#starommy

[salamandergoo]

@strangerthingswritersguild Prompt: “I can’t lose you”

Carol hit the brakes a little harder than necessary as she pulled up to the Harrington house.  It looked the same way it always did, imposing and empty.  Tommy hissed a curse as he jerked forward.  "Jesus, Care."

"Don't be a wuss."  She reached over to grab her purse from the floor by his feet.  "Come on, you've been dragging your feet all day, it's time to talk to him."

"He's a dick, we don't have to talk to him!"

"He was my friend first and I say we do.  You've been pouting and I miss him."  She hopped out and smoothed down her sweater, hands on her hips as she waited for him to make his way around the truck.  "Come on!"

"I'm coming, fuck."  He was pouting.  Carol rolled her eyes and walked past the familiar BMW and up to the front door.  She knocked firmly three times and waited.  "He's not here, let's go."

She huffed and reached to grab Tommy's arm.  "Give it a second.  God, you're impatient."

She wanted to turn tail and run too.  She'd been best friends with Steve since first grade, when he'd been the quiet kid in the back of the room.  His hair had always been so pretty, she'd thought it was prettier than hers.  She'd started sitting next to him, and they'd been inseparable ever since.  Tommy had come around a year later, and then the three of them were always together.  Until this last week after the creep Byers had knocked Steve around and fucked something up.

She crossed her arms over her chest and rocked on her heels a few times, head jerking up when the door opened.  "You look like shit," Tommy said, voice softer than he usually let it get.

And Steve did kind of look like shit.  His bruises were mostly yellow now, and she could see where he'd been picking the scabs on his lip and nose.  And the bags under his eyes were dark.  She knew he'd use concealer over them when they got bad, when his dad was home for extended periods of time mostly, but she knew his parents weren't due home for another couple weeks at least.  Steve stared at them for a long moment before started to close the door.

"Hey!"  She jerked out her arm and tried to catch the door, hissing when it crushed her fingers against the door frame.  "Ow, fuck!"

The door flew back open, Steve reaching out to cradle her hand in his.  "Shit, I'm so sorry Carrie..."

"It's fine, It's fine."  She grimaced.  It wasn't broken, she'd broken enough fingers and toes as a cheerleader to know that, but it hurt.  "Can I get some ice for this?"

"Yeah, come on."  He glanced at Tommy warily before turning and leading them inside.  They'd been here enough times that she could probably navigate the house blind.  Steve kept it uncluttered enough that she wouldn't even trip.

She took off her shoes at the door, more on instinct than anything else, Tommy copying her.  It was quiet in the house.  They'd usually be laughing or yelling over each other or watching a movie, filling the space with noise.  It felt unsettling.  All the curtains were drawn, making it feel later than late afternoon.  She perched herself on the counter and held out a hand to take the ice pack Steve offered.  She pressed it against her hand and when it was quiet for too long, when it felt like she could hear the throbbing ache in her hand, she jerked out a leg to kick Tommy.  "He has something to say."

"I do?"  He squinted at her and yelped when she kicked him harder.  "Ow, Jesus, okay."  He looked at Steve with the same sour expression he'd been wearing all week.  "I'm sorry.  I'm sorry, okay?  Can we just go back to normal?"

Steve let out a sharp little laugh.  "Go back to normal?  No!  Nothing is normal anymore, man.  We can't just go back to what we were."

"What's that mean?"  Carol frowned, studying him.  "Steve, did something happen?  Is it creepy Byers?"

"No, it's not- Jonathan didn't do anything, okay?"  He grimaced.  "The pictures were creepy, but Nancy forgave him, and like, they were of her, not me, so I guess it's fine."  He crossed his arms in the way that looked like he was hugging himself instead of being angry.  "It want anything he did."

"He beat you up!"  Tommy threw his arms wide, nearly poking Carol in the eye.  "And who cares if that slut forgave him?  She's sleeping with him, of course she did.  You don't have to."

"She's not sleeping with him."  Steve curled in tighter on himself and it looked like he would lash out if they kept poking.  "It was a misunderstanding.  Her little brother is friends with his brother and they'd been looking for him.  She's not a slut, we shouldn't have done that.  I didn't want to do that."

Tommy shoved his hands in his pockets and took them back out, seeming unsure of what to do with them.  He was going to lash out too.  And Carol didn't want that to happen.

