and

This immediately backfires on him.

It’s not his fault. He’s bad at improv!

When Mrs Hagan comes into family videos and asks how he got that cut on his neck. He should’ve just said that it was a freak accident during the earthquake like he’s told literally everybody else.

But no.

Instead he told the woman who practically raises him, “I….tried to hang myself.”

Robin is giving him a bug-eyed look. She’s actively gesturing for him to stop but he just keeps talking. He doesn’t know why.

“Big ol’ rope,” He says, eyes wide like he can’t believe he’s saying this either. “Failed, obviously. Fail at everything and- ow.”

He says, crushed in a hug halfway over the check out counter, “My ribs are broken.”

“You’re coming to dinner tonight.”

“Okay.”

“Tommy will be home, all the boys will,” She tells him, not letting up for a second. Steve’s not really fighting it either. “And you’ll stay after dinner.”

“Okay.”

“And your girlfriend is coming to.”

“Oh, she not…” Steve tries.

(Steve, Tommy and Carol)

Despite having two well known jocks in the group, they’re more of a popular group in the bitchy underhanded way than the outright bullying way (They are however on good terms with the football team who are very brute force oriented)

To be honest they don’t really concern themselves with anyone outside the popular group enough to even bully them, their style is keeping the people in their group controlled and divided - hence why Nancy is such a shock (where did Steve even find her?)

Carol moved to Hawkins when she was 11 and joined the group, because of that Tommy and Steve had already developed a complete lack of boundaries and rather than make any she just joined in

This has caused a lot of different rumors and assumptions, when they’re all so touchy and flirty with each other. It’s mostly just for fun though cause Steve is pretty hung up on the nuclear family ideal (probably because of his absent parents). Tommy and Carol would totally go for a triad though.

Carol lives on the same street as Barb and they’ve hated each other since they were kids.

It was one of those situations where their parents decided that because they were girls of the same age they should be friends and tried to force them together. Carol was sort of a tomboyish kid and Barb was super quiet and bookish as a child so they didn’t get along super well.

Carol moved in early summer, so by the time school started they knew each other but weren’t very close. Carol ditched Barb super quick for Tommy and Steve though.

Barb’s always held a bit of a grudge for Carol ditching her, but mostly she hates her because their mother’s are in the same book club and Barb is always being compared to Pretty, Popular, Carol, with her Nice Boyfriend and her B Grade Average.

As such, Steve and Tommy don’t know most of their classmates names

Steve is Bad at essays but pretty good at anything involving maths, Tommy is decent at everything but prefers history and Carol is good at maths and english but hates all sciences

Once when they were younger Tommy chased her with the dissected frog and she didn’t speak to him for a week

Not many people know this but their group is actually three jocks, Carol plays softball and has since she was a kid. There’s just not a lot of attention in Hawkins on women’s sports, especially outside of the cheerleaders

Tommy has older brothers, Carol has a younger brother and Steve is an only child

They only sit with the other popular kids at lunch twice a week because they don’t like them very much

Twice a year Steve stays at Tommy’s house and Carol hosts a big sleepover for the popular girls at Steve’s house because it’s the biggest and most intimidating (It’s a psychological minefield and the gossip she gets out of these fuel them for the whole year)

Live to cause drama, have once caused 5 break-ups, caused 3 friends to hate each other and gotten a player kicked off their team in a school week

Tommy and Carol fake break up semi regularly for entertainment

Their group works because Tommy and Carol’s best friend is both Steve

When Tommy and Carol first started dating (way after people believe) Steve tried to withdraw and give them space but they weren’t having it. Steve is the official third wheel to all of their dates and if he can’t make it they reschedule

People have been making rumour’s about Carol dating one of them or the other since they became friends, they’ve never actually addressed any

Tommy and Carol are not shy about making out in front of Steve, every time he complains they just invite him to join

Carol’s mom works in a beauty salon and is the one that cuts Steve’s hair (she also put him on the hairspray)

Tommy owns a lot of spray paint and likes to climb and tag high places

Once Carol and Steve framed someone by stealing Tommy’s spray paints and spray painting the side of the school and hiding the cans in someone else’s locker

Highly sarcastic as a group (eye-roll count high)

Max’s attitude reminds Steve of Carol when she was younger, but Carol would never be caught dead on a skateboard

Tommy’s parents are the most stable and present, Steve’s are good people but terrible parents. Mostly absent, (they don’t seem to understand that Steve isn’t just a smaller adult for most of his childhood) (i have a lot of headcannons for Steve’s parents but that’s a different post) and Carol’s dad is some military guy whoes rarely around and her mom is lovely but more interested in being Carol’s friend than her parent

Staying at Tommy’s house is the only time Steve and Carol have ever had an enforced curfew - they don’t like it

Tommy’s parents also make Carol sleep separately in the guest room, so they mostly sleep over at Steve’s.

