind of a requirement when you’re team captain for two different sports.” He smirks proudly.
“Really? Is that why we didn’t win any championships?” You tease.
“You think you’re so funny, but you fail to realize that you were the one distracting my bench and distracting me from doing my job. My eyes were always on you Sinclair and my god, the problems you caused.” He shook head at you with a smile on his face, before pressing a soft kiss to the back of your hand.
“Hey guys!” Robin’s approaching voice called out through the trees. “Guys, I think we found the way out.”
The four of you stared up at the house that despite its run down appearance, still loomed heavily over you and struck fear in your hearts. You tried your best to stay as quiet as possible as you made your way up the porch’s noisy wooden steps.
All of you held your breath when the front door released an eerie creek when Robin slowly pushed it open. Your faces scrunch in a grimace, hoping that the noise didn’t alert Vecna.
Each of you slowly stepped over the threshold, contorting your bodies into uncomfortable positions to avoid stepping on the vines covering almost every inch of the walls and floors. It felt like you were playing the worst game of Twister with every step you took. Despite all the effort, the house began to rumble, throwing your bodies completely off balance.
Steve was quick to grab onto the back of your tactical vest to keep you upright while you kept a tight grip on Robin and she kept one on Nancy. The four of you forming a chain like a barrel of monkeys until the shaking stopped.
Once you were able to regain stable footing, you continued your careful ascent up the stairs until you finally made it to the attic.
Vecna was hovering above the ground, when you arrived. His body was supported by dozens of vines that held him up so that he could remain focused as he remote traveled. For a moment it was hard for you to believe that he was the orderly that made a shiver run down your spine every time his eyes were on you until you realized he now reflected the monster that always lived inside him.
“You got this.” Steve whispered his encouragement in your ear as quietly as he could manage before pressing a sweet kiss to your forehead.
“I got this.” You parrot, inhaling and exhaling deeply to calm your nerves. Don’t let me die. Make him pay. Don't let me die. Make him pay. Max and Eddie’s words began to echo in your head. You couldn’t let them down. This needed to end today.
You took a confident step forward, stretching out your arms and hardened your eyes at the monster in front of you.
Blood dripped from your nose as your hands began to pull against his tough exterior. The skin of his chest began to fray and tear as you forced your powers to burrow further into him. He remained unmoved in his trance until you cut too deep, your powers breaking through the superficial barrier. His icy blue eyes snapped open and a pained groan ripped through his throat as he woke back up in reality.
“Nine!” Vecna’s voice boomed when he found your steeled face staring dagger into him. “I’ve been expecting you.” He continued, fighting through the pain you were inflicting upon him, trying to remain as the biggest threat in the room.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.” You reply, stepping closer, refusing to let up on him.
“No, no. You’re just on time.” A devilish smirk crept across his face as he raised a hand to awaken his army of slithering vines. They swiftly followed his demands, wrapping themselves around you, forcing you down to your knees like you were about to have your head shoved into a guillotine.
Steve immediately sprung into action pulling the out axe strapped to his back as fast as he could to charge the man towering over you. He didn’t make it far before Vecna swiped a hand his way, throwing him into the closest vine covered wall. They immediately swarmed him at the contact, pinning him against the surface to immobilize him. On Vecna’s command, the surrounding vines gunned for Robin and Nancy, cutting any more attempts of your rescue off at the knees. Now the only thing the three could do as they struggled against the restrictive vines was watch in horror as Vecna loomed over you savoring the moment of your defeat.
“What are you waiting for you son of a bitch? This is your chance to kill me and have your revenge. This is what you wanted, right?” You seethed, looking up at him with gritted teeth.
“This is so much more than that. We need you for a bigger purpose.”
“We? Who the fuck is ‘we’?” You ask the question that has been rattling around in your brain ever since Steve mentioned it when recounting his experience with Vecna.
“You will meet him soon and he will show you the way he showed me. We can bring order to a lawless world that favors the weak.” He mused.
“Is that why you watched me? Why you followed me around like a fucking creep. You wanted to recruit me into your psychotic, destroying the world bullshit?”
“Do you think you living was a mistake? Did you ever stop to ask “Who left your door open?” ” He asked, kneeling down to your eye level to gently run the back of his disfigured and clawed finger down your cheek.
“I dont…i dont…” You tried to speak, but your brain felt like it was shutting down to save you from what it was piecing together.
“I did! I saw the potential. I could feel it from the moment we met that you are more important than you realize. You have a gift like me, that they sought to control, but we are different. WE can bring upon a new world that doesn’t seek to control us, but allows us the predators that we were born to be. Everyone in that lab held us back and they tried to keep us weak. They tried to keep you weak. That’s why I killed Five first. He was a distraction that tried to infect you with it. The worst part is that he didn’t see how weak he truly was even when he tried to save the others,”
“He wasn’t weak. He wasn’t a coward who hides in the fucking shadows and murders children and teenagers because his demonic overlord told him to. He was stronger than me and he was sure as hell stronger than you.” You spit as hot tears stung your eyes. Five was many things, but weak wasn’t one of them. He was brave and kind in an environment that punished those traits and you would not let this piece of shit tarnish the legacy of the boy who never got a true chance to live.
“No. He was a scared little ant that I took pleasure in crushing under my boot! And in due time you will see that the power you hold runs deeper than you could ever imagine.You will understand your true purpose and you will understand what he seeks to achieve, but for now, you will be shown but a taste, because Hawkins is about to fall and the world soon after but that will be of your own doing. You will bring its destruction and its rebirth. Here, today is only the beginning of the end.” He seethed at your refusal to hear the truth.
“I’m not helping you create anything you fucking monster!” You bite, your resolve hardening as anger, sadness, and resentment coursed through your body, fueling your powers as you rip yourself free from the vines restraining you. You were quick to throw one hand out at Vecna, sending him careening into one of the structural wooden beams that made a harsh crack under the impact of his weight. You rushed over to Steve, Nancy, and Robin, using your powers to easily rip them free from the vines encasing them. As soon as she was free, Robin scrambled to pull a molotov from her bag, ready to move into the last phase of the plan.
“Phase Four?” She asked.
“Phase Four.” Nancy agreed, cocking the sawed off shotgun she armed herself with.
“Let’s light this bastard up.” Steve nodded, whipping out his zippo to light the liquor soaked fabric dangling from the bottle in Robin’s hand.
The annoyed groan Vecna released as he stood to his feet turned to one of distress when the flaming bottle Robin threw with full force struck him in his chest. The impact sent him staggering back. Before he could gain his bearings, you threw your hand back out, slowly turning your tensed hand palm up, turning the bones in his arm with it. His eyes bulged as he yelled in pure agony when sickening snaps of his bones sounded. The pressure you applied didn’t let up even when his body began to ragdoll as Nancy began to fire shot after shot into his body. The impact of each bullet as well as the molotovs Robin and Steve took turns throwing, sent him staggering back. With every one of his back steps, the four of you advanced forward until he was back against a window. The next round Nancy fired at him, sent him stumbling back through the window.
With no regard for the hivemind under your feet, you all ran down the steps as fast as you could manage, flinging the rickey front door open.
The adrenaline high you were all riding on began to crash when you made it to the spot Vecna landed at, only to find a scorched patch of grass.
“This is not good. This is so, not good.” Robin began to panic as you snapped your heads around, looking for any sign of the direction Vecna could’ve possibly ran in.
“Spread out. We fucked him up pretty bad, he can’t be far.” You instruct the group, each of you fanning out across the lawn.
Before any of you could get too far, the loud unmistakable chime of a grandfather sounded from the house.
“No…no…no…” You repeated, immediately darting back to the house and up the porch steps, the others close behind you.
The four of you gathered around the chiming clock, watching it in absolute horror.
“Fuck.” Steve’s voice wobbled as tears began to well in his eyes. You all knew what it meant, but none of you wanted to be the one to say and make it real.
The crushing guilt immediately weighed heavy on your shoulders. You just became the next in a long line of those who broke their promise to Max Mayfield.
“Stay with me, Max. Stay with me!” You heard the voice of your brother faintly yelling. You weren’t sure if you were imagining it. Like your brain was trying to give you a sense of hope that would alleviate your guilt…then you heard it again.
“Erica, help!”
“Do you hear that?” You ask the fear stricken group.
“The chiming? Yeah, I hear it loud and clear.” Steve snapped, not necessarily at you, but at the fact that he too failed the girl he promised to protect.
“We need a doctor!”
“No, that!” You point out. “It’s Lucas.”
“Stay with me! Stay with me!”
“Oh, shit I hear it.” Steve replied when he strained his ears to find your brother’s voice amongst the loud chiming.
“Lucas!” You begin to shout, hoping that it would penetrate the other side. You rush towards the stairs, preparing to run up them until the ground began to violently shake.
You formed your stabilizing chain again, trying to keep yourselves on even footing. You thought that it would only last a few seconds, but when it began to stretch into what felt like hours, you had enough. Lucas’ cries and pleas for help was all you could hear. You needed to get to him and you refused to let the shaking house stop you.
“What the hell are you doing?!” Steve shouted when you ripped yourself away from his grasp, but the tunnel vision that consumed you didn’t allow you to hear a word you said as you raced up the stairs to the attic.
“Ok, I can do this. I can do this.” You encouraged yourself, ripping your bandana from your eyes before sitting down on the floor, trying your best to ignore the violent shaking and crack beginning to split through the attic.
“Baby, what are you doing?!” Steve asked, dropping to his knees in front of you. He brought his shaky hands to your face, forcing you to look at him.
“Saving Max.” You explain with a wobbling chin.
“Then let’s go. You can’t help from here.” Steve tried to reason.
“We’ll never make it back in time.” You shake your head. “If…if I can remote travel maybe…maybe I can do something.”
“How? You said you couldn’t do it. Plus there’s no radio or a bath to put you in.”
“I don’t know! I don’t know, but if I can somehow save Max, then I have to try!” You shout through tears. “You told me to believe in myself. You say that I’m this strong person who can do anything, and so that’s what I’m doing. I’m believing in myself right now because I don’t have any other choice!”
“Y/n…”
“I don’t have any more time to argue with you, Steve. I don’t know how long this is going to take, so just please get out with Nancy and Robin. I love you and I will find you guys after.
“I’m not leaving you, love.” He refused, shaking his head at the very notion.
“Then promise me that you will save yourself if this place starts to go under and I need you to know…I need you to know that no matter what happens I love you, ok?” You declare, resting your forehead against his. “Promise me!” You demand when he doesn’t speak.
“I can’t, honey.” You feel his head shake against your forehead.
“Please.” You beg softly, your weak voice finally breaking him.
“I…I promise.” He finally relents as tears spill down his cheeks. “Just please don’t make me.” He begged, pulling away to look in your eyes.
“I’ll make it as fast as I can.” You reply, placing a shaking hand over one of his that was cupping your cheek. The gesture being a silent affirmation that you would do everything in your power to not make this a ‘good-bye.’
“I love you more than anything, honey.” He proclaimed before placing a kiss against your lips that praying wouldn’t be the last one you ever shared.
Once you separated, you began to tie your bandan around your eyes. You inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to clear your mind and tune out the distractions around you.
“Steve?” You call out.
“What do you need, honey?” He asked, with a shaking yet soft voice.
“Just…just hold my hand.” You request. Steve was quick to interlock his fingers with yours squeezing it tight, giving you the extra comfort you needed. You knew you needed to be as calm as the eye of the storm in order for this to work.
Your body began to tingle as a feeling of weightlessness took over your senses. Steve tried his best to keep quiet when for you, but it became hard when blood began to flow from your nose like a faucet. He fought against every instinct in his body to pull you out, but he knew that by the way your eyes rapidly flicked back and forth behind your eyelids that whatever you were doing was working. You were close and he wasn’t sure if you’d forgive him if he severed the connection you were on the brink of forming.
