Here’s the masterlist of all my fics. I write only for about two fandoms. Probably the only two I’ll do for now since I have my musings for two characters. But I’m always open to writing one shots or even mini fics for more if requested.
Fic will come with warning if they contain any adult themes or any violent or mature moments. Please stay away from those if you are a minor. Most fics are written with a female reader/perspective. This is a sideblog so for the most part I’ll probably not be able to reply to posts. So I’d love it if you sent in asks for any comments. Thank you for reading and please be kind!
“This is the craziest shit I've ever seen in my life. And I've seen some crazy shit.”
▸ summary: dragged into the lake, it’s not just the world that’s turned upside down
▸ characters: Steve harrington 🩷, Eddie Munson ❤️, Robin Buckley, Nancy Wheeler, ft Hawkins Party
▸ word count: 7.2k
▸ warnings: angst, fluff, action, (slight gore description)
▸ series masterlist
A flash of red lightning shot over the looming sky. The crackling thunder mixed along with your panicked screams as you raced through the forest. Overhead there were several bat-like creatures hot on your tail as they screeched and flew down towards you. Branches from the large trees blocked them from being able to swoop too low.
The uneven earth below your feet caused you to stumble as you tried to get back towards the direction of the lake that you were dragged from. In the distance there were screams that matched yours.
Steve. You had to get to Steve.
The closer you got, the sooner you realized it wasn’t just him that had been dragged down with you. But Eddie, who was fighting off the bats with an ore, and Nancy and Robin, who were pulling at a bat that had its tail wrapped around Steve’s neck.
Just as you sprung forward to their path, ready to help, a sudden weight slammed onto your back. Sending you down on the hard ground with a pained cry. The talons of the creature dug deeply into the skin of your back, pulling a loud scream out from you.
You attempted to reach behind your back to try and pray it off, but the mouth of the creature nipped at your fingers. It was about to bite at your neck when a wooden ore set it flying off you.
“Up and at ‘em, princess.” Eddie grunted, his hand reached at yours and pulled you up from the ground. He gave you a once over with a crooked smile. But it just as quickly turned into a frown when another bat swooped over at you two. Whipping around, you grabbed onto a large broken piece of wooden debris and used it to block the attack of the bat.
All around you was just a flurry of bats, curses, and everyone screaming. You glanced over to see Robin helping Nancy with a bat on her back, Eddie mid swing to another bat, and below Steve. He had gripped onto the tail of the bat around his neck and bit down hard. You stepped over to attempt to help him again when a bat wrapped around your leg and dragged you down.
Its tail wound tightly around your ankle, almost painfully cutting off the circulation. “Shit!” you cried. Without a second thought, you reached down and grabbed at the bat’s face before it could attack you. Your nails plunged deep into its eyes with no remorse. Juices and rancid spewed onto your hands as the creature let out a piercing shriek. Its hold on your ankle released and the creature wavered as it flew off.
You scrambled back quickly, looking around to see some of the others had flown off. That’s when you heard grunting behind you.
Steve had the one bat by its tail as he swung it down to the ground. Over and over until he placed his foot down on its chest, let out a grunt and tore the bat in half with a squelching rip. Tossing off the split body like it was trash. He stood there breathing heavily, spitting out dark blood in anger.
It was strangely erotic..
A hand etched out before you, cutting off your terribly lustful mind from thinking any more. It was Robin, concern etched on her face as she checked you over. From your side was Eddie, cursing at the intensity of the moment.
“Are you okay?” you heard Nancy ask Steve as she checked his body too. His eyes looked down at the bite wounds around his hips and waist.
“Well, they took about a pound of flesh..but other than that. Yeah, never better.”
“They just about scraped the crap out of Trouble’s poor back.” Robin said worriedly, touching at a spot to earn a hiss from you.
“Got dragged near the damn forest.” you moaned softly, touching at your tender flesh.
Steve instantly looked over to you, pushing past Nancy to get over to you. His hand cupped at your face as he looked down at you with concern. “Jesus, are you okay, baby?” he said in a whispered panic.
“You were nearly the bat’s freshly dragged hungry-man dinner and you’re worried about my cuts?” you laughed exasperatedly, placing a hand on his chest.
He shook his head, huffing slightly in amusement. “Can’t be serious for one moment, huh?”
“Uh, do you guys think these bats have, like, rabies?” Robin cut in nervously, holding the covered flashlight over the body of one of the bats she was crouched before.
“What?” Steve frowned, his grip tightened over your arm worriedly.
“It’s just that rabies are, like, my number one greatest fear. And I think we should get you to a doctor, like really soon. Because once a symptom sets in it's too late. You’re already, like, dead.”
The rest of you were a little gobsmacked by the end of her rambling. A part of you felt a little annoyed and worried at the idea of any of you, especially Steve, being at risk of having rabies.
The sound of thunder crackling followed by more screeching cut out the tension between you five. In the distance, five bats approached the group. All of you gathered around together, anxious and ready for another fight.
“All right,” Steve breathed, his hand back on your arm again. “There’s not that many. We can take them..right?”
At his questions, dozens of more bats began to come in the same direction. You slowly began to step back, your heart racing.
“You were saying?” Robin said worriedly.
Nancy tugged at your arm, her gaze in the direction you were first dragged to. “The woods.” she urged. “Come on!”
You followed after her, dragging Steve close behind you with the other two not far behind.
The five of you barely made it out of the swarm’s next attack, crouched beneath skull rock as you waited out for their search. There were aches and cuts all over your skin but it was your lungs that made it hard to calm down and breathe. The sounds they screeched covered up the heavy breathing you were all doing. But it didn’t help ease up the anxiety that had built up inside of you.
Robin was the first one brave enough to peek over and check to see if the coast was clear.
“Oh..okay.” she panted softly, leaning out. “That was close.”
“Yeah, too close.” Eddie said, voice cracking as the rest of you followed her out of the rockformation.
“Oh..shiiit.”
“Steve?” Nancy gasped softly. “Jesus!”
You whipped around to see Steve sagged against the rock. He looked between you two as he held up a hand weakly. “I’m fine, I’m fine.”
Nancy, beating you to his side, analyzed his wounds quickly. “NO. No, no, you’re not. You’re losing blood.”
“What?” you whispered, reaching over for his hand to help keep him up. The sight of the bite marks and fresh blood nearly made you faint. “N-Nancy?” you said nervously.
“I know, I know, look at his face, not down.” she urged as she held his arms. “Come on, sit, alright?"
He slumped down quickly, wincing in pain. You dropped beside him, looking over his face with worry. Carefully, he removed his hand from his side to show just how much damage he took from his attack.
Your eyes widened in shock. “Nancy.” you urged, trying not to panic. “Please.”
Immediately she tore off the hem of her shirt, trying to get a good chunk off the end. Behind you, Robin knelt down to look over him with you.
“Okay.” she said in her regular high pitched voice that came out when she was about to word vomit. “So the good news is wooziness is not a common symptom of rabies. But um, if you start having hallucinations or muscle spasms or you start feeling aggressive, like you wanna punch me or something, you should let me know.”
You glanced over at her with an incredulous look as she rambled off quite possibly the worst information for the moment.
“Robin,” Steve grunted, cutting her off.
“Yeah?”
“I kinda wanna punch you.”
She laughed a bit, somewhat relieved. “Sense of humor’s still intact. That’s a good sign.” she looked at you, hopefulness in her worried eyes.
All you could do was weakly nod at her before returning your attention to Steve again. Nancy finished ripping off a long strip from her shirt as she moved before him. Steve straightened up, holding his arms up above his head to give her room.
“You ready?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he said, still in pain. “Just do it.”
You could barely hold yourself as you kept out of the way, looking over at him worriedly, waiting to see if the makeshift bandage would help. Your eyes followed down to the wound, then to the cuts on his arms and skin and–
“Hey,” he said, capturing your attention. “Eyes on me.”
You forced your gaze to meet his, nodding slowly as you forced a brave smile. “You know, when I used to tell you that you looked like a snack, I didn’t mean literally.” you said in a forced chuckle, attempting to lift up the mood.
A small smile cracked on his lips and he tilted his head at you. “Guess I’m their guilty pleasure.”
You reached over to cup his cheek, feeling a bit of yourself relax as you looked at his breathing calm. Nancy finished up wrapping at his waist and he whispered out a shaky thanks when she pulled back. Letting you lean in to press your forehead to his.
“Let’s not do any more late night dives, okay?” he said, rubbing at your arm. He managed to carefully avoid the cuts you got from being dragged across the dried up lake.
“Deal.” you chuckled, leaning in to kiss his lips. Ignoring the terrible subtle taste of rancid from the bat’s blood. He pressed back gently, letting the moment linger for a small comforting moment.
“Come on,” Nancy said, cutting in a second later. “Let’s get him up.”
The two of you got to his sides and carefully pulled him up with you. From over at the rocks ahead, you heard Eddie call out to you guys.
“So, uh, this place is like Hawkins, but with monsters and nasty shit?”
“Pretty much.” Nancy grunted until she glanced at Eddie’s footing. “Wait, watch out for the vines.” she warned, stepping forward. “It’s all a hive mind.”
“It’s all a what?” He asked back.
Steve pursed his lips a bit. “All the creepy crawlies around here, dude. They’re, like, one or something. Step on a vine, you’re stepping on a bat, you’re stepping on Vecna.”
