Almost a year after I posted the first pages of July in the Back of Your Throat things are FINALLY starting to get hot and heavy between Steve and Eddie as I work on page 11 🔥🔥🔥
Making a long comic is a slow process, but it’s so worth it if you have the patience! 🖤 It’s also really fun to see how much my art style has changed and evolved over the past year.
Steddie Fanfiction Concept that is Free for the Taking
Steve Harrington has the powers of a Disney Princess. He sings, he talks to animals, the whole shebang. The world just kind of likes him. When there is a stray beam of sunlight breaking through the clouds, it bends to shine on him. When he walks through the woods, leaves and flower petals drift softly around him, so on and so forth.
The main way he uses it is for the animal side of things. His house has woods right behind it, so from a young age he would go out into the backyard and animals would wander up. Birds, raccoons, squirrels, deer, whatever animals are in Indiana and Hawkins will wander up and say hi.
He has repeat visitors, and in typical Disney Princess fashion, their lifespan is magically lengthened to match Steve's own. They're his friends. (Randy the Raccoon, Sophie the Squirrel, Tommy the Loud Ass Bird)
It's a secret, but not one Steve keeps on purpose. He just doesn't even think to talk about it. As far as he's concerned, animals are always that friendly and he's just lucky (and an amazing singer).
Bonus Points if the first person to find out about this "secret" isn't Tommy H, his childhood best friend, nor Carol Perkins or Nancy Wheeler or any of the Party, but instead Eddie Munson.
Prior to the events of Season One, there's a party at Harrington Manor, and Eddie is there to sell. It's while he's in the middle of a deal that he sees Steve wander out the back door and into the woods, needing a break. Curious, he follows, and watches Steve greet a few deer and have a bird land on his shoulder.
Slowly, carefully, he backs away. He tells no one. It's not like anyone would believe him.
Years later, sitting at the Lunch Table for Hellfire with his three new sheepies, he tilts his head to listen into their hushed conversation to find them discussing what Steve Harrington's Character Class would be. Dustin argues that Steve is a Paladin, because he swore an oath of protection ("I promised I'd keep you shitheads safe and that's exactly what I plan on doing"). Lucas agrees, but doesn't seem to really disagree with Mike's argument, which is that he's a Barbarian. (Though Lucas does admonish Mike for saying it's because he's, "a dumbass who can tank hits").
Without even thinking about it, Eddie argues that no, Steve isn't a Paladin or a Barbarian, he's clearly a Druid and they all go silent.
"Eddie... why would Steve be a Druid?" Dustin asks like he's speaking to a child who just told him the sun is, in fact, cold, actually. (Seriously, the tone on that kid...)
"That weird thing he has with animals," Eddie says, like it's obvious. Because it is.
"What weird thing with animals?" Lucas asks.
Eddie takes a second to really look at their faces and how confused they are and thinks, oh god, they have no clue.
So steddie Au where they were flirting but still only friends before season 1. Their friendship was weird: Jock, the king, Steve "the hair: harrington with freak and weirdo Eddie? But after some time everyone Just Got used to it. Both Eddie and Steve had other friends too. Sometimes Eddie showed up for Steves basketball games and Steve would showed up for Eddie koncerts.
And after season 1, Eddie knows thst something is wrong. Steve is more anxious, more stressed. Always woth his bat in back of his car. At first he thought it was because of Hargrove- even Eddie was a little bit scared because of that dude.
But then (in this Au billy is a better person, Just abused teenarger and he joins the party i season 2) they Got closer and more friendly with each other so it couldnt be it.
And then Steve starst working in scoops ahoy, and Eddie meets robin-a new friend. He comes to stracourt to annoy them.
And after the fire both robin and Steve are more nervous. Billy ended in the hospital, and was in coma for a week and chief died as a Hawkins hero.
And then Eddie finally meets Mike, Lucas, Dustin and will (they didnt move in this au) And he findes out that they have relationship with Steve. And he wants to know.
And he findes out, one night when he solds drugs in Woods And he hears screams. And he sees it-a monster. A real monster.
Before he could move, Steve jumps from Woods And attack it with his bat. Monster screams, Steve screams louder And then Nancy fucking Wheeler jumps from Woods And shows the monster from gun. And then Jonathan Byers throws burning bottle at monster And its get killed in fire.
Steve gets to Eddie, checking if he is wounded anywgere And then taking him in safe place-to byers house.
And there Eddie founds aout that Nancy, Jonathan, Billy And Steve are fighting monsters together in secret. And they are hiding it from kids And joyce and other parents And people.
And Eddie ask if he could join them because it is so metal.
So he joins them, and we have some cool monster hunting, and fighting and hiding it from parents.
Eddie meets El, who is the only one thst knows what they are doing but she promised to not tell a soul.
And then Joyce goes on her work trip, people starts to die And El starts to have werid vision And anger issues.
And then we have vecna arc.
Before the final fight Steve asks Eddie if he would go out with him after the fight.
And Eddie, Eddie who has been in love In Steve for so many years, worring about him, and beging to scared to make a move, said Yes.
you remind me of someone (it's probably you) by katdeerly
@katdeerly
Rating: Mature
136,736 words, 15/15 chapters
Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Tags: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - 1990s, Inspired By While You Were Sleeping (1995), Bisexual Steve Harrington, Gay Eddie Munson, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Inspired by Nancy and Eddie's matching curly hair, So now they're half siblings, Not Ted Wheeler Friendly (Stranger Things), Divorced Karen Wheeler & Ted Wheeler, Coma, Canon-Typical Violence, Don't fall in love with your comatose fake girlfriend's half brother, Eventual Happy Ending, because it's based on a romcom, Steve's crush on Nancy is a plot device, This is a Steddie joint all the way, Slow Burn, Eventual Smut, by nature of the concept, This is very slow burn
Summary:
‘I'm sure I'll see you soon no matter what.’
Steve startles. ‘What? Why?’
‘You're marrying my sister, aren't you?’ There's something guarded, almost teasing in Eddie’s tone and when their eyes meet, Steve can’t read the truth. It might be disappointment; it might be hope.
‘Oh, no, no, I'm not – not her fiancé. That was a misunderstanding.’
When Steve Harrington saves his work crush Nancy from a mugging, it sets off a chain reaction of miscommunications and misunderstandings that have him falling hard for her half-brother, Eddie. Oops.
(Based on the greatest 90s romcom, While You Were Sleeping, with Steve Harrington in the role of lonely, desperate-for-romance Lucy and Eddie Munson as reluctant romantic and jealous sibling Jack).
Thanks for the rec! This recommendation is apart of our Writer's Wednesday! All of the recs today are written by @katdeerly. Want to nominate an author? Fill out this form!
You can submit fic recs to our asks or the submission box!
i'm sitting here listening to you all over me, thinking about steddie.
just...steve and eddie who had a thing a few years prior to season 4. perhaps a secret summer romance spent splashing around in the lake, driving around aimlessly. stolen kisses at skull rock and lover's lake. late nights learning everything about each other whenever steve's parents aren't around.
literally no one else knows. despite how in love steve is with eddie and eddie with steve, things end badly, like very badly. eddie breaks up with steve and it's callous and cruel which is why steve has the initial attitude over the whole situation even though he knows eddie is not a murderer. eddie won't explain, won't even talk to steve so he gets no closure.