Your clothes were soaked when you opened your eyes. You sat up slowly, realizing that darkness was all you could see. The shallow water under your feet sloshed as you stood up.
You made it! You fucking made it! Your celebration was short lived, knowing that your trip was for one specific purpose. You needed to find Max.
You began to call out the girl’s name, walking aimlessly through the darkness you weren’t quiet sure how to navigate.
“Max?!” You called out again.
Your ears perked up when you heard ragged breathing at the wet sniffling that came with tears. A hopeful smile broke across your face at the sign of life.
“Max?” You made your voice softer as you saw a hunched figure crying in the distance.
“Y-y/n?” You heard the voice you least expected.
“El?” You ask, picking up speed, jogging to the girl.
You sucked in a sharp breath as if you were punched in the gut when you approached, laying eyes on the sight that made the tears stream down her face. Lucas was weeping, squeezing the red head as tight as he could, as he pleaded for her to hang on.
“Help is on the way, just hold on.” He repeated, now running his hands up and down his upper arms as if he were trying to warm her up.
Your stomach twisted in knots as your eyes traced over Max. Her once blue eyes were now milky as blood poured from them and her limbs were twisted unnaturally. The images of the lab that would forever haunt your brain began to flash in front of your eyes.
“Is…is she..?” You stutter out through broken sobs as you kneel beside her. You of course knew the answer, but you just really, really wanted to believe that she wasn’t gone. El could only muster a nod, harboring that same fear as you, that saying the words would make it real.
“She can’t. No, no, no she can’t.” You shook your head as uncontrollable tears streamed down your cheeks.
“But I think…I think we can bring her back.” El spoke with tearful determination.
“W-what?” You ask, trying to and failing to stop your cries.
“Just follow my lead.” She instructed before taking a deep breath. You were quick to nod in agreement, ready to do anything you could.
You mimicked El as she reached out a hand, placing your shaking one next to hers on Max’s chest.
You followed every peak and valley of her breathing, your movements matching the others until it became hard to decipher where each of your powers began and ended.
Your eyes darted behind your lids as if you were connecting dying neurons, keeping them alive until something stronger could keep them together. That was all she needed, a spark to keep the fire lit.
You never released such a deep sigh when you felt Max’s chest rise to meet your hands. It was no extreme gasp of breath or a strong shot awake. It was a small sign of life that kept your hopes alive. You were ready to press further with El to give her the rest all you could, until you were yanked back into reality, your image in Max’s mind disappearing into a fog, leaving El to fair, bringing back Max on her own.
“What the hell?!” You began to berate him, but before you could finish airing out your grievances he was demanding you to run despite the fact that he was already dragging you along, giving you hardly any time to find your footing. “You told me to save myself, but you never told me not to save you!” He explained his behavior as you ran through the crumbling house.
“Oh, shit!” You exclaim when a fiery orange rift splits through the staircase, missing both of you by less than an inch. You grab Steve's vest, pulling back right before the foyers shaking chandelier would’ve come crashing down on him.
“Thank you, honey.” He was quick to show his appreciation for your actions before resuming the sprint to freedom.
“Come on! Come on! Come on!” Nancy and Robin shouted at the two of you when you crossed the threshold to the outside. When you made it to the porch’s third to last step, you decided to jump the rest of the way. A choice that saved your lives as the house finally sunk into itself, dragging the porch down with it.
“Jesus Christ! You idiots scared the shit out of me!” Robin berated you and Steve before flinging her arms around the two of you. “What the hell was that?!”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, but it was for a good cause.” You explain, squeezing her back.
“What ‘good cause’ makes you do that?!”
“Max. I think El and I just saved Max.” You sluggishly reply, the exhaustion in your body beginning to catch up. Steve noticed it immediately. You tried to keep a straight face, but he could read it in your body language. You pushed yourself harder than you expected and now it was catching up with you.
“I got you, honey. I got you.” He was quick to assure you, wrapping one arm around your waist, while you slung an arm over his shoulder.
“El? How?” Robin was quick to question.
“Look, I’m as curious as the next guy, but we need to get the hell out of here before we get stuck in here.” Steve urged the group, when the ground somehow shook harder as the ground violently cracked in front of you, the fiery orange bursting through the seams.
“Agreed.” Nancy nodded at him. “We need to go, now!”
You knew something was incredibly wrong when you spotted Dustin hunched over something in the distance. He had no business still being down here. He was supposed to be a decoy and that’s all.
“Dustin!” Steve called out, causing the boy’s head to snap up. Your paces picked up, breaking into a full sprint to get to the crying boy. Your hearts sank and your throat went dry when you realized that ‘something’ was Eddie.
“What the hell happened, man?” Steve asked the boy, as the four of you kneeled down beside them, your eyes becoming glassy.
Dustin wanted to answer and tell you all about the heroic sacrifice Eddie made, but the words wouldn’t come. All he could do was weep over his friend.
“I’m so sorry…” You begin to weakly apologize to Eddie, staring into his dead eyes that used to be brimming with life. “I’m so, so sorry.” You continue, bring up a shaking hand to close his eyes and put him to rest.
“We can’t…we can’t leave him here.” Dustin finally managed to get out through his sobs.
“I’m sorry man, but there’s no way to get him through the gate and we need to go before that rift catches up with us.” Steve hesitantly broke the horrific news.
“No! I’m not leaving him!”
“We don’t have a choice, man!”
“Then leave me here!”
“No. No way. I hate to leave him here too, but we need to go before we get trapped in here too.” Steve spoke sternly, yanking the boy to his feet.
“No!No!No!” Dustin screamed in protest, trying to break free from the tight hold Steve was keeping on him.The tears brimming in Steve’s eyes finally fell as the boy continued to fight against with all the strength he could manage.
He hated to do this to him, but there were no other options. Even if you tried there wouldn’t be enough time to get Eddie through, especially without desecrating his body.
“I’m sorry.” Steve began to repeat to the desperate boy until Dustin finally collapsed into him, weeping into Steve’s shoulder and clinging onto him for dear life.
All of you knew that the upside down being Eddie’s final resting place was wrong. He deserved so much more. More love, more understanding, and more respect. He sacrificed himself for a town that would never see him fit to receive those things, but every member of the party knew without a shadow of a doubt that Eddie Munson was a fucking hero.
~Two days later~
Hawkins as you knew it was over. Entire blocks of homes fell through the cracks caused by the “earthquake” and dozens of lives were lost. Your small town had been rocked by a tragedy that its residents would never truly understand.
The military came in droves in order to provide relief. They were welcomed with open and thankful arms. Mothers and grandmothers even baked them cakes and pies as signs of appreciation if they were able to do so.
The community rallied together to set up a temporary shelter in the shared school gym.
You, Robin, Steve, and Dustin were quick to decide you wanted to volunteer, hoping that after your failed attempt to save the town, you could still help in any possible way.
Now you and Robin sat in Betsy’s trunk, chatting with Dustin as Steve helped Nancy load the last box of her donation boxes into the backseat.
“Did someone order pizza?” You heard Karen ask, as repeated honking caught your attention. Both you and Robin climbed out of the trunk to get a better look at the approaching dusty yellow van. You squinted your eyes out to read the red lettering plastered on the side of the vehicle. “Surfer Boy Pizza?” You read aloud, making all of your eyebrows knit in confusion.
“What the hell?” You continue as the van pulls up to park at the end of the Wheeler’s driveway.
Your confusion only grew when a boy with long flowing hair, dressed in loud pants climbed out the vehicle. Who the fuck is that? You thought until the van’s side door slid open, revealing Mike Wheeler followed by Will, El, and Jonathon.
The confusion on all of your faces immediately dropped, replaced by relieved and excited smiles.
Without another thought, you sprinted towards the group, El meeting you in the middle, throwing your arms around each other.
“You’re here! You’re fucking here!” You cheer, squeezing her tight.
“I’m here.” She parroted, burying her face further into your shoulder, missing the feeling. She missed you and the feeling of being completely understood.
“Is Max…is Max alive?” She asked, the thought weighing heavy on her mind for the past forty-eight hours.
“Yeah, she’s in a coma. They don’t know how long until she wakes up, but she’s alive.” You assure the girl. The doctors called Max’s survival “Nothing short of a miracle” not knowing that half of the miracle was standing in front of them and the other was floating in a pizza dough freezer all the way in California. The information made the pent up tension in El’s shoulder release as she blew out a big sigh of relief.
“Is this the one?” You heard an unfamiliar voice ask.
“Excuse me?” You asked, pulling away to look at the source. It belonged to the long haired boy that climbed out of the van before your friends.
“The other freaky mind chick Jonathon told me about?” He tried to clarify. “I’m Argyle by the way.” The boy introduced, holding out a fist for you to bump instead of a simple hand to shake.
“Cool…” You began, still slowly coming to the realization that you kind of liked the description of yourself that he gave. “I’m y/n and yeah, I’m the… freaky mind chick.” You continue, accepting the fist bump.
“That’s totally rad, dude.” He nodded with a dopey smile. “You know, I thought I had super powers once, but I was just really stoned.”
“Wow, that’s crazy.” You reply with an amused smile.
“I know, right? That’s why I only partake in Purple Palm Tree Delight now. It’s keeps me mellowed out, man. And I know we just met, but I think you could use some. You seem, like, super stressed out, dude. I have some in my van and I don’t mind sharing.” Argyle offered with a wide smile and wiggling eyebrows. Despite barely knowing the boy, he was quick to grow on you and you would’ve felt a little bad turning down his generous offer, so you accepted the sweet gesture for what it was.
“Sure, what the hell.”
The gym parking lot was packed when you arrived. A mix of volunteers, donators, and those who needed help walked into the temporary shelter alongside the four of you.
Your heart ached and guilt coursed through as you passed cot after cot occupied by friends and neighbors who lost their homes to the “earthquake.” The ache burrowed itself deeper when your eyes flicked over to the massive ‘Missing Persons’ board that was almost at capacity. You could feel the same guilt radiating off the others as they too looked around at the consequences of your perceived collective failure.
The harsh feelings didn’t begin to subside until you arrived at the donation table and were quickly greeted by the girl who had been assigned the position.
“Hi.” She gave you a soft wave.
“Hi.” You greet back as you each place your boxes down on the table. “We have some stuff that we hope can help. We have some blankets and sheets and some clothes and kid’s toys.” You state, pointing to each corresponding box as you described its contents.
“Wow. It’s already so organized. We appreciate that.” The girl mused as her eyes skimmed over the neatly folded clothes and blankets. Even the box of toys each of you contributed to had been filled as neatly as possible. You knew it wasn’t a requirement, but you also knew that they didn’t need the extra work.
“Do you want a tax receipt for it?” She asked, picking up her clipboard, prepared to jot down your information.
“No, we don’t need one. Thank you, though. But we were wondering if there was anything we could help you with. We know this place is crawling with volunteers, but we figured maybe a few more hands couldn’t hurt.” You inquired.
“I’m sure we can find something. We’ll take as much as we can get. Follow me.” She instructed, letting her lead you to your assignments.
You and Steve were put on clothes sorting duty. Both of you listened intently as the task supervisor explained all that entailed your roles.
“We’ve got infants, girls, boys, men, and women. We just need you guys to sort and fold, but keep any eye out for anything that is in too bad of shape. We don’t really want that. Pretty simple, right?”
“Yes ma’am.” Steve nodded.
“Thank you kids so much for volunteering.” She replied, giving you an earnest smile in appreciation.
“Of course.” You give her a slight nod before she scurried off to finish her original task.
“Stop staring, creep.” You bump your hip against Steve’s when you feel his eyes on you.
“I’m not staring.” He replied with a betraying smile dancing across his lips
“Yes, you are.” You grin.
“Fine, maybe I’m staring a little. It’s just that this feels kind of domestic, right?”
“How is sorting laundry in a shelter for a town that we kind of helped destroy, domestic?” You ask through a slight chuckle.
