The Red Widow @opheliaesmeelancaster - Tumblr Blog

— Florence —

Once she had handed Steve the poster, she had to turn the others upside-down in her lap so she couldn’t look at them, couldn’t see Henry’s smiling face. It was painful, and whilst she didn’t think for one moment that he was gone, it still hurt. She knew that they’d find him eventually, they had to, they just had to know where to look. But there was no doubt in her mind that Henry would come home… because she didn’t know what she’d do if he didn’t. Her eyes watered as she stared out of the window and she lifted her hand to wipe her eyes discreetly, not wanting Steve to see. It was a little sad to know that their friendship was at a point where she didn’t want him to see her upset, but there were much bigger things to dwell on than that. She could worry about her friendship with Steve when Henry was home. Her brother missed him being around too, which she knew for a fact. Maybe with Steve looking too, there really was a better chance of finding him. Henry would surely go to Steve if he saw him.

“Thank you.” Even though she knew that Steve would call without her having to ask, it was a relief to hear him say it. It had been too long since she had heard his voice over the phone, but the awkwardness could be put aside for Henry. Hell, if it wasn’t for her brother going missing she probably wouldn’t even have approached Steve in the hallway. And maybe if it wasn’t for Henry he wouldn’t have spoken to her either. Was he only helping because he felt pity for her? She tried not to dwell on it, but Steve’s true intentions was a mystery. Did he care for her, or was it all just out of pity? Out of obligation because they used to be close. “Thank you for helping,” She mumbled. For whatever reason he helped, she was grateful. It just depended on what reason he helped to how upset she’d be once it was all over, and he stopped talking to her again. “You didn’t have to, I only was planning on giving you the poster.” She admitted quietly, fingertips toying with the edges of the posters in her lap.

Florence sighed and nodded her head. The question was almost superficial from Steve; if anybody was going to understand how sad the situation was for Johnathan, it was her. She felt a little guilty for not reaching out to the boy sooner, but she had been busy. She’d been so busy between searching for Henry, talking to the police, and making the posters that she’d slept all of six hours in the past three days. “I hope that Henry and Will are together,” she mumbled, getting a little lost as she continued staring out of the window, eyes a little unfocused. “That wherever they are, whatever happened, they found each other.” Her throat was thick and she had to swallow as she closed her eyes for a moment. At Steve’s next question she scoffed, frowning in an anger that had been bubbling inside ever since the police last spoke to her and her mother. “They said they’re keeping the case open to any possibilities at the moment.” She huffed, tone dripping with distaste.

She nodded at the plan and glanced back towards Steve. “Yeah… I’m sure they’ll let us put up posters inside. If Henry was there someone must’ve seen him,” she replied, determined. Someone must’ve seen him. There was someone in Hawkins who knew what had happened. At his next words she nodded, a small smile over her lips as she looked at him. “Thank you… and it does help.” It helped to know that Steve cared, for the first time in what felt like a while. She unbuckled her seatbelt once they were in the parking lot, but her hand hovered over the door handle at his words, and she swallowed thickly as she turned back towards him. “I know,” her voice was small again, like a child, and she hated it. “I know, thank you,” she nodded her head, and watched as Steve opened his door and she turned to get out of the passenger side herself, before she couldn’t help blurting out her next words, “Was it my fault?” She let the question sit in the air for a moment as she hugged the posters to her chest, the confidence coming only because Steve had mentioned the wedge in their friendship first. “Did I do something that made you change your mind about being friends with me?”

— Eddie —

He felt like he needed to keep the grip on her hand to understand that what she was telling him was real. She wasn’t joking, he wasn’t dreaming, this wasn’t some high induced haze; there really had been a fire at the mall, and people really had died. The more she told him the more ill he felt at the thought of her being there, and the more thankful he was that she had come to him. Eddie watched as she glanced away and a worried frown replaced the shocked expression on his face. His fingers laced with hers in a silent comfort, not pushing the answer to come quicker. For a moment he debated on telling her that it didn’t matter, that she didn’t have to worry about it for now, but the name slipped past her lips before he had the chance to and he was left staring in shock again. “Hargrove?” The thought of Billy, Hawkins new King he supposed, being dead - it just didn’t make sense. “Shit…” Eddie sighed, and squeezed her hand again. “Are you okay?”

“At least they were fine, I’m glad. I’m glad you were too,” his words were serious and soft, a rare genuineness, before a small smile crept across his lips and, “who else is gonna be my number one fan?” He didn’t push her to say anything else when she fell silent, hoping to instead distract her from the horrors of the night. He watched as she glanced down, saw the slumped posture that only one who had witnessed something awful could hold, and he didn’t hesitate before pulling her into a hug, his arms crossing over her back to hold her close. No words were shared - he didn’t want to make her think of it again - but he gently rubbed the space between her shoulder blades with the heel of his palm before he pulled away, a smile curving at his lips directed towards her.

At her comment he chuckled and shook his head, fondness behind the roll of his eyes. “Of course not, you’d probably sacrifice me for some good ol’ ice cream,” he teased, and gently nudged his knee against her leg. At her next comment he nodded, grinning. “Guess you’ll just have to find somewhere else to get me ice cream from. I’m not cleaning you up for free, y’know. I think I deserve some raspberry ripple in return for my services.” His tone was of mock seriousness as a dumb smile was unrelenting over his expression. He just wanted to distract her; make her smile, make her laugh. Anything but the shell of her usual self that had turned up at his trailer. He smiled at her promise, genuine and not joking. “And I promise to win you a ridiculously big teddy bear. You have to call him Eddie, though, ‘cos otherwise the deal’s off and I’ll just get you a rubber duck.”

At the comment about a pillow he rolled his eyes. “Shut up, you know I wasn’t being serious,” he grumbled, too concentrated on cleaning her up to think of another snarky response. He looked down at her arm as she rolled her sleeve up and nodded silently. Eddie grabbed another wipe, and gently held her arm as he wiped the cut, his fingers splayed out across her wrist to keep her arm steady. “Sorry,” he apologised for the sting he knew she’d feel from the alcohol on her wound. But at her next comment his eyes flickered back up to her face, a smile growing. “Wow, finally? What’s it been, like fifty years?” He grinned, and a chuckle passed his lips. “But sure, I’ll show you how to make a character and everything, if you-“ it was more the shock of her lips against his that cut him off and left him frozen for a good few seconds. But once he’d gathered his bearings, really felt the softness of her lips against hers, the warmth of her skin, his hand dropped the wipe and instead cupped the side of her neck as he kissed her back. But he was just as shocked by his own actions as she was hers when she pulled away, eyes widening at the realisation that he’d fucking kissed Ophelia. “N-no it’s, it’s fine, I’m sorry too,” he didn’t quite know why he was apologising too, but his brain was a little frazzled by the kiss. His eyes flickered back towards her lips and he had to stop himself and look back up, mind starting to wander. “Was i at least a good kisser?” He joked, ignoring the light blush that was probably rising to his pale cheeks.

-- Steve --

Steve Harrington was a lot of things to different people. Class clown, popular kid, rich kid, a bad friend even but there was one thing that few people knew— he was observant when he needed to be; when it came to those that he cared about. Florence, whether she believe it or not, still very firmly belonged in that category. Perhaps then, it should come as no surprise that he caught the silent tears from the girl in the passenger seat. He didn’t know what to say. What could he possibly say to make any of this any better? He couldn’t just magically make Henry reappear unharmed, no matter how much he wanted to right about now. He couldn’t go back in time and treat Jonathan Byers with a little more sympathy when he’d been putting up posters of his own lost little brother. The only thing that he could do was ensure that Flora knew he was there, despite the drifting in their friendship, despite the months spent barely saying two words to one another in crowded school halls. He would always be there.

Out here, high school popularity meant nothing and maybe Steve was realising that too late, maybe he'd already missed any possible chance of healing their scarred friendship and maybe this was the complete wrong time to even be thinking about such a thing. But that wasn't going to stop him from trying, once Henry was home safe and sound. "You don't have to thank me." He reassured without missing a beat. He didn't know what was going through her head, the worrying that he was only helping out of some long-held moral obligation or even worse, pity. But he would be the first to reassure her that it was neither. He was helping because no matter what happened, he still cared for her. He always would and rights now she was hurting, and the least that Steve could do was to be there, to be a shoulder to cry on, if she needed it, if she wanted it and an extra pair of hands in the search for her missing brother.

"Hey....hey, look. He's a smart kid, right? And from what Nance says about her brother and his friends, they're little nerds, right? Smart little nerds." Steve began, turning his attention entirely toward Florence once the engine had died down and the car sat firmly in the parking space outside the arcade. "That's got to be something." He was't good at this. He didn't need anyone to tell him. He didn't know what to say, how to say it and he could only hope that his words were somewhat comforting as opposed to making things worse. "We'll find them, okay?" He tried again. From the way that she spoke about the police and what they had told her and her mother about the case, maybe it truly would be up to them but that didn't matter. Not if it got Henry, and perhaps even Will, back home.

Maybe it was because Steve didn’t have siblings. He couldn’t possibly hope to understand what it felt like and he hoped that that wouldn’t matter. Maybe Florence would have been better going to Jonathan? At least then they could have bonded over a similar experience. So, why did the very thought of her seeking out comfort with someone else, with Jonathan Byers make his chest ache? Now wasn’t the time for moment fresh out of a budget coming of age movie, that was for sure. Heading across the parking lot and toward the arcade, Steve hadn’t expected the question that came next. It was a question that he’d asked himself over and over when he was home alone and popularity no longer meant anything. Was it my fault? “What?” He stopped walking, turning to face her. “No, no, of course it wasn’t. Never.” If there was one thing that he was sure of, it was this. Rubbing the back of his neck for a moment, he sighed. “If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine. I shouldn’t have...I don’t know, I’m not good at this. I shouldn’t have been an asshole to you.” Maybe he was stating the obvious but the last thing that he wanted was for her to blame herself for what had happened. "I should have made more of an effort...I guess it really is true what they say about high school." He offered the smallest smile, one that absolutely conveyed a sense of guilt at the state of their friendship -- a state that he was almost sure was his fault.

-- Ophelia--

Nothing felt real. Or maybe things actually felt far too real? That was how things had felt since Will Byers first went missing. Ophelia had thought about how strange it was more than once, seeing people go about their daily lives, going to the store and taking their kids to school without a care in the world, safe in the knowledge that they’d chosen a safe place to call home. They were oblivious to the evil that lurked beneath Hawkins, the evil that had threatened to spread and consume more than once. Come morning, they’d be organising vigils in remembrance of those lost in the supposed fire at Starcourt, sending their thoughts and prayers to the families of lost and missing loved ones, calling it nothing more than a tragic accident. It was hard to stomach, the knowledge that all of those people had been lost to something far worse than a fire in the local mall.

The hug was greatly appreciated, perhaps more than Eddie would ever truly know. “I’ll always be your number one fan.” The words were whispered softly into the crook of his neck. Ophelia returned the hug, unaware until that moment just how much she needed it. For a moment, she just allowed her head to rest against his shoulder, her arms wrapping around him. She was sure that she could have stayed there forever, especially after the events of the evening. Pressing a soft kiss to his cheek, she finally pulled back, returning his smile. Whether it had been subconscious or not; she was glad that she’d wound up on Eddie’s doorstep. She couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. She wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. “Well...as much as I still think that it’s a travesty that raspberry ripple is your favourite flavour, I’m sure that that can be arranged.” Ice cream, fair games and oversized teddy bears sounded pretty good right about now.

“I promise I’ll call him Eddie.” A fond smile curled at her lips at the thought. “You have my word, scouts honour.” Glancing down at her arm, she gave a small wince as the wipe brushed over the small wound. It wasn’t particularly big, nor deep and it certainly didn’t need stitches or anything more than a bandaid but it was always best to make sure that any scratches or cuts were clean. Between the two of them, they’d had enough bumps and scrapes over the course of their friendship to know that. He was so gentle, so soft. Even the way that he held her arm steady was nothing but caring. It reminded her of the time that she’d fallen off of her bike when she was like twelve and they’d haphazardly cleaned the cut on her knee with their water bottles and dinosaur bandaids that Eddie had found in the bottom of his bag. Or the time that he’d cut his finger replacing the string on his guitar when they were fourteen and had been forced to wear a barbie bandaid for the rest of the day. The memories brought a smile to her lips. Eddie always seemed to do that. “Slight over- exaggeration.” She teased , gesturing toward the Hellfire shirt that he was currently wearing. “And I hope that this means I finally get one of those? Honorary member and all?”

She didn’t have much time to dwell on her offer for him to finally teach her how to play D&D. It seemed that the night had another distraction in mind from the horrors of the past few days. Perhaps it would have been all too easy to lean into that old cliche that she had no idea where that kiss had come from, but she knew deep down that that wouldn’t be entirely truthful. She wasn’t sure what it was, she couldn’t quite place it but it felt right. And that was enough. His lips were so soft against her own. He was warm and she could still taste the lingering nicotine on his lips from the cigarette he’d been smoking before her rather impromptu arrival. Perhaps she would have pulled away sooner had his hand not haphazardly discarded the wipe in favour of cupping her neck. The feeling of him kissing her back was something she hadn’t expected. They were best friends, they shared everything and yet it seemed that there was something buried deep, unspoken between the two. Once they’d both pulled back, she listened as he apologised. She didn’t know what he was saying sorry for, she had kissed him. Was he apologising for kissing her back? And then came the Eddie that she knew so well. “Hm...I think I might need another sample, Y’know? Check it wasn’t a fluke.” She teased before leaning up a little further, softly placing another kiss to his lips, one of her own hands moving to brush through his mass of dark curls.

– Florence –

It still hadn’t quite settled in yet, that Henry was missing. She’d spoken to the police with her mother when he had first been reported missing, she had been there when they searched her house for any information, she had made and printed the missing posters herself; but she was still half expecting Henry to come home from school with his usual smile and tell her all about her day. He had been the one constant thing in her life, aside from their mother, but her shifts at the hospital were so irregular even her company wasn’t constant through no fault of her own. She had lost the consistency of Steve months ago, anyways. But Henry… he had always been there, and now that he wasn’t she didn’t know what to do. “Do you think people care?” She broke the silence with the thought, one that she let slip without thinking. She paused, a moment to wipe her eye with the heel of her palm, before she tilted her head to look at Steve. “Those people earlier, who were… laughing,” She flinched slightly. It wasn’t funny. “They don’t care, does everyone think it’s a joke or something?” Flora had a fair share of people give their sympathies to her, but just as many people had laughed too.

Steve’s words were kind, but she did have to thank him. She was taking his time that he would’ve otherwise spent with Carol and Tommy, or with Nancy… she didn’t know exactly what the Wheeler girl was to him, and part of her didn’t want to. It left a crushing feeling in her chest the first time she had seen the two of them together, and tried not to focus on it since. But it didn’t matter anymore – none of it did, really. “Thank you anyways,” She told him, tone soft. And after a pause she looked at Steve again, a sad smile on her lips. “He really missed you being around,” Of course, it was hard to explain to her brother why Steve had started being around less and less, until not at all. It had been hard to tell her brother that ‘Of course he still cares about you’, when it was upsetting her just as much. “I’m glad you’re here. I don’t think any of my other friends know him as well as you.” It felt a little bitter with the context of their friendship over the past few months, but it was the truth.

Florence looked away from the window and back at Steve as he spoke, and smiled a little tearfully. “Yeah, smart little nerds,” She repeated, and it was true. Henry had never played Dungeons and Dragons like she knew some of the other kids did, but he was incredibly good at math – much more than she was – and he spent a lot of time in the arcade playing Sinistar. Her brother was incredibly smart, and she was sure that he would be fine if he simply got lost in the woods. Even if he would be lonely, cold, and scared. But she tried not to think about that, refused to, and blinked a few times before she focused back on Steve as he continued talking. “I guess… he’s a smart kid, if he’s around then I’m sure he’s fine,” And she couldn’t comprehend the thought of that not being the case. Of Henry not being in Hawkins, of him being taken by someone, of him being dead. Just the thought of it made her feel nauseous, and she frowned as she pushed the thought from mind, and focused on Steve instead, nodding at his words. “Yeah, we’ll find them.” She breathed out, determined that they would.

She stared at the arcade for a moment, bottom lip bitten between her teeth. Someone must have seen Henry – it was impossible that he had disappeared without a trace; no witnesses, nothing left behind. The police had found Will Byers’ bike, so where was Henry’s trail? Her eye’s left the arcade and back at Steve as he stopped walking, and for a moment she regretted asking. It wasn’t the time to talk about it, even if it was a conversation long overdue. But, feet rooted to the ground as she stared at him, her head nodded a little at his answer. “You promise?” Her voice was small again, but she couldn’t help but ask. Steve was kind, and maybe he wouldn’t have told her if she did something wrong, just left it unspoken so that he didn’t hurt her with words. She had always been sure that Steve wasn’t hurting her on purpose by the drift between them, and maybe she should have reached out more herself… but it hurt that if it wasn’t on purpose, he didn’t notice how much it upset her. Her eyebrows scrunched slightly, head tilting towards him. “You were never an asshole, Steve,” Even if it did hurt, it wasn’t like he had been spiteful or anything. Flora sighed, fingers playing with the corner of the posters again. It was true, he probably should have made more of an effort. But she couldn’t blame him for making new friends. “Tommy and Carol seem… cool,” Not at all, but she wasn’t about to be rude about his friends. “And Nancy seems nice,” She sighed, glancing towards the arcade before back at him. “This probably makes me really selfish, we came out here to look for Henry,” She sighed as her expression fell. “But I really miss you.”

– Eddie –

Eddie held onto her tightly as they hugged, wanting to offer the best comfort that he could. He felt her relax in his arms, which he was thankful for. She was fine; she had been able to drive to his trailer – even though he was against that sill – and she had no major injuries. But he could imagine that it would take her a while to get over what she had witnessed. The fire, the people that had died… Billy. He had only ever heard bad things about Hargrove, but regardless of if he was a shitty guy or not, she had still seen it. She had seen someone die – he couldn’t imagine how that felt. And he didn’t want to bring it up to her, not after she had been smiling and relaxed, but he didn’t think that she was okay. Eddie always cared about her, he’d cared ever since they had met, but he was really going to put in the effort to make sure that he would be there for her whenever she needed him. Eddie had always cared about her, and in the past few years maybe he had started caring about her as a little more than a friend. But any feelings he had aside – Ophelia was his friend and he would be there.

A soft smile worked it’s way onto his lips as she whispered against his neck, the sensation sending a slight shudder through him. “Thank you,” He had chuckled in response, and squeezed her in the hug in only a way that he could, but it meant more than that to him, and left him with a sweet feeling that had the smile stuck to his face like it wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. “I’ll always be yours too… when I’m not Metallica’s number one fan.” He was grinning as he leaned his head against her’s, a chuckle shaking his body slightly as he held her. As she let her head lull against his shoulder he stayed quiet, and just let her relax against him. He kept the movement of his palm over her back, rubbing between her shoulder blades, helping to ease any leftover tension from her body. It was nice, just being able to hold her. It was calm, and different to their usual time spent together. But a good difference, nonetheless. One that Eddie would only look back on in fondness. The kiss to his cheek only made the softness worse, and the grin he wore melted into a kind smile that he met her with once she had pulled back. “A travesty?” Eddie raised his eyebrows, a scoff passing his lips – much more Eddie Munson than kisses on cheeks, but those lines had been blurred a long time ago – before his head tilted at her. “What’s your favourite, then? And if you say mint then you really are sleeping on the porch.” He teased.

At the promise he chuckled, grinning at her again. “Thank you, I’m honoured, really,” He told her, even though naming the teddy bear had been at his request. Going to the fair probably would have been the best option; no fires, no deaths, no injuries. And as much as Eddie would have loved to have spent the night with Ophelia playing dumb fair games and winning dumb prizes, she wouldn’t have ended up on his doorstep and the atmosphere wouldn’t have become whatever it was between them in his trailer. He frowned slightly as she winced at the sting from the wipe, and settled with gently rubbing his thumb along her wrist comfortingly. The wipe couldn’t have stung that badly and he doubted that she needed comforting through it… but it was nice to touch her, and he hoped it was nice for her too. “I’m not exaggerating at all, dunno what you’re on about,” He teased, and chuckled. “I suppose it means you do,” He nodded, glancing down at his shirt before back up at her. “As long as you don’t think it’s too nerdy for you.” He chuckled.

Maybe it was just a fluke, because she was shaken up and he was the only one there. Maybe the morning would roll around and it would be back to how it was between them, completely platonic. Maybe Eddie was crazy for even thinking about past that night when all they had shared was a kiss. But, at least for him, it felt like the feeling had been brewing for much longer than that night, and it felt good, a relief to finally get a semblance of his feelings off his chest. A smile curved at his lips as he heard her words – gone was the awkwardness and apologies from before. Completely certain that they were okay, and that it wasn’t something to apologise for, Eddie grinned at her words with a nod. As soon as she had leaned towards him his hand was against her neck again and he was leaning in the rest of the way, relaxed as he kissed her. The closeness allowed him to smell the smoke from the fire, but it was more than that. It was the warmth of her skin, the softness of her lips against his own, the feeling that swirled deep inside him that told him that this kiss wasn’t just a throwaway. Being mindful of her head, his free hand lifted and brushed hair away from her face, before he leaned forwards and his forehead was pressed to hers with a sigh, lips still ghosting over hers. “Definitely not a fluke.” He whispered, smiling uncontrollably.

~ Steve ~

In hindsight, Steve had been so wrapped up with high school, and all of the drama and teenage angst that accompanied it to recognise just how much they’d drifted before it was too late. The days spent without having a full conversation turned to weeks and weeks turned to months and before he knew it, it almost felt wrong, felt like he couldn’t just pick up the phone and call his best friend or turn up on her doorstep. By the time he realised just how much things had changed between them, it almost felt like he didn’t have a right to call, to turn up or talk to her in the hallways. He’d tried to rationalise it to himself, repeating his dad’s words (which were, albeit said during a rather patronising lecture about grades and college and all sorts of adult stuff). ‘High School changes everyone. You find out who you are in high school, it defines who you are.’ The trouble was that Steve didn’t want to be defined as the kid who favoured popularity above friendships. He knew that now.

He also hadn’t necessarily thought about how the situation between himself and Flora impacted more than just them. He hadn’t thought about the questions that Henry would ask— why Steve couldn’t come round to play his new game with him, why he couldn’t help him build his latest Lego set or why he couldn’t pick him up from school when their mom was working late. And now Henry was missing. Even despite her words, her gentle reassurance that he hadn’t been an asshole, Steve didn’t believe it. He knew that that was exactly what he’d been. He had been so caught up in being popular, being the class clown, dating girls, parties and whatever else that people expected teenagers to do in high school that he’d neglected one of the only real friendships that he had. He couldn’t go back in time, he couldn’t change that— but he could make sure that he was there for Flora now. That was what mattered.

“No, I was literally the definition of an asshole. I shouldn’t... I should have made more effort.” He explained, brushing a hand through his hair as they headed further across the parking lot. He gave a nod, one that was clear, immediate. “I promise non of this is your fault.” He repeated. A part of him wished that they could go back to middle school, that they could just be those kids who spent every other night at each others houses, who had sleepovers and watched whatever movies they could find. He wished that they could even go back to the first year of high school, when they’d both been fish out of water trying to find their way. He wished that his way hadn’t involved letting them drift apart. “Tommy’s an asshole.” He answered, a smile tugging at his lips as they reached the sidewalk outside the arcade. That was the truth. He knew it. He’d seen the way that he clung to Steve because that was where popularity lay, because he wanted to be invited to the parties and he wanted people to know who he was. He saw the way he treated the other kids, and that wasn’t something that Steve wanted Flora to think that he condoned. “And Carol...she just wants to be popular.”

He was well aware that he sounded like his dad at this point and whilst he hated that very notion, even after all this time, he still felt like he could be himself around Flora, like he didn’t have to put on the front that he had to at school. Pushing the door open to the arcade, he held it open for her before letting it swing closed behind them. It was pretty quiet at this point of the day, only a few patrons and the distinctive sounds of the various games echoing around the small space. “It doesn’t make you selfish.” He shrugged. “And for what it’s worth— I miss you too. I especially miss that amazing pie your mom used to make? You know the one?” He teased, even if there was an element of truth to the comment. He spotted a group of kids crowded around one of the games, kids that must have literally ran out of school when it finished and straight toward the arcade. Taking a poster from Flora, he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Why don’t you go ask...Carl? Chris?...” clicking his fingers together, he pointed toward the teenager behind the counter. “Kieth!” He announced, perhaps a little loudly when the name finally came to him. “Why don’t you go ask Kieth and I’ll go ask these kids?”

~ Ophelia ~

She wasn’t okay. She knew that. Truthfully, Ophelia didn’t know how anyone who knew the truth about the evil that lurked beneath Hawkins could be okay. Somehow, whether it be because it was far more recent and fresh in her mind, or whether it was because of just what it had meant, tonight’s events had hit her harder than anything they’d dealt with previous. Even Barb’s death, the knowledge of just what had happened to her, seemed almost more comprehensible than the idea that this wasn’t just their secret anymore. The knowledge that the Soviets had somehow learned about the dimension that lurked beneath their feet was chilling in itself, but knowing the truth about what had happened to so many people? What they’d become? People that she knew? That was something particularly unsettling. Maybe it was for the best that the rest of the town would merely think that their friends, neighbours and family members had perished in a tragic mall fire as opposed to knowing the truth?

Being there with Eddie, she didn’t feel the need to pretend that she was okay. He’d always been good at recognising that sort of thing. Instead, she could simply focus on the gentle sensation of his hand brushing up and down between her shoulder blades. There was no talk of monsters, no mention of the upside down or the Soviets or Hawkins’ lab, instead there was just two teenagers bickering over the best flavour of ice cream and obnoxiously large teddy bears. And that was exactly what she needed right now. “Mint! Mint? We’ve been friends for how long? And you have the audacity to even suggest that mint could possibly be my favourite flavour?” Feigning outrage, Ophelia couldn’t hide the smile that tugged at her lips as she pulled back, the expression punctuated with a soft laugh. “Mint should be a criminal offence.” Shifting out of his embrace entirely, she crossed her legs beneath herself and glanced down at where Eddie had begun to clean the remaining cut on her forearm. “But come on! Everyone knows the best flavour is vanilla-chocolate swirl.”

She appreciated the soothing movement of his thumb against her wrist, the way that he was so gentle even in his movements as the wipe moved over the small cut. It was nice, comforting, a silent reassurance that he was there. Soon enough, the wound was covered by a bandaid and the wipe discarded. “Y’know, it’s a shame we couldn’t find any of those dinosaur bandaids, I reckon I’d look pretty good with a couple of those.” She smiled up at him, reaching over to put any of the unused bandaids or bandages back into the first aid kit. She closed it was a click and pushed it a little further into the centre of the coffee table so that it didn’t fall. “Too nerdy? You’re asking the girl who just said she wished we had dinosaur bandaids if it’s too nerdy?” Another soft laugh left her, her gaze briefly lingering on the shirt in question. “Nerdy’s good and I distinctly remember that you said I am a nerd.”

Less than three hours ago she’d been hiding from angry Soviets and running from something that resembled a giant, fleshy spider. And now, she was sat on Eddie’s couch just....being a teenager. The two things were so wildly different from one another but she was glad. She was glad that she’d come to him, and a part of her was pretty damn glad that she’d kissed him too. There was nothing quite like a near-death experience with an inter dimensional monster to get you to realise your feelings for your best friend, it seemed. The second kiss was more confident, more blatant than the last. She allowed herself to savour the softness of his lips against her own, the way that his curls felt beneath her fingers as they tangled and curled around the digits. Here, right now, they were just teenagers, doing the usual shit that teenagers did and it was nice. Not quite as nice as the feeling of Eddie’s lips against her own, but nice. Her forehead came to rest against his as they parted, a soft laugh leaving her at his words. “Definitely not a fluke.” She agreed. “And as far as things go...I’d say that you’re a pretty good kisser. Could be better if raspberry ripple wasn’t your favourite flavour but...I think I can let that slide.” She teased, pressing a soft peck to his lips before her hand moved from his hair and instead came to brush across his left cheek.

– Florence –

Maybe it wouldn’t have all been so hard to deal with if Steve was there. Florence had always been there for Steve throughout the hard times. He didn’t have the best parents in the world, so many nights were spent in each other’s bedrooms, watching shitty movies and eating shitty food, just passing the time together. He had become integrated with her family; her mother adored him, and always sent Steve home with a tupperware of something homemade, usually a sweet baked good. And Henry loved him, absolutely loved him. He was always the first to the front door to greet Steve before Florence could get there, he always gave Steve a complete run down of his school day, and always brought Steve some of his toys to check out. And then he stopped coming over, and everything was so painfully different and she hated it. Florence wasn’t completely alone, she had other friends, but none of them were Steve. She remembered that every Wednesday when her mother would work late, Steve would drive her to pick Henry up from school. Maybe if he was still around then Henry wouldn’t have gone missing– Florence cut that thought off before it could continue, horrified at herself that she had even thought that. Steve had absolutely no obligation to her whatsoever. He was allowed to have friends, he wasn’t Henry’s babysitter.

Florence took in a deep breath to push the thought from mind as she looked back towards Steve, listening to his words. Steve had always been selfless – she ignored the ‘King Steve’ bullshit because that wasn’t the real Steve. So she wasn’t surprised that he was taking the blame for their drift. “I never thought you were an asshole,” she told him honestly. At first she had. When the drift first started she was upset and angry that he chose other people over her, but it was selfish and she realised that if Tommy and Carol made him happy then there was no harm. But it was a relief that he didn’t blame her. A slight weight off of her shoulders in comparison to everything else. “Thank you,” she breathed out, relieved. “I just… y’know if I had done anything, you could’ve told me… if I do something now.” Part of her wished that once Henry was found that they’d continue talking, and work through everything without something else taking priority. She just wanted her old friend back. The comment about Tommy and Carol confused her, and she was left staring at him for a moment. “Why are you friends with them then?” She had been being polite by complimenting them, but if Steve knew how bad they were, why was he friends with them?

She mumbled a thanks in his direction as he held the arcade door open for her. Immediately her eyes were drawn to Henry’s favourite game, and it made her feel a little ill when some other boy was stood in his place. She hadn’t been expecting to see Henry, but it still hurt. The sigh she let out was heavy as she turned back towards Steve, the posters a little tighter against her chest. The reassurance let her shoulders lose their stiffness, and his following words even left a small smile across her lips. “You miss my mom’s cooking more than me?” Her voice was quiet, but it was obvious that she was smiling; one of her small entertained smiles that was reserved for Steve and Steve only. It was nice to joke with him, even despite the circumstances – it was like a breath of fresh air, which was something that she was in desperate need of. She watched as he took one of the posters, and sighed softly as his hand touched hers, returning the gentle squeeze with one of her own. His touch was something that she had missed, but didn’t realise that it was something she so desperately needed until then. She nodded at his offer, lips curving upwards slightly as he struggled to get Kieth’s name right. “Yeah, thanks Steve.” Flora sent another genuine smile his way, lingered for a moment, before she took a deep breath and headed over towards the front desk.

Kieth had heard about Henry, as the rest of the town had, but Henry hadn’t been there since the day before he disappeared. It left a pit of nausea in her stomach once she had heard it. They were still at square zero, they still had no idea where Henry could be, and she was running out of ideas. He wasn’t anywhere on her street, at the school, at the park, at the arcade – where else could he be? With her tongue pressed to the roof of her mouth to keep the tears at bay, she left a small stack of the posters at the desk for Kieth to give out to people at the arcade, before she walked back over to the door to tape one to the window facing outwards, so anybody outside could see it. If he didn’t show up soon, her hope would start slipping through her fingers. He was an eleven year old boy, where else could he have gone?