Eddie nodded solemnly. “Shit.”
“But everything from our world is still here, right? Except people? Obviously?..” Robin chimed in.
Nancy nodded. “As far as I understand it, yeah.”
“So, theoretically, we could go to the police station and steal guns and grenades and whatever we need to blow up those bat things that are guarding the gate.”
Steve was already shaking his head to shut down that idea. “Yeah, I highly doubt the Hawkins PD has grenades, Robin. But I mean, guns, yeah sure.”
“Not to mention,” you groaned, starting to feel the aches and cuts get to you now that your adrenaline was slowing down. “Presumably, the only one who knows how to shoot a damn gun, is Nancy. No offense to the testosterone duo here.”
Steve’s hand gently ran through your hair to push it back from your face, looking over you with concern. Nancy checked you over for a moment until a thought came to her mind.
“Well, we don’t have to go all the way downtown for guns. I have guns..in my bedroom.”
Eddie crept in closer, his brows furrowed in confusion. “You,” he said slowly, “Nancy Wheeler, have guns, plural, in your bedroom?”
“Full of surprises isn’t she?” Robin chuckled lightly, almost trying to soothe Eddie.
“Is that truly the weirdest thing you’ve heard lately?” you chuckled half heartedly.
Nancy came closer to the other two, shaking her head. “A Russian Makarov and a revolver.” she clarified. Steve stepped up behind, nodding his head.
“Yeah, you almost shot me with that one.” he said to her, reminiscing of that night in the Byers’ living room. The memory sprung in your mind instantly, the panic in all of you as she threatened Steve into leaving.
Nancy smirked a bit, glancing over at him. “You almost deserved it.”
You not so subtly wedged yourself between the two and their lovely moment to glance over at Steve. “Wanna reenact it?” you raised a brow to him, the tone of your voice almost warning him. He gave you a questioning look and leaned in to brush his finger along your arm.
“Feeling trigger-happy?” he smirked. “Thought guns weren’t your thing?”
Your lips pursed together, trying to hide a smile. Just as you were about to give him a sassy reply, his face was suddenly hit with Eddie’s vest. Making him falter back for a second. You both turned and stared at Eddie in shock.
“For your modesty, dude.” he reasoned, though the slight glare on his face made you feel there was another reason.
That gave Robin a reminder. She held up her finger and reached into her pocket to pull out a balled up wet ball. Quickly, she wrung out your shirt that she had remembered to keep on her. “Sorry for the delay.” she said sheepishly. You gave her a thankful look and slipped on the semi soaked shirt, thankful for the gesture and chance to cover up again.
A sudden shake to the ground had all of you nearly toppling over, your hand reaching out to Nancy to balance. But that only made her fall back, which caused Steve to grab the two of you as he pressed against the rock structure.
Your eyes widened as you stared up at the red lightening that cracked in the sky. In the distance the sounds of creatures wailing and snarling boomed throughout the woods. It sent a chill down your whole body.
It was only a beat of a second after they finally stopped when Eddie spoke up.
“Yeah, so guns seem like a pretty good idea to me.”
“Yeah, me too.” Robin said, a little weary in her tone.
Steve let go of the two of you at that, giving you a chance to stand on your own again. To your left you watched as he slowly slipped on the vest, groaning softly.
“So what are we waiting for?” He said after, pulling out the flashlight from his pocket and taking your hand. He clicked the light on and led the way. Leaving the others to follow after.
“Couldn’t we have tried a road, or something just slightly less creepy?” Robin asked softly ahead of you. Beside her, Nancy led the group with purpose.
“I think we’re getting close. We’re almost out of here. Don’t worry.” she reassured her.
Behind them, you followed their path, staring absentmindedly ahead. Your hands rubbed at your arms, keeping yourself warm as you tried not to think about the looming stress ahead.
A sudden warmth engulfed you and you looked over your shoulder to catch Eddie as he slipped his jacket over your shoulders. “Can’t have you freezing now, can we?” he said, using his finger to pick up your chin playfully.
“Thanks.” You smiled, placing your hand on his arm.
He gave you a small nod and let you go so you could continue walking ahead. It was not too far down the road when you heard Steve’s voice.
“Eddie. Eddie. Hey, man. Uh... Listen, I just, uh... I just want to say thanks. For saving my ass back there.”
“Shit. You saved your own ass, man.” Eddie said, a little taken back. “I mean, that was a real Ozzy move you pulled back there.”
“Ozzy?”
“When you took a bite out of that bat.”
There was a moment of silence, which you took as Steve’s confusion. You only remembered the name because Eddie insisted on showing you a recording he had taped of the singer's bite from tv.
“Ozzy Osbourne?” he asked Steve. “Black Sabbath? He bit a bat's head off onstage.”
“I don't–”
“You know? No? Doesn't matter.. It was very metal, what you did. That's all I'm saying.”
“Thanks.” Steve said, still somewhat perplexed by Eddie’s praise. You fought the urge turn around and help diffuse their awkward conversation but Eddie continued on. Leaving you to succumb to further nosiness.
“Henderson told me you were a badass. Insisted on the matter, in fact.” he said slightly bitter.
That confession blew Steve’s mind for a moment. “Wa-wait. Henderson said that?
“Oh yeah. shit. Kid worships you, dude. Like, you have no idea. It's kinda annoying, to be honest. I don't even know why I care what that little shrimp thinks, but, uh, guess I got a little jealous, Steve.” Eddie explained a little reluctantly. “I guess I couldn't accept the fact that Steve Harrington was actually a good dude. Rich parents, popular, chicks love him. Not a douche? No way, man. No way. That, like, flies in the face of all the laws in the universe and my own personal Munson doctrine. Especially after knowing the whole side of the breakup from our sweet Princess over there. Plus your game of pause and unpause.”
A jolt went up your spine when you heard him mention you. Not quite ready for that involvement in their conversation. But Eddie went on regardless if you were ready or not.
“Still super jealous as hell, by the way. Which is why I would never have jumped in that lake to save your ass. Hers, yes, but yours? Not under any, uh... normal circumstances.”
Down the path beside you guys, a branch snapped and you heard the two behind you stop following. Turning, you gave them both a look. “Everything okay?” you asked softly, also trying to subtly assess their expressions to match what they’ve been saying. But Steve simply gave you a nod after he checked with the light, forcing you to walk again. You went purposely slower this time.
“Nope.” Eddie continued. “Outside of D&D, I am no hero.” he sighed. “I see danger and I just turn heel and run. Or at least that's what I've learned about myself this week.”
A part of you was dying to turn around again. To shake Eddie by the shoulders and remind him that he didn’t need to feel brave for something that was this out of the ordinary. That this kind of stuff scared you guys too. Thankfully Steve was quick to cut that off.
“Give yourself a break, man.” he said carefully.
“See,” Eddie went on. “The only reason I came in here was 'cause those ladies came in straight after you two.” You could hear their footsteps stop. Angrily, you bit your lip and quickly thought of a way to stay behind and listen. Very subtly, you bent down and pretended to fix the end of your pants. Letting you very faintly hear their voices again.
“..Now, I was too ashamed to be the one who stayed behind. Hell, the girl I’m actually friends with didn’t come up and I froze in place. But Wheeler right there, she didn't waste a second. Not one second. She just dove right in. Now, I don't know what happened between you two, but if I were you, I would get her back. 'Cause that was as unambiguous a sign of true love as these cynical eyes have ever seen.”
Anger flushed over your face at Eddie’s words. What the hell is he even saying? You thought, standing up straighter as you processed his words. You can’t even look back to gauge Steve’s reaction.
“She’s in love with Trouble?”
“What? No, she only dove in that fast when she saw you get dragged down.”
“And what’s Robin’s sign?” Steve hummed curiously. “Would you say she’s for true love too?
Eddie laughed, quick and easy. “Well, I can’t really speak too much about Buckley’s motivation. She’s your best friend, isn’t she?” There was a pause before he hummed. “I’m just saying, man. Sometimes the universe puts a sign right in front of you. I think you’d have to be a fool not to read into it.”
Steve let out a heavy sigh. You could actually picture him shifting on his heels, his hand on his hips in the motherly way he did whenever he was getting annoyed. “And you just happen to be the messenger?”
“I’ve been known to be now and then,” Eddie said playfully.
A beat of silence stretched out again before Steve exhaled heavily through his nose.
“Look, maybe I’m not seeing all the signs the universe is throwing at me. But..maybe I don’t want to see any of them. Not unless it’s about her being safe. I won’t care to hear it.”
Eddie hummed in agreement. “That’s fair. I guess I would say that’s where my signs are leading to as well.”
“Is that so?”
“You haven’t realized it?”
“You love her.” Steve said. It wasn’t a question.
Eddie didn’t rush his answer. When it came, it was even. “Hell yeah, I do.”
Another stretch of quiet settled in, thicker now, weighted. You could practically hear the gears turning in both their heads. Yours are practically broken after hearing the conversation turn into the topic of love. More importantly, love towards you.
“Well,” Eddie sighed in conclusion, “I guess that’s where the universe leaves us then. Two guys, looking for the same sign.”
“Right. I guess so.” Steve huffed, a short laugh in his words. “But..whatever happens… happens. No hard feelings.”
Eddie’s smile was audible. “Sure. No hard feelings.”
A loud crack boomed in the air, all of you toppling over on the ground. You fell forward with a screech, landing on your hands and knees.