“Well when you put it like that it sucks the joy out of it. I just meant that I picture us doing this together not too far in the future. In our house. On our bed. And we’ll take turns doing that thing we like where one of us dumps all the warm clothes on the other when they’re fresh out the dryer…I can tell by the way you're grinning like an idiot that you’re thinking about it too.” He bumped his shoulder against yours.
“Yeah, I am and it’s annoying me that you somehow manage to make something as lame as folding laundry sound so amazing.” You reply, shaking your head with an uncontrollable grin as you pick up a bright yellow sweater from the basket. “Now, stop distracting me. I take my job as sorter/folder very seriously.”
“Well if I did that then I wouldn't be able to point out the love birds over there.” He replied, nodding his head towards the ‘food pickup’ table Robin had been stationed at.
“Lovebirds?” You ask following his line of sight. Your eyes grow wide when they land on her and Vickie having a conversation that easily flowed, accented by lingering stares between bouts of prolonged eye contact.
“No fucking way.” You finally get out, both of you watching her with proud eyes.
“Way. Like we said, who pauses Fast Times at fifty-three minutes and fifteen seconds?”
“People who like boobies.” You reply, mocking his voice.
“Exactly.” He chuckled along with you.
A comfortable silence settled between you and Steve as you focused back in on your assigned tasks. You were nearing the end of your basket, a mix of concerned voices caught your attention.
“Is that ash?” A woman asked as she walked to the windows
“It has to be.” Her husband reasoned, following his wife’s lead to the window.
“Mommy, it’s snowing.” A young girl squealed with a giddy smile as she looked up at her mother who kept their hand tightly clasped together as she too rushed to the window.
Despite being in your separate stations across the gym, the four of you still managed to find each other's knowing eyes. Without a word, each of you rushed to join the group of curious people trying to force their way outside to get a better look at the strange phenomenon.
All of your faces were cast up to the sky as a gray cloud darker than the rest began to roll in, causing the murmuring of the crowd grew louder as each person speculated about what it meant. Most of them chalked it up to the falling ash from the four raging fires the military finally managed to extinguish only a few hours ago. It was the most comforting option to believe in. Fires cause ash. It was a fact of nature that meant nothing special, because that’s what they hoped for. They hoped it was nothing because they weren’t sure if they could handle any more.
The four of you wanted to believe it as well, but the pits in your stomach that formed wouldn’t allow you to do so. You were burdened with the knowledge that it was a million times worse than any of the people standing beside you could ever imagine.
Vecna’s words were ringing true. This was only the beginning.
Summary: You fear for the worst when the worst night of your life is finally revealed to those that you love. You just hope that it's worth all the pain as you prepare for the biggest battle you've ever faced.
A/N: Prepare to be hit deeply in your feels. I once again hope you enjoy!
Childhood Best friends to Lovers
Steve Harrington x Powered!Fem!Sinclair!reader (she/her)
CW: Injuries, blood, dead bodies ( including children), murder, nightmares, canon-level violence, talks of pregnancy/the ability get pregnant
WC: 6.5K
Series Masterlist
Dividers by @reevesoc
lmk if you want to be added to the taglist
Tears slowly rolled down Steve’s cheeks as he tried to describe the hell that he was dropped into. He fought through his dry throat and wobbling bottom lip to tell you about Vecna as a boy. How cruel he was as a kid. A disturbed boy that murdered his family like they were nothing to him. He viewed them as obstacles to his master plan. As impurities that needed to be cleansed from the Earth like everything else.
When he got to the lab, his knee began to bounce. That was when he stopped looking at you. Now that he knew the monster that haunted the halls you were trapped in, he wasn’t sure he could face you. The guilt you helped him fight so hard against was creeping up on him, like a chill running down his spine.
“He showed me the lab…” He began. The group’s eyes went wide as they snapped to you. You began to anxiously fidget with your fingers, no longer feeling like part of the audience. You now felt like the show. When you looked around the room, you saw the pity and the sympathy being aimed at you. You knew they meant well, but you hated it. You just wanted to be normal. It’s all you ever wanted, but when they look at you like that, you feel anything but.
“He showed me him getting tattooed by this old doctor guy. He gave him…he gave him a 001 tattoo. Just like…just like y/n and El’s.” Steve stammered out. The air was instantly sucked out of the room and it felt like a spotlight was being shone on you. You felt like you couldn’t breathe under all the attention. You shot up from your place on the couch and began to pace as your heart thundered in your chest and your mind raced like a car in the Grand Prix. He can’t be One!He can’t be! You tried to hammer into your brain, but you knew it was no use. You always tried to push the thought away, but you knew from the moment you met him that he wasn’t who he said he was. He wasn’t just some creepy orderly. He was far more sinister. The way he watched you. The way he studied you as if he knew something about you that you didn’t even know about yourself.
“W-what does he look like, Steve?” You ask as the tears stinging your eyes finally fall.
“I don’t know how to explain it. He was this fleshy dark monster thing. I’ve never seen anything like it before.” Steve described, finally meeting your eyes.His heart ached watching the way your face contorted and your body began to tremble at his description.
“No, no, no. Not Vecna. Henry.” You clarify as you finally stop pacing. After reading your body language, Steve hesitated to answer. He could see that you were on the edge and that the tiniest gust of wind would push you over. He wasn’t sure if he could stomach being that gust. “Please, love. I need to know.” You pleaded when you sensed his hesitancy. You knew he was trying to protect you, but you needed confirmation of the storm that could be coming.
“He was blonde…had blue eyes. Nothing…nothing special I guess.” Steve stammered out. He immediately regretted it when let out a ‘Fuck’ and began to pace again.
“What does…what does that mean?” Eddie hesitantly chimed in to ask, feeling completely lost in the sea of information.
“It means I know exactly who Vecna is.” You replied, wiping your tears forcefully with the heel of your palm. “And it means this is all my fault.” You shook your head at yourself in guilt.
“Honey, how is any of this your fault?” Steve shook his head at the notion.
“Because…because I ran.” You answer, your eyes meeting Eddie’s wide eyed stare. “I…I have to tell you guys about the night I escaped the lab.”
You sat beside Steve on the couch, your hand squeezing his. You savored the feeling, knowing that this could be that last time you would experience it. How could any of the eyes on you look at you or love you the same after you tell them what you did, or rather what you didn’t do.
“It was the first time I had one of my nightmares. I woke up to the lab’s emergency lights flashing and my door was cracked open. I was scared out of my mind but I kept walking anyway. That’s when I saw…that’s when I saw the bodies in the hallway. The dead doctors and the scientists and the guards. The walls and the floor were covered in their blood. It was like I was walking through a horror movie. I wanted to turn back, but I couldn't. It was like my feet were forcing me to keep going… I walked to the rainbow room and…” You squeezed Steve’s hand so tight you thought you were going to break it as you fought to breathe. He brought his hand to your back, rubbing it in comforting circles. It was a gesture you weren’t even sure you deser.v.ed. “When I walked inside they were…they were all dead. He killed all the kids. Their bodies were…they were all contorted and it looked like they were crying blood. They were my friends and they were all gone because of that monster. He was covered in their blood, smiling like the fucking cheshire cat. When he saw me I thought I was next, but instead he just asked “What are you doing out of your room, Nne?” Before I could think I ran. I slipped on Five’s…I slipped on Five’s blood. Besides El, he was…he was my closest friend there and I had to step over him just to get away. When I made it to my room, I cried my eyes out. That’s when I actually woke up. I didn’t understand what happened. I just knew that it was gonna happen, like it was inevitable if I didn’t stop him. So I planned. I planned to kill him before he could kill us. He was an orderly so I faked a headache to get him alone. That’s when I attacked him. I was choking him. I could feel him dying. I was so close, then I got tackled to the ground. I don’t know how the guards and the doctors found us but they did. I kicked and I screamed and I told them what he was gonna do, I begged for them to listen, but they just wouldn’t. I almost broke free again and finished what I started, then I got the needle and the last thing I remember before passing out was the way he stared down at me, like…like he won…” You shook your head as if you could shake away the face that’s haunted your nightmares for years. You inhaled sharply, trying to sniff back your tears before you continued. “When I woke up from my sedation, my door was cracked and the emergency lights were flashing. I didn’t want to believe it, but it was happening and I couldn’t stop it. When I stepped into the everything was exactly the fucking same and I knew…I knew I couldn’t face him again. I couldn’t see them like that again. I couldn’t stomach it, so I ran. I stole a keycard from one of the dead guards and once I made it out the door, I just kept running until I got to Steve’s house. I left them all there because I couldn’t bear seeing it again knowing that I wasn’t going to wake up and things would be ok… I thought he killed El too. If I stayed I could’ve saved her. She wouldn’t have been stuck in there for so long. I could’ve…I could’ve done something but I just ran. That means all this death and destruction is because of me. All of this shit is my fucking fault. The kids in the lab, Will, Barb, Bob, Billy, Jack, everyone killed by the fucking mindflayer. Chrissy, Fred, Patrick… Hopper and Max. All of this shit is my fucking fault, because I ran.” You began to weep uncontrollably. The trailer began to shake as you curled into yourself, your head resting against your thighs, your tears soaking through your pants. Your breath hitched and your heart almost stopped when Steve let go of your hand.You were expecting it, but that didn’t mean it hurt any less. You expected everyone to step away and stare at you with a hatred that burned so bright that could rival the sun. You expected for Lucas and Erica to see you as a monster that stole their sister’s form. You never felt so unlovable.
What you hadn’t expected was Steve pressing you into him. One hand firmly placed at the back of your neck, the other against your back, letting you sob into his denim clad shoulder. You didn’t expect Lucas and Erica to pull you from him so that they could squeeze you tight enough to prove that you were way stronger than the person they thought you were. You didn’t expect Max, Robin, Dustin, Eddie, and Nancy to wrap their arms around the others so that they'd be hugging you by proxy. You didn’t expect for them to show that no matter how much they never needed to see you as a perfect superhero or a mage to be worthy of their love and understanding. They just needed you to be their friend, their heart, their sister. They just needed you.
“What happened isn’t your fault, love. You tried to warn them. You did your best to save them, but they didn’t want to listen. You were thirteen and you did everything you could. We don’t blame you for running. How were you supposed to know that he would become this?” Steve spoke as the trailer stopped rattling. He cupped your cheeks so that you would look at him so that he could wipe the tears that fell from your pretty eyes. He wanted to make sure that you could see the love and determination in his as he looked at the strongest person he’d ever met.
“And if you never ran he would’ve killed you too. We would’ve never had you back. Mom and dad were a wreck and it was hell for me and Erica. Everything felt so wrong without you. Home felt so empty.” Lucas reassured you, squeezing you tighter.
“And I think that you’re so focused on who you didn’t save to realize how many people you did. You saved this piece of shit town more than they’ll ever know. You saved us.” Dustin chimed in, his head popping over Lucas’ shoulder so that he could see you.
“You saved me, love.” Steve asserted, pressing a long kiss to your forehead. “ We are going to save this town one last time and we’re gonna get the hell out of here, but we won’t be running. We’re gonna be living. We’re gonna do amazing things and make amazing memories and do all the stupid shit we used to do just better, yeah?” Steve promised, pressing his forehead against yours.
“Yeah.” You reply with a breaking voice, finally letting yourself crack a slight smile.
“There she is.” Steve began to chuckle at the sight.
“Thank you guys for not hating me. It means a lot.” You sniffle looking at the group surrounding you. Your own little family. “Now, what else did Vecna tell you so that we can kick this piece of shit’s ass.”
Steve continued to relay what Vecna showed him. All the horrors he was planning to bring to Hawkins.
Now that you all knew Vecna was like you and El, it gave you more of an upper hand than you realized. There was no need to fight fair with this asshole, so knowing you and El’s weaknesses went a long way.
