Will stomped to Melvald's, a rather large cloud of frustration hanging over his head. Mike and Lucas were too worried about their stupid girlfriends to bother playing D&D. . .again. He doesn't get it. What's so great about having girlfriends? He didn't get the appeal. He wished Dustin were here. He always understood. He burst into the store, not really paying attention to where he was going. He didn't realize that Hopper was in there talking to Joyce.
"I can come back," Will said when they looked at him.
"No, honey, come on in," Joyce said. "Is there something wrong?"
"Mike and Lucas blew me off for their stupid girlfriends again!" Will exclaimed.
"Hey," Hopper said. "I get that you're upset but that's my daughter."
"Sorry, you know that I don't think that El is stupid, just that Mike is spending all his time with her," Will said, and Joyce snorted.
"Hopper was just complaining about the very same thing," Joyce said.
"It is stupid. . .they're always together, and they're always kissing," Hopper said, scowling. "They're only 13!"
"Always?" Will asked.
"Yes, they never seem to come up for air!" Hopper yelled.
"That doesn't sound very healthy," Will said.
"See? The kid agrees with me," Hopper said, clapping a hand on his shoulder.
"Emphasis on kid," Joyce teased, and Hopper glared at her.
"Don't they know that other people exist, too?" Will asked.
"Doubt they can see anything else," he scoffed.
"They're young and in love, this phase will pass," Joyce said. "Sometimes, they do this when they're infatuated. It might seem like forever, but they'll find a balance eventually. You just have to be patient."
"Yeah, right," Will and Hopper both said, crossing their arms and rolling their eyes.
"I just don't like girls," Will frowned.
Hopper and Joyce went quiet as they shared a look.
"Oh, well, sweetheart," she said, taking his hand. "That's okay, that's more than okay. You know, I love you, right? Nothing is ever going to change that. I don't find anything wrong with that, I'd be hypocritical considering what I did when I was younger and still do now. You're not alone, baby."
"I love you, too, mom," Will said, smiling.
What was she talking about, though? He shook his head mentally. He didn't want to know what she did when she was younger, and he wasn't sure what it had to do with him not liking girls.
"Do you want me to leave?" Hopper asked.
"What? No," Will said. "Why? Did I say something wrong?"
"What?! No, of course, not!" Hopper exclaimed. "It's alright to like whatever you like. . .never got why people would be so upset by it. . .you know, some people like different things. Some people like oranges, you know, just oranges, and some people just like bananas. . .you know there are some people like both at the same time. . . Some like a variety. . .it all depends. Hell, I'm not good at this. . .anyway, like your mother said, I would be a hypocrite, too. She knows that more than anyone."
"People eat oranges and bananas at the same time?" Will asked.
"Well, it depends on how talented a person is," Hopper smirked proudly.
"Hopper!" Joyce scolded and then laughed.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Will asked in confusion. "I'm lost. I thought we were talking about the fact that I'm never going to find a girl I like."
Joyce and Hopper's eyes met again as their eyes widened like they realized they had messed up.
"We were just trying to make you feel less awkward about not finding a girl you like," Joyce said. "And that it's okay if you never do."
"Mission accomplished, I guess," Will laughed. "That was even more awkward than my thing."
"Well, you know, you can always be honest with us about anything, you know that, right?" Joyce asked. "I mean, when you're ready. . .I'm happy with whatever makes you happy."
Will stared at his mother. Should he tell her? Oh, he should. Will took a deep breath.
"Mom. . .," Will said, and she gave him a look of encouragement. "I hate the bowl cuts you give me. There, I said it."
"What?" Joyce asked in surprise.
"I'm sorry, but mom, they're terrible. They make me look like a mushroom!" Will exclaimed, and Hopper howled with laughter.
Joyce gave him a look, but she couldn't help but laugh with him.
"That's it? Oh, honey, how long have you been feeling this way?" She asked.
"A while," he admitted.
"I'm not hurt, although it hurts me a little to know that you were so miserable," Joyce said, chuckling. "Next time, don't be so afraid to tell me something like that. We'll figure something else out."
"If you want, I can cut your hair, and I promise not to make you look like a mushroom," Hopper grinned.
"Thanks, Hop," Will said.
"Whenever you're ready. . .in the meantime, maybe I'll never play the game, but I wouldn't mind hearing what it's all about," Hopper said. "Who knows? Maybe I can figure something out. If it sounds like fun, I'll give it a try."
"You want to hear me talk about D&D?" Will asked.
"Yeah," Hopper said, smiling softly at him.
Will beamed. Lonnie never wanted to hear about his game or even try to play. Mom and Jonathan always loved to hear him talk about it. Even though they didn't play, they listened to him like Hopper was trying to now. Will bit his tongue. He so badly wanted to say "thanks, dad" because Hopper had always been more of a father than Lonnie ever had been. Will didn't know what else to do except to throw himself into Hopper's arms, hugging him tightly.