Tommy doesn’t tell them Carol will be there when he sleeps over so whether they think she’s not there (unlikely) or that they’re all in separate rooms since there’s plenty of guest rooms (even more unlikely), is anyone’s guess. They know full well that Steve’s parents aren’t home. Carol’s theory is as long as it’s not their house they don’t see it as their responsibility.

No one in Hawkins knows the full extent of the child neglect happening in the Harrington house, but enough is known for David and Maria Hagan to dislike Steve’s parents. If a parent was spending enough quality time with their kid, he wouldn’t be as clingy as Steve is with his parents.

Every (painfully few) interactions with the Harringtons required an hour phone call to Carol’s mom to debrief and gossip.

The reason Steve’s parents don’t like Tommy’s is simple. The Hagans try to make them look bad (they’re not).

One time, Steve’s mom, Angela, was making him a plate at a church function and Maria casually suggested not getting Steve strawberries. They upset his stomach. Angela didn’t know that. It was humiliating.

Richard was golfing with a client when he ran into David out with his older boys. He mentioned Steve winning his team’s MVP award at the end of the baseball season. It was the first Richard was hearing of it and it showed in front of his family-oriented client. He was furious.

At the one school function The Harringtons attend every year, Steve fell and scrapped up his elbow pretty badly. He ran to Tommy’s dad for help instead of his own parents.

They asked about it on the car ride home and Steve answered simply, “He’s a doctor.”

“He’s a dentist.”

stomarol, a little drunk, nearly start crying, and bolt out the backdoor. because they’re unlucky, they end up getting chased by hopper. the three of them jump the fence at the back of the property and watch as hopper tries and fails to do the same.

they called him “can’t hop-per” every single day for months, and they nearly peed themselves laughing every single time. they thought it was the funniest joke they’d ever heard.

No one in Hawkins knows the full extent of the child neglect happening in the Harrington house, but enough is known for David and Maria Hagan to dislike Steve’s parents. If a parent was spending enough quality time with their kid, he wouldn’t be as clingy as Steve is with his parents.

Every (painfully few) interactions with the Harringtons required an hour phone call to Carol’s mom to debrief and gossip.

The reason Steve’s parents don’t like Tommy’s is simple. The Hagans try to make them look bad (they’re not).

One time, Steve’s mom, Angela, was making him a plate at a church function and Maria casually suggested not getting Steve strawberries. They upset his stomach. Angela didn’t know that. It was humiliating.

Richard was golfing with a client when he ran into David out with his older boys. He mentioned Steve winning his team’s MVP award at the end of the baseball season. It was the first Richard was hearing of it and it showed in front of his family-oriented client. He was furious.

At the one school function The Harringtons attend every year, Steve fell and scrapped up his elbow pretty badly. He ran to Tommy’s dad for help instead of his own parents.

They asked about it on the car ride home and Steve answered simply, “He’s a doctor.”

“He’s a dentist.”

(Steve, Tommy and Carol)

Despite having two well known jocks in the group, they’re more of a popular group in the bitchy underhanded way than the outright bullying way (They are however on good terms with the football team who are very brute force oriented)

To be honest they don’t really concern themselves with anyone outside the popular group enough to even bully them, their style is keeping the people in their group controlled and divided - hence why Nancy is such a shock (where did Steve even find her?)

Carol moved to Hawkins when she was 11 and joined the group, because of that Tommy and Steve had already developed a complete lack of boundaries and rather than make any she just joined in

This has caused a lot of different rumors and assumptions, when they’re all so touchy and flirty with each other. It’s mostly just for fun though cause Steve is pretty hung up on the nuclear family ideal (probably because of his absent parents). Tommy and Carol would totally go for a triad though.

Carol lives on the same street as Barb and they’ve hated each other since they were kids.

It was one of those situations where their parents decided that because they were girls of the same age they should be friends and tried to force them together. Carol was sort of a tomboyish kid and Barb was super quiet and bookish as a child so they didn’t get along super well.

Carol moved in early summer, so by the time school started they knew each other but weren’t very close. Carol ditched Barb super quick for Tommy and Steve though.

Barb’s always held a bit of a grudge for Carol ditching her, but mostly she hates her because their mother’s are in the same book club and Barb is always being compared to Pretty, Popular, Carol, with her Nice Boyfriend and her B Grade Average.