“When El remote-travels, she goes into this sort of trance-like state. When Vecna attacks, he’s up in the attic. His physical body is defenseless.That’s when we attack him and give him everything we’ve got.” Dustin presents.
“Defenseless? What about the demonic bats?” Steve asked, showing off the deep red ring around his neck. “I know that y/n can handle it, but if we want this bastard gone forever then she needs all the energy she can.”
“Then we’ll have to find a way past them. We have to distract them somehow.”
“And, uh, how do we do that exactly?” Eddie asked the room of upside down veterans.
“No idea.” Dustin replies, instantly deflating the man. “But I know that once we do, he doesn't stand a chance. It’s like slaying a sleeping Dracula in his coffin.”
“That all sounds good in theory, but there’s no pattern to Vecna’s killings. At least not one that I could decipher. We don’t know when he’s going to attack next.”
“No, but he seems to be a numbers guy. He leads and he plans with numbers, right? The four chimes. Four gates, four kills. I mean he was shoving it in our faces the whole time…” Dustin paced as he wracked his brain for more clues. “The clocks! I can’t believe we didn’t notice it before. It was staring us right in our goddamn faces.”
“What are you talking about, Henderson?” Steve asked.
“You, y/n, and Max have seen the same clock with the same time and what time was it?”
“9:11.” Steve answered, the image still fresh in his mind.
“Exactly…” Dustin reached for your arm, pushing your sleeve back. “Nine…” He pointed at your wrist. “Eleven.” He continued, pointing into the abstract to represent El. “He’s been telling us the whole time. It all leads back to them. Steve said that Vecna told him you and El need to try harder to kill him, so what if this is him gloating? Rubbing it in our faces. It was right in front of us, we just weren’t looking.” Dustin hypothesized.
“But the kills weren’t at 9:11.” Nancy argued.
“Yeah, but what if this one is? Clearly this is personal so what if this one is intentional. The fourth kill that opens the fourth gate. The one that destroys Hawkins.” Dustin replied.
“Ok, so we have the time, now we need to know who.” Robin nodded along.
“We do know.” Max chimed in, earning everyone’s attention. “I can still feel him, like I’m still marked. Like I’m still cursed.” She explains. “Maybe if I ditch Kate Bush and I draw his attention back to me, then we can distract him enough for you guys to finish him off.”
“Max. He’ll kill you.” Lucas piped up, shaking his head at her idea. He knew she was brave and strong, but right now he’s sure if this is her bravery or the voice that’s been pulling her away from the party, rearing its evil head telling her to do something she can’t take back.
“I’ve sur.v.ived before.” Max was quick to respond. “I can sur.v.ive again.” She asserted. “I just need to keep him busy long enough so that you guys can get into the attic so that y/n can rip him in half or crush him or explode his brain or whatever you want just…just please don’t let me die.” She looked at you and Steve with pleading eyes.
“We got you, kid.” Steve nodded, sniffing back the fresh set of tears threatening to fall. “We wouldn’t dream of it.
All of you gathered around Max’s small kitchen table. You watched as he presented his best option for obtaining every possible upside down monster killing machines you could think of.
“Check this out. The War Zone.” He pointed out the advertisement for the store in the Yellow Pages.
“Black powder, ammunitions, firearms accessories, government surplus.” You read out the ad’s main selling points. “Jesus.”
“I know. I went there once and it's huge. They’ve got everything you need for uh, well, killing things, basically.” Eddie replied.
“You think fake Rambo has enough guns there? Is that a grenade? I mean how is any of this legal?” She asked, looking at the gun wielding man front and center in the advertisement.
“Wasn’t a grenade your idea?” You ask.
“Yeah, but that’s when I thought it was from the cops, not from the equivalent of a fast food chain where you can buy a burger and fries. I mean it seems like this place is packed with enough shit to siege an entire city.”
“Well, lucky for us it is and this place is just far enough of out Hawkins. As long as we steer clear of any main roads, we oughta be able to avoid the cops and angry hicks.” Eddie suggested.
“Uh, if we’re trying to avoid angry hicks, maybe we shouldn't go to a store called The War Zone.” Erica voiced her concern.
“Normally I would agree little sis, but these are extenuating circumstances. We need to come at this asshole with everything we’ve got, so I think it’s a risk worth taking.” You reason.
“Yeah, me too.” Lucas nodded along.
“Sure, but is it worth the time? It would take all day to bike there.” Dustin explained.
“Who said anything about bikes?” Eddie asked, furrowing his brow.
“You got a secret car we don’t know about?” Steve chimed in from beside you.
“It’s not exactly a car, Steve.” Eddie slightly grimaced. “And it’s not exactly mine, but, uh…it’ll do.” He grinned mischievously at your boyfriend. “Hey, Red, you got a bandana or a ski mask, something like that?” Eddie asked, turning his attention to Max. The girl pursed her lips together as she looked up in thought until her eyes went wide when she remembered the relic in the back of her closet.
You weren’t sure if a Michael Myers mask was any less attention grabbing than Eddie just walking out as himself. You did have to admit it gave you a much needed laugh when you saw the way he just threw it on. The costume hair was wild and the flap meant to tuck into your shirt was out in the open with his own long hair peaking out from under the rubber.
Eddie led the charge, the boy peaking his head from the back of Max’s trailer as he swept his eyes across the park.
When the coast seemed clear, he motioned you forward, all of you cautiously jogging behind him until you arrived at your ride, which unfortunately turned out to be an older couple’s r.v.. Normally you would’ve felt bad, but you had lives to save here.
Eddie was the first one to boost himself through the window he slid open. You didn’t even need to be inside to know that he landed less than gracefully.
You quickly followed after Steve, his quick reflexes pulling you out of the way of Robin’s flying feet.
The four of you rushed to the front of the r.v. while the others pulled themselves through.
“Where’d you learn to do this?” Steve asked, peeking over Eddie’s shoulder as he snipped through wires he ripped from the ignition.
“Well, when the other dads were teaching their kids to fish or play ball, my old man was teaching me how to hot-wire.” He explained as he twisted the wiring. “Now, I promised I would never end up like him, but you're gonna have to forgive me for this one, mom.” He finished as he continued his work.
“Uh, Eddie, I’m not sure that I love the idea of you driving.” Robin voiced her concern from behind Steve.
“Oh, I’m just starting this sucker.” He was quick to assure her. “Harrington’s got her. Don’t ya, Big Boy?” Eddie grinned mischievously up at him.
“Ah man, I can’t believe I never thought of that.” You lamented.
“I mean… you could still call me that.” Steve replied, glancing back at you.
“No, I can’t. It's tainted. It’s weird now.” You grimace, plopping down in the passenger seat.
“And thank god for that.” Robin replied in disgust.
“You guys ready?” Eddie asked, despite leaving no room for response as he connected two red wires together, the contact making sparks as the engine roared to life.
The back fire from the tail pipe immediately alerted the couple to your thieving.
“Hey! Open this door!” The woman yelled, banging on the door from the other side.
“Hey!” The older man’s gruff voice joined in as he harshly slapped the window.
“They locked the door!” The woman screamed back to her husband.
“Shit! Go!” Steve urged Eddie and Robin to the back as he jumped into the driver’s seat. “Everybody hang onto something!” Steve instructed the group. “It’s just a car. It’s just a car.” He mumbled to himself as he shifted it into drive.
“Drive, Steve! Drive!” Dustin’s screeching broke through the chaotic panic as you all scrambled to a secure place.
“They look pissed!” Max said as she watched the couple trying to jog after you, but it was no use. Steve was foot wad pressed all the way down on the gas, trying to get out of the trailer park as fast as he could.
“Well, it’s not everyday you lose your house and your car in one fell swoop.” Robin replied as she clung to the small couch she threw herself onto.
“Hold on! Hold on! Hold on!” Steve screamed his instructions as he hit a sharp turn to make it onto the road.
“That was kinda hot.” You look over at Steve , whose face broke out into an uncontrollable smile.
“Kinda?”
“Fine, it was really hot.”
“How’s it handle?” You ask, now that he seemed more settled in and in control of the vehicle.
“Well, considering the fact that this is a stolen house…” He shrugged.
“Better than Betsy? And be careful what you say because I will tell her.”
“Hell no. She’s definitely not better than Betsy…” He shook his head at the ridiculous statement. “But she’s not too bad.” He continued, looking around the small space. “You know how I’ve kind of always had a dream of a big family?”
“Yeah, but how big are we talking, ‘cause the only baby name I have on the board right now is Ruby.”
“Well, what if Ruby had maybe… five more siblings.” He mumbled the last part.
“Six kids?! You want us to have six kids?”
“Yeah, six little nuggets. And to be fair, we’ve had plenty of practice.” He smiled, pointing his thumb to the back.
“Listen, I love you so much that it would be easier to make a list of things I wouldn’t do for you and I’m sorry but having six kids is on that list.”
“What? Three boys and three girls. It could be great. And as far as the name thing goes we technically have three.”
“Three?” You raised your eyebrows at him.
“Yeah. Ruby, Steve Junior, and Y/n Junior. We just have to vamp the rest of them.”
“I don’t want to ‘vamp’ our kids’ names, Steve.”
“Well then what do you suggest?”
“I suggest that we only have two kids and we give them really good, well thought out names.”
“Only two? How about four?”
“Are you giving birth to two of them?”
“Three?”
“Deal.” You finally compromise. Steve quickly took a hand off the wheel so that you could shake on it like it was a gentlemen’s agreement.
“But think about it. In the summer, all of us could pile into one of these and just see the country, you know? The Grand Canyon or the Rockies. Maybe we could go to a beach town in California and like, learn to surf or something. We could even go to the cities. Take them to museums and all the tourist spots.”
“Yeah, and I can get inspiration from all the places we go. A collection inspired by Redwood and Yellowstone. Maybe Chicago or Boston or Detroit. I can picture it now.” You smile at him.
“See! It would be perfect.” You could tell that he was filled to the brim with excitement as you dreamed of your life together. “Like I said, we’re gonna do amazing things and make amazing memories.” He reached over to hold your hand. “And maybe they could stay a week or two with their aunts and uncles so that I can have you all to myself.” He teasingly wiggled his eyebrows at you until you laughed.
“You’ve got it all planned out, huh?”
“Yeah…and I know that things don’t always go to plan, but I think as long as it’s you and me, everything will work out.”
“Oh my god, Harrington. I thought I was done crying today.” You said as you felt your eyes begin to well.
“I’m sorry, honey…but just to confirm though, these are happy tears right?” He asked as you wiped your eyes.
“Yes, you jerk.” You lean over to lightly punch him in the shoulder.
“Hey, don’t punch the driver.” He teasingly chastised.
“Sorry, I thought I saw a Buggy.”
The War Zone was packed when you arrived. It seemed like everyone and their mother flocked to the store. All of them acting like they were shopping for torches and pitchforks to run Frankenstein’s monster out of town. Only instead of the misunderstood giant, they were gearing up to murder a misunderstood Eddie.
It was decided that Lucas and Dustin would stay behind in the r.v. to keep Eddie company and be your eyes and ears to the happenings outside the store.
The rest of you funneled into the store, the place stocked with an abundance of choice in weaponry. You easily agreed with Rob when she said none of this seemed legal.
“Jesus.” You sighed. “So much for avoiding angry hicks.”
“Let’s be fast.” Nancy voiced a sentiment that all of you had no problem agreeing with, as you broke into your own small groups.
“First order of business, let’s get you some shoes and unfortunately a shirt.” You said, placing your hands on Steve’s shoulders, pushing him along from behind.
“What do you think?” Steve asked, modeling the camo shirt and heavy fighter pilot jacket he found.
“I don’t know, give me a spin.” You demanded. You began to laugh when he turned then posed for you like you were a painter and he was your muse.
“How ‘bout now?” He asked, with a slight smirk.