– Eddie –

Eddie was glad that she was smiling, laughing. When she had turned up on his porch, she looked like a shell of herself, and he didn’t like it. He had been friends with her for years, and he couldn’t remember a time that he had seen her look so fragile and tired. It wasn’t fair that she had to experience something so awful. They were teenagers, the worst thing they needed to worry about was exams. But she was finally laughing, and it felt nice to see her like that. Eddie had never been one to keep his mouth shut, and sometimes it got him in trouble, but he was just glad that he could help in times like that – when she so badly needed a distraction. He’d talk about random shit all night if it meant that she felt happy and distracted from the night she had experienced. He would be there when she needed support, but he was just as happy providing a distraction.

He couldn’t help but laugh at her faux outburst, the smile spreading too easily onto his expression. Being with Ophelia had always been easy; easy to laugh, easy to relax – hell, easy to breathe. At that point she was basically keeping him sane, with all of the shit in his life. Sure, Eddie knew that he had his uncle – Wayne was a kind man who would never fail him – but there was something about Ophelia that just drew him to her, like he was a sailor and her a siren. “Well I’m sorry but I don’t know what to think of you anymore after the slander you’ve been giving raspberry ripple. You’re like a completely different person to me, ‘Lia, I don’t know what to think,” He shrugged, hand over his chest in the sort of dramatics that only Eddie could convey. “Vanilla-chocolate swirl is nice… but I wouldn’t say the best. I’m actually quite disappointed at how basic your taste is. The next thing you’re going to tell me is that you’re a die-hard Duran Duran fan, isn’t it?” He pressed his lips together, now determined to keep up whatever act he had going. “I won’t make you sleep on the porch… just know I’m extremely saddened by your poor taste.”

His fingers were gentle against her skin as he smoothed the edge of the bandaid out, his calloused fingertips from playing guitar a light touch. She was warm, and he could ignore the smoke smell in favour of her soft skin, her warmth, and overall just her. She was just so perfect and him so far from it, and the phrase ‘opposites attract’ sprung to thought without him realising. The resulting thought left a slight curve of a smile on his mouth. “I promise you the next time that you come over, this trailer will be stocked full of dinosaur bandaids m’lady,” Eddie did a false bow the best he could from his position, smile widening further at the memory of their twelve year old selves badly cleaning the cut on her knee after she fell off her bike. He had always carried bandaids on him after that. He knew that there was still a box of them at the bottom of his school bag. “Well, you weren’t nerdy enough to play D&D when I first asked,” he told her, a shit-eating grin on his face. “But you’re right, you are a nerd. A huge nerd. I think the shirt’ll look real good on you.”

Eddie didn’t want to get his hopes up, but he really did wish that this wouldn’t be the one night they were like that; silly teenagers with silly teenage crushes sharing kisses between them. He didn’t want to just be friends, and as much as he knew that she had a terrible evening, he hoped that she felt the same way too. She was so soft and warm, and he couldn’t help the relaxed sigh that passed his lips once his forehead was pressed to hers, so close that he was breathing in her exhales. His eyes fluttered as he felt her hand against his cheek, but a quiet groan escaped his lips at her comment. “Don’t ruin the moment with my – i’ll have you know, amazing – ice cream choice,” He grumbled, though his smile was wide as her lips pressed to his again, and his thumb brushed along her jaw just to touch her, to actually feel that he was touching her. His free hand fell to rest against her thigh as he pressed another kiss against her mouth, humming, before he leaned closer and his head was against her shoulder, and a kiss was pressed there too. “You’re lucky you’re a good kisser, ‘cos you still smell like smoke.” He was teasing, a joking tap against her leg followed his words, and if Eddie was being honest then he couldn’t be happier.

~ Steve ~

She certainly raised a good point. Why was he friends with Tommy and Carol? He knew deep down that it was related to teenage popularity and not a great deal more. Everyone knew Tommy and Carol. Steve was well aware that at this point, the two were probably only friends with him because they could capitalise on his ‘King Steve’ title. It earned them status amongst the halls of Hawkins High, and it earned them invites to Halloween parties and house parties and whatever else that cool kids in teenage coming-of-age movies were supposed to do. At this point, maybe Steve‘s friendship with Tommy and Carol wasn’t really a friendship at all, and maybe it wasn’t even giving him anything but ear ache. Maybe now wasn’t exactly the time to make such a realisation, this was so much more than popularity, so much more than teenage angst and High School drama. “Honestly-“ he began with a sigh as he briefly chanced a look down at the smiling face of the young boy on the poster. “I’ve been asking myself that same question.”

This was about the little boy that Steve had helped build numerous Lego sets, the little boy that had always greeted him with a wide grin, excited to tell him all about his day at school. The more that he thought about him, the more that Steve was determined that he needed to help find him, he needed to do whatever he could. Beyond that, he needed to be there for Flora, he wanted to be there for one of the truest friend that he’d ever had. He could only hope that she would still want that title after so long, after so much had happened and so many months apart. Steve had already considered how different things could have been if only he’d still been the one to pick Henry up on the days their mom was at work. Maybe if that had been the case that particular evening that he’d gone missing, maybe he’d still be home, building Lego and getting excited about the science fair and showing Steve all of the drawings that he’d done over the past week. Maybe then Flora wouldn’t be on the verge of tears as she clutched those missing posters to her chest.

“Hey, I didn’t say that I missed your mom’s cooking more than you...i was just saying that I miss your mom’s cooking too.” Steve defended with a smile. “And besides, can you really blame me? That raspberry and blackberry pie she used to make? That would be my last meal if I was on death row or something-“ realising that perhaps, in true Steve Harrington fashion, he hadn’t exactly chosen the wisest words. He flashed her a small, almost sheepish smile, certainly not the sort of thing that you’d be expecting to see from Steve ‘the hair’ Harrington and yet was so reminiscent of their younger selves, back when they were inseparable, spending most evenings at her house because Steve’s parents were on vacation and the fourteen year old didn’t want to be left home alone. With a reassuring smile, he gave her a final promise that they’d do whatever they could to find Henry before leaving her to talk to Kieth, crossing the room toward the gathered group of middle-schoolers.

It took a moment or so to catch their attention, all of them huddled around one particular game telling eachother which moves to take. Steve stood there, leaning against the game beside them looking like some sort of babysitter. It was only when they lost the final round, a couple of them briefly bickering over scores that they turned their attentions to him. “Hey..yeah, sorry to interrupt. Looked pretty intense-“ when the kids just stared back at him with borderline blank expressions, he rose a brow and held out the poster. “Tough crowd...anyway, have you seen this kid? We think he might have been here a few nights ago?” He asked. It took a couple of minutes of passing the poster back and forth before one of the kids mentioned how they thought that they’d seen him the afternoon before he went missing heading into the woods as if he was running away from something. Steve thanked the kids, leaving them with the poster and a couple of extra copies to give to relatives or friends before meeting back up with Flora. “So...I think I’ve got something-“ he began. “One of the kids over there mentioned that they thought they saw him the afternoon before he was reported missing running into the woods...”

~ Ophelia ~

“It isn’t basic, it’s a classic!” Ophelia defended with a soft smirk. “Y’know? Like....like Edge of Seventeen is a classic? Well, that’s the musical equivalent of vanilla-chocolate swirl. It’s timeless.” She teased, letting out a loud laugh at his dramatics. It was just so Eddie. “And sure raspberry ripple is nice and all but it’s more....Rooms On Fire than Edge of Seventeen.” It was her turn to turn on the dramatics at his next comment. “Duran Duran? I’m going to pretend that I didn’t hear that.” A smirk tugged at her lips as she glanced back down at the bandaid on her arm, situated just beside the small tattoo of a bat, one that matched Eddie’s own. She distinctly remembered the day that they’d gotten them— a last minute decision that they’d thought would be a cool idea over entirely too much popcorn, candy and ice cream the day after Halloween a year ago. Her gaze lingered on Eddie’s arm for a second before she reached out with her free hand, gently brushing her fingers over his tattoo. “It isn’t poor taste! If it was poor taste I’d be telling you that my favourite flavour was mint...or god forbid, pistachio”.

“Promise?” The thought of him stocking the trailer full of dinosaur bandaids for the next time that she inevitably cut her finger or fell over was a funny one, but also one that caused a fond smile to momentarily play over her lips. Trust Eddie to remember the little details like that. “Thank you, kind sir.” Leaning back a little further, a laugh left her at the mention of her being a nerd. It was true. When they’d first met, she’d been the kid obsessed with science and history, stickers of planets and pyramids decorating her various notebooks and folders, a whole page dedicated to the periodic table and a first place medal from the science fair. She truly was a huge nerd but hearing Eddie say it somehow filled her with a warmth, a feeling not too dissimilar to the one that she’d felt when they’d first become friends all those years ago. “Well...what can I say? Every Dungeon Master needs a Princess, right? I think I’ve left you hanging long enough.” She was well aware of how that could be interpreted and honestly, perhaps that was why she’d said it. Maybe she wouldn’t exactly be mad at the idea of being the Princess to his Dungeon Master.

It was fair to say that Ophelia shared Eddie’s sentiment. She didn’t want this to be the only night that they got to do this, got to just be teenagers. It felt so freeing and in all honesty, a part of her wished that they’d done this earlier. She’d always known that Eddie held a special place in her heart, a pretty big place at that but now she realised that that place wasn’t strictly platonic with a capital P. Leaning into the gentle touch of his thumb against her jaw, she returned each of his kisses, their lips meeting as if they’d been doing this for years, as if this was something so entirely familiar that neither of them felt any need to question it. For a brief moment, she glanced down at his hand that rested atop her thigh. Her jeans were muddy and covered in ash, a fact that she only really realised in that moment. A soft, contented sigh broke from her lips as he placed a couple of soft kisses against her shoulder. “So...” she began softly, continuing with moving her fingers through his dark curls. “What you’re saying is that I’m a good kisser?” She teased.

“Flattery works on me, Munson. You know that better than most.” Guiding his head up, she placed another soft kiss to his lips, deeper this time, savouring almost. Even despite the teasing, she knew that there was a lot of truth to his words. She could still smell the smoke on herself each time that she moved, and now that she’d realised just how dirty her clothes were, she had to admit that she probably didn’t look her best. “Don’t suppose that the Princess can request a shower and maybe a shirt?” She offered with a slightly sheepish smile before she spotted something on the coffee table, reaching across to pick up the VHS laid out and holding it up to Eddie with a wide smile. “And then...maybe we can put this on whilst you teach me all things D&D?” She offered, setting the tape down. Even despite her comments, she made no effort to move from her spot. She sat there for another long couple of minutes, gently leaning up to place another soft kiss to his lips before she reluctantly got to her feet.

— Florence —

It wasn’t the time to get caught up in Steve’s social life and she knew that. Henry was the priority, and maybe it made her a shitty sister for focusing on Steve at a time like that, but it was the first time in months she had a chance to share a genuine conversation with her best friend — Steve still strongly held that title despite the months of distance — and she couldn’t let it go to waste. Maybe she’d feel a bit better about everything if she was close with him again, maybe her head would be clearer to help with Henry. “What about Nancy Wheeler?” She couldn’t help but ask. Flora had only ever made passing conversation with the girl in question, but she knew that whenever she saw her with Steve, it left an aching feeling in her chest and she couldn’t decipher why. Maybe it was because she used to be in her place, maybe it was because Nancy was probably a better friend for him than she ever could be, or maybe it was because they were possibly more than friends? Sighing, she realised that she had probably overstepped a line, and gently bit her bottom lip as she shook her head. “Sorry,” she apologised after a moment, not wanting to pry where she wasn’t allowed anymore. “I’m not really thinking straight, I haven’t since… well, y’know. It doesn’t matter.” Not more than Henry, anyways.

Flora couldn’t help but smile slightly at his following words, one of the few genuine smiles that she had given in a while. To think that she had been so nervous to approach him not an hour earlier, and yet being with him was so easy, like breathing. “You didn’t say that, but all I’m saying is you seemed way more excited about her cooking than you did when I came over to you this morning.” She was teasing, and for a moment it felt like they were back in ‘82, before any of the cracks in their friendship had started to show. When he would drive her to pick up Henry after school, before they all went back to her house to spend the evening together, catered to by her mother. When Steve felt like a part of her family — a huge part of her life. She still wasn’t okay, and she was still extremely worried about where Henry was, but it was nice to be with Steve like they used to be. The comment about death row didn’t phase her, and she just fondly shook her head instead. Maybe it would have bothered her if there was a chance that Henry had died, but there was no doubt in her mind that they would find him — he was alive. “If she knew that then you’d be getting a new pie every day,” she told him. “I’ll get her to make one when Henry’s home. To celebrate.” She smiled slightly and nodded definitively.

By the time the poster was taped to the window she let out a shaky breath, scared. Henry was out there all alone, how had nobody seen him? The longer they took to find him the longer he would be out there all by himself. No food, no water, no change of clothes; he’d be terrified. And it was her job as his older sister to make sure that didn’t happen. They would find him and he would be find. She flinched when Steve had come over, as she’d been a little distracted with her thoughts, but she didn’t even have time to say anything by the time he’d said something, and her eyes simply widened in response. He had something? Flora listened intently as he spoke, eyebrows slightly scrunched as she glanced between Steve and the group of kids that he had spoken to, and she let out a heavy breath of relief at his discovery. “The woods,” she repeated, and only took a moment to think it over before she was nodding and grabbed his hand, determined. “Let’s go, then.”

Her fingers squeezed his as she pulled the door open and walked outside, and she couldn’t decide whether that was so Steve followed her or so she had something to hold, some stability. “Why would he have run into the woods?” She asked, mainly to herself, as she walked around the arcade building to the woods behind it — her steps twice the usual speed. “He’s not allowed in the woods and he knows that, so maybe he was just messing around with one of his friends?” But then she frowned even more, not really paying attention as she marched into the woods, still rambling worriedly. “But even then he wouldn’t…” she shook her head. Henry was a good kid; he never missed curfew, always completed his chores, never handed in homework late. So she seriously doubted that he’d break a rule to mess around with one of his friends. After a moment a sharp gasp was inhaled at the thought Florence was left with, the one rational — and terrifying — possibility. “What if he was chased? Or someone scared him, but who would scare a little boy if it wasn’t on purpose?” The more she rambled the more worried she become, and in turn the tighter her hold on Steve’s hand grew, until her hands were trembling with worry.

— Eddie —

A dramatic gasp was inhaled through his lips, and the scowl on his face was of serious faux offence. “How dare you compare Stevie Nicks to ice cream at all,” he told her, shaking his head in disapproval, like a parent telling off a toddler. Whilst Eddie’s music taste typically consisted of bands like Black Sabbath and Metallica, who didn’t like Stevie Nicks? “I’m so disappointed in you right now, ‘Lia. You’re lucky I’m too lazy to drive you home right now, because I so would.” Shaking his head at her comment he laughed a little. “What, your favourite song isn’t Girls On Film? I could’ve sworn it was.” He was full of shit. Eddie knew for a fact that her favourite song was Edge Of Seventeen — Ophelia was the main reason that he had Stevie Nicks’ cassette, which he usually played when she came over. Eddie really tried not to focus on the feeling of her fingers against his arm in favour of their totally serious argument, but for a moment his gaze flickered between their shared tattoos with nothing but fondness. Her touch was featherlight against her arm and it made him smile. “It definitely is poor taste — I can’t believe a Duran Duran fan is lecturing me on what poor taste is.” He scoffed to hide a laugh, entirely too entertained by the stupid argument.

“Promise. Cross my heart and hope to die,” he told her, and lifted a finger to make a cross over his heart, and although it seemed like a joke, he was absolutely one-hundred percent serious about it. The next time she came over, he would have dinosaur bandaids. Eddie would have to make sure to stick one on her just for fun, just so she knew they were there. The sentiment was too sweet to not do it. On many occasions had they used those stupid bandaids between them, to the point where they had been the only ones in the house, and at one point Wayne had to go to work with a dinosaur bandaid on his arm because there were no others left. It was safe to say that since then, his uncle always maid sure that the first-aid kit always had regular bandaids. It was a little funny in hindsight. At her next comment an uncontrollable smile broke out across his face, and his own interpretation of her words left him feeling warm and happy. “It’s definitely been long enough.” Eddie told her, and he couldn’t decide whether he was responding to her comment or his interpretation of it. Either way, he was still smiling by the time he met her eyes, expression kind and softer than usual.

Her body was warm and soft, and all Eddie could think about as he planted kiss after kiss against her shoulder was just how right it was. How well his head fit in the juncture of her neck, how easily it was to kiss her skin, how easy it was to be with her in general. His hand left her leg in order to take her forearm between his fingers again. The pad of his thumb brushed over one of the bats inked into her skin, and his smile grew. Her fingers cording through his hair was a feeling that he didn’t know he was missing, and Eddie let a soft sigh pass his lips. He hadn’t been so relaxed in years. A breathy chuckle passed his lips at her comment and he grinned. “I don’t know, I think I need to kiss you at least… fifty times, more or less, until I figure it out.” He mumbled into her shoulder with a smirk. Smug.

“Mm, I’m well aware, don’t worry,” he told her, completely and utterly smitten. “You’re lucky you’re so easy to compliment.” Eddie lifted his head all to eagerly when she tilted it upwards, and practically melted into her touch when his lips met her’s again. His hand slid up her forearm to her shoulder with a light squeeze, before his palm was holding her cheek, fingers slipping underneath her jaw to angle her head so he could kiss her with ease. It was all too easy and too natural that he felt that he should’ve kissed her a long time ago. And even when he’d pulled away from the kiss he left a soft peck against the corner of her mouth, her cheek, and the upper stretch of her jaw before he finally leaned back, unable to help himself. Her sheepish smile made him all the more softly, and he nodded in response straight away. “Of course, Princess,” oh he was so using that more often. “I’ll grab you one in a minute.” His eyes flickered towards the VHS when she picked it up, and the offer was so great that he couldn’t even imagine what his evening would’ve played out like if she hadn’t turned up. “Can’t think of anything better,” he told her, grinning. The kiss was so sweet that Eddie didn’t even bother hiding the disgruntled noise that left his mouth when she stood up. “Now I can.” He added the afterthought under his breath before he got to his feet too.

— Steve —

What about Nancy Wheeler? The question caught Steve somewhat off guard. Maybe it shouldn’t have done. Anyone with eyes knew that Nancy had spent lunch with him, Tommy and Carol more than once, or would have seen them talking in the halls or outside her locker. Maybe it was because even Steve didn’t have a clear answer to it. He didn’t know what he and Nancy were. He liked her, sure, who wouldn’t? But they hadn’t exactly sat down and had a conversation, that just....that wasn’t the easiest thing, and it certainly wasn’t something that high school kids did. That would have been far too simple. “Nancy’s cool.” Steve eventually answered with a slight shrug. “She’s nice, Y’know? A good person.” Just like you. Truthfully, Steve truly did think that Nancy and Flora would be good friends. They were both good people; smart, funny, cared about others. Above all else, they were good friends. And that was exactly what Flora was, what she’d always been to Steve. “I reckon you two would get on pretty well”.

Maybe Steve should have told her the truth. Maybe he should have relayed each of the details that the kids had told him. He should have told her about how Henry was running, how he looked scared, like he’d seen a ghost to quote the kid directly. He should have told her how he didn’t seem to see or acknowledge anything else. How one of the other boys had shouted to him and received no response. But then again, he was trying to protect her. Rightly or wrongly, he’d seen how worried she was, how jumpy she’d been even just from him approaching her with quiet footsteps, he didn’t want to worry her more by suggesting that Henry was scared, he’d run into the woods because he was trying to get away from something...they just didn’t know what. There were no doubts that something strange was going on here. Hawkins was the epitome of stereotypical small-town America. A safe place to raise your kids, neighbours who spoke to eachother and all the kids at school know of eachother. Steve couldn’t honestly think of any serious crime that had made the front pages, at least in the years since he’d been alive, or old enough to know what the news was. The worst that happened was people getting their pretzels stolen by birds at the fair or the odd neighbourly dispute over something trivial like mowing too much of someone else’s lawn.

Now, two young kids were missing. It didn’t add up and even Steve could recognise that something more was going on here. He took her hand in his, brushing his thumb along the back of it, feeling how soft her skin was beneath his touch. He could also feel the way that she was shivering, trembling ever so slightly. “Hey-“ he spoke, lowering his voice a little once they were outside, the cool chill of the afternoon breeze swirling around them. “It’ll be alright. We’ll find him.” He tried to reassure, carefully tugging her closer to him, giving her a tight hug. He held her there for a good minute or so, his free hand brushing along her back as he kept her hand in the other. Pulling back, he gave her hand another squeeze, offering what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “And before you know it, you’ll be tripping over his Lego and listening to him telling you all about the planets all over again ....and your mom will be baking a cherry pie.” Those were good memories. He was sure that she had plenty more, but those were the first that came to mind. The excitable little boy who loved learning about science; who would often tell Steve all about planets and stars and whatever else he’d discovered in his books from the library. They had to find him.

The woods themselves were dense and damp from the heavy rainfall the previous evening. Steve carefully shifted a few low hanging branches out of their way, grimacing when he got a face full of cold rain water that had clearly settled into the leaves and branches. He knew that this would be a huge task, the police and various search parties had already trampled these woods in the search for Will Byers to no avail aside from his bike. Then again, Henry had gone missing afterwards and they knew that he’d come through here. He’d actually been here the day that he’d gone missing. It was possible that this ground had already been covered and therefore, not searched again. Sure, it was a mammoth task but they were closer to finding Henry and bringing him home safe than they had been an hour ago. That was what mattered. “I always hated these woods” he mumbled. He’d always hated being a little kid and looking out of his bedroom window out into the darkness and seemingly never-ending trees, just expecting a pair of eyes or a shadow to be looking back at him. But that stuff wasn’t real, was it? “So...what if he was heading home?” He spoke up after a moment or so. “I mean...you can get to your house through the woods, right? So...what if he was trying to go home?”

— Ophelia —

For a brief, rare few minutes, Ophelia was quiet— content. The feeling of Eddie’s soft kisses to her shoulder and the gentle sensation of his calloused thumb tracing over the bats inked onto her skin made her feel the most at peace that she’d felt in a while. Eddie always did have a knack for soothing her, a knack for knowing just what she needed when even she, herself, didn’t know. For a brief couple of minutes, she found herself just entirely lost in him and maybe that was exactly what she needed after the events of the past few days. Chancing a look down, she couldn’t help but give a small smile as she watched his thumb delicately trace the three little bats with such care, such attention. It almost felt surreal, the difference between the events of earlier that evening, the events of Starcourt and the revelations that it had brought along with it and being there, in Eddie’s trailer sharing kisses. Just like teenagers were supposed to do. Teenagers weren’t supposed to be fighting monsters and commies in the dead of night in the local mall. It sounded just like the plot of a terrible action-comedy.

“Only fifty?” Breaking her quietness, she let out a soft laugh, punctuated by a teasing smirk and a slight mischievous glint in her eyes. “I think I’m worth at least three hundred.” Resting her forehead against his, she briefly found herself getting lost in his eyes, taking in the slight details of them that would ordinarily have been easy to miss. Just like the odd flecks of amber and copper that showed up when the light hit them in just the right way. It was just so incredibly Eddie. She said nothing in response to the newly discovered pet name, simply offered him a smile. She didn’t want to leave the warm embrace of his arms. In fact, she was pretty sure that she could have sat there with him, like that, for the rest of the evening and into the morning. Teasing eachother, having debates about stupid things like ice cream and which of them was more of a klutz and, of course, sharing kisses. A part of her wondered why she hadn’t done this before, maybe because she’d been so concerned about reading the situation wrong, ruining their friendship, a friendship that she cherished more than anything. But, a near-death experience at the hand of a giant, fleshy spider-creature really helps to put things into perspective.

“There might be a pair of my shorts too, pretty sure I left them here the last time I scraped my knee.” She nodded at the mention of the shirt, flashing him a teasing smile at his disgruntled noise. A chill set in once she was far enough away from her, the sort that made her shiver momentarily. She’s stayed at Eddie’s numerous times before, she knew where the bathroom was and how to work the shower. With a promise that she’d be quick, she headed inside, closing the door behind her and starting to run the warm water. Once she’d undressed, piling her clothes on the toilet seat, she stepped beneath the warmth, taking a moment to close her eyes and just relax. The dirt and blood was scrubbed from her skin, using Eddie’s shampoo to rid the smell of smoke from her hair. Once she’d cleaned up, being mindful of the bandaids that Eddie had so carefully placed over her cuts, she took a moment to just collect herself beneath the warmth before finally shutting the water off and stepping out. A towel hung on the back of the door, and for a brief moment, she caught sight of her own reflection in the mirror perched above the sink. For a brief moment; the ceiling light flickered once...and then twice, casting the room into near-darkness before brightening once more. She watched in the mirror, reaching over for the nearest thing that she could find that could possibly be used as some sort of weapon. A bar of soap. It didn’t happen again, even as she turned to look up at the light, the bulb remained on. She found nothing behind her, only the shower and her pile of clothes. Carefully setting the soap down, she sighed, closing her eyes for a couple of seconds, taking a deep breath. It’s gone. It isn’t real. You’re just jumpy. The gate is closed. It’s just a coincidence. Probably something to do with Starcourt.

Leaving the bathroom, she couldn’t help but smile at the little pile of clothes outside the door, collecting them, she headed back inside to change. One of Eddie’s shirts and the pair of red cotton shorts she’d left behind the last time they’d sat on the couch with the first aid kit. She dried her hair with the towel before setting it in the laundry and grabbing her old clothes. She left them atop Eddie’s dresser before finally venturing back into the lounge. “You found them!” She announced, gesturing to the shorts with a smile, pushing aside her fears. It was fairly easy to rationalise them, even now. In fact, perhaps it was even easier to rationalise now because she’d dealt with it before. The last thing she wanted was to let the upside down have more control over her life than it already had. And besides...how could she? When she was with Eddie? Sitting back in her previous spot on the couch, she reached over, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. “Your shampoo smells really good, by the way.” She hummed, brushing her fingers back up into his hair. It was so soft, the strands curling around her fingers almost instinctively.

— Florence —

She noticed that he took a little while to respond, and wished she hadn’t said anything. It wasn’t her place to ask about his love life and what Nancy was to him. And even if the idea of Steve dating Nancy Wheeler made her feel upset, it wasn’t her business. And on top of everything else it was selfish, because there was a bigger priority out there. Maybe if he stuck around after they found Henry then they could have those conversations, like they used to. Shoulder-to-shoulder on her bed, talking over the music that played through her radio, too deep in their conversation about whatever it was that had them laughing all too quickly. She missed those days, and hoped that speaking to Steve again sparked it back. Once Henry was home it would all go back to normal. “I’ve never really spoken to her much,” she shrugged slightly. Florence was sure that Nancy was lovely, the perfect student. “You think?” She asked softly, head tilted upwards slightly as she looked at him. Maybe it would be nice to get along with someone that Steve was so close to. “You’re not just saying that to be polite?” She added, mostly joking, but also somewhat serious. She didn’t want to wedge herself into an already existing relationship just because Steve felt like she wanted to.

The cold was making everything ten times worse. She was trembling — partially because of the chill and partially because she was so worried — and her mind couldn’t stop running with the thought of Henry, cold and alone. Steve’s hand was a little warmer than hers, and grounded her a little once his thumb brushed over her skin, a little soothing. Her eyes were a little blurry by the time he had spoken, and all she could see was his silhouette by the time he had pulled her into a hug. And maybe it was because the seriousness of the situation had finally hit her, or it was the first time in a long time that she had hugged Steve, but her eyes closed as she hugged him and sniffled quietly through tears. Her arms were tight around him, and a long exhale passed her lips as she leaned her forehead against his shoulder. It was nice to be held, to be comforted exactly when she needed it. Despite the distance, it seemed like Steve still knew her like the back of his hand. “I know,” she mumbled, nodding. “I just… he’s all alone out here… it’s cold and it’ll be dark soon, he’s only small.” She couldn’t imagine what she would do if she got lost in the woods, and Henry was much smaller than her. It wasn’t fair. If she could take his place then she would, in a heartbeat. Flora blinked a little when Steve pulled away slightly, and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand before she looked up at him, a slight sad smile on her lips at his words. “I still am tripping over his Lego, he could’ve at least tidied up before he decided to get lost.” She mumbled tearfully, a poor excuse for a joke, but it had her smiling slightly nonetheless.

The dark dripping leaves definitely made it a lot more sinister and creepy. If there was any other reasoning behind their walk through the woods then she would’ve gone home already, and settled with a warm bed and a mug of tea instead. But she had to do this, she had to be brave. And for someone who had to get someone else to move spiders from her if she saw one, which had been Steve’s job whenever he was at her house, this was the bravest she had been. Steve’s words left her nodding slightly in agreement. “They’re creepy,” she murmured, scanning the dark greenery in front of them for anything worth noting. “I never liked them either.” She wrapped her arms around herself at a harsher gust of wind, feeling it through the material of her clothes, and wished that Henry at least had his coat on him. At the question she shook her head, biting her lower lip for a moment before she answered. “No, he’s not allowed in the woods unless I’m with him. He wouldn’t break the rule for anything, especially not to just walk home. It had to be something else… something must’ve scared him.” The thought made her feel ill.

Her mind started buzzing with scary theories about what could have happened, and she was quiet for a while as they walked. Something must have scared him, she couldn’t think of another reason. But what could it have been in such a lovely town like Hawkins? A big dog? Some mean kids at his school? Or something much more sinister? When she considered that Will Byers was also missing, with a nauseating realisation it could only be the latter reason. The thought had her eyes blurring with unshed tears again, and she therefore didn’t see the long stick on the floor until her ankle caught against if and she tripped with a pathetic gasp as she tumbled to the floor, wincing as her knees scraped against the uneven ground. “Damnit,” she mumbled, more to herself then anything, but as she moved to push herself up off of the floor she froze and stiffened up on the spot. In the brown and green on the floor something bright blue peaked out, and her chest grew tight when she pulled a small glove out from the dirt on the ground. It was Henry’s. “Oh my-“ maybe it was the shock of finding it, but suddenly she felt like the air around her was restricted. “Oh god, shit-“

— Eddie —

“Oh I’m so sorry,” with a hand over his heart, Eddie was back at the playful serious act. His eyes sparkled in entertainment, something that Ophelia always managed to draw out of him. No matter how shitty his day had been, if Ophelia was there then his foul mood was gone. Pointless conversations like that, faux arguments and teasing, they all helped a lot more than she realised on the shitty days. And Eddie hoped that it did the same for her after what she had been through. And by the smile on her face, it was safe to assume that it did. “Really, I feel awful for the horrible underestimate,” as if to prove his point he kissed her again, only for a moment between his words. “Three-hundred sounds much more practical. Pssh, fifty, what was I thinking?” His hand lifted back to the side of her neck when her forehead was pressed against hers, and he allowed himself a moment to soak her in. The beautiful colour of her eyes, the softness of her skin, the expression that sent butterflies loose in his rib-cage at the knowledge that it was all for him. “Y’know, if you look past the dirt and smoke and bandaids,” he was teasing as he delicately twirled a strand of her hair around his finger, grinning. “You’re really fuckin’ pretty. Worth way more than three hundred — worth way more than an infinite amount, if I’m being honest. But alas, I’m just one guy.”

