Summer of ‘85 Fic Recs
If you live in the northern hemisphere and are anything like me, you’re starting to really miss summer right about now! Or maybe you hate the heat, and want to experience it only from a distance by reading about it in your safe, cool living room. Or hey, maybe you’re only in it for the lifeguard crop tops, sailor shorts, and ice cream licking, that’s valid, too. In any case, I’m here to interrupt the Halloween mood with some sweet, sticky summer fun (or summer angst, or summer smut)!
Included: fics featuring Scoops, Starcourt Mall, Hawkins Community Pool, the Fourth of July, and other summer shenanigans. Not included: fics dealing with all the other stuff that happened in S3, recovery fics, fics set after the epilogue or outside of Hawkins.
35 fics under the cut – happy reading!
Salted Caramel (And Other Flavors) by kate_button / @un-buttoned (3k, E)
Billy’s all tan and smug and shitty and Steve has. Feelings about it. He’s not too happy about it - Billy’s kind of a dick. And Steve can’t stop thinking about the way he smells. It’s a Problem.
there’s something about a sailor by gothyringwald / @gothyringwald (1k, E)
Billy gets Steve to leave the sailor hat on.
bloom by crappyfriday / @softloucre (20k, NR)
In a small town in Indiana, two boys spend the summer listening to music, eating summer fruits, smoking weed, and falling in love with each other. Vignettes throughout the summer of ‘85.
so many ways to talk about longing by lymricks / @lymricks (3k, M)
Steve wakes up–in a pool lounger–to Billy Hargrove looming over him. Billy pushes his sunglasses down and Steve thinks sleepily that it must be so that Steve gets the full impact of Billy’s narrow-eyed glare. “Harrington,” Billy says. “We’re fucking closed.” (or, three times Billy doesn’t let Steve touch the radio and one time he kind of does).
Bright by Kerasines / @kerasines (10k, E)
Steve’s face looks golden in the light of the setting sun, and when he drops his eyes from where he was holding Billy’s gaze, his eyelashes paint shadows on the light flush of red in his cheeks. He looks so fucking pretty that Billy’s breathless with it. Doesn’t know what to do, just holds still and can’t tear his eyes from his face as Steve leans in close, too close, to put lotion onto the front of his shoulders, rubbing it in carefully, so carefully, as if he’s trying not to hurt Billy. Touching Billy’s chest, staring at it where it rises with every shallow breath under Steve’s hands. Then he looks up, straight into Billy’s eyes, and Billy’s sure his brain stops working for a second.
Cherry by LazyBaker / @granpappy-winchester (WIP, 33k, E)
They’ve got ten minutes before Steve’s break is up and he has to go back to wishing for death with a smile.
I Like The Way You Look At Me by XxmerthurcatxX / @callmelilyshameless (800, T)
Steve stares a lot. Billy doesn’t mind.
No Running At The Pool! by Thei / @ihni (2k, NR)
“So”, she said, faux-casually, and thus sending a chill down everyone’s spines, “what you’re saying is that you care about us?” “No”, he said gruffly. “I said that you’re not drowning on my watch. I’m a lifeguard. It’s my job. If you’re gonna drown, do it in your own time.” Another smile, sweet like poisoned honey. “But this is our own time. And you’re off duty.”
Those American Thighs by Veeebles (2k, E)
He smokes the rest of Steve’s cigarette, tosses the butt away into the trees and lounges down beside him. Steve is still just sitting there, staring at how Billy stretches his body out, arms behind his head as he bathes in the sun. Those swim shorts should be illegal. They pull tight over his skin, leave absolutely nothing to the imagination where his dick is concerned, and barely reach past his mid-thigh.
something good right now by Highsmith / @rhubarbdreams (1k, M)
When Billy’s skin is almost feverishly hot from the sun, Steve’s fingertips touch his freckles like they’d touch the inside of him, carefully and longingly.
The Drowning of Will Byers by hoppnhorn / @hoppnhorn (2k, M)
Billy never imagined working as a lifeguard would mean actually saving a life.
spark to a flame by gothyringwald / @gothyringwald (1k, T)
Billy’s stomach swoops. He can’t believe he’s holding hands with Steve Harrington, watching fireworks over the quarry. It’s so stupid and girly and…and…fucking romantic.
Buckle (When You Think of Me) by trashcangimmick / @trashcangimmick (4k, E)
Billy doesn’t really ask. He just kind of does stuff. Steve is apparently filthy enough to be cool with it.
cherry pie by brawlite / @brawlite & ToAStranger / @toast-ranger-to-a-stranger (133k, E)
Billy Hargrove lives for summer. Endless sunshine, heavily chlorinated pools, roaming ice cream trucks, and unencumbered freedom? There’s nothing better. Even being stuck in Hawkins can’t ruin the summer for him. He eats it up, devouring every day whole.
A Day at the Fair by LazyBaker / @granpappy-winchester (500, G)
It’s pink. It’s a flamingo.