"Yeah, okay.  It wasn't cool of us to call her a slut, we fucked up," she conceded.  "Not sure how we got away with that," she admitted.  "I kind of expected Chief Hopper to call Mr. Hagan."

"He was... preoccupied."

"Yeah, yeah, finding the Byers brat, I know."  She narrowed her eyes.  "And Nancy...?"

"I fucked up my chances with her.  Wouldn't be surprised if she never looks at me again.  Or she wants to be friends?  She's giving mixed signals."  Steve untensed just a little.  Good.  That was good.  "I apologized to Jonathan.  I shouldn't have talked shit about his family.  I mean, everyone knows his dad sucked.  And I called him a... well."  Steve leaned against the counter.  "I broke his camera, man."

Tommy frowned.  "He.. had it coming though."

"Maybe.  Maybe.  But it's not like he can get a new one.  It's not like when we broke your bike after running into that fence when we were twelve, like, your parents got you a new one.  Jonathan works so they can pay the gas bill and for groceries, you know?"

Tommy just about snarled until Carol put a hand on her shoulder.  "So now that freak is your best friend?  What about us?"

"What about us, Tommy?  You made it pretty fucking clear that we-"

"Hey."  Carol cut in, holding up her hands.  "Look, you apologized to Byers.  That's fine, you can do that.  But we're trying to apologize to you.  Are we really throwing away the last ten years over this?  We... miss you, Stevie.  We can't lose you, not like this.  We haven't been apart this long since... god, since your parents made you go to New York all summer in middle school."

"I don't want to be an asshole anymore.  I don't like what we've become.  I've been too afraid to lose you guys, but... I can't keep standing by while you spread rumors about the drama geeks or pushing Munson's friends around."

Carol scrunched up her nose.   "It wasn't a rumor, Mandy totally got chlamydia from fucking some dude on vacation, I heard her talking about it in the bathroom."

"And they're fucking dweebs who play that satan game, they don't matter, Steve."  Tommy crossed his arms again, but was notably less agitated.  "And they make fun of us anyway."

"Yes, they do matter.  Okay?  No one's gonna care about who we pushed around in high school once were out of here."  Steve kicked at the ground.  "None of that shit matters, not when-"  He closed his mouth so fast Carol could hear his jaw click.  He shook his head and she leaned in closer.

"Not when... what, Steve?  What happened?"

"I can't tell you."  She almost couldn't hear him.  "I'm not allowed, I... signed these papers."

"That's bullshit."  Carol hopped off the counter.  "Tommy, your dad is a lawyer, anything Steve signed is like, void or whatever."

"That's not how it works."  Tommy took a slow step towards Steve.  "Did someone hurt you?"

"...not exactly."  Steve rolled up the sleeve of his shirt.  There was a stitched up gash in his arm.  "I wish I could tell you.  I can't, though.  They'll... I don't know what they'll do."

Tommy touched Steve's arm, gentler than he was even with Carol.  "Stevie," he whispered.  "We'll... we don't have to be assholes, we can ignore the freaks, okay?"

Steve nodded slowly.  "...okay."

Carol stepped up to Steve's other side and stood on her toes to kiss his cheek.  "What can we do?"

"Nothing."  Steve swallowed and shook his head.  "I just... I want to get through the next few years so we can leave this fucking town."

"Okay."  Tommy pulled him in closer.  "Okay, we'll leave someday.  I promise," he whispered.

Later that night, the three of them tangled in Steve's room like they hadn't been since they were kids, Carol and Tommy made eye contact over Steve's head as he snored softly.  "...thanks," Tommy whispered.  "For making me come over here."

"We weren't going to lose him over something stupid."  Carol shrugged as she held Steve's waist.  "Not after this long."  She sighed.  "Are we really gonna have to, ugh, be nicer?"

"It looks like it.  He's worth it though."

"Yeah."  Carol laid back down with a hum.  "Yeah, he is."

[cranberrymoons]

loving all of you

prompt: rare pair (discord drabble) rated: e (18+) tags: established polyamory/throuple (stomarol), morning sex, future fic, cunnilingus 😇

“Someone needs to get coffee,” Carol says one morning when the three of them have woken up but are still piled together in bed, lazy and naked and tangled up in the sheets. 

There’s a soft beam of light coming in through the window of their bedroom, making everything glow in a way that feels like they’re living inside a dream. She pushes her hand back through Steve’s hair where his head is pillowed on her chest, tugs at the roots enough to make him grunt. 