"i lived, and i learned had you, got burned. held out, and held on
god knows, too long and wasted time, lost tears.
the best and worst day of june was the one that i met you with your hands in your pockets and your 'don't you wish you had me' grin. but i did, so i smiled, and i melted like a child now every breath of air i breathe reminds me of then."
tell me that is not steve pining after eddie coded. even better if this happens before steve falls for nancy. nancy who reminds him of eddie. only for that to fall apart spectacularly as well.
"i lived, and i learned and found out what it was to turn around
and see, that we were never really meant to be so i lied, and i cried
and i watched a part of myself die cause no amount of freedom gets you clean. i've still got you all over me."
steve who has to say he's fine to his friends. he has to cry alone in his bed late at night because he has no one to talk to about how his heart is broken. so he lies, pretends to be unaffected. he swears it feels like a part of him actually died seeing eddie in the halls at school, grinning with his friend like nothing happened. as far as steve can see, eddie isn't heartbroken at all.
eddie who is good at the performance of it all. he broke steve's heart to protect his own. only, he didn't realize that steve actually meant all the soft things whispered in their secret moments. eddie doesn't realize that steve wanted to build something with eddie. that eddie genuinely broke steve's heart.
so when when nancy wheeler starts smiling at steve and giggling at his stupid jokes in the class they share, he flirts back. he lets himself fall for her too, even if it feels a little forced. then his whole world changes because a girl dies in his pool and he fights an interdimensional monster so he clings to nancy even harder because he wants to be loved, doesn't want to be alone. things end with spilled punch and vicious words in a bathroom at a party he doesn't really care about.
the thing is, nancy isn't exactly wrong. bullshit. the word fits. nancy who wants jonathan and steve who still wants... well, he won't even think the name. it hurts too much.
and of course, steve and eddie in up back in each other's orbit. it was inevitable really. even when eddie has steve pushed against the wall of a shitty boathouse, glass pressed dangerously against his throat, steve wants eddie. he loves him in a way that he cannot seem to shake.
he has to fight the urge to draw eddie into his arms, offering comfort that eddie doesn't want from him anymore. he sees the way eddie won't meet his eyes and drops him the minute he realizes it's steve. steve thinks eddie is horrified because they were touching, but really, it's because eddie almost hurt steve.
eddie tries to be friendly with steve over the whole upside down-vecna fiasco. finds himself flirting despite trying to push steve back into nancy's arms. maybe they finally talk about everything. eddie apologizes for breaking up with steve. steve admits he's still in love with him. eddie realizes how wrong he was, tells steve the truth about breaking his heart because he was scared. maybe they share a romantic moment.
maybe when eddie calls out steve before the separate in the upside down, eddie starts with "make him pay" only his eyes are saying so much more and steve kisses him, right in front of the girls and dustin. they tell each i love yous and be careful and come back to me.
except. eddie doesn't come back. he thinks he needs to redeem himself. he does something suicidally heroic because he can't handle surviving for the others to die. when steve finally makes it to where dustin is crying over eddie's too still body, it's like he feels himself dying too. it's not fair that they finally talked, finally had a chance to be together and now it won't ever happen.
"i've still got you all over me. i've still got you all over me. still got you all over me"
A Florist's Least Favorite Holiday: Steddie (Eddie POV) || 1.7k words || rating: T || fluff, author is projecting this happened to me so I steddified it
All of My Love: Steddie (Steve POV) || ~1.1k words || rating M || cws: getting high || It's my boys being soft and falling in love over a week of Led Zeppelin || ao3
The Babysitter Chronicles: Steve and The Party 5+1 ++ epilogue || rating: T || ao3
Birdie's Boys: Platonic Stobie (Robin POV) || 2.3k words || rating: G || cws: tooth-rotting fluff, humor || Robin's worried the boys have some shenanigans planned for her Spring Band Concert... and she's right || ao3
Confessions: Steddie (Eddie POV) || ~2.3k words || rating: T || cws: post-vecna, post-stancy, angst, robin buckley just being herself, not nancy wheeler friendly || ao3
Don't Hold Me If You Don't Wanna Know Me aka Steddie (-Jonathan): Steddie || WIP || rating: M || cws: ooc jonathan byers, temporary eddie/jonathan, eddie is an idiot, jonathan is an asshole, steve is very very sad, hurt/comfort || ao3
Gentle Noise: Steve & Max (Steve POV) || ~1.6k words || rating T || cws: implied child neglect and abuse
Just the Girls: Robin and Max (Robin POV) || ~1.6k words || rating T || tags: depression, child neglect, platonic stobin, max and steve have a sibling relationship
Hear Me Out, Keep Me Guessing: Steddie (Eddie POV) || 2.5k words || rating T || tags: alternate first meeting, pre-S4, fluff and angst, Steve is the best babysitter || ao3
Immortal Eddie Munson (bittersweet): Steddie (Eddie POV) || 373 words || rating G || cws: none || As the Party ages around him, Eddie's reminded of how much he's loved.
Immortal Eddie Munson (hurt/no comfort): Steddie (Eddie POV) || ~1.6k words || rating E || cws: DEAD DOVE. All CWs are listed at the top of the fic PLEASE do not ignore them || Eddie watches his loved ones age and eventually leave him behind. This is an alternative telling to bittersweet.
Stuck: Steddie (multi POVs) || ~1.5k words || rating T || cws: dissociation, unlabeled neurodivergencies and mental illness || Steve and Eddie struggle to recover after a chaotic day with The Party || ao3
Tiger Club: Steddie (Eddie POV) || ~6k words || rating: M || tags: meet cute, single dad steve harrington, dustin and max are twins, teacher eddie munson, eddie and chrissy are best friends, fluff and humor || Unaligned pick up times force Eddie to meet all of the Harrington twins' family members except for their elusive Dad, and he's totally normal about it. Ao3
Tainted: Steddie (Steve POV) || 6k words || rating: E || tags: dead dove DNE; vampire!eddie, steve whump, heavy angst, sexually explicit (steve only), hurt steve harrington, chronic pain and illness, allusions to withdrawal and recreational drug use/abuse, post break-up second chance romance || ao3
Microfics
Pin: Steddie || 388 words || rating T || tags: innuendos
A Desperate Fool: Steddie (ish) || 454 words || rating: T || tags: hurt/no comfort, break-up, rockstar!Eddie, ride-or-die Robin Buckley; Homesick ao3 (unfinished)
Father’s Day: Steddie || 483 words || rating: G || tas: references to bad fathers, Max and Dustin
Moles: Steddie || 111 words || rating: T || tasg: nudity, tooth-rotting fluff
Promises: Steddie (ish) || 1,111 words || rating: T || tags: hurt/no comfort, cheating, kid fic, custody and divorce, panic attacks, child tantrum
Cough Syrup: Steddie || 437 words || rating: M || tags: sick fic, reference to child neglect, references to sex
Poolside: Steddie || 399 words || rating: M || tags: extremely horny
A Different Ending: Steddie || 350 words || rating: E || tags: hurt/no comfort main character death (steve), blood, gore, body horror, grief, s4 canon-divergence, pre-steddie
It’s a Date: Steddie || 350 words || rating: G || tags: excessive fluff, recovering Eddie Munson, good boyfriend Steve Harrington, established relationship
A Fairytale Ending: Steddie || 367 words || rating: T || tags: Hanhaki, getting together, hurt steve harrington, sickfic/dying (HE DOESN'T THOUGH!)