He nodded at the mention of the shorts, smiling. “I’ll find them for you.” Eddie didn’t exactly need to find them, he knew exactly where the red cotton shorts were; in the drawer that he’d dedicated to Ophelia’s forgotten belongings that she left behind. The drawer consisted of her shorts, an abundance of hair ties that he sometimes used for himself, and any other bits and bobs that she forgot. She was at his trailer often enough that he could have returned it all, but sometimes he forgot, too distracted by her presence, and sometimes he selfishly wanted to hang onto it a little while longer since they weren’t important belongings. It admittedly made him a little giddy to know that there was a drawer of Ophelia’s things at his trailer. “If you don’t he quick I’m afraid that I’ll perish and die.” Eddie told her with another kiss, deadly serious as he stared at her, before he finally let her go to his bathroom. He stood in the middle of his living room for a moment as she started the shower up, dumbfounded by the past half an hour, before the gears in his head finally started turning again and he went back towards his bedroom. His speaker was turned up again whilst she was in the shower, and as he grabbed clothes for her he sung along to Trapped Under Ice, drumming his fingers on whatever flat surface he came across. Her red shorts and an old Kill ‘Em All shirt, that he had picked simply because it matched, were placed outside of the bathroom before he returned to his bedroom.

Whenever school wasn’t on and Hellfire was on pause for the summer, all of his D&D things were messily stuffed in a black box underneath his bed. And upon pulling the box out, with a mumble of curses he realised he really needed to start putting them away neater if Ophelia’s interest in the game was to continue. As they weren’t playing a fully fledged game and he was only teaching her the basics he pulled out only what he needed; the manual, dice, some character figures, and a backdrop. Once he had stood the box was kicked back underneath his bed to sort through another day, and he continued singing along — now to Escape — as he set all the things down on the coffee table. It excited him that he would be teaching her the game, but Eddie could find reading her furniture instructions exciting. Her company was good enough, no matter what they did. And after the state she had shown up in at his front door, Eddie would do anything she wanted to make sure that she was happy.

By the time she had come back into the living room, showered and dressed in his shirt — something that messed a little with his pulse — he had slouched back against the couch, his chilled appearance opposite to the anticipation he had felt waiting for her to come back out. “Of course I did, I always keep my word,” he told her, tone mock serious. Eddie’s smile grew as she walked closer, and he all but tugged her into his arms when she was beside him on the couch again. The smell of his shampoo on her was worse than the shirt, and Eddie would need to check his heart rate if she kept it out. She was impossibly incredible, and he hoped that she didn’t completely send him into cardiac arrest. “Much better,” he told her with a soft kiss against her lips, his hand instinctively falling atop her tattoo again. “You don’t smell like smoke anymore.” He teased. At the comment about his shampoo he nodded, and his eyes softened as her hand worked it’s way into his hair. “Hadn’t noticed you used it.” He was full of shit, indicated by the grin that grew over his lips, and he kissed her for a long few moments before he finally pulled away and let her go somewhat in order to gesture to the coffee table. “Still up for it?”

- Steve -

“I’m not just saying that to be polite. Have you met me?” Steve joked, pushing his hands into his jacket pockets as they walked. “Besides, it sounds like you and Nance are pretty much on the same page when it comes to Tommy and Carol so..that’s a good starting point.” Nudging her shoulder gently, he offered her a half-mouthed smile. Pulling one of his hands out of his pockets, he held up a small bag of candy. “Want some? I mean, I think it was from this Halloween. This jacket’s pretty new so...” Okay, Steve, what the hell was that? If nothing else, he hoped that it showed her that deep down, beneath all the bullshit and popularity and teenage drama that came with high school, he was just the same Steve Harrington. Not the Steve who was King of Hawkins High, not Steve who hung around Tommy and Carol and got invited to house parties and made sure to make himself the class clown, but the Steve that she knew. The Steve that had spilt punch down his shirt whilst round at hers for dinner, leaving her mom to insist on helping him clean up and resulting in him sitting on Flora’s couch in a flowery shirt whilst he waited for his to dry. Or the Steve that had gone to entirely too much effort at the Middle School Snow Ball, practically bathing himself in his dad’s expensive cologne (which he’d never heard the end of) and spending hours on his hair so that he looked good for her.

Steve would ordinarily be the first to admit that he didn’t know how to deal with certain situations. He wasn’t the best at dealing with emotional conversations or moments but somehow, with Flora, that was different. Even after all of these years, even after the distance that had begun to grow between them, there was still a part of him that seemed to just instinctively know what she needed, what he could do to help. He distinctly remembered that a hug and some lame joke (which of course, he prided himself on and happened to think was pretty damn hilarious) always seemed to work when they were kids. He wasn’t naive enough to believe that that was still the case. They weren’t kids anymore. Being out here, in the darkened woods surrounded by sopping foliage and a whistling breeze in search of her missing brother only reinforced that. But kids weren’t the only ones who could gain a lot of comfort from a hug or two. The second that he felt her relax in his arms, Steve’s gaze softened and he tightened his embrace for a long couple of seconds. Briefly, his chin came to rest atop her head, grounding her in that position for however long she needed. “We’ll find him.” He repeated his earlier words quietly before finally allowing them to break apart.

He missed her warmth immediately and he remained fairly close as they headed deeper into the woods. He searched one way whilst she did the other but he made sure to watch her the entire time, to look out for her, to listen for her to make sure that she was alright. He’d be lying if he said that this place didn’t give him the creeps in the worst way possible. This was essentially the opening scene to any and every horror movie that he’d ever seen (even if it wasn’t a lot). It did beg the question though— if Henry had been running from someone (or something), why would he run into the woods of all places? Sure, maybe he panicked and maybe he didn’t truly realise where he was until he had chance to take in his surroundings but...why would any kid head into these very dense, very creepy woods, scared or not? Brushing a hand through his hair, Steve found himself asking that question, even if he didn’t verbalise it quite yet. It seemed that Flora had enough questions of her own surrounding what had happened to Henry that night and what he’d been thinking. He didn’t want to add to that worry.

Stepping deeper, he brushed his hand against a nearby tree, quickly pulling it back when he felt something cold and....slimy against his hand. His nose scrunched and a look of nothing short of pure disgust appeared over his features. He wiped his hand on the neighbouring tree. “Gross-“ he mumbled to himself before turning to glance back toward where he could hear footsteps moving against the leaves that littered the floor. “Why would you come here...and if you came here, where would you go?” Trying to put himself in Henry’s shoes, Steve paused, simply standing there, looking around at the never ending mass of trees. Each one looked the same and it wouldn’t be difficult to see how a scared kid could get lost and end up running around in circles. The thought of the little boy he’d come to know so well being terrified and not knowing where to go or what to do made his chest tighten. They had to find him. He’d been largely lost in such thoughts when he heard Flora’s voice. There was something about the way that she spoke, something about the tone her voice held and Steve immediately turned, rushing back through the foliage and trees until he came to stand behind her. “What—“ before he had chance to finish his question, his gaze settled on the coat in Flora’s hands. Okay, that wasn’t the best sign. But it still didn’t mean that something bad had happened to him and...how had the police not found it when they’d searched? “It’s his?”

- Ophelia -

The walk between the bathroom and the lounge was punctuated by a quietness just like the one that came directly following a storm. She could only hope that that analogy would ring somewhat true. In fact, the only thing that stopped it being classified as silence was the sound of Eddie’s music and the pounding of her heart in her ears as she tried to calm it slightly. It was just a flickering light. Happens all the time. Completely unrelated to inter dimensional creatures. The familiar music that flooded the small space that encompassed the trailer was reassuring, and it didn’t take long for her heart rate to return to normal. Or well, at least as normal as it could whilst she was wearing what she knew to be one of Eddie’s favourite shirts and still able to feel the softness of his lips against her own. A part of her wondered why this hadn’t happened before, and for a brief moment, she allowed herself to recall the moments that she now realised had been the two of them teetering on the edge, only for them both to seemingly shy away from the jump. The time that she’d felt unwell in Mrs Donovan’s math class and he’d insisted on helping her clean it up in the bathroom only for them to skip the rest of that period in the woods behind the school making stupid jokes. The time that they’d spent Halloween weekend at her house whilst her parents were out of town (for like...the twentieth time that year), eating entirely too much candy and watching horror after horror cuddled in her bed. Or the time in middle school that she’d insisted they go to the Snow Ball and he’d reluctantly agreed. They’d all been leading up to this.

Whatever the hell this was.

Rejoining him in the lounge, a soft laugh escaped her as he practically tugged her into his arms. Not that she was complaining. He was warm, comforting, familiar and most of all, he was safe. “Oh well, at least that’s something.” She joked when he mentioned that she no longer smelt like smoke. “I’d be a little concerned if I did after a shower.” She didn’t move from the place she occupied against his side, briefly glancing down to watch his fingers as they came to rest atop her tattoo. For the next few minutes she allowed herself to focus on nothing but his kiss, to savour the feeling of his lips against her own and to just enjoy the way that butterflies seemed to rise and dance beneath her rib cage. A soft noise left her lips as they finally parted, one that could easily be interpreted to be a sound reminiscent of disappointment. She could have been well and truly content simply kissing him for the remainder of the evening. But they had a rather important lesson to be getting on with.

“Of course.” She confirmed, adjusting her position a little so that she could see everything laid out on the table whilst not straying too much from his embrace. “Fire away, I promise to be a top class student....scouts honour.” She teased, bringing her hand up to give him a salute. Even if this was new and, as Eddie had said, a long time coming, Ophelia had picked up a couple of things over the years. It was hard not too. Especially when she saw the way that Eddie’s eyes lit up when he was talking about anything related to D&D, how he was so passionate, so interested in it. It was hard not to admire that. For a brief moment, she paused, her gaze glancing over the backdrop and the various character figures that he’d collected whilst she was showering. Reaching forward, she picked one of them up, taking in the intricate details and brushing her thumb over the figure gently before she glanced back up at Eddie. “Did you mean what you said...earlier I mean. You think that I’m pretty?” A small smile tugged at her lips at the memory of those words. Just as quickly as the sincere moment had arrived, it was gone. “Pretty enough...to play a pretty badass assassin?”

Pausing for a moment, she set the little figure down, instead turning to look up at Eddie properly “or a wizard...oh! A witch? There’s witches, right? All the best female characters are witches...or assassins. That’s not up for debate.” She gave him a smirk before letting a laugh break from her lips. “Okay okay, I’m getting ahead of myself. Please, oh wise Dungeon Master, teach me your ways.” Leaning up, she pressed another soft kiss to his lips. It was only when they broke apart that she turned her attention firmly back to the coffee table. She was determined to learn how to play, she knew how much it meant to Eddie and honestly? She’d be lying if she said that the stories he’d tell her about various campaigns or what had happened at Hellfire on the way home didn’t make it seem pretty damn cool and interesting. Just as she’d promised, she listened to his explanation, even if at one point (or two....or three) she found herself more focussed on his voice and the softness of his eyes. She was sure that by this point, she could listen to Eddie read her the dictionary and never get bored. There was just something about his voice that was so soothing, so familiar and...pretty hot too, now she came to think about it.

— Florence —

Once she had handed Steve the poster, she had to turn the others upside-down in her lap so she couldn’t look at them, couldn’t see Henry’s smiling face. It was painful, and whilst she didn’t think for one moment that he was gone, it still hurt. She knew that they’d find him eventually, they had to, they just had to know where to look. But there was no doubt in her mind that Henry would come home… because she didn’t know what she’d do if he didn’t. Her eyes watered as she stared out of the window and she lifted her hand to wipe her eyes discreetly, not wanting Steve to see. It was a little sad to know that their friendship was at a point where she didn’t want him to see her upset, but there were much bigger things to dwell on than that. She could worry about her friendship with Steve when Henry was home. Her brother missed him being around too, which she knew for a fact. Maybe with Steve looking too, there really was a better chance of finding him. Henry would surely go to Steve if he saw him.

“Thank you.” Even though she knew that Steve would call without her having to ask, it was a relief to hear him say it. It had been too long since she had heard his voice over the phone, but the awkwardness could be put aside for Henry. Hell, if it wasn’t for her brother going missing she probably wouldn’t even have approached Steve in the hallway. And maybe if it wasn’t for Henry he wouldn’t have spoken to her either. Was he only helping because he felt pity for her? She tried not to dwell on it, but Steve’s true intentions was a mystery. Did he care for her, or was it all just out of pity? Out of obligation because they used to be close. “Thank you for helping,” She mumbled. For whatever reason he helped, she was grateful. It just depended on what reason he helped to how upset she’d be once it was all over, and he stopped talking to her again. “You didn’t have to, I only was planning on giving you the poster.” She admitted quietly, fingertips toying with the edges of the posters in her lap.

Florence sighed and nodded her head. The question was almost superficial from Steve; if anybody was going to understand how sad the situation was for Johnathan, it was her. She felt a little guilty for not reaching out to the boy sooner, but she had been busy. She’d been so busy between searching for Henry, talking to the police, and making the posters that she’d slept all of six hours in the past three days. “I hope that Henry and Will are together,” she mumbled, getting a little lost as she continued staring out of the window, eyes a little unfocused. “That wherever they are, whatever happened, they found each other.” Her throat was thick and she had to swallow as she closed her eyes for a moment. At Steve’s next question she scoffed, frowning in an anger that had been bubbling inside ever since the police last spoke to her and her mother. “They said they’re keeping the case open to any possibilities at the moment.” She huffed, tone dripping with distaste.

She nodded at the plan and glanced back towards Steve. “Yeah… I’m sure they’ll let us put up posters inside. If Henry was there someone must’ve seen him,” she replied, determined. Someone must’ve seen him. There was someone in Hawkins who knew what had happened. At his next words she nodded, a small smile over her lips as she looked at him. “Thank you… and it does help.” It helped to know that Steve cared, for the first time in what felt like a while. She unbuckled her seatbelt once they were in the parking lot, but her hand hovered over the door handle at his words, and she swallowed thickly as she turned back towards him. “I know,” her voice was small again, like a child, and she hated it. “I know, thank you,” she nodded her head, and watched as Steve opened his door and she turned to get out of the passenger side herself, before she couldn’t help blurting out her next words, “Was it my fault?” She let the question sit in the air for a moment as she hugged the posters to her chest, the confidence coming only because Steve had mentioned the wedge in their friendship first. “Did I do something that made you change your mind about being friends with me?”

— Eddie —

He felt like he needed to keep the grip on her hand to understand that what she was telling him was real. She wasn’t joking, he wasn’t dreaming, this wasn’t some high induced haze; there really had been a fire at the mall, and people really had died. The more she told him the more ill he felt at the thought of her being there, and the more thankful he was that she had come to him. Eddie watched as she glanced away and a worried frown replaced the shocked expression on his face. His fingers laced with hers in a silent comfort, not pushing the answer to come quicker. For a moment he debated on telling her that it didn’t matter, that she didn’t have to worry about it for now, but the name slipped past her lips before he had the chance to and he was left staring in shock again. “Hargrove?” The thought of Billy, Hawkins new King he supposed, being dead - it just didn’t make sense. “Shit…” Eddie sighed, and squeezed her hand again. “Are you okay?”

“At least they were fine, I’m glad. I’m glad you were too,” his words were serious and soft, a rare genuineness, before a small smile crept across his lips and, “who else is gonna be my number one fan?” He didn’t push her to say anything else when she fell silent, hoping to instead distract her from the horrors of the night. He watched as she glanced down, saw the slumped posture that only one who had witnessed something awful could hold, and he didn’t hesitate before pulling her into a hug, his arms crossing over her back to hold her close. No words were shared - he didn’t want to make her think of it again - but he gently rubbed the space between her shoulder blades with the heel of his palm before he pulled away, a smile curving at his lips directed towards her.

At her comment he chuckled and shook his head, fondness behind the roll of his eyes. “Of course not, you’d probably sacrifice me for some good ol’ ice cream,” he teased, and gently nudged his knee against her leg. At her next comment he nodded, grinning. “Guess you’ll just have to find somewhere else to get me ice cream from. I’m not cleaning you up for free, y’know. I think I deserve some raspberry ripple in return for my services.” His tone was of mock seriousness as a dumb smile was unrelenting over his expression. He just wanted to distract her; make her smile, make her laugh. Anything but the shell of her usual self that had turned up at his trailer. He smiled at her promise, genuine and not joking. “And I promise to win you a ridiculously big teddy bear. You have to call him Eddie, though, ‘cos otherwise the deal’s off and I’ll just get you a rubber duck.”

At the comment about a pillow he rolled his eyes. “Shut up, you know I wasn’t being serious,” he grumbled, too concentrated on cleaning her up to think of another snarky response. He looked down at her arm as she rolled her sleeve up and nodded silently. Eddie grabbed another wipe, and gently held her arm as he wiped the cut, his fingers splayed out across her wrist to keep her arm steady. “Sorry,” he apologised for the sting he knew she’d feel from the alcohol on her wound. But at her next comment his eyes flickered back up to her face, a smile growing. “Wow, finally? What’s it been, like fifty years?” He grinned, and a chuckle passed his lips. “But sure, I’ll show you how to make a character and everything, if you-“ it was more the shock of her lips against his that cut him off and left him frozen for a good few seconds. But once he’d gathered his bearings, really felt the softness of her lips against hers, the warmth of her skin, his hand dropped the wipe and instead cupped the side of her neck as he kissed her back. But he was just as shocked by his own actions as she was hers when she pulled away, eyes widening at the realisation that he’d fucking kissed Ophelia. “N-no it’s, it’s fine, I’m sorry too,” he didn’t quite know why he was apologising too, but his brain was a little frazzled by the kiss. His eyes flickered back towards her lips and he had to stop himself and look back up, mind starting to wander. “Was i at least a good kisser?” He joked, ignoring the light blush that was probably rising to his pale cheeks.

-- Steve --

Steve Harrington was a lot of things to different people. Class clown, popular kid, rich kid, a bad friend even but there was one thing that few people knew— he was observant when he needed to be; when it came to those that he cared about. Florence, whether she believe it or not, still very firmly belonged in that category. Perhaps then, it should come as no surprise that he caught the silent tears from the girl in the passenger seat. He didn’t know what to say. What could he possibly say to make any of this any better? He couldn’t just magically make Henry reappear unharmed, no matter how much he wanted to right about now. He couldn’t go back in time and treat Jonathan Byers with a little more sympathy when he’d been putting up posters of his own lost little brother. The only thing that he could do was ensure that Flora knew he was there, despite the drifting in their friendship, despite the months spent barely saying two words to one another in crowded school halls. He would always be there.

Out here, high school popularity meant nothing and maybe Steve was realising that too late, maybe he'd already missed any possible chance of healing their scarred friendship and maybe this was the complete wrong time to even be thinking about such a thing. But that wasn't going to stop him from trying, once Henry was home safe and sound. "You don't have to thank me." He reassured without missing a beat. He didn't know what was going through her head, the worrying that he was only helping out of some long-held moral obligation or even worse, pity. But he would be the first to reassure her that it was neither. He was helping because no matter what happened, he still cared for her. He always would and rights now she was hurting, and the least that Steve could do was to be there, to be a shoulder to cry on, if she needed it, if she wanted it and an extra pair of hands in the search for her missing brother.

"Hey....hey, look. He's a smart kid, right? And from what Nance says about her brother and his friends, they're little nerds, right? Smart little nerds." Steve began, turning his attention entirely toward Florence once the engine had died down and the car sat firmly in the parking space outside the arcade. "That's got to be something." He was't good at this. He didn't need anyone to tell him. He didn't know what to say, how to say it and he could only hope that his words were somewhat comforting as opposed to making things worse. "We'll find them, okay?" He tried again. From the way that she spoke about the police and what they had told her and her mother about the case, maybe it truly would be up to them but that didn't matter. Not if it got Henry, and perhaps even Will, back home.

Maybe it was because Steve didn’t have siblings. He couldn’t possibly hope to understand what it felt like and he hoped that that wouldn’t matter. Maybe Florence would have been better going to Jonathan? At least then they could have bonded over a similar experience. So, why did the very thought of her seeking out comfort with someone else, with Jonathan Byers make his chest ache? Now wasn’t the time for moment fresh out of a budget coming of age movie, that was for sure. Heading across the parking lot and toward the arcade, Steve hadn’t expected the question that came next. It was a question that he’d asked himself over and over when he was home alone and popularity no longer meant anything. Was it my fault? “What?” He stopped walking, turning to face her. “No, no, of course it wasn’t. Never.” If there was one thing that he was sure of, it was this. Rubbing the back of his neck for a moment, he sighed. “If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine. I shouldn’t have...I don’t know, I’m not good at this. I shouldn’t have been an asshole to you.” Maybe he was stating the obvious but the last thing that he wanted was for her to blame herself for what had happened. "I should have made more of an effort...I guess it really is true what they say about high school." He offered the smallest smile, one that absolutely conveyed a sense of guilt at the state of their friendship -- a state that he was almost sure was his fault.

-- Ophelia--

Nothing felt real. Or maybe things actually felt far too real? That was how things had felt since Will Byers first went missing. Ophelia had thought about how strange it was more than once, seeing people go about their daily lives, going to the store and taking their kids to school without a care in the world, safe in the knowledge that they’d chosen a safe place to call home. They were oblivious to the evil that lurked beneath Hawkins, the evil that had threatened to spread and consume more than once. Come morning, they’d be organising vigils in remembrance of those lost in the supposed fire at Starcourt, sending their thoughts and prayers to the families of lost and missing loved ones, calling it nothing more than a tragic accident. It was hard to stomach, the knowledge that all of those people had been lost to something far worse than a fire in the local mall.

The hug was greatly appreciated, perhaps more than Eddie would ever truly know. “I’ll always be your number one fan.” The words were whispered softly into the crook of his neck. Ophelia returned the hug, unaware until that moment just how much she needed it. For a moment, she just allowed her head to rest against his shoulder, her arms wrapping around him. She was sure that she could have stayed there forever, especially after the events of the evening. Pressing a soft kiss to his cheek, she finally pulled back, returning his smile. Whether it had been subconscious or not; she was glad that she’d wound up on Eddie’s doorstep. She couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. She wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. “Well...as much as I still think that it’s a travesty that raspberry ripple is your favourite flavour, I’m sure that that can be arranged.” Ice cream, fair games and oversized teddy bears sounded pretty good right about now.

“I promise I’ll call him Eddie.” A fond smile curled at her lips at the thought. “You have my word, scouts honour.” Glancing down at her arm, she gave a small wince as the wipe brushed over the small wound. It wasn’t particularly big, nor deep and it certainly didn’t need stitches or anything more than a bandaid but it was always best to make sure that any scratches or cuts were clean. Between the two of them, they’d had enough bumps and scrapes over the course of their friendship to know that. He was so gentle, so soft. Even the way that he held her arm steady was nothing but caring. It reminded her of the time that she’d fallen off of her bike when she was like twelve and they’d haphazardly cleaned the cut on her knee with their water bottles and dinosaur bandaids that Eddie had found in the bottom of his bag. Or the time that he’d cut his finger replacing the string on his guitar when they were fourteen and had been forced to wear a barbie bandaid for the rest of the day. The memories brought a smile to her lips. Eddie always seemed to do that. “Slight over- exaggeration.” She teased , gesturing toward the Hellfire shirt that he was currently wearing. “And I hope that this means I finally get one of those? Honorary member and all?”

She didn’t have much time to dwell on her offer for him to finally teach her how to play D&D. It seemed that the night had another distraction in mind from the horrors of the past few days. Perhaps it would have been all too easy to lean into that old cliche that she had no idea where that kiss had come from, but she knew deep down that that wouldn’t be entirely truthful. She wasn’t sure what it was, she couldn’t quite place it but it felt right. And that was enough. His lips were so soft against her own. He was warm and she could still taste the lingering nicotine on his lips from the cigarette he’d been smoking before her rather impromptu arrival. Perhaps she would have pulled away sooner had his hand not haphazardly discarded the wipe in favour of cupping her neck. The feeling of him kissing her back was something she hadn’t expected. They were best friends, they shared everything and yet it seemed that there was something buried deep, unspoken between the two. Once they’d both pulled back, she listened as he apologised. She didn’t know what he was saying sorry for, she had kissed him. Was he apologising for kissing her back? And then came the Eddie that she knew so well. “Hm...I think I might need another sample, Y’know? Check it wasn’t a fluke.” She teased before leaning up a little further, softly placing another kiss to his lips, one of her own hands moving to brush through his mass of dark curls.

– Florence –

It still hadn’t quite settled in yet, that Henry was missing. She’d spoken to the police with her mother when he had first been reported missing, she had been there when they searched her house for any information, she had made and printed the missing posters herself; but she was still half expecting Henry to come home from school with his usual smile and tell her all about her day. He had been the one constant thing in her life, aside from their mother, but her shifts at the hospital were so irregular even her company wasn’t constant through no fault of her own. She had lost the consistency of Steve months ago, anyways. But Henry… he had always been there, and now that he wasn’t she didn’t know what to do. “Do you think people care?” She broke the silence with the thought, one that she let slip without thinking. She paused, a moment to wipe her eye with the heel of her palm, before she tilted her head to look at Steve. “Those people earlier, who were… laughing,” She flinched slightly. It wasn’t funny. “They don’t care, does everyone think it’s a joke or something?” Flora had a fair share of people give their sympathies to her, but just as many people had laughed too.

Steve’s words were kind, but she did have to thank him. She was taking his time that he would’ve otherwise spent with Carol and Tommy, or with Nancy… she didn’t know exactly what the Wheeler girl was to him, and part of her didn’t want to. It left a crushing feeling in her chest the first time she had seen the two of them together, and tried not to focus on it since. But it didn’t matter anymore – none of it did, really. “Thank you anyways,” She told him, tone soft. And after a pause she looked at Steve again, a sad smile on her lips. “He really missed you being around,” Of course, it was hard to explain to her brother why Steve had started being around less and less, until not at all. It had been hard to tell her brother that ‘Of course he still cares about you’, when it was upsetting her just as much. “I’m glad you’re here. I don’t think any of my other friends know him as well as you.” It felt a little bitter with the context of their friendship over the past few months, but it was the truth.

Florence looked away from the window and back at Steve as he spoke, and smiled a little tearfully. “Yeah, smart little nerds,” She repeated, and it was true. Henry had never played Dungeons and Dragons like she knew some of the other kids did, but he was incredibly good at math – much more than she was – and he spent a lot of time in the arcade playing Sinistar. Her brother was incredibly smart, and she was sure that he would be fine if he simply got lost in the woods. Even if he would be lonely, cold, and scared. But she tried not to think about that, refused to, and blinked a few times before she focused back on Steve as he continued talking. “I guess… he’s a smart kid, if he’s around then I’m sure he’s fine,” And she couldn’t comprehend the thought of that not being the case. Of Henry not being in Hawkins, of him being taken by someone, of him being dead. Just the thought of it made her feel nauseous, and she frowned as she pushed the thought from mind, and focused on Steve instead, nodding at his words. “Yeah, we’ll find them.” She breathed out, determined that they would.

She stared at the arcade for a moment, bottom lip bitten between her teeth. Someone must have seen Henry – it was impossible that he had disappeared without a trace; no witnesses, nothing left behind. The police had found Will Byers’ bike, so where was Henry’s trail? Her eye’s left the arcade and back at Steve as he stopped walking, and for a moment she regretted asking. It wasn’t the time to talk about it, even if it was a conversation long overdue. But, feet rooted to the ground as she stared at him, her head nodded a little at his answer. “You promise?” Her voice was small again, but she couldn’t help but ask. Steve was kind, and maybe he wouldn’t have told her if she did something wrong, just left it unspoken so that he didn’t hurt her with words. She had always been sure that Steve wasn’t hurting her on purpose by the drift between them, and maybe she should have reached out more herself… but it hurt that if it wasn’t on purpose, he didn’t notice how much it upset her. Her eyebrows scrunched slightly, head tilting towards him. “You were never an asshole, Steve,” Even if it did hurt, it wasn’t like he had been spiteful or anything. Flora sighed, fingers playing with the corner of the posters again. It was true, he probably should have made more of an effort. But she couldn’t blame him for making new friends. “Tommy and Carol seem… cool,” Not at all, but she wasn’t about to be rude about his friends. “And Nancy seems nice,” She sighed, glancing towards the arcade before back at him. “This probably makes me really selfish, we came out here to look for Henry,” She sighed as her expression fell. “But I really miss you.”

– Eddie –

Eddie held onto her tightly as they hugged, wanting to offer the best comfort that he could. He felt her relax in his arms, which he was thankful for. She was fine; she had been able to drive to his trailer – even though he was against that sill – and she had no major injuries. But he could imagine that it would take her a while to get over what she had witnessed. The fire, the people that had died… Billy. He had only ever heard bad things about Hargrove, but regardless of if he was a shitty guy or not, she had still seen it. She had seen someone die – he couldn’t imagine how that felt. And he didn’t want to bring it up to her, not after she had been smiling and relaxed, but he didn’t think that she was okay. Eddie always cared about her, he’d cared ever since they had met, but he was really going to put in the effort to make sure that he would be there for her whenever she needed him. Eddie had always cared about her, and in the past few years maybe he had started caring about her as a little more than a friend. But any feelings he had aside – Ophelia was his friend and he would be there.

A soft smile worked it’s way onto his lips as she whispered against his neck, the sensation sending a slight shudder through him. “Thank you,” He had chuckled in response, and squeezed her in the hug in only a way that he could, but it meant more than that to him, and left him with a sweet feeling that had the smile stuck to his face like it wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. “I’ll always be yours too… when I’m not Metallica’s number one fan.” He was grinning as he leaned his head against her’s, a chuckle shaking his body slightly as he held her. As she let her head lull against his shoulder he stayed quiet, and just let her relax against him. He kept the movement of his palm over her back, rubbing between her shoulder blades, helping to ease any leftover tension from her body. It was nice, just being able to hold her. It was calm, and different to their usual time spent together. But a good difference, nonetheless. One that Eddie would only look back on in fondness. The kiss to his cheek only made the softness worse, and the grin he wore melted into a kind smile that he met her with once she had pulled back. “A travesty?” Eddie raised his eyebrows, a scoff passing his lips – much more Eddie Munson than kisses on cheeks, but those lines had been blurred a long time ago – before his head tilted at her. “What’s your favourite, then? And if you say mint then you really are sleeping on the porch.” He teased.

At the promise he chuckled, grinning at her again. “Thank you, I’m honoured, really,” He told her, even though naming the teddy bear had been at his request. Going to the fair probably would have been the best option; no fires, no deaths, no injuries. And as much as Eddie would have loved to have spent the night with Ophelia playing dumb fair games and winning dumb prizes, she wouldn’t have ended up on his doorstep and the atmosphere wouldn’t have become whatever it was between them in his trailer. He frowned slightly as she winced at the sting from the wipe, and settled with gently rubbing his thumb along her wrist comfortingly. The wipe couldn’t have stung that badly and he doubted that she needed comforting through it… but it was nice to touch her, and he hoped it was nice for her too. “I’m not exaggerating at all, dunno what you’re on about,” He teased, and chuckled. “I suppose it means you do,” He nodded, glancing down at his shirt before back up at her. “As long as you don’t think it’s too nerdy for you.” He chuckled.