You Got That Hair Slicked Back (and Those Wayfarers On) by moonflowers / @eatingmoonflowers (4k, M)
Five times Billy knows Steve is hiding something, and one time he finds out what it is.
you (FINALLY) rule by brutesa / @brutesa (3k, G)
“Ahoy, ladies!” Steve calls out when a group of girls enter the shop. Behind him, Robin rolls her eyes, picking up the whiteboard marker.
and you’re trying not to tell him by lymricks / @lymricks (3k, M)
Whatever. They don’t talk, is the point, and Billy doesn’t need to finish all these big, deep, tragic sentences in his head. He needs to know if Harrington can’t swim. For lifeguard reasons. It’s his job, all right?
I’m so bad, best that you’ve had by kate_button / @un-buttoned (4k, E)
Steve doesn’t like mustaches. Billy grows one because he’s Like That. Steve bitches about it. A lot. Until he doesn’t.
Turned Bitch by LazyBaker / @granpappy-winchester (2k, E)
Steve’s rock bottom has a name—Billy Hargrove.
ice ice baby by hoppnhorn / @hoppnhorn (1k, E)
“It’s just so hot out here.” And then the fucker takes the ice cube, rolls it down his chin, along his neck, and down to his collarbone. “I need something to cool off.” Steve usually would suggest using the pool sitting less than a few feet away. But he’s not that incredibly thick. He knows a game when he sees one, and he’s not about to give Billy any reason to stop putting that ice cube where Steve wants his tongue to go.
something happens and i’m by brawlite / @brawlite (10k, E)
Billy loves his job as at the Hawkins Community Pool. It’s even better now that Steve Harrington’s a lifeguard, too.
Scoops by itscrybabyharrington / @itscrybabyharrington (1k, E)
Steve presses his face against the cool lid of the ice cream freezer, watching the metal fog up with each gasp that slips from his mouth. It feels good against his overheated skin, a contrast to the solid wall of heat that is Billy pressed up behind him, fucking into him with enough force Steve finds himself lifting up on his tippy toes trying to squirm away. Or, Billy fucks Steve with an ice cream scoop.
I Couldn’t Help It, It Had To Be You by moonflowers / @eatingmoonflowers (4k, T)
Determined to overcome a summer of boredom and too much ice cream, Steve joins the Hawkins running group. Unfortunately, it turns out the secondary purpose of said group is for the ladies of Hawkins to gush about the effect Billy Hargrove is having on their rosebushes. But maybe if Steve wasn’t so busy being offended by Hargrove’s mere existence, he’d realise he’s completely missing the point.
Holy Shit! by harleygirl2648 / @somebodyhelpthenotdeadfreds (2k, T)
There’s no swearing on duty, even if those are the only words that apply to a sudden realization that is going to ruin/better your entire summer.
Back Atcha, Pretty Boy by XxmerthurcatxX / @callmelilyshameless (2k, E)
Steve goes to the pool to pick up the kids still in his Scoops Ahoy uniform and is less than thrilled to find out that Billy is the new Hawkins Pool lifeguard. Honestly, who thought putting Billy in those tiny ass swim trunks was a good idea? It was doing things to Steve’s brain that he’d rather not think too hard about. But he doesn’t have to worry since it seems like Billy is pretty taken with Steve’s sailor uniform…
Hopeless by LazyBaker / @granpappy-winchester (400, G)
Steve Harrington has chest hair.
wicked little town by gothyringwald / @gothyringwald (20k, E)
The summer after graduation stretches before Steve, seemingly endless and utterly empty. He can’t remember ever being this bored in his life. But when he runs into Billy one night, after hearing a rumour about him at a party, it feels like summer might not be so boring after all.
Tacky Tattoos and Red Trunks by mAadMax / @c0bblenygma (2k, E)
Steve keeps hearing about Billy’s new tattoo and can’t help but being curious about it.
Billy, Steve, Robin and the Not-Obsession by williamastankova / @samaraclegane (3k, G)
In a nutshell, Billy is convinced Steve and Robin are secretly dating (even though they’re really, really not) and it starts to get on their nerves - especially Steve’s.
A Simple Plan by flippyspoon / @flippyspoon (5k, T)
Billy has a plan. Steve hanging out at the pool is definitely not a part of it.
Lets hear it for the boy! by nipsu / @nipsus (1k, T)
It’s raining and without thinking Billy gives Steve a ride home. Steve’s shirt is see through and Billy drools like a baby.
You Are What You Eat by XxmerthurcatxX / @callmelilyshameless (800, T)
Steve eats a banana. Billy likes it. A lot.
Won’t You Lay Me Down in Tall Grass (and Let Me Do My Stuff) by moonflowers / @eatingmoonflowers (6k, T)
Fourth of July BBQ at the Byers’. Billy takes out a demodog with a lawn chair while wearing red speedos and smoking a cigarette. Other things happen too, but that’s a highlight.
Ocean of Flavor by itscrybabyharrington / @itscrybabyharrington (700, G)
Billy shouldn’t even be back here, if they get caught it would only add on to the multitude of reasons Steve should rightfully be fired.