Lavender Love Sprinkled With Blood: Stobin || 514 words || rating: M || cws: MCD (Steve), gore, blood and open wounds, grief, body horror, hurt/no comfort
Rating: Explicit
Archive Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Relationships: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Gareth & Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington, Dustin Henderson & Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington & Dustin Henderson, Hellfire Club & Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington & The Party
Characters: Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington, Nancy Wheeler, Robin Buckley, Gareth (Stranger Things), Maxine “Max” Mayfield, Dustin Henderson, Hellfire Club (Stranger Things), The Party (Stranger Things), Wayne Munson
Additional Tags: Eddie Munson Has Anxiety, Steve Harrington Has Depression, Eddie Munson Needs a Hug, Steve Harrington Needs a Hug, Eddie Munson Lives, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, References to Drugs, Underage Smoking, Underage Drug Use, Secret Relationship, Eddie Munson-centric, Everyone is Traumatized By Something, POV Eddie Munson, Everyone had PTSD, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Family Issues, Confessions, Intrusive Thoughts, Suicidal Thoughts, POV Steve Harrington, Period Typical Attitudes, Public Hand Jobs, Oral Sex, First Time, Trust Issues, Disabled Steve Harrington, Dom/sub Undertones, no beta we die like billy, Canon Divergent, canon adjacent, Coming Out, Vecna’s Curse (Stranger Things), Time Skips, Canon-Typical Violence, Body Horror, Blood and Gore, POV Multiple, Not Nancy Wheeler Friendly, Hopeful Ending, Angst with a Happy Ending
Words: 229,191
Chapters: 50/50
Summary
Steve Harrington and Eddie Munson had met long before Dustin Henderson dragged Steve down to Reefer Rick’s cabin. Hawkins wasn’t a huge town, and there was only the one highschool, but the two were never friends. Didn’t even like each other. In all their darkest moments however, they somehow found company together.
Or the one where Steve has depression, Eddie becomes his safe space, and when Eddie encounters battles he can’t fight, Steve reminds Eddie of his own strength.
A pre-/peri-/post-S4 fic with Steddie before S4 events, continuing through and after.
I was tagged by the lovely @jesuisici33 thank you 💛
I don't actually reread fics to get into the Christmas spirit, so I thought I'd just give you some of the christmassy fics from my bookmarks. (Mind you, there might be some surprising ships in there lmao)
where the lovelight gleams by ohmyloki [mattfoggy, 1.8k, Teen + Up]
Matt wrinkles his nose.
“Is that—mistletoe?” He asks.
Foggy looks up, and then around.
“Wow. That is indeed mistletoe… and it is pretty much everywhere.”
Of Blizzards, Coffee, and Jackets by chasing_the_sterek [spideypool, 1.9k, Teen + Up]
Peter didn't expect agreeing to borrow Deadpool's jacket would lead to his secret identity being found out. Although maybe he should've considered the repercussions before he wore it outside. In civilian clothes.
Mistletoe Hung by potatoes_tomatoes [baffy, 2.6k, Gen]
Every year, Bugs hangs up a bundle of mistletoe outside his burrow for kicks. He watches passerby couples, warmly greets his friends (and foes), and bids everyone a friendly kiss goodbye. As time goes on, the mistletoe on his tree becomes infamous, and everyone plays into the harmless tradition.
Eddie Munson needs to get out of New York City for the holidays. Nancy Wheeler, LA online news reporter, desperately needs to be in New York City to experience her ultimate Manhattan bucket list adventure in time for the festive season. So they do the only logical thing (by romantic comedy standards) that two single people can do...
... They swap homes for one week.
❄️and absolute no pressure tagging to share their fave wintery fics: @malewifediaz @spagheddiediaz @daffi-990 @thewolvesof1998 @jamespearce9-1-1 @jeeyuns and anyone who wants to share, consider yourselves tagged by me 💛
Bumped to the lowest step on the social ladder after his fight with Billy, Steve gets roped in with the cheer team. What starts as a favor to help them out when one member breaks her leg in turn for protection from the brunt of the bullying, sets the universe on a different path.
In this chapter, Robin and Steve keep each other sane, before they have to split up for the day as she goes to chase the Creel lead with Chrissy and Nancy, while Steve stays to watch out for Max. Stays in the hopes he can save her before she dies. When they make it through it, they go to explore the Creel house where Nancy starts to act weird, but other things are afoot there as well…
On AO3.
Ships: steddie & buckingham
Warnings: general season 4 shenanigans
~~~~~
Chapter 19: The Creels
Relief floods through Steve’s veins when Chrissy and Robin are both okay, waiting on Robin’s curb for him to pick them up. Robin looks a little flushed as she climbs into the passenger side seat, while Chrissy looks like herself. Quite good for someone with a death sentence hanging above her head.
“How are you feeling?” he asks her, as he drives to the Wheeler house.
“I mean, I think I’m okay. It isn’t really landing yet,” Chrissy admits. She’s quiet for a second, then she adds: “I’m scared.”
Steve wishes he wasn’t behind the wheel so he could hug her, hold her tight and make sure she knows she is never going to be alone. But he can’t, so he just says: “Hey, you’re gonna be okay. Me and Robs are gonna be there the whole day. Nothing’s going to happen, okay.”
“Like the whole day,” Robin agrees. “We’re going to be like leeches, but friendly leeches, because leeches are pretty gross and not helpful. They’re actually quite terrible to have, but it is about the sticking imagery. What I mean, is yeah, we’re gonna be there.”
At that Chrissy gives a small smile and that’s worth gold at this moment.
They arrive at the Wheeler house Nancy is also just coming back. Steve gets out of the car and asks her: “Where did you go? Is Max okay?”
“She’s fine,” Nancy assures him. “Don’t think she slept much, but she’s alive. I went to get these papers.” She holds up a few files.
“What are those?” Steve asks.
“Aliases,” Nancy answers. “Today three interested psychology college students are going to interview Victor Creel about the murder of his family.”
“Okay, what’s my alias,” Steve nods, it sounds like a smart plan so far. But at his question the three girls look guiltily at him and it dawns on him that he doesn’t have an alias. “What the hell,” he exclaims. He wants to do something, help his friends. What is he going to do here? Wait until Max dies?
“Steve,” Nancy starts in that manner of hers that now grates on Steve’s nerves. That voice that tells him she doesn’t think he’s capable enough to get her mastery.