“Here we go again.” Eddie sarcastically gritted.
Steve rushed over to your side and immediately pulled you up from the ground. His arm around your back to hold you against his side as the ground shook. In front of you, you could see Robin crouched down between trees, holding herself up.
“Second on my list of least favorite things, earthquakes!” she said, shaken. “Seriously, I'm unsteady enough as it is.”
Up ahead, Nancy took off, not giving even the ground a chance to calm down as she rushed over.
“Come on,” you urged the two boys, taking Steve’s hand as you followed after the other two. The four of you caught up to her, coming to a pause as she stared off at a house in the distance. “It’s… just your house.” you frowned in confusion.
“Come on.” she whispered, going ahead anyway.
This place just kept getting weirder and weirder.
Upon entering inside the Wheeler household, you were settled with the visibly jarring difference to the place in the upside down. The vivid yellowy warmth the walls usually had were instead dark, covered in thick vines, and filtered with spores and ash in the air.
“Might be time to get a maid, Wheeler.” Robin chimed in, ever so graceful with commentary.
Nancy ignored her comment and went back to focus. “Come on,” she urged. “I don’t want to stay here longer than we have to.”
Immediately you all followed after her, going up to her bedroom upstairs. It wasn’t until a moment later that you realized Steve hadn’t followed. Probably scoping out the downstairs.
Nancy rummaged through her closet, pulling out an old shoe box she had discreetly hidden in her top shelf. The three of you stood behind her, ready for her to unveil her weapons. But all there was inside were a pair of actual shoes.
“Those aren’t guns.” Eddie pointed out.
“Obviously.” you scoffed, looking at them. “A bit old for my taste.”
“Yeah, these heels are pointy, but I was hoping for a deadly projectile.”
Nancy shook her head in confusion. “I don't understand.”
“Maybe you left them somewhere else.” Eddie suggested, moving the box aside.
“There's a six-year-old in the house. I know where I keep my guns. And also, I threw these away years ago.”
“Good thinking, they’re definitely not your style.” you said looking down at the notes she was frowning as she went through. “What’s that?”
“I get that grades are important to you, but perhaps studying can wait till we get out?” Robin said nervously at Nancy’s pause.
“These are from sophomore chemistry.” she said in deeper confusion. “And this! This wallpaper, this is old wallpaper. And this mirror, this went to a yard sale!” she said walking around the room, picking up a stuffed animal. “And you... You're not supposed to be here. No, I gave you to Cousin Joanna two years ago.”
The three of you watched Nancy carefully as she walked about her room discovering things. She approached her small night stand, picking up what looked to be her diary. Walking up to her side, you leaned over to read the entry she was stuck on. Something from a long time ago, when she dated Steve. You werre about to ask the importance of it when your eyes widened at the date.
“What is it?” Eddie spoke up.
“Nancy? Guys?” Robin chimed in. “You're freaking me out.”
“I think the reason that my guns aren't here is because they don't exist yet.” she said slowly, putting the pieces together. Your hand reached out to flip the page, seeing the empty next entry.
“They don't... exist?” Eddie gritted out, fed up with another confusing answer.
Nancy turned to face everyone better. “This diary should be full of entries. It's not. The last entry is November 6, 1983.” she said, holding up the diary.
“That’s the day Will went missing.” you gasped softly.
She nodded at you, inhaling sharply. “The day the gate opened…We're in the past.”
A chill went down your spine. The past? How could that even be a thing? Will had been there for a whole week. How could it be stuck in one day?
“Dustin! Dustin!” Steve screamed from downstairs. You didn’t waste a second and pushed past the others to go down the stairs.
“Dustin? Is he here?” you asked in a panic, coming down to the ground floor to catch Steve in the dining room as he spun calling his name out.
“Dustin! Can you hear me? Dustin! Du... Hello? Hel... Hello?! Hello?!”
You looked over at Steve worriedly, reaching a hand out to try and calm him down.
“Maybe he really does have rabies.” Robin calmly said behind you.
“Hello! Hello?” Steve continued to yell.
“Steve, what are you doing?” Nancy called out.
You still stood close by, holding a hand to try and get to his arms. But Steve looked between everyone with wild eyes. “Hello!” he yelled shining the light on all of you. “He's here. Henderson. That little shit, he's here. He's like... He's in the walls or something. Just listen.” he said out of breath.
Finally you reached for his arm and tugged him close but he continued on like a mad man.
“Dustin. Dustin! Dustin! Dustin! Dustin! Can you hear me?!” He pulled you with him closer to the walls. “Just listen, baby. Please he’s here.” he pleaded.
That was when you heard him, the light sound of his voice murmuring in the air.
“Shit, he is here.” you nodded.
Immediately all of you called out to your cousin. Trying to see if maybe he could hear you from the other side. But no matter how loud or long you guys called out to him, you couldn’t get any sort of reply.
“All right, either this kid can't hear us or he's being a total douche bag.” Steve said out of breath. You patted his shoulder lightly, looking across the room again.
“We both know very well that it could be both.” you sighed.
“Will found a way.” Nancy mentioned.
You and Steve turned to face her. “What?” he asked.
Nancy looked over, her eyes wide in thought. “Will. He found a way to speak to Joyce through the lights.”
“The lights!” you gasped, looking around for a way you could work around that, going to the lamp by the table.
“Lights?” Steve asked, confused as he followed Nancy. He murmured for her to use the light switch to the room. For a moment nothing happened until suddenly small spores of light began to ghost around the overhead. Giving it a warm orange hue.
You walked up to it, your jaw slacked at the sight.
“Guys? You seeing this?” Steve addressed the others, bringing their attention to it.
Slowly, all of you approached it. Nancy the first to extend her hand up to slowly graze over the spores. “Careful.” you whispered to her, touching her arm lightly. She nodded and slowly pushed her hand further.
Her fingers danced through it, waving around through the sparks gracefully. One by one each of you followed, etching a hand out into it and waving through the electricity that hummed through the air. Beside you, Steve exhaled in awe.
“It..tickles.” he observed. At that you laughed softly, nodding in agreement.
“It’s like..those plasma globes at the magic shop.” you said twirling your fingers in a spiral through the sparks.
“It kinda feels good.” Robin said, earning a chuckle from Eddie.
Nancy pulled back for a moment in thought. “Does anyone know morse code?”
“No.” you, Robin, and Steve said at once.
It felt as if things were at a loss again before Eddie casually spoke up again. “Wait, does SOS count?” All of you turned to give him a look that had him nervously second guessing his answer. “Is that..is that good?”
You slapped him at the chest lightly and ushered him to stand below the light, making everyone take a step back to give him a chance to work.
It took a couple of tries but after a few minutes of Eddie repeating the signal, the sound of Dustin’s scream came into the room.
“I SEE YOU.” he said, still sounding so far away. “NANCY’S ROOM….NANCY’S ROOM…ON THE BED!”
The five of you scrambled up the stairs, heading back into Nancy’s room. All of you crouched by her bedside, looking on the bed and waiting for some kind of sign to come to you.
“Please work.” you whispered, gripping Steve’s hand.
He gave you a gentle squeeze in return, nodding in agreement as he waited for any signs of a signal. “Come on, come on.” he muttered, just as nervous.
Faintly in the distance you could hear Dustin’s voice murmur in the air again. “..seeing this?!”
Suddenly the spores of light began to appear before you guys. Nancy reached a hand out and waved through them again. It was just like magic and all you stared in awe once more.
“..We're not moving it, but we're gonna unplug it! Stand by!”
Some of the spores dimmed away but a few lingered.
“..Okay try it now!” he yelled.
Nancy paused for a moment before she reached a hand out, beginning to draw out the word ‘hi’. It was astonishing to see her words floating in the air momentarily. Reminding you vaguely of when you were a kid and used sparklers to write out words on the fourth of July.
“That worked!”
All of you rejoiced, exclaiming happily. “Thank God.” you whispered, gripping at Nancy’s shoulders happily.
Next, Nancy slowly wrote out the word ‘stuck’ hoping the simple words would help convey the message for the others. The rest of you gave off murmurs of approval as you held onto each other in hope for help.
“...Uh, you can't get back through Watergate?” he called out.
“What the hell is Watergate?” Steve frowned, looking at everyone else.
“Nixon’s Watergate?” you offered as an answer.
“'Cause it's in water and it's a gate.” Robin explained.
“Oh.” Steve nodded as Eddie gave off an approved look.
“That's cute.” he threw in.
“It’s ridiculous.” you scoffed.
Nancy is on your side, she shook her head as she wrote out another response. Slowly writing out ‘Guarded’. In the distance you could hear Dustin figuring out the problem. You all get excited again, back on track to getting out.
“We think we have a theory that can help with that!”
“Genius child.” Robin sighed pleased.
“...murder site!” he came back in.
All of you stumped on that one, looking confused once more.
“Does anybody understand what he's talking about?” Nancy asked, glancing at you first.
You pursed your lips and shook your head. “I never do.” you huffed, trying to think about what sort of answer he could be giving. She reached forward to write out a simple question mark in reply. It was a beat later when he called out again.
“Okay. Seriously? How many times do I have to be right on the money before you trust me?”
“Wow,” you said, jaw slacked as you shook your head. “That little shit is just too much.”
“Jesus Christ. This kid's gotta get his ego in check.” Steve shook his head, giving you a look of disappointment.