“Yeah, it definitely works and the boots tie it all together.” You nod smirking back at him.
“Well, now that I can feel you undressing me with your eyes, let’s find Rob.”
When you found her, she was by the lighter fluid, scanning the shelves for the best options.
“How many of these do you think we need?” She asks when she hears the two of you approaching.
“I don’t know, probably five or six.” Steve surmised, beginning to load the cans into the cart.
“Hey, do you think you’d be good with a pick axe?” You ask her when you spot the nearby display.
“Rob?” You call out when you don’t get a reply. You were about to call again until you recognized the lovesick grin on her face as she watched Vickie spun a display.
“What are you gonna do? Just stand there and gawk?” Steve asked her as the three of you stared at the girl like a documentary crew watching an animal in its natural habitat.
“Shut up.” She mutters, never taking her eyes off the red head. Right as she was about to step forward and take the leap of faith, a blonde boy ran up behind the girl, wrapping his arms around her.
“Jesus! You scared me.” She chastised as she turned to face him.
“Woah, you gonna mace me with that?” The boy teasingly responds. Both you and Steve’s faces fall at the interaction. You look at each other before focusing back on Robin. Her breathing became heavy and her stomach turned when they began to kiss, the pair so wrapped up in each other, they didn’t realize the heart that they were breaking.
When Vickie finally felt the eyes on her, she quickly pulled away from her boyfriend. Her eyes shifting to the three of you. They widened like deer in headlights at the attention. They quickly softened in guilt and apology, but it was too late. Robin was already pushing through you and Steve to run away.
“Rob!” You called after her.
“Robin!” Steve followed as the two of you chased after her into a secluded corner of the store.
“Oh, Rob.” Your heart broke when you saw her bent over with her hands on her knees. The tears falling from her eyes created clean streaks as they cut through the grime of the upside down on her face. You didn’t hesitate to pull her into you, your hand rubbing up and down her back. She weakly wrapped her arms around you as she cried into your shoulder.
“I know we were joking, but I thought…I genuinely thought.” Steve stuttered out with saddened eyes. He couldn’t help but feel guilty for building up so much hope in her.
“Met too.” Robin replied, her voice muffled by your shoulder.
“I’m so sorry, Rob.” You let out, your guilty eyes meeting Steve’s.
“Fuck…” She finally pulled away from you. “I don’t know why I’m crying, we have bigger shit to worry about.” She sharply inhaled, bringing the heels of her palms to her eyes to wipe the tears away. She tried to pretend like she was ok, but she was far from it.
“Don’t be sorry, Rob. I can stay with you while Steve finishes up for us. I got you.” You promised her.
“Yeah, yeah I got it.” Steve nodded along, taking off before she had time to argue.
“I thought…I really, really thought.” She shook her head at herself before dropping it back down on your shoulder, letting you rock her back and forth as she resumed crying.
“I know…I know.”
After leaving The War zone, Steve drove out to the field that was home to Dustin’s Cerebro.
You sat with Erica and Lucas in the lawn chairs you pulled from the r.v. as you constructed makeshift spears.
“Were you ever gonna tell us?” Erica asked you. She didn’t sound accusatory when she spoke, she just seemed almost hurt that you felt the need to hide something so monumental from them.
“No.” You swiftly reply, shaking your head. “I mean it’s some traumatizing shit and I didn’t want to burden you with all of that. I’m your older sister so I have to deal with my baggage. I’m supposed to be the strong one, you know?” You answer, looking between your siblings.
“Yeah, but this is kind of different. We didn’t know you were dealing with all this insane shit by yourself. We would’ve been more understanding or less annoying.” Lucas replied.
“I would’ve hated that. Special treatment from you guys would’ve just made things worse. I mean I was getting coddled enough by mom and dad. I mean I get it, but I felt like I was suffocating sometimes. I didn’t need any of that from you two. Your job is to be my annoying little brother and my annoying little sister. When I was in the lab that was the kind of shit I held onto. I would lay in my uncomfortable ass bed and think, ‘god I wish Lucas was here to tell me every last boring detail about his latest campaign or I wish Erica was here, shoving her toys in my face.’ ”
“But we could’ve helped you. If we knew about all of this then we could’ve been there for you. You wouldn’t have had to do this alone.” Lucas replied, reaching a hand out to rest on your shoulder.
“I just…I didn’t want you guys to think less of me. I couldn't take care of you because I was the one that needed help or even worse, be scared of me. If I lost you guys, I don’t know what I would do.” You confess.
“Level a city, maybe?” Erica jested.
“Yeah, maybe.” You lightly chuckle.
“We wouldn’t have thought less of you by the way and we definitely don’t now. If anything, you’re twice the sister we thought you were.” Erica assured you, leaning over to rest her head against your arm.
“Yeah?”
“A hundred percent.” Lucas easily agreed.
“And, we're gonna miss you by the way.” Erica continued.
“What do you mean?” You ask with furrowed brows.
“New York. We know you got into FIT.” Lucas explained.
“How?!” Your eyes went wide in disbelief.
“I might’ve snooped a bit and read your acceptance letter then sealed it back so you didn’t notice.” Erica confessed
“Oh my god.” You scoff, absolutely floored by the information. “Wait, you guys let me freak out for almost two days when you already knew?”
“It was Erica’s idea.” Lucas threw her under the bus.
“Judas.” Erica seethed, pointing at Lucas with narrowed eyes.
“Why?” You question.
“Because, we wanted to plan a little ‘sorry your stupid’ party if you got rejected.” Your sister answered.
“Erica.” Lucas chided her. “ She means we were gonna make you a cake and ask dad to buy balloons so that you would feel better.” Lucas clarified.
“You were gonna do all that for me?” Your eyes began to brim with tears at the gesture.
“Yeah. We figured it’s the least we could do considering all the shit you do for us.” Lucas explained.
“We wanted you to feel special, even if your dumbass couldn’t get in.” Erica chimed in, cracking a smile.
“Thanks, I guess.” You lightly chuckle with a slightly scrunched face. “I’m gonna miss this, by the way.” You look between them, reaching out to sling an arm around their shoulders. “I know I’ll only be a phone call away, but it won’t be the same.” You sniffled.
“Us too, but you deserve to get out of here. You and your sailor man.” Erica assured you.
“But just so you know, you’re still on the hook for free ice cream for life.”
“Obviously.” You smirk, pulling them into a hug made awkward by the chairs you were rooted in. “I love you idiots.”
“We love you too.” They replied, the frogginess in their voice easy to hear.
“Hey, uh, how are those spears going?!” You heard Eddie hesitantly ask from down the hill, splitting the three of you apart. In lieu of a verbal response, Lucas held his thumb up to him in positive affirmation.
“Flip that damn thumb around.” Erica furrowed her brows at Lucas causing his face to quickly drop.
“What?” He asked, looking between the two of you.
“Uh…it’s too loose.” You reply, quickly glancing down at his “spear”. When he still seemed confused, Erica ripped the materials from his hands.
“This isn’t some basketball where they blow the whistle when your shoes fall off.” Erica jested as she corrected his mistake.
“Ok, for the record, my shoes never fell off.” Lucas defended himself.
“For the record, it’s kind of hard for your shoes to fall off when you never get off the bench.” Erica shot back.
“And yet, you show up to every game.” Lucas retorted.
“I only go because she bribes me.” She paused her task to point at you.
“Really? I’m bribing you when you beg for a ride with me and Steve every game.”
“I’m surrounded by Judas’.” Erica threw her hands up in disbelief. “But I guess if I’m being honest, you’re still my brother. Just the facts.” She shrugged, picking Lucas’ spear back up.
“Yeah, you guys will do great without me and if you guys don’t mind I have a boyfriend and a best friend to bother.” You said, tying the last tight knot you needed to secure the hunting knife to the edge of the large stick you spent almost twenty minutes scavenging for.
The sun was setting when you finally finished preparing for the battle ahead. You piled into the r.v., those of you who would be fighting in the upside down were now clad in every piece of camo and protective gear you could afford. The jokes and plans for the future that filled the air when you first began the journey, were now silent as a new kind of fear settled over all of you. Hawkins as you knew it was hanging in the balance. It was no longer a battle against faceless monsters who ran rampant. It was against a man who had abilities someone as cruel as him should’ve never gifted.
Now as you pulled up to the Creel house to drop off Max, Lucas, and Erica, a chill ran down every spine in the vehicle.
“Are you sure about this, Max?” You ask one last time, knowing there was no turning back as soon as they entered that house.
“Yeah.” She nods. “I just want this asshole dead and if you fail, which I really hope you don’t, but if you do, just know that I’ll haunt you for the rest of your life.” She threatened with a joking lilt to her tone, but the utter fear consuming her body was easy to see.
“I’m not gonna let that happen. I promise I will save you in any way that I can.” You squeeze her tightly.
“I really hope you keep it.” She mumbles into your shoulder. You knew she had an awful history with promises made to her that were never kept, but you just hoped that today would break that cycle. You hoped that you could rid the two curses that hung over her head.
When you released Max, you pulled Lucas and Erica into you. You hold them tight hoping that this wouldn’t be the last time. You knew the sentiment was shared when they squeezed you back with the same veracity.
“Look after each other.” You demanded.
“We will.” You felt them nod into your shoulder.
“I love you guys and no matter what happens never forget that.”
“We love you too. Just please come back.” Lucas pleaded.
“I will.” You tried to assure them despite the fact that you weren’t sure of yourself. With so much on the line, you knew there was that trading your life for theirs was possibly a decision you would have to make.
“Say it like you mean it.” Erica pleaded with tearful eyes.
“I’m coming back.” You asserted. “I’m coming back.” You repeat, pulling away to look between the two of them. “And I will see you on the other side.”
“See you on the other side.” They agree pulling you back in for another tight squeeze before stepping out of the r.v. Both you and Steve watched as they marched up to the dilapidated house. Lucas gave you one last wave ‘goodbye’ before crossing the threshold.
“You ready, honey?” Steve asked, now that the plan was now in action.
warning: modern au. no upside down, just romance. steve harrington read jane austen. flyers were harmed in the making of this fic.
summary: a comic shop and a bookstore open across the street from each other, which would’ve been fine if steve hadn’t decided it was war. between stolen flyers, accidental late-night bonding, and one very unfortunate copy of Pride and Prejudice, steve slowly realizes the annoying bookstore employee across the street might actually be ruining his life. romantically.
After getting fired from Family Video, Steve and Robin had expected rock bottom. What they didn’t expect was somehow landing on something…cooler.
The comic store wasn’t big, but it had personality—walls lined with bright, chaotic covers, stacks of plastic-sleeved issues catching the afternoon light, and the faint smell of paper and dust that somehow made everything feel important. It was the kind of place where people argued passionately about fictional universes like their lives depended on it.
And, apparently, it was the kind of place Steve Harrington thrived in.
“Okay, but you’re wrong,” Robin was saying for what felt like the hundredth time that day, perched on a stool behind the counter with a comic open in her hands.
“You cannot just skip Volume Two. That’s where the entire emotional arc like, everything happens.”
“I’m not skipping it,” Steve argued, leaning against the counter, arms crossed. “I’m just saying, hypothetically, if someone did skip it, they’d still get the gist.”
“They would not get the gist, Steve. The gist would be lost. The gist would be gone forever.”
A customer nearby snorted, quickly pretending to browse when Robin shot them a look. Despite the ongoing argument, the store was busy. Really busy. Busier than it had any right to be.
Turns out, Steve’s easy smile and ability to talk to literally anyone paired dangerously well with Robin’s intense, borderline aggressive knowledge of comics. People came in “just to look” and left with three issues and a mild identity crisis.
It was working.
It had been working.
Until—“Well, well, well. If it isn’t my favorite capitalist icons.”
The bell above the door gave a lazy jingle as Eddie strolled in, hands shoved into his jacket pockets, already grinning like he knew he was about to be a problem.