“No,” he cuts her off. “I can help. I look old enough to be a student, Chrissy doesn’t. Plus, Chrissy should be out of harms way. I’m not getting left out of this. I’m more than the babysitter.” He looks at Nancy, remembering that time outside of the Byers’ house in ‘84 when he told her how he was a good babysitter, how that is all he is to her now. The only part she cared to remember.
He might have never loved her, but at least he cared about her. Though, sometimes he wonders why he ever thought he liked her.
Nancy sends him a look and is about to say something back when Robin cuts in: “Okay, Nancy take Chrissy inside, I’m gonna talk to Stevie her for a second.”
It is clear that Nancy does not like being pushed to the side one bit, but she and Chrissy do go inside as Robin asks. Chrissy looks back at the door, to check on them. Steve sends her a tight smile, Robin a dorky wave that he would have immediately teased her about, were it not for the circumstances.
“I can’t believe you’re picking their side,” Steve tells her the second they’re alone. “And that you didn’t tell me. Neither of you.”
“There were kind of other revelations going on before we could,” Robin points out, not replying to Steve’s prissy tone. “And it’s the smartest move.”
“How? Because I can’t be a college student?” Steve frowns. Robin knows he’s sensitive about not getting into college.
“No, that’s not it,” Robin’s eyes immediately grow wide. “You know I don’t think that about you, dingus. And neither does Chrissy.”
“Then why can’t I go?” Steve asks petulantly.
“Because Max is going to die today and Chrissy tomorrow,” Robin says bluntly, making Steve flinch. “Max needs someone that she actually likes and knows and is capable of protecting her if something goes down. Someone she would want to have there with her in case she doesn’t make it out.”
“Robs,” Steve begins, needing to say something as if that will undo the truth Robin has just spoken into the universe.
“I know you don’t want to hear it, neither do I,” Robin tells him gently. “Trust me, I might be oblivious 50% of the time and incapable of shutting up the other 50% percent, but I’m not heartless or stupid. Max is our priority right now. And she would want you there over me, Chrissy or Nancy and we both know that.”
“But Chrissy is still also in danger,” Steve protests, though he is already convinced to stay with Max, now he is worried about Chrissy being out there.
“If she’s here, you’re responsible for both of them, you can’t do that by yourself,” Robin says not unkindly. “This way, we both carry half the responsibility. And if Victor can sense something, then Chrissy is there. It might be useful. We’re a team, dingus. Even if we’re apart.”
That makes Steve smile, he would be lost without Robin. She means so much to him. The only person, who knows how to talk to him, to explain in a way he can get behind it. “Thank you, Robbie.”
“Course, dingus,” Robin smiles. “I’ll look after her, don’t worry.”
Steve’s smile now turns into a sly smirk as he says: “Ah yeah, you’ve been very graciously watching out for her, haven’t you, Robs.”
“Oh shut up,” Robin blushes.
“Come on,” Steve whines. “We’re not going to be able to talk about it for a long while. Just fill me in right now. All going okay?”
Robin blushes and looks around, before allowing a dopey smile to crawl onto her face. “She’s just been so nice, Stevie. And touchy. Like I don’t want to take advantage of her or something, but she keeps cuddling me and grabbing my arm. It’s a lot.”
“She is quite taken with you,” Steve agrees.
“God,” Robin covers her face. “I’m never going to make it out of here in one piece. She’s making me get my hopes up.”
“If we all make it out, we’ll hold a pity party together,” Steve offers.
At that Robin perks up. “I’m keeping you to that, dingus. Do you need one? How was your night with Eddie?”
“Don’t phrase it like that,” Steve scolds, cheeks pinkening. Then he mumbles: “It was good. We- uhm, we talked.”
“Just talked?” Robin asks with a raised brow that tells Steve she doesn’t believe him.
“Yeah, talked,” Steve says stubbornly, before adding: “And maybe also a little bit of cuddling and I cried all over him.”
“What?” Robin exclaims. “Are you okay?”
“I am,” Steve assures her, touched by her care even after all these months. “Just, you know, it all kind of caught up with me.”
“Okay, yeah, I get that,” Robin nods, before going back to their previous topic. She grins: “Soooo, cuddling?”
“Shut up,” Steve tells her. “He was asleep and huddled up to me. It probably meant nothing to him at all. Plus, we only just made up and he’s being hunted, it’s not like I’m going to make a move on him or something.”
“Maybe an ‘it’s nearly the end as we know it’ confession will be romantic,” Robin says, luckily not pushing into his own insecurity. Both know they don’t have time to get into that now.
“You should consider your own advice,” Steve shoots back, getting a glare.
However, before Robin can say something bitchy back, and start a squabble fest like the two so often do, Dustin appears in the doorway, yelling: “Are you two done yet?”
“We’re coming,” Steve yells back, rolling his eyes as he looks at Robin, who rolls her eyes right back at him. That little conversation with her has made him feel more normal ever since Saturday, it’s like she’s magic.
When he gets to the basement, Max is there, looking like she didn’t sleep for a second. She must be terrified to not even know when she’s going to die, just that it is today. Steve’s heart breaks for her and he pulls her into a hug, despite the fact that Max usually resents them.
This time, though, she doesn’t scoff and push him away before rolling her eyes. This time she hugs back and allows herself to take a deep breath while hiding away in his chest, away from prying eyes filled with concern.
Yeah, Steve will be better off staying with her.
After a second, Max lets go if burned and ignores Steve again, going to sit at a desk where she feverishly starts writing again.
Steve follows her with confusion, before spotting Lucas, who is looking at Max’s back with anguish, like he doesn’t know how to approach her. He sits down next to him and softly asks: “How are you doing?”
Lucas looks surprised and startled at being addressed, obviously somewhere else with his head. He looks apologetic as he scratches his nose, before he shrugs: “I’m okay, you know, seeing the circumstances. Are the girls really going to an asylum?”
“Yeah,” Steve answers. He can see right through the deflection, but he isn’t about to push. Lucas needs reassurance, not digging through his turmoil. “They’re going to find a way to survive this, don’t worry.”
“That’s good.” Lucas manages a small smile. It’s not much, but it is good enough for now, yet Steve wonders if he should be guilty for saying that when he has his own doubts.
However, before he can consider the dilemma, Robin is screeching upstairs that Nancy is trying to murder her. So, he rushes up to save her. Even if she is only being dramatic about the outfit that – admittedly – does not suit her at all, but is right for the part. Steve just comes in, spots her, then bursts out laughing.
“Stop laughing, dingus,” she pouts. “I am actively being harmed by this outfit. Convince her,” she jabs a finger at Nancy, “to give me something else.”
Nancy looks annoyed at Robin, which is the only reason Steve stops laughing. Robin hates it when people are annoyed at her and he’ll step in and say something, if Nancy even dares to say anything mean right now. He gets that she is under stress, they all are, but he’s watching her.
Fortunately, before Nancy can say anything, Chrissy comments: “I think you look nice. Not your usual style, but you do pull it off.”
Chrissy herself is also in similar clothes, but these are close to her normal daily garb, so it’s not as stark a difference as it is on Robin. However, Chrissy could have been in a trash bag and Robin still would have spluttered: “Well, I- It’s not the worst I guess. If you- If you think so.”