“It's his tone. Right?” Eddie leaned forward, looking at you two like an aggravated parent.
“I know.” Steve agreed with him.
“It’s everything.” you muttered, rubbing your forehead.
“Okay, let’s think.” Nancy brought back the focus. “So how far is your trailer?” she asked Eddie.
“Seven miles,” he answered. You almost groaned thinking about the long walk it’d take to get to his trailer park.
“Nancy?” Robin said, pulling you from your thoughts. “Uh, I know your house here is, like, weirdly, creepily frozen in time and shit, but haven't you always had bikes?”
It took a couple of minutes of sorting through the garage before you all managed to find enough bikes. There were four perfectly sized ones and one small tricycle that had you frowning. “I am not keeping up behind you guys on Holly’s damn tricycle.” you scoffed, looking at everyone.
“Sit on the handle bars.” Steve offered on his bike immediately. You looked a little nervous at the idea but made a step over when Eddie stopped and grabbed your hand.
“Don’t fret, Princess.” Eddie smirked. “Mine has foot pegs.”
You looked down to the back of his bike, noting the two pegs sticking on the back wheel. Smiling at him, you moved over and climbed up behind him. Your hands placed securely on his shoulders. From the side you could see Steve with his lips pressed in a line.
“Better hold on real tight.” Eddie cooed to you.
“Stupid foot pegs.” Steve muttered as he moved to open up the garage doors.
You made it a point to lightly smack at Eddie’s shoulder and give him a warning look for egging on a fight. He only grinned wider and began to peddle out to lead everyone to the trailer park.
The road to the Forest Hills felt long. Too long and filled with anxiety. With the random bursts of thunder and lightning, the sounds of creatures in the distance, and the overall fear of what just might be watching you five as you sped through the streets.
There was a moment you all rode past the old creel house. Bats and thunder seemed to surround the estate. Resembling the look of a villain’s lair. A chill going down your spine. In the back of your mind, you could hear the subtle ticks of a clock, making you just then realize you haven’t heard sounds of music in hours.
Your hands gripped tighter onto Eddie. But all he took that gesture was a cue to pedal faster.
It was at least close to ten minutes later that all of you arrived at the Forest Hills lot. Some of the trailers looked familiar, even in the grime and vines of the upside down.
“Right here.” Eddie said as he turned into the path to his Uncle’s trailer.
All of you were quick to hop off the bikes. The rest caught their breaths while you looked at the familiar home pensively. The last time you had to step in there, even the Hawkins version, was when Chrissy had died. Stepping back a bit, you turned to look at the others.
“That's gotta be a Guinness World Record!” Robin exclaimed, taking your hand as she pulled you towards the trailer. “Most miles traveled interdimensionally.’
“Just inhaled a bunch of that crap.” Steve said disgustedly, clicking on the flashlight. A sickly cough spurted out. “It's stuck in my throat.”
“Way to be a mouth breather.” you muttered, casting him a look.
“Shut up.” he shook his head.
Eddie opened up the door, the door swinging slightly as you all piled inside. The three unfamiliar with the inside took in its new look with a perplexed expression. “Goddamn.” you heard Steve say.
For you on the other hand, a chill ran up your spine again as your eyes zeroed in on the red glowing gate just on the roof of the living room. The room flashed and the sight of Chrissy suspended into the air came to your mind. The cracks of her bones echoed in and you stumbled back a bit, bumping into Steve.
He gave you a worried look.
“This is where Chrissy died.” Eddie explained, his eyes resembling the same haunted look that yours did. “Like, right where she died.”
The gate gave off a wet, writhing sound. Almost as if it were alive. Well, more alive than just a hivemind link. Robin peered in closer to it. “I think there’s something in there.” she said nervously. You were reminded of the tentacle that pulled you down in the lake and felt nervous to be so close to another one again.
As if on cue to her words, a small dark stick began to poke through the flesh of the gate. Making it protrude outward as if breaking through.
“What the hell is that?”
Then suddenly, the flesh burst through, causing all of you to cry out in shock. Whatever stick was in there kept stabbing all around the base of the circle, causing pieces to tear off and fleshy pieces to drop down on the ground. Landing on the floor with squishy splat.
Steve was the first one brave enough to walk forward, his breath heavy as he took slow steps. You reached out to grab his arm, stopping him from going too fast ahead. “Be careful.” you whispered to him, keeping your grip in case you needed to pull him back.
As the rest followed after you two, all of you were astonished to see that just through the fresh hole was the other side of the gate. Hawkins.
“No way.” Steve whispered, peering up.
You peeked in next, looking up with a slacked jaw. “Oh my God.”
The familiar cackly laugh of your cousin cut through the thick tension you had felt. “Hi there!” he grinned, waving down to the group. Your lips tugged into a smile and you let out a relieved laugh.
Everyone else waved in awe and happiness. Greeting him back softly.
“Holy shit, this is trippy.” Robin said, a perfect response honestly.
Dustin only got more excited with the others, happy that his plan worked out perfectly. “Bada-bada-boom!” he yelled out.
“Bada-bada-boom.” you whispered with a grin.
“I hope this works.” Nancy murmured to you.
For five minutes the two groups went back and forth on how to get you guys out from the upside down before Dustin figured out a method that might just work. It took the others on the Hawkins side to put together the materials needed.
Dustin and Erica used sheets tied together to make a long rope while Lucas and Max had dragged in the mattress from Eddie’s room. Letting it fall to the floor and display the mattress with various strange stains on the cover. You were almost ashamed to say you had laid on it a couple of times.
Eddie down the line spoke up, attempting to explain the sight of the dingy thing.“Those stains are, uh…” he started, stealing a glance at all of you before averting his gaze. “ I dunno what those stains are.”
“Seriously, Ed?” you muttered, earning a heated look from him.
“Sorry, I’ll have them roll out the new mattress next time.” he huffed.
All of you watched next as Dustin bunched up the tied up sheets and moved onto the bed, he said something to the others before he flung out the sheets to the hole. It burst out on your end, falling perfectly like a rope.
He held onto the end on the Hawkins side before gently letting go. Giving a small smirk of approval before he shouted for you guys to tug on the side in your end.
“All right, pull on it! See if it holds!”
Robin reached out and gave it a hard tug. You watched in awe as it stayed perfectly in place.
“Guess I’m the guinea pig.” Robin sighed, taking the lead on climbing up first. With a grunt, she began to pull at the sheets and pulled herself up. You and Nancy both watched a little nervously, keeping your hands out in case you needed to grab at her. But she continued on successfully and you smiled again when she started to get through the gate. Quickly being pulled in by the Hawkins gravity until she landed rightside up on the bed.
She gave off a grin and quickly rolled off the bed.
The remaining four of you glanced at who was willing to go next. Eddie, done with being in the upside down, gave all of you a confused look. “All right, guess I'll go.” he said as he shook his head and grabbed onto the rope.
Quicker than Robin, he climbed up, falling over into the Hawkins side in seconds. You glanced at Nancy next, nodding encouragingly.
“We’ll see you on the other side.” Steve said to her, giving a small smile. You stepped back, ready to catch her as she readied to climb up. But in a flicker of a moment, she stood still. Not moving as if she were frozen in time.
“Do you want me to go first?” you asked her softly and peered over to look at her. At the sight of her eyes, the blood drained from your face. “Steve!” you gasped, reaching around to pull him over.
“Nance?” he said confused until he noticed her eyes too. Then the panic set in him too and he reached out to grab hold of her arms. “Stay with me. Nancy! Hey! Nancy, wake up. Wake up! Nancy!”
Just like with Chrissy, Fred, Max, you, her eyes became foggy and fluttered to stay open. Your breath became heavy and you glanced up to look at Max as she realized the same thing. It was Vecna again, and this time, he was out for Nancy.
A/N: Hi you guys! I am finally back with another update. Hope you guys are ready for me to try and get back in gear for this. It’s a little bit of a struggle, wanting to throw in some dynamics. But, I hope you guys enjoy it. Thank you for all your asks, and comments, and just kind words over all this time. I’ve been struggling in rl. My laptop isn’t doing so good and I use it for a job too and tumblr when I can. But im thankful for you guys being here still supporting me.💖
Also I forgot who ever asked to be tagged so please let me know in this post if you want to be tagged and I’ll make a new list!
hii! i haven’t been keeping up with stranger things since season 3 but i somehow found your stranger verse series and when i tell you im OBSESSED. like i love steve and trouble’s dynamic even if the angst makes me want to rip my hair out 😭😭😭 (in the best way possible) i was just wondering if you would even consider writing filler stories from throughout the series since i just wanna see them being normal teenagers tryna figure out life without the constant threat of the world ending. so excited for the next update!!! 🫶🫶
Oh my gosh! Thank you so much for this compliment! I’m glad you like their dynamic, it’s really something I have to work hard on plus make sense. I like when a fic is angsty and makes you go crazy. I would love to do that! I could do something like that soon. Just need to map it out. After I finally get an update out first~
It’s @ilyharrington just to say that I have reread the series from the beginning twice now and I just miss them so much. No rush or pressure but I’m wondering when the next update with be?
Hi! So sorry to keep this ask waiting. I've been swamped at work for months. I'm starting up the next chapter but it has more action plus i'm rewriting it so it doesn't have the original steve x nancy storyline. so i gotta work out kinks to make sure it makes sense. forgive me for taking so long!