"Aw," he heard Joyce mutter.
Will led Hopper to a couple of chairs up front and started pulling out his notebooks along with his manuals. Will fired off immediately, talking rapidly and passionately about his character. He could feel eyes on them both, however. Will glanced up briefly to find Joyce staring fondly at them both, her eyes drifting more towards Hopper. She didn't even notice when a customer came in.
"Mom?" Will called out. "Mom?! There's a customer!"
"Oh!" Joyce exclaimed and cursed when she knocked something off the counter.
Stupid, Will thought affectionately. Maybe love made you do stupid things, and he thought about Nancy sneaking out of Jonathan's room so many times, nearly making them late for work. . .yeah, Will never wanted to fall in love. . .he never wanted to be that stupid. It was cute on his mom and Hopper, though he wished they'd stop being so dumb. He wished they would get together. They were already practically a family. Stupid, Will thought again.
be mindful of why you're on tumblr to read fanfics readers, u see how i don't post hateful comments on other writers' works, cause that's very inconsiderate and not cutesy. instead, if i don't like the fic i simply stop reading it and move on to read another fic that i'll like, very demure, very respectful, very approachable. let's be mindful 🙄
As someone who’s job is to handle chemicals like this, I need to state that this information is IMPORTANT. Plenty of people have accidentally injured or killed themselves at home because they didn’t know what kind of reaction certain substances have with one another. Play it safe and don’t mix chemicals.
Steve, Robin, Dustin, Max, and Kaya pulled into the driveway and Kaya bolted from the car, her backpack bouncing behind her full of Eddie’s things. Everyone behind her had a bag of groceries walking into the boat house. Kaya yanked the door open and announced herself.
“Ed” She called “It’s Kay”
Eddie bolted up from his hiding spot and yanked her into his arms. The two held one another through their hardest times before this, this time was just the same.
“I brought you clothes, pj’s, and things for your hair, everyone else got clothes, Wayne knows you didn’t do it to Chrissy-”
“Andrea Kaya, take a breath” No one called her Andrea, not since their dad was finally put in jail.
But it worked, she took a breath.
“Good or bad news first?”
As the news was shared Eddie gorged himself on food. The news was awful in her mind.
She sat on the floor and leaned her head against Dustin’s leg as everyone shared their experiences with the DND named monsters and Russians.
“I’m sorry but Mike’s girlfriend is supergirl, Steve and Robin were interrogated by communists, and Chrissy Cunningham was murdered by Vecna?” Kaya cued back into the conversation. Confused and scared.
“Kaya I want you to go home and stay out of this. You and Wayne need to go down to Kentucky and stay with aunt Rosie and get the hell away from Hawkins” Eddie’s eyes were wide with panic hearing everything that had happened in the past few years. He stood quickly and went into the kitchen, pulling a beer out of the fridge and cracking it open. “I don't want you to argue with me. I know you don’t like Rosie or her husband but you need to get out of Hawkins. I love you and Wayne too much to get caught up in this because of me.”
Kaya’s eyes begun to fill with tears, ready to argue with her brother about how they’ve always faced things together and that she was going to stay and help. She was quickly silenced by Eddie by squeezing her tight between his arms and holding his face to her hair.
“Steve, I want you to take her back to Waynes and tell him to get out of Hawkins. I am not letting you go down with me kiddo” Eddie let his sister go and pulled Dustin into him “I want you to make sure she leaves. Watch her get into Wayne's truck and watch them until they’re out of Hawkins.” Eddie’s head dropped and he sighed deeply before hugging her again quickly and pushing her and Dustin to the door.
The entire ride back to Forest Hills was silent, excluding quiet sniffles from Kaya as they pulled onto the main road. She watched silently from the porch as Steve and Wayne spoke. She could tell from the distance that her uncle agreed that they would leave tonight.
As much as he loved his daughter, he wanted to smother her with a pillow, sleep was a rarity now that she’s lived with them and learned that screaming her head off is the way to be fed or changed.
Four in the morning. Four in the fucking morning.
“Flora Katherine, I’m getting up. You will get what you need. Little brat” he muttered the part about her being a brat under his breath. Knowing she oddly understood when he was being grumpy towards her.
Wayne was home, he held a warm bottle out to the teen father, Eddie muttered a thanks and rushed back into his room.
She ate but whimpered as he started putting her down to go back to sleep.
“Okay Bug, wanna hear a song?” He remembered his mom singing him many Beatles songs growing up “Hey Jude…”
She fell back asleep before he finished the song and they slept like that, Eddie holding her close to his chest and her drooling onto him.
They woke up only a few hours later for Eddie to get ready for work. He did his routine and laid Flora in Wayne's bed so he could get ready and then got her ready.