Steve sends her a raised brow that she pointedly ignores in favor of blushing at Chrissy’s bright smile. Steve isn’t judging too hard, as long as Robin can make Chrissy smile like that and forget about the danger, she can be as hopeless as she wants.
Before long, the girls have left, having been hustled out the door by an anxious Nancy.
The kids and Steve watch them go and Steve tries not to feel a sense of doom as he watches them drive off. Chrissy still has a day, Max doesn’t. If they don’t come back with something, Steve might have to watch Max die and be strong for Dustin and Lucas in the fall out.
God, he hopes they find something, because the responsibility weighs on him before they’re even out of sight. He’s going to take this so seriously. Nothing terrible will happen to Max. Not on his watch.
However, that mentality is hard to maintain when she gives them a letter, just in case she doesn’t make it through today. Steve feels honored and horrified. He hopes he will never know what Max really thinks of him. That he never has to read that letter that now burns in his pocket.
And it all gets more out of hand when Max wants to leave. Steve does not want her out in the world even if the attacks aren’t physically there and can reach her here too. It’s safer for her to be somewhere he can keep an eye on her.
But this is Max. Max is stubborn and independent. He loves her for it and he knows she will make good on her threats. Not to mention that he has a weak spot for her and won’t deny her her agency on what might be her last day. He doesn’t want to take that from her.
So, they get in the car and Steve drives her wherever she wants to go. His eyes flitting between Max’s trailer and the crime scene that is now Eddie’s, before driving to a cemetery where he watches Max sit at Billy’s grave. The brother she could have had, were he not the largest asshole the world had ever seen. He’s not going to tell Max that, but he is kind of glad Billy is no longer among the living.
Then Max becomes too still. She hasn’t been moving much, but Steve’s gut tells him something is wrong, so he moves to get her as he says: “Alright, it’s been long enough.”
“Steve, just give her some time,” Lucas protests, wanting to do whatever Max wants. Steve feels the same urge, but Lucas isn’t responsible for her, Steve is.
So, he starts walking and replies: “I have, alright? I’m calling it. She wants to get a lawyer, she can.” Then he turns to Max and calls out: “Max. Time to giddy up, yeah?”
Max doesn’t respond.
Fear grips Steve and he walks a little faster, coming face to face with rolled back eyes, unresponsive. Just like Eddie had said. She is being attacked right now. Vecna has her. Despite knowing that, he still yells: “Max. Max.”
He yells just in case it will work this time, just in case the universe wants to grant him some kindness, just in case he won’t have to watch Max die this time.
“Wake up,” he begs, pleads, grovels, whatever will help. “Hey,” he snaps and claps his hand in front of her face, anything he can think off. “Max, wake up. Max, wake up!”
Nothing is working and he looks back at the others, beckoning them over here, but they are already running. They know too that something is very wrong. He doesn’t want them to see, but they’ll kill him if he didn’t let them help. Such guilt can tear someone apart.
The three of them try to wake her up, but nothing is working. Nothing. Panic is now truly setting in and Steve realizes that their only hope lies at Penthurst Asylum.
He seizes Dustin by the collar, knowing he can feel bad about that later, as he commands: “Call the girls. Go get them. Call the girls! Now. Go!”
Dustin runs off as he and Lucas try to wake Max up, even if they know it’s hopeless. They have to try, because quitting? Giving up? That isn’t an option.
It seems to take forever, before Dustin is running back, arms full of stuff as he screams for their attention. Dropping a confusing assemblage of stuff that has Lucas frantically asking: “What is this?”
“What’s her favorite song?” Dustin asks, ignoring Lucas entirely.
“Why? Why?” Lucas demands, panicking.
“Robin said if she listens-” Dustin cuts himself off. “It’s too much to explain now. What’s her favorite song?”
Lucas luckily has an answer for that and they all scramble to find the right one. Steve’s hands are steady, despite the adrenaline. There is no room for emotions or thoughts right now, just action as they get the headphones onto Max’s head.
Nothing happens, so they continue screaming for her to wake up, begging her to just come back to them.
Suddenly Max starts to float. It’s almost like Billy, like there is something invisible piercing her chest and lifting her up. Steve feels a little sick. Eddie had told them about it, but actually experiencing it is a whole other thing.
She’s out of their reach now. All they can do to not feel so helpless is yell, scream until their throats are raw and hope that whatever Robin discovered is right and they won’t have to catch Max’s corpse.
They watch as she suddenly gulps in a big breath, but they don’t have time to feel relieved, because she’s falling, hitting the ground as all of them are too late to catch her. Steve tries not to think about it as they all hover around her, comforting her, as she heaves panicked breaths. He can’t imagine what she might have seen.
In a teary, cracking voice, Lucas says: “We thought we lost you.”
And Max assures them: “I’m still here, I’m still here,” and those are the best words Steve has heard all day. Max is still here. They have a weapon against this.
Enough time has passed that the sun is starting to set, but Steve doesn’t care about that right now, because Max is safe. He can allow himself a moment of respite as he feels her shoulders move with every breath she takes.
Max is alive.
There is hope.
They broadcast the news over the radio as Lucas and Dustin sandwich Max in the backseat, who for once doesn’t protest, but curls into the comfort as Kate Bush plays on repeat in her ears.
Eddie whoops, relief coloring his voice and Robin exclaims: “Oh thank god, that was totally a shot in the dark,” which makes Steve want to strangle her, though that lessens when Chrissy takes over and says: “She’s being modest. She just figured that out.”
“Well, it worked, so I count it as a win. Over,” Lucas replies and if Lucas is happy, Steve can live with Robin putting him in an early grave.
Then Nancy comes over the radio, professional as always, though an edge of relief and victory colors her voice. “Lets meet up at my house again. We’ll figure out our next move in the morning, it’s safer to stick together. Over.”
Dustin takes the radio from Lucas and says: “What about Eddie? Over.”
“I’m fine here, dude, don’t worry,” Eddie says.
It’s quiet for a second, then Dustin snootily tells him: “You’re supposed to say over. Over,” which is naturally an invitation for Eddie’s mockery. The banter makes Steve smile and relax. If they’re joking, they’re okay. Steve kept them safe. Steve did okay.
At the Wheeler house, the girls are already there, Robin back in her normal clothes, looking quite relieved about it. Chrissy next to her is smiling widely, headphones on her head. Steve hugs both of them tightly, happy that they’re alive and well.
“So, what is your anthem, Chris?” he asks her.
“Oh, uhm, I don’t really know. I’m not much of a music person, you know how my mom can get about it,” she answers with a shrug. “I borrowed some Madonna from Nancy, thought that was a safe enough bet.”
“Madonna can save anyone,” Steve assures her with a wink.
Max still doesn’t feel up to sleeping, which is understandable, she just saw a nightmare and nearly died.
Steve also doesn’t feel up to sleeping. He’s been having good nights, despite his wakefulness and the last thing he wants to do is scare the kids by waking up screaming. So, he pretends to sleep as he listens to Max draw and the feint sounds of Madonna from Chrissy on his one side and Robin’s breathing on the other.