Maybe it was just a fluke, because she was shaken up and he was the only one there. Maybe the morning would roll around and it would be back to how it was between them, completely platonic. Maybe Eddie was crazy for even thinking about past that night when all they had shared was a kiss. But, at least for him, it felt like the feeling had been brewing for much longer than that night, and it felt good, a relief to finally get a semblance of his feelings off his chest. A smile curved at his lips as he heard her words – gone was the awkwardness and apologies from before. Completely certain that they were okay, and that it wasn’t something to apologise for, Eddie grinned at her words with a nod. As soon as she had leaned towards him his hand was against her neck again and he was leaning in the rest of the way, relaxed as he kissed her. The closeness allowed him to smell the smoke from the fire, but it was more than that. It was the warmth of her skin, the softness of her lips against his own, the feeling that swirled deep inside him that told him that this kiss wasn’t just a throwaway. Being mindful of her head, his free hand lifted and brushed hair away from her face, before he leaned forwards and his forehead was pressed to hers with a sigh, lips still ghosting over hers. “Definitely not a fluke.” He whispered, smiling uncontrollably.

~ Steve ~

In hindsight, Steve had been so wrapped up with high school, and all of the drama and teenage angst that accompanied it to recognise just how much they’d drifted before it was too late. The days spent without having a full conversation turned to weeks and weeks turned to months and before he knew it, it almost felt wrong, felt like he couldn’t just pick up the phone and call his best friend or turn up on her doorstep. By the time he realised just how much things had changed between them, it almost felt like he didn’t have a right to call, to turn up or talk to her in the hallways. He’d tried to rationalise it to himself, repeating his dad’s words (which were, albeit said during a rather patronising lecture about grades and college and all sorts of adult stuff). ‘High School changes everyone. You find out who you are in high school, it defines who you are.’ The trouble was that Steve didn’t want to be defined as the kid who favoured popularity above friendships. He knew that now.

He also hadn’t necessarily thought about how the situation between himself and Flora impacted more than just them. He hadn’t thought about the questions that Henry would ask— why Steve couldn’t come round to play his new game with him, why he couldn’t help him build his latest Lego set or why he couldn’t pick him up from school when their mom was working late. And now Henry was missing. Even despite her words, her gentle reassurance that he hadn’t been an asshole, Steve didn’t believe it. He knew that that was exactly what he’d been. He had been so caught up in being popular, being the class clown, dating girls, parties and whatever else that people expected teenagers to do in high school that he’d neglected one of the only real friendships that he had. He couldn’t go back in time, he couldn’t change that— but he could make sure that he was there for Flora now. That was what mattered.

“No, I was literally the definition of an asshole. I shouldn’t... I should have made more effort.” He explained, brushing a hand through his hair as they headed further across the parking lot. He gave a nod, one that was clear, immediate. “I promise non of this is your fault.” He repeated. A part of him wished that they could go back to middle school, that they could just be those kids who spent every other night at each others houses, who had sleepovers and watched whatever movies they could find. He wished that they could even go back to the first year of high school, when they’d both been fish out of water trying to find their way. He wished that his way hadn’t involved letting them drift apart. “Tommy’s an asshole.” He answered, a smile tugging at his lips as they reached the sidewalk outside the arcade. That was the truth. He knew it. He’d seen the way that he clung to Steve because that was where popularity lay, because he wanted to be invited to the parties and he wanted people to know who he was. He saw the way he treated the other kids, and that wasn’t something that Steve wanted Flora to think that he condoned. “And Carol...she just wants to be popular.”

He was well aware that he sounded like his dad at this point and whilst he hated that very notion, even after all this time, he still felt like he could be himself around Flora, like he didn’t have to put on the front that he had to at school. Pushing the door open to the arcade, he held it open for her before letting it swing closed behind them. It was pretty quiet at this point of the day, only a few patrons and the distinctive sounds of the various games echoing around the small space. “It doesn’t make you selfish.” He shrugged. “And for what it’s worth— I miss you too. I especially miss that amazing pie your mom used to make? You know the one?” He teased, even if there was an element of truth to the comment. He spotted a group of kids crowded around one of the games, kids that must have literally ran out of school when it finished and straight toward the arcade. Taking a poster from Flora, he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Why don’t you go ask...Carl? Chris?...” clicking his fingers together, he pointed toward the teenager behind the counter. “Kieth!” He announced, perhaps a little loudly when the name finally came to him. “Why don’t you go ask Kieth and I’ll go ask these kids?”

~ Ophelia ~

She wasn’t okay. She knew that. Truthfully, Ophelia didn’t know how anyone who knew the truth about the evil that lurked beneath Hawkins could be okay. Somehow, whether it be because it was far more recent and fresh in her mind, or whether it was because of just what it had meant, tonight’s events had hit her harder than anything they’d dealt with previous. Even Barb’s death, the knowledge of just what had happened to her, seemed almost more comprehensible than the idea that this wasn’t just their secret anymore. The knowledge that the Soviets had somehow learned about the dimension that lurked beneath their feet was chilling in itself, but knowing the truth about what had happened to so many people? What they’d become? People that she knew? That was something particularly unsettling. Maybe it was for the best that the rest of the town would merely think that their friends, neighbours and family members had perished in a tragic mall fire as opposed to knowing the truth?

Being there with Eddie, she didn’t feel the need to pretend that she was okay. He’d always been good at recognising that sort of thing. Instead, she could simply focus on the gentle sensation of his hand brushing up and down between her shoulder blades. There was no talk of monsters, no mention of the upside down or the Soviets or Hawkins’ lab, instead there was just two teenagers bickering over the best flavour of ice cream and obnoxiously large teddy bears. And that was exactly what she needed right now. “Mint! Mint? We’ve been friends for how long? And you have the audacity to even suggest that mint could possibly be my favourite flavour?” Feigning outrage, Ophelia couldn’t hide the smile that tugged at her lips as she pulled back, the expression punctuated with a soft laugh. “Mint should be a criminal offence.” Shifting out of his embrace entirely, she crossed her legs beneath herself and glanced down at where Eddie had begun to clean the remaining cut on her forearm. “But come on! Everyone knows the best flavour is vanilla-chocolate swirl.”

She appreciated the soothing movement of his thumb against her wrist, the way that he was so gentle even in his movements as the wipe moved over the small cut. It was nice, comforting, a silent reassurance that he was there. Soon enough, the wound was covered by a bandaid and the wipe discarded. “Y’know, it’s a shame we couldn’t find any of those dinosaur bandaids, I reckon I’d look pretty good with a couple of those.” She smiled up at him, reaching over to put any of the unused bandaids or bandages back into the first aid kit. She closed it was a click and pushed it a little further into the centre of the coffee table so that it didn’t fall. “Too nerdy? You’re asking the girl who just said she wished we had dinosaur bandaids if it’s too nerdy?” Another soft laugh left her, her gaze briefly lingering on the shirt in question. “Nerdy’s good and I distinctly remember that you said I am a nerd.”

Less than three hours ago she’d been hiding from angry Soviets and running from something that resembled a giant, fleshy spider. And now, she was sat on Eddie’s couch just....being a teenager. The two things were so wildly different from one another but she was glad. She was glad that she’d come to him, and a part of her was pretty damn glad that she’d kissed him too. There was nothing quite like a near-death experience with an inter dimensional monster to get you to realise your feelings for your best friend, it seemed. The second kiss was more confident, more blatant than the last. She allowed herself to savour the softness of his lips against her own, the way that his curls felt beneath her fingers as they tangled and curled around the digits. Here, right now, they were just teenagers, doing the usual shit that teenagers did and it was nice. Not quite as nice as the feeling of Eddie’s lips against her own, but nice. Her forehead came to rest against his as they parted, a soft laugh leaving her at his words. “Definitely not a fluke.” She agreed. “And as far as things go...I’d say that you’re a pretty good kisser. Could be better if raspberry ripple wasn’t your favourite flavour but...I think I can let that slide.” She teased, pressing a soft peck to his lips before her hand moved from his hair and instead came to brush across his left cheek.

– Florence –

Maybe it wouldn’t have all been so hard to deal with if Steve was there. Florence had always been there for Steve throughout the hard times. He didn’t have the best parents in the world, so many nights were spent in each other’s bedrooms, watching shitty movies and eating shitty food, just passing the time together. He had become integrated with her family; her mother adored him, and always sent Steve home with a tupperware of something homemade, usually a sweet baked good. And Henry loved him, absolutely loved him. He was always the first to the front door to greet Steve before Florence could get there, he always gave Steve a complete run down of his school day, and always brought Steve some of his toys to check out. And then he stopped coming over, and everything was so painfully different and she hated it. Florence wasn’t completely alone, she had other friends, but none of them were Steve. She remembered that every Wednesday when her mother would work late, Steve would drive her to pick Henry up from school. Maybe if he was still around then Henry wouldn’t have gone missing– Florence cut that thought off before it could continue, horrified at herself that she had even thought that. Steve had absolutely no obligation to her whatsoever. He was allowed to have friends, he wasn’t Henry’s babysitter.

Florence took in a deep breath to push the thought from mind as she looked back towards Steve, listening to his words. Steve had always been selfless – she ignored the ‘King Steve’ bullshit because that wasn’t the real Steve. So she wasn’t surprised that he was taking the blame for their drift. “I never thought you were an asshole,” she told him honestly. At first she had. When the drift first started she was upset and angry that he chose other people over her, but it was selfish and she realised that if Tommy and Carol made him happy then there was no harm. But it was a relief that he didn’t blame her. A slight weight off of her shoulders in comparison to everything else. “Thank you,” she breathed out, relieved. “I just… y’know if I had done anything, you could’ve told me… if I do something now.” Part of her wished that once Henry was found that they’d continue talking, and work through everything without something else taking priority. She just wanted her old friend back. The comment about Tommy and Carol confused her, and she was left staring at him for a moment. “Why are you friends with them then?” She had been being polite by complimenting them, but if Steve knew how bad they were, why was he friends with them?

She mumbled a thanks in his direction as he held the arcade door open for her. Immediately her eyes were drawn to Henry’s favourite game, and it made her feel a little ill when some other boy was stood in his place. She hadn’t been expecting to see Henry, but it still hurt. The sigh she let out was heavy as she turned back towards Steve, the posters a little tighter against her chest. The reassurance let her shoulders lose their stiffness, and his following words even left a small smile across her lips. “You miss my mom’s cooking more than me?” Her voice was quiet, but it was obvious that she was smiling; one of her small entertained smiles that was reserved for Steve and Steve only. It was nice to joke with him, even despite the circumstances – it was like a breath of fresh air, which was something that she was in desperate need of. She watched as he took one of the posters, and sighed softly as his hand touched hers, returning the gentle squeeze with one of her own. His touch was something that she had missed, but didn’t realise that it was something she so desperately needed until then. She nodded at his offer, lips curving upwards slightly as he struggled to get Kieth’s name right. “Yeah, thanks Steve.” Flora sent another genuine smile his way, lingered for a moment, before she took a deep breath and headed over towards the front desk.

Kieth had heard about Henry, as the rest of the town had, but Henry hadn’t been there since the day before he disappeared. It left a pit of nausea in her stomach once she had heard it. They were still at square zero, they still had no idea where Henry could be, and she was running out of ideas. He wasn’t anywhere on her street, at the school, at the park, at the arcade – where else could he be? With her tongue pressed to the roof of her mouth to keep the tears at bay, she left a small stack of the posters at the desk for Kieth to give out to people at the arcade, before she walked back over to the door to tape one to the window facing outwards, so anybody outside could see it. If he didn’t show up soon, her hope would start slipping through her fingers. He was an eleven year old boy, where else could he have gone?

– Eddie –

Eddie was glad that she was smiling, laughing. When she had turned up on his porch, she looked like a shell of herself, and he didn’t like it. He had been friends with her for years, and he couldn’t remember a time that he had seen her look so fragile and tired. It wasn’t fair that she had to experience something so awful. They were teenagers, the worst thing they needed to worry about was exams. But she was finally laughing, and it felt nice to see her like that. Eddie had never been one to keep his mouth shut, and sometimes it got him in trouble, but he was just glad that he could help in times like that – when she so badly needed a distraction. He’d talk about random shit all night if it meant that she felt happy and distracted from the night she had experienced. He would be there when she needed support, but he was just as happy providing a distraction.

He couldn’t help but laugh at her faux outburst, the smile spreading too easily onto his expression. Being with Ophelia had always been easy; easy to laugh, easy to relax – hell, easy to breathe. At that point she was basically keeping him sane, with all of the shit in his life. Sure, Eddie knew that he had his uncle – Wayne was a kind man who would never fail him – but there was something about Ophelia that just drew him to her, like he was a sailor and her a siren. “Well I’m sorry but I don’t know what to think of you anymore after the slander you’ve been giving raspberry ripple. You’re like a completely different person to me, ‘Lia, I don’t know what to think,” He shrugged, hand over his chest in the sort of dramatics that only Eddie could convey. “Vanilla-chocolate swirl is nice… but I wouldn’t say the best. I’m actually quite disappointed at how basic your taste is. The next thing you’re going to tell me is that you’re a die-hard Duran Duran fan, isn’t it?” He pressed his lips together, now determined to keep up whatever act he had going. “I won’t make you sleep on the porch… just know I’m extremely saddened by your poor taste.”

His fingers were gentle against her skin as he smoothed the edge of the bandaid out, his calloused fingertips from playing guitar a light touch. She was warm, and he could ignore the smoke smell in favour of her soft skin, her warmth, and overall just her. She was just so perfect and him so far from it, and the phrase ‘opposites attract’ sprung to thought without him realising. The resulting thought left a slight curve of a smile on his mouth. “I promise you the next time that you come over, this trailer will be stocked full of dinosaur bandaids m’lady,” Eddie did a false bow the best he could from his position, smile widening further at the memory of their twelve year old selves badly cleaning the cut on her knee after she fell off her bike. He had always carried bandaids on him after that. He knew that there was still a box of them at the bottom of his school bag. “Well, you weren’t nerdy enough to play D&D when I first asked,” he told her, a shit-eating grin on his face. “But you’re right, you are a nerd. A huge nerd. I think the shirt’ll look real good on you.”

Eddie didn’t want to get his hopes up, but he really did wish that this wouldn’t be the one night they were like that; silly teenagers with silly teenage crushes sharing kisses between them. He didn’t want to just be friends, and as much as he knew that she had a terrible evening, he hoped that she felt the same way too. She was so soft and warm, and he couldn’t help the relaxed sigh that passed his lips once his forehead was pressed to hers, so close that he was breathing in her exhales. His eyes fluttered as he felt her hand against his cheek, but a quiet groan escaped his lips at her comment. “Don’t ruin the moment with my – i’ll have you know, amazing – ice cream choice,” He grumbled, though his smile was wide as her lips pressed to his again, and his thumb brushed along her jaw just to touch her, to actually feel that he was touching her. His free hand fell to rest against her thigh as he pressed another kiss against her mouth, humming, before he leaned closer and his head was against her shoulder, and a kiss was pressed there too. “You’re lucky you’re a good kisser, ‘cos you still smell like smoke.” He was teasing, a joking tap against her leg followed his words, and if Eddie was being honest then he couldn’t be happier.

~ Steve ~

She certainly raised a good point. Why was he friends with Tommy and Carol? He knew deep down that it was related to teenage popularity and not a great deal more. Everyone knew Tommy and Carol. Steve was well aware that at this point, the two were probably only friends with him because they could capitalise on his ‘King Steve’ title. It earned them status amongst the halls of Hawkins High, and it earned them invites to Halloween parties and house parties and whatever else that cool kids in teenage coming-of-age movies were supposed to do. At this point, maybe Steve‘s friendship with Tommy and Carol wasn’t really a friendship at all, and maybe it wasn’t even giving him anything but ear ache. Maybe now wasn’t exactly the time to make such a realisation, this was so much more than popularity, so much more than teenage angst and High School drama. “Honestly-“ he began with a sigh as he briefly chanced a look down at the smiling face of the young boy on the poster. “I’ve been asking myself that same question.”

This was about the little boy that Steve had helped build numerous Lego sets, the little boy that had always greeted him with a wide grin, excited to tell him all about his day at school. The more that he thought about him, the more that Steve was determined that he needed to help find him, he needed to do whatever he could. Beyond that, he needed to be there for Flora, he wanted to be there for one of the truest friend that he’d ever had. He could only hope that she would still want that title after so long, after so much had happened and so many months apart. Steve had already considered how different things could have been if only he’d still been the one to pick Henry up on the days their mom was at work. Maybe if that had been the case that particular evening that he’d gone missing, maybe he’d still be home, building Lego and getting excited about the science fair and showing Steve all of the drawings that he’d done over the past week. Maybe then Flora wouldn’t be on the verge of tears as she clutched those missing posters to her chest.

“Hey, I didn’t say that I missed your mom’s cooking more than you...i was just saying that I miss your mom’s cooking too.” Steve defended with a smile. “And besides, can you really blame me? That raspberry and blackberry pie she used to make? That would be my last meal if I was on death row or something-“ realising that perhaps, in true Steve Harrington fashion, he hadn’t exactly chosen the wisest words. He flashed her a small, almost sheepish smile, certainly not the sort of thing that you’d be expecting to see from Steve ‘the hair’ Harrington and yet was so reminiscent of their younger selves, back when they were inseparable, spending most evenings at her house because Steve’s parents were on vacation and the fourteen year old didn’t want to be left home alone. With a reassuring smile, he gave her a final promise that they’d do whatever they could to find Henry before leaving her to talk to Kieth, crossing the room toward the gathered group of middle-schoolers.

It took a moment or so to catch their attention, all of them huddled around one particular game telling eachother which moves to take. Steve stood there, leaning against the game beside them looking like some sort of babysitter. It was only when they lost the final round, a couple of them briefly bickering over scores that they turned their attentions to him. “Hey..yeah, sorry to interrupt. Looked pretty intense-“ when the kids just stared back at him with borderline blank expressions, he rose a brow and held out the poster. “Tough crowd...anyway, have you seen this kid? We think he might have been here a few nights ago?” He asked. It took a couple of minutes of passing the poster back and forth before one of the kids mentioned how they thought that they’d seen him the afternoon before he went missing heading into the woods as if he was running away from something. Steve thanked the kids, leaving them with the poster and a couple of extra copies to give to relatives or friends before meeting back up with Flora. “So...I think I’ve got something-“ he began. “One of the kids over there mentioned that they thought they saw him the afternoon before he was reported missing running into the woods...”

~ Ophelia ~

“It isn’t basic, it’s a classic!” Ophelia defended with a soft smirk. “Y’know? Like....like Edge of Seventeen is a classic? Well, that’s the musical equivalent of vanilla-chocolate swirl. It’s timeless.” She teased, letting out a loud laugh at his dramatics. It was just so Eddie. “And sure raspberry ripple is nice and all but it’s more....Rooms On Fire than Edge of Seventeen.” It was her turn to turn on the dramatics at his next comment. “Duran Duran? I’m going to pretend that I didn’t hear that.” A smirk tugged at her lips as she glanced back down at the bandaid on her arm, situated just beside the small tattoo of a bat, one that matched Eddie’s own. She distinctly remembered the day that they’d gotten them— a last minute decision that they’d thought would be a cool idea over entirely too much popcorn, candy and ice cream the day after Halloween a year ago. Her gaze lingered on Eddie’s arm for a second before she reached out with her free hand, gently brushing her fingers over his tattoo. “It isn’t poor taste! If it was poor taste I’d be telling you that my favourite flavour was mint...or god forbid, pistachio”.

“Promise?” The thought of him stocking the trailer full of dinosaur bandaids for the next time that she inevitably cut her finger or fell over was a funny one, but also one that caused a fond smile to momentarily play over her lips. Trust Eddie to remember the little details like that. “Thank you, kind sir.” Leaning back a little further, a laugh left her at the mention of her being a nerd. It was true. When they’d first met, she’d been the kid obsessed with science and history, stickers of planets and pyramids decorating her various notebooks and folders, a whole page dedicated to the periodic table and a first place medal from the science fair. She truly was a huge nerd but hearing Eddie say it somehow filled her with a warmth, a feeling not too dissimilar to the one that she’d felt when they’d first become friends all those years ago. “Well...what can I say? Every Dungeon Master needs a Princess, right? I think I’ve left you hanging long enough.” She was well aware of how that could be interpreted and honestly, perhaps that was why she’d said it. Maybe she wouldn’t exactly be mad at the idea of being the Princess to his Dungeon Master.

It was fair to say that Ophelia shared Eddie’s sentiment. She didn’t want this to be the only night that they got to do this, got to just be teenagers. It felt so freeing and in all honesty, a part of her wished that they’d done this earlier. She’d always known that Eddie held a special place in her heart, a pretty big place at that but now she realised that that place wasn’t strictly platonic with a capital P. Leaning into the gentle touch of his thumb against her jaw, she returned each of his kisses, their lips meeting as if they’d been doing this for years, as if this was something so entirely familiar that neither of them felt any need to question it. For a brief moment, she glanced down at his hand that rested atop her thigh. Her jeans were muddy and covered in ash, a fact that she only really realised in that moment. A soft, contented sigh broke from her lips as he placed a couple of soft kisses against her shoulder. “So...” she began softly, continuing with moving her fingers through his dark curls. “What you’re saying is that I’m a good kisser?” She teased.

“Flattery works on me, Munson. You know that better than most.” Guiding his head up, she placed another soft kiss to his lips, deeper this time, savouring almost. Even despite the teasing, she knew that there was a lot of truth to his words. She could still smell the smoke on herself each time that she moved, and now that she’d realised just how dirty her clothes were, she had to admit that she probably didn’t look her best. “Don’t suppose that the Princess can request a shower and maybe a shirt?” She offered with a slightly sheepish smile before she spotted something on the coffee table, reaching across to pick up the VHS laid out and holding it up to Eddie with a wide smile. “And then...maybe we can put this on whilst you teach me all things D&D?” She offered, setting the tape down. Even despite her comments, she made no effort to move from her spot. She sat there for another long couple of minutes, gently leaning up to place another soft kiss to his lips before she reluctantly got to her feet.

— Florence —

It wasn’t the time to get caught up in Steve’s social life and she knew that. Henry was the priority, and maybe it made her a shitty sister for focusing on Steve at a time like that, but it was the first time in months she had a chance to share a genuine conversation with her best friend — Steve still strongly held that title despite the months of distance — and she couldn’t let it go to waste. Maybe she’d feel a bit better about everything if she was close with him again, maybe her head would be clearer to help with Henry. “What about Nancy Wheeler?” She couldn’t help but ask. Flora had only ever made passing conversation with the girl in question, but she knew that whenever she saw her with Steve, it left an aching feeling in her chest and she couldn’t decipher why. Maybe it was because she used to be in her place, maybe it was because Nancy was probably a better friend for him than she ever could be, or maybe it was because they were possibly more than friends? Sighing, she realised that she had probably overstepped a line, and gently bit her bottom lip as she shook her head. “Sorry,” she apologised after a moment, not wanting to pry where she wasn’t allowed anymore. “I’m not really thinking straight, I haven’t since… well, y’know. It doesn’t matter.” Not more than Henry, anyways.

Flora couldn’t help but smile slightly at his following words, one of the few genuine smiles that she had given in a while. To think that she had been so nervous to approach him not an hour earlier, and yet being with him was so easy, like breathing. “You didn’t say that, but all I’m saying is you seemed way more excited about her cooking than you did when I came over to you this morning.” She was teasing, and for a moment it felt like they were back in ‘82, before any of the cracks in their friendship had started to show. When he would drive her to pick up Henry after school, before they all went back to her house to spend the evening together, catered to by her mother. When Steve felt like a part of her family — a huge part of her life. She still wasn’t okay, and she was still extremely worried about where Henry was, but it was nice to be with Steve like they used to be. The comment about death row didn’t phase her, and she just fondly shook her head instead. Maybe it would have bothered her if there was a chance that Henry had died, but there was no doubt in her mind that they would find him — he was alive. “If she knew that then you’d be getting a new pie every day,” she told him. “I’ll get her to make one when Henry’s home. To celebrate.” She smiled slightly and nodded definitively.

By the time the poster was taped to the window she let out a shaky breath, scared. Henry was out there all alone, how had nobody seen him? The longer they took to find him the longer he would be out there all by himself. No food, no water, no change of clothes; he’d be terrified. And it was her job as his older sister to make sure that didn’t happen. They would find him and he would be find. She flinched when Steve had come over, as she’d been a little distracted with her thoughts, but she didn’t even have time to say anything by the time he’d said something, and her eyes simply widened in response. He had something? Flora listened intently as he spoke, eyebrows slightly scrunched as she glanced between Steve and the group of kids that he had spoken to, and she let out a heavy breath of relief at his discovery. “The woods,” she repeated, and only took a moment to think it over before she was nodding and grabbed his hand, determined. “Let’s go, then.”

Her fingers squeezed his as she pulled the door open and walked outside, and she couldn’t decide whether that was so Steve followed her or so she had something to hold, some stability. “Why would he have run into the woods?” She asked, mainly to herself, as she walked around the arcade building to the woods behind it — her steps twice the usual speed. “He’s not allowed in the woods and he knows that, so maybe he was just messing around with one of his friends?” But then she frowned even more, not really paying attention as she marched into the woods, still rambling worriedly. “But even then he wouldn’t…” she shook her head. Henry was a good kid; he never missed curfew, always completed his chores, never handed in homework late. So she seriously doubted that he’d break a rule to mess around with one of his friends. After a moment a sharp gasp was inhaled at the thought Florence was left with, the one rational — and terrifying — possibility. “What if he was chased? Or someone scared him, but who would scare a little boy if it wasn’t on purpose?” The more she rambled the more worried she become, and in turn the tighter her hold on Steve’s hand grew, until her hands were trembling with worry.

— Eddie —

A dramatic gasp was inhaled through his lips, and the scowl on his face was of serious faux offence. “How dare you compare Stevie Nicks to ice cream at all,” he told her, shaking his head in disapproval, like a parent telling off a toddler. Whilst Eddie’s music taste typically consisted of bands like Black Sabbath and Metallica, who didn’t like Stevie Nicks? “I’m so disappointed in you right now, ‘Lia. You’re lucky I’m too lazy to drive you home right now, because I so would.” Shaking his head at her comment he laughed a little. “What, your favourite song isn’t Girls On Film? I could’ve sworn it was.” He was full of shit. Eddie knew for a fact that her favourite song was Edge Of Seventeen — Ophelia was the main reason that he had Stevie Nicks’ cassette, which he usually played when she came over. Eddie really tried not to focus on the feeling of her fingers against his arm in favour of their totally serious argument, but for a moment his gaze flickered between their shared tattoos with nothing but fondness. Her touch was featherlight against her arm and it made him smile. “It definitely is poor taste — I can’t believe a Duran Duran fan is lecturing me on what poor taste is.” He scoffed to hide a laugh, entirely too entertained by the stupid argument.

“Promise. Cross my heart and hope to die,” he told her, and lifted a finger to make a cross over his heart, and although it seemed like a joke, he was absolutely one-hundred percent serious about it. The next time she came over, he would have dinosaur bandaids. Eddie would have to make sure to stick one on her just for fun, just so she knew they were there. The sentiment was too sweet to not do it. On many occasions had they used those stupid bandaids between them, to the point where they had been the only ones in the house, and at one point Wayne had to go to work with a dinosaur bandaid on his arm because there were no others left. It was safe to say that since then, his uncle always maid sure that the first-aid kit always had regular bandaids. It was a little funny in hindsight. At her next comment an uncontrollable smile broke out across his face, and his own interpretation of her words left him feeling warm and happy. “It’s definitely been long enough.” Eddie told her, and he couldn’t decide whether he was responding to her comment or his interpretation of it. Either way, he was still smiling by the time he met her eyes, expression kind and softer than usual.

Her body was warm and soft, and all Eddie could think about as he planted kiss after kiss against her shoulder was just how right it was. How well his head fit in the juncture of her neck, how easily it was to kiss her skin, how easy it was to be with her in general. His hand left her leg in order to take her forearm between his fingers again. The pad of his thumb brushed over one of the bats inked into her skin, and his smile grew. Her fingers cording through his hair was a feeling that he didn’t know he was missing, and Eddie let a soft sigh pass his lips. He hadn’t been so relaxed in years. A breathy chuckle passed his lips at her comment and he grinned. “I don’t know, I think I need to kiss you at least… fifty times, more or less, until I figure it out.” He mumbled into her shoulder with a smirk. Smug.

“Mm, I’m well aware, don’t worry,” he told her, completely and utterly smitten. “You’re lucky you’re so easy to compliment.” Eddie lifted his head all to eagerly when she tilted it upwards, and practically melted into her touch when his lips met her’s again. His hand slid up her forearm to her shoulder with a light squeeze, before his palm was holding her cheek, fingers slipping underneath her jaw to angle her head so he could kiss her with ease. It was all too easy and too natural that he felt that he should’ve kissed her a long time ago. And even when he’d pulled away from the kiss he left a soft peck against the corner of her mouth, her cheek, and the upper stretch of her jaw before he finally leaned back, unable to help himself. Her sheepish smile made him all the more softly, and he nodded in response straight away. “Of course, Princess,” oh he was so using that more often. “I’ll grab you one in a minute.” His eyes flickered towards the VHS when she picked it up, and the offer was so great that he couldn’t even imagine what his evening would’ve played out like if she hadn’t turned up. “Can’t think of anything better,” he told her, grinning. The kiss was so sweet that Eddie didn’t even bother hiding the disgruntled noise that left his mouth when she stood up. “Now I can.” He added the afterthought under his breath before he got to his feet too.

— Steve —

What about Nancy Wheeler? The question caught Steve somewhat off guard. Maybe it shouldn’t have done. Anyone with eyes knew that Nancy had spent lunch with him, Tommy and Carol more than once, or would have seen them talking in the halls or outside her locker. Maybe it was because even Steve didn’t have a clear answer to it. He didn’t know what he and Nancy were. He liked her, sure, who wouldn’t? But they hadn’t exactly sat down and had a conversation, that just....that wasn’t the easiest thing, and it certainly wasn’t something that high school kids did. That would have been far too simple. “Nancy’s cool.” Steve eventually answered with a slight shrug. “She’s nice, Y’know? A good person.” Just like you. Truthfully, Steve truly did think that Nancy and Flora would be good friends. They were both good people; smart, funny, cared about others. Above all else, they were good friends. And that was exactly what Flora was, what she’d always been to Steve. “I reckon you two would get on pretty well”.

Maybe Steve should have told her the truth. Maybe he should have relayed each of the details that the kids had told him. He should have told her about how Henry was running, how he looked scared, like he’d seen a ghost to quote the kid directly. He should have told her how he didn’t seem to see or acknowledge anything else. How one of the other boys had shouted to him and received no response. But then again, he was trying to protect her. Rightly or wrongly, he’d seen how worried she was, how jumpy she’d been even just from him approaching her with quiet footsteps, he didn’t want to worry her more by suggesting that Henry was scared, he’d run into the woods because he was trying to get away from something...they just didn’t know what. There were no doubts that something strange was going on here. Hawkins was the epitome of stereotypical small-town America. A safe place to raise your kids, neighbours who spoke to eachother and all the kids at school know of eachother. Steve couldn’t honestly think of any serious crime that had made the front pages, at least in the years since he’d been alive, or old enough to know what the news was. The worst that happened was people getting their pretzels stolen by birds at the fair or the odd neighbourly dispute over something trivial like mowing too much of someone else’s lawn.