They had been rotating her onesies in and out for the last two weeks and Wayne had told him to get her some things while he was on break today when they said goodbye to each other
On the way to the mall Flora slept like a dream and it was silent. Eddie walked in like normal and said hello to the old ladies playing bridge like usual, they cooed over Flora and he continued on to Scoops.
He got to work opening and fell into routine, this summer would be good, he’d deal less and maybe be able to take Flora and do fun things with her like the pool. By the end of it all he would maybe have enough saved up to rent an apartment and she could have a nice life until they left Hawkins.
Eddie constructed a life for her in his head, thoughts of taking her to the playground and bandaging her scraped knees. One day she would ride a bike and he could teach her how to drive when she’s older.
He would do everything for her.
“Morning Eddie” Robin walked in and they fist bumped like normal.
“Hey Robin”
“Good morning baby” She cooed at Flora who was slowly waking up from her slumber. Having Flora in his baby carrier helped with the tips a lot. Robin helped get her into the device and they started the finishing touches on opening up shop.
Steve came in later than Eddie, Robin opened most days, claiming even thought she wasn’t a morning person, that she liked opening the shop because it wasn’t as busy in the morning
The trio got through the rush easily since they had developed their routine. Then before long Eddie noticed he could take his break, he only had 30 minutes to grab food for himself, eat, and get his little girl some new clothes
“Shit.” Steve turned to Eddie with a look of concern “I have to get food during the lunch rush and then run to get Flora some new clothes, we’re running out of clean onesies fast these days” Steve held his hands out, in an offering
“I can take Flora if you run and grab her some onesies, I’d recommend a 3-6 month one, maybe some socks for when it gets cold back here.” Eddie gave him a blank look “My cousin has a baby.”
Eddie bowed slightly in a thankful gesture, before running out into the mall in a full sprint, hoping to knock out the shopping before getting food so he would be able to eat while it was still warm.
The mothers in the Bye Bye Baby gave him enough weird looks for a lifetime as he was grabbing multiples of different colored onesies and socks, grabbing some toys for good measure, slapping everything down on the counter while showing his mall discount and slapping the money down.
Looking down at his watch told him that he was only 8 minutes into his break.
New record.
After running with the bag of baby things to the food court and cutting many people in line Eddie had time to run into the back and scarf down his Chinese food without going over his 30 minutes for a break.
“Dude. You should be on the track team, or football team” Robin looked at him in awe
“I’m a drug dealer, well I was, I know how to run and dodge” Eddie said with a mouthful of fried rice. “But I played football for a year in middle school, I broke my elbow so my uncle said no to another season. Too broke for all the injuries.” Steve handed Flora back, her wide eyes looking up at her dad as he shoveled food into his mouth and bounced her.
“You got her a lovey?” Steve’s voice broke the sound of food and Floras giggling as she was bounced
“That’s what it's called? I just called it a jojo when I was little. I thought it would be nice, I had one when I was a baby and had it forever, a little piece of me she can have when I finally find someone to watch her while I work” Eddie closed up his to go box and tossed it away in the trash before playing with Flora a little bit.
Robin signaled that the break was over and Eddie went back out front.
The rest of the Friday rush went smoothly and they were all able to go home before midnight for once.
disliking stranger things is a red flag. its also an orange flag. and a yellow flag. and a green flag. and a blue flag. and a purple flag. you’re in the rainbow room. YOU are like PAPA.
it’s always “i love you” and never “what the hell is going on? i mean with you what’s going on with you? you know what i mean. i know you i know you better then anyone, this isn’t you. what are you doing? living at your grandparents place? being in the dar? no yale- WHY DID YOU DROP OUT OF YALE? it’s not, it’s not complicated. this isn’t you! this- you going out with this jerk? with a porsche? we made fun of guys like this! this isn’t about him! okay? screw him! what’s going on with you? this isn’t you rory you know it isn’t, what’s going on?”
sometimes i see posts of steve and max where they call steve "the brother max deserves" and it always irks me a little because billy was the brother max deserved, they just killed him before he could properly show it. 🤦🏻♀️
she had a brother, they (the writers) just didnt use him very well. clearly by s3, billy and max were on good enough terms for her to mourn him all the way into s4. her grief and survivor's guilt and the trauma not just from his death but from living in an abusive home and being part of that abusive cycle are the reasons she gets targeted by vecna, and there's an entire episode titled after the letter she writes to him and reads to his gravestone. the last words he ever says are an apology to her.
calling steve the brother she deserves like billy isnt an integral part of her character, like billy isnt worth considering or looking at or like he doesnt exist, like he's somehow a villain that was cast upon max, a punishment she didnt deserve... that aint it. it takes away from their character backgrounds and the nuances held within them imo.
i love steve but the brother max deserves is a living billy, shuttling her around in his camaro and calling her "shitbird" and being like a real brother and sister, the way she wishes for in her letter. i have no doubt that had billy survived starcourt, they would have gotten there. they just chose to let him die instead. :/
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