Because he’s only dozing a little bit, he hears the radio crackle to life. Eddie’s voice says: “Hey, Dustin, this is Eddie the Banished. You there?”
He doesn’t hear Dustin get up to get the radio and apparently Eddie is tired of the quiet, because he tries again: “Dustin, can you hear me? Dustin? Earth to Dustin. Oh for fucks sake. Over.”
Steve snorts quietly at that. He also wouldn’t put it past Dustin to ignore Eddie because he isn’t saying over. While Eddie has been talking, he worked his way out from between Chrissy and Robin, who seek each other once he is gone.
He gives them a soft smile, before grabbing the radio and saying: “Not Dustin. Hope Steve is also good.”
“Stevie! Hey,” Eddie greets. Then adds sheepishly: “I didn’t want to wake you.”
“It’s fine, I was already awake,” Steve assures him.
“That’s good, that’s- Yeah, that’s good,” Eddie says. “Uhm, so you’re kind of out of food. I guess doing groceries kind of goes on the back burner when stuff like this goes down. But, uhm, I’m a bit hungry and I can’t really venture out in the world.”
“Yeah, no, don’t do that,” Steve agrees. “We’ll bring something by soon.”
“Great, thanks,” Eddie replies with a hesitance in his voice that is cleared up when he says: “I- I was wondering if you could pick me up a six pack? I know it’s stupid as shit, drinking right now, but a cold beer would really calm my jangled nerves and you don’t have any alcohol, which I respect, but you know…”
Steve hasn’t stopped drinking like he did smoking after Starcourt, but he has lessened it, only sharing a beer on occasion. He doesn’t mind others drinking more excessively in his presence, though he hasn’t really been to parties much to test that much. Still, he doesn’t think it is smart to drink right now, though that’s not his place to say.
As he thinks he looks around to the others, suddenly noticing the empty spot next to Lucas where Max is supposed to be. He freezes. Max is gone. Did something happen without any of them noticing? Who was supposed to be on watch?
“I’ll see what I can do, have to go now,” he tells Eddie, ignoring his protests as he shakes Nancy awake, who blinks blearily. “Nance,” he whispers. “Who is supposed to be on watch?”
“Mhm? Dustin,” Nancy replies, rubbing her eyes.
“Dustin is asleep and Max is gone,” Steve informs her. That snaps her awake and soon they’re both looking for Max, sheer relief washing over them as they find her at the kitchen table with Holly and some crayons, surrounded by drawings of a strange red world.
“Hey,” Steve greets her kindly, getting her attention as he sits down at the table with her.
Max looks up in surprise, before replying: “Hey.”
“You okay?” Steve asks, knowing the likely answer, while Nancy studies the drawings she is making.
“Just couldn’t sleep,” Max shrugs, both of them knowing it’s more than that. Though, she tries to play it off by joking: “People kept blasting music in my ears for some reason.” She chuckles, not fully successful, but better than Steve could have done in these circumstances. “But Holly let me borrow some crayons.”
Steve eyes drift over to Holly, before turning back to Max, who is now directing hew words at Holly, sounding more gentle than Steve has ever heard her as she says: “We’ve been having fun, right, Holly?”
Holly hums as she nods, completely absorbed in her own drawing and happy to sit with Max, who would be an amazing sister, if she is ever given the chance.
The moment is broken by Nancy, who asks: “Is this was you saw last night?” as she points to the drawings. The frown between her brows is familiar to Steve and he knows she found a thread to keep pulling at, convinced it will give her answers.
“I mean, it’s supposed to be,” Max tells her. “I thought it’d be easier to draw it out than to explain, but not so much.”
What Max describes at Nancy’s questions sounds horrifying. Steve is glad to have not seen it, but he would have a thousand times over if it meant Max didn’t have to. She is trying to hide it, but he can tell she is shaken up and he doesn’t blame her for it.
However, with what she says and has drawn, Nancy is able to figure out that the house she saw is the Creel house. It isn’t much, but it’s something. A lead. A place to start.
They gather the troops and go to explore the house. Steve hasn’t been with Chrissy or Robin once and he wants to stick with them. But Nancy takes control and assigns him with Dustin. He doesn’t mind being with the kid, he loves him, but he has been able to check on him consistently throughout this whole thing, while Chrissy and Robin continue to stay out of his periphery.
He trusts both girls to be fine and of course he wants Robin to be able to have time with Chrissy, but this is Robin’s second time going through this and Chrissy’s first. He is just worried for them. So, so worried.
But, he knows Nancy is the better planner, so he lets her assign him to Dustin as they explore the house. He has not clue what they’re looking for, because he had been busy making sure they had everything with them here to be safe when it was explained. Like extra batteries for the two walkmans.
He is checking one of the rooms for something more creepy than the normal creepy that haunts the abandoned house when he feels something on his head and startles backwards as he sees a spider, walking into Nancy, who immediately asks: “What’s wrong?”
“There was a spider,” he admits, feeling a little silly about it.
“What?”
“It’s a black widow,” he explains, because that will make it slightly better.
“Okay,” Nancy smiles in that small way of her as she looks up at him from under her lashes.
“Don’t go in there,” he warns, unsure what to do now, because that is a smile he recognizes, but can’t place in this setting. Why is she looking at him like they’re still together?
Steve is about to walk away when Nancy stops him and reaches for the back of his head as she plucks off some left over cobwebs or dust. The whole thing feels a little too intimate and Steve feels a bit uncomfortable. He doesn’t like Nancy like that, plus she is with Jonathan and Steve does not help anyone cheat, nor does he cheat himself. He refuses.
After thanking her, he tries to walk away but she is kind of blocking him. As if she has sensed it, Robin comes walking by, saying: “If there’s a spider, you’re never gonna find it until it lays eggs and the babies spill out.”
It is the grossest thing and Steve does a full body shudder. She knows how he hates it when she says things like that and he knows she knows by the little shit eating grin she gives him when he exclaims: “What is wrong with you? Robin, seriously.”
She chuckles evilly, dragging Chrissy behind her, who is hiding her own giggle behind her hand, the traitor.
Nancy is raising a questioning eyebrow at him, then Robin. He pretends to be annoyed, but his voice is too fond, as he says: “She’s got problems.”
“Tell me about it,” Nancy says and it makes Steve’s skin crawl. She sounds too familiar, too close, when she isn’t. Steve has seen her annoyance at Robin. Her judgment at Robin’s comment about the spider eggs. He doesn’t like it.
“Robin is the best there is,” he says. “I like her oddities.”
At that, Nancy looks a bit confused, before she asks: “Oh, are you two together? Robin said not, but maybe I misunderstood.”
“No, no, we’re platonic, capital P,” Steve quickly says, he doesn’t want to date Robin or have anyone think that. He can’t imagine faking romantic attraction in the midst of all this stress. “She is my best friend.”
“I’m glad you found someone like that,” Nancy tells him, sounding a bit too condescending or coddling for Steve’s taste. “You know after the whole thing at school. You could’ve come sit with me and Jonathan, you know that, right?”