Just reread the series from the beginning to feel something because I’m truly obsessed. You know when a fic just attaches itself to a song and you can never separate them again? Not that you’d want to. That’s how I feel with crimson and clover now. - @ilyharrington
That's how I feel too! Originally I was planning to do Head Over Heals by Tears for Fears but I felt that was too typical? idk! I felt like I wanted something that sounded intimate and then Crimson and Clover came on my shuffle and I was like PERFECT. ❤️
I'd wait forever for the updates, take your time<3333 i hope you're taking care of yourself and life has been treating you okay!! 💞
Thank you so much 😭 I wish i had the brain span like I used to as well but im so tired all the time. STILL! I will get us our story since yall deserve it. 💓
Hey guys! Hope you’re all doing well! Just wanted to write an update about the fic. It’s taking me a little longer because I technically gotta like rewrite or fix up all the Stancy stuff. it’s really hard lol. So just know I’m still working on it. 🩷
▸ summary: it’s time to get their asses back in the search, but some feelings get in the way
▸ characters: Steve harrington 🩷, Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley, Nancy Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, ft. LuMax
▸ word count: 7.0k
▸ warnings: angst, fluff,
▸ series masterlist
The sounds of Joan Jett’s melodious voice played softly in your ear as your eyes scanned out the road, trying to relax. The backseat of Nancy’s car had become pretty tight after you were put to sit in the middle rather than the back of the trunk. After this morning’s fiasco, Dustin forced you to squeeze in with Max and Lucas rather than join him and Steve in the back.
Something the two of you decided was fair considering what he walked into wasn’t the best thing to witness. Though, if anyone in the group were brave enough to ask, you’d tell them that at least the two of you had gotten some of your clothes back on before you fell back into bed.
Robin mentioned it was better than almost seeing Steve’s ass. That was pretty embarrassing.
Max said it was better than waking up for water and hearing you two in the middle of the night. That was really embarrassing.
“Not to be a wimp, but can I sit in the car? ‘Cause this is gonna totally and royally suck.” you heard Robin blurt out from the front seat. There was a hint of anxiety in her voice that had you pushing down your head phones, ready to reel her in.
“It’ll be fine.” Nancy said calmly, but also very tired.
Robin glanced at you in the back, a hesitant look on her face. “I just can’t stand to see those doe eyes of Eddie’s break again. I really, really can’t.”
From behind you, Steve spoke up quickly, forgetting to finish chewing a chip from the bag he and Dustin were sharing. “At least he can drink himself into feeling better.” he munched, clinking the case of beer he bought that morning.
“That’s what my Mom does.” Max added in.
“We’re clearly the right type of people to give this man bad news.” you sighed tiredly, pinching the bridge of your nose.
“Why don’t we just give it a trial run?” Robin suggested, oddly trying to stay optimistic. “‘Hey, Eddie. Uh, good news first this time. We got you some Dustin-approved junk food and that six-pack you requested..Oh yeah! And we found Vecna. Only the bad news is that he’s in the other, darker, much scarier dimension that we told you about. And the gates closed so we have no way of getting to him. Like, he’s entirely shut off to us, so basically you’re screwed. And, no, no, I know that you were already screwed, but now you’re like doubly, triply screwed.”
Lucas couldn’t help himself as he interjected the madness that Robin was falling into. Holding a hand out towards her. “Wait, wait, wait. Maybe we don’t put it like that.”
“Maybe we don’t let her talk to him.” you said, eyeing your friend worriedly.
“‘We’re one step closer to finding Vecna.’” Nancy said, calming the group down. “That’s what we say. That’s what’s important.”
The sound of crunching again pulled you out from Nancy’s reassurance to cast Steve a dirty look. “See, Robin? Positive spin can make all the difference.” he added, still choosing to talk while eating.
“Closing your mouth while chewing would make all the difference.” you said, chastising. He gave you a feigned look of shock before pushing another chip into his mouth. Smirking at you a little bit after another big crunch. It was childish and stupid, but had you smiling back.
“Oh shit..”
All of you in the back turned your attention to where Nancy’s reaction came from. Down the road, as the car approached the Lipton Boat House, the sight of police cars, media vans, and a growing crowd were what you were met with. A chill ran down your spine and you leaned forward to peek out as best as you could.
As soon as the car was parked, all of you quickly piled out, curious to hear and see what was happening now. “C’mon, this way.” Nancy urged, already having found the right spot to investigate.
Moving in behind the news van, the group leaned close, just in time to hear Sheriff Powell as he gave an update to the press. “..the Roane County line received a call, uh, a little after midnight, reporting a homicide here on the lake.”
Homicide? You thought, frowning.
“Officer Callahan here and myself arrived first on the scene. We made our way to the shore of Lover’s Lake, about ten yards from that house you see behind me. It was there that we found the victim, an eighteen year old Senior from Hawkins High, Patrick McKinney.”
Glancing to your side and you watched as Lucas’s face turned crestfallen. The two of them were on the same team. All of you just saw him the other night at the game. How could he be dead? Wasn’t it just you and Max left? What more did he need?
A hand quickly engulfed yours and you turned your gaze away to see that it was Steve. His eyes looked down at yours as he took the news in. Most likely more worried than ever. Turning your hand over, you laced your fingers together and allowed him to pull you closer. Giving your hand a squeeze in appreciation.
“..We have also identified a person of interest..Eddie Munson.” You felt the blood leave your face as Powell called out the one name none of you wanted to hear. Next he held up a photo taken from the year book, giving the whole world a face to match their next hunt. “We encourage anyone with information to please come forward.”
“No.” you whispered, your grip on Steve’s hand vice-like now. Beside you, he couldn’t help but realize the gravity of the situation now too.
“Oh man,” he muttered. “This is not good. This is really not good.”
Your eyes met his with more worry. There was no chance in stopping the panic that slowly seeped into your body. How the hell were you guys going to save Eddie if now the whole town would be looking for him? The radio cut the silence between the group as Eddie’s voice broke through.
“Dustin, can you hear me? Wheeler?”
Your cousin scrambled for the radio in his backpack, all of you following closely to listen to the conversation away from the crowd.
“Eddie. Holy shit.” Dustin exclaimed softly into the walkie. “Are you okay?”
“Nah, man. Pretty..Pretty goddamn far from okay.”
There was an unfamiliar pain and stress in Eddie’s voice that you never heard before, it tugged at your heart fiercely. You gripped at Steve’s hand again, letting your panic seep through there.
“Where is he?” Robin asked.
“Where are you?”
“Skull Rock. Do you know it?’
“Uh, yeah that’s near Cornwallis and–’
“Garrett, yeah, I know where that is.” Steve interrupted, cutting through everyone to lead the group back to the car. “Come on,” he called over his shoulder. “I know the way.”
It was a pain in the ass to make it through the uneven flooring of the woods near Skull Rock. While you were smart enough to have taken shoes comfortable enough for walking, you still ended up nearly tripping sometimes. Making Steve glance over ready to help, you waved him off, letting him return to bickering with Dustin.
“Dude, I’m telling you, you’re taking us the wrong way.” he said, already disgruntled.
“It’s north. I’m positive. I checked the map.” Dustin said, holding up the map and his compass.
“You do realize Skull Rock, it’s a super popular make-out spot?”
“Yeah. So?”
“Yeah, well, it wasn’t popular until I made it popular.” Steve said, as matter of fact. “All right? I practically invented it.”
“Oh?” you asked, coming near to them now. The last words of his sounding awfully like boasting. “Because I’ve only been here twice with you.”
Steve stopped walking and looked at you with wide eyes. “Uh, right! Well, uh..I came here only twice with you..” he trailed off, looking away from you. There was a pink hue over his cheeks now and you couldn’t help but narrow your eyes at him.
“Why don’t you explain how you made it so popular?” you asked, raising a brow.
“Oops! We need to go this way. We’re heading in the wrong direction.” he said deflecting your question to lead the group down another path. Dustin looked around in confusion, shaking his head at Steve’s path line.
“Steve!” he called out. “Where are you going? Steve!”
“Stop whining. Let’s go. Trust me.” he waved, frustration returning to his annoyed voice again. You could only shake your head at them as you carefully followed the new path. Robin and Nancy eventually joined at your side, quietly talking about mundane things before the sounds of Max and Lucas talking perked up in your ears. You couldn’t help but find their small moment wholesome.
These two didn’t need to have so much trouble at their young age, but you were so happy to know they still had each other after everything.
“Oh my God, they’re so adorable. I just wanna squeeze ‘em you know?” Robin cooed, looking over at you at Nancy. “If I’m permitted to see a silver lining in this end-of-the-world doom and gloom, it would be the rekindling of some old flames that frankly, never should’ve been snuffed out.”
You and Nancy both gave each other a confused look before you turned to Robin.
“I didn’t mean that as a hint or anything.”
“Is that so?” you chuckled softly, giving her a look.
“But if I did mean it as a hint, would that be so terrible? I mean, to wish for happiness for my friends?”
“Oh quit the vague act, Buckley.” you said crossing your arms. “Just ask.”
To your surprise it’s Nancy who breaks first. “So what’s the deal?” she spat out.
“Yeah, you two together or not. I’m so confused.” Robin sighed.
You let out a long sigh as well and looked ahead of you three. The receding figure of Steve was clear in your sight as you tried to think of an answer that fit right. Beside you, Nancy let out a small chuckle.