Now, two young kids were missing. It didn’t add up and even Steve could recognise that something more was going on here. He took her hand in his, brushing his thumb along the back of it, feeling how soft her skin was beneath his touch. He could also feel the way that she was shivering, trembling ever so slightly. “Hey-“ he spoke, lowering his voice a little once they were outside, the cool chill of the afternoon breeze swirling around them. “It’ll be alright. We’ll find him.” He tried to reassure, carefully tugging her closer to him, giving her a tight hug. He held her there for a good minute or so, his free hand brushing along her back as he kept her hand in the other. Pulling back, he gave her hand another squeeze, offering what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “And before you know it, you’ll be tripping over his Lego and listening to him telling you all about the planets all over again ....and your mom will be baking a cherry pie.” Those were good memories. He was sure that she had plenty more, but those were the first that came to mind. The excitable little boy who loved learning about science; who would often tell Steve all about planets and stars and whatever else he’d discovered in his books from the library. They had to find him.

The woods themselves were dense and damp from the heavy rainfall the previous evening. Steve carefully shifted a few low hanging branches out of their way, grimacing when he got a face full of cold rain water that had clearly settled into the leaves and branches. He knew that this would be a huge task, the police and various search parties had already trampled these woods in the search for Will Byers to no avail aside from his bike. Then again, Henry had gone missing afterwards and they knew that he’d come through here. He’d actually been here the day that he’d gone missing. It was possible that this ground had already been covered and therefore, not searched again. Sure, it was a mammoth task but they were closer to finding Henry and bringing him home safe than they had been an hour ago. That was what mattered. “I always hated these woods” he mumbled. He’d always hated being a little kid and looking out of his bedroom window out into the darkness and seemingly never-ending trees, just expecting a pair of eyes or a shadow to be looking back at him. But that stuff wasn’t real, was it? “So...what if he was heading home?” He spoke up after a moment or so. “I mean...you can get to your house through the woods, right? So...what if he was trying to go home?”

— Ophelia —

For a brief, rare few minutes, Ophelia was quiet— content. The feeling of Eddie’s soft kisses to her shoulder and the gentle sensation of his calloused thumb tracing over the bats inked onto her skin made her feel the most at peace that she’d felt in a while. Eddie always did have a knack for soothing her, a knack for knowing just what she needed when even she, herself, didn’t know. For a brief couple of minutes, she found herself just entirely lost in him and maybe that was exactly what she needed after the events of the past few days. Chancing a look down, she couldn’t help but give a small smile as she watched his thumb delicately trace the three little bats with such care, such attention. It almost felt surreal, the difference between the events of earlier that evening, the events of Starcourt and the revelations that it had brought along with it and being there, in Eddie’s trailer sharing kisses. Just like teenagers were supposed to do. Teenagers weren’t supposed to be fighting monsters and commies in the dead of night in the local mall. It sounded just like the plot of a terrible action-comedy.

“Only fifty?” Breaking her quietness, she let out a soft laugh, punctuated by a teasing smirk and a slight mischievous glint in her eyes. “I think I’m worth at least three hundred.” Resting her forehead against his, she briefly found herself getting lost in his eyes, taking in the slight details of them that would ordinarily have been easy to miss. Just like the odd flecks of amber and copper that showed up when the light hit them in just the right way. It was just so incredibly Eddie. She said nothing in response to the newly discovered pet name, simply offered him a smile. She didn’t want to leave the warm embrace of his arms. In fact, she was pretty sure that she could have sat there with him, like that, for the rest of the evening and into the morning. Teasing eachother, having debates about stupid things like ice cream and which of them was more of a klutz and, of course, sharing kisses. A part of her wondered why she hadn’t done this before, maybe because she’d been so concerned about reading the situation wrong, ruining their friendship, a friendship that she cherished more than anything. But, a near-death experience at the hand of a giant, fleshy spider-creature really helps to put things into perspective.

“There might be a pair of my shorts too, pretty sure I left them here the last time I scraped my knee.” She nodded at the mention of the shirt, flashing him a teasing smile at his disgruntled noise. A chill set in once she was far enough away from her, the sort that made her shiver momentarily. She’s stayed at Eddie’s numerous times before, she knew where the bathroom was and how to work the shower. With a promise that she’d be quick, she headed inside, closing the door behind her and starting to run the warm water. Once she’d undressed, piling her clothes on the toilet seat, she stepped beneath the warmth, taking a moment to close her eyes and just relax. The dirt and blood was scrubbed from her skin, using Eddie’s shampoo to rid the smell of smoke from her hair. Once she’d cleaned up, being mindful of the bandaids that Eddie had so carefully placed over her cuts, she took a moment to just collect herself beneath the warmth before finally shutting the water off and stepping out. A towel hung on the back of the door, and for a brief moment, she caught sight of her own reflection in the mirror perched above the sink. For a brief moment; the ceiling light flickered once...and then twice, casting the room into near-darkness before brightening once more. She watched in the mirror, reaching over for the nearest thing that she could find that could possibly be used as some sort of weapon. A bar of soap. It didn’t happen again, even as she turned to look up at the light, the bulb remained on. She found nothing behind her, only the shower and her pile of clothes. Carefully setting the soap down, she sighed, closing her eyes for a couple of seconds, taking a deep breath. It’s gone. It isn’t real. You’re just jumpy. The gate is closed. It’s just a coincidence. Probably something to do with Starcourt.

Leaving the bathroom, she couldn’t help but smile at the little pile of clothes outside the door, collecting them, she headed back inside to change. One of Eddie’s shirts and the pair of red cotton shorts she’d left behind the last time they’d sat on the couch with the first aid kit. She dried her hair with the towel before setting it in the laundry and grabbing her old clothes. She left them atop Eddie’s dresser before finally venturing back into the lounge. “You found them!” She announced, gesturing to the shorts with a smile, pushing aside her fears. It was fairly easy to rationalise them, even now. In fact, perhaps it was even easier to rationalise now because she’d dealt with it before. The last thing she wanted was to let the upside down have more control over her life than it already had. And besides...how could she? When she was with Eddie? Sitting back in her previous spot on the couch, she reached over, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. “Your shampoo smells really good, by the way.” She hummed, brushing her fingers back up into his hair. It was so soft, the strands curling around her fingers almost instinctively.

— Florence —

Once she had handed Steve the poster, she had to turn the others upside-down in her lap so she couldn’t look at them, couldn’t see Henry’s smiling face. It was painful, and whilst she didn’t think for one moment that he was gone, it still hurt. She knew that they’d find him eventually, they had to, they just had to know where to look. But there was no doubt in her mind that Henry would come home… because she didn’t know what she’d do if he didn’t. Her eyes watered as she stared out of the window and she lifted her hand to wipe her eyes discreetly, not wanting Steve to see. It was a little sad to know that their friendship was at a point where she didn’t want him to see her upset, but there were much bigger things to dwell on than that. She could worry about her friendship with Steve when Henry was home. Her brother missed him being around too, which she knew for a fact. Maybe with Steve looking too, there really was a better chance of finding him. Henry would surely go to Steve if he saw him.

“Thank you.” Even though she knew that Steve would call without her having to ask, it was a relief to hear him say it. It had been too long since she had heard his voice over the phone, but the awkwardness could be put aside for Henry. Hell, if it wasn’t for her brother going missing she probably wouldn’t even have approached Steve in the hallway. And maybe if it wasn’t for Henry he wouldn’t have spoken to her either. Was he only helping because he felt pity for her? She tried not to dwell on it, but Steve’s true intentions was a mystery. Did he care for her, or was it all just out of pity? Out of obligation because they used to be close. “Thank you for helping,” She mumbled. For whatever reason he helped, she was grateful. It just depended on what reason he helped to how upset she’d be once it was all over, and he stopped talking to her again. “You didn’t have to, I only was planning on giving you the poster.” She admitted quietly, fingertips toying with the edges of the posters in her lap.

Florence sighed and nodded her head. The question was almost superficial from Steve; if anybody was going to understand how sad the situation was for Johnathan, it was her. She felt a little guilty for not reaching out to the boy sooner, but she had been busy. She’d been so busy between searching for Henry, talking to the police, and making the posters that she’d slept all of six hours in the past three days. “I hope that Henry and Will are together,” she mumbled, getting a little lost as she continued staring out of the window, eyes a little unfocused. “That wherever they are, whatever happened, they found each other.” Her throat was thick and she had to swallow as she closed her eyes for a moment. At Steve’s next question she scoffed, frowning in an anger that had been bubbling inside ever since the police last spoke to her and her mother. “They said they’re keeping the case open to any possibilities at the moment.” She huffed, tone dripping with distaste.

She nodded at the plan and glanced back towards Steve. “Yeah… I’m sure they’ll let us put up posters inside. If Henry was there someone must’ve seen him,” she replied, determined. Someone must’ve seen him. There was someone in Hawkins who knew what had happened. At his next words she nodded, a small smile over her lips as she looked at him. “Thank you… and it does help.” It helped to know that Steve cared, for the first time in what felt like a while. She unbuckled her seatbelt once they were in the parking lot, but her hand hovered over the door handle at his words, and she swallowed thickly as she turned back towards him. “I know,” her voice was small again, like a child, and she hated it. “I know, thank you,” she nodded her head, and watched as Steve opened his door and she turned to get out of the passenger side herself, before she couldn’t help blurting out her next words, “Was it my fault?” She let the question sit in the air for a moment as she hugged the posters to her chest, the confidence coming only because Steve had mentioned the wedge in their friendship first. “Did I do something that made you change your mind about being friends with me?”

— Eddie —

He felt like he needed to keep the grip on her hand to understand that what she was telling him was real. She wasn’t joking, he wasn’t dreaming, this wasn’t some high induced haze; there really had been a fire at the mall, and people really had died. The more she told him the more ill he felt at the thought of her being there, and the more thankful he was that she had come to him. Eddie watched as she glanced away and a worried frown replaced the shocked expression on his face. His fingers laced with hers in a silent comfort, not pushing the answer to come quicker. For a moment he debated on telling her that it didn’t matter, that she didn’t have to worry about it for now, but the name slipped past her lips before he had the chance to and he was left staring in shock again. “Hargrove?” The thought of Billy, Hawkins new King he supposed, being dead - it just didn’t make sense. “Shit…” Eddie sighed, and squeezed her hand again. “Are you okay?”

“At least they were fine, I’m glad. I’m glad you were too,” his words were serious and soft, a rare genuineness, before a small smile crept across his lips and, “who else is gonna be my number one fan?” He didn’t push her to say anything else when she fell silent, hoping to instead distract her from the horrors of the night. He watched as she glanced down, saw the slumped posture that only one who had witnessed something awful could hold, and he didn’t hesitate before pulling her into a hug, his arms crossing over her back to hold her close. No words were shared - he didn’t want to make her think of it again - but he gently rubbed the space between her shoulder blades with the heel of his palm before he pulled away, a smile curving at his lips directed towards her.

At her comment he chuckled and shook his head, fondness behind the roll of his eyes. “Of course not, you’d probably sacrifice me for some good ol’ ice cream,” he teased, and gently nudged his knee against her leg. At her next comment he nodded, grinning. “Guess you’ll just have to find somewhere else to get me ice cream from. I’m not cleaning you up for free, y’know. I think I deserve some raspberry ripple in return for my services.” His tone was of mock seriousness as a dumb smile was unrelenting over his expression. He just wanted to distract her; make her smile, make her laugh. Anything but the shell of her usual self that had turned up at his trailer. He smiled at her promise, genuine and not joking. “And I promise to win you a ridiculously big teddy bear. You have to call him Eddie, though, ‘cos otherwise the deal’s off and I’ll just get you a rubber duck.”

At the comment about a pillow he rolled his eyes. “Shut up, you know I wasn’t being serious,” he grumbled, too concentrated on cleaning her up to think of another snarky response. He looked down at her arm as she rolled her sleeve up and nodded silently. Eddie grabbed another wipe, and gently held her arm as he wiped the cut, his fingers splayed out across her wrist to keep her arm steady. “Sorry,” he apologised for the sting he knew she’d feel from the alcohol on her wound. But at her next comment his eyes flickered back up to her face, a smile growing. “Wow, finally? What’s it been, like fifty years?” He grinned, and a chuckle passed his lips. “But sure, I’ll show you how to make a character and everything, if you-“ it was more the shock of her lips against his that cut him off and left him frozen for a good few seconds. But once he’d gathered his bearings, really felt the softness of her lips against hers, the warmth of her skin, his hand dropped the wipe and instead cupped the side of her neck as he kissed her back. But he was just as shocked by his own actions as she was hers when she pulled away, eyes widening at the realisation that he’d fucking kissed Ophelia. “N-no it’s, it’s fine, I’m sorry too,” he didn’t quite know why he was apologising too, but his brain was a little frazzled by the kiss. His eyes flickered back towards her lips and he had to stop himself and look back up, mind starting to wander. “Was i at least a good kisser?” He joked, ignoring the light blush that was probably rising to his pale cheeks.

-- Steve --

Steve Harrington was a lot of things to different people. Class clown, popular kid, rich kid, a bad friend even but there was one thing that few people knew— he was observant when he needed to be; when it came to those that he cared about. Florence, whether she believe it or not, still very firmly belonged in that category. Perhaps then, it should come as no surprise that he caught the silent tears from the girl in the passenger seat. He didn’t know what to say. What could he possibly say to make any of this any better? He couldn’t just magically make Henry reappear unharmed, no matter how much he wanted to right about now. He couldn’t go back in time and treat Jonathan Byers with a little more sympathy when he’d been putting up posters of his own lost little brother. The only thing that he could do was ensure that Flora knew he was there, despite the drifting in their friendship, despite the months spent barely saying two words to one another in crowded school halls. He would always be there.

Out here, high school popularity meant nothing and maybe Steve was realising that too late, maybe he'd already missed any possible chance of healing their scarred friendship and maybe this was the complete wrong time to even be thinking about such a thing. But that wasn't going to stop him from trying, once Henry was home safe and sound. "You don't have to thank me." He reassured without missing a beat. He didn't know what was going through her head, the worrying that he was only helping out of some long-held moral obligation or even worse, pity. But he would be the first to reassure her that it was neither. He was helping because no matter what happened, he still cared for her. He always would and rights now she was hurting, and the least that Steve could do was to be there, to be a shoulder to cry on, if she needed it, if she wanted it and an extra pair of hands in the search for her missing brother.

"Hey....hey, look. He's a smart kid, right? And from what Nance says about her brother and his friends, they're little nerds, right? Smart little nerds." Steve began, turning his attention entirely toward Florence once the engine had died down and the car sat firmly in the parking space outside the arcade. "That's got to be something." He was't good at this. He didn't need anyone to tell him. He didn't know what to say, how to say it and he could only hope that his words were somewhat comforting as opposed to making things worse. "We'll find them, okay?" He tried again. From the way that she spoke about the police and what they had told her and her mother about the case, maybe it truly would be up to them but that didn't matter. Not if it got Henry, and perhaps even Will, back home.

Maybe it was because Steve didn’t have siblings. He couldn’t possibly hope to understand what it felt like and he hoped that that wouldn’t matter. Maybe Florence would have been better going to Jonathan? At least then they could have bonded over a similar experience. So, why did the very thought of her seeking out comfort with someone else, with Jonathan Byers make his chest ache? Now wasn’t the time for moment fresh out of a budget coming of age movie, that was for sure. Heading across the parking lot and toward the arcade, Steve hadn’t expected the question that came next. It was a question that he’d asked himself over and over when he was home alone and popularity no longer meant anything. Was it my fault? “What?” He stopped walking, turning to face her. “No, no, of course it wasn’t. Never.” If there was one thing that he was sure of, it was this. Rubbing the back of his neck for a moment, he sighed. “If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine. I shouldn’t have...I don’t know, I’m not good at this. I shouldn’t have been an asshole to you.” Maybe he was stating the obvious but the last thing that he wanted was for her to blame herself for what had happened. "I should have made more of an effort...I guess it really is true what they say about high school." He offered the smallest smile, one that absolutely conveyed a sense of guilt at the state of their friendship -- a state that he was almost sure was his fault.

-- Ophelia--

Nothing felt real. Or maybe things actually felt far too real? That was how things had felt since Will Byers first went missing. Ophelia had thought about how strange it was more than once, seeing people go about their daily lives, going to the store and taking their kids to school without a care in the world, safe in the knowledge that they’d chosen a safe place to call home. They were oblivious to the evil that lurked beneath Hawkins, the evil that had threatened to spread and consume more than once. Come morning, they’d be organising vigils in remembrance of those lost in the supposed fire at Starcourt, sending their thoughts and prayers to the families of lost and missing loved ones, calling it nothing more than a tragic accident. It was hard to stomach, the knowledge that all of those people had been lost to something far worse than a fire in the local mall.

The hug was greatly appreciated, perhaps more than Eddie would ever truly know. “I’ll always be your number one fan.” The words were whispered softly into the crook of his neck. Ophelia returned the hug, unaware until that moment just how much she needed it. For a moment, she just allowed her head to rest against his shoulder, her arms wrapping around him. She was sure that she could have stayed there forever, especially after the events of the evening. Pressing a soft kiss to his cheek, she finally pulled back, returning his smile. Whether it had been subconscious or not; she was glad that she’d wound up on Eddie’s doorstep. She couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. She wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. “Well...as much as I still think that it’s a travesty that raspberry ripple is your favourite flavour, I’m sure that that can be arranged.” Ice cream, fair games and oversized teddy bears sounded pretty good right about now.

“I promise I’ll call him Eddie.” A fond smile curled at her lips at the thought. “You have my word, scouts honour.” Glancing down at her arm, she gave a small wince as the wipe brushed over the small wound. It wasn’t particularly big, nor deep and it certainly didn’t need stitches or anything more than a bandaid but it was always best to make sure that any scratches or cuts were clean. Between the two of them, they’d had enough bumps and scrapes over the course of their friendship to know that. He was so gentle, so soft. Even the way that he held her arm steady was nothing but caring. It reminded her of the time that she’d fallen off of her bike when she was like twelve and they’d haphazardly cleaned the cut on her knee with their water bottles and dinosaur bandaids that Eddie had found in the bottom of his bag. Or the time that he’d cut his finger replacing the string on his guitar when they were fourteen and had been forced to wear a barbie bandaid for the rest of the day. The memories brought a smile to her lips. Eddie always seemed to do that. “Slight over- exaggeration.” She teased , gesturing toward the Hellfire shirt that he was currently wearing. “And I hope that this means I finally get one of those? Honorary member and all?”

She didn’t have much time to dwell on her offer for him to finally teach her how to play D&D. It seemed that the night had another distraction in mind from the horrors of the past few days. Perhaps it would have been all too easy to lean into that old cliche that she had no idea where that kiss had come from, but she knew deep down that that wouldn’t be entirely truthful. She wasn’t sure what it was, she couldn’t quite place it but it felt right. And that was enough. His lips were so soft against her own. He was warm and she could still taste the lingering nicotine on his lips from the cigarette he’d been smoking before her rather impromptu arrival. Perhaps she would have pulled away sooner had his hand not haphazardly discarded the wipe in favour of cupping her neck. The feeling of him kissing her back was something she hadn’t expected. They were best friends, they shared everything and yet it seemed that there was something buried deep, unspoken between the two. Once they’d both pulled back, she listened as he apologised. She didn’t know what he was saying sorry for, she had kissed him. Was he apologising for kissing her back? And then came the Eddie that she knew so well. “Hm...I think I might need another sample, Y’know? Check it wasn’t a fluke.” She teased before leaning up a little further, softly placing another kiss to his lips, one of her own hands moving to brush through his mass of dark curls.

– Florence –

It still hadn’t quite settled in yet, that Henry was missing. She’d spoken to the police with her mother when he had first been reported missing, she had been there when they searched her house for any information, she had made and printed the missing posters herself; but she was still half expecting Henry to come home from school with his usual smile and tell her all about her day. He had been the one constant thing in her life, aside from their mother, but her shifts at the hospital were so irregular even her company wasn’t constant through no fault of her own. She had lost the consistency of Steve months ago, anyways. But Henry… he had always been there, and now that he wasn’t she didn’t know what to do. “Do you think people care?” She broke the silence with the thought, one that she let slip without thinking. She paused, a moment to wipe her eye with the heel of her palm, before she tilted her head to look at Steve. “Those people earlier, who were… laughing,” She flinched slightly. It wasn’t funny. “They don’t care, does everyone think it’s a joke or something?” Flora had a fair share of people give their sympathies to her, but just as many people had laughed too.

Steve’s words were kind, but she did have to thank him. She was taking his time that he would’ve otherwise spent with Carol and Tommy, or with Nancy… she didn’t know exactly what the Wheeler girl was to him, and part of her didn’t want to. It left a crushing feeling in her chest the first time she had seen the two of them together, and tried not to focus on it since. But it didn’t matter anymore – none of it did, really. “Thank you anyways,” She told him, tone soft. And after a pause she looked at Steve again, a sad smile on her lips. “He really missed you being around,” Of course, it was hard to explain to her brother why Steve had started being around less and less, until not at all. It had been hard to tell her brother that ‘Of course he still cares about you’, when it was upsetting her just as much. “I’m glad you’re here. I don’t think any of my other friends know him as well as you.” It felt a little bitter with the context of their friendship over the past few months, but it was the truth.

Florence looked away from the window and back at Steve as he spoke, and smiled a little tearfully. “Yeah, smart little nerds,” She repeated, and it was true. Henry had never played Dungeons and Dragons like she knew some of the other kids did, but he was incredibly good at math – much more than she was – and he spent a lot of time in the arcade playing Sinistar. Her brother was incredibly smart, and she was sure that he would be fine if he simply got lost in the woods. Even if he would be lonely, cold, and scared. But she tried not to think about that, refused to, and blinked a few times before she focused back on Steve as he continued talking. “I guess… he’s a smart kid, if he’s around then I’m sure he’s fine,” And she couldn’t comprehend the thought of that not being the case. Of Henry not being in Hawkins, of him being taken by someone, of him being dead. Just the thought of it made her feel nauseous, and she frowned as she pushed the thought from mind, and focused on Steve instead, nodding at his words. “Yeah, we’ll find them.” She breathed out, determined that they would.

She stared at the arcade for a moment, bottom lip bitten between her teeth. Someone must have seen Henry – it was impossible that he had disappeared without a trace; no witnesses, nothing left behind. The police had found Will Byers’ bike, so where was Henry’s trail? Her eye’s left the arcade and back at Steve as he stopped walking, and for a moment she regretted asking. It wasn’t the time to talk about it, even if it was a conversation long overdue. But, feet rooted to the ground as she stared at him, her head nodded a little at his answer. “You promise?” Her voice was small again, but she couldn’t help but ask. Steve was kind, and maybe he wouldn’t have told her if she did something wrong, just left it unspoken so that he didn’t hurt her with words. She had always been sure that Steve wasn’t hurting her on purpose by the drift between them, and maybe she should have reached out more herself… but it hurt that if it wasn’t on purpose, he didn’t notice how much it upset her. Her eyebrows scrunched slightly, head tilting towards him. “You were never an asshole, Steve,” Even if it did hurt, it wasn’t like he had been spiteful or anything. Flora sighed, fingers playing with the corner of the posters again. It was true, he probably should have made more of an effort. But she couldn’t blame him for making new friends. “Tommy and Carol seem… cool,” Not at all, but she wasn’t about to be rude about his friends. “And Nancy seems nice,” She sighed, glancing towards the arcade before back at him. “This probably makes me really selfish, we came out here to look for Henry,” She sighed as her expression fell. “But I really miss you.”

– Eddie –

Eddie held onto her tightly as they hugged, wanting to offer the best comfort that he could. He felt her relax in his arms, which he was thankful for. She was fine; she had been able to drive to his trailer – even though he was against that sill – and she had no major injuries. But he could imagine that it would take her a while to get over what she had witnessed. The fire, the people that had died… Billy. He had only ever heard bad things about Hargrove, but regardless of if he was a shitty guy or not, she had still seen it. She had seen someone die – he couldn’t imagine how that felt. And he didn’t want to bring it up to her, not after she had been smiling and relaxed, but he didn’t think that she was okay. Eddie always cared about her, he’d cared ever since they had met, but he was really going to put in the effort to make sure that he would be there for her whenever she needed him. Eddie had always cared about her, and in the past few years maybe he had started caring about her as a little more than a friend. But any feelings he had aside – Ophelia was his friend and he would be there.

A soft smile worked it’s way onto his lips as she whispered against his neck, the sensation sending a slight shudder through him. “Thank you,” He had chuckled in response, and squeezed her in the hug in only a way that he could, but it meant more than that to him, and left him with a sweet feeling that had the smile stuck to his face like it wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. “I’ll always be yours too… when I’m not Metallica’s number one fan.” He was grinning as he leaned his head against her’s, a chuckle shaking his body slightly as he held her. As she let her head lull against his shoulder he stayed quiet, and just let her relax against him. He kept the movement of his palm over her back, rubbing between her shoulder blades, helping to ease any leftover tension from her body. It was nice, just being able to hold her. It was calm, and different to their usual time spent together. But a good difference, nonetheless. One that Eddie would only look back on in fondness. The kiss to his cheek only made the softness worse, and the grin he wore melted into a kind smile that he met her with once she had pulled back. “A travesty?” Eddie raised his eyebrows, a scoff passing his lips – much more Eddie Munson than kisses on cheeks, but those lines had been blurred a long time ago – before his head tilted at her. “What’s your favourite, then? And if you say mint then you really are sleeping on the porch.” He teased.

At the promise he chuckled, grinning at her again. “Thank you, I’m honoured, really,” He told her, even though naming the teddy bear had been at his request. Going to the fair probably would have been the best option; no fires, no deaths, no injuries. And as much as Eddie would have loved to have spent the night with Ophelia playing dumb fair games and winning dumb prizes, she wouldn’t have ended up on his doorstep and the atmosphere wouldn’t have become whatever it was between them in his trailer. He frowned slightly as she winced at the sting from the wipe, and settled with gently rubbing his thumb along her wrist comfortingly. The wipe couldn’t have stung that badly and he doubted that she needed comforting through it… but it was nice to touch her, and he hoped it was nice for her too. “I’m not exaggerating at all, dunno what you’re on about,” He teased, and chuckled. “I suppose it means you do,” He nodded, glancing down at his shirt before back up at her. “As long as you don’t think it’s too nerdy for you.” He chuckled.

Maybe it was just a fluke, because she was shaken up and he was the only one there. Maybe the morning would roll around and it would be back to how it was between them, completely platonic. Maybe Eddie was crazy for even thinking about past that night when all they had shared was a kiss. But, at least for him, it felt like the feeling had been brewing for much longer than that night, and it felt good, a relief to finally get a semblance of his feelings off his chest. A smile curved at his lips as he heard her words – gone was the awkwardness and apologies from before. Completely certain that they were okay, and that it wasn’t something to apologise for, Eddie grinned at her words with a nod. As soon as she had leaned towards him his hand was against her neck again and he was leaning in the rest of the way, relaxed as he kissed her. The closeness allowed him to smell the smoke from the fire, but it was more than that. It was the warmth of her skin, the softness of her lips against his own, the feeling that swirled deep inside him that told him that this kiss wasn’t just a throwaway. Being mindful of her head, his free hand lifted and brushed hair away from her face, before he leaned forwards and his forehead was pressed to hers with a sigh, lips still ghosting over hers. “Definitely not a fluke.” He whispered, smiling uncontrollably.

~ Steve ~

In hindsight, Steve had been so wrapped up with high school, and all of the drama and teenage angst that accompanied it to recognise just how much they’d drifted before it was too late. The days spent without having a full conversation turned to weeks and weeks turned to months and before he knew it, it almost felt wrong, felt like he couldn’t just pick up the phone and call his best friend or turn up on her doorstep. By the time he realised just how much things had changed between them, it almost felt like he didn’t have a right to call, to turn up or talk to her in the hallways. He’d tried to rationalise it to himself, repeating his dad’s words (which were, albeit said during a rather patronising lecture about grades and college and all sorts of adult stuff). ‘High School changes everyone. You find out who you are in high school, it defines who you are.’ The trouble was that Steve didn’t want to be defined as the kid who favoured popularity above friendships. He knew that now.

He also hadn’t necessarily thought about how the situation between himself and Flora impacted more than just them. He hadn’t thought about the questions that Henry would ask— why Steve couldn’t come round to play his new game with him, why he couldn’t help him build his latest Lego set or why he couldn’t pick him up from school when their mom was working late. And now Henry was missing. Even despite her words, her gentle reassurance that he hadn’t been an asshole, Steve didn’t believe it. He knew that that was exactly what he’d been. He had been so caught up in being popular, being the class clown, dating girls, parties and whatever else that people expected teenagers to do in high school that he’d neglected one of the only real friendships that he had. He couldn’t go back in time, he couldn’t change that— but he could make sure that he was there for Flora now. That was what mattered.

“No, I was literally the definition of an asshole. I shouldn’t... I should have made more effort.” He explained, brushing a hand through his hair as they headed further across the parking lot. He gave a nod, one that was clear, immediate. “I promise non of this is your fault.” He repeated. A part of him wished that they could go back to middle school, that they could just be those kids who spent every other night at each others houses, who had sleepovers and watched whatever movies they could find. He wished that they could even go back to the first year of high school, when they’d both been fish out of water trying to find their way. He wished that his way hadn’t involved letting them drift apart. “Tommy’s an asshole.” He answered, a smile tugging at his lips as they reached the sidewalk outside the arcade. That was the truth. He knew it. He’d seen the way that he clung to Steve because that was where popularity lay, because he wanted to be invited to the parties and he wanted people to know who he was. He saw the way he treated the other kids, and that wasn’t something that Steve wanted Flora to think that he condoned. “And Carol...she just wants to be popular.”

He was well aware that he sounded like his dad at this point and whilst he hated that very notion, even after all this time, he still felt like he could be himself around Flora, like he didn’t have to put on the front that he had to at school. Pushing the door open to the arcade, he held it open for her before letting it swing closed behind them. It was pretty quiet at this point of the day, only a few patrons and the distinctive sounds of the various games echoing around the small space. “It doesn’t make you selfish.” He shrugged. “And for what it’s worth— I miss you too. I especially miss that amazing pie your mom used to make? You know the one?” He teased, even if there was an element of truth to the comment. He spotted a group of kids crowded around one of the games, kids that must have literally ran out of school when it finished and straight toward the arcade. Taking a poster from Flora, he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Why don’t you go ask...Carl? Chris?...” clicking his fingers together, he pointed toward the teenager behind the counter. “Kieth!” He announced, perhaps a little loudly when the name finally came to him. “Why don’t you go ask Kieth and I’ll go ask these kids?”

~ Ophelia ~

She wasn’t okay. She knew that. Truthfully, Ophelia didn’t know how anyone who knew the truth about the evil that lurked beneath Hawkins could be okay. Somehow, whether it be because it was far more recent and fresh in her mind, or whether it was because of just what it had meant, tonight’s events had hit her harder than anything they’d dealt with previous. Even Barb’s death, the knowledge of just what had happened to her, seemed almost more comprehensible than the idea that this wasn’t just their secret anymore. The knowledge that the Soviets had somehow learned about the dimension that lurked beneath their feet was chilling in itself, but knowing the truth about what had happened to so many people? What they’d become? People that she knew? That was something particularly unsettling. Maybe it was for the best that the rest of the town would merely think that their friends, neighbours and family members had perished in a tragic mall fire as opposed to knowing the truth?

Being there with Eddie, she didn’t feel the need to pretend that she was okay. He’d always been good at recognising that sort of thing. Instead, she could simply focus on the gentle sensation of his hand brushing up and down between her shoulder blades. There was no talk of monsters, no mention of the upside down or the Soviets or Hawkins’ lab, instead there was just two teenagers bickering over the best flavour of ice cream and obnoxiously large teddy bears. And that was exactly what she needed right now. “Mint! Mint? We’ve been friends for how long? And you have the audacity to even suggest that mint could possibly be my favourite flavour?” Feigning outrage, Ophelia couldn’t hide the smile that tugged at her lips as she pulled back, the expression punctuated with a soft laugh. “Mint should be a criminal offence.” Shifting out of his embrace entirely, she crossed her legs beneath herself and glanced down at where Eddie had begun to clean the remaining cut on her forearm. “But come on! Everyone knows the best flavour is vanilla-chocolate swirl.”