Steve suppresses a scoff, that would have been so much worse. Not just the rumors, but also having to sit with Nancy, who broke his heart despite neither having been in love with the other. Not to mention Jonathan, the guy that stole his girlfriend, never liked Steve and who Steve had a pathetic crush on for a bit. No thanks.
“It’s okay,” he says, not wanting to start anything. “I was okay. But thanks.”
Then he walks off, looking into a room where Chrissy and Robin are giggling together. He catches Robin’s eye and winks at her. She blushes in return and covertly sticks up her finger at him. Sweet vengeance for the spider eggs thing.
Searching the whole house, and finding nothing so far, takes time, so it’s getting late by the time they finally get something. The lights have flickered, much like they had done for Will when he was trapped at the other side. Much like the demogorgon had done.
Steve feels himself tensing, but before he can panic a hand is holding his, warm and steady. He looks to the side and there is Robin, giving him a smile. She remembers what he told her on those sleepless nights. About how the lights had flickered and a monster had come through the walls of the house. How scared he still is of them.
God, he loves Robin.
He’s distracted by Chrissy, who nudges his shoulder. She might not know about his fear, but she saw Robin comfort him and that had been enough for her. Steve doesn’t know what he did to get this lucky with his friends, but he embraces it nonetheless.
“Vecna is here. In this house. Just on the other side,” Lucas says out loud, realizing what is happening and putting it into words.
The light goes out and Robin says: “I think he just left the room.”
“Did he hear us?” Max asks and a fear grips Steve’s heart as he asks: “Can he see us?”
“Headphones,” Lucas says immediately and both Chrissy and Max immediately start playing their songs, so they can’t be taken.
Nancy has been thinking and must have deducted something, because she says: “Wait. Everyone turn off your flashlights. We can track him.”
While Steve hates the flickering lights, he hates the idea of the dark empty house more, but it is their best bet and everyone turns off their lights, so Steve follows. They spread out as they try to find him, walking through creaking, hollow halls.
Robin yells first. “I got him! Got him!” Her flashlight glowing as she holds it up and attempts to follow. “I got him!” She sounds excited, which dies out when the flashlight does and she apologetically says: “I- I had him.”
“Ah,” Steve exclaims when his light suddenly turns on, before he realizes what it is and starts to follow. “Oh, I think he’s moving. He’s moving.”
The others follow after Steve as they walk through the house, until Steve’s flashlight also goes dark again. He curses: “Shit, I lost him.”
“No, you didn’t,” Max says, shouldering through the group to walk towards something. She opens a door that Steve had missed and a glowing, flickering light comes from above them.
Max peers in tentatively and nothing happens, so she walks further. Steve immediately follows, because god knows what’s up there. The others are close behind them, Robin complaining and Dustin cursing.
In the attic all their flashlights start going crazy and they know they have found where Vecna resides. It’s a little crazy to think they’re in the very same room as the man who murdered two teens, just a layer of reality separating them.
By now, it’s already dark and Steve knows how everyone’s parents will be worried. But they’re making huge steps. If they let them go home now, they’re never getting out again, except for maybe Karen Wheeler. They’ll likely spend the night there again and then in the morning, they can do groceries and tell Eddie about their discoveries.
At that point, Steve can’t know what is happening to Eddie, to the cabin.
The group tentatively searches the attic to see if there is anything more to be found, before they leave. Steve is more keeping watch, than searching for clues, but with the amount of eyes they have, he’s sure none of them mind.
Because he is keeping watch, he is the one that spots when Chrissy stands on a bit of flooring that doesn’t look very secure. He calls out: “Chris, that doesn’t look stable.”
Chrissy looks back at Steve, then his words register and she looks down. In slow motion, Steve watches as her eyes grow wide in terror and she lets out a scream as the floor breaks out from under her.
All of the others yell and Steve has to drag them away from the unsafe spot, before more people follow after her. With everyone safely out of the way, he is sprinting down the steps, grateful for the years of sports that enable him to hurry as he hears Robin stumble after him.
As it turns out, Chrissy has fallen on a soft surface. There had been a bedroom under the attic and she is just fine as she lays on the bed. Steve feels like he can breathe again, while the dust – which had been on the bed – quite literally settles around them.
“Thank god,” he says partially to himself, only to notice that Chrissy is lying quite still and not responding to what has just happened to her. Worry is back immediately and Steve runs to the bed to check if she is alive or if she snapped her neck during the fall.
She is lying stock still in the center of the bed. Her eyes are rolled back, not seeing anything as she lays there. The walkman next to her is smashed to pieces, having been broken while she fell through the floor.
Chrissy is under the curse.
~~
A/N:
I am feeling evil today with that cliff hanger >:3
Btw, I’m making it a little easy on myself by sticking to the show’s plot beats, but it’s not going to be the same completely. Hopefully these chapters are enjoyable, despite being similar to season 4 itself :D
Also, I never know what to do with Nancy, bc a lot of shit she gets is thinly veiled misogyny, but she is also insane and I dislike her, while I also think she’s fascinating, so I’m trying to respect her while also not being very friendly towards her
Steddie fluff (going back to my ROOTS and writing the gays)
Eddie with kids make Steve short-circuit. Holly is maybe a little younger here than she actually is in s4?
Steve Harrington is a lot of things. He’s athletic, well-groomed, charming, and an all-around cool guy if you’re not asking anyone that actually spends any time with him. He’s also incredibly romantic, loyal to a fault, and would do anything for his friends; which is how he ends up leaving the comfort of his home on a cold winter evening to cover Nancy’s babysitting duties. He wasn’t even sure of the reason she was asking for his help, just said yes in favor of gaining back some lost time with one of his many younger pals.
When Mike walked through the basement door with his hand in his little sister’s, Eddie nearly blew a gasket. Erica Sinclair was one thing, she could keep up with the campaign and didn’t need a chaperone to go to the bathroom, but Holly was a toddling liability. She could choke on a figurine or get scared by the monster voices or shove a crayon so far up her nose they needed to stop and drive her to the ER!
Eddie didn’t say any of this, though, because he had picked up some grace from his boyfriend. His boyfriend who cooed at babies in line at the mall and teared up at the end of romantic comedies when they flash-forward to the husband and wife and kids moving into a Victorian house on the corner. His boyfriend who was softening Eddie’s edges day in and day out just by being around him.
Steve was smooth to the eye, keys to his BMW twirling around his finger and sunglasses blocking out the sappy look he gave everyone in his life. But as soon as the keys were in the bowl by the door and the sunglasses were off, he melted into his slippers and practically morphed into a house cat.
So when Steve strolled into the school basement all eloquence and suaveness flew out of the window so small it was a fire hazard. Eddie had Holly on his knee, arm wrapped around her small body like a safety bar on a roller coaster. She was giggling and clapping her hands like she really was at an amusement park, while Eddie was shaking her gently and having her roll the dice for him. Steve didn’t stand a chance.
“Incredible roll, master-in-training!” Eddie said to Holly in a similar voice to when he praised Steve the few and far between times he joined the game. “With your additional 2 strength, that brings your total to a six, so it’s a miss,” Eddie told Mike.