“Let me guess, it’s complicated?” she asked sarcastically. Earning an eye roll from you.
“Well, you take the cake on complicated relationships.” you countered, needing to have her step off a bit. But from the flicker of hurt in her blue eyes, you immediately regret the burst. “Look, sorry..it’s just you have been a bit off since the whole Jonathan not coming back here for spring break.”
“I concur.” Robin said slowly, earning a look from Nancy now. “It’s just, the other day at the library, I mentioned Jonathan and you sort of flinched or winced or something like–”
“I didn’t flinch or wince.” Nancy cut in quickly. Her face scrunched up a bit at the sudden accusations from you two.
“Okay.” Robin shook her head quickly.
“Jonathan and I are fine.”
“Got it.”
“We’re good!”
“Right.”
You couldn’t help but tilt your head at her, seeing quickly through her facade. Her eyes narrowed at you and you simply offered her a small smile. “Nancy, we know you care about Jonathan. Robin is just laying the floor open for honesty if you want..” you reassured her.
She winced again, possibly embarrassed by her reaction before she subtly nodded her head.
“It’s just..” she sighed, turning to lead the three of you back to walking as she slowly spilled her guts. “He was supposed to be there for the break, and then he backed out at the last minute for some vague, mumbly Jonathan reason. And, to be honest, I’m not that surprised because I’ve been feeling him pulling away. And I don’t know if it’s because we’re two thousand miles away or if he met someone new or what. And now, I can’t find out why because apparently he’s blown up his family’s house phone or something. So yeah, if..if the mention of his name caused a slight muscle spasm on my face, that’s..probably why.”
For a second, you couldn’t help but sympathize with Nancy. All her worries and insecurities were very much the reasons why you broke things off with Steve in the first place. And this was just the view of a high school relationship! What would happen in college? These two were your friends and it hurt to know that they might be going through what you had feared.
Glancing at Robin, you looked to her to help ease the tension.
“Seems like a perfectly reasonable reason to flinch, wince, or something.” she said soothingly. Causing Nancy to smile just a little bit. You let out a tiny relieved breath as the tension between you three lifted.
“You said, ‘the happiness of your friends.’ So..does that make us friends?” Nancy said, looking over at Robin shyly. “As in, officially?”
For some reason, that had Robin slightly taken back. Probably not expecting Nancy to initiate that kind of part of the conversation with her.
“Uh, yeah. I..I mean, right?”
“Right.” Nancy said, her lips upturned in her pleased smirk.
It gave you such a big reassurance to know that even if you were gone, there’d still be people behind who had each other. You reached out to wrap an arm around both their shoulders, bringing them close as you hugged them. “I’m so glad you girls are finally friends! I was so worried I’d be torn in half one of these days.” you said dramatically, earning groans of annoyance from both sides.
“Here we go..” Nancy muttered.
“It’s like she needs to ruin the moment.” Robin chuckled.
But amidst their complaints you could still see the smile they were trying very hard to hide.
“Trouble!” Steve called out to you, earning your attention. You gave the girls pats to their backs before you jogged forward to find where Steve was waiting for you. He gave you a warm look before he pressed through the thick bushes before him.
“Oh boom! Bada bing, bada boom. There she is, Henderson. Skull Rock!” he said, holding the branches so that you could get through. But even through his chivalry, he still had room to gloat to Dustin about being right. “In your face, man. In your stupid, cocky little face.”
“We get it, Steve. It’s that dumb rock.” you laughed as you followed closely behind him, taking another look up at the familiar rock structure. A glance over your shoulder and you could see Dustin frown down at his compass.
“Doesn’t make sense.”
“Don’t engage.” you muttered in a plea to Steve.
But he held up his hand instead, mimicking Dustin for mocking effect. “Yeah, yeah. Even with it staring you right in the face, you can’t admit it. You just can’t admit that you’re wrong, you little butthead.”
There was a sudden loud drop on the ground that had you flinch back instantly. You reached out to grab Dustin in fear. Eddie, who jumped down from the higher ground, gave you three a tired look.
“I concur,” he said coolly. “You, Dustin Henderson are a..total butthead.”
Dustin was instantly relieved at the sight of Eddie. “Jesus, we thought you were a goner.” he said as he pulled him into a hug.
“Yeah, me too, man.” he sighed, wrapping his arms around him to hug him back before he let go. “Me too.”
He gave a brief nod to Steve before his eyes found yours. You know there’s enough tension between the three of you already but you couldn’t help as you reached over to hug him tightly. “Don’t scare me like that again.” you warned him, pressing your face to his shoulder.
He chuckled a bit, hugging you tightly before gently pushing you back. “Might have to if I’m getting hugs like this.”
The others finally caught up and you stepped back enough with a small as you moved to stand closer to Steve. He had a slight glare in his gaze towards Eddie. Not quite as hateful as before, but not entirely pleased. That is until he noticed you catching him and decided to offer a small smile.
“Alright,” Robin clapped as the group circled around Eddie. “Tell us about last night..”
“..When I got to the shore, I tried calling you guys, but, uh..” Eddie paused to take a swig of water from the water canister. “..my walkie was busted, man. Drenched. So, uh, I did the thing that I do now, apparently..I ran.” he ended with a sad chuckle.
You cast a worried glance at him, practically feeling the nerves and anxiety in his tone.
“Do you know what time this was? The attack?” Nancy spoke up.
“Yeah, no, I..I know exactly what time it was.” he stuttered a bit as he began to slowly undo the latch on his watch. “My walkie wasn’t the only thing that got soaked.’
He chucked the watch in her direction and she turned the side over to reveal the time on top. “Nine twenty-seven.” she read out.
“Same time our flashlights went kablooey.” Robin noted.
Beside you, you could see Steve’s face frown as he tried to piece it together. “Which means what, exactly?” he asked.
“That that surge of energy was Vecna attacking Patrick.” Nancy answered.
“It was all happening at the same time.” you murmured, crossing your arms over your chest.
Robin placed her hands on her hips. “Well, we’re one step closer. We know how Vecna attacks.”
“And where he attacks from.” Lucas added.
“So, now we just need to sneak into his lair in the Upside Down and drive a stake through his heart.” Max concluded.
Robin looked skeptic as she shook her head. “If he even has a heart.”
“A stake? Is he like a vamp? Is he a vampire?” Steve asked with genuine concern and confusion.
Max was quick to correct him. “It was a metaphor.”
“A bullet should work on him, right?” Eddie chimed in.
“I say we chop his head off.” Lucas nodded.
“I’d say all of the above, but we can’t do any of that until we find a way into the Upside Down.” Nancy said as she looked between the group.
“Not to mention we’d need, like, a magical dream bullet.” you frowned, trying to think of an alternative fight.
“We need El to get her powers back.” Max said both desperately as well as annoyed.
Steve gave a slow nod as he glanced at Eddie to explain. “Everything was way easier. We had this girl. She had superpowers–”
“Superpowers.” He cut in. “Yeah, you mentioned her.”
You gave Steve a sympathetic pat for trying to help keep things up to date. From the corner of your eyes, you could see Eddie as he watched Dustin worriedly. He’s been pacing and looking around for a few minutes now, but you were so used to his oddities, you didn’t think much about it.
“Hey, uh, Henderson’s not, uh, cursed, is he?’
“Cursed? No, no, no, no. He’s fine.” Steve quickly reassured him. “Mental? Absolutely.” he said with a tired look.
“It’s the other Henderson you’d have to worry about.” Lucas said offhandedly, not aware of how close you and Eddie were as he nodded towards you.
For a moment, Eddie’s brows furrowed together. His lips parted to question what Lucas went when Dustin suddenly yelled out.
“BOOM!”
The seven of you stared at him with wide curious looks. He raised a pointed finger up in Steve’s direction as he got closer.
“Bada..bada..boom.” he whispered.
Steve looked over at Dustin with a frown as his arms crossed over his chest.
“I was right.” That earned him a big eye roll next. “Skull Rock was North!”
“Seriously? You’re serious?”
“Mm-hmm.”
You inhaled deeply, not quite prepared for the two of them to begin bickering again. “I liked it better when he was pacing.” you said softly, leaning your head on Robin’s shoulder. She gave your arm a light pat as they continued on.
“This is Skull Rock! Okay?” Steve yelled as he gestured to the rock pile.
“Mm-hmm.”
“You’re totally, absolutely, one hundred percent wrong. RIGHT NOW.”
“Yes.” he agreed as he leaned forward. “And no.”
“Oh my God.” Steve said as he covered his eyes, you attempted to reach out and calm him down. But with Dustin still talking, you knew it was only going to get worse.
“This compass worked correctly when we left the Wheelers’.” he said, holding the small tool up. “It was correct when we got in the car on Kerley. But it started to slip the further east we went. Now it’s way off. When I was leading us here, I wasn’t wrong. The compass was.”
“So you’re using faulty equipment. Dude, you’re still wrong!” Steve interjected, standing ground.
Dustin, however, had a very familiar, a very annoying glint in his eye.
“Except it isn’t faulty.” he said, holding a finger up. “Lucas, do you remember what can affect a compass?”
Lucas scratched behind his head before the memory seemed to spring on him. “An electromagnetic field!”
“Yep.” Dustin smirked.