She appreciated the soothing movement of his thumb against her wrist, the way that he was so gentle even in his movements as the wipe moved over the small cut. It was nice, comforting, a silent reassurance that he was there. Soon enough, the wound was covered by a bandaid and the wipe discarded. “Y’know, it’s a shame we couldn’t find any of those dinosaur bandaids, I reckon I’d look pretty good with a couple of those.” She smiled up at him, reaching over to put any of the unused bandaids or bandages back into the first aid kit. She closed it was a click and pushed it a little further into the centre of the coffee table so that it didn’t fall. “Too nerdy? You’re asking the girl who just said she wished we had dinosaur bandaids if it’s too nerdy?” Another soft laugh left her, her gaze briefly lingering on the shirt in question. “Nerdy’s good and I distinctly remember that you said I am a nerd.”

Less than three hours ago she’d been hiding from angry Soviets and running from something that resembled a giant, fleshy spider. And now, she was sat on Eddie’s couch just....being a teenager. The two things were so wildly different from one another but she was glad. She was glad that she’d come to him, and a part of her was pretty damn glad that she’d kissed him too. There was nothing quite like a near-death experience with an inter dimensional monster to get you to realise your feelings for your best friend, it seemed. The second kiss was more confident, more blatant than the last. She allowed herself to savour the softness of his lips against her own, the way that his curls felt beneath her fingers as they tangled and curled around the digits. Here, right now, they were just teenagers, doing the usual shit that teenagers did and it was nice. Not quite as nice as the feeling of Eddie’s lips against her own, but nice. Her forehead came to rest against his as they parted, a soft laugh leaving her at his words. “Definitely not a fluke.” She agreed. “And as far as things go...I’d say that you’re a pretty good kisser. Could be better if raspberry ripple wasn’t your favourite flavour but...I think I can let that slide.” She teased, pressing a soft peck to his lips before her hand moved from his hair and instead came to brush across his left cheek.

– Florence –

Maybe it wouldn’t have all been so hard to deal with if Steve was there. Florence had always been there for Steve throughout the hard times. He didn’t have the best parents in the world, so many nights were spent in each other’s bedrooms, watching shitty movies and eating shitty food, just passing the time together. He had become integrated with her family; her mother adored him, and always sent Steve home with a tupperware of something homemade, usually a sweet baked good. And Henry loved him, absolutely loved him. He was always the first to the front door to greet Steve before Florence could get there, he always gave Steve a complete run down of his school day, and always brought Steve some of his toys to check out. And then he stopped coming over, and everything was so painfully different and she hated it. Florence wasn’t completely alone, she had other friends, but none of them were Steve. She remembered that every Wednesday when her mother would work late, Steve would drive her to pick Henry up from school. Maybe if he was still around then Henry wouldn’t have gone missing– Florence cut that thought off before it could continue, horrified at herself that she had even thought that. Steve had absolutely no obligation to her whatsoever. He was allowed to have friends, he wasn’t Henry’s babysitter.

Florence took in a deep breath to push the thought from mind as she looked back towards Steve, listening to his words. Steve had always been selfless – she ignored the ‘King Steve’ bullshit because that wasn’t the real Steve. So she wasn’t surprised that he was taking the blame for their drift. “I never thought you were an asshole,” she told him honestly. At first she had. When the drift first started she was upset and angry that he chose other people over her, but it was selfish and she realised that if Tommy and Carol made him happy then there was no harm. But it was a relief that he didn’t blame her. A slight weight off of her shoulders in comparison to everything else. “Thank you,” she breathed out, relieved. “I just… y’know if I had done anything, you could’ve told me… if I do something now.” Part of her wished that once Henry was found that they’d continue talking, and work through everything without something else taking priority. She just wanted her old friend back. The comment about Tommy and Carol confused her, and she was left staring at him for a moment. “Why are you friends with them then?” She had been being polite by complimenting them, but if Steve knew how bad they were, why was he friends with them?

She mumbled a thanks in his direction as he held the arcade door open for her. Immediately her eyes were drawn to Henry’s favourite game, and it made her feel a little ill when some other boy was stood in his place. She hadn’t been expecting to see Henry, but it still hurt. The sigh she let out was heavy as she turned back towards Steve, the posters a little tighter against her chest. The reassurance let her shoulders lose their stiffness, and his following words even left a small smile across her lips. “You miss my mom’s cooking more than me?” Her voice was quiet, but it was obvious that she was smiling; one of her small entertained smiles that was reserved for Steve and Steve only. It was nice to joke with him, even despite the circumstances – it was like a breath of fresh air, which was something that she was in desperate need of. She watched as he took one of the posters, and sighed softly as his hand touched hers, returning the gentle squeeze with one of her own. His touch was something that she had missed, but didn’t realise that it was something she so desperately needed until then. She nodded at his offer, lips curving upwards slightly as he struggled to get Kieth’s name right. “Yeah, thanks Steve.” Flora sent another genuine smile his way, lingered for a moment, before she took a deep breath and headed over towards the front desk.

Kieth had heard about Henry, as the rest of the town had, but Henry hadn’t been there since the day before he disappeared. It left a pit of nausea in her stomach once she had heard it. They were still at square zero, they still had no idea where Henry could be, and she was running out of ideas. He wasn’t anywhere on her street, at the school, at the park, at the arcade – where else could he be? With her tongue pressed to the roof of her mouth to keep the tears at bay, she left a small stack of the posters at the desk for Kieth to give out to people at the arcade, before she walked back over to the door to tape one to the window facing outwards, so anybody outside could see it. If he didn’t show up soon, her hope would start slipping through her fingers. He was an eleven year old boy, where else could he have gone?

– Eddie –

Eddie was glad that she was smiling, laughing. When she had turned up on his porch, she looked like a shell of herself, and he didn’t like it. He had been friends with her for years, and he couldn’t remember a time that he had seen her look so fragile and tired. It wasn’t fair that she had to experience something so awful. They were teenagers, the worst thing they needed to worry about was exams. But she was finally laughing, and it felt nice to see her like that. Eddie had never been one to keep his mouth shut, and sometimes it got him in trouble, but he was just glad that he could help in times like that – when she so badly needed a distraction. He’d talk about random shit all night if it meant that she felt happy and distracted from the night she had experienced. He would be there when she needed support, but he was just as happy providing a distraction.

He couldn’t help but laugh at her faux outburst, the smile spreading too easily onto his expression. Being with Ophelia had always been easy; easy to laugh, easy to relax – hell, easy to breathe. At that point she was basically keeping him sane, with all of the shit in his life. Sure, Eddie knew that he had his uncle – Wayne was a kind man who would never fail him – but there was something about Ophelia that just drew him to her, like he was a sailor and her a siren. “Well I’m sorry but I don’t know what to think of you anymore after the slander you’ve been giving raspberry ripple. You’re like a completely different person to me, ‘Lia, I don’t know what to think,” He shrugged, hand over his chest in the sort of dramatics that only Eddie could convey. “Vanilla-chocolate swirl is nice… but I wouldn’t say the best. I’m actually quite disappointed at how basic your taste is. The next thing you’re going to tell me is that you’re a die-hard Duran Duran fan, isn’t it?” He pressed his lips together, now determined to keep up whatever act he had going. “I won’t make you sleep on the porch… just know I’m extremely saddened by your poor taste.”

His fingers were gentle against her skin as he smoothed the edge of the bandaid out, his calloused fingertips from playing guitar a light touch. She was warm, and he could ignore the smoke smell in favour of her soft skin, her warmth, and overall just her. She was just so perfect and him so far from it, and the phrase ‘opposites attract’ sprung to thought without him realising. The resulting thought left a slight curve of a smile on his mouth. “I promise you the next time that you come over, this trailer will be stocked full of dinosaur bandaids m’lady,” Eddie did a false bow the best he could from his position, smile widening further at the memory of their twelve year old selves badly cleaning the cut on her knee after she fell off her bike. He had always carried bandaids on him after that. He knew that there was still a box of them at the bottom of his school bag. “Well, you weren’t nerdy enough to play D&D when I first asked,” he told her, a shit-eating grin on his face. “But you’re right, you are a nerd. A huge nerd. I think the shirt’ll look real good on you.”

Eddie didn’t want to get his hopes up, but he really did wish that this wouldn’t be the one night they were like that; silly teenagers with silly teenage crushes sharing kisses between them. He didn’t want to just be friends, and as much as he knew that she had a terrible evening, he hoped that she felt the same way too. She was so soft and warm, and he couldn’t help the relaxed sigh that passed his lips once his forehead was pressed to hers, so close that he was breathing in her exhales. His eyes fluttered as he felt her hand against his cheek, but a quiet groan escaped his lips at her comment. “Don’t ruin the moment with my – i’ll have you know, amazing – ice cream choice,” He grumbled, though his smile was wide as her lips pressed to his again, and his thumb brushed along her jaw just to touch her, to actually feel that he was touching her. His free hand fell to rest against her thigh as he pressed another kiss against her mouth, humming, before he leaned closer and his head was against her shoulder, and a kiss was pressed there too. “You’re lucky you’re a good kisser, ‘cos you still smell like smoke.” He was teasing, a joking tap against her leg followed his words, and if Eddie was being honest then he couldn’t be happier.

~ Steve ~

She certainly raised a good point. Why was he friends with Tommy and Carol? He knew deep down that it was related to teenage popularity and not a great deal more. Everyone knew Tommy and Carol. Steve was well aware that at this point, the two were probably only friends with him because they could capitalise on his ‘King Steve’ title. It earned them status amongst the halls of Hawkins High, and it earned them invites to Halloween parties and house parties and whatever else that cool kids in teenage coming-of-age movies were supposed to do. At this point, maybe Steve‘s friendship with Tommy and Carol wasn’t really a friendship at all, and maybe it wasn’t even giving him anything but ear ache. Maybe now wasn’t exactly the time to make such a realisation, this was so much more than popularity, so much more than teenage angst and High School drama. “Honestly-“ he began with a sigh as he briefly chanced a look down at the smiling face of the young boy on the poster. “I’ve been asking myself that same question.”

This was about the little boy that Steve had helped build numerous Lego sets, the little boy that had always greeted him with a wide grin, excited to tell him all about his day at school. The more that he thought about him, the more that Steve was determined that he needed to help find him, he needed to do whatever he could. Beyond that, he needed to be there for Flora, he wanted to be there for one of the truest friend that he’d ever had. He could only hope that she would still want that title after so long, after so much had happened and so many months apart. Steve had already considered how different things could have been if only he’d still been the one to pick Henry up on the days their mom was at work. Maybe if that had been the case that particular evening that he’d gone missing, maybe he’d still be home, building Lego and getting excited about the science fair and showing Steve all of the drawings that he’d done over the past week. Maybe then Flora wouldn’t be on the verge of tears as she clutched those missing posters to her chest.

“Hey, I didn’t say that I missed your mom’s cooking more than you...i was just saying that I miss your mom’s cooking too.” Steve defended with a smile. “And besides, can you really blame me? That raspberry and blackberry pie she used to make? That would be my last meal if I was on death row or something-“ realising that perhaps, in true Steve Harrington fashion, he hadn’t exactly chosen the wisest words. He flashed her a small, almost sheepish smile, certainly not the sort of thing that you’d be expecting to see from Steve ‘the hair’ Harrington and yet was so reminiscent of their younger selves, back when they were inseparable, spending most evenings at her house because Steve’s parents were on vacation and the fourteen year old didn’t want to be left home alone. With a reassuring smile, he gave her a final promise that they’d do whatever they could to find Henry before leaving her to talk to Kieth, crossing the room toward the gathered group of middle-schoolers.

It took a moment or so to catch their attention, all of them huddled around one particular game telling eachother which moves to take. Steve stood there, leaning against the game beside them looking like some sort of babysitter. It was only when they lost the final round, a couple of them briefly bickering over scores that they turned their attentions to him. “Hey..yeah, sorry to interrupt. Looked pretty intense-“ when the kids just stared back at him with borderline blank expressions, he rose a brow and held out the poster. “Tough crowd...anyway, have you seen this kid? We think he might have been here a few nights ago?” He asked. It took a couple of minutes of passing the poster back and forth before one of the kids mentioned how they thought that they’d seen him the afternoon before he went missing heading into the woods as if he was running away from something. Steve thanked the kids, leaving them with the poster and a couple of extra copies to give to relatives or friends before meeting back up with Flora. “So...I think I’ve got something-“ he began. “One of the kids over there mentioned that they thought they saw him the afternoon before he was reported missing running into the woods...”

~ Ophelia ~

“It isn’t basic, it’s a classic!” Ophelia defended with a soft smirk. “Y’know? Like....like Edge of Seventeen is a classic? Well, that’s the musical equivalent of vanilla-chocolate swirl. It’s timeless.” She teased, letting out a loud laugh at his dramatics. It was just so Eddie. “And sure raspberry ripple is nice and all but it’s more....Rooms On Fire than Edge of Seventeen.” It was her turn to turn on the dramatics at his next comment. “Duran Duran? I’m going to pretend that I didn’t hear that.” A smirk tugged at her lips as she glanced back down at the bandaid on her arm, situated just beside the small tattoo of a bat, one that matched Eddie’s own. She distinctly remembered the day that they’d gotten them— a last minute decision that they’d thought would be a cool idea over entirely too much popcorn, candy and ice cream the day after Halloween a year ago. Her gaze lingered on Eddie’s arm for a second before she reached out with her free hand, gently brushing her fingers over his tattoo. “It isn’t poor taste! If it was poor taste I’d be telling you that my favourite flavour was mint...or god forbid, pistachio”.

“Promise?” The thought of him stocking the trailer full of dinosaur bandaids for the next time that she inevitably cut her finger or fell over was a funny one, but also one that caused a fond smile to momentarily play over her lips. Trust Eddie to remember the little details like that. “Thank you, kind sir.” Leaning back a little further, a laugh left her at the mention of her being a nerd. It was true. When they’d first met, she’d been the kid obsessed with science and history, stickers of planets and pyramids decorating her various notebooks and folders, a whole page dedicated to the periodic table and a first place medal from the science fair. She truly was a huge nerd but hearing Eddie say it somehow filled her with a warmth, a feeling not too dissimilar to the one that she’d felt when they’d first become friends all those years ago. “Well...what can I say? Every Dungeon Master needs a Princess, right? I think I’ve left you hanging long enough.” She was well aware of how that could be interpreted and honestly, perhaps that was why she’d said it. Maybe she wouldn’t exactly be mad at the idea of being the Princess to his Dungeon Master.

It was fair to say that Ophelia shared Eddie’s sentiment. She didn’t want this to be the only night that they got to do this, got to just be teenagers. It felt so freeing and in all honesty, a part of her wished that they’d done this earlier. She’d always known that Eddie held a special place in her heart, a pretty big place at that but now she realised that that place wasn’t strictly platonic with a capital P. Leaning into the gentle touch of his thumb against her jaw, she returned each of his kisses, their lips meeting as if they’d been doing this for years, as if this was something so entirely familiar that neither of them felt any need to question it. For a brief moment, she glanced down at his hand that rested atop her thigh. Her jeans were muddy and covered in ash, a fact that she only really realised in that moment. A soft, contented sigh broke from her lips as he placed a couple of soft kisses against her shoulder. “So...” she began softly, continuing with moving her fingers through his dark curls. “What you’re saying is that I’m a good kisser?” She teased.

“Flattery works on me, Munson. You know that better than most.” Guiding his head up, she placed another soft kiss to his lips, deeper this time, savouring almost. Even despite the teasing, she knew that there was a lot of truth to his words. She could still smell the smoke on herself each time that she moved, and now that she’d realised just how dirty her clothes were, she had to admit that she probably didn’t look her best. “Don’t suppose that the Princess can request a shower and maybe a shirt?” She offered with a slightly sheepish smile before she spotted something on the coffee table, reaching across to pick up the VHS laid out and holding it up to Eddie with a wide smile. “And then...maybe we can put this on whilst you teach me all things D&D?” She offered, setting the tape down. Even despite her comments, she made no effort to move from her spot. She sat there for another long couple of minutes, gently leaning up to place another soft kiss to his lips before she reluctantly got to her feet.

— Florence —

Once she had handed Steve the poster, she had to turn the others upside-down in her lap so she couldn’t look at them, couldn’t see Henry’s smiling face. It was painful, and whilst she didn’t think for one moment that he was gone, it still hurt. She knew that they’d find him eventually, they had to, they just had to know where to look. But there was no doubt in her mind that Henry would come home… because she didn’t know what she’d do if he didn’t. Her eyes watered as she stared out of the window and she lifted her hand to wipe her eyes discreetly, not wanting Steve to see. It was a little sad to know that their friendship was at a point where she didn’t want him to see her upset, but there were much bigger things to dwell on than that. She could worry about her friendship with Steve when Henry was home. Her brother missed him being around too, which she knew for a fact. Maybe with Steve looking too, there really was a better chance of finding him. Henry would surely go to Steve if he saw him.

“Thank you.” Even though she knew that Steve would call without her having to ask, it was a relief to hear him say it. It had been too long since she had heard his voice over the phone, but the awkwardness could be put aside for Henry. Hell, if it wasn’t for her brother going missing she probably wouldn’t even have approached Steve in the hallway. And maybe if it wasn’t for Henry he wouldn’t have spoken to her either. Was he only helping because he felt pity for her? She tried not to dwell on it, but Steve’s true intentions was a mystery. Did he care for her, or was it all just out of pity? Out of obligation because they used to be close. “Thank you for helping,” She mumbled. For whatever reason he helped, she was grateful. It just depended on what reason he helped to how upset she’d be once it was all over, and he stopped talking to her again. “You didn’t have to, I only was planning on giving you the poster.” She admitted quietly, fingertips toying with the edges of the posters in her lap.

Florence sighed and nodded her head. The question was almost superficial from Steve; if anybody was going to understand how sad the situation was for Johnathan, it was her. She felt a little guilty for not reaching out to the boy sooner, but she had been busy. She’d been so busy between searching for Henry, talking to the police, and making the posters that she’d slept all of six hours in the past three days. “I hope that Henry and Will are together,” she mumbled, getting a little lost as she continued staring out of the window, eyes a little unfocused. “That wherever they are, whatever happened, they found each other.” Her throat was thick and she had to swallow as she closed her eyes for a moment. At Steve’s next question she scoffed, frowning in an anger that had been bubbling inside ever since the police last spoke to her and her mother. “They said they’re keeping the case open to any possibilities at the moment.” She huffed, tone dripping with distaste.

She nodded at the plan and glanced back towards Steve. “Yeah… I’m sure they’ll let us put up posters inside. If Henry was there someone must’ve seen him,” she replied, determined. Someone must’ve seen him. There was someone in Hawkins who knew what had happened. At his next words she nodded, a small smile over her lips as she looked at him. “Thank you… and it does help.” It helped to know that Steve cared, for the first time in what felt like a while. She unbuckled her seatbelt once they were in the parking lot, but her hand hovered over the door handle at his words, and she swallowed thickly as she turned back towards him. “I know,” her voice was small again, like a child, and she hated it. “I know, thank you,” she nodded her head, and watched as Steve opened his door and she turned to get out of the passenger side herself, before she couldn’t help blurting out her next words, “Was it my fault?” She let the question sit in the air for a moment as she hugged the posters to her chest, the confidence coming only because Steve had mentioned the wedge in their friendship first. “Did I do something that made you change your mind about being friends with me?”

— Eddie —

He felt like he needed to keep the grip on her hand to understand that what she was telling him was real. She wasn’t joking, he wasn’t dreaming, this wasn’t some high induced haze; there really had been a fire at the mall, and people really had died. The more she told him the more ill he felt at the thought of her being there, and the more thankful he was that she had come to him. Eddie watched as she glanced away and a worried frown replaced the shocked expression on his face. His fingers laced with hers in a silent comfort, not pushing the answer to come quicker. For a moment he debated on telling her that it didn’t matter, that she didn’t have to worry about it for now, but the name slipped past her lips before he had the chance to and he was left staring in shock again. “Hargrove?” The thought of Billy, Hawkins new King he supposed, being dead - it just didn’t make sense. “Shit…” Eddie sighed, and squeezed her hand again. “Are you okay?”

“At least they were fine, I’m glad. I’m glad you were too,” his words were serious and soft, a rare genuineness, before a small smile crept across his lips and, “who else is gonna be my number one fan?” He didn’t push her to say anything else when she fell silent, hoping to instead distract her from the horrors of the night. He watched as she glanced down, saw the slumped posture that only one who had witnessed something awful could hold, and he didn’t hesitate before pulling her into a hug, his arms crossing over her back to hold her close. No words were shared - he didn’t want to make her think of it again - but he gently rubbed the space between her shoulder blades with the heel of his palm before he pulled away, a smile curving at his lips directed towards her.

At her comment he chuckled and shook his head, fondness behind the roll of his eyes. “Of course not, you’d probably sacrifice me for some good ol’ ice cream,” he teased, and gently nudged his knee against her leg. At her next comment he nodded, grinning. “Guess you’ll just have to find somewhere else to get me ice cream from. I’m not cleaning you up for free, y’know. I think I deserve some raspberry ripple in return for my services.” His tone was of mock seriousness as a dumb smile was unrelenting over his expression. He just wanted to distract her; make her smile, make her laugh. Anything but the shell of her usual self that had turned up at his trailer. He smiled at her promise, genuine and not joking. “And I promise to win you a ridiculously big teddy bear. You have to call him Eddie, though, ‘cos otherwise the deal’s off and I’ll just get you a rubber duck.”

At the comment about a pillow he rolled his eyes. “Shut up, you know I wasn’t being serious,” he grumbled, too concentrated on cleaning her up to think of another snarky response. He looked down at her arm as she rolled her sleeve up and nodded silently. Eddie grabbed another wipe, and gently held her arm as he wiped the cut, his fingers splayed out across her wrist to keep her arm steady. “Sorry,” he apologised for the sting he knew she’d feel from the alcohol on her wound. But at her next comment his eyes flickered back up to her face, a smile growing. “Wow, finally? What’s it been, like fifty years?” He grinned, and a chuckle passed his lips. “But sure, I’ll show you how to make a character and everything, if you-“ it was more the shock of her lips against his that cut him off and left him frozen for a good few seconds. But once he’d gathered his bearings, really felt the softness of her lips against hers, the warmth of her skin, his hand dropped the wipe and instead cupped the side of her neck as he kissed her back. But he was just as shocked by his own actions as she was hers when she pulled away, eyes widening at the realisation that he’d fucking kissed Ophelia. “N-no it’s, it’s fine, I’m sorry too,” he didn’t quite know why he was apologising too, but his brain was a little frazzled by the kiss. His eyes flickered back towards her lips and he had to stop himself and look back up, mind starting to wander. “Was i at least a good kisser?” He joked, ignoring the light blush that was probably rising to his pale cheeks.

-- Steve --

Steve Harrington was a lot of things to different people. Class clown, popular kid, rich kid, a bad friend even but there was one thing that few people knew— he was observant when he needed to be; when it came to those that he cared about. Florence, whether she believe it or not, still very firmly belonged in that category. Perhaps then, it should come as no surprise that he caught the silent tears from the girl in the passenger seat. He didn’t know what to say. What could he possibly say to make any of this any better? He couldn’t just magically make Henry reappear unharmed, no matter how much he wanted to right about now. He couldn’t go back in time and treat Jonathan Byers with a little more sympathy when he’d been putting up posters of his own lost little brother. The only thing that he could do was ensure that Flora knew he was there, despite the drifting in their friendship, despite the months spent barely saying two words to one another in crowded school halls. He would always be there.

Out here, high school popularity meant nothing and maybe Steve was realising that too late, maybe he'd already missed any possible chance of healing their scarred friendship and maybe this was the complete wrong time to even be thinking about such a thing. But that wasn't going to stop him from trying, once Henry was home safe and sound. "You don't have to thank me." He reassured without missing a beat. He didn't know what was going through her head, the worrying that he was only helping out of some long-held moral obligation or even worse, pity. But he would be the first to reassure her that it was neither. He was helping because no matter what happened, he still cared for her. He always would and rights now she was hurting, and the least that Steve could do was to be there, to be a shoulder to cry on, if she needed it, if she wanted it and an extra pair of hands in the search for her missing brother.

"Hey....hey, look. He's a smart kid, right? And from what Nance says about her brother and his friends, they're little nerds, right? Smart little nerds." Steve began, turning his attention entirely toward Florence once the engine had died down and the car sat firmly in the parking space outside the arcade. "That's got to be something." He was't good at this. He didn't need anyone to tell him. He didn't know what to say, how to say it and he could only hope that his words were somewhat comforting as opposed to making things worse. "We'll find them, okay?" He tried again. From the way that she spoke about the police and what they had told her and her mother about the case, maybe it truly would be up to them but that didn't matter. Not if it got Henry, and perhaps even Will, back home.

Maybe it was because Steve didn’t have siblings. He couldn’t possibly hope to understand what it felt like and he hoped that that wouldn’t matter. Maybe Florence would have been better going to Jonathan? At least then they could have bonded over a similar experience. So, why did the very thought of her seeking out comfort with someone else, with Jonathan Byers make his chest ache? Now wasn’t the time for moment fresh out of a budget coming of age movie, that was for sure. Heading across the parking lot and toward the arcade, Steve hadn’t expected the question that came next. It was a question that he’d asked himself over and over when he was home alone and popularity no longer meant anything. Was it my fault? “What?” He stopped walking, turning to face her. “No, no, of course it wasn’t. Never.” If there was one thing that he was sure of, it was this. Rubbing the back of his neck for a moment, he sighed. “If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine. I shouldn’t have...I don’t know, I’m not good at this. I shouldn’t have been an asshole to you.” Maybe he was stating the obvious but the last thing that he wanted was for her to blame herself for what had happened. "I should have made more of an effort...I guess it really is true what they say about high school." He offered the smallest smile, one that absolutely conveyed a sense of guilt at the state of their friendship -- a state that he was almost sure was his fault.

-- Ophelia--

Nothing felt real. Or maybe things actually felt far too real? That was how things had felt since Will Byers first went missing. Ophelia had thought about how strange it was more than once, seeing people go about their daily lives, going to the store and taking their kids to school without a care in the world, safe in the knowledge that they’d chosen a safe place to call home. They were oblivious to the evil that lurked beneath Hawkins, the evil that had threatened to spread and consume more than once. Come morning, they’d be organising vigils in remembrance of those lost in the supposed fire at Starcourt, sending their thoughts and prayers to the families of lost and missing loved ones, calling it nothing more than a tragic accident. It was hard to stomach, the knowledge that all of those people had been lost to something far worse than a fire in the local mall.

The hug was greatly appreciated, perhaps more than Eddie would ever truly know. “I’ll always be your number one fan.” The words were whispered softly into the crook of his neck. Ophelia returned the hug, unaware until that moment just how much she needed it. For a moment, she just allowed her head to rest against his shoulder, her arms wrapping around him. She was sure that she could have stayed there forever, especially after the events of the evening. Pressing a soft kiss to his cheek, she finally pulled back, returning his smile. Whether it had been subconscious or not; she was glad that she’d wound up on Eddie’s doorstep. She couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. She wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. “Well...as much as I still think that it’s a travesty that raspberry ripple is your favourite flavour, I’m sure that that can be arranged.” Ice cream, fair games and oversized teddy bears sounded pretty good right about now.

“I promise I’ll call him Eddie.” A fond smile curled at her lips at the thought. “You have my word, scouts honour.” Glancing down at her arm, she gave a small wince as the wipe brushed over the small wound. It wasn’t particularly big, nor deep and it certainly didn’t need stitches or anything more than a bandaid but it was always best to make sure that any scratches or cuts were clean. Between the two of them, they’d had enough bumps and scrapes over the course of their friendship to know that. He was so gentle, so soft. Even the way that he held her arm steady was nothing but caring. It reminded her of the time that she’d fallen off of her bike when she was like twelve and they’d haphazardly cleaned the cut on her knee with their water bottles and dinosaur bandaids that Eddie had found in the bottom of his bag. Or the time that he’d cut his finger replacing the string on his guitar when they were fourteen and had been forced to wear a barbie bandaid for the rest of the day. The memories brought a smile to her lips. Eddie always seemed to do that. “Slight over- exaggeration.” She teased , gesturing toward the Hellfire shirt that he was currently wearing. “And I hope that this means I finally get one of those? Honorary member and all?”

She didn’t have much time to dwell on her offer for him to finally teach her how to play D&D. It seemed that the night had another distraction in mind from the horrors of the past few days. Perhaps it would have been all too easy to lean into that old cliche that she had no idea where that kiss had come from, but she knew deep down that that wouldn’t be entirely truthful. She wasn’t sure what it was, she couldn’t quite place it but it felt right. And that was enough. His lips were so soft against her own. He was warm and she could still taste the lingering nicotine on his lips from the cigarette he’d been smoking before her rather impromptu arrival. Perhaps she would have pulled away sooner had his hand not haphazardly discarded the wipe in favour of cupping her neck. The feeling of him kissing her back was something she hadn’t expected. They were best friends, they shared everything and yet it seemed that there was something buried deep, unspoken between the two. Once they’d both pulled back, she listened as he apologised. She didn’t know what he was saying sorry for, she had kissed him. Was he apologising for kissing her back? And then came the Eddie that she knew so well. “Hm...I think I might need another sample, Y’know? Check it wasn’t a fluke.” She teased before leaning up a little further, softly placing another kiss to his lips, one of her own hands moving to brush through his mass of dark curls.

– Florence –

It still hadn’t quite settled in yet, that Henry was missing. She’d spoken to the police with her mother when he had first been reported missing, she had been there when they searched her house for any information, she had made and printed the missing posters herself; but she was still half expecting Henry to come home from school with his usual smile and tell her all about her day. He had been the one constant thing in her life, aside from their mother, but her shifts at the hospital were so irregular even her company wasn’t constant through no fault of her own. She had lost the consistency of Steve months ago, anyways. But Henry… he had always been there, and now that he wasn’t she didn’t know what to do. “Do you think people care?” She broke the silence with the thought, one that she let slip without thinking. She paused, a moment to wipe her eye with the heel of her palm, before she tilted her head to look at Steve. “Those people earlier, who were… laughing,” She flinched slightly. It wasn’t funny. “They don’t care, does everyone think it’s a joke or something?” Flora had a fair share of people give their sympathies to her, but just as many people had laughed too.

Steve’s words were kind, but she did have to thank him. She was taking his time that he would’ve otherwise spent with Carol and Tommy, or with Nancy… she didn’t know exactly what the Wheeler girl was to him, and part of her didn’t want to. It left a crushing feeling in her chest the first time she had seen the two of them together, and tried not to focus on it since. But it didn’t matter anymore – none of it did, really. “Thank you anyways,” She told him, tone soft. And after a pause she looked at Steve again, a sad smile on her lips. “He really missed you being around,” Of course, it was hard to explain to her brother why Steve had started being around less and less, until not at all. It had been hard to tell her brother that ‘Of course he still cares about you’, when it was upsetting her just as much. “I’m glad you’re here. I don’t think any of my other friends know him as well as you.” It felt a little bitter with the context of their friendship over the past few months, but it was the truth.