“That doesn’t count, though, I didn’t roll my own dice,” the middle Wheeler child immediately began to fight, as is their nature. “Holly, no,” he scooped the dice up off the table as his sister was about to pick them up from where she dropped them, mere inches away. Her face scrunched up, ready to lunge across the table at her brother and kick and scream until she got what she wanted. She wasn’t a baby anymore, she could express her emotions, although right now the only one she was feeling was unadulterated anger.
“Mike!” she screeched, taking a page out of her older sister’s book, piercing the ears of anyone still left in the school this late after hours. Dustin, Will, and Lucas cringed like they had heard this a million times before, because they had. The only thing missing was Mrs. Wheeler rushing down the stairs to scoop up her baby and take her upstairs for ice cream.
“Woah, Munchkin, give a guy a chance to put in some ear-plugs before you do that again,” Eddie leaned away and dramatically tugged on his ear. Holly turned toward him, not used to having her tantrums interrupted so quickly.
“If you make any more noise the dragon is going to waltz right in here and eat us all up, and I don’t think I’ll be able to stop him by myself,” he said, peering towards the door and seeing Steve for the first time. Eddie winked quickly at him before turning back towards the toddler on his lap. She huffed and looked at Mike’s hand that was still gripping the dice she had become friendly with.
“Mike,” she repeated, pleading her case to the judge and jury.
“I know, he’s one of our weaker soldiers, but we have to let him come along. He brings the babes,” he ran his finger back and forth along her smooth cheek, bringing a smile to her face yet again. “Wheeler, give your little sister the god damn dice or I am going to have her replace you full-time,” Eddie said through clenched teeth. And just like they were in the Wheeler basement, he began to fight back.
“Eddie-”
“Hi, Miss Holly!” Steve swooped in, then, thinking if he had to look at Eddie firmly mediate a petty argument between the siblings for another minute his heart would burst right through his chest, Alien-style. “What say you and me go see if there’s some stuff laying around in the gym to play with?” he reached down and expected his small friend to extend her arms up toward him like she usually did. Instead, he was met with a shake of her head and the pleasure of seeing Eddie try not to yelp when she tugged on a lock of his hair less than gently.
“No, I want to stay,” she scrambled closer to Eddie’s chest and hugged her little arms around his neck, effectively melting Steve’s heart. He couldn’t be upset that she liked his boyfriend more than him, it was so sweet he felt a new cavity coming in.
Eddie and Holly both looked up at Steve with their big round eyes, begging him not to separate them. Just one would have done, but with the two of them looking up at him he would have figured out a way to bend the laws of gravity.
“Okay, I’ll be over here if you need me,” he spoke to Holly but it was meant for both of them. Steve almost floated to his corner of the room, powered by his adoration. Eddie continued the game, involving Holly as much as he could and giving Mike just as much trouble. Steve was melting.
It wasn’t that Steve resented being the Carol Brady of their balky bunch, but watching Eddie taking over was so endearing. Like a mother whose children had all grown up, Steve missed being around little kids, even though he didn’t know his kids in question until they were well past this age. They still needed him, then, though, and now he was just a nice-to-have.
Holly needed him. In fact, she was obsessed with him. When he and Nancy were together, he only needed ten minutes with the smallest Wheeler before she trusted him completely, falling asleep on a very uncomfortable Steve at the time. Now, if he ran into Mrs. Wheeler in town or needed to drop by their house for something, which was happening less and less now, it took all of his strength not to ask if he could watch her for the night.
So he was enjoying playing parent for the night, sue him! Holly was adorable, and seeing Eddie so considerate of her played right into his fantasy. He was content to sit there and flick through the old magazine he borrowed from Eddie, but his head snapped up when he heard someone exclaim what sounded like a whimper of pain.
Naturally, his eyes went right to the head of the table, where he saw Holly scrunching up her face, her finger in the air like it had surprised her, and Eddie looking frozen. Mike had his character sheet in his hand, and it was clear by the angle of his arm that he snatched it away from his baby sister.
Before Steve could even stand up the screaming had started.
“Oh come on, Honey, it’s just a paper cut,” Eddie repositioned the girl so she was facing him and took her finger between his own. Her face was growing redder as she pushed her lungs to the absolute limit, making noises that Eddie thought were reserved for horror movies. Before he, or Mike, could do any additional damage Steve swooped in.
“Hi, Darling,” he said, getting to the scene of the crime in just a few steps.
“Hi,” Eddie breathed out. Steve smiled both at his assumption that Steve was talking to him and to soothe Holly.
They switched responsibilities easily, growing together quickly and effectively enough to no longer have to think about what they needed from one another, it was instinct at this point in their relationship. Eddie lifted Holly up so Steve could grab her more easily, and he happily did. Their roles reversed now as Eddie looked admirably upon Steve being so gracious and caring with Holly. He never thought the sight of someone taking care of an ankle-biter would melt his cold heart, but he also never thought that he would be dating Steve Harrington either.
It got to him because he knew how soothing Steve’s hands were when they were rubbing your back. He knew how his voice whispering in your ear could deescalate your feelings, no matter how big they were. He knew how being wrapped in his arms could make even the most difficult of problems seem like they were an easy hurdle to pass. Steve was magic, and being under his spell made you feel invincible.
Holly could feel the effects, too, evidently, as she quickly calmed down. One lap around the hallway and she bounced back into the room like nothing had ever happened. If Steve just so happened to lift her up again in time for her tiny, sparkly, sneaker to collide with her brother’s head than he did it so smoothly no accusation could be made
“All better, Princess?” Eddie asked, much more stiff now with her sharing his throne than he was before. She nodded, and the two of them looked up at Steve with the same sparkle in their eyes. He winked and both of their hearts fluttered, feeling incredibly lucky to have his attention.
“You’re such a baby,” Mike grumbled.
“I am so telling Nancy,” Eddie sighed, like he had no other choice. Steve laughed his embarrassing laugh that reminded his boyfriend he was just as weird as he was, but it just made him more charming.
“No!” Eddie’s ability to get underneath the skin of their younger adversaries put him on a pedestal high enough that even Steve couldn’t climb it.
It starts with Jonathan and Argyle.
Steve’s not exactly sure how things go in California, he’s never been after all, but no one says anything so he assumes it’s probably normal. He’s not so judgmental anymore. Hasn’t been in a long time and he’s finding life’s a lot better like that.
So it’s probably normal.
They gather for movie nights most weekends, just the older teens in Eddie’s trailer. Sometimes they go to Steve’s when his parents aren’t home, or the Wheeler’s when the kids aren’t using the basement. But Wayne works night shifts, so the trailer is usually their number one choice.
No adults, not that Wayne would mind the beer or the weed, but it’s nice to be able to talk freely without having to think about the NDA they all signed.
This week they picked the Breakfast Club, again. Argyle came to visit from California and he hadn’t seen it yet. It’s fine. Movie nights aren’t really about the movie anyway.
Robin and Nancy are tucked together on the couch, sharing a throw blanket and a bucket of popcorn, bumping shoulders like girls often do. When they settled in, they called dibs on the couch, leaving the boys to the floor.
Jonathan and Argyle are next to him, on a pile of pillows, doing what can only reasonably be described as cuddling.
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