β§ο½₯οΎ: * July 2022 Harringrove Starter Pack *:ο½₯οΎβ§
Thank you to Harringrove fans for coming together and creating this amazing fic starter pack and to our endlessly talented creators for giving us so much to choose from!Β Forty-one votes were cast and across the 119 nominations, the number of votes received by the fics overall amounted to 397 (!!!!). The chosen fics had a combined total of 126 votes. The doc with the list of nomineesΒ will stay active in case you want to check out the rest.Β
Here are the 14 fics chosen by Harringrove fans as the best place to start for those looking to dabble in the community (you can also see these fics in the ao3 collection) - in alphabetical order:
β’ Billy Hargrove Needs a Nap - lilpeas [74,312; E]
Itβs one thing to be a light sleeper in this shitty town that wonβt shut up at night, but itβs another thing entirely to fall asleep on Steve Harringtonβs shoulder during last period English.
β’ break (like waves) - @witchsicknessβ [93,187; E]
βWeβre good together,β Harrington says to the darkness above. Not a question. Matter of fact. He turns to Billy, a smile sweet enough to make Billy want to do something reckless. Something stupid. βIβm telling you, heartbreaker. Weβre gonna be unstoppable.β
Billy wants to ask. If he means tomorrow. If he means just for the game.
Wants to ask if he means forever.
Heβs never wanted anyone to mean forever before.
or; falling (in love), the hard way
β’ break up with your girlfriend (βcause iβm bored) - @the-copperkid [15,604; E]
@umissedconnections: Bambi eyes. m4m. i was rippin cigs in the sae p-lot. u made urself puke 2 make room 4 more beer. incredible? ur my hero PLS say ur into guys
* Steve finds he has a secret admirer who's continuously hitting on him via his university's Missed Connections Twitter account. // Tommy and Billy are the worst roommates ever.
β’ Cherry - @lazybakerartΒ [58,061; E]
Theyβve got ten minutes before Steveβs break is up and he has to go back to wishing for death with a smile.
β’ cherry pie - @brawlite and @toast-ranger-to-a-stranger [133,828; E]
Billy Hargrove lives for summer. Endless sunshine, heavily chlorinated pools, roaming ice cream trucks, and unencumbered freedom? Thereβs nothing better.
Even being stuck in Hawkins canβt ruin the summer for him. He eats it up, devouring every day whole.
β’ dried up, half full - @lymricksβ [60,016; E]
Steveβs been coming out here searching for a monster in the woods. Heβs finally found one.
βWhat do you want, Hargrove?β
β’ falling for you in hawkins, indi-fucking-ana (series) - @lazybakerartβ [294,822+; E]
Billy gets his shit together. Steve figures some stuff out. They fall in love.
β’ in waves - @lymricksβ [45,095; M]
Itβs March and itβs too cold for Billy to be shirtless and wearing shorts, but he hadnβt noticed until Harrington appeared and made him hold still. Harrington canβt seem to stop looking at the bruises. βWhatβs it to you if I miss a little school, Harrington?β Billy asks. He feels goosebumps rising on his skin.
βI donβt know,β Harrington snaps back, looking uncomfortable. He shifts his weight from one foot to the other. Plant your feet, Billy wants to scream at him. Iβm going to bowl you over.
β’ Incident at Castle Byers - @flippyspoon [3,639; G]
Will learns something about Billy Hargrove and feels a little less alone.
β’ Under the Covers - @toast-ranger-to-a-strangerβ [87,788; M]
Steve is (maybe) a little bit still in love with Nancy Wheeler and (maybe) trying to figure himself out-- between the night terrors and the babysitting and the general weirdness that is Hawkins, Indiana-- before he graduates.
Billy Hargrove fits in there somewhere (probably).
β’ when the bones are good - @un-buttonedβ [28,411; E]
βSo,β Tommy says around a mouthful of fries, βwhat the fuck is the deal with you and Hargrove?β
And thatβs really the goddamn question, isnβt it?
He wants to know Billy. Wants to know why he is the way he is. Wants to be able to figure out what the fuck heβs thinking when he looks at Steve like that, when he touches him like it doesnβt mean shit and like it means everything all at once. Wants to know why he talks so much shit, why he needs to fight, where all that fire comes from. Why heβs so volatile, why heβs such an asshole, how he can be so fucking mean and so fucking sweet in the span of seconds, at the same time, even.
β’ youβll lose the blues in chicago (series) - @lymricksβ [101,188; E]
Steve takes a second to feel relieved it's not Dustin getting all sorts of arrested in places he shouldnβt be, then he goes back to staring.
It's Billy, who looks as good now as he did the last time Steve saw him: three years ago. He looks just as complicated, too. Heβs got bruises on his face, a split lip.
The officer clears her throat, slowly, awkwardly, and Steve realizes theyβve been staring at each other for a while, now. He imagines, for a moment, saying that he doesnβt know this person, this stranger, pretending that Billy Hargrove was someone he used to know and kind of remembers, but--no, heβs not willing to sign for him, or whatever. To vouch for him. βMr. Harrington?β the officer prompts.
Steve runs a hand through his hair. βSteve,β he corrects, a little absently. βYeah, Iβll--yeah. Do you have a form, or something?β
Three years later, Steve Harrington signs Billy Hargrove out of a police station. This, it turns out, is only the beginning.
β’ youβre cold (and i burn) - @keroujackβΒ [55,919; E]
Move on. Let it heal.
Maybe thatβs why Steve said yes when Max asked him to help move boxes out of Billyβs room after the dust settled. He could hear her voice. Too many. Too heavy.
Just like his wounds. His grief. Too many. Too heavy.
(Or, Steve steals the glass ashtray from Billy's bedside table and things start to go bump in the night.)
β’ Yourself or Someone Like You (series) - halfempty [792,802; E]
Maxine looked happy as they parted from Steve and walked down Main Street away from the theater. She slid into the passenger seat of Billyβs car. 'That was really fun,' she said. She looked at him like a gremlin and then smiled real cutesy. 'Did you and Steve hold hands in the popcorn?'
'I hope you had a real good time, Iβm going to kill you in your sleep tonight,' Billy told her.