“Coffee.”

It’s an instruction, not a question – a command, if anything. He picks his head up and blinks up at her, yawns and pushes up into her hand like a cat. 

“Make Tommy.”

“Dude.” Tommy lands a punch on his arm, but it’s light and is followed immediately by his mouth as he rolls onto his side and arches toward Steve, teeth raking over his skin. Muffled into his shoulder, “Not cool.”

Steve just smiles to himself, ducking his head to hide his smile in the space between Carol’s breasts, miles of soft, warm skin. She shifts her hand to the back of his head to cradle him there, holding him in place as his mouth starts to move against her, kissing down toward her stomach.

He’s not really sure when it started between them. Maybe when they went away to college, which was the first time it really happened. Maybe before that, or maybe after. It’s been years now, the three of them. Long enough that it’s hard to put his finger on it.

Maybe that’s the thing – maybe it never really started at all. Maybe it’s just always been a part of who they are, this and them and the flames of it licking at the backs of their heels. Tommy licking at the backs of his teeth and Carol’s hands in his hair and all of Steve’s skin on fire, top to toe.

He thinks he’d probably be okay with catching fire, as long as it meant staying here. As long as it meant clinging tighter to whatever it is they have.

“Go,” she says. She shifts her hips to let her legs fall open as Steve makes his way down, hands skittering over her skin. “Tommy.”

Tommy lets out a little breath, distracted and lingering as he watches Steve with a half-open mouth. “But –”

“Go,” she says again, and this time, her voice has a breathy edge to it that sets Steve’s skin on fire. He sucks a kiss into her pelvis, pushing her legs further apart without needing to be told. “You can have your turn when you get back.”

Tommy hesitates for another beat, just long enough for her to get impatient and wave a hand at him. He climbs out of bed with a hand trailing over Steve’s back, light and shivery. 

“You promise?”

Steve spreads her apart with his tongue, follows it up with two fingers, and she gasps, thighs closing around his head to muffle everything else in the room as her back arches off the bed. She moans, and her fingers clench in his hair, and he pulls her clit between his lips.

“Promise,” she gasps. “Double if you bring croissants.”

[also on ao3]

[cranberrymoons]

#also DO NOT get me started on something something steve+carol were besties first and tommy was their shared boyfriend#i am a starol mean girl frenemies-to-enemies truther

Hi, I'm definitely here to get you started on that because 👀👀👀👀

🗣️🗣️🗣️

steve and carol becoming best friends in kindergarten because their moms are in a rich lady playgroup circle where they take the kids to each other's houses and let them run around and be feral while they sit on the back deck drinking wine and gossiping about the husband of whichever other rich lady didn't show up that week

they never ever fight until carol gets an easy bake oven for christmas one year and won't let steve use it because it's for GIRLS and it's not fair that he would be allowed to play with it if she's not allowed to play with his hot wheel cars (she is allowed to play with his hot wheel cars but has just never asked). this introduces a weird one-upsmanship/hostility into their friendship that continues to fester through their middle school years until they get older and start liking BOYS

at which point tommy (just moved to town at the start of high school) shoulders his way in between them after meeting steve at baseball practice. carol hates him at first because he's trying to take over their lunch table with his dumb jokes and his dumb face and his dumb stupid freckles and it's not fair that he wants to be friends with steve because steve is HER friend

and steve DOES NOT want anyone tipping the balance of his weird hostile friendship with carol any more than it already is, but he likes that tommy has clearly identified him as The Leader in the school's social hierarchy and has latched onto him because of the attention it brings

and ever since they were like... ten, steve and carol have been caught in one of those weird bantery feedback loops where they say the most out of pocket rude shit to each other and call it playful teasing, but it's actually just them being openly mean to each other and not realizing it. tommy picks up on their vibe and runs away with it, which only makes them worse

none of them have the words or social awareness to realize that they all have crushes on each other, but by the time S1 starts and tommy and carol are dating, the vibe has become so toxic between the three of them that nancy coming in and dating steve is the thing that actually upsets the balance that steve was afraid would happen when tommy moved to town, except by now he's so sick of bickering with carol and listening to tommy loudly be an asshole that he actively WANTS the balance to be upset

he starts dating nancy even though (and partially because) he knows it will blow up their friendship. "carol for once in your life, shut your damn mouth" is him finally snapping after years of sniping back and forth at each other 😭