Steve didn’t even look up at first. “You say that like we’re not barely making minimum wage.”
Robin snapped her comic shut. “Also, bold of you to assume you’re our favorite anything.”
Eddie placed a hand over his chest, wounded. “Wow. I come in here out of love and concern—”
“You never buy anything,” Steve cut in, finally glancing at him. “What do you want?”
“Okay, first of all, I’m offended. Second of all,” Eddie said, leaning casually against a shelf, “I’m not here to buy. I’m here to check on my struggling friends.”
Robin blinked at him. “We are literally doing fine.”
“Thriving, even,” Steve added, gesturing vaguely at the store.
Eddie hummed, rocking back on his heels. “Hmm. Are you, though?”
That got their attention.
Steve narrowed his eyes slightly. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Eddie tilted his head toward the window, where sunlight spilled across the street—right toward the bookstore that had reopened just days ago, all polished wood and soft lighting and annoyingly aesthetic window displays.
“You haven’t heard?” Eddie said, voice dropping like he was about to deliver the plot twist of the century. “Rumor has it, the new bookseller and cashier across the street are…” he paused dramatically, “smoking hot.”
There was a beat. Then Robin slowly turned her head toward Steve.
Steve, already looking at her, raised an eyebrow. “I thought you liked pictures more than words.”
Eddie scoffed, pushing off the shelf. “Oh, I do. But I’m willing to expand my horizons.”
He started backing toward the door, pointing finger guns at absolutely no one. “Think of it as… character development.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Robin muttered, waving him off. “Go fall in love with a hardcover or whatever.”
Eddie grinned, already halfway out. “Don’t wait up. I might be in Middle-earth by tonight.”
The bell jingled again as he disappeared. Silence settled for approximately two seconds.
Then—“I’m kind of curious,” Robin admitted, not looking up from the counter as she flipped her comic open again.
Steve let out a quiet scoff, but his gaze had already drifted toward the window. Toward the bookstore.
“I mean,” Robin continued, “not in a weird way. Just… from a business standpoint.”
“Right,” Steve said. “Business.” Another beat. “They’re stealing our customers,” he added, more to himself this time.
Robin glanced at him. “We don’t know that for sure.”
Steve gestured toward the door. “Eddie literally just left to go cheat on us with literature.”
“That’s not what—”
“You know what I’m thinking?” Steve cut in, straightening slightly.
Robin didn’t even hesitate. “Steve, don’t.”
“I’m just saying,” he continued, already pushing himself off the counter, “a quick look wouldn’t hurt.”
“A quick look always hurts,” Robin said flatly.
Steve shot her a grin, the kind that meant he’d already made up his mind five seconds ago. “I’m going to spy a little.”
Robin groaned, dragging a hand down her face. “Oh my god. You’re going to get banned from a bookstore. Do you know how embarrassing that is?”
Steve was already heading for the door, grabbing his jacket like this was some kind of high-stakes mission.
“Relax,” he called over his shoulder. “I’ve got charm.”
“That’s not how spying works!”
The bell jingled as he stepped out into the afternoon sun, eyes already set on the shop across the street.
Robin watched him go, shaking her head. “…we’re so losing this war.”
✎﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏
Across the street, the bookstore smelled like fresh paper, coffee drifting from the tiny machine near the counter, and wood polish from the newly renovated shelves that still looked too pristine to touch.
Stacks of newly delivered books sat near the entrance in uneven towers, waiting to be sorted. Some still had opened boxes beside them, packing paper spilling onto the floor like abandoned clouds.
You crouched beside one of the stacks, flipping through titles and organizing them into piles. Fantasy to the left. Romance to the right. Literary fiction in the middle because apparently people liked being emotionally devastated on purpose.
A strand of hair kept falling into your face every time you reached for another book. You were balancing three hardcovers against your chest when the bell above the door jingled.
“Let me get that for you.”
Before you could protest, the weight disappeared from your arms.
You looked up to find Eddie Munson standing there in a denim jacket and a grin that usually meant trouble. He held the stack of books effortlessly, though one of them was dangerously close to slipping from the top.
You narrowed your eyes immediately. “What are you doing here, Munson?”
“Wow,” Eddie said, wounded already. “No hello? No ‘Eddie, your hair looks especially luxurious today’?”
You plucked the top book from the pile before he dropped it. “I’m serious.”
He followed after you as you moved toward the shelves, dramatically sighing the entire way. “Can a guy not peacefully browse literature?”
You stopped mid-step and slowly looked at him. Eddie cracked almost instantly.
“Okay, fine,” he admitted, lowering his voice as if confessing state secrets. “I’m here for Chrissy Cunningham.”
Your gaze flicked toward the register where Chrissy sat flipping through a magazine between customers, sunlight pouring across the counter and catching in her blonde hair.
Then you looked back at Eddie. “You’re pathetic.”
“I’m romantic,” he corrected.
“You’re standing in a bookstore pretending to read.”
“I contain multitudes.”
A laugh escaped you before you could stop it.
Eddie pointed triumphantly. “There it is! That’s the supportive energy I came for.”
You rolled your eyes and continued shelving books. “So what’s the problem?”
“The problem,” Eddie said dramatically, “is that I need an excuse to talk to her.”
“You could try saying hello like a normal person.”
“Absolutely not. That’s terrifying.”
You snorted softly.
Eddie leaned against the shelf beside you, lowering his voice again. “You said she likes fantasy stuff, right? Magical rings and swords and tiny guys with emotional baggage?”
“The Hobbit,” you corrected automatically.
“Right, that one. But last time I came in, it was out of stock.”
You hummed thoughtfully, fingers trailing across the spines in front of you until you found what you were looking for.
“Here,” you said, pulling out a copy and handing it to him. “And ask her if she’s more of a Baggins or Tookish type of person.”
Eddie stared at you. Then in the book. Then back at you.
“Oh, you are dangerous,” he whispered.
“It works,” you replied with a shrug.
A slow grin spread across his face.
“Oh, I could kiss you.”
“Please don’t.”
“Fair.”
Clutching the book to his chest like it contained the secrets of the universe, Eddie took one nervous breath before marching toward the register with all the confidence of a soldier heading into battle.
You watched him go, barely hiding your amusement as he nearly tripped over a display table on the way there.
From the counter, Chrissy looked up and smiled brightly the second she saw him. And just like that, Eddie forgot how to function.
You shook your head, laughing quietly to yourself as you reached for another stack of books completely unaware that, across the street, Steve Harrington had just stepped into the sunlight with every intention of spying on the competition.
Steve waited exactly thirty seconds after Eddie left before crossing the street. Not because he was nervous.
Just because—well. Okay, maybe a little because he was nervous.
He ran a hand through his hair for what had to be the fifth time that afternoon before pushing open the bookstore door.
A small bell chimed overhead.
Warmth greeted him instantly.
The place smelled like coffee and paper and something faintly sweet he couldn’t place. Soft music drifted through the store while sunlight spilled across wooden shelves lined with neatly stacked books. A couple sat quietly near the window reading together, and someone in the back laughed softly at something the cashier said.
It was annoyingly cozy.
Steve hated that immediately. Trying to look casual, he wandered toward the nearest shelf, pretending to browse while secretly scanning the store.
No sign of the “smoking hot bookseller.”
He picked up the first thick book he saw, flipping it open like someone who absolutely knew how books worked.
“You’re holding that upside down.”
Steve nearly dropped the thing. He looked up so fast he almost gave himself whiplash.
You stood on the other side of the shelf, arms crossed loosely against your chest, amusement dancing in your eyes. There was something sharp about your smile—not mean exactly, but definitely entertained by his suffering.
“Oh,” Steve said intelligently.
You raised an eyebrow. “Looking for something specific?”
“Uh,” he glanced at the upside-down book still in his hands before quickly fixing it, “nope.”
“Interesting.”
You stepped closer, tilting your head slightly. “Most people start with books they can actually read.”
Steve narrowed his eyes a little. And okay Eddie had severely undersold this situation. Because you were pretty. Annoyingly pretty. But worse than that, you looked at him like you already knew he was full of shit.
Which, frankly, felt unfair.
“I know who you are,” you said suddenly.
Steve blinked.
“You work at the comic store across the street.”
There it was, the rivalry.
Steve straightened slightly. “Yeah, so?”
Your eyes narrowed playfully. “Are you spying on us?”
“Spying?” Steve scoffed. “You’re the ones stealing our customers.”
You let out a small laugh. “Stealing?” You gestured around the bookstore. “Maybe people just prefer learning something useful.”
Steve gasped dramatically. “Okay, wow. That was rude.”
“You sell comics.”
“Comics are literature.”
“Mhm.”
“They are!”
You bit back a smile, which somehow offended him more.
Steve pointed vaguely at the shelves around you. “At least comics are interesting. Your books are just—” he grabbed a random hardcover dramatically. “words carved into dead trees.”
You stared at him for a moment. Then slowly nodded. “That’s actually the most comic-store-boy thing you could’ve said.”
Comic-store-boy.
For some reason, that got under his skin immediately. Steve glanced down at his watch. Robin was absolutely going to kill him if he stayed too long.
“Okay,” he muttered, stepping backward toward the door. “This has been… weirdly hostile. I’m leaving.”
You moved before he could reach the exit. Steve stopped short. You stood in front of the door with your arms stretched across it dramatically like some kind of bookstore security guard.
“Nope.”
Steve blinked. “What do you mean, nope?”
“You got caught spying,” you said simply. “That means you have to buy a book before you leave.”
His jaw dropped. “You cannot force people to buy books.”
“You’re not people,” you replied. “You’re competition.”
“That’s insane.”
“Thank you.”
Steve stared at you.
You stared right back.
A customer passing by glanced between the two of you with open interest before quietly disappearing into another aisle.
Steve looked at his watch again and groaned. Robin was going to give him the most unbearable ‘I told you so’ of all time.
“Fine,” he muttered finally.
Your smile came way too quickly, like you’d already known you were going to win. You walked over to a nearby display table, scanning the books for a second before pulling one out.
Steve squinted at the cover. “Jane Austen?”
“You seem like you need emotional development.”
“That feels personal.”
“It is.”
Steve took the book with deep reluctance and marched toward the register where Chrissy greeted him with a cheerful smile that made him momentarily forget his humiliation.
After paying, he returned to the door and held up the receipt between two fingers.
“There,” he said. “Happy?”
You examined the receipt dramatically before stepping aside. Then you opened the door with the sweetest smile he’d seen all day.
“Thank you for your purchase, sir. Please come again.” The sarcasm practically sparkled.
Steve pointed at you as he walked backward out the door. “You’re enjoying this way too much.”
“Oh, absolutely.”
The bell chimed behind him as the door shut.
Steve stood on the sidewalk for a second, staring at the bookstore through the window. Then he looked down at the Jane Austen novel in his hands.
“what the hell is this?”
By the time Steve got back to the comic store, Robin was already watching him suspiciously from behind the counter.
“You were gone for twenty minutes,” she said immediately.
“I was gathering intel.”
Robin’s eyes dropped to the book in his hand. Then narrowed. “Why are you holding Jane Austen?”
“It’s evidence,” Steve defended.
Robin grabbed the book from his hands. “You bought a bookmark too.”
Steve froze. Slowly, he looked down. A floral bookmark stuck out from the top of the novel. “that’s not mine.”
Robin stared at him for one long second before breaking into the most evil grin imaginable. “Oh,” she said. “You’re so screwed.”
✎﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏
The rivalry had officially escalated into something deeply stupid that lasted for over two weeks.
The Poetry Tuesday flyers outside the bookstore kept mysteriously disappearing, while the life-sized Marvel standee outside the comic store somehow ended up with its neck snapped backward in what looked like a very personal attack.
No one had proof but both of you knew.
The worst part? You’d actually caught each other in the act once.
