does the past ever keep you up at night? - robin @ steve, post s5 ──── @chrsdeleted

          STEVE AWKWARDLY SITS ON THE QUESTION FOR A MOMENT. the silence of his house ringing through it, as if answering for him. he was always happy when the gang came back to hawkins to see him, and he was always more than happy to invite robin to stay in his spare room or his rv in the driveway. but conversations like this sometimes made it harder to have her over, when he was trying to forget and move on with life.

          " yeah, of course. how couldn't it ? " he finally admits, picking up his mug from the coffee table, to gently sip at the warm drink inside. coffee or tea, or maybe even a hot chocolate. he doesn't remember and it's suddenly tasteless on his tongue. " people died. kids died. i think of them . . . a lot. i think of the kids who moved away a lot too. every time i see the ones who stayed in town it . . . puts me back there. even if they're happy and safe i still feel like i need to fight for them. i still see them as those scared kids . . . " he tries to explain how it feels, to see lucas pushing max around in her chair in town or mike at the alcohol store or any of the others when they visited. even if their faces grew and wrinkled, he couldn't get their scared screams out of his head. even sometimes when we was coaching the younger ones, he suddenly felt like they were fighting for their lives. " it's this shadow you can't even really talk about. "

   " oh, steve ... " robin isn't often at a loss for words, but the silence is heavy. a hand reaches out to rest on steve's upper arm. she worries about him, holding so much on his heart.

/)/)           ❛ Don’t get offended. I’m just being honest— ( . .)           something you should try sometime. ❜ - johnny truant ( づ♡ ˖°.           ── @chrsdeleted

          maybe giving this guy a chance was a mistake . . . he had seemed nice enough at first, but maybe it was her being hopeful that a guy would actually be interested in her at all. even just purely for sex. arms quickly folded over ashley's chest as she glares at him. ❝ you seriously don't think calling some chick 'weird' is being too honest ?? ❞ she accuses, challenge in the back of her voice. daring him to say it again, or to say something worse to her face, right here right now. she's well practiced in charged insults and arguments. it was well molded into her dna, her blood. she knew how to hold her own in verbal challenge like this but . . . she did have a pocket knife hidden in her boot, which for some reason seems to be calling her name in this very moment. luckily for johnny, her benevolent heart, decides to give him another chance to prove himself though.

          grey eyes return to her, a gleam of surprise - no, admiration at her fiery rebuttal. her insults don't seem to get to him. he scratches thoughtfully at his stubble, nodding and smiling apologetically, though it’s appearance is brief.

          “ well played … i mean, you’re free to leave. i’m not keeping you here. ” he takes a swig of his beer, wincing a bit as it goes down. lude would know better what to say in this moment, but johnny isn't the smooth talker his friend is. he looks the girl over, as if trying to take all of her in. mostly he's trying to remember her name. he's sure she mentioned it earlier.