Florence looked away from the window and back at Steve as he spoke, and smiled a little tearfully. “Yeah, smart little nerds,” She repeated, and it was true. Henry had never played Dungeons and Dragons like she knew some of the other kids did, but he was incredibly good at math – much more than she was – and he spent a lot of time in the arcade playing Sinistar. Her brother was incredibly smart, and she was sure that he would be fine if he simply got lost in the woods. Even if he would be lonely, cold, and scared. But she tried not to think about that, refused to, and blinked a few times before she focused back on Steve as he continued talking. “I guess… he’s a smart kid, if he’s around then I’m sure he’s fine,” And she couldn’t comprehend the thought of that not being the case. Of Henry not being in Hawkins, of him being taken by someone, of him being dead. Just the thought of it made her feel nauseous, and she frowned as she pushed the thought from mind, and focused on Steve instead, nodding at his words. “Yeah, we’ll find them.” She breathed out, determined that they would.

She stared at the arcade for a moment, bottom lip bitten between her teeth. Someone must have seen Henry – it was impossible that he had disappeared without a trace; no witnesses, nothing left behind. The police had found Will Byers’ bike, so where was Henry’s trail? Her eye’s left the arcade and back at Steve as he stopped walking, and for a moment she regretted asking. It wasn’t the time to talk about it, even if it was a conversation long overdue. But, feet rooted to the ground as she stared at him, her head nodded a little at his answer. “You promise?” Her voice was small again, but she couldn’t help but ask. Steve was kind, and maybe he wouldn’t have told her if she did something wrong, just left it unspoken so that he didn’t hurt her with words. She had always been sure that Steve wasn’t hurting her on purpose by the drift between them, and maybe she should have reached out more herself… but it hurt that if it wasn’t on purpose, he didn’t notice how much it upset her. Her eyebrows scrunched slightly, head tilting towards him. “You were never an asshole, Steve,” Even if it did hurt, it wasn’t like he had been spiteful or anything. Flora sighed, fingers playing with the corner of the posters again. It was true, he probably should have made more of an effort. But she couldn’t blame him for making new friends. “Tommy and Carol seem… cool,” Not at all, but she wasn’t about to be rude about his friends. “And Nancy seems nice,” She sighed, glancing towards the arcade before back at him. “This probably makes me really selfish, we came out here to look for Henry,” She sighed as her expression fell. “But I really miss you.”

– Eddie –

Eddie held onto her tightly as they hugged, wanting to offer the best comfort that he could. He felt her relax in his arms, which he was thankful for. She was fine; she had been able to drive to his trailer – even though he was against that sill – and she had no major injuries. But he could imagine that it would take her a while to get over what she had witnessed. The fire, the people that had died… Billy. He had only ever heard bad things about Hargrove, but regardless of if he was a shitty guy or not, she had still seen it. She had seen someone die – he couldn’t imagine how that felt. And he didn’t want to bring it up to her, not after she had been smiling and relaxed, but he didn’t think that she was okay. Eddie always cared about her, he’d cared ever since they had met, but he was really going to put in the effort to make sure that he would be there for her whenever she needed him. Eddie had always cared about her, and in the past few years maybe he had started caring about her as a little more than a friend. But any feelings he had aside – Ophelia was his friend and he would be there.

A soft smile worked it’s way onto his lips as she whispered against his neck, the sensation sending a slight shudder through him. “Thank you,” He had chuckled in response, and squeezed her in the hug in only a way that he could, but it meant more than that to him, and left him with a sweet feeling that had the smile stuck to his face like it wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. “I’ll always be yours too… when I’m not Metallica’s number one fan.” He was grinning as he leaned his head against her’s, a chuckle shaking his body slightly as he held her. As she let her head lull against his shoulder he stayed quiet, and just let her relax against him. He kept the movement of his palm over her back, rubbing between her shoulder blades, helping to ease any leftover tension from her body. It was nice, just being able to hold her. It was calm, and different to their usual time spent together. But a good difference, nonetheless. One that Eddie would only look back on in fondness. The kiss to his cheek only made the softness worse, and the grin he wore melted into a kind smile that he met her with once she had pulled back. “A travesty?” Eddie raised his eyebrows, a scoff passing his lips – much more Eddie Munson than kisses on cheeks, but those lines had been blurred a long time ago – before his head tilted at her. “What’s your favourite, then? And if you say mint then you really are sleeping on the porch.” He teased.

At the promise he chuckled, grinning at her again. “Thank you, I’m honoured, really,” He told her, even though naming the teddy bear had been at his request. Going to the fair probably would have been the best option; no fires, no deaths, no injuries. And as much as Eddie would have loved to have spent the night with Ophelia playing dumb fair games and winning dumb prizes, she wouldn’t have ended up on his doorstep and the atmosphere wouldn’t have become whatever it was between them in his trailer. He frowned slightly as she winced at the sting from the wipe, and settled with gently rubbing his thumb along her wrist comfortingly. The wipe couldn’t have stung that badly and he doubted that she needed comforting through it… but it was nice to touch her, and he hoped it was nice for her too. “I’m not exaggerating at all, dunno what you’re on about,” He teased, and chuckled. “I suppose it means you do,” He nodded, glancing down at his shirt before back up at her. “As long as you don’t think it’s too nerdy for you.” He chuckled.

Maybe it was just a fluke, because she was shaken up and he was the only one there. Maybe the morning would roll around and it would be back to how it was between them, completely platonic. Maybe Eddie was crazy for even thinking about past that night when all they had shared was a kiss. But, at least for him, it felt like the feeling had been brewing for much longer than that night, and it felt good, a relief to finally get a semblance of his feelings off his chest. A smile curved at his lips as he heard her words – gone was the awkwardness and apologies from before. Completely certain that they were okay, and that it wasn’t something to apologise for, Eddie grinned at her words with a nod. As soon as she had leaned towards him his hand was against her neck again and he was leaning in the rest of the way, relaxed as he kissed her. The closeness allowed him to smell the smoke from the fire, but it was more than that. It was the warmth of her skin, the softness of her lips against his own, the feeling that swirled deep inside him that told him that this kiss wasn’t just a throwaway. Being mindful of her head, his free hand lifted and brushed hair away from her face, before he leaned forwards and his forehead was pressed to hers with a sigh, lips still ghosting over hers. “Definitely not a fluke.” He whispered, smiling uncontrollably.

~ Steve ~

In hindsight, Steve had been so wrapped up with high school, and all of the drama and teenage angst that accompanied it to recognise just how much they’d drifted before it was too late. The days spent without having a full conversation turned to weeks and weeks turned to months and before he knew it, it almost felt wrong, felt like he couldn’t just pick up the phone and call his best friend or turn up on her doorstep. By the time he realised just how much things had changed between them, it almost felt like he didn’t have a right to call, to turn up or talk to her in the hallways. He’d tried to rationalise it to himself, repeating his dad’s words (which were, albeit said during a rather patronising lecture about grades and college and all sorts of adult stuff). ‘High School changes everyone. You find out who you are in high school, it defines who you are.’ The trouble was that Steve didn’t want to be defined as the kid who favoured popularity above friendships. He knew that now.

He also hadn’t necessarily thought about how the situation between himself and Flora impacted more than just them. He hadn’t thought about the questions that Henry would ask— why Steve couldn’t come round to play his new game with him, why he couldn’t help him build his latest Lego set or why he couldn’t pick him up from school when their mom was working late. And now Henry was missing. Even despite her words, her gentle reassurance that he hadn’t been an asshole, Steve didn’t believe it. He knew that that was exactly what he’d been. He had been so caught up in being popular, being the class clown, dating girls, parties and whatever else that people expected teenagers to do in high school that he’d neglected one of the only real friendships that he had. He couldn’t go back in time, he couldn’t change that— but he could make sure that he was there for Flora now. That was what mattered.

“No, I was literally the definition of an asshole. I shouldn’t... I should have made more effort.” He explained, brushing a hand through his hair as they headed further across the parking lot. He gave a nod, one that was clear, immediate. “I promise non of this is your fault.” He repeated. A part of him wished that they could go back to middle school, that they could just be those kids who spent every other night at each others houses, who had sleepovers and watched whatever movies they could find. He wished that they could even go back to the first year of high school, when they’d both been fish out of water trying to find their way. He wished that his way hadn’t involved letting them drift apart. “Tommy’s an asshole.” He answered, a smile tugging at his lips as they reached the sidewalk outside the arcade. That was the truth. He knew it. He’d seen the way that he clung to Steve because that was where popularity lay, because he wanted to be invited to the parties and he wanted people to know who he was. He saw the way he treated the other kids, and that wasn’t something that Steve wanted Flora to think that he condoned. “And Carol...she just wants to be popular.”

He was well aware that he sounded like his dad at this point and whilst he hated that very notion, even after all this time, he still felt like he could be himself around Flora, like he didn’t have to put on the front that he had to at school. Pushing the door open to the arcade, he held it open for her before letting it swing closed behind them. It was pretty quiet at this point of the day, only a few patrons and the distinctive sounds of the various games echoing around the small space. “It doesn’t make you selfish.” He shrugged. “And for what it’s worth— I miss you too. I especially miss that amazing pie your mom used to make? You know the one?” He teased, even if there was an element of truth to the comment. He spotted a group of kids crowded around one of the games, kids that must have literally ran out of school when it finished and straight toward the arcade. Taking a poster from Flora, he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Why don’t you go ask...Carl? Chris?...” clicking his fingers together, he pointed toward the teenager behind the counter. “Kieth!” He announced, perhaps a little loudly when the name finally came to him. “Why don’t you go ask Kieth and I’ll go ask these kids?”

~ Ophelia ~

She wasn’t okay. She knew that. Truthfully, Ophelia didn’t know how anyone who knew the truth about the evil that lurked beneath Hawkins could be okay. Somehow, whether it be because it was far more recent and fresh in her mind, or whether it was because of just what it had meant, tonight’s events had hit her harder than anything they’d dealt with previous. Even Barb’s death, the knowledge of just what had happened to her, seemed almost more comprehensible than the idea that this wasn’t just their secret anymore. The knowledge that the Soviets had somehow learned about the dimension that lurked beneath their feet was chilling in itself, but knowing the truth about what had happened to so many people? What they’d become? People that she knew? That was something particularly unsettling. Maybe it was for the best that the rest of the town would merely think that their friends, neighbours and family members had perished in a tragic mall fire as opposed to knowing the truth?

Being there with Eddie, she didn’t feel the need to pretend that she was okay. He’d always been good at recognising that sort of thing. Instead, she could simply focus on the gentle sensation of his hand brushing up and down between her shoulder blades. There was no talk of monsters, no mention of the upside down or the Soviets or Hawkins’ lab, instead there was just two teenagers bickering over the best flavour of ice cream and obnoxiously large teddy bears. And that was exactly what she needed right now. “Mint! Mint? We’ve been friends for how long? And you have the audacity to even suggest that mint could possibly be my favourite flavour?” Feigning outrage, Ophelia couldn’t hide the smile that tugged at her lips as she pulled back, the expression punctuated with a soft laugh. “Mint should be a criminal offence.” Shifting out of his embrace entirely, she crossed her legs beneath herself and glanced down at where Eddie had begun to clean the remaining cut on her forearm. “But come on! Everyone knows the best flavour is vanilla-chocolate swirl.”

She appreciated the soothing movement of his thumb against her wrist, the way that he was so gentle even in his movements as the wipe moved over the small cut. It was nice, comforting, a silent reassurance that he was there. Soon enough, the wound was covered by a bandaid and the wipe discarded. “Y’know, it’s a shame we couldn’t find any of those dinosaur bandaids, I reckon I’d look pretty good with a couple of those.” She smiled up at him, reaching over to put any of the unused bandaids or bandages back into the first aid kit. She closed it was a click and pushed it a little further into the centre of the coffee table so that it didn’t fall. “Too nerdy? You’re asking the girl who just said she wished we had dinosaur bandaids if it’s too nerdy?” Another soft laugh left her, her gaze briefly lingering on the shirt in question. “Nerdy’s good and I distinctly remember that you said I am a nerd.”

Less than three hours ago she’d been hiding from angry Soviets and running from something that resembled a giant, fleshy spider. And now, she was sat on Eddie’s couch just....being a teenager. The two things were so wildly different from one another but she was glad. She was glad that she’d come to him, and a part of her was pretty damn glad that she’d kissed him too. There was nothing quite like a near-death experience with an inter dimensional monster to get you to realise your feelings for your best friend, it seemed. The second kiss was more confident, more blatant than the last. She allowed herself to savour the softness of his lips against her own, the way that his curls felt beneath her fingers as they tangled and curled around the digits. Here, right now, they were just teenagers, doing the usual shit that teenagers did and it was nice. Not quite as nice as the feeling of Eddie’s lips against her own, but nice. Her forehead came to rest against his as they parted, a soft laugh leaving her at his words. “Definitely not a fluke.” She agreed. “And as far as things go...I’d say that you’re a pretty good kisser. Could be better if raspberry ripple wasn’t your favourite flavour but...I think I can let that slide.” She teased, pressing a soft peck to his lips before her hand moved from his hair and instead came to brush across his left cheek.

— Florence —

Once she had handed Steve the poster, she had to turn the others upside-down in her lap so she couldn’t look at them, couldn’t see Henry’s smiling face. It was painful, and whilst she didn’t think for one moment that he was gone, it still hurt. She knew that they’d find him eventually, they had to, they just had to know where to look. But there was no doubt in her mind that Henry would come home… because she didn’t know what she’d do if he didn’t. Her eyes watered as she stared out of the window and she lifted her hand to wipe her eyes discreetly, not wanting Steve to see. It was a little sad to know that their friendship was at a point where she didn’t want him to see her upset, but there were much bigger things to dwell on than that. She could worry about her friendship with Steve when Henry was home. Her brother missed him being around too, which she knew for a fact. Maybe with Steve looking too, there really was a better chance of finding him. Henry would surely go to Steve if he saw him.

“Thank you.” Even though she knew that Steve would call without her having to ask, it was a relief to hear him say it. It had been too long since she had heard his voice over the phone, but the awkwardness could be put aside for Henry. Hell, if it wasn’t for her brother going missing she probably wouldn’t even have approached Steve in the hallway. And maybe if it wasn’t for Henry he wouldn’t have spoken to her either. Was he only helping because he felt pity for her? She tried not to dwell on it, but Steve’s true intentions was a mystery. Did he care for her, or was it all just out of pity? Out of obligation because they used to be close. “Thank you for helping,” She mumbled. For whatever reason he helped, she was grateful. It just depended on what reason he helped to how upset she’d be once it was all over, and he stopped talking to her again. “You didn’t have to, I only was planning on giving you the poster.” She admitted quietly, fingertips toying with the edges of the posters in her lap.

Florence sighed and nodded her head. The question was almost superficial from Steve; if anybody was going to understand how sad the situation was for Johnathan, it was her. She felt a little guilty for not reaching out to the boy sooner, but she had been busy. She’d been so busy between searching for Henry, talking to the police, and making the posters that she’d slept all of six hours in the past three days. “I hope that Henry and Will are together,” she mumbled, getting a little lost as she continued staring out of the window, eyes a little unfocused. “That wherever they are, whatever happened, they found each other.” Her throat was thick and she had to swallow as she closed her eyes for a moment. At Steve’s next question she scoffed, frowning in an anger that had been bubbling inside ever since the police last spoke to her and her mother. “They said they’re keeping the case open to any possibilities at the moment.” She huffed, tone dripping with distaste.

She nodded at the plan and glanced back towards Steve. “Yeah… I’m sure they’ll let us put up posters inside. If Henry was there someone must’ve seen him,” she replied, determined. Someone must’ve seen him. There was someone in Hawkins who knew what had happened. At his next words she nodded, a small smile over her lips as she looked at him. “Thank you… and it does help.” It helped to know that Steve cared, for the first time in what felt like a while. She unbuckled her seatbelt once they were in the parking lot, but her hand hovered over the door handle at his words, and she swallowed thickly as she turned back towards him. “I know,” her voice was small again, like a child, and she hated it. “I know, thank you,” she nodded her head, and watched as Steve opened his door and she turned to get out of the passenger side herself, before she couldn’t help blurting out her next words, “Was it my fault?” She let the question sit in the air for a moment as she hugged the posters to her chest, the confidence coming only because Steve had mentioned the wedge in their friendship first. “Did I do something that made you change your mind about being friends with me?”

— Eddie —

He felt like he needed to keep the grip on her hand to understand that what she was telling him was real. She wasn’t joking, he wasn’t dreaming, this wasn’t some high induced haze; there really had been a fire at the mall, and people really had died. The more she told him the more ill he felt at the thought of her being there, and the more thankful he was that she had come to him. Eddie watched as she glanced away and a worried frown replaced the shocked expression on his face. His fingers laced with hers in a silent comfort, not pushing the answer to come quicker. For a moment he debated on telling her that it didn’t matter, that she didn’t have to worry about it for now, but the name slipped past her lips before he had the chance to and he was left staring in shock again. “Hargrove?” The thought of Billy, Hawkins new King he supposed, being dead - it just didn’t make sense. “Shit…” Eddie sighed, and squeezed her hand again. “Are you okay?”

“At least they were fine, I’m glad. I’m glad you were too,” his words were serious and soft, a rare genuineness, before a small smile crept across his lips and, “who else is gonna be my number one fan?” He didn’t push her to say anything else when she fell silent, hoping to instead distract her from the horrors of the night. He watched as she glanced down, saw the slumped posture that only one who had witnessed something awful could hold, and he didn’t hesitate before pulling her into a hug, his arms crossing over her back to hold her close. No words were shared - he didn’t want to make her think of it again - but he gently rubbed the space between her shoulder blades with the heel of his palm before he pulled away, a smile curving at his lips directed towards her.

At her comment he chuckled and shook his head, fondness behind the roll of his eyes. “Of course not, you’d probably sacrifice me for some good ol’ ice cream,” he teased, and gently nudged his knee against her leg. At her next comment he nodded, grinning. “Guess you’ll just have to find somewhere else to get me ice cream from. I’m not cleaning you up for free, y’know. I think I deserve some raspberry ripple in return for my services.” His tone was of mock seriousness as a dumb smile was unrelenting over his expression. He just wanted to distract her; make her smile, make her laugh. Anything but the shell of her usual self that had turned up at his trailer. He smiled at her promise, genuine and not joking. “And I promise to win you a ridiculously big teddy bear. You have to call him Eddie, though, ‘cos otherwise the deal’s off and I’ll just get you a rubber duck.”

At the comment about a pillow he rolled his eyes. “Shut up, you know I wasn’t being serious,” he grumbled, too concentrated on cleaning her up to think of another snarky response. He looked down at her arm as she rolled her sleeve up and nodded silently. Eddie grabbed another wipe, and gently held her arm as he wiped the cut, his fingers splayed out across her wrist to keep her arm steady. “Sorry,” he apologised for the sting he knew she’d feel from the alcohol on her wound. But at her next comment his eyes flickered back up to her face, a smile growing. “Wow, finally? What’s it been, like fifty years?” He grinned, and a chuckle passed his lips. “But sure, I’ll show you how to make a character and everything, if you-“ it was more the shock of her lips against his that cut him off and left him frozen for a good few seconds. But once he’d gathered his bearings, really felt the softness of her lips against hers, the warmth of her skin, his hand dropped the wipe and instead cupped the side of her neck as he kissed her back. But he was just as shocked by his own actions as she was hers when she pulled away, eyes widening at the realisation that he’d fucking kissed Ophelia. “N-no it’s, it’s fine, I’m sorry too,” he didn’t quite know why he was apologising too, but his brain was a little frazzled by the kiss. His eyes flickered back towards her lips and he had to stop himself and look back up, mind starting to wander. “Was i at least a good kisser?” He joked, ignoring the light blush that was probably rising to his pale cheeks.

#peakyblinders #peakyblindersrp #opheliaesmeelancaster #peakyblindersroleplay #alfie solomons roleplay #peaky blinders rp

~ Steve ~

Steve Harrington was a lot of things to different people. Class clown, popular kid, rich kid, a bad friend even but there was one thing that few people knew— he was observant when he needed to be; when it came to those that he cared about. Florence, whether she believe it or not, still very firmly belonged in that category. Perhaps then, it should come as no surprise that he caught the silent tears from the girl in the passenger seat. He didn’t know what to say. What could he possibly say to make any of this any better? He couldn’t just magically make Henry reappear unharmed, no matter how much he wanted to right about now. He couldn’t go back in time and treat Jonathan Byers with a little more sympathy when he’d been putting up posters of his own lost little brother. The only thing that he could do was ensure that Flora knew he was there, despite the drifting in their friendship, despite the months spent barely saying two words to one another in crowded school halls. He would always be there.

Out here, high school popularity meant nothing and maybe Steve was realising that too late, maybe he'd already missed any possible chance of healing their scarred friendship and maybe this was the complete wrong time to even be thinking about such a thing. But that wasn't going to stop him from trying, once Henry was home safe and sound. "You don't have to thank me." He reassured without missing a beat. He didn't know what was going through her head, the worrying that he was only helping out of some long-held moral obligation or even worse, pity. But he would be the first to reassure her that it was neither. He was helping because no matter what happened, he still cared for her. He always would and rights now she was hurting, and the least that Steve could do was to be there, to be a shoulder to cry on, if she needed it, if she wanted it and an extra pair of hands in the search for her missing brother.

"Hey....hey, look. He's a smart kid, right? And from what Nance says about her brother and his friends, they're little nerds, right? Smart little nerds." Steve began, turning his attention entirely toward Florence once the engine had died down and the car sat firmly in the parking space outside the arcade. "That's got to be something." He was't good at this. He didn't need anyone to tell him. He didn't know what to say, how to say it and he could only hope that his words were somewhat comforting as opposed to making things worse. "We'll find them, okay?" He tried again. From the way that she spoke about the police and what they had told her and her mother about the case, maybe it truly would be up to them but that didn't matter. Not if it got Henry, and perhaps even Will, back home.

Maybe it was because Steve didn’t have siblings. He couldn’t possibly hope to understand what it felt like and he hoped that that wouldn’t matter. Maybe Florence would have been better going to Jonathan? At least then they could have bonded over a similar experience. So, why did the very thought of her seeking out comfort with someone else, with Jonathan Byers make his chest ache? Now wasn’t the time for moment fresh out of a budget coming of age movie, that was for sure. Heading across the parking lot and toward the arcade, Steve hadn’t expected the question that came next. It was a question that he’d asked himself over and over when he was home alone and popularity no longer meant anything. Was it my fault? “What?” He stopped walking, turning to face her. “No, no, of course it wasn’t. Never.” If there was one thing that he was sure of, it was this. Rubbing the back of his neck for a moment, he sighed. “If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine. I shouldn’t have...I don’t know, I’m not good at this. I shouldn’t have been an asshole to you.” Maybe he was stating the obvious but the last thing that he wanted was for her to blame herself for what had happened. "I should have made more of an effort...I guess it really is true what they say about high school." He offered the smallest smile, one that absolutely conveyed a sense of guilt at the state of their friendship -- a state that he was almost sure was his fault.

~ Ophelia ~

Nothing felt real. Or maybe things actually felt far too real? That was how things had felt since Will Byers first went missing. Ophelia had thought about how strange it was more than once, seeing people go about their daily lives, going to the store and taking their kids to school without a care in the world, safe in the knowledge that they’d chosen a safe place to call home. They were oblivious to the evil that lurked beneath Hawkins, the evil that had threatened to spread and consume more than once. Come morning, they’d be organising vigils in remembrance of those lost in the supposed fire at Starcourt, sending their thoughts and prayers to the families of lost and missing loved ones, calling it nothing more than a tragic accident. It was hard to stomach, the knowledge that all of those people had been lost to something far worse than a fire in the local mall.

The hug was greatly appreciated, perhaps more than Eddie would ever truly know. “I’ll always be your number one fan.” The words were whispered softly into the crook of his neck. Ophelia returned the hug, unaware until that moment just how much she needed it. For a moment, she just allowed her head to rest against his shoulder, her arms wrapping around him. She was sure that she could have stayed there forever, especially after the events of the evening. Pressing a soft kiss to his cheek, she finally pulled back, returning his smile. Whether it had been subconscious or not; she was glad that she’d wound up on Eddie’s doorstep. She couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. She wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. “Well...as much as I still think that it’s a travesty that raspberry ripple is your favourite flavour, I’m sure that that can be arranged.” Ice cream, fair games and oversized teddy bears sounded pretty good right about now.

“I promise I’ll call him Eddie.” A fond smile curled at her lips at the thought. “You have my word, scouts honour.” Glancing down at her arm, she gave a small wince as the wipe brushed over the small wound. It wasn’t particularly big, nor deep and it certainly didn’t need stitches or anything more than a bandaid but it was always best to make sure that any scratches or cuts were clean. Between the two of them, they’d had enough bumps and scrapes over the course of their friendship to know that. He was so gentle, so soft. Even the way that he held her arm steady was nothing but caring. It reminded her of the time that she’d fallen off of her bike when she was like twelve and they’d haphazardly cleaned the cut on her knee with their water bottles and dinosaur bandaids that Eddie had found in the bottom of his bag. Or the time that he’d cut his finger replacing the string on his guitar when they were fourteen and had been forced to wear a barbie bandaid for the rest of the day. The memories brought a smile to her lips. Eddie always seemed to do that. “Slight over- exaggeration.” She teased , gesturing toward the Hellfire shirt that he was currently wearing. “And I hope that this means I finally get one of those? Honorary member and all?”

She didn’t have much time to dwell on her offer for him to finally teach her how to play D&D. It seemed that the night had another distraction in mind from the horrors of the past few days. Perhaps it would have been all too easy to lean into that old cliche that she had no idea where that kiss had come from, but she knew deep down that that wouldn’t be entirely truthful. She wasn’t sure what it was, she couldn’t quite place it but it felt right. And that was enough. His lips were so soft against her own. He was warm and she could still taste the lingering nicotine on his lips from the cigarette he’d been smoking before her rather impromptu arrival. Perhaps she would have pulled away sooner had his hand not haphazardly discarded the wipe in favour of cupping her neck. The feeling of him kissing her back was something she hadn’t expected. They were best friends, they shared everything and yet it seemed that there was something buried deep, unspoken between the two. Once they’d both pulled back, she listened as he apologised. She didn’t know what he was saying sorry for, she had kissed him. Was he apologising for kissing her back? And then came the Eddie that she knew so well. “Hm...I think I might need another sample, Y’know? Check it wasn’t a fluke.” She teased before leaning up a little further, softly placing another kiss to his lips, one of her own hands moving to brush through his mass of dark curls.

RENEWED RP CALL!!

Bring me all of your Peaky muses! Please be over eighteen if you interact. RP will be over Discord because I’m more active there these days!

{ ♛ x Ophelia x}‌‌ ‌:

A momentary silence descended on the room, the woman silencing cursing Thomas for bringing light into the room and perhaps too, onto the situation. She remained silent, perhaps because her head was so so loud. Delicate fingers ran through her hair, shifting so that she could sit opposite him at the table. She poured them both a large glass of whiskey, almost scoffing when he mentioned how he almost shot her, oh if only he knew. She brought her glass to her lips, but honestly it took everything she had to try and limit the shakes her hand threatened, determined not to spill any whiskey. What was he expecting? That she’d had some fight in the alleyway behind the Garrison? She wished that was it. She hadn’t exactly practised this, and the words wouldn’t come out, setting the gun down on the table, swallowing thickly as she trailed her fingers across the metal. “I—“ she began, before looking away, sighing quietly before she continued. “There was a man on my way home…said he was working for someone. He knew everything, Tommy, fucking everything. My name, what happened to my fucking parents, what time I leave the Garrison” she shook her head, bringing her whiskey to her lips and taking another sip.

“Fucking hell I don’t…I didn’t” she sighed “it’s not my blood….not all of it anyway. I shot him, Tommy. I shot him in the fucking head and I don’t…we struggled and I didn’t know where else to go or…” she could feel her throat tightening with the realisation of what had happened, the gravity of the situation. She brought a hand up and brushed her fingers through her hair again, wincing a little “I think he grazed my side but I…I was just gonna clean it with the whiskey. Don’t worry about it…and I am sorry, y’know? For….causing problems..” she whispered, picking up her glass of whiskey and taking a long sip, looking down at her hands.

For the longest time, Tommy remained silent and instead observed. The way she was shaking, the way she struggled to speak, the terrified look on her face. He knew what had happened before she had even had a chance to say it out loud. He had seen that exact reaction countless times before: it had happened every time one of the new boys had killed their first enemy. The first time was difficult, after that.. Well, it got far too easy.

“So you killed someone in self-defense. You’d be surprised how often that happens around these parts. Another dead body in Small Heath. No copper will care, if that’s what you’re worried about.” Shrugging his shoulders, Tommy picked up the glass she had poured him and took a sip. He tried to act as nonchalantly as possible, but his mind got stuck on the fact that the man - whoever he was - knew so much about her, and apparently worked for someone else. Meaning that someone would be missing him sooner or later. Making a mental note to send out John and Arthur to go search for the body later, he sighed a leaned slightly forward. “Let me see.” To clarify what he meant, he pointed at her side. “Where he grazed you. Let me see. You’re still hyped up from the whole thing. Might be worse than you think.”

#opheliaesmeelancaster #alreadybrcken

She didn’t know what she wanted in that moment, she wasn’t even necessarily scared of what had happened, but rather scared of how she’d reacted, scared of how she’d felt in that moment. She took one look at Tommy, before she slipped into the chair opposite him, pouring herself another glass of whiskey and bringing it to her lips and taking a sip. She took a gentle breath, her mind starting to slow along with her heart rate. This wasn’t new. The blood, the dead body, it was all somewhat normal but she’d never been the one holding the gun before, she was usually the one doing the patching up, or well, the best she could. “I didn’t feel anything” she admitted after a couple of seconds, trailing her index finger around the rim of the glass “when it happened...I didn’t feel anything just numb”

She was about to protest when he brought up the ‘graze’ on her side, but she decided against it. He was right, wasn’t he? Adrenaline was a funny thing, and now that she was starting to calm down, she could feel her head clearing. She gently shifted from her seat, moving around the table toward him. She stopped and briefly glanced down at her shirt, pulling the fabric away from where she believed the graze to be and wincing slightly. She slowed her movements, successfully pulling the fabric up, showing him the wound. It was small, and from the colour of the blood staining her skin it had probably stopped bleeding, a few jagged edges the only sign of any trauma. “It’ll be fine, I’ll make sure it doesn’t get infected or anything—“

{ ♛ x @opheliaesmeelancaster x}‌‌

Continued from here

Today had been an incredibly long day, and while that in and of itself didn’t make it any different from any other day, it was the type of long day that made him avoid the Garrison, and people altogether. He had just finished up in the betting shop, and all Tommy wanted to do was go home, have a few drinks, and then attempt to get at least a few moments of sleep. While he was packing up his stuff, however, he started to hear noise coming from behind the door that lead to Polly’s old place. Immediately alarmed, he pulled out his gun and quietly made his way to the door. Before opening it, however, he stood there for a few moments and listened for any further sounds coming from within, but it seemed to have gone quiet again. Which, of course, didn’t mean that whoever was there was gone.

So, gun still drawn, Tommy quietly opened the door and made his way inside, though couldn’t see anybody in the sitting room. Then there was some noise again, though this time clearly coming from the kitchen - and delivered him the answer as to who had the nerve to intrude into a Shelby’s house. No longer worried, he put his gun away, and instead made his way over to the kitchen. Standing there for a moment he observed Ophelia, wondering why the hell she had to come here to, apparently, get a drink. It was only when he approached her further and his eyes started to adjust to the darkness that he saw the blood covering her, and her clothes. “Which begs the question why you think it’s alright to just come here and treat this place as a pub.” Tommy’s eyes shifted to the bottle in her hand for a moment, then back to her. “Damn near shot you, Ophelia. Lucky for you I recognized your voice.” Shaking his head, he turned and walked off to make some light, before sitting down at the small kitchen table, eyes trained on her. “Now, would you kindly explain what you’re doing here so late, helping yourself to Pol’s whiskey, while covered in blood?”