Steve had just finished taping a bright red Comic Trivia Night flyer onto the lamp post between both stores when another flyer suddenly slapped directly over it.
He blinked.
Slowly turning around, he found you smoothing the corners of a cream-colored Poetry Tuesday flyer like you hadn’t just committed a crime.
“You cannot be serious.”
You glanced at him calmly. “Oh, hi.”
“You covered my flyer!”
“Well,” you said with a shrug, “Poetry Tuesday has better aesthetic appeal.”
Steve scoffed. “That thing looks like a wedding invitation.”
“And yours looks like a fast-food menu.”
Steve narrowed his eyes. “You’re unbelievable.”
“And yet,” you replied sweetly, “our store keeps getting more customers.”
He was about to argue back when his eyes landed on the stack tucked under your arm. Comic Trivia Night flyers. His Comic Trivia Night flyers.
Steve pointed accusingly. “Oh my god.”
Your eyes widened slightly. “No.”
“You stole our flyers?!”
“They were taking up space.”
“You took like six!”
“In my defense,” you said, stepping backward, “your face was on them.”
“That’s because I’m hosting it!”
“Exactly.”
Steve immediately tried to grab the stolen flyers back, but you only laughed and ran off down the sidewalk, clutching them dramatically against your chest while he chased after you.
The two of you bickered loudly the entire time, accusing each other of crimes and sabotage while confused pedestrians watched you nearly crash into a mailbox.
Eventually, Steve managed to catch up, both of you tugging the flyers back and forth in the middle of the street like children fighting over a toy.
You burst out laughing, and for one terrible second, Steve forgot he was supposed to be annoyed because you looked bright and happy and…
“Oh my god,” you said suddenly, grin turning smug. “You’re losing focus.”
“I am not.”
“You totally are.”
Though Steve finally succeeded in snatching the flyers back triumphantly, his victory lasted less than five seconds before you calmly pulled one of your Poetry Tuesday flyers from his jacket pocket, exposing him just as badly.
Steve could only groan while you smugly pointed out that maybe both of you had been stealing from each other after all.
✎﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏
Robin crouched near one of the lower shelves, reorganizing comic issues for what looked like the third time next morning while Steve stood near the front counter watching through the store window suspiciously.
Across the street, you were fixing a crooked stack of hardcovers.
Steve narrowed his eyes. You narrowed yours right back.
“This is pathetic,” Robin said flatly without even looking up.
Steve scoffed. “Oh no. This is a battleground.”
Robin finally glanced at him. “You know normal people flirt, right?”
Steve tore his gaze away from the window. “Who’s flirting?”
“You,” Robin answered immediately.
“With who?”
Robin stared at him for a long moment. Then pointed dramatically across the street. “With the bookstore gremlin.”
Steve looked offended. “That bookworm girl?”
“Yes.”
“No way.”
Robin snorted. “Yeah, and I totally believe you.”
Steve ignored her, though his eyes drifted back toward the bookstore almost instantly.
Across the street, you were in the middle of reorganizing the romance section when Chrissy leaned against one of the shelves nearby, watching you with a suspicious smile.
“You know,” she started casually, “the guy who bought Pride and Prejudice was kind of hot.”
You slid another paperback into place. “Absolutely not.”
Chrissy gasped softly. “Oh, so you admit you remember him.”
“That proves nothing.”
“mmm.”
You sighed dramatically, crouching down to fix a crooked row of romcom novels. “He’s annoying,” you continued. “And dramatic. And weirdly defensive about comic books.”
Chrissy’s grin widened. “Sounds like your type.”
You looked up immediately. “Ew.”
“Okay, but,” she pressed, “you literally forced him to buy your favorite book.”
“That was strategy.”
“That was flirting.”
“That was business.”
Chrissy crossed her arms. “You recommended him Jane Austen.”
“Because he needed emotional development.”
Chrissy burst out laughing loud enough that a customer glanced over curiously. You pointed accusingly at her. “And for the record, he is not even remotely close to Mr. Darcy.”
“The fact that you compared him at all is very interesting.”
You opened your mouth, closed it again. Then grabbed another stack of books aggressively.
Chrissy looked entirely too pleased with herself. “Oh my god,” she whispered dramatically. “You like him.”
“I don’t.”
“You know his hair moves when he gets annoyed?”
Your silence betrayed you instantly. Chrissy practically screamed. “I KNEW IT”
“Keep your voice down!” A couple browsing nearby turned to look at you.
You forced an awkward smile before lowering your voice. “Whatever I do,” you muttered, straightening another stack, “is strictly for business purposes.”
“Your honor,” Chrissy said solemnly, “she’s gone.”
You threw a bookmark at her face. Chrissy caught it easily, still grinning. Then her expression suddenly softened into something suspiciously sweet.
“Sooo…” she started carefully.
You narrowed your eyes immediately. “No.”
“You don’t even know what I’m asking.”
“Yes, I do.”
Chrissy clasped her hands together dramatically. “Can you close tonight for me?”
You groaned instantly.“Chrissy.”
“Please?”
She hit you with the full puppy-eye routine, and honestly, it was insulting how effective it was. “You have a date with Eddie, don’t you?”
Chrissy tried to hide her smile and failed miserably. “…maaaaaybe.”
You stared at her for a long moment before sighing in defeat. “Okay, fine. But you owe me.”
Chrissy squealed happily before rushing over to hug you. “You’re my favorite person ever.”
“I know,” you muttered, though you were smiling despite yourself.
Chrissy grabbed her bag from behind the counter before pausing dramatically near the door. “Oh, and if comic-store-boy comes in while you’re closing—”
You pointed a warning finger at her immediately. “Get out.”
Still laughing, Chrissy blew you a kiss before disappearing out the door, leaving you alone in the warm quiet of the bookstore.
Outside, evening sunlight stretched across the street, and directly across from the bookstore window, Steve Harrington was already looking over.
It was nearly nine at night when the power finally went out. One second, the bookstore glowed warm and golden around you, soft music humming through the speakers.
The next, darkness. The entire street outside went black along with it. You stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment before letting out a long sigh.
“Great,” you muttered into the dark. “Couldn’t wait another ten minutes, huh?”
The bookstore suddenly felt different without the lights.
Quieter.
Bigger somehow.
The moonlight spilling through the windows barely reached the shelves, leaving long shadows stretching across the floor between aisles.
You carefully stepped around a stack of books near the counter, trying to remember where you’d left your bag. Then the bell above the door chimed.
You froze instantly. “Hello?”
No answer.
Your grip tightened around the nearest object you could find. Unfortunately, it was an encyclopedia.
“I swear to god,” you warned, slowly moving through the darkened aisle, “if you don’t speak right now, I’m throwing this at your head.”
A laugh sounded somewhere nearby. Before you could react, you walked directly into something solid or someone solid. You startled hard enough that the encyclopedia nearly slipped from your hands.
“Relax,” Steve’s voice said quickly. “It’s me.”
A flashlight flickered on beneath his face from the phone in his hand, illuminating his features dramatically enough to make him look like he was telling ghost stories around a campfire.
You pressed a hand to your chest. “Jesus Christ, Steve.”
“Sorry,” he said, though he looked way too amused to mean it.
You narrowed your eyes at him. “Are you seriously here to spy during a power outage? That’s a new level of pathetic.”
Steve shoved one hand into his jacket pocket. “No, actually.”
The teasing faded slightly from his expression. “I saw you were still here alone.”
Something in your chest softened a little at that. “Oh.”
Steve rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “So I just came to check.”
For a second, neither of you said anything. Thankfully, the darkness hid the small smile threatening to appear on your face.
“…thanks,” you said quietly instead.
His grin returned almost immediately, lighter this time. “See? I’m a decent person.”
You laughed softly. “Debatable.”
Steve gasped dramatically. “Wow.”
You set the encyclopedia back onto a nearby shelf before sighing again. “I can’t even close up yet. The register’s down until the power comes back.”
“That sucks.”
“Mm.”
Steve glanced around the dim bookstore before lowering himself to the floor between two shelves like he belonged there.
“Well,” he said casually, stretching his legs out in front of him, “Robin and I already closed half an hour ago.”
You raised an eyebrow. “Your point?”
“My point,” Steve replied, looking up at you, “is that I can wait with you.”
Your stomach did a weird little thing at that which was annoying. Trying to ignore it, you leaned against the shelf beside him—only to pause when something caught your eye.
The familiar floral bookmark sticking out from the pages of the book resting beside him.
You blinked.
Then slowly picked it up. “Oh my god.”
Steve looked up immediately. “What?”
“You’re actually reading Pride and Prejudice.”
His ears turned pink almost instantly. “YOU FORCED ME TO BUY IT.”
“You’re over halfway through.”
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
You flipped through a few pages before glancing at him again, unable to hide your amusement. “you folded the corners.”
“I ran out of bookmarks!”
“You literally bought one.”
Steve groaned, covering his face briefly with one hand. “Can you stop judging me for five minutes?”
“No.”
But you were smiling and Steve noticed.
His expression softened for half a second before he looked away too quickly. “It’s good, okay?” he admitted quietly. “The book.”
Something warm settled in your chest because it’s your goddamn favorite book. You crouched beside your bag near the counter, digging around for a moment before pulling something out.
“Wait here.”
Steve snorted. “Where exactly am I gonna go?”
Ignoring him, you returned holding a comic issue carefully wrapped in plastic.
Steve’s eyebrows lifted immediately. “Is that Moon Knight?”
“Eddie bought it for me,” you admitted. “He owed me a favor.”
Steve looked genuinely shocked. “You read comics?”
You sat down beside him on the floor, your shoulder brushing lightly against his. “I contain multitudes,” you said smugly.
Steve stared at you for a second. Then laughed softly under his breath.
And somehow, in the darkened bookstore lit only by the flashlight balanced between them, the rivalry suddenly felt smaller than it had before.
For the next hour, the two of you sat side by side on the floor between the shelves, quietly trading Pride and Prejudice commentary for comic book explanations while Steve held the flashlight steady so you could both read.
Outside, the town stayed dark.
But inside the bookstore, neither of you seemed in much of a hurry for the lights to come back.
✎﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏
The next morning, the rivalry was… different. Still there, technically.
But softer around the edges.
The flyers taped outside both stores now sat side by side on the lamp post instead of aggressively covering each other. No stolen advertisements. No destroyed standees. No suspicious acts of sabotage before noon.
Progress.
Though Steve absolutely refused to acknowledge the reason why. It definitely had nothing to do with the fact that he’d walked you home after the blackout last night.
Definitely not.
The comic store was quiet for once, sunlight pouring through the front windows while Robin reorganized the Marvel section with the intensity of someone defusing a bomb.
Steve sat behind the counter pretending to restock keychains while very obviously rereading the same paragraph of Pride and Prejudice for the third time.
The bell above the door jingled loudly.
“Well, well, well,” Eddie announced as he walked in grinning. “How are my favorite capitalist disasters doing today?”
Robin looked up immediately. “Someone’s in a suspiciously good mood.”
Eddie placed both hands over his chest dramatically. “Can a man not glow after romance?”
Steve grimaced. “Please never say that again.”
“Chrissy and I had a fantastic evening, thank you for asking,” Eddie continued proudly before pointing toward the shelves. “Now. I need every Moon Knight issue you have.”
Steve blinked. “you’re buying something?”
Robin gasped loudly from across the store. “Holy shit. Write this down.”
Eddie froze dramatically then slowly looked up. “Is that Pride and Prejudice?”
Steve immediately grabbed the book. “It’s not what it looks like.”
Robin’s voice echoed from the shelves. “It’s exactly what it looks like!”
Eddie stared at Steve with open delight. “Oh my god.”
“She forced me to buy it,” Steve defended weakly.
“You’re almost at the end,” Robin yelled back without missing a beat. Traitor.
Eddie leaned forward, squinting suspiciously at Steve’s face. “Wait a minute.”
Steve narrowed his eyes. “Don’t.”