Robin’s face scrunched up slightly at their words. “I’m sorry, I must’ve skipped that class.” she said sarcastically, wanting a more in depth explanation.
“In the presence of a stronger electromagnetic field, the needle will deflect towards that power. So either there’s some super big magnet around here, or..”
“There’s a gate.” Lucas finished.
“Wait, wait.” you said holding your hands up, your stomach feeling anxious from the memory chiming in. “This happened before, back when I first came to Hawkins. It was because of the lab, wasn’t it?”
Dustin nodded at you. “Exactly like that.”
“But we’re nowhere near the lab.” Nancy pointed out.
“And that gate is fully closed. Hopper saw to that.” you followed.
Dustin’s response only left you feeling more dread than just the reminder. “But what if, somehow, there’s another gate?” he asked the group. “A gate that we don’t know about. It’d have to be smaller. Way less powerful.”
“Snack-size gate.” Robin offered.
“How? Why?” Steve spoke up.
“No idea. All I know is that something is causing this disturbance, and the last time we’ve seen anything like it, it was a gate. And I hope it is, because then we’d have a way to Vecna. And a shot at freeing these two from this curse.” he said, looking over at you for a moment until he turned to lead down the pathway of the hill.
“Where are you going?” Steve asked instantly, a motherly annoyance in his voice. “Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Eddie’s still a wanted man. We can’t just go for a hike in the woods.”
“This little steel capsule might be the key to saving both of those girls and Eddie.” Dustin said , holding up the compass again before looking past Steve to address Eddie in the back. “What say you, Eddie the Banished?”
All of you turned to the man, still crouched on the floor. He had been quiet during this whole back and forth and you noticed the slight hesitancy in his gaze as he took in Dustin’s words.
“I’d say you’re asking me to follow you into Mordor,” he started slowly. “..which, if I’m totally straight with you, I think it’s a really bad idea.”
Beside you, Steve nodded his head in agreement. Glad to see Eddie think logically. But the next words out of Eddie’s mouth shut that idea down quickly.
“But, uh, the Shire..The Shire is burning.”
“Oh God.” you muttered, closing your eyes. This was from that stupid cartoon they were nerding out over. The annoyance between you and Steve grew even more when you noticed Dustin begin to hop excitedly, sensing Eddie’s swayed decision.
Slowly, he rose up from the ground with a look of determination on his face. He nodded his head slightly toward Dustin. “So Mordor it is.”
Everyone took that as the signal to get going, following down the path towards Dustin. It was only you and Steve that stayed behind. From your side you heard as he grumbled out his confusion.
“What is Mordor?” he asked, shaking his head as he reached out for your hand.
“Need a moment to unpause?” you asked softly as you stood before him. He smiled slightly and nodded his head. Without a word, you leaned up and pressed your lips up against his, letting him savor the small moment until you pulled back again to push back the hair from his face. Giving him a sympathetic look. “You need to relax.”
“The kid stresses me out, Trouble.” He sighed heavily.
“I know, but we gotta let him help. He has too much to lose.” you said, glancing behind Steve to see Eddie coming back for his stuff. Looking a little sheepish for interrupting the conversation.
“Get your stuff, dude. Let’s go.” he said, leading the three of you to move forward to join the others. Things would simply have to pause again.
For now.
As you all trailed behind Dustin, the sun slowly began to set into the evening. Bringing a warm blanket of light to cover until the eventual darkness would set in. At some point, you found yourself stuck between following close behind the group or staggering behind alone.
The tape player clicked as the song ended, giving you the chance to hear as Eddie stalked up beside you. His hands tucked deep inside his jacket as he peeked a glance at you. You pushed down on the rewind before looking up to him with your brow raised.
“Dustin told me a little bit of what’s going on with you..”
“Right,” you nodded. “Well, I hate to say you’ve unfortunately missed out on a lot of updates in the group.”
There was a moment of silence, he breathed heavily through his nose before he looked down at the ground. “I’m sorry,” he said quickly, closing his eyes as he shook his head. “I can’t believe this is happening to you too.”
“Why are you sorry?” You chuckled a little awkwardly. “It’s not like Vecna picked me personally because of you.”
“Yeah, but you’re out there, trying to help me with these guys and dealing with this curse shit.” he said, sounding breathless as he rubbed a hand over his face. “I just feel like–”
“Don’t,” you cut in, holding your hand up. “We’re all working together about it..”
He raised a brow at you, leaning back a little curious as he took in your words. “Well, speaking of working together, you and Harrington seem to be working out quite fine.”
That had you chuckling awkwardly again. Looking away and down at the ground momentarily until you glanced behind you to see Steve as he walked not too far back. A curious look pulled on his eyes as he watched you two closely observing him.
“We’re on pause from being complicated.”
“That’s such a girl answer.” he scoffed a bit.
“Well,” you went on, ignoring the jab. “We have a lot that we need to fix on top of this Vecna mess. It’s kind of just overwhelming.” You explained, trying to make it sound as logical as you could. “So, we’re pausing ourselves and focusing on saving Max.”
“And you.” he added.
“And me.. and you too.”
“So pausing but also stealing a couple of kisses from each other?” he smirked a bit. “Or did I walk in on an unpausing moment?”
“Don’t be a dick.” you grumbled, giving him a slight shove.
He took a glance ahead again, an amusing smirk tugged on his lips. “Fine, if you guys are on pause, then I guess that means you’re single, right?” he teased, reaching up to pinch at your chin gently. Almost trying to lure you in for a kiss.
The urge to hit him came quickly but you chose to laugh instead. It was just like Eddie to actually say things that were silly enough to distract you from the real world stuff that felt like too much.
You gave him a good shove to the side. “You’re an idiot.” A goofy smirk tugged at his lips as he laughed with you.
“An idiot who got you laughing.” he leaned over, checking behind him before he winked. It left you both amused and annoyed while you watched him walk off to join Dustin. A small smile stayed on your lips when you suddenly felt a warm hand brush up against your lower back.
“You’re telling me I’m supposed to be friends with this guy?” Steve sniffed, looking annoyed.
For a second, you didn’t say anything. Leaning close to his touch until you reached behind you to lace your hand with his. “What’s wrong?” you asked finally.
Steve let out a small but heavy sigh. “I’m feeling..”
“Jealous?..”
“No.” he grumbled. “..Yes. I don’t know, I hate seeing the guy impress you and make you laugh. I deal enough with Dustin being wooed by him I can’t stand to see it with you too.”
An amused huff of air pushed past your lips. “I’m not being wooed by him.” you reassured him, letting your reach up to his face. “..But I get it.”
Steve raised a brow and took your hand in his as he brought it to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss inside to your palm. “Do you?” he mumbled, struggling to maintain his wariness but also looking for confirmation.
You leaned closer to him, your eyes locked with his.
“Eddie is my friend. Right now, he’s thankfully using humor to make light of our very shitty situation.” A sad smile replaced your previous one at the unfortunate reminder. “So, try and smash down that little green monster on your shoulder, okay?”
His expression shifted from jealousy to guilt, realizing his reaction was poorly timed. “Yeah..you’re right. I’ll try..I just–” He sighed deeply. “God, I'm such an idiot sometimes.”
“Just a little one, your highness.” you nudged him teasingly. “It’s a good thing I like putting up with you.”
A small, sheepish smile finally broke through his tense expression and he tugged at your hand. “All right, get off that high horse of yours, Trouble.”
You let out a small laugh, pleased to have some normalcy between you two again. “Come on, it’s getting dark, let’s catch up to the others.” you nodded down the path.
Steve reluctantly nodded, letting go of your hand to keep a protective arm around your shoulders as you both started walking again. The tension from before gradually leaving. For now.
It was an hour or so later, you couldn’t keep track anymore, when Dustin suddenly sprinted ahead of the group. Leaving all of you scrambling after him. From down the line you heard Eddie as he called after him.
“Dustin? Can you slow down? Dustin?!”
The two of you in the back had just about caught up in time to see Eddie pull back Dustin from falling into the water.
“Oh man,” Steve groaned. “You gotta be shitting me.”
“No way.” you frowned, looking over the large expanse of the lake.
“Yeah,” Eddie agreed. “I thought these woods looked familiar.”
“Lover’s Lake.” Robin noted.
Beside you, Dustin looked out to the water in amazement. “This is confounding.” he exhaled.
“There’s a gate in Lover’s Lake?” Max asked, a confused frown on her face.
“Whenever the Demogorgon attacked, it always left an opening.” Nancy thought aloud. “Maybe Vecna’s the same way.”
Steve gave your hand a small squeeze. “Yeah, only one way to find out.”
Conveniently nearby, there was a small little boat with an engine. Probably left by one of the many fishermen that lived in Hawkins. Their mistake became your group’s saving grace. The two older boys reached over and lugged it to the shoreline.
“Easy–” Steve instructed as Eddie dropped it into the water, earning a look from the other boy. “I said easy, man.”
“Sorry, dude.”
He shook his head at Eddie and checked on the engine while Robin used both their heads to steady herself onto the boat. Eddie quickly climbed in after her and extended a hand out to Nancy as she stepped in next. You were about to join them when Dustin cut in front of you.
“Hey, hey, hey, you trying to sink us?” Eddie said to Dustin, pushing him back by the top of his head. “This thing holds three people tops, okay?”
“It’s better this way,” Nancy added, shuffling around the small boat to look back. “You guys stay here with Max, keep an eye out for trouble.”