As such, Steve and Tommy don’t know most of their classmates names

Steve is Bad at essays but pretty good at anything involving maths, Tommy is decent at everything but prefers history and Carol is good at maths and english but hates all sciences

Once when they were younger Tommy chased her with the dissected frog and she didn’t speak to him for a week

Not many people know this but their group is actually three jocks, Carol plays softball and has since she was a kid. There’s just not a lot of attention in Hawkins on women’s sports, especially outside of the cheerleaders

Tommy has older brothers, Carol has a younger brother and Steve is an only child

They only sit with the other popular kids at lunch twice a week because they don’t like them very much

Twice a year Steve stays at Tommy’s house and Carol hosts a big sleepover for the popular girls at Steve’s house because it’s the biggest and most intimidating (It’s a psychological minefield and the gossip she gets out of these fuel them for the whole year)

Live to cause drama, have once caused 5 break-ups, caused 3 friends to hate each other and gotten a player kicked off their team in a school week

Tommy and Carol fake break up semi regularly for entertainment

Their group works because Tommy and Carol’s best friend is both Steve

When Tommy and Carol first started dating (way after people believe) Steve tried to withdraw and give them space but they weren’t having it. Steve is the official third wheel to all of their dates and if he can’t make it they reschedule

People have been making rumour’s about Carol dating one of them or the other since they became friends, they’ve never actually addressed any

Tommy and Carol are not shy about making out in front of Steve, every time he complains they just invite him to join

Carol’s mom works in a beauty salon and is the one that cuts Steve’s hair (she also put him on the hairspray)

Tommy owns a lot of spray paint and likes to climb and tag high places

Once Carol and Steve framed someone by stealing Tommy’s spray paints and spray painting the side of the school and hiding the cans in someone else’s locker

Highly sarcastic as a group (eye-roll count high)

Max’s attitude reminds Steve of Carol when she was younger, but Carol would never be caught dead on a skateboard

Tommy’s parents are the most stable and present, Steve’s are good people but terrible parents. Mostly absent, (they don’t seem to understand that Steve isn’t just a smaller adult for most of his childhood) (i have a lot of headcannons for Steve’s parents but that’s a different post) and Carol’s dad is some military guy whoes rarely around and her mom is lovely but more interested in being Carol’s friend than her parent

Staying at Tommy’s house is the only time Steve and Carol have ever had an enforced curfew - they don’t like it

Tommy’s parents also make Carol sleep separately in the guest room, so they mostly sleep over at Steve’s.

Tommy doesn’t tell them Carol will be there when he sleeps over so whether they think she’s not there (unlikely) or that they’re all in separate rooms since there’s plenty of guest rooms (even more unlikely), is anyone’s guess. They know full well that Steve’s parents aren’t home. Carol’s theory is as long as it’s not their house they don’t see it as their responsibility.

This immediately backfires on him.

It’s not his fault. He’s bad at improv!

When Mrs Hagan comes into family videos and asks how he got that cut on his neck. He should’ve just said that it was a freak accident during the earthquake like he’s told literally everybody else.

But no.

Instead he told the woman who practically raises him, “I….tried to hang myself.”

Robin is giving him a bug-eyed look. She’s actively gesturing for him to stop but he just keeps talking. He doesn’t know why.

“Big ol’ rope,” He says, eyes wide like he can’t believe he’s saying this either. “Failed, obviously. Fail at everything and- ow.”

He says, crushed in a hug halfway over the check out counter, “My ribs are broken.”

“You’re coming to dinner tonight.”

“Okay.”

“Tommy will be home, all the boys will,” She tells him, not letting up for a second. Steve’s not really fighting it either. “And you’ll stay after dinner.”

“Okay.”

“And your girlfriend is coming to.”

“Oh, she not…” Steve tries.

Billy compliments Steve on his rich boy cologne, his sick keg stand stance, is the first one to notice when he gets highlights. He’s the first person to ever call Steve smart. Once he yells it at Dustin who is leaping into a ridiculous plan to fight the demodogs. Dustin is mad as hell and snipes “you always take his side!” And billy yells “yeah! Because you idiots don’t have his strategic mind, maybe if you listened to his plan we’d be alright!”

Steve says shit like “um, maybe Vecna was a …clockmaker?” And the kids snigger and billy is like “DO WE KNOW THAT HE WASN’T A CLOCKMAKER? You tiny bastards. You know nothing.”

Just insanely on Steve’s side. And Steve is so fucking loyal in return that they’re basically each other’s greatest defenders. No loyal knight/king dynamics here. They’re both insane. Attack dog 4 attack dog.

Eddie leaps out of the boat and jams a knife into Billy’s neck and Steve is already whaling on him with an oar. Mike is whining about how Billy sucks and Steve is like “you don’t get his sense of humour, it’s not his fault you’re not funny.”

Max is complaining about how fast Billy drives and Steve is like “uhh, skate then? Selfish.”

Steve: “uh, no, don’t blame being gay for your lack of action. You’ve never been kissed because you both don’t have any type of game.”

Eddie: “it’s not like there’s a wealth of people we can kiss here steve. It’s Hawkins.”

Steve: ive made out with like three different guys in this town since last summer.

Robin and Eddie: “you. What.”