“You like her.”
“I absolutely do not.”
“That was way too fast,” Robin called out.
Steve pointed accusingly toward the shelves. “Whose side are you on?”
“The hot bookstore girl’s.”
“Robin!”
Eddie looked between the two of them like he’d just discovered the greatest television drama of all time. “Oh, this is incredible.”
“There is nothing happening,” Steve insisted.
Eddie snorted. “Right. And I read books for the articles.”
Robin returned carrying a stack of Moon Knight issues in her arms before dropping them dramatically onto the counter.
“You missed it,” she told Eddie immediately. “They literally chased each other through the street fighting over flyers.”
Eddie whipped around so fast he nearly gave himself whiplash. “You chased her?”
Steve groaned. “Can we not make this sound weird?”
“You’re reading Jane Austen,” Robin replied. “Everything about this is weird.”
Steve opened his mouth to argue before realizing there was, unfortunately, no recovering from that. Eddie folded his arms smugly. “So when are you asking her out?”
Steve nearly choked. “I’m not asking anyone out.”
Robin flipped through the book thoughtfully. “So what are you gonna do now?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know.” Robin waved her hand vaguely. “The hand thing.”
Steve stared at her blankly. “What hand thing?”
Eddie suddenly started laughing before Steve could even finish the sentence.
“Oh no,” Eddie wheezed. “He hasn’t seen the movie.”
“The book got adapted into a film,” Robin explained way too seriously. “There’s this scene.”
Steve narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “What scene?”
Eddie grabbed Steve’s wrist dramatically. “The yearning hand flex.”
Steve immediately yanked his arm back. “The what?”
Robin pressed a hand over her heart like she was emotionally overwhelmed already. “You know. After Mr. Darcy helps Elizabeth into the carriage and then walks away all tortured and in love—”
“She is not Elizabeth.”
“—his hand twitches because he’s so emotionally repressed.”
Eddie nodded solemnly. “Cinema.”
Steve looked between the two of them in complete disbelief. “You guys are making things up now.”
Robin gasped. “Oh my god, he would absolutely do the hand thing.”
“I am not doing a hand thing!”
“You already have the longing stares down,” Eddie added.
Steve nearly choked. “I do not longingly stare!”
Robin and Eddie both slowly turned toward the bookstore window across the street. Steve’s eyes followed automatically.
POETRY TUESDAY and COMIC TRIVIA NIGHT
The collision between Poetry Tuesday and Comic Trivia Night was, according to Robin, “a catastrophic failure in planning and basic communication.”
According to Eddie, however, it was “the greatest thing to happen to this town since mozzarella sticks.”
Both events had somehow ended up scheduled on the exact same night.
The comic shop was crowded with folding chairs, trivia cards, and aggressively passionate Marvel fans arguing near the register, while across the street the bookstore glowed warm beneath hanging fairy lights and handwritten poetry masterpieces taped carefully onto the windows.
The entire block buzzed with people wandering between both stores. And somehow, despite all the rivalry, neither business was losing customers.
If anything, both were thriving.
Steve stood outside the comic store taping up one last sign when Robin walked out carrying a stack of score sheets.
“You know,” she said casually, “normal people would’ve just moved their event.”
Steve scoffed. “Why should we move ours?”
“Because yours includes three grown men arguing about Batman continuity.”
“One of them cried, Robin.”
“Exactly my point.”
Before Steve could answer, laughter drifted from across the street. His eyes moved automatically toward the bookstore window.
You stood near the poetry section helping someone pick out a book, smiling softly while gesturing animatedly with your hands. Steve stared for maybe half a second too long.
Robin noticed immediately. “Oh my god,” she whispered. “There he goes again.”
“I literally just looked over there.”
“You looked yearningly.”
“I did not look yearningly.”
Robin snorted. “You’re one cardigan away from becoming a period drama.”
Across the street, Chrissy leaned over the bookstore counter watching you reorganize a stack of poetry books for the third time in ten minutes. Only on Tuesday night, when the bookstore was filled with signed poetry books from overseas.
“You know Steve’s been staring out the window for like five minutes, right?”
You didn’t even glance up. “Maybe he’s finally learning to read.”
Chrissy smiled knowingly. “You’re smiling.”
“I am not.”
“You are.”
You immediately stopped smiling. Which only made Chrissy laugh harder.
The bell above the bookstore door chimed before Eddie walked in carrying three comic trivia flyers and an iced coffee.
“Well,” he announced dramatically, “the sexual tension outside is unbearable.”
You nearly dropped the stack of books in your hands. Chrissy burst out laughing immediately.
“Oh, thank god,” Eddie continued, pointing between you and the comic store across the street. “You both know it’s obvious now, right?”
“There is nothing happening,” you said too quickly.
Eddie hummed. “Interesting. Steve said the exact same thing.”
Your eyes narrowed instantly. “He talks about me?” Eddie’s grin widened slowly.
Chrissy actually gasped. “Oh, you walked right into that one.”
You immediately looked horrified. “Forget I said anything.”
“Too late,” Eddie sang.
Before you could threaten him properly, a confused older woman wandered into the bookstore holding one of the comic trivia flyers.
“Oh dear,” she said politely. “I think I’m lost.”
You glanced at the flyer in her hand before smiling warmly. “Oh! Comic Trivia Night is actually across the street.”
The woman sighed dramatically. “Thank goodness. My grandson signed me up for this and I don’t know the difference between a Batman and a Spider-Man.”
You laughed softly. “Honestly? Neither do I sometimes.”
From across the street, Steve noticed immediately.
He watched as you carefully walked the woman all the way to the comic shop entrance instead of simply pointing.
Robin followed his gaze again.
“You are down horrendous.”
“Can everyone stop saying weird things tonight?”
The bell above the comic store jingled as you stepped inside beside the older woman. The entire room somehow got louder and quieter at the same time.
Eddie leaned against a shelf smugly.
Chrissy appeared in the bookstore doorway across the street watching like this was live television. You looked around at the crowded comic shop before your eyes landed on Steve behind the counter.
“Well,” you said lightly, “looks like your little nerd convention survived after all.”
Steve crossed his arms. “Barely. We lost two chairs, and someone’s arguing that Superman would lose to Scooby-Doo.”
“That’s ridiculous,” you replied immediately. “Scooby would obviously win.”
Steve stared at you. Then laughed before he could stop himself.
The older woman beside you looked relieved. “Oh good. Young people understand each other.”
Robin made the loudest choking noise imaginable from behind the counter. Steve ignored her violently.
For the next hour, the bookstore and comic shop blurred together.
Customers bounced between stores carrying comics in one hand and poetry books in the other. Eddie somehow started recommending fantasy novels to customers despite barely reading. Robin aggressively explained graphic novels to unsuspecting poetry lovers while Chrissy sat near the register smiling like she knew something everyone else didn’t.
At one point, a college guy near the comic shelves scoffed loudly while flipping through a graphic novel. “These aren’t real books anyway.”
Steve opened his mouth immediately but you beat him to it. “Actually,” you said sharply, “graphic novels are literature.”
The guy blinked.
You crossed your arms. “The storytelling structure alone takes more effort than half the classics people pretend to understand.”
The entire comic store went silent. Steve stared at you like you’d personally hung the moon.
Robin looked emotionally devastated.
Eddie whispered, “Oh, they’re getting married.”
You heard him. “Eddie.”
“I’m just saying.”
Later that night, after most customers finally cleared out, Steve stepped outside carrying a box of leftover flyers under one arm.
The street had gone quieter now, lit by soft streetlights and the warm glow from both storefront windows. You sat on the curb outside the bookstore with your shoes kicked off beside you, looking exhausted.
Steve hesitated only briefly before walking over.
“You survived,” you said without looking up.
“Barely.” He dropped down beside you with a tired groan. “One guy tried to fight me over whether Batman could beat Godzilla.”
“could he?”
Steve looked offended. “Whose side are you on?”
You laughed softly, pulling your knees toward your chest.
For a moment, neither of you spoke. The silence wasn’t awkward anymore. Which somehow felt more dangerous.
Steve glanced toward the bookstore window before speaking again. “You know,” he said carefully, “I don’t actually hate bookstores.”
You looked over immediately. “Wow.”
“Don’t ruin the moment.”
“I’m just shocked you’re capable of growth.”
Steve nudged your shoulder lightly with his and neither of you moved away. “You know,” you said after a moment, “I didn’t think you’d actually read Pride and Prejudice.”
Steve looked down at his hands. “I started it because you forced me.”
“Okay, that’s fair.”
“But…” He shrugged awkwardly. “I kinda get why people like it.”
You tried very hard not to smile too hard at that. “And?” you asked carefully.
Steve groaned quietly. “And now I’m emotionally invested in nineteenth-century people staring at each other.”
Your laugh slipped out before you could stop it. Steve looked over immediately. There it was again. That bright laugh that completely ruined his ability to think straight.
You noticed the way he looked at you this time, really noticed it and suddenly the air between you felt warmer than before.
“Oh,” you said quietly.
Steve blinked. “What?”
“Nothing…” but your voice sounded softer now.
From inside the comic store window, Robin appeared beside Eddie holding two sodas. Both of them immediately froze upon seeing the two of you sitting shoulder-to-shoulder outside.
Robin slowly turned toward Eddie. “Oh my god.”
Eddie looked emotional. “They’re having a sidewalk moment.”
Inside the bookstore, Chrissy joined them at the window carrying a broom. “Most ardently”
Outside, Steve rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly before speaking again. “For the record,” he muttered, “I look for your store first every morning now.”
You blinked.
Steve immediately looked horrified with himself. “That sounded less pathetic in my head.”
Your expression softened so fast it nearly hurt him. “You look for me?”
Steve groaned and dropped his face into his hands. “Please don’t make me repeat it.”
A smile slowly spread across your face. Not smug this time. Just soft snd warm.
“Oh,” you murmured again.
Behind the windows across the street, Robin physically grabbed Eddie’s arm.
“THIS IS IT.”
“I KNOW.”
Steve looked up carefully just in time to see you reaching into your bag. “What’s that?”
You handed him a book quietly. His eyebrows furrowed. Pride and Prejudice. But when he opened it, small notes filled the margins in your handwriting.
Tiny sarcastic comments.
Little jokes.
Favorite lines underlined.
Steve stared at the pages.
Then at you.
“I thought,” you said softly, suddenly looking strangely nervous, “you might want the annotated version.”
For once in his life, Steve Harrington had absolutely nothing smart to say. He looked down again until he reached the final page.
One sentence was written neatly near the bottom.
For the record, you’re still not Mr. Darcy.
…but you’re getting closer.
Steve read it twice.
Then three times.
When he finally looked back up at you, you were pretending very hard not to look nervous.
“You wrote in a book,” he said weakly.
You rolled your eyes instantly. “That’s your takeaway?”
“No, I just—”
Steve laughed suddenly, shaking his head. “You’re unbelievable.”
“And yet,” you replied softly, “you keep coming back.”
The street fell quiet around you. Then slowly, carefully, Steve reached for your hand. Your fingers brushed.
And immediately afterward his hand flexed, you froze. Steve froze harder. Slowly, your eyes lifted toward his face.
“Oh my god.”
Steve groaned instantly. “Don’t.”
“You did the hand thing.”
“I hate you.”
Your grin widened. “No you don’t.”
Behind the windows across the street, Robin collapsed dramatically onto Eddie while Chrissy squealed loud enough for all four of you to hear.
Steve closed his eyes briefly. “…we’re never going to hear the end of this, are we?”
“Absolutely not,” you said, laughing as your fingers slipped fully between his.
And across the street, taped side by side beneath the streetlight, the Poetry Tuesday flyer and Comic Trivia Night poster fluttered quietly together in the night breeze.
issy talks: actually, i only wrote this as a background for my henderhop mini smau, soooo i really really do hope y'all like it.