“You keep an eye out!” Dustin responded curtly, irritated instantly by the rejection. The girl gave him an incredulous look that had him just as shocked as he shook his head. “It’s my goddamn theory!”
Robin tilted her head at him, giving him a very tired look. “You heard Nance.” she said short.
Dustin liked that response even less. “Who put her in charge?” he asked, pointing a finger to Nancy.
“I did.”
Nancy ignored their fighting to extend her hand out. “Compass.” she demanded gently.
Reluctantly, he passed it to her, his pout the biggest you’ve seen yet. Patting his back, you watched as he stepped back with the others. From down at the engine, Steve shared a look with you, nodding for you to join in. A little weary about it capsizing, you gave a quick jump into the boat, nearly falling out of it if it weren’t for Eddie who helped steady you.
“Whoa, whoa! Why the hell is she going?” Dustin quickly spat.
“I’m here to be the pretty one of the group.” you said casually, fixing up your hair as if it made any sense.
“What?!” he gaped.
But everyone just ignored his outburst. Steve got up from the engine giving you a knowing look at where this was going to go. “Hey, here you go.” he called out to Dustin, tossing him his back just before pushing the boat further into the water and quickly joining in.
“You said three!”
Steve looked only a little bit bad as he whispered an apology. He held his hand up in a small wave, glancing over at you with a small smirk.
Robin and Eddie rowed the boat a little out on the lake before she called out to the three kids left behind. “Bedtime at nine, kiddos!” she yelled playfully. “Miss you already!”
It was about twenty minutes of aimlessly rowing into the lake when the compass finally came to life. Nancy called out for the other two to slow down as she stared down at the object.
Steve held the flash light just above it to show the needle inside spinning erratically, switching from clockwise to counter. “Whoa,” he said, looking down. You frowned at the sight, feeling something in the pit of your stomach at the spot you guys hovered over.
“Guys, what’s going on?” Sprang the radio, Dustin’s voice slightly annoyed still but with a hint of worry. “Come on, talk to me. What’s going on?”
Robin picked up the radio to reply back to him. “Uh, Dustin, your compass has gone wonky to wonky with a capital ‘ahh!’” she explained, nervously looking down at it.
Suddenly, Steve kicked off his shoe and pulled at his socks. The rest of you shared curious looks before Robin spoke up first.
“Steve, what are you doing?”
“Somebody’s gotta go down and check this out.” he said simply, “Unless one of you can top being a Hawkins High swim co-captain and a certified lifeguard for three years then...it’s gotta be me. No complaints, all right?” he said looking between you guys.
“Hey, I’m not complaining.” Eddie said, looking out to the water. “I do not want to go in there.”
You felt a sudden pang of worry, kicking off your shoes and socks without a second thought. Steve’s eyes widened and he held out his hands. “Trouble, what do you think–”
“Four years lifeguard at the beach.” you said, passing your shoes to Nancy to hold as you got up. “Think that trumps a co-captain.”
“No,” he said, waving his hands in an x formation. “No. It isn’t–”
“Safe? Like you’d be any safer?” you countered, watching as he took off his shirt next. Your eyes lingered over his body before back up to his face.
“It’s just a swim down to check out what’s going on.” he raised a brow to you. “You don’t need to come.”
“I’m not gonna let you do this alone.”
Steve looked like he wanted to argue but you cut off the next response on his tongue as you shed off your shirt. Needing less fabric to weigh you down. Steve’s eyes widened again. “Whoa!” he called out, lifting your shirt to cover your chest. “Y-You can’t just take off your shirt!”
“Why?’ you frowned, looking around.
“Because then..people might see you?” he said sheepishly.
Rolling your eyes, you pushed his hands away and tossed your shirt to Robin. “Look, I appreciate the gesture but everyone on this boat has either seen my bra or my breasts. So I don’t really care about anyone here seeing.”
From across the lake you heard the echo of Dustin’s gagged scream.
“Maybe just one person..” you muttered to yourself, leaning down to roll up the ends of your jeans, ignoring the slight burn on your skin from having a few pairs of eyes on your body.
All Steve did was stare a moment longer until he rubbed a hand over his face. “Fine.” he said gruff, defeated by your response. “But you follow my lead.”
“Whatever you say, Captain.” you smirked. It was his turn as he rolled his eyes and fixed up the bottom of his pants.
Eddie placed the flashlight into the plastic bag, tying it up so that water couldn’t get in but the tool was still useful to use. “Good luck.” he said as he offered it to Steve. “You too, Princess.”
Winking at him appreciatively, you watched as he held onto your tape and headphones, tucking it safely into his jacket. You turned to face Steve, ready for the jump in.
“Guys?” Nancy called out. The two of you glanced over your shoulders to look at her. She had a pensive look on her face as she softly warned you two. “Be careful.”
You smiled a bit at that, giving her a slight nod. Steve looked back at you with the same worry you’ve been seeing for days now. “Just follow me, okay?” he reminded you, bringing your hand up to his lips. Nodding, you gave him a quiet confirmation as the two of you placed your footing on the edge of the boat, sucked in a deep breath, and jumped into the icy lake.
It wasn’t until after you dived deep within the water that you began to feel the cold temperature prick your skin. Your eyes squeezed shut momentarily until you felt a hand tug at you. Steve, flashed the light, pointing downward to something he noticed.
Quickly, the two of you moved down, the depth of the lake not too far, but still eerie as you swam further. The flash light showed nothing but the bones of certain fish and large log pieces that had sunk into the bottom. Something that only felt more creepy given the reasoning why you were in so deep.
You glanced around you, feeling something pulling deep into your core, it felt too familiar. That’s when Steve tapped your shoulder and pointed to what looked like a small glowing crack in the lake’s ground. Red, ominous, and somewhat calling to you.
Together you both swam closer, faces frowning and confused at this otherworldly sight. It reminded you exactly of the gate that you guys had encountered beneath the Starcourt Mall. Making you recoil a bit at the memory. Grabbing Steve’s arm, you pointed up towards the surface, you needed to get away from this thing. Even if just for a moment.
He reached towards the red skin like barrier first, almost hesitantly, to test what it was. But just as he was about to touch it, something from the other side poked back. That was enough to send the two of you to swim towards the surface.
But as you tried to catch up with Steve, something instantly shot out and wrapped at your leg. Making you let out a scream in the water. Bubbles surrounded your face and you tried to claw upward, to the surface, to Steve, to anything that could pull you up. But the light above went away and you found you were being dragged down.
Your hands and legs flailed as you tried to get out of the clutches of whatever held your leg. Water filled your lungs and you felt the world getting hazy before it was suddenly upside down and you were screaming in the air until you landed hard on your back on some strange surface. The ground apparently, which was covered in large vein-like tentacles and dirt.
There was no chance to react to anything as suddenly you were dragged away from the gate. The grime and coarse earthy floor cutting against the exposed parts of your body. Your screams are cracked and painful to your throat but the pain from the cuts were worse. The tentacle dragged you through large chunks of wood and other debris until you were into the treeline.
Grabbing a loose branch, you stabbed into the dirt of the woods and held on tight until the tentacle gave up and you finally stopped.
A whimper fell past your lips as you sat up, feeling the cuts on the blades of your shoulders and the back of your arms. It wasn’t until the sky cracked and red lightning hit the air that you suddenly took in your surroundings. You weren’t in Hawkins, no. You were in the upside down.
There was a sudden shrieking coming from the sky, a batlike figure coming towards your direction. You held onto the tree branch, feeling a sudden sense of dread.
That’s when you heard the echo of Steve screaming.
Hey guys! I’m so sorry it’s taken me so long to put in another update! I hope you guys are still interested in this story, I missed it so much! Let me know what you guys think. 🩷
If you wanna be tagged in this series again, please let me know :)
Okay! I know it’s been waaaaay too long. But I am still finishing up this chapter. I wanna come back and work on my ST story since our show is finally coming back. That being said I am full time so it’s hard. But I am determined. So many ppl have liked the last chapter. I gotta do it for me and you guys. 🩷
It's almost done! It's been so long since I've written anything, so hopefully around Friday i'll have something posted! Stay tuned and also forgive me for any spelling errors lol
Okay! I know it’s been waaaaay too long. But I am still finishing up this chapter. I wanna come back and work on my ST story since our show is finally coming back. That being said I am full time so it’s hard. But I am determined. So many ppl have liked the last chapter. I gotta do it for me and you guys. 🩷
First off, I wanna say I’m so sorry for being so inactive on here. Real life has been kicking my ass. I’ve been dying to update and write again but my work has been so piled up I have no time to go home and write. But I will be updating soon. Can’t wait for yall to read it 🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷
not a request, but holy SHIT you. are. amazing. Your writing is so good. I've binged the stranger things series in two days, and when I tell you I freaked out reading S1 and reading the billy hint, and then the end of S3 vecna hint with her song being crimson and clover, omg, I just burst. Anyway you're amazing, so thank you for writing all of this awesomeness!!!
Oh my god! Thank you so much! I’ve been so busy and tired from work but I’m still working on the story line now. I’m glad you’re having so much fun with the clues and everything.
Lately there’s been activity in my posts and I’m so happy you guys are still with me! I hope to keep going and going with you guys til the end~
Hello! I am just updating to say I am still here. Just working on two things rn + super busy with work 😭 Gonna test something out soon. Hope everyone is doing well!