#opheliaesmeelancaster #alreadybrcken #peakyblindersroleplay

****@alreadybrcken

A momentary silence descended on the room, the woman silencing cursing Thomas for bringing light into the room and perhaps too, onto the situation. She remained silent, perhaps because her head was so so loud. Delicate fingers ran through her hair, shifting so that she could sit opposite him at the table. She poured them both a large glass of whiskey, almost scoffing when he mentioned how he almost shot her, oh if only he knew. She brought her glass to her lips, but honestly it took everything she had to try and limit the shakes her hand threatened, determined not to spill any whiskey. What was he expecting? That she’d had some fight in the alleyway behind the Garrison? She wished that was it. She hadn’t exactly practised this, and the words wouldn’t come out, setting the gun down on the table, swallowing thickly as she trailed her fingers across the metal. “I—“ she began, before looking away, sighing quietly before she continued. “There was a man on my way home...said he was working for someone. He knew everything, Tommy, fucking everything. My name, what happened to my fucking parents, what time I leave the Garrison” she shook her head, bringing her whiskey to her lips and taking another sip.

“Fucking hell I don’t...I didn’t” she sighed “it’s not my blood....not all of it anyway. I shot him, Tommy. I shot him in the fucking head and I don’t...we struggled and I didn’t know where else to go or...” she could feel her throat tightening with the realisation of what had happened, the gravity of the situation. She brought a hand up and brushed her fingers through her hair again, wincing a little “I think he grazed my side but I...I was just gonna clean it with the whiskey. Don’t worry about it...and I am sorry, y’know? For....causing problems..” she whispered, picking up her glass of whiskey and taking a long sip, looking down at her hands.

Broken

@alreadybrcken

Fear was a funny thing. Everyone was fearful of something weren’t they? Scared of the monster under the bed or what lurked in the shadows and whilst fear had always been a part of her world, there were few occasions whereby she’d actually been fearful of her life. But what had happened that evening? It had shaken her to her core, and she hadn’t entirely even known what to do or how to react. She didn’t remember what she’d been thinking about before she’d been interrupted by that shadowy figure. Sometimes, the thoughts inside her head got so loud that she just wanted some time to herself, freedom to think without any distractions or interventions. That was exactly why the canal had brought her solace, had become the place she needed whenever she needed to think, up until that night, anyway. She didn’t know the exact facts, nor the way that everything had happened, it had been so quick after all, but she distinctly remembered the sound of a gunshot, the loud noise ringing in her ears and then it felt like everything was underwater and she did the only thing that she could think of, she walked, as far and as quickly as she could toward anything that offered a beacon of hope, of safety and she eventually ended up walking the familiar cobbles that led to Watery Lane.

She hadn’t been expecting anyone to be inside, after all, it was late and everyone was either at home or drinking at the Garrison and maybe deep down she didn’t want anyone to walk in on this scene. If there was one thing she hated? It was being perceived to be weak, being pitied by those around her, those she was closest too— and seeing her like this would not doubt lead to all of that. She distinctly remembered the bottle of whiskey that Polly kept in one of the kitchen cupboards, maybe it wasn’t even there? Especially since the woman had moved into her new home, nevertheless, she sighed quietly when she found half a bottle, bringing it to her lips and letting the top fall to the ground, swearing rather loudly when a piece of glass from a broken cup laid on the counter pierced her finger, her head immediately snapping up when she heard footsteps. Of course. Of course it would be the one person she least wanted to see her like this. “Sorry— didn’t think anyone would be here” she mumbled, as if they could just ignore the blood that soaked her clothes, the odd splatter venturing up her jaw and throat, her hands covered in red, and now smeared over the bottle, with her clothes and hair wet from the falling rain outside. How could she even begin to explain this?

#peakyblindersrp #peakyblinders #opheliaesmeelancaster

{ ♛ x Ophelia x}‌‌ ‌:

“that is so” The younger woman remarked with a small smirk, momentarily catching her reflection in the large, gold-rimmed mirrors that hung proudly behind the various shelves of expensive liquors. At the mention of buisness, she quirked an eyebrow, downing the rest of the gin in her glass before setting the expensive crystal down on the top of the bar, a silent queue for a refill. “we’re talking buisness already hm? not that ive got a problem with that of course. I get my hands dirty when i have to, sometimes you have to dig through the dirt to make diamonds, don’t you?” she explained, briefly turning to place the cigarette between her lips, her free hand coming up, index finger brushing the diamond necklace that hung proudly in the dip of her exposed collarbones.

After she’d exhaled, letting the smoke dance in intricate swirls around the two of them before she continued “i saw a gap in the market, i‘ve got a couple of contacts. i believe you helped to get rid of some of the competition. Luca Changretta. He certainly was a charmer” she hummed in response, sarcasm clear in her voice as she mentioned that godforsaken name. “i do buisness, it creates a tidy profit, the government won’t do anything in case i decide i’d like to go back to my Communist roots and start stirring up trouble, they don’t like strikes much do they?” she hummed, passing him another drink “i don’t have much trouble, any i do have is easily dealt with, imagine my surprise when i was informed that the King of Small Heath wanted to do buisness with my distillery“ She hummed, taking another drag before tapping some excess ash off into the nearby ashtray.

“i heard about John, i came to the funeral, left before anyone noticed but— i wanted to pay my respects, you were all a huge part of my life. I heard about your wife too- Grace wasn’t it? Ada told me” she clarified with a faint smile “Anyway, i imagine a man like you has places to be—-“

“I’m always all business. Rarely anything else.” Watching her touch her necklace, Tommy just shrugged his shoulders at her statement. “I’ve dug through a lot of dirt during my clay kicker days. Can’t say I’ve ever found diamonds. Only death and despair. But perhaps you are luckier than me in that regard, eh? Fortunately, my dirt-digging days are over. ” While the Peaky Blinder days were far from over, he himself preferred to focus on the legitimate side of business, and the politics. Well, perhaps not necessarily the politics so much, but they’re a means to an end and therefore necessary.

The mention of Luca Changretta made his jaw tighten and it took him a moment to regain his calm composure. The memories of that entire encounter - and the consequences of it - were all still very fresh and always left a bitter taste in his mouth. He had lost his brother over it, and while Arthur blamed himself, they all knew it truly was his fault. He had ordered them to kill Audrey Changretta, and kidnap Vicente. Had he not succumbed to temporary insanity and had been so adamant about torturing him in every possible way, Arthur would have never had to shoot him out of mercy. “No. No, they certainly don’t. That’s a pretty smart approach, I must admit. Though I have to admit I’m surprised the government lets you off that easy.” He certainly had to make more sacrifices to get to where he was. And he certainly remembered Freddy and his sister being almost relentlessly pursued for doing just the same. “Well, I wouldn’t necessarily call it wanting to do business with your distillery. More like taking it over entirely.”

Shrugging his shoulders, he emptied his glass in one go and set it back down on the bar. Another death that was his fault. If only he had backed down.. “Death certainly is all around me, isn’t it?” There was a bitter smile, as he nodded his head and checked his watch. “You’re right. I should probably be heading out. Things to do, places to be. Tell Ada she shouldn’t be going around telling everyone my business for me, eh?”

She hated to admit it, but he’d been on her mind. No one had had that affect on her; she slept with who she wanted when she wanted with no strings attached and yet somehow that one meeting in that one pub in the middle of London had her thinking of Thomas Shelby in a very different way to how she had done when they were younger.

That was exactly how she found herself sat in the public gallery listening to the speeches in the House of Commons. She was somewhat of a regular, she liked to know what was happening, the meaning behind the speeches because well—- dancing was just a fantasy wasn’t it? It wasn’t the real world and it wasn’t something you could do all the time. She’d listened to his speech and once everyone had begun to leave, she grabbed her coat, pulling it around her shoulders and heading down the large staircase toward the exit. She was only somewhat surprised when she bumped into the man himself, but then again, she want surprised at all, was she?

“Great speech today..” she commented with a small smirk playing over her lips, locking eyes with him. “Very inspirational..” she looked around them, how there was a distinct lack of women around the halls, how it was crowded with men in expensive suits with a thin smog of smoke constantly flowing backwards and forth. Things hadn’t exactly been easy for the past couple of months and Ophelia knew that something had to give, she couldn’t carry on like this, couldn’t carry on pretending to not care, acting like she didn’t need anything, maybe she deserved to be happy didn’t she? “I actually wanted to talk to you about something, perhaps this isn’t exactly the place you’d want to conduct business—“ she began before she glanced out of the window beside where the two of them stood, the corridor suddenly feeling very empty and quiet once everyone had left, once they’d all made their way to wherever they needed to be, leaving the two of them stood in front of one of the intricately decorated windows.

{ ♛ x Ophelia x}‌‌ ‌:

“Who says a girl can’t do both?” The dark-haired woman spoke in relation to his comment about her being up on stage with Jessie Eden. “Like I said, there’s nothing wrong with being anonymous, sometimes it’s nice to have an outlet, isn’t it? And sometimes you want to get up on a stage and talk about communism and socialism- I’m sure you’d know all about that these days, hm?” She smirked a little as she turned her gaze toward him, picking up her own glass of whiskey, bringing it to her lips, and taking a long sip of the amber liquid. She ordered them both another drink, pointing out the bottle on the top shelf to the bartender and nodding when he quickly passed the bottle and two glasses toward them. “Here—“ she began, pouring a decent amount into his glass before passing it toward him “what do you think?” She asked, studying him carefully. —————- “well?” She hummed once she’d seen him take a drink “you should appreciate it, it’s mine after all” she commented, brushing her thumb over the label on the bottle with a small smirk “I heard you wanted to buy my distillery, and the transportation contracts that I use to export the bottles to America. Prohibition has proved to be rather lucrative hm?” She responded with a raised eyebrow. She would have gotten in contact with him earlier, as soon as she’d heard that he planned to buy her businesses but well, she decided that maybe it would be better to keep herself anonymous, well, until now anyway. “Like I said, I dance when I can, when I want to, or when i want some time away from business but you always find a way to go back to it; don’t you? It’s always there, in the back of your mind, numbers, deals, clients, whatever else” she explained with a faint smile before she shrugged “you’d know all about this, don’t you?”

“Fair enough, I suppose.” She had a point, after all. Though he wasn’t entirely sure he could relate. While, yes, he was certainly up on a stage talking about socialism, he had no place to be anonymous. He was either Thomas Shelby, OBE and MP, or Tommy Shelby, leader of the Peaky Blinders. There was no place he could just be a regular guy. Which, in all fairness, was his own fault and very much intentional. There just was no normal life in the cards for someone as haunted as him.

Whenever Ophelia ordered another drink, this time a different one, though, Tommy watched the bartender grab it off the shelf and serve it. He wasn’t much of a gin drinker, if he was honest. The only time he had, was when he had tried to distill his own and checked the quality of it. But, in the end, it was still booze and already in his glass. So he took a few sips, and had to admit that it wasn’t too bad. Definitely not as sweet as his own. “Pretty decent flavor, I think. Not that I’m the biggest expert, but..” Then she said it was her own, and he looked at her in surprise. So she distilled on the side as well? Interesting.

“Is that so,” he muttered, quite amused by the fact that she owned distilleries he had tried to purchase. There was no doubt about which they were, either, since there had only been a handful that hadn’t sold to him. No one denied Tommy Shelby something he wanted, but the owner had been anonymous enough to the point he couldn’t identify them. “In a way. I don’t get time away from my business. All I do is business.” Yes, even being an MP was part of the business. “Now my question is.. How did you get into the business of smuggling alcohol to America? Never really thought you’d get your hands dirty like that. Not for money reasons, at least.”

#PeakyBlinders #peaky blinders rp #peakyblindersrp #opheliaesmeelancaster #{♛ x v; The Black Swan [TOMMY&OPHELIA] x}

“that is so” The younger woman remarked with a small smirk, momentarily catching her reflection in the large, gold-rimmed mirrors that hung proudly behind the various shelves of expensive liquors. At the mention of buisness, she quirked an eyebrow, downing the rest of the gin in her glass before setting the expensive crystal down on the top of the bar, a silent queue for a refill. “we’re talking buisness already hm? not that ive got a problem with that of course. I get my hands dirty when i have to, sometimes you have to dig through the dirt to make diamonds, don’t you?” she explained, briefly turning to place the cigarette between her lips, her free hand coming up, index finger brushing the diamond necklace that hung proudly in the dip of her exposed collarbones.

After she’d exhaled, letting the smoke dance in intricate swirls around the two of them before she continued “i saw a gap in the market, i‘ve got a couple of contacts. i believe you helped to get rid of some of the competition. Luca Changretta. He certainly was a charmer” she hummed in response, sarcasm clear in her voice as she mentioned that godforsaken name. “i do buisness, it creates a tidy profit, the government won’t do anything in case i decide i’d like to go back to my Communist roots and start stirring up trouble, they don’t like strikes much do they?” she hummed, passing him another drink “i don’t have much trouble, any i do have is easily dealt with, imagine my surprise when i was informed that the King of Small Heath wanted to do buisness with my distillery“ She hummed, taking another drag before tapping some excess ash off into the nearby ashtray.

“i heard about John, i came to the funeral, left before anyone noticed but— i wanted to pay my respects, you were all a huge part of my life. I heard about your wife too- Grace wasn’t it? Ada told me” she clarified with a faint smile “Anyway, i imagine a man like you has places to be—-“

{ ♛ x Ophelia x}‌‌ ‌:

She recognised him. Of course she did. She’d practically grown up with his family, and well- he’d certainly made a name for himself in the past few years, hadn’t he? She dragged her nail around the rim of her glass, feeling the smooth glass beneath her touch, almost like she was musing on how to approach this meeting- it was all very business-like. Eventually, she did bring her glass to her lips, taking a sip from the liquid, enjoying the warmth that the beverage provided for her, savouring it before she finally turned her body to face his, locking eyes with him. “I don’t dance very often” she explained with a shrug “I imagine you’d have been expecting to find me in prison or throwing myself in front of the King’s horse hm?” she chuckled before she gave him a small smirk, the way that she was speaking alone giving the impression that she did, indeed, know who he was. “I’ve got to admit, I was surprised when Ada told me. Thomas Shelby OBE” she hummed, turning her head and resting her cheek on her open palm as she watched his features. “I dance when I can, it’s freeing, anonymous, no one knows who I am there, and no one cares” she sighed before she glanced toward the bartender and ordered them both another drink. “Are you going to share those or is a lady expected to find her own cigarettes?” She taunted with a hum, but it was obvious from the tone in her voice, that she was only teasing. —————— The truth was that Ophelia had her own business of sorts, and the suspicious mentality that she’d gained from spending that time with Ada and the Shelby’s meant that she enjoyed just being able to fade into the background sometimes, to be someone else, something else— someone anonymous, instead of people someone so easily recognisable. “Well; here I am, not in a cell, or a protest, or a ditch” she smiled faintly as she glanced toward him, because well, she had always had a certain reckless personality, an air of unpredictability that had fuelled her youth.

It was easy to tell that she recognized him almost immediately. Not that that was much of a surprise; he hadn’t changed much over the years, after all. Not appearance-wise, at the least. “I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t have expected either one, or the other. Hence my surprise to see you dancing at all.” She certainly had always been a sort of free spirit. Her and Ada had fed off of each other, and had gotten into trouble on more than one occasion. It certainly had been a pain in the ass back in the day, but it was quite amusing to think back to now.

“Ada told you?” That statement caught his attention, unaware the two of them had still been in contact. Ada had secluded herself for the most part in recent years - especially from her communist ideas after Freddy’s death - and Tommy wouldn’t have expected either of the two to be in contact with the other. Not that that was a big deal, of course, but he preferred knowing just who exactly surrounded the Shelby family members. Security, and all that.

“Is that so?” he muttered, before grinning slightly and holding out his cigarette case to Ophelia. “Still, I would’ve imagined you doing other things. Dancing just never seemed to be anywhere in your interests. But then again, I have to admit it’s been some years. And people change, do they not?” Shrugging his shoulders, he closed the case after she had taken a cigarette, and put it back into his coat. His attention was then on the drink she had just ordered for them, and he emptied it as quickly as it had been set in front of him.

“Indeed. Though I believe I have to ask just what exactly happened for such a drastic change? Hell, I would’ve expected to see you on stage next to Jessie Eden, riling up workers and causing strikes. Not.. This type of stage.”

#{♛ x v; The Black Swan [TOMMY&OPHELIA] x}#opheliaesmeelancaster #peakyblindersrp

“Who says a girl can’t do both?” The dark-haired woman spoke in relation to his comment about her being up on stage with Jessie Eden. “Like I said, there’s nothing wrong with being anonymous, sometimes it’s nice to have an outlet, isn’t it? And sometimes you want to get up on a stage and talk about communism and socialism- I’m sure you’d know all about that these days, hm?” She smirked a little as she turned her gaze toward him, picking up her own glass of whiskey, bringing it to her lips, and taking a long sip of the amber liquid. She ordered them both another drink, pointing out the bottle on the top shelf to the bartender and nodding when he quickly passed the bottle and two glasses toward them. “Here—“ she began, pouring a decent amount into his glass before passing it toward him “what do you think?” She asked, studying him carefully. —————- “well?” She hummed once she’d seen him take a drink “you should appreciate it, it’s mine after all” she commented, brushing her thumb over the label on the bottle with a small smirk “I heard you wanted to buy my distillery, and the transportation contracts that I use to export the bottles to America. Prohibition has proved to be rather lucrative hm?” She responded with a raised eyebrow. She would have gotten in contact with him earlier, as soon as she’d heard that he planned to buy her businesses but well, she decided that maybe it would be better to keep herself anonymous, well, until now anyway. “Like I said, I dance when I can, when I want to, or when i want some time away from business but you always find a way to go back to it; don’t you? It’s always there, in the back of your mind, numbers, deals, clients, whatever else” she explained with a faint smile before she shrugged “you’d know all about this, don’t you?”

{ ♛ x Ophelia x}‌‌ ‌:

The Black Swan

@alreadybrcken

Serene. That wasn’t a word typically associated with London. It was a hive of activity, of smoke and trouble some might have said. Either way, you never quite got used to it being quiet, something that almost every club near the theatre was on a weekday evening. That was what Ophelia always liked about it.- the silence after the hustle and bustle of a show, the applause of an audience, the music, the people, and now she could finally feel like it was just her, surrounded by gold decor and leather interiors. As soon as she made her way into the club, she made a beeline for the bar, taking a seat, setting her fur coat down on the bar beside her, along with her bag, and ordering a whiskey- neat. Her feet ached, and she wished for nothing more than a warm bath and soft sheets, something that would come as soon as she’d finished her drink. After all, she wanted to make sure she wasn’t intruding in Ada’s personal life too much, even if she did have a large enough house to accommodate a guest. —————Glancing up, the young woman caught the reflection of herself in one of the large mirrors that hung behind the bar. She studied herself for a moment or so, the trace of white makeup left by her jaw, the staple red lipstick that she always wore covering her lips (and now having left a stain on the side of the fine crystal glass that had been placed in front of her), and the remainder of the dark eye makeup she’d worn for the show. She reached up, allowing delicate fingers to find the pins that held her hair up, letting it down to fall in tousled strands of dark brown; almost black. She didn’t look up when she heard footsteps, nor when she heard someone speak, she was too caught in her own head to truly care about what was going on around her, only raising an eyebrow when yet another whiskey was placed in front of her by the bartender and she found her gaze shifting to see the figure now stood at the bar beside where she sat. “I can buy my own drinks—“ she clarified with a raised eyebrow, but she pulled the glass closer to herself regardless, almost like she was staking her claim to the crystal glass of amber liquid.

Throughout the past year coming in and out of the house of commons, Tommy had come to learn to expect the unexpected and there was very little that could surprise him anymore. Today, however, was one of those very few occasions he actually ended up surprised. Upon walking out of the building and to his car, he had noticed some posters along one of the walls; no big deal at first - they were rather common, after all - but then he recognized one of the faces and names on said poster. A friend of Ada’s, whom he hadn’t seen since before the war.

At first, he just shrugged it off, but after he had gotten in the car curiosity got the better of him. He was mainly wondering just what exactly had made her chose a career as dancer; they may not have been the closest of friends - she was seven years younger than him, and mostly Ada’s friend, but he had looked after them on more than one occasion - but he had never pegged her as much of a dancer.

So, sometime later, Tommy found himself in front of the venue where the performance had taken place. By the time he got there, however, it was already over. Still, he made his way inside, wondering if he could run into her. Not so much for himself, but for Ada. Ever since Ada had come back from America, she had mostly been around the family and - while that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, in his opinion - he knew she probably wouldn’t mind having someone else around she could vent to about the family.

Once inside, it wasn’t too difficult to find her. The place was almost deserted, and he recognized her almost immediately, once he spotted her at the bar. Making his way to the bar, Tommy ordered a drink for himself, and another one of whatever she had had for her. “I’m sure you can. Doesn’t mean I can’t buy you one regardless, eh?” Sitting down on the chair next to her, he pulled his own glass close and took a sip, wondering if she’d recognize him as easily as he had her. It had been some years, but he hadn’t exactly changed much. Not at the outside, at least. “So,” he started, before pulling out his cigarette case and getting one out, “can’t say I would’ve ever expected to see your face on a poster outside of the house of commons.” Amused, he put the cigarette between his lips and lit it, before finally turning to look at her. “When did you get into dancing?”

#{♛ x v; The Black Swan [TOMMY&OPHELIA] x}#opheliaesmeelancaster #peakyblinders #peakyblindersrp

She recognised him. Of course she did. She’d practically grown up with his family, and well- he’d certainly made a name for himself in the past few years, hadn’t he? She dragged her nail around the rim of her glass, feeling the smooth glass beneath her touch, almost like she was musing on how to approach this meeting- it was all very business-like. Eventually, she did bring her glass to her lips, taking a sip from the liquid, enjoying the warmth that the beverage provided for her, savouring it before she finally turned her body to face his, locking eyes with him. “I don’t dance very often” she explained with a shrug “I imagine you’d have been expecting to find me in prison or throwing myself in front of the King’s horse hm?” she chuckled before she gave him a small smirk, the way that she was speaking alone giving the impression that she did, indeed, know who he was. “I’ve got to admit, I was surprised when Ada told me. Thomas Shelby OBE” she hummed, turning her head and resting her cheek on her open palm as she watched his features. “I dance when I can, it’s freeing, anonymous, no one knows who I am there, and no one cares” she sighed before she glanced toward the bartender and ordered them both another drink. “Are you going to share those or is a lady expected to find her own cigarettes?” She taunted with a hum, but it was obvious from the tone in her voice, that she was only teasing.

The truth was that Ophelia had her own business of sorts, and the suspicious mentality that she’d gained from spending that time with Ada and the Shelby’s meant that she enjoyed just being able to fade into the background sometimes, to be someone else, something else— someone anonymous, instead of people someone so easily recognisable. “Well; here I am, not in a cell, or a protest, or a ditch” she smiled faintly as she glanced toward him, because well, she had always had a certain reckless personality, an air of unpredictability that had fuelled her youth.

The Black Swan

@alreadybrcken

Serene. That wasn’t a word typically associated with London. It was a hive of activity, of smoke and trouble some might have said. Either way, you never quite got used to it being quiet, something that almost every club near the theatre was on a weekday evening. That was what Ophelia always liked about it.- the silence after the hustle and bustle of a show, the applause of an audience, the music, the people, and now she could finally feel like it was just her, surrounded by gold decor and leather interiors. As soon as she made her way into the club, she made a beeline for the bar, taking a seat, setting her fur coat down on the bar beside her, along with her bag, and ordering a whiskey- neat. Her feet ached, and she wished for nothing more than a warm bath and soft sheets, something that would come as soon as she’d finished her drink. After all, she wanted to make sure she wasn’t intruding in Ada’s personal life too much, even if she did have a large enough house to accommodate a guest. —————Glancing up, the young woman caught the reflection of herself in one of the large mirrors that hung behind the bar. She studied herself for a moment or so, the trace of white makeup left by her jaw, the staple red lipstick that she always wore covering her lips (and now having left a stain on the side of the fine crystal glass that had been placed in front of her), and the remainder of the dark eye makeup she’d worn for the show. She reached up, allowing delicate fingers to find the pins that held her hair up, letting it down to fall in tousled strands of dark brown; almost black. She didn’t look up when she heard footsteps, nor when she heard someone speak, she was too caught in her own head to truly care about what was going on around her, only raising an eyebrow when yet another whiskey was placed in front of her by the bartender and she found her gaze shifting to see the figure now stood at the bar beside where she sat. “I can buy my own drinks—“ she clarified with a raised eyebrow, but she pulled the glass closer to herself regardless, almost like she was staking her claim to the crystal glass of amber liquid.

#peakyblinders #peakyblindersrp #peakyblindersroleplay #opheliaesmeelancaster

Hey! Was interested in a peaky blinders roleplay. I would have sent a PM but I never verified my email address so tumblr won't let me :p

Hey! Yeah sure! Send me a message on discord? My user is OpheliaEsmeeLancaster#9922 ❤️

Thomas Shelby

@asktommyshelby

It was late. Granted, it was nearing the end of autumn and so it became darker earlier, but despite that, the way that the moonlight shone through the curtains of the lounge window was enough to show that it was late late. The house was quiet, curtains drawn for the most part, and only a small glow from a light at the bottom of the stairs signifying life inside the building. Inside, it was a bit of a mess to say the least, books scattered over every possible surface, the odd whiskey bottle hidden on top of a bookcase or in the bottom of a cupboard or whatever else- but it didn’t matter, it was home. The young woman that resided in the property had only just gone to bed, having gotten lost in yet another book of political promises and revolutionary ideas. She was used to the sounds of the street, the way that the rain pattered against the windows and the cobbles outside of the front door, the shouting of drunks after the Garrison closed for an evening, even the sounds of the betting shop next door and the odd argument between the Shelby’s- then again, she worked in the shop so it wasn’t surprising that she was used to such noises. Something that was a rarity however, was the sound of knocking on the door, and the young woman slowly got up from bed, retrieving a small revolver from the drawer before she headed down the stairs until she reached the front door. It took her only seconds to recognise the figure in her doorway and she sighed quietly as she unlocked the door, looking at the man in front of her. The first thing she noticed was that it was clearly raining outside, she could feel the coolness from a few stray drops, and then she noticed the state of the man in front of her and without a second thought, she opened the door wider to allow him inside. She set the gun down on the kitchen table after she had moved a small pile of books, instead retrieving a first aid kit from beneath the sink and moving to sit in front of him “what’s happened? What made you come here?” She asked softly, unsure of wether she truly wanted to hear his response or not.

Scared of herself? That was something Tommy didnt expect to hear, raising an eyebrow curiously at Opehila, although he would have no qualms about killing off this man, she on the other hand…. He didnt want her to have to go through that, and he must be doing something horrible to get her angry enough to even consider it, he could tell that if push came to shove, she would put a bullet between his eyes and without hesitation.

“Well hold off on the murdering, if he needs it I’ll take care of it for you.” Tommy couldnt help but smile when she mentioned their childhood. “We’ll figure something out for you eh? Ive got a few jobs that might strike your fancy, and they need to be done outside of Birmingham, not for too long of course but enough for you to get a break every now and then. If youd be interested that is.”

Strange. Darkness was strange, it consumed, it changed and distorted but it was always there and now Ophelia knew that darkness. Perhaps she had truly met the devil that night, or maybe she had been the devil all along. The argument itself hadn’t been anything out of the ordinary, what had been strange, however, was just how quickly it escalated. In the aftermath, she’d been entirely numb, walking without thinking, her legs taking her to perhaps the one place she could feel safe. She was glad that no one was there, she didn’t need conversation right now- she didn’t know what she needed but she opted for making her way to Tommy’s office, closing the blinds and sitting down in his chair- coat shrugged off carelessly beside the table toward the front, gun on the desk before her along with the bottle of whiskey she had found in his liquor cabinet.

She had no idea what she looked like, and frankly, perhaps that was the least of her worries right now. She crossed one leg over the other, a cigarette perched between her lips as she tilted her head back against his chair, her gaze focussed on the ceiling. She had a small cut just beneath her jaw on the right side, and a little blood on her shirt from the wound on her side- blood also staining the collar of her shirt and the sleeve, spots dotted across the skin of her throat in the shape of what appeared to be handprints, and a single spot on her left cheek. To anyone who didn’t know what had happened, it probably did look like her blood- but through her current haze, she didn’t even really hear the door open, she was out of it, lost in her own head, almost like she wasn’t really there- like it was some sort of a dream or rather, a nightmare.

Tommy knew he had forgotten something when he left the office that day, normally hed wait until morning to grab what hed forgot, but he leaving the Garrison and was walking past the office anyway, he might as well stop in and grab his watch. The building was dark, but he didnt need the light to see where he was going, he nearly shouted when he opened his office door and saw a tiny red dot light up and then fade and he quickly turned on the lights, seeing it was Ophelia he visibly relaxed.

“Sigh you scared the shit outta me….wha….what happened? Ophelia are you alright?” He rushed over to her, his hand under chin and moving her head to see the extent of the damage and hopefully find where she was bleeding from.

She was glad that it was Tommy, she was glad that someone was there. She just gently shook her head when he asked if she was alright, the way he was looking over her trying to see where the blood had come from. “It’s not mine” her voice was barely audible but she knew that he’d heard “not all of it anyway—“ she spoke, just looking up at him. She didn’t know how much of the blood was her own, she didn’t even know what her injuries were. “He’s dead, Tommy. It happened so— so quickly” she whispered quietly as she looked up at him, her eyes a little glossy. Only now was she beginning to realise what had happened, the true extent of everything. “I didn’t know where else to go” she admitted, her voice a little shaky as she gently reached out for him, brushing a hand along his wrist, her thumb running across his skin, just needing to feel the warmth, to know that he was actually there and she wasn’t hallucinating anything. “I shot him, Tommy. He’s— I killed him”

Tommy wasnt sure what to think, but his mimd went into somewhat of a buisness mode, find out who she killed, where rhe body was, dispose of it, and hopefully make it look lile an accident. He placed his hands on Ophelia’s shoulder, bending down to her level.

“Ophelia I need you to tell me excatly who you killed and where the body is. You can tell me what happened later, for now I just need to know before the coppers get there.”

“Harry” Ophelia answered simply as she locked eyes with Tommy “down by the cut— in the cut” she answered softly when he asked who she had killed and where the body was. It was all still pretty surreal, and she honestly didn’t know if Tommy was angry at her for what she’d done. She didn’t know if she was angry at herself or not. “He fell after..after what happened” she explained quietly as she brushed her fingers over the varnished wooden surface of his desk. “I shouldn’t have come here, Tommy— I’m sorry, look I’ll go..” she nodded a little as she pulled herself up from her position where she’d been sat

Tommy listened intently keeping his hands on her shoulders, keeping her seated. He wasnt getting enough information and wondered wheter she could handle this or not, but she’d have to for a little while longer, enough for him to know where the body is at least then she can lie down and rest.

“No no, sit and relax. You can tell me what happened later but I need to know excatly where the body is. If we dont get rid of it and the evidence points to you and with the way Campbell is, I may not be able to